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Post by Needlenose on Jul 17, 2007 16:29:07 GMT -5
Needlenose is still quite certain that he's fine, minor business with transformation aside!
"If it's a sedative, it's the worst one ever created. I feel completely alert. I feel... powerful, really. Truth serum... uhm... I'm absolutely thrilled with Zigzag's incredibly precise accuracy!" This earns a sour look from Zigzag. "Nope, not a truth serum," Needlenose concludes. "Poison... if they were going to do that, why not just kill me? It doesn't make any sense."
Needlenose guides Spinister in adjusting the angle of his wing to better look at his transform joints. The fact that he happens to lightly touch the helicopter’s hand with his while doing this is surely just an accident. "No sample containers... I was stripped of pretty much everything before they put me in stasis. I'm lucky whatever grabbed me got Zigzag and Sunbeam, too. And..." he trails off and cranes his head, so as to see things better. "Transform joints look fine. It just makes no sense!"
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Post by Spinister on Jul 17, 2007 17:42:38 GMT -5
Spinister reminds, "Autobots are hypocrites. They say that they respect the sanctity of all life, but they never respect a Decepticon's right to live," which is hard fought and bitterly earned. "Perhaps it would make them feel better about their miserable lives if you dropped dead in Decepticon care than on their watch."
He remains utterly cold, clinical, and professional, even at that touch. It means nothing to him. Spinister continues to speculate, "Alternatively, something in the mine may have gotten to you."
He peers down the mine, wondering if perhaps they ought to recover the corpse for spare parts. Spinister doesn't exactly have the best lifting capacity in helicopter mode. He does manage to produce a sample bottle, the type usually used in forensics, and passes it to Needlenose, if the other Mayhem will accept it.
Then, Spinister sets the wing down and to the side and put one hand above Needlenose's left knee and the other below it. Very gently, he pushes sideways on the joint, manually trying part of Needlenose's transformation. If it hurts, Needlenose can scream.
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 17, 2007 20:44:21 GMT -5
Needlenose mutters, "Maybe, but if that's the case, it's the strangest poison I've ever heard of..." He tilts his head. "And yeah. I didn't go any deeper in there, and there were branches. It didn't seem the time for spelunking."
If Needlenose is disappointed by Spinister's lack of reaction to his touch, he hides it well, but his fingertips do brush against the other's as he accepts the sample bottle from him. The should-be jet squirms as Spinister prods transform joints. It doesn't hurt, but it's faintly uncomfortable. The joint itself doesn't budge; it appears stuck fast in place.
Needlenose sighs and asks, "Can I sit up now so I can transfer the sample into here, or are you not done prodding at me?"
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Post by Spinister on Jul 17, 2007 21:08:20 GMT -5
Venom was the one who really knew poisons. Venom might have been able to diagnose Needlenose over the radio. Venom's dead, due to that accursed Galvatron, and he never trained a proper replacement.
There's no reaction from Spinister when Needlenose takes the bottle, except to move his hand elsewhere.
He says softly, "Wait a second. Your joint is reading out fine?" But it won't move. Blastedly curious, that development. He traces a hand up Needlenose's body, tweaking at the other transformation joints. Eventually, he concludes, "We need to check your transformation cog. If that's locked up or damaged, it could be what's locking up the rest of you." Simple and logical enough, right? Needlenose is a unique design. Perhaps the Autobots broke something when they put him into stasis.
Spinister hefts up Needlenose's detached wing again so that Needlenose can see what he's doing.
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 17, 2007 21:32:56 GMT -5
Needlenose once more reaches up to adjust the wing, although he stops to give Spinister a rather suspicious look. Finally, he shrugs it off. More immediate problems.
"Hmmm... not seeing any damage, no. But it is locked up pretty tightly." Needlenose pokes at his own transformation cog. "I can't see any reason for it, though, and I'm still not reading any errors." He looks for a bit longer, occasionally reaching up to adjust the wing, but finally sighs. "We're not getting any answers like this. We don't have the materials on-hand for a proper check-up, but whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be killing me on the spot."
Needlenose closes up his chest and sits up. He uses one of the fuel-siphons in his right finger to drain off a small sample into the small bottle, then hands it to Spinister before standing up. Then he looks around and sighs. His antennae lower a bit in embarrassment and he glances at Spinister out of the corner of his field of vision. "I have... no idea how I'm going to join the others."
