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OOC: With Dev's Permission, moving all the Dinobots to the training facility.

Corridors-Turbolift-Large Scale Training Facility

Cosmos jumped when he felt a hand touch his shoulder, afraid that Slag would make good on all his threats. Thankfully it was just Side Burn, thanking him for the information about the two femmes, and he breathed a sigh of relief. The green minibot still made a point, though, to stay as far away as possible from the flamethrower.

Mental note; Don't talk to Slag unless you absolutely have to, and even then it might be smarter to have someone else say it.

Aside from one or two technicians overreacting to the team of massive warriors, the walk to the training facility was thankfully uneventful as Cosmos had finally learned to keep his talking to a minimum with the Dinobots. They walked down the corridors to the turbolifts, as one turbolift didn't have nearly enough room for all 5 Dinobots they had to momentarily seperate. Up two decks Cosmos and the Dinobots went, and they went out to a much quieter and emptier floor. It was much different from the busy sections below as there was almost no traffic. On one side of the hallway the wall was completely bare, except for a massive doorway that had been intended for a large number of mechs.

"Here it is.", Cosmos directed the Dinobots to the door, "It takes up half this floor, and it's the biggest, most intricate, state of the art training room in the sector."

Cosmos immediately went to the control panel next to the door, pressing a few buttons to check the status of the room. He sighed in relief, no one was in there and the room hadn't been reserved by anyone for several mega-cycles. It was free for the Dinobots to use, and hopefully blow off whatever steam they had left.

"The controls are the same as any other training facility, just on a larger scale.", he explained to Grimlock as the massive sliding doors opened, revealing a dark room with a lighted grid pattern.

"Oooooh", Sludge said in awe as he already walked inside.

Cosmos began to fidget a little. He wanted to be helpful and polite, but the last thing he wanted was to be too close to such powerful, volatile Autobots during combat simulations.

"So if you'd like.....", Cosmos said in a hesitant tone, "I can help you with the controls or..... maybe...... even assist your..... uh, training if you need me too...... But if you don't have any problems, I can just leave until you're done."

Cosmos greatly hoped that the Dinobots would be fine on their own.


Corridors

Highcall's optics brightened as Warhaul seemed to accept his apology, giving a silent thanks to Primus. His atonement was getting off to a good start, and he was determined to get back into the good graces of the mechs he had offended, as well as his god.

"Yes, I know how to use a turbo-ratchet set, I am an engineer after all.", Highcall replied enthusiastically, "I will gladly relieve you of some of your duties, if that's what you want. I don't have any assignments for a while, so I should have plenty of time to help you out."

For a moment Highcall considered explaining why he didn't have any shifts coming up, because he had gotten on just about every chief engineer's bad side by being a distraction to himself and others through reciting scripture during work. As Kick-Off had mentioned earlier, that was something else he would have to stop.

"So where are you assigned to now, anyway?"

Large Scale Training Facility

Grimlock was rather impressed at that facility, although he would never admit to it. First of all, all of the Dinobots were able to fit comfortably through the door. It was a nice change of pace from the ducking, stooping and turning they had to do to get through some other doorways on the station. Inside the room was even more impressive. It was massive, with thick steel walls that could certainly take a beating. The room was bare at the moment, but the number of panels and sliding doors on the walls indicated that a number of weapons and opponents could be called up to do battle with. A couple of stories up was an observation deck, protected by special transparent metals. Superiors and trainers could watch the battle unfold from up there and likely call down different attackers and strategies for the troops to face.

The Dinobot leader could feel the slightest surge of excitement. It would feel good to do some fighting, even if it was against drones. All of this talking just wasn’t his style. He needed to blow off some steam just as much as the other Dinobots did. They would all need to be loose and calm, or calmer in some cases, for the next step in his plans. Stealing the Trion was going to be one of the trickiest and boldest plans even he had ever undertaken. They all needed to be at their best for it.

Grimlock looked down at Cosmos as he briefly explained the controls. He was used to this treatment. The Dinobots had a reputation as not being the brightest Autobots around. While it was true that none of them would have qualified for any of the old science academies before the war (particularly Sludge) they were still fairly capable. Grimlock’s speech impediment didn’t particularly help dispel this notion of low intelligence. It suited him well enough though, allowing others to underestimate him always worked to his advantage.

The massive Autobot reached down and began working the controls. “Me think me have it Cosmos. You can leave now, you not want to be around for Dinobot training.” Grimlock promptly twisted every knob and flicked every switch to its maximum setting. Anything less then the max was liable to be disappointing to the Dinobots.

