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Hangar

Thundercracker extended his hand to shake Ramjet's with a stoic look on his face. He had difficult time to believe that the conehead could keep his promises but it was all he had now, for better or worse. It had to suffice. "Yeah. Let's."

"Do kick some action into Skyjack's bunch for your leisure. Like Scrapper said, we're moving out soon." The blue seeker added, giving a slight nod towards the direction of the Cyberjets.
______________________________________________

"Right." Bonecrusher muttered an acknowledgement to Scrapper's command, suppressing the urge to ask for something to destroy rather than lug stuff around the ship for the brainiacs of the Constructicon team.

"Your show Mixmaster." He chuckled as he patted the chemical engineer's shoulder roughly. "I try not to drop too many items of yours."
______________________________________________

>>"Where the slag you scraplets are?! You are wasting precious time!"<< Motormaster's voice suddenly boomed through the internal communications receivers of the rest of the Stunticons. >>"Get back to the hangar on the double. I have secured us means of transportation without having to endanger the position of Ultrax through continuous orbital bounces. Don't make me come for you."<<

"Haven't I Octane?" The brutish Stunticon smirked, the digits of his hand resting on the triplechanger's shoulder digging into Octane's shoulder plating.

"Oh most definately Motormaster. I am your mech! Oh, please don't hurt me." The more than spooked triplechanger announced while looking nervously for someone to help him even though he knew it was unlikely to happen due to his reputation as a cruel bully who made others beg for fuel if he had the upper hand.

The wicked grin on Motormaster's face only grew larger. "Don't you worry Octane. We will get along just fine."

Ultrax--Corridors

"Right...right," Mixmaster said, continuing off towards his makeshift storage unit quickly. No doubt the other Constructicons were just as sparked as he was to get started on all of the interesting projects--official and un--that lay before them.

"Alright, let's see...gotta get some of my stuff....gotta fabricate this new faceplate.....gotta....gotta....hm, what else? Oh, yeah, um, meet Scrapper and the others back in the....uh...."

Mixmaster paused.

"Where're we meeting back with the others?"

The Constructicon's short-term memory retrieval capabilities weren't exactly known as the finest in the Decepticon Empire.

Stepping through the haphazardly painted doors into the storage unit, Mixmaster set to work getting the tools and equipment he needed to get Scrapper's fresh faceplate.

"Shouldn't take but a few kliks, heheh. I guess you can grab whatever else you think we'll need. You're strong and all."
___

Repair Bay

Wildrider smirked, the image of the black Ferrari still gleaming in his optics as Motormaster's bellow came through on his internal comm. Good, that meant things were gonna get moving again. He didn't mind the chaos of their ship, but nothing compared to wreaking havoc on the road. He loved it on Cybertron. He loved it here.

>>"Hah!"<< Wildrider laughed, for no reason at all. >>"Comin'!"<<

Shutting down the terminal Wildrider took off in the direciton of the hangar.

Hanger

Ramjet shook the hand of Thundercracker with a smirk and said as a response to Thundercracker's note of trying to get work into the Cyberjets, "Yeah, I can't wait..."

Ramjet cracked his knuckles and looked over to The Cyberjets and called, "Hey! Lets get a move on! We don't have all day!"

Why do I have to do "Security Work" anyway? Oh right. Because Starscream said so! Joy. Ramjet thought, but did not let it show. He would much rather be killing humans than making sure Scrapper built everything OK.

Bridge

Soundwave merely nodded in reply to Starscream’s comments. Most of that required data had already been acquired and stored in his own systems. Plugging into the vessel’s main computer he transferred the necessary data so it would be there for Starscream or anyone else to access without him. At the same time he carefully guided the ship into a new orbit and observed and studied the various signals that traveled around the planet below. A system so reliant on orbiting satellites would be easy to manipulate and disrupt.

>>”Scrapper, geographical and geo-political data on desired territory for new base being uploaded to your systems now. Once location of new base determined notify me to begin human surveillance disruption.”<<

>>”Motormaster, Skywarp, data on your attack locations required for human communication and surveillance manipulation. Information has been uploaded to ship’s main computer and is ready for your perusal.”<<

As Soundwave continued his work he carefully monitored for any incoming signals from Cybertron. He had not asked for a reply from Shockwave and, given the current situation, doubted he would receive one. Nevertheless, he wanted to make sure he was the first and only Decepticon to see any such message should it arrive.

*

Hangar

Hook let out a sigh as he was forced to watch over Scavenger and deal with Darkride. He was stuck with the idiot and the psychopath. How delightful, and very typical of how his vast talents were so often mismanaged.

The surgical engineer led the way over to the nearest computer terminal. He brought up a geographical map of the area in question, highlighting the portion with the desired material buried in the ground. “Alright, this is the area we will be set up in and there is the ore we are after. Starscream has asked we remain hidden for now so I imagine it will likely be an underwater base. Scavenger, if you would go over the geological data for the area and perhaps find a spot near deposits of materials we can use for construction or fuel, while Darkride can study the geopolitical situation for an appropriately isolated location. We will then attempt to find some overlap where a base could be ideally situated. I will check through the ship’s manifest for materials we can use.”

*

Slipstream was already getting a quick handle on this group of Seekers. Skywarp she certainly knew well enough by reputation. The two females were a mystery that was rapidly being solved. The orange one, Hellion, seemed to be cut from the violent thug mold. Those types had to be treated a bit differently, as sometimes the sweet and kind approach only irritated or insulted them. She would probably mostly steer clear of her unless she needed someone beaten up.

