The Energon Pub

Corridors

Bomb Burst's gaze followed Apeface's toward the giant.

Indeed, it had worked. Pulling back had put him where he could view the thing fully.

He had no other remark to make but a soft "huh." indicating very mild amusement possibly mixed with a touch of disbelief at the sight of Logicor shutting down, just not enough of anything to warrant further emotion over it.

Now it was stopped, but how to get it apart?

The Vampire's answer came as Apeface began shouting to those behind Logicor.

Thankfully Skullgrin was already on his way towards the others.

He turned his head, as the approaching sounds grew closer and Scorponok appeared.

The Vampire stepped back a half step as Scorponok passed by.

--

Bludgeon transformed back into robot mode as Apeface shouted to all to hold fire, though drawing his sword once he had.

Watching silently as his team came back together.

Nightbird still watching the behemoth Autobot through her rifle scope, but not shooting,Snarler uneasily watching Logicor, and Skullgrin settling in as Apeface ordered everyone away from the giant.

The group watched in silence as Scorponok removed Hungrr and caused the Technobots to fall apart.

”I am done with this place! Get to the spacebridge! We are leaving.”

Never had any order sounded better to the Electric Warrior than the one to leave this dirty rock. Away from this prison was all he ever wanted. He signaled to the team with a quick motion to prepare to move.

--

Nightbird's attention flicked to Bludgeon as Logicor fell to pieces, looking to Bomb Burst as Bludgeon made a motion.

A slight nod from the Vampire and she put away the rifle, exchanging it for her own swords, much like Bludgeon, she felt uncomfortable without them, especially right now.

Corridors

Seawing heard the comments about his idea. It is true that he seldom adds something useful to a group discussion usually leaving such methods to Snaptrap. The good thing about his squad over someone like the Terrorcons is their beast modes don't take over their robot modes as easily. If they were in more aquatic habitat than things might be slightly different. As for his concern about the Technobots being functional or at least aware after they were apart, those went out the proverbial port opening with mighty Lord Scorponok ending the fight in one of his more usual ways. As much as Seawing admired and jealously longed for such power he just saw, it disappointed him the fight was over. It seemed their feared leader was getting a bit anxious to get back to business.

"Hmm, it looked like all it took was a big enough gun or in this case tail. The only question is will we be kind and put them in a locked CR chamber or have the fun of fixing them little at a time in order to learn the real process of this giant combination."

Seawing walked over to the Nosecone piece and picked him up being careful not to reactivate him. From initial look, this Technobot suffered minimal damage compared to their squad leader Scattershot. Seeing the power of this monster made him curious but still uncertain if he really wanted to be the next one to under go the process. Maybe the Terrorcons would be better fodder in perfecting the process only if Scorponok would tie a giant leash to whatever behemoth they would become. Seawing walked slowly towards where he thought the shuttles would be with his new prisoner.

Corridors

When Cyclonus arrived in the vicinity alongside other Decepticons from the hangar, he was greeted by chaos. But it was fortunately manageable chaos. He was no stranger to seeing bodies strewn around in various states of disrepair. It was also fortunate that, in this instance, not many of them appeared to be from within their own ranks.

Scorponok had just finished giving his last orders as Cyclonus approached and was soon off. For all the missteps, they had won this day. The prison was theirs to command or destroy as they saw fit. Two gestalts would enter the ranks of the Decepticon war machine and more would follow, with or without the aid of the ancient praetor. The only thing that remained was to claim vengeance against that very mech for his deceit. Vengeance that Cyclonus expected Scorponok would make haste to deliver. And once that fateful blow was dealt, another member of the revolutionary expedition crew of the original Ark would be lost to the sands of time. Jhiaxus had made a tragic miscalculation. He simply had not realized it yet. It was sad that so much time in conscious isolation had ravaged his mind, but Cyclonus suspected he would have fared no better. What would he have become, had he been the one whose spark had been extracted, imprisoned for millions of years and fully aware of each passing microsecond? Honestly, he shuddered at the thought. He would opt for death in battle a thousand times over such a fate.

"Gather the remainder," Cyclonus ordered, indicating the injured Technobots. "Take difference paths and rendezvous at the hangar."
___

Pointblank stopped in his tracks as he heard heavy footsteps approaching from a corridor just ahead. The telltale sounds of a battle had stopped, but that did not mean there were no longer any dangers lurking around the next corner.

And how right he was.

Having come to stop, Pointblank watched as the massive Decepticon warlord, Scorponok, emerged from one of the connecting corridors. He said nothing as he stalked past them, not even deigning a glance in their direction. His gait was purposeful though. There was something on his mind. Something significant.

And Pointblank was exceedingly grateful that it was not him.
___

One of Scorponok's gruntmechs approached the still-downed Icepick. He looked up at the burly 'Con.

"You need...help, or somethin', to the hangar?"

Icepick let out a small sigh.

"No no. Don't trouble yourself. I'll make it on my own."

