The Energon Pub

Corridor

It seemed like her attack on his elbow joint wouldn't work. 'slagit.', Tech thought angrilly. As the seconds passed her fury grew more and more. This one was challenging, more challenging than any foe she had fought as of recent. It thrilled her and irritated her all in the same instant, like a good game.

The lupine male spun his arm away from her elbow blade and brought his shield up, shoving it in her face. Tech was met with a face full of steel, but she fought back, pressing her feet down against the metal floor. Sparks flew as a horrible grating sound happened, caused by her metal claws gripping at the flooring. She shoved back for a second and when there was just enough space between them, she dropped her body low, bending her knees and crouching close to the floor, she cleared his gun shots but barely, but now she lunged forward and made a cross-slash for his knees. With her attention on her opponent, she hadn't yet noticed the two who had come into tgeir vicinity.

Thanatos – Corridors

Retreating back behind the corner, Weirdwolf transformed and rubbed the back of his head idly as Skullcruncher caught up. “Fangry and another,” he said before his friend could ask. “Know I not whether I want to intervene or just watch. Suppose I do Fangry is bad to out of control get. What say you?”

It took a moment for Skullcruncher to catch up with Weirdwolf. Even on his best day he was nowhere near as fast as his lupine friend. And today? He wasn’t even trying to hurry. But when Weirdwolf stopped his endless talking in mid sentence, even Skullcruncher took notice. Who could have rattled his so far care free mood so? The answer lied behind the corner. Aww slag. Not him. Not Fangry. Potentially the most maddening Decepticon in the whole galaxy.

”Or we could just leave before we have to deal with him.” Skullcruncher grumbled quietly in response to Weirdwolf’s question. ”I’d prefer to avoid the hassle he comes with. Though I doubt we’d have to stand in trial for murdering him in anger. I am not sure if I can stay my hand were he to get in my face again.”

Bridge

Rampage sauntered onto the bridge after entering the proper command codes, having left the others behind to do what they outside the laboratory. Rampage was just as intrigued as any of them by Megatron's return, his assault and his in-progress recovery, but he was not one to wait in lines to do anything. Razorclaw was inside the room with the other members of Megatron's traditional inner circle. he would get them whatever information they needed. In the meantime, he could get back to his holovid addiction.

"Murky. Lurky," Rampage said as a greeting to Darkwing and Dreadwind, previously the seniormost officers on the bridge as he walked over to one of the bridge consoles and took a seat, firing up his extensive holovid archive.

"Pit fights...pit fights: Stanix....pit fi-ah, here we go," the Predacon said as he flicked open the search result he was looking for. As the arena vid began to play, a transmission came through.

>>"This is Astrotrain, transmitting confirmation codes and coordinates. Requesting permission to dock."<<

Rampage smirked behind his faceplate. Were it a different orn, he might have toyed with the triple-changer. With things as they were, it was probably not the best idea. Instead, he checked the confirmation codes and the transmitted coordinates to confirm that it was actually Astrotrain.

>>"We read you A-train. You're clear. Use the secondary hangar. We had an incident in the main one. Still being repaired,"<< Rampage transmitted back as he released the locks on the main hangar bay.

>>"Copy,"<< Astrotrain commed back.
___

Beta Hangar

As the shuttle angled towards the battlecruiser, Astrotrain began to decrease his speed.

>>"Now approaching the Thanatos. Please return all tray tables to their upright positions,"<< Astrotrain joked dryly.

As the bay doors slid open, the triple changer slowly came cruising inward, coming to a smooth and practiced stop. If even one energon cube had been knocked over, he'd be surprised. He'd done this landing a million times. Probably literally at this point.

The Bar

Everyone here was having a good time, and the more Amethyst drank of the synthetic energon, the less the taste mattered and the more relaxed he became. His fears over the growing tension between the landbased Offroad and Thrust were becoming an afterthought. His mind was becoming a bit hazy as well as he was surely becoming drunk.

The mostly generically painted Seeker slumped back in his seat and rested his block shaped head and looked up at the ceiling, yawning. Energon dribbled from one corner of his mouth as he drooled slightly.

The red seeker looked over to the drone bringing him his drink, and took it before responding with a smile, "Heyyy, Amethyst! That's a sick name! Mine is Redwing. You come here often, or just with friends? What adventures have you been on lately, man?"

"Hnngghh?", Amethyst asked wearily. He smiled goofily and sat up again, a hiccup escaping from his vocalizer. He took another gulp of energon then, after reaching for a glass on the table, draining that one completely....ok...he drank more than a gulp. He guzzled it down and didn't even realize it. Now, unless explosions or something went off, his usual mental carefulness was gone. None of his own secrets were safe from himself.

