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Nemesis - Storage Locker

"I know, I know. We need to stay strong until this is over though. Its the only way we can honor them now... We are the only ones who can give them justice."

"She's right. It's up to us now. We avenge the crew, we save Chromey and the others, and we send Skyquake and this wreck into the inferno where they belong. Not just for the Garde, but for every Autobot life that will be saved by taking this thing out of commission... Nauti, that message you got from Chromia, can you reverse track it? Give us an idea of where she and the others are? Or were? Anything?"

Nautica looked up from her palms as Elita-1 and Roulette both tossed up their thoughts, Elita being quick as to get back on track and focus on the issue at hand. The violet and gold engineer slowly rose as to follow Elita's lead. They were both right, they were in no situation to grieve, and the 'Cons here sure earned whatever the group is going to dish out to them, but for now finding the squad was priority numero uno.

"Gi-Give me a sec here..." Nautica stumbled with her words as she tried to regain her composure, her holographic visor flickering to life as she studied the fluorescent screen. "Just need to isolate the frequency... Reestablish the link... Cover the trail- ah ha! Got it!" The quantum engineer quietly cheered as she retrieved her wrench back from Roulette. "Okay Elita, here's our route. Not too far from where we're at currently." She peered up into the ventilation shaft Roulette had managed to pry open.

"Guess I'll just follow up behind, cover the... Is it the six? 'Cover the six.' ... Dunno, that doesn't sound right..."

Nemesis - Storage Locker

Roulette smiled then looked back to Elita.

"Give me another boost. I'll head up there and help you two climb up as well."

The Nemesis--Storage Locker

Elita-1 actually let out a good-natured laugh, albeit a quiet one, at Nautica's youthful naivete. They were pretty much as deep in as they could get, apart from maybe stumbling across a secret gathering of the Conclave.

"Yeah, my six. Cover that," Elita grinned as she tapped Nautica playfully on the arm before they both finished boosting Roulette the rest of the way up and soon after scrambling up themselves with Roulette's assistance.

Once they were clear of the locker, Elita quickly worked to cover their tracks by resealing the grate with a soldering tool and then sat back, somewhat scrunched, against the smaller corridor interior. Long, dark tunnels stretched as far as the optic could see in a myriad of directions. Energon pulsed through purple tubing, giving the effect of veins running through some organic lifeform and casting eerie shadows on the surfaces. There were easily a hundred other places Elita-1 wouldn't mind being at the moment, but that would be a reward for later if they came out of this alive.

When.

When they came out of this alive.

Thankfully the guesswork portion of the mission was over thanks to Nautica's tech skills. Checking the tech readout, Elita zeroed in on the proper direction and began to crawl forward at the fastest pace she could manage.

Just ahead, the readout indicated that they were approaching the massive flagship's hangar bay.

"Every 'Con who's worth a slag has docked a vessel in this hangar. It'd be nice to stop off and rig a few of them to go out with a bang next time they're used..."

Nemesis – Brig

“No, I don’t need you to drag me!”

Falcon smirked at the Autobot’s retort. He was tempted to say something along the lines of ‘oh, but we’re in quite the rush’, but decided to let it go. He was likely to get quite tired of hefting the femme along. He might accidentally bash her head against the wall in frustration. Couldn’t have that. Skyquake required her.

“I’ll just limp my way down the corridor. Think you can keep up with my slow pace, Mr. Charming?”

“Oh, but of course, dear lady,” Falcon replied with equal amounts of venom, yet with an amused smile plastered across his faceplate. He stepped behind the verbose femme and prodded her to move forward with a bump of his hand. “Forward march. Chop, chop.” Falcon moved past Road Rage, a seeker moving to take his place in prodding her along, in order to take the lead. He opened the doors to the brig.

“So, I have a date with Skyquake now? I thought you were my date. What, you don’t like me anymore?”

Turning his head slightly to look back at Road Rage, Falcon smiled with a strange bitterness. “I suspect it has more to do with Thunderclash than you or I.” The guerilla tactician turned away and began the march out of the brig, the seekers following with prisoners in tow.

Chromia stepped forward to the edge of her cell and looked at Road Rage, hoping to offer the battered femme some measure of moral support. “Stay tough, Rage! Give ‘em Pit!”

“Yes, yes, stay as tough as you like, my dear. You’ll break all the same,” Falcon chimed as the doors shut behind the party of Decepticons.

“Bastard!” Chromia snarled, slamming her fist into the cell wall. She let out a sigh, shaking her hand out wearily. There was nothing to be done about it right now. Not until Elita and the others found her. Then she’d make them pay. Pay for everything they’d done to the Autobots that were on the Avante Garde and to those in Thunderclash’s crew. Unforgivable.