The other one seemed a bit more chatty, smarter. There weren’t a whole lot of those types in the Decepticon ranks, and she didn’t seem like a techie type since she was being dispatched on a combat mission. Some sort of spy or recon type perhaps? That could certainly be useful, although she would have to watch herself around her, she didn’t want her machinations to be discovered.

“Can’t say I’ve seen the deactivation of the party around,” she replied to Nightraven’s question with a smile.

*

Hellion sighed in disappointment at the delay in their mission. Destroying human stuff wasn’t the most exciting thing she could think of doing, but it was far better the cleaning or dealing with whatever the slag was going on with Nightraven. First she pines over Thundercracker, now she had some little chat with Skywarp. She wasn’t interested in getting sucked into whatever drama her sister was up to, but she knew it was probably only inevitable.

At her question about Dirge she snickered. “Now Skywarp isn’t enough for you?”

Repair Bay

Skywarp stepped back as Thrust clumsily fell right out of the CR chamber and onto the floor, muttering something about Prime taking him out. “Oh, for slag’s sake, get up! You’re an elite seeker. Show some poise,” the teleporter demanded as he reached down to help the red conehead to his feet. “And no, Prime did not take you out. From what I was told, you had a hole blown through you by an Autobot sniper. If I had to guess I’d say it was Perceptor.” The prankster grinned, knowing that this news would not sit well with Thrust.

“But none of that matters now. Follow me,” Skywarp continued as he led Thrust out of the med bay and into the corridors. He could have teleported back to the hangar, but considering the unsteadiness of the red conehead, it was better to walk. “Our Earth base has been destroyed and Megatron’s presumed dead. Starscream’s now our leader and has set in motion an elaborate plan to build a new base. Our part will be to cause as much havoc and destruction as possible to lure out the Autobots and distract them from our real plans. Think you’re up for that?”

Hangar

Skywarp entered the hangar with Thrust in tow. He quickly located Nightraven, Hellion and Slipstream and made his way towards them. “Look who I found,” the prankster quipped, pointing his thumb back over his shoulder at the conehead. It was then that he noticed the absence of Dirge. “Okay, where’d Dirge go? Don’t tell me he’s in a CR chamber, too, ‘cause someone else can go get him.”

Skywarp was clearly annoyed at this point, wanting to get the mission underway as soon as possible. His annoyance only increased when he heard the monotone vocal processor of Soundwave coming in over his comm line. At least the communications expert had made himself useful by providing data on possible attack locations. ‘Warp made his way over to a nearby terminal, motioning for the others in his group to join him. He accessed the data Soundwave had mentioned and began mulling over their options.

“So, where should we strike?” Skywarp muttered aloud as he reviewed the information on the screen. It was times like these that he wished Thundercracker was coming with him. The blue seeker would know exactly what to do and where to best create the mayhem needed. “Perhaps an oil field in the area called the Middle East? We could make it look like a fuel raid so the Autobots won’t get wise that it’s just a diversion. Anyone else agree or have other ideas?”

******

Drag Strip rushed into the hangar just as Motormaster’s latest communiqué boomed over his comm line. The former racer had been right not to loiter around the repair bay for too long as the Stunticon leader was already getting impatient. Although, he seemed to have found another mech to torment in the form of Octane. This must be the mode of transportation he was referring to, Drag thought, not really liking the idea of riding inside the triple changing bully, who had a habit of making his own comrades beg for even a single drop of energon. Octane was as vile as they come even by Decepticon standards and most who have not met him yet quickly grow to hate the fueler once they get to know him.

“Right here, sir!” Drag Strip responded as he approached and gave a respectful salute to Motormaster. “I reformatted as ordered, Commander. I should have no problem blending in with the fleshling vehicles now.” The yellow mech glanced over at Octane as he tried not to let a smirk form on his face plate. Now you’ll understand what it’s like to be bullied, won’t you?

Hanger

Darkride ended his circling of the much larger Constructicon when he finally responded to the interrogator’s query about his sudden ‘glitch’. Scavenger’s nervous reply only validated Darkride’s suspicions. The desperate Constructicon was hiding something. Darkride flashed Scavenger a devious smile and stepped in closer.

“You need to show your compatriots that you’re capable of working without their scrutinizing eyes, and I need to be able to trust you. If I can’t trust you, you won’t have to worry about Scrapper or any of the other Contructicons using your body for parts; I’ll have already eviscerated you and danced before the funeral pyre your empty shell is on. All of that and I’ll have drunk your energon straight from your tanks.”

Darkride’s optics remained fixated on Scavenger’s as he licked his lips and shivered dramatically at the sheer thought of acting on the threat. It was then that Scrapper caught Darkride’s attention. The shorter mech turned to look at the Constructicon Commander and nodded when he assigned Hook to help Scavenger and him.

Darkride followed closely behind Hook as he led the way to one of the terminals in the hanger. The surgical engineer brought up a geographical map of the area they were planning on building their new base. At Hook’s explanation of what he wanted Darkride nodded and moved to the terminal next to Hook and began to study the locations for an isolated region to build their new HQ.

Repair Bay

It hadn’t taken long before the CR chamber Breakdown was locked in ended its cycle and drained off the nanite rich liquid. Once cleared of the fluid the door slid open letting the newly formatted Stunticon step out. Breakdown took a cursory look at his new form and nodded in satisfaction. At that exact moment Motormaster’s voice came booming through his comm link causing the paranoid mech to nearly jump out of his new form.

>>“C..coming!”<<

Breakdown quickly left the repair bay and ran as fast as he could back to the hanger.

