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Fortress Tenebrous - Interrogation Room

River pulled against her restraints again and again as she was forcibly coupled to a rather uncomfortable chair. It wasn't the first time she had been restrained, not the first time she had seen the inside of an interrogation chamber, but the last time was a bit more on her own terms. And these were definitely not her own terms. She pulled again at her restraint and cursed at the futility.

She turned her head slightly to catch Vestra, nearly catatonic, being secured to a chair of her own. She had not made a sound since the incident at the falls, had not moved nor had she even acknowledged the world around her. River could easily understand the trauma that her best friend had endured. To see her twin die in her very arms. River shuddered. Would I be that same way if I had to endure the loss of my beloved like Vestra did her brother?

Her train of thought was broken when the main doors slid open to reveal their interrogator. A Decepticon Female that identified herself as Soul Siren. River had heard bits and pieces of the styles of the various interrogators throughout the Con ranks, Vortex being labeled among the more sadistic. But even with that knowledge, she knew they were all vastly unpredictable. And she had limited intelligence on the woman before her.

"My Name, River Primal. Rank Autobot Tourist." She spoke with a hint of humor. Not entirely ready to be forth coming with the group that had murdered two of her friends in cold oil.

Vestra remained silent, staring off into the infinity... some where near the corner of the room.

Fortress Tenebrous - Interrogation Room

Soul Siren made careful note of the answers or lack thereof that she had received to the first question she had made. River's answer was not a strange one to her. She had encountered Autobots attempting to use humor in the past and that had never made an effective defense for long. Vestra's lack of reply was more interesting. Just be looking at her she could tell that this was not merely she remaining quiet as a form of defiance. Her optics suggested some sort of trauma, probably having to do with the encounter that she had before this. There had been two slain with them but if these two were truly Autobot warriors than a couple deaths should not be enough to cause such a reaction. There had to be something else. She opened a private communication channel to Reflector.

"When you have the opportunity, could you confirm for me the identity of the two corpses that were found along with these two and if they have any sort of relationship with the two I am questioning? I believe there is something there."

She turned her full attention back to the two she was questioning.

"I see that you two do not fully understand the situation you are in. Allow me to educate you. Both of you are being questioned for what information you have on the current Autobot operations here on this planet. Co-operation will be rewarded by a stay in one of our finer prisons where you will have the opportunity to earn your released. Defiance will be punished... severely. Useless answers are an annoyance. Silence, is unacceptable."

With that last word she accessed the systems of Vestra's chair and activated a system which sent a momentary but intense electric surge through her body. It would not be enough to kill but enough to cause intense pain for a moment.

"Now, with that point made. Who are your current leaders on this planet and what is their location?"

Melanossos, Decepticon supply depot

The successful destruction of Ironside by his particle beam cannon had not gone unnoticed by Turmoil but it had not affected him in any manner either. This was war and the Autobot had been an enemy, Ironside was not worth of his pity. Neither there had been any reason to waste his time to gloat a kill like so many of his subordinates would have done. His only regret was that the shot he had fired at Pointblank had missed its intended target. The Autobot enforcer had even managed to return fire before being swarmed by the Sweeps. However, Turmoil's heavy armor plating had effortlessly absorbed the sonic blast. Quite simply, he and Pointblank were in completely different weight classes. Deciding that the Sweeps were enough to deliver the Autobot war veteran his inevitable fate, Turmoil began looking for other targets through the optics of the numerous Insecticon clones circling the battlefield.

Turmoil did not have to look for a new targets for long. He had the Autobots surrounded between the Sweeps and Insecticon clones. With Horri-Bull and Bomb-Burst protecting his flanks, the large Decepticon commander could easily focus on picking apart the Autobots herded into position by the Decepticlones. And of these Autobots, only one resonated with enough energy to be considered a real threat. Pyro.

Whether Pyro realized it or not, Turmoil had little interest in saving the supply depot if it meant he could remove Pyro himself from the equation. Nebulos was nearly an endless source of energon if properly cultivated. After all, what was one meager supply depot worth if he could remove the Autobot presence from the planet before they were able to organize their spread out numbers? And taking care of Pyro was exactly what he set to do.

His first shot at Pyro's position came just short of punching a hole through the relatively young Autobot officer who had been lucky enough to transform into his fire truck mode just as Turmoil's targeting computer had locked on the Autobot's position. Instead of removing Pyro from the battle, the blast reduced what was left of the building Pyro had been hiding behind into rubble. Then again, despite of the miss - Pyro was not making targeting him all that difficult. The Autobot seemed to be practically suicidal, gunning directly towards Turmoil's position - the friction shells fired by the Autobot being deflected harmlessly away by Turmoil's integrity field. Well, harmlessly for Turmoil at least for his surroundings were certainly taking their toil from the Autobot's firepower.

Locking to Pyro's current trajectory, Turmoil's turret aligned itself for a shot. It would take one blast from his cannon and this charade would be over. And as it was, the Autobot showed no intention of even attempting to swerve away from the direct path towards Turmoil's position. Silently thanking Pyro for making the shot so easy, Turmoil's cannon roared again - sending yet another burst of blinding white energy towards his would be victim.

Equatorial Desert

Strafe cursed internally as Lockdown easily evaded his blasts and then returned fire with an EMP pulse, this one much wider and more powerful than the localized one that knocked out his beacon and comm line. The aerial gunner quickly banked to his right in an attempt to avoid the wave, but it was no use. The EMP struck his left wing, knocking out his engines on that side. Unable to remain airborne, Strafe had no option but to try and make an emergency landing.

“I hope the sand is soft enough down there!” The nerve-wrecked Technobot quipped to himself as the desert grew larger and larger in his forward HUD. Strafe tried to level out the best that he could, just making it over a large sand dune before colliding with the ground beneath him. As a result, sand was thrown into the air in a wave-like effect. When he finally came to a halt, the aerial gunner was half buried in the dune, but was otherwise all right.

