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>

 

Shellshock arrives from the NCC Residential Plaza to the south.

Shellshock has arrived.

Shellshock comes into the Holo Arena.

 

Shellshock walks in and stops short, "Oh i didn't know anyone was in here.

 

Scrapper is currently in the training room, fooling around with the energo sword that Springer lost to Scourge who gave to Mixmaster who gave it to Scrapper. He's duking it out with the training drone, and doing a piss-poor job of it as well. The drone is set on easy, and so Scrapper is able to hack at it by using the sword as a baseball bat. A swordsman, he is not. But Scrapper doesn't know that, and it's a morale boost to beat up on the easy setting. Pausing as Shellshock enters, Scrapper shrugs, "Wha? Oh, no problem."

 

Shellshock walks over, "well i have a question for you, how hard is it to build another space bridge access?

 

Scrapper says, "We've done it before. It wouldn't be hard, but it does take a fair number of resources. We still have the mobile bridge available for use if we want it. Why?" he asks, shutting off the sword. The drone pauses in its tough job of standing still.

 

Shellshock says, "just an idea thats flitting across my mind recently. but to make it truly a viable thing would require bridge access"

 

Scrapper says, "Well like I said, we have the mobile spacebridge. I think Mixmaster and myself will consider using it, but it /is/ possible to make another access." The Constructicon taps a button on the drone and switches it to medium setting. He turns on the energo sword again and hacks away at it, but this time the drone parries his baseball swing and gives Scrapper a good thump, who falls back a bit, surprised at the maneuver. "Slaggin' thing," he mutters, regaining his balance.

 

Arachnae has arrived.

 

Shellshock steps over and slams the drone to the floor with a savage punch, "ok, you should be able to clobber it now. I was thinking about that project, talked to Soundwave about it and he raised several good points, so i have that on the back burner for now and i'm looking at something more usefull in this area.

 

Scrapper lowers his sword, as he doesn't see the point of practicing his crapola swordsmanship skills on a helpless target. Of course, this is the same fella who not sixty seconds ago was wailing on it while it was in novice mode. He waits for the drone to regain its bearings after the punch and then swings at it again, this time anticipating the robot's parrying maneuver and manages to slash it. This works fine on a non-sentient being, but in a real fight Scrapper wouldn't know what the enemy is going to do. "Alright, alright. If you don't want to tell me your plan, that's fine. I can tell you /ours/, though, if you want."

 

Arachnae slips into the arena.. and stops a bit surprised that there are others in here.. She checks her internal chronometer, lifts a brow then steps away fromt he door, content to watch.

 

Shellshock shrugs, "tell you what, i'll trade you. mine is an outpost, something mobile. what i have worked out is someting that can hold a max of around 50, but only needs 5 to run it fully.

 

Scrapper steps back and narrowly avoids the counter-punch of the drone, as he was too slow getting the sword up to block it. "A mobile outpost?" he inquires, "Like Trypticon?" he asks, still focusing heavily on his titanic duel with the drone on - gasp - level medium. As such, he doesn't notice Naenae entering.

 

Arachnae angles her wings behind her and settles in to watch the two training mechanisms.

 

Shellshock says, "nope, this would be a space based one, A lot smaller scale then Trypticon. It would have roughly enough space for a dozen or so major rooms, things like medical, a command post, sciance and resurch, a couple of rooms for workspaces. I've even hunted up some specs for a hyperdrive big enough to take it from system to system."

 

Scrapper is about to nod to Shellshock, but the drone's maneuver is apparently not over, and it follows up with its miss with a solid one-two punch which knocks Scrapper back off his feet. Thankfully, this is only the medium setting, and Scrapper has his very tough Constructi-armour to protect him. The drone is nice enough to let him get back up, and he idly says to Shellshock, "So a big spaceship." He resists the urge to ask 'like Trypticon?'. "That would be fun to construct, I admit." He doubts Galvatron would allow it, though.

 

Arachnae perks a brow at the topic of conversation.. This is interesting.. that is certain. Folding arms across her front, she remains quiet.

 

Shellshock nods, "yep, but this would be arranged more along the lines of an outpost, including a smaller scale of the original project to assist in powering it. It's only in the planning and resurch steps, but if it were parked around say mars where the light is strong all the time, there could be some vary profitable draws to to had from even a small scale arrangment. Isn't that right Arachnae Ma'me?"

 

Arachnae lifts a brow, glancing over at Shellshock. "What?"

 

Shellshock chuckles, "i know how long you've been there, my tactical sensors picked you up when you came in. Come join the conversation, besides i wanted to ask you as head of medical, what a properly outfitted medbay runs resourse wise?

 

Scrapper finally notices Arachnae standing off over there, and once he's hopped back up onto his feet, he resumes his sparing with the drone with a renewed determination. And indeed, his sudden assault catches the primitive drone's programming by surprise, and he manages to hack off a holographic arm on the drone. It reels back, holographic sparks shooting from the wound. "Hah!" Scrapper shouts before idly saying to the others, "As with all things, defense is my primary worry. And... uh... Mars might not be a good place for it," he grins behind his faceplate. "Not with what we're going to do with it."

