Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

Hanger

Nightraven had watched as Slipstream mentioned that she and Skywarp could teleport the gathered energon back to a safe location so that any Autobots that did attack would not see where it was hidden. While it was a fairly decent plan, one that would hopefully work only if they could somehow get Astrotrain or Octane to transport the gathered energon back to the Ultrax.

Nightraven followed along as Skywarp led them out of the hanger. He continued on toward the bounce chamber while also trying to defend his teleportation capabilities. It was then that Waspinator showed up and inquired about dangerous human weapons. She watched the exchange between the teleporter and the Insecticon and smiled slightly at Skywarp’s last comment. Nightraven picked up her pace so that she was now walking by the teleporter’s side.

She had opened her mouth to say something when she heard Thrust’s irritating voice. Nightraven let out a heavy sigh when the conehead began to put his two cents worth into the planning. He was quickly approached by Skywarp and theoretically put in his place. His idea of utilizing a container to carry the hidden energon was interesting.

With Skywarp’s mention of the container being used by Slipstream alone to teleport back to the Ultrax, Nightraven let out a slight sigh of relief knowing that Skywarp would not be working with the other femme. Okay, why am I so relieved? There’s nothing between us. Or am I deluding myself? Gah!

Of all times her thoughts were, yet again, quelched with the arrival of Ramjet. What is this the conehead gathering group? Nightraven placed her hand gently on Skywarp’s forearm to gain his attention and whispered to him.

“If we’re going to have all of these fliers we’ll be able to get quite a bit of energon, but it’ll also attract a lot of unwanted attention very early on. We’ll have to plan this very carefully.”

Hanger

Ramjet watched as Slipstream conversed happily with Skywarp, and Nightraven watching from behind.

Why can't I have a bunch of Femmes all over me like that... Ramjet thought, but didn't let it show, for he was good at keeping his thoughts to himself for all of those vorns.

"Alright, lets go. Before this one gets scrapped before he even does anything." Ramjet said openly, mumbling the last part.

"Ram-Bot zzay whaaat?" Waspinator asked with an odd look on his face.

"Nothin'." Ramjet said, and with that, he followed Skywarp out of the Hanger and on the way to the Bounce Chamber.

*****

Hanger

Waspinator looked around as everyone seemed to ignore him, and that sinking feeling suddenly jumped in. He sighed and walked on, following Skywarp closely.

"Me Wazzpinator heard Plane-Bot need muscle for transporting Energon! Me Wazzpinator have great strength!" Waspinator made a point to hold his arms in a flexing position.

Ramjet walked blindly, keeping his thoughts on how to get the leader position in the smallest time possible. His very interesting train of thought was suddenly erased from context when seemingly out from nowhere he walked right into Slipstream.

"Oh, uh... Erm..." Ramjet stammered, at a loss for words.

"What me Wazzpinator say before!" Waspinator called over.

Ramjet quickly snarled back before turning to Slipstream, hoping words would come soon to end this awkwardness.

Bridge

Krunix stepped into the bridge wordlessly, only alerting Starscream and Soundwave to his presence when he saluted by slamming his fist into the armor casing over his chest. It was an old salute, but it was a habit Krunix had never bothered to break.

While the sparse information that passed as a debriefing could've been filed through proper channels...Krunix wasn't sure what passed as proper channels right now. With Starscream in charge...

"Reporting, Sir." Krunix placed the datapad on the nearest clear area. "What...available debriefings that were made available, referenced against recorded readings from the battle. I have also included updated readiness and available resources for any Infiltration purposes.

Hangar

As Skywarp teleported himself in front of Thrust and tried to intimidate the conehead, Thrust did what he was used to do in such situations - he answered Skywarp's glare with his own while keeping a confident smirk on his face. Sure, he was already starting feel uneasy behind his ruse as clearly annoyed Skywarp confronted him but he had not lost his game quite yet.

"Pfft. And that was supposed to intimidate me." He snorted, his optics flickering in manner equivalent of an eye roll as he set after Skywarp who began leading them towards the bounce chamber.

"And since when your new girlfriend has been known for her great strategic thinking?" Thrust smirked, following his comment with a mocking act focused towards Nightraven. "Oooh, things are getting tough! I better slap my cloak on and hide! Not that I'd even hit anything I aim for if the Autobots came for me!"

Corridor

As the group neared the bounce chamber, Skywarp turned to Nightraven as he felt her touch his arm once again. Her latest comment about careful planning was one to be taken seriously if the mission was to go off without a hitch. ‘Warp had been considering his options on how to exactly approach the situation once they had arrived at the oil field. The area in question was quite large and would require all of the seekers they currently had at their disposal to cover the designated territory.

