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Post by Needlenose on Dec 30, 2007 17:58:14 GMT -5
Needlenose allows his hand to be held, but he stands and seems to take on a more professional air. They are, after all, being watched. His antennae fall back a little at the radio frequencies, and he snaps at those panicking. He even goes so far as to not point out that Starscream that he isn't entirely correct. Not all of them have destroyed Unicron back in their home realities.
Of course, Ratbat's from prior to the split, and his true future may yet turn out to be the one that Rodimus Prime kept hoping back from. Lucky bootleg.
Needlenose squeezes Spinister's hand a bit tighter for a moment, then murmurs, "Come on, Spinister. We've got work to do." Then he looks down at the floor. "And your guns are trying to beat each other up on the floor."
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Post by Spinister on Dec 30, 2007 18:22:38 GMT -5
Singe proclaims, "We're not beating each other up! That'd mean Hairsplitter could do anything about it."
Hairsplitter, with Singe on his back, pinning his arms behind him, also manages to note primly, "We're not pets."
That appears to be enough for Singe to reconcile with Hairsplitter, as he stands and lets Hairsplitter go, although he does glare. Bleeping blink, but Singe wanted to say that!
Needlenose has a point, and by Primus, Spinister shouldn't need this kind of nurse-maiding. He lets go of Needlenose's hand as if it was a live grenade and considers the situation. Sinister agrees with Needlenose that they need to continue the simulation. If they can't cope with seeing a year-old hologram of Unicron arriving, they won't be able to cope with the real deal. His soft voice hoarse, Spinister notes, "You made the right call. We proceed."
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Post by Victoria Raines on Dec 30, 2007 21:16:42 GMT -5
Shockwave enters the room just in time to hear Spinister's last comment. He has been listening to the others panic on radio, of course, and was very not impressed. As for Eye-Fire, the next time the accident-prone sniper come to Shockwave for a checkup, some...adjustments will need to be made.
"I am very glad to hear that Spinister, Needlenose," His tone is perfectly normal, and of those in the room, only Spinister might have an idea that the vision actually affected him at all. "Such blind panic is unbecoming of a Decepticon warrior."
He nods at Ratbat, then moves so that he can easily watch both sets of monitors.
"I assume the clock is still ticking on their hour of prep? You are not extending it because of the disruption," he says, a very strong suggestion phrased in the form of a question, "It would help to test their effectiveness under duress, I would think."
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Blackarachnia (BW)
Rookie
She lay back on the ground and let the soft earth envelope her body.
Miss Predacon Blackarachnia, at your service.
Posts: 226
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Post by Blackarachnia (BW) on Dec 30, 2007 21:58:57 GMT -5
Blackarachnia was making her way over towards the monitoring station anyway, when the howls and yells of Unicron make their way onto her radio. Her stroll turns into a sprint. Entering the room, she inquires, "What? We have Unicron to deal with now?!"
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Ratbat
Cadet
I would have gotten away with it too, if not for those meddling kids!
Posts: 88
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Post by Ratbat on Dec 31, 2007 0:59:34 GMT -5
Ratbat does not make conversations with organics unless he absolutely has to, so he chooses not to respond to the Targetmaster partner's protest over not being a pet. Likewise, he returns Shockwave's nod before returning to his position on the ceiling.
"Depending on how old this transmission is," he says to Blackarachnia, "we may not have to deal with him at all. He may well have already been destroyed."
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Post by Needlenose on Dec 31, 2007 1:25:43 GMT -5
"All indications are that this world has been abandoned for a year or two," Needlenose explains to Ratbat as he returns to his seat, "so it's a good bet that's how old the transmission is."
Once he's seated, he gestures to a currently blank monitor, touches a few controls, and brings up the recording, as it was shown to those inside just a few moments ago. "This thing briefly overrode our holo controls and was shown above the heads of everyone in the simulation. That's where all the panic comes from."
"Clock still ticking, yes, Shockwave. I'm thinking of keeping that recording to randomly play during training in the future, until they stop freaking out over it."
