February 6th, 2003 ~Steelwind(A), Whiplash(D), Ghost(D), Solar(D) Darkmount - Holding Cell This holding cell is spartan at best. With a narrow resting platform attached to one wall, all it offers is a reminder that one is a prisoner. The walls are remarkably clean as is the floor, but faint scratches can be seen gleaming all around as if someone was marking time. The doorway is shielded from the outside with a glimmering forcefield. Nothing els is present as this is where the prisoners wait, not get interrogated, a dreary room at best. At worst, a tomb. Steelwind [Robot] [A] Etching in the Wall Obvious Exits: -O- Out leads to Darkmount - Interrogation Room ================================= Decepticon ================================= Message: 10/9 Posted Author Protective Custody in Darkmount Thu Feb 06 Kimakaze ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Text Only* Decepticonss, this is Kimakaze reporting something of importance. Please /all/ take careful note of this. Unit designated Steelwind has surrendered himself into my 'protective custody', in order to face Commander Enfilade personally, so they they might resolve their...issues, and her wish of getting her hands on him might be met. Therefore, it is imperative that NO UNIT physically interacts violently with Steelwind. At this time, his weakness is his willingness to stick to 'a deal' until it is broken by the other side. So don't break it! No one is to touch him without the expressed permission of Commander Enfilade, Commander Razelore, or myself. Commander Enfilade, I request that you see this Mech at your earliest convinience. That is all, unit D - 017X330 out. *the screen turns black, before an oddly darkened silver and purple frosted sigil appears, spinning* ============================================================================== -Moonlight meanders into the room, whistling to herself. -Steelwind sits in his usual corner, dozing. -Moonlight turns to look at Steelwind, shaking her head. Gee, this guy seems to like it in here. Oh well, that's his problem, not hers. "Hey, fella!" she calls out. -Steelwind perks his head up hearing the familiar voice. "Oh, hello, Moonlight," he says, quite pleasantly actually. "And how does this cycle find you?" Whiplash says, "Alright, anyone ever seen something like this before? I realize the rest of you are distracted making your kill (sounds just a little envious), but there's this glowing energon-like stuff coming up outta the ground. I noticed it earlier already." -Moonlight leans against a convienient wall opposite the cell. "Alive. Which is always a good thing. You know, the universe is a vast place, and I'm sure that /some/ of them must be more interesting than this cell." Lieutenant Moonlight says, "What's going on?" -Steelwind snorts. "Well you know, some of these scuffs on the floor are very interesting," he says, trying to sound convincing and at the same time mocking the tone of a professor. -Moonlight chuckles a bit. "Somehow I'm not convinced. The reports say that you came here willingly...again. Have you been shot in the head a few too many times?" Whiplash says, "Little bit of action out in Hellpits, Moonlight. Maybe *you* can come kill Hyperdrive. Hmph." -Steelwind shrugs. "Well I heard that Enfilade wanted to see me...I can't say no to a lady like her, now can I?" he says, grinning. "'Sides, an arrangement has been made with someone I've dealt with in the past and I know well enough to trust." Though the voice says, almost trust. Lieutenant Moonlight says, "Why don't you do it 'Lash...you're better at that sort of thing?" Whiplash says, "I was trying, but suddenly I'm on the science team or something. What *is* this stuff coming outta the ground?" Ghost says, "define glowing energon stuff, Whiplash? *sounds disgruntled*" Solar says, "whatever it is save me a bottle" Whiplash says, "Best I can do, gray lady, without trying to set it on fire or taste it. And given that last explosion, I'm not sure either one is a great idea." -Moonlight shakes her head. "You are too strange. So, what's so special about Enfilade that you can't say no to her, but you're just fine saying no to me?" She grins to show she isn't actually bothered by the fact, merely making conversation. Ghost says, "Comeing down.... S'more important than... slagging that flying junk pile..." Lieutenant Moonlight sounds like she's trying not to laugh. "Science team? Lash?" Whiplash says, "I know, I know. I was