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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 23, 2011 7:35:08 GMT -5
Rodimus gives the Maximal a broad grin and a wave. "Thanks, uhm, Seaspinner, right?" Since she seems to be on her way somewhere, he doesn't hold her up, though he does add, "Good day!" Seaspinner's appearance pushes the bounds of 'weird' even by Rodimus's standards, but given that he used to hang out with Pretenders, he deals with it easily enough.
Then he turns his attention back to the conversation at hand. "Well, if you guys would like, getting you issued standard blasters would be pretty easy. I wouldn't make it a requirement if you're not comfortable with it yet, especially since you two have proven yourselves with your own wea- erm, tools." Or whatever. "But the option's there. But if you want something more specialized, you should probably talk Botanica or Perceptor." Of course, the miliage on 'unique' varies. For every null ray or acid laser musket out there, there's a photon eliminator or twin particle beam cannon - weapons whose major 'unique' qualities lie in what kind of energy they use to hurt the enemy with, and how much.
He looks between the Primes at the agreement that crosstraining is a good idea, that it's been talked about, but... apparently never happened. Is it a time issue? "Well, how much time you guys got? Maybe we can grab one of the training rooms or something. Get in a few rounds practice with the photon eliminator or something."
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Jun 23, 2011 13:45:06 GMT -5
"I am a Prime, not a Mister," Sentinel Prime starts to correct, rather huffy. Then he catches sight of the thin, hairy, segmented leg waving at him, and his optics inexorably follow it to its source. That is a spider-shark. That is an abomination against nature and technology. Somewhere, Mother Nature and Father Machine are taking turns with the air sickness bags.
Sentinel Prime looks dumbfounded for an awkward moment. A lot of thoughts crowd his head. He should have some reaction. He's supposed to be afraid of spiders. He is afraid of spiders, in fact, and he should act suitably afraid of spiders, or Optimus might think there's something wrong with him. There is the second in command of the Autobots here, and Rodimus Prime might punish Sentinel Prime if he's a coward in public. He shouldn't act afraid, then. Then these Autobots are in madly indecent love with the concepts of 'diversity' and tolerance', so maybe he should act happy to see this... Maximal?
What would the different tiers of ethical reasoning say? Doing something just out of fear of punishment is the reasoning of a child. Doing something just to please society is the reasoning of a sheep.
Slag it, Sentinel Prime's spent too long thinking and not enough time doing instead, and staring is impolite. He averts his gaze and gives up on the matter of a proper reaction entirely, greeting pleasantly if reservedly, "Oh, good cycle."
To Optimus, he comments privately, //Tell me about it! That's seriously freaky. Should be a law against it or something. 'Don't scan anything with more than six legs'.// Ants are okay. They're orderly. But just forget spiders. //Think I oughta ask her what planet she scanned that beast mode, so I can never go there ever?//
Sentinel Prime has a brief happy moment fantasising about using all the credit he's racked up with Botanica and Perceptor and sweet-talking them into teaming up to make him something completely awesome and badass. It'll be so epic they'll have to call it MechTech, and it'll be as big as half his body! Then Sentinel Prime snaps out of it and looks a little sad, admitting, "I don't think it would be appropriate to carry such a thing upon my person, sir. If I dimensionally shifted back home the way I shifted here, without warning, and was found with a firearm, it would look rather seditious."
Then his optics light back up again when Rodimus Prime offers to let the two less-Primey Primes actually touch his photon eliminator. His jaw even drops a little. Sentinel Prime stammers, "Y-you would work with us, sir? Really? Of course I have time!" Sentinel Prime always has time to schmooze with officers! It'll come out of his defrag time later, but defrag is for the dead. "I'd be honoured to train with you, sir."
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Post by Seaspinner/Susannah Webber on Jun 24, 2011 17:05:14 GMT -5
Oh, goodness! Their second-in-command remembers her name! Seaspinner beams, showing off a full set of shark teeth. "Yes, that's right!"
She offers Sentinel Prime a nod and apology as she passes by overhead. "Oh, my sincerest apologies, Mister Sentinel Prime." Then she's off, picking him merry way across the ceiling.
OOC: Out of thread.
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Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on Jun 26, 2011 11:33:36 GMT -5
Optimus catches himself in time to give Seaspinner a proper greeting, and a proper farewell, saving him from making a complete jerk of himself and thus stepping on Sentinel Prime's toes.
