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Med-Bay

Something in Comptemptors voice jogged a memory, and Psychout knew exactly what he had to do now. Listening in on the conversation he had with Megatrons former mining comrade turned thug Vindicator - seemingly the boss of the operation, and Hellion, who he knew ALL about, he quickly established that these guys had almost as little love for Starscream as he did, which worked in his advantage, and that's what life was all about; getting that advantage.

He figured that the systems on this ship wouldn't be too hard to crack, but wouldn't be worth much unless he could get into Stascream personal fil... nah, no real point. He could always head back over later, and once Starscream and his cretinous puppets were stranded on Sol 3 and this ship was back in the hands of a competent Decepticon they'd be free to do anything they wanted up here. He decided that he'd just skim the database and mission logs for intel about Earth, check to see if his former partner was on this ship, and leave the rest 'til later.

He did know where Hipshot, erm, Comptemptors, leverage was though, and planned on using it if he had to but what could Comptemptor have that I need? Heh... Apart from a free ride to the Thanatos!. At the last second as the trio left the room for the Bounce chamber, he acknowledged Vindicators request with a simple "10 minutes."

He turned back to Patchwork, "You heard that too. We both know 'Screams can not be trusted, and has fled the sinking ship before it has even started sinking. That is not a leader." He assumed his minuscule datapen altform and plugged himself into the main ships computer. His face appeared on the terminal by Patchwork even though it had just been switched off, courtesy of his natural affinity for technology, and plainly stated: "Last call Doc, you in or out?"

Repair Bay

“Crap? Crap?” Patchwork echoed Psychout incredulously, forgetting in her surge of outrage to be disgusted by the inescapably organic connotations of the word. “Do you have even the faintest inkling how hard a Series XX Cryogenic Regeneration Chamber is to come by since Cybertron was abandoned?” She wrenched hard on the last bolt holding the smelter-blasted thing down, nearly breaking it in her efforts to twist it free. Oh sure, the Series LXIV’s will get the job done, but all the newer models are built with efficiency in mind. And maybe they do conserve energy, but you’ll still come out of them feeling like a Triggercon recently used you for target practice.”

The femme continued muttering angrily as she worked, but it was mostly to herself now. She beckoned for a trio of drones to stop what they were doing and load the chamber onto one of the hover-gurneys. It would be an awkward fit, but manageable, provided some minimal care was taken in moving the bulky device to the bounce chamber.

“Typical. If it’s newer, it must be better. Forget for a moment that we’ve spent so much time and effort devising new ways to terminate each other it’s left our slagging planet as dry as an Empty’s fuel tank, and who can be bothered with repair tech? I suppose he thinks CR Chambers just pop up out of the ground. And I guess he has the expertise as a surgical engineer to program billions of restorative nanobots and precisely calibrate a medium of liquid energon and silicone gel, so—“

Patchwork stopped griping only when Vindicator stepped over to thank her for fine-tuning his comrade’s replacement arm. She was so surprised that she didn’t even think to point out that she hadn’t actually done much in particular—there wasn’t a lot she could do, once the limb was in place and all the structural and neurocircuit connections had been made.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” she replied uncertainly. “Don’t mention it.” And what a sad commentary it was on her existence that simple courtesy sounded like an alien language to her audio receptors. Still, it was a nostalgic sort of experience. Reminded her of the old days, back when she’d been … well, utterly unlike anything she was now.

She looked back at Psychout, suddenly unable to hang on to her feelings of irritation and suppressed anxiety from just a few moments past. “Look, forget about the lecture. This is one of those times every Decepticon has to do what they have to do.” Patchwork moved quickly to the CR Chamber containing Hellion with a portable battery unit and began prepping it for travel. As she worked, she waved a hand toward one corner of the repair bay. “Use the data paths built into my work station over there. You should be able to access everything you need. If anybody asks, I’ll tell them you’re backing up the ship’s medical records.”

Bounce Chamber

Swindle raised an opticbrow as Starscream launched into some kind of speech, laden with melodrama and regretful language. It didn't seem right to be coming out of the vocaliser of the infamous gloryhound, but then again, he had finally gotten his dream role as Decepticon Commander, with all that entailed. As a salesmech, Swindle was familiar of the concept 'Be careful what you wish for'.

Plus, he's stuck in the middle of this war, he can't try to stay out of it like we can. At least, Swindle hoped they were staying out of it, Onslaught seemed to be keeping his cards to his chassis, which was the right move, but his commander was also loyal to the cause, and so might be more willing to take a risk to stop things going places he didn't like. Swindle, for his own part, knew exactly which side he wanted to be on: The winning side.

But there seemed to be little to do for now, but recheck his weapons and ignore Brawls raving about not getting enough Fight in...until Motormaster appeared, still pitted and dented from his fight but no less intimidating for it. Then Starscream interrupted them all again, with another declaration. This was looking like a Escalation, and a fast one. Those were hard to make a profit from.

Swindle turned to Brawl and the newly arrived Vortex, vocals low. "Like the Commander says, guys, words won't mean a thing while all this is going on. Everyones looking for their part of the fuel tank, some want it all, some only want enough to keep themselves happy, but everyone will lie, cheat and steal for it. We want to get our share? We gotta up our game, and stay ahead of the other 'Cons. Its why we're a team after all, we get more out of it than we would going seperately."

"Speaking of which, maybe we should keep Blast-Off up to speed, if he's not going with us. At the very least, knowing we have a bounce out and some orbital fire support will give us a better negotiating position."

Having said his piece, Swindle waited for the Bounce Pad to warm up again.

Repair Bay

How long he had been observing this? Had he truly became so insignificant that his presence was not taken in consideration? Or did these fools believe that he had been foolish enough to shut down his higher functions for the duration of the recharge cycle? He had followed silently as Ramjet made of fool of himself before Skywarp, feeling somewhat ashamed of his wingmate's behavior as some many times before. He had witnessed Nightraven's early awakening from her repair cycle and Patchwork's frustration. And he could only wonder how many times he had heard this particular story told by Contemptor. And yet, the center of his attention had been a minicon - not so different from Frenzy and Rumble. At least physically. Curious. How casually this one spoke of treason in a room he shared with more than one seeker.

Then why Skywarp had not reacted to Psychout's treasonous banter? Was the teleporter that preoccupaid by his concern over Nightraven? The longing look that Contemptor gave to Hellion before leaving with Vindicator was also all to obvious to him. Love. A foolish weakness in a war. An emotion that Dirge had would not allow any room for as long as it took to defeat the Autobots. Finally ending his motionless wait, the mournful seeker detached the recharge cord from himself and turned his chilling gaze upon Psychout along with one of his fully charged laser cannons.

"Your manner of treachery towards Starscream has been noted. That information does not belong to you minicon." Dirge spoke, his voice carrying similar fear inducing vibrations as the rumbling of his engines. "Leave now or perish."



Bounce Chamber

"The game has changed Motormaster. We are the Decepticons' future. You and your team. Me and mine. Others. We need to talk, but not here. Find me at the base. We'll talk more."

For a moment Motormaster contemplated stopping Onslaught on his tracks as the Combaticon leader moved on to the bounce platform. However he decided against it. The odds were against him with the presence of Brawl, Swindle and Vortex. Together they packed enough experience and firepower to stop even him. And what would he have achieved by doing that anyhow? Nothing that he could think of on the spot.

Allowing the rest of the Combaticons to follow their leader and bounce out by stepping out of their way, Motormaster glared after them for a moment. Or rather, long enough for the Combaticons to disappear and the rest of the Stunticons to appear on the the bounce platform. And what a sorry condition they were in. Sometimes it just felt like these bots just did not have what it took to be a proper Decepticon. Then again, one had to make due with what one got. It appeared that Dead End has escaped with only minor injuries, not too surprising. The morose little slagger tried to avoid being hit even more than that full of himself Autobot Sunstreaker. Breakdown had managed to lose his hands and Wildrider just looked to be in pretty bad shape in overall. Drag Strip managed to dodge Motormaster's baleful glare only by appearing behind the other Stunticons.

"I am not impressed."

Before Motormaster had a chance to tear into his minions however, Vindicator and Contemptor appeared by the bounce chamber entrance. Blocking their way, Motormaster stepped in front of the equally massive Vindicator with his optics practically burning of barely contained rage. Vindicator was tough. Too bad that Motormaster was tougher. And he wanted answers.

