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Post by Kup on Aug 24, 2008 21:28:04 GMT -5
Day 16, in the wilds of the eastern coast, well away from Zoo City and a good bit south of the Temple.
Among the things the normal Autobots and alternate Decepticons have been told to scout for are good potential ambush points. Kup's out with a group right now doing just that.
The area he's in amounts to hilly jungle. There was a tunnel opening not too far from here, and from that it led to a small town on the water, but now he's using surface roads, and they're fairly ill-kept. It's not just that they're grown over from the year and a half that this planet has been abandoned - it's obvious that vehicles didn't come this way often even when the natives were still here.
He hits a bump and comes down hard on his tires, bouncing a little as he does. Thank Sigma for four wheel drive. Still, some of the others might not be taking things as well.
"You lot okay back there?" Kup asks.
OOC: Groundbound Autobots or Decepticons-3 are welcome to claim to be part of this thread. Heck, flyboys can also join in, claiming to be scouting overhead.
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Airazor
Rookie
"Airazor, you have to let go," Tigatron said with a slight smirk.
Posts: 186
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Post by Airazor on Aug 26, 2008 22:41:00 GMT -5
"Fine up here," Airazor replies even though the question isn't directed as much towards her. She's not straining too much to keep up, but the pace is definitely faster than when she would fly above Tigatron or her other Maximal teammates. The trees on either side of the path are high enough that she can fly easily with only the occasional branch to dodge. Colorful birds scatter from sight as she passes, cawing their warnings to their kin. Airazor doesn't pay (much) attention to them, though.
Instead she's switching her sight between her immediate surroundings and what lays up ahead for them. So far she hasn't seen any unfriendlies approaching, but that could change at any point.
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Post by Kup on Sept 4, 2008 21:37:55 GMT -5
Well. Erm. Obviously Kup is talking to Airazor, specifically. Since no one else is out here with them.
How 'bout that?
"All right. Good... good... now, if I remember our maps right, there should be an area up ahead, a bit rockier, where the river's cut something of a gorge out, lots of trees and partial cover on either side. See what I'm talking about yet?"
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Dead End-3
Cadet
"We who are about to die salute you"
Posts: 63
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Post by Dead End-3 on Sept 4, 2008 22:44:21 GMT -5
No, not quite alone, though it's easy to miss the dark red car in the reddish forest. He sailed over the bumps and ruts with surprising ease (and lack of axle-rattling thumps)--or perhaps not so surprising; he was a Stunticon.
"I suppose I am okay in the sense that fate has not yet caught up with me. To quote the Emperor, 'I still function'," replied Dead End.
He consulted his own radar readings. "Yes, I can see the area. The gorge's angles muddle my radar from a distance, though up close I'll have a better map of the interior. However, if my counterpart has the same capabilities I do, you should know that the vegetation will not conceal metallic objects of our size from my radar."
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Airazor
Rookie
"Airazor, you have to let go," Tigatron said with a slight smirk.
Posts: 186
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Post by Airazor on Sept 6, 2008 22:01:40 GMT -5
Airazor glances down at Dead End when he replies, but then quickly brings her gaze back up again. She's still not used to being around others who also have some form of long-distance sensors.
"I can't see the gorge itself, but I can see the break in the trees," she adds to the report. She should be able to see the opposite wall of the gorge soon, though. "We seem to be three or four cycles1 away from it."
1OOC: How long is this? It can be made up as we go!
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Post by Kup on Sept 7, 2008 0:24:25 GMT -5
"Well, then, we'll go with smaller metallic objects, or use the gorges angles to muddle things, or find some damned padding," Kup answers, tone almost absent as he bounces along their rough path. "Hell, maybe you can muddle each other."
"Or we take him out first, or we find a good reason for him not to be here." Or something that Kup hasn't thought of yet. He's thinking of things that have worked on other radar trackers in the past - a truly new solution would have to get offered by someone else.
As he rumbles forward, he shouts up to Airazor, "Thanks, lass! Should be on it any minute, then. Let me know if you spot any trouble between here and there!"
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Dead End-3
Cadet
"We who are about to die salute you"
Posts: 63
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Post by Dead End-3 on Sept 7, 2008 19:45:52 GMT -5
Dead End contemplated Kup's last suggestion for a moment as they bounced and jounced along. "Hmm, dueling radars trying to jam or spoof each other? In theory, a radar signal could look like a bounce of one's own signal if it's on the same frequency and so on. I wonder if Hook could tweak my radar to do that when he rejoins us...."
"I do have a great deal of trouble spotting the small bird-bot, though. She is practically invisible to my radar, unless I'm looking for small birds," he noted in an almost amused tone.
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Airazor
Rookie
"Airazor, you have to let go," Tigatron said with a slight smirk.
Posts: 186
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Post by Airazor on Sept 10, 2008 10:51:30 GMT -5
Airazor chuckles softly at Dead-End's comment. "Do you know if that holds true for the other Maximals?" Not really appearing on radar would be a nice advantage to have, after all. Airazor's mirth quickly fades as she spots movement in the trees over to the right side. A native hunter, maybe? Or something more worrisome? "There's something moving at 2 o'clock. I haven't been able to ID it yet." OOC: Someone else can decide if that's nothing or something. Just thought I'd throw it in.
