January 9th, 2003 ~Nosecone(A), Starfire(U), Whiplash(D), Onslaught(D), Silentlight(A), Enfilade(D), Steelwind(A), Swivel(A) Steel Fields The light dances along the broken and marred surface of the steel fields. For countless years, this old place had been extensively mined and tunneled for the simple ores that were once plentiful, but now evidence of long-abandoned mining efforts litter the landscape. A small town, Caetobrix, still exists here, once known for the breweries that produced most of the drinks later made famous by the bars on Cybertron. Some of these facilities are still in operation, though are mainly used by the citizens to make a small, indistinguishable amount of energon for trade or consumption for survival. Nosecone [Tunnelling Vehicle] [A] Brewery [#3275 n] Obvious Exits: -U- Up leads to Sky Above Steel Fields -N- North leads to Freelorn Flats -S- South leads to Cybertron South Pole -E- East leads to Steel Fields -W- West leads to Great Gouge -In front of one of the buildings of Caetobrix is a large, brightly colored canopy. Beneath this canopy is a couple of long tables with small glasses and big, clearly labeled bottles on them. Beside each bottle is a datapad set up for the purpose of rating the product. Groups of mechs and femmes are milling about, sampling the contents of the bottles. The crowd seems merry in general. Among the crowd is Moonlight, her hat pushed back off her face so it can easily be seen. She is being very social and seems rather pleased with herself today. -Nosecone trundles across the steel flats, like an extremely large moth with a drill on the front to a flame. Free beer. -Moonlight keeps her optics alert for any trouble. A few larger looking mechs are standing around, looming over the crowd. By the way Moonlight speaks to them, it's clear she's employed, or asked, them to serve in a bouncer sort of capacity. But so far everyone seems to be having a good time. -Nosecone transforms a distance from the brewery so not to kick up dust onto the patrons. The driller ambles up to the brightly colored establishment with a lazy smile. Unless Silhouette drops in, this looks like being a pretty good day. He doesn't appear to have seen Moonlight yet, and he's taking no notice of the bouncers. I mean, he's no trouble, right? -Moonlight notices Nosecone apparently before he notices her. But she's in such a good mood today, she'll let the Autobot take things at his own pace. After all, her business isn't a Decepticon enterprise; it's a Moonlight enterprise alone (except for the silent and somewhat absent partner of course). -Nosecone casually joins the crowd, liberally sampling from the various beverages. "Not bad" he says, glancing around.. and spotting Moonlight. Noscone blinkblinkblinks. .o(Her.. /again/?) -Moonlight continues to mill about, being generally helpful...which means she hasn't started pestering Nosecone yet. She doesn't even seem overly concerned about his prescence...for a smuggler she's an /awfully/ trusting individual. -Nosecone peers suspiciously down at his beer, for a moment having the unlikely thought that it's drugged or poisoned.. then he realises how stupid that would be.. poisoning a brewery's taste test, when Moonlight seems to be part of the workings of the place. "Must be gettin paranoid" he mutters. "Too much time around Shadowbots." Con Lieutenant Moonlight says, "Attention, all drink lovers. If you have some spare time, and have nothing planned, come on over to my brewery for some free sampling. It's a mutually beneficial activity, giving you, the public, a chance to sample various drinks, and gives me, the provider, the information needed to please you all. Head for the city of Caetobrix located in the Steel Fields and look for the brightly colored canopy with the crowd of happy mechs and femmes around it." -Moonlight starts replacing bottles as they get empty, cleaning up any spills or broken glasses. She doesn't seem too proud to do a little menial work now and then. Once in a while she motions for a bouncer to take care of someone who is getting too rowdy or tries to steal something. But the atmosphere remains friendly in general. -Nosecone chats to the two Transformers beside him, laughing as the mech cracks a joke while the femme standing beside him rolls her optics and helps herself to another drink. Beats the scrap outa guard-duty. -Moonlight smiles to herself, hoping that she isn't berated by a bunch of irate commanders from either faction. She knows that in a world with so much war, lots of people turn to drinking for a bit of joy and comfort. And she's mercanary enough to want a piece of the action. But deeper down than that there's a small part of her that is happy just because she's making smoeone else happy...lots of someone elses. -Nosecone follows the brownian motion of the crowd, drifting towards Moonlight. As he draws closer, Nosecone glances in the Decepticon's direction, surprised by how happy she looks. -Moonlight can't