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Equatorial Desert

Strafe’s optics widened as Lockdown snatched the Technobot’s weapon out of his hand followed by a swift backhand that knocked the aerial gunner to the desert floor. Rubbing the side of his faceplate, Strafe looked back up at the clearly enraged bounty hunter as the larger ‘Con grabbed a hold of his hands and placed stasis cuffs on his wrists. Lockdown’s then used his hooked appendage to drag the gunner to his feet by the connecting chain and pull him along towards his other downed teammate.

The bounty hunter was evidently not satisfied with just one prize, now wanting two Technobots to take back and likely get double the credits if not more. Strafe remained silent as his captor led him along, energon trickling down from the corner of his mouth. Now, the anxious mech was really out of options with all of his weapons gone or disabled and his power levels falling below thirty percent. His only hope would be if someone else came along to rescue him and the stasis-locked Afterburner.

That hope came sooner than anticipated when Scattershot suddenly emerged from underground and began firing at Lockdown from a distance before transforming and rocketing towards the bounty hunter’s position. Strafe said nothing and tried to keep his head down as low as possible in order to stay out of his commander’s way as the Technobot leader returned to robot mode with his fist raised and ready to pummel the black and green Decepticon into oblivion. With any luck, the nervous ‘Bot would come out of this encounter unscathed. Although, considering his misfortune thus far, Strafe expected the worse to happen.

Equatorial Desert - Skies Above

Scattershot's shot towards Apeface had been a hasty one but it had forced the Horrorcon to bank away from Lockdown's position to avoid a potential follow-up barrage. It never came. Instead his sensors registered Scattershot transforming and shooting off towards Lockdown before transforming again and entering hand to hand combat with the bounty hunter.

>>"Snaps, Scattershot went for Lockdown. You think that no-good merc needs assistance? Heh."<< Apeface transmitted his partner. >>"'Cuz this Horrorcon ain't feeling like helping that slagger to collect."<<

Just as he ended the transmission, something gleaming in the desert floor far away in the horizon caught Apeface's attention. It was emitting an energy signature but it was not a Decepticon one. And even though he couldn't determine whether the signal was Autobot one or not, there really was only one logical option - it had to be another Autobot survivor.

>>"Snaps, I picked another Cybertronian energy signature barely in my sensor range. O trust you can deal with these 'bots alone?"<<

Melanossus

The first Sweep that transformed and landed within range of Pointblank had provided the only incentive the Autobot had needed to alter his battle tactics somewhat. He was obviously going to lose in a firefight. The sheer odds against them had determined that. Therefore, he didn't really mind deviating from his usual strategy, since it was unlikely to work.

Charging forward, Pointblank speared the Sweep in to the ground, the two of them rolling several dozen meters down the hillside as Pointblank landed every well-targeted blow he could get in. That meant absorbing some as well, but these low-level grunts weren't usually designed to excel in a good, one-on-one melee. They relied on numbers, and though Pointblank wasn't really familiar with these blue boat boys, they seemed to be holding true to that theory.

All the better for him, until several more Sweeps had transformed and descended from the air in an effort to assist their comrade.
___

The sleek, purple jet arced over the Nebulan skyscape, closing in on the positions given by Reflector as to the location of Turmoil and this latest batch of Autobot refugees. Just behind him, Scourge maintained a steady and even position. Behind and below him, a duo of Sweep huntsmen.

"There," Cyclonus said, registering the energy burst upticks and beginning to arc downwards. The presence of the Autobots was interesting. It was reassuring to know that they had not been sent out on another wild cyberfox hunt. But even more interesting to the air warrior was Turmoil's imposing form--actually taking part in the battle itself.

Transforming in mid-air, Cyclonus dropped the remaining distance to the ground, landing in a crouch and rising to his full height once again even as Scourge and his men landed gingerly behind him.

"Why so far back?" Scourge asked

"I want to see what he can do. His words are large. Let us see if his actions back them up," Cyclonus said, his optics locked directly on Turmoil. Once Scourge had clued in on whom Cyclonus was referring to, he nodded only slightly.

"Prevent any from escaping," Scourge then added, motioning his additional Sweeps forward.

The mistakes made in the Folassian forest would not be repeated.

Fortress Tenebrous - Interrogation Room

Soul Siren silently took down information as River spoke.

"I see." She said in a calm voice. "Well, it seems I owe you a bit of thanks. I must admit that I had thought your friend's total lack of verbal reaction to the shock was due to some form of trauma caused by the battle you took part of before coming here. I was about to have her sent for a her condition to be evaluated but fortunately you have corrected me and established her silence as an act of rebellion or, as you might say, "who gives a scrap". Would have been truly embarrassing for me to send her and have it be discovered it was just an act of rebellion. Well, with this cleared up we can take appropriate actions."

Soul Siren activated once more the shock system to Vestra's chair and, this time, kept it on. She looked in her direction. "Now then, this time the pain will continue until you speak or perish." Even though she spoke to Vestra her words were meant more to River. Vestra was in no danger of dying. Soul Siren had already studied the body of her captive and the electricity was carefully set to only cause great pain and not permanent damage. In her current state, however, she would not verbalize that. All River would see is her friend's trashing form and the smells caused by the burning of systems of lesser importance.

She turned back towards River. "Your statement on what you are doing here is clearly false. Do not worry however, I will not give you pain in this instance out of gratitude for you help in clearing up the state of your friend. This favor is a one time only thing however. Now then, I will ask again, who are your current leaders on this planet and what is their location?"

As he spoke to River, Vestra's form continued to receive painful shocks continuously as Soul Siren continued to not turn off the system. As she waited for the answer she sent a communication to Reflector.

"Thank you for such fascinating information. That explains this reaction. I believe I know how I shall be escalating this if needed. Do we happen to have an audio sample of Trybium?"

Equatorial Desert - Skies Above

Snapdragon saw as his Technobot prey stopped and launched another attack. For all their formidable physical abilities the Horrorcon's most dangerous trait was their intelligence as that was the easiest one to underestimate as this Autobot had already done. Seeing this Autobot's attack in action Snapdragon knew that his firepower would be painful to him but not cause permanent damage so he continued forward and took blasts to his heavily armored center portion of his ship form. He also knew that the Autobot did not truly fly but rather used rockets to propel him. By using his sensors to analyze the force of the rockets he was able to calculate the point in which Lightspeed would reach his highest point.

"When have the Horrorcons ever been a charity Apey? Let the slag-head ask for help if he wants it." Horrorcon rules were simple. If someone was not a Horrorcon then the due did not give a slag about them. Snapdragon replied as he continued forward. His pride did not allow him to verbalize the pain he felt from the blasts to his partner, instead he allowed it to silently fuel his anger. "Happy hunting Apey. Got to smash this bug here."

