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Sonic Canyons - near the Battlefield

Chop Shop stared in the direction his prize had been flung.

(Quietly) "I was gonna keep that..."

He turned to face the rest of his fellows.

"I'm not sure about this. Somehow I just know Venom's gonna end up volunteering us for some suicide mission. I'll bet Megatron knows we're not gonna just stand aside and watch some mindless Sweeps take our place. And if he does, he'll probably try to kill us, or have us killed. By Autobots, if possible.

Kolkular--Command Center

Soundwave had regarded the Sweep, Macabre, with little more than a stray glance before returning his focus to the series of screens in front of him. His priority was to prepare the series of files that Megatron had requested regarding the world that had been visited by the Insecticons. Casually moving his hand from one control panel to another, the Communications officer pulls up a series of signals.

"Primary Sweep location: Sonic Canyons."

Soundwave then returned to his work. The information regarding this planet was most definitely interesting. Steadily, he began coordinating different clusters of information about the planet that were interrelated. Megatron would be able to sift through to find the informaiton he needed with ease and discard the remainder.

When Venom arrived, he was not even spared a glance. Soundwave's work necessitated that he not be mired in continual distractions.

"Negative," Soundwave responded simply to Venom's request. "Decepticon communication protocols will be followed."

Venom and the other members of the Insecticon unit had already completed their debriefing and sent the necessary information to Soundwave. He would be Megatron's intermediary, as he had long been. The Decepticon Leader's time did not need to be wasted with Venom's paranoia regarding his teammates. If it was more important than that, Soundwave was sure that Venom would follow protocol and relay the information to him.

Sonic Canyons - Near the Battlefield

"You're just a bucket of starshine, Chop Shop," Ransack cackled at his fellow Insecticon. "Maybe you should start hanging out with Dead End. I'm sure Motormaster wouldn't mind having another whiner to beat on!"

Digesting the comments of Venom, Shrapnel, and Chop Shop with his relatively limited intellect, Ransack had already decided that he would follow the lead of whomever found some action for the Insecticons the quickest. He was not a patient mechanoid, unsuited for the scheming that epitomized several of the other Insecticons. It probably had a great deal to do with the fact that he was the least intelligent of the swarm. He peered down into the Canyons again, optics glowing slightly as he watched the other Decepticons play out their mock-battle.

"Mmmm. Like a bunch of petrorabbits."

Sonic Canyons – The Battlefield

She lets Rancid get some rest by unceremoniously dropping him to the ground. Transformers took worse than that and lived.
She rubs the burn, and scorch on her face looking quite irate over it. Then laughs lightly again at the ravaged face of Rancid. "Ahh, you'll live." She adds at the end of her mocking laughter.

Still, she wonders if he shouldn't be a medic with his fast hand. Oh well.

All that's left is Rage. There's a few options ahead of her, and none of them have a good outcome, really.
1: Radio Rage telling her that she's the only one left. Odds are she's the cavalry, and here to help, but there's no one left to help. But judging from the look in Rage's.. everything she's still going to be angry enough to hurt.. someone.
2: Fight Rage 2 on one, and hope for the best. Brr. She's fresh, eager, but out numbered. Everything is in her favor.she chuckles at that thought.
3:.. Hrm.. Reasoning with her might work. It's all we could do most of the time.

She frowns a bit, tenderly soothing the pain of the burns on her face, bracing herself to face down her sister.
All this took place in moments.

Discord registered some extra.. noise around the canyons. She had been filtering out the steady noise of the machines and hearing quite a bit more than the average bot, and that cackle had cinched it. And then that fallen spare part. They had gotten sloppy, who ever they were.

She doesn't look at them, rather she feigns getting herself back together after the jarring crash as she sends a well encrypted communications to Scourge figuring he'd want this information. >> Commander Scourge, I realize the exercise is not yet complete, though it is fairly close to done with only Rage to fight Torment and myself, but I do believe we're being spied upon by more than the sensor array. Should I deviate from the exercise to investigate? Perhaps end the exercise to have the entire group investigate?<< Her tone is serious and professional. She dare not sound hurt in front of her mighty CO even with a massive amount of structural damage done to her.
Scourge mentioned nothing of other eyes on them, and this might even be an Autobot spy group, though she doubted it, but even if they were Decepticons it might be an undermining group of them.
The sensor array might be attuned to pick up any bots in the vicinity to offer a more detailed report.

