IC Time on Earth: Mon Sep 02 18:17:12 2024

Holo Arena

Inside the Holo Arena are black, rubber-coated walls to protect the steel and also to reduce the noise, as these sparring matches can get very violent. A central control room is suspended from the ceiling, heavily reinforced to protect the advanced computer that controls the holo-imaging and stores thousands of simulation scenariors. If a desired scenario isn't already available, then the computer allows for additional programming.

Contents:

Geist

Training Drone <NCC/Trypticon>

Geist is standing at the far edge of the arena leaning against the wall. His forearm blades are extended and he is busily sharpening them. His cloak is at 3/4 power making him much harder than normal to see. He notices the seeker enter, but doesn’t acknowledge him.

Fleet enters the Arena and looks around him quickly, a wild animal trying to check every spot at once. When he spots Geist he pulls himself all the way in and eyes him a bit nervously, taking another step or two inside. "I'm here," he says. Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Geist continues to sharpen his blades even though they are more than sharp enough to split armor on a single pass. Pushing off the wall, the sweep approaches Fleet and slowly begins powering his cloak down giving him the appearance of walking out of a fog. His gravely voice echoes across the vast emptiness of the arena, "Comcast speaks highly of you. I want to observe your performance firsthand. Are you prepared?"

"I've been cleared for the arena, although it'll be another two days before I'm authorized for the battlefield," answers the Seeker. Said casually, no indication that he might be referencing anything in specific. He brings his right hand up and rubs the intake attached to his helm-structure. "Comcast knows, and I told you myself last night, I'm... not too sturdy. I'm... dodgy, as Catechism puts it. That's my strong suit." In other words, if Geist is expecting that much of a challenge, he's likely to be disappointed.

Geist's optics lock onto the seeker with lifting his head. He stops sharpening his forearm blades and retracts them back into their housings. Lowering his arms, the sweep does lift his head and look at the seeker scornfully. In a matter of fact tone, the sweeps says, "Then we will have to work on that, won’t we?" He walks over to the control panel and begins punching in a sequence of codes. If you have anything to say, now it the time cuz its pretty obvious that Geist has something in mind and its about to happen.

Being subtle didn't work, so Fleet is forced to take the blunt route. He jumps into the air, a dancer's leap lacking completion, and hovers above the ground. "Geist... the safety protocols... they're still in place, right?"

Geist stops punching in commands and looks over his shoulder. Only his optics can be seen past his wings giving him a very unnerving apperance. His voice is cold and emotionless when he answers, "Does it bother you that they may not be?" Truly this sweep is aptly named as he presses one last button and begins to fade from view as his cloak begins to power up. The surroundings begin to shimmer and change to a jungle setting with an impossibly tall canopy (think Endor forest). Apparently this setting was chosen as it definitely limits flight.

"Yes," answers the yellow seeker plainly, frowning as he takes in the setting. Wonderful. But then, much of aerial combat on Cybertron involves darting among the towers and bridges. He says no more, not bothering to elaborate, making no attempt at bravado at all, and instead just takes off, flying in a seemingly random direction, changing without warning, twisting and spinning as he dodges the trees. He's not trying to hide exactly - a yellow and white robot does not blend into foliage very well - he's merely trying to avoid presenting a stationary target.

Geist is completely invisible at this point. You really dont know where he is... that is until the receptors stand up on the back of your neck. Geist materializes directly behind and on top of you and hes moving fast. His arms and legs are stretched out as he prepares to grab the yellow seeker from behind and restrain him.

Geist succeeds in grasping Fleet, throwing him off-balance.

Fleet is taken off-guard and grasped immediately. Foul! Foul! You don't hold your partner in this dance! The Seeker, for his part, is surprisingly squirmy as he struggles to break free of the other's grasp, twisting his body in a manner that's in fact practiced before actually transforming in an attempt to break grasp. A seeker with a pyramid jet alt changes shape considerably in the process, after all.

Fleet transforms from robot to pyramid jet.

Geist cackles maniacally as the seeker starts squirming and transforms. Letting go, the sweep activates his cloak again and vanishes. His mocking laughter echos through the trees much like the dead mocking the living. The sweep transforms and rockets ahead of the seeker and transforms back to robot mode. Just as the seeker gets near enough, the sweep decloaks with rifle in hand aimed right at Fleets cockpit. The sweep doesnt fire, instead counting the miliseconds before Fleet reacts.

The tetrajet isn't counting milliseconds, he's just reacting, no laughing, no snappy comments, no combat banter at all, just the roar as his rockets and the usual sound as he transforms back into robot mode. An acrobatic mid-air tumble, and the dancer is now upright, rocketing upwards and away from the Sweep.