Quickly transforming back to robot mode, Strafe pulled himself out of the sand and took a look around. He couldn’t see him, but he knew that Lockdown was there just on the other side of the dune. It was only a matter of time before the bounty hunter caught up to him. Frantically searching for somewhere to hide, Strafe instead found one of his light-pulse blasters lying in the sand. What’s this? It must have broken off during my crash landing, the aerial gunner surmised as he picked up his weapon. It appeared to be intact and still functioning, but how effective it would be against an enraged Lockdown was yet to be seen.

Strafe then heard the familiar sound of Afterburner as his comrade burst from the ground a short distance away and began firing on the bounty hunter, whom the flier was still unable to see from his current position. “Afterburner, be careful! Lockdown has an EMP weapon!” Strafe shouted, now running towards his teammate’s location. As he moved from behind the sand dune, his former captor became visible to the aerial gunner.

Oh, man, he doesn’t look happy, Strafe thought as he nervously opened fire on Lockdown with his now hand-held light-pulse blaster. With the damage it had sustained during the crash, the weapon’s power cells were not at full capacity. Hopefully, it would be strong enough to ward off the bounty hunter until back-up arrived in the form of the rest of the Technobots. Otherwise, Afterburner and I are fragged!

Tree Line

The two minds of Doublecross listened as Repugnus told him and Grotusque to move along the tree line towards the cave while the bug-like Monsterbot hung back and covered their tracks. It sounded as if it would be a boring trek for the most part with only the promise of eventual action once they reached their subterranean destination.

“I’ll hold you to that promise, Puggy,” the left head growled as Doublecross moved forward, still dragging the hover cart with his tail. The right head snapped at the other, uttering his own low growl of displeasure. It was also a warning to his polar opposite to behave himself.

Don’t antagonize him.

(Don’t antagonize me! I want some action and I want it yesterday!)

Well, unless you can time travel, that’s not going to happen.

(You know what I mean, dipstick!)

Both of Doublecross’s heads glanced over at the sound of Grotusque commenting that he would utilize his robot mode instead of his creature form as a way to maneuver through the forest more easily. The mechanical dragon’s left head could only shake itself back and forth before giving a response even though the right side would likely disapprove again. “You know, ‘Tusque, you’re not very agile, or pretty, in either mode so it doesn’t really matter which one you use now does it?”

“I’m only kidding,” the right head then chimed in, trying to maintain a sense of camaraderie between the two Monsterbots. “Using you robot mode is actually a good idea. I might even do the same.”

(Oh no we’re not!)

Yes, we will if I deem it necessary.

(You’re forgetting that when we’re in this mode, I have partial control of our body. That means if I don’t want to transform, then we don’t transform.)

Fine, but if we cause too much damage to the forest and Repugnus gets mad...

(I don’t care how mad he gets! He’s lucky I don’t just burn a path from here all the way to the cave.)

Don’t you dare!

The left head chuckled as the mouth opened slightly, teasing that a fireball was about to be unleashed. The right head glared back with an infuriated look as nothing happened. There were no flames, no burning trees, and no pissed off Repugnus.

(Gotcha!)

You’re not funny.

Equatorial Desert

Watching from his open location, Lockdown watched as the EMP blast he sent toward the Technotbot gunner his Strafe in the left wing rendering its engine useless. However, the bounty hunter was unable to relish in his accomplishment when as Afterburner appeared from, seemingly, out of nowhere and quickly opened fire with both missiles and his plasma cannon.

Lockdown hissed in irritation as he deftly dodged the missiles letting them pass by him, but only by inches. The move wasn’t enough to keep him from the plasma cannon entirely. The bounty hunter was hit in his right abdomen, but the reinforced armor he had acquired several vorns ago was able to shrug off the blast, but he was still thrown back several feet.

The black and green mech was able to still land on his feet. However he still needed time for his EMP weapon to fully charge. The ‘Con had decided it would be prudent to lie low for a few moments before he charged forth at the Technobot. He was able to find a dune that was large enough to conceal his form, and as luck would have it the dune turned out to be a sand covered boulder. Heh, go figure.

Peering over the top of his cover, Lockdown spotted the wave of sand where Strafe had crashed. Knowing that the gunner was grounded for good caused the corners of his lips to curl into a cruel smirk. Now all he needed to do was take out the annoying two wheeled gunner.

With his EMP generator now fully charged, Lockdown took aim at Afterburner, and let lose a wide powerful blast that the Technobot was sure to be caught in. At the same time he fired, Lockdown took off from his position and headed directly for Strafe who was now moving toward his comrade. With his weapon drawn, the aerial gunner began firing his light pulse cannon; the same weapon he had used to escape his grasp.Lockdown was able to dodge the feeble pulse beam with a deft forward flip. The bounty hunter let out a grunt followed by a low bellow to both Technobots as he landed on his feet and kept moving forward.

“Don’t bother getting comfortable Strafe! You’re mine, as is your little friend!”

Once he caught these two he would bring them in to his employer in pieces!

OoC: Questionable stuffage decided upon by me and Plaything. Sorry for the delay, things have been terribly bad on my end. Pokemon States for this weekend has been killer with preparations.

Six miles out of Koraja

Nightbeat has been walking for miles on end with little to no rest. He was certain the Inecticons were following him, and frankly, he wasn't sure he was up to a fight. He panted for air as he placed the body of Skyhammer next to a tree and he squatted back down to examine the body a bit more, and see if anything was salvageable.

He looked through the hole gouged in the chest of Skyhammer and looked where the Spark should be. It was there, encased with the protective shell showing Skyhammer was still alive, but in stasis.

"Subject is in Stasis Lock, no doubt by the stab wound that probably caused our victim to be deactivated. Projectile in forehead, still unknown. Checking back to see if any claws or teeth remain on the Vic." Nightbeat said in a hushed voice, he didn't know if the Insecticons knew where he was, and he didn't want to give them his location with the sound of his voice.

Nightbeat rolled the deactivated and mutilated form of Skyhammer onto his back and began to scan the back for any foreign materials. Suddenly, a large metal tooth materialized on his HUD, and the location along with it. He lifted the shoulder-blade and pulled out a piece of a tooth, not a large tooth as the HUD made it to be. Nightbeat grunted and pocketed the Tooth.

Nightbeat grew silent for a moment; he thought he heard something. He heard it again, footsteps! They grew louder until they came to a stop behind him, Nightbeat quickly drew his rifle and spun around to reveal-!

