Dael Assault

Log Title: Dael Assault

Characters: Ace, Angel, Chameleon, General Hawk, Interrogator, Major Bludd, Nightlash, Scourge, Starscream, Valour, Wisp

Location: Dael, Syria, Western Asia

Date: 27 June, 2013

TP:

Summary: Cobra launches an attack on the Syrian town of Dael in an attempt to take it back from the rebels.

Syria - Western Asia
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest. A country of fertile plains, high mountains and deserts, it is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Alawite Shias and Arab Sunnis. The latter make up the majority of the Muslim population.

The town of Dael sits on the main highway from Daraa in the south to Damascus, less than 100 km to the north. It's early morning, and people are moving about their daily tasks.

Down the highway moves a group of military vehicles, mostly tanks and troop trucks, loaded with uniformed Syrian government troops. Behind these, a pair of troop trucks bear Cobra Viper troopers in their blue and red uniforms and mirror-faceplated helmets. Bringing up the rear, a low-slung APC painted in desert tan carries Major Bludd and a squad of blue-shirted Cobra infantry troops. The convoy moves deliberately south, toward Dael.

Bludd's gaze is on his handheld computer, where detailled information about Dael and the positions of friendly vehicles is displayed.

Amongst the daily activities of Dael, General Hawk and a detachment of Joe personnel are intermixed amongst the townspeople, and the rebels themselves. All the Joes have dressed in local style as they blend in with the morning routine. Hawk in particular is at the rebels' makeshift HQ in the town's main hall, cooking up a bit of breakfast for the troops with a bit of his own flair. A couple of troops with culinary skills work alongside him. Meanwhile, around the edge of the town, rebels have taken up observation positions, especially along the main road, where telescopes and binoculars keep a watchful eye.

Amongst the truck caravan are dispersed several Tele-Vipers. Each troop truck carries one or two of them, and no more than that. The digital network they have supporting the army is supported on laptops, tablets, and other such wireless devices. If one truck, or more than one truck, is taken out, the network still holds. This is how Wiretap wants it to work. She's supporting the entire thing to make sure the commlinks and all comm-support operations are online.

Flagrantly, Sly Rax breezes through the caravan on a futuristic purple bike with an armored sidecar. He's not in any sort of formation, and in his sunglasses and leather jacket, doesn't look like he really fits in with the lines of uniformed Cobra troops.

A figure is quickly and quietly dropped off from the caravan. The firgure, carrying a large rifle, heads off to a rodge set off from the road. The sniper, Angel, quickly sets himself up; but doesn't shoot until ordered to.

Soaring along at a rather comfortable altitude, a solitary Night Raven is cruising with relative ease. In fact, if anyone were able to sneak a peek into the cockpit, they'd hear 'Fortunate Son' by Credence Clearwater Revival blasting on the internal speakers. However, music does not mean lack of attention. As on-board infrared scanners pick up a sudden spike in congestion below, the music fades down and attention is shifted fully to the ground. Hmm...

Banking sharply, the Night Raven comes around for another pass, higher-resolution cameras feeding the scene below into onboard computers for processing. At least one familiar face is there, but there's that wonderfully familiar emblem...and that's enough for her to check systems. Engines quiet to a soft thrum and electronic signatures drop off the radar as Nighlash turns to once more.

Chameleon watches the city entrance. She doesn't have binoculars, and her face is mostly hidden, but she's watching it, in case of potential incursion. She's sporting a few local weapons, ready to act if there's an incursion, but not entirely expecting one.

Sly Rax looks to be more out for a Sunday drive than past of a military assault force.

From JSF #639, Wisp is off somewhere with a localish looking jet, ready to launch if needed.

Out of the morning sky come a pair of Soviet Su-22 fighter planes. They fly in low, toward the town from the north-northeast.

Sly Rax is also blaring music - "One Way Or Another" by Blondie. He's quietly singing along as the loud late 70s song blasts from his chopper.

One of the spotters on a rooftop catches sight of a dust cloud rising up from the roadway leading to the city, and grabs a radio to sound the alarm. Down in the makeshift HQ, Hawk is flipping some pancakes when the comm officer pipes up. "Possible incoming convoy, General!" Hawk frowns, flipping the cake onto a plate and tearing off his apron. "Damn it, just when we were about to sit down for breakfast." He snarls. "Get a positive ID, send word for all troops to fortify their positions. Ready defenses." Grabbing up his own gear, he heads out with the rebels who are now scrambling out of the HQ to take up positions. "It starts."

Bludd watches the little dots on his handheld as they move about. He glances up at the sound of the approaching Su-22s, then cranes his neck forward to watch what he can of the effects of the jets' thermobaric bombs in action.

Wiretap has everything all set up. Once the jets release that first volley of bombs, she hums to herself and primes up the music...

LOOOOOVE, LOOOOOVE, LOVE! LOOOOOVE, LOOOOVE, LOVE! That's right, it's The Beatles.

And it's on a LOT of frequencies. Very loud.

Sly Rax smiles as he sees the bombs fall in the distance. He smiles to himself, muttering, "Wow, man, Bludd plays all the HITs."

Angel is camped out on the ridge, rifle out, lying prone. His eyes are glued to his target, waiting for the Joes to stick out their heads...

Sly Rax refers, of course, to both the Beatles and the high-impulse thermobaric weapons.

Nightlash hmms... plenty of aircraft. Quick IFF passive sweeps reveal more than enough to work by as she throttles down to more combat-friendly subsonic speeds. Sukhoi? Non-standard for the Cobras...or, as far as she can recall. Still, she admires the lines before a more familiar aircraft is picked up. A Mamba? Oooh... Cameras zoom in briefly to capture the rotory-winged assault craft.

And suddenly, bombs. Nightlash's nfrared cameras turn down to ward off any unwanted damage due to the burst of thermal energy as she drops in low to get an identification of the intended target. Civilian? Joe? Hmm.... CCR's volume gets turned back up again.

Sly Rax switches off the Piranha's MP3 player and tunes into the Beatles as he approaches the destruction.

"General! Incoming aircraft!" calls the radar officer. Hawk looks up just in time to see the jets make their runs and hears the Dopplered whine of the bombs as they sail towards their targets. "TAKE COVER!" he shouts as everyone hits the dirt. Rooftop positions quickly grab up Stinger missiles and swivel mounted machine guns and begin firing at the aircraft as they pass. The rumble of the bombs blasting apart buildings shakes the entire town, and people scramble into the streets in a panic.

Sly Rax smiles at the destruction in the distance. "Now that's music to my ears." He lightly touches the sidearm in his shoulder holster, as if to say soon, baby... soon.

As everything on the ground explodes into burning and chaos, John Lennon is singing through it all...

"There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing you can sing that can't be sung. Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game. It's easy. All you need is LOVE! All you need is LOVE! All you need is LOVE, LOVE. Love is all you need."

The Su-22 fighters release several bombs along the length of the road and climb immediately, increasing speed and screaming off to the south. The second of the pair is caught as it flees by a Stinger missile. One wing bursts into flame and the craft wobbles erratically, still moving basically south. Each bomb explodes into a cloud of particles twenty feet above the ground. The clouds descend slowly through the air for a few seconds before igniting in a bright flash, sending a shockwave through buildings, vehicles, and any people who are unfortunate enough to be standing in the vicinity. The exteriors of houses and shops are torn away as though they were merely dusted with powdered sugar rather than built with brick and mortar. Trucks and cars are mangled into twisted wrecks. If there were people nearby, there's no sign of them now.

Chameleon curses softly as she hears the 'take cover' warning, diving for some cover and swearing as she hears the explosions, clutching her weapon and bracing for the impending ground assalt.

One poor guy emerges from his hiding place on the ground, screaming and on fire.

"Nothing you can make that can't be made," John sings over the frequencies. "No one you can save that can't be saved. Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time. It's easy. All you need is LOVE. All you need is LOVE. All you need is LOVE, LOVE. Love is all you need."

Even Angel is singing along, even though he's turned his radio down quite a bit. Hey, a good song is good, moreso when served with delicious Irony. The sniper holds his fire for now; no need to give away his postion so soon.

Nightlash inverts for a dive. Ha! Now there's something worth blowing up... Anti-aircraft emplacements are swiftly targeted as she pulls a belly-up dive to get into position, leveling out and reverting to a proper horizon while the 20mm guns affixed to the drone-craft open up, strafing the defenses that revealed themselves in the wake of the two Sukhois. Follow-on scans are run to check for retaliatory weapons fire as she climbs back up to a proper altitude, stealth systems disengaging in favor of full-capacity use of her engines' power. HAHAHA! Now this...this is what she missed all the while. Bliss. Pure, raw, combat-driven bliss. She's actually giddy.

Nightlash suddenly fades into sight without a sound.

From JSF #639, Wisp gets the message about what is going on in the town proper, and jumps in her cockpit, powering her engines up and taxiing out immediately into launch position, shoving the stick on her fighter forward and moving the 'local' jet down the runway, for her takeoff.

The dust has barely settled from the bombing run when the telltale sound of incoming rockets fills the air. Dozens of rockets fly in from afar, shattering buildings and shaking the ground with their impact.

General Hawk snarls as building after building is blown to cinders. "Regroup! Establish defensive positions!" he shouts. "Watch for ground assault!"

From her position within one of the convoy trucks, Wiretap watches Nightlash with some interest. Then, in another screen, she prompts the rest of the Tele-Viper team. "Get ready for what's next," she tells them. It needs no special code word. They know what to do.

Out on the ground, people are screaming and rolling around in ditches. It looks like Dante's ninth circle of hell in ground zero.

