The Energon Pub

Lounge

Wildrider had done it again. He'd managed, with effortless skill, to ruin Dead End's rotation. It had started out drearily enough—somebody had stolen his wax and his buffer; what luck—but Wildrider had prompted its deterioration to hasten along a quicker path. Joy oh joy.

Dead End stared at the energon spilled on the floor. Energon originally intended for his consumption and pleasure. It'd been particularly good, too, the few sips he'd enjoyed before Skullcruncher had flipped the table and put an end to that.

He knew he should've sat somewhere else.

"You stay back, Brawl. You know it was him!"

Absolutely no way in the universe was Dead End involving himself in that. Interfering with an enraged Brawl led to two things: serious injury and death.

Quietly backing away from the chaos, Dead End crept over to the bar. Breakdown would understand. Or not.

Shockwave's Lab

The idiotic comments made by Astrotrain and Octane, though not a surprise, struck something in Starscream. He was ready to leave, taking the others with him, but he had come here originally to cause a bit of a havoc, and here was the perfect opportunity. And Starscream was nothing if not opportunistic.

"Are you two seriously claiming superiority over myself and my fellow Seekers?" he asked with a smirk. "You two are nothing but pack mules. One transports troops and the other supplies. Because that's what you're good for! Manual labor. It doesn't require brains, because you don't have any. You can't even be relied on in battle. You're big and slow, thus an easy target. You have no superior abilities over the Seeker squadron. And yes, I am the Decepticon Air Commander! And that means, as long as you have an aerial mode, I'm your commanding officer! I tell you what to do!"

Starscream was getting worked up, like he hadn't been in quite some time. It was time to remind some of the rank and file around here who he really was. He turned and held out his arms towards his subordinates.

"Lock On, Vertigo." he then squinted at Feedback. "And Feedback. We're not leaving. Not yet. You two came here for a fight." he said to Lock On and Vertigo. "As did you." he said towards Astrotrain and Octane. "I'm only happy to oblige."

He then looked at Shockwave for a moment and swung his arms to point at Astrotrain and Octane.

"I apologize in advance for the mess, Shockwave." he said with a smirk, then fired his null ray blasters on his arms.

Lounge

When Long Haul requested that they set aside a drink for him, Mixmaster was initially curious as to why. That curiosity was quickly satisfied as Long Haul marched off to try and de-escalate the increasing level of pandemonium that was taking place. It sure felt like a good-old-fashioned Decepticon guzzle joint back on Cybertron, before the government cracked down on them. The Constructicon Chemical Engineer, for his part, just nodded.

"Sure sure sure thing, Hauly, heheh," Mixmaster said, meandering over to the bar and taking a seat.
___

Vortex twitched in his seat a little as the silent communique came in from Onslaught. Given the nature of the transmission, he knew that the other Combaticons had received it also. Hook had just left, a fact that had not escaped Vortex's notice. He couldn't help but wonder if the Constructicon had received a similar type of summons. Oh well, that was for someone else to worry about since they had been given the all-clear to stop monitoring him. For now, efficient response time to their commander was all that mattered.

Finishing his drink, Vortex got up to leave.

Lounge

”Come over here and fight you miserable runt!”

“Hehehehe!” Wildrider slid under one of the tables inhabited by some lounging Cons, leaving them to deal with the rampaging crocodile trailing behind in his wake. The big lug, to his credit, was doing his best at trying to hem Wildrider into a box. But Wildrider was faster – even in these close quarters – and intent on causing as much collateral damage as possible, which only expanded his evasive options.

He just had to keep an optic on Breakdown. His comrade was playing with Brawl and it just wouldn’t do for him to get sandwiched between arguably the two hardest hitters on the Thanatos. Nah, Wildrider didn’t want it to go down quite like that. Interestingly enough, something did come barreling at Wildrider. Just not who and how he expected it. But he liked that.

As Warwolf came flying at him and Skullcruncher, Wildrider tucked up and dove to the side, skidding over tables in his frenzied attempt at escape. “Yeeehaw!” Eventually, he skidded to a stop having knocked over a table along the way. “Phew,” Wildrider huffed, peeking out from behind the table.

His optics widened and his trademark crooked grin sliced his faceplate open. “Oh, ho ho!” Wildrider wished he had some energo-sticks or something. What a show! Something had upset the lizard’s mangy pal. The wolf bot was seething! And looking straight at Blitzwing. Before Weirdwolf could get to the triplechanger, however, Long Haul tackled the violet and gold mech away. That wasn’t going to save him.

Weirdwolf transformed and leaped across the room for Blitzwing. For once, words seemed to abandon the thespian in a bout of pure rage as he lunged for Blitzwing with fang and claw. He did, however, focus his fury solely on Blitzwing, though he wouldn’t hesitate to turn on Long Haul should he be foolish enough to interfere.

Unfortunately, there was one fool enough to interfere. He had chased after Long Haul in a well-meaning attempt to help. That fool was Scavenger. He approached the tangled trio of Decepticons with his hands held out in front of him. “Hey, c’mon guys. That’s enough. Right, Haul?” Scavenger asked, looking over to his teammate for support, “Let’s just-“ Scavenger placed a hand on Weirdwolf’s shoulder.

The lupine Decepticon whirled around and lashed out with his fangs, slashing open shallow cuts in Scavenger’s arm. The puppycon reeled back in surprise, optics wide. Weirdwolf issued a low, menacing growl before turning back to the object of his displeasure.

While Blast-Off had both been thoroughly enjoying and disliking the show that had come with his drink, it seemed that their down time was at an end with a nonverbal summons from their leader. He only wondered if Brawl, in his rage, would notice it. He tapped the side of his glass, pondering what to do. On one hand, he could just leave. Like Vortex had done. Simple. Plain. Easy. Then there was the option of trying to wrangle Brawl. He certainly wasn’t the best equipped of their team to deal with that…but…but…the lummox really couldn’t be depended on just to drop this, could he?

