Training [invite]

Week 15

David sat at the edge of the cliff looking over it. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Lovely breeze. Not cloudy. Nice winds. Clear sky. What could be better." He looked around to see if Kaali had arrived yet. Wonder if she really wanted to see this....most don't. He sat down and dangled his legs off the cliff as he waited on her.

Kaali took about ten minutes to catch up to David, having stopped at her dorm room to drop off and pick up some things. She also appears to have changed out of her school uniform and into her standard attire, which is still somewhat formal. A large case rested on her back, and strapped to that was her spear. She looked ready for an adventure, as she happily walked along the trail heading to the top of the cliffs near Beacon Academy. She was glancing into the sky occasionally as she walked, and her expression was that of thought and excitement.

Eventually, rounding a corner through the scarce trees, she spotted David sitting on the edge of the cliffs, and headed his way. As she approached, she made sure to adjust her heavy case on her back, which rattled with some noise, hopefully informing David that she was approaching, and not sneaking up on him.

David turned around to say hello to Kaali. "Hello there!" He said as he stood up and looked at her. "So you ready for a demo of Ic?" He asked as he stood by the cliff.

Kaali waves with her free hand, her other one holding her writing notepad and a larger notebook. As she reaches him, she stops and takes the large case off her back, setting it down to the side. Satisfied that it won't get knocked off the cliff or anything, she opens the smaller notebook, revealing a message she wrote while heading to the cliffs, smiling as she has the entire time.

Code:

I am primarily interested in
maneuverability and carrying
 capacity. Please demonstrate
 those.

David just thought for a second. "Well lets do weight capacity." He then looked at her he opened his mouth to talk but thought against it. Rule one of life....never ask a women her weight. He just reached into his pack, and dug out a helmet. "Up for it?"

Whaaat!? No! That sounds terrible! She quickly shakes her head, almost to the point of dizzying herself. She frowns slightly, realizing how her reaction may have seemed, before rapidly writing in her notepad to explain. She pauses while writing to think for a moment, before finishing it.

Code:

I would... I don't like flying.
Can you carry Daedalus instead?
 It is not too heavy...

She smiles slightly at her own suggestion, unsure if its a wise idea. Hmm.. though if he drops Daedalus... though, that could provide motivation to rebuild its reactor. And... everything else of course. Gaaaaah. Her expression reveals she is thinking, but its difficult to discern what about.

David just shrugged. "That's fine. Your loss though." He said as he turned to the edge of the cliff. He spread his arms apart, before falling backwards. He took a deep breath as he did so. As he fell his wings opened up fully, and his helm collapsed over his face. He soon came flying back up, with jets ablaze. He looked at her weapon and smiled. "Let's do it Ic." He said as his wings went down and picked the weapon up. It was a bit heavy, but the wings held.

Being whisked away through the air. A horrible thought indeed for her, as Kaali sighed in relief at David's lack of insistence to take her on a trip. She calms herself with a deep breath, before nodding to David as he leapt of the edge of the cliff. Her large notebook out, she quickly flips to an open page, and writes furiously as she notes the capabilities of Icarus, noting the control mechanisms and expanding wing system. As David grabbed Daedalus and took off, Kaali's face lit up with excitement. Excellent! He barely slowed down at all with the added weight. This is excellent news... Her reaction, barring the change of her face, was hard to see, as she focused on writing various notes and plans or ideas for what kind of changes she wishes to make.

She pauses after a time, focusing on watching David, Icarus, and Daedalus in the air, letting her arms hang while still holding the notebook with both hands. She seems happy.

David looked down at her smiling and gently set the weapon down. He slowly descended and hovered in the air for a bit. He smiled under his mask. "What's next on the list?" As he hung in the air. His wings sat on the ground holding him up as if he was standing on giant arms.

What's next? I don't really need to see the weapon systems... though, the recoil it has on the flight could be informative. Countering that recoil while remaining on target is likely hard. Considering his question for a few moments, Kaali finally writes something in her notepad and holds it up, writing larger than normal since David is slightly further away than normal.

Code:

What is the recoil like from
 your weapons? Can the engines
counteract the effect or is your
 accuracy reduced from constant
firing?

David just nodded. "Yup, simple recoil reducers. I keep the recoil as low as possible. As for accuracy, I can't have it if in air, or moving. They act as suppression and anti-air.." He said as he leaned down and grabbed a stone. He looked at it until a red triangle appeared on his screen. He then threw the rock, and opened fire on it. There was slight recoil, but his engines kept him on track still.

Kaali nods automatically, acknowledging her understanding of David's response. She flips her notepad around, and moves to write on it, but hesitates as the pen taps on the paper a few times. Her eyes lit up briefly as it came to her, and her pen came to life, scribbling on the notepad as she walked toward David and her now grounded weapon, stopping in front of the latter. As she finished her writing, she quickly extended her arm to David, revealing her next questions. Her free hand moves to rest on the large metal case.

Code:

Do you have schematicsforIcarus?
--
Also, I wish to demonstrate my
weapon and request input from
 you about its potential as a
flying machine.

