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The Perdition--Bridge

When Reflector noticed the latest incoming transmission signal, he was loathe to respond to it. He actually paused to consider feigning some sort of technical difficulty to avoid the conversation entirely, but he knew that it would be highly inadvisable to do so. The Viewfinder component patched it through and shortly thereafter the face of Cyclonus materialized on the screens in front of the surveillance trio.

>>"I suspect it's a waste to ask, but have you made any progress in regards to hunting down that hidden Autobot vessel?"<<

The one that had gone silent seemingly an age ago now. Whoever was on it, in spite of everything that had gone on, seemed to have the patience of a Prime for they had made no action after Reflector had systematically destroyed every orbital satellite the rogue Autobots could have used to bounce additional forces on or off the planet. That ship, which had been used for that very same purpose in the earliest stages of the Autobots' guerilla tactics on this planet, had been a source of continual frustration for the Decepticon surveillance specialist. He hated knowing that it was still out there, somewhere, but he had no recourse by which to exercise that frustration.

"Negative, Cyclonus. The vessel remains hidden," Reflector reported. On the viewscreen, the warrior's face retained its characteristic stoicism.

>>"Expected...I suppose,"<< Cyclonus said, looking off in another direction momentarily. There appeared to be a considerable amount of activity occurring in whatever room of the fortress he currently occupied. >>"It is fortunate, then, that it will no longer be your primary concern. High Commander Scorponok requests your service aboard the Tyrannis. I...will look forward to your arrival."<<

It was then that Cyclonus' eerie visage betrayed a hint of emotion. Sadistic satisfaction, in Reflector's view, at the prospect of finally being within arm's reach of the Reflector components. While Reflector was exceedingly pleased that he would once again be returning to the flagship of the 2nd Expansion Fleet, the manner of his return was not as ideal as it had been the last time he had served aboard that massive warship. He could only hope that mighty Scorponok had more use for him than this icy lieutenant seemed to.

Saying nothing more, Reflector began transferring bridge operations over to the other members of the ship's crew before, one by one, each component proceeded to exit the bridge. Their next destination: the Semper Tyrannis.

Ops

Deadlock's optics dimmed briefly as neutrino filters were lowered to blot out the amazing brilliance of the Bounce Effect and the power necessary to transport a large mass such as their fleet commander. As it faded, he readjusted his posture to one of salute and respect. Unlike Turmoil and his conservative mannerisms towards the Autobot prisoners, Scorponok was one along the lines of Megatron. Do what it takes to win this war as swiftly as possible so the reconstruction could begin. Though inwardly, Deadlock was disgusted by the idea of War for War's Sake, he knew it was a necessary byproduct of eons of battle.

He snapped to full attention when his name was addressed and he gave a brief nod in acceptance. "As you wish my lord Scorponok." He pivoted on his heel once the salute was concluded and looked back at the Tracker. "Let us be done with this task so we can get back to what must be accomplished. If they resist, break a limb or two, that will stop their griping."

Deadlock did not wait for dismissal from his commanding officers, perhaps it was a trait that he had developed to annoy Turmoil. But it was decidedly one Megatron had nurtured during their illustrious careers. With the silent hydraulic hiss of the doors, Deadlock disappeared from the Operations Command Center, and headed down towards lifts leading to the holding cells. Along the way he pointed to two nondescript Vehicons to add to the security detail that already was in tow.

Holding Cells

Scattershot watched as the interrogator brought in the worse for wear Lightspeed and deposited him unceremoniously into the holding cell. The Technobot Commander carefully broke his sentinelesque stance and made his way to the side of his second in command and friend. Kneeling down he placed his finger tips onto the fresh carbon score marks along the burnt orange and red chasis. He did not offer an apology for what his subordinate had to endure, no there was no need. All of them, including that arrogant windbag Afterburner knew how Scattershot would have sacrificed himself to take anyone of their places.

His optics dimmed as he pressed his fingers down he attempted to rouse his damaged friend. "Lightspeed, Lightspeed," his cautiously low voice, barely audible to anyone beyond those two. "What did you learn, what are they after?"

His attention was grabbed by the shrill harpy of an interrogator as she appeared again and demanded the forcefield be lowered and guards to swarm the chamber. Scattershot did not move from his crouch, even though she demanded his retrieval. "Go blow it out your gasket Deceptiscrap. Can't you see I'm busy."

Tenebrous - Cell Block

Ah, so Scorponok had returned. Little wonder a sort of tension permeated the air. The Seacons' redeployment to the Semper Tyrannis did cause the butcher of the bogs to wonder. What sort of plan did Scorponok have now? Something akin to curiosity briefly flickered through the emotionless Seacon commander before being crushed by the butcher's usual cold logic. No point in wondering. The Seacons needed to be redeployed. Snaptrap opened a communique with the rest of his team.

>>"Change of plans. We are being redeployed to theSemper Tyrannis. Make your way there after you have recharged and gathered whatever possessions you require."<< With his orders sent, Snaptrap shut off the link and exited the cell block.

Corridors

The butcher of the bogs was making his way through the corridors of Tenebrous when he stumbled across Snapdragon looking particularly irritable, grumbling to himself. Snaptrap regarded the Horrorcon for a moment. In the end, the Seacon commander simply moved on. He was neither one for conversation nor companionship.

Plains of Thok- The Consortium Research Center

Where are you Banzai-Tron?, Sparkstalker thought as he monitored communications, You said you'd contact us several cycles ago! What did you do, overload your storage compartments with loose shanix?

