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Garrus 9 - Corridors

Before Snapdragon could issue any sort of inquiry towards his fellow Horrorcon, the saboteur opened the video feed Kickback had sent. Frag it all, this was bad.

"So what, do we have any sort of lead on where this guy is?! Where he's going?! Anything??"

Garrus 9 - Mines

"Yeah, beneficial, let's call it that." Brainstorm sideways replied to the Optimus-wannabe that was Pyro as he continued to watch the Skyhammer situation continue to unravel through the optics of a wayward Decepticon. "I mean I was able to modify a discarded Cerebro-shell we found in he respite, but I can't seem to access remote control..."

"Hold up!" Whirl interjected, his single optic slowly fixating on Highbrow, "You, yeah, you, blue boy. You want to bargain with those cons in there? I was a guard overseeing the rest of their comrades before this place got turned into the steaming pile of slag it is now, I know fullwell they'll say anything just to get their kicks or lower your guard, and you want to bargain with them??"

Whirl looked around around to get some input from the rest of his comrades, only to be met with more silence. "Even if this was a smart plan, we don't have anything worth handing over. So what do you have to bargain with them? A few rocks and pieces of scrap metal aren't worth a full Skyhammer, let alone one that's not in a more mint condition." The cycloptic wrecker then pointed towards the inhibitor claw that was fixated on his back, as well as making a motion towards every other individual with the same constraining device placed on them from the Decepticons. "And what about these? The moment they see those, you think they're gonna just slap 'em off us? No, they're gonna leap at us like we're wounded prey."

"And what's you're grand plan then?" Brainstorm inquired without looking up from the screen fixated on his forearm, fiddling with the knobs and wires as he continued trying to gain access to the unknown seeker's motor functions.

"I'm sick of this captivity, I say we march up to Skyhammer and bust him out with what we got! We got a couple Wreckers, a few eggheads, not-so-quite-Optimus Prime here, and whoever else he dug up in these hell holes, we could easily overpower those two!"

"That-That's suicide!"

"Well it's sure as hell better than twiddling actuators and waiting for them to get unstuck! Blankster's right, their little predicament up there isn't gonna last."

"Well then, let's see if we can solve one of those issues now then!" Brainstorm then ran an wire from the datapad fixated on his forearm up the side of his processor and opened one of the access hatches alongside his temple. There was a small moment of backlash from the clashing of rudimentary innovation, but soon Brainstorm's optics shifted from his usual amber hue, to a soft-neon green. Whoa this was feeling... strange. He felt in like he was in his own body, yet not at the same time? He looked around the room and yet he could see Skyhammer right before him... Wait, and those two Deceptions... and Umbra too?!

The engineer tried to stare at his hands but found himself staring at the white actuators of his cerebro-shelled victim.

"Well this is different..."

The view on Brainstorm's forearm-scene seemed to have shifted down when Brainstorm himself turned to face his own set of hands.

Garrus 9 - Med Bay

Skymauler felt an odd sensation traverse through his entire system. Did Jhiaxus' weapon emit some sort of wave that just afflicted him? No, couldn't be... Everyone else was still standing okay. Hell, the Autobot was even beginning laugh when Slugslinger and Triggerhappy began bickering with one another.

Skymauler was then looking down at his hands. Why though? Internally he felt something was off, but he didn't know how to acknowledge it fully, something about this felt natural all the while being unnatural.

"Well this is different..." the Seeker muttered under his breath as he looked up from his hands.

Garrus 9 - Mines

Brainstorm looked up from staring at his own hands and finally was able to put two and two together. His neural connection with the seeker worked! Like, it actually worked. Oh man, if Chromedome could see this now. The engineer then tried to see if he could get a feel for the controls. Bringing his forearm closer to his chest in an attempt to use the datapad's buttons as a remote, Brainstorm attempted to fiddle with the keys to try and gently move Skymauler around the medical bay.

Medical Bay

Skymauler stopped staring at his actuators then brought his forearm up, a panel along his forearm flipping open when his right hand flicked open the access panel. The seeker then studied his own vital signs as they were monitored before him.

Mines

Why wasn't this working? The seeker should be taking steps that would have him circling around Skyhammer's and the medical berth he used to be lying upon. Why was he studying his own readouts?

Unless...

I don't have remote control over the Decepticon, I just have control of him...

Like a puppeteer, Brainstorm was going to have to mirror what he wanted this seeker to do. Fan-tastic...

"What in the pit are you doing now?" Whirl asked as he slung the seeker laser over his shoulder. "Dancing a little jig comes after we get Skyhammer back."

"About that... I have the reigns over someone in the med bay right now, but you need to forewarn Skyhammer. Tell him the seeker is a friend. I'm going to work on getting these inhibitor claws disabled... somehow..."

"You did what now?"

"Whirl! Just. Call." Brainstorm grunted, trying to restrain from making the seeker also speak out the words he himself was muttering. The cycloptic wrecker then reached over and took the comm line back from Pointblank, bringing he device to the side of his helm.