Having the group that once battled each other bitterly work as a quasi-cohesive unit from one moment to the next might be an interesting exercise as well.
Granted only Rage was at 100% and everyone had their weapons turned down to low, they were still a formidable force with quite the numbers.


Kolkular – The corridors.

Bugly was left to his own devices more or less. Everyone was near the cantina, or at the cantina. But he doesn't know that. He heads back to his office not one to indulge in the things the Cantina offers. The energy of the all spark is what quenches his thirst. Taking as much energy as he could for himself. Taking it from others. He lets energy arc between his finger tips to punctuate the thought.


Kolkular – Bugly's office

He enters his office and sits down to see the rest of the fight, and re-appraise himself with who's here. One name got his attention this time. "Banzai-Tron..." he says in a low tone looking at the brief information card on screen. He had a somewhat irrational dislike for him. He seemed too powerful to control, with rank the only thing in Bugly's favor. And Banzai-tron was one of the few people who is a better fighter than he is. That doesn't mean he'll always win in a fight. Heck, they haven't ever fought.

More than a few Sweeps were now registered since he last checked the roster. In one way it was prudent. In another way it was a waste. The Sweeps are to be the new wave of warriors to replace the grunts that can't keep up, or prove their merit in keeping around.
How can they prove their worth staying in a place like this? Aside from the rare infighting and training there was little to prove themselves here. They should be in Tagan.
Or in Polyhex. He couldn't help but crack a smile at that since Polyhex had become the unofficial home of the Seekers. Kaon had seemingly become the unofficial home for the Sweeps.
He could see the point in keeping the 2 forces apart. After all, the Sweeps are not just stepping on the toes of the Seekers, but crushing them as the new aerial masters. If he listened carefull he could swear he hears the machinery making more Sweeps far below him in the Forge.


Kolkular – The Cantina.

Octopunch grumbles to himself and sips oil. He fidgets getting restless. A glance around and the mooks, and sub-grunts in the bar shrink away from him a bit. They are full aware of Octopunch's strength, and all around ability to maul bots. The last thing they want is a bar brawl.
But Octopunch is bored enough to consider it, but not bored enough to act on it. Yet.
What'd I do to deserve this post? he fidgets with the gem in hand. I'm not a dainty pansy goodie butt-plate grunt. I should be on the front lines. Or at the Rust sea. What kind of shore leave is this?

Kolkular - Corridors

"If he's coming, he's coming, if not, not.", Banzai-Tron said as he turned from Terrorcharge. "A Decepticon has got to learn to take oppurtunities, after all." Banzai-Tron waved Skyjack on into the cantina.

Kolkular - Cantina

"Octopunch!! As I live and ventilate! Been an age, far too long. What have they got you doing in a bonedry town like this?" Banzai-Tron crossed to the aquatic warrior and pulls up a seat. "I'd expect you to be holing 'Bot transports out on The Rust. I tell ya, gotta wonder how command does assignments sometimes. What's that ya got, oil? Lemme buy ya a proper drink, Cobalt Energon Breezer, they make superb ones here."

Sonic Canyons – Near Battlefield

From the shadows of the encampment came a gruff sigh. To most it would have sounded like a mocking gesture, it was not however. Bombshell came into the light where the other Insecticons had been standing. He was not one to question a superior, but to follow through with Venom’s order to come at his beckon call, that was surely something he could not do.

“It would seem, comrades that we have an order to fulfill. How befitting for a bunch of followers.”

Shaking his head Bombshell moved toward the entrance to the hive. Looking out to the battle taking place below a wicked thought entered the beetle’s processor. Had he a maw it would be turned up in a foul smirk.

“Now, should we await the call….” Bombshell then pointed down to the fray, “…or should we play a game?”

Sonic Canyons, near the battlefield

A spark of electricity leapt from Shrapnel’s antennae as Venom took off to go talk to Megatron, leaving the rest of them standing around like fools. He was sorely tempted to give the coward a blast of lightning right to his backside. How dare he leave them standing around like idiots while he chatted with Megatron? No, knowing him it would be groveling to Megatron. Shrapnel wasn’t exactly above begging, but it wasn’t his first choice of things to do. Megatron respected strength and power, and Shrapnel had them both. Maybe now it was time to use them.

