The Energon Pub

Equatorial Desert

Skullgrin growled to himself as Lockdown began his own search. Just being in the bounty hunters presence rankled, because the Siege Warrior knew this was a situation the other Decepticon was better than he in. And that just wasn't a position Skullgrin wanted to be in.

[He thinks his sensors will give him glory? I am the only one who can break their defenses!! It shall be me! ME!!]

The Siege Warrior grinds his wheels as he approaches the mound. "I see, igneous rock, implying lava caves within. A good place for them to start, but I can breach this without issue."

However, Skullgrin paused. He didn't want to look an overeager fool in front of this infamous warrior, and if the Autobots were smart they'd be dug in down there, possibly having laid traps. No, better to let the other go first, then when the situation was clear, take charge and destroy the Autobots before Lockdown had even realised what was going on.

"After you, of course."

Equatorial Desert- Under the Ancient Lava Bed

Nosecone powered forward until he was nearly out of power, they had dug further than expected, maybe it was the soil? Yes. This soil is much softer because of the Volcanic history. Even so, a rest is not passed up.

Nosecone transformed and took a seat next to Breakaway after graciously taking his share of Energon from Scattorshot. It was then that he heard the griping of Afterburner, apparently he didn't think that using the rations was a good idea.

"Well, if you don't want yours..." Nosecone implied sarcastically, gesturing towards himself in a receiving position.

Nosecone laughed as he took a sip from his Energon Cube. Breakaway suddenly looked through his sniper scope as if he saw something, this didn't seem good.

Nosecone gulped down his Energon Cube Ration and looked at Scattorshot.

"Sir, perhaps we should get moving, and place down one of those mines, I don't want a Decepticon army busting in here to disrupt my work." Nosecone said as he looked back at the light at the end of the tunnel, as if knowing that there was someone there.

Fortress Tenebrous

Turmoil listened to the Nebulan female whom had been identified as peer Soriza speak. This particular fleshling was clearly far more adaptable than the appointed leader of the Worldwatchers - whom Turmoil had already marked as someone to be watched. Perhaps it had something to do with the gender of these organics, perhaps not. The coming vorns would certainly provide the Decepticons far better understanding of this species than they had so far.

"A construction team will be sent to the desired location once you have provided us the blueprints of your chosen construction project." The large Decepticon commander gave the Council of Peers his answer. "Naturally they will also be in charge of building automated defenses to protect your city."

Just as he finished, Galen - the leader of the Worldwatchers and the spokesperson of the Council decided to chime in. Clearly the Nebulan wanted to get away from Turmoil as fast as possible - unfortunately for him, the unseen and ever vigilant Insecticons would begin to follow Galen until a further notice as soon as the Council was going to leave fortress Tenebrous behind.

"Of course. You have much to do." Turmoil spoke up. "Gather your people, we will provide them means of transportation. It is the least we could do."
____________________________________

Rainforest of Patalappu

Snapdragon had to work his aft off to keep up with his simian partner in crime. And truth to be told, even his best was not enough for that in a setting that favored Apeface so heavily. That of course was not really a shortcoming from Snapdragon, who himself could have left almost any other Cybertronian behind in a setting like this. However, he was getting bit annoyed at following Apeface's example by leaping from tree to tree in his robot mode that was not able to match the agility of Apeface's simian form particularly as he had to struggle against the slippery branches far more than his partner.

It was time to take this to the ground level. Jumping down from a branch he had been standing on, Snapdragon transformed into his reptilian mode that was a representation of an ancient predator from an organic world in the Milky Way galaxy that had been visited by Cybertronians millions of years ago. The beast was known as carcharodontosaurus by the current inhabitants of the said world but that was not known to Snapdragon. The massive and deadly jaws of this great lizard, its imposing build and its place as the apex predator of the area it had occupied had made the beast a choice of Snapdragon's liking. Nevertheless, this reptilian form of his could reach running speeds greater than Apeface and as long as he could follow Apeface's signal, Snapdragon was pretty certain he could keep up with his fellow Horrorcon.

>>"You're right Snaps. 'Bots. Their little coward pod at least. Running for their little sparks, I'll bet."<<

Roughly a klik or two before after Snapdragon had received Apeface's transmission, the massive beast arrived to the opening himself, lifting his snout higher to allow his olfactory sensors to catch the scent of the occupant of the abandoned escape pod.

>>"Whoever it is, it is fleeing towards northwest Apey. Alone so far, but given the estimated trajectories of the other pods that fell down to this forest, I bet they are trying to get together."<<

Mount Melanos – Workshop

Once the other Autobots had finally left him alone, possibly to go cry about how they had their afts handed to them so soundly, Repugnus went back to work. He had tortured about all of the information out this pathetic Con that was worth anything. That meant it was time to get rid of him, ideally in a messy, explosive way that took out some other Cons. A smile on his face the Monsterbot began rigging up some explosives to what was left of the Con. The rest of them would be looking for him, so he would plant him in the right spot, fake a distress signal and bam, plenty more dead cons to use. Really, he was so sick and depraved at times that it even impressed himself.

Repugnus was just really getting into his work when the door chime sounded. He let out an irritated sigh when he heard Grotusque’s voice through the speakers. He was making a joke, of course, as he always did. It was just one of the many, many things he found annoying about him. It was also another reason why he preferred to work alone. He jabbed a button next to the door, allowing it to slide open.

The Monsterbot offered his teammate only a passing glance before going back to work. “Was starting to wonder if you would make it here. The other Autobots are whiney enough as it is about the couple of guys we’ve lost already, didn’t want to hear them whining some more about losing you.”

Mount Melanos – Workshop

“Aren't you going to ask me how my day was, dear?” Grotusque emerged into the workshop, commencing an undoubtedly one mech conversation, though hoping Repugnus left an audio module available to receive it. “I guess I wouldn't either; it was nothing spectacular, really. But I did run into a couple of 'Cons. It was great! We said hi, had a chat, threw a few killing blows around, and then said our goodbyes.” He chuckled. “You should've—“

Grotusque's optics fell upon Repugnus' work table—more specifically what occupied it. The remains of a Decepticon were dispersed across it, settled in dense pools of vital fluids. Although the spectacle before him was consistent with all that could have been deemed vile and atrocious he couldn't help but notice one particular segment of the unfortunate gentlemech: his torso. The damn thing appeared to have been lumped into the center of the table with purpose, as if Repugnus desired for it to garner attention.

He had been quite the busy little cyber-bee, hadn't he?

Detaching his gaze from the table, Grotusque looked at Repugnus. “So, uh, who's your friend here?”

He quickly realised the inaccuracy present in his question. How silly of him. He should have known better.

“I mean, who was your friend here?”