>>"Alright, listen up Princess. And you too Umbrella, I know you're still listening. One of our boys down here says that seeker in there is one of us, and by that I mean Brainstorm found a way inside it's head. Sit tight and avoid any if not all the laser fire you can. I don't do bits and pieces. We're gonna try staging a few things, HB wants to try to bargain with the two nit wits holding you all captive at the moment. I say it's stupid, but if they're dumb enough to say yes, we may have a shot."<<

Garrus 9 - Mines:

"Hold up! You, yeah, you, blue boy. You want to bargain with those cons in there? I was a guard overseeing the rest of their comrades before this place got turned into the steaming pile of slag it is now, I know fullwell they'll say anything just to get their kicks or lower your guard, and you want to bargain with them??"

Highbrow then pointed a finger at Whirl and replied, "Now you listen here, cyclops. If we achieve this properly, we can have these two assist us in escaping the facility if we hold the carrot of a few weapons or something of the sort on front of their fume sensory passages! When we make our escape and indeed have the resources to obtain them their side of the bargain, we would have gained our transformation capabilities and weapons back long before which to defend ourselves in case they betray what little trust they have to us. Not saying this is PRECISELY my preferred form of a plan, but it is the closest in graspable distance, and most rational. Far better than going guns blazing and risking the lives of us and others present in that room."

After Highbrow saying his piece, Whirl and Brainstorm bickered for a bit, before Brainstorm started doing something very strange... he started to do what Highbrow could only describe as "interpretative dancing". Highbrow couldn't help but let out a chortle at the hilarious sight ensuing.

"You have gained control of a Decepticon husk?" asked Highbrow, "Disturbing, but intriguing."

>>...HB wants to try to bargain with the two nit wits holding you all captive at the moment. I say it's stupid, but if they're dumb enough to say yes, we may have a shot.<<

"Oh, believe me. It's highly unorthodox."

Garrus-9 – Central – Corridors

>>”Well that doesn't surprise me given the Insecticons claim to be black out too but slag it Synapse, of all the damn mechs in this aft-end of the universe - you just happen to run into the last Autobot resistance pocket inside this pretty much mowed down facility? That's just… rich.”<< Apeface chuckled at Synapse's predicament. >>”I am homing on your signal. Let's just hope your damn luck catches on those bots too before you run out of it.”<<

>>”So glad you can find it in your spark to make light of my predicament,”<< Synapse grumbled in reply before relenting, >>”But…I thank you for your impending assistance.”<< Fortunately, Deadlock had arrived as well. Or…Drift, as he so very gracefully fabricated. Oh goodness. What was Deadlock’s plan exactly? They now outnumbered the Autobots in terms of bodies present, but…he and Lobe were not exactly warriors.

“Good to meet ya, Drift,” Flasher chirped cheerfully. Antic tightened his grip on his gun, but lowered it slowly, optics narrowed.

"So what's our situation down here? Back the way I came from, the place is completely falling apart. Well, more so than it already was I suppose."

“Well, these three were going to help us get the slag outta here,” Breacher explained, jabbing his thumb at Synapse and the Lobes. “The rough idea is getting onto one of their warships and finding some way to sneak off with maybe like another ship or something. It’s not much but it’s better than staying here waiting to get slagged by some Con. At least this way, we might be able to get word out to other Autobots about what’s gone down here.”

“And stick it to the Cons when we come back with reinforcements,” Antic growled.

“We’re heading to the star port to try and hitch a ride there,” Flasher said.

Looking at the three Autobots and then to Deadlock, Synapse searched his optics for a sign. Something. Of what their plan was. He was quite worried about Lord Scorponok. The implication that something had happened to him was disturbing to say the least. Though, Synapse supposed on some level that he should be more worried about what was going to happen to him. But he wasn’t really. It came more naturally to worry and fret about his fellow Decepticons. After all, bad things were bound to happen to him eventually.

Garrus-9 – Corridors

"So what, do we have any sort of lead on where this guy is?! Where he's going?! Anything??"

Apeface sighed. He did not have the answer Snapdragon was looking for. He could only guess. ”Nothing I can be certain of Snaps,” he spoke up, gesturing the reptilian Horrorcon to follow him as he launched himself back into speed. They really didn’t have time to waste after all. ”If I had to guess he is going for one of his old hideouts but which one exactly? Only location we know of for certain is the one on LV-117 boss raided with the Terrorcons.”

>>"Yes. We're in here now,"<< Kickback said, readying a video playback of what they had just witnessed happening to Bombshell and some of his diaclones. >>"After the initial wave that affected everyone in the vicinity, there appears to be a field....emanating from a device currently embedded in our commander. So long as you don't cross within its range, you can safely enter the area. Bombshell, heh, well, got a little too curious."<<

>>”Heh, serves him right.” Apeface replied back to Kickback, continuing, >>”See if you can find a way to turn off that device down or at least winch some of our guys out of the effect range. I’ll try to make my way there as fast as possible but there’s something I gotta do first.”<<

>>”So glad you can find it in your spark to make light of my predicament,”<< Synapse grumbled in reply before relenting, >>”But…I thank you for your impending assistance.”<<

>>”I am to please.”<< Apeface chuckled into his communicator, trying to keep up a light hearted facade up in a rather grim situation. Synapse certainly didn’t need to fall into despair. Though at least Deadlock was there now. Not that Apeface could be sure of that being exactly a good thing. Deadlock wasn’t known for his negotiating skills after all.

