1119/Of Monsters And Mechs

**Darkstar has posed:**
    Darkstar sat at the bar at Mac's, taking a much needed respite from the many consecutive days of intense training and research and development that has consumed his time and attention ever since he'd returned from a deep space mining operation. Finally, a day all to himself for leisurely pursuits that didn't involve work... Though to be fair his work was a whole lot of fun. "Yeah... That's what they tried to tell us, but we're too smart for that. We know the truth of the matter... Ain't no such thing as a system that doesn't become corrupt over time," he'd offer to the barmech as he raised his cube of enerdrink. "That's what separates me from a lotta these empty-headed bukets o' bolts around here. They cling to illusions... I'm a realist to the core."

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock was still at the table she and Quickswitch had been at some cycles ago, where Sixshot, Whirl and First aid had also been. She had her purple and gold optics focused on her blank datapad as a taloned finger tapped against the table, a few enersoda cans sat on the table. She was trying to ignore the infamous dumpstar though, her cheek planted in her empty hand... She had new armor since the last time He'd seen her, much thicker, stronger arms.

**Darkstar has posed:**
    Darkstar laughs at something that the barmech said to him in response, a question posed concerning the Autobots. The spacer hadn't noticed Starlock yet, or if he did he wasn't about to just approach her and start chatting the 'Bot up while she was with her friends this time. He hadn't come here to antagonize his enemies, but with the nature of the conversation he was having with the barmech who knew where things would end up...

    "See, that's just it. Yeah, they say that their way is better. So does Megatron, right? So, Simanzi happened... Pretty nasty stuff, and who could forgive a mech who'd engage in that kinda dirty fighting without regard for the masses who'd be swallowed up in the devastation?" The spacer smirks. "I'll tell ya... Anyone who is at the head of a faction during wartime, that's who. Nobody fights a war to lose it, and there's no such thing as 'innocents' when it comes to Autobots and Decepticons. Nope... There's only the guilty and the dead."

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock was scowling still.. not responding, not saying anything, she kept looking down at the datapad, keeping note of the conversation in her mind, but remained quietly looking down at the blank journal page she had up... There was a thought, but she brushed it aside, knowing first hand, he doesn't have all the information, nor is he going to get it from her.

**Darkstar has posed:**
    The barmech chuckles as well and seems to concur with at least some of what Darkstar is saying before going on about neutrals and those who didn't choose a side. Darkstar grinned and took a sip from his cube before setting it aside as he leaned forward, his fingers steepled before his face. "Neutrals... Oh, yes, neutrals. How could I forget about them, huh? Well, I'll say that the only thing that they are doing is keeping the recruiting offices open. Every day there's a new member on our side and theirs... Every day some mech or femme decides they've had enough of Autobot hypocrisy, or Decepticon hubris. Every day the neutrals grow fewer in number and Autobots and Decepticons greater. You've seen it. I've seen it..."

    The barmech sighs and offers a tidbit about what the war is doing to the people of Cybertron, and how much they have lost because of the fighting. It's bad for business. It's bad for the morale of the people. It's bad for living a life free of fear. Darkstar shrugs his pauldrons and vents a sigh of his own, though his grin remained. "Things were so much better before, eh?" The barmech laughed, but added that there was less fear, less damaged morale, and business was indeed better. "Y'see my good mech... It was better perhaps for \*you\*. Perhaps... We wouldn't be in this mess if that was a commonly shared sentiment. Now you have villains masquerading on two sides of a war who are just fighting for their own self interest. What you have now is somethin' that is a bit closer to the \*truth\*... Same battle that's always been fought, but this time the masks are made of cheap parts and the cracks are a lot more apparent. Autobots are villains. Decepticons are villains. I am a villain...to someone. Always a villain to someone- hahahah!"

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock again didn't really respond, but it was again.. something she wasn't exactly completely wrong, even a broken clock can be right twice after all... Although, there where indeed more criminals on the Decepticons side, though.. There was the fact of things like /Grindcore/ what Hyperdrive went through... The decepticons by all standards, where indeed cruel.

      But there were also Autobots like Pharma, and Graymatter.. Those were people she could not ignore, they were examples of criminals, but she needed to lie, and wait, to catch them propper.

      She'd sip on another can of enersoda.

**Darkstar has posed:**
    Darkstar took his turn to listen to the barmech now, while Starlock sipped on her drink and listened in on the coversation from afar. The barmech had seen a lot in his days, and he was sharper than most. The barmech could see that Darkstar was right about a lot of things, but he was a neutral and he certainly didn't side with the spacer completely despite the truths that the other was speaking. The barmech would press the Decepticon then with a question concerning his comment... 'No innocents? Just the guilty and the dead'. What an intersting way to put things when there were certainly Autobot heroes out there who were not guilty of horrible things.

