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Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Oil Slick gazed at the sea in front of them as Darkride suggested following the Constructicons. While the politicking and plotting of various Decepticons was at best a passing interest to the chemist, but the importance of recent events was forcing him to pay attention. Direct leadership of the group on Earth and even the Decepticons entirely was at stake. While he could hope that he would be allowed to simply continue his work uninterrupted despite whatever leadership changes might occur it wasn’t guaranteed. This time Oil Slick would at least have to observe the politicking and talking to assure that his place in the ranks would be safe.

“Very well,” he replied to Darkride as he began walking towards the water. He made sure to his bubble helmet was sealed. He had not intention of taking in any of the corrosive water, although he would make sure to take a sample of it. Perhaps he could do something interesting with the polluted liquid.

*

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

Hook frowned at the other Constructicons discussed their options. Frankly he didn’t like any of them. Serving Starscream certainly held little interest for him. In general he disliked seekers and Starscream was the pinnacle of everything he hated about them. Working for Shockwave had some appeal as he at least was a scientific equal. Unfortunately he was also very thorough. He doubted they could keep Devastator a secret from him for long and he was loath to lose that bargaining chip.

When Hook finally spoke he did so slowly, carefully considering his words. “Should we go it on our own, and it is looking like the best of three undesirable options, then we need to move quickly. I would suggest bringing the bubble down here immediately so we have a semi-hidden and airtight location. Then we begin the modifications for Devastator. We will be very vulnerable until we have him as a weapon. With him at our side then we can dictate how things will go from there.”

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Swindle materialised with a cautious stance, not wanting to be antagonistic (that was Brawls job), but still made sure to sweep the are as quickly as possible. He didn't vocalise any relief when things seemed safe, since as things were escalating among the Decepticons, appearances couldn't be trusted at first glance anymore.


Onslaughts orders came loud and clear. "On it boss!!" Swindle transformed and drove off, scanning for mines, underground sensors, or any other worrying signs, but apparently the Constructicons hadn't begun setting traps just yet. Swindle was about to start looking for places to put weapon emplacements (getting them would be a side job), when he picked up two Decepticon signals. Climbing the embankment, he spotted Darkride and Oil Slick, seemingly on a project of their own.

"Good evening, Gentlemechs. You wouldn't have happened to see any Constructicons around here, would you?"


Bottom of the Yellow Sea

Scrapper watched as each of his teammates came to the same conclusion he had: The only way the Constructicons could truly come out on top of this power struggle was to go it alone. Despite himself, a smile grew on his face behind his mouthplate.

"Then its unanimous. We begin immediately. Mixmaster and I have the polymer, we should have enough for the basic dome, Long Haul has the metal and you all should be able to shape it well enough. We create a type 3A geodesic, width 311 quasidecs, and then pump the water out. We'll have to go back for equipment, but I want to get as much done before showing ourselves as we can. We don't know who might be scanning us from orbit and the water is our only shield."

He immedately begins arranging the polymer sheets on the prepared base. "Lets show them what the Constructicons can really do!"

Western Korean Shore

Vortex materialized next to Onslaught moments after appearing on the Ultrax. The events were moving swiftly enough that had managed to catch him slightly off guard. Still he knew the plans and given the pace of which they were moving, he decided they had been accelerated. His fists curled at his hips before he turned to face his commanding officer. He then looked out at the vast expanse of the sea.

"Why is it we always get saddled with the jobs of baby sitting engineers who deem it necessary to build under water? Another one of Starscream's glorious ideas perhaps." Vortex shrugged his shoulders before releasing fists and unleashing a defeated sigh at the orders that were being issued.

"Very well. Lets get this over with."

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Onslaught knew that he and Brawl would be having a longer conversation later about the quickness of their battle, but he was satisfied to see that that the Combaticon wasn't allowing the brevity to affect his current functioning.

"Good find," Onslaught said, acknowledging Brawl's initial report and taking a step closer to the shoreline. Swindle, Onslaught knew, would do what Swindle did best and Vortex made his presence known shortly after Brawl had.

"We're not saddled with anything except the opportunity to maintain the Decepticon empire and shape its future, Vortex. All of that opportunity will do us little good if either Shockwave or Starscream gets a wild hair and decides to eliminate us while we're still exposed like cyberfoxes in a clearing."

Onslaught let out a sigh. Brawl's lead was as good as he had access to right now, so it meant following it, even if it would put him in an even more strategically vulnerable situation than he already found himself.

"I'm going to head to those caves, see what I find. The rest of you continue as you were. Someone check in with Blast-Off."

Turning, Onslaught began to trek off in to the water. After a few large steps, the Cybertronian was soon completely submerged.
___

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

"Unanimous, heheheh. Nice," Mixmaster said, rubbing his hands together, satisfied that he and his unit brothers had come to a conclusion quickly on how to proceed. Such an occurrence was rare among the Decepticon ranks, but not so much with the Constructicons. It was probably as much a reason as any why Mixmaster had stayed so loyal to the group for so many vorns.

"I'll go go go retrieve the completed portions of the bubble. We'll finish. Finish quickly!"

Off the western shore of the Korean Peninsula

Thundercracker froze in midst ride when he received the broad communication from Shockwave. He couldn’t be serious… was he. Thundercracker shook his head, that was something he expected from Starscream, not Shockwave. More in surprise than shock, he continued about his regular task but his mind was focused more on what such an action meant for the Decepticons as a whole.