The Resevoir

The doors to the torture chamber hissed open insidiously revealing Falcon and escort. His optics flicked over to Skyquake. “I’ve retrieved some Autobots from the brig, commander.” He stepped aside to allow the prisoners to file in as well as get a full view of their broken commander. His optics darted over to Road Rage curiously, intent on seeing the femme’s despair.

Nemesis – Brig

A deep frown remained indelibly ingrained on Road Rage’s faceplate as Falcon stepped behind her and pushed her forward, telling the former bodyguard to march. Well, marching wasn’t on the agenda this cycle. Hobbling, maybe, but not marching. That sort of thing required two good legs as the guerrilla tactician knew all too well. The Predator moved past her, allowing a seeker to take his place behind the crimson femme. Falcon then opened the brig doors before turning back and informing her that her ‘date’ with Skyquake had more to do with Thunderclash than either one of them.

“Thunderclash?” Road Rage questioned aloud as the seeker behind her shoved her forward. The wounded femme almost lost her balance, but managed to save herself from falling to the floor by reaching out and grabbing on to the edge of her cell. Then, before the disgusting seeker had the chance to prod her along again, the red warrior righted herself and began limping towards the now open doorway at a slow but steady pace. As she crossed the threshold into the corridor beyond, the former bodyguard heard Chromia shout to her to stay tough. 


“I will!!” Road Rage called back before being pushed again down the corridor. The crimson femme leaned most of her weight on her left leg while holding on to the wall with her right hand. All the while, she kept her optics fixated on the guerrilla tactician just ahead of her. She knew what was coming. She wasn’t stupid. Thunderclash was holding his own as expected. Therefore, Skyquake needed a different incentive to make him talk. That incentive it seemed would be Road Rage and the other Autobot prisoners who where behind her. Torture them and Thunderclash would likely say anything in order to save his own. The former bodyguard could only hope that somewhere Chromia's hidden friends were plotting some kind of rescue. Otherwise, things were about to get much worse for them all.

Nemesis – The Reservoir

As she hobbled into the torture chamber known as the Reservoir, Road Rage first noticed the imposing form of Skyquake standing across the room. Then, as Falcon had finished addressing the Predator Commander and moved to one side, the crimson femme saw Stalker and finally Thunderclash, who was secured down to a cold, metallic slab, looking as if he had literally been through hell and back.

“Thunderclash...” Road Rage uttered in a despondent tone as she took a step forward and reached out for him, stumbling slightly in the process. Tears of energon welled up in her optics at the sight of her leader, her friend, in such an agonizing state. “What have these monsters done?”

Nemesis - The Reservoir

Thunderclash's verbal spars did little hinder Skyquake's demeanor. He remained standing with his arms folded over his chest playing while the Autobot taunted the communications officer's hands at torture. A simple huff of satisfaction was the only reaction the Predator commander displayed as Falcon and the other security officers dragged the few Autobots into the small room.

"Very good, Falcon." The green and black Decepticon congratulated his second in command. "Hold them back." Skyquake approached Thunderclash's slab and grabbed the edge of the table before spinning it around, and hoisting him up as to directly face Road Rage and the others who were pulled into the Reservoir. Here they could now witness the sum of his defeat. "Stalker, lock this position."

"Look at them..." Skyquake stated in a hushed tone towards his adversary. "Look at their faces, each one of their faces. What do you see? I see sadness... fear... The sliver of hope they once held slowly draining away. But the thing I see most in their optics is guilt." Skyquake took a few steps away from Thunderclash's restrained form until he stood halfway between the prisoners and the Turbomaster Commander.

"I look into your optics though, and I don't see quite the same thing. There's something... more." The black and green Decepticon took a few more steps closer towards the prisoners, his jade optics scanned over each of them as he folded his arms behind his back. "I think it might be hope. Yesss, that's what it is! That little twinkle in your optics, the spark that keeps you going... You're hoping you'll manage to escape, hoping you'll find a way to stop us, hoping to save all of your fellow Autobot comrades."

The Predator commander began to slowly circle around the assembled prisoners, his footsteps echoing around the small room. Jade optics swept over the three prisoners who were pulled from the cells, the target identifier in Skyquake's advanced HUD system laying out each individual before him. Hyperdrive; One of Thunderclash's specialists. Road Rage; His faithful bodyguard. Speedbump; An engineer...

