The Energon Pub

Farstar--Bridge

"Yeah, heh, I guess it is a little hard to believe," Lightspeed chuckled at Nosecone's response.

It did seem somewhat ridiculous that they would just forget to check in because they were distracted. If nothing else, he was just trying to give them the benefit of the doubt since, out of all the Technobots, he himself was the most likely to forget about some little piece of formal minutiae while getting caught up in such surroundings.

With Strafe showing up, he figured Afterburner was probably not too far behind. They were getting closer and closer to the planet's orbital system. He looked over at Scattershot, smirking.

"Yeah, yeah...too relaxed for your tastes, I know. I'll get right on looking for that 'seedy port'. The last transmissions show the primary Autobot outpost within an area known as the Folassian Forest. Probably as nondescript an area to land as any. If we--"

As he brought up an image of the planet on the main viewscreen, the ship's sensors quickly detected something else coming within range. It was a ship. Lightspeed quickly engaged a surface scan of the vessel , determining its class and potential origin. Very quickly, one marking stood out above all the others as Lightspeed magnified it on a holoprojection just to be sure: the instantly-recognizable insignia of the Decepticons was staring back at them.

"--uh, problem."

Pestilence - Bridge

Ever paranoid, the Insecticon leader Venom had stayed fused with the control interface of the destroyer assigned to the Insecticons ever since he had boarded it back in Ybbohay-2 after an extensive repair work done to the Pestilence after barely escaping an Autobot ambush in piece. The time spent fused into the ship's systems had practically made the powerful destroyer an extension of himself. An extension that turned the physically weak Decepticon into a powerhouse and gave him a reach beyond that of even the most powerful invidual Transformers. Still, even the power of the Pestilence behind him, he was not in peace.

Perhaps because of this uneasiness, the first signs of transwarp rift registered by Pestilence's sensor arrays immediately caught his attention. While there was no scheduled Decepticon fleet movement to be expected, such action was not unheard of. However, a transwarp rift without identification signal could only mean enemy action. Startled over possible Autobot intrusion into Nebulos system Venom set a new course towards the approaching Autobot vessel while sending a warning message around the system.

>>"Pestilence to fleet command. System wide alert. Transwarp anomaly detected, moving to intercept. Could be Autobots."<<

Only seconds later Venom witnessed a frigate class ship of clearly Autobot design entering the normal space through the transwarp rift. >>"Pestilence to fleet command. Cause of anomaly identified, an Autobot frigate. Requesting back up."<<
______________________________________________

Venom did not need to wait long for the reply from fortress Tenebrous.

>>"Turmoil to orbital fleet. Neutralize the enemy vessel and attempt boarding, destroy if necessary."<<

"Cyclonus. I want the Autobot ship on the screen." Turmoil then addressed his second in command while following the launch of the Rainmakers from one part of the massive wall of screen before him. "As for the Seacons. They have a task to perform. The others however, I want them ready to move in quickly in case the Autobot ship manages to break through our orbital blockade."

Farstar - Bridge

Scattershot looked to his left as Strafe entered the bridge. He offered a silent nod to his gunner's request and motioned for him to take control of one of the primary batteries located on the port side of the bridge. Crossing his arms over his broad chest, the Technobot commander listened briskly to the conversation between Nosecone and Lightspeed as they did their tasks in the pilots and navigation stations respectively. "I for one am rather tired of the proverbial Nice and Easy approach Nosecone. We've been on the sidelines far too scrappin' long for my tastes."

The door at the rear of the bridge hissed open drawing the commander's attention, albeit briefly. A growling and muttering Autobot roamed from the hall with his fist twisted and contorted into a nearly permanent scowl. "Nice of you to join us Afterburner. I was beginning to think you forgot how to work a turbo lift."

The second Technobot gunner muttered something about turboshafts and apologized begrudgingly. Scattershot almost wanted to press the issue regarding the mechanism's attitude, but decided against it as the screens began to finish the final countdown to the disengagement of the warpdrive.

The next moments were a mixture of relief and of uncontained antisipation. Still the facts were facts. "Scrap," was all he dared issue as he swiftly pressed in the available data into the datatrax of the Farstar main library. The data quickly returned to the screen, but he did not need any confirmation as to what he was glaring at as its massive engine pods began to flare to life. "If either of you say, 'careful what you wish for...' You'll be doing Energon Disposal for a week."

Deftly and with vorns of experience, the Technobot commander activated his terminals emergency override. "All hands to battlestations..." he bellowed through the internal communications network. "Nosecone, forget the planet. Plot us a jump course out of here. Lightspeed, get us clear of that damn thing's guns. Strafe/Afterburner. Lets give these Decepticon scraplets a nice lesson regarding surprise parties." From his seat he could feel the power of the engines reroute to reinforce the shields and ionized armor plates. Sensors began to flare to life at full capacity giving the Navigator and Pilots stations detailed views of the entire sensor sphere... as well as provide his gunners the guidence they required to accomplish their own tasks.

