The Energon Pub

Transmission from Razorclaw:

>>”No, Roadblock, it is YOU who have dishonored and disrespected ME! I am your leader! Have YOU changed so much that you no longer understand the chain of command? I do NOT have to explain myself or the reasoning behind my orders. Perhaps if you had initially approached me regarding your idea in a more respectful manner, the outcome of this conversation would have been different. Instead, you have decided to disobey a direct order and hide onboard the Thanatos like a spoiled protoform who did not get his way. Is this what you want, Roadblock, to be remembered as a coward who refused to fight when all other able-bodied mechs put their sparks on the line to save the Empire? The mech I used to know was better than that. As for your challenge, take heed of MY words. I have already defeated Starscream, Shockwave and Thunderwing to secure the throne. If you insist on fighting me, your fate will be the same as theirs!”<<

Engine Room

"Send Bonecrusher. Send Bonecrusher." Long Haul mumbled to himself. He welds a patch into place, attempting to repair a small hole, angry that he's been denied his chance at combat.

"Yes, let's send Bonecrusher. Not me, the one who does the damage around here. You want something smashed, broken, destroyed and decimated...you send me!" Long Haul continues to mumble, angrily. "RAGH!"

Steaming inside, his anger growing. All Long Haul wants is to get out of this drab engine room, get away from the repairs. He knows he's far better at breaking things than he is at fixing them. Besides, it's easier to break things and yet, so much glory to be had at every opponents spark you can extinguish.

Lashing out, Long Haul punching the wall, right where his repair job is. A blow that easily bends and crumples the patch as if the metal was being crushed under the weight of a hundred tons. He stares, briefly, at the damage he's done. He shakes his head before grabbing the patch and ripping it off. Long Haul grabs another patch and starts the repair all over.

Laboratory

With the battle on the surface not yet underway and having already made satisfactory progress on his repairs, Shockwave began examining other areas of the vessel, particularly the one that indicated damage at the hands of the Fallen. The engine room. Before evaluating his next move on the on the battlefront, he wanted to examine the damage site directly to see whether or not the elder Cybertronian left behind anything of value--even if said value was no more than a trace energy signature.

Rising once more, Shockwave departed the laboratory, en route to where the Constructicons were currently undergoing their labors. Given the effort that had been put into reacquiring the cyberforming technology from their fortress in Kaon, the next logical step after the Fallen was dealt with would be to proceed with his and Megatron's plans regaridng the fate of this world.

If the Fallen was not satisfactorily dealt with, then it would be time to calculate a new strategy altogether--provided the Fallen's retribution for their actions was not swift and all-consuming and he remained functional long enough to do so.

Engine Room

This was not Scavenger's expertise... Luckily for him it was just patch work because if he had been left to do actual systematic repairs, this ship would probably go up in a ball of flames like a Dinobot in an insecticon hive.

The excavator looked over and found Long Haul muttering something to himself. Finishing up with his latest metallic patch, Scavenger walked across the room and examined the repair work the Constrcticon transporter was redoing.

"You uh...You alright there 'Haul?" Scavenger asked as he wiped engine fluids off his actuators and taking note of the fist-shaped dent Long Haul was patching up.

Engine Room

Long Haul grumbled to himself as he continued his work. But he was startled when Scavenger asked him a question. For a moment, Long Haul contemplated, too lost in his own anger, he didn't quite hear what was said. He processed to moment in his head over and over before he suddenly realized what was asked of him.

"Ehhhh. Yeah. I'm alright. This hunk of junk just keeps falling apart quicker than I can fix it." He explained.

Long Haul looked Scavenger over for a moment. His thoughts had continued to wander back forth from the work he was doing to the question he was asked. Really, deep down Long Haul wasn't alright. He wanted to break face. Worse over, he was sure if he didn't get away from these patch repairs some time soon, he might just rip the engine room apart himself.

Long Haul figured he should be somewhat cordial. Considering he wasn't too cordial to the wall just a few moments ago. "Uhh. How are your repairs coming over there, Scavie?" he asked Scavenger with a slight chuckle.

Armory

Roadblock closes the communication channel after Razorclaw had done the same. It seemed like the time for talking had ended. He would deal with this mater soon enough. He placed his guns in his side holsters and left the armory, heading to the ship bridge. He would follow the course of the battle from the radio transmissions that came by there.

