Misfire
Minor
The Chamberlain, His Incomparable Immensity, Emperor Misfire. The Accidental Butcher of Anyone He Wasn't Aiming At
Improving. Honest!
Posts: 449
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Post by Misfire on Jun 22, 2008 0:45:18 GMT -5
Duskwing may or may not have already headed off after Fleetwind by the time Aimless makes his way back to Misfire and hops into the cockpit. It doesn't take overlong though, and soon Misfire is in the air and caught up with the Seeker(s).
"So, you two have been out and about here more recently than I. Any points of interest?"
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Jun 22, 2008 7:34:16 GMT -5
Duskwing rolled as he climbed to Fleetwind's altitude, just because he wanted to. He'd caught up to Fleetwind, and was circling when Misfire rejoined them... and asked a question. One of those tricky, difficult, personal opinion questions that Primus help you if you answered wrong when it was a superior officer asking it.
Good thing Misfire wasn't a superior officer; it would have completely spoiled his mellow mood. As it was...
Duskwing flicked both ailerons in annoyance, porpoising briefly in the air. "Dunno," he growled. "What's interesting?"
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Fleetwind
Major
The Chancellor, His Eminent Grandeur, Marquis Fleetwind. The Insurgent Subduer of A Non-Threatening Cute Little Furry Kitten
Twined Elf
Posts: 730
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Post by Fleetwind on Jun 22, 2008 17:52:58 GMT -5
"Well, I haven't spent much time here, certainly," Fleetwind answers. He's not the sort to fly solo over the enemy base with no good reason! "The nearest mountains are a fair bit north of here. The desert's not far to the west, though, and that has a few canyons and mesas and the like. To me, that's the most interesting thing beyond open air - air with obstructions to fly among. Most of this world is otherwise too flat for me."
As he speaks, he rolls rather lazily in the air, staying near the others, no fancy tricks for now. Those can come later.
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Misfire
Minor
The Chamberlain, His Incomparable Immensity, Emperor Misfire. The Accidental Butcher of Anyone He Wasn't Aiming At
Improving. Honest!
Posts: 449
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Post by Misfire on Jun 22, 2008 21:49:03 GMT -5
"Yeah, there's nothing wrong with a nice stretch of open sky, but I like having something to test my skills a bit more. The minute you stop practicing, you increase your chances of being knocked offline for good."
Misfire tries to pull a bit in front of the others, radar automatically engaging. It's his standard position, not that of a leader, really, but a scout, an interceptor. He notices something off to the east.
"Looks like a storm out over the sea." There's a touch of a challenge in his tone as he asks, "Anyone up for a closer look?"
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Jun 23, 2008 7:03:01 GMT -5
"Yeah?" Duskwing queries, sliding into wingman position on Fleetwind. 'The Book' when it came ot aerial combat was one of the things that was programmed rather thoroughly into Duskwing's mind.
"Might be fun' if it's got lightning or some wind." He sounded a bit doubtful. "Dat rain's wussy, though. No acid at all."
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Fleetwind
Major
The Chancellor, His Eminent Grandeur, Marquis Fleetwind. The Insurgent Subduer of A Non-Threatening Cute Little Furry Kitten
Twined Elf
Posts: 730
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Post by Fleetwind on Jun 23, 2008 9:51:36 GMT -5
"Yeah, there's nothing wrong with a nice stretch of open sky, but I like having something to test my skills a bit more. The minute you stop practicing, you increase your chances of being knocked offline for good."
Fleetwind calmly listens to Misfire point out the obvious, and even chooses not to remark on this fact. The Seeker knows from personal experience that many people really do need to have the obvious pointed out to them, and it's not as if Misfire has any reason to know that Fleetwind usually isn't one of those people.
Besides, they do have Duskwing with them.
"Well, that just decreases the chance of having to reapply any protectants," the pastel Seeker observes. He transforms, cutting all anti-grave supports, and while dropping pulls his knees to his chest, curls into a tumble, and then straightens and transforming once more, this time facing in the direction of the storm, which he is now rocketing towards. All of this occurs in less time it takes to really think it.
