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Post by Hook on Dec 27, 2007 0:19:51 GMT -5
After getting an answer from Spinister, Hook enters the holographic city. It feels very real - he can hear the subtle hum of powered systems, and when he stops to examine a generator attached to one of the buildings, he can feel it humming under his fingertips.
He walks to the territory Spinister has designated for his team, taking in what he can see of the city and its resources. The others should be more than able to catch up with him.
Spinister has placed their territory in the business section of the city, all tall skyscrapers and gleaming streets. Very nice for limiting the sight lines.
As soon as he finds their flag, Hook settles near it, waiting for the others to arrive. He has a few ideas of how to play this sort of game to win.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Dec 27, 2007 0:36:38 GMT -5
Hellbender debated briefly whether he should slither through the streets openly to their sector, or take to the sewer system as he preferred. Traveling in the open invited ambush--it had to occur to at least one Decepticon that putting enemy team members out of commission before they even found their flag would make the hunt much easier. On the other hand, traveling underground advertised his special abilities. On the gun hand, anyone who hadn't been offline for the last few weeks had some idea of what Hellbender did.
Hellbender dove into the sewer system and made his way toward their designated sector, and his forebody emerged from the maw of an underground parking garage, not far from Hook. Sewer system plus some improvised cross-connects with the subway and this underground garage. Hellbender let his cutters spin down before drawing closer to Hook.
"You in command of this team, or am I?" Hellbender asked abruptly. It wasn't a foolish question, to his mind; Midnight had been a squad leader, and the Constructicons were support. On the other hand, Hook was above him in the real chain-of-command now, and so it was his decision to make, not Hellbender's.
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Thrust
Cadet
Party time
Posts: 121
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Post by Thrust on Dec 27, 2007 13:48:54 GMT -5
Thrust rolled after the others after hearing the part about dismemberment being allowed, which may become a problem due to his smaller statute. He is however impressed with the holo room as he fires a short burst at a stray vehicle and watches it react realistically; the closest thing he could think of from his Cybertron were holo chips that downloaded realistic images and landscapes into your mind.
And speaking of landscapes... An avoided sound comes out of Thrust as he sees the area is all skyscrapers but without raised roads allowing access to the higher levels and floors. Getting anywhere above ground level is going to involve finding an elevator or getting carried, much to his annoyance. Then as he approaches his teammates he shrugs the though off as the other two don’t look like flyers either, especially the one with the odd tunneler altmode. What did Spinister say about making assumptions?
He then stops next to them and asks “how are we playing this?”
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Post by Hook on Dec 27, 2007 15:19:14 GMT -5
"That remains to be determined," he informs them both. So this Thrust is a motorcycle. Small, fast, agile - a useful scout. Good, they could use someone like that.
"Hellbender. If you want to lead, then you have, oh, ten minutes to come up with an implementable defense plan. Alternatively, give me a good plan of attack that doesn't rely on you rampaging about, and I'll handle the defenses."
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Dec 27, 2007 16:25:56 GMT -5
The mining robot's systems hum as Hellbender slews his head slowly back and forth between Thrust and Hook. "Well, Ah actually do have a notion of a defense. It's the offense plan Ah need to figure out. Y'all need to tell me what you can do. Ah know Hook can build things, especially fancy sneaky widgets and weapons, but what else? An' Thrust, Ah don't know diddly about you."
"As for defense, well, Ah'm rather well-armored, and everyone knows that a portable Ultimate Weapon of Deeestruction is more useful than one what is welded to the floor. So, mount the flag on me, and Ah'll go underground or whatever, and anybody as wants to grab it, has to deal with me."
You've got to wonder why Megatron never mounted his Weapon-of-the-Week on one of his heavy weapon carrier 'Cons, like Onslaught...
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Thrust
Cadet
Party time
Posts: 121
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Post by Thrust on Dec 27, 2007 17:31:13 GMT -5
“What’s to tell: I was built to hunt down the animals the Maximals became that were hiding in the catacombs of Cybertron. What you want to know is what I can do, right?” And with that Thrust turns and fires from both hands into a nearby wall, then turns back and raises an arm towards the flag. His fingers then spread out and the whole hand unit fires at the flag, and then is quickly retracted back on its cable. Now holding the flag, he says “and then there’s this.” A female voice then comes from a speaker on him and says “Decepticon signatures detected.” “Can’t tell the different between you people, but can see when someone is coming.”
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Post by Hook on Dec 27, 2007 18:20:06 GMT -5
Because then Megatron might have a hope of winning.
