NCC Central Hub

This is the very center of New Crystal City, and serves as the gateway to the other areas of the base. A feeling of claustrophobia exists here despite the fact that this part of the city is open to the air. Now in Battle Station Mode, the Central Hub has far less buildings than usual, as many have transformed themselves into huge laser defense cannons and missile turrets. There are very few positions one can take to hide from the weapons without being forced to take evasive action. The roadways have laser point-defense systems protecting them. The important buildings, including the medical ward and the command center now have a huge layer of thick metal protecting them, covering up the facilities and protecting them from harm.

Contents:

Verdant

Trypticon <T>

Decepticon Sensor #1792

The Powerbase

Obvious exits:

North <N> leads to Mount R'Lyeh.

Northeast <NE> leads to NCC Dungeon.

Northwest <NW> leads to NCC Medical Ward.

South <S> leads to NCC Coastline.

Southeast <SE> leads to NCC Residential Plaza.

Southwest <SW> leads to NCC Spaceport.

East <E> leads to NCC Arena.

West <W> leads to NCC Central Command.

Fly <Up>

Verdant arrives from the NCC Medical Ward to the northwest.

Verdant has arrived.

Fleet just... falls from the sky, plummeting seemingly out of control at first until, just at the last moment, he performs a spectacular midair twist and brings himself upright, his turning both his antigravs and his bootjets thrusters on high power, the roar of the engines filling the immediate area. After all this he touches down shortly, a slight smile on his face as he looks around him.

Verdant is unable to hide his amazement. He'd been quite afraid he was about to witness a crash and then surprised beyond measure at the recovery. Not much more than an average flier himself, he knew just about everyone was better than him in the air, but he recognized that he had just witnessed true talent. "That," he says, "was quite impressive."

Fleet turns around to study the other seeker, a bit startled. Now that Fleet is on the ground, a slow change is starting to overtake him. He is already noticeably more nervous than he was when he first touched down, and seems to be getting more so. He glances around swiftly, as though worried something or someone might jump out at him, and then approaches Verdant. "Ah. Erm, thank you. I... really, I'm almost addicted to the feeling of free-fall, but I can quit anytime I want to. Name's Fleet," he says in that sort of way that indicates he expects Verdant to give his name in return.

"My name is Verdant," he replies, perhaps the smalllest of smiles gracing his face. Though sometimes given to scatterbrainedness and a certain lack of perception when it comes to what others are thinking, he also recognizes nervousness when he sees it, having found it in himself often enough. "However did you learn that kind of control? I would be too paralyzed with fear of crashing to do anything about it."

"Well, the first step is not to be afraid of crashing," grins Fleet. "We're made for the skies. That's our natural environment, where we're meant to be... where I, at least, am more comfortable. But beyond that..." here the yellow seeker gets a little sheepish, "Beyond that, I'm a dancer. You know, aerial dance?" Fleet studies Verdant, interested to see if he does, indeed, know. These days there were plenty of folks who had never heard of it, so it wouldn't be surprising if this one hadn't, but maybe Flee will be lucky.

Verdant smiles at the memory. As a scientist, he hadn't had much exposure to the arts, but remembered that, if just from appreciation for the mathematics behind dance. "I remember that. I was sorry to see it fade away." Like many things, he supposed.

"Ah, so you have heard of it!" Fleet replies cheerfully, allowing himself a slight smile. "That's good. Unusual, but good." He cocks his head. "Haven't seen you around here before. New transfer?" He twitches his wings slightly as he speaks, indicating that, despite his good cheer, he's still a touch on the skittish side. Then suddenly something seems to occur to him. "Been around, or reactivated?"

"Reactivated just recently," Verdant says, a small amount of his nervousness abating. "I just transfered here very recently... came over the space bridge with a somewhat unpleasant fellow named Long Haul. He seemed to have something of a problem with me after learning my function." Not that that made the Constructicon any different than a lot of others he'd encountered, really. He'd half-hoped this much further into time, that some enlightenment had arrisen.

Fleet nods, considering what Verdant just said. "Ah. How long have you been out, then, and have you been given a chance to play catch-up? A lot of things have changed. As for Long Haul... I wouldn't worry about it. The Constructicons are all pretty odd. Haven't met that one yet. Scrapper seems not too bad... Mixmaster's... well, kind of friendly-ish, but excitable. Hook's a jerk, and they're all constantly bickering. Just don't let yourself get caught in the middle and you should be all right." It's at this point that something hits him. "And why would Long Haul have a problem with your function?"

Verdant smiles sheepishly. "I've not been out of stasis for more than a few days, at best, Cybertronian time. I'm still not quite adapted to this planet's timing yet. I've had prescious little time to play catch-up on anything, I fear. It's as though I've simply been thrown off the cliff and expected to fly. As for Long Hall's dificulties with me... I am a botanist. I do not know why, but this seemed to reise his ire."

"Botanist?" Oh, dear! This might seem familiar to poor little Verdant! However, Fleet doesn't seem angry, just startled. "We've got a botanist?" he asks, then shrugs. "Well, apparently we do. And I suppose it makes sense, in that case, for them to have you reactivated and sent here, considering what this planet's like. If anything, surprising they didn't wake you before." The yellow seeker looks at the green again for a brief pause, then asks, "How long were you out for? Do you know?" Then something hits him. "Who was leader when you went under?"

Catechism arrives from the NCC Arena to the east.

Catechism has arrived.

Verdant considers this for a moment, before speaking. "I beleive I was in stasis for roughly four million years. It was not long after the Ark and Nemesis launched and their crews lost, I remember that much. It was Shockwave, acting in Megatron's absence, who gave the order." That was an... odd question. Certainly, things could not have changed much, not if the Decepticon presence was still strong...