>>"Deadlock to Apeface. I've located Synapse. Time here is short so you focus on what's going down with Scorponok and I'll handle getting the good doctor back. We'll rendezvous when I'm done here. Deadlock out."<<

>>Negative. We will take those Autobots down hard. I need Synapse and Lobe. Besides... Apeface replied back to Deadlock who clearly had not expected a reply back given he had ended his own transmission by signing out. >>”I am already there.”<<

”Surprise!” Apeface shouted out as he leaped across the length of the corridor with a speed that defied his size and smashed his massive frame into poor Flasher, flattening the Autobot between himself and the floor. Being fairly certain he had knocked the Autobot out if not killed him, Apeface quickly made his next move - blasting bunch of holes through Breacher’s torso with Treadshot’s pulse demagnetizer rifle before finishing his remodeling of the Autobot’s body with a crushing headbutt - leaving Antic to be dealt with by either Deadlock or Snapdragon.

[OOC: Actions agreed through with Foximus]

Semper Tyrannis - Bridge

"Affirmative, captain. I've made contact with Apeface. Both Horrorcons appear to be functional. He has taken emergency command of surface operations," Reflector said. "He appears to be coordinating with Kickback. The Insecticons were last in the mines. It would make sense that they managed to avoid whatever happened in the amphitheater."

”That’s something at least.” Finback muttered, rubbing his chin within his containment tank while clearly being lost in his thoughts.

Reflector then appeared to get a momentarily blank expression on his face before turning to look at Finback directly.

"Incoming from Apeface," he said as he loaded the audio and video playback.

>>”That's what happened. Send fleet wide alert. Jhiaxus has turned on us. Capture him on sight,”<< Apeface's voice echoed throughout the bridge as his captured video played on the primary viewscreen and all of the secondary monitors.

Broken away from his thoughts to witness the horror of Kickback’s recording, Finback’s jaw nearly dislocated itself from what little was holding it on its place.
"That walking chum bucket! Damn him to the depths! I'll keelhaul him through an asteroid field and hang his broken body on the comm-tower if I get my hands on him!" The Captain of Scorponok’s flagship – the Semper Tyrannis, cursed Jhiaxus’ betrayal. ”Shoulda have known not to trust the old coot any more than I could have thrown him! And I can’t throw anything anymore!”

>>”Finback? Are you receiving this?”<< A sudden transmission interrupted Finback’s cursing.

>>”Submarauder? I can hear you.”<< Finback wheezed in as a reply to his old comrade in arms. Submarauder was not known to break his solitude for idle socializing. If he was contacting anyone right now, the matter had to be serious.

>>”We have a situation in the hangar. I have been trying to make contact with you for a while now but something was interfering with communications.”<< Submarauder spoke out sternly.

>>”Believe me old pal, I know.”<< Finback coughed back.

>>”Then I must assume that Jhiaxus struck lord Scorponok and our high command down with an unknown EMP device inside Garrus-9.”<< Submarauder stated matter-of-factly. >>”Because that is what he did in the hangar before disappearing through the spacebridge. Everyone who stood in his way, including Bugly and Squeezeplay are convulsing on the floor in some state of mistransformation. Same happened to the drone I walked in to determine the effect radius.”<<

>>”Well I’ll be damned. Your assumption is correct.”<< Finback said quietly, turning to look at Reflector. ”Open the hangar doors and jettison everyone affected into the space. We will pick our people up once we have someone around here who can disable Jhiaxus’ device. Until that, I want the hangar back in working condition. We need to be able to access the spacebridge without being added that gallery of horrors.”

Garrus-9--Med Bay

Stormwrecker's optics widened as the one called Umbra erupted at Triggerhappy and Slugslinger. From his point of view, they seemed to have the right idea. The arms dealer would like nothing more than to get off of this barren husk of a planet and start over somewhere remote. He could probably retire on the amount of small arms he could sell to the Decepticons standing in front of him. They sure sounded like they burned through a lot.

Umbra, however, steered them back on course, dealing with the the reality of their situation. Escape wasn't going to be as simple as hailing a ship to pick them up.

“Okay. Short version. From what we know, the D-Er, that is to say…There’s a scientist…Um. Our forces have largely been…incapacitated by a scientist. Who is not Shockwave. Jhiaxus. And he…commands those.”

As she continued, she indicated the screens in front of them. Stormwrecker's optics followed.

“One of which was…is a friend of mine. Kind of. I think. It’s complicated. But suffice to say. No one is getting off this rock until we deal with those things. So it’s a case of needing to work together. Ah, make sense?”

"You sayin' one of those things was yer friend?" Stormwrecker muttered. "You mean one of the pieces? Like one of the 'Bots? Mebbe you can use that."

Garrus-9--Mines

Listening to the banter between the Autobots might have given other mechs some cause for concern. More careful Autobots than Pointblank. He wasn't exactly eager to rush headlong into destruction, but they had been prisoners long enough. The sudden exodus of the Insecticons and the others was proof enough that something big was happening. In Pointblank's experience, that was always the best time to capitalize.

