You move southeast to the NCC Central Hub

You move southeast to the NCC Central Hub.

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:

Catechism

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>

Catechism is just passing through the Hub on the way to the arena. She actually has a bit of time off and would like to spend it get herself beaten silly by the training drone. It's almost as good as getting her head stuck in a wall!

Long Haul plods through, leaving medical, his motions as reluctant and downtroden as always. For once, he's not carrying anything, but that's just because he just dropped off what he had been carrying. Internally he's reveiwing his timetables and wondering if maybe he couldn't get in a bit of a break...

Long Haul decides he does, indeed, have time and starts heading towards the Arena as well.

Catechism glances briefly at the other Decepticon, still continuing on her way. Hmm, looks vaguely familiar, but it's not like he's got a distinctive set of wings to identify him by or even a face, although he is kitted out in Constructicon green...oh. That's Long Haul, right? She had wanted to track him down for some reason, hadn't she? Catechism pauses, trying to remember. Something about Scourge? Ah, yes, Scourge spoke favourably about this one a while back. Catechism waves vaguely to the Constructicon and calls out, "You busy?"

Long Haul turns his featureless visage in Catechism's direction, his optic band flickering slightly as his processors acknowledge that he's been addressed and try to process it. Does he know this one? Seeker, but then, there's a million of 'em - his brothers like 'em okay, but only because they're easy to repair - conehead. Blue, obviously not Dirge. Wait, is this that one who asked him which one of 'em was Long Haul? "Wha-? I gotta bit of time. Why?"

Catechism smiles brightly, bouncing on her heels. She explains, gesturing as she does, "Want to go a round in the arena? Commander Scourge said we'd do well to learn from your example, and I'd like to see you in action."

Long Haul's optic band flickers a bit faster now. "Y'wanna'-?" he started in surprise. He crossed his arms and studied the other. The thing about Seekers was that they were so much difference in them... there were a few that were a real glitch to torque with, but on the other hand, many of 'em couldn't come close to taking on one of the sturdily built Constructicons. There was no way yet to tell where in the range this one was... but on the other hand, she was wanting to learn from him? A warrior wanting go up against Long Haul? He didn't get his ego stroked very often, and this did nicely. And he was planning on spending some time in the arena anyway. Had he a mouth, he'd smile, but instead he just dropped his arms to his side and says, "Sure. Why not?" With that he plods in the direction of the arena.

"Great!" Catechism nods and heads off for the arena. Hopefully this'll be a useful endeavour and not a waste of time. She doesn't really know what to expect here, as she hasn't really seen the Constructicons in combat, aside from that one capture mission with Mixmaster.

You enter the Holo Arena.

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>

Catechism comes into the Holo Arena.

Long Haul plods towards the middle of the Arena, his actions no more hurried now than when they were in the hub. He turns around and looks at the other, and pulls out his laser pistol, although it's not his favored way of fighting. Oft times it's what he's forced to use against these flighty seekers, however. His body language is expectant as he looks at the conehead, but instead of attacking, he just asks, "So, whatcher name, anyway?"

Catechism's first thought is to get into the air. She is a Seeker, after all. So she does lift off a few spans into the air. With a bit of a flourish, she dips in the air and introduces, "Catechism, MilOps grunt." She continues the dip downwards, extends one of her arms, as if to wave in a friendly fashion, and instead fires.

You evade Catechism's Zap! attack.

Long Haul hadn't been intending to duck! Really, he's curious to see how hard this one hits! But instinct leads to him jerking back when Catechism fires and, completely by luck, it takes him out of the way of the seeker's blast. He shrugs and points his laser at Catechism. "Ah. Pleased to meetcha," he says as he fires.

Catechism evades your Pathetic Laser attack.

Catechism sighs a bit. Better leave the fancy stuff to Fleet. She half-turns out of the way when the Constructicon returns fire, letting the laser bolt fly past her. The Seeker swoops down for a fly-by strafing run, keying up her disruptors.