"Afterburner... comprise a data burst. Tell Maximus we've got cosmic roaches infesting Nebulos." The Technobot gunner nodded and proceeded to enter the coded message and prepared it for transmission. Their hope now was that this would be received, and they would live to tell the tale.

"Alright Technobots. Lets get this party underway."

Farstar Bridge

Nosecone leaned forward in his chair at the sight of the Purple insignia that glared at them from the viewscreen, he squinted at it and turned to Scattershot and listened to his orders to the letter. He then turned back to his console and outlined a course just out of sensor range of the Decepticon Ship and behind a nearby Planet, and looked at Scattershot and stated, "Course Plotted Commander, it will lead us behind a nearby planet and out of sensor range so we can completely 'Disappear' from view."

"Its all yours, Lightspeed." Nosecone said, relaxing back into his chair and began to watch the viewscreen again.

Farstar--Bridge

"I don't think they...," Lightspeed began, before noticing that the ship on their sensor screen had altered its own course.

"...nevermind. They saw us."

Lightspeed's actuators were running across the ship's various flight controls even as Nosecone plotted the safest course. Bringing the ship around, he started to push the engines harder and harder. The Farstar was smaller than the other ship it had scanned, hopefully that would also translate to a suitable speed differential.

"They're not alone," Lightspeed said, as another Decepticon ship had now come within scanning distance of their long range sensors. "We're getting jammed. No comms. No jumps. Not within range of whatever's shutting us down. Buy me some distraction time, please."

The first volley of Decepticon fire lanced outward across their starboard side, exploding in the distance.
___

The Folassian Forest--Bunker Ruins

Though the majority of the other Decepticons were en route back to Koraja, Scourge had remained within the area. Several of his Sweeps had joined him. He knew that if he searched long enough, some tangible trace of the survivors' path would reveal itself. He simply had to be thorough enough. Raking his crimson claws through a fresh patch of Nebulan soil, his sensors revealed nothing. His fist closed in frustration.

>>"Scourge, we have a new hunt for you. The Autobots have revealed themselves in space. Destroy them."<<

>>"Cyclonus, what of those that remain here? I know there were survivors."<<

>>"A possibility. They will reveal themselves in time. And we will eliminate them. Tend to this in the interim. Cyclonus out."<<

Scourge frowned, rising to his full height again while letting the soil sift through his fingers.

"Sweeps, with me," he said, lifting off forcefully, before he and the others began to transform in the air and soar further skyward.

FarStar – Bridge

Strafe responded to his commander with an enthusiastic salute as Scattershot gave him the go ahead to man the ship’s port side weapons array. With a slight skip in his step, the aerial gunner moved to his assigned station and quickly ran a diagnostic to ensure that the primary batteries were fully up to speed and operational. The results came back quickly and were all in the green. Excellent! Now, if I only had something to shoot at, Strafe thought to himself with a broad smile across his face plate.

His wish was soon granted when the image of a large Decepticon battle cruiser appeared on the main view screen. Things were apparently much worse on Nebulos than simply forgetting to check in with Autobot Command as an enemy ship the size of the one in front of them was not usually found in orbit around a planet that was in an early phase of infiltration. The true gravity of the situation on the planet ahead had not yet been determined, but they were about to get a taste of how bad things actually were.

Nosecone took evasive action, plotting a course away from the Decepticon warship while Lightspeed brought the FarStar around, giving full throttle to the engines. However, the ‘Cons had already spotted them and opened fire before Strafe even had a chance to get a shot off. “Slaggit! Don’t worry, Commander! I’ll give ‘em a surprise all right!” The aerial gunner exclaimed as he maneuvered the primary batteries into position just as a second ‘Con war bird appeared in the distance. With the FarStar’s port side now exposed, Strafe had a clear shot at both enemy cruisers and quickly took advantage of the view by unleashing a volley of heavy laser fire directly at the approaching vessels.

“Eat this you Decepti-slaggers! Ha ha!” Strafe yelled in utter glee, hoping he would at least strike the closer warship and give Lightspeed enough time to get them the frag out of there before they all ended up as floating space junk.

FarStar – Bridge


“Afterburner do this, Afterburner do that. It’d be nice if I could give myself an order once in a while. I have your data burst right here.” Grumbling low enough so he wouldn’t be heard Technobot gunner followed Scattershot’s commands but it did little to change his perspective on their current situation, in fact his opinion of the entire operation was only reinforced.

His fingers played across his controls to send the message but the signal disappeared as soon as it left the hull of the ship.

"They're not alone," Lightspeed said, as another Decepticon ship had now come within scanning distance of their long range sensors. "We're getting jammed. No comms. No jumps. Not within range of whatever's shutting us down. Buy me some distraction time, please."
Afterburner’s experience to him what the cause was before Lightspeed’s explanation. “Roger.” Who was he to argue over firing at the Decepticons? It was the first order he heard in a vorn that made any sense.

