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Command Center

Starscream pondered over Megatron's question. As commander of the unit here on Earth the Seeker Commander had long maintained a close watch over any and all reports that could potentially reveal that the base had been discovered, regardless of how far fetched the content of such reports could be. The great majority of those reports were nothing more then pathetic human paranoia over being spied on by extraterrestrials, though there had been several reports from more official sources about strange and new energy readings from all over the planet. It was no secret that humans were always looking for new resources to exploit, as their current energy sources were becoming more unpopular to maintain they were in search of new ones all the time. So far most of their research had to lead to hard to produce and to expensive to maintain sources. However, lately the human governments had been picking up new powerful radiation signatures of subterranean origin that held promise of a new, and powerful source of energy.

"For the most part no, there have been no unusual reports of sightings or anything else by the humans that contain any merit." Starscream replied. He pondered for a moment keeping what he knew about the new energy signatures a secret. However, he knew better. First of all Soundwave probably knew he was considering it so already he couldn't keep it hidden, and secondly Megatron would easily find out anyway. "However, there has been one set of reports I have been closely following from most human governments on this planet. It seems a few years ago after a seismic disturbance beneath one of their oceans an exploration team discovered odd energy readings coming from beneath the sea floor. In the months and years that followed similar readings from beneath the surface have been growing in number and intensity. Many human scientists beleave it to be a powerful new source of energy that they can exploit, but so far they have not been able to find a sample of whatever it is they are detecting. I have considered sending out a team to try and recover a sample myself, but each site that showed the best promise of recovering a sample had a heavy human presence and I was not willing to break our cover. Of course, this was before your arrival on Earth, Mighty Megatron."

* * *

After retuning to the Decepticons Earth bound base, Rampage had gone off to find some isolation from the rest of the Decepticons, and to watch some of this human TV he had discovered here. The Predacon had been holed up in a supply storage bay, with a data pad watching some of this material, soothing his nerves after a battle. However, his meditation like state was broken when Blackwind made her announcement. Rampage sighed and turned off the data pad, irritation flooding through him. He stored the pad in an internal compartment and made his way out of the storage area and towards the training area.

Medical Bay

Thousands of questions arose the moment he felt energon coursing through his fuel lines - activating microchips that had been hibernating for hundreds of thousands of years. Where he was? Who had awoken him and why? What had become of Cybertron? Had all of his efforts gone to waste? One of the few questions that he received an immediate answer to was brought to him by his internal chronometer. Still, it was difficult to believe even for someone who had nearly infallible trust in his sensory data. To not to believe his chronometer would be illogical, it had never failed before, he had tested similar devices for even longer periods in the past. Yet, he could not avoid considering the possibility of malfunction. For 7891,325 vorns had passed since Grimlock's last stand against him resulted in a nearby volcano burying them both along with the other four Dynobots under thousands of tons of magma.

It took several breems more before he began to reach minimum operational levels. He decided against showing any sings of operational capacity. It was only logical that whoever had uncovered him and decided to wake him up would take precautions against fully powering him. Yet, it would be foolish to not harvest every single drop of energon he could before the inevitable happened. He did not have to wait for long for the energon flow into him stopping. At least he had had enough time to scan his surroundings. A Cybertronian automated repair chamber, there was no doubt about it. Such information was not enough for him, but there was little else to do than wait until his benefactor would reveal himself. Finally, his scanners indicated a Cybertronian lifeform entering the larger room where his automated repair chamber was located - only nanokliks before the end of the energon feed into him.

He could feel the coolant used in the chamber being drained out and only moments later the chamber being opened. A cybertronian, relatively light one in contrast to its dimensions entered the chamber and made its way next to the repair bed he was lying on. Within a split of an astrosecond, hundreds of possible courses of action were analyzed. His main weapon systems were still offline, his battle armor incapable of providing enough shelter for several of his important internal systems. Nor he had enough energon for prolonged melee struggle against the allies of this lone mechanoid. While his sensor analysis provided him enough data to consider a quick decisive strike to neutralize this unknown Cybertronian, he abandoned such plans quickly. It was very unlikely that an hostile action towards this mechanoid would help his situation.

“Wakey, wakey. Lord Megatron has some questions for you, Shockwave.”

Then the Cybertronian spoke, answering several questions without him having to interrogate the fembot, and promising an answer to even more through speaking out a name all too familiar to him. A confrontation was at hand. One he was not too eager to take part. One that would prove to be very insightful to both him... and the Slagmaker of Tarn.