Engine Room

Mixmaster was surprised that Bonecrusher would even halfway scoff at the idea of command. Power. Mmm mmm. Being able to whatever they wanted whenever they wanted with no meanie commanders telling them what to do. Or what to build. They could build whatever they wanted! And it would be the best! They would all see. Heheheh.

"All I know is, if those two geniuses botch this little project of theirs... I promise they won't hear the end of it..."

"Hahah! No joke joke joke! They don't always know as much as they think they do! But this.....this should be good. I wanna see Dev-um, us...yeah us, in action when we're done. Sixshot? Pfeh!"

He then looked over just in time to see Long Haul hit a wall near the area he was working on.

"Yeesh. Someone's moody today."

Corridors

“You want me to end the war? I assume you mean that you want me to unleash my full power and destroy the Autobots, every last one, correct?"

The question posed by Megatron’s phase-sixer pet caused the lips of the Seeker Commander to curl into a sickeningly sweet smirk.

Starscream nodded once but paused in his voiced response when a second series of questions flowed from Sixshot. This was perfect. Starscream could use the one thing Sixshot desired most….to destroy. In that simple act the living weapon would eliminate everyone in Starscream’s way. The Autobots would be no ore and any Decepticons unwilling to kneel before hi would suffer the same fate as the Autobots. Of course Sixshot didn’t need to know about the second half of his plan. Not right now that is.

The smile already on the conniving ‘Con’s face grew a micron.

“And what of this Fallen mess?"

Sixshot’s query drew Starscream’s attention back to the here and now. He offered a slight nod before he gracefully gestured for the STAG warrior to walk along with him.

“Should I focus on eradicating him first or should I just destroy anything that doesn’t have a Decepticon symbol, be it an Autobot or a demigod?"

The Seeker Commander placed both hands behind him interlacing his actuators as he slowed his pace slightly. “The Fallen. Yes. Ridding ourselves of this abomination would make the road to peace all the more attainable.” He looked up at the taller mech catching his optics boring into his. Starscreamed returned the glare…unintimidated by Megatron’s personal killing machine. This mech was his now and if he wished to keep out of permanent stasis lock he’d be sure to remember that fact.

[quote]>>"Starscream, this is Supreme Commander Razorclaw. Drop whatever schemes you are planning and get your aft planet side ASAP! Oh, and bring Sixshot with you! We're going to need him!">[i]”Commander Razorclaw. I will be sending Sixshot however I believe it would be best if I remained on the Thanatos. After all if things should go awry and if Sixshot is unable to turn the tide in your favor, then our final option would be to destroy the planet….with the Fallen on it.”<<

Corridors

Sixshot wanted to kill Starscream. He wanted to kill him so badly that he could almost taste it like a full glass of delicious, high-grade energon. Unfortunately, that was not going to happen, not any time soon. The cowardly Seeker Commander was full of surprises, one of which was knowing the words that would place the phase sixer back into stasis. Like Megatron had once been, Starscream was now the sixchanger’s master and the much larger mech hated every astrosecond of it.

The STAG reluctantly followed as Starscream gestured for him to do so. They walked along the corridors of the Thanatos as the red and white mech confirmed that he wanted Sixshot to take care of the Fallen before anything else. The mention of peace elicited a slight chuckle from the sixchanger’s vocal processor. “You mean tyranny, don’t you, Starscream?”

Sixshot’s question went unanswered as the cowardly seeker received a message from Razorclaw, the current Decepticon Supreme Commander. Of course, once the Fallen had been defeated, the throne would change hands yet again and it would be Starscream that would sit there with the phase sixer by his side. Oh, how Sixshot dreaded that day if it ever came to pass. Maybe a mech the likes of Scorponok or even Overlord would come to take it all away from the seeker. Either of those ‘Cons would be more than capable of giving Sixshot a good fight, more than most mechs at least. Overlord was more than capable of even beating the sixchanger, which was something Sixshot would actually be okay with just as long as Starscream was no longer sitting on the throne as a result.

For now, however, the status quo would remain. As it were, Starscream was sending Sixshot down to aid in the battle with the Fallen while the Seeker Commander, himself, remained behind on board the Thanatos. It was either another cowardly move on his part or a smart one, giving him the privacy and time to plot his next move against Razorclaw. Regardless, for the time being, Sixshot would enjoy the cycles away from his new “master’ and revel in the destruction he would soon cause the fiery demigod down below and perhaps the Autobots, as well.

