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Bridge

Onslaught drummed the edges of one actuator against the armrest of his chair as he considered the implications of Swindle's report. It was far from ideal. Of the two unit commanders stationed on this planet, Scrapper was actually the one he wanted to engage with first. The engineer's insight would be highly valuable going forward, regardless of which approach they ultimately took.

Motormaster and the Stunticons' value lay in a largely different arena. Securing their support would mostly be a matter of showing them why uniting with the other specialty commanders would give them the power and entertainment they craved on a level considerably beyond the one they now enjoyed--one that had surely been carefully kept in check by Megatron. Once that was accomplished, that group of misfits would then become useful cannon fodder to be sacrificed, if need be, well before the fires of war touched him or his men.

"Motormaster it is, then," Onslaught said to himself, almost reluctantly as he returned his attention to the consoles in front of him, examining data about the area in which the Stunticons were currently operating. "There appears to be a significant military installation in one of the adjoining human cities where the Stunticons now are. In fact, there are many peppered throughout this entire region of the planet. My guess is the natives are more than accustomed to seeing military traffic on their streets and in their skies, which will suit us perfectly."

Tapping another command console, Onslaught brought up Razorclaw's comm signal.

>>"We've isolated the energy signature of Motormaster and his team. No such luck with Scrapper or his unit. Unless the Thanatos can find them, I'd suggest we at least make contact with Motormaster ASAP. He's the more unpredictable of the two anyway. If we can shore up his support for our vision, I believe Scrapper will be more than willing to see the potential."<<

Bridge

Vortex crossed his arms and huffed silently. His fingers thrumped against his shoulder plates as he flexed his bicep servoes as his audio receptors absorbed all that was being discussed.

"Alright, I am convinced Onslaught. This was worthy of interruption." He finally admitted before pushing himself up to his feet and allowed his arms to drop to his sides.

"Of course with the Stunticons roaming loose on the planet surface, one would expect the Autobots to be loafing around at least in some capacity." The interrogation officer stepped over to a terminal next to Onslaught. He tapped in a few commands to bring the ship sensors to focus on the human weapon manifests of the base that had been indicated in the earlier reports.

With the deft accuracy and careful plotting of a surgeon, Vortex seperated the designated vehicles and narrowed down the list to the more common variants of Tanks, Missile Artillery, Ground Transport, Air Superiority Aircraft and Air to Ground Rotor Support vehicles. "If we are going to deliver a personal invitation to those psycopaths, I recommend we dress for the occassion. And should we discover a few Autobot signatures, perhaps we can add to the entertainment billet."

He spread the list to the terminals of the other Combaticons. "Of course if you want, we can intrude upon their mayhem with simple holodrones, but the tactile feel of them between the rotorblades. Just not the same thing."

Bridge

With Swindle’s assistance, Blast-Off’s scans had successfully encircled the backwater mudball where everything had changed so drastically for both sides of the war. The munitions expert seemed proud of himself, touting that it was just some skill he had picked up. That was fine with the space warrior just as long as those skills continued to serve the Combaticons and not simply switch to the highest bidder. Of course, even Swindle’s talents could not locate the Constructicons, who seemed to not want to be found. Onslaught appeared to be okay with the idea of dealing with Motormaster first. After all, Scrapper could always be brought into the fold at a later date.

“Yes, it appears that the Constructicons are well hidden down on the planet, and I do suspect that they are there and not elsewhere. Since the original Earth base was destroyed, it would make sense that they would be needed to build another one and would also need to remain well concealed from the Autobots in order to do so,” Blast-Off pointed out as he continued to manipulate the scans on his own console. “As for the Seekers in the middle eastern region of the planet, I’m detecting Starscream’s signature amongst them. Seems he’s abandoned the Ultrax in favor of some action. It wouldn’t surprise me if Shockwave took advantage of his absence, Commander Onslaught.”

It was then that Vortex spoke up, apparently happy with the worthwhile nature of the interruption he had to previously endure. My spark bleeds, Blast-Off thought as the interrogator accessed a terminal near Onslaught and then sent out a list of potential military vehicular alt modes he had quickly compiled to the other consoles on the bridge. The space warrior glanced over the list and found its contents to be well suited for each of their needs. It even included the Boeing X-37B space plane that Blast-Off had discovered while previously browsing the ship’s database for an Earthen alternate form. The top secret, unmanned spacecraft suited him well and was really the only military air vehicle that was capable of reaching orbit. All others were simple jets or bomber planes, none of which had anything to do with space flight.

“Thanks for the list, Vortex,” Blast-Off reluctantly acknowledged the interrogator, giving him a nod before turning his attention back towards Onslaught. “Well, I’ve already chosen my new alt mode, sir. With your permission, I’ll head on down to a CR chamber and initiate the change.”

Bridge

"So we're going down to that mud ball to ask Motormaster if he'd fancy joining us?!" Brawl boomed as he walked up to the bridge, clanking and otherwise generating enough noise for everyone to spare him at least a passing glare.

"Call me tungstenhead but convincing the most vile bot this side of the galaxy ain't sounding that simple!" The heavily built Combaticon added as he made his way to a terminal where the various military vehicles were being displayed. His optics quickly caught the most interesting form on the screen - a US main battle tank M1A2SEP Abrams. Of course, several modifications were in order for Brawl to add all the weapons he carried to the form but the base was promising.

"That looks just like my kind of form!" The loud Decepticon added, downloading the schematics of the vehicle. "There better be Autobots wherever we're going!"

Turning away from the terminal Brawl began making his way out of the bridge for form reformat in a CR chamber, not even slightly concerned of not asking permission for such. "I've got some payback in mind after what they did to Megatron!"

