!Inspiring Television

Summary: James comes across the Junkion Big Kahuna himself in Decepticon-controlled Ayotzinco. The two take the time comment to discuss leadership, Junkion style.

Marketplace

''Colorful tents and market stalls stretch as far as the eye can see, their wares as varied as the vendors hawking them. The scents of exotic foods waft through the air on a tidal wave of noisy chatter from merchants and savvy customers alike. Unique items from across the galaxies may be found right here on Earth, if you only know where to look and how to ask. Conveniently located near the main gates and the busy aero-spaceport, the marketplace is always open. One word to the wise - never agree to pay the original price!''

Obvious exits: Northeast &lt;NE&gt; leads to Central Plaza. North &lt;N&gt; leads to Aerospaceport. East &lt;E&gt; leads to Ayotzinco Gates.

Buried in a pile of rubble in a dark corner of the almost abandoned market Wreck-Gar seems to sleep, in the wind his front tire sticking out of the boulders spins in the air and a slight sound can be heard from the rubble, it could just be a radio left on but if you listen closely you can hear, 'hmmm, What you talk'n 'bout willis! mmmmm'.

The marketplace is now almost deserted except for a few brave merchants selling food and other essentials out of carts that can no doubt be broken down and wheeled away in a hurry at the first sign of Decepticon interest. Citizens venture out for hurried transactions, watching the skies and the rooftops for any sign of giant robots. The entire place has a shell-shocked atmosphere to it, but also one of tingling anticipation. These are a hardy people, strong through ancestry and also their associtation with Autobots and EDC members throughout the seige and Militants even before.

James drifts around, dressed somewhat inconspicuously and talking quietly anyone that will stop and listen. He pauses sometimes, listening to something only he can hear, and seems to know when people are coming and going. He halts completely right before Wreck-Gar makes his appearance, holding out his hands in a calming gesture at those around him. Then he turns and stares when the Junkion finally comes into view.

"What the world need now is the beat of just one drum..." Wreck-Gar sings more loudly as his sensors picks up someone, he recognises that someone. His wheel spins faster as letters seem to glow on it's side the letters spin around the inside of the wheel and emit, "HEY! James! What Ya doing here..." the letters flicker from yellow to blue then as the wheel stops spinning. You can hear from in the rubble, "Might be easier.. and less of a power drain..." he then Transforms and sits on the pile of rubble and says, "It's lucky those creepy cons have this place at the moment, I can sit around here and they won't hit me... unlike those silly Autobots..." he laughs, "You doing a little spying? Nice..."

The motorcycle shudders then after a few moments with the sound of the A-Team Theme Wreck-Gar stands with a weird grin on his face.

James Bailey says something in a low voice to his little 'audience.' It's in a foreign language, but his tone and posture indicate that it probably translates to something like 'Wait here.' Then he goes over to Wreck-Gar. As soon as he leaves the group, it quickly disperses, individual natives hurrying back to wherever they're going. James doesn't look back, but a resigned expression flickers across his features briefly, before they go back to a cautious neutral look. "Something like that," he replies to Wreck-Gar when he gets close enough. "I just -- hold on." He looks up, and a few seconds later the sound of a supersonic jet rumbles over the city. High in the air an aircraft streaks by, clearly Cybertronian and not Terran in origin. James nods, as if he's still listening to something, then says quietly. "Roger." Then he looks up at Wreck-Gar. "It's okay, just a high-altitude flyover. Anyway, I just thought it would be good for someone to let these people know what was going, that they hadn't been abandoned." He nods at the marketplace behind him, even though it's likely deserted by now.

Wreck-Gar emits a grins and says, "Don't worry about those folks, They looks at me and they don't see me. I'm like the invisable mech. I can walk up to any Decepticon and say 'howdy' and they will totally ignore me, It's a power i have..." he laughs as he says, "But i've gotta say, Nice threads really fitting in.. Need a little more makeup but besides that, Top notch job." he smiles as he looks up then says, "Don't worry about them, They see me and you'll be invisable aswell, It's amazing, What they find annoying is also what they choose not to see. I'll hafta write a paper... Or atleast on paper." he grins as he turns back to james and says, "So what you looking for here? Tacos?"

James Bailey seems to be somewhat familiar with Junkions and their 'alternative' mannerisms and speech patterns, and so watches Wreck-Gar patiently, indulgently. "I'll keep that in mind," he murmurs at the 'make-up' comment. And "That is amazing," at the 'invisible' comments. Finally he shakes his head. "Well, it's like I said. The EDC and the Autobots have pulled out of Ayotzinco, and it might look like the Decepticons have completed their takeover of Mexico. But I wanted to spread the word here that nobody's given up on them." He gazes thoughtfully over the empty marketplace. "I was hoping that it could keep their spirits up. That it could help them hang in there, even though times are tough and likely to get tougher. But that's not as easy as it sounds..."

