The Energon Pub

OoC: Sorry about the wait!

Shoreline

Ramjet waited for Swindle to disappear in a shaft of light before he made any attempt at standing. The absolute last thing he wanted to do was to make a fool of himself in front of the black market salesman. The effects of his destabilization dissipating, Ramjet began to stand, only to have Astrotrain begin to pull him into his cargo space.

"I appreciate the offer, but there is something I must do!" Ramjet stood up to his full height, shaking the cables off him and began to walk towards the water.

Pausing for a moment, Ramjet turned to the Triplechangers.

"Wait, get out of this place? That I agree with, but... Where will you go? With him?" Ramjet jabbed his right thumb at where Swindle once stood, "I could give you an alternative that would have a lot less doing dirty-work for our... Mutual friend."

*****

Seafloor

When Bonecrusher heard Scrapper say that it was his turn for the combiner treatment, he tried to hide his excitement. Keyword being tried.

"Finally! Finally, we'll get the respect we deserve!" Bonecrusher said, striding to the medical table at an excited pace.

It was a good thing Long Haul gave him a wide girth, for he stormed through the area and over to Hook as fast as he could without stirring up too much dust.

"Don't worry, 'Haul, I don't have any doubts 'bout ol' Hook! The wa'er in my circuits, though..." Bonecrusher replied to his transport friend.

And with that, he lied down upon the table and activated a screen showing schematics for Devastator. He didn't offline his optics. He wanted stare at Devastator in all his glory.

Shoreline

The cables continued to haul Ramjet into Astrotrain's cargo area. Or did, until he regained control over his many functions and systems, the effects of the gyro gun having apparently dispersed.

Good thing Swindle wasn't around to witness that, otherwise he might have shot Ramjet again for recovering so quickly. And to reinforce the notion of disrespecting a Combaticon, even the least militant of them, was a terrible one. Maybe a little of both.

A balanced mixture of amusement and suspicion had Blitzwing absorbing what the Seeker had said to him. He still wanted to go through with his plan, whatever it entailed.

Blitzwing tilted his cranial unit to one side, wearing a peculiar smile. “And where exactly do you want to take us, Ramjet?” He jabbed a digit at him. “Just what have you been up to lately? You sound no better than the Combaticon.”

He wondered if Swindle's gyro gun had scrambled something inside of Ramjet's processors. Perhaps not, but it seemed as though he insisted on the Triple Changers accompanying him.

Then again, Ramjet did plenty of crashing into objects, all of it intentional, and all of them starting impact with that thick helm of his. So realistically, he had to be messed up in there.

“I don't know about this.” Blitzwing turned to Astrotrain. “We're supposed to be going back down there to help the 'Structies or something, right? Help with the base or some slag like that?”

Truth be told, he didn't remember. For all he knew, he should have been bouncing to the Thanatos, along with the Combaticons.

“Look, I don't care where we go.” Blitzwing glared at Ramjet. “But if you get us in trouble, I swear to Primus the next serving of energon I have will come from you. I'll cut you wide open and drain you dry.”

So somewhat like Bomb-Burst, only he wouldn't look even half as grotesque as Blitzwing slicing Ramjet open with his scimitar and feasting on the energon inside.

“We understand each other?”

Undersea Base

Scavenger would have flinched when Mixmaster slung his arm around Scavenger's shoulder if it hadn't been for the fact that Mixmaster would have been prompted to do something only the Constructicon excavator would regret. Instead, Scavenger slowly tried to extricate himself form his deranged comrade's grasp.

All thoughts of escape, however, soon ceased when Mixmaster mentioned doing a little digging. Scavenger's optics shone just a little bit brighter. The Fallen became all but a distant memory, forgotten like a nightmare from a deep recharge cycle.

"Sure thing, Mixmaster, buddy! Where did you want to dig? My scanners are picking up mineral deposits over there and there and there...." Scavenger said, pointing at each subsequent location.

Shoreline

Astrotrain didn't even grumble as Ramjet freed himself from the triple-changer's assistance. That suited him just fine. Less weight he needed to carry to wherever it was they needed to go.

"He's still scheming," Astrotrain said, the front lights of his train mode flickering in conjunction with his words. "Not that I blame him. Who wouldn't, at least in passing, entertain the idea of assuming all the power that Megatron had? I've done it. The idea passes quick though, since there's a lot of strings that come with that power and I don't want to be the one holding them.