OoC: I've been given Permission to help push Sid's two Autobots along until he is back to full power.

Mount Melanos - Monitor Womb

Rad absently toggled through the crew manifests of the Autobots assigned to the planet known as Nebulos. It was not the first time he had gone through it, and it probably would not be the last. But it was probably the only thing he could accomplish here in this environment. And as like the other countless times, the engineer turned off the file and spun around in his chair.

Shaking his head slowly at the disappearance of over half of their force, leaving him alone with the rather disturbed Repugnus and the offline Highbrow and Roadbuster, Rad pulled himself off of his chair and made his way over to the energon dispensery. Tapping into the terminal a request for his specific grade, he turned back to the flickering sensor screens and access grids of their so called base. A ding soon brought him back to the dispensor and he retrieved his container of light violet liquid.

He brought the container to his port and slowly began to refuel his depleted circuits. The warm refreshing power flowed through his conduits and gave him renewed strength to continue his epic vigil. A prayer to the heavens and a hope that some Decepticon mistake would open a gateway to turning this entire situation around. Of course strategy was not his area of expertise, he had left that to their tactican Grotesque. He was a scientist who knew how to fight, and knew how to take on the Decepticons in small narrow engagements.

Rad smirked at the idea as he took another dreg upon the empowering energon. Every Autobot, regardless of their function, had been trained to fight on the front. Such was the curse of being the underdog of an intergalactic war. He finished off his energon and set the container back into the receptical for recycling.

Deactivating the dispensor for its own power reservation, Rad made his way back to the monitors and plugged himself back into the comfortless chair. He flipped the sensors, as limited as they were, to the grid aiming towards the stars. A light tap of his fingers brought the covert relay lenses into focus as he began to make out the various positions of the Decepticon picket vessels... they were so predictable. At least they were normally.

Rad's optics narrowed as he watched the Rancor and the Pestilence as well as their escort move off from the line. He logged it deciding it was probably some sort of training maneuver ordered by the fickle yet methodical Decepticon Commander, Turmoil.

It wasn't until an hour or so later that the vessels began to return to the sensor range arch, moving at full flanking combat speed. Rad hit the record command in the terminal bed by instinct. The maneuver lasted only a few more minutes before a large burst of radiation flooded his sensor screen. Rad pressed the replay of the sensor recordings, filtering out the background radiation and narrowing down at the epicenter of the detonation area.

He sent the readings through the computer analyzer before reviewing the results of his work. A step by step reverse play of the readings soon caused the engineer to shoot straight from his chair. He replayed the readings again, this time in a slow forward motion. There was no doubt. The Decepticons had attacked and destroyed an Autobot ship. But that knowledge did not cause Rad pause, he continued to filter the background light and the stray bursts of energy from the Decepticon warships as they pounded the burning hulk of the Autobot Frigate.

Mount Melanos - Workshop

Rad stepped through the threshold of the workshop and shook his head at the gore that was splayed out upon the table. He still objected to the disection of the Decepticon prisoner, in fact was still admement that it was an unnecessary descent to the level of the Decepticon trash that they had been fighting this war to avoid partaking in. He shifted his weight against the wall and averted his optics towards the returned Grotesque. "Glad to see you are unharmed Grotesque. I trust you had a good time out strolling through the proverbial garden."

He offered a smirk and used a powerful remote to take over the laboratory monitor. "And you have great timing. This is a reading we just received from one of our remote access sensor stations." He allowed the slow motion images to play out, both forwards and backwards and then forward at normal snapshot speed.

"It appears the Autobot Command got worried about us and sent in a little chaparone to look in on us..." He highlighted the ship bridge in a still frame as well as magnified two points on the screen. "Add to that, some of them may have survived."

Equatorial Desert - Under the Ancient Lavabed

Feeling ignored, something he’d grown quite accustomed to since joining the Technobots, Afterburner took to crossing the small space they were sitting in. Not one known for his patience he was tempted to go after Scattorshot but thought better of it. Especially after seeing Strafe’s nervous twitching while he helped Breakaway keep watch. It wasn‘t that he didn’t trust his comrades, far from it, he just didn’t trust the potential accident waiting to happen with his nervous comrade.

Each face he looked at he saw the same thing, undying trust that Scattorshot was coming back and he was the answer. Both scenarios bothered him, not so much that he was jealous but in the fact that how would they react should their leader become occupied elsewhere. He knew they could fight, he just didn’t know how organized they’d be. Perhaps he was being paranoid but hearing the energon sizzle from Strafe dared him to think otherwise.

Primus help him, he was about to do something to help that scraplet-infected leader of theirs. He knew they wouldn’t listen to him, but that hadn’t stopped him before. Carefully he picked out a diagnostic padd from the escape pod’s emergency kit and moved up next to Breakaway and Strafe. He was careful not to startle the pair, being in his fellow gunner’s line of fire wasn’t an ideal way to meet Primus.

“Strafe, why don’t you give us a hand? The faster we’re ready to go when Scattorshot gets back the faster we get out of this Primus forsaken hole.” He hoped to keep his comrade busy and if that meant seeing to it their illustrious leader doesn‘t get shot by accident so be it. Having Scattorshot as commander was better than being buried under hundreds of metric tons of rock. Well… it sounded better at any rate

Equatorial Desert

Of all of the things Brainstorm never expected to find to have survived the crash were energon rations. Out of the initial forty only three made it but they were three more than he had at the time. Such treasures were something he normally didn’t care about but considering the task he had before him such luxuries required his attention.

Numerous items caught his optics, though he wasn’t sure what to make of them just then. The ones he did have a plan for were easy enough to scavenge and lay out for easy inventory and assembly. A pair of landing struts and their wheels, a reasonably flat piece of undercarriage from the pod that proved easy enough to cut away, and an energon replenishing unit. The last of which he didn’t see how it was a necessity since there wasn’t any energon available but he set it aside anyway.

The construction period took him the better part of two hours despite the easy welding he needed to combined the struts with the undercarriage. When he was finished he had what looked more like a broken chassis in Ratchet’s repair bay than a mode of transportation but it was better than the alternative.

With his work partly completed Brainstorm then set to work on the turning mechanism. Ideally he would’ve preferred using the pod’s navigational system but then had the pod not crashed his work would be moot. After much consideration, and the fact said navigation system was destroyed, he settled on a pair of struts which he set on either side of the rectangular creation. By being used separately they would turn the makeshift skiff and stop it when used together by grinding them into the ground. Everything was coming together better than his original plan had told him of and it left him with only one problem… what to use for propulsion. Looking at the remains of the craft he wished the tools to repair his transforming circuits weren’t destroyed. With no time to waste he set about finding what he needed.