The Autobot enforcer didn't understand half of what he was hearing from the likes of Brainstorm and Highbrow, but from what little he could glean from their talking....they had actually taken control of a Decepticon up above. Huh. That was impressive. Pointblank had heard that brainy was a mech of many talents, but this was definitely a firsthand experience as to why.

"Oh, believe me. It's highly unorthodox."

"Definitely. And I don't think anything orthodox is gonna get us out of this slagpit, so if you think those 'Cons can be reasoned with, I say go for it. We need to use every advantage this mess throws at us, 'cause it hasn't given us too many up to this point."

Garrus-9 Central – Med Bay

Ah. Well. Skyhammer had a point, Umbra supposed. She didn’t exactly enjoy being laughed at to her face quite so blatantly, but yeah. Point. How did she expect this to go really? Alright. So, what was something that Skyhammer could do that would be marginally beneficial to all parties involved. HHHMMMmmmm. Not be an aft was one, but Umbra was guessing that was too much to hope for. So she had to think.

Before she had a chance to come up with something, Stormwrecker picked up on something that she had said in her explanation.

"You sayin' one of those things was yer friend?" Stormwrecker muttered. "You mean one of the pieces? Like one of the 'Bots? Mebbe you can use that."

“Well…yes. One of the pieces is a close friend, yes…I met some of the other ones too…but I wouldn’t call them close. And…one sixth isn’t the best chance in the world,” Umbra muttered nervously. But it was better than none at all, and if she could somehow reach Icepick…Well. That would be something, wouldn’t it? She could get her friend back.

“Ahhh…okay, okay. I’ll handle the one. With the claws and the death field…thing…Might be nice to have some back-up in case that doesn’t go well.”

Whirling on her heel, Umbra snapped back around to Skyhammer. “And you! This might be your chance to free yourself. OOoooooOOOoooo…Gonna let it pass you by, tough guy?!”

>>"Alright, listen up Princess. And you too Umbrella, I know you're still listening. One of our boys down here says that seeker in there is one of us, and by that I mean Brainstorm found a way inside it's head. Sit tight and avoid any if not all the laser fire you can. I don't do bits and pieces. We're gonna try staging a few things, HB wants to try to bargain with the two nit wits holding you all captive at the moment. I say it's stupid, but if they're dumb enough to say yes, we may have a shot."<<

And there was Whirl. So she hadn’t been left for dead. Well that was something at least. And it seemed liked reinforcements might be on their way? But they needed to hurry…Well, more mechs, the better the survival rate, so it was worth a shot.

>>”Alright, but you better hurry up, Whirly-bird. Things aren’t going to stay like this forever. Get your afts up here already,”<< Umbra muttered lowly so only Skyhammer and Whirl could hear.

Med Bay

“And you! This might be your chance to free yourself. OOoooooOOOoooo…Gonna let it pass you by, tough guy?!”

”Hah!” Skyhammer mocked, ”I know I am not getting out of here free with all these Decepticons scrambling about! Snapdragon clearly revealed the limits of my toughness. Even the odds of surviving alive through this joke are hardly favorable to me.”

”If these idiots won’t shoot me, someone else is going to gun me down the moment I step out of those doors,” Skyhammer exasperated not caring who heard him. It was all too obvious to him. If Scorponok had brought even a third of the invasion force he had took Nebulos with – whatever remained of the Autobot resistance were vastly outnumbered. Two evil giant combiners poking the Decepticon nest or not. And even if they’d somehow manage to get an access to a shuttle, there had to be like dozen of Decepticon vessels waiting to shoot them down in the orbit – ranging from battlecruisers to gunships. His tactical processor couldn’t find a single plausible scenario that would achieve freedom Umbra was baiting him with, save for unforeseen circumstances coming up that would make the Decepticons just let them walk so to speak. And that was hardly likely.

”I just rather see them suffer for what little time I have left,” he quietly hissed, crossing his arms over the hole in his torso. ”So do whatever. I am on borrowed time anyway.”

Garrus-9 Central-–Med Bay

“Well…yes. One of the pieces is a close friend, yes…I met some of the other ones too…but I wouldn’t call them close. And…one sixth isn’t the best chance in the world,” Umbra said, Stormwrecker nodding as he listened. No, one sixth of a chance at trying to use a connection that might be completely gone wasn't the best odds, but it was better than nothing. Umbra likely had similar thoughts, as soon thereafter she seemed determined to take a stab at it.

“Ahhh…okay, okay. I’ll handle the one. With the claws and the death field…thing…Might be nice to have some back-up in case that doesn’t go well.”

Again, Stormwrecker nodded.

"Yeh. Backup. Backup would be good."

He then watched as Umbra attempted to talk some sense into the Autobot they had just freed. He didn't appear to be having any of it. Stormwrecker couldn't truly blame him. He'd obviously been through a lot.

"I bet yer a real life of the party at them Autobot shindigs, eh 'Hammer?" Stormwrecker said, after listening to the Autobot run down a list of all the things that could, and perhaps would, go wrong with this.

