The Sweet Science (Open)

[Windshear]

January 17th, 10:30 AM
The Nemesis

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The Vehicon hit the mat with a whump, and an instant later a loud clang rang through the sparring arena as Windshear slammed into him, effectively pinning the smaller machine to the ground. The acting referee was a femme whose name Windshear did not know. She slapped the mat and counted while he struggled to keep his opponent from rising. At ten she gave a shout, holding her hand up. “He’s down! You win, ‘Shear,” she grinned crookedly. “Again.”

Windshear would have returned the smile if he’d had a mouth. As it was, he just nodded and heaved himself off his opponent, offering one clawed hand to the Vehicon to help haul him to his feet. “Good fight!” Windshear gave the other a pat on the back that nearly sent him sprawling. “Y’know, for a grounder’n all.” He chuckled, and this was followed by a series of snorting huffs from the handful of off-duty drones gathered around. There were no hard feelings behind the comment. Everyone present knew and understood that.

The Vehicons and Eradicons didn’t have much in the way of recreation, but they did have access to the same training facilities that their superiors did. There were a variety of things that could be done there to keep an antsy machine at the top of his or her game, but the sparring ring was Windshear’s favorite. The arena was floored with a thick heavy-duty foam that absorbed most impact, which meant that he didn’t have to pull his punches when it came to sparring.

He had most of the day off, so he was going to spend it doing the things he liked--fighting and flying. He’d been there at the ring for about an hour, had fought four opponents (three mechs and a femme) and had enjoyed himself immensely the whole time. He was geared up for a fifth round, his wings hiked up high and pulled back in what was considered, among Seekers, to be an aggressive stance. He was rarin’ to go, and looking for a challenge. “Anyone else out there wanna give it a shot? Eh?”

Most of the small knot of watchers waved him away. They’d seem him fight enough times not to be interested. Windshear cocked his head at his referee questioningly, but she shook her head. “Nope. You’re on your own.”

[Goliath]

A large, 35 foot tall maroon mech entered the sparring arena. Someone a good bit shorter and bulkier stood by in the shadows, straying behind. So far the highest bidder for such a lean, mean fighting machine were the Decepticons, and Tarnish had been ordered to let Goliath have some test runs on the Nemesis as far as sparring matches and battle scenarios went. ”You have another challenger.” Goliath walked forward then finally stopped a fair distance away from Windshear. ”Do not expect to necessarily stay on your winning streak.”

Tarnish was certain that all the ruthless traits he didn’t have would show in this match.

[Windshear]

Windshear was large, for a drone (at 26 feet), and used to being the tallest mech in any given situation. It was something of a novel experience for him to look up at someone, as such. He tilted his head at his challenger. He hadn’t seen this fellow before, but he looked tough, which was just what Windshear wanted. The other assembled drones parted before Goliath, most o them looking just as curious as Windshear did, and a few of them muttering amongst themselves at the appearance of this stranger.

Windshear was not subdued at all by the cold challenge. He was too fired up. “Heh, it ain’t winnin’ or losin’ that matters. It’s the fight that matters,” he nodded to his opponent and stepped back, further into the arena, settling into a half-crouched stance. He was outweighed here, but that didn’t mean he was out-muscled. He’d have to see what it was this guy had before he formulated any kind of strategy.

Windshear was undoubtedly dumb. He was, in fact, as dumb as they came, but he knew how to do one thing well, and that was fight. “Show me whatcha got.”

[Shockwave]

Shockwave slowly lumbered down the hall. It seemed like he had no destination or purpose in mind, but he always had a purpose in mind. There was always something that could be done in order to better the battle against the Autobots. As the titan made his way down the hall, voices caught his attention. At first, he saw no need to take any action and investigate, but somehow they had caught his attention anyway. Turning his huge body, the one-eyed Decepticon made his way toward the ring. Perhaps two Decepticons had decided to try to hash it out with each other for dominance? At first, Shockwave so no logical reason to go watch, but soon thought of the fact that it would decide, in the end, who was best fit to fight. Perhaps it was an event worth watching.

Entering the ring, Shockwave observed his fellow Decepticons, and he used the term 'fellow' loosely, looking like they were about to have a fighting the arena. Well, they were not there to drink a sweet beverage or anything. It was only common sense that they were going to fight. It was what this area was for. Hopefully they would not bang each other up too much to where they would be decommissioned for a while and be unable to fight. If Shockwave could feel emotions, he would probably feel amused, but instead, he was just going to watch. The Decepticon would take note of their attacks, and probably use that against them if he ended up in a fight against one of the two next. One of them had to be an aggressive soldier, wanting to try to show his worth. It would be nothing against Shockwave, but that was probably not going to stop a few from trying.

