[ INTRO LOG ]

[robotsatan]

You don't know how you got here. One minute you were walking, sleeping, maybe dead -- then you're here, your feet suddenly carrying you down an empty street. Where's here?

Any Cybertronian would recognize this as their home planet, Cybertron, but it's not a Cybertron they've ever known. It has all the familiar hallmarks, but none of the specifics -- the city isn't one anyone here could identify, and even at a glance it's obvious that no one's set foot on the planet's surface in hundreds of years. The city and its surrounding areas all bear the marks of devastating war, of dust and rust collected over centuries. With no one in sight -- right at first, anyway -- there's plenty to explore. In fact, if you start walking, you'll find that your feet may just carry you in one particular direction.

A) The crater.
On one edge of the city is a massive crater left by some wartime weapon that seems to have taken out a large chunk of the surrounding metropolitan area. At the center of the crater it's broken through the surface of the terrain to reveal what looks like it might be a promising energon deposit. There is some strange but native vegetation growing around the edges, too, that no Cybertronian would be able to identify -- small, metallic, brittle-looking sprouts that bear a curiously organic-looking fruit of some kind that doesn't look like it's intended for consumption by any natives of the planet. In one rocky nook of the crater, light catches on the surface of a pool of water, which seems strangely out of place on Cybertron. On closer inspection, it seems that somehow an underground water source has formed a spring in the crater.

B) The center of the city.
If you follow where your feet seem to want to carry you, you'll find yourself in the middle of the ruined city. It seems that the center of the city was once home to a massive forum, and some of the pillars and structures still stand. At the very center of the forum is a massive, elaborately constructed fountain, although it has now long since run dry of whatever used to fill it. One of the low, inner walls of the forum has a terminal embedded in its surface, although it looks curiously ancient, out of place with the rest of the city, and unlike the rest of the technology still left around, there doesn't seem to be any way to power it on or operate it. There are a few scattered pools of water and a few of the strange metallic plants in the city, too, but they're not quite as plentiful as in the crater.

The planet was obviously once home to a massive network of communication relays, but those have all been long since destroyed. However, with the bits and pieces left behind and a few determined minds, it wouldn't be too hard to build a working, if rudimentary, one...

Comments

[tomemyoutliers]

That certainly is a bot he recognizes, thanks to the rapidly growing political movement he inspired. Megatron had caught Shockwave's interest briefly - anyone who believed that the current system of governance was corrupt did - but he dismissed the miner as someone who belonged to his own group rather than someone willing to see a pre-existing cause and take it up as his own.

Which was something to be admired, certainly, but not what Shockwave was looking for. Either way, the Senate feared touching him and in doing so, make him a martyr - it gave Megatron a level of protection Shockwave was slowly coming to realize he hadn't had. As usual, the best revelations come too late to do anyone any good.

Picking his way through the organic foliage - after stopping to grab a few heavy hanging fruits, because this certainly didn't belong on Cybertron no matter what had happened to the planet - Shockwave calls out to him.

"It's Megatron, isn't it?"

Although he doesn't recall any of the reports ever indicating that he was likely to be covered in energon.

[aminerproblem]

Megatron looks up from the pool of water, an immediate tension entering his frame at spotting the bright, unmistakably Senatorial decor on the Cybertronian in front of him. He'd never met Shockwave in person, but his actions were noticeable as being the outlier in the behavior of most of the corrupt politicans that kept a stranglehold on the rest of the planet.

He didn't particularly agree with Shockwave's methods - it all seemed like rather weak attempts to pick at little things at a time when the whole system needed an overhaul. Still, if he'd have to get stuck with any of the "honorable" Senators from the Grand Imperium, the one that pissed off the rest wasn't such a terrible option.

The looks he returns isn't exactly welcoming, but he doesn't seem particularly disturbed by Shockwave's appearance. In fact, he seems quite tolerable of it as he continues to rinse the energon off his hands,"Yes."

[tomemyoutliers]

As if he expected anything but a positive answer. That's Shockwave, always assuming - although perhaps he shouldn't be so keen on it after the fate he's narrowly escaped. But he knows Megatron, has briefly skimmed his writing when he was approached by the two Decepticons within the Senate to join their cause. Not that Shockwave wasn't flattered, but-- again, differences.

"I thought as much. We have a common friend - Orion Pax?"

Shockwave doesn't have much experience in being covered in energon despite his work with it, and he winces as he gets a better glance at the miner. Well. That's-- hm. Unsettling.

"Yours or?" He's actually not certain which answer he wants to hear at this point, but he figures it needs asking by someone.

[aminerproblem]

Although he was known on Cybertron for his words, his most noticeable trait to his supervisors in the mines was often his stubborn silence. And after Shockwave dropped the question, that's exactly what he got.

The implication hung heavy in the air as the last of the energon was cleaned from his fingers. It wasn't bleeding from anywhere on him.