"I tried to make this easy, all you had to do was tell Stalker what he asked for. But it seems I overestimated your resolve." Skyquake halted in his steps and stopped behind the Autobot prisoners, standing behind the little engineer who was forced to stared forward at his shackled leader. "Perhaps I need to show you the fear in your optics."

Faint murmurs coming from the frightened little Speedbump began to reverberate around the chamber, a few key words breaking through his hushed tone echoed loudly. Words like, "help", and "please". Speedbump had only seen the war through the visor of his blastshield, always stuck repairing and fixating anything during any sort of real conflict he was positioned in and now all this.

Skyquake drew his weapon and pressed the bronzed barrel against the back of the engineer before he triggered the firing mechanism without so much as a second thought. The energy blast from his weapon was absorbed than immediately dispersed out from Speedbumps frame, energon and charred fragments of the once proud Autobot engineer shot out towards Thunderclash. Skyquake then quickly turned the weapon on Road Rage before he looked back up at his Autobot adversary.

"Tell me what I want or each and everyone of your retched crew members will die by my hand before you!!"

Nemesis - Ducts

"I didn't pack anything explosive." Nautica chimed in following Elita's idea for slowly more Cons, "But my guess seeing how recent a task they must've come back from, there's no doubt we'll be able to slip in there now and do anything without getting caught. But a ride outta here once we get Chromy and the others wouldn't be too hard to muster."

The violet and gold engineer then reached into one of her hip compartments and drew a small box that fit inbetween the tips of her fingers. She took the device and slapped it on the top of the duct before hitting two small keys fixated on the "face" of her device before turning her attention back forwards.

"Tiny, little, signal transponder." She mentioned to no one in particular but rather felt she ought to explain to her CO to what is was she was doing. "Easier to find our way back here. Heh."

Nemesis – The Reservoir

The room spun and stopped with a sickening lurch. It took a moment for his optics to refocus on the scene in front of him. Skyquake’s detestable voice aggravated his senses as he slowly realized who exactly was in front of him. Thunderclash’s optics widened in slow, dawning horror. No. His optics traced their faces. His crewmates. His dear friends. They were afraid. Horrified. Sad. Guilty. All of those things. Thunderclash needed…needed to rally their spirits. He needed to reassure them.

Narrowed optics darted toward his adversary with immense distain. What was that monster plotting? Thunderclash could imagine a few possibilities. None of them he wanted to dwell on for long. When Road Rage called his name, he instinctively drew himself up and smiled defiantly at her. “I am fine. We must remain strong, Road Rage.”

"I look into your optics though, and I don't see quite the same thing. There's something... more."

Thunderclash’s blue optics flicked back to the black and green demon standing before him, his smile turning into a scowl.

"I think it might be hope. Yesss, that's what it is! That little twinkle in your optics, the spark that keeps you going... You're hoping you'll manage to escape, hoping you'll find a way to stop us, hoping to save all of your fellow Autobot comrades."

“You do whatever you like to me, Skyquake. But hope is the one thing you’ll never be able to take.” Even as Thunderclash said it, he felt a lump in his chest. Cold. Tight. Suffocating. Dread had a physical weight to it, and it was threatening to crush the regional commander under heel. Skyquake began to circle the assembled Autobots. Like a predator toying with its helpless prey. It was unbearable.

Hyperdrive, a specialist that had served with him since Cybertron. Road Rage, his trusted advisor, body guard, and friend. Speedbump, a sheepish engineer that had served the Eight Track proudly. He knew them. He knew them all. What they were like, their dreams, their fears, their hopes. All of them like family to the regional commander.

"I tried to make this easy, all you had to do was tell Stalker what he asked for. But it seems I overestimated your resolve."

Skyquake stopped behind Speedbump.

No.

"Perhaps I need to show you the fear in your optics."

NO.

Words died in Thunderclash’s vocalizer as he stared at Speedbump’s faceplate. Thunderclash’s fists clenched. He heard a roaring in his audio receptors. The only sounds that he heard were his engineer’s cries of fear. He wasn’t a combatant. This had already been quite the ordeal for poor Speedbump. He didn’t deserve this. He didn’t.

Thunderclash thrashed against his restraints, scarcely realizing what he was doing. He roared in anger. Anger at his helplessness. At the situation. But most of all, anger at Skyquake. This monster who had long been his enemy. Pain from his battered body didn’t register. He thrashed against the binds that held him, worsening his existing injuries.

“NOOOOOOO!”

But it all ended in an instant. Speedbump burst apart in spectacularly gruesome fashion. The energon and charred fragments of what was once an engineer of his crew. His family. They spattered against the regional commander’s frame. The shock, loss, and dying remnants of fury were all written plainly on his faceplate. However, as soon as Skyquake turned his weapon on Road Rage, Thunderclash snapped back to reality.

