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Semper Tyrannis - Bridge

"This wasn't the answer I was hoping for," Banzai-ton thought to himself. But what could he do? Usually he makes quick work of any Decepticon who disobeys one of his commands, but this was Scorponok. He had far more followers who would die honorably for his cause, and this was HIS ship. Banzai-tron wouldn't get far staging such a mutiny. After all, he isn't Starscream.

"Understood," The intelligence Officer responded to a inattentive Scorponok, "Contact me if my services are needed elsewhere." He took a quick bow then turned to the bridge's doorway. He holstered his data-pad to his thigh as he began to walked through the large blast doors.

Semper Tyrannis - Main Corridor

Banzai-tron walked steadily as the doors hissed shut.

"I grow weary of this setbacks,"He thought again to himself,"If I am not doing my job collecting information for Soundwave, then I must see SOME sort of action. And this ship has been quite too boring for my taste."

The intelligence officer continued walking his course towards his chambers. If he isn't needed to gather his data, then there was no need to waste precious energon.

Semper Tyrannis -- Bridge

"Thank you Commander Scorponok. It is my honor to provide any service I can to our cause." She said with gratitude. However, Soul Siren felt more embarrassed and privately chided herself for allowing Scorponok to see how tired she was. She wanted to protest and insist that she could continue to do her duties without the rest but she knew that the Bridge of a Decepticon ship was no place to challenge an order from a superior.

"Yes, of course sir. I shall return as soon as possible." Time was obviously of the essence so she moved from the Bridge to the nearest recharging station. If anyone needed her they could still get her via her communicator. She made a note to herself to clean herself up a little while she recharged.

Semper Tyrannis--Brig

Scattershot's voice was lowering as his internal repair systems diverted power from various systems to localized repair protocols. His optics faded abit but lost none of their intensity as he turned his head to face Lightspeed and the other visible Technobot members. A chance chuckle escaped his vocalizer as he then lay back against the annoyingly cool metal deck of the brig floor.

"Believe me Lightspeed. You are not the only one confused by what the Commander has revealed." Pyro's voice registered as a distant memory more than an individual locked in a cell only a few meters away. Still Scattershot's audio receptors were able to catch a hint of worry within the young warrior's voice.

The Technobot Commander settled down, his motion circuits drained of their power as more and more energy was needed to restore vital operations. I think I will keep that bit a secret a while longer... but tactical information, we need to brainstorm purpose and countermeasures as soon as we are able. "Thats not important right now Speeder," he struggled to croak out before his optics gave the equivilent of a blink. "What is important is what the Decepticons are after. Fortress Maximus is only oil on the energon cake. They've found something... Not exactly sure what. But some sort of abnormality in designs."

Scattershot's voice faded briefly before he turned to face Nosecone and Strafe. "Not sure what that flaw is, but... the cons think they've found some advantage to it."

Pyro's optics immediately darted to Pointblank, Nightbeat and Rad before he returned his attention to the Technobots. "A design flaw? How can the Decepticons turn a design flaw into an advantage?" It was an open ended question for the engineers and scientists of the prison block to figure out. More importantly it was something of an ethical question, was it right to meddle in the designs of Primus anyways?

Garrus 9 - Southern Wing--Block B

Stormwrecker outwardly scoffed at Vroom's assessment of the noises. An attack? He could only wish. If someone was actually attacking this place that would mean, well, it would mean someone had lost their minds. This place was out in the middle of nowhere with a small fleet guarding its prisoners, to say nothing of the prison facility itself. Breakouts just didn't happen. Where would one break out to?

Explosions from inside, from a ruptured piece of equipment. Too many people running at one time. A massive block transfer. Lots of things could be going on.

"Yeh, alright, sure it is, Vrooms. Maybe Megatron finally decided those of us wearin' the badge've been stuck out here too long and have come t'save us. Heh. Heheh. Ah....if only."
___

Icepick chuckled at Umbra's latest response. She really was rather pleasant to converse with. How fortunate that she found her way here. Well, not so fortunate for her, perhaps, but fortunate for the rest of the prisoners who enjoyed engaging in an intelligible conversation.

