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Decepticon Outpost Tau - Magnus' Old Office

"Help?"

Roadblock regarded Drag Strip and Wildrider with a skeptical eye as they stood in the doorway of the former Autobot city commander's office. The two Stunticons seemed nervous, which was not unusual for Decepticons standing before Roadblock. The ground forces commander knew quite well that he had a reputation as something of a bogeyman among the rank-and-file.

Still, when a mechanoid dealt with the fear of others as frequently as Roadblock did, he got awfully good at recognizing and understanding it. The two Stunticons weren't afraid of him as much as they were afraid of someone else. And, given that they were the Stunticons, that someone else was almost inevitably Motormaster. 'Lil slaggers prolly don't wanna be around when Motormaster finally gits bored an' starts lookin' fer somethin' ta pound. If I was them, I prolly wouldn't, either...may as well put 'em ta work.

"Yeah, I got a job fer ya," he told the pair. "'Bots spent a Pit of a lotta time makin' this place look comfy an' home-like to themselves. You two are gonna tear down every scrap an' piece o' Autobot-branded garbage an' memorabilia in this dump an' pile it up in the main yard. An' then, you kin blow it ta scrap, set it on fire, whatever ya want. A good bonfire always helps morale, don't ya think? An' I'm sick o' looking at all the red sigils on every slaggin' thing."

Menial labor or a beating from Motormaster - it wasn't much of a choice, but it was better than no choice at all.

Decepticon Outpost Tau - Magnus' Old Office

It hadn’t taken Scorponok too long to locate Roadblock. He wasn’t too surprised to see him in the base commander’s former office, although he was a bit surprised to see him going through the computer files. Roadblock wasn’t much known for his technical expertise. He expected him to be looting the office or defacing it. Trying to dig up information would be more valuable, but if what he had seen in the main computer had been an example.

The General stood in the doorway behind Wildrider and Drag Stripm towering over the two Stunticons. When he spoke there was a trace of annoyance in his voice. “Roadblock, I still await a report or a simple download of your experiences with the Pretender technology in combat. The technology is far too valuable to be left to just any one Decepticon. Also, should you deign to delegate my orders to other mechs, make sure to either give them specific orders or to make sure they are fully capable of following them. Shrike was attempting to construct a series of defenses that were well beyond her level of expertise to plan.”

Decepticon Outpost Tau

Shrike remains on her perch with her combat computer considering a better rifle configuration among other things. Her combat computer was always working, maybe more so than others. Abnormally more so, maybe.

Change comes. Her combat computer doesn't want her to be stagnant.
Sooner or later she'll evolve beyond who, and what she is now, or she'll be destroyed. She doesn't expect to see the end of the war, and If she survives as she is now then she'd be disappointed.
She looked forward to evolution. Gaining better weapons, better technology, expanding her memory so she can learn as much as she can towards her goals. Improvement. Yes. Evolution that is physical, and not just mental.
Eventually evolution on all fronts. Maybe in time even becoming a better all around person. But until that time she feels such endeavors past her warfare a waste of time.

But maybe not. Thinking about it, maybe those other Decepticons are on to something, socializing and burning time. But those bots are the most surprised when it comes to combat, aren't they? The least prepared, and the first to get scrapped when the bolts, beams, and bullets start flying.

The Autobots aren't the most warlike but they have tacticians good enough to keep them a valid threat to Decepticon rule, and if she were their tactician, she'd have a strike planned by now, and commander and resources willing, put it into action.
But she's a grunt. Who'd listen to her? Despite all her grand plans odds are most would have thought of these things by now, if not of something better. Especially the dedicated tacticians who spend all their time thinking and none fighting.

Something seems to grab her attention a moment. She looks pretty angry a moment, then calms. "Slag."