Corridors

As they marched onward toward their ultimate fate, a fate which Pyro knew not, he could not help but feel his spirits bolstering. Yes, the Decepticons had tried to silence him. But they could not silence truth. No, nor hope. These things would continue to rage against the oppression of tyranny. They would not be silenced.

"Fear not, Autobots. The Primes of old faced greater trials than these and still overcame. They knew their destiny lay beyond their challenges. We must always be mindful of this most profound of truths."
___

As he walked alongside the other mechanoids, Goldrush couldn't help but notice Optimus Prime Jr. feeling the need to chime in with his misplaced optimism once more. Now that he was within speaking distance of the other mech, he couldn't help but explore his own curiosity a little more.

"Just, exactly, what kind of energon do you drink on a daily basis? I need the recipe."

Corridors

When they, at last, arrived at the scene, it seemed the worst of the trouble had passed. Not that Sparkstalker was particularly complaining. Quite the contrary. But still, it did leave the question of what to do with their cadre of Autobot prisoners. Especially, considering their latest orders. With Lord Scorponok bustling past them with purpose, not even bothering to spare them a glance, Sparkstalker’s optics fell on Cyclonus. Best to leave it to a superior’s judgement, and, as the High Commander seemed preoccupied, his second in command would do.

Approaching the two-horned devil with his escort of Insecticons, Sparkstalker cleared his throat and gestured to catch Cyclonus’s optic.

“Cyclonus, sir,” he stated flatly, “These Autobots were caught attempting to escape the mines. May I leave them to your…tender mercies? I thought it prudent to ask rather than begin summary execution.”


When the battle reached a rather sudden conclusion with the cessation of the gestalt and Scorponok’s arrival, Slog began the business of ensuring that all of his men were on their feet and headed in the right direction. Icepick was the first up and off. Glancing cursorily at Cyclonus who seemed to be left in charge, Slog shrugged and gathered up the rest of his own, making steps to leaving their cage and home for the past four million years.

It was then he noted an innocuous shape scurry over to Icepick’s side. Ah, the femme. He had lost track of her during the conflict with the gestalt. Well, it was good to see that she didn’t seem too damaged. Moving along in their wake, he kept a watchful optic on his own.

Umbra, for her part, was praying to any deity that would listen that she didn’t get seen by someone who knew her true allegiance. Whether that be Bludgeon, the Terrorcons, or even the other Autobots. Stormwrecker would be fine. Stormwrecker could hide her if she positioned herself right. For now, she went to one of her only true allies and friends. Icepick.

“You sure you’re alright? Let me help,” she uttered, trying to keep the edge of fear out of her voice. She was surrounded by Decepticons, and while she seemed like one currently, she really didn’t want to test her position.

“That was…something, huh? Different from you guys,” she muttered, trying to make casual conversation, “I thought my number was up for the umpteenth time this cycle, hah.”


Deaf to the world.

That was what Blot was as he gnawed on the combiner’s leg. Shouts and orders were completely missed. The only thing that could pierce it was well, his master’s voice, and it currently was in a rage. That meant Blot did not let go for anything. At least, that was his intent. Until a rather painful zap shocked him. The pain was incredible.

So much so that he loosed his grip on the leg as the combiner toppled and went to pieces. He staggered back, dazed. Dizzy. His vision was weird and fuzzy.

It was only when it cleared that he saw his master laying in a heap against a wall. He stumbled toward Hun-Grrr.

“Master…what happened?”


When Snaptrap heard it, he made way. There was only one thing that sound could be. And lo and behold, it was Lord Scorponok, come to put an end to this farce. He delivered the order to retreat. Their vengeance was nigh. And good riddance. Snaptrap washed his hands of it. This prison. Its prisoners.

Seeing no need to repeat orders issued by the commander, Snaptrap merely approached one of the Technobots, scooping them up and unceremoniously tossing them over a shoulder. He cast a glance over to where Hun-Grrr resided with a cold gleam in his optic. Having to be put down by the commander, how embarrassing.

Turning his attention to the path before him, Snaptrap disappeared down a side corridor, making his way to the hangar with a longer route. He had no intention of being at fault for yet another unplanned gestalt combination. The first was aggravating enough.


“Primus…” Synapse moaned, cursing his bad luck for the umpteenth time. It was a small miracle that it hadn’t gotten him killed. “Botheration…” Picking himself up off the floor, Synapse walked a few steps forward, dripping energon from his wounds. He did his best to stem the flow of energon. Didn’t want to leave a mess for others to slip on.

It seemed they were off to the hangar now. Lovely, lovely. He mustn’t tarry here then and keep Scorponok and the rest waiting. His vision was oddly fuzzy, but he was sure that he could muddle through. Just keep walking. One foot after the other…

One foot after the other…

One foot…


Stranglehold had tagged along with Cyclonus. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do. Octopunch was all dramatic about it, and that made Stranglehold crack a twisted kind of smile. Yeah. Sure. They were clean up. Nothing fun or glamorous about that. Still, it was like a field day for Octopunch.

“Yeah, yeah, you just wanna pick the scraps clean.”