Snapdragon dove towards the Autobot timing his movement so that he would come close to Lightpseed as the thrust of his rockets reached their highest point and he would begin balling back towards Earth. In this one moment Snapdragon knew that the Autobot would be unable to effectively maneuver so he suddenly transformed into his dragon mode and thrust forward his feet. He aimed to crash feet first into Lightspeed and then push him onto the ground.

Tree Line

Repugnus followed behind the other Monsterbots, doing his best to disguiser their passing. Footprints were easy to ruin, and hopefully their rapid movement would prevent much of a heat or energy signature. The trampled plant life was going to be a difficulty. He did his best to either cover it up or try to kick it back up. It wasn’t perfect but hopefully it would just look like some animals had passed through rather then three Autobots.

The Monsterbot had to admit that the others were doing their best to try not to leave a trail. While he would likely never admit it out loud he did appreciate the effort. They were nutjobs, the both of them, but they were his nutjobs. He would do his absolute best to take care of them and hit the Cons as hard as they could. He wanted the Cons off the planet and the other Autobots rescued just as badly as anyone else did. The difference once he was more realistic about things. Repugnus had no high hopes that any of that would actually happen, but he would still try.

Finally Repugnus darted up to the front of the group. “Alright, we should be close now.” The Monsterbot glanced around with his enhanced vision before locating his hidden base. A smile formed over his face before he turned back to his teammates. “Alright, follow me.” Repugnus darted out of the forest and to a heavy thicket of bushes and weeds. Pushing his way through them he came to a small cave entrance. Scurrying inside the cave quickly opened up into a much wider chamber.

The Monsterbot dropped his hostage and equipment on the ground and transformed to robot mode. He walked over to a console and typed in a code. The cavern lit up with a faint glow, enough light coming from ceiling lights and computer panels to see by. The chamber was full equipped with a computer system, workbench, a grid map table, CR chamber and generator. Repugnus offered a smile to his teammates. “Welcome to your new home sweet home.”

*

Six miles out of Koraja

Shrapnel paused as Bombshell stopped, his antennae and pincers twitching. The promise of a fight, if ever so brief, and possibly a meal to come had only excited the Insecticon. Delaying the inevitable only annoyed him at this point. “Another Autobot, bot?” he questioned out loud. “Then twice the prize, prize and double the meal, meal.” Shrapnel wasn’t interested in waiting any longer, and if their base was close by it would be found quickly.

Six miles out of Koraja

Bombshell actually allowed for something akin to a snicker. His mood was typically too dour to allow for anything more than that, unless an Autobot was splayed open right in front of him, leaking all sorts of delicious fluids.

"Agreed. And maybe more besides," Bombshell said, resuming his earlier gait--his insect-like metallic legs quickly closing the distance between them and where their intended prey were attempting to hide out. The cerebro shells had proven to be exceedingly useful. Now the Insecticon was beginning to wonder what other, more widespread, uses the devices might have in the field.

Within the edges of the forest itself, various Insecticon diaclones were skillfully navigating their way through the brush, occasionally climbing through trees and keeping a multitude of watchful optics on the escaping Autobots.

Surely one of them was going to call for assistance. If the circumstances were reversed, that was what Bombshell would have done. What were these foolish Autobots playing at? Bombshell could see the cave structure from the haphazard view he was getting from Skyhammer's cerebro-shell. He was being carried now, and hardly in the most visually-conducive manner. Most of what Bombshell could see for the moment was the ground beneath the other Autobots feet.

This had to be the Autobots' last remaining base on this planet. The Insecticons would swarm it, and perhaps take it for their own.
___

The Perdition--Bridge

Reflector rubbed his hands, all three components doing the same act in unison, as they took in the minor spectacle of watching the Autobots get interrogated.

>>"The last known command figure was Skyhammer,"<< Reflector interjected, feeding Soul Siren information when he could, just in case the Autobots attempted to deceive her. >>"But he has been incapacitated for some time. Scorponok left him hanging in the Korajan town square. They must be taking orders from someone new. I'm curious to learn who it might be."<<

Getting the location of the base would likely be a more difficult prospect. These Autobots were exceedingly careful about guarding what precious capital resources they still possessed--the primary testament being that accursed ship that was still silently hiding somewhere in orbit over this planet.

Nevertheless, Reflector was curious to see if Soul Siren could do it.
___

Equatorial Desert

Lightspeed heard the harsh displacement of air and blaster fire microseconds before Snapdragon's feet came crashing in to him, almost instinctively initiating a transformation as the Technobot crashed to the ground.

His systems had barely been allowed any time to begin even the most basic internal repairs from the damage he had sustained form Skullgrin's blade earlier. Now this? The Technobot's pain receptors were reeling.

Attempting to push himself up, he also activated his internal, infrared missile launchers. In short order, his computing systems found their targets: one for Horrorcon A and another for Horrorcon B.

If he was going to go, he might as well go big.

The missiles fired.

(OOC: With permissions from SmokescreenGT, Strafe will be taken prisoner.)

Equatorial Desert

The attack by Scattershot was not unexpected. In fact the bounty hunter had been wondering what had taken him so long. He must be losing his touch. A toothy grin made its way to his visage but it soon turned in to a deep scowl as the Technobot commander let loose a volley of short bursts which were easily avoided.

Lockdown had been able to maneuver around Scattershot’s spent ammo easily with Strafe close in tow. But when the Technobot transformed in to his rocket jet form Lockdown was ready. The black and green mech deftly hefted the aerial gunner in front of himself effectively using Strafe as a shield. The two retro rockets hit Strafe in two separate locals; one in the upper right chest, the other in the right upper thigh.

With his own person safe from harm, Lockdown lashed out with the bloodied gunner this time using the young mech as a club. If Scattershot kept on his advance he’d, not only run directly in to his own teammate but he would also be the cause of Strafe’s demise. Either way, Lockdown would still be able to collect his bounty on the nearly terminated aerial gunner and the stasis locked Afterburner and if all went well Scattershot would simply surrender.

Underneath the Battleground

Nosecone looked around with his Geo Scanners. Lockdown was there, but far off. Far away from his trap.

Frag. Nosecone thought.

It didn't surprise him, naturally, as he used his leaping tech earlier. Nosecone just didn't like it either way.

Nosecone looked around for anything below Lockdown. He saw several different materials that were very, very interesting. Aluminum, magnesium, titanium and several other components to make a very hot, very deadly product.

Thermite.

Nosecone began to make his way there, through the chamber and near the very deadly compound. He looked beneath it. A large magma vein resided beneath it. Very common for things like this.

Hmm. A Magma vein is quite suitable. Nosecone thought as he began to aim his X-Ray laser at the compound. All it would need is an ignition...

>>Look out above.<< Nosecone said over the radio to his comrades.

He fired a shot at the compound and a very loud, very hot explosion ricocheted around the chamber, this didn't faze Nosecone as he turned his back previously. The explosion finished, Nosecone looked back to the hole that suddenly formed around Lockdown and he walked over to see if what he did worked.

