The Energon Pub

Decepticon Outpost Tau

Ruckus gave a rusty-sounding chuckle as Motormaster began interrogating his subordinate. Poor Wildrider. Good hand in a scrap, and no mistake, but a few microprocessors short of a motherboard. And coming from somebody as suicidally reckless as Ruckus could be, that was really saying a lot.

For that very reason, the Triggercon doubted that any by-the-book officer could have made Wildrider into quite the effective instrument of terror that Motormaster had. His methods might not have been pretty, but there was no denying their effectiveness, particularly when it came to motivating a pack of half-crazed glitches like the Stunticons. Ruckus got the impression he was going to get to see a little of that hands-on approach to unit discipline firsthand in a klick or two.

The wreck of a warrior sobered immediately, however, when Roadblock addressed Motormaster's crew, and thus, by extension, Ruckus himself. He saluted as best he could while dangling over Motormaster's shoulder, then gave a rueful smile as the orders were handed out.

Slag. He always missed out on the fun stuff.

"Guess you can just drop me off here," he suggested with some disappointment. But there was no getting around that in his present condition, he was less a military asset than dead weight. "I can make it the rest of the way to the repair bays. Or maybe hitch a lift from one o' them slag-ugly Sweep things."

Decepticon Outpost Tau

Roadblock decided to show up on not all that good moment considering what Motormaster had had in mind but he didn't let the ground forces commander sway him from the path he had chosen. After all, Breakdown and Drag Strip were still missing and Ruckus was about as functional as a piranacon on dry land.

"Certainly they weren't." Motormaster said to Wildrider with a clear hint of danger in his voice. The words were suddenly followed by open palm chop from Motormaster's free arm that send the smaller Stunticon flying against the nearest wall.

"Listen up you slaggin' turboworm! You'll follow me, and we'll find rest of the team and return with them! Then you will do what commander Roadblock here so kindly requested!" The massive Decepticon bellowed, his optics burning out of agitation.

Casually throwing Ruckus towards a passing sweep by the triggercon's own request, Motormaster walked up to Wildrider and grabbed him by neck, pulled him up and pressed the terrorist against the wall. "Do we have an understanding?"

Autobase Tau-Exterior
She waited for a reply, but it seemed there was other matters that Fasttrack had to attend to.
Shrike walks out of the repair bay and finds a refueling port.
It wasn't a matter of intelligence that she asked about refueling. She simply didn't want to just go about willly nilly and do what she wanted until she got in trouble. Still some autonomy would probably be best. If they get mad, they get mad. As long as she doesn't hurt the war effort she should be okay.

After topping off quickly, she heads out to see if she can help destroying the tunnels.

She probably didn't need to do much.
Plenty of units here has considerable firepower. How many can use it seems to be another matter.
She looks at the other injured. "Fasttrack is in the medical bay. He'll repair you as best he can." She says stoically.

Hook wasn't here so her final repairs would have to wait. May as well make herself useful while she waits. She's close enough to fully combat ready. At least as far as she figures.

"I'm ready to aid in tunnel destruction." She says in a clear tone to Roadblock.
She remembered three tunnels or so from her air time. They are suspended over chasms.
Her combat computer began running scenarios on how to best seal the tunnels.
Should she simply make them unstable enough to fall into depths of Cybertron, or work to barricade them off?

Certainly the Decepticons don't need bridges, do they? Virtually every last one can fly, and only a few Autobots can.
It's tactically sound to burn the bridges as it forces the Autobots to arrive more slowly and in smaller numbers.

Shrike's combat computer began drawing up plans on the best methods of taking down the bridges, though most methods left them virtually unsalvageable.

What possible variables would require intact roadways?
Maybe the ground vehicle Decepticons would prefer to roll. They would probably be faster that way.

Maybe the higher ranking officers have better ideas.

Deceptibase Tau - Entrance

"Git in line, then," Roadblock nodded as Shrike volunteered for the demolition detail. It appeared that Motormaster had some other ideas about in what order the Stunticons would carry out their orders, but the ground forces commander had no quarrel with it...this time. An understaffed Stunticon team wasn't much of a team at all. The purple and black Pretender glanced at Motormaster and spat a streak of gummy, brown transmission fluid onto the ground.

"Fair 'nuff. Collect yer boys - or smelt what's left of 'em, if that's the case - an' we'll see if there's anything left fer 'em ta do," he told the Stunticon boss. "C'mon," he growled at Shrike, heading toward the semi-concealed tunnel entrances a short distance from the base.

He simply walked for now, his outer vehicle shell being repaired by the drones at the moment. Roadbuster had done quite a number on it, he had to admit. Don't matter, though. I did a Pit of a lot worse ta him, that olive-drab sacka kremzeek crap.