Hanger

Breakdown came to a halt once he was finally inside the hanger. He casually walked the rest of the way to stand in front of Motormaster who was in company with Octane. Oh, so he’s gonna be our ride? Primus, now I have to be stuck inside something that’s alive and can actually keep an optic on me. This is gonna be a long trip.

“Br..Breakdown. Ready for duty, s..sir.” The white and blue mech offered a half-hearted salute.

****

A response to Nightraven’s query came in the form of Krunix asking his own questions on their group’s conditions. The line of questioning caught the femme Seeker slightly off guard. Nightraven turned slightly to look at the shorter mech; her optics running up and down the ‘Con.

“Uh, I don’t have anything to report. I’m fully functional.”

With her answer given Nightraven turned her back on Krunix and focused on her sister and Slipstream. Moments later Slipstream responded to her query about Dirge’s whereabouts. Nightraven nodded at her comment. The black and purple Seeker femme kept her opics on Slipstream until Hellion decided to chime in. Nightraven let out a heavy sigh. Leave it to her sister to try and embarrass her right before a mission.

“Wha…what? No! I mean, I was just curious because he’s assigned to our team and if he doesn’t show up that means we’re stuck here. I’d think that him not being here would be problematic for you, Helly.”

Nighty turned her head away from her sister and crossed her arms over her chest. When she heard the footsteps of two mechs Nightraven lowered her arms to her sides and saw Skywarp make his way over to the small group with Thrust in tow. Once again the subject of Dirge’s location came up, but this time when Nightraven took a look around the hanger she spotted him leaning against the far wall.

“Dirge is back there against the wall.” Nightraven waved her hand in the blue and gold jet’s location.

Skywarp’s body language was a clear sign that the teleportor was already getting frustrated. Not a good thing when it came to planning and executing a mission. She knew that Skywarp depended heavily the other members of his trine to point him in the right direction. Unfortunately, he was on his own here; except that he had her.

She followed him to the nearby terminal where he accessed some data. As he worked Nightraven placed her hand over his and flashed him a slight smile for reassurance. After a moment she took her hand back and looked over the data on the screen.

“That would work, but why not kill two birds with one stone, as the humans say, and actually steal some fuel as well?”

Hanger

I am so SLAGGED! I wish I'd never seen those plans...

"Hey, you can trust me!" the excavator tried to convince Darkride, "I don't know anything, just ask the others, they'll tell you I've got nothing going on in my memory banks."

Scavenger could feel a chill in his spark as he heard the interrogator's threat. Then he heard Scrapper order Hook to assist them. It was probably the only time Scavenger had ever been relieved, and in some ways happy to be working with the Constructicon second-in-command.

Oh thank Primus, Hook, you mecha-jerk! Everyone knows that you're much smarter than me, especially you! Surely Darkride would rather question and torture you, you'll have a lot more to tell him..... But wait, if something happens to Hook, then I'll probably get the blame. He's always saying that he's the most skilled surgeon in the galaxy, and I'm just a stupid drone with a shovel... Oh slag, what do I do?!?

After a few astro-seconds of contemplating his situation, Scavenger realized that Hook had given him instructions, and Darkride was already at work.

"Oh, sure thing Hook, buddy!" Scavenger said, faking sincerity, "With you're smarts, I'm sure we'll figure out the best location for this new base, pal!"

Scavenger hurried over to the terminals and looked over the geological maps and data that Hook had told him to look over. As he works, he gave Darkride a little nudge with his elbow.

"Heh heh, you know Hook is one of the smartest Decepticons I know. He knows way more than me..... WAAAAAAY more.", the excavator not too subtly whispered to the interrogator.

Hangar

Blitzwing rubbed his head as he followed Astrotrain through to the hangar bay. Megatron gone? The Decepticon base destroyed? It seemed like the Triple Changer had woken up to a real life nightmare and to top it all off Starscream was now commander of the Ultrax? This wouldn't do, not do at all. Blitzwing grunted in response to Astrotrain's chatter, acknowledging the news with a noise he knew that his fellow triple changer would express discontent.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll find out who did this to me. And when I do, they'll be sorry they ever walked off the mechanical line. It was probably Optimus Prime himself judging by the headache I've woken up with..." He growled, attempting to move the conversation on and focus his anger more on the Autobots rather than his fellow Decepticons. After all, he was a warrior and the politics of command was not his domain. He functioned to destroy. Yes, it was best to leave the scheming to those 'cons most adept at it, Starscream and Soundwave. He had no doubt that there was more to come and there would be many choices on the road ahead.

Incoming Priority-1 Message

>>Message received. The situation is unfortunate and critical. I share your leadership assessment; however, a protracted civil war will only decimate the progress we have made. Megatron's original purpose in sending me here has been partially accomplished, but much hangs in the how the balance of power will shift in the coming orns. Regardless, I will mobilize our forces currently stationed here for a return to the Sol system to ensure order is maintained. Imperative--determine the level of loyalty the Seeker currently enjoys versus alternative command. Advise accordingly.<<

Hangar

If looks were able to kill, Thrust would have just murdered Skywarp after the teleporter made fun of the conehead's moment of weakness after reactivation. However, nothing had prepared the crimson and black seeker to what came next. Their base destroyed and Megatron gone? A strong sense of dread began to crawl into Thrust's consciousness. How could it be and worst of all, how they were going go on without Megatron? Taking in all that Skywarp had said and mustering up the remnants of his courage, Thrust give his response to Skywarp's jab towards him.