The Insecticon looked over at the Decepticon warriors finishing up their training. Those newest warriors, the Sweeps Venom had called them, appeared to be the victors. They were supposed to be the new foot soldiers of the empire, the best they had to offer. Shrapnel wasn’t particularly impressed. They had looked good fighting third string warriors with toy weapons, but how would they fare against real warriors, or, better yet, the elite assassins of the Empire? Defeating them would show Megatron their worth.

The electronic warfare specialist grinned as he heard Ransack speak. The grin turned to a smirk as Bombshell added more fuel to the fire. It was always possible that the psychological warfare specialist was just manipulating him for his own reasons, but he didn’t care. Let him take control of one of these Sweeps and have whatever particularly jollies he got from that. Shrapnel would have his own fun showing these winged freaks what real war was like.

“Come comrades, comrades. Let us show these Sweeps how real Decepticons fight, fight.” With the order given, Shrapnel transformed and let out his shriek of a battlecry that seemed even louder than usual as it echoed through the canyon. He darted off from his perch and charged at the Sweep Rage, bolts of electricity hurtling from his antennae at her.

Kolkular – The Cantina.

He lets out a rowdy laugh. "Banzai-Tron! Long time no see!" He slapped the back of Banzai-Tron in a gesture of camaraderie. "I could ask you the same thing." Banzai Tron was yet another finely tuned super soldier that should've been in combat than in Kaon.

"Sell any good scrap lately?" it wasn't really a secret Banzai-Tron at least used to sell the scrap of the victims of his art. He was pretty much asking if Banzai-Tron had killed any Autobots lately, too.

Octopunch only wished he thought of that money making scheme himself. Then again he usually had more than a few prime pieces of his enemies in the treasure room as opposed to parting with them.
He wouldn't make too much profit at the scrap business in other words since he'd hoard some of the best items as trophies.

"Ah, thanks for the drink my good mech. I was feeling down before. The Autobots learned to stay out of my seas, which is a mixed blessing. I hadn't seen a half decent soldier since I got here, except Bugly who outranks us. Then again I hadn't seen many people around, period."
"And 'm wondering if something big isn't going to go down with people like us here." He says contemplatively with some amusement.
Octopunch spoke like Banzai-tron, Bugly, and himself were in some elite club. After all they were all potent warriors, above and beyond the grunts in rank and record. Well known, pretty much. Octopunch was the kind of guy that'd get the job done, and shoot Primus in the face. Bugly was a bit off his rocker by some's standards, but he's one of the greatest strategists. Banzai-tron was one of the greatest fighters in Cybertronian history. The sort of 'con that would give Octopunch pause.
Reasons like that is why he respected his comrades.

On another facet there was the simple fact that neither of the 2 at the bar had any fast mode of transport. Even with Octopunch's transforming ability he scuttled like an insect.
Common grounds abounds.

Kolkular - Cantina

"Well, I know I personally amn't here because I wanted to be", Banzai-Tron said as he handed Octopunch his drink. "Got myself busted up a while back, cheating son-of-a-glitch autobot tricked me and got in a hard shot in the right place. I've had Hook and Scrapper delving around in my innards for what seems like a vorn. The new chassis looks and feels pretty good, but it's...lacking in some areas."

"So what's been afoot while I've been out of the game? I heard there was a big crapshoot around Polyhex, and now I hear something about Tagan too, sounds like the kinda place you shoulda been. Gotta stay on top of things, I am supposed to be in Intelligence. And yeah, need to generate some product to sell."

Kolkular, Command Center

Venom swore to himself as he contemplated what to do. first, I get my squad together. He activated the Comlink. "Alright guys, let's meet at the Cantina. Guy? Guys?" Over the comlink he heard Shrapnel's Lightning blast. "Slag," He muttered to himself as he transformed. He was trying not to think about what was happening as he flew back to their locations.

Kolkular, Corridors.

"Hmph, Snose, ya lose," Skyjack said as he left Terrorcharge and went into the Cantina.

Kolkular ~ The Cradle

Macabre stood silently as the Insecticon Venom came and left. Clearly Soundwave was involved in some very important work. Slightly perturbed by the communications officer's brevity, Macabre thanked Soundwave for his help with a hint of sarcasm that only the most astute of Transformers would pick up.

Leaving the Cradle, Macabre thought to himself, I will rendezvous with the hunt in the Sonic Canyons. From there I will determine the next course of action.