Augh…decisions…How it pained him. Blast-Off finished his drink, setting it down onto the table. Oh Primus help him. He rose from his seat and cautiously moved toward the rampaging Brawl with some haste. “Brawl. Brawl! Come on, time to go!” Please don’t hit him, please don’t hit him.

Meanwhile, behind the bar, Needlenose’s comment gave Windsweeper pause. The aerial defense specialist looked over at the rest of the lounge in utter dismay. He…he supposed it would be pointless to try and clean that all up right now. Windsweeper’s expressed soured. Crestfallen, the former sanitation engineer slumped down behind the bar. “This has all gone to the Pits…”

Shockwave's Laboratory

Lock On and Vertigo both smirked as Starscream got his ire up.

"They're really too stupid to understand all those words, Starscream, sir." Vertigo remarked with a haughty aire.

---

Lock On chuckled and the two let go of Feedback who dropped to the floor, the interceptor then turned to look to Astrotrain and Octane, before taking in the rest of the room.

Feedback suddenly noticed something not far from their position, left on a table, not out of his reach. He reached up and grabbed it... the faceplate he always wore. Psychout had left it behind.

Tuning out all that was being said for a brief moment, he snapped the faceplate on over his own face. Much better.

--

Rodimus Prime wrote:
"Lock On, Vertigo." he then squinted at Feedback. "And Feedback. We're not leaving. Not yet. You two came here for a fight." he said to Lock On and Vertigo. "As did you." he said towards Astrotrain and Octane. "I'm only happy to oblige."

He then looked at Shockwave for a moment and swung his arms to point at Astrotrain and Octane.

"I apologize in advance for the mess, Shockwave." he said with a smirk, then fired his null ray blasters on his arms.

The challenge was brought, and Lock On could not resist. He had come for a fight, his commander had handed him one without hesitation, and he was all too eager to oblige. With maniacal glee he opened fire with his plasma shotgun just a split second after Starscream had, not really mindful of where he was hitting.

--

Vertigo and Feedback were a little slower to engage in a firefight, simply because the two had to take a moment to analyze the situation. Both got out their machines guns, and, a little more focused than Lock On, fired as well.

Lounge:

"Save me a pint of whatever you guys get!" Long Haul claimed to his fellow Constructicons as he cracked the joints in his knuckles, "Someone's gotta break up the fight!"

"Oh no," said Bonecrusher, "you are not going to..."

As Longhaul lunged into Blitzwing, it was quite a chaos to speak of. Bonecrusher looked to Scavenger, then to Mixmaster, and then pulled out his missile launcher for, "just in case things get too messy".

Bonecrusher then said to his two other brothers who were still not part of the action, and then asked, "uh, hmm what do we do about this huh?" Bonecrusher then chuckled, "poor Blitzwing."

Bonecrusher then returned his missile launcher to his back, got up, and called over to Longhaul, "Hey bro, that's probably not a good idea!" Bonecrusher face-palmed as he stood there.

Bonecrusher looked over and saw Swindle eying him briefly. Bonecrusher then walked over to the counter, propped himself against it, and then said to Swindle, "Hey let's make up for earlier eh? How bout I pay for a drink for you huh? What would you like?" Bonecrusher felt slightly bad about letting his anger out on the little guy earlier. "Ah, sorry Swindle for my little, um, shall I say... tantrum, earlier." Bonecrusher couldn't help but be slightly distracted by Longhaul and Blitzwing having a brawl in the corner of his vision.

Bonecrusher saw when Scavenger tried to break up the fight ignorantly, and Weirdwolf slashed at Scavenger's arm.

"Scavs!" Bonecrusher shouted at Scavenger, "What are you doing?!"

Bonecrusher walked over to Scavenger. "Come on bro, they won't listen to us. Let's get in a safer area and I'll patch up your arm kay?" Bonecrusher then quietly as he could said to Scavenger, "You have no idea how tempted I am right now to join the chaos and kick some butt, but I need to try and keep my rage from getting the best of me."

Bio-metrics Laboratory

Hook had walked calmly through the winding corridors of the Decepticon battleship effectively lost in his own thoughts. Like the other Constructicons, he suspected, his mind was focused on the potential they had in their hands. But more than that, his perfectionist mind had been frustrated with Devastator's final manifestation. He had expected they would have more control--or that he would have more control, simply by sheer force of will or intelligence. But no, it had been an infernal slog navigating the wills and desires of the other five just to get the brute to do anything. Pfeh. Refinement was certainly in order.

He would tend to that soon enough. For now, his summons and his curiosity had brought him to the edge of the biometrics laboratory. Given that Shockwave had originally designed this ship, it was no surprise that it was such a research-heavy vessel. That said, he was surprised that the Predacons had not converted such spaces into training grounds or hunting grounds or...whatever else they did in their spare time.

As the doors slid open and Hook stepped inside, the Constructicon Surgical Engineer paused. It was not Shockwave that had summoned him here. No...

"Thunderwing," Hook said, taking in the Warlord of Valckasta and the new body that he had crafted for himself. The bio-cybernetic "shell" was distinct, he would certainly give him that. It was not a procedure that Hook would ever willingly undergo, but in the interests of advancing Decepticon science it had been a worthy step forward. "Rather, Lord Thunderwing, I should say. How might I, erm, be of assistance?"

Shockwave's Laboratory

"I apologize in advance for the mess, Shockwave."

Shockwave looked over and saw that Starscream words referred to the fact that he was about to engage Octane and the newly-arrived Astrotrain in retaliation for Octane's previous provocations. So be it. Shockwave understood the Decepticon mentality as well as any mech. But he also understood that there was a considerable amount of sensitive equipment in this area, to say nothing of the mechaforming tech itself. It would be absolutely unacceptable for any of it to become damaged as the result of some juvenile pecking order brawl. They should have all known better than to try something like this here. And since they chose poorly, Shockwave would educate them.

