Log Title: Diplomatic Dents Characters: Delusion, Discretion, Dust Devil, Hot Rod Location: Valvolux Arena Date: June 25, 2020 TP: non-TP
Summary: Dust Devil returns to Valvolux and his ambassadorial duties by getting into a match in the Arena.
As logged by Delusion
Log session starting at 18:38:43 on Thursday, 25 June 2020.
Valvolux Arena[]
Delusion
Delusion is out on the arena floor, packing up her practice targets so it can be opened back up to the public. A sharp eye might notice that several of the targets have the remains of pictures on them. Who they were would be difficult to say, though.
Hot Rod is heading along through the arena, going to every so often pose valiantly with a streak of flames. "So then I was going 'yes I'm awesome' and showing how awesome I was.." This is slightly exaggerated. Maybe. Mostly. Sorta.
Dust Devil rolls his optics as he watches the firehead boasting as usual. Dropping carefully to the arena floor. There is a slight smile on his face as he glances down at the Arena and carefully drops into it so he can talk to Delusion.
Delusion shuts the last of her equipment into a storage room and turns to face the Autobots, raising a hand in greeting. "What brings you by today?"
Hot Rod considers over, "Well, we had something we were thinking of sharing. Dust Devil's worked really hard on it and we wanted to see how it's playing would go." He would offer. "Since he's better with editing."
Delusion arches an optic ridge. "Is this official or personal?"
Hot Rod shrugs, "Personal. I mean, I think it's glorious and would love for everyone on Cybertron to see it, but it's more of a memento sort of thing. So you can enjoy it if you'd like or we can pass it along to the crowd."
Delusion hmms. "Perhaps our comms officer would be a better audience if it's something you'd intend to be aired in the arena."
<<Dominicon>> Delusion says, "Hot Rod and Dust Devil are here with something they want to demonstrate for our entertainment, possibly to share. Disc, you available to watch Autobots making fools of themselves?"
<<Dominicon>> Discretion says, "I can be."
Dust Devil facepalms at Hot Rod before glancing at Delusion. "I was actually here to get some sparring in....I just figured I'd bring my own dummy this time"
Hot Rod shrugs, "Hey, you're all the dummy we'd ever need around." He promises. "I guess the debut will have to wait for another time." He would lightly and playfully quip.
Delusion waves a hand. "No, no, I'm interested now. Let's see this entertainment."
Discretion floats down into the arena just in time to hear the statements from the Autobots and Delusion's reply. "Doesn't Iacon have facilities to spar in? I would happily provide commentary to the rest of Cybertron so they can enjoy this as well," she offers helpfully.
Dust Devil rolls his optics, "If I want to spar with fighters that I know their moves by memory I could be back at Iacon. But Jazz is miffed at me and I figured I should get my aft back ta Valvolux and try and do my job."
Hot Rod shrugs, "Sure. More than happy to!" And so he would give a small data chit over featuring an edited clip of Deathsaurus in giant dragon mode running around, head on fire, giant hole blasted in aft, desperately trying to roll around in the Rust Sea while squealing loudly trying to put said fire out to spiffy, upbeat music. "And I'm game for a spar. Two of us against two of you?"
Delusion smirks. "Ah, and of course getting dented in the arena is important ambassadorial duty."
< irc.dal.net> <Morrigan> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ekwmA4vpE
< irc.dal.net> <Myrddin> She was right.
< irc.dal.net> <Voidwalker> ...Ooooh boy
Discretion 's mouth curves into a wry smile, "Frankly, I think the odds are slightly in your favor at hand fighting."
< irc.dal.net> <Myrddin> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36v6XBpa7CA
Dust Devil says, "Hey I find my work in the arena important." He looks at Hot Rod, "He's not exactly tap-out....You guys might have a better chance. Hard to say.""
Hot Rod would go to crack his fists together. "All right Dominicons, let's dance." He would go to offer up his palm to Dust Devil in a high five, then going down to get ready for the room to kick in to start fighting.
Delusion nods and slides into a loose martial stance, not yet drawing her whip.
Discretion stays up in the air. "So are we playing for keeps or would you rather use the holographic systems that are functional again?" She asks as she casually retrieves the rifle from her back/
And then the fight begins. Hot Rod goes to talk along tightbeam to Dust Devil << i have the one with the U, you take the one with the I>> That.. Is accompanied by Hot Rod going to run over towards the one with the U. His arm lasers go to power up, and he calls out cheerfully, "Sorry!" Lasers blasting, "Not Sorry!