Over the airwaves, and as the rockets crash into buildings, John Lennon is still singing!

"Nothing you can know that isn't known. Nothing you can see that isn't shown. Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be. It's easy. All you need is LOVE. All you need is LOVE. All you need is LOVE, LOVE. Love is all you need!"

(KA-BOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!)

Sly Rax grins broadly as he roars towards the front of the assault group, enjoying the Beatles and the bombing. "The maan is a genius," he mutters to himself in awe.

Chameleon hurries quickly for fallback position, checking her weapon and watching the city entrance again once she's situated.

From the north, a pair of Soviet T-72 battle tanks roll in, their engines growling, their treads squealing. They roll indiscriminately over rubble, vehicle husks, and fallen soldiers, firing shells at nearby buildings and vehicles.

Bludd grins maniacally at the destruction rolling out before him. The convoy is practically at the town's boundary by now. "Press forward!" he cries over comm channels. "Secure the road! Eliminate all opposition!"

Sly Rax says, "You got it, Boss!"

Sly Rax kicks his bike into gear, roaring over the rubble and ramping into town.

General Hawk grabs up his radio. "Get any vehicle left in operation out there! Head them off!" he says, as rebels and Joes scramble to get into any armed vehicles that the bombings missed. They aren't much... trucks with machine guns on mounts and handheld rockets.

Eventually, the song winds down into the bit where Paul begins aping the opening to 'She Loves You', with the yeaaah, yeeaah, yeeeahhsss...on the ground, it and the song combination is extremely strange, to say the least.

Wiretap waits and watches, then fades the song. Once this happens, she smiles slightly. "Playtime's over." She enters a series of commands into her laptop. The other Tele-Vipers do the same...

(RADIO) Wiretap starts jamming all radio signals in the immediate area.

Sly Rax flips up the triggers in the handles of his motorcycle, and deploys its machine guns, indiscriminantly firing into the town as he roars over the rubble, laughing manically.

Angel grins, the wind-down of the song the signal for 'go time'. He sights his first target, a poor greenshirt trying to direct his squadmate. With a thundering CRACK of a supersonic bullet, the greenie goes down, his kneecap destroyed.

HAHAHAHAAyeeeeah... Nightlash is enamored by the explosions. Not hers, of course, but the rockets fired after her first strafing run are enough of a validation on her choice of targets. And explosions! Wonderful explosions! She snaps into a quick turn. No true sign of enemy aircraft yet... Air superiority maintained. Good. Now, to ground forces. The Night Raven answers the sudden emergence of the Beatles, but with her own radio jammed, she does so by turning on external loudspeakers. Rolling Stones begins to blast 'Paint It Black' to anyone able to hear over the din of her engines, as well as the explosions signalling the strike. Dropping altitude, she begins another strafing run to help batter the entrenched defensive positions.

Mamba #726> Interrogator flies ahead of the Cobras, and prepares to make a bombing run on the remaining buildings, hoping to take out any more missiles. He watches the HUD for any signs of enemy aircraft.

Sly Rax sings along his own version as he spots Joe troopers and swerves to shoot and/or run them down. "I see a Greenshirt and I want to paint him red..."

From JSF #639, Wisp gets taken off finally, and banks, moving to cut off enemy air superiority from the city, keeping full throttle open to get there as soon as possible, arming all weapons systems and checking radar for targets.

Behind the tanks, a handful of squat, tan armoured personnel carriers scoot into town, soldiers within firing assault rifles through portholes in the vehicle's passenger compartment. Through the dust, the shadows of troop trucks are visible as they pull up to the edge of town and disgorge dozens of foot soldiers. From his own APC, Bludd observes a solitary Night Raven blaring the Rolling Stones and doing a good job of defeating the defenders' attempts to mount a proper defence. "I didn't order any Night Ravens," he mutters. With his own radio necessarily compromised for the moment, he directs his driver to hang back while he tries to determine the identity of that plane.

Angel of course notices the lone Night Raven, and wonders about it for only a moment, before loading another round, and finding another poor greenshirt to kneecap. The Joes will soon realize that the Cobra sniper is a sadistic bastard... or just an asshole.

General Hawk remains in town at the HQ to direct the forces as best he can. It's about now he realizes the radio is dead. "Son of a..." he snarls. Running out, he flags down one of the trucks, and hops in the back, rifle out. "Show time." Slapping the roof of the cab, the truck takes off, heading to intercept the attacking forces.

GAME: Sly Rax PASSES a FIREPOWER roll of Average difficulty.

Sly Rax mows down a number of Greenshirts and running locals, laughing about it the whole time. "I should have put it in my contract that I get paaid per corpse!"

Nightlash pulls up to climb her way back to a suitable altitude to assess the scene...and-wait? What's this? She snaps into a roll and high-G turn that would make even the most strong-willed pilots black out as her engines surge to send her hurtling towards the airborne contact. Music ends and external speakers power off. It's go-time! Firing solutions dance across her HUD as she pushes herself closer to that supersonic threshold, just to give the F-35JSF a flyby to remember, and a nice bone-jarring sonic boom to boot to help secure the enemy pilot's attention.

As for Bludd's attempts? The FoF/IFF signature is old. Cobra, but still carrying outdated and obsolete Challenge/Callback codes and encryption.

>> Nightlash succeeds with its generic combat roll on Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639. <<

(RADIO) There is a jamming field blocking radio signals in this area. (Source: Wiretap)

Mamba #726> GAME: Interrogator PASSES an AGILITY roll of Average difficulty.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600 has arrived.

A handful of Syrian government soldiers head into a demolished building and emerge a few minutes later, prodding a woman and a child in front of them. They herd them toward one of the now-empty troop trucks.

GAME: Major Bludd PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Very High difficulty.

General Hawk spots Sly Rax and his bike causing havoc, and motions for the driver to pull in behind him and start pursuit. Hawk leans on the cab of the truck, rifle in hand, as he lines up a shot on the shade wearing bike thug fiend.

>> General Hawk fails his generic combat roll against Sly Rax. <<

From JSF #639, Wisp says many bad words under her breath as she has the Nightraven do a flyby, banking quickly in the highest G turn she can manage without getting herself pasted. Might not be as fast as Nightlash, but it's good enough. She tries to line a shot up, and greet the other lane with streams of bullets.

Bludd recognises that the signature the Night Raven is using is Cobra, but gets the feeling something's odd about it. He looks for it in the skies above, but doesn't see it. He makes a quick note in his handheld on the subject, intending to look into it in more detail later.

>> Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 succeeds with its generic combat roll on Nightlash. <<

Mamba #726 swoops dropping its two bombs on the remaining buildings. The Mamba weaves as it does so giving anyone firing at it a harder target to hit. Interrogator waits to once more hear the radio's chatter but the quiet suits him. He listens to the helicopter's rotars the powerful 'CHop Chop Chop'.

Wiretap is still inside a truck, orchestrating the large-area radio signal jam with the other Tele-Vipers. Due to the size of the interference, this is a project being undertaken by and entire team of Tele-Vipers, still scattered about the area both in trucks and out in the field. She's a bit nervous, only because she's still entirely vulnerable to getting picked off by a stray shot, so she keeps one hand on her rifle while she continues to feed the radio interference.

Sly Rax looks back at a truck starts barreling down on him, with someone shooting at him. "Hey, maan!" he complains. "That's just not cool!"

Sly Rax keeps one hand on the bike, and with the other he pulls out his sidearm, firing back at the truck and its driver.

>> Sly Rax succeeds with his generic combat roll on General Hawk. <<

Skystriker XP-14F #2600 streaks in from the south slamming over the battleground as its pilot identifies enemies in the air and on the ground.

General Hawk gets winged by the bullet as it flies over the cab, knocking him back into the cab for a moment, but he quickly recovers. "That's going to be enough of that..." he snarls as he lines up another shot...

>> General Hawk succeeds with his generic combat roll on Sly Rax. <<

Sly Rax ughs as a bullet slams into his shoulder, nearly penetrating his armor and certainly numbing his arm, almost making him drop his pistol.

GAME: Sly Rax PASSES an ENDURANCE roll of Average difficulty.

Angel is still safely on his ridge, harassing greenshirts. If you call cruelly kneecapping them as harassment. He watches the battlefield through his scope, and makes a potshot at a Joe APC, aiming for the wheels.

Sly Rax says, "Oh, man. That's it. You've messed with the wrong mercenary, maan."

Nightlash cackles inwardly, bullets striking the skin of her airframe. Ah...and this is where it gets fun. There's a burst of jets and the *kCHNK* of release mechanisms as the drone mounted on her back is released, banking sharply to peel away from its carrier. But, truthfully, that should be the least of Wisp's concerns as, now lacking the drone to block vision, a twin-barreled anti-aircraft gun fixture is revealed, pointing straight back at the JSF. Someone's never fought a Raven before, it seems. And as the guns open up, hopefully the numerous reasons why one never wants to perch on a Night Raven's tail should become all the more obvious.

>> Nightlash misses Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 with Heavy Laser . <<

(RADIO) There is a jamming field blocking radio signals in this area. (Source: Wiretap)

Chameleon takes note of the sniping going on, frowning at the kneecappings, and trying to figure out where they're coming from, to see if she can move around to flank the position, and give the shooter a problem.

Sly Rax reaches into his sidecar, and pulls out some sort of metal hood - like a welding mask. He places it over his head, and then turns back to the truck. With a blast of blinding light, he fires an energy harpoon at the truck's engine block.

>> Sly Rax succeeds with his generic combat roll on General Hawk. <<

GAME: Sly Rax PASSES a FIREPOWER roll of Average difficulty.