"Looks like when the wolf is gone for a fraggin' moment, the pups grow bolder."

"Where the slag you think you are going?!" He growled. This was his ship. Starscream and Shockwave be damned. It was time to make some sense to this chaos that seemed to be the word of the hour.

Bounce Chamber

"I am not impressed," Motormaster had growled at the small, Stunticon collective that had now gathered within the bounce chamber area of the closest thing they could call to a home.

When have you ever been? Dead End thought smugly, giving thought to an idea that he would not ever dare say out loud. Certainly not with Motormatser standing within arm's reach.

Dead End limped his way off the bounce pad, taking a moment to check the kink he felt in his knee joint and rubbing the scorch mark that had been left by the blast he had taken from Sunstreaker. Ugh. He must look hideous.

Watching Motormaster address the other Decepticons, Dead End took a moment to put a little extra distance between himself and the brustish Stunticon commander. There was no need for him to serve as collateral damage for any pain he might intend to inflict upon the body of another. Primus knows it wouldn't take much.

"Octane got clear, right? I'm as surprised to say this as anyone...but didn't we win?"

Med-Bay

Slag! How long had he been listening Psychout chastised himself, not for the first time and probably not for the last ...really have got to start paying attention to where I am, too used to speaking my mind in my own lab, dammit Mal Practice, where are you? Now, how do I pull my aft out of this one..?

He ejected himself from the console, returned to his robot form and stood defiantly on the table. He was terrified and he knew that was what Dirge was best at, causing fear, but his burning hatred of Seekers gave him the strength to mask it - just - and fear is a weapon he wasn't unfamiliar with himself, so after a brief instant he adopted his usual flippant demeanour and talked for his life.

"Dirge! So nice of you to finally pay attention. Your loyalty to Starscream is commendable ...but your 'masters' spectacular plan is to to flee to Sol 3 on a one-way trip to a base that is both incomplete and staffed by Shockwave's lackeys with no way back because, even if Shockwave doesn't destroy this ship, how exactly do you plan to get back off the surface again? Ask Shockwave nicely? Hitch a lift? Or can you achieve higher orbit now?"

"Of course, I guess you could stay here? Then, when Motormaster realises his ship has not only been hijacked but, thanks to the brilliance of your boss, is under the threat of being blown out of space, I'm sure he'll take it well, he's such a nice chap that Motormaster... so well, uh, balanced. Dirge, you know as well as I do,
Here goes... Psychout thought to himself All or nothing...
"Starscream has failed you, you and your brothers."

"Megatron was the founder and leader of the Decepticon's and his death has divided us in a way our enemies could not have dreamed of. I do not trust, believe in, or even like Starscream but Shockwave is intelligent but he is ultimately predicable and commands no loyalty from his followers." Psychout nearly choked on the irony of that last sentence "He knows as well as we do that to take this ship is meaningless and to destroy it is an illogical waste of Cybertronian resources, he just needs you trapped on the planet and immobile whilst space and the restoration of Cybertron will be his alone, and Starscream has fallen for it, with gusto."

The terror had really kicked in now, Psychout could barely stand at this point and had no idea where the words came from, but came they did as his lifetime spent deceiving others for the greater good was put to the ultimate test.

His voice lowered to a whisper as he leant forwards to allow only Dirge to hear his next statement.
"My imperative overriding command is that the Decepticons must survive. If you wish them to do that, you will let can finish my work and then walk out of here." he took a metaphorical deep breath for what was likely to be the biggest bluff of his life "Do you really think a Psychological Warfare expert such as myself, or yourself, would be placed on nurse-duty as soon as he is restored from stasis? You yourself deal in the same tactics as I; divide and conquer, make the enemy fear itself more than it does them, use their own words to your advantage... I say, act and do what is required for my task for the faction, not for some arrogant nut-twister and cyclopic calculator who thinks they should be in charge. Shockwaves ill-thought empty threat and Starscream's overreaction mean nothing if we cannot get down to that rock below us to mine its resources and get back with our spoils, else we may as well just roll over and shut down now."

He paused for dramatic effect, bolstered by the fact that he hadn't been shot. Yet. Now he knew what he was saying and it would either let him finish the download and walk out of here and onto the Thanatos in one peice or kill him. Probably the latter. Still, it had been a fun hour-and-a-half since he fell out of stasis.

"Those of us who believe in the cause have to move on regardless. This ship and everything on it - us included is worth nothing if the Decepticons fall. So either kill me or let me finish my download to get the bounce-pads command override codes, unless you don't want access to this ship once Starscream has fled to that mudball and Shockwave is joyriding it around Mars?"

Bounce Chamber - Oh Slag Not Now!

The two battlechargers materialised on the bounce pad, and instantly Runabout, slumped to his knees as the combined pain of the gaping hole in his side, and the after effects of the bounce transportation almost made the battlecharger puke. Runabout popped his mouthguard open and he threw up a thick glob of energon onto the bounce pad. Runabout looked at the stained black and purple thick glob and swore colourfully.

"Bastard Blades..." Runabout struggled to get on his feet, and then slumped down to one knee "...Slagging frakker took me by surprise..I want him dead Runamuck..I want.."

Runabout figuratively stopped in his tracks as he looked up. Terror flashed through his optics as he saw one Decepticon that he thought he'd have the good graces to avoid. Runabout looked up at Runamuck and almost whmpered

"...Bro... don't let him get to me.. not like this..."

Runamuck looked down at his injured brother and helped him to his feet and proceeded to help him walk towards the exit of the bounce pad. They were only a few paces away from the 'Twin Towers' as they had become known to the battlechargers, when the dread set into the injured Runabout as they passed Contemptor.

"Ignore him Runabout..." said Runamuck as they went to exit the bounce chamber "...just concentrate on stopping yourself from leaking to death..." he paused and looked down at his scratched white paintwork "...your already leaking all over me as it is!"

There was a chilling statement in the air as Contemptor had spotted them slinking past.

"Blades didn;t finish the job huh? Well just wait till your better Runabout..." Contemptor was almost infront of them with a smile that said 'I will collect' before leaning forwards and glaring the battered battlecharger in the optics, hissed with venom. "...I'd rather have you whole so I can tear you apart!"

Runamuck punched Contemptor in the shoulder and was about to do it again before the truck-former grabbed Runamuck's balled fist in his own hand. There was the sound of wrenching metal as Runamuck's servo's protested against the unexpected torque.

"...ack!..." Runamuck exclaimed as his wrist was wrenched to the side

"I don;t have any issue with you Runamuck..." Contemptor growled as he tightened his grip. "...Don't give me a reason to want to break your cranial unit like I will Runabout's!"

There was a blazing look of anger in Contemptor's purple optics before he let Runamuck's hand go.

"...Get his aft repaired so I can tear it apart again"

The battlechargers seemed to scurry out of the Bounce Chamber and towards the repair bay.

Repair Bay

The twin shock troopers bundled through the Repair Bay doors to find a scene of mayhem as decepticons were being seen to left, right and center. Runamuck spotted Patchwork and dragged Runabout over to the Decepticon Medic and pretty much dumped him on a repair table.

"Hey Patchy...can you help?" Runamuck said shakily "..Runabout's been ripped open by a missile, and I know theres some crazy slag happenin right now, but can ya patch him up some so that we can get outta here and go to wherever Starscream wants us to go!"

Repair Bay

Patchy. Merciful Primus (or Vector Sigma, or whatever origin of the Cybertronian species one subscribed to—Patchwork wasn’t particular), how she hated being called Patchy. She knew, objectively speaking, that it was usually intended as an endearment of sorts, a show of camaraderie from the frontline soldiers meant to express … something. She wasn’t sure if it was gratitude or entreaty or just a gesture to another mechanoid marching under the same banner. Probably indicated all those things, and a great deal more. But the diminutive form of her name grated in her audio processors so.

Her prickly nature, however, immediately took a back seat to her function. Leaving her work on the CR chamber for a moment—as long as Ultrax didn’t suffer a direct hit, or anything similarly jarring, it would be fine—she hurried over to the repair table now bearing the injured Battlecharger. One look was enough to inform the medical engineer that the prognosis was not good.