"Well, Umbra, whatever backup you need...I'll be one of 'em. Let's go see what you can do with that big ugly one...uglier one. Whichever."

Garrus 9 - Starport

There was a sound like an ancient steam whistle that haunted the halls of Garrus 9, dimly recognizable to Autobot and Decepticon alike from the ancient days of there creation. An infernal hammering emanating from the corrupted walls of the once Autobot star port.

Black smog clung to the place like a shroud, lit from the inside with radioactive violet industry. the tireless Chopshops rendered down, reprocessed, and prepossessed everything stolen and scavenged, reshaping it so there former masters would never recognize it.

A sub sonic bass boom shook the Garrus 9 facility, first every cycle, then every half cycle. A mighty explosion rocked the Garrus9 Prison complex harder. Carried over the dry wind of Garrus, the swearing oaths of the Chopshops legion and curses, in unison like a dirge to the foul technological corruption they inflicted on the landscape.

The first armored transport finally rose up with one bass boom, rising into the air on dirty great fission boosters, it attracted some jealous fire from sweep squadrons, rival insecticons, and Autobot resistance, all cybertronian life momentarily subconsciously defied the horrific creations existence for a moment and everyone took a pot shot at it.

The Chopshops mashed some buttons, re calibrated some newly patched soft ware, and brought the guns online in a horrifying display. and all momentary question of who was king bug in the sky right now was silenced. The Captain, The broken horn, Doc Choppinz ordered his bridge crew around and congratulations were in order.

A second armored prison ship rose into the sky, less modified from the stock model, this one served its original purpose of carrying personel and cargo, and was recognizable of ancient autobot design.

The up gunned ship hovered over the worker bee, I latter found out they had been dubbed, "King Scorpion" and "Iron Stag" respectively. The Chopshops wanted to make a more tactical approach to salvaging there crippled team mates, they seemed desperate to restore there captain.

Garrus 9 - Amphitheater.

The pair of armored carriers hovered over the amphitheater, scanning and probing with every sensor they have. Much of there scientific gear had been trained in on the location of Scorpknock and the horrible energy's emanating from the device lodged in his body. The Chopshops labored to make sense of the readings.

Big Chopshop grew frustrated, He looked along the monitors showing read outs of everything going on down in the amphitheater, and weapon read outs from the other ship. he got nothing from it, no way to move forward. he noticed Skrapnell and Kickpack still standing around on one of the monitors. He reasoned if his cousins hadn't fled, they must know something. Or at very least he could try and save Bombshell for now.

Big Chopshop gave the standing orders to his crew to remain hovering above the ampitheter, before diving off the side of the ship, Transforming mid fall and flying down to the surface, two of his kin came with him and proceeded to head back into the prison, buzzing past the Seeker guards stationed throughout. Once within range of the amphitheater once more, Chopshop swooped Skrapnell and Kickback before landing heavy, smiling to himself.

Chopsshop brooded for a moment looking his cousins up and down.

"We 'ave met all our objectives, but wiv' the commander down we 'ave no further orders, Chopshops will guard the Ampitheter until 'elp arrives."

Semper Tyrannis--Bridge

”That’s something at least.”

Reflector nodded. Indeed, having the Horrorcons--or "a" Horrorcon--commandeering things on the surface was certainly better than a lot of other possible alternatives.

Finback then appeared to be in communication with other operatives for a while. In the meantime, Reflector continued to compile as many visual records as he could gather of happenings within the prison.

”Open the hangar doors and jettison everyone affected into the space. We will pick our people up once we have someone around here who can disable Jhiaxus’ device. Until that, I want the hangar back in working condition. We need to be able to access the spacebridge without being added that gallery of horrors.”

That order actually struck Reflector as confusing and counterintuitive for a moment, but given the scope of what Jhiaxus had done to make good on his egress from the facility, it was wise to leave nothing to chance. Employing even the most unorthodox methods was the sensible course of action until order could be successfully restored.

"Aye, captain. Opening hangar doors," Reflector stated as he followed through with a smooth motion across his command console.

Garrus-9 Central – Med Bay

”I just rather see them suffer for what little time I have left,” said Skyhammer.

"Now THAT's just mean," said Triggerhappy, "Slugs, why in da pit arnt we shootin dis guy again?!"

Slugslinger placed his hand on Triggerhappy's shoulder, "Now, if we play it cool, there will probably be lots of rewards. BUT, if there isn't though, these guys are useless enough to warrant getting holes through their chests too, heh."

Slugslinger then stepped closer to the rest of the parties involved, and almost in a spooky manner seemed to change his personality from the yelling, blundering idiot personality he was using to talk to Triggerhappy with, to a more monotone, bartering voice.

"So, you mechs are in need of help around this place, I would assume?"

His optics shifted back to Triggerhappy who was looking at Stormwrecker weirdly as if he had something Triggers wanted. Slugslinger snapped his fingers to get the mad-mech's attention.

"Ehem, anyway. We might be willing to help if we are granted something in return. Something, explodey. Right, Triggs?"

"Uh, yeah!" said Triggerhappy, "Lots of bombz! Just all kinds ofshtuffs to dastroy all kindsof thingz!"