Catechism strikes you with disruptor for 5 points of damage.

Long Haul doesn't even bother to dodge, and takes the blast on his right shoulder. The blast scorches the dump truck-former's pretty lime paint, but doesn't seem to do much else. Unfortunatly, his foe is still in the air, and he's not much of an aerial combatant, so in transporter instead just shrugs and lifts up his laser to fire again.

Catechism evades your Pathetic Laser attack.

Catechism is actually doing Seekerkind proud for once with her dodging ability! Just watch, she'll next fly straight into his next attack and thereby ruin this nice little streak of agility. Again, she half-turns. It's simple, quick, and reflexive, and it works better than something fancy she has to think about. Catechism arcs above, cutting an upside-down parabola, and at the highest point, fires down at Long Haul, opening up with her taser.

You evade Catechism's taser attack.

She may be doing seekerkind proud with regards to her dodging, but apparently not with her aiming, since she's having trouble hitting a dump truck! The shot hits near Long Haul's right foot just before Long Haul transforms into his alt mode. All right... if that little bird won't come down, he'll just have to blast her out of the sky!

Long Haul folds in on himself and transforms into a dump truck.

You strike Catechism with Anti-Seeker Rocket.

Catechism missing Long Haul is not, in the grand scheme of things, that big a deal when one considers that she also misses guys like Superion. Someone got the short end of the stick when the factory was passing out targeting packages, it seems. As expected, her dodging streak fails, and at the worst possible time. Catechism tries to half-turn, to sidestep; to get out of the way, but it's not enough. The rocket clips off a whole wing and good chuck of hip. Her optics widen, and through the pain, she makes a mental note to avoid parabolic paths as being too regular. The Seeker loses a good deal of altitude, unable to control her path as well when missing a wing. She stabilises into a hover not far above the ground and returns fire with her arm lasers.

Catechism strikes you with laser for 12 points of damage.

Dump Truck <Long Haul> takes the shot right in the cab, and he actually feels it! Yeeoouch! He transforms, grunting, "Not bad!" and then runs towards the seeker, who's now kindly hovering /almost/ in reach. He leaps up and makes a grab for her feet, trying to slam her into the ground.

You strike Catechism with Grab And Smash.

Catechism is quite startled to be grabbed out of the air and smashed into the ground. Her intakes take the brunt of the attack and buckle. If this keeps up, she's going to be an ex-jet and not in the fun experimental sense. Bracing her arms on the ground for leverage - hah! Normal Seekers can't reach back like that due to their upwings - she tries to kick the Constructicon away.

Catechism strikes you with kick for 4 points of damage.

The kick lands firmly in Long Haul's chest, but he doesn't seem to take much notice. "Eh. Not so good. Onna other hand, you're kicking about as hard as one-a my brothers." Not that that's saying much, but hey! Since the conehead is still on the ground the dump truck former takes the opportunity to deliver a sturdy stomp against her.

Catechism evades your Dump Truck Bed Foot attack.

Catechism takes advantage of the fact that she's missing a wing and rolls out of the way. Sure, rolling on a wound hurts, but she's fairly sure that the dump truck's stomp would hurt more. She quickly pushes herself onto her feet, spins around, and...punches at Long Haul? Gritting her metaphorical teeth, she asks, "What would you suggest, then?"

Catechism strikes you with Smiting the Heathens for 2 points of damage.

"Get back inna air," answers the dump truck as he swings his right arm wide in a backhand, the punch Catechism landed apparently completely ignored. "You ain' made for fightin' down here like I am."

Catechism evades your Backhand attack.

Catechism jumps up and over Long Haul's swing, boot-jet assisted. Get back in the air? Catechism would like to do that anyway. So she just doesn't fall back down, as one should when one jumps. Got to love Decepticon antigrav technology. The Seeker clicks the setting of her arm guns over to gauss, aim, and fires, hoping to keep the dump truck occupied with powerful magnetic fields while she's busy gaining altitude.