The cryptologist was starting to get nervous. Despite the Intelligence Director's assurances that the military would be kept away from Nebulos for a long time, everything had gone to slag. It was only a matter of time until someone looked into the facility, whether it was Scorponok or, the firecon shuddered, Turmoil. So much of the Tyrest Accord had been broken here, and Sparkstalker had no intention of facing the consequences.

So here Sparkstalker was, scouring through planet wide communications, meticulously combing through each transmission for any sign of his superior in the Intelligence Division, but with no sign of him whatsoever. Sparkstalker tapped his finger on the communications console, as it seemed he would have to bring the whole operation to it's inevitable end.

I don't want to lose all this. Too much time, too much planning went into this entire facility., Sparkstalker's reached his hand to the underside of the console, where he felt around for a hidden panel, But I haven't stayed alive as long as I have by being sentimental about anything.

As the cryptologist contemplated how much longer he could wait before destroying evidence of their work and covering his tracks, he recieved the transmission from Black Shadow. He was to stop whatever he was doing and report to Tenebrous, under orders from Scorponok himself. Apparently his skills were needed in processing data that had been gathered from an Autobot prisoner.

Sparkstalker didn't entirely like the sounds of it. He hated having to leave the research center, not when there was so much uncertainty with their intelligence director. To make matters worse was the fact that he would be reporting directly to those who would hang him by his own fuel lines if their illegal activities were found out. However, not reporting would raise even more suspicion toward what the Intelligence Division had been doing, so there was really no choice at all. The firecon sent a reply to the transmission.

>>Acknowledged, Black Shadow. I will be there within two kliks.<<

Sparkstalker looked around- none of the other Intelligence officers were nearby, so he quickly opened the hidden panel under the console, and retrieved a small remote control, then opened a small storage compartment near his chest and placed it inside. If anything happened while he was gone, or if this all turned out to be some kind of trap being set up for him, he would need it. He always had a contingency plan, it was how he managed to be one of the most successful criminals in Cybertronian history.

Not that Cybertronian history has any record of my exploits., Sparkstalker smuggly smirked to himself as he stepped away from the communications console.

"Datacrunch, I'm being called away, orders from Scorponok.", he addressed a nearby silver technician, "You're in charge until either I get back or Banzai-Tron finally shows up."

The silver technician rose from his computer terminal and followed closely behind Sparkstalker.

"Orders from Scorponok? They haven't found out what we're doing down here, have they?", the technician asked nervously.

"I don't know, but I doubt it.", Sparkstalker replied as he entered the research center's bounce chamber, "But in any case do not send me any encrypted or scrambled transmissions while I'm there, it would only raise their suspicions that we have something to hide down here. Only contact me through standard Decepticon channels, use code words when necessary with sensitive information."

"Understood, Sparkstalker.", the silver technician nodded as he went to the bounce chamber controls, "Is there anything else?"

"Yes. Don't try hacking into any of my personal files."

"What?", the technician raised his optics, acting in surprise, "What are you talking about? I would never-"

"Do you remember Codebreaker?" Sparkstalker asked.

"That Autobot spy who'd infiltrated us? He was executed nearly a vorn ago.", Datacrunch hesitantly answered, not sure he liked where this was going.

"He tried to access my personal files.", the firecon said with a smile, not mentioning the fact that Codebreaker had never actually been an Autobot spy. Of course, he'd never admit to creating all those false transmissions to Autobot Intelligence that just happened to originate from Codebreaker's workstation.

Datacrunch scowled as he entered in the coordinates, and after a nod between the two Sparkstalker found himself enveloped in a beam of light.

Tenebrous

The light faded from Sparkstalker's optics, and he found himself in the larger bounce chamber of the Decepticon fortress of Tenebrous. A large mech stood at the controls, looking down on the firecon with intimidation.

"You're expected in the command center immediately.", the mech ordered, "Hurry up or I'll drag you there, you little scraplet!"

"Of course.", the cryptologist replied with a hint of scorn as he walked past him.

This is why I needed that transfer to Intelligence., Sparkstalker thought as he hurried down the corridors, A mechanoid as brilliant as myself shouldn't be looked down on like that. I should get that mech's name and access codes, and make it look like he tried to look into Scorponok's secure files. A simple enough task, and it would teach him a lesson- if he survives the warlord's wrath.

After several astroseconds of walking, Sparkstalker had made his way to the command center. Expecting to find Scorponok or some of his lieutenants, Sparkstalker was startled to find only Turmoil standing there.

Not good..... Not a good sign..., Sparkstalker thought as he walked up to the hulking mech in front of him. The cryptologist took note of the remote control in his personal storage compartment- enter in one command and all information of the illegal activities he'd been involved in would be erased, and the firecon would appear to be nothing more than a low-level technician who had only been following orders. Turmoil's mere presence made this option seem more enticing.

"Sparkstalker reporting, sir.", the cryptologist stood at attention as respectfully as he could, saluting Turmoil, "I've been ordered here by Lord Scorponok."

Tenebrous – Autobot Prisoner Cell Block

From his position on the floor Brainstorm perked up slightly when Pointblank gave his thoughts on what the engineer had said. At least someone was willing to acknowledge him in some way. With a light grunt Brainstorm rose from floor and took a moment to stretch the pistons in his legs and the pulleys in his neck as he took a careful look around the cell and its occupants.

After a moment of quiet observation his optics settled on the space past the cell’s bars and the Horrorcon that was poised just outside. Brainstorm let loose a low gasp and took a quick step back to put some extra distance between him and Apeface. The last thing he wanted was the simian to turn his attention on him. To his relief Apeface seemed to be more focused on Pyro than anyone else in the cell…good better him than me.

