The Energon Pub

Feint looked from Hook, to Misfire, to Swindle. He chuckled a bit over the two as Misfire slinked away.

"From the sounds of it, Hook, I believe you... Devastator being the most powerful weapon..." He said.

Taking his glass and carefully raising it, he took a tiny sip. He shook his head, again chuckling.

"Depleted uranium. A bit in the old side, they've been sitting a few vorns." He said before downing the rest of the drink, handing Swindle the glass with the round clinking on the bottom. "What do I win? Because you can't argue with a sniper rifle what a round is made of."

Lounge

Swindle aimed and flicked a small energon barsnack at Misfire as he tried to sneak away. It bounced off the back of his helmet with a quiet chink. At least there is no chance he'll hit me if he tries to flick it back... he mused, and took back the drink Blast-Off had so generously, albeit unknowingly, bought the comical sharpshooter.

He retuned into the conversation Hook and Feint were having, or at least Hook was directing at Feint, just in time for the crème de la crème of exaggerations to leak from Hooks second most effective orifice.

Hook wrote:When we are together the Constructicons are the most powerful weapon on this ship...

Swindle began to chuckle, not quite believing what he was hearing. "Most powerful?" He retorted with an edge of humour. "...you mean after the obital bombardment array, the full battery of missiles and weaponry this ship has, Shockwaves laboratory, the entirety of medbay, Soundwaves ability to read your actual thoughts, Motormasters temper tantrums and Sixshot, right? If unrefined brute strength without control was a champion quality, Bonecrusher would have been crowned king aeons ago."

Hook then went on... wrote:...A paradigm shift of the same degree as when the first bot devised the way to transform."

At this, he just burst out laughing, completely unable to stop himself.

"Taking 6 worker drones and splicing them together to make them even stupider is hardly a 'paradigm shift'; if anything it's devolution in battle tactics. Are you seriously trying to tell me in that battle down there your jolly green giant was more effective than the individual minds of your little cleaning crew? Magnus' dumb hammer did more damage to the shield than your little party trick." He paused for a second trying force himself to stop laughing, but it was no good - he had to plough on through.

"...and you're not even the first 'combiner' are you? Everyone knows the stories of Monstructor - even Brawl has heard of him and he cant even read!!"

Still laughing at the absurdity of Hook's boasting, He slammed Misfire's shot into his mouth and rolled the bullet around on his tongue. The metallic patina of the shell alloys, the intricate aerodynamic detailing on the casing and the slightly corrosive texture of the payload created a taste medley that only the most sophisticated of weapon specialists would appreciate. He then drew it out of his mouth and held it up for Hook and Feint to see, taking on a more serious look.

"This, my friends, this is more powerful than your 'Devastator'. As a little guy once said to me; The titan might be able to rip a building in half, but that merely makes it the regent of rubble. Refinement. That is the key to a master weapon. Why turn a whole city to ashes, when you can topple its leadership with a single bullet and take it's resources for your own?

"Surely as an one of the greatest architects Cybertron has ever seen Hook, you understand that principle?"

Lounge

"Monstructor was a insane forcibly joined mass of pain and hate of their creator. The process refined by Scrapper and myself two of the most practical minded of the Decepticon's geniuses. Yes there are other powers aboard the ship that in their limited preview could stand up to Devastator."

Hook swishes the bullet shot and sips the liquid from around it, "But in this era of limited responses a small five bot team that has the ability to smash Autobot's fortifications on their own, then separate and rebuild it as their own is essential in our current games of turbo cat and Cyber-mites." He sighs, "I will agree however that the four minds funneled through my own lowers Devastator's mental reaction time. But I've already formulated six hypotheses over how to not only overcome it but reverse the negative effects."

Lounge

Now we're talking Swindle thought as Hook replied. "Scrapper? The guy that got picked over you to lead the team... right, makes sense. Guess you needed his help to get the schematics right then?"

Swindle motioned for another 4 drinks. "Feint won round one, time for round two" he announced as he dropped a quartet of smaller shells into them, which fizzed briefly and then settled. He slid one towards Hook, but placed a wafer-thin card underneath Feint's before sliding that over as well. Lastly, making only the briefest of eye contact towards his team mate, he pushed a third one towards the silent Vortex. "Misfire has bottled it, you want in...?" he signalled to the interrogator, flicking an indicating optic towards Bonecrusher who had entered the bar. With the fourth drink in his hand he turned back to their Constructicon ward and the sniper again, throwing the liquid into his mouth and rolling the bullet across his tongue.

