EVENT: MINING COLONY V'VORTE

[crux_mods]

Who: Councilor Labismat, Science Captain Urist McEngineer, OPEN
Where: V’Vorte
When: June 4th-8th
Warnings: N/A

The Fleet stations itself near V’Varga, the more populated planet of the V’V system, but the majority of the ships are ferrying people down to V’Vorte. Mainly desert, the only things of interest on it seem to be the Mining Plains, which stretch for hundreds of miles; the Blue Circus, which lights up the nights with laser shows and fireworks; and the small town that supports the first two and serves as a small island of normality among the eccentric carnies and boisterous miners. There are rides to and from the Teuberg twice a day, in case you would rather not stay overnight, which are overseen by Science Captain McEngineer, who gives an energetic explanation of the types of metal needed when asked. Back on the Teuberg, Councilor Labismat can be found greeting the ships coming back in, checking on any progress being made.

The V’V natives are mostly humanoid in appearance, with reddened skin tones and large eyes that help them see in the dimmer light of their sun. Most of them, especially the miners, are quite friendly and seem unfazed by the variety of species the Fleet has brought to their doorstep. The only Transports who might get a second glance are the robotic ones, as the mining mechs vaguely resemble them.

Comments

[smallest]

The metal suit wobbled as Francœur fumbled with the controls. His instincts told him to jump far away from here but the robot's limitations meant its feet barely left the ground. This conflict in nature and design led to him crashing into the ground. He caught a glimpse of a blue vehicle speeding his way before those scaly creatures advanced on him. As long as he was in the hunk of metal, he should be safe, right?

He wrapped the machine's arms around the cockpit to keep himself protected. It was only a glimpse but he knew that blue car. He pressed the communications device and he began chirping to Flashpoint in a panic. What should he do?!

[shitflashpointsays]

Francœur is kinda the last person she expected to be out here, but she recognizes his vocalizations immediately. "Chirpy what're you doin' out here!? Other than making some new bug friends?" Or not!friends as the case may be.

Well, hell if she's gonna let some angry insects pick on her friend. She's not too daunted, these things can't be worse than the Swarm on Cybertron right? "Keep goin'! Find cover, there might be some near that rock outcropping over there." Hey, something's better than nothing, right? Meanwhile she makes good on her intercept course, doing a donut or two that kicks up enough dust to obscure Francœur's mech and draw attention to herself instead. And if that doesn't do it, hopefully a transformed robot with blazing guns will.

[smallest]

It all sounded a lot safer when he first volunteered. If he had known the risks, he would not have put himself in such danger. He looked at the screen of the communicator. Filled with fear, it took him a moment to connect meaning to her words. The outcropping, okay, he saw it.

He ran and found cover, though he peeked to watch. What was Flashpoint doing, he worried. Did she actually mean to fight them? Until the dust cleared, he could not be sure but he thought about going back.

The swarm stopped their chase. Their eyes stung and their chemical senses only took in the dusty air. Their attention turned to Flashpoint. Teeth snapped, punctuating their screeches as they advanced. The sounds were neither human nor anything like the noises Francœur made. One of them, the fastest of the group, had separated from the pack in the dust cloud. It trotted away from the commotion and it went to the rock outcropping. Francœur was not as hidden as he thought he was.

[shitflashpointsays]

That's how they get you on these gigs, the advertising makes it look super easy and lucrative and then you get Surprises later unless you read the Fine Print. Or sometimes even if you do read the Fine Print.

And of course she means to fight them. It's what she's good at. Or at least, it's the only thing she's done for the last 4 million years, give or take a few centuries. And actually, she'd prefer to fight some of them and then maybe scare the rest off. Because the sheer volume of potential bug guts she could get stuck in her plating? SO not a thing she wants to think about. NAS-TY!

The dust at least scatters a few, and she picks off several with shots from her blaster. That's when Flashpoint notices the one split off, trying to flank her. No...he's going after Chirpy. Well, hell no she won't have that. "HEY! UGLY! GET BACK IN LINE!" She darts on a short intercept course, not closing completely but enough to get its attention coupled with a few shots from her blaster.

Her second gun is in her hand now, trained what's left of the approaching swarm. She swaps to autofire and sprays the group with a volley and prays. Firearms aren't her specialty--melee is--but it's going to be a melee fight pretty soon here anyway.

[smallest]

She really was fighting them, and killing them. Francœur tightly shut his eyes and just in time to miss witnessing the death of the bug closest to him. They may be insects, but so was he and he could not help feeling strongly for their deaths.