"Friends? Ehhh...I don't have any friends, but ya'll are fam...we Seekers...fam...yeh...", he said, trailing off. Poor sap didn't have any friends. He was barely if ever noticed in the huge spanse of Decepticon Seekers, and he looked like most of them....having the "standard issue" Seeker paintjob, but a darker purple hue. Should he get an entirely different paint job? He mulled over it....but the thought soon drifted off like a wayward cloud. He then answered Redwing's second question, way too honestly, and if Thrust heard him ( and he likely would), it would dampen the conehead's pride for our little purple friend, but Amethyst wasn't in the mind to keep his misadventure a secret any longer...and so he blurted out, "Well, the last mission was a blast!! I forgot to get my weapons checked before I left....and my Flamethrowers exploded! I almost died! Thank Primus I could function. It was the most horrible injury I ever had! Spun out of control...crash and burn...fo real....I barely made it back. Luckily Scrapper fixed me all up. He's a real pro that Scrapper is." He'd likely regret telling his story later, but for now he was happy as can be.

He got up from his chair to go order another drink, but he fell backwards and crashed on the floor flat on his back, muttering, "Bogeys at ten o' clock...mech down...mech down....help...geh!"

The Refueling Bar

Nacelle continued to drink from his container while he heard Amethyst's crazy story. He shook his head and face-palmed before he muttered under his breath, "You are getting a little too obnoxious, even for you, Amethyst." Shortly after, he went back to drinking the Energon in his container, however, out of the corner of his optic, he saw Amethyst fell over backwards and off of his chair. He stopped his drinking and walked over to the group, which included Redwing and Thrust and put his container on the bar. There, he kneeled down near Amethyst and looked at him. "What shall we do to the fallen seeker, hmmm?"

Shockwave's Laboratory

>>”I’m sure. That is protocol. Providing the Autobots don’t get in the way. Hrm…If the Autobots had Megatron…would that mean they have Optimus Prime as well? It doesn’t make sense that he would vanish from the frontlines for this long…”<< Ravage said.

>>"I think it's only fair to assume they do. Like I said--Autobot plot. Maybe Optimus Prime was never missing in the first place. Autobot schemage of the worst kind. I do not approve,"<< Ratbat transmitted back from the comfort of Soundwave's chest cavity.
___

Medibay

With the Seekers having been satisfied by his efforts, Scrapper could let his guard down a little more and focus on his still-recuperating team. Fortunately, Scavenger was not far...and with a small cube of energon to boot.

“Here ya go, boss. What we gonna do next?”

Scrapper took the proffered cube and intook its contents, nodding in appreciation to Scavenger and motioned for him to join him over where Hook was still diligently working on Bonecrusher. Mixmaster came over as well, having finished his work on the Combaticon Vortex.

"Now we take a little time for some self-repair. We're of little use to the empire...to Megatron...if we're walking wounded. Then we figure out what we need to do to improve Devastator. I know he can do better. Long Haul? Bonecrusher? How're you feeling?"
___

Corridors

“Vortex, what do you suppose our assignment is? It’s from…Lord Megatron. He certainly wastes no time. I’d expect no less of him though,” Blast-Off asked as they headed for the rendezvous point with Onslaught and their next mission.

"I dunno. I mean, it feels weird. I wasn't sure I'd ever hear those words again...'orders from Megatron'...but that'll teach me to doubt him. Mission wise? Could be anything. Revenge strike on the Autoslags. Pinpoint assault on some Terran target. Lots of possibilities. I wanna know just as much as you do, heh. And where the frag is Swindle? Was he with the boss? I figure Brawl is. He's never too far unless it's energon overload time."

Thanatos – Barracks

"I think things are gonna change around here real quick with Megatron back. Might as well wolf this stuff down while we still have a chance," Tantrum grunted, opening the top and proceeding to pour the superfuel down his vocalizer.

”Cheers.” Headstrong grunted as he caught the energon canister chucked to him by Tantrum.

”You are probably right,” he added, chugging down the energon. ”For the better I hope. Been way to quiet for my liking. Since when we have had a chance to bust some Autoscraps last time? Feels like forever to me. I thought we were called Predacons, not fragging Officecons.”

Beta Hangar

As Astrotrain landed into the Thanatos’ hangar ever so smoothly as one could expect from a transportation professional – Motormaster stood up, his menacing, towering form staring down the other Decepticons present.

”You petromaggots know what to do with the energon,” he boomed, an annoyed scowl all too visible on his face, ”If you screw something as simple as this up I am going to jettison your sorry afts out of the airlock to float alone in the vacuum until you run out of energon and burn to ashes in that mudball’s atmosphere.”

Stepping out of Astrotrain’s open hatch, Motormaster turned to glare at his crew one more time. ”And you better believe that.”

>>”Razorclaw, its me. I have got the energon from Ultrax. Left Knockout to repair the ship.”<< Motormaster radioed the leader of the Predacons while marching across the hangar bay. ”What’s the situation out here?”<<

Astrotrain – Beta Hangar

Motormaster wrote:”You petromaggots know what to do with the energon. If you screw something as simple as this up I am going to jettison your sorry afts out of the airlock to float alone in the vacuum until you run out of energon and burn to ashes in that mudball’s atmosphere. And you better believe that.”