Brainstorm took a quick peek in Pointblank’s direction. “Screwed is an understatement.” At the sound of the large ‘Con’s voice the engineer shot his attention to the outside of the cell. Apeface was taking the advantage of the Autobots’ inability to retaliate to a whole new level. He left suddenly but returned with something hoisted on his shoulder. Unwilling to bear any witness to what the Horrorcon had planned; Brainstorm began back peddling to where Pointblank was at and very carefully took up a nice cozy position directly behind the enforcer…just in case.

As it turned out, his move was a very good idea as the barrel Apeface had hauled was tossed into the cell and then promptly detonated. Brainstorm let out a high pitch screech threw his hands over his head and dropped down to the floor. “PRIMUS SPARE MY SPARK! I'm too smart to die!” As the contents splattered over just about everything in the cell the scientist felt droplets of the foul substance spray lightly over his frame. Immediately he could detect the smell that wafted throughout the area…namely on the mechs who were now soaked in the goo. “Oh frag! You sick festering gearstick!”

Tenebrous - Command Center

"No doubt." Turmoil spoke up as he turned away from the console he was using to verify the identity of the mechanoid whom had just addressed him instead of moving straight through the portal like the majority of Decepticons marching through the Command Center into Scorponok's battleship. Sparkstalker, a low-ranking technician, better known as one of three members of the project Firecon and a proven disappointment as a warrior. The personality assessment file mentioned investigation of rumors about suspicious connections to criminal elements within and outside the Decepticon Empire but all the investigations had led to a dead end. These open questions aside, at least the small Decepticon seemed to be gifted enough hacker to warrant Scorponok's attention.

"Name: Sparkstalker, subgroup: Firecon, function: Cryptologist. Yes, you are being expected." The large charcoal warlord spoke up and nodded towards the whirling vortex through the very fabric of space in the far end of the Command Center. "Pass through the portal. You will arrive to the hangar of the Semper Tyrannis. You are to report to the bridge, directly to the High Commander. Caution is advised, we are in the middle of mobilizing for a large military operation - you do not want to be run over by a battalion of Vehicons."

That was all Turmoil was going to say to the Firecon. The only reason he had shared this much of his time with Sparkstalker in the first place was the fact that Scorponok himself had demanded the Firecon's services. And none of the high ranking Decepticon warlords were known to show patience when it came to carrying out their orders in timely fashion. Besides, Turmoil had plenty of work ahead of him. Scorponok had left him enough work to stay busy for several cycles and he was not going to waste his time and thus, Turmoil opened his comm-link to relay one of the many re-deployments Scorponok had ordered for.

>>"Horrorcons. Snaptrap. Report to the bridge of the Semper Tyrannis. Transportation through a space bridge portal in the Command Center."<<

Tenebrous--Holding Cells

"You fraggin', glitched up knob!" Rad yelled, doing the best he could to wipe away some of the excess...gunk...whatever the slag it was, away from his face. Wiping liquid away from metal wasn't accomplished with the same sort of ease for a mechanoid as it was for a humanoid.

Pointblank, for his part, had not reacted to the sudden detonation of disgustingness in the same manner that both Brainstorm and Rad had done. He was content to let the Horrorcons revel in their victory. He had no recourse to do otherwise. What was still in his favor was the fact that he was still functional. So long as that remained true, there also remained the possibility that the Decepticons would make a mistake big enough for him to capitalize on it. He just had to wait for the right opportunity, like all of them did.

"Easy," he said, resting a hand on Rad's shoulder mechanism as he looked over at Brainstorm. "Let's try to stay alive. Our only real chance to do that for a while will be to stay as far below the radar as we can manage. Be good little prisoners."

Rad shrugged Pointbank's hand away and walked over to another corner of the cell.

"Yeah, yeah. Easy to say. Hard to do," Rad grunted, both disapproving of the suggestion and somewhat resigning himself to carry it out all the same. It was bitter oil to swallow.

"Time to move, cuties," a pair of Seekers said as they approached the cells, several more Seekers and other Vehicons moving in to position, all with their weapons raised and ready to fire at the slightest provocation. "Don't try to be heroes. None of you are Primes. Just one less prisoner to transport. Or two. Or a dozen. Whatever works. We will shoot to kill."
___

Lightspeed's body rattled with slight convulsions like he had just come off the assembly line or out of the initiator. Scattershot's words helped to pull him somewhat out of the hellish nightmare that was playing itself over and over in his processor like it had been recorded and put on some kind of loop. His optics blinked on and off several times before shifting their focus to the Technobot Commander.

"She.......she wanted to know a-about who sent us. H-How many....were on the Farstar. I told her. Didn't think.....important....... but also wanted access codes for Garrus. Told her to shove it. M-Must...must be planning direct assault."

Tenebrous--Command Center

Cyclonus had prodded the stubborn Technobot Commander enough. Once Scorponok had made his next set of orders clear, Cyclonus wasted no time in executing, having already prodded Reflector in to his eventual place, he then turned and followed Scorponok through the winding corridors before approaching gateway that would facilitate the bounce up to the command ship.

It was not lost on him that Scorponok had selected him to stand at his right hand while Turmoil was left here to oversee a planet of pacifistic fleshlings. Why Scorponok had chosen to allow Turmoil to assume any form of command in his absence was still a mystery to the purple warrior, but it was an irrelevancy now. Cyclonus would be where he belonged. So too would Turmoil, if his observations on this planet were any indication.

