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Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

“Just like the rest of us.” Blitzwing looked around, took in the scenery for a moment. None of them were in their preferred element. “At least we won't be standing here forever.”

Quashing his irritation as best he could, he joined Astrotrain and sat down near him, grumbling a few indistinct curses while doing so. As he occupied a grassy outcropping Vortex flung a response at him for his earlier comment. He listened to it in its entirety, but chose to say nothing in return.

In point of fact, he let Vortex drone on. Fancy words began to parade amongst his sentences, and Blitzwing could not be bothered to spend the energy forming a response. Besides, a reply might have led to mind games where the Combaticon had proven over and over again that he was the undisputed champion of them, a position he easily grasped and was likely to rule for quite some time yet.

“Forty-five percent? Frag.” Blitzwing's optics dimmed slightly as he issued a mental command to gain access to his vital support systems. “Well, I'll be the son of Optimus Prime.” He logged out, blood-red rushing to brighten his visual sensors again. “I ain't much better, 'Train. I'm sitting on half.”

One one hand, at least he wasn't doing anything strenuous to tax his energon levels. But on the other, boredom was making its move and successfully closing in on Blitzwing...

OoC: Scavenger's reaction to Razorclaw being leader.

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

Bonecrusher bounded again off the sandy bottom, clouds of dust erupting from the point of impact. He looked forward to see the cave Long-Haul spoke about. Hurtling into a dusty and grainy halt was not easy, his legs were nearly buried beneath the sand when he came to a complete halt.

He then heard Long-Haul's guess on Razorclaw. Bonecrusher growled and looked back to the transport.

"We agreed that this would be our own show, not some other guy!" Bonecrusher said as he moved toward the cave and began to look through the supplies.

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Astrotrain nodded a little. He and Blitzwing--slag, even Octane most of the time--were generally in agreement about things. Though they had very different personalities, the fact that they had all been physically manipulated by Shockwave in order to receive their present-day, triple-changer status had bonded them over the vorns even if it was mostly unspoken.

He listened as the Combaticon interrogator rambled on a while longer. Assessments. Bureaucracy. That definitely sounded like Shockwave. The Combaticons had probably just bounced down from a meeting with him.

"Yeah, yeah...just lead the way," Astrotrain said, getting to his feet again before looking over at Blitzwing and shrugging. "Onslaught might have a clue. If he doesn't know more about what's going on than his little foot soldier here, I say we meet back up with Octane. We'll figure something out."

The recent transmissions had been weighing on the triple-changer's mind. He owed a certain degree of loyalty to the cyclops for giving him his current mode. But if Razorclaw was in the mix now, then that presented a whole different alternative from Starscream. Those guys who used to run around in the gladiator pits tended to think a lot of themselves. On the other hand, Megatron had been once such mech, and he had brought them this far. There were definitely decisions to be made. It was all very, very interesting.

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

With an exasperated groan, Blitzwing pushed himself upright and began following Astrotrain. “I just sat down, too.”

Vortex couldn't have been more right when he remarked how much one could learn from listening. Blitzwing did catch his first comment targeted solely at him, but failed to recognise that the rest of what he had to say was of relevance to their current situation. But it wasn't his fault. If they had never idly sat around in the first place, Blitzwing would have absorbed Vortex's words without any difficulty at all.

Well, maybe. The Combaticon did talk an awful lot, and it was possible that he would have tuned out at some stage during his rambling.

Blitzwing, depositing minimal effort into his stride, trailed behind Vortex and Astrotrain as the Combaticon led him to wherever Onslaught happened to be. And if he didn't have any answers to soothe his inflamed curiosity, at least Astrotrain had a little something for them to fall back on.

“Works for me,” he said in response to his fellow Triple Changer's recommendation. “It's not like there's anything else to do, anyway.”

Message from Blackwind to Commander Thunderwing

>>”Commander Thunderwing. I have assessed the current crew of the battle ship and I have come to the conclusion that they have been or are currently being swayed to favor our Military Operations Commander. This is a tragic turn of events. I suggest our attempts be stayed until such a time when we both can address the masses.”

“In accordance to Shockwave’s orders I have assembled a team and we await your orders to join you. I am looking forward to being in your presence once more, Commander.”<<

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

Hearing of Starscream's status put the Combaticon Commander slightly on edge, but it was a necessary risk. Hopefully his recent defeat would keep him out of the political equation for a while. But that could not be relied upon. Onslaught knew it, and he was fairly confidant that Razorclaw knew it as well.

