Slider
Cadet
Unlicensed Redshirt
Posts: 95
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Post by Slider on May 19, 2011 13:28:52 GMT -5
Slider takes in the list of their opposition quietly. It's actually rather disappointing that there are guerrilla fighters in the trees. He was planning to use the trees to range ahead and get the drop on their enemies. He still might, but taking on soldiers on their own turf didn't seem like a particularly healthy idea. It would probably be better is he got a headstart on the road, in front of the convoy, and then drawing any enemies he'd encounter away from it. Which brought him to his only real question.
"Do you want to set up our own ambush points where I can lead some of the enemy to?"
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Post by Jetfire (Ani) on May 20, 2011 20:22:01 GMT -5
"Ah, Brother is stucking with other duties for this moment!" Jetfire says to Breakaway, then looks at Skyfire. "But I am not knowing what is the status for other Jetfire."
He tries not to look bored as Breakaway starts laying out the scenario. He's sure it's a very nice scenario, but he's not a 'Bot of a long attention span and he doesn't really care much about details beyond who he's supposed to set on fire and when. He perks up however by the end of it, and when Skyblast speaks he adds an enthusiastic, "What he is saying!"
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on May 20, 2011 20:37:04 GMT -5
Skyfire frowns at the map display. "I may have missed something in your briefing, but is there any reason why I can't just load up the convoy here--" One big white finger taps the start point, "and ferry them at high speed to there?" The moving finger now points at the end point.
"Just keep any super-velocity missiles from targeting me, and I'll get there. There's no 'Con that can catch me in the air."
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Post by Breakaway on May 21, 2011 20:52:12 GMT -5
"Skyblast, you're small and maneuverable. I want you flying as low as you can, orbiting the convoy and intercepting ground-based threats before they can get a shot at the transports. I want you flying so low you knock the leaves off the trees. Hopefully the enemy AA can't target that low," Breakaway says with a nod at his smaller reality-mate.
Turning to look at the spotter, he says "My first instinct is to have you ride ahead of the convoy and paint any targets you come across, retreating back to the group if you get in over your head. If you can tell me how you want to ambush the enemy, though, I'm all for it. The more fire we can draw away from our precious cargo, the better.
Oh, and speaking of fire, Jetfire, you're on anti-air duty, shooting down enemy fliers. We can't risk you accidentally starting a forest fire trying to shoot a ground target. Not that I doubt your abilities, but a single stray blast could end up roasting our organic allies."
Breakaway faces the massive shuttleformer, raising an eyeridge. "That . . . is actually a very good question. We know there are multiple enemy Surface-to-Air Missile sites in the area, so you're going to have to define 'super-velocity' for me. We know you're fast, but the Nebulans don't quite trust us to get the job done on our own. They'd rather take the supplies by ground in their own transports. My original plan was to have you and me go wild weasel and deal with any threat we see, on the air or the ground."
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Nimbus Tsura
Major
Secretary to Mr. Breakaway
Sky-Painter Extraordinaire
Posts: 735
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Post by Nimbus Tsura on May 24, 2011 19:27:11 GMT -5
So, Skyblast gets to play ground attack plane? That's fitting, given that he's an arrogant, cocksure little thing... much like the original Autobot ground attack plane, Powerglide. Skyblast nods back to Breakaway and flashes him a thousand watt smile and a cheeky little salute. He'll get it done.
Skyblast looks over to Jetfire with some concern. Now, Skyblast isn't exactly good at paying attention, but Skyblast does know how to work an audience, and he can tell when someone's not paying attention. He hopes the kid - so weird, to think of someone else as 'the kid'! - remembers what matters.
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Slider
Cadet
Unlicensed Redshirt
Posts: 95
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Post by Slider on May 26, 2011 15:35:21 GMT -5
Slider studies the map a little more intently and points out four spots. Two are off to the side of the mostly forested part of the path near the middle and the end of that stretch. The third is near one of the side tunnels that the convoy won't be using. The last is actually on the path at the last switchback and flanked by some canyon walls.
"The first three should lead away from the convoy, but the fourth is in case they get wise to that plan. It might cut things a bit close, but the 'cons might not follow me there if we ambushed them at the other three. At that point they'd have to realize that I'd just try to run them into another trap."
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Post by Jetfire (Ani) on May 27, 2011 20:10:44 GMT -5
Jetfire grins and clenches a fist, burning with courage and anticipation. Though not literally, despite the fact that he can do that. Setting yourself on fire in a confined and flammable space is generally a bad idea.
"I will anti all flying enemies who are daring to threaten this mission!"
The parts that matter are frying the enemy and not frying their allies, right? He'll remember that!
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on Jun 1, 2011 19:48:32 GMT -5
Skyfire looks at Breakaway thoughtfully for a moment; if he had eyebrows, one would be raised. He nods. "I see; political reasons to do it the hard way. As for 'hyper-velocity missles', you know--sprint missiles. The kind used as counter-missile missiles."
"Well, given that we can't ferry the Nebulan convoy for political reasons, you're probably right about my best role here. With my speed, I can be to any trouble spot very quickly, but I get one pass at it before I fly past and have to come around."
Skyfire's only defense is speed; he flies by so fast that he's gone before his enemies have time to react.
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Post by Breakaway on Jun 4, 2011 14:49:11 GMT -5
Of course Skyblast is arrogant and cocky, he is a flyboy! Skyfire is a little too formal and not arrogant enough, but they will make a proper fighter-pilot caricature of him yet. Perhaps they can strap him to a chair a la A Clockwork Orange and force him to watch Top Gun over and over.