Drag Strip shook slightly at the thought of ending up in a vacuum and burning to a cinder. That didn’t sound pleasant. He wasn’t an agent of the Fallen anymore and thus he no longer had the power to survive such an ordeal if he ever had even under the fiery demigod’s control. Things were back to normal now and that wasn’t going to change any time soon, much to the yellow Stunticon’s chagrin.

Once Motormaster had left Astrotrain, Drag Strip stood up and looked around to the other Stunticons. “Well, you heard the boss. Let’s get this energon offloaded and into storage.” The former race champion immediately retrieved one of the hover carts that they had brought with them and moved it over to the energon pile. After deactivating the force field that kept the cubes in place, Drag began loading some of them into his cart.

“Oh, and Wildrider,” Drag Strip said as he momentarily paused and glared over at his crazy comrade. “Try to behave yourself. I don’t want to end up in Sol-3’s atmosphere, thanks so much.”

Shockwave’s Laboratory

Flamewar wrote:“Indeed. As Razorclaw has stated, our critical assets were recovered. Skullcruncher and Weirdwolf engaged Slag and Sludge. Grimlock, Snarl and an injured Swoop engaged Devastator and brought him down. Our forces recovered them and evacuated. I can’t confirm any Autobot casualties either.

“I agree with Razorclaw’s assessment. Devastator is far from perfected. Currently, Sixshot is a more effective asset. However, that is not all. While removing critical information from our databanks, I planted a virus. One which the Autobots recovered and downloaded. It transmitted from one of their ships to confirm.”

Razorclaw had been unaware of the virus Flamewar had planted, but it was a welcome piece of information to be sure. The Predacon Commander gave her a nod back to indicate he was not upset by the news, and it would surely make Lord Megatron happy to hear. As the lion-former waited for the slagmaker’s response, he received a communique from Motormaster:

Motormaster wrote:>>”Razorclaw, its me. I have got the energon from Ultrax. Left Knockout to repair the ship. What’s the situation out here?”<<

Razorclaw opened a return comm line to his Stunticon ally:

>>”Glad to have you back, Motormaster. You’ve missed much. In short, Lord Megatron has returned to us. At first he was not himself and went on a rampage through the ship, but he seems to be back to normal as of now. We are currently in Shockwave’s lab trying to understand what has happened to him. Meet us here as soon as you can.”<<

Once his message was sent, Razorclaw returned his attention to Megatron. “My lord, Motormaster has returned from his mission to the Ultrax, which is currently resting at the bottom of an ocean. His Stunticons have retrieved a large cache of energon that had been stored in their downed frigate. Knockout was left behind to continue repairs in the hopes of making the Ultrax flight worthy again. Motormaster should arrive here soon.”

Mess Hall – Refueling Bar

In a sudden flash of purple light, Skywarp appeared at the bar right next to Thrust, Redwing, Offroad, Nacelle and Amethyst who were all there drinking already. “BOO!!!!” The resident pranker said in an elevated voice, having just teleported in. “Hey, fellas! Hope I didn’t startle you! Hahah!” It had been a while since Skywarp had played any kind of prank on someone. His close relationship with Nightraven had caused him to act a bit more mature recently, at least while she was around. However, she wasn't present at the moment and thus the teleporter felt the need to stretch his pranking muscles a bit while he could.

Skywarp then settled in at the bar and ordered a drink of high grade from the drone barkeep. “So, what’s shaken? Everyone happy that Megatron’s back? I…” Skywarp asked before his words trailed off as he looked over and down at Amethyst who was lying on the floor with Nacelle kneeling down next to him. “What the frag are you doing down there? Did I scare you that much, Amethyst? Heh."

Shockwave’s Laboratory

>>”Looks like I did. Maybe I should avoid stepping on his tail a second time. For now, anyhow.”<<

Sixshot glanced over at Flamewar and smiled under his faceshield. >>”No worries, my dear. I’ll protect you from the big bad cat if necessary. Heh.”<<

The sixchanger then continued to listen as both Razorclaw and Flamewar gave their assessments on Devastator’s short comings. The black operative even called Sixshot the more effective asset. “That I am, Flamewar! That I am! Thanks for the kind words,” the STAG replied to her with a thumbs up. “Personally, I don’t really get all of the hype over these gestalts anyway. I mean, they’re big and powerful and that's great, but multiple minds and personalities trying to work together as one can’t be very stable. You run the risk of another Monstructor. But, what do I know? I’m just here to lay waste to entire planets.”

Amethyst saying he had no friends saddened Redwing a bit. Of course, he was drunk while Redwing was nowhere close to it yet, so of course a sober minded mech would pity the drunken one. As Amethyst babbled about an accident on the battlefield, Redwing felt even worse. Dang, this guy needs a buddy. Maybe I could help..

