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Corridor

With Mindwipe’s message given, Rippershapper let out another annoyed growl and then turned to face the hypnotist. The white and blue mech was about to address their guest when he heard the unmistakable voice that was Hun-Grrr. An evil smile made its way to Rippersnapper’s face as he stepped aside and let Sinnertwin take hold of Mindwipe by the arms.

Keeping in step with the sentry, and close to Mindwipe, Rippersnapper leaned down and whispered to the hypnotist.

“You know this doesn’t bode well for you. The commander was in recharge before you came…and he hates to come out of it to just talk.”

Rippersnapper let out a chuckle as he moved on ahead of Sinnertwin in order to enter the security code to their den.

The terrorist motioned for the others to move ahead when the door slid open. Once they were past, Rippersnapper followed.

Corridor

Cutthroat grumbled at the words of Hun-Grr. He so wanted to undertake in carnage but now that had been taken from him. Out of all the Terrorcons he was the once who had most dared to attack their commander in such circumstances and always took a severe beating from it. His current oil lust, however, had not risen to the point to drive him to such unwise behavior. Still, it did not mean he was about to let this Decepticon get out of this without a scratch.

As Sinnertwin dragged Mindwipe past him. Cutthroat out his right wing in front of Mindwipe and scratched his face with his wing claws.

"Ooops. I guess I am just clumsy." He said with a sinister laugh and transformed back to robot mode, following the others inside.

Terrorcon Den

Blot sat amidst a pile of ravaged mechly remains, limbs, pumps, digits all scattered in a pool of half-dried fluid and lubricant near his leader’s own clump of pillaged loot and regurgitated filth. He gnawed and chewed on the bits Hun-Grrr had thrown out for him like a master who occasionally rewarded his loyal minions with leftover morsels from a feast.

Titanium bones snapped between Blot’s razor teeth with a screech as he chomped them to fragments. Gobs of torn myomer muscle dropped to the floor with a wet splat. A low growl emanated from Blot’s vocalizer unit as Mindwipe was dragged inside the den by the other Terrorcons.

Even with his slow wit Blot was aware some commotion had broken out at the entrance to the fouled lair but since Hun-Grrr had no specific instructions about it for him, he didn’t bother with it any further. Not that he had to. His horrendous brothers-in-arms wasted no time in welcoming the luckless intruder and striking enough fear into him to tell vile horror stories of the encounter in energon pubs for vorns.

Blot kept biting at his spoils but that didn’t mean he was not alert, should Hun-Grrr require anything of him. Or the miserable mech held in Sinnertwin’s jaws decide to play bold and try some dirty gimmick.

Terrorcon Den

Mindwipe had come to a distinct realization. He was not ever...ever...coming down to deal directly with the Terrorcons again. He knew better. Knew! Sweet slagged Primus of the second Pit. He had thought they might be more content this time around. What in the five galaxies had ever convinced him to come to such a foolhardy conclusion? He wasn't entirely sure, but he knew that he wasn't going to make that mistake ever again.

Rippersnapper's words rung perfectly clear in his mind. No. This did not bode well for him at all. Every astrosecond that passed as Mindwipe was dragged forward, taunted, scarred and otherwise deposited before the feet of Hungrr like so much junk was a double-bladed sword of a gift. It meant he was alive, but only to be tortured further.

Collapsing on his knees, Mindwipe looked up at the fearsome Hungrr, situated atop a significant hoard of Primus-only-knew-what, fuel and fluids trickling slightly from the gash that he had been given by Cutthroat, Mindwipe could barely form words as he now found himself in the presence of the Terrorcon Commander--the whole reason he had been sent down here to begin with. He knew that he had to spit something out, otherwise they would be doing that very thing to him before the end of the orn--only in their case it would be in the most literal sense imaginable.

"Dangerous world below!" Mindwipe blurted out, the first reasonable thing to shoot in to his mind besides crying out for help...an act which would only incite the rage and predatory insanity of the other Terrorcons anyway. Mindwipe fumbled around inside his abdominal storage cavity and produced a few energon chits, spilling them out on the floor in front of him. "I believe we may have found a treasure unlike anything the empire has come across in many a vorn. Scorponok has commanded that I go...but...if I go alone, I know I won't survive. And then, whatever treasure remains there will be lost to us."