He turns to look back at Spinister's monitors. "So, how far down we going to let Hellbender go before we disqualify their team for bringing the flag too far out of their sector or some such? It's supposed to be in the open in whatever area it's in, and if he's making his own tunnels, it isn't really..."
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Post by Spinister on Dec 31, 2007 10:20:01 GMT -5
Spinister is so very glad that Shockwave wasn't here to see him go to pieces. He does suspect that Ratbat will never let him live it down, but Spinister can break Ratbat over his knee. Shockwave's rather harder to shut up. Also, Shockwave can totally push Spinister around as much as Shockwave wants. Of course, Starscream can also push Spinister around, too. So even if Spinister wasn't planning on keeping the time to an hour, as Needlenose just agreed, Spinister would have swiftly decided to keep it to an hour. Is that an edge he hears to Shockwave's voice? Can't be. But condemningly enough, Spinister does remember conversing with Shockwave on the radio, and... Primus, say it's nothing? Say that Shockwave's not going to get in touch with his emotional side, kill everyone, tear off Rodimus Prime's head, and make a batch of orange construction equipment that calls him 'Daddy'? Slaggit. Leaving Hairsplitter and Singe to watch the game for him, he swivels to address Blackarachnia, "Just in time." He quickly goes over the rules and who is on each team for Blackarachnia. "Head down that hallway there," he gestures, "and walk through the portal-looking thing," very technical term, that, "and you'll find yourself in the game, next to Barricade." Spinister has reasons to need to make Barricade's life annoying. The least of the things that he can do to the police car is make a spider lady suddenly appear next to him. Has Spinister said that he loves Needlenose? Oh, he hasn't, and he probably never will, but things like playing recordings during training to spook everyone? That's priceless. He flicks his helicopter blades happily, a subtle gesture. However, he does need to reply to Needlenose's other point, so he says, after considering, "I can move the damaging heat-threshold up higher. As if a volcano was about to explode due to too much burrowing." Now isn't putting violent tectonic activity into Hellbender's sector much more fun than disqualifying him? Spinister thinks so.
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Post by Victoria Raines on Dec 31, 2007 14:03:16 GMT -5
Shockwave might be able to boss Spinister around as much as he likes, but the Mayhem ultimately answers to Starscream. And Starscream could decide tomorrow that he wants Shockwave dead, and order Spinister and/or Needlenose to grant that desire. As such, Shockwave would prefer to keep on more or less pleasant terms with the Mayhems.
Besides, they recognize him as both a superior and a threat. No need to browbeat them, at least.
Shockwave pays little attention to either Blackarachnia or Ratbat, They are of little concern at the moment. And he is still of the opinion that they might be better off tossing Ratbat into cold storage and leaving him there . This one is too like Shockwave's own.
"I was just about to suggest that very thing Needlenose," he says, in reference to replaying the holo. "You continue to impress."
Shockwave watches Hellbender freak, then nods his head at Spinister's suggestion, "He- as Eye-Fire did- is likely reliving what would have been his last few moments of life. Increasing the heat might snap him out of it."
"If not- and if it would not be against your rules- I might be able to talk him down."
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Blackarachnia (BW)
Rookie
She lay back on the ground and let the soft earth envelope her body.
Miss Predacon Blackarachnia, at your service.
Posts: 226
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Post by Blackarachnia (BW) on Dec 31, 2007 16:24:16 GMT -5
Blackarachnia had only read news files about Unicron on the Darksyde. Watching it happen - an entire planet be obliterated - is something else entirely. Without her realizing it, her mouth dropped open.
After the video ended, she shook herself out of it. "That... that was something all right." She's regained most of her composure, but is still a little rattled.
And after that, she's got to focus on the game. She listens intently to what Spinister has to say. "Okay, works for me." Blackarachnia starts to slink towards the 'portal-looking thing'. Beast Mode." She wraps up around herself as she turns into a widow, and leaves the viewing station.
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Ratbat
Cadet
I would have gotten away with it too, if not for those meddling kids!
Posts: 88
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Post by Ratbat on Dec 31, 2007 22:09:26 GMT -5
Ratbat would be just as happy to be rid of you, Shockwave you one-eyed freak. Even if you're not quite the same one as he knows, everything he's seen suggests you're much more like his than the do-nothing incompetent of Fleetwing's universe.