Catechism comes from the arena's direction. She looks a bit thoughtful, but she is evidently pleased about something. Or maybe she's just happy. It could be that. Catechism is known for being cheerful, after all.

Riiiight. Oh, boy. "Well, Megatron and Prime and them crashed, which is why they didn't return, and this is the planet they crashed on. An organic world, rich in resources. The Autobots are allied with the natives, while we have been doing better back home. This got pretty badly messed up about 20 years ago, when a giant transforming planet eating planet thing showed up and tried to /eat/ Cybertron. Right before that there was a big battle on /this/ planet, Optimus Prime was killed, Megatron was mostly killed, things were really crazy, and when it was over with, we had lost 70% of our forces, were lead by Galvatron, who was created by the planet-eating-planet, and the Autobots were lead by a fellow named Rodimus Prime. We've made a comeback, though."

Verdant boggles at all the information thrown at him. It was almost too much to believe. Certainly, no one had suspected that Megatron was dead then, but to find out he'd died anyway... And a planet trying to /eat/ Cybertron? ...At least there was the death of Optimus Prime. While Verdant doesn't hold much concern for the Autobots one way or another, it is good to know the biggest of them is no longer out there shooting at them. "And Starscream?" he asks. "Is he still Air Commander?"

Fleet's optics widen as the name is said, and he looks around quickly, making sure there are no Unicronians in earshot. Then he shakes his head frantically. "No, and you'd do well to avoid mentioning his name, Verdant. He's, uhm, well... just better off not mentioning him, okay?"

Verdant does a passable job of quickly covering his surprise. Curiouser and curiouser. Just what kind of world had he stumbled into? He had always suspected Starscream would meet his end one day anyway, but the lack of even mentioning his name suggested that there was something... else... going on. "I shall endevor to remember that," he says.

Catechism paces over nearer to her usual wingmate, Fleet, taking a vaguely circling path as she does, as if circling a target for a strafing run. She looks at the green Seeker curiously and comments, "You're new. Where you from?"

"Cybertron," Verdant replies. "Recently reactivated and assigned to Earth. I'm Verdant... a botanist." A female Decepticon? And a seeker at that? He didn't recall any from his time, but he'd likely not have noticed if half of Cybertron had blown up. While his attention span was great, it was usually just unusually focused, often to the point of cutting out other things.

Fleet nods, still very, very serious. "Yeah. You do that. You'll also want to familiarize yourself with the appearances of our current High Command members. At the very top we have Galvatron. Our second is Cyclonus, and then there's Scourge. For the three lia-" at this point Catechism shows up. The yellow seeker glances at the conehead, "He's a newly reactivated, Catechism. Name's Verdant."

Catechism grins and clasps her hands together with an audible 'clink'. Fleet seems to have the important stuff well in hand, so she comments conversationally, "Congrats on escaping the great freeze. Just did so myself recently. It's great to be awake again, isn't it? I'm Catechism, by the way. MilOps grunt."

Geist arrives from the NCC Residential Plaza to the southeast.

Geist has arrived.

Geist slips into the area sliently and fades into the shadows.

Arachnae arrives from the NCC Medical Ward to the northwest.

Arachnae has arrived.

Arachnae slips quietly into the area.

Fleet is standing near Catechism and Verdant, a green seeker, engaged in conversation with them. At the moment he's quiet and listening, although, as is his fashion, he occasionally looks around nervously, as though making sure nothing's about to jump out and attack him.

Verdant nods. "Stasis," he says, "was not entirely unpleasant, but I prefer to be active. There is too much to do, too much to learn, to simply waste away in inactivity." There was a small measure of what might be called relief in his voice. Slowly, he begins to realize that, perhaps, his function and presence were not quite as undervalued as before.

Arachnae pads out of medical, wings behind her tilted at their usual jaunty angle. She's humming absently to herself, attention focused on a datapad in hand as she meanders absently along.

Geist walks in from the Resedential plaza. He does NOT look pleased. His optics are brilliant crimson and he wears a sneer that promises pain to anyone who gets in his way. What is is way? Directly towards Fleet.

Catechism is standing closer to Fleet than she is to Verdant, and while obviously in good cheer, she's looking at Verdant a bit speculatively, like she hasn't quite made her mind up on the subject that is the green Seeker.

Of course, since Fleet /is/ looking around nervously, he spots Geist heading right for him. And spots Geist's expression. He winces visibly, actually taking a half-step towards the other two seekers. "Oh-no..." he whimpers softly. He had no idea, really, what he could have done wrong, but is fairly certain that he's in trouble for /something/.

A puzzled expression crosses Verdant's face. While he would admit that the new arrival, seen out of the corner of his eye, is strange-looking, he cannot fathom why Fleet would appear so upset. Certainly, there was always some disagreement in the ranks, but rarely had he seen one Decepticon so fearful of another. Then again, perhaps it had occured more often and he had simply missed it. Such tended to happen a lot.

Catechism wonders what's got Fleet moving and so looks over her shoulder and see the rather discontent looking Sweep. Yes, Fleet gets scared easily, but he's good at staying alive and given his fear, Catechism reacts unconsciously, half-turning and flaring out her wings slightly to make herself to look bigger. Chimera got into a fight with a Sweep, didn't she? And a Sweep once implied that Catechism wasn't any good in combat. A hint of a frown crosses Catechism's face. She looks on the positive side of things, and the Sweeps are a valuable part of the Empire, but if this one is going to pull some stunt, the cloudy Seeker wants to be prepared.

Arachnae continues with her aimless wandering. She's out of medical just for a walk and to look over some more inventory files. Streching wings out, she gives them a flick before settling them back behind her. A frown and she looks up, reminding herself that walking into things or people is not proper behavior for her current position. Espieing the seeker trio.. trio? she pauses and stares. "One.. two.. Hmmm.. Green. Who's that.." thoughtfully poking at her datareader to see if there are any reports on newly transfered or activated seekers in NCC now.

