The Energon Pub

Rainforest of Patalappu

Scrape swiftly reacted to the panicked cry of the medic. His head darted up to the top of the fall just in time to see the massive ape like figure drop down and crash into the pool of crystal water. There was not much time for the engineer to prepare his defenses, and instead dove into the deeper spread of water just below the cascading myst caused by the falls.

River regained her composure and her control to bring her Magnetized Charged Particle Slug Rifle to bear against the now laughing Apeface. She emptied the chamber of a spent clip and allowed the automated reload protocols to rearm her for battle. "How about I just waste you, organo relic?" She pulled the trigger sending a brief spread of dense slugs straight towards Apeface's position.

Fifty rounds launched from the barrel of her weapon, leaving no recoil or burst flash, River began to waiver. Her concentration began to dance around again, equalibrium was abandoning her and she fell to one knee in the center of the water, the weapon barely managing to remain dry as her free hand clutched her head.

Scrape transformed under the water into a rather large treaded dual soddering tank. Two massive coils of electricity soon pulsed from the roiling surface and emerged to send a burst of concentrated power upwards towards the foul smelling ape. "Eat Electric Coil." He unleased his emerged tesla coil soddering pulse guns.

-----

Vestra knelt down next to the damaged pod as it hung inverted over a rock formation. She pressed her fingers against the control panel and quickly accessed the memory tracks. "Trybium, its registered to main engineering deck."

The engine specialist nodded his head as he looked the damaged pod over. "Any sign of who was inside?"

Vestra shook her head. "No, unfortunately nothing definitive. Judging by the damage I would have to say it was near the Farstar when her core went." Sparks arched across the access terminal and it soon blinked dead. The femme cursed and socked the dead piece of machinery with a series of vile expletives. "So much for activiting its internal communications link with the other downed pods."

Trybium shrugged his shoulders. "Probably for the best. If that network was activated and the cons hacked it, none of the survivors would have a chance." He touched one of the pod pannels and pulled back the hatch. Through a series of independently powered servoes, two hand held Neutron Automatic Rifles energed, as well as six proximity grenades. "Speaking of chances." He recovered one of the weapon packages and flipped the other to his sister.

"I agree. We must keep moving. Of course this time I take point. Can't trust your sense of direction."

"Oh sure, just because I lead you through that quick cement trap back on Argus II. You aren't going to ever let me live that down, are you?"

Vestra looked over her smooth curved shoulder as she strapped the three grenades on a magnetic strip located around her tapered hips. "Are you ever going to choose an alternative form of transportation beyond that hover cycle mode of yours?"

Trybium's head slunk down to his chest, knowing full well the action admitted the known answer. His fist strained quietly before he looked back to his sister. "Alright I give, lead the way oh great matriarch. And while your at it, try not to scuff that precious paint job of yours. I doubt those scratches will buff out on a dirtball like this."

----

Deadlock leveled off his sensors on the two Horrorcons as he darted around a rather thick tree trunk. He reverted to robot form just in time to capture a thick steel like branch and help prevent himself from tumbling down a rather steep cliff into a gully below. "Well wasn't that a bit of driving."

His optics leveled down towards the farthest end of the gully to take note of a small waterfall and... "Well I'll be Turmoil's lackluster personality." He drew his two weapons from subspace and lept off the sheer cliff.

The landing was hard, sending a wake of water in both directions, carefully sealing off the noose to the two Autobots the Horrorcons had managed to corner. He transformed back to vehicle form and sped along the banks of the river towards the battle. Eventually he was within range to catch visual accounts of one transforming and unleashing several bursts of high levels of electricity towards Apeface. Deadlock transformed back to robot form and leveled off his weapon. "I do hope you two don't mind me crashing this little dance. I was getting rather lonely up in space." He squeezed the trigger sending a spray of water cascading over the tesla tank.

Equatorial Desert – Above the Lava Tubes

Upon finally exiting the entrance to the caves, Lockdown heard the explosion rock the area. A swell of loose rock and dust shook free from the wall next to the bounty hunter, but he made no move to get out of the way. Instead, Lockdown simply brushed the debris from his shoulder with his left hand and pressed on.

The Decepticon finally emerged from the cavern and spared no time working his way to a point that above the lava tubes. It only took him a few minutes to gain a vantage point and visually map the easiest route to the most likely area the underground lave tubes would break surface.

The corners of Lockdown’s lips curled into a predatory smile before he transformed and sped off. His scanners began to pull detained information from above and below ground. After ten thousand meters, give or take a few hundred, Lockdown stopped and reverted back to his root mode. He took a quick look around; the immediate area was barren, but the distance he had traveled put him on the edge of the area known by the locals as the Plains of Thok. Lockdown let out a light chuckle.

“Nice place to kill some unfortunate ‘Bots.”

Once he was satisfied that there were no other Autobots in the area he went to work utilizing all of his abilities and his equipment to pinpoint the area most likely to be used by the Technobots to sprout forth and free themselves from the abyss below.

“Come out, come out wherever you are.”

Command Center – Arvassian Range Facility

It had taken Black Shadow a few cycles, but the Decepticon Commander had finally grown bored with sorting the slaves before wending them out to work. The black and crimson ‘Con made his way back up to the command center, his hands were covered in a thickening layer of blood and organic innards. His face was smeared with the offensive sludge, but he made no move to wipe it clean, nor did he even attempt to shake the disgusting mess off his hands, instead he slowly made his way past the team of ‘Cons stationed at the varying monitors and plopped down into the command chair in the center of the room.

Blue Bacchus spared his partner in arms a quick glance before he turned back to the terminal in front of him. From his left he could hear Black Shadow let out a heavy sigh followed by a low groan. Blue began to count in his head while he worked. 1, 2, 3, 4, and now.

“Blue, tell me that our good Vice Commander has contacted us with any kind of news concerning the Autobots that have supposedly disappeared from the face of this vile piece of space trash.”

Typing one last word before turning around, Blue finally addressed his friend.

“Truth be told, sir, you never even asked me to contact Vice Commander Turmoil inquiring about the Autobots. If you wish I could…”

Black Shadow waved his hand dismissively before straightening in his chair.

“Oh, please, Blue. You know me better than that! I could always count on you to perform tasks before I’ve even assigned them to you.”

He rose up and made his way over to Blue Bacchus’ terminal. He placed his hand on the back of the chair and leaned down.

“You’re losing your touch old friend. You know what I always say….when something doesn’t work, destroy it. I would hate to have to follow through with that.”

Blue Bacchus hardly flinched; instead he returned to his work and brought up a file which caught Black Shadow’s optics. Turning his attention to the monitor a wicked smirk formed on his face. The commander moved his hand from the back of Blues chair and rested it on his shoulder.

“Dear Blue, I knew I could count on you.”

A small smile appeared on Blue’s face.

“Of course you can. This is a list of the Autobots that were assigned to this ‘vile piece of space trash’ as you so eloquently put it. According to some data that I’ve come across there was a team stationed during the planet’s initial infiltration. However, it would appear that this particular team has simply vanished. I would assume that Vice Commander Turmoil would be very receptive if they were all brought in. Shall I open a channel to him, sir?”