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Post by Spinister on Jul 17, 2007 22:16:42 GMT -5
Spinister just looks blank at the suspicious look. He gets that quite a bit, although not so much as the look of abject terror that usually greets him. Spinister does nod at Needlenose's comment that it hasn't killed him yet. Casually, he notes, "If all else fails, you and Hook can tear out your whole transformation system and install a new one." While annoying, the problem should be fixable.
He wipes down the sample bottle with a disposable cleansing swab and tucks it away carefully. Spinister paces, hands behind his back. He cannot introduce Needlenose to the others here from a position of weakness, of illness. Perhaps they can just avoid having Needlenose transform for a while? Spinister turns back and considers Needlenose. He offers, "I can carry you there. Just hang on to my skids. But before that, do a weapons check."
Spinister gestures at the nearby town, which seems ghostly and abandoned. A Targetmaster doesn't need to be able to transform to bring the pain. If Sunbeam and Zigzag are operational, the other Decepticons should think twice about preying on Needlenose, despite his infirmity.
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 17, 2007 22:28:51 GMT -5
"Right!" Needlenose answers. Without words, Needlenose calls to Zigzag and Sunbeam. Zigzag's accuracy leaves a lot to be desired, but if Needlenose is just trying to hit "something," he can do that. The two leap into the air, transforming as they do, and land in Needlenose's hands. His antennae perk up and he decides if he's going to do a weapons check, he's going to go all out. He combines his two guns into a single weapon and fires down at the town below. [glow=red,2,300]BOOM!! [/glow]The results are... spectacular, to say the least. Needlenose, for all that he's often perceived as somewhat silly, somewhat weak, has always had an impressive amount of firepower at his disposal, but it's never been like this. An enormous crater is left at the point of impact and several buildings - a full "block" - are either significantly damaged or just plain not there anymore. Needlenose's optics widen and his one wing (the other one is still off) quivers slightly. He stares, silently, at his handiwork for several long moments. Finally, he whispers, somewhat awed, "That's the strangest 'poison' I've ever heard of."
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Post by Spinister on Jul 18, 2007 9:08:04 GMT -5
Spinster calls up the subroutines that leave the frequencies of light that Sunbeam emits unprocessed. It leaves him utterly blind to those frequencies, which is an annoyance, but if he doesn’t get this shielding up in time around Needlenose and Sunbeam, he’s going to be completely blind, which is rather worse. He orders Hairsplitter and Singe to adjust their visors accordingly.
Even with his software ‘sunglasses’ on, Spinister is left weak in the knees after that breath-taking display of sheer, raw firepower. He recovers swiftly, unknowable and slickly professional as ever, but there’s a moment where he’s wide-opticed as a fresh recruit who just saw his own legs blown off. Spinister prays, prays to those slouching, insouciant gods of career soldiers, that Needlenose didn’t see him in that moment of weakness.
Singe, still out standing watch, tilts his head to side and watches the smoke waft off the crater. Bewildered, he exclaims aloud, “Since when did Sunbeam and Zigzag have teeth like that?”
Hairsplitter winces and protests softly, “That is totally out of spec for them.”
Spinister has to agree. On an ideal, sunny day, Needlenose’s power output as a Double-Targetmaster could never match that display here, and he knows that Sunbeam just spent a while in the dark in a mine. Possibly explosives were stored in that area of the town. They could be useful for blasting during mining, but no, there would have been a slight delay if a shot had set off explosives. The explosion was the shot.
Perhaps with his transformation system offline, Needlenose has more power available to shunt to offensive measures?
Spinister rattles out, “Impressive.” Pause. “Do it again.”
Let it be repeatable. Let it be not a fluke. If Needlenose can maintain that output of firepower consistently, Spinister's worries about introducing him to the other Decepticons are dead and dust.
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 18, 2007 9:30:08 GMT -5
Not to worry, Spinister! Needlenose doesn't see your moment of weakness! He's still too far in shock over his moment of strength. His Nebulans, once they recover from their own surprise, begin exulting in his head, and Needlenose's wing perks a bit more. "Uhm... sure! Sure!" He raises the double weapon once more. This time, his hand is shaking slightly. Uhm... not good. He has enough trouble with Zigzag's accuracy problems without compounding it. Needlenose uses one arm to support and steady the other, which cuts down on the trembling. Needlenose intakes air and mutters, "Here goes," before he fires again. [glow=red,2,300]BOOM!![/glow] When the dust settles, there is notably less town. Apparently it was not a fluke. Still, Needlenose adds, quietly, voice still soft with shock, "I'd... better not waste any more shots. Not with these two." Running low on power is the biggest problem Needlenose has with his Targetmasters in the best of circumstances.