Reaching Fleet, the sweeps wings flare out enhansing his demonic visage. His optics flare as his fists curl into tighter balls untli metal can be heard creaking. Reaching up and stabbing a taloned finger at the yellow seeker, the sweep says, "Fleet! You were suppose to report for training /WITH Chimera/ over 3 hours ago! Where have you been?" The sweep looks at the rest of the gathered seekers and emits a low growl as his optics narrow dangerously.

Even though the winged Decepticon's ire is not directed at him, Verdant flinches. He values quite, consistancy, and order, all things found freely in the labratory. He is not, as some might say, possessed of very good people skills.

What? The seeker must have missed that memo! Fleet cringes as Geist jabs his finger at him. "Wha-? When was the order given? I've been on doing light patrols most of the day, landed not long ago. Perhaps the message got sent after I had left?" he asks nervously. Fleet has been lucky up until now to avoid getting any Sweeps too particularly angry at him... well, aside from that time in Medical when Fleet almost managed to push Geist into a complete rage, but hey, Fleet survived that, so it ended well!

Arachnae blinks as another familiar form joins the seeker trio. Ahh.. voice growled with anger. A wry smile crosses her face for a moment before curiousity provokes her to pads over, looking at the collected with a faint, polite smile. "Good cycle all." As if Geist didn't just start with the finger poking and irritability.

Geist's attention snaps back to Fleet with a vengeance. His optics darken with murderous intent. His voice drops to a growled near whisper, "Are you implying that it is my fault that you failed to receive your STANDING order to report to me after your duty cycle? The STANDING order that I gave you 2 cycles ago?" The sweep takes a step towards Fleet getting right in his face, optic to optic, "If that is your intention, then you and I need to have a chat." To emphasize his point, the sweep extends his forearm blades.

Fleet's optics widen and his mouth opens in horror as he tries to shrink away from the sweep. "No! I mean, that wasn't! I mean - Geist! I was damaged on patrol recently! I've been recovering!" His response is more a squeak than a shout, really, and immediately after the yellow seeker balls his hands into fists and diverts his gaze as he waits for whatever punishment is about to be doled out.

Hmm. Angry Sweep wants to have a 'chat' with Catechism's usual wing-mate, the usual wing-mate who thought that Catechism was useful enough to haul off an exploding spaceship. Hmm hmm hmm. Obviously, keeping Fleet alive would be a good investment towards Catechism's own goal of keeping herself alive; he's already shown that. She takes a step back and decides to wait just a little longer to see how this pans out. Scanning the area, she notes that Commander Arachnae's here and salutes politely. Infighting may be frowned upon, but Sweeps are a bit outside of the command structure, Catechism gathers.

Verdant eyes go wide with horror at what is surely about to occur. While he, of course, did not know Fleet well enough to consider him a friend, he had been far nicer to him than anyone else so far. But there is nothing he can do. He possesses neither the power nor the fortitude to do anything but look on.

Arachnae narrows her optics a moment, but doesn't seem likely to interfere with this particular moment. Tucking her datapad into a side compartment, she simply folds her arms across her front and adopts a curious pose, head tilted to the side to listen to Fleet's reasoning and response to the agitated sweep. Catechism is given a polite nod of her head as way of greeting, the green seeker is given a lengthy stare, as if she's commiting details to memory. A glimmer of amusement crosses her features and she smiles wryly.

The sweeps voice changes to a simple command-dont-question tone, "I do not want your pitiful excuses. Apparently what you told me 2 cycles ago was not accurate. You are not willing to do whatever it takes. Perhaps I have made a mistake in trying to train seeker filth to a higher level. Would that be a fair assumption, Fleet?" The sweeps optics flick around to each of the others gathered here then back to Fleet. "Maybe I should terminate this program as a failed experiment and let Scourge know. Is that what I should do Fleet?"

Verdant has disconnected.

Fleet looks up, still fearful, but a hint of sourness now tingeing his features. Then he looks towards the ground and shrugs, finally deciding that he's standing there in a no-win situation. "I'm sure you would know best, sir," he spits out, his voice dead.

Catechism continues to stand aside, various thoughts streaming through her mind. One is that, wow, these Sweeps are really arrogant! Gee, and she thought that some of her Seeker kindred wore their wings too high. Catechism is really not liking this one bit. She doesn't know enough about the situation, and things seem to be going sour rather quickly.

Geist's voice raises to a powerful yell, "THATS NOT WHAT I ASKED YOU SEEKER! ANSWER THE QUESTION!" The sweeps wings flare out behind him as a visual display of his fury.

Arachnae's faint smile fades to a frown, optics dimming. Her own wings twitch behind her, the medical officer subconciously stepping away from the agitated sweep. Worry creases her brow, but she has yet to make any movement akin to that of interfering.

"Go ahead and tell him, then!" Fleet shouts back, not raising his head but tilting it upwards enough that he can glare at the Sweep from underneath his helm. "I'm failed! All right!" There's a moment when Fleet glares angrily at the Sweep before he realizes what he's just done. His optics widen once more in fear and he takes a stumble-step backwards. "Oh, scrap!"

Catechism side-steps out of Fleet's way as she stumbles back and...takes a half-step forward. She's not getting in anyone's away, and she's certainly not doing anything remotely threatening, but it's the first movement she's made since taking that step away, and it seems rather decisive. Then again, she's a boring bluish-grey Seeker. Easy enough to ignore, in the vast seas of Seekers, especially as she's being unusually quiet.

The Sweep grins with satisfaction. His voice returns to normal with a hint of amusement in it, "Thats what I was looking for. How did that feel Fleet? The anger and release?"

Chimera arrives from the NCC Arena to the east.

Chimera has arrived.

