The Energon Pub

Bar

While all this was going on, Amethyst was sound asleep. The sheer volume of fuel he'd consumed had not only resulted in the basically generic painted Seeker's erratic behavior, but had sent him right into sleep mode. However, his sleep, though deep, was far from peaceful. In his sleep, he was dreaming he was on the battlefield. What's more, it was such a realistic dream, that Amethyst's body was reacting as if he were awake.

"Hnnghhh!!", he mumbled incoherently, rolling from the position he had been in after being pushed away by Thrust, whom he'd just fallen on. Amethyst grabbed Thrust's legs to pull himself up to standing, and then pushed Thrust hard, directly at Offroad. Then, after this, he yelled,


"RAGHHHH!!!", and he reached for the table they had been sitting at previously, and he picked it up with strength he didn't even know he had and hurled it at both Thrust and Offroad. At this time, he lifted his left arm and activated his flamethrower, shooting a stream of flames at the object he had just thrown, while crashing into and through it, snoring, oblivious to the fire that now could possibly be spreading (or not). He did all of this while asleep, no light in his optics. He had no idea what he was doing. In his mind, he was warring with the Autobots.

[Refueling Bar]

Offroad stood up. He was surrounded by Seekers now, but that didn't matter. He was made to handle the worst of the worst. To his side was Thrust, throwing blank threats at him. To his other side was Amethyst, setting scrap on fire and lifting up a table. In front was Redwing, weapons pointing at him. Offroad straightened himself and lowered his arms, his axe still buzzing.

His lime green face somehow looked pale now. His optics dimmed down in colour, but still maintaining that same ominous presence on his visage. His vicious grin turned into a grim, thoughtful, relaxed face.

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?"

"This is not a matter of getting under one's plating, gentlemech." He replied to Redwing, "Nor is this a hold up or a murder-to-be. Everyone on this ship is a pawn, including myself. We are all small, individual entities that compare nothing to the grandeur of the universe beyond us. We may conquer planet after planet, enforcing our will and beliefs onto helpless creatures, never repent for our sins against the same creatures we slaughter mercilessly, but at the end of it all, we were made to be destroyed."

"Such is the truth of this cycle of life that we are permanently bound to. And whether or not some of us deserve to be attached to it more or less depends on our will to survive."

"But it is less about survival sometimes. We can hurt each other. We choose to hurt each other. But there are the moments that we don't cause pain to each other, the moments when we choose to not show aggression to each other. Sometimes it is better when we don't do anything entirely. And that is what makes living all the more worthwhile."

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

"Ironic," the devil chuckled, "Considering you were the one about to lose your head. You may have already lost it, metaphorically."

Amethyst was screaming for some reason. "He, for one, is quite under the influence. I'd say we help our little friend out here." Offroad quickly grappled Redwing's arm and threw it downward so that it would aim at the floor instead of a mech. He took a step backward, pulling a quick sweep with his leg so that Amethyst would hopefully trip over. He stopped the buzz of his axe and slung it over his back, putting it back. Grabbing both of his submachine guns from his hips, he held them up at angles so that anyone in the bar would think twice about getting shot.

"Now, gentlemechs, we can solve this easily. One of you, make sure Amethyst doesn't get himself injured." He loaded up the gun pointed closer to the purple seeker, loaded it up with one of his sedative gases, and shot the floor directly underneath Amethyst, causing a puff of strange yellow smoke to start emanating from the pellet. Looking at Thrust again, he held up a gun to his head. "Just because we're different doesn't mean you're better. We're the same in some ways and different in others. Neither of us is in a competition, so don't try to act like you are in one."

Refueling Bar

Nacelle heard what Redwing said to him. He just slightly looked at him out of the corner of his optic. Even though, it was true that most of them in the refueling bar but he had to poke a bit of fun at Amethyst. But, he mumbled a bit under his breath.

Then another one showed up out of nowhere and he heard a distinctive voice, which he knew was Skywarp. He knew eventually Thundercracker would probably show up. Hearing Thundercracker's voice in the bar soon answered his unasked question. After a bit, he looked up at them. "Uh...hi, guys."