Catechism strikes you with gauss for 10 points of damage.

Long Haul is hit and slammed forward by the force of Catechism's attack. He stumbles forward a couple of feet before he recovers, turning and pointing at the other with is puny little laser pistol. "Hey, that was pretty decent!" he exclaims, far too cheerful in consideration of the chunk taken out of his back.

You strike Catechism with Pathetic Laser.

Catechism will need to let her energy banks recharge for a bit. Gauss may be her best attack, but if she uses it too much, she'll run out of energy. Such is combat, a series of tradeoffs, all towards the goal of, 'What's going to do the most damage and hurt me the least?' Still, Catechism's still got enough in her to half-turn-dodge and reply back with a low-powered arm gun shot.

You evade Catechism's Zap! attack.

In the process of turning around to face Catechism, Long Haul manages to duck out of the way of her shot. A quick systems check shows him that the female's taken a decent chunk out of him, but he's still got a long ways to go. Since she's still in the air and he's still on the ground, he once more takes aim with his laser and fires. Oh, sure, he /can/ fly, but he's not really into duking it out in the air. Leave that sorta thing to the seekers, thanks.

Catechism evades your Pathetic Laser attack.

Catechism may not be able to aim, but she can still dodge Long Haul's shots with the same boring old half-turn. She muses that fighting a ground-based opponent, while annoying, is probably more reflective of fighting Autobots than dueling with her fellow Seekers, although the Autobots to have an irritating amount of fliers these days. Equally boring as her half-turn, she keys up her disruptor and fires.

Catechism strikes you with disruptor for 3 points of damage.

Hoo-hum, another disruptor shot, this one on fizzling on the top of Long Haul's head. He reflexively reaches his hand up to where he's hit, but it's little more than a scorch-spot. Internally he is cursing himself for recommending to Catechism that she return to the sky, since the battle has once more been reduced to trading shot for shot, so, just to break up the monotony (monotony is almost Long Haul's middle name - Long Monotony Haul - and it's not something he's too happy with) he transforms and again fires his rockets.

Long Haul folds in on himself and transforms into a dump truck.

Catechism evades your Anti-Seeker Rocket attack.

Catechism doesn't half-turn! Instead, she dives off to one side. Rockets hurt, and she'd like to move far, far, way from the hurty rocket, thank you very much. She jets forwards rapidly, blasts off a taser shot, and as soon as she's past Long Haul, flips around to ready herself for his response.

Catechism strikes you with taser for 8 points of damage.

Damn! This chick might not be hurtin' Long Haul much, but if he doesn't down her soon she's gonna get him on the energon burn! He rolls forward, trying to get out of the way of Catechism's attack, but takes it in the truck bed, the shot tearing through his outer layer. Still, she's still in the sky and he's on the ground, and even if it burns energy, he's gotta get her down somehow... he tries one more rocket.

You strike Catechism with Anti-Seeker Rocket.

Catechism didn't flip fast enough. As she finishes her turn, she takes a rocket to the cockpit. As her cockpit computer banks are taken out, she loses control of her flight and falls. Actually, she's falling towards Long Haul. Will she be able to get herself under control and back on course in time?

Catechism strikes you with ram for 14 points of damage.

The seeker slams into Long Haul's cab and hood, crumpling it beneath the force of her fall. "Umph!" grunts the dump truck. "All right now! We just met, y'know!" With this the truck throws his engine full in reverse, backing up hard for a distance before once more changing gears and roaring forward. "On the other hand, if you like close encounters, try this!"

Catechism evades your Haul This! attack.

Somewhere beyond the agony of being torn out of the sky by a rocket and the crushing fall into the dump truck, the Seeker does retain some combat awareness. She slides off the dump truck and hits the ground off to the side, keeping herself out of the path of the dump truck's charge. Catechism gets to her feet slowly, not thinking at all clearly due to the pain and growing fear, snk-snks out her combat knife, and lunges forward, aiming to slash the dump truck's tyres.