So it was a... a test of some sort? A game? Fleet draws up, almost looking offended (and it's really, really hard to actually offend Fleet). "What?" he exclaims as he struggles to process the sudden change in direction. "What, do you mean before and or after I came to my senses?" he fairly snaps.

Catechism looks taken aback but rather relieved. She's standing fairly near to Fleet, and her slightly raised wings flop down. Okay, Fleet's not going to get skewered. This is, in Catechism's book, a good thing. If he did, then she'd have to find someone else to drag off on raids. Yeah. Selfish conehead.

Arachnae gives a shake of her head, still watching but making no commentary save the absent rustle of wing panels.

Geist is still grinning at Fleet. His forearm blades retract as he says, "Before. When you were caught up in the rage. How did it feel?"

Could always drag Chimera. Who is walking along a walkway nearby. Uh oh. There's Arachnae. Now should she avoid her, do like she did with Scourge. Fail miserably.

"It felt like I was angry, Geist! There wasn't much room for anything else at the moment." Fleet actually still sounds rather annoyed, "And not something I intend to repeat! There are too many people in this empire who would have laid into me if I had reacted like that to them, and most of them are powerful enough that I can't do much about it." Really, it should be obvious! If Fleet's uncommon sense has been edged out enough that he's mouthing off to a Sweep, than obviously 'pissed' is the /only/ thing he's feeling.

Arachnae snorts, whiffing air through intakes. Wings tuck in neatly behind her once more and she rather casually turns to Catechism, "And how are you this cycle?"

Geist folds his arms across his chest, still grinning. Tucking his wings neatly behind him (yes, Nae rubs off on us sweeps), the sweep says, "Your anger overrode your normal courage didnt it? You were able to do something you didnt rationally think you could. Right?"

Chimera spies Geist somewhere. Promptly changes course towards the training room. Know what? She's feeling like training. Really. Honestly.

Catechism glances over at Arachnae, suddenly drawn away from the strange drama unfolding. First their supreme lord, Galvatron, knows her name, and then the MSE Commander wants to know how she's doing? Were Catechism more versed in the theory of weirdness magnets, she'd be liable to blame Fleet, but she isn't, and so she just files it under plain old weird. She shrugs and gestures vaguely, "Well enough, ma'am." After a moment of hesitation, she adds, "And you?"

"Yes, and in another situation, I'd have gotten killed for it!" Fleet argues, once more getting frustrated, although Geist not being all furious at him has helped his mood some. The seeker absently rubs his left arm with his right hand, head turned away so that he's not really looking at anyone in particular.

Ahh the weirdness magnet theory.. If 'Nae were asked about that, she actually has some theories. Wings flick behind the medical commander and she smiles at Catechism faintly, "Well within normal parameters myself." A headtilt at the mini drama, "Interesting cycle we're having." Polite conversation, a skill she's working on herself.

Chimera has no polite conversation skill. Which is why beating up drones is a good idea.

Geist looks at Fleet with a wry grin, "Then it is up to you to make that NOT happen, right. My point is this, your anger enabled you to do something outside of your norm. THAT is a very helpful thing in combat. You have to learn to stoke and harness your rage. Focus it at your enemy."

Fleet actually takes the time to think about what Geist is saying now, and consider. "I see your point," he answers, but there is still something of an uncertainty to his tone. "Unfortunately, anger tends to do one of two things... help one succeed, or get one killed, and trying to use it before... before you've fully mastered it... then you're more likely to tend up with the 'killed' result."

Catechism droops her wings with bafflement and nods to Arachane. She scratches the back of her helmet - she does that a lot lately, doesn't she? - and agrees, "Yeah. Really weird, ma'am." What's even weirder is that Fleet asked Catechism for fashion advice a bit prior to this big blow-up, but she doesn't mention that.

Geist grins even more widely at Fleet, "Welcome to your next level of training. We are going to work on mastering your anger so that you can call it, use it, and shut it down at will. When you feel you are ready, report to me and we will begin."

Arachnae smirks wryly, watching Catechism before letting her attention slide on over to Fleet and Geist's training drama moment. A slight nod of her head, "Could get weirder." wry smirk.

Catechism seems to be distracted from her conversation with Arachnae by the talk that the other Decepticon are having. Training? Fleet said he had a trainer. Wait, is that Sweep...? Guh? One can almost hear the logic gates in her neural net switching off an on, changing the flow of her thoughts. She shudders and says, "I think it just did."

Ready? For that?! "Erm... stupid question, sir, but what does one do to get ready?" the pastel seeker asks, finally looking up at Geist instead of staring off into space. Finally he seems to remember the other two. He looks at Catechism as she shudders - after all, she was standing rather near her - and cocks his head curiously. "Something wrong, Catechism?"

Arachnae chuckles, "Oh really?" she's watching Catechism more closely now, amusement dancing on her features. "Perhaps." A moment of quiet before she turns on a heel, heading back towards medical, "Good cycle all."

Arachnae has disconnected.

Geist says, "Thats up to you to decide isnt it?"

Catechism looks back at Fleet, face twitching. She points at Geist and says, quite audibly, "He's your trainer?" Next news bulletin: that green Seeker she just met was really built by the Constructicons to annoy Axis. At least, that's what she's expecting at the moment.

Fleet goes quiet for a long time, and seems to be about to respond to Geist when Catechism asks her question. The yellow seeker studies the conehead for a moment and then nods. "Uhm, yes. That would be him."

Geist looks over at the other seeker with an odd grin, "Does that seem odd to you seeker?"

"I need a bucket," Catechism comments inscrutably, looking down at her hands dolefully. Fleet is a coward, Fleet does dangerous dance where he gets shot at, and...Fleet trains with angry, arrogant Sweeps? Yeah, that figures. Equally inscrutably, she says to Fleet, "On second thought, you might want to try bright neon orange." Finally she turns to answer the Sweep, a very funny look on her face. "It does, but I guess it shouldn't. I'm starting to think that with Fleet, you figure out the most rational thing to be occurring, then you toss it out the window, and pick the idea that has six legs and glowing spots instead."

