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Iacon

The group had come to a stop some yards from the chasm when Shockwave had decided to indulge Rodimus with the answers to his questions. Unfortunately, the red flamed ‘Bot was not completely convinced that the Military Operations Commander was not being absolutely truthful with his responses. Once Wheeljack had taken a look at the sensory device Rodimus moved in.

The bright blue optics of the Autobot became mere slits as Rodimus glared at the cycloptic Con. His only wish was to get everything he had asked answered fully; instead he received anything but. Again, the possessed Autobot moved in close to Shockwave, and again he addressed the Decepticon in a hushed tone.

“You’ve always been a cautious mech; driven solely by logic and Megatron’s ideals. Yet you’ve never managed to make that one logical move that would put you in the position you desire most. You’re just as devious as Megatron ever was, and now you want us to believe that you have our kind’s best interest in mind by reviving our home.”

Rodimus paused for a moment mulling around everything that has transpired thus far before he decided to go just a little further. Rodimus took in a deep intake of air.

“Let’s just get something straight, Shockwave, I don’t trust you, not now and certainly not before your time with the Decepticons. But I want the chance to see my Cybertron again. So, if I intend to get my wish I’m going to have to agree to this temporary alliance.”

The Autobot’s next statement was laced with total malice.

“But, if you, for any reason, logical or otherwise, decide to abrogate on this alliance I’ll be forced to dispatch you with extreme prejudice. I hope you understand that.”

Rodimus straightened back up and nodded to the other gathered Autobots, a reassuring smirk plastered on his faceplate.

Shockwave's singular optic examined the device that he had given Wheeljack before gazing upon the Autobot scientist directly. His request was not ideal, but Shockwave had already brought along a sufficient number to acquire the information he--and they--would need if he was to accomplish his admittedly long-term goal at some point. He had brought several in order to account for loss through potential attrition, both natural and otherwise. This would simply be the first casualty.

"Imperative--proceed."

It was unsurprising to Shockwave that he and the impetuous young Autobot had differing opinions about what constituted the Military Operations Commander's next logical move. When it came to matters of logic in general, Shockwave suspected that they would have divergent opinions more often than not. It was only when it came to the subject of restoring Cybertron that their respective ideals intersected. To what degree was still an unknown quantity, but the progress that had been made up to this point was satisfactory.

"Declarative--your concerns are logical. It is the nature of this arrangement that your side must offer more trust than mine. If the arrangement progresses, that will likely change with time. Make no mistake, I believe the Decepticon philosophy of governance remains superior to that of the Autobots. For the time being, however, that reality is irrelevant. There is little here to govern. If you trust nothing else, I would recommend each of you trust in the fact that I stand as one of the few among the Decepticons that have both the capability and the desire to make Cybertron habitable once again. In time, it would be wise..."

Shockwave stopped. A Priority 1 message was coming in. Shockwave regitered the signal clearly, as it had been routed through his Tower, which was--to some extent--simply a grand extension of himself. Or he of it. Countless vorns had begun to blur those lines to some extent. Shockwave entered his personal command codes and waited for the message to proceed. Given the high encryption levels and priority of the message, it was likely to be from Megatron himself. That alone could change the nature of the orns to come.

Iacon

Wheeljack, grinned, not that his face guard would show it. and proceeded to flip the little critter around in his hand, and found the access panel to it's internal circuitry, and disabled the primary power source. As he did this, with one optic kept on that which was going on around him. By the luck of Primus he didn't accidentally detach a digit, or disable any of the servos in his own hand, but there is always a risk that it could happen.

Even though Shockwave had a minorly distracted, the blue-and white scientist still had to ask, "Just what is the Decepticon policy for governance? I didn't think there was a standard, just what happened to please Megatron that particular moment."

Iacon

Grimlock had his gun trained on the small drones Shockwave dispatched the moment he let them loose. Only the fact that no one else seemed terribly alarmed by them prevented him from opening fire. The small devices seemed like the perfect way to analyze their base defenses or simply act as mobile spy cameras deep in Autobot territory. They probably would be easy to detect as Shockwave himself said. If he could release them undetected he would have done that rather then right in front of their faces. Still, the Dinobot leader found it unnerving.

He briefly considered Shockwave’s answer to his question. He had basically shrugged it off, as he thought he would. If he was conducting this little truce ‘off the books’ like he suspected then he wasn’t going to give any hints to it. The Dinobot definitely had his suspicions about Shockwave, but he wasn’t quite sure how to prove them, yet.

*

Message to Shockwave, Priority 1

Decrypted

From: Soundwave, Communications Specialist.