From JSF #639, Wisp has indeed fought Night Ravens before, and starts moving her stick as she sees the turret, twisting her jet away from the anti-air fire with minimal effort as though it was an expected action. Once she's evaded the fire enough, she tries to pull herself back into position underneath a bit, pulling the nose up once she does, and trying to fire her guns more directly at the jet, rather than just a light pelting.

Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 targets Nightlash with its weapons.

From JSF #639, The computer beeps. "Target acquired."

GAME: Angel PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Very High difficulty.

>> Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 strikes Nightlash with Machine-Cannon . <<

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace spots the MAMBA wasting buildings full of townspeople, and leaves the Nightraven to Wisp for now, targetting Interrogator instead.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600 targets Mamba #726 with its weapons.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> The computer beeps. "Target acquired."

General Hawk snarls as the beam strikes the truck's engine, and the truck sputters to a halt. "Oh you bastard.." he snarls, jumping out of the back of the truck as the driver scrambles for cover. Taking up his rifle and diving for cover behind a stack of grain barrels, he takes aim at Rax and unloads a flurry of bullets.

>> General Hawk strikes Sly Rax with Rifle . <<

Sly Rax arghs as bullets slam into him from Hawk's position, some of them tearing through his armored leather jacket. He struggles to maintain control of the cycle.

GAME: Sly Rax PASSES a DEXTERITY roll of Average difficulty.

GAME: Sly Rax PASSES an AGILITY roll of Average difficulty.

GAME: Sly Rax PASSES an ENDURANCE roll of Average difficulty.

A Syrian government soldier hefts an RPG-18 rocket launcher, settles it on his shoulder, and fires an anti-tank round at one of the enemy APCs nearby. Not waiting to see the result of his shot, he tosses down the empty rail, unslings his machine gun, and heads off to join a clutch of his fellows who are moving toward another group of stunned and injured civilians.

Sly Rax growls within his mask, and brings the bike around, firing its machine guns at Hawk in response.

>> Sly Rax misses General Hawk with Ballistic . <<

Angel is keeping taps on the battle from his perch, pleased with the events so far. There wasn't much resistance. He catches movement, looks more closely. "Hmm, a Joe." he says simply, once again loading a round, and aiming for another kneecappin'.

Nightlash ows.. Now that hurt. But this is where that drone comes into play. Throttling up to gain a bit of distance, she pulls hard to break away from the aircraft peppering her sleek airframe. That's going to be a pain to repaint later...especially since where she goes for repaints carries more stock in purples than black. As she pulls away, though, that drone is there to pick up the slack and keep the pressure on, the 20mm mounted cannons opening up on the F-35b as it jets in from the side to intercept.

>> Nightlash misses Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 with Ballistic . <<

>> Angel strikes Chameleon with AWSM . <<

Mamba #726 Interrogator's eyes narrow in his helmet and dodges the incoming fire as the HUD reports the helicopter being targeted. He says to his gunners "Fire at will!" He twists the mamba around and lets his gunners unleash ther pod's machine guns.

General Hawk ducks down behind the barrels as Rax' shots riddle it. Rising back up, he sends forth another flurry of bullets.

>> General Hawk misses Sly Rax with M16a1 . <<

Mamba #726 targets Skystriker XP-14F #2600 with its weapons.

Mamba #726> The computer beeps. "Target acquired."

>> Mamba #726 strikes Skystriker XP-14F #2600 with Machine-Gun . <<

Chameleon gets hit as she's trying to scout position, swearing as the bullet hits home nastily. She staggers, falling forward and getting herself back up, trying to find the shooter location still, figuring now from where she was standing and where she was hit.

GAME: Chameleon PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Above Average difficulty.

Sly Rax ducks down as Hawk's assault rifle fire bounces harmlessly off the armored purple windshield of his motorcycle. Popping up again, Rax fires a series of barbed darts from the temples of his mask.

>> Sly Rax strikes General Hawk with Barbed Dart . <<

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace scowls as machine gun fire rips through the skin of his jet. He banks around, going in for another run but this time firing from more of a distance, hoping to nail the MAMBA from farther range than he Cobra chopper can return fire.

>> Skystriker XP-14F #2600 strikes Mamba #726 with Sparrow Missile. <<

General Hawk is knocked back by the force of the dart which rips his coat and leaves a deep gash in his side. Grimacing with pain, he pulls a grenade off his bandolier and rises up, giving it a pull and a toss at Rax.

>> General Hawk misses Sly Rax with Grenade . <<

Wiretap peruses Bludd's play list in another window. "Beatles, okay...who are all these other bands? I've never heard of most of these songs. Wow, some of these are seriously OLD." She whistles low, then plays one over the jammed frequency.

"I'm Henry the VIII I am! Henry the VIII I am I am! I got married to the widow next door, she's been married seven times before and every one was an Henry! ('Enery!) She wouldn't have a Willy or a Sam (No ma'am) I'm her 8th old man I'm Henry, Henry the VIII I am! SECOND VERSE, SAME AS THE FIRST!"

"...What the fffff...." Wiretap can't even get this one through her head. "What is this I don't even."

(RADIO) There is a jamming field blocking radio signals in this area. (Source: Wiretap)

From within his mask, Rax's voice says, "Oh, craaap!" as he swerves to dodge the grenade.

GAME: Sly Rax PASSES a DEXTERITY roll of Average difficulty.

GAME: Sly Rax PASSES an AGILITY roll of Average difficulty.

GAME: Sly Rax PASSES an ENDURANCE roll of Average difficulty.

From JSF #639, Wisp pulls on her stick once again as the drone starts coming after her, dodging and ducking. Meanwhile, she adjusts for a missile lock, trying to get Nightlash sighted up. Once she's close, she pulls herself in, waiting just long enough for the lock confirmation, before letting off a missile, pulling up and back once she does in her continued evasion pattern.

>> Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 strikes Nightlash with AIM-120. <<

Sly Rax manages to keep control of the bike, turning it so the armored sidecar shields him from the bulk of the blast.

Angel smirks as his bullet finds its mark. The smirk doesn't fade as the Joe starts to close in on him; if anything his grin gets more sadistic. "Come come, little lady." he says to himself, making another shot at the Joe.

Mamba #726 The Mamba rocks as it's hit by the missile. Interrogator watches as the HUD goes yellow for the left pod. He radios "Gargoyle report!" The gunner responds the pod won't launch and the missiles won't fire. I still have machine guns though. Interrogator says "ready missiles we will try to get that jerk if he gets closer." Interrogator tries to close with the Skystriker.

>> Angel misses Chameleon with Ballistic . <<

Sly Rax twists the motorcycle around, firing a rapid burst from the Piranha's machine guns at Hawk. "Not nice, maan," he comments dryly.

>> Sly Rax strikes General Hawk with Rapid Burst. <<

Nightlash takes the blow in stride...sort of. She goes careening into a wild series of barrel-rolls, black smoke pouring from the spot where the missile struck. Well, at least her armor compensates enough that it's a thorn in her side. A painful thorn. The drone flies through, preparing for another pass while she halts her roll with practiced precision, nose rising up to streak back towards the JSF while the bomb-bay along her belly opens to roll out a missile, responding in kind to Wisp's blast. Of course, inwardly she's yelling all sorts of obscene things, in human and Cybertronian, at her targeting systems.

>> Nightlash strikes Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 with Missile. <<

General Hawk is hit with the bullets and knocked back. "Ok... no more Mr. Nice guy." He reaches into his sack and pulls out a Stinger missile. "Try this on for size." A quick target lock and a flip of the trigger, and it's on its way towards RAx and his bike...

>> General Hawk misses Sly Rax with Missile . <<

Chameleon evades the shot from the sniper this time, pulling one of her own weapons up, a scoped one. She takes quick aim at where she figures the sniper to be, adjusting the sight very slightly in a quick motion, and moving her hanad to the hold, firing the long range rifle from the shoulder, not bothering to get in 'position' so much.

Sly Rax curses in his helmet, and ducks down, taking evasive maneuvers as the missile narrowly misses blowing his bike to bits. He glances over his shoulder as the missile slams into an abandoned building, yelling, "All riiight!" as he turns back and fires a blast of hardened-carbon darts at Hawk.

>> Chameleon strikes Angel with Sniper-Rifle . <<

>> Sly Rax misses General Hawk with Carbon Darts . <<

General Hawk manages to duck below these as he gets his rifle ready again. "Not down yet you bastard." he mutters as he fires off an aimed shot...

>> General Hawk strikes Sly Rax with Rifle . <<

From JSF #639, ... And the obscene things yelled at all the target systems apparently work, as the missile lashes out, striking the fighter and leaving a nice ugly hole in it, one engine smoking and spluttering some, debris falling away from the plane as the little pilot tries to straighten it up and fly right. Wisp swears very softly as she does it, trying to hold together and check her system monitor. Soon as she realizes she has a lock still, she tries to force the plane around, and fires a sidewinder.

>> Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 strikes Nightlash with Sidewinder. <<

GAME: Sly Rax PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Average difficulty.

Sly Rax is shocked as he finally realizes who's been shooting at him - It's General Hawk hims -- erk! Bullets slam into him as he veers towards Hawk. At the last minute Sly leaps from the bike, drawing a knife in the air and bearing down on the Joe Commander. "I'm going to be paid such a bonus when I bring Bludd your head!"