"That can be arranged, Hellbender." That was, in fact, quite a bright idea. It also didn't limit Hellbender's effectiveness like Hook's original plan would have.
The Constructicon would just have to make sure to make the flag as unremovable as possible. "I seem to recall that you have ore carts..."
Hook's visor brightens slightly at Thrust's display of his sensors. "Can you have that tune out the pair of us so that it only activates if there are others nearby?"
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Dec 27, 2007 19:25:12 GMT -5
Personally, Hellbender suspects it's because Onslaught, Motormaster, Long Haul, et al didn't care to go BOOM with the Weapon-of-the-Week when it inevitably was destroyed or malfunctioned.
"Internal ore bins, what can be unloaded through unloading hatches when they are full. Ah ain't allowed to eat the flag, so Ah don't see what use they are for this. You need to fasten it down to me firm enough so that some fast little guy like Thrust here can't just do a grab and fly, though." Yes, Hellbender stated the obvious, but in war, the simple and obvious becomes difficult and confusing. Part of a squad leader's job is making sure every grunt in the squad knows what needs to be done. Besides, now Hook knows that Hellbender figured out the obvious weakness of his own defense plan--especially after Thrust's little demonstration.
"Hmm.. fast vehicle, moderate firepower, can detect others. You're our scout, Thrust. Oh, slag! Hook, rules issue here; if we go on the offensive with me carrying the flag in enemy territory, it better not count as an enemy 'capture'. If it does, I'm constrained to our territory, or we need a new plan for defense."
"Ah think some false flag decoys might be useful, hide 'em away in likely places. As for offense--Thrust here scouts our enemies and locates them, and we improvise based on who and what we're up against. Hook, sir, can you improvise remote-controlled devices in this here exercise? Booby traps, RC drones, sensors, that sort of thing..." Hellbender said. "If either of you got any good ideas, or insights into our opposition, speak up."
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Thrust
Cadet
Party time
Posts: 121
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Post by Thrust on Dec 27, 2007 20:32:25 GMT -5
Thrust closes his eyes for a moment, if only for the dramatic effect, then opens them and nods to Hook. If he can tune Vehicon frequencies in and out, why not specific Decepticons.
He also shrugs at getting the job of being a scout. He’s never had to be particularly stealthy at his job, but figures he can pull it off if he keeps from revving his engine to much.
“When they crashed on Earth, the Maximals hid behind an energy shield while the Predacons used autoguns. Megatron also had a defence system closer to what you might want for this: he kept the Golden Disks suspended behind an energy field. Waspinator was thrown into it when they were stolen by Dinobot; it changed into energy beams that held and electrocuted him as he was moved in front of a large magnet that ripped every loose part off him off, then it dropped him and the loose parts into a compactor. Took forever to get to a CR chamber...” Thrust trailed off and shook his head at the insects luck. “Probably won’t have time for these, but you said you wanted ideas...”
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Post by Hook on Dec 27, 2007 20:46:18 GMT -5
People really do think Hook is a miracle-worker. It's amazing sometimes.
"Depending on what I can salvage from this city and how much time is available before anyone comes calling, I can make anything from a series of mines to full Decepticon battle-fortress." Hook looks around the area they're currently settled in, then sketches a bit of a map in the air as he recalls things. "Tunnels. I recommend finding a place underground and fortifying it up. That will draw people's attentions."
"A few other things to keep in mind, however. One, Hellbender, is that you carrying the flag into enemy territory means that if one of them gets it off you, we will lose immediately. Two, merely defending the flag will prevent us from losing, but it will not allow us to win. We need the others' flags for that."
"Be that as it may, however..." Hook stands up and saunters over to one of the lamp-poles in the area, then quite neatly tears it from the ground. "Let's work on attaching things while we plan."
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Hellbender
Major
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"Seriously."
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Post by Hellbender on Dec 27, 2007 21:52:13 GMT -5
"Decoy flags, with traps. Set some up, might distract or cripple a few opponents. Put a decoy flag in the underground fortified area, then go on the offensive into enemy territory when Thrust spots us an opponent or the flag? Seriously, you're right about having to grab their flags to win," Hellbender said.
He rolled slightly. "You want that nearer my head or my tail? Thrust, we only got an hour, and the clock's already ticking. Hook's good, but we'll get more done if we keep it simple. Seriously. There's only three of us, so we can't get too fancy with the tactics, either. And... there's three sides in this battle, not two. 's like the fragging Decepticon Civil War! Means we can play spoiler if we catch the two other sides fighting it out for a flag--and they can do the same to us. Don't forget that!"