"Apology not accepted," Shockwave said evenly as he rose from the seated position at his workstation, his arm-cannon charging up. "Imperative: disperse from the vicinity of this laboratory or you and all of your lackeys will be returned to stasis."

Shockwave raised his weapon.

"Or worse."

If Starscream decided he wanted to test his mettle and see who was the more powerful of the two, Shockwave would educate him in that arena, also.

Corridor leading to the Bridge

”I recall that. My head has gotten its fair share of blows thorough the vorns but I remember that tournament. He tore Tantrum in two with no effort at all.” Motormaster rumbled in response to Razorclaw, ”And Tantrum is one tough son of a glitch. Still, Divebomb, Rampage and Headstrong probably had it even worse,” he added with a wicked grin. ”Gotta hand it to your boys though. They fought unlike mine. They bowed out of the whole tournament when the cards were drawn and let me take one of the worst beatings of my life. And I ain't gotten my tailpipe handed to me often.”

”Not sure how severe damage your team managed to cause. When it was over he was standing tall and none of you were,” the large Stunticon continued, leaning his back against the wall. ”But he did bow out of the next bracket, leading to Grimlock facing Megatron in the finals. Just don't know if was due to injuries or politics. Possibly both,” he added. ”All power to Megatron but he never let personal honor get in the way of a victory. So maybe he just told the big guy to bow out that time. I mean, everyone and I mean everyone including Scorponok wanted to see the Slag-Maker fight the Badass. And we got just that.”

”But you are right. The strongest shall lead.” Motormaster said, crossing his arms over his chestplate. ”And if not Scorponok, someone else will challenge your right. Deathsaurus. Gigatron. Overlord. Tarn. I say we are better off with Scorponok but that's your call to make. Besides, you have Onslaught's and Scrapper's opinion to take into consideration.”

”Be it as it may, you have my support.”

Bridge

It was good to be the king. It was also good to be in the inner circle of the king. Rampage was already enjoying the scant few Decepticons who could now order him around. Just the peaceful hum of onboard equipment. And the latest episode of Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge. Win-win.

Even in the midst of watching one female human fling another into a mud pit over control of some ball, the Predacon Gunner still noticed a warning light that had been triggered in an area near the main laboratory. As he flipped to one of the viewnodes, he saw that the warning had not just been accidentally triggered.

"Looks like we got shots fired outside the lab," Rampage chuckled. 'Cons really couldn't keep from being at each other's throats for very long, could they? "Our old pal Starscream, looks like. You think 'Claw would wanna know? Wasn't he headed that way already?"

The Lounge

Damned Wildrider, if this continued for much longer Skullcruncher wouldn't accept any responsibility over the damage he was going to cause to the Stunticon. He was... *THUD*

Skullcruncher stumbled forwards few steps but did not lose his footing. Something or someone had just collided with him from behind. Something fairly bit lighter than him. Had one of Wildrider's stupid team mates tried to tackle him? The effort had certainly been futile. The large brute of a warrior spun on his heels only to find Warwolf down on the floor and... Long Haul charging into approaching Blitzwing? And then Weirdwolf too? What the frag was going on behind his back?

Scowling in anger, Skullcruncher reached down to pick up Warwolf from the floor. The lupine Decepticon seemed as if he had ran into a wall. Which due to their size difference was essentially what had just happened. It just didn't make any sense why he'd have tried something so utterly idiotic. Wildrider on the other hand seemed distracted by Long Haul, Weirdwolf and now Scavenger and Bonecrusher too ganging up around Blitzwing for whatever reason and that gave him an idea.

Whether Warwolf had actually tried to attack him or was just victim of some ploy didn't matter now. Skullcruncher wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Hurling the barely conscious Warwolf at Wildrider like an unwieldy spear, Skullcruncher hoped for Wildrider to finally make a mistake which would allow him to get his hand on the crazy nutter and deliver a beating he so richly deserved.



Instead of tackling Breakdown into the floor, Brawl crashed into a table, completely eradicating the piece of furniture. The squirt was fast. The Combaticon bruiser absolutely hated fighting fast bots. It made him want to pick up his rifle and show the fragging Stunticon that his speed wouldn't save him from his lightning gun. But he managed to keep that urge in check, even if just barely.

”You think I am stupid?!” Brawl bellowed, having misheard what Breakdown had just hollered at him. ”I'll show you just how slaggin' stupid I am!”

At that point Blast-Off butted in for some reason. Looking like he wanted him to stop. Why the heck did he want to save the Stunticon runt's tailpipe? ”What do you want Blast-Off?! I haven't even hit him yet!” He yelled at the other Combaticon angrily, moving towards Breakdown instead of slowing one bit.

”Give me that chair!” Brawl barked, grabbing hold of the chair Breakdown was holding and jerked it hard to the side. Hard enough to throw Breakdown into a wall along with the chair if he wouldn't let go of it.

Shockwave’s Laboratory

Honestly, Flamewar could not have been more disinterested in Starscream’s affairs. It seemed like he was just here to stir up a bit of trouble and retrieve a subordinate. What an honor it must be for that Seeker to be picked up by his idiot commander. She kept an optic and audio on the proceedings out of habit. It wouldn’t do to be caught unawares. Especially in front of Shockwave at this sensitive moment in their dealings.

>>"Status is green, love. Everything seems to be holding down quite nicely. No need to worry, Wolfy's managing to keep his temper to a bare minimum for now."<<

What? Flamewar’s face contorted into one of utter bewilderment for a brief moment before reverting to her usual stoic expression. Had she contacted the wrong mech? No. That was certainly Warwolf’s identification signature and voice. His tone was completely off, however. And…had he…had he called her ‘love’? Not to mention that he had referred to himself in the third person. Something was off with him. She didn’t care for it. Not. One. Bit.

