The Energon Pub

Sonic Canyons - The Battlefield

With Venom's flashy departure, Ransack was left slightly confused. So first he wants to lead us...then he wants to torture us...and now he runs off? Slag. He had watched Shrapnel illustrate his physical power to Venom, and Bombshell give his vote of confidence to the electric menace. Well, I don't give two microchips who leads so long as we stay busy. I don't even care if Venom comes back. Six is better than five in a dust-up. Of course, hard to win allies when you're talking about torturing them... The warrior looked to Shrapnel and Bombshell.

"Well, that was fun," he said. "But now what?"



Kaon Airspace

As Skyjack flew back toward Kolkular, a coded transmission from Polyhex reached his comm unit.

Shockwave wrote:Report forthwith to Polyhex for immediate reassignment. Coordinates transmitting.

The succinct order came with a set of coordinates and the security codes for Drydock Omega. It was clear that the military coordinator expected nothing less than speedy compliance.

Kaon Airspace

Skyjack recieved Shockwave's order, and was suprised by it. What could he want with me? he thought. Only one way to find out. Better get rid of my cargo first though. He flew to a sentry tower, instructed the guard there to take Swiftscreech to a CR chamber, and flew north to Polyhex.

Kolkular- Scourge's Ready Room

Scourge sat at his desk, reviewing the data on the Autobot twins. His hand rubbed the scar on his faceplate. Despite the cycle's irritating events, revenge upon the Golden One still occupied his thoughts. And would continue to do so, until he received orders of a more pressing nature.

Though the simulation had been interrupted, he had learned much from observing the battle. When the time for his retribution came at last, he would be prepared. The twins would fare even worse than those who had displeased him this cycle.

Speaking of which, it was then that Discord arrived. The master of the hunt acknowledged the femme with a curt nod. Her punishment would be quite entertaining. But not half so entertaining as what he had planned for her brethren.

Turmoil's arrival was even less noteworthy than that of Discord. He was, after all, the only sentient Sweep currently active in the region that had NOT earned his ire. For the moment.

The pathetic plea for aid from Macabre infuriated the Sweep Commander. It also placed the Sweeps XO's name firmly at the top of his Pit List.

>>"Help is on the way,"<< he responded to Macabre. >>"Know that you have displeased me."<<

"Macabre requires help to return," he said, finally addressing Discord and Turmoil. "Bring him to me."

Sonic Canyons- Canyon Wall Crevice

Overhearing Scourge's reaction almost made Venom squeal with glee. Now he has to work with me! Recomposing himself, he turned his attention back to Macabre. Redisguising his voice, he spoke to him via comlink. <<You have a choice. You can be humiliated, and possibly lose your job, and definatly your pride, or you can let me fix your leg. I'll help you take down the insecticons, and even give you Ransack's head, just let me fix your leg.>>

Sonic Canyons - The Battlefield

Shrapnel snarled as Venom disappeared in a blinding flash of light. He didn’t think the paranoid little idiot would go along with serving under him, but running off on his own like that was a bit unexpected. Now they would probably have to look out for poison darts and traps from the deposed leader trying to get revenge or reclaim his position. Shrapnel wasn't particularly afraid. His own abilities would help deal with him when the time came.

“Good riddance, riddance. Let us now seek repairs, repairs. After that we can ask Lord Megatron for a mission, mission. By defeating these Sweeps we have proven our worth to the Empire, Empire.” The Insecticon stowed away his rifle and floated up into the air, heading for Kolkular and its repair bay.

Kolkular – Scorponok’s lab

Scorponok entered his lab and quickly moved to the main console. He began powering up the modified CR chambers set into the lab’s wall. He entered in the parameters of his next two test subjects, both of whom had yet to heed his summons. His patience was already wearing thing with the conflict between the Insecticons and Sweeps. If Bugly and Octopunch did not arrive soon there would be consequences.

Sonic Canyons ~ Canyon Wall

Macabre didn't consider Venom worthy of much attention, so he continued his steady climb as he responded.