Smirking, the sweep shunts his rifle into subspace and rockets upwards after the seeker. Staying right on Fleets heels, the sweep fires off a few bursts of statif energy to motivate the yellow seeker into faster and harder reactions.

Oh, yes, like the seeker /needs/ more motivation! But strange... it almost seems as though the Sweep has some idea of the rules of Aerial Dance. Coincidence, perhaps? Without warning Fleet sweeps his legs up and 'jinks' suddenly back a few feet before twisting backwards into a dive, barely missing the other as falls past him, his jets now aiding gravity to push his downward momentum.

Geist simply transforms as his alt mode faces the opposite direction he is flying. As his ion engines rocket him back towards the seeker, the sweepcraft allows his targeting systems to get a solid lock on Fleet. Holding that lock, the sweep observes the seeker yet again without firing.

Never one to continue in the same direction for long (because, you know, it makes you easier to hit), the Seeker brings his arm in as he cuts his jets, pulling an acrobatic multi-axial twirl to throw himself quickly in another direction, now almost parallel to the ground but pointing slightly upwards as he turns his boots back on again, once more ducking around trees as he tries to put some cover between himself and the Sweep.

Geist transforms and cuts all flight power. Landing hard, the sweep absorbs the impact by dropping to a kneeling position and leaving a nice little crater in the dirt. Bringing his rifle back from subspace, the sweep lines up a shot and lets a laser beam rip. The laser zips through the forest at light speed as lasers tend to do. Closing on Fleet, the beam ... misses? Actually, no. The beam slips by the yellow seeker and practically detonates the moisture in a tree just a few feet in front of the seeker causing it to fall directly into his flight path. The sweep then launches himself in a slightly different direction and cloaks again as he shunts his rifle.

Well, Geist is invisible again, which means that Fleet is once more clueless as to where the Sweep may be. But he's got more immediate worries, anyway. Hello! Tree! Fleet tilts his feet just slightly and adjusts the operations of his anti-gravs, altering his direction by just a smidge, just enough to clear it instead of rushing right through it, passing close enough overhead to light some of the leaves on-fire with his boot-jets.

This time, the sweep decloaks as he blasts throught he canopy of the falling tree. With his wings tucked back for maximum aerodynamics, the sweep is rocketing upwards at an alarming rate. With a primal roar that could freeze an energon pump, the sweep reaches for the seekers legs in an attempt to throw Fleet into a nearby tree.

Geist succeeds in grasping Fleet, throwing him off-balance.

Fleet's legs are grabbed and he is indeed thrown, hard, into a nearby tree. Fear is evident in his expression, but he is used to working through his fear, and recovery is quick as the seeker pulls his legs up and uses the tree as a springboard, leaping, strangely, straight for the Sweep in an attempt to catch the other by surprise, if only by a little. He rushes right by Geist, reaching out and attempting to grasp the edge of a wing, trying only to unbalance the larger robot as he passes.

Fleet succeeds in grasping Geist, throwing him off-balance.

Geist grins exposing a set of razor sharp fangs as he sees the seeker flying /at/ him. Reposition himself ever so slightly, the sweep uses the targeted wing to "catch" Fleet like one would use a baseball glove. Spinning quickly, the sweep grabs the seeker with both arms, pinning the seekers arms to his sides, and wraps the other wing around him making a seeker cocoon. The sweeps optics flare a brilliant crimson as he opens his mouth showing off those razor sharp fangs up close and personal.

Well. That was unexpected. A expression of horror takes over Fleet's facial features and his optics go as wide as they will go as he realizes he is not near strong enough to break free, then he decides that it's time to do something unexpected himself. He once more transforms, size and shape changing, joints folding, parts moving in and out of subspace as necessary, leaving him, in the end, with a notable lack of both face and jugular and making him a bit harder to hold.

Geist actually expected that as its the same reaction the seeker had last time he was grabbed. So, the sweep simply lets go and lands lightly and watches Fleet speed away. As easily as it started, the sweeps puts an end to the trial. With a simple, "End program" the TR returns to its plain boring appearance. Of course, that leaves a freaked out seeker speeding towards the ceiling in jet mode.

Hey, it was transform or leave himself nestled in the not-so-warm embrace of Geist. Given a choice like that, Fleet'll take transform any day. If the ceiling weren't /right there/ the Seeker might try for a hammerhead dive, but there's no room to do that now. He transforms again into robot mode - he may not have the handy-dandy-reverse-direction-thingy a Sweep does, but it's still easier for him to suddenly change direction as a robot. He leans back, letting his feet fly up faster than his head and throwing his jets on full once he is pointed downward, bringing himself to an upside-down halt just inches from the ceiling. Then he turns jets and antigravs both off and lets himself fall for a short distance before bringing his arms in and twisting again, landing far more heavily than he's used to, but leaving himself unhurt.