As they got to where it seemed masses of Decepticons had converged, Stranglehold surveyed it, taking in orders from Cyclonus as they did. Seemed like the Butcher was taking one of the Technobots. Could be fun to lug an Autobot around. He could maul them if they did anything funny.

“Hey, ‘Punch, over here,” he called as he hefted one of them onto his shoulder. “Grab one of these Technos. I saw the Butcher go off a different way with one of ‘em, so we can just carry the rest back the same way.” Grabbing another and tossing them over his shoulder like a sack of parts, he grinned at Octopunch.

“Shame the boss wants them or you could pick them clean for all those high tech gizmos they’re famous for.”

Semper Tyrannis – Medical Bay

"I agree. I've been looking over his technical specifications whilst monitoring the evacuation of the prison. There's nothing in here about receiving any kind of medical training. Reports from superiors vary, but a few have mentioned him being some kind of idiot savant during battle, accomplishing things no one would have otherwise expected. It's quite fascinating actually. I should dig into these reports more often."

“Huh. Figures,” Firewire grumbled, “I guess we tend to value copious amounts of muscle to technical savants, given, you know. How Shockwave is like an all-in-one stop shop for all things cutting edge.”

"The top medics and repairmechs are in the first fleet, as you'd expect. So...we make do. How do you feel? Connections reestablishing?"

“Yeah, yeah. Only the finest for Lord Megsy. Meanwhile second fleet gets the second and third stringers. I mean who do we even have really? Flatline? That’s like one. One for a whole expansion fleet! I mean, I get Lord Megsy needs the best, but couldn’t we get more than one or two medics?” Firewire sighed, testing her new arm’s connections. It needed breaking in, but every new limb did. Or so she was told. She hadn’t really made a habit of losing hers.

“It’s not easy being on the repair squad for Lord Scorponok. He’s a big mech! It takes many sets of hands to handle him when he gets all messed up.” Smacking her shoulder lightly and then immediately regretting that with a wince, Firewire gave Reflector a half-hearted thumbs up with the new arm.

“Looks like I won’t die of limb rejection at least,” she said with a smile, “I’ll live. And yeah, I have been through worse. Much worse! Doesn’t mean I enjoy pain, ‘Flector. Hmph.” As her gaze wandered back over to Overlord and Spinister, she grimaced slightly and lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Not sure about him. What in Pit is he thinking?” Still, as incredulous as she was that someone would voluntarily work on Overlord, Firewire was also incredibly curious as it seemed…for whatever reason…Overlord wasn’t set on murdering Spinister or hurting him or…doing anything Overlord-ish to him. “Should we help? What’s the plan with Overlord anyway? What were Lord Scorpynok’s orders?”

"What are you, little Decepticon? You're no medic. You're a battlefield mech. A frontliner. A grunt, heh. Fighting honorably....towards peace, yes? Of course you are. Why do this? You must know the risk you're taking."

Spinister blinked. Narrowed his optics slowly. He tried to process the question. There was a quirked optic. Overlord had answered his own question, hadn’t he? But from the expectant look on the phase sixer’s face, it seemed like he wanted an answer. Probably a different one than his own. He tilted his head to one side and scratched his head.

“Why? You’re…a Decepticon…?” he answered, shrugging slowly, “I’m…a Decepticon…You needed…fixing. I could…fix you…”

Sticking his hands back into Overlord’s internals to continue his patch job, Spinister eyed Overlord for sudden moves.

“Needed…doing.”

Corridors

Logicor was down and separated back into the individual Technobots again thanks in no small part to Lord Scorponok and his powerful stinger. Rippersnapper emerged from the barrier he had taken cover behind while Logicor’s rockets had whizzed by overhead. The shark-former had sustained little damage during the fight. The same could not be said for some of the others, including his own commander, Hun-Grrr. The Terrorcon leader had gone on one of his feeding frenzies again and tried to devour the Technobots all by himself. That did not sit well with Scorponok who pulled Hun-Grrr off the gestalt and gave him a low yield sting in order to calm him down.

Well, he’s not going to be happy, Rippersnapper thought to himself as he returned to his shark monster alt mode. The amphibious Terrorcon made his way over to where Hun-Grrr lay in a heap against a wall as other Decepticons gathered each of the unconscious Technobots. Blot, of course, was already there by Hun-Grrr’s side as obedient as ever and apparently as oblivious as ever.

“Were you not paying attention, Blot?” Rippersnapper growled as Cutthroat landed next to him in his vulture monster form. The terrorist ignored the shock trooper, whom he had a fight with before everything went to slag. Instead, the former actor waited for their master to regain his composure before deciding to do anything else.

Corridors

Heh. Hun-Grrr had gotten what he deserved. Apeface couldn’t help but chuckle as the fearsome leader of the Terrorcons got punished for his overzealous feeding frenzy. It was rare to see Hun-Gurrr humiliated. Not many within Scorponok’s ranks had what it took to challenge the two-headed monster one on one. Scorponok himself certainly, this had been as good proof of that as any. But as for the others? Maybe Turmoil or Cyclonus. From a distance anyway. But at close range? Yeah, Apeface was going to leave Terrorcon handling to Scorponok. And given how Hun-Garr was already getting back on his feet and eyeing after everyone staring at him murderously – Apeface chose to move on rather quickly.

