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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 4, 2011 8:33:15 GMT -5
OOC: Skipping Skyfire due to time out.- - - Sentinel Prime tucks the ticket behind his antennae like a press-pass and rubber bands it there. If someone tries to take it, he will notice, and then he will have an excuse for a fight. If he has an excuse for a fight, he can look awesome beating up some figment of the sim room. 'Rough' seems to be the word of the day, judging by how even Emirate Xaaron is toting around one of the 'locals'. Sentinel Prime actually cheers when Fastline arrives, perhaps cementing himself into the ranks of toadies. And he's blue, too, what a guy! Oh, it's just a sim room figment, but here's the thing - Swerve isn't. Swerve is real. Sentinel Prime wants a favour from Swerve, and he just doesn't think that asking politely will work. Goading Swerve and implying he's not good enough? That might. Might get Swerve to take a swipe at Sentinel Prime and flog him with his own crankshaft. That's a chance he'll take.
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Post by Swerve on May 5, 2011 16:31:39 GMT -5
As if to answer Xaaron's musings, several Mini-Cons scale larger spectators and sit on backs or shoulders if they aren't immediately knocked off. Others take perches on the rails and caging over the track itself, where there are apparently several particularly choice spots that inspire squabbles over who claims them. Xaaron's companion, still glaring at him with all the loathing she can muster, nevertheless cranes her neck as he finds them a decent spot.
The cycle yells an incoherent cry of shock and anger as he's abruptly grabbed, Swerve – standing between the two – having ducked out of Wildrider's reach when the larger racer lunged.
"And looks like the action's already heating up!" jeers the announcer, a pale grey and navy blue truck-build, from his dais down near the midway point of the crooked track. "Whiteline's getting a free check of his shock springs courtesy of Wildrider – and let's hope Fastlane's impact buffers are up to specs!" Swerve, meanwhile, seeing an opportunity he can't pass up even against a holographic Wildrider, tries to tackle the taller bot from behind and knock him down once Whiteline goes flying.
"I'm gonna have plenty of fun rippin' you to scrap!" he snarls.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on May 6, 2011 17:52:48 GMT -5
Whiteline goes crashing into Fastlane, although the later is able to roll with the blow, lessening impact. "Ooof!" he grunts as he hits the ground before he kicks the motorcycle off him and back towards Wildrider (and, incidentally, Swerve). "Save it for the race, pace car!" he shouts as he stands back up.
Rodimus, meanwhile, finds a Mini-Con perched on his shoulders! He looks up at it warily but doesn't seem inclined to knock him off. Instead, he observes wryly, "I should charge you for the seat!" He looks over as Emirate Xaaron approaches and grins. "I see you found one, too!"
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Post by Breakaway on May 6, 2011 21:10:58 GMT -5
Breakaway wades through the crowd, trying to get a good view. He's taller than most of the carbots here, so it's not that hard. He frowns behind his mask as the fight breaks out on the race track. What are they fighting over? Why? The race hasn't even started yet! If they're just going to fight, they need an arena, not a track.
"I'm starting to see why Swerve didn't want to race us back on Pz-Zazz, if this is how he prefers to race," he says, looking at Skid-Z.
Skippable
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on May 7, 2011 8:52:51 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron says congenially to Rodimus Prime, "You really should charge for a seat. I'm trying to convince him," he looks over at his Mini-Con, "that he'll be taking me to dinner later, but he isn't having it."
Wait, isn't it a female Mini-Con? Emirate Xaaron probably can't tell. (Alternatively, he's trying to upset her. 'What? You're female? I clearly need to get to know you better to be sure.')
Wildrider is tackled from behind by another one of those blasted shorties. Why do they even let economy sized trash like that race? Ought to be scrapped for parts. He's knocked into one of the cage walls and claws at the mesh with his fingers to stay upright. Wildrider lashes out with a mule kick, perhaps booting Swerve right into Whiteline's flight path. He cackles, "They should have built you with no mirrors, because you're so slow, no one will ever be behind you!"
Who does he mean? Fastlane? Swerve? Whiteline? Someone else entirely? It's hard to say!
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on May 7, 2011 9:30:38 GMT -5
Skyfire looks down at Rodimus Prime and Emirate Xaaron and smirks. "So perchers are fashionable here? Perhaps I should acquire a few."
"Do they take sidebets on pre-race mayhem?" He asks, observing the fracas in the cage.