Out of the corner of his optic, he saw Amethyst smiled up towards him, which he did not pay any mind to. But what got on his circuitry was Amethyst's attempt to sing a song about love. He immediately covered his audio receptors and said, "Amethyst, do not quit your day job! Oh, that is right...you do not have one!" He scrambled get away from Amethyst when he reached for Thrust and snoozed in his arms. Although the sight was hilarious. However, he saw Amethyst's flamethrowers activating and shooting. "This is not good." He walked away from Thrust and Amethyst so he would not get shot at. After a bit, he heard what the devil said to all of them. Right now, he was not entirely sure what anyone had in mind to handle this situation.

Re-Fueling bar

Thundercracker was halfway through his energon, debating how long he intended to stay as sounds of what had become an unavoidable scuffle sounded behind him. Regret over not returning to his quarters to immerse himself in research or a tech manual of some sort wasn’t as great as he’d expected. As much as his processor was filled with thoughts and conflicting emotions over Megatron, he found the time doing something mindless to be… challenging.

Never one to be idle, he found himself enjoying the sensation of focusing on not focusing on anything. A paradox, he was sure, but one that seemed a waste more than not. But this time, there was something more to it.

Maybe I need to do this more often.

His receptors focusing on the rapid exchange between Offroad, Thrust, and a red and black Seeker he wasn’t familiar with (Redwing) behind him.

Then again, do I really want to take part in attempting to disassemble my fellow ‘Cons?

Of course he didn’t, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t necessary for them to burn off some energon. Decepticons had become aggressive over the eons, more so than their original programming, and that aggression needed to go somewhere. So, if a few bent craniums helped—

Nacelle wrote:"Uh...hi, guys."

Recognition briefly blipped in Thundercracker’s memory banks. Nodule? Nacelle? Nordal? He knew the mech’s name, but he couldn’t remember which one it was. Embarrassment at not knowing a fellow Seeker flooded through him as he nodded a greeting. It didn’t matter that there were new ones arriving daily, it was important to know who they were.

I need to refresh myself with our updated roster before they become fodder.

Before he could say anything, he caught sight of Amethyst and Thrust’s dilemma with Offroad and inwardly groaned. If there was a doubt in his processor at Offroad brandishing his weapons, having Amethyst actively using his erased any.

Stepping forward, he opened a private comm to Skywarp.

>>Warp, we’ve got to get this under control before someone’s offlined.<<

Offroad wrote:"Just because we're different doesn't mean you're better. We're the same in some ways and different in others. Neither of us is in a competition, so don't try to act like you are in one."

With Redwing’s attempt to aid him thwarted, Thrust fought against the urge to vacate his fluids. After all of his confrontations with the Autobots, none had ever had such a dark look about them. This was why he hadn’t wanted to push Offroad this far, but the mech hadn’t accepted his position with grace and dignity. Instead, he dared engage his weapons and threaten a Seeker of Thrust’s status.

Given chance after chance to back out, to admit he was wrong, Thrust had refused. To do so would be showing weakness, a weakness he refused to allow his fellow ‘Cons witness. All of them have been defeated in battle at some point, but to retreat from one of their own was nearly too much for him to accept. Especially after what he’d said.

With little choice, Thrust continued to glare at the mech. Offroad had done him a favor by attempting to remove Amethyst from the equation. While the mech may have potential, he’d been nothing but a hindrance to Thrust so far, including being the primary reason Thrust now looked up at the barrel of one of Offroad’s weapons. While it was more likely to end his existence faster than the buzzing ax, it was for that reason that Thrust preferred it.

Though he didn’t want to be deactivated, a quick blast to his cranium would be far less painful than the other option. Still, there had to be a way to get himself out of this predicament. The only thing he could think of was to buy time. Sooner or later, more Seekers would come to his aid. While they weren’t among the strongest Decepticons when it came to physical combat, there were enough present that could subdue even Offroad if needed. Assuming Redwing wasn’t the only one with an energon pump.

Then there was the lecturing. Oh, how it pained him to sit there listening to such self-righteous proclamations. Had he not known better, he’d have sworn he was being held by the Autobots.