Situation on Earth Garrison: Dire

Massive Autobot assault on infiltration base. Base destroyed during battle, inflicting heavy loss of resources and multiple wounded.

Megatron was caught in the blast and is currently MIA and presumed terminated.

Infiltration team: relocated to Ultrax in orbit around Earth.

Leadership of Decepticons: in question.

Starscream has proclaimed himself leader with support from Motormaster. Starscream’s position: tenuous. Leadership ability: inadequate. Logical successor to Megatron: yourself.

Current Decepticons who know of Megatron’s status: None outside of Earth garrison. If such knowledge would spread: Decepticon civil war. Starscream is not capable of preventing or winning such a war. A stronger leader is needed. For now, false information is being spread to the empire to prevent chaos and fracturing of the empire. Façade cannot be maintained indefinitely.

Request you return to Earth as soon as possible to stake rightful claim to leadership. Suggest keeping situation secret until your leadership is secured.

My support: yours.

Miles Above Iacon

Divebomb continued monitoring and recording all activity regarding Shockwave and the small team of ‘Bots that had accompanied him to the chasm. From his vantage point high above the ruins of the Autobot capital, the flying Predacon could see everything that was going on down below, including when the cycloptic mech released the tiny sensor probes into the subterranean levels of Cybertron, itself, before then giving one to Wheeljack for analysis. It was an unwise move in Divebomb’s mind to give Decepticon technology to the enemy, even something so small and seemingly insignificant. It could give the Autobots an advantage by allowing them to counter such probes in the future. Perhaps Shockwave had other devices at his disposal and thus he was not concerned with sharing these particular ones. Regardless, the aerial combatant didn’t like what he was seeing.

The audio recorder that Divebomb carried, while not as perfect as his eyesight, did the job well enough that Razorclaw would likely be satisfied with the results. Furthermore, it yielded some very interesting conversations between Shockwave and his Autobot chaperones, conversations that would surely pique the interest of the Predacon Commander and likewise Onslaught.

Divebomb’s internal systems then alerted him of his current fuel levels, which were down to 30%. The additional weight of the recording device coupled with the length of time he had remained airborne had drained his power cells more than anticipated. As it were, he had just enough energon to return to base without having to land and walk the remainder of the way. If he was forced to go on foot, even for part of the journey, the likelihood of Shockwave arriving back at the tower before him was high, and it was imperative that the Predacon flyer returned first and deliver the information he had gathered to his superiors.

Making one final circle high over Iacon, Divebomb switched off the recorder and glided back across the border of the Autobot capital. Once he was safely out of enemy territory, he ignited his rocket thrusters and sped back towards Polyhex.

Iacon – Near the Chasm

Howlstrike stood by as Shockwave released the tiny, spider-like probes that quickly scurried underground. The former Predacon couldn’t help but notice how unnerved Grimlock was by this as the Dinobot Commander already had his weapon drawn on the little metal critters. Howl couldn’t blame him for that reaction as it was a concern the Autobot tracker shared, as well. He just saw no need to point a gun at them when the devices appeared to be of no imminent threat and firing on them would likely only agitate their purple 'guest' further. Of course, there were different kinds of threats, some of which became known immediately while others took some time before they struck.

Howlstrike leaned closer to Grimlock once more to share his concerns, keeping his voice at a whisper. “I don’t like the looks of those things. Sure they give off a strong signal now, but what happens when they stop transmitting? I doubt they’ll be as easy to detect once they’ve gone silent. They could do a lot of physical damage before we’re able to stop them.”

Command Center

Bluestreak nodded at the various comments Springer made without immediately responding. Once the triplechanger was finished, however, Blue decided to let loose his vocal processor. “That’s very true. Wheeljack is more than smart enough to figure out if Shockwave was hiding anything. Of course, ol’ one-eye’s a tough mech to read, so ‘Jack will need to be on his A game if he wants to figure out the Decepticon’s true motives. I’m sure he will be, though. ‘Jack doesn't do things half-afted."

Not on purpose, anyway, Bluestreak thought, knowing that many of Wheeljack's inventions tended to blow up in his face plate on the first try. However, that didn't mean the inventor was unintelligent. It just meant that he sometimes overlooked flaws when rushing to get things done, which was something he could not do in a situation like this.

“As for a possible escape plan, I’m sure Shockwave has one. It wouldn’t be logical for him not to just in case," Bluestreak continued. "Whether that includes help from the outside is another story. So far I haven’t detected any movement beyond the stray cyber-critter, but that doesn’t mean Shockers can’t send a quick distress signal back to Polyhex if he feels threatened. It wouldn’t take too long for the rest of the ‘Cons to get here. The only other thing I could think of is a possible underground assault. There are miles of tunnels and sewers underneath Iacon. Many are impassable, but some might allow a small rescue team through. But even if that was the case, they would have to emerge at some point above ground and then the autocannons would blast them, alerting us of their presence. I’ll continue to keep a close optic on the security feeds, of course.”