"Look at this slag," he said, shaking his head. "Lil' morons did most of our work fer us already," he pointed to where Throttlebot charges had mostly collapsed the tunnel entrances behind the Autobot retreat. Sending a comm signal to a squad of Sweep drones, the Pretender barked a few orders to them as they arrived.

"Pile the rubble up high," he snarled. "Lotsa meltable stuff, too. We wanna make something that'll turn ta goo then harden." He looked to Shrike. "Ol' trick fer sealing up doors an' makin' barricades, that sorta thing. Turn yer local rubble an' wreckage heap inta a damn hard fortification with a lil' heavy liftin' an' heat. You tell this bunch how an' where ta use their heat lasers ta get these hidey-holes sealed up real tight, understand?"

Tagon Heights- The Tunnel Cave-ins

She follows Roadblock with no hesitation.

"Yes, Sir." She replied calmly to Roadblock's orders after a virtually unnoticeable hesitation.
It was a surprise to her that she were given command of a squad of Sweeps. Even temporarily.
It was sweeps, and mere drone sweeps at that, but it was still flattering to be trusted in leading them.

She still doesn't like those drones though. Mass production units with little skill compared to non-drones have their uses but honestly she'd rather have an intelligent 'con fighting with her. Quality over quantity one might say.
But she's well capable of setting that aside to work with them.

Since the plan to reinforce the existing cave in is less combat oriented than her previous plans she adapted to use more systems.
She enjoys combat, but she isn't limited by that enjoyment. That'd be an idiotic botch in programming to over specialize.

A more labor intensive method as opposed to just weakening the center area, then severing the end nearest to Tagon Heights and letting it snap under it's weight. But incase the tunnels are needed again they'd be there.

She turns to the Sweep drones and spoke in a volume loud enough for the sweeps to hear. "We don't have much time as the Autobots will assault at any time! The Autobots did most of the work for us, but like everything the Autobots do, we can do better! We can improve on it! Lets make their return trip as hard as we can, and lets not leave anything to chance!" She spoke in a motivational tone.

Shrike begins the work details. She began the task of splitting the squad into as many workable groups as she could, then has those groups split between the materials gatherers, and those who'll apply the materials.
She added the ghastly order that any Autobots left on the battlefield will be used as materials for the barricades, but their weapons, fuel cells, and anything that makes them stand out technologically will be taken for recycling.
She creeps out some of the Sweeps with the latter amendment.

She paused and ran further calculations, visualizing the combat scenarios in rough detail, then continued working with the sweeps. "We will start with the materials closest to the cave in. The more heat resistant materials will be added to fill in gaps. Then the easily melted materials will be added on top and melted into the barricade. The next layer we will be using slagged Autobots, and more of the hard and soft materials to add their strength to the wall, and we'll make sure they're visible from the air!"
If the thought would disturb a few sweeps, then it'd work wonders on the Autobots.

She continues her instructions. "After sealing the barricades, we will also build a steep, shallow ditch just ahead of the rubble when the barricade is complete, and then fill the ditch with small sharp debris. Odds are good more zealous Autobots will charge in. When they do, the sharp debris trapped in the ditch will harm their tires, and the sudden drop will cause bots on foot to stumble, or at the least, get slowed."

She continues painting the picture. "Beyond that ditch, close enough for a good kill zone but far enough from the barricades from any explosives used to punch through, we will build cover for the people guarding the barricades. There will be more details on that when we get to it. They may be expecting to be fired upon immediately as they enter Tagon Heights, and we should not disappoint!"
She saw the plans constructed in her scenarios.

"First, we work on the tunnel barricades! They are of the highest priority! Let us begin!"
Every sweep but one gets to work.

That sweep frowns at her. "Why should we follow your orders?!" He complained a bit too much judging by Shrike's reaction.
She's in front of the sweep in a second's time. Her wrist blade up along the bridge of his nose glowing white hot. She is close, really close, looking hard into his eyes with her glowing green optics.
Her tone comes out flatly. "If you do not follow my orders YOU will be added to the Autobot building materials! Your technology will be ripped out of your kicking and screaming body and your head mounted on a pike to help motivate the rest." Her tone did not falter. It did not show weakness. She may have even let some of the disdain for the drones seep in for added impact.

He goes quiet possibly losing a shade of color or two, then begins working, grumbling lightly, but working all the same.

She joins in the labor, applying the materials with her hands using the heat lasers from the sweeps and the heat from her thrusters to help melt materials.
The simple fact she worked with the Sweeps surprised them enough. It helped with morale, and they complained less seeing their temporary leader doing what they were asked to do.