“I don’t see a competition, warrior, rather one wishing there was one so he could attempt to prove himself equal to those with greater skill. Perhaps, if you were as gifted as you imagine, you wouldn’t have needed the help of an over-energized mech to hinder me so you could gain the upper hand.”

It was an unusually clever idea that had come to him, and Thrust enjoyed the momentary surge of pride. He even managed to keep from referring to the poor dirtpounder by what he was, though that would change once they were on equal footing.

Shockwave's Laboratory

”Wait, what?”

Shockwave could see that he had more than caught Motormaster's attention.

"Declarative: I possess preliminary design schematics involving you and the current, surviving members of your specialty unit. Lord Megatron has ordered that, in light of the Constructicons' success with Devastator, those plans are to be put into action. Immediately."

Barracks

”Yeah, he sure does. Oh yeeeaah! This really is the stuff! Like drinking Nightmare Fuel without the side effects! I am slagging buzzed Tantrum! Why go to the bridge when we can go bash in some heads right now!” Headstrong exclaimed, obviously ready to pound some dents into the first mech who crossed him.

"Frag no!" Tantrum said. "We go make a mess with Megatron just now back and, nah. Just ain't gonna be good for us. You don't gotta go to the bridge. Stalk the halls. Do what you want. You will anyway. I'm goin' to the bridge," Tantrum grunted before stalking off in the other direction.
___

Beta Hangar

Breakdown had finished loading his cart and pushing it out of the triple-changer when the other loudmouth one went off on a rant about unloading being Vehicons' work.

"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."

Breakdown just stared at the triplechanger as he proceeded to summon a small workforce of Vehicons to continue doing their work. Well, fraggin' zeta....the trip went and made an actual valid point for once.

Breakdown stepped away from his cart as one of the Vehicons approached and started to push it towards the ship's storage units. Other Vehicons began to climb aboard Astrotrain and continue the process.

"Yeah. Yeah! And hurry it up! We ain't got all day!" Breakdown barked, before looking over his shoulder just to make sure Motormaster hadn't suddenly wandered back into the room.

Biometrics Laboratory

He was shocked, that was all.

He had just returned from the Pit only knew where and had seen the shocking progress that Thunderwing had made and....there was simply too much for him to process at the time. That was all.

Thunderwing tapped various commands on his console at a frenetic pace, several holoscreens displaying at once, sometimes with one vanishing and another quickly replacing it.

He knew Megatron well enough over the vorns to be acquainted with his profound....distaste....for organically-derived technology advancements. But on a world such as this, where organic material flourished so freely, surely he would come to an understanding that it was not all bad. There was potential there to be exploited. Yes. Thunderwing would show him the way. He had warned them all about Cybertron, Autobot and Decepticon alike and they hadn't listened.

Well, this time they would.

With cyberorganic technology fully-integrated with his systems, he now needed to see if he could sustain himself on materials other than the typical fuel sources that everyday Cybertronians needed.

//Generate 10-liters of biotech supplement Gamma-6// Thunderwing entered into the lab's control systems. A new machine switched on and began churning out a bluish-green paste into a receiving container.

Shockwave's Laboratory

"Declarative: I possess preliminary design schematics involving you and the current, surviving members of your specialty unit. Lord Megatron has ordered that, in light of the Constructicons' success with Devastator, those plans are to be put into action. Immediately."

Motormaster was taken back by Shockwave’s declaration. Why now? Last he heard the Constructicon behemoth had been considered unstable and less than the sum of its parts intellectually. Why the rush now?

”I was under impression that Devastator wasn’t working as intended. Are you telling me you have solved that problem?” Motormaster, having crossed his arms over his chest - questioned the one-eyed scientist.

The leader of the Stunticons was more than ready to welcome the additional power the combiner process would give him access to. However he had not intention of sharing control of such power with the other Stunticons. He knew them too well. The four numbskulls couldn’t agree on anything. The whole functionality of the team depended on Motormaster’s dominance over the others and while he was supremely confident he could bully them to his will in any circumstance, Devastator had set a seed of doubt in his mind. If Constructicons who usually could agree with each other and worked far better in unison than the Stunticons couldn’t get their combined form work as intended, how a Stunticon combiner was going to work?