Even so, the black operative didn’t quite know how to respond to him for several long moments. She pressed two digits to the bridge of her nose. Under normal circumstances, she might have just twisted Warwolf’s new arm and discussed his manner of addressing her. But something was wrong. It was almost as if…Flamewar scowled. As if there were another Warwolf. But that side of him had never been quite so articulate.

>>"Might wanna check up again in a few minutes, just to be safe. There's a sense of uneasiness in the lounge, and a few members are about to scrape metal. Warwolf out."<<

And a storm was brewing in the lounge? Likely just some of the more violent grunt letting off some steam after that last battle. A truce with Autobots sat well with no Decepticon. Flamewar imagined that some were itching for a fight, preferably not against a supernatural opponent. As much as she wanted to confront Warwolf about his manner immediately, things where she was began to look interesting as well.

Astrotrain in particular had made a sarcastic little comment at Starscream’s retreating back. And, instead of shrugging it off, Starscream rose to them. Of course he would. It only further proved that Starscream was ultimately unfit to be the leader of the Decepticons. Flamewar might go so far as to say the leader of anything, but she was not one to question Lord Megatron’s decision to instate Starscream as the air commander.

It seemed as if there would be a fight. Sure enough, Starscream fired the first shot. However, Shockwave was quick to step in as the black operative figured he might. The purple scientist’s lab undoubtedly brimmed with sensitive equipment. A brawl would endanger his research, therefore it would not be tolerated.

Shockwave was an easy one to understand. Though his goals and agendas might be shrouded in uncertainty, there was no uncertainty about his demeanor or how he would go about accomplishing them. He would do it in the most logical manner. Any unforeseen circumstance that arose with Shockwave was a result of one or more factors weighing on a given situation. Flamewar supposed that could be said of most anyone, but with Shockwave, it was down to an almost exact science.

As Shockwave’s weapon charged, an amused smile played across her faceplate. The power that the cycloptic mech wielded was most impressive. Flamewar almost hoped Starscream would be fool enough to challenge him. A glance at the door told her that Razorclaw had not yet arrived. Pity. She would have been interested to see his reaction to these events. The black operative supposed he would find out about it one way or another eventually.

Returning her focus to a matter that actually troubled her, Flamewar reopened the comm link with Warwolf.

>>”And what about now? Everything still green, ‘pet’?”<< Flamewar asked with a falsely sweet tone that betrayed the menace behind it. Some part of her felt concern for Warwolf. Worried in some small way that he might have gotten himself mixed up in the brawl. She wasn’t too concerned as it was unlikely to result in any casualties. But it wasn’t quite Warwolf with whom she was speaking. Not quite.

Firing Range

Misfire stood up, holding his head. He had accounted for recoil, but not that bad. Not in the face, either. Whatever happened, it hurt, bad.

He stood and looked around, searching for his weapon. It'd fallen when he fell, and he wanted it back. Finding it right where he dropped it, the interceptor picked it up and went back to target practice.

Shockwave's Lab]

Finally, something interesting. Astrotrain could finally fight, even if it were against the Air Commander. At least he'd have Octane to back him up. He raised his own rifle and prepared to fight...


...until Shockwave raised his cannon and told them to leave. Though disappointed, the rational side of him said that Shockwave had a very logical reason for wanting them to not fight in there. Seeing as he did not want to end up in a CR Chamber, Astrotrain put his rifle away.

"C'mon, Octane," he muttered, "Let's get out of here. These idiots ain't worth our time."

With that, the Triple-Changer stormed out, shoving Vertigo to the side as he did.

Hangar Bay

Skywarp stood vigil outside the shuttle next to Nightraven as the two seekers awaited Starscream’s arrival in the hangar. It seemed to be taking an unusually long time for the Seeker Commander to appear, but he likely had many preparations to make before finally departing. The teleporter always trusted Starscream and knew that he would be the one to bring the seekers glory within the empire some day. Razorclaw and his supporters had stolen the throne from Starscream. The beast would pay, however. Oh yes, he would pay.

But, how would the Predacon ‘lord’ pay if Starscream left the Thanatos? Skywarp had to wonder what the Seeker Commander’s ultimate plan was. The prankster understood that Screamer wanted off the ship and away from the Predacons, but how would putting distance between himself and his enemies gain him the throne? Was Starscream going somewhere to regroup and plan his next step? Was he going to get seeker reinforcements from outside the system and then return to mount an offensive against Razorclaw? Those were possibilities, of course, and ‘Warp was hardly one to question the decisions of the Seeker leader. After all, the teleporter was but a mere grunt, a follower and not a thinker.

Still, Nightraven’s recent words to him had to make him think long and hard about what role the two of them would play in all this beyond getting the shuttle ready for Starscream. Something deep down told Skywarp that if too many seekers disappeared at once Razorclaw would take notice and send someone after them. That could very well end badly for them and accomplish nothing but finding themselves in stasis. Leaving without proper authorization could also be construed as desertion and that was something not well regarded within the empire. Not at all.

Skywarp let out a sigh as he continued to contemplate what to do. He had never second guessed Starscream’s judgment before, but now he found himself doing just that. Did the Seeker Commander still have their best interests at spark or was he acting more in line with his own self interests now? It was difficult to ascertain the answer and the teleporter’s head was beginning to throb with all of this thinking.

Thankfully, a reprieve soon came from an unexpected source as Skywarp received a comm from Onslaught along with new orders that originated from ‘Lord’ Razorclaw, himself. The decision on what to do had apparently been made for him whether he liked it or not. ‘Warp and Thundercracker were to report to the armory immediately for weapons restock and a mission debriefing. The prankster opened a return channel to the Combaticon Commander, pausing for a moment after he did so:

>>”This is Skywarp. I read you, Onslaught. I’ll be there within the breem.”<<

With his message sent, Skywarp closed his comm and turned to look at Nightraven. “Well, it seems I’ve been called away on some mission with Onslaught. Thundercracker’s going, too. I’m not sure what it is, exactly, but I guess I don’t have much of a choice. If I remain here Onslaught will come looking for me and then Starscream’s plan will be exposed,” the teleporter reasoned, keeping his optics fixated on the seeker femme's visage. “If you want to come along you can. I’m sure I can convince Onslaught to let you join the team.”