>> Sly Rax strikes General Hawk with Knife. <<

Angel curses as his newfound play buddy pulls out her own rifle and gives him a taste of his own medicine. Bitter, bitter medicine. The round lands in his shoulder, and a stream of colorful French curses fills the air. Angel quickly retreats a bit, moving enough that the enemy has to look for him again. Quickly bracing his rifle, he shoots again, hoping to put the Joe down.

General Hawk yelps in pain as the knife slams into him, and he manages to get his own drawn. "No trophy hunting today, you son of a bitch." he says, giving Rax a savage swipe.

>> Angel misses Chameleon with Sniper Rifle . <<

Government soldiers have gathered about thirty men, women and children near one of the empty troop trucks. They load the women and children onto the truck and signal to the driver. The truck rumbles off to the north. The mens' hands and ankles are tied and they're corralled not far from Major Bludd's APC.

>> General Hawk misses Sly Rax with Stiletto. <<

Nightlash yells. She actually yells. Audibly. That one stung...and she's not happy about it at all. Forget being nice... she's angry, and the petty little paper airplane is pushing all the right buttons. Smoke continues to billow like an ominous contrail as she streaks past the F-35b, picking up speed as she comes around and...does something no sane pilot would ever do unless they'd gone straight-up Kamikaze. Air intakes open up to increase airflow to the SCAMJets, offering that nice burst of obscene speed the Night Raven platform is known for as she careens headlong towards the hapless, inferior piece of scrap that Wisp is flying. No weapons... no, she's out to ram it head-on.

>> Nightlash misses Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 with Smash. <<

(RADIO) There is a jamming field blocking radio signals in this area. (Source: Wiretap)

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace sees the missile slam home, and moves in to finish the job.

Chameleon watches the moveoff from her scope, smirking just a little as she dodges the blast and moves the scope right back there, to see if she can't pick up the moving target.

GAME: Chameleon FAILS an INTELLIGENCE roll of Above Average difficulty.

Sly Rax says, "Good luck with that, old man. You should have staayed in your cushy office!"

Sly Rax dodges the knife, and head-butts with his metal mask.

Mamba #726 Interrogator smiles as the Skystriker moves in. He waits until it's within range and before he can give the command one of the Mamba's air to air missiles streak towards its target!

>> Sly Rax misses General Hawk with Smash. <<

>> Mamba #726 strikes Skystriker XP-14F #2600 with Mini-Missile. <<

"What does a cushy office have to offer over kicking your ass??" Hawk snarls as he dodges the headbutt, and then with a quick pushoff and jump, aims a kick right at Rax' chest.

From JSF #639, Wisp curses loudly as she sees the jet coming after her like that, pushing the engines hard as she does a turn and bank to the limits of her ability to maneuver. She swears very softly and tries to stabilize after, trying to turn about on the jet that tried to ram her, firing the machine guns as soon as she has has the nose around enough, or as soon as she thinks she does at least.

>> General Hawk strikes Sly Rax with Leap-Kick. <<

>> Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 strikes Nightlash with Machine-Cannon <Medium>. <<

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace frowns as his gamble fails to pay off, and his famed luck runs out. A mini-missile slams into his jet, and a trail of smoke pours from the hit, as the Skystriker wobbles dangerously as Ace fires a second missile nearly point-blank range at the Mamba as its flies past, Ace barely pulling up before the Skystriker slams into one of the demolished buildings.

>> Skystriker XP-14F #2600 strikes Mamba #726 with Sidewinder Missile. <<

Angel hunkers down, grinning as it seems that the Joe has lost sight of him. "Well now, little lady, keep your eyes... on... the prize..." The sniper aims at her rifle-arm, taking a breath before squeezing the trigger.

Within one of the convoy trucks, Wiretap's finger slips halfway down Bludd's playlist, and 'Good Morning, Starshine' begins playing. "Oh, ugh," she exclaims, making a yuck-face.

"Good morning, Starshine," croons a lovely voice over the jammed frequencies. "The earth says, helloooooo-Sydney (talk)"

"Gah. Bleah." Wiretap flails her hands, then continues to check the integrity of the jamming signal. It's beginning to wane -- they don't last forever. "Hope that was enough to screw over the Joes," she says. "Cause I can't take much more of this playlist."

>> Angel misses Chameleon with AWSM <Medium>. <<

Nightlash missed? How did she miss! She seethes, watching the JSF fall behind her and open up with cannons. Armor flakes away as holes are punched into her airframe that should never be there, hints of what looks to be discolored hydraulic fluid seeping from one of the bullet-strikes. (Energon, for those more savvy on it). She keeps on her course, though, letting one of the rearward-facing rocket pods pick up for her where the ramming left off. Or...well, where it tried to begin, and failed. Stupid piece of garbage F-35...needs to learn when it should die.

>> Nightlash misses Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 with Rocket. <<

(RADIO) Wiretap counters all jamming fields in the area. All radios are now free and clear of static.

<Cobra (IC)> Wiretap says, "Testing. One two three. Should be restored "

Major Bludd commands the APC driver to move further into town, leaving a group of Vipers behind to watch the prisoners. The APC picks its way over and around the rubble. Bludd spies Sly Rax and General Hawk in mortal combat and directs the vehicle to move in that direction.

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Reading you, Wiretap."

Mamba #726 The mamba shakes as a second missile hits. Gargoyle radios The transmission weak "The machine gun is gone launch the pod so I can bail sir!" Interrogator launches the pod and the gunner bails once the pod gets far enough away from the attack copter. Interrogato hears the burst of machine gun fire as Bigshot tries to hit the Skystriker.

Sly Rax is kicked bodily backward, falling painfully over a chunk of broken concrete and losing his knife in the process. "The hell with his, maan!" he mutters to himself, and makes a break for his bike, deciding he's done enough to earn his paycheck today and bugging out while he's still alive to cash it.

>> Sly Rax retreats from the area, leaving himself open to Wiretap, Angel, Major Bludd, General Hawk, Chameleon, and Nightlash. <<

>> Mamba #726 misses Skystriker XP-14F #2600 with Machine-Gun <Medium>. <<

"Oh you're not getting away that easy you bastard..." Hawk snarls, whipping up his M16 and firing a burst at the retreating Rax.

>> General Hawk misses Sly Rax with M16a1 <Medium>. <<

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "I, er, use that last one t'threaten annoying people with."

<Cobra (IC)> Wiretap says, "Mm-hmm..."

<Cobra (IC)> Angel says, "Could be worse."

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace manages to pull his jet up in time to outrun the strafing fire from the Mamba. He turns the smoking craft around and fires yet another missile, hoping to take out the Mamba before he's forced to land his ailing jet.

>> Skystriker XP-14F #2600 strikes Mamba #726 with Phoenix Missile. <<

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Delete that playlist, Wiretap. It's done its job. You used it admirably, I must say. *muttered* Gotta clean th'damn thing out..."

<Cobra (IC)> Interrogator says, "I must retreat. Good luck, everyone, and watch that Skystriker!"

Chameleon keeps looking for Angel, pulling out her AK as she closes range. She looks around again, trying to find where the sniper went, frowning.

GAME: Chameleon PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Above Average difficulty.

Inside Piranha> Sly Rax runs low to avoid the incoming fire, and then jumps in his bike, pulling the blast shield back to cover him as he races out of the town. Uh, mission accomplished, riight?

Chameleon spots him finally, and holds the weapon up, sighting in for a short burst.

>> Chameleon strikes Angel with Assault-Rifle <Medium>. <<

General Hawk leans back against the building and slides down, the pain of his wounds now catching up to him. Crawling into a nearby doorway, he finds a place to take stock of his weapons and take up a defensive position.

<Cobra (IC)> VENOM Agent Sly Rax says, "Aaah... making a tactical retreat myself, boss. But Haawk is in there, and I'm pretty sure I injured him... Bludd, you might want to move in and finish him off."

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Acknowledged, Rax."

Mamba #726 The mamba is hit by the powerful missile. There is a hole in the side of the body and Interrogator curses to himself. As the Mamba smokes he tries to make a landing behind Cobra lines.

From JSF #639, Wisp curses as she sees the rocket coming in for her jet, maneuvering quickly to the side, a little more debris falling of the damaged places as she does. She checks her missile load and status, cueing up another AIM-120 for launch, and tries to roll her jet back into targetting position, straining to keep the Nightraven on screen to target for it.

>> Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 misses Nightlash with AIM-120. <<

Angel lets out a pained 'eep!' as he gets sprayed by an assault rifle. "Merde!" he yelps, grabbing his rifle's carry strap with his left hand. He rolls out of the way of any more leaden death, and as he comes up, he whips out his trusty M-1911A1 and snaps off a couple of rounds off at the Joe.

>> Angel misses Chameleon with M-1911A1 <Medium>. <<

<Cobra (IC)> Interrogator says, "How goes the battle? DO I need to try to make it back to our camp?"

Nightlash is made whole again! Her drone docks, serving a couple of purposes. One, it masks that energon leak and two, it's a little bit of added back-armor in case those bullets come her way again. Rolling, she watches the AIM-120 streak by... Huh, maybe it was the smoke billowing from her aft that graced her with a bit of an impromptu countermeasure. She's wounded, but not about to quit...not now, especially as she spies the Mamba getting struck and pushed out of the fight. Slag...two on one? She leaves the Skystriker alone in the hopes it doesn't know she's there. Yet. Attention goes back to the JSF, all the more eager to knock out one of potentially two foes before she ends up out-gunned.