"Tell me what I want or each and everyone of your retched crew members will die by my hand before you!!"

“STOP!” Thunderclash roared, his volume falling off as the Autobot Commander sagged uselessly against the restraints. “Stop. I’ll tell you what you want to know. Just stop.” His gaze fell to the floor and to the remains of what was once Speedbump. He was so sorry. But that wouldn’t bring the engineer back to life. If only…if only he could have spoken sooner. The information he had was not worth the lives of his crew.

Speedbump…


Nemesis – Brig

Chromia felt more than a little uneasy waiting for Road Rage to return. She felt even more nervous about the silence on Nautica’s end. Skyquake and his bunch weren’t particularly forgiving. They might opt to kill rather than capture them If found. Elita and Rou could handle themselves, but Nauty? It worried her.

The chrome femme paced her cell impatiently, glancing toward the doors of the brig. Gah! She hated this. She was a femme of action. She wanted to be out there with Elita. Chromia let out a terse sigh and glanced to the other occupied cells. Thunderclash’s men were fairly subdued. Well, some of them were. They looked like they had been through the grinder. Her unit, however, seemed mostly shocked by grief. Their ship had gone up in smoke. Their hopes of escape, their friends and comrades. All gone in an instant.

Chromia looked at the rookie of their bunch: Flare-up. “Hey, Flare-up, how you holding up?”

Nemesis: Brig

Thwap... tap... boing... thwap...

The sound punctuated the almost loathsome silence that pervaded the reinforced security cell. A small palm sized sphere of rubberized material impacted with the hard metal deck plates of the cell floor before rebounding at a precisely calculated trajectory. Its sharp vector sent it bouncing into the same exact spot as before causing it to return in a wide sweeping arch to its initial point of origin. The sphere gently rolled down long delicately curved orange fingers before coming to rest in the center of the lithe palm black ceramic plates of the female Autobot demolitions expert.

Flareup pulled her knees closer to her chest as she scooted towards the farthest right corner of the cell and leaned backwards. Her chin buried in her left arm as she cocked her right back and proceeded to bounce the sphere of rubberized material back at the cell wall.

Thwap... tap... boing... thwap...

Typically, the youngest Autobot on the team was the model of energy and optimism... as well as a rather broad streak of unconstrained joy even in the darkest of situations. Even the greatest tragedy typically left an opening for retribution or a chance to ply her trade; whether it be to destroy an enemy position or a structure to ensure her comrade's escape, or practice her secondary expertise as one of the more gifted medics. It kept her busy and allowed her a chance to not to dwell on the events that had led to the predicaments that required her responses.

But this was anything but a typical tragedy. Their ship had been destroyed, in a cowardly turn by a Decepticon warlord... and she had not been able to even make the effort to prevent it. Instead she had been rendered unconscious when an orbital shell had been hit from a stray blaster and detonated. When she awoke, to bare witness to the Autobot vessel's final moments, Flareup had retreated into herself and fell silent.

Thwap... tap... boing... thwap...

Her mind flashed between the final moments of her shipmates, to the lost of her most precious collection of explosives and back to their present circumstances in a nearly endless cycle. The demolitions specialist pulled her knees up even tighter and wrapped her free left arm around them to secure a smaller figure as the sphere arched back to her waiting fingers.

Thwap... tap... boing... thwap...

She flicked her wrist again and allowed the sphere to return onto its endless haphazard orbit as Chromia's voice, at first distant and almost unheard, caught her attention. Slowly Flareup glanced up towards her commanding officer and mentor. Slowly, as the sphere returned to her grasp, she looked up over her knees and studied the elder warrior. The youth did not outwardly react, and instead buried her optics back into her knees and flicked her wrist again to bounce the sphere of rubberized material against the metal deck.

Thwap... tap... boing... thwap...

Nemesis – The Reservoir

Road Rage heard Thunderclash’s words and she gave a slight nod that she understood. Lowering her outstretched arm, she knew that they needed to remain strong in the face of such terrible odds. They had found themselves in dire situations before and had managed to come out alive in the end. They didn’t always win, but to survive to fight another cycle was certainly better than dying. Being here, though, in this hellish torture chamber was something the crimson femme had not experienced before. It was a dark and forbidding place, one that sent shivers straight down her spinal strut. Still, there was hope that Chromia’s friends who remained free somewhere on board the Nemesis would manage a rescue and give the Autobots a fighting chance.