"Ah Venom, you disgusting creature. I believe you... misunderstand my position in this matter. My loyalty to the Sweeps is beyond question. I will submit to my Master with... pleasure. My punishment will be fitting. I will learn my lesson... and carry on as always. I can assure you, my... position in the Hunt is secure. There are few who... understand Master as I do. I am up to the task. You, on the other hand, seem to be in a most... compromising situation. Your savage 'friends' appear to be... displeased with your actions. I would venture to guess that at this point in time... you need me more than I need you. My comrades come to my aid as we speak. If you raise arms against me now, it will be your...undoing. Your bargaining posture is highly dubious. I'm afraid that if you want to solidify a... pact between you and I..."

Macabre turned to look at Venom at this point to empahsize his point.

"You'll have to offer me something more valuable than just my legs."

Kolkular – Briefing Chamber

She bows deeply to Scourge. "Your wish is my command!" She remains stoic, and strong despite her battered appearance.

Inside her anger is directed at Macabre. She would not voice this, however. It wasn't her place. All she could do is keep her thoughts to herself which were along the lines of:
Macabre had better be nothing more than a head and torso to warrant this! Even then I would have rather rolled and crawled back to Kolkular or self-destructed than call for help!! How dare he! The last I saw him he was in near pristine condition! He looked like he could transform, let alone fly! A sweep should not be treated like a protoform even if they are the XO! He could have at least made some excuse for us taking him to Kolkular instead of sending us alone!
The last thought in her anger filled mind were thoughts of taking the XO position herself, but she put a halt to that quickly. Short of her charisma she has no power to hold the XO spot, and likely would not be given such a position. Under armed, under armored, and average strength. Only the word of Scourge could keep her intact and in charge, and he would never allow that, and she could not live with that!

Discord would be even angrier should she find out that Turmoil had not earned the wrath of her leader at all.
She was the only sweep to fight the entire time, and she's one of the least powerful of the elite Sweeps Each and every last one is better armed by a great deal! She battled multiple Decepticons, and weathered the skirmish against the Insecticons! She fought from the first to last astrosecond! Torment took a time out in her eyes, and was virtually defeated by Aftershock! She fought under both known and unknown combat parameters in the same mission, and walked away! She may not have come out in her brother's good condition, but she fought! How could she have earned more Ire than Torment?! Has Scourge not been watching?
She would only wonder why this was. She was not looking for a sainthood among Decepticons, or even a medal of honor, but she wanted to at least be acknowledged as having fought the long and hard despite her being one of the weakest of the Elite, and allowed to be repaired in peace.
-But- she does not know this bit of information yet, but odds are she will learn of this when she finds out that Torment would be far less damaged than she when she leaves her punishment.
If anything, well, word gets around and she is one of the more gifted Sweep in terms of words. She finds out many things given the time and opportunity.


Kolkular – The hangar bay
Discord finds the Hangar bay and stops for nothing, instead walking with a purpose. Despite her flight systems on the brink of failing, and the inability to transform she follows Scourge's order to retrieve the XO.
Her face carries a look of monumental displeasure, and anger, though it was far and away not the limits of Rage, who she could only pray for after being humiliated and quickly beaten.
She leaps from the edge of the Bay and begins flying towards the Canyons again with her own flight module.
With her robot mode used for flying, Macabre has some time before she arrives, but not much.

Where ever Rage is

Rage remains docile where ever she may be. She'd need CR treatment before her optics would alight and her reign of terror would begin again. Likely leading to some considerable redecoration of where ever she wakes up, and dismemberment of anyone she sees.
They'd best repair her then run as her anger at not lasting in combat would be unparalleled!

Kolkular – Scorponok's Lab

The pair of soon to be lab rats arrived just as Scorponok would begin work.
Bugly salutes. "Bugly reporting for duty, Lord Scorponok!" He would look upon the gigantic leader wondering if he could trust him with one of his plans. Megatron was nowhere to be seen, and odds are he'd have to go to red tape anyhow. It was all a matter now of finding the superior to go to who would appreciate his idea, and presentation of the idea. Oh and finding the proper time to introduce it as well.