"I am up for anything you are and beyond." Thrust scoffed as they arrived into the hangar. Noticing how Skywarp headed for a bunch of femme flyers, Thrust's posture instantly turned more rigid and his scowl turned into an overly arrogant grin. And as usual, he opened his vocal processor without thinking. "Well well well, what do we have here. The local cyberknitting club reunion?"
___________________________________________

Astrotrain did not let Blitzwing's sullen demeanor affect himself. He was used to the commando's behavior after having served along with him for longer than probably anyone else in the Decepticon ranks. While Blitzwing was hotheaded, he rarely picked a fight with Astrotrain, whether it was because of mutual respect or for the fact that the commando preferred easier targets than the bigger and stronger military transport, Astrotrain did not know and didn't particularly care either.

"You wish it was Prime, hah. But even I know he was busy with Megatron." Astrotrain chuckled as he entered the hangar. "The damage analysis given by computer suggested that you were hit by a weapon that interferes with the functionality of your circuits before Hardhead blew a hole through your chest. I'd start looking for 'bots with weapons like that."

Walking over to Baneblade, Astrotrain stopped next to the large 'con similar to his own size and the highest ranking member of the unit he had been assigned to as far as Astrotrain's memory banks suggested. "You're the strategist right? So, what's our next step?"

"And what about him?" He added, nodding towards the direction of Krunix.
___________________________________________

Elsewhere in the Ultrax

"C'mon!" Bonecrusher complained loudly as Mixmaster kept adding various pieces of stuff that looked more like junk to the demolitions expert than anything else. It wasn't like he was even near to his limit when it came to sheer lifting capacity but the pile of junk he was carrying around had already forced him to walk backwards in order to see something.

"Do we really need every thrown away lubricant container and wax bottle the Stunticons have abandoned here? Or are you just trying to piss me off?!"

Ultrax Storage Unit

Bluish flames licked at the edges of Mixmaster's somewhat manic gaze as he hovered over the fresh piece of compound steel that he was working on within the cramped, dimly-lit workspace. Given the Stunticons' general attitude, it was one of the few suitable workspaces he was going to find that wasn't covered in old, soured oil and who knows what other fluids.

He then dipped the newly-forged faceplate in to a small container of industrial coolant that he had whipped up. The metal hissed for a few astroseconds and Mixmaster withdrew the small piece of armor. He just needed to fine tune a few attachments so that it would flawlessly adapt to Scrapper's design and voila, all done. But he could do that on the way.

Walking back over to where Bonecrusher stood with the pile of things that Mixmaster thought would probably be useful in the work that was to come, he squeezed another box of tools into a visible wedge in Bonecrusher's stack.

"Not every container, heheheh," he said, patting Bonecrusher on the shoulder before walking back down the corridor from which they had originally come. "Let's go, Hercules."

Hangar

To say that Skywarp was a bit nervous would be somewhat of an understatement. He was apparently in charge of his aerial assault team which was a position he had rarely been in before as there was always either Thundercracker or Starscream to lead the way. In this situation he had neither seeker to aid him. However, once he felt Nightraven’s hand over his and saw her reassuring smile, ‘Warp then realized that he would do okay as he did have her to help guide him through the mission. As a result, he let out an easy sigh of relief and returned her smile with one of his own.

Nightraven’s hand had only remained over his for a moment before she withdrew it and peered at the information across the terminal’s view screen. The seeker femme quickly agreed with his proposed target and then followed that up with a suggestion to actually steal some fuel in the process. ‘Warp had been so caught up with the diversionary aspect of the mission, he hadn’t even considered the idea Nighty had now set forth.

“Of course,” a slightly embarrassed Skywarp replied, looking over at Nightraven with a renewed smile. “Why didn’t I think of that?” The teleporter then returned his gaze to the screen in front of him and studied the data some more, zooming in on one particular location. “Here, this oil field in the nation state known as Iran is perfect. It's isolated, vast and full of crude oil that we would easily be able to process into energon cubes. However, there does remain one small problem.”

The prankster thought for a moment, glancing around to see Astrotrain standing near his group and Octane being tormented by Motormaster, before looking back at Nightraven again. “How will we transport what fuel we do gather? The two triple changing transports are already spoken for. I suppose we could carry some cubes within ourselves, but being seekers that won’t amount to a whole lot.” Skywarp knew that the operation was mainly a diversion to draw out the Autobots, so it probably didn't matter how much fuel was recovered. Although, considering what resources had been lost when their base exploded, it wouldn't hurt to acquire as much energon as possible while still satisfying the primary mission parameters.

Hangar

>>”Motormaster, Skywarp, data on your attack locations required for human communication and surveillance manipulation. Information has been uploaded to ship’s main computer and is ready for your perusal.”<<

Motormaster spared a moment screening through possible targets to hit within the United States of America which he had chosen as his playground earlier - offering merely grunts as acknowledgement to the return of his group of thugs. This large country certainly offered the Stunticons numerous targets to hit and plenty of roads to roam so in the end he ended up picking a target for their operation randomly.

"There. That fits. We are going to Kansas boys." The hulking Stunticon boomed and opened a comm-line to Soundwave while allowing his minions to hear what he was saying as well.

"Soundwave, I want an orbital bounce for six into a blind spot on one of the roads near Spavinaw State Park in Oklahoma. From there my unit will continue on wheels into Kansas and eventually to town of El Dorado where we will hit Frontier El Dorado Refining. I doubt that will go unnoticed by the Autobots, the refinery seems big enough. You do your job and we do ours. I'll have my boys steal some fuel on our way to the refinery to fill our rather empty reservoirs. There's room for some of your runts to join the fun unless you have something better for them to do." Motormaster spoke into the communicator, even offering Soundwave's own minions some action though not because of kindness but due to the sadistic pleasure he took from visioning particularly Frenzy and Rumble being unleashed on humans.