An hour later

From his calculations his makeshift skiff traveled well below the typical standards of Cybertronian technology but by doing so he hoped to avoid detection for as long as possible. He sat on the skiff as it glided over the desert ground feeling proud of himself. Not everyone would’ve thought about the spare rocket packs in the back of the pod. Luckily two weren‘t damaged and as long as he kept them at low power they should get him far enough away from the wreckage as was feasibly safe for the time being. Before he left he took one parting gift from his fallen comrades, as many weapons as he could carry. Better they be in his hands than the Decepticons. Now is he could find a place to hide until he could find the others, assuming there were other survivors. The odds weren’t favorable but then again he defied them by walking away from one crash already.

Equatorial Desert - Subsurface Lava Tubes

Lightspeed bit off the cover of his sulfer based additive and poured it into the ration container. He pinched off the top of the container and gave it a quick shake, ensuring the additive was well mixed with the Energon inside. Once satisfied the mixture was complete, Lightspeed drained its content down his energon receptical, and leaned back against the wall as the flood of warm energy began to replinish his over extended systems.

Once his systems registered a return to full capabilities, powerwise at anyrate, the Technobot first officer pushed himself off of the wall and made his way over to where the others had gathered. He drew a micro medical kit from his side and extracted a pair of auto wield patches. "Yes, we should indeed prepare to depart Afterburner."

He approached the Technobot gunner. "However, before we decide to disappear into the darkness... perhaps it is best we begin with the simple orders Scattershot left, before he went to cover our tracks." Lightspeed placed a hand on Afterburner's shoulder and carefully examined the joints that may have suffered damage during the battle in space. He pulled a medical scanner from the kit and waved it over the links that appeared to be stretched.

Once he was done with the scan, he began to check the readings. "Your shoulder struts seem to be strained. But your self repair systems should be able to mend them without too much more time. However," he slapped the wielding patch on a small tear in the main frame of the gunner's armor.

He hid a smirk as the self wielding patch began its work to sizzle into place, filling the gash in the armor. He pivoted and made his way over to Nosecone, Strafe and Breakaway. He gave them cursory scans and repeated the process to other minor gashes or wounds that he found. At least the majority of the damage the team had suffered was minor. Anything major had already been rerouted by internal repair systems.

When he was finished with his initial survey, Lightspeed replaecd the medical kit back into his side pocket and made his way over to the tunnel they had just come. He placed his palm against the jagged surface of the tunnel wall. He marveled at how far they had come, how deep they were and how many different divergant tunnels they had created, linked and never bothered to venture down. Scattershot had ordered Nosecone to repeatedly adjust angles, connect tunnels then resume course along the original path. It had been a rather creative form of deception. Create multiple paths to delay potential pursuit. He doubted the cons would give up their hunt, but if it bought them time to find cover for a potential stand.

Lightspeed processed the information the sensors his hands began to transmit to his processors. Various forms of granite, basalt and limestone were intermixed with sheets of obsidian. Standard geology one would expect in a volcanic region... except for the limestone. Lightspeed turned his attention to the rock surface and allowed his optics to scan even more deeply. Limestone was a sedimentary rock, formed under intense pressure of a sea. It appeared that this particular region had been at one time submerged under a deep ocean. This planet's geology was actually facinating, of course that realization made him miss the Farstar all the more. Its advanced sensors could have easily helped give him a better picture of what was going on below the crust of this world.

"Alright," he finally spoke. "Time is up, Scattershot will be back soon enough. Everyone load up and lets get moving." Lightspeed filed the data his sensors had gathered away for later use and analysis. "Nosecone, activate your geo sensors and give me a deeper picture of the area."

Equatorial Desert - Under the Ancient Lava Bed

Strafe was so engrossed with keeping his optics fixated on the blackened tunnel behind them that he barely noticed or even acknowledged the approach of Afterburner. It was only after his comrade had spoken to him that the nervous gunner was slightly startled out of his concentration, but not enough to fire off a random shot. He almost did, of course, but he didn’t let it be known.

Strafe relaxed a bit as he turned his head to look at Afterburner. It was surprising to him that a mech with the gunner’s temperament was trying to calm him down with a little productive distraction. Still, he appreciated his teammate’s attempt and offered a cursory smile before responding to him. “I guess Breakaway can keep watch on his own for now, but I don’t want to stray too far from this spot as the Decepticons could rear their ugly heads at any moment.”

Before Strafe was able to offer any help, Lightspeed had begun conducting medical scans of every 'Bot present, applying the appropriate patches on minor injuries where needed. When the Technobot second-in-command approached him, the aerial combatant was quick to point out that he had no injuries to speak of. However, that turned out not to be the case as Lightspeed finished scanning the anxious mech before slapping a welding patch onto his back where a small breach in his armor had been detected. It was a minor wound that Strafe did not even know he had before that very moment. The skittish ‘Bot reached around to feel the patch settling into the crack, effectively sealing it closed. He then looked back at his mender, thankful that the small gash was discovered before a 'Con took advantage of the weakened spot. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

With the medical scans and needed fixes completed, Strafe stood and cautiously made his way over to help his comrades load up as Lightspeed then ordered. The aerial gunner walked backwards with his optics and weapon still trained on the dark lava tube. He half expected to see a horde of Sweeps emerge right then and there as it would have been a perfect time to attack. Fortunately, nothing happened as the shadows remained eerily quiet. Once Strafe was in position with the rest of the Technobots, he lowered his weapon but remained ever vigilant on the rear pathway as he began to assist his teammates.

OoC: Didn't have time to post Nightbeat last night, so why not this morning?

Equatorial Desert - Subsurface Lava Tubes

Nosecone did a curt nod to lightspeed to acknowledge him, then transformed into his drill and drove forward. He drilled through the thin soil and suddenly turned to the right until he was almost at the original tunnel. He then angled his drill upward and drove forward in an arc in the exact distance of the roof of the tunnel, and came down shortly afterwards.

He then turned back into the tunnel, making another branch off the original tunnel, this would surely confuse the Decepticons!

He transformed and walked over to Lightspeed and activated his geo-sensors. Suddenly a flurry of information rushed into his mind, and he looked out at the tunnel and pointed off in the distance.

"There! There is an underground ravine right over there, we can possibly make it a trap for the Decepticons, but that would be challenging." Nosecone said.

"Here, I'll send it to you." Nosecone said as he simultaneously sent him a packet of the Geographical Data.

*****

Equatorial Forest

Nightbeat's systems slowly came back online after the crash landing he had earlier, but the only system he regretted to have come online safely was the Pain Receptors.

He felt a sharp pain in his upper arm, he turned to look, revealing a horrid slice through his upper arm. But this doesn't matter right now, he needed to get up, otherwise the Decepticons would surely find him here.

