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Energon Bar

Side Burn nodded as a couple of the Dinobots chimed in on their thoughts about Prowl. As he poured up another round for the four Autobots he nodded in response. “Yup, that sounds like the Prowl I knew. You know I once heard he literally bored a prisoner to death. Guy shorted out his processor’s rather then hear him drone on and one. Not sure if that one’s true or not, but it certainly sounds like it could be right?” He passed the drinks over to each of the Dinobots. “And this round is on me. Nothing better to do around here then buy drinks and swap stories anyway, right?” He flashed them all a smile.

Internally the blue Autobot was getting a bit tired of this. He knew the Dinobots would be a tough nut to crack, but this was like talking to a wall. Certainly there had to be a fantastic story behind their disappearance but he was beginning to wonder if the effort he was putting into finding it out would be worth it in the long run. So far no pretty femmes had come in to pull his attention away from them, but it was probably only a matter of time. Chatting up a femme now versus maybe getting a new pick up line and story out of the Dinobots was really no contest at this point.

*

Security Office

Kick-Off entered the room, instantly spotting Highcall in the middle of meditating or praying or something. He wasn’t exactly the religious type himself. The idea of some greater purpose or higher calling had died a cruel death inside of him while fighting battles for the amusement of Decepticons. Still, he respected the little bot and his beliefs, even if he needed to find a better way of expressing and sharing them.

As he sat down at his desk the security chief received a signal indicating that Warhaul had recovered from his bout of overenergizing. He quickly sent in a reply indicating the Bot was to be released with a fine and standard warning that repeat offenses would result in stricter punishments. He typed up a bit of official documentation to go along with his orders before he finally turned his attention back to Highcall.

The Autobot let out a sigh. “Highcall, you know that as Autobots we all respect your views and everything and you are absolutely free to celebrate them and worship in anyway you want. You do have to respect other Autobots though. They all have a right to sit down, relax and have a drink if they want, even if you disapprove. You have to respect their beliefs as well, not to mention the rules of the station.”

Kick-Off sat back in his chair. “Now, if all you had done was annoy some people with your efforts to convert them we would probably be done here. Unfortunately I have witnesses and your own word that you opened fire with your pistol. Now I know you know that was wrong. I’d just like to know why you did it Highcall. Can you explain your actions to me?”

*

Command Hub

Grimlock followed Cosmos through the room, merely offering grunts in reply to his comments. He did observe some of the comings and goings around him. Their theft was definitely going to throw the place into an even greater state of chaos then it already was. With as busy as it was the theft would like result in a full out panic with Bots running into each other. They were too far from the front lines, too relaxed and concerned with minor affairs. Something major like the theft of a warship simply wouldn’t compute for most of them. That shock and confusion would be something they could capitalize on.

The Dinobot turned his attention back to Cosmos as he mentioned the Trion. He expected there might be some complications with getting on board the Trion, it being so powerful and state of the art. He was hoping that the rank he still held, possibly backed by a little bit of intimidation, would at least get him on board the ship. Cosmos’s reassurances reinforced those ideas.

Grimlock paid little attention the receptionist. He had no use for secretarial bots or their duties. This one was merely an obstacle that was in his way. He waited impatiently until Cosmos led them through the doorway.

Countdown's Office

Countdown stood up from his desk as Cosmos led Grimlock into the room. He nodded at Cosmos, offering the minibot a smile. “Cosmos.” He then looked up at the massive form of Grimlock. Seeing him in person he seemed even bigger then the official records made him out to be. He had to admit to being a bit intimidated, but he had conducting first contact with all sorts of different species. He knew how to keep up a calm and friendly face. “Commander Grimlock, its an honor and pleasure to meet you. Welcome on board.” He extended his hand to shake his.

Grimlock glanced down at the proffered hand in a bit of surprise. Still he stepped forward and clasped it. His massive hand easily wrapped around Countdowns and a good portion of his forearm. He made sure not to squeeze too hard.

Countdown was grateful that the Dinobot shook his hand gently. He was fairly certain he could crush his limb with just the one hand. “I take it Cosmos gave you a satisfactory brief tour of the station. Cosmos, you are dismissed for now. Take some time for yourself, but be prepared for more tours should Grimlock or his team want them. I would ask someone else but I know you are our best ambassador.” He offered the minibot a genuine smile. He did appreciate his work and his attitude. If only he had more Bots like him things would run even smoother on the station.

Main Shipyards – The Trion’s Hull

On his perch Stockade waited patiently for the heavy lifter to maneuver down to his location so they could finally have a civilized one on one conversation. The weapons specialist wanted to be sure that the bridge between Grindcore and him was mended before he went back to the opposite side of the shipyard where his men were working.

Stockade made sure to keep a neutral expression on his face as he watched Grindcore make his way over to him. The large mech offered a nod and followed it up with a slight smile.

“No, this isn’t a lecture. I’m gonna leave that up to Erector.”

Stockade placed both hand on his hips as he took in the other mech from top to bottom. There was something Erector saw in him that the weapons specialist just couldn’t see. But he was here to put things right. He was hoping that this gesture would help the heavy lifter see that not everyone was out to get him and that maybe, just maybe he had friends to rely on instead of the sauce.