Macabre moved to the exit of the Decepticon base with the haughtiness of Cybertron's greatest warrior. The thought of being in the hunt with the Sweeps filled him with confidence. Exiting headquarters, he took to the air and transformed changing direction toward the Sonic Canyons. Opening a general communications frequency, he called to the hunt.

<<Sweeps, this is Macabre. Report current positions and status.>>

((OOC: EDIT sorry somehow I missed Deva's post I must have been asleep.))

Sonic Canyons


Torment kept his focus on Rage but was aware of the struggle behind him. For a brief moment he wondered if Rancid cared what his team mates thought of him, or if Discord was aware she was openly showing how much she enjoyed this?

The Halloween painted hunter watched Rage's acrobatic display as she came level with him. Torment stood unmoving as the crimson she devil came forth with the ferocity of an angry bullbot. His optics flashed with a calm deadly light, his disrupter canon still raised and pointed in her direction. The femme's voice filled the emptiness, once inhabiting the canyon. It reverberated from the walls and bounced off Torment's hull. Slowly his canon headed up , its characteristic whine filling his auditories. And for a moment he marvels at Rage's sharp claws and body posture. Then as her optics burned into his, Torment released the firepower held back for that long moment. The shot was true as it was aimed at her legs. He planned to use her momentum against her. Throwing her with her own force and taking her out from there. He prepared to move aside in case the shot fired did not slow her enough to keep her from reaching him. And if she did reach him he planned to step aside and take her form behind.

** edit
While in the throws of his actions the Silent hunter was surprised by the sudden entry of Shrapnel. No one else had authorization to join the exercise...... what did he think he was doing?

Sonic Canyons - The Battlefield

Swiftscreech watched Rancid get his face scraped across the wall of the canyon and then bashed into a rock by Discord, completely ignoring Rage's cry. Frag, I actually feel a little sorry for him.

All that happened to Swiftscreech was a heat laser in the shoulder from Torment, a shot in the back from Discord and then a blast from Torment. I need better armor.

The scout then noticed Rage. Is she on our side? She must be.

Kolkular - Corridors

Turmoil recieved Macabre's message and responded once it was finished.

<<This is Turmoil reporting. I'm in the corridors, en route to research. Still blowing energy out everywhere. Over>>


***************************************************************************

Sonic Canyons - Near the Battlefield

"All right! Finally things get interesting around here!"

Chop Shop pulled out his photon cannon and disrupter spear and flew into the Battlefield with Shrapnel.

Sonic Canyons - The Battlefield

Chop Shop saw that Discord was on the communicator. Though the Sweep had fought well and was clearly dangerous, Chop Shop had the advantage of fully powered weapons and the element of surprise, thanks to his foe's distraction. He fired shots as fast as he could with his photon cannon.



Aftershock saw the Insecticons coming. He contemplated his next action long and hard; about 3 milliseconds. (A, the benefit of being a machine)

If I warn her, I'd be violating the rules of the exercise. I'm supposed to just lie here and play dead until it's over. But then again, Scourge never said anything about Insecticons joining in. In that case, the exercise is already violated and I've already fulfilled my role in it. But what if the Insecticons are part of the exercise? Exercise or not though, Discord is about to get hit by an enemy she doesn't see coming. And that's not right. And those shots don't look powered down.

He made up his mind

"Discord, incoming! Behind you!"

Sonic Canyons - Battlefield

"Wheeeee!"

Leaping from the concealed spot on the canyon wall, Ransack transformed into locust mode and flew downward toward the combatants of the mock-battle. No one had to do much convincing to get him into a fight, and Shrapnel's suggestion was absolute music to his audio sensors. He decided he would announce his entrance into the fray with a little music of his own.

As he swooped down at Swiftscreech, Ransack utilized one of his more unique abilities and cranked up the sonic generators located in his legs. Sensor-shattering, ferrocrete-cracking vibrations blared from Ransack's form toward his target. At the same time, he unleashed a wide-angle blast of electricity from his antennae, looking not only to damage Aftershock but also to blind and deafen him.

"Eat it, punk!"

Sonic canyons- near the battlefield

Venom arrived to see the other Insecticons charge into battle. This threw him into conniptions. How dare Shrapnel go over my head! When I save them from the Sweeps, I'll fill him with poison until it's the only fluid in his system! He flew in, ready to join the fight.