[Goliath]

Goliath raised an optic ridge at that. His red optics glowing, he certainly LOOKED like an ordinary Decepticon. "That is essentially all I am here for."

Instead of charging forward, Goliath withdrew his chained Kurasigama and tossed the bladed end towards Windshear's upper body. He gripped the other end which had a spiked club hanging off it. It was a tricky weapon to work with for some, but with Goliath size, the weapon would compliment his style well as he developed it.

The dim lights shone down on his figure, indicating the frame of rectangular-ish looking wings on his back - the boxy wings belonging to an A10.

[Windshear]

Windshear was focused on his opponent, and only dimly registered Shockwave’s arrival. The other Decepticons most certainly did notice him, though, and they milled about a bit nervously, casting glances towards the massive scientist’s way. Shockwave was not exactly what one would call well-liked among the lower ranks. It was no secret that he had absolutely no morals whatsoever, and thought nothing of sacrificing a lesser life for the sake of his experiments. A handful of drones sauntered away, trying to hide their nervousness with a casual air.

The clang of Goliath’s Kurasigama-blade meeting the thick steel of Windshear’s plating halted a few of them in their tracks. Windshear had been surprised by this turn of events, but had managed to raised his arm, using the plating there to deflect the blow. It only left a scrape on his armor--cosmetic damage, mostly--but he’d barely managed to keep the surprise attack from injuring him.

“Whoah, whoah, whoah!” The referee called, standing up straight. “Hey, this is sparring, we’re not using weapons, here!”

“We are now!” Windshear boomed, his loud voice carrying a hint of eagerness. It was always wise to counterattack an enemy, but he needed to close the distance between himself and this fellow, and fast because he clearly had some skill at ranged combat. Windshear could have used his blasters, but he didn’t, instead spreading his talons and lowering his arms as he charged.

The Seeker was running low, keeping his wings pinned as close to his back as he could. They were an obvious weak spot--perhaps even a little too obvious. He noticed, as he charged, that his opponent had a pair of wings, too, though they were lower-set and not as angular as his own. Hmm. Another Seeker? Why didn’t he recognize this guy?

No time for thoughts like that, though. Unless Goliath managed to halt Windshear’s charge, the smaller drone slammed into his midsection with an astonishing amount of force for one so small (compared, of course, to Goliath). The Eradicon’s shoulder took the brunt of the blow, and he hooked one arm around to dig a handful of nastily sharp talons between the plates covering Goliath’s lower back.

[Goliath]

"I was unaware weapons weren't allowed." Goliath replied. He took the pain to the lower back, letting his nanomachines fight against Windshear's rather nasty talons.

All though he would turn around, he didn't need to right away. Despite the fact that the wings weren't near as aerodynamically appealing as Windshear's, the A10 was remarkably agile even at low speeds as well as high bank angles, which is what made it rather special. Those wings were a little more precious to him than Windshear probably realized.

And though the pain was briefly stinging, Goliath flipped the long chained weapon around, reducing some of the slack as he did so to avoid getting tangled in it as he pivoted to the rear by shifting one foot rearwards after initiating the swing. The swing was more or less a feigning technique as he turned around. It was done to get Windshear to back off (hopefully), and once he stepped back into a left neutral stance, he brought the other spiked end of the chained weapon forward in the form of a hook punch. Given Goliath's size, it was certainly threatening and would easily send Windshear off his feet, perhaps even flying to the side a bit if he managed to achieve the strike with the weapon that appeared to look like a mace of sorts.

[Windshear]

((Gonna go ahead and post once more since Shockwave is just watching--but after this I’ll pause and see if Shockers has anything to add >;|))

The aim of Windshear’s charge had actually been to knock the other backwards, or even off his feet. That had not happened. It had rather been like hitting a brick wall. Damn! This guy was tough! Well, good. It had been a long time since Windshear’s had a good, tough brawl. When Goliath began to step back and maneuver, Windshear stayed in close. He knew that putting distance between himself and this guy would be disastrous with a weapon like that. Windshear was smaller, and in many ways less powerful than Goliath, but he had much, much more experience.