the only one not doing the aerial acrobatics." -Steelwind shrugs again. But it's a different kind of shrug, since Steel has an inventory of shrugs to express anything. "You know, thinking about it I'm not entirely certain..." he says, voice trailing off, but something in his intonation says that he is certain on certain aspects of it...he shrugs a yet different shrug. "Bah. I should have stayed neutral..." -Moonlight nods understandingly. "I've been thinking that myself...about myself. All this team work gets to me sometimes. But that's neither here nor there. I still think you've cracked something important in your thought processes." -Steelwind chuckles. "I guess that comes with being as old as I am..." -Moonlight bahs. "Everyone's always talking about how old they are. I'm surprised anyone can /get/ old around here. Sometimes I think the only 'young' person I ever talk to is Starfire. And if you've got a considerable ammount of age and experience, why don't you know better than to show up and /ask/ to be taken prisoner? That's just silly." Solar says, "if we can get a sample of the stuff I can run some tests on it" -Steelwind snorts. "Everyone is young, they just think they're old. There aren't many of us left who really are old, old enough to remember before the war. Only the clever ones manage to get old." He pauses. "Hypothetical situation. You're out somewheres, and you encounter Scattershot and Optimus Prime. They give you the option of going with them voluntarily or getting your aft handed to you? What do you do?" Another pause. "Though that's not an entirely accurate analogy, since you've probably never engaged in 'business transactions' with either of them." -Moonlight shakes her head. "I've never met Prime nor Megatron. They had already left by the time I landed on Cybertron." She shrugs. "As for being forced to join a side, I guess I would have buckled. My life's more important to me than any cause or ideal. That's what makes me a coward. Only reason I can fight is the one thing I do believe." -Steelwind nods. "There, you see? I enjoy being functional. And sometimes, maintaining that requires doing things that may seem odd. I've been doing it for a few years now, with some success." A long pause. "It's only since I got directly involved in this factional garbage that it's gotten difficult..." -Moonlight hmmmms. "I see what you mean. Did you tell any of your Bot friends you were doing this?" -Steelwind shakes his head. "No. This was more or less unexpected." Why did I just say that? -Moonlight folds her arms. "How do you know they won't be worried then and try to take revenge on any passing Con they might happen to come across?" -Steelwind waves it away with his hand. "They all hate me just as much as you all do, so I don't see them getting all that worked up over it. Most of them question my loyalty to the cause..." Another shrug. -Moonlight holds up a hand. "Back up there. I never said I hated you. I don't like those generalizations. As for the Bots, I've heard they aren't so nice...and it was another Bot that told me too. Strange, isn't it?" -Steelwind continues his earlier thought. "As it stands we're in an arrangement which more or less benefits both parties - I get energon and parts, I perform the occasional errand for them." Pause. "Well, I guess that makes one who doesn't hate me" - a grin - "and yeah, most of them aren't as nice as they would like others to think. And I don't think it's strange at all. It's a factional thing..." Another pause. "You mind me asking who said that?" -Moonlight shrugs. "Why not? It was some fella named Nosecone. Said that he found me friendly compared to some. I said not all Cons were so bad, and then he told me he was talking about some Bots. So much for the 'good guys'," she even uses her fingers to illustrate the quote marks. -Steelwind chuckles. "'Cone isn't a bad mech. A bit obnoxious at times, but overall he's decent." A deep ventilation. "Ah well. Everything will sort itself out as it always does. Maybe one cycle I'll even cease functioning." A twisted grin. "Not a few of the Bots would be relieved by that..." -Moonlight makes a face. "You know, if everyone is so sick of living, why do they all bother fighting any more? What right does everyone have to keep killing people for a cause they don't believe in anymore, for something they have no passion for?" Moonlight actually seems a tad bit upset. -Steelwind shrugs. "I've asked that