A pile of Autobot corpses soon reaches high near the materials pile ready for phase two of the reinforcement of the barricades.

She spent no time thinking about her horrifying methods.
Psychological warfare is one of the stronger variables in her plans, not because she likes the horrifying things, but because it effects the mindset of those that oppose her.
The horrors of the wall would dishearten, enrage, or throw off the Autobot's combat abilities. Imagine what they'd think seeing their former comrades melted into the wall used to stop them. The realization of Autobot badges being mixed in with the body parts after they blast through the walls.

Making convincing threats towards the Sweeps motivated those with doubts a great deal. She tried being nice, after all.

Decepticon Outpost Tau

The blow was painful, but unsurprising. Being a part of the Stunticons meant subjecting oneself to the occasional outburst of abuse. The trade off being they that were pretty much given free license to run wild in nearly combat situation. For Wildrider, that was more than a satisfactory trade.

"Uh, right behind ya," Wildrider grunts, pushing himself to his feet.

The fact that Roadblock had given him an order, and Motormaster had given him an order shortly thereafter had almost made the poor Stunticon's notoriously short attention span go haywire. Motormaster had laid it out pretty straight, though. He'd do what he said...but he'd get his pipe bombs ready just in case.

He couldn't ever use up enough of those. Just a matter of having the raw materials on hand.

Decepticon Outpost Tau

"Oof!" Ruckus grunted indignantly as he was passed off to a random Sweep drone like a scack of spare parts. No respect for the (sort of) walking wounded, that was Motormaster's problem. Well. One of his problems, anyway. Probably wouldn't have hurt him to work on his social skills a little, too. Not that there were many problems that couldn't be resolved with a swift application of brutal force, but still.

Oh, well. No use griping over spilt lubricant.

He watched Roadblock, Shrike, and the Stunticons work out who was going to be taking care of what with the sealing of the tunnels, then rapped his keeper on the side of the helmet lightly with his functioning arm. "Awright, ya plug ugly pile o' slag," no sense in mincing words with a mechanoid that didn't have the good sense Primus gave a Throttlebot, "to the Repair Bay, an' make it snappy, yeah?"

It might have been his imagination, but Ruckus could have sworn the Sweep grimaced just slightly. The aerial combat drone then shifted him awkwardly (and none-too-gently) over his shoulder and began shuffling in what he hoped was the general direction of the maintenance facilities.

Decepticon Outpost Tau

"Of course you will." Motormaster smirked and transformed into his all terrain cargohauler mode. Tires screeching the black and grey mechanical monster rolled out of the former Autobase in order to find his missing henchmen only to almost flatten them mere astroseconds after leaving the building complex.

"You slaggin' scrapheaps! What in the abyss took ye so long?!" Motormaster bellowed and transformed into his robot mode, dwarfing the wounded Breakdown and Drag Strip who had been helping his paranoid brother in arms limbing towards the base.

"Hey! Weren't it for mr. I lost my other leg I'd been first of the bunch inside!" Drag Strip protested, glaring Wildrider angrily. "That emptyheaded slagger just decided to forget we existed."

With a half amused grin on his cruel facial features Motormaster walked up to his two underlings, stopping just before knocking them over. "Hmrph. Not much more than a scratch. They just don't build mechs like they used to."

Not seeing any sweeps around whom to use for transporting Breakdown to medbay, Motormaster forcefully snatched the mostly white Stunticon away from Drag Strip. Throwing Breakdown on his shoulder much like he had done with Ruckus earlier, Motormaster headed back into the newest addition to the chain of Decepticon outposts. "Wildrider! Take Drag Strip and join Roadblock's boys! I'll have this son of an empty escorted to medbay. Don't think you have to wait me for long."

Decepticon Outpost Tau

"On it, boss," Wildrider says, glad of the opportunity to get away from incurring any "friendly" psyhical damage for a while at the hands of his team commander.

He then looks at Drag Strip, who had been casting him an evil glare. The Stunticon Terrorist returned it with one of his own.

"Aww, what's the problem? Too slow? Couldn't outmaneuver a few Autoscraps? Might be you the boss is draggin' off to the repair heap next time."

Wildrider grins and heads off to find Roadblock, eager to see exactly what sort of uses he had in store for his varied and experimental weaponry.

Tagan Heights- The Tunnel Cave-ins

Unless Ruckus was going to volunteer to help with the tunnel sealing as an extra pair of hands or as an extra piece of material, it'd probably be best he gets those repairs. Shrike seemed too focused on her task at hand.

The Sweeps and herself had completed the first layer of reinforcement, and the drones get to work on the second layer, which includes the slagged Autobots to add a horrifying effect to the wall for both those who blast through, and fly over.