>> Hot Rod misses Delusion with Laser <Low>. <<
Discretion lifts her weapon and tracks Hot Rod as he closes in on Delusion. As he fires off a laser she pulls the trigger on the rifle, just trying to gauge his abilities for now.
>> Discretion misses Hot Rod with Rifle <Medium>. <<
Delusion dips aside, nimbly avoiding the laser even as she circles the brightly colored Autobot. "Arm lasers tend to require massively telegraphing one's attack," she says conversationally before dashing into close range and putting a half-spin behind a kick to Hot Rod's torso.
>> Delusion strikes Hot Rod with Kick. <<
Dust Devil rolls his optics and starts to back up. He radios Hot Rod back, <<Stop hittin on my favorite femmes....oh wait...guess we are sparring. Still betting on Delusion though>> A smile appears on his face. "Up ta you Disco err Discretion." A laugh escapes him when Delusion hits Hot Rod. "Besides if yer gonna use arm weapons at least try to distract them....like point and laugh at Hot Rod gettin hit and then fire when no one is payin attention." And that's what he tries to do to Discretion, using his own arm turrets to see if he can manage to pull off what Hot Rod didn't.
>> Dust Devil misses Discretion with Plasma <Medium>. <<
Hot Rod calls back <<Hey, that's the way they know you care>> As Delusion goes to charge in over at him, Hot Rod notes, "Telegraphing? So you're sitting in an electronics tower tapping a button to send things in Morse Code?" Must be a human thing. Weird idiom.. But, the banter serves a purpose even as Hot Rod tries to get in a quick strike to his opponent's chin at close range! <<You know them - what's their main tactics?>>
>> Hot Rod strikes Delusion with Punch. <<
The answer to Dust Devil's attempt is is a 'No' as Discretion agilely slides out of the path of the plasma burst; the muzzle of her weapon still pointed at Hot Rod. A quick flip of a switch before another trigger pull sends a short burst of high energy light towards the red and yellow mech.
>> Discretion misses Hot Rod with Laser <Medium>. <<
The punch slips through, but Delusion turns slightly to rob it of some of its power, even as she reaches out to pull Hot Rod closer. The mech's arm is a lever that Delusion is going to try to use to move him across the arena.
>> Delusion strikes Hot Rod with Throw. <<
Dust Devil laughs as he watches Delusion and Hot Rod going at it. <<Divide and conquer. Delusion is deadly efficient up close and personal. Discretion is fast....also she's probably listenin ta our conversation. They've battled fer longer than we've been alive so just focus on doin yer best and don't get annoyed if ya lose.>> He smirks as Discretion nimbly avoids his attack. This time he raises both hands and though nothing happens visibly from Dust Devil, there might be a sudden change in pressure near Discretion as Dusty tries to hit her with a forcefield.
>> Dust Devil misses Discretion with Force Push <Medium>. <<
As he was yanked up and flipped through the arena, Hot Rod would hit the ground rolling, and quickly leap up to his feet. "Well you gals seem to like blasting at me. So who am I to say no and not want to return the favor?" He would hit the ground, rolling over and then transform to his vehicle mode. Headlights flaring, engine gunning, and he's trying to run down Delusion over with his headlights flaring to her face as the laser blasts from Discretion would erupt around him!
The young robot begins falling forwards, as his roof spins into place, legs come together, chest rises into position, and arms form into doors, converting him once again into a futuristic hot rod car.
>> Hot Rod tries to ram Delusion but misses. <<
Discretion feels some of that wave of pressure and adjusts her position accordingly. She flies up higher and brings Dust Devil into her sight picture. Yet another flip of that switch brings a quick, electrical hum from her rifle before she releases an arc towards her new target.
>> Discretion strikes Dust Devil with Electrical Shock <Medium>. <<
Delusion skips up into the air as Hot Rod careens across the sands. Seeing that Discretion has her sights on Dust Devil, Delusion applies herself to keeping Hot Rod dancing about as she pulls her whip free and sends the weighted ends towards him with a flick and a crack.
>> Delusion strikes Hot Rod with Whip. <<
Dust Devil yelps! as he finds that the weapon is electrical and not just a normal rifle. The arc of energy crackles over his frame and he tries to figure a different method of attack. <<This is why I fought Delusion while Tap-out was takin the hits....I had better luck.>> Pulling his hands in, they transform and he releases a blast of air in Discretion's direction to try and throw off her aim.
>> Dust Devil strikes Discretion with Air Blast <Medium>. <<
This is getting embarrassing. Hot Rod might be egoistical, but he's not done more than get a passing slash at his target so far. So he calls out to Dust Devil <Let the I's have it!> along the tightbeam. Then he's going to raise up his arm, going to fire a charged particle from it! But, as Delusion advised this is just a rapid shot - a ballistic one rather than his normal energy ones.
