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Clemency - Decepticon Worldsweeper Remains

Road Rage listened as Thunderclash presented her with an alternative to carrying the most seriously wounded on make-shift stretchers. The regional commander’s trailer was more than big enough to transport the injured within its confines that would also serve to protect the patients from a Decepticon attack, which would undoubtedly come sooner or later. The former bodyguard hadn’t even thought of using Thunderclash’s trailer as she had assumed it would be utilized to carry whatever equipment or weaponry that could be salvaged. Of course, their wounded comrades were far more important than some junk that could be gleaned from the wreck of the worldsweeper.

“Of course, Thunderclash, I understand. I had not considered your trailer before. It’ll be perfect and we should still have some room left in there for supplies,” Road Rage responded with a nod before the regional commander turned his attention to everyone else within the room. He laid out their situation for them in honest terms, giving everyone a vote on whether they wanted to stay hidden here or leave and take a chance at capture or death in order to find the respondents of the beacon. Hopefully, they would be fellow Autobots, but it could just be an elaborate Decepticon trap. Regardless, rations were dwindling and they were running out of viable options.

The response from the crowd of Autobots was overwhelmingly in favor of leaving and taking that great risk. The regional commander then turned to the crimson femme and asked what she wanted to do. Road Rage smiled and placed a gentle hand onto her leader’s broad shoulder plate. “I say we get the slag out of here, ‘Clash, and never look back.” She had never referred to her commanding officer in such an informal manner before, but these were trying times on all of them. The situation they were in was grave. They weren’t just warriors fighting a battle. They were friends fighting for their very sparks. If now wasn’t the time to be more personal, than no time was.

“I’ll still need those sleds to carry the wounded to your trailer at the entrance. It’ll be quicker and safer,” Road Rage said as she flashed a worried smile at Thunderclash. She then removed her hand from his shoulder and turned to help the remaining patients that could not yet fend for themselves. The adviser hurried across the room to where the hover sleds were located, grabbing a couple while a few other mechs retrieved the rest. They weren't exactly gurneys, but they'd do under the circumstances. The crimson femme then began assisting the injured out of their respective CR chambers and onto the make-shift gurneys, nanite rich fluid still dripping from their damaged frames.

“There you go. Take it easy. Everything’s going to be okay,” Road Rage said to each of her wounded comrades, trying to sound as upbeat as possible. The patients were all secured onto their jury-rigged gurneys using whatever loose straps or cords that were found laying around the immediate area. Once that was done, the former bodyguard grabbed as many items that she could carry in subspace storage and then turned back to the regional commander. “I’m all set here, Thunderclash. Ready to go when you are.”

Clemency – Decepticon Worldsweeper Remains

“I say we get the slag out of here, ‘Clash, and never look back."

Thunderclash’s smile widened at the femme’s reply. He listened and nodded as she excused herself to go help the wounded onto the makeshift gurneys. Road Rage’s worried smile was an echo of Thunderclash’s own inner concern for his men, but he had the utmost confidence that they would find some way out of this mess. His men needed the truth, but also reassurance. Thunderclash made sure that his confidence translated into his countenance and general demeanor.

The regional commander stepped out of the medical bay and into the hallway beyond and glanced down the corridor that would lead them to the outside. Toward freedom or capture or possible death. Thunderclash clenched a fist as he stared down the corridor resolutely. It was only when he had someone approaching did he turn to look back into the medical bay. Road Rage greeted his optics.

“I’m all set here, Thunderclash. Ready to go when you are."

“Roger that, Road Rage,” Thunderclash said to the femme before turning his optics to the rest of the crew. “Autobots, let’s move out!” Transforming into his combat carrier alternate mode, Thunderclash rolled down the corridor, clearing some debris from his path and rolling up to the hole in the side of the Worldsweeper that they had entered through.

Transforming back into robot mode, Thunderclash moved over to where he had left his trailer and opened the back laying the ramp onto the floor. Turning he moved over to the following Autobots and guided the injured into the trailer as swiftly as possible. With the decision made to move out, Thunderclash wanted to get his men to help as soon as physically possible.

As he carried one of the gurneys into the trailer and secured it with the others, the Autobot resting atop of it reached out weakly. Thunderclash blinked at the outreached hand, but swiftly took it with both hands and offered the injured Autobot a warm smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you back into a CR chamber just as soon as I can, chap.”

The Autobot seemed to relax at Thunderclash’s words and released the regional commander. Thunderclash nodded with the same warm smile and moved away to finish loading up the rest. Once they were all safely stowed within the armored walls of the trailer, Thunderclash transformed once more and backed into the locking mechanism, connecting his alternate mode and the trailer.

This was it then. Off into an uncertain future. Leading the way outside, Thunderclash pulled out of the worldsweeper and rolled out into the open. He kept close to the wreckage of fallen Decepticon ships, keeping his sensors locked onto the skies above.

>>”Road Rage, I need your optics in the sky, but try to stay low. Find a defensible location where we can signal the other Autobots to come pick us up. Bumper, stay close. Once Road Rage finds a locale, I’ll need you to signal the Autobots immediately. The longer we stay out in the open, the easier it is for Skyquake to find us.”<<


Kol System – The Avante Garde

As the others exited the bridge to go suit up for combat, Chromia swiveled around in her seat and began manually piloting the ship closer to the source of the signal. She made sure that the ghost shields were engaged – did not want to garner any unwanted attention if there were Decepticons after all. She glanced at Flareup out of the corner of her optic and noted that the femme was still playing around with her latest bomb. Time to set her ward to work.