Black Shadow rubbed his chin in thought as he listened to Blue’s report. After a few minutes he nodded in agreement. Blue Bacchus quickly opened a channel to Fortress Tenebrous and quickly transferred the link to Black Shadow’s command chair.

>>”Vice Commander Turmoil, I believe that Spartan and his team of Autobot misfits are still on the run. They may still be attempting to make their way to their secondary base. With your permission, sir, I would like to be the one to hunt Spartan and his team down.”<<

Koraja

With native slaves having been continuously sorted since the time they first gained a real hold over this city, one could begin to see the fruits of their labors.

As various Insecticon drones buzzed overhead and crawled along the ground, carrying massive pieces of metal or other native resources in their--in most cases--over-sized metallic jaws, Koraja was fast becoming unrecognizable. Bombshell suspected it would be anyway. These native organics had never seen anything like what was being undertaken here. Nor would they see its like again, even if the mighty Megatron decided to let them live once he was informed of the progress that had been made on this planet.

It seemed like such a waste though, for such a lush world like this to simply be handed over to the Decepticon empire, like so many before it. Such a compliant and peaceful populace was rare. He and the other Insecticons could do so much with this planet if it were simply left to them. An unlikely scenario. Starscream would sooner end his ambitions for command than would the Decepticons cede control of an entire planet to the Insecticons.

So unfortunate...

"You look distracted distracted," a familiar voice said, drawing closer to him. Bombshell looked over at Shrapnel, subconsciously putting an extra, small bit of distance between them.

"Ehhh...maybe," Bombshell said, looking from Shrapnel to the area behind him where he could see the other core Insecticons advancing on his position. "It all just looks so...so....familiar."

"It should. It's home," Kickback added. "To say nothing of the drones following our precise commands."

"It should be ours," Bombshell said. While not forming definite words, several of the other Insecticons chittered in agreement. A moment or two later, the Insecticons scattered in varying directions as soon as they felt a heavy object hit the ground behind them.

"Move it, runts," some maroon and gray Seeker said as he carried a large piece of computer equipment past them. The Insecticons quickly huddled together once again.

"He would make for such a tender morsel morsel."

"Ohhh yes. Yes he would," Bombshell hissed. "But then Turmoil would make the same of us all. Patience. We will make our move--when the time is right."
___

Rainforest of Patalappu

Apeface laughed, even as several of the femme's shots peppered his outer armor.

"Aww, ain't you sweet. 'Waste' me, eh? Well I sure don't mind letting you try."

The surges of electricity that hit the Horrorcon next didn't elicit the same jovial response as the Autobot's words had done only moments before. Taking a staggered step forward as his systems quickly adjusted to the surge, Apeface was about to leap forward and at least tear the Autobot's legs off when his attention was caught by a new voice.

"Hey glitch! Who let you outta your cage? We got this. Scamper back to your VC."

Northern Alpine - Cormano Village: Satellite to Melanossus

Day dissolved back to dusk as Pyro remained fixed in his parking position. His body doing its best to adjust to the chill of the dusting of snow he had acquired during a brief flurry that had begun. The entire day had been spent examining the village he had discovered and chosen to take temporary refuge while he examined his options.

His sensors had given him a wealth of information as pedestrians walked past embroiled in discussions of the mundane. While the details were unimportant to his mission, Pyro was able to gather enough of the language to fill a linguistics database from which to draw upon. It made it easier to read the signs that plastered the buildings before him.

Pyro's sensors focused again on the source of the Decepticon signal, the power relay station. The natives, that he confirmed were not primitive knuckle walking primates as he so wrongfully first imagined, had departed the building in a larger number than had entered. Perhaps they were heading to refuel in whatever method organics partook in. He broke his parking cover and slowly made his way to the opposite side of the power station, concealed behind the wooden frame.

He extended his antenna up to peer over into one of the cracked windows. Angling his sensors to adjust for the change in vantage point, he allowed a narrow band of energy to sweep over the building. No Decepticons Detected. He swore silently.

What was the source of the signal? He did not have to wait long for his answer. The sensor readings indicated a small box that had been hardwired into one of the electricity transfer control terminal. A siphon, he initially thought before retracting his antenna. While obviously not a critical target it had to be removed. Any sort of damage done to the Decepticon power supply was a victory in its own right.

But the question was, how to do it?

The snow flurry had begun to intensify. The levels were mounting and visibility was beginning to decrease. It was as if the planet itself was giving him the answer to his question.

He dropped his alt form's recently acquired hose into an ever growing snow bank, one that had already been well established. Turning on his internal pumps he began to load up on the frozen hydrogen oxide. He tilted his chemical cannon at a forty five degree angle and activated a low power pulse to begin pumping the snow onto the roof of the building.

He intensified to pumps, increasing the flow of tonnage onto the metallic roof of the relay station. And soon he began to hear results. The wooden timbers inside began to crack under the incredible weight that was gathering on the single point. Without the ability to evenly distribute the weight of the snow, soon the roof supports gave way with a loud echoing crash.

Pyro did not waste time. He cut the power to his weapon and reverted to robot form. He glared over the damaged roof and scanned for life forms, there were none in the vicinity. At least Prime would be proud that he had not harmed the natives. His initial idea had been to simply reach in and destroy the terminal,regardless of who was there to witness his activities. And if there had been witnesses he would have had to clear his tracks to prevent the Decepticons from hunting him down. This was a fairly conservative compromise.

Now he had an opening. The power throughout the village blinked out as the power terminals inside the building shorted out due to the invasion of the elements.

Reaching in, the Autobot Ranger took hold of the source of the energy he had detected. Prying off the hatches and plates that held it in place, Pyro had managed to free it from its fortification.

While the damage done would be difficult to attribute to shorting out of the terminal, Pyro was satisfied with the results. The box now in his palm was lifeless and powerless.

A Decepticon Power Siphon, designed to send energy remotely to a Con relay station. In other words, reaping the rewards of the natives hard work. "Parasites."

Still it could be useful in the long run. Pyro stored the box in one of his chest storage compartments. As the organics began to stir from the cacophony at the relay building, the ranger transformed and doused his lights. Quietly he drove down to the main road and allowed gravity to drag him further down the length of the mountain towards a broad valley.

Once he was relatively certain that he was out of the sight of the village, he restarted his engine and began his journey at speed towards the city that the locals had identified as Melanossus.

Approaching Melanossus

The valley was dark, a result of his actions in the village. What few lights existed were concentrated in the hub of the valley. Pyro surmised that it was the actual city he had been searching for. The snow had was coming down hard now on the mountain road.

Turning down yet another curve finally hitting relatively level ground along a frozen river, Pryo's sensors sparked to life. Cybertronian signals began to pulse. They were not registering friend of foe registries, but he doubted they were neutral participants on this planet so far away from Cybertron itself. In fact he doubted that there were any who could be claimed as neutral especially after all these vorns of interstellar civil war.