Nightbeat leaned up from his lying position to reveal most of his pod had been obliterated in the crash, and the crew seemed unresponsive. Nightbeat rummaged around the pod for a half of a breem and found the Energon Rations. Most all of them had survived the crash, so he had some to spare.

He knelt down to every possible alive Transformer in the pod, and then walked over to one of the many openings in the pod and clambered outside.

The sun was bright. Nightbeat lifted his hand to shade his adjusting Optics, but there was one question on his mind. Why were the Decepticons here?

There could be numerous reasons for their interest in this planet: Conquering, Energy, Manual Labor, or all of the above.

Nightbeat walked over to a tree that was covered in Vines and yanked one of them off. He wrapped it around his arm to stop the bleeding and looked toward the sky.

Besides having a massive firework of the Farstar, it was relatively normal. However, he was in need of something else right now, civilization.

Where there is civilization there are vehicles, where there are vehicles, there are repair depots. However, where there are vehicles and Transformers in the same spot, there are going to be Transformers there too.

Scanning the sky for any signs of Civilization, Nightbeat clambered onto a large boulder to get a better view of the sky.

Suddenly, the sight of smog caught his Optic, and Nightbeat knew where there was smog, there was a large city there, or a power plant. Either way, Nightbeat leaped off his boulder and transformed into his Porsche and sped towards the place where he knew there was something artificial.

Equatorial Desert - Underground Lava Tubes

Scattershot tapped down a small limpet mine down into the sharp angle of the path he was following back to the others. He stepped a few paces backwards and allowed the magnetic sensors on the line of explosives that lined the two tunnel paths to activate. He flicked open his wrist screen and tapped in a few numbers to the micro explosive discs causing their safeties to disengage. For all intent and purpose the last three junctions were little more than death traps waiting for some foolish patrol to come stomping through.

He knew full well that as soon as one trap was activated, the cons would be immediately alerted to the presence of more and tread even more carefully. However he also hoped that such an act would increase the distance between his team and potential engagement. It would also serve as a warning for them further down the tunnels or at least deeper into the surface substructures.

The Technobot Commander stepped lightly ensuring that his tracks were unreadable or non existant in most cases, and headed back towards the cavern where his team mended. He cleared the tracks made by the team, and scrubbed the unnatural cuts in the rock with a weak acidic patch that aided in the melting of the stone. Once satisfied the cuts were washed from the stone, he proceeded to attempt a quick aging of the rock with dust, grime and grit to cover the washed over patches.

Satisfied the Technobot finally departed from his work space and covered the distance to the cavern.

Scattershot entered the cavern as Nosecone finished his initial survey. His scowl swiftly fell upon Afterburner, perhaps with the antisipation of some sort of ill conceived attempt to subvert authority. Once his own optical sweep of the rest of the team was complete, his scowl faded and he stepped over to Strafe. Accepting the data pad of intelligence relating to the planet they had landed on.

A simple scan of the information told him all he needed to be made aware of. When the Autobots landed, infiltration was already in full swing. Population was already made up of pacifists so the bulk of the remaining infiltration protocols were skipped. Beyond that the information was best served for the geological, topographical and the social demographics and structure of the planet. Scattershot committed the information to his memory tracks and ordered the rest of the team do the same. It was best they all knew about where they were and what sort of challenges they would face. Of course this information was also dated. He knew well enough to know that these were before the Decepticons made a full invasion attempt on the planet.

"Report." His simple order prompted Lightspeed to pull himself up from examining the data he had received from Nosecone only a brief time before.

The data collector filed the information and processed it rapidly before formulating how best to translate it and use it to their advantage. "It would appear that we are in a rather unique geological region of this particular planet. Volcanic territory underneath an expansive desert biosphere. I must say that I have not seen many such examples that I can draw analogs to. However, add to that information, Nosecone's sensors have also confirmed my initial detections of Limestone."

"Limestone? As in sedimentary rock... inside a known volcanic flow?"

Lightspeed nodded as he surrendered the data pad. "It appears that this particular region is a tectonic rift."

Scattershot's optics narrowed at the data. He wasn't a dedicated scientist nor was he an engineer. But like many of his team he had cross trained in those fields in order to expand their value within the Autobot ranks. He knew enough to know how dangerous such a region of a planet's crust such as a rift really was. They were unstable at best, and if there was enough time in between actual releases of pressure, they were highly unstable. It just meant that his team would require to show even more caution. It also meant that there had once been a vibrant sea that once submerged the region.

He crunched the numbers in his processor and reached the same conclusion that Lightspeed appeared to already have arrived at. He simply shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Guess that means we've got a second helping of trouble. We'll need to have our sensors at full passive. Hopefully we'll detect some sort of advantage inside the rocks."

Passing out the two data slabs to the team, Scattershot hefted up the heavy escape pod and tucked it on his shoulder. "Alright, we've over stayed our welcome. We're moving out. Committ that data to memory as we march. Technobots, form up and move out." With that he ordered them to resume the column he had initially established at the beginning of their march, with the change of swapping positions of Lightspeed and Afterburner. He needed the faster draw up front and the gunner would provide better support in the newer position. As they all formed up he gave a nod to Breakaway. "I trust you're holding out. This is only an early morning stroll... just wait till I get you into our prefuel work out regimen." He cracked a smile as the column got back onto the multi angled route towards the final mark.

((OOC-Alright, now to start catching up on this little world. My appreciation for the coverage while my muse got knocked against the ropes by external circumstances. The wheels are still turning, thankfully.))

Rainforest of Patalappu

"Just one?" Apeface said, letting out a derisive laugh as his massive hands clasped against the bark of another nearby tree trunk. He looked at Snapdragon down on the surface of the rainforest below, trying to get a sense of where his scanners were leading him. The other Horrorcon's olfactory sensors were significantly superior to his own. Unless this Autobot was an idiot with no sense of covering his tracks, Snapdragon would more than likely be the one to pick up his trail. Not that it mattered. it was going to be the same result regardless of who found him first.

"Hopefully he finds a few of his little 'Bot friends, or this ain't even gonna be worth our effort."

Apeface leapt and grasped on to another massive tree, before climbing a few meters higher, giving himself a better visual vantage point.

"Wait a astrosec...there....I see another one!"
___

Fortress Tenebrous

"You may return to your kinsmen. It seems, eh, that you've been given leave to return to your home territories," Bombshell said, looking down at the only slightly smaller, Cerebro-shelled Nebulan that stood before him.

