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The Thanatos — Corridors

Weirdwolf's optics flickered as Shockwave handed him the datapad and took few steps back. Could the walking computer given form of a Decepticon commander have been any less obvious. Rather than attempting to secure Weirdwolf's support in an already volatile situation, Shockwave seemed to be paranoid enough of every Decepticon on board the battlecruiser to endanger their lives rather than his own. Which was not really a problem to Weirdwolf. However, he did not like his intelligence being undermined in such manner. Shockwave could have selected one of the less than bright characters that formed the bulk of the Decepticon war machine. Instead, he had chosen him for a duty fit to a drone? Obviously his services were not appreciated by the cyclops despite the crucial role he and Skullcruncher had had in securing the samples Shockwave had been searching for from the depths of Cybertron. If anything, Shockwave's chosen action made the deadly tracker even more convinced than before that if Megatron was truly gone, the only real option for a new leader of the Decepticons was someone with a vision and a warrior's spark. Unfortunately for Weirdwolf, his crossed-wires made his feelings known, that was of course - if Shockwave was able to understand the tracker's supposedly inner monologue.

"Paranoia as the calculator's guide, for a fool the old one takes him... Brilliance of this one gone unappreciated!" Weirdwolf muttered as his digits danced on the touchpad, while his complex sensory systems scanned and analyzed the door before him subconsciously.

His transcendental sixth sense hinting him of no imminent danger in typing in the command code in order to open the door, Weirdwolf did so and once again, he managed to succeed in thinking aloud. "Death and devastation this door will bring not. Seeds of mistrust and hatred it plants. This one misses a true leader, a burning spark and battlefield littered with smoking husks of its enemies!"

"The door opened has commander, needed for something else am I?"

The Thanatos--Storage

Shockwave accepted the datapad. Seeing that no harm had come to his Decepticon subordinate, the Military Operations Commander proceeded to walk in to the storage area itself. His sole optic quickly found the mechaforming technology that they had acquired in Kaon.

"Satisfactory," Shockwave said simply, acknowledging that having to deal with a suddenly incapacitated Decepticon warrior would have been considerably inconvenient, but not as much as if it had been he himself.

As Weirdwolf continued to speak, Shockwave analyzed his words even as he continued entering the command protocols necessary to access the mechaforming technology. Though his words were twisted, Shockwave was actually somewhat taken off guard by the depth of what the other Decepticon was saying. It had been a statistical improbability that such a conversation would ever occur between the two, so much so that Shockwave had not even entertained it as a possibility. Kneeling in front of the tech, Shockwave turned his sole optic on Weirdwolf for the moment.

"Guide? Negative. Tool? Affirmative. Declarative: Megatron's absence will be felt by all, until such time as the means to find and restore him are discovered. Interrogative: which Decepticon do you feel best suited to lead the way forward? Given your stated prerequisites, I can calculate with 87.98974% probability that you believe it is not the one before you now. I am curious as to whom you will follow."

The Thanatos - Storage

Weirdwolf froze as he heard Shockwave's words. There were few beings that made the tracker nervous and one was facing him right now. It was not fear, not yet at least. Caution? Definitely. Excluding those few whose powers rivaled the ancient scientist, only a fool would openly challenge someone as powerful as Shockwave. A hunter like Weirdwolf knew that everyone had a weakness. Given chance to prepare, he was pretty certain he could best even Shockwave. However, what he faced now was hardly an ideal situation for him to test his skills. Not that he even really wanted to do so. Shockwave was a scientific and military genius, one that the Decepticons as a whole could not afford to lose if they wanted to end this war. No matter, a weakness of his own had betrayed Weirdwolf. A weakness he knew that existed. A weakness he could not control.

"Misspoke I did again, did I not?" The tracker sighed. Whatever the reason was, at times, Weirdwolf just could not avoid talking to himself. Sometimes it made him to give up his position during a hunt. Sometimes it led him into awkward situations like this.

"The Gladiator replaced cannot be commander." Weirdwolf stated calmly. For whatever it was worth, he was not going to show any weakness in front of the purple cyclops. He was not going to reveal anything more than answers to the questions presented to him. Nor he felt any shame in sharing his opinion on who the Decepticon Empire should follow from now on. "Valued you are commander. But also forgotten. Considered you dead they have. Only a small glimpse of the Gladiator's grand scheme have you seen. The leadership of this cell no peer of mighty Scorponok or master Deathsaurus makes you."