Walking over to Snapdragon who was lying on the floor on his back next to the remaining Technobots, Apeface offered his hand to his long time partner in crime and pulled him back to his feet.

”Heh. You might have succeeded had you gotten some help there,” Apeface smirked and gave a quick glare towards Hun-Grr who had moved over to Afterburner to pull his other sword which was still stuck on the Technobot off the Autobot’s mangled body.

”And that Autobot isn’t going to live unless someone with medical knowledge appears soon,” he stated to his friend, looking around to see anyone suitable for the task while Hun-Gurr threw Scattershot over his shoulder and stalked off.

Seriously. Afterburner was going to bleed dry and they still needed that idiot. He had to at least try. ”Hey! That Autobot needs a medic! And Scorponok want him alive so now’s your chance to shine! Hurry up!”

Hanger Bay

While waiting to load up on one of the shuttles to leave, Seawing put his prisoner on a medical gurney. He summoned a couple of the droids over to do a quick examine of Nosecone.

"Once you are done looking him over, wrap him up nice and tight to where if he even thinks about moving it will hurt him. Lord Scorponok wants them alive so I doubt he would mind a few scratches from the straps you will be using to restrain him. The Technobots might be unconscious right now but we can't be too careful."

The medical droids nodded at Seawing as they examined the prisoner and then proceeded to strap Nosecone down as tight as possible.



The sudden pain jolted the unconscious mind of Nosecone into operation. As the processes started to boot up, Nosecone found himself floating in a void in an unfamiliar shape. It took him several moments of concentration but was able to transform back into his robot mode. He then saw a vision of a giant in front of him. It felt familiar and as Nosecone looked at the giant he noticed it was made up of himself and his fellow Technobots.

"Who or what are you? You seem to be made up of myself and my brothers."

It took the giant several moments to answer Nosecone as it looked at him. He wondered if the giant even heard him or if it thought Nosecone wasn't worth the effort or time.

"Destination is..is...is..Logicor. I was created by mad scientist to further agenda."

It was Nosecone's turn to look at the giant being puzzled at to what he had said. Then his head and body started to hurt as he remembered what happen in the amphitheater. He and his fellow Technobots were experimented on and were transformed into body parts.

"Wait, you are us but as one robot? How come I am now seeing damage all over you or us or whatever this is?"

This time Logicor was able to answer quicker.

"Battle was fought against Decepticons. It took many including Scorponok to bring me down. Processing five minds at once is very hard to do with different personalities and desires."

"I see but Logicor? Couldn't they come up with a better name?"

Logicor didn't reply and simply looked at Nosecone. The vision started to fade as Nosecone tried his hardest not to transform back into the limb portion of Logicor.

Corridors

"Heh. You might've succeeded had you gotten some help there."

"I don't care what anyone says," Snapdragon added as his fellow Horrorcon helped him to his feet, having returned to his robot mode once more, "I tackled that thing to the ground."

Afterburner, for the most part, was beginning to hear his own thoughts again. Unknown to his surroundings and in an immense amount of pain, the gunner spat up a large pool of energon following the removal of a sword that was put through him. He weakly groaned in pain as he struggled to regain any sense of composure.

"Hey! That Autobot needs a medic! And Scorponok wants him alive so bows your chance to shine! Hurry up!"

Without a second thought, Brainstorm rushed towards Afterburner's side, only to be intercepted and violently backhanded by Snapdragon during his approach.

"Trying to run?" The reptilian horrorcon chided as he drew his weapon once more.

"Trying... to help." Brainstorm responded in a pained hiss, the side of his cranial unit ringing as he felt along the fresh cracked metal Snapdragon left on him. "Your boss wants him alive... Are you willing to tell him Afterburner died because you stopped someone from trying to at least stabilize him?"

-

"Grab one of these Technos. I saw the Butcher go off a different way with one of 'em, so we can just carry he rest back the same way...Shame the boss wants them or you could pick them clean for all the high tech gizmos they're famous for."

"Gah! Your tellin' me!" Octopunch growled, his metallic tentacles twitching about restlessly, a few of them wrapped around various pieces of Jhiaxus' destroyed machinery. He drove his trident into a piece of metal that rested in the wake of the Combiner's destruction, bringing it to his visor to study. "I mean look at that! Who knows what secrets lie beneath these Autobot plates?"

Corridors:

Mph...

What the frag...

Slugslinger opened his optics. Everything was black. His audio receptors were ringing loudly and deafeningly. What happened...

Over the loud shrieking sound coming from within his cranium, Slugslinger began hearing voices. He began to remember where he was slowly. He was in a fight. He was... fighting... something...

An explosion... happened...

The only thing that exited Slugslinger's mouth as he laid on the floor of the rubble-covered room was, "Whe- where am I..."