Despite Shockwave's attempt to bridge them together through a common acquaintance, he was still at a loss for words. How would he accurately explain to a Senator, even a well meaning one, that he'd crushed a Guard's head in between his hands after an accumulation of lifelong injustice, pent-up rage and a brief sense of mortal danger?

What words could properly describe a pure maelstrom of emotion?

[tomemyoutliers]

It isn't as if Shockwave is unfamiliar with powerful emotions and letting them get the better of you, Megatron. You'll find he's more than willing to listen if you give him the chance.

"Ah." Well. Where to go from this point? He doesn't want to completely shut the other Cybertronian off, but nor does he feel a free pass would benefit anyone - now or later. Precident was vital, after all, and there was no knowing who else was here. As Shockwave gently assumes he would be in charge of making laws. But-- "It would be foolish to judge you for something I know nothing about."

There. Tactful, as far as he was concerned.

[aminerproblem]

He rises to his feet as he finishes, meeting Shockwave roughly eye to eye.

"A Cybertronian was beaten to his death after he protested the decision to discard us in favor of automation. The murderer was a guard of Decimus'. I'm sure you remember your colleague."

A little venom seeps into his voice, though not particularly directed at Shockwave himself. The event was still fresh in his mind and rife with anger.

"The rest of us weren't as easy to pacify."

[tomemyoutliers]

At the name of the senator, Shockwave's face twists into displeasure. His focus has always been on Proteus in terms of who he feels presents the biggest challenge within the Senate, but he's not blind to the depravities of the rest of them. The automation of the mines were a symptom of a greater problem, of the fact that they were going to run out of energon if they weren't careful. Replacing miners with non-sentient machines wouldn't increase output, not anymore.

"I see." A venting of air, and a pass of his hand over his face. "The unfortunate truth of the matter is that the guard would never have been held accountable for the murder, but-- I had thought your ideas were more peaceful rather than--"

Violence. He's not surprised - war will happen, anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool. But Megatron had always espoused peaceful resistance rather than taking justice into his own hands. Perhaps the urge to take matters into his own hands was a trait Megatron shared with Orion, in different ways.

[aminerproblem]

"I'd since gotten a better insight into how the Senate has grown to handle things," he adds calmly, thinking back to his informative evenings in prison.

"Something as resistant to dissent as that institution cannot be persuaded to change. It's a disease that needs to be burned to the foundation before anything can be done."

Megatron doesn't expect him to be particularly comfortable with his new take on things, considering he was part of he system to begin with. But he wasn't going to dilute it for the sake of easing their conversation. He doesn't like the idea of taking another Cybertronian's life anymore than anyone else did, but it would be sadly necessary.

[tomemyoutliers]

There have been many, many days where Shockwave has advocated overthrowing the current Senate and replacing it with something better - but that is different than razing it to the ground. He frowns at Megatron's words, not in disapproval but in thought as he takes a step forward.

"And what good will that do? What then, Megatron?" A gesture out towards the ruined Cybertron. "Do you expect a people who know no other system to simply change because you told them so?" He's curious rather than furious or accusing - his way is best, he knows that - but there's no harm in nudging a flaggingly political philosopher along. Shockwave knows the system is corrupt but he also knows that the chaos that would result in annihilating it has to be managed or else it will all fall apart. A war is coming. Or perhaps had come, here, and this was the result of it.

"As for the Senate's methods - I expect you know my record on that." In that he has long championed for some control over Shadowplay and the Institute if they would not dismantle it wholesale.

[aminerproblem]

He can recognize that Shockwave was the least detestable of the autocrats in the Grand Imperium, hence the reason they were talking about Cybertron and not whether or not his head should be popped off, but he was still essentially a part of the problem. It was difficult to believe the Senator would be going through all the trouble they put him through without some sort of ulterior motive. Why would he?

"The Senate has done enough damage through its Taxonomy to make the only option an arduous period of transition. But before this change takes place, its corruption must be removed altogether."

He looks at the decimated landscape, entirely aware of what Shockwave was trying to imply,"The material can always be rebuilt, the Cybertronian is more than sufficiently hardy and adaptable."

[tomemyoutliers]

Because some people just want the best for their planet, no matter what could happen. Shockwave feels like Megatron could understand that much.

"You remove it, and replace it with what? Are you going to force the people you represent to follow your ideology?" He hums, one hand coming to stroke his chin for a second or two. "You say that we are adaptable, and yet you would agree we've been trapped in stagnation since the time of Nova Prime, would you not?" Shockwave knows he would, and he assumes that Megatron will think the same. "Arguing that changing the structure of society in one fell swoop will eventually result in the change of the individuals participating it is a legitimate position to take, but one I feel is ultimately flawed."

He takes a few steps towards the pool of water, breaking the surface of it with the tip of his foot and a thoughtful hum.