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Repo nodded to Tambrey as she entered the car, though she seemed busy talking to someone else. That was fine, he wasn't that bothered. He'd never been a terribly social man to begin with. Of course the moment he'd thought of hopping into the SUV as well, someone else had taken him up on the door-holding offer. Another man. With...apparently a mixed parentage of human and magnemite persuasion.

He sighed a little and looked around. Three in this van's back now and others scattered around and bunching with those they seemed familiar with...no one seemed keen on the offer to drive. Well, he didn't mind. He bobbed his head slightly to the same man, Hayes and slipped around towards the driver's door. If no one else would, he made it clear he was prepared to. Though perhaps the elites would rather drive?

Lore chuckled at Mau's question as he climbed behind the wheel of one of the cars, "How about half of us hold him while the other half punches?"

Once all of the Rockets had loaded into the SUVs, Lore driving the lead one and Repo driving the other, they set off. Things outside were as blisterningly hot and bright as ever. Thank Arceus for good AC. During the drive all the Rockets in Lore's SUV would be treated to Beatles music blaring over the radio while Lore sang along. Thankfully he'd recalled his whimsicotts to their Poké Balls so nobody had to deal with giant fluffballs on their lap.

The drive across the desert was uneventful. It wasn't until they neared the treeline that something of interest came up and the cars slowed. In the sand were patterns of large deep pock marks. Someone might have thought something had been digging up holes in the dirt if the marks did't lead directly to a gaping hole in the edge of Cypress Forest. It was like a bulldozer had come along and mowed the trees down in a wide path. The line of destruction headed deep into the forest, further than could be seen from their current position.

Lore pulled his SUV up and parked it in the shade of some still-upright trees. He rolled the window down and poked his head out, "Y'know.. I think we found it."


OOC: And that's it for tonight, folks! =O I know that's a shorter start than usual, but worry not. We'll have much longer sessions tomorrow and sunday. I look forward to seeing you all back here tomorrow at 1pm eastern. :3

As they were talking anyway, Tambrey decided it made sense to climb into the same vehicle as Tony.
"Sure," She grinned a bit. "I'm around the labs too, ya know. She's usually with me as well, so just venture over when ya want to meet her. Or I'll venture over to you." A pause before she decided to add "Named her Pygi."

Hm. Interesting, fun... There were the same word a lot of the time as far as Tambrey thought.

As she sat in her seat she nodded and smiled in return to Repo's nod "Hi there".
She found herself automatically looking to the window a couple of times before they'd even started the engine. She'd much rather be driving, but she was happy enough just to be going out; besides, she could only drive stick. Her left hand clenched and unclenched; as though looking for a stick in habit, despite the grunt being sat in the back.

With a grunt Repo yanked the driver side door open and clambered inside. A swift seat adjustment and a flick of the wrist and the SUV was purring like a kitten. He deftly toggled the radio's controls as he inspected Hayes' map. That didn't look like too challenging a drive. Never mind that for the first major leg at least they'd be in the desert. Wide roads and little traffic to worry about backing them up.

He waited for the other van to pull out before speeding after them. It'd bee na while since they drove, but he still remembered the ropes, and the SUV rode well. He hung back, behind and to the left of the first vehicle, flanking it nicely.

They were probably half way across the desert before it occurred to Repo, who'd been quietly talking navigation with Hayes that in this particular region, one drove on the RIGHT side of the road. He swerved back into the correct lane, and sighed. Brilliant. No cars had come along going the other way, and no one seemed to have noticed they had been pelting along at top speed in the wrong lane...but still.

That's what he got for not driving that often.

He pulled up beside the other van at their destination without further incident, and shut the radio and engine off. "Seems so. Canna imagine what else could make a mess like tha'. Maybe a batch of Onyx on th'move..."

Mau joined Lore in the front seat, claiming the passenger side. For most of the ride, he had his head propped against his fist, his arm resting on the window. The elite seemed... amusing. Though he hated to admit that he was, at best, only vaguely familiar with the music playing. But the elite wasn't yelling, and perhaps the laid back attitude would help ease the apprehension some of the newer rockets were probably feeling. It was a far cry from how Seth or Nadja behaved.

As the pock marks began to dot the desert, Mau straightened up in his seat, looking off at the strange blemishes on the landscape. Though he couldn't help but lean forward on the dashboard as they came to a stop. The trees that had been mowed down...

"What in the hells are they up to now." he mused, ready for anything, he hoped.

Saleen dealt with her nerves by talking with Panther for a bit, it gave her a chance to socialize more which was something she had been trying to force herself to do so she didn’t stay cooped up in her room or the labs all day. But as he stared off she found herself pulled out a book to help pass the time. But she didn’t read for long before she to was looking out the window at the scenery.

As they approached the site…the car’s came to a halt as she looked out the window. They sure did a number on the forest…what the hell were they up to? It had to be pretty good what they were looking for…Well…here it goes! She had her pokeballs ready should they be needed at a moment’s notice.

"Welp.. these cars're gonna have a hard time getting over those fallen trees, so we're on foot from here on. Hope you're all wearing comfy boots." Lore hopped out of the car and pulled out two poké balls with one hand. They both fired bolts of light and his two whimsicotts appeared.

"Whimsa!" They chimed in unison.

"Alright, let's do this!" Looking in as good a mood as if he were going on a lovely weekend hike, Lore headed off into the path of toppled trees.

Once inside the forest, the Rockets would find it unusually quiet. Where there would normally be swarms of bug pokémon and grass types skittering about, only the occasional wurmple wandered past. Most likely, the others had been scared off by the commotion. All the same, it was eerie.

The ride to the forest had been relatively pleasant, not counting the initial heart attack when he realized that they were on the wrong side of the road. It was with somewhat shaky legs that he made his way out of the car, rubbing the back of his neck and mumbling under his breath.

"Next time, I'm riding with the Exec..."

He scuffed his boots on the ground as a brief test - they were his good pair, which meant he could easily be on his feet all day without noticing it. Good thing too, he didn't like the idea of getting blisters all over his feet while hopping the odd fallen log. It was with a grin plastered on his face that he somewhat enthusiastically fell into step behind Lore.