Just then though, the light purple and white seeker fell to the floor from his drunken haze. Redwing put his drink down and stood up to help Amethyst off the floor, but then..

"What shall we do to the fallen seeker, hmmm?"

Nacelle. Redwing distorted his face slightly in a bitter sort of expression. Redwing didn't like bullies. Even if Nacelle was joking, he could've at least helped his fellow seeker up.

"Eh, back off, Nacelle," said Redwing as he lowered a hand to Amethyst, "We're all Seekers. Peace among family and yadda yadda."

Corridors

>>”Glad to have you back, Motormaster. You’ve missed much. In short, Lord Megatron has returned to us. At first he was not himself and went on a rampage through the ship, but he seems to be back to normal as of now. We are currently in Shockwave’s lab trying to understand what has happened to him. Meet us here as soon as you can.”<<

>>”I am on my way.”<< The Stunticon commander replied back to Razorclaw.

Megatron alive? Well. That was one way to drop a proverbial bomb. And given how Razorclaw wasn’t known for his sense of humor this certainly wasn’t somekind of a prank either. It was actually visible from all the damage across the battlecruiser too. Damage he had seen before. Marks of fusion cannon blasts. Damn. He had just missed a chance to slug it out with the top guy. There weren’t quite anything like testing your resolve against someone like Megatron. Win or lose a fight like that was a victory over one’s own weaknesses.


Not much later the people within Shockwave’s lab could hear loud banging against the blast doors of the laboratory. It wasn’t like a brute like Motormaster had obtained the access codes into Shockwave’s most sacred haunt.

[Refueling Bar]

Looks like quite the crowd was starting to pile up. All of them seekers too, no less. "Wonderful, now we can truly call this a celebration!" The purple seeker was already drunk enough to have fallen flat on the floor. The green-faced devil chuckled as he chugged down another round of Energon. The drinks weren't gonna get to him - he was built for surviving, after all. He looked over at the conehead. "Enjoying the scene, hmm?" He said humorously.

Redwing wrote:"We're all Seekers. Peace among family and yadda yadda."

The red seeker sure had a point. Except, Offroad wasn't a seeker and he'd never be one. Individuality was a good thing and he relished being different.

Another seeker popped in out of nowhere, some kind of teleporter from the looks of it. "Fancy tricks you've got there, gentlemech."

Somewhere inside, the daredevil was itching for a fight. He tossed his now-empty canister in the air, without looking to see where it went. It went straight towards the conehead's pointy skull. A slight THUNK could be heard.

Shockwave's Laboratory

Shockwave was carefully analyzing the field assessments given by Razorclaw and Flamewar of Devastator's effectiveness in battle. The mental chaos and the apparent ease with which the gestalt had been separated would have to be addressed in future builds, to say nothing of the current one.

Megatron, too, appeared to be keenly interested in the feedback that was being given. It was unsurprising. High Command had invested a considerable amount of effort in the hopes of continuing--and improving upon--Jhiaxus' original work.

"Excellent. These will prove useful. Submit your formal evaluations before the orn is finished," Megatron said.

“My lord, Motormaster has returned from his mission to the Ultrax, which is currently resting at the bottom of an ocean. His Stunticons have retrieved a large cache of energon that had been stored in their downed frigate. Knockout was left behind to continue repairs in the hopes of making the Ultrax flight worthy again. Motormaster should arrive here soon.”

"Perfect timing. Continue the Ultra'x repairs. I want it airworthy," Megatron continued falling back naturally into his role as Decepticon leader as smoothly as when Shockwave had originally encountered the charismatic miner and gladiatorial champion back on Cybertron.

“That I am, Flamewar! That I am! Thanks for the kind words. Personally, I don’t really get all of the hype over these gestalts anyway. I mean, they’re big and powerful and that's great, but multiple minds and personalities trying to work together as one can’t be very stable. You run the risk of another Monstructor. But, what do I know? I’m just here to lay waste to entire planets,” Sixshot interjected, casting his own aspersions on the combiner process, but seemingly more from a place of ego rather than scientific observation of efficacy in battle.

"Declarative: the process will be refined. The final product cannot be assessed by the first result. We know now that the process can be replicated. Any process that can be replicated can be improved. We are, however, missing the feedback of the unit leader in question. Scrapper is 93.48942% likely to provide an unbiased assessment of the gestalt's performance."

Not long after Shockwave finished speaking, there was a loud bang on the primary door's exterior. Shockwave confirmed that it was, in fact, Motormaster and released the locks.
___

Megatron simply chuckled at the back and forth taking place over the nature of the new combiner and what role it--and future warriors--would play in the Decepticon empire.

"You all bring your collected wisdom to this process. I would have it no other way. The creation of gestalt super-warriors will change the dynamics of battle, but they are not the end-all. We will win this war. No one tool is to be overvalued. My scientists, my intelligence agents, my Phase Six and frontline warriors...when peace has come, we all will have made it a reality. We edge closer to that final victory, which is why we must not relent. This ore-13 is not simply the answer to our energon shortage crisis. The enhancement effects on individual Cybertronian battle performance must be capitalized on. When we finish mechaforming this world and stripping it of its ore, it will fuel Cybertron's new age."