The sleek, futuristic sports car begins to stand up, doors forming arms, hood lowing into the chest piece, roof twisting around one-eighty degrees. Soon, the familiar appearance of Hot Rod is revealed.
>> Hot Rod misses Discretion with Ballistic <Medium>. <<
The concentrated air manages to do what the forcefield couldn't; push discretion from her stationary perch, and out of the way of the incoming bullets. The femme uses the movement further to her advantage, dropping into a low dive towards Dust Devil rifle leading the way. At the last moment however she pulls up sharply and sends a flurry of kicks at the Autobot.
>> Discretion misses Dust Devil with Speed-Kick. <<
Delusion smirks as she brings the whip around in its unpredictable curl. Just as it snaps in the air, she charges Hot Rod again, this time leading with her shoulder. "Not wise to take your optics off me," she warns.
>> Delusion misses Hot Rod with Bash. <<
Dust Devil sees Discretion coming directly at him. This is a communications person...maybe some sound might help.... He starts spinning his turbines counter to each other creating a horrible sound directed at the femme as he dodges her attack.
>> Dust Devil strikes Discretion with Sonic Blast <Medium>. <<
Hot Rod goes to dance past the strike from Delusion, "I don't know, it seems to be working well so far." Then he's going to whirl out of the way, going to flash around to try and strike over into Delusion with a quick uppercut. Well aware he gave one thing to Dust Devil.. But, the rising attempt at a strike is more of an attempt to try and catch the more agile Dominicon to hurl her over towards her sister!
>> Hot Rod misses Delusion with Throw. <<
< irc.dal.net> <Morrigan> <disconnects>
< irc.dal.net> <Myrddin> Underwood are you available?
< irc.dal.net> <<Underwood>> Ah?
< irc.dal.net> <Sandman> https://youtu.be/QpxN2VXPMLc
Discretion's audials cut off momentarily, but not before the sound rattles in their enhanced receptors. She changes modes again on her weapon, bringing it to bear on Dust Devil once again. This time that electrical buildup is longer as she re-centers her aim. Her finger pulls the trigger smoothly and steadily until the weapon discharges with an audible crack; followed by a stronger, and larger, torrent of electricity at Dusty.
>> Discretion strikes Dust Devil with Electricity-Surge <Medium>. <<
>> Dust Devil temporarily loses motor functions from the attack! <<
Delusion has many, many vorns experience in reversing exactly the sort of grip Hot Rod attempts. Rather than pull away, she uses a combination of anti-grav and positioning to rob the move of its momentum, retaining her grip so she can tug herself close. Delusion brings herself cheek to cheek with Hot Rod like a swing dancer, but her feet are deliberately positioned to trip up her temporary dance partner.
>> Delusion strikes Hot Rod with Sweep. <<
>> Hot Rod temporarily loses motor functions from the attack! <<
Dust Devil acks as he's left shaking pretty bad from the electrical charge running through him. <<Sh-shoulda....dodged...ow....>> He tries to get his motor relays to engage but for the moment he's left twitching and focuses on trying to bring his forcefield into play to save himself.
Unfortunately for Hot Rod, Delusion has reversed the polarity over of the moron throw. So the leg going to sweep underneath him would go to knock him flat off his feet, and he would go to tumble over into the wall. "Ugh.." Trying to get up and rapidly attempting to reset his shaking optics!
Discretion presses that selector switch one less time. The weapons almost vibrating in her hands as the electrical crackling and whine becomes audible even before she fries. There are faintly visible tendrils of electricity crawlin over the muzzle of the rifle. This time when she pulls the trigger the rack is, quite literally, thunderous; as the air is split by the bolt of lightning arcing into Dust Devil's twitching form.
>> Discretion strikes Dust Devil with Sniper Rifle <Medium>. <<
Delusion turns to get clearance as Hot Rod rolls, then leaps into the air and puts her full weight behind the heel of her boot, right at Hot Rod's shoulder!
>> Delusion strikes Hot Rod with Leap-Kick. <<
Dust Devil has been fair fried but at least he can move again. Now to try and return the favor to his dance partner. He raises both arms at the femme and begins to fire at her to drive her back.
>> Dust Devil misses Discretion with Plasma-Turrets <Medium>. <<
Not what Hot Rod had in mind when brawling with femmes came to mind. "All right, let's play!" He's dizzy, and he needs room. "And let's Rocket!" One could almost -swear- over that he's added a 'Flame ON' phrase in there! the stylish flames on the front of his torso would go to light up, flaring a bright yellow as then his Autobrand would glow bright -red- as the chevron behind his back would glow bright yellow.
