Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

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.

Melanossus

Hope.

Hope made the Autobots continue their futile resistance in these hours of despair. They had fought valiantly. They always did. It was one of the keys to the riddle Decepticons were still trying to solve. The resolve of the Autobots when driven against a wall had kept their cause alive despite being outnumbered by the Decepticons on many theaters of their never ending war. But here on Nebulos, the Autobot resistance was falling. In the end it did not matter how valiantly one fought, not when opposition was overwhelming. It only delayed the inevitable. The mighty Ironside had been cut down like his famous armor had been made of tinfoil. The clever Rad, known for his intelligence had fared no better. Nor his loyal companion, Lionizer. Even Pointblank, a grizzled veteran of thousands battles had been overwhelmed. One by one the Autobots were falling before the might of the Decepticon war machine.

Some continued to press on. Like Comcast, the communications specialist of this particular Autobot counter infiltration cell. Comcast was relatively inexperienced as a soldier. Out here on the battlefield he was out of his element. But he never gave up either. He knew Pyro was still standing. And that meant they still had Hope. He only had to buy Pyro more time. Pointblank and Rad had managed to pull the attention of the Sweeps, leaving Comcast just enough time to get into a position and create a powerful jamming field over the Nebulan town. Effectively shredding the Decepticon battlefield communications into garbled, distorted mess. The single most important advantage of it? It cut off the link between the numerous Insecticon diaclones and Turmoil who had used the Swarm as means of keeping track of the enemy positions and picking him targets outside his own line of sight.

When the jamming field took effect, Turmoil became a prisoner of his own smokescreen. The powerful Decepticon warlord had been counting on the Swarm's ability of providing him targeting data and with the link lost, he was as blind as Pyro was. The various proximity sensors and vision modes still allowed him good enough short range 'picture' of his surrounding but the ionized smoke effectively cut his long distance sensor range to a small portion of its normal range.

Frustrated but hardly beaten, Turmoil turned off the smoke generators in his legs and began backing off from the cloud of smoke he had let loose to hide his exact position from Pyro. Hopefully the Sweeps with the assistance of Bomb-Burst and Horri-Bull could pin the Autobot down for long enough for the Decepticon warlord to regain his targeting ability. That could hardly be taken for granted though.

Backing down forced him out of the position between Pyro and the Decepticon supply depot, but it had brought Turmoil far enough from the veil of ionized smoke to allow his long range sensors to be of use again, although not through the smoke. It had also brought him in contact with the Swarm again, though only through direct laser communications. It gave him no ability to see inside the cloud of smoke. What it did however, was allowing Turmoil to see around it. And when it came to the Swarm, Comcast had no place to hide from them. The moment the Swarm pinpointed Comcast's position to their commanding officer was removed from the moment Comcast's world exploded only by couple of astroseconds.

Smoke rising from his cannon barrel, Turmoil turned his attention back to Pyro's last known position while the Sweeps set out to find the possible surviving stragglers in the edge of the town. Despite the Autobots' stubborn attempt to fight superior enemy - it was almost over now. Only one Autobot was still resisting and he was resisting hard. The moment the Swarm brought Pyro's real position back to Turmoil's targeting grid, the supply depot they had come to protect exploded violently with power nearly comparable to the atom bomb dropped to Hiroshima.

The shockwaves of the explosion swept across the town, clearing the smoke and Insecticon Swarm off the skies while turning most of the buildings in the town to rubble. Even the massive Turmoil was knocked down by the force of the explosion given his relatively short range to the supply depot. His construction however was far too strong to suffer more than minor damage from the explosion at this range. Seething from rage, the powerful Decepticon commander pulled himself up, only to find Pyro doing the same roughly a block worth of ruined buildings away from his own position. With a furious scowl on his face behind the cracked mask veiling it, Turmoil aimed his cannon arm at Pyro's left thigh and let loose a destructive beam of particles towards the lone resisting Autobot.