“I wanna let you know that I got no hard feelings toward ya. I know being here for Primus knows how long can wear on a ‘Bot, but you hafta know that we’re all in this together. So, ya ever need to talk….or you just need someone to bullscrap with…then I’m offerin’ myself.”

The large mech then extended his hand out and nodded.

“Go on, I ain’t gonna bite.”

Energon Bar

Slag let out an annoyed growl he wanted nothing more than to tear into something …or more preferably someone and right now that blue femme crazy ‘Bot was the object of his ire. However, it would seem that his brothers were pressed to keep him at bay…following Grimlock’s orders to the letter was something he could try to do…it didn’t mean that he would be successful at it.

“Just give me another drink and I’ll grant you a stay of execution by Slag.”

What could pass for a smirk worked onto the flamethrower’s face but it quickly morphed back into his usual scowl once the drink was passed to him by Side Burn. If the other mech could keep up with Slag’s drink demands then maybe….just maybe…the vanguard would live to see another pretty little femme.

Slag took a long gulp from the mug and slammed the vessel down on the counter as Side Burn began to recite a story pertaining to Prowl and the tactician’s ability to offline a mech with just his words. It seemed to be a ridiculous notion, but since it was Prowl it all seemed very plausible.

Slag raised his mug from the counter and gestured toward Side Burn with the half full container.

“Sounds a lot like the stick-up-the-aft strategist to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was sent out on the front lines to recite the entire Autobot Code to the ‘Con army.”

The Dinobot downed the remainder of his energon and swiped the back of his hand over his mouth removing any stray droplets.

“If that happens I think we’d see the end of the war…which would not bode well with me.”

He ground his teeth as he looked long and hard into the mirror that adorned the back of the bar. No war meant no Decepticons to kill not a fun thought at all. Slag let out a deep growl and grumbled to himself.

“Give me another drink! And make it quick! I got some thoughts to drown out!”

Med Bay

The one patient that had arrived some time ago had slipped into a deep recharge after Pharma had left leaving Ambulon alone and relieved. The CMO had steadily grown more irate with him as time went on. He didn’t know if it was actually due to his sorted past or if his superior was showing the signs of something akin to cabin fever. He wouldn’t be the first one. Perhaps he should consult Rung about the CMO’s spiraling behavior. Perhaps.

Ambulon had just settle down with a well-deserved mug of energon…and a small pile of reports…when the door slid open to reveal the distressed, and not to mention damaged, Skyfall.

“I cannot believe they let those killers walk free in this place! It’s like they have the whole run and no respect for any of the more prestigious inhabitants. I mean I’m a premiere weapons engineer and look at how they treat me!”

Ambulon stood from his chair and raised both hands gesturing for the red mech to slow down.

“Alright Skyfall. Who is it you’re talking about? And what happened?”

Skyfall let out a heavy sigh as he plopped down onto a berth directly across from the mech that had just slipped into recharge.

“Those lumbering excuses for an elite team! Grimlock’s four!”

The doctor made his way over to the distraught engineer and leaned down so he could get a better look at the side of Skyfall’s face and visor. As carefully as he could…with his patient still squirming patient poised before him…Ambulon took to examining the damage.

“Ow! Damn it, doc! Try to be more careful!”

“Sorry, but this would let painful if you held still.”

Skyfall took a long hard look at Ambulon before he pulled his head away from the physician.

“Hang on a sec. Where’s Pharma? I thought Pharma was here.”

“Pharma…he went for a walk. I’m sure he’ll be back at some point, but for now you have me.”

From the red mech a heavy sigh was released. He’d much prefer to be helped by someone he knew he could trust. Ambulon was a good doctor, but there were still so many stories surrounding the former ‘Con.

“You know. I overheard this one mech say that you were part of some kind of strange experiment. I’m not surprised you know? The Decepticons always prey on those weaker than them. I suppose it was a relief that you were saved.”

“Yeah, exactly. Now hold still so I can get these repairs done.”

Energon Bar

Sludge drank another energon substitute that Side Burn placed in front of him. He certainly wasn't going to turn down a free drink, even as he remembered the events that led to the Dinobot's long absence which the blue warrior had been asking about.

Brought out of his train of thought, Sludge listened as the "bartender" talked with Slag about Prowl a little more, about just how dull and boring the strategist was. Sludge didn't know if Prowl could really make a bot want to offline themselves instead of listening to his droning lectures, or if it would really end the war, but he nodded in agreement anyway.

Much to the jungle warrior's surprise, Slag seemed to have calmed down, or at least had come as close to calm as was possible for the always hostile flamethrower.

"Me Sludge think maybe Slag not turn this pretty bot into scrap after all.", Sludge commented to Swoop and Snarl.

As Side Burn mentioned swapping stories, Sludge decided he would tell the blue warrior about what happened to the Dinobots- or at least, what he could remember and understand about it.

"Me Sludge can tell you what happened to Dinobots.", the jungle warrior said to Side Burn, "We Dinobots went after Shockwave to some planet....", Sludge paused to think harder, "Uh, me Sludge not sure what planet..... uh, what planet did we go to?", the jungle warrior quizzically asked the other Dinobots.