And sure as hell, he wasn’t going to stay silent on the matter. Megatron’s command or not. The problem was that neither Shockwave or Megatron likely wanted to give him what he was going to ask. ”The way I see it, you are gonna have to give me total control over the combiner for it to be effective. Those four headcases are too conflicted to cooperate otherwise.”

~~~~~ ~~~~~

Barracks

”Slagging spoilsport.” Headstrong grumbled at Tantrum, walking after the taurian Predacon, ”Since when did you become such a slagging wimp?”

Shockwave's Laboratory

”I was under impression that Devastator wasn’t working as intended. Are you telling me you have solved that problem?”

"Declarative: very little cutting-edge technology works as intended in the beginning. I have solutions in mind that will refine the Constructicons' efforts," Shockwave countered.

”The way I see it, you are gonna have to give me total control over the combiner for it to be effective. Those four headcases are too conflicted to cooperate otherwise,” Motormaster continued. Shockwave spared a glance in Megatron's direction, but the Emperor of Destruction appeared content to say nothing for the time being, simply watching the exchange between Motormaster and Shockwave with a slight smirk.

"That is, actually, one of the advantages that I believe may solve some of the problems found in Devastator. Scrapper, whose efforts are commendable, does not dominate the members of his unit with the same force of will that you do. With some modifications, I believe I can use that psychological advantage to ensure our next gestalt warrior does not suffer the same affliction."

Shockwave had attempted to couch the specifics of the process in as agreeable terms as was possible. Ultimately, this was Megatron's will, and the King of the Roads was going to discover that it didn't matter what his reservations were with the process.

He and his band of terrorists were next.
___

Corridors

”Slagging spoilsport. Since when did you become such a slagging wimp?”

"Since never, ya horn-faced frag," Tantrum grunted. "I just wanna spend this fuel on someone that deserves a good beatdown. Not some runty Seeker or glitchy grunt that's drunk too much engex for his own good. We get on the bridge, and we're the first ones who can put our hands up when a good mission comes up."

Redwing kept his blasters steady, not looking away from Offroad for one microsecond. But some of the things Offroad said did seem logical to Redwing in some ways. What if it was all pointless? What if in the end, their only purpose was to kill other mechs on the other side with the same purpose? What was the end goal? Did it all matter?

Redwing lowered his weapons slightly, and then proceeded to say hesitantly to Offroad, "You.. bring some.. interesting points. But now isn't exactly the time to have second thoughts about our loyalties, man."

Redwing lowered his weapons even more as he thought even more. He always wondered what being a seeker meant. Was it really elite, or did it mean being fodder?

"Offroad, is it?"

Redwing sighed at himself. What the scrap was he doing? He's making a fool of himself! Then again.. Sometimes being a fool was necessary for change under any circumstance. Being the fool only meant deviating from the system.

"Maybe it's time for all of us to weigh our worth, but not like this."

Thanatos- The Bar

The purple and grey Seeker continued to thrash about in his sleep, in a destructive subconsciousness, that is...until a gas bomb was thrown at his feet. The gas was inhaled by Amethyst and it began working on his circuits. Before you know it, he fell to the floor like a winged brick. This time though, he would stay asleep, offlined for the time being. With his mindless rampage at an end, he was at the mercy of the others in the room. Now what would happen?

Shockwave's Laboratory

"Declarative: very little cutting-edge technology works as intended in the beginning. I have solutions in mind that will refine the Constructicons' efforts," Shockwave countered. "That is, actually, one of the advantages that I believe may solve some of the problems found in Devastator. Scrapper, whose efforts are commendable, does not dominate the members of his unit with the same force of will that you do. With some modifications, I believe I can use that psychological advantage to ensure our next gestalt warrior does not suffer the same affliction."

Yeah. That’s the way it was, sure. Tech did get better with time but this wasn’t just any kind of tech. This was combining 5 different people into one being, even if just temporarily for combat purposes. Undoubtedly he dominated the other Stunticons but he also knew they plotted against him on every given chance they got and that shook his confidence some. How would that work with the combiner? And why weren’t they fixing Devastator first if they had ideas how to make it work better? Then again, considering this was Megatron’s command, Motormaster knew very well he didn’t really have a choice in the matter, his runts even less. But he wasn’t just going to accept everything without at least trying to better his position with this project Megatron had just volunteered the Stunticons for.

