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Post by Barricade on Aug 12, 2011 20:06:01 GMT -5
((Pre-War, Security Forces Training Range)) A black, silver, and dark blue ground-frame mech walked along the line of recruits who were on the firing line. A pair of red optics watched each of them carefully to spot any mistakes before they could become more than just simple, innocent mistakes. The mech knew that he was by no means completely in charge of this exercise. That would be the job of the one keeping an optic on him. His teacher, and the teacher of these recruits as well. He was appreciative of his teacher, an older warrior named "Ironhide." Having come to the Security Forces right off the streets of Kaon, being given a chance was not something he was about to take lightly. He would work his hardest at any task, making sure he knew exactly what he was doing before he did it, and while he did it.
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Post by Ironhide on Aug 14, 2011 10:23:16 GMT -5
The big burly mech stood by, watching his students as the tri-colored mech moved down the line. He had been one of Ironhide's best students and as such had earned the position of team leader. Coming to the security forces, the young mech was already a strong fighter having survived the brutal streets of Kaon, a place Ironhide knew. He had gone through there on more than one occasion to deal with rising violence, but every time he seemed to quell it, something else stirred it up again. Runner the young mech had been called, fast and furious, full of rage, unfocused and brutal as the streets he came from, but Ironhide worked with him, helped temper that rage, turning him into a fine soldier. Ironhide even gave him a new name over the course of training, calling him Barricade for his particular skill at running and breaking barricades down to get in through where he needed, or providing a barricade when needed. And of course, Barricade had easily accepted the new name, looking up to his teacher as he did. Ironhide was powerful, brutal, and very focused in combat, a lot of his students looked up to him, but Barricade seemed to strive to be the best, seeking to improve wherever he could, and Ironhide was plenty willing to give him the opportunity to improve, being brutally honest about where Barricade was lacking as well as where he excelled. The young mech seemed to appreciate that.
Ironhide let out a soft snort as he watched, an almost thoughtful sound really, and a long standing habit his students had grown well accustomed to. They had learned early on how to interpret his different snorts, growls, grunts, and vents, knowing whether he was merely thinking, or if he was angered, disappointed, or even happy about something. It was simply part of how Ironhide communicated. He looked each mech in the line over, glaring at those who slouched or who weren't paying attention, a glare that could be felt and caused them to straighten up quick. He waited for Barricade to finish the inspection before he stepped forward to begin the day's exercise. ~"Barricade, ya got yer orders, take em out."~ he said with a grunt and gestured towards the more difficult training yard filled with targets and obstacles already set for their run.
This particular group had two squads of ten grounders split into two teams of five with three air frames for each squad for the exercise under Barricade's command, a more advanced group to be sure, and this particular run was meant to teach ground and aerial forces to work in tandem, providing support for each other as the ground forces flushed out their targets for the trine to finish them off and cover them in case of airborne enemies and for the grounders to take out anti air artillery to cover the trine. And each trine were specially matched in temperament and skill set, forging an artificial bond between them and turning them into a formidable aerial force. Ironhide moved up into watch position on the tower then, carefully monitoring the exercise as it unfolded below. He knew well this group would succeed, but there were always room for improvements, and Ironhide would make certain they learned well from those mistakes, and never repeated them.
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Post by Barricade on Aug 15, 2011 16:54:30 GMT -5
Barricade turned to face Ironhide when the larger mech approached, giving a salute at the order. ~"You've got it, sir!"~ He replied before turning to the recruits. ~"You heard Ironhide! Let's get a move on!"~ He led them to the start of the field, gave them their instructions, then let them loose. He kept a close optic on them, closer than usual. They had live weapons in this exercise. Nothing too dangerous, but it was more than the simple stun weapons. Fatalities could occur if a weapon was being handled improperly...
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Post by Ironhide on Aug 17, 2011 6:05:37 GMT -5
Ironhide watched the scene unfold below, proud of how skilled these new recruits were proving to be. Many young bots looked up to the grizzled old warrior, which Ironhide didn't mind. What bothered him was when the young ones tried too hard to prove themselves and ended up over extending themselves. Sadly, such was the case with one particular young mech, Torque. He was certainly a promising young fighter, and Ironhide hoped to see him progress further in his training. His optic ridges drew together in a scowl though as he watched Torque move ahead of the group on his own, apparently intending to flush out and destroy some of the targets himself in an effort to prove himself to be as strong and fierce as Ironhide, something the young mech had done on occasion before, but never to such an extreme as in a live fire training mission before. ~"Slaggin' glitch, gonna get himself scrapped..."~ he muttered darkly, then sent Torque a private com. <~"Stop tryin' ta show off n git back ta yer group!"~> he snapped at Torque, hoping that would get the young mech to calm down a bit. It seemed to work as he ducked down and waited for the rest of his team to catch up.
