Synapse
Minor
Do not touch...please
Posts: 380
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Post by Synapse on May 14, 2007 21:23:01 GMT -5
Synapse peers curiously at the cables that fill up Long Haul's truck bed. Beneath the coils he can see traces of black...black crumbly something. He purses his lips and sifts the dry matter through his fingers, the rough texture sending odd sensations traveling up his tactile sensors. Realizing that his mind's wandering off course, Synapse snaps his head back up and regards the surrounding buildings and their roof-tops.
More used to taking orders than giving them, he chooses to go along with Emirate Xaaron's advice. "Now if we can find a roof with a nice set of walls around, that will give us more than just cover from ground-roaming creatures." Synapse cocks his head as his nodes sweep through the area. Walls are good. They make good shields and sniping positions. Synapse only hopes he won't have to make such use of them.
Giving one of the cords a good few tugs before approving of its durability, Synapse allows a smile to flash across his face. Activating his rocket boosters, Synapse jets into the air, a coil of the cord looped around his elbow (he is careful not to let the cord get into the path of his shoulder boosters). He lands easily on top of a satisfactory roof and lets one end of the cord roll down the side of the building.
"This one seems like a good spot."
He only hopes that the cord is long enough.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on May 15, 2007 8:17:42 GMT -5
Well, this isn't a climactic chase moment where they are trying to climb a mountain, Decepticons harrying them from the air, and fiery spikes below them. Rope would probably fail them then out of sheer spite. It's Wheeljack's law, after all.
However, while there may be predators out there, they aren't obvious right now, and they aren't posing any pressing threat. This is at least one Decepticon about, but he doesn't appear to be nearby. They are, for the moment, relatively safe.
So Emirate Xaaron judges that, based on the laws of universal irony, the rope is likely safe. He runs his hands down his legs, getting a bit of dirt on them from his early scuffle with the dragon. Hands so 'chalked', he notes, "I am likely one of the lighter ones here."
He also doesn't have any delicate focusing lenses that could be shattered by a drop. That said, he grabs the rope and moves to shimmy up to the top. Belatedly, he wonders if he ought to be worried if the roof itself can support their weight.
As soon as he's up, he'll offer assistance to Synapse with the rope and a hand up to whoever is next.
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Post by Long Haul on May 15, 2007 8:26:39 GMT -5
Long Haul grunts as he transforms back to robot mode, once more shuffling the parts gained from the mecha-dragon and the random dirt sample back to subspace. He inclines his head towards Perceptor. "An' I'm probably the heaviest. And certainly the strongest... I s'pose I can catch anyone what falls." Perceptor may be taller, but Long Haul is of a denser build, and so the transport waits while Perceptor makes his way up the cable.
Once that's done, Long Haul himself follows, clambering onto the roof perhaps with the others' help, but mostly under his own power. He takes a moment to examine the roof, but seems satisfied that it's strong enough, then looks to the others. "So... what're we got for light sources, besides my headlights, that is? And, erm... do we wanna use 'em?"
OOC note: Perceptor's actions included with the player's permission. Synapse, you're still up next. Perceptor, when you return, feel free to jump in at any time; that'll just be your new position in the rotation.
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Synapse
Minor
Do not touch...please
Posts: 380
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Post by Synapse on May 15, 2007 13:51:16 GMT -5
Synapse doesn't fully realize the bungle he nearly makes in not checking the support ability of the structure the group's currently resting. But then again, he's not a construction surveyor of any sort for a reason. Carefully, he winds the cord back into a neat coil and presents it to Long Haul.
"I've got a couple of emergancy flares somewhere, but, unless we have some red light, I won't count on using light too much after nightfall," murmurs Synapse. Red light's low frequency and long wavelength makes for an ideal lightsource, only useful and notible to those nearby. It's then that he realizes his proximity to Long Hauls and the others. His shoulders twitch, raising a couple inches but he remains relatively still, waiting for the other to retrieve his item.
"Are we going instate watches?"
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on May 15, 2007 14:03:16 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron notes, "I used to live in underground tunnels, so I am quite used to low-light conditions. Also, lights where none have been in... looks like quite a while will only attract attention." He scuffs at the roof with a foot, as if testing it. He seems satisfied enough.