Civil War. It was the only result he could see barring a quick victory for either Shockwave or Starscream. This never would’ve happened had Megatron still been with them. Megatron. The one mech he would follow to the Pit and back was missing, presumed deactivated. That meant there was only a limited amount of time before…

>>"Thundercracker, I am sure you have heard the same message we did that came in from Shockwave. I am going to remain here for the time being to monitor the Constructicons. I believe the time to pick sides has been force and soon we all will have to decide who we will support for leadership. For the moment I am favoring Starscream, logically I believe you do as well, but I cannot confirm that. I think it may be best if you met me here so we can discuss how to collaberate incase we have to move against the Constructicons.<<

“Scrap.” He muttered to himself at Baneblade’s communication. Which side indeed. Go with Shockwave and face a great many of the seekers or side with his brothers under Starscream. Was there really a choice? If Baneblade thought he’d fire of his fellow Decepticons then he needed his processor wiped.

Sighing he made the only choice he could, for now.

>>Baneblade, this is Thudnercracker. My allegience is to the leader of the Decepticons. Despite what Shockwave claims that’s Starscream. Send me your coordinates.<<

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

"I've got clear Decepticon signals in the area," Astrotrain said, informing the other Decepticons aboard his shuttle mode as he began to rapidly descend toward the western Korean shore.

"This ain't going to be the smoothest landing ever. I'd grab something."

The gray and purple Decepticon shuttle craft deactivated its forward thrusters entirely as it came down in the closest thing that Astrotrain could call "open space". Dense flora quickly gave way to muddy beach terrain as the shuttle rumbled to a stop and Astrotrain opened his bay doors.

"Thanks for flying 'Air Decepticon'. Don't come back."

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Ever since Blitzwing had confronted Baneblade, the two Decepticons had just stared each other without either speaking to the other. However when Ramplate voiced his corcerns, Blitzwing couldn't keep his vocalizer shut.

"I bet Baneblade's aft that Shockwave doesn't know nearly enough of current state of the Decepticons." Blitzwing spat out, still glaring at Baneblade. "But you never know with that walking computer. Maybe he knows something we don't. Maybe he sees this as his only opportunity to gain upper hand. He does have the slaggin' battlecruiser with enough firepower to glass this planet though. Forget about working until we make sure we can trust the Scrapper and his boys though."

When Astrotrain finally landed, the triplechanger commando was the first to jump out of the military transport. Having been outside of Astrotrain for no longer than a klik, Blitzwing sent out a transmission to the rest of the team he had been operating with as of late.

>>"No sign of the Constructicons where we left them. However, I do see familiar faces over there at the beach. If those two slaggers aren't Brawl and Vortex I'll slaggin' go to Regulon Four and start training metalmongers."<<

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Just as Darkride stepped around the equipment to begin his trek toward the waterline Swindle caught his attention. The grating sound of the Combaticon’s vocals caused the interrogator to cringe slightly, but he still held that all too familiar air of calm. The purple mech turned on his heel and faced the munitions expert, a broad smile plastered on his faceplate.

“Ahh, Swindle, how…nice to see you.”

The inquisitor paused a moment and pondered Swindle’s query.

“Our resident construction experts have delved into the deep blue in order to commence with the construction of our new headquarters.”

His smile broadened as he stepped in closer to the desert sand colored mech.

"But you’re not here just for the Constructicons, are you? No, I think not. You’ve a proposition to pitch and if I get in on the ground floor I’m sure to double my profits. Sound about right, my good sir?”

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

As he descended deeper and trekked onward, Onslaught could already begin to feel the telltale effects of the native, oxy-carbon liquid as it found its way in to every imaginable crevice. He was pleased that the need for a navy back on Cybertron had been minimal, otherwise he could have easily been formatted in to one of those. What a miserable lot that would have put him in, at least until Megatron came along and helped the planet break free of its caste-system shackles.

The longer he was down here, the more resolved he became to assist the Constructicons in whatever way possible, if for no other reason than to have a refuge from this planet's salty oceans. Granted, there were much more important reasons for him to assist Scrapper and his team, but that was as good a start as any.

Closing in on the area that Brawl had managed to locate, Onslaught's optics focused in on the distinctive green hue of Scrapper's unit. They were a fine group of engineers--the best, even--but experts at camouflage they were not. But nor would they need to be, with allies like the Combaticons and the Predacons.

The group seemed to be in the midst of dispersing to take care of some new tasks even as Onslaught approached. The Combaticon's march was headed directly toward Scrapper.

"I see you and your team are still up to what you do best," Onslaught began, taking in the construction site and the effort that had gone in to it already. "We need to talk...about a lot...and quickly."

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Swindle transformed to flash his winning smile at Darkride. He didn't know this mech well, and he couldn't tell whether the long-winded speech was due to actual intelligence, or just trying to sound intelligent like Swindle suspected. "Hey now, we all need to perform our functions, it just so happens that mine is generating win-win situations. We're living in complicated times, Darkride, with the big 'Con gone. We need to stick together, figure out what's the next move. A bot on their own might not be in the best situation."

The munitions specialist glanced to the side as Astrotrain flew overhead to land nearby. "This place is going to get mighty busy soon, 'Cons from all over will be coming here. People need to be standing with someone else, being on your owns a liability. And really, you gotta think of your options."

Swindle didn't want to give his full sales pitch just yet. Better to gauge the unknown mech and see where his loyalties lay, before risking saying anything too forward.

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

Scrapper looked up from the completed quadrant of the dome at the arriving Onslaught. There was no way to hide his frown at being interrupted so soon, but it was by one of the more professional soldier of the Empire, at least. Still, not as he had planned.

He looked over at his teammates as they worked. "Keep it up." Then to the Combaticon commander. "Yes, quickly would be right. So much has happened lately, and my team and I are trying to complete the tasks Megatron gave us before his dissappearance. But this will prove difficult if theres any interference, and interference is quite likely, judging from all the messages being bounced around."

He locked optics with his counterpart. "I assume you're here to offer some way out of that?"