The NCC Arena -

Fulcrum frowns, tapping the wall idly with a wrench as he inspects his repairs. "Are the scenarios loading correctly?" he calls out, looking away from the access hatch to Comcast at the controls. Damn holo-arenas are always buggy. Still, at least there wasn't another "Evil Lincoln" incident this time.

Fleet steps in and looks around. He had missed the raid because, uhm, he had watch or something, but even a coward like Flee feels the need to shoot at something from time to time, especially in an area where he can recover quickly. It certainly is rather busy today! As soon as the yellow seeker realizes that a scenario is already running he turns on his boot jets and hovers several feet above the ground. "Is this a closed session, or can anyone join in?"

An arena isn't buggy when the holographs are acting up. It's buggy when the drone starts chasing you and shoots you dead! "This will suit." The Seeker says to Fulcrum... and anyone /else/ that might be here. To Fleet, he says, "Sure, come on in." He then asks everyone present.. "Any particular 'rules' you want to put in place? Fight each other? Fight the drone? Perhaps a protect the energon scenario?"

<OOC editor’s note: The seeker, in this case, is Comcast, who neglected to use his name or an identifier like "red Seeker" in his pose, despite the fact that he's in a room full of Seekers.>

Catechism follows the crowd. She only took light damage yesterday, and she's well enough for a training fight now. The Seeker gets a little twitch in her face as the environments cycle by so quickly, but the twitch vanishes when the scenario settles on Cybertron. Catechism looks around and sighs contently... no place like home. She points a hand in Fleet's direction and says, "What he said."

Fulcrum closes the access hatch with a certain degree of satisfaction. "So long as it is fully tested" he replies, looking around at the new arrivals, "..the scenario is irrelevant."

Fleet continues to hover, although he increases his altitude a bit. "I'm not particular." He looks around at the particpants. "Four seekers. A shame... the only way to get a proper three would be to team up three against one, which isn't much of a training scenario."

Comcast shrugs. "Okay.. four of us. Perhaps a free-for-all is appropriate. It'll keep us all on our toes at least." That is a mixed metaphor, as Comcast is going to be spending most of this battle in the air. He engages his anti-gravs and starts floating up.. "Ready when you are," He says, powering up his weapons and assuming a defensive pose.

Outside, Swindle arrives from the NCC Central Hub to the west.

Outside, Swindle has arrived.

Catechism initializes her weapons systems and kicks on her anti-gravs. Why be a sitting mechaduck on the ground when you can attack from the air? Comcast... she doesn't know his capacities, although Fleet mentioned he was good with jamming. Fulcrum has those heat rays and seems rather sturdy. Fleet is pastel. If she goes after Fleet, she can probably do some damage, but Comcast and Fulcrum will take more to take out, so leaving them unscathed may be a bad idea. Decisions, decisions. Well, she knows Fleet better than the other two, and the conehead decides on the devil that she knows. She aims one of her arm guns to put a hole through one of his pretty, pointy wings.

Catechism strikes you with Zap! for 4 points of damage.

Fulcrum knows that the real threat is Comcast, especially with his 0-b1 targetting system in place. Leaping towards the holographic sky, Fulcrum transforms into the familiar green and grey Russian jet, firing off a burst from his heat rays at his big red target.

Fulcrum crouches, then leaps up, his joints screeching as he transforms into a grey and green MiG-29.

MiG-29 <Fulcrum> strikes Comcast with Heat Ray <Low>.

Comcast, from his point of view, decides to give Catechism an idea of what he's like in the battlefield.. when Fulcrum makes his first contribution to the battle. The Seeker turns to Fulcrum, and decides to give chase. Comcast himself transforms, chasing the Blacksmith and tailing him with a volley of lasers.

Comcast's arms move towards his back as his chest and wings shift themselves until he once again resembles an F-15 fighter jet.

Comcast strikes MiG-29 <Fulcrum> with Energy Rifle! (High).

Fleet's pretty, pointy left wing takes a scorching shot up near the point, but it's minor. In response, the yellow seeker spins leftwards and flings out his arm, flying up and away from Catechism as he does so. Normally, his instinct is to go after the slowest and clumsiest first - that's his background in Decepticon dance talking. But Catechism is the one who hit him, and besides, he already knows that Fulcrum can kick his tail fins, so best to let Comcast deal with him. He fires from his shoulder-mounted weapons.

Catechism evades your Shoulder-Mounted Laser attack.

Catechism sends an extra burst of energy to her anti-gravs, pulling her up and away from Fleet's laser beam. She casts a quick glance to the rest of the battlefield. Fulcrum and Comcast seem to have occupied each others' attention, so she returns her focus to Fleet, who is actually trying to shoot at her. Catechism tries to disrupt Fleet's plans with her... disruptor. How surprising.

You evade Catechism's disruptor attack.

MiG-29 <Fulcrum> curses as Comcast gives chase, his lasers biting into the Russian jet's armor. Jinking left and right, Fulcrum suddenly hits his air-brakes and transforms, evil-looking sickle appearing in his outstretched hand as he drops down, aiming to gut Comcast like a dog as he flies overhead.

The MiG-29 twists around and folds in on itself with a grinding sound, transforming into the robotic form of Fulcrum.

Fulcrum strikes Red F-15 Seeker <Comcast> with Burning Sickle <Low>.

Oh shit! Flaming Sickle! Pull up! Pull up!

