Transformers: Alone and Unafraid

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Sun Jul 31, 2011 6:59 pm

It works for me, I just worked my 9th straight day with at least four more to go. Including three 12 hour days and a 16 hour one. :sad:

Well, that smiley might not be proper. After all, I'm getting OT.

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 4:49 pm

Lets see who knows their novels and can tell me what a Wherry is/is from. ;)

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 6:40 pm

Havoc if I could get you to post?

General Havoc · Post by **General Havoc** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 7:51 pm

I'm sorry, I thought I was waiting on you. Let me check the thread again.

General Havoc · Post by **General Havoc** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 10:36 pm

I have done as asked.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 3:07 am

Thank you Havoc.

I will also point out that Breakout and the Head Hunters also would simply destroy the raiders, repair the damage and leave. Breakout's view is that organics simply don't need Cybertronian nannies but time and space to create their own civilizations. The other Head Hunters have a simpler view. Baby sitting isn't their job, fighting bad guys is.

Lys · Post by **Lys** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 5:22 pm

Can't you make it so Cavalier is present in the room? Blastcap's story will sound more interesting if it is so. To Breakout and the others she'll explain herself in a cut and dry manner, merely covering all the facts. Telling Cavalier she would be a bit more intense, because he was there and she wants him to understand at a visceral level, so to speak. The rules of drama demand that Cavalier be present!

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 5:45 pm

Given that Cavalier's last reaction was to pull out his sword and threaten her with summery execution... The rules of the military say Cavalier ain't getting in that room.

Lys · Post by **Lys** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 11:46 pm

Could you at least let Blastcap be informed that Cavalier is watching a safe distance away? It would be almost as good, drama wise, as him being there. It is known that Blastcap claims to want Cavalier to know the whole story, so there is also reason to believe that she'll be more forthcoming if she knows Cavalier is listening.

Lys · Post by **Lys** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 5:32 am

Goddess, that came in at 2656 words. I think that's my longest non-background game post ever. *whew* I do hope my writing is good enough that you all enjoy every word! ^-^

I also wound up writing up a bunch of commentary, so here goes:

1) In case anybody is wondering what Blastcap did to the Litex-type fusion reactor, she did not use superior Cybertronian technology to overload it. You really can't actually do that. What you can do, and she did do, was use the reactor to boost two of her fusion charges. This is all technobabble, of course, but I often do think of these things even if they don't make it into the story.

2) I wanted to expand a bit of Blastcap's life philosophy in my post, but it honestly did not fit the narrative, so I excised it. Let me tell you, "don't be afraid to murder your babies" has got to be the single most useful piece of advice I've ever gotten in regard to writing. Sometimes a passage just has to go, no matter how much you like it. However, this doesn't mean I cannot explain it in the appendix!

Blastcap wrote:I want you to understand. In terms of sheer destruction, I have seen worse than what happened at Axis, I have caused worse. I have destroyed grander things before and since; I have seen hundreds of millions killed in a day; I have watched planets die. But not like at Axis, never like at Axis. They were always in wars, legitimate and proper wars. In each of those conflicts the killing continued by the free will of the parties involved, if not individually then at least collectively. They could have stopped it, at any point one side or the other could have ended the death and destruction by simply surrendering, or laying down their arms and going home.

Blastcap is essentially a libertarian, albeit a weird sort. She believes anything justified as long as the involved parties agree on some level. However, she does not believe in the sovereignty of the individual, because most individuals are simply not strong enough to bear the burden. The few who do have the strength will seize sovereignty on their own, as Blastcap herself has endeavoured to. But in most cases the free will necessary to be a "party" and enter agreements exists at higher levels of social organization. Thus things like conscription and war are justified if the society as a whole agrees to it, even if individual members disagree.

Now, for free will to exist there must be choice. Without the ability to do something else, without a valid alternative to the current course of action, there is no choice and no free will. This is the really weird part. As far as Blastcap is concerned, the only things that constitute "non options" are slavery and death. So the choice of "fight a war or be conquered by a foreign power" is valid. The killing is justified because the attacker can stop invading, and the defender can give up and let themselves be conquered. Because of that the attacking power isn't abridging the defender's free will. A just war is one where the people you're killing can stop fighting back without being subjected to slavery and/or death.