Octopunch would salute as well. "Octopunch reporting for duty, sir."
He has no idea why he's here short of it being Scorponok's bidding, but it's bound to be interesting.

Kolkular

Torment rook to the air, Rage held tightly in his arms. He looked down once to gauge the insecticons and Macabre. Behind his faceplate the Halloween colored sweep smirked as his XO attempted to climb the cliff. He could help his superior but…. Then again he was not ordered to do so. It wasn’t like The hunter was seeking some special attention for kissing highranking aft. He just wanted to be turned loose to kill. Not play these immature infighting games, and training exercises. Then Scourge’s transmission interrupted his thoughts.

<<En-route>>

Torment boosted his thrusters and sped back to Kolkular. Rage still in his grasp. He landed and walked to the Repair bay. Completely ignoring the repair drones and giving the other Decepticons in the room no more than a harsh glance, Torment opened an empty CR chamber one that appeared sturdy enough to contain Rage. As he closed the capsule he spoke to the medical personal without making visual contact.

“She may need a touch up after, and have her report to scourge when she’s done.”

The Orange and Black sweep marched out and into the hall, quickly making his way to the ready room. He entered in time to hear scourge order Discord and Turmoil to retrieve Macabre. He snorted to himself, the pretty boy was probably still at the bottom of the canyon. Torment could only guess what Discord was thinking after the arrogant mech had come in like a knight in shining armor with full bravado in what Torment assumed was an attempt to show off in front of the sweep liaison, only to shoot down her one show of mercy and leave Swiftscreetch behind. The shoulder spiked second was more bark than bite, and far from the leader he thought he was.

Torment saluted scourge and stood without comment, awaiting his punishment. For there was always punishment when one failed the Master of the Hounds, even for the angel of death.

Kolkular - Hangar

Banzai-Tron watched intruiged, his gaze moving from the Sonic Canyons through the visinoculars to the hangar in front of him, as the Sweeps flew in and out of the hangar. What intruiged him most was the wat they didn't even seem to notice the hangar around them; They flew in and transformed and marched out towards the Air Command offices, all without a single pause, even thought some of them were heavily damaged (Yup, definitely Insecticons. They've got all the signs short of teethmarks.). This was a sign of either great dedication or great arrogance, or both. Very interesting.

The view of the Canyons gave up little info. All the action must have taken place in the depths of the canyons, out of all sight. But wait, what was this? As Banzai-Tron followed Skyjack as he flew north (Was that a survivor that he'd been carrying?), something...odd came out of the canyon and turned to Kolkular. It seemed arachnoid in someways, tank-like and copter-like in others. Could this be one of the Insecticons? The color was right. Banzai-Tron continued watching, while slowly walking more into the middle of the Hangar: Perhaps these newcomers would notice him.

En Route to Kolkular

Transforming into locust mode and taking flight with the other Insecticons, Ransack wondered what the mysterious tangle that was Decepticon High Command held for the assassin squad. They probably won't be happy we trashed one of their new units, he thought. But a little scrap's never been grounds for deactivation. Besides, what better way to pad our rep? His insect-mode head, with its rather disturbing assortment of mechanical mandibles and feelers, rotated slightly to regard Shrapnel.

"What now, boss?" he asked. "All I know is, we'll have to watch our backs in Kolkular. Those 'Sweeps' probably aren't gonna let this one go, heh."

And Venom...I don't hate him like Shrappy does, but we gotta do something about him. Chop Shop, Bombshell and Barrage are probably thinking the same thing. It was an ugly thought, but for a being whose entire existence consisted of committing ugly acts, it was merely a matter of practicality for Ransack.

Kolkular – Briefing Chamber

Turmoil gave Scourge a nod and followed Discord all the way out of the hangar bay. He was rather annoyed with Discord's current inability to fly at top speed but he could not blame her for it. Besides, he reasoned, it means that Macabre will have to suffer that much longer than he would have.