really ignore Nosecone any longer considering how much closer he is now. "Good cycle," she calls out to him. -Nosecone raises his glass in response. "Got something you dropped" he replies over the cheerful noise of the crowd.. -Moonlight arches an optic ridge. "Oh?" -Nosecone excuses himself from the general crowd surrounding the tasting tables and ambling up to Moonlight. "Yeah, well. Figured you'd already lost one, then you forgot about the other one after you dropped it.." he shrugs. -Whiplash had picked up Moonlight's call on the radio frequency earlier, and found her way here to see what the activity was all about. As is her usual habit, she keeps to cover as she approaches - a feat that's easier for her again, as she has resumed her familiar gloss-black color scheme, extracted from some proprietor in some dark alley of Dead End City. -What appears to be a coiled and tied length of slim rope appears from subspace in Nosecone's hand. "Shouldn't be givin it back to ya" he says to Moonlight. "But it's hardly a high-tech piece of weaponry we can get anything from. So.. here." -Starfire has been invited to 'take a break', a concept she finds rather suspicious, but she was promised icees. Caetobrix is not a place with which she's familiar, so she approaches cautiously, much as she would any alien facility. People... lots and lots of people, and few that she's ever seen before. -Moonlight hesitates at first, searching Nosecone's face rather thouroughly. Her optics narrow, but only for the briefest of a momment. "Ummmmmm...thanks." The usually confident Moonlight seems a bit uncertain of herself at this time. -Whiplash makes her way to the edge of the gathering, looking over the crowd a little warily. Whiplash has emerged a little from hiding, at least if one happens to look in the right place. -Nosecone shrugs, a bit embarrassed. "Yeah, well. Like I said, we've already got your custom one. No point in keepin this stock standard one as well." He glances around the happy crowd, though he doesn't spot Whiplash, not being the most observant of individuals. "Nice turnout" he says, changing the subject. -Moonlight takes the whip back and puts it in its usual place. "Yeah. I'm quite pleased with it myself." Her expression betrays a bit of confusion still. "It wasn't really a custom whip or anything. Just a gift from someone I haven't seen in a long time," she says, refering back to the subject of the whip. Onslaught says, "Whiplash, I have a little bit of business I need to tend to elsewhere...do me a small favour and watch over Starfire. I'll make it worth your while, and will explain this later...for now, just keep an optic out for her - she's doing some field training I've set her up with. Nothing combat related mind you...mostly just observational type things...sizing up the enemy and all that. *small pause* I know I can count on you for this...so yes...we'll discuss the repayment for this later." -Moonlight, for /some/ reason, starts looking around for Whiplash...in a causual, non-revealing sort of way. -Whiplash tilts her head a bit as a message comes through to her over the Decepticon broadband. She smirks faintly, and edges back into the shadows to circle around to a new vantage point. She sees Onslaught head off into the distance without another word, and glances over at Starfire. -Starfire has instructions for being here, but is somewhat at a loss. Especially as someone is noticeable by his absence. She frowns, fidgeting, then starts to look around more carefully. Moonlight, she recognizes, of course, but Nosecone is a complete stranger to her. She fidgets some more, recalling her instructions again. Those is *so* not her... -Whiplash stays in place and does not yet reveal herself again, watching Starfire intently - though of course on occasion she glances over the mixed crowd. -Nosecone notices Moonlight glancing around, and figures this is a good time to head back to the tasting tables. Politely elbowing his way into the crowd, he takes a thoughtful sip of one of the brewery's higher grades. -Moonlight shrugs...she didn't really expect Nosecone to answer her last comment. She starts moving about again, tending to the needs and questions of her 'guests'. The shifting crowds don't seem to bother her one bit, and the fact that she has several big bouncers in her employ right now certainly makes it easier for her to pay attention to the happier guests. -Starfire glances over at the tables and doesn't see anything like icees there; most folks are interested in enerholic beverages, she supposes. So much for the break. So now she has to watch people and try to figure them out. They look like, well, people to her. She finally glimpses Nosecone's symbol as he turns towards the tables and winces. She really doesn't want to go anywhere near him... -There might not be ICEEs here per se, but at the end of one of the tables there's a small section for non-enerholic type drinks. Most people are using the space just