Shrike stands and looks towards the materials gatherers. "We have enough materials to complete the barricade. Good work!" She encourages them. "We have a change of plans! Gather for new instructions!"

The sweeps grumble a bit and come to attention.

"Hey! I'm looking out for you well being! Stow it!" She watches them go quiet.
"Good. Now you'll be building the cover I mentioned earlier. The Autobots will want this area back, and they'll attack. Logic, and my combat computer dictate that one of their tactics would be to attack from the sky. We cannot underestimate their flyers." She motions towards the broken Sweeps drones littering the battlefield. "A handful of those Autobots did that." She illustrates, then continues. "The cover we will be building will serve as cover from not only a forward attack, but an assault from the air. We will have to make a well designed fortification to afford protection from both the front and the sky. You may not be using it, but the ones that do use this cover will, and they will have the chance to shoot down, and damage attacking Autobots before they get to you! And when you engage them they will be helping you from the ground if they can and not slagged on the first pass." She walks in front of the unit. "So you see the importance?"

"Yes ma'am!" More than a few were surprised she treated them less like pawns and seemed concerned over their well being.

"Good!" She kneels down, and extends a wrist blade. "This will be the the design of the cover." She begins drawing a quarter tube large enough for the average Decepticon with structural support at the sides.
"This shape will offer optimal defensive form." Then she adds a six way slot in the front with the slots wide enough to allow for some swivel room for most single barrel weapons. "This slot will allow most units to fire in any necessary direction while offering optimal cover for each unit! They will be able to fire Side to side, up and down, and 2 diagonal directions upwards."

She draws a layout of the area in the ground with her blade "This will be the positioning of each cover site. These quarter tubes will be built as much like this as possible!" The design is a triangular cluster of small bunkers positioned to offer cover for each other, and offer 2 rows of fire. Efficient, but not completely fool proof. There's a lot of variables she can't control. Firepower of the ground units, how early those units are warned, and stuff like that.

She splits up the sweeps on cover detail into two groups. "Group one, gather the materials. Same as before, easily melted materials, and hard pieces. Rip it from the ground if you have to! Begin!" They begin the task at hand.

"Group two! You will be helping me by building the molds for each piece." She draws out the shapes for each piece. It's a simple 3 piece build. One large sheet for the front, then the 2 side pieces. "We start by taking small scraps, and build the outline with the harder to melt materials towards the inside. The softer materials will be on the outside holding it together. The mold will be 3 inches deep. We will then place the materials into the molds, and then melt them down. After we make each piece the front piece will be reheated and bent to fit the side pieces." The cover wouldn't be the greatest, but it'll be better than nothing. And it'll be, hopefully, a relatively quick to build.
She begins work with her team.

Meanwhile the other Sweeps of the barricade team start welding the broken Autobots to the exterior of the Tunnel barricades, and as ordered, they make sure that they're visible from the air.

Near the Entrance to the Tunnels

“Sweeps! Cancel your current orders!” Scorponok’s voice boomed throughout the area as the giant Decepticon made his way over to where the various Decepticons were working. The Sweeps obediently stopped what they were doing and came to attention as he strolled past them. He came to a stop in front of the tunnel entrance, studying the work already done on it and what had been started of additional defenses. A scowl formed on his face. He had wanted the tunnels sealed as quickly and efficiently as possible, but it appeared that someone had decided to take their time and be creative about it.

He turned and barked out additional orders. “Sweeps, take the rest of the deactivated Autobots and Decepticons to the repair bay for recycling. Their parts will prove more valuable in repairing our comrades than in building material.” As the Sweeps quickly moved to follow his orders the Decepticon general scanned the area. Roadblock was not nearby, which meant he must have delegated the orders to start sealing the tunnels to another. He might have to discuss that with him later. “Who is in charge of sealing the tunnels?”

Tagon Heights- The Tunnel Cave-ins

Well, if Scorponok barking orders, and rather angrily at that, wasn't intimidating and/or frightening she didn't know what was.
It even got to her stoic core.

Shrike stood from her work, left alone after the sweeps had fallen into formation.

Sucking it up, Shrike stands at attention before Scorponok. "I was placed in charge of sealing the tunnels!" She states clearly, and calmly.
She didn't show much fear due to her face plate, and her militaristic nature, and she didn't sound too scared as she did her best to remain composed before the looming Decepticon commander who is easily many times larger than her.
Though oddly, if he were an Autobot, she would assault without fear.

The last thing she wanted to become was some sniveling lackey with no back strut, cringing and cowering at every raised voice. She faced one of the few things that managed to scare her, for better or worse. Usually in the Decepticon ranks, it was worse.
Still predicting what a Decepticon would do next is not a science. All she knew is he wasn't happy.

