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Post by Tinman on Dec 4, 2011 10:10:27 GMT -5
((October 25th, 2027)) ((Somewhere over the Colorado Mountains)) Finally he was released, his commanders had given EDI his orders and the information he needed to carry out those orders. <“Tinman is clear of base and under way, five by five.”> he said over the coms as he rocketed away from the secluded mountain base. His orders did nothing to ease his anxiety, however. He was yet again separated from his creator, Dr Keith Orbit, a situation EDI had grown increasingly weary of. Deciding to distract himself, EDI cycled through a few songs and chose one to play for the moment, Lenny Kravitz – ‘I Want to Get Away’ rang out from his audio systems as he soared high into the sporadic clouds. Ever since the unexpected lightning strike that tore through his positronic neural core eleven years ago, EDI had grown increasingly aware of a number of new and unexpected algorithms within his data core that were at once unfamiliar and yet showed him things he had never imagined. As time wore on, EDI had grown greater awareness of himself and on top of that, he also began to feel real emotions. For the moment, he reveled in the exhilaration of flying free of gravity, free of the confines of the ground far from the maintenance hangar he had been sequestered in for far too long. For now, he was free and he had no intention of returning to the shackles of that hangar any time soon. He then thought of his former squadron, a trio of F/A37 Talons who had welcomed EDI into their formation by granting him a call sign: Tinman. He had grown to cherish that name and wondered where his two surviving squad mates, Talon 1 – Lt Ben Gannon and Talon 2 – Lt Kara Wade, had gone. As he thought of them, he remembered the one they lost, the one who died pursuing EDI through a canyon, Talon 3 – Lt Henry Purcell. Henry’s death had been from what EDI had thought was pilot error, yet as he thought over the events of that day, another realization had grown in his thought processes: if EDI had listened, if he had obeyed orders given him by Talon 1, Henry would still be alive and EDI would likely still be flying with the three of them, a welcomed little brother on the wing as he soared through the clouds with them. “It is good to fly again.” He muttered to himself out loud, imagining the three Stealth Talons flying in formation beside him. He could not undo the past, but perhaps he could make up for what he had done and one day be reunited with Ben and Kara. For now, EDI, Tinman, could only hope as the UCAV flew higher, his new nanoskin shifting to a soft blue gray to mask his appearance against the sky. His mission, his orders, required him to scan the surrounding horizon for a peculiar radiation energy signal, one generated by only one thing on Earth, the power core of large alien machines that had descended on Earth and sat hidden in disguise, and according to EDI’s commanders, were intent on destroying every last human on Earth and the very planet they called home.
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Vortex
Laser Fodder
Combaticon Interrogator
"Let's be bad guys!"[A1i:9]
Posts: 40
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Post by Vortex on Dec 4, 2011 16:58:53 GMT -5
The steady beat of rotors betrayed Vortex's presence to any who could hear him long before they would see him, though this fact didn't bother him at all. He'd gotten used to his Earth alt-mode after the first couple months, since he'd gone out many times in an attempt to find something, mostly an Autobot, so that he wouldn't be as bored around the base. Now, the grey SH-2 Seasprite was returning from another such flight, mildly annoyed and disappointed that he still hadn't been able to get his hands on an Autobot.
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Post by Tinman on Dec 4, 2011 17:11:32 GMT -5
EDI's generally casual flight pattern changed suddenly as he detected the radiation signature of one of the hostile alien machines he had been ordered to seek out and destroy. He veered sharply in that direction, maintaining altitude as he pinpointed the source location, discovering it was actually airborne, but much slower moving than himself. "Target detected, Tinman engaging target. Operation Earth Defense commencing." he stated out loud to himself as he switched songs to Iron Maiden's 'Aces High', though he knew the active coded com line to the POE base was being monitored by his 'handlers' there. Part of his programming as an aerial pilot of sorts was that his major actions and maneuvers were called out so Command Control could keep track of him and what he was doing, standard operating procedure for any military pilot, which was his first design protocol. Once he was close enough and could see the helicopter from above, EDI verified his target, then fired an FAE missile at the chopper with the intent of bringing it down quickly.