"An excellent use for it, Needlenose," Ratbat agrees.
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Post by Needlenose on Dec 31, 2007 22:31:36 GMT -5
Needlenose dips his head to acknowledge both Shockwave and Ratbats' compliments. "Thank you, Lords," he answers, then goes back to watching his teams.
Scourge's team has split up completely, while Starscream's left on his own for scouting. This alone will probably give them an advantage over Wreckage and the Seekers. Speaking of those three, while the co-operate fairly well, no clear leader has established themselves yet. "That may yet hurt them," he murmurs out loud to himself, once his expositional thought bubbles have run their course.
Once he's done with this, he looks back at Spinister's monitors again. "Hellbender's backing up. Pity. Seeing their sector flooded with lava could have been interesting!"
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Post by Spinister on Jan 1, 2008 10:39:15 GMT -5
Spinister would really rather not let Shockwave try to calm hellbender down. For now, that job belongs to Hook and Thrust. Spinister doesn't have access to the radio conversations. He doesn't know what calmed Hellbernder, but something did. He lets the great worm's retreat speak for itself.
Blackarachnia's reaction to the video of Unicron is interesting. Yes, an enemy could easily pick her off while she's gasping, but compared to many others, Spinister included, it's a pretty mild reaction. She definitely took this better than a lot of people did. Generally, the people who experienced it directly seem to be the worst hit, followed by those with strong myths about the Chaos Bringer. Still, if that's her usual reaction to world-shaking terror, she's a pretty tough little lady.
Right, someone asked him who was favoured to win? Spinister answers that, finally, "Hook's team has the advantage of massive power backed up by keen intelligence and engineering prowess. However, the other two teams may be planning to gang up on them. If they successfully do, it could be anyone's game."
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Post by Victoria Raines on Jan 1, 2008 12:48:37 GMT -5
"Ah, so he is," Shockwave says when Needlenose comments on Hellbender, "It really is a pity we cannot monitor their radio communications. We would better know what alliances- if any- are being formed."
He motions toward one of Spinister's monitors, "Cannonball is taking lead there, and fairly well, though he seems to be forgetting something. Placing the flag up high is all well and good- except that both Hook and Fleetwind can fly. Hook they might stop, but Fleetwind," Shockwave shakes his head, "Fleetwind is very agile, and I think, more skilled than he lets on."
Shifting again, he studies Needlenose's groups. "It will be interesting to see Starscream pull those two together into a cohesive unit. Though he might not want to rely too heavily on Dead End's loyalty, with Scourge on the other team. The Stunticon is missing his gestalt-mates, and Scourge would make a good replacement for Motormaster. That situation bears watching, and not just in the game."
"Those three," he points at the monitor showing Thundercracker, Skystrike and Wreckage, "Thundercracker lacks focus without Skywarp to keep him committed to the task, Skystrike dislikes being the focus of attention, and Wreckage is more used to following orders than giving them. Though I think he may be capable, if he would but step up."
"This should prove most entertaining, all and all."
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Ratbat
Cadet
I would have gotten away with it too, if not for those meddling kids!
Posts: 88
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Post by Ratbat on Jan 1, 2008 15:01:32 GMT -5
Logical as always, Shockwave, Ratbat thinks. Not that he hadn't had similar thoughts, though he saw a bit more out of touch with the troops than Shockwave seemed to be. Never the less, he was quite good at calculating odds and risks and for the moment, he was favoring Starscream as the victor.
Not having anything significant to add the to the conversation, he's content to hang back and observe.
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Post by Needlenose on Jan 1, 2008 16:58:10 GMT -5
Needlenose nods. "Part of why I wanted them on different teams," he says, gesturing towards Dead End and Scourge. "Watching how this plays out may give some hints on where some people's loyalties really lie, although if nothing shows through, that doesn't confirm or deny anything. Some might have the mindset of 'it's just a game.'" And really, it is, but Decepticons tend to instinctively play to win.
"Hmmm," the jet murmurs, watching the monitor. "Sell Sword's looking to get his team disqualified, it sounds like."
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