The Terrorcon Den

Hun-Grrr's two dragon-like heads rose slowly from his cozy resting place, curious of what gifts Mindwipe had come with. The real reason behind Mindwipe's appearance into the Den was clear enough from what Hun-Grrr had overheard from Mindwipe's encounter with his Terrorcons. Had the command come directly from High Commander Scorponok himself, Hun-Grrr would have left his Den out of respect for his commanding officer without testing his patience. But grunts like Mindwipe were entirely different case. They could be terrorized and toyed with to feed the Terrorcon Commander's endless greed. He did not need exercise his lust for destruction on the other Decepticons - they gave usually gave him enough enemies to tear apart anyhow. Of course, he did not forget to remind the others of his fearsome nature occasionally but in the same time Hun-Grrr was careful not to draw the ire of Megatron or Scorponok through culling too many of their own warriors. All in all, he had found himself in pretty comfortable position in the ranks of Decepticons. Feared by the lesser Decepticons and respected by his few superiors.

And Mindwipe? After blurting out his first words to Hun-Grrr in a manner that made the Terrorcon snicker - surely enough the little lab rat of Scorponok's had been smart enough to come with a bribe. It wasn't much but Hun-Grrr really couldn't expect much more in the current state of the Empire. Nevertheless, both of his heads dashed towards the energon chits even before they fell on the ground. While energon was power and Hun-Grrr needed considerable amounts of it to function on full efficiency - this, was all greed. A by product of those long vorns ages ago when his survival had depended on being on the top of the food chain and hoarding to survive long periods of time without access to energon due to actions the Senate towards the Border Regions during Nominus Prime's reign.

Having finished his latest snack, Hun-Grrr transformed into his towering robot form, not much less terrifying than his beast mode.

"A treasure unlike anything the Empire has come across in many vorns?" The former ruler of the pit-fighting arenas before Megatron's and Grimlock's stellar rises to the top of the heap asked from Mindwipe. This time, his voice clear and without the distortion from an odd speech deficit he had in his beast mode. Of course, not having his mouths full of food helped tremendously as well.

"Enough with the games friends." Hun-Grrr spoke to his Terrorcons and placed his bulky arm on Mindwipe's shoulders. His taloned digits and the wicked smile on his face being a constant reminder of the threat his proximity to Mindwipe came with. "We have a treasure to uncover and apparently enough of carnage in front of us for even Cutthroat to feel satisfied for a short while. Do lead the way Mindwipe. We wouldn't want to waste any time, now would we?"

The Terrorcon Den

Cutthroat grinned at the promise of slaughter.

"You know I am hard to satisfy Hun-Grrr. Although, if the promise is not kept I am sure I can still get my share of slaughter one way or another.

He looked towards Mindwipe and chuckled disturbingly.

Terrorcon Den

Moving into their den after Mindwipe and the others, Rippersnapper made his way around to stand by Hun-Grrr. However, not so close that he might irritate him, but enough to catch a glimpse of Mindwipe before Hun-Grrr tore him apart. The thought brought a wide, toothy grin to the terrorists’ face. It faded, however, when his commander placed his arm around the sniveling intruder. He had so hoped to be part of his dismemberment, but alas it did not seem to be meant to be.

Not this time, anyway.

Rippersnapper fell in behind Mindwipe and Hun-Grrr as they made for the door. Perhaps when their mission was over with they could rend the hypnotist. Another toothy grin at the assumption and Rippersnapper was more than happy to get to it.

The Den

Mindwipe had to choke back some of the acidic, oily bile that was building up in his vocalizer region. Being so close to potentially imminent dismemberment and death did not suit itself to one's internal lubrication systems.

Cutthroat's comment would have normally elicited an icy stare--and perhaps something more potent to go along with it--from the Decepticon hypnotist. But he was so severely outmatched in these environs that even one out of place action or phrase could well cost him his spark.

The meager offering that he had laid before Hungrr seemed to do the trick and at least bought him a few moments more as the Terrorcon commander considered his words and after a stressfully long consideration period, seemed content not to kill the messenger.