“Flareup, you go gear up too,” Chromia said as her optics flicked back to the view in front of her. “Who knows what we’re gonna run into. Oh, and grab me my gear too while you’re there.”

The executive officer always felt a bit uncomfortable when Flareup was tinkering with one of her bombs. The younger femme’s giggling and gasps and otherwise foreign-to-Chromia exclamations didn’t help to soothe Chromia’s frayed nerves either. How Firestar managed so well, the blue femme would never know.

As the planet of the signal’s original entered into view, Chromia rubbed her chin curiously. Clemency. The site of many a battle. The war had seen its fair share of this place. Electromagnetic storms weren’t uncommon here either, and they tended to mess with communications and some sensors.

As the planet became more than just a speck, Chromia noticed something that made her optics go wide as she started out of her chair. “Oh ho ho…Well I’ll be scrapped…If that doesn’t get your energon racing, I don’t know what will.” The Nemesis hovered in the atmosphere like a malevolent sentinel, keeping its midnight watch over a doomed and forsaken world.

Chromia immediately opened up a communique to Elita-1, knowing that the commander would want to see this. >>”Elita! We’ve reached Clemency, but...ah, there’s something you’re gonna want to see,”<< Chromia said, her voice almost hushed with both excitement and apprehension. >>”I’ll give you a hint though. It’s big and purple, and it’s the slaggin’ flagship of the Decepticon Armada.”<<

Clemency Airspace – Hull of the Nemesis

Talon was completely oblivious to Falcon's motion with his hand and followed him towards Skyquake. However, by the way he looked around curiously it was doubtful that he was all that aware of what the two commanders were discussing.

"I hate when Autobots hide. Come out and get your beating already!"

The Avant Garde--Armory

"Well, normally, I would suggest taking out the head but, if I remember correctly from those intel reports the Predator's former leader is still in the squad only serving under Skyquake. Knowing 'Cons, that can't make him happy. If that is the case then we might be able to cause some friction if we can put enough pressure on them. I think we should attack the Nemesis itself. A couple key strikes to its engines will get the 'Cons worried about them being stranded in the planet and shift their priorities which should cause some arguments."

Elita-1 was pretty much loaded up and ready to go, though a little last-astrosecond strategizing never hurt.

"If you get the chance to put that pressure on--do it," Elita said, thinking on Roulette's words a little more as she started to head for the door. "The Nemesis was always the top priority of our mission. Prickimus Maximus made that clear from the onset. We just have to-"

>>"Elita! We’ve reached Clemency, but...ah, there’s something you’re gonna want to see. I’ll give you a hint though. It’s big and purple, and it’s the slaggin’ flagship of the Decepticon Armada."<<

Elita froze. This was it. All the leads. All the chasing. All the tracking. They had finally hunted down that blasted monstrosity. A lot of Autobots would likely be overcome with fear at the prospect of even attempting to take out the Nemesis. Once upon a time, Elita might well have been among that number. No more. She was as steeled for battle as she ever was.

"We've got it," Elita said, turning back and grinning at Roulette as she resumed her pace and returned to the Avant Garde's corridors, opening a new commlink as she did, transmitting directly to those who would be directly engaged in their infiltration and rescue operations. >>"Bounce chamber. Meet you there."<<

The Avant Garde--Armory

Roulette smiled and slapped Elita's left shoulder with her right hand. "So, all these "what ifs" just turned into a "definite." About time." Her smile was different than the ones she normally had. This one was cool and measured. They had been discussing possibilities all this time. They had been fun daydreams to have but now things had changed. The daydreams had become real and the hunt was officially on. Her optics narrowed in a predatory manner as she closed her locker and followed Elita.

"You know Boss-Bot." Roulette mused. "Now that we finally got the beast in our sights something just dawned on me. The 'Cons would not send the Nemesis to hunt down some rookies. Who does that particular group of 'Cons hate enough to unleash that on?"

Clemency Airspace - Hull of the Nemesis

"Commander, I'm sending you a readout of the search area now," Stalker reported, sending the saved image of the planet's surface to Skyquake's utility communications device.

Skyquake raised his forearm as Stalker beamed him the data, digitally-forming a crimson-red hologram of the planet over his gauntlet. His amber optics scanned the image in front of him as Stalker continued to relay any info he had acquired since his last transmission with the Predator Commander. His gaze with the projection never faltered as the communications specialist continued on with his findings. Very solid findings... Very solid indeed.

"Commander, these two locations," Stalker removed the other lights from the map, leaving only two hotspots on the projection, "are the most likely places for Thunderclash and his crew to be hiding. I'm uploading the exact coordinates to your system now."

>>"There!"<< Skyquake called out as he pointed to one of the locations pinpointed on his forearm display. >>"More shares of energon have been transported through this sector that also correspond with the Autobot beacon relayed earlier. Energon readings of that scale can only mean one thing... Thunderclash and his team are there!"<<

"I recommend... patience, Commander," Stalker finished. "If the Turbomasters continue to allocate local resources at either point, we can easily finish them with a coordinated attack."