 

Arachnae hnns, "You could just as well have asked Scrapper what a properly outfitted medical facility runs with. After all, he designed and created the most excellent one that we have here." Her wings shift behind her, rustling panels as she watches Scrapper spar.

 

Shellshock chuckles, "He built it, but you run it. You know better then anyone what it takes to keep up with it." He walks over to the wall. and nods, "eather that, or parking it in the next system over.

 

Scrapper waves with his free hand at Arachnae's compliment. Given that he was able to design an entire city, you betcha he made sure it had way more room than it probably even needed. The distraction gives the drone time to recover and fire off a laser bolt at Scrapper, who takes the shot in the chest with his tough armour. It slows him down enough that his next swipe with the sword misses. Grumbling, Scrapper shuts off the sword and pulls out his gun. Firing three quick blasts, the drone finally falls into a holographic smoking ruin. "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side." He says. "Still, this sword'll be useful for collecting Autobot parts if I ever learn how to use it."

 

Arachnae shakes her head, "Scrapper.. you've got to get used to the weapon before you can actually.. you know.. enjoy useing it.. well.."

 

Shellshock reaches over his shoulder, and from sub-space starts to draw out a hilt. This hilt is attached to a blade, one that he keeps drawing out until he finaly pulls it clear, the massive chainsword is as long as Shellshock is tall....

 

Scrapper shrugs, "I grab their arm, I saw it off, I make a chair. Not so hard. But yes, that will be difficult to manage if they're still alive, I suppose..." Scrapper considers this for a bit. "There's plenty of swordsmen in the Empire that would be happy to give me pointers. Ha! Get it? Pointers?" Scrapper grins. Oh, there's that crafty nerd humour of his peeking through again. He peers at the sword Shellshock just brought out. "That's pretty big." he admits.

 

Arachnae gives a shrug, peering at Shellshocks sword.. Her optics flicker a bit, but she makes no moves. "Nice.. But how effective is it?"

 

Shellshock chuckles as the sword hums a little and the chainsaw blades start to speed up and turn. The thing is massive, easily 3 handspans wide as he takes it in a two handed grip. and spins, the blade arcing and sliceing clean through drone and digging into the armor plateing of the floor. He pulls it up and nods, "effective enough once i get the operational bugs out of the energon trasfer unit.

 

Arachnae ahhs.. both brows lifting up over a slightly skeptical expression. She shrugs.

 

Scrapper says, "Too big, really. In my humble opinion. Seems like it'd be fine for Devastator, maybe, but I know I wouldn't want to be carrying around a sword /that/ big." He fools around carelessly with his laser sword a bit more, almost chopping off his hands in the process.

 

Scrapper casually adds, "It's not how big it is, it's how you use it."

 

Arachnae chuckles softly. "Now that is a truism."

 

Shellshock smiles as he nods, "well i look at it this way, with this, i'm going to draw even more of the fire away from the rest of you.

 

Scrapper nods and grins behind his faceplate, "I'm always fine with other people getting shot." he says. He's definitely an MSEer at heart.

 

Arachnae shakes her head, pushing off of the wall, padding towards the drone collection thoughtfully. "I don't like being a target.. and I honestly prefer not letting others get shot up on my behalf." A wing half fans out as she thoughtfully stares off, "Repairs take up my valuable research time." She smiles wryly.

 

Shellshock chuckles, "but if it's only one being fixed instead of 7, i think that tradeoff is acceptable?

 

Scrapper replies to Nae, "Yeah, but in this line of work, getting shot at is pretty much par for the course. You've been lucky to stay out of most combat, Arachnae, given your excellent medical knowledge, but for a lot of us, it's pretty much a way of life. Sure, building and constructing is always the primary goal for me, but there's always the need to beat down our enemies hovering around in the background.

 

Arachnae tucks her wings back behind her, turning to look at the two before shaking her head, "Yeah, I've been pretty lucky.." she smirks, "on the not being targeted.. Then again.." she shrugs, "I'm really not much of a threat.."

 

Shellshock says, "if all else fails, once i get it up and running properly, I'm going to coat the flat surfaces with a energy resistent coating and i can use it as a shield as well"

 

Scrapper nods to the pair and says, "Good luck with avoiding combat duty, and good luck with your sword/shield/massive doorstop." He says with a chuckle.

 

Shellshock has disconnected.

 

Arachnae peers over at Scrapper, flashes a grin.. and draws out from a wing-panel, a length of sharpened metal that has a slight curve to it. "You see.. this.. is a proper sword."

 

Scrapper looks at the wing panel, "Not bad," he says, working under the assumption that Arachnae's wing armour probably isn't too strong, and thus the sword wouldn't be either. "I like this one, though. Came straight from Springer to Scourge to Mixmaster to me."

 

Arachnae nods.. "It's pretty.. A general idea in case of emergencies." She replaces the 'spar-sword' inside her wing, optics glinting. "Ahh.. You got Springers weapon."

