re_alignment_logs | [N00b inc0ming!] [open-ish]

     Being that he had no idea where the guy he'd just agreed to spar with was starting from, Hot Rod had no idea how long it would take for him to meet him. Come to think of it, he didn't even get the guy's name, though from the specific inquiry, he at the very least guessed that it was an organic.

     If Kup or any of the others were there, they would have probably gotten on his case for that. How was he going to be of any use to anyone else if he forgot to do simple things like that?

     "Way to go, Hot Rod," he muttered to himself, shaking his head in annoyance of himself. He'd been so preoccupied with his thought processes that he neglected to pay attention to his sensors- another thing he could put himself down for later. He whipped around just a moment after Zer0 had stepped out of hiding, tensed, but not enough to have brought up his weapons.

     "...oh, it's you. Hey." Just play it cool. Yeah. "So, don't think I caught your name. I'm Hot Rod."

The gray-and-black helmeted figure was at least vaguely human-shaped and -sized, for what that was worth. He was also carrying a pistol and a scoped rifle, the latter slung across his back.

Zer0 nodded in acknowledgment of the response, and tapped the dull red symbol over his chest: 0. That was all Hot Rod was going to get from him on the subject of names, unless he had to elaborate on the spelling.

"You have no hypos," Zer0 began without further preamble. Having to look up at Hot Rod didn't seem to bother him at all. "Or New-U stations, I'm told. What are the spar's rules?"

     If Hot Rod had eyebrows, he would have had one arched at that response. "Not much for words, huh? So...Zero?"

     The Autobot folded his arms as he studied the small figure below. He didn't need to pretend he was confused by the look he gave Zer0 at his following words. Hypos? New-U stations?

     "Er...well to tell you the truth, I've never fought organics before- it's not really something we Autobots do in general, so I'm kind of going to have to wing this. But since this is a spar, I guess we'll keep it low-powered."

A glowing sideways smiley-face flashed in front of Zer0's faceplate to confirm his name. "My concern's for you. Shall we fight to a yield, then? No fatalities." Snide much?

"...." Okay, wow. This organic certainly had an attitude! Hot Rod seemed momentarily taken aback at that. He eyed Zer0 before giving a hesitant nod.

"...all right then." This little organic was already looking down at him and they hadn't even started! "Let's do this."

Zer0 apparently did not believe in countdowns, because he took off at a dead run, drawing a pistol as he moved. As a test, he activated Decepti0n, sending the hologram copy of himself running in a different direction.

     Either it was because of the vibe he was getting from Zer0 or just anticipation of the impending spar, but Hot Rod wasn't completely surprised by the sudden move, even if it went without a word of confirmation. He took a step back, leveling his arm although he hesitated from actually firing. Slag it, how was he supposed to attack an organic?!

     That was only a brief thought as it still didn't do anything for his opponent that was running in his direction. Or...what?

     Was he seeing double? Hot Rod frowned, optics tracking the double before he pulled back to look in the direction of Zer0 himself. Something was still there, but it wasn't matching up with what he picked up visually- but then neither did any heat signatures match with the other. He decided to trust his sensors, swinging around to aim his built in blaster towards the oncoming but invisible figure, sending off a few rounds- though not directly at Zer0. Chunks of rock exploded from the ground.

"Hah!" The sound was more triumph or satisfaction than real humor; it didn't really please Zer0 to know that his Decepti0n was outdated, but better to know now than later. "I hope that's not your best shot."

The comment was mostly for Hot Rod's benefit - Zer0 could tell the Cybertronian was pulling his shots, and he was not amused. As for pulling his own shots - never.

The good thing about fighting so large an opponent was that it was relatively difficult to miss. So it was very likely that Zer0's corrosive rounds - formulated to react strongly with metal of any kind - found some part of his target, though perhaps not a critical area.

     "-I'm just getting warmed up!"

     Okay, organic or not, this guy was quickly getting on Hot Rod's nerves. He jumped back out of reflex as Zer0 fired off his own weapon, bringing up an arm to guard. The shots didn't quite ping off his metal plating as he expected them to, but the Autobot was quick to yelp once he felt the slight burning as what shots that did manage to hit had started to eat right through! "What the-?!"

     Why that little...! The guy had said this was a spar to test his skills. Meaning Hot Rod was just one big fat metal guinea pig, wasn't he? Well, he was not about to let himself get shot full of holes by someone less than a quarter of his size!

     The Autobot dove to the side, raising his arm again, this time shooting true.

Finally, the robot was taking him seriously. Zer0 had considered deploying his rocket launcher for a few moments. He flung himself to the side, hoping to miss the greatest part of the blast. The greatest, but not all. Best to get this part over with in a relatively controlled situation.

Just being at the edge of the shot's impact was enough to tell Zer0 several things. First, that was equivalent to a shock weapon; second, he was going to need a better shield as soon as possible, and third, people who willingly endured weapons fire were morons. Well, he'd already known that. The shield held, barely, and Zer0 did his best to stifle a pained sound at the feel of the tertiary electric surge.