"Thus I would have to suggest that we rough it out in the dark. Perceptor can stand the first watch. He has excellent vision," Emirate Xaaron continues briskly. As far as he's concerned, Synapse is next up on the list, and then... either him or Long Haul. Probably him. New soldiers are blind in the field. They think a speck of dust an enemy fighter and an enemy fighter a speck of dust.
(OOC: Perceptor can return from 'watch' whenever he gets back.)
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Post by Long Haul on May 15, 2007 14:13:01 GMT -5
Long Haul's such a new soldier that he doesn't even think of himself as a soldier. He looks towards Perceptor when the scientist is put on first watch and grumbles under his breath, not quiet silent. He had questions for Perceptor, dammit! It's then he notices the spy's efforts to hand him the cables. "Oh, uhm. Okay. Got 'em." And then Long Haul loops them over his driver's cab so they hang off one shoulder, explaining, "I'm pretty sure this thing can take my weight if I transform, but not positive. Better not risk it unless we need to." So the cables are staying out.
The transport moves away from Perceptor and begins walking around the roof, trying to get a better feel for the construction in general. At one point, near the middle, he suddenly stops and tilts his head, then kneels again and raps on their support with his knuckles. "I'd avoid this area," he reports, meaning the area he's in right now and therefore obviously not avoiding. "Unless I miss my guess, there's a support what's supposed to be under here, but ain't no more."
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Post by Perceptor on May 15, 2007 17:21:03 GMT -5
Perceptor is rather glad to have been assigned first watch; he would have been up watching anyway, as soon as the stars started coming out. Although he isn't as skilled in astronomy as he is in, say, electrical engineering, he does, however, have a substantial bank of star charts from the various areas he has been throughout the years tucked safely away in his data banks. Hopefully, as soon as the sun sets for the night, he can begin sorting out their current location. Once they know where they are, plans can be initiated to return them home.
Wherever, and whenever that is.
He nods gratefully at Long Haul's warning as the construction expert examines their current "stronghold", such as it is, and chooses a position on one corner that gives him the best view of the most congested area of their current location. Trusting the others to settle in and get what rest they may, or not, as they choose, Perceptor effectively tunes Xaaron, Long Haul, and Synapse out unless they directly address him, and turns his optics - both cranial and scope - to their surroundings, watching for dangers. Dangers both of this world - indigenous or not - and of more familiar Cybertronian orgin. Several times throughout the last vestiges of the fading sunlit hours, he spots the faint flash of light glinting off of something large and metallic moving through the distant forest, and slipping between buildings farther off in the settlement.
The choice of settling in the for the night on a high rooftop had apparently been a wise one. The scientist is none too keen on having to try and deal with another dragon in the darkness.
As night settles over their part of the world like a thick blanket, Perceptor turns his attention periodically up to the unfamiliar stars and constellations above. Their colors and shapes and positions are strange, unknown, and do not match, even in passing, even as but a fragment, any single or composite chart in his considerable collection. He cannot even extrapolate their location from superimposing and fusing multiple charts together. Perhaps a more detailed spectral analysis of the various stars might yield a better clue, however such an analysis will require more attention and time than he should spare from his duties watching over their position. When his watch is over and another takes his place, he can attempt a more detailed study. Until then, he continues to scan their surroundings, watching the faint lights of small mechanical and organic bio-luminescent creatures as they go about their normal routines through the nocturnal hours, heedless and unconcerned with the four large robots resting on a rooftop in their midst.
Given that the sun had been high, directly overhead in an approximate "noon" position when he'd first awoken in the desert, he attempts to calculate a rough estimate of the potential day cycle length. The climate is temperate, and from the speed and angle of the motion of the stars wheeling overhead, they are just north of the tropical climate band, which places them more south than north on this hemisphere. That would indicate a slightly longer growing season on a typical Earth-type world with an elliptical orbit and seasonal variations, which he extrapolates from some of the decomposed vegetation that had littered the ground of the forest they had passed through before arriving at this settlement. Of course, without several more nights of observation to plot a more precise planetary rotation and calculate the geometry of the world's orbital path around its sun, Perceptor can only calculate rough hypotheses based upon, primarily, what he has observed from Earth in the past.