The large warrior turned to his team. “Alright Dinobots, time to work off excess energon and have some fun. Go to it and don’t hold back!” He mashed down the activation button and the room sprung to life. Panels on the floor slid open or flipped over, bringing simulated debris and terrain to use as cover. A large panel in the floor dropped away, lifting back up with a dozen spider-like drones on it that quickly dispersed through the room, firing lasers at the Dinobots. A wall panel slid open and a dozen bipedal drones jogged out, lasers mounted on their left arms and swords on their right arms. The added their fire, adding to the chaos before taking cover. Various panels on the walls slid open, revealing laser turrets, flamethrowers and missile launchers. From the ceiling aerial drones dropped down, strafing and bombing the Dinobots.

Grimlock drew his energo-sword and pointed at the thick of the enemies. “Dinobots, attack!”

Command Center

The doors to the command center slid away, allowing Cloudburst entry. The Autobot offered a friendly salute in Countdown's direction before finding a seat in the chair he had occupied earlier before heading off on his little adventure. If random, observational patrols could be classified as "adventures" nowadays. It did beat the alternative, however, and Cloudburst had to remind himself of that from time to time.

"Wellll....that was....as uneventful as I'd feared it might be," Cloudburst said, grinning, as he began entering his observations in to the officers' log. "I thought if anyone in our ranks could have some more circumspect reasons for coming here, it would be the Dinobots, y'know?"

Cloudburst continued typing as he talked.

"But nope. Everything checks out. That Ark-class vessel they brought in shouldn't need a whole lot of work, either. I don't see any reason why we won't have that thing working in tip-top condition pretty quick. Then we can get those guys back out on the front lines where they belong. I'm surprised they haven't wrecked our bar by now, heh. What are they up to, anyway?"
___

Approaching Trion hangar

"An engineer? Really?"

Warhaul gave Highcall a quizzical glance as he said that he was an engineer. The way he went on about Primus you woulda thunk he was some long-lost Knight of Cybertron. Or a Priest of Primus. Or, at the very least, some sort of station chaplain.

Huh, takes all kinds, I guess, the cone-headed mechanic thought as he and his new accomplice closed in on the area where work on the Trion was being done. The ship was beautiful. Warhaul almost hated the fact that he was going to have to find some way of sabotaging such a first-class warship. That was going to be a tall task in and of itself, as this station's best security had also been allocated to monitoring the ship's construction process. Even now, at the finalmost stages, oversight had not lapsed in the slightest.

"Working on that new ship. The Trion. Thing of beauty, eh?" Warhaul said, looking over at the other mech as they approached the massive hangar where the ship was being kept. Autobots had been working on this ship around the clock and that was not going to stop any time soon. Especially as it drew ever closer to its hour of completion. They could well be there already. Warhaul was not so high up on the technicians list as to be kept apprised of every last detail regarding its construction.

"Actually...you better get a clearance from Kick-Off," Warhaul said, thinking of one potential glitch in his impromptu plan. Good thing he caught that before he went ahead and did it. That could have caused him far more problems than they were worth. "Meet in at the starboard wing section when you do. And if ya don't, well, lemme know. I might have something else you can help me with. Then we'll call this whole mess even."

Warhaul smirked and showed his clearance badge to the security officers standing sentry over the primary entrance in to this hangar and proceeded to head inside.

Large Scale Training Facility

Snarl entered the gigantic training facility and found that it was a nice change of pace from the rest of the cramped station. The corridors and rooms were clearly not designed with a Dinobot’s size in mind, but this place was a very different block of energon. “Nice,” the Desert Warrior commented in a low growl as Cosmos offered to explain how to use the controls. Obviously, the misconception that the Dinobots were all over-sized brutes with very little in the way of intelligence had reached even out here at the shipyards. It was a bit of an insult that had been unintentional on the minibot’s part, which was the only reason the saucer-bot was still functioning.

That and the fact Grimlock had intervened, taking over the controls before telling Cosmos to leave immediately. Thank Primus, Snarl thought as the Dinobot Commander initiated a high-level training program that would suit the sheer intensity that five large mechs like themselves could bring. Anything less would be a waste of their time and energon. The solar-powered Dinobot couldn’t wait to start fighting as it had been far too long since he had last seen any action, real or simulated.