Equatorial Desert

"Oooh. The slaglicker speaks, heh heh." Apeface smirked at Scattershot's attempt to agitate him. A pretty common strategy from self-proclaimed toughbots like the Technobot unit leader was. Piss off your captors enough to make them careless and take the advantage to escape. Too bad for Scattershot, such tactics were useless against Apeface. Scattershot could try to bait him for the rest of his sorry existence and the Horrorcon just wouldn't care. In fact, if Scattershot got original enough with his jibes, Apeface might even end up memorizing the insults only to use them later himself. Plagiarism wasn't exactly something the Horrorcon primate was too concerned about.

"Monkey does what monkey does." Apeface chuckled and shoved the butt of his gun against the back of Scattershot's head with enough force to make the Technobot fall again. Activating his communicator, Apeface set in their current coordinates and sent an orbital bounce request back to Tenebrous before turning towards Snapdragon to address the reptile's mocking tone.

"Shuddup you waste lubricant loving sewage goo hoarding slob." Apeface taunted his partner back and socked Snapdragon in the back of his head with a balled fist as he walked over the battered form of Scattershot and past his partner in crime. "Mind your own pile of trash unless you were going to leave it here to dry instead of securing its lubricants for one of your grease baths."

Melanossus

Pyro flipped end over end and buried his left foot deep into the crumbled cobbles as the limpet charge tumbled over the futile defenses of the Decepticon horde. His blaster was drawn at the ready and already leveled at two insecticlones as they attempted to intercept the live bomb as it headed to its date with destiny.

The Ranger pulled the trigger of his cannon and sent two short bursts of quick hardening foam straight into the two clones. One was hit in the head and the torso, keeping his weapon at a lowered position before the foam dropped down to its legs locking it in place. The second burst pounded the larger clone as it attempted to transform into the form of an insect. Caught in mid-transformation, the internal gears snapped and the daiclone fell to the other side of the wall in a smoldering ruin.

His sensors were accurate to a fault. He had anticipated the levels of stored energon within the warehouse. The energy readings his sensors had picked up were of a small deposit of cubes hidden deeper within the structure.

To Pyro's horror, his scans were woefully inaccurate. The limpet charge detonated as soon as it breached the weakened roof of the building. Initially it was expected to be a small localized explosion to destroy the building and perhaps in a worse case scenario damage its neighboring structures. The detonation of the charge sent off a chain reaction hidden deep within the structure and the first shock wave punched the ranger right across the chest causing him to tumble over into an abandoned cargo truck. The second shock wave as the small mushroom cloud began to rise over the now irradiated crater forced Pyro to cover his body with his arms.

An intense almost blinding pain exploded through his optics and all of his internal sensors erupted with damage reports. His entire side felt as if it had been cleaved from his torso as a large power surge crashed against his exposed flank. The force of the shot caused the already battered Pyro to take flight and crash into the ruins of a local convenience store and bar and brewery. He came to rest in a burning heap of broken steel and bricks.

Through the sparks and the surges through his fractured optics, Pyro slowly turned his head to stare down the source of the shot that had caused his flank so much damage. "Tur... moi..l" his voice failed him as the power levels began to dip to their lowest sustainable levels. Soon his optics faded and he fell into stasis. Everything was dark, a dreamless slumber with nothing but pain and thoughts of failure.

Ocean Depths

The familiar grey twilight of the ocean greeted Snaptrap and the rest of his team as they descended down into the depths of the ocean. Landing on a soft patch of sand, Snaptrap turned to address his team as they looked to him for orders.

>>”Our mission is to locate any crashed Autobot escape capsules. Capture the Autobots if you can, terminate them if you cannot. Overbite, Seawing, you will do reconaissance. Mention anything out of place. Skalor, Tentakil, Nautilator, you will be conducting a search of the ocean floor as will I. Spread out but keep in radio contact. Dismissed.”<<

Seawing and Overbite shot off into the deep blue of the horizon to search for signs of Autobot life at top speed. Skalor, Tentakil, and Nautilator spread off in different directions. Snaptrap moved toward the north. Hopefully, the reconaissance would go swiftly, otherwise Nautilator would begin to rust. Snaptrap considered – not for the first time – about leaving him to rust, but decided against it as he always would. He had his uses. The Seacon commander swept his optics across the blue horizon as he floated onward at a moderate pace, searching for signs of Autobot activity.

