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Post by Hot Rod on Jan 7, 2024 17:53:30 GMT
Characters Appearing: Hot Rod, Clematis Location (s): Autobot City training ground. Timeline: Shortly after "Getting the Team Together" Plot Summary: If Clematis is going to be part of Optimus's new Task Force she's going to need to learn how to fight with the best.
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Post by Hot Rod on Jan 7, 2024 17:57:30 GMT
Hot Rod ducked and turned as he shot the training targets that had been set up. Today was gonna be a special day for him.
With Optimus's new task force gearing up his girlfriend Clematis felt that she needed a bit more combat training.
Fortunately, she happened to be engaged to one of the Autobots' best jack-of-all-trades fighters.
As Clematis rolled into the training area Hot Rod smirked. "So Clem. Your ready to know how to be the other type of femme that I love?"
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Post by Clematis on Jan 11, 2024 2:00:28 GMT
As much as she loved Hot Rod, she absolutely dreaded this.
Clematis agreed to her boyfriend's combat training exercise, and she really had to convince herself not to turn down the offer. She hated fighting more than anything and never wanted to hurt anyone, but she knew that she couldn't avoid fighting forever. She knew deep down, as much as she hated it, that there would come a time where she'd be forced to fight. It wasn't that she didn't know how, but that she wasn't particularly skilled in combat. The azure and lilac femme would be an easy target for any adversary, but the thing that ultimately convinced her to agree to all this was that she didn't want to be a burden. She wanted to help protect Hot Rod if she could not just by being the medic of the task force, but to be able to defend him should Primus forbid anything happen.
Closing her optics, Clematis stood just outside the training room doors as she sighed. She knew she could do this. There was just that tiny reluctance.
Once she felt ready the femme opened the door and made her way inside, instantly spotting Hot Rod and the little course he had set up. Clematis couldn't help but smile as she approached her boyfriend, greeting him with a kiss on the cheek. "I just hope I don't disappoint you, but thank you for doing this for me." The red mech really seemed to want her to learn how to fight, and the last thing Clematis wanted to do was make him feel like he'd wasted his time. Reaching back to sides of the wheels resting behind her shoulders, a click sounded as she removed the hubcaps to reveal two chakrams which she held firmly in both servos. "So what do you have planned first, Roddy?"
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Post by Hot Rod on Jan 11, 2024 2:25:25 GMT
Hot Rod crackled his knuckles.
"Well Clem it's quite simple," he said.
"The first step to being a great fighter is to be pragmatic in combat." He began to walk back and forth as he said this, "And to be pragmatic you need to-"
He hadn't even finished speaking before he punched Clem in the face.
"Take the enemy by surprise."
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Post by Clematis on Jan 14, 2024 2:26:18 GMT
Optics widened and chakrams flying out of her servos, Clematis yelped as she was suddenly struck.
She was by no means prepared for Hot Rod to slug her like he had, and honestly she was completely stunned as she landed on her aft. In a daze she tried to piece together what the frag had even happened before raising a servo to gently touch her faceplate. Sure it had been combat training, but why would her boyfriend just suddenly do that without warning? As her processor cleared it dawned on her that he had said something about being pragmatic and taking the enemy by surprise. Was that what he'd meant to demonstrate.
"Hot Rod, what was that for?"
The azure and lilac femme frowned as she got up, dusting off her armor. Was she meant to fight him back? She didn't want to hurt him though! Clematis just sort of stood there, waiting for the next instruction before shifting into a slight defensive position. It was clear just from how she was standing that she had no intention to fight back unless her boyfriend gave the clear direction to do so, and even then she'd likely hesitate. Fighting went against her morals, but at the same time she wanted to learn how to fight somewhat just to help protect Hot Rod should a situation turn dire. Primus her processor was conflicted.
"I don't want to hurt you.."
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Post by Hot Rod on Jan 17, 2024 23:37:49 GMT
"Simple Clem." Hot Rod explained pulling out his Energon sword "In combat a Decepticon isn't going to care about being fair. You need to fight dirty. Attack when he hesitates. Don't leave anything to chance."
He took a fighting stance. He hoped Clem was up for this. He could tell she was feeling conflicted. But this was important.
"Honor is all well in good, but the honor doesn't save lives."
He looked a little pained when she voiced that she didn't want to hurt him.
"I know Clem. I don't either but if you're gonna be an Autobot, you gotta fight like one. Even Ratchet knows when to throw down once in a while"
"Now fight!" Hot Rod swung his sword at Clem.
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Post by Clematis on Jan 19, 2024 2:36:40 GMT
Clematis knew that Hot Rod was right. If she ended up in a situation where she was forced into fighting, the enemy wasn't going to care if she wanted to fight or not. Still, there was that twinge of sadness as her boyfriend stated that she needed to fight if she wanted to be an Autobot. Fighting wasn't everything, and there was plenty of bots that weren't combative unless the situation forced them to be just like her. She knew he meant well with this training, and she got it.