"I will return to my kinsmen," the Nebulan said, before blankly turning and exiting the room that the Insecticon had brought him to. Bombshell chuckled. It would be interesting to see how long one of his cerebro shells would continue functioning within a solely organic surrounding before the unit, in this case the Nebulan councilor, shut down...in a manner of speaking. It was certainly a highly invasive process. Moreover, the Decepticons didn't have a lot of data on how the process worked on their own kind, much less organics. Bombshell's work here could be quite valuable--to the right individual--once they had finished their work here.

Speaking of...

Navigating the corridors of the Decepticon fortress, Bombshell wove his way through the dozens of exiting Nebulan councilors, some who appeared to not be able to get out of the Decepticon structure fast enough, and others who seemed surprisingly content to stand around and chat amongst themselves.

Such an odd little species.

Entering the main hall, Bombshell quickly found his way to Shrapnel's side.

"Our illustrious, fill-in commander has tired of his human playthings for the time being, mm?"

Equatorial Desert - Subsurface Lava Tubes

Nosecone got back just in time to see Scattorshot get back from doing some Bomb-Work in the tunnels. Now that he was back, they could continue their journey to find the remaining Autobots on Nebulos.

If any.

"Glad to see you made a safe journey, Commander, were there any signs of Decepticons?" Nosecone said as he transformed.

He began to drive forward and drill through to dirt and stone, and then took a sharp right turn.

"Follow me down this tunnel, so it looks like we went this way." Nosecone said.

He wasn't the brightest among the Technobots, but he wasn't stupid. He knew how the Decepticons tracked their enemies, like a wild bear scavenging for food.

He remembered down in the mines on Cybertron when all of his friends were suddenly ambushed by a Decepticon Hunting Party searching for files and Geographical Data. He was able to outsmart them by making long twists and turns in his mining to confuse them. They eventually ran low on Energon and left.

He needed to do the same here.

He began to drill forward in the same direction as a large ravine, and once they punched through to the other side, he transformed and walked back. Making sure his footprints were above his tread marks.

It was a gambit, but it might lead for one or two of the more brutish and stupid of the Decepticons fall victim to their own boldness.

He walked back to the original tunnel and transformed again, leading the way further into the dark tunnels.

*****

Equatorial Forest

Nightbeat sped at hundreds of miles per hour down the dirt and gravel road. Perhaps the smog he was seeing was smoke from another landing site? Either way, he needed to get there to gain either medical treatment, or a partner to help each other survive. "Strength in numbers", isn't that what they always say?

Nightbeat grunted. He just hoped that maybe one of the smarter Mechs on the Farstar was there waiting for them. he didn't want to be paired up with Siren or one of his other usual partners.

Using a comm link is one of the best ways for me to be found, thought Nightbeat, But by what side?

He kept speeding towards the point of origin of the smog, keeping high hopes of the large city he sought.

The Plains of Thok

The sleek, purple Decepticon fighter arced its way across the blue-green Nebulan skies. Civilization and nature had gradually given way to vast open spaces. None of the other Decepticon signatures on Cyclonus' systems had gone in this direction.

One of the Autobot escape pods, however, had.

If Reflector's transmitted trajectory was even remotely accurate, the pod would have inevitably crashed somewhere in this area.

As Cyclonus began to lower his altitude, he detected faint wisps of smoke rising in to the air. It didn't look like the direct results of a crash, but rather the remnants of a blaze that the Autobots had hastily attempted to put out before any Decepticons could zero in on their location. A wise decision, but altogether ineffective.

Scanning the pod itself, he could see that it had been abandoned.

>>"Scourge, if you're not otherwise occupied, lock in on my position. I may have found something worth hunting,"<< Cyclonus transmitted, even as he transformed in mid-air and descended rapidly to the surface. Landing in a crouch, Cyclonus rose and approached the abandoned pod.

Ripping away the entry hatch, Cyclonus peered inside.

"Get him!" came another voice.

It was not Scourge's.

Equatorial Desert - Under the Ancient Lava Bed

Strafe was in the middle of helping the others load up when Scattershot returned and approached him for the datapad of planetary intelligence he had brought with him from the Farstar. The aerial gunner handed it over without saying a word before returning to work gathering everything together for their imminent departure. Lightspeed also provided the Technobot Commander with a datapad of his own that contained the information Nosecone had previously obtained. Once Scattershot had thoroughly reviewed all of the material and then conversed with Lightspeed further regarding the surrounding terrain, he gave out the pair of data slabs to the team for them to assimilate into their processors. Strafe took the one with Nosecone’s facts and figures as Scattershot issued orders to reconstitute the previous column with some minor changes in positioning.

Strafe took up his central position within the group as he scanned through and committed the new geological data of the encompassing region to his memory banks. Once he was finished, the aerial gunner passed the slab over to Afterburner before grabbing some of the gear and moving onward with the rest of the team. He had no need to review the other pad of planetary data as he had already scanned its contents previously before providing it to Scattershot.

Instead, Strafe remained focused on his surroundings as Nosecone led the way forward. The mining drill created a faux side tunnel down towards an underground ravine in an effort to throw any Decepticon hunting party off their true path. It was worth a try, but the aerial gunner knew that mechs like Scourge and his sweeps would not be so easily fooled as they were expert trackers by trade. They would likely laugh at the attempted trickery and continue hunting their prey. Strafe said nothing to Nosecone, however, letting his teammate make as many fake tunnels as he wanted. It certainly wouldn’t hurt and might even slow the enemy down some, especially the dimwitted ones. But deep within his core processor the nervous gunner was well aware that, one way or another, it was only a matter of time before the ‘Cons caught up with them.

Rainforest of Patalappu

The chemical trail left by the escaping Autobot was clear, giving Snapdragon very little trouble following whoever it was that had survived the crash. While he could not accurately determine how long ago the Autobot had passed from here, two signs were obvious enough. This particular Autobot survivor was no flyer. Nor it possessed an alternate form suitable for fast travel in a setting like this. No, this one was travelling by foot and while the Autobot had clearly tried to avoid leaving a trail, but to not leave footprints in the forest floor for beings the size and weight of Transformers was practically impossible.

A message from Apeface did make Snapdragon to slow his speed down a notch. There was a good chance that the Autobot was looking for other survivors of his kind. Even Snapdragon would have done so were he in similar situation. There was power in a group, especially in a hostile environment. Still, it was possible that the Autobots were unable to properly navigate, let alone home directly into the other possible pods in the area. Thus, checking the coordinates of Apeface's new find wouldn't certainly hurt.

>>"Hnn. You see another one Apey? An escape pod or an Autobot? Define the compass point."<<

Equatorial Desert - Underground Lava Tubes

Afterburner matched Scattorshot’s scowl, “So much for hoping you’d get lost.” Shaking his head he refused to admit to himself that he was glad their leader came back. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck on this rock with a bunch of unmotivated mechs. He Didn’t want to lead but he often wondered why he was placed under a leader determined to avoid the Decepticons.