Security Office

Primus, please help guide me! What purpose do you wish me to serve? Why was I spared when my brothers and sisters in the order were not? Was I sent to enlighten these lost sparks, or is there another task you wish me to perform? Please, give me some kind of sign!

Highcall's optics abruptly came back online as he heard Kick Off enter his office. The religious engineer gave a frustrated sigh as his prayers had done nothing to help him understand his path. And sadly for him, it wasn't the first time he'd felt that way recently. He would never say it to anyone, but over the past vorn he had felt his faith in Primus waivering.

Doing his best to shake his feelings of self-doubt, Highcall listened to Kick Off. It was mostly the same talk he got as usual when the engineer had pushed a little too hard to convert someone. Of course there was a very big difference this time, as all the previous incidents had never involved Highcall firing a weapon. As the security officer asked him to explain why he did it, Highcall had to seriously question what to tell him.

Why did I fire? To get Warhaul's attention? No, I know better, it was to get His attention. Maybe if I went to more extreme measures, maybe I'd make some progress in spreading His word and convert more followers. And that would strengthen my own faith in Primus, wouldn't it? He'd see I'm following his light, wouldn't he?

Highcall looked up at Kick Off, knowing full well that he couldn't tell the security officer the real reasons for his actions. How could he understand, how could anyone on this station understand?

"Warhaul was on a path of self-destruction, I felt I had to stop him.", Highcall answered, "And that blue mech and the bartender were only enabling him by serving him more drinks. No one would listen to me, so I did what I felt I had to do. I took his drink- which I suppose would make me guilty of theft too- and I had to destroy it in a dramatic fashion to try to get his attention, to help him see that he has a problem."

Highcall sat in his chair and looked down. He thought over what he had just said and realized that he had made no mention of saving Warhaul's spark, or how the technician was going against Primus' teaching. Why had he not mentioned that, wasn't that what was truly important?

"He- he was sacrificing his spark in self-indulgence!", Highcall hastily added as convincingly as he could, "If he continues down the dark path of the Chaosbringer, he will be doomed for all eternity into Unicron's unending hunger! This is not just my 'belief', this is the truth! There are thousands of vorns worth of datatracks to prove it, why won't you or anyone else understand that?"

And why am I starting to doubt it?

Countdown's Office

Cosmos did his best to remain calm and professional in front of both Countdown and Grimlock, even though he wanted to jump for joy whenever his commander smiled at him. He always thought Countdown was a great commander, it was just too bad their difference in ranks made it inappropriate for them to be better friends. Still, Cosmos was proud to serve Countdown any way he could.

Lowering his salute once Countdown had nodded, Cosmos watched with a little nervous interest as the two commanders met for the first time. He winced a little as the Dinobot leader's massive hand took hold of Countdown's hand.

Oh please don't hurt him, I'm sure you won't mean to, but please be careful!, the stout green mech worried, imagining Countdown shouting in pain or Grimlock accidentally ripping off the station commander's wrist.

Cosmos gave a sigh of relief as he watched the two shake without incident. Countdown then dismissed the minibot, though not before giving another smile and a compliment that almost made Cosmos float in the air without being in his saucer mode.

"Thank you sir, I could use some refuelling.", Cosmos merrily replied, then turned to Grimlock, "I look forward to showing you and your team more around the station. Hopefully they're in a much better mood now that they've had some time to fuel up."

With that Cosmos gave a cheerful salute to his commander, then turned around and left the office with a noticible spring in his step. Despite their earlier misunderstandings, Alpha Shipyard's "Best Ambassador" was looking forward to seeing the other Dinobots in the energon bar.

Energon Bar

Snarl chuckled quietly to himself as the other Dinobots and even Side Burn recalled just how much of a boring prick-bot Prowl actually was. The Desert Warrior even laughed at the blue mech’s story of someone shorting out their own processor just to get away from the military strategist’s neverending droning. It was enough to put an ever so brief smile on the solar-powered Dinobot’s faceplate before it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

Taking the free round from Side Burn, Snarl lifted his glass of high grade up and chugged it down in one massive gulp, letting out a loud belch that echoed throughout the room. “Excuse me,” was all the Desert Warrior had to say about his rude conduct, not that he cared. Slag’s mention of the war ending, by whatever means, made Snarl’s frown grow even deeper. “War not end! It can’t end! Me Snarl not happy unless ripping some ‘Con’s cranium loose from neck! If war end, me must find new fight!” The plated Dinobot slammed his glass back onto the bar top, not happy at the notion of no more battles or carnage or energon shed. Of course, the likelihood that the war would end any time soon was close to zero, so the Desert Warrior had nothing to really worry about.

Snarl then glanced over at Sludge when his dimwitted comrade noted that the flamethrower did not seem to want to scrap Side Burn anymore. “Just as long as regular war does not end, me fine with blue bot still functioning,” the solar-powered mech commented before regarding the Jungle Warrior with a quizzical look as Sludge began telling Side Burn where the Dinobots had been for so long. He didn’t get very far, not even remembering what planet they had been to.

