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Monsterbot Base

Doublecross nodded when Repugnus gave the okay to put the contents of the hover cart that the duel-minded mech had been lugging around with him anywhere in the cave he wanted. It was nice to have a place to call their own, somewhere that they could scheme and plot the downfall of the Decepticons that had invaded and ravaged this backwater world. It was about time the ‘Cons received a little payback. No, more than a little, they deserved a lot for what they had done to the indigenous population here not to mention the Autobot team that had apparently fallen into total disarray. Soon, it would be the time of the Monsterbots.

Doublecross pulled the hover cart into a nearby corner of the room and began to unload the equipment as Repugnus laid out his plan of attack. Seemed simple enough but could still prove effective in the long run. It wouldn’t happen overnight, of course, but that would be half the fun. The longer they could torture, maim and humiliate the enemy the better.

(Just as long as it involves bashing ‘Con cranial units together I’m all for it.)

I’m sure it’ll involve that and a whole lot more.

(It better. I, or we, haven’t seen any real action in many cycles now. I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to rip a ‘Con to shreds.)

It’ll all come back to you. I promise.

(Promises are for wimps like the Autobot scraps we just abandoned. Carnage is what I crave!)

With most of the smaller tools and supplies fully unloaded and placed onto several work tables lining the far wall, Doublecross turned back to face his comrades for a moment. Grotusque seemed to like the plan that had been laid out for them and was eager to get started as soon as possible. ‘Cross couldn’t help but smile before adding his own response.

“I agree with ‘Tusque. The plan is sound, Repugnus,” the two-minded Monsterbot concluded with a brief pause before then adding, “We start small and work our way up to bigger and bolder attacks. We strike from the shadows and devour the enemy in their recharge cycles. We become the very nightmares that will haunt them in the light and in the darkness. The ‘Cons will look over their shoulders, not knowing whether or not they will come faceplate to faceplate with their worst fear - Us!”

(That was almost poetic.)

Thank you.

(I could’ve done better.)

Sigh.

Melanossos, Decepticon supply depot

"Well that's already planned on. I mean his color scheme hurts my optics. Red or stripes...pick one already. Am I right Bomb-Burst?" Horri-Bull says as he aims his gun towards where Pyro was. "Let's show Turmoil how it's done." He says as he pulls the trigger.

Equatorial Desert

Slamming into Scattershot had been a spirit riser on otherwise rather lackluster scrap Apeface had found himself on the Equatorial Desert. The sound of enemy's metal bending, cracking and creaking under the pressure was simply something the Horrorcon saboteur was never going to get bored of. Although that was likely a false statement - despite having a vicious streak miles wide, Apeface wasn't a simple hooligan who could be forever satisfied through acts of random cruelty. No, that was really just the part he played - not the end goal. That being said, he did truly enjoy hurting Scattershot this particular moment.

"Yah. Yer stubborn glitch alright." Apeface grunted a response to Scattershot's act of defiance and increased pressure on the back of the Technobot commander's head with one of his long arms. "But it does make playing with you all more satisfying, heh."

Having said his piece to Scattershot, Apeface turned towards Snapdragon with a wide grin latched on his ugly mug. "Just gag and bag 'em Snaps. And let's bounce off with 'em. If I have to wait for those lead-headed flyboys to arrive I might just start snapping necks out of boredom."

The Perdition--Bridge

Reflector was encouraged by Soul Siren's breakthrough. He was already content in knowing that Scorponok would at least express some marginal degree of satisfaction with the progress they had made thus far, but anything substantive would make the report that much better for all of them.

The name that Soul Siren mentioned triggered an immediate reaction from Reflector. The Technobots, as a unit, were far from unknown to him.

The Decepticon surveillance specialist began pulling up information that had already been ripped from the escape pod that had been tractor-beamed aboard the Perdition. It was proving to be quite the repository of basic data. Fortunately, basic data was all that reflector required at this stage.

>>"Affirmative,"<< the triune mech responded. >>"Crew roster of the Farstar indicates that Scattershot and his entire unit were among the Autobots serving aboard the vessel when it was destroyed. At present, an unknown number of escape pods jettisoned themselves from the ship prior to its destruction. Current operational strategy suggests that..."<<

Reflector paused for a moment as the Spyglass component brought up information feeds from Decepticons on the ground in the region of Nebulos' equatorial desert.

>>"Seeker units are being requested and dispatched from Tenebrous to collect a squad of captured Autobots. Scattershot is among their number."<<

Korajan Forest

Kickback needed little further prodding than Shrapnel's own war cry to spur his own subset of diaclones in to action. They took to the air and crawled along the ground, emerging from the forest like a ravenous swarm, directly inbound for a large cave structure that numerous other clones had already witnessed the Autobots entering. This had to be the Autobots last functioning bastion on Nebulos. They would take it for their own and feast on the rewards.