Skywarp then turned his attention to a pair of vehicons loitering a short distance away. “Hey! You two! Get over here!” The pair of drones glared at the prankster before doing as told. As the vehicons approached, the teleporter looked them up and down. “I need you two to guard this shuttle until Commander Starscream arrives. Understood? Let no one near it and ask no questions! It’s all very top secret stuff. Got it?” The vehicon duo both nodded before taking positions on either side of the shuttle’s entrance ramp. “Good. At least someone around here listens to me.”

Skywarp then turned his gaze back to Nightraven. “Let’s get out of here, Nighty. Starscream doesn’t need our help anymore. I’m sure he has things well in hand from here on out.” Still, the prankster wasn’t one to just abandon his post without alerting his commander about what was going on. “I’ll comm him, though, and let him know what's happening.” Thus, ‘Warp opened a new secured channel to the leader of the seekers:

>>”Commander Starscream, this is Skywarp down in the hangar bay. Nightraven and I have just received a new assignment from Razorclaw and Onslaught. Unfortunately, we have no choice but to comply. If we don’t, Onslaught and the animal will come looking for us and discover the shuttle and your plans could be exposed. We’re leaving two vehicons to guard the shuttle until you arrive. We wish you the best of luck, Commander. We’ll be sure to hold the fort down here and cover for you while you’re gone.”<<

Cutting his comm line, Skywarp looked back at Nightraven, taking her hand into his own. Astroseconds later, the two seekers had teleported away in a flash of purple light.

Lounge

The sanctuary of the bar provided comfort and security. It also afforded its patrons with an unparalleled view of the fights that had broken out in the lounge. Dead End had taken a seat, with his back to the chaos. Though he couldn't see it, he could hear it. Dear Primus, Brawl was loud.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Dead End turned around. What he saw made him cringe, and threaded the tiny holes in his self-preservation with guilt.

Do I help him? he thought. I don't want Brawl coming after me, though.

Decisions, decisions. Such a drag.

Breakdown was standing on top of a table, holding a chair in front of him as though it could shield him from Brawl's fury. It was pitiful to witness, but Brawl's anger had that effect on his victims.

Victims.

“You think I am stupid?!”

Victims.

“I'll show you just how slaggin' stupid I am!”

Dead End's visored gaze was attached to Brawl. The Combaticon ignored something Blast Off said to him, his focus solely on Breakdown. And, perhaps, his destruction.

“If Blast Off cannot call him off, then what chance do I have?” Dead End realised he'd spoken out loud.

He knew he had to try. Sighing heavily, Dead End got up and calmly approached Brawl. From a distance, of course. He'd been pummelled by Motormaster more times than he could count, but if he could avoid Brawl going berserk on him, that would be very nice. It wasn't about being a coward. It was about the dents he'd have to get removed from his armour-plating.

Not that they would matter if Brawl killed him, but still—sigh—he had to try. The crazy oaf would probably kill him, too. With fists that big, how could he not?

“Brawl?” He said the Combaticon's name carefully, as though saying it normally would increase his fury. “Why don't you come to the bar for a drink? My treat.”

Dead End flicked a glance at Breakdown. This was going to be either easy or incredibly difficult. No middle ground here.

Then Brawl grabbed the chair, and jerked it about. Breakdown would go flying now.

Wonderful. Just wonderful.

Lounge

As it happened, Wildrider had actually managed to find some energo-sticks. He was munching on them giddily as he watched Scavenger’s arm get torn open by a feral Weirdwolf. “Pfffff…Bwahahaha! What an idiot…” The maniac chuckled, spewing a nice spray of energon from his mouth. “Oh Pit, this is too good!” It was then that Wildrider felt this peculiar nagging feeling. Like. Like he was forgetting something. Something important.

Wildrider shrugged. Well, if had been that important, he wouldn’t have forgotten. He opened his mouth and tossed one of the energo-sticks into the air. Only in the next moment, he was perplexingly in pain. And also in a tangle of limbs. Something had hit him. What the slag had hit him? Wildrider shoved the thing pinning him down away, holding his head. Wait an astrosecond. That was a mech. Had he tackled him? Why?

Wildrider supposed the mech didn’t exactly need a reason, but the only one that would had a serious issue with him right now was- Oh. Oh yeah. That’s what he had forgotten. Well. Wildrider turned his head slowly, cringing a little as he did. Yep, there was the shadow. Whoopsy. Maybe it wasn’t too late. The crazed Stunticon made a dive to the side, hopefully away from Skullcruncher’s grasp. Hopefully. Not likely.



”What do you want Blast-Off?! I haven't even hit him yet!”

“Fine! Hit him, then let’s go,” Blast-Off said, quite perturbed by his teammate’s brazen dismissal of his plea. “Or haven’t you noticed that Onslaught wants us?” What Swindle had said really had goaded Brawl into one of his infamous fits of rage. There would be no pulling him out of it or reasoning with him. There seemed to be only one way of speeding things along.

“I’ll even help you, Brawl. Just do what you what you need to quickly. We shouldn’t waste time,” Blast-Off bargained. It was then that Brawl decided to wrestle over a chair with Breakdown. A fight Breakdown would lose. He glanced over to Dead End with an air of suspicion as the Stunticon approached, but he was not hostile. Merely attempting to get Brawl to stop marauding his comrade. Too bad that was a lost cause.

Shockwave's Lab

Starscream followed Astrotrain with one optic as he kept the other on Octane. The triple changer had yet to acquiesce to the former's request to move out, which would be smart on his part. Starscream had fired a warning shot at them, and they seemed to get the point that they were in a lot of trouble. Starscream was also aware of Shockwave having him in his sights, but he wasn't worried about any action from the one-eyed freak as his laboratory would suffer in a firefight. Besides, even though Shockwave's weapon was more powerful, Starscream was smaller and more agile, thus a much harder target to hit. It wouldn't be wise for Shockwave to enter a shootout with the Air Commander.