"Well, nothing any of you would particularly care about us destroying, but I digress," said Slugslinger.

"So, are any of you willing to barter? Don't worry, this is between only us." Slugslinger then winked as a grin appeared on his face.

Garrus-9--Med Bay

Stormwrecker backed away a little from Triggeryhappy. He was giving him the crazy eye and the arms dealer wasn't too sure what he might do in an already volatile situation. Quickly enough the other 'Con with him, Slugslinger, got his attention.

"Ehem, anyway. We might be willing to help if we are granted something in return. Something, explodey. Right, Triggs?"

"Uh, yeah! Lots of bombz! Just all kinds ofshtuffs to dastroy all kindsof thingz!"

"Well, nothing any of you would particularly care about us destroying, but I digress," Slugslinger and Triggerhappy yammered back and forth. But it was in that yammering that Stormwrecker saw his opening. Their odds of getting through this mess were only going to decrease substantially if they split off and did their own thing. Somehow or another, they needed to find a way to work together to survive this disaster.

"I've got an old weapons cache on Cybertron. Several of 'em actually. Untouched, last I saw 'em anyway. I'll give you the coordinates to one if you help us. We gotta stop that old madmech before he does...well....whatever it is he's gonna do."

Garrus-9--Med Bay:

"I've got an old weapons cache on Cybertron. Several of 'em actually. Untouched, last I saw 'em anyway. I'll give you the coordinates to one if you help us. We gotta stop that old madmech before he does...well....whatever it is he's gonna do."

Slugslinger squinted an eye in thought of what the "fellow" Decepticon said. It was intriguing, yet, it caused more questions. Who was to say he wasn't lying? After-all, Decepticons were some of the more, well, deceptive when it comes to these situations, even when bargaining with those of the same faction. Especially when it's a secret stash we're talking about. A Decepticon is not normally one to just give coordinates to one even of their own faction for hidden weapons. And who says the weapons are better than here at Garrus-9? Slugslinger was not stupid. He knew he needed proof before settling on this deal.

"Our side of the bargain comes first. That's our proof of honesty. What is the proof of your honesty?"

Garrus 9 - Corridors

>>"... Besides... I am already there."

Deadlock's optics widened when Apeface's response came through. Before the warrior could react, the simian Horrorcon came bursting into the corridor and immediately tackled down Flasher. Breached was then pelted through the torso by a few rounds from the weapon in Apeface's hands. Dammit! This situation was under control and now the monkey had to come make a mess of things.

"GRRAAHHH!" Snapdragon roared as he bursted in shortly after his fellow Horrorcon, transitioning into his draconic form before fully emerging into the corridor. With Apey already dealing with two of the Autobots, the interceptor made use of his function and charge over towards Antic before the bot could return fire. Knocking the Autobot prone, Snapdragon lifted him massive foot and brought it down upon Antic, making sure his claws dug deep into the chassis. If Snapdragon could find himself a decent oil bath, he supposed he'd have to make himself a nice little pool of this Bot's energon to cull him over for now.

"What are you doing? I had this under control!" Deadlock exclaimed towards Apeface.

Corridors

”I dealt with business,” Apeface grunted, looming menacingly over the smaller Decepticon. ”Something you were clearly incapable of doing in timely fashion.”

The brutish Horrorcon knelt down to put his hand over the Autobot he had gunned down, making a quick scan of the Autobot’s life signs. He had struck to incapacitate, not to kill – unlike Snapdragon who couldn’t care less if one or dozen more Autobots joined the scrapyard. Not that Apeface himself had any qualms of killing an enemy soldier, he had just figured to spare these poor fools for the sake of his own mental health. The amount of nagging Synapse and Lobe would make him go through due to unnecessary killing of ’possible converts to the cause’ or ’test subjects’ just wasn’t worth the trouble. If they wanted to try the same with Snapdragon, that was their business.

”They will live doc,” he added unapologetically, glancing at Synapse before spitting a glob of dirty lubricant before Deadlock’s feet as he stood up. ”Well. Maybe not that one,” he added, nodding towards the one Snapdragon had attacked mercilessly.

”This is war. And they are the enemy unless you had forgotten,” the Horrorcon growled at Deadlock, continuing with a hint of annoyance towards having to explain himself to someone who had no business in questioning his actions, ”Your reputation hardly suggests taking this damn long with a couple of grunts.”

”Besides, we have a far more pressing issue to deal with.”

Conjuring up the holograph of the recording Kickback had sent him from the amphitheater, Apeface gave Deadlock, Lobe and Synapse a chance of their own to see what was going on in the penitentiary.

”See for yourself.”

Garrus-9 Central – Med Bay

Skyhammer. Was. Hopeless. Umbra decided that she should leave him in the much more capable hands of the Autobots down under. She rubbed her temples, and, in doing so, removed the communicator. Shoving Skyhammer with minimal strength, she dropped the communicator into the crook of his arms.

“Fine. Give up. Rot for all I care, Autobot,” Umbra stated plainly, stepping back from Skyhammer, “But I am going to do something.”