But in the end, she's sure enough of her actions, feels they're right, and wants to show that physically and verbally.
She has her reasons well in mind.

And the tunnels were sealed, although a bit ghoulishly by this point. Efficiently sealed as well. At least to the point he wanted. Not only was the wall sealed there is a pile of fuel cells, weapons, and technology ripped from the Autobot corpses near the materials for recycling.
What is not among the materials is Decepticon parts. She left those to who ever was cleaning up the field to do with as they deemed correct.
Mixing the two factions for those in the sky to see was not as potent in creating a more easily defeated mindset. It just gives the impression of derangement, not horror.

Maybe she overestimated the desire to maintain a strong tactical front? Hm, well, no point in thinking about it now, she'll find out soon what he's angry about.

"I do feel justified in my actions for numerous reasons, Commander Scorponok." She adds, sounding ready to list them off, if he wanted.

Well, all that's left is to see what will come of Scorponok's anger with quiet dignity.

Decepticon Outpost Tau - Repair Bay

After a bit of stumping around and a few choice curses at some unavoidable jostling, Ruckus and the Sweep drone reached what was left of the former Autobase's repair facilities. Wasn't a whole lot left of it, from the look of things, but that was probably to be expected. The Triggercon supposed they should just be happy the little slaggers hadn't rigged the whole place to blow sky high just as soon as the Decepticons had started to make themselves comfortable.

Primus knew, that's what he would have done, if he'd been in their position.

Without requiring additional instructions, the winged combat drone deposited Ruckus upon the nearest available examination table, turned on its heel, and stalked off to rejoin its comrades. And good riddance, too. "Thanks fer the lift," he remarked dourly, scanning the room for any sign of a maintenance team. Unfortunately, the only other mech in the room was Fast-track, and Ruckus was not going to be bothering him, that was for damned sure. That would have been like asking the big guy himself, and Scorponok had to have better things to do right then than worry about the condition of the frontline grunts.

He cast a somewhat wistful look at a half-demolished CR chamber lying off in one corner, then fished around the table for whatever tools came to hand. Ruckus might not have been any kind of proper engineer, but he could handle some of the easy stuff on his own. Came with vorns of practice. Amazing what a little trial and error could teach a 'Con.

Decepticon Outpost Tau - Repair Bay

"You are still here?" Motormaster boomed as he marched into the repair bay where Fast-Track was treating Ruckus' wounds.

"And here I thought you said it was just a minor injury, heh." The large Stunticon added and placed Breakdown on an empty operating table. "Too bad. For you."

"Here's one more slagger for you weld together Fast-Track." Motormaster bellowed and turned around to leave.

"Don't be too gentle, serves him right for wrecking himself." He added as he left the room and set out for finding Roadblock, leaving Breakdown watching after him with a murderous glare in his optics.

<hr>

Decepticon Outpost Tau

Not wanting to lose an inch to Wildrider, Drag Strip transformed and sped after his fellow Stunticon, not taking long to reach him.

"I'd beat you any orn Wildcrawler. Just watch me!"

Decepticon Outpost Tau

"Hahah! In ya dreams, Draggy," Wildrider calls out, having already transformed in to his vehicle mode, revving the accelerator a little harder for affect as he races along.

Wildrider had hardly ever been the most road-conscious Decepticon to ever join the ranks, but in crammed quarters such as this, even he had to be a little more aware of his personal surroundings. He didn't exactly want to knock over an energon tanker--as if they'd be so lucky to stumble across one--and send the whole place up in flames.

It didn't take long before he found Roadblock again. Transforming back in to his bot mode, he attempts to contain his internal excitement. He noticed others who were apparently gathering up all of the leftover frag from the battle.

"Reportin' as ordered, Roadblock...heheheh."

Wildrider rubs his hands together, eagerly anticipating any assignment that made ample use of his typically destructive personality.

Decepticon Outpost Tau

"Tunnels are well in hand," Roadblock told the somewhat late-coming Wildrider and Drag Strip. "Yer late, but I won't slag ya this time. Easier just ta send ya back ta Motormaster an' let him deal with ya. Tell yer boss he can have ya back fer whatever task he's got in mind."

Turning from the Stunticons, Roadblock headed back into the base proper once more. He searched for a moment, quickly finding what he was after. Here we go. Ol' blue boy scout's office. Pushing aside the heavy door, he moved into the room and pulled the door shut again. Sitting down at the large desk, he activated the data console and began digging into Ultra Magnus' files - or what was left of them.