Geist smirks, "Yes, well, Fleet is learning more about himself that even he knew was there. Before long, this seeker will be the closest thing to a sweep that a seeker can be."

Chimera vanishes out of reality.

Chimera has left.

Except pastel yellow!

"Six legs... and glowing spots?" Fleet asks uncertainly, giving her an odd look before turning around and giving Geist another somewhat worried look. Actually, when it comes right down to it, Fleet really would agree with Catechism that his life has gotten really, really strange, and it's taken her reaction, almost, to remind him that things weren't always this way.

Catechism leans back slightly and spread out her fingers, as if testing the wind, even though there isn't any wind here to worry about. Huh. Wingmate who is an elite hunter-killer? Might not be bad a thing. Might mean a wingmate who is no longer her wingmate. That is the significance of her testing the non-existent wind - she's weighing possibilities here, trying to come to some conclusion that doesn't involve quality time with a bucket. Catechism nods slowly to Fleet and says helpfully, "It's still got wings, though."

Geist simply grins at Fleet. "Does that bother you, Fleet?"

"What bit? The six legs with wings of glowing spots bit, or the closest thing to a sweep that a seeker can be bit?" Fleet looks up at Geist, then looks kind of off in space for a bit. "I... I think I need time to figure out just what I think about the matter, Geist. It's... kind of a strange idea to try to get my mind around.

Geist nods, "Like I said. When you are ready, report to me." Taking a quick glance at the other seeker present, the sweep turns on his heel and heads back towards the residential area.

Catechism looks straight at Geist as he leaves the area. Sure, he's a big scary Sweep who could gut her in the blink of an optic with those blades of his. This is a Seeker who has taken pot-shots at Superion and who has attacked Rodimus Prime, in both cases knowing fully well that she'd just get splatted, which she did. Catechism calls after him, "Are you going to take Fleet into your Pack, if he does well enough?"

Fleet ... facepalms.

Geist stops and turns around. Looking straight at Fleet, the sweep says, "For his training, he will be part of the pack as far as he can be. As for full integration at the conclusion of his training....thats up to him and Scourge." Leaving it at that, the sweep continues on his way.

Catechism now looks at Fleet with great scrutiny, apparently having gotten enough of an answer from Geist for her purposes. She steeples her fingers and drums them together. Better crank 'wingmate soon to be ex-wingmate' up on the plausibility list a few notches, then. Even if it takes years, anything short of a millennia counts as 'soon' to a race so long lived as the Transformers. Transformers can also be curiously short lived. Comes of fighting a perpetual war. Catechism doesn't want to be one of those short-lived souls. Thus, perhaps she ought to start looking for a new regular raiding partner or two. Despite all her thoughts, all that Catechism says is, "So."

Fleet looks up after Geist departs and turns to find Catechism studying him intently. In response, his expression goes rather quizzical. He remains quiet for as long as he does, watching her as she watches him, and when she says "So," his response is equally brief. "What?"

Geist activates his cloak on the way out causing him to vanish completely. As silently as a sweep can, Geist returns to evesdrop from a dark corner near the pair of seekers.

Catechism sighs and shakes her head, looking a bit amused, as she can either laugh or scream at the moment, and laughing is much more her style. Better not tell him that she's going to be on the lookout for a new usual wingmate or two. Catechism's happy, after a fashion, and so that is what she speaks, "You'll better serve the cause. That's good."

Fleet nods in agreement. "I'll be a better weapon, and I'll be better able to survive." Well, of course, Fleet's own survival has to factor into things /somewhere/. It just wouldn't be Fleet if this wasn't the case. "Laying low /obviously/ doesn't work anymore, so I needed a new tactic. This is it." And, for all the tension that often exists between Seekers and Sweeps, the reaction from the Seeker side to the arrangement has been largely good. Even Fulcrum, who generally hates Sweeps, seems to see this as a positive development. "But... well, he wants me in the Pack. That doesn't mean Scourge will let me, or that I'll be a good fit."

"There will always be Seekers." It's one of those constants of the universe. She says it partly to reassure Fleet that if he flunks out at being a Sweep and doesn't die in the process that he can still be a Seeker. She says it partly to reassure herself that she can find some new wingers. Perhaps she ought to drag Verdant off the arena and see what the new green one is made of - and she doesn't mean the microchips, either.

Well, 'always' is an awfully long time, but Fleet does nod in something akin to agreement. "That, more than anything else, is our biggest strength. Even after all this time and all these changes, we may no longer be the best subtype of the species," not that Fleet has ever ranked tops for this type, but he's obviously speaking in generalities here, "but we are still by far the most successful, and we /are/ still the best that they've ever figured out how to mass-produce. There's not as many now, but if we had the chance to activate one of the factories tomorrow, there could still be more, easily enough." Fleet pauses a moment to consider, again looking off to nothing. "Although we'd be fools not to incorporate some of the newer technology we've come across."

Catechism nods vaguely. "There is strength in numbers. It's funny... we'd be even stronger if we had some coordination to those numbers. More than just our commanders pointing us at a goal and letting us loose." She scuffs an arc on the ground with her foot, thinking.

Fleet mmms, leaning back on his jet thruster heels... you know, the ones that vaguely resemble high heels? "Well, this is kind of where our extreme numbers hurt us as much as help. There's just too many for that level of organization, and we're spread over all three divisions. Plus, there's just /so/ much variance in our design. That green seeker earlier... were you here when he told me his function? But still, it does feel like I remember a time when trines, at least, were tighter." Of course, if you were to ask /him/ why they've lost that tightness, he'd blame the decline of the dance, but he's biased in that way.

