Blackout-3
Cadet
With strength and with honor we fight.
Posts: 37
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Post by Blackout-3 on Jul 29, 2008 15:33:53 GMT -5
Open to anyone who feels like they should be part of the security sweep. Post in as you like.
Treading his way into the Arena, Blackout switches on his radar. He may not have Dead End's radar power, but in a more confined area, it should help. Blackout suggested the sweep himself; he fully intends to assist. If more suitable Decepticons show up to take over later, he can always go try greeting more of these good Autobots.
Meanwhile, Scorponok drops from his niche in Blackout's back, claws whirling excitedly and filling the air with exuberant chittering. More friends! Yay!
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Post by Kup on Jul 29, 2008 16:59:21 GMT -5
Well, there's at least one (and maybe more) contacts for Blackout's radar to pick up, but then, Kup's not exactly hiding from visual sensors, either. The Gillanan system had been active in interstellar trade and travel, and so, while most of the arena is scaled to humans, some of the seating sections are scaled larger or smaller to allow for the seating of alien guests. It's in one of the up-scaled sections that Kup now strolls, frame held at a slightly casual slump that seems at odds with the intensity with which he is studying his surroundings.
When Blackout arrives, Kup looks up, hands flexing slightly as though wishing to be wrapped around the handle of a rifle - or preparing to summon said rifle out of subspace. He transmits in short range over the allied frequency, //Name's Kup. Speak up now or be blasted.//
OOC: Kup is working on an Autobot security sweep of the same area. Any Autobots who want to claim to have been part of the team Kup brought with them are free to do so.
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Blackout-3
Cadet
With strength and with honor we fight.
Posts: 37
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Post by Blackout-3 on Jul 29, 2008 17:49:49 GMT -5
So the other side has already started. Good to know. Maybe.
//I am Blackout. My companion is called Scorponok.// Rougher voice than the Kup he's used to. If Kup is watching closely, he might see panels shifting on Blackout's forearms. It might mean something, or it might just be the way his build line works.
Blackout turns to greet Kup face to face. Scorponok skitters forward a bit, looking back at Blackout as if asking permission. The helicopter holds a palm out to stop the boogly bot. Might be a little soon to let an insectoid pile of razor blades start glomping their new allies.
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Post by Kup on Jul 29, 2008 22:34:28 GMT -5
Kup's never actually met any Blackouts, but this guy does seem to have some resemblance to Evac.
With his radio message answered, Kup dips his head in a more casual greeting, and his hands relax. He casts a somewhat wary optic towards Scorponok, but it rests there only briefly before he looks back up at Blackout.
"Good to meet you," Kup replies out loud, and it is an honest enough truth. They're in a rough spot, rough enough that any aid, even that wearing the Decepticon emblem, is welcome.
The elder looks around the arena. "So far, so good here. The problem will be keeping this place secure without drawing attention to it. Really, we're best off setting up a few sensors, a watch, and being ready to abandon this spot right quick if we got found."
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Blackout-3
Cadet
With strength and with honor we fight.
Posts: 37
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Post by Blackout-3 on Jul 30, 2008 13:40:19 GMT -5
Again with the resemblance to Evac. Good thing there's no toy collectors around, or they'd be going nuts.
Waitaminnit.....
Blackout returns the nod, raising a hand in a brief salute. Chain of command seems to be mirrored as much as anything else, which means Kup likely outranks him. Even if not, no reason to be rude. "So far, I'm detecting nothing more threatening than a few possible weak spots in the floor. The area may just not be designed for my weight, but it's something to make note of."
"We have a few scouts and stealth operatives that would be useful on watch duty," the big chopper continues. "We will need to find or create other escape routes, unless your side has any prepared."
Scorponok, still chittering curiously, skitters carefully over to Kup, tail slung back in an attempt to look non-threatening. That demented bug-like face looks up at the Autobot; if one looked carefully, they'd swear he's trying to give Kup puppy-dog eyes, as if begging for a pat on the head.
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Post by Kup on Jul 30, 2008 18:47:25 GMT -5
"Well, if you can mark the weak spots, that'd be good." He returns the salute, but it is a casual, lazy sort of salute, the salute of someone who's been military for so long that they have little interest in the ceremony surrounding it anymore, but are attempting to acknowledge that others still care about it. "In fact, we may want to weaken those spots more, as long as we know where they are." He looks out across the arena. "A foundation problem that we know about and the enemy doesn't is basically another kind of trap."