*****

Six Miles out of Koraja

Nightbeat felt the relief that he wasn't going to have to carry Skyhammer back to wherever their hideout would be for now. He took a glance at the object on Skyhammer's forehead again. He knew it from somewhere! From one of his cases back on Cybertron, it was Espionage Charges in place with a certain mech, but the said mech had no memory of anything transpiring.

Nightbeat began to walk behind Hosehead as the latter began to lead the two to this cave that Hosehead talked about. Nightbeat watched the object intently, there was something horrifyingly familiar about this object... He began to think through the case again... There was an ornament on the forehead of the subject much like this object, this couldn't be too much of a coincidence, the two must have known each other then. But maybe that would be less of a leap than it not being a coincidence...

Seven Miles out of Koraja

Nightbeat began to think of what the two had in common, two were Autobots, both in high ranking positions, but one thing that really caught him off guard. The Insecticons. Nightbeat remembered that after the mech was sentenced life in prison, that he saw Bombshell and several other Insecticons attending the court.

The Insecticons are the link! Of course! And what is Bombshell known for?

Nightbeat reached out at Skyhammer and yanked him from Hosehead's shoulder and onto the ground.

"Y'know, Hosehead, I've always had this feeling I've been being watched," Nightbeat said, turning to Skyhammer, "But you already know that, don't you Bombshell? Clever move, planting a Cerebro Shell in Skyhammer. Almost fell for it. Nighty night."

Nightbeat reached at Skyhammer's Cerebro shell and pulled out the tooth shard. Nightbeat poked one of his fingers with it to check to see if it was still sharp. Thankfully, it was. Nightbeat placed the tooth around the Cerebro Shell and began to cut around it. He pulled the ring from the head and tossed it behind him. He went back in with his makeshift scalpel and began to separate the long tendon-like wires from the Cerebro Shell. He would have to act fast.

Plucking the remaining cords from the Cerebral Cortex was not an easy task. He had to lift the Cerebro Shell just a small bit to expose the tendon-like wires that spanned the lower part to the Cortex. Nightbeat, thinking back on Basic Medical Training that Ratchet gave him, jabbed his scalpel into the cords, causing them to shrink back into the Shell.

Nightbeat, with one last yank, separated the Cerebro Shell from Skyhammer. Nightbeat pocketed shortly afterward with the tooth fragment.

"Hosehead, catch!" Nightbeat said as he lifted Skyhammer's body and pushed it to his bumbling comrade.

After that, he began to run in the direction of the landing, maybe, just maybe, they could get there in time.

Tree Line / Monsterbot Base

Doublecross continued onwards through the trees, trying his best to keep the damage to the surrounding fauna to a minimum. For once the two heads of the dual-minded Monsterbot were both quiet, but how long that would last was another story all together. The left head was itching for a fight and the right one couldn’t really deny that he wanted to smash some ‘Cons, as well. Although, admitting that to his polar opposite would only serve to bring about more taunting and jokes at the right’s expense.

It was then that Repugnus hurried passed both Doublecross and Grotusque, alerting them that they were close now and to follow him. “About fraggin’ time,” the left dragon head growled as the right snapped at him to shut it. The two reptilian cranial units managed to stop bickering long enough for Doublecross to emerge from the forest directly behind the bug-like Monsterbot and shadow him to the concealed entrance of their new headquarters, if it could really be called such.

Getting down on all fours, the two-headed dragon crawled his way through the small opening before being able to stand at full height once again as the tunnel opened up into a much larger chamber. A quick glance around in opposite directions at once showed that the cavern had all the basic essentials they would need in the coming cycles, nothing more and nothing less.

(What a slaggin’ dump!)

It will serve our purpose for the time being. What did you expect anyway, a luxury suite?

(No, dumbaft, but I guess if our purpose is to crawl around like cyber-rats then this place will do just fine.)

Oh, stop your whining.

Doublecross pulled the hover cart full of equipment into the center of the room before unraveling his tail from around the handle and then transforming back to robot mode. “Not a bad place you’ve got here, Repugnus. Any spot in particular you want me to store all this gear?”

(Hey, that’s not fair! You gave me no warning that you were going to transform!)

You snooze, you lose.

While both minds equally shared the body while in dragon mode, the right hemisphere of Doublecross’s processor was normally the dominant one while in robot mode. Usually, it took both personalities to agree to transform out of monster form, but there were certain occasions when the right one was able to initiate the change by doing so quickly and without warning, leaving the opposing persona little to no time to object or stop the change. This was one of those instances.

(You can’t keep me bottled up for long. Next time, it’ll be near impossible to push me to the background so easily.)

I’ll keep that in mind. Now, quiet you!

Melanossus

Rad saw that another Autobot, a couple of them now actually, were starting to get swarmed as Sweeps increasingly descended on the area and were proceeding to take them out.

He hadn't done enough to gain the attention of any of the heavy-hitters yet, and Rad was thankful for that. It allowed him to keep poking at them from a distance. He'd go for a nice, face-to-face scrap as quickly as any 'Bot, but it was to their advantage to capitalize on every little bit of good luck that came their way. And not having a pile of Sweeps on him definitely made him feel lucky.

Rad stepped over the latest broken and sparking diaclone, smashing its cranial unit as he did so, before lining up a shot at one of the Sweeps that was swarming Pointblank. Rad unleashed a flurry of blaster fire before quickly turning and looking further down the slope at that brutish mech that Pyro seemed to have found himself tangled with.

Every little shot would count if they were going to take that bad boy down.

Checking his sights and weapon energy levels, Rad began to unload in Turmoil's direction as well. His focus was unrelenting until something shot past him, racing towards the large Decepticon on all fours.

"Lionizer. No! Get back here!"
___

Seven Miles out of Koraja

"GahhhhhhhhhAHHHHaahhhhhhhh!!!" Bombshell cried out, the interference from his cerebro shell becoming so thorough that it almost began to cripple his own mind. The Insecticon shut off the link as he stopped in his tracks for a moment. Kickback was not far behind.

"Such drama with you," the other Insecticon said. "What is it now?"

"The Cerebro shell link. It's....ehhhh....it's gone," Bombshell sighed.

"As if it mattered now," Kickback said. "Their base is just ahead, through the edge of the forest. It's ours."

"....yes," Bombshell began, reluctantly agreeing. "Ours."

Through the edges of the forest, metallic legs, pincers and a small horde of glowing optics began to emerge. The Autobots had run this way. But they would not be able to run for much longer.

Clear of the trees, numerous diaclones began to take to the air, closing the distance between themselves and their intended Autobot prey that much faster.

Seven Miles West of Koraja

“No too far now.” Hosehead continued to trek through the forest with Skyhammer draped over his shoulder-plates. He frowned suddenly. “Well, at least I don't think it's too far.”