Catechism shapes a hand into a little jet and swoops it through the sky before dropping it to her side. She sighs and shakes her head, "I know. I don't know if we've even got enough active and around enough for a loose ennead - and it'd be a mixed one, too, even if we could do it." She frowns a little. Some faces stay the same, but gumbies swap in and gumbies swap out, and there's no relying on them.

Verdant has connected.

"Oh, well, that!" Fleet waves a hand absently. "Mixed is okay. It seems like I've flown mixed for so long, anyway... some will tell you mixed is bad luck, but they're just being idiots. It's just that not many train mixed, and so they don't do as well when they're thrown into a situation where they have to operate that way. But still, even among seekers, there seems to be differences in the way the different subgroups think. For example, between the Coneheads and standards..."

Verdant returns to find the group from previous still where he had left them. Good, he supposes. It was quite rude of him to run off, but his communications skills were not always great and, frankly, hed paniced a little at the possibility of a conflict. Catching sight of a particularly interesting botanical specimen had proven a convient excuse. "I am sorry," he says, "I did not mean to dessert as such, but something caught my attention and my scientific urges would not permit me to simply ignore it."

Thus proving Fleet's point about just how wide the variance within Seeker-kind can be! Thank you very much, Verdant!

Catechism grins, nodding. "And then there's the MSE Seekers versus the DCI Seekers versus the MilOps Seekers. You and Commander Comcast are both pretty much standard models in robot mode, but you're MilOps like me and he's commander of DCI. And so on. Still, we don't need to think alike to benefit from organization. Scrap, organization could probably help clear up some of other differences and help us work together more smoothly, because then maybe you standards would know not to expect my kind to act just like another one of yours, because there'd be actual communication going on between all of us Seekers, not just talk." She glances away and shrugs. "I've got patrol. Better be off now."

Catechism has disconnected.

"All right. Good patrol, then," Fleet says to the departing conehead, then turns his attention back to Verdant. He's calm and in a fairly thoughtful, considering mood, thanks both to the fact that part of his concentration is being devoted to some of the things Geist had said earlier, and partly due to the nature of the discussion he just had with Catechism. "Right. And I imagine on this mudball of a planet, you'll have plenty to study, but you do realize that you'll still be expected to fight from time to time, right? Have you taken time to learn how to operate in this environment? I made the mistake of engaging in combat within my first few hours here, and things did not go well."

Verdant shakes his head. "I am afraid not. Even on Cybertron, combat was never my specialty. I have not even truly had time to test my Earth-modifed form." The thought of combat sends some terrors through him, but he pushes them aside. Even as a scientist, one did not become a long-lived Decepticon if they did not know how to take care of themselves. He has fought before and knew he would have to do so again. His only hope was, as always, to make himself to useful for his other skills to test his combat prowess.

Geist has disconnected.

"Okay. Well, now's as good a time as ever." Fleet gestured towards the Arena. "You get to learn from my mistake. We have a holo-arena and a few training rooms that are very handy for that sort of thing. Damage taken in them is virtual, and upon leaving the arena you're returned to full operational capacity." Saying nothing further, the pastel yellow seeker turns and begins walking towards the arena.

* Spinny! *

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:

Training Drone <NCC/Trypticon>

Verdant comes into the Holo Arena.

After he enters, Fleet heads to the control panel. His fingers dance over the controls, and suddenly the environment shifts to resemble a dam somewhere in North America. The pastel seeker smirks to himself, then looks up at Verdant. "This is as good a choice of any. A fight can happen anywhere on this planet, but we do fight around these structures plenty enough." With that he takes to the air, hovering above the dam. "Any questions before we begin?"

Verdant nods. "How...dangerous is this 'training?' On Cybertron, 'training' involved live ammunition. Not that I am bothered by that... but such has always seemed wasteful to me." Of course, he wasn't going to admit that the thought of being under fire DID scare him, even if he understood the philosophical factors behind such a method of training.

Fleet grins. "We've come up with a couple of nice little technological improvements since then. This will look real. It will feel real. You will fire your weapons as though you were really fighting. And then, when you leave, it will be as though you never entered. No risk, things are perfectly safe. And with that..." Fleet's grin becomes a bit more malicious. He points his left arm down at Verdant from his vantage point in the air, firing with his shoulder mounted weaponry without further preamble. "With that, we being!"

Verdant evades your Death By A Thousand Papercuts attack.

Verdant barely sidesteps the attack, owing mostly to long-honed reflexes and a good survival instinct. Mustering his courage and covering his own surprise, he brings up the weapon on his right arm.

You evade Verdant's pistol attack.

Naturally, once the shooting starts, Fleet doesn't stay stationary in the air, spinning gracefully to the side to avoid Verdant's shot. This ends up pointing him away from the other, so he throws his legs upward in an airborne half-flip. He remains mostly upside-down, oriented so that he's 'pointed' in Verdant's direction, and reaches both arms towards the green seeker, fingers splayed as he fires again.

Verdant evades your Shoulder-Mounted Laser Rifle <Pulse Mode> attack.

Verdant doges again, but this time it was a closer thing. His thoughts turn quickly, realizing that he cannot stay stationary. He kicks off, slugggisly, with flight systems that haven't been used in some time and eases into an arc that takes him above Fleet. Verdant brings his weapon up again, this time taking more care to aim and be less reactionary.

You evade Verdant's taser attack.

As Verdant increases his altitude, Fleet 'follows' him, continuing to point in his direction. Then, when Verdant fires, he drops and twists, once more spinning out of the way, obviously employing his dance skills in the fight. Now, suddenly, he changes tacts, increasing the power output of his thrusters as he climbs towards Verdant, intending to deliver a fly-by punch in a move that would be against the rules of any proper dance.

You strike Verdant with Fly-By Fist.