Once the settings were entered into the control panel, Grimlock turned and explained the scenario that began to unfold within the vast chamber behind him. A smile spread wide across Snarl’s faceplate, a sight seldom seen on the plated Dinobot. Happiness began to return and the boredom he had felt only a breem ago was all but gone from his processor. The Desert Warrior said nothing in response to his leader’s words and only drew out his energo sword in one hand and his laser rifle in the other. “Time for some fun.”

Snarl did not wait for Grimlock’s command to attack, lunging forward into the thick of things as drones of all shapes and sizes began their assault. The training level was clearly set at maximum which was simply perfect. Here there would be no weak hits on either side, only real damage as though their very sparks depended on them being better than their adversaries. At least with a level of this magnitude, Snarl could pretend that these were real Decepticons and not just simple drones that were programmed to simulate the enemy.

Running across the faux battlefield, Snarl sought no cover whatsoever and instead charged at the first bipedal drone he encountered. With a single swipe of his sword, the drone was sliced in half, falling to the ground in a spark-filled heap. Several laser blasts struck the Desert Warrior’s thick armor from numerous directions, but those blasts did little to slow him down as a spider drone suddenly leapt at him from behind a pile of debris. The tendrils quickly wrapped themselves around Snarl in an attempt to strangle him. “Aaaahhhh!!!!” The plated mech shouted as he blasted the center optic of the drone with his rifle before slashing at the various limbs with his sword. One by one the extremities fell away into a trail of scrap as Snarl viciously impaled what was left of the mechanical spider to a nearby wall.

“Me not that kind of mech,” Snarl growled as the spider drone fell limp. The Desert Warrior then felt an explosion behind him as a missile donated several feet from his position. Snarl was propelled through the air until his struck the same wall he had just impaled the drone to. Coming to rest on the ground, the solar-powered Dinobot rubbed his cranium for a moment before getting right back up to his feet. His back was a bit charred but it was nothing that would stop him, not by a long shot. “Now, that more like it! Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!”

An enraged Snarl charged across the battlefield, slashing at drone after drone on his way towards the source of the rocket. The wall mounted launcher was on the opposite side of the training room, but the Desert Warrior simply made a path of destruction that led him to his intended target. Ducking down to avoid another missile, Snarl quickly transformed into his stegosaurus alt mode and with one swipe of his powerful tail, smashed the automated launcher into oblivion. “That for trying to blow me up! Ha!”

More laser fire then erupted from overhead, as several aerial drones took aim at the Desert Warrior. “Grrrrrrrrr, Swoop, take care of those flying things will ya! That your territory, not mine!” Snarl took aim with his tail spikes, firing several shots at the aerial drones, knocking one out of the air but missing several others. The Dinobot’s attention was then drawn back to the ground-based drones as they continued their assault. More blasts struck his armor, forcing Snarl to take a step back as the intensity increased. A deep intake of air filled his systems as the solar-powered mech returned to robot mode, raising his sword and charging at the simulated enemy. He quickly immersed himself even further into the heat of battle where sheer joy and happiness overwhelmed his circuits.

And to think, me just getting warmed up!

Approaching Trion Hangar

Highcall couldn't help but smirk and shake his head at Warhaul's surprised reaction toward his status as an engineer. While it was true that there were those who followed the Covenant of Primus that believed the use of technology was wrong, his group had not been one of them. Those that did were often the more xenophobic, radical groups, who had long since vanished due to their inability to maintain their own bodies.

"Primus guides us with his wisdom,", he replied, "but we still have to keep the power generators running on our own. That's not scripture, by the way, just something we had to remind ourselves whenever something broke."

As they continued, Highcall listened to the technician reveal his current assignment- the new, state-of-the-art warship, the Trion.

So that's the ship everyone has been clammoring about., he thought as he got his first look at the Trion. Since he had been an annoyance to most of those in authority position, he had never been assigned to work on the new warship, though he'd heard plenty about it from the various mechs working on it. From what he had heard and what he saw now, he could certainly appreciate all the advancements in technology and engineering that had been involved.

"Yes, I suppose it is.", Highcall replied with restraint. It was impressive, the engineer would agree to that, but he wouldn't exactly call it a 'thing of beauty'. It just felt inappropriate to refer to any mech-made product of the never ending war effort with such reverance.

As the two approached the main entrance, Warhaul brought up the problem of Highcall having proper security clearance. The engineer had to nod in agreement, he'd never been assigned to the warship, nor did he hold a high enough rank to enter without assignment. It would be awkward going back to Kick-Off after he had left the security mech's custody only a breem ago, but if it had to be done, it had to be done.