"I mean, I've seen the work you have done personally, the spires of Crystal City were almost as beautiful as the sound of a freshly purchased .904 delta-energon plasma cartridge being fired for the first time in a low magnetic density envirom...*ahem*, but if you had to get Scrapper to sort that bit, it's no wonder the neural unification process failed. What do you think he did wrong?

He turned to Feint to prove his point. "We both know Hook is the brains of that outfit, right? It surely cant be his mistake?"

"Right, Hook?"

"Oh of course..." Feint said agreeing with Swindle's assessment of Hook's far superior mental capacity. "I mean, there's no comparison at all, Scrapper has nothing."

He looked at the drink and the thin paper a moment before hesitantly sipping the drink.

Lounge.

"Put your finger on the card, and leave it there Champ." Swindle advised Feint. "The winner is whoever has the card under their digit at the end, but you cant move it between rounds - spoils the prize."

Lounge


"Acid coated." Feint said with a sly smirk after tasting his drink, downing it, and setting the glass on the bar. Though he warily placed an actuator on the paper.

He already got this little trick with the drinks, far too transparent, Swindle had to know of all mechs that Feint would know a bullet by taste, but keep up the game, one small drink after another, prey on his ego, keep him drinking and slowly get the small gun-former drunk (then probably sell him). It was this new variable of the paper that had him wary. But drunk? That was his own goal... just now needed to be vigilant about getting tricked into being sold on the black market.

"What is the prize?" Feint asked.

Lounge:

Bonecrusher then sat down next to Vortex, who was quite silent. "Ya know Vortex, being an arm is an amazing job. I think I fit that role pretty well eh?" said Bonecrusher to Vortex. "I wonder if the Decepticons will turn any more Con teams into combiners. Ya know, you Combaticons would make a great gestalt, ehh I kinda wonder what you guys' gestalt would be called..."

The bartender then slid a cup of energon towards Bonecrusher. The crusher of bones then took the cup and raised it toward Vortex, "to the Decepticon victory, and the love of this new gestalt technology!" Bonecrusher then took a big gulp of his Energon, "wow, now THIS is the good stuff!" Bonecrusher then turned back to Vortex, "if you were to be a part of a gestalt, which part wouldja be eh? Personally I'm happy being an arm, since I'm the strongest in the team, and I like my ability to make Devastator have a hand-drill." Bonecrusher took another sip of energon while awaiting Vortex's reply.

Lounge

Hook chuckles at Swindle's words, his ego soaking it up, "Yes the Crystal City was our greatest work before Megatron. A testament to our ability to work together seamlessly. And its destruction a testament to our dedication to the Decepticon cause."

He chuckles,"Granted Scrapper is a bit of a boot lick. Nonetheless Megatron was smart enough to realize that my genius would be wasted keeping my brother's focused on task. Scavenger's need for a mothering touch alone would drive me to remove his voice box if I was in charge. But he is a great schematic designer."

He sips at his drink some more, "Answer me this Swindle? Of all your brothers how many also think exactly like you? How many of them in the back of their mind without their control imagine scenarios to part others with their energon? Now think that you have all of their random thoughts in your head. Now think all those thoughts at once but each one is slightly out of sync. Mix all that together and use it to create a new seventh mind using all those other ones to function. That is why Devastator was less than eloquent, for now."

Shockwave's lab

Octane is glad to get the response from Shockwave which he was expecting. The one thing he wasn't expecting was his fellow triple changer coming up behind him.

"Hey Astrotrain, what brings you down here? I'm going to inquire about getting some sort of new weapon or upgrade so I can be more effective in combat for the Empire. Maybe we can see about cashing in the favor of you getting our chassis back up here as well. It really should be Razorclaw who pays you back but it probably be wise to get Commander Shockwave on our side about it as well."

Octane opened up the door and walked into the lab. It was full of tables, diagrams, and all sorts of other things. The lab didn't really surprise Octane since he been in a few of Shockwave's labs over the years. He spots the one eye Con working on something.

"Commander Shockwave, I come requesting a new weapon or some sort of upgrade so I can assist the Decepticon Empire. I want to be more than a walking fuel container for them. The Predacon Tantrum was in the midst of the fight against the Fallen but like me he is a fueler. What good is a warrior if he is on the back lines instead in the midst of it? What many don't realize is I topped off Astrotrain's tank before we took off to ensure he had enough fuel for the flight back here. If it wasn't for us, most of us would still be on the mud ball below. I, we want our compensation for our contributions."

Lounge

Swindle squinted his eyes slightly at the archetects bizarre altruism towards his leader and peered at Hook. "That's hardly an excuse. It's not as if you or even scrapper would overlook a schematic flaw of that magnitude considering your design skills - you're almost as meticulous as the one eyed calculator. Mechs like you just don't make mistakes that significant."