“Come on you scrapheaps. Ole’ Burner’s waitin’ for ya.” He paused while his compatriot opened fire, something that was strange for him. The reason for it was he noticed the angle the Farstar was taking. Thanks to the ships maneuver he was forced into picking his shots instead of letting loose. Afraid he wouldn’t get a proper shot off otherwise he pressed the firing nobs, relishing in the sight of multiple deadly beams streaking towards their target. The fact they narrowly missed one of their own engines was more of an afterthought than anything else.

Before a word could be uttered about his marksmanship he glanced over his shoulder at Scattershot. “This would be a lot easier if you’d head towards them.”

Farstar - Bridge

Scattershot plugged into the command nodes with his left hand link. His mind was instantly flooded with data, reports, fuel levels and munition supplies all of them at his finger tips... or at least virtually at his finger tips. Quickly his internal programs filtered the raw data and created a seperate subroutine in order to best access what he needed when he needed it. "Quit your griping Afterburner." He snapped at the gunner as he accessed the local star charts.

The local star chart soon flared to life on his primary terminal screen. It swiftly zoomed into their more immediate locale, a red Autobot Icon was generated to render their location within the matrix. Two Decepticon chevrons soon emerged on the edge of a blue sphere of influence, indicating sensor and firing range limitations for the Farstar itself. Even with the enhancements to those systems he had ordered, they were still finite. Two seperate vectors of approach, made things a bit challenging for the smaller Autobot craft. But he was confident in his team's ability to overcome nearly any odds stacked against them.

Activating the sensor's active ping, he registered the energy signatures of each approaching vessel and cross referenced them with the last updated intelligence reports. "Scrap... The Pestilence and the Rancor... I thought the Pestilence was slag after her last appearance. Guess Autobot Intell needs some more updates than they previously thought." His tone was one of anger and disgust as he tapped away at the keys ahead of him... another violent juke of the vessel threw him to one side of the chair before it stabilized.

His optics narrowed at the readings before him. They weren't going to be able to out run both vessels, and he doubted that he could challenge both in a direct firefight. However there was no reason they could not accomplish their mission and have a little bit of fun before going down guns blazing. "Nosecone, prepare a subspace bouy. Load it with all sensor logs. Update regularly. Lightspeed, we aren't going to get past that field... those ships got angles on us, take us to these following coordinates." He dispatched a small series of code to the pilot terminal. It was that of a local Class J planetary body. Probably the size of the Terran System Saturn, without the rings.

Afterburner, Strafe, keep our guns hot and your accuracy hotter. I want to bring those blasted scraphearts as close as we can before we spring a little surprise." Scattershot looked to the starboard side of the bridge. "And 'Burner, do try and play the part."

FarStar – Bridge

Afterburner narrowed his optics at Scattershot’s order and turned his attention back to his scopes and the two Decepticon ships gaining on them. He had no intention of obeying as griping was one of his favorite hobbies. Still, he had a job to do as an Autobot and that was to destroy any Decepticons that chose to cross his path. With a grumble not audible to anyone but himself he pressed the firing stubs launching lasers towards the approaching vessels.

“Afterburner, Strafe, keep our guns hot and your accuracy hotter. I want to bring those blasted scraphearts as close as we can before we spring a little surprise."

“Uh-huh.“ Afterburner shot his leader another glance but his attention remained on the readouts for his lasers. He’d run them right to the limit of their ability but he wouldn’t put the rest of the crew in danger. They were his friends after all… well maybe not Scattershot.

"And 'Burner, do try and play the part."

Definitely not his friend. Afterburner smiled while he fired another volley towards the ships as he was instructed. “Don’t worry about me boss, my talents are legendary.”

Farstar Bridge

Nosecone looked back from the viewscreen and to Scattorshot and listened to his command perfectly.

"Yes sir." Nosecone said as he looked back to his terminal and entered in the sensor logs of the Farstar to a Subspace buoy, this would let anyone who picked it up may find out what happened to them after an untimely demise.

"Sir? Have you considered something?" Nosecone looked to Scattorshot as soon as the idea popped into his head.

He got up from his chair and walked over to Scattorshot and spoke quietly so no one other than his superior could understand him.

"I know you won't like this, but it might get us out of here with our lives." He whispered to Scattorshot, "But. I think we should crash the Farstar into the planet below. Naturally with the right angle and the right placement, neither we, or the living beings below would be harmed. Minus the indigenous birds, and other wildlife."

He knew Scattorshot wouldn't be so apt to a crashing of their own vessel, but it might just work.

Farstar – Bridge

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Strafe responded to Scattershot as he let off another volley of laser fire towards the approaching Decepticon warships. In the very brief pause in shooting to allow the weapons to recycle, the aerial gunner had overheard his commander mention that the vessels were, in fact, the Pestilence and the Rancor, the former of which was thought to have been destroyed. Unfortunately, that was clearly not the case as the Insecticon battle cruiser was now moving directly towards them, guns blazing.