Melanossus

The sight of the particle stream from his arm cannon puncturing through an enemy chassis never ceased to fashinate Turmoil. Being able to wield such of an amount of destructive energies and channel it as you pleased to destroy your enemy was impressive even by Transformer standards. Yet in the end it was nothing more than a tool of war and the Decepticons had plenty of them. Some were even more impressive than Turmoil's chosen weapon. But in his weight class, such weapons were rare.

This battle had cost the Decepticons plenty. Nothing irreplaceable but plenty nevertheless. Yet, Turmoil considered this victory worth the sacrifices. The Insecticon diaclones were relatively simple to fabricate. They would be replaced in few days. Production of new drones to refill the ranks of the Sweeps would take somewhat longer but even it could be considered as a minor setback. The same could be said about the destruction of the supply depot. It was one of many and even now there were plenty of new ones being constructed all over the larger power production sites of Nebulos. The Autobot resistance on Nebulos however, would not be able to rebound from this defeat.

During the past several breems Turmoil had received number of new reports from his troops capturing Autobot stragglers. Cyclonus, Scourge, the Horrorcons and that insuffarable Deadlock had taken several Autobot survivors from the Farstar to custody. The bounty hunter Lockdown had delivered as usual. Even Black Shadow had rised on the occasion and captured the Spartanbots with Blue Bacchus. And it was only a matter of time Snaptrap would update his report. Through the intelligence secured so far Turmoil could fairly accurately estimate that no more than ten Aubots were still on the loose. And what could ten Autobots do against over one thousand Decepticons whom would soon have the populace of the planet on their side. The result of Pyro's actions here on this small town of Melanossos would ensure it.

As Turmoil approached Pyro's prone form, his gun barrel was still smoking from the excess heat caused by the blast that had removed the Optimus Prime wannabe from the fray. The Autobot ranger had certainly tried his best but in the end his heroism had only resulted in turning his own body to a smoking wreck and bringing the contempt of countless Nebulans over him and his kind.

The quick scan Turmoil spared for Pyro indicated a system-wide stasis-lock. The ranger would live at least if treated quickly enough. Nevertheless, he would no longer pose a treat to Turmoil or any other Decepticon in his vicinity. True to his nature, Turmoil wasted no time gloating over Pyro's defeat in his hands, instead - he opened up a comm-link to Reflector.

>>"Reflector. Compile an anti-Autobot propaganda broadcast from the video feed acquired from the battle and eventual destruction of town of Melanossus through Pyro's actions and leak it to the Nebulan media through intermediaries. Also prepare medical units to take in dozens of injured. Both our own and our prisoners. Captured hostiles will require no more attention than is demanded by The Code of Interplanetary Conflict. Life threatening injuries are to be stabilized. Weapon systems are to be confiscated and a transformation inhibitor is to be installed to every functioning Autobot prisoner."<<

Having finished the transmission to Reflector, Turmoil turned to stare straight at the direction of Cyclonus and Scourge whose presence he was perfectly aware of. >>"I may have ignored your inactivity through this battle but if you continue to avoid your duties - being branded as deserters by the High Commander will be the least of your worries."<<

Ocean Depths

"What the frag died!?"

These were the only words Overbite could say when swimming up to Snaptrap for orders. He hated the putrid smell that was always seeping into his scent processors. He didn't notice the slow-moving Skalor approach him from behind.

"He who smelt it dealt it, Jawbreaker." Skalor said as he swam around Overbite slowly, letting his putrid liquid seep from his body and onto the shark.

Overbite scowled, then decided that biting him would only spew more noxious oil onto Overbite. He felt a chill go down his spine. He would not want that oil in his mouth. Ever.

Skalor received his orders and followed closely behind Nautilator, letting his "essence" travel around him. He looked about the seafloor, occasionally snapping sea creatures that were not scared off by his odor in two.

Overbite sped around the seafloor, smelling about for any Autobot. He would never forget that stench. Hope. They were all driven by it, and it reeked from them. It was almost as foul as Skalor.

Almost.

Korajan Forest--Cave

With diaclones swarming around the cave structure, not only was it inevitable that they were going to break through, but they were inevitably going to notice and attempt to break out of some other area.

With the boulder that had been put in their way finally cracking and crumbling in front of their combined onslaught, Bombshell and his own detachment of clones began to spill in to the caves, crawling alongside its edges in every which way in search of the Autobots that were attempting to elude them.