A smile was on her face, but it was masked slightly by her eyes. They were focused and calculating, as if she was reading complex formulae already.

David read over the notes and nodded at the first question. "Yes I do actually in my dorm." He then looked over the next question and tilted his head slightly. He looked over at her weapon and shrugged. "Sure. Let's see what it can do."

Kaali nods as her notepad is returned to her back pocket, and she grabs her spear, detaching it from its resting place on the metal case. Taking the spear with both hands, she presses some well hidden controls on it and the case comes to life, opening up and revealing a compact turret. Four legs extend outward and dig themselves into the ground around the case as a six barreled minigun extends from the things midsection, twisting and turning slightly as it locks in place.

Kaali takes a few steps away, looking around the area with some vague confusion. Her spear is pointing downward towards the edge of the cliff, but she seems to be looking for something. Perhaps a target. Remembering a few moments ago, she kneels down and grabs small rock, and throws it off the cliff. She aims her spear at it, but as it falls, nothing ever happens. She eventually lowers her spear again, displeased and slightly embarrassed at her own ability to aim at a rock that she threw. Still, it was quite small.

David laughs slightly at this. "Seems your target was two small. Here use this." He said passing her a small block of clay. "I use these for targets so I know they pick up on the scanner." He said still chuckling about her embarrassed look.

Instead of taking the block, she merely points out over the cliff and into the sky, all the while avoiding eye contact. Clearly my calibration is off on the laser sight. There's no way I missed that thing the entire time... whatever... I'll just get it this time. Holding her hand out for a moment, she then lowers it to grasp her spear again, waiting for the target to be thrown in front of her.

David then sent the block flying over the cliff. He made sure to stay out of the fire zone as he did this.

(shit post cause.....he's just throwing something)

Kaali took aim at the rock, concentrating more than her previous attempt. A small red dot appears on the rock as she paints the target, and at the same time, Daedalus turns to face the edge of the cliff, followed by a somewhat harrowing sound, then a massive energy beam is directed toward the rock, pulverizing it instantly. As soon as its done the beam stops, as there is no longer a target to fire at, and the weapon hums slightly as it recharges the emitters. Kaali looks around briefly, then points her spear at the top of a tree branch that has grown to hang over the cliff. Daedalus, still recharging, begins spinning up and the minigun below the particle cannon unleashes a torrent of rounds at the branch, dealing a noticeable amount of damage over a wide area. The minigun doesn't appear to have much accuracy, but looks to pack a punch.

She stops after five or so seconds, raising her spear and resting the back end of it on the ground as she nods with a satisfied look. Her embarrassment from the previous blunder now gone, she turns to face David to receive his input.

David looked the machine over for a bit. "[color=#006358u want this....to fly? Well its do able but my main problem is, how do you want it. Like jetpack, or what?[/color]" He said calculating the amount of thrust need to lift off the ground. The boy would look over the weapon for quite some time.

Well, it needs to be able to aim, and its accuracy isn't great already. So it needs to be steady, especially since I could be firing this into melee combat... Kaali pondered the question for a while, her face shifting back and forth from various expressions as she did. Hmm, actually, flight might not be viable, due to the amount of AI I would need to program into it to allow it to maintain itself, and keep a clear line of sight. Drat. Perhaps I will delay this project until the upgrades are complete.

Finally, Kaali holds up her notepad toward David, after having written her thoughts in it. A look of defeat waits on her face, but there is still a faint smile which she seems to have maintained nearly this entire time.

Code:

Nevermind, flight is not an option
currently. Would require too much
 management from myself, or highly
complex coding. I have other
 projects to work on.

David looked up and tilted his head. "Alright if you say so....would have made a nice drone." He muttered the last part to himself.

(shit post....meh)

Code:

Perhaps. This system would likely
be ill suited for it. A complete
 rebuild would be easier and
more efficient.

Kaali holds her notepad back up after having replied to David's most recent comment. After supplying him with enough time to read it, she lowers it, her attention brought over to her turret. She appears in thought about it for a few moments, before adding a few lines to the bottom of the page and happily showing it once more.

Code:

Perhaps I will request your
assistance should I decide
 to go that route.

David nodded in agreement, he soon had an idea. "Why rebuild it? We could make some smaller drones for you. Less power yes but faster firing rate." He said as he thought about small drones with mini cannons on them. I may need to do that.

Kaali considers David's suggestion for only a moment, as she flips to a new page in her notepad, writing furiously. Aside from the scribbling, a long silence fills the air as Kaali writes a fairly long response, breaking it finally with a satisfied sigh. As she looks at David, she smiles almost apologetically, before flipping the notepad and holding it out to reveal what she has written.

Code:

Multiple drones can become complex
 to control while protecting or fighting
 with allies. Ensuring they all are
properly targeting hostiles, especially
 when dealing with protection of
 unknown or new targets.

Plus, too many units firing on a target
makes it difficult to fight in close
quarters. With a single unit, I can
precisely aim near me without worry.

David nodded in agreement. "Ah well.....hm." He pulled out a small block of scrap metal from his wing, fire dust, gyros, an antena, and wires. He set each down and looked at them as he tried to make a mental image of where to put each piece.