“Okay,” she said, her voice steady, despite the hundred or more calculations presently running through her advanced processors. “Keep an eye on him for an astrosecond, Runamuck.”

Patchwork hurried away, to one of the boxes of medical supplies already packed by the drones. From within, she produced a set of fine surgical implements, a syringe, and a canister filled with luminous purple fluid. The femme then rushed back to Runabout’s side.

Working quickly, with a deftness that was equal parts combat triage experience and core programming, she sealed the most critically damaged fuel lines. That done, she tilted Runabout’s cranial unit to one side to access the back of his head, performing a quick bit of technical surgery that effectively shut down the battered Decepticon’s pain receptors. Finally, she injected his fuel port with a generous dose of the solution she had previously retrieved.

That accomplished, she met Runamuck’s gaze squarely. “I’ve done what I can to stop his condition from deteriorating—as you can see, we’re in the process of salvaging what we can from the repair bay before moving to the surface base. More importantly, I’ve just injected your brother with an aft-load of enriched energon. It’ll kill the last of his pain and make him strong enough to walk—and then some. He will try to overdo it while he’s on this stuff, so keep an optic on him; keep him still and stable as much as you possibly can, and I’ll do a proper fixit job on him just as soon as I’m able.”

Quietly cursing Megatron’s questionable decision to get himself slagged now, of all Pit-bedamned times, Patchwork practically sprinted back to Hellion’s CR chamber. “Comm me if anything comes up!”

Med Bay

The confusion etched on Nightraven’s face remained as Skywarp began to explain why she had been, effectively, expelled from the CR chamber. Ramjet. I should have known. The femme Seeker looked down at her thigh where she had received her wound and found that the fuel lines and main energon line had been repaired, but the hole in her leg remained. The amount of time she had spent with in the chamber was clearly not enough for the nanites to complete their work.

Nightraven shook her head in annoyance. She looked back up to Skywarp as the teleporter continued to his explanation of what had transpired. She offered him a slight smile of reassurance at his uncertainty of being able to lead a mission.

“Skywarp, you said yourself the mission was a success. Starscream showing up after the fact only proved that you were able to pull it off without his help.”

She let him continue when he mentioned Shockwave. The black and purple femme had already known the cycloptic mech was back from Cybertron, but she had no idea he would be so bold as to declare himself as the new leader of the Decepticons. Nightraven’s jaw dropped open slightly at the news, but her thoughts were cut short when Skywarp flashed a meager smile at her. The mention that he had been concerned about her well-being caused the femme to produce a demure smile. That smile soon faded when he expressed his concern over how she felt about his performance on the mission.

“Of course I’m not disappointed in you. You completed the mission with minimal casualties, and you were able to seize a fair amount of oil. I think that all counts for something.”

Nightraven’s attention was diverted to the appearance of Psychout. She did not recognize the minicon as he was not among Soundwave’s personal minions. She looked back to Skywarp as Starscream’s voice filled the med bay. Now they were supposed to leave the relative safety of the Ultrax in order to bounce back down to Earth to the location of their still non-existent base. It made little sense since she had not been privy to everything had transpired.

The femme Seeker became so overwhelmed she wriggled out from under Skywarp’s arm and headed for one of the remaining medical berths. She leaned against the slab and rubbed her now throbbing cranial unit.

As Nightraven finally looked back to Skywarp she realized that there were two more mechs she did not recognize. Of course she hadn’t been on the Ultrax long enough to look up the ship’s roster. Her optics moved from the form of Contemptor to the hulking form of Vindicator. Her attention on the much larger Decepticon was finally broken when she noticed Contemptor stop at one of the CR chambers.

At the sound of Vindicator’s baritone vocalization, Nightraven realized that the ‘Con in the CR chamber that had caught the truck-former’s attention belonged to Hellion. The black and purple femme quickly vacated her position at the medical berth and made her way to her sister’s chamber. It looked as though hellion had been through the smelter. Her face had already been repaired, but the remainder of her injuries still needed time in order to be properly repaired. Nightraven placed her hand on the glass; worry was etched on her face.

“Helly.”

She looked back to Skywarp while Patchwork began to work on removing Hellion’s chamber from the medical bay.

“What happened to her?”

Before she even received an answer her attention was drawn to Dirge who had just completed a recharge cycle and was now threatening the minicon. The timbre of the blue and gold Seeker’s vocalizations sent a shiver down Nightraven’s spinal structure.

Everything was happening so fast that she was having a difficult time understanding it all.

“Wait, Dirge, what’s going on…” she gestured to Psychout, “…and who is he?”

Bounce Chamber

Once the white light that was the platform’s bounce beam had finally dissipated and left behind the remainder of the Stunticon team. The look Motormaster gave them made Breakdown cringe. He’s looking at me, I know it. The thought of those optics boring into him gave the scout reason to find refuge behind another target Motormaster would find more appealing.

Carefully, and trying not to draw any attention to himself, Breakdown slunk behind Dead End, the target Motormaster, most likely, enjoyed taking his frustrations out on.

Bounce Chamber

As the light from the orbital bounce disappeared from around him, Drag Strip found himself onboard the Ultrax once again, still lying on his back and in the company of the other Stunticons. Unfortunately, that also included Motormaster, whose stinging glare could be felt by the former racer even though he was out of his leader’s line of sight. It wasn’t that he was hiding as he had nothing to hide from considering his performance down at the refinery had been near perfection. His battle with the crazy Autobot Hex had gone exactly how he wanted it to and even though he had suffered some damage to his back, he knew that the damage he wrought on the silver mech would be far worse considering the closeness of his parting shot.

I just wish I had been there to see the little slagger go down, Drag Strip thought as the bounce effects wore off and he got to his feet to stand behind the others. Motormaster had said that he was not impressed but surely that did not include Drag as he had suffered the least amount of damage and had managed to take out one of the Autobots all by himself. Of course, the yellow Stunticon couldn’t prove his accomplishments since even he himself was unsure of Hex’s current condition. He could only guess the end result which was something that Motormaster would not accept nor reward.

As the Stunticon Commander’s attention was drawn away to Vindicator and Contemptor, Drag Strip stepped off the bounce pad and approached Dead End, patting him on the shoulder. “Yeah, we technically won, Dead,” the yellow racer responded in a whisper so their leader would not hear him. “Some of us did better than others, like me, but we did accomplish what we went down there for. Of course, now things really get interesting up here with Shockwave’s recent claim to power and demand for loyalty. Something tells me that you know who will be more ticked off than usual which never bodes well for the rest of us. I’ll just hide behind you, Dead, since you’re doomed anyway regardless of who we ultimately side with. Heheh.”

Bridge

As Razorclaw listened to Starscream’s response a scowl formed behind his faceplate. It was not from anger at the Seeker Commander’s words, but anger at himself for allowing his own words to reveal too much of what he and Onslaught had been planning. If the Predacon Commander had known that his Combaticon equal had already spoken to Starscream, then Razorclaw would have chosen his words more carefully. Unfortunately, it was now clear that the two unit commanders were working together, but to what end exactly was still a secret. Regardless, Starscream was now aware that something more was going on here and would likely keep a close optic on their activities from this point forward.

“You’re right, Starscream, Onslaught and I are working together,” Razorclaw responded truthfully, knowing that denying the obvious would only serve to create more suspicion from the Air Commander. Of course, that didn’t mean he would reveal everything, including his own personal ambitions and the plan to unite the specialty units together. Instead, half-truths and damage control would be required in this situation. “However, our agenda is the same as yours, the betterment of the Decepticon Empire. We only want to ensure that the right leader is chosen in order to make certain of the longevity of Megatron’s vision. A civil war will solve nothing and it must be avoided at all costs.”

Razorclaw then listened as Starscream announced his plan to abandon the Ultrax in favor of the incomplete base on the Earth’s surface, the coordinates of which he had already given to Onslaught. Surely, the Constructicons were down there, as well, who were the last piece of the puzzle that would hopefully bring the specialty teams together under one banner. There was still much work to be done, but at least it was a start. However, the idea of everyone on board going down to the surface did not sit well with the Predacon leader as stranding themselves on the planet below would put them at a serious disadvantage while Shockwave remained in orbit with a powerful battlecruiser at his disposal.