..Only he doesn't. Comcast soars directly past Fulcrum, catching the blade in his hull and leaving a (thankfully virtual!) gash in his underbelly. As unreal as the damage may be, the pain is very real. "Gheeeeaaah!" he yelps as he himself transforms once more. He keeps an optic on Fulcrum for the next trick he might play, but decides to vary things by going for catechism. He opens up his sonic assault, blasting the Femme Seeker in the sky.

The sounds of gears whirring and a jet engine dying down can be heard, as Comcast shifts his form into his natural state.

Comcast strikes Catechism with Sonic Shriekers!.

Fleet actually dodges forward as Catechism fires, slipping deftly around the disruptor blast as he "dives" in her direction. He should have started the battle with this tactic - he often does, but it doesn't do to ALWAYS use the same first move. He reluctantly transforms in route, unleashing his rockets at Catechism before swerving away again.

You strike Catechism with rocket.

The conehead's optics widen and she firmly clamps her hands to the side of her helmet, trying desperately block that horrible, horrible sound. It doesn't work, and the sound rattles her circuits. Audios still ringing as if a mad drone had been unleashed in a bell-shop, she turns in the air and looks around for the source of that weapon. Comcast? Fits that she's heard about him, anyway. So distracted, Fleet's rocket hits her in the back. She snarls, "Why, you sleekie twerp!" and twists around to glare at Fleet. Reason slowly trickles through her microchips, and she realizes that Comcast's sonic shrieker did a lot more damage to her than Fleet's rocket did. Comcast's the real danger, at the moment. So Catechism spins and blasts at Comcast with her gauss weaponry.

Catechism misses Comcast with her gauss attack.

Fulcrum frowns as his opponent flees like a whiny little Autobot, obviously picking a target that isn't as hardcore as Fulcrum is. Fine. Two can play at that game. Changing targets that is, not crying and running away. Firing his boot-jets with a roar, Fulcrum gains altitude, plotting an intercept course with Fleet. Wait for it.. wait for it... NOW! Fulcrum drops like a stone, aiming to surprise Fleet with a well-timed stomp to the cockpit.

Fulcrum strikes you with STOMP for 10 points of damage.

Ah, so his sonics work.. good good. Comcast decides to mix things up a little by adjusting his shriekers for a far wider radius.. Hopefully large enough to cover everyone currently in the training room. He flies away a bit more from the fray, deftly dodging the gauss assault from Catechism, before unleashing a horrid audio assault on all those around him.

Comcast unleashes his Sonic Shriekers! (Pulse) attack on Fulcrum, Fleet and Catechism, striking Catechism and Fulcrum.

Ouch! Pain, pain, pain in the cockpit! And although he is defiantly surprised, he still manages to keep his wits about him. He transforms again, returning to his better armored robot mode and attempting to throw Fulcrum, who at this point essentially standing on him, off and forward with the sudden change in momentum. Fleet's own sudden movements are enough to let him avoid Comcast's shrieker attack. He stretches out his arms to fire after Fulcrum with his rail gun, but after realizing he's come under attack from yet another direction, he instead spins and shoots off a quick volley in Comcast's direction.

Comcast evades your Rail Gun attack.

Catechism gets hit with another round of sonics and loses a few meters of altitude before she gets herself back under control. As the pain dies down, everything seems so much quieter... oh. Her audios are just damaged. Well, at least she wasn't expecting to hear any sneak attacks; audio is not her primary sense. And Fleet seems to have shifted his attentions from her to Comcast, too. Steadying her flight, despite her aching circuits, she sends a laser beam after the red one, aiming for whatever part of him is the handiest.

Catechism misses Comcast with her laser attack.

Fulcrum grits his teeth as Comcast's sonic weaponry overloads his audial sensors with white noise, Fleet's sudden transformation easily shaking him off as the Blacksmith reels from the attack. But he's not damaged enough to forget to re-activate his anti-gravs, and as Fleet turns to fire at Comcast, he swings his hammer back, aiming to teach the pastel seeker a valuable lesson - don't ignore Fulcrum when he's at such close range.

Fulcrum strikes you with Blacksmith's Hammer for 12 points of damage.

Comcast knows better than to ignore Fulcrum at a close range. Which is why he's far far away when he decides to attack Catechism! Darting through the air to avoid blasts from Fleet and his target, Comcast transforms again to unleash his energy weapon's full charge.

Comcast's arms move towards his back as his chest and wings shift themselves until he once again resembles an F-15 fighter jet.

Red F-15 Seeker <Comcast> misses Catechism with his Wing Mounted Laser! (HIGH) attack.

The hammer connects on Fleet's already tender cockpit, throwing him backwards. If this were a real battle, no doubt the cowardly seeker would have turned both literal and metaphorical tail and run by now, but by reminding himself that the pain will go away soon enough, Flee is able keep enough control to keep from doing so. Still, Fleet's a fast learner, and no dummy, so although he's not pulling out entirely, he has no intent to remain so close to the melee oriented jet. He uses the momentum from Fulcrum's attack to his advantage and continues to move backwards, lowering his altitude as he does so. One gray hand lifts and points in the other's direction while Fleet most decidedly does *not* ignore him this round.

You strike Fulcrum with Shoulder Mounted Lasers (Pulse Mode).

Catechism has disconnected.

Fulcrum raises his arms to sheild his optics, scooting backwards from Fleet in a vain attempt to avoid the pistol fire. "Back!" he states, swinging his now incandescant sickle in a wide arc, as if to drive Fleet away... but he follows through more than he would with a feint, the momentum spinning him around as he HURLS the glowing weapon directly at Comcast.