Realizing that giving away too many details to Side Burn could lead to more questions being asked, Snarl interrupted Sludge from speaking further and interjected his own two energon chips into the discussion. “Planet name not important. Listen, lady’s bot, we fight Shockwave but him get lucky against us. Grimlock use our ship in orbit to blast Shockwave, but we end up getting stasis locked along with ol’ one eye. Autobots find us many vorns later and wake us up. We then come here to catch up on technology we missed. That’s it really. Nothing more to tell.” Snarl hoped that the barest of essentials would be enough to satisfy the inquisitive mech regarding their past. If not, then perhaps more drastic measures would be required to deter the prying Autobot from attempting to learn more about the Dinobots and their true motives for being here at the Alpha Shipyards.

Main Shipyard - The Trion’s Hull

Grindcore glared at Stockade with an expressionless look across his faceplate. It wasn’t anger or happiness, it was just a stoic visage that revealed nothing emotionally either way. The weapons engineer offered no hard feelings for everything that had transpired between them before Erector had decided to punish the yellow construction worker with a drone’s task of buffering the Trion’s hull. That alone had made Grindcore’s mood go from bad to worse. Even now, with his cranial ache all but gone, the heavy lifter was not willing to let bygones be bygones. Still, with that yellow minibot of a foremech watching on one or more of his many cameras, it was best to just accept Stockade’s offer of friendship and be done with it.

“Errr...okay, fine,” Grindcore finally answered plainly as he took Stockade’s hand into his own and shook it with a warrior’s grip. “Don’t know if I want to bullscrap with ya, but I got no hard feelings against ya. After all, you didn’t give me this slaggin’ assignment. So, we’re good.” Releasing the weapons specialist’s hand, ‘Core sported a thumb over his shoulder, pointing back towards the hull. “I gotta get back to work or Erector’ll have my aft in a sling.”

With those final words spoken and not waiting for a response, Grindcore turned on his heel and headed back for the hover sled. He wanted to get this Primus-forsaken shift over with as quickly as possible before anyone he knew saw him working alongside a bunch of buffer drones like some kind of misbehaving protoform. Unfortunately, someone had probably already spotted him as the shipyards were immense in scale, allowing any number of mechs to catch a glimpse of an out of place construction worker doing something he wasn’t accustomed to or known for.

Fraggin’ humiliating, Grindcore thought as he casually glanced around to see if anyone was staring at him before stepping onto the hover sled and ascending the side of the Trion’s hull once more, auto buffer in hand.

Security Office

Kick-Off listened as Highcall pleaded his case. It was a bit worse then he expected and put him in a difficult spot. A basic Autobot tenant was freedom of religion, but that had to be balanced against certain other freedoms. While Highcall was free to preach all he wanted, he couldn’t harass others, and he certainly couldn’t be firing weapons in public places. He didn’t want to insult the other Autobot’s beliefs or disrespect his religion, he just needed to get him to see things from his point of view.

“Highcall, I can tell you are passionate about your beliefs and there is nothing wrong with that. You just have to respect the beliefs of others as well, or even the lack there of. Look at it this way, what if a Monoformer were to come up to you and tell you how your transforming disgusted him? How you should reject your transformation cog and even Adaptus himself? What if they blow up a transformation cog right in front of you? It would probably anger you, disturb you or even frighten you. The thing is that Monoformer might be just as passionate about his beliefs as you are. He might be an absolutely loyal Autobot who works hard every day. The same could be said for followers of the Knights of Cybertron, or someone waiting for the Last Autobot to save us all. Those beliefs don’t make them bad Bots, and neither do yours. You just have to be careful how you act on them.”

The security chief sat back in his chair. “I’m sure you’ve heard Optimus’s famous line, ‘freedom is the right of all sentient beings.’ Well freedom of religion, speech and happiness and all of that are included under that. You can preach and hand out materials all you want, but when someone says ‘no thank you’ you have to move on. They have the write to their beliefs and the right to relax in whatever way they want as allowed under Autobot law. You need to respect that just as everyone else needs to respect your beliefs Highcall. Can you please try to do that in the future Highcall? You’re a good Bot, pretty clean record, I don’t want to be seeing you down here in my office again under these circumstances if we can help it.”

*

Energon Bar

Side Burn was happy to see that his Prowl story had broken the ice with the Dinobots, if just by a little bit. If he had known it would just take a bit of ridiculing Prowl to get this far he would have done it a while back. It certainly wasn’t a hard thing to do as there were more then a few stories about him floating around and he had a bit of a reputation.

Unfortunately he could feel the ice freezing up a bit as the Dinobots contemplated a universe without the war. He didn’t want to lose them just as he was getting a foothold with them. The blue Autobot quickly poured up another round as he spoke. “Well I don’t see the war ending anytime soon, even if we unleashed Prowl as a secret weapon. Its not like the fighting stopped while you guys were MIA.” He handed out the fresh round of drinks to them.

Side Burn’s optics lit up a bit as finally one of the Dinobots attempted to tell the story of what had happened to them. Unfortunately it was Sludge and the story stopped almost as quickly as it had started. He had mentioned Shockwave though, which definitely made some sense. As far as he knew no one had seen the one opticed Decepticon in a long time, around about when the Dinobots disappeared as well.