"It appears our differences will resolve themselves another time," Cyclonus said, his optics flickering dangerous as a satisfied sneer etched his face. "I am sure your efforts as a steward of our labors will be commended. In time."

For in Cyclonus' view, that's all Turmoil ever had been. A steward put in place to oversee the work that he, Scorponok and numerous others had already well established. That would be his role again, while Cyclonus would continue on with the forging of new Decepticon victories.

"Until then," the purple warrior said at last, before stepping through the gateway and heading to the bridge of the Semper Tyrannis.
___

((OOC-Fill-in post, while darksabrz appears to be absent.))

Holding Cells

As the other powerful Decepticons departed under the auspices of Scorponok's latest series of commands, Scourge took to his own appointed task with no small amount of satisfaction.

Sweeps, Seekers and Vehicon guards had all moved in to place under his command and had begun facilitating the transfer of the Autobot prisoners to Scorponok's command ship. It was unfortunate that they were to be kept alive at all, but Scourge did not voice his disagreement with the current strategy in that respect. Scorponok had a larger vision than the Tracker cared to analyze. His service in the 2nd Expansion Fleet had brought with it conquest and the opportunity to fulfill his innate function. That was really all that mattered.

"This won't be the end," some random prisoner said as he walked past the Sweep Commander--bound and being prodded forward by another Sweep. Rad, according to the prisoner logs.

"The lies these Autobots tell themselves, eh Scourge?" another Sweep remarked, coming just behind his superior.

"See that these prisoners are all secured aboard the Tyrannis within the breem," Scourge said, ignoring the comment, before walking off in the direction of the command center himself. Now was not a time to gloat. It was time to press forward and come that much closer to their endgame.

Scourge would see it done.

Holding Cell 2

Pyro wiped away the festering gunk from his shielded face plate. Automated defenses were sometimes a blessed thing, unfortunately they were also limited covering the vital sensors of his face, optics and mouthguard. His fingers collected the slop with relative ease, much to his dismay the relative was the operative word. He allowed his sensors to readjust to the imput of the various fumes and odors that now rippled through the confined space. Each one that was registered Pyro began a systematic algorythm to begin filtering them out.

With a flick of his wrist, Pyro threw the concotion he had gathered into the erected force field screen. The sound if it sizzling against the electric current was at least satisfactory to his receptors. Drops of sand and other grit fell to the base of the forcefield before disappearing in a small flash of electrical discharge.

"Impressive," Pryo stood defiantly and did not react as his compatriots had. Though he wished to express his disgust with the treatment of prisoners of war, he knew Optimus would not give a bully the satisfaction of seeing him be swayed in such a manner. At least respond in an emotional outburst. Converse in civil and broad tones, "I must say that it is impressive to see such an intellect reduced to protoformish pranks. If you antisipated that I would be legitimately intimidated by your little stunt, I recommend you go back and check your programming manuals." With that Pyro allowed his optical sensors to begin floating through the grime.

They picked out several small pieces of metallic fragments from the canister that Apeface had used for his stink bomb. It wasn't very hard to find them, the blast radius was small and the center base ring was still intact. "I do have to admit though, I am sure if you spent a few days, you could have come up with something a bit more humiliating, or at least cleaver." An idea for the fragments was beginning to formulate in his processor, and now all he needed was time to put it all together. Fragments and lubricants and other residues. Combined they could potentially be used to short out the forcefield barrier. The problems were the logistics and to what purpose, beyond the whole whether or not it would be successful. Figuring that out would be Brainstorm's task, once they were left in relative peace.

Tenebrous - Command Center

Snaptrap wasted no time in making his way to the Command Center once Turmoil had issued the command. The seacon commander entered the command center, taking in the vast amount of vehicons and sweeps escorting prisoners into the space bridge portal. It seemed as though they were finally beginning to mobilize en masse. All the better. They had been stationed on this planet for far too long.

As Snaptrap passed, he nodded in acknowledgement to Turmoil, who was likely far to busy to notice. Regardless, the seacon commander continued on toward the space bridge portal. As the vehicons began to notice him, they edged slightly to the side to avoid the Seacon Commander's baleful stare.

Casting one glance back to look at the Tenebrous command center, Snaptrap stepped through the portal to the Semper Tyrannis and made his way to the bridge where he was to report.

Tenebrous- Command Center

Though he gave no indication, Sparkstalker was relieved when Turmoil instructed him to enter the portal into the Semper Tyrannis. Either the large black mech was unaware of the Intelligence Division's illegal activities on Nebulos, or he was too busy to care. Either way suited the cryptologist.

Sparkstalker didn't bother to reply as Turmoil's attention was easily diverted to Cyclonus, Snaptrap, and other larger, higher ranking warrior types. That also suited the firecon just fine. Though it could be frustrating to be ignored and unappreciated because of his small stature and lack of combat skills, Sparkstalker appreciated all the opportunities that opened up because of it. And after spending the past few vorns at the research center, surrounded by like-minded programmers, surveillance experts and spies, it was going to be nice being around those who looked down and underestimated his abilities.

Let the warriors have their battles and bloodshed., he smirked to himself as he walked to the portal unnoticed, I'll be enjoying my own spoils of war, gathering whatever classified information I can under their olfactory sensors. Just as soon as I find out what Scorponok needs me for, exactly.

After patiently waiting for a number of vehicons and other mechs walk through the portal, the cryptologist took a quick step in once he had some space.