“Understood,” Sixshot said as Starscream nodded to him. "I will depart at once." The sixchanger turned down the next adjacent corridor and immediately headed for the bounce chamber and away from the Seeker Commander. Perhaps when he arrived down planet side, Sixshot would warn Razorclaw of what Starscream was plotting. Then again, that could simply result with the phase sixer in stasis once more if his new “master” found out. Besides, Sixshot didn’t really care who lead the Decepticons. He just wanted his freedom and Starscream’s death was the only way now to achieve it. Decisions, decisions.

Entering the bounce chamber, Sixshot checked the coordinates that were already entered into the control console from when the rest of the Decepticons had bounced down earlier. Satisfied that everything checked out, the sixchanger set the timer before stepping onto the pad. Moments later, the bounce was initiated and Sixshot disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

Engine Room

The doors to the engine room slid open, allowing the Decepticon strategist entry. His singular gaze scanned the room. This was where the Fallen had appeared and crippled the ship. This was where he would begin to truly understand the nature of the Cybertronian anomaly they were now up against.

Stepping further inside, Shockwave proceeded deeper into the engine room saying nothing at first to the dutiful Constructions that were carrying out their prime function. Even as they worked diligently to repair the damage that the Thanatos had sustained, the mark that the Fallen had left on the ship was only too visible.

Approaching the duo of Long Haul and Scavenger, Shockwave watched for a moment as they continued with their repairs before speaking.

"Interrogative: has an origin point been established where the Fallen made its initial appearance on board?"

Bridge

The walk to the bridge had been a peaceful one for Roadblock, his dread reputation among the troops assuring he was not bothered. He liked it like that. He entered the Bridge of the Thanatos and silently stood, watching the information coming in from the battle on Earth. There was something about Autobots and Decepticons fighting together that made him sick to the very spark.

Med Bay

"Repairs completed. You may emerge."

At last, Nightweaver emerged from the CR chamber. He looked down at his hands. He'd recalled his arm had felt heavy, as he'd tried to lift it to stab at Tantrum after the Predacon knocked him on his aft. He extended his battle blade. It was no longer stained with energon and mech fluid; it looked show-room new.

His HUD had returned to normal. He wasn't quite accustomed to seeing a consistent image. He kept expecting flashes of darkness and static to interrupt. He kept clenching his fists again and again, listening to the gears move. Hearing the energon move down his fingers.

He was alive again.

"We have a problem," came a voice behind him. Nightweaver turned, seeing the teal frame of Bitstream.

"And?" Nightweaver asked.

"Starscream isn't going down to the planet," Bitstream explained. "I intercepted a communication from him to planetside. He's staying safely aboard the Thanatos."

"Easier target," Nightweaver pointed out. "Ambush him here."

"It's not that simple," Bitstream replied. "I need someone to dispose of him who's earned the right to. It has to be Sixshot, and it has to be a proper battle. I want Starscream exposed for his weakness and cowardice... and an ambush or an assassination won't help. It won't prove my point. He has to be seen as inferior in battle; let the other Decepticons understand just how little there is behind his bluster."

"You've thought this out," Nightweaver observed.

Bitstream pointed at his face, nearly identical to Starscream's save its palette. "Ever since he made me wear this."

"I understand needing to prove a point," Nightweaver conceded. "So what happens now?"

"We go down to the planet, and we fight with our comrades," Bitstream told him. "And when I see the opportunity, I reprogram Sixshot and send him back."

Nightweaver nodded. "And my end of the bargain?"

"We get Sixshot first," Bitsream instructed. "Then Tantrum is all yours'."

Nightweaver sheathed his blade. "Then we have our accord."

The two left the Med-Bay and headed to the bounce chamber.


-

Engine Room


"Hook! That's good enough for now, I need you to come with me so we can get Project Devastator taken care of. Everyone else here is capable of finishing up the patch work in the mean time."

Scrapper was unfailingly impertinent. Surely he recognized that Hook's insights would assure repairs finished quickly and efficiently. He was the most brilliant and capable engineer not only in the ranks of the Constructicons, but the entire Decepticon empire! Primacron help them if they let Scavenger do all the work...

...but Scrapper was certainly in need of direction. His designs would need to be sharpened; perfected. This proposal of his would need alteration.