"Hosehead," Nightbeat said, still in his hushed tone, with a sigh of relief, "You should announce yourself if you are sneaking around like that."

"To me, at least." Nightbeat said with a smirk encroaching on his faceplate.

Nightbeat pat Hosehead on the shoulder, but the smile faded when he heard a low buzz in the distance.

Scrap. Nightbeat thought as he turned in the direction of Koraja.

"The Insecticons, they're coming. I should know better than kick their nest," Nightbeat said as he turned back to Hosehead, "Is there shelter nearby?"

*****

Equatorial Desert - Subsurface Lava Tubes

Nosecone choked under the dust the rocks caused, his makeshift cavern was substantial enough to withstand the blast and the rocks. Nosecone was characteristically not surprised. He built it perfectly for the time at hand. Perfect.

But now wasn't the time to marvel at his creation, a tunnel at that, everyone was calling him to hurry up and get to the battle. He turned up to the ceiling and activated his Geo-Mappers. He looked around and found the shape of Lockdown moving and writhing about, obviously in a battle with his counterparts.

If he dug up through the ground beneath Lockdown, all the bounty hunter would do is leap out of the way as he did with the cave in... If he caved the ground in beneath him... That could work.

>>Guys, this is Nosecone, keep Lockdown in this vicinity. I will collapse the ground under his feet. Sending the plans to you now.<< Nosecone radioed the Technobots, and with the message came a diagram that showed the area which will cave in.

And with that, he transformed and drove forward, drilling through the soil and stone, he drilled to where the center of his diagram was. He began to drill in a spiral pattern, but keeping supports in areas of high stress. He looked down with his HUD and found an underwater spring. He couldn't go down much further.

He dug around the chamber farther and farther down. It would not be long until he blew out the supports.

Equatorial Desert - Skies Above

Evading Lightspeed's attack was simple enough given how far away the Autobot had been from Apeface's position. Of course there was plenty of sand dust in the air which made targeting difficult for the Technobot that had just escaped the collapsing tunnels to the surface. And then there was the little trick Apeface had learnt ages ago; by keeping the sun behind him, targeting him was pure pain for his enemy. Sure, staring at the sun did not cause permanent damage to the optical sensors of a Transformer like it did for organics but the flare was still enough to put Lightspeed in serious disadvantage. Although the Autobot's decision to attack a Horrorcon already bordered insanity.

It was Snapdragon however, who took it to himself to deal with Lightspeed. Apeface certainly didn't need the help but he could understand his bloodthirsty comrade going in for a kill the moment he got a chance to do so. Besides, if the signs were telling the truth - they'd soon have more Technobots to put out of their misery. Namely, Nosecone and Scattershot were still missing from the open.

>>"Fine. Have your fun, hehe."<<

Between Snapdragon going for Lightspeed and Lockdown seeming to be busy with Strafe and Afterburner, Apeface decided to wait for more targets to appear. The bountyhunter no doubt wanted both Autobots for himself, and as far as Apeface was concerned - Lockdown could have both grunts if he was able to take them down. The Horrorcon saboteur certainly didn't care.

The Perdition--Bridge

The optics of the Spyglass unit methodically poured over the data that had been recovered from various escape pod crash sites thus far as Soul Siren's request had come through. The information, thus far, was of minimal use. The majority of the Decepticons in the field were trackers, huntsmen and warriors. Not intelligence officers. Reflector was confidant, however, that between he and Soul Siren, they would be able to provide some useful data to the Decepticon intelligence network.

>>"They appear inconsequential...except for one. That other femme. Identification: Trybium. Spark sibling to one of your present captives. The one identified as Vestra."<<

Reflector's three component faces all formed a slight sneer at this revelation. If anything could cripple a Cybertronian, it was the destruction of a sibling unit. Reflector had long hoped to see either Sunstreaker or Sideswipe suffer the same fate, if only to sit back and observe what happened to the other one. This would have to suffice in the interim.

Six miles out of Koraja

Bombshell was still receiving information from his implanted cerebro-shell, but it was static-laden and endlessly frustrating.

Outside Koraja now, various diaclones crept their their way along the ground and through the trees. All possessed a near-singular mindset, to pursue the Autobot. That was the directive that they had been given by their Insecticon masters. They had no real capacity to obey anything else, unless it was the urge to feed.

If these Autobots proved to be more trouble than they were worth, then Bombshell would have little trouble allowing them to exercise that urge, too.

"Wait....wait.....hmmm, how interesting. He speaks to another," Bombshell hissed, mentally slowing the progress of the diaclones under his command. "A guard maybe. A scout. Their base may be nearby. But this close to Koraja? That would be, ehh, foolish."

Equatorial Desert

While firing his plasma cannons Afterburner watched his missiles cover the ground between he and Lockdown as if they were moving in slow motion. He loved to watch them fly, the beauty and precision devices like them needed to be the deadly instruments they were was awe inspiring. They were halfway to Lockdown and he wished his auto-reloader was working faster. The only thing better than what he was seeing was watching the impact with their target. Seeing Decepticons explode was a pleasant hobby for a mech to have. It should be mandatory for all Autobots as far as he was concerned.

In seconds Afterburner’s dreams of seeing another Con fall disappeared when Lockdown sidestepped his missiles. He dodged them! That scraplet! Afterburner was pleased to see his cannon blasts strike home. The Technobot would’ve smiled if his faceplate were showing. He saw Lockdown aiming at him but what did he have to worry about? That Con wouldn’t get a shot off in time. Afterburner activated the triggering mechanism for his plasma cannon as the EMP pulse struck.

Unfortunately for Afterburner, his plasma cannon was in the process of firing when his systems went offline. His front wheel struck a crevice and, without him in control, he pivoted forward in time for his cannons to fire. The concussion from the point blank blast blew Afterburner into the air for a handful of somersaults before landing in a deafening crash a hundred yards from where he took the EMP pulse.