When the large mech tried to get a swing in with his mace, Windshear attempted to duck under and charge forward, once again doing what he could to keep close where he could get a few good strikes in--but he didn’t duck far enough, and the mace caught him in the side of the chest. He stumbled, but managed not to fall to the mat. The gathered spectators shared a collective wince. That had sounded painful, and there was a noticeable denting in Windshear’s chest armor from where the mace had struck.

Any other mech would probably have taken a moment to recover from a blow like that, but the jarring pain of the strike only seemed to spur the drone into an even fiercer rage, and charged at Goliath again. He pulled back his right fist, as if he were going to attempt to jab at Goliath’s face, but it was a feint, and his left hand darted out, talons bared, to strike at the giant’s right shoulder-joint. He needed to make it difficult for Goliath to sue his weapon.

He still hadn’t deployed any of his firearms.

[Shockwave]

The large robot had simply continued to watch. His large red optic transfixed upon the two sparring bots. Shockwave had also observed the spectators around, seeming to get absorbed into the action. For Shockwave, it was simply a demonstration of their skills. Each move was taken into account. If he could figure out the fighting style of the two, he would know better how to put it to good use. Of course, watching one fight would probably not give him the information he needed, he would have to see them in two or more fights. The changes of seeing another fight among the two were probably going to be pretty slim, but he would try to see fights with them among other bots. Who knew? Perhaps he could challenge one of them himself and see what they are really worth. For now, no words came out of his vocal processor. There was nothing worthwhile to say. The two were fighting, and he was just observing. Perhaps, if he actually became impressed with the performance of one of them, he would offer to let the winner fight himself. It was something Shockwave hardly ever did.

Right now, Shockwave could not see who was going to win yet. Strength alone could not gain a victory, but intelligence and logic. That was what Shockwave believed, but this was coming from the Decepticon that worshiped logic. To him, it was the very essence of life and of survival. He could not really judge who would win, since he had not seen any of these two fight before, but his guess was on Windshear, but he could be incorrect. The other could very well show more intelligence than strength, and could use that to win this spar. This was what was going to keep the cyclops Decipticon around to watch. The fact that he wanted to see how the two would try to obtain their victory.

((Feel free to skip over me, there isn't much to do since Shockwave is watching. I'll post if he has something of importance to say or do =) ))

[Goliath]

Windshear's claws grazed Goliath's chin lightly as he leaned back to avoid the feint just in case. He saw the next swing fairly swiftly. Since Goliath was much bigger, he blocked with both his arms downward instead of up. He kept them parallel with each end of the weapon in grasp. Needing little footwork for this, the much taller mech swung the scythe-like end of the kurasigama in a horizontal sweep towards Windshear's upper body underneath the arm that had swung out. He didn't expect a hit with the other arm probably ready to guard strikes, but it was worth a shot since it didn't require any fancy footwork.

[Windshear]

Windshear remained utterly oblivious to Shockwave’s presence. Had he known that he might have gotten a chance to fight Shockwave if he won against Goliath, he probably would have been sufficiently excited. Windshear relished a good fight, and they didn’t come much bigger and badder than Shockwave. Besides, Windshear personally disliked Shockwave, and would have loved the chance to have a go at him.

Goliath managed to avoid a strike directly to his shoulder-joint; Windshear was impressed at the speed at which the larger mech moved. No time to dwell on mechanics, though, because now Goliath was once again trying to put distance between them so that he could more effectively use his weapon once more. Windshear did not intend to let that happen.

Before he could close in, the Kurasigama lashed out, however, and Windshear tried to block, but he was unable to fully prevent it from striking him. It clanged against his chest-plates, mercifully not actually hooking in them, but sending a painful resonance through the dent already located there. Once again, the sensation seemed only to spur the drone to further violence. Windshear immediately lashed out with both hands to grab the chain. He yanked on it, hard, pulling forward and down in an attempt to bring Goliath eye level with him.

If he succeeded, his next move was simple and very quickly executed--a punch in the face.

[Goliath]

Goliath wasn't paying much attention to the other fighters. The only one he would pay attention to other than his opponent would be Tarnish.

At noticing Windshear tug on the chain in such a way to bring him down to his level, Goliath decided to go with it with out a single expression to give away what he had in mind - he seemed generally void of most emotions. Taking a punch (or a few) to the face plates, the faint dim of the light in the room would once again reveal that his face was taking little damage with the help of nanomachines. He would not need words to explain he was different, and clearly not a Seeker.