Sonic Canyons - The Battlefield

Venom arrived and quickly picked a target. Since Discord seemed distracted with Chop Shop, he quickly drew his stinger rifle and fired 5 rounds of paralyzing fluid darts at her. First I knock out the sweeps, then I get Shrapnel.

Kolkular, Cantina

Skyjack walked in the cantina. He looked around, taking note of the quality of the establishment. It's not Maccadam's, but then again, It's not Lassies Without Chassies either. He ordered a glass of high-grade walked over to Octopunch and Banzai-tron. "Excuse me, don't mind if I join you, do you?"

Sonic Canyons – The Battlefield

>>Commander Scourge, the Insecticons have attacked the exercise! Ending the exercise, and retaliating!<< Discord sends in the word calmly, immediately after her previous communication, despite being battered half to scrap with the loss of her wings, half her projectile arsenal, and assorted other bits of structural damage, her weapons set to low, and being very unsure of this outcome due to these, and other factors.
The element of surprise of the attack was lost on her as she'd seen them more or less already, and the war cry didn't help their stealth. And she knew the rest of the Insecticons were there.

She wanted to call in reinforcements, but that would be weak wouldn't it?
Certainly the Insecticons would pay one way or the other.
If Scourge sent reinforcement then the bugs would be squashed most assuredly, especially if it were the Elite brethren, and maybe if Scourge were monitoring the battle he'd see the potential for trouble.

If the battered team managed to win, well, that'll certainly teach the old school a lesson. Even if the battered team lost, there will certainly come a time to gain revenge. Every last Sweep would see to that!

Too bad they didn't meet on other terms. She would've liked manipulating them, but perhaps later. Those vermin needed to be taught a lesson for assaulting the Sweeps!

Discord was relieved to hear Macabre's voice. She calmly reports to the XO/Second in command of her force. >>Sir, the Insecticons are assaulting the exercise. Our locations are as follows:<< With that she sends an amber colored 3d map showing the locations of Swiftscreech, Aftershock, Rancid, Torment, Rage, herself, Shrapnel, Chop Shop, and the presumed location of the other Insecticons based on the trajectory of the thrown part, and Shrapnel's, and Chop Shop's entry to the field.
She can't seem weak to Macabre either. But hopefully he'll not let this stand.

She takes hold of her heat laser, keeping that dagger in hand. She doesn't know if she can stand to fight more foes like this, or if Scourge will act, but she's not just going to roll over and be beaten!
"The exercise is over!" she sounds her battle cry. "TO ARMS!! Make the Insecticons pay for their insolence!!" She led a rallying call making a bit of an on the spot decision. She isn't aware of the extent the Insecticons will go, but it can't be good.

She had her fun getting that revenge on Rancid, but her fun was over as the Insecticons swarmed. Further she isn't sure people have noticed.
Shrapnel assaulted followed by Chop shop, and she had the time to rally the troops so to speak, luckily.

She rewarded Aftershock as her heat laser lands right next to him. Sure she knew someone was coming behind her, especially as her sensors cleared up, but she wanted to reward loyalty.
Aftershock sure as pit wasn't finished off, and odds are he doesn't want to just sit there while all this goes on. It'd do more good for him than her, too. Even at low yield it's not going to tickle, and it's a high accuracy laser. The only thing that held it back was her. Hopefully Aftershock could shine with it.

During the toss she leapt back dodging blasts, and flies towards Chop Shop flitting from side to side in her robot mode, performing evasive maneuvers, watching his Photon cannon, timing the shots since he were spraying and praying, and moving out of the way with precision timing. He is accurate, yes, but spray and pray is not. Cannons tend not to be fast firing either.
She saw he was well armed, and wielded a melee weapon. Yummy. Her martial skill and her brains offered her ideas on how to battle the foe.

She readies her dagger in her damaged arm with a murderous look in her eye. "PEST!!! Scared you can't handle a Lady Sweep when she's at 100%?! YOU SHOULD BE!" She snarls as she made her cutting remark getting closer, shots skimming her armor at best. Her high speed, and decent reflexes aiding her greatly.
I wrestled 2 to a halt, what's one more?! she thought to herself, and she actually had a happy murderous look on her face when she stared down Chop Shop!After all, her melee was at full lethal force.