"I think Rammy here actually does though. I don't know if that makes him competent or crazy."

With a hiss, the doors to Astrotrain's posterior vehicle section sealed themselves off.

"That said....like Blitz asked, we gotta know what your selling, since Swindle's offer wasn't too bad. You've gotta do better."

The explosions nearby pretty much gave all the confirmation that Astrotrain needed that the Combaticons were done here, at least for the time being and that this wasn't some sort of elaborate test of their willingness to comply with their new orders.

Tyranny was so much simpler. Megatron say. Astrotrain do. The more he was faced with all these choices, the less he liked them.

Shoreline

Ramjet listened to the threats of his friend Blitzwing and, on the inside, smiled. He knew there wasn't anything behind it, but still, he'd like to see the Triplechanger try. Either way, he had gained an audience from both of them, and that was this goal. Now was the hard part. Bluffing until he could actually find means to get back to the Ultrax.

Well, he was going to bluff until suddenly over his comm link, he heard the high-pitched buzzing of Waspinator, and this time, it was a welcome noise; the Insecticon had good news. Smirking briefly, he turned to Astrotrain when the word "crazy" was spoken.

"You know, maybe I am a bit crazy, maybe I am. I mean," Ramjet stopped for a moment to consider his next words carefully, "You gotta be a little crazy to do the thing I just did. Speaking of, if you tell anyone what you are about to hear without my permission alone, I will hunt you down and shove my head through your chest. But I digress. You see, there was a... A little vacancy on a ship in the deepest part of this mudball. It just so happened that I have a man already in there, and as it turns out, he got the Bounce Pad working."

Letting his words sink in for a moment, Ramjet continued.

"You heard me correctly. I got a ship, right out from under everyone's olfactory units. Now, in a location where no one will think of - Scratch that, a heavily armed location where no one will think to look, you won't have any worries again." Ramjet said with a gesture of his hand at the final notion.

Things were just falling into place...

Undersea Base

Scrapper looked over at Long Haul as Hook continued with his work.

"Help those two," he said, indicating Scavenger and Mixmaster. "Anything of value that Scavenger digs up and Mixmaster can't refine will need to be hauled away until we have more time to get to it."

Scrapper knew that the mineral compounds on this planet were rich and varied. Everything they could make use of would save them from having to draw from already limited Decepticon resources.

"Secondly, confer with them regarding additional structures this base needs. I'll listen to any proposals, provided we can acquire the corresponding resources in an efficient amount of time."

Scrapper already had some ideas about additional space this base would need and what it would be used for, as he knew Hook would as well, but he had no qualms about soliciting ideas from all the members on his team. What they ultimately wanted to do with this base and what they could work on right now were two starkly different things.
___

Shoreline

Astrotrain had nodded at Blitzwing's question.

"Yeah, something like that. Don't know what for. They've got that one that hauls everything. Don't know why they would need us."

His engines, idling, Astrotrain listened to Ramjet's ideas. He had a ship? What ship? What ships were assigned to this sector anyway? Astrotrain dug through his memory files until he found the answer he was probably looking for. That Stunticon junker? What a piece of--

--wait, that was probably where Octane got himself holed up. He sure didn't seem to be anywhere else.

Astrotrain had liked what Swindle offered up, but he wasn't seeing any reason he couldn't have his cake and eat it too, as these fleshbags liked to say. If Ramjet thought he could legitimately lay claim to the Ultrax, that meant all the other big dogs were playing somewhere else. Which meant the thing could be ripe for the stripping. Besides, it would be a lot easier to do business with a mech like Swindle if he and Blitz could procure some collateral of their own. Something useful, but also something likely to be overlooked by Motormaster for a long, long time, when and if he ever bothered to return to his junker.

More importantly, Astrotrain had actually listened to Ramjet's little threat. In most other circumstances, the triple-changer might have laughed at the black-and-white Seeker. But under the current circumstances, and given the specificity of the threat he had chosen to make his point, Astrotrain was actually pretty sure that Ramjet could well follow through on it. It was just as well, as Astrotrain hadn't really heard anything that he felt inclined to pass on anyway, except to Blitzwing, and he was already here.

"Hmm...gotta say, I'm actually intrigued by this. What do you think, Blitz? Swindle can always get a hold of us inside the ship once he finds out what he wants us to do to cash in our punishment."