Catechism strikes you with combat knife for 10 points of damage.

The knife cuts deep into Long Haul's vulnerable tires (because, you know, his player is American, so he has tires, not tyres), and he actually cries out in pain and indignation. With that move Catechism has rendered his alt mode all but useless, so he abandons it, instead swinging his fist at the nearby seeker for a good old fashioned punch.

The dump truck stretches out and unfolds into Long Haul.

You strike Catechism with Knuckle Sammich.

Catechism is knocked back onto the floor, which is quickly becoming littered with little pieces of Seeker that crunch and crinkle as she crashes into them. From the floor, she doesn't bother try to get up. Catechism should have run earlier, and now she's too busted to get away. Click-click-click, the setting of her arm guns switches over, and her gauss coils charge up. She raises a wobbling arm, smiling wildly as if to belie her fear and pain, and says, apropos of nothing, "Hi."

Catechism strikes you with gauss for 9 points of damage.

Oh, damn! That gauss thing! That gauss thing hurt before, and it still hurts now! Long Haul isn't looking that great himself, and if he were outside the training room, he'd seriously be considering running at this point. But, well... he's /supposed/ to be showing this warrior how to fight, so he intends to see this through to the end! He steps towards his downed foe and once more raises his heavy foot for a stomp.

Catechism evades your Stomp! attack.

Catechism manages to roll out of the way with a heavy shove from her mostly-intact arms, smearing the floor with her own simulated energon. She tries to get up, to flee or fight, only to slip and slide because of the slick and fall once more. There's no escape, she realizes, panic overtaking her as the damage alerts whine ever louder. The Seeker does what any frightened, hurting war machine would do - open up with a laser.

Catechism strikes you with laser for 7 points of damage.

Long Haul, for his part, is starting to get severely frustrated. He can't dodge worth anything, and seems to be having a lot of trouble landing hits at this point, too. He stumbles back as he's hit - by itself, it wouldn't have been very bad, but with everything else it add up! - then emits a faceless snarling noise, falling forward and clasping his hands together, bringing them both down towards Catechism.

You strike Catechism with Double-Fisted Smash.

Catechism feels like an ex-jet now. Her vision is blurry, her hearing's nothing but static, and her sense of touch has been superseded by damage reports. Somehow she pushes herself away from the growing puddle of energon, avoiding the slippery spot, and stands, shaking as random pieces fall off. If she's going to go out, she's going to do it on her own terms. The Seeker salutes ironically, nods, and proceeds to throw herself at Long Haul, head-first. That pointy head has to be good for something, right?

Catechism strikes you with ram for 7 points of damage.

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."

Long Haul has a blue seeker-female throwing herself at him, and it hurts! But, although Long Haul's nearing the end of his endurance, Catechism has obviously gone past hers, this last attack doing her in. His optic band flickers due both to simulated damage and surprise as he looks down at the conehead. "Whatareya, Little Ramjet?"

Catechism falls for the last time. She's taken all that she can take, and she's out. The drone zaps her awake and back to full charge, but she finds that even sitting is rather an effort. She mumbles, "Whu...hnn? Goo' figh." She shakes herself, trying to sort out just what happened. Catechism was on the ground, and her head hurts, and...her head hurts? The Seeker gives Long Haul a puzzled look and answers brokenly, "Ramjet? Uhhnn, got a pointy head, migh' as well use it..."

Long Haul radiates mild bafflement that cannot be reflected on his featureless face and shrugs. "Hnh. If you say so. Anyway, not bad at all... a couple-a them attacks you got hit pretty hard... yer best off fightin' from the air, though." With that he turns around and limps out, not even bothering to offer Catechism a hand up. He hauls stuff all day! She can get herself out of here! "Maybe I'll see you around."