Blackwind’s Private Quarters

Thunderwing nodded as he took in Blackwind’s analysis. “The Constructicons will indeed likely want to receive the credit and attention they feel they are due by being the architects of so much of what the Decepticons have done. I suspect they would likely side with Shockwave over Starscream as he will at least appreciate them on a technical level. I would guess that Starscream will likely build support by appealing to some baser elements that would not particularly interest Scrapper and his group, for the most part at least. The trick will indeed be to appreciate them and give them assignments to keep them happy and busy. On top of that I can likely add some charm that Shockwave could not supply.” He offered the seeker a small smile.

He sat back, his hands folded together as he considered Soundwave. “Soundwave will be difficult to deal with. He is in a precarious situation, which he must realize. I do recall his staunch loyalty to Megatron, from even before the war started I’ve heard. More then a few Decepticons likely have a score to settle with him through whatever shady dealings he has been free to do under the protection of Megatron. Of course, he is quite powerful in his own right, which makes him an attractive ally to have.”

Thunderwing paused to think for a bit. “I would doubt he would side with Starscream, at least not fully. The seeker’s ambitions against Megatron would likely preclude them from every really trusting each other. On the other hand he may not necessarily run to Shockwave. If I recall, Shockwave had developed a method of blocking his telepathy, planting a seed of mistrust from the start. However this doesn’t give me any particular opening with him. The best strategy may be to simply isolate him from any side for now.”

He looked up at Blackwind. “I will trust you to assist with the seekers. I recall their numbers being seemingly legion, to the point where one wonders if even Starscream himself knows them all.” He chuckled lightly before continuing. “With the Aerospace commander busy vying for full leadership, however, I think that would give you a chance to increase your personal influence on his soldiers. While I don’t expect the likes of Thundercracker or Skywarp to turn on him, I would guess that having served so long with Starscream will have rubbed some of the other seekers the wrong way, and perhaps make them willing to seek out some form of change in leadership.”

He nodded at the view of the bridge and lab on the monitor. “Well done in bugging the ship. I would ask you how you did it but I assume you prefer to keep some secrets.” He offered her another smile. “I would also advise you not to use such devices often, but I suspect we may not be located on this vessel too much longer once we return to Earth. We might as well exploit this advantage while we can.”

The Thanatos--Storage

Shockwave considered Weirdwolf's words, a reality that was unique in itself, even as he prodded and examined the mechaforming technology, ensuring that the exterior was free of flaws or possible contaminants before he delved in to the inner workings.

"Declarative: those who forget my capabilities will do so at their own peril. My history and experience speak for themselves. Now and for the foreseeable future. The Expansion Fleet Commanders have been relegated to irrelevance by their current assignments. I see no pressing reason for that to change."

Shockwave rose to his feet.

"However, there is one component of truth in your words. Megatron will not be replaced. Where we go from here will be different, by necessity."

Approaching an access panel, Shockwave used a Decepticon command code available to all of his rank and station and prepared a subspace transmission with the Thanatos' communications systems that would go out to another of his agents. This would have been significantly easier were Soundwave present and at his disposal, but the Military Operations Commander made due. It had been many vorns since Shockwave had any direct contact with this individual, but his services would be just as valuable within the Sol system as they were in his current field of operations, wherever that currently was. The magnitude of the current change in Decepticon leadership would necessitate change at all levels of the current strategy. It would also necessitate the reassignment of certain field agents who were too valuable to remain in their current posts.

>>"Decepticon Shadowing--imperative--upon receipt of this message, you are to proceed to the provided universal coordinates. You will rendezvous with forces in the First Fleet. You will provide debriefing of your recent activities, whereupon new orders will be given. This transmission supercedes any and all others that you are currently operating under. Shockwave out."<<

Stepping away from the access panel, Shockwave returned to the mechaforming technology.

"Imperative: proceed with your departure, Weirdwolf."

The Thanatos - Storage

Shockwave's words did very little to convince Weirdwolf to feel any less hostile towards the cyclops. Rather, he had only proven the tracker's suspicions. Shockwave was not a leader he could trust or one he was going to be able to respect for anything more than his staggering power. This time however, he was actually able to keep his mouth shut as he listened to Shockwave speak his mind.

No, irrelevant they be not. Preoccupied only. Civil war contacting them would now bring. Not in the interest of anyone that is.

As Shockwave finally gave him a permission to take his leave, Weirdwolf wasted no time. Right now he wanted to get away from Shockwave more than he wanted to learn about the device the ancient Decepticon was fiddling with. He would learn soon enough nevertheless. If the device was going to give them an advantage against Autobots, Shockwave would be using it soon enough.

OOC: Everyone can move to the new Decepticon battlecruiser Thanatos - Tides of Revolution thread.