And Hook would insure whatever modifications were made he would form the head and soldiers. The best was naturally suited to tower over the others.

Hook waited another cycle, contemplating his finger joints before deigning to answer Scrapper. "On my way."

Engine Room

"Interrogative: has an origin point been established where the Fallen made its initial appearance on board?"

Scavenger looked up only to lock optics with the purple military commander, Shockwave. He was surprised the old one-eyed computer on legs was in functioning order, given his stand off with the rest of the Decepticon crew members trying to claim leadership.

"Initial...Appearance...Uhhh..." The excavator stuttered as he looked over his shoulder plating and around the Engine deck, trying to find an obvious clue. "Well I mean... He was here obviously. Not HERE here where you and I are standing, but definitely in here somewhere." Scavenger finished with a nervous chuckle, no doubt the Decepticon scientist could see through his anxiousness and nervousness.

The Constructicon gave Long Haul a little nudge in the elbow joint with his own elbow, trying to get the transporter to speak up and give him a hand with their little situation with Shockwave.

"I'm sure Scrapper or Hook ought to know for sure!"

Corridors - En Route to Med Bay

"I'm sorry to have to pull you away from your redesigning, Hook," Scrapper began as Hook caught up beside him, "I mean I know how much you love that kinda work, it's just that with this 'Fallen' situation going down, I'm sure getting this project done might give us a leading hand against him. Maybe even in the control of the entire Decepticon Regime!"

The two purple and green mechs turned a corner and continued down the hallway, passing two seekers who appeared to off towards the bounce chambers.

"Well first things first, we gotta get that upgrade installed before we get too excited about this."

Med Bay

The doorway to the Med Bay slid open with a sharp hiss and Scrapper stepped in first. He eyed an empty operating table and gazed back at the surgical engineer behind him.

"You have the better experience in this field of work, would you rather go under the knife first or shall I?"

Engine Room

Over the din of their repairs, Mixmaster heard a new voice enter the conversation. It wasn't Long Haul, Scavenger or any of the other Constructicons. It was dull and boring and almost silkily monotone in its delivery. Who could...?

Shockwave!

Nobody mention Devastator....nobody mention Devastator...nobody mention Devastator....

Wait, Shockwave couldn't read minds could he?

Oh no!

No, wait, that was Soundwave.

Still...
___

"Initial...Appearance...Uhhh..." The excavator stuttered as he looked over his shoulder plating and around the Engine deck, trying to find an obvious clue. "Well I mean... He was here obviously. Not HERE here where you and I are standing, but definitely in here somewhere."

Shockwave's singular optic rested on the jittery Constructicon for a moment before resuming his analysis of the engine room. He walked past the smaller Constructicon even as he continued to talk, approaching another of the damaged generators.

"I'm sure Scrapper or Hook ought to know for sure!"

"Unnecessary," Shockwave replied, his advanced sensor suite pinpointing the location where the Fallen would have logically appeared. The energies concentrated in that locale were unmistakable and the damage the engine room had sustained seemed to radiate largely from that point. Producing a mobile scanner from a panel on his left arm, Shockwave began to record additional data from the trace energy signatures that had been left in the Fallen's wake.

Shockwave's optic flickered as Scavenger's follow up statement initiated a secondary query in the strategist's mind.

"Interrogative: where is your unit commander?"

En Route to Med-Bay


"I'm sorry to have to pull you away from your redesigning, Hook."

Scrapper was right to apologize. Hook's time was valuable. Though admittedly, Hook preferred his company to the other members of their squad. Scrapper was a fine engineer; his finesse and skill were only a step below Hook's own. Two steps. Or four. But he was, relatively speaking, much closer to being Hook's peer than the other four bruisers he worked so closely with.

"I mean I know how much you love that kinda work, it's just that with this 'Fallen' situation going down, I'm sure getting this project done might give us a leading hand against him. Maybe even in the control of the entire Decepticon Regime!"

Now that appealed to Hook. It would bolster the Constructicons' relative position. Megatron had been a big supporter of theirs', though admittedly he bestowed most of his praise on Scrapper... but now, their new leader was that barely cognizant beast Razorclaw, and he would undoubtedly prefer that if any gestalts were perfected, they be members of his squad. Hook did appreciate the prospect of both the cutting edge technology AND the chance to climb up the Decepticon ranks a bit further... talent was always meant to rise to the top.