Undersea Base

Long Haul listened as Scrapper gave him new orders that would require him to assist both Scavenger and Mixmaster, once again making use of the heavy lifter’s ability to lug crap from one place to another. In this case, whatever the excavator was able to dig up that was of no immediate use to the chemist would need to be taken elsewhere. It was more of the same old routine, except this time there was a secondary objective, one that would allow the green transporter to do something more than just carry loads of rock and dirt around. “Sure thing, boss! No problem!” Long Haul replied enthusiastically to the Constructicon Commander followed by a respectful salute. Unfortunately, he would now miss the rest of Hook’s operation on Bonecrusher, but orders were orders.

Without further delay, the heavy lifter excused himself and made his way over to where Scavenger and Mixmaster were conversing with each other. “Hey, fellas! How’s it going over here? I got new orders from Scrapper that says I’m supposed to help you guys lug away whatever can't be refined. I’m not overly excited about that part, but the boss did say that I’m also supposed to talk with you about any additional structures for the base. He said he’d listen to whatever we came up with just as long as we can get the materials quick enough. I’ve got a few ideas of my own if you guys want to hear them.”

Long Haul wasn’t expecting his fellow Constructicons to take his ideas seriously or even listen to them for that matter. The transporter was just a mere grunt whose job it was to do what he was told and not to think about things too much. He wasn’t stupid by any means, but most mechs just expected him to do his mundane job and keep his mouthpiece shut. Even if no one wanted to listen to his thoughts now regarding the undersea base, at least he had Devastator to look forward to. Soon, very soon, he would be a part of something greater than anything the Empire has ever seen before.

Shoreline

So Ramjet had a plan, after all, not some little tactless suicide mission where he intended to drag Blitzwing and Astrotrain along with him to die in unrivalled stupidity. One for the history data slates, that would have been. Right up there snuggling with Ramjet's other ill-advised ideas, all ten thousand of them.

Fortunately, that wasn't the case this time. Ramjet possessed a half decent proposal, something with a degree of consideration injected into it. Miracles did exist.

Blitzwing flashed Astrotrain a grin. “Sure, why not? I'm game. Let's see how far ol' Rammy can take us. And like you said, Swindle can get a hold of us easy enough. When he decides to spare us a thought over his schemes.”

Yes, his plan would turn out just fine. Why? Because if it didn't, if it fell through, Blitzwing could either bail when it was looking dubious or shift the blame on Ramjet if they were discovered. With Astrotrain in his corner, he could tack the fault on the Seeker easier than he could get Drag Strip to accept his challenge to a race.

But if it did work out okay—well, that would be a whole lot better.

As long as Ramjet didn't threaten to shove his cranial unit through Blitzwing's chest-plate again. Because if he tried such a thing, he'd find his cranial unit shoved up his aft, friend or not.

Blitzwing did not take too kindly to threats, particularly when he'd been on the receiving end of them on numerous occasions. He couldn't help it if his personality didn't appeal to everyone, and he sure as the Pit wasn't going to change for some whiner.

“All right, Ramjet. Let's do this thing before Phase Five hits this mud ball and I miss out on all the fun.”

Beach

Ramjet couldn't help but to smirk. Not only did he have a heavily armed ship, but he had two extremely useful lieutenants. Slipstream was probably not on that list, and Waspinator wasn't exactly as useful as Blitzwing and Astrotrain, but still. Good fortune indeed.

"Excellent. We're gonna do great things, boys, great things. Now get back to the Ultrax where Waspinator will be waiting for you. Fix what you can. I'll brief you when I arrive." Ramjet ordered his new soldiers, standing briefly in one place, then turning to walk down into the water; where he last saw the Constructicons.

Breaching the water, Ramjet felt the unpleasant cold and the salty brine wash over his body. Disgusting. You know what? The whole planet was disgusting. Even the skies had bits of smog and whatnot thrown in. Filthy. Just filthy.

Carefully thinking about what he was going to say, Ramjet walked down and almost into the clearing when he stopped and hid behind a rock. What were they all doing? Grouped around one of their members whilst Hook was working on him?

Gazing into the tent with zoomed optics, Ramjet saw parts being put inside Bonecrusher. Added and not replaced. This was beyond odd; it was downright suspicious. Looking about the tent for anything to tell Ramjet just what the Constructicons were doing, Ramjet was sure that one of them was looking at something. Plans for something perhaps? Taking a quick mental snap of the Constructicons gathered around Bonecrusher, Ramjet rose from the rock and approached the Decepticon construction team.