Slugslinger heard the familiar voice close to him yet sounded far away over his mostly shot audio receptors.

"Triggerhappy..."



Missiles. That's right. Slugslinger remembered seeing Mindwipe leading them around like a herd of cyberducks. He supposed that he put too much faith in the crazed spiritualist and probably got hit regardless.

"Uck, what'd I miss?" said Slugslinger as his senses began to return more steadily. He found himself sitting up; possibly against a piece of something; with Triggerhappy staring him down in what he supposed was concern. He saw Scorponok and some other higher-ups of the location in the room a ways away.

”I am done with this place! Get to the spacebridge! We are leaving.”

For once Slugslinger was actually glad to hear the big-headed excuse for a leader Scorponok speak. Slugslinger was all for leaving. That's for sure.

"The bigguy just went 'PLOP!' HAHA IT WAS HILARIOUS!" shouted Triggerhappy; probably way too loudly; in Slugslinger's face.

"Yeah yeah," said Slugslinger simply as he regained his senses, "So we're going? That's nice. Feels like a psycho ward here."

Semper Tyrannis – Medical Bay

“Huh. Figures. I guess we tend to value copious amounts of muscle to technical savants, given, you know. How Shockwave is like an all-in-one stop shop for all things cutting edge,” Firewire commented.

"Yes. One would think he would be all they need....but...I suppose their repair bays get utilized as much as ours, if not more. The joys of having a massive war to win."

“Yeah, yeah. Only the finest for Lord Megsy. Meanwhile second fleet gets the second and third stringers. I mean who do we even have really? Flatline? That’s like one. One for a whole expansion fleet! I mean, I get Lord Megsy needs the best, but couldn’t we get more than one or two medics?”

"After this mission, we might just be able to request some more. Megatron will surely be pleased with our liberation of Garrus and the defeat of Fortress Maximus. He's been a thorn in the war effort for a long time. Optimus Prime will be down a general, an entire garrison of soldiers and we now have gestalts to send into battle. For the first time in a long time, I think we might actually win this war."

“It’s not easy being on the repair squad for Lord Scorponok. He’s a big mech! It takes many sets of hands to handle him when he gets all messed up,” Firewire had continued before smacking her new limb and wincing from the resulting pain. At least it seemed to have integrated just fine.

"Of that I have zero doubts," Reflector mused. "Fortunately the occasions where he sustains serious injury are minimal and infrequent."

Ready to more or less resume her duties, Firewire's attention was again drawn to the unlikely pair of Decepticons who, apart from engaging in the repair process, were apparently engaging in some kind of actual conversation. Given the difficulty Reflector had with Spinister, he couldn't help but be impressed that the Phase Sixer was expending any effort in this regard.

“Not sure about him. What in Pit is he thinking? Should we help? What’s the plan with Overlord anyway? What were Lord Scorpynok’s orders?”

"I wonder if he is thinking. He may just be doing," Reflector said, offering a slight shrug of uncertainty. He then returned his attention to Firewire.

"Well, in its barest bones, the plan is to keep him alive. After what he endured on the surface, that was challenge enough. I think we've crossed that bridge. From there, I think Lord Scorponok wants him under his control. I'm certainly not going to voice any objections to his intent, but I think we're all aware of how notoriously independent the Warriors Elite are. So...we shall see. If you want to help, by all means. Working with Lord Scorponok, you have no shortage of experience working on mechanoids who can crush you with a flick of their wrist."
___

Overlord could slowly feel the improved connections, the improved energy conversion ratios and the myriad of other small but noticeable improvements that come with being repaired directly. Granted, he was in no rush. He would soak up this prime opportunity to get fully repaired while he had it.

He could murder later.

“Why? You’re…a Decepticon…? I’m…a Decepticon…You needed…fixing. I could…fix you…Needed…doing.”

Were Overlord capable of remembering what such emotions felt like, he supposed he would have been stunned. He couldn't clearly recall ever hearing a Decepticon give such a flatly unambitious answer. In the mech-incinerate-mech world of Decepticon politics and what it actually took to maintain any kind of comfortable position within the ranks, a response like Spinister's was exceedingly rare. Perhaps uniquely so.

"Continue then, little warrior. Once I'm fully functional again, I'll see that you receive an assignment worthy of your unique qualities," Overlord said, as one damaged optic shifted over to the adjacent berth. "You may think you're speaking quietly enough to avoid my noticing....but you're not."

Semper Tyrannis – Medical Bay

"I wonder if he is thinking. He may just be doing," Reflector said, offering a slight shrug of uncertainty. He then returned his attention to Firewire.

Firewire grimaced slightly at that thought. For someone like her, even with how impulsive she could seem at times, she always had to take pains to avoid unintentionally aggravating the wrong mechanoid. It wasn’t as if her life expectancy was particularly good if she happened to bother Hun-Grr. A backhand from him might just kill her on the spot. Or at least do some serious damage.

“Kind of an odd one…I guess he can afford that…?” she mumbled more to herself than Reflector. Her companion went on to answer her earlier query.