His sole optic flashing to life, the large purple mechanoid stood up from the repair table and fixed his single glowing optic on the smaller Transformer. "Designation: Decepticon, seeker. Model: Unconfirmed. Threat level: Inconsequential. Lead me to Megatron."
_____________________________________________

Decepticon HQ - Armory

Thundercracker had made his way into the armory after breaking up with Skywarp. He had only minor cosmetical damage in his wings, nothing that really worried him. Such damages would be quickly fixed later. The blue seeker was far more concerned about making sure he was ready for action any moment. Call to arms usually came when it was least expected and Thundercracker prided himself being always ready to go when orders were given. Having the ordnance to perform one's duties was the basis of it.

His inspection of the available air to air missiles came to an end when Blackwind's transmission reached him. Only moments later he was interrupted again and this time by Skywarp.

>>Hey, ‘Cracker. I’m out of the CR chamber and heading for training. Meet you down there.<<

Quickly grabbing several laser-guided missiles, Thundercracker opened a communications link to his brother and entered the corridor outside the armory. >>"I'll be there in a moment 'Warp. Try not to get yourself in trouble."<<

Medical Bay

She watched as the much larger mech rose from the med berth and stood. She smiled as she began to circle Shockwave taking in the Decepticon. She stopped in front of him and crossed her arms over her chest. The smile faded as she stared into his lone optic. Thousands of questions ran through her processor, but she did not speak.

After a few silent moments Blackwind finally spoke.

“I am pleased that you actually wish to speak to the Master.” She lowered her arms and placed them behind her back as she again started to circle Shockwave. “Tell me, Shockwave; was it logical to disappear from the planet to pursue your own personal goals?”

She knew he would not answer her questions, but if he did he would not make it seem that he was the one to be interrogated. She stopped once more, this time behind the large purple mech. She pursed her lips as she waited for a response. She had taken the time to review the Decepticon’s personnel files and knew that he based everything he did on sheer logic. This was, as she suspected, a very dangerous mech.

*********

Training Facility

Razorclaw had been on the level just above the training facility when he received Blackwind’s call for all Decepticons to report for training. He knew the order must have come directly from Megatron himself and would not disobey for any reason. He turned back the way he had come and entered the lift. Once he made it to the lower level he made his way to the facility entrance. Had he the ability he would have sneered when he saw the Battlechargers.

Razorclaw made his way to the entrance shoving Runabout and Runamuck out of his way.

“Out of the way cretins”

The Predacon Commander moved to one of the terminals and began running his fingers over the keys. He entered some commands and then initiated a level 10 program. From across the room a door slid open and in entered a massive training drone. Razorclaw drew his sword and readied himself.

“Begin.” Was all he said as he began to battle the drone.

Medical Bay

There were reasons behind Shockwave's cold, emotionless behavior. While he did not let it show, Blackwind's demeanor annoyed him. He had no interest in playing any games. Hiding his true emotions had become a second nature to him. Combined with his logic driven personality it had effectively created a misconception of Shockwave as a walking computer who had no understanding of emotions. It served his purposes well and wasn't too far from the truth either. For despite of being able to feel emotions, they were still rather foreign for him especially when he found behavior of others illogical.

Right now Blackwind was nothing more than a pest whom he would have gladly brushed away if such action had been a logical one. Standing motionless and appearing to be completely indifferent towards Blackwind's movements around him, Shockwave spoke out. "Assuming that you are speaking the truth, you should not keep your master waiting."

Training Room

The doors slid open and Skywarp entered the training facility. Looking around he saw the battle chargers standing nearby doing nothing. Typical, he thought to himself, shaking his head. He then saw the Predacon leader, Razorclaw, battling a huge drone on the other side of the vast room. ‘Warp didn’t need to work on his hand-to-hand combat skills, though. What the purple and black seeker required was to brush up on his aerial combat abilities.

Skywarp approached the control console and punched a few buttons. High above a panel on the ceiling slid open and released a half dozen aerial combat drones. ‘Warp set each of them on an advanced training level before transforming into his F-22 Raptor mode and launching himself into the air. Picturing the Autobot flier in his processor, the teleporter unleashed a barrage of laser fire at the oncoming drones.

*********

Divebomb walked into the training room. He didn’t want to be there. He wanted to be left alone to build his metal nest in that crawl space he had just discovered. Unfortunately, that would have to wait. When Megatron gave an order, you followed it or you became the latest victim of his wrath.

