September 24th, 2002
~Nosecone(A), 

Hellrazor's Saloon
You are inside the fledgling upstart bar Hellrazor's Saloon. The place is packed, as it always is. The combination of a truly neutral atmosphere and incredibly cheap drinks makes the Saloon a gathering point for Transformers from all over Cybertron. The bartender, Flask, and his staff of waitresses are always busy, but they are remarkably polite with customers despite how hoppingly mad the place is. They are especially polite to customers who tip generously. Loud pounding music blares out of speakers around the room, adding to the din of a crowded bar. Bash and Crash, two rather large bouncers usually stationed near the door, make sure that fights don't last very long here. The entire establishment is owned by the mysterious and apparently very wealthy Hellrazor.
(Note: Type menu to see the menu of drinks, and the coded commands for ordering them.)
Contents:
Nosecone
Flask the Bartender

-Moonlight makes her way into the bar, humming a bit of a tune.
-Nosecone is propping up the bar, as per course. His usual relaxed attitude seems a little strained, his face marred by a slightly disgruntled expression.
-Moonlight nudges her way through the crowd until she reaches the bar. Once there she takes a seat at the bar at looks at the menu. Oh yeah, this is the place with the strange policy of not serving enerwine. She sighs.
-Nosecone looks over at Moonlight as she takes a seat, wondering if he should leave now before Silhouette decides that he's a traitor for being in the same bar as a Decepticon, as well as a unwary idiot.
-Moonlight makes a disappointed sort of noise and orders herself a Naranj Jus. Drink in hand, she surveys the room, nodding slightly to the Autobot over there. Boy, he sure seems to like this place. This is the second time she's seen him here.
-Like this place? Of course Nosecone likes this place - here he gets to do as little as possible without being accosted by anyone with enough rank to haul him off his aft and put him to work. The only real problem is the other people that frequent the bar. Nosecone looks down at his drink and toys with the mug. Should he strike up a conversation and get yelled at again?
-Moonlight smiles to herself...that's also the poor fellow who unwittingly helped her while she was disguised. It's not his fault really, she should be nice and not rub it in. But she does wave towards him, extending him a smile.
-Nosecone inwardly sighs. Meh. There are probably Shadowbots hiding in the rafters or something, but who cares. "Hey" he replies, sipping at his drink. That's probably safe enough.
-Moonlight doesn't seem to grasp the concept of safe conversation. She takes her drink and wanders over to the Autobot. "I'm surprised you're not in the City."
-Nosecone makes a non-commital noise. "Which city?"
-Moonlight grins. "Crystal City of course. Don't you want to bask in your victory or something like that?"
-Oh great, it's gonna go /this/ way is it? "I'm off duty" he replies with a wry smile. "I'll be basking in glory again later."
-Moonlight's expression is amused. "Too much glory isn't to your liking?"
-Nosecone shrugs. "What glory? All we did was kick your aft out of the city. I think the populace would have been happier without the Autobots or the Decepticons."
-Moonlight nods her head. "There is that. I know I was much happier, but that's neither here nor there. But still, I've noticed that victory sort of infects people."
-Nosecone doesn't look infected. "Yeah well.... speaking of which, shouldn't you be in Darkmount, wallowing in defeat?" he remarks with a grin.
-Moonlight waves a hand dismissively. "Been there, done that. I'm not too concerned. I didn't lose anything personal in that encounter, except my gun, which I kind of miss. Other than that I'm just going to sit and wait until we come to get the city again." She shrugs. "I figure, until someone decides to wipe it off the face of the planet, it can never be completely lost...to any side."
-Nosecone's grin fades as he remembers somthing. "So" he says, all trace of humor gone from his tone, "I hear Omnisaber was your little spy on the streets."
-Moonlight frowns slightly. "I wouldn't say spy. I really wish he would have stuck to his own business and not rushed to protect me. He's a bit too much of a gentlemech for his own good. But I don't think either of us will convince you Bots that he didn't do it for the Cons' sake."
-Nosecone readjusts his thinking, not about to just forgive Omnisaber, but maybe becoming a touch more sypathetic. "Yeah, well. He shoulda known that interfering in the war, on /either/ side, is as good as painting a faction symbol on yourself. At least to the other side." The driller sounds irritated by the whole sequence of events.
-Moonlight shrugs. "I can't say I'm not grateful to him. I could have been in serious trouble if he didn't decide to help me out a bit. But that doesn't mean that I don't think he's foolish."
-Nosecone mutters, "Foolish is one word for it", draining the last of the energon from his mug before turning back to Moonlight. "So what happens now. Is the chivalrous idiot joining up with you lot? Or does he still think he can remain neutral?"
