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Post by Swerve on Jun 19, 2007 20:11:22 GMT -5
Time to get moving. That's fine by Swerve. Where-ever the smelt it is they're going, anyway; he really has no clue. Does he care? Not sure. Probably not.
Okay, so he doesn't really care where it is they're supposed to go. He just cares that they don't stay here.
"Whatever way it is, let's just go," he insists, stepping back up to the roadway and returning to racer mode fast enough that a couple of gears can be heard grinding during the transition. "I'm sick of standin' around." And if the impatient keen of his engine is any indicator, he isn't going to wait very long for the rest of the group to get themselves situated once he gets a heading. He's never been one to travel with the pack and this will be no exception if he has any say in it.
OOC: Apologies for the shortness of the post. I think it suits his impatience and brevity, but if it's too lousy, I'll edit with permission.
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Post by Perceptor on Jun 19, 2007 21:30:43 GMT -5
Perceptor nods at Nightbeat, indicating that, yes, he is prepared to leave then. He doesn't envy Long Haul his position, and feels foolish and guilty for having dropped the predicament in the constructibot's lap.
"A moment please. I need to recalculate the estimated position of the transmission facility from our current location," he explains, absently glancing off into the sky as he pages through dozens of rapid calculations.
It only takes his a few seconds; he likely hadn't even needed to mention it, but it was force of habit. Besides, a few seconds of calculations is a significant pause to him when he is in the midst of a project.
"I believe it would be easiest to return to the city and locate the road across the desert from there. Having a roadway would make for more rapid travel," he explains, pointing off in the direction they need to go.
"Arcee, if I may prevail upon you?" he asks, transforming into his much more compact alternate mode.
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Arcee
Minor
Token Girl-Bot
Posts: 330
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Post by Arcee on Jun 19, 2007 23:31:15 GMT -5
"Sure thing, Perceptor," Arcee says, as she transforms to her vehicular mode. Frankly, right now, anything that gets her away from the Decepticon is good.
It's an unworhty thought and she feels ashamed of it, but she can't help it. Not with the memories of the attack so fresh. The Constructicons had been apart of the assault on Autobot City and based on what data they'd extracted from the shuttle, Scavenger had personally been responsible for the death of Prowl.
If the Decepticons hadn't had Devasator on their side, they surely could have held them off. Maybe they could have even defeated them. Surely, Ultra Magnus could have defeated Megatron, and they could have handled the rest.
So this Long Haul may be an Autobot, and she may even regret the future that awaits him, but right now, he's just part of the exhaust-sucking retro-rats who killed some of the best and greatest Autobots she'd ever known.
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Nightbeat
Minor
Lord High Instructor, Duke of Snack
Cybertron's Greatest Detective
Posts: 373
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Post by Nightbeat on Jun 19, 2007 23:36:03 GMT -5
For the first time since arriving on this strange world, Nightbeat transforms. It's a sleek vehicular mode, recently modified to resemble an Earthern vehicle of some sort. Not too terrible different from the vehicular form he had on Cybertron, really.
Still, it's rather satisfying to know he's not quiet a standard Earth car. With a single command, his weapons systems snap into place. Two small guns on his hood, one larger weapon on his roof. Nobody messed with this roadster.
"Let's roll out then," he says.
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Post by Swerve on Jun 20, 2007 3:51:52 GMT -5
Swerve is in gear almost before anyone can suggest rolling anywhere. He has his directions and he has a road, and with the rain starting to peter out, it'll be easier to open up the throttle and really cut loose. He might never adjust to this stupid, weird, wet, unpaved, empty planet, but he can forget about that with speed and distance.
"See you lot when we get there, then," he mutters to Arcee and the other two before peeling out with a squelch from his tires and a roar from his engine. They're free to catch up with him if they want. Or if they can.
How fast are they, anyway?
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Post by Perceptor on Jun 21, 2007 8:26:04 GMT -5
Perceptor? Perceptor is significantly faster on his feet than on his treads. Hence why he's currently securely tucked into Arcee's passenger compartment, leaving the driving, and the speed, to others' more capable wheels.
"Once we reach the settlement at the river, we need to locate a road to the north. It should make the travel across the desert more efficient," he observes, trusting Arcee to forward the observation to the rapidly speeding away racer.
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Arcee
Minor
Token Girl-Bot
Posts: 330
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Post by Arcee on Jun 21, 2007 11:50:44 GMT -5
Arcee, as it turns out, is actually faster than Swerve, so it is in no time at all (and trusting Nightbeat to follow) that she catches up to him, the noises of her engine making it clear she could go faster if she really wanted to.