"Well, in its barest bones, the plan is to keep him alive. After what he endured on the surface, that was challenge enough. I think we've crossed that bridge. From there, I think Lord Scorponok wants him under his control. I'm certainly not going to voice any objections to his intent, but I think we're all aware of how notoriously independent the Warriors Elite are. So...we shall see. If you want to help, by all means. Working with Lord Scorponok, you have no shortage of experience working on mechanoids who can crush you with a flick of their wrist."

At that, Firewire shot Reflector a highly unamused look. “Yeah, but Lord Scorponok isn’t exactly liable to kill me on a whim,” she retorted shortly. But with a resigned sigh, she shrugged. Maybe Overlord wasn’t feeling particularly homicidal right now. That would be nice. After all, she was…so very curious about phase sixers. It’s not like they had the opportunity to examine a damaged one. “But fine. I’ll go and see what I can do. You’re coming too though.”

"Continue then, little warrior. Once I'm fully functional again, I'll see that you receive an assignment worthy of your unique qualities.”

“Spinister,” came the simple reply as the mech with his hands deep into Overlord’s internals eyed something strangely. That looked weird. He snapped something on it back into place and picked at some melted circuitry that had fused with part of it.

"You may think you're speaking quietly enough to avoid my noticing....but you're not."

Firewire jerked, suddenly freezing. It took her several long moments to gradually and jerkily crane her head around to look at Overlord. Fear gripped her spark. Oh Primus, please spare it again. After a moment, she managed to drain the shock and fear from her face, internalizing it into a tight bubble in her spark. It was how she operated.

“Well, it’s true,” she retorted flatly in reference to killing on a whim. Hopping down from her berth and drawing herself up to her full bitty height, she eyed Overlord. “If I come over there to help, are you just gonna squish me? I’m not really in the mood. I just got squished. Unintentionally, but…that’s not the point!”

Flexing her new digits, Firewire glanced over to him. Yeah, they felt good enough to do some work. Steeling herself, she went over to Overlord without waiting for an answer. The berth was a little on the tall side, but she could manage. Leaning down and pulling over what amounted to a step stool so she could get a better view, she looked down at Overlord’s open internals with curious optics.

Corridors

Whatever state he was in, Icepick was simply grateful to be among the functioning and not be trapped helplessly within the mind of that unholy terror that came into being every time he and the other members of the Monstructor Six merged together.

“You sure you’re alright? Let me help. That was…something, huh? Different from you guys. I thought my number was up for the umpteenth time this cycle, hah,” Umbra said, offering aid. Icepick was reluctant to accept, but accept he did.

"I'm not entirely sure, no. But I do know that any condition I find myself in outside of Monstructor is a welcome one. Truth be told, I thought my number was up also. Not literally, I suppose. But with what little self-awareness I possessed, I tried desperately to cling to it. Like it was the only thing that would pull me out of the abyss. And in the end, maybe it did."
___

As the cleanup and evacuation continued, Cyclonus noticed one of the Firecons, Sparkstalker to be exact, attempting to get his attention. The lithe warrior said nothing for the moment but approached steadily.

“Cyclonus, sir. These Autobots were caught attempting to escape the mines. May I leave them to your…tender mercies? I thought it prudent to ask rather than begin summary execution.”

Cyclonus' gaze shifted coldly from Sparkstalker to Autobots within the group.

"A greater exercise in futility I cannot presently imagine," Cyclonus said evenly, stepping past Sparkstalker so that he could approach the Autobots. "And from the mines, where then would you go? The hangar, perhaps? And then where? Launch yourselves into the heavens, where the Semper Tyrannis would await your arrival like prey to a starved predator? It would be laughable if it didn't reek so profoundly of your desperation."

Before Cyclonus could speak further, there was another flurry of activity as one of the nearby Decepticons called out.

"Hey! That Autobot needs a medic! And Scorponok wants him alive so bows your chance to shine! Hurry up!"

The Autobot Brainstorm moved to do exactly that, but was clapped back by the vicious hand of Snapdragon. Cyclonus moved to intervene before the situation escalated.

"The Autobot speaks truth, in this instance. Get the functional ones to the brig," Cyclonus said, before turning to the other Decepticons. "Decepticons, finish your work and get to the Tyrannis by whatever means necessary. We depart soon, for vengeance and victory."

Saying no more, Cyclonus turned and stalked off.

Garrus 9 – Corridors

"I mean look at that! Who knows what secrets lie beneath these Autobot plates?"

“The Autobots would be my guess,” Stranglehold grunted in response, shifting the Technobot on his shoulder slightly and moving on ahead. “C’mon, ‘Punch. Back to the ole flag ship. It’s-“

"Decepticons, finish your work and get to the Tyrannis by whatever means necessary. We depart soon, for vengeance and victory."

“Yeah. What he said. Time to go.” With that Stranglehold marched down the halls and toward the hangar where they’d hop ship back onto the Semper Tyrannis.


