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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Apr 19, 2007 10:15:11 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron points out, but he keeps his tone light, joking even, “They could come from below, you know.”
He keeps panning his gaze around behind, looking for any sight of something that might pose a danger. The avian creatures that occasionally flit through the sky have him flinching. They’re too small to even be cassettes, but they fly, and the fear of flying things runs deep.
Emirate Xaaron does take a moment to fix Perceptor with a peculiar look. He sounds rather hazy when he asks, “Water? What is this ‘water’? Why would ‘water’ be near artificial structures?”
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Post by Long Haul on Apr 19, 2007 12:11:24 GMT -5
Long Haul doesn't answer Xaaron's question, first because it seems to be directed at Perceptor, and second, because his player doesn't recall off-hand whether water shows up in cartoon universe Cybertron or not (they've got acid rain, though!). Instead, he continues to struggle forward through worsening conditions for awhile, then stops. "That's as far as this ride goes, folks. I can keep driving, but we're gettin' to the point where it'll take more energy than just walkin'. Time to unload afore I dump you out!"
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Post by Perceptor on Apr 19, 2007 12:55:33 GMT -5
"Thank you Long Haul. Your assistance is greatly appreciated," Perceptor replies as he nimbly climbs out, stooping to collect another couple of samples of the vegetation as soon as his feet hit the ground.
The same, typical carbon-based photosynthetic organic plant mass as he'd been expecting, merely lusher and thicker than what had been present at the fringe of the scrub plain.
"Water is the common name for the chemical compound of di-hydrogen oxide. This formation of carbon-based organic life requires it to function in the same manner that we require fuel and various other fluids to maintain our structures. Additionally, a river, stream, or other water way would provide a means of transportation and a potential means of energy production for an intelligent species, regardless of technological or industrial advancement."
Unlike Xaaron, Perceptor has fortunately had a couple of decades to adjust to small creatures flying in his vicinity, from insects to birds, and even some mammals. Were their situation less precarious, he would likely be perfectly content to simply set up camp then and there to catalogue and study everything in sight. Unfortunately, the quest for fuel and supplies and an eventual return home must supersede his normal curiosity. He is unconcerned with the various avians flitting about, though he does take a moment to mentally catalogue all the details he can observe as the disturbed creatures go about their life processes.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Apr 19, 2007 21:30:44 GMT -5
"Thank you, Long Haul," Emirate Xaaron says gratefully. He unloads himself from Long Haul. Emirate Xaaron takes a moment to crouch and look at the soil. He seems rather put off by it. At least the desert was hard-packed and uniformly black. This material is so random in consistency and colour. He makes no complaint, though, and he straightens up and follows along after the others, often glancing back over his shoulder at the way that they came.
Emirate Xaaron listens along to Perceptor's explanation of what water is and rubs his chin thoughtfully. He mutters to himself, "Di-hydrogen oxide. Sounds... familiar. I'm sure I'll place it in a minute." Most likely at the most inconvenient time possible, like when they're running away from demons. He grasps at what he considers the more important thing here, "Energy production? How do you extract energy from this water material?"
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Post by Long Haul on Apr 19, 2007 21:37:23 GMT -5
Long Haul grunts as he transforms. "Alla these 'thank yous' an' stuff are startin' to unnerve me!" he complains as he approaches the nearest tree and inspects it curiously. He reaches up and grabs a bit of bark, then breaks it off. His optic band brightens in surprise. "What kinda slip-shod construction is this?!" he asks, shocked. Then he reaches forward and puts his hand flat on the tree. He starts to push, and begins to actually bend the tree while exerting no discernable effort on his own. However, the process begins to make noise, and so he snatches his hand away and shakes his head. "Good thing this column don't seem to be supportin' anything - its strength is pathetic!"
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Post by Perceptor on Apr 19, 2007 22:22:03 GMT -5
Perceptor ponders for a moment, turning to offer Xaaron, "It is similar to the precipitation Cybertron experiences periodically, however without the harmful acidic properties. Well, provided that this is, indeed, di-hydrogen oxide. I will not know for certain until we reach such a waterway, if it surfaces. Some sort of appropriate fluid source is nearby, if only below the surface of the ground, otherwise this lush growth would not be possible so near the blackened desert behind us."
"Energy production is possible if it is a moving body of fluid. The natural motion of fluid from a region of higher elevation to lower can be harnessed with a primitive wheel construction to create a turbine with which to produce energy. Rates depend upon the strength and volume of the fluid flow and the materials available to attempt to build such a device."