Divebomb noticed the battle chargers mulling about close by, doing nothing. This irritated the flying Predacon. If he had to train then so did they. “Hey, you two fraggers! You just going to stand around all day or are you going to actually train? Primus knows you two dolts need it more than I do!” With a scowl on his face, Divebomb pulled out his sword in a threatening manner before turning towards the control panel. He ran his fingers across the keypad and watched as four Predacon-sized drones rose up from a series of trap doors in the floor. Each drone held a sword not too dissimilar from his own weapon.

Divebomb then furiously charged at the four combat drones, his sword raised and ready to strike.

Command Center

Megatron sat silently as Starscream divulged this new bit of information. He felt a flicker of annoyance that the seeker had not mentioned this earlier. He did not let it show nor did he act on it. Apparently the thought that he would find out about it later on his own was enough to convince Starscream to divulge it now. Punishing him would likely only discourage him from divulging information in the future. It was a simple thing, this lesson, and even though Starscream considered himself far from a simple creature he would always be one to Megatron. It was one of the reasons he had not terminated him yet for his powerplays. He was predictable and still useful to him. Should he ever become something else then his lifespan would likely become very short.

Soundwave broke the silence when he turned around in his chair and addressed Megatron. “Initial file encryptions: broken. Information indicates Shockwave experimenting on multiple worlds. Experiments on this world: furthest along. Experiments are conducted upon the world itself, altering it. Further information on experiments still encrypted. Decryption efforts: continuing.” With his report given Soundwave turned back to the computer console and continued his decryption efforts. Of course he kept listening to the conversation in the command center. He was capable of listening while doing practically anything. It was his specialty.

Megatron sat back in his chair. “So, Shockwave was doing something to this world and odd energy reading has been detected emanating from it. It appears that whatever experiment he was conducting here has born out some success. The fact that it has taken all of this time for what appears to be only mild results means that whatever he was doing was never completed. Perhaps we can finish his experiment or harness whatever it has already done to this world.”

*

Corridors

Tantrum wasn’t in a good mood. He’d gone practically that whole battle without getting to fight an Autobot. It was one of the biggest wastes of times he’d ever seen. Now he was barely containing himself from ripping the base a part with his bare hands. He had to hit, mangle or crush something soon just to let a bit of steam off or he was going to explode.

Then he heard the orders come in to start a training session. He let out a loud snort. It wasn’t exactly what he was hoping for, but it would do. As long as he got to hit or shoot something or someone it would satisfy him for now. He’d just pretend it was an Autobot he was tearing into. He quickly began walking down the hallways towards the training room.

Medical Bay

Blackwind was not surprised at Shockwave’s response. She knew that he would not answer her questions, but he would answer to the Master. Her demeanor changed and she again began to walk slowly in front of the larger mech. She lowered her hands to her sides and moved in closer to Shockwave. She was treading in dangerous waters, but that would not keep her form understanding his motivations. She smiled devilishly and then spoke.

“Just remember, Shockwave, he is your Master as well.”

She stared into Shockwaves lone optic for what seemed like an eternity. She finally broke off her intense gaze and smiled.

“Follow me. I‘m sure you and the Master have much to discuss.”

Blackwind turned on her heel and began to make her way out of the Medical Bay and toward the Command Center.

Training Facility

Feeling the glares of contempt from the others, Runamuck and Runabout decide to start their actual training. The Battlechargers are among the lowest ranked Decepticons and not taken as a serious threat. They must change that. The duo knows they work well together and must focus on individual combat.

Walking over to the control panels, Runamuck programs a few flying drones for target practice, whilst sending a larger melee droid at Runabout. As a volley of drone laser shots rain down upon Runamuck, a few strike Runabout in the back.

"Hey, we're supposed to work solo, remember," Runabout scolds Runamuck.

"Keepin ya on yer toes!" Runamuck counters whilst returning fire at the drones.

"I'll keep ya.." Runabout begins to respond as he's sent flying across the room from a mighty slam, "What setting you got this on 'Muck?"

"Max!" Runamuck gleefully shouts back, some more laser fire scorching his white exterior.

"Slag!" Runabout calls back as the melee droid charges him, slamming him into a wall.

Medical Bay

Shockwave gave Blackwind no reaction other than answering her stare calmly with his own. The smaller mechanoid was obviously trying to study him. It would not work, it had never worked. The only obvious thing in Shockwave culminated in one word - logic. Even Soundwave had never been able to fully read him, Shockwave had ensured it. The communications officer was not the only being able to read electrical impulses Shockwave had met during him long existance. To keep his secrets his own, he had built a device that provided him protection against probing and fused it into his neural cluster tens of thousands of vorns ago. To gain information from Shockwave would require his cooperation.

