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Post by Perceptor on Jan 25, 2011 23:34:56 GMT -5
It's actually rather a shame that Perceptor is still mostly blind, and misses Sentinel's heroic charge. He's certainly grateful for it, even if he can't see it, though. Duskwing's wrenching hands are suddenly gone, and Perceptor finds himself half shoved away as Duskwing rolls off to face his new opponent.
As much as Perceptor wants to help Sentinel, he needs one hand just to feel where he's going, and there is way too big a risk of hitting Sentinel rather than Duskwing if he fires blindly again. The rifle isn't going to do him much good... but his lens cloth might. Swapping weapon for cloth, he scrubs at his face, his optics, trying to wipe them clean as he edges away from the sounds of crashing bodies; the best way to help Sentinel right now, the only way he can help right now, is to keep himself from becoming a target or a hostage again. He doesn't quite manage to stifle the grunt of pain as he levers himself up against the wall behind him, his damaged leg functional, but rather angry at the jarring weight he's forcing it to take. The cloth, unfortunately, is having limited success in clearing his vision; the particles are stubbornly adherent, and smear more than wipe away.
Still, any success is better than none, and he can at least see the confusing jumble of forms of the two combatants, if not tell them apart between the streaks of darkness and dust.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Jan 26, 2011 18:24:25 GMT -5
Ruh-roh. Big Blue is charging at Duskwing with a glowing pointy thing. The dark blue and purple Seeker recognizes this as Bad. Duskwing twists to one side, and the lance tears a nasty-looking hole through his left side--while Duskwing does his best to trip and throw Sentinel in passing.
Fortunately, most of that area is just storage space for his arm when he's transformed. It still hurts like hell.
"SLAG!" One hand darts to his side, shoving shredded metal back into place. "Rusted burr in a rotator! Gonna take that spear and shove it backwards through youse cabuerator! And I ain't filthy! Least I wasn't until Red the Mad Hacker there started shooting and gettin' darkons all over me!"
Depending on the success or not of his attempt to dump Sentinel on his aft, Duskwing tries to shift himself so that he's nearer the exit than Sentinel. Two Autobots, one some kind of elite commando, against one him isn't Duskwing's sort of odds. Not for fighting, that is. They are his odds for "bugging the slag out of here".
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Jan 26, 2011 20:06:29 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime could just let the Seeker go, he supposes. Let some other Autobots deal with the problem and slink off. That wouldn't be very responsible, though, not befitting of one who would be a leader of bots, and it doesn't get him Perceptor's undying adoration and division second-in-command commendations!
Sentinel Prime realises that there's just him and Perceptor here, and Perceptor has something dirty on his face that is making him generally useless. Just him and the Seeker. He's faced worse odds before, when he told Optimus and Elita-1 to run, he'd cover them against the spiders, but that was bravery. Sentinel Prime's not even sure he can feel fear anymore as anything more than a tepid vermin biting his ankles or an intellectual construct. His actions, good or bad, are emotionally meaningless. Sentinel Prime will never be brave as he once was. It's a hollow thought, and he roughly shoves it out of mind to focus on fighting.
Sentinel Prime's from a reality wherein Autobots focus on melee combat, and he's not an average specimen. He's taught young Autobots, and he made it into the Elite Guard on his own merits, however dubious they may be. Sentinel Prime's also lately gotten a cyberbee into his bonnet that getting his skidplate handed to him by Kup is a good idea.
So while Duskwing's strong, Sentinel Prime's strong, too, and Sentinel Prime knows more hand-to-hand than Duskwing does. His lance is shunted to subspace, and his shield resumes the more maneuverable round formation while Duskwing grabs at him for a throw. Sentinel Prime pushes into the throw, mulishly resisting being taken off his feet, and tries to slam Duskwing to his knees, hard - break the knees, and this gutter-mouthed reject won't be going anywhere fast, Sentinel Prime thinks.
He growls at Duskwing in his best 'intimidating the perp' tone, "Someone should wash your voicebox out with lye, you degenerate!" More business-like, and not aimed at Duskwing, "Perceptor, you need some sanitary wipes?"
Sentinel Prime always has those.
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Post by Perceptor on Jan 26, 2011 20:24:05 GMT -5
"Stop calling me that!" Well, lookie there, Duskwing. You have actually managed to find one of Perceptor's big red buttons. If he could actually see to aim, he would be expressing his displeasure a little bit more... vehemently. With his concussion rifle.