"Heya fellas! What're you up to, eh?" Ramjet said, trying not to coin the famous earthen phrase "Lucy, you've got some splainin' do to".

Shoreline

Astrotrain was glad enough that Blitzwing had agreed with the general direction things were going for them, especially since he didn't really have any better ideas at the moment. Between lining some things up with Swindle and indulging some of Ramjet's command fantasies just to shake things up some more, Astrotrain was all in all content with events as they stood.

"Right," Astrotrain said, firing up his thrusters. "Wait, Waspinator? Oh...man. What a little glitch. Oh well. Ultrax it is. Last one to find Octane has to shine Waspy's aft-plating, heh heh."

The triple-changer lumbered forward in his locomotive mode as gears and plates shifted, completing his transformation as he moved before launching himself up into the air and off in the direction of the Decepticon vessel via the signal provided by Ramjet.

Undersea Base

"Sure thing, Long Haul. Let 'em rip. I ain't got any ideas." Scavenger wouldn't exactly be called the brains of the Constructicons. For that matter, he wouldn't be called the brains of anything. He was just the guy that dug all of the holes. He was muscle. He liked it that way. He didn't have to worry about much. All he wanted in life was some recognition from his teammates. Maybe to crush in a couple of Autobot's craniums. Yeah. This was the good life.

Scavenger also took this time to extract himself from Mixmaster's clutches. He didn't need someone hanging over him once he got to work. The excavator was priming his sensors to scan for some raw materials when he noticed Ramjet pop up outta nowhere and waltz over toward where Scrapper and Hook were operating. Not good.

The excavator decided to let Scrapper handle that one. He'd probably let something slip that he wasn't supposed to. The last thing they needed was for project Devastator to be compromised. It was their only security for their future position in the Decepticons.

Undersea Base

Long Haul was pleasantly surprised when Scavenger agreed to hear some of his ideas regarding the new base. Mixmaster, on the other hand, had remained oddly silent, but that didn’t bother the heavy lifter in the slightest. He was used to being ignored or glossed over. Just as long as the green transporter carried stuff to and fro most of his teammates were happy to leave him be. The excavator, however, had always been nice enough to lend an audio receptor on occasion even if he sometimes appeared bored when doing so.

“Ah, thanks, Scavenger! I appreciate it!” Long Haul replied with a smile hidden underneath his faceshield. Now was his chance to make a real difference beyond his usual loading and unloading of equipment and raw materials. The heavy lifter was about to convey his ideas when he saw and heard Ramjet approach Hook and the others, wanting to know what they were doing. “Slaggit! That coneheaded buffoon’s gotta stick his pointy cranial unit into everyone else’s business, doesn’t he?” Long Haul whispered to the chemical engineer and excavator in a low voice so that no one else could hear him. The transport then moved away from the interloping seeker, motioning for his two comrades to join him.

Once enough distance had been placed between Ramjet and the Constructicon trio, Long Haul felt it was safe to finally tell his ideas to Scavenger and Mixmaster. “Okay, guys, he shouldn’t be able to hear us now. I figured that we could build a ‘large scale’ training room that would allow us to practice fighting as you-know-who.” The heavy lifter was clearly referring to Devastator and the potential that the team would need a place to adjust to being the gestalt. It’s one thing to operate as six individuals, but another thing entirely to work together as one giant combiner. “Also, I think we should maybe consider an added section to the armory which could accommodate oversized weapons. I mean, where else are we gonna store you-know-who’s guns when they’re not in use, right? Anyway, those are just a couple of ideas I had, but ones we might want to consider at least.”

Undersea Base

"Heya fellas! What're you up to, eh? Lucy, you've got some splainin' do to".

Scrapper visibly stiffened as an unfamiliar voice interjected a greeting and a question in their general direction. Scrapper's hands froze where they were so as not to interfere with any of he and Hook's current labors, turning to look over his shoulder and find out who was speaking. It was a familiar voice, but still not one that he was wanting to hear. Ramjet. Great. Where one Seeker was, Starscream's prying optics could not be too far away.

And why had they, or he, been referred to as "Lucy"? It had to have something to do with some aspect of this planet's vapid culture.