Tenebrous – Interrogation Chamber, Autobot Prisoner Cell Block

If there was one thing that Cipher had learned in his long existence when it came to remaining in the good graces of ones superiors it was to keep your distance. It also worked in keeping one alive. So while Scorponok and the other officers watched and discussed what was to be done with the Autobot prisoners, Cipher kept out of the way. Present but not seen.

His interest was piqued, however, when the Warlord requested the presence of two of the faction’s top hackers. What an interesting turn of events. And when Scorponok turned and took his leave Cipher was not far behind.
____

*Humph* “Well, I suppose that’s that.” Blue Bacchus watched while Scorponok and most of the assemblage file out of the chamber. Once the towering Warlord was out of sight Blue turned his attention back on his comrade standing directly beside him. To his surprise Black Shadow already had his own optics burning into the other mech’s frame. Blue flinched slightly but quickly recovered. “What?”

Without a word Black Shadow offlined his optics and shook his head. “This planet’s ours, Blue. Now all that’s left to do is sterilize it.” He onlined his optics and in one quick movement threw his arm around Blue Bacchus’ shoulder drawing his associate against his side. A Wide almost feral grin grew on his face. “This, my friend, is a red letter day! What say we head over to watch as the Autobots are paraded out of their cells. I’ll even let you throw the first insult!” Who could argue with that? With a small nod Blue Bacchus was led from the interrogation chamber and on to the prisoner cell block the Autbots were being held in.
____

The barrel that had detonated seemed to be Apeface’s version of a dirty bomb. Brainstorm had been spared the full brunt of the festering goo’s spread by taking refuge behind the closest mech in his path. And it seemed hiding behind Pointblank paid off well…for Brainstorm, that is.

The engineer cast his gaze in Rad’s direction as the red mech lashed out quite loudly. “'Good little prisoners.'" He repeated. "Sure, if that’s what they want.” Brainstorm shook his head and limped slightly toward the back of the cell where he could ease himself down to the floor with the help of the wall. “I can be a ‘yes man’ just so long as I’m kept in one piece.”

The blue ‘Bot let out a low grunt as his aft hit the floor with a small thud. “Why did I even sign up for this assignment.” The question was rhetorical. His head shot up when he heard the two Seekers. They were soon followed by more Seekers and a multitude of Vehicons. Brainstorm cast a worried gaze in his cell mates’ directions and then turned back to the gathered Decepticons. Another grunt escaped his masked mouth as he carefully shimmied up the wall.

Along with the other Autobots Brainstorm was escorted out of his cell and lead through the corridors passing several imposing Decepticon officers. For a moment he was sure the lot of them would be shot by Scourge just for Rad’s little comment. To his relief the Sweep Commander let it slip.

As the parade passed by Black Shadow and Blue Bacchus took up places where each could catch exceptional glimpses of the Autobots’ morose expressions. The sight brought out a hearty chuckle from the black and crimson mech while Blue simply took pleasure in knowing that he’d never have to see this lot again…alive.

((OOC: I’ll be NPCing Wingspan for a wee bit.))

Tenebrous – Command Center

So close. He was so close to getting what he was after. And then this. Wingspan had stopped what he was doing as he was ordered through the communique from Black Shadow, but not before he nearly put his fist through the console’s keyboard. The aerial clone stood from his chair…teeth grit tight and body stiff with anger.

Wingspan raised his head slightly and shut down his optics. After a few silent motionless moments he was calm enough to leave his station. But thought of not getting all of that still locked away information was still eating at the back of his processor. This had better be worth it.

It took slightly longer than he had anticipated, but Wingspan had finally made it to the fortress’ Command Center where he spotted the acting Commander, Turmoil.

“Wingspan reporting, as ordered, Commander."

Tenebrous - Holding Cell 1

Scattershot's optics dimmed as he allowed his comforting hand to rest against the shoulder of the data collector. He turned his head towards Afterburner, Nosecone and Strafe with silent commands to help their injured brother back to the slab. He had endured much, far too much in what was supposed to be a simple mail run.

Finally as his team stood up to follow the silent instructions, Scattershot raised a defiant stare at the interrogator. His optics narrowed with a smoldering anger, the likes that made a handful of the seeker escorts flinch. He dug his fingers into the plate metal of the ground before he pushed himself up to his imposing height. His mind was racing with the posibilities or at least the potential reasons for Decepticon interest in an Autobot prison planet. There was nothing of any consequence there, no strategic resources. It wasn't on any major shipping routes, so why would they have interest in such a rock?

A seeker finally gathered enough nerve to attempt to grab Scattershot by his arm. Instinctively the Technobot Commander grabbed the wrist and twisted hard with a satisfying snap of metal and wire. "I wouldn't continue with that maneuver if I were you Autobot." Scattershot paused as the rest of the seekers were now charging their weapons and pointing it at his head module. However none of them had been the source of the command. Instead an angular armored soldier with weapons brimming across his back though none were drawn.

Two vehicons were, however, armed and leveling their guns on the rest of the Technobots. "I recommend you follow this female's command. Before I follow through with what the others don't have the energon pumps for." Deadlock's optics were cold and full of resentment for the Autobots held within the cell. Their very existance reminding him of the days he crawled through the gutters while they lived high on the energon resevour.

Scattershot gave a final squeeze on the broken wrist of the seeker, giving it another yelp of pain, before he released it with defiance. He stepped forward, "alright. I suppose I am ready Decepticon." His optics locked briefly with those of Deadlock and his escorts.