"Well first things first, we gotta get that upgrade installed before we get too excited about this."

Yes, of course... the other four were ready to go. Now he and Scrapper would undergo the change. Hook pondered exactly what their united form would appear as...

"I suggest we form separate poles of the gestalt," Hook told Scrapper. "Try to hold the mass intellect together. Our neural nets are the most complex... it might ease the strain of the combination."

Hook couldn't resist indulging his ego. "And perhaps I should occupy the top of the combined form, if feasible. Bonecrusher and Scavenger would be best suited as arms... Mixmaster's supply of chemicals would need to be isolated, so he'd form the leg. You're quite capable as a load bearer yourself, so you'd be best suited as the other leg.

"Purely architectural reasons, of course..."

Engine Room

Scavenger's fuel pump restored itself to proper functioning as a sigh of relief escaped his vocalizer as Shockwave delivered his cold and nearly monotone "Unnecessary". He looked over to see Mixmaster's frightened expression that perhaps someone would mess up and slip the big Dev-word out to the military strategist though luckily no one had yet. Yet being the keyword. Scavenger isn't a genius by any means, but he was smart enough to know when to keep his trap shut and when not to talk about certain things to certain mechs in particular.

"Interrogative: where is your unit commander?"

Oh. Scrap.

An uneasy feeling grew inside the excavator's chest compartment as his processor wasn't quick enough to think up a lie to divert the one-eyed scientist's focus away from their project. He didn't want to look around the room for reassurance from his fellow Constructicons, no that would be a dead give away that something was up.

Come on guys... Think of something to get him off my tailpipe! Don't leave me like this!

Med Bay

"I suggest we form separate poles of the gestalt, Try to hold the mass intellect together. Our neural nets are the most complex... it might ease the strain of the combination."

"Quite possibly so." Scrapper pondered as he took his voluntary spot on the medical slab and arched his way onto his back plating, resting the back of his processor along his alt-mode's shovel. "I mean the idea of bringing everyone's thoughts together into one cohesive unit...That's six brains digi-forming into one collective mass! The neural networks would get fried under normal circumstances!"

Scrapper tried not to flail his arms about while he spoke, least not while Hook was going to be operating on him. Didn't want any accidents when they were so close to completing their latest project. Scrapper rested his arm motors back at his sides while Hook continued to go on about something involving forming poles of the gestalt.

"And perhaps I should occupy the top of the combined form, if feasible. Bonecrusher and Scavenger would be best suited as arms... Mixmaster's supply of chemicals would need to be isolated, so he'd form the leg. You're quite capable as a load bearer yourself, so you'd be best suited as the other leg... Purely architectural reasons, of course..."

The Constructicon pondered his placement among the team and figured that he should serve as the top of the combined form. Though as he thought more about the logistics of his placement, he began to lean more towards Hook's ego-filled ideals. He was a surgical engineer afterall, and a damn fine designer to top it all off as well.

"With your shape I do suppose placing you as the top of this gestalt could prove to be most structurally ingenius... We're gonna have to input some energy dampers and more neural uplinks thoughout your chassis so that your systems won't fry out when everyone's mind becomes linked in the combination process. Placing Mixmaster as a leg would be most beneficial to us, at least in the event he's brewing up something unstable and comes under attack. We wouldn't want anything spilling and harming any of us while we're all still connected. You seem to have a point when placing me as a leg for the combined unit. My skills with holding up large amounts of equipment to move back and forth on the construction site do seem to transverse over to being able hold the weight of the entire team pretty well. I believe Long Haul should be placed as our abdominal structure. He's the team's strongest member in terms of brute strength and is capable of carrying our thousands of pounds of equipment in his alt mode, there's no doubt he wouldn't have a problem being able to withstand the weight of 3 mechs sitting atop of him."

Scapper tented his fingers and continued to tap his digits together while Hook began the surgical process with him. The more he lied on the slab, the more he grew excited about the final pieces of his and his team's little process coming together.

"Ah! I can't wait Hook, my old friend! I'm already contemplating and designing each limb mode inside my processor! Great things are gonna begin to happen around here Hook... Great BIG things..."

Main Engineering

"When ain't he ever not whining?" Bonecrusher bristled as he approached Mixmaster, stopping only briefly to pick up a rather heavy piece of replacement conduit. He pulled the conduit coil over his shoulder and approached one of the connectors that had suffered a blown out when the generator had been destroyed. Jumping down one more level he landed just behind the chemist with a ship shuddering thud. "That's Long Haul's primary function. Complainin that he ain't got my bearin's."

