Cannonball
Minor
Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest.
Posts: 470
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Post by Cannonball on Sept 27, 2007 12:03:24 GMT -5
...great, now there's two of them questioning him. "Stuff like gettin' oot o' cave-ins, underwater exploration, crossing various types of dangerous terrain, disarmin' booby traps and th' like. Them long-gone folks like to leave their old stuff guarded well, hehe. All in the name o' exploration' an discovery!"
And sweet, sweet loot, but he doesn't mention that.
He then turns to Xaaron, and makes a face. "Megatron? 'E don' give me much trouble, if any. I'm oot most of the time on searches, and he's obsessively after Prime an' 'is lot, lot o' bad scrap between th' two of 'em. Occaisionally, we gots t' deal with some o' Megatron's flunkies, but they're not much trouble. Most o' 'em is pretty stupid."
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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 Sept 28, 2007 0:41:09 GMT -5
"Most?" Nightbeat asks. "I mean, okay, the average Decepticon is kinda dumb, but they're a pretty specialized brand of it. What kind of Decepticons you got?"
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Sept 28, 2007 20:56:07 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron is pretty sure he never had to deal with this much stupid stuff back home. He could deal with Heralds of Unicron trying to kill him. He knew what to do then. Emirate Xaaron rubs his chin and asks, 'If you're so good at disarming booby traps, why didn't you give us a hand with those lethal sunflowers at the power plant?"
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Cannonball
Minor
Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest.
Posts: 470
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Post by Cannonball on Sept 29, 2007 16:08:08 GMT -5
Hardwire thinks back...he had pulled up and transformed, meeting Nightbeat, Arcee, and that red fellow, the cranky one...then they were attacked...
"Ah 'ad me 'ands full with Starscream shortly aftah ah arrived 'ere, sir. And ye misinterpreted. That's wot me comrades be for. Withoot them 'ere, I doubt I could've fared well at all in disarmin' them flower-things."
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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 Sept 30, 2007 1:21:55 GMT -5
Nightbeat had spent the majority of that fight either being shot at by Spinister or in a state of near shut-down, so his own memories of the fight are of no help here.
His problem here, was that he was operation from a true position of ignorance. Outside of his suspicions, he didn't have the level of knowledge he needed to make people thing he knew more than he actually knew, so that they'd spill the beans.
"I remember. You got off pretty easy. The pink dollface just about lost her leg from Starscream and Spinister dang near blew me to pieces. Busted radio's pretty light-weight."
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Sept 30, 2007 8:38:05 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron, a picture of innocence and hands held behind his back, asks, all wide-opticed, "But how do you handle solo missions, then, when you run into booby-traps?"
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Cannonball
Minor
Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest.
Posts: 470
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Post by Cannonball on Sept 30, 2007 16:12:27 GMT -5
Sighing a bit, Hardwire nods. "Aye...luck sometimes 'appens 'at way" he says to Nightbeat, then turning to Xaaron. "Well, ah donnae go on many missions alone. Then, though, gotta take me time tae not get caught in th' traps."
Rubbing his chin a bit, he looks at both of them. "As long as we're doin' this, 'ow 'bout you fellas tell me a bit aboot yerselves? All I've got is names, and ye get way more about me..."
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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 Oct 1, 2007 13:55:34 GMT -5
Nightbeat's detective senses inform him that saying he's a detective would be a really bad idea! They're like spider-senses, only without the half-mask being super-imposed over his face when they go off.
"Me? Little bit of everything, I suppose. Tinker, tailor, soldier, courier. Go where I'm needed, do whatever needs to be done."
Not entirely a lie, not entirely the truth. Perfect.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Oct 1, 2007 16:41:28 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron raises a hand to his chest, smiles brightly, and says, "I was on the funding committee for Iacon's Academy of Science and technology. I reviewed papers and checked to make sure they were worthy of funding. I really like reactor physics."
This is true, if a bit obscure. If Nightbeat hasn't investigated this part of Xaaron's history, the Emirate will be sorely disappointed. He static-coughs and excuses, "Of course, I've done a few other things, since then." He waves a hand dismissively.
"Enough about me. Why didn't you radio in before your radio was damaged?"
