Opinions Duly Ignored

-Rumble trudges in, his chassis splattered with still-fresh black paint. He may be a mess, but he has the smug look of accomplishment about him.

-Swift Blade had been practicing when she turned around to see Rumble come in looking rather messy. Smiling faintly, she tucks her swords away. "You look like you've been up to something," she comments, inclining her head as a greeting.

-"I sure have!" Rumble tells Swift Blade cheerfully. "Me an' Frenzy went out to Tyger Pax to do some promotin' of Megatron's book. It went pretty well, but we ran into some wannabe cop who shot up our sign. He's lucky we were just there to spread the word an' not mess things up!"

-The seeker femme laughs softly; it's hard to be /too/ serious about the small statured mech who has the bravery of someone much larger than himself. "Did you get any civilian response? Or did the officer show up too quickly?" she asks with curiosity.

-"Nah, I mean, he was patrollin' an' he was \*right there\* right when we put up the sign, so the sign didn't last too long. Don't matter, though," Rumble adds with a little grin. "Don't matter because we just left him there an' snuck over to the campus in Tyger Pax...we tagged a building with straight-up, can't-miss book promotion. Then we dropped a ton of dataslugs with the book on it so mechs can read it for themselves. They don't need that <CENSORED!> cop tellin' them what to read, if they're smart they'll read \*banned\* books, too!"

-Megatron enters the arena queitly and goes off to the far corner and begins beating the crap out of a huge training drone. He doesnt seem to be paying attention to anything or anyone around him but you can be sure he is.

-Swift Blade hasn't been in the same room as Megatron since the tragic event happened and the fallout that came after. Immediately she tenses, though she keeps her focus primarily on Rumble. "Hopefully it will do some of them some good, but I'm afraid that once in the grip of fear, a lot of people don't have the will to struggle back out of it."

-"Yeah, it's kinda sad. It's worth tryin' to get through to them, though," Rumble muses to Swift Blade. Megatron's presence is noted, and Rumble's known him long enough to know when to leave him alone. "I think Frenzy's still out there, finishin' the 'art'...ole Technobot Commander Scattershot's gonna be sorry he messed up our sign. He don't know who he's dealin' with! You shoulda heard him talkin' down to us like we were /punks/ or somethin'. That whole attitude of 'I got the shanix so I make the rules', that's gettin' old real fast."

-"Well, to him, you /are/ a punk," Swift Blade says solemnly. "But that's just it, isn't it? Their inability to see past the notions of worth that the society promotes. You're brave and you have belief, both good things, but the system is just designed to see you as less somehow."

-Megatron stops his practice, mainly because he destroyed the drone. He stands there listening to the conversation and then decides to walk over to Rumble and the femme seeker. "Interesting words, Swiftblade." he says after a moment, "You sound like you know the power of fear. What do you propose one could do with the power of fear against those that pride themselves in controlling it?"

-Rumble nods in agreement with Swift Blade. He was more of a 'doer' than a thinker, but he found Swift Blade's observations very thought-provoking. For a Seeker, she was pretty smart, he thought. She sure could teach the rest of those idiot, mostly-useless flyboys a thing or two. Megatron's arrival makes him simmer down and listen.

-Swift Blade gives Megatron a long, studied look. "Many of them are probably not used to fear; they have been sitting on top for far too long," she says. "At the moment they are arrogant in their security. But perhaps it is time for them to realize that /they/ are being decieved now. Their security is an illusion. Because, at this moment, you have no reason to stop, no reason to take everything they have and then some. They saw to that with their actions." She holds up one hand. "However, will it not be an even greater victory if you can achieve what they never could? The faith of the people." She smiles faintly. "They will only be afraid when they realize you are an organized, precise threat. Once that is done, then you can use it as a weapon itself."

-Rumble begins dabbing at his ruined paint job. "Scuse me, I gotta go get this scrubbed off," he murmurs, and he scuffs away toward the repair bay.

-Megatron listens to Swift Blade and then says, "I know what you are getting at -- the same thing you went on about the other cycle. IT is exactly what they Senate is counting on me to do and it is because of their actions to me recently that I will do the exact opposite. If that change in strategy offends you, Swift Blade then perhas you need to rethink your priorities to this army and my cause."

-Swift Blade watches Rumble depart with mild amusement flickering across her optics. It is shortly lived. "Perhaps," she says. "But, on the other hand, if I were to be cut loose, would that not be the same thing as a death sentence?" She holds up both her hands. "My loyalty and my opinions are two different matters. Though you might not see it that way."

-Megatron narrows his optics, "Right now I do not. Keep your opinions in check with me, I dont need them, only your loyaltly and your skills on the battlefield."

-"If you do not wish to hear them, then I will keep them to myself. But I would be lying if I claimed to not have them. And there may be some connection between loyalty and truth," Swift Blade says. "Or do you prefer us to lie to you?"

-"No." Megatron says. "I need truthfulness as well as loyalty but i dont need your opinions when I have not asked for them. Is that clear?"

-Swift Blade nods her head. "You have stated as much, so yes, it is clear," she says, though her own optics narrow a trifle. She folds her hands behind her back. "Is there anything else you require of me?" Since he has voiced a 'disinterest' in her opinion, she doesn't offer any further commentary; that question is all she has left.

-Megatron says flatly, "You may go." he turns back toward the drone and motions for some techs to scoop it up and try to repair it. With that he heads to his office.

-Swift Blade watches Megatron go; there isn't much else to do but that. She shakes her head to herself; in some ways this fall is worse than the snuffing out of a spark entirely. Ruiner may be dead, but at least he's beyond suffering. The rest of Cyberton, however, is not so lucky. Sighing softly to herself, she goes back to practicing. As of now, there is little else for her.