"And your short-lived dreams of rebellion have come to an end, criminal," Sentinel Prime said.

"You have no future," Alpha Trion whispered.

Megatron's fist tensed, but he said nothing. The images of the mechs standing before him were clear again. This was truth. Reality. He needed to cling to it.

"The pieces are gathered. Put them in place and this war will be at its long-earned end."
___

As Megatron finished speaking, Shockwave turned to the newly-arrived Motormaster.

"Declarative: your arrival is a timely one. Your team will be the next to undergo the combiner process."

Barracks

”Cheers. You are probably right.For the better I hope. Been way to quiet for my liking. Since when we have had a chance to bust some Autoscraps last time? Feels like forever to me. I thought we were called Predacons, not fragging Officecons.”

"Fraggin' right," Tantrum said, feeling the ultra-energon course through his system, amping up his energy reserves past the standard monitoring levels. Energon was great and all, but this stuff? He felt like he could punch through Ultra Magnus' armor and rip his spark out by hand.

Maybe he'd try it the next time they got to fight the Autoslags. He still had a small stash of this superfuel stashed away for a special occasion. The perks of command.

"Just gotta find prey. Razorclaw's been too focused on holding the empire together. Now he ain't gotta worry about that. Now he can tear stuff apart again. Megatron knows what we're best at."

Tantrum checked the team's signatures. Divebomb was still in the corridors, Razorclaw in the cyclops' lab and Rampage on the bridge. Out of those options, eh, didn't really matter.

"I'm headin' to the bridge. Probably where the action will be once this juggernaut gets called back to battle, 'less we get deployed directly, which'll be even better."
___

Beta Hangar

Well, that was smooth. Not even a run-in with some random Autobot shuttle. Being as loaded up with energon as they were, Breakdown had been worrying about at least five potential threats to their cargo inbetween the mudball and then Thanatos.

Once the bay doors opened, Motormaster leveled a threat at them that gave Breakdown chills. The thought of starving and then burning up in space? No thanks. He spared a quick glance at Wildrider but said nothing. The terrorist had actually seemed to stabilize himself a little since he had found himself facing the brunt of Motormaster's wrath back on the Ultrax. Breakdown wasn't going to needle his already shaky stability until he gave him a real reason to do it.

Instead, he simply began loading a pile of cubes onto the same hovercart he had used before and got ready to offload the valuable resources.
___

Corridors

It had been. Megatron. Landgrab had only managed to catch a glimpse before he had been escorted into an area where Landgrab certainly had no clearance to be.

In fact, now that there was no apparent threat, the repairmech had decided it was time to get good and clear of this area of the ship. But what to do? Wander aimlessly?

Sure, that would work for now.

Re-fueling Bar
Negotiating the quickly filling bar was tricky, and for the first time, Thrust wondered if this was such a good idea. But then he saw Amethyst chugging and chatting away, and he felt his energon pump swell with pride.

He’s no doubt relating his glorious exploits. Such things are best told to an audience.

Knowing it would be important if he wanted to relay the story afterwards, he hurried across the room, sidestepping a couple of mechs that were dancing to music only they heard, and over another that had overindulged and slid out of his chair and onto the floor. His limbs were spread out, creating an interesting obstacle. The latter brought a smile to Thrust’s face. He had to such fear of Amethyst doing any such thing. He had complete faith in the young Seeker.

Amethyst wrote:"Well, the last mission was a blast!! I forgot to get my weapons checked before I left....and my Flamethrowers exploded! I almost died! Thank Primus I could function. It was the most horrible injury I ever had! Spun out of control...crash and burn...fo real....I barely made it back. Luckily Scrapper fixed me all up. He's a real pro that Scrapper is."

What? No, I must’ve heard wrong. Surely, his injuries came from an Autobot weapon. I’ll even accept a Decepticon’s, but not a malfunction. Oh Primus, recycle me now.

Shaking his head, Thrust convinced himself his audio receptors were malfunctioning. As he started a diagnostic program, he chuckled and tried to play off Amethyst’s words, saying, “Nothing like battlefield humor, eh, warrior?”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth, then Amethyst fell backwards, landing with a thud. All Thrust could do was stare at him as his diagnostic competed. His receptors were in perfect working order.

His processor nearly froze as he tried to think of what to say. He knew he should’ve been grateful when another Seeker knelt next to his friend, but given what he'd heard, was it safe for them? Did he want to be this close?

At least his weapons didn’t explode again.

He didn’t even hear Nacelle’s comment, nor notice Skywarp’s sudden appearance at first, though he’d crushed his metallic glass and spilled his energon without even realizing it.