"You are stalling." He merely said, waiting silently until Blackwind finally broke off her gaze and addressed him again. There was nothing left for him to say to the femme before him.

When Blackwind finally decided to lead him to Megatron, he complied silently and followed the smaller mechanoid out of the Medical Bay.
__________________________________

Training Facility

Thundercracker finally made his way into the training facility. Like many other Decepticons there, he wasn't too fond of taking part in any training action. He would have rather been left to his own devices or taken a patrol duty. Thundercracker felt truely free only when soaring in the skies, being stuck inside the mountain base was almost intolerable.

Noticing Skywarp already in action, Thundercracker decided to interfere with his brother's training program by playing a trick on him. Way too many times Skywarp had done the same to him so it was only fair to make him pay.

Making contact with the simulator interface, Thundercracker added the realistically acting projections of two more flying Autobots into the simulator, namely Air Raid and Fireflight.

Let's see how you will handle all of them... The blue seeker thought while entering a standby mode in order to join Skywarp in the simulator in any point of his choosing.

Outside Decepticon Base

As a particularly painful twinge through his arm reminded him that he still hadn't gotten any repairs yet, Needlenose snapped his fingers on his good hand, then pointed at Swindle with a gun shape. "But hey, my mech, you ever scheme a way 'round that little enforcer problem, give me a buzz, s'all right? I gotta jet, though, in more ways than one." He smirked at his own joke, then moved at a quicker pace to get to the CR chambers.

Medical Bay

Once there, he laid back and let the CR chamber get to work, though the repair cycle was momentarily interrupted by Blackwind's message partway through.

Blackwind wrote:>>"Attention all Decepticons. You are all ordered to the training facility where you will run through combat drills and shooting practice."<<

Pfft, Needlenose thought to himself, as he ignored it for the moment to let the repair cycle continue. Uppity Seeker femme thought she owned the place just because she was one of Megatron's favorites. It was already bad enough he had to take orders from Starscream, even though he wasn't technically a Seeker himself. Besides, no point in interrupting getting fully operational for something as irrelevant as target practice. He already knew how to fly and shoot just fine.

Still, when he awoke at the proper end of the cycle to find Blackwind and Shockwave, of all mechs, busy having a little "discussion", he wisely avoided calling attention to himself for a rare moment. Instead, he made an attempt to sneak out without their notice, finally heading down to the training facility.

Training Facility

As he sauntered in, he took stock of the room, a bit disappointed to see everyone was too engrossed in their own training to be looking at his entrance. He shrugged a little with an "Eh," then headed off to an unoccupied part of the area. He shook out his arm a bit as he went, glad to finally have it working again. His fixed wing he would test out later; he didn't like trying to fly in the cramped base much if he didn't need to, as it left less room for his favorite maneuvers than in the open air.

He picked up two basic training pistols as he went, since his normal weapons wouldn't have enough charge for a full-length session. Once he reached the spot he'd picked out, he called up some ground and flying drones for his target practice. He then started spending his time mostly tumbling around dodging their laser fire, not firing himself except whenever he could manage to line up a trick shot during his maneuvering.

Corridor to the Command Center

Blackwind took her time in getting Shockwave to the Command Center. Truth be told she had been stalling in the Medical Bay, but here in the corridor she was just being curious. Her stride slowed as they neared their destination. Stopping just outside of the Command Center, Blackwind turned to face the cycloptic mech.

“Just a word to the wise; let your Master apperceive what he wishes from you, and perhaps you will be forgiven."

A wicked smile made its way to her face before she turned back to the doorway. As she entered her code into the terminal she continued.

“I would be willing to put in a good word for you, but only if you are consenting to play ball.” She looked over her shoulder at Shockwave. “Keep that in mind.”

Blackwind turned her attention back to the keypad and punched in the last number. With a hiss the Command Center’s door slid open revealing to the two mechs a wall of terminals and another door. Blackwind led the way to Megatron’s own conference hall. Stopping just outside of the room Blackwind punched in Megatron’s private code. The final door slid open displaying the high command, with Megatron seated at the head of the long table. Stepping through the doorway Blackwind addressed the Decepticon leader.

“Shockwave, as you requested my Lord.”

She moved away from the entrance way and made her way to a chair next to her Master. Blackwind calmly took her seat and waited for Megatron to begin his debriefing of the military operations commander.

Command Center

With the eminent arrival of Shockwave Megatron moved to the main conference room just off of the command center, bringing Soundwave and Starscream with him. They took seats at the table only seconds before Shockwave entered.