"Commander Starscream, this is Skywarp down in the hangar bay. Nightraven and I have just received a new assignment from Razorclaw and Onslaught. Unfortunately, we have no choice but to comply. If we don’t, Onslaught and the animal will come looking for us and discover the shuttle and your plans could be exposed. We’re leaving two vehicons to guard the shuttle until you arrive. We wish you the best of luck, Commander. We’ll be sure to hold the fort down here and cover for you while you’re gone."

The transmission from Skywarp came as a surprise, albeit a pleasant one. Things were coming together, even if not exactly as Starscream had planned. No matter, soon all this would be a moot point.

Starscream kept his null ray trained on Octane, as he began stepping backwards out of the lab.

"Vertigo, Lock On." he ordered. "Time to go."

"But... Starscream... we haven't killed anyone!" Lock On protested as Starscream began leaving.

--

"Save the killing for later." Vertigo mumbled as Astrostrain pushed Vertigo aside.

The Seeker looked at the brutish triplechanger with contempt, rested the urge to shoot him, and picked up Feedback again. "That's right, Space-Choo-Choo... run along." He called after Astrotrain. "Do as your master commands."

--

"What..? No shooting?" Feedback muttered as Vertigo dragged him away. "And Commander?" He looked to Starscream. "What the frag is going on?"

Combat Simulation Theater

Simulation File: Sigma Thirty Five
Location: Delta Pavonis V
Simulation Sequence: Battle of Delga Capital

Thundercracker banked hard right as a pair of heat seeking missiles darted back and forth, swiftly devouring distance as they tracked their quarry. He narrowed flight path though remained on his side as he approached a pair of battered sky scrapers. The Seeker instinctively dumped an extra portion of fuel into his engines to coax another level in order to maintain distance. Swiftly the two missiles approached his contrails, sensing his exhaust and arming their devastating and most assuredly lethal warheads.

Without wasting another second, Thundercracker immediately launched a set of turbo flares into the sky surrounding his exhaust vents and cut his engines. He narrowly threaded the two buildings as the flares caught the sensors of the missiles and drew them into the highest flights of the towers. He reignited his engines and entered into a barrel roll as the top twenty stories of the right tower and the top fifteen of the left erupted into burning conflagrations.

Kicking his rudder and flaps over to his left, he banked hard onto the tail of an Autobot flier disguised quad engine bomber of local design. It did not matter, even with the furious array of turrets that erupted from its top, rear and belly, desperate to knock the seeker from its aft, Thunderwing was not dissuaded. He armed his forward incendiary cannons and nimbly dodged the oncoming fire. Micro seconds stretched out to what it felt like days as Thundercracker finalized a target lock and unleashed a barrage of armor piercing fire that would set the bomber a flame.

Five rounds punctured the upper port engine in a showering geyser of sparks and shrapnel. The debris was soon followed by a column of black smoke that trailed the Autobot bomber down towards the village square. Thundercracker did not wait for the impact, he armed a set of cluster bombs and entered a steep dive that traced the column of ashen smoke. Smaller puffs of white smoke soon followed as he pulled up sending two cluster bombs straight into the downed Autobot, causing it to...

Nothing happened.

Thundercracker straightened his flight path and immediately reverted into robot mode. He wiped away a mockingly stray bead of lubricant from his forehead as he looked down at what should have been exploded Autobot bits strewn across half of the alien downtown. Instead he saw the two simulated ordinance devices stalled literal centimeters away from the shocked and contorted face of the black and crimson flier. His crimson optics flared in annoyance as he put the apparent evidence together.

The seeker lowered himself to the top of a now solid spire of sparks and ash, he began to absorb the scene of battle around him... and reflected on how nothing here was as he had remembered it. As per the instructions, the computer had been ordered to create the most complicated and most adaptive combat simulation that fit the technological and strategic knowledge of the battle setting. It was a historical battle, one for the ages... and one that had witnessed the extinction of three organic sentient species in the matter of hours. It had also seen the Decepticon forces nearly routed in four of the five major fronts. Still with the odds so heavily stacked against him, Thundercracker had discovered a thrilling challenge in attempting to prove his metal against the strongest pilots the war had offered up until that time. It also irritated him that his long awaited reservation was being interrupted by a remote stall.

Folding his arms over his chest, the blue seeker accessed his memory core and retrieved the communication file that had triggered the emergency suspension of his program. "At least it isn't from that blow hard," he muttered to himself as he accessed the file from Onslaught. "New assignment? Well its about scraping time..."

Thundercracker jumped off his temporary perch and ordered the simulation to resume as he approached the doors leading towards the hall of the Thanatos. A massive explosion erupted from behind his left wing tip as the cluster bombs hit their target. The simulation ended with the severed head of the Autobot flier bouncing towards the opened double doors only to vaporize away from the holographic projectors.

Armory

The turbo lift deposited him onto the central deck across the hall from the Thanatos's Armory. The doors were already parted to reveal glimpses of the mission commander and his strike team of trusted and for the most part arrogant Combaticons. Filthy ground pounding Combaticons. He suppressed an irritated smirk as he entered the chamber and made his way towards the nearest vacant alcove.

A string of codes soon flowed into the security terminal and a muted whir of the hidden servos set to work retrieving the required weapons and energon rations for the Decepticon Elite. "Alright, I'm here..."

Laboratory

Starscream and his rabble wisely recognized that going against Shockwave's imperatives had a significant statistical probability of resulting in exactly what the cycloptic mech had predicted--a trip to the cryonic regeneration chamber. And with those under Shockwave's direct oversight, they could remain there for a long time. But as Starscream and the others left, Shockwave turned and activated a simple command that sealed the lab. They could slaughter each other on the floors of the Thanatos for all Shockwave cared. His only concern was that it not happen here. There would be no more unnecessary interruptions. Only the captain of this ship would have codes necessary to gain unpermitted entry now, and they had been provided long ago when Megatron first gave authority over this vessel to Razorclaw and his Predacon associates.