When Springer mentioned Kup's war stories Bluestreak looked over at the old timer, who was still sitting in the command chair, monitoring everything that was going on outside. “Yeah, he’s got some really great stories to tell, no doubt about that. I’ve always enjoyed listening to them, especially the ones where he goes into detail about the ‘Cons he's blasted into scrap. You know, when he really gets into it, Kup can sometimes talk for as long as I can. Ha ha!” The Autobot gunner chuckled, meaning no disrespect as he held the aging mech in the highest regard.

Training Facility

Snarl stood amongst the wreckage of several training drones, holding his oil drenched energo sword in one hand and his smoking laser gun in the other. While he needed no real training, as he was already an accomplished fighter, the exercise had been good for him and had kept his cerebral processor occupied while waiting for Grimlock to return from his ‘Con-sitting mission. In many ways it had been a good thing for the Desert Warrior to stay behind as it would have been near impossible for him to just stand there and watch Shockwave conduct whatever experiments he wanted without attacking him. Boredom was worst than anything in Snarl’s mind as he was only truly happy when he was eviscerating a Decepticon.

“Me think we’re done here now,” Snarl said to the other Dinobots who had gotten a good workout, as well. “Let’s get recharged and head back up to command center. See if Grimlock has returned yet.” The Desert Warrior then put away his weapons and walked through the debris of the combat drones, kicking chunks of metal out of his way as he went, before exiting the training room.

On his way through the corridors, Snarl made a quick stop by the repair bay where he hooked himself into to a recharge station to top off his fuel cells with some fresh energon. It wouldn't take long and then he and the other Dinobots could rejoin the rest of the Autobots in the command center.

Iacon

“Declarative—the current, driving philosophy is ‘peace through tyranny’, a belief that several of you have likely heard Megatron express. Both sides desire eventual peace. We differ on how best to achieve it. As you might expect, the governance policies are subject to change, depending on who holds the seniormost positions within our ranks,” Shockwave answered Wheeljack’s query, even as his powerful logic circuits were at work on another important issue.

Shockwave had clearly received the highly-encrypted message and was now in the process of analyzing considerable amount of information that Soundwave had seen fit to send him. Naturally, Shockwave would eventually want as much hard data about everything that had occurred in the Sol system so that he could form his own conclusions. Until such time as that information became available to him, he would need to accept Soundwave’s reports at face value and determine strategies based upon that alone.

The Military Operations Commander and the Communications Specialist had come to a gradual and acceptable understanding of how the other tended to operate over the long vorns that they had each served in this war under Megatron’s command. Given the nature of how the Decepticons functioned, Shockwave had expected that Megatron would fall prey to assassination from within his own ranks well before he met his apparent end as the result of some collateral damage. During the Golden Age, given the nature of how the fledgling Decepticon movement functioned, Shockwave had originally calculated that any individual laying claim to Decepticon leadership would only ever hold such a title for a short time before his eventual successor dethroned them. That Megatron had lasted as long as he had was one of the cycloptic mech’s few miscalculations. The almost emotionless mech had to admit, however briefly, that even he was given pause by the contents of that transmission. The loss of Megatron registered as a loss, though for Shockwave it was more akin to losing access to a critical resource than how he expected many of the other Decepticons would take the information. Still, Megatron had survived worse than anything that had been described in that trnasmission on numerous occasions. Shockwave would proceed with the assumption that he had survived this, too, and it would simply be a matter of maintaining stability until such time as his body was recovered and revived.

Even so--if any conceivable situation warranted an override of the strategist's current agenda—this would be it.

However, he had no desire to undo the progress that had been built here. The current state of the war was untenable. Cybertron needed to thrive again. The question that Shockwave had to factor now was how many of the other Cybertronians, Autobots and Decepticons alike, realized that fact, and how many of them were content to continue blindly down their current path. A path that Shockwave expected would eventually lead to their mutual extinction.

“Declarative—the strategic situation has changed. It is necessary that I return to Polyhex.”

Shockwave momentarily peered down the edges of the chasm. The drones had vanished from view. It would be some time yet before they were deep enough in Cybertron’s substrata to begin transmitting any useful data for this region, but it—like his arrangement with the Autobots—was a beginning. Though he had specific endgoals in mind for each scenario, there was much progress that would have to be made in the interim. He turned to leave, but before taking to the air, another logical algorithm registered in his mind: given the nature of what he had just said, they were likely to expect that the “strategic situation” he had mentioned somehow involved the endangerment of their fellow Autobots. For now, that was not the case.