It just didn't make her feel any better about it. At least, if nothing else, he recognized that she didn't want to hurt him.
The azure and lilac femme's optics widened as Hot Rod swung his blade at her, jumping back and picking her chakrams off the floor. He had caught her completely off guard with all of this, and she knew he wanted her to fight but her spark warred against her. Clematis swung her left arm so the chakram would strike against her boyfriend's blade to try and shove it away, but she knew he was stronger than she was. "Hot Rod, this isn't what I was expecting. I was expecting to strike targets or.. or servo to servo, but not you swinging a blade at me!" Clematis' words were filled not with anger, but with fear. She didn't want to hurt him, and he didn't want to hurt her either, so why all the risk with weapons?
She hoped it wasn't the competitiveness fueling the red mech again.
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Post by Hot Rod on Jan 21, 2024 19:06:28 GMT
As Hot Rod heard the fear in Clematis's voice he began to back off.
"I'm... I'm sorry Clem..." he said nervously "I didn't mean to scare you."
He wanted to help Clem become the brave warrior he knew she could be but he didn't wanna force it down her throat. Otherwise, what made them better than the Decepticons?
"I guess I got a little carried away...but in fairness, you're the one who brought the chakrams out first."
Hot Rod sighed.
"Okay let's start off a bit more simpler,"
Hot Rod pressed a few buttons on a nearby pad, and a bunch of holographic Decepticons appeared.
"Try to take them all down as fast as possible" Hot Rod instructed.
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Post by Clematis on Jan 24, 2024 1:33:53 GMT
Clematis felt all that anxiety flood right out of her frame the second Hot Rod backed off, apologizing for scaring her. She felt so relieved that he realized he was making her slightly uncomfortable with the out of nowhere weapons practice, but he did have a point as well that she had brought out the chakrams first.
"Eh heh.. Yeah, I guess you're right." She smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her helm carefully. "Though with the targets set up, I'd thought that's what you had wanted me to do so that's why I'd taken them out to begin with. I'm sorry if I confused you, but I accept your apology."
The azure and lilac femme watched as her boyfriend toyed with a pad beside him, watching as several holograms appeared spread out in various positions. It would've been too easy to have them grouped together in a straight line, but it wasn't like she was expecting that anyway. She was just happy that Hot Rod was adjusting his plan to help make her feel a little more comfortable with this combat training. She could hurt him, but a hologram couldn't be hurt. That put Clematis' processor at ease knowing that she wouldn't be forced into hurting someone. She'd treat them in that scenario, but she hated causing anyone pain. That's why she'd avoided combat for as long as she had. "I think I can do that."
Flashing him a smile, Clematis turned toward the holograms and rushed on forward. She swung her right arm to cleave through the hologram with her chakram before spinning around to strike the one beside it. Hacking and slashing, bouncing from hologram to hologram, she took them down with ease before realizing there was two more of them on either side at a distance. Remembering Skyfire's advice to her, the azure and lilac femme hurled one of her chakrams at one of the two holograms, spinning on her heel to throw the other chakram at the hologram left standing. Once they were all gone, she pressed tiny actuators hidden right on the inside of her arms just past the wrists as both chakrams flew back in her direction. Holding out her servos she caught both of them before spinning around to smile back at Hot Rod. "How was that~?"
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Post by Hot Rod on Jan 27, 2024 2:02:13 GMT
Hot Rod growled teasingly as he saw Clematis's results.
"Too slow!" he declared "You think the Decepticons are going to just gonna let you hit them?"
"Still, your moves with the chakrams aren't bad. For someone who doesn't like to fight."
"Do it again!" he ordered, "Faster this time." he pressed more pads on the keyboard and the simulation started up again.
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Post by Clematis on Feb 3, 2024 22:57:29 GMT
Hot Rod's words hadn't exactly been wrong.
"It's not that I don't know how to fight. It's just that I don't like hurting others." Clematis was a medic after all. Her efforts were best put to work behind the scenes to help keep others alive, and she'd been lucky to have not been called to the battlefield as a battle medic. She knew Ratchet could hold his own if he really needed to. He was incredibly inspiring to Clematis, and she knew she'd never reach his level. While she wanted to help others, she never wanted to be the next 'Ratchet'. Just to be another medic that helped save lives was good enough for her, but it was starting to reach a point where she was going to have to be on the battlefield whether she liked it or not. The azure and lilac femme was part of this task force now, and everyone on the team aside from possibly Airazor seemed to enjoy the thrill of a fight. She was going to have to keep Jazz, Ironhide, Hot Rod and Airazor alive.
But that also meant she needed to keep her boyfriend safe, too, and that was never something she had to question in her mind. She'd do that without hesitation.