Turmoil flew at Discord's speed so as not to annoy her or make her feel any worse about her current condition. Scourge would be making her feel bad enough as it was.


Sonic Canyons - The former battlefield

Chop Shop took off with his fellow Insecticons, following Shrapnel closely. He would need to stay with his new leader at all times for protection, especially since he had just made an enemy that knew about his kleptomania, which Megatron could never be allowed to know about. He cast Shrapnel a glance and said,

"It ain't the sweeps I'm worried about. They're not so tough as it turns out. But what about Venom? He knows all our secrets."

One thing was certain in Chop Shop's mind: his kleptomania must remain a secret, which meant Venom must be reconciled with, reprogrammed, or he must die.


Kolkular - Medical Bay

Aftershock entered the medical bay and immediately began preparing a cr tank for his use. He was a little surprised that Turmoil barely even cast him a glance. After all, he had fought with and alongside him and assumed he had earned the sweep's respect or at the very least, recognition. But, the sweep was busy after all, as was he. He handed a drone his sniper rifle in pieces and gave them very clear instructions.

"Fix this. I want this rifle to be like brand new when I wake up again. Do not, under any circumstance, replace it. There's no need to know why right now. Just fix it."

When the drone had gone off to complete his task, he entered the cr tank and turned it on, entering stasis himself.

Sonic Canyons ~ Canyon Wall

Venom left the crevice and latched on to the dart embedded in Macabre's leg. He had embedded a secret mechanism in his darts that would save him if his own weapon was turned against him. All he had to do was tap a button on the side of the dart, and the antidote, concealed in the rear half of the dart, would inject. He tapped the button. Then, he turned back to Macabre and continued his speech. <<What I have just done could be considered an advance payment. What I have to offer does not come with glory, or fame. But it shall let you rest every night knowing you helped save countless decepticons. You see, my replacement, Shrapnel, not me, was the one who attacked your men. He does this for both entertainment and sport. Not everyone is as talented as you, and many have, and now with him in charge, many more, shall fall to Shrapnel's bloodthirstyness. When I ruled the insecticons, I kept his murderous personality in check, until earlier today when I made the fatal mistake of leaving him unsupervised. I need your help to get back into the leadership position. If not, countless Decticons will fall victim to Shrapnel's destructive sense of fun. Are you willing to let that happen?>>

Kolkular – Hallways

Shrapnel stifled a sigh. Venom hadn’t been removed from leadership for more than a few seconds than the other Insecticons began whining. He was going to have to whip them back into shape after Venom’s lackluster leadership. For now he would just have to placate and reassure them. “First we get repaired, repaired.” The Insecticon grabbed his own arm that still bore the marks from Rage’s superheated talons. He was going to have to remember that particular Sweep.

“I don’t plan to stay in Kaon, Kaon. We just showed High Command what we can do, do. We should get pushed back to the frontlines again while Venom can hide and cower wherever he wants, wants.” Scolding or not, they had shown that they were back and ready to take on whatever could be thrown at them. If that meant the Sweeps were a bit irritated at them, so be it. The Insecticons had never been that popular among the ranks. Their personalities and cruel humor had always made them outcasts. What was another group hating them?

The Insecticons arrived at the secondary repair bay. He had not interest in bumping into the Sweeps again right now. That animosity was still too recent and would probably break out into another fight right away. A couple of flipped switches and the bay was active. Shrapnel took a seat and repair drones went to work on him. “For now we get repaired and re-energized, energized. Then we see about going back to the front, front.”

Kolkular - Scorponok’s Lab

Scorponok turned to face Bugly and Octopunch as Fasttrack continued the work of preparing the chambers. “You two have been found to be compatible with the newest innovation in Transformer technology. Dubbed the ‘Pretender’ process, you will be coated in an organic carapace that will function as powerful battle armor, aid in self-repair like a low powered CR chamber, and even function as an independently controlled drone when you are not in it.”

