Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Nov 15, 2010 22:26:19 GMT -5
Day 18, follow-on to "Just the Bot I Wanted To See". 'Ship' sim room; semi-private--please ask if you want to join.
Duskwing poked at the Holodeck'sHard Light Simulation Room's console. He was not a simulation programmer, far from it, but, fortunately for him, the console had a simple menu for calling up pre-programmed training scenarios. Unfortunately, figuring out how to modify an existing scenario was a bit beyond Duskwing.
"Slaggit!" he finally said and tapped the option next to "Mixed Ground/Air Seek-and-Destroy Mission. Setting: Kalis, Cybertron". It was a semi-familiar setting, and the groundpounder targets and hazards shouldn't interfere with a proper aerial duel. The mission moderator started to inform Duskwing of the targets and victory conditions, but the dark blue and purple Seeker viciously smacked the 'Enter Scenario' button. He wasn't here to beat a bunch of computer-controlled Bots; he was here to thrash that pompous, glitch-mouthed, tin-winged piece of wannabe-officer dross until the slagger was whimpering in words of ONE syllable at Duskwing's feet.
He clenched his fists until the metal joints creaked as the blank white walls of the sim room disappeared, replaced by the ruined landscape of Kalis, the City of Fear. The sim room door appeared as a doorway high in the side of a shattered tower, opening onto a broken fragment of skyway. Duskwing put his hands back and rose on his lifters to the peak of the broken towered and crouched there like some metal gargoyle, waiting...
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Post by Assault/Arthur Aldrin on Nov 19, 2010 7:15:53 GMT -5
Assault always makes good on his promise. It's not long before he enters through the door, carrying his rifle in one hand, quickly pressing himself against the wall where the shadows are thickest. The lack of decent cover annoys him, but he is far more concerned with finding out where the other Seeker has hidden. The skies seem clear, unless Duskwing has a cloaking system that Assault doesn't know about. One of the spires, perhaps? Assault raises his rifle and looks down the scope; it may not zoom in as much as the weapon of one of his old comrades, but it at least improves his vision somewhat.
But no; he still can't spot the other Seeker. Annoying. Assault ponders on his next move when an idea comes to mind. Smirking, he inches towards the skyway, always sticking to the shadows, and when he's close enough he opens fire on the visible structural weak points. It's more then this already broken piece of architecture can handle and it slams against the tower, before the weight becomes too much for the few broken beams still holding it, shattering and sending it falling down to the ground.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Nov 19, 2010 21:34:01 GMT -5
"Nah, I ain't there!" Duskwing shouts from above Assault, chasing his comment with a couple of quick laser blasts from his arm-guns. He flips backward off the broken spire and transforms as he falls, wings reversing, nose and cockpit unfolding from his torso, arms twisting inward as feet retract and vanish, thrusters igniting...
A dark blue and purple F-15 swoops toward Assault; colors that are garish on Earth almost blend into this Cybertronian wasteland of dark, mottled metal and rust. The lines of Duskwing's form are alien to Cybertron; this is no Cybertronian tetrajet, but a human air superiority fighter jet--the mark of a Decepticon who flew to Earth with Megatron.
Far below, the broken skyway slams into the ground with a great crash, shaking the ground and sending ringing echoes up from the shattered buildings, breaking the deep silence that had lain on Kalis.
In the distance, several figures scurry furtively through the abandoned streets.
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Post by Assault/Arthur Aldrin on Nov 20, 2010 10:16:24 GMT -5
As soon as Duskwing calls out and announces his location, Assault knows what to do. When the hail of laserfire passes he wastes no time dives forward and over the edge of the building. But he doesn't kick in his thrusters. Instead he turns around in midfall, raising his rifle and firing off calculated shots at the jet, letting gravity control his speed for now.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Nov 21, 2010 19:24:22 GMT -5
Shots score his left wing, leaving smoking black scorch marks; Duskwing launches a pair of cluster bomblets in Assault's general direction and banks away, snarling.
"Fraggin' officer wannabe wit' clinkers for brain module!" It's not serious damage, and he's had far worse, but being hit always pisses Diuskwing off. He circles around the nearest building, using it for cover as he dives low and comes back round fast, down nearly to street-level, looking for Assault's colors in his sights.
The ground vibrates faintly, long after the echoes from the falling skyway should have faded....