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Post by Barricade on Aug 19, 2011 7:19:31 GMT -5
Barricade watched the teams move down the range, nodding in approval, then scowled when he saw one break away from his team to take on more targets on his own. ~"Fragging glitch-ridden sparkling."~ He growled, though noticed that Ironhide had seemed to catch the young recruit as well, because he hunkered down to wait for his team. Barricade's frame was tense as he moved downrange with the firing line. Running out in front of your team like that was a good way to get hit by friendly fire, or miss something and potentially get your entire team killed. <"Torque, move to the back and pull rear security for your team."> What he hoped was by putting Torque in the back he could get him to possibly become a little more conscious about staying with his team. Rear guard wasn't a glamorous position, but it was just as important as point.
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Post by Ironhide on Aug 23, 2011 8:36:39 GMT -5
Ironhide nodded in satisfaction as Torque heeded the commands given him. There was a reason Ironhide did not put Torque as a team leader, and his over eagerness would be that very reason. He sighed heavily and shook his head as Torque gave a hurt glance back at Barricade and took up rear guard position behind his team. He continued to watch as the young mech seemed to settle a bit, then checked on the other three teams on the ground before looking up to the pair of Seeker Trines as they moved into position above for their strafing run. Two 5-mech ground teams per Seeker Trine, that was the standard formation. He watched them carefully, nodding his approval as each target was taken out systematically over the two parallel courses. It wasn't a race per se, but the first formation to complete the course would be granted not just bragging rights over the other formation, but depending on their performance, it could easily move them all into elite status by the time their training was complete, dictating their initial and future assignments within the Cybertronian Defense Corps, perhaps even among the Lord High Protector's own Guardian Divisions in Iacon itself. The idea made Ironhide smile a bit. He had spent many Giga-Cycles training the troops for both the Combat Corps and the Guardian Force that protected all of Cybertron and kept the peace between the various cities and maintaining order on their very streets. He was singularly good at his job.
As the course neared its completion, however, Ironhide scowled and snorted derisively. The leading team was close to their goal when one of them made a careless and potentially fatal mistake as his footing slipped in his over confidence and he grabbed at another team mate with his weapon still deployed, nearly shooting his team mate and revealing their position to the auto gun turrets at a critical point and forcing the entire team to fall back and angle themselves for a different approach. In rough and uneven terrain, one had to watch their footing at all times, any step could prove unstable and they had to be aware of that at all times. ~"Torque, ya slaggin glitch..."~ he grumbled irritably to himself and began making his way down towards the training course exit to deal with that one directly once the teams emerged.
((Giga-Cycle = Cybertronian Decade))
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Post by Barricade on Sept 1, 2011 7:07:12 GMT -5
Barricade continued to follow the teams down the range, keeping an optic on their progress, as well as making a couple extra glances at Torque. When he saw Torque's fumble, as well as the mech nearly shooting one of his teammates, Barricade let out a frustrated snarl. ~"Of all the scrap-headed mistakes to be made..."~ He moved quickly to Torque's position, instinct and habit from the streets kicking in. His weapon, set on stun, dropped to the ground, its weight suddenly unfamiliar to him, and he lashed out with his claws at the offending mech. ~"You've been told before that you need to slow down and stop showing off! First time you were leaving your team behind, and the second time you nearly shot your teammate as well as gave the position of your team away! Obviously nothing Ironhide's said has been getting through that thick cranial plating of yours, so let's try it this way!"~ His optics were glowing brightly in anger, and for a moment he could almost see himself back on the streets, dealing with Motorhead. He was going to throttle Torque until the mech finally got it.
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Post by Ironhide on Sept 8, 2011 7:30:03 GMT -5
The rest of the team fell back from the enraged mech as Barricade attacked Torque, unsure of what to do as the two fought, Barricade fighting to teach Torque a lesson he would never forget, and Torque finding himself literally fighting for his life, punching and kicking at Barricade as the pair went down, wresting on the ground.
Ironhide could see the fight and shut down the auto gun turrets before heading in, both to keep them from shooting the others and so he wouldn't have to worry about getting tagged with them while trying to break up the fight. ~"Barricade! Let 'Im Go!"~ he yelled as he ran in towards the group gathered around the two fighting on the ground.
In the process of trying to fight off the enraged Barricade, Torque tried to shoot him, his blaster set to stun still, but hoping it would get Barricade off him or at least force him back enough that the younger trainee could hold him off until Ironhide got to them. Yet Torque was afraid Ironhide wouldn't get there in time, afraid Barricade would outright kill him.
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Post by Barricade on Sept 8, 2011 9:26:17 GMT -5
Barricade did not hear Ironhide yelling at him to stop, his processor was so focused on the mech he was fighting with. He swiped at Torque's chest and abdomen a couple times before the younger mech attempted to shoot him. His left arm took the shot from the blaster, and he snarled in pain before swiping at the weapon his functioning arm as he began attempting to reset the systems in his stunned arm, and swiped again, this time at Torque's faceplates.
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Post by Ironhide on Sept 11, 2011 6:03:17 GMT -5
Torque cried out in agony as his chest and abdominal armor was torn, then screamed when Barricade clawed at his face. Had the tri-color mech gone mad? He tried to shot at Barricade again, desperate to get him off of him and get away, praying that Ironhide could knock some sense into the enraged mech, hoping, crying out as he saw the burly instructor come running straight for them.
