Rage Against The Gloom

Cargo and Launch Bay - Argosy ''The dirtiest and busiest part of an otherwise clean ship, the smell of old engine oil and metal dampened by clouds permeates this large bay. Seeker patrols and all manner of Decepticon aircraft scream past on their way to raid. Anyone returning with spoils of war had better move quickly to the rear to avoid collisions or backing up traffic. A massive set of moving doors divides the cargo hold from the runways, along with smaller access hatches for personnel. There are a few crane-arms attached to the ceiling on rails to assist in moving heavier items. Along one side wall are several mobile platforms which hover when in use, for the loading and unloading of cargo. A railed catwalk extends around the cargo bay's walls, granting access to the ship's corridors and ladders down to the lower level of the hold. On the opposite wall are large doors that lead to the access ramps in the belly of the airbase.''

Slumped dejectedly against one of the side walls of the bay is a pile of grey spare parts, no, wait a second it just shifted slightly, on closer inspection it is in fact Dreadwind probably best to be on your way he may notice you lingering and start talking.

Tantrum flies in from outside, head and shoulders still covered with a bit of snow. "I don't like this region. Snow is too soft...it piles up, but if you hit it, pshaw! It's like punching through water!" He snorts loudly. "I'm just glad there's no snow on Cybertron!"

Dreadwind shifts his head achingly slow as he turns to regard Tantrum, his depressing deep tone cutting through the background noise of the hanger, "Snow? So we've moved again, i'm surprised most of the Decepticons can even manage to find this horrid place. Not that Cybertron is any better what with the frequent invasions by aliens only intent on capturing us taking us apart and experimenting on us."

Tantrum clenches a fist in the air, so tightly you could almost swear you hear metal creaking. "They're welcome to try! It might make things a little more exciting up there!"

Dreadwind's head droops, "Exciting? Last time the Quintessons went out of their way and came all the way to Earth to take some of us, of course i was left behind ignored even by them. When it is your turn there will be nothing that you can do to resist it would be far better to just sit and wait for your painful experimentation and final termination."

Tantrum says, "BAH! Nonsense! I'll resist all right...with my fists!" He waves his fists around a little in the air for emphasis. "Uh, and my horns! And my...my...well you get the picture!!"

Dreadwind nods and waves a hand dismissively, "Yes i get the horribly depressing picture, you will fight and fight suffering greater and greater injuries, suffering more than is necessary just to prove the point but in the end it will still arrive at the same outcome. Your chassis in their hands."

Tantrum blusters, "Suffering...injuries..." he tries to think up a suitably belligerent response. It takes him a while. You can almost see the concentration on his face. "Well...if I was doing the fighting, THEY'D be the ones doing the suffering! HRAAH!"

Dreadwind stares blankly straight into the rage and hostility that flows from Tantrum in palpable waves and doesn't blink after all Tantrum can only add to the insurmountable mountain of suffering that is Dreadwind's existance, "Yes i'm sure that's what they all think before they are taken, but even Galvatron isn't immune to their insidious plans, it's only a matter of time before they get to us all."

Tantrum looks at Dreadwind suspiciously. "Plans...? What do you mean, Plans?! What do you know!"

Dreadwind sighs dejectedly, "What do i know? I know far far too much. I know the system, how it works and how it is impossible to even try and break free of it. It's all designed to increase our suffering, all you can do is stop, sit still and await the inevitable, fighting it only makes it worse." Dreadwind has either completely ignored Tantrum's suspicious stare or he just doesn't want the increased burden of having to think down low enough to explain himself properly to the enragicon.

Tantrum tries to follow that train of thought, only increasing his confusion as it runs him over instead. "The system...wait, what...designed to do what..." Finally he snorts again. "Listen, you! Don't tell me not to fight it! Whatever it is! That's what I do, I'm a fighter!!" He holds up his fists again to demonstrate. "Uh, when I'm not being a fueler, I mean. But I'm a fighter too!!"

You say, "Yes yes, an all powerful fighter, nothing can stop you... from carrying on your existence, oblivious to the pointlessness of it all completely unaware of the real truth of the universe. Until finally it decides to pass you on from this suffering and on into the next. Though with the limited computational processes available to you it is unlikely that you could handle the truth of existence, unlike those of us that appear to have been made to suffer."

Tantrum says, "Wow, listening to you is like...is like a form of suffering all by itself!" He seems vaguely pleased at what passes for a witticism from him. "Next time some bizarre Alien race invades Cybertron, maybe we should just give you a radio and let you...uh..." He has to think about it for a second. "Let you DEPRESS them so much that they give up!"

Dreadwind is ever so slightly surprised by Tantrum's almost insightful words, but the emotion is quickly drowned in a swirling pool of bleak darkness, "As if that would work, most aliens would be as able as you are of comprehending the terrible truths of life. Even the creature known as Alpha Q who showed such promise having mastered control of his own realm decided instead to struggle and try and fight the despair, rather than releasing himself from suffering. The only one that has even come close to understanding is Darkwing and he's just too insufferably cheery. It's far more likely that they would ignore me entirely like the creature Guiltor did while they go about doing exactly what they want deluding themselves all the while that they are not suffering."

Tantrum seems to be getting a little down himself. His sheer rage is no match for Dreadwind's relentless, bleak, interminable...but wait! Tantrum's rage suddenly regroup and tries to make a counter-attack. "Alpha Q! SNORT! GUILTOR?! HRNNNGG!" Suddenly he stops in mid-rampage as a thought comes to him. "You know what Dreadwind... for such a whiny loser, you've seen more of the heavy action lately than even us Predacons! What's your secret?!"

Dreadwind stares Tantrum full in the face his pale yellow barely lit optics give an almost pained look to his otherwise featureless face, "Secret? There's is no secret, it is the universe, it wants my suffering to grow and increase beyond all imagining. It dangles hope in front of me expecting me to take it but no, i have learnt that it is but a lie there is never hope of release." Dreadwind doesn't bother explaining that given the number of death threats he gets each day that it probably means his superiors use him in the most dangerous situations on the off chance that they might finally be rid of him, unfortunately he constantly returns from even the worst situations, battered and depressed even further.

Tantrum says, "Well...I still say, I wish the Universe would send some of that action our way! HRUNF!" He certainly doesn't suspect all the stuff going through Dreadwind's head. He doesn't even follow all of what was said out loud. "But nooooo. I'm needed elsewhere. I'm in the middle of another, SNRT, FUEL RUN!"

Tantrum stomps off towards the innards of the ship.