>>"My patience has grown far too thin at this point, Stalker. He's there, I can feel it in my systems. My 'sixth sense' practically tells me so... Relay all the Nemesis' primary systems to my utility device, then make your way to the Bounce Chamber and await for me to send you my location. Skyquake out."<<

"Decepticons! We have finally located our adversaries! Take to the skies and let us rain hell-fire upon Thunderclash and his Autobot subordinates!" The Predator commander decreed turning back to his team and legion of aerial vehicons. With that said, Skyquake leaped into the air and shifted into his Cybertronian bomber mode once more. This time he would not fail...This time he would have his victory.

Clemency - Graveyard

After flying for a breem or so, Skyquake's advanced sensors picked up on something heading due East coming from the remains of a Decepticon worldsweeper. If his bomber mode had a faceplate, he's practically be grinning from audio-receptor to audio-receptor.

"There you are..." Skyquake muttered to himself as he approached the signal, the sight of Thunderclash leading his Autobots away in his truck-mode. The predator commander transformed and landed atop a rocky spire and drew his hand-held missile launcher. After quickly beaming his current location back to Stalker back aboard the Nemesis, he took aim at the fleeing Turbomaster Commander, his targetting systems locking onto the massive hulk of a truck.

"The hunt is over, Autobot scum..." Skyquake mused aloud, his index actuator growing tighter around the trigger of his weapon.

*CLICK*

Let the slaughter begin.

Clemency Airspace – Hull of the Nemesis

Talon blinked for a moment as he she Skyquake take off.

"I dun know why the boss don't just say "Attack." Why he gotta use all those wierd words that no one knows?"

He stepped to the side of Falcon and looked at him.

"Why we gotta make it rain and why we gotta use hell-fire? Where do we even get that!?" He held his gun forward. "We can't we just use our guns!?"

Decepticon Flagship Nemesis- Bridge

>>"My patience has grown far too thin at this point, Stalker. He's there, I can feel it in my systems. My 'sixth sense' practically tells me so... Relay all the Nemesis' primary systems to my utility device, then make your way to the Bounce Chamber and await for me to send you my location. Skyquake out."<<

Stalker suppressed the urge to vocally express his displeasure with this latest strategy. Skyquake was driven by emotion, and whatever reliable intel Stalker provided was still inconclusive. Skyquake was so desperate to start his battle with Thunderclash, the Predator Commander no longer cared about strategy or tactical advantage; he just wanted to start shooting.

Stalker refrained from mentioning any of these concerns. "Yes, Commander." He programmed the Nemesis' bridge computer to download to Skyquake's utility communications device. "Transferring primary control to you now."

Stalker disengaged his comm systems from the Nemesis' OS and stepped away from the console, beginning the long walk from the bridge to the bounce chamber. He passed by the living quarters, stopping briefly to spy the chambers allotted to the spoils of war.

Normally Decepticons stored valuables in cargo holds so they could be detached in case of emergency separation, but the comparatively small crew aboard the Nemesis left a handful of living quarters available, and Stalker had made a point to keep one handy for the intact stasis pod his team had recovered before they left Cybertron... one he'd hoped to gain relevant intel on in his off duty hours.

He could never hate the Autobots enough. So Stalker hated them in his spare time too, and occasionally gained insights into their technology while he was at it.

He mused on how long the mission would take as he passed by his trophy and stepped into the bounce chamber.

"Commander, I'm in position," Stalker called to Skyquake over the comms. "Standing by."

Avant Garde--Corridors

Elita-1 could see that flicker of change in Roulette's optics when she instantly recognized what the commander was getting at when she'd said "we've got it". It would be the same for all of them. They had been on this hunt for so long now that it would be next to impossible to not feel some rush of satisfaction now.

"You know Boss-Bot, now that we finally got the beast in our sights something just dawned on me. The 'Cons would not send the Nemesis to hunt down some rookies. Who does that particular group of 'Cons hate enough to unleash that on?"

"That's one thing that always glitched me about these intel scraps we've been picking up lately: why would Megatron send his prize toy all the way the hell out here? Unless whatever Prowl thinks is on that ship is worth keeping away from the main battlefronts. Might not be any of that. I dunno. Might just be Skyquake grinding some grudge. Like you said, though, the question is who? I can't keep track of who all the Decepticons hate these days. I remember Whirl had this rager for Killmaster. That was hilarious," Elita said, smirking as she approached the doors to the bounce chamber and they slid out of their way. To her surprise, she was not the first one inside.

"I take it you got my message," Elita said, grinning as she walked past Firestar.

"You take it correctly," the other femme said, returning the grin, weapons in hand. "So how're we gonna do this?"

Avant-Garde - Bounce Chambers

Firestar had asked Elita her opinion on strategy, but it'd never stopped Lancer from chiming in with her two chits before. She carried with her a Oxidation Cannon, a massive hip-fired weapon that spat out round after round of rotting chemical cocktails. If Lancer was at all encumbered by the enormous weapon and the bandoleer of ammunition she carried for it, she didn't show it in her smooth stride.

"Why don't we just aim at anything with wings and a poor hold on morality?" Her tone was dry as she checked and rechecked the action on the large weapon.


Clemency – Decepticon Worldsweeper Remains

Bumper had been gathering the communication equipment, or what was really needed at this point, by the time Thunderclash had transformed outside the wrecked Worldsweeper. He'd been passing the time reading some of the stories from the nearby organic trade hubs. Fun Fact: did you know the most common types of stories, for nearly all species, were love stories and horror stories? He'd wonder what that meant later. He was too busy avoiding his own horror story at the moment.