>> Nightlash strikes Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 with Missile. <<

Major Bludd's APC stops as Rax makes his retreat. The doors open and four Cobra troopers pile out, unslinging their rifles. "Root out any rebel -- or Joe -- resistance," Bludd tells them. The troops move into the shattered remains of the nearby buildings. The other two troops stay in the APC with Bludd and the troop driving. "Let's see if we can find General Hawk." The APC resumes its slow crawl through the ruins of the town, the soldiers inside scanning their surroundings for signs of movement.

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Return to the camp, Interrogator, yes, if you're able."

Back in the convoy, Wiretap busies herself with winding things down. Maintaining the inferference grid on such a large scale depleted a lot of the mobile generators they've brought along. Some of these generators have solar backups, and she orders the Tele-Vipers to switch the hybrid generators over to solar recharge. It's slow, but they really have nothing but time, as they had this ambush in the bag from the first moment.

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Anyone else have any contact with GI Joe agents?"

From JSF #639, Wisp swears as her jet is hit again, staring at all the warnings coming from it, for a moment. One engine is totally gone now, and the other is splouttering. It's barely in the air, and limping away ad minimal speed. She tries to break off, knowing the condition of the jet isn't going to let her get to far before she's shot down, but wanting to get atleast /somewhere/ away befre having to bail out.

>> Wisp's F-35B Lightning II #639 retreats from the area, leaving itself open to Wiretap, Angel, Major Bludd, General Hawk, Chameleon, and Nightlash. <<

<Cobra (IC)> Angel says, "Currently engaged with... A very tall black haired Joe. Who's good with a sniper rifle. And a machine gun."

Mamba #726 Smoke still billowing from it the Mamba clears the town and heads towards the Cobra camp. Interrogator radios Gargoyle who responds that he made it to one of the troop transports.

<Cobra (IC)> Angel says, "And female. Must mention that."

<Cobra (IC)> Head Snake Cobra Commander says, "If Hawk is there I want him captured at once!"

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Any Tele-Vipers able to get a visual recording of Joe presence?"

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "We're searching for Hawk now, Commander."

<Cobra (IC)> Head Snake Cobra Commander says, "Excellent. Double pay bonuses for all if he's found and captured alive."

<Cobra (IC)> Wiretap says, "Giving that a shot right now. Local recordings being checked...live webcams being checked also."

<Cobra (IC)> Interrogator says, "I will ba able to begin interrogation upon the General's arrival at our camp, Sirs."

Nightlash watches the F-35b bugger off, debating whether or not to continue...but the threat is gone. There's one more challenging /her/ airspace... Air-brakes snap open as she snaps her nose up into a forced stall, flattening the brakes immediately after so she can snap-roll on one wing to alter trajectory, picking up speed as her targeting systems begin drafting up telemetry on the Skystriker. Oh, if only someone were paying attention...they might even hear a soft, dark chuckle as nose-mounted lasers come online to jostle the Joe aircraft and catch it's attention. The Mamba may be down, but Ace is not out of the thick of it just yet.

Say it with us now! PEW-PEW-PEW!

>> Nightlash strikes Skystriker XP-14F #2600 with Laser <Medium>. <<

Wiretap taps away furiously on her laptop, trying to see if there's any webcam monitors or other such devices that have caught sight of Hawk at any point.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Seeing the Mamba retreat, Ace starts to turn his wounded jet around to head south once more. His eyes widen, however, as Wisp's jet takes a critial hit, and then the Night Raven's lasers burn across the SKystriker's metal skin.

GAME: Wiretap FAILS a TECHNICAL roll of High difficulty.

From JSF #639, Wisp limps her jet back towards its landing point, struggling to get it down, and sadly, eventually, having to bail and ditch it in the sand.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600 banks around trailing smoke and moves into position to return fire.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600 targets Nightlash with its weapons.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> The computer beeps. "Target acquired."

<Cobra (IC)> Head Snake Cobra Commander says, "Excellent, Interrogator."

Chameleon smirks as she sees the other sniper going for his M1911A1, dodging the bullet, and pulling out her pistol in a threatening appearing manner, smiling as she closes distance, even as she limps some from the hit she took. She takes aim quickly, and fires.

>> Chameleon strikes Angel with M9 <Medium>. <<

Skystriker XP-14F #2600 banks around and flies directly towards the Cobra-painted jet opening fire with its Vulcan cannon

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "All units, report status."

>> Skystriker XP-14F #2600 strikes Nightlash with Vulcan-Cannon <Medium>. <<

<Cobra (IC)> Wiretap says, "No sign of Hawk on any local surveillance, but our team is continuing to scan footage."

<Cobra (IC)> Angel sounds pained. "Dancing with a lady who's good with a gun..."

<Cobra (IC)> Interrogator says, "I'm back at camp, Sir. The Mamba made it, barely. The crew is all accounted for, as is the pod."

<Cobra (IC)> Head Snake Cobra Commander says, "Find him!"

Wisp falls to the desert on her parachute as the jet falls into a dune.

<Cobra (IC)> VENOM Agent Sly Rax says, "Baack at the camp as well... at the tender mercies of Scalpel's Medi-Vipers."

Nightlash curses up another veritable storm in Cybertronian as the bullets rip through, detatching the drone on her back for the sake of added maneuverability. A quick weapons check is in order... Eh, two rockets, four missiles. The guns are in the green as well. She's good to go... But that Skystriker is annoying, and that cannon stings. She inverts, going belly-up to fly beneath the Joe craft, pulling something out of the Unorthodox Combat Handbook and barrel-rolling while beneath him to slam one of her wings into Ace's aircraft. Again, if one were listening, they'd hear a female voice over the external speakers, "Get out of my sky, Joe!"

>> Nightlash misses Skystriker XP-14F #2600 with Slam. <<

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Acknowledged. Wiretap, keep trying to get footage of Joe presence here. We'll keep searching for Hawk."

Syrian government troops are busily going house-to-house, or, in many cases, rubble pile-to-rubble pile, searching each building and taking its occupants into custody. Occasionally, bursts of gunfire are heard as the soldiers deal with those who resist capture. As they are collected, the women and children, and those men who are badly injured, are loaded into trucks and sent off northward, while the uninjured and/or able-bodied men are secured and deposited in a group under Viper guard.

Angel snarls with pain as the Joe's shot hits him in the shoulder, agrivatting the first bullet wound the woman gave him. He falls to his knees, gasping in pain, dropping his pistol in the process. He's bent over with pain, and doesn't seem to be able to move.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace pulls on the stick, pulling the jet up just in time to avoid being hit by Nightlash's maneuver. "That's not just a ship -- it's a Transformer!"

GAME: Wiretap FAILS an INTELLIGENCE roll of High difficulty.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace does a dangerous maneuver of his own, bringing the jet around in an impossibly tight turn... for a human. He lets fire with his second Sparrow.

>> Skystriker XP-14F #2600 critically strikes Nightlash with Sparrow Missile! <<

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Any available troops near to Angel's position, move in to support him."

Wiretap knows she's getting leaned on for answers, NOW, but she doesn't really HAVE any. A little bit worried that she might be taking another years-long expedition (read: exile) to Siberia or worse, she decides to go with logic. It's all she has. It's better than nothing.

<Cobra (IC)> Wiretap says, "Okay. The area where Sly Rax and Hawk had their battle -- all functional cameras have been checked. As there's no footage of Hawk anywhere on them, I think it's safe to say that he *is* in that same area where they last fought. If he's in similar shape as his opponent, Hawk is not going to be able to be stealthy about getting out of there under his own power."

Nightlash is rocked, her little failed gamble paying off in dividends... for the other guy. Metal skin and armor peels away, as do a few more important internal things, but it just starts to work her up into more of a furious rage than she'd been in before. "Heh...heheh, nng... lucky shot." She rolls to let all that smoke billowing from external and internal injuries drift in Ace's flight-path to blind him while one of the anti-pursuit, rearward facing rockets launches from its pod, her drone breaking away from the fight to start scouting viable emergency landing sites.

>> Nightlash misses Skystriker XP-14F #2600 with Rocket. <<

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace pulls his ailing jet up to dodge the rocket attack, replying, "I am known for my luck." He fires his own missile in return - his second Sidewinder.

>> Skystriker XP-14F #2600 strikes Nightlash with Sidewinder Missile. << Chameleon stumbls some as she moves forward, still, eering at the Sniper, smirking just a little bit beneath her disguise. "So, not fveeling so good now, hm? Too bad. Shouldn't have been going vor kneecaps." She watches, but sticks her gun back down on its holster.

Warnings are starting to flash across her HUD, as well as audibly in the vacant cockpit. Nightlash sags, one of her engines taking a brunt of the blast. It functions still, but barely, the flame sputtering erratically. "Get off my tail..." She slams on those air-brakes again, presenting a nice wall of Night Raven in Ace's fligh-path to bodily knock him out of her way, mentally bracing herself for the potential impact. "Let's see how lucky you are."

>> Nightlash misses Skystriker XP-14F #2600 with Smash. <<

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace grits his teeth as he pulls up, leaving his last missile to smash into Nightlash in his place

>> Skystriker XP-14F #2600 strikes Nightlash with Phoenix Missile. <<

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Acknowledged, Wiretap. Fireteam Sierra, concentrate your search on Hawk's last known position. Comb that area until you find him. Fireteams Juliet and Kilo, divert to assist."

Angel grumbles a bit, tensing as the Joe comes near. His voice is shaky, and dripping with cruelty. "Would you rather... I take heads, Lady?" With a hiss of pain, he grabs his pistol around the barrel and leaps forward, swinging the butt end of the gun at the taller Joe's face.