He gave a slight nod to Hook, indicating that he could continue his work safely and Scrapper would deal with the interference.

"Tune-ups, pretty much," Scrapper said, turning to face the larger Seeker. "We've been in a few too many battles lately, and with the political situation being what it is, there's probably going to be more. My team needs to be at peak functioning."

He took a moment to look Ramjet over, feigning concern for his physical condition.

"We heard there was a battle on the surface up there. Were you involved? It looks like you took some shots."

Undersea Base

"Lousy seekers..." Scavenger grumbled bitterly as he lumbered over to Long Haul's side, far from the coneheaded Ramjet.

The excavator's expression lightened into one a bit more amiable as he listened to a few of Long Haul's suggestions. A training room would be a good idea. A very good idea. Especially since the excavator had no idea how this Devastator combiner thing would work. The room would need to be made out of some pretty durable material though. Didn't want to accidentally break down a wall trying to take a step forward. They were gonna have a pretty interesting time adjusting to working together as Devastator.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Need some sturdy materials for it though. Maybe reinforce it a couple o' times," Scavenger said.

Scavenger nodded as Long Haul continued to mention an addition to the armory for large-scale weapons. Made sense. Didn't want gigantic guns and whatever else crammed wherever they could fit into the current armory. The excavator strained his processors for something to add to Long Haul's submissions. Nothing really came to mind. All he really wanted to do was get his actuators dirty digging up some materials that they could use to build the structures.

"It all sounds good. You suggest 'em to Scrapper once that nosy conehead is out of our gears. We're gonna need some more materials if we wanna build all that though. My scanners picked up a deposit of ores over there," Scavenger said to Long Haul and Mixmaster, nodding to indicate the direction, "Uh...think we should start digging them up or should we wait for that seeker to leave?"

Undersea Base

Long Haul was happy to hear that Scavenger actually liked his pair of ideas for the new base, even if they only benefited the Constructicons and their eventual gestalt form. The heavy lifter nodded in agreement when the excavator said that he should mention his ideas to Scrapper once that cone-headed nut job was out of the way. “Yeah, but I don’t really want to wait for dumb-aft to leave before telling the boss, you know? I guess a private comm line will do the trick just fine. I’d also get started on digging. Again, no need to delay things further.”

Long Haul then opened a secured channel directly to Scrapper, which no one else would be able to overhear or tap into:

>>”Hey, Boss! It’s Long Haul. Just wanted to run a couple of ideas by you that I came up with for the new base. I already mentioned them to Scavers and Mixy and they seem to like ‘em. Anyway, I figured we could build an extra large training room for Devastator so that we can adjust to being combined as well as add an extension to the armory where we can store the gestalt’s big-sized weapons. How do those sound?”<<

Underwater Base Construction Site

Scrapper no doubt saw him as a fool, as a gullible idiot. He didn't expect Ramjet to actually pass basic anatomy of the Transformer back at the academy, as it was rather required to know what vital parts to hit, especially with someone who literally lives to run headlong into foes and rip them to shreds. Ramjet knew that they were hiding something, and the fact that Hook was adding parts instead of replacing parts was suspicious, especially due to the fact that they were in one of the absolute worst places possible to actually perform a surgery.

"I'm fine. Nothing my auto-repair functions can't fix." Ramjet looked down to his wing thoughtfully, remembering Dead-End.

Hardening his look, Ramjet remembered how disliked he was among the ranks. The Constructicons thought of him a thug, no doubt. Scrapper concerning himself with his well being? Not likely.

Looking back up to the Constructicon commander, he continued on, "So yeah, you're down under the sea, possibly the worst place to perform a medical task, you are adding parts instead of replacing them and you're feigning concern for my well being. Right. I know when someone is hiding something, and believe me, I have quite the big proposition for you. But first things first. Tell me what is really going on here, and don't worry, I don't work for that aft-fragging failure of a leader Starscream."

Undersea Base

Scrapper's optics narrowed by the faintest fraction, examining the Seeker physically as he considered Ramjet's words and the litany of potential responses he could give him. He had hoped that his cursory answer would be self-explanatory enough and that the hard-headed Seeker would be on his way and do...well...whatever it was he was doing before suddenly showing up and bothering the Constructicons.

Unfortunately it was becoming clear that it was going to take a little more effort than the paltry effort that Scrapper had initially dished out.

