The Start of Something Interesting...

[lastonepercent]

The day was calm, with no recent Decepticon attacks, and none suspected to be incoming for some time.  The cons were too busy licking their wounds from the last battle, one that the Autobots had decidedly come out ahead on.  The celebrations had gone on long into the night and the recreation room was already a mess.

Thus, it was the perfect chance for a lone Autobot to slip casually outside.

Mirage had no shift currently scheduled, so he was free to spend his time as he pleased.  He certainly made no move to hide his departure, greeting his comrades in the halls on the way out, but the box in his hands remained unopened despite any passing curiosity.  It was quietly shifted into subspace before long, and  the former noble shifted into alt mode just as smoothly when he reached the doors.  Despite the completely inappropriate earthen race car mode, the mech had little trouble self-adjusting before driving off into the forest covering the mountain, for business unknown...

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[cliffjumper]

Cliffjumper had been lagging behind, even if he'd been running as fast as he could. He wasn't Blurr, so his speed lay in his altmode, not in root mode.

::I have a magnetic holster. Or two,::Cliffjumper said with a huff, too annoyed to mention he had plenty of space in his subspace anyway and then aimed a glare at Mirage's back for good measure. ::Sure, I could but then there wouldn't have been any slaggin' point in goin' here and helpin' ya since if I leave now you could still be jumped what with that optic of yours!::

Not that he didn't see why they couldn't go for the front door anyway. The Cons should get whatfor like they deserved and here they were running the other way?

But it wasn't like he could pull Mirage where he didn't want to go, so follow him he had to do.

::Still think we could take 'em,:: Cliffjumper muttered, wondering if it was just MIrage's stupid, overly-cautious spy slag that made him prone to taking the roundabout way avoiding conflict or what?

[lastonepercent]

::As I said, you are welcome to try. It is highly inadvisable, but you could. I can hardly stop you.:: Mirage slowed his stride long enough to turn and give Cliffjumper a dirty look with his good optic.

::I, however, have a mission to complete. I would prefer that we both get out of here alive.::

He slowed to a stop at the next corner, holding a hand out to stop Cliffjumper in his (rather noisy) tracks. Cliffjumper's huge feet simply weren't made for stealth like Mirage was.

::-hold! I hear someone.:: The distinctive clopping tread of a single pair of seeker heels was racing toward them from the adjacent hall. He reached for his rifle - hopefully he'd be able to tag the mech when they came around the corner...

[cliffjumper]

::Well, you could, but I'd be fraggin' thankful if ya didn't,:: Cliffjumper sniped, wiggling his gun up at Mirage. Not that this mattered, really. He wasn't about to turn around and go out the way he'd gone in, because separating was a stupid idea.

Cliffjumper's reckless daring actions and charges came when a situation presented itself and that seemed the thing to do. It was hardly premediated on pure stubbornness... well, not usually.

And if Mirage found him noisy, Cliffjumper was, in turn, perfectly aware of that as well. He was trying, but he wasn't a spy - Bumblebee had tried to show him tricks to walk quietly even with their big feet, but he could never manage to quite get them. The difference in noise level between him and Mirage was, to his own optics, rather wince-inducing.

It was also impressive how quiet Mirage managed to be, really.

::Don't see what you're so slaggin' worried about we're doin' fi--- wha?:: Jerking to a stop, Cliffjumper almost walked into Mirage but managed to stop before that, and now that he was paying attention it wasn't hard to hear someone coming.

Narrowing his optics, Cliffjumper readied his own gun. Sure, it was just glass gas, but if Mirage didn't get the Decepticreep on the first try, a blast of gas would surprise the slagger and if nothing else, the gas's effect would be helpful later.

[lastonepercent]

Bumblebee was a special case, and nothing anyone ever said would be able to convince Mirage otherwise.

The spy hissed at Cliffjumper's snappy response, not bothering to offer any retort in turn. Later, if they lived.

::Seeker. Just one. Be ready.:: It was all he managed to say before the Decepticon rounded the corner. Mirage fired, already cursing his ruined depth perception as he did so; he could immediately tell the shot was too wide, only nailing the seeker - Skywarp! - in the shoulder vent.

...Fragging scrap.

[cliffjumper]

"What the frag---- gah!" Skywarp staggered from the glancing shot, then got a dose of glass gas all over his torso - though he avoided the majority of the blast, smirking as he flickered out of view.

Cliffjumper automatically barrelled sideways, pushing Mirage further away from his original position - not that he knew if Skywarp was aiming for Mirage or not, but he'd definitely not been looking at him even if he'd shot at him last.

