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Shockwave's Tower

Warthog silently accepted Rapture's message as he waved for his team to accompany him to the loading stations. Grunting mentally, he shook his head. 'warp was a hotshot, like most Seekers, but there was nothing experience couldnt fix. If he ever lived to get any.

Rapture bothered him too. A good commander didnt go around pissing of her subordinates just because they deserved it. Sure good commanders were few and far between, and tact was not exactly a trait Warthog admired, but this was a bit early to be picking fights.

"I wish there was a machine that could upload old age into your young brains," the old warrior muttered to himself. "Thundercracker, take care of this," he ordered, handing him the medical kit.

Warthog opened a private channel to Skywarp then, slowing to speak to him. >

Shockwave's Tower - Command Center

Taking in all the internecine squabbling between the Seekers, Astrotrain couldn't help but smile, very slightly. Whether you put Starscream, Quantum, or this new jack in charge of 'em, the Seekers are always gonna be like a house full of spinsterbots who can't help but pick at each other all the time. There was more passive-aggressive energy in the average Seeker squadron than in an entire dormitory of Earthling sorority girls - not that the Triplechanger knew what sorority girls were, or even where Earth was.

He was a touch relieved when Warthog was placed in charge of his squad. Though he was technically as high-ranking as Rapture herself, the Triplechanger was a specialist, not a commander. Warthog's an old head, too. He'll handle things well enough in the field. The Triplechanger was disappointed he wouldn't have his frequent running mate Blitzwing with on this mission, but it was all right. There would be plenty of other missions for the two Triplechangers.

Following Warthog and the others in his squad out of the Command Center, he awaited Warthog's first orders.

The Killzone

Kup didn't even have to turn around to slap aside Juggernaut's hand before it came even within a meter of his cranial unit.

"Can I help you, boy?" he growled. Now was not the time for cute touchy-feely antics, at least not with the old warhorse. "Another one that oughta know better," he observed, knowing Juggernaut's experience and rank. Archangel's comment fell on nearly-deaf audio receptors, as well.

"If ya had time to gab, ya had time to grab the wounded and keep it movin'." Illustrating his point, Kup lifted one of the wounded Autobots with surprising gentleness given his yelling and lecturing and transformed into truck mode, laying him easily in the bed of his vehicle form.

"Let's roll out!"

Shockwave's Tower- Armory

Rapture contemplated the situation with Skywarp as she reached the armory. It's a dangerous game I'm playing. But I have to keep Warp in check until after this mission. She was well aware of the legendary antagonism between Lord Megatron and Starscream, and had no desire that she and Skywarp might recreate it in miniature. I only hope that Warthog's influence will make him more receptive toward what I have planned.

She had no more time to contemplate her plans as Scramble began to explain her strength enhancing abilities. Picking up a load of munitions, she turned her head towards the smaller femme.

"This power boosting sounds useful, Scramble. But are there any side affects I should be aware of?"

Shockwaves Tower Armory.

Scramble shrugged a bit. "Your going to burn up fuel faster while it works." POpping open her left forearm she gave the emergency attachments to her hand tool the once over before closing it.

"Its not something you just slap on without needing it, it could leave you in stasis lock if your too low on Energon to support it, but then again alot of mechs manage to survive after being mistook for dead no?" She didn't exactly like the idea of course, but the way they talked about this mission it could come in useful.

Shockwave's Tower- Armory

Grunting a little as she carefully set down the latest load of cargo, Rapture digested the medic's words.

"True enough. I'm filing that away in case we need it." Seeing Dead End walk away with the last load, Rapture leaned against the bulkhead, turning her attention fully to Scramble.

"I've been impressed with your work, Scramble. Your service record is quite commendable. You should know that my reports state speak highly of you, and that when this is over I intend to see you assigned to my squadron. I can't let such a capable officer go, after all." All joviality left her voice as she continued quietly.

"And want you to know that I understand what it's like to lose a mate. I lost mine a few astrocycles ago, during the siege."

