The Energon Pub

Main Entrance

Scrapper remained impassive as Starscream bawled his way past the team. He was unsurprised, Starscream was the best example of the gloryhound warriors that made up far too much of the Decepticon forces. He let the Seeker Commander past and then continued into the base.

"He's the same as he always is Long Haul. Mechs like him never change.

Briefly Scrapper pondered why Megatron kept bots like Starscream in such important positions. But then Scrapper did this all the time, as he tended to wonder if he himself was the best choice for Constructicon leader, despite Megatrons approval. Dedicated though the architect was to Megatron and the Decepticon cause, he entertained the notion that Cybertronian Resources was not the Slagmakers strong point.

Decepticon Base - Lab Facilities

The labs were well-equipped, if a little neglected, hardly unusual for an outlying base like this. Decepticon scientists and engineers were in short supply, and in many bases the scientific equipment was treated more like trophies of war, liberated from Autobots or inferior species. Still, everything was in good condition, and it seemed a lot of the equipment for handling organic substances and small infiltration automata had seen good use.

"Hmm. Good enough, but it could do with a tidy. Scavenger, Long Haul, start assembling anything that we might need: From what Megatron has told me, it's chemical and Energon-related apparatus we'll be using. Hook, check that everything's working. Mixmaster and I will begin checking the data while you work. Bonecrusher, help Long Haul, but not with the delicate stuff."

Command Center

Megatron continued to sit in the command chair, reviewing information on Earth and reports on the war in general across the galaxy. He mulled over all of the information he was absorbing as his optics moved up from the reports and briefly gazed over the room. He glanced down at the floor. His face twisted into a look of disgust as he remembered the encounter with Darkride earlier. Yes, he would be on the list of those to be purged once the war was at a satisfactory conclusion. Deviants like him wouldn’t be tolerated in the new order but were accepted for now out of necessity.

A cruel smile formed on his face. Perhaps Starscream needed to learn how to better work with the less pleasant parts of the Decepticon army.

>>”Starscream, I am assigning Darkride to your mission. He will prove valuable if any prisoners are acquired. His technical expertise should also prove useful.”<<

>>”Darkride, report to Starscream outside the main base doors for immediate mission deployment.”<<

*

Just Outside the Base

Hellion cocked an eye at her sister. “Suuuuure you didn’t know he was here. That couldn’t be the reason why you signed us up for this mission on the backwater planet.” She nudged Nightraven with her elbow. “Don’t play coy with me, you’re not very good at lying, especially to me. We’ll just have to see if your little boyfriend is still attached at the hip to Starscream and Skywarp.” Hellion snickered before turning her attention to the front door where Starscream came marching out.

The Seeker listened as Starscream barked out orders. She clenched her fists as he openly insulted them with the ‘rusty bucket’ comment. She gritted her teeth as he talked about the need to ‘test’ them in combat. Hellion felt like hitting something, or preferably someone. She was visibly shaking as he gave the orders that his two little buddies, Thundercracker and Skywarp, would be his personal lieutenants on this mission.

The femme looked over at Nightraven. She whispered through clenched teeth at her. “I hope this is worth putting up with him.”

*

Firebat only paid half attention to Starscream’s briefing. He did, however, hear the mention of their target being surrounded by water. A frown formed on his face. While he wasn’t afraid of water he did not particularly like it. It was the sworn enemy of the flames that he worshipped. It would make it difficult for him to perform a sacrifice on this mission in their honor.

On the other hand though, if he did manage some sort of sacrifice in their honor it would be daring and spectacular. To create a flame in the middle of the water would be a challenge, one that the flames would recognize and honor him in return for. Yes, perhaps this would be a good and worthy mission after all.

*

Personnel Quarters

Astrotrain was relaxing in his quarters, recharging, when the call came in from Starscream. The triplechanger grunted in response. The Seeker commander was trying to appeal for his desire to be more of a frontline warrior, underplaying his typical function. He didn’t make much secret of his boredom at dragging troops or supplies back and forth, which is why he wasn’t surprised by Starscream’s words.

Of course, that didn’t mean that he was going to ignore them. He got up, unhooking himself from the charging station. The words didn’t mean much to him aside from being just orders. What would matter to him is if the Seeker would back them up with actual actions. Oh, he was sure he was going to have to drag something somewhere, but if he were at least heavily involved in some fighting he’d probably be happy.