"It is not 'construction', Long Haul. This is organic vegetation. It grows, and is not as durable as the materials you are used to using. That is not a column, but a tree. It starts as a very small seedling," Perceptor explains, spying a likely looking specimen which he kneels beside to point out to the lime green mech. He's slipped into lecture mode, and unless someone manages to distract him from it, he'll likely continue happily expounding upon the various properties of organic biomass as long as anyone lets him ramble.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Apr 19, 2007 22:36:59 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron watches Long Haul harass the tree, questioning both the tree and Long Haul's untoward actions towards it as much as he questions the soil. Aloud, he comments, "Organic worlds seem dreadfully messy. Why do their caretakers not keep them cleaner? I've seen better-organised sewers."
He doesn't make any attempt to get Perceptor out of lecture mode. It's not like their chatter will give them away any more than the fact that they are brightly coloured machines, and it is educational.
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Post by Long Haul on Apr 19, 2007 23:02:10 GMT -5
"Grows?" Long Haul asks, his confusion showing in the tilt of his head. He studies the large tree he had just been harassing. He studies the smaller one Perceptor indicated. He looks back at the large tree. "Hnh. So... kinda like crystals, huh?" He pauses, and studies the tree a moment longer. "Only uglier."
Finally he shakes his head. "Don't quite get the point," he says. The wildlife, too, what can be spotted of it (mostly birds and insects) get curious looks as well, although, unlike Xaaron, he doesn't have any ingrained fear of fliers. Finally, he shrugs the whole business off.
"South-southeast you said, right?" Long Haul asks, effectively cutting off Perceptor's lecture (he gets enough of that from his 'mates, thank-you-very-much) to take a few steps in that direction before he pauses and looks back, expectantly.
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Post by Perceptor on Apr 20, 2007 22:26:46 GMT -5
Perceptor shakes his head at Xaaron, using his fingertips to gently push the loam around, examining the forest floor with a critical, and curious optic.
"A properly healthy organic world does not require a caretaker, and generally flourishes much better without any interference from an external source. They are organized, simply not in a manner that we are familiar with in our own day to day lives. Much of what you refer to as a 'mess' is simply a carefully balanced functioning ecosystem with each part and component in a specific place for a specific reason," he explains, carefully noting more facts and parameters, such as soil Ph and humidty.
Perceptor glances over at Long Haul with a conceeding smile. "Insofar as that crystals are - generally - not living creatures such as a tree or plant, yes. I must, however, confess a certain appreciation for the aesthetic appeal of a properly balanced and healthy ecosystem."
As Long Haul neatly cuts into any further oration, Perceptor glances up, a sheepish look on his features as he nods. "Ah... ahem. Yes. Indeed. South-southeast," he replies contritely as he rises from his crouch and follows in Long Haul's wake.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Apr 21, 2007 20:56:45 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron concludes that he really has not been missing out on much by never leaving Cybertron - until now. He'll take Cybertron's dirtiest sewers over this organic mess any day. Emirate Xaaron puts his arms out and protests, "Flourishes without a caretaker? That completely goes against entropy. Should degenerate into a chaotic muddle." And he's still not convinced that it hasn't.
He does keep walking towards the settlement, and he's slow enough that the others shouldn't have any trouble catching up. He fancies that, perhaps, he can even see a little bit of it now. Of course, Emirate Xaaron has no idea what he supposed to be seeing. The lack of comprehension of perception does bother him. This wily old fox is going to have do one better than the old dogs and learn some new tricks, or he's going to be a fox scarf.
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Post by Long Haul on Apr 21, 2007 21:13:41 GMT -5
Once Long Haul confirms that the others are coming, he continues to crash forward. He may be no Bonecrusher, but in some ways he's still the closest to being a bulldozer of the group. As Perceptor lectures, he actually makes a sniffing-noise. "Tain't nothing wrong with needin' a caretaker!" the city caretaker complains, hint of wounded pride in his voice. Apparently he missed some of the point Perceptor was trying to make.
The transporter nods towards Xaaron. "Yuh... seems pretty muddled," he observes. Well, what do you expect? Long Haul's not just a city boy... he's the one who puts the city there!
Long Haul pauses in his forward progress as a rustling deeper in the woods, one more east-southeast than south-southeast, proves enough to be heard even over the noise he is making. He tilts his head in confusion, then looks back at the other two.