Laying on his side, stuck in his motorcycle mode and with his tires still spinning, he let out a groan. Still conscious, Afterburner tried to access his systems but everything was offline except for his visual circuits which gave him a static filled view of a large rock. After a few seconds the rock visual began to fade. Blast it Scattershot! This is the last time I listen to your scraplet infested… Was it the EMP pulse or stasis lock? Without his systems working Afterburner remained where he fell in silence.

Six Miles Out of Koraja

“Nightbeat?”

Had he finally discovered someone after wandering through town after town, forest after forest? Had his arduous search yielded the result he had aimed for? Was that really an Autobot voice greeting his audio modules? Was this—

“It is you!”

Evidently, his growing collection of questions had been answered simultaneously.

Hosehead trudged through the forest, dodging various trees and overhanging branches decorated with wide green leaves that obscured his vision, sabotaged any opportunity of walking straight no more than twelve paces. It didn't provoke his irritation as successfully as it did once he first trekked through a forest in search of his fellow Autobots, but it was still annoying. He had forgotten all about his difficult surroundings, however, the instant he sighted Nightbeat.

“Do you know how long I've been looking you? Or any of the Technobots? You know, it feels like I've been everywhere, like I've covered half of Nebulos, even. And I've been here! But I couldn't find anyone. Zip! Zilch! Nothing!” Though frustrated and a little stressed, a broad smile pushed passed his negative emotions and formed on his face-plate. “I guess it doesn't matter now. Let's jus—”

"The Insecticons, they're coming. I should know better than kick their nest," Nightbeat said as he turned back to Hosehead, "Is there shelter nearby?"

With an almost blank expression, Hosehead locked his stare on the detective as if somebody had removed his processor and personality component in that very moment. What Insecticons? What nest? He had just discovered his friend in this wooded area and now Insecticons were coming?

“Shelter?” Somehow, he was released from his stupor. “Oh, right! Shelter! Uh, yeah. Follow me, Nightbeat. Not far from where I landed—and sort of not far from here—is a cave. We should be able to hold out there.”

He noticed Skyhammer was lying on the soil, silent. He was devoid of movement. The Autobot's limp body caused anxiety to strike Hosehead, to wash over him like an abrupt downpour. He caught himself before he fixated his gaze on the off-lined Skyhammer.

He threw a glance at Nightbeat. “You look weary. Let me take him.”

Hefting Skyhammer and placing him across his shoulder-plates in the position of a firemech's lift, Hosehead slowly spun on his heel and began to jog. He wasn't especially fast, but if he could reach the edge of the forest, where a clearing virtually led to the cave, he'd be able to employ the superior speed of his alternate mode and drive the remainder of the way to it.

Fortress Tenebrous - Interrogation Room

Vestra's body entered spasm before falling back to its previously motionless position. Waves of electricity coursed over her body before crackling in the smoldering ozone that surrounded the shocked engineer. Her optics flared to life briefly before settling back to the dim glazed form.

"You won't be getting any response out of her." River spoke trying to draw attention away from her catatonic friend. "She's suffering from what you might call, Who gives a scrap." She lightly chuckled, failing to hide the concern from her voice. It wasn't a medical diagnosis, there was no reason to give the con another bit of ammunition to use against her in future lines of questioning.

She had to shift strategies to keep attention on her. Let Vestra process out what had happen and come to terms with her new situation. Again, it would require time, and that was a commodity River was sorely lacking.

"Look Decepticon, we're a couple of passengers on a doomed expedition. The search for Electro-La was doomed from the start." She cocked an instinctive seductive grin towards Soul Siren. "Perhaps you could give us some directions and we'll be on our way."

Equatorial Desert

Strafe looked on in horror as the EMP pulse struck Afterburner head-on, sending the cycle flying end over end before finally coming to a rest in the sand a hundred yards away. “Noooo!!” The aerial gunner shouted as he fired off more shots in Lockdown’s direction. Adjusting his path, Strafe ran towards where his downed comrade lay still in his alt mode. “Afterburner, are you all right? Can you hear me?!!”

Strafe finally reached his teammate’s side only to find that Afterburner’s systems were going into shut down. The EMP wave had damaged his circuitry so severely that it was hard to tell whether he was in stasis lock or not. It didn’t matter as, either way, the Technobot motorcycle was unresponsive. “Slaggit! Now what the frag do I do?!” He could have done what Nosecone had suggested, but since Strafe's comm line was not functioning, he never got the message or even knew that his comrade was drilling nearby.

Instead, Strafe turned back to see the bounty hunter quickly approaching his position and stood up to face his former, and quite possibly future, captor. The frantic mech pointed his broken light-pulse blaster directly at Lockdown and opened fire again furiously, hoping that one of his shots would at least stun the large Decepticon for hire. “Come on, Lockdown! If you want me, you’ll have to work for it!!!! No easy payment for you!!”

As he stood his ground and continued to fire at the oncoming ‘Con, Strafe noticed that his blaster was slowing down, not that it had all that much power left to begin with. After a few more astroseconds, the steady stream of light-pulse shots dissipated into nothing more than a small fireworks display before fizzling out completely. “Terrific,” the aerial gunner muttered with a gulp as he lowered his useless weapon down to his side. The bounty hunter was practically on top of him now and he appeared none too happy. The nervous Technobot looked around and quickly realized that he had no where to go and no where to hide in the vast desert.

Well, it was a decent try, at least, Strafe thought as he finally accepted his fate and rushed towards Lockdown in what could only be described as a suicide run that was fueled by the rapidly pulsating spark in his chest cavity. The aerial gunner raised his dead weapon into the air like a club and swung it up at the bounty hunter’s chest plate. At the very least, the ‘Con would be surprised by his prey’s sudden but still futile attack. Perhaps Lockdown would go easy on him for the brave attempt. Although, that was unlikely as Strafe fully expected to end up in stasis like his fallen comrade nearby.

Equatorial Desert

Lockdown kept moving toward, both the downed form of Strafe and the now unmoving form of his Technobot comrade. Afterburner had arrived guns blazing, but he was still no match for the bounty hunter. A small smirk creased Lockdown’s lips as he began to stride toward his quarry, but there was a sudden tremble just below his feet. His smirk faded into a deep sneer as he quickly took to air. From his vantage point he could see the sand begin to sink below the rest of the desert’s surface. It would seem that the annoying little drillhead was at work.