Heaving a sigh as she turned away, Umbra looked to Stormwrecker as he offered her his support with the monstrosity that used to be her friend. Looked like it would just be them two. Oh fun. Umbra began to move toward the exit when Slugslinger made some mention of help. She looked at Triggerhappy and Slugslinger. Oh, they wanted something in exchange, did they? Typical. Usually, saving one’s own hide was enough incentive. At least for her it had always been.

Plus, Umbra had nothing to trade for their cooperation. However, it kinda seemed like Stormwrecker did. Then Slugslinger went on some rant about proof of honesty or whatever. Something sort of snapped inside of her. “Proof? Oh, you want proof, do you? What reason have we got to deceive you?! We’re looking for help to stop a madmech, and you want to barter? Are you serious? You’re just cowards, aren’t you? Pfeh.”

Honestly, Umbra was disgusted. She vaguely wondered what Bludgeon or even that Terrorcon and Seacon commander would do in a situation like this. Nothing pleasant she imagined. The only reason these two thought they could get away with this was because no superior officer was here to beat sense into them.

“C’mon, Storms,” Umbra grumbled, “They can take it or leave it. Let’s go.” With that, she marched out of the medical bay, heading off to confront the madmech and his gigantic fiends that lay in wait.

Garrus-9 Central – Med Bay:

It seemed typical for this Umbra to start venting about things. Well, fancy that. Slugslinger held up his hand and said, "Wait, you two need to think first. This Jhaixus took down Scorponok. SCORPONOK. You fools need a better plan than just good intentions."

"Triggerhappy, stay here for a sec, k?"

Slugslinger then followed the two out of the Med Bay briefly.

"Believe me. I am all for saving just our metal hides. But, Triggerhappy is not the most... stable. He'll only want to participate if he knows there's a reward on the other side that involves him destroying something. I'm just the smarter guy that gets him what he wants."

Slugslinger sighed, "I have not a clue why I even go along with that idiot other than the fact that I feel sorry for him. When I found him, he was dying outside of a pub. Energon bleeding everywhere. I picked the fool up, and fixed him the best I could. After a while though realized his mental state and, I- I dunno. Anyway it-"

Slugslinger heard a crash in the Med Bay. Slugslinger ran back in to see Triggerhappy playing with a broken piece off of one of the CR chambers.

"WHAT are you DOING Triggers?"

"Ehh, I thought dis was acool looking toy."

Slugslinger sighed again. Face in palm. He was Triggerhappy's defense, and Slugslinger still didn't know why. He always was protective because of a fear that Triggerhappy would be killed or, even worse. Then again, why do I care?

He just needs someone who knows how to fix him. Seems like most though are either too careless, heartless, or are an enemy. Enemy? Ehh, frag bombs. If I can get closer to these Autobots, maybe one of the smarter ones have the capability to look at him and maybe even fix him. I don't know. Most Decepticons seem to either like his psychotic nature for the sake of usefulness in combat, or just think he should be gotten rid of. Sometimes I just don't care anymore.

Slugslinger sat down on one of the med beds. The thought that everything he has been doing is worthless was starting to depress him.

[OOC: In case anyone else gets confused, the italic text is what the character being played is thinking, and not saying aloud.]

Garrus 9 - Corridors

Apeface’s entrance was about as theatrical as one might expect from a Horrorcon. More than a mild amount of horror washed over Synapse as Apeface crushed Flasher under his feet as easily as one might quash an insect. He made even shorter work of Breacher with a few shots of his blaster. The looks on their faceplates could only be described as surprised – and betrayed. Antic met a similar yet more gruesome end.

Heaving a rather gloomy sigh, Synapse opened his mouth to say something about Apeface’s impending appointment when the Horrorcon cut him off.

”They will live doc,” he added unapologetically, glancing at Synapse before spitting a glob of dirty lubricant before Deadlock’s feet as he stood up. ”Well. Maybe not that one,” he added, nodding towards the one Snapdragon had attacked mercilessly.

Something of a relieved smile worked its way onto Synapse’s faceplate, grateful that Apeface had spared him a headache. Snapdragon, however…Lobe whirled on the draconic Horrorcon.

“Now, Snapdragon, how could you?” Synapse chided, “I’m putting you down for several cycles worth of sessions. They could have converted to the cause! But did you give him that chance?”

It was Apeface who snapped Synapse out of what many of his patients would call “nag mode” and brought him back to reality. He turned as Apeface produced the holograph and leaned forward to examine their predicament.

“Oh my…”

Synapse covered his mouth with a hand as his jaw went a little slack at the sight before him. Lord Scorponok was down. The Lord Scorponok who many, Synapse included, had thought nigh invincible. Felled. But how? And so many others too. Snaptrap, Bludgeon, Cyclonus. Not lightweights in any regard.

Synapse looked to Apeface, dropping his hand to his side, a look of fierce determination on his faceplate.

“We must go to them at once!” he asserted before turning to Deadlock, “I apologize Deadlock, but it seems that your appointment must wait a little longer. Please bear with me.”

