Log Title: Barbecue meets Turborat
Barbecue
Characters: Barbecue, Mara, Puddlejumper, Turborat
Location: Florida, Southeast United States - North America
Date: October 14, 2009
As Logged by Barbecue - Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 11:27 PM
Southeast United States - North America[]
Like the Northeastern US, this area extends from the Mississippi to the Atlantic and encompasses a variety of states, including those states most commonly associated with the Old South. Once considered a backward region, the South has indeed risen again to become an area of culture and industry.
- Contents
- Barbecue
- Turborat
Turborat rumbles along the roadway. he was travelling mostly at night, to avoid
being seen. and that weird bright thing in the sky. He was hungry and sighed, before spotting up ahead... then skidding to a halt... beside a gas station. He could SMELL
it. Where would it be...
Barbecue is driving along the same highway
Turborat slows a little bit... the huge not-human vehicle sits there, watching as Barbeque's own vehicle approaches. He twitches a few times, and rolls backwards into the lot of the closed station.
Barbecue frowns as he notices he's getting low on gas. He pulls into the station,
hoping it has card-activated pumps.
He parks next to the pumps, getting out of the car.
- Barbecue
- Gabriel Kelly is an Irishman from Boston, and it shows from his freckles and
shock of unruly red hair to the dropped Rs after every A in his speech. Tonight he's wearing a loud bowling shirt, emblazoned with a purple and yellow scene of an anime warrior fighting a large Chinese dragon. Blue-jeans cover his long, thin legs, and his large feet are stuffed into scuffed black boots.
The huge eight-wheeled buggy-like vehicle remains, watching Barbeque through its' poorly lit headlights. It twitched its' wheels on occasion, engine raddling loudly as it just sat there.
Barbecue looks at the old pump, and curses. He sees a twitch out of the corner of his eye, and turns slowly. 'Th' hell...' he mutters to himself.
The not-human vehicle remains sitting there, as though idling without a driver. the windsheild was frosted from countless cracks and abuse, and it had no plates.
Barbecue backs slowly towards his car.
Turborat tenses a little, as he's observed. Scratched up, rusted, no paint left, no symbol of allegiance. he watches the human nervously... then begins to roll
backwards slowly as Barbeque does.
Barbecue hastens his pace as the driverless vehicle moves again. He opens the door to his car, and reaches in, grabbing a small black object and then talking quietly
into it.
He mutters to himself, "This... Bahbecue, in... of... the..."
[G.I. Joe] Sgt Barbecue says, "This is Bahbecue, in nohthehn Flohrida. Do we know of any Autobots in the ahrea?"
Turborat slows a little bit now, mostly because his huge wheels were up against the barrier around the gas stations' exterior. Watching for a moment, his headlights go
out, dropping the area into darkness.
[G.I. Joe] lil Wisp says, "Not that I'm aware of, why?"
Barbecue mutters to itself, "Got... heahr... a sentient... just... weiahd."
[G.I. Joe] Sgt Barbecue says, "Got something heahr... like a sentient vehicle. Not hostile, just... weiahd."
He keeps his eyes on the strange vehicle.
[G.I. Joe] lil Wisp says, "What kind of vehicle is it?"
Turborat remains quiet and dark now, headlamps off. He watched though nervously,
wondering what was going to happen next.
Barbecue mutters to himself, "... sohrt... buggy.... design.... like... -- ours
or..."
[G.I. Joe] Sgt Barbecue says, "Some sohrt of big buggy. Unusual design. Nevah seen anything like it -- ours or Cobra's."
He stays near his car, equally wary.
Turborat shifts a little, growing a little bit agitated and nervous. What WAS the thing doing? he sends out a radio signal to the car itself - but all id does is cause static in nearby radios and his headlights flicker on in nervousness.
Barbecue glances at the radio in his hand and in his car.
He finally calls out to the buggy, "Ah... hello?"
He keeps his car between himself and the odd craft.
Turborat literally JUMPs, and dust flies up as he bounces "... You talk!" he squeaks in surprise.