“Agreed,” Skywarp replied to Nightraven. “From what I was able to read, the selected target is specially referred to as the Azadegan oil field. It is over 300 square miles and is located near the border of a neighboring nation-state. The vast landscape is littered with devices such as drilling rigs and something called pump jacks that bring the oil to the surface. At the center is the primary support facility that resembles a small city. It houses all of the oil workers and is where the entire operation is run from. My thinking is we can bounce down to the outer edge of the oil field and then make our way towards the interior. If we fly below radar we should be able to avoid meat sack detection until we see fit to reveal ourselves.“

Skywarp was drawn away from his conversation by the sound of Waspinator going on about how strong he was. The teleporter simply nodded at the Insecticon before continuing his discussion with Nightraven. “You can scout ahead in stealth mode and help us to locate some of the pipelines that carry oil away from the various wells. We should be able to tap into those and fill up a substantial amount of energon cubes. Meanwhile, I’ll locate a large container of some kind where we can store the cubes in and then fly them out to a safe location to be bounced back here all at once. Once we reach the support facility, we can unleash our attack on the fleshlings who will undoubtedly call for help, drawing the attention of the Autobots.” The prankster thought he had considered everything when formulating his plan. But in the high likelihood that he forgot about something he asked Nighty the obvious question. “What do you think? Have I forgotten anything?”

Before the femme could even respond to Skywarp, Thrust had literally thrust himself into the conversation with some snide comments directed mainly at the seeker sister. It took a great deal of willpower for the teleporter not to respond to the insults that had been hurled towards the object of his affection. Instead, ‘Warp remained calm and glanced back at Nightraven with a frown etched across his face plate. “Would you like to take this one, Nighty, or should I just teleport him into the planet’s atmosphere?”

Corridor

Hellion walked behind the rest of her group, her annoyance and anger growing by the second. The simple mission of ‘go out and blow stuff up’ was growing more and more complicated by the minute. How anyone could make it more complicated was beyond her, but apparently her sister and Skywarp had found a way. Add on top of that Thrust’s loud mouth and the cowardly bug with the speech impediment and she was starting to consider blowing herself up just to have some sort of violent release.

Finally Thrust opened his mouth again and it was all the excuse she needed. Walking behind him she fired a punch at the back of his head. “Shut your big, stupid mouth Thrust, or I will ‘knit’ it shut for you!” she yelled and sneered back at him, his earlier obnoxious comments not having gotten past her.

*

Slipstream was annoyed to find her suggestion shot down by nearly everyone. True, she couldn’t teleport enough back to base to be worthwhile, but she had hoped hiding it somewhere to collect later would be good enough. It would also allow her to set up her own stash of fuel that she could hide away in case of an emergency. With Starscream leading things she definitely wanted to be ready to strike out on her own if she had to.

The seeker struggled to stifle a sigh when a more idiots decided to join the team. Ramjet was at least easy to figure out, much like the boisterous Thrust. The insecticon though seemed to be a special one all together, both stupid and cowardly. That basically made him totally worthless in her eyes as even an ally. Perhaps he would make a useful shield at some point.

“Excuse me Skywarp, but is bringing him,” she gestured at Waspinator, “a good idea? Last I heard we were still under some sort of infiltration here. I haven’t seen much of this planet so far, but I don’t recall seeing anything resembling his alternate mode flying around.”

*

Hangar

Hook took the data from Scavenger and combined it with the data from Darkride. He studied it for a moment before tapping a spot on it. “Here. This location is best as it overlaps both suggestions. It’s relatively isolated but there is some sort of high speed roadway a few miles inland. That will give us access to the rest of the territory for transport of acquired materials, be they raw resources or something more refined stolen from the natives.”

He was ready to pass the information along to Scrapper, but he did remember that several Decepticons had expressed displeasure at working with him in the past, something about his gruff personality. He had mostly ignored it, but perhaps this would be a good time to change that. At the very least the pathetic Scavenger seemed to be angling for some sort of compliment, might as well give the simpleton a nugget to chew on. “Good work, both of you,” he said in a flat, unconvincing tone.