Before he could ask any more questions Snarl quickly jumped in to finish up the story. It was kind of light on the details, which made him wonder if the Dinobots were just terrible story tellers or there was something more to this then he was being told. In any case what he did hear was pretty interesting. Side Burn nodded at Snarl. “Good story, and thanks for sharing it. I guess I should welcome you all back to the war then! Hope to fight next to you guys some day!” He poured himself a drink and raised it in salute.

*

Countdown’s Office

Countdown smiled as Cosmos left the room with a noticeable spring in his step. He was glad he could give him something like this to do on board the station. He knew a lot of his work recently has left him alone and outside the station. It was an unfortunate but necessary duty that only he could perform. Hopefully these duties as ambassador would brighten his spirits.

The station commander turned his attention back to Grimlock who had taken a seat across from him. He had arranged for a larger chair to be brought into his office just for this occasion and while it probably wasn’t perfect the Dinobot leader seemed to be making due as best he could.

“So tell me Grimlock, what brings you to Cas Coller exactly? You mentioned something about viewing new technologies, but there has to be more to it then that. The official records have only recently been updated to even mention that you are active again, changed from your status as missing in action and possibly even being AWOL.”

Grimlock grunted. This was the part he had been dreading. He had never been much of a talker, let alone a liar. It wasn’t really a skill he had needed much on the battlefield. Talking was more for types like Prowl or Ultra Magnus. It was something preferred by those who couldn’t fight in real battles. Unfortunately he was stuck in a position where all he could use were words and lies. He would just have to do the best he could, and the easiest route seemed to be to stick with the truth.

“Me and Dinobots went after Shockwave. Him doing experiments on other worlds, me not really know what that about. We just after him to take him down. We head down to planet, using organic covering and modes to protect us from high energon levels. We fight shockwave but he cheat, blow off organic layer. We go into stasis lock, but me have back up plan, set ship to fire if not contacted. Ship fire on volcano, it erupt, we all buried until reactivated not too long ago.”

Countdown sat back in his chair. “Well that’s a heck of a story, especially considering how long you all must have been buried. How did anyone find you?”

The Dinobot commander shrugged his shoulders. “Native population on planet found us. Me not know how or why, might just have been luck. Buried so long was bound to be found sometime.”

The station commander nodded. “I suppose so. Still you were lucky there was an Autobot team already there. You might have been stuck on that planet for who knows how long otherwise, unless your ship was somehow intact there.”

Grimlock was a bit startled at his words. It had never occurred to him to even look for the Skyfire. It was certainly a tough ship and even if it did survive it would be in need of repairs. Still, that was something to file away and consider some other time. “Me lucky if you consider being buried for so long and missing so much war to be lucky.”

Countdown frowned. “Yes, well, certainly the whole thing is unfortunate. Anyway what brings you here exactly? I wasn’t informed that you were coming and it seems an odd place for a group like yours to be sent to. I’d imagine you’d be right back on the frontlines somewhere.”

The Dinobot let out a sigh. He would rather be on the front lines as well instead of in an office lying to some bureaucrat. It was all for the greater good though, he just had to remember that. “We sent here to get up to date on technology. Believe me, me rather be on front lines. Me think this punishment from Prime for disagreeing with him too much.”

Countdown smiled, “Ahhh, I see. Well, I hope we can make this punishment as pleasurable as possible for you and your men. Perhaps you would be interested in some of the training rooms we have available here.”

Grimlock nodded. The Dinobots probably would need to do some fighting soon. Sitting around too long was going to make them irritable, or more irritable in some cases. In a training room they could cut loose for awhile. Better in there then somewhere more delicate. “Me do that, but me also want to here more about new technology, like warships. Me heard there some big new battleship here about to be launched?”

Countdown frowned for a second. Cosmos must have let that slip. It didn’t really matter though, with Grimlock’s rank he probably could have looked it up. At this point the Trion wasn’t really that much of a secret anyway. “Yes, the Trion is our pride and joy. She’s nearly ready for launch too, she’ll be the flagship of whatever fleet she’s sent to.”

The Dinobot Commander nodded. “Me would like to see it in person. Me not tech type, but still want to see top of the line warship. Maybe me be commanding one soon.”

Countdown nodded. “I think something can be arranged. I’ll have to talk to Kick-Off about security of course, and it might take a little time. The ship is still going through some last minute finishing touches, getting supplied, fresh coat of wax and all of that. Have to have her looking her best before she leaves us,” he smiled.

Grimlock grunted before standing up. “Me better get to Dinobots. Left alone for too long they get into trouble.”

Countdown quickly jumped up as well. “Of course, and we wouldn’t want that. It’s been an honor meeting you Grimlock, I hope your stay here isn’t too unpleasant.” He let out a light chuckle. Grimlock merely nodded before walking out.