"Satisfactory," was all Shockwave said as he returned his full attention to the mechaforming technology. The fact that he and Flamewar had not yet addressed her reason for coming here had not escaped his notice.

"Declarative: I can infer from your presence and the fact that you did not contribute to the distractions within my laboratory that you have some business which requires my attention. Proceed."
___

Lounge

Mixmaster was more than glad to see that Bonecrusher had decided that a missile launcher being fired in the lounge was decidedly not a good idea. The Constructicon Chemical Engineer didn't know how bad Bonecrusher thought things might get in here, but surely not that bad. This was just like any other cycle back on Cybertron at Maccadam's or the Hole.

While a battle royale was already fiercely underway, Mixmaster instead eyed the bar and all of the chemical contents behind the counter and stored in various containers. He thought it was high time to put his function to some more practical use.

"Wheeeee hehehe!" he giggled, hopping off the slabseat and sliding over the bar counter. His optics widened as he took in all the goodies laid out before him.

Then he set out a few empty containers and started grabbing.

Corridor leading to the Bridge

Razorclaw nodded as Motormaster recalled the Predacons’ battle with Scorponok and how none of the lion-former’s team were left standing at the end. But, at least they stood their ground and fought like warriors which was more than could be said for the Stunticon Commander’s cowardly brood. Ultimately, Scorponok bowed out of the final fight, leaving Grimlock to face off against Megatron. “Yes, I remember that. I, too, wanted to see them battle it out and their confrontation did not disappoint. Maybe politics played a small part in the scorpion remaining on the sidelines for that bout, but it never mattered to me. I never thought any less of him because of it and neither did Megatron.”

Motormaster then concurred that the strongest shall lead and pointed out that if it wasn’t Scorponok to challenge the Predacon lord for the throne then it would be someone else like Gigatron or Deathsaurus. There was a long line of Decepticons up for the challenge and many of them were far stronger than Razorclaw. “Yes, I would be so busy defending my claim I would have little time to deal with winning this fraggin' war. And I agree. Out of all the mechs you mentioned, we are likely better off with Scorponok.” The Stunticon brute finished by saying that the lion-former had his support regardless of his decision. “Thank you, Motormaster. I appreciate your candor and your advice. There is much for me to consider, and I must confer with Onslaught and Scrapper, as well. Then I will make my final decision on how to best proceed.”

Razorclaw gave his comrade a firm pat on the shoulder plate before taking a step back and switching gears. “Now, on to that new assignment I mentioned before. I’m sure you and your men are quickly becoming bored with your downtime. Well, that’s about to change,” the lion-former began to say as he kept his optics locked on the Stunticon brute. “The Ultrax. It has lain at the bottom of this wretched planet’s ocean for too long, my friend. We need to get it flight worthy again. A new Autobot warship, the Trion, has entered the system, which means they now have three vessels orbiting Sol-3 compared to only two fully operating ships of ours. Therefore, we must determine your frigate’s current status, what still needs to be done and then expedite repairs on the Ultrax so we can get her up here with the Thanatos and the Obliteration where she belongs.”

Razorclaw paused for a moment to let what he just said sink in before continuing. “Furthermore, at least half of that stockpile of energon cubes on board your ship needs to be transferred up here to help with the reconstruction of the vehicon forces. The rest can be used to re-power the Ultrax, itself. Take your men down to the frigate and have them begin the transfer. If the energon cubes are too volatile for bounce, have Astrotrain assist you. His spacious cargo hold should be more than large enough to transport the cubes.

“As for the inspections, take with you whatever engineers you require. Have Knockout join you, as well. I’m sure his expertise in mechanics will come in handy. Once the inspections on the Ultrax are completed, send me a full report. If more materials are needed, a supply run might be necessary, but we will deal with that if or when the time comes. Since the Constructicons will be busy at the Undersea Base, you’ll have to use repair drones for the time being.”

Falling silent, Razorclaw kept his attention on Motormaster, allowing plenty of time for him to digest the entirety of his new assignment. “If you have no questions or concerns then I will leave you to it. I have full confidence that you’ll get the job done, my friend. Meanwhile, I still plan on meeting with Shockwave down in his lab to discuss freeing a certain Phase Sixer from Starscream’s grasp. I’m sure even Scorponok would agree that preventing the Seeker Commander from controlling Sixshot is in everyone’s best interests.”

The Predacon lord gave his comrade a knowing look as he lingered a few astroseconds longer just in case the Stunticon Commander had anything to add to their conversation. As he did so, he received an update from Scrapper regarding the status of the Undersea Base.

>>”Thank you for the update, Scrapper. It sounds like a lot has already been completed. Still, there is also much left to be done. Take your men down to the underwater site and oversee the continued construction and ultimate completion of our new base. Furthermore, once you are there, immediately establish defensive encampments around the entire perimeter. The site must be protected at all costs. Needless-to-say, keep me updated on your progress. As for the gestalt screenings you mentioned before, have Hook remain behind here on the Thanatos to begin those. The Stunticons and Combaticons will soon be leaving on separate assignments. However, my own Predacons will still be on board. Have them screened first to see if they are compatible. If you require anything for either task let me know. Razorclaw out.”<<

The Predacon Commander cut his comm line, having not mentioned his thoughts regarding what to do about Scorponok. There was still time to meet with both Onslaught and Scrapper to get their opinions on the matter. Or was there? Just then Razorclaw received yet another transmission, this time from Soundwave, and the news was not good. The Burning Justice has hailed them with Scourge stating that Scorponok wanted to speak directly with Megatron.

