July 5th, 2002 ~Enfilade(D), Aviator(D), Firestarter(D), Dirge(D), Electra(D) Decepticon Flagship The bridge has that sweet, new starship smell. :) Contents: Enfilade Aviator ECHO ExoSuit Control Panel -Enfilade is asking Aviaator about the current climate of public reaction in the city, and the state of the Con forces. -Aviator fixes his posture, standing up straight, "It's pretty quiet, I haven't been out there lately, takin' it easy on the Energon reserves." -Moonlight walks into the Flagship looking a bit beat up. She's obviously been shot at least once and it looks like something rather large has crushed her as well. Her face has a bit of a smug grin on it. -Enfilade says, "Good. Looks like things have settled down from the Hyperdrive rescue incident." Then she startles as moonlight walks in. "What hte frag happened to you?" -Moonlight takes her hat off and lays it aside. "Got into a bar fight at the surge. Some 'Bot went completely nuts and started mauling this other guy. I don't like people spoiling the mood in the bars, so I tried to stop it. Got pretty messy. Last I remember the berserker 'Bot landed right on top of me. I think I blacked out or something, 'cause next thing I knew I was lying on the floor feeling awful and no one else was to be seen." -Aviator chuckles, "Berserker 'Bot, if I had an enerchip for every time I heard that." -Enfilade looks a little startled. "I didn't hear about that. Got a name on the crazy bot?" -Moonlight nods. "The other 'Bots called him Sojourn I believe. Dirge was there too. I think he got the worse of the encounter. But he was pretty tanked up on the energon too. I might like bars, but I know enough not to drink so much. Pft. He was pretty useless. Ended up shooting /me/ more than anyone else." -Enfilade snorts. "I heard of that guy. I wonder what drove him crazy? Heh." She pauses. "I'm almost sorry I missed it. I ain't been in a good bar fight in a while." She looks at Aviator to see his opinion. -Aviator grins. "Well, those are always fun." -Enfilade thinks she hears a noise and glances towards the door to see who is coming. -Moonlight nods her head. "Of course, I'll appreciate the fight more when I feel less...well...banged up. But I don't know what made him go nuts and bolts like that. I think it must have been the fella he was talking to." -Firestarter enters the ship, looking about and spots a group of fellow 'Cons. "So what's going on in here?" -Enfilade says, "hey there Firestarter. I hear a certain Autobot has issues with his temper." She looks back at Moonlight. "Why...who was he talking to?" -Moonlight shakes her head and puts her hands on her hips. "Didn't catch the name. But I know the 'Bot called him 'Monacusian cybertrash' and that the other guy didn't seem to have any affiliation." -Aviator grins again. "Maybe I should go stir up some ruckus and get some answers for you guys.." -Enfilade tilts her head. "Venture?" -Moonlight shrugs. "I wouldn't know. That name is not familiar to me." -Enfilade snorts a little, not quite as amused. "Eh. Never mind." She shouldnt' be caring so much what happened to the Militia... -Moonlight nods. "Yeah. We both got out okay, so no lasting harm done." She pauses. "So what have you been keeping yourself busy with?" -Enfilade's swing wings flare out...and freeze. "Memories. Things I'd do better forgetting." -Moonlight gives a half-sympathetic look. "Did the 'Bots really treat you that rough?" -Enfilade snorts. "Ain't the Bots. Though I'd love to go a few rounds with Silhouette now that I have guns again." -Moonlight takes a seat. "Well, what is it then? You seem rather upset..." -Enfilade sits down and sighs. "What exactly do you know about Stormrunner?" -Moonlight shakes her head. "Not much. I've heard a few rumors and stuff, but they didn't sound very profitable, so I didn't pay much attention." -Enfilade coughs out, "let's say it didn't work out, and for the worst possible reason." -Moonlight blinks. "It's easier to just keep it all to yourself, isn't it? Have you opened up to anyone yet?" -Enfilade looks at Moonlight. "You really don't know the story, do you. Lash knows, sort of. Stormrunner...wasn't his real name." -Moonlight frowns slightly. "And let me guess, his real identity wasn't compatible with you? Or maybe he's just the sort of jerk who likes to pick up femmes and drop them cold. Either way, sounds like you have a reason to want to forget...but