June 26th, 2003
~Cascade(A), Thunderstrike(A),

The Wild Surge - Bar

     Dimly lit and noisy, Dead End's only bar is never lacking in patrons. While the energon isn't of the best quality, many of the chemical additives are unique to the place, and so highly prized by those who can afford them, even outside of the city. For those less affluent, the wall behind the bar still offers old, contaminated energon and various forms of crude-grade fuel as well as the more acceptable low and high grade energon, plus some interesting compounds that are better left to the imagination.


Cascade [Robot] [A]

Obvious Exits:
 -O- Out leads to Dead End - North Strip

-Cascade steps in from the streets, looking quite shiny and new... as if he had just come out of the repair bay perhaps. He moves to the bar and takes a seat, glancing over the common room carefully.
-Shimmer is standing behind the bar, patiently cleaning a rather large, sticky spill and fragments of shattered glass off the counter top.
-Cascade lets his optics skim over the apparent remains of someone's drink with amusement. "Someone decide they made the wrong choice, did they?"
-Shimmer sighs and looks up from her cleaning and at Cascade. She gives a soft little half smile. "Not exactly. A few mechs got rough and this was the result. I really shouldn't mind, but this stuff /is/ hard to clean up."
-Cascade ahhhhhs as if this were a revelation, chuckling as he replies, "I've never seen it get that rough in here. I guess I just tend to be too well behaved. Maybe I need to loosen up." He doesn't sound serious, more that he is quite glad to avoid trouble when he can.
-Shimmer's smile grows slightly; it's rather girlish and almost innocent in content. "I prefer it when people are well behaved. I don't like all the fighting and shouting. I especially don't like it when," and she lowers her voice, "people try to grab me." She shudders slightly.
-Cascade ahhhhs again, his nod amused before he shrugs absently. "I don't much care for violence except when it is necessary, and the last time I did any fighting I spent a couple days in the repair bay afterward. I try to stay out of repair bays."
-Shimmer nods sympathetically and goes back to scrubbing. The spill definately isn't your regular enerbeer or enerwine. "I don't know much about repair bays. I'm usually not put in a situation when I need one. I was once though...when the Autobots took over Crystal City."
-Cascade hehs at that. "Well, that wouldn't have been necessary if the Decepticons hadn't attacked the place back when it was still neutral. They killed a lot of good people without any real reason." He seems a bit bitter about that.
-Shimmer narrows her optics slightly, but she does it so quickly that it might not have happened at all. Her frown, however, is qutie noticable. "Like most neutrals, I just wish the killing would stop. I don't even like seeing factionals die. It's...it's too final."
-Cascade doesn't seem to be particularly perturbed at the frown, saying rather flatly, "The Decepticons started the war, they are the only ones who can really stop it. As long as they keep fighting, the rest of us don't have a choice. Eventually, if things aren't ended, there won't be any neutrals left. Everyone will have to choose sides to survive."
-Shimmer sighs deeply and gives the horrible spill a final swipe as she /finally/ manages to get it all cleaned up. She tosses the rag into a bin off to the side and leans against the counter, almost as if too weary to hold up her own weight. "I will hate to see that day come." And disguised Decepticon or not, she is speaking honestly, from the bottom of her very being.
-Cascade shrugs again, not sounding happy about his words but apparently believing them. "It's only a matter of time. Worse, it will happen. The people who started the war are too proud to admit they are wrong and stop it, and the people fighting them won't be slaves."
-Shimmer nods, not because she's agreeing exactly, but because she doesn't want to be rude. "And if your side wins..?" she asks, pointing to Cascade's Autobot symbol.
-Cascade hehs as if he doesn't like the answer to the question at all. Instead of replying directly, he answers obliquely, "That depends on what we have to do to win. If, by some miracle, the people who started the war see reason then we can go back to all living in peace." He doesn't seem to think that will happen, though.
-Shimmer looks about to press the Autobot further, but the stops herself. She stands up straight. "I'm sorry...I should have taken your order by now. What would you like?" she asks with a touch of professionalism.
-Cascade chuckles a bit, before he replies, "Something green and strong, but not too ntoxicating. I don't mind being hyper, but I like to keep my faculties. You never know when you may need them."  Cascade does not seem to object to not being pressed.