She registers spikes of energy, and the presence of another Insecticon. Venom. The projectiles were tracked but it was harder to do with them being fast single solid rounds. 4 of the darts are barely avoided in the maelstrom of firepower, the last one strikes her damaged arm, and it went from half functional to virtually none, if at all. She has to do damage hard and fast now!

That's what's one more. She thought to herself amusedly.
"It's nice to know I'm feared enough to warrant a double teaming! No wonder you 'cons are being replaced!" She taunts the Insecticons once more.


Rage heard Discord's command, and that's all the freedom she needs. "Affirmative!" Even if Torment out ranks Discord, Discord still out ranks Rage. And Discord, with her potent diplomacy almost always allowed the Gold and Blue Sweep some control. She wasn't brash or anything.

Rage's low stance was taken for a reason, and she were saving it for Torment. The reason became apparent immediately with both blasts coming at her. One from a low yield blast form Torment, no doubt still deadly, and the bolts from Shrapnel..
Her low stance allows her to dig in a claw into the ground quickly, and she rolled out of the way of the blasts using her arm to help pull her out of the way, and fling her a bit, both blasts colliding next to her as she skids around to face Shrapnel.
Berserk or not, she maintained some awareness of what's going on, more so than most with her sensor array on full. She couldn't survive just blindly flailing at everything that moved. No, she were utilizing -skilled- flailing at everything that moved. That's how she survives.

Now what made her more angry? The Insecticons interrupting her fun, or the fact Torment shot at her after Shrapnel? The scales tip.

She came to her decision...
"Multiple targets confirmed... Lethal force! SWAT them ALL!!!!" She lets out a roar that chilled mechs to the spark.
Like no one saw that coming?
But her wording means that her priorities changed. Obviously she hated the Insecticons more than her brother.

She overrides the low frequency settings on her internal weapons much like the way she handles everything that gets in her way. With sheer unrelenting anger!! Anger strong enough to affect her internal systems with thunderous synthesized voice and to have her normally yellow optics burn red which is the tip of the iceberg. She were attempting this when she charged her kin, but that's her secret.
Anger and time gave her the key.
As the anger builds she gets stronger, faster, and infinitely more violent, yet retains a potent combat ability instead of a mindless tantrum, on the edge of blindness, and modicums of control. She ignores pain, and many things that would get in the way of others like considerable damage. Too much of a good thing as her commander had put it.

And with that she transforms, and charges the electric Insecticon loosing blasts of her disintegrator cannons. A high speed charge made it evident she wanted to get close, and not much was going to stop the flying freight train. And it was clear who was faster of the two. A sonic boom sends shock-waves into the air even in the short distance between them.
Rage moved like she wanted to splat Shrapnel on her alt mode like a bug on a windshield of a Semi-truck.
No restraints. That Decepticon emblem Shrapnel wore meant little at the moment simply because he made her mad.

It was hard to tell what was louder. The roar of her engines, the sonic boom, or the war cry she loosed as she eagerly sought to blast, and smash the warrior wanna-be Shrapnel out of the sky.
Decepticons or not the Insecticons needed to learn that there's some transformers that you don't mess with willingly.

And the needed to know they are spies and assassins. The Sweeps are the aerial superiority!


Kolkular – Bugly's office

He saw new blips on the sensor array. "The Insecticons are back? And they're assaulting a the wounded Sweeps? What a vile and despicable move." A slight pause. "Perfect."
He watched this with renewed interest. His intense gaze locked on the view screen. It was like some grand gladiatorial fight, and amusing as well.
A few key strokes and the files on the Insecticons appear on a side bar of the combat screen.
Who could he control among these new pawns? He'll subjugate them one way or the other. By command, or by the way he has control over all transformers, by pulling power from the all spark. He'll have his power one way or the other.

Kolkular – The Cantina.

"I hear rumors we took Tagan a while ago. But I'm not one to stay informed. I don't know a thing about Polyhex. Personally I've always been fond of Tyrest." he grins like this isn't news.
He takes a drink, then shakes his head. "We should have been in Tagan. Right next to the rust sea, and you'd bet there would have been a lot of Autobots eager to say 'You'll pry Tagan from my cold dead hands' and we would, too!"
He laughs a bit. "Autobots piled high enough to build another base." He took a deep drink.

He contemplates a moment. "Then again the higher ups are always cooking up something. But you know that far better than I do, Banzai-Tron. I'm guessing you know a little more than I do what with the knowledge of Polyhex." he chuckles lightly.