forgetting isn't always a good idea..." -Enfilade says, tersely, "Try Phantom. As in "chief-of-autobot-intelligence" Phantom." -Moonlight nearly falls out of her seat. "That's rather low of him if you ask me...but you didn't, so I'll shut up if you like. But I'm sure he won't be sitting too pretty if anyone, particularily Whiplash, gets a hold of him." -Enfilade nods slowly. "And let's just hope the troops never get ahold of that one. Suffice it to say I thought i couldn't get a worse name than I already had, until this came along." -Moonlight ponders. "But how do you feel about this? Did he laugh at you when you realized what had happen? Did any of them laugh at you?" -Enfilade shakes her head slowly. "How I feel about it? Seriously? Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if me and him had hopped the first shuttle for Monacus and never looked back." -Moonlight smiles. "War certainly doesn't make room for any of the gentler emotions...does it? It's all a matter of sides and victories. But I don't blame you for having those thoughts, though that might seem strange." -Enfilade sighs. "I dunno, one of my mates was a soldier. We got along real good...er...until the Bots killed him." -Moonlight nods her head. "You must have lost a lot in this war......" Her optics grow a little distant. -Enfilade says, "Overall, I think I gained more than I lost..." She pauses. "But sometimes...it's..." Her voice drops. "hard as hell." -Moonlight nods knowingly. "If life were easy, we wouldn't know we even existed. Of course, there has to be a line somewhere. But I think Cybertron defies those rules." -Enfilade raises an optic ridge. "Wanna know the worst part? He wasn't that bad a guy. No worse than me, anyway." -Moonlight smiles slightly. "Sometimes I think that if the war never existed, some people who are now enemies would end up being friends. Kind of a sad thought, isn't it? I mean, maybe, long ago, if one person hadn't existed, there might not have been all this chaos." She shakes her head. "But I'll let the philosophers and the historians worry about that. It's not my job after all." -Enfilade nods slowly. "I ain't used ot bein' in a position where there ain't nothin' I can do to change a situation." -Moonlight gives a short laugh. "I think the entire situation on this planet is a case where no one can do anything about it. Of course, I haven't been here for even a century, so who am I to judge anyhow? I'm quite content to just do my job." -Enfilade says to Moonlight, "If you think the war is hopeless why do you bother doing your job? Go get another job." -Dirge wanders in, looking a little battered from the brawl at Dead End the day before. -Enfilade raises an optic ridge at Dirge. "Did you take on the psyko Autobot too?" -Moonlight gives Dirge a nod and a mischievious grin, wiggling her aft a little to remind him of her dancing the other night. Then she turns back to Enfilade. "I might be just a galatic wanderer, but I still have my own codes." -Dirge returns Enfilade's look and replies, sounding rather annoyed, "I wasn't involved until..." He notices Moonlight's action and *glares* at her, "*that* Mech started to get involved." -A muffled explosion (a small one, thankfully) goes off in one of the storage bays can be heard, and then quite a bit of cursing. Amazing that a femme would actually know several of the curses, much less actually say them... but for those who know Electra, it likely comes as no shock to them anymore. The Medtech Commander storms out of the storage bay, grumbling as she absently starts wiping at some of the blackened soot with a cloth. "This keeps up and I'm going to have Wheeljack's reputation for blowing the slag out of everything I experiment with," she mutters sourly. She glances up, noticing the others, and then a look of consternation appears on her faceplate. "Please... don't ask. Better for you, better for me." -Startled, Dirge gives Electra a rather curious look. -Moonlight nods to Electra. "Here." She hands the rather messy looking femme a cloth. -Electra nods, glancing at her cloth, seeing how dirty it is, and drops it on the floor, then taking the one proffered by Moonlight. "Thank you..." She looks back towards the storage bay. "Maybe if I kick it..." she mutters, then shakes her head. "But I have better things to worry about... like making sure Darkmount is completed on schedule." -Moonlight shrugs. "No