And the Autobots within.

It took a few moments for Bombshell to regain his composure, but when he did so he, too, mentally spurred his own diaclones forward, just as the other Insecticons were doing after Shrapnel had taken the initiative.

For Bombshell's part, he was going to find the one that had foolishly interfered with his precious shell and ensure that a new one was placed in an area where it could never be retrieved again.

As Bombshell's beetle-like form descended from the air near what would certainly be the entrance to the caves, he found his path blocked by an immense stone, with several diaclones climbing around the entrance and cautiously prodding the stone with various limbs, as if it might suddenly roll outwards and crush the lot of them.

"You can not hide here, foodlets!" Bombshell cried, not caring whether the Autobots inside heard him or not. "Breach it!"

Bombshell's underbelly began to glow a bright yellowish-green for a microsecond before he began unleashing a steady stream of energy in to the boulder blocking the door. Diaclones nearby that were similar in design began to follow suit.

Melanossus--Supply Depot

"He holds his own," Scourge said, offering a slight appraisal of what he and Cyclonus were witnessing take place at the dismally constructed, ramshackle little supply outlet that bore clear markings of Insecticon construction, if it could even be called that.

"He does," Cyclonus said, acknowledging that Turmoil had not achieved his position out of dumb luck and circumstance alone.

Though they helped.

"This is hardly the most organized Autobot force we have ever encountered, though," Scourge added. "It would be an embarrassment if we faltered in any regard."

"And yet the Autobots have proven remarkably resilient," Cyclonus said quietly. "Does their lack of coordination speak more poorly of them...or us?"

Cyclonus' question was largely rhetorical. It was just as well, as Scourge allowed it to hang in the air without any further response, the skirmish before them flashing in each of their optics.

Equatorial Desert

Nosecone drilled forward, every part of him told Nosecone that he should be back with his comrades, that he should try to protect them. Nosecone was always a perfectionist, but one thing that he could not perfect was himself.

>>Good luck, Commander.<< Nosecone said to his commander through the comm link.

Somehow, he knew that they would survive. It was in Scattorshot's blood, or rather, Energon.

Nosecone read another magma pocket ahead of him, so he swerved out of the way just enough to where the magma would not pour out and disable him, however the slightest tremor would throw the wall out and magma would flow into the tunnel. Nosecone had to be careful.

He dug around and did a scan, it revealed that the Technobots were being held in the same spot as if they were waiting on something. A transport perhaps?

Nosecone would have to keep tabs on them somehow, and he wasn't fast enough to keep pace with a transport like Astrotrain. If Astrotrain was on Nebulos, that is.

Now he would have to wait and watch, not to mention pray that no one found him.

*****

Korajan Forest - Cave

Nightbeat was glad that he was inside the cave, and not a moment too soon, either. The moment that Hosehead blocked off the entrance, Nightbeat heard Bombshell's shrill voice call to them. Nightbeat's discerning optics darted back and forth around the cave to search for anything that could aid them.

He activated his Headlights and looked about the room as if they were flashlights, but something caught his eye.

It was a pool of sand.

Nightbeat walked to it and took a handful and raised his fist in the air. He began to let a stream of sand out of his hands and watched the behavior. It floated away from him towards the back of the cave. It was a draft! There was another way out!

"Alright! We surrender," Nightbeat lied to the Insecticons while signaling to Hosehead to pick up Skyhammer and walk in the direction of the exit to the cave, "Just, uh, give us some time to prepare for our deaths."

"Alright, that should give us some time. There is a way out, follow me!" Nightbeat whispered to Hosehead just loud enough that only his comrade could hear.

Nightbeat ran off in the direction of the draft, keeping the flow of the sand coming to lead them on in the intricate tunnels of the Cave. Nightbeat jogged on quietly to leave no traces of their journey. The stream of sand was cut off when there was a trail, and sometimes Nightbeat tossed some sand in a direction to make it look like that they went in that direction and not the other.

They had finally reached their destination, and the source of the draft. A crack in the wall.

But light shown in from places in the rock which were solid, as well. It was almost like light shining in from a window.

The only transparent type of rock is volcanic or super-heated sand, which can only mean that the reason of light shining through is- Nightbeat thought while readying his fist.

Nightbeat looked back at Hosehead with a smirk.

"-Glass." Nightbeat said as he thrust his fist into the Tachylite wall, shattering the glass immediately.

Nightbeat stepped out of the cave and looked over to a mountain with a top completely sliced off and said with a quiet voice, "It was no doubt caused by the landing of the escape pod when the mountain was struck. Rocks and super-heated sand were tossed about and it caused this wall to be formed. Remarkable. Now lets move!"

Nightbeat doused his lights and jogged off towards a hill overlooking a valley so he may see how far away they were, Nightbeat judged the distance to be around two-thirds of a mile, then he looked back to the valley.