"I'll humour you though, none of them think like me. I don't need nor want them to, but neither do I have any desire to be unified with them. Ignoring that the idea of us Combaticons ever joining together in that way is a ludicrous notion - mainly because I'd never risk Onslaught knowing exactly how much energon he really owes me - but because the unification of our conciousness would be intended purely for war and is therefore pointless. We are an assault team already, our 'gestalt' mind would be expected to be a savage brute, but the Decepticons already possess every conceivable advantage in this war with one ironic exception: unity. To create an even larger machine of war from such a narrowly focused team is a waste of resources, but a genius bot; a giant tactical intelligence...?
"That would be truly significant, and that could have been yours!!

Swindle paused for just long enough to calculate the numerical value to a device like that on the open, or even black, market and ran out of space in his head for zeroes. He may possibly have begun to drool slightly at the thought.

"Can you honestly tell me that, hand on your spark, you didn't feel a pang of disappointment when this glorious 'Devastator' of yours, the sum of some of the greatest minds Cybertron has ever seen and Bonecrusher, had all the smarts of a toaster?"

"You created this, this was your dream, so the real question here has to be not how well did you do, but where did you go wrong?"

Lounge, a mere second later.

"Only a half point there Feint. Should have tasted the actual bullet..." Swindle slyly taunted the Sniper, having returned the verval volley back to the intriguing green archetect. With a flick of a well-practiced wrist, he effortlessly slid the card out from under Feints slender finger and slid it back to himself, finger never leaving the card and held it there.

"...Hook or Vortex have the chance to steal the round..."

Lounge

Misfire listened to the conversation with little interest. He wanted something to do, desperately. However, he settled in and prepared for a long period of inactivity.

"You said not to taste the actual bullet." Feint pointed out to Swindle, as he was fishing out the bullet from the glass, balancing it carefully on the tips of his actuators. He looked to Hook with interest on how the constructicon would respond to Swindle's feelings on gestalts... after a quick, confused look at Misfire.

Lounge

Misfire leaned forward and said, "Apparently, dear Swindle, you seem to be the only one here not fine with us Decepticons possessing the one of the most powerful weapons known to our civilization. What, are you afraid that if you and and you team where to combine, they'd find out some of the more...illegal activities that you've undertaken against our cause? 'Coz I think you fear Onslaught, and the power he holds over his team. Or maybe you're afraid that of a said Combiner were as smart as this glass here, you'd get even more stupid from it?"

Lounge

Hook chuckles, "Swindle has every reason to worry about the project. I had briefly thought to involve him and his brothers. But Scrapper and I eventually decided it best to keep it in hand so to speak. And it comes down to the fact even if suppressed we retain our individuality of thought."

He pauses here as he seems to be thinking, "My working theory was the Monstructor form was so uncontrolled because it linked the madness induced into its component parts by the tortuous experiments to reach that stage."

He sips at the drink ignoring the game really as he kept getting lost in thought, "Where I went wrong was trying to harness my brother's processor power through my own. I get their thoughts and filter it...but that slows the process. If we are greenlighted to rework it for another set of brothers I'll reorganize such processes."

Lounge:

Bonecrusher listened to Hook's words, though not understanding some of the theories, he thought it was interesting hearing him talk about what had just occurred to them a small while ago. "But Hook, I was wondering, since there are six of us making up Devastator, is it possible to make a monster form such as that from only five brothers?" asked Bonecrusher, who then slid his cup over to the bartender for some more of the good stuff. "It seems to me that for a team to make a gestalt of that size, they either need a bigger leader to make a torso, or an extra member. Most of our teams are only five members with the exception of us Constructicons, and of course those wretched Insecticons."

Lounge

Swindle grinned maniacally, this was the best game he had played in centuries.

He considered prolonging Feints uncertainly until Vortex drank his shot, but he knew his compatriot well enough that if he hadn't done by now, he likely wouldn't. Probably out of fear of Onslaughts reaction when he finds out he allowed Bonecrusher to join us he figured, but he had a much more important job to do for now. Feint could wait a little longer, especially now that simpleton Misfire had just bolstered his argument

"Misfire, yet again you utterly fail to land even close to your target. To refer to Devastator as, and I quote, 'one of the most powerful weapons known to our civilization' is, frankly, absurd.
"We have harnessed moons for battle stations and travelled in them far across the galaxy at speeds beyond imaginable just to wage war on our own race. We have weaponsised atomic particles so complex they can purge lifeforms of our choice from a planets surface. We have harvested suns and imploded stars and hollowed out planets and torn the very heavens asunder with our might, merely to allow us to conquer a nearby system, and many believe even Megatron himself is able to harness the antimatter of a black hole!
"But never once have we deliberately hindered ourselves and called it an advancement."