Fulcrum misses Red F-15 Seeker <Comcast> with his Burning Sickle <High> attack.

Red F-15 Seeker <Comcast> was noticing Fulcrum's little trick, and dodges the sword easily enough, and even manages to transform in time to catch it in the air! "I never showed you how skilled I got with this, did I Fulcrum?" The Red seeker says, shifting the sword from his off-hand to gripping it with both hands. He soars in close to the now unarmed bearded seeker, making a swift slashing motion with his own sickle.

The sounds of gears whirring and a jet engine dying down can be heard, as Comcast shifts his form into his natural state.

Comcast misses Fulcrum with his Flaming Sickle attack.

Well, well, well. What is this? His two opponents are engaged in melee, and both are a good distance away from him - this was turning into the sort of battle he liked. Now, Fulcrum was the one who in a previous encounter beat him into the ground (literally), while Comcast was capable of hitting both Fulcrum and Fleet at once, which made him potentially more dangerous. He fires at Comcast before suddenly changing directions, jinking up and to the left. Of course, if he hits Fulcrum by mistake, no shavings off his nose-like-structure...

You strike Comcast with Shoulder-Mounted Laser.

"No" Fulcrum states, bringing his hammer up in a blur of motion, the dull metal raising a shower of sparks as it meets the glowing blade of the sickle, Comcast's slash deflected harmlessly away. Huh. That's right. Comcast had been using his weapons while he was.. missing. The thought is somehow distasteful, as if someone else had been borrowing your underwear. Flinching slightly as Fleet's fire comes a bit too close for comfort, Fulcrum takes advantage of the distraction, bringing his hammer down towards Comcast's arm, hoping to force him to drop the stolen blade.

Fulcrum strikes Comcast with Blacksmith's Hammer.

Fulcrum should be lucky, if it wasn't for Comcast, he would have lost his weapons. "Hah!" He yelps as the impact from the hammer dents his arm, his grip on the sword releasing automatically from the shock. "Nevermind.." he says in response to the loss of his blade, "I've still got my own weapons." And with that, he quickly retrieves his beautifully-engraved dagger from subspace, hoping to run it into Fulcrum's forearm.

Comcast strikes Fulcrum with Ornate Dagger.

This is going rather well, and Fleet is the sort to get nervous when things are going too well for too long. Who knew? He shares a trait with Fulcrum outside of general Seekiness! Still, he continues circling the melee, changing directions regularly, and getting in an occasional snazzy twist or turn as he does so (although, if asked later, he'd probably deny it, and honestly believe what he was saying). Once more he fires at Comcast, reasoning that Fulcrum was more dangerous close-up... and at the moment, he was not close-up.

Comcast evades your disruptor attack.

Fulcrum's attention is on his weapon, not Comcast, the red seeker's blade biting into Fulcrum's forearm as he dives for the sickle, just catching it before it hits the ground, the Blacksmith himself forced to land clumsily with a loud THUD. Staggering to regain his balance, Fulcrum looks up, raising his arms to fire off twin beams of pure heat at the still-airborne Comcast.

Fulcrum strikes Comcast with Heat Ray <Low>.

Comcast, darting around in the air, still manages to catch the attention of a couple of Fulcrum's heat rays. Comcast ignores Fulcrum (hopefully this tactic serves to annoy and distract him,) while he sends a series of rapid low-power blasts in the direction of Fleet, as if to say: Still haven't forgotten about you.

You evade Comcast's Energy Rifle! (Low) attack.

Fleet would have been happy if the others had forgotten about him, but he was still prepared for the possibility that they hadn't, and is thus quick to react when Comcast comes after him with the energy rifle. He stretches his arms out and falls backwards and down, the shot passing over him by microns. While he knows Fulcrum is dangerous, as far as he knows the green jet can't hit both himself and Comcast at the same time, while Comcast still has the advantage of being able to strike multiple targets. He turns three-quarters of an aerial summersault, ending horizontal in the air and facing Comcast, at which point he kicks on his thrusters and moves towards the other, reaching towards him with his right arm.

You strike Comcast with Energy Rifle (low).

Feeling he needs a bit more time to recalibrate his gyros, Fulcrum stands where he is, arms still raised skywards, beams of heat still arcing out like searchlights, deadly to whatever they touch. And that includes Fleet, who unwittingly strays into his field of fire. Now, Comcast is no doubt the greater threat, but Fulcrum beleives in taking his targets wherever he can find them. And after all, one Seeker is pretty much the same as another.

You evade Fulcrum's Heat Ray <Low> attack.

Comcast is such a threat. Oh yeah, let's all get Comcast. If this guy is such a damn threat, why is he looking so damaged while all of his attacks are missing? He takes his frustrations out on Fleet again, firing off a powerful blast from his sonics. This time a tighter beam to focus exclusively on Flee.

You evade Comcast's Sonic Shriekers! attack.

One seeker *IS* pretty much like another, except in this particular case the pastel yellow seeker has managed to actually duck and weave for long enough to allow his automatic repair systems to get to work. He continues to zig, zag, twist and turn in the air, his natural "I don't like pain" instinct taking over when, for an instant, his fear overrides his processors. It takes only a millisecond for him to realize that he actually made through the whole volley untouched, and a few more for him to turn his torso and reach this time in Fulcrum's direction, attempting to strike out with his ballistics.

Fulcrum evades your Rail Gun attack.