"All right, that shouldn't be a problem.", Highcall assured Warhaul, "I'll be sure to contact you as soon as I can."

With that, Highcall turned around and headed back to station security.


Large Scale Training Facility

Cosmos breathed a sigh of relief as Grimlock allowed the green minibot to leave. Cosmos had always tried to be as friendly and hospitable as he could to all Autobots who came to Alpha Shipywards. And not just because it was often his assignment, but because he genuinely liked meeting new mechs and making new friends. It helped make all his time in space, the cold, empty, lonely vacuum of space, a little more bearable. But the Dinobots? Despite being on the same side of the war, Cosmos had to admit he worried for his safety when he was around the five brutal warriors.

"All right, then.", Cosmos cheerily replied to Grimlock, "Well if you need anything else, don't hesitate to call me. Good luck!"

Cosmos walked back out and back to the turbolift. Until Grimlock needed anything, or unless Countdown had another assignment for him, the green minibot was going back to the energon bar. There was always at least one of his friends to hang out with, and Cosmos could still use some energon. The last thing he wanted was to be sent out in space without a full tank of energon.

--------------------

For the first time in a while, Sludge didn't feel constricted. Being the largest of the Dinobots, not to mention the clumsiest, he had an even harder time than the others just getting around and trying to fit into things that were made with smaller mechs in mind. Not in here, though.

"Me Sludge like big room.", the jungle warrior said as he stretched out his arms and legs, if only because he could do it without accidentally bumping into something or hitting someone, "Me Sludge wish every room was this big."

Just as Sludge was getting used to all the open space, Grimlock addressed the team. Even if Grimlock wasn't the strongest- which he was- Sludge would have been happy with the chance to have some fun by smashing things. Though, Sludge had to admit, his commander's last few words made him wonder.

"Um, do we ever hold back?", the jungle warrior scratched his head, asking an honest question as opposed to making some tough-bot remark.

Sludge didn't get an answer, as he watched in awe as the room was brought to life. A smile came across his faceplate as he saw dozens upon dozens of drones, each one looking very smashable to the jungle warrior's optics. Withdrawing his energon sword, Sludge marched right toward one of the groups of drones as he soon found himself bathed in laser fire.

"Heh heh, puny lasers tickle me, Sludge.", the jungle warrior laughed as the incoming barrage of drone fire did little to damage his thick armor plating.

Once within arm's length Sludge made a wide swipe with his energon sword, beheading several drones in front of him, but just missing one that had managed to duck in time. Sludge rewarded that clever drone with a hard kick to the midsection that broke it in half and sent it into several drones behind it, causing those drones to topple backwards by the force. Chuckling at the sight, Sludge decided he wanted to play "Kick the Drone", kicking any and all drones that had fallen with his powerful legs. Some drones smashed into pieces on contact, while some flew into other nearby drones, causing them to fall down and become victims to the jungle warrior's game. Twice he tried to slice the drones he kicked in mid-air with his sword, though he wasn't nearly quick enough to hit either and simply sliced into a few other drones unfortunate enough to be nearby by.

"Heh, heh,", the jungle warrior laughed, "Me Sludge am having fun smashing puny- OOF! Huh?"

Sludge's train of thought was interrupted as he felt something hard hit him from behind. Not hard enough to cause any real damage, but enough to grab his attention. A second time he felt it, the force jolting him forward, and he decided to turn around to see what it was, ignoring the growing number of spider drones that were surrounding him.

On a nearby wall Sludge saw a missile launcher that had locked onto him.

"Hmmmm....", Sludge said thoughtfully as he holstered his energon sword and withdrew his laser rifle, "Me Sludge could use target practice."

As the number of drones surrounding him grew even more, Sludge took careful aim at the launcher as it readied another missile, occasionally having to kick one or two drones that got too close. He fired several shots, none of which came anywhere near the missile launcher, but did manage to hit a couple of aerial drones by accident. Shot after shot Sludge fired and missed the launcher, until he finally gave up.

"Rrrrgh, stupid gun not work for Sludge!", the jungle warrior complained, smashing it into a spider drone in front of him out of frustration.

By then another missile had fired and hit Sludge in the chest, forcing the jungle warrior back a few feet. It was then that Sludge looked around and realized that he was completely surrounded and greatly outnumbered by the drones. After a moment of thought, Sludge smiled.