Before another word could exit his vocaliser, Nightbeat snatched Skyhammer from Hosehead and placed him on the leaf-covered soil. There, he performed a sort of operation on the off-lined Autobot, involving his cranial unit, a scalpel in his grasp doing its business on the forehead. Incisions were made, and Nightbeat began cajoling an object out of the produced cavity using his digits.

Hosehead observed the improvised operation with a blend of curiosity and fascination. He knew his friend was one of the most intuitive and intelligent Transformers he'd ever come across, but he had seldom witnessed his medical skills in effect. For a moment, Hosehead wished he possessed those abilities; they would prove to be quite beneficial in his line of work.

Once Nightbeat had completed his operation, he offered Skyhammer back. Hosehead squatted next to him, lifted the off-lined Autobot and carefully situated him over his shoulder-plates again. He nodded at Nightbeat, recommencing the journey to the cave.

His friend ran off, the distance between them increasing at a rapid rate. Hosehead didn't like that. He adopted a quicker pace, conscious of the passenger he was transporting.

“Hey!” Wiggling his shoulder-plates, he shifted Skyhammer around slightly, making sure he was secured. “Wait for me!”

* * *

Monsterbot Base

Grotusque smiled broadly. “Ah... Home, sweet home.” He swept the base with his gaze, peering appreciatively at each item featured within the cave. “If we ever win this war—and more importantly, live to tell the tale—I think you should seriously consider becoming a real estate agent, Repugnus. Yeah, you should definitely do that.”

Much to his pleasure, Grotusque had reached their new base in a period of time he found to be rather agreeable. Travelling through a forest while Doublecross did...whatever it was he did with those two cranial units of his and Repugnus, exhibiting his horrific monster form, eliminating any evidence of a trail left behind—well, that was fun in its own right. But the real fun was to begin shortly.

“You get through that small entrance all right, D.C.? 'Cause you don't look as though the sunshine made it through with you. Anything you want to talk about?” Grotusque maintained a serious expression for a record four astroseconds before it dissolved, revealing the mighty laughter it poorly concealed. “I kid! I kid! Big surprise, I know.” He laughed again.

He clapped his actuators together. “Yeah, so, uh, what's the plan, 'Pugster? I mean after we've set up our pad to our liking?”

Fortress Tenebrous - Interrogation Room

River's optics narrowed on Soul Siren as her comrade entered into a fit of unresponsive convulsions. She allowed her sensors to pour over the Decepticon interrogator, from breast plate to hip joints. Each detail of her face, limbs and torso were immediately imprinted onto the medic's trained sensor package.

She allowed the data to be immediately filed into multiple redundant subroutines for future analysis. This Decepticon was well built, but even a medic would find weaknesses for future exploitation, all River needed to complete that bit of data combing was time. Damn she wished her beloved was right there, he could process this flood of information trillions of times faster than she could. Course it helped when you were the primary data processor and collector for the infamous Technobots. Inwardly she let out a longing sigh. If Lightspeed were there then the interrogator might try and seduce him. No femme better lay a hand on my beloved.

Her expression flickered briefly. The vision of her friend in agony, not just physically but also mentally, was pump breaking. It would slow any thought process she could devote to figuring out a clever way of escape. Damn, sometimes it sucked being a Energon Leaking Medic.

"Our leader?" She finally responded, straining to keep her voice as balanced and unaffected by the events transpiring around her. "Your big primate decided to smash him into a little silicon wafer. I mean come on, who in their right processor attacks and old mechanism." She tried to mock shrug as she continued. "And that alternative form. To take on the look of an organic? Talk about disgraceful. His mold masters must be so disappointed."

The medic leaned forward towards the interrogator. "He's not your spark mate or anything is he?"

Melanossus

Pyro's sensors immediately registered the transfer of energies surrounding Turmoil as the Decepticon Fleet Officer manipulated his personal structural integrity field to compensate for the Autobot's assault. It wasn't entirely unexpected, but he had hoped to at least get a single shell through before that transfer had happened. Alas, Pyro would not be deterred. He pulled down his chemical cannon into the main super structure of his body and immediately began its reconfiguration.

As soon as he was within range, his sensors screamed of the incoming flood of charged particles headed in his direction. "Scrap." Turmoil had managed to gain a beeline on the approaching firetruck. The buildings to either side of the Decepticon were already smoldering, began to fracture under the intense change in atmospheric pressure as the siege tank released his volatile payload. Pyro allowed his training to take control and he transformed almost instinctively and rolled into the bottom floor of what had once been a bakery.

The Autobot Ranger tuned his own personal integrity field to protect his exposed left side from the residual radiation as the particle beam passed. His left arm suffering severe scorches and several micro fractures along the armor plates of his left bicep arm section. "Incredible." He muttered to himself as he scratched the flaking damage off his burned arm. Pyro refused to imagine the results if he had stayed in a headline direction and absorbed the full brunt of the blast.

Still he had a job to do and he was not about to let the cons take the advantage so easily. Pyro pulled his weapon from the holster on his side and reconfigured the nozzle to emit a concentrated spray of liquids, similar to that of a high pressure fire hose. He peaked over a hole that had been created in the north facing wall, caused by the reflection of one of his own Friction Accelerator Shell smashing through the facade.

His head bored through the second story of the building as he peered over to evaluate the position of Turmoil as the massive con maneuvered to a new firing position. Pyro's optics narrowed briefly. "This cannot continue. Too many innocents are still within the furthest extremities of the combat zone."

Pyro brought up his right arm and flipped open a concealed panel. He toggled two switches and slapped the panel closed. Finally he tore through the damaged and crumbling facade of the bakery and aimed his newly reformatted pressure cannon straight at the treads of Turmoil. He flipped the switch located on the weapon's grip and immediately felt a hose connect with his internal chemical pumps. He fired high pressured hard foam designed to almost immediately solidify upon contact with a heat source, rather useful when smothering fires back on Cybertron.

Pyro fired his weapon again, this time directing the spray towards the main batteries of Turmoil himself. He spun back to reach for cover around a broken brickwork and flipped the toggle on the weapon changing the fluid inside his internal tanks. He plugged into a loser chemical bond fire suppression fluid and leveled it off on the structurally compromised five story office building with boarded windows located near Turmoil's present projected course. The fire fighter spun out and narrowed the stream of fluid to the pressure that could cut through steel. He fired into the heart of the building like a blade through timber.

The Ranger immediately ducked behind his brickwork barricade and switched his weapon back to the corrosive shells he had initially employed against the insect clones. Three sweeps swooped low over head, offering low altitude air support to their Decepticon Commander. Pyro could not abide by their unrestrained laser strafing of the area, not with the potential of innocents being in the area still a possibility. He even doubted they used their sensors to confirm such presences anyways.

He fired a pair of shots at each of the low flying sweeps as they past, aiming for their engines. Each canister exploded on an engine bell, one hitting the base of their command tower. The trio of sweeps banked heavily towards the outskirts of town, trailing billows of black smoke as their exterior armor and interior mechanisms slowly dissolved into nothing more than acrid slag.