“I’ve never put much faith in intel, sir,” Strafe shouted over the sounds of laser blasts as he kept firing. “They’re obviously not checking into things properly and now we’re paying the price!” The Technobot gunner then returned his attention to the pair of targets that were in his sights. The wild shooting he was known for wasn’t doing enough damage to the enemy ships. He needed to do what his commander said and keep his accuracy as hot as the Farstar’s guns. Strafe was one of the best marksmen the Autobots had to offer if he would just calm down long enough to actually aim at something more specific.

Okay, I can do this, Strafe thought as he ceased firing for an astrosecond in order to carefully target the forward weapons of both the Pestilence and the Rancor. Once his marks were locked in, the aerial gunner fired a steady stream of lasers directly at the Insecticon ship and then at the other war bird, hoping to knock out their big guns before either vessel could do any real damage to the Farstar.

Farstar--Bridge

Lightspeed attempted to examine the new coordinates that Scattershot had laid out while doing his best to keep the ship from falling directly in to the Decepticons' crosshairs. That was becoming increasingly difficult, since there were two ships that now had their sights set on destroying their ship.

"You're the boss, boss," Lightspeed said, adjusting the Farstar's heading.

As he did, he noticed another signal coming in to range from the other side of Nebulos. A third ship? What kind of Decepticon conclave had they stumbled on to here? It was the largest of those in the area thus far, but it was also the furthest away, by a long shot. Still, didn't help their chances any.

"Third slagging Decepticon ship coming in to visual range. Identifiers....uh....I think it's the Perdition. Another one of Scorponok's. All we need is the Semper Tyrannis to drop right on top of us now and we'd almost have a set."

Fortunately the others were buying him the time he needed to pilot this ship in to some measure of safety. At this speed at least, they should be able to outrun them. For the time being, anyway. He looked over as Nosecone apparently had some sort of plan, but lowered his vocalizer so that only Scattershot could listen in. Energy fire rocked the shields and Lightspeed had to work to get it quickly back on track and avoid any more such fire. Everything was holding steady, but that wouldn't last forever.

"Hey! You wanna share with the rest of the class?"
___

The Perdition--Bridge

"I see them, Air Commandant," Reflector said, responding to the image of Cyclonus on one of the screens. "However, they are smaller. Faster."

>>"That, too, will be rectified soon enough. Continue pursuit."<<

Reflector examined the trajectory of the ship's path and the energy residue that had been leftover. This was an Autobot ship, unquestionably, but this was not the one that was still hidden somewhere in orbit. He could only wonder if seeing another ship full of their comrades in distress would provoke them to reveal their own location. He hoped so. For the time being, Reflector pushed the Perdition's engines harder, moving to catch up with the other Decepticon ships as they moved to take out the Autobot vessel. Fortunately, for now, he was far enough away that the other Decepticon ships could take the brunt of what appeared to be an erratic counterattack on the part of the Autobots crewing that ship.

Deadlock shifted his weight impatiently on the bridge of the Interdictor Severance. His arms were folded across his chest as his optics narrowed at the vision before him. A small Autobot frigate had reportedly been detected entering the system... and given the picket vessel that had made the initial report, the Pestilence, a bunch of insect cannon fodder, he was more inclined to leave it as it was... allowing the bugs to have their fun. Well perhaps not all the fun. The truth be told, he was getting bored waiting. The Severance was assigned to hold position at the furthest edge of the planet's gravitational field in order to prevent communications from the planet surface to reach Autobot terminals.

Still if it was an Autobot vessel entering the system he determined that it was safer to reposition his ship to counter any potential report they were able to compile. "Helm," he finally broke the bridge's silent monitorings. "Set an intercept course. Keep us on an angle away from their main gun battery."

A series of reports to the affirmative reached his audio receptors as if they were cheers and celebration. One more ship to eliminate brought this horrific war to an end... it brought about the end of the injustices that had been hoisted upon his past. "Sir, Turmoil will not like this. Our orders were to maintain stasis orbit until final phase of infiltration was complete."

Deadlock spared only a glancing sneer at the cowardly snitch on the lower level. "I'll be sure to inform him at my earliest opportunity." Back towards the helm and the main viewer. "Engage engines, bring us within weapons range and fire as soon as the solution is reached. Marines, prepare a boarding party. May as well stretch our legs while we're at it."

((OOC: My first RPG post! I'll have more interesting things later, I'm just trying to expand on Shrapnel's character right now. He's been sadly under-developed.))