He pulled the connector head from the coil and allowed the rest of the mass to drop at his feet. Reaching barely over his head the Constructicon took hold of the damaged fragment and tore it clear of the wall. Shrapnel and sparks sprayed over the ground with a glorious beauty like a fountain of destruction. Once the obstruction was clear the rounded connection unit was laid bare. Bonecrusher rotated the square head of the conduit adapter as he looked between the two. Something didn't look too right in his optics.

The square head was pressed against the circular link with no effect. Typically an automated adapter would have activated and the conduit would be towed into the proper housing. Unfortunately Bonecrusher's link must have been damaged in the attack. He pressed it again and again, and for some reason the square conduit did not want to go into the round thingy. Bonecrusher growled. "Damn faulty scrap..." His voice laced with the building anger as he slightly tossed the square node into the air.

He plucked it out of the brief free fall and drew his right arm back. "You go in the hole... NOW!!!" Before Mixmaster or Long Haul could react, Bonecrusher's fist lanced forth and drove the conduit straight passed the round linkage assembly and straight into the primary interface.

The green bulldozer retracted his arm and clapped his hands together as he pivoted towards Mixmaster. He shrugged his shoulders and offered only a brief grin. "Worked didn't it?"

In the foreground the double doors leading out of the main engineering to the corridors, retracted into the walls. A tell tale shadow soon emerged from the darkened hall. "Well well well, if it ain't Squinty himself?" His voice low enough that only the other Constructicons around could hear him.

"Unit Commander? We got ones of those?" He shrugged. "Probably somewhere out in Jersey... I hear its nice this time of year."

Main Engineering

"Uuuhhhhhhhhhhh...." Was what had been sounding from Scavenger's vocalizer while he tried very desperately to think of something that wasn't a lie. Even if he did manage to come up with a half-way decent one, Scavenger had few doubts that the cyclops would see right through him with his one lone, singular, very alone, optic. Mostly, he just reeeeeally hoped one of the others would buy him a little bit more time.

Thankfully, it was Bonecrusher to the rescue. Kinda. It did, however, give Scavenger the idea of passing the buck to one of the other Constructicons. One of them might be better suited to talk to the rather...intimidating....Shockwave.

"Uuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhh...dunno. Mixy! Haul! You know where Scrapper got off to?" Scavenger called to the two other Constructicons within sight, "Commmander Shockwave wants ta know!"

Scavenger hoped that last part hadn't been too obvious. But...but...if he hadn't included it, they might've slipped the D-word without meaning to! Oh Primus spare his spark. He hadn't signed on to deal with Shockwave.

Engine Room

Mixmaster couldn't help but notice the look of surprise on Scavenger's face. To his credit, he hadn't fallen completely apart in the presence of the Decepticon Military Operations Commander. Mixmaster had known Scavenger a long time. That was an accomplishment for sure. He could only imagine what was running through his brain module.

As he stammered for an answer, Bonecrusher seemed to be the one to get the ball rolling on a plausible answer. Mixmaster did what he could to reinforce the narrative.

"Yeah yeah yeah! He just went to go get some more supplies so we could get the engines back to working! Working faster, yeah," the Constructicon Chemical Engineer added. Hopefully it would be enough.
___

Shockwave's singular optic looked from one present Constructicon to the next. The response to his query was an acceptable one, especially given that there were more urgent matters pressing on his time.

"Satisfactory," Shockwave replied, returning his attention to one of the generators that the other Constructicons had not yet attended to. While he was here, it was only logical that he facilitate an expediting of the repair work that was taking place while he continued to collect trace data from the Fallen's attack. He had designed this ship after all. He would be a logical part of ensuring that it was restored to its former functioning.

Removing one of the damaged panels with his right hand and tossing it aside, Shockwave used his cannon arm to begin searing away some of the damaged components while continuing to scan the plasma residue that the Fallen had left in his wake. Having this ship remain derelict for an extended period of time would be unsatisfactory in the utmost.

Med-Bay


"Ah! I can't wait Hook, my old friend! I'm already contemplating and designing each limb mode inside my processor! Great things are gonna begin to happen around here Hook... Great BIG things..."