Megatron stared at the other Decepticon. He had never fully trusted Shockwave. He was a valuable asset to be sure, much like Starscream. He claimed to run on pure logic but he knew that was false. Shockwave had an ego that drove his actions, using logic to justify them later. He had noticed Shockwave’s gradual withdrawal from active Decepticon affairs, likely due to some sense of wounded pride that drove him into working on some grand experiment. The fact that he kept this experiment a secret only made Megatron more suspicious. Shockwave would have to be watched closely, no matter what he said here.

The Decepticon leader remained seated as Blackwind sat down next to him. He still wore the battle damage he had received fighting Optimus Prime earlier. It would serve as a message to Shockwave. It both displayed the urgency of which he placed this meeting, placing it above his repairs, and also show that he did not fear the other Decepticon. He would face him in his current state without fear. He was and would never be a match for him. It was best to remind him that immediately to try and make him more compliant.

“So Shockwave, what experiment brought you to this world so long ago and lead to you being a test subject from the primitive flesh creatures who inhabit it?”

Training Room

The first shots from Skywarp’s laser canons struck two of the flying drones dead center, destroying them in a blaze of fire and broken parts. ‘Warp then shot through the space he had made between the other four drones, which then quickly altered their course to pursue the seeker. These training drones weren’t too bright, but they were fast and capable of some quick maneuvers on the higher-level settings.

The drones opened fire on Skywarp, showering him in lasers. Instantly, the teleporter vanished and then reappeared behind the drones. Before they could react, ‘Warp unleashed more laser fire, knocking down two more drones. He then disappeared again as the last pair began scanning the area for him. Skywarp then reappeared directly beside them and quickly transformed to robot mode. Reaching out with his hands, ‘Warp grabbed both drones and smashed them together. He then released what was left and watched as they plummeted to the floor below.

“That was too easy,” Skywarp said aloud, proud of his accomplishment. But before he could celebrate too much, a new volley of lasers came his way. One struck him in the back, which knocked him for a loop. Righting himself, Skywarp trained his optics on what had attacked him. What he saw seemed almost impossible. Two flying Autobots, namely Air Raid and Fireflight, were streaking right towards him. “Aerialbots?! How’d they get in here?”

Skywarp reverted to jet mode and launched himself directly at the Aerialbots. “Someone sound the alarm! We got Autobot intruders in the training room!” Warp then opened fire and passed between the two flyers. As he did so, he noticed one of the Aerialbots flicker like a light that was about to go out…or a hologram! “Wait an astrosec,” Skywarp began to realize what had happened. “They’re not real! But I didn’t program the simulator for…” His words trailed off as he set his scanners on the area around the control console below and picked up the distinctive energy signature of Thundercracker!

“Cracker, you ol’ sneak! You tricked me! Ha! Ha!” Skywarp shouted, knowing his friend was there hiding in standby mode. Many times in the past ‘Warp had messed around with Thundercracker’s simulator. Now, it was the blue seeker’s turn at a little payback. “I know you’re down there, ‘Cracker! Why don’t you come on up here and we can take out these two supposed Aerialbots together? And why don't you add a few more while you're at it?”

*********

Divebomb lunged at the four sword-wielding training drones, his own blade at the ready. The sound of metal clashing together echoed through the training room as the flying Predacon engaged the drones in a four-way sword fight. Divebomb effectively countered every move each drone made, finally slicing one in half at the waist. The droid fell to the ground as a shower of sparks flew from the exposed wiring.

Divebomb then turned his attention back to the other three. Their blades clashed again as the Predacon kicked one drone in the gut and quickly swung around to decapitate another. With only two left now, Divebomb threw his sword like a spear and impaled one of the drones directly in the torso, severing its power supply. As it began to collapse to the ground, the Predacon leapt up and onto its chest plate and pulled out his sword with ease.

Pushing himself off the dying drone with his legs, Divebomb soared up and over the last training mechanoid, landing behind it. Before the drone could do anything, the Predacon quickly stabbed it straight through the head and watched as it twitched for a few astroseconds before finally going still and silent. Divebomb then pulled his sword from the drone’s head and watched it fall to the floor beside the others.

All during the bout, Divebomb had imagined that the four drones were his Predacon teammates, whom he could barely tolerate. It made the training session all the more enjoyable for him. “That was fun,” he said with a sly grin, ignoring the shouts from Skywarp above. Apparently, the teleporter had mistaken two simulations for actual Autobots. Stupid seeker.