Elsewhere

During his solitary trek back to the Semper Tyrannis, Snaptrap glanced to the Autobot that he had tucked under his arm. Giving the Technobot Lightspeed a rough shake, Snaptrap looked to him to see if he showed any signs of stirring. There were some questions that he wanted answered. More out of curiosity than anything, but if his team were to undergo this procedure eventually, he wanted to know what to expect.

It seemed like control was an issue.

Corridors

Time to go! Finally! As much as Sinnertwin wanted to wreck up this place some more, the need to get away from this, this prison, superseded that. He looked around at all of his fellow Decepticons packing up and getting ready to go, his optics settling on Blot and Hun-Gurr, his teammates.

They were picking themselves up off the ground after being too quick to chomp on that Combiner.

Serves them right.

He moved on from them and-what was that? Autobots? A sadistic grin -a smirk really- crept up across the Terrorcon's faceplate. He trotted over to the group.

"So, what do we have here?" He asked, making an effort to look each Autobot in the optics, staring them down.

Corridors

Goldrush stood off to the side and listened quietly as the others milled about. He didn't know an exceeding amount about these higher-ranking and more powerful Decepticons, but he knew more than enough to not draw any additional attention to himself. His situation was already somewhat precarious. No need to exacerbate.

So....the 'Tyrannis', mm? That sounds like a lovely ship," he muttered before falling into the group that had started to follow after Cyclonus.
___

A giant hand reached through the darkness, stretching its metallic digits wide. It almost had him. Almost........almost......

Lightspeed felt himself being jostled back into consciousness. And he was moving, though not of his own volition. He was being carried. Wonderful. When did that ever bode well?

"The others...." Lightspeed mumbled.
___

Stormwrecker heaved a sigh of relief. He couldn't believe it. They were still alive. Who'da guessed? For the Autobots, though, that did not particularly improve their situation. His however had improved considerably.

Still, he had some debts of survival to be paid and the bulky iron dealer wasn't one to forego those debts. As such, he fell in behind Umbra and moved to a position to assist with the Monstercon that she seemed to enjoy interacting with.

Garrus 9 - Corridors

"The others...."

Ah, good. The Technobot had managed to wake without further prompting. And, of course, as most Autobots might, he called out for his comrades. Still, it did seem to indicate that this Technobot was in proper control of his own mind. It wasn’t certain, but Snaptrap supposed he ought to address the Technobot’s worries. Autobots had a stubborn tendency to go on about nothing other than their comrades when concerned for them.

“Are being transported to the Semper Tyrannis. As are you,” came Snaptrap’s flat, cold reply, “They’ll be tended to. Lord Scorponok wants them alive after all. So the likelihood of them coming to any harm is slight but not impossible.”

Snaptrap let his reply sink in for a few astroseconds before he proceeded. He had a particular approach in mind. Perhaps it would be best if Tentakil attempted this kind of approach. He’d certainly be more convincing. As it was, he would have to persevere.

“And what of yourself? Are you injured or in need of medical assistance?” he asked in that same cold, flat tone. “Describe how you are feeling.”

Garrus 9 – Corridors

"I'm not entirely sure, no. But I do know that any condition I find myself in outside of Monstructor is a welcome one. Truth be told, I thought my number was up also. Not literally, I suppose. But with what little self-awareness I possessed, I tried desperately to cling to it. Like it was the only thing that would pull me out of the abyss. And in the end, maybe it did."

Shouldering some of Icepick’s weight, Umbra did her best to support him and not collapse herself. It had been a long few cycles, and she had been in Monstructor’s terrifying and draining presence not once but twice without refueling. She offered him a reassuring smile.

“Well, at least it’s over for now. And I’m sure that the- er. Lord Scorponok’s Decepticons will look after you and your friends. Make sure that you will come back out of it. Hopefully without so much of a fuss.”

Umbra chuckled softly as she thought of their situation. “For me, it seems like it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire. Not sure what’s gonna happen next…” She trailed off as she saw someone approaching in her peripheral. Fear clenched her spark as she turned her head to see who it was. Stormwrecker. Relief washed over her like a reassuring tide. Not yet. She hadn’t been found out yet. But it would only be a matter of time. She…needed to get a plan. Have a plan.

“Hey Storms,” she piped up with a smile on her faceplate. Handling his gun back to him, Umbra gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry about that…Didn’t think that we’d be facing off against the second one so soon after the first. You holding up okay?”

Every memory flashed at once. Ones that weren't his. Ones that were. Ones that seemed to be his, but others' as well. They merged as together, then pulled apart. Darkness enfolded him... With a little light slowly coming into view... Awareness... Swinging... back and forth...

Strafe awoke with a start. What the s-

He saw the floor of Garrus-9. He felt himself being moved. He wasn't moving his own though?

"What the slaaaaaaaaa..." That wasn't the intended shouting he was hoping to let out.

OOC: (Writer's note- I have absolutely no idea who picked Strafe up, as it wasn't pointed out specifically.)