[G.I. Joe] Snake-Eyes says, "*Morse* It's not a flyer is it?"
[G.I. Joe] lil Wisp says, ".. .a buggy?"
[G.I. Joe] Mara says, "Where in Florida is it? Need someone to take a peek? I'm out in a Skyhawk right now..."
Barbecue jumps as well, although not as dramatically.
He mutters to himself, "... look like... flyeh. Definitely..."
[G.I. Joe] Sgt Barbecue gives his location. "Doesn't look like a flyeh. Definitely sentient."
He replies to the alien buggy, "YOU talk!"
Turborat pauses, then repeats, "YOU talk!" in the same tone, as though arguing with great logic or something. His headlights brighten, then dim once more "... Why is that guy carrying you?"
[G.I. Joe] Mara says, "Acknowledged, moving that way now"
Barbecue is at a gas station in northern Florida, staring at a large alien buggy
thing.
[G.I. Joe] Snake-Eyes says, "*morse* Check for symbols. It could be a Cybertronian."
Barbecue looks confused. He looks around. "What guy?" he asks the buggy.
- Turborat
Most of him was rust colored. The rest was a patchwork of different paints from the countless armors he's welded on to keep alive. His wheels are surprisingly in good shape though - duct taped here and there to hold them together. His optics used to be red, but now are a washed out pink.
Barbecue holds his radio mike to his mouth again.
He mutters to himself, "... see..."
[G.I. Joe] Sgt Barbecue says, "I don't see any symbols... just rust."
"That guy you are travelling with." The transformer replies, blinking one headlight.
"Why is he carrying you around?"
Barbecue looks around again, trying to figure out what the hell the buggy is talking about.
Finally his pale eyes widen. He looks at his vehicle, which is between him and the alien. "Oh! You mean my cah?"
He places his free hand on the roof of his Delta 88.
A pause "... YOUR car?"
Turborat shifts his wheels, suddenly turing them both in.
[G.I. Joe] Mara says, "Acknowledged, moving in..."
Skyhawk #871 flies in towards Barbecue's location at a good clip.
Barbecue says, "Yeah. MY cah."
He pats the hood of his cream-colored Delta again.
"... But why does he choose to be your car?" the mech asks, sounding lost. He pauses.
"Do you hear that?
Barbecue mutters to himself, "He..."
[G.I. Joe] Sgt Barbecue says, "He doesn't seem hostile. Just.. lost."
Barbecue talks into his radio, and then answers, "My cah isn't sentient. It's just a tool. Not like you."
Turborat churns his wheels, revving his engine a little bit "... It's just... what?"
A pause "It's not alive?" he then shifts again. "I think a Decepticon is coming this way. We need to hide!"
[G.I. Joe] Mara says, "acknowledged..."
Skyhawk #871 pulls down over the location of Barbecue and the engines rotate as it lowers itself down towards the ground.
Barbecue shakes his head. "No, it's fine. It's a friend of mine. You won't be huht.
"And, no, my cah is not alive."
Turborat freezes then, and his headlights flash in alarm, missing Barbeque's
comments, "Decepticon!" he calls in alarm, bolting forwards...
Passing by Barbeque and the car to skid to a halt under the canopy of the gas
station, putting the building between himself and the Skyhawk.
He remains there, though he pauses, perhaps the joe's words finally reaching his
CPU. ".. but it flies."
Skyhawk #871> Mara hovers the Skyhawk back up over to the back side of the building,
around to keep it from view, and she pops out.
Barbecue says, "Yeah. We humans are a pretty cleveh species. Fihst time on Eahth, I gatheh?"
Turborat shivers a little bit "It flies. Decepticons fly." he notes simply,
worriedly. He rolls back even more as Mara appears "Earth? err, this place? Y...
yes... "
Barbecue says, "Yes. This place. Eahth. And, yes, Decepticons fly. So do bihds."
"What's a bird?" the mech asks.
Barbecue laughs, and comes out a bit from behind his car shield.
He says, "Small things that fly. Also non-threatening."
Mara walks around the station, and towards the others, waving quickly and showing that she's not armed. "Hi guys..." She pauses and looks to Turborat interestedly.