As Scattershot emerged from the cell, Deadlock drove a fist straight into the gut of the Technobot commander. The force was enough to cause the larger mech to double over, albeit briefly, but it sent a message to the others. He would not tolerate defiance or resistance. The vehicons quickly surrounded Scattershot as the seekers moved to scoop him up from the ground. "I'm sure you are ready. Guess I'll have to make you unready before our little adventure. I am sure the lovely interrogator here would perfer to have an easy date this evening."

Splendora

"Do you suppose that they are leaving, my Peer?" one of the attendants remarked as he and a number of others stood around a large, ovoid screen watching a grainy transmission that was being captured from somewhere just outside the restricted zone that their capital of Koraja had become since the mechanics had taken over the planet.

On the screen, several of the robotic creatures had taken to the air, transformed and then seemed to practically disappear into the farthest reaches of the atmosphere where other ships that carried even more of these beings surely awaited their arrival. Galen did not know what exactly that meant in terms of these creatures or their strategy, but he had seen nothing to convince him that these massive conquerors were suddenly going to depart peacefully.

"No. We are not so fortunate as that," Galen said. He looked over and saw that Zarak was still in the midst of what appeared to be a heated conversation with his daughter Llyra. Though he could not hear the words being spoken on the other side of the glass wall, their facial expressions left little to the imagination.

"What then?" another Peer interjected, hardly as timidly as the attendant that had spoken before. Even so, it barely elicited a raised eyebrow from the head of the World Watchers.

"'What'?" Galen scoffed. "As if there was something to do. This is our lot now. We encourage the people to accept it as best they can for the time being. Otherwise we lead them to slaughter."

Galen knew that was not entirely true, as he had been working with some of their top scientific minds to develop some means of counteracting these extraterrestrial invaders. None of them had produced anything of substantive value yet, but some of the initial results looked promising. Galen kept them close to his person, as it would not be wise to allow such information to leak. Their chances of success were slim enough.

"...I grow weary of this!!!!!" Zarak bellowed, storming out of the enclosed room his daughter at his heels. "They come now!"

"No father!" Llyra screamed, tugging at her father's cuffs, only for him to wrench himself out of her grasp and produce a small communications orb.

"Now!" is the only word he shouted in to the orb. Every eye in the room was focused on him. Within only a matter of a few seconds, armored employees of Mo Zarak's consortium along with freelance mercenaries from the World Watchers stormed in to the upper reaches of the massive Splendora residential tower, their weapons drawn.

"What is this, Zarak?!" Galen yelled, pushing himself through several of freelance soldiers before ultimately being stopped roughly a meter or so away from the robed magnate.

"This is the day that I have been preparing for Galen. The day when you would fail to live up to your responsibilities. Just as the Council has."

Zarak smiled, his guards seizing and preventing Llyra from running to Galen's side.

"This is the day that I become ruler of Nebulos."

Tenebrous--Exterior

"Venom watches while we work," Kickback hissed.

He stood with Shrapnel, Bombshell, Ransack, Barrage and Chop Shop outside the metal steps leading up in to the fortress itself. Around them, the skies were heavily gray and overcast. Even in the middle of the day, the sun had no chance of breaking through. Around them, the Nebulans former capital city looked like nothing of what it had when they had first arrived on this planet. It was a city that would have done Megatron's war machine proud. The city was peaceful. Operating under the peaceful shroud of tyranny.

"Shrapnel could fix that. As could we all, I think," Bombshell said. Venom's lack of direct participation in the proceedings on this planet had not gone unnoticed by any of them. Whether it was time to do something about that, Bombshell did not yet know. "What of the prisoner transfers?"

"Scourge's men took them. Together with the others, I would think. Feisty," Chop Shop said, referring to the skirmish that he served as a prelude to their capture.

"Yes. Nightbeat proved more dogged than I would have originally thought. And Skyhammer? Poor Skyhammer."

Bombshell and the others chuckled collectively at the nightmarish hell that they had put that particular Autobot through since their arrival here. And now that he was their prisoner once again, his torture had only just begin. The trick now would be keeping him alive to experience every last astrosecond of it.

"Ehhh, all is in order, then," Bombshell said, rubbing his hands together. "Send a message to the Pestilence, Ransack. It's time to come home. Scorponok has ordered a meeting, and I would hate for us to be overly late."

Tenebrous - Holding Cell 2, Autobot Prisoner Cell Block

Apeface took his time enjoying the spectacle before him and quite frankly laughing his aft off over the misfortune of his victims. Too bad his prank didn't provide to be quite as satisfying as he had hoped for though. Pyro and Pointblank in particular were seemingly unfazed.

"Intimidated? Gah, you noble goody-two-shoes want to make me puke! Did you two go under behavior training by that stick in the aft Ultra Magnus or something?" Apeface spat at Pyro, annoyed over the lack of reaction he had been hoping for from the Prime wannabe. At least Rad and Brainstorm did offer some comic relief in their reaction to the Horrorcon's prank. "Autobot, if I wanted to intimidate you I'd have to hurt you. And we can't have that, now can we?"

Too bad that was all the time he could spare for the Autobots until further date. One reason obviously enough was the fact that someone had arranged the prisoners being transported elsewhere. The another was new set of direct orders he received over the comm.

"Hmm, looks like our times up for now. We'll have to schedule another appointment for later." Apeface chuckled as the seekers and their Vehicon supports chained and dragged the not all that cooperative Autobots out of the cell.