Blitzwing watched Astrotrain and the others leave silently wishing his fellow Triplechanger luck. He was not one for sentiment but it had been a while since he had seen him, or Octane for that matter. Blitzwing smiled and placed an index finger on his chin as Ruination voiced his concerns. The big guy was far from the mental lax that appeared to be his persona. He admired the warrior’s forethought. A familiar grin once again lit up his features.

“Well there’s a thought a con who won’t obey direct orders from a superior. Gee I’d hate to be in their grindings if they tell me no. But ….. we can put our communications to good use, and oh how nicely I’ll ream them a new one before they can say com link. But if I can’t convince them then I’m sure they’d love a nice chat with Onslaught. Then again I hear what you’re saying, the wonderful feeling of two tanks breathing down their necks might convince them.”

His visor flashed as if giving Ruination a sly wink. They would not get themselves into trouble by any means, but who was to stop a little fun.

Blitzwing turned his attention to Rampage as the predacon spoke. Blitzwing rubbed his palms together nodding once to the tiger,
(ooc: I’m sorry I couldn’t resist)
“Purrrrrrfect, Just what I was hoping. You probably already guessed where I’m going with this. I believe you would have better luck sniffing them out, than I would in jet mode. If we were allowed to fly that is. ”

Although his two new teammates were scarce on conversation Blitzwing was loud-mouthed enough for the three of them. His spirits were high despite the prospect of a no hit mission. He saluted Onslaught then turned to the door.
“See you boyz out front.”

Shockwave's Tower

Nightraid had finally rallied whatever wounded, scattered or lingering Decepticon remained and managed to reorganize them somewhat. Nearing Shockwave's Tower, he opened his comm "This is Nightraid. I have rallied the Seeker Remnant. Permission to land" he said, sending his clearance code as protocol demanded. Though there was absolutely no need to follow it. The tactician valued protocol as it gave a sense of order and purpose in the chaos, especially in the aftermath of the recent battle. The group of Seekers moved in their assigned Squadrons. Overall the impression they gave was mixed as some were still quite wounded. Overall Nightraid looked decent enough bar the fact he had expended much energy and weapons and one wing had gotten a nasty hit.

Bludgeon meanwhile came driving in, in Tankmode.
Crashing past some rubble, the Master of Metalikato's sensors showed the incoming Seekers. "So the last remnants finally return" he said with his deep gravelike force.

((OOC: So sorry about not posting. I wasn't getting emails letting me know about new posts. Haha. Good thing I checked.))

The Killzone

Brewer nodded to Archangel, acknowledging his command to stabalize the injured bot. Wheelbar's request was also nodded at, but was accompanied by an answer, "I'm not the best, either, but I can get the job done." He pulled a kit from a cargo area in his leg and unrolled it to reveal many differnt medical tools. "Just hand them as I call them, if that ok," he smiled.

Kup's voice didn't sound too pleased with the efforts the small group of Autobots were doing. Apparently, it wasn't enough, but Brewer didn't want to get into it. "I'll need those siccors first. Then a clamp. Oh and that little rag folded at the side." He began listing the items he wanted for the job as he opened an area in the injured bot's chest to get to the vital wires and tubes.

Shockwave's Tower

As his squad followed Warthog to the Armory, Skywarp walked next to Thundercracker, whom he laughed and teased for being assigned to carry the medical kit. "Aww lil' 'Cracker wants to play doctor! Now that you have your tools, maybe you can fix Rapt's neuro-cicuits!" He always felt comfortable joking with Thundercracker; they had been friends for such a long time. They were an unseperable duo.

Suddenly a private transmission came in and he watched Warthog as he slowed to walk next to him. At first he didn't say anything and tried to think through what had just been told to him and thoroughly comprehend it. Then he replied, "I appreciate your concern Warthog and I'll do my best. I'm pretty sure we'll be in good hands under your command anyway because I don't have the experience that you do when it comes to these assignments. Heck, I'll probably end up learning something from you. I just hate that she always makes me look like slaggin' scrap metal, like I'm she is SOO muchbetter than me. Everyone thinks that I'm always second best to her and then she turns 'em against me! One of these days I'll show her just how good I am!"