"Something wrong?"
Turborat pauses "... Small things that fly? Decepticons?" he seems to have a few
problems, to say the least. As Mara approaches, he squeaks and rolls another foot
back.
Barbecue says, "We seem to have anotheh new visitor to the planet. One without an ovehabundance of courage, it seems."
He smiles at Mara.
Mara smiles to Barbecue and nods just a little. "Ah." Then she awws just a little at Turborat wheeling back, smiling towards him. "I'm harmless. Relax. I'm not armed or anything."
Turborat fidgets a little "You fly a Decepticon." he notes simply in return,
sounding rather wary. "And you're shaped more like a Seeker too."
Mara coughs just a little at that. "Er... That isn't a Decepticon, and exactly how do I look anything like a Seeker? Not to mention I'm a little bit too small.
Barbecue looks over at Mara, chuckling.
Turborat says, "You're shaped like a seeker, but you aren't sized. You're slender in the middle with long tapered legs and you have an odd shaped head." A pause "You
just don't have wings or a cockpit.
you're also SOFT."
Barbecue looks over at Mara. "You do look soft," he grins teasingly.
Mara's purple cheeks flush red at the evaluation of her figure and form, and she
laughs very softly. "Er... thanks." She winks a at Barbecue, and bounces on her feet a little, considering what isn't on underneath the skin-tight wetsuit.
Barbecue smirks, and turns away from Mara with effort, trying not to wind up with a harrassment suit.
"You're welcome?" the mech replies uncertainly, twisting his wheels back and forth.
"You also have arms." he points out.
Barbecue chuckles. "Uh, yes. She does."
Turborat says, "Uhm.... but she's unarmeD? OH! Weapons?""
Mara laughs a little bit towards Barbeque as he turns away, rolling her eyes.
"Relax, Barbecue, I did that to have it seen, I won't complain about looking." She winks, then nods to Turborat. "Exactly. I don't have any weapons. Cept my own fists and feet. Been a long time since I fought anything hand to hand totally, though."
Turborat pauses at that. "... armed but unarmed... not a decepticon but flies... not alive..." another pause " My head hurts."
Barbecue blushes, his face matching his red hair.
Mara laughs at the blush, slipping over to scruffle Barbecue's hair idly, before
smiling to Turborat. "Sorry... didn't mean to confuse you any."
"It's okay. It happens all the time. " he watches the two interact "One drives a
not-autobot, the other drives a not-decepticon, but you're friends." he states, as
though trying to convince himself. He thinks a long moment, then relaxes, rolling a little bit forwards to be closer to the two.
Barbecue says, "Yeah. Eahth can be pretty confusin', even if you've lived heah foahr a while."
Mara laughs just a little bit and nods slightly. "Just a matter of getting used to
the local way things are. I was out of contact with most things for 20 years, even
after knowing about it before, and I still had to relearn stuff because it'd changed so much."
Turborat shifts a little and sighs "I don't like it here." he states flatly "no
offense. I'm not going to be here long hopefully. Maybe. I dont know."
Barbecue says, "What brings you heah to begin with?"
He stands in a closed gas station, talking with the alien Transformer
Mara stands next to Barbecue, of course.
Turborat pauses "... I could tell you... but I was told explicitly... expli...
"Specifically NOT to trust anyone." he notes.
Mara coughs very softly at that, raising her eyebrows. "Somtimes, in order to be
trusted at all, you have to trust. I learned that a long time ago." She smiles a
little bit. "Asides, if you don't trust anyone, how are you going to learn cultural things, and critical things like which side of the road to drive on and what all the
road signs mean?"
Barbecue just listens to the two
Turborat pauses a little bit again "... Is that what those are?" he asks, startled.
"And uhm, i'm not going to be here long... and I kinda PROMISED I wouldn't, you know..." he explains awkwardly. "I'm just here to... actually wait. what was I here for?"
Barbecue smirks. "If you don't know, we shuah as Hades don't."
He grins, looking over at Mara again.