Fulcrum erks, finally shifted from his firing position by a hail of hypervelocity slugs. Activating his anti-gravs just in time to avoid the fatal rain, Fulcrum once more rises into the air, swinging his sickle in an underarm arc as he does so, echoing the motion he used to cut open Comcast earlier.. only this time, his quarry is in robot mode.

Fulcrum misses Comcast with his Burning Sickle <High> attack.

Comcast is getting annoyed.. didn't he just get a new targetting computer? What's up? The Red Seeker soars up again, well above the swipe from Fulcrum's blade, as he decides to try his wide-range sonic pulse out once more. "I hope you kept the receipt on that 0-b1.." He says to Fulcrum, trying to sound ironic and not irritated. And failing.

Comcast unleashes his Sonic Shriekers! (Pulse) attack on Fleet and Fulcrum, striking Fleet and Fulcrum.

Fleet is reminded of why he had been concentrating on Comcast. Oh, yeah! Because he can hit both Fulcrum *and* Fleet at the same time! He clenches his fists and struggles to keep his optics on-line as the shriekers lay into him, this time unable to dart out of the way of the little wavy lines (especially since his back had been to the red one). He kicks his jets on full power and tries to once more increase the distance between himself in the other two, turning as he does with considerable less grace so as to allow himself to fire at the red seeker.

You strike Comcast with Shoulder-Mounted Laser.

Catechism has connected.

Fulcrum bites off a curse as that horrible feedback strikes him again, making a note to install a volume switch in Comcast next time he repairs him. Shying away from the sound, Fulcrum moves to flank Fleet while his attention is drawn by perforating Comcast, bringing his sickle around in an arc designed to terminate inside the yellow Seeker's midsection

You evade Fulcrum's Burning Sickle <Low> attack.

Comcast catches the blast square on his chest.. "aah!" he yelps. "Tap out! Tap out!" He snaps, immediately feeling silly for the cowardly announcement. Regaining his composure as he starts gently lowering himself to the ground, he says "I think I've learned all I can from this session.." before making his way to the exit.

Comcast has disconnected.

Catechism returns from... watch - yes, that's it - to see how the fight is going. Comcast is gone, but Fleet and Fulcrum are still there, perhaps a bit more battered than before. She hangs back near the entrance but calls out cheerily, "Mind if I rejoin? I'll go with my previous level of damage."

Fleet twirls out of the way of Fulcrum's sickle attack, concerned only in avoiding the strike and not caring how silly he might look. How in blazes had he allowed the melee-oriented seeker to get that close? No matter - worry about that later. Towards end twirl he fires up his boot-jets, raising his altitude and rocketing away from the other. As he rises he angles his feet slightly, hoping to catch Fulcrum with the backfire from his afterburners. In response to Catechism, he radios a quick 'negative' code, hoping she catches that to mean, "No, I don't mind." He really does hate vocalizing during a fight.

You strike Fulcrum with Boot-jet backfire.

"Gnh!" Fulcrum grunts, Fleet's ANNOYING jets leaving large scorchmarks in his armor. "Feel free" he grinds to Catechism, already transforming to give chase, firing a burst from his nose-mounted disruptor cannon after the fleeing yellow pest

Fulcrum crouches, then leaps up, his joints screeching as he transforms into a grey and green MiG-29.

You evade MiG-29 <Fulcrum>'s Nose-mounted Disruptor attack.

Catechism is puzzled by Fleet's negative answer for a moment but gets it after a tick of thought. When Fulcrum confirms that she's free to join back in, she grins sickly and rubs her hands together. First off, the Seeker needs to get off the ground; staying down here is just asking to strafed from above. So she jumps into the air, wincing a little from her previous damage, and gains a bit of altitude. Surveying the situation, she notes that Fulcrum has Fleet on the run. If Fulcrum is chasing Fleet, his attention's not going to be on her. Also, she's never fought against Fulcrum before. So with some curiosity, the conehead fires her taser at the green jet.

Catechism strikes MiG-29 <Fulcrum> with taser.

Fleet leans backwards just in time to avoid the MiG's disruptor, an expression of intense concentration on his countenance. He started this fight on the wrong thruster, but now seems to have regained his rhythm. Still, the object of the dance is not to stop moving... He stops gaining in altitude as Fulcrum attempts to give chase, instead rocketing backwards and reaching his arms out, trying to strike at the subsonic jet's underside as he passes.

You strike MiG-29 <Fulcrum> with Energy Rifle (low).

MiG-29 <Fulcrum> rocks from side to side as he's blasted from two directions. "Graaaah!" he grinds, circling around and powering up his heat rays in a desperate attempt to melt Fleet's jets into slag. Ooh, but wait.. another target. And one that may be slightly easier to hit! Adjusting his trajectory, Fulcrum comes in low, beams of heat lancing out towards Catechism.

MiG-29 <Fulcrum> misses Catechism with his Heat Ray <High> attack.

Catechism notes that Fleet is again on the offensive. Then, she ducks, which puts her back near the ground but lets the dreaded heat rays pass above her harmlessly. Given that the pastel Seeker seems to be able to connect with his shots, she jets up again and snipes at Fleet with an arm gun, aiming for his shoulders. Maybe it'll take out one of his guns, although he'll still have the other and his boot jets.

Catechism strikes you with Zap! for 4 points of damage.