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Thrust
Cadet
Party time
Posts: 121
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Post by Thrust on Dec 29, 2007 0:58:34 GMT -5
Thrust simply listens to the other two and nods at appropriate times, then replies to the civil war comment with “Would probably be best if we somehow got them to attack each other first. Soften each other up and maybe even take one team out of the picture. Teaming up with one probably won’t work ‘cause they would double cross us first chance they got…” he then shrugs and gives an “I got nothing” look. Someone give the poor little biker some orders; this kind of plotting isn’t his strong suite.
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Post by Hook on Dec 29, 2007 1:28:24 GMT -5
This should be assumed to be concurrent with Shox leaving "We Like To Watch" to check out the comm tower.--- With his new scrap metal and the flag, Hook leaps into the air, using his lifters to set himself down lightly behind Hellbender's borers. Once there, he pulls out his toolkit and sets to work on attaching the flag in a very thorough manner. "Decoy flags are a good idea, yes. A trap for fliers without putting a roof on it is a little more tricky, and I would prefer something that works equally well on fliers or non-fliers. Hmm. Tanglers, perhaps, or auto-guns. Manglers are usually quite enjoyable. Collapsing roofs for where those come into play. Oh, yes, sticky pit traps. Heh. Always a good one to pull." Hook looks upward abruptly as the sensors he'd placed alerted him to something happening at the comm tower. That needs to be investigated. Now. However, he strongly suspects that he's not going to be allowed out to go and check on it. "Hnh. Our opponents consist of Fleetwind, Barricade, Demolishor, Cannonball, Counterpunch, and Eye-fire. Only one of them is a true jet, but everyone except Barricade and Demolishor can fly. Thus we will have to watch the skies as well as the ground." The Aerialbots had rather irritatingly pounded that lesson into Hook. "Fleetwind, however, is a Seeker. Get him within my arm's reach, and he will cease to be a problem. Barricade is of Wreckage's general type, though there's little enough data on any of them. Demolishor is large and idiotic, but he possesses quite a strong arsenal. He, like Cannonball, were present when we disabled your current body, Hellbender. It's likely both of them still remember your weak point. Try not to swallow any missiles or high-powered laser blasts. It will annoy me." Once the flag is attached so thoroughly that it can't even flap, Hook settles back on his haunches. Hellbender is a matte black color, and the flag and it's pole are... not. That, however, can be fixed. "Thrust, after you share what you know about any of our opponents, start scouting. Look for defensible areas, as well as black paint and scavengable electronics and mechanics." "Counterpunch is exceptionally belligerent with a nasty temper. Those kinds of mechs are easy enough to deal with. Nothing special in his armament as far as I know. Cannonball seems to have a religious dislike of the letter H. He is a pirate; fairly quick, a bit aggressive. Not blind in that grey half of his visor, either. Oh, and he may still be annoyed at me about the bridge. Eye-fire... High-powered sniper, if extremely accident prone. He will be lucky if he doesn't trip over his own feet and smash his optic open, if this game is anything like his usual patrols. When it comes time to play spoiler, get him out of commission as soon as possible. Not dead, if you can help it, but if you can't-" He shrugs. If you can't, you can't. No, it really hasn't occurred to Hook that the other two teams might team up against his. Or even if they did, he really doesn't think it would last long enough to be effective.
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Hellbender
Major
Mecha-Shai-Hulud
"Seriously."
Posts: 892
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Post by Hellbender on Dec 29, 2007 11:55:37 GMT -5
"Get anyone in reach of me and they won't be a problem," Hellbender rumbled. "Seriously, getting enemies in reach is my problem these days. But since I tunnel, and have the flag, make the flyboys come in the tunnels after me. We always hated having to do that with the slagging Autobots! Bastards like nothing better than to drop a tunnel on our heads and ambush us in the confusion."
Hellbender twisted, slewing his head around to consider the best egress from the current street. "Hook, what do you want black paint for? Flag's got to be plainly visible; that's in our op orders for this here exercise." And I"m not losing this one because senior commander here couldn't follow simple orders, goes the unspoken thought.
"Ah'm a pretty big target, the kind of mech that attracts fire. Figure they'll all be after me, sir. What can you do with that? Get 'em to follow us into the tunnels, sure. Seriously, what else? "
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Post by SceneMod on Dec 29, 2007 19:53:35 GMT -5
It is at this point that the communications tower outside is activated. Due to alterations made, it manages to trigger the solid-light holo-projectors of the training room, causing images to form in the sky overhead. See the Dark Tower thread for full details.
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