Mara nods just a little bit at that. "And learning road signs and maps and such will keep you from getting hassleld too much. There are laws about proper driving, after all, and you aren't exempt."
Barbecue mutters to Mara, "Not that he's liable to fit in anyway."
Turborat shifts a little bit "... There's law enforcers here?" he asks, more baffled and amazed "S... Sorry. I'm not sure how long I'll be here... I don't even know where I am."
Puddlejumper splutters down the coastline at her mighty 87 mph, basking in her top
speed as she avoids most air traffic.
Mara laughs a little to Barbecue and shrugs just slightly, winking. "Er, yes, there are. on multiple levels, depending on how much problem is given." She smiles. "some
smaller departments are afraid to deal with it, so they call the bigger units out.
"The thing I flew in on was a local military vehicle, people were curious and worried about you so they thought we'd better check and make sure everything was okay."
Barbecue is engrossed in the odd conversation with the alien, and doesn't notice the plane in the distance.
Turborat squeaks and rolls back again "Military! Decepticon!" he notes in alarm, his headlamps dimming drastically.
Barbecue looks around. "Wheah?"
Mara shakes her head a little bit at that. "Er... no. Local military is not
Decepticon. This is not Cybertron."
She snickers a little. "Local military shoots at Decepticons once in a while, but
that's a whole other story."
Puddlejumper keeps spluttering along, closer towards the gas station.
Turborat pauses "... What about that then?" he asks, even though he couldn't point.
Barbecue mutters to Mara, "Local military shoots are bihds sometimes, but only when they'he bohed ohr drunk!"
He looks around, trying to figure out what the alien is taking about this
time.
Puddlejumper also has her little dinkyass piston engine splutter and backfire a
couple times in mid air. "Aw crud... not now..." She tries to pull up and adjust for it, grumbling.
Mara snickers a little at Barbecue, rolling her eyes a little bit. "Well, yeah..."
She grins, and blinks at the question, looking up at the spluttering plane. "Oh dear... Looks like it's wandering towards the end of its useful life, doesn't it?"
Turborat rolls backwards, further under the canopy now out of sight.
Barbecue looks over, and squints to see what Mara and the alien are talking about.
Puddlejumper isn't quite at the end of her useful life, though, and the insignias of the Decepticon Empire are prominent on her litle wings, almost touching the front and back for their size. She wants her affiliation KNOWN. And she keeps spluttering along, insistently, even if she sounds ready to fall out of the air.
- Puddlejumper
This mighty Seeker jet... well, isn't mighty, is barely a Seeker if it is, and, well, isn't a jet. It's a Piper Cub. It has Decepticon insignias on the wings, and her fuselage is canary yellow. It has a single rotor on the front, with a piston engine visible behind it. The wings have little supports attaching to the bottom of the plane, as well as the basic attachment to the top.
Mara blinks up at the little plane and the logos on it, eheming a little bit and
glancing to Barbecue. "Y'know... that's gotta be the silliest thing I've ever seen."
Barbecue frowns, squinting through the dark. "Is that a Decepticon?" he asks, and
then quickly glances at Turborat, instantly regretting using the D word.
Turborat says, "It flies! Of course it is!""
Barbecue looks over at Turborat. "We told you. Not everything that flies is a
Decepticon."
Mara coughs a little. "I think that one might be though. Look at the logo on the
wings. Although... why there would be one of /those/ as a Decepticon... I haven't
the foggiest."
Turborat says, "Decepticons Fly. That's all I know."
Barbecue says, "Er... flight training... for those little evil tapes?"
He is obviously grasping at straws
Mara starts laughing. "Maybe. I almost feel bad about going up to shoot it down,
honestly... It'll fall out of the sky soon enough anyway."
Puddlejumper notices the Cybertronian vehicle, and tries to bank over hard in a proper Seeker move to approach a target. Unfortunately, with her engine... all it gets her is a stall-out, and she goes twirling down into the ocean, landing near the beach with a *splash* before transforming and walking.
The little yellow Piper Cub transforms up into Puddlejumper.