Pyro returned his gaze towards Turmoil in hopes his tactic at least managed to slow the already massive Decepticon down.

Fortress Tenebrous - Interrogation Room

Soul Siren demonstrated no visible reaction to River's words. They did not bother her, in fact, she enjoyed such demonstrations of bravado. It only made the eventual outcome of this so much more sweeter. She accessed River's chair and sent a painful bolt of electricity which passed in a few moments. Vestra's however continued.

"As I said. Non cooperation is punished while cooperation is rewarded."

She sent another painful shock into River.

"As is insults to us by the use of such transparent lies. Skyhammer had the honor of being crushed by Commander Scorponok so we know there has to be someone else in command and we know that neither of your dead is it. I must admit to being completely puzzled as to why you would bother to protect a leader who has lead all of you to slaughter. Well, no matter. I do have my work to do and there is little time for such idle chit chat."

This latest exchange had convinced her of one thing. The Autobot known as Vestra was useless to them as a source of information. Sure, perhaps she could manipulate her trauma into information for them but that would take too much time. Still, perhaps she could still be of use to them like this. She went back and got a small datapad and put it on a table in front of River so she could see.

"If you will excuse me, I have some other things to tend to. This is what we will do. The pain you suffered is what your fellow Autobot is continuously experiencing. I have set the charge to slowly increase click by click. I am sure you know how painfully her spark will eventually extinguish once it passes a certain point. This screen will show the voltage increasing."

She started the mechanism and the voltage slowly began to rise.

"In summary, Autobot, I offer you a trade. You give me the name of your leaders and I will give you her life. The decision as to whether or not you accept my most generous offer is yours. I do not think she will last much longer so do make up your mind quick."

She turned and took a seat as she began to look through her data pad. In reality she was once again opening a communication line to Reflector.

"Well then, let us see how the Autobot responds. If she is too stubborn I believe I know of another way to get that particular punishment and she will have the punishment of being responsible for her friend's termination."


Equatorial Desert

Snapdragon was disappointed as his feet hit the earth and not the Autobot. The crunch of metal would have been quite satisfying. He took a moment to pull his feet from the ground and turned back to Lightspeed.

Out of all the Horrorcon's modes Snapdragon's dragon form was the least dexterous and thus Snapdragon had little ability to avoid the misslie that was launched towards him. The disadvantage of this lost of mobility, however, was balanced by a very important advantage. In this form his parts were more compressed allowing his armor to be more reinforced resulting in the most heavily armored mode among the Horrorcons. The missiles struck his chest directly resulting in a large explosion. There was a roar and smoke everywhere and then... silence.

For a moment it seemed like the missile had done its job until the smoke cleared and Snapdragon continued to stand there.

"I hope that was not your best shot slag-head." He said in a sinister voice. "Or else I am going to give you twice the beating for wasting my time."

He began to walked towards Lightspeed in a measure tone. He wanted to see fear on the Autobot's face before he finally punched it in. As he did he sent his partner a message.

"By the way, Apey, you got a missile heading in your direction."

Melanossos, Decepticon supply depot

Turmoil lost his chance to line in for another blast at Pyro as the ranger managed to hit his barely exposed threads with immediately solidifying foam. Another blast followed - the target being Turmoil's main weapon. But given the angle of the blast it just generated layer of solified foam on the side of the barrel, doing nothing to prevent the use of the weapon. All this however, was more of a hindrance than anything else. Paying little attention to the building collapsing next to him Turmoil calmly made his counter move.

>>"Cover fire being deployed. Prepare for a flash grenade."<<

Sending out a warning to other Decepticons of his incoming actions, automatically targetable anti-infantry pulse lasers of Turmoil's began unleashing their deadly rain of fire to protect his flank from the charging Lionizer while attempting to harass Pyro to continue seeking shelter from the ruined buildings. At the same time a defensive sub-routine orchestrated a flash grenade being fired in front of Pyro's last confirmed location and manipulated Turmoil's exhaust ports to generate a cloud of thick, black smoke which quickly enfulged the large Decepticon and easily enough of his surroundings to hide five Cybertronians of his size within it.

Within the protective clould of smoke, Turmoil transformed to his towering robot form to regain his mobility and moved slightly to left to force possible Autobot attackers guess his real position. While his own cloud of smoke hampered his own targeting ability as well, the massive Vice-Commander still had dozens of optical sensors feeding him live stream of targeting data. The Swarm was truly work of genius for all the possibilities it offered. While the larger diaclones served as weapons and perfect decoys to draw enemy fire, the smaller insect sized ones covered large areas of battlefield while going nearly unnoticed by those not trained to spot them - keeping the Decepticons updated on the changing enemy positions around the battlefield.

And thus, only astroseconds after the smoke cloud had been activated - a massive particle beam blast erupted from the cloud of smoke with Rad being its designated recipient.

Another transmission was sent at the same time as his main weapon fired a blast towards Rad. This time - the message was focused on the two Decepticons that had arrived with to Melanossus with him. >>"Horri-Bull, Bomb-Burst. Pin Pyro down to his current position. I grow tired of these games."<<



Equatorial Desert - Skies Above

>>"I have sensors of my own ol' pal. Not the first missile I have dropped, heh heh."<< Apeface replied back to Snapdragon and allowed his sonic-boomer to position itself to allow it to fire behind him. A moment later Lightspeed's missile was hit by a wave of sonic booms that caused the missile to denonate harmlessly in the air - far a way from Apeface's own position.

Having dealt with the missile, Apeface was now able to focus on his target - namely an energy trace deeper in the desert that could only be an Autobot. A wounded one at that. And as dedicated in seeking shelter from the caverns under the desert as his Technobot friends given how the trace suddenly disappeared as if the desert had swallowed the Autobot.

As suddenly as the Autobot signature disappeared - Deadlock's signature appeared far closer to the Autobot's last known position than Apeface was. Well slag darnit. That annoying punk stole my fun again. Cursing Deadlock's appearance in his mind, Apeface turned back - willing to let Deadlock have this particular Autobot rather than contesting the issue. That of course meant that he'd get back at Deadlock eventually. And likely in abusive, violent manner.

Equatorial Desert

Deadlock's engines revved again as he barreled through the top of one of the taller dunes and drove his vehicle form into the unsuspecting midsection of Brainstorm. He transformed immediately and drove his palm straight into the dislodged makeshift hover skiff that the Autobot had been riding towards the volcanic vent that was now vomiting smoke and ash as it stirred to life. The soldier smirked as the board snapped and went off in separate directions, the engine exploding over the dune to the south.