Decepticon Outpost Tau

The gleam that had previously been in the Stunticon Terrorist's optics had quickly returned at Roadblock's orders. What many within the Decepticon forces would have considered to be grunt work, Wildrider viewed to be a job that was right up his alley. Plus some extra slag at the end, just to rub it in the Autobots' faces! What could be better?

"On it!" Wildrider exclaims, quickly backing out of the office and almost bumping in to Scorponok in the process--a move that he did not want to make. Only some quick stepping prevented what would have otherwise been an embarrassing collision that would have put him in worse condition than having allowed Motormaster work him over for a while.

"Look at that," Wildrider says, talking to Drag Strip as the Stunticon walked away from the office, his optics now trained to spot any Autobot sigil. "Take a little initiative? Get rewarded. Heh. And we get to destroy stuff."

Entering Tagan Airspace

Aboard Astrotrain, The Constructicons stood in silence, contemplating the task before them and the complications that had arisen during the trip. The only noise other than the hum of Astrotrains engines was the rumble of Mixmaster's drum, and the grinding noise as Bonecrusher molded steel plate between his fingers to keep himself occupied. Scrapper turned away from the window, where he'd been in contemplation of the view of the Rust Sea.

"Hook, do you have any specific ideas as to what we shall construct once the repairs to the Tagan facilities are complete? What about the Rest of you? I personally think we should build seige units, something to keep the Autobots bottled up in their fortresses. And possibly a large unit, to counter the threat of their Sentinel robot." Those two ideas aren't incompatible, actually. "Objections? Observations?"

Decepticon Outpost Tau

She continues her self appointed sentry duty perched on a high point of Tau even though she lacked radar. With her combat computer predicting assaults from not just Iacon now it would help if she did have it.
She chuckles softly at the thought of having a sweep drone dismantled so she can use their equipment as her own.
Then wonders why they don't just upgrade every Decepticon with the Sweep's equipment? But she squelches such silly thoughts quickly, and focuses on the horizon, turning to look at as much a she can.
She keeps an audio open, and her radio on.
She has all the busy work she wants at the moment. Hopefully if anyone wants anything from her, it'll be important. Just as, or more so than making sure the Autobots don't easily use a sneak attack.

Frankly all she wanted to see is the arrival of the Constructicons so they could properly do what she wanted to do, and that's build a strong defensive perimeter that would slow if not stop the Autobots.
The tactical facet of her combat computer had been practically ranting and raving about the condition of the base's defenses. That Iacon isn't the only worry anymore. The Autobots had defenses towards the Rust Sea, why shouldn't they? The Decepticons didn't control all the areas around Tagan and those areas are a threat, too.

It wasn't that she were a coward in wanting a potent defensive circuit around Tau. She figured anyone with half a tactical circuit would want that.
If the Autobots assaulted, she'd fling herself into combat with zeal after sending out the alert. A fleet of Optimus Prime clones could blast through the barricade and charge with guns as large as they are, and she'd attack all the same, fighting beams and blades to save Tau as long as she could.

It's just that when the Autobots do assault, and she's pretty slagging certain they will with the only questions being from where and when, she'd rather have some better defended allies than allies left out in the open.
Maybe some more reliable backup for herself in terms of aerial combatants.
The longer the experienced Decepticons can fight, the longer she can fight. Even though she could very well be the last Decepticon on the field the fight would have likely been longer because she isn't drawing all the fire.

She isn't sure she even outranks the drones so counting on them for anything but being cannon fodder is foolish. She could coordinate them around her in terms of small scale tactics, but the last time she were placed in command, well, she didn't make a grand impression on her superiors.

It's for that reason she's kept her vocal processors silent about her latest scenarios. She isn't designated as a Tactician, and her rank is as low as she'd want it to go, so who'd listen anyhow?

All she can do is have faith that her allies already know what she knows, and wait and see when the fighting starts how well they handle things.