The Prime draws his axe, examining it critically. "When you get down to it, a weapon is just a type of tool. Still, sometimes it seems more like we're using our weapons to do work, than that we're using our tools for combat." Optimus has a battleaxe with a rocket on it. Sentinel has a lance and shield. These are not tools. Optimus has used his battleaxe to break rocks, but that does not mean that is what it is for.
"I've got some time to practice."
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 26, 2011 13:57:23 GMT -5
Rodimus watches after Seaspinner's departure for a moment and mutters just loud enough to be overheard by the other Primes, "You know, I think I'll give Botanica a call and ask her to make sure Mayday's not alone the first time he runs into Seaspinner." It just seems like a good idea. Then he shakes his head, as though shaking himself out of his reverie, and focuses once more on the conversation at hand. He inclines his head towards Sentinel. "Well, your call." Then he smiles at Optimus's observation. "Can't really say I've dealt with that as much myself, but I don't think I'd complain if I did." Well. Hot Rod would have complained. But Rodimus is not always Hot Rod. As they both agree that they've got some free time, he grins, now walking towards the nearest training room - a regular one, rather than a hard light chamber. "Sure, I'd work with you guys. Why not?" It's not really comparable to offering to give them a few swings with the Magnus hammer or anything. The photon eliminator is his gun, but it's not the symbol of his office. "It should be fun, and it might be useful!" Too good reasons right there. Rodimus pauses at the entrance to the training room and checks the control pad next to it - vacant, excellent. Then he taps it and heads in, glancing around. Looks like some targets are already set up. Then he summons his photon eliminator 1 from subspace and looks back at the other Primes, gesturing to a small switch next to the trigger. "Safety's off when that thing's pointed towards the barrel. You probably already know this, but you should always assume a weapon's loaded and the safety's off until you've had a chance to check it." He smirks faintly. "Especially if you're grabbing it off the battlefield." 1 The Photon Eliminator is a big gun, but proportionately, the one he is using is not the size compared to him that his toy's is. Instead, I am modeling it more off of what you see on the cover of Marvel UK 117, including the 'wings'. Partly because that design always brought to my mind the image of a crossbow, which becomes particularly amusing given later interpretations of Rodimus.
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Jun 26, 2011 20:11:57 GMT -5
What is with those teeth? What is with people trying to call him Mister? Clipper did that, too!
Optimus Prime is (sometimes) a firetruck. Firefighters use axes to chop down doors in burning buildings. His tool is a bit more legitimate as a tool than Sentinel Prime's impaling flavour of murder and bashing flavour of murder. Optimus can rescue people with his grapplers, too, and put out fires with his foam! The foam only becomes a horrific chemical weapon against G1 cartoon Decepticons. Anyway, yes, Sentinel prime does carry weapons, but they're not ranged conventional firearms and so are culturally acceptable, because history is crazy that way.
His antennae pin back and his optic narrow, lip quivering in a pout over Rodimus Prime's sotto vocce dig. However, that sulkiness is dispelled by the beauty that is the photon eliminator. He openly gazes over it dreamily, sighing. Ask Sentinel Prime about Fortress Maximus, and he will cheerily brag about how it possesses the very largest cannon that the Autobots have ever constructed, how that gorgeous baby can drain enough power to cause brown outs across all of Iacon out to Kaon. Sentinel Prime likes ranged weapons, as a dirty little secret of his, and wow, maybe he ought to stop staring. It's impolite. That's a glorious piece, though.
Sentinel Prime takes a step back and agrees, "Yes, of course, sir. We used to have live fire exercises back in boot, to get the recruits used to being around firearms. We don't use them, but Decepticons do, so we can't have them being sissy-bots around firearms. Never aim a weapon at something you don't intend to shoot and all." Still valid advice for things like stingers and grapplers.
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Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on Jun 27, 2011 18:16:23 GMT -5
Clipper never had teeth.
"That's probably a good idea," Optimus replies equally quietly. "Mayday really took our anti-organic propaganda to spark." Poor little guy.
Optimus follows Rodimus Prime to the training room, nodding along when he talks about basic handling of firearms. "Our Rodimus Prime back home used to use a bow," he comments.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 27, 2011 21:18:38 GMT -5
"Boot. Right," Rodimus mutters, as though tasting the word. The idea of something like a formal military training command isn't unheard of in Rodimus's home reality. After all, the Decepticons had their War Academy until the Autobots blew it up, but that's just it: up until very recently, only the Decepticons were able to operate openly enough to have things like that. Autobots came online ready to fight, kill, and die (and sometimes did all of those on that very first day), and training was a luxury. "Must be nice," the red and orange Prime says softly, and by his tone, he's being completely sincere, no trace of sarcasm.