Fleet takes the zap in his right shoulder, but, although it stings, it's hardly enough to knock his weapon off-line. So Catechism isn't getting enough attention, hmm? He's tempted to continue concentrate on the MiG while he's still in jet mode, but decides it may be a better idea to strike back at the one who's shown that she can still actually land a hit. He reaches out his left arm, index finger lazily outstretched, and attempts to touch her - with his lasers.

You strike Catechism with Shoulder-Mounted Laser.

MiG-29 <Fulcrum> pulls up and barrel-rolls, cursing as he misses his target.. AGAIN. If this weren't just training, he'd be running away now.. but he fights down the pain and fear (it's only holographic, it's only holographic..) and draws a bead on Fleet. Fall, damn you, fall!

You evade MiG-29 <Fulcrum>'s Heat Ray <Low> attack.

Catechism learns that maybe it isn't wise to attract the attention of the one who seems to be able to hit things, as hit she is, right on the intake. She grimaces and makes a mental note not to transform to jet-mode; that hit will probably mess up her engine's air intake. Keeping that bit of wisdom of not attacking the one who can attack back in mind, she chases after Fulcrum and sends a volley of disruptor-fire after him.

Catechism strikes MiG-29 <Fulcrum> with disruptor.

Fleet falls! But he does so intentionally, and only enough to avoid the MiG's heat ray. He decides to attempt a dangerous gambit, rocketing back up and at the MiG, transforming as he goes to strike out once again with his rockets. He gave a couple to Catechism earlier, and now it was time to share the love.

MiG-29 <Fulcrum> evades your rocket attack.

MiG-29 <Fulcrum> mutters curses to himself, his internal systems beeping a shrill warning. Yes yes, systems failure. Yes yes, he's leaking energon from several large holes in his armor. Yes, he's sparking from exposed wires. To hell with it all. Painfully transforming back into robot mode, he shunts his sickle back into subspace, falling towards Catechism and away from Fleet's rockets, hammer upraised in both hands in a huge overhead swing.

The MiG-29 twists around and folds in on itself with a grinding sound, transforming into the robotic form of Fulcrum.

Fulcrum strikes Catechism with Blacksmith's Hammer.

Catechism see that Fleet has missed Fulcrum. She narrows her optics, wondering if this is a sign of things to come or he just had an off shot. The Seeker is so occupied in worrying about Fleet's combat readiness that she doesn't notice Fulcrum transform and smash that hammer of his down upon her, which rather flattens her once-pointy head. Well, she notices it once the pain sets in, which is swiftly and brutally. At least the once-pointyness of her head buffers the strike a bit and prevents it from harming the more important things that she keeps in her head. Acting on the principle of "get the heck away from what causes the pain", she drops down, hitting the ground. Hopefully that'll dislodge the hammer, at the very least. Still reeling from the pain, Catechism holds up a shaky arm and tries to shoot Fulcrum with her lasers.

Catechism strikes Fulcrum with laser.

The yellow jet is, for once, burning energon at a faster rate than he's taking damage, and as an internal warning beeps, he realizes that it's time to start conserving. That being the case, he abandons his tetrajet mode along with its fuel burning rockets, and although he continues his upward momentum he begins to curve, starting to level off. He tilts slightly as he does so, throwing his arms in Catechism's direction as he tries to take advantage of her focus on Fulcrum to nail her with his pulsed lasers.

Catechism evades your Shoulder-Mounted Lasers (pulsed mode) attack.

Fulcrum just growls, Catchism's laser adding to the scorch marks now covering his frame, a loose sheet of armor clattering to the floor. Lurching forward, he brings his hammer down again, this time aiming to drive the pommel of his weapon into Catechism's already dented, cone-shaped head. It seems like the Blacksmith is now functioning on automatic, more like a particularly angry combat drone than a Decepticon.

Fulcrum strikes Catechism with Pommel Strike.

Catechism manages to get to her feet just in time to side-step Fleet's strike. She puts a hand to the side of her aching, flat head. Huh, Fleet missed her again? And Fulcrum's making with that hurty hammer. Perhaps Catechism had better shift her focus to a safer target... and then Fulcrum hits her over the head with the pommel of that same hurty hammer. Her optics flash smelter-red, and she snarls like a busted gearbox. Getting out a basic, standard issue combat knife, she slashes at one of Fulcrum's wrists, hoping to make him unhand that hammer. Or lose a hand. Whichever.

Catechism strikes Fulcrum with combat knife.

Fleet, for his part, is getting tired of missing the dodgier Catechism, and goes after the weaker target (although the fact that Fulcrum has become the weaker target indicates that something in the laws of reality have gone seriously off-kilter). He circles the two on the ground, taking potshots at them at his leisure... although this scenario is defiantly beginning to feel familiar again. Didn't he just do this, with Comcast essentially standing in where Catechism is now?

You strike Fulcrum with Shoulder-Mounted Lasers (pulsed mode).

Fulcrum graaaahs. "Enough" he finally states, sick of being shot at. "I relent. You two can take each other apart at will." The blacksmith trudges away, the holographic damage fading as he steps from the arena

Fulcrum exits the Holo Arena.

Catechism grins goofily, which would normally make one suspect that she has taken some microchip damage, but this is Catechism. She often smiles at the craziest of times. The once-conehead exclaims, "All right!" Then, she sends a lance of light after Fleet, aiming for his other shoulder. What better way to celebrate than to try to hurt someone else?

Catechism strikes you with Zap! for 5 points of damage.