Skywarp was never one to show much emotion to anybody besides [nb]Thundercracker[/b], but when he spoke to Warthog he felt like he could let him in as well. Skywarp felt with Warthog the way he wanted to feel when Gallows was his commander. The thought comforted him and made him respect and admire the veteran even more. Warthog was giving him a chance, and he would make certain not to fail under Warthog like he did with Gallows.

The Killzone

"Ok, here." Wheelbar handed Brewer the requested tools out of the kit that the Autobot had brought out. he was happy he could of at least be of some use.

His worry carried to the bot that they (mostly if not all Brewer) would be operating on.

"How bad do you think it is?" Wheelbar asked him out of concern for the fallen solider. His thoughts turned to the rest of the battle. "I mean, total wise," He rephrased his question, "The whole battle? do you think it was worth the cost?" WheelBar glanced around and surveyed all the other injured soliders. He needed an answer, because he wasn't quite sure himself.

Command Center

Rampage nodded to Blitzwings reply to Ruination as much as he would love to get his fangs, claws or even his sword embedded in the body of what he would term a waste of space; he could see the reason in their arguments. Still perhaps a demonstration on one of them may be needed in order to convince the others to return. With that thought Rampage flicked his tail in a much more sickly delighted motion.

"I belive I would" he replied silently rolling his optics at Blitzwings dragging of the first word. Some people he would never understand. When Blitzwing left Rampage also (in a way) saluted Onslaught and bounded out. Running quite happilly to the entrance of the tower; if he was going to find the right scent trail he was going to have to do a bit of sniffing around first.

---Shockwaves Tower Armory---

Scramble turned her head, hefting her own load of Cargo. Unable to supress a small chuckle at Raptures mention of her service record. "Flattery will not get you a destimulant for personal use.." She teased. Tilting her head when Rapture continued speaking of her possible reassignment. As she placed the crate down and said.

"I am not quite an officer, I just do what I was trained to do." nodding after a moment. "Well lets hope the High Command see's it that way too eh?" However her brightening optics soon dimmed as Rapture spoke of her own departed mate and Scrambles indirectly. "Well...that was a long time ago." She simply left it that, shaking her head slowly, letting out a slow sigh. "Shall we?" She then asked pushing back rising feelings of mourning that she hadn't quite made peace with yet.

----Shockwaves Tower Command Center----

The Cornors of Ruination's face mask slanted upwards a little as he nodded his head slowly. "It will work for ME!" He said pointing to his chest with his left thumb. The Large Tank Decepticon quickly turned to follow Blitzwing, his commander for the moment. Ruination was quite use to following orders, however most of those orders revolved around blast that and crush this. Not entirely disappointed, though he secretly hoped to find these missing comrades and learn that they decided to ignore the order. He would bring them back alive of course...but no one said they had to be intact. The mere thought of that caused his ruby colored optics to grow brightly.

"You lead and I follow, Blitzwing." He grunted nodding, premptively the chainguns mounted on each formarm whirled for a moment testingly. Yes this could be fun either way.

Shockwave's Tower- Armory

Rapture nodded at Scramble's comments. She was all business when she replied. "You're right. Now that we're loaded we should get underway. I want you to direct us in the repairs when we arrive on target." The Squadron Leader walked quickly, towards the launch bay where Dead End and Heap were securing their cargo for travel. She turned to face the two ground units.

"Dead End. I want you to act as navigator for us. Your auto mapping systems should have recent scans of quite a bit of the terrain we need to cover. Once we arrive, your radar will serve as our early warning system."

"Heap. You're the most experienced Ground Unit on record. I'm counting on your input for this detail. If something happens to me, overall mission command goes to you."

The midnight blue Seeker turned to see all three of her squad mates. "All right, Decepticons. We're loaded for bear. Anything you need to do or say before we go, do it now. We launch in five breems."

Shockwave's Tower

As they loaded the cargo into Astrotrain, Warthog looked out the bay doors, radar pinging the landscape for any signs of trouble. A few scavengers flittered around the battlefield, but no real threats. This would be a long trip.

"Astrotrain, you know what you're doing...I'll supply you with my radar information as much as I can."