"As it stands, that half-finished savages significance is so far down on the scale of 'Cybertrons wonders' that the drink I just held in my hand is a bigger gift to transformer-kind. The Decepticons strive to conquer the universe, there is no victory in reducing our greatest minds to that of a Dinobot, nor our greatest conquests to debris"


He took the robotic equivalent of a deep breath, and looked long and hard at Misfire. Then he just laughed and turned back to Feint. He threw back Vortex's drink, holding on to the bullet in his teeth and concentrated for a few seconds. "Ashid coated hollow goint witsh uh 'ammertip fuse" he slurred, and spat the bullet out back into the glass.
"Without touching the bullet, never said anything about not tasting it. You really need to pay better attention, but, as its just you and I left, and the scores are tied at one apeice, its time for the final round." Swindle rummaged in a near inaccesable compartment for a few seconds and dropped a pair of golden odd-shaped shells into the last 2 drinks, and slid one over. "Here ya go..."

Finally he turned back to Hook. "You know as well as I do that, for the right price, I can source any weapon technology currently known to Cybertronian's across the galaxy... well, except one, damn you Wheeljack, and there are hundreds on this ship alone who can attest to that very fact, but Hook my friend, you have piqued my interest.

"So, lets us say, for the sake of the betterment of weapons technology and merchants thereof, that I can get you a five-mech team to undergo your second set of Gestalt tests and arrange the green light for you.

"A behemoth of aggression that doesn't squander the processing power such as that the Constructicons hold may yet be considered an 'asset', given the correct application ...and handling percentages."

"Do you really think you can correct Scrappers oversight?"

Lounge

Feint watched the new bullet sink into the depths of the drink. Those shells... looked oddly familiar, he knew he'd seen them before, but couldn't think of where.

Well, he'd figure it out soon enough. Had he done what Swindle pointed out and actually tasted the bullet, he'd have been able to tell what it was down to where it was manufactured. And he was pretty sure that Swindle had changed the rules to suit him (after all it was Swindle).

So he downed the drink... not recognizing the taste. Humm... one he hadn't fired? Was that possible?

No... impossible, he'd fired every type of bullet.

He let the bullet roll onto his mouth. Huh... nope... not recogni-

Feint's mind wandered. He had that happen sometimes after being thawed out. Though it seemed to be lasting ....

Lounge

Misfire would have just loved to punch Swindle in the face. But he didn't, and couldn't fathom why. It wasn't that he wanted to save face; here no one would think differently of him, and in fact, probably applaud his finally taking it upon himself to finally do something about the little twerp.

So he kept his mouth shut and watched Swindle talk smack, knowing that if the Constructicons decided to teach Swindle a lesson, he'd be glad to give them a hand. Misfire looked over at Feint, who looked odd. Walking over to the sniper, he said in a concerned voice, "Hey, bud. Are you ok?"

As Bonecrusher was trying to ask Hook his question, Swindle just kept on yapping like one of those dogs on earth that he kept wanting to smash. "Shut the truck up you spawn of a glitch Swindle!"

Bonecrusher then got up, went over, and smacked Swindle on the face with his stone of a hand. "Next time it won't be as soft Swindle!" shouted Bonecrusher, as he walked backwards, keeping an eye on Swindle, fully expecting him to try and shoot him. Bonecrusher could sense that the others were on the verge of applauding Bonecrusher on his act of mercy for everyone's hearing sensors.

"As I was trying to ask you Hook, would a gestalt possibly be able to be made up of five or less brothers?" said Bonecrusher while still keeping an eye on Swindle.

Lounge

Very quickly, the subjects in the room had turned to Swindle's little drinking game and combining. Slag, after what they'd seen down on the mudball, it was only natural. The Constructicons could now forge themselves into one giant Constructicon whenever they wanted. But as Swindle had so rightly pointed out, it seemed to be one giant moronic Constructicon. Hardly what Vortex would have expected if you mixed the minds of the six Constructicons like the stories he'd heard of the Monstructor Six. But it did leave one wondering...

He'd looked at the drink Swindle slid his way, but didn't pay much attention to it beyond that. His mind was wandering along the lines of Bonecrusher's question: if the Constructicons could become a raging titan like that, couldn't the Combaticons? And if so, where would Vortex fit? Would he have a choice?