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Post by Assault/Arthur Aldrin on Nov 23, 2010 13:26:57 GMT -5
Assault is pleased to see Duskwing veer off, but he makes a bit of a disapproving face at the bomblets. He opens fire and manages to detonate a few, but the rest hit home and explode in his face, making his acquintance with the ground that much faster and more painful. He slams onto the edge of the hole made by the collapsed bridge before rolling down more, groaning when he finally comes to a stop in what must be a sewer. But as soon as he can he forces himself to get up on his feet, clutching his rifle a bit tighter as he runs down the dark tunnels, jumping over any rubble that's in the way.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Nov 24, 2010 18:20:42 GMT -5
"SLAGGIN' PIECE A' BENT TURBINE ROTOR IN AN ACIDSTORM!" Duskwing yelled as he saw his target disappear into a hole in the ground. He circled, and tossed another cluster bomb down the hole. Tunnels. The idiot went down the tunnels like a fraggin' 'Bot partisan. Fragger. He wasn't supposed to do that; Blue and Snotty was a Seeker, he was supposed to stay in the slagging air! Especially here. Kalis was the city where every Con that went into the tunnels after Empties and Bots never came out again. Duskwing wasn't quite sure why that was--some hush-hush mission that had involved Flywheels and Tripticon and the whole place getting blown sky high had fixed it, but he'd never heard the details-- but it was a mixed ground/air scenario, so something must be the ground. Who programmed this fragging thing, anyway? 1// Whassa matter, gettin' too hot for you? // Duskwing jeered over the radio, while he circled the area, still in jet form. // Figures you'd dive in a hole like a 'Bot. You had a lotta long words back at Swindle's, clinker-slag. Still ain't seen nothin' to back 'em up. // Down in the tunnels, there is movement. The walls of the tunnel begin to crumble as half-ruined robotic arms tear through them and reach for Assault.... ---- 1The logical suspects are Hellbender, Needlenose, or Spinister.
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Post by Assault/Arthur Aldrin on Nov 25, 2010 5:53:14 GMT -5
The exploding bombs behind him ensure that there is no going back, the tunnel collapsing, sending a bit more dirt and rubble to roll down the tunnel. Assault doesn't focus on that though, instead pushing forward, not even smiling at Duskwing's attempt at an insult. //We'll see what you think of the ground after I introduced you face first to it. Because you're too much of a strutless coward to come after me.//
Ah, the zombies, right on time. Like the collapsing tunnel he ignores them, running a bit faster, shooting only at those who come to close. When a corner comes he immediately turns into it, activating his boosters to get there before the zombies can get too close, opening the heavy steal door and locking it behind him. "There...Now what can I do here..."
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Nov 28, 2010 21:31:29 GMT -5
Duskwing transforms back into robot mode for close-in maneuverability, and stares nonplussed at the dust billow from the hole in the ground. That and the further slumping of chunks of road into the ground tell him that the tunnel probably caved in behind Assault. How in the slag was he supposed to go in after the dork?
// Hey dork, how in the slag am I s'posed to come after youse if you blow the tunnel behind you? Dat don't make sense. Oh yeah, youse s'posed to be in the air to fight me. I didn't reprogram this scenario, it's got ground targets what try to attack you, so it ain't my problem if youse get popped down there 'cause you ain't up here in the air fightin'.//
Assault may find some apparently empty tunnels back here, including an area with (currently) empty holding cells, and more well-tended tunnels going thataway. Something glows down one of the tunnels, and there's the sound of many hurrying footsteps down another.
---- This is a really simplified version of the Kalis incident, since whoever programmed it wasn't actually there, and was going by somewhat redacted after-action reports
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Post by Assault/Arthur Aldrin on Nov 30, 2010 6:00:01 GMT -5
//Oh I'm terribly sorry, Duskwing. For a moment there, I forgot that you were an idiot as well as a coward. If you would use your optics, you would have noticed that there are entrances into the tunnels all over the city. Or did you not notice those because you are so terribly afraid of groundpounders? You should be.// Not that Duskwing would even listen to a word he says; he'd probably zone out after the first few words. So Assault needs to both evade the zombies and try to find a way to either lure him down or get back up unseen. Oh well, both shouldn't be too hard!
