We Are War Machines

Log Title: We Are War Machines

Characters: Overlord, Shockwave

Location: Metal Plains South

Date: May 30, 2018

TP: March West TP

Summary: Overlord and Shockwave discuss philosophy while planning the Autobots' destruction at Valvolux.

As logged by MightyShoxy

Metal Plains South

 * The Metal Plains run north to south in eastern Cybertron, a low, flat counterpoint to the jagged Manganese Mountains farther east.

In the midst of the activity behind the Decepticon defenses stands Shockwave. He is presently in communication with a field operative closer to the front line, obtaining updated data on the activities of the Autobots in order to incorporate newer, more accurate data into his plans. A small flying drone zips through the activity to reach the purple operations commander, ejects a data chip and waits for Shockwave to take it. He does so without looking and inserts it into his forearm, the data concerning the readiness of the siege engines he had brought up flooding his circuits.

"Acknowledged, Drone #235," he states with a dismissive wave, "Continue monitoring." The drone rushes off and Shockwave returns his full attention to the communication screen. The report concludes moments later and Shockwave nods. "I require a full visible roster of the Autobots present every cycle," he says at the close, "Miss no detail." The screen switches off, ending the conversation.

THOOM THOOM THOOM THOOM THOOM--

You can hear Overlord coming long before you see him... and you can see Overlord coming a long way away. The massive Duocon strides through the Decepticon encampment, and the rank and file scurry to get out of his way. "Shockwave!" He says, "There you are. You have been MADDENINGLY elusive since I returned, and I was beginning to lose my PATIENCE--"

That's a lie. Overlord has no patience.

Shockwave turns away from the video screen as Overlord approaches. Indeed, he probably heard him coming for some time, though he's certainly no Soundwave. He looks up at the giant, his optic glowing faintly. "Perhaps," he replies, "But I have also been busy, Overlord, preparing for this assault." He ignores the quip about losing patience, as Overlord's notorious lack of anything even remotely resembling temperament control is well-known and documented. He gets results, however, and so Shockwave doesn't really care how much he yells. A datapad is thrust into his hand. He glances at it briefly, taps a several commands with his cannon arm, then hands it back, "But congratulations, you have found me. What is it?" He fixes his singular gaze on Overlord then. If he's feeling impatient himself, or at all irriated by the sudden intrusion, he isn't showing it. Not that he can.

Overlord can also have a real nasty sense of humor. "Oh, don't give me that side-eye, you can't spare it," He says, grinning wide and entirely unpleasantly. "We need to work out our plan for the assault. Contrary to the image I like to portray, I prefer to have some sort of framework to improvise within, even if it's one as simple as 'kill them all'. But these grinding sieges are not my style."

Shockwave keeps standing and keeps staring. Overlord's well-crafted wit and carefully exercised sense of humor roll on over the one-eyed one, but he does pick one particular thing from what the titan says that he chooses to acknowledge: Planning. "Acknowledged," he replies, gesturing toward a makeshift command table situated nearby. Holographic maps of Valvolux and the Autobot defenses, which seem to change by the day as they manage to get things done, despite an explosion a short while ago, "I have already begun laying out the groundwork for the invasion, but as your experience is more recent than my own, and effective, I would hear your thoughts on the matter."

Overlord leans in, and studies the readouts. "A mutinous laborer in the maintenance caste has begun undermining the wall here." he points. "Disabling the defenses should be our top priority." He points to them. "Once we do that, it's a simple matter of taking the wall." He gestures. "Once we've crossed the wall, the city falls. There's no need to get too complex with it."

Shockwave leans forward, studying what Overlord is saying. "Fascinating," he remarks, "I was not aware of the internal sabotage. I did not expect allies from within." He leans back, looking as thoughtful as he can with his lack of expression, then turns to Overlord. "To that end, you have given me an idea. Our citizen allies will have support." He lifts a hand, gesturing for a drone, "After a fashion."