The Decepticon quickly exited the room and made his way to the main doors. He walked outside to see a gathering of seekers, ones he knew and ones he’d never seen before. He stifled a sigh at the sight of them all. There was going to be a lot of chatter during this mission as all of those egos knocked together. At least it didn’t look like he’d have to carry anyone since they were all dedicated fliers.

*

Main Entrance

Hook sneered at Starscream as he walked past him and into the base. “Arrogant little flier. Some day he’ll realize what a small part of the Empire he truly is. While he is off fighting battles no one will remember tomorrow we are building fortresses and creating technology that will be used for a millennia after his is nothing more than a rusted pile of metal.”

Decepticon Base - Lab Facilities

The surgical engineer looked around the laboratory in mild disgust. It was obvious that it had suffered from disuse, at least most of the equipment had. The simpler instruments that would be used for infiltration on a planet such as this were all active. It didn’t really surprise him. He had helped re-engineer those pieces of equipment so lesser minds could work them without trouble. That work had also involved making them far more robust with multiple redundancies. He was well aware of the harsh conditions on these other worlds and of the lack of technical expertise that the vast, VAST majority of Decepticons possessed.

He nodded as Scrapper gave orders. “Of course Scrapper,” he replied in a condescending tone. It wasn’t that he was necessarily being condescending, although a small part of him always was trying to be that way, but it was just the way he had come to talk over the ages. The Constructicon carried his own box of personal tools over to a massive chemical analyzer and powered it up, running it through a routine test sequence. He frowned as the results came up on the screen.

“A .002% variance in readings? That is unacceptable.” He sighed quietly to himself. There seemed to never be an end to the work that needed to be done. He carefully removed the maintenance panel from the device and grabbed a specialized wrench from his box. He would start by tightening any loose bolts he could find and then move on to examining the wiring. With his fine skills it would be easy for him to re-solder any loose or disconnected wiring. It was fortunate he was there. No one else would be able to conduct such delicate work as efficiently and exact as he could. When Hook was through with the device it would be better than any other in the Empire.

The base entrance

After Dirge had been unable to provide entertainment of any kind to Thundercracker, the blue seeker had given up on the morose conehead and headed after Skywarp not much later the teleporter had left. The delay had been enough for him to arrive into the med bay bit later than 'Warp, thus allowing the seemingly impatient seeker to leave the med bay before Thundercracker was ready himself.

Not much later he caught up with rest of the seekers at the base entrance. Being last one to arrive was never a good thing but at least he had not kept Starscream waiting for too long. Then again, both he and Skywarp had known Starscream vorns before the trio led by Screamer had joined the Decepticons so there was at least somekind of a bond between the three of them. Although Thundercracker had to admit that he no longer trusted Starscream like he had used to. The seeker commander's ambition had blinded Starscream's judgement numerous times, leaving both Skywarp and Thundercracker himself in perilous situations. They had survived from Screamer's mishaps far too many times out of sheer luck. Truth to be told, Thundercracker had began to think that the seeker commander had reached a point where he wouldn't think twice about sacrificing his long time followers for good if it meant advancing his own status. He had learned to be wary of Starscream. While he never show any signs of fear towards the seeker commander, Thundercracker was often the first to warn those Decepticons that didn't consider Starscream dangerous. The seeker commander's behavior could be judged amusing or irritating but only a fool would underestimate Starscream.

"Thundercracker present." He formally informed Starscream and took a position next to Skywarp. He could recognize some of the so called recruits. All of these recruits had hundreds of vorns worth of battle experience. The pyromaniac Firebat, brash Hellion and her shadowy sister Nightraven were the first among the lot he could remember serving with although very briefly.

Interrogation Chamber

Darkride had received the first two human subjects from Blackstar in a very timely manner. All he required was the final one to arrive in the same way. He had just finished placing the first two of his guests into a cage when Blackstar walked in. Darkride turned to face the Decepticon flier and smiled broadly. Unfortunately he began to tell the interrogator about the fight the human had put up. Darkride put hand up to end the flier’s further explanation.

“Yes, yes. I’m sure he was very uncooperative.”

Darkride takes possession of the human and smiles evilly.

“Oh, I’m not going to kill you. No, not just yet, that is.”

He laughed manically as he placed the human in a cage. He then heard Blackstar and turned to face the seeker as he spoke.

“That is all. You may leave me to my work, but you may be called again once I’ve finished with these three. Now go.”