Near the Entrance to the Tunnels

Scorponok looked down at the smaller Decepticon taking responsibility for sealing the tunnels. Shrike was listed as only a warrior, a fact that further annoyed the general. She had gone too far in trying to rig up extensive defenses around the tunnels. He had wanted them collapsed, anything more than that was a waste of energy for simple Transformers like the Sweeps. He did not relish the having to dress down the warrior, but it was necessary. While there was some chaos among the Decepticon ranks, some strict discipline had to be maintained, and in this situation, a precarious position in recently conquered territory, even a small mistake could be costly.

Scorponok’s voice was cold. “I ordered the tunnels sealed, preferably collapsed. I ordered no additional defenses or traps around it. You did not have the proper materials or knowledge to build adequate defenses, nor are the Sweeps skilled at such work. The Constructicons will be arriving in due order and I will task them with making more permanent defenses here, as that is their specialty. In the future do not overstep your orders or authority.”

With that completed, he turned to the sealed tunnels themselves. His tail snapped over his head and he discharged a powerful bold of electricity into the seal. The bolt rippled over the seal, generating enough heat to further melt parts of it, which helped further solidify it. Satisfied with the temporary defense, he made his way back into the base.

<hr>
Decepticon Outpost Tau - Repair Bay

Fasttrack scanned the severely injured Ruckus, ignoring the discussion between him and Motormaster. “Your armor damage is extensive, but your internal workings are mostly intact save for your legs. Replacements will be required. Time in the CR Chamber will be necessary to reformat the new limbs into your transformation ability.”

The Sweeps caring the deactivated Autobots and Decepticons began entering the repair bay. Fasttrack went to work scavenging parts from them to use on Ruckus. Satisfied with what he had found, he began attaching a new set of somewhat mismatched legs to the Decepticon, along with patches to his armor and in a couple of cases, entirely new plates.

Tagon Heights- The Cave-in

"Yes, Sir." She replied calmly to Scorponok. A lot of the initial fear had passed by now. If not all of it. Still he is higher in rank.
"I merely sought to take some action should the Autobots assault before the Constructicons arrive. Especially against the Autobot air units." She added calmly despite knowing the odds were stacked against her should a dedicated flying Autobot force arrive. Further she remained calm despite the fact that the gigantic Decepticon leader might not care to hear it.

If he's waiting for the Constructicons to arrive for the rest of the defenses, then why bother sending anyone but them to reinforce the cave in? The Autobots were either going to attack before the Constructicons arrived, or not. If it's in question if the Autobots would attack before the Constructicons arrive, and for her it always was, then all defensive possibilities should be taken. Naturally she were going to keep harsher thoughts like that quiet. She's a warrior, she exists to fight, she exists for warfare, who's she to argue tactics? Maybe the commander rightfully has more faith in his underlings than she does? Maybe I really should have faith in the Decepticons to do their job should the worst come? Then again my only reliable reinforcement in the air are those Sweeps as far as I can tell, but maybe I'm wrong.

If it took Scorponok's power to 'adequately' seal the cave via melting the entire pile of materials, then no squad of Sweeps nor herself could manage it. Not a single one of them or the entirety of them had the power to heat the entire blockade like that, or what ever he deemed adequate to make the barricade to his satisfaction. They had used every resource they had to make that block as solid as they could even with other tasks being attempted. If that was not sufficient then there was nothing to blame her over.
Her beam cannon would blow a hole into, and likely through the barricade as opposed to melt it in the manner he had. Her rifle isn't suited for melting either.
The Sweeps did the best they could with their lasers.

Despite the dressing down she did not feel incompetent. She did her best with the tools and materials she had. And she felt right in attempting to build some extra defenses. They'd be temporary if need be but they'd be there incase the Autobots attacked before the Constructicons could arrive.
She knew they were going to be inadequate, but it was certainly better than nothing.
She's not satisfied with the simplistic cave in no matter how strong it is knowing the Autobots have an air force to assault with. And she, truthfully did not want to rely on 'cons who were not present to do anything to help the situation she is in no matter how good they were at the wanted task. It does no good until they're actually here.

And she would not take the fall if the Autobots assaulted before those Constructicons managed to build their defenses. Or even before the 'cons managed to arrive. She tried to help, and it was not appreciated. It is out of her hands now.

If they needed the spare parts, the slagged Decepticons were there. Must be embarrassing to rely on Autobot parts.

At least she seemed to have avoided any serious trouble. And further orders. The latter a mixed blessing.

There she stands watching the horizon towards Iacon a moment waiting on the war, eager to see it come.
The only other thing that would even come close to rivaling her desire to do her duty as a warrior and bring victory to the Decepticons would be the arrival of Hook. His arrival means repairs so she can do her duty with greater efficiency. It means defenses against the incoming air strike. It means a better chance to win this war.