After an astrosecond, Thrust was able to shift his optics from Amethyst, to Nacelle, and finally Skywarp. Thrust’s faceplate was frozen in a neutral expression as he searched for something, anything to say.

Suddenly, something clicked as he studied Skywarp’s smiling smile.

Skywarp would know what happened, but do I want to chance asking?

Deciding he was safer keeping his questions about Amethyst to himself for the time being, he would deal with that later. Now was the time to present as a Seeker should. “Welcome, Skywarp! We’ve already suffered casualties, as you can see, but nothing compared to what we shall do to the Autobots with Megatron back!”

He lifted his crushed metal container to drink, but paused at seeing it crumpled.

Where’d my glass go?

As the subjects of glasses and metallic cups garnered his attention, Thrust glimpsed Offroad toss his empty cup toward one of the newer Seekers. Redwing, he thought. Not that it mattered. Without even seeing where it went, he tossed his on the table. Having Skywarp nearby meant Thundercracker would be close, too, and that boosted his confidence.“Watch where you’re throwing you trash, dirtpounder. We’re all Decepticons here. Even those of us suffering being terra-trapped.”

Corridor outside Re-Fueling bar

Thundercracker slowed his pace as he approached the bar’s entrance.

Second thoughts abounded in his processor, but chief among them was the return of Megatron. It was a moment he’d been unsure if he’d function to see again, but as much as he wanted to believe this was what the Decepticons needed, he wasn’t so sure.

We need sound, steady leadership. Megatron’s return… complicates things.

He hated that those were the first words that had come to him when he heard the news, but he could think of no others that better fit their current situation. While the Decepticons hadn’t overwhelmed the Autobots, neither had they crumbled in upon themselves. The latter was the fate that Thundercracker had feared when Megatron disappeared. After eons of Megatron’s iron-fisted rule, it was only natural that the inner factions would turn on one another to grab the vacated power. But it had been those same eons serving Megatron that had held the Decepticons together. They had found a way to continue on.

And now he’s returned.

What concerned him now, the reason for choosing to be among his fellow Decepticons and to mull over the slagmaker’s return, wasn’t if the Decepticon Cause would be torn apart as factions fought one another — they had proven themselves better than that — but what power had taken Megatron from them to begin with. And for what purpose?

Shaking his head, he sighed and said over his shoulder to Skywarp, “Wonder what havoc we’re walking into.” When no answer came, he looked over first one shoulder, then the other. “Warp?”

He didn’t have to try imagining what his friend was up to. The only question for him was what kind of mischief. When he heard raised voices through the bar’s closed door, he was pretty sure who to blame.

Sighing, he stepped forward, mumbling, “Some things never change.” The bar’s door slid open and the noise increased enough to make him wince as he stepped through the opening.

Refueling Bar

Thundercracker paused once inside, allowing the door to slid closed behind him. No turning back now, he thought as his optics scanned the crowded room. A majority of the mechs were Seekers, which didn’t surprise him.

They were celebrating a victory and their esteemed leader’s return, after all.

A chorus of “Hail Megatron” came from Thundercracker’s right, and glancing over, he merely smirked and shook his head at the over-energized Cons. Enjoy yourselves. We all need to believe in something.

Hearing Skywarp’s telltale voice near him, Thundercracker glanced over and spotted his friend near the bar talking to a… Seeker on the floor. Of course. No surprise there.

He turned to the mech behind the bar to ask for some energon when he heard Thrust’s voice and the word dirtpounder. Without looking, he signaled the bartender and said, “Make that a double.”

Shockwave's Laboratory

As the doors into Shockwave’s lab opened, Motormaster couldn’t believe his optics for moment. Slaggin’ spawn of a glitch. It really was Megatron. He was alive and didn’t look no worse to wear either. But it wasn’t Megatron who addressed him as he stepped into the lab. It was Shockwave.

"Declarative: your arrival is a timely one. Your team will be the next to undergo the combiner process."

What? What was Shockwave suggesting? The next team to undergo the combiner process? He and his Stunticons? Where the slag did this come from? Was Shockwave saying he could just pick few random ’cons and just cram them together? In what possible way they could be compatible?

”Wait, what?”


Barracks

”Yeah, he sure does.” Headstrong agreed with Tantrum’s statement regarding Megatron, taking another sip of the super energon.

”Oh yeeeaah! This really is the stuff!” he proclaimed loudly, banging his fist against his chest, ”Like drinking Nightmare Fuel without the side effects!” The bulky Predacon was basically shaking due to minor overcharge. ”I am slagging buzzed Tantrum! Why go to the bridge when we can go bash in some heads right now!”

[Refueling Bar]

The devil chuckled. The bar sure was getting into a heated atmosphere. Perfect. He saw as Thrust tossed off the can of energon towards Redwing. "How rude. Didn't anyone teach you to respect a good shot when you see one? Tch." Noticing that he was the only conehead amongst the remainder of the seekers, a brilliant idea implanted itself into Offroad's mind.