myself. Probably a good number of them just kill for the sake of killing..." -Moonlight shakes her head. "Not me. I'm a kill-free femme." -"Wow. There's still people out there who've never killed?" Steelwind's voice is truely astonished... -Moonlight nods. "Well, a person at least. I don't know how many other people can claim as much. Sure, I've shot and hit people, might have knocked a few out...but it never gets further than that. When you're not brought up in a war, you don't take actions like that without thinking about it. And when I think about it, I feel distinctly uncomfortable. I've only been here a few years after all." -Steelwind nods. "That makes sense. But if war's been part of a large part of your life, well...you get used to it, I guess." -Moonlight runs a hand over her hatless head. "Well, it's still relatively new to me. I think most people forget that, Bot and Con alike. It's kind of annoying to be blammed for so many things I've never done. Now, if someone wanted to gripe about me stealing or something, I would take it in stride because it would be true, and I don't mind admitting it. But there's lots of stuff I haven't done, but it doesn't matter to the Bot masses. They see the symbol and make all sorts of nasty assumptions." She pats her thigh where her lone Con symbol is. -Steelwind nods. "That's what you get for becoming a factional. Too bad I didn't think of that earlier myself," he says with a faint grin. -Moonlight grins. "And too bad I didn't know enough about Cybertron to think of it at all." She frowns. "But I don't want you to get any ideas. I'm not about to up and leave the faction." -Steelwind snorts. "You think that bothers me either way?" That wasn't the nicest thing to say, but... -Moonlight shrugs. "Just warning you. I don't want the Bots to suddenly think I'm on the verge of leaving the Cons. And even if you don't like them much and decide never to deal with them again, information often gets around. So I'm just telling you it's nothing worth mentioning." Note, she never once implied that she's doubted any of Steelwind's explainations. -Steelwind gestures with his hands. "If you don't want me to repeat any of this to anybody, say so and I won't. A deal is a deal with me, unless you break it first." -Moonlight grins. "You should head over to Monacus and be a smuggler. Sounds like you have the mentality for it. I don't mind what you repeat, just so long as you repeat it in a way that isn't butchering the ideas behind the words, if you see what I mean." -Steelwind nods. "Not a problem, I won't say anything." He pauses. "I've never had to leave Cybertron to develop that code for myself, and I've never had to leave Cybertron to make ends meet. Running 'errands' can be quite profitable here too, you know..." -Moonlight examines her fingers for a moment. "That might be true, but away from Cybertron people hate you for the things you've done...not for who your pals are." -Steelwind grimaces slightly. "It used to be that way here too. Oh well. I'm too old to leave this place now. This is where I was built, this is where I want to die." -Moonlight frowns. "That's just morbid. I guess this is a place that you'd have to be built to love it. I sure don't. Not enough to want to finish up here. Then again, I don't plan on being ended /anywhere/ any time soon." -Steelwind nods. "You had to have seen what it was like before the war to love it." He shakes his head. "Anyways...can we change the subject? Death isn't one of my favourite topics of conversation, you know?" He grins. -Moonlight gives a thumbs up. "I'm with you on that one. So, if you get out of here in tact...what /are/ you planning on doing?" -Steelwind smiles. "Finding a job as a custodian at the Crystal City hospital?" he snorts a laugh. "Though I doubt that. Regardless of what I plan, something will come up to intervene, whether it has red sigils or purple is secondary." A grin. -Moonlight nods. "Fair enough. So you don't plan anything because you're sure it won't work out so why bother?" -Steelwind nods. "Something like that. It used to annoy me, but I've gotten used to it." He pauses. "Did you think I planned *this*," he asks, gesturing at his environment. -Moonlight looks around. "Why not? It's /so/ cheery. But the report said that it was voluntary..." -Steelwind nods emphatically. "It was voluntary. But, it was also a spur of the moment thing...unplanned." He makes a helpless gesture. "I guess I'm just prone to