>>"Understood. And affirmative--the Obliteration is still under my direct command. I have avoided having Blast-Off take any overt action with it, in the hopes that it escapes the attention of the Thanatos. Thus far, it's worked. But it's ready to do whatever needs done. I think..."<<

Onslaught paused as a new transmission came in. This one from Thunderwing. The last time they had interacted, Thunderwing had successfully prevented Razorclaw from taking Shockwave in to custody. Now an even greater degree of caution would be necessary. If Thunderwing knew about the location of this unit of Decepticons, so too did Shockwave.

>>"...never mind. Thunderwing's here. Now."<<

Onslaught cut off the transmission and internally acknowledged the one from Thunderwing. Minimal deception had served the Combaticon Commander well up to this point. He saw no immediate need to change that tactic.

>>"Affirmative, Thunderwing. I will defer to Scrapper on the progress of the base. My unit has been assisting with terrain defenses. I have been in contact with Razorclaw. He has subdued Starscream in one-on-one combat and has now claimed the mantle of Decepticon leadership for himself."<<

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

Scrapper raised a hand to quiet Hook as Onslaught came up to the dome, to....gloat? There was certainly an edge of pride in the Combaticons voice, which worried the Constructicon more than any threat. He was used to harsh language about loyalty, but he'd also seen the folly of assuming victory too early.

"We have the oppurtunity, theres no doubt about that, Onslaught. But we're far from done, even if Starscream has been disposed off. We still need to stabilise this empire before it fractures, to consolidate and to deal with the nay-sayers, while also defending against any oppurtunistic Autobot attacks. And you don't need to worry about our commitment because we have always been 100% committed to Megatrons vision of the galaxy united under the Decepticons."

He looked back at his team, and could sense the unsettled feeling in their optics and body language. I know this is unpalatable, but I need more time... "We're grateful for what you and Razorclaw have done, Onslaught, and we are dedicated to the cause. But we need just a little more support, in order to create the first base of the new Empire. This mobile base will make us as powerful on this planet as we are in orbit, and definitely secure it for the Special Teams and the Empires future."

Scrapper looks back to Onslaught, to look him in the optics. "Far more than I wish to please myself, or please Razorclaw....I wish to please Megatron. Even if only his memory remains, the Constructicons will build the Empire he wanted."

Scrapper was about to return to his team's problem, like Mixmasters complaints about salinity, when a message arrived from Thunderwing of all people. A voice which have not been heard for thousand of Vorns. Scrapper looked up at Onslaught. "I wasn't expecting visitors like that, but I suppose I should have. We're better off keeping other mechs out of here for at least one planetary revolution, can you keep him out until then, or are we going to have to persuade him?"

Endless complications...Now I know how Megatron must have felt. Its not an easy burden to shoulder.

------------------

Meanwhile, Swindle pushed through the water in jeep mode, rolling past Brawl at work on the trenches and rolling up towards Onslaught at the dome. It looked like he was deep in conversation with the Constructicon Leader, so an in-depth report would probably only be an annoyance to his commander. Instead, he rolled past the pair. "Reporting, sir! It looks like the constructicons have supplies, so I'll get to work on some automated defenses."

Looking at the Constructicons present, Swindle tried to recall what he knew about them. He liked to brag that he never forgot a customer, but in truth, the Constructicons were rarely his customers, since they got so much requisitioned material that they could make almost anything they wanted themselves. Still, Mixmaster stood out as someone Swindle knew better than the aloof Hook.

"Ah, Mixmaster. Its certainly been an interesting cycle, hasn't it? I've been asked to pitch in with the local defenses, and was thinking that in this kind of liquid environment, we'd need specialist weaponry. I'm thinking sonic shell cannons, atom-smasher rifles, or maybe photon beam ports if we're really stuck. Think you can help me put some of your spare parts together into something like that?"

Entering the Yellow Sea

Thunderwing paused as he received signals from both Blackwind and Onslaught. The message from Blackwind was expected, but the one from Onslaught was startling to say the least. It seemed the complicated leadership question had taken another interesting twist. The fact that Onslaught had been so upfront with this information was also interesting. Apparently the Combaticon was still playing a political game, stating the facts while hiding his allegiance. The fact that he had held back this information until directly asked about it though was quite telling.

