Ep 1.5 - Up Top - (Closed)

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The foreign sky was a welcome change after orns of nothing but deep space out his windows. Clouds here were formed from water, dying the intangible fluff whites and greys. They were so abundant, that stood on the top of the Nemesis, gazing over the edge, it was impossible to see the ground. Nothing but a vast, pale ether. The blue background was due to how this planet's atmosphere, a unique mixture of gases, scattered the light from the nearby star. Said star (type yellow dwarf, name "Sun") was currently at 112.4 degrees from east, indicating an Earth time of 2:11 PM.

These were all rudimentary, thoughtless observations. Foresight pursed his lips, starting at the gentle movement of bleached billows but not paying it any attention. He was more preoccupied with the application of such information. Suppose, if a fight broke out on the ship, the offenders could be pushed overboard - Autobots being notoriously flightless - and he could watch them plummet through the mists. But that was a very, very basic tactic, no doubt one everyone was already well aware of.

Unhelpful.

The other data was even more useless when it came to war. Light scattering: interesting topic. Virtually no use in combat. Cloud formation: could be useful when planning a battle, especially on more innately hazardous planets. But fights here, on the Nemesis itself, were rarely anticipated, and water posed no threat to Cybertronians. Estimating time was a feat that impressed no one.

With a face that looked only slightly bothered about this, he stepped back from the edge and turned around. It didn't matter a great deal. Studying the weather wasn't what he came up here for. As much as he needs to brush up on local patterns, it could wait. He'd stepped onto the deck for a much more combat-oriented purpose.

He'd been quietly gathering information on everyone on this ship - tactical purposes, of course, needed to know who's good at what - but it took no expert to know Roulette was the resident sharpshooter. Who better to ask for training?

His pedes made satisfying thuds against metal as he approached her. Not intentionally trying to get her attention, but not trying to hide his presence, either. She looked focused. In her element, in a way he only wished he could be. It seemed almost a shame to break her concentration... In fact, he might be content to simply sit and watch her practise. There was something fascinating about watching people excel, and for a few kliks, he did just that.

Until it occurred to him why he was there in the first place.

"Roulette?" he called out. Brightened his optic and straightened up to his full height. Look confident. Determined. It helps in getting others to agree with you. And even if he's rejected here, he could easily find and ask someone else to do the job. When Foresight puts his processor to it, he can be pretty persistent.

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((OOC: Let's set this for a day one or day two. Whichever works for Foresight.))

Sure, she made it look easy but getting the targeting systems realigned had been agony. Even without Megatron's..."careful" guidance. After the warlord's departure, Roulette had practiced until she hit the target with high marks. Then and only then had she stepped off of the ship surface and staggered to her berth to drop into exhausted recharge. But recalibrating was a tricky art. The next day her aim had started to reset back to the erroneous zone while her body cycled through healing. It was frustrating but nowhere near the end of her.

As such, she just had hammer through the same practices until the recalibration finally clicked and stuck. But today, she found herself smiling at the moving target. Her first shot was on target and a bulls-eye. Sure, the ship was flying stupidly sedate today and the weather was downright accommodating. That bulls-eye meant the world to her at the moment. She emptied the first clip in fast succession, just to see if the first on-point hit had been a fluke.

She gestured to the drone holding target above the ship. After shooting the same glyph over and over on the same mounted surface, desperation forced Roulette to go find a partner to train with. She'd ended up snagging the first drone she'd come across, whose name she hadn't quite remembered, and was happy to find they had those coveted wings. An airborne target was challenging and therefore not as mind-numbingly dull as the last few cycles had been.

"There is a mech behind you," the drone whispered to her as she set foot on the ship's surface.

"I know." She hadn't really noticed but it never hurt to pretend to be aloof and all knowing. Roulette fussed over the target, rechecking her own accuracy. The fact that the drone wasn't fleeing suggested that the mech wasn't Shockwave or Megatron. Which was just as well. Roulette was still avoiding Shockwave as much as she could at the moment (except for those Primus' damned reports) and if she had to take another marksman class with the Big M, she really was going to pitch herself off the side of the ship.

"Roulette?"

Welp, can't avoid talking forever. Even if you just keep the drones for compan-good primus. She paused, half pivot, and stared at the mech for a moment longer than she should have. What is it about me that draws in the mono-optic mechs? And stop staring! He's going to think you're weird...er than you actually are!

"And you are?" This one didn't feel like a ranking officer in comparison with the likes of the inner circle of doom. So she skipped on formalities.

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((OOC: Oh, I was thinking later in the week, like day 4 or 5.))

"Foresight."

He smiled and slapped a servo to his chest plate, as if saying that's me alright. Chose not to address the staring - some mechs were a little phased by his optic - but he didn't outright ignore it, either, instead mentally filing it away. Was she often this hesitant, or easily disturbed? Unstable?

He wasn't sure. Further examination was in order.

At that train of thought, more words were trying to force their way through his vocaliser: Questions about past missions. Personality. Strengths and weaknesses. Is this how you always spend your free time? Are you a hard worker, or is there really nothing better to do around here? No, wait. I'll introduce myself further. That'll lead straight to business.

Foresight knew he had a tendency to babble on, so this was an attractive idea. And just like that, the smile was back on his face. He could never stop for too long when meeting someone new. The facts were listed off with ease.

"I'm an intelligence analyst: I use data to estimate enemy tactics. Flier. Body-type 91741-4824-843. I'm not so skilled in combat, so I'd love if I could join you in training."