And he was the spy that, apparently, had disrupted the 'Cons operation here, at least as far as Cliffjumper understood it. Better try to---

"Ohhh, hey, glitchmice," Skywarp sniggered as he faded in again, and sure, his hand didn't land where he'd assumed it would (that was, the blue and white racer's shoulder), but the runt's helm was just as good, really.

"Fraggin' pit! Scum-suckin' Decepticreep, leggo!" Kicking backwards, Cliffjumper didn't reach metal, trying instead to bang his gun against the flying tincan's hand around his helm - and had to bite down on a whine when it was roughly bent out of his hand and tossed away.

At least he hoped it'd just been tossed away and not destroyed, because that sort of gun was harder to replace than a normal blaster, frag it all!

"Rude, mousey," Skywarp laughed again, apparently very amused by how own wit, and Cliffjumper hissed and got fragging rattled as a result.

The glitch's palm was also digging against his horns, frag it all.

"And you... why don'tcha just put that rifle down, huh?" Skywarp's glittering gold gaze, full of malicious amusement, turned to Mirage.

[lastonepercent]

The teleport was expected, really. As soon as he saw that it was Skywarp, Mirage had known they would only get one shot at him before he did it and got the jump on them. The tackle from Cliffjumper, however, was not.

::Gah! What-!:: Mirage staggered as he was tackled, hitting the wall on his nearly-blind side. Then Skywarp was upon them...complete with a hostage, all but dangling from a massive hand.

Stupid, stupid minibot!

He glared down Skywarp as well as he could with a half-shattered optic. His rifle was impotently pointed toward the ground, still angled from when he'd been shoved. He didn't dare yet make a move.

"...Skywarp. Always a pleasure."

It only took a moment to plan. His antivirals had done what they could. His invisiblity mod was still mostly affected, mostly through the timing componants and cooling systems. He'd burn the thing out if he tried to use it for more than a minute at a time, without Ratchet's repairs.

"Very well."

Luckily, he didn't need a minute.

Letting his gun drop to the floor, he used it as a distraction to go flicker out of sight - and moved in.

[cliffjumper]

Cliffjumper was still trying to reach Skywarp for a kick or two since trying to claw at the hand squeezing his helm just invited more squeezing and it felt like his helm was about the fragging pop.

Nevermind the warnings about impending structural damage, as well. But he just couldn't reach and that was just as frustrating as this position was humiliating. He definitely didn't like dangling with his legs in the air more or less his full length off the floor either.

Cliffjumper completely missed the vicious grin Skywarp gave Mirage at the oh-so-sincere greeting, but he would probably just have sneered up at the Seeker if so.

When Mirage dropped his rifle however...

::Don't---::

And then Mirage flickered out of view.

"Wha---"

Both Skywarp and Cliffjumper exclaimed at the same time, staring with what was probably rather similar expressions. Cliffjumper wasn't sure if he was pleased the noble had taken the opportunity and left, since Skywarp had been aiming for him, or angry the slagger actually had.

... If he had?

[lastonepercent]

Wide feet with the best tensile cable and rotatory cuff upgrades money could buy made for silent steps. Two steps and a pivot on flexible ankles- taking a wider arc than he usually would, compensating for the busted optic- Mirage ducked under a black wing to avoid getting smacked by it as Skywarp shifted in his confusion.

He could already feel the unusual levels of strain on his invisibility systems, but he was at Skywarp's back in less than three seconds. He needed to get the seeker to let go of Cliffjumper without causing the minibot further damage - and he knew one way that was almost always guaranteed to make a mech drop what he was holding.

A flick of the wrist ejected two small metal cylinders, connected with a length of metal cording. Grasping one in each hand, Mirage made them into a loop- and leaped, practically stepping on Skywarp's lower back to reach the loop over the Seeker's head and around his neck.

A press of a button activated the energon cabling along the wire, and Mirage fell back with all his weight on the garrote pulled taunt around Skywarp's neck. Invisibility flickered out, useless.

[cliffjumper]

"Gh---!"

Cliffjumper couldn't see what was going on, so all he had to go on was the choked, glitching static from Skywarp's vocaliser and then they fell backwards.

Of course, despite the loud, reverberating crash and Skywarp's increased struggle with whatever Mirage had done, Cliffjumper had a pretty cushioned landing thanks to clattering against the Seeker.

Squirming, he kicked and while Skywarp somehow had the presence of mind to slam his fist down on his helm even as he let go, Cliffjumper still ended up free.

Processor ringing and abused sensory nodes shrieking static Cliffjumper rolled away just as Skywarp teleported away, which meant the mini clattered to the floor unexpectedly.