>>”An interesting turn of events, Onslaught. I take it to mean that Razorclaw claims leadership of all Decepticons? I would hope he realizes the magnitude of such a claim as it is one not taken lightly, even if earned in battle. I am making my way towards you now so that we may converse directly on this. I will wait until I have more information before informing Shockwave. Please have Scrapper join us for this meeting.”<<

He would allow Onslaught to ponder that for now. Passing that information on to Shockwave now would do them no good and likely result in some sort of swift, violent action to put an end to Razorclaw’s claim. He wanted to learn more about it, where the other Decepticons stood and how he could use this situation to his advantage. Ideally he could persuade some of the special team commanders to his side, but with Razorclaw claiming leadership of his own it would be difficult to sway him.

As Thunderwing plunged into the depths of the sea he opened a channel with Blackwind. >>”Understood Blackwind, remain on standby. The situation on the surface is far more complicated then I had anticipated. I do not wish to share more over communication frequencies, but know that I am attempting to gather more information.”<<

Korean Peninsula

One couldn’t help but appreciate the systematic approach Soundwave took to everything. When his idea came to him, Thundercracker thought it’d make things easier for him but now that he had the communications expert on the comm he fought the urge to walk away.

I’m not designed for this. Shaking his head, Thundercracker was about to respond when Razorclaw’s message came over the encrypted frequency. I haven’t been cup out of the loop yet. Things had just changed faster than he’d been prepared for. He found himself standing in the threshold between both parties with only both directions open to him. Which one to take? His path was so much clearer a few minutes before and now?

While Thundercracker was certain Soundwave would detect the transmission before long if he hadn’t already, it was something he could use to his advantage. While not a fan of Razorclaw, the Predacon resembled Megatron closer than Starscream or anyone else, for that matter. With his decision made, Thundercracker closed the channel and leapt into the air, transformed and headed back to the Yellow Sea. While he wouldn’t fire on a fellow Decepticon in battle, he had no qualms about energon letting in a contest of honor. While returning to his assigned location he changed course and began a spiraling sweep of the skies. If asked what he’d been doing he’d have a reasonable excuse. He doubted anyone else thought about security at a time like this.

Entering the Yellow Sea

Astrotrain was hardly thrilled with the idea of stepping down and immersing himself in this salt-ridden quagmire, but their alternatives were few and far between. Besides, there were Constructicons down there somewhere. If anyone could get him back in perfectly working order when this was all said and done, it would be them.

"So whose odds do you like, Blitz?" Astrotrain asked as they proceeded to submerge themselves in the waters of the Yellow Sea and continued downwards.

It wasn't often that a Decepticon found themselves spoiled for choice in terms of who to follow. It had been Megatron for so long now that the issue was something that a field Decepticon like Astrotrain never had to pay much attention to. Sure, there were the occasional rumblings about some other high commander doing some plotting of their own, but little had ever come of it. Certainly nothing lasting.

Maybe now would be different.
___

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

Swindle was arguably more efficient here in recent orns than Onslaught could recall in recent memory. With performance such as he had, he was more inclined to allow the arms dealer to indulge his less-than-honorable tendencies. Onslaught had nodded at the Combaticon set off to work.

Scrapper seemed to take his time in considering Onslaught's words, but at least they had been considered. That was all that really mattered. When the Constructicon Commander at last spoke, it was with the same level of thoughtfulness that Onslaught had come to appreciate from his compatriot.

"Time is a luxury we no longer have, my friend. There's nothing I can do to stall him, short of engaging in battle, which I think is a step we are both reluctant to take at this stage. Persuasion is our most effective weapon right now. And you wield it better than I."

Onslaught turned away from Scrapper, allowing the Constructicon to focus on the more important matters that were facing him. Even as he looked away, a follow-up response from Thunderwing came through.

>>"That is the meaning that I take from it. I have not known Razorclaw to ever take action without considering the full ramifications,"<< Onslaught said, still sticking with direct, truthful statements for the time being. It was becoming ever more difficult to do. Deception was likely to become necessary eventually. The Combaticon simply hoped to stall it for as long as possible.

He then looked back to Scrapper.

"Thunderwing wants to meet with us. During our last encounter, he aided Shockwave. I have no reason to assume he is not still doing so."