>>”Scrapper, we have a location. We also have a suggestion to make the base a mobile submersible of some sort. Thoughts?”<<

*

Bridge

>>”Acknowledge Skywarp, the chamber will be ready when you arrive.”<<

Soundwave began scanning data from both the Kansas and Iran locations. The two sites presented nearly opposite problems. Motormaster’s site was located in the middle of a highly open and media friendly nation-state. Media manipulation would have to be extreme to control the amount of data that got out and making sure that it was the right data. The fact that the Stunticons could easily be mistaken for Autobots given their alternate modes would assist matters.

Skywarp’s location was in the middle of a highly secretive and closed society. The media there was tightly controlled by the government. Here he would have to manipulate things so information actually got out, and making sure it was seen by the world at large. It would be difficult, but not impossible. The communication’s expert actually relished the opportunity to truly fulfill his function.

OoC: Ember allowed Wazzpinator to do this over PM for the sake of Infiltration Protocols.

Hanger

Ramjet was still at a loss for words, until finally after several seconds of simply staring at Slipstream, Ramjet simply said, "Uh, sorry..."

Ramjet took a step back and leaned against the wall to prevent himself from slamming into things that don't need it.

*****

Hanger

Waspinator sighed when he seemed to go mostly unnoticed by Skywarp.

Not notizzed and not appreciated! Waspinator thought with his mandibles forming a frown.

Finally, someone noticed him! Slipstream took notice of his presence! Waspinator's frown suddenly lifted, but was shot back when she asked if bringing him was a good idea.

"No! Me Wazzpinator receive upgradezz!" And with that, he transformed into a giant wasp, and bringing his wings to a rest behind him.

"Waatch" Waspinator said and he then suddenly shrunk into a one-inch-long wasp and began buzzing about, and then Waspinator transformed again and landed on the ground lightly.

Maybe, just maybe, he could be appreciated for once!

Hanger

"I'm sorry Hook.", Scavenger began to apologize out of habit to the Constructicon second-in-command, "I did the best I- wait, what!?"

To hear something like a compliment from the surgical engineer caught the excavator completely by surprise. It was extremely rare to hear any kind of positive reaction from Hook, and even then it was only to Scrapper or certain high ranking officers or commanders. Scavenger had certainly never heard Hook say such a thing to him, only constant nit-picking and scolding. Even if it was for both him and Darkride, the mining and salvage specialist certainly couldn't believe it. It was something he had long dreamed of for countless vorns, he couldn't believe his audio receptors. No, he had heard right. The words rang through Scavenger's processors over and over. If he had a mouth he would have had such a large smile that he would break his head module.

"Good work".... He actually said that I did good work. I actually got a compliment from Hook, which means I really must have done something right!

"Th-thank you Hook, that really means a lot coming from you!" Scavenger said cheerfully, "I promise I won't let you or Scrapper down!"

Which means no more screwing around with this creep-tron. After hearing that from Hook, there's no way I can let the others down by letting anything about Devastator slip. It's time I act like a REAL Constructicon

Scavenger looked straight at Darkride faceplate-to-faceplate.

"Hook's never said that to me before." the excavator said to the interrogator, and for the first time there was no sense of fear or nervousness in him, "So you'd better appreciate the compliment."

Corridor Heading to the Bounce Platform

During the trek toward the Bounce Chamber Skywarp had responded to Nightraven’s statement regarding their team’s quantity of Seekers. He then went through the plan he had concocted to acquire as much energon as possible while still keeping their cover intact. It was a sound plan and if performed correctly it would yield a large amount of energon.

Upon hearing her role Nightraven nodded in agreement. She would have to move quickly, her stealth capabilities would only last for 8 breems. She was not comfortable with Skywarp locating a container to store the energon cubes in, but not because she thought he was incapable of completing the task, but because it left him vulnerable with a large amount of combustible material. What if the Autobots decided to attack while he was transporting it?

When she heard Skywarp asking what she thought of his plan and whether he had forgotten anything, Nightraven looked at him and flashed him a smile. There had to be something wrong with her for worrying about his wellbeing. Just some time ago she was more concerned with staying out of the prankster’s radar. Maybe she was crazy.

She was about to answer when Thrust decided to mock her capabilities. Nightraven let out a heavy sigh but she refused to acknowledge the blowhard with any kind of retaliation. She simply pressed on, but when Skywarp inquired if she wanted to handle Thrust on her own of if she'd rather he take care of him, Nightraven stopped in her tracks and answered without even turning to face the crimson conehead.

“Actually, Skywarp, I’d rather not indulge him.”

That said she continued on toward the Bounce Chamber, but she also wanted to answer Skywarp’s question about his plan.