Movement outside his cell caught Icepick's attention, so much so that he actually got up from his slab and walked over to the edge of cell, peering upward, downward and across. On all the levels, it seemed, guards were moving to a centralized location.

How odd...

"Something's going on," Icepick said. "Whatever this is, it is not a drill."

Semper Tyrannis--Bridge

>>"Aye, commander. You heard 'im! Get this rattletrap back!"<< Upjaw's voice barked out over the comm systems.

"It will be done," Cyclonus had said with a brief incline of his head in the High Commander's direction before having exited the bridge altogether. His path crossed with Banzai-tron's ever so briefly but neither of the formidable Decepticons said a word to each other. Not out of animosity, but rather out of a simple understanding by each that the other had his own work to do. Cyclonus had no doubt that the head of the Decepticon Secret Service would find several of his more formidable skills put to good use during the course of this operation. Cyclonus' thoughts on that fact were fleeting at best, as he had his own work tasks laid before him.

His trek to the hangar bay was brief and efficient, allowing for no distractions inbetween. Those Decepticons aboard the flagship who had onboard duty assignments gave the intimidating Decepticon a wide berth as he passed. And when he entered the hangar, his presence captured the attention of many almost instantly.

>>"Reflector--I want full streaming data regarding ships' positioning."<<

>>"Yes, Cyclonus."<<
___

Reflector began feeding navigational data regarding the incoming Autobot response vessels as well as the Decepticon vessels' tactical retreat directly to Cyclonus. On the viewscreen in front of them, the Autobot battle group was clearly gaining on the second corvette.

>>"Sparkstalker--commence your assault,"<< Cyclonus' voice oozed with eerie calm from the comm stations. The Spectro component turned to confirm that the other Decepticon had received the message. The Cryptologist had eagerly set to work on his console, a clear indication that he had.
___

Semper Tyrannis--Hangar

Arriving only mere astroseconds after Cyclonus had, Scourge was greeted with the barest of nods from his long-time Cybertronian confidante and seamlessly took his place at the head of his armada of Huntsmen.

"Aerial units, prepare to deploy," Cyclonus said, as the mechanized sounds of weapons being checked and gear placements being refined could be heard softly but steadily throughout the vast containment berth within the massive Decepticon flagship.

Garrus 9 - Southern Wing--Block B

Vroom continued to listen closely to the noises trying to paint a picture in his mind of what was happening.

"If its was an accident you would hear more footsteps heading away from the explosions as bots leave the area to let the repair crew handle it. It's not an accident and if its not an accident then there is one other option."

Vroom said as he thought about the matter for a moment then went to look for some of his things.

"Your awfully cheerful Stormwrecker." Vroom said with a grin on his face. "Tell me, assuming that's really ol' bullethead out there, would he give Decepticons who got themselves captured a second thought if they were in between him and the Autobots he wanted to scrap?"

Semper Tyrannis - Recharge Station

By the time Soul Siren reached the recharging station the anger she felt at her tiredness had faded and, with that, so did the extra fuel that kept her going. By the time she made it to the chamber she would be using she was stumbling. It was amazing how much more tired you felt when there was no work to keep her going. She stepped inside and activated the system to begin the recharging.

As the process began she sighed and allowed her mind to wonder. She set internal timers in her own systems for the length that the process would take and if anyone had would contact her so that she would be alerted when needed.

This would no be much of a rest, but it would have to do.

Semper Tyrannis – Recharging station

Banzai-tron looked up from his data-pad as the doors to the recharging station opened up. He saw Soul Siren stumble in and quickly hop into one of the recharging chambers. She didn’t seem to notice Banzai-tron’s presence in the room, who was refueling himself as well. She seemed frustrated about something, but Banzai-tron couldn’t put his finger on it.

He returned his focus to his data pad, he was accessing the ship’s files to try and locate some sort of debriefing that was give to Scourge, just to see what his “particular set of skills” was going to be used for. The intelligence officer continued to scroll through the ship’s log until he noticed something about an attack plan to the planet’s surface.