>> Angel misses Chameleon with Bash. <<

Nightlash blacks out, for lack of better words. The explosion sends shrapnel and all sorts of debris flying every which way, the explosion from the missile's warhead tears through her dorsal, rupturing the opposite side of her airframe and coming out the belly. Engine one is the first to go as she struggles, clawing for altitude...only to lose the second and stalls out into a flat, inverted spin, both engines struggling to come back online with bursts of fire and smoke. Though, without the proper airflow, that's going to be difficult.

Chameleon smirks just a little as Angel says that and tries to swing at her, jumping back and away fro mit quickly. She shakes her head just slightly, adjusting her footing as she maneuvers and trying to strike a nice specific place on Angel, wanting him to be not bothering others any more. "I vould rather not, really."

>> Chameleon misses Angel with Precision-Strike. <<

Major Bludd directs the driver of his APC to leave the three fireteams to search for Hawk and set off instead to find live targets to harrass.

Angel curses softly as his desperate attack misses the woman's head. He quickly backpedals, dodging the Joe's counter attack with not some much grace as slight flailing and stumbling. "Then I reccomend you keep your opinion to yourself, Lady." The sniper pauses only a moment, breathing heavily. It's obvious that he's wounded, and badly. Bracing himself, he charges the Joe recklessly, hoping to bowl her off of her feet.

>> Angel misses Chameleon with Slam. <<

Chameleon smirks and moves away from the attempted attack, shaking her head and sliding a knife from one of the the side pockets, rolling back up with it and tring to poke him at least a little. "Not going to happen, sorry."

>> Chameleon misses Angel with Knife. <<

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace follows the Night Raven down, tracking her landing and trying to keep from joining her violently on the ground.

Angel would feel a bit foolish if he wasn't in pain and slightly pissed. He uses his momentum to dodge the poking. He takes a few steps back, panting. If he was actually -smart- about this, he'd run away. But he's stubborn. "Nice foot-work, Lady." he says, admiringly. "But I'll pass on the chance to see your knife skills, oi?" He rushes her again, going for a boot to the head this time around.

>> Angel misses Chameleon with Roundhouse. <<

Chameleon smirks just a little bit at that, shaking her head and dodging away from the boot. "Yeah, your vootwork is no better than mine. Obviously." She shakes her head, sighing and swinging her own foot up in response. "Still.... ve shall find out who has the footwork in the end."

>> Chameleon strikes Angel with Roundhouse. <<

Nightlash has no airflow, therefor has no means to maneuver, and no means of feeding the air-starved engines with the primary element that makes them work. The only sound is the auxiliary powerplant that runs everything when the engines are off... heh, well, crashing's not so bad. Some movement comes from the ailerons as she at least tries to right herself, the external speakers kicking on as Jimi Hendrix jams out 'All Along the Watchtower'. At least she's calm about it all. The ailerons manage to get her about a quarter of the way out of inverted, just enough that the wingtip on her starboard side is leading the charge into the ground and slamming her down with a sickening crunch of metal as sand, smoke, and fire billows upwards. Ow.

Nightlash notes, no parachutes, for those paying attention to pilots bailing out of aircraft.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace watches Nightlash slam into the ground, unable to help but wince in sympathy, even for a deadly opponent who may not even be human.

Major Bludd sees the Night Raven plummet from the sky and slam into the ground. "No chute," he comments. "Poor bastard."

Angel takes a combat boot to the face. There's a *crunch* as boot tells face who's the boss. The sniper is kncoked off of his feet, and ends up going headfirst into a scrub bush that's most likely thorny. Insult to Injury. He pulls himself out of the bush, and stumbles away from the clearly-better footworking Joe, and starts running. Well, more like a hobbling shuffle.

>> Angel retreats from the area, leaving himself open to Interrogator, Nightlash, Wiretap, Major Bludd, General Hawk, Chameleon, and Wisp. <<

<Cobra (IC)> Angel sounds like either his nose or jaw is broken. "Retreating..."

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace turns the jet south, but it's wobbling badly.

Wiretap still has several things going on at once. One of those things is checking the cameras around the building where Hawk was last seen. (Maybe he died in there,) she ponders. She briefly considers going in to find out for herself, but there's a team already checking on that -- and something about that scenario puts a shiver up her spine, anyhow. (Or he could be lying in wait...)

A pair of Syrian government troops rush toward Angel, skidding in the rubble and debris, their AK-47s raised. They shout angry warnings at Chameleon.

<Admin> Shattered Glass Typhoon says, "Poor guy. I sneaky gave Hawk a +allow so he wouldn't be as frustrated. =)"

Chameleon gets her ass awawy from there, her own AK raised and greeting them in a hail of fire, moving somewhere to check her own injury once she's clear.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace brings the Skystriker to a rough landing in a nearby field, unbuckling himself and bailing out practically the moment it comes to a stop.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace relenquishes control of Skystriker XP-14F #2600.

The Syrian soldiers scatter under the incoming fire, backing away from Chameleon, as she's not pursuing Angel any longer.

Bludd sees another plane head earthward, this one also easily recognised. "Looks like a rough landing," Bludd quips. "Let's go see if the poor lad needs ... assistance." The APC driver diverts in the direction of Ace's landing.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace strips down to his flight suit and draws his pistol. This is going to be a dangerous run.

Nightlash takes her time. Hendrix is still jamming along, though it's muted by several things. Such as dirt, and earth, and smoke. There's a moment of contemplation on her part. Engines are still too damaged...the drone is...well, probably crashed of its own accord during the blackout. Still, she hesitates...before finally just transforming so she can haul herself out of the thick of it, the action dousing the fires burning in her infrastructure as an added bonus. Or she just put a giant target on her back, either which way... But, hey, it was either that or burn to death waiting. She fights to get herself to her feet, limping heavily on her way out to... well, there's another good question. Who knows where.

The Night Raven S3P's airframe separates from the drone on its dorsal as it twists and contorts, nosecone folding down to reveal a sleek head, wings collapsing to form a cape of sorts. Her lower body unfolds into legs while engines slide in to hug in tight against her sides.

>> Nightlash retreats from the area, leaving itself open to General Hawk. <<

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace jumps as Nightlash transforms in the distance. I mean, he suspected it, but hell....

GAME: Wiretap PASSES a COURAGE roll of High difficulty.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace is way distracted by the giant robot, and almost doesn't hear Bludd's vehicle approaching before it's too late...

"Keep the network power boosting with those solar arrays," Wiretap tells her Tele-Viper team. "Make sure the power distribution is even. I'm going to go do a visual inspection of that area where Sly Rax fought the General." With that, she slips out of the truck and makes her way carefully to that area.

The APC picks up speed once it's clear of the rubble field that was once a thriving town. As it rumbles toward the downed Skystriker, Bludd notices the change in the Night Raven. "What in the --?"

Behind him in the vehicle, a Cobra trooper gawks behind his black balaclava. "A Transformer? That's a Night Raven?!"

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> GAME: Ace PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Average difficulty.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace tears his attention away from the robot in the near-distant crash site, and turns to see the approaching APC. "Drat!" he mutters, and heads for cover.

Nightlash is oblivious to gawkers, though there is a smirk as she spies the Skystriker on the ground. She's already tunnel-visioned on her perceived route out of dodge. Fortunately, no fire comes her way. Her wrecked frame is quite grateful for that... So, once she gets off to a suitable distance, she just collapses and rests back to try and recoup some sense of strength, optics blinking at the sky. "Heh..." She runs a quick self-diagnostic and post-flight check. "Heh...heheh....HAHAHA!" The laugh just keeps going, even as she 'bleeds' on the ground. "HA...heh...knocked you out of my sky after all, didn't I," she chuckles.

GAME: Major Bludd PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Above Average difficulty.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace leaves the CobraCon be for now, scrambling for cover behind a lone tree... choosing an area berift of ground clutter was good for landing, but not for cover.

A sadistic grin comes over Bludd's face as the APC approaches the downed pilot. "Oh, I'm gonna /enjoy/ this," he says. "Run 'im down!" he commands the driver. The APC picks up speed and barrels toward the tree Ace is hiding behind.

Wiretap is a little bit brave, but a little bit...not. She's not really one to get her hands dirty. And boy, is she intimidated about running into the Joe commander. He wears a jetpack and everything. But no one else has found him yet, and she's being pressed for results, so here she is at the building. She sees blood on the ground where Sly Rax and Hawk had their confrontation. She glances around for a trail, but doesn't see one.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace's eyes widen as the truck barrels toward him, and he quickly scampers up the tree, finding a relatively stable spot and drawing his pistol.

Skystriker XP-14F #2600> Ace has left.

Ace has arrived.

Ace aims at the truck barrelling toward him, and fires at the man in command!

>> Ace strikes Major Bludd with Pistol <Low>. <<

Nightlash watches from the relative safety, cheering on the APC with a pumping fist. "Yeah! Hit him! CRUSH HIM LIKE A BUG!" She coughs and settles back. Ow, too energetic there. Where did everyone go, anyway? She looks back at the sound of gunfire. APC versus Pistol...makes total sense in G.I. Joe logic. "BOOO! Die like a champ, flyboy!"

A couple of Vipers step out of a nearby former two-story building, one sliding a bit as he tries to walk over the rubble. "We ain't found nothin'," he says to Wiretap. "You think you can do better?"

"Gonna try, bro," Wiretap tells the Vipers with a smirk, and in she goes, strutting bravely...though she loses a bit of bravado once she's past the Vipers. It's kind of dark in the building. She pulls her rifle out. (Oh, come on, I'm looking for an injured, old, man....he's really beat up...and he's wearing a freaking jetpack and he's nigh-indestructable.)