“I think it’s a very sound plan. And as far as you forgetting something…”

She lowered her voice so only Skywarp could hear what she had to say.

“…just please be careful transporting those cubes. You still have a lot to prove to me.”

With her final comment she flashed him another smile and pressed onward. Nightraven let out a chuckle when she heard Hellion punch Thrust in the back of his head and yell at him. She could always count on her sister to take care of things for the both of them.

Hanger

Darkride watched and listened intently to what the surgical engineer had decided. The interrogator stepped in to get a better look at the location that was had been chosen. It was very ideal for the plans they had. Darkride nodded in agreement and moved away from the terminal. It was then that Scavenger nearly blew a fuse at Hook’s halfhearted compliment. The interrogator took it at what it was worth, nothing.

After his expression of absolute glee, Scavenger stared down Darkride and actually tried to intimidate him. How cute. The interrogator simply stared up at the Constructicon and flashed him a broad demented smile.

“Mmmm, intimidation and threats; they’ll make your consumption all the more sweet.”

Darkride stepped in closer to Scavenger and licked his lips.

“And don’t worry about compliments; I’ll be sure to shower you with them as you go down.”

Corridor Heading to the Bounce Platform

Thrust reacted to the sudden blow against the back of his head by quickly spinning around on his heel, his hands helf up in front of him, ready to protect himself from further attacks. Naturally he also opened his mouth again despite of Hellion's threat against doing so.

"What the slag that was for?!" He cried out, optics blazing - obviously in denial of his own earlier words. "How we are supposed to carry out our orders if we can't get along?!"

Corridor

“As you wish,“ Skywarp responded to Nightraven with a chuckle when she indicated that she didn’t want to indulge Thrust regarding his comments. Her aggressive sister, however, had no problem with indulging the red conehead as Hellion's slap clearly echoed throughout the corridors. Why they were saddled with such an obnoxious seeker was anyone’s guess, but perhaps Thrust could but of some use by helping to transport the energon cubes and thus risk his own spark, instead of someone else's.

Nightraven seemed to like Skywarp’s plan, but she showed concern about his safety as he still had much to prove to her that he was more than just a mere prankster. This mission would hopefully confirm for her that he was worth her time and effort. “I’ll be fine, Nighty. Besides, I only intended to find an empty container and then help fill it. Thrust or Ramjet could transport it away. Perhaps both if the container becomes too heavy. Either way, I’ll be busy leading the mission forward to the operations center at the heart of the oil field.”

Skywarp turned at the sound of Slipstream’s voice as she asked him if it was wise to bring along Waspinator as his giant insect mode did not seem to adhere to infiltration protocols. Before ‘Warp could answer, the green Insecticon spoke up and defended himself and showed them how mass shifting allowed him to shrink down to the size of a normal wasp. The teleporter’s optics narrowed as he watched the tiny bug buzz around his cranial unit. “I suppose that’ll do. But once we’ve attacked the operations center and the Autobots arrive, you’ll have to assume full size, Waspinator. Otherwise, you won’t be much good to us in battle.”

Skywarp waved his hand in an attempt to harmlessly shoo Waspinator away from his head just as Soundwave alerted him that the coordinates were sent to the bounce room and everything was ready for their departure. ‘Warp sent a signal back to the communications expert to notify him that his message was received. An audible response was not necessary as the prankster remained focused on getting his unit off the ship and down to Earth within the breem.

Bounce Chamber

Skywarp led his team into the bounce chamber and moved to check the control panel. The coordinates were set just as the monotone mech had indicated. The site was in the middle of the Iranian desert on the outskirts of the immense Azadegan oil field. Once there, the purple and black seeker would deploy the members of his squad accordingly. It was daytime on that side of the planet and therefore they would have to move cautiously to avoid early detection.

Skywarp turned nervously to face the assembled group of seekers. “Alright, everyone, let’s get going. Once we are down there I will give out further instructions. Nightraven you already know what to do. No need to wait around.” With those words spoken, the teleporter flashed the femme a quick smile before setting the chamber’s auto-controls to initiate once they were all in position. ‘Warp then stepped up onto the bounce pad and waited for the others to join him.

Hanger

Ramjet rested against the wall while sporting a frown, was this going to be more complicated than just "Go and get some Energon and attack the Humans"? It looked to be so, for everyone wasn't getting along too well, him and Waspinator, Hellion, Thrust, Skywarp and Nightraven were all rather tense. Only Nightraven remained out of the coming brawl that Thrust was starting. He knew it was going to go down because Hellion came out from nowhere and clocked Thrust in the Cranial Unit. Slipstream seemed to have her concerns about Waspinator's future in the team, Waspinator simply transformed and began buzzing about. Ramjet swatted at Waspinator, who landed on his faceplate. Skywarp just wanted to pound Thrust into the ground repeatedly and Ramjet just wanted to stay away.