Hmmm. Flying over an ocean. Not something Fleetwind's done much of, before his arrival on this planet and his escape from Omega Supreme. That just makes it all the more important not to let oneself be knocked out of the sky - it's a lot easier to recover from crashing on land.
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Misfire
Minor
The Chamberlain, His Incomparable Immensity, Emperor Misfire. The Accidental Butcher of Anyone He Wasn't Aiming At
Improving. Honest!
Posts: 449
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Post by Misfire on Jun 23, 2008 11:15:30 GMT -5
At the other's affirmation, (or at least lack of protest) Misfire shifts his heading into a more direct line with what seems to be the storm's center. He catches Fleetwind's transform/tumble/turn. "Nice."
"Personally, I'm glad of the lack of acid in most organic planets' weather." Because really, 'Who can stand the burn the longest' only proves who has the thickest plating and the weakest CPU. It also tends to annoy the repair staff to no end, because in Misfire's experience, repair techs hate having to fix senseless damages. Chasing lightening has it's own appeal of course, but what Misfire likes about a good storm is testing his maneuverability against the winds.
And speaking of winds, the group starts hitting some heavy crosswinds even before they reach the storm proper. Looks like this is shaping up to be a rough storm.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Jun 23, 2008 19:36:13 GMT -5
Duskwing was surprised by Fleetwind's transform-and-tumble maneuver--which made it a good thing that he didn't have to fight Fleetwind--and sped on for a second or two before it registered. Then he thought about what Fleetwind just did as he sped on for several seconds more. It was a bit like the move Duskwing had pulled on Skyblast-3, but to a different end.
"Huh." Duskwing transformed and attempted to tumble--and triggered his transform earlier than he intended, low-level programming taking over when he entered a posture identical to the preliminary stages of his transform. He found himself straight down and accelerating. Oops. Some quick work with throttle and elevators and he straightened out just above the waves, then headed toward the storm in a wide climbing turn.
"Frag and slag it!" Duskwing muttered. "Dat was a dumb rookie move. Slaggit!"
The crosswinds hit him as he caught up to Misfire; Duskwing flexed his controls happily. This kind of fllying, he knew well. The canyons of Cybertron's buildings and chasms funneled the wind in strange ways, and you never knew when an unexpected draft would hit from a cross-canyon. He bounced and rolled on the wind, with an occasionally "Booyah!" thrown in.
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Fleetwind
Major
The Chancellor, His Eminent Grandeur, Marquis Fleetwind. The Insurgent Subduer of A Non-Threatening Cute Little Furry Kitten
Twined Elf
Posts: 730
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Post by Fleetwind on Jun 23, 2008 22:18:44 GMT -5
"I wouldn't call that a rookie mistake," Fleetwind assures. "It took me a considerable amount of training and practice to get it right. Do that sort of thing for long enough, though, and it becomes second nature."
What Fleetwind does not add is that not everyone gets it down at all. He takes no responsibility for others not knowing their own limitations.
Fleetwind changes direction slightly as the crosswinds hit, more so as to keep himself on-course than anything else. He cuts through them fairly well, with slight tilts of his frames and flicks of his flaps, although from time to time his struggling becomes more obvious as his lighter-than-normal frame betrays him.
He takes the time to note, "This is another area where anti-gravs can assist, since they're not affected quite so much by the wins. Sort of an... extra stabilizer." He flicks them on and smoothes his flight out, demonstrating that he no longer needs to use so much fine-tuned control, before he shuts them off and the actual skill behind his flying becomes once more evident.
"Though I usually find it useful to be practiced in flying without them, I also consider it important to know my limits with them."
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Misfire
Minor
The Chamberlain, His Incomparable Immensity, Emperor Misfire. The Accidental Butcher of Anyone He Wasn't Aiming At
Improving. Honest!
Posts: 449
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Post by Misfire on Jun 24, 2008 17:28:27 GMT -5
Misfire listens and watches, all the while cutting through the crosswinds easily, or so it might seem. Countless minute adjustments, a shift of a flap here, a slight change in positioning, they all work to keep him heading more or less toward what should be the center of the storm.