"But first - "

Giving no other warning, Apeface shoved a Vehicon out of his way and unloaded a massive backhand at Pointblank, sending the smaller Autobot flying across the hallway before slamming down against a wall with a loud thud. Before the Autobot was able to recover from the Horrorcon's sudden attack, the black, white and purple Decepticon had already lifted the Autobot from the floor with one hand and thrown him back to the hands of the Vehicons.

"Something to remember me by, heh." And with that, the Horrorcon transformed into his primate form and bounced off to take part of whatever meeting he had been summoned for.

((Joint post between Cryhavok and Insidious))

Koraja--Skies

The ovoid aircraft that sliced its way through the gray and dismal skies that surrounded Koraja looking nothing like the refined, Cybertronian forms that peppered the skyscape. It was an advanced craft, given the limitations of its homeworld. And under normal circumstances it would have been shot down long before it had entered in to the Korajan airspace that the Decepticons had deemed off limits for the larger populace of Nebulos. But as with many things that had faced the planet of Nebulos as of late, these were far from normal circumstances.

As the craft landed, it was greeted by a pair of Seeker warriors that had been amongst those designated to remain behind and populate the garrison and shipyards that this planet would eventually consist of. Once its engines finally quieted, a lone figure emerged from the vehicle. Clad in black and purple, the Nebulan stalked his way defiantly past the Cybertronians that had been assigned to "welcome" him. He was Zarak, the new ruler of Nebulos, under the auspices of their new Decepticon overlords. And Zarak would speak only with the one that had declared himself the leader of their metallic kind when they first arrived here--Scorponok.

Scorponok, however, had others matters to attend to, or so Zarak had been told. Their conversation via transmission orb had been brief but productive, and Zarak would now deign to continue to his dealings with Scorponok's appointed overseer of this world, the one named Turmoil.

The large mech stood just outside the entrance to the massive fortress that the Decepticons had apparently constructed within their capital. Though he appeared to engaged in other dealings, Zarak felt no need to wait.

"The Council of Peers has been effectively dissolved. The populace may protest, but I am confidant that our cooperation will yield the necessary fruits. I.....trust that the arrangement made between Lord Scorponok and myself will still remain in place under your governance?"

"Of course esteemed first councillor. You will be the Overseer of your kind, the sovereign vessel the Empire addresses your people through." The giant spoke, looking down at the man standing before its feet. "We will lend you our might. Enforce your vision of the province of Nebulos."

An eerie silence fell around the two for a moment, until the giant continued - its eyes burning with an ominous glow. Glow that made Zarak lose his control, like becoming a puppet controlled by the puppetmaster.

"In exchange - you will do as we say."

Zarak nodded at the titan's words. The title "First Councilor" had a certain ring to it, even if the Council of Peers had been effectively dissolved. Perhaps he would install another of his own choosing to oversee the minutiae of governing while he oversaw the larger work involved. And, also, to execute whatever wishes this Turmoil and his metallic allies had in mind.

"A generous offering," Zarak said, offering the metallic god a respectful bow, something Zarak had never done to another living being. He did not know if even these creatures fit any rational definition of "alive" but what did matter was that they had the power now. And through them, so would he.

Zarak signaled for the first of the transport ships to begin landing with its cargo: the World Warriors and the other Peers whom he had taken in to captivity back on Splendora. They would make a fine offering, and serve as a symbol to the populace at large that resistance was not only intolerable, but it was also guaranteed to end in failure.

The deep gray clouds overhead extended as far as the eye could see, offering little clue that somewhere there was a sun shining above. Metal creatures crisscrossed the skies as new structures were erected to continue replacing the outdated architecture of Koraja. Zarak had known all along that technology would govern this planet. What he had not known, at the time, was just how plainly that thought would manifest itself. Truly this was a new age. The age he had been waiting for.

And woe betide any who would see it undone.

Cavern

The battle had ended and the Decepticons had won. They had captured whatever Autobots they could find and taken them by ship to who knows where while leaving behind a force to deal with the planet. The Monsterbots often received a reputation for blind violence due to their alternate modes but they could also be very practical. Grotesque knew he was not going to be able to beat the entire Decepticon forces by himself but he was also not going to be captured uselessly. That is why they had remained hidden and eventually made their way to this cavern in the mountains to the south of a base that Decepticon forces where converting for their purposes. It had an entrance just big enough for them but expanded greatly inside which made it ideal what he needed. It allowed him to gain information and do what he did best, plan.

Grotesque had often ridiculed the smarts and or sanity of whoever had designed his alternate mode. However, occasionally he had to admit that the random nature of his transformation had its uses, not that he would ever admit it. The sharp optics that came from the avian inspiration of his alt mode allowed him to watch what was happening in the base below even from this distance. The sensitive nasal and audio systems inspired by the feline element gave him more information on what was being done. Finally the somewhat elongated neck which was inspired by he had no idea what allowed him to stick his head from the cavern while keeping the rest of his body hidden.

"Well..." he said to those inside the cavern. "a complete visual, audio, and nasal analysis concludes that the good people of Nebulos are going to have to look forward to a nice, sunny day but with a 80% probability of rain in the next few hours so those on picnics should pack an umbrella. Oh, and there is a Decepticon force rapidly militarizing a base of operation. Nebulons on picnic should pack an umbrella for them too."

Nebulous Cavern

The battle of Nebulos was over the autobots had lost any autobot found had been taken from the planet when the Decepticon battlefleet moved on. Left behind along with his fellow Monsterbot compatriots as the Decepticons run roughshod over everything they had placed in front of them. However they had let this particular Autobot elude their grasp which was a mistake in his huge Bug eyes. Repugnus stayed in his bug monster alternate mode as its various optic modes where of most use.