Command Center

Shockwave ignored Blackwind's musings. The only master he would ever serve was cold logic. It had been a logical decision to align himself with Megatron when the rising gladiator had offered Shockwave an opportunity to weaken the senate while keeping his own involvement secret. After Megatron and his followers eradicated the senate and defeated Sentinel Prime, it had been logical to come out of the shadows to join the Decepticons under Megatron's command for he had seen the Decepticon leader as a vessel to advance his own plans. With his careful plans foiled by an unexpected random factor that had been the ambush by Dynobots which had left him in a statis lock, buried under thousands of tons of magma for thousands of vorns. For now it would be logical to align himself with Megatron once again and evaluate the situation despite the fact that very soon he would have to share some of his secrets with the Decepticon leader. Given that the female seeker he was following was speaking the truth.

The truth became apparent as Blackwind led him into the bunker's command center and into its conference chamber. After all these vorns, Megatron still functioned, as obviously did Starscream and Soundwave. The Decepticon leader however was clearly battle worn while his lieutenants were in full operational condition aside minor marks of battle in Soundwave's armor. No doubt this was planned. Megatron wanted to both make it apparent that this meeting was important enough not to seek repairs before it and that he did not fear Shockwave. Whatever superiority Megatron sought over him with this setup was downplayed by the Decepticon leader's obvious lack of trust in the former military commander of the Decepticon army. Megatron was wounded, yes - but he had nevertheless made it certain that Shockwave wouldn't be able to challenge him either.

"Lord Megatron." Shockwave formally greeted the Decepticon leader after Blackwind addressed Megatron.

The archaic Transformer did not need to wait for long what Megatron wanted as the Decepticon leader went directly to business. Shockwave decided to answer truthfully, leaving very little veiled. "Cybertron was dying because of our conflict against the Autobots. My warnings were ignored. I sought to repair the damage before it would be too late by seeding this world with energon derivative in order to provide a new source of energy for the warmachine. However, I was ambushed by the Dynobots. Despite being initially victorious against them, they had triggered a trap for me. As soon as Grimlock fell, I became the target of an orbital bombardment. The force of the attack opened the ground under me and buried me under a land slide and magma, making an escape in my own power impossible."

Training Room

Laughing as he pops shots at the last of his aerial drones, Runamuck relishes in the popping explosions of overheated parts. His friction rifle causes a tremendous build up of heat in the drones, until their energy cells explode in a fiery display of sparks.

"What's the matter 'Bout, havin trouble?"

Runabout is pinned against the wall of the training facility by a huge battle droid. The larger robot is holding Runabout up and driving repeated blows into midsection with its knee. Struggling Runabout transforms in peels out down the wall, taking out the supporting foot of the battle droid. A fraction of a second later He transforms back, shooting at the droids head be for it can recover.

"Nothing I can not han.." Runabout proceeds to say, before being broadsided by Runamuck's in vehicle mode, sending him flying across the room.

"Muck, we are supposed to be training solo"He reminds Runamuck.

"I thought we'd spar for a minute" 'Muck counters, speeding toward the downed Runabout.

Transforming to land on his wheels Runabout slides to face Runamuck, speeding up he faces him head on. Reverting to robot mode at the last second, Runabout springs onto Runamuck, kneeling and riding him facing the rear.

"Stop screwing around!" Runabout asserts as he punches the vehicle trunk shielding his cohorts head.

Swerving to avoid the other Decepticons Runamuck slams on his breaks just short of the wall while transforming. Runabout is pinned against a wall yet again, this time by Runamuck, as the white mech lodges a elbow in the neck of this older twin.

"I'm not a droid, you're not my boss" Runamuck screams at Runabout, pummeling him in the face.

Giving a double legged kick Runabout pushes his brother back. "Where the smelting pool did that come from?," he asks bewildered.

"I'm fed up. I'm not your shadow!" Runamuck screams as he charges the downed Runabout.

Transforming and speeding abruptly runabout manages to trip up Runamuck. Spinning in place He quickly transforms yet again, Pointing his rifle at his fallen brother. "This is why I'm in charge.." Runabout brutally asserts as he centers his gun between Runabouts optics...

Training Facility

Rampage had been enjoying several of the Earth programs he had come to find so addicting when the call had come out for the Decepticons to begin training. He had pondered if it was truly necessary for a Predacon to hone his combat skills, considering they were almost always in a state of readiness for battle. Regardless Rampage knew it was better to do what Megatron wanted rather then question him.

Walking over to one panel for the firing range the Predacon gunner entered into it his preferred training method. A series of high speed moving targets or varying armour density, this was the only real test of his skills. With the program entered he produced his lightning rifle and stood at the end of the range and waited for the drones to be deployed. Once they appeared he raised his weapon and began to fire. Striking several right away.