Turborat nearly shrieks as it comes down and swings towards him, and he bolts back
under the canopy to hide himself from sight, knocking over a jug of antifreeze.
Barbecue frowns. "Maybe you should warm up your jet, Mara," he says
Mara nods just a little bit at that, shaking her head. "Doesn't look a lot less
desparate as a robot though. Certainly not any bigger." She walks back for the
Skyhawk though.
Barbecue says, "Still bigger than us!"
Puddlejumper keeps walking for the station, finally getting on land and wandering
over, peering under the canopy a little bit. "Never seen you before... who are you?"
Barbecue moves back towards his car.
Mara skitters back for her Skyhawk, hopping in
Barbecue calls out, "Shoo, Decepticon, before we call in the Autobots!"
Skyhawk #871> Mara begins her powerup sequence.
Barbecue opens his car door, getting behind it like a shield.
Turborat goes utterly still as the decepticon appears, headlights flashing brightly in alarm.
"AIEEE!" his eight wheels kick out dirt in front of him as he hits reverse, backing out from under the canopy backwards, rolling as fast as he could into the field.
Puddlejumper straightens up and... tries... to sound menacing. Failing utterly and
totally mind you. "Autobots? Where! I'll stand up to any Autobot if I need to!...
even though that forklift one beat me up the last time..."
She blinks at Turborat backing up. "He isn't an Autobot, I take it?" She
peers down at Barbecue then.
Barbecue looks up at Puddlejumper. "No, he isn't. So buzz off, before we send you
home in pieces!"
Skyhawk #871> Mara finishes powering up, floating her Skyhawk up from the side of
the gas station, and locking in all her weapons. "Attention Decepticon. Remove
yourself from United States territory immediately, or face direct interdiction."
The Skyhawk targets Puddlejumper with its weapons.
Skyhawk's computer beeps. "Target acquired."
Barbecue crouches behind the door of his car.
"Yeah! What she said!"
Turborat merely continues fleeing through the field, rather haphazardly
Barbecue remains crouches behind his car door, in case the Decepticon opens fire.
Puddlejumper hmphs, stepping back. "I will not be hassled by you people, while
attempting to find something out. Begone." She floats up and transforms, to fly
towards Turborat again.
She transforms down into a little Piper Cub.
Barbecue curses and
grabs his radio.
He mutters to himself, "... in..."
[G.I. Joe] Sgt Barbecue says, "We have a Decepticon in the area!"
[G.I. Joe] lil Wisp says, "Which one? What's it look like? My jet is hot for scramble..."
Barbecue mutters to himself, "... Pipeh..."
[G.I. Joe] Sgt Barbecue says, "Uh... a Pipeh Cub. But an evil one!"
Skyhawk #871> Mara just... stares at the little piper cub, laughing in her cockpit.
Barbecue is a little less mirthful.
[G.I. Joe] lil Wisp says, "... A... Piper Cub? Is it moving faster than a normal
one? Or still plodding at less than 100 mph?"
[G.I. Joe] Mara says, "This is too easy, I'll handle it."
Turborat continues to reverse, until he smashes into an old derelict barn, rolling
to a stop inside it
Barbecue glances over as the alien crashes into something else.
He mutters to himself, "... appahrently Mahra... it covehed."
[G.I. Joe] Sgt Barbecue says, "Uh, appahrently Mahra has it covehed."
Skyhawk #871 rotates its engines back to horizontal and flies forward quickly
adjusting the flaps and stabilizer and flying after the little Piper Cub.
[G.I. Joe] Mara says, "it'll never outrun the Skyhawk."
[G.I. Joe] lil Wisp says, "a Skyhawk should roast a Piper cub, even if it is a Decepticon."
Barbecue mutters to himself.
[G.I. Joe] Sgt Barbecue says, "Uh, tally ho, then."
[G.I. Joe] lil Wisp says, "I mean... even with a Skyhawk, it's sadly lopsided. I
think a jeep with a machine gun on might outspeed one of those. And bring it down."
Barbecue mutters to himself, "Caheful.... Decepticon. Deceit... theih... be
hiding... luhe... trap."