It was one of Kickback's, however, that had caught sight of the attempted breakout from another portion of the terrestrial structure. Immediately, another portion of them took to the air, just as Kickback did, immediately in pursuit.

"Still they flee. It does them no good now!" Kickback chuckled gleefully as he soared through the air before landing on a patch of ground. Ahead of him, the diaclones were quickly gaining on the Autobots. There appeared to be some sort of small patch of Nebulan civilization ahead.

Excellent. Dinner.

The Perdition--Bridge

>>"Turmoil will be most pleased,"<< Reflector responded to Soul Siren. >>"I suspect you'll have a good deal of company soon."<<

When Turmoil's latest transmission came through, Reflector heaved a large sigh of internal relief. This was a task that was directly suited to his function. Between Turmoil and Cyclonus' frustration regarding how some of the orbital operations had been conducted and the fact that there was still an Autobot vessel quietly hiding somewhere had lead to an increasing sense of doubt as to whether Reflector's own position of authority--limited though it was--might be in jeopardy. Granted, he was a Decepticon, and it was far more than one's rank that was in jeopardy when it came to failure. Each of those realities served to motivate the surveillance specialist that much more. This counter-campaign would be accomplished quickly.

>>"With all haste, mighty Turmoil,"<< Reflector quickly responded back to the large and imposing Decepticon. Even though he was technically far away, he could be within arm's reach again just as quickly as he had left in the first place. Because of that, Reflector was only too willing to share the progress that Soul Siren had made, even if it would only serve to placate the large Decepticon for a while longer.

>>"You will be pleased to know that operative Soul Siren has made progress on the interrogation front. The captives admit to no recognizable Autobot organization on this planet in the aftermath of our initial assault. It would seem that Scattershot and his Technobot comrades could have functioned as a rally point for the remnant, but with word of their capture coming from the equatorial desert, it would seem that the path to beginning the real work that brought us here has been cleared and can begin in earnest, mighty one."<<

Reflector was none too keen about applying the same superlative flattery to Turmoil that he did to Scorponok, but he had little choice. Scorponok was gone and Reflector had no desire to find himself in the crosshairs of a vengeful vice-commander.

The Spectro component began the process of compiling visual data that had been captured planetside thus far while the other Spyglass and Viewfinder units remained focused on operations within the ship itself and within Tenebrous, respectively, responding to Apeface's request for an orbital bounce and setting up the procedure by locking on to the energy signatures and tech specs of each of the mechanoids that would be taking part, willingly or not.

>>"Commencing in 3...2...1..."<< Spyglass transmitted planetside to the Horrorcons before activating the jump technology that would carry them and their captives from one part of the planet to the other.

Fortress Tenebrous

Scattershot scowled as a pair of Decepticon guards dragged in yet another survivor of what the Technobot Commander could only describe as an epic cluster frack. The mission had been fairly simple. Jump in, make contact with Sky Hammer or at least one of the science team that had been sent to this primus forsaken rock then jump back out and report to Fortress Maximus. Once that was completed Scattershot had antisipated redeployment either to a more volitile front of this war or perhaps have Far Star and her over taxed crew get some down time back at Station Liberty.

Of course the Technobot Commander wanted to be deployed to the action rather than getting his torso buffed in some fancy new CR Chamber. Stil he knew the value of downtime and knew well that his team had been on the front for quite some time. If his memory banks were correct, his team had been on constant deployment for nearly an eon. And while Far Star was his first ship command, his team had been used often in strike operations and at times the more mundain research projects. Even with those looming pieces of evidence before him, he refused to make excuses for his team's performance.

The Technobots ran up against five Decepticon bruisers and were handedly beaten. Beaten and tossed into this stinking filth trap in the heart of a covert incursion that he nor his superiors had any inkling with regards to its very existance. Add to that was the humiliation that he had to utter those damnable words in order to keep his command team from being totally obliterated.

Little by little the survivors that had been spread across the planet following the destruction of the Frigate Far Star, were drawn around the bend and thrown unceremoniously into the large holding tank that Scattershot now inhabited. He was the least damaged, he really didn't care to know the reason why. All he knew was that they were stuck, destined to spend a portion of this war inside a cell until the endless balancer of time swang back into their fortune.