Bridge

Swindle suppressed a sigh when Onslaught resolved to go to the Stunticons. I appreciate you need intel, boss, but those louts are as likely to stove our cranial units in as talk to us. I wouldn't rate it as a constructive move....Then again, I'm hardly going to say that to your face, high-strung as you are.

Swindle turned back to his console as Vortex chimed in. "Thats all very nice, Vortex, but I've already got an alt mode for this mudball. I was assigned here before the mission to Cybertron, and my disguise was working quite well. I'll just watch the ship while you guys reformat."

The munitions specialist then resumes investigating the various signals of those Decepticon groups he could see. "Even with all the issues, I can try getting us some intel. We don't want to go in blind." Its debatable whether I want to go in at all...Then again, nothing ventured nothing gained. We do have to come out on top of all this. Still, Stunticons....bleh.

Bridge

Brawl, unsurprisingly, made his presence and subsequent absence known before Onslaught could effectively respond to his question. The Combaticon Commander suspected it wasn't so much an actual question anyhow, but rather more of the same virulent stream-of-consciousness that had been affecting the Combaticon brawler ever since news of Megatron's fall had reached them. Onslaught had allowed him some time and leeway in terms of venting that anger, but it would continue only so long as it didn't endanger their mission. If that started to happen, Onslaught would shorten his leash real quick.

"Normally I would agree with discretion being the better part of valor, Swindle. Unfortunately, the real intelligence I need isn't going to come through on one of these instruments," Onslaught said, tapping his console lightly.

"We reformat, juice up and bounce to these coordinates," Onslaught said, forwarding to data that had been received about the Stunticons' location to each of the other Combaticons' personal systems. "Blast-Off, you stay with the ship for now. Engage standard cloaking procedures. I may call on you as well, depending on how this first encounter goes, so you're on permanent stand-by until informed by me and me only. There's a lot of work I want done before we find ourselves having to question Starscream's leadership, or any of the other would-be rulers. Move out."

Saying nothing more for the time being, Onslaught got up from his chair and headed off to the CR chamber as well. After a short trip, he and the others would be on the surface.

Bridge

Blast-Off let slip a faint sigh as Onslaught ordered him to remain on board the Obliteration for the time being while the other Combaticons went down to the surface. It was the usual drill for the well-seasoned space warrior as his job was often to rain down terror from high above the battlefield where there was nothing else but the stars to keep him company. It was a lonely existence to be sure, but it was a feeling that Blast-Off kept hidden from his comrades as he didn’t want to appear weak or overemotional. Neither trait would serve him well amongst the ranks of the Decepticons. Therefore, he quickly put his feelings in check before turning to address his superior officer.

“No problem, Commander Onslaught,” Blast-Off responded in a cheerful and respectful tone, attempting to show a sense of satisfaction with his remaining behind. “I’ll be here ready and waiting for your signal if you need me.” The space warrior then watched as his Combaticon brethren exited the bridge one by one, leaving him the only mech left in the room. As the quiet began to surround him, Blast-Off turned back around in his chair and interfaced with his terminal, bringing the stealth systems online as his leader had ordered. Now, all he had to do was wait and hope that boredom didn’t eventually short circuit his processor.

Encrypted written communique from Razorclaw to Onslaught:

>>Unable to speak freely at this time, Commander Onslaught. Initiating contact with Motormaster is acceptable while I attempt to find a way to locate Scrapper and his men. I will communicate with you when it is safe to do so.<<

Corridors

Razorclaw's transmission was a curious one, but Onslaught opted not to look in to the situation any further. With both Shockwave and Thunderwing aboard that vessel it was only natural that the Predacon Commander would have to tread carefully. Onslaught would certainly not do anything to increase that risk. He would have to remain content in the knowledge that Razorclaw and his unit rarely ever missed their intended quarry. In this respect, the Constructicons would be no different. They had several specialties, but subterfuge was not one of them.

Stepping in to the CR chamber, Onslaught had already found a suitable mode for reformatting in the form of one of the natives' M142 HIMARS vehicles and had programmed the schematics in to the ship's systems in short order. A few moments later, the process began. Onslaught turned off the power to his optic visor and relaxed.

It would surely be the last time for a long time that he would be able to do so.

Bridge

Vortex was the last of the away team to depart. Having already managed to review the vast selection of forms this paltry planet had to offer, he had deemed it necessary to fulfill further functions before finalizing his own selection. A simple combat Black Hawk helicopter, a staple in the US Military, with a few modifications for concealed weapon systems and electronic warfare and counter electronic warfare modules. Plugging in a few commands to the security system, primarily setting codes for immediate extraction of tagged targets such as prisoners, discarded Autobot heads or other potential sources of intelligence, the interrogator finally finished his mundane task.

Infirmary

Vortex stepped into a vacant pod and allowed the door to silently his behind him as he settled into the harness. Entering the final command codes to the reconstruction interface, Vortex allowed himself to fall into a restless slumber as energon was pumped into his system and chunks of armor paneling were torn away.

Bounce Chamber

Onslaught couldn't exactly say that he felt all that different. His energon levels had been topped off--which felt good--and some of his gears and plating seemed to be shifted in to slightly different locations than they had been previously but, all in all, it felt like his new alternate mode wasn't going to give him any grief in the performance department.

Having left the medical bay with Brawl in tow and heading immediately for the bounce chamber, the one thing that the Combaticon Commander knew for certain was that he wanted to get planetside as soon as possible.

Plugging the coordinates that Swindle and Blast-Off had managed to retrieve earlier via the Obliteration's scanning systems, Onslaught stepped in to the chamber and, in the next instant, was gone.