Goliath willfully buckled, dropping to a knee, he pointed his forearms down again and rotated them about 180 degrees vertically over Windshear's arm that held onto his chain, yanked DOWN, and then struck a fierce left elbow out towards the mech's face.

He wasn't really gloating, but he was making use of the fact that when you were bigger, less movement was the way to go. He was trying hard to entertain this idea by being as practical as he could with his retaliations and attacks. The yank and elbow would create enough pounds per feet force that it would likely get Windshear to at least let go of the weapon if hit, maybe sway him a bit too. Goliath was a hard hitter, and he didn't have much control over his hits yet since this was his first fight.

[Windshear]

Windshear felt a visceral sense of satisfaction shudder through him when his attack finally made contact--but was a little startled when Goliath didn’t seem to absorb any damage from the blow. It wasn’t the hardest punch he could throw, but it was still enough to at least daze most mechs. Just who was this guy? He didn’t spare more than a moment on the thought. It was useless trying to analyze what he didn’t understand.

Goliath’s manipulation of the chain went just as he planned--Windshear was forced down, uncomfortably close to the mat, and then elbowed right in the face. His optical strip flickered for a moment under the blow, and the Eradicon reeled. He did not, however, fall. Goliath had many advantages, being larger, but Windshear had a lower center of gravity, and was able to hold his footing.

The crowd watched raptly. This was the first really significant blow that they’d seen Windshear take. The ref was staring, open-mouthed, at the two mechs.

Windshear’s wits returned to him and he released the weapon. As much as he didn’t like to back off, he was far too close to the mat for his own comfort, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to throw this fella if he got pinned. His only hope was decent leverage if Goliath managed to knock him down. He hurriedly shuffled backwards, keeping Goliath in his sights, his body held in a tense arch, ready to react to the larger drone’s next move. The blows he’d taken didn’t seemed to have slowed him at all.

He seemed even more fired up. His claws were clenching spasmodically, grasping blindly at the air for something to rend, and his wings were twitching behind his back, rising and falling in small jerks, the only outward indication of the Seeker’s rising aggression. He was waiting for Goliath to make a move.

[Goliath]

Putting away the weapon for now, Goliath obliged in initiating 'round two'. He cross-stepped forward with his left leg and feinted a rather low (for him) knife edged right kick towards Windshear's midsection then attempted a side kick straight out towards his chest plates with the flat part of his heavy foot. This move would surely test his spontaneity and also his own without the aid of his chained weapon, which he was realizing was sometimes a bit of a liability because of the chains (all though in some cases they certainly came in handy).

Thus far Goliath was enjoying this fight. All though the expressions weren't easily shown due to the fact that he was actually a drone like them in every sense - just a very cold and emotionless one, he was not going to deny the sense of enjoyment he felt. He wondered what Tarnish was thinking, perhaps he should belong with the Cons to help fight...unfortunately he knew there would be some issues with that since his Master was an Autobot...

[Windshear]

Windshear watched his foe put his weapon away. The Eradicon settled into a slight crouch, ready to move. Hand to hand for the moment it was, then. He slowly and deliberately balled his fists. During his other sparring matches, he hadn’t used his talons to strike his foes; he considered them weapons. While Goliath was wielding his Kurasigama, the claws came out. When it went away, they went away.

It was somewhat ironic that, though he possessed a fully-functioning face, Goliath chose not to express any of the emotions running through him during the fight; on the other side of that equation was Windshear, whose rigid mask prevented him from making any sort of expression, which he gladly would have done. Had he been in possession of a mouth, he would be grinning wickedly. Hand-to-hand he was much more familiar with.

Goliath opened up with a pretty slick move, but this time Windshear was prepared. Kicking the properly-braced Eradicon was not unlike kicking an unyielding wall. He stepped back to receive the blow to his chest, his arms raised defensively, and he actually caught Goliath’s foot. The force of the blow caused the smaller drone to skid back a bit, but he held, his hands clamped around Goliath’s ankle in an iron grip. Windshear twisted to his right, attempting to force Goliath over onto his side; if he was lucky, he might even knock the other down, in which case he’d immediately close in for an attempt at a pin.

This had all happened in the course of a few seconds, and Goliath’s countermeasure, whatever it was, would probably also be just as quick. To the audience, this was a flurry of confusing movement.