Wreck-Gar's face grow serious as he looks down to James and says in a low tone, "James, If i were you i would leave it, There is nothing here. Anyone who is still here after the mills and the bots have been here, after all those Decepticon attacks. They have nothing, and they don't want to give that up." he looks over james to a few people who are still walking around the market." he then turns back to James and says, "I suggested to roddy a few weeks ago to get everyone out and blow this place to itty bitty peices. Life for the residence here is terrable and it's not because of the cons this time, it's because they don't have anyone to lead. I've been here for a few days. The cons don't bother me, And i've watched the people who have remained here after all the conflict. The old and the stuborn. I'm not saying this out of cruelty, but realisam. No one is here to instill a sense of what they can do and what they should do to save themselves. No one will take the lead against who ever wants to capture this city. All the strong left during the mills time here. since then this city has been a shell... It really is sad... and it doesn't look like it's gonna get any better." he looks down then says, "And i've watched these people, they won't accept your leadership, You won't be able to inspire them, they are already beaten..."

James Bailey's own expression seems to grow more somber as Wreck-Gar goes on, but also more determined. But when he finally responds, his words are measured and thoughtful. Respectful. "Wreck-Gar...I'm surprised to hear you say something like that," he says carefully. "I've seen Junkions get knocked down over and over again, and get back and get up for more. Hell, not fighters, but...um, smaller ones. Not brawlers. And not just physically. But they kept going on, kept coming back for more." He doesn't specify who he's talking about. "I've seen Autobots who can barely move, with half their internal components exposed, keep on fighting because their commanders, and their people, are counting on them." He turns and surveys what he can see of the city from here. "And that's Junkions. That's Autobots." He smiles, his voice now taking on hints of a pride that borders on arrogance. "These guys have been through a lot, you're right. But it's not because they've given up. Humans don't give up. They might take it easy for a while, and they might not always put the right value on the things that seem like a priority. But they - WE - always have a part deep down iside that says 'that's enough, you can take away a lot but we'll stand and fight and die if necessary to preserve this next thing.'" His voice returns to the thoughtful tone again. "Sorry, but that's how I feel." He looks up at Wreck-Gar. "Let me ask you something...if you knew that the people here /weren't/ beaten, that they still had something left deep inside, in reserve. How would /you/ go about bringing that out where everyone could see? If you think there's no leadership here...what kind of leadership do you think /would/ work here...?" James doesn't seem to be challenging, or testing. He seems to be genuinely interested in Wreck-Gar's perspective.

Wreck-Gar listens and smiles, "Well said, I've gotta say, a great speech." Wreck-Gar pauses for a moment then replys, "Yes I agree that my fellow Junks and bots to have the capability to fight until we drop but thats what we are here for, to defend the weak. These folks here are the weak we must defend. but at this time we've done all we can do to help these poor people. Short of bodyly taking everyone out, but thats also taking away their freedom.." he scratches his chin for a moment then says, "Well to ya questions, These folks at this exact moment after the bots, cons and mills troubles, They are beaten, but if they had someone, someone who they recognise, someone to instill a little pride and tell them what exactly needs to be said. A leader in short, Someone who isn't there to defend people but to tell them what needs to be said. To show the people in a way they can understand what people need to get things done. If there was someone to inspire the peoples fight for their own lives, that would be what they need. Someone who will talk to them on their own level and tell them in a way they can understand where their strengths are and what needs to be done." he pauses for a moment looking around as he contemplates, "Lets look at that old guy Megatron, never met him myself. But he lead the Decepticons with fear, and lies. IT works but it isn't perfect, you'll get characters like Starscream. Now we come to Galvatron he does almost the same thing, but instead of lies he uses power, This is much more effective as it means all his enemies in his own faction are together behind him, and with the Decepticons natural lack of trust he will be as safe as the other Decepticons don't join forces against him... and by the way, thats not too likely. Now lets look at the bots, Optimus and Rodimus are really cut out of the same mould, but thats the matrix for you. Their leadership is based on their strength of will and willingness to show to their troops that they will put their own lives on the line to stand against the enemies, Someone who urns its respect... Respect is a very big thing in the bots, it's almost everything."

James Bailey listens and watches carefully, sometimes giving a slight nod of agreement, sometimes considering, sometimes looking at Wreck-Gar sharply. "That's a pretty good assessment of the leaders of Cybertron," he confirms. "Autobot and Decepticon." Then he smiles gently. "What about Junkion leaders? How does Wreck-Gar go about leading? Come on, be honest. I know you're not shy..."