acting on impulse regardless of pre-planned plans" -Moonlight grins. "I'm not much of a planner either. I leave that to the higher-ups." -Steelwind waves his hands. "Anyone can plan whatever they want. It seldom works out that way though. That's why I don't understand why the higher ups are so fixed on plans. You see an opportunity, take it! That's what I figure anyways..." -Moonlight chuckles. "If I knew how they do their thinking, I'd be a higher-up with them. Actually, that's not true. No one could pay me enough to take a job as a higher-up." -Steelwind grins. "I'm with you on that one." He contemplates for a longish moment. "You know, to be entirely honest you are probably the pleasantest Con I've met." -Moonlight dimples slightly. "That's awfully nice of you. I seem to be getting a reputation for it. Of course, it will be too tempting to resist using that to my advantage. But I figure everyone should suspect that anyhow, so if they don't, it's their problem, not mine." -Steelwind grins. "Note I said Con" -Moonlight nods. "I know...but I'm often told I'm the nicest Con that people have met..." -Steelwind nods. "And I agree." He pauses. "That's a good reputation to have though...good basis to start with for screwing someone over..." -Moonlight grins. "Exactly." Her face becomes neutral for a moment. "But, I also suspect I have yet another alterior motive to that one." -Steelwind smiles at that. "Where there's one, there's lots." -"For most people," Moonlight says. -Steelwind looks at Moonlight questioningly. "What do you mean, for most people?" -Moonlight folds her arms. "Exactly what I said. For most people their minds are filled with alterior motives. Not everyone is like that. Just like not everyone has more deaths on their hands than fingers." -Steelwind ventilates. "I guess you're right on that point too." -Moonlight chuckles. "Some people think I'm wise. I think they're just trying to be nice. But I will admit that I have a different perspective. I can see things differently because until recently war was something I never thought about, never dreamed I would ever be a part of it. Surely that has to give me some advantage...and some disadvantage." -"Different perspectives are needed, else nothing will get accomplished. Or something" He shifts slightly, stretching out. "But what does it matter, no one will listen anyways." -Moonlight slides down against the wall and sits comfortably on the floor. "I don't know about that. Some people listen. Of course, it's hard to get them to without risking getting brigged or forced to fight Whiplash. But it /can/ be done." -Steelwind nods. "True enough. I guess if I had to become a factional, better I joined these idiot Bots. All they do is rant and rave a little bit at me and then tell me to go away..." He grins slightly. -Moonlight chuckles. "Lucky you. Actually, I've only gotten in big trouble once. The other times Solar just gets really annoyed at me." -Steelwind grins. "Mind you it's not that pleasant to have Silhouette hissing and ranting at one...her voice is rather, irritating shall we say." -Moonlight hmmmms and nods. "I've heard that she isn't pleasant. Again, I was warned by Nosecone. I wonder how you find him obnoxious. He just seems like a straightforward mech trying to do what he thinks is right." -Steelwind mehs. "All the technobots are obnoxious to a greater or lesser degree." -Moonlight crosses her legs. "I've only met two of them. Nosecone is as nice of a Bot as I am a Con. I've only met Scattershot enough to be threatened or shot by him a few times." -Steelwind laughs. "Now Scatts *is* obnoxious!" -Moonlight grins. "Well, I could agree with you there. I'm not overly fond of getting shot at and threatened after all." -Steelwind snorts. "It's not the nicest thing in the universe, you can believe me." -Moonlight nods. "Far from it. In fact, it's one of the most unpleasant things I know. Having a friend get killed is the worst though...espeically when the friend wasn't actually a friend and died believing I was a spy." -Steelwind raises a ridge at that questioningly, but knows better than to ask. "Yeah. Losing a friend is indeed worse. I know that one from experience too." His face and voice grow very dark as he says that... -Moonlight looks at her knees. "Yeah." -Steelwind nods and looks at the wall. "Here we go back talking about death again..." -"Maybe it's inevitable," says Moonlight with uncharacteristic glummness. -Steelwind