Accepting Her Fate

-Megatron is been out and about the city for a while, talking to any that are curious about his writings and his cause and now hes slowly heading back toward the Forge.

-Swift Blade is actually in the city looking for Megatron, so she speeds up her pace a little to fall into step beside and slightly behind him. "May I accompany you?" she asks politely. She shows respect, but it's neither fearful nor obsequious about it.

-Megatron pauses suddenly when he hears the question. Then he looks behind him. "On the ground?" He wouldn't think a Seeker would walk when they can fly. "By all means."

-"The ground is good enough for a large number of Cybertronians," Swift Blade replies evenly. "Even those of us who fly eventually land to rest. And it is from within the planet that many of our resources come." She pauses. "A fact which I am sure you are very familiar with." He is known as the miner from Tarn, after all. Not all Seekers are tarred with the same brush as Starscream.

-Megatron nods. He is familar with it indeed. More so then he'd care to be but he had no choice in the matter of his 'career'. That was thanks to the Senate -- a ruling body of this planet hes working to over throw "You are right." he says as he starts walking again. "Have you given any more thought regarding out converation the other cycle?"

-Swift Blade smiles faintly. "Even when I'm not actively thinking about the matter, it seems to be looming in the back of my mind," she says. "I had a bad few moments when I first saw that news report," (Megatron probably knows the one quite well) "but it didn't last long." She clasps her hands behind her back. "You know that one of your mechs was wounded by an Autobot recently?" she asks, which might seem like a change in subject.

-"Must have been very recent because I havent been told about it." Megatron says a bit sternly. "Tell me what you know." he says in an authoritive tone and whether he meant it that way or not is anyones guess.

-"It was Blast Off; I don't know the full details," Swift Blade says, "because I didn't get there until after his injury. He had sent out a distress; his team-mate Swindle and I both showed up to aid him." She frowns. "I believe his name is Quickswitch. There were two enforcers with him, and they had some sort of command code to shut him down for whatever reason." She frowns briefly. "They told Swindle and myself to back off because they were going to apprehend Blast Off, but we did not stand down. In the end they decided it was more important to return their charge home." She raises her optic ridges. "Swindle brought him to be repaired to a facility in Vos since that's where we were and there wasn't time to bring him to the Forge." She purses her lips as she tries to think if there was anything else relevant about the encounter.

-Megatron takes all this in, his optics narrowing slightly as he listens. "Quickswitch. I am familiar with that senate 'pet'. And you're saying the Enforcers were there to keep an eye on that mech?" he wonders why Starscream didn't inform him of this but waits till he can get some more information about the situation first.

-Swift Blade nods her head to this. "They were quite derisive," she says. "We had seen him once before, at a bar in Nyon. On both that occassion and after the attack on Blast Off they called him an 'it' and a 'freak'," she recalls. Her optics light up for a moment. "While at the bar they mentioned that they were watching him for the protection of the public, not to protect him. From what I saw at the bar, he is quite unstable. Make of that what you will."

-Megatron rubs the side of his face where this mech clawed the slag out of him the other cycle. "I could understand that. It sounds like hes some experiment from one of the senators." he makes a mental note to talk to Soundwave about this. "And this was the mech that attecked Blast Off?"

-"Yes. But I don't know how it came about; by the time we reached Blast Off both his optics and his ability to speak were damaged; all we could hear was broken up static," says Swift Blade, her tone carrying a note of concern. "The medic we took him to said that if we hadn't acted so fast the damage might have been too severe." She frowns. "If those Enforcers had decided to insist on taking him in, I was willing to fight alongside Swindle to stop it from happening."

-Megatron thinks that perhaps this seeker has made her choice which side to be on whether she realizes it or not. He doesnt say anything about that though. "Do you know how long Blast Off will be under repair?"

-"His actual repairs are complete, but his systems need a bit of time to recouperate; he had lost a fair amount of fluids." Swift Blade sighs. "This incident made me realize something, however," she says tentatively, as though her words are trying to catch hold of everything that is going on in her mind.

-Megatron studies her for a moment, "And what is that?" he asks calmly.

-"Earlier I had told Blast Off that I would never help the law apprehend him, but stated that I would not hinder them either. At the time, I believed I meant it. However, at this point, I know that I would not let them take him in while I still function," Swift Blade says, suddenly fervent when she is usually so calm. "I do not know that it makes me belong anywhere in particular because of it, but that is where I stand on the matter."

-"I will tell you where it makes you belong." Megatron says, "With the Decepticons and what we stand for. You made the right choice and do not think otherwise."

-"I don't want to be here under false pretenses. It is only fair that you should know the root of my stance," Swift Blade persists. "While I believe in the ideas, I still hesitated, but that realization made me aware that I will either stand with your Decepticons, or I will stand alone." She makes an open armed gesture. "Ultimately, however, your are the leader and you know best whether you can accept my reasons or not. I would not presume to know your mind."

-Megatron says in a serious and final tone, "As long as you obey my commands and do not jepordize the mission -- the cause, your reasons for joining are for you to contend with."