Still, friend or foe, Pyro determined that it would behoove him to investigate. Either way, he would garner more intelligence that he could use to strike at the Decepticons. That alone settled it, the Autobot Ranger adjusted his path and made his way towards the feint Cybertronian signals, his chemical cannon armed and his trigger fingers twitching for action.

Koraja

"You can see, sir, how this should affect the mechanoids' inner workings. It would be a process that would take place over a period of time, you understand. With government backing and, of course, your generous support, I am confidant we will have it ready for testing soon," the Nebulan scientist Arcana said to the wizened face staring back at him on the telemonitor.

"I am surprised that Galen would give you clearance for an undertaking such as this," Zarak said, his features growing even more contemplative. "Perhaps I have withheld my support long enough. Llyra may well be safe in his arms. You are to be rewarded for bringing all of this to my attention. I may not hold sway over the World Watchers, but I can exercise my influence through other arenas."

"Of course, Lord Zarak," Arcana said, offering a slight bow to the image on the screen before it vanished. He then looked over to the screens that were displaying a series of images and statistics regarding the mechanical "cells" that had been constructed to introduce the malignancy to these cybernetic beings. The preliminaries on the captured insect-like drone had been encouraging, but Arcana needed to see how it affected one of the sentient creatures.

The trouble would of course be in finding a suitable test subject.

Command HUB - Fortress Tenebrous

While the invasion of Nebulos as a whole was progressing as expected given the resources available to the 2nd Decepticon Invasion Fleet - there was still much to be fixed in the overall performance of various Decepticon squads and platoons both on planetside and in the space fleet. The continuous news streams across the established supervision outposts around the planet and from the numerous hunting parties organized to seek the remnants of the Autobot presence on Nebulos reeked of inefficiency and downright incompetence. If the operation to destroy the lone Autobot frigate Farstar that had arrived to inspect why their counter-infiltration unit had gone silent hadn't been nearly catastrophic, the still ongoing hunt to find the survivors of the Farstar, that had managed to even disable one of the Decepticon destroyers in its blaze of glory towards its inevitable destruction against the might of the battlecruiser the Perdition - was definitely a disaster. To say that Turmoil, the acting Commander of the Decepticon occupation forces on Nebulos was furious over it, was a severe underestimation.

>>"Cyclonus. Explain. What did Reflector report to you? Not only the Rancor has to be towed to planetside for repairs but the fleet failed to follow the trajectories of the Autobot escapepods, costing us cycles to locate the dropzones instead of mere kliks."<<

The chilling tone of Turmoil's demand left little doubt to linger when it came to depicting his mood. While the 2nd-in-command of mighty Scorponok was far more like Shockwave in his cold and methological approach to issues at hand, the boiling anger under the surface was still apparent in his behavior. His rage was silent, there was none of the hyperbole of enraging Starscream or the unrestrained temper of Megatron's legendary fury. But once he would explode to action, the results were often swift and destructive.

Before Turmoil got his reply from the stoic Decepticon who had been in charge of the fleet actions while Turmoil himself had been meeting the Nebulan convoy which had, rather conveniently arrived at the same time as trouble had taken place in the space - another transmission reached him. This time the communications link was coming from that irritating excuse for a proper Decepticon - Black Shadow. The head of the Decepticon Infiltration unit of Nebulos was a bot that could be accused of being more of a marauding raider than a soldier, still he possessed number of usable skills making him a valuable asset for the Decepticon cause. For a moment Turmoil kept thinking about the possible connection between Fastar's appearance and his own meeting with the Nebulans. In the end, it could not have been anyhing more than an unfortunate timing on their part. If the Autobots already had been able to contact their superiors, the Decepticons would have been fighting a fleet instead of mere frigate.

>>”Vice Commander Turmoil, I believe that Spartan and his team of Autobot misfits are still on the run. They may still be attempting to make their way to their secondary base. With your permission, sir, I would like to be the one to hunt Spartan and his team down.”<<

>>"Please. Spare me the old news Black Shadow. I am well aware that Spartan is still on the loose. If he had been caught already, his reputation would hardly be deserved. Nevertheless, capturing him and his team would rid us of a notable nuisance and cause a major blow to the morale of remaining Autobots. The opportunity is yours, do not waste it, Turmoil out."<<

Turmoil replied back to the sadistic scoundrel he had to call an ally for now. However, he was not about to speak with the former criminal any more than necessary. Rather, he turned his attention back to the subject he had been busy with before Black Shadow's interruption.

>>"Cyclonus. I am waiting."<<

Rainforest of Patalappu

The instant Snapdragon's gyro-gun blast hit River's back, the large Horrorcon was on the move. Acting very much like the ancient beast his alternative form was modeled after, Snapdragon rushed towards the Autobot femme from his ambush position. In the flurry of movements that followed, one could witness Snapdragon rotating his neck to gain a chance of clamping his jaws around his prey. Seconds later, the Autobot whom had been rendered helpless by the balance destroying gyro-gun blast was thrown high in the air, only to caught in Snapdragon's jaws again and slammed hard to the ground.

In a flashing quick transformation possibly only to triplechangers, Snapdragon assumed his towering robot form and reached down to grab fallen River by her head with one hand. With his powerful digits forming an unbreakable grip against his much weaker and smaller victim, Snapdragon lifted the femme from the ground and used his free arm to violently tear her weapon off her hands that were still tightly grasping it for a reason or another.

Noticing Deadlock who had been following the two Horrorcons a while already - joining the fray much to the disappointment of Apeface, Snapdragon turned towards his partner in crime as well as Deadlock and the other Autobot the two had been firing on.

"I do hope the others provide us more of a challenge Apey." Snapdragon snarled, inspecting his prisoner with mild curiosity. "This one will be a ticket for some extra energon if not information I think."

"Perhaps she is not even only one of her kind in the woods." He added, emphasizing his intention with a rather sinister chuckle.

Equatorial Desert: Ancient Lava Tunnels

Scattershot's fingers dug deep into one of the descending spires from the ceiling of the cavern. Offering a straight and powerful pull downwards, the rock spire snapped at its roots and crashed horizontally across the chamber. Narrowly avoiding covering Afterburner in a needle sharp rain of dust. The Technobot offered no apology as he drove his shoulder into the massive block of stone, pivoting it lengthwise across the floor further enhancing the potential flow of magma down the artificial channel.

Wiping away a smudge of black dust from his shoulder, Scattershot drove his foot down upon the tip of the cone, snapping it off. Palming the piece of rock he turned it in his hand. "A hollow chamber below you say?" The cone tip turning slowly in his fingers. Optics were once again focused on the flat chipped and splattered masons work that lined the channel. It was possible to drop the floor on their most gracious hosts, perhaps have them fall into an endless abyss.

Scattershot plunged the cone into the rock floor in between two columns of worn and previously super heated granite; sealing the cap at leg level to prevent being undershot. "Alright," He began but was cut short as the explosions down the tunnels echoed and rumbled throughout the cavern. The initial blast was soon followed by the familiar detonations of his micro mines. He doubted his traps would slow down the determined pursuit of the Decepticons, but at least they had served to grant him and his team warning.

