[N00b inc0ming!] [open-ish]

[zer0thassassin]

WHO: Zer0 and Hot Rod
WHERE: Prima's Quadrant - the foot of the cliff where Prima's temple is
WHEN: After this log
WHAT: Zer0 and Hot Rod have agreed to spar.
WARNINGS: Violence, bad haiku

Zer0 had not, in fact, known where 'Prima's Quadrant' was, or how to get there. Neither of these facts were insurmountable, though transportation had proven slightly more difficult. There had been... a few communication difficulties between himself and the 'Acolyte' figures.

Nonetheless, he arrived in good time. Enough time, in fact, to eschew the paths and take to rougher terrain. Recognizing the brightly-colored figure from the video, Zer0 slipped around the architectural features until he was behind his new sparring partner.

Only then did he step into plain view. "Greetings."

Comments

[zer0thassassin]

Zer0 started backing away towards cover, methodically sending rocket blasts in Hot Rod's direction. The good news was that they didn't have that foul corrosive junk on them.

The bad news was that they were apparently electrically-charged.

[young_upstart]

     Dodging any manner of shots aimed in his direction was hardly anything new for the Autobot. He veered to the side with each blast that came flying towards him, and he didn't have to get hit to get a reading that those things were pretty nasty.

     Once he gauged the time it took between each shot, he sped forward again, waiting for the right moment before he executed another drift to circle around Zer0's position.

[zer0thassassin]

Well, that was a waste of ammunition. Zer0 switched weapons again, back to the much lighter pistol, and threw a grenade. No need for much aiming with that one; it was a homing grenade, one that would divide itself into multiple smaller grenades when it found its target.

That distraction taken care of, Zer0 bolted for cover, or at least something to put between himself and the vehicle.

[young_upstart]

     Hot Rod saw the small object being thrown, and it didn't take him a second scan to figure out what it was. Frankly, he didn't want to find out what would happen if he got hit.

     He practically launched himself out of alt-mode, letting loose with his photon charges to try taking care of the grenade before it could find its target. His landing wasn't going to be the smoothest but compared to being hit by a grenade, he'd definitely take it.

[zer0thassassin]

Sadly for Zer0, the grenade had a set timer, so while the photon charge successfully set off the smaller grenades, Hot Rod did escape the blast zone(s).

Meanwhile, Zer0 had located decent cover, and was taking the opportunity to reacquaint Hot Rod's joints with his corrosive pistol.

[young_upstart]

     Ugh, he was in for a fresh paint job after this...and a tune-up wouldn't be a bad idea either, considering those shots of Zer0's. Hot Rod nearly stumbled as his attempt to get to his feet was hindered by those rounds going off in the right place.

     He took a few running steps just to make it more difficult to be hit in the same spot as his radar worked to locate the organic's new position. Then he let loose with the return fire.

...I have no idea how to end this. fyi.

[zer0thassassin]

Zer0 pulled back, pressing himself closer to the rock he was using for cover. Smaller pieces of rock rained down on him from the proximity of the blasts, but that was still safer than trying to outrun a sometimes-vehicle.

Crouching lower, he eased around the rock just enough to sight the big Cybertronian's position, and started up his steady series of a-bit-more-than-irritating little projectiles. He must be something of a marksman, because Hot Rod's maneuvers didn't seem to put him off too much. Still, Zer0 was at least partly pinned behind his cover, unless he was willing to risk more photon blasts.

...neither do I. Pff.

[young_upstart]

     They could keep at this forever, but Hot Rod didn't like entertaining the idea of becoming so pock-marked from Zer0's sharpshooting. With the way he aimed, he could do some serious damage, and it didn't seem like the little organic was too worried about it either.

     Fixating upon the signatures he picked up behind the rocky outcropping, Hot Rod focused a continuous blast. It'd punch through that rock, and perhaps with luck catch Zer0 off guard- if not under rubble.

...rubble it is!

[zer0thassassin]

Zer0 lunged for relative safety as his rocky shelter disintegrated - to his credit, he made it most of the way before he was pinned by falling rubble. Flat on his front, Zer0's arms were free, and his shield had held long enough to keep him from being crushed, but it wasn't a good position for... well... anything. Still, the organic changed weapons, this time to the long-sighted sniper rifle he'd had on his back, and took aim -

- then, as if remembering himself, Zer0 lowered the weapon. "Damn! I yield to you," he called. Red digital letters floated in front of his helmet, reading 'FML.' "Rifle inappropriate, for a friendly spar."