Given these observations and calculations, he estimates that this region of the world they are on is somewhere in the late spring to early summer portion of its growing season. Given that, he drops the calculation of time elapsed between awakening and sunset to calculate a rough solar cycle length, splits the estimated night portion of that calculation into four segments, and sets an internal alarm to remind him when that one-forth time frame has elapsed. Some time later, the alarm startles him out of his observations and careful study of the landscape around their temporary fortifications. He waits an additional buffer of one eighth of the estimated night length, adding that to his watch as a buffer against errors in his calculations, just to ensure a fair spread of work amongst them. Perceptor has never been one to shirk even the most unpleasant of duties, and would rather stand more than his share of watch, than ask another, however inadvertently, to take his rightful workload.
Satisfied with the time elapsed in his portion of the watch, Perceptor glances around, spotting Synapse.
// Synapse, are you rested enough to take second watch? Given your specialties and abilities, you would be most suited to this task, and I would like to shift my attention to attempting to calculate our location. //
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Synapse
Minor
Do not touch...please
Posts: 380
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Post by Synapse on May 15, 2007 20:45:54 GMT -5
When watch allotments had been divvied out, Synapse had quickly made himself as at home as possible in a corner. There he had remained, knees against his chest as his nodes traveled in a widening radius around the settlement. He weaves in and out of empty streets, glides silently through the surrounding 'vegetation'. This planet is infinitely different from Cybertron and he plans on scoping out every single part of it. It would be a change, albeit an exciting one, from the function he has known for his relatively short life-span. Excitement in the possibilities of new discoveries send excited tizzies through Synapse's mind.
It is Perceptor's voice piercing through his comm unit that startles Synapse's attention back to the rooftop.
// Yes, I'll take it from here, been up the whole time. This place is really fascinating. // He rises from his position and barely manages to peer over the building wall. The sky above is surprisingly alluring. Its star speckled background and luminous moon provide Synapse with a meaning less scientific than fanciful. While keeping watch from the roof, his nodes continue their meandering pathway through the city and forest outside of it.
There are moments when he thinks he spots something slinking right past a wall. When his nodes zoom in to check, he's usually only able to catch the tail end of whatever it is he's following. Like an endless game of cat-and-mouse he tries to follow whatever it is that's slinking through the city. At one point he manages to get a full glimpse of its large metallic back before it breaks out into a surprising run, disappearing behind a corner with speed that is surprising for its size. Despite his attempts, Synapse is unable to come back into any sort of contact with the creature.
His watch ends on an uneventful note with the quiet flash of his chronometer on his visual. He thinks that he's stood watch the same amount of time as Perceptor has. // Right outside the settlement, there are brown poles covered in green stuff. That's vegetation too? // An embarrassed look crosses over Synapse's face and he waves the question away. Perceptor has more important things to look into right now.
Quietly he pads towards Emirate Xaaron. His nerves raise as he approaches the still unfamiliar Autobot. // Erm, if you're up to it, next watch is on you...but not if you don't feel rested enough. // Synapse blurts the last sentence out quickly, not wanting to seem petty or insincere.
He back-pedals to his corner, waiting for Emirate Xaaron's reply.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on May 15, 2007 21:05:04 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron did not break down into a true defragmenation cycle, not really. He rarely allows himself the luxury, and he certainly would not in so precarious situation, Instead, he simply sat down and leaned himself against a wall. One might compare his state to a sort of light meditation, and it does serve to clear his mind nearly as well as defragmenation would. He'll take the decrease in overall efficiency for the capacity to be aware enough to run like blazes, if need be. He gets to his feet slowly, glancing over at the area of the roof Long Haul suggested to avoid. Well, if they do incur aerial attack, all they need to do is cave that portion in, and they have a whole building to use as a shield. At Synapse's shyness, he fixes a slight smile on his face, trying to look friendly, and he replies, "I'm fine and fit to stand watch." Such a martial duty ill-befits Emirate Xaaron, but it befits Long Haul worse. He takes up slowly patrolling the rim of the roof, looking up, down, and middle. He has neither the fantastic vision of Perceptor nor the sensitive nodes and reconnaissance talent of Synapse. Emirate Xaaron tries to not be distracted by the harmless bits of bioluminescence. He also listens. Jet engines scream quite loudly, and those are one of his largest worries. OOC: I'm not time-skipping my watch. Long Haul wants to ask Perceptor questions!