"Scrapper, this is a delicate operation," Hook informed him, opening his fellow engineer's torso and examining the lines running from T-cog to spark casing. "I have to extensively calibrate the flow regulator... you'll be providing energon for a significantly greater mass, and I'll need to be sure your own fuel isn't compromised following transformation."

Hook attended to the central lines that linked T-cog to spark to brain module. Rossum's Trinity, as they were known, were the keys to sustaining all Cybertronian life. Compromises in one could gradually lead to the downfall of the other two. These three organs were not just fundamental facets of their biology, but the very key to their longevity as a species.

And Hook was about to tamper with them all.

The spark casing was reinforced to shield the chamber from gears changing in new directions. The t-cog was imprinted with a new program routine. Hook looked over all of Scrapper's vehicle schematics. His leg would lack any notable digits; his vehicle mode's heavy shovel would serve as a single toe. He'd have somewhat limited mobility, but more than enough strength to hold up the others if Mixmaster could do his job.

Hook finished uploading the program and closed up Scrapper's chest. He moved up to Scrapper's head and opened up the casing. He quietly worked on the neural net around the brain module, reinforcing the wiring to better resist the increased electrical impulses of five additional power surges running through it, as well as moving the location of wiring so it'd follow the new power route in Scrapper's third form once initiated.

Hook wanted to run a test, for his own peace of mind... he wanted to see Scrapper change before he underwent the same change. Hook had every confidence in his skills... but he was less confident in Scrapper handling it.

Yet, Scrapper was talented. He was one of few Hook would grudgingly admit he respected. And Scrapper had plotted this so long, he wouldn't allow himself to be denied.

Hook finished closing up Scrapper's head. "You've been upgraded. Looks like I'm the only one left."

Hook took his place on the table and quietly hoped his confidence in Scrapper's abilities was justified.

Med Bay

"You've been upgraded. Looks like I'm the only one left."

"Looks as though!" Scrapper exclaimed as he rotated off the slab and allowed the surgical engineer to take his place. As Hook took his position on the operating table, Scrapper stetched his joints and hydraulics out as he felt his body recalculating and adjusting to the upgrade changes. He patted his chest plating and smiled to Hook under his face-mask. "Wonderful work as usual Hook!"

Scrapper then turned to his tool chest and reached for the surgical wrench. He ran his digits alongside Hook's chest plating, causing the chest cavity to open its access panels wide open. The glow from Hook's exposed spark shined brightly upon the roof of the med bay, almost enough to blind Scrapper should he stare too long at the intense light. His visor adjusted to the harsh light and tinted themselves to shield his optical sensors while he made his adjustments.

What he needed to get done first was to reinforce Hook's spark casing. One, so that it could be protected from the great amount of shifting metal and gears, but also to distribute the Spark's energy throughout the entirety of the combined form. He set his wrench down and pulled up a laser welder as he reinforced the structure surrounding the spark chamber.

"Now don't move, any slip up here and your spark is gonna have warm welcome with this laser. A REALLY warm welcome."

Scrapper drew his tool alongside the spark chamber of his fellow Constructicon as he implemented the necessary upgrade needed for this project. Condensation began to grow along Scrapper's brow as he carefully welded in more support structuring to the spark casing.

"There!" The Construction leader exclaimed as he pulled the laser welder from Hook's interior and wiped the built up vapor forming on his faceplating. "Spark structure seems stablized and ready. Now, onto the neural circuitry."

Med Bay

With Hook under a self-induced stasis lock, Scrapper moved around to begin working on the fundamental upgrades needed to complete their project. He popped another access panel on the shoulder of the surgical engineer and turned a valve close, cutting the supply of energon off to the processor of the offline Engineer. Scrapper then disconnected the hydraulics in the surgical engineer's neck. Scrapper then picked up Hook and had him slouch over on himself so that he could access the last panel he needed to open running alongside the spinal strut. With the panel opened, Scrapper placed his actuators inside and gently disconnected the main spinal column joining the head and neck together.

"There we go." Scrapper muttered aloud to himself as he gently lifted the mech's head off his shoulders. He brought it up to the light and examined his work, it was a rather clean and well executed performance for someone didn't possess the surgical skills of any Medic or Hook himself. A faint chuckle slip the Constructicon leader's vocalizer as he stared into the lifeless optics of his fellow engineer.