"Now, let's try to keep poor Octane out of harms way and his tanks full, eh?" The large Stunticon added, flashing an evil grin towards the triplechanger transport and his minions. "Into the bounce chamber, beat it!"

Hangar

Baneblade was standing silent observing the preperations that the other teams were making, and it appeared that they would all soon be able to embark on their mission. He nodded in approval and he was quite eager to see how the new commanders machinations would play out. He turned when he heard someone approached him and regarded Astrotrain. For a mech like Baneblade he regarded the triplechanger rather highly, in his mind Astrontrain was a rather underappreciated Decepticon considering his power not only as a soldier, but also his versatility as a transport capable of effectivly defending his cargo. He believed that Starscream's decision to base a mostly ground based unit around him was rather clever, and likely a fairly good strategy on his part.

"Our first move would be to determine what Scrapper requires of us. Our primary objective is reliant upon what resources he requires of us, until we know that I cannot determine our first target location." He turned his gaze to Krunix. "He fits with our unit profile, yet Commander Starscream did not assign him to us. I can only conclude that he has other ideas for his role to play in the future."

After speaking his piece Baneblade walked away from Astrontrain and sought out Scrapper. He lumbered towards the Constructicon commander and stood before him.

"Commander. I am responsible for properly planning my teams operations. However, before I can plot our first objective I require to know what you desire of us. Our primary mission is dependent on your own needs. A list of what resources you require is required, preferably listed in order of importance."

After he finished speaking he remained standing, waiting for Scrapper's reply.

Hangar

Blitzwing grunted at Astrotrain's suggestion, impressed by the logic of his fellow Decepticon triplechanger. "It makes sense that some slaggin' coward would hit me from behind with something that would mess with my circuits." He chided, swinging his arms out wildly as Astrotrain made his way over to Baneblade. "I had Hardhead beaten, was about to tear his head off... there's no honour in the Autobot army anymore." He muttered, mostly to himself. It was then that the commando overhead Baneblade's conversation with Astrotrain, before the strategist walked away towards another section of the hangar, leaving the other alone.

"Resources? For what?" Blitzwing asked his fellow triple changer, cocking his head at Baneblade. He didn't like not being aware of any potential mission that he may or not not be a part of. As one of the most powerful Decepticon warriors available aboard the Ultrax, Blitzwing felt that it was imperative that he was to take a prominent role in any attack group. He scanned the hangar with his optics and was able to catch Motormaster's communique to Soundwave. He turned back to Astrotrain.

"Oh, I do hope we aren't going to miss out on all the fun..."

Hanger

With his threat duly noted and obviously taken seriously, Darkride returned to the terminal and continued his search for that ideal location to build their base. As his digits deftly raced over the keyboard the interrogator half listened to Scavenger tried desperately to win Hook’s favor. Darkride smirked slightly but did not reveal his facial expression to the two Constructicons.
Darkride’s smirk faded quickly as he turned his head to look at Scavenger. The excavator had just nudged him to get his attention. Darkride kept his dark crimson optics glued to the Constructicon as he attempted to make Hook a much more desirable target to question. The interrogator was not amused. After a few moments of complete silence, Darkride finally leaned in close to Scavenger and spoke in a hushed tone.

“I’ve been giving a lot of thought…to eating you.”

The interrogator then turned back to his screen and finished up his work. He then turned to Hook and briefed the surgical engineer on his findings.

“I believe that the ideal location is the Sea of Japan just off the coast of, what the humans have dubbed, North Korea. With the construction taking place so close to the coastline we would have little difficulty acquiring supplies and transporting them down to the work site.”

The corner of his lips curled upward as he stepped closer to Hook.

“And if I may. I have an idea that would also keep our new HQ hidden from the Autobots and humans alike.”

Darkride beckoned for Hook to follow him to the terminal he had just left. He quickly brought up a visual schematic of a submersible.

“The craft will provide us with a strategic advantage on this planet. It will be mobile making it difficult for our enemies to pinpoint our exact location.”

That said the interrogator looked to Hook for his opinion.

****

After mentioning that their team could not only provide a diversion, but also steal some fuel, Nightraven looked back to Skywarp. The teleporter had brought up the problem about a transport. Nighty let out a slight sigh as she too looked around the hanger for any possible comrade that could help them transport the stolen fuel, but there weren’t any available at the moment. She was just about to call off the fuel raid when ‘Warp mentioned that they could move some of the fuel, but they probably wouldn’t get as much as they intend.

“Yeah. But at least we would be able to get something out of the mission besides the original plan that is.”

Nightraven looked back at Skywarp and flashed him an awkward smile before letting it fade and getting back to the mission plans.

“Um, we could have the team split up. I could stay up in the air under my cloak. I’d be able to spot the Autobots before they got to the rest of you. When we get to the location you can delegate your orders to the others.”

She placed her hand on his chest and patted him gently.

“You better contact Soundwave to let him know where we’re headed. We’ll need him to bounce us a few hundred miles outside of the oil field.”

****

Breakdown was more than happy that Motormaster hadn’t acknowledged his arrival. The paranoid mech was then suddenly drawn back to the musings of his demented Commander when he mentioned they would be headed to Kansas. The thought of causing havoc throughout an entire human state, or was that a town, oh, who cares.

Breakdown was brought back to the here and now when Motormaster boomed the order for everyone to get to the bounce chamber. The white and blue mech took off for the location before his Commander found it necessary to kick him the entire way there.