Bumper hadn't jumped in the back of the carrier. The wounded barely fit as it was, and he'd be of no use to them there. When the fire dropped, however, a part of him regretted not hiding under the sturdy armor plates of the commander. Skyquake didn't seem to believe in the concept of a 'warning shot', or else he seemed to be trying to warn the fleeing Autobots all over their frames.

He probably never could've explained it, but Bumper hefted up his hand-held Revolver Cannon and took a few shots at the Predator Commander and he streaked by his land-based target. Honestly, even if he had hit? He doubted his slugthrower could do anything at this range to the massive Decepticon...or at all, really. Maybe he just wanted to show Skyquake that he didn't care if he was in his own horror story; it didn't mean he wasn't going to fight back.

Then again, it also didn't mean he was stupid. Stowing the communication equipment in his largest compartment, Bumper transformed and zipped up next to Thunderclash, trying to keep himself as close to his commander's flank as possible.



Clemency - Graveyard

Snare forced himself to take up formation, slowing himself enough to stay behind Skyquake's first pass. He readied his Masers, armed them, but didn't fire. He swooped in lower and close to the 'convoy' (if it could really be called that), before ascending back higher into the air, closer to Skyquake.

Commander,

came Snare over the Comm to Skyquake,

Something's not right here. Thunderclash doesn't leave anyone behind. Ever. Where's the rest of his team? He wouldn't make a dash if they weren't planning something...

Clemency - Decepticon Worldsweeper Remains

Road Rage said nothing as Thunderclash transformed into his combat carrier alternate mode and drove down the corridor. The crimson femme took hold of two hover gurneys as other Autobots aided with the rest and carefully followed the regional commander down to the hole in the side of the immense worldsweeper. It was there that Thunderclash had already assumed his robot mode again and opened the back of his trailer. The former bodyguard guided both gurneys, one in front of her and one behind her, up the ramp and into the trailer. She quickly secured the sleds as the injured groaned slightly to all of the jostling.

“My apologies,” Road Rage said in a soft voice as more of the wounded was brought inside. “I’m trying to keep the bumps to a minimum.” One of the damaged mechs smiled at her, giving a thumbs up before the hand went limp again. The femme smiled back and patted the patient gently on the shoulder plate. She then turned and helped fasten the remaining make-shift gurneys to the either side of the trailer interior.

Thunderclash, as usual, was as hands on as ever, giving aid in loading the wounded as though he was a mere grunt and not the commanding officer that he was. In many ways, the regional commander reminded the former bodyguard of Optimus Prime, himself. They had many of the same, caring qualities that made them both noble leaders. If anything ever happened to Optimus, Primus forbid, the red femmebot could easily see Thunderclash take on the mantle of Autobot Supreme Commander, whether he thought he was worthy enough or not.

Once all of the injured 'Bots were loaded and secured within the trailer, Road Rage exited the back and lifted the ramp up until it was closed and locked into place. “All ready back here, ‘Clash,” the crimson femme said just as her commander transformed back into his vehicle mode and attached himself to the trailer. It was heavily armored and thus would provide a decent amount of protection from any Decepticon attack. Hopefully, it would anyway.

Clemency - Graveyard

Road Rage then followed Thunderclash out of the worldsweeper on foot until there was room for her to transform. However, before she could, the regional commander sent her a transmission, detailing what he required from her. >>”You read my processor, Thunderclash. I was just about to take to the skies. I’ll let you know when I find a suitable location.”<<

The former bodyguard then transformed into her flight mode and blasted off into the air. Unlike her ground-based sports car alt mode, her aerial form was not susceptible to the guidance glitch that turned her into an uncontrollable hellion while on the roads. Here in the sky, Road Rage was calm and collected and in complete control of herself. She would not live up to her namesake.

Keeping low to the ground as Thunderclash had instructed, Road Rage flew between the ruins of the various Decepticon warships, large and small. All were seemingly damaged beyond repair and would clearly never fly again. Not that any of them needed to considering there were Autobots in the sector that would hopefully be able to rescue them. Assuming, of course, they were Autobots at all. The crimson femme tried to keep a positive outlook on things even though their situation was very bleak indeed.

Unfortunately, before Road Rage could find a good location to signal their comrades in space, the situation became even bleaker as Skyquake entered the scene and wasted no time in firing off a missile directly at Thunderclash's position. The crimson femme’s sensors detected the launch immediately, alerting her of imminent danger to both the regional commander and to the injured inside his trailer.

>>”Thunderclash, look out! Incoming missile!”<<

Banking around hard to the right, the flying sports car locked on to the projectile and fired several magna-bombs from her top-mounted launchers, hoping to hit the missile before it struck the trailer and the precious cargo within. Thankfully, one of her bombs hit home and destroyed the enemy rocket before it could do any damage.

>>”I got it, ‘Clash, but Skyquake’s still a threat. He’s on top of a rocky spire at the following coordinates, and I’m sure he’s got more missiles where that one came from!”<<

Once the coordinates were sent, Road Rage noticed another blip on her radar that was drawing much too close to the convoy below. Coming around to intercept the new hostile, it became apparent that it was Snare, the Predator surveillance specialist. In an unusual move, Snare did not fire when he had the opportunity, but instead flew higher into the sky. Perhaps he wasn’t supposed to engage until given direct orders and was only to survey the area first. That was his function, after all. It didn’t matter to Road Rage why the Decepticon flier hadn’t fired on the convoy. What did matter was taking the Predator out before he had another chance to attack.