"Of course, mighty Hungrrr. With all haste," Mindwipe said, already having allocated the shuttle that would be employed when he had made the initial discovery along with Scorponok. Sensing that Rippersnapper was already fast on their heels and would likely be followed closely by the rest, Mindwipe went about making the other contact that he knew would be critical to this operation. The Terrorcons would be fine--ideal, even--for defense. But in order to appreciate the true gravity of what they had found, they would need the perspective of another. Capable though Mindwipe was in this arena, even he respected the skills of this Decepticon.

>>"Cipher--Mindwipe. I'm transmitting access to the preliminary data regarding a Cybertronian edifice we've discovered on the planet LV-117, provided Commander Scorponok has not already given it to you himself. He requests both of our direct assessments of the site and its value. I'm especially intrigued. I think you will be as well, given your particular talents. I've requisitioned a shuttle. Shall we rendezvous in the bay?"<<

As Mindwipe traveled down the corridor towards the primary shuttle bay, he thought about moving his pace just out of Hungrrr's reach. Feeling his talons so close to his own metallic skin did not fill him with any additional notions of security. He quickly thought better of it. Hungrr, for the moment was satisfied with what Mindwipe had offered. The others? Probably not so much.

Lower Level – Laboratory

Had one taken the time to actually look at the mess around the lab they would actually find that it was organized chaos, but none of the Decepticons had the patience to even think long enough to figure that out. At least that’s what the occupant felt.

Strewn over several desks, counters and boards were countless documents. All of which were written in some kind of language. The kind of language that only he could decode. At least that’s what he was told he would be doing. He hadn’t counted on being aboard Scorponok’s own flagship. That alone made the lanky mech more determined to get his work done as soon as possible.

It did not take him long to decode the first documents, and it would not take him much longer to finish the rest. Once he finished he could actually take some time and get a full recharge, something he had not done in quite some time.

“Heh. You were not so deceptive after all, now were you? No, I found out exactly what you were trying to hide from me. Nothing gets past me.”

Cipher’s mumbling grew silent as he received a communique from the resident hypnotist. What could Mindwipe possibly want? The thought faded as he listened intently to what was said.

With a glint in his optics and a smile on his face, Cipher stood from his stool he and quickly, and enthusiastically, responded to the message.

>>”Cybertronian edifice you say? I am intrigued. Quit intrigued, indeed. Yes, yes. I’ll meet you in the bay. In fact I’m leaving my lab now.”<<

Cipher grabbed a handful of documents and datapads he deemed would be useful and swiftly made his way out of his lab. He stopped, however, and turned back around. The slim mech moved back to the door and accessed the keypad next to it. Carefully the scientist entered the highly encrypted security code and waited until he heard the door audibly lock. He had spent far too long acquiring the scripts from the Hall of Records on Cybertron, he’d be damned if he’d let anything happen to them now.

Satisfied that his most prized possessions were safe, Cipher hurried toward the shuttle bay to meet Mindwipe.

Shuttle Bay

It seemed the bait Mindwipe had dangled before the olfactory modules of the Terrorcon leader had been sufficiently enticing. A bit of a pity, from Sinnertwin’s perspective; he’d had his fuel pump set on wreaking some more than typically horrifying violence upon the interloper. Fortunately for all concerned—the sentry included—that had been a fleeting, impersonal fancy; a brief opportunity for diversion amid the usual, cycle-to-cycle routine of prowling the outskirts of the den. The prospect of a wild and dangerous new world to explore would satisfy that craving just as well as casual dismemberment.

Sinnertwin just hoped that whatever hostile native life-forms they found down there were suitably large. Small, skittering things made him uneasy.

The fetor and darkness of the Terrorcon Den soon gave way to the normal illumination and sterility that was more typical of the dreadnaught’s interior design. It was offensive to Sinnertwin’s keen senses, so much so that he transformed into his robot mode as the six Decepticons entered the shuttle bay. That form was better suited to the inside of a small transport craft, anyway.

“Why don’t we just bounce to the surface?” he demanded, already impatient for something to do. “Shuttle takes too long. Too cramped. I want to get to the killing and the treasure now.”