Scrapper had nodded, barely grumbling out an "mm" at Ramjet's assessment of his own physical condition. Scrapper certainly wasn't overly concerned with it, but if a few cursory repairs could get the Seeker's attentions sufficiently directed elsewhere, Scrapper would be happy to oblige. And, of course, there was the transmission from Long Haul that had come in, presenting some possibilities that had already piqued the Constructicon Commander's attention.

>>"A training facility, Long Haul? I....like it. A fine use of the space and resources we'll have available to us down here. Proceed. I will assist when I can."<<

With his response to Long Haul sent, Scrapper turned his attention specifically to the Seeker.

"We are inside a dome, Ramjet. It may not be the pristine opulence of one of Shockwave's laboratories, but it meets our needs for the moment. I'd rather we work here than within the walls of the majority of ships that have been summarily handed over to the control, and misuse, of subgroups such as the Stunticons and Insecticons, wherever they are."

Scrapper considered the situation for a moment before proceeding further. His physical ace in the hole when fights became necessary, Bonecrusher, was currently under but if worse came to worse, there were still five Constructicons in the vicinity that could give this Seeker brute an adequate lesson if he decided to push things further than they needed to go.

As Ramjet offered his conditional deal, Scrapper narrowed his optics a little bit further. Just who did this Seeker think he was? Scrapper resisted the urge to outright laugh in his face and decided the better course of action was to hear him out. But tit for tat? That was not a game that Scrapper was going to play. A hint of honestly, mixed with a healthy dose of deception and vaguery. They were Decepticons, after all.

"Fair enough, Ramjet. Some casual repairs, yes, but also some upgrades. I see no reason why my team shouldn't be prepared for the battle-ridden days ahead. That requires replacing and adding parts. Now....just what exactly is your proposition? I assure you, you won't be the first to come to us with offers of power. We already have some fairly potent sponsors in the Decepticon ranks. Mechs that would be none too happy if you interfered in our work. So spill it."

Undersea base

Mixmaster saw the lumbering seeker known as Ramjet heading over to the operating table the materials expert was readying his head mounted optical projection distorter. Opening a private comm channel to Scrapper >>Give the word and his optics are frazzled it’ll give us plausible deniability if he starts blabbering. As for ideas for the base we’re going to need a processing plant for the materials Scavengers likely to be bringing up and a lab for our more delicate works<<

Mixmaster chuckled to himself as he steadied himself for the shot if he had to he’d get physical but being a lab monkey had its disadvantages. He turned his head slightly towards Scavenger never taking his optics off ramjet “we’ll wait for the lump to move the boss might need help” Mixmaster suggested as discreetly as possible.

Undersea Base

Hook only heard the words of the other Constructicons subconsciously as he worked on the various nervous system inputs inside of Bonecrusher. Everything had to be adjusted to allow outside inputs to flow into and out of the other Constructicon to allow Devastator to function smoothly. It was delicate work, and a mistake could easily result in cerebral damage to the patient. Of course in Bonecrusher’s case he wondered if anyone would notice. A brief smile appeared on his face before disappearing as he continued his work.

The surgical engineer paused briefly as an unfamiliar voice penetrated his concentration with some nonsensical words. He briefly glanced up to see a seeker approaching them. A frown formed on his face. It was just a seeker, but one of the coneheads. Even by seeker standards the coneheads seemed dumb. He didn’t recognize this one, but he knew he had some idiotic and thuggish name befitting his nature like Thrust, or Ram, or Bash, or some other such nonsense. He was relieved to see Scrapper offer him a nod and go to deal with the interloper.

Hook finished the nervous and electrical system connections. Fortunately before he was called away Scrapper had completed the adjustments to his transformation cog. That just meant he had to complete the adjustments to his internal structure to allow for the new transformation. As he caught a bit more of Scrapper and Ramjet’s conversation he increased the pace of his work. Normally he took extra care in all of his repairs, but truly this was just out of vanity. Hook was always perfect on the first attempt, he would settle for nothing less. His hands and tools began to fly over his work.

>>”Scrapper, if you need him to deal with the seeker I can have Bonecrusher completed and reactivated in a moment.”<< The surgical engineer continued to rapidly go through the necessary adjustments. Bonecrusher was certainly the dim bulb of their group, but when it came to pointing him at an obstacle and telling him to remove it there was no one better to have around.