<i>Note: Nope! I have no idea what that is, either! It could be nothing. It could be some huge old animal. Or... remember that this was a technologically developed world before it got abandoned. Perhaps it's a piece of old tech gone out of control! If anyone else has a preference, feel free to make one up; otherwise, just post your reactions, and I'll come up with something when it comes back around to me again. ;D </i>
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Post by Perceptor on Apr 23, 2007 17:13:38 GMT -5
"There is, indeed, nothing wrong with requiring a caretaker. Certain environments, however-" Perceptor breaks off as they all hear the rustling.
He tilts his head in curiosity as Long Haul looks back at them; that had sounded quite... large, and too organized and deliberate to merely be an atmospheric disturbance. He transforms out of habit, bringing his scope to bear to peer through the gaps between trees and leaves and other vegetation. The foliage is too thick, however, and he is only able to glimpse a brief flash, like sunlight off of metal, perhaps, or even sunlight off of a large, wet leaf. The brief glimpse had been too small and too hidden to tell for certain.
"Perhaps sunlight on metal, but I cannot be certain. There is too much in the way for me to see," Perceptor observes in a low whisper as he transforms back, half crouched.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Apr 23, 2007 19:15:57 GMT -5
To Emirate Xaaron, metal is life. Oh yes, he recognises that life also comes in squishable flavours and respects those forms of life as alive in their own unique way, but flesh-and-flower alien lifeforms don't hit him in the visceral, immediate way that metal does. Try being a metal man from a metal world and see how much impact even the loveliest orchid has.
He also knows life to be a rather fickle and cruel thing, spanning from the noblest of souls to the blackest minds. Whatever it is, he isn't going to run out and hug it. Too, it could just be dead metal, an unliving construction. Still, he cannot help but hope.
Hope proves as cruel as life, for at Xaaron peers off in the indicated direction, trying to correlate sound to sight, something crashes through the foliage. Talons like scythes are the first thing, edge-defined, that he perceives. The rest comes later, after he is already screaming, after those claws have circled fast around his middle.
The pain of gouging talons reaches his mind before he finally puts the image together. Built a little like Grimlock and more like a single-headed Doublecross, this is a dragon. Wings, claws, horns, and teeth. Oh my, the teeth. His scream could not possibly go on as long as those rows upon rows of serrated slicers.
There will be time to run around and flail and panic like a scared Micromaster later. Forcing fear from his mind, Emirate Xaaron silences his scream and pries at the talons that hold him fast. He hollers, "Do something now or run!" He'll be happy if they do either, although he'll be happier if they find an option where he doesn't get eaten.
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Post by Long Haul on Apr 23, 2007 19:38:33 GMT -5
Long Haul will never be a particularly nimble mechanoid. While he has the potential to be known for many things, speedy reflexes are not included in that list. And this Long Haul has not spent several million years at war. Between the point when the mecha-dragon bursts through the foliage and the point when it snatches up Xaaron and goes rampaging through, the transport has no time to react, and he's easily knocked on his rear by several tons of rampaging metal monster.
"Smelt!" he shouts as he scrambles upright as quickly as he can. As soon as he's on his feet, and without even a glance towards Perceptor, he's racing towards the thing, his right hand flexing first, then closing around the pistol/welder as he summons it from subspace.
Not good. Not good at all. It's too early for things to go so wrong!
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Post by Perceptor on Apr 23, 2007 20:30:02 GMT -5
Perceptor had never truly been intended to be a combatant, however, these last few decades have taught him to improvise and perform a great many functions that he was never intended to perform. He's still not a combatant, however, and his reflexes are not, and never will be, as good as, say, Sideswipe's or Sunstreaker's. They probably would have been able to prevent Xaaron's capture to begin with. Having already been wary, however, he isn't as surprised as Long Haul when the creature breaks through the trees and snatches up Xaaron.
"Xaaron!"
Perceptor obeys Xaaron's command; he runs. Like Long Haul, however, he runs towards the creature, pulling his concussion rifle from subspace. His light cannon would provide more firepower, and the light beam from it is more renewable than the charge in his concussion rifle, but he needs maneuverability as much as he needs firepower right now. Even as Long Haul is charging forward as well, Perceptor sights on the joint where the limb holding Xaaron in its grasp joins the thick body. The impact from the concussion blast should, at the least, hopefully stun that limb long enough to possibly release Xaaron. Depending on the creature's construction, it may even sever it.
No way to know exactly how durable this creature is without making the attempt to damage it. At the very least, the shot should anger it. Perhaps enough to convince it to drop Xaaron in favor of chasing Perceptor. He just hopes it doesn't anger the creature enough to make it crush Xaaron.
Weapon aimed, he charges in and squeezes the trigger.
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