"If you can't take the Heat Then go back to the barracks!" Then all of that bright charge as he calls to Dust Devil <<Ground!>> As in hit. He's pointing upwards, going to aim at Discretion and Delusion.. And then HE'S ON FIRE! As a massive burst and a flare of fire would launch up and into the air, trying to catch the Dominicons in it!
>> Hot Rod attacks Delusion, and Discretion with Flame Out, striking Discretion. <<
Discretion gets hit by the full brunt of the fire from Hot Rod and quickly heads up into the air and transforms; putting out the lingering flames. She Pitches up into a straight vertical ascent and lets herself stall before firing her engine up again; her radar locking on to Hot Rod. "Fire is it?" Her speakers emit. A pair of panels on the underside of her frame open before a missile is ejected out and streaks towards Hot Rod.
Discretion takes a step forward then kicks off, flipping backwards as she unfolds into a Grumman X-29 experimental jet.
>> Discretion strikes Hot Rod with Heat Seeking Missile <Medium>. <<
Delusion sees the charge-up of Hot Rod's flame attack and backflips out of the blast zone, flame licking her heels. She can hear the crackle of Discretion's paint as her sister is slightly less fortunate. Delusion narrows her optics. The moment her feet touch ground, she turns it into a sprinter's start, launching herself at Hot Rod for some retaliation and throwing her whole body behind the uppercut headed for his pretty chin, straight through the backwash of Discretion's missile.
>> Delusion strikes Hot Rod with Uppercut. <<
Dust Devil is stuck having to save Hot Rod if he can. He quickly moves forward with his new plasma blades on his turrets in an attempt to carve out a niche for himself in this battle. His focus switching quickly to Delusion.
>> Dust Devil strikes Delusion with Plasma-Blades. <<
Okay, he's in pretty messy shape. But, now they have one Dominicon at least -moderately- damaged as Hot Rod goes to aim up and over at Discretion in the air, photon lasers charging up, "Nice flying! See if you can stick the landing!" then he's going to try and aim over at the center of Discretion's engine and going to try and blast her right out of it if he can!
>> Hot Rod strikes Discretion with Photon Laser <Medium>. <<
GAME: Discretion FAILS a COURAGE roll of High difficulty.
Discretion transforms and flips her rifle up over her back as her systems begin to protest. "Next time we'll see how you do against an actual fighter and not the scouts..." She drifts off to the seats of the arena and lands.
The Grumman X-29 flips forward, unfolding into a slender white-armored Seeker femme, her wings folding down behind her.
Delusion took her optics off one of the pair of Autobots, and she can feel it. Unfortunately for Dust Devil, that also means she knows exactly where he is. With a bright grin, Delusion reaches back to claim one of Dust Devil's plasma blades so she can try to pin the little Autobot to the ground. "Odds against me, now," she notes.
>> Delusion strikes Dust Devil with Takedown. <<
>> Dust Devil temporarily loses motor functions from the attack! <<
Hot Rod would call out, for once not as egoistically, "You're doing fine. We're both combat units, and you're scouts. You're both keeping us on edge and working us over. Fact this is an arena gives us an advantage as you'd be staying at long range laying into us and we wouldn't have that in a real brawl." He's going to even with his own systems badly mauled going to try and line up some shots at Delusion, even as he's calling to Dusty, wincing << i'll keep her busy. Can you put your force field up?>> Even as he's trying to aim his weapons over at Delusion to try and pepper her with energy bolts - trying to get her away from the downed Autobot! "But, you gals are doing good. If this were a real fight you'd probably be winning handily."
>> Hot Rod misses Delusion with Laser <Medium>. <<
Dust Devil is slammed pretty damn hard and he's struggling to fight back but his vision keeps cutting out on him. <<Hot Rod how're ya doin....I'm havin ta recalibrate...>>
Delusion loosens her grip long enough to dodge the incoming fire, skipping back but pulling her blaster with her off hand at the same time to get a shot past Hot Rod.
>> Delusion critically strikes Dust Devil with Pulse Laser <Medium>! <<
Well, there's two on one! The downside is Delusion barely has any scratches on her and Hot Rod and Dust Devil are both pretty mauled. Hot Rod goes to quickly charge up his weapons once more, affirming to the femme, "Don't care about the odds. That just wastes processing power you could spend fighting. You have the rest of your team and they'll always have your back. That's all the odds you need." His lasers charging, firing quick blasts up at Delusion to try and get her to fall back away from Dust Devil!