to stand and converse, and it might be hard to spot, but it /is/ there. -Nosecone slowly moves along the table sampling various beverages, mingling with the crowd and generally looking like he's in his element, relaxed and at ease and forgetting about the war and all that goes with it for a while. -Whiplash is tempted to point Starfire toward some appropriate drinks to sample, but she still holds back, to see how the young femme handles being suddenly left without her instructor. -Moonlight hadn't really seen Starfire enough times to recognize her as anything other than another guest. But she does notice that this femme doesn't seem to be too interesting in drinking. She makes her way through the crowd to approach her, moving with ease and no apparent hurry. -Starfire picks a spot outside of the canopy but with a fair view of the crowd and tries to, um, look casual. She's no good at this stuff, she just knows it... Moonlight's approach is noticed, and she's tempted to slip away, but then reminds herself that she's on a mission here and holds her ground. -Moonlight finally makes it over to the younger femme. "Not much for drinking, are you?" she inquires. -Starfire shakes her head nervously. "No, ma'am. I have Ruby icees once in a while, but I didn't see any of those here." -Moonlight shrugs. "Well, each to their own. If you like ICEEs, there are a few drinks similar on the end of that table over there." She points in the right direction. "This gathering is supposed to be enjoyable, and you really don't look like you're enjoying yourself one bit." -Starfire also shrugs. "I haven't enjoyed the past few days one bit, either, but it has to be done." She glances over the crowd again, still not knowing what it is she's supposed to be looking for. Only a few of the people look like warriors, the rest look like ordinary folk. -Whiplash tilts her head a bit as she hears that statement from Starfire. Training's been rough on her already? -Moonlight chuckles. "If you haven't enjoyed the last couple of days, then I must insist that you enjoy yourself now." She folds her arms across her chest with mock sternness. -Starfire eyes Moonlight. "How does someone enjoy themselves?" -Moonlight shakes her head in disbelief and puts her hands on the back of the femme's shoulders, giving her a gentle shove. "Do we have to start at the beginning? How can someone /not/ know how to enjoy themselves?" -Starfire siiiiighs. She's been through this already with her cousins... "When you're more accustomed to working, and work isn't so bad. But that's not what I meant. How do you enjoy yourself when you don't want to drink anything, and you don't know anyone here?" -Whiplash sighs and finally steps out of hiding, causing a small ripple of surprised murmurs in part of the crowd closest to her as they realize there's suddenly a black tentacled creature amoungst them. She quickly stands up into her robot mode, though, and makes her way over to join Starfire and Moonlight. Whiplash nods to Moonlight, and affects a moment of mock-surprise upon seeing Starfire. "Well, imagine seeing you all the way out here-" she looks around pointedly- "alone." -Moonlight's face breaks into a smile at the sight of Whiplahs. "Hey Whiplash. Come to sample some of my stuff?" She chuckles. "And since you know this young lady, maybe you can give me a hand in pursuading her to have a bit of fun." The bouncer types, once they see Moonlight's rather warm reception of Whiplash, turn back from the rather swift course they were making in her direction. -Starfire immediately looks guilty, but has enough sense to lower her voice. "I wasn't supposed to be alone... I don't know where Commander Onslaught is; he sent me here to watch people and stuff, but I'm just not used to, um, loitering around people. If anything, I like to find a rooftop where I can see them, but they can't see me, and I don't have to pretend I'm one of them." Moonlight also gets a look, but it's more nervous than guilty. Maybe she sees her as a greater threat than Whiplash. ;) -Whiplash says, "Hmm." She seems to consider that for a moment, then says to Moonlight, "Yeah, heard your announcement and thought I'd see who you drew in. As for having fun-" she returns her attention to Starfire- "since it looks like you're stuck here for a bit, the first rule is to relax. Now don't get me wrong, you never lower your guard entirely or stop paying attention - but you find a spot where your back's to a wall, and then you observe." She tries to casually work some instruction into an otherwise ordinary conversation. Reaching out to pick up one of the less potent sample drinks from the table, she hands it to Starfire. "I'll try one if you do, how's that?" -Moonlight would probably laugh long and hard if she thought anyone really considered her a threat. Especially now that she's being so friendly and generally helpful. Maybe she's going soft, or maybe she was always soft to begin with. Either way, she thrives on the