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Post by Pee-Dee on Mar 2, 2010 12:33:09 GMT -5
"Over whose fuel?" Pee-Dee asks absently as she is suddenly besieged by small children. Well, one small child. Who wants toys!
Toys are a curious thing to ask Junkions for.
Pee-Dee smells a mystery.1
"Have you met a woman named Screwdriver?" She asks, peering down at Mistwind.
---
1. Pee-Dee reads some of the more obscure DC Comics.
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Mistwind
Major
Licensed flight addict, deepsea diving fan, mech-pilot rookie - Accepts food and play for services.
Posts: 531
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Post by Mistwind on Mar 2, 2010 17:41:33 GMT -5
Mistwind quickly scribbles down his hardware code, not losing Pee-Dee out of his sights. "So now I can have gun, right? I do want to get home in one piece, so it better protect me against glitchin' defective Autobots."
When Pee-Dee asks him, he nods quite excited, "Yeah! She gave me this awesome toy!" He searches his subspace quickly, poking around untill he subtracts a bright blue metal bird. "I couldn't get it to fly yet, that would be so awesome, but she gave me this! Do you have toys? ... I only have Peace, but I don't want you playing with it" He holds a hand to his mouth, whispering as if telling a secret, "it's a bit scared of strangers...."
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Swindle
Major
This space for rent.
Posts: 571
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Post by Swindle on Mar 2, 2010 19:20:45 GMT -5
Beaming, Swindle hands the rocket launcher down to Mistwind as Duskwing fills out the paperwork.1 "Here you are! Use it in good health."
To Pee-Dee, he responds "Over the fuel served at a restaurant, of course! . . . If you're interested."
Following the thread of conversation, several things become apparent. One, there's a Junkion traveling with the Decepticons named Screwdriver who makes toys. Shortround wants to buy toys. Clearly there's room for a middlemech here.
--- 1 If I interpret the scale right, a human-scale shoulder mounted rocket launcher ought to be about the right size for Mistwind to wield as a rifle.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Mar 2, 2010 20:44:10 GMT -5
Duskwing tilts his head, staring at Pee-Dee like she's sprouted two heads. "Oh, yeah," he finally says. "Dat screwy dame, Screwdriver--get it? 'Screwy dame'?--she's a Junkion. I remember dat now. She makes weird toys, but dey make the kid happy." He shrugs, as if that's enough for him. "You make toys, too?"
"Yeah, kid, you got it. If you ain't never used one before, read the manual. Swindle, you included the manuals, right? Hate to have the kid practice by trial and error. Somethin' important might get blowed up out here," Duskwing waves one hand vaguely in the direction of Swindle's stall.
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Shortround
Minor
Breaker of the Fourth Wall
Posts: 272
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Post by Shortround on Mar 3, 2010 2:49:51 GMT -5
Shortround sure does a lot of staring. However, after it seems he does not need to drag anyone to safety, he relaxes, a bit. And then Mistwind brings out one of Screwdriver's... Toys.
Naturally, Shortround twitches, and sighs out "The MIB value...". "That would have been worth tons to a collector" he adds, sighing despondently. He almost wishes they crash landed somewhere a nervous wreck of a Decepticon would find nicer.
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Post by Pee-Dee on Mar 3, 2010 13:58:57 GMT -5
"Is the Pope Catholic?1" Pee-Dee asks Swindle in response to the question of if she's interested. "Here's my card. Call me."
She proffers a metal sheet cut to the size and shape of a human business card. It has her radio frequency on it and a glyph for the Planet Junk in GalStandard followed by two Earth glyphs: PD.
"Screwdriver's the toymaker, I'm the knight!" Or the evil stepsister, if you ask Screwdriver.
Pee-Dee smiles down at Mistwind, not really thinking about the way it bares her sawteeth. "That looks like a very cool toy. What does it do? Slice, dice, make Julien fries?"
---
1. No idea where to attribute this,
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Mistwind
Major
Licensed flight addict, deepsea diving fan, mech-pilot rookie - Accepts food and play for services.
Posts: 531
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Post by Mistwind on Mar 4, 2010 9:21:22 GMT -5
Mistwind's disappointment is clearly visible, "Oh, well, then you are not interesting... too bad" He eyes the toy in his hand, "It's supposed to fly, but I think it's broken... but it can't help that. Someday it'll fly!"
He answers Duskwing with a mixture of cheerfullness and sadness, "Of course I don't know how to use the gun! I don't have... battle systems. But I promise to be good! I am, after all, build from Mil- er Master force standards!" He could've said 'well, my dad owns his own energon factory!' and it would've sounded just the same.
He takes the launcher and examines it carefully, trying to figure out how to hold it. He naturally tries to position it as he's seen the larger Cons and Bots do, but quickly finds out that this is not how this launcher is handled.
As he fumbles with placement, buttons and levers, he discovers a small switch that clicks as he pulls it. Pressing it back and forth, Mistwind grins in delight, "hey, it makes sound!" Seasoned fighters might recognise the sound to belong to a safety lock...
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Swindle
Major
This space for rent.
Posts: 571
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Post by Swindle on Mar 4, 2010 21:17:57 GMT -5
Swindle actually chuckles as Duskwing makes his clumsy attempt at a veiled threat, shaking his head slightly. "Of course the manual is included, Duskwing, and so is this recording of human soldiers being trained to use the weapon," he says, pulling a paperback human-sized manual and a datadisc from his storage compartment, along with a drab green metal crate with white printed lettering on it, presumably full of rockets. "The camera angle is a bit low, but I was in vehicle mode at the time, for obvious reasons."