Entering Tagan Airspace

"Well, it all depends, of course, on what materials are available to us." Hook replied dryly to Scrapper "However, should we have the correct materials I believe we should focus primarily, at least for a short while, on improving upon any defenses that the Heights already contain before we begin to build further defenses. After all, there is no point in having one point stronger or weaker than the other. The Autobots would be sure to find a way to exploit this if we did." Hook paused. "Of course, should we find that some materials are unavailble, I know a certain jet we could... 'recycle'!"

Entering Tagan Airspace

"Triggerhappy's head is not going on any gunsights Hook. We're still all Decepticons whether we like it or not. If he makes a move, we'll deal with him. Besides, from what I'm told, there'll be plenty of dead autobots to use for decoration."

"But yes, we need to make our defenses as robust as possible before we proceed with anything major. I will want to see what defenses the autobots made, and how they were so easily defeated." The Tagan Hieght would never fall so easily again, if Scrapper had anything to say about it.

Discussion done for now, Scrapper reactivated his radio, but set it for a tight-beam communication. >>Astrotrain, what's our ETA?<<

Decepticon Outpost Tau

One could say Drag Strip was as excited as Wildrider was about this particular task. Of all Stunticons propably only Dead End would not have been excited of getting to express oneself with wanton destruction. With an ecstatic grin on his face, Drag Strip followed Wildrider away from the office, barely avoiding Scorponok himself which effectively returned him to realite for a moment at least.

Uuuh... gotta watch my step, got too carried away with my latest victory. He thought while stumbling away from the gargantuan Decepticon warlord. Seeing Wildrider already gaining distance to him. Drag Strip forgot Scorponok quickly and ran after his teammate.

"Iniative, yeah! You wouldn't have even asked for this task without me!" He smirked, visor gleaming of excitement again.

'Pfft! No sense of humour!' Hook thought after the reaction his joke got from Scrapper

"Yeah. No offense Astrotrain, but it ain't exactly the most pleasant of experiences in here. Sooner I get out of here the better." Hook said.

Approaching Decepticon Outpost Tau

Broadcasting his sigil code so that the Sweep drones wouldn't attempt to blow him out of the sky, Astrotrain began his descent toward the newly-captured base.

"Quit your whining," he chided Hook. "Unless you want to get out here and walk the rest of the way, at fifteen thousand meters up. We're only about a breem away, anyway."

Setting in final approach coordinates, the Triplechanger made his way downward.

Decepticon Outpost Tau - Magnus' Office

"Shrike?" Roadblock rubbed his chin, then spat a gob of fouled fluid into the corner of the room. "Gonna have ta have a lil' chat with that one, if she's gettin' too big fer her chassis." Foulin' up a simple assignment, makin' me look like a fool...not on my slaggin' watch. He stood up from the desk, lifting a datapad as he did.

"Data's gone from their systems. But you prolly knew that already, Lord Scorponok. They cleaned up best they could. If it one thing 'Bots are good at, it's runnin' away."

He handed the datapad to the much larger Transformer. "Here's my battle ROMs, with commentary. Only issue I found with any of the new tech is feelin' the pain in all three of me at once when only one of me is gettin' hurt. A lil' bit annoyin', but well worth it anyway. I felt like a million energon cubes out there, slaggin' those 'Bots easy as pickin' off petrorabbits with a plasma cannon."

Clanging his fist against his chestplate in a salute of gratitude, Roadblock wondered what plans Scorponok had for implementing the new technology in other Decepticons. No question he'll want ta git on upgradin' a few others like me. Question is, who? An' who's gonna run the Heights while he's doin' it...

Decepticon Outpost Tau

She felt ill all of a sudden. Like someone walked over her deactivated hull. An odd sensation that was new to her.
Shrugging it off she resumed scanning the horizon.

In the distance she spots a lone dot in the sky. She radios a Sweep drone. << Drone, can you tell who is in these coordinates?>> She sends those promptly.