Needless to say, he agreed with Thrust in the fact that they could not work with each other if they were at each other's throats.

Bounce Chamber

He was happy however that Skywarp decided to lead them all to the Bounce Chamber, and Ramjet followed him in and stood impatient on the Bounce Pad, waiting for everyone to come.


*****

Hanger

Waspinator took offense to everyone swatting at him and he kept frowning as he followed Skywarp into the Bounce Chamber.

Zzo unappreciated! Waspinator thought as he walked briskly behind Ramjet.

Waspinator fluttered his wings and began humming a dismal tune, buzzing on the higher and lower notes. It was all to cheer himself up, but the tune he chose was doing just the opposite.

Bounce Chamber

Waspinator entered the Bounce Chamber and briskly walked to the Bounce Pad beside Ramjet and said, "Accidentzz happen, but Ram-Bot needzz to watch where Ram-Bot goezz."

"Uh thanks." Ramjet said as he smirked.

Together they waited until everyone was inside the chamber.

Hangar Doors

Baneblade looked over the list that Scrapper had given him and scrowled under his mask. To say he was surprised by the sheer lack of information that the Constructicon commander had given him was an understatement. He had expected better from him, this vauge list was next to useless.

"Provided information insufficent for me to properly conduct a well executed operation. Your list outline several advanced elements for the later stages of base construction, however you have neglected to list basic building materiales required for the fundamental basics of the early stages of your task. Likewise data provided is also sorely lacking on required information on enemy tactical, strategic and other military assests that could potentially hamper or thwart our endevours. This is a gross oversight boardering on incompetence. A fundamental evaluation of your basic command and control methodology should be carried out for future evaluation to determine if you are still capable of your current rank and position. Demotion and reassignment potential; high once evaluation is completed.

"However, at this moment such an evaluation is not time effective. Fortunatly I can make up for your staggering lack of insight into proper operationally planning. The city of Magnitogorsk located in the nation-state identified as the Russian Federation posses substantial manufacturing of steel and iron, as well as possesing large quantities of iron ore for the fabrication of enhanced steel based materiales. You will locate your team to the desired location for our new base of operations and await my teams return."

After speaking in his deep, dead pan voice Baneblade turned curtly and marched off to where his team was assembled.

"Our first target will be the city of Magnitogorsk. It is located significantly far from our base location and minimizes potential for our operations true purpose to be uncovered. The city has a sizeable steel and iron production capability, resources and materiales needed for the basic and early stages of base fabrication. Our strategic goal will be to secure as much steel, iron and ore as we are capable of carrying. Blitzwing, you will be tasked with using your air base form to hit enemy communications and then power centers to knock out the possiblity of reinforcements being called in once we attack. After these tasks are carried out you will perform an air combat patrol to neutralize anyone attempting to enter or leave the area. Darkride, you will perform recon on the steel works to ensure it is open for our advance as well as neutralizing anyone who identifies our true nature, infilitration protocols are still in effect. However, do not indulge your sadistic nature, we have no time for you to entertain yourself. Astrotrain and myself will advance together to secure the steel works once the way is clear. All other members of the team will aid us in securing our objectives before we regroup and extract. Are our objectives clearly understood?"

Bridge

Starscream turned to face Krunix once he arrived.

"Hmm, infilitration is likely going to be less of a priority for us in the near future. However, I am curious to hear what you have to say on this front. Please indulge me."

Hangar Doors

"Sounds clear enough for me." Astrotrain acknowledged the briefing given them by Baneblade. Although he was rather surprised how venomously the strategist verbally assaulted Scrapper. Then again, the triplechanger had no idea what data the Constructicon commander had given to Baneblade. There were couple of questions however that he could not avoid voicing out.

"Sir, I have couple of questions." Astrotrain decided to speak up. "Shall we bounce ourselves there or am I to provide the means of transport? Also, with Soundwave creating a blind spot for us, is bothering with their communications necessary?"

"Not that I have any objections against letting Blitz loose on the fleshlings." He added, flashing a cruel smile.