-Swift Blade nods her head and pulls herself up straight. "Then I leave myself in your hands," she says with a salutory bow. "I know how to follow commands."

-Megatron smiles, "Thats what I want to hear." he turns back toward the Forge. "Did you ever find Starscream?" he asks as he starts walking again.

-"The last time I saw him he seemed to be in somewhat low spirits," is all Swift Blade has to say about Starscream. "Though he did mention he could help me replace some of what was lost to me while I was a slave," she says. So far she hasn't seen the egocentric mech's bad side, though she has noticed his arrogance.

-Megatron opens the door to the forge and says, "Low spirits you say?" he wonders if some ploy of the Seekers backfired and he finds hes not that concerned. "Serves him right then." he says oddly and then walks in.

-Swift Blade walks into the Forge with Megatron. His words strike her as strange because she doesn't know the half of the dynamic between the leader and his second in command. "Has he done something lately that he shouldn't have?" she queries.

-"There's not enough time left in this cycle to even begin to answer your question, Swift Blade. Let's just say that yes, he has," Megatron says.

-Swift Blade looks mildly surprised at this, but then nods her head. She won't press the point. While she's not afraid to ask questions the first time around, she doesn't think Megatron has the time or patience for being badgered. "I will admit that I am somewhat indebted to him," she says, "but he does seem to have the habit of irritating people." Again, she doesn't know the half of it.

-Megatron chuckles, "Thats putting it mildly." he walks around the edge of the arena toward the hole in the wall bar persay and has a seat. Shortly a mug of energon is put on his table and he pulls out a datapad an starts going over the fights scheduled for tonight.

-Swift Blade takes a seat as well, not figuring it to be bold of her since they were already talking. If he objects, she will know soon enough. "I do sometimes understate things," she says a bit dryly. "I personally haven't had many problems with him, but I can see how he would be problematic to some." She shrugs her shoulders. Now that she's pretty much made a decision she isn't sure what to do next and she looks a little lost.

-Megatron takes a swig of his energon and stares at her for a moment, "You need to learn whos in the army, read up on all my writings, learn my postion, what we stand for what what we aim to achieve first thing. Once you do all of that we can go from there."

-Swift Blade nods her head at this. "I suppose I may be surprised at who I find," she says. "Since most people don't generally brag about being a Decepticon." Not yet at any rate. "Just point me to where the information is, and I'll learn it. I might not be the smartest femme out there, but I can be very persistent." When she wants to be. Oh, and patient. Swift Blade is patient.

-Megatron nods, "I will have Rumble show you around and where to get the information."

-Swift Blade fixes the name Rumble in her mind. "Where can I usually find him?" she asks as she's never met him before and knows nothing about him.

-Megatron tells Swift where to find Rumble and then goes back to the nights match lineup.

-Swift Blade excuses herself and then leaves the leader be to do whatever it is he needs to do. Whether she's gone to find Rumble or something else she doesn't say.

-The tall blue Seeker Outlier walks into the forge and with a pause, looks around to see who is in there and get a bead on where everyone is and what they are doing. He notices Megatron but doesnt say anything. But he does walk into the hole in the wall bar and goes up to the bar to order something to drink.

-Swift Blade comes back a short while later since Rumble does not appear to be present. She sees the blue Seeker at the bar. Maybe he's Rumble? She still doesn't know exactly who she is looking for; Rumble is just a name to her. So she goes over to him and queries, "Do you happen to know where Rumble is?" politely.

-Thundercracker had just put his glass of weird orange and smoldering energon to his lips when he's asked a question by a femme. This seems to be his cycle for running across femmes. He sets his glass down and looks over in the direction the voice came from. "I have no idea where the munchkinbot is..." then he sees he's lookig at a seeker. He smiles. "Aren'

t the two of us a long way from VOS?"

-"So it would seem," returns Swift Blade, also smiling. Clearly she's not too upset that he doesn't know where Rumble is. "But we have wings don't we, so it isn't so strange that we could be a long way from anywhere in particular," she points out.

-Thundercracker takes a sip of his energon finally. "The sky is ours, the freedom it provides none of these --" and he motions nonchalantly to the mechs around them. " ground mechs could ever understand."

-Swift Blade has no particular disdain for ground mechs. Slaves aren't allowed Seeker pride after all. She's probably the most modest little Seeker anywhere. "Freedom is a precious thing that should never be taken for granted," she says solemnly.

-Thundercracker frowns, "What do you mean by that?"

-Swift Blade gives Thundercracker a half-apologetic smile. "I spent most of my life as a slave off world," she explains. "So, while I was able to fly, it was not when and where I chose to fly."

-Thundercracker gets a flash of anger across his face briefly, "Slave? Who would dare enslave a Seeker? How did this happen?"

-"In the years of the Quintesson occupation." Yes, Swift Blade /does/ look good for her age. "I was very young at the time, not even through Primary Programming School," she notes. "I only recently returned to Cybertron."