"Hosehead, is that a village?" Nightbeat asked the rhetorical question as he moved along the cliff side, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Nightbeat then began to walk toward the village, hoping that they could lose the Insecticons there.

Equatorial Desert

Scattershot crooked a smirk as his body was tore from the volcanic sand. "So glad we could have been of service." His voice was tinged to a more slightly mocking frequency. He knew well their condition and their over all positions had been compromised on the onset of battle. At least he and his team had managed to deal some damage to that psychopathic vain struck siege warrior, Skull Grin.

With the hundreds of tons of rock and sand fused together into a solid mass by the underground flow of molten rock, Scattershot at least reveled in the thought of the resources they would need to expend just to dig him up again.

His arms were pulled behind his back and energon cuffs were slipped around his wrists. His body seized briefly as the jolt of energy locked his transformation cog, preventing his escaping. Scattershot pulled at the restraints in mock attempt of futility. They were secure as they tended to be.

"Alright, you got us. Take me to your Leader Monkey Con."

Melanossus

The small cylinder of power floated awkwardly end over end before bouncing towards the Ranger's position. He fired twice with his corrosive shells towards two sweeps that had managed to take up position in front of Turmoil. He never knew whether or not his shots hit their mark as Pyro's optics exploded in a furious light, burning as the first initial flicker of light began to pour through his filters before they polarized to protect their sensitive inner workings. He brought up his arm to protect his field of vision, sprites included, and flung himself deep into one of the smaller brick work buildings. He fell to one knee as his systems began to reroute past the damage in his optical sensors. Briefly he glanced around the chamber he had found himself, a small iron work shop. Complete with still hot forges and bent gear shafts and other metal objects he had no chance of identifying. Attempting to regather himself, Pyro pulled himself to height, tearing through two more levels of the building.

Rubbing his optics in hopes of expediting the reroute, Pyro drew two grenades of his own and palmed them, his gun trained on the opening his entrance had caused. Shadows and smoke billowed through the building as an external source began to flood the block. The exterior became nothing but a gray fog, hiding everything and leaving Pyro practically blind.

Pyro relieved his visual sensors for inferred scanners, he peered into the roiling nexus of shadow. Two figures approached his opening, their wrists raised. Assuming they were weapons ready, Pyro thumbed the triggers on his magnetized grenades and rolled them towards their target. Bursts of laser fire tore through his position, whittling down the forge he had barely managed to dive behind. The grenades rolled towards the feet of their targets and immediately leaped from the ground and attached themselves to their hip joints and groin region respectively. Each one armed and immediately detonated sending a spray of chemicals coating each form. No real visible effect.

They exchanged looks, or at least Pyro assumed they had from the green scale models his sensors were providing him as the smoke choked out the light. They raised their weapons again and fired at his position, this time their aim was true. They each managed to pound his torso twice before the heat of their lasers ignited the chemicals that had coated them. Both burst into sticks of flame and began their slow horrific descent into puddle hood.

The resulting detonation of the two Sweeps afforded the ranger a chance to fire his weapon into the ceiling, creating two vent holes for the smoke to escape. He then shouldered his cannon and drove his shoulder through the back wall into an open alley. Scratching at the two new scars that decorated his chest, Pyro switched his cannon briefly to that of an air jet, He fired into the smoke filled building pushing as much of the gray black soot out into the streets in which he came. He returned his weapon back to shell mode before taking a brief moment to survey the damage this battle had caused.

Pyro drew a breath and allowed the fresh atmosphere to cool his internal intakes. He pressed his form against the brickwork that was across the street of the ruined bakery and half a block from the rather intimidating Turmoil. His optics narrowed briefly on the three streams of smoke that trailed off into the distance, a result of the Sweeps he had managed to send to their foundries. At least there were three less pains in the exhaust port left to terrorize the life forms.

He swore as his sensors extended to the surrounding commercial blocks that were left before hitting the warehouse district. They were overrun, by sheer numbers and undoubtedly by sheer firepower. Add to that, Pyro knew full well what his actions and those of the other Cybertronians had brought to this world. While his strategies and tactics had been designed to minimize biological impact, he knew the Cons held no such restraints.

The Autobot Ranger flipped the toggle on his cannon and switched it back to spray mode, loading in the same quick hardening flame retardant he had used to soak Turmoil earlier. He spared only a brief glance over to the robotic form of the Decepticon fleet officer. Moments later he was forced to retract his gaze as a new spread of weapons fire came from across the block, 90 degrees from his position.

Pyro pressed himself deeper into his cover, narrowly avoiding the initial broad glance of his torso. He could feel the heat of the weapon ammunition as it gouged micrometer deep grooves in his armor plates before detonating down the alleyway. This was getting him no where and fast. His optics zoomed in on the robot forms of Bomb Burst and Horri-Bull. Two Decepticon shock troopers who's brawn outmatched their brains by significant margins.