En Route to Fortress Tenebrous

Shrapnel covered his optics with one servo as he looked to the sky. The Decepticon Seekers known as the Rainmakers had been passing repeatedly overhead as they cleared the air of the dust and grime that had been clouding the skies. He frowned as he watched them streak out of his range of vision. The rain they had been sprinkling to flush away the pollutants had quickly turned the dirt he had been walking on to a thick, disgusting paste, and the mud had been sucking his heavy feet into the ground, making it uncomfortable to walk. He charged up his antennae and fired a quick burst of lightning after the disappearing jets; incentive to get their work done quicker. After all, once they were finished, the air would be clear and he and the other Insecticons could take flight again.

As the energy left his antennae and the sizzle, pop! of the raindrops connecting with the electricity slowed, Shrapnel stopped once again to shake the gunk off his feet. He couldn't wait until they got to Tenebrous and finally started their hunt for the Autobot behind the rash of Decepticon disappearances. He hadn't had a good fight in a while, and all he had to entertain himself recently was the occasional in-fighting and suspicion that was characteristic of the Pestilence.

Growling as his legs became immediately dirty again upon contact with the ground, Shrapnel gave up and began walking again. Raising his optics to watch ahead, but still keeping them shielded to keep them clear of the rain, he noted that he had fallen farther behind his partners. Bombshell and Kickback were walking quite a ways ahead of him and seemed unconcerned with the state things were in around them.

The other Insecticons always seemed to have more going on than Shrapnel did- they were always formulating plans and plotting things (much to Venom's chagrin), but that just wasn't Shrapnel's style. He was much more content in the middle of a battle, giving in to the throes of violence as he let the screams of his victims wash over him. It was in combat that Shrapnel's usefulness showed itself- the other Insecticons tended to let Shrapnel into the fight first, then coordinated their attacks around him. He was the brute of the three, and he took pride in this.

The thoughts of fighting caused Shrapnel to swell with excitement, and threads of energy began dancing between his antennae as he buzzed with impatience. Quickening his pace to catch up with his comrades, he finally sloshed through the muck until he stood just behind Bombshell, shoving Kickback out of the way so he could speak with the beetle Insecticon.

"The skies should be clear enough to fly soon, soon," he half-whispered over Bombshell's shoulder. "And the fortress must be close by, yes, yes?" He made no attempt to hide the eagerness in his voice. "We shouldn't waste time, time. We must, erm, avenge our fallen comrades, musn't we, musn't we?" His whole body was shaking with anticipation.

Outside Koraja--Encampment

Peer Soriza, along with every other Nebulan currently housed within the Nebulan encampment, watched anxiously as Peer Galen's transmission had went out across the world. No sooner had the transmission ended than the media commentators began steadily dissecting it. In Soriza's view, it was the first sense that Galen had spoken in some time.

Though she was curious as to what had changed his mind, there were clearly more important things to be dealt with now, such as this Turmoil's summoning of the planet's leaders to his current domicile. She certainly had no intention of remaining absent.

"Are we to go, Peer Soriza?" one of the others asked.

"And how could we not?" she said, steadily getting to her feet and heading outside. The skies had darkened. Much of Koraja and the area beyond was now experiencing a significant rainstorm. On many levels, it was refreshing. As Soriza and the others approached, several of the Insecticon diaclones moved closer. Soriza paused.

"The Council of Peers has been summoned by your commander, Turmoil. We are of that body."

The diaclones did not appear to acknowledge any of what the Nebulan had said, but after a few tense moments, they moved out of the way.

"Let us see to our transports," Soriza said to one of the junior members of the Council.
___

Korajan Underground--The Vault

"Arcana, another update from the field."

The Nebulan chief scientist's brow furrowed as he stood over the dismantled Insecticon that the World Watchers had managed to capture earlier.

"Really?" Arcana asked idly, stroking the edges of his black and gray goatee. "Advise increased caution. We don't want our friend in the field falling prey to laziness, simply because he's not yet been caught."

"Of course, sir."

Arcana stepped away from the dismantled clone and approached the indicated screen. On the screen were a series of mechanical microorganisms, their size magnified several hundred times. They were swimming around in a tiny pool of glowing, pink liquid.

"How did the miners manage to come across a fresh sample of this 'energon' for testing?"

"Spillage."

"'Spillage'?" Arcana asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not all of them are the most careful eaters, sir."

".....ah."

Farstar - Bridge

The lights dimmed for a few moments as a shower of sparks rained down from on high. Acrid smoke and smog hung around the vaulted ceiling of the bridge as automated fire suppression systems kicked into gear extinguishing the flames from an exploded console towards the rear of the bridge controls. Brushing off smoldering embers of burnt synthetic fibers and copper wire that had falled upon his own terminal, Scattershot sent a command through to the sensor grid feeding him damage reports as well as proximity alerts from the sensor network.

A photon burst had detonated just off the port quarter, as the Technobot surmised. He tapped into the emergency power grid and swiftly rerouted power to the shields and internal dampening fields. "Hold your course Lightspeed." He finally spoke as he made sure that they were finally taking an even sharper evasive action pattern than originally ordered.

