re_alignment | [Video] - outer edge of Solus Prime's territory

[There's still smoke rising from not just the rocket launcher that can be seen at the edge of the screen where Elita's holding it, but also from something behind her. And besides her deep frown, the rest of her is looking somewhat... beaten up. The feed's also tilted somewhat oddly.]

We have a problem, unless this is a singular attack. [The view pans from Elita to... a critter. There's no other way to describe the partly-curled up and decidedly huge creature with way too many legs, one or two closer to the front ripped off or strangely twisted. It also has some larger, multiple segmented limbs that would probably be more maneuverable than comfortable around what would probably have been its head if it wasn't entirely blown away, smoke curling in the heat from a nearby open fissure.]

It's unglyphed, and unless someone can say they've seen anything like this out in the wilderness or near the Badlands, I'd hazard a guess that we might have something like when the Lambda spewed unglyphed monsters down on us early on... [The view goes back to Elita, who now has her other arm resting over her chestplates, revealing several deep scratches scattered over her arms and probably more out of view, the antennae on her right arm bent at a drastic angle and one back-mounted panel hanging decidedly and uncomfortably askew.]

If someone has more information, either in regards to that [And, unthinkingly, she lifts the arm she'd been covering her chestplate with to point at the monster, revealing that the left half of it has been mangled by row upon exact row of something pointed and sharp. It's left that half of her chestplate with circular punctures mostly revealing nothing but gouged metal, but in some places there's the obvious silver flash of a cable or sparks from torn circuitry. There's a rev from her engine and her hand falls back into place.] or something that could be similar to the... calling, or whatever we should call it that happened a while ago, then now might be the time to start to collect it all together. Especially as I'm inside Solus Prime's quadrant, even if it's somewhat close to the outer edge.

[She pauses, then, and despite the situation, briefly a sharp, amused smile slides over her faceplates.]

Shaoshao? I'd give you an extra pointer, but hopefully that was obvious enough as to what you'd want to attack.

[Then Elita casts a frown at the be-headed creature right as the feed cuts. At least it didn't get to tear up enough to bare her spark chamber.]

((ooc: Aka; Elita gets to be the first victim, though at least she wasn't the one to lose her head!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Oh. Well.

That certainly confirmed her suspicion. She was lucky she already had a good balance and support both, otherwise the jarring movement would have been a lot more uncomfortable than it was.

She lightened the squeeze to merely a grip, however, but kept her arm in place; it was actually helpful.]

I suppose not, and we might have enough mechs knowledgeable to make tunnels more feasible, though... Are you all right, Optimus?

[It wasn't even a question meant to tease about his reaction, but rather honesty as to what just happened. She didn't want to have caused any undue problems, no matter how cute Roller's purring was.]

[Optimus winced, and Roller peeped in concern, giving her a questioning wiggle at her side.]

...I apologize. I'm fire - I am more worried about you. I should be more cautious - are your injuries holding up?

No need to, I'm fine. [She patted Roller in reassurance and laid her other hand briefly against the floor of the trailer.] I'm not that fragile, and they weren't that severe, even if they certainly hurt.

It's not as if you're hitting every uneven stretch of surface or bit of scrap with intention. [She smiled, and it was probably obvious in her voice.]

[His attempt at a laugh was awkward and quickly aborted. Instead, he simply sighed, quietly mortified.

Roller winced, sinking down next to her.]

-Certainly not. I am honestly attempting to avoid as much of the rough terrain as possible.

[When he's not being distracted by awkward touches gained from shameless drones, at least.]

Unfortunately, until we escape the junk pile, rough variations cannot be avoided entirely.

Exactly. So don't worry about it. [She smiled again, a bit softer than before, and patted the bit of floor her hand was against before she settled back, the grip on Roller definitely simply to take advantage of the leverage and support now.]

No need to fret over inevitabilities.

[Especially when they weren't lethal or would cause any lasting harm.]

...as you say.

[Still displeased with himself, Optimus fell silent to focus on the drive as much as possible.

Roller fell quiet as well with a final warble, tensing his frame to give Elita as much steady support as he could.]

[Falling silent as well, Elita settled back, leaning equally back against the wall of the trailer and Roller, sort of wedging herself between.

Offlining her optics, she tried to concentrate on redirecting her self-repair to get all the surface aches; a medic would be available soon, with more resources, and she wasn't going to die if she let her deeper injuries wait for the moment.

She was, after all, sitting inside Optimus' trailer, and she felt safe enough to let go of the necessity for quick self-repair on the deeper rends and scratches.]

[He continued on silently, allowing Elita to rest as much as she could. Roller simply settled on a low, rumbling purr, quiet and steady for the injured femme.

Thankfully, it didn't take much longer to get out of the worst of the junkyard, and after that it was a much smoother ride all the way to the nearest medbay.]

[Video] - outer edge of Solus Prime's territory

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