Training Room

Needlenose looked up in confusion at Skywarp's shout that there were Aerialbots in the training room, but soon chuckled when Thundercracker's trick was revealed. "Man, I wish there were Aerialbots around... beats flying circles around the boring fleshie planes."

The antics of the Battlechargers then caught his attention. He watched amusedly in-between dodging drones as they argued and tussled with each other, but waved his finger off-handedly when things started getting too heated. "C'mon, Runabout, don't be bogus to your bro like that. Megatron'll get his bolts in a twist if we offline each other instead of the Autobots," he said casually.

Training Room

Thundercracker chuckled as Skywarp made a fool of himself by announcing to everyone that the Aerialbots had attacked the base. Had the teleporter been giving more attention to what he was doing, he would have likely been able to tell the difference between an Aerialbot simulation and a real Autobot by first glance.

"Frag. You are sometimes such a dim-spark 'Warp..." Thundercracker laughed and shook his head.

"But I will grant you your wish." The blue seeker said and sent a series of signals into the simulator command console in order to Skydive and Slingshot to the simulator.

"Have fun, I'll be right there." Thundercracker added and began the countdown in order to enter the simulation.

Runabout stares down the barrel of his blaster. Giving as much mocking a glare as his faceplate allowed, he seemed to be daring Runamuck to try something.

"C'mon, Runabout, don't be bogus to your bro like that. Megatron'll get his bolts in a twist if we offline each other instead of the Autobots,"

Needlenose was right. Megatron will be rather upset if Runabout off-lined Runamuck. "Now listen to orders." Runabout asserts, turning and walking toward the control panel.

As Runabout takes a few steps, and hears "Cram it up your camshaft" as Runamuck fires his friction rifle, catching the unsuspecting Runabout in the right shoulder.

Runamuck lines up a second shot at Runabout, and fires. Just before 'Muck finishes pulling the trigger Runabout is already transformed and charging at him. Runamuck's shot blasts the training computers control panel. With some violent pops and small explosions the computer circuits hiss and sizzle. Suddenly the training drones stop fighting, some fall from the air while others immobilized in place.

Slamming into 'Muck, Runabout sends his brethren flying across the room. "Look what you've done now."

Landing and rolling a few times Runamuck picks himself up. The other cons looking none too happy about his unfortunate shot, especially the Predacons. Things look a little tense, and Runamuck seems to have drawn some negative attention...

<<OOC yes i got permission to screw up the computer. Just sayin..>>

Conference Room

Megatron listened quietly while Shockwave explained his situation. He showed no expression on his face or in his body language as the other Decepticon wasted no time in getting directly to the heart of the matter. It seemed that being buried on this planet for so long had done nothing to change Shockwave’s personality, or lack there of. His story so far could make sense with what they had found out so far. It could be as simple as him thinking everyone else to be short sighted fools and thinking that he by himself could solve all of the problems he foresaw. He had certainly displayed such arrogance in the past.

Still there was something more to this than what the Decepticon had said. His explanation was just a little too perfect, a little too noble. There was something more to this than the other Decepticon was letting on, Megatron could feel it. At the very least he would have to keep an optic on him.

“Why the secrecy surrounding your mission? Keeping everything so secret would only arouse suspicions in both factions, not to mention make it impossible for anyone to continue your work should something happen to you, much like what did happen.”

Training Room

As he waited for Thundercracker's entry into the training simulator, Skywarp turned to face the Aerialbot foursome that his brother had programmed in. 'Warp easily avoided the first round of lasers from the faux Autobot fliers and quickly returned fire, striking both Fireflight and Air Raid. The holographic 'bots exploded and the wreckage faded into nothingness. "Two down, two to go! Hey, 'Cracker! If you don't get up here soon, there won't be any Aerialbots left for you to destroy!"

Skywarp then turned his sights on the newly added targets, Skydive and Slingshot. However, just as the teleporter was about to strike at them, the two simulations disappeared from sight. "Hey! I'm the only one who teleports around here! What gives?!" The seeker soon found his answer as he peered down to see sparks and flames shooting out of the control panel. "Ah, what the frag!"

Skywarp decended towards the floor, transforming into robot mode. He landed next to Thundercracker and saw the two battle chargers standing near the destroyed console. "Your doing, I take it?" Skywarp asked the pair, knowing full well they had been responsible.

Before anyone could answer, however, Divebomb suddenly pushed by Skywarp and Thundercracker, almost hitting them both in the head with his wings as he passed between the two seekers. The flying Predacon walked up to Runamuck and pointed his finger directly in the battle charger's faceplate. "You're lucky I was done with my training exercise, idiot, or I'd being using you two as my new training drones!" Divebomb scowled at them, annoyed once again by their antics. The Predacon then turned and stormed out of the training room.