Breakaway examines the tactical map, listening to Slider's proposal with the air of one more used to following orders than giving them. "I'm just worried about you running into a Hive machine-gun nest or something. We don't know where the enemy is positioned and we can't spare a lot of guys to help you. It'd just be infantry and some light vehicles. Can you carry passengers in vehicle mode?" he asks. It's a justifiable question. A lot of folks in Breakaway's reality don't have visible passenger compartments in their Cybertronian forms.
"I don't think they have any countermeasures like that deployed around here, but we can't be sure, Skyfire." Breakaway isn't joking about that, he randomized the simulation so even he doesn't know what's waiting for them. "I know they tend to use autotargeting point-defense lasers to prematurely detonate incoming missiles though. Nothing that'd normally scratch our armor, but . . ." He shrugs as he trails off, wings rising above his shoulders and then falling again. Skyfire knows how thin his own armor is. "Anyway, we're both speed demons, so we ought to be able to keep pace with each other."
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Nimbus Tsura
Major
Secretary to Mr. Breakaway
Sky-Painter Extraordinaire
Posts: 735
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Post by Nimbus Tsura on Jun 6, 2011 19:48:29 GMT -5
Skyblast is starting to glaze over. He doesn't have much of a mind for tactics. So he pulls out a sketchpad and tries to draw what Slider and Breakaway are talking about to try to make sense of it for himself.
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Slider
Cadet
Unlicensed Redshirt
Posts: 95
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Post by Slider on Jun 7, 2011 12:35:22 GMT -5
For just a second the thought of someone riding inside of him seems ludicrous to Slider, a hold over from his home reality where such things as passenger compartments were a rarity. But like Breakaway he does remember that there are those here that have them. Skyfire even mentioned shuttling them all not too long ago.
"I don't have one, sorry. But if the manpower isn't available I'll just stick to the road and radio if I get in over my head."
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Post by Jetfire (Ani) on Jun 8, 2011 23:53:01 GMT -5
Jetfire isn't doing much better than Skyblast. He's the following orders sort, not the figuring out what orders to give people sort. He was rebuilt to be a weapon, after all. You point him at what you want to get blown up and he'll blow it up for you! He doesn't need to consider all the finicky details.
However, despite being weaponized, he's still a young bot at spark, and not one with a particularly long attention span. Gradually his attention is drawn to Skyfire and his sketch pad and he attempts to peek at it without looking like he's peeking.
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on Jun 10, 2011 18:53:54 GMT -5
Skyfire nods, a mildly rueful smile spreading across his face. "Yes, well. Will I have a full missile load-out for this exercise?" He double-checks his internal fuel gauges; more than enough for zipping around the atmosphere of one small planet. "Internals all check out, except for additional missiles, I'm ready to go."
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Post by Breakaway on Jun 12, 2011 10:33:53 GMT -5
"It's not a lack of manpower, it's a lack of a way to carry the manpower we have. Setting up ambushes is going to be a lot less effective if you can only move as fast as Nebulan infantry. Tell you what, we'll dispatch a couple light vehicles to go with you, but you pull back the minute get in over your head. At the very least it should split their attention," Breakaway says to Slider.
"Full load-out, full fuel tanks, Skyfire," he responds gleefully, shrugging his shoulders to display the missiles attached to the exernal hardpoints on the bottoms of his wings. "We've got exeternal drop tanks, but I doubt you'll need one."
He claps his hands together. "All right! Autobots, transform and hit the flight line. Or roll out, as the case may be," he adds, winking at Slider. Having concluded the briefing, the kibbly jetformer pushes aside the tent flap and walks outside.
If/when the others follow him, they'll see he wasn't kidding about the Nebulan rebels needing materiel badly. Their 'light vehicles' are mostly civilian hover-trucks with extra armor plating welded on and machine-guns bolted to the roofs. There are even a few ATVs, with a Nebulan in front driving and another strapped to the back carrying a gun. All in all it looks more like the kind of equipment you'd expect to see in a movie about bandits preying on third world refugees than one about freedom fighters.
Optimus Prime sits idling in truck mode next to three Nebulan hovertrucks. They're simple vehicles, just a cab and an open bed with a canvas stretched over the top. Sitting ducks, in other words.
Breakaway strides over to a Nebulan wearing sunglasses and a very weathered military uniform, conspicuously bare of any rank insignia, and exchanges a few words, gesturing toward the command tent (or at Slider, if he's emerged). There's a hurried discussion, a shout, and a little green girl who can't be more than twelve comes running with a map almost as big as she is. The rebel leader consults it, Breakaway pointing very carefully at the map with his comparatively large fingers. The Nebulan nods, and a a truck and three ATVs detach themselves from other duties to form up near the convoy.
Breakaway puts his hands on his hips, nods to himself (it's not a terribly impressive nod, seeing as his head can barely move), then lifts up into the air on his jet engine, hovering over the convoy, waiting for the other Autobots to get into place before he transforms. Turning into a robot beats VTOL fans any day.
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Nimbus Tsura
Major
Secretary to Mr. Breakaway
Sky-Painter Extraordinaire
Posts: 735
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Post by Nimbus Tsura on Jun 13, 2011 21:12:00 GMT -5
Skyblast follows Breakaway out and transforms. He does need a runway if he's taking off from jet mode, as opposed to the 'jump; transform' thing that robots sometimes do, but this appears to be a fairly realistic simulation, so the 'jump; transform' thing will probably not work for him.
Fly low. Stay in the weeds. Kill tanks.
Sounds like breakfast.
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