Garrus-9--Med Bay

"Our side of the bargain comes first. That's our proof of honesty. What is the proof of your honesty?" Slugslinger had said, countering Stormwrecker's offer somewhat. Underneath his faceplate, the old arms dealer smirked. He could appreciate a 'Con, or any bot really, not trying to get swindled. In a different time and place, he probably would have tried to gain some unseen advantage in the deal. Not now. The times were just too desperate. He didn't really have any way to prove that, though.

Before he could offer much in the way of an explanation, Umbra interjected. In this case, it was welcome.

“Proof? Oh, you want proof, do you? What reason have we got to deceive you?! We’re looking for help to stop a madmech, and you want to barter? Are you serious? You’re just cowards, aren’t you? Pfeh. C’mon, Storms. They can take it or leave it. Let’s go.”

Stormwrecker pointed at the femme as if to say "what she said"...effectively in complete agreement.

"Believe me. I am all for saving just our metal hides. But, Triggerhappy is not the most... stable. He'll only want to participate if he knows there's a reward on the other side that involves him destroying something. I'm just the smarter guy that gets him what he wants," Slugslinger continued, attempting to further explain his position in the negotiation.

"There'll be a reward. But it's not like I can show ya a live feed of the bunker or anything. Cybertron's a dead world...but that also means there's noone around to just randomly stumble across it and raid it. We get back, it's yours. And if you can get the shanix together, I'll see you guys the rest of my little stashes. If I get out of this slaghole alive, I'm gettin' outta the business fer good."

He then turned to follow Umbra as she was already heading out.

"Like she said, take it'r leave it."

Garrus-9 Central – Med Bay:

Stormwrecker spoke in a way that provided Slugslinger with more than just the thought that the offer was simply a carrot, and almost a sign of his redemption from past con-artistry. Did it make Slugslinger trust Stormwrecker? No. But it did make his offer seem much more plausible.

"I will think about it" said Slugslinger simply as the two overly-confident 'Cons left the room. Slugslinger sighed as he kicked his legs up on a nearby desk near the CR chamber he was sitting on top of.

After a while of considering Stormwrecker's offer, Slugslinger's attention turned to Skymauler whom he didn't know was taken over by Brainstorm.

"So, Seeker, what do you think? Might as well chat while we wait for a thing or two to happen."

Garrus-9 Central-–Med Bay

"So, Seeker, what do you think? Might as well chat while we wait for a thing or two to happen." Slugslinger asked.

Skymauler looked over at the more senior air warrior with a somewhat blank expression on his face. There was something going on now that was affecting his memory but he didn't exactly understand what. It was like there were....gaps. Weird.

"I think this situation is fragged," Skymauler said, rubbing the side of his cranial unit gingerly. "What do you think? You've seen more crazy slag than I have."

Garrus 9 – Central – Corridors

As Umbra marched out into the corridors, she began to have second thoughts about going at this with only the two of them. Because that’s about what it was boiling down to. The two of them. Stormwrecker hadn’t seen Monstructor except through a monitor. Umbra had. The odds of survival were near zero. Hm.

Well, after what she’d said, they couldn’t exactly go back in there with their heads tucked between their tails. They’d just have to be careful. Cautious. She turned to look a Stormwrecker. “Okay. So. We’re just going to scout for right now. I want an idea of the situation before we do anything. Then we can…figure out a plan.”

Umbra offered that hoping Stormwrecker would agree. As they drew near a corner, she slowed, creeping up to it and peeking around it with the utmost care. She could see them. How could you not really? They were still a way off though, at the end of the corridor. Guarding something. She motioned for Stormwrecker to come take a look. They were far enough away so that they could whisper.

“Alright, we’re here. Just…take a quick look. Be careful.”

Garrus-9 Central-–Corridors

As they marched along the corridors, Stormwrecker could feel his steps getting heavier and heavier. What if this didn't work? Heh. "What if?" They were dead mechs if this didn't work. There was no "if".

“Okay. So. We’re just going to scout for right now. I want an idea of the situation before we do anything. Then we can…figure out a plan,” Umbra said as they trudged onward.

"Scout. Yeah. Scouting's probably a good idea," Stormwrecker agreed. "That Autobot back there didn't seem very....I dunno.....'Autobot-y'. I thought they all liked to charge headfirst into danger, sacrificing themselves fer others and all that, heh. Guess not."

Stormwrecker quieted down as Umbra reached the edge of the last corridor leading to where the gestalts had been standing on the monitor. It chilled his circuits more than a little.

“Alright, we’re here. Just…take a quick look. Be careful.”

Stormwrecker looked at Umbra for a moment.

"Nah, I'm good."

He then stopped, thought for a moment, steeled himself and approached the edge of the wall. This had been his brilliant idea after all, but it relied completely on whatever connection she said she'd made with one of them. Mind over matter and all that. The least he could do was help her scout.

Peeking around the edge, he looked down the corridor and could see them both---towering, monstrous mechs--standing in the shadowy corridor....debris from the Decepticons prolonged siege against this prison scattered here and there.

Stormwrecker pulled back around the edge of the wall and looked at Umbra.

"Maybe this wasn't my best idea. I've had a lot of 'em over the vorns. I'm bound to swing and miss once in a while, y'know?"