He didn't have any remorse for being out of the informational loop from the way he spoke. He took info on a need to know basis a lot of the time. And all he needed to know is who's going to be beaten up, and where.

It wasn't long after he finished this when Skyjack spoke up. "You must be new here. I can't say I recognize you." It wasn't really an insult. It could be taken as one with certain bots, but he doesn't really care. If he doesn't know a Mech's name, odds are he can pummel them into aluminum leaf.
Octopunch wasn't one to learn every 'bot and 'con's name.
"Sure thing. Have a seat. I'm Octopunch." He says in a fairly god mood, then extends a hand in good will. Too bad he has a crushing grip.
Real Mech's Mech., this one.

Kolkular - Cantina

"I'll drink to a castle made of Autobot corpses.", Banzai-Tron said as he took a quaff of his own drink. "But it would be a shame to let all that fresh material go to waste..."
"As for knowing things, it's my job. Well, that's not technically true, my job is killing people who aren't working for the Decepticons. But it's an intelligence job and if I want to ascend, I need to learn the tricks, get in the know."

Skyjack's arrival brought Banzai-Tron back from his aside into job advancement. "Octopunch, this is Skyjack, works in the Intel biz too. He's one of your top infiltration guys, once got Optimus Prime himself to pose with him for a holograph. Ain't that right, Skyjack? Tell ya what, I'll go get you a drink too, and then you can tell us how you pulled that one off. Assuming it's not classified, of course."

Kolkular, Cantina

"Actually," Skyjack responded as he took a seat, "I couldn't remember the whole business. Used to be a big shot in the infiltration area, but I dunno, something happened, and my memory circuts were fried off the board. I started over got a job in the shipping industry, had an altercation with the police, and I'm back here, taking a census for Scourge." He took a swig and turned to the others. "I'm giving him my report tomorrow. Figure I'll tell him to keep the sweeps and non-operatives, and ship the rest of us to Polyhex. What do you guys think?"

Sonic Canyons – The Battlefield

The remark from Discord didn't improve Venom's mood. Insults to me, the Psycological warfare specialist! Who does she think she is? Venom was irked even more, but he was ready to shoot again. He aimed at her again, this time going for the legs. He pulled the trigger 3 times. I'll drop this one and go for Shrapnel next.

Sonic Canyons - The Battlefield

What?!

Ransack's sonic vibrations shattered Swiftscreech's audio receptors leaving him deaf. He screamed in pain but he could not hear it. He fell to the ground holding the sides of his head.

Sonic canyons


Macabre’s message cut into his thoughts and Torment growled like an angry wolf. But answered his superior none the less.
<<Sonic Canyons Sir, Training exercise gone Awal. >>

It had been to late the shot had been fired at Rage when Torment realized the rules had changed. Luckily she dodged the blast with ease. The Halloween painted sweep turned around to see the insecticons swarm down upon the exercise participants. With a whip like shake of his arm he snapped his arm canon into position and mumbled a code releasing his body from the training status he had put it in earlier. He would let Rage do her thing it was beyond anyone’s control now and her weapons had returned to full power.

His optics Flared as he watched the creepy assassins merge upon Discord. He started a fast walk directly towards Swiftscreetch and Aftershock, just as Ransack hit the ground. His Disrupter canon now on full power, the hunter opened fire upon the pest-acon.

Just after firing, Torment came at Swiftscreetch in a full run just as the other con began to scream. The sweep slid to a halt beside him and dragged him to his feet. Swiftscreetch did not need to hear to fight. If Swiftscreetch and Aftershock’s weapons had not been restored to full power they were now as Torment sent the codes out. The orange and black sweep grabbed the weapon laying upon the ground and shoved into Swiftscreetch’s hands and pointed at the Insecticons then snapped his fingers and pointed again. It would not do to show weakness, and these cons would learn from this experience, that injury shouldn’t stop one from fighting.

Torment glanced over at Rancid.... would he get up? He then threw an angry look at Aftershock and wondered if Ransack’s attack had damaged him or not. Raising his arm again he opened fire at Venom who’s attention was on the female sweep.