The Dinobot stifled a sigh of relief at that meeting finally being over. He couldn’t remember the last time he had to talk so much. The sooner they got the Trion and got out of here the better. Talking, socializing, these weren’t things he was particularly good at. He needed the Trion and to get back to Earth. Cutting down some Decepticons and making a dent in this war would make up for all of this hassle. He set off for the energon bar to gather his team back up, not wanting to use communications more then necessary. He wasn’t going to take any chances now that they were so close to their goal.

Brig

"Let's hope we don't see your face again for a while, Warhaul," the medic said. The security officer on duty had received the necessary clearance and with a little additional processing for the sake of records-keeping, Warhaul had been released to his own devices.

"You won't," Warhaul grunted before leaving the brig altogether and walking the corridors. He would have to pass by the energon bar again in order to get to the barracks, but he was pretty sure he could resist the temptation to go in. He couldn't jeopardize the work he was doing. Not now. Or it would most definitely be his aft plating being run through the incinerator. Along with the rest of him, probably.

Besides, the Dinobots and co being here had made the whole bar scene more interesting. And that Highcall glitch. If it wouldn't be so distracting--and get him put right back in the brig--he'd show that little zealot where he could go shove his Primus garbage.

Well...on second thought....maybe just one little check-in at the bar wouldn't hurt anyone. No energizing though. Just business. Yeah, that'd work.
___

Berth Six--Ark-19

Well, the bridge was...bridgey. Cloudburst had walked through the majority of the ship at this point, occasionally chatting with a tech here and there about what sorts of maintenance was being run on the ship. What needed fixing could sometimes tell a good story about where something had been--be it a ship or a 'Bot. Standing on the bridge of the Ark-19, Cloudburst could imagine the kinds of frontline action that would have been seen on a ship of this nature.

What kinds of orders had been given from the spot he now stood on? What kinds of emergency calls needed to be made in order to keep her spaceworthy? Such questions were what occupied the majority of Cloudburst's thoughts.

The majority, but not all.

Sitting down at the comm station, Cloudburst began an attempt to poke through mission logs, journals...anything on the surface that might be accessible to someone who was not an official crewmember of this vessel that would confirm everything that had been told to them for the Ark's coming here. Not that he doubted any of the Dinobots per se, but one could never be too cautious. It was a war, after all.

Security Office

Highcall listened as Kick Off explained the need to respect other's beliefs, bringing up examples of some other known religions. Though he got the message, it brought about some questions within Highcall.

Could that be why my faith in Primus has faltered lately? For many vorns I had only been around other members of the Church, who thought exactly as I thought. Since I joined the Autobots and came to this station I have been exposed to so many other beliefs, not to mention those who have none.

Once Kick Off had finished, the engineer nodded his head thoughtfully in agreement.

"You're right Kick Off. I've been stationed here for I don't know how many vorns, but I still think like I'm with the Church surrounded by my brothers and sisters. I swear by the Holy Light that I will make an effort to respect the decisions of others."

Highcall looked down to his wrists, looking at the restraints that were still there. Rather than strengthen his own beliefs, his decisions had brought personal shame and doubt toward them. He looked back up to Kick Off.

"I'd like to apologize to Warhaul, and the blue Autobot who paid for the drink I destroyed, as well as the bar owner and anyone else I disturbed. Unless you think I should stay in your custody longer."

Energon Bar

Still feeling in high spirits, Cosmos walked cheerfully into the bar. Though he took the time to greet and chat with some of the patrons, it didn't take long for him to find his (hopefully) new friends the Dinobots sitting right at the bar. Not surprisingly there was a good distance between them and most of the other mechs trying to enjoy a drink.

Well, it doesn't look like they've hurt anyone. That's a good sign.

Courageously the small green mech walked right to the bar where the Dinobots sat around, drinking.

"Well I certainly hope you're enjoying yourselves.", Cosmos greeted the Dinobots, "They certainly have some top-quality drinks here, don't they?"

The flying saucer went to the stool right next to the Dinobot flamethrower. Though Slag didn't look to be in much of a good mood, he was at least in a better mood than the last time Cosmos had seen him. Cosmos gave him a curt nod of the head.

Unfortunately for the stout mech, the stools were a little high for him. He looked at the seat, which was about optic level for him. He had tried to get into the barstools before on his own in robot mode, but it was always just an embarrassing display of his inherent, normal-gravity clumsiness.

"Uh say," Cosmos sheepishly asked the larger, stronger mechs, "I can't quite get up into the stool, and it's kind of a bother to have to transform to my saucer mode and back just to go up a few feet. Can one of you give me a hand?"

Sludge was quite glad to see the arrival of Cosmos, he had already gotten some good laughs watching him. So when the short mech asked for a hand, the jungle warrior had no problem abliging.

"Okay.", Sludge simply said as he got up, "Me Sludge can help you."

"Oh, thank you so much Sludge.", Cosmos thanked as he spread his arms to the side so the large Dinobot could get an easy grip, "I really appreciate the hel- hey, wait-"

Much to Cosmos' surprise the jungle warrior did not try to gently pick him up by the waist, but instead grabbed him by the head.

"Whoa, whoa not there- OW!", the stout green mech said startled as Sludge large fingers got a grip of his cranium, "That's my HEAD, not a handle! OW!"