The Sweep replies <<A Decepticon. Astrotrain.>> He sounded rather snide in his reply as if rejoicing in further showing superiority over his ex-leader. The fact she had to resort to him to get answers on top of her insistence that they go above and beyond the call of duty in building defenses beyond making the cave-in stronger and getting yelled at by Scorponok.
Even on top of that there was an undertow of revenge. Shrike had gotten the Sweeps yelled at, too.
But he keeps that sensation to himself, greedily, from the other drones like the only whole energon goodie in a box of broken ones.

Shrike wanted to cut that Sweep down for that tone, but instead she radios to Scorponok and Roadblock <<Shrike reporting. Astrotrain is approaching Deceptibase Tau.>> she says in a steady, dutiful tone oblivious to the fact that she had cast trouble into the command structure, and likely had some of that trouble coming to her.

Then again, she never figured she'd be ordered to do something she couldn't do very well.
Destroy the tunnels, maybe, yeah. Quasi-delicate Cybertronian cement making, no.
Scorponok was right in wanting to leave that to the fast approaching Constructicons.

Could she be totally to blame? In the Decepticon army, probably. At least she may as well have been.
Still, she remained dutiful, and all but blindly loyal. If trouble comes, then there's nothing she can do.
Still, she might luck out. The arrival of allies might take their minds off the incident.

Approaching Decepticon Outpost Tau

"Well, I guess it isn't too bad in here." Said Hook, replying to Astrotrain.

And with that the Constructicon went silent as he activated various memory banks, looking at various projects of his, mainly for ones he would enjoy taking up again. After a few moments he stopped searching, opening two banks.

'Ah, project Arachadis and Triform. Yes. I've been meaning to get back to these!' He thought. 'I shall have to see if time will allow me to continue them though.'



Meanwhile, as Astrotrain descended towards outpost Tau, Triggerhappy entered it, transforming and landing. He looked around and noted where evrything was. 'Soon.' He thought. 'Soon.'

Decepticon Outpost Tau - Repair Bay

"Insane?" Ruckus repeated with a dry laugh. "Could be. Primus knows, my cranial unit's been blown to slag more than a time or two. Suppose the repair mechs are bound to leave out a piece every now an' then." He shrugged with his good shoulder. "Command doesn't seem to pay it much mind, though. Prob'bly 'cause I spend more time doin' my job an' less time worryin' 'bout keepin' myself functionin'. We all go offline eventually, right? May as well make it a termination worth rememberin'."

The Triggercon eased back and waited for Fasttrack to finish up whatever he was doing. He was pretty eager to get himself chucked into a CR chamber and get back into fighting trim. There wasn't any telling when those Autobot scum were going to come back, and Ruckus wanted to be sure he was in top form to meet them when they did.

Decepticon Outpost Tau

"Bah! You were just a little bit of extra nitro. I woulda done it eventually!"

Coming upon the first Autobot insignia he sees, Wildrider practically slams both fists in to the design, before proceeding to rip it off of the wall.

"Oh yeah, this is gonna be great."

Final Approach to Tagan

Scrapper looked at the landing pad of the former Autobase as it rapidly grew in his optics. Terrible, the defenses are completely inadequate, and it's so open. Obviously the Autobot fliers need megamiles of wingroom just to take off. Some observation towers and laser turrets will be going up soon.

But try as he might, Scrapper could really concentrate on the job of building defenses. He wanted to be doing something more than just repair and fortification, he wanted to build something. That siege unit idea keeps coming back to me...Perhaps some sort of convertible defense units that can be mobilised into assualt. Yes, that would be a nasty surprise for the Autobots. They'd have to be amphibious to directly attack the Northern territories though...

Scrappers musings became schematics, then full-fledged 3d blue prints, accurate to the microweldings, all in his mind. He pulled out a datapad to make a backup. By the time Astrotrain was deploying his landing gear, Scrapper had working plans for a half-dozen possible unit configuration. 2 of them involved fully sparked Decepticons, an option which simplified construction and increased the potential power, but also made mass production next to impossible. Still, all designs has some merit.