The crashing of bodies continues, though it's still a mostly blue and orange and purple blur to Perceptor, as Sentinel pipes up with his offer. A sanitary wipe? Perceptor is injured and his sensors are crippled, and Senitnel wants to offer him a sanitary wi-- Wait. Wait, that... actually might be useful, for once. A sanitary wipe actually should do a much better job at cleaning his optical sensors off than his own dry cloth!
"Yes! Yes, please! Here!" he calls, reaching out blindly in Sentinel's direction.
Sentinel Prime, saver of scientists with heavy muscle, calculated violence... and sanitary wipes.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Jan 26, 2011 22:35:36 GMT -5
"You ain't him," Duskwing says to the air while he and Sentinel wrestle. "Psycho bastard didn't whine. Where'd you hide him? He's mine!"
Sentinel Prime is quite strong for an Autobot who isn't Kup or a Prime or... Ruh-roh. He is a Prime. That little tidbit from the Decepticon Enemies file finally trickles through Duskwing's CPU, about the time he finds out that Sentinel is about as throwable as a mountain.
Sentinel does manage to slam Duskwing back, and to his knees, but Seekers are built combat-tough; the joints hold, and Duskwing looks up, red optics narrowing. He sees a target; flexes his arm to point his arm-gun point-blank at Sentinel's chin and fires.
"Yeah? I t'ink yours outta be slagged!" he snarls.
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Jan 26, 2011 23:03:05 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime turns to fling a package of sanitary wipes at Perceptor, trying to land it in Perceptor's lap, since Perceptor is apparently having trouble seeing. A sanitary wipe package has a different shape and heft than his shield, but he's used to throwing things! (Perhaps Sentinel Prime should take up basketball or baseball as a corny Autobot hobby.)
As a result of the turn, Duskwing's shot lands on his other shoulder, mostly on his prow blade. It hurts, but Sentinel Prime's reaction is blunted. He does not cry out. He does sneer, "Perceptor asked you to shut up. Anyway, we don't have any psychos here," that is a lie, "Have you tried looking in the mirror? Or do you break them when you do?"
Sentinel Prime extends the spikes on his shield and tries to bash it into Duskwing while he's down. Now, this is when he needs stasis cuffs. Just cuff the Decepticon, problem solved, and get off to the bridge! Instead, he's starting to wonder if he's going to have to beat another living being to death to ensure that Duskwing won't wander off and hurt some other poor, innocent(?) Autobot. For once, Sentinel Prime wonders if a gun wouldn't be kinder.
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Post by Perceptor on Jan 27, 2011 2:18:06 GMT -5
Oh, Duskwing, you have no idea. The Perceptor that you hate would whine even more, if he thought it would get him what he wanted. This Perceptor, at least, still has some standards left.
And a lap full of sanitary wipes! Yay! (Basketball is totally a worthy hobby for a Prime! Optimus was quite the player!)
Perceptor quickly tosses his cloth back into subspace - a soft cloth for polishing high magnifications lenses doesn't work quite as well against magnetic dust as a moistened sanitary wipe! And the wipe works very well, indeed, once Perceptor manages to fumble one out of the package and scrub at his optics with it. He doesn't care as much about the rest of his face, except for all the area closes to his optics and audio receptors, so he still looks more than half bohemian by the time he's done (and he owes Sentinel at least half a pack of wipes now, after this!), but at least he can see!
What to do, though! He can't simply leave Sentinel to Duskwing; that's not only irresponsible and very unAutobot to leave a comrade behind, he refuses to risk Duskwing somehow managing to overpower Sentinel and hurt him, or worse. But Perceptor needs to get to his laboratory as soon as possible! Optimus is waiting for transport back, and who knows how many others may require his assistance before the battle is finished?!
He's pretty certain that Xaaron would say to simply kill the Decepticon and be done with it, and... he could. His light cannon has the capability, once the lens is clean. It is Perceptor who does not have the capability. Defending himself from an attacking foe is one thing... but to kill...
Perceptor just... doesn't think he could do it. Not without Sentinel being in mortal danger, and, clearly, the Elite Guardsmech knows what he is doing. Short of utter random chance, Sentinel can clearly hold his own against the Seeker, and then some. Perceptor cannot kill Duskwing.
"I could cut his motor functions?" he blurts out as it occurs to him. "If you can restrain him, I can cut his motor functions and incapacitate him."