nods. "War'll do that I guess." A pause. "At least Chaser was here last time...I loved how that drove Novastar nuts..." He half-laughs, but still has rather a dark expression on his face. -Moonlight blinks. "Your dog right?" -Steelwind nods. "Yeah. Sometimes I think he's the only one who doesn't hate me. Other times I think he's the smartest lifeform on this planet." -Moonlight folds her hands in her lap. "He escaped with you?" -Steelwind nods. "You think I'd leave him here?" -Moonlight shakes her head. "No, but that doesn't mean that he got out okay with you either. I was just asking." She grins. "And Novastar is easily bothered. He's quite paranoid at times." -Steelwind chuckles. "I gathered that much. But paranoia can be a lifesaver." -Moonlight waves a hand dismissively. "But who wants to live as such a nervous wreck, always suspecting everyone of the worst things possible? Not me, that's for certain. Oh, I can appreciate caution, but never paranoia." -Steelwind shrugs. "It's saved me a few times. Besides, if you expect the worst, you'll never be disappointed," he adds with a grin. -Moonlight grins. "I think I'd rather be disappointed occassionally. Especially if I err on the positive side." -Steelwind says, "but if you're negative, the positives will be that much more enjoyable." -Moonlight shakes her head. "I'd rather just wait and see what happens than sit around brooding over who is going to screw me over next." -Steelwind nods. "Well, I guess you have a point too. But paranoia works for me," he says with a smile. -Moonlight shrugs. "So long as it makes you happy..." -Steelwind shrugs. "Well, not really. But it keeps me from going insane. Constant disappointments would be worse for me I think." -Moonlight nods. "That might be true. I guess I haven't been disappointed enough yet. Though there were a few times I thought I was losing it. Always bounced back though, Primus be thanked." -Steelwind nods. "Well I hope it stays that way for you." He shrugs, starting to look apathetic - his mind is thinking about something rather unpleasant now. -Moonlight stands and stretches. "Me too," she agree emphatically. She looks around. "Of course, all probability dictates that I'll be as jaded and miserable as the rest of the planet in due time. I just hope that I beat the odds. I'm pretty good at that." -Steelwind laughs. "Me too. That might be why I lose all my creds whenever I gamble. I use up all my luck on my life." -Moonlight paces a bit. "That could be. So, what do you think Enfilade's going to do with you?" -Steelwind grins. "Probably not what I'd want her to do with me." Then his face grows serious. "Well at the very least, we'll have a rather, illuminating discussion, shall we say." He shrugs. "Though I wouldn't be too surprised if she just decided to kill me right off the bat." -Moonlight's expression grows contemplative. "Not sure if she'd do that. I don't know her /that/ well, but I think she's at least talk with you first. She's not so bad either you know. Actually, most of us aren't...well, to each other anyhow." -Steelwind nods "I know she's not bad. At least, the times I spoke with her at the Blaster when she was hiding out, she seemed quite nice." His voice betrays that he felt a bit more than that at the time, and perhaps still does. -Moonlight smiles slightly, shaking her head. There's something about Enfilade. She'll have to ask her Field Commander her secret one of these cycles. "The more I see of the people on this planet, the more I realize how many people could have been friends if it weren't for this symbols." She points to her sigil again. -Steelwind nods somberly. "I remember when it was like that..." -Moonlight picks at the symbol with a fingernail. "And I still can't really make heads or tails of why it all started in the first place. Perhaps I should sit down and study history or something." -Steelwind nods. "It's been so long I don't right remember why it started. And why does it matter anyways why it started?" He shakes his head. "One mech got into an argument with another and it snowballed..." -Moonlight frowns. "Which is stupid because so many people are still suffering from that one moment." -Steelwind snorts. "Of course its stupid. If you ever get more than two mechs together in one place, stupidity is bound to occur." -Moonlight winks. "That's why the femmes should run the planet." -Steelwind snorts again. "I doubt you'd manage much better. Chaser and his kin would do the