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Post by Long Haul on May 15, 2007 21:25:09 GMT -5
Long Haul doesn't want to interrupt Perceptor and so, once he finishes inspecting the roof for thin spots, he finds himself a ledge to sit against and waits for the scientists' watch to end. In the silence, however, he slips into defrag mode; he may be used to long, monotonous tasks, but they usually involve him doing something, such as driving, to keep him awake. Thus, he looses track of time and returns to awareness not at the end of Perceptor's watch, but at the end of Synapse's. "Fraggit," he mutters with barely any voice, although Defraggit would probably be more appropriate here.
Long Haul glances up at the lights... there's one largish light, a deep red moon* of some sort. Not that Long Haul would know to make the comparison, but it's smaller than Earth's moon.** It's not much light, but it's enough to let Long Haul find Perceptor... with a bit of stumbling.
"Erm... hey, Perceptor. S'me, Long Haul." Because Perceptor totally could not hear the ruckus the transport made getting over there. "We, erm, need to talk. If it's not too much to ask, though, might be a good idea if you gave me your personal frequency, so we... don't have to make more noise than I already have."
* He knows what they are! Cybertron has moons! See the movie? Don't ask where they were when Cybertron got space-bridge to Earth, though!
** This planet has three moons, in fact. A red one (rich in iron), a blue one (crystalline), and a white one (ice). However, from Long Haul's position, he can only see the red moon overhead.
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Post by Perceptor on May 15, 2007 21:54:37 GMT -5
After Synapse had taken over for him, Perceptor had transformed to more fully utilize his scope in studying the stars. He's more than willing to forgo any defrag or rest cycle in favor of puzzling out their location; it would not be the first time he'd worked through an entire solar cycle. Or two. Or three. Or more. After the first couple of hours of observations and calculations, it's becoming clear that this will likely take most, if not all, of the night to puzzle out. He's spotted one star that matches the spectral profile in his databanks, but thus far, only one. It's very fortunate that there are others here to keep watch on them all. Perceptor dives back into his work, shutting out everything else, his coolant system and heat sinks struggling to keep his CPU cool as he chews through pages on pages of spectral analysis comparisons and computations. Long Haul is fortunate that Perceptor happens to be between calculations when he approaches, or the scientist would likely have not even noticed him, so intent is he in his work. Which is normal for Perceptor. "Hm? Oh... yes. Of course," Perceptor murmurs absently in reply, reciting his comm frequency for Long Haul. Perceptor restrains the impulse to sigh with satisfaction as his calculations spit out another result, identifying a second star. A few more, and he might be able to plot their location. That he's identified any seems to indicate that they should at least still be in the same galaxy as Cybertron and Earth. There's hope at least. OOC: Long Haul and Perceptor's conversation will move to tfdeadzone.proboards81.com/index.cgi?board=mysteryplanet&action=display&thread=1179313531 Perceptor's Frequency: On Constructicons, to avoid holding up game play here.
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Synapse
Minor
Do not touch...please
Posts: 380
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Post by Synapse on May 16, 2007 13:44:10 GMT -5
Synapse jolts awake, a sudden blow startling him half-way towards falling into a defrag cycle. A smooth coolness seems to be enveloping his body, tickling his sensors every now and then. A small frown tugs at his lips and he realizes that he has not yet recalled his nodes. The sight of leaves filled his vision on both counts. Once he had begun to fall asleep, he must have lost control over their movement. Their introduction to the ground signaled that much.
Half-heartedly he issues a return command to his units and waits until they bob into view over the wall. Palming one carefully in his hands, he pulls a fine rag out of subspace and proceeds to wipe gently across its black surface, brushing off any particles that would become irritating once the unit was placed back in its mountings.
Maintenance comes first. Then some rest.
A sudden burst of sound startles Synapse to his feet and nearly is responded to with a yelp of his own. He turns to see Long Haul's form and the shattered metal ledge.