Scorponok turned back to the console to personally input a few last commands. “The process has already proven to be a great success with the ground forces commander Roadblock. His combat effectiveness has at least doubled. Your results may not be that extreme but there should still be a marked upgrade. This process will help continue to turn the tide of the war in our favor, making up for a lack of numbers with more powerful troops.” He turned back to face them. “The only drawback, and this is to remain top secret, is that you will feel the pain and damage inflicted on the shell even when it is separate from you. The Autobots do not yet know of this and you will keep it to yourselves.”

With his giant claw the Decepticon general tapped a button on the main console and the two modified CR chambers slid open. “Step into the chambers and the process can begin.

Kolkular – Corridors

Bombshell would have rolled his eyes had he had any. Chop Shop was a worry wart and half-assed warrior. His kleptomania was a problem, but perhaps a little mind play could help with that. A glimmer shone in his optics at the thought of delving deep into his comrade’s cerebral unit.

“You know, Chop Shop, you could always find Venom and take care of him yourself,”

Bombshell turned to face Chop Shop, a gleam in the corner of his optic.

“if you’re afraid he’ll do something you don’t want him to do.”

That said, Bombshell stepped up the pace to keep behind Shrapnel.

Kolkular, the CR Pod in the med. Bay

Rage is repaired quietly. She is unable to answer Scourge's summons, or the order to retrieve Macabre.
That's for the best. If Macabre were still able to get to Kolkular on his own power, she'd make it so he couldn't, and then carry him back.
Can't have him be a liar, hm?

Still, she rests in the CR chamber. That one in a trillion shot Shrapnel made had put her down. In the long run it's for the best. Pretty much always for the best. If it wasn't Shrapnel, it'd have been someone else that disabled her.
Still, she never liked it. Being beaten unconscious just to stop her rampant butt-plate whipping. Truly Discord's honeyed, well chosen words were preferable as few would take the time, but she doesn't have much choice in the matter as she has no off switch for her berserk mode.
Then again if more Decepticons were careful around her, she wouldn't rip them apart.

En route to the The Sonic Canyons

Discord radios Turmoil as he approaches. >>Good to see you, brother.<< her tone is pretty neutral. She looks to be in the middle of keeping her emotions in check. A rare state of mind for her.
In her mind part of it reminds her that he was not there to fight he Insecticons, but on the other hand, it was reasonable. Not every Sweep could be deployed, and not every Sweep would be deployed. Not every Sweep would know about the battle, either. It probably wasn't Turmoil's fault.
Then there's the fact she's really mad at Macabre.
Some chivalrous being Macabre is to one moment act like a hero, and a gentlemech, then one moment later he lost his composure to anger, then to call in for medical transport? I really must try to figure this one out. And I thought Rage was chaotic..

On top of that, Scourge is obviously going to do something horrible to her later on, unless, maybe, the time she spends to retrieve her XO would allow her CO time to relax, and calm down. Maybe she would dodge the bullet and he would forgive her. She did fight hard for him after all. She is a mid ranking Decepticon gifted with nothing in particular short of high charisma and being a Sweep. There are far better made warriors than her. She fought long and hard and defeated multiple foes in the process. That's more than most grunts could hope for, isn't it?

Discord would have argued that her kin, Turmoil, should go on ahead and get Macabre, but the simple fact is that Turmoil is not the best of choices to carry anyone, or anything with his aura of destruction. Normally, Discord would not mind being close, but in her current condition a stray arc of energy, or something similar could shoot her down if they weren't careful.

Her optics continually shown a readout of her critical systems, and most of the focus of them are on picking up other units, identifying them, oncoming threats, and more than a few readouts on her HUD to display the status of her flight systems. She was flying at 80% efficiency and pushing her luck. A digital needle wavers pixels away from red line. Her entire system is in orange status. Past yellow's caution, and not quite at red.