Darkride took the cage his guests were in and placed it in an empty cell were he closed and locked the door. He then moved to some of the devices he had built and began to process to create three facsimiles. It was then that he received the comm. from Megatron. Sucking his teeth he turned and began to make his way out of the chamber. His little experiment would have to be put on hold.

“Oh bother.”

Just Outside the Base

Darkride made it out to here Starscream and the other seekers had gathers. Had he the ability he would have rolled his eyes. Not only did he have to leave the sanctity of his own chamber, but he now had to deal with all of the super egos of each and every one of these seekers. Sighing heavily he made his way to the group and waited patiently for their briefing.

*********

Nightraven listened to her sister’s jibes and then felt the elbow to her side. She smiled as she looked to Hellion.

“Alright, you got me there, and he is not my boyfriend.”

She closed her optics as she tried to explain what she meant to Hellion.

“I happen to agree with his ideals is all. Besides, I’ve never actually talked to him for very long.” She opened her optics and looked to her sister with a serious expression. “I doubt he’d want to have anything to do with me anyway.”

She sighed heavily as Starascream began his speech. He was arrogant, but an excellent leader. She could tell Hellion was not taking the orders well, and carefully she moved her hand over to her sister’s hand and squeezed lightly. She sighed once more when she heard Hellion whisper to her. She then quietly addressed her.

“I’m sure things will go fine, just calm down.”

It was then that Nightraven saw Thundercraker join Starscream and Skywarp. She almost smiled as he made his way to his brothers, but she caught herself. She most certainly did not want to look like a fool in front of him. She did however, stand straighter and listened more intently to what the Aerospace Commander had to say.

Lab Facilities

Long Haul entered the lab with the rest of the Constructicons and peered around the room. It wasn’t in too bad a shape, but it was obvious that it didn’t get used very often if at all. A lot of the equipment, while intact and undamaged, was covered with a layer of dust and dirt. Things would need to be cleaned off and straightened up before being activated again. That wouldn’t take too long, though.

Just as Long Haul made his way over to the far side of the facility, he heard Scrapper’s orders. “I’m already on it, boss,” he replied, giving a thumbs up. He then turned his attention to a few nearby work stations, looking for whatever chemical and energon related devices he could find. He found several energon detectors and converters along with power pumps, electrical analyzers, water aspirators, condensers, heating mantles, beakers, test tubes and other empty glass containers of varying sizes lying around in disarray. One by one, Long Haul dusted off each piece of equipment and began the menial task of carrying them over to the primary work table in the center of the facility.

Long Haul looked over at Bonecrusher, who was mulling around closeby. “If you want, Bonecrusher, you can help me by bringing those power pumps and energon detectors over here. Just be careful with them and leave all the glass stuff for me to handle. Those beakers and test tubes are very fragile.” Bonecrusher was the resident demolitions expert of the group. His job was to destroy stuff and he did it well. He wasn't known for being gentle so Long Haul would have to keep a close optic on him to make sure he didn't damage anything.

Outside the Decepticon Base

With Skywarp and Thudnercracker assembled Starscream looked over his troops once more.

"Alright, Skywarp and Thundercracker will each take a third of you lot. Darkride and Astrotrain will accompany me. We will attack the platform from three sides. Now, Decepticons, take to the skies!"

He said launching into the air and transforming into his alternate form and Starscream set course for the human oil rig.

The base entrance

Thundercracker wasn't all that excited about getting to lead a flight of his own. But orders were orders and he rarely questioned them in any manner. Loyalty and honor above petty insecurities of his.

"Geez, sure didn't expect this 'Warp. At least one of us will be happy boss others around." Thundercracker muttered to his brother and made a gesture with his hand to mark four of the eight seekers present. "I'll take that half, you take the rest. And in case your fabulous name memory processing is failing you once again, their names are Blackstar, Firebat, Riptide and Solarstrike."

Taking a step towards the group of seekers he had selected, Thundercracker addressed them. "Amethyst, Cobalt, Hellion and Nightraven with me. Delta formation."

With that said, Thundercracker ignited his thrusters and took off after Starscream, transforming into his F-22 Raptor mode in midair.

Corridors
Leaving the Interrogation Room, Blackstar walks down the hall, noticing Skywarp and Thundercracker exiting the base. Following them outside he falls in line with the other Seekers. Thundercracker didn't seem too interested in a leadership position, but that was understandable, given the Con reputation of assassinating your commander to gain rank. Looking over the other Seekers he makes a gut assessment of their capabilities and takes note. Standing in a rigid military stance, he anxiously awaits Skywarps orders.