While he saw no reason not to attack the Cons straight up, he did understand the need to move unseen for the time being, he just didn’t like it. After hefting his weapons he waited for Nosecone and his new escort to pass him smiling broadly at Lightspeed. “Remember to duck.” He couldn’t help chuckling at the look he got, he was free of the infinite boredom that was Nosecone's bodyguard. Now he‘d be able to watch behind them hoping some Decepticon tracker found them instead of staring at rock pelting him in the faceplate. Being within Scattorshot‘s vocalizer would be acceptable so long as he got first shot.

For the first time since they landed he began to enjoy himself. “Alright you heard the boss, let’s get a move on. We don’t want the Cons coming up too fast."

Northern Tundra Forest Region

Pyro rubbed his temple as he surveyed the surroundings of the escape pod. It was a tight confined tube of deactivated electronics and a small forward facing view porthole that was clouded by ice and snow. Pressing on the release hatch offered him no results, probably inactive due to the damaged power cell somewhere on the reverse of the pod. Pyro was not amused. Balling his fist he drove it through the porthole plastic with a satisfying crash and snap. He then pushed forward, tearing the metal hatch from its hinges and sending it spinning to the top of the mountain glacier.

Giving himself a brief moment to stretch out his legs and arms, Pyro pulled himself out of the wreckage. He allowed his sensors to adjust to the region of snow, rock and sparse vegetation. “Tundra,” he muttered to himself as he stepped out of the damaged escape pod. His sensors began to peer through the frozen shroud of low hanging snow that had been kicked up by impact, carefully taking note of any potential approach of organic or technological entities. His sensors did not disappoint him.

On approach was a small cluster of mechanical creatures, their frames indicating scout types. Hardly worth the effort of open combat, however Pyro was not exactly one for looking over his shoulder in constant paranoia either. Once they detected the pod, he did not doubt that small group would be reinforced with at least one or two more powerful combat ready troopers. First rule of interplanetary survival, ensure you aren’t open to hostile forces or native populations… that’s what Prime always said.

Pyro made up his mind and darted behind one of the large alpine trees, carefully ensuring he was hidden from the signals he had detected. He did not immediately summon his weapons, instead opting for stealth and the security of a vibration dagger. There he remained, cold and silent, waiting for the prey to investigate the crash site.
His patience was soon rewarded when three Decepticon scouts emerged from the fog and began to probe the site. He could hear vague pieces regarding the evidence he had left in the snow. The broken door, the multiple prints before disappearing onto the sparsely exposed rock. Inwardly he cursed himself for not treading more lightly. Still he would need to eliminate them one by one, keep power output low and save ammunition. Until he linked up with Scattershot and the others, Pyro was pretty much isolated and on his own.

The lead scout ordered his two compatriots to fan out and begin searching the area for evidence of the survivor. They each headed out in three different yet similar directions, all towards Pyro. Just how he had hoped they would.

The smaller, black and green Decepticon scout grunted miserably through the thick grove of tree trunks. Punching a few of the thicker pieces of timber out of frustration for being assigned to this Primus forsaken place, the mechanism grumbled and cursed. It glanced from side to side in between gripes, offering Pyro the perfect cover for his brisk movements to get into strike position. From a distance the second larger scout bellowed out to his grouchy colleague, demanding he silence his vocalizer before he marched over and did the job himself. Pyro struck.

The red and blue soldier grabbed the scout from behind and covered his mouth. He twisted his arm to dislodge the rifle from his grasp and followed the move with a fluid plunge of his blade into the back. With a twist of the sharpened vibration blade he severed the con’s fuel pump and caused the internals to begin to short out. He finished the job by twisting the mechanism’s head, snapping it mutely off and allowing the dead corpse to fall lifeless in the snow.

“Thank you Megatron.” The second scout praised as silence finally befell the tree line, unknowingly offering his own position to the hunter. Pyro pulled himself behind one of the thicker tree trunks. He used his weight and speed to carefully propel himself through the tree stumps, brush and exposed rock, carefully hiding his tracks.

“Hey, Fludger… Got anything?” The commander called out from his position. “Can’t reach Scrum… any luck?”

“Nah, that idiot was running off at the vocorder again. Told him to keep his aft shut… amazing he is actually following orders.”

Pyro waited for the moment the communication toggle was depressed, affording the squadron leader to respond about how he was going to check on their wayward liability. He reached around from the thick trunk stunning the poor scout with his attack. He wrapped his massive fingers around the face cap of the scout and squeezed hard, crushing the communication link and a good portion of the Decepticon’s metaprocessor. He pulled up the damaged creature and drove his dripping blade straight into the throat of the scout and twisted, destroying the connections between the head and the body. Pyro impaled the dead body with his clenched fist and punctured the armor as if it were a can opener.

The soldier policed the body and confiscated the emergency energon rations and ammunition clips that the scout carried. He added the collection with those he had gathered off of the first mech and proceeded to drop down to the frozen tundra soil. “Fludger? Fludger? Get over here quick. That Autobot Scum’s alive. Be on your guard.”

Pyro smirked as the voice tried to crackle through the damaged receiver. If that commander only knew. The soldier stashed picked up the rifle of the solder and checked the action, ensuring there was energy in the weapon. He slung it over his shoulder and entered into a dash back towards the first strike. It took him only a few moments before he came to his preselected point of observation. There a black and gray mechanism, a rank insignia painted across his left shoulder indicating he was nothing more than a simple patrol leader.

“Damn it, annoying bastard that’s what you get for running your vocal box.” The patrol leader admonished the corpse as he tried to appraise who or what actually did the damage. Pyro ensured he would never have the chance. He sprinted from one tree trunk to another, swiftly and quietly eating distance between himself and the patrol commander. Soon he was within striking distance when the mechanism looked up to take in the monstrous fist of Pyro crashing through the cold air straight into the side of his face mask. The initial strike fractured the mouth joints and knocked loose several internal systems. He followed the blow with another driving haymaker straight to the torso of the scout, breaking armor plates and drawing a flood of vital fluids… and a finger hold for Pyro.

The squad leader threw out its fist trying to land a stunning blow, connecting twice with the steeled jaw of its attacker. It spun its fist with each connect point, desperately trying to force off the relentless assault. A servo echoed through the silent forest as a torch cutter emerged from its wrist to help reinforce the striking blow of its punches. Pyro would deny him.

He wrapped his fingers around the damaged rend in the armor and pulled the stunned soldier closer. Catching a blindside punch from the left, Pyro closed his hands around the knuckle torches, crushing the entire construction before he delivered the final blow, his fist punctured the damaged body and shattered the power lines supplying the spark chamber. In moments the assault was over and Pyro remained alone in the chilled air.