”I am all for this super warrior thing.” Motormaster began, having noticed a smirk on Megatron’s face. Hell yeah, more power to me. If Megatron was amused by him standing up against Shockwave, perhaps he had a better chance getting more out of this than he had initially thought.

And truth to be said, he didn’t trust a mech he had overthrown with Razorclaw and Onslaught easily either. Shockwave was also notorious for this kind of thing. Taking in new people to experiment on rather than trying to perfect the original experiment. It bugged Motormaster surprisingly lot. ”But if you have solutions, why aren’t you starting with Constructicons? They are too complex for you?”

Corridors
There was a buzz of activity among his fellow Decepticons as Dessicator made his way along the corridors of the Thanatos. He didn’t pay attention to banter, he had better things to do. This was his downtime, and he insisted on enjoying himself and getting used to being around others instead of bogging down his processor with random news or the relentless gabbing that came with being back in civilization. It wasn’t that he disliked the others, well, not all of them, but it was a bit much to go from the quietness of his own thoughts to the cacophony the confines of a ship brought.

It was one of the reasons he preferred to work alone. No one was there to clutter his receptors with this and that and he could focus on the job at hand.

He paused at a viewport and stared out at the stars, wondering where his next target would be. There was a time when what he did would’ve been considered criminal, barbaric, even. But now it was all in the line of duty. He really couldn’t ask for anything more.

No, I could. He chuckled to himself. It’s only a matter of time until our paths cross again. Until then… He nodded to the stars outside and turned, continuing on his way. Most mechs didn’t worry about their munitions while aboard the ship, to report in. Once that was completed, he’d head to the armory to replenish his spent ammunition and then to refuel.

This is why I don’t come here. Thundercracker admonished himself for his moment of weakness as he headed for the tangled group of Decepticons intent on killing one another.

While he’d expected this as it was what usually happened when any Decepticons got together and drank, but to bring live weapons into the argument was beyond stupid. At least, to him. He knew of others, such as their glorious leader, who would relish seeing his soldiers testing their mettle in combat. It was expected, it was encouraged. So long as there were replacement canon fodder waiting to step up or.

It kept everyone on the alert and ready to fight the Autobots at any given time.

It was just one more thing that bothered Thundercracker about what they’d become. Maybe, had he sought the leadership role instead of Razorclaw things would be different. Or I’d be a smoking ruin in a refuse pit somewhere.

The truth was, he was as much responsible for this as anyone, and it wasn’t going to change anytime soon. Maybe when the Autobots are finally defeated. Or us.

He shook those thoughts from his processor as he stepped forward. He didn’t even know if Skywarp was with him or not. All that mattered to him was stopping this before irreparable harm was done. There was too much fighting going on for them to decimate their own ranks…

Redwing wrote:"Offroad, is it? Maybe it's time for all of us to weigh our worth, but not like this."

Thundercracker paused. Did he hear that right? Was a fellow Seeker voicing similar concerns? It was something he hadn’t expected or heard since… well, a while. At least, not from a mech that didn’t have a meeting with the DJD shortly afterwards.

He eyed Redwing with a newfound respect/curiosity. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t bring himself to allow those words to go uncritiqued. For the mech’s own sake. “Come on, you two. There are better places to settle these matters that will satisfy both of you.” His optics surged as he locked them on Offroad. “It would be wise to save your weapons for the Autobots, including your more benign ones,” he finished, motioning to Amethyst, once again wondering what the Decepticons had become. Then he turned to Thrust. “Unless you’d rather finish this in the training room where weapons can be used.”

Thrust’s energon pump slowed at seeing Redwing come to his defense, followed by Thundercracker, so he depowered his weapons. He even nodded along with both their sentiments, more so since they were keeping him from being scrapped than actually agreeing, but if it saved his aft, so be it. A smile began to play across his faceplate as the lecture continued.