Just Outside the Base

Astrotrain listened as Starscream divided up the teams. He sighed loudly as he was placed on the team with Darkride. He knew what that meant. He transformed and expanded into his shuttle mode. A door slid open on his side as he spoke to Darkride. “Hurry up and get in before we get left behind, and make sure to wipe your slagging feet off before you step inside! I don’t need any human guts clogging up my insides.”

*

Hellion relaxed ever so slightly as she felt Nightraven squeeze her hand. She was still trying to calm down even when her sister whispered back to her. Nightraven was succeeded and by the time the teams were announced she hand unclenched her fists. Her anger was just simmering below the surface now, waiting for the slightest spark to send her into a full beserker state. It was how she preferred to go into battle anyway, holding it in just barely so she could unleash her full fury on the first enemy she saw on the battlefield.

She shot a smirk at Nightraven. “Looks like you lucked out Nighty, we got picked for the right team. Lucky for me too since he can’t fight worth a slag, means more for me to kill.” She chuckled as she lifted up into the air. “Just try not to swoon too much in the middle of a fight, I’ll be too busy tearing the place apart to help you out.” Hellion transformed into her alternate mode in midair and blasted off after Thundercracker.

*

Firebat continued to pay little attention to what was going on around him. His thoughts were now locked onto how he would set a blaze in the middle of an ocean. Hopefully their target would be made of something relatively flammable. He had seen that the natives were made mostly of water, but there were plenty of other bits of them that would burn. It would take a great many of them to make a worthwhile sacrifice though. He would just have to heap as many of them as he could together and let his flamethrowers do the rest of the work.

The Seeker looked up as he heard Thundercracker mention his name. Apparently he was assigned to Skywarp’s group. He didn’t particularly care either way, although that seeker would probably be more tolerant of his unique views that Thundercracker would be. He rose up into the air, still in his robot mode. Firebat wouldn’t take off until Skywarp did. He still knew how the Decepticons worked, but he was anxious to get going. He looked down at Skywarp, awaiting his order to move out.

Base Entrance

Skywarp couldn’t help but smile when Starscream gave his orders to the others before taking to the skies. Leading a team of his own was something ‘Warp had dreamt about for a long time and now he actually had the chance to prove he could do it. Maybe if he and his team did well on this upcoming fuel raid, he would be considered for such roles in the future. Only time would tell, however.

Thundercracker, on the other hand, didn’t appear to be as happy as Skywarp. “Don’t look so glum, ‘Cracker. At least it’s better than being told what to do all the time,” Skywarp said before Thundercracker then chose his group and took to the air. “Yeah, I’ll try to remember their names. Thanks!” Skywarp yelled up at his airborne friend. Not that I care what they’re called. Just as long as they do what they’re told and make me look good, I’ll be happy.

Skywarp then pointed at the four remaining seekers in front of him. “Blackstar, Firebat, Riptide, and Solarstrike it looks like the four of you are with me. Let’s get going! Standard delta formation.” He spoke in a commanding tone so the newcomers would take him seriously. Skywarp then transformed into his F-22 Raptor mode and launched himself high into the skies, following Starscream and Thundercracker to the human oil platform.

Just Outside the Base

As always Nightraven remained silent and unnoticed, however, once she saw Thundercraker and Skywarp arrive her features lightened. Trying to remain professional she listened intently, silently hoping that he would choose her and her sister for his team. With a wave of his hand her hopes were granted. She caught herself before revealing a smile. She watched him take off after Starscream and she quickly tried to follow suit. She was brought back to reality as she heard Hellion. She paused in mid air as her sister took off.

“I can hold my own, Helly!” She then transformed to her alt mode and took off after Hellion and Thundercraker. She quickly opened a link to her sister as she pulled into formation.

>>”And I don’t swoon…..do I?”<<

*********

Darkride smirked as he heard Astrotrain make his demands. The interrogator was not one to follow orders from anyone other than his immediate superiors, therefore he took his time and made sure to step through a mud puddle before climbing on board Astrotrain’s alt mode.

“Fortunately for you, I keep myself quite untarnished. I would be willing to do otherwise if that is what you truly desire.”

He took a seat and waited for his ride to take off after the seeker commander and the others.