Once the drone arrives, Shockwave focuses his gaze upon it and says, "Bring this message to Soundwave immediately. Speak of it to no other, transmit nothing. Return directly to me with a reply. I am requesting the aid of Ravage for our assault on Valvolux. Insist that it urgent. Dismissed." The drone zips off and he looks back to Overlord. "I will have Ravage infiltrate the city ahead of our assault," he says calmly, "He will cut their power, if only briefly, and wreck what havoc he can. A frontal assault is intended--" And he points at various locations on the map, "--and this new knowledge from your insider now provides a convergence point."

He lowers his arm. "Once the power is out, an infiltration team will be dispatched into the city. I will assist with the main assault on its outer defenses. I trust you are up to repeating your past success?"

"Ravage is already inside the city." Overlord says. He looks around, and then says, sotto voce, "...He has orders to destroy Valvolux's energon refinery if the Autobots repel our assault. Megatron didn't tell you about my plan?" ...Overlord sounds genuinely curious, but also a little *smug* about that.

Shockwave stares at Overlord, then sends a short burst transmission to recall the drone. Nothing useful, should it be intercepted. "No, he did not," he says calmly, seemingly unaffected by the smug tone, "And nor did you, when it is information that I should be aware of. That has been rectified, however, with no harm done to our operation. In fact, your initiative secures us a more efficient approach." It sounds like praise. It could be praise. It is difficult to say for sure, with how utterly neutral he sounds. He returns his attention to the holographic map, then thinks to add, "Does Ravage have any further orders that I should be aware of? I would not contest the contingency plan. I readily endorse it, point of fact. If we cannot have this city, then I am content leaving it as rubble for the Autobots."

Then Overlord says, "As far as commanding the assault is concerned, of course I am. I can lead both the air and ground divisions." He snorts. "You might be interested in this. Deathsaurus and I found the ruins of a Cybertronian colony during our campaigns out in the greater galaxy. Mostly picked-clean, but we did find one... *interesting* piece of technology, which I incorporated into myself." his forearm opens, and the outside of it transforms into something resembling a sinister-looking tuning fork.

"This weapon fires an energy blast that disables internal repair systems and the innate regenerative properties of sentio metallico."

"No further orders. I wanted to minimize the chance he'd be found. Your opposite number in there is almost certainly combing the city for spies like he had a scraplet infestation. Silence is Ravage's ally."

Shockwave looks thoughtful - for Shockwave anyway - as he incorporates this new information into his plans. Ravage is a skilled infiltrator, the most skilled of all the Decepticons, and if he takes the initiative that Shockwave could reasonably expect, then trying to contact him would certainly do more harm than good. He nods once, confirming his own thoughts. "Agreed," he says to the Ravage remark, "We will see what situation greets us when we attack, then. If Ravage provides an opportunity of his own volition, then we will take it. I will not jeopardize his position attempting further orders."

Now paying full attention to Overlord when he brings up the new technology, the scientific side of the purple cyclops lumbers forth. "Very interesting," he says blandly, despite being utterly sincere, "While I am curious about the ruins that you explored, there will be time for that later." His optic flashes, "Have you tested this new device?"

"I did. On Valvolux's defenses." Overlord says. "I should've tested it on Grimlock, I suppose, but I wanted to see the hope die in his optics. I wasn't able to destroy their defenses, but I damaged them significantly, and they've been working desperately to repair them. Firing the Dis-Relieve is a significant drain on my power supply..." He runs one hand along the sinister weapon, "But so very, very much fun."

Shockwave brings a hand up to a chin that doesn't really exist, "I see. The limitations, and effectiveness, are noted then Overlord. I leave its use to your discretion, then. I trust you will levy it against our Autobot foes at the best possible time." He pauses at the Grimlock remark, and were he the sort to snort in derision, he probably would. "Grimlock," he begins, "Is too bereft of mental faculties to grasp a concept as abstract as hope. At best, you will see stubborness burn from his eyes. Perhaps feral fire, like a cornered, dying beast."

He turns away then, observing troop movements and local preparations, and bows his head slightly. "You have assured me you are capable of field command in this fight," he remarks, "I will test that claim. I will take the field with you, but you will assist in direct command of the battle. Your results..." He turns back to Overlord, "Speak for themselves."

Overlord snorts. "You mean that if we fail, all the blame gets heaped at my feet. And they say Starscream has a monopoly on being manipulative, Shockwave. I'm impressed. I didn't think you had that kind of *shifty* maneuver in you." Then he throws back his head, and laughs. "Ah-hahahahahahahah~!"