Sonic Canyons

Veonm didn't even look to see if his last few shots hit. The shots fired by Torment mostly missed, except for one, which hit him hard enough to knock him on his rear. As the Psycological warfare specialist stood up, he bellowed out a taunt to make them angry, and hopefully cause them to make more mistakes. " You sweeps are just like the seekers. What you lack in intelligence you make up for with the size of your egos!" He turned abck to Torment and opened fire, this time with shots that would lock up the limbs of the target. Please, he prayed, One hit is allI need!

Kolkular- Main Hangar Control

Interesting, Scourge thought. The insecticons had avoided his sensor array until mere astroseconds before the attack. They clearly knew the terrain very well. And the Master of the Hounds had to admit, he was curious how his elite Sweeps would fare against the famed Insecticon assassination squad. The Insecticons were canny hunters, and Scourge had studied their files the moment they returned to Kaon. It had been fascinating reading.

Macabre's transmission complicated things. While competent, his XO was a bit grandiose. It would not do for him to be calling in the drones. Between Shrapnel's electrical abilities, and Bombshell's cerebro-shells, the drones would be little threat to the assassins. With a quick mental command, the Sweep leader slaved the local Sweep drones to his own processor, locking the access codes.

<Macabre,> he transmitted over the frequency his second had opened. <This is Scourge. Proceed to the Sonic Canyons at best speed. Aid your brethren against the Insecticons. I look forward to seeing these antiquated models learn the error of their ways. The drones shall not be deployed. They are vulnerable to Bombshell's control. I shall observe the battle. Be warned, my hound, should I be forced to intervene, it shall be on your head. Scourge out.>

Switching frequencies, he contacted Torment. <Torment. I am aware of the situation. Macabre is en route. I expect that the three of you will deal with these rebels adequately. Use the lesser Decepticons as you will. If possible, try to keep them from suffering any more costly damage, but they are NOT a priority. Consider them expendable.>

Transerring control of the sensor array to his own systems, Scourge left the control room. Soundwave should be informed, he concluded. Sighing in irritation, he decided to wait. He would contact the wretched functionary after the Insecticons were his prisoners.

Reaching the main hangar, he transformed, taking to the air. He gained altitude quickly, entering a geosynchronous orbit over the Sonic Canyons. There, 80 kilometers above the battle, he waited, watching with both the sensor array, and his own powerful detection gear. Hopefully, he would not need to join the fray. If he did, Macabre would not be the only Sweep to learn the penalty for failure this day.

Sonic Canyons - The Battlefield

Ransack's cackling was quite loud, but certainly wasn't going to be heard by his latest victim, Swiftscreech.

"I'd make fun of you some more, but it would be pointless...so I'll just kill you and your comrades instead!"

Touching down and transforming into robot mode, the Insecticon warrior drew his shield and concussion blaster from subspace. The ambush was over, and the fighting had begun in earnest. Or as Ransack thought of it...Party time! There was a veritable buffet of targets from which to choose. As his metallic feet hit the canyon floor, Ransack found himself under fire from Torment. His shield absorbed much of the disruptor cannon fire, but leakage from the energy blasts scorched the heavy armor of his shoulder and leg.

"Ohhoho, we've got a live one!" He cackled vociferously once more.

Despite, like the other Insecticons, being nearly three meters shorter than the Sweeps, Ransack was ferociously strong and tough and packed tremendous firepower. He did not fear the imposing new Decepticon hunter-killers in the least. Still, his brute force was best used to complement the more subtle talents of the other Insecticons. He knew this well, and ignored Torment for the moment despite having been fired upon by the Sweep. He called out to his brethren as Discord charged at Chop Shop.

"They say 'divide and conquer,' but I think we're better at 'swarm and devour!'"

Following Venom's lead, he opened fire on the advancing Discord with his potent concussion cannon, aiming mainly at her legs and lower torso to immobilize her.

Kolkular – The Cantina.

Octopunch thought long and hard about Skyjack's offer. "It's tempting, but I think I'm needed here. They wouldn't have sent me here for nothing. But don't let me stop you two from getting better posts."
Duty. Sticking to that really helped him get recognized, then promoted. With luck, that won't be his last promotion.
He retracted his hand. Guess some 'cons weren't too friendly. Boy is that an understatement.

He brightened up hearing tales of Skyjack. "Well, I'll be. I'll have to remember your name if you didn't fry too many chips, and can pull stunts like that! Next time I see you, I hope you've got some stories to tell. Nothing I like more than knowing we've got more good soldiers in our ranks!"