He looks up at Optimus and hnhs softly in consideration. "Did he?" He's tempted to wonder aloud that if the bow can do enough damage to be useful at all, how is it really any different from a firearm, but the other Primes have been beaten about the head over that particular issue quite enough as it is. The mindset is strange to him, and will continue to be so, while these two... are right this moment demonstrating the ability to see the issue from his side. And yet those from realities like his tend to dismiss this one for being "close-minded."
Rodimus smiles faintly to himself at the realization. He'll have to remember this.
These thoughts take only moments to process, so there's no notable pause before Rodimus gives a firm nod. "Well, all right, then." He points the photon eliminator down towards the targets set up at the other end of the room, then offers the grip of the weapon towards Sentinel first, both because he's shown the most interest so far and also because he comes up next in the rotation (so it's easier). "Have at it, then," he grins.
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Jun 27, 2011 21:34:00 GMT -5
If Clipper dresses up as a vampire for Halloween, Sentinel Prime gives up.
"Yeah, he built the bow himself," Sentinel Prime chatters idly. "Kid was a real up and comer. I always figured, when I made Magnus, he might make a good Elite Guard commander, you know?" He laughs, though, when Rodimus Prime suggests that boot is 'nice'. Sentinel Prime slaps his knee and snickers, "Hooboy, sir, if boot was 'nice', I was doing it wrong!"
Almost reverently, Sentinel Prime takes the photon eliminator when it is offered. He finds it just a bit heavy and big - he's used to energy or partially-energy weapons. He whistles lowly and looks it over some more, admiring it. The urge to strike a goofy an action hero pose with it is frankly irresistible, and after he checks the safety twice, he does exactly that, striking an atrocious movie poster pose.
Then Sentinel Prime looks down the gallery at the targets and asks seriously, "Okay, so what do I do now, sir?"
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Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on Jun 28, 2011 19:18:34 GMT -5
"I don't think I'm following you there, Rodimus. What's nice, exactly?" Optimus asks. No matter how many times he's had it explained to him, he finds it hard to internalize that some Transformers come online fully adult and ready to fight and die.
He suppresses a smirk as Sentinel strikes a pose. It's good to see him loosening up a little!
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 29, 2011 11:11:20 GMT -5
Rodimus nods at Sentinel's description of his alternate. "Well, you seemed friendly enough towards him, back when you thought I was him," he recalls, remembering Sentinel's arrival. He grins briefly at the blue Autobot's obvious excitement, but then attempts to tame that smile under Serious Face. The attempt is only a partial success, and the smile sometimes peeks out around the edges.
His optics do widen briefly at Sentinel's question. After his description of boot camp, Rodimus had assumed a little too much about his previous training. He thinks a moment, recalling how Sentinel holds his lance, and mutters to himself, "All right, favors right." Then he speaks louder. If allowed, there may be slight touches to the weapon and Sentinel as he tries to show Sentinel the positioning. "Grip with the right hand, index finger either on the trigger or, if you're not firing just yet, along the side. Support the grip with your other hand," Rodimus demonstrates with his own empty hands. "You want to push forward with the right hand while pulling back with the other, like your hands are working against each other. The tension helps to steady it. Feet a bit wider than hip-distance, left foot pointed forward, right more out." He demonstrates. "Then you lift it to eye level and look down the barrel. The three sights at the end, two larger ones and one that looks smaller? When you're holding it right, those will all line up in a row, and whatever you're trying to hit should look like it's resting right on top of that middle, shorter one.1 If the sights are adjusted correctly, and they are, that's where you'll put the blast. Won't be much kick with an energy weapon like that, so don't try to brace for it or anything. It'll just throw you off."
Once it looks like Sentinel has the stance and the grip right, Rodimus inclines his head. "All right, then. Try a shot."
While Sentinel is working on that, he turns towards Optimus, though he finds he's a bit unsure of how to describe his feelings. "Well, it just sounds so..." Rodimus hesitates, trying to find the word, then shrugs, "settled, formal training like that, with... with classes and things like that. I mean, we didn't really need basic training, anyway. Maybe the older ones, from before the war, but not by the time I came online, and any sort of more advanced school would have been too big a target. Besides, we never really held much in the way of surface territory until recently, so it's not like we'd have a place to put it, even if we didn't have to worry about it getting attacked."