Deploying her plasma discharger from underneath the front of her flight mode, Road Rage took aim and unleashed a volley of shots directly at Snare, hoping to take the snubfighter by surprise.

Avant Garde - Corridors

Roulette chuckles. "I wonder if I will ever meet a 'Con who got me so mad that I would be shaking my fist in the air and yelling their name all the time."

She waved to Firestar as they ran into her. "Hey Fire."

She turned towards Lancer. "We should show a little more aim than that. Some targets are more important than others."

Avante Garde--Bounce Chamber

"Why don't we just aim at anything with wings and a poor hold on morality?" Lancer had said.

"That's a start," Elita quipped back, her smirk still present. She then looked to the others even as more continued to arrive.

"I wonder if I will ever meet a 'Con who got me so mad that I would be shaking my fist in the air and yelling their name all the time."

"Sit through an interrogation with Prowl. I've had to follow up one of those shifts with a long night at Maccadam's more than once."

"Hey Fire."

"Ru," Firestar said, pleasantly.

"Alright," Elita continued. "We've found what we've been looking for. Finally. Problem though. We've got a distress signal coming from the surface. It seems legit. So, I can't just ignore that, as much as I'm tempted to let them just go it alone for a while longer while we deal with the Nemesis. That just....no. So, we're gonna split up first. Ideas?"

Avante Garde - Bounce Chamber

Roulette listened to Elita speak and considered what she had to say. Ignoring the distress signal was, indeed, not an option so splitting up seemed the only reasonable thing to do. Once Elita asked for feedback Roulette spoke.

"Two things." She said holding up two of her fingers while looking at the room, in general.

"First, the group that is sent to investigate the source of the distress signal should be the larger of the two and the louder. if that group makes enough noise it should keep Decepticon optics pinned in that direction while a small group sneaks the Nemesis. Some precision sabotage here and there should be all we need. Who knows, if the 'Cons really over commit the bridge might even be taken."

Roulette looked at Elita and gave her a knowing look.

"And second, when you "volunteer" yourself to go to the Nemesis I will go along with you."

Roulette knew which of the two things her commander really wanted to do. Just as she knew that as the security officer she was not about to let her do it without her.

Clemency - Graveyard

It had come sooner than Thunderclash had expected. Skyquake was nothing if not punctual it seemed. Punctual and painfully perceptive. Not one to disappoint, though Thunderclash certainly wished that Skyquake - in this one instance - had, Skyquake had fired off a missile that was now careening toward him and his trailer full of his beloved injured soldiers. In a split astrosecond, two instinctual responses tore at the regional commander: Leap in front of the missile and take the hit, or continue on and trust Road Rage or one of the others to catch it.

Revving his engine, Thunderclash increased his speed as Road Rage radioed over the comms, having noted the missile herself. Up ahead, two wrecked ships formed a jagged arch. If he could just-

>>”I got it, ‘Clash, but Skyquake’s still a threat. He’s on top of a rocky spire at the following coordinates, and I’m sure he’s got more missiles where that one came from!"<<

Thank Primus for Road Rage, Thunderclash thought as he darted under the arch, screeching to a halt when safely under the cover that the arch provided. Detaching the trailer from himself, the regional commander darted out from the other side of the structure and barreled toward Skyquake until the Predator commander came into range. Transforming and launching himself into the air, Thunderclash reverted back into robot mode with mortar launcher in hand and fired off a shot at Skyquake before his feet ever touched the ground.

Sliding forward, Clash fired off several more shells before he slide to a halt. Rising and keeping his optics firmly trained on Skyquake, Thunderclash opened a communique with his communications officer.

>>"Bumper, stay with the injured and continue broadcasting our location to the other Autobots. Protect the injured at any cost. You are authorized use of the base mode of my trailer should you require extra firepower."<<

"SKYQUAKE!" Thunderclash boomed across the sepulcher of a planet, "COME DOWN HERE AND FACE ME!" The regional commander scowled at Skyquake from where he stood on his high perch, and readied himself for the inevitable retaliation to come.

Avante Garde - Bounce Chamber

"Bah," Chromia said as she walked into the bounce chamber. She gave Roulette a firm clap on her shoulder as she continued, "Guess that means I'm stuck on rescue. Again." Chromia eyed Elita accusingly. The blue femme didn't dislike rescue work or think it insignificant, but when Elita waltzed off to infiltrate an enemy warship like now or blow up an outpost or something equally grandiose...Well. Oh well. She knew that she had her duties as Elita's second, and she'd never utter a real protest. Though heckling Elita about it? Totally.

"I agree that Ru here should go with you, Elita," Chromia offered, "I'll take Moon and...Flareup."

"Yippee!" Moonracer cheered, clapping wildly.

Ignoring Moonracer's outburst, Chromia continued thoughtfully, "Actually, Flareup will probably want to go with you 'Lita. Up to your judgement on that one - and her preference, though I think it'd be best if she tagged along with me."

Spiel done, Chromia folded her arms across her chest, giving Firestar a smile and friendly wave before looking back at Elita expectantly. A smirk slowly crept onto her faceplate - a look any one of their number would know well. Chromia was itching to get into the action.