"An interesting notion Nosecone." He finally addressed his navigator. "The only problem with that right now is, we're not to the point where a crash landing is a necessity. But who knows, we may get a chance to dig up some fresh turf on Nebulos before this is all said and done."

Scattershot redirected his attention back to the calculus board he was manipulating as the gravitational forces began to pull at the smaller Autobot vessel. He knew well enough that if the smaller craft was having a time navigating this obstruction, then the more massive Decepticon craft would find it extremely difficult. At least the basic laws of Physics was still hard wired in him even after all these vorns removed from Basic Programming.

"Strafe, Afterburner, target the Pestilence's sensor tower... Lets see what they do deaf, dumb and blind."

As the Farstar shot forward at full speed, the large Jovian planet loomed ever more brilliant in the view screen. The sickly green orange atmosphere roiled and churned in an ever present intergalactic tempest. The Farstar was approaching the planet at the day night terminous, extreme bolts of lightning arched from one half of the planet to the other as if to stitch the planet together from some disharmonious wound. Hurricanes the size of the Sol planet Mercury, raced across its visible cloud cover at several hundred kliks per hour...

Scattershot could feel the new vibrations through the decks of his vessel. "Lightspeed... hold your course and take us into the storm. All power to shields and structural integrity. Alright gentlemechs, lets disappear... All gunners FIRE!"

Farstar Bridge

Nosecone nodded briefly to Scattorshot as he seemed to take into consideration what Nosecone had said. Nosecone then turned to Lightspeed at his wanting to know what he had said.

"Yes." Nosecone said as he made his way to his chair and sat down, looking to Lightspeed smiled and then turned back to the viewscreen without saying what he had said previously.

He began to search the main database for the Pestilence's scans taken previously to find out if there was any structural weak points.

Farstar--Bridge

Lightspeed maintained course just like his unit commander had ordered, adjusting when it felt right in order to avoid the incoming weapons fire. Despite the fact that this had gone from a routine checkup mission to a Decepticon engagement in the space of a few kliks did nothing to sour the Technobot's mood. Even with their lives all in danger, he was still enjoying the freedom of space.

He just had to be careful not to enjoy it too much, or it would probably be their last flight out.

"Wow...okay," Lightspeed said, steering the ship for the massive Jovian storm that Scattershot had indicated. If the Decepticons didn't wipe them out, this thing certainly had the potential of taking care of the job for them. But, it might also provide the cover they needed. Too many "maybes". Lightspeed was not a gambler by nature.

He then looked over at Nosecone for a moment as he gave him a cryptic, non-answer to his question.

"You're a great help," the Technobot replied, grinning as he flew.
___

The Perdition--Bridge

>>"I've taken damage. My forward plating is charred beyond recognition. They seem to be focusing on the Pestilence now. Their firing patterns are ... erratic, at best. Where are you?"<< the captain of the Rancor, Death-Grip, transmitted through Spectro's comm station.

"The Perdition is on a workable trajectory. I am going to ensure that if they double back this way, their speed will not save them again," Reflector said. The Decepticon watched as the Autobot ship continued forward at high speed towards an uninhabited, nearby planet. The Spectro unit brought up another link.

>>"Pestilence, status update. What damage have you sustained?"<<

FarStar – Bridge

Lost in the wonderful thrill of bombarding the enemy craft with bits of lasers and ionic particles Afterburner didn’t hear the order to target something specific. Mainly due to the fact that his nature was more chaotic. More of a broad stroke kind of guy, Afterburner preferred showering his enemies until something struck. Anyone could sniper a mech, but only a real bot could do so in a blaze of glory.

Still, he had his moments of clarity often helped along by the need for self preservation. When the power to the bridge flickered he knew they were toast, Scattershot’s plans or not. The only problem happened to be that the moment he pressed the firing stud on the controls a red light flashed to his left. His weapons were overheated and needed to cool.

“What in the matrix…? You’re killing me Scattershot!’ Cursing he struck the control station numerous times as if the impact would help the cannons cool down faster. “First you want me to blanket them and now you want precision shooting.” His frustration was with the firing computer but there was no need not to vent his feelings, or so he believed.

After a few astro-seconds the red light disappeared meaning his weapon was ready. “About time.” He mumbled and took aim. So much for the sport. A series of laser blasts erupted from his cannon towards the nearest of the three ships.

Fortress Tenebrous

Apeface stretched back, allowing the blackened fluids to flow over him. It felt good on his gears. Servos needed a cooldown. This planet had been a little warm for his liking, but the storms that he could hear overhead were probably changing that even now.

"So we build, eh? Not so bad, I guess, 's long as it means more battle--and bigger ones--later on. Not exactly a Constructicon or anything, but I got a few designs the big boss bug might want to look at."

As the Horrorcon continued to ponder the future of their roles on this excursion, some Decepticon grunt came running through the halls of Tenebrous.

"Space fight! Space fight! Sonicstorm said there's a space fiiiight!"

