Prompt : Opportunity

[combatsalesjeep]

(ooc - open post. Anybody can come across Swindle in the caves or comm him!As the death of Swindle’s sparkmate receded into the past and his relations with the other Combaticons improved, Swindle felt better and better, and he thought more and more of ways in which he could return to his old ‘profession

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[twitchy_rotors]

//Hey, Swin.// Having woken up to find his team mate no longer in the fort, Vortex finds the note and decides to respond. //What ya doin'?//

[combatsalesjeep]

Swindle makes sure it's a secure link. Then says: // Getting some guns from the caves. You know - Slinky's old stash. //

He looks around him. No, he's not claustrophobic, but it is starting to get a bit creepy down here; dimly lit, and with the wind moaning through the tunnels near the entrance, broken by the occasional 'scampering' sounds which Swindle assumes - hopes - are due to some creature which lives down here.

// Why don't you come and help me? // he asks. And sends the coordinates to the cave mouth.

[twitchy_rotors]

Munitions are highly relevant to his interests. //Sure thing,// he replies, and heads for the roof.

There's a small measure of trepidation, in case Swindle should go off on one due to Slinky, but Vortex tries to suppress it. He transforms, not bothering to tell Blast Off - the shuttle won't care and probably won't even notice - and heads off towards the caves.

[combatsalesjeep]

// Cool!// Swindle's delighted. Not just because it's creepy in the caves, but because he'll be pleased to see Vortex. Heck, these days he misses both his team mates even if he's only away from them a short time. Especially Vortex.

// Let me know when you're near the co-ords, // he says. // And put your heater on! It's below freezing over this way. Don't wanna have to come running out of here and de-ice ya! //

There's a tunnel leading off to the left, but Swindle can't make anything out in infra red at all. Firing up a flashlight, he spots several large metal crates and moves on down for a closer look. He's still somewhat 'spooked,' and doubly pleased Vortex will be here soon, but he has a sneaking suspicion this could be something really worth telling the copter about.

[combatsalesjeep]

Revving hard, bumping and banging his way over rocks, Swindle makes it round the corner and into the larger cave, where the going isn't quite so rough.

But he stays at the same speed. "Don't let go!" he says to Vortex. "Cos you did it - didn't you? That's those slaggin' crates of explos I got up there."

"And keep you optics peeled in here," he adds. "There's some nice photon rifles I put down somewhere. Grab any other pit you can see as well. There's plenty around."

They round the other corner and start upwards as the entrance portal comes into view.

// Where are you, Blast? // Swindle comms. Smallest Combaticon is now feeling decidedly 'stressed' by all this. In the old days he would have just located the gear. Various of Onslaught's lower 'minions' would have done the dirty work!

[readyforliftoff]

Oh wonderful… Blast Off vents another huff from his large alt-mode intakes.

// I’m outside the cave// he answers Swindle, and adds. //And don’t forget to secure everything. // He doesn’t need the cargo rolling and flying around and exploding inside him…

[twitchy_rotors]

"I just loaded what was closest," Vortex says, not bothering to comment on the large 'Hi-Ex' lettering he can see on the side of the crate.

"Heh, photon rifles, nice. I kinda got my hands full, though..." Vortex keeps up with Swindle, balancing his own crate on one shoulder while he tries to stop the high exposives from jiggling too much.

//Eh, no worries,// he says over comm.

[combatsalesjeep]

Swindle lets out a shudder at 'what was closest.'

"You're right!" he says. You do have your hands full! We'll come back for the loose stuff later. Just don't let go!"

He stays in low gear, his engine making a gravelly sound as he heaves up the slope. His tray aches, his suspension is sagging, his shock absorbers now don't feel in good shape, and his engine is struggling to stay cool. That's without the prospect of suddenly being blown to smithereens! The thought of having to go back for more is appalling.

// I thought you were coming in! // he says crossly to Blast Off. // Look at the size of you and the size of me? Why do I have to do everything? //

[readyforliftoff]

Team or not, no grounder is telling Blast Off how he has to fly, he thinks grumpily. And when Swindle asks when they’ll arrive, Blast Off is full of schadenfreude.

How about now?

Blast Off slows down, and flies a small turn, which isn’t as abrupt as the take off, but still notable. The sore circuits and alt-mode arm make it a little hard to land smoothly, though, and he can’t suppress the quiet pained hiss when his landing gear hits the ground.

Sigma, how Blast Off misses his Cybertronian alt-mode right now, when he had no lading gear at all but only an anti-gravity mechanism to hover a few metres over the ground…

[twitchy_rotors]

He's about to reply to Swindle when Blast Off makes a turn that makes his gyros spin happily, then lands.

He's over to the crates in an instant, having abandoned the idea of finding an appropriate new rope. He grins happily under his mask, images of very large explosions flickering through his processor.

He doesn't fail to notice the hiss of pain though. "Hey Thrusters, you damaged?"

[combatsalesjeep]

Even though Vortex hangs on to the crates, they still slide in the turn so that Swindle is impaled between them and the wall.

"Mrrrgggnnnhhh ...." he wails, the terror of getting crushed - or blown up - rendering him oblivious to Blast Off's pain. "Mrrraarrrggghhh ...."

As they land and then coast to a halt, the smallest Combaticon slumps, relieved beyond belief, but cross. Oh so cross! And that crossness is highly detectable over the bond.

[readyforliftoff]

Again no answer to Vortex’ question (the ‘copter can shove his faked concern up his aft-end), and again no reaction at all when Swindle is almost crushed. He also doesn’t dectect the jeep’s anger, because Blast Off closed himself off as usual - and frankly, he wouldn’t care if he knew about the other’s anger.

Now, Blast Off really deactivates the microphones on his cameras, soundlessly. Only the thermal image scans still work when he opens his cargo hold door; he wants to know when Vortex and Swidle are done unloading the crates.