She was no Blurr or Hot Rod, but she could still race with the best of them. It helped, after all, to be able to keep up with the boys.
What an odd thought. Transformers made no real distinction between male and female, other than as a slightly different design model (though it was worth noting that she'd never encountered a female Decepticon), and yet there it was all the same.
"Looking for a road north, once we hit the settlement again," she tells Swerve.
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Nightbeat
Minor
Lord High Instructor, Duke of Snack
Cybertron's Greatest Detective
Posts: 373
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Post by Nightbeat on Jun 21, 2007 12:09:53 GMT -5
"Ngh. Blasted youth element," Nightbeat grumbles as he guns his engine and drives after the others.
He wasn't as old as, say, Kup or Ironhide, but still... Younger Transformers like Siren were going to be the death of him one of these days.
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Post by Swerve on Jun 21, 2007 16:56:18 GMT -5
Swerve can't say he isn't a little surprised to see how easily Arcee paces him; he hadn't expected her to be that quick. And she isn't even pushing! His first impulse is, naturally, to take action before she can, force her to back off and keep her away. Proximity is never a good thing in races. Caught up in the elation of high-velocity motion and lingering vexation, for a moment, he's ready to shift gears and do just that.
It's with considerable restraint that he tells himself not to follow through and reminds himself why.
This isn't a race. And she isn't a racer. "North," he grinds out, decelerating slightly as the first few, low structures rapidly come into view, "gotcha."
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Post by Perceptor on Jun 22, 2007 14:30:52 GMT -5
"The area surrounding this settlement was where Long Haul, Xaaron, and I encountered the adult specimen of the dragon creature that is currently accompanying Long Haul. Synapse arrived in some sort of structure that, by his description, appeared to be a sort of holding and viewing facility for specimens of various life forms, including, potentially, that dragon creature. Additional specimens may have escaped and the adult dragon had been... quite formidable. Exercise caution, Arcee," Perceptor explains.
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Arcee
Minor
Token Girl-Bot
Posts: 330
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Post by Arcee on Jun 22, 2007 17:15:35 GMT -5
"Gotcha," Arcee replies. "Funny. The place where Swerve and I showed up looked like some kind of temple.
Not to mention where they'd found Optimus's body...
"We should go back there at some point," she adds. "Retrieve the... body."
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Nightbeat
Minor
Lord High Instructor, Duke of Snack
Cybertron's Greatest Detective
Posts: 373
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Post by Nightbeat on Jun 22, 2007 17:18:30 GMT -5
"Beach me an' the giant sad sack appeared on looked like some kind of chintzy tourist town," Nightbeat interjects.
"Makes you wonder what happened to all the people, don't it?"
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Post by Swerve on Jun 23, 2007 14:20:41 GMT -5
Dragon. What's a dragon, anyway? Swerve has no idea, but he doesn't ask, either. If the others want to chat, let 'em chat. Small talk isn't really his thing. Of course, neither is heavy thinking – his processor runs hot enough as is – but he's doing more of that than is probably healthy.
Most of these Autobots seem to know each other somehow. Arcee knows Omega Supreme and Perceptor; the nosy old codger seems to know everyone in some way. Swerve is the odd bot out here. He doesn't know any of them, at all, and he isn't sure what to make of them; they're like and unlike the Autobots he's seen. Smelt, they're as much a mystery as this stupid planet.
"Who cares what happened to 'em?" he mutters, venting, in response to Nightbeat. "Point is, they aren't here, and we are." And they have to find a way to not be here.
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Post by Perceptor on Jun 23, 2007 21:41:22 GMT -5
"Because whatever it is that had happened to those who once inhabited this world, may happen to us," Perceptor replies patiently. "This world, at least superficially, appears to be thriving. I, for one, would prefer to understand the circumstances that led to its desertion. Such knowledge may assist us in determining what led to our presence here, which will, in turn, assist in determinig how to reverse the effets."
To say nothing of the fact that it's just a fascinating puzzle.
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Arcee
Minor
Token Girl-Bot
Posts: 330
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Post by Arcee on Jun 23, 2007 22:46:42 GMT -5
"And besides," Arcee adds, "we're Autobots. These people might still be alive, might be in danger. If they are, it's up to us to save them."
Heaven help them all, she really believes that.
"Though I don't have any idea what could make people just up and disappear like this. The Decepticons don't have anything like that..."
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