“Starscream, your plan to evacuate this ship and its resources is flawed. You must see that,” Razorclaw countered as the Seeker Commander turned to leave the bridge. “The surface base is no where near completion and couldn’t possibly house the entire crew of this vessel nor provide the necessary protection from Shockwave. Furthermore, you’ll be hard pressed to convince Motormaster to abandon his own ship. He won’t go along with your plan no matter what you say. I suggest moving the Ultrax to a more secured location away from Shockwave’s prying lone optic and the powerful weapons of the Thanatos, but the Stunticon Commander must be consulted with first.”

Repair Bay

Skywarp was relieved that Nightraven was not disappointed in him. Although, she was not conscious during the latter parts of the battle to see how he did, she clearly gave him the benefit of the doubt considering the objectives of the mission were fulfilled. Of course, her opinion on the matter could very well be biased, but it still made the teleporter feel better. “Thank, Nighty, I appreciate your confidence in me. It’s more than many of the others gave me down there. Most wouldn’t even listen to me, which is what I think ‘Screamer wanted to talk to me about.”

Starscream’s communique then came over the ship’s intercom while Nightraven pulled away from the teleporter and managed to lay down on a nearby medical berth. Skywarp felt indifferent about the thought of abandoning the Ultrax as he found the ship to be a literal dump anyway. However, that didn’t mean he was indifferent to Psychout’s treasonous tirade, which had not gone entirely unnoticed by the prankster while he had been preoccupied with Nightraven’s condition. He had simply ignored it until now. That was about to change as ‘Warp watched Dirge confront the minicon about his treachery and willingness to download sensitive data from the computer mainframe. Dirge’s vocal processor elicited a fear-inducing sound not unlike his alt mode’s jet engines, hoping to scare the minicon into submission. All it did though was annoy the black and purple seeker’s own nerve receptors.

Stepping up behind Psychout, Skywarp put his hand up to Dirge to signal him to stop talking. “Please, Dirge, if you don’t mind, you’re giving me the creeps. I’ll handle the little one myself.” The prankster then reached down and grabbed a hold of the treacherous minicon, turning the small mech around and lifting him up to the seeker's optical level. “Listen to me you little drone. You’re done bad mouthing Starscream and you will not download any data from this ship’s computer. You will do what Dirge told you and leave. If you don’t, I will teleport you into the vacuum of space and leave you there to ponder your insubordination. Have I made myself perfectly clear, Psychout?”

Skywarp then dropped the minicon to the floor and turned to address Nightraven, who was now by her sister’s CR chamber. “I think Hellion suffered her damage in a fight with Hardhead. I’m not sure of the details, but as you can see she didn’t fare so well.” The teleporter then turned back and looked down at Psychout to see if the minicon had heeded his warning or if they were going to have an impromptu space walk.

Bridge

As Razorclaw voiced his objection about Starscream's choice to abandone the Ultrax a sudden realization came to the Commander, though likely unrelated to the current situation. He now understood why Megatron so frequently reacted with violence and anger whenever someone questioned his orders and intentions, it was damned annoying and counter productive to moving forward in a timely fashion. Time was something the Decepticons on the Ultrax did not have. Eventually Shockwave would conclude that either the Predacon's had either failed to capture Starscream, or had betrayed him both options would likely result in an attack on the poorly maintained frigate. As much as Starscream wanted to slam his fist into Razorclaw's faceplate to silence his objection he knew he couldn't and that action would be counter productive. After all, they were allies so long as Shockwave was a threat to them both.

"I understand your concerns Razorclaw." Starscream began, doing his best to keep any sign of his irritation out of his voice and off of his face. "But we have several factors to consider. First and for most the Ultrax is in no condition to fight a ship of Thanatos' size and power. Additionally if you were close enough to make such a precise bounce onto the bridge where you were practically surrounding me on arrival, then no matter how fast we move we will not be able to move out of the Thanatos' weapons range fast enough before our engines are disabled or the ship itself is destroyed. And even if we did manage to avoid being blasted into so much space junk we will still be easilly tracked and followed. Also leaving even the bare minimum of crew aboard to keep the Ultrax operational means we are splitting our forces. I have no illusions about the loyalties of yours and Onslaught's teams, this is an alliance of convience until Shockwave is dealt with, after that the political game can start working at full power again. However, for the moment we have the advantage of numbers as me, you and Onslaught command the vast majority of Decepticon military power in this system. But that military power is useless if Shockwave can obliterate this ship and everyone on it. On the planets surface we stand a much better chance, granted Shockwave will command the high ground, but we can estyablish a temporary field base on the surface, and if need be we can scatter to avoid attacks from orbit. But if you have another suggestion I'm open to it, and for that matter we might as well get Motormaster in here so we can figure this out before Shockwave decides to frag the Ultrax."

Knowing full well that the rest of the crew was already either busy with the evacuation or confused about what was going on he keyed up his personal com unit to send a message to Motormaster directly.

>>"Motormaster Razorclaw is here with me on the bridge. Bring yourself to the bridge so we can figure out what to do with the Ultrax before Shoclwave decides to start shooting at us.<<

Psychout performed a metaphysical facepalm, but outwardly he flew up to look Skywarp in the eyes. This is why I'm almost glad the Seekers are idiots. Its not like I cant just get the data elsewhere on this junkpile... "Skywarp, if wisdom was a tree, yours would be a bush. Suit yourself, enjoy your stay on that mudball, I'm sure you'll find your way off it somehow..."

He decided now was the best time to cut his losses, and with a nod of acknowledgement toward Patchwork for her help which she barely noticed being tied up with Runabout and with a final glare at Dirge he moonwalked out of the room, still hovering.

He decided to try his chances with Vindicator, that guy at least had some smarts about him, although he stopped dead before he entered the bounce chamber - Motormaster's voice could be clearly heard and whilst Psychout most definitely approved of the Stunticons, now wasn't the time to play Motormaster's games. He gave Vindicator and Contemptor a few seconds to exchange pleasantries and headed towards the giant pair being sure to stay clear of the rooms other occupants where possible and being sure to keep his mouth shut for now. That was one of the many advantages of his size, hardly anyone paid him attention.

He waited for the right moment to interrupt Vindicator, and scanned the room for an access point, although he figured it wouldn't be too wise to try it in here.

Bounce Chamber

For some strange reason, Wildrider found bouncing to and from locations to be a fun experience. He couldn't pinpoint an exact reason for it, nor could he even offer a substandard explanation that partly cured one's inquisitiveness seeking an answer of sorts. The turbulent method of travel was, according to him, similar to the way he drove with reckless abandon. Again, Wildrider could not give an explanation containing more clarity than nonsense. He just regarded bouncing to be...fun.

Upon materialising on the chamber's platform, Wildrider's enjoyment evaporated. The Stunticons hadn't departed with as much success as Motormaster would have liked, and he usually made this fact very well known. When he spoke, permitting as few as four words to illustrate his views on his team and their mission, Wildrider knew that agony was about to visit him shortly. Motormaster's unreturnable glare served only to confirm what he was already aware of.

That, and Breakdown disappearing behind Dead End was a clear indication of what was to come.

As silly as Breakdown appeared, Wildrider also wanted to place as much distance between himself and Motormaster as he possibly could. But it was futile. They were onboard the Ultrax, the Stunticons' personal vessel. Where could he escape to? What area of their ship could provide him with a secure sanctuary he so desperately needed to obtain?

Even if he could muster a swift retreat he wouldn't get far. His physical condition was poor at best—as it mostly was at the conclusion of each mission. That Sprints character had certainly done a number on him. His features crinkled in disgust. If they ever met on the battlefield again, Wildrider would endeavour for it to be their final encounter.

Drag Strip's voice yanked the Stunticon from out of his series of thoughts concerning Sprints. He seemed to have brought out some interesting topics, so Wildrider exploited Motormaster's preoccupation with Contemptor and Vindicator—for what it was worth—and joined his team-mates. Aside from needing repairs, he was happy to chat with his fellow Stunticons, particularly when Drag Strip's ego gifted him with infinite supply of material to tease him with.

“Draggy, you didn't do slag out there. I didn't see you or anything, but I can guarantee everyone here that watching your fight would've been like watching Bumblebee getting his aft handed to him by Grimlock.” Wildrider chuckled, imagining how the fight would have proceeded in his core processor. He then turned to Breakdown. “What do you reckon? Draggy's full of it, ain't he?”