[lastonepercent]

Mirage stepped back, falling to his knees out of the way of the tumbling seeker to keep the garrote pulled taunt-

And then Skywarp was gone, the cord falling slack and Cliffjumper clattered to the ground in front of him, nearly in his lap.

Mirage immediately snapped up his rifle, spinning on a knee to make sure the Seeker hadn't ported directly behind them...but no, the hall was clear.

Even if he did not reappear, they needed to move. The Decepticons knew where they were now. Stowing his garrote back into his subspace, Mirage carefully rose back up to his feet. At least Cliffjumper was free.

"Come. We need to move."

Still watching the halls, he offered the minibot a hand up.

[cliffjumper]

"Yeah." Shaking his helm to chase out the ringing and flickers of pain, Cliffjumper grunted affirmatively and looked up, faced with the offered hand. Momentarily confused, he wasn't sure if it was because of the offered hand up or he'd just gotten smacked so good he didn't pick up what Mirage meant at first, Cliffjumper shook his helm again and then took the hand.

"Surprised he didn't stay. He's got cannons, after all... That was pretty cool," Cliffjumper said with a lopsided grin as he got to his feet. "What'd ya do? Couldn't see for slag."

If he shifted on his feet and pushed down a little extra to the ground, no one had to know, right? Especially since with Mirage's busted optic he probably wouldn't be able to tell.

[lastonepercent]

"He's probably gone for reinforcements - or repairs," Mirage said with a faint smirk, giving the dazed minibot a tug and helping him back up to his feet.

If he noticed Cliffjumper's extra-energetic boost, he didn't make it obvious.

Releasing the minibot's hand, Mirage shrugged casually, smirk twitching upwards.

"A simple garrote. He might need a visit to a medic, but we should still move should he decide to return."

[cliffjumper]

"A... garrote?" he stared for a moment, optics brighter than default, then Cliffjumper nodded, "Uh, yeah. Sure. Just continue the same way?" Pointing down the corridor where Skywarp had come from, Cliffjumper pulled his processor away from the realisation that Mirage didn't just have a garrote on his person, but obviously was well-versed in its use.

It wasn't a weapon he'd ever have thought to connect to the noble, though maybe it did make sense. If someone found him out but a gun wasn't advisable, a garrote would work to not just disable - or kill - the enemy, it'd also be distracting enough he probably wouldn't be able to use the comm and compromise Mirage that way.

It was, still, am utter surprise that Mirage had a garrote.

[lastonepercent]

"Indeed." Mirage had already turned away, starting down the hall, so Cliffjumper probably didn't get to see the noble's expression turn into a full, amused grin.

"And yes: this leads out to the human's service entrance, with the large bay doors on the side. We should have cover fire."

Rifle raised back up and at the ready, he lead the way down the thankfully still deserted hall.

[cliffjumper]

Dashing aside to pick up his glass gas gun, Cliffjumper gave it an evaluating frown before deciding it hadn't suffered too much damage to force him to toss it away.

Twitching the fingers of his broken hand as he ran after Mirage, Cliffjumper winced and had to accept that yes, it was still just as damaged as before. But he did have enough control he could... well, probably not lift anything, hardly grasp something if it had much weight, but... it was something.

"That's good..." Trailing off, he frowned up at Mirage's back and then switched to comm. ::Ya know he was aimin' for you?::

Cliffjumper was rather sure that if Skywarp had gotten hold of Mirage first, he'd just have teleported away.

Well, if he could've resisted the temptation of scrapping the injured minibot, that was.

[lastonepercent]

::...I suspected as much, yes.::

Mirage sighed, wondering how much he should bother to tell the minibot. He didn't actually think Cliffjumper had anything to do with the mission failure; he had no access to the SpecOps files or briefings, and if he had, he certainly wouldn't have helped him against Skywarp.

Speaking of...

::You didn't have to do that, you know.:: Mirage glanced back over his shoulder with his good optic.

::Not that I'm not grateful, of course...::

[cliffjumper]

It was hard not to snort audibly, and the noise ended up muffled and cut off as he finally had to pit his vocaliser in neutral to nullify it.

::Didn't have to, nothin'!:: Cliffjumper said with a glowing roll of his optics. ::I'd have done it even if he was just gonna get close, but since he was aimin' for ya, better make sure he didn't get what he was after!::

Even if he didn't like Mirage, he'd have done it. Anything else wouldn't be right.

[lastonepercent]

Oh. That was....certainly nice to hear.

::Well then. Thank you.::

Mirage smiled, expression bright and briefly seen before he turned back to face the hall in front of them.

How positively pleasant.

But there was little time for such a small pleasantries - still running, they were already upon a junction in the hall, and Mirage lead them unerringly to the left. Daylight could be seen up head.