crowds and the attention and the busy bustling all around her. She nods approvingly at Whiplash's sound advice and grins at the young femme. She's sure she should know who she is, but the name isn't forthcoming at the moment. -Starfire eyes the drink, then eyes Whiplash. "I really don't think I'm up for having 'fun' or even relaxing right now. I'm supposed to be working and stuff, but I don't know how. He was going to tell me stuff, but he... well, he never turned up." She pauses to take another look around just in case the missing Commander should suddenly appear. "If not for the canopy, I'd perch on a building top and watch from there." -Whiplash grins. "Maybe your 'work' *is* learning how to have fun?" -Moonlight shakes her head sadly...this one is going to need some work. "What's your obsession with working? You're going to burn yourself out if you do nothing but work. Even Whiplash has her fun...though her fun is usually a bit too macabre for my tastes." -Whiplash gives Moonlight a look of pure innocence, as though she can't possibly imagine what the other femme means. -Starfire recalls a long trail of bits and pieces of the dead Autobot littering Darkmount... She's grateful she didn't get a good look at what had been done to him, but even Enfilade felt sorry for him. Or her. Whatever. "I kinda doubt that having fun is part of learning to be a warrior, Whiplash." She glances to Moonlight next and notes, "Work is what makes you worthwhile and useful and stuff. Oh, I'm not saying that people shouldn't have fun if they want to, but why should they if they *don't* want to?" -Whiplash says, "Alright, let's try this. If you can't ever relax, you won't be all that effective as a warrior. 'Cause you'll always be keyed up, and you'll wear yourself out that way before you ever even see a battle." -Moonlight pulls out a folding chair from under one of the tables and sets it before Starfire. She pulls out another and seats herself in it. With a motion of her head she indicates to Whiplash that she can grab a chair if she likes. "Sit," she commands the femme. -Whiplash copies the gesture - though she does position the chair so that she's facing the crowd rather than having anyone able to sneak behind her. -Starfire generally responds to a tone of command, so she seats herself as told and fidgets much better that way. "It's not just that, it's the way things are here. No offense, ma'am, 'cause people are enjoying themselves, but crowds are just not right for me." She recalls Whiplash's words and finishes, "I can relax, but the circumstances have to be right. I have to feel... safe, to a degree." -Silverstreak mutters a bit, unable to hide anywhere or keep to the shadows due to the brightness of the area. However, that does not mean the young mech does not keep a safe distance, unsure if this is a wise idea to even be here. -Moonlight leans forward. "Listen, you've got it all backwards. Work doesn't exist to make us usefull and fufilling and all that. Work just exists to make our life easier or more enjoyable or safer. Work is a tool, not a master." She shrugs. "As for being safe, no place is safe on this planet, so you might as well enjoy yourself despite the dangers." -A dusty figure flies in low from the south, in jet mode, its engines throwing up clouds of dust while its turbines shriek in protest and fury. It transforms, landing heavily, and along with the dust there seems to come a general air of discontent, even menace, hanging around it in the air. Enfilade stalks towards the tent, and some of the other mechanisms hanging about draw back and cease their chatter as she passes. She slams a mug down on the table, all without a word. This isn't her Iron Hitch mug, either. It's trimmed with precious metals, in immaculate condition, and reads DECEPTICON WAR ACADEMY CLASS OF XXXX. -Whiplash lowers her voice conspiratorially and continues to Starfire, "Or *maybe* ... maybe the job was to *look* like you're enoying yourself while you're really gathering info. You might be a really good choice for-" she stops at the tumult of the new arrival, her tentacles drawing forward a little and her optics darkening slightly. -Silverstreak hesitates as yet another Decepticon arrives. A soft grumble escapes the Autobot's form, tentatively advancing toward the line - and yet doing his best to keep his distance should trouble break out. Not that high grade energon is his thing, anyway. Though it is also quite a luxury given just how much time he spends underground anymore. -Starfire's blue optics narrow at Whiplash, her pride offended. "I don't need a bodyguard, thankyouverymuch. And I don't need a drink, either. It would send me right to sleep, since I've been awake for three days now." She adds, calming down quickly due to the lack of rest, "Though the offer is appreciated." That sounded an awful lot like Phalanx, didn't it? She gives Moonlight a weary look, but concedes, "You might be right, but some of us like our work. As