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Post by Long Haul on Aug 28, 2007 20:38:27 GMT -5
Long Haul gets to go exploring! Oh boy! He gets a break from the constant repairing and building and hauling and building and repairing. And hauling. Mustn't forget the hauling.
He leaves the base with this really... weird... guy. Jazz. Who isn't looking great, but considering the fact that the first time Long Haul saw him, he was in two pieces, he's looking pretty darned good. Long Haul actually feels a bit proud about that, even if he's ashamed of his initial panic attack.
Long Haul stops far enough from the garage-becoming-base that he can look back and see the empty launch pad next to it.1 Very small for a space-port... perhaps the equivalent of a minor small-town airport on a planet without space travel? But the Autobots have yet to find any hint of the craft that would be launched from it.
He turns to Jazz and shrugs apologetically. "I... always wanted to be an explorer, but I don't know much about actually, y'know, exploring. I always figured you just kinda... wander around until something exciting happens but now that I think of it... there's probably a method to it all, and such."
1 Whoops! Did we forget to mention the empty launch pad attached to the building? *cough* It's there. It's empty. There's no liquid fuels available, either.
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Jazz
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Post by Jazz on Aug 28, 2007 20:58:24 GMT -5
Well, Jazz /is/ missing the usual exquisite paint job. The overpriced fancy paints are hard to come by in a place like this. He does, however, have the happy grin of a kid being let out of school on a warm day. "Explorin' is actually kinda fun. Ya gotta make sure y'know where you came from, though, so's you can find your way back." Kinda fun? Jazz actually enjoys it more than... just about anything. "Finding new stuff is exciting. New planets, new cultures, new music--" Oh. And did we mention the music? No, Jazz isn't having trouble keeping up with Long Haul, despite being a bit short. Sportscar. Hyperactive. Check, check. "You just kinda look for something that seems like it ain't familiar, sometimes, an' follow." Like the launch pad? Or maybe those buildings up ahead, since they're heading away from the base. Be plenty of time to explore that area on the way back, or if Perceptor changes his mind about Jazz going too far from the base. Which would be a major drag. "Wonder what this place was like when there were folks runnin' 'round here." And he's off, a few steps ahead. A few steps behind. Off to the side of the road, looking at a signpost. "Wonder if that says 'No Parking.'" He muses.
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Post by Long Haul on Aug 28, 2007 21:28:39 GMT -5
"Well, Kup might know a bit of what it was like with people," Long Haul points out to Jazz as he follows along. "He's been here. Gave us the name of the planet and stuff. Says he don't read the language, though - wasn't here long enough to get that." Long Haul's a fairly slow, plodding walker (and he is also not significantly taller than Jazz - if anything, they're fairly close to the same size!), so if anything, he's the one who has to struggle to keep up with Jazz!
"Not much seems familiar here. Never been on an organic world before now, and it's all kinda confusing. The city's not so bad, though. Me and my workmates, we build cities. This one's... not laid out so good, really. I mean, not too bad, but it's got the look of something that was meant to be smaller, and kinda... grew outta itself. Main roads ain't been too hard to figure out, but the little ones have been a pain."
The Constructibot grumbles. "And everything's too small. They don't build on a proper scale... well, they don't build for different scales." That's a talent his team always took pride in! He shakes his head. "S'kinda hard for me to... y'know, scale down my thinking for here."
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Jazz
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Post by Jazz on Aug 29, 2007 10:08:13 GMT -5
"Everyone in your group is the same size, right?" Jazz asks, meandering back to Long Haul. Hm. That joint's feeling a little whacked, but . . . it's just an odd feeling. Perceptor did an excellent job, and he's not about to complain that it feels funny, when he's lucky it's working at all. "If you were gonna build somethin' just for them, would you make it sized just for them, or would ya build it so's anyone could come in and use it?" Jazz peers at the other one's face, or lack thereof, and continues anyway. "Organics usually come in specific sizes. Not too much variation- an' most of the ones I've seen have been pretty small. Dunno about layouts... but this one has some old stuff mixed with new. Older stuff's gonna be small, cos they didn't know they were gonna be big one day..." And it's quiet. Blasted QUIET. Too Quiet. Jazz's visor slips down, and he takes a quick look around in another spectrum. Is there anything alive out here?