best job of it I think." -Moonlight shakes her head. "Actually, I think we wouldn't do too bad of a job. But the place is too messed up for /anyone/ to help it really." -Steelwind nods. "Save the planet! Kill yourself!" He laughs at his own comment. "Maybe after this I'll start a radical cult that preaches that. -Moonlight tries to imagine a cult like that and fails. "But if everyone's supposed to kill themselves, who would be left to pass on the message? And plan meetings? And pass out pamphlets?" She grins. -Steelwind laughs. "See what I meant about me and my plans?" -Moonlight nods with a chuckle. "Maybe you're safer just sitting in here." -Steelwind laughs again. "You might have a point. Well, either that, or stay in my hole in the tunnels." He pauses. "I like the tunnels. The neutrals and refugees down there are more my family than the Bots are, thats certain." -Moonlight shrugs, not knowing a whole lot about the tunnels. Actually, last time she was in a tunnel, bad stuff happened. "You don't think any of them would miss you?" -Steelwind shrugs. "Well, eventually they might start wondering where I am. But for the most part they know I'm off on errands a lot so they don't question my absences." That's not entirely true, but we are in Darkmount after all. -Moonlight shakes her head. "I mean, if you never came back. Do you think any of them would be sad?" -Steelwind nods. "Yeah, probably. We're a pretty tight bunch down there. Not many surface types know what we have down there. And I like it that way...most of us do." -Moonlight arches an optic ridge. "I meant any of the Bots." -Steelwind's face changes as it dawns on him. "Ohhh...them. Well. You know, I could think of, one, possibly two. But I get the feeling a lot of them, including all of them who count, would be happy not to see me again." He pauses. "You know, I wouldn't be all that unhappy if I didn't have to see certain units of them either..." -Moonlight sighs. "I think that's sad. I'm sure that at least 5 or 6 Cons would be sad if something bad happened to me. Possibly more." -Steelwind nods. "I wouldn't doubt it. As regards to me though, I've never really gone out of my way to give them any reason to like me..." -Moonlight blinks. "Why's that?" -Steelwind ventilates. "Well, when I joined, I never intended to stay as long as I have. I just did it 'cause I figured it would help me accomplish a certain goal. Now that goal has become irrelevant, and here I am stuck with them. Even if they did let me go, I could never go back into my old line of work." -Moonlight gives Steelwind and inquiring look. "Which was?" -Steelwind shrugs. "Why not? Thundercracker right annoyed me with a certain action of his I'd rather not discuss. I tried avenging that alone, didn't work. So I joined the Bots, figuring the whole army behind me would get the job done. Then he disappeared along with the others. So now..." -Moonlight grins broadly. "I meant to ask what exactly you did before the you joined." -Steelwind waves his hand. "Bah...my cpu is all over the place. I ran 'errands' for the highest bidder. Usually Cons. It's from that line of work that I know Kimakaze." -Moonlight nods. "Freelance is always the nicest life. Had many enemies in those days?" -Steelwind shrugs. "A few, but not many. Certainly not two whole armies..." -Moonlight curls her fingers and places her fist under her chin. "You know it's really not fair that all the decisions people make on Cybertron have such severe consequences. Most other places, if you make a bad decision, the consequences are rather short term. But here, everything haunts you for the rest of your life." She looks around. "I feel sorry for all the idiots out there." -Steelwind shrugs resignedly. "What can you do. I don't feel sorry for the idiots. I feel sorry for the people like the ones down in the tunnels. They're the losers in this...." -Moonlight says, "I think everyone is a loser." -Steelwind nods. "To a certain extent, yes. But those who can fight, less so." -Moonlight frowns, suddenly reminded of something and is relieved that she never had to carry out those orders. "True..." -Steelwind looks curiously at Moonlight, but doesn't ask. "Well..." He shrugs and leaves the silence hang. -Moonlight seems to be absorbed in thinking. She's seen people change from the war, and that's the thing she's most scared of. Not pain, or capture, or death, but change. She doesn't want to turn into someone that she wouldn't like.