Her internal repair protocols had finished repairing the diluted poisons that had leaked form her arm to her body, but not in her bad arm, which is in quarantine so to speak. If she stayed careful,she could make the trip. Maybe even get in some light repairs along the way, too. Or at least hold together.

The Sonic Canyons

She and Turmoil would arrive about the same time.
This was pretty much punishment enough to see this place again. Part of her wanted to throttle Macabre who she had spotted on her sensors almost immediately, and Venom who was radioing him, though she could not tell what they were talking about.
She did not care about that either, at the moment. She could not question her XO's actions.

She lands delicately at the base of the Canyon in time to see Venom do something to him, and her sensors would see more broadcasts. Discord walks up, and sees Macabre climbing. "XO, we are here to retrieve you." she would salute as she says this.

Naturally she did not miss the presence of Venom, but did not look at him twice. She could easily assume that he lost favor among the Insecticons. That means his value in diplomacy is up in the air. Certainly he wants revenge, and he would likely be an easy ally, but she's interested in meeting Shrapnel first to see if she can make peace with the stronger force between The Insecticons and Venom instead of joining a war against the Insecticons blindly.
It wasn't cowardice that fuels this train of thought, however. Oh, no. There's many many other motives such as, well, infighting is stupid and barbaric, and a waste of resources, and likely to get someone extinguished, or worse, punished. Then there's the fact that she can potentially use the Insecticons to further the Sweep's cause. There are many reasons her deep and scheming mind would churn up. One should always have a reason.

Kolkular – Scorponok's Lab

"Yes, sir!" Octopunch and Bugly both spoke at the same time, then both enter the pods and ready themselves for the new process. Like grand Decepticons neither showed fear.

Though they were similar in action, they were not similar in thought. Octopunch looked forward to furthering the Decepticon cause like any good soldier, and beating the slag out of Autobots, and making them fear the Decepticons more.

Bugly, is ecstatic over the notion of having a quasi-minion. Someone he could control fully, and completely, even though it was just an extension of himself. His mind would wonder what new tactics he could perform while he were in 2 places at once?
But he keeps his recent plan ready to give to Scorponok, not letting it be overwhelmed by the process he is about to undertake.

Sonic Canyons ~ Canyon Wall

Macabre continued climbing, which had gotten somewhat easier since Venom had neutralized the paralytic spreading through his body.

This one's eagerness to help me could prove useful, disgusting as he is. Discord's aid in this matter would be highly effective.

"Perhaps, Venom we can come to some sort of... arrangement."

Sensing the arrival of his rescuers, he turned to Venom.

"We will discuss this further once I have recieved my punishment and recieved repairs."

Determined to finish his climb to the top of the canyon wall to show some strength and dedication to the Sweeps that he had previously embarassed himself in front of, he struggled on upward. After a time he finally breached the top and pulled himself up onto the ground. He knelt in front of Discord and Turmoil, a sincere show of humility.

"Discord, I believe I owe you an apology."

Looking up into the femme's optics, he continued hoping she would understand the full meaning of his words,

"In my haste to leave the battlefield, the origin of my humiliation, I acted brashly and illogically. I let my emotions toward those repulsive savages cloud my judgement, and thus I have treated you most unfairly. Control of my emotions has always been something I prized, and that is what has facilitated my duties to Master Scourge and the Hunt. Understand this. All I do, I aim to do for the good of the Hunt. My failure in this case as your XO should not reflect on the magnificence of your performance in the name of the Hunt. As such, it is necessary that I have Master see that all responsibilty must fall to me."

Standing now to his full height, Macabre tried to look as noble as possible in his condidtion.

"I may not be the mightiest warrior among us, or the most diplomatic. But, let no one question my dedication to the Hunt. I know by now you must consider me weak for calling for help, but I would rather suffer more personal humiliation than anger Scourge further. I will take whatever punishment I deserve, and we will carry on to improve our standing in the Decepticon empire. We must fight as a cohesive unit to achieve this. We cannot afford to waste time and resources squabbling among ourselves. Remember, solidarity is our greatest weapon. I forgot this and will suffer for it. The rest of you must understand this. Nothing can prevent us from achieving glory in Megatron's name but us."