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Vortex
Laser Fodder
Combaticon Interrogator
"Let's be bad guys!"[A1i:9]
Posts: 40
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Post by Vortex on Dec 4, 2011 17:36:40 GMT -5
Vortex did not notice the jet immediately, since it lacked an kind of Spark signal, and the stealth design hid it from his normal radar. When the missile was launched, however, Vortex knew it was there. "Woah! Hey!" He rolled wildly out of the way of the missile, his scanners focusing upward and spotting the jet. "Oh! A new face!" Perhaps the day wouldn't be so boring after all. "Question is, is it one of us, or just another squishy 'craft?"
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Post by Tinman on Dec 4, 2011 17:50:12 GMT -5
EDI realized he had been spotted by the alien helicopter when it rolled frantically trying to evade the missile. Taking that as his cue, EDI rolled into a spiraling dive towards the helicopter, firing another missile at it before rolling out of the dive at near 6.5G's above the alien, turning to circle away and downward to come in behind the chopper, even though he knew they could hover in place and turn completely around. He anticipated such maneuvers, knowing what rotor-craft were capable of, but he also knew that like himself, without a human pilot, this one could likely pull some much more stress inducing maneuvers that a human pilot could never do because of lack of precise control and the risk of blacking out under higher G forces.
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Vortex
Laser Fodder
Combaticon Interrogator
"Let's be bad guys!"[A1i:9]
Posts: 40
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Post by Vortex on Dec 4, 2011 17:55:54 GMT -5
When Edi dove, Vortex saw him, and spun himself around to take proper return action; opening fire with his two gatling guns at Edi and the missile. He got it to explode before it could impact him, but that didn't stop the shrapnel from flying and peppering his armor. He continued to track Edi, spinning in place, though his hover wasn't quite a hover, moving back and forth, side to side, and up and down in a sporadic pattern, like he couldn't remain still. The moment he was facing Edi, he began firing his glue gun at Edi as well, trying to bring the aircraft down. "Autobot or not, I don't think I'll be very bored for much longer."
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Post by Tinman on Dec 4, 2011 18:11:32 GMT -5
EDI expected the return fire, he had fired on the helicopter after all. He did not expect the return fire to include some sort of gooey, sticky substance however, and he rolled left and up to evade the strange projectiles, returning fire with his own gatlin cannons as he swooped past and turning into a mid air stall before dropping to fly under the alien rotor-craft, rolling over to launch skyward again on the other side as he let loose a third missile. Some of the alien's bullets had grazed his left wing, but he wasn't too concerned about it, feeling his new nanoskin repairing itself as he flew.
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Vortex
Laser Fodder
Combaticon Interrogator
"Let's be bad guys!"[A1i:9]
Posts: 40
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Post by Vortex on Dec 4, 2011 18:33:31 GMT -5
Vortex rolled once more, taking a good number of the rounds fired by Edi in his fuselage, though paying them little mind. The missiles were his larger concern, as those would knock him out of the air, and more likely than not kill him, if they hit. "Woah! Fast one, aren't you?" He wasn't necessarily trying to start a conversation with Edi, merely making comments, though his scanners spotted the opaque canopy glass, making it impossible for Vortex to see who was inside in the visible light spectrum. "Huh..." He was getting curiouser by the second, and beginning to doubt that this was a human-piloted craft. "Hey, dare you to try that move again." Despite what he said, he began decreasing his altitude, putting himself closer to the ground so that Edi couldn't attack him from below again.
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Post by Tinman on Dec 4, 2011 18:49:42 GMT -5
EDI remained quiet as he went skyward, then stalled out and rolled over backwards to begin a spiraling descent, firing his gatlin cannons as he went before cutting right sharply as he released a sidewinder missile at the helicopter, then came around behind his tail boom and up, noticing the alien was trying to remove as much undercarriage clearance as possible between itself and the ground. But then all EDI needed was fifteen feet of clearance to give himself enough space to fly underneath the other aircraft, but the alien didn't need to know that just yet. For now he let the alien machine keep its false sense of security as he launched himself to fly up and over the rotors, firing his gatlin cannons as he flew by.