Hmph, maybe the Constructicons will arrive in time for me to be repaired before the war comes. Maybe those defenses will be up before the Autobots come. I suppose I am impatient. Still, why wait? Why gamble on the inconsistencies, the variables, the unknowns of war? We cannot afford to be over confident, or short sighted! Preparation is key. She mulled over her own thoughts while her plans for battle continued to come together. With her added defenses out of the equation then her plans have changed considerably.

Decepticon Outpost Tau - Repair Bay

"It'll be too bad for you once I get outta the shop, ya gargantuan wreck!" Ruckus called to Motormaster's departing back gamely. "I'mma cram one o' these rocket launchers right up yer giant tailpipe one orn, you wait an' see!"

An empty threat, sure. But there was no need for the Stunticon Commander to start thinking Ruckus had gone soft just because three of his four extremities were no longer in proper working order. Besides, somebody had to show Breakdown how to stand up to the intimidating Decepticon. Would it spare the mech future beatings? Absolutely not. But at least Motormaster might respect the little glitch a micron or two more as he administered them.

What was a little beating, anyway? The Triggercon had been functioning in constant pain for so long, he'd all but forgotten what it felt like not to have his diagnostic programs flaring up over some minor fault or another. Pain wasn't so bad. Built character.

He didn't complain as Fasttrack offered his professional assessment of the damage he'd sustained and began cobbling him back together again. Sure, he felt kinda goofy with a couple of mismatched shins welded to his knees, but he'd seen worse. Nothing a little paint and some polish wouldn't fix right up. Ruckus grimaced a little at the mention of the CR Chamber--he'd known a visit to one of those had been inevitable, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Whatever you say," he grunted. "Though I'd rather be out busting heads. I barely even got a proper workout in the last fight. We shoulda chased those Autobot scum all the way back to their precious Hub."

Decepticon Outpost Tau

Hey wait an astrosecond! Drag Strip wanted to protest as Roadblock gave out his order. Yet he stood silent long enough to be sure the ground forces commander was far away enough. Like Motormaster, Roadblock wasn't someone to anger.

"Slaggit! Like we were late, he got here just before us!" Drag Strip complained to Wildrider. "There's gotta be something to blow up! Anything!"

He turned towards Wildrider. "I don't slagging want to get back to Motormaster already if I can avoid it. Got any ideas?"

<hr>
Decepticon Outpost Tau - Repair Bay

Breakdown couldn't avoid listening at Ruckus's jabs at Motormaster, yet he stayed silent until the Stunticon leader was clearly gone.

"Why do you keep antagonizing him?" He finally asked the triggercon while waiting for Fastrack to take a look at the damaged hydraulics of his leg. "You are just begging for a beating. And by the looks of it he wasn't exactly gentle towards your hide when bringing you here already."

Decepticon Outpost Tau

To say that Wildrider had been disheartened by Roadblock's response would be the understatement of the orn, from Wildrider's short-sighted perspective, anyway. Here he was, practically leaking with anticipation over the chance to destroy something and now...now he was being sent back to his abusive boss in a situation where there were no more Autobots in dire need of slagging. That meant it was only more likely that they would be on the receiving end of whatever frustrations the Stunticon Commander might be feeling at any given moment.

"Uh...uh...," Wildrider looks erratically from one direction to the next.

Knocking tentatively on part of the slagged wall outside of the office that Roadblock was currently occupying, Wildrider approaches the situation cautiously. Though Motormaster was sadistic glitch in his own right, he didn't have any overwhelming desire to hack off any other considerably large Decepticon either. Crazy he may be. Stupid he was not.

"He closed the door. That must mean he doesn't wanna be disturbed right now. You knock."

Decepticon Outpost Tau - Repair Bay

The look that Ruckus shot Breakdown was quizzical, to say the least. But at least the other Decepticon's question distracted him from the slight surges of pain that accompanied Fasttrack's expert ministrations. He simply couldn't understand that kind of trepidation.

"Maybe," he said at last, rubbing thoughtfully at his chin with his functioning hand. "But so what? 'S not like the big lug can do anything worse to me than I've already been through." The statement might have sounded like little more than empty bravado, were it not for the Triggercon's half-melted faceplate and the ruined condition of his frame. There were few agonies that could be inflicted upon a Transformer with which he was not previously acquainted.

"Besides, we're Decepticons," Ruckus added philosophically. "Pain is what we do. We inflict it, we take it. It ain't gonna stop me from doing my job. Or," he added with a grin, "stop me from bustin' ol' Motormaster's chops a little when he starts throwin' his weight around. Gotta poke at that ego o' his sometimes, or he'll start thinkin' he really is invincible."