As the drones closed in, the jungle warrior transformed into his dinosaur mode, now forcing the drones to face a massive, mechanical apatasaurus. Sludge lifted up his front-right leg as high as he could, holding it for a moment to chuckle at the soon-to-come destruction. Then with his powerful servos and hydrolics, combined with his sheer size and weight, he slammed his foot down to the floor. A thunderous boom filled the room, the entire floor shaking by the jungle warrior's force. All the drones that had surrounded Sludge stumbled and fell from Dinobot-made quake. Sludge then took the time to take a nice "walk", where he stomped and tromped onto the fallen drones, crushing their metal bodies with each step. After nearly a breem of it, Sludge stopped for a moment to admire the destruction he had caused, but it was only for a moment as he felt another missle slam into his thick metal hide. Looking over at the launcher annoyed, Sludge turned and trudged it, trampling over any drones unfortunate enough to get in his way.

Security Office

Highcall entered the room without hesitation since he wasn't in any trouble this time, though he still felt awkward seeing Kick-Off again so soon. He couldn't feel too bad, though. If he wanted to make peace with Warhaul than he needed to help the technician with his work on the Trion, and to do that he needed security clearance.

Well, besides that incident in the Energon Bar earlier, I don't have any major offenses against me, so I don't see why I can't get clearance. I'm sure Kick-Off will understand, it's part of my personal atonement.

After explaining himself to one of the deputies, the engineer was allowed to enter the security chief's office. Highcall started to feel even more awkward, as it appeared as if the security mech was in the exact same position as when he had left just a couple of breems ago.

"Hello, Kick-Off.", Highcall addressed the security, "I'm terribly sorry if I'm disturbing your work, but I needed to see you. I've spoken to Warhaul, which went well by the way, and as part of my apology to him I've agreed to help him with his work on the Trion. But before I can do that I need security clearance since I've never been assigned to the Trion before. I understand if you have your doubts or if my earlier offense makes me ineligible, but I would truly appreciate this, if only to atone for my earlier mistake."

Highcall rubbed the back of his head for a moment, unsure how the security mech would react to his request.

Large Scale Training Facility

As the band of Dinobots and one miniscule green saucer made their way to the large training area Slag did nothing more than grunt and mumble about getting his hands on something that he could crush…namely a ‘Con’s throat. Alas all the poor flamethrower had were “fellow” Autobots. Start mangling them and he’d surely wind up back in one of the ‘Bot penal facilities…not a good place to be if he wanted to keep fighting.

At long last the group arrived at their intended location…the sight of which had a profound effect on the infinitely angry Dinobot. Slag stood silently as his optics roamed over the large sealed doors…the size of which would accommodate all of them at once. The mere thought of just what lay beyond the threshold caused the corners of Slag’s lips to curl upward. “Perfect.”

Slag’s unusually jovial exclamation was kept only to himself as he kept his vocal processor low and controlled so as not to draw any unwanted attention. And when the doors finally did part Slag advanced almost too quickly.

With anxious anticipation and almost no restraint the large mech stepped past Grimlock who had taken up the place at the controls. Slag had no reason to believe that the Dinobot Commander would set the training level to anything lower than maximum…in fact it was a given.

Staring out over the soon to be enemy laden field, Slag withdrew his energo sword and took on a fighting stance…ready and willing to kill whatever appeared. And to his absolute delight he did not have to wait long. With a broad sadistic smile plastered on his over eager face, Slag let out an almost deafening war cry and charged forward.

As with his brethren Slag plowed directly into the drones with his sword hoisted high. As he entered the midst of the “enemy” he took several heavy handed swipes slicing two drones clean through in one stroke. In their place two more drones appeared.

Unlike Snarl and Sludge who seemed to find it necessary to talk while they fought, Slag preferred to keep silent, save for the occasional deep battle cry of course. The sound of crunching metal and energon spewing and dripping from his foes and off of his own frame was enough to keep him going.

Slag was busy with three drones who had taken up positions to each one of his sides and in front when a fourth arrived at his rear. The unnoticed drone quickly powered up its weapon but before it was able to get its shot off Slag swirled…his sword extended outward and slicing clean through the attacker. But with his back now turned on the other three he was unable to move fast enough to take them out and instead took several shot to his back.

“Grrrrr!” The growl was deep and frightening but meant nothing to the drones. Instead of turning tail they prepared their weapons once more. By that time Slag had turned to face them all and quickly transformed…in his triceratops mode he was more a living flamethrower than mech. Not wanting to waste one more moment on the trio Slag sent a torrent of blistering flames at them…instantly the offenders melted into nearly unidentifiable heaps. “Now that’s what I call hot.” Slag grunted out.