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Cannonball
Minor
Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest.
Posts: 470
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Post by Cannonball on Oct 2, 2007 0:05:52 GMT -5
Hardwire gives the pair a quizzical look. A jack-of-all-trades, and a question dodger. Fine, he can do that too.
"I attempted to radio me crew. They be the ones that're important to me. We spend very lil' time on Cybertron, so I donnae 'ave anyone else tae radio."
He turns to Xaaron, stroking his chin a bit. "I be givin' ye answers, so what's with the vagueness, Emirate, sir?" he asks, faking a somewhat hurt look. "Ye do trust me, don' ye?"
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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 Oct 2, 2007 15:00:55 GMT -5
Nightbeat is familiar with just about everyone's history--at least, his unverse's versions. Can't play Mr. Smarty-Pants unless you're actually smart!
In addition to his clue-fitting processes, and keeping up his end of the conversation, Nightbeat had slowly been counting in his head. It was supposed to help with his temper, but he rarely found that it worked. And it wasn't working here.
"Oh, for the love of..."
He reaches out to grab "Hardwire" around the wrist. Whether or not he is successful, he goes on, "The jig is up, punk. It's <i>been</i> up."
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Oct 2, 2007 15:52:32 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron snarls, "Nightbeat!"
Okay, so now they won't be able to leak false information to Hardwire and lure the Decepticons into a trap. Great going, Nightbeat. Care to remind Xaaron why he pays you?
Taking a few big steps away from the violence, Emirate Xaaron explains calmly, "You've been evasive, avoiding naming names as much as possible and omitting specifics. You're wearing Constructicon green. No one but a Constructicon wears that green. It's a pattern of a bridge, by the way. Did you even know that? You didn't radio in, and even Skyfire radioed in, and Skyfire isn't even an Autobot, and his exploration partner is on-planet. Finally, Starscream used lower-powered shot on you than he did on Arcee, and you can't tell me that he thinks Arcee's more of a threat than you are – unless you aren't a threat to Starscream at all."
Emirate Xaaron's optics flash, and he crosses his arms. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation for all of this. I'm not sure there's a logical explanation that doesn't end with Nightbeat shooting you."
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Cannonball
Minor
Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest.
Posts: 470
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Post by Cannonball on Oct 2, 2007 20:26:18 GMT -5
Oh, joy! An interrogator was getting rough! And it seems the gold-plated glitcher has seen through his ruse. Not like he was all that good at infiltrating anyway. He had crewmembers to do that back home.
For now, though, he turns, grinning at Xaaron, resetting his vocorder back to his normal, piratey voice. Kinda like Captain Barbossa in them Caribbean Pirate movies the humans like so much. "Or, there be no explainin' anything, and I do the shootin'!" With that, he smirks at Nightbeat. "Shoulda been grabbin' the other one, lad" he says in a low, menacing tone as he raises his left arm, unleashing a small burst of laser-fire into the detective's face. Once Nightbeat lets go of his arm, Cannonball raises his foot, kicking him in the gut and knocking him back.1
He then turns, stepping back about ten feet, showering Xaaron with laser fire, more as a distraction than trying to actually hit him. "Seein' 'as I donnae quite be welcome 'ere no more, I do s'pose ah'll be takin' me leave!"
Cannonball jumps slightly, legs splitting forward and back, arms folding and head retracting, backpack folding up into his hearse mode. Cranking the accelerator, he tears off past Xaaron.
-------------------- 1 Done with the player's permission. Cannonball is now out of this thread, and headed toward the Salvage Run.
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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 Oct 2, 2007 21:28:16 GMT -5
Nightbeat sat up slowly, with a groan, and checked his face for damage. Nothing significant, but it had been more than enough to totally take him off-guard.
"Well," he grouses, "that could have gone better."
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Oct 2, 2007 21:39:55 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron, quicker on his feet than he looks, manages to dodge the brunt of the attacks, and the rest don't do too much to his armour. He'll need repairs, but they're not critical enough that he can't wait a few days.
After a moment of looking concerned about Nightbeat, he rails, "Nightbeat, why did you go and give it away that we knew?"
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