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Post by Spinister on Jul 18, 2007 12:48:27 GMT -5
Spinister squints at the shaking. Circuit toxin? Even now, corroding his transistors? Then Needlenose composes himself, and he tries to put aside his fretting.
Spinister knows what he should expect now, but seeing that beam of focused, amplified sunlight haloed by crackling electricity lance out and immolate a fair chunk of a town gets him again. His knees clink together, and he stares out at the sweet, sweet devastation.
Smoothly, Spinister straightens himself and favours Needlenose with a slow, satisfied nod. He agrees that there is no point to wasting any more shots now. That's nice thinking on Needlenose's part.
Scuffing a foot against the ground, he transforms, and the Rosa Helikopter sits there on the ground, ready to play sky taxi.
As the Nebulans make their way to their side platforms for their gun modes, Singe asks, "Don't suppose we get to ride inside? No, didn't think so."
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 18, 2007 13:24:20 GMT -5
Needlenose holsters his Nebulans and then picks up his wing and fits it back into place. It's a little more difficult without the help, and now it has this... slime all over it. Needlenose makes a disgusted little sniffing noise. "Ugh. You need a bath, Spinister."
He climbs onto Spinister's skids and holds on tight, preparing for takeoff and a no-doubt awkward flight. "So, you going to let these others know I'm coming, or should I announce myself?" Needlenose has, of course, been hearing the Decepticon chatter over the radio, but hadn't felt the urge to butt in just yet. "I take it Lord Starscream is the senior Decepticon here?"
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Post by Spinister on Jul 18, 2007 14:47:35 GMT -5
Singe agrees with Needlenose and grumbles, “He needs a bath and dousing in air freshener.”
Spinister mutters, “Bath later,” and takes off, rotors whining. He should get those checked out soon. The swamp muck cannot have done them any good. Spinister definitely couldn’t carry the dead Seeker, too. They’ll have to come back for him later.
He debates the issue of introducing Needlenose and says, “I’ll do it.” Needlenose has impressed him with his new found firepower, but Needlenose the slain student is still fresh in Spinister’s mind. “All I’ve done is told Lord Starscream that Hook might want to get his tools ready. I have not yet introduced myself on the main frequency. Lord Starscream is, yes.”
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 18, 2007 15:34:31 GMT -5
Needlenose holds on tight to Spinister as the other takes off. He looks down and sighs. The wind moving against him, the view, even the sounds of the unusually silent helicopter... they were all wonderful. In fact, somehow, in his new state, they seemed better, realer, than ever. And yet, being forced to rely on another for transport is... frustrating, to say the least.
"If you say so," he answers in response to Spinister declaring that he will contact Lord Starscream. His wings shrug. "I guess I'd just as soon not announce over the radio that I'm a Transformer who can't transform, anyway."
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Post by Spinister on Jul 18, 2007 22:06:14 GMT -5
Spinister is poor travelling company, even for those who share his mind with him. He must be even worse for Needlenose. His silence is eloquent, stretching out to the ever-changing horizon. He doesn't fly high. In fact, he almost hugs the ground and skitters to and fro, never flying straight. Spinister does so hope that Needlenose doesn't get airsick. He may be a jet, but jets know nothing of hovering flight.
Everywhere Spinister goes, he sees the same story: buildings abandoned to the ravages of the nature but not long abandoned. What happened here? This bodes ill. Hairsplitter shares his worries, and the organic's mind races over the possibilities, swiftly eliminating the more implausible ones. Singe has but this comment, This planet is tinder for the burning.
Wildfires do so easily get out of control, however. Spinister would know.
At Starscream's reply, Spinister steels himself. Commanders often think to punish him for his oftentimes erratic appearance rate. For Needlenose, he is willing to face the music, but the tune changes. He sees no point in telling Needlenose of the close shave. The last thing he needs to do is model bad behavior for Needlenose. The ex-jet has quite enough foolish hobbies as it is. Spinister simply says, "Done. I've told Lord Starscream. We report to these coordinates."
He relays said coordinates to Needlenose, just in case they are separated.
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Post by Needlenose on Jul 19, 2007 6:45:02 GMT -5
Like Spinister looks down at the abandoned planet with concern. Perhaps he doesn't have the proper level of worry, but still, he finds the situation most disconcerting (more so because he cannot transform). Even Zigzag is a bit put off by the state of the world, since whatever chased away the locals might still be around.
Sunbeam, of course, just wants to know where the beaches are.
Needlenose nods to Spinister as he receives the coordinates. "All right." His antennae lay back on his head and he grumbles, "Though I hope it doesn't come down to me walking that distance."
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