Command Center

Countdown had been busying doing paperwork when Cloudburst returned. With the Trion nearing completion there was plenty to do. Fortunately his fears that the Dinobots would throw things into chaos hadn’t materialized. Even with that stroke of luck things were still a bit chaotic on the normally organized station. So many Autobots had been working for so long; everyone was anticipating its launch. It was going to be an event and a great celebration for all of them. Everyone deserved some sort of release from all of the pressure, but the celebration seemed to be getting bigger and bigger with each passing minute. They were even saying Optimus Prime was going to be there and he hadn’t even invited the Autobot leader!

The Autobot was so deeply involved in the various documents and schedules on his terminal that he barely noticed when Cloudburst came in. He only looked up at him as he finished speaking. Countdown looked up at him in confusion until Cloudburst continued and he realized he was talking about the Dinobots.

“Oh yes, the Dinobots and their ship. Well we’ll make it top priority once the Trion has been launched. I suppose we’ve been lucky so far in that they haven’t torn up the place. We certainly couldn’t afford that now.” He punched in a few commands into his computer to track the Dinobots on the station. There strong energy readings were easy to pick out. “I think Kick-Off had a talk with them so that might be why they are behaving. Looks like they are in the large training facility. Even the legendary Omega Supreme could fight in there without doing any real damage to the station, so I think we are ok for now.”

*

Security Office

Kick-Off had kept busy doing some paperwork of his own while at the same time monitoring security reports and tracking the Dinobots through the station. He wasn’t about to trust them to stay out of trouble, but so far they were behaving quite well, certainly better then their reputation would dictate. He was glad that they were staying out of trouble, but something just felt off about how well behaved they seemed. It felt like something was going on there, but he didn’t have anything to back that up with. He would just have to keep watching.

The security chief looked up as Highcall walked into his office. He hadn’t expected to see the other Autobot again anytime soon. He knew he wasn’t in any trouble since he would have seen a report on it. Kick-Off listened quietly as Highcall explained his reason for returning.

“Well, your security clearance was unaffected by the little incident, although a repeat performance will impact it. I suppose I can give you temporary clearance to assist him, as it would help complete your punishment as well.” Kick-Off grabbed a temporary pass off of his desk, scanning it into the computer and adding Highcall’s personal data to it and authorizing his work on the Trion before handing it to the other Autobot. “Alright, this will get you into the drydock and onto the ship if necessary. Now I expect no trouble and I expect this pass back once you are done, understood?”

*

Large Scale Training Facility

Grimlock couldn’t help but indulge himself a bit in the training exercise along with the other Dinobots. There were certainly more important things to do but the sight of a battle, even just an exercise, was enough to spark his circuits. It had been longer then he liked since he’d been in a battle and he had to make sure he wasn’t getting rusty. Sword in his hands he advanced on a group of bipedal drones.

The drones opened fire on him, coordinating together behind cover to close in on him. The Dinobot leader either absorbed the shots, his thick armor preventing any damage, or deflected them with his sword. He wasn’t interested in a gun battle here, he wanted the fight to be up close, personal and messy. The rather sophisticated drones soon realized their tactics were ineffective and switched strategies, charging at him with their sword arms at the ready.

Grimlock would have almost smiled if he had the mouth to do it. With a slash of his sword he cut the first drone in half across the midsection. With his free arm he smashed his elbow into the head of another, smashing through it. A kick to the midsection of another drone crumpled it’s chest and sent it smashing into a wall.

The next two drones moved in from opposite sides, trying to create an opening for the other to get a clean hit in. It was a clever strategy really, especially for mere drones. Grimlock just might have to compliment the creators of this facility. Of course clever was going to be anywhere near good enough to beat him. Experience in countless gladiatorial battles and on the battlefield had honed his combat expertise more then any simple drone, no matter how sophisticated, could hope to match.

The Dinobot didn’t wait for the drones to make the first move. He came directly at one of them with a vicious overhead slash. The drone lifted its sword arm to block, but the Dinobot’s massive strength overcame it. Grimlock’s sword cut through the opposing blade, and then through the drone’s head and torso, cleaving him in twain. The veteran warrior knew this left his back wide open to attack from the other drone and he was prepared for it. As his sword finished cutting through his opponent he flipped the blade in his hand so he now held it with the blade pointing down in his grip. He then swung his arm back the blade stabbing through the chest of the oncoming drone, blade held high for its own slash. Instantly the drone’s optics went black and its body limp as it deactivated, impaled on his blade.