“Well now. I’ll have to come back to this one once I confiscate my other two prizes.”

Lockdown took off in the location of where Strafe had crashed. The bounty hunter landed deftly on his feet a short distance away from the gunner who was just now making his way to his downed comrade. A devious laugh escaped Lockdown as he watched Strafe.

“HA! Of course I want you ya little slagger! After all you’re all worth a lot of credits. Now how about you come quietly and save yourself a whole lot of pain.”

As the gunner looked around desperately to find a way out of his predicament, the black and green mech let out a hearty laugh.

“No where to hide, runt!”

Lockdown kept on a steady run, the fizzling pulses from Strafe’s weapon not even capable of reaching his location.

The bounty hunter finally stopped in front of the red and white flier as he ran toward him; his burnt out weapon perched high above his head like a club. A deep frown on his face, Lockdown simply grabbed a hold of the barrel and tugged it out of Strafe’s grip.

“Nice try. Unfortunately, I won’t be going easy on you or your little stasis locked friend.”

Lockdown raised his hand and swung down backhanding the gunner. The powerful blow sent him down to the ground in a heap.

“Let’s go cretin!”

Lockdown bent down and snatched up one of Strafe’s wrists in a tight grip. Instead of using his hook to simply guide the Technobot around, Lockdown slapped a pair of stasis cuffs on him, and with the tip of his hook, Lockdown pulled the chain connecting the cuffs moving Strafe along with him toward Afterburner a short distance away.

Equatorial Desert

The minimal cover that could be found in a desert setting like this one pretty much erupted all around Lightspeed, as the other Horrorcon--Snapdragon--had now taken a vested interest in destroying him after his attack on that other one. Apeface. Lightspeed hadn't been stupid. he pretty much figured something like that was going to happen, but he didn't have a lot of other options apart from just standing there for target practice.

Maybe another day for that one.

Lightspeed hit the ground, residual flames licking his exterior plating as new sands and grit found their way in to his gears. Compared to less-advanced Cybertronian designs, the Technobots had mostly found ways of blocking out nuisances like that by improving on their design schematics, but they weren't impervious yet. At least Lightspeed wasn't.

Whipping around, he now focused the brunt of his weapon's fire on the other Horrorcon as he streaked back up skyward, likely preparing for another strafing run. Eh, there were worse ways to die.

Equatorial Desert

Scattershot grunted as the initial burst of fire withered the opening he had created with his initial barrage. Sand collapsed from the flimsy ceiling above his head, coating him from head to foot in a thick mound of volcanic ash, glass particulate and polished sand particles. Inwardly he swore as his systems compensated for the extra weight that had been placed on his frame. Lightspeed had dashed into the opening, sending volley after volley at the two Horrorcons and the bounty hunter.

Just by the sounds reaching his audio receptors, the surface had become utter chaos. And Scattershot was busy digging himself out of the mess underground in while it all transpired. It irritated him to the point of no return, his team should not have endured the battle without their leader guiding them into battle.

Finally his knees were free from the thick tonnage that had almost entombed him on this Primus forsaken rock. Scattershot was ready to dive headlong into the fray. He pulled back the bolt on his acid pellet rifle and kicked off the last of the encasing material. A sneer crawled across his plate as he stomped forward up the tunnel where Lightspeed had disappeared only a pair of minutes before.

Over head a jet completed a pass and briefly disappeared in the glare of the now blazing sun. Around him the results of battle boiled at the Technobot Commander's core. Afterburner lay motionless on the sand, waves of electricity pulsing over his torso. Lightspeed was damaged and leaking fluids. Strafe was attempting to make a fight of it as was Nosecone. But the odds were still bad. If Lightspeed and Afterburner were functional, then they might have had a chance to counter these Decepticon agents. But for the most part, Scattershot was keenly aware of his resources now.

He wasted no time and snapped off a second's worth of shot at Lockdown and another at Apeface to create a seperation between the Horrorcon and the bounty hunter. Then with an instant boost, Scattershot transformed into his rocket jet form and shot forward, eating the meters between himself and Lockdown in a matter of moments. He fired his retro rockets then transformed into robot form, his fist carefully being launched forward to beat the hunter off of Strafe and Afterburner. "Collect this Decepticon."

Equatorial Desert

Strafe’s optics widened as Lockdown snatched the Technobot’s weapon out of his hand followed by a swift backhand that knocked the aerial gunner to the desert floor. Rubbing the side of his faceplate, Strafe looked back up at the clearly enraged bounty hunter as the larger ‘Con grabbed a hold of his hands and placed stasis cuffs on his wrists. Lockdown’s then used his hooked appendage to drag the gunner to his feet by the connecting chain and pull him along towards his other downed teammate.

The bounty hunter was evidently not satisfied with just one prize, now wanting two Technobots to take back and likely get double the credits if not more. Strafe remained silent as his captor led him along, energon trickling down from the corner of his mouth. Now, the anxious mech was really out of options with all of his weapons gone or disabled and his power levels falling below thirty percent. His only hope would be if someone else came along to rescue him and the stasis-locked Afterburner.

That hope came sooner than anticipated when Scattershot suddenly emerged from underground and began firing at Lockdown from a distance before transforming and rocketing towards the bounty hunter’s position. Strafe said nothing and tried to keep his head down as low as possible in order to stay out of his commander’s way as the Technobot leader returned to robot mode with his fist raised and ready to pummel the black and green Decepticon into oblivion. With any luck, the nervous ‘Bot would come out of this encounter unscathed. Although, considering his misfortune thus far, Strafe expected the worse to happen.

Equatorial Desert - Skies Above

Scattershot's shot towards Apeface had been a hasty one but it had forced the Horrorcon to bank away from Lockdown's position to avoid a potential follow-up barrage. It never came. Instead his sensors registered Scattershot transforming and shooting off towards Lockdown before transforming again and entering hand to hand combat with the bounty hunter.

>>"Snaps, Scattershot went for Lockdown. You think that no-good merc needs assistance? Heh."<< Apeface transmitted his partner. >>"'Cuz this Horrorcon ain't feeling like helping that slagger to collect."<<

Just as he ended the transmission, something gleaming in the desert floor far away in the horizon caught Apeface's attention. It was emitting an energy signature but it was not a Decepticon one. And even though he couldn't determine whether the signal was Autobot one or not, there really was only one logical option - it had to be another Autobot survivor.