The question is... would that be acceptable to Sentinel, or would he prefer a more permanent solution?
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Jan 27, 2011 12:03:57 GMT -5
Sentinel's shield slams down onto Duskwing's right shoulder, crunching metal. The spikes drive in deep, and there's a shower of sparks from his shoulder and electricity crawls dramaticly around his arm-gun as the laser's power pack shorts out. The Seeker's face distorts with pain, and his body twists to one side from the force of the blow.
"The slag you are! You ain't gettin' my fuel tanks!" he yells.
He flings his left arm out to catch himself on Sentinel Prime's chassis, and if Duskwing succeeds, he levers himself up and tries to head-butt Sentinel in the bottom of his front grill. Pain, rage and panic drive what little semblence of thought he has from his processors; Duskwing's overriding desire now is to GET THE SLAG OUT OF HERE!
He's just not cooperative with the whole "incapacitate and cut his motor functions" thing.
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Jan 27, 2011 12:54:38 GMT -5
OOC: What I suggested to Perceptor, the other day, was that Perceptor could cut Duskwing's motor functions, and then Sentinel Prime could escort Perceptor off to his laboratory, and they just leave an immobilised Duskwing on the floor, and some other 'con could find Duskwing, touch two wires together in cartoonish fashion, and get Duskwing back on his feet to resume looting and violence. You certainly don't have to do it, but it would at least resolve the question of, 'Why would Perceptor and Sentinel let Duskwing get away?' while still letting Duskwing do stuff later, once Perceptor and Sentinel are out of visual range.- - - Maybe Perceptor can make Sentinel Prime some ScienceWipes, and he can trade them to Mayday in exchange for special favours! Cut the motor functions? That sounds a bit more barbaric than stasis cuff but much less barbaric than beating someone to death! Sentinel Prime shoots Perceptor, who appears to be cultivating the five-o-clock shadow of a noir detective at a rather late juncture in this adventure, a sincerely grateful look for providing Sentinel Prime with an out from his ethical dilemma. The Sharkticons were just beasts, maybe transforming beasts, but Sentinel Prime bigotedly refuses to believe a Sharkticon has the same intrinsic worth and right to life as a Transformer. Killing this Seeker would be different, and now he doesn't have to do it! Then the Seeker headbutts him in the front grill while Sentinel Prime's busy being grateful to Perceptor. Ow. Chicks dig severe denting to the grill, right? And minor internal trauma? Also laser shots to both shoulders? Sentinel Prime shouts, "We're not interested in your syked-up fuel, you neutronium ninny! If you just come quietly, this will be almost entirely painless, I'm pretty sure!" However, since Duskwing isn't doing anything that remotely resembles 'come quietly', he lunges after the Seeker, summoning his lance and trying to pin Duskwing like an Insecticon to a wall or the floor, anything to transfix him in place long enough for Perceptor to cut some lines.
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Post by Perceptor on Jan 27, 2011 16:52:55 GMT -5
Fuel tanks? Who said anything about Duskwing's fuel tanks? Perceptor just wants to snip a wire or two and get on with his job!
It doesn't look like Duskwing is going to give them that opportunity, though.
And Perceptor actually catches that look of gratitude from Sentinel; it surprises him, somehow. Sentinel doesn't want to kill, either? But... Sentinel is a warrior. It's just weak non-combatants like Perceptor himself who are so "squeamish", right? It isn't that he thinks Sentinel is a killer or anything, it's just that such a sentiment is not what Perceptor would expect from such a dyed-in-the-wool soldier as the brash Prime. That he could share something in common with such a capable warrior, actually. That it would... validate Perceptor's sentiments, somehow, to share them with someone from such a different background and function.
He must be misinterpreting that glance.
And he's so flustered by these thoughts that he isn't going to be any help at all for the moment with wrangling Duskwing.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Jan 27, 2011 20:47:49 GMT -5
Duskwing twists and tries to dodge yet again, but he's not quite fast enough--the lance transfixes his wing, but the energon blade doesn't reach the floor, quite. He tears his wing free, cutting a slice from the hole to the nearest edge in his panic to get free. Duskwing knows what happens to Cons that get immobilized in enemy territory, and it isn't pretty. Xaaron's tunnel dwelling guerrillas needed fuel and spare parts, too.