Bludd gasps in surprise as a pistol round deflects off his shoulder armour and, fortunately, out the gunport instead of into the vehicle. He draws his pistol and points it out the gunport, snapping off a shot at Ace.

>> Major Bludd strikes Ace with M9 <Low>. <<

The Viper gives a snort as Wiretap goes into the building he and his fellow just came out of. "Hey, it's your funeral," he calls. To the other Viper, he complains, "Man, Bludd wants the impossible. Who's he think we are?"

"We're Vipers, dude," calls the other. "They give us the jobs nobody else wants to do."

GAME: Ace FAILS an ENDURANCE roll of Average difficulty.

Nightlash grumbles as Bludd pulls a play right out of the Joe Book of Silly. "You have TREADS! Just make him go squish!" She grumbles. "Ugh...or...you know, airstrike," she mutters softly and pulls herself to her feet again. Mildly rested, she resumes her trek out of the battle-zone.

Ace is hit with the bullet, and falls out of the tree. Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!

Ace hits the ground hard, and struggles to hold onto his pistol.

GAME: Ace FAILS an ENDURANCE roll of Average difficulty.

Wiretap is only doing this because she's ambitious. After all, it isn't some pissant greenshirt in there, it's the Joe Commander! She'd REALLY get some recognition for getting ahold of Hawk...maybe even another promotion! "Whatever, I'm not even saying you guys gotta stick around," she calls back to them. To herself, she mutters, "Go sit in the frigging truck and have a smoke if you don't feel like getting anywhere in life. Geeze. Dorks." Feeling nervous and jumpy, she switches on her Bluetooth lamps so they illuminate her surroundings a bit better.

Ace loses his sidearm in the fall, and straggles to draw his backup piece before it's too late. He gets it free of the holster and fires at the oncoming truck's front tire, hoping to devert it from its path in case the tree doesn't hold.

>> Ace succeeds with his generic combat roll on Major Bludd. <<

GAME: Ace PASSES a FIREPOWER roll of Average difficulty.

Starscream has arrived.

Ace is on the ground, bleeding, behind a tree, as a wheeled APC carrying Major Bludd bears down on him.

Wisp is on the ground, somewhere else, just sitting there mostly.

<Cobra (IC)> Head Snake Cobra Commander says, "Is Hawk yet in our grasp?"

The APC unfortunately does not run Ace over as he falls from the tree. Bludd laughs at the sight of the man tumbling through the air, and commands the driver to stop. The vehicle slides to a stop in the rocky sand and Bludd leaps out. Ace's shot punctures the APC's tire, which begins to rapidly flatten with a loud hiss. Bludd transfers his pistol to his left hand and takes a swing at Ace's head with his right fist.

<Cobra (IC)> Wiretap says, "Negative. But I'm *in* the building where he was last seen."

Nightlash is limping her way from a spectacular COBRA success! There's that downed F-35b somewhere off that-a-way, and that annoying little Skystriker on the ground over there...and the pilot is now getting his aft handed to him! It's GLORIOUS! Nightlash is, though, just as battered. Functional, but just barely, she's got fissures and cracks in her armor that would make any mech cringe. At least three missile-strikes, one which appears to have blown a craterous wound in her back and exploded out the side of her chest...though the alignment is off, perhaps while in alt-form? Yeah... She pauses to look back at the APC and Bludd as Ace falls. "HAHAHAHA! YEAH! GOOOO TEAM! HIT THE FOOL ONCE FOR ME!" She cheers again, momentarily losing her balance and having to catch herself as she staggers severely to one side. "Owowowowow..."

Wiretap frowns a little, and peers at the floor, looking for blood. This guy has to be bleeding. He can't NOT be bleeding, after what she was able to discern from the scene of the fight itself. "Come on, you had nowhere to go...nowhere, you don't just ninja-vanish," she mutters.

The Vipers move on to search another nearby rubble-pile.

>> Major Bludd strikes Ace with Punch. <<

The town of Dael is a shambles. Near the road, buildings have been reduced to rubble. Smoke rises from dozens of small fires dotted about the place. Syrian government troops move from house to house, collecting people and shipping them off in trucks. In the distance, beyond the town, Nightlash is limping away, looking rather battered. Not too far from her, Ace is in combat with Major Bludd.

"In combat with..." is a generous term... more like, Bludd chased Ace up a tree, shot him out of it, and now smashed his face in in revenge of a lucky shot Ace got in years ago...

Wiretap keeps going into the building, looking for any trace of the Joe Commander. "...OK, listen, we've totally got you surrounded right now," she says, peeking around doors and jumping at small noises. "It's probably in your best interest to let us know where you are...?"

Ace's head rocks to the side at the skillful punch, face immediately swelling from the powerful hit. He attempts to crawl away from the scene, looking pretty pathetic from such a dangerous presence in the sky.

Bludd cackles, dropping his sidearm into its holster. He walks around in front of the pilot, staring down at him imperiously. "What's th'matter, flyboy?" he asks. "Lose yer wings?"

Meanwhile, high up in the air, just crossing into the border from Iraq, a Sweepcraft scans feverishly for any trace of Nightlash!

Starscream is following the Sweep and as they enter the area he notices downed aircraft and humans fighting. Hes not impressed with fleshcreatures fighting instead scanning for the dark Cobra fighter aircraft instead.

Valour follows along as well.

Ace stares up at Bludd with hatred, but with his swollen face and battered body from the fall, the look isn't very impressive.

Wiretap opens up a few closets suddenly, and ends up shooting an old coat full of holes. "AAAHHH!!!!" *blamblamblamblamblam* "......." She *whews*, wiping sweat off her brow. "OK, enough is enough, come on out! I'm not joking, I can hear everything from here to your base. *Everything*. So give it up!"

Valour is scanning for Nightlash as well, following Scourge's lead.

On the ground, Syrian and Cobra troops alike notice the arrival of new aircraft in the skies overhead. Cobra radio frequencies light up with alerts and calls for air power.

Nightlash shouldn't be too hard to find, she's the massive black mech bleeding energon all over the place while still cheering on Bludd and the other Cobras. Pausing again to start recharging her reserves, she looks back...then up... Oh slag. Her optics go wide at the sight overhead. Not good. Very not good... like, so not good it ranks in the top ten of not good things. She straightens up as best she can manage, not bothering to hide from the Decepticons, but not signaling them in either. Just...waiting.

Ace's attention isn't on the Decepticons now... it's on Major Bludd, who has him dead to rights and can kill him with the slightest effort.

Starscream catches the sight and ping of energon and drops down suddenly. He does not slow down though, instead speeds up to rock the battle below as he heads for the Femme Decepticon areial fighter nearby and damaged.

Valour follows his commander once Nightlash is located.

Bludd gives Ace a savage kick, his face locked in a sneer. "What'd'y'think you were gonna accomplish here, eh?" he asks. "D'you really think yer little game o'hidin' with th'rebels was gonna fool anybody?" He turns to the APC, where the troopers have piled out of the vehicle and are staring at the flat tire. "Get a video feed," he growls at them. "A cellphone camera, anything." He pushes Ace over with his foot so that the American flag on the pilot's uniform is visible. "I want film of this."

Ace is savagely kicked, and can only lay there and spit up blood. The ground troops have no US ID, but Ace wasn't planning to join, and so has American flags all over him. =)

Ace looks left and right, realizing he's endangered not just the mission, but the entire claim that US is only supplying weapons to the rebels, not troops...

Valour follows Starscream over the battlefield, with slightly less panache.

<Cobra (IC)> Wild Weasel says, "Do you need me to travel to Ssyria for backup, ssir?"

Bludd looks up as the F-15 rockets by overhead. He swears quietly and keys his radio, snarling some commands into it. Then he looks back at Ace. "Y'shouldn'ta come," he says quietly. One of the troopers comes up to him and mutters something to him. Bludd turns with an expression of surprise, then scowls at the man and shoves him away. He takes the handheld computer from his belt, fusses with it for a moment, then holds it up so its built-in camera can see Ace. "Y'definitely shouldn'ta come."

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "We have an F-15 over the town. I want the Rattlers at the camp scrambled now!"

Nightlash narrows her optics, clearly not pleased with Starscream's bravado over the battlefield... Still, she waits, though a rather pleased smirk shows as she watches Ace get his just desserts. It tickles her processor. In fact, if it weren't for her own damage she'd probably be giddy. Much as Bludd is warning Ace, she scowls. "You shouldn't have come here, Starscream!" She pauses, a hint of confusion showing. "Wait...why /did/ you come here?"

"Dont tell me what I should and shouldnt do. You are where you shouldnt be and involved in something thats going to have ramifications for the whole faction that we dont need right now." Starscream snaps as he circles her. "Can you fly?"

Mamba #726 has left.

<Cobra (IC)> Wild Weasel says, "Waiting jusst over the border to join the oness at camp. On my way immediately."

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Acknowledged, Weasel."

"This is really, seriously, not making any sense," Wiretap sighs with aggravation, as her careful scouring of all the building's rooms yields only dead cockroaches and live sand fleas. And a Syrian nickle. What's going on out there doesn't really concern her too much, unless her own name's getting called -- or screamed, either way. Her Tele-Vipers have their marching orders, and they're available should someone require their services. She's got other business.

She brightens as she locates a trap-door to an attic storage area. "Oh yeah," Wiretap says cheerfully, rubbing her hands together.

Valour circles above Starscream, ready to back him up if need be.