problem. How is that task going by the way?" -Electra hands the cloth back to Moonlight... dirtier than before, but at least the femme looks somewhat presentable now. "Hopefully... another twelve to fifteen days. That, mind you, assumes no further interruptions or Autobot sneak attacks or anything like that." -Keeping his optics on Moonlight, Dirge gives her an icy glare as he recalls something he saw at the bar. He is about to say something but...his memory is a bit vague about what he saw. He looks down at the ground, a hand on his head, not paying too much attention to the conversation around him. -Moonlight takes the cloth back and crumples it away. She can't help but wink at Dirge before turning back to Electra. "How's much guard duty do you have on site?" -Electra moves over to a console, sitting down and tapping at the controls. "As much as Shockwave or Enfilade gave me... could be better, but I'm not complaining to them. Too much of a pain in the aft to go through the hoops and still be told no." She shakes her head. "Personally, I think we should just forget Crystal City completely, but far be it from me to tell them that." -Moonlight sits down again and leans back. "Oh, I agree. But for my own selfish reasons." -Electra chuckles quietly. "Oh, do tell... not like I'm going to report you. I have more important matters to worry about than being a tattle-tale." -Dirge looks up again, staring at the other two Mechs. -Moonlight motions her head towards Dirge. "Naw, but Mr. Grumpy-Con over there might like to get li'l me into trouble. Don't want to give him that bit of entertainment." -Dirge snarls at Moonlight, in a low, angry voice, "You already are in trouble." -Moonlight grins. "For what? Dancing? I don't remember that being against Decepticon rules." She turns to Electra. "Or is there something they've been failing to tell me all this time?" -Electra hmphs. "Mechs... they're all alike." She turns around to face Dirge. "Is she now? What, exactly, did she do that was so horrible that you feel the pressing need to whine like several Decepticons I know, much less whine to everyone you possibly can about it?" -Dirge looks to the floor again, thinking...thinking...He was quite inebriated that day. He mentally kicks himself and thinks very hard...He walked into the bar, he saw Moonlight dancing...he had a few drinks - at that point his mind turns foggy, but he persists...there was something, he turned around and he saw...Moonlight...Moonlight...Moonlight with a red Mech..Moonlight with...that Autobot com centre! Success! Dirge snaps his head back up again, and replies in darkly satisfied tones, "Moonlight was talking and being friendly with an Autobot yesterday." -Moonlight puts a finger on her chest. "I'm in intell. Some people like to be all sneaky like, but if I seem friendly, the 'Bots are more likely to open up. Don't you know /anything/?" -Dirge smiles. "That, and your displeasure at the Decepticons' continued occupation of Crystal City, is quite suspicious." -Electra sighs, shaking her head. "This is one of Starscream's flyboys we're talking about, Moonlight," she reminds the other femme. "They're all lacking a CPU chip." She looks at Dirge. "I don't like occupying Crystal City... mostly because it's a drain on resources better used elsewhere. Perhaps you'd like to whine to someone about that? Or are you so used to having your nose glued to someone's aft plate that you have nothing better to do?" She leans back. "You know... I think I could find a few things for you to do if you're so bored that you have to be a tattle-tale, Dirge... perhaps you could start with a few aerial patrols of Darkmount, to make certain no Autobots are in the vicinity." -Moonlight puts her hat back on and adjusts it to sit just right. She keeps grinning at Dirge. "I'm /supposed/ to be suspicious. I'm not a warrior, I'm not a medic. I have no need to be all pristine and wear a gold star on my shoulder for being a good little femme." -Dirge turns his attention to Electra. He looks very insulted at first, then suddenly, he throws his head back and laughs mockingly. Narrowing his optics, he says to Electra, "The more territory the Decepticons have, the less of a threat the Autobots will present. Don't you understand that, or do you have to /die/ before learning that?" He turns back to Moonlight. "Who knows if you are a traitor." -Moonlight points a finger at