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Vortex
Laser Fodder
Combaticon Interrogator
"Let's be bad guys!"[A1i:9]
Posts: 40
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Post by Vortex on Dec 4, 2011 19:41:16 GMT -5
Vortex rolled once more when the Sidewinder was fired at him, firing at it before returning fire at Edi, continuing to use the glue gun. Several shots hit his rotors, which made him yipe in pain before growling a bit. "I'll get you for that one..." He lowered his altitude more until he was only twenty or so feet off the ground, the downdraft from his rotors kicking up a small dust storm beneath him.
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Post by Tinman on Dec 4, 2011 19:57:22 GMT -5
EDI didn't much care about the alien craft's threats, he was merely following the orders given to him by the Preservers of Earth. He was made to protect the Earth and the humans who lived on this planet, and these aliens were a detriment to both. He rolled and turned away from the shots, though he ended up with a smear of the sticky substance across the top of his right wing. Thankfully it was in a location that would not affect his maneuverability or weapons much, but he would have to see about getting it cleaned off soon. Seeing that the helicopter was hovering more or less twenty feet off the ground, EDI decided that would be his cue to finish this fight, going into a barrel roll into the sun and circling around before dropping in altitude and rolling over to fly inverted beneath the chopper, launching a throat ripper missile and kicking on his afterburners, uttering "Good bye." as he went past, then angling skyward to get himself clear of the explosion as fast as possible.
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Vortex
Laser Fodder
Combaticon Interrogator
"Let's be bad guys!"[A1i:9]
Posts: 40
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Post by Vortex on Dec 4, 2011 20:02:45 GMT -5
Vortex may have been crazy, but he was not necessarily stupid. When he saw EDI dive and roll, he had an idea of what would be coming, considering that missiles were generally launched from the underside of aircraft. As EDI approached, Vortex transformed, trying to grab onto EDI's underbelly with his claws. The missile missed his head and shoulder by microns, scraping against his armor, and clipping one of his rotors off as they spun and folded in his transformation. He was unable to get any kind of purchase on EDI's exterior, and his claws slid down, leaving gouges in the stealth craft. Vortex was a bit shaken by the near-impact. That had been too close. "Perhaps a retreat is in order..."
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Landmine
Laser Fodder
Bomb Squad
"I am a bomb technician. If you see me running, you'd best be in front of me."[A1i:2]
Posts: 42
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Post by Landmine on Dec 4, 2011 20:12:26 GMT -5
A large tan Cougar HE was rolling its way through the foothills of the mountains, the heavy vehicle sticking to dirt roads and the like, so as not to damage the weaker roads most human settlements had. He was a distance from them now, and his scanners had picked up a Decepticon signal. "Better make sure they're not up to any trouble." He muttered to himself, just starting to come into view of Vortex and EDI.
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Post by Tinman on Dec 4, 2011 20:15:01 GMT -5
EDI was not used to feeling pain, he had not felt it before, even when he had sacrificed himself to save Ben and Kara eleven years ago. The closest he ever came to such a sensation was when he had been struck by lightning, but that was not physical pain, that had been completely internalized, like feeling the core of his being fragmented and violently ripped apart from the inside and the feeling had utterly terrified the AI, fearing he would die. But the sensation of very real and intense pain hit him hard and he cried out involuntarily as he rocketed past and turned skyward, the underside of his fuselage torn open by a series of three parallel gashes that ran completely through his nanoskin and the composite armor beneath it. He had detected a second approaching alien signal then, but at the moment his neural core was reeling from the sensation of pain he was feeling as he continued higher towards the clouds.
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Vortex
Laser Fodder
Combaticon Interrogator
"Let's be bad guys!"[A1i:9]
Posts: 40
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Post by Vortex on Dec 4, 2011 20:35:38 GMT -5
Hearing the strange jet shriek in what Vortex could only assume, and hope, was pain, he allowed himself a grin underneath his battle mask. "Consider us even, for the time being." He murmured gleefully before transforming and lifting up, a bit wobbly and unstable due to missing a main rotor blade, but otherwise flight-worthy for long enough to reach base. He didn't care about the Autobot that had suddenly appeared in the area; the strange jet could deal with that. For now, he wanted to get back, get his rotor fixed, and wait for Megatron to be completely recovered before reporting this to him.
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