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Post by Kup on Aug 30, 2007 14:43:18 GMT -5
Kup narrows his optics and leans back in his "seat" as he listens. He kind of wishes he had his stylus back out, if for no other reason than to give his hands something to do while he thinks. He tends to talk with his hands, and sometimes he'll think with them, too.
The veteran shakes his head. "'Nucleon'? No, can't say I... wait." He frowns, brings his right hand up to his chin as he considers. "Er... think I might have heard the word thrown around once, but not what it was or anything." His optics narrow, and then he shakes his head once. "Naw, I got nothing."
He then lowers his hand and gestures absently with it, palm more or less open, as he speaks. "So, erm, what were you doing with Decepticons in stasis tanks, anyways? And... okay, so it screwed with his transform. But that doesn't explain why he wasn't fl- waitaminute..."
Kup snaps his fingers, his optics widen, and he points emphatically. "Wreckage! That 'Con I fought, similar style to Jazz and Bumblebee. He didn't fly, didn't even seem able to. Is that the same for you guys, then? Your Decepticons don't all fly?"
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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 Aug 30, 2007 14:58:17 GMT -5
Nightbeat shakes his head. "Huh? What the heck are you talkin' about? Only way Decepticons, heck, anybody, gets to fly is if they turn into a jet. Well, 'couple other guys have rocket feet or somethin', but that's the exception. 'course, Needlenose is gonna have more firepower than the average 'con anyway, on account of being a Target Master. He's got these little alien dudes, Nebulans, who turn into his guns. Spinister too, for that matter."
He goes on with his explanation. "They were workin' for Thunderwing. Big wig Pretender and then current leader of the 'cons of Cybertron, while Shockwave and Scorponok were squabblin' on Earth. And Thunderwing, well... he got himself ahold of the Creation Matrix, which the Earth 'bots lost when they shot Prime's body into space when he died. Seems he didn't tell anybody it was more than just a program in his head."
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Post by Kup on Aug 30, 2007 15:13:59 GMT -5
Kup stares. Okay. Most of the individual works Nightbeat is using make sense, but added together they might as well be another language. Erm, one that Kup doesn't actually speak.
He sits there quietly for a moment, then decides to go through the issues one by one. "My universe, all Decepticons got robot-mode flight. They use what's called antigravs. Was one of their developments going into the Third Great War," and a nasty surprise for Kup when he returned to Cybertron to fight it.
"Alien... dudes that turn into guns. No, we don't have Targetmasters, but thanks for the heads up. Gonna need an explanation for what a Pretender is, too. We got a Shockwave, the other names aren't familiar, but that's not too unexpected."
"But... Creation Matrix? We've got something called the Matrix of Leadership, but I've never heard ours called a 'Creation Matrix.'" He hnhs softly, and shakes his head. Yet another difference. One thing seems to hold true across the two realities, though: sending dead Optimii into space looks to just generally be a bad idea.
Kup is so sending Arcee back to her time with the word, No space morgues.
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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 Aug 30, 2007 15:23:43 GMT -5
"Believe me, Kup, things are insanely complicated on our Cybertron these days. We've got Nebulans who turn into people's heads--craziest idea of the lot you ask me, Nebulans who turn into their guns, and Nebulans who turn into their engines and make 'em all super-charged. Heck, even Prime got rebuilt to have one of those. And Pretenders... Pretenders wear this outer shell of armor that looks like an animal or an alien, makes 'em extra-powerful."
The other response, though, gets more of a rise out of him. "Then how the heck do you get more Transformers? The Creation Matrix is the source of all Transformer life."
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Post by Kup on Aug 30, 2007 16:55:08 GMT -5
Kup throws up both hands and, in a tone of 'why am I explaining something so obvious?' exclaims, "We build them!"
Then he continues, counting off methods on the fingers of his left hand using his right. "We got... well, used to have factories, but those are mostly gone now. And then there's building up a body and getting it programmed by Vector Sigma, and finally there's just hand building from scratch, putting together your own laser core, and programming that up from scratch. That one takes a heckeva technician. Generally either of the other methods are easier, but sometimes it's the best or even only option." He shrugs and lowers his hands. "Before I came here, always figured buildin' was the usual method of getting new robots, barring things like the mecha-dragons."
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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 Aug 30, 2007 20:42:29 GMT -5
"Well, we've done that on occasion... The Micromasters were built that way, but it's far from the norm," Nightbeat replies.
He shrugs, then recalls something that had been bugging him. "You talked to that Hardwire guy yet, Kup?"
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Post by Kup on Aug 30, 2007 21:21:06 GMT -5
Kup shakes his head. "Not yet. Last I heard, he had a busted radio, so he's been a bit harder to track down than the rest. And I'm not too far into these, anyway." And Kup does indeed intend to confirm that busted radio with Perceptor, oh yes...