"Skywarp, Thundercracker, either of you kids know how to do whatever the slag we're doing at teh site? Nevermind. One of you can figure it out on the way."

Warthog turned and strode towards Astrotrain's open door. "We got two boxes to go. Grab 'em and hit it boys, I want to make it out there before Omega does."

The Killzone

The question hit Brewer hard. He didn't want to give a wrong answer to Wheelbar, but he knew it was true - to how he saw things. Pausing, the Search and Rescue Specialist thought hard on his following words. Once knowing what to say, he returned to the medical job at hand, "It isn't something to be surprised of. There have been worse battles. I know that I shouldn't think this way, but... no - it wasn't worth it. And I don't care if the Decepticons won't talk things out, there has got to be other ways out of this."

Brewer smiled and shook his head, "Listen to me blabber on about things that don't even matter. Of course there isn't any other way." He paused again and looked Wheelbar hard in the optics, "Even when things seem foolish, as long as it's for the side of good, follow with it. Understand?"

Shockwave's Tower, Polyhex - Command Center

Absently acknowledging the various salutes of his subordinates as the Tower control room gradually emptied once more, Onslaught turned his bulk of his attention back to his efforts to restore the demolished infrastructure of Polyhex. Surely it was only a matter of time before the High Command dispatched an officer of higher standing to resume control of the city-state, and when that happened he wished to present as smoothly-functioning a military apparatus as was possible in the wake of such a disaster. Not that the Combaticon imagined much issue could be taken with the implementation of his masterful strategy to restore both troop morale and regional stability.

Another incoming transmission obliged Onslaught to respond. >>This is Tower Control, Nightraid. Clearance to land: granted.<<

Shockwave's Tower, Polyhex - Launch Bay

Dead End had secured one of the cargo trailers located in the launch bay in order to more efficiently transport his share of the munitions. The Stunticon was physically no slouch, but it would be far less awkward for him to haul the weapons that drag them about in his robot mode. Not that he expected to make it all that far before the rough terrain jarred one of the photon charges badly enough to set off a massive explosion that would terminate his functioning in moderately spectaular fashion. Perhaps it wouldn't be the most glorious end to his career--but the career itself had not been especially glorious, either.

His visor flickered in dour amusement as he inclined his cranial unit at Rapture's orders. "These must be dire times indeed if you'll be relying upon my skills as a navigator. Still, I suppose keeping the rest of you out of the smelter for another cycle is the least I can do." It certainly beat working with Motormaster and those other psychotics by a considerable margin.

"I'll be ready to roll whenever the rest of you are. Though I hope nobody I know sees me in this deplorable condition. I look like salvage."

Outskirts of Nova Cronum

Brewer's answer was the one he was looking for. And he was thankful for it. As long as WheelBar did what he felt right, then things would turn out ok, no matter how bad they got. He felt relieved and even more determined to battle. He looked up at Brewer, returning the stare in all seriousness.

"Yes, sir." WheelBar smiled a little bit in the seemingly overbearing depression of the battle field. "Yes, I'll do that...thank you sir." He looked back down at Brewer's hands, full fledge in helping their comrade.

WheelBar had only been here a short time, and yet he had seen and learned so much. But, as he realized this, he also realized that he had much to learn and that this would not be that last of battles he would see. It was only the first.

He hoped for a future where no bot would ever have to know the horriors of war, even if WheelBar had to give his life for it.

Killzone - Outer Polyhex Perimeters

It seemed as though in his absence, Bane had apparently found the time to bestow some sort of authority upon himself, and that didn't sit kindly with Havok. As long as he could remember, The Corrupticons had worked as one, nobody taking command over the others, and it had played a large part in their incredible efficiency as a team. But withBane trying to inforce some sort of command over he and Thrall, Havok could only see it being detrimental to their effectiveness, and he sure as Pit wasn't having it.