"They're coming." He spoke with anticipation, his hand dusting off the remains of his makeshift fortification project. "Alright, times up Technobots. Take defensive positions. Lightspeed, finalize that charge. Nosecone, you got five microns to deepen that channel. Strafe and Afterburner, provide cover."

He slapped in fresh acid pellet clips into his rifle. "Lets prepare for battle boys."

Equatorial Desert - Underground Magma Tubes

Nosecone looked back at Scattorshot as his orders began to spew out, Nosecone was supposed to make the channel deeper, so the flow would direct the magma to the Unsuspecting Decepticons.

A smile curled at his lips as he transformed and began to dig away at the tunnel to make it rather curved and not as sharp of a turn, therefore, the Magma would turn better and more directed at the opposition so the majority of the Magma wouldn't affect them.

Time's up. Nosecone transformed and made his way back to the main group.

He pulled out his X-Ray Laser Pistol and held it steadily by his side.

*****

Koraja

Nightbeat looked up with curiosity at the sky, was that really smog? Nightbeat looked hard and found his answer at a buzzing sound. It was by no means smog, nor smoke. The buzzing was of an Insecticon swarm flying high in the sky and devouring all.

He heard a buzzing, but closer now, the source of the noise was of a Kickback-clone, munching away at some metal to the building next to him. It would attack him if he would antagonize it, but he doubted very seriously Kickbaclone had seen Nightbeat.

He sneaked up behind it and accidentally crushed a small can that escaped his discerning optic.

The Kickbaclone looked up from what it was doing and lashed out over to him, only to be smacked with the butt of Nightbeat's gun.

The much weaker clone fell limp to the ground, as it was unconscious.

Something shiny caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. It was that of a workbench in the building next to him. His lack of knowledge of the native's language didn't show him that the building next to him was a Workshop.

He then walked over to a large door, meant for cars and trucks to drive in and out for repairs, and opened it as quietly as possible. Then he dragged the limp body of the Insecticon clone into the building to conceal the body from onlookers, then he closed the door back just as quiet as before.

He looked around the room to find a car dismantled, and lucky for him, it was the same color as his alternate mode.

He quickly pulled off pieces of the car and patched up the wound as best he could. He would need his strength.

Equatorial Desert: Ancient Lava Tunnels

"I'm hurrying!" Lightspeed called out, not even turning to acknowledge Scattershot. They were all professionals here. If they did their jobs, they had at least some chance of coming out of all this functional. Lightspeed wouldn't have minded the odds being just a little more in their favor, but there was an old Cybertronian quote about "empties couldn't be fillers" that seemed to apply here.

"Charge...charged," Lightspeed said, backing away and heading after Nosecone while the other Technobots provided cover.

"I'm expecting hazard credits if we come out of this alive."
___

Koraja

"And what are we do about my missing clone?" Ransack now interjected. "It has been missing for too long! You promised that we would discover what had become of it!"

Bombshell, Kickback and Shrapnel stared curiously at their fellow Insecticon, before Bombshell finally sighed.

"Yessss, I know full well what was..."

"Gahhhhhh!" Kickback called out, dropping to one metallic knee. Bombshell and Shrapnel each took a tentative step away from their comrade, lest whatever was happening to him suddenly befall either of them as well.

"What's wrong with you with you."

"I-I lost one," Kickback grunted, getting back to his feet.

"Where?" Bombshell hissed, his optics flickering dangerously brighter.

"Here," Kickback groaned, looking around but clearly not finding whatever it was he was looking for. "Nearby. I know it was close."

"Fan out and find the culprit!" Bombshell cried. "It may be exactly who we were looking for in the first place!"

The six core Insecticons transformed in to their alternate modes and took to the air, as did a number of nearby drones. The beating of metallic wings and the hum of internal engines seemed to increase noticeably.
___

The Plains of Thok

"Get him!" had been the last audible phrase that Cyclonus had heard before he had found himself under assault. He was pleasantly surprised that not all of the Autobot prey that they had been tracking were content to flee for any illusion of safety. Some yet possessed the mettle to stay and fight. Cyclonus respected that.

Several spare wires and oil from the most recent fallen Autobot trailed from Cyclonus' right hand as he stalked after the former occupants of the fallen escape pod. Their attempt at an ambush had been valiant but ineffective. These Autobots that remained had not been trained by a Prime, or Magnus or Ironhide--legendary Autobot field combatants all. He would have been surprised if they had even received field training from someone like Grapple, with their abysmally poor accuracy and almost dogged refusal to confront him directly.

It mattered not. Overhead, Cyclonus easily recognized the telltale shapes and energy signatures of Scourge and a handful of his Sweep kinsmen. This would be over soon.

Raising his oxidating laser to let off another pinpoint round, Cyclonus noted a transmission coming in from Tenebrous. Cyclonus could not deny the small wave of annoyance that swept over him, but he kept it in check.

>>"Reflector provided me the only trajectory I required. I am engaged with the remnants of one of the pods now. Since you have opted to stay behind and observe, I would suggest you inquire as to the reasoning behind Death Grip's apparent incompetence yourself. I am presently out of range. Cyclonus out."<<

The last part was a lie, but Cyclonus did not really care. He knew what his priorites were--neutralizing Autobots and continuing with their mission. Scorponok was the true commander of this mission, and the only one to whom Cyclonus felt any loyalty towards, apart from Megatron himself. Turmoil was simply attempting to forge a name for himself in Scorponok's absence. The purple warrior would be damned if it was going to be at his expense.

Equatorial Desert - Ancient Lava Tunnels

Standing his ground with his weapon ready, Afterburner didn’t really care what Scattershot did, so long as he did it in a hurry. The last thing the Technobot gunner wanted was to be dealing with the Cons when his own leader stood there looking like a statue. Still, he couldn’t pull his attention away from what Scattershot was doing? What in Primus…

The explosion echoed through the chamber and shook dust from the ceiling onto them creating a mini cloud but it wouldn’t be more than a momentary nuisance. As he stood there the dust was already beginning to settle.

"Alright, times up Technobots. Take defensive positions. Lightspeed, finalize that charge. Nosecone, you got five microns to deepen that channel. Strafe and Afterburner, provide cover."

Smiling Afterburner pressed the setting on his sonic blaster to maximum. “About time you covered that yellow paint boss. C’mon Strafe, lets give these Cons a welcoming they’ll never forget.” Afterburner moved to the left of the chamber and motioned for his partner to take the opposite side. If they timed it right they’d be able to cut the Cons into pieces through their crossfire.

Equatorial Desert - Ancient Lava Tunnels

Strafe nodded at Scattershot as the Technobot Commander acknowledged what the aerial gunner had just told him regarding the abyss that lay below their feet. Hopefully, they would be able to use this endless cavern to their advantage against the oncoming enemy, whose presence became quite clear with the sounds of explosions echoing from down the darkened tunnels. It almost sounded as if they were surrounded by the fiery detonations when in reality the blasts came from a considerable distance away. Still, if the sounds were close enough to be heard then the Decepticons were too close for comfort.