Bridge

Soundwave continued to do one of the things he was best at, multitasking and monitoring multiple signals and dataflow. With multiple Decepticon teams being dispatched to the planet below and the required data manipulation to keep their presence secret as part of his duties he doubted that he would be leaving the bridge any time soon. It was nothing particularly unusual for him though and it was a spot he felt fairly comfortable in. Anything that made him more indispensable and valuable to the Decepticon cause, particularly now, was a good thing.

He made a quick reply to Motormaster. >>”Acknowledged, coordinates fed into bounce chamber now. Rumble and Frenzy will meet you there.”<< As the signal went out the two cassettes in question popped out of Soundwave’s chest.

“Yeah! Time for some smashin’ and crashin’!” Rumble declared.

“Too bad we gotta do it with those loser Stunticons. They’ll probably get us killed in a wreck or somethin’,” Frenzy replied.

Rumbled shrugged as they walked off the bridge. “Beats waiting around here.”

Soundwave shifted his attention now to the signal coming in from Shockwave on Cybertron. The Decepticon was pleased that he was already working his way effectively into such an important position with what he assumed would be the new Decepticon leader. He sent out a brief reply to him before turning his attention back to the human communications.

*

Hangar

Hellion let out a loud and annoyed sigh as Nightraven replied to her and then scooted quickly back to Skywarp when he returned to do more talking. For what Starscream had described as a simple mission to just stir up some chaos it was taking an awful lot of planning and talking to get it underway.

She looked over at Krunix. “I don’t do reports, I just blow stuff up.”

*

Slipstream continued to observe the rest of her team. She briefly smiled at Krunix. “I filed a report some time ago. I had to spend some time in the CR chamber for minor repairs and a change of alternate mode to suit this planet.”

‘Now go away you annoying little bureaucrat,’ she thought to herself before turning back to where Skywarp and Nightraven were planning the mission.

“If I may make a suggestion Skywarp, we could always steal more of this fuel and then hide somewhere for retrieval later, perhaps when Octane or Astrotrain are available? It seems like a waste to just take what little we can carry and destroy the rest.” She gently placed her hand on his arm as she spoke. ”You and I could even grab some and teleport it over to a hiding place so no can spot us moving it there.” She had been watching Nightraven, and two could just as easily play at that little game. If Skywarp was going to be rising up with Starscream in charge then she would be more then happy to ride that jetstream to a higher position herself, whatever it might take.

*

Hook scrolled through the manifest of what was on the ship, noting Mixmaster already gathering several of the needed materials. He ignored Scavenger’s various comments about himself as he did with most everything the lesser Constructicon said. It looked like it would be adequate for a start, but they would definitely need additional materials from the planet itself to complete construction.

The surgical engineer listened to Darkride’s report. “The location seems adequate and the difficult terrain on the peninsula would help disguise our movements on land.” He tapped the computer controls to get a better look at the submersible schematics. “The vehicle idea is intriguing, but will require many modifications to be suitable.” As he spoke he already began modifying the schematics, “and that is assuming we have the adequate time and resources to construct a full functioning vehicle as opposed to a standard base. Designing and constructing a silent propulsion system alone could chew up some time and resources that Starscream,” he couldn’t hide the disdain in his voice as he spoke the name, “may not be willing to sacrifice for it.”

Hangar

If Scavenger had a mouth, it would have dropped down to the floor after hearing Darkride's future dinner plans.

What is wrong with this mech?!? I'm an idiot, everyone knows that, so why is he getting on my case? Aw slag it, I need to hurry this up and get away from him FAST!

The mining and salvage specialist looked over the geological data. He had some difficulty trying to decide, mostly because he was looking over at Darkride every so often, just to keep an optic on him. It also didn't help that Scavenger was so worried about finding a good spot that would meet Hook's approval- as relieved as the excavator was to have another Constructicon around, he could do without the surgical engineer's constant criticism.

Slag, I just can't decide. There's one spot with a lot of building materials nearby, but not close to the vein. There's one closer to the vein with plenty of energy resources, but almost no building materials nearby. And it can't be too close to human settlements... can it? Oh slaggit, he'll insult and criticize me anyway, I'll just give him a few to choose from.

Scavenger waited a few astroseconds for the interrogator to finish his report.

"Er, Hook, buddy, I know you wanted just one site. But, well, there are just so many great spots in that area that I thought maybe you could pick out from these that I found. After all, you're such a genius and all, I bet you'll find the best site possible."

Scavenger took a step back and showed Hook the display which had 5 different potential sites pinpointed.

"So, which one do you think, Hook?" Scavenger asked, as his optics darted between the surgical engineer and the interogator.

Hangar Doors

Scrapper was past the point where Long Hauls news about the supplies was enough to visibley upset him. The Transport Specialist had prioritised keeping the supplies safe and being able to fight over the convenience of keeping them on his person, and no-one had predicted their base would fall as it did. So assigning blame was pointless, they would just have to work around this problem.

"Very well, we'll just have to find more. Scavenger will have to find us supplies on earth and we'll have to gather them before the base can have anything more than its foundations built." He turned to Baneblade and began punching out a priority list on a datapad, based on his initial designs, made what seemed Vorns ago.

"To begin operations we will need the following elements, which are rare but sufficiently abundant on the planet. Soundwave has sent me data about where the humans have stockpiles of the same, so these locations should be our first priorities. One team can find the appropriate starting site and lay foundations with our existing resources while you lead a team with Long Haul to secure the supplies. I trust you can keep him safe."

"Remember, subtlety will be important in this step. We want the Autobots to follow Motormasters team, not us. You should attack your targets in such a way that international alarm is not raised until you have secured the material. If stealth won't work, then surgical precision and ruthlessness will be the only option. Coordinating with Soundwave to ensure communications blackout will also be critical."