The insects were in a chaos. Some stayed to attack while others ran away, crawling over their brethren if they had to. Still, there were more approaching than were leaving. They did not appear to have a leader but worked as an equal swarm.

Francœur chattered over the communications device. He gestured and punctuated by singing in a loud voice. He could only hope Flashpoint could understand that he was suggesting she use loud noises to scare them away. Such noises would scare him and he hoped it was a fear these insects shared in common. Of course, for creatures as large as these, they would need that much of a bigger noise than regular sized bugs.

[shitflashpointsays]

Unfortunately for Francœur, Flashpoint probably needs a little insectoid sensitivity training. She's taking these things out wholesale because it's what comes to mind first. She's doesn't have a whole lot of non-lethal pacification tools in her arsenal.

And well, memories of the Swarm on Cybertron? That'd make anyone want to met large insects with lethal force. Plus...they're going after her buddy. Even if Chirpy poked around somewhere that he shouldn't have, they've easily driven him far from that place and it's time to lay off.

And though it takes her a moment to decipher what Francœur's saying over the commlink--she even ducks several dive bombs in the process and blasts a wing off one that gets too close--in the end she gets it. And with that comes a Big Idea, because even if she doesn't have any standard pacification techniques, improvising is a thing she can do.

She throws herself back into her alt and floors it for the main density of the swarm (and hopefully away from Chirpy), who gleefully descend on her. The blue car body all but disappears under the onslaught--she's waiting for as many of them to get close as she can--then on goes her stereo, volume tricked up high, blasting what is probably the most heinous sound to ever be called music. Hopefully these bugs hate screamo-dubstep mashups because that's what's pelting out of her not ummentionably large speakers.

[smallest]

He leaned out from his hiding spot, desperate to see if she would be okay. The bug that had its wing clipped writhed on the ground and it hissed in agony. Francœur hesitated as he watched it until finally he got out of hiding to reach for it.

The music blared, shaking the ground. He could feel the vibrations of the metal suit rattling all around him. It was a sensation that mimicked the presence of a large threat. Insects would usually scurry away from this, and these creatures were no different. They hissed in terror as they ran away. The injured monster shrieked at Francœur before it ran with the rest.

Francœur remained, knowing better than to be scared of the noise. He looked at the retreating bugs, and then to the bodies on the ground. A look of guilt flashed across his features before he turned to the commlink. He uttered a single, drawn-out chirp, one that asked about her well-being. Was she hurt?

[shitflashpointsays]

She's never had a valid reason to drive around with her music blaring at annoyingly loud volumes before so this is a delightful novelty for her. Though it's loud enough to rattle her plating too so the sooner these things bugger off the better.

Flashpoint does several rounds of donuts in the dusty ground, mostly to keep herself moving so none of the bugs can latch on. When everything is still and dust finally settles, her finish is ruined, plating battered, scratched and gouged in ways that probably aren't comfortable in the least, but she is mostly whole. She might be grumpy about that chuck missing from her spoiler though. But that's for later, right now she's still on a cyberdreneline high.

A moment or two passes after Francœur's chirp over the commlink, but then it's answered by a loud whooping sound. "AAAWWW YESS. DAT'S RIGHT. GO HOME LOSERS!" She rolls over to where her friends is, a little more gingerly than before since there's a good gash in one of her tires, but she seems to pay it no mind along with the rest of damage. She pushes up out of alt, her lopsided grin of victory slightly shadowed by a touch of concern. "You okay, Chirpy?"

[smallest]

It was startling at first, but he felt relieved to know she was well enough to cheer like that. Now that the danger was gone, he crawled out of the mechsuit. Aside from a bump or two on his head from rattling around in a too small cockpit, he looked well enough. He rubbed the top of his head, but he nodded, chirping affirmatively.

He looked around. All he could see was Flashpoint, bodies of dead insects, and barren land. His expression turned worried. He did not remember how he got here; he was only concerned with running away at the time. Were they lost?

[shitflashpointsays]

"Not sure that thing suits you, Chirpy." HA. Suit. She made a pun. If only Flashpoint's humor was always that vanilla. Still, the point stands: she's glad to see him come out of that thing in one piece.

She glances around too, but it's mostly to be certain there aren't reinforcements coming. Everything looks clear though. "Lost?" She mostly means him. As a Cybertronian she's got advanced technology to get her out of these situations. And if that fails (because what is GPS when you have no satellites in orbit?) she'll just follow her own tracks back to the carnival and no one will be the wiser.