>>"Snaps, I picked another Cybertronian energy signature barely in my sensor range. O trust you can deal with these 'bots alone?"<<

Melanossus

The first Sweep that transformed and landed within range of Pointblank had provided the only incentive the Autobot had needed to alter his battle tactics somewhat. He was obviously going to lose in a firefight. The sheer odds against them had determined that. Therefore, he didn't really mind deviating from his usual strategy, since it was unlikely to work.

Charging forward, Pointblank speared the Sweep in to the ground, the two of them rolling several dozen meters down the hillside as Pointblank landed every well-targeted blow he could get in. That meant absorbing some as well, but these low-level grunts weren't usually designed to excel in a good, one-on-one melee. They relied on numbers, and though Pointblank wasn't really familiar with these blue boat boys, they seemed to be holding true to that theory.

All the better for him, until several more Sweeps had transformed and descended from the air in an effort to assist their comrade.
___

The sleek, purple jet arced over the Nebulan skyscape, closing in on the positions given by Reflector as to the location of Turmoil and this latest batch of Autobot refugees. Just behind him, Scourge maintained a steady and even position. Behind and below him, a duo of Sweep huntsmen.

"There," Cyclonus said, registering the energy burst upticks and beginning to arc downwards. The presence of the Autobots was interesting. It was reassuring to know that they had not been sent out on another wild cyberfox hunt. But even more interesting to the air warrior was Turmoil's imposing form--actually taking part in the battle itself.

Transforming in mid-air, Cyclonus dropped the remaining distance to the ground, landing in a crouch and rising to his full height once again even as Scourge and his men landed gingerly behind him.

"Why so far back?" Scourge asked

"I want to see what he can do. His words are large. Let us see if his actions back them up," Cyclonus said, his optics locked directly on Turmoil. Once Scourge had clued in on whom Cyclonus was referring to, he nodded only slightly.

"Prevent any from escaping," Scourge then added, motioning his additional Sweeps forward.

The mistakes made in the Folassian forest would not be repeated.

Fortress Tenebrous - Interrogation Room

Soul Siren silently took down information as River spoke.

"I see." She said in a calm voice. "Well, it seems I owe you a bit of thanks. I must admit that I had thought your friend's total lack of verbal reaction to the shock was due to some form of trauma caused by the battle you took part of before coming here. I was about to have her sent for a her condition to be evaluated but fortunately you have corrected me and established her silence as an act of rebellion or, as you might say, "who gives a scrap". Would have been truly embarrassing for me to send her and have it be discovered it was just an act of rebellion. Well, with this cleared up we can take appropriate actions."

Soul Siren activated once more the shock system to Vestra's chair and, this time, kept it on. She looked in her direction. "Now then, this time the pain will continue until you speak or perish." Even though she spoke to Vestra her words were meant more to River. Vestra was in no danger of dying. Soul Siren had already studied the body of her captive and the electricity was carefully set to only cause great pain and not permanent damage. In her current state, however, she would not verbalize that. All River would see is her friend's trashing form and the smells caused by the burning of systems of lesser importance.

She turned back towards River. "Your statement on what you are doing here is clearly false. Do not worry however, I will not give you pain in this instance out of gratitude for you help in clearing up the state of your friend. This favor is a one time only thing however. Now then, I will ask again, who are your current leaders on this planet and what is their location?"

As he spoke to River, Vestra's form continued to receive painful shocks continuously as Soul Siren continued to not turn off the system. As she waited for the answer she sent a communication to Reflector.

"Thank you for such fascinating information. That explains this reaction. I believe I know how I shall be escalating this if needed. Do we happen to have an audio sample of Trybium?"

Equatorial Desert - Skies Above

Snapdragon saw as his Technobot prey stopped and launched another attack. For all their formidable physical abilities the Horrorcon's most dangerous trait was their intelligence as that was the easiest one to underestimate as this Autobot had already done. Seeing this Autobot's attack in action Snapdragon knew that his firepower would be painful to him but not cause permanent damage so he continued forward and took blasts to his heavily armored center portion of his ship form. He also knew that the Autobot did not truly fly but rather used rockets to propel him. By using his sensors to analyze the force of the rockets he was able to calculate the point in which Lightspeed would reach his highest point.

"When have the Horrorcons ever been a charity Apey? Let the slag-head ask for help if he wants it." Horrorcon rules were simple. If someone was not a Horrorcon then the due did not give a slag about them. Snapdragon replied as he continued forward. His pride did not allow him to verbalize the pain he felt from the blasts to his partner, instead he allowed it to silently fuel his anger. "Happy hunting Apey. Got to smash this bug here."

Snapdragon dove towards the Autobot timing his movement so that he would come close to Lightpseed as the thrust of his rockets reached their highest point and he would begin balling back towards Earth. In this one moment Snapdragon knew that the Autobot would be unable to effectively maneuver so he suddenly transformed into his dragon mode and thrust forward his feet. He aimed to crash feet first into Lightspeed and then push him onto the ground.

Tree Line

Repugnus followed behind the other Monsterbots, doing his best to disguiser their passing. Footprints were easy to ruin, and hopefully their rapid movement would prevent much of a heat or energy signature. The trampled plant life was going to be a difficulty. He did his best to either cover it up or try to kick it back up. It wasn’t perfect but hopefully it would just look like some animals had passed through rather then three Autobots.

The Monsterbot had to admit that the others were doing their best to try not to leave a trail. While he would likely never admit it out loud he did appreciate the effort. They were nutjobs, the both of them, but they were his nutjobs. He would do his absolute best to take care of them and hit the Cons as hard as they could. He wanted the Cons off the planet and the other Autobots rescued just as badly as anyone else did. The difference once he was more realistic about things. Repugnus had no high hopes that any of that would actually happen, but he would still try.