Rest might come later...
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on May 17, 2007 8:22:02 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron, while he has been trying to pay more attention to what isn't on the roof, does jerk his attention around to Long Haul. He wishes that he could offer the fellow some comfort, but the universe isn't a very comforting place, in truth. He makes a note to discreetly inquire of Perceptor what, exactly, the matter is with Long Haul. Emirate Xaaron doesn't want to have to deal with a broken-down Long Haul someday and no one who knows why.
He also glances over at Synapse, who appears to be cleaning his reconnaissance gear. Well, that's a sensible enough thing to do.
Emirate Xaaron then casts his attention back to the night to finish off his round. There's dew clinging to his frame now, which is quite baffling. He has, however, noted dew clinging to other structures and is not alarmed. He simply wipes down his optics.
Now, if he was going to file a proper report on his shift, he would cite all the various avians and pretomammals he's spotted in the night sky and estimates as to how many insectioids. It would be factual but not very exciting. Of course, an old soldier knows that exciting nights are the worst ones.
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Post by Long Haul on May 17, 2007 8:37:12 GMT -5
At the end of their conversation, Long Haul gives one final look to Perceptor, and shakes his head. "That'd be preferred, yeah," he says quietly, "but the way I figure, 'impossible' just means the right people ain't tried hard enough yet."* The problem, of course, is that the "right people" may just be the construction team themselves, and after Robo-Smasher, they'd have last any motivation to try hard enough. Long Haul refuses to dwell on that; he has other things to worry about. The transport stands up and murmurs, "I gotta... gotta get ready for my shift. I got a lot to think about." He doesn't thank Perceptor. He's a decent mech, but not a very polite one, and it's hard enough to thank someone who's 'gifted' one with the sort of knowledge Perceptor's given Long Haul, anyway. The rest of Xaaron's shift is spent pacing around the rooftop, examining and re-examining the building in as much detail as he can in the dark. It's not much, but it gives him something else to focus on. There's even some time spent at a half-hearted attempt to repair the ledge he had broken earlier, but missing shards make full repairs impossible. He does not attempt to defrag again this night. The moon moves across the sky, and the white one comes into view. Long Haul guesses it's his turn, although the accuracy is questionable. He gives up attempts at fixing the wall, re-subspaces his welder, and approaches Xaaron. "Guess... erm, guess I'm up now," he murmurs softly. *Apologies to Xaaron, although in my defense, I really have the Sea Bee creed I paraphrased in my last post of the On Constructicons thread more in mind than anything else.
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Post by Perceptor on May 17, 2007 15:49:06 GMT -5
Perceptor watches Long Haul shuffle off, not concerned in the least for the lack of empty politeness; it's not a comfortable "gift" he's just dumped upon Long Haul. Perceptor would have frankly been surprised to received graciousness in the face of that even from a mech as studiously courteous as Optimus Prime.
Although he transforms back into his alt mode when he is left to himself once more, he doesn't immediately jump back into his self-appointed work. His thoughts are still unsettled, thick and heavy with regret and sorrow for Long Haul, and, curiously, he finds himself wondering what Hook will make of - possibly has already made of - his old partner. To be confronted with a reminder of what he once was must be-
Perceptor pauses, pulling his thoughts back into focus again. Optimus had said that Omega Supreme had claimed to have attempted to reverse the effects of the Robo-Smasher. However... Omega Supreme, while intelligent, lacks specific training and discipline as a medic or a scientist, used to seeking the most minute of variations in an observed object.
Such as a CPU and personality core of a Cybertronian.
More importantly... Perceptor shifts his attention up to Long Haul for a long moment. More importantly, Omega Supreme did not have access to an unaltered version of those same components for comparison.
It's another tricky problem to set his CPU to analyzing, however he doesn't wish to unduly raise Long Haul's hopes, and so, for the moment, he keeps such speculations to himself. One problem at a time, and at least the slim hope afforded by this theory assuages his remorseful conscience a little.
Thusly comforted, both by that slim hope, and by the promise of yet another challenge thrown to him, Perceptor finally turns his attention back up to the starry sky to continue his analysis.
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