Avante Garde--Bounce Chamber

"Two things. First, the group that is sent to investigate the source of the distress signal should be the larger of the two and the louder. if that group makes enough noise it should keep Decepticon optics pinned in that direction while a small group sneaks the Nemesis. Some precision sabotage here and there should be all we need. Who knows, if the 'Cons really over commit the bridge might even be taken. And second, when you "volunteer" yourself to go to the Nemesis I will go along with you," Roulette had said.

Roulette's first point did not garner any disapproval from Elita. It was clear that the rescue group should be the larger of the two. Even if the signal turned out to be a fake, a trap or a signal from a group of Autobots who were now long dysfunctional, it deserved the bulk of their attention at first; perhaps not from a mission perspective. Prowl would likely disagree with that approach. The Nemesis would always be their priority until it was taken care of. But Elita knew that, ethically, the prime objective in any circumstances was rescuing the innocent and certainly any potential comrades-in-arms, when clear and obvious signs of distress were made available. Optimus would agree with her, even if their mission parameters did not.

As for Roulette's second point, well, experience tended to breed familiarity, and so knowing what Elita-1's chosen course of action would be was not surprising for such a close-knit group. Elita opened up her mouth to protest, as she was quite sure she could get the destructive ball rolling on the Nemesis while the others figured out what exactly was going on with the beacon. But before she could, Chromia arrived and added her own thoughts to the situation.

"Guess that means I'm stuck on rescue. Again."

Elita grinned at Chromia's "evil" eye, shrugging a little. It was the most sensible route. She knew her second would agree in her mind even if she did not fully agree in her spark.

"I agree that Ru here should go with you, Elita. I'll take Moon and...Flareup. Actually, Flareup will probably want to go with you 'Lita. Up to your judgement on that one - and her preference, though I think it'd be best if she tagged along with me."

"That sounds good, I'll go with you and Ru," Firestar added.

Elita finally held up a hand. She'd asked for suggestions and she'd gotten enough of them now that a workable strategy had formed in her mind. Now it was just a matter of executing it.

"I'm loathe to take Roulette with me as it is, Fire. I can't justify taking two. You're with Chromia."

"But the Nemesis is too-!" Firestar started to protest.

"Look, we've been gearing up for an encounter with this titanic Decepticon pithole for who knows how long now. I know you all want a piece of it. And believe me, I'm sure you're gonna get it. I just want to be sure the rescue situation is handled. If it's a dead signal...well, I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner. But if it's anything else, I want you guys with all the backup I can possibly give you. Take care of the situation, rescue those Autobots and then get over to the Nemesis and help Ru and me get what we came for and, Primus willing, sink this damn ship in the process. Clear?"

Elita smiled, meeting optics with each member of her team before pointing at the bounce pad.

"Go."

Avante Garde: Bounce Chamber

Flareup had made a rather abrupt dash from the auxiliary tactical terminal on the bridge. She barely acknowledged the other officers on the bridge as she disappeared through the large doors at the rear of the bridge. With a bubble in her giggle she grabbed one of the exposed hydraulic pipes and used it as a pivot to swing her momentum around the corner and down the hall to the small medical bay located two sections aft of the bridge.

She skid to a stop and tapped in a couple of commands into the security pad. The orange red door slid into the recess to its left exposing the small diagnostic bed and its array of scanners, probes and surgical instruments. Carefully she pushed aside one of the drawn out tables and allowed it to retract into the wall. She swung her hips from side to side as she hummed a cheer filled tune, each swing knocking a few tools into almost randomly opened drawers, then shutting them on the return. Finally after her song was done, Flareup found the Alecion. It was a fancy name she gave to one of the more modern medical kits she had managed to procure during her days in medical school. Equipped with various micro scanners, medical field generators, emergency energon supplies and even a chemical synthesis cartridge, it was state of the art.

The demolitions officer closed the compartment after she secured her Alecion in a hip unit. She darted out of the infirmary, the door closing with a hiss behind. She loaded a new song into her memory banks and began to hum along as she skidded down the hall, passed the open door of the bridge for all who remained to see and ponder.

Flareup entered into the armory with the climax of her song giving the quartermaster a start as she flung her arms wide in dramatic fashion. A sweet giggle later put the operator at ease and she went about her task of equipping for battle. She palmed her favorite missile launcher and archery components, slinging them across her back with a graceful fluid sweep of her hands. She then activated to detonators locker... her favorite storage bin on the ship. Thermal detonators, Sonic Grenades, Concussion Bombs, you name it, the locker had it.

Flareup grabbed an assortment of explosive devices, including a smaller version of her recently decorated buster bomb. She tucked them in her various compartments along with a few extra charges for ammunition.

Once she was fully equipped, Flareup left the quartermaster and entered into a dead sprint for the bounce chamber. Her lithe frame afforded her maneuverability as she flattened her profile enough to thread the closing door into the bounce chamber itself.

However, her antics did little to afford her grace in ending her little ballet. She stumbled over an exposed cable and began to fall forward ever so off balance. She flailed her arms in a futile attempt to prevent what happened next. She remembered only a pale look of pink and white as she fell forward into an immovable object. When she looked up she found herself staring at the chin of Elita 1, Flareup's head firmly planted in her plate. "Umm thanks for the catch Commander."