Bridge

Krunix glanced slightly at the datapad, then back to Starscream. While all of the information was prepared, it was not uncommon for commanders to ask for a rundown; Krunix was simply not expecting it from the usually indifferent Seeker Commander. After the barest of pauses he gave a crisp nod,

"Resource rich, otherwise standard organic planet. Single dominant lifeform..." Krunix took a moment, remembering and distilling the important information, "To be frank, this mudball is right around the worst I have ever seen. Innumerable cultural factions, on varying scale of recognition to one another. It's hard to find any coherent group not involved in some conflict with another."

Krunix pressed a few buttons on his datapad, and handed Starscream a global map with several areas highlighted across North America and Asia, "The germ's have a paranoia that is nigh-unparalleled, but it can be used to our advantage..."

Hangar Doors

Long Haul stood with a look of shock spread widely across his faceplate as Baneblade criticized the Constructicon Commander in every way that was possible, all the while completely ignoring the green transport. Of course, that was nothing unusual as many tended to ignore Long Haul. However, didn't this giant brute of a Decepticon understand the chain of command? Regardless of whether you agreed with a superior officer or not, you didn't outwardly chastise them if you didn't want some kind of reprisal, whether it be physical or simply being demoted from your current rank. Apparently, a mech the size and strength of Baneblade was not overly concerned with either happening. Instead, he just walked away without waiting for a response from Scrapper, who appeared to be in stunned silence, as well.

"You gonna let him talk to you like that, boss?" Long Haul finally spoke up, looking over at Scrapper. He resisted saying any more as his commander was likely postulating how he would handle such a big and defiant subordinate. Instead, Long Haul simply stood at attention and gave his leader a respectful salute. "Well, the plan sounds good to me, boss. And don't worry I'll make sure the job gets done right." Hopefully, I won't get stepped on in the process.

With that said, Long Haul lowered his hand and walked away towards where Baneblade now stood with the rest of the team. The large 'Con had already addressed the others and given out instructions, but he had once again forgotten about the one mech who would carry most of the needed materials once they were on site. "Hey, don't forget about me, big guy! You're going to need somebody to lug all that stuff around down there."

Hangar Doors

"Thank you Mixmaster. Impeccable work as always." Scrapper handed the chemist the old faceplate for scrap and affixed the new one on his face. It smelt odd to his olfactory sensors, but it was perfect fit and quite reassuring after having the atmosphere of the ship blowing in his face for so long. Scrapper then noticed the message from Hook. He looked quizzically over at his second, but this was hardly the first time Hook had done something like this to avoid talking to others. Scrapper was deciding whether to respond in kind or aloud when Baneblade finally responded.

It was rather fortunate his faceplate was whole again as the shock on Scrappers face would likely have sent most of the hangar into gales of laughter. He barely manages to avoid spluttering as the massive warrior accused him of being near incompetent. Him! The greatest engineer in the Empire!! Possibly the only hope this forsaken Empire had. On another day, Scrapper might have dismissed this as the jibes of a warrior Decepticon with the usual lack of appreciation for the mechs that kept the war machine running. Not this day. Not after all the humilations that had been heaped onto him already.

As Baneblade addresses his team, Scrapper cut in front of him and all but jammed his finger into Baneblades face (An act which required extending his arm to its full length, and even then there was no worry of the fingertip touching even the warriors chin). "Don't you presume to criticise matters you haven't the faintest inkling of, you oversized pile of SCRAP! You asked me for a list of priority targets and I gave them to you! You want to know why theres no Iron or Steel on the list? Because they're not a priority!!! Scavenger can find iron deposits in his rest cycle, and Mixmaster can process nearly a thousand tons of ore a day! This operation you're planning is just another way for the Autobots to notice us when we could be gathering materials we actually need!! Its a folly!!"

"And the gall of asking me for information like that! Thats the job of Hooks team!" He points over at his second, with Scavenger and Darkride. "They're processing the information right now, with my oversight! Because I trust them to handle it! But it seems I can't trust you to find your own aft!"

"Speak back to me again and I will have Bonecrusher dismantle you, and we'll have enough redundant material to built three bases! HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR?!"

Hangar

Ramplate had been about to ask where he had fit into Baneblade's little plan, but the arrival of the Constructicons and the confrontation building in front of them was at the moment more entertaining. Baneblade might have seemed to be intelligent, but he seemed even less social than Ramplate himself was! An optic ridge went up at this, though the tank-former took a step back and away from where Scrapper was about to tear into the bigger mech. Looking over at Astrotrain and Blitzwing, he asked, "Does this happen often around here?"

Stupid question it might have seemed but hey, better to ask and find out the details than go around in ignorance and whatnot.