After his impassioned speech, Macabre hoped that Discord would understand the depth of his devotion to the Hunt. If not, the Sweeps would likely remain a fractured group rather than the heralds of Megatron's empire.

Thoughts turning to the punishment that awaited him, his mood darkened considerably. It was hard to predict what Scourge was capable of when displeased, but Macabre would find a way to manage. Looking at the heavily damaged form of Discord he sighed heavily.

"Take me to Scourge now."

Sonic Canyons - the former battlefield

Turmoil landed beside Discord and approached his XO.

Wait, that's it? He is neither dead nor dying and he had the nerve to request assistance

Turmoil was not pleased. But he might still be able to have fun.

"Can you fly, Macabre, or do you need me to carry you?"

By sheer coincidence (or was it) as Turmoil gave the second option a few jolts of energy erupted from his body. Needless to say, he was hoping for the second option.

Sonic Canyons~Macabre

Still attached to his leg, Venom sent out a message of compliance. <<Very well. We shall meet at a later time.>> Next, Venom turned his attention to the newcomers, Discord and Turmoil, he tapped ino their comlinks. <<Take me with Macabre. I wish to speak with your fellow Sweeps. I can just attach myself to one of you.>>

The Sonic Canyons

"Well spoken. Apology accepted, Sub-commander Macabre. Can you fly?" She says rather bluntly. Neither she or Turmoil looked like fun transport home, she'd surmise.
Discord got the point of Macabre's speech, but it was wasted on her. She has immense loyalty to the Sweeps, and to betray one would be the last thing she'd want.

Discord frowns at Venom when he intrudes upon her radio lines instead of speaking to them verbally.
Of all the impudence! Acting like he can just approach the Sweeps! And Scourge!! To break into the Sweeps communications lines, let alone speak to us in such a manner!! What is his major malfunction? Is he suffering from ID-10-T errors? Bringing a trained assassin to the commander? And Venom latching onto me? Revolting! Disgusting!

Discord collected herself quickly, and replied to Venom in a professional tone on an open frequency between Turmoil, Macabre, Torment, and Venom. >>Macabre or I'll have to radio Commander Scourge before I allow that, Insecticon, if he doesn't already know since you've hacked our communications. Are you certain of this, or will I just be wasting my effort, and risking his wrath in asking him to grant you an audience? And lets not forget that Macabre has to okay this first.<< She's not going to go over Macabre's head on this. It's a good way to get hurt. Plus she isn't going to add to her punishment list by allowing this blindly.

Discord resumes speaking on the radio signal between the Sweeps in the immediate area, and Venom.>>And you are not to touch me, Insecticon. To be perfectly honest, you tread dangerous grounds with me for the time being. You may have forgotten, but I have not forgotten, that above all else, your first action in our skirmish was to shoot me rather than reign in your subordinates and stop the Insecticon assault on a training exercise where we were using low yield weapons, and already damaged. Your poison is still contained in my battered arm, and very nearly did me in before I stopped it from spreading fully to my other systems. You very nearly killed me by trying to paralyze me while 2 of your former comrades shot at me with high powered weapons, and lethal force. And you shot at my comrades. And you never did take control of the Insecticons to stop the battle, risking Sweep lives getting us all damaged, and for what? All this and yet you still ask us to trust you?<< she says via radio plainly to Venom. She speaks with an odd mix of professionalism, anger, and yet some diplomacy as she left out a great deal of words that are not diplomatic. Still, she spoke honestly, and said what she could to inform the other Sweeps of just who they were dealing with.

She adds, >>But that is not up to me, Venom. It is up to Macabre and ultimately Scourge if you get an audience. And I will follow their orders.<<

If it was up to her, she would have crushed Venom like the insect he literally is, but it is not. She doesn't want revenge on the other Insecticons, when she thought about it, it was Venom's fault more than theirs.

It was