Laser blasts splashed against Grimlock’s armor. Looking up he saw the last drone of the group firing on him. Apparently it hoped the others would give it some sort of opening. Grimlock pulled his sword around, the dead drone still impaled on it. He briefly used the body as a shield, letting it absorb a few blasts, before he pulled it back and swung it forward. The drone body slid off of the blade and flew towards the drone firing on him. It smashed into it, sending them both to the ground in a heap.

With his first batch of opponents felled Grimlock moved on to whatever the room would throw at him next.

*

Swoop was a bit more patient then the other Dinobots. Maybe that came from not being quite as bloodthirsty as the rest of them, or maybe it was because he was a bit more fragile then the rest of them. Maybe it was because being a flier took a bit more patience and planning then simply charging straight in. Whatever the reason was Swoop let the battle unfold a bit before he dived in.

The Dinobot was already transforming and launching into the air when Snarl started complaining. Swoop wasn’t really upset, complaining was what Snarl did most of the time. Still he would make good and take out a few of the flying drones. He darted through the thickest cluster of the drones, instantly getting their attention as the only threat to their air superiority. Twisting and diving he avoided their laser blasts, all the while looking for the right opening. Finally he dove in front of a large set of cannons raining fire down on the Dinobots. The drones detected the maneuver at the last minute and tired to pull up, but most of them were obliterated as the crossed the cannon’s line of fire.

Swoop laughed as he pulled out of his dive. He fired off one of his missiles at a group of spider drones, wiping them out. “That good enough for ya Snarl?” he asked with amusement. Sure, he might not be as bloodthirsty as the other Dinobots, but he still enjoyed a good fight.

Command Center

"Yeah, I guess we are pretty lucky," Cloudburst said, as he continued to type his report and prepare everything that he had found thus far for submission. Not that there was a whole lot that required any sort of special attention. In fact, he couldn't think of anything that did, but that was for others who were higher on the food chain to decide. his job was just to report what he had seen and done then move on. So far, so good on that front.

He couldn't help but acknowledge a significant amount of relief at hearing the Dinobots' current location: the training center would be as good a place as any to contain their very brutish tendencies.

"Good deal, chief. That actually makes me feel better. My circuits were all...bleh....at first, I mean I know they're battlefield legends and all, but still. Good, good deal. They'll be in top form. Their ship will be in top form and we'll be a reminder to those command=y types at why this outpost is on top of its game."

Not exactly a standard day on the Alpha Shipyards, but Cloudburst had definitely endured more problem-laden ones. If this was the worst it got with the Dinobots here, he'd take it.

Large Scale Training Facility

The rush of super-heated energon that was flowing throughout his systems only fueled Slag to push his body further and further. It was exhilarating. It was pacifying. It was…it was satisfying. Slag slammed heavily into a spider done smashing it between him and the wall. Sparks spewed forth as he stepped back to look at his recent kill.

After an astrosecond of staring a broad, evil smirk spread over the flamethrower’s faceplate, but it didn’t last long. Slag let out a grunt as he was hit from behind. The offending assailant rushed him while his back was turned and had the audacity to try and use a sword on his thick backplating. The nerve!

Slag released a bellowing cry as he turned swiftly on his heal, his right arm extended catching the side of the drone’s head sending it flying through the air only to crash into the opposite wall. Unwilling to see the thing pull itself back up for another go-around, Slag transformed into his triceratops mode…flames slipped through the transform seams that lined his back as fire also spilled from his mouth and nostrils.

Without pause Slag lowered his head and charged at the drone which, to Slag’s happiness, had just gotten back to its feet. The sickening crunch that echoed through the area was drowned out heavily by the sounds of his teammates devastating their own victims.

Slag let out a grunt as he pulled back removing his horns from the wall. Unfortunately he had to remove the deactivated drone still impaled. The lumbering mech shook his head hard finally sending the scrapped device to the floor in a destroyed heap. With a snort Slag transformed back to his robot mode and took a long look around. The amount of drones were dwindling leaving him with no other targets to take his frustrations out on.

“Frag it all to the Pit!” The perpetually angry Dinobot cried out in frustration as he slammed his fist through the nearest wall. Just when things were getting fun. “Grimlock! Bored!” Slag spotted his Commander through the din and the carnage and watched the former gladiator. “I wanna frag up someone but good! And I’ve got no qualms as to who it’ll be! ‘Bot or ‘Con, they all die the same! Let’s go!”