Deadlock drew his weapon as the stunned Autobot Bio Engineer struggled to regain his bearings. He fired two shots, plugging the scientist in the shoulder and right hip causing Brainstorm to stagger and fall backwards. He holstered his weapon in subspace and stomped over to the damaged mechanism. "Consider yourself lucky Bot," He reached down and hefted the Autobot to his feet and drove his fist into the gut of the prisoner causing him to double over, further sending a spray of pale energon splattering against the sand. "Big Boss Mech wants prisoners. Do try to stay functional until your final execution." He drove his palm into the wounded shoulder and finally sneered as the engineer fell into stasis.

Once Brainstorm was secured with energon bonds Deadlock flipped open his communicator to patch him into the Severance. "Lock onto signal, bounce two to infirmary. I doubt Turmoil would want a dead Autobot to interrogate." With the closure of the communication channel, bursts of white light enveloped himself and his unconscious prisoner whisking them away into the heavens and out of the sea of sand.

Equatorial Desert - Volcanic Vent

The terrain exploded around Scattershot as his fist stopped within a micro meter of Strafe's unconscious form. His face contorted into a rage soaked growl as he attempted to side step the defenses only to find the Bounty Hunter, Lockdown, was determined to use his own soldier as a shield. It was a gutless move, indicative of the Decepticons he now faced. He balled his fists as he retracted them to his sides, his optics carefully darting back to Afterburner and Lightspeed before narrowing on the damaged Strafe before him.

Of his team, only Nosecone and himself were still in fighting condition, while the cons held the advantage of Lockdown, Apeface and Snapdragon. Typically he would expend every ounce of energon bashing their cadavers into paste. But the facts were staring him in the plate. While he focused on one of those loud mouth obnoxious scrap suckers, the others would simply start dismantling his team. Or worse, they would do exactly what this con before was doing now. Force him to bash his way through his own troops in order to take down the targets.

"NOSECONE, STAND DOWN!" Scattershot ordered as he stood defiantly. They weren't going to get anywhere now and he knew it, and he knew that deep down even his slow methodical friend knew it as well. Two against three, one with no spinal column and two with the advantage in air and transfiguration adaptability, this was a battle they were going to lose. But Scattershot knew one thing was for certain, they would get a chance of redemption. So long as the cons felt that there was information worth milking from them, the Technobots would be able to repair and find a way out of this mess.

The Technobot commander allowed his primary weapon to slip into subspace as he stared defiantly into the core of Lockdown. "Don't worry Bounty Hunter. You can enjoy your payday. Though believe me when I say, you had best invest in some Auto Insurance. I swear that you're going to need it before this epoch is over." The battle was over. He spat a ball of sand coated lubricant at the foot of the ground based Decepticon as he knelt down by Afterburner.

He swore he would make these cons pay for this humiliation. The commander placed his palm against the unconscious gunner. At least the Technobot cycle was peaceful laying there as his body worked to reroute power feeds. At least they would all be repaired, Nosecone and himself being better off than the other three, but at least that was something. "Snapdragon." He called up to the Horrorcon Commander. "They need medical attention. As prisoners of war, we are at least entitled to that right."

The Perdition--Bridge

>>"They are certainly resistant, particularly for being so outnumbered,"<< Reflector responded. >>"Perhaps that is indeed why. They are likely functioning under the delusion that they have nothing left to lose. Though I suspect they have more to lose than they are willing to admit. I must admit, you are certainly proving to be a capable interrogator. Lord Scorponok will be pleased with my report, regardless of the outcome."<<

The optics of the Spyglass unit shifted to the various engagements taking place on the surface while Viewfinder continued to intently monitor the interrogation itself. It was always such a satisfying experience to see Autobots in a position of weakness.
___

Equatorial Desert

The Horrorcon still stood. Lightspeed had given the last of what he had left. Anything that might cause actual damage, anyway. What was he to do now, engage the Horrorcon in melee combat?

Might as slaggin' well.

Lightspeed had been ready for death. He hadn't been sure how it was going to come, but he had been fairly certain that he was not going to survive this. His time with the Technobots had allowed him little time to ponder the questions of what lay beyond this world. They were a unit that focused on solving the problems of the here and now as well as anticipating what could be needed in the future. Terrestrial thinking. In this last breem or so, he had wondered what more there might be, or if his spark would simply be extinguished and that would be it. It would be such a shame if this was all there was. He hadn't thought about it much before, but he thought so now, at the moment of his termination.

Except that termination had not come.

Scattershot had ordered them to stand down. Lightspeed's fists were still up, but he assumed a more relaxed stance. What did it matter now? There were three ways out of this: the Horrocons accepted their surrender. Apeface did and Snapdragon didn't. Or neither Horrorcon did. In Lightspeed's view, that gave him a solid 66% chance of not walking away from this. Whatever.

"Do your worst, Horrorcon. I did my best."

Equatorial Desert - Skies Above

"INCOMING!"

There was no warning. Or, technically there was but given Apeface was travelling faster than the speed of sound - both the roar of his engines and his bellow arrived after the damage had already been done. Minor failure on his part. Apeface had to admit that much. But then again it was never meant to be fair game.

A mid-air transformation in supersonic speed into his simian alternative mode and following smash into unsuspecting Scattershot was certainly something the Technobot commander was not expecting while being busy demanded his rights from Snapdragon. Then again, no one really expected a meteor hitting them head on out of the blue sky. Heck, it hadn't even more than a random idea on Apeface's part. Blitzwing had made this particular tactic work for hundreds if not thousands of vorns. So why couldn't he try it every once in a while? Blitzwing certainly didn't hold rights to the idea and as far as Apeface was concerned, the triplechanger commando was welcome to try challenging the Horrorcon over it.

As the dust cloud that the collision had lifted cleared of, Snapdragon, Nosecone and Lightspeed were welcomed by a sight of Apeface casually brushing dust of his arms while standing on Scattershot's back in his gorilla-like form.

"Medical attention my tailpipe." Apeface snorted and spat a glob of dirty lubricant on back of Scattershot's cranium. "Too bad bossbot wants them alive."

Equatorial Desert

"You did you best?" Snapdragon snarled in utter contempt as he transformed back into his robot mode and delivered a swift kick to Lightspeed's side in one fluid motion. He stood over the Technobot's as his optics looked down on him coldly.

"You've been trying to kill us for all this time and you think that's its? You just say "I did my best" like your some protoform in a scout troop looking for a good effort badge and all will be alright?"

Snapdragon rose his right leg and slammed it down on Lightspeed's back then slowly started applying pressure.

"I don't know if you have paid attention all this time or not but this is war! You kill or your killed. I actually was developing some respect for at least trying to take us both out. Now your just a sniveling little insect. Your all brave when firing missiles at others but when you sniff some danger you run behind surrendering."

The pressure of his foot continued to increase as did the contempt in his voice. The creaking of Lightspeed's infrastructure began to echo through the area as it seemed like his torso might collapse. The thought did come across the Horrorcon's mind as being crushed underneath his foot would be a fitting end for this Autobot. Suddenly Snapdragon moved his foot away.