Under the Sea (lol)

Ramjet listened intently to Scrapper. He knew that, given the circumstances, that Scrapper wouldn't tell him everything, and rightly so. Deception was in their name, after all. Of course, it didn't stop it from being a tad bit irritating to Ramjet, given the fact that he didn't want an angry Decepticon warlord hot on his tail, but then again, if warlords had taken interest with them, why wouldn't they be better protected if they were so valuable to them?

"'Potent sponsors'?" Ramjet scoffed a bit on the inside, containing himself, "Listen, I don't know who is taking interest in you, if anyone, but I'd say they're taking pretty shabby care of you. I can see the conversation now, 'Hey guys, these guys are really important, let's put them on the bottom of the ocean where everyone will know where they are and leaving them open to attack from any angle'. Seems pretty legit, don't you think?"

Noticing the tense Constructicons with fire in their eyes, Ramjet continued, carefully choosing his words whilst simultaneously preparing himself for combat, if need be.

"But that is beside the point. See, I don't care who has interest in you, 'cause I, Ramjet, am someone tangible at the moment. See, I had some power come my way. See, I have a ship," Ramjet said with a slight, confident smirk, "And she can act as your guard-dog, for a price. I don't expect you to join up, and I'm not asking you too, though the offer is on the table, but what I do need is a bit of repairs on her. If you don't join up and accept my offer, then you can expect protection from me and my men for your project, the supplies you need for your project as well as mine, and Energon. See, me and my men are going to do some Energon runs, and you and your men'll get a cut if you join. But that's enough about that, I want to hear your answer. Think about it; an off-the-grid and dry place to work, no prying eyes, protection... What have you got to lose?"

Undersea Base

Scrapper had to admit, Ramjet was trying. What exactly the stubborn Seeker was ultimately hoping to accomplish was beyond him but he certainly had the gumption to go for it--whatever it was.

Well, it had to be Megatron's seat of power when it all came down to it, didn't it? Isn't that what every Decepticon with a modicum of personal ambition wanted now that Megatron had met his demise? Well, maybe more than a modicum. Scrapper wouldn't deny that he manipulated matters for greater power, but it was ultimately to get more freedom to pursue the creation of his great Cybertronian monuments. The edifices of grandeur that the Constructicons had built throughout the ages. This base they were currently working on might not be one, given their limited time and resources, but Devastator certainly would be. Oh yes. So if throwing this Seeker some sort of proverbial bone would keep him from interfering any further into their work, so be it. The Seeker could well prove to be more of a thorn than Scrapper might otherwise expect. Let him be that thorn for someone else.

>>"I read you Hook. Standby. If he sticks around after I respond and keeps digging into our business, get Bones online and we'll handle the problem ourselves."<<

"You...have a ship, eh?" Scrapper said, rubbing the lower portion of his faceplate thoughtfully. There were only so many ships deployed in this sector at the moment, and the majority of them were in orbit around this planet, so it couldn't be one of those. Too many Decepticons that would put Ramjet in a grist mill if he so much as laid a finger on a bridge control. Whatever Ramjet thought he had, it was a Decepticon resource. And if it was not functioning properly, it was only a matter of time before he or someone on his team--if not all of them--were assigned to get it back in prime working order. No harm really, then, in doing something that they would have to do anyway.

"Alright, Ramjet. Now that you're speaking more reasonably, I think we can come to an agreement. As long as you're not seeking our abject allegiance in the political maelstrom that's going on, I would be happy to bring your ship back to perfectly functioning order. Of course...this will be in exchange for the assurances of your protection and a reasonable percentage of any energon you and your men happen to acquire, as you stated. I will dispatch my team there at our earliest convenience. We'll just need the coordinates and boarding codes."

After we get a working undersea base and a titanic Decepticon overlord to finally right this wayward course we've been on lately, we'll be right with you.

Undersea Base

Scavenger was a little confused when Long Haul and Mixmaster gave differing inputs concerning his next course of action. However, the excavator figured that they were never too far away to help if the boss needed it. Ramjet would be an idiot to provoke all of the Constructicons alone.

His predilection - or rather obsession - with digging was more than enough to convince him to go ahead and start digging. The raw materials for their base weren't going to dig themselves up. Scavenger couldn't wait to start.

"Yeah, I gotcha, Long Haul," Scavenger replied agreeably to his comrade's assessment that he should begin digging.