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Post by Long Haul on Aug 29, 2007 11:39:02 GMT -5
"We don't build things just for us!" Long Haul protests. "Well, okay, workshops and stuff. But not whole cities! That'd be... selfish, for one thing. And more'n we need, anyways, for just ourselves." He peers though a window that he passes, trying to determine if there's anything useful inside.
"Alla this looks new to me," he says. "I don't think any of this stuff would last more'n a couple thousand years1, tops." Boy, but organics were short-sighted!
The alternate spectrum sweep reveals there is, in fact, something alive out here! They are near a zoo where what surviving animals are left have run wild, after all. Lurking, crouched, in an alley just across the street is a little infrared hot-spot. But is it predator or prey species? Maybe it's just as scared of the Autobots as they are of it? It's hard to tell at this point and from this distance.2
1 No, I am not translating into "vorns." the default assumption is that most people (except, of course, Bumblebee and the Junkion) are speaking in Cybertronian and it's getting translated into English for play-purposes. Why would we not translate time measurements?
2 Haven't decided what this is. If Jazz's player has no ideas, I'll make something up on my next turn. It may be perfectly harmless, or it may not. Not everything in this city has to be a mecha-dragon or a calizard or a skybull!
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Jazz
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Post by Jazz on Aug 29, 2007 20:24:29 GMT -5
"But these organics ran a bit smaller than we do... hm." Jazz says absently, giving the hot spot a second scan. "You wouldn't build something for someone that you didn't know existed, would ya?" Best not to let it know that he's spotted it, most likely. If it's just some innocent little animal, it'd prolly be best to leave it alone. If not... well. Jazz has a thick metal skin. "An' they don't always live that long." Jazz frowns, and shrugs, getting back to the window-shopping. "Wonder what kind of animals live 'round here..."
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Post by Long Haul on Aug 29, 2007 20:53:51 GMT -5
"But they did know about us!" Long Haul protests. "Kup's been here!" Then, before Jazz can point it out, his optic band flickers. "Well, unless he ain't been here yet. Or, erm, it was another here, I guess." He scratches his head. "This is confusin'!"
"But... why limit yer building to just how long you live? Ain't that kinda the point of building? You build something to stand for all time! Or as close as you can get t'it, anyway. Anything less, that's just lazy." He moves on to the next window. Long Haul, intrepid window-shopper.
"All sortsa weird animals around here. 'Cos of the zoo."
As for the thing in the alley? It's not yet moved on, as a second scan would show. It just shifts from foot to foot to foot to foot to foo- well, you get the idea. If Jazz makes any attempt at an approach, it starts scrunching up, almost into itself.
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Jazz
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Post by Jazz on Sept 5, 2007 18:10:27 GMT -5
"One right over there," Jazz tells Long Haul , "Wonder what kind it is." Yeah. He's gonna try and approach it. Curiosity itches worse than a rust. Jazz is desperately trying to be quiet as he approaches, but it's not really possible for him-- natural tendencies towards noise aside, he's still a bit rough moving. It's scrunching up, so it's probably harmless and scared. Maybe it'll be a buddy for Tiny.
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Post by Long Haul on Sept 5, 2007 18:30:15 GMT -5
Long Haul's band flickers as Jazz darts for the animal. He... seems to be trying to be silent, so the transport doesn't say anything, and as he follows, he makes some attempt at moving silently himself. But, well... he's about as stealthy as a dump truck.
Obviously, this is the pair the Autobots should send on all their spy missions!
The little creature seems to faintly resemble a terran armadillo with far, far too many legs. Or maybe the mammalian equivalent of a rolly-polly bug. Either way, it's pulled itself into a ball by this point.