“Our agreement stands. However, I calculate a significant risk that it may change quickly in the coming orns. I will exercise what control I can to see that it is something that can be built upon, rather than torn down.”

Repair Bay
Swoop followed Snarl into the repair bay, following Snarl's lead. Once all the other Dinobots were hooked up to the recharge stations, distracted by Energon being returned to their bodies, Swopp hurried out of the room and down the hall. He had to know what was happening with Shockwave. He transformed and manuevered his way down the narrow hallways.

He arrived to where the other Autobots and Shockwave were, and slipped and optic probe around the corner. He could see That Shockwave was about to leave, and Wheeljack was disecting a small spider-like drone, while many others creeped their way down the chasm. Swoop didn't like that. He stored a mental file in his mind to investigate further. For now, he needed to return to the other Dinobots before the noticed he was gone. He transformed and returned the way he had come...

Iacon

Rodimus had kept his optics glued on the drones as they scampered down the chasm and vanished from sight. The team Commander had quickly looked back up to the Military Operations Commander, his optics narrowed as he noticed the Decepticon seemed preoccupied with something internal…perhaps a communiqué, Rodimus assumed.

His assumption was affirmed when Shockwave suddenly announced that the current situation had changed and he was returning to Polyhex. It didn’t surprise the new mech, but before Shockwave even took to the air he turned and addressed the small group again. His statement almost caused a shiver to run down the Cavalier’s spinal structure. It seemed cryptic in nature and it would have to be addressed as soon as possible.

Rodimus quickly turned to Wheeljack once Shockwave had finally departed.

“Jack, I want you to link that probe of yours with the others in that chasm. I’m in no mood to wait to hear from Shockwave on what his little pets have found.“

That said Rodimus turned his attention to Howlstrike.

“Howlstrike, I want you to follow Shockwave. Do not engage him; just follow him to the outskirts of Polyhex. Find a secure location and monitor the tower. If you see anything, and I mean anything, I want to hear from you.”

After he gave out his orders he looked to the other mechs present.

"Grimlock, stay here with Wheeljack. The rest of you; let's get back to base. We're going to have to get in contact with the 'Bots on Earth. I have a feeling something is happening there."

Iacon

Wheeljack wasn't exactly think of hacking the gizmo's radio. But that will be easier done when he got it back to his lab. So for now he just interrupted it's primary power circuit.

"Hot Rod, I'll be able to do that and more once I get back to base. For now I can just track he buggers, but just barley. They're headed into the deep core, possibly deeper than that time Prime went down to Primus."

While he was talking, he started walking back towards the base. Tinkering on the widget that Shockwave had given him. I might be able to do what Roddy whats, as well as what I want to do with this little gizmo. However in his distracted state he walked smack into the unmovable mass that is a wall -- head first. The impact momentarily impaired his gyro-stabilizer, and he fell flat on his aft.

Iacon Skies--Border Territory

Shockwave's logic calculations had been successful, and the Autobots had decided not to take the opportunity that Shockwave had recognized was available to them from the onset of his arrival: the opportunity to overtake and capture a Decepticon High Commander. It validated Shockwave's calculations of there being a sufficient number of Cybertronians, on both sides of this war, who recognized that the extinction of their race was steadily becoming a very real possibility. But he also knew that their limited trust hinged entirely on his commitment and his ability to restore Cybertron.

Arriving on this planet once again, the restoration was a goal that he knew Megatron shared, even if the former gladiator was more focused on his expansionist agenda. Controlling Cybertron was about exactly that for the Decepticon Leader--control. Power. Peace--through tyranny. Shockwave had understood that logic, but for the strategist it was becoming less about power and more about survival; however, Shockwave knew that there were others within the Decepticon ranks who would be focused on expansion and conquest exclusively--giving no thought to the restoration and preservation of their home world. Shockwave found such thinking to be highly illogical. What peace would they enjoy if there was no energy to sustain them?

Now, with Soundwave's transmission, a new opportunity had presented itself. An opportunity to solidify all the work he had done with his seeding of worlds for many vorns and make Cybertron the natural centerpiece of the universe that it should logically be. It would be an opportunity to exercise more control of the empire's resources and, if necessary, the empire itself. Shockwave would have to explore the situation fully. To do otherwise would go against his core programming.

He sent the first of a series of transmissions to his tower in Polyhex, preparing the structure for his arrival. Contacting Soundwave would be his first order of business.