Strafe then listened as Scattershot issued new orders to everyone. The anxious mech quickly moved to the right side of the lava chamber opposite from where Afterburner was positioned. Bringing his heat-ray rifle to bare, the aerial gunner glanced over at his short-tempered partner before returning his complete attention to the rear tunnel. “Yeah, we’ll show ‘em, Afterburner. Those ‘Cons are gonna wish they were never forged by the time we’re through with them.”

The nervous Technobot tried to sike himself up with his own words, but it helped very little in the long run. As astroseconds turned into breems, Strafe just wanted the ‘Cons to show up already as the wait was becoming increasingly unbearable. He wanted to know what they were up against but until the enemy showed their faceplates the aerial gunner was forced to remain on edge while he waited for the first sign of trouble.

Mount Melanos - Workshop

Walking back into the workshop where Repugnus was still packing stuff up to take with them into the underground caves, Doublecross ceased bickering with himself long enough to push the hover cart full of equipment into the center of the room. “Here ya go, Puggy. Got plenty of stuff here to cover us for several deca-cycles I think. Now all we need is the extra ammo. Speaking of which, where’d Grotusque go? Did he get what we need from the armory or am I gonna have to go down there and do it myself?"

(I’m not going anywhere. Grotusque can get himself in gear or stay behind with the rest of these so-called Autobot warriors.)

Don’t be like that. At the end of the cycle, he's still one of us.

(I don't care. I'm not picking up the slack for anyone. I’d rather steal ammo from dead ‘Cons anyway. It’s more fun than just picking it up off a shelf.)

Well, if Repugnus wants us to go down to the armory then we’ll just have to suck it up.

(Wait, who exactly died and made him leader here?)

Nobody died, I just meant....oh, never mind!

Melanossus

"And you guys got shot down by the Decepticons up there?" Pointblank asked the small crew of Autobots he had stumbled upon.

"It was glitched! You should've seen it! We come out of transwarp, right? And there's just Decepticon warships crawling all over the orbital range of this planet. So the Technobots are up on the bridge piloting this thing and, slag, it's just crazy. The Farstar has given us some good times, but she wasn't designed to withstand the beating she was taking."

"That's fer sure," another one chimed in. "The ship was getting rocked. I was in the infirmary and I I just knew the wounded were going to start comin' in, then Pit if the abandon ship alert doesn't start blarin' 'cross the entire comm system."

"And so here we are."

Pointblank gave them a faint attempt at a smile. It was the best he had. His attitude hadn't been the best since the Decepticons decided to make their presence known on this world and, given that, wasn't likely to improve by any considerable measure any time in the near future.

"Yep, here you are," Pointblank said, sighing. "Nice planet, before the spawns of Megatron's aft plate showed up and decided to ruin it." He paused for a moment, looking down at the ground as he sat idly, leaning up against one of the native rock formations. "...hey...I don't suppose anyone had the presence of mind to send word of what's happening here off to Optimus or anything like that, eh?"

"Wish I could tell ya. The Technos were manning the bridge. I dunno what they did or didn't do before everything went all to slag," the Autobot said. Pointblank rubbed the edges of his cranial unit idly. Hopefully they survived that whole mess. They would have been a useful crew to have around even before all this went down. Now? Anything that came in would be a welcome resource.

"Hey, I'm picking up another signal. It's definitely Cybertronian.

"Positions!"

Pointblank watched for a second as these mechs, ragtag group of crew survivors that they were, band together and get ready for battle as well as just about any group Pointblank had ever seen. He, too, took an auxiliary position, ready to do whatever he could to help this crew stay functional.

"Get ready...."

"It's a Decepticon this time, I just know it!"

"Now!"

They moved, almost as one, ready to take on whatever Decepticon warlord had managed to track their position.

"Whoa!"

"Pyro!"

"Hey Pyro! Glad to see you made it off!"

"You make sure you wasn't followed or nuthin'?"
___

Rainforest of Patalappu

Apeface closed the small distance between himself, Snapdragon and their newly acquired piece of Autobot prey, rounding about and firing off his own weapons at the aptly named "Scrape".

After this, Apeface would make sure his new designation was "Scrap".

"I bet there are. All those protective Autobots would be begging to send their precious femmes here, not thinkin' they'd be in any danger. Such a surprise they got comin'," Apeface said, looking over at his Horrorcon compatriot.

The battle, if it could even be called that, wasn't over yet. Apeface whipped back around as a tesla coil blast ripped apart the ground in front of him.

"You're mine, runt," Apeface said, leaping in to the air in Scrape's direction, fully-prepared to do the bulk of his damage with his fists.

Equatorial Desert – Above the Lava Tubes

Tracking had always run through him. He was the best and he was determined. Lockdown had spent less than a joor finding the most likely exit the underground Autobots would utilize, but instead of taking cover and waiting for his prey to come to him, the bounty hunter decided to head below ground and cut their exit off.

He began working his way into the tunnel system when he heard the distinct echo of, first, an explosion, Heh, nice job gruesome, and second, voices. They were low and not very distinguishable, but they did belong to the Autobots that he’d been searching for.
Lockdown picked up the pace, but slowed once more when the voices he had heard earlier became more distinct. He could now easily make out the names they were referring to one another with. Hmm, the Technobots. A formidable group. Pity, they won’t last long.

Gaining more ground the bounty hunter made the more he could make out what the desperate band of ‘Bots’ were planning. A cruel smirk crept onto his faceplate as he pressed forward. He knew Skullgrin, was heading into a trap, but instead of warning the siege warrior, Lockdown decided to draw the Autobots’ attention giving Skullgrin the chance to make it into the fray.

Stopping to listen once more, Lockdown decided that now was as good a time as any. He stealthily worked his way into the chamber, keeping to the shadows and taking tentative steps. The mish-mashed bounty hunter took a quick scan of the chamber and quickly noted the locations of each of the Technobots. He’d need to utilize the most convenient choice, and to his immediate satisfaction, that choice was the team’s gunner.

With a sadistic smile etched deep on his dark visage, Lockdown worked his way to the rear of the gunner. Quietly Lockdown maneuvered his hook until he was able to bring its tip up and against Strafe’s throat. In a barely audible whisper against the gunner’s audio Lockdown gave his demand.

“Put down your weapon, Autobot, or I’ll tear your cranial until from your neck.”

Equatorial Desert: Ancient Lava Tunnels

The explosions of the traps burst around Skullgrin as he avoided the larger ones and let his armor absorb the smaller ones. It slowed his progress, but the Siege Warrior was nothing if not patient. Well, one of him was.

[Charge! Pounce on them! Tear out their throat-pumps!]

Steady now, I'll do what I please when I please, thank you very much.

Finally, the tunnel seemed to be opening up, leading to a slightly larger chamber, with stalagmites and stalactites, and furrows in the floor. An interesting piece of natural geography, the Decepticon had to admit.

And a perfect place for a trap. Or an ambush.

Many Depecticons might baulk at assaulting such a position, seeking an alternate route or waiting for heavier firepower to show up. But not only was Skullgrin designed to take positions like this, he was designed to have no trepidation either.