Unfortunately, that rescue never materialized. Instead, Skyquake approached and began to slowly circle around the Autobot prisoners all the while continuing to taunt Thunderclash, who tried in vain to explain that hope was the one thing the Predators would never be able to take away from him or his crew. Skyquake thought otherwise and sought to prove it to the Turbomaster Commander in the most cruel way possible. Skyquake wanted to show Thunderclash the fear in his optics no matter what it took.

Thus, the Predator leader pulled out his weapon and placed it against Speedbump's back. The engineer trembled in fear, muttering words so low that they could hardly be understood. Road Rage looked over at her scared comrade just as the trigger was quickly pulled and the engineer’s body exploded in a shower of energon and shattered parts. “NOOO!!!” The former bodyguard shouted as a gasp of air rushed from her vocalizer and the barrel of Skyquake’s weapon was then pointed at her own vulnerable frame. The Predator Commander threatened to murder each and every one of the prisoners if Thunderclash didn’t tell him what he wanted to know. The Turbomaster Commander finally relented, of course, his one weakness having been found.

Road Rage pulled her gaze away from the gory remains of Speedbump, her optics eventually settling back on Thunderclash once more. He looked defeated. For the first time in a long time, her commander looked defeated and, even more so, sad. The crimson femme was sad, as well, a tear of energon trickling down her cheek plate. Her mouth quivered for a moment before she pressed her lips firmly together. Her body then began to shake, but it was not from fear. No. Her sadness was slowly being replaced with sheer anger. Road Rage wanted so much to rip out Skyquake’s fuel pump right then and there, but she couldn’t, not with the barrel of that gun still pointed directly at her back. Soon, perhaps. Revenge was not something she often indulged in, not in robot mode anyway. However, in this particular case, the former bodyguard would make an easy exception.

The Nemesis--Ducts

"I didn't pack anything explosive. But my guess seeing how recent a task they must've come back from, there's no doubt we'll be able to slip in there now and do anything without getting caught. But a ride outta here once we get Chromy and the others wouldn't be too hard to muster," Nautica said.

She looked down into the hanger for a moment longer. It was tempting, but Nautica had only moments before reverse-tracked the signal they had received from Chromia. She and the others were the priority at the moment. Sabotaging ships could come later. besides, they were going to need at least one of them to remain functional if they had any hope of leaving this behemoth alive or avoiding a lengthy term in her brig before invariably being deposited at Styx or some other Decepticon blacksite.

"Good to know," Elita-1 said, both to Nautica's earlier response as well as the additional bit about her leaving a tracking device in their wake. She started crawling forward at a quicker pace, getting her head back in the game to getting Chromia and the others. The signal's endpoint wasn't terribly far away, but in a ship this massive, everything was relative.

"Maybe we'll just deliver the whole ship, 'Cons and all, to Prowl's doorstep. Let him figure out what to do with it, heh."

That would certainly solve the problem of acquiring that precious cargo that Autobot intelligence had wanted so badly. And Megatron would be more than a little miffed upon learning that his flagship was no longer under his command. Bonus.

Nemesis – Brig

Chromia could see it. The loss of the Avante Garde and her crew was weighing heavily on the young femme. It was a bit much for anyone to bear. Chromia held fast because she had a job to do. Mechs that were counting on her. Mechs that included her young pupil, Flareup. She had to be strong. The option to be weak just wasn’t present for Chromia. There was always time for that later when everyone was safe.

Moving toward Flareup and plopping down beside the young femme, Chromia watched as the demolitions expert threw a sphere repeated once or twice. “Hey,” she said with a nudge to the younger femme. “We are getting out of here, Flareup. And we’re gonna stick it to the Cons when we do it too. But I need your help to do it, so snap out of it, kiddo.”

Chromia waited for a moment before nodding to the ever bouncing sphere. “Whatcha got there?”

Nemesis: Brig

Flareup's fingers reached out ever so slightly, creating a small slide in which to receive the sphere of rubberized material. As it touched her finger tips, she carefully closed them to secure her distraction as it slid comfortably into her palm. It was but a moment before she twisted her wrist again and bounced the material against the floor and off the wall where it would rebound against the corner of the ninety degree wall that ran parallel to the security field.

Her optic barely shifted as the material left her fingers in its triangular repetitive path. It was only enough to catch Chromia's concerned features before she returned her attention to the internal dialog that raged in her mind. So much had happened, and even by the brief glance she spared for her mentor, the worry over the youth's mental state was evident... Flareup did not respond.