Hangar Doors

Mixmaster nodded, pelased that the Constructicon commander had found his work to be up to its usual standards. There was too much at stake now to begin slipping up when it came to the little stuff.

They seemed to be more or less ready to leave the Stunticons' little space haven when Baneblade, a Decepticon whom Mixmaster had not really paid attention to before now, more or less laid out how unsatisfied he was with what Scrapper had presented to him.

"Not good. So not good," Mixmaster mumbled quietly. Scrapper, for his part, was quick to answer all the charges of incompetence that had been laid against him. This Baneblade guy was big, that was a given, and he could probably handle himself in battle just fine. But if he decided he was going to respond to Scrapper's answer with violence, it wasn't just one Constructicon he was going to end up fighting.

Mixmaster took a tentative step further away from Baneblade, still keeping his optics locked on the whole scenario.

Hangar

Scavenger started fuming at the grinning interogator in front of him making more strange threats. By this point the excavator didn't care about keeping secrets, he just wanted this psycho-bot to stop. Hearing sthe omething positive from Hook should have been one of the best moment's of Scavenger's life, and Darkride completely spoiled it.

"Look, I don't know slag, and I'm not telling you slag other then where to find materials.", Scavenger said right up to Darkride's faceplate, "Let me do my job, or you'll be eating my laser pi-"

Scavenger suddenly stopped at his audio receptors picked up the sound of Scrapper saying the excavator's name. The mining and salvage specialist instantly forgot whatever problem he had with Darkride and turned around looking for his commander. To his surprise he saw Scrapper standing up to a much larger mech among several other Decepticons. Scavenger wasn't sure who it was or what had happened. All the excavator knew was that he needed to be right there to help Scrapper if he needed it.

Scavenger walked up behind Scrapper until he felt he was close enough to defend his commander if he needed to.

"You tell him, boss!"

If Baneblade tried anything, a punch, a shot, anything on Scrapper, then Scavenger wanted to be the first Constructicon to fight back. For Scavenger it was a matter of what little pride he had, and to show the other's that he wasn't afraid to defend the team's honor. Even if it wasn't his primary function, Scavenger was determined to prove his worth.

Corridors

Ever since he was bounced onto the Ultrax, Firebrand had kept much to himself. The shock of Megatron's apparent demise took a large toll on the warrior who, like many Decepticons, had fought alongside the mighty leader for aeons. To suddenly have him gone was jarring, especially with Starscream taking his place.

Firebrand grimaced as he paced down the corridor at the thought of Starscream leading the Decepticons. Starscream was a capable killer, yes, but no warrior and not even a shadow of the commander that Megatron was.

Firebrand's sterling chassis reflected the marred and rugged interior of the Ultrax which he's still hadn't gotten entirely used to, at least its ample accommodations allowed him to keep sharp with training. He runs one sharp finger along the wall, scraping a clean streak into the corrosion, he idly flicks the rust from his finger and gives a drawn sigh.

Perhaps its time to join my brothers, the knightly Decepticon thought to himself. He's remained silent and reclusive for too long, its about time something actually happened for him. Firebrand continues down the corridor with his chin held up in hopes that, perhaps, he'll bump into one such brother.

Bounce Chamber

Nightraven followed closely behind Skywarp as he led his team into the bounce chamber. She watched as he made sure the coordinates he gave Soundwave were set into the control panel. Once Skywarp had finished his assessment he made his way to the group of Seekers and one Insecticon. The femme furrowed her brow when she noticed that the teleporter looked very nervous, but he was still capable of addressing the team with what he had planned. At the mention of her own name, Nightraven nodded.

His smile did not go unnoticed by Nightraven and she moved to stand beside him. She addressed him in a whisper once she was settled at his side.

“Everything will go fine. Just be sure to keep to the plan.”

That said she tentatively wrapped her hand around his last two digits.

Hanger

Darkride let out a sigh at Scavenger’s little fit. Had he the real desire the interrogator would have spit a glob of oil in the Constructicon’s face, but at this point he simply lost interest in tormenting the loser. His attention moved from the irate excavator to the massive form of Baneblade and Scrapper. Darkride’s lips upturned into a twisted smirk as he watched the two mechs and their standoff.

Bounce Chamber

“You slaggin’ know what it was for you moron!” Hellion yelled back at Thrust. “We’ll get along plenty well if you just learn to turn off your vocalizer instead of spitting out every stupid thought that crosses over your cerebral circuits. Either that or I rip that part out of you myself!” Hellion was already getting worked up, mostly because of how long it was taking the mission to get going. Being stuck in a smaller group with so many strong personalities wasn’t exactly helping either. She glared at Thrust before she took her spot in the bounce chamber, impatiently waiting to go.