"Hmm. I'll need to speak with whoever you guys got writing up the patrol watches and what. We... do have a few escape routes, but we should probably come up with more." Technically speaking, the ones they have can't be shared, although Kup's pretty sure that if these allies prove themselves, they won't be left high and dry should another mass retreat have to happen.
The veteran looks down at the softly chittering scorpo-thingy. He frowns, brow-ridges knitted in curiosity, and crouches, hands resting casually on his knees. "So what does tis thing want?" he asks.
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Blackout-3
Cadet
With strength and with honor we fight.
Posts: 37
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Post by Blackout-3 on Jul 31, 2008 12:04:10 GMT -5
"Scorponok has been marking the weak spots with loose stones." Blackout gestures a few meters behind him, to a set of three rocks on the floor. They almost blend into the normal debris, unless one happens to notice that they're arranged in a neat triangle. A few more are scattered about in the direction Blackout came from. "We can see about excavating a few of them into pitfalls or mining them once we've found them all."
"Needlenose will probably be handling the troop deployments. I would volunteer, but it's probably better left to high-speed units." He wasn't really expecting Kup to spill all the escape routes so easily. Were the situation reversed, he wouldn't be so quick to trust, either. Still, it was worth a shot. At least the elder isn't giving him trapped routes to waste time exploring. "We'll also need to establish another rendezvous point in case this one is compromised."
Blackout chuckles as Kup kneels down to check out Scorponok. "He wants to play. It's been a while since he's made a new friend." As he speaks, Scorponok skitters closer, nuzzling up against Kup's hand. This is a blade-covered scorpion-thing trying to be cute.
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Post by Kup on Jul 31, 2008 16:56:25 GMT -5
"Needlenose? The Targetmaster, right? I'll make sure to look him up." But off-camera, because RPing with yourself is really, really boring.
Kup straightens, for the moment drawing away from Scorponok, then turns to examine the arena and nods. "Once we've got them all mapped, we'll need to memorize the locations and get rid of the markers. They're subtle, but they've got some pretty observant folks on their side.
Then, finally, he reaches down and tentatively pats the scorpion-thing. "Wants to play, huh? Maybe we should introduce him to Tiny."
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Blackout-3
Cadet
With strength and with honor we fight.
Posts: 37
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Post by Blackout-3 on Jul 31, 2008 18:28:26 GMT -5
"Knowing Needlenose, he may find you first. He tends to be talkative." Also, Blackout's player keeps forgetting who plays who.
"The stones were the simplest alternative to physically marking the floor. They can easily be scrambled later, or perhaps moved to other areas. Let them think the safe floor is trapped, it may make them hesitate." If fear of the dark Prime doesn't drive them forward anyway.
"Tiny? Is that what you call the mechadragon?" If Blackout's protectiveness of his companion hadn't been obvious before, it should be now, from his tone. "I hope yours is tamer than ours."
Scorponok's engine rumbles appreciatively at the patting. The boogly mini-bot gives Blackout a mischievous glance; then, without further warning, Scorponok pounces with surprising ability for his short legs, attempting to give Kup a great big hug.
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Post by Kup on Jul 31, 2008 20:18:11 GMT -5
Kup is taken off guard with the Scorp-o-glomp, and he's knocked backwards, though he recovers his balance quickly enough. By the time he does so, he figures out the creature isn't attacking him and he attempts, somewhat awkwardly, to pat the creature now clinging to him.
"That's right, Tiny. And she's pretty harmless... and when she is feeling grumpy, she has a muzzle. Besides, we can just make sure Holi or Wheelie or Long Haul are around. They're Tiny's usual babysitters."
He looks around the arena floor and nods. "Yeah, I like the idea of marking non-trapped spots. We'll go with that."
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Blackout-3
Cadet
With strength and with honor we fight.
Posts: 37
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Post by Blackout-3 on Aug 1, 2008 17:42:03 GMT -5
Blackout's face is fairly inexpressive, but it's hard not to look amused at his little friend's antics sometimes. "Now, Scorponok, let's not give our new allies a fuel pump failure." No, it's not an age crack. Really.
Scorponok chitters happily, disengaging from Kup and hopping down. An ally is a type of friend, right? That means more friends are around!