    "Hah! Like who?" Darkstar asked incredulously with a laugh. "You were here when Blurr used a techvolt on me when all I did was say things he didn't like, yeah? Doesn't matter that it's a non-lethal weapon... Assault is still assault, and something that the authorities usually throw you in lockup for. Here, at a neutral bar of \*all\* places he could've chosen, too... Guilty." Taking a drink, Darkstar vents a relaxed sigh before he sparked up an e-cig and took a long puff. "Mmm... Oh, and then there's another Autobot favorite. Sky Lynx... He attacked Kolkular Prison to liberate one of his buddies not long ago. Went absolutely \*nuts\* on it... Red visor and all. Smashed the place to bits and pieces, and crushed a lotta guards when he brought the facility down. He was maaaad, so mad... Didn't care about any of the lives he trampled doing what he did, now did he? Didn't care that some of those guards had never seen front line combat before. Didn't matter to him that some of those guards had never even fired a weapon on an Autobot, a neutral, or a Decepticon for that matter. Nope, no care in the world. He killed 'em just the same because the only thing that mattered to him was \*his\* goal. Again...guilty. You startin' to see how deep this thing goes?"

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock would glance over at that, and.. No she wasn't going to stay quite any longer about it. "Yeah, cause you kidnapped me, threw me in there where the ike of Buzzsaw was trying to rip me apart." She'd state codly, letting the seriousness of what she was saying sink in to those around. "After tricking him into taking an explosive alien artifact, for no reason other than for the opportunity to gloat, like a jack-aft." She'd snap, looking back down at her datapad.

      "They used us for slave labour, for /amusement/ of arena battles to the death, how can you say their victims, when they themselves enabled such, if they didn't? They could of walked away, and left the planet." she'd continue.. Sadly something /Pharma/ of all meches had told her. "If your going to state there are no victims on either side, don't omit details to twist the situation in your favour."

**Darkstar has posed:**
    Darkstar chuckles as he hears Starlock chime in on the conversation topic with what he'd grown to expect from the femme. "Oh, who is omitting details? All of that happened, little 'Bot... All of it. I didn't say that anyone wasn't guilty. If you've been payin' attention you'd already know that," the mech notes smugly. "Not every guard in there was doin' what you say they all were doing," he explains. "Hard for ya' to hear it maybe... But you're just as guilty as the rest of 'em. Just as guilty as Sky Lynx, Blurr, me." Another drink breaks the chain of commentary, but only for a moment. "You've just now shown that you'll justify death and destruction when it's to your benefit. You could have walked away and left the planet, couldn't you? Oh, but wait... That's just something that everyone \*else\* should have done, but not you. No, no... Do as you say, not as you do," he chuckles.

    "And that my good barmech... Is the point. Everyone will say and do whatever suits them and paints them in the light that they want to be seen. Right or wrong... It's all selfishness in the end."

**Starlock has posed:**
     "We're all going to have blood on our hands, it's stupid to think none of us will get out of it unaltered or free of guilt.... Even as a medic, I've resigned myself to the fact I will need to take a life to defend my patients on the field, all I can do is not go out of my way to do so, unless completely necessary... As Power should be used to protect those that cannot protect themselves." she'd state.

      "I've indeed chosen my side, Because I wanted this to end, I wanted the suffering to stop, but I wasn't going to do it by /sitting on my aft/ complaining and waiting for someone else to do it for me." She'd say, answering Darkstar's remarks, she'd also look over the bar, asking with a look, to those listening, if they ineed wanted the whole story, which she was very much willing to recite with some omitted things, like what she'd asked Blast Off, her and Soundwave's conversation, Sky Lynx's medical state.

      "War isn't for everyone... And I rather someone choose then be forced to stay..." She'd frown with a gesture of her hand to Darkstar. "And it is why this war continues, because we continue to show the extreme, instead of showing the genuine good those trying, are doing."

**Darkstar has posed:**
    Darkstar is quiet for the time being, allowing Starlock to speak her peace without interruption. The spacer sipped his drink, and smoked his e-cig calmly as those who were listening to the conversation mulled over what the Autobot was saying and compared it to the Decepticon's own remarks. Those who already favored the Autobots seemed to agree with her, and those who already favored the Decepticons seemed to agree with Darkstar.

    "No, war is not for everyone... Some take to it much more than others, I agree wit'cha there Little 'Bot." Setting his drink aside again, the spacer lifted his chin and his voice raised considerably for his next offering.