The loss of their ship, their friends, their family, had been devastating. But Flareup had long ago accepted that such losses were a given during their constant state of conflict and war. It did not make the moment any easier to digest. It was but a brief moment when the ball landed into her palm for the fifth time since the conversation had begun, that she heard a curious question.

"Rubberized Tricobalt Plastique Compounds," She responded in a low mumble as if the announcement was meaningless though it was far from it.

Nemesis – The Reservoir

The sheer cruelty of his commander never ceased to impress Falcon. Clearly, Skyquake was far more suited to the task of commander than he. The second-in-command felt a certain pride and admiration for his commander. The moment when Skyquake annihilated one of Thunderclash’s crew, he saw it. He saw the hope die from his optics. What a splendid sight. The futile roars and thrashing that followed were merely the death throes of a wounded wretch. Soon to be put out of his misery, Falcon hoped. Ah, how he relished the moment.

His crimson optics slid eagerly to Road Rage, a snide grin tugging at his lips. The devastation was clear on the femme’s faceplate. On all of the prisoners’ faces. Lovely, lovely despair. Pure despair. Because they saw it too. That their commander was defeated. Recognized his utter disgrace and humiliation. He had failed them. He had lost. There would be no vengeance. No righteous fury. Falcon’s optics flashed with gleeful malevolence. They would die here like the scrap metal that they were. Slowly. Painfully.

A smug, rather pleased smile settled upon Falcon’s face as he registered the tear running down the femme’s faceplate. Ah, yes. Sweet, sweet tragedy. And then she began to shake. Fear perhaps. It mattered little. There was nothing that she could do. Helpless little Autobot. How Falcon loved to see her in such a state. See all of them in such a state.

Stalking up to the femme’s side, Falcon leaned in close to her audio and spoke in a hushed whisper with barely restrained mirth, “Do you see that, my dear? Your commander. Broken. Defeated. However…This is only just beginning. Abandon hope, or else it poison you slowly…Though, I’d much prefer to see you cling to it, however futilely. It makes for a better show.”


Brig

"Rubberized Tricobalt Plastique Compounds.”

Chromia went to rest a hand on the crestfallen young mech’s shoulder when Flareup’s words caught her by surprise. She paused, optics trailing to the ball in Flareup’s hands. Reaching out, Chromia grasped her ward’s hand both to prevent her from tossing it wily nily once more and to conceal it from sight.

”What?” Chromia uttered in an intense whisper. Realizing that remaining tense might look odd to anyone observing, Chromia relaxed but pushed her ward’s fists into a fist to continue concealing the ball. ”Can we use this to bust outta here?”

Chromia’s mind raced with thoughts. If they had an explosive, that would aid things tremendously for a potential escape. It was much better than going forward unarmed. Could cripple the ship…Well…maybe not the whole ship. Chromia doubted they could cause that much damage. But something to distract and aggravate the Cons while they made their escape? Pit, Chromia would take that any day. If they got out of here and out of the Cons’ clutches, there was a very real chance of some old fashioned payback as well.

Chromia balled up her fists, cracking her knuckles one after the other. She stared down at the younger mech, hoping that Flareup realized the potential that she had in the palm of her hand.

((OOC--Some of us will be temporarily covering some of MSB's characters. Just FYI.))

Nemesis – The Reservoir

“STOP! Stop. I’ll tell you what you want to know. Just stop.”

Thunderclash's words had their desired effect. Skyquake's murderous actions halted, at least for a moment. Hopefully he would not be so foolish as to attempt some other stalling tactic. Skyquake had no qualms about executing the remainder of the brash Autobot Commander's crew if need be.

"You've made a wise decision, Thunderclash," Skyquake said menacingly, looking down at the charred remains of Speedbump. He slowly approached Road Rage, her optics clearly seething. He enjoyed this, but ultimately it was a means to an end. For now, Thunderclash's information remained more important than the personal satisfaction he would derive from exterminating ever member of the Autobot's crew. That would not remain true indefinitely.

"Speak! Or I will continue to decimate every shred of hope you now cling to. Piece by piece."

Nemesis - The Reservoir

"Speak! Or I will continue to decimate every shred of hope you now cling to. Piece by piece."

"I could describe it to you, but I doubt it would do you much good," Thunderclash uttered with the clear tone of defeat heavy in his voice. "It is a map. But I cannot draw it for you so long as I am bound in this manner."

The regional commander's optics lingered on the charred remains of Speedbump. He almost felt compelled to beg Skyquake to take the other prisoners away. But Thunderclash clung to his dignity at the very least. Besides. Doing that would only accomplish the exact opposite. He offlined his optics to spare himself from the sight of the remains of his fallen comrade, but it was a vain effort. The image was burned into his mind. Seared there as clear and crisp. The horror. The helplessness of that moment. His fists clenched, trying to drive the pain away.