Ouch! Ouch! Primus, no! Wait... that just stung. In fact, it's only enough to bring redo the same damage she had zapped him with earlier as his self-repair systems work to counter the mock damage. He twirls on his longitudal axis for no real obvious reason than to look pretty (because, you know, being a pastel yellow seeker isn't pretty enough) and then crouches in a way that will allow him to quickly change directions, pointing again at Catechism.

You strike Catechism with Shoulder-Mounted Laser.

Catechism is reminded why she hates being on the ground when she's fighting aerial opponents. It make sit easy for them to shoot her. His laser cracks her cockpit and cooks the avionics inside. She staggers back and her optics go dim. The Seeker tries to get back in the air or just away but just ends up falling to her knees. Again, she brings a hand to her pounding head. Oh, this is not good, not good... She narrows her optics, as Fleet's starting to look blurry, a pale ghost, and sends a blast of gauss after him.

Catechism strikes you with gauss for 8 points of damage.

While he isn't doing nearly so badly as Catechism, Fleet is still in pain, and through pure lock Catechism's attack is able to strike him and make the pain worse. Oh, but he longs for the peace granted by a reset, but still, he's doing much better than the other, who's *almost* a sitting duck, and there are few things that a Decepticon likes better than kicking a downed opponent. "Kick" being metaphorical in this case, since Flee still has no intention of moving into melee range, despite the fact that his flying is noticeably shaky at this point. He reaches down and fires his weapon in disruptor mode.

You strike Catechism with disruptor.

Disruptor energy crackles over the downed conehead, and she shudders. Oh, she just wants out of here, out of this wretched holo arena, and out in the cool blue sky, where it doesn't hurt anymore. It'd be easy enough. Just summon the strength to stumble out, soak whatever potshot Fleet wants to take as she staggers away and... what is this was a real fight? What if the cause was at stake? Traitors suffer more than the dead. Bracing herself for whatever comes next, she vainly tries to track that dancing blur that is Fleet and fires her arm-mounted laser. Even that pains her, and she winces.

Catechism strikes you with laser for 7 points of damage.

Fleet lands clumsily some distance from Catechism. So it has come to this... an awkward shoot-out as both warriors approach the end of their capacity for endurance. Clumsy, graceless... the sort of fight Fleet hates. But he can tell by looking that he's near victory and... just this once, to say he did it, to say he was the last mech standing in a seeker four-way free-for-all. Just this once... he raises his right arm and sights down it, putting the concentration saved by the fact that he is no longer working to stay aloft into this strike.

Catechism evades your Shoulder-Mounted Lasers (pulsed mode) attack.

Catechism still wants out of here. Bad. But she is cheered when her shot connect, against all odds. She's more cheered when she manages to blindly lurch out of the way of Fleet's shot. Catechism stands shakily but doesn't try to get into the air. She doesn't want to fall flat on her face. Wobbling, Catechism fires her disruptor, only to double over in pain immediately afterwards.

Catechism strikes you with disruptor for 5 points of damage.

Fleet's optics go wide with shock as another hit from Catechism connects. How? He had been so close... but then, you'd think by now that, as a Decepticon, he'd be used to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. He trembles, falling to his knees, shivering all over even after the fall. But he... still... functions... and as if to prove the point he lifts his right arm again, his left staying ready to brace himself should he fall again, and fires off his lasers at the ex-conehead.

You strike Catechism with Shoulder-Mounted Laser.

Catechism falls to the ground unconscious.

Training Drone <NCC/Trypticon> hovers over to Catechism and revives it with a quick zap of energy. "You require additional training to defeat this unit at this skill level."

Fleet braces himself for the next attack, cringing in anticipation, and when it doesn't come he reactivates his optics and stares around him in shock. He... won? He won! He was the last mech standing! For once, the random factors favored him. He pulls himself shakily to his feet and stumbles over to Catechism, helping the revived seeker to her feet. "Let's get out of here," he grates out, damage adding a strange electronic buzz to his vocalizer that doesn't normally exist. "You'll feel a lot better as soon as we get out."

Catechism is in no shape to get out of the way and no shape to block that blast. All she can do is take it. And in the end, it's bright white. So she does end up falling flat on that floor. When the training drone wakes her, she nearly blacks out again. Fleet beat her? She's never going to live that down, is she? As her vision goes white again, her rationalization systems kick in. She took a lot of damage because of Comcast and Fulcrum. It wasn't just Fleet. She got beat by all of them. There, that's much better. The whiteness drains away. Still, Catechism growls weakly and thinks about batting away the other Seeker when he tries to help her up. No touchee! As it turns out, she's too drained to do even that and just staggers out after him.

You leave the Holo Arena.

NCC Arena

A huge enclosed oval structure, the Arena is now nothing more than a deathtrap. What were once tiered rows of seats are now seamless walls that slope sharply downwards into a deep gloom. The arena floor, once a flat expanse of dull metal has sunk further into the ground and reconfigured itself, dark shadows hiding the massed array of spikes and treacherous pits that the surface has become. The Imperial box has become a virtual bunker, thick armor plates hiding the opulence inside. Small gleams of light in the shadows hint at hidden weaponry now exposed, and overall, the arena complex is now an extremely dangerous place to linger - especially if you happen to be opposed to the Decepticon Empire.

Contents:

Swindle

Hall of Heroes

Holo Arena

Obvious exits:

North <N> leads to NCC Dungeon.

South <S> leads to NCC Residential Plaza.

West <W> leads to NCC Central Hub.

Catechism emerges from the Holo Arena.