Hot Rod still couldn't help but wince just a bit as he saw one of his shots connect, but it proved that the organic was definitely more durable in whatever armor , he was wearing. Spike's exosuit wouldn't have been as lucky.

This one wanted a fight, so the Autobot was going to give him one. Again he took aim at the ground, this time for tactical purposes rather than wanting to avoid directly striking Zer0. He'd have to dodge shrapnel aside from Hot Rod's power blasts, the latter following after the first explosions of rock.

Personality flaws aside, one thing in Zer0's favor was his speed. He threw himself into a sprint, not at all interested in reacquainting himself with shrapnel impacts, or experiencing any of those power blasts with a weakened shield.

Zer0 slowed, but didn't stop moving as he fired another few rounds at his slower target. Because this was, after all, a mostly-friendly sparring match, he refrained from any head shots. Any visible joints, though, were completely valid weak points.

"Interesting ploy," Zer0 called. He didn't sound winded at all. "I've seen it done better, mind. Show me some 'leet skillz.'" He couldn't exactly analyze the fullest possibilities of this foreign technology without seeing more of it in action, now could he?

     Ow! If he didn't be more careful, the local medics were going to have a field day telling him off for being so careless. And then laugh at him for having his aft handed to him by an organic. ...no. Not happening!

     "I'll show you 'leet'-!" Whatever that meant. In any case, Hot Rod couldn't let those corrosive shots do any more damage, and after realizing where Zer0 had been aiming, there was only one sure way he knew to get close, stay up to speed, and keep from getting potshot.

     He dropped down towards the ground, torso twisting as legs and arms folded inward, wheels out and burning rubber as soon as the car touched ground. Slow, huh? He'd show Zer0 slow. Coming at'cha!

And just like that, Zer0's speed advantage turned into less than nothing. Agility, though, he still had, and didn't mean to give up as well.

Zer0 fired off another shot, this time at Hot Rod's tires, and jumped aside at nearly the last moment, too late for Hot Rod to turn and sideswipe him. He was unfortunately familiar with this tactic, from the Dust's bandit vehicles. (The lack of exploding barrels was a plus, of course, as was the lack of anyone screaming about meat bicycles.) Meanwhile, he was assessing the landscape, looking for a defensible position from the newly-minted car.

Hot Rod's tires weren't your average tires, especially for all the distance he tended to eat when he was in alt mode and bored. That didn't mean he was going to put them up to the test of a direct hit from that nasty gun of Zer0's. He swerved expertly, although he stayed his course after his opponent.

His tactic wasn't an attempted sideswipe, but once the Autobot was close enough and just as Zer0 lept aside, Hot Rod transformed again, shots firing.

Now things were getting fun! Instead of running to put more distance between them, Zer0 dashed forward, springing upward. His pistol vanished into thin air, replaced by an actual sword. one with a translucent blue blade.

The term 'cut off at the knees' was about to take on a whole new meaning for Hot Rod, if Zer0 had anything to say about it.

Edited 2013-07-02 21:32 (UTC)

Oh what?! Just how many surprises did this guy have on him?!

Hot Rod threw a hand towards the ground, vaulting aside as he swung himself into alt-mode again, the blade just narrowly missing its mark as he landed on four tires again. The Autobot gunned it, engine revving as he drove right towards the organic- which wasn't a far distance spread between them to begin with. Apparently he wasn't adverse to hitting him head on.

There was really just one way left for Zer0 to go, if he wasn't going to try dodging to the side again, and that was up.

Sending yourself tumbling across the windshield of a rapidly-accelerating sports car was never the best idea, even if it was deliberate. Zer0 landed hard, rolling across Hot Rod's roof in a semi-controlled tumble. He kept rolling several yards, even after he hit the dirt, too, curled up in a tight ball that belied his tall lankiness.

Controlled or not, Zer0's movements weren't half as fluid as they'd been before as he unfolded himself. Nor did he bother with the high-powered rifle on his back. Instead, the pistol disappeared from his hands, replaced by a rocket launcher. The weight sent the skinny humanoid leaning sideways to compensate, but that wasn't going to affect his aim.

     "Oh, you have got to be kidding...!!"

     Where did he even get that? -that wasn't the important question to be answered when you had a rocket launcher being aimed at your aft.

     Tires screeched as Hot Rod slammed the brakes, turning in the opposite direction so that his rear wheels coasted after in a smooth about-face. Know what? Bring it, Zer0. The pedal's to the metal.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

"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.

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."

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.

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?"

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.

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?"

"...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?

"...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.

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."

"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."

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..."

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

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.

[N00b inc0ming!] [open-ish]

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

...neither do I. Pff.

...rubble it is!

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Hot Rod doesn't deserve this.

Pffffff

god he's such a jerkbag.

xD

Re: xD

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

ahahah xD

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

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