Nemesis--The Reservoir

"I could describe it to you, but I doubt it would do you much good. It is a map. But I cannot draw it for you so long as I am bound in this manner."

Skyquake chuckled derisively.

"A map? Adventurer nonsense. To think anything in this universe can remain so easily hidden," Skyquake taunted, motioning for the other Predators to move in closer. "Unbind him, but keep him and his precious comrades squarely in yours sights."

Skyquake, too, leveled his weapon more directly in Thunderclash's direction.

"By all means, proceed," he said tapping a holographic activation command. A nonoklik later, a blank glowing screen appeared just in front of one of the primary consoles. "Show me this 'map'."

Nemesis – The Reservoir

As he was unshackled, the idea did enter Thunderclash’s mind to fight. But it was not the place or time. He rose uncertainly from the berth that he had been imprisoned on. Rising to his full height, he glanced over to his Autobot comrades momentarily. He had to keep somewhat of an outward appearance of strength. Even if he genuinely felt as if he were about to keel over at any moment.

Thunderclash shuffled over to the hologram with all due dignity that he could muster, tapping the console to bring up the chart of this particular region of space. With a finger, he traced a path between worlds, adding symbols around them as necessary. His digit reached Clemency. That doomed planet had actually been one of their stops before Skyquake had hounded them to it.

Thunderclash paused for a moment. Trying to push back thoughts of anger and regret with regards to his own crew and the crew of the ship that came to aid them. May they find peace in the afterspark.

Continuing, Thunderclash marked a path through uncharted space at the very farthest reaches of the galaxy, adding in planets and nebulas where appropriate. Dropping his hand to his side, he stepped back and gestured to the map with a weary expression.

“There you are.”

Nemesis – The Reservoir

“All I see is how sick and twisted you and your kind are,” Road Rage hissed back at Falcon in a whispered tone, her words seething with contempt for the guerrilla tactician. She considered saying more, much more, but held back for fear of the repercussions that would surely follow. Let Falcon and his vile brethren enjoy this moment while it lasted. It would make the ultimate revenge that the crimson femme had planned for them all the sweeter.

Road Rage’s attention was then drawn away from Falcon’s disgusting taunts and over to the conversation between Thunderclash and Skyquake. The Regional Commander had agreed to show the Predator leader a map, one that he could draw if he were unbound. Yes! Get Skyquake to release you and then strike him and the others down, the former bodyguard thought to herself as a slight hint of a smile crept onto her visage. Perhaps Thunderclash was not as weak or defeated as he appeared. Maybe he had something up his proverbial sleeve and they would all soon be saved. If any mech could withstand being tortured and still have the strength to fight and win it was Thunderclash.

Unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking as once Thunderclash’s restraints were removed he rose from the berth and walked over to the holographic display where he carefully drew the map he had promised. Road Rage let out a gentle sigh of disappointment as she stood silently, keeping the pressure on her good leg. It was another letdown, but one that she more than understood. They were at a severe disadvantage in their current surroundings. As much as she wanted to, fighting back now would only lead to more energon-shed and death for her Autobot comrades. They needed to wait for just the right moment to make their move. Then they would strike back and make these slaggers pay for what they have done.

Nemesis: Brig

Silence was all that was permitted to hang in the tight air, at least for the minute that Chromia held her hand tightly closed. Her thought transferred from the slightly smeared stain of rubberized plastique explosive residue that marred the bulkhead. The orange pigment around her lips highlighted the quiver as she slowly turned her optics up toward the cyan warrior. Flare up shifted her weight and rolled her shoulder ever so slightly, causing her position to become more stable.

After a length of quiet Flare Up allowed her lips to part. She mouthed a pair of words before she tightened the grip on the sphere of explosive. Then she lowered her hand, pulling Chromia down ever so slightly with it. "Theoretically," her voice trailed off as she allowed her mind to begin drifting towards various theorems and formulas needed to pull off such a controlled demolitions.

She considered the various placements that could be brought about, setting it along the base of the force field emitters would be predictable. She visually scanned each emitter along the base and edges of the field, and found only a few minor weaknesses that could be exploited, but only so far as to delay the inevitable activation of redundant security fields.

There were ways to... an EM detonator gem, the sort that many females used as decorative items to highlight audio receptors. If she had even a standard stud, she would be able to make even the most basic modifications to suit her needs. Still, what was... was. "But without a catalyst gem, its pretty much as you see it."

Nemesis – Brig

"But without a catalyst gem, its pretty much as you see it."