[G.I. Joe] Sgt Barbecue says, "Caheful. It *is* Decepticon. Deceit is in theih name.
"It could be hiding something, or trying to luheh you into a trap."
Puddlejumper offers a ridiculous sounding 'rar' noise along with the engine
splutter, as she heads for Turborat's barn. "If you are not an Autobot, why do you
hide, little robot? Come out and face me."
Turborat freezes, staring out now as Puddlejumper looks into the barn 'doors'
"Noooo! Don't eat me!" he reverses again, crashing down through the other end of the barn. The structure shudders, beginning to collapse.
Skyhawk #871> Mara laughs just a little at the comm message. "I'll face you, and you can't outrun me, even if you tried before." She switches on the cannon. "Now
get...."
Barbecue says, "Get away from him, Decepticon, or we will be foahced to destroy
you!"
>> Skyhawk #871 misses Puddlejumper with Vulcan-Cannon <High>. <<
Barbecue jumps as Mara opens fire with her Vulcan cannon.
Puddlejumper erks as she's shot at by the little flying shoebox. "What the frag...
that flying shoebox is armed?" She snerts and rotates her single mighty Seeker laser backwards, from its spot centered on top of her cockpit, firing towards the vehicle behind her.
>> Puddlejumper misses Skyhawk #871 with Seeker-Laser <Medium>. <<
Skyhawk #871> Mara grumbles at the blast, pulling the Skyhawk to the side of the
single blast. She shakes herhead. "This is ridiculous.... Get your little puny ass
outta our airspace, dangit!"
>> Skyhawk #871 misses Puddlejumper with Rocket. <<
Puddlejumper evades quickly again, as the rocket sails past, firing her laser behind her on a more intense setting. "I will not get my'puny ass' out, little purple fleshbag!"
>> Puddlejumper strikes Skyhawk #871 with Seeker-Laser <High>. <<
Skyhawk #871> Mara grumbles as the fragile Skyhawk is hit. "Okay... No more games,
little plane..." She switches to the frontguns, and starts firing them. "I'm not
going to back down."
>> Skyhawk #871 misses Puddlejumper with Machine-Cannons <High>. <<
Puddlejumper yanks herself to the side again, little frame shaking as she moves. She fires the laser again, even though she doesn't have a good angle for it at this point.
>> Puddlejumper misses Skyhawk #871 with Seeker-Laser. <<
Skyhawk #871> Mara switches back to the Vulcan cannon, meanwhile, grumbling at the
little plane's audacity. "You dented my Skyhawk, dangit. And when I was having a
quiet night. And you're in violation of airspace. Out!"
>> Skyhawk #871 strikes Puddlejumper with Vulcan-Cannon <High>. <<
Turborat continues to flee away!
[G.I. Joe] Mara says, "This... isn't going as well as I thought..."
Puddlejumper erks as she's hit, flipping the laser back again and blasting it as she tries to maneuver.
>> Puddlejumper misses Skyhawk #871 with Seeker-Laser <Medium>. <<
Skyhawk #871> Mara, meanwhile, grumbles and fires her other rocket at the little
Seeker, getting rather foul at the thing's presence.
>> Skyhawk #871 misses Puddlejumper with Rocket. <<
Puddlejumper snickers just a little. "Your shoebox isn't doing too well, little
purple girl. Maybe you should land it and go away." She fires the laser again to
prove her point.
>> Puddlejumper misses Skyhawk #871 with Seeker-Laser <High>. <<
Skyhawk #871> Mara hrmphs. "I might be little, and I might look a little purple, but I'm not going away for that. Nope." she switches over to the front cannnons once more, and fires a burst, towards the Piper Cub.
>> Skyhawk #871 strikes Puddlejumper with Machine-Cannons <High>. <<
Puddlejumper takes fire again, getting a few dents from the little vehicle's guns.
"Not enough litle girl! Submit!"
>> Puddlejumper strikes Skyhawk #871 with Seeker-Laser <Medium>. <<
Barbecue gets in his car, and pursues the alien Transformer, hoping to make sure
he's OK.