OOC: The attack on the oil rig will take place in the New Battlefield forum in the thread Platform of Doom! Any characters participating should move to that thread.

OOC: This post is long overdue. I kept meaning to write it but could never find the time or inspiration.

Lab Facilities

The equipment was ready, aside from the pieces Hook wanted to spend adjusting, and Long Haul, Bonecrusher and Scavenger had managed to avoid breaking anything. Mixmaster giggled slightly as he read the data gathered on Shockwaves project. Scrapper, however, had looked over it and wasn't interested in the fine details of the chemistry and physics. He took one of the Energon purifiers from Bonecrusher and opened it up, noting on a datapad how it would have to modified to handle this new form of energy. Once he had finished the design, the team could produce a dozen more in short order. The main issue was getting something for them to process.

*Lord Megatron, the analysis of Shockwaves data is proceedingly well. It seems that his predictions of a usable fuel are accurate, but to be completely sure we'll need a sample of the Ore to put through processing. Do we have any available, or will you require my team to retreive some?"

(OOC: My sincere apologies for neglecting this thread. Between a busy work schedule and all of the events happening in other threads this one slipped through the cracks. I intend to rectify that now.)

Command Center

Megatron was enjoying the relative peace of the command center for the moment. He knew it wouldn’t last long as it so rarely did in the war. It was a chance to collect his thoughts, to consider the next moves in the expansive war. The entire galaxy was the battleground. It was an enormous playing field, one that only few could fully comprehend. He was one of those fortunate few and even then it took times of quiet thought to fully wrap his mind around it and decide how to move and arrange the playing pieces that were entire units of Decepticons.

The Decepticon leader was broken out of his thoughts by the message from Scrapper. >>”Shockwave took the largest sample with himself to study on Cybertron. You have permission to deploy your team to acquire a new sample. This will be a covert mission of utmost secrecy. You are to not only hide from the humans, but the Autobots as well. Find an isolated location, acquire the sample and return without notice.”<<

*

Lab Facilities

Hook replaced the maintenance panel on the latest piece of equipment with a frown on his face. He knew that the equipment here was going to be sub par, this being a backwater of a world, not to mention the moisture that blanked the entire world. It was a wonder that all of the equipment on this planet was nothing more than a pile of corroded parts.

The Constructicon looked over at Scrapper. “Scrapper, I have done the best I can with the tools and equipment here. I have increased total efficiency of the equipment by 12.384%. It is within acceptable parameters now, but I would still prefer to have additional equipment brought in from one of our research labs. The equipment in an infiltration base like this one simply isn’t up to our standards.”

Lab Facilities

>>Acknowledged, Lord Megatron. It shall be as you command.<< Scrapper closed his communicator and turned to hear Hooks predictable tirade about the shoddiness of the equipment. The adjustments he's made are probably so precise that the next mech walking past the door will undo them with his footsteps.

"It's our job to adapt to our battlefields, not theirs to suit us, Hook. But I'm sure your work is the best that is possible under the circumstances. For now though, we can't spend any longer adjusting our equipment, Megatron has given us our next mission. We'll be deploying to the nearest site where the ore in question can be found, the readings say it shouldn't be more than a few hours from here. We'll be proceeding in vehicle mode, under all infiltration protocols. That means no transforming and no driving through native buildings just for fun, Bonecrusher."

"Mixmaster, give Scavenger the data he needs to sniff out the Ore. We move out ASAP."

Lab Facilities

Hook’s face twisted in an expression of annoyance and disgust. Too often was he forced to ‘settle’ for inferior equipment, not to mention inferior coworkers. He had slowly grown to be accustomed to being surrounded by inferiority but he would never accept it easily. He tried to reply in a neutral tone, but seeing as how even neutral for the perfectionist Constructicon still dripped with disdain he didn’t really succeed.

“Of course Scrapper. We must always be ready to adapt.” Stifling any further comments the Constructicon moved over to a shelf to carefully put away his tools. He then turned back to face Scrapper once again.

“Do we have an area to being our search in? It will be difficult to maintain full infiltration protocols while searching all across this world for the ore.”

Lab Facilities

Long Haul was finishing up cleaning off and moving a variety of lab equipment into the center of the room when Scrapper alerted them of their new mission. The Constructicons were to seek out and obtain a new sample of the ore for their analysis. It was located not far from base and the mission would be covert in nature. This meant they would spend the entire time in vehicle mode and probably not see any real action. Long Haul was sure he would be the one to carry the ore back to base once they retrieved a sample. It was a rather dull mission, but one that was necessary in order to determine the accuracy of Shockwave's data.