Clemency - Graveyard

"Decepticons! We have finally located our adversaries! Take to the skies and let us rain hell-fire upon Thunderclash and his Autobot subordinates!"

Falcon watched their fearless leader take wing to the skies once more and sighed. The ex-predator commander understood better than anyone what Skyquake was feeling right now, but he had faith in their fearsome leader that he knew what he was doing.

"Why we gotta make it rain and why we gotta use hell-fire? Where do we even get that!?" Talon said as he held his gun forward. "We can't we just use our guns!?"

“That's what he meant. Just shoot 'em, Talon. Shoot them all dead,” Falcon said with a half-smile as he patted Talon lightly on the shoulder plating.

Transforming, Falcon fired his thrusters at full throttle to catch up with Skyquake and Snare. As the Autobots' little convoy came into view, an internal switch flipped in the deep recesses of Falcon's subconscious. As calm and composed at he could be otherwise, Falcon had the unusual quirk of going absolutely ballistic with hatred whenever an Autobot entered his field of view. Hatred as furious and tempestuous as the worst storm boiled up within the stealth fighter. Look! One of the Autobots even had the gall to take to the skies. Their domain.

Snare, who had avoided firing on the convoy during his first sweep, was being tailed and fired upon by this particularly impetuous Autobot as well! Filthy, slagging Autoscum! Falcon banked hard, his engines barely making a sound where others would howl and crack the skies with their thunderous roar. No, no. Not him. He was a predator.

Completing his hard turn, Falcon found himself directly behind the Autobot. Without hesitation, he struck with all of his barely restrained fury, firing off a volley of missiles at Road Rage with utmost contempt.

“DIE AUTOBOT!” Falcon screamed.


Avante Garde - Bounce Chamber

"Look, we've been gearing up for an encounter with this titanic Decepticon pithole for who knows how long now. I know you all want a piece of it. And believe me, I'm sure you're gonna get it. I just want to be sure the rescue situation is handled. If it's a dead signal...well, I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner. But if it's anything else, I want you guys with all the backup I can possibly give you. Take care of the situation, rescue those Autobots and then get over to the Nemesis and help Ru and me get what we came for and, Primus willing, sink this damn ship in the process. Clear?"


Chromia listened to Elita's speech impassively. Despite the heckling that was custom of their close-knit group, the blue Autobot felt the sliver of unease. Elita was going with Roulette to infiltrate one of the most infamous Decepticon ships in history. Two Autobots. She couldn't help but worry for her superior. Even with all of them...this mission was always going to be a challenge.

”Go.”

Chromia moved toward Elita but was stopped by the abrupt interruption of their most juvenile member, Flareup. Chromia looked at Flareup with surprise before rubbing the back of her cranium with an internalized sigh. The blue femme looked back at Elita with a knowing look before reverting back to her troubled one.

>>”Be careful up there 'Lita,”<< Chromia said over a private comm to the commander, before turning on her heel and trotting over to the control console, entering in coordinates. “Alright ladies, all aboard who's goin' aboard. You heard Elita! Hop onto the bounce pad!” Chromia barked with her usual vigor.

The coordinates set to drop them off only a few meters from the beacon's current origin point, Chromia hopped onto the bounce pad herself and grinned widely with her grenade launcher in one hand and her missile launcher in the other. “Let's kick some Decepticon aft plating and get our boys outta there!”

With that, the bounce activated sending those on the rescue team down to the planet below.

((OOC: The members of the rescue team are free to move from the Avante Garde to Clemency now.))

Decepticon Flagship Nemesis- Bounce Chamber

Finally receiving the most recent coordinates from Skyquake, Stalker initiated the jump and bounced down to the planet. His atoms were ripped asunder as he was launched through slipspace, re-materializing on the surface.

-

Clemency

Stalker's HUD went through an initial state of re-calibration as he adjusted to the discomfort of the bounce. As he'd been manning a tactical station and remained aboard the ship more often than not -due to the difficulties in utilizing his alternate mode with his winged peers- he had to overcome more discomfort from planetfall than his peers. He'd emerged in the middle of a conflagration, as his Predator teammates were engaged in battle with their hated Autobot rivals. He couldn't take too long; he had to overcome and re-calibrate as quickly as he could.

He spotted a group of Autobots in an entrenched position. Several of them appeared to be wounded; possibly even in stasis lock.

If there was one thing a Predator did not spurn, it was easy prey.

Stalker switched to vehicle mode, rolling towards the battlefield. He leveled his missile launcher at the wounded Autobots and waited for his targeting system to align.

Either he'd eliminate whatever small numerical advantage the Autobots had, or one of the Turbomasters would jump in the path of his assault and take the blow. Win-win.

Stalker waited... a few moments more and he's have completed his adjustment, and then the slaughter would begin.

Avant Garde--Bounce Chamber

"Umm thanks for the catch Commander."

Elita smiled.

"Anytime, Flarey," Elita-1 said, reassuring the younger mech as best she could that she had done nothing wrong while catching Chromia's look and returning it.

>>”Be careful up there 'Lita,"<<

>>"You too, Chrome. I know you're prepared for anything but....be prepared for anything,"<< Elita commed back with a grin on her face.