Assault glares at the zombies coming his way, before quickly transforming and hightailing it in the other direction, heading down one of the longer (straight) part of the tunnels. When he's gained a good distance (and it becomes a little too tight) he transforms, skidding to a stop past the shaft of a service elevator leading up. He turns his head towards it, calculating the risk, knowing that if he goes up with it he's going to be screwed. "Oh well, risks make life exciting!" He says in a surprisingly chipper tone before heading towards it; but instead of popping the button he moves to climb up the shaft, subspacing his rifle and taking a hold of the thick cables and struts.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Dec 1, 2010 18:46:02 GMT -5
Meanwhile, Duskwing looks for a way down that isn't full of zombies. He circles the city, ultimately settling on a certain broadcast tower1--then blasts open the roof entrance.
//.... Youse got memory glitches? Slag, you got noive after all the dross you horked out your vocalizer about me! You stay down dere--gotta be easier to fight fake zombies than a real soldier, 'Saulty. //
Duskwing blasts open the tower's main elevator and tosses a single cluster bomb down the shaft, then follows it more slowly, using his lifters to drift down. Both his armguns are pointed down.
---- 1From which the wireless commands controlling the zombies originate, if only Duskwing knew...
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Post by Assault/Arthur Aldrin on Dec 2, 2010 8:04:49 GMT -5
"Duskwing doesn't react to being called a coward? Now that is quite interesting, yes..." Assault muses, but he doesn't bother reacting to Duskwing over the radio. The other Seeker is coming down, so he has what he wants, and ignoring him will probably just piss him off of more. Assault wants him angry; that way, his inevitable humiliation and defeat will be that much more...Enjoyable.
Assault hears the echo of those bombs going off, making a rare smile appear on his face. If he heard it, so did the zombies, so perhaps he will luck out and be able to evade them and let Duskwing deal with them. He climbs up higher until finally he reaches an open door, quickly aiming an arm cannon just in case, and when he sees that it is clear he hops off and into it.
He raises an optic ridge at the sight of another empty passageway, before spotting a rather interesting sign. With a chuckle he pulls out his rifle and proceeds, keeping it raised and ready for trouble, sticking as close to the walls as he can while following the signs.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Dec 3, 2010 20:20:31 GMT -5
Duskwing drops through the ruined car half-way down and keeps falling, to the bottom of the shaft... and beyond. "Yeah, thought I 'membered dese kinda shafts bein' all tunneled out. Fraggin' Bots."
He dropped to the tunnel floor, landing with a loud double 'clang' of metal feet touching down, then looked hastily around. It was dark. Even in the infrared bands, it was cool and dark; nothing with a hot powerplant moved.
So which way were the zombies? Which way was Assault? Were they in different directions? Duskwing shrugged, turned around and headed off in a random direction.
Rounding a curve, Duskwing found a T-Junction--and the missing zombies. "Ah, Slag."
Cue loud explosions and the 'pew-pew-pew' of repeated laser fire...
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Post by Assault/Arthur Aldrin on Dec 8, 2010 6:00:39 GMT -5
The sound of distant echoing shots reaches Assault's audio receptors, and while he can't pinpoint where it's coming from, he at least knows that Duskwing is somewhere else and rather busy. "Excellent...That should give me plenty of time." With a dark chuckle he reaches his destination, bashing in the lock with the butt of his rifle and then pulling the door open. Darkness greets him, but his sensors tell him what's here; an armory. Most of it has been already ransacked, but what Assault came here for is still available and in stock: Explosives.
Quickly, he starts loading up, keeping an optic out for any zombies or Autobots, and once he's done he quickly decides to take his leave. He can still hear the sounds of battle, and when he passes another broken elevator, he can hear that it's coming from even lower. How interesting! Assault pries the doors open and jumps down the shaft, grabbing a sturdy pipe when it comes into reach. He plants one of the explosives in an exposed mess of wiring before climbing down further, ready to use his armcannons, should a zombie, Autobot or a certain grunt greet him at the bottom.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Dec 11, 2010 10:24:06 GMT -5
A chunk of wall blows out, spilling zombie parts and one or two barely active zombies into Assault's shaft. Apparently there's a tunnel running nearby; the thunder of jet turbines passes by, shaking the tunnels nearby.
Duskwing went that way, leaving the half-slagged ruins of zombies scattered in his wake.
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