"I know I've been absent for some time, but have I missed something?" Havok asked as he moved over to pick up one of the bodies Thrall had dropped earlier "..Have I been brought back from the brink to be your personal radio assistant?" Havok asked rhetorically, before walking up alongside Bane, the limp body slung over his shoulder, moved in close, and lowered his voice "I don't know what went on while I was out of action, and I don't particularly care, but don't talk to me like I'm lower than you. You want to call for a retreat, do it yourself"

--------------------------
The Killzone

"I swear the old ones really are the worst" Archangel mumbled to himself as Kup seemingly ignored his reasoning for why they hadn't moved and instead grabbed one of the patients and drove off "If he does any more damage to that kid, I'm the one who'll have to pick up the pieces, not him, stupid old geezer" The Medic continued as he walked over towards the transport, annoyed, but not really surprised by Kup's actions.

Climbing up onto the transport, looking down at Brewer and Wheelbar working away on the last of the casualties, Archangel took a look around and noted that everyone was present and accounted for, and quickly gave the nod for the pilot to take off and head for Autobase Nu.

(OOC - I hope Armorwind, Deathcaller, Silverblade and Tenkyoen don't mind me assuming that everyone was on the transport, as I think the Mods want to end this thread soon. So I think any further posts can be made when the Mods close this one and open up the seperate Nova Cronum thread, hope that's OK with everyone )

Shockwave's Tower - Polyphex

"Affirmative sir. Bringing in the Sekeers" Nightraid said. As the group slowed down, they transformed and landed in the adjacent 'courtyard'.
Nightraid landed, right foot first than second and took on a disciplined stance.
Behind him the others neatly landed.
A duo of medics approached to check up on the Decepticons their wounds and potential structural problems.

((Davekma KK with me Sub-Zero had been on the transport a play ago he's just sitting waiting.))

Polyphex General Area/Killzone Patroll

Blitzwing stared out into the ruins before him. He could remember once that this world was not so ragged in appearance. The purple Triplechanger made his way through the rubble with a touch of difficulty. He would have loved to roll his way through in tank mode but Onslaught had used the word "Quietly" and a Tank was by no means quiet. It almost felt as if they were sneaking up on their fellow Decepticons. Which was interesting. He would compare this to the times he ambushed the Autobots and keep a mental note of which was more challenging. He eyed Rampage slightly jealous of his sleek agile alt form. This terrain would be nothing to him. He waited allowing the predicon to direct them as to where they should go. Absentmindedly he rubbed his left arm, a laser blast had seared his armor earlier and now it irritated him.

He spoke to his two team mates as they moved, “Onslaught wants us to find the Corrupticons, but to tell you the truth I’ve never given them so much as a look. I think I remember Bane at least but as for the rest of them, do you two have any visuals on them?”

He figured if any of the Corrupticons were dead it would be a good thing to ID their bodies. He didn’t doubt Rampage's abilities but he figured names would be needed in that type of situation. He positioned himself beside Ruination, the mech was taller than he his 36 feet of height would give him a better view than Blitzwing had.
“Ruination, You see anything?”

Launch Bay

Heap listened to Rapture, turning to the other assembled Decepticons. Most of these guys were kids, save for Warthog, and they still had their heads screwed on straight. He'd been especially impressed with Scramble out in the field, even though he wasn't the biggest fan of medics.

When Rapture spoke of rank and authority, Heap sighed. He'd never wanted to command, and he certainly didn't want to start now, but his insecurities about such weren't enough to make him question his commander. He simply nodded and went back to loading the supplies. As he loaded, he spoke up, "Guys, I was there when most of those weapons were installed, and even at their best they were flighty, erratic pieces of equipment. If we do this right, it's gonna take time, so be ready for a long haul out there,"

((OOC: again, sorry about my pisspoor posting schedule; real life has been hitting me over the head. I am truly and deeply sorry if it has inconvenienced anyone.))

Launch Bay

Rapture grinned wryly at Dead End's complaint about his appearance. "You sound like an old spinsterbot, Dead End," she said good-naturedly. "Don't worry. If we succeed they'll be more than enough time to see to those dents. If we fail the Autobots won't care about how we look."

She turned to listen as Heap spoke. Rapture nodded at the veteran's advice.
"you're probably right, Heap. Which means we need to make good time getting there. We'll need every astrosecond we can get for the repairs."