Verdant's head snaps back and he lets out a noise of surprise, even as he begins to fall. Rightening himself, he again soars upward, this time with greater speed. He suddenly jerks, as he gets closer to Fleet, turning his upward flight into a means of delivering a kick.

Verdant strikes you with kick for 3 points of damage.

Fleet brings up his right gauntlet to block, but this means that green seeker's kick hits his arm instead, causing a minor dent but otherwise doing little arm. Still, as Fleet has received, so he chooses to give, and in response to Verdant's attack he swings his left leg in the other's direction, attempting an aerial spin-kick.

You strike Verdant with Pastel Seeker Hookerboots.

The attack takes Verdant right in the cockpit of his chest, causing the glass to crack somewhat and throwing him backwards. His wits now more about him, tempered by pain, flies past Fleet, then engages downward thrust, firing even as he jets downward.

Verdant strikes you with disruptor for 3 points of damage.

Once more Fleet finds himself wondering just what good his recent upgrade did him... and yet it seems to work well enough against the drone! The pastel seeker is hit in his left shoulder but it does little more than scorch his armor, but Fleet decides to stop going soft. After all, this won't do any lasting arm, anyway! He dives after the green seeker, transforming even as he does, and unleashes his rockets against him.

Fleet transforms from robot to pyramid jet.

You strike Verdant with Rocket.

Verdant howls with pain as he is knocked out of the sky, his armor blackening from the explosion. Gathering just enough mental will to stave off a crash, he decides he has to do /something/. He did not normally use his more powerful weaponry, simply for fear of it's use putting him the front lines. Taking aim, he readies to use his 'special power' as it was called in the old days.

Verdant strikes you with Rot Ray for 10 points of damage.

Verdant's Rot Ray attack continues to sear away at you, doing 5 damage.

Verdant's Rot Ray attack continues to sear away at you, doing 2 damage.

Verdant's Rot Ray attack wears off at last.

Oh, SCRAP! What was THAT? It hits Fleet dead center in his underside, and hurts... and keeps hurting... and keeps hurting! Primus! Fleet cries out as he turns nose-upwards and then transforms, because of /course/ that nasty attack had to hit while he was in low-armor mode, and then he reaches out his scorched left arm towards Verdant, his shoulder-mounted weaponry clicking softly as they change mode.

The yellow Cybertronian jet unfolds, revealing the robotic form of the seeker Fleet.

Verdant evades your Rail Gun attack.

Verdant can only surmise that Fleet's attack missed by the grace of the pain he was in distorting his perceptions. Still, perhaps this is a time to press his advantage. He barrels forward, under Fleet, and rather than coming up behind him or to the side, settles for coming up from /beneath/ him, his arm-mounded weapon charging, then firing.

You evade Verdant's arm laser attack.

As Verdant flies up underneath Fleet the pastel seeker rolls to the side, avoiding the attack. He continues to roll down and past Verdant, extending his right leg to kick the other once more even as he 'falls' past him.

You strike Verdant with Pastel Seeker Hookerboots.

The blow strikes Verdant in the chest again, and this time the glass shatters completely. Thinking quickly, he realizes this is now nearly an all or nothing situation. Transforming to his own jet-mode, he unleashes his rockets upon Fleet.

Verdant compacts and folds inward to transform into an F-16 fighter jet.

You evade Verdant's rocket attack.

Fleet had continued to spin as he had fallen past Verdant before, and when the green jet comes after him in jet mode he realizes that the other probably intends a particularly nasty attack. Fleet kicks his thrusters once more into high mode, moving out of the way of the rocket before reaching up at the other, index finger extended, hand relaxed, and firing. This would be a very close one, by the looks of things.

Verdant evades your Shoulder-Mounted Laser Rifle <Pulse Mode> attack.

Verdant barrel rolls to avoid the attack, mentally kicking himself for putting himself in such a dangerous position. The only thing to do, he thinks, is to return to robot mode and fight it out. He transforms back, and as his arm-mounted weapons snap into their propper place, he's already readying them to fire.

Verdant transforms, his cockpit flipping down to form his chest, his head popping up, arms pulling out from his sides, and lower section extending and splitting into his legs and feet, while his wings move slightly to allow slightly greater freedom of movement.

You evade Verdant's laser attack.

Fleet begins to curve upwards, kind of 'swimming' up in the sky, letting Verdant's laser slip past him as he does. For a moment he pauses in the air, left leg extended, right leg bent with knee out in front of him, both arms pointed downwards as Fleet continues to try to bring his opponent down.

Verdant evades your Disruptor attack.

Verdant avoids the blow, but barely, his wits dulled by the damage he's taken. As Fleet gets closer to him, he tries for a more physical confrontation, aiming a good solid fist at Fleet's head.

You evade Verdant's punch attack.

Fleet briefly cuts his antigravs, allowing himself to drop below Verdant's attack, but doesn't fall far before he turns them back on, balling his fists as he tries for an uppercut of his own.

Verdant evades your Uppercut attack.

Verdant avoids the blow by virtue of moving his head, feeling the rush of air as Fleet attacks him. That blow, he thinks, could have well taken his head off. He needs to end this while still in close quarters. If a true blow will not work, not longer range weapons, perhaps he can surprise him. His knife for cutting botanical samples, perhaps...

You evade Verdant's blade attack.

Fleet jerks back as he sees Verdant's blade coming at him, then continues moving away from him for a few seconds before swinging his legs up behind him and diving at him, arms outstretched. Is he going for another fly-by punch? No! As Fleet gets closer, it becomes apparent that the pastel seeker is trying to grab hold of the other, then use his momentum to carry the green seeker downward.

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

Verdant makes a noise of surprise as Fleet graps him and tries to fight his way loose. Getting slammed around does not sound like a good time to him.

Outside, Verdant misses Fleet with his grasp attack.