A policing of the patrol leader netted him a few more clips of ammunition and energon ration packets, as well as a local map of the region. It appeared he was in a moderate latitude mountain range, probably near the peak of one of the taller mounds of rock, near a glacier perhaps. Pyro placed these new items, as well as various other tools, medical patches and the three weapons… grenades and flash devices. He then proceeded to remove the communication chips from the dead leader and installed it into his own communication relay, ensuring to keep out the homing beacons. Once he was satisfied he had all of the valuable instruments he could possibly obtain from the three dead Decepticons, Pyro gathered their remains and set them into the escape pod. Meticulously he cleaned up the site of the impromptu battle and placed all contaminated materials inside the container with the remains.

After saying a simple prayer to Primus, he took the door of the pod, he sealed the craft and proceeded to bury the coffin with dirt, debris, ice and snow. He knew well that the cons would come at some point looking for their wayward search party. At least they would have a difficult time of it. Pyro hefted the weapons up on his shoulder and proceeded to head towards a small power relay station indicated on the map he had confiscated. At least there he could replenish supplies and perhaps evaluate the situation.

Mount Melanos – Workshop

Unsurprisingly the instant Grotusque stepped foot into the room he started babbling on about some nonsense. He was used to the other Monterbot’s eccentric and talkative ways. That meant he was just able to curb the desire to punch him in the face, which was saying quite a bit for him. Repugnus didn’t suffer fools lightly, but on the other hand there were few Autobots who could tolerate being around him. It was a trade off, but it made sense that the rest of the Monsterbots should be able to tolerate each other, even if they were only a ‘team’ in the loosest sense of the word.

His attention was drawn back to Grotusque at his rather abrupt silence. A smile spread over his face as he mentioned his prisoner. “Oh he’s still alive, although he probably wishes he was dead. I could activate him again if you want, but he seems to just mostly scream at this point.” He went over to a table where he had placed the commandeered warheads taken from the Decepticon he had killed. “As for his name, can’t say I remember now, not that its important. If you need to call him something, just call him bait.” He chuckled as he strung the warheads together with some detonator cord.

The Monsterbot reached over to a shelf and grabbed a pressure sensitive detonator. “I’m going to wager that the Decepticons would be interested in recovering one of their own. It’s a calculated risk, counting on the sympathy of a con. I figure I’m counting more on their pragmatism, as surely if he’s out in the open he’s escaped and has info on the Bots they can use.” He held up the string of warheads for Gortusque to see. “Of course the first cons on the scene are probably just going to be a random patrol, probably some of those bearded freak Sweeps. I imagine they’ll flip him over to see what he’s screaming about. Then the last thing they’ll see are these little babies and the click of the detonator before they are blow to little pieces.”

Repugnus laughed again as he began tying the explosives around the helpless Decepticon. “I just hope I can find a head, or at least a face.” He turned back to Grotusque. “I kind of want one of those beards they got. What do you think Grotusque, think I’d look good with a beard?”

Equatorial Desert - Under the Ancient Lava Bed

Lockdown cast Skullgrin a casual glance before focusing his attention on the entrance to the tunnels that his prey has likely entered. From what he could see there wasn’t anything in the immediate area to be of any concern, thus he cast his gaze back to the Siege Warrior and cracked a devilish grin.

“I head down there and I get to claim all the glory.”

Lockdown let out a deep baritone chuckle before he cautiously entered the tunnel. His scanners remained active and in order to aid him in his trek he initiated an enhancement program that would provide his optics with the ability to zero in on even the minutest detail. If there was anything these Autobots left behind, anything at all, he’d find it.

Lockdown searched the area and when he found nothing of concern he let his tag-a-long know that it was safe for him to join him.

“It’s safe to come in now, gruesome!”

While he waited for Skullgrin to show up, Lockdown pressed forward. He made it only a few yards before he stopped mid-step. He slowly drew his foot back as he focused on a small section of the ground. Lockdown cocked his head to one side as he squatted down to get a better look at what he thought might be of significance. Wanting a closer look the bounty hunter got down on his knees and smirked.

“You might as well stop where you are. We’re not going any further.”

Nebulos Orbit--Bridge of the Perdition

With the commotion of the space engagement now having effectively subsided, the last remnants of the Autobot vessel burning up and floating off in to space, the bridge of the Perdition had gone eerily quiet, with Reflector and another pair of arriving bridge officers quietly tending to their tasks.

With matters for the Decepticons proceeding as smoothly as they had, Reflector had no real desire to bother the higher-ranking Decepticons spread throughout the universe until there was something worth bothering them for. Even so, when the time came for a transmission worthy of the Decepticon leader, Reflector was confidant that Megatron would undoubtedly be pleased with the thoroughness of their assumed control of this planet. Ideally he would be able to weave it in to his overall strategy and vision soon.

A newly-arrived Autobot vessel within the region, however? That was worth bothering anyone.

Opening a comm and applying a basic Decepticon encryption, Reflector began his transmission to the Semper Tyrannis.

>>"Mighty Scorponok, I thought it wise to apprise you of the latest developments on Nebulos. The subjugation of the natives proceeds as planned. It is my understanding that Vice Commander Turmoil has even managed to gain the cooperation of the native population in their surrender to our control. The Autobot presence on Nebulos has been minimal and ineffective...however...we recently completed an orbital engagement with an unknown Autobot vessel. The encounter was brief and decidedly in our favor, but it raises questions. In any event, I thought it necessary that you be informed."<<

The facial units on each of the three Reflector components bent in to a small grin as the transmission was sent.
___

Rainforest of Patalappu

Apeface zeroed in on the location of the trail he had seen and transmitted the distance and direction from Snapdragon's current location to the other Horrorcon. With another series of powerful leaps, Apeface soon found himself on one of the trees directly overlooking the second trail.

The forest was becoming more and more dense. The Horrorcon's moisture sensors were also increasing exponentially, the deeper he made his way in to the rainforest. The liquid compounds on this planet were hardly the most pleasing to the Horrorcon's gears and servos.

They should have brought some Sweeps with them. It would have made tracking these Autobot whelps much easier. But then it wouldn't have been as fun, either.

>>"There....I think I got an intersection point. Looks like the escapees found each other. Ain't that cute? Now they get to die together when we find them."<<
___

Navicorridor Viz--Borders of Melanossus

Pointblank had grown tired of standing around Melanos, waiting for the Decepticons to finally track them down and destroy them there, too. Seeing what Rad had seen had been all that Pointblank had needed to get back out in the field. Any Autobots on this planet were going to need all the assistance they could get just to survive.