Long Haul turned to address Scrapper. "You got it, boss. I'm all ready to go."

Lab Facilities

Scrapper gathered up datapads, noting the mission parameters as his team checked in. "According to all the data, the closest deposit of the Ore should be in a mountainous region in the northern part of this subcontinent. Intel says that its one of the most sparsely populated regions in this developed continent, owing to the natives sensitivity to temperature. A few hours driving will get us past the highest density of natives, and we can accelerate to proper cybertronian speeds and get to the mountains easily. The whole operation should take no more than a local stellar cycle."

Heading out into the corridor, Scrapper transformed into his recently-acquired earth-mode. It wasn't all that different from his cybertronian form, the prescence of a drivers cab and exhaust pipes being the only major changes.

"Constructicons, move out!"

OOC: Constructicons can move to the new thread in the Earth forum.

Hangar Bay

Astrotrain and the other Decepticons arrived back at base. The triplechanger remained in his shuttle mode, opening his hatch to let his passengers out. “Alright Seekers, don’t think you’re done yet. I’m sure as slag not sitting here loaded down with this stuff until someone unloads me and I doubt Megatron would like that either. Now, the sooner you get done the sooner we can all get a recharge.”

*

Hellion landed in the hangar bay, transforming at the last minute to land on her feet. She still wasn’t happy about the battle, if you could even call it that. She’d traded a few blows with someone she thought would put up a decent fight only to find him sorely lacking. Then, before she could get in another fight a hostage situation had ended the whole thing without any real fuelshed. It all felt like such a waste of time.

The seeker looked up at Astrotrain with a frown as he issued his ‘orders.’ At least the mission had been successful in how it had been defined by command. She didn’t appreciate getting sent out on fuel runs though. Only the possibility of fighting Autobots had kept her interested in this one. Now she had to find some way to blow off steam without fighting. Manual labor would have to do. With a sigh she trudged into Astrotrain and scooped up a pile of energon cubes, hauling them off of the transport.

Hangar Bay

Skywarp arrived back at Decepticon Headquarters and entered the hangar bay, following behind Astrotrain. Once the triplechanger had touched down, ‘Warp transformed to robot mode and landed next to him. The teleporter was not too badly damaged, at least not physically. His ego, on the other hand, had been tarnished. First the Autobot Smokescreen had managed to chase him away from blasting Hound into a million pieces and then Darkride had the ballbarrings to sucker punch him in the face right in front of the other seekers. While the battle had been an overall success for them as a group, for Skywarp it had been anything but a success or a pleasant experience for that matter.

Skywarp then turned his attention to Astrotrain as the Decepticon shuttle demanded to be unloaded. “Alright, alright! Don’t get your exhaust pipes in a twist.” The black and purple seeker then entered Astrotrain’s cargo hold and grabbed a bunch of storage cubes. Before exiting the triplechanger, Skywarp shot a dirty look over at Darkride, one of many he would give the interrogator in the coming cycles. He knew the torturer wouldn’t care about a nasty look or two, but it made ‘Warp feel better nonetheless.

“Hey, Darkride! You and your pet Autobot make a cute couple,” Skywarp taunted him, hoping to get under the interrogator’s metal skin in a different way since it appeared that direct threats didn't phase him. “I prefer femmbots, myself.” The teleporter smiled as he turned and exited Astrotrain with his cubes in tow.

Hanger bay

Nightraven swooped into the hanger bay just after Skywarp and transformed before landing on the floor. She watched as her sister was already off loading Astrotrain of his cargo. She set into motion moving behind Skywarp as he entered the cargo hold and grabbed an arm load of storage cubes. She paused as he addressed the interrogator that humiliated him in front of all the seekers. Had she the ability she would have rolled her optics. Nightraven moved to one side letting Skywarp pass by her, She then quickly grabbed a pile of cubes and made her way back out into the hanger bay. She swiftly caught up to the purple and black seeker. “You know, no one will think any less of you. Just let it go. Besides, I’ve heard some very disturbing things about Darkride. He’s not the type to cross.”