"Do you both understand?"

Hanger

Ramjet grunted, where were those fragging Cyberjets? They should have been here by now if they knew what was good for them!

"C'mon! What the Pit are you doing?" Ramjet called as he began looking behind boxes and whatnot, since he knew how much they loved to hide.

"Where-!" Ramjet turned and began to walk, but slammed into a green, insect-like Mech.

"Hey! Zzwatch where you're going!" The Mech seemed flustered and ticked off, so Ramjet just held his hands up in a motion to calm him down and stepped away.

"Jeez, sorry." Ramjet said beginning to walk away and back to Thundercracker.

"Zze namezz Wazzpinator, zzo you won't forget!" Waspinator said, irritated, as he walked off and began to join Skywarp's group.

Ramjet walked off and re-joined Thundercracker and said, "I can't find them anywhere! I tell you, if they weren't at the very least some brute strength for Scrapper, I'd have killed them by now." Ramjet laughed and looked at the size of their group and immediately stopped laughing and said, "Whoa, it's just us here, isn't it?"


*****

Hanger

Waspinator walked away from his confrontation with Ramjet irritated, and walked up to Skywarp and said, "Me Wazzpinator wazz zzupozzed to go with you and attack the Humanzz!"

He then asked, "They won't have zztrong weaponzz, will they?"

His fear of destruction also was growing, and he didn't want that to happen, not again.

Hangar

Skywarp nodded at Nightraven’s comment that acquiring some fuel was better than none at all. The teleporter then listened as the femme seeker suggested that she could remain skyward once they arrived at the oil field in order to serve as a lookout for when the Autobots began their approach. Her cloaking capability would allow her to stay hidden and able to keep a close watch on what was happening on the ground below. “Good idea, Nighty,” the prankster agreed as she patted ‘Warp on the chest plate, reminding him to contact Soundwave and let him know where they were going. “Yes, of course. How could I forget?”

Skywarp immediately opened a comm line to the monotone mech: >>”Soundwave, this is Skywarp. My team and I have chosen a location. We’ll need a bounce down to the deserts of the nation state of Iran, roughly 300 miles from the country’s largest oil field. We should be able to attract the Autobots’ attention as I’m sure the workers there will attempt to radio for assistance. From what I have read, this particular facility produces enough oil that the entire planet would be negatively affected if the supply was disrupted in any way, which makes it a very important target for us to attack and the Autobots to protect. My team consists of six members and will be heading for the bounce chamber shortly.”<<

As Skywarp finished his communiqué with Soundwave, his attention was drawn to Slipstream, who had placed her hand on his arm as she suggested the two of them teleporting a portion of the fuel to a more secure location until either Astrotrain or Octane could later retrieve it. It was a fine plan to say the least. ‘Warp was even more relieved now than before, knowing that he had two very capable femmes assisting him, even if Slipstream had gotten a bit too close for comfort.

Slowly shifting his arm away from the saboteur’s touch, Skywarp turned to face her. “That’s not bad, Slipstream. Although, as you pointed out before, my teleportation range is considerably limited when compared to yours. I could only transport some fuel a maximum of two and a half miles away, while you could very well teleport what you can carry all the way back here to the Ultrax if you so desired. Then we wouldn’t need the triplechangers help at all.”

As Skywarp spoke, he moved towards the hangar doors and motioned for his team to join him. He felt there was no reason to waste time talking while standing still when they could discuss their options while en route to the bounce chamber. “I mean, I could still teleport and hide some fuel away from the attack zone,” the prankster continued his conversation with Slipstream. “But, like I said before, I can only go so far. I personally think it would just be easier for you to bring the fuel directly here, don’t you agree?”

Before the teleporting femme had a chance to respond, Skywarp heard a strange buzzing sound and turned to look down upon Waspinator. The small Insecticon had managed to sneak up on him and offered to join his team, but was concerned about the humans having dangerous weapons. "I wouldn't worry about the flesh sacks, Waspy. It's the Autobots that you should be more concerned about." The prankster grinned as he patted the small green mech on the back. "Don't worry, though. I'm sure we'll be able to put you back together again like always."

******

Drag Strip was relieved that Motormaster seemed satisfied with his new choice of alt mode, only acknowledging the yellow mech’s return with a low grunt. It was certainly better than getting hit again. Instead of more violence towards his own subordinates, the Stunticon Commander searched through all of the viable choices for them to attack on the planet below. It didn’t take long for the abusive unit leader to find the perfect target and announce it to everyone within audio receptor range.

Drag Strip then listened as Motormaster contacted Soundwave to request an orbital bounce down to the surface before he went into more detail regarding how the mission on the ground would ultimately unfold. It sounded all fine and dandy as far as the former racer was concerned. Just as long as Drag could tear up the roads and not be chastised for it this time, he would be happy. Stealing some fuel along the way would be a nice bonus as his energy cells could use a topping off. At the very least, there’d be some action once they reached the refinery, hopefully with plenty of Autobots to scrap.

Drag Strip jumped when Motormaster ordered them all to the bounce chamber immediately. Not wanting to draw any more of his abrasive leader's wrath, the yellow mech hurried out of the hangar, hot on Breakdown's heels. "I'll race ya there!" Drag said as he ran past the paranoid Stunticon.