“So this is where Cyclonus was heading off to in such a rush.” He said aloud to himself. He read on a bit and found an order for all available warriors to head towards the hangar bay for the attack. “Excellent,” Banzai-tron said rather shrewdly, “I can finally get out and stretch my servos a bit. This ship has grown to be quite boring for my tastes.”

He then exited the recharging chamber feeling completely refreshed. The now battle-ready Banzai-tron exited the Recharging Station, leaving a slumbering Soul Siren by herself.

Semper Tyrannis – Hangar bay

The heavy doors opened in a loud hiss. Banzai-tron stepped into the hangar feeling proud, and anxious to fight. He walked along on one of the many catwalks, observing the warriors prepping themselves for battle. He heard the clicking of weapons being loaded, and the whirls of the ships being charged up. He spotted Cyclonus who was overseeing the troop’s preparation. Leaping from the rafter, the Intelligence officer glided down slowly, using the rockets in his feet to gently descend to the floor of the Hangar. He then walked over to the arm-crossed Cyclonus.

“Readying the troops I see, eh Cyclonus?” Banzai-tron asked the stern-looking Commander. “I hope you and the Sweep-Commander wouldn’t mind if I tagged along during this attack. Got to keep the DSS informed of everything, you know.” He then waved his data pad again, hoping this would help persuade his point like he did on the bridge. Banzai-tron could tell by Cyclonus’ expression that his Crystalocution skills would be beneficial to the fight, which was perfectly fine to Banzai-tron, who was dying to see some sort of action.

Garrus-9--Command Center

Maximus wished that he could be comforted on some level by the fact the the ships had returned fire. Take it as a confirmation that these were, in fact, Decepticon ships. He couldn't though. Not fully. Far in the back of his mind there was still a tinge of doubt. The Autobots had acted first, just as he had commanded. What vessel, Decepticon or not, would not return fire in such circumstances? But it was a doubt that he would have to suppress and deal with later, especially with the number of lives that were on the line. The invasive ships had already warranted this level of response by traveling this close to a secured facility. Their manner of response only affirmed what Max's follow-up actions would be.

"I read you, captain. Maintain pursuit. Incapacitate if the option is available. If not--destroy."

>>"Yes, sir. Commander, sir,"<< the response came back. Dutiful and efficient, though Maximus would have never doubted it to be otherwise.

The warden's orders were cold and calculated, but the ships had given him no choice at this point. Lethal force was most definitely authorized, at least he believed so. This whole event would surely come under review by Magnus, Prowl and others within Autobot Command at a later date. Maximus would stand ready then just as he did now.

"....commander, sir. I'm...um, our systems are getting strange readings. They--"

"What is it?" Maximus said, walking over to look down at the same console that the internal operations officer was watching. On the screen in front of him, he could see the ships via the long-range scanners as clear as the mech next to him, but all the other relevant data regarding the ships--their power levels, damage sustained, internal resources--were being scrambled. "What the hell?"

"We, um, we're being hacked, sir."

>>"..........iring. Can't.............engaging forward............"<<

Maximus looked up at the viewscreens. There was no way this was random. Not now.

"Call those ships back," Maximus began. The officer looked at him in such a way that the warden already knew what was coming.

"Find a way! We have to regroup," he added, already heading towards the door. If this was going to be some sort of full-fledged attack, he would not be watching it go down from some command center. "And Code Alpha the whole facility. NOW!"

Garrus 9 - Southern Wing--Block B

Stormwrecker stiffened a little bit in his metallic prison, a gesture that only his cellmate would have been able to recognize. Fortunate he was dozing in a state of near semi-stasis and was largely oblivious to anything going on around him. Which was impressive, given the steady rumbling racket that was going on.