She punched a few commands into the console, opening the bay doors.

"Alright. Let's get this show on the road."

((OOC: It's all cool with me, Davekma. I haven't had time to read every post, so I hadn't been able to check all the urgencies. XD I'm sorry, mods!))

Transport

Once stabalizing and placing his patient into Stasis for the ride home, Brewer, along with Wheelbar, carried him onto the Transport. Everyone had boarded, and it was time to head back to base. Brewer was proud of himself for saying such touching words to boost Wheelbar's mind into positive thoughts.

The only thing that kept the S&R Specialist's own chin up was that he knew he'd see Forte again. He worried about her - still unable to hear from her. Hopefully, she didn't get into too much trouble for her Bezerker problem.

Shockwave's Tower, Polyhex - Launch Bay

"Appearance counts," Dead End objected. "It can mean the difference between being taken prisoner and getting mistaken for a scavenger and shot on sight." Not that either option was especially good, but those seemed to be the only kind left to them these days. An inexorable descent from bad to worse. The only way he was coming back from this newest quixotic errand was in several dozen easy-to-carry pieces, that much was obvious. There was no way a pair of Seekers and an old jalopy could be stealthy enough to slip past a Guardian.

But at least it would probably be quick. He might not even feel a thing.

As Rapture issued the order to roll out, Dead End transformed and backed up to the trailer he had previously readied. Once the magnetic locks were properly engaged, he started forward--at a far more sedate and cautious speed than those to which he was accustomed. He was a Stunticon, after all. Still, that was no excuse for outright stupidity, was it? Certainly not when Wildrider and Drag Strip weren't around to egg each other--or him--on.

"Moving out, oh efficient one," he said wryly. "Just follow my lead, and try not to fall too far behind."

Autobase Nu, Nova Cronum - Command Center

When the order to pull out had been given, Prowl had naturally headed straight back to the Autobase at the best speed he could manage with the minor damage he had sustained during the battle. Though capable enough in a firefight, it was as a military analyst and tactician that he felt he could best serve his fellow Autobots, and that meant getting back and poring over the combat data to figure out what they'd done right and--perhaps more importantly--where they'd erred. Once he had a detailed assessment prepared, he could prevent his finding to Optimus and they would be that much more prepared for their next offensive against the weakened Decepticon city-state.

It might be some time before they could marshal the kind of attack force they had just employed against Polyhex again, but with any luck the 'Cons position had been so destabilized that a series of smaller strikes would be enough to break their hold over the region between Nova Cronum and the Tagan Heights permanently.

Prowl was smiling grimly as he entered the command center, though it was more in reserved satisfaction at a job well-done than out of any genuine pleasure. The memory of his own home city of Praxus reduced to ruins was still too fresh in his mind for him to find enjoyment in destruction. His brittle expression quickly returned to one of stoic impassivity as he began his review of the prelimary reports from the front and summarized battle logs.

"Not what I'd call an unqualified success," he mused to himself, "but it looks like we managed to take a good bite out of Decepticon territory. Provided we can consolidate our gains while we've still got them reeling." Prowl then noticed the singificant number of Autobot signatures still registering as present in the former battlezone. Tapping the side of the console irritably, he entered a series of commands into the comm repeating the instruction for all Autobots in the Killzone to return to Nova Cronum without delay. He then opened a private channel to Kup.

>>What's going on out there? It looks like half our troops are still out in the field, and the battle's been over for nearly a cycle.>Kup, I'd like you back at Autobase Nu as fast as you can get here. With Maximus down, it'll be up to us to get the others ready for the next push.<<

Shockwave's Tower - Polyphex

After getting patched up Nightraid and the Seekers headed for the armory where they reloaded on armaments.
It was then that Nightraid afterwards left the Seekers and entered the tower to report to Command. whoever currently was present to report to.
He nodded as Bludgeon passed him. The green and purple Master of Metalikato nodded back and seemed to be heading for the Central hub.
Arriving there, the Seeker-tactician and the Martial Artist entered a keycode each in turn to be allowed in.
There they waited to report back in.