The forcefield flickered off as two guards approached the cell. They deactivated the automated weapon systems that were aimed practically at Scattershot's head and chest. They gave some snide comment about how they were superior over the Autobot cause, Scattershot ignored it. Soon after they took up positions a medic drone rolled on six pairs of treads to the gap in the cell field. It pivoted on its central axis and then tilted its service bed dumping Lightspeed, Strafe and Afterburner into a heap inside the cell.

The forcefield flashed on then began its steady hum as deadly energy coursed through the magnetic field. Scattershot remained motionless as his three Technobot subordinates began to reactivate from their trauma.

Melanossus

The outcome of this battle was reaching its nigh-inevitable conclusion. Cyclonus rather limited faith in the efficacy of this supposed Vice-Commander was maintained, at least for the present. His attention on the battle was taken away momentarily as Soul Siren's transmission came through.

>>"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."<<

Interesting...

>>"Understood. Has your interrogation revealed anything as to his whereabouts?"<< Cyclonus transmitted back in response. The question was a formality only. That nugget of information would be enough for Scourge and his Sweeps to begin a new hunt. Scattershot would not elude them for long. None of them could.

It was then that Cyclonus realized his presence had garnered Turmoil's direct attention. Indeed, the battlefield had grown significantly quieter and there were few other directions. Cyclonus did not look away. Instead he began to walk forward, getting close enough so that transmitted communication would no longer be necessary.

"Desertion? Preposterous in the utmost. Scorponok will determine whether or not my duties have been fulfilled, not you," Cyclonus said evenly. "I have received information which will bring this resistance to its inevitable end. You are doing your part. I am doing mine. Implications of anything further are ill-advised."

The Pestilence--Laboratory

Rust Cut strolled around he laboratory viewing her notes on the subject matter of creating life as she normally does in her spare time as if the answer would be right in front of her. She had written these notes over and over countless times to the point she could say all known knowledge that Cybertron knew about life and death for her people.

In the lab strange machines hook up to the walls which were covered with notes and diagrams of and about the Cybertronian body. In the middle of the room was a large slab height adjustable with the restrained body of an unknown fallen Autobot completely drain of life. Next to the slab were a few trays with well organized assortment of tools all well taken care of and properly maintained. From basic wrench to saws to tools no one except Rust Cut would possibly have any idea of their purpose.

Rust Cut sighed looking over at the fallen Autobot as she began yet another attempt of Resurrection. Rebuilding and repairing all damages, injecting various chemical compounds and, attaching various devices and wires to the Autobot. She was powering up the devices needed and writing down every little detail. The process of getting ready to initiate the test took at-least 8 Cycles and even then Rust Cut had to wait another two Cycles for some of her machines to warm up.

Equatorial Desert

Snapdragon walked behind Apeface. As he did he kicked his Technobot captive forward. It seemed to be a waste of effort to actually pick him up. Kicking him repeatedly was more entertaining anyway.

"Ha! I actually have standards on the oil I use. Only a exhaust sucking gear glitched glorified service droid like you would ever use whatever low quality garbage this slag head is using."

He returned the favor with a punch to Apeface's right shoulder. Had almost any other mechanoid spoken or acted in such a way as the Horrorcons did with each other it would have been a death sentence. That reality made Snapdragon chuckle darkly.

That dark chuckle echoed through the desert as they jumped.

Fortress Tenebrous

Soul Siren walked out of the interrogation room and to the general office the Fortress had available for the interrogator. It would give her a moment to catch up on her reports until the next wave of captives came. As she moved she answered Reflector.

"I look forward to that."

Turmoil had not answered her report which did not completely surprise her. Cyclonus, however, had answered her so she replied. Before doing so she received a notification from the Fotress security systems.

"I believe this will answer your question sir."

She uploaded the video of Scattershot being dragged into the Fortress and sent it to Cyclonus. She also sent a copy to Reflector. She figured the three would get a chuckle out of that.

Fortress Tenebrous--Holding Cell

Lightspeed had been allowed enough time, even if only barely--for his systems to have completed some baseline repairs and at least get him back online. His treatment at the hands of the Horrorcons hadn't been ridiculously brutal. Just par for a Horrorcon, which was enough to offline just about any Cybertronian for a while.