With so few units on this planet, there was no doubt he'd be asked to get out there and fight eventually. And while sitting by and processing information was important, of course it is, he just couldn't relate it to an actual battle. The theory was down, but without practice, it was about as useful as a load of scrap.

The Eradicon in the background kept silent. Just as they should. Almost all of them were identical and uninteresting, and Foresight had no reason to believe this one would be any different; vorns alone with almost no one else but them to keep him company had taught him that.

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((OOC: Day 4 or 5 it is!))

"I'm an intelligence analyst: I use data to estimate enemy tactics. Flier. Body-type 91741-4824-843. I'm not so skilled in combat, so I'd love if I could join you in training."

You're still staring! Cut it out!!

Roulette turned away with the pretense of waving the drone off to reset the target. So the mech had one optic. Rare, but by no means was it an omen of a future pain in her skidplate. She already had that in the name of Shockwave. At the thought of the scientist, she had to physically repress a shudder. Stupid, micro-chipping freak.

"Foresight. Gotcha." Well, at least she didn't have to introduce herself. "Sorry about the staring. You reminded me of someone." Without waiting for a response to that, she continued on, "What type of training did you want? I can teach you how to shoot but CQC is a bit beyond my means."

Which reminded her, she had been meaning to brush up on those skills but there wasn't very mechs she could ask for lessons. Knockout, while talented (one had to assume) was too prickly about his finish to spar. Breakdown was an option...She might actually get around to bugging the ol blinker for hand to hand lessons in exchange for some gummies she could steal from Windy.

Could ask Megatron for a lesson. Ha! Oh Primus, I crack myself up. Whoo. I could just see it now, a lesson in dodging: don't get hit.

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Oh? The first (other) mono-optic'd mech who sprung to mind was Shockwave - a high-ranking scientist who just so happened to be stationed on this very ship. While Foresight didn't know him, he knew of him. Tales of the mad scientist were heard far and wide, from new recruits frightened into obedience, to approving vets chatting over morning rations. According to them, he resurrected those long since dead. He could hack into processors at will. He even rewired himself for less emotions and more logic.

For now, he wasn't sure if any of those rumours were the slightest bit true. His curiosity was piqued, no matter who it was.

"Just shooting will be fine. Don't really have the equipment for anything close-range. Reminded you of who?"

He gazed at the back of her helm (not on purpose, she turned away) and after saying his part, that stare drifted towards his arms, held out in front of him for examination. Maybe he oughta get some upgrades after all. Some kind of blade was the most sensible idea: lethal, but didn't require immense strength the same way a blunt weapon did. Armour could be a comfort, but the speed reduction was worrying. What was the point of predicting movements without the reflexes to dodge them?

It was entertaining to plan out a battle-ready version of himself, but with materials and Energon a little scarce, it looked like only a distant possibility. There were more important projects to save the metal for. Too bad, in the war's heyday, he didn't have the foresight to get more equipment while he had the opportunity.

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"Eh, Shockwave." She half turned to him and waved her hand in front of her face as if to emphasis the optic category. Really, how many other mechs fit in that niche? A whopping two now. "Bit of a boob, that one."

The drone had set the target a suitable length away from them and stepped out of the way. One didn't usually stick around in the range of a firing squad unless they could take the hit. Drones were proven to be about as sturdy as paper bags sometimes and Roulette didn't think a case of friendly fire would win any points with the ships medic.

"Let's see what you got. Try to hit the bulls-eye on the stationary target." She stepped to his side, facing him to watch. The best way to tell how good a mech was to watch him shoot and not the target he was aiming for. She wanted to know how his stance was, if he favored any side, if there was a telltale tic or twitch that aided or hindered his aim.

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It was clear from her tone and succinct response she wasn't interested in continuing on that tangent. Nothing else to say, wanting to get on with training - either way he stayed silent, choosing not to press the matter.

On her instruction, Foresight's gaze switched to the target in question. His servos swapped out for blasters, folding and receding into his arms with a series of metallic scrapes and whirs. Right: hitting a stationary bullseye. Not hard at all.

The target wasn't so far away that he had to move. So he stayed put, merely pointing his right arm. A few small adjustments were necessary, after running some calculations, and then he fired a shot. The lightly smoking scorch in the general centre of the target (it was off by a little) brought a small grin of pride and relief to his face; it had been a long time since he'd had to seriously fire these things, but it looked like his aiming program hadn't suffered too much. He looked at Roulette, awaiting response.

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The subject of Shockwave always popped up in casual and not so casual conversation. Roulette couldn't even count how many times she'd been asked about all the scary details about the mech. Honestly, she could tell everyone curious that working with Shockwave was boring more than 85% of the time and then, usually quite suddenly, absolutely terrifying the other 15%. Usually when he had a new project in mind but no subjects, or he lost part of his project. That was generally the times Roulette vacated his company until he forced her to come back.

She didn't get paid nearly enough to put up with Mister Hyde.

With a carefully neutral look on her face, she watched Foresight take his stance and aim. He was fairly sure of himself and she liked that. Being a sure shot took a fair amount of confidence in your abilities and in your talents. There was no hesitation on his part but a careful moment to aim and fire. This wasn't a time trial, so the speed of his shots didn't mean a thing. With a quick glance, she checked his progress on the target, mildly impressed.

"Very good. You said you were an intelligence analyst. You ever use that in shooting? This planet is tricky. The weather is random and the atmosphere really messes with targeting. I've had to recalibrate a few times since being here." She gestured the drone to move the target further back so he could try again.