"Idea for a new mural;..." Scrapper mused as he placed the decapitated processor unit on the medical slab and thoughts of a new art piece began to swirl in the back of his processor. Scrapper let out a satisfying chuckle as he ran his digits across the paneling running along Hook's processor, each metallic sheet sliding open to revealing the complicated inner working of the Cybertronian brain module.

Scrapper lifted his tools and very delicately went about upgrading the neural circuitry to accommodate the overload of six seperate minds being melded together into one cohesive mindset.

Med Bay

In stasis, Cybertronians occasionally kept some of their mental faculties, and experienced sensation, most often replaying old memory logs or running self diagnostics. During induced stasis, Cybertronians experienced an even greater variety of effects. In the case of Hook, though his senses were groggy and his HUD non-functional, he was still dimly aware as the operation commenced.

He couldn't see. His pain receptors had been disabled.

But he could hear. He could hear his body being dismantled, hear energon pumps being reworked. He heard scratching and tearing and sparking and grinding... Scrapper may have been capable of elegant design, but he was equally adept at butchery!

He tried to tune out the noise, but with only one sense active, the noise was all he heard. The grinding... something was coming loose.

Hook heard nothing. He was finally, blissfully free of his senses. He didn't have to think. He didn't have to fear.

He didn't have to-

-

Bounce Chamber


Nightweaver looked over the console, musing. "And... uh, how do I set the coordinates again?"

"Just use the ones our comrades already programmed," Bitstream told him, sighing in exasperation. "I thought you knew what you were doing."

"I'll know what I'm doing when I save your sorry aft after Sixshot mauls you," Nightweaver replied, finally just reusing the last line of program code and winging it from there. He stepped into the chamber proper beside his "ally", and waited. "Ready for this... partner?"

"Remember the cover story," Bitstream told him. "We're here on behalf of our dear commander, Starscream. We kowtow a bit, go where the unit commanders point us... but we stick together. We don't get separated. You go for your target after I finish the reprogramming."

"Yeah, yeah..." Nightweaver muttered, glancing back at the terminal and waiting.

He wondered where Sixshot had gone... had he taken the chamber before them? Flown down manually?

Either way, Nightweaver wouldn't wait long to have his revenge...

...that was his last thought as the two de-materialized and began their journey.

Engine Room

Having scanned and collected the fragmented, trace data of the energy signature that the Fallen left behind in the wake of his attack, and having expedited the repair process on one of the damaged generators, Shockwave's internal directives recalculated the most efficient use of his time and energy: preparing the mechaforming technology for deployment on this overwhelmingly organic world and continuing to adapt the Ore-13 derivative based on battle data results that had been gathered up to this point. There was much work yet to be done on so many fronts. And regardless of his title, Shockwave knew that he was the only one capable of doing it.

Stepping away from the generator, Shockwave's singular optic lingered on Scavenger and the other Constructicons for a moment longer before silently turning and ultimately departing from the engine room.
___

Mixmaster stared wide-eyed, and perhaps a little too conspicuously, as the bulky purple mech finished his work inside the engine room and took his leave without so much as even a monosyllabic parting word. That worked just fine for him!

"Phew!" Mixmaster sighed. "Didn't think he'd evvvvver leave. Shimminy."

Engine Room

Scavenger stared wide-opticed at Shockwave when he didn't leave after he and the other Constructicons had successfully bluffed their way out of saying where Scrapper had gone. Why wasn't he leaving!? Did he suspect?! What!! Scavenger's body went rigid with fear. He couldn't move. Couldn't think. All he was or felt was panic. Pure, and perfectly complete panic.

He stayed frozen in place. Being in the purple scientist's presence for more than a few astrosecond was taxing enough...but hiding a secret from someone infinitely smarter than him in every conceivable way? Scavenger was sure that his spark would be extinguished on the spot merely from the stress alone.

After an eternity, Shockwave moved away from his generator and turned to gaze at them. Well. His optic specifically lingered on Scavenger, or it felt like it, which sent another bolt of terror through the motionless Constructicon. Finally. Wonderfully. Shockwave finally left engineering and headed someplace else. Mixmaster said something, but Scavenger couldn't hear him. There was a strange roaring in his audios. And his vision was...getting....darky...why did the...room...feel like it was....spinning...?

Clunk!

Scavenger fell backwards onto the floor, stiff as a board and blacked out.