Fat drops of rain splatter against Misfire's cockpit, and Aimless mumbles to Misfire, "You guys are a bit nuts, wanting to fly around in weather like this."
Misfire climbs a bit higher, ignoring Aimless for the moment. The rain increases in intensity, and then Misfire gets a surprise, as it feels like someone just pelted him with a bag of pebbles.
"Ouch! What the heck?"
Aimless leans back, smirking, "It's called hail, buddy. Enjoy."
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Jun 24, 2008 18:52:45 GMT -5
Duskwing was stupid, not clumsy. With sufficient practice, he could generally get a combat maneuver down. He could even learn by rote what maneuvers to do when. It was clever tactical thinking in unexpected situations that eluded him. Fortunately, his default response to confusing situations--shoot something--usually worked out when one was a Decepticon warrior.
Duskwing rode the winds, rolling and tossing with the wind like a surfer on a wave. The 'enhanced' energon lent him an exuberance he didn't normally show--but always felt in flight.
Duskwing laughed as hail rattled against his canopy. "Whoa! This one's getting good! Watch out for funnels!"
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Fleetwind
Major
The Chancellor, His Eminent Grandeur, Marquis Fleetwind. The Insurgent Subduer of A Non-Threatening Cute Little Furry Kitten
Twined Elf
Posts: 730
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Post by Fleetwind on Jun 24, 2008 20:20:21 GMT -5
It's fairly difficult to avoid all hail without at least taking a few hits, not without moving above it, and the pastel Seeker doesn't make it through unscathed. Several ice rocks badly dent the Seeker's thin armor, and Fleetwind announces, "Until we're out of the hard stuff, I need to move up."
With that, with a tilt of his triangular form, he starts slicing upwards, through the winds and climbing above the hail. It does nothing to prove how awesome a flier he is, but the pastel Seeker never concerned himself with reputation, anyway. With a sudden jerk, he manages to just avoid a lightning strike.
"Hmmm, this one has everything, doesn't it?" he observes.
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Misfire
Minor
The Chamberlain, His Incomparable Immensity, Emperor Misfire. The Accidental Butcher of Anyone He Wasn't Aiming At
Improving. Honest!
Posts: 449
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Post by Misfire on Jun 25, 2008 10:34:30 GMT -5
"Yeah!" Misfire answers Duskwing, "Haven't been in one this strong in awhile. But I'm with Fleetwind-got to get above these rocks."
Misfire does just that, climbing high. He doesn't catch Fleetwind in time to see the actual strike, but the accompanying thunderclap rattles his plating. "Looks like," he says, before rolling left to avoid another strike.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Jun 25, 2008 19:53:27 GMT -5
Duskwing followed the other two above the turbulent hail level, twisting now and then as the tingle of ions on his probes warned him of incoming lightning. One could not actually avoid a lightning strike that was drawn to you; it was far too fast. The trick was in not accumulating enough of a static charge to attract the lightning to you--or at least, making sure there was something more attractive than you to serve as a ground nearer to the source of the spark. You could dodge away from a strike that was in danger of diverting from its original target to you.
Duskwing wouldn't have explained it that way; he'd just tell you that when your probes tingled a certain way, you rolled or slipped the other way, fast--which he did, again, and again as they climbed above the hail layer.
"Aw, not so much wind up here," he said. "Hey Misfire--you got a good radar? See any funnels down there? I ain't messed around those since I got back from Earth. Cybertron don't got none."
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Fleetwind
Major
The Chancellor, His Eminent Grandeur, Marquis Fleetwind. The Insurgent Subduer of A Non-Threatening Cute Little Furry Kitten
Twined Elf
Posts: 730
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Post by Fleetwind on Jun 25, 2008 21:27:12 GMT -5
"I've got good optics, but they're not quite so useful in conditions like this," Fleetwind notes. His flight is now less frantic, requires less adjustment for as high as he is. "But the... the hard stuff doesn't seem to be falling in all places. It comes down in, well, in splotches."
Then, he suddenly dives. "And I think I've found a non-splotch," he exclaims, heading back into the winds.
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