Skywarp shook his head in amazement before looking over at Thundercracker. "Well, I may have mistaken a simulation for an actual Autobot, but at least I didn't piss off a Predacon," he commented with a grin.

Training Room

Coming in late but not in an obvious hurry, Swindle was almost knocked over by Divebomb as the Predacon stormed out of the room. Poking his head round the door, the munitions expert took in the scene.

"Oh dear, seems we've gotten off to a shaky start on our training..." Swindle pondered. I don't think I have any spare parts for drone control consoles, not here anyway. And anyway, who would I sell them too? It's no-one property in particular...maybe the culprit. He saw that Runamuck was standing there, his blaster still smoking and a slightly quilty twinge in his optics.

Looks like someone might be in trouble...and where there's trouble, there's oppurtunity.

Training Room
Needlenose started to turn away satisfied as Runabout walked off, until he heard Runamuck's shout and turned back again. He watched in disbelief as their tussle disabled the computer, then flung his arms over his head and ducked as the aerial drones above him suddenly stopped functioning and started falling on and bouncing off him instead. "Ow! Scrap! Spawn of a motherboard..."

After the drones finally stopped falling, Needlenose peeked an optic out from between his arms just to make sure it was safe, then straightened up again, rubbing the places where he'd gotten hit. He glowered at Runamuck, and gave a little staticy noise of contempt as Divebomb berated the Battlecharger and stalked off.

Needlenose shook his head and wiped his face. "Like, oi, I didn't mean you should offline the computer either, ya dipstick. Woulda served you right if Divebomb creased your cans." He picked up a chunk of damaged drone that was still stubbornly sitting on his shoulder, and lobbed it in the direction of Runamuck's head, in more of a "You idiot" gesture than an attempt to seriously injure.

Conference Room

"I was planning to... disappear. You had ignored my warnings." Shockwave replied to Megatron's most recent inquiry. "Researching and preparing Cybertron's mechaforming interface while cultivating suitable energon for it was too delicate and time consuming process to oversee without removing myself from active duty in the Decepticon army."

Shockwave had to appreciate the irony. He had performed a number of offworld tests before travelling to Earth for the latest one in line. Through use of cloaking devices, forging fake reports and organizing cover operations he had managed to hide his goals for a number of meta-cycles. Until he had decided to disappear. He had been planning to stage his demise after leaving Earth and then withdraw into hiding under Cybertron's surface in order to continue his research. How the Dynobots had found his trail did bother him though. There had been a short duration malfunction in his ship's engine cooling system which had resulted in the ships' engine trail becoming traceable for few nanokliks. Could it be that such a minor glitch had played the key part in his downfall? It didn't matter much now. What had happened to Cybertron interested the ancient Transformer more.

He had to present the question. It was only logical that Cybertron had suffered the fate he had predicted. Why else would a tyrant like Megatron hiding in some backwater world instead taking it from the primitive species that inhabited it. Perhaps there was too much delight in others misfortune in his words but after everything that had gone wrong even he could not resist the melodrama. "Lord Megatron. Cybertron... my calculations that you brushed aside as nonsense all those vorns ago turned to be accurate, did they not?"

Training Room

Razorclaw's sword gleamed in the light of the training room as he reared it back ready to strike the killing blow on his drone. Just then the machine dropped motionless to the floor. The Predacon Commander let out a low growl as he searched the room for what had caused the malfunction. Then he spotted it, or rather who. Had he the capability he would have sneered, but instead he stalked over to where Runamuck now stood.

There was an assembly of mechs in front of the Battlechargers. Razorclaw shoved past the Seekers and Needlenose and grabbed Runamuck by the throat. The Predacon lifted the smaller mech into the air; he then addressed him.

“You despicable cretin! I was in the middle of something, and you put an end to it.”

Razorclaw began to squeeze as he grew angrier. Then without warning he threw Runamuck clear across the room. The Predacon swiftly made his way to the downed mech and kicked him in the torso. Without so much as a warning Razorclaw, drew his sword and planted it in the floor right next to Runamuck’s head. Razorclaw looked back at the other Decepticons in the room and addressed them.

“Decepticons, I believe we are at a loss here. But we can make the most if it. Find a partner, and begin sparring. I already have mine.”

Razowclaw knelt down next to Runamuck with one hand still on the hilt of his sword.
“You hear that freak? You’re all mine.”