As her boyfriend brought the projections back up, Clematis did her best to try and go faster as she swung her chakrams at them. She spun around quickly on her heel as the ones before her were gone, quickly turning her attention to the ones at her sides. Again she threw her chakrams at the ones furthest from her, recalling them before throwing them once more. Despite her best efforts the azure and lilac femme only managed to shave several seconds off her previous time. "Was.. that any better?"
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Post by Hot Rod on Feb 4, 2024 3:21:14 GMT
Hot Rod took a look.
"Yeah, it was, but only by a few seconds," he noted.
He paused and thought about it.
"Then don't think about it as hurting others," he suggested, "Think of it as helping people. Every hit you give to a Deception, is another second you gave someone in their life. Maybe no one is in danger right now, but they could be, and you just gave them time. You gotta keep giving them time."
Hot Rod slammed his right fist into his left palm, "Tell yourself that. That's what you're fighting for. Not to hurt others, but to save people. That's what it means to be an Autobot.".
"in Fact..."
Hot Rod set up the holofield again. This time in addition to the Decepticon holograms there were various humans scattered around.
"Go do the course again, save as many as you can."
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Post by Clematis on Feb 4, 2024 16:06:29 GMT
With Hot Rod's explanation, something clicked in Clematis' processor.
To think about protecting others and buying them time to flee or get a job done rather than hurting someone. The idea had floated around in her processor before, but it had been far outweighed by that fact that she would have to hurt someone. As a medic one always held that badge of 'do no harm', and while many medics were forced to find the fine line between harm and heal Clematis clung to that. She genuinely did not like the thought of hurting someone because at the end of the day the notion of Autobot and Decepticon didn't matter. They were all Cybertronians, and as cold as some Decepticons could be.. did they not bleed just like them? Did they not have bots they cared for that would be worried about them if they got hurt or worse? It was an internal conflict that Clematis couldn't find any resolution to, but as her boyfriend offered his advice it did help make some sense to her.
If she hesitated because she didn't want to hurt the enemy, would they hesitate as well? Would they not just hurt others now that they were given a window of opportunity? Besides, she'd already reasoned with herself that if it came down to Hot Rod being in danger, the azure and lilac femme would do everything in her power to save him.. so why make that exclusive to him?
"I.." Clematis faltered, looking down guiltily for a moment. "You're right. I.. never really thought about it that way. I mean.. I've tried to, but my fear of hurting someone else kept conflicting with those thoughts. When you put it that way, even if they get hurt, saving lives is more important. Wounds can be healed, but lives lost can't be brought back." The femme sighed, but smiled at the red mech. "Thanks. I really needed to hear that, but in case you were wondering I wouldn't have hesitated for a moment if it were to save you. Maybe I should keep that in mind. Pretend those people are you, at least for now."
That didn't mean she wasn't going to at least try to reason with the enemy when she felt it was safe to do so.
Once the new holograms were set with armed Decepticons as well as humans, Clematis wasted no time getting to work. The azure and lilac femme jumped right into the fray, taking down the Decepticons closest to her while also trying to shoo the humans away to safety. Of course, some of the more distant ones appeared to be in more peril and she couldn't reach multiple targets at the same time. Acting quickly she hurled one of her chakrams at a hologram at one end before making a mad dash toward the other side to grab the strike the final target. Her speed was much improved, though she was left a little tired after that drill. "Haaah.. I think.. I got them all."
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Post by Hot Rod on Feb 4, 2024 17:49:36 GMT
"Yes. Much better time." Hot Rod said proudly.
"Still room for improvement but now that we found your drive and motivation, everything else should fall into place."
Hot Rod paced back and forth.
"Now. Are you ready for a mock fight against me? Or do you need some more time to build up to that?" he asked.
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Post by Clematis on Feb 10, 2024 16:27:23 GMT
Clematis was at the very least satisfied that she'd done much better. Now that she had some level of resolve, it'd be easier for her to join the fray and not falter. Fight to defend and protect.. not necessarily to harm. One couldn't exactly heal those who had already gone back to the Well of Allsparks, or wherever the humans went, but it did make it easier to focus on protecting others. That didn't mean she wanted to fight, however, but Clematis supposed that as a last resort it was an unfortunate necessity.
Just imagine those in danger were Hot Rod for now. She'd want to protect him, and of course she'd want to protect her friends too.
But it seemed that Hot Rod wasn't quite done with the training, and he wanted to go back to sparring between the both of them. Initially the azure and lilac femme frowned, but she didn't entirely want to turn him down either. "Maybe giving it a try wouldn't hurt, but Roddy.. can we do it this time without our weapons? Just servo to servo? I think that will make it easier for me, and I could use the practice anyway." It wasn't entirely a lie. If her chakrams were knocked away, Clematis wasn't very experienced when it came to hand to hand combat. Sure she could throw a punch or kick, but not skillfully by any means. She'd be easy to block, and that only made her an easier target especially if cornered.
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