Never mind the more critical matters present in the conversation. Important as they were, somebody had to puncture Drag Strip's over-inflated ego. And enquire if Dead End actually lifted a digit during the many battles at the refinery.

“So, uh, Deadster...” Wildrider attempted to repel a smirk but failed to do so. “How'd you manage to survive this time around? I don't think I saw you move even once while we were there!”

A concoction of mockery and genuineness flavoured the question. Not that he purposefully put it together. All he wanted was an answer, preferably one where Dead End didn't hold back on the doom and gloom. Those always ensured a good laugh.

Divebomb remained mostly silent as Razorclaw and Starscream debated their next plan of action. He much preferred to go down to that mudball now- it was a mudball with much more space to fly than these two ships had combined. Sure, he wouldn't necessarily be able to fly all the time, but it was better than being stuck on either of these ships with the rest of the predacons. Then again, there was a chance of them being trapped underground as well...or a chance to be trapped on a rust bucket with the Stunticons. Neither of these options were particularly appealing to the aerial fighter.

Though I'd rather be stuck on earth with my squadmates than being stuck on this dump with Motormaster... Divebomb mused to himself. He didn't bother throwing in his two cents in the seeker's and the predacon's leaders debate, figuring he would end up getting mostly ignored anyway.

OoC: Sorry for the delay, I have been as busy as a Wal-Mart on Black Friday.

Medical Bay

Ramjet was on his way out, Energon cooling down when Contemptor made a snide and inappropriate comment. Something about Thrust being up Ramjet's...

He'll pay dearly for that. No. What am I thinking!? Cool. Off. Now. Ramjet thought, fists clenched so far that his digits began to dig into his palm.

He stopped in the doorway, the air became icy cold as he began to turn around to punch the idiot Contemptor in the faceplate. He will pa-

Stop.

Ramjet turned back around and began to walk out, ripping the Spark from Contemptor's screaming corpse chiefly on his mind. He had to stop himself sometime. He stepped forward to leave when suddenly the moron Skywarp chimed in with his own crack at a snide joke.

"Skywarp, Contemptor, you can all go burn in the pit. Have a nice day, Scraplets." Ramjet stated as he marched out of the room before anyone could state anything that could irritate him further.

Mess Hall

Ramjet walked in and immediately filled his cup full of Synthetic Energon and tossed it back in one gulp. The bitter taste calmed him somewhat. He filled another and did the same.

Shockwave... Predacons... Combaticons... Starscream... Ramjet went through the list in his mind as he tossed back several more drinks, cups laying in a chaotic pile around his table.

If I can't be leader, then no one should. Ramjet thought, smirk coming onto his faceplate, but fading as soon as it came.

Soon.

*****

Medical Bay

Waspinator felt queasy as he stepped out of his chamber, pushing the table away. His hand rubbed the curves and edges of his faceplate he tried to step out of the Med Bay, but soon found that there had to be something wrong with the ship's gyro stabilizers, because he was stepping about as if he overenergized. It wasn't of course, he was just dizzy from the slam he took from the table.

He tried to stay calm and collected with the presence of Femmes, but it came across humorous if anything. He began to fall, he noticed this and sidestepped to the CR Chamber he was about to fall over on and rested against it, taking a curt nod and smile to Patchwork.

"Hey, how Patch-Bot doing?" He flashed an awkward, crooked smile.

Bounce Chamber

Vindicator looked down at the Decepticon's resident foul tempered task master. It was one thing to be secretive and play a double card - play two sides off each other to garner as much information as possible, but it was another thing to be forthcoming with the truth, and in dealing with Motormaster - it had to be blunt and hit home hard. It wasn't because Vindicator looked down upon the Stunticon bully, it was because the only way to deal with him, was the same way as he operated. Vindicator glared at Motormaster with an icy look just short of distain, one that he had learned from cycles of being close to Megatron, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, and ignore the scraping remark about trying to step out of Megatron's shadow.

Vindicator crossed his arms over his massive chest and glared straight into Motormaster's red optics. He caught a flinch as the icy stare from his amber optics did not give, and showed no sign of backing down from the threatening bully. After checking to see that Psychout was out of receptor-shot, Vindicator spoke, his baritone voice projected at Motormaster's head.

"Motormaster..." The seige expert began "...what you need to realise, is that whilst the Ultrax is your ship, with Starscream aboard - and the fact that, currently, he is your immediate superior - it means that the Ultrax is effectively under his command, and as a result - is his to do with as he pleases..."

"...consider this my brutal compatriot..." Vindicator picked his next few words carefully "...you, like my charge Contemptor, are - as such - an object of brutality! A hard task needs done, the likes of you are sent in because you are a blunt instrument, to be used in extreme situations to maximum effect!"

The seige master slowly unfolded his arms as he continued to speak to the Stunticon leader.

"I observed your actions in the refinery, and you are as cunning and decisive as you are violent and physical...and calm down, that was a compliment!" A smile shot quickly over Vindicator's faceplate as he spoke "..I am not just a 'pup getting bolder' as you would have it, I've been around longer than you, and know a little more about how Megatron kept the rest of the power hungry in line...but consider this!"

Vindicator then pointed an arm towards to a large plasma display on the wall of the bounce chamber, and as if on cue, the external macro camera's from the bridge control, shown a full magnification of the earth's dusty grey moon, and the glinting object next to it. The plasma display winked several times as the screen displayed the silvery highlights of the top warship of the Decepticon army - the Thanatos.

"...Yes, Shockwave is here, and that means the play for power has already begun, and we will all be caught up in it..." Vindicator looked Motormaster square in his optics "What myself and Contemptor do now is for the furtherment of the Decepticon Empire. Remember we all swore loyalty and allegiance to Megatron when we took up arms for the Decepticon Cause. I follow none but Megatron, and Megatron's, not Shockwave's and not Starscream's, wishes...."

Vindicator leaned in and whispered so that Motormaster was acutely aware of what Vindicator was attempting to do. "...I am taking Contemptor to the Thanatos, not only to get the once over medically, but also to reformat his weaponry...and whilst I am there, I will try to find out what old one eye is truly up to in terms of these so called enhancements, and also to make sure that we do not tear ourselves apart...we would be easy pickings for the Autobots if we did!"

Vindicator stood upright and extended a hand to Motormaster.

"I'm asking you to trust me on this one... we haven't seen optic to optic on many things in the past, but now I am asking you to put that aside and trust your Master of Seiges, and the Trophy Hunter..." Vindicator looked directly into Motormaster's optics, a stern, set grimace on his faceplate. He was swallowing a lot of pride in doing this.

Whilst Vindicator was deftly explaining to Motormaster, the grim scenario that they were about to undertake, Contemptor was hovering over near the bounce controls with the diminutive Psychout. The trophy hunter was leaning casually against the control panel as he looked at the micron. It had been a while since he had been alongside the mental terrorist, but Contemptor knew what the small hellraiser was capable of.

"Last time I heard from you, ya little rabble rouser, was you were up in Darkmount working away on some interesting little projects...Mind you, that was when I was cutting open Autobots in mining outposts and rampaging across Cybertron...especially that fun escapade in Altihex!" The trophy hunter grinned at the Micron as he spoke.

He looked at the Micron and laid out the flat of his hand so that the former cassette-con could hop and jump to sit on Contemptor's shoulder.

"I just hope that Vindicator stops yakking long enough so that we can do what we have to and get off this junk heap...and then I can get back to business with that twin cylinder dipstick Runabout!"

Med Bay

At the quick, yet efficient repair job done by Patchwork, Runabout lay there groaning a little as the infusion of concentrated energon started to power through his systems, and true to what she said, Runabout sprung up from the repair table, bouncing around as if he was just assembled.

"Oh man I feel great bro.. yeah ready to go and slag some Autopunks! Yeah im ready to...." there was a dizzying sensation as Runabout almost keeled over "...whoa.. cranial rush!...what was that?"

"That..." Runamuck began "...you tin plated dimwit, was a concentration of pure energin, designed to put your systems back together!"

"Eh?"

"Blades blew a chunk out of you in El Dorado, and you were leaking lubricants all over the place!"

"..oh.."

"yeah...oh...remember, your lucky to even get here if I hadn't have came thundering after you!"