He continued yelling and whooping until he had left the walls of the fortress altogether.
___

Approaching Tenebrous

As Seekers of one type or another streaked overhead, the rain had begun pour harder and harder, the closer they got to Fortress Tenebrous. There was not a break in the clouds for as far as Bombshell could scan. There was something about the whole change the environment--darker, more dreary--that actually improved his mood as he trudged through the muddy grime with the other Insecticons. The dust particles that had been irritating him earlier weren't so much of a concern anymore either.

"Just there," Bombshell said, skittering over muddy hill, allowing the Decepticon base of operations to come fully in to his field of vision. It looked magnificent, really. It was a taste of the familiar in spite of being surrounded by so many things that were foreign.

"Yes...once this storm ends, we can explore these supposed tunnels and see where they lead, and who they lead us to. We will certainly require your unique brand of potency then, Shrapnel."

"I'm seriously questioning why I left my lovely encampment for this," Kickback grumbled quietly, shaking some of the accumulated mud and muck away from his body. Bombshell hissed.

"You know only too well that Turmoil is not inclined to let us use the natives in the manner we might like. Not yet, anyway. Give it time. These tunnels may yet serve a dual purpose."

As they closed in on the fortress, Bombshell noticed one Decepticon running out and excitedly joining a group of others. What they were discussing, he couldn't make out, but he seemed excitable.

Curious.....

Farstar – Bridge

The bridge shook violently as sparks and flames erupted from a rear port side terminal not far from where Strafe sat at his station. Debris rained down around the Technobot gunner, pelting him with bits and pieces of metal and wiring. A chunk of keyboard landed near his right foot as the explosion forced him to stop firing on the approaching Decepticon warships. Strafe managed to hold on tight to the controls of the weapons array as his body was thrown to one side and almost out of his chair.

“That was too close!” The aerial gunner shouted out over all of the commotion. He wasn’t really speaking to anyone in particular. It was merely his own way of dealing with an intense situation that had come out of nowhere. After all, just a cycle ago he would never have thought he’d be in the present circumstances he now found himself. This was supposed to be a simple check up on some wayward Autobots, but now it had become a grim fight for survival. “If this is what’s it’s like for us up here, I’d hate to see what’s going on down on the surface of Nebulos!”

Strafe tried not to think about what could be happening and instead refocused his attention on what was happening right here and right now. Scattershot had issued new targeting orders to him and Afterburner, and he intended to follow those instructions to the letter. Brushing the larger chucks of debris off of himself, the aerial gunner then set his sights on the primary sensor tower atop the advancing Insecticon war bird.

“Deaf, dumb and blind coming right up, sir!” Once he was locked on to his target, Strafe unleashed a steady stream of hellfire directly at the Pestilence’s antenna array. “Let’s see you find us now, Insecti-scraps!”

The Pestilence

>>"Pestilence, status update. What damage have you sustained?"<<

Unlike Death-Grip, Venom had been very careful in keeping the distance between his ship and the Autobot frigate favorable for his own vessel from the very beginning and had not made a change into his plan. And while the Rancor had not suffered much more than some superficial damage, the Pestilence was practically undamaged. Given the longer range of the Pestilence's energy weapons in comparison to the Farstar's, Venom had been able to hammer the Autobot ship without placing the Pestilence to any risk from Farstar's meager arsenal of rear guard weaponry. As the latest barrage from the Autobot ship towards the communications arrays of the Pestilence were harmlessly absorbed by the ship's shields, Venom gave his response to Reflector's query.

>>"Shields are at 95% and regenerating, no structural damage. However, the Autobot vessel is moving into the local gas giant, I advice against following in with our capital ships. High Commander's strategy makes the escape from the system impossible for the Autobots. They cannot stay in the planet's atmosphere for too long or they risk critical system damage. Their only chance is to turn around and make a run towards Nebulos in hopes to make an emergency landing before we destroy their ship. We should spread and wait within optimum sensor range so we can pick the Autobot position before they pick ours once they make their move."<<

While his paranoia did hinder his efficiency at times, it also made the exceptionally intelligent Insecticon very difficult to fool in situations like this. >>"I am firing several drones into the jovian in an attempt to keep us updated on the position of the Autobot vessel."<<
_______________________________________

Fortress Tenebrous

As Apeface kept mumbling about some plans he had or something along those lines, Snapdragon just waded neck deep into the grease pool, grunting a reply here and there without really listening to the other Horrorcons. The sudden screams from a grunt that run through the hall where the pits were located, picked Snapdragon's attention enough for him to turn his head to see what the ruckus was about and who was its source.

"The slag? Who in their fragging mind can get so excited about something so common?" He finally managed to wonder aloud before the realization hit him that they might called back to action soon enough. "Oh slag..."

FarStar – Bridge

Afterburner ignored the exploding terminals around him as he concentrated on his target and let loose another barrage. An impact? YES! He hit the sensor array and raised his hand in celebration before he noticed the array remained.