for safety, yes, you're right. There's no place that's really safe on this planet." -Enfilade takes her drink, and throws a rather cold look at the assembly of Whiplash, Starfire and Moonlight wondering if she's even welcome there. -Whiplash seems suddenly more focused on the new arrival who has cleared a path through the crowd, than her given assignment, though she remains seated by Starfire. She returns Enfilade's look expressionlessly, then looks away toward the fringes of the crowd, as though contemplating a disappearing act. Being back to her normal color after a stint in Dead End City, this wouldn't be all too difficult. -In general one can divide the average cycle into two types. There are good cycles, and there are bad cycles, and while some individuals may contend that there are many more types than that, in the end it can be debased down to those two. For Onslaught, his last few cycles have spiralled downwards into the depths of 'bad cycle' territory. This cycle would be no different, even if appearances would infer otherwise, as the Decepticon general makes his way into the brewery area, and being as inconspicious as possible for one of his size, attempts to hide his presence as he slinks his way through the crowds. -Enfilade grits her jaw and decides to go talk to STarfire...the kid didnt do anything, she owes her that much. Too bad if others don't like it... She moves towards the group, kicking a chair into position rather roughly, sitting down in it. -Whiplash simply finds a drink of her own, one of the low-grade things, and sips at it as she scans the crowd, keeping Starfire (and thus Enfilade) in the corner of her optics. -Steelwind lightly glides onto the scene, after having heard the broadband transmission; he's in a surprisingly good mood. He transforms and looks around to see what's happening and who is present. An odd look comes over his face, but he waves his thought away as he walks towards one of the tables and picks up a datapad to read it. -Moonlight shakes her head again at Starfire. "Well, if those are your opinions, then you're welcome to them. But when you start to burn out, you'll know why. A good drink can be like a good friend sometimes." Sighing she turns to see a grumpy Enfilade. Catching her cold look, she grins back. It takes a lot more than a chilling glare to daunt /this/ femme. "Find anything you like?" she asks. -Enfilade replies to Moonlight, "What is all this? I heard the offer of free drinks but frag, I didn't even know this place was here. What're they all serving?" She looks down in her mug. "This here stuff is kinda nice." -Starfire blinks as Enfilade seems to appear out of nowhere, but is completely unaware of any... difficulties, so welcomes the Commander enthusiastically. "Hi, Enfilade!" She pauses uncertainly... is she supposed to salute in the field like this? Probably not, since there's no telling how people around here would react. "Um, *Commander* Enfilade, that is. Sorry." -Enfilade eyes Starfire. "You're gettin' that forgetful after only three days?" She's not overly hostile, but not her usual casual self either. -Whiplash notices, since she's watching the gathering, that another sizeable individual is making his way through, though is moving as though he doesn't want to be noticed, so she pointedly looks away from them, seeming to scan the group almost indifferently. -Silverstreak just watches all of this unfold before him, really starting to regret being here and wishing he could just step into a shadow and make off. But with the lighting as it is, such would be impossible. Thus he steps forward, figuring he might as well take a chance. -Moonlight keeps grinning at Enfilade. "Thanks." She waves her hands to indicate the whole spectacle. "Let's just say that with a little financial aid I've started my own brewery. And the best way to keep the credits flowing is to please the people who would be buying from me. This little assembly of people is just to help me know what it is that people like." Moonlight doesn't seem at all effected by Enfilade's less-than-chipper mood as she answers her question. -Onslaught soon realizes that for him to attempt to blend in with a crowd, is almost like putting a small cute kitten in the midst of a bunch of rabid hungry wolves you haven't fed in a month - in other words, it doesn't quite work, and getting noticed happens quite quickly. Oh well, can't blame a mech for trying. No matter whom he tries to blend in with, they either recognize him and begin some sort of banter, recognize him and back away, or don't recognize him, and thus in their confusion also seem to give him away. Onslaught merely sighs as he gives up his attempt at not being spotted and moves himself back over to the sidelines, more content to watch than to partake at the moment. -Forgetful and sleepy. Now that Starfire is seated, she has the overwhelming urge to nod off, and so falls silent while she puts up a fight against falling right to sleep. There's