Dirge. "Maybe you're a traitor? They say the person who points fingers is really trying to divert attention from themselves." -Dirge folds his arms across his chest, and leans against the wall. "That, would be illogical. I wouldn't have survived this long without being loyal to the Decepticon cause." He pauses briefly, musing. "You, on the other hand, are quite mercenary. We know how unloyal mercenaries can be." He smirks. -Electra snorts. "And Megatron called Starscream an idiot," she replies. "And since you evidently have proven to have nothing better to do than sit here on your aft, try insulting us and calling us names... I think you're ready." All traces of banter are suddenly gone, replaced by the tone of a commanding officer who's getting pretty vexed with the underlings. "I want an aerial flyby of Darkmount and the surrounding perimeter, just to make sure no Autobots are about. Last I heard, they were without a base... and blew ours up. Quit being a moron and go do your real job instead of pretending to show some semblance of intellect, or I'll become very annoyed with you... and you won't like what I do to those who annoy me. The choice is yours... but I suggest you refrain from being more of an aft than you have been already, and get moving." -Moonlight forces her facial expressions to go neutral. She doesn't say anything. Once someone uses that tone, it's time to stop egging people on. -Dirge tilts his head at Electra, a curious expression on his face. He smiles again, feeling quite in control of the situation, and crosses his ankles as well. "My /real/ job is to preserve the Decepticon empire. Which includes the extermination of - unwanted - vermin who may be in our ranks." -Electra's optics narrow. Oh dear... some never learn. She looks at Moonlight. "Moonlight, be so kind as to report to High Command that Dirge will be unavailable for duty... indefinitely. It seems I have quite a few experiments to run on him... namely with his CPU, considering that he seems to have a very hard time following orders from a superior officer." Considering the explosion she caused earlier in the storage bay, it's a safe assumption to say that Dirge made a Bad Decision . She looks back at Dirge. "Do you care to continue, or perhaps would you like to make amends by doing as you've been ordered instead of acting like the moron we all know you usually are? Last chance... I suggest you make the right decision this time... because there won't be any brig time for you. The brig is too good for insubordinate whelps like you... and I'm quite ready to use several rather painful devices on you, just to see what happens when I cross certain wires." Her face is totally devoid of any emotion. "Your decision?" -Moonlight gets up and looks as though she's about to leave, but she waits to see what the outcome will be. -Upon hearing Electra's words, it was Dirge's turn to narrow his optics. His composure is quite shaken. He uncrosses his ankles and stops leaning on the wall. He looks at Electra, fear mixed with anger in his optics, and says quietly, "I will do as you say." But before he can stop himself, he adds, "If warnings are considered insubordinate, may you rust." Then he realizes what he had just said. Oh no. He shrinks into the wall. -Electra stands up slowly, her optics narrowed to slits, and starts walking towards Dirge. "You /are/ an idiot, aren't you? Move... and I don't want to see you back in Crystal City until your sorry aft is out of fuel. Otherwise I'm going to enjoy pulling you apart, circuit by circuit, and make certain you're wired into amplifiers to feel every bit of the pain... and then some." She stops almost right on top of him, optics burning. "Now... MOVE!" -Dirge shrinks further into the wall, his former control all but lost. He stares at Electra with a horrifed expression on his face, rooted to the spot for a few moments, then he finds his legs and RUNS to the exit. -Moonlight watches Dirge go with a shake of her head. -Electra turns around, suddenly back in her former mood as Dirge literally jets out the exit. "I think you won't have to worry about that now, Moonlight... I'll make a little report about this incident myself. I'm sure Enfilade and Shockwave will have more fun dealing with the incompetent little slag." -Moonlight shrugs. "Don't know /why/ he doesn't like me. Guess he can't stand to watch a femme have fun. Oh well. No big loss."