Transforming into his alternate mode, Scavenger activated his scanners to search for an ore deposit close to the surface. Soon enough, the excavator detected one about thirty meters down. Scavenger drove over and positioned himself above the deposit. He couldn't have been happier as he began to claw the piles of earth, sand, and clay aside to reach the treasures hidden just beneath the surface.

"I'm diggin', I'm diggin'..." Scavenger hummed away happily as he set about his work in earnest.

Undersea Base

Mixmaster watched as Scavenger headed off to start his digging as he rumbled off to start his digging the Materials creator filed in behind. “Someone has to filter the rubbish he’s bound to start bringing up” thou he was helping scavenger he still kept a wary eye on the idiot seeker Ramjet as he tried to make some kind of bargain with the boss. Then a thought occurred to him “whoa, whoa Scavenger slow it down where are we going to put this stuff for refining?”

It had just occured to Mixmaster that they didn't have any transport or a refinery and he wasn't about to suggest using his mix tank to filter this lot.

Undersea Base

Long Haul was surprised when Scrapper commed back and instructed them to proceed with his ideas regarding the large scale training facility along with an extension to the armory. Usually, the green transport was completely ignored unless something needed to be moved from point A to point B, but not this time. No, Long Haul’s ideas were not only liked by his commanding officer but also given the green light to make them a reality. The heavy lifter would have to write this down somewhere for prosperity's sake as it would surely not happen again for a very long time, if ever.

After sending a non-verbal acknowledgement to Scrapper, Long Haul turned his attention back to Scavenger and Mixmaster, the former of which was busy digging in the seabed where the raw materials would be found to finish building the base. The chemical expert, however, thought that their comrade was moving too fast as a sizable mound of rocks and dirt had begun to quickly pile up. Apparently, Mixmaster had already forgotten about the resident transporter. Well, that didn’t take too long now did it?

“No worries, Mixy!” Long Haul called out to his teammate as he walked over to where the pile of rocks was situated and immediately transformed into his dump truck alt mode. “Just filter out all of the metals and iron ores that you’ll need to keep and refine for the base. Scrapper gave us the okay to build the larger training room and addition to the armory, so set aside extra material for those. Then just load the rest of the useless rocks and crap into my truck bed so I can dispose of them all proper like away from the site. Got it? Now, fill me up before Scavenger buries us alive. Heh.”

Underwater Base

Even in the dark abyss of the ocean, Ramjet could make someone follow him, it seemed. Of course, he didn't trust the Constructicons, and that was a given. I mean, it's literally in a Decepticon's name; deceive. Either way, it was high time that he left this underwater filth and get somewhere dry.

"Very well, Scrapper, here are the coordinates." Ramjet said with a smile, "In exchange, you'll have the Ultrax protect you and you'll get a cut of the Energon. Together, we'll do great things."

He pulled a Datapad out of his hip compartment, and he handed it to the Constructicon Commander briskly. There was only a couple more orders of business, but those would have to wait. Now he had to get back to his men and get some Energon, which he did not have previously.

"I bid you adieu." Ramjet said curtly, sharing a brief eye contact with Bonecrusher, who scowled.

The white and red conehead leaped, leaving a small dust cloud beneath him. Just as soon as he was about to reach the peak of his leaping arch, Ramjet activated his boot rockets, carrying him out of the water and into the sky with a large splash. Twirling midair briefly, Ramjet let the wind dry as much water from him as possible with droplets raining down upon the green ocean below. Then the seeker transformed, and with a loud crash of the sound barrier breaking, Ramjet was into the skies above.

It was nigh time.

>>Waspinator. One to bounce in.<< he said, speeding down to the mountains beyond the beach, where he transformed and landed on one of the peaks with a booming thud.

Snow from the white-capped peak showered around him like flour, met quickly with a silent remark on how that white powder would instead be ash from the cities of this world. This world will be the first to go under his rule. He would make sure of that.

Suddenly, an overwhelming bright light came about him, and in an instant, he was gone.

*****

Undersea Base

Barely feeling a thing from Hook's surgery, Bonecrusher turned his attention to Scrapper. He didn't like how they were working with Ramjet. Something just didn't feel right about it.

"We s'riously gonna trust that guy, boss? He's kinda known for shootin' people in they're backs when they 'aint lookin'!" Bonecrusher boomed, feeling a twinge of pain as the components were added by the surgeon.