Behind enemy lines combat ready and entirely within his element Repugnus was already coming up with plans to draw out and destroy decepticon forces. Sabotaging energon convoy’s maybe some officer assassinations some covert kidnappings to extract information out of the enemy with some of his favourite techniques. Grotesque was peering from the Cavern entrance keeping watch he made one of his customary jokes. “You should let me use some of those Nebulon’s as insurgents we’d have the decepticons tied up in knots for a vorn or more until a phase six’er decided to destroy the planet”

Repugnus knew that it’d turn Grotesque’s energon storage silos to think about it but that was Repugnus’s job to think of the dirty the amoral the unthinkable to normal mechs.

Cavern

Grotesque rolled his optics as Repugnus said his idea. He should have known that his fellow Monsterbot would suggest some sort of unthinkable option to deal with the situation. By now he had worked with him long enough that he knew that trying to chastise him for such words was a waste of time. Better to focus on the more pragmatic reasons why that would not work. He would, at least, listen to that.

"Insurgencies can be fun parties but the music will keep the neighbors up. We need the 'Cons to relax a little if we want to do our work. Only long term solution to this situation is to get reinforcements. A spy network or two would not hurt though. Speaking of which, whats the difference between a spy and Megatron's rear plating?"

Cavern

How befitting it seemed, a Dragon secluded up in its cave. To his fellow Monsterbots this location served as a temporary base of operations, but to Doublecross it was his own area to store the supplies he managed to obtain before having to flee into this cave.

"This seems stupid! We should be going out and getting more, not sifting through what we have already!" The dragon-former's left head exclaimed to his other half, who was busy using his alt's clawed hands to dig through a pile of "junk" he managed to acquire earlier on.

"We have enough to finance our situation for the time being, Doublecross. No need to risk exposing ourselves out in the open just yet. How do we know the cons haven't left yet? How do we know they still aren't out there looking for us?"

"How do we know unless we go out there?! C'mon, Repugnus, Grotesque, help me explain to this dunderhead that life's not worth living without a little risk now and again!" The Monsterbot's left head exclaimed throughout the cavern, turning to face the other two Monsterbots.

The right head, in control of the dragon-modes arms, crossed said arms across his dragon-mode's chest as he tried to ponder how the supplies out to be rationed out. He knew energon was a must for each of his comrades, it's getting the stuff that'd be difficult.

"Ooo! I love Grotesque's jokes! Let's see here..." The left dragon head pondered as he joined in on the conversation with the other Monsterbots. "Ummmm...I know this one..."

Carven

Repugnus was scanning the walls using his x ray vision checking for any weaknesses in the cavern wall. All he found was a set of fossils ‘that’d make the dinobot’s happy there are more fossils out here like them’ the thought was enough to elicit a chuckle from the Monsterbot. It was then that Doublecross made his dual presence known. This was after Grotesque just shot down his insurgency idea he did have a point but the counter intelligence operative was already thinking up new options, Repugnus decided he should reply to Doublecross.

“The pair of you are dunderheads as Grotesque just said we can’t go stirring up the cons or the general population. It’ll just lead to more complications for us we will however need to get a good look at the starport, see if we can’t get a scope on guards, patrols outposts etc”

Repugnus scratched at the rock surface wondering if they could expand the cave any further so he could escape Doublecross and his arguments with himself.

Cavern

Grotesque continued to look towards the Decepticon installation as ideas about their current situation came to his mind.

"Oh wait. I just remembered how we look. I don't think dealing with the locals will work at any level. Not sure how we will organize anything with them running and screaming from us."

He tapped the cavern walls with his clawed hands as he thought about the possibilities of what they could do. Slowly, an idea began take hold in his mind.

"We will be doing a little of both. We are cautious now but... heh... only to prepare for something a little crazy."

He chuckled.

"Oh, and the difference is that a spy avoids making Waves with Sounds while Megatron's rear plating attracts Soundwaves."

He makes kissing sounds to reinforce the attention he think Megatron's rear plating gets from Soundwave.

Cavern

"I understand the risk of leaving right now," Doublecross' right head said, speaking up from his current thought as he examined the Monsterbot's pile of supplies, "But if we plan on holding out here in this cave we are going to need energon. And judging by the amount we have stockpiled here, we aren't going to last very long. I estimate we've got enough to last one Nebulonian month...Two if we can managing rationing like it's the last in the universe."

"Then let's go get some!"

"You imbecile! Have you not heard anything we've just said?! I know you did! We share audio receptors!"

"You said it yourself! If we wanna survive we're gonna need to go scavenge for fuel!"

"Take a look at all of us here, Doublecross! We are in no condition to expose ourselves! The moment we leave this cave, we'd be painting a giant *shoot me!* target across our backs."

Doublecross' left head, defeated in his little argument with his better half, turned his head towards Grotesque, hoping the team's strategist had some sorta plan cooking up in his processor.

"Well what are gonna do then, Grotesque? We can't just sit around and wait til stasis or the 'Cons to come find us up here..."

Cavern

"We move but not now. We wait until night." Grotesque said, his tail lazily moving side to side. "Our alt modes are hideously ugly but they do give us some very sensitive senses. We might as well move when we can put them to use for our greatest advantage."

He sniffed at the air, catching more important details.

"Once night comes we move closer to the base and get a closer look. In general, I will take out some key areas while Doublecross acquires what we need. Meanwhile, Repugnus makes sure there are not Decepticon witnesses to tell on us to the teacher."