Catechism has arrived.

Swindle's gaze follows Fleet as he emerges vitorious from the Holo Arena. He casts a slow nod in the Seeker's direction before waving a hand out in the arena's direction. "An interesting fight." A slight smirk tics at the corner of his mouth, "But, stop me if I'm wrong, did you appear rather /surprised/ at the end there?"

Without thinking, Fleet takes to the air the moment he leaves the arena, letting go of his support on the restored conehead to leap into the air and begin an enthusiastic twirl, particular about the placement of his limbs resulting a move that any who's familiar Polyhexian high-dance might recognize. Then his logic circuits beat him over the head as he hears Swindle's comment and he freezes mid-turn. Oh, SLOT! He touches down lightly and rubs the back of his neck, trying to contain his embarrassment. "Erm... it's possible," the pastel seeker murmurs weakly. "By that point, I was suffering enough simulated damage myself that I can't really say for certain what happened."

<Public> Masterson, Skydive says, "EQ?"

<Public> Hello Victory Leo says, "WoW"

<Public> Masterson, Skydive says, "Cool."

Catechism groans when she sees the tan-coloured mechanism. Someone saw her lose? And she hasn't seen him before, so that's going to be his first impression of her. Wingnuts. At least he's picked up on Fleet's surprise at victory. Catechism smirks slightly at that. She smirks more when Fleet breaks out into dance. Ah, if only they had some sort of funky light show or musical back-up to go along with that...

Swindle shakes his head as he laughs softly, amused at the Seeker's behaviour. "I take it, then, that this is an unfamiliar situation for you." He half-turns as he takes note of the final combatant leaving the arena. He nods to this newcomer as well. "Commiserations, uh," he says, hesitating. Leaning slightly forwards he studyies the Seeker's features before continuing. "Catechism, yes?"

Fleet shrugs his left shoulder and wing. "Coming out on top in a four-way free-for-all? In all honesty, no. I'm fast, but..." he trails off and shakes his head. If Swindle wants to know anymore, he can find a way to reference the yellow seeker's records. That should make things clear enough.

Catechism nods fractionally. She gestures vaguely and excuses, "As he said, it was a free-for-all with four. At least I stayed to the end." Getting out while the getting's good? What's that?

Swindle shrugs lightly, "I know, I've been watching the fight for some time." He tilts his head and his gaze drifts upwards reflectively. "Taking notes, you might say. Most interesting." He leans backwards, resting against the rail that borders the arena, providing a place for spectators to safely view the fights.

\Bah! Fleet was used to being studied, watched, poked, prodded, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He crosses his arms, letting a touch of annoyance dance through his tone. "Glad you found it entertaining," he mutters.

Bah! Fleet was used to being studied, watched, poked, prodded, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He crosses his arms, letting a touch of annoyance dance through his tone. "Glad you found it entertaining," he mutters.

Catechism glances over at Fleet. Well, Seekers beating each others' chips out is nicely violent, which could qualify as interesting to most Decepticons. She narrows her optics and asks of Swindle, "Yeah, really? What?"

Swindle glances back at Fleet, mildly surprised but also slightly amused at the tone in the voice. He opens his mouth to reply, however he is distracted by Catechism's response. An amused grin forms on his face as he regards the pair. "Tactics, evasions, armaments, weaknesses, styles. I've found you can learn a lot from watching others." He doesn't actually appear to mention watching them fight, but that's surely an accidental omission, of course. He folds his arms, tapping the fingers of one hand against an upper arm and smiles affably at them. Politely, he enquires "Wouldn't you agree?"

Fleet raises his right hand to wave it somewhat dismissively. "That's somewhat like asking if we agree that the sky on this planet is blue during when cloud cover is lacking, isn't it? It's one of those statements that it's hard to argue with."

Catechism asks, in all innocence, "What if it's night?" She glances at both of them, vaguely wondering if she just said the wrong thing.

Swindle raises one arm and waves it vaguely. "Depends on whether you have or not, stating that it is and actually being able to do so are two very different things." His optics flicker and he looks askance at Catechism. "Can that count for the Nighttime error in the metaphor?"

Fleet cocks his head, smiling a little wryly. Catechism caught the unintentional omission in his argument, and he wasn't particularly shocked when Swindle pounced on it, but he was feeling good (despite the whole being studied AGAIN thing), and wasn't quite ready to give up the light verbal sparing match - after all, he had just suffered far worse. "Well, yes, I suppose so. Although I guess if we are going to get that exacting in our phraseology, I'm tempted to ask whether you were referring to myself or Catechism when you said 'I've found *you* can learn a lot from watching others.' After all, if you were speaking of yourself, shouldn't that have been 'I've found that I can learn a lot from watching others'?"

Catechism smiles a little. It's not factional differences, but the topic is interesting enough. She puts a hand to her chin and gestures to Fleet with the other. "Well, you won, but there's an old saying about learning from your mistakes..."

Swindle tilts his head backwards, letting his gaze drift upwards again as he considers. "Not necessarily. When generalising it's not unheard of, nor is it inaccurate, to use it." A faint smirk crosses his face. "Also, if we take your metaphor as a positive response to my question, then we can put a case for the fact that I have indeed found that /you/ can learn from watching others."