You think this is your little battlefield that you make, Autobots? Wrong! It's mine!

The tank rolls out into the centre of the doorway, and begins launching shells. The explosives burst in midair, showering shrapnel down on the rooms occupants from above.

[What if you're just wasting your stupid little bullets?]

So what? They'll be in the next chamber, or the one after. The important thing is that they realise I'll never stop looking, that theres nowhere they can hide.

Equatorial Desert - Underground Lava Chamber

Strafe was so preoccupied with keeping his focus on the rear tunnel that his audio receptors never picked up the sounds, if there even were any, of the approaching Decepticon behind him. Therefore, it was a complete shock when the aerial gunner felt the tip of a hook against his throat. Moving only his optics within their sockets, the nervous mech glanced down at the ominous weapon before he then froze in place as he heard the whispered demand of his unknown captor.

Strafe knew that he had very few options in this situation. While he didn’t exactly know who was behind him yet, the Decepticon clearly was not one of the mere grunts that usually littered their ranks. This ‘Con was smart and very cunning and was likely capable of carrying out his sadistic threat without much of a problem. Furthermore, the positioning of the hook made sure that the anxious Technobot had no where to go without being decapitated in the process. Wait an astrosec. If this is a hook against my throat then only one mech could be behind me right now. Lockdown!

Strafe’s body tensed up even further at the notion that the notorious bounty hunter was quite possibly behind him at the present time. The aerial gunner’s choice of actions was clear. Putting his weapon down was the only thing he could do to ensure his head continued to inhabit his body. Without saying a word, the fearful mech slowly lowered his heat-ray rifle and placed it on the ground beside his left foot. Simultaneously, Strafe used his other hand to quickly depress a small panel on his chest plate that activated an internal silent alarm to the other Technobots within the chamber, warning his comrades that an intruder was already in their midst.

Strafe then raised his arms up as a sign of surrender just as an explosive shell from another source detonated in midair above him. The aerial gunner made no move to duck down as that would force the hook to impale his throat. Instead, the axious mech remained still, hoping that the shrapnel which had begun to rain down around them would force Lockdown to back off without damaging the Technobot too much in the process. Either that, or the distraction would be enough to allow Strafe to escape his captor's clutches.

Melanossus--Cormano Village

Rad had been on the verge of thinking that he wasn't going to have any luck finding any of these escape pod refugees. He had come across one near the southern edge of Melanossus--a city that was just a little too close to their beta site for his liking--but when he got to the point where the crash site had been, everything was gone: the pod, the crew, the tracks...everything. Whichever team of Autobots had been aboard that pod had clearly just made a habit of not leaving any traces of their whereabouts behind. None that Rad could find.

It was an energy surge that Rad's systems had detected that brought him to the other side of Melanos, some satellite sub-district that the natives called Cormano. Rad wouldn't have paid any attention to it before, but now that he was here, he could see subtle signs of Decepticon--particularly Insecticon--influence.

There was clearly an outage of some kind, and it hadn't been naturally occurring. If he picked up on that, there had to be at least some half-brainiac amongst the Decepticons stationed on this planet that would have picked it up as well. Maybe not though. In the midst of the 'Cons that Rad had encountered thus far, the Constructicons hadn't been among them. He hadn't really had time to determine how much of a blessing or a curse that was.

Rad pulled under a thick grove of trees and transformed, his optics scanning the distance in all directions. He figured he wasn't going to find anything except native traffic until he saw a small cluster of black shapes in the sky. Tiny at first, they got bigger and bigger until Rad could make out the very distinctive shapes of Insecticons. Or their diaclone copies. It would be impossible to tell which from this distance. It was a small group, roughly a dozen or so, but certainly enough to cause havoc if they needed to. They weren't heading exactly in his direction. Rather, they were heading to where Rad was going before: the origination point of the outage.

"Just stay still, rook," some voice from behind Rad said. Rad's optics widened a little.

"What? I'm no slaggin' rook--" Rad began to protest.

"And stay quiet," the deep-toned mech said. "You don't want to be found and neither do we."

"What are we--?"

"Shhh. Just watch."

Equatorial Desert - Ancient Lava Tunnels

Patience. The mere mention of the word in Afterburner‘s presence would often lead to a fight. Being restrained, either by himself or others orders, is something he would never become comfortable with. Sitting there in the chamber he could feel something was about to happen and his finger twitched over the firing stud of his sonic blaster pistol. Each astro second ticking past made it more difficult to stay focused than one could ever imagine.

Just when he thought he was going to explode from frustration a moving shadow caught his attention. About fragging time. Come on Decepticreep, just a few more steps. His finger began to move towards the firing stud when Strafe’s signal went off in Afterburner’s cranial unit. Without moving beyond a micron, Afterburner evaluated the data from his comrade and pinpointed his position. How’d one of them get in… He paused and silently cursed Scattershot for not watching the forked tunnels behind them.

A marksman could take out the Decepticon in a heartbeat but Afterburner? Strafe would be lucky to function if he tried to aim. Instead he was left one option that didn’t appeal to him. He had to time this right an hope the others kept their optics open on the opening. He pivoted and fired at the top of the chamber above Strafe and the intruder as the mine exploded. Not that he wasn’t doubting his teammates, but he was expecting repercussions from their front on his exposed position.

Equatorial Desert - Underground Magma Tubes

Nosecone heard the shell from Skullgrin whiz through the air before striking the ceiling and showering down stones and stalactites raining down.

"Look out!" Nosecone yelled out to the others to warn them in time.

He shielded himself by kneeling down on the ground and letting the drill folded on his back take the brunt of the hit, then he heard the alert from Strafe, intruder alert.

Nosecone turned his head to find Lockdown with his hook around Strafe's throat, and then he turned his head to the doorway to find Skullgrin in his tank mode.

He took an astro-second to figure out what he needed to do, and executed it perfectly. He aimed at the charge planted on the wall with his pistol, and carefully aimed, then fired. The Ions hit the charge and ignited it. The Explosion then punctured the magma vein and then spewed out onto Skullgrin, just as it was made for!

>>Strafe, I'll get to you in a minute. I have to deal with a little problem first.<< Nosecone said through a comm link with Strafe.

****

City of Koraja

Nightbeat was finishing patching up his wound the best he could when he heard the ominous buzzing increase exponentially. They must be looking for him and their comrade.

He knew what to do.

He put his hands under the car and lifted with all his might. He lifted the car just enough to pull it forward and place it on the ground.

He looked around the room in a quick whisk, searching for anything to hold down the pedal. He was looking in between the toolbox and the workbench, both riddled with tools, when he found a large spare wheel.

He started the engine and found that the Mechanic left in a hurry; for he had not yet emptied the gas tank.

He then opened the door as quietly as possible, then rolled the vehicle out of the building then parked it behind him. He then took three steps out into the open, making a point to look up at the buzzing and fire his Ion pistols, wielding one in each hand.

He then jogged back to the car and aimed it down a long, straight stretch of road, then placed the wheel on the gas, letting the tires squeal for a bit before speeding off down the road. This would get their attention.