"Your lucky that your pitiful little spark is not worth all the headaches if I exterminated you." Snapdragon swung his right foor forward again towards the Technobot's face to knock him out.

Snapdragon turned around to see Apeface crash on top of Scattershot. He could always count on his partner to give him a chuckle when something annoyed him.

"You talked to the wrong Horrorcon slag head."

He turned towards Apeface.

"Lets call in the Seekers and have them take away this lot. I think we have hunted down enough for these scraps. I got sand in my joints and I think we've earned an oil bath."

Equatorial Desert

With Scattershot finally standing down from his advance and his subsequent surrender, Lockdown lowered the unconscious form of Strafe until the smaller mech was resting against his hip, still entangled within the bounty hunter’s hook. A minor victory as Lockdown would have preferred to claim any of the tech all of the Autobots had available and his fees. No matter. He was able to down two of the Technobots.

Scattershot’s seething comment only brought a wide smile to Lockdown’s otherwise twisted features.

“You can swear up and down in the Pit, Autobot.”

Lockdown held tight to Strafe as he made his way to stand directly in front of the Technobot commander. A wide evil smirk on his face.

“I wouldn’t count on getting out of this anytime soon, Scattershot. You see, you’re all in this for the long haul.”

At the sound of the approaching Apeface, Lockdown quickly moved back giving the Hororrcon plenty of space to land. But he wasn’t expecting the brute to actually land a top the large Technobot. The bounty hunter let loose a low chuckle before turning away and stopping by Afterburner’s downed alt mode. He bent down and with a mighty heave lifted Afterburner.

“You two have your fun with those three; I’ve got these two to cash in.”

Without another word the black and green bounty hunter started to make his way out of the desert. He would work his way to his ship, load his prisoners, strip them of any valuable tech and merchandise and then transport them to the Fortress.

Fortress Tenebrous

From his position seated on the floor his back leaning against the wall, Blue Bacchus looked up at Black Shadow. The bent metal of his nech was still sore, but he managed to grin and bear it, as it were.

“You know. If you wish to make an absolute impression on Commander Scorponok, then we should head out to Turmoil’s location.”

Black Shadow quickly looked over his shoulder at the prone mech, a hate filled sneer etched deep on his visage.

“And why in the unholy Pit would I want to do that? I’d sooner tear the spark from his chest than work along-side him.”

“Well…” The word was spoken with a twinge of pain as Blue Bacchus finally got back to his feet. His hand rested against the wall for additional support.

“If you were to arrive at a pivotal moment you just might be able to take the victory from our dear Vice Commander and claim it as your own. And even if you’re unable to do so you would still be considered a valuable commodity in the optics of Scorponok. Think about it. You were the one to capture Spartan and his team. And when you arrive to assist Turmoil…”

Blue Bacchus let his words hang for a moment before he stepped in closer to his partner. Black Shadow had turned his head so he was now facing forward as Blue spoke. The idea did have merit, but he would have to work it out carefully. He had to admit, pulling the victory out of Turmoil’s hands was an absolutely delicious thought, one that he was sure he could accomplish.

Blue brought his hand back up to his neck and rubbed at it absently as he waited for Black Shadow’s response. It came rather suddenly when Black Shadow spun around, a broad smile on his face and grabbed hold of Blue’s shoulders.

“I like this plan! Let’s do it!”

With that Black Shadow draped his arm over his partner’s shoulder and the two made their way back inside. They’d need the current location of Turmoil and his team.

Underneath the Equatorial Desert

Nosecone did not have to strain to hear his leader's voice saying to stand down. He knew that they had been defeated. Nosecone was not a prisoner, though. Not yet, anyway. And he was only getting warmed up. Not that he would disobey his leader's, but he was certain that they would be grateful that he saved them.

He would have to flee, though he would rather fight and die instead of running from a fight, he would only bide his time. He would follow, relaying information to any survivors, then, when he got the chance, collapse the entire base above him into the ground below, grab his fellows and get out.

But he had to escape first.

Nosecone leaped into the air and transformed into a Drill, heading in a nosedive into the ground. He began to dig at the ground until a full blown tunnel was there. He pushed forward at max speed, powering through the dirt and clay. He did a quick scan, the distance between him and his fellows was increasing.

>>I'm sorry, Scattorshot. But I think you'd prefer me to survive and free you later than get interrogated and die in front of you. I am not disobeying, but delaying that order.<< Nosecone said through a comm link with Scattorshot.

He would just have to escape. How hard could that be?

*****

Eight miles West of Koraja

Nightbeat looked back at Hosehead, who was trailing behind him. He slowed his pace so his comrade could catch up. Nightbeat looked over in front of him, there it was! The cave! They had finally reached their destination.

Nightbeat jogged to the cave, vines draped the front, hiding the entry. But Nightbeat knew that this would not be enough. He looked around the area for anything large that could block the entrance to the cave.

Gotcha. Nightbeat thought as a boulder caught his optic.

Nightbeat jogged over to it and felt it's rough edges with his hands, it was just the right size.

"Hosehead! We need to get this boulder over to the cave! This'll serve as our door!" Nightbeat barked out his order quickly, they had no time to lose.

Melanossus--Decepticon Supply Depot

Lionizer was small and quick. Even as Turmoil's massive weaponry attempted to lock in on him, the animalistic Cybertronian dodged and weaved, even as patches of terrain were torn asunder by the large Decepticon's shots.

That did nothing to ease Rad's concern though. Lionizer's actions had brought him out of what he thought was a pretty good vantage point. He too was now charging the large Decepticon, firing all the while.

That was until the entire field of vision within his optic sensors went white. Disoriented, Rad still continued to stagger forward, trying his best to maintain the same firing angle that he had before, but there was no way to be sure. His optics slowly and steadily began to adjust and return to normal.

Not before his audios picked up a blast that sounded like it could have come from Megatron.

He tried to dodge. No use. Impact. Heat. Searing pain. Sensory overload.

Darkness....
___

The flash grenade was going to do some damage. Pointblank could tell. He was far enough away, and he had seen it coming.

The Sweep he was wrestling with got a hard fist in the jaw before Pointblank quickly attempted to take cover behind a large dirt mound that had been created by one of the many weapons discharges that had more or less shredded the otherwise undisturbed terrain of this world. Undisturbed, at least, until the Decepticons had come here.

He had been a microsecond too late. Even as the Sweeps around him turned their heads, the blinding flash caught his optics too.

Slag...

Fortress Tenebrous

River stiffened as the new sensation of agony drove through her torso. Her optics flared and sparked within flood of new energies, surges and distortions soon replaced the flares and sparks. She struggled to deactivate them, and failed. Her mouth components were clamped tight as she began to convulse against the restraints.