something... different about Commander Enfilade, but she's just not alert enough to pick up on it. Maybe later. No, no drinks for her, not like this... -Enfilade hehs. "Is that the latest hobby, starting up bars?" She swirls her drink, takes another sip. "This really is good." Maybe because it's higher grade than her usual swill. Enfilade pokes Starfire in the midsection. "Is this a first for you, staying up so long?" -Moonlight shakes her head to Enfliade. "Not a bar. Why start up a single bar, if I can supply to many bars?" -Whiplash looks sharply aside as Enfilade pokes Starfire, the swift motion having caught her attention (not nearly as disinterested and relaxed as she would appear, it would seem), and then she looks away again. -Enfilade grins to Moonlight. "That's a better business decision these days, I would think. Bars will come and go--there's too many. But energon...will always be in demand." From out of a canister she produces a tiny flask. She takes a sample of icee, spikes it with whatever's in the flask--and passes it to Starfire with a simple instruction. "Drink this." -Steelwind sets this datapad down too and gets a sample of that particular beverage. As he drinks it, he begins to amble around, seemingly without any direction, just ambling. Though in reality he's hoping to hear something of interest while not getting noticed. -Onslaught mutters to Onslaught: "To act or not to ... ... ... question." -Now why does Enfilade remind Starfire of an alarm? Maybe because she's waking her up again? She murmurs, "Not for years. Before I came back to Cybertron, we'd have to work for days at a time... Not all the time, but enough. I'm out of the habit, I guess, but then again, I didn't have to fight a bunch of dumb drones the entire time, either." -Moonlight notices Starfire's trouble in staying up and alert. "Hang on a moment." She stands up and heads into the building behind the canopied alcohol display. Brewery(#3275n) As the door opens, a large entry room is revealed with a single hallway leading further into the house. A few crude benches line the sides of this entry room, and a few scenic pictures line the walls. It's clean and not unpleasant, but it's not the most glitzy room in the galaxy. Further in, past the hallway and through a large set of double doors, can be found all the things that other breweries possess. Not much is different and anyone who really looks into it can't really find anything wrong, or suspicious about it. The sights and smells and sounds perfectly match that of any other brewery in Caetobrix. A crew of mechs and femmes work here. They seem friendly enough, if a bit unrefined, but don't say anything about who has employed them. They will chit chat about nearly any other subject, however. Down the hall from the main facilities are two doors, one to the right, and one to the left. Contents: Right Room (#3263n) Left Room (#3264n) -Moonlight rumages around for something that will stimulate Starfire a little more. Once she finds what she is looking for, she motions for a few more of the bouncer types to come away from work and aid her outside. There's quite a few more Bots and Cons now than there was earlier, and a little more reinforcement might be a wise idea. Steel Fields The light dances along the broken and marred surface of the steel fields. For countless years, this old place had been extensively mined and tunneled for the simple ores that were once plentiful, but now evidence of long-abandoned mining efforts litter the landscape. A small town, Caetobrix, still exists here, once known for the breweries that produced most of the drinks later made famous by the bars on Cybertron. Some of these facilities are still in operation, though are mainly used by the citizens to make a small, indistinguishable amount of energon for trade or consumption for survival. cyber-cat Swivel [Robot] [A] Steelwind [Robot] [A] Enfilade [Robot] [D] Silverstreak [Robot] [A] Onslaught [Robot] [D] Whiplash [Robot] [D] Starfire [Robot] [U] Brewery [#3275 n] Obvious Exits: -U- Up leads to Sky Above Steel Fields -N- North leads to Freelorn Flats -S- South leads to Cybertron South Pole -E- East leads to Steel Fields -W- West leads to Great Gouge -Energon samples? Yay! Mmmmmm..... obviously caught a certain femme's interest... though she had to wait until she was off duty to come check it out. Can't be a slacker, or at least make it obvious she is a slacker. Swivel strolls into the area, but seems quite alert.... just in case there is some sort of... trap. If it's jsut a simple concession stand (i think that's the right term) thn all is well. -Onslaught visibly mulls something over, then out of the blue waves a hand/arm. Not to anyone SPECIFICALLY mind you...more of a general wave (in other words, anyone can assume he's waving to them, just for fun mind you...it's THAT sort of general wave...that it could be for just about anyone). -Whiplash's optics narrow just a little as she catches a brief