Of course he does, the lion-former thought inwardly as he opened a comm line to the Communications Specialist:

>>”Understood, Soundwave. I had foreseen this possibility. Although, I must admit I thought I would have a little more time to consider my options.”<< Razorclaw paused for a moment to contemplate an appropriate response. Naturally, there was none, not one that could buy the Predacon lord any more time. Unless.... >>”Soundwave, I need you to create some sort of believable signal interference so it looks like we didn't receive Scourge's hail. I know it’s only a temporary solution, but I need more time to think. Can you do that, Soundwave?”<<

Leaving his comm line to Soundwave open, Razorclaw looked back over to Motormaster. “It seems Scorponok wants to talk with Megatron. I'm afraid time is running out faster than anticipated.”

Lounge

”You think I am stupid?! I'll show you just how slaggin' stupid I am!”

"No! I didn't say you were stupid! I said I'm not stupid, stupid!"

Oi...

Before Breakdown knew it, he was in a tug-of-war over a stupid chair. A tug-of-war with Brawl.

Maybe he was stupid.

No matter. He didn't let go in time and he went flying, aft-over-cranium.

Armory

In another brilliant flash of purple light, Skywarp and Nightraven finally appeared in the armory. The teleporter had accidentally deposited them both into the room next door initially, missing their intended destination by several feet. Luckily, neither one of them had ended up embedded in a wall or bulkhead. That would’ve been less than ideal and Nighty would’ve likely hated ‘Warp for that if it had been her stuck in a solid structure. No matter, everyone was fine and the prankster quickly corrected his honest mistake.

“Sorry about that, Nighty,” Skywarp said, apologizing for the double trip. “I hope I didn’t rattle your circuits too much.” The teleporter held on to the seeker femme for a moment longer to make sure she had her bearings and then let go of her hand as he moved further into the chamber. The prankster quickly spotted Onslaught getting re-armed along with a very familiar blue seeker.

‘Warp first approached the Combaticon Commander and gave him a curt nod. “Skywarp reporting for duty,” the teleporter stated plainly. He then turned and cast Thundercracker a quick look before focusing his full attention on Onslaught again. “Sir, I brought Nightraven here along since she was already with me and had nothing else to do,” the prankster continued, motioning to the femme behind him. “I figured one more seeker to help out on this mission, whatever it is, wouldn’t hurt.”

Skywarp hoped that Onslaught would agree with his reasoning. It never hurt to have more air superiority keeping watch from above. After all, the Combaticons only had a helicopter and a spaceplane on their team. Neither was a jet nor could they provide the kind of aerial support that three seekers, Thundercracker included, could afford. And speaking of the blue mech with a penchant for sonic booms...

"So, Thundercracker, you've finally decided to stop avoiding me, huh?" Skywarp asked with a straight faceplate as he turned his attention back over to his long time friend. After a few astroseconds, the prankster's stoic expression slowly morphed into a wide, good-natured smile. “Ha! Just kidding! It's good to see you again, 'Cracker ol' buddy!" Skywarp exclaimed, patting the blue seeker on the shoulder plate. "It’s been way too long since you and me had a chance to sit down and have a drink or fly a mission together. I take it you made out pretty well during that Fallen battle. Wish we could’ve teamed up then but I was kinda busy with one of those heralds. Heh. But hey at least we can team up now just like we used to.”

The teleporter’s wide smile began to fade some when he suddenly remembered that Nightraven used to have a ‘thing’ for Thundercracker before ultimately giving the resident prankster a chance. “Oh, um, and you already know Nightraven,” the teleporter said nervously, clearing his vocalizer.

Shockwave's Laboratory

ctrlFrequency wrote:
"Save the killing for later." Vertigo mumbled as Astrostrain pushed Vertigo aside.

The Seeker looked at the brutish triplechanger with contempt, rested the urge to shoot him, and picked up Feedback again. "That's right, Space-Choo-Choo... run along." He called after Astrotrain. "Do as your master commands."

Oh he did not. Astrotrain turned on his heel and shoved his fist in Vertigo's face. His other hand went down to his gun and wrapped around the handle. He growled, "What did you just say?!"

These Seekers, always picking a fight. They just never knew when to quit. Oh, good thing he was there. Whatever rationality was left simply vanished as he locked his optics on the Seeker's. He threw a desperate glance at Octane, looking for some support.

Shockwave’s Laboratory

"Declarative: I can infer from your presence and the fact that you did not contribute to the distractions within my laboratory that you have some business which requires my attention. Proceed."

“Of course,” Flamewar said, pushing off of the wall she had been reclining on. The matter of Warwolf still bothered her, but she would worry about that later. The black operative had more pressing matters to attend to for the moment. Walking over to Shockwave, she stood beside him and glanced curiously down at the technology that was currently consuming the purple scientist’s attentions.

“I am to inform you that Razorclaw shall be arriving shortly to discuss the matter we spoke of before,” Flamewar informed him, “Given how much time dealing with Starscream and his ilk took, he’ll likely be here any moment now. But, until he does arrive, I admit to some curiosity about your current project. Would you enlighten me as to its function, Shockwave?”

The last time Flamewar had come to Shockwave’s laboratory, there hadn’t been time to discuss it. But since they had a little time before Razorclaw made his entrance, she was keen to acquire some information on the current technological advances being made in this particular theatre of their age old war. Though her information network kept her generally informed, she preferred to see with her own optics and gather what knowledge that she could.

Having seen a scientist herself to some extent earlier in the war effort, Flamewar also felt something of a keen respect for one of the greatest minds that the Decepticons had to offer. She had been among many in her time, but Shockwave’s efficiency consistently impressed her. With his cooperation, the Decepticon Empire could be stable. However, the issue remained…of when others discovered that Lord Megatron had vanished, they would undoubtedly come to claim the title of supreme commander and topple Razorclaw. There were those that could do it so easily as well, and not all had the best interests of the Decepticons at spark. Troubling times, indeed.