-Moonlight frowns even deeper. "You might not like him, but he did save my hide, and I can't let you just sit there and call him names." She shakes her head. "I don't know his plans. I'm not exactly the person people trust the most. I might be likable, but not very trustable."
-Nosecone slams his empty mug down onto the bartop. "Damnit, of course I like the moron! I bought the fragger a drink! I shared a ciggy with him! An.. And then he goes and does something stupid, and now I'm gonna have to shoot him next time I see him!"
-Moonlight doesn't look very sympathetic, but then again, it's hard to tell what she's thinking with only her mouth showing. "Hey, what can I say? It's war. It's stupid."
-Nosecone broods. "Yeah, of course war's stupid. I just wish that I wasn't continuously reminded of that fact. Hell, here I am again, drinking next to someone I'm gonna have to eventually try and scrap." He shakes his head. "Don't learn too well, do I?"
-Moonlight chuckles. "That makes two of us. I'm sitting here just as much as you are."
-Nosecone turns a suddenly amused optic on Moonlight. "The difference being, that for all I know, your function is to sit in a bar and talk to Bots like me, tryin to get information. You sure don't look like a heavy assault type."
-Moonlight smiles. "See, you can learn. I'm not a warrior by any stretch of the definition. And, as you guessed, I am an intel type. A smuggler actually."
-Nosecone nods. "Yeah, I thought it was somthin like that" he chuckles. "Sorry to disapoint you, but I'm not about to blurt out anything real important. And I suppose it'd be too much to hope that you're about to go into detail about an upcoming attack?"
-Moonlight blinks her hidden optics. "What attack?"
-Nosecone toys with his empty mug. "There's always an attack coming. You should know that."
-Moonlight grins. "Naw. They don't tell me that sort of stuff. I usually don't find out until it's too late. I don't mind of course. As for you saying nothing important...I wouldn't go that far. Everything can be important if you look at it the right way."
-Nosecone smiles wryly, still playing with the mug. "I'm sure that's what our Intel types would say, right before they confined me to Iacon."
-Moonlight shrugs. "Yeah, people who would rather talk than fight are /obviously/ evil traitors and spys or they're completely insane and should be locked up at once." She's clearly being sarcastic.
-Nosecone turns back to face the femme. "Yeah, well. We're at war, no matter how much some of us don't want to be."
-Moonlight smiles slightly, tracing the rim of her glass with a finger. "I look at it as my personal duty to be friendly. I mean, think about it. If the war ever ended, it would just start back up again because everyone has this big hate for everyone on the other side. Someone has to stay reasonable."
-Nosecone blinks. "If you guys won the war, there wouldn't be many of us left to hate. I'd guess that your compatriots would have the survivors executed. Or enslaved."
-Moonlight nods her head, not bothering to dispute that with Nosecone. "And if your side won....?" she asks, her voice trailing off.
-Nosecone sighs. "Probably the same thing, at least with most of the hard liners. Can you see any of your comrades asimilating into Autobot society easily? Didn't think so. Those that did would be under constant surveilance. They wouldn't be slaves, but they'd have no privacy either" he shrugs. "But that's just a guess. I'm not privy to any actual plans."
-Moonlight just shakes her head. "Kinda gloomy, isn't it?"
-"Yeah", he replies, remaining silent for a moment. "Uh.. This is kinda a personal question, but.. why /are/ you a Decepticon? Do you really believe in all that 'might makes right' stuff?"
-Moonlight laughs and doesn't try to be quiet about it. "Not at all. If that was the case I would be dead wrong every time." She shakes her head. "I'm not a fanatic, I'm too selfish for that. I believe in myself and that's about it. I joined because when I came here my only contact was a Decepticon. She refused to help me unless I joined up with her side."
-Nosecone ponders that twist of fate, the irony not lost on him. "A 50/50 chance of joining either side. And now it's too late to change. Heh. It's like a dark comedy."
-Moonlight shrugs and leans foward, her voice lowered for once. "Either side would have done. You're right, it's just a matter of circumstance. But don't get any ideas..."
-Nosecone blinks. "Wouldn't dream of it" he mutters with a grin.
-Moonlight smiles. "Good," she says. Then she straightens herself and goes back to a normal, casual distance. "Were you expecting some sort of different answer? Something a little more meaningful perhaps?"
-Nosecone sighs. "Nah, just curious. I mean, you seem so unlike most of your comrades, is all. But the fact it came down to chance.. kinda depressing. Makes the whole war seem even /more/ pointless."
-Moonlight shrugs. "I think fighting over anything is pointless really."
-Nosecone's answer is interrupted by a loud beeping noise. "Ah, slag. Looks like someone's noticed I'm missing. Nice talking to you again Moonlight. Hopefully next time will be as pleasant.. and won't involve blasters."
-Moonlight nods. "Me too."