 

Scrapper nods, "Mixmaster gave it to me. I'm so proud of him for not shamelessly stealing it!" he says, pleased at this oh so wonderful show of loyalty from his brother. Hey, it's more than he would have expected.

 

Arachnae grins for a moment, "It's a nice gift."

 

Scrapper nods and waves it around a bit more, still lucky to have not chopped off any parts of himself or people who happen to be near him. "I think I'm getting pretty good with it, too!" He says.

 

Arachnae takes a precautionary step backwards, watching Scrappers sword waving thoughtfully. "So you are. Haven't cut anything off yet so." she smiles wryly.

 

Arachnae tilts her head, "Something yes. molecular and biological instabilities.. I would go into details, but, all that matters is that it works, really."

 

Scrapper knows all about cartoon science. He was in the first two seasons, afterall. He nods in understanding and says, "Good, good. By the way, I'm working on your Aquatic Sealife Storage unit. Or ASS, as I like to call it." The Constructicon gestures, "The tank is going to have some anti-grav units that were meant for one of the mining vehicles, but since that plan has been nixed by the idiot Autobots, it'll serve this purpose just fine. This will allow for transport over land and towing by Seekers and other aerial units. For longer ranges, I'm hookin' up an attachment so your ASS will be able to be transported by the submarine here. The sub won't be so maneuverable with your ASS aboard, but it'll be great for transporting across the sea to Africa undetected. But after that your ASS has to be towed the rest of the way."

 

Arachnae slowly lifts both brows.. She nods along with Scrappers lengthy detailing of how her ASS is to be handled and transported from here to there. "Will my ASS be able to sustain its own processes or will it have to be repowered?"

 

Scrapper shrugs, "Well, your ASS is pretty big, since it has to hold a lot of stuff. The submarine's generators can repower it slowly without putting too much strain on the systems, but aside from that, your ASS is on its own."

 

Arachnae ahhs.. pondering the size of her ASS. "Need to add an expulsion system to my ASS.... Although a seperate unit to attach to it would lessen the weight problem.." she blinks.. mind catching up with word.. and shakes her head, "It is a rather large one, isnt it."

 

<Decepticon> Galvatron says, "Oh decepppppptiiiiicons?"

 

<Decepticon> Hook says, "Yes, sir?"

 

<Decepticon> Arachnae says, "Sir?"

 

<Decepticon> Mixmaster says, "Uh... yes?"

 

Scrapper nods, "It'll be done within the week." That's an IC week, so by the weekend it will be finished. And th-" Scrapper pauses as Galvatron is heard. "Funny," Scrapper mutters, "He always seems to say something as soon as your ASS is mentioned within a ten mile radius of him."

 

<Decepticon> Galvatron says, "I think we need more energon."

 

<Decepticon> Galvatron says, "What do you think?"

 

<Decepticon> Arachnae says, "Well, Scrapper and I were talking about the ASS that he's building for me."

 

<Decepticon> Mixmaster says, "Another round, then?"

 

<Decepticon> Scrapper says, "I'm doing everything I can think of to it."

 

<Decepticon> Hook says, "Sounds like a plan."

 

<Decepticon> Galvatron says, "...The ass?"

 

<Decepticon> Galvatron says, "You're building him an ass?  But...Mixmaster is already here."

 

<Decepticon> Hook laughs. "Good one, sir."

 

<Decepticon> Mixmaster says, "No no no, I'm the Leg."

 

<Decepticon> Mixmaster says, "I don't know where Long Haul is though."

 

<Decepticon> Arachnae says, "... It's a storage device..."

 

<Decepticon> Hook says, "He was calling you an idiot, Mixmaster."

 

<Decepticon> Mixmaster says, "So you want us to put things in your..?"

 

<Decepticon> Galvatron says, "ANYWAY"

 

<Decepticon> Arachnae says, "For the jellyfish.. Really now..."

 

<Decepticon> Galvatron says, "Energon gathering.  Now."

 

<Decepticon> Galvatron says, "Come to me and Hook's location to discuss, and no Mixmaster, it does not involve fuzzy bunnies and chocolate."

 

<Decepticon> Mixmaster says, "Uh.. of course, Galvatron."

 

<Decepticon> Mixmaster mutters under his voice, "Now THAT was abstract.. even for ME."

 

Arachnae gives a shake of her head, "I suppose I should go on that.."

 

Scrapper pats and says, "Hey, you don't have to go if you don't want to. You're a non-combatant!" he says. "But if you have to, just stay out of the line of fire."

 

Scrapper's alt, meanwhile, is so going to gun for Nae.

 

Scrapper promises. "I'll get the medical bay all warmed up."

 

<Decepticon> Galvatron says, "Excellent"

 

Arachnae smirks..

 

Scrapper didn't mean that mean-like! Just that there might be people in need of repairs afterwards.

 

Arachnae exits the Holo Arena.

Arachnae has arrived.

Arachnae slips quietly into the area.