Rook
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Post by Rook on Nov 16, 2010 20:07:30 GMT -5
Day 26, Ship, Semi-private
Rook is currently using the firing range. He's holding his pistol in both hands with his legs spread well apart and his auditory sensors turned to their lowest setting. He takes careful aim with each shot, and he almost always hits the (stationary) target. He even gets the occasional bullseye. He hasn't started on moving targets yet. In short, he's not very good at this, but that's why he's here. If he's going to be on a ship full of military bots, he may as well learn to shoot.
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Post by Sable Conolly on Nov 16, 2010 21:49:16 GMT -5
Scourge makes regular use of the firing range. Not so regular as a devoted sniper, but then, Scourge has many, many demands on his time, and he's also a swordsman, so he has to spend time working on that, too, and on sabotage, and on stealth, and that's just talking about training and practise, not taking into accounting the planning, scheming, organising, managing, haranguing, assaulting...
He steps into the firing range and he paces over to one of the control computers, mulling over his options. Scourge can't help but notice Rook, but other than a slight askance glance, he is discreet in his observation, and his observation is that Rook really does need the practise.
Scourge taps at his own routine for a moment more, stealing a second askance glance. Do the Predacons in Rook's reality simply not have the programming to go for soldier from creation? Clearly not. How irritating.
Having called up his usual routine, Scourge paces over to the stall and stares at it for a moment. After a moment, his trailer base appears behind him, and he calls out, "Ultimate barrage attack." In a ludicrous display over overkill, the target is summarily obliterated, thereby shortening his usual routine by a massive amount.
That done, Scourge stalks over to watch Rook more openly, and he asks, "What instruction were you given in your reality?"
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Rook
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Post by Rook on Nov 17, 2010 18:41:10 GMT -5
Even with his ears turned down, Rook still heard the ultimate barrage attack. He looks up at Scourge, subspaces his pistol, and turns his audio receptors back up to normal levels.
"I graduated from the Predacon Diplomatic Academy, Lord Scourge. I was officially trained in etiquette, protocol, politics, and diplomacy. I picked up a bit of blackmail, dissembling, and backroom dealing along the way," the crow explains.
"I think the question you're actually asking, however, is why I seem to be such a poor combatant. It's peacetime where I come from. Predacons are second-class citizens. Weapon ownership is highly restricted. I've never needed to know how to fight before, which is why I'm working on it now."
"I'm a competent fencer, if that helps," he adds.
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Post by Sable Conolly on Nov 17, 2010 21:15:59 GMT -5
Scourge arches an optical ridge, giving Rook a skeptical look when Rook admits that he's a blackmailer. If that's the kind of thing Rook will mention up-front, what things are not being said? He considers Rook's answer, and he replies, "Not a fitting fate for anyone. Tell me, Rook, what do you want to do to your Maximals?"
He looks over at Rook's target, and he asks, "And what do you hope to accomplish here?"
Maybe Rook really does want to go home and bust some heads. Maybe Rook just doesn't want to be held hostage by Autobots. That would be rather humiliating. Maybe Rook just wants to impress however walks in with his perceived dedication to martial virtues.
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Rook
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Post by Rook on Nov 17, 2010 22:50:28 GMT -5
Rook is a Predacon and also a diplomat. What did Scourge think that entailed? To Rook, it's equivalent to Megatron admitting he carries weapons.
"An interesting question. I'd like to get into a position of power, respected by both factions, and slowly turn the balance of power in our favor so that we could stockpile weapons and undermine the Maximals until we're able to start the war back up. And win it this time." Granted, that would put Rook out of a job, but he'd probably get a cushy retirement and a statue or two.
"I'm hoping to be able to defend myself. It's not my goal to spend my entire time here behind a desk, Lord Scourge. I do intend to make myself useful."
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Post by Sable Conolly on Nov 17, 2010 23:12:14 GMT -5
The funny thing is, most blackmailers don't admit they are blackmailers, no matter how obvious it may be. It is just Not Said.
Scourge inquires, "How would you define victory in such a war?" Leaving the Predacons alive has clearly been a mistake for the Maximals. Will Rook make that mistake, too?