He looks momentarily distracted and suddenly yells, "Yeah? Well I'm SLAGGING BUSY WITH DIS NOT-SO-GREENHORN Blue Prime!"
Then Duskwing tries to bodyslam Sentinel Prime and knock him over. "Frag your factory unit full of dross and set it on fire, you bent-spoked broken-off landing wheel--not YOUSE guys, him!" For good measure he adds a left-handed punch to Sentinel's chin. "AN' I'M NOT A SYKER, YOU EXHAUST-SUCKING GROMMET-HEAD!"
Clear. He's got to get clear.
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Jan 27, 2011 23:04:04 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime's chin is a pretty massive target. He goes down hard, with more dents and internal damage than he had before. From the floor, he yells, "Perceptor!" as if expecting Perceptor to do something, maybe tabulate numbers really hard in Duskwing's general direction.
He whispers, "By Magnus's Hammer, you are the most incoherent Decepticon ever to fail to cohere."
Sentinel Prime half pushes himself up, as if starting a transform-up, and he flings his spiked shield at Duskwing again.
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Post by Perceptor on Jan 29, 2011 16:18:16 GMT -5
ooc: apologies. been a rough couple of days. ------------------------------------
Sentinel's shout breaks Perceptor out of his ruminations quite sharply, and he utters a gasp as he takes in the scene before him. Fortunately, Perceptor is capable of doing just a bit more than thinking hard in Duskwing's general direction; he's managed to find his knocked-away concussion rifle!
As Sentinel flings his shield, Perceptor's rifle swings up, the barrel bucking just a tiny bit as it reports with a blast of concussive force. Only after Perceptor has pulled the trigger, though, does he realize that the room has already taken quite a beating from his rifle when he'd been firing blindly.
It is one of those moments where time itself seems to slow to agonizing speed (and perhaps Perceptor can deduce an experiment to determine if such sensory subjectivity is real, or merely imagined...) and yet, he cannot seem to move quickly enough to avert the impending events. Sentinel's shield sails upward in an almost graceful arc, the spikes clear as it spins through the air--
Right into the path of Perceptor's rifle blast. The blast connects, sending the shield contorting back on a different trajectory as the concussive force ricochets past Duskwing and slams into an already damaged wall, blowing a large hole out.
If he'd missed any better, he'd have hit Sentinel instead of just Sentinel's shield. Maybe if he is quick enough, he can reach that hole before Duskwing, crawl into it, and pull it down around himself so that he will not have to face Sentinel's wrath for being such a fumble-fingered fool? Oi.
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Duskwing
Major
"What the slag happened?"
Posts: 848
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Post by Duskwing on Jan 30, 2011 8:46:14 GMT -5
Oops, Duskwing made that radio report with his outside voice, didn't he? About the time Duh, that was a dumb rookie mistake crossed his brain module, Perceptor blew a hole in the wall. His panic-driven mind grasps one concept immediately:
Escape route!
Duskwing rolls and lunges for the gap in the wall, kicking his jet thrusters on for an extra speed boost. Hot jet exhaust washes through part of the room behind him as he exits stage left. In a hurry.
---- Out-of-thread unless interfered with. Hole confirmed as big enough for a panicked Seeker by Perceptor's player. ;-)
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Post by Sentinel Prime on Jan 30, 2011 9:02:34 GMT -5
Sentinel Prime spends a moment staring agape in horror. Fuzzily, he wonders why he bothered calling for Perceptor to do anything, since Perceptor just made it all worse! Sentinel Prime starts to scuttle after Duskwing, because it can't be worse than a tiresome chase across lonely asteroids, but he pauses and bends on one knee to gingerly pick up his shield, which flickers and sputters in his hands.
Sentinel Prime holds his shield up to the light and sees it's taken the gap-celled web configuration it did while he was on every drug in Oil Slick's book. He twitches, both at the memories the malfunction brings back and at the fact that a shield with a whole bunch of holes in it is not a very useful shield! He can probably still slam it into people or jab them with the pointy pieces, but there are a lot of hits that are going to be hitting him and anyone he's trying to protect instead of being deflected by the shield.
Sentinel Prime turns back around to look at Perceptor and bellows, still twitching with a feeling he can't quite process, "Perceptor! What in the name of diodes have you done? What did you do to that Decepticon to make him hate you so much?"
Duskwing therefore gets away because Sentinel Prime is overly attached to his Skyboom Shield.
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