The elder frowns thoughtfully and absently taps one finger against the roof of his vehicle-chair. "Might be awhile yet before I can get to him, though, y'know, if other people wanna chat with him before I get to it, I don't see what I can do to stop it." Kup smiles just faintly. "Not like we've got any official leadership in place yet or anything, right?"
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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 Aug 30, 2007 22:20:37 GMT -5
Okay, Kup has officially just moved up several places in Nightbeat's estimation of him. It takes an act of will for him to keep a grin of his own off his face. It is, in his eyes, a nice bit of unspoken communication between the two of them.
Granted, creatively interpreting orders so he can do what he wants is just part of what he does. So maybe it isn't there. But he can claim it was if he gets called on it.
"Right as rain, Kup," he replies.
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Post by Kup on Aug 30, 2007 23:20:19 GMT -5
Kup dips his head. "All right, then. There's only two more matters, and then we're done. First... I need your frequency. Especially if you plan on 'chatting' with anyone. Mines'..." and he provides it, but Nightbeat would already have it. It matches the personal frequency of the Kup in his own universe, and they were both on the Ark at about the point when Nightbeat was pulled from, after all. "Second, I'm going to be holding a number of training sessions. I know you're an experienced soldier, I get that already, but... this group does not no how to work together. At all. We don't know each other's capabilities, and if we want to survive, we gotta learn them. Can I count on you to show up without giving me a hassle over it first?" He pauses, then adds, "If nothing else, you'll get to watch your Emirate Xaaron learn how to use a standard laser-pistol. He'll be out there."
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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 Aug 30, 2007 23:26:09 GMT -5
Nightbeat happily passed over his own frequency to Kup in exchange for the older mechanoids. As for the rest, well, he's about to balk at that. He's made his career out of being a loner. Then again...
Somebody had to keep the youth element in line. And the idea of Xaaron in the field was funny as heck.
Still, he needed some token resistance, or else it might tarnish his image as a lone wolf. A put-upon sigh preceded his reply. "Yeah, Kup. You can count on me. Might as well do what I can to help keep these guys alive."
He stands, working a couple of kinks out of his shoulders while he did so. "Good luck with the rest of your interviews, Kup. Don't let them young punks get you down."
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Post by Kup on Aug 31, 2007 6:30:31 GMT -5
Could it be that Kup actually looks faintly relieved when it turns out he doesn't have to actively argue to get Nightbeat to show up on training? Naw! Couldn't be!
What's more certain is his look of surprise as Nightbeat advises that he not let the young punks get him down. He was certain it wasn't showing! Surprise quickly flits to a wry grin and he shrugs. "Eh. Can't promise they won't get me down here and there, Nightbeat..." the grin widens. "But you better believe they ain't gonna keep me there." He inclines his head as the other starts to head off. "Been a pleasure meeting you. I'll see you around, huh?"
Once Nightbeat has reached a point when he'd have a hard time turning back without looking a bit awkward or suspicious, Kup retrieves the metal plate he'd been marking up and starts making a few more of his odd notations, not even sticking to the same area (or the same side) of the plate as he writes. As he does, he considers his next vict- erm, interviewee.
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Post by Kup on Aug 31, 2007 18:14:37 GMT -5
With Nightbeat gone and Kup caught up with his notes, it's time to call up the next person. This time he actually has a personal frequency.
//Hey, Wedge?// he calls out over the radio. //This is Kup. Y'got a moment to chat? If so, could you please meet me at...// and he gives the same co-ordinates for the same alley that he gave Xaaron previously. //I'd appreciate it.//
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Wedge
Minor
NOT a reckless teen-bot
Posts: 413
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Post by Wedge on Sept 1, 2007 10:43:18 GMT -5
Wedge starts slightly at Kup's voice. // Er, sure. I guess I'll be there in a few. // He pauses, mind going through all the reasons that he can to figure out the reason for this call. // ...can if I ask why? //
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Post by Kup on Sept 1, 2007 15:53:37 GMT -5
//Running a series of interviews, Wedge,// Kup explains. //Trying to get an idea of what level of combat skill everyone's coming from, and what other talents have got. It's also a step to help us all get to know each other a bit better, since we've gotta work together, and we don't know yet for how long.//
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Wedge
Minor
NOT a reckless teen-bot
Posts: 413
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Post by Wedge on Sept 1, 2007 20:18:30 GMT -5
Interviews? Well, it isn't as if Wedge is adverse to espousing the worth of him and his...er, team. But a chance to maybe redeem himself in the old mech's eyes. That definitely isn't a bad thing right? He definitely isn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. But then, the idea of staying here any longer...Wedge frowns and subspaces the plans. Whatever Kup says, if Wedge can keep on working, he'll find a way back home. Yeah, that's a promise.
// Sounds like a plan. I'll catch ya in a minute then. //
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