Blackout sombers again as Scorponok skitters to a nearby spot on the floor, tapping it with his claws to test it. "Hopefully they'll get along. It has been a while since Scorponok has had someone close to his own size to play with. Perhaps watching them will be good for morale."
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Post by Kup on Aug 1, 2008 19:41:09 GMT -5
Whether it's intended as an age joke or not, Kup glowers at Blackout during the fuel pump comment. However, he keeps his mouth shut on the matter. He can't prove it's an old joke, so why make an issue of it?
The veteran stands up and brushes himself off, dipping his head once in a nod. "I'll see if the kids're interested."
Then he turns towards Blackout. "What kind of forces did you guys bring through? I mean, I realize we're not at the one hundred percent trust point here, but this is something we're going to need to know in our plans, and besides - you guys already got a pretty clear idea what we've got on our side from your experience with our alternates."
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Blackout-3
Cadet
With strength and with honor we fight.
Posts: 37
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Post by Blackout-3 on Aug 1, 2008 20:26:05 GMT -5
It's hard to look innocent when your face looks like a Gillette factory exploded. Well, it's hard to look like anything but "I'm going to stab you with my eyebrows," really, but Blackout is pretty good at maintaining a straight face.
"Several of the Seeker build that seems popular among certain realities," Blackout replies in regards to troops. "A few other aerial and ground support troops like myself. Ground units, intelligence units, scouts. A good assault team overall." No easy name drops, and not much that Xaaron hadn't already been told. "Our capabilities likely match up accordingly with our own alternates. I can request troops as necessary for required tasks."
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Post by Kup on Aug 1, 2008 22:44:14 GMT -5
So that conveniently tells Kup nothing he didn't already know. If both sides stay this closed mouth, they're going to have more problems than just the demon Prime and his allies, but Kup can't blame Blackout for not opening up.
The veteran resolves to bring his concerns to Emirate Xaaron later.
For now, he nods. "Autobots have always focused on ground forces. Our air units are pretty limited, and what's more, right now we're still recovering from our last battle. Some of our heaviest hitters aren't back to full strength just yet." Revealing a weakness could be dangerous, but this is something their allies are going to have to know when planning. "Despite that, I'm going to ask the medics to make getting Synapse back in the sky their next priority."
The veteran turns and takes two steps away, scanning the arena. "We should see about setting up some sparring, too. That sort of thing can be both a way to learn and a way to vent, and if we team people up, they can get used to working with folks in the other faction."1
1 I have no intention of doing another mass-training set of scenes, but others can use this as an excuse to have small 2-4 people sparring matches, if they choose.
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Holi
Major
Captain Can-Do
Posts: 672
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Post by Holi on Aug 2, 2008 19:03:46 GMT -5
Higher up the stands, in one of those almost-human-scaled seating sections, Holi is splitting his attention between checking the area – he's only had one tiny little accident with leaning on a seat that couldn't exactly support him – and, now that they're down there chatting, keeping an eye on Kup and Blackout. And that Scorponok… thing. Blackout called it a companion. It certainly looks friendly. And big enough that Holi probably shouldn't try to catch it like Kup did.
Big enough, too, that Tiny (because someone has to watch her and Holi volunteered) gives the flailing and squirming robo-arachnid an avid eye but doesn't seem to think it's edible; this is, of course, a Very Good Thing. She's giving her new harness and Holi's arms a workout, though, dragging and pulling so she can get a good whiff of all the scents and nudge a likely-looking rubbish bin or nose under some seats. This was the sort of activity that got her collar broken, but she's really behaving rather well. She could be trying to drag him down to Blackout and Kup so she can get a better look at Scorponok.
//Nothing out of the ordinary up here so far, Kup, sir,// he reports over short range. Then he leans over to distract Tiny with scritches behind her ears while he takes a break from checking the building to just watch the veteran and Evac's cousin. He's careful of how he slips his fingers under Tiny's chin just to be on the safe side, because she's given him a sore, gnawed-on hand once before, but this time she just croons happily, eyes narrowing to slits. He glances at her, then returns to watching the larger bots. "…What do you think of all this?" he wonders of the little mecha-dragon. She makes a chirring sound and blinks at him, and he sighs. "I guess I'm not too sure, either." But orders are orders. "C'mon then," he prompts, giving Tiny a pat and tugging on the leash. "We still haven't finished this level."
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