1 Rodimus is describing a pistol hold because, despite the length of the barrel, the grip resembles a pistol, not a rifle. But seriously. Handwavy or whatever, don't look too close at this stuff.
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Jun 30, 2011 19:41:39 GMT -5
Action poses are serious business, Optimus!
Sentinel Prime lets Rodimus Prime manhandle as him as the Primer Prime likes. In theory, he ought to be faking an adverse reaction to touch, but he can't concentrate on that and what Rodimus is saying about the photon eliminator at the same time, and learning how to treat this gorgeous baby correctly is higher priority than maintaining the ruse of being mentally scarred by Decepticon torture. (Never let it be said that Sentinel Prime knows how to get his priorities in proper order.)
Licking his lips lightly, Sentinel Prime tries a shot and... just barely grazes the edge of the target. He immediately says defensively, "It's not like I've ever done this before. We try not to really... touch these," these lovely, glorious pieces of death and doom, "They're just mounted on drone arms, you know."
He glares over at Optimus, on general principle. Optimus always had the best grades. Optimus'll probably get a bull's-eye and then Rodimus will love him and then Sentinel Prime will go gag himself with a spoon. Sentinel Prime grudgingly hands Optimus the photon eliminator, in the way of a preschooler forced to share a ball.
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Optimus Prime
Minor
Caution: Hero makes wide right turns.
Posts: 385
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Post by Optimus Prime on Jun 30, 2011 21:45:45 GMT -5
Optimus listens to Rodimus's instructions for the photon eliminator intently. "Is it hooked to your HUD or anything?" he asks.
He nods at the Primer Prime's explanation for his earlier comment. "It was certainly settled. It may have gotten too settled over time. We weren't good at adapting to change, or aren't, I suppose." How do you refer to events in another universe?
Optimus glances at Rodimus Prime as he takes the photon eliminator from Sentinel with a nod. He did always have better grades, but that was only because he actually studied rather than getting into trouble and inventing code phrases to use when he got into trouble. Or rather, he did get into trouble, but it was always Sentinel's fault. Mostly.
In this, though, Optimus has a clear advantage over Sentinel, in that he uses ranged weapons, his foam sprayers and grapplers, on a regular basis. However, those are mounted in his wrists and they shoot matter, not energy, so it's not quite the same. He expects the photon eliminator will shoot straight, rather than having the shot travel in an arc, so he compensates as he lines up his shot on the target. He compensates so much, in fact, that the shot ends up impacting well below the target.
"Hm," he says, almost handing the weapon back to Sentinel before offering it back to Rodimus Prime.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jul 1, 2011 11:36:34 GMT -5
Rodimus's optics flicker in faint surprise as Sentinel rather hurriedly defends himself. "Hey, don't worry about it! That was pretty good for a first time, actually!" At least, Rodimus assumes this is the case for someone who isn't built already knowing how to shoot a gun. He watches Optimus flat miss the target and, accepting the gun back, explains, "If you find you're off in a consistant direction, like maybe anticipating recoil or something like that, you can generally compensate over a couple of shots." He lifts the gun and fires off three quick shots in demonstration, the first one to the slight right of the center, the following two dead on.
He frowns slightly at Optimus's question and hesitates, offering the photon eliminator back to Sentinel before he answers. As he speaks, he gives the impression that he's picking his words with a bit more care than usual. "Because it's my personal systems weapon, I've got the option of using a direct link-up with my own HUD, but I usually just use the sights, like I showed you. Anyone can use it that way, if I don't lock them out."
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Jul 2, 2011 14:30:49 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime just throws things. If he was throwing the photon eliminator at the target, it would have been a bull's-eye for sure! And then Rodimus would have yelled at him, because what kind of jerk throws a gun? (This kind of jerk.)
He covers his mouth to hide a smirk, however, when Optimus's experience gets him into a bit of trouble, since his experience doesn't quite line up with what they're doing here. Maybe this is the kind of thing where knowing nothing is better than knowing something?
Sentinel Prime takes the photon eliminator back from Rodimus carefully and proceeds to do everything just like Rodimus told him the first time. His first shot is a horrible miss off to the side, his second shot hits the outer left rim of the target, and this third shot hits the outer right rim of the target. He scowls at the shots before handing it back to Optimus.
He does find it interesting, how the question of HUDs makes Rodimus react. What's up with that? There's a Button there, and Sentinel Prime badly wants to push it. He echoes, innocently curious, "The option? Why wouldn't you want to?"
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