Fleet looks over at the Sweep, the fear still haunting expression, but beyond that, confusion is far more evident in his optics.

Geist folds his wings around himself much like a cloak and walks towards the seeker. Nearing the seeker, the sweep begins walking around him and says, "What did you learn? Quickly, don’t think, speak."

"Not to try to grab you again!" the Seeker blurts out.

Geist continues walking around the seeker like a drill seargent, "What else?"

Fleet stands up. What else was there? He already knew he couldn't take on a Sweep, he was never one for bravado, already knew the other was faster and more powerful than he. He shakes his head. But... he came in, afraid that the safeties were disabled, and yet the other did no damage against him. "That you currently have no intent to kill me," he answers, although there is a few clicks before the answer comes out.

Geist stops directly in front of the seeker and gets nose to nose with him and barks, "That much is obvious! I want to know what you /learned/! Why was I able to beat you? Why did I outmanuver you at every corner? How did I know what you were doing?" The sweeps wings unfurl and snap into place behind him with lightning quickness. Its pretty obvious that the sweep has ended the physical lesson, but not the mental one.

Fleet looks up at the Sweep. What is he after? The seeker’s expression reflects his puzzlement. No, he didn't understand the purpose of this exercise, and he still doesn't. "Because 'dodgieness' alone isn't always enough?" He makes a static-speaker-noise of frustration. "If that's not it, you've got me. If you're trying to demonstrate to me that I'm the 'inferior model' this was hardly necessary. I already knew that." This last said bitterly.

Geist's expression turns a bit sour, "You are correct, it was unnecessary. But this was not meant to humiliate you. It was meant to judge your abilities." The sweep folds his arms across his chest and walks over to the control panel. Pulling up a replay of the scenario, the sweep begins pointing out certain things. "You are predictable. That is why I was able to defeat you." Pointing again, "Look here, and here, and again here. You reacted in an almost rhythmic fashion. It is easy to spot and easier still to predict." Turning to face the seeker, the sweep says, "You can defeat bigger, faster, and more powerful prey by out thinking them without thinking." Geist strokes his beard as he talks, "You must learn to react faster than you can think. Some call it instinct. We sweeps were created with that as the basis of our beings. But it can be taught." The sweep pauses and locks optics with Fleet, "If you want to learn."

You can't humiliate someone who has no shame. Fleet merely doesn't like being yelled at when he's not sure of what needs to be said to make the yelling stop. Still, he listens carefully as the Sweep speaks, considering what's being said. Is Geist offering to train the Seeker? He looks up at the other, puzzlement still lurking in his optics, as he considers his response. "I'm always in favor of increasing my list of survival techniques," he answers after a bit, his voice cautious but otherwise neutral.

Geist nods, "Very well. I have unlocked a few training programs I have used in the past. You may access them and train even if I am not here. The programs will record your performance and I can review it later." Once again folding his arms across his chest and draping his wings over his shoulders like a cloak, the sweep continues, "Arachnae and I have spoken at length about you. We are about to find out exactly what you are made of."

Oh, an assortment of alloys and electronic components, mostly, but Fleet doesn't say this out loud. This doesn't seem the moment for levity. The seeker is still vaguely puzzled, and it goes without saying that he seems more than a little worried. "I..." he pauses a moment, then shrugs his right shoulder. "All right," he says, not bothering to keep the nervousness out of his voice. Remember shamelessness? Here we go. "But... why me?" he asks.

Geist grins just enough to make the seeker that much more uncomfortable, "Because the rest of your kind seem to be caught up in themselves. Because you /try/ to stay under radar. Because you are the shapeless mass that I can form into a powerful weapon for the Empire. And because it will give me great pleasure to destroy you and rebuild you into something more than you ever thought you could be."

Fleet squirms. Yep, he definatly squirms. Doesn't like the 'destroy' bit, and when it's combined with the 'and rebuild' bit sounds suspiciously familiar. So someone's playing Dark God, is he? The seeker wonders if perhaps he hasn't bitten off a bit more than he could chew, and can't help but wonder if Geist /does/ realize that only Unicron could turn a Seeker into a Sweep? But he'd already agreed, and this didn't seem to be the time to back out. He nods slightly and says, "All right. I will... work on those programs."

Geist says "I suggest you start with the first one and work your way through them in order. Don’t jump around. It could be... hazardous." Grinning knowingly, the sweep turns to leave.