Decepticon Outpost Tau - Repair Bay

"You are insane." Breakdown finally muttered. "Serves me right for asking."

How Ruckus' could care less about pain was beyond Breakdown. There had to be something seriously wrong with his wiring. Not that it would have surprised him for the triggercon had been disassembled and put together more often than any other Decepticon. Indeed, it was rather curious Ruckus still functioned.

<hr>
Decepticon Outpost Tau

"Are you insane!" Drag Strip hissed. "No slagging way I'll disturb him."

"Oh, wait... you are."

The thought of an angry Roadblock made Drag Strip shudder. Yet, his own earlier words reminded him of the very fact that... Wildrider was insane. Perhaps, just perhaps he could goad the oddball terrorist actually do something he didn't have guts for himself. Not that he excelled it but it was worth of trying, the idea of having to act as bored Motormaster's personal punching bag didn't feel any better anyhow.

"You do it, go ahead. I know you want to blow up something. I bet you haven't had a chance to blow up anything in orns. Think of it! The explosions! The sounds of it! You rather stay here in silence doing nothing until boss finds us?"

Decepticon Outpost Tau

Left to her own devices, she transforms, and flies to a high point of the base, then transforms again to land casually upon the tower She has a seat on a flat plane while turning her gaze towards Iacon.
Things seemed so slow all of a sudden. Shrike feels an uneasy peace with the mix of quiet and the fact that the Autobots were preparing for a counter attack.
There was no sign of the Constructions.
Looking around she could see that the base had minimal defenses. It was almost repulsive. How are we to win like this?
As much as she longed to fight she isn't dumb enough to think she can take on multiple units. For long, anyhow. And it doesn't mean she wouldn't try if it came down to it.

She sits alone looking out at the sky waiting for something to happen, and letting her self diagnostics programs, and self repair protocols get to work on her thruster articulators. They may not fully repair her but she'll be closer to 100%.

She points her arm mounted rifle out towards the distant Autobot base idly. The had under the long barrel of the rifle flexes it's digits, then clenches as if to fire a shot, but none rings out.
She's reminded of why she enjoys fighting so much with the desire to relax almost coming over her. She refused to relax, and drop her guard. Those infernal Autobots won't get the drop on her.
To think she thought about spending her free time searching for upgrades, and what not. The forces here are reduced to using junked Autobots for repairs.
Just how great is this territory that they'd resort to that?

She saw those Sweeps below, making use of their free time. Hmph, not only are they poor in combat, they are also soft. One leads to the other and they'll waste away into mere cannon fodder.
It dawns on her just how few units they have here. She could guess that the Autobots numbered many more than this handful. If they didn't they would have been crushed by now.
If she thought there were enough units to spare she would consider a raid into Autobot territory. Get them mad, and demoralized. Lead them to make mistakes.
But spreading the forces too thin is foolish. Even creating a steamrolling front line leaves the rest weak to any that get by the front lines.
Do the Decepticons even have the numbers to take over Cybertron? Even with the Sweeps expecting to hold after spreading so much would likely be wishful thinking.

The whole scene went against everything she's built for. This is the bowels of Unicron that peace is. Nothing left to do but hope to rust, and deactivate.
What good cheer is there when nothing has been done, or is being done? What purpose is there when your function cannot be achieved?

Still, she is grateful to be here. After all, she could still be stuck in Tyrest and missed out on the wonderful battle that temporarily sated her desire to fight. She pitied those who didn't have the chance to seek a piece of the war here.
But playing guard duty to a place like this is not something to be grateful for. Playing defense on a place that could fall to a breeze of wind and having no one to fight. Troops practically resting on their laurels. If this keeps up too long they'll be ripe for slaughter in the next attack.

Peace. What a waste of time! Shrike continues her dissatisfied state of mind staring off into the distance with her emerald optics running combat scenarios in her mind. Her form of meditation. It helps stave off the serenity and quiet of the base that annoys her so.

All she can do now is wait like a bird of prey awaiting a tasty morsel to destroy.

Decepticon Outpost Tau

Wildrider's optics narrow noticeably. No, he wasn't stupid, but Drag Strip was right, he did want to blow something up. Or fuse something together. Anything, really, to avoid being near Motormaster's unique brand of "leadership" for a few breems. Or more.

Steeling himself, Wildrider approaches the office, knocking cautiously.

"Uh," he starts, obviously trying to think about the right way to frame his question. His processor wasn't giving him a whole lot of help in the process. "Just wondering....isn't there, I dunno, anything we can do to help you out, uh, sir?"