Fleet actually... grins. Yes, he grins. "Indeed we can," he answered, glancing at Catechism. "And yes, there is that old saying... notice how hard I worked to stay the pit away from Fulcrum? He's one of those few seekers that specialize in close combat. That's his strong point, and where most seekers are weak. But he's slow... so if you're going to fight him, it's a matter of trying to maintain enough distance that he can't engage in melee. Comcast? Fights more like a traditional seeker, but he's got a ranged attack that can hit more than one opponent at once, so you try and make it a point to not be close enough to his other opponents that he can include you. And against you...?" he adds, studying Catechism, the smile still playing on his expression. "Against you, I just keep dancing," he finishes.

Catechism twitches her wings with mock-annoyance. She's actually pretty nimble in the air when she's not shot all to pieces; it's not like she's clumsy when it comes to that. Cryptically, Catechism comments, "I'd like to see you fight another dancer someday." Less obtusely, she adds, "Yeah, keep-away would have been a good idea with Fulcrum, and I've never seen Comcast in combat before."

Swindle grins broadly. "There we are," he comments. "We've /all/ learned something from this fight, Adding weight to your metaphor and retaining my grammatical accuracy." He doesn't actually mention /what/ he's learned, but then, despite his friendliness, he's not the most open 'Con you'll find.

At Catechism's comment, Fleet's optics lose focus. The more competitive forms of Polyhexian dance could, in fact, prove dangerous to the slow and clumsy, with the possibility for serious damage increasing the more advanced the participants. After all, it's should be fairly obvious that a dance form that requires flight in both modes is Decepticon in origin, even if it has fallen out of favor over the last few millions of years. But he... he was barely above the level of hobbyist, and concern for his own hide kept him out of any but the lowest levels of competitions. Still, he hoped that some day... Lost in his thoughts, he just murmurs, "Uhm... yeah," in response.

Catechism waves a hand vaguely. They all got an education, but she got a schooling. Seeing Fleet zone out a bit, she giggles a little and asks teasingly, "Sure all that damage you took was holographic?"

Swindle glances between the two Seekers as the conversation takes another turn. Shrugging he smiles and turns, heading towards the exit. Raising a hand in farewell he calls over his shoulder. "Well, delightful as this is, I have other things to do. I'll see you again." As he strides out he raises a hand, tapping at his chin as he reflects on what has occurred.

Swindle vanishes out of reality.

Fleet shakes his head as he returns to reality, taking a moment to clear his head. He politely nods after Swindle, although it's questionable whether or not the other had time to spot it before taking off. "No, I'm fine," he sighs softly. "Really, just wish I was good enough to take on a proper dancer..." he says. 'Or brave enough,' he thinks, but doesn't add.

Catechism cocks her head to one side, insofar as her bulky structure allows her to do so, curious. She leans back against the guardrail and laughs lightly, "Good, You're better off without rattled circuits. Why aren't you good enough?" It's a rather blunt question, and she probably deserves to be smacked over it, but she doesn't care. She doesn't have an art of her own, anyway, so observing the arts of others is the best that she can do.

Fleet waves a hand dismissively, shrugging wings and shoulders as he does so. "Not fast enough... not nearly agile enough. Not when compared with the real professionals, such as there are left. And it's getting harder... you'd think, with the way the dance has fallen out of favor, standards would have gone down, but instead... it's more like they've decided that if there's only going to be a few, they'd better be the best. In the old days, I wouldn't have ranked too badly... I suppose I still don't. But the price for not being at the top of the game has gotten far steeper."

Catechism looks down at the floor. Yeah, and when they put Seekers into stasis, it sure as slag wasn't the best of the best that they put away. And even Fleet got to stay awake. Fleet who just beat her. She scuffs at the floor with one foot. Well, she got woke up. She can do her job. That's what counts. The blues never last long for her, despite her colouration. As a thought strikes her, Catechism smiles lopsidedly and says slowly, "You know... I'd bet you'd have a lot more incentive to make with the tricky maneuvers if you had someone shooting at you while you danced."

Fleet eyes Catechism for a moment. "Actually... that's how it generally goes in the more advanced dances. Only the more you screw up and let yourself get hit, the more you get shot at. It's a vicious cycle."

The conehead's optics brighten. This is all quite fascinating. The Decepticons were always the more artistically strong faction, and as a Decepticon lacking in that area, she likes to soak up what information she can. Seeming positively delighted, Catechism exclaims, "That must weed out the weak pretty quickly!" She looks at Fleet curiously. And he does this, even as a hobbyist? That's really rather impressive.

Fleet deflates noticably. He was the weak... and no where near that level. "Yeah," he answers softly. "It does."

Catechism frowns and spreads her arms in questioning. She shakes a finger chidingly and insists, "You're not dead, so you must be doing something right." She'd probably even offer to help him practice but just what use is a clueless bystander?

Fleet quirks a slight smile. "And fitness is proven by survival... besides, while I live, I might yet improve." He raises his head. What do you know, the cheerful nutcase actually managed to up the yellow seeker's spirits a bit. Of course, if she hadn't unintentionally brought up his failures as a dancer they never would have been down to begin with...

Catechism is an air warrior, not a psychologist. It's her job to shoot things, not worry about the psyches of her peers. She nods happily. "That's right, and at least you've got a start." Catechism doesn't clarify what exactly he has a start on. Her internal chronometer reminds her that she has somewhere else to be rather shortly. "I've got to be going. Good luck with your art, Fleet."

Fleet smiles once more wryly. With the way dancing has fallen out of favor, he's not likely to receive such support from any of his other peers, but he appreciated such when he did have it. "Thanks," he answers. He looks back at the arena, wondering if he can program the droid for practice...