"You know, now that I think about it, since you're among your seeker breatheren, I think it would be better for you to have the complete uniform. Why don't we start with your head, eh?"

SHNNK!

A metallic clinking noise could be heard as the daredevil pulled out his shiny axe. "Plus, my hatchet hasn't been seeing much action as of late. It would be ideal to... give it a run, wouldn't it?" Offroad's optics were a blank, lifeless, dim red, with his mouth locked in a grin that would only come from the most psychopathic serial killers. He pulled back on a cord near the shaft of the axe, and a very distinct and loud revving sound could be heard. The blade started to glow brightly, and the green-faced devil took slow, heavy steps towards Thrust. He was going to put this conehead in his place, and it would first be started by making his head as cubic as the rest.

Decepticon Battlecruiser Thanatos- Refueling Bar

For a few minutes, Amethyst just lay there staring up at the ceiling. In his drunken state his usually sharp witted mind was reduced to blissful stupidity. He felt like his chassis was floating and his vision was full of glittery technicolor lights. Other Seekers bent over him and spoke to him, though he couldn't really make out what they were saying to him as much as he was trying to listen. He just smiled up at Nacelle, Redwing, and Skywarp. He was completely oblivious to the subtle threat Nacelle had pitched and Redwing’s mentioning of keeping the peace between the Seeker brotherhood. If Amethyst had been able to listen and be coherent, he would have scoffed at that. Peace? When was there peace among anyone or anything in this universe? Even their illustrious Air Commander, Starscream would agree. Peace was a lovely little term, but in the long run, reflected in countless events in history, peace never lasted. It was a dreamer’s fantasy. Keeping “peace” required acts that went against the whole ideal of it...always bloodshed, always underhandedness, it was the way things worked. Nothing was free and peaceful and it never would be. And yet, peace could be found in moments of drunken stupor of the likes Amethyst was now experiencing, as his mind failed to grasp reality and his body more or less failed to cooperate.

Amethyst smiled up at the others and let out a hearty laugh full of delight. He soon grabbed for the nearest foot, not sure of whose it was and not caring, he used their sturdiness to support his own weight as he struggled to stand up. It took a bit but finally he was standing.

He glanced at Offroad and spotted the whirring chain-axe, not registering the threat or the fact he was actually threatening Thrust. He just grinned in the lemon-faced truck-con’s direction and wobbled about unstably. To him, it seemed everyone was enjoying their drinks as much as he, and they were all happy. This called for a song….


“Love, exciting and new
Come Aboard. We're expecting you.
Love, life's sweetest reward.
Let it flow, it floats back to you.”

, he began singing and dancing around clumsily, bumping into Redwing, then Nacelle, before embracing the sciency Seeker and looking into his optics lovingly, then swaying away from him, continuing the song….

“Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure,
Your mind on a new romance.

Love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore.
Yes LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! (hey-ah!)

Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure,
Your mind on a new romance.

Love won't hurt anymore
It's an open smile on a friendly shore.
It's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It's
LOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
It's the Love Boat-ah! It's the Love Boat-ah!”

, he sang. His voice was horribly high pitched and scratchy, but he sang it well despite this, bumping into others and dancing about the room, being tossed away by some, and eventually coming towards Thrust and collapsing right on him as his optics turned off and he fell into sleep mode. Together they broke a table, and Offroad’s target had been subdued by another means. Whether the sadistic looking truck-former proceeded or not was entirely up to him, but at least Amethyst had subconsciously moved his “mentor” out of harm’s way for the time being….even if Amethyst was now piled upon him. The purple, silver, and black Seeker snored away.

Re-fueling Bar
Thrust kept his optics locked on Offroad’s as the ‘Con tsked him. The indifference a ground-based mech, whether Decpeticon or not, dared insult him and his brethren in such a manner could not go unpunished. In that, he was certain. In truth, he hadn’t wanted to engage this mech in a fight, he’d tried to be inclusive, but now that Offroad had risen and dared show his weapons, Thrust saw little choice.

Offroad wrote:"You know, now that I think about it, since you're among your seeker breatheren, I think it would be better for you to have the complete uniform. Why don't we start with your head, eh?"

“I am one of the few truly elite among the Seeker Corps, if you think you are capable, warrior, then come and take my cone.” Thrust stepped back, readying himself for the upcoming attack. Images of his victory in front of his fellow Seekers already dancing through his processor. This is what it means to be a Decepticon. To be one of the elites!

Offroad wrote:A metallic clinking noise could be heard as the daredevil pulled out his shiny axe. "Plus, my hatchet hasn't been seeing much action as of late. It would be ideal to... give it a run, wouldn't it?" Offroad's optics were a blank, lifeless, dim red, with his mouth locked in a grin that would only come from the most psychopathic serial killers.

At seeing Offroad’s lifeless optics, Thrust’s energon pump increased its rate, automatically sending power to his weapons systems. For the briefest of moments, the idea that he’d pushed Offroad too far crossed his processor, but he ignored it. He knew this mech’s reputation beforehand.