“A catalyst gem…? Hm…” Chromia frowned. Flareup was the expert on such things…but where were they going to get a catalyst gem under these circumstances? Chromia sighed softly, tapping her foot against the floor testily. It’d be nice to have something ready for when Elita and the others came or got back in touch with them but…

“Oh,” Chromia blinked.

Digging around her storage compartments, Chromia retrieved a small box. The Predator louts hadn’t really bothered with searching them after throwing them unceremoniously in their cages. Maybe they didn’t plan on keeping them here long. Whatever that meant for better or worse. Most likely worse. She opened the box, revealing a red gem meant to be used as a decorative accessory.

“I got this for Firestar, but considering the circumstances, I don’t think she’d mind if we put it to better use…Will it work, Flareup?”

The Nemesis - The Reservoir

So this is what Thunderclash has been chasing... Cycles spent hunting the Turbomaster Commander all around the galaxy while he was following in the tire-marks of some adventurer. What could be at the end of this trail? Autobot Reinforcements? A lost relic of Cybertron's past? A weapons cache that could turn in Thunderclash's favor? Perhaps he's chasing an Omega Sentinel... If these Autobots were chasing the lost Omega Supreme, imagine the praise Megatron would bestow upon the Predator Commander. Not only for bringing in Omega Supreme, but making the ancient Autobot bend to his will.

The Air Commandant then pressed a couple of keys on the holographic display, Thunderclash's map and it's respective coordinates immediately began to download into the main computer. >>"Skyquake to the bridge; Sending forward our new coordinates. Set a new course."<<

>>"Acknowledged, commander."<<

"After all this time," Skyquake began, his voice echoing within the room, "you and your troops have been chasing stars... Do tell; In search of what, exactly?" The grip on his rocket launcher tightened as the barrel end jabbed Thunderclash's back armor, a clear indicator that another moment's silence will only earn him an eternity with it.

Nemesis – The Reservoir

"After all this time," Skyquake began, his voice echoing within the room, "you and your troops have been chasing stars... Do tell; In search of what, exactly?"

Despite the implicit threat that Skyquake’s gun pressed into his back posed, Thunderclash paused for a moment to consider his answer. “Rumors,” he began, staring at the holographic map, “legends.” He turned to face Skyquake, the Decepticon Predator’s gun now firmly pressing into the front of his torso. If he were going to die given that Skyquake did not believe him, he’d rather his wound be on his front.

“A group lost to time and mystery,” Thunderclash uttered, staring into Skyquake’s despicable optics with an unreadable expression. “We seek the Knights of Cybertron.”

And now Thunderclash waited. For his demise, perhaps. For Skyquake’s scathing mockery. Whichever. Thunderclash personally preferred the second. It would allow him to live that much longer and have the chance to avenge his fallen crew. But given the former, he would soon be reunited with them in the afterspark.

The Nemesis--Ducts

Closer and closer. Elita could see that they were closing in on Chromia's energy signature. But the spaces to maneuver were also getting smaller and smaller. It was complicating things, to say the least. But on she crawled. She didn't need a reformat yet.

She had needed to switch to infrared sights some time ago. The soft purple glow of the wiring had disappeared, giving way to pitch blackness. It was also quiet. Deathly quiet. Just the methodical rhythm of her and Nautica's metallic limbs against the surface of the ship as they crawled.

Looking down at her geopositioning tool, she saw that Chromia's distance had not changed. What the frag?

"Hey Nauti, you think-"

But as she turned to converse with her comrade, she saw nothing in the pitched darkness.

"Oh great," the femme muttered.

((OOC: Ok, lets give this another try!))

The Nemesis--Ducts

Roulette grumbled to herself as she moved through the ducts. Figures that she would have spent so much time guarding their backs as they moved through the darkness that she would have lost the ones she was trying to protect.

"Why can't Decepticons put lighting in their ducts!?" She thought as she moved forward. Times like this all she could really count on were her instincts and she counted on them to be right.

The Nemesis--Ducts

Now she was crawling around in pitch blackness. It was so dark that even her optical enhancements were of little use. One hand and knee joint forward at a time. Now was probably a good time to-

"Oofuh-"

The floor essentially dropped out from under the veteran Autobot warrior and Elita-1 could see light again. Deep-purple, ominous light....but light was light. She'd take it.

As she sat up and got her bearings, she could see that--no way--she was in that chamber again.

"What the frag..." Elita mumbled as she stood back up and approached the large, obsidian-colored container.

"Prowl definitely wanted this thing for a reason. What that reason turns out to be...."