Runabout was left speechless, his face guard still open as he looked at his brother, a little dumbfounded. Admittantly the last few clicks had been a blur and he didn't even remember the angry glare that Contemptor had gave him in the Bounce Chamber.

"So.. what now then? I feel like I could kick aft all day and deffinately take on that lug-heap Contemptor and...whoa..." another surge of energon through his system made him giddy. Yep Patchwork was right, Runabout was acting as if he was ready to take on everyone and everything.

Runamuck didn't fancy his chances in keeping one optic on his brother, and another optic over his shoulder. Instead he elected to offer help to Patchwork.

"Hey, Patchwork?" Runamuck said a little sheepishly, obviously the tell tale of calling her Patchy hadn't sat well with the Decepticon Medic. "I'd rather keep my lugnut headed brother here within easy reach if something does happen, so ....err with that said...I figure... could ya use any help in here???"

Transmission from Shockwave to Starscream

>>"Interrogative: where would this encounter occur? You are at a decided disadvantage in terms of orbital resources. I calculate a 94.874% probability that you will attempt to mitigate my superior positioning; however, I will hear your suggestion."<<
___

Bridge

Rampage had appeared on the bridge of the Ultra with the other Predacons, his blade drawn and ready for combat. Fortunately, he did not find himself immediately under siege as might have happened were he to suddenly find himself in the midst of some Autobot encampment.

Orienting himself, Rampage took a slightly more relaxed stance as Razorclaw saw to business with the Seeker. He was not following Shockwave's orders to the letter, but that was what Rampage had been hoping for. He was steadily gaining confidence that the Predacons would come out of this whole ordeal the better for having gone through it. He couldn't say the same for the rest of the Decepticons, but that would be their loss if it turned out to be the case. Survival of the fittest and all that. The Predacons were nothing if not survivors.

Repair Bay

Her optics were glued to Hellion’s CR chamber and Patchwork as the latter returned to her work in trying to remove the Seeker femme’s chamber. At the mention of her sister’s name, Nightraven looked over her shoulder at Skywarp. A pained expression made its way to her face before she looked back into the glass at her sister. She placed a hand on the chamber and stepped away so that Patchwork could finish her work. The sooner the medic removed the equipment, the sooner her sister could finish her cycle.

The slender femme wrapped her arms around her midsection as she backed up further away. Helly looked terrible. It looked as though she had been through the smelter. Only time would tell if all of the repairs would be sufficient to sustain the berserker though a tantrum that, would no doubt, occur once she awakened.

“Once she gets out of there… things will not be pretty.”

Nightraven shook her head slightly as she imagined what she’d have to do from keeping the tangerine colored femme from tearing the ship and everyone in it, apart.

She finally broke off her vigil and turned around to face Skywarp. She looked away quickly as she recalled Starscream’s comm. The interim Commander had ordered an immediate evacuation from the Stunticons’ ship in an attempt to regroup the ‘Cons on planet.
Nightraven raised her head slightly so she was looking up directly into Skywarp’s optics.

“I…guess we better get to the bounce platform.”

She broke off her gaze to take a quick look at her thigh. The inner wiring, fuel lines and the energon line had been repaired, but there was still a gaping hole in her armor that would still need to be mended. She let out a heavy sigh as her head lifted once again.

“I hope I can get this taken care of planet side.”

Nightraven gave the teleporter a warm smile and ran her hand down his arm before moving past him and heading for the exit. She stopped short and looked back at him.

“Let's go. The sooner we get down there the sooner we can get some answers to what’s going on. It’ll also be nice to get off this sorry excuse for a ship.”

With that the delicate Seeker femme departed from the med bay.

Bounce Chamber

Relieved to find a friendly face on board, Psychout accepted Comtemptors hand, used it as a springboard, and gracefully planted himself on the giants shoulder. "Good to see you too. Heh, Altahex - that was a well paid job, I could have retired on the tech we gained out of that, and I seem to remember you enjoying yourself as always. As for Darkmount..."

Motormaster and Vindicator were deep in conversation, Motormaster looking like he was being lectured by a schoolteacher, Vindicator picking his words carefully whilst the rest of the Stunticons looked on. Psychout figured they were hoping the conversation went well, or Motormaster would take out his frustrations on them and whilst he couldn't hear what was being said, he knew how the conversation was likely to go.

"...What happened in Darkmount is a blank. Last I remember, Mal and I were working on some kind of filtration upgrade for earlier generation Cybertrons to give them more uptime, we'd sealed off the lab due to the explosive nature of the stuff... just in time for the alarm to go off, so whilst everyone hit battle stations, there we were with a megaton bomb in our hands... You can probably guess the rest. Next thing I knew I'm waking up to an overworked Patchwork, Cybertron is gone and Megatron is dead. Bit if a shock, to be honest - I thought Patchwork would be taller..."

The Thanatos will have the records I need to find out exactly what happened, no sense dwelling on it until then...

"So, those scars of yours seem to have healed nicely, but are you still having trouble with that arm? You do know that we can fix that, right? Mal's not on this ship, which means Shockwave will have kept hold of him - you don't let genius like that stay buried under rubble for too long. I'm going to tag along with you and Vindicator as you jump to the Thanatos. Shockwave is a former employer of mine and once I get Mal back out of deep-freeze, we can sort your appendage out and get it strong enough to tear Runabout into as many pieces as you feel like..."

But - equally as important - I have to get back to work Psychout thought to himself. Think of the damage I could do if I was let lose on Sol 3's interlinked computer systems... I could turn the humans against the Cybertronians down there so fast that not even Red Alert would see it coming...

This time though he remembered to keep his voice down, he wasn't entirely sure of the Sunticons allegiances yet - as always, that all depended on Motormaster, still in discussions with Vindicator.

"Comp, Shockwave's a calculator, he's got Starscream so scared that he'll flee to that mudball below with no way of getting back because he thinks our mono-optic friend will actually destroy this ship. His plan to trap the renegades down there so they expend all their energy fighting each other when they are not fighting the bots, is smart. Very Smart."
"With Mal and yours truly helping him, Shockwave can perfect his energon-from-nothing refinement in record time whilst team stupid there is still building swamp-castles. Think about it - Shockwave has the ability to resurrect our dead planet as long as we can keep Starcream as king of the mud people and out of the way."

He realised, as always, that he was going on again.

"...anyway I'm talking too much. Lets get over to the Thanatos and see about fixing your arm - I haven't had a drink in centuries, and I think I owe you at least one for getting me off this heap."

Repair Bay

“Hm?” grunted Patchwork distractedly. It was a moment before the medical engineer’s preoccupied processors could review her audio sensor logs and formulate a more cogent response to Runamuck’s inquiry. “Oh. Yeah. Sure. That’s probably a good idea. Hang on.” Her slender hands worked quickly and with practiced efficiency, but extracting a CR chamber from its myriad connections to the ship while keeping it online and fully powered required almost as much attention and care as a surgical repair procedure on a Transformer.

It wasn’t as if she had a great deal of choice in the matter, however. As far as she was aware, the order to abandon Ultrax with all possible haste remained in effect, and she certainly wasn’t about to leave Hellion where she was. Psychout might have been right about Shockwave having no interest in rendering the old wreck down to its component atoms, but she wouldn’t put it past Starscream or one of his subordinates to detonate the transwarp engines just to deny the Military Operations Commander the chance to salvage anything of use from the frigate once it had been left adrift.

Pure spite, masquerading as strategy. How archetypically Decepticon.

In any event, Patchwork wasn’t about to go against the orders of her superiors—well, not the ones close enough to make her existence acutely uncomfortable, at any rate. But she only had two manual actuators, and there was still a great deal of equipment and material to save. And it was certainly a good idea for Runabout to remain where she could keep an optic on his condition. The only reason she hadn’t suggested it herself was that she had yet to meet a soldier that could follow good advice when it didn’t come from a mech with a bigger gun or tougher chassis. Or both.

Making sure Hellion’s chamber would remain stable without her direct monitoring for a few moments, the blue-and-gray femme rose and began fishing through another of the containers the drones had packed. She quickly withdrew a specialized command input datapad and an oversized storage unit.

This was probably a terrible idea.

No, this was unquestionably a terrible idea. But she was pressed for time, and the mostly-intact Battlecharger might as well be doing something useful while serving as nurse-bot to his brother.