Sludge simply chuckled as he easily lifted the short little bot, all the while Cosmos struggled, hopelessly flapping his arms and legs. Once the jungle warrior had brought Cosmos a few feet above the stool he let go of the green mech.

"OOF!", went Cosmos as his aft not so gently landed on the seat, "Thanks.... I guess."

Sludge casually went back to where he was next to Snarl as if he had done nothing wrong. He took the newest mug of energon and lifted it, several seconds after the others, and took a long gulp of it. Sludge couldn't really count how many he had drank so far, though it was probably from a lack of keeping track rather than from drunkeness. Being as large as he was, it took a lot of energon to get the jungle warrior overfueled.

Cosmos, meanwhile, did his best to get comfortable, though he had to stand on the stool to be close to eye level with the other bots.

"Say, you're Side Burn, aren't you?" the flying saucer asked the blue mech, "I didn't know you were a bartender, I'd heard you were here on leave. Do you think you could serve an Energon wine to Alpha Shipyards 'Best Ambassador", the stout little mech requested with pride, "Say, do you know anyone who's good with a rifle? On the way here I passed by a couple of femmes who were headed for the shooting range for target practice. They said they needed a shartshooter to help them with their aim, but I didn't really know anyone around that could help them."

As Cosmos waited for a reply to his drink request and his query, he looked over to Slag right next to him.

"I certainly hope you're enjoying yourself here, Slag. I'm sorry that we got off on the wrong foot earlier, I certainly didn't mean any disrespect.", Cosmos said politely, and extended out his hand in the hopes the Dinobot flamethrower would accept his apology, "I certainly hope we can forget about earlier and be friends."

As Sludge finished his mug he looked over and watched as the little green mech tried to make nice with the violent Dinobot Slag. He then looked to both Snarl and Swoop.

"Hmmm, me Sludge think maybe little saucer-bot might get melted into slag by.... uh, Slag.", he dimly commented.

Energon Bar

How was it that the most feared Autobots in existence ended up attracting the most annoying—and persistent—Autobots in existence? Just as Swoop began to hope that maybe they’d be able to drink in peace, who should waddle in but saucerbot. Why was he talking to them? No one talked to the Dinobots except Dinobots; except maybe some of the brass but that was more yelling than talking. Swoop rolled his optics when the green mech asked for help getting into the barstool next to Slag of all mechs. He was about to suggest just getting a box when Sludge surprised him by volunteering to help. What was the jungle warrior—oh. Oh. Swoop couldn’t help but snicker when Sludge picked the minibot up by the head and watched as the smaller mech flailed helplessly. Maybe now the saucerbot would get the idea that Dinobots didn’t do nice.

Nope. The bombardier was instead getting the idea that this bot had a death wish. Swoop could only nod and agree with Sludge’s comment. “Alpha Shipyard’s ‘Best Ambassador’ is about to become Alpha Shipyard’s Best Puddle,” He dryly added.

Med Bay

Skyfall happened to be the type of mech that fed off of other peoples’ misery. Someone who found some sort of joy in abusing others with words instead of fists. Their tactics were always effective. Unfortunately in his profession the doctor had a very hard time avoiding Skyfall’s type.

“So, uh…doc, you were a ‘Con, yeah?”

Ambulon let out an annoyed sigh but kept silent as he prepared to remove his patient’s visor to get a better look at Skyfall’s optic and to replace the cracked covering. The refusal to answer his question caused the weapons engineer to begin to fidget making it much more difficult to perform his task. Finally Ambulon placed a firm hold on the red mech’s shoulder and glared directly into his visor.

“Look, you want me to perform these repairs then you’re going to have to stay still.”

Skyfall finally stilled his movements.

“Fine, but you still haven’t answered my question.”

“Yes, I was a Decepticon, but I’m not anymore. And no, I won’t be going back, and no I am not a spy. Satisfied?”

He shrugged his shoulders while he made sure to keep his head as still as he could manage. He said nothing in response…instead he just watched every movement Ambulon made. Once the doctor finished with his repairs and his visor was replaced, Skyfall took a quick look around making sure that there were no left over spider cracks that had gone unnoticed.

Ambulon Had already moved the tray of tools to a small counter when the door slid open and Pharma stalked inside. Skyfall’s head whipped around while Ambulon turned in his place and stared at the CMO a concerned look on his face.

“Hey, Pharma. Glad you’re back. I had this run in with those Dinobot dolts earlier…one of them lobbed a mug at me…cracked my visor and put a dent in my face. Mind taking a look?”
Ambulon quickly shot Skyfall an irritated glare before returning his gaze to the white and red flier.

“Didn’t Ambulon take care of you, Skyfall?”

“Well, yeah. But you are the CMO after all. Figured you always inspected your subordinates’ work. I mean, it’s what I would do.”

Pharma met the former ‘Con’s optics with his own before they narrowed and broke away. He made his way over to the waiting engineer where he began to look over the repairs that had been made. With the CMO now in close proximity Skyfall took the opportunity to voice his opinion on his doctor in a hushed tone.