*********

Darkride could feel Astrotrain land in the hanger bay of the base. The cargo hold door slowly lowered revealing the large bay to him and his captive. Before he could exit Hellion entered and began off loading the storage cubes; followed then by Skywarp, who decided to demean the interrogator. Darkride simply smiled evilly and gave his response. “Thank you. Although I always wind up killing my guests I do cherish the short times we have with one another.” He stood from his seat, gripping Bumblebee by the upper am and then made his way towards the door. “Good for you. Now you just need to find one that will actually tolerate you.” He then made his way out the door and to the exit in the hanger bay.

Hangar Bay

While it was a necessary part of the war fought in secrecy, hauling cargo felt always humiliating. It was not a warrior's role. Thundercracker could understand why the likes of Astrotrain and Long Haul hated their jobs. Personally even hauling the fuel containers out of Astrotrain was enough for him. But duty came first, and he never shirked away from duty.

Following somewhat behind Skywarp, he could not avoid hearing Skywarp rising his voice to mock Darkride. Certainly this method his brother had chosen was better suited against the masochistic interrogator than bringing physical pain on him. Still, 'Warp had to do better. Noticing Nightraven catching up to Skywarp in a futile attempt to advice against further retaliation, making sure that Darkride had left already Thundercracker decided to interrupt.

"Neither are we Nightraven. Cross one of us and you are going to have to deal with more than you bargained for." Thundercracker said quietly but with seriousness and determination in his voice not common to him as he passed by the femme to join his brother's side. "'Warp listen... I know you want kill that slagger. I know I do, but he ain't like the most. Pain and insults won't work on him. You gotta get more insidious than that. How would a series of embarrassing accidents sound to you, aye?"

Hangar Bay

Blackstar begins unloading Astrotrain, keeping audio sensors alert to the conversations going on around him. The brewing tension between Skywarp and Darkride was quite annoying, surely the elite Decepticon army has better things to be spending its valuable energy on than fighting amongst its ranks. But the fact Darkride dented Skywarps ego could not go with out being atoned for. This was going to be messy and deceitful, but Blackstar feels no need to get involved with internal plots that could harm the army as a whole.

Grabbing an armful of cubes Blackstar marches up to Nightraven and starts wispering to her "There is no way they will let this go, but we can't let this get out of control. This is more than likely just going to lead to further retaliation and fighting amongst the ranks."

Lower Levels - Heading to the Interrogation Chamber

The journey from the Hanger Bay was long and difficult for Bumblebee who was not only restrained, but also being dragged down the corridors. He wasn’t actually resisting, there was no sense in that, but he certainly wasn’t going to make things easy for the Con lugging him along. After exiting a lift Bumblebee decided to try and feel out this mech. “You’re not well liked here, are you?”

Darkride snorted in response and tightened his grip on Bumblebee’s upper arm. “Then I believe I’ve done my job well.” Bumblebee looked up at the black and purple mech, a confused expression on his faceplate. “You don’t mind not being liked by anyone?” Without missing a beat Darkride smiled and chuckled lightly. “My dear Autobot, I am not here to make friends. I have a job to do, and with or without any close relationships I intend to do that job. Is there anything else you wish to know, Autobot?”

Bumblebee Looked back at his escort and shook his head. It didn’t matter; there was probably no way to use his words on this Con to gain his freedom.

After another turn down yet another corridor they finally stopped at a massive door. Darkride stepped forward and entered a series of numbers and words; the system seemed extremely sophisticated. Obviously this particular Con had some trust issues. The door slid open revealing to the two a room strewn with datapads, tools and schematics. There were also experiments being conducted, some of the results and actions being performed by various computers. The mess within was not the only thing the yellow minibot was welcomed with; there was also a most foul smell that permeated throughout the room. Bumblebee choked back the build of fluid in the back of his throat and looked up at Darkride.

The interrogator looked over the room carefully and smiled. He then proceeded to drag Bumblebee the rest of the way in, letting the door slide shut behind them. The door’s locking mechanism engaged automatically letting Darkride take care of his new guest. The interrogator moved to the back of the room and placed Bumblebee in a holding cell. He was careful to keep the restraints in place as an extra precaution.

Darkride then activated the energo bars and smiled evilly. “I have some very interesting things planned for you.” Bumblebee moved towards the back of the cell, a look of fear now evident on his face. Darkride cackled loudly as he turned and made his way to an alcove. He disappeared into the darkness but soon appeared once more, this time dragging a large device. Bumblebee’s optics widened as he watched Darkride set up his equipment. What did this Con have planned for him. What did he want.