“We won’t be able move the stasis pods,” she said brusquely, nodding at the small number of cylindrical devices, identical to the one from which Psychout had emerged, discreetly stacked in one corner. “Not if we’re in a hurry, and I’m focused elsewhere.” She had no idea where, exactly, the Stunticons had come upon the things—probably spoils from their raids or battlefield salvage; it didn’t really matter. None of the Decepticons inside had completed their dormancy cycles, though, and forcing them into active status now would just create more problems for her. And it wasn’t as if she didn’t already have her fair share of those now.

“We’re going to try emergency spark extraction. More specifically, you are going to try emergency spark extraction.” If Ultrax survived the coming deca-cycles, maybe they could send a team to retrieve the bodies of the inert mechs later. Barring that, they could probably manage to throw something together planetside. It was the best idea Patchwork could come up with, under the circumstances. “Just hook the storage module up to the stasis pod to initiate the transfer from the spark chamber. It goes without saying you need to be extremely careful. Keep the variance within .002 percent standard. Anything more than that, you abort right away and re-initiate when systems read nominal. And for Primus’s sake, try not to kill anybody.”

Leaving the Battlecharger to figure out the equipment, Patchwork returned to her previous occupation. She only belatedly noticed Waspinator leaning against the CR chamber.

“You—pack something or carry something or supervise the drones. Anything, as long as it doesn’t involve idle conversation and me. That would really make this particular Patch-Bot’s orn.” She wasn’t particularly annoyed with the Insecticon (assuming he was an Insecticon; it wasn’t as if she kept track), but she also had only limited patience for idle chatter at the best of times. Which these most unequivocally were not.

Atomization was starting to look like the more attractive option all the time.

Bounce Chamber

Motormaster didn't know whether to laugh or punch his fist through Vindicator's face. Where did they make 'cons like this? From his perspective Vindicator appeared to love his own voice even more than Starscream did. Had he changed this much or had Motormaster himself just forgot how this 'con functioned? Or had Vindicator just been buried under falling fortifications too many times?

"Yer, a fun bot eh? Absolute joker!" Motormaster finally spoke up as Vindicator offered his hand to be shaken. The Stunticon commander proceeded to answer to the gesture by taking hold of the seige master's arm, at first squeezing Vindicator's hand roughly as hard as the other 'con squeezed his. If for a moment Motormaster looked a bit slack-jawed, it was not because of Vindicator but rather a transmission echoing in his head. Razorclaw was here.

"Too bad I am in hurry. Think of all the slagging stories we could share!" The malevolent thug boomed, a malicious, predatory grin on his face. His grip was also turning far more powerful, reminding Vindicator of Motormaster's far superior strength. "I am gonna give you benefit of doubt this time given the past we share. See what the ol' one eye is up to."

Without a warning, Motormaster yanked Vindicator's arm hard, pulling the seige master's face only inches away from his. His grip even more forceful. "You seem to have forgotten though." Motormaster snarled, "I was there from the very beginning. Now, if you excuse me, I have a certain Seeker to take care of."

Sweeping the massive Decepticon out of his way and into the crowd of the four other Stunticons, Motormaster began marching towards Contemptor and the exit, slowing only enough to utter the following words to the fellow truckformer whom he actually respected more than Vindicator. "Keep an optic on your mentor boy. He is growing senile."

Bursting into laugher, Motormaster's hollow, doom-laden voice echoed in the corridor's of Ultrax long after he was gone.

Bridge

A moment later, the doors of the Ultrax's bridge opened before the thuggish leader of the Stunticons to reveal Starscream - and the Predacons. Not just Razorclaw but all five of them. Weapons drawn and joints primed for action. Right now it actually felt like the decision of not drawing out his weapons had been a good one.

"Well I'll be fragged..."

Bounce Chamber

Contemptor looked from the micron on his shoulder to the bombastic Motormaster as he stomped past and left the Bounce Chamber to the Bridge. Contemptor's optics flickered in a blinking motion - as if silent words were spoken. Contemptor would have 'bro-fisted' Motormaster if this was any other situation, but as it stood, this was a more serious situation that - if you beleived the hype - meant everything was held on a damned wire.

Contemptor turned his head back to Vindicator as his optics focused on the Micron on his shoulder.

"Calculator or not - Shockwave can creep even me out Psych. And yep, as skilled as Patch is - the damned automated system has slipped something somewhere. I'll wager you a few that due to Patch being over-worked in there that she's missed something..." The grumbling trophy hunter said gruffly as his mentor approached. "...c'mon short-round, lets bounce!"

Contemptor turned and walked onto the bounce pad as Vindicator trudged up, absently rubbing his hand where Motormaster had applied brute force to cement the handshake.

"I had forgotten how strong that bruiser was Contemptor..." Vindicator breathed "...I suppose we should make for the Thanatos before anything further happens here!"

Contemptor looked again at Psychout and grinned, the two seeming to chuckle at Vindicator's absent-minded situation.

"Yeah..lets bounce outta here, because any longer and I think Motormaster may have pulled your arm off!" Contemptor chuckled darkly "...Seriously! Have you turned into rambling lecturer or have the years of observing turned you into a jaded fool?"

Vindicator turned sharply, his optics blazing with fury.

"What?! By the pit I will..."

"Cool off? Seriously..." Contemptor looked at Psychout "..Do you think this Mal-ware character could fix the inside of Vindicator's head? Get him back to the monsterous seige thug that taught me the finer arts of decimation? Ya know...I fancy a pair of plasma shotguns as my new weapons..The fleshbags think that 'shotguns' are badaft, and by looking at them...they're right...but I want ones that make a bang!" He looked at the Micron as the bounce chamber starter to revolve to full power for transmission to the Thanatos "...ya think that can be possible shortround?"

The bounce pad lit up to a hot white colour as Vindicator rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Then there was a bright flash.

Repair Bay

Runamuck rubbed the back of his crainial unit as Patchwork seemed to bark out instructions about what to do. Aside from baby sitting his dullard of a brother, the only safe way was in the Med Bay, and the only other way that he could stick around in the Med bay and not be such a plank, was to actually help out!

Runamuck sighed as he was told, in breif, how to perform a set of spark extraction on dormant 'cons in their stasis pods. Yeah it made sense to do so, for their sparks would be intact incase the unthinkable happened, but the only thing that would be lost other than their physical bodies, would be their memory banks. Meh, Runamuck could deal with that.

He followed Patchwork's instructions carefully, watching as the extractor worked its magic in removing the sparks from the first two stasis chambers.

"Yeah..." Runamuck said quietly to no-one in particular "...this slag's easy to..."

There was a massive bang behind him as Runabout had tried to do a few one arm push-ups. He had toppled the repair table and crashed into a stack of empty crates. There was a grunt and what sounded like a muffled "My Bad!" and Runamuck sprung to his feet and dashed over.

Placing both his hands on the table, Runamuck looked incredulously at his over-juiced sibling, and it had distracted him enough that the spark remover started to go off, its warning pips getting louder and louder as Runamuck stumbled over himself as he yanked the extractor away from the stasis chamber.

"Ah slaggit...is there nothing that I can do right without looking over my shoulder at you al the time Runabout?!"

"..uh.. oops?" Runabout just simply shrugged.

Bounce Chamber

The fact the certain other members of his little band of insane brothers had taken up auxiliary positions behind him just in case Motormaster had decided to go on yet another brutal rampage was not lost on him. Motormaster, though, was satisfactorily distracted by other individuals on the ship. That suited Dead End just fine.

There was a considerable amount of truth in what Drag Strip had said, even if he was only taking the opportunity to have a stab at Dead End's notorious level of pessimism. Dead End just smirked quietly to himself. They would see. They would all see soon enough. With Megatron gone, whatever chance they had of winning this endless war was gone. Bye-bye. They would leech off each other like parasites until either starvation or Grimlock's sword finished them. Or Ironhide's rifle. Or Ultra Magnus' fist. Or whatever other Autobot saw fit to put an immediate end to their gradual and painful decline in to oblivion.

Moving to leave the room altogether and see to getting some actual repairs done, Dead End cast a dismissive glare in Wildrider's direction.

"Yes, I definitely received these wounds just by standing there like a statue. No surprise that you would be too distracted by your own insanity to notice that there was an actual strategy of some kind being used down there. Pfeh."