Slag it! Few sights were as disheartening as an operative shield making ones efforts seem useless. To his credit Afterburner wasn’t one to give up on something so easily. Of course it’d help if they were closer but he wasn’t in charge. He’d break through yet or be slagged trying.

Farstar Bridge

Nosecone looked slowly through the scans that the last ship that encountered the Pestilence took to look for any weakness whatsoever. He found that the shields are standard, and so was everything else.

No, these aren't correct, the ship has most certainly had upgrades and patches since its destruction, Nosecone thought, Maybe... That could work...

He flipped through to find a picture of the destroyed hulking mass of the Pestilence, and found that it had been blown from the engine out, meaning if one were to go into the Pestilence with the right explosives...

Nosecone got up from his seat and made his way back to Scattorshot, and quietly said, "Sir, what if one of us flew to the Pestilence and made his way inside. The last time it was destroyed was when their engines exploded. If one of us were to get in there with a detonator, we would get a lot more slack to do what we need."

"Just an idea." Nosecone said, sparing the time when Scattorshot was responding to look at the viewscreen.

Farstar - Bridge

Scattershot's optics darted across from the primary split screen viewer and it s two images of the Pestilence on one segment and the giant writhing cloud of gas directly ahead, and that of the sensor nodule at his finger tips. The readings they scrolled down confirmed his visual suspitions that his ordered barrage did not have the desired effect... he really did not expect the tower to be destroyed from the Farstar's rear guns. The distance was great, and in fact edge of weapons range to begin with, still it had the desired effect.

The Rancor was breaking on a flanking angle, its guns still at maximum range, and thanks to the evasive maneuvering of Lightspeed, their accuracy was still challenged. "Shields balanced..." He ordered to Nosecone as his fingers once again danced over his command terminal. He dispatched a new burst of data into the squadron of communication bouys.

Finally he brought his left hand over the internal communication toggle. There he let them hover as a laser burst from the Rancor pounded the dorsal rear shield causing it to spark and whine... and sending a cascade of electrical discharges across the outer hull of the ship. Sensor screens flickered and blinked out across the bridge, terminals flared and died in a fiery display of defiance and death. Wires drooped from destroyed ceiling panels blocking the view of others as they struggled to maintain control.

It was as the same time, the rear bridge doors slid open and a single mechanism, the name of Tiran, stumbled over the threshold. "Commander. Reports from..." The mech stretched out his hand, and was vaporized as a fireball from an exploding energy conduit took his life and his information.

"SLAG IT." Scattershot swore as the clouds of the massive Jovian planet finally began to peal away. The vibrations of impact began to ebb as the craft began to sink deeper and deeper into the murk. Their sensors began to flicker and dance with static as the radation began to play against their receivers, disrupting the signals.

The bridge lights dimmed to minimal power levels, the red overhead emergency beacons switched on to compensate before the lights were doused completely. "Bridge to Engineering..." His fist dropping onto the flashing internal communication grid. "Report."

Scattershot was answered by a few garbled words and loads of static. Their condition was decidedly not as good as he would have liked to affect his initial tactics. Even still, they were descending deep enough to make weapons lock difficult at best, impossible at worst. He also realized that they were in a position of equalibrium. "Slow to Quarter thrust Lightspeed. Establish a variable bi polar orbit. I don't want them to get a fix on our depth or establish a predictable pattern."

As the vessel began to adjust to its new course, the Technobot commander finally found time to address his wingmech. "Strafe," he began, "if I allowed our fliers, as limited as we are, to launch now... not only will the cons know our position. But they will be torn to shredds in that major storm." He pushed himself out of his command chair and walked over to the gunnery stations.

He placed a grateful hand on shoulders of both Strafe and Afterburner. "You two did good. Yes even you Afterburner. We managed to evade long enough to disappear... and you two forced them to take the optic off the prize, and in that I am proud." Retracting his massive palms he spun around to the two at the pilot station.

"Nosecone, take Afterburner and head down to the Emergency Bouy Rooms on Deck 4. I want them reinforced for the stresses of this planet for long duration exposure. That means radiation and hard weapons fire. And make sure they are equiped with artificial Gravity Field sensors. Once those modifications are complete, report to me directly."

He pivoted back to Strafe. "I want you to run a full dianostic on the emergency escape pods. Have Tonka help you, if you can find where that coward is hiding. Once that task is complete, join me in Engineering."

"Lightspeed. You have the con."

Scattershot pivoted back to the blown out doors and the charred remains of the transformer page, twisted and fused along the wall. He said a silent prayer for the dead and demanded the All Spark accept the extinguished Spark of his officer. Stepping over the wreckage, he allowed Nosecone and Afterburner to depart before him. "Lightspeed." He stopped for a moment and called over his shoulder. "Filter what you can, but plot the picket course of those vessels up there. Follow the Rancor's position, she'll be the closest regardless of how they establish their line. She's our weak point and our way out of this mess."