Ahahahahahaha! Oh, wait, Shockwave isn't laughing. He's just staring at Overlord the same way that he stares at everyone else. His emotional range is truly astounding. "Hardly," he remarks, "Setting you up to fail would be a waste of time and resources, and seeing you succeed benefits the Decepticon cause. I see potential in your boasts, and wish to see what else lies beneath your firepower." He gestures, "But by all means, fail if you wish. I will be taking part, and I am ultimately in command of this operation." If he's toying with Overlord at all, he isn't making it obvious, what with his frustratingly neutral, calm tone.

"Well..." Overlord says, "It goes really wrong, we can just blame Starscream." He gives that arrogant little smirk. "Oh, Shockwave," Overlord says, "Who would guess that before the war you were Cybertron's greatest actor? Do you have a switch on your back that toggles your ability to emote?" He can't help himself. He really can't. Overlord is... well...

...An absolute DELIGHT to be around? "There will be no failure," Shockwave states flatly, "Whether our troops take the city or falter is certainly one variable, but the other--" He nods his head toward the city in the distance, "--Ravage seldom fails to hit his mark as a saboteur. Should he, there are other possible contigencies to exercise." Shockwave does not elaborate. To the last remark, Shockwave tilts his head, his optic glimmering with a slightly dimmer light.

"The past is dead," Shockwave says flatly, "I have no use for it. It is the future that interests me."

Overlord's optics glow a dull red, as he thinks about that. "Do you want to know a secret, Shockwave?" He says, "I wanted to be a Mnemosurgeon. I even had the hardware installed for it. But I can't use cerebro-needles... the way I'm built, I'd just break them off in someone's head." He flexes the fingers of one huge hand, and glimmering drills sprout from his fingertips. "Cerebro-drills. Even as a DOCTOR, I'd be a butcher." He snorts, derisively. "We are, one and all, slaves to our function."

Shockwave is completely silent while Overlord gives him his life story. His expression, already completely unreadable by virtue of not actually existing, is unaided by the way he just stands there, arms at a neutral hold, his stance stiff and unmoving. Once Overlord speaks his final musing, the cyclops lifts his arm cannon and bends the arm so that the weapon points skyward not far from his cubical head.

"We are war machines, Overlord. We vary in build, function, purpose and armament, but that single fact unites the Decepticons. Megatron holds together ravenous beasts that he unleashes upon the Autobots at will, for whatever purpose he sees fit, while somehow preventing them from devouring one another."

Shockwave lowers his arm. He does, in fact, give voice to the notion that this particular trait makes them similar to the humans they so despise. In that way, he finds all of them flawed.

"As such, it is imperative that you carry out that function. Slave, soldier - the term does not matter. Labels serve little purpose. Are you capable of that, Overlord?" His optic glows, "Doctor. Butcher. Weapon. I have no interest in how you see yourself, only the excision of the Autobot disease."

Overlord snorts. "Hmf. Has anyone ever told you that that one eye of yours gives you a very ODD perspective on the universe, Shockwave?"

"I have been told," Shockwave replies, "Perhaps it would benefit some to share my perception of things."

Overlord looks up at Valvolux, not far away. "I am instrument of atrocity. It's the task Megatron gave me, and I've carried it out, faithfully. How I feel about it is of no real concern. We must see this through till its end. 'Til the One rules All." Overlord says, his optics glowing.

Shockwave has little interest in philosophical babble, but he gives no voice to that opinion. Instead, he simply nods once, and says, "Then we will march forth to war and fulfill our function." He reaches out and taps the holographic console, changing the angle a few times, "To conquer, or destroy. Either way, the Autobots will mark our coming. You are dismissed, Overlord."

And whatever Overlord says next, if he speaks at all, Shockwave has already moved on to something else in the ever bustling horizon of a battle's dawn.

Overlord watches Shockwave go, and he smirks, before he says to himself, sotto voce "Oh, Shockwave... you have everyone fooled but me. Even yourself. It's hate that motivates you, not logic." He chuckles to himself, before he turns to walk away. There's work to be done.