by Smokescreen85 » Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:53 pm
- Motto: ""A look can be deceiving; a touch can be lethal.""
- Weapon: Twin Shoulder-Mounted Rocket Launchers
Southeast Mongolia - Approaching Rendezvous Point
Smokescreen raced out of the valley in his rally car mode and headed southeast towards the rendezvous point. Tracer’s signal was several miles ahead of him, which was no problem since the tracking device he had secretly planted on her was capable of being picked up over a distance of up to ten miles before the signal degraded too much to detect. Smokey wouldn’t allow himself to fall that far behind, not with so much at stake.
An infinite number of thoughts invaded the rallybot’s processor as he followed the dirt road away from the mountainous region of Mongolia. Would his plan work not only here in the short term but once they returned to the ships in orbit? Even if he succeeded here, that didn’t necessarily mean he would succeed in weaning her off the Syk. She had been an addict for so long it was probably an alien idea for her to be clean. Of course, even once she was eventually clean, her mental condition would still remain and her suffering from that would endure. It would be all too easy for the femme to fall back into her old habits and then she’d be back at square one again, probably looking for another dealer.
I can’t deal with all that now, Smokescreen thought as he rounded a bend in the roadway. I need to focus on one thing at a time here. First, I take care of this dealer of hers and then I’ll worry about freeing her from the Syk. The diversion expert sped up as he noticed that Tracer’s signal had stopped. She was at the rendezvous point and her dealer was likely there with her.
As Smokescreen closed the gap between himself and the troubled femme, he realized that the sound of his engines would alert the dealer of his approach. Slowing down, Smokey transformed into his robot mode and continued his trek on foot, quietly moving through the tall grasses and brush that littered the landscape. It would take longer to reach the rendezvous point this way, but it was better than being discovered by her dealer. In fact, neither Tracer nor the mystery ‘Con could know that he was nearby until it was time for him to finally act and reveal himself.
Coming upon a large thicket, Smokescreen kept low as he stopped behind the dense clump of trees and tall shrubs. He then knelt down quietly and moved some branches aside with his hand in order to peak through to the other side where he immediately noticed Tracer standing off in the center of a wide clearing directly in front of her dealer. Using his other hand, Smokey pulled out a pair of binoculars and placed them in front of his optics in order to get a better look at the tall, gangly ‘Con in question.
Son of a glitch! Oil Slick! Smokescreen thought, not all that surprised that it was the Decepticon chemical specialist who was Tracer’s dealer of choice. He was the obvious one, considering his ability to create all kinds of chemical agents, usually weapons, but whose talents could easily be applied to addictive drugs, as well. He’s going to be a tough one to beat here. I can’t get into a physical confrontation or I’ll lose my spark for sure. And I’ve got to stay far away from those weapons of his or I’ll end up a melted heap on the ground. No, I have to approach this situation with caution.
As Smokescreen considered his options carefully, he could see that Tracer had handed Oil Slick something small, but he wasn’t sure exactly what it was. She’s not offering him credits that’s for certain, the rallybot thought as the Decepticon held the slug up to his optics. What is that thing? It looks like a data storage device of some kind, but if that’s the case then what could be on it? Smokey’s optics widened as a worried expression crossed his faceplate. Could be anything. She could have downloaded something from the Autobot mainframe, likely something important. What else would a ‘Con like Oil Slick want if not credits? Tracer, what have you done?
Smokescreen let the branches in front of him close before placing the binoculars away and pulling out his electro-disruptor rifle. All this time he thought Tracer was going to offer her dealer credits for the Syk and now he finds out that she’s offering him potential information that could put their Autobot comrades at great risk. She was even more desperate than Smokey had ever realized, willing to place her own kind in danger just to satisfy her drug habit. He was very disappointed in her, but his anger was still squarely directed at Oil Slick as he was the one feeding her addiction and taking advantage of her weakness in any way that he could. This had to stop before more lives than just their own were put in jeopardy. This whole situation had become even more serious than expected.
Carefully peaking through the branches once again, Smokescreen kept a close watch on everything that was going on, looking for just the right opening to make his move. He still had a plan to execute, after all, but now he also needed to get the data slug back from Oil Slick’s clutches as well as steal whatever Syk the Decepticon chemist had on him. With enough of the drug in Smokey’s possession, Tracer wouldn’t need to worry about meeting her dealer again, and the rallybot would be able to slowly wean her off the narcotic. It was a bold plan, one that had just become more complicated, but the diversion expert remained undaunted. He was determined to help Tracer out of this mess no matter the risks to himself.