With that, Dead End turned and limped off towards the repair bay, for whatever good it would do. He intended to at least make good on his 15% energon ration increase before the guzzlers among them hogged up their share and more.

Bounce Chamber

Listening to Wildrider’s taunts made Drag Strip’s energon boil. Not only had the terrorist questioned his fighting ability, but he had compared the yellow mech to the Autobot, Bumblebee! It was enough to make any ‘Con explode with rage. However, Drag kept his cool, knowing full well that his comrade was completely unaware of the battle the former racer had been engaged in with the insane Hex. As always, he would have to educate his teammate.

“You didn’t see me, Wildrider, because I was busy fighting Hex while I’m sure you were off hiding behind a rock somewhere,” Drag Strip revealed with a wide grin before continuing. “I fought hard down there and came out of it with less damage than most of you. Just before I bounced, I fired my gravito-gun at pointblank range into Hex’s chest plate. There’s no way that crazy slagger came out of that unscathed. I won my battle, can you say the same, ‘Rider, ol’ buddy?”

It was then that Drag Strip noticed Motormaster’s confrontation with Vindicator and while he had not heard exactly what was said between the two large mechs, at least his brutal commander’s attention was diverted elsewhere. Thankfully, this would grant the rest of the Stunticons some reprieve from whatever harsh and violent reprimands were surely coming their way eventually. Soon, Motormaster moved away from Vindicator and headed out of the bounce chamber and towards the bridge. Drag breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his cranial unit would remain in one piece for the time being.

Repair Bay

Skywarp stared down at Psychout, waiting for the small minicon to make up his mind, get out or enjoy a lonely space walk courtesy of the teleporter. When the small mech spoke it was to insult the prankster with a phrase that ‘Warp barely understood the meaning of, but perhaps that was the point. Moments later, Psychout bid the seeker farewell and made his way out of the repair facility.

“Good riddance,” Skywarp muttered before turning his attention back to Nightraven, who was standing vigil at her sister’s CR chamber. The still wounded femme looked back at ‘Warp with a pained expression on her faceplate before returning her intense gaze to Hellion’s chamber where Patchwork had begun the process of disconnecting everything from the unit so that it could be moved off the ship per Starscream’s orders. The teleporter wasn’t too sure what to think of the Seeker Commander’s decision to abandon ship, but there had to be a good reason for doing so. Perhaps it had to do with Shockwave’s presence in the Sol System. Maybe there was a threat against the Ultrax that ‘Warp didn’t know about. It didn’t matter as orders were orders and the teleporter’s job was not to think too hard but to simply do as he was told. He had tried thinking too much when he was in charge of the Iran mission and look where it got him. No, this time he would just follow.

Skywarp then moved towards Nightraven as he overheard her say something about things not being pretty once Hellion awakens. That was definitely an understatement that the prankster didn’t need convincing of. “Yeah, and she’ll probably take her rage out on me considering how things ended between us down on the oil field,” the teleporter said quietly with Nighty now in audio range. “Maybe going to the mudball’s surface will be a good thing as I can put plenty of distance between myself and your sister.”

Skywarp chuckled slightly, not because he thought what he had said was funny, but because he was a bit nervous of what Hellion would ultimately do, especially to him. Nightraven then began examining her still open thigh wound and ‘Warp couldn’t help but cringe a little, remembering how he had stuck his entire hand in there to seal off the broken energon lines. He was a warrior and had seen plenty of battlefield carnage, but when it came to Nighty the sight of such damage on her made him twitch a bit.

The only thing that woke him from his gaze at her open thigh was her pleasant smile and stimulating touch as she ran her hand down his arm. Nighty then moved around him and towards the door, encouraging him to follow, as she wanted to get down to the bounce pad as soon as possible in order to get some answers. “I’m coming, Nighty,” Skywarp replied as he followed her out of the repair bay and into the corridor. He flashed her a smile as he walked beside her. “You know, once we get down to the surface, I’ll start looking for something to help patch you up. Until then, just be careful not to bang into anything. I’d hate to see that wound start leaking again.”

Bridge

Starscream seemed irritated. Razorclaw could tell simply by listening to the Air Commander’s voice as he spoke. The red and white mech tried to conceal it, but the Predacon leader knew better just as he knew when members of his own unit were annoyed. Usually, with the Predacons, annoyance would quickly turn to rage which could then be channeled into the field of battle. However, ‘Screamer was an entirely different animal so the speak and would certainly not react the way a Predacon would.

“I happen to agree with you, Starscream,” Razorclaw began his reply as he motioned for his team to back down slightly, but still remain at the ready. “The Ultrax cannot stand up to the firepower of the Thanatos, and it is quite possible that Shockwave could decide to simply blow us out of the sky if he does not hear from me within the next few breems. However, there is still another way to both save this vessel and escape Shockwave’s grasp without being destroyed or tracked. We can generate a transwarp field between us and the Thanatos, which would obstruct their view and thus allow us to make our getaway before Shockwave can have time to react. And even if the purple cyclops did manage to fire off a few shots, we’d be long gone and the transwarp portal closed before any warheads could possibly reach us.”

Razorclaw then calmly stepped over to one of the nearby consoles and punched a few keys with his clawed actuators, bringing up an aerial map of the planet Earth’s eastern hemisphere. “The other end of the wormhole could generate above what the fleshlings call the Pacific Ocean. Once we emerged, we could then land the ship underwater and continue to utilize it as a temporary base until the new one is finished. Even Shockwave will have a difficult if not impossible time tracking us through a transpwarp rift.” The Predacon Commander then quickly turned his attention to the entranceway of the bridge where a large mech stood in the door frame. “Don’t you agree, Commander Motormaster?” Razorclaw wasn’t exactly sure just how long the Stunticon leader had been standing there, but hopefully it was long enough to hear most if not all of his plan.

“My apologies for boarding your vessel without your permission, Motormaster. My unit and I were under orders from Shockwave to subdue Starscream and even disable your ship if it was deemed necessary. Of course, I am here to do neither. Instead, I’m trying to convince the Air Commander on how best to escape from Shockwave’s reach without having to abandon the Ultrax in the process.” Razorclaw moved closer to the Stunticon leader, his weapons powered down in a non-threatening manner. “I believe I have the answer and was in the process of outlining it for Starscream as you entered. Were you able to hear all of my plan, Commander, or should I start over from the beginning?”

Bounce Chamber

Breakdown had kept his position directly behind Dead End, hoping desperately that Motormaster would not catch a glimpse of him and then tear him limb from limb. The scout let out a low whine when the morose warrior began to move off the platform. When Dead End had gotten too far away, Breakdown then let out a whimper. His personal shield was getting away.

As quickly as he could the white and blue Stunticon ran after Dead End and took up the same position directly behind him.

“Look, Dead, I…uh…think I’ll go with you to the med bay. Besides we’re safer in numbers, right?”

The mech looked over his shoulder making sure Motormaster wasn't following behind them.

Repair Bay

The slender hand of Nightraven slid from the glass cover of Hellion’s CR chamber as Patchwork finally removed it from its moorings and placed it on a portable gurney. The black and purple femme seeker looked back at Skywarp and forced a smile.

“Skywarp, she has nothing against you. She’s not going to come after you.”

Nightraven made her way to the teleporter and gave him a sympathetic expression. He was so wound up with his performance during the battle; he was forgetting the bigger picture.

She didn’t acknowledge his musings instead she proceeded out of the med bay and into the corridor.

Corridor

When Skywarp caught to her and took up a position beside her, Nightraven cast a sideways glance in his direction. She quickly looked away before he could catch her though. The thought of him chastising himself was grating on her conscience. After his mention of looking for something to help patch up Nightraven stopped and looked him in optics.

“Skywarp, please stop beating yourself up over that mission. It was your first time in command, and it was fulfilled without incident. You even managed to gather enough energon to last us for quite a while.”

She stepped up to him and placed her hand on his forearm.

“I’d say you did just fine. In fact, I still owe you that reward.”

She flashed him a smile before rising up on the tips on her feet so she was face to face with him. She gently ran her thumb over his cheek and followed it up with an equally gentle peck.

The femme lowered herself and gestured for them to continue on their way.

“We better get to the bonnce chamber before Starscream starts to wonder what happened.”