Fleet continues to dive towards the ground, thrusters and gravity assisting him as he pushes the other seeker along with him. Then, just when it seems that yellow seeker couldn't possibly change directions in time, he swings his legs downward and halts his fall, releasing his fellow sky-born in a nasty throw!

You strike Verdant with The Verdant, Grass Covered Ground.

Outside, Fleet strikes Verdant with The Verdant, Grass Covered Ground.

Verdant hits the ground hard, one of his wings noticably bending in the affair. He manages to roll himself upright and brings his arm-weapon to bear. Time again, he thinks, to try his special power. Maybe end this thing.

Verdant strikes you with Rot Ray for 7 points of damage.

Verdant's Rot Ray attack continues to sear away at you, doing 3 damage.

Verdant's Rot Ray attack wears off at last.

Fleet had been flying upwards as Verdant made his attack, and takes it in his left foot. The thing wears away nastily at his leg, exposing the circuitry within which is, in turn, blackened by the effects of the rotting ray. This destabilizes Fleet's flight and he's forced to land before he falls. Grounded! Fleet doesn't dare transform - can't afford to be hit by /that/ in low power mode again! But anger dances in his expression as his shoulder armaments click and he brings his second best weapon to bear.

You strike Verdant with Rail Gun.

The blast hits Verdant hard, taking a chunk out of his shoulder and exposing the damaged circuitry within. Senses that Fleet is grounded, he takes off into the air and brings his weapons up.

You evade Verdant's disruptor attack.

Fleet may be grounded, but he's still able to leap out of the way of Verdant's attack, diving to the ground (and, for once, managing to avoid getting tangled up in his own wings as he does so) and pointing up at his flying foe. Is this how Autobots feel? How wretched! Fleet remembers what Geist told him, and rather then bottling his anger as he normally does, lets it flow as he tries to channel it against the other.

Verdant evades your Death By A Thousand Papercuts attack.

<OOC> Fleet says, "Obviously my anger doesn't do that much for me. :)"

Airborn, Verdant dodges the fire from the ground easily, actually feeling a surge of superiority. If this is how his fellows feel, swooping down on Autobots, he may have to make it a practice to do so more often. He readies his weapons for a second attack, flying forward in a swooping attack, and fires.

You evade Verdant's arm laser attack.

Oh, of /course/! Now that Fleet is grounded, his upgrade finally kicks in, letting him once more duck out of the way of Verdant's attack. He snarls in frustration as he raises both arms in the other's direction. The end is surely approaching, the opponents evenly matched, but to whom will this bout go?

You strike Verdant with Shoulder-Mounted Laser Rifle <Pulse Mode>.

The blast hits Verdant dead on, striking the exposed circuitry of his chest. He comes around for another pass at Fleet, not planning on letting him get close enough for physical blows.

You evade Verdant's taser attack.

Fleet leaps backwards, landing hard enough on his back to jar him but not enough to do any damage, the blast hitting the ground where he had been. Close, he senses, so close. "Will you just fall, already!" he growls, but it's more to himself than aloud, being unused as he is to this 'expressing anger in combat' thing.

Verdant evades your Shoulder-Mounted Laser Rifle attack.

Verdant dodges the blast by executing an aerial loop around it, though his timing is off--he nearly gets a clipped wing for his trouble. He swoops down again and, as he pulls up, brings his legs out.

You evade Verdant's kick attack.

Fleet pushes up against the ground to allow himself to roll out of the way (his wings preventing the sort of roll a human would attempt), but still lands on his side with the other close enough to try melee with. The yellow seeker swings a pastel colored foot in the other's direction in a move that would be a sweep, had the other been more shackled to gravity, but may yet prove painful either way.

You strike Verdant with Pastel Seeker Hookerboots.

Verdant Verdant lets out a noise of pain as the blow connects, enough damage that he too, became grounded. With his normally neutral face bent in steely determination, he raised his rifle to fire once more.

Verdant strikes you with arm laser for 4 points of damage.

Fleet grunts as he takes the hit in his right shoulder, but it's minor in comparison to the other damages he's taken, particularly where the rot ray has worn away at him. Still, with the other landed, he's able to leap off the ground and at Verdant and one quick move, throwing his all into an attack that, if it hits, will no doubt aggravate his own injuries further.

Verdant evades your ram attack.

Verdant throws himself out of the way of the charge, barely avoiding it and tumbling badly because of his wing configuration. Still, he rises well and fires, knowing his chances continue to grow slim.

You evade Verdant's arm laser (low power burst) attack.

Fleet ducks Verdant's attack even as he dives past him, recovering his footing and then swinging around, arm out to attempt a backhand based more on what Fleet can sense of the other's position than on his visual inputs.

You strike Verdant with Backhanded Punch.

Verdant falls to the ground unconscious.

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

Verdant's head snaps around and he seems to teeter on his feet for a few moments before finally falling forward into a heap, arms and legs spread wildly. After the drone recharges him, he gets unsteadily to his feet.

Fleet supports himself by placing his hands on his knees. Had he been human, he'd be panting. "Very good fight, Verdant. Although I'll warn you there's plenty of tougher opponents than I am. But now we get to see the true beauty of this arean," and with that Fleet limpts towards the barrier dividing it from the outside world. When he steps outside, all damage heals as if by magic and he turns around and grins, pleased that the pain has gone away.

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:

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.

Inside, Verdant Verdant allows himself a small smile of satisfaction. He may not be a fighter, but he is still a Decepticon and still a seeker. If it comes to it, he will give whatever he can to the fight.

Verdant emerges from the Holo Arena.

Fleet nods. "Anyway, you seem to be adapting well. Not bad for your first time on Earth. Perhaps we'll get a chance to work together in the future, and fight on the same side." With that, the yellow seeker turns on boot-jet-heel and heads off.