Garrus 9 – Corridors

"A greater exercise in futility I cannot presently imagine," Cyclonus said evenly, stepping past Sparkstalker so that he could approach the Autobots. "And from the mines, where then would you go? The hangar, perhaps? And then where? Launch yourselves into the heavens, where the Semper Tyrannis would await your arrival like prey to a starved predator? It would be laughable if it didn't reek so profoundly of your desperation."

“Tch,” Roadbuster scowled behind his mouthplate. The worst part of that tirade is that the Con wasn’t wrong. They were desperate. To get free. To bust out. Pit, he was itching for it more than anyone. Slaggit. Slaggit all. Well, it wasn’t all bad. Their little adventures in the mines had given them a lot of goodies to play with at least.

Speaking of, where was that little Bot they’d sent up? He didn’t see her among their number, which likely meant that she hadn’t been caught. Yet. Maybe, if it stayed that way, she could break them out on the Semper Tyrannis. Still, they’d need Max. Or maybe…they didn’t. Leaving the big guy to die with the Cons wasn’t ideal, but if they could escape and come back with reinforcements?

Bah! As much as Roadbuster would love it, they couldn’t expect to rip their way through the Con flagship, grab Max who probably couldn’t even move, and vamoose. Could they?

“Whirl,” he muttered under his breath to his fellow former Wrecker, “You see the princess anywhere?”

Garrus-9 – Corridors

Rippersnapper took several steps backwards as Hun-Grrr got back up to his feet, sending an intense glare at anyone who was staring at him. The former actor quickly looked away to avoid any violent repercussions that his master might throw at him. As it were, Hun-Grrr said nothing and simply removed his sword from Afterburner before picking up Scattershot and carrying him off down a corridor.

The shark-former let out a deep sigh of relief. “Well, at least he didn’t take it out on us,” the terrorist commented to Blot, whose prior question had been left unanswered. Rippersnapper leaned in close to his dimwitted comrade and whispered into his audios. “Heh, looks like the master ignored you. Tough break.”

Cutthroat, who had been standing nearby, flew off in the direction Hun-Grrr had just gone, leaving his teammates behind. Rippersnapper could care less and instead glanced around to see if there were any other damaged ‘Bots that needed to be carried. It appeared as though all of the Technobots were being taken care of, leaving nothing for the former actor to lug around. Good. The last thing Ripper wanted to deal with was a wounded Autobot that would do nothing but whine and cry in his audio receptor all the way back to the Semper Tyrannis.

“Let’s go, Blot,” Rippersnapper said finally. “There’s no more food here for us. So, the sooner we’re off this rock the better.” The shark monster then looked back over his shoulder plate to see Sinnertwin fraggin’ around with some Autobot prisoners. “Come on, Sinner, we’re leaving! Sparkstalker and Hardshell can handle those fraggin’ Bots. Besides, we can’t eat ‘em, anyway.”

And with that said, Rippersnapper plodded off down the corridor towards the hangar bay where they would find a ride back up to the Semper Tyrannis.

Corridors to Corridors That No Have a Giant Robot In Them

Acid followed along behind the Bots and Cons wordlessly as there was not much to say. When they reached the area the other Deceptions, he could see signs of a battle, now since over.

He turned to look at Ion Storm and Nova Storm as orders came through to head for the Semper Tyranis. "Well, this should be fun... out of the caves, and into a flying tin can...."

Combiner-Destroyed Corridors

Sinnertwin opened his mouth again to taunt the Autobots. After all, what good were prisoners of you couldn't have a little bit of fun with them? Then he was interrupted by a voice.

“Come on, Sinner, we’re leaving! Sparkstalker and Hardshell can handle those fraggin’ Bots. Besides, we can’t eat ‘em, anyway.”

Aww slag! Rippersnapper just had to ruin his fun, didn't he? Oh well. Fun could wait. Sinner looked at the assembled group of Autobots with another sadistic grin before trotting to join up with the rest of of his team.

"C'mon, Ripper!" he said teasingly to his teammate. "I wasn't gonna hurt them. Well, not too bad."

ctrlFrequency wrote:Corridors to Corridors That No Have a Giant Robot In Them

Acid followed along behind the Bots and Cons wordlessly as there was not much to say. When they reached the area the other Deceptions, he could see signs of a battle, now since over.

He turned to look at Ion Storm and Nova Storm as orders came through to head for the Semper Tyranis. "Well, this should be fun... out of the caves, and into a flying tin can...."

Corridors to more corridors

Nova followed along with the Bots and Cons. Even though he was not thrilled to still be in the caves, he kept his thoughts to himself. He did not feel that there was a need except for doing what was needed and hopefully get out of here. Eventually, he reached a location that showed signs of a battle but it was over. He heard what Acid said to him and Ion, which causes him to look at his trine leader.

"It would certainly be a means of getting out of here and we should be alright."

Ion heard what Acid said to him and Nova. Before he could speak, he heard what Nova said which irritated him. He clenched his fists and revealed sparks extending beyond his hands and immediately got in Nova's face as well as spoke in a stern voice with lots of heat. Their heads were mere inches from each other.

"Speak for yourself, dude! You are not the one with electrical abilities which could be problematic inside in that slagging flying tin can!"