The two of them had been in the thick of it for a long time and had seen the worst that this war could offer. What they had just encountered on Clemency really could just be a long-abandoned signal, its original senders long since gone--or worse. But the more dangerous reality was that the distress signal was still active, and that forces from the Nemesis were the direct source of the distress. The Decepticon flagship would not be sparsely defended and it would have plenty of resources to spend hunting down a stray group of Autobots. It was one reason amongst several that Elita had agreed to invest her team's efforts in carrying out this particular mission: if they could take out the Nemesis, it would be a key, strategic victory and one that she had no doubt Optimus, Prowl and the others would be able to capitalize on. As for what Autobot High Command wanted them to retrieve from somewhere in the bowels of that Primus-forsaken ship, Elita could only guess, but she had no doubts it would be an equally key resource.

With their usual efficiency, the ground team got themselves together and were gone shortly thereafter, leaving Elita-1 and Roulette to their own piece of the mission.

"Our turn," she said with a wink of one optic as she walked over to the control terminal. "Now we find out if that code is worth the price we paid."

Clemency – Graveyard

With a flash of light, Chromia and her group found themselves in the thick of an ongoing engagement. Shrugging off the disorientation as quickly as she could, Chromia glanced about rapidly to assess the situation. Okay, what did it look like. Well, the Decepticons were mostly jets, and they definitely weren't seekers. So that narrowed down the options a bit. The blue femme's conjecturing was swiftly brought to an end by someone's voice booming across the battlefield.

"SKYQUAKE!"

Well that solved the issue of who the Decepticons were. They were the Predators. Nasty bunch. Their group had a particular hatred for a particular group of Autobots. More specifically, the Turbomasters, which were led by none other than Thunderclash. Great. They'd bounced into a grudge match.

Chromia soon spotted the light of another bounce, her optics swiftly flicking over there. Stalker. The one ground based Predator. Chromia transformed and tore off toward the tank-predator. “C'mon ladies, time to show the boys that we mean business!” Chromia's missile launcher folded neatly out of the side of her alternate mode as she locked onto Stalker and fired a barrage of missiles at him.


Moonracer wobbled slightly as she recovered from the bounce disorientation. Gah! She totally hated that! Moonracer put a hand on Firestar's arm to steady herself before glancing around, looking slightly ill. Where were those grody Decepticons? As a jet engine howled above Moonracer, the green femme looked up with wide optics at the sky to see two jets flying in the skies and one helicopter.

Moonracer smiled and readied her sniper rifle as Chromia transformed and took off toward one of the grounded predators. Ha! Served him right! Na-na-na-na-nuh! Moon glanced about for a good place to snipe from. Needed somewhere with a view of the sky but also cover from it too...how about...oh! There! Perfect! Moonracer clapped and skipped merrily toward her desired sniper's nest when she figured it'd just be faster to drive there.

Moonracer bonked herself on the head and giggled. “Gosh, Moonie, you're such a ditz!” she said in a mock admonishing tone to herself before transforming and driving off that way.

Avant Garde--Bounce Chamber

Roulette smiled sympathetically at Chromia as she passed her. She was not surprised that Elita was planning on going in alone which was not a wise decision. She knew that it was pointless to attempt to convince her not to go, however, so all she could do was make sure that Elita made it back safe, one way or another.

"You girls give those 'Cons hell. Stay focused and we will have a nice celebration when the day is done."

She said as she watched them go. There was something sad about the scene. She knew that no one would say "good-bye" now. The fear of the words may be permanent in nature always hung in the air before action. She gave a silent prayer to Primus that they all made it through alright. At that moment she remembered what they were going to do and wondered if Primus would consider too greedy to pray for oneself.

She turned towards Elita and nodded.

"Kinda late to worry about those codes boss." She drew her blaster just in case they were unwanted surprises once they jumped then grinned.

"Lets go show them what we can do."

Clemency - Graveyard

Cursed little Autobot flier, intercepting his rocket from connecting with the Turbomaster commander's trailer section. Skyquake was ready to issue an order for Falcon to go after the crimson Autobot in the air, but was rather surprised to see him taking action for himself and already doing so, pursuing after Road-Rage moments after the femme had blocked his shot.

"SKYQUAKE!" Thunderclash boomed across the sepulcher of a planet, "COME DOWN HERE AND FACE ME!"

Came a roar from Thunderclash after he fired off a barrage of mortar shells towards Skyquake. The Predator was able to dodge most of his counterpart's attack, but a lone mortar had connected with the ground beneath his feet, crumbling the rocky perch Skyquake was standing upon. Impressive, but not at all life threatening. Using the momentum of the explosion, Skyquake leaped up into the air and shifted into his bomber mode and rocketed towards Thunderclash.

>>"Focus your attack on the Autobots!"<< Skyquake hollered over his internal comm line as he was rapidly closing in on Thunderclash, >>"But leave Thunderclash to me..."<<

"AUTOBOT SCUM!!!" Roared the Predator commander as he reverted back to his robot mode just in time to use the last of his bomber mode's momentum to deliver a powerful punch at the Turbomaster commander's faceplate. "Your efforts of evading me and my forces were useless! No one can outrun the Predators forever!"

Clemency - Graveyard


Talon laughed out loud. "Now that order I can understand."

Talon transformed and took to the sky. As Falcon decided to follow an Autobot, Talon kept the ground targets on his sights. Those were always so easy. If it was on the ground, kill it. No further worries.

"Burn in the inferno you slagging idiots!"

He fired indiscriminately against anything on the ground that was a mechanoid.