Thrust resisted the urge to straighten his arm and aim his weapons. While it would prove the smarter maneuver, he intended to save it. Let this fool see the comradery of the Seeker Corps first hand.

He quickly scanned the group surrounding them, waiting for them to move in and end this as only they could.

Come on, guys. Anytime now…

He froze. What in the name of Cybertron?

Amethyst’s sudden chorus of… What Primus forsaken… song?

Thrust’s processor surged as he tried to place what the self-injury inducing mech was singing as Amethyst stood, teetered side to side, giving Thrust hope that he’d crash into Offroad and save him the trouble when Amethyst turned and stumbled toward him. “Amethyst, what do you...Ooof!”

Thrust had tried to back away, but he collided with another mech behind him, forcing him to catch Amethyst. The sudden jarring and added weight pulled him forward. Thrust tried to compensate, and ended up dropping onto his aft with a snoring Amethyst entangled in his arms.

“Get. Off. Me. You… fragging scraplet!”

[Refueling Bar]

The daredevil chuckled at Amethyst falling into Thrust. Perfect. Now he could truly show that conehead's arrogant aft to sit down and be humble. "I hope you're enjoying the intimate moment with your drunken friend here," he snarled lowly, "Because it won't last much longer."

Offroad used his spare hand to drag Amethyst away from the conehead, and once Thrust's head was in clear view, he kneelt down to match him face-to-face. Optic-to-optic. He peered at him with blazing, red-dead optics. He held his axe over the pointy part of his head. "Listen, would you like to try this the easy way... or my way?" The daredevil's grin was so wide his green face had basically changed into a grin with two red orbs above it. He started to bring his buzzing axe down, little by little, just enough to give Thrust some time to respond.

Too many things were happening at once. Offroad was brandishing his arm saw, and Amethyst was singing and flailing around all over the place. Redwing didn't know exactly what to do at first, but he saw Thrust was in danger. So out of pure instinct, his goal was set on defending his seeker kind.

As Redwing raised his modified and "souped up" null rays towards Offroad, Amethyst stumbled past him and fell on top of Thrust. Well that was great. At least Offroad was distracted for a bit.

Redwing shouted "OFFROAD," then immediately pointed his null ray guns directly at the killer's cranium for safety.

"Dude, Thrust might get a bit under your plating sometimes, but he's still a Decepticon. This ship is pretty full of all kinds of wacky characters, so you'd either end up in the brig or dead if you did something that super stupid. Let's just make this easy and forget this happened, m'kay mydude?" Redwing had a hard time defending Thrust overly much because of his annoyance to Redwing as well, but murdering an ally was definitely too far.

Beta Hangar

All Octane could do was laugh on the inside. The Stunticons were so used to being bullied that they don't have a processor thought which doesn't come from their brute commander.

"Are you jokers really going to do the work? Sure we were it on the Ultrax but now we are back on the Thanatos. There are Vehicons who can do this for us. As far as I'm concerned our job is done. I think the only thing the high and mighty lion former would care is how quick and safe these cubes gets to storage. Vehicons know how to do that quite well. Old motor brain just wants to use you all as slaves as long as you let him. If he respected you as warriors, he would have ordered the Vehicons to come unload Astrotrain but guess what, he doesn't respect you at all."

Octane walked out of Astrotrain and into the hangar. He pushes in a few button and in the matter of half a cycle a line of Vehicons comes through the door and started unloading the cubes taking them to the storage area.

Re-fueling Bar

Offroad wrote:"Listen, would you like to try this the easy way... or my way?"

Thrust’s optics burned bright and hot as he glared at Offroad.

“How dare you…” The words trailed off his lips as he searched for a way out of this. To be defeated because of a… a scrap pile falling on him was unfathomable. And for it to be the hands of a dirtpounder of all things!

The Decepticon within him demanded he fight, to go out as a warrior should. But he didn’t see how, and without options to fall back and regroup, his anger started turning to fear. After all he’d said and done, he couldn’t beg for mercy. To be another Starscream went against everything he wanted others to see in him, but it would keep him alive for another cycle.

Was the humiliation be worth it, though?

He clenched a fist as options ran through his processor. If he struck out, Offroad would probably take part of his prized cone. If he didn’t, well… that option wasn’t viable.

Still, if I… apologized…

Thinking the final word nearly caused his processor to freeze.

Redwing wrote: "Dude, Thrust might get a bit under your plating sometimes, but he's still a Decepticon. This ship is pretty full of all kinds of wacky characters, so you'd either end up in the brig or dead if you did something that super stupid. Let's just make this easy and forget this happened, m'kay mydude?"

Thrust smiled at seeing one of his Seeker brethren come to his aide, even if it was a newer one. He’d have to remember to thank him later.

There’s hope for this new group yet.

“You’d best listen to him, dirtpounder. No need to lose your head over something so shortsighted.”