Conveniently, this means that most wars are perfectly legitimate and she can offer her services with a clean conscience. In the case of the GDE, they are waging an unjust war, and Blastcap would never side with them. As it is, if the FSL hadn't hired her, she would have volunteered. It's not like she actually needs the money, she already has more than she knows what to do with.

Anyway, Blastcap doesn't always stick to her principles very well, but she has never willingly gone against them in matters of life and death. The job she agreed to do for GalSpan was actually in a grey area. The Fringe is nasty, but the Hanles Confederation was pretty peaceful. This is why what she actually did at Axis Station hurt her very keenly. Blastcap strayed from her principles, and was consequently tricked into betraying them completely.

I feel I must add that, to me, Blastcap's philosophy is completely bonkers. She adheres to it because she's not me, and I do not enjoy writing characters who are just mouthpieces for myself.

3) Finally, I must make this clear: Anyone who knows anything about the Alderan Disaster knows that the combat engineer was not at fault. ^_~

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 5:35 am

Now that was a great piece of writing.

rhoenix · Post by **rhoenix** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 4:32 pm

I have to concur. Lys, that was damn impressive.

EDIT: And yes, Havoc - you should most certainly take that as a dare.

Lys · Post by **Lys** » Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:06 pm

Thanks guys, I put a lot of effort into it. ^-^

General Havoc · Post by **General Havoc** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:59 am

How to properly articulate this...

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 1:00 am

Take your time on this one man.

Armaina · Post by **Armaina** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 3:51 am

Sooooo finally trying to get my head back in here and I admit, I'm a little lost. I'll read up on the backlog soon but from what I've skimmed I'm a bit confused as to where everyone is/what's going on.

Sorry to be a bother, but I don't suppose anyone could give me a rough summary of the happenings so that I know what Merka would see/whom she'd interact with. Just something so I can get this started again. I just don't want to post something that makes no sense in the current context.

General Havoc · Post by **General Havoc** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 5:04 am

Cavalier is probably not the person you want to speak with right this moment.

Lys, you managed to actually stump Cavalier. I can't say I've ever seen that happen before.

Cynical Cat · Post by **Cynical Cat** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 5:19 am

Blastcap has history with Cavalier that involves lots of death. They're being interrogated by Breakout's 'bots about the whole dust up, along with Deathstrike. Everyone else is down at the 'bot bar, drinking energon.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 5:56 am

Breakout's first fight.

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 8:05 am

The question is, would Breakout *still* run full-speed off a cliff to save a teammate?

Post by **Dark Silver** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:15 am

Actually, Grindstone and Shellshock are currently on standby in the building, awaiting call from Breakout just in case Cavalier goes stupid....er.

Armaina · Post by **Armaina** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 11:38 am

Cynical Cat wrote:Blastcap has history with Cavalier that involves lots of death. They're being interrogated by Breakout's 'bots about the whole dust up, along with Deathstrike. Everyone else is down at the 'bot bar, drinking energon.

Aaah okay thank you, that would be why I was confused about the location differences.

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 12:41 pm

Shimmer had invited you to get a drink before you vanished, Armaina. So you're welcome to stop by now :)

Lys · Post by **Lys** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 8:07 pm

General Havoc wrote:Lys, you managed to actually stump Cavalier. I can't say I've ever seen that happen before.

He's pretty damn eloquent for a stumped 'bot. ^-^

You know, just now I'm realizing how close Blastcap came to being killed. I always knew she could talk her way out of it, but I think she had a better understanding of just how thin the margin was than I did. Thing is, she doesn't mind being killed over Axis quite as much as I do, so it sort of balanced out.

On behalf of Blastcap I have to laugh at the suggestion that Cybertronians are anything like Gods. Far too many times has her life been saved or nearly ended by creatures far weaker than she; too many times have they taught her important skills and life lessons; too many times has she survived only because fortune smiled on her. Blastcap lives by dint of skill, will, and luck, same as everyone else. She feels that she has earned all that she has, and all that she is. Then again, her life experiences are significantly different from those of most Cybertronians.

BTW - Cavalier was observing the confession through a video monitor in a room some distance away. I don't think Breakout would have felt comfortable with only a pane of glass separating Cavalier from Blastcap, no matter how reinforced.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:09 pm

I'm afraid Lys is right there Havoc, Breakout had Cavalier watching through a very large monitor as an extra precaution.

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Transformers: Alone and Unafraid

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