Decepticon Outpost Tau - Landing Pad Gamma

Touching down, Astrotrain opened his doors to let his passengers out onto the elevated landing pad.

"Everyone out," he growled. "Free ride's over."

Once the Constructicons were out and this particular piece of business taken care of, Astrotrain was due some down time. If I can manage to avoid any more transport assignments for more than two stinkin' breems...

Decepticon Outpost Tau - Landing Pad Gamma

Scrapper led his team of Constructicons down Astrotrain's ramp. He was glad to be off the transport, partly because Astrotrain's design shortcomings kept nagging at him, but mostly because the Constructicons were finally in Tagan, the largest industrial complex in the planet and ripe for the development of the Decepticon war machine.

The area around the Landing pad was clear for the most part, but the scars of the battle were evident in the extreme. I suppose I should expect as much when Scorponok and Roadblock are in charge. It's fortunate the Autobot base is intact at all.

Scrapper turned back to his team. "Constructicons, you have your objectives. Hook, Mixmaster, Boncrusher, begin the survey, I'll be in touch. Long Haul, Scavenger, find us our building materials. I'll find out what our priorities are."

Scrapper then headed for the Base proper, passing the lookout and guards. Rounding Roadblock's massive tank component (Thunderwing altered my design, again. I know he needs to add his new secret technology, but I made the external layout the way it was for a reason), He sought around him for someone to help him find his new commander. His optics focused on Shrike, perched on the upper structure.

"You there, er, Sweep 237...I require an audience with Lord Scorponok. Would you be able to bring me to him?"

Decepticon Outpost Tau- Landing Pad Gamma

Seeing the Constructicons disembark Shrike flies casually from her perch to the Constructicons, namely Scrapper. From the almost archaic method of her flight via 2 pairs of thrustersm, one not working quite as well as the other but not bad enough to make her flight dangerous, as skirt armor she's hardly an advanced Sweep.

"Welcome to Deceptibase Tau." She offers a salute speaking to all the Constructicons in a quasi-cheerful manner trying to offer cheer beyond her nature.
She turns to Scrapper."I am sorry to inform you my designation is Shrike and I am not a Sweep."
Shrike continues fairly blandly. "While I would take you to Lord Scorponok, I have been ordered to see Hook who has the talents necessary to fully repair my thruster systems, and I am not aware of Lord Scorponok's exact location."
Though it is hard to imagine how one would miss the massive warlord, but the ex-autobase was designed for all sizes apparently.

She hoped that the little diversion for Hook wouldn't stop the defenses from being built. She shared the thoughts of the defenses being as flimsy as gold plate, but if she can fight at 100% she'll be thrilled.

Decepticon Outpost Tau- Landing Pad Gamma

As Shrike floated down to the landing pad, Scrapper quickly realised his mistake. He'd mixed up Shrike with Rage, a Sweep of similar color. I've designing and building those Sweeps for far too long, I was sort of hoping for a break from them for a while. No such luck, with all these drones flying about.

Scrapper returned Shrike's salute. "Apologies for the confusion, Shrike. I'm sure Hook would be only too glad to stay near our new base for a few breems, and help out a fellow decepticon. I shall proceed inside on my own."

With a final nod to his team, Scrapper headed into the base, flipping his radio back to reciever mode as he went. He noted the slagged missile turrets and shattered lasers, and noted the need to repair them on his rapidly growing schedule.

Entering the base proper, Scrapper went through blackened corridors and past smashed rooms. Eventually, a tearing noise greeted his audio receptors. Are they still destroying things? Typical. Now determined to investigate, Scrapper headed in the direction of the noise.