Finally Repugnus darted up to the front of the group. “Alright, we should be close now.” The Monsterbot glanced around with his enhanced vision before locating his hidden base. A smile formed over his face before he turned back to his teammates. “Alright, follow me.” Repugnus darted out of the forest and to a heavy thicket of bushes and weeds. Pushing his way through them he came to a small cave entrance. Scurrying inside the cave quickly opened up into a much wider chamber.

The Monsterbot dropped his hostage and equipment on the ground and transformed to robot mode. He walked over to a console and typed in a code. The cavern lit up with a faint glow, enough light coming from ceiling lights and computer panels to see by. The chamber was full equipped with a computer system, workbench, a grid map table, CR chamber and generator. Repugnus offered a smile to his teammates. “Welcome to your new home sweet home.”

*

Six miles out of Koraja

Shrapnel paused as Bombshell stopped, his antennae and pincers twitching. The promise of a fight, if ever so brief, and possibly a meal to come had only excited the Insecticon. Delaying the inevitable only annoyed him at this point. “Another Autobot, bot?” he questioned out loud. “Then twice the prize, prize and double the meal, meal.” Shrapnel wasn’t interested in waiting any longer, and if their base was close by it would be found quickly.

Six miles out of Koraja

Bombshell actually allowed for something akin to a snicker. His mood was typically too dour to allow for anything more than that, unless an Autobot was splayed open right in front of him, leaking all sorts of delicious fluids.

"Agreed. And maybe more besides," Bombshell said, resuming his earlier gait--his insect-like metallic legs quickly closing the distance between them and where their intended prey were attempting to hide out. The cerebro shells had proven to be exceedingly useful. Now the Insecticon was beginning to wonder what other, more widespread, uses the devices might have in the field.

Within the edges of the forest itself, various Insecticon diaclones were skillfully navigating their way through the brush, occasionally climbing through trees and keeping a multitude of watchful optics on the escaping Autobots.

Surely one of them was going to call for assistance. If the circumstances were reversed, that was what Bombshell would have done. What were these foolish Autobots playing at? Bombshell could see the cave structure from the haphazard view he was getting from Skyhammer's cerebro-shell. He was being carried now, and hardly in the most visually-conducive manner. Most of what Bombshell could see for the moment was the ground beneath the other Autobots feet.

This had to be the Autobots' last remaining base on this planet. The Insecticons would swarm it, and perhaps take it for their own.
___

The Perdition--Bridge

Reflector rubbed his hands, all three components doing the same act in unison, as they took in the minor spectacle of watching the Autobots get interrogated.

>>"The last known command figure was Skyhammer,"<< Reflector interjected, feeding Soul Siren information when he could, just in case the Autobots attempted to deceive her. >>"But he has been incapacitated for some time. Scorponok left him hanging in the Korajan town square. They must be taking orders from someone new. I'm curious to learn who it might be."<<

Getting the location of the base would likely be a more difficult prospect. These Autobots were exceedingly careful about guarding what precious capital resources they still possessed--the primary testament being that accursed ship that was still silently hiding somewhere in orbit over this planet.

Nevertheless, Reflector was curious to see if Soul Siren could do it.
___

Equatorial Desert

Lightspeed heard the harsh displacement of air and blaster fire microseconds before Snapdragon's feet came crashing in to him, almost instinctively initiating a transformation as the Technobot crashed to the ground.

His systems had barely been allowed any time to begin even the most basic internal repairs from the damage he had sustained form Skullgrin's blade earlier. Now this? The Technobot's pain receptors were reeling.

Attempting to push himself up, he also activated his internal, infrared missile launchers. In short order, his computing systems found their targets: one for Horrorcon A and another for Horrorcon B.

If he was going to go, he might as well go big.

The missiles fired.

(OOC: With permissions from SmokescreenGT, Strafe will be taken prisoner.)

Equatorial Desert

The attack by Scattershot was not unexpected. In fact the bounty hunter had been wondering what had taken him so long. He must be losing his touch. A toothy grin made its way to his visage but it soon turned in to a deep scowl as the Technobot commander let loose a volley of short bursts which were easily avoided.

Lockdown had been able to maneuver around Scattershot’s spent ammo easily with Strafe close in tow. But when the Technobot transformed in to his rocket jet form Lockdown was ready. The black and green mech deftly hefted the aerial gunner in front of himself effectively using Strafe as a shield. The two retro rockets hit Strafe in two separate locals; one in the upper right chest, the other in the right upper thigh.

With his own person safe from harm, Lockdown lashed out with the bloodied gunner this time using the young mech as a club. If Scattershot kept on his advance he’d, not only run directly in to his own teammate but he would also be the cause of Strafe’s demise. Either way, Lockdown would still be able to collect his bounty on the nearly terminated aerial gunner and the stasis locked Afterburner and if all went well Scattershot would simply surrender.

Underneath the Battleground

Nosecone looked around with his Geo Scanners. Lockdown was there, but far off. Far away from his trap.

Frag. Nosecone thought.

It didn't surprise him, naturally, as he used his leaping tech earlier. Nosecone just didn't like it either way.

Nosecone looked around for anything below Lockdown. He saw several different materials that were very, very interesting. Aluminum, magnesium, titanium and several other components to make a very hot, very deadly product.

Thermite.

Nosecone began to make his way there, through the chamber and near the very deadly compound. He looked beneath it. A large magma vein resided beneath it. Very common for things like this.

Hmm. A Magma vein is quite suitable. Nosecone thought as he began to aim his X-Ray laser at the compound. All it would need is an ignition...

>>Look out above.<< Nosecone said over the radio to his comrades.

He fired a shot at the compound and a very loud, very hot explosion ricocheted around the chamber, this didn't faze Nosecone as he turned his back previously. The explosion finished, Nosecone looked back to the hole that suddenly formed around Lockdown and he walked over to see if what he did worked.

*****

Six Miles out of Koraja

Nightbeat felt the relief that he wasn't going to have to carry Skyhammer back to wherever their hideout would be for now. He took a glance at the object on Skyhammer's forehead again. He knew it from somewhere! From one of his cases back on Cybertron, it was Espionage Charges in place with a certain mech, but the said mech had no memory of anything transpiring.