Gazing thoughtfully at Shortround, Swindle says "So do you just collect toys or are you interested in branching out into vintage weapons? They're like toys, but they tend to have more interesting histories to them."
Swindle offers Pee-Dee his shiniest smile as he accepts the business card, tucking it into his storage dimension with a wink. "I'll give you a call!"
He watches Mistwind struggle to hold, then start experimenting with the rocket launcher, giving silent thanks to whatever higher power is listening that he had the forethought not to keep it loaded. "I can modify that to a rifle grip if you're interested. Free of charge, of course!" What can he say, he likes Duskwing and Mistwind.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Mar 5, 2010 8:26:05 GMT -5
Duskwing looked at Mistwind oddly; it finally dawned on him that the kid had little or no familiarity with firearms. He wasn't waving the launcher around recklessly just to be reckless or threatening--he actually had NO CLUE. What kind of Decepticon doesn't know how to handle weapons?
"Swindle, you're a sweetheart! Gimme a call if you need help with the locals or dem Autobums." Duskwing picked up the box of ammo and looked at Mistwind again.
"Mist, you take that manual and, uh, training vid, dey too small for me. We gonna find an empty lot or something and do some traning. I don't give a slag for rulebooks, but weapon manuals is important--dey tell you what your stuff will do and how not to show yourself in the foot wit' it," Duskwing said, serious now. "You do not wanna shoot yourself in the foot or any other body part, 'cause Hook will be mad for makin' him extra work onna'count of you bein' stupid, and everyone will laugh at you, 'cause shootin' yourself is just dumb."
For all that Duskwing is mean, rude, impulsive, dumb and possessed of notoriously bad judgment, somewhere deep in his past a firearms instructor programmed into Duskwing cranium, possibly with an I-beam, that you don't get careless with your guns. Decepticons who accidentally shoot themselves or their comrades don't survive much past the factory stage. (As opposed to Decepticons who 'accidentally' shoot their fellows.)
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Mistwind
Major
Licensed flight addict, deepsea diving fan, mech-pilot rookie - Accepts food and play for services.
Posts: 531
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Post by Mistwind on Mar 8, 2010 7:26:23 GMT -5
- Skipping Shortround and Pee-Dee due to 24-hour timeout-
Any odd stares that are locked on him, Mistwind does not see. He's that caught up in the weapon.
Of course he does respond when Duskwing tells him to come along, in a sense, and he now sees the crate and the manuals. "Ah... okay, Duskwing Sir" He collects the manuals and hurries onwards, shooting those staying behind a cute smile, "Thanks for the equipment, Swindle sir! See you later, Shortround sir! Goodbye, Junkion!"
The child bounds off with his latest toy.
- Out of thread unless stopped-
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Swindle
Major
This space for rent.
Posts: 571
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Post by Swindle on Mar 8, 2010 20:19:56 GMT -5
Swindle watches Mistwind running off with a nostalgic 'those were the days' sort of smile and produces yet another datadisc, handing it to Duskwing. "This is a map of the local districts of Pz-Zazz. The ones marked in red are turf owned by one of the local gangs, cartels, or 'families.' You're not gonna want to do any weapons practice or 'fund-raising' in those areas. Oh, and if you get caught doing something you shouldn't, I didn't sell you anything you used to do it." This last statement is accompanied by a wink. For all that he's a dim bulb, Swindle has a feeling that Duskwing can read between the lines in this particular case.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Mar 8, 2010 20:50:51 GMT -5
Duskwing grinned and reached over to slap Swindle on the back. "Thanks, Swindle! Youse is good people. Lemme know if you need any heads busted or somethin'."
He carefully took the datadisc and stowed it where it would do the most good--in his mission data upload port. Maps of what territory to hit and what not to were old news to him, even if Duskwing was a bit careless about precise boundaries. Tanks mechs got so cranky when you dropped 'friendly fire' on their heads.
"Yeah, got it. I never saw you, and you never sold me nothin'." Duskwing frowned for a moment. "Ack-tually, you sold me nothin', anyway. You just gave me an estimate for the upgrade." He shrugged; no matter to hm.
He trotted after Mistwind, calling out "Hey, kid! Let's find an empty lot and get you some whatdayacallit---'weapons fa--fa--familiarizationizing'."
--- OOC: also out of thread unless stopped.
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Post by Pee-Dee on Mar 12, 2010 11:59:01 GMT -5
Sorry for not posting sooner. I've been a mess lately.
Pee-Dee is used to being dismissed as boring. Heck, she's used to being called a lot worse things than 'not interesting'. So she just smiles sunnily, sawblade teeth bright, and goes back to browsing Swindle's wares.
After Duskwing and Mistwind leave, she glances at Swindle. "That was neat. Do you have any more of those maps?"
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Swindle
Major
This space for rent.
Posts: 571
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Post by Swindle on Mar 16, 2010 19:05:45 GMT -5
Sorry for not posting. Missed that I was up.
Swindle watches the Seeker and the Micromaster fade into the crowd, and shoots Pee-Dee his most winning smile. "The next sirens you hear. . ." He then pulls another datadisk from his storage compartment and hands it to Pee-Dee. "One Pz-Zazz district map with territories marked. I'm afraid I'll have to charge you fifteen credits for it. You not being a fellow merchant and all."
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Post by Pee-Dee on Mar 18, 2010 10:45:32 GMT -5
Pee-Dee reaches into one of her packs. "Credits in what currency?"
She pulls out a pouch. The material resembles leather upholstery that's been beaten and remolded, but it's so stained and scarred that it could have been anything. A loose cable ties it shut. She unties the cable and shows a collection of precious, semi-precious, industrial, and worthless metals and stones.
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