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Post by Kup on Sept 10, 2008 17:08:35 GMT -5
Kup bounces forward, but there's a brief movement that almost seems to simulate a shrug. Maybe Kup just hit a bump. "All I know is, you get two craft too close to each other with the same sort of radar, your screen fills up with junk and is pretty much useless until you retune it. 'Course, with the radio freqs not being the same, the radar freqs might not be, either."
To Airazor, he shouts, "It's the size, lass. When you're looking for big things, little things tend to not get noticed, when you're looking for little things, big things tend to drown things out. Something we might be able to take advantage of, sure, but it's not like we're sending you against the other Decepticons and Autobots alone!"
He pulls to a stop when Airazor reports the trouble. He doesn't yet move in that direction, however.
"Dead End, you got anything that way?" he asks.
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Dead End-3
Cadet
"We who are about to die salute you"
Posts: 63
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Post by Dead End-3 on Sept 10, 2008 17:53:23 GMT -5
"Probably aren't--we'll be able to see each other's forces clearly, completely spoiling the ambush and allowing them the advantage. So, assume the worst. Alas, I was not the tactician of the Stunticons; I do not have any good ideas on turning this to our advantage, though that gorge will make returns confusing, depending on the angles," Dead End replied dourly. "Still, if we can at least take them with us, we will rid two universes of a plague."
As he zipped along behind Kup (but avoided screeching tires on the dirt road), the Stunticon replied to Airrazor: "It depends how small they are. The organic tissue and some of the curves scatter the returns a bit, but the big thing is... you are very small, smaller even than Laserbeak. I rarely check birds for danger."
Dead End pulled up to a stop behind Kup. "Not metallic. Looks like one of those wild hexapods that Eye-Fire is constantly bringing home."
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Post by Kup on Sept 14, 2008 16:23:05 GMT -5
OOC: Skipping Airazor due to time out.
"Your sniper keeps pets?" Kup asks, tone mildly confused. He hesitates a moment, then veers off the road in the direction Airazor indicated. "If it's big enough for her to mention, it's big enough to be worth checking out."
"Lad, no plan survives the battlefield, but that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile to scout out locations and try and take best advantage of what we've got. That gorge confuses returns? Good. We can use that. And that's if your alternate's there with them. We might be able to peel them off into smaller chunks before here - should make an effort to do that, really, if we want to have a chance of anything, anyway."
"Now, Gillanan has a trend of building down, so there're a lot of tunnels about. Not like Cybertron, mind, but a fair number for an organic world. They seemed to want to try and keep their surface clean, or whatnot. We might be able to take advantage of that, collapse areas beneath them, force them into smaller groups..."
After a bit, Kup stops and transforms before crouching down. "No hope of approaching silently in vehicle mode," he notes softly.
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Dead End-3
Cadet
"We who are about to die salute you"
Posts: 63
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Post by Dead End-3 on Sept 15, 2008 17:51:29 GMT -5
"Not exactly; the wildlife likes Eye-Fire for some odd reason and keeps following him to our 'lair'. We have to shoo them back out again; some of our group have never been off Cybertron and find close contact with organic creatures... unsettling." Dead End's voice sounded curiously amused. Perhaps 'unsettling' really meant"Eww! I'll get cooties! Get it away!"
He transformed as Kup goes off the road and stopped. The old definitely-not-a-politician advised good practice. Dead End-3 crept up behind Kup, snapping his visor and battlemask into place. Now he looked like the Dead End Kup knew.
"It's stopped moving," he said quietly. "I think it is uncertain about us. We are rather large."
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Post by Kup on Sept 15, 2008 21:32:42 GMT -5
The politician would most likely not be nearly so willing to creep around in the undergrowth, either, had he a choice.
Kup nods at Dead End's statements, then narrows his optics to try to look through the underbrush. "Looks like it might be, too," he murmurs. Then he shakes his head. "Well, if we can spook it, it's probably not a future threat. If not... well, we'll see what the thing is."
And with that, he straightens up and strides directly towards the creature, weapon still not out.
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Dead End-3
Cadet
"We who are about to die salute you"
Posts: 63
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Post by Dead End-3 on Sept 16, 2008 19:53:58 GMT -5
Something rather large and centaur-like burst out of the undergrowth and boomed at Kup. It had four legs ending in heavy claws, red-blue feathers covering its body, two long, grasping arms ending in hooked claws, and a long-muzzled, crested head. It opened a long toothy mouth and cried out, a deep, booming sound, while it spread its arms and shook its claws in challenge. The crest raised, and a ruff of feathers stood out around the neck and upper shoulders, increasing the creature's apparent size.
Dead End regarded it thoughtfully, his head tilting slightly to one side. "I do believe we're making it nervous. Or possibly infringing on its territory--hopefully not as reproductive rivals."
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Post by Kup on Sept 16, 2008 22:05:43 GMT -5
Kup frowned at the creature but stood impassive at its display. He nods back at Dead End. "Problem is, we can't have something like this making this level of fuss when time comes for us to be quiet in this area."
Kup then steps forward in a heavy stomp as he yells, "GO!" He waves the creature off in the universal 'shooing' motion and adds, "Get on out of here, y'ugly! Scram!"
To Dead End, he adds, "Let's see if we can't just scare it off without a fight."
Or maybe he'll just make it angry...
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