What was worse, they stood between him and the target supply depot. With Turmoil undoubtedly ready to march on his position, Pyro decided his best chances for success would be to take them straight on.

The ranger spun out and fired a spray of foam straight towards Turmoil, taking two bursts of intense fire straight into his left shoulder. He stuttered briefly before readjusting his angle and entering into a run. His finger pulled liberally at the trigger sending a torrent of quick hardening fire suppressant foam in the direction of the two blocking cons. With each step he increased speed before he neared their position by half a block. He then transformed into robot mode, taking another burst of fire across his primary hull causing plumes of smoke to roil through scorched paint and minor damage.

In truck form he accelerated towards the two cons, his hose sending a compressed stutter of foam intermixed with chemical concrete. As he narrows the gap, the Autobot Ranger loads a limpet charge into the chemical cannon. The spray immediately shuts off as the gun increases elevation.

Whether Pyro hit Bomb Burst or Horri-Bull or by some twist of fate they jumped clear of his suicide charge, he never really recalled. All he cared about was the elimination of the target. The brick faced canyon echoed through the thunderous explosion as Pyro fired the limpet charge in a direct and thoroughly accurate trajectory straight for the Decepticon Supply Depot.

He hit his breaks and skid to a halt, the force of his momentium however caused him to flip end over end before coming to a screeching stop resting on his left knee. Pits were traced across his chest where the ammunition bursts impacted during his charge, his forward glass lay spider webbed and brittle. Pyro reached for his weapon and leveled it at the Decepticons, oblivious to the approach of the towering Turmoil.

Fortress Tenebrous - Interrogation Room

Soul Siren smiled as she responded to Reflector.

"Excellent although, observing the Autobot's performance in defending this planet, I can't help but wonder if we did them a favor by capturing him."

She stiffled a chuckle and pretender to frown. She was still in her performance mode considering her prisoners were before her.

"I will wrap up here. These two won't give us anything more of value when compared to Scattershot."

She turned towards the two Autobots.

"I see that you have recovered somewhat from your experience. You know that you have no one to blame but yourself. Had you cooperated this experience would have been much less painful for you. To be honest I have no idea why you bothered to protect a leader with such a callous disregard for your lives. I have just been informed of his surrender. He left you all to be butchered and only surrender when his precious Technobots were threatened."

She shook her head and took some notes.

"Had he been the leader of a Decepticon army we would have exterminated him ourselves for such a betrayal yet you Autobots actively protect such a monster. I have to admit that I just do not understand. Well then, I am done with you two. Guards will come to take you away soon to take you to containment and eventually your rehabilitation center.

As she spoke to the Autobots she opened a communications channel to Turmoil and Cyclonus. Both the overall commander of this mission and the commander of this installation needed to hear this as soon as possible. She included Reflector in the message so he knew that the message had been sent.

"This is Soul Siren with a preliminary report on the interrogation of the Autobot prisoners. Information taken from them and with Reflector's help point to Scattershot as the leader of the Autobot resistance on this planet."

If Scattershot had been captured then he should be treated with the importance that he had. She took care to point out Reflector's aid as his information would prove invaluable in future interrogations.

Equatorial Desert

Snapdragon sighed.

"Fine, fine Apey. We'll stay here and take them with us. I guess it will serve as good training for your dreams of been a trash bot."

He chuckled in a good natured chine to his partner. The Horrorcons would occasionally engage in such exchanges for their own amusement which would occasionally turn very dangerous when another Decepticon thought he could join into their exchanges. More than a few limbs had been lost with that mistake. He turned towards Scattershot as he spoke and then back to Apeface.

"The trash is talking to you Trash bot. Take care of it and call up for the pick up."

He chuckled again.

Melanossus--Supply Depot

Pointblank felt hands on his arms, jerking harshly at his rotators. His optic sensors still hadn't recovered fully. Before they had a chance to, his field of vision went white again. He could still hear, and occasionally feel, the battle around him. For his part, the last thing he clearly remembered was being ganged up on by a crew of Sweeps. He fought as hard as he could, but it was a losing battle from the get-go.

"So he goes back to Tenebrous?"

"Yeah."

"What about the....whatever that is?"

"Everything goes. Maybe Turmoil wants a pet."

Slag. They got Lionizer. Rad too, probably, Pointblank thought.

"Yeh. Maybe."

"You guys got this?"

"Yeah yeah. Get in the air. You know slag well what happened to that last Sweep who questioned Turmoil. And he was standing right next to Scourge."

"I'm goin'."

Pointblank started to speak up, but even as his mouth opened, he felt something hard smash against his cranial unit. There was a vague sensation of being lifted in to the air, before he drifted off towards stasis.