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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 7, 2011 11:02:50 GMT -5
A frown tugs at Sentinel Prime's face over the mayhem. He doesn't like it. It's not orderly. There's an idiot part of him that wants to wade in there, knock some heads together, and then call for some Autotroopers to throw everyone in the drunk tank. He doesn't care that they're not overcharged. They're acting nuts.
But if this is how Swerve races, as Breakaway has pointed out... yeah, it'd be great combat driving training.
Sentinel Prime muses to Skyfire, "Oh, probably, I bet you can even make bets on what other people are betting." Meta-bets, not to be confused with Meda-Bots.
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Skid-Z
Minor
'Not obsessed; possessed! There is a difference, you know.'
Posts: 411
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Post by Skid-Z on May 7, 2011 17:17:10 GMT -5
Observing the fight with a slight grin of amusement, Skid-Z states that yes, he is enjoying himself, and keeping a check on not doing anything funny.
Breakaway baaaaaaaaaarely makes it over the sound of the radio, due to being so close by, and Skid-Z filters back. He gives the jet a calculating look, answering after a bit, "It's illicit racing, he never really made a big secret of him doing it." He shrugs, covertly checking if the others aren't listening in too much, then adds, "He also assumes that the 'Bots who look nice and innocent to actually be nice and innocent... you and I can both run circles 'round that guy and you know it."
He gives a humorous edge to this, because in no way in the world does he mean spite towards the red cannonball. Skid-Z is just of the opinion that Swerve thinks too nice of them. Even if he means this simulation as a blatant show of 'look how tough and rough I am, this is how I roll'. It's trying to make them understand, so they won't race him again, and that is.... nice.
But Skid-Z just loves to participate in watch 'illegal' races. This is a free ticket to watch one.
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Post by Swerve on May 8, 2011 21:32:42 GMT -5
Skyfire will have as many hangers-on as he allows, fret not on that account; he's the tallest person around and therefore has the best view. Meanwhile, Xaaron's unwilling companion curses long, loud, and capably at him.
"We aren't going to dinner anywhere," she howls, "and I'm not a boy!" Fed up with all this nonsense for which the good view doesn't at all make up, she pulls up both feet; on the backs of her legs are the missile pods she'd be carrying like a proper little truck in her alternate mode. They're only mini-missiles, but she fires anyway.
"Your friend gonna be okay?" asks Rodimus's little shoulder buddy, the racer build who was happily swiping at the missile truck earlier.
The chaos on the track only worsens when the start klaxon sounds. No sense waiting on brawlers; it's up to them to get away and get on their wheels, and there's a mad scramble as racers hurry to do just that. Whiteline isn't getting up from where he ended his tumble and Gunrunner ploughs over him in the starting rush. Swerve, in the middle of trying to rip off Wildrider's fender and jam it into his wheel well – with any luck, fouling up the whole works – takes that mule kick full in the chest and loses one of his lamps for it, yellow glass scattering as he staggers backwards and rolls awkwardly with his landing.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on May 9, 2011 21:57:51 GMT -5
Rodimus's optics widen and he starts to step towards Xaaron as the mini-truck fires mini-missiles at him, but the Emirate himself waves aside the young Prime's concerns. Rodimus shrugs and glances up at his shoulder buddy. "Looks like it. I guess his head is pretty thick, though."
Fastlane had managed to disentangle himself back when he kicked Whiteline away, so, even though he's not at the starting line when the klaxon sounds, a quick transformation is all it takes for him to be off. He snorts at Wildrider's taunts and shouts back, "Why would I want a rear-view mirror if it means seeing your ugly mug?"
OOC: Emirate Xaaron posing with permission.
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on May 11, 2011 11:33:03 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron actually claps in delight, grinning widely, when the mini-truck that is on his shoulder (?) fires at him. How adorable! Emirate Xaaron just loves overly violently military machines. They're like nuclear reactors: handle them correctly, and they're perfectly safe. Handle them wrong, and they'll explode in one's face. So the root of his fascination should be clear.
Bringing up his arm to clap blocks the missiles from hitting him in the head, and they do a number on his lower arm, but he still has use of the hand, much as he did after Flame melted his arm, and he calls that quite good enough. Emirate Xaaron's not going to show fear, not in this crowd, and anyway, he isn't afraid.
He does, however, draw that swordcane he picked up on Pz-Zazz, unsheathes it, and tries to tap the flat of the blade against the Mini-Con gently. This is the crowd where weaponry ought to be returned in kind with more weaponry, he feels. Emirate Xaaron doesn't yet know proper usage of such a blade, but what he does have is dazzling confidence. He poses like he was built with a hilt in his hand, and he doesn't think the Mini-Con has much reason to know a fencer from a fence.