She would not give the interrogator a scream, to the pits she would be damned if she gave the bitch the satisfaction. Still there wasn't a combat mech. The medic knew her limits. It was why she went into medicine rather than follow her first career path before the war tore through her home village. Energy snapped her thoughts back again to the moment of the here and now.

Without thinking her mouth components slowly moved. Her will not her own, her desire to end the anguish that was now tearing into her primary core. One name... "Scatt....shot."

Equatorial Desert

Scattershot grunted in a new surging pain. His back supports gave way as an intense weight slammed straight into him, driving him deeper into the fractured sandscape. His optics narrowed, but he refused to release a cry of pain or even give the benefit of acknowledging the, well he could not quantify the discharges of information that crowded his optical visor. Streams of data and glitches flew up across his internal boards, registering damages and internal integrity fields being strained to their absolute limits.

Slowly the Technobot commander pulled his head up from the sand, his face contorted in barely restrained rage no hint of pain. His optical visor bore through the distance between himself and the bounty hunter. "I... am nothing... if not... persistent."

Inside his personal link between himself and the remaining Technobots, Scattershot established a communication network. "We're not beat yet. But we're definitely not on even ground here. Repair, regroup, retaliate, remember the three R's and we'll repay these scraps twenty fold." He submitted the message to Lightspeed and Nosecone, knowing Strafe and Afterburner were both offline and in dire need of repair. All he had to do now was convince their captors it was in their best interest to start the first step in the Technobot's resurgence. These three cons would do best to avoid his group once they were at full strength.

Inwardly he was irate with himself. He knew that by the very fact he had allowed them to be split up, though primarily due to the intervention of the hook handed bolt cracker, he had in fact set their current situation in motion. Still, it also meant that now that they were prisoners it was only a matter of time before he could regroup with other survivors of the Farstar. Add pieces to the puzzle, then when its complete bring the rain.

Outwardly his facial expression changed from rage to a sadistic curled smirk as he waited for the eventual conclusion to these misbegotten adventures. So much for Maximus's Routine Inspection mission.

Seven Miles out of Koraja

Shrapnel turned and watched as Bombshell began to cry out in pain. He knew what that likely meant, and his suspicions were soon confirmed. The cerebro shell had been removed. While it meant they had lost a major advantage, it also meant there was no reason to hold back any longer. Without optics to see what was going on ahead of them they needed to catch up and quickly. That meant the battle was about to begin.

“Then there is now time to waste, waste. We attack now and feast, feast!” Shrapnel let out a loud, shrieking battle cry as he charged forward, smashing through the foliage towards the Autobots. At the same time the diaclones under his control surged forward as well, almost as if they sensed the very hunger that drove on their controller.

*

Monsterbot Base

Repugnus typed a few more commands in the console as his teammates looked around. “Yeah, just put that anywhere Doublecross, we’ll get everything figured out here eventually.” The computer indicated that no one had been in the base since he had left and nothing seemed to have been tampered with. It looks like everything was still well hidden, which was a relief. It was going to be tough keeping the place secret with the three of them living there; he didn’t want to have to find a new base immediately.

“First thing we do Grotusque is make ourselves a bit comfortable. After that we start looking to pay the Cons back a bit.” He reached down and patted his Decepticon prisoner on the head. “With any luck we can use my pal here to blow up a few Sweeps, maybe even a Con with an actual name if we’re real lucky,” he let out a grim chuckle. “After that we start hittin’ the Cons where they are weak. Supply lines, fuel depots, repair facilities. We hit them hard and strike fear into their sparks. I want them to be shaking at the thought of getting a recharge or getting patched up. We make this world a living hell for them to rule over. It will get ‘em to start panicking, and when they panic they make mistakes, and when they make mistakes we hit ‘em even harder!” He smiled at the Monsterbots. “It’s gonna be a slagging load of fun!”

Fortress Tenebrous - Interrogation Room

Soul Siren raised her head and looked towards her prisoners. Finally, a name. Something she could work with. She stopped the flow of electricity towards her two prisoners and gave them a moment to recover. That moment allowed her to the opportunity to quickly access Scattershot's file and then open her communication channel to Reflector once again.

"Thank you but it seems we will have something of substance to report after all. Sometimes you just need to apply enough pain to override their conscious thoughts. Scattershot. That name makes sense as he matches the leadership style the reports have describing. Can you confirm the presence of Scattershot or the Technobots on this planet?"

Eight Miles West of Koraja

While they were closing in on their cavernous shelter, trotting along at a fixed speed, Hosehead took the opportunity to tell Nightbeat of its exact location. It would have been a great idea—very beneficial, too—had it not been for the already straightforward route leading to the cave. Hosehead managed to forget that little detail, the bulk of his thoughts resting with the off-lined Skyhammer drooping over his shoulder-plates.

When they finally arrived at the cave, Nightbeat was quick to search for a large object to obstruct its rather open and therefore vulnerable entry, lest company of the unwanted variety turned up. A few vines dangling in front of the mouth weren't going to cut it.

Hosehead watched his friend as he swiftly uncovered a suitable object in which they could use. Under normal circumstances, Nightbeat should have been capable of dragging the boulder over to the cave's entrance, but in his weakened state the physical strength needed simply wasn't there. So he called out to Hosehead, requesting his assistance.

The young Autobot nodded, his mind tangled with all the recent events that had occurred, giving him nothing in the way of clarity. Gingerly placing Skyhammer on the ground, he jogged over to Nightbeat and helped him shift the impressive mass of rock to where it was required.

Having first perceived the boulder to be movable if his friend was boasting full strength, Hosehead began to doubt that now. It was a pretty big thing, when you were standing next to it, and you could feel its hefty weight as you tried to push it.

Yet another lesson in judgement he had not quite absorbed in its entirety...

* * *

Monsterbot Base

Grotusque eagerly devoured each word that emerged from Repugnus' mouth as he indulged the Monsterbot's curiosity. He liked what his team-mate was getting at. Yes indeed. They were in for it; an adventure of epic proportions, that was.

From a tactical perspective, it appeared as though the odds were undeniably against them and that luck wouldn't even consider the possibility of befriending the Monsterbots on their spirited yet deranged escapade. But this wasn't the first time they had waged war, in their own fashion, against the Decepticons. They had done it on numerous occasions and come out with all the right parts still attached.

Okay, so they had never opposed a planet whose native population paled in comparison to the intruding visitors that were the Decepticons, but what was the difference? More cannon fodder merely equated to more ammunition needed to take with them. In Grotusque's view, that was about as complex as the scenario became.

Especially with the current lot on Nebulos. Primus, some of those Sweeps were dumb.

Grotusque's signature smile located its position on his face-plate. “Spoken like a true warrior who desires independence so he's free to do his own thing and harass the 'Cons as much as he pleases until he grows tired of harassing them and then resolves to eliminate not only them but their bases and facilities as well.” He shrugged. “Or something like that. Whatever the case, Pugster, I approve of your plan!”