Nightlash says, "Rami-" she pauses, "Ramifications? Like what?! You see that?" She points at the distant wreckage of Wisp's F-35, and then to where Bludd is tormenting Ace...or, rather, his Skystriker. "I did /good/ here! Real good! You see everything going on? THIS HA! This is victory! Triumph! Not hiding away doing NOTHING. This was conquest, glorious conquest." She shifts, something popping as a new stream of energon starts running from between armor panels and sags. "Hnnng... that hurt." She mutters. "You know? Things would be going just fine if you weren't here.""

Scourge is also circling above, but ready to land and be a Pack Horse if needed.

Ace says winningly, "Not your... war. You shouldn't be here... either."

Ace sees the camera, and sputters, "Decepticon attack... we responded..."

Ace uses the presence of the Decepticon to justify his own presence... the Joes aren't helping the Syrian rebels... Ace was just here defending the Earth against the evil Decepticons!

Ace says, "We worked pretty well together against the Decepticons... disappointing to see you working together with them again now..."

Starscream drops down and transforms sneering at the femme when another voice catches his attention. He looks toward the voice, "Decepticons attacked, what?!"

The silver F15 folds up into the powerfull Decepticon Air Commander, Starscream!

Valour transforms as well, to land silently behind Starscream, as his personal guard.

The ebony fighterjet folds up into the dashing form of Valour.

A-10 Rattler #7334 has arrived.

"Bullshit," Bludd spits, keeping the computer's camera on Ace. "US troops were hiding amongst the rebels before we arrived here. We already have General Hawk." He frowns at the comment about Cobra working with the Decepticons. "Don't be ridiculous. We would nev--" He looks over toward where Nightlash was limping away and sees two new figures near her. The presence of the F-15 makes more sense now. "Great," he mutters. He looks back at Ace briefly. "Cobra is /not/ working with the Decepticons," he assures him, a mildly disgusted tone creeping into his voice.

A-10 Rattler #7334> Wild Weasel leads a small phalanx of three Rattlers out of the nearby camp and over Dael's airspace, protecting the Cobra troops below.

Valour turns and flicks a wing as the Cobra air support approaches.

Ace smiles slightly to himself, at least gathering intelligence while he bleeds. He figures if Bludd really had Hawk he wouldn't need to be making this little recording.

Nightlash blinks as Ace blames Decepticons. Ah slag... "See what you're doing?! I'm not the one causing the fuss, you are!" She points at Ace. "You gave him an alibi!" Nevermind that she could have as well... "I mean, I got him attacking COBRA aircraft in Joe equipment in Syria! SYRIA! I don't know why I shouted the country's name, but, SYRIA!" She looks at Bludd following the remark... Ow, that kind of hurt a little. Or, maybe it's that line that ruptured. She mutters. "I'm done with this argument..." As air support begins to arrive on scene, she does what transformers do best, hides in plain sight, gears protesting audibly as she transforms and just plants herself there on the ground.

Nightlash's body collapses and reforms into the sleek shape of a COBRA Night Raven S3P before rejoining with the drone. Wait, where'd the drone disappear to in the first place?

A-10 Rattler #7334> Wild Weasel and his tiny armada don't directly threaten or provoke the Decepticons, but they definitely make their presence known as the circle above the Cobra troops.

"Look...I don't want to spend another 3 years in Siberia, okay?!" Wiretap yells into the building from the vacant attic area. "It is *not* happening! So hurry up and get your ass out here. I won't even shoot you! I just want to take you into custody." She triple-checks the attic, then climbs back down the ladder-hatch to the main floor. "Maybe you can make some kind of deal or something. I mean, let's face it, we kicked your butt." She heads into another part of the building she hasn't yet searched. "So, um, that should be reason enough. To come out. ...Please?"

Starscream spins back around and looks at Nightlash as she says what she says and transforms. Primus what a politcal slaghole shes just created. "How dare you throw this on me." he seethes through clenched dental plating. Then he turns to scan out the Cobras, "I will see to it that yoru precious 'unity of cobra' /country/ is destroyed before I ever see the Decepticons allied with your germs again." hsi optics glow and the tips of his arm cannons glow as power feeds into them with a hum.

A-10 Rattler #7334> Wild Weasel subtly brings the formidable weaponry of the Rattlers online. They might not be that fast, but they are basically flying guns.

Ace smiles slightly to himself, though it's hard to tell through all the blood and swollen tissue.

Nightlash remains motionless, though her engines start to come online with a fair bit of protest. Well, portside does, starboard's a stubborn one and opts to remain offline. The external speakers come online with a loud pop. "Starscream, what are you planning on doing? You do realize that lashing out at them will only worsen things, and most likely get you slagged. They out gun you."

Ace would love to see Cobra and the Decepticons have it out. By now most of the locals have been rounded up or fled anyway.

Bludd glances at the gathering of Decepticons, swinging the computer that way to get Starscream's ranting on camera. "Oh, look, a declaration of war from the Decepticons," he remarks. "This isn't about them," he tells Ace, glaring down at the man lying battered at his feet. "It's about how many teeth y'll have t'pick up once I'm done with ya." He swings his foot at Ace's ribcage this time.

<Cobra (IC)> Wild Weasel says, "Armed and Ready to move in if needed, ssir."

Ace erks and spits up more blood as Bludd's boots crack ribs. THAT wiped the smile off his face.

Valour tenses slightly, ready to instantly follow Starscream into battle if needed. His wings constantly make small adjustments to keep Valour's balance perfect for launching an immediate attack.

Ace wonders at Bludd getting the savage beating of an unarmed civilian by a Cobra officer on tape, but quickly realizes that will be edited out solely for the enjoyment of morale and training videos.

A-10 Rattler #7334> Wild Weasel circles around, putting his small fleet into position to attack if Starscream initiates hostilities.

Wiretap isn't sure what's got her more annoyed -- the fact that she's come up with just as much evidence for Hawk's whereabouts as those two LOSER Vipers got by spending 3 whole minutes doing a building walk-through, or that she's probably going to get blamed for Hawk getting away. Either way, she's pissed off, and she needs to blow off some steam. So she kicks the wall rather savagely in one of the vacant rooms, until it leaves a hole in the drywall. "AAAAHHH, stupid jerkface," she frets. (Wait, Pennington. Think outside the box here. Maybe he's hiding in one of those barrels outside of the front. Or maybe he fled out the back. Keep looking!) She calms down a little bit, then heads out of the building to check the area with the barrels.

Starscream flicks an aerilon at the continued insolence coming from Nightlash and studies the humans and weaponry in the area in from of him and Valour.

GAME: Starscream PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Extreme difficulty.

The Sweep is anxiously waiting on a command; the scent of blood is already heightening his aggressiveness. He waits for Starscream's order.

Ace starts to black out, visions of being saved starting to fade with his consciousness.

<Cobra (IC)> Head Snake Cobra Commander says, "What is all this? Where is Hawk? Don't tell me you've lost him!"

Starscream glances at the Sweep, "Assist Nightlash back to base." he looks back at the humans with a slight sneer, "Consider what I said a warning, fleshcreatures." he snaps a look at Valour, "We are leaving." he jumps up, transforms and lifts upward.

Starscream's agile body folds out into a silver F-15E fighter jet.

Scourge transforms and swoops down to help Nightlash.

The Sweepcraft splits apart, wings unfurl, and the Sweep Leader emerges forth, in all his beardy, pink-clawed glory.

<Cobra (IC)> Wiretap says, "No, sir! He's just chosen an excellent hiding spot. There's just no way he could have gotten far in the condition he was in."

Valour nods sharply, and transforms and follows Starscream like the Decepti-toady he is.

Valour leaps into the air, and expands into a large, impressive fighter jet.

Bludd switches off the camera and tucks the computer back into his belt. He delivers a powerful stomp to Ace's knee before turning on his heel and walking back to the APC. He stares at the troopers still replacing the flat tyre and keys his radio. "Send another APC out to my coordinates," he says into it. "You're lucky I have better things to do than cripple you," he calls over his shoulder at Ace.

<Cobra (IC)> Head Snake Cobra Commander says, "Very well. Secure the town, and appraise the Syrian government of your success. Continue the search... he can't hide forever. I want a full report in the morning."

Nightlash kicks her second engine on. "Major, I appreciate the opportunity to fight alongside Cobra." She turns and, with a rather...harsh rattle in that engine, goes to take off and follow Starscream back to Trypticon.

Ace moans in pain, too far gone for any retort, clever or otherwise.

Ace passes out in a pool of his own blood. Yo Joe?

Bludd frowns in the direction of the departing Decepticons, particularly at Nightlash's comment. An APC comes along shortly to collect him, and he rides back to the main road.

Valour follows Screamer back to base.

Starscream woudl like to kick NLs aft all the way back to base but he doesnt. He just leaves. hehe

Wiretap is reluctant to leave the building. She sorta feels obligated to stay there -- as if her very career depended upon it.

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Enemy presence has been neutralised. Techno-Vipers, move in. Utilise the prisoners we've collected on-site to aid in removing rubble as you rebuild the road."

<Cobra (IC)> Wild Weasel says, "Decepticon threatss have retreated. I will continue to patrol our airwayss lesst they or G.I. Joe return. We may want to disspatch a few Techno-Viperss to recover their downed Sskysstriker - it lookss to be one of their new oness."

<Cobra (IC)> Major Bludd says, "Acknowledged, Weasel. I want another squad of Techno-Vipers sent in from Cobra Unity to investigate the Skystriker. The road is our top priority."

<Cobra (IC)> Wild Weasel says, "Yesssir. At onsce."

Wiretap stays at the building where Hawk was last seen, rifle clutched in her hands, sitting on the barrels outside the door until she falls asleep sitting up.