Decepticon Outpost Tau

"It is quite all right." Shrike replied to Scrapper. She didn't expect to be saluted, but the surprise did not show.
Shrike wouldn't know about Rage. In fact she's barely aware of any Sweeps besides those annoying drones, and Scourge who is virtually a legend. Maybe in the future that would change.
Still, it was an honest mistake. The helmet shape is similar between her and Sweeps. Maybe there is some resemblance.

She watched Scrapper walk off, glad that the Calvary had arrived so to speak. Soon enough base defenses would be back up, and the Constructicons are here likely in warrior capacity as well.

Speaking of repairs, she continues waiting on Hook with some patience. Teams would travel together wouldn't they? Hook had to be here?

Decepticon Outpost Tau

Hook walked over to Shrike once she had finished talkng with Scrapper . Mixmaster and Bonecrusher following him.
"So, what do you need repairing?" He asked Shrike. "Quickly now. I'm quite busy at the moment."

Decepticon Outpost Tau

Shrike would smile at Hook if her faceplate weren't in the way. "FastTrack was unable to repair my thruster articulators, and had me come to you." She motions to the damaged thruster system on her side which is complex, fairly delicate, and yet sturdy enough to withstand the demanding regimen she put it under in combat.
It might be an archaic method of flight, but the way it's implemented is aesthetically pleasing. At least to her.

"Honestly, I wish I were not in need of your talents. This base is in terrible condition, and only you and your team mates are trusted enough to put the base defenses right."
She lets him get to work.
"I do look forward to seeing your completed work in action."

Truthfully she didn't know much or care about building for the sake of it, but the Constructicons were soon to build a defensive circuit that will help her live longer, and help in the war. Building for combat, she liked.

Decepticon Outpost Tau

"Sure you'd have." Drag Strip smirked at Wildrider's boasting. "In your dreams."

After Wildrider destroyed one insignia, Drag Strip decided to turn even this task into a competion. Using his gravity-gun to mold the first two insignias he spotted to twisted shadows of their original forms. "I am gonna make you look like an amateur!"
<hr>

The current inactivity was seriously getting on Motormaster's nerves. The tunnels had been sealed and there weren't much else than mere patrolling to do. Which was something the Sweeps could just fine. The two little maggots that were supposed to be his underlings, Drag Strip and Wildrider - were clearly hiding from him. Not that he didn't know why but altogether it made him feel even more eager to beat the two up. Too bad Breakdown was still being repaired and Dead End still in Polyhex. How the little runt had managed to squirm his way there in the first place made him wonder.

His thoughts of boredom were disrupted by a familiar green shape passing the corridor intersection. Scrapper. Too bad he could not unleash his frustration upon the Constructicons. The construction unit was too important and they had much to do in order to put this excuse of a stronghold to proper condition. Not to forget that he actually had to be cautious about not getting on their bad side due to certain giant they were able to combine into.

"And thus we get the long yearned Constructicon shipment." Motormaster smirked. "If you are looking for Scorponok and Roadblock follow those few signs left that point towards commander's office."

Decepticon Outpost Tau

Motormaster being helpful? He must have killed a whole lot of Autobots this cycle. "Apologies for the delay, I'll get to work on replacing Astrotrain once I'm finished fixing the mess. Thank you, and best of luck...finding something to crush." Scrapper saluted his fellow team commander, out of proper procedure more than any particular sense of respect: He suspected Motormaster and his goons were responsible for a large fractions of the repairs.

Heading the way the signs indicated, Scrapper was still worried by the sounds of tearing and weapons fire. It'd be too much for them to realise whatever they're smashing up is potential building material. I have a funny feeling Mixmaster will end up processing a few astrotons of ash before too long. We'll never hear the end of it.

Finally, Scrapper reached the gutted command center, and stood outside what was now Roadblock's office, not wanting to squeeze past Scorponok or ask the bulky commander to move. Scrapper stood to attention and saluted: "Lord Scorponok, Commander Roadblock, Scrapper reporting for duty. The Constructicons await your orders. How can we further the war effort this cycle?"