glimpse of a red symbol on a blue mech just as he turns away. The tentacles undulate a little faster, but she remains in place ... this is Moonlight's gathering, after all, and if she wanted someone to wreck havoc with it, she'd surely indicate when the time is right. She next looks to Onslaught as though to decipher if he's giving some kind of signal, but as he seems not to be (or she's not privy to it), she goes back to sipping at her drink. -Moonlight comes back out of the establishment, flanked on both sides by two more toughs (for a total of four). She instructs them to mingle and keep an eye on things, and to be ready in case a little tension over flows into complete chaos. Once she is satisfied with their movements, she returns to the little gathering of Decepticons. She hands Starfire a small bottle of something. "Here. It should keep you awake. It's just a bit of a stimulant..." -Silverstreak blinks at the new entry as he catches sight of Swivel out of the corner of his optics. The young Autobot warrior then looks back to those gathered and begins to ascertain just how many Autobots, Decepticons, and others there are here. -Steelwind notices Swivel arrive on the scene but doesn't go over to her yet. He goes over to a table near where Enfilade and Starfire are and examines the datapads there without looking at anybody. The expression on his face is one of specific though indefinite happiness. -Enfilade looks at the stuff that Moonlight brings, snorts, "That won't keep her awake more than two hours..." And then glances at the spiked icee. It's also less damaging. -Enfilade glances over at Onslaught. She can't decide whether to be grateful he's here or bothered that he might get involved in all this. He may catch her just looking at him. -Something clicks with Starfire, and it's the young mech that just arrived. She knows who that is, if not by name, then by faction. Without the benefit of the stimulants, she wakes up and focuses on him. Not for long, since she really is tired, but enough to recall seeing him in Dead End, and that he was questioning her about stuff. Voices nearby finally distract her, and she looks to Enfilade and Moonlight, who seem to be offering her drinks. "Um..." -Enfilade leaves the spiked icee in the middle of the table. It's Starfire's choice what to take. -Onslaught hmmms as he strokes his chin, muttering softly to himself, 'Well, that went better than I thought...'. Seeing as how he had asked Whiplash for that favour regarding Starfire earlier, and seeing as how Whiplash seems unoccupied, what better time to thank the femme? With that thought, the search for Whiplash...but not before noticing Enfilade looking over at him. Hmm...interesting indeed. Onslaught nods to Enfilade acknowledging the optic contact, as he visor glows warmly for but a brief nano. -Swivel survyes the crowd. Oh good... she's not the only... um... autobot-ish person in the area. She shrugs. No problems here so far, so she instantly goes over to a table and looks at the offered drinks, reading the labels and datapads interested. -Moonlight chuckles at Starfire. "Well, take /something/. People might think my stuff is drugged the way you're carrying on. And I don't think they'll believe me when I tell them you haven't tasted a drop." -Whiplash is sitting to the opposite side of Starfire from Enfilade, oddly enough not even looking at her, let alone chatting with her, which is definitely not the usual behavior for two femmes known to be good friends. -Enfilade has figured out by now that Whiplash is giving her the cold shoulder. But it takes more than that to get rid of Enfilade. Fil just settles herself right in and gets cozy--the more she gets the message someone else wants her to leave, the more likely she is to just stay put. -Steelwind hasn't even noticed that Whiplash is just off to his side, though certainly she isn't one not to be noticed. It's just that he's more interested in the events to the other side of him, which conversation he listens to more or less surreptitiously. -Starfire looks between the two and supposes she has to try both. A sip of Enfilade's doctored drink, and one of Moonlight's stimulant. Talk about mixed drinks... At least those are sips, not gulps. -Moonlight wants to be a good hostess, so she leaves the group of Whiplash and co. and starts to mingle with her 'guests' again. The content of the crowd shifts as people leave and new people come. All thinks considered, the event has been going really well what with the mixed crowds and all. Still, the bouncers occassionally have to remove a mech or two. -Onslaught thinks he's figured out what seems to be going on here, but in a way is internally conflicted, leaving him with a problem. So, rather than do anything rash, Onslaught goes into his classic 'thinking/planning' mode - aka standing still, holding his position, and figuring things out properly to ascertain the appropriate course of action considering the dilemma he faces.