"You imply," he drops into a crouch behind Rook, "that you are not useful as you are?"
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Rook
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Post by Rook on Nov 18, 2010 20:20:47 GMT -5
At least you're not hearing about the stabbings and poisonings, Scourge. Of course, you might approve of those.
"The only acceptable victory would be total victory, preferably quick. The longer the war went on, the more chance the Maximals would have to hide themselves away so that we couldn't wipe them out."
Rook turns around to face Scourge, taking a step away from the massive tanker. "Perhaps it would be more accurate to say I wish to make myself more useful. I am extremely skilled at a few things that were vital back home, but are unlikely to be needed in our current situation. I'm trying to shore up my weak points."
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Post by Sable Conolly on Nov 18, 2010 22:52:48 GMT -5
Scourge approves of stabbings. He is more ambivalent about poisonings. Scourge nods approvingly as Rook says he'd go for a total victory, but he has to wonder if Rook is just telling him what he wants to hear. He asks idly, "If you had to, to clean up at the end, could you personally execute Maximal prisoners?"
He drops from his uneasy crouch into a kneel and gestures back at the range. "Do go on with your study."
Don't mind the looming war machine from an alternate history.
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Rook
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Post by Rook on Nov 19, 2010 13:59:21 GMT -5
Sometimes what the other guy wants to hear coincides nicely with the truth. Really, Rook would prefer to keep the defeated Maximals around as slave labor, but history has taught him that is a bad idea. "Just because I'm not a soldier by function doesn't mean I lack the killer instinct of a Predacon, Lord Scourge. Of course I could execute prisoners." There are a couple Maximals who were rude to him at that one summit that Rook would execute with great relish.
The little 'Con pulls his pistol back out, and takes aim at the target, trying not get distracted by the big one. Easier said than done.
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Post by Sable Conolly on Nov 19, 2010 14:41:08 GMT -5
The thing is, there's a difference between a killer instinct and executing prisoners, isn't there? A certain sangfroid and emotional detachment, or even sociopathy, is required. Though, Rook hasn't seemed liked a blithering idiot so far, and if he thinks he has what it takes to commit genocide...
Scourge asks, "What are your stabilisation servo settings? Do you ever just practise standing still?"
It's a weird quirk of Transformers that, despite being robots, they tend to wobble when they're trying to stand still. Just watch some Beast Wars. Wobble is the enemy of any aimed shot.
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Rook
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Post by Rook on Nov 19, 2010 22:10:36 GMT -5
Rook lowers his pistol, half-turning to look back at Scourge. "My servos are calibrated to [settings]. I've never had the opportunity to practice standing still, as such, though I've had programming in posture."
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Post by Sable Conolly on Nov 19, 2010 22:36:19 GMT -5
Scourge can work with that, he thinks! He suggests, "Put your posture training into work and then fire again, a few times."
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Rook
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Post by Rook on Nov 20, 2010 22:03:46 GMT -5
If Scourge thinks that Rook pretending to balance an energon cube on his head will help him shoot straighter, Rook isn't going to argue. Scourge is a soldier-bot, after all.
The crow's posture doesn't change all that noticeably, but there is a subtle difference, for those with optics to spot it. A certain casual fluidity in the joints where there had been tense stiffness. Rook takes aim again, holding his pistol at arms' length in both hands, and fires three times. Each successive shot hits closer to the center of the target. The third is a bullseye.
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Post by Sable Conolly on Nov 20, 2010 23:37:22 GMT -5
Scourge is watching Rook very closely. He looks at where the shots fall, too. Scourge explains, "You'll have to practise it, to make it not second nature, but your first reaction, and you won't always be successful. Regression towards the mean means that it is sheer statistics that you won't nail it every time while you're learning. But still. Better."
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Rook
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Post by Rook on Nov 21, 2010 18:24:15 GMT -5
"Practice makes perfect, after all," Rook replies. The nice part about being an officer is he gets a lot of input on his division's duty rosters, which means he can give himself plenty of time for training. Well, that's one of the nice parts.
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