-Shimmer looks around for something that fits the description and then hands it over to Cascade. If she was any other Decepticon she might have tried putting something in the drink that would cause adverse effects, but being who she is, she only thinks about it amusedly for a moment before not doing it. "Good philosphy to have," she comments.
-Cascade tends to be innocent enough to think that employees at a 'neutral' establishment would know it was bad for business to dope others up. So he's a trusting soul. He takes a slow, careful sip, then nods and adds, "Of course, very few have good philosophies these days."
-Shimmer nods in agreement. "You're so very right. Then again, I guess it's the war that does it to people. It's hard to look on the bright side when you know you might kill someone or be killed next cycle." Again she lowers her voice, "And what's worse is that people start to like all the killing. It's not just duty anymore, or ideals. I'm afraid of those people." She does a good job of looking afraid, but that might be because she truly /is/ disturbed by those people.
-Cascade shurgs again. "It's part of war. Something else to blame on the Decepticons, if you stop to think about it. I wish that they would learn the error of their ways, but it just doesn't seem like it will happen. It's going to be a long war, and no one will like the way it ends."
-This cycle certainly isn't a happy one. This guy seems all doom and gloom and he's so convinced that the Decepticons are wrong. Of course, this doesn't surprise the femme. He was pretty adamant about the subject when they first met. She's still rather thankful that he let her go...things could have gotten messy otherwise. But it's not really easy for her to sit here and listen to her faction proclaimed as all that is wrong with Cybertron. She shifts uncomfortably.
-Cascade shrugs a bit, and turns his attention to the drink for a few moments and enjoys the falvor and the energon before he speaks again. When he does, he changes the subject entirely, saying, "Looks like things have quieted down again. They were pretty hot for awhile."
-Shimmer blinks. "At the bar or on Cybertron in general?"
-Cascade chuckles. "The latter."
-Shimmer nods. "Yes, the electrum, right? This place was all a-buzz with people planning to make it rich and complaining about all the factionals who were swarming all over the glacier. I don't think any of them got what they wanted."
-Cascade shakes his head at that, saying calmly, "It's still a stalemate as far I know. Plenty of shooting, very little prizemoney to go around. That's how it always it, it seems. No one ever really gets the edge, and if they do it's never for long. This is so pointless."
-Now that's depressing, but 'Shimmer' can't honestly say she doesn't feel that way as well, especially since she isn't involved for ideals in the first place...or money...or power. "Do you think it will keep going on that way...forever?"
-Cascade shrugs, very eloquently, almost as eloquent as his words when he says simply, "Well, I honestly don't believe the Autobots can stop without being enslaved or wiped out. So they have to keep fighting. The Decepticons can, but I think the biggest fear among many of the Cons is that we think the way they do and won't let them live their lives if they stop fighting."
-That isn't the case? What if /she/ just gave up? "And what do you think your side /will/ do to the Decepticons if you win? Or if they give up?" Shimmer asks. She sounds rather interested, as though the answer matters.
-Cascade laughs a bit and asks, "What were things like before the Decepticons started the latest war? We were all at peace. What happened after the last wars? We all lived in peace. The Autobots aren't fighting because they want to run the planet, we are fighting because we need to in order to survive. Megatron started this war, remember, not us."
-Shimmer has never met Megatron, and Cascade's words confirm her previous opinion that she never wants to. She hopes that he stays stuck wherever he is, or better yet, that he no longer exists. "True, but how could you trust anyone that was a Decepticon? Wouldn't everyone still be living in fear of them..?"
-Cascade shrugs at this, saying simply, "I think there are a lot of Decepticons who *want* peace. I think the problem is that Decepticons have too much respect for authority, even when their leaders don't deserve the respect they are given. Enfilade seems alright to me, but she listens to Shockwave, no? Shockwave I haven't met in a long time, but he's following orders from Megatron and won't disobey them no matter how wrong they are, will he?"