“I can’t believe they let this guy in. I mean he was a ‘Con for Primus sake. He could easily be some kind of covert agent…or he could be an assassin. I don’t trust him. How about you? I mean you work with him all the time. You notice anything…you know, weird?”

Pharma sent the rambling engineer a deep scowl before he looked back to his subordinate who had turned his attention to the tools that were in need of cleaning.

“I notice everything, Skyfall. I notice everything and everyone. But don’t go worrying about Ambulon. I’ve worked with him long enough to know he’s an admirable medic.”

Skyfall tilted his head slightly and stared back at the flier.

“That’s it? Just an admirable medic?”

Pharma pulled away and gave the red mech a slight nod. Once he was satisfied that the repairs Ambulon had performed were satisfactory Pharma pulled away from the engineer and smiled.

“Well, everything looks fine, Skyfall. Just follow any and all of Ambulon’s orders and you’ll be as good as new in no time.”

Hopping off the medical berth Skyfall let out a snort of disappointment and made to leave. He stopped just before exiting the already open doors and looked over his shoulder at the two medics.

“Thanks, Pharma. I’ll catch you later.”

The lack of recognition did not go unnoticed by the ward supervisor, but he remained silent, after all this was not the first time one of his patients thanked his superior even if Pharma hadn’t even been present. Instead of dwelling on the subject Ambulon simply returned to his work. But that, again, was interrupted this time however; it was not due to the arrival of another patient. This time it was the feeling of being watched.

The doctor gently placed the laser scalpel down on the tray and slowly looked over his shoulder only to see Pharma’s narrowed optics glaring in his direction.

“What?”

Without a word the CMO stalked toward him but never stopped. Instead he shoved the former Decepticon out of his way as he made his way to his office where he locked himself in. Ambulon let out a heavy breath as soon as he heard the lock click in place.

Main Shipyard – The Trion’s Hull

Stockade was relieved, in one aspect, that Grindcore had actually decided to take a firm hold of the weapons specialists’ hand shook it. Although it was the heavy lifter’s apprehension that caused Stockade’s smile fade.

“Right, well, no bullscrap.”

The supervisor forced a smile and offered Grindcore a nod at the latter’s mention that he was still on duty and needed to finish up his work. Stockade didn’t feel it necessary to keep the mech from his punishment so he waited a moment and watched as the hover sled disappeared from sight taking it’s occupant with it.

“Well, that could have gone better.”

Stockade let out a heavy sigh, turned on his heel and headed back the way he had come. On the way he opened up a line to his second letting the mech know he was on his way over.

>>”Yeah, I’m done. I’m headin’ back now so those lazy slag-headed cretins better have gotten something done by the time I get there or I’m taking it out of your hide…capiche?”<<

The worried response coming from the other end of the line made the weapons specialist crack a wide grin. It was always nice to know he could instill fear in his men during work hour while simultaneously being able to shoot the bull with them in a relaxed setting.

Energon Bar

“And what makes you think this war ain’t gonna end, Snarl? You capable of seeing the future now?!”

Slag shot his teammate a steely glare before turning his attention toward Sludge who decided to take it upon himself to let Side Burn in on just what had happened to them and why the entire team went missing. Slag let out a growl of disappointment before reaching up and slapping the back of Sludge’s head.

“Unbelievable, Sludge! One lunk-head asks a stupid question and you’re ready to spill!”

Slag looked back to the ‘Bot still positioned behind the bar and stood up. The hulking flamethrower then leaned over the counter in order to come optic to optic with Side Burn.

“Look, pretty-boy, you keep your nose clean and knock off the curiosity and maybe, just maybe I won’t incinerate you before the day is out.”

Slag held his gaze for a few moments swiped one of the bottles of hard energon and finally settled back down onto his stool. With a snort the flamethrower downed the entire bottle and wiped the excess from his mouth with the back of his hand before slamming the empty container back onto the counter.

“And I hope I never see you on the same battle field as us…you’d never make it out alive.”

His attention then turned back to the hulking jungle warrior as Sludge plopped the small rotund form of Cosmos down onto a stool that just happened to be situated right next to the flamethrower. Slag sent a glare at Cosmos and then turned and looked back toward the mirror that hung behind the temporary bar keep.

“Drop dead, Cosmos.”

Without another word Slag took long chug from a newly arrived mug of high grade.

Energon Pub

The doors to the energon pub slid open with fresh vigor. Unclouded by the excesses of unnecessary energon, Warhaul could see everything going on around him in a new light.

"Dind't think I'd see you back here so soon," one of the tenders said. "You need another?"

"Not a chance," Warhaul chuckled, attempting to appear good-natured. He wanted another, of course. he wanted to get just as overcharged on energon as he had the last time. But that would jeopardize the mission that he had been sent here to accomplish. And he couldn't have that.

This time he just took an auxiliary position on one of the barstools. Just so he could watch what was going on. No drinking.........no drinking.

The Dinobots were still here. That was a positive. If he could sabotage the Autobots and remove one of the premier Autobot teams in existence, he would wind up being a legend. Slag, Megatron may even make him a high commander. His own fleet. What an orn that would be.

"Quarter-glass of filler. Nothing extra," Warhaul finally said. No need to look like he was being a prude, after all.