Some of his Autobot counterparts had seen fit to stick mostly to the isolated, natural beauty of the planet in terms of hiding. Pointblank was more comfortable hiding out in the open, so to speak.

Driving along the multi-laned freeway that wound its way around the city of Melanossus, Pointblank had a couple of the nearest trajectory points for the detected escape pods firmly on his navicom. Having taken on the appearance of one of the local automotives, the Autobot weapon specialist was glad to see that the Decepticon presence--in any recognizable number--had not found its way this far out. Koraja was a wash. From what Pointblank had seen, the Nebulan capital was literally swarmed and overflowing with Decepticons. But out here? Here he was at least somewhat confidant that he wasn't going to drive right smack in to a nest of Insecticons.

Switching lanes and pulling off the central navicorridor, Pointblank knew that he was going to have to take some winding back roads in order to find his way to the nearest pod. Hopefully they hadn't become Decepticon target practice by the time he got there.

Rainforest of Patalappu

The coordinates transmitted by Apeface had cleared up what Snapdragon had already been suspecting. The trail he had been following was clearly leading him towards the very same coordinates. Before the reptilian Horrorcon had reached the intersection, Apeface contacted him again.

>>"There....I think I got an intersection point. Looks like the escapees found each other. Ain't that cute? Now they get to die together when we find them."<<

>>"Commander wanted at least some of them alive. Too bad."<< Snapdragon replied back to Apeface while arriving to the intersection mentioned by his simian partner.

Rising his snout which contained most of his tracking sensors higher to the air, Snapdragon let his olfactory sensors work their margic. >"You are right. They met here. And by the stench of it, the one whom joined our original prey here is dripping lubricant. Likely nothing more than a minor injury. But it could always be a carefully laid out lead into a trap. Nevertheless, they are continuing towards west and so am I. ETA 0.5 breems."<<

With Apeface informed with Snapdragon's most recent update, the massive beast began lazily jogging after the trail of the two Autobot survivor. They weren't far, he could already determine from the chemical trail they had left behind. It was time to move from tracking to stalking his prey. For despite his doubts about them finding any Autobots worth of a challenge, he was still looking to take the Autobots by surprise.

Rainforests of Patalappu

"You do realize this is all your fault." An annoyed female whisper cracked the silence of their trek through the thick undergrowth of the forest. "I told you that technique wouldn't work."

"I didn't see you trying to get anything done Vestra." Trybium countered with a snap as he pushed a thick piece of brush out of their way. "Reinforcing the anti matter flow matrix by sending it through the shield generator probably bought us enough time to get to this Matrix forsaken organic hellhole."

Vestra stopped briefly as her brother released the branch with the intent to whack her in the faceplate. "And what did that accomplish? Burned out the entire generator and fried two escape pods. We were lucky that they were empty." She pushed the branch back affording herself passage.

"Blah blah, your idea of sending it through the weapons array would have worked better right? Yeah then all we'd have had would have been energon darts and timber air planes to throw at that blockade vessel." Trybium turned around to catch Vestra as she stamped up towards her brother. They met optic to optic and she simply sneered. "What now Scrapflint?"

"Shut up." Vestra broke their heated stare. She punched him in the shoulder, hard enough to reflect she was displeased with the insult. "Theres a pod."

----

River drew a phased energy knife to the damaged piece of metal that had been bent inwards dangerously close to Scrape's spark chamber. A simple flick of the knife and the shard was carved from the open wound, sending it spinning straight into her medical kit. She smiled and chuckled with mirth as she slapped a pain nullifying patch to the gaping hole over the damaged chamber in the plate and hit her superior's activation switch. "There ya go," she bubbled. "Factory fresh and ready for parade."

Scrape frowned as he scratched at the temporary patch. They needed a medical bay for proper repairs, he knew it. Unfortunately aside from being captured by Decepticons, they were in critically short in supply. "Burns like hell."

"I wonder if hell feels anything like a cousy nap in the CR Chamber." She closed her kit and replaced it on a hidden magnetic hook on her back. She reached down and pulled her commander to his feet. "At anyrate, that fall from that waterfall didn't do you any favors. We need to get out of this humidity and find the others."

Scrape shook his head as he looked around at their surroundings. A perfect place for an ambush, or worse. "Think there are any Predacons here?" He asked rhretorically. The trees were massive, incredibly thick and dense. Probably as tough as moderate Autobot armor. Which would explain their being smacked around like a pinball in a game of Valstraban.

River reached down and picked up her Magnetized Charged Particle Slug Rifle and held it in combat fashion. "I don't think so. Last reports were that they were stuck on Cybertron. Good for us at anyrate."

"I don't doubt it. Even still, we'll have to be careful. If Scourge is around, he'll make things rather difficult."

River shuddered at the thought of being discovered by the sweeps. She handed Scrape his own Ion Burst Pistol with particle booster attachment. She cast a simple glance over at the roiling white water behind them. "Well, we better be moving. I just hope Beloved is alright."

"I am sure Lightspeed is fine. If he's with Scattershot, then I suspect he'll be perfectly functional.

River pulled back the bolt action on her weapon, filling the firing chamber. "He better be. If there is one scratch in his paint job... Scattershot will answer to me!" Her face contorted for emphasis.

Rainforests of Patalappu

Deadlock shrugged off the effects of the bounce transmission system with a shudder. He hated that particular mode of transportation, but given that it was necessary to help expedite the movement of mech and material, he would make do. He raised his wrist up to just below his chin and took in a large range scan of the region, in active mode. It swiftly brought up two major signals who had been dispatched to the area for investigation purposes.

His standing orders had been to stand by and play silent sentinel over the planet. Ensure that the interdiction field onboard the Severence was maintained and that no Autobot vessel would survive accidental investigation of this particular system. Well that had worked out well enough. The Autobot ship that had managed to get yanked into the system was now nothing more than tumbling debris that was burning up or crashing towards the unpopulated arid regions of the planet. Deserts, scrubs, tundras, even the oceans were not immune to Autobot debris. While Deadlock could have easily ordered the turbo guns to pick off the survivors, he had stayed his hand. Why?

No, he knew the answer already. The facts stared him in the face. He was beginning to antisipate Turmoil's predictable conservativism. It was a wasted effort, hunt for survivors and wasting all those resources when it could have been easier to blow them from the stars. Unfortunately that conservative would not approve of such a measure meant that they would have to deplete energon and ammunition in order to bring these survivors to heel.

It was no way to wage a war. Even still he had his own objectives in mind, which was why he was planetside rather on the bridge of the Severence. Deadlock transformed into vehicle form and reved his engine before he sped off over a cleared trench of charred earth, soil and vegetation. He neared the signal that was designated Snapdragon on his internal hud. At least he'd have someone to converse with while he stretched his repulsors.