-Shimmer has to choke back a laugh. Respect for authority? Is he talking about the same Decepticons? The really sad part is, is that both sides never see enough of their enemies at rest. They don't see the loyalty and comraderie that goes on when no threat is present. All they see is a bunch of armed mechs and femmes with destruction on their mind. And it really doesn't matter who is right really because both sides are wrong. "Some of them probably do. They can't /all/ be that bad...can they?"
-Cascade shrugs a bit, and says sadly, "I don't think Decepticons are all bad, but I think they listen to their leaders whether those leaders deserve it or not. This war is happening because of one mech's hunger for power, and even with him gone his lieutenants won't stop it. That's a tragedy, and there is nothing the other side can do about it but fight back."
-Shimmer nods mutely for the moment. This conversation is wearing on her more than her customer could ever guess...unless he's really good at spying out disguises that is. She would like to defend her faction, but deep down she knows that most of what Cascade says is true. Besides, she would really hate to blow this disguise; she's rather fond of being Shimmer. Maybe she wishes the real deal was more like the image.
-The embodiment of all that's wrong with the Autobots strolls in whistling. The Hot tempered overzealous kidlet known as Thunderstrike saunters over to the bar, and orders his standard lite enerbeer.
-Cascade glances up at the new entrant and recognizes a fellow Autobot. He gives the fellow a nod and then takes a long pull from his drink before he tells Shimmer, "Now change the subject. You're depressing me."
-Shimmer is actually thankful at the sight of the troublesome Autobot, and slightly surprised to see that he's still alive. She moves away from Cascade to give Thunderstrike his enerbeer. "Here you go sir," she says.
-Thunderstrike nods curtly to Cascade then Shimmer. "Wha thank you ma'am." He's rather relaxed, and seemingly at ease with his surroundings. Most unusual for him.
-Cascade chuckles and asks Thunderstrike, casually, "Been enjoying the war?"
-Shimmer doesn't seem surprised at Thunderstrike's ease. It's a bar after all, people are supposed to be relaxed. It probably also helps that she's the only Con present and neither of them recognize her as such. She shakes her head slightly at Cascade's comment. Considering the content of their conversation, his flippancy is rather shocking. "Will their be anything else for you sir?" she asks of him. "You're welcome," she says to Thunderstrike.
-Thunderstrike looks to Cascade. " I don't enjoy it...I just partake in it to ensure my, and others survival."
-Cascade shrugs a bit, with a bit of a chuckle, and replies, "I don't know, there are stories." He shrugs more obviously and then shakes his head. "Bit of a firefight a few nights ago. I'm surprised you weren't there."
-Shimmer busies herself with cleaning some glasses. Time for the intel girl to do her thing.
-Thunderstrike sighs..."Got sent on a patrol run, by the time I got back I missed all the action. /LUCKY/ Me." he moans.
-Shimmer glances up from her glasses at Thunderstrike. "Isn't it safer that way? To be far from the action?"
-Cascade ahhhhs and nods a bit. "It went reasonably well for us." He doesn't mention the electrum or what happened to him, but he does say, "Not big, but fairly hot while it lasted."
-Thunderstrike shakes his head to Shimmer. " I don't like the war, but if there's gonna be a fight...I wanna be there. It's my nature."
-Shimmer sighs. "You don't like the war but it's your nature to fight? If there ever is peace again, what will you do?"
-Thunderstrike chuckles "Drink more beer, Obviously."
-Cascade hehs at that, shaking his head a moment before he says with a chuckle, "Even with no war we'd still need to have some folks to handle planetary defense. And when no one is invading, they can drink beer. Like he says."
-Shimmer smiles at Thunderstrike. "At least I'll know my job will be secure then."
-Thunderstrike nods. "That's pretty good job security. Mechs are happy...they drink. If they are sad, they drink. If they are bored...They drink. It's a good racket."
-Cascade hehs a bit. "Maybe I should buy a place when the war ends. I'd do some good business, I'm sure."  Cascade shrugs again, nods once to Shimmer, and then stands from the bar and heads for the door. "See you flyboy," he says on the way out, to his fellow Bot. And then he's gone.
-Shimmer starts to daydream about when the war is over...if it ever happens. Which doesn't seem likely. Sometimes she just wants to bang all the leaders of all the faction's heads together and /make/ them see sense. She nods to Cascade as he leaves, then reaches over for his glass to clean it.