>> Hot Rod misses Delusion with Laser <Medium>. <<
Dust Devil is getting hit badly now. He needs to do something to improve his chances. Delusion's pulse laser just hurts something fierce. But he's not one to back down easily. He's seen that Delusion is also having issues. So once he's able to stand, he suddenly races forward and tries to swipe his lightsabre at her.
>> Dust Devil strikes Delusion with Light Sabre. <<
Delusion isn't quite quick enough to dodge- Dust Devil's previous strike has given her a limp. But she gamely moves to block the worst of it, the glowing blade digging into a vambrace. Optics gleaming, she gives just enough ground so she can reach when she swings across the block with her other hand.
>> Delusion misses Dust Devil with Cross. <<
Dust Devil's lightsabre hums menacingly. He whips around and tries to catch her again with the purple blade. A slight grin on his face. "Least we didn't just die easily."
>> Dust Devil misses Delusion with Spin Blades. <<
Hot Rod goes to dart along, going to fire off more energy bolts over at Delusion. He's trying to hem her in to Dust Devil. So if she evades him, Dust Devil has room to strike. If she goes at Hot Rod, she's open to Dust Devil. Blasters rapidly going off - but at low power, trying to make her not have as much room to maneuver.
>> Hot Rod misses Delusion with Laser <Low>. <<
Delusion gives ground, dropping back from double attacks. But she isn't just a close-range fighter. She pulls her whip free again and snaps it at Hot Rod, aiming not to damage him, but to strip the annoying lasers.
>> Delusion misses Hot Rod with Disarm. <<
Dust Devil smirks at Delusion, "Turnabout is fair play right?" He suddenly whips his hand in her direction blowing a shower of sparkling sand and dust in her direction, attempting to blind her and allow Hot Rod to actually get a hit on her.
>> Dust Devil misses Delusion with Blinding <Low>. <<
Hot Rod goes to then charge at Delusion, grinning, "Let's shake and break!" Going to try and hit over at her if he could with a surging roundhouse attempt at her faceplate!
>> Hot Rod strikes Delusion with Roundhouse. <<
Delusion 's limp tells again, a little too slow to dodge the punch. But she just smiles at the impact, slinging an arm around Hot Rod. "Alright, sweetheart, let's wrestle."
>> Delusion misses Hot Rod with Clinch. <<
Dust Devil is not doing so well, he's got a bunch of damage and he needs to help take Delusion down. SO he quickly transforms and speeds in Delusion's direction, ready to go airborne if she jumps.
Chestplate expands forward as arms fold in, legs bend back connecting to the back and chestplate forming the hovercar. Fans cut on providing a cushion of air.
>> Dust Devil strikes Delusion with Ram. <<
Discretion looks down as Dust Devil and Hot Rod pummel her sister, and just turns to walk to the medical center and avoid any further commentary that may mar the relations with the Autobots and their brave warriors.
Hot Rod goes to take the quick shots, moving to go defensive. "Come on, you'll do better next time." Series of quick hits over to her - then going to leap out of the way as Dust Devil would ram her. "Nice fender bender!" Going to take out another quick shot at her while she was flying!
>> Hot Rod misses Delusion with Laser <Low>. <<
Delusion gets clipped again and rolls with it. She's bleeding energon now, but isn't bothering with any tricks to prolong the fight. Instead, it's time to see if she can take an opponent out, bringing around the whip again, this time lit up with energy. It snaps at Hot Rod in a feint, but continues past to aim for Dust Devil.
>> Delusion strikes Dust Devil with Sizzling Whip. <<
Dust Devil swears rapidly in ancient cybertronian as the whip nails his hovercar mode and causes him to crash. But through the pain he laughs softly, "Do we fight till we drop or shall we agree that we're all very pretty and have some skills..."
It's a good fight. A fun one. But.. Remembering quickly over that Dust Devil is -ambassador- here and they don't want to come down on the edge of beating up a couple of the councilors, Hot Rod would call out, "Hey, good fight! Chromia was definitely underselling how scary you girls are. You'd have ripped us apart in a real fight. So, first round of energon is on me."
Delusion slowly straightens up, hitching a moment as some of her armor catches. She gives the Autobots a feral grin. "I think I'll let Widget do some basic repairs first, but I'll see you at the Golden Stopcock." She flicks the whip into a curl at her side. "Good fight."
Hot Rod would give a salute, "Let's keep it in the sim and hope it never has to be for real." He would offer cheerfully, own frame the most mauled of the group so far even with them having focused on Delusion.
Log session ending at 23:01:12 on Thursday, 25 June 2020.