Then Thundercracker looked at him. Thrust remained still, not really listening as he assumed it was the same thing he'd heard from his Seeker brother for eons. He allowed his thoughts to wander, looking forward to seeing how the dirtpounder would react to a unified front against… Wait. Did Thundercracker just say…

Thrust’s smile faded and his mouth fell open as he fought to find the correct words. “Thundercracker, you wound me to suggest I would shirk any challenge offered… I mean, I would happily… Perhaps, now isn’t the best time. We are celebrating, are we not, fellow warriors? ALL HAIL MEGATRON!”

Thrust lifted his hands and turned, seeking support for his efforts.

"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?"

Bonecrusher flexed his arm and felt his only just repaired torso before responding, "Better than I was, 'Scraps."

Bonecrusher still felt some pain in his torso after just being pieced back together, but he could at least function. And his anger had subsided some making him more calm towards other Decepticons as well. At least temporarily.

"Well, if-" Bonecrusher jolted with pain as he got up from the berth. He didn't make a sound however, but simply cut off his own speech.

"Agh, ya know, 'Scraps? I'd be even better after some fraggin ENJEX, HEH," said Bonecrusher loudly with a bit of a smile, almost forgetting their previous defeat.

Doomshot began to make his way out of the larger area where Megatron perviously was apparently. The "day" as some planetary beings would say had only just started, and already some entirely insane things had happened. Such was the life of one within the Decepticon faction. Doomshot wasn't surprised.

Doomshot proceeded to comm his brother Hazard who most likely was looking for him by now.

>>"Hazard, where are you, brother? I am on Deck 9. Something happened here, and it's very puzzling."<<

Bounce Chamber

”Boss? How was he? What happened? What kind of orders?”

“Megatron seems to be standing,” Onslaught replied to Brawl’s barrage of questions, “though his body is tattered and war-torn. Heh, it was almost like seeing him back in the days of the gladiator pits.” As the Combaticon commander entered into the bounce chamber he made a bee-line for the control console and began to input the familiar codes to their ship.

“As for what had happened to him, it seems they’re still looking into it. He had arrived, albeit violently, while we were down on Earth. But with Megatron’s return, Razorclaw has relinquished command back to the slagmaker. Megatron’s first orders for us were to go and pull Starscream and his cronies off of Sol-4.”

“Oh joy, so we’re glorified delivery mechs.” Swindle has interjected having arrived in time to hear the end of Onslaught’s conversation with Brawl. “Screw that noise, leave them for the DJD to handle.”

“This is a direct order from Megatron himself. Defying him now would surely throw you to the top of that supposed list of theirs.”

Swindle threw his hands up defensively at the retort, as a means of non verbally saying “I’m just saying” as he took a few more towards the bounce pad.

With the commands in place, Onslaught stepped upon the raised platform and readied himself for the bounce sequence. The three Combaticons were enveloped in a bright light before they had disappeared into the flash. Next stop, the Obliteration.


((OOC: Onslaught and Swindle moving to the Obliteration thread.))

[Refueling Bar]

"Heh."

Offroad's optics scanned the room. There was now a wasted Amethyst on the floor, knocked out by both the Energon and the gas. Redwing and Thundercracker going on about making some peace. And finally, Thrust, his shiny, pointy cone of a head sticking up. Offroad chuckled and laughed, but this time it wasn't so sinister.

He dropped his guns back into their holsters.

"Tch, to think that someone like me would actually want to lay waste to fellow troops. Your thought processors are in good form but you have to remember, with madmechs like myself, nothing and everything is possible."

He kicked up the table that Amethyst had picked up, causing it to flip back into a standing position. Additionally, he shifted the rest of the displaced furniture back to where it was. "Cleaning up after yourself is a good habit, hehe."

He put his arm around Thrust's shoulders and lead him to the bar. "All drinks on me. Bartender, pour him some of that elite grade fuel," the devil said as he looked back at the remaining Seekers, "Actually, make one for all of those chumps there."

While the bartender counted the Shanix Offroad had payed him, the devil went back and hoisted Amethyst's body up onto a chair. He sat on an adjacent chair with a drink in hand, inviting the rest to the table.