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Arcee
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Post by Arcee on Sept 6, 2007 21:56:28 GMT -5
Arcee has likewise been driving over the various areas not far from the Autobot base, trying to wrap her head around what little she'd been told about her future. Very little of which made any kind of sense.
She activated her radio, shortening the broadcast so that it wouldn't reach all the way home, but instead only transmit locally. //Anybody out there to keep a girl company?//
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Jazz
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Post by Jazz on Sept 7, 2007 16:25:08 GMT -5
And the armadillo has one... two... th-- Oh dear. Lost track of how many legs it has in the sudden transmission being picked up locally. RollyPolly thing is forgotten for the moment, as it's balled itself up, and is hiding. Someone calling out is much more likely to be of interest... Even if it's the pink... um... Girl?
//Jus' doin' some 'splorin'.// Jazz bursts out with over the nicely repaired radio, and stepping away from the alleyway. "Hey Long Haul, didja hear that?" Maybe the little thing could escape while Jazz is distracted by girlbots and more company for this expedition.
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Post by Long Haul on Sept 7, 2007 16:37:21 GMT -5
Long Haul actually takes a moment to poke at the RollyPolly-ish thing. It pulls itself tighter and... rolls a little. He shrugs and turns away at the radio call, nodding to Jazz. "Yeah, I heard it. Sounded like, erm... Arcee, right?"
The Long Haul realizes that maybe he ought to ask the other person.
//Yeah,// he agrees cheerfully. //Perceptor sent us out. It's Arcee, right?//
Long Haul doesn't remind her of his name. She seems to already know it.
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Arcee
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Post by Arcee on Sept 7, 2007 23:09:19 GMT -5
<i>Long Haul.</i>
Damn it, just the name fills her with rage. The Constructicons accounted for a number of the deaths in Autobot City that day and Scavenger, most surprisingly of all, accounted for the death of Prowl. And, of course, they were also responsible for the deaths of Wheeljack and Windcharger.
Yet... it's not a burning rage. In fact, it leaves her almost as soon as it builds. She just can't bring herself to be angry at this Long Haul. Not when he's done as much for their side as she's been assured he has. Not when she knows that the most terrible bits of his own history are still awaiting him.
//Yeah, it's Arcee. Where're you guys at? If it's not too far, maybe I'll hook up with you.//
She'll play nice. Try to be friends. It's the Autobot thing to do.
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Jazz
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Post by Jazz on Sept 8, 2007 22:31:58 GMT -5
And the name 'Arcee' is rather familiar. Yes, there's an Arcee in this Jazz's universe. She hung around someone else, rather than him, though. Different squads. Passing in the night, and all that. Still. It will be interesting to see just how different this one is. . . Jazz probably hasn't had more than a glimpse of her in passing.
//Over here, lookin' at a strange little creature.// Jazz tosses the coordinates as well. //It's all balled up now. Haven't been able t'identify it or anythin'.//
Hm. It's cute, in a ball sort of way. Tiny could play rollyball with it or something. That is, if they don't all gather round and scare the poor thing to death. Jazz takes a step back, and starts peering around for odd-looking femmes. Still pacing a bit as well.
... maybe he should switch to decaf.
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Post by Long Haul on Sept 8, 2007 22:43:38 GMT -5
Or Tiny could eat it. Well, except that Tiny appears to eat the local equivalent of car batteries. Usually with Decepticon symbols painted on them.
//Uhm, yeah,// answers Long Haul over the radio. He moves out of the alley where the rollypolly thing is and starts looking around. //Just down the street from the building... about four blocks, take a right, shouldn't be able to miss us.//
He has no idea as to Arcee's inner thoughts, although he does remember the way she shouted the first time he spoke on the radio, and the looks she kept giving him during their first meeting. Still, Long Haul is determined to put his best face forward.
Or would be. If he, you know, had a face. Which he doesn't. But that's another matter entirely.
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