Hangar Doors

Long Haul was happy that Scrapper seemed to be taking the bad news in stride, making mention that Scavenger would simply have to find them more supplies while they were down on Earth. The Constructicon leader then turned his attention to Baneblade and typed out a list of priorities on a datapad. Long Haul listened as Scrapper went on to explain the essentials that would be needed and where to locate the appropriate stockpiles. As one team laid the foundation of the base, the large mech and the green transport would be assigned the task of acquiring said supplies without drawing any unwanted attention to themselves. It was imperative that the Autobots did not detect their presence while they raided the target sites. They would have to be very careful, but with Soundwave’s assistance the two of them should have no problem in accomplishing their goals.

“I understand, boss,” Long Haul replied to Scrapper, giving his commander a hearty salute. “Baneblade and I will get the job done. Right, big guy?” The small green Constructicon looked up and patted the strategic advisor on his elbow as Long Haul wasn’t tall enough to reach the huge Decepticon’s shoulder.

Hangar

After his insult towards the femmes had been ignored, Thrust had listened to Skywarp and apparently his new concubines to discuss about the ways to possibly carry fuel to safety for a while before he couldn't handle being ignored anymore. Letting his thundering voice and exaggerated body language to do the talking, Thurst opened his vocalizer and probably managed to draw the ire of his teammates.

"Oh come on now! Between your 2 mile teleports and her 'I spent all my energy reserves making this warp rift' you really think you'll get something carried to safety? Do I really need to spell it out for you?! You need a fragging container to carry the loot! Big enough to be carried by at least two or three of us so we get more juice than Slipstream's daily consumption rate!"
______________________________________________

"You know Ramjet... I can deal with this." Thundercracker replied to Ramjet's statement about there being just the two of them. "Join up with Skywarp's team, you know as well as I do that you are not suited for a guarding duty. If I and the Cyberjets need reinforcements I'll let Skywarp know."

"Now, I guess it is for the best if I try out my luck dragging them out wherever they are hiding." Thundercracker said, slipping out of the hangar the Cyberjet with possible exclusion of Skyjack certainly weren't in.
______________________________________________

Elsewhere in the Ultrax

"Don't push you luck Mixer, you might end up buried." Bonecrusher snarled at Mixmaster while grudgingly following the other Constructicon while trying his best to balance about with all of the junk he had been made to lug around.

"Where's Long Haul when you need him..."

Hanger

"Thanks 'Cracker, good luck in finding those idiots." Ramjet said to Thundercracker and jogged away after Skywarp.

He made his way around the hanger to join up with his counterpart.

"Wait up 'Warp! 'Cracker sent me to work with you!" Ramjet called out as he jogged after Skywarp.

*****

Hanger

Waspinator walked aside Skywarp and felt that his response was not entirely reassuring to him not being scrapped in battle.

"Nizze Plane-Bot, me Wazzpinator feeling much better..." Waspinator groaned, but then saw Ramjet walk up from behind him calling to Skywarp, so Waspinator decided to ignore him, and maybe he would go away.

No such luck.

"Oh. Its you." Ramjet said to Waspinator with somewhat loath in his voice.

"Ram-Bot needzz to watch where he goezz!" Waspinator said, still irritated from before, when Ramjet walked into him.

"Look! I'm sorry! You don't have to beat me over the head with it!" Ramjet said along side big gestures with his hands.

"Me Wazzpinator think that Plane-Bot would manage!" Waspinator said sarcastically.

Ramjet looked disgusted then turned to Skywarp and said irritably, "Are we going to be leaving soon?"

Hangar

Wildrider stepped through the metallic doors in to the hangar once again looking as clean and polished as he likely ever would for the duration of the mission. Seeing that the other Stunticons had already arrived, he finished going over the remainder of his weapons inventory. Everything looked like it was in place.

He felt fortunate that Motormaster had just finished berating some of Soundwave's minions, ordering them in to the chamber. He hadn't kept the big 'Con waiting for too long. There would have been some serious punishment if Motormaster had to wait for any of them.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Wildrider said, sidestepping Motormaster as best he could before he could even get a word out.
___

Hangar Doors

"Right right right, I got it," Mixmaster said, knowing that he could rib the much stronger Constructicon only so far before he wound up with a dent himself. When they arrived at the hangar, the Chemical Engineer was pleased to find that they were not the only Constructicons there.

"Here ya go chief. Good as new. Maybe better, heheheh," Mixmaster said, handing the varnished faceplate over to the Constructicon Commander. It would be one less thing their commander would have to worry about, allowing him to devote more time and energy to....Devastator.

Oh, and those other assignments Starscream had given them, too.

Hangar

Skywarp became very irritated at the sound of Thrust’s vocal processor. The red conehead thought he knew everything, apparently, and his disrespectful tone didn’t help matters. ‘Warp turned towards Thurst, but instead of speaking, the teleporter quickly vanished only to reappear a mere inch in front of the loud mouth’s face plate, a move that was intended to startle the conehead. “Actually, it’s two and a half miles, which is more than enough distance to deposit your sorry aft section into the vacuum of space!”

The pranskter sneered at the crimson seeker before pivoting around on his heel and returning to his previous position near the femmes. “However, attitude aside, Thrust does have a point. A container would hold a lot more fuel and flying it to safety would conserve our energon consumption, especially for you, Slipstream. I’m sure we’ll be able to find some kind of empty tank on site once we arrive at the oil facility.”

Skywarp then took notice of the arrival of Ramjet, who had apparently been dumped on him and his unit by Thundercracker. Thanks, buddy, ‘Warp thought, rolling his optics at the sight of another conehead. “Yes, Ramjet, we’re leaving as soon as we get our afts down to the bounce chamber and hope Soundwave has supplied us with the necessary coordinates.” The teleporter then took the lead, walking out of the hangar and into the corridor beyond. “Everyone follow me. We've wasted enough time.”