The Technobot didn't say anything at first, just taking a few astroseconds to push himself up on to his elbow joints and look around. It was hardly the most pleasant accommodations. They were still functional though. In the end, that was all that mattered.

"So this is the end, and we've arrived in the Pit," Lightspeed groaned, looking down at the series of dents and holes that dotted his framework. His pain sensors were still registering in the upper 9's, but it wouldn't do any good to tell anybody about it here. "For some reason I expected dancing spawns of Unicron jabbing at us with energo-spears."

Monsterbot Base

Repugnus went to work while the other two Monsterbots voiced their approval. He carefully rigged up the warheads he had taken from the Cons earlier. It would take just a bit of work to attach the warheads to a pressure sensitive detonator. When whatever hapless cons came along to investigate would get blown off the surface of Nebulos. It was going to be great!

“Well I’m glad the two of you approve so much. Once I’ve got our pal here rigged up I’ll need one of you to fly him somewhere, maybe an open field with some nice hiding places nearby. I want to watch him go boom and take some cons down, maybe pick up some souvenirs.” He offered them a grin before turning back to his work. ”Once we’ve got him on the ground we’ll activate his locator beacon. Some Sweeps will probably come swooping down. They’ll poke, prod and eventually flip him over. That’s when the fireworks go off.”

*

Korajan Forest

Shrapnel let out another yell as he saw his path blocked by the boulder. He aimed his antennae at the obstacle and unleashed a powerful bolt of electricity. Together with the blasts from Bombshell and the clones the boulder shattered, rocks hurtling in all directions. Shrapnel wasted no time charging inside, only to find the Autobots gone.

The Insecticon let out an angry shriek before transforming. Turning to the diaclones he pointed down the various tunnels. “Find them, them!” The diaclones under his control began pouring into the cave and down the various tunnels, searching for the Autobots.

The Pestilence - Bridge

Being directly connected into the deadly Insecticon destroyer the Pestilence gave Venom at least some peace of mind. He knew it gave him an edge and still - having the destructive power of a massive warship and the majority of the Swarm at his command did little to remove his own insecurities and paranoia.

The threat of the Pestilence forced even his most dangerous rivals - Bombshell, Kickback and Shrapnel to obey Venom. Yet, he was certain they were plotting against him. Together and invidually. Waiting for that moment of weakness they could exploit. He was in control for now but for how long? Had not the most untrustworthy trio of Insecticons he had under his command just entered the vast woods near Koraja alongside most of their drones? They could claim they went in to hunt Autobots all they wanted but was that really the truth? It did appear like they were doing as Barrage and Venom's own spy drones had reported but could even the moderately trustworthy gunner be trusted? Or his own drones? Bombshell could have placed a cerebro shell in the gunner's head for all Venom knew.They knew he could watch them. As long as he was interfaced with the Pestilence. But appearances could be lies. What if his vast network of spies had been rigged to send him false information? They could as well be preparing for a coup there, right under his optics.

No, no, no, no - that was unlikely. For all their intelligence such deception had to be beyond their skills. It just had to be. If they were that crafty they would have struck against him already. Yes, this was how it had to be. Perhaps...

Venom's drifting thoughts were brought back to the reality through the horrifying realization that he was not alone in his ship with his drones. How could he have forgotten Rust Cut? Yes, the science oriented femme seemed rather harmless in comparison to her more power hungry brethen but deceit ran deep in the ranks of the Insecticons. Quickly, Venom's attention was turned at the sensory feedback his surveillance equipment was transmitting from Rust Cut's lab. The femme appeared to be once again performing one of her tireless and yet futile attempts of rising an expired Autobot back to life. She would not succeed. She could not recreate a spark. Without a spark there was no life, even with a undamaged brain module and transformation cog present. At best she could rise this Autobot as a mindless automation - a drone. Not without the Matrix. And Venom had little faith in the myths regarding the supposed life giving powers of some ancient trinket. Why couldn't she be satisfied with the clone drones?

He would have to observe Rust Cut's actions more closely... It could be this was nothing but another ruse to steal the leadership of the Insecticons away from him.