[young_upstart]

     He was tensed, ready to move, half expecting Zer0 to have fired. Slowly he lowered his arm, and after a moment, Hot Rod nodded, starting over towards him.

     "Huh, not bad..!" he said, stooping down to help unearth Zer0 from where he was trapped. He flashed a rueful smile, because the damage he'd taken from the spar was no laughing matter, even if it hadn't done anything serious. The potential had been there, he'd realized.

[zer0thassassin]

Zer0 pulled himself out from underneath the rocks, with Hot Rod's help, and stood, brushing himself off stiffly. Scuffs and a few small rips in his suit showed that the spar had been no cakewalk for him, either.

"Educational," he conceded.

[young_upstart]

     "Yeah..." Hot Rod muttered as he looked himself over. He'd probably get it from whichever medic got to him first, and he wasn't looking forward to it. "Well, you satisfied?" Because this was probably going to be the last time he ever volunteered to spar with this guy.

Hot Rod doesn't deserve this.

[zer0thassassin]

Zer0 flashed a smiley-face in front of his helmet in answer. His impression that there were no equivalents to surveyors or hypos was confirmed, and the potency of his weapons acknowledged. He refused to be underestimated by anyone, regardless of size or equipment. "It was a good fight. I'd welcome a rematch soon, to test improvements."

Pffffff

[young_upstart]

     If he'd had eyebrows, one of them would have twitched at that response. He was pretty sure it'd look bad for him if he was caught trying to punch an organic in the face. Hot Rod didn't look particularly thrilled by that proposition either. "Um. Yeah. Suuuure...." he said carefully.

god he's such a jerkbag.

[zer0thassassin]

Yeah, that was a no. Well, he'd imparted a valuable lesson to the Cybertronian, and that was even better than the prospect of another spar with him.

Zer0 switched topics with no conversational transition. "The term 'Autobot -' what does that contraction mean? Some kind of faction?"

xD

[young_upstart]

     Hot Rod was only thankful that no one was around to see him nearly get beat by an organic.

     "Yeah, that's right. There's Autobots, and then there's Decepticons. The latter are usually making a mess of things, but around here I guess there's some kind of truce going on." He shrugged.

Re: xD

[zer0thassassin]

Wow, not helpful. Still, 'truce' implies 'war,' and for somewhere with no bandit cannibals, the Cybertronians were remarkably well-armed. "Conflict is between - corporations or other? Ideology?"

[young_upstart]

     "...ideology, I guess. They act mainly by force, and they don't care much about others when it comes to means in finding and gathering energy sources." So far Hot Rod hadn't seen them causing any real problems presently, but just because a few might keep an agreement, did it mean everyone would?

[zer0thassassin]

"...as opposed to what?" The behavior didn't sound at all unusual to Zer0; a certain amount of brutality was intrinsic to a planet where the most powerful political entities were weapons manufacturers.

[young_upstart]

     The Autobot tilted his head. "As opposed to having a little more concern for the world and the people that might suffer for it? Guess it all boils down to power, and Decepticons figure if they got it, why not flaunt it?" He really wasn't much in the mood for talking about history and power struggles though.

     "I think there's a healer for organics around, so if you're injured, you might want to get yourself checked out."

He can't handle Rod being polite. XD What is this phenomenon.

[zer0thassassin]

"Appreciated," Zer0 said stiffly, brushing rock dust off his legs as if to point out how undamaged he was. It didn't really work that well. "Nothing a hypo won't fix. Superficial."

ahahah xD

[young_upstart]

     It was just a suggestion, but Hot Rod only shrugged. He managed not to wince with the gesture. Speaking of getting checked out, he probably ought to do the same.

     "Well, all right then." He wasn't exactly an expert to say otherwise, and Zer0 seemed perfectly capable of handling himself anyway. "If we're done here, then I guess I'll get going..."

oh god, this thread, it has killed me the whole time XD

[zer0thassassin]

Zer0 nodded, and flashed a smiley face again. Apparently that was about all Hot Rod was going to get in terms of a farewell.

8]

[young_upstart]

     He was really beginning to hate that smiley. Still, Hot Rod forced a pleasant-enough expression on his own face, reciprocating with a nod of his own before he turned to leave. After everything else, he wasn't expecting much of a good-bye from the guy either.

     ...he wasn't about to embarrass himself further by limping away, and he had some distance to travel anyway, so taking two steps, the Autobot dropped down, shifting into his alt-form before speeding away. Oops. Maybe he should of offered Zer0 a ride? Well darn.