-"How did you escape finally?" Thundercracker asks curiously.

-"Eventually I was set free," says Swift Blade. "After all that time someone /finally/ realized I was actually a person." She sounds momentarily bitter, but it evaporates quickly. "It wasn't by any particularly impressive feat on my account."

-Thundercracker works on his drink, "Im not sure what to tell you there. But I know there is a growing number of us under the leadership of Megatron that are fighting for everyone to be recognized as a person and not a deisposibe at the very least."  Thundercracker gets a thoughtful look then, "I just am not sure ..." he stops suddenly and finishes his drink.

-Swift Blade nods her head at this. "I know," she says with a little smile. "I was slow to accept the need to join a side; I didn't want to get into a war at all. But I had to change my mind on that." She shrugs her shoulders. "After being a slave myself, a non-entity, I can understand why so many people on Cybertron are angry. And they are right to be."

-"I guess keeping that in mind can keep things in perspective." the Blue Seeker says quietly and then focuses on her. "So other then the crazy politial situation here now... is Cybertron anything like how you remembered it?"

-"I don't remember much," the femme admits. "But I can tell you it was discouraging to return home after spending so much time thinking about it only to find it is ready to tear itself in two." Figuratively, of course. "Surely we must have been united at some point to overthrow the Quintessons, but now we are fractured, broken."

-Thundercracker shrugs, "I dunno. Some prime and some notion about a god.. primus? Who knows... but your alternate mode dictating your position in life somehow got twisted into what we have now. All in the name of 'religeon' I think you could say."

-"There were many different alien races I encountered, and many of them had different beliefs, different rituals for similar beliefs even. Some were more devout than others. But in all that time, I never saw any real evidence of a greater being out there," Swift Blade says. "So if there are such beings, then they must not want to completely reveal themselves, for good or for ill." She shakes her head.

-Thundercracker flicks a wing as he thinks. "Well if they exist they need to be found and have the slag beat out of them for all the misery theyve caused over the decavorns because of things theyve supposedly said." he pauses a beat then asks, "Does that make any sense?"

-"They should have either been clearer or left themselves completley obscured rather than offering bits and pieces of information that could be twisted and abused?" Swift Blade asks, raising her optic ridges.

-Thundercracker nods, "Yea thats it. No thats not it. They should have just stayed out of our plantes history to begin with. That is if they really do exist. And Im not sure they do.'

-"I can't even begin to pretend that I would know how the mind of a God would work," Swift Blade says. "I have enough of a struggle figuring out my own people, let alone some supposedly divine being." She shakes her head a couple of times. "But whatever the case is, these rules are imposing misery on so many that I can't believe it is right."

-Thundercracker nods and says in rumbly tone, "And thats what makes them nothing close to 'divine' in my datapad."

-"How those in control do not see it is beyond me." Swift Blade sighs. "Then again, I haven't spoken to the leader of Cybertron; I doubt he's very accessible to anyone who didn't claw their way up the political ladder."

-Thundercracker says "Maybe those in control like it that way. But I think they are in for a rude surprise very soon."

-"It seems petty to me to want to be in control just for the sake of being in control," Swift Blade says. "For most of my experience I had very little power, very little choice. I don't think I could turn around and do the same to someone else." She tilts her head to the side. "I have little sympathy for them; I'm more concerned with those who will get caught in the crossfire."

-Thundercracker stares into his empty glass for a long moment. "I wonder about that myself a lot. I think thats why its so important to side up before all slag beaks loose. But what do I know?"

-"I was quite resistant to choose a side," Swift Blade says. "But then I realized that my actions were deciding a side for me," she muses softly. "It may not be the best of reasons, but I'm sure it's far from the worst."

-Thundercracker nods. "Im sure youre right there." he orders a refill and notices the place is starting to get busier and more crowded. "Good fights tonight from what i saw on the rouster. You going to watch?"

-"I will probably watch some. My first roles were to fight in an arena, though they weren't much like the one here," Swift Blade says. "I don't know that I enjoy it as a sport, but if I can learn something through watching then it is time well spent."

-Thundercracker nods again. "Something to learn I guess but its cleaner and more to the point to bring it from the sky you know." the seeker is what he is and as far a hes concerned, riding the jetstreams in combat trumps slugging it back and forth on the ground.

-"I wasn't fighting against our kind," Swift Blade says. "Taking to the air simply wasn't allowed." She shrugs her shoulders. She is who she is as well, a product of years of slavery and the patience to withstand it.

-Thundercracker stares at her for a moment, "What you dont care if youre in the air now or not?" He cant beleive that a seeker could be conditioned to that point. It just boggles his mind.

-"It's not that I don't care," Swift Blade says, "it was that I was made much more vulnerable in my other mode. I was heavily modified over the years to suit the will of others." It's a small wonder that she doesn't want to be subjugated any longer. "Most of my weaponry was removed."

-"You need some R&R in VOS." Thundercracker says factually. "Get you straightened back up."