"Long live the Decepticons!" He cheered.

Re-fueling Bar
Thust’s optics scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of support. Some mechs smiled, keeping their arms down and their vocalizers silent, while others seemed to want to begin restate his hail to the slagmaker, but they looked unsure.

He couldn’t blame them. Had he not been near the epicenter to these events, he would’ve been in the first group. In fact, he would’ve led the cheers for combat between the two. The fact no one spoke showed the respect they held for Thundercracker, even if they disagreed.

When Offroad broke the silence, Trust’s processor froze as he processed what was happening. First the mech unarmed himself, then said something about possibilities involving when it came to his actions.

There wasn’t a point in arguing that, as Offroad’s reputation was well known, but did that mean he was trying to convince Thrust to lower his guard, making him an easier target? Or was he actually proposing a truce of sorts?

It was times like these that Thrust wished his logic circuits weren’t so underpowered. Maybe then, he’d better understand mechs like Offroad. Having them with him would go to great lengths to improving his status.

He watched as Offroad placed Amethyst back in a chair. Had he truly been mistaken about the young mech, of would Amethyst prove himself worthy of being a Seeker? He hoped so, especially after attaching himself to the unconscious Seeker.

Thrust was so wrapped up in his thoughts that the room and those inside ceased to exist. Until an arm draped over his shoulders, causing him to jump and nearly leak oil for the second time since arriving there.

Offroad wrote:"All drinks on me. Bartender, pour him some of that elite grade fuel," the devil said as he looked back at the remaining Seekers, "Actually, make one for all of those chumps there."

Thrust’s optics burned at hearing him refer to his Seeker brethren as chumps, but then he decided against saying something. In the end, Offroad’s actions meant only one thing: he was scared of Thrust and wished to be in his good graces.

Though he knew better than to fully trust another, especially, one as bloodthirsty as Offroad, this was a development that Thrust welcomed. Taking the offered energon in his hand, he lifted it high and offered, “Well said, warrior. Long live the Decepticons!“

Things couldn’t have worked out any better.

Corridors

"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."

"Hm, agreed. I suppose the only way to know for sure is to rendezvous with Onslaught. Like you said, Brawl is surely not far from wherever he is. Swindle? Who knows? But ultimately he's Onslaught's problem."

"Truth," Vortex agreed as they approached the exterior of the bounce chamber. Entering an access code, the doors slid open and the two Combaticons entered. Vortex headed directly for the bounce pad while Blast-Off checked the control panel. The most recent bounce had been to the Obliteration. Blast! He'd been hoping to get there first.

He dashed over and joined Vortex on the bounce pad, activated the tech and the two Combaticons were swiftly bounced away in a bright flash of white.

Redwing was very confused by the switch of events. He felt for certain that energon was going to be spilled, so Offroad just switching up and being all easy made the red seeker feel a bit cynical.

And then Offroad payed for more enjex for all of them? Obviously he was off his rails, but this was just beyond strange.

"Uh, thank you," said Redwing simply in response. He was then handed some of the drink which he slooshed around in the cup before ingesting it. Ah. That was the good stuff.

"All hail Lord Megatron," said Redwing before ingesting more of the drink. He had been a drinker for a very long time, so his tolerance levels had risen quite high. Soon enough he had finished the enjex with only feeling slightly hazey, but not quite dizzy.

Redwing saw the KOed Amethyst in the other seat starting to slide down his chair under the table. Redwing got up and stabilized his fellow seeker before stating to everyone there, "I better get my friend to a more comfortable place. It's been.. fun. Scary, but fun," Redwing laughed.

Redwing picked up Amethyst and put him over his shoulder, and then went to the counter and bought his own full bottle of enjex. Just something to pass the time a little while Amethyst comes to. After getting his bottle, Redwing went towards the exit.

Thanatos- Deck 9 Corridor

Hazard, a small jet fighter 'Con who was definately not a Seeker found himself accompanied by the truck Duocon named Battletrap and the giant Dreadnaught on his search for his big brother Doomshot. The three mech party had entered an elevator and now it was opening on deck nine.