"I'm game. I don't know where I'd fit in, but imagine a Combaticon form of that big green behemoth? We could smash Grimlock's faceplate in and shove that sword of his so far up his aft Perceptor would have to use his alt mode to find it."
___

Bridge

"So, you got words with the boss too, eh? What? Need to curry some new favors with our glorious leader?" Rampage asked the Constructicon Commander from his station at the bridge, smirking behind his faceplate. Boot lickers. There'd be an endless line of them now, just like there had been for Megatron. Scrapper simply returned the Predacon's gaze for a moment.

Yeah. Choose your words wisely, brainiac. We're the Decepticon command structure now.

"Indeed," Scrapper said, stepping closer. "Though there's no need to curry any favors. You saw what we can do, just like everyone else. And as much as you might like to think you hold all the reins, Predacon, your position of power is more precarious than you think. So tread carefully."

Scrapper, for his part, would be amazed if Rampage understood half of what he'd just said. But he wasn't here to battle wits with Rampage or any of the other Predacons. Only their commander, their leader, was worth his time right now. There was a lot of work to be done and he needed to get back to it. But only if there was a real understanding of their roles.

Shockwave's Laboratory: Exterior

"Hey Astrotrain, what brings you down here? I'm going to inquire about getting some sort of new weapon or upgrade so I can be more effective in combat for the Empire. Maybe we can see about cashing in the favor of you getting our chassis back up here as well. It really should be Razorclaw who pays you back but it probably be wise to get Commander Shockwave on our side about it as well," Octane said. So he'd caught Octane's attention after all. That said, he wasn't all too sure about Octane's understanding of "entitlements". In Astrotrain's experience, carrying out your function did not tend to get you any special favors with commanders. It was just that: doing your job. But if Octane wanted to press his luck with the likes of Shockwave or Razorclaw, more power to him.

"Uhh, no. I'm good. Thanks though," Astrotrain said, holding up his hands awkwardly. "You go right ahead. I'll just be...um...in the barracks. Yeah."

With a Terran native on board, the last thing he needed was a private meeting with Shockwave. Octane didn't seem to bothered by it one way or another, as he quickly vanished into the recesses of the cyclops' laboratory.
___

Shockwave's Laboratory: Interior

"Commander Shockwave, I come requesting a new weapon or some sort of upgrade so I can assist the Decepticon Empire. I want to be more than a walking fuel container for them. The Predacon Tantrum was in the midst of the fight against the Fallen but like me he is a fueler. What good is a warrior if he is on the back lines instead in the midst of it? What many don't realize is I topped off Astrotrain's tank before we took off to ensure he had enough fuel for the flight back here. If it wasn't for us, most of us would still be on the mud ball below. I, we want our compensation for our contributions."

Shockwave sat silently for a few moments, his singular, golden optic flickering gently as the strategist assessed the triple-changers words and requests.

"Illogical. Primary declarative: you are employing fallacious reasoning. You have the same function, but you do not have the same superior officer. To expect to be utilized as one of Razorclaw's own is to invite disappointment.

"Secondary declarative--you fulfilled your function, as did Astrotrain. To expect additional compensation for carrying out your assigned role is to invite even further disappointment."

Shockwave returned to the multi-leveled holo layout of the mechaforming technology and how it would ultimately be deployed and utilized in this region of the universe as Megatron had intended. He entered a few more brief commands before stopping once more.

"However...making certain upgraded armaments available to you could broaden the application of your function without compromising it. Therefore--it will be approved. A Constructicon will be assigned to the task. I will refine the final product if need be. I have more pressing matters that require my continual attention."

Lounge

Feint's lapse ended and he snapped back to reality as Bonecrusher smacked Swindle.

'You've got to be kidding me' Was his thought process before realizing the mental midget was thinking 'he done good' when he hit the Combaticon.

"What the frag?" He suddenly said to the Construction, he stood up on his chair. "What is your problem? We were having a conversation... and a game... here. Is it that we ignored your pathetic mewling for attention that you had to lash out?"

Lounge

"Sorry." said Bonecrusher shamefully. Bonecrusher then looked over at Misfire who seemed to not be angry at all over him slapping Swindle on the side of the cheek in as "light" of a fashion as Bonecrusher could do. "It was only a small slap," said Bonecrusher as he started to look down in shame. "Sorry Swindle," said Bonecrusher as he had an obvious 'I'm not sorry' look on his face, "I just have a hard time with back-stabbers."

Bonecrusher then took his missile launcher off his back, and proceeded to awkwardly clean it with a cloth that was sitting on the counter. "Ya know guys, sometimes I get the impression that you think I'm as stupid as Grimlock, I'M NOT STUPID!" shouted Bonecrusher as he went back to cleaning his missile launcher. "Anyway sorry for the interruptions Hook, what is your answer?" said Boney as politely as he could.