Nightbeat began to walk behind Hosehead as the latter began to lead the two to this cave that Hosehead talked about. Nightbeat watched the object intently, there was something horrifyingly familiar about this object... He began to think through the case again... There was an ornament on the forehead of the subject much like this object, this couldn't be too much of a coincidence, the two must have known each other then. But maybe that would be less of a leap than it not being a coincidence...

Seven Miles out of Koraja

Nightbeat began to think of what the two had in common, two were Autobots, both in high ranking positions, but one thing that really caught him off guard. The Insecticons. Nightbeat remembered that after the mech was sentenced life in prison, that he saw Bombshell and several other Insecticons attending the court.

The Insecticons are the link! Of course! And what is Bombshell known for?

Nightbeat reached out at Skyhammer and yanked him from Hosehead's shoulder and onto the ground.

"Y'know, Hosehead, I've always had this feeling I've been being watched," Nightbeat said, turning to Skyhammer, "But you already know that, don't you Bombshell? Clever move, planting a Cerebro Shell in Skyhammer. Almost fell for it. Nighty night."

Nightbeat reached at Skyhammer's Cerebro shell and pulled out the tooth shard. Nightbeat poked one of his fingers with it to check to see if it was still sharp. Thankfully, it was. Nightbeat placed the tooth around the Cerebro Shell and began to cut around it. He pulled the ring from the head and tossed it behind him. He went back in with his makeshift scalpel and began to separate the long tendon-like wires from the Cerebro Shell. He would have to act fast.

Plucking the remaining cords from the Cerebral Cortex was not an easy task. He had to lift the Cerebro Shell just a small bit to expose the tendon-like wires that spanned the lower part to the Cortex. Nightbeat, thinking back on Basic Medical Training that Ratchet gave him, jabbed his scalpel into the cords, causing them to shrink back into the Shell.

Nightbeat, with one last yank, separated the Cerebro Shell from Skyhammer. Nightbeat pocketed shortly afterward with the tooth fragment.

"Hosehead, catch!" Nightbeat said as he lifted Skyhammer's body and pushed it to his bumbling comrade.

After that, he began to run in the direction of the landing, maybe, just maybe, they could get there in time.

Tree Line / Monsterbot Base

Doublecross continued onwards through the trees, trying his best to keep the damage to the surrounding fauna to a minimum. For once the two heads of the dual-minded Monsterbot were both quiet, but how long that would last was another story all together. The left head was itching for a fight and the right one couldn’t really deny that he wanted to smash some ‘Cons, as well. Although, admitting that to his polar opposite would only serve to bring about more taunting and jokes at the right’s expense.

It was then that Repugnus hurried passed both Doublecross and Grotusque, alerting them that they were close now and to follow him. “About fraggin’ time,” the left dragon head growled as the right snapped at him to shut it. The two reptilian cranial units managed to stop bickering long enough for Doublecross to emerge from the forest directly behind the bug-like Monsterbot and shadow him to the concealed entrance of their new headquarters, if it could really be called such.

Getting down on all fours, the two-headed dragon crawled his way through the small opening before being able to stand at full height once again as the tunnel opened up into a much larger chamber. A quick glance around in opposite directions at once showed that the cavern had all the basic essentials they would need in the coming cycles, nothing more and nothing less.

(What a slaggin’ dump!)

It will serve our purpose for the time being. What did you expect anyway, a luxury suite?

(No, dumbaft, but I guess if our purpose is to crawl around like cyber-rats then this place will do just fine.)

Oh, stop your whining.

Doublecross pulled the hover cart full of equipment into the center of the room before unraveling his tail from around the handle and then transforming back to robot mode. “Not a bad place you’ve got here, Repugnus. Any spot in particular you want me to store all this gear?”

(Hey, that’s not fair! You gave me no warning that you were going to transform!)

You snooze, you lose.

While both minds equally shared the body while in dragon mode, the right hemisphere of Doublecross’s processor was normally the dominant one while in robot mode. Usually, it took both personalities to agree to transform out of monster form, but there were certain occasions when the right one was able to initiate the change by doing so quickly and without warning, leaving the opposing persona little to no time to object or stop the change. This was one of those instances.

(You can’t keep me bottled up for long. Next time, it’ll be near impossible to push me to the background so easily.)

I’ll keep that in mind. Now, quiet you!

Melanossus

Rad saw that another Autobot, a couple of them now actually, were starting to get swarmed as Sweeps increasingly descended on the area and were proceeding to take them out.

He hadn't done enough to gain the attention of any of the heavy-hitters yet, and Rad was thankful for that. It allowed him to keep poking at them from a distance. He'd go for a nice, face-to-face scrap as quickly as any 'Bot, but it was to their advantage to capitalize on every little bit of good luck that came their way. And not having a pile of Sweeps on him definitely made him feel lucky.

Rad stepped over the latest broken and sparking diaclone, smashing its cranial unit as he did so, before lining up a shot at one of the Sweeps that was swarming Pointblank. Rad unleashed a flurry of blaster fire before quickly turning and looking further down the slope at that brutish mech that Pyro seemed to have found himself tangled with.

Every little shot would count if they were going to take that bad boy down.

Checking his sights and weapon energy levels, Rad began to unload in Turmoil's direction as well. His focus was unrelenting until something shot past him, racing towards the large Decepticon on all fours.

"Lionizer. No! Get back here!"
___

Seven Miles out of Koraja

"GahhhhhhhhhAHHHHaahhhhhhhh!!!" Bombshell cried out, the interference from his cerebro shell becoming so thorough that it almost began to cripple his own mind. The Insecticon shut off the link as he stopped in his tracks for a moment. Kickback was not far behind.

"Such drama with you," the other Insecticon said. "What is it now?"

"The Cerebro shell link. It's....ehhhh....it's gone," Bombshell sighed.

"As if it mattered now," Kickback said. "Their base is just ahead, through the edge of the forest. It's ours."

"....yes," Bombshell began, reluctantly agreeing. "Ours."

Through the edges of the forest, metallic legs, pincers and a small horde of glowing optics began to emerge. The Autobots had run this way. But they would not be able to run for much longer.

Clear of the trees, numerous diaclones began to take to the air, closing the distance between themselves and their intended Autobot prey that much faster.