Still smiling, Emirate Xaaron replies indifferently, "What? You're female? I clearly need to get to know you better to be sure. Just don't fire on me again, or I'll be looking to take you to a chop shop rather than a dive bar, my dear." He's teasing, right?
Right?
Wildrider's fender comes away, but the attempt to jam it in the wheelwell founders. With a loud, "Yee-haw!" he transforms, and he heckles Fastlane some more, "Oh, you won't see me coming, crankshaft-sucker - because you'll be under me."
He's already off before he finished that 'haw', further scuffling with Serve and flinging around of Whiteline delayed for now.
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Skyfire
Major
I'm a scientist, not a....
Posts: 891
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Post by Skyfire on May 11, 2011 18:58:43 GMT -5
Skyfire points at the ten best-looking minicons--you, you.... and you--and indicates his cockpit ledge and wing rims with a gesture. (No rusty, oil-dripping wrecks allowed!)
"No grabbing the antenna or pitots, no fights up here, I pitch offenders into the track, other than that, enjoy the show," he says gruffly.
After watching the on-track shenanigans, Skyfire smirks and says, "Just like the Wildrider I know."
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Post by Sentinel Prime on May 11, 2011 22:24:35 GMT -5
The leadership here is crazy, but Sentinel Prime knew that. He wonders how much of Skyfire's tough guy act is just that - an act. Would he really throw another living being on that track? Even a simulated one? How much does this being 'just' a simulation change Skyfire's behaviour?
Sentinel Prime pushes back a bit, because he hears smack being talked, and Sentinel Prime is about the gossip. He asks slyly, "Breakaway could drive circles around Swerve? I'd like to see what mode Breakaway'd have to take for that."
A flier, shed his wings and come down to the lowly ground? Perish the thought.
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Skid-Z
Minor
'Not obsessed; possessed! There is a difference, you know.'
Posts: 411
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Post by Skid-Z on May 16, 2011 7:41:52 GMT -5
Skid-Z gives Sentinel a gentle smile, "I said 'run' not drive. Breakaway can definitely fly circles round him" He would add 'as in move' but Sentinel is smart enough that Skid-Z doesn't have to.
"But we might have trouble doing this." With this, he makes a head nod towards what's happening on the racing course. "Don't really like physical contact myself, even during battle. This is quite obviously more Swerve's field of play than that of any one of us. It's respectable."
'Yet you'd still race them!' comes the snidy little thought of fear and nightmare from within. 'No, I won't.' Skid-Z answers firmly. But he wavers, and corrects, 'not today I don't.'
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Post by Swerve on May 17, 2011 18:36:49 GMT -5
Good luck throwing any Mini-Cons onto the track, given that the cage over the track is finely-spaced enough that the little bots sit on it for a bird's-eye view (not that most of them know what birds necessarily are) of the action. Swerve specifically programmed the cage to prevent any spectators from jumping in; breaking it will stop the simulation. Back home, the racers would just drag along whatever idiot jumped in. At trackside, Xaaron's companion calls him one such idiot, among less savoury and ratings-friendly things.
"Whiteline's down for the count!" the announcer cries. "Maybe Gunrunner left him with at least one working limb! Fastlane takes the lead and – and Wildrider's close behind! Swerve off to a bad start…."
Swerve bellows profanity in his thick Velocitronian dialect and surges after the pack, tires screaming on the roadway and momentum sending him forward before he's fully transformed. His top speed was never in the upper reaches; it's his acceleration that makes him a pain in the sluggish Gunrunner's rear bumper as the larger racer, heavy off-road mode lacking the oomph even Dirt Boss has sometimes, falls behind Wildrider.
"Suckin' exhaust fumes like always, oilstain!" he snickers, using his bulk to try jamming Swerve behind him as they head into the first narrow, crooked serpentine. Swerve curses, gunning his engine and nearly ramming Gunrunner.
"Suck on this!" The air around him crackles red and he roars, "Cyber Key Power!" Where his rear deck was, a double-barrelled cannon ratchets up and into firing position. He doesn't wait for Gunrunner to yelp before he fires – and keeps firing while Gunrunner screams and tries to pull away. There are other stragglers coming up behind them and Swerve has to get some clearance before one of them just sandwiches him against Gunrunner's back end.
"Say," the announcer goes on with a chuckle, "who lit the fire in Swerve's fuel tank?"
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