re_alignment | [Audio] [Transmission originating from: Solian Sector]

I'm out of contact f'r a couple days and everything goes crazy. Y'all are really trying to make me feel at home aren't you, darlings?

[Barricade sounds tired, but amused. He's been in and out of the medbay keeping an optic on Ratchet and tweaking the upgrade plans for the prototype that kind of... exploded at said medic, and in between that has been trying to finish the renovations to his quarters in Solus Prime's temple.

Busy bot has been busy.]

So we've got a police force coming up, and a mercenary guild forming, huh? Well, I frankly ain't seen any law system work out - and I certainly ain't joining any of you, no offense - but I will say this.

I've been told that here we're more or less at peace among one another. Means we don't need warriors.

We need cops.

And if there are outside aggressors, we don't need warriors either. We need soldiers, because the whole Spec Ops suicide runs? Don't end well. For anyone. Ever.

That's all.

[Encrypted to Knock Out]

Probably nothing you ain't heard from others yet, but I finished my sniffing around for your partner. Trail went farther towards the Badlands than I was willing t'go and I didn't catch anything indicating he might have exited it or changed directions.

For what it's worth, I'm sorry he's gone.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You'd be surprised; there's a lot of labels out there. And some people can't give them up very easily. Or at all, f'r that matter.

[Peace is a problem, when you have a bunch of warriors wandering around with nothing they're allowed to kill.]

Some of them don't have anything else to offer. They've got their life and they've got fighting skills and that's it. [He shutters his optics in a blink, the upper pair then the lower pair.] And you don't seem t'like it.

There are indeed. It's part of our identity I suppose, and it's nice to belong. I can't say I'm innocent of it as I have my own labels that I'd have a difficult time giving up.

[It's an unfortunate truth when war becomes a lifestyle.]

I know. And it...saddens me a great deal. It just feels tragic. More casualties of war, just of a different sort. [Wing can't help but think of Drift, because they'd had a conversation about this very topic.] It's not that I fault them for that state, war has made them what they are. But it's...[he seems a bit remiss]...hard for me to relate to not wanting to set down arms and finally live, without the burden of war on your back. It's not to say they'd give it up fighting entirely, but...

[He shakes his head, unable to further articulate and obviously bothered.] I feel as if that's my failing, my inability to relate. I'm sure they have their reasons, and I want to help them, but I don't know that it's welcome or that I could even bring benefit.

[He's heard the 'casualties of war' thing more than a few times - enough to bristle a little bit inwardly because hey, he's one of those wardogs - but the fact that Wing doesn't seem to be using it as a reason to pity them calms him down.]

Generally easier t'get in when you can appeal their fighter spirit. Though... can depend on you havin' fought with them in battles before - or against them, sometimes. Lot of just keeping them out of trouble when they can't fight and steppin' back when they can.

Would be easier if they had somewhere to go to fight in a safe environment, probably. [This was easier when the facilities were already in place, admittedly.]

[Pity, of the condescending variety, is far from being a constructive emotion. Wing prefers to allow one's actions to define them, rather than a label or brand.]

I understand respect is usually gained, and even more so with warrior types. I may have a longer road to travel than most in that regard, given my order's position on the war.

But that's never troubled me in the past, so it shan't now. If that means I have to work harder to earn that respect, then so be it.

[He nods.] I have a sparring ring, but it's not much. Some sort of physical outlet would be beneficial, perhaps even of a competitive sort?

[But wait... He cants his head as a notion strikes him.]

You know...Drift and I talked about an obstacle course...

Your order wasn't too popular during your war, then?

[He can't help but be a little curious; he likes to hear how things were different other places. How they might have gone under different circumstances.]

Obstacle course? Color me intrigued. What did you and he have in mind?

I can't say exactly; how others felt about our choices was never a concerning factor. But many Autobots and Decepticons tend to look poorly on the Circle's refusal to ally with either side when they hear of it. From our perspective, both factions failed to make the preservation of life a priority, and the entire race suffered gravely. We saved as many as we could. The non-combatants, the ones most wars are fought for and often the ones first to be forgotten admist the violence. And when Cybertron itself was dying and no retreat was safe...we left."

[You'll have to pardon him for pontificating, it's a subject full of old wounds and sorrow that he still feels strongly about.]

"We've been called cowards for 'running and hiding'," Wing shrugs, "It's a reflection of their values and I don't begrudge them that opinion, however much it stings the pride."

[But that, thankfully, is ancient history. It's pretty obvious why Wing does not wish to see a repeat here though.]

To be honest we didn't get too in-depth at the time. [The obstacle course was kind of secondary to shameless amount of flirting that was going on at the time.] But it could be worth exploring. My general thoughts were a course that would challenge a combatant's skills in various ways: physical speed, strength, agility, aim, but also potentially involve strategic decision-making. Likely with a timed element, to give a feeling of urgency.

[He doesn't mind it, really; he's been missing some good old-fashioned speechifying. Still, what he has to say is of definite interest to Barricade.]

You were Neutrals? Huh. First time I've heard of 'em in a long time, really... well. Aside from one mech I never believed was really neutral at all. None of those that refused to ally with a faction in my dimension lived; they all got caught in the crossfire or Demolishor hunted them down and destroyed them. No one could've hid well enough to escape him. Even if there were any left... not being aligned became dangerous business.

[Given that Barricade's more or less abandoned his faction, he'd rather none of this be repeated. Especially in his direction.]

Well, of course timed; even if you had them run the course one at a time, they would be racing the clock set by the current fastest one. And testing all of a mech's skills would balance things out f'r all the participants. They could make up for a weakness in one area with their strength in another.

[Careful, Wing can sometimes have a whole lot to say if you get him started on the right subjects.]

Yes. There were many Neutrals during the early war in my universe. They trickled offworld slowly, and fled to distant colonies. Some of them did fall to the war I imagine, which is why we tried to stay hidden. We had many of Cybertron's finest: scientists, scholars and craftsmen and tried to preserve as much of the history and culture as we could. It's sad to think about it...but the city I hail from may be the largest collection of Cybertronian artifacts still in existence.

[Wing is not one to spread another's business around, and he'd much rather consider everyone neutral at this point anyway.]

Yes exactly. So instead of mech vs mech it's mech versus course--which should make the medics happy--but they can still compete against each other. And that was my thought as well. There is so much variance in skill, both level and type, size, personal attributes...equalizing the playing field in some way would be best.

I have to say the more we talk about this idea the more I like it.[He taps a finger to his chin, as if contemplating further steps.]

[Audio] [Transmission originating from: Solian Sector] - Second Offense

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