And run he did. Ironhide charged in and let out an angry roar as he reached over and grabbed Barricade, easily picking up the smaller mech and tossing him away from Torque. ~"I SAID ENOUGH!"~ he roared at the younger mech, then extended a dactyl to help Torque to his pedes again. Once the young trainee was standing, Ironhide turned to the others as the other ground teams gathered nearby and the two Seeker Trines landed near their ground teams. ~"Trainin' session's over! All o' ya git yer afts inside, Now!"~ he barked at them, and gave a satisfied nod and snort as they wasted no time in following that order. Ironhide then vented a heavy sigh and without looking at Torque, gave one more order before he would turn to deal with Barricade. ~"Torque, git yer aft t' the med bay. We'll be havin' a conversation later."~ he growled darkly, and Torque backed away from his obviously angry teacher, then started towards the other side of the debris mound to head inside, unwittingly moving closer to Barricade in the process, though he figured the danger was over.
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Post by Barricade on Sept 13, 2011 7:44:17 GMT -5
Barricade growled again as Torque's next shot nailed him in the abdomen, making him halt his attack to catch himself with his functional arm, the other arm starting to boot back up. Before he could attempt to use it to attack again, he felt Ironhide grab and toss him. With a snarl, Barricade landed on his back. Instinct had him rolling over quickly to try to get on his feet, though it was difficult with his abdomen still stunned. He lashed out once more as Torque walked by, but the younger mech was out of reach, and once he was out of sight, Barricade's anger slowly began to dissipate.
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Post by Ironhide on Sept 13, 2011 10:17:22 GMT -5
Ironhide kept his back to Barricade, waiting for Torque to get inside and out of sight. He then vented a heavy sigh then, clenching his fists at his sides trying to calm the rising anger in his Spark. He looked up to the dark sky for a moment, collecting his thoughts before he lowered his head and turned partially, looking back at Barricade as the smaller mech slowly recovered from the shots. ~"Ya ain't on the streets o Kaon anymore, Barricade. Throttle back on yer rage. I'll deal with Torque, let 'im go. Ya got a better life here now."~ he said and turned more fully towards him. ~"Trust me, I wanna dent his cranial plates myself fer bein' a cracked processor show off. That's why I won't give 'im a lead post, I know his kind, I've seen what can happen if they got power."~ He took a few steps towards Barricade then, his frame relaxing some. ~"But this ain't the way, lil buddy. Dun let that thing shred ya alive inside. I know him, that one... that thing curled up in ya core, gnawin' n clawin' n rippin' n tearin' at ya insides tryin ta take over, whisperin' things in ya neural core makin' ya wanna do things ya know ain't right. Ya ain't the only mech who's fought that beast."~ he said to Barricade, his gravelly voice softening as he extended a hand. ~"I know what it's like ta fight just ta survive. Ya think I got these scars from playin' teacher all my life?"~ he asked with a bit of a smirk, deliberately turning his head so the scars around his right optic caught the light. ~"Ya dun gotta fight the streets anymore, 'Cade. Yer not alone anymore. Ya got me here ta pull ya outa the pit when ya fall in."~ he added, his hand extended in offering to Barricade. They had become good friends since they met, and Ironhide had even given the tri-colored mech a new more fitting name. He hoped he could pull his young friend back from the brink of the madness he knew would consume Barricade if he fell to the beast within himself.
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Post by Barricade on Sept 13, 2011 10:35:11 GMT -5
Barricade snorted and took the offered hand, using it to help himself stand up. ~"He reminds me too much of Motorhead, and I came close to offlining that idiot more than a couple times."~ He looked down a bit, not ashamed or remorseful at what he had done, but at the possibility that he'd let Ironhide down. ~"Just...so used to it being a way of life. I learned from watching the others screw up, mostly, and learned quick not to do what they did. I know 'm not alone anymore, 'n I'm trying to get used to that."~ He looked back up at his teacher and friend. ~"I'll try my best not to let it happen again."~
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Post by Ironhide on Sept 13, 2011 12:46:46 GMT -5
Ironhide nodded and let his hand come to rest lightly on Barricade's shoulder. ~"I know, 'Cade. Believe me, I know."~ he replied with a light pat. ~"Ya might wanna get with a mech yer comfortable with n let off some o' that stress o' yers. One thing I learned from all my Ano-Cycles in the Defense Corps, if ya dun de-stress yerself, yer gonna blow a gasket. When the shootin' range dun help no more, a mutual interface often helps soothe neural conduits n help ya relax. I know it's hard fer ya ta trust other mechs that close, but I think it'd do ya some good just ta soothe yer neural system."~ he suggested, though he didn't expect Barricade to take the suggestion seriously or attempt such a thing in the too near future, but the idea was there none the less.
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Post by Barricade on Sept 13, 2011 12:56:10 GMT -5
Barricade blinked his optics a couple times as he gave Ironhide a blank stare, then spoke up with a surprised ~"I have stuff for that?"~ Now he was confused. He knew what interfacing was, but he'd never paid much attention to what it involved. It hadn't seemed important at all, especially when a majority of his waking time could be spend running and ducking through the streets of Kaon, trying to not get caught or killed or worse. Survival had a way of making the other things in life look insignificant.
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