*

Slipstream couldn’t help but frown at Waspinator’s reply. Shrinking would be such a valuable asset in the middle of a battle, she thought sarcastically. Obviously she had been shoved into a far worse group then she had initially suspected. There were a couple of capable soldiers in the group, but fat too many psychos and idiots for her liking. It all just meant she was going to have to look after number one when this battle went down. With any luck maybe she could get one of the other idiots to die protecting her. The universe at large would thank her for it. She stepped into position and waited silently to leave.

*

Hangar

Hook saw the confrontation with Scrapper and Baneblade out of the corner of his optic. He wasn’t particularly interested in getting involved until he heard his name being invoked. It seemed that Scrapper was going to drag him into it whether he liked it or not. He briskly walked over to join his commander.

“I can assure that the locations have been determined with the fitting criteria. This is certainly not the first base we have constructed on a foreign world using native materials. Having barely even heard of you, Baneblade, I can assume that you have little authority in such matters and even less expertise. Leave duties such as these to the Decepticons who know what they are doing.”

Hangar

Firebrand steps out into the hangar of the Ultrax, hearing the loud altercation even before he arrived. He raised a metal brow as he watched the disagreement, perhaps he had allowed himself to be out of the loop for longer than he had hoped. Firebrand's glossy yellow optics shifted between the two Constucticons and the other Decepticon, Baneblade.

The argent warrior crossed his arms and waited in the aperture of the corridor, thinking it wise to let this drama unfold before accompanying his fellow Decepticons once more. Though Firebrand seemed quite disinterested by the bickering he felt he could learn something he's missed in his seclusion.

Private Laboratory

Oil Slick stood bent over the work bench, a small vial of red fluid clutched in his clawed digits. He carefully tilted the open vial until a drop fell out, landing in a beaker of a green fluid. There was a bit of a bubbling and steam wafted out of the beaker. The Decepticon silently watched the beaker before adding two more drops to it. This time the bubbling effect was more pronounced and the fluid in the beaker changed to a dark purple color. He nodded his head beneath his protective dome, taking the vial and placing the cap back on it, sealing it air tight. He then carefully poured the contents of the beaker in another, larger vial and sealed it shut the same way.

The Decepticon chemist held the vial aloft, studying it in the light. The fluid was a slow acting corrosive. When poured on metal, such as the kind that all Cybertronians were made of, it would slowly, inexorably, and painfully eat through it layer by layer. The chemical was very difficult and highly expensive to create, not to mention dangerous. His lab had been under full lock down since shortly after arriving on Earth. Some of the information on recent events had still filtered down to him, such as the shift in leadership, but he was far too involved in his experiment to stop at that point.

Honestly Oil Slick was not particularly concerned about who was in charge. He doubted that any shift would result in any particular changes for him. He had his specialty, one that very few other Decepticons were suited for. There was no particular danger in anyone replacing him. The larger picture of the war also did not particularly concern him. As long as he was able to continue his experiments and test the results on the battlefield he would fight for the Decepticons. Should they even lose the war at some point he could find employ among one of the various other races that inhabited the galaxy. There would be no shortage of suitors for someone with his expertise, particularly from the more shady elements of societies.

The sealed vial still clutched in his hand, Oil Slick made for the door. He punched in a security code that allowed it to slide open, another precaution in case his experiments went awry. While other parts of the Ultrax might be in some disrepair his lab was well maintained. This was mostly his doing, but helped in part by the fact that other Decepticons made sure to steer clear of it. While an accident was only the most minor of concerns with his expertise other Decepticons always displayed a bit of paranoia when it came to him. While it was something that he wasn’t really capable of feeling he was more then willing to use it to his advantage.

With the door open the lanky Decepticon began making his way to the hangar where the computer reported his current customer was located.

Hangar

Oil Slick scanned the room, mildly interested to see so many Decepticons gathered together there. It seemed that there was a major operation in the works. That likely meant an opportunity to test some of his chemicals, if not by him then by one of his regular clients. Finally he located him and walked up to him.

“Darkride,” he spoke with a slight distortion in his voice, thanks in part to the dome that surrounded his head. “Your corrosive, as requested. I will expect detailed reports on its effectiveness and duration once you use it.” He raised the vial in his hand, offering it to the interrogator. “I take it that some mission is underway?”