Wreck-Gar grins and laughs, "Us Junks are a little diffrent." he pauses and thinks for a moment, for a long time he hasn't thought about the junks in a leadership way, he normally lets things fly as the junks in general are really single minded and cool. But then he looks at james, "We are a strange bunch really, We have a number of thingies that leaders must have. I've been Leader of the Junks for..." he grins and seems to count on his fingers, "Well A LONG time. but in Between we had FX he was Uber cool... a really great guy. shame he vanished... Then there was betamax, He was funny, Made soap dishes out of tin cans." he stops and thinks again, "We Junkions look at our leaders as the person who really interacts with the outside world, We are more of the diplomatic kind of leaders, We have aligned ourselves to the Autobots, Well except for recently... I'm just talking about my self, the Junks are still on the bots side. But thats the strange thing about the Junks, As long as were all cool everyones cool. Infact, i've not seen a dark Junk for a LONG LONG time... Greyskull... He was a freak..." Wreck-Gar laughs to himself then looks back down to James and says, "In Short, We work for our people we don't really lead, we are a conduit for our people... That make any sense to you?"

James Bailey nods slowly at Wreck-Gar. "Kind of...but I guess I'm looking more for specifics." He grins slowly. "Well, okay, maybe I can help by making my questions more specific. Let's take three Junkions - say, Dee-Kal, Monstereo, and Pile-Up." The familiar way he rattles off names implies James probably picked those three because he's actually met them. "They've all very different, wouldn't you say? Different personalities, different abilities, maybe even different, um, goals and aspirations. But suppose you were in a fight, and you wanted...no, you /needed/...you /needed/ them to leave something important to them, because they had to take care of something even more important. What could you do...?"

Wreck-Gar contemplates the question for a minute then says, "We don't really work that way. We Junks are diffrent, How can i explain..." he pauses for a moment then says, "Ok, Lets look at the situation today, I'm not offically in command of the Junkions. I've taken time off to persue diffrent thingies... Monstereo san is looking after the day to day business, We don't get into fights as a rule, If the bots need help we just turn up. We don't really arrange things we go with the flow." he thinks then says, "When i am leader of the junks i don't go around and order things done, I ask. I don't command people i request. Rodimus look at Hound and says, 'Hey, go scout out those evil decepticons.' I look at pile and ask, "Hey dude, wanna see what those evil dooers are doing?" Pile up can say no, but thats cool, i'll ask someone else or do it myself. If there was a fight with those three and myself in against some baddies, Then what would happen is this, Dee-Kal would run around like a headless chicken, Pile-up would attack the biggest baddie and get toasted, Monstereo would think smart and attack from a flank. and myself i would draw away the strongest or most threating enemy. If i get blow to bits it's cool, that means that baddie is out of the picture and everyone else is fine... Ya get what i mean? We don't really have a structured form of leadership, We rule with coolness..." he laughs.

James Bailey laughs as well. "Rule with coolness, riiight." Rule with style at least, he thinks to himself. He looks like he's going to say something else, but suddenly he tilts his head to one side, listening again. "Got it. Sparrow Lead, stand by for extraction." he says after a moment, apparently to no one - although by now it's probably clear that he's in communication with some hidden EDC operatives that are letting him know what's going on in and around the marketplace. "Sorry," he says to Wreck-Gar briefly. "I've got a possible situation. I need to cut this short." He reaches under his jacket, checking in a pocket if something is there, then takes a few steps towards a small, rickety looking wagon, big enough for customers to step inside and apparently stationary. "Thanks for the talk, Wreck-Gar. Keep in touch."

Wreck-Gar laughs as he salutes towards the Human and says, "You keep in touch aswell.. and don't drink the water..." he laughs as he seems to fall backwards and transforms again back into a Junkion Motorcycle upside down laying in a pile of rubble. his front wheel spinning in the air a small glowing figure appears on the side of the wheel in glowing lights it seems to be a man running... then as he runs around the inside of the wheel letters form the phrase, 'run Forrets! run!' Wreck-Gar laughs and emits a chuckle.

Wreck-Gar takes out a large cloth and holds it front of him. Then a cloud of smoke errupts from behind the cloth then it falls to reveal a large Motorcycle, Where did he go? Wreck-Gar? where is he?!

James Bailey steps into the wagon. A few minutes later, there's the sound of Exo-Suit engines from somewhere close nearby, although no Exo is in sight. The sound slowly grows softer, fainter, then fades away completely in the distance.

The door to the wagon swings open and then another man steps out, wearing James' long coat but slighter of build and older looking.