    "So, Little 'Bot... You say I kidnapped you, eh? Kidnapped...a prisoner during wartime. Huh, kinda interestin' that you'd put it in a way that paints you as a victim, and me as a villain. Those with a greater understanding of reality know that what I did was capture an enemy combatant, rather than destroy her. Think they call that going the...'merciful' route." Taking another puff of e-cig, Darkstar was just getting started.

    "So, tell me this... How many times have I actually tried to take you out, Little 'Bot? How many times have I tried to destroy you? My enemy...during this war."

**Starlock has posed:**
     "After that? None after, fairly i've not faced you on the field in sometime." She'd state truthfully. "After you'd supposedly offlined Sky Lynx, who'd jettisoned me in a escape pod back to Cybertron, is when you decided to give chase have me captured." She'd state once more. "Your... fellows have not been as curtiuse." She'd add, remembering full well how she is still, high on the cons 'take out on sight' list, specially given the recent skirmishes.

      "....I am one to believe a few don't spoil the lot, but it is hard to say the rest are okay, when those with the loudest voices, continue to be the ones, ending up the faces of the faction or ideal, and no one else will do anything about them." She'd frown. "..I don't see the deceptions trying to do anything about Buzzsaw being a murder, I don't see the decepticons kicking out Quake for using /privates/ as gladiators for a sick gladiatorial ring to kill those they capture." She'd take a vent.

      "...Should I go on?"

**Darkstar has posed:**
    "Riiight... Not even then did I attack you, Little 'Bot. I didn't even know you were in that pod until we were well on our way back to Cybertron," Darkstar notes with a laugh. "I remember what you did to me after we landed though," he offers, but neglects to elaborate since it really didn't matter. "It was cute... Don't think I even made you pay for it either." Taking another pull from his e-cig, Darkstar canted his head slightly before turning around so that he could face the Autobot while resting his elbows back onto the surface of the bar.

    "I don't really want to fight you, so I ain't really tryin'... We're not all the same. Just like you 'Bots ain't all the same either. Nah, Buzzsaw is one of us still. Quake too, oh yeah. They serve the war effort well after all... How's your friend Pharma holdin' up by the way? Since Optimus Prime has returned I'm sure a mech like that has been kicked out on his aft considerin' the stories I've heard." Red optics flash, and Darkstar's gaze remained fixated onto that of the small femme.

**Starlock has posed:**
     "So? What does that change? You still knew someone was in there, the same thing would of happened." She'd point out, crossing her arms. "Course, What did you expect me to do? Not fight for my life? Not defend myself and let myself be beaten? that seems rather stupid." She'd reply, she could play that game.

      Starlock would only /smile/ at the mention of Pharma, only smile, she couldn't give away what was going to happen... But it was an indicator that something was going to be done. "I cannot speak about an ongoing investigation."

**Darkstar has posed:**
    Darkstar laughs, his head tilting back as the booming sounds of his amusement permeate the bar. "Aye... I knew that \*something\* was in that pod. Why go to the trouble of ejecting it if there wasn't something of value he was trying to protect?" the spacer replies, shaking his head. "Sometimes I forget that a lotta those fightin' this war have never had military training. That's what a good soldier is \*supposed\* to do, Little 'Bot," he states matter of factly. "Nah, I ain't mad at you for fighting for your life... Though you knew you weren't fighting for that, didn't ya? If we were gonna kill you do you think that you'd have ever made it \*out\* of that pod in the first place? Tisk, tisk... Don't be so naive."

    Ooo, an ongoing investigation is it? Now that's a new development. "Hah! Just a nice way of saying that yes... Pharma is still an active member of the Autobots. Need I say any more?" he asks, glancing around the bar for a moment before resting his red gaze onto Starlock once more. "I'll be waiting so very eagerly for you to tell me when Pharma has been removed from your company," Darkstar offers amusedly before filling the air with white smoke.

**Starlock has posed:**
     "No, I was fighting for my life, you know what buzzsaw did, I know what Buzzsaw said, he would have if I didn't defend myself... I am not as dumb as you take me for." She'd reply, glaring.

      "I cannot talk about a ongoing investigation." She'd state again, closing her optics, before looking down at her datapad. Though.. on the note of value... "...No life is more important than another.. Just because I save lives, does not make me more valuable than someone else.. Just because this happened to me, does not mean, that it would of been different had it been someone else." She'd frown sadly.

      "...No one should go through that..." She'd glance over. "Why else would I tend to Vortex after what happened at Garrus-1?"