Large Scale Training Facility

Snarl stood amongst the deactivated carcasses of dozens upon dozens of combat drones, which now littered the floor of the enormous training facility that surrounded him and his fellow Dinobots. The Desert Warrior imagined for a brief moment that the bodies around him were those of real Decepticons, strewn across an actual battlefield on some unknown planet. It made him feel good. It made him feel happy. These were unusual feelings for Snarl, which only occurred whilst fighting the enemy faceplate to faceplate. Of course, that feeling of euphoria died down quickly once the plated Dinobot returned his processor to the reality of the situation - a training program that was designed to keep himself and his comrades occupied and thus out of trouble.

“Yes, that good enough, Swoop,” Snarl finally responded as his aerial brethren continued to circle overhead. “You probably can come down now. Not much left to fight.” The solar-powered mech had heard Swoop’s comment a few breems ago, but made no attempt to reply at the time due to the fact that he was immersed in utter happiness, aka battle, and needed to remain focused on combating the numerous drones that were swarming him. They were easy to defeat as evidenced by the hundreds of metal corpses scattered across the faux ground.

Regardless, the training drones had taken their toll on the Desert Warrior after a while. Snarl had suffered no major damage during the fighting, but he still sported a good amount of dents and scratches to his armored plating. This was not to mention some scorch marks here and there that proved to be nothing more than a minor irritant. These wounds were easy for the plated Dinobot to shake off, of course, and his internal repair systems were already hard at work. Within a cycle, he’d look good as new like nothing had ever happened.

Slag’s outburst then caught the Desert Warrior’s attention. The resident flamethrower was not content with fighting mere drones and Snarl could hardly blame him. While the session had allowed all of the Dinobots to let off some steam, it would hardly be enough to contain the ferocity of those like Slag. Perhaps Swoop or even Sludge would be satisfied, but not the rest. The solar-powered mech would also need something more substantial to keep himself occupied for the long term, something that could put up more of a fight than simple combat drones, regardless of the highest training level setting.

Before Snarl could add in his two energon chips to what Slag had just said, the massive doors to the Large Scale Training Facility slid open, revealing the unknown silhouette of one of the construction mechs that worked here at the station. The heavy lifter remained standing in the corridor beyond for a brief moment before he then cautiously stepped across the threshold. The vast chamber he found himself in looked more like a carnage filled battleground than a place that one would find on board a space station.

“Well, well, it looks like I was beaten to the punch,” Grindcore stated plainly as the doors closed behind him with a clank. The yellow mech had just come from the main shipyard where his diminutive boss had decided to punish him for overfilling his tanks on high grade. Being reduced to a hull polisher had left a bad taste in his mouth, one that ‘Core wanted to wipe clean as soon as possible. However, instead of heading back down to the energon bar, the heavy laborer had decided to take Erector’s little pep talk to spark and aim for the advanced training room where he hoped to hone his fighting skills even more so that one day he may have another shot at becoming a Wrecker.

Of course, Grindcore didn’t expect to find the Dinobots already using the facility. In fact, the wannabe Wrecker didn’t even know that the five brutish mechs were on the station to begin with. Standing quietly, the yellow shipbuilder took in each of the Dinobots one at a time before casting his gaze across the faux landscape that clearly showed the results of their violent endeavors. They were a good unit to be sure, but they were no where near the caliber of the Wreckers, not even in the same galaxy. Most regarded the Dinobots as elite warriors, but ‘Core saw them as simple-minded thugs that were highly overrated in the grand scheme of things, especially since they hadn’t been seen in countless vorns for whatever reason.

Regardless of his opinion of the Dinobots and their abilities, Grindcore decided to keep things cordial, or at least as best he could considering the company that he was now in. Locking optics with Grimlock, the heavy lifter stepped forward and gave a respectful nod to the Dinobot Commander. “I’m sorry, is this a private party or can anyone join?”

Across the chamber, Snarl watched as Grindcore tried to insert himself into their war games that had all but come to an end. What few drones were still left operational mattered little and would be quickly taken care of by whomever was closest to that particular mechanism. A devious thought then formed within the Desert Warrior’s processor, one that would give the frustrated flamethrower something to frag up and also keep the rest of them highly entertained. “Well, Slag, it look like construction bot over there want to play with us,” Snarl snickered as he glanced over at his enraged comrade. “Me thinks you just got your wish. Heh.”