Walking out of the elevator, the sounds of damaged electrical cords sparking with current could be heard. There was a lot of damage here. Holes were in the walls and ceilings and there were dents, scrapes, and other such signs of a rather violent scuffle (scuffle was putting it light).

Just then, Hazard's commlink clicked on, though there was a lot of static,

>>"Hazard, where are you, brother? I am on Deck 9. Something happened here, and it's very puzzling."<<

Hazard needed to get his comm looked at. Earlier it wasn't working at all. Was there an interference earlier or was it messed up? He began to run a diagnostic check. However, he was very happy he'd been contacted by his brother. He hated to be too far away from him, after all.

"He's here somewhere on deck nine. Guys....do you have any idea what happened?", Hazard said to Battletrap and Dreadnaught, feeling a chill run down his circuitry. He began to cautiously make his way down the corridor, drawing one of his sword just in case someone or something came out in attack mode at him. He hoped the others would back him up. As he proceeded as quietly as possible, he opened his comm and returned a message to his brother,

>>Sorr...y...some..thin...gs...wr...ong with...m..my comm. Come...in?....Doomy...I...a..m...on...dec..k...nine...near...ele...vator.<<, came a horribly sounding comm, but at least it worked. Now he just hoped Doomy showed up before whatever the hell slagged the place did.

Shockwave's Laboratory

It had not escaped Megatron's notice that in the midst of his argument with Motormaster, he had given him the briefest of looks. Always calculating. In this case, to determine just what degree of latitude he was going to give to either of them. His silence was his answer for the moment. He wanted Motormaster's concerns to be voiced so that Shockwave would not forget them--or, more likely, ignore them altogether--as the gestalt creation process continued.

”I am all for this super warrior thing. But if you have solutions, why aren’t you starting with Constructicons? They are too complex for you?”

"Negative," Shockwave replied matter-of-factly. "The empire is not best-served by taking the Constructicons off the field again. They serve too many other functions. We will improve the process as we go, but the fact remains that we require more of these warriors sooner rather than later. Even Devastator--with his flaws--is more serviceable to us in a battle scenario than his six component parts. So will it be with the gestalts to come."

"Just so," Megatron said at last, looking from Shockwave to Motormaster and then to the rest of his gathered lieutenants. "Now...I've laid out what must be done to ensure our victory. See to it."
___

Medibay

"Well, if-Agh, ya know, 'Scraps? I'd be even better after some fraggin ENJEX, HEH,"

Scrapper's optics narrowed. Typically when one mixed too much energon and Bonecrusher, the usual result was him being right where he was now. Sometimes the other mech was right alongside him.

"Well...after that display with the Dinobots, I won't say you haven't earned it.....but....if you wind up back in the medibay because you crossed the wrong mech, you're fixing yourself. Clear?"

Scrapper didn't wait for an answer. He simply exchanged a brief nod with Hook and motioned for Scavenger to come with as they left the repair bay.

Thanatos - Corridors

”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.”

“Gun shots there are. Damage the ship if further out of hand this gets,” Weirdwolf protested, glancing disapprovingly at Skullcruncher. “Murder him you will not. Stop you I will if it comes to that when he is inches from death. So worry not.”

Stepping out from behind cover, Weirdwolf spread his hands out to Fangry and Technikiller. “Cease this tomfoolery you will!”

Medibay

"Well...after that display with the Dinobots, I won't say you haven't earned it.....but....if you wind up back in the medibay because you crossed the wrong mech, you're fixing yourself. Clear?"

“Yes boss! Oh boy!” Scavenger replied cheerily, following along closely by Scrapper’s side. He puffed out his chest, feeling rather proud of their bout against the Dinobots. If it got praise from the boss, it had to be a good thing, right? Yeah. Bouncing ahead and dancing around on unsteady feet, he scurried back over to Scrapper’s side.

“Hehe!”

[Refueling Bar]

While the mood had been set by his rather strange move, Offroad knew exactly what he was doing. He wasn't a fool. He leaned in toward Thrust, who was holding his engex in hand, and whispered gently, but menacingly, into his audio receptor. "Try anything out of the ordinary and I will rip out your fuel pump and force it down your vocaliser in no time."

He watched as Redwing started to make his way out with Amethyst carried on his shoulder. He shot him a look with his demonic red eyes. The lines on his face next to his mouth grew creased and dark as he grinned.