**Darkstar has posed:**
    Darkstar scoffs, "I know that you were alive when Sky Lynx came for you... I know what condition my own comrades were in when we did rescue them from Garrus-1. Tell me, was that all the doing of just \*one\* of your fellow Autobots? If it was only one of you... Is that one so far above reproach that none could stop them? Somehow I doubt that...very much." The grin was back, and the Decepticon shrugged his pauldrons. "I don't think you're dumb, Little 'Bot... But you \*are\* naive."

    A chortle and Darkstar claps his hands together. "There you go! Proving my point... Of \*course\* some lives are more valuable than others. Of course they are. Not all of us were created equal, and you really \*would\* be a fool to believe such. If that was the case then the same amount of morale would be lost among Autobots if Oprimus Prime fell in battle as would be if Pharma met the same end, or the guardsmechs of Garrus-1 who fell during our raid. Were you at their vigil making speeches? Was Prowl at their vigil? Was Sky Lynx making speeches to honor them? Doubtful..."

    The comment about Vortex is met with littl reaction, though Darkstar does recall that Vortex had a certain soft spot for Starlock that had grown since that time. "Should... Should, should, should... What does your fantasy world have to do with what is? What has always been? Does the Universe care about your shoulds and should nots? If it did then it would not \*be\*."

**Starlock has posed:**
     "Yes, because I /fought back/ when Buzzsaw tried to kill me in my cell." Given it was after Clemency, she was positive Buzzsaw would of tried to finish the job... Though she couldn't speak of the... Well, accident, that happened, with Vortex, sadly, that was an sensitive area... But the cons did have a lot of unstable and broken meches on their side as well. "I don't know, are yours?" She'd ask with a raised ridge.

      "Maybe.. But there is nothing wrong with that.." Se'd state, sipping on her Enersoda, raising a ridge at him. "...No, but I am a doctor, I learned long ago you cannot save everyone, you cannot be there for everyone, or else you will destroy yourself, and will be unable to do your job, it's a nice thought, but impractical." Hypocrisy was a tool for doctors after all, when patients tried to get out of facing their problems by trying to manipulate their doctors.

      "...Because it's not too much to ask, that we treat each other kindly, to not be unnecessarily cruel to one another..." She'd looked to Darkstar. "...If the shoulds, didn't matter, then this war wouldn't of started, and we'd still be stuck in a society that suppresses those that the senate deemed as disposable."

**Darkstar has posed:**
    Darkstar waves a hand dismissively, as he didn't know whether or not Buzzsaw actually tried to kill her in her cell... What he does surmise is this however. "You were unarmed and captive in a cell, and Buzzsaw tried to kill you yet you live. Strange how little sense that actually makes when stated out loud..." He wouldn't put it past the mech though, but if that was the case then Buzz was truly much more pitiful than his status suggested.

    "Nope," he replies to 'you cannot save everyone'. "Nah uh," he continues to 'you cannot be there for everyone. "Yet Optimus Prime would certainly be given the courtesies that the others likely would not receive. He is more valuable than they are... It is obvious, and cannot be denied no matter how much one wishes it."

    Darkstar's grin broadens when the Autobot femme finishes speaking on the topic of her idealism. "Indeed... This war began because of the natural order of things, and all wars will begin and end for the exact same." Raising his cube, Darkstar toasted the Universe itself before gulping down the remainder of his drink. "Been fun Little 'Bot..."

**Starlock has posed:**
     "Just a testament to how I was able to keep myself together and defend myself." She'd state in a tone of logic. "I'll agree, to disagree, after all, I could of been a decepticon, had I not found out about things like Grindcore." She'd state, looking away. "I'm no forged doctor, after all." She'd nod, and think. Perhaps Optimus was a bit more important..

      He was their leader after all, much better than Prowl but..It wasn't her place to speculate or say if he saw himself as more important than others, but... Something, given her recent interactions with him, said No, he didn't see himself above others.

      "I wish I could state the same, but I won't insult you, not /this/ time as I do want healthy debate to be something that's not frowned upon, as it was a liberty we didn't have before."

**Darkstar has posed:**
    Darkstar chuckles and snorts as he rises from his seat, cube discarded onto the bar behind him. "Onward soldiers... Onward march," he says as he starts toward the door, but not without one last little message before he would fully exit the Oil House. << I will spare them... If it can be helped, I will spare any mech or femme I choose as my special opponent during a battle... \*If\* you do not interfere with my honor duel. I fight for glory first, and the rest is secondary. It does not require death to fulfill my needs. >>

    If she did have a response Starlock would have to speak quickly, as the spacer's stride was long and his course already plotted.

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock frowned and would click her tight beam on. "<<So long as their is a life on the line, I will not stand idly by, and so far, your actions with Sky Lynx speak /much/ louder than your words, until I see it, I don't believe you.>>" she'd state in an oddly cold tone of voice.