::The bay doors will be on the far right of the next room - we will have to unlatch them, as they have been reinforced to withstand Cybertronian attack since the last incursions onto this facility. Hopefully, no one else is ahead of us.::

Unlikely. But he could still hope.

[cliffjumper]

He hadn't expected that.

Maybe he should have, but he hadn't, and Mirage had a really nice smile--- Cliffjumper ducked his helm, trying to hide the flare of his optics and to not shift his grip on his gun. They were still running and there would probably be enemies at some point soon, so he couldn't afford to be fragging flustered.

Even if Mirage did have a nice smile.

::Yeah, well.:: Trying to cover up the mumble, Cliffjumper huffed and then shook his helm, firmly relegating his squiggly flustered charge to a lower priority.

::Sounds simple enough...:: Trailing off, Cliffjumper cocked his helm and cast a glance behind him as they ran into the cargo room of the facility. ::Think we're gettin' company.::

Jerking to a stop in the middle of the room, Cliffjumper whirled around and aimed his gun, spraying down the entrance they'd just gotten through, the walls around it and the floor.

"At least they're behind us, yeah? And we can make it unpleasant for 'em."

[lastonepercent]

::Agreed! Keep them at bay as long as you can - I'll get the door and cover your retreat!::

Mirage was already rushing to the huge doors, searching for the controls. The human-grade padlock holding the latches in place he was able to smash off with a fist. The gears holding the door closed were heavy, even for a Cybertronian of his size - the humans clearly used the offline electronics to open it, but they had no time.

Retching it open after a moment of struggle, Mirage raise the bay door from the bottom- only to be greeted by Jazz's smirking face on the other side.

"Welcome to the party," Jazz laughed, propping the door up with a piece of rebar.

::Cliffjumper! Time to go!:: Mirage shouted back, aiming his rifle at the hallway door, where approaching Decepticon shadows could be seen.

[cliffjumper]

::Uh--- sure.:: Cliffjumper's reply was rather distracted as he glanced over to Mirage, nodding before tossing something and turned on his heel in the same movement, sweeping up his glass gas gun and running across the room.

::Get out!:: Waving at Mirage to move it, which he hopefully would because as soon as the 'Cons got close enough, the motion-vibration sensitivity of the bomb he'd just thrown would make it go off.

Not that it was strong enough to do a massive amount of damage - it was technically an 'emergency distraction' bomb, and could inflict some good surface damage, but that was all.

Of course, it didn't need to be capable of a huge explosion when Cliffjumper had sprayed the area around the door with glass gas. The Decepticons would hopefully appreciate the shrapnel.

[lastonepercent]

"Glad you could make it," Mirage quiped happily as he and Jazz both laid coverfire at the doorway to cover Cliffjumper's escape.

::Going!:: Mirage called back, ducking under the door and jumping down to the loading dock, immediately resuming fire.

::We'll drop the door as soon as you're though!::

[cliffjumper]

::Comin', comin'---:: Throwing himself the last bit of distance partly to get under the gap but mostly to avoid the fire coming from the 'Cons behind him, Cliffjumper slid out from under it the same moment the bomb went off.

There was a lot of shrieking, but sharp metal shrapnel flying everywhere and lodging itself into your chassis was unpleasant, so Cliffjumper thought they might have a right to their yelling.

Might.

"So what now?" Cliffjumper asked even as he looked around to see if there was anything needing shot at - even if the only thing he had available was his glass gas gun.

[lastonepercent]

Jazz chopped the rebar out from under the bay door the moment Cliffjumper was safely under and out, and not a moment too soon. A handful of shots - and even a few sharp 'pings' of ricocheting metal - sounded off the improvised shield after their own shots were forced to halt.

"Now? We get on out of here, my mech!" Jazz said cheerfully, the implied command not entirely hidden underneath the jovial tone.

Mirage, well aware of his mission's importance, nodded curtly, already checking the surrounding area for signs of the previous battle. He and Jazz transformed at almost the same instance, the commander taking the lead.

::I'll head the path out - we've got cover.::

[cliffjumper]

Giving a quick salute, Cliffjumper transformed just a moment after Mirage and Jazz, throwing a glance behind him at the now-closed baydoors and the Decepticons behind that, and the terrain around them.

What he wanted to do was whoop their afts and help make sure they'd get back properly, but with only one hand there wasn't much he could do. Jazz would probably not lend a blaster, which meant all he could do was to go after the other two.

So, with a reluctant grunt and another glare, Cliffjumper did so and sped after the other two, easily catching up - he might not be Blurr or anything, especially not in rootmode, but he was among the less than a handful who were the fastest that were currently on Earth.