"Mighty Megatron would free us if he came, no question. But I ain't some idealist. It wouldn't be for our sakes. It'd only to be throw those of us still battleworthy back into the grinder again. I'd have no problems provin' that I'm one of 'em. We wouldn't be inbetween him and you. We'd be behind him as he lead the charge to scrap them. Er, you. Whatever."
___

Semper Tyrannis--Brig

Lightspeed chuckled a little at Pyro's response to the question he had posed to his unit commander. Unsurprisingly, Scattershot's answer was a non-answer.

"Design abnormality, hm? Well, the legends about those go all the way back to the Thirteen and the lineage of Primes. The possibility that Nexus Prime was not just one mech, but one made of several. And of course there were the Triorian guard. And the even rarer mechanoid who possesses even more than three transformations."

Lightspeed leaned back a little in his cell, getting more comfortable. Inasmuch as such was possible.

"I wonder what they think they've found..."
___

Rad had sat with his arms folded over his kneejoints, listening to the others in the cells talking amongst themselves. The brig itself, once brimming with Sweep and Seeker activity, had been left almost entirely empty, save for a scant few Vehicon automatons. As Scattershot threw a specific question out to some of them, Rad's auditories perked up as he pondered a response.

"Well, I would venture a guess, but without knowing specifically what said flaw actually is, it's difficult to theorize how it could be twisted. But, I mean c'mon, we all know the Decepticons aren't shackled with a moral code or, in most cases, any kind of conscience to speak of. That's their advantage--if you want to call it that--at least in terms of fighting a war. They can sacrifice a dozen of their own men if they think it will make a hundred more even stronger. Slaggin' they'd probably sacrifice a hundred to make a dozen stronger. Just depends on which dozen it would be."

Garrus-9 – Southern Wing – Cell Block G

Airachnid glared at Flame as he explained his line of reasoning. As he finished a relaxed smile replaced the glare on her face. The delusional little Autobot wasn’t really informed; he was just drawing conclusions from whatever scuttlebutt was going around the prison. She still didn’t like having any information on her past floating around, but if it was just rumors then she could let that go. Let the others think she was a joke then, underestimating her was nearly as good as fearing her.

“Oh Flame, much like I don’t understand how the Autobots work,” she turned and walked back to her chair, stifling a snicker, “you don’t understand how the Decepticons work.” She sat back down in her chair, crossing her legs and folding her hands in her lap once again. “The only prisoners who get rescued or exchanged for are far more important then you or I. That aside I am quite happy not being on the Decepticon radar.”

“The primary attention a captured Decepticon gets from the higher ranks is an execution order to prevent leaking of information and assuming they are of no great importance. The fact that I’ve been hear for as long as I have means the Justice Division isn’t concerned with me. If they aren’t concerned about me I’m not concerned about them. I’ve always preferred to focus on myself first and I will continue to do so. Maybe you would find more success thinking the same my fellow prisoner.”

*

Garrus 9 - Southern Wing – Cell Block G

Scowl was pondering the game board when he heard something. He was always hearing things of course; his sensitive audio receptors meant he heard lots of things in the prison. He had learned to filter most of it out, just listening for certain key words or things out of the ordinary, unless he was bored. When he was bored everything was open game. It was probably a violation of privacy, but they were in prison. You couldn’t expect any sort of real privacy there.

What he heard now was something out of the ordinary. The guards were moving around, moving around a lot. He was used to hearing the standard leisurely pace of the patrols and guards, but this was much more hurried. It was a panicked run or anything, but it was a good jog, and it was lots of guards. This many guards meant it wasn’t just a localized thing like an escape attempt or unruly prisoner. He hadn’t heard any mention of a security drill either, which meant something was up.

He focused his receptors, listening into conversations between guards now. Voices sounded a bit tense and serious. There was a mention of a Code Beta. A frown formed on his face. He wasn’t sure if he could recall a Code Beta happening since he’d been in the prison or not. Either way it was an interesting bit of news that he felt compelled to share.

While the little game code he and Icepick had worked out wasn’t really meant for conversations he suspected he could get his message across. Tapping on the wall he roughly sent a message to Icepick consisting of ‘Whats Code Beta?’