He then jogged off in the opposite direction, sticking to the shadows.

Equatorial Desert-Underground Magma Tubes

For a data processor, there sure was a lot of data being thrown at him at once.

No sooner had Lightspeed's internal silent alarm went off than the Technobot had frozen momentarily in place. Someone was in trouble and he had to subtly figure out both who and why.

Before he could really get a chance to do either, the Technobot found both himself and his comrades in the midst of an underground artillery shelling. Lightspeed hit the ground as much from being caught in the blast zone as it was a move of self-preservation.

Then one of the charges blew. Lightspeed didn't catch what had set it off, but in such close-quarters combat it was something of an inevitability anyway. The magma flowing from the underground wound gushed like a hot, orange river. It wasn't exactly how their strategy was intended to play out, but after the manner in which they had been thrown in to things on this planet in the first place Lightspeed didn't expect a lot of things were going to go their way.

Aiming his light burst gun at one of the charges he had set, Lightspeed crawled out of the way where the magma was likely to flow, aimed and fired.

A second stream of the molten river began to flow through the tunnels even as chunks of blackened earth pelted his frame.
___

Koraja

One of the diaclones in the air just ahead of the core group went down, its systems sparking.

"Gahhhhhhh!" Bombshell cried out, losing his own sense of direction for a moment. It had been one of his.

"Ion weaponry weaponry. I would recognize it anywhere anywhere."

The Insecticons in the air began to alter their courses and flit around in various directions, scanning for the source position of the attacker. Regaining his equilibrium, Bombshell detected movement. Something was speeding away from them. Something that had been in the positional vicinity to have conducted the attack in the first place.

"After it!" Bombshell cried, flying after the speeding vehicle.

A native? Had a native done this? Or an Autobot in disguise? Either way, they would soon pay.

Fortress Tenebrous

A chilling silence fell to the command hub of Tenebrous after Cyclonus cut off the communication link between him and Turmoil. The eerie, burning glow of Turmoil's optics indicated a barely restrained inner conflict. The various technicians present in the hub shared worried looks between each other but did not talk in fear of catching their commander's attention. Despite the fact that Turmoil had not lashed out like almost any other Decepticon commander would have, the intense, uncomfortable atmosphere in the command hub was nearly touchable.

"Sonicstorm is in charge. I have some matters to be dealt with. Personally." Turmoil finally spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Acknowledged commander." The communications specialist acknowledged the new orders from his superior, never letting his gaze wander away from the information terminals he was connected into. In Turmoil's case, even slight sign of lost focus from his soldiers would earn the ire of the vice-commander and Sonicstorm was not going to be punished if he could avoid it.

"Good." Turmoil stated and vanished from the command hub in bright flash of light accompanied by the ionic charge familiar to all Transformers that had ever witnessed an orbital bounce.



The Perdition - Bridge

As instanteously as he had vanished from the fortress Tenebrous, Turmoil appeared to the command bridge of the Decepticon battlecruiser Perdition. Only barely slowed by the after effects of the orbital bounce, Turmoil made his way to the control station equipped by the three members of the Reflector unit.

Looming behind the far smaller sitting mechanoid, Turmoil crossed his massive arms across his chest. "Reflector. Set coordinates to current location of the Rancor. Bringing it to Tenebrous for repairs and refitting is the current main priority of all service staff of the fleet."

"Furthermore, you are to explain your incompetence in providing Tenebrous the fall trajectories of the escape pods fired from the Farstar within time scale expected for the action." Turmoil added with a tone that would not stand for any excuses

Equatorial Desert: Under Ancient Lava Beds

Scattershot rolled to his right and emerged on his left knee with his acid pellet rifle drawn and already leveled at the source of the first shell. It spiraled end over end, like a baked wad of tin foil before crashing into one of the weaker struts of the cavern. The explosion sent a spider web of fractures across the ceiling and allowed the roof of the lava bed to begin to rain sand upon those inside. The Technobot squeezed off a pair of shots, sending over two dozen capsules of highly corrosive acid straight into the maw of the lumbering tank as it breached like the land whale of Tobias VI.

As soon as the frame finally came into focus, Scattershot knew exactly who it had been that was delivering the first salvos to this Primus forsaken rock. "Skullgrin." He spat as he pulled himself up and leveled off his weapon again. Pulling the trigger once more he dispatched several bursts of acid upon the notoriously vain Decepticon's armor.

Another set of explosions went off, forcing Scattershot to once again roll out of the firing solution the tank con would inevitably try to put him in. Pressing himself up against his own makeshift bunker, Scattershot frowned as his alert beacon began to register. Patching into the nexus that linked his troops through design and through experience, he swiftly learned that Strafe, his rather skittish Aerial Marksman was currently being held out of the fight by yet another belly crawler. "Damn yellow chipped vacuum suckers." He swore as he rolled out to get a better look at the situation.

Nosecone and Lightspeed were the first to react to the hostage situation, or perhaps it was more of a reaction to the actual change in the combat strategy, Scattershot could not know. All he could tell was that the cavern once again rocked from floor to ceiling as the first of the charges they had placed along the magma vein had been set off. The fountain of molten rock was soon joined by another that had been touched off by his second in command. The two combined detonations was enough to send tremors throughout the cavern, and even managed to cause him to stumble. He grinned with satisfaction.

Covering the short distance across the river of burning death, Scattershot managed to land to a fairly conservative yet functional position. His line of sight offered him a better shot at Skullgrin, who was probably enjoying the molten bath, as well as that of Lockdown. Though his position was not perfect, it was still better than that of Afterburner's. Of course he did not want to stoke the gunner's ego too much, but the little red cycle was in the perfect position to help finish off his plan for freeing Strafe.

"And here I thought there were some cons who were up for a straight up knuckle breaking fight." He called out to Lockdown. "Guess you two weren't made from the same mold." He snapped his weapon up to arm height and leveled it off just above Lockdown's head. In a matter of an instant, Scattershot fired five rounds straight into the rock mass above Lockdown's head and shoulder joint. The resulting tumble of contaminated rock, acid and debris, added to the actions of Strafe to free himself, would leave Afterburner with a cleaner shot. At least Scattershot hoped so.

It just wasn't fun to beat on a Decepticon who's hands were full.

The Perdition--Bridge

To say that Reflector was surprised by the sudden appearance of the Vice Commander would be a decided understatement. He had thus far grown very accustomed to having the run of such a powerful Decepticon warship all to himself, save for the insignificant skeleton crew that had been ordered to remain aboard to continue the ship's vital functions.

The Viewfinder unit took an immediate step away from the sudden materialization, but then quickly returned to his previous post.

"It will be as you command," Reflector said, the Spyglass unit entering in the trajectory information that Turmoil had commanded and the large Decepticon ship began to lurch forward. The Decepticon visual surveillance specialist listened as Turmoil expounded further upon what had brought him here directly. He knew it had to be something more significant than simply changing the position of the ship, an order which could have just as easily been given from the surface.

All three of the composite Reflector units could feel psychological surges sparking throughout their entire core.

"V-Vice Commander, the trajectories were tracked and forwarded. There happened to be some interference from a solar flare occurring at the same time as the ship's destruction. It may have interfered with all tracking systems moreso than we would have expected. Nevertheless, the Perdition's tractor beam even managed to capture one of the pods. The Severance managed to provide trajectories for several others. I am not sure if all of them were tracked, but we were quite thorough in our work after the initial destruction of the Autobot vessel. Even now, the captives await in a holding cells aboard this ship."

Reflector knew that there was more to this than would immediately satisfy the brutish Vice-Commander, but he had to hope that it was enough to turn his attention elsewhere.

"I have informed Lord Scorponok of our progress...but...he has yet to respond."

Rainforest of Patalappu

Vestra crouched down as soon as the first explosion echoed through the tree trunks. She drew her weapon up to her chest plate and slowly massaged the barrel. Deactivating her visual sensors temporarily, the engineer allowed her keen audio receptors to reach out into the ether. It was one of her more specialized gifts she had received when she emerged from the well, a sensitive set of hearing that aided her well in Nova Cronum before the war. Another burst of shells tore through her sensor network and caused her to snap her head towards the direction of the river.

"What do you hear Sister?" Trybium crouched down next to her, his own weapon slowly sweeping around the trunk of a massive iron wooded tree.

"Electrical discharges. Snapping of small arms fire." Her optics flickered online.

Her brother rested his hand on her shoulder as she pointed the direction. He lowered his automated rifle slightly and allowed his gift to take hold. His visual sensors were among the tops in the engineering corps. He could see clearly in nearly any environmental condition, from blizzard to volcanic fall out. But the gift was more than that, his optics could pick up energy signatures and fluctuations that helped him in the repairs of various systems and diagnose problems before the system itself had time to discover what was damaged.

"Five energy signatures over the falls. Three Decepticons, two of them on the special forces scale, the other just a touch below." He crawled forward slightly. "Damn it, two of ours."

"We have to help them."

Trybium shook his head as he deactivated the long range detection grid in his optical sensors. "Oh sure, we help, they find us and poof we're all smoldering wreckage."

Vestra glowered at her brother and flicked off the safety of her weapon. "Well, you are always saying how you always wanted to get away from it all, here's your chance."

"Not what I had in mind glitch bitter." He snapped with unnecessary harshness that his sister swiftly brushed aside. "Besides, if those readings are accurate, then those two are as good as dead anyways. Still, I suppose we have no choice. If Scattershot found out we left our teammates to their fates, he'd space us for sure."

"Oh sure, the fear of the Commander is what forces you to action. You are pathetic." Vestra brushed off her brother's hand and entered into a crouched dash towards the source of the battle noise.

The twins slid to a stop a few hundred meters later at the edge of a sheer cliff over looking a pool of water that was fed by a thunderous waterfall. Billows of water vapor clouded half of the pool in a thin film hiding two shadowy figures under bursts of electrical current. In the open, "River." Vestra paused as she knelt down next to a boulder.

"Scrap," Trybium swore as he took position against a felled tree. "Those bursts have got to be from Scrape. Never thought he'd resort to going Tesla tank. Expends too much energy."

Vestra did not spare a glance. "Given their foes I doubt he saw another option available to him. Look. Its Apeface and Snapdragon." She tamped down a shudder. Those two were considered the worst of the worst. The stories she had heard from the Ranger detachment had sent chills to her servo. They rarely left survivors, and it was even said that they ate those they defeated for refueling purposes. The thought of being defiled even after death, it was sickening.

"Options?"

The quiet and audibly shaken voice of her spark brother caused her to snap back to reality. Trybium wasn't the sort to be shaken on any level. It was that reason alone that caused him to sign on to the Technobot's crew for their voyage into the jaws of death itself. Knowing full well that the Commander was the sort never to back down from a battle, regardless of the enemy. In fact it was almost a reassuring presence that gave them both confidence. But now, upon seeing the horrors made metal before their very optics...

Vestra returned her optics to the battle below. She watched as Scrape pulled his massive treads into reverse and emerge from the depths of the pool towards the shallows, desperately trying to interject himself between the irritated primateformer and the flying jet that had begun to harass his partner.

"By all rights Ape, you already have me." The voice from Scrape's audio transmitter echoed through the canyon. "Now let me show you what you won." Vestra watched as the rather stocky Tesla tank powered up and fired two bursts of highly concentrated electricity each in an offset angle until they converged at a single point singularity. The combined burst soon erupted forth in a broad cone towards Apeface, carving a thick hole in the misty shroud.

Trybium and Vestra shielded their optics as the burst ignited the dense timbers of the forest at the top of the fall. "Damn, he's not holding anything back. We have to help them."

The twins exchanged nods and separated towards two covered positions of fallen trunks and boulders. Simultaneously switching over to their specialized communications link, the two coordinated their lines of sight. "River's out of it, we'll have to give her some cover so she can recover and join the fight. Four against two, I still don't like the odds. Especially after all the stories I've heard regarding those two."

"Agreed brother. However, if we get the pressure off of Scrape, he can turn his attention on Snapdragon and get her out of there." The two eventually agreed on their strategy and leveled off their Neutron Automatic Rifles. Vestra on Snapdragon to break off his approach, and Trybium on Apeface. The pressure had to be lessened for the others to recover and return to the fight. Perhaps then they had a chance. Vestra held reservation, she knew well enough that there was little chance they survived this encounter. But if they did not try, she would never live with herself.

The Plains of Thok

Hunting down the last remaining pod escapees was one of the simplest tasks ever assigned to Scourge and his Sweeps. It took no real skill to track the individuals who fled, merely following the sounds of crashing and footfalls for the most part; especially as the majority seemed focused on running for their lives, giving little care to remaining hidden or undetected.

"Sweep pattern trion," Scourge said, his voice communicating the command to his small group of Sweeps. "Let none escape."

Without reply, the hover-crafts changed their scanning fields, suddenly expanding the initial scan range to include a broader spectrum. This would allow the Sweeps the opportunity to utilize both their speed and superior scanning equipment, rather than focusing on short-range tracking. Besides, which, Scourge had found his thrill of the hunt lacking, and was beginning to tire of hunting down pathetic Autobots who showed no real combat prowess...

For his part, Scourge currently tracked several individuals north of his location. In his hover-craft mode, the hunter was moving across the terrain easily, rapidly closing the distance. When he could see the Autobots in question, Scourge decided to amuse himself, by firing with his disintegrator cannons at range. He watched as the Autobots panicked, fleeing faster and zigzagging to avoid the deadly projectiles coming their way from behind...

"Reports from my Sweeps indicate almost all of the pod escapees have been destroyed," Scourge said over the communicator to Cyclonus. "It should only be a matter of breems... what's your location, Cyclonus? I will return and allow the Sweeps to conclude the task."

Scourge knew Cyclonus' position, of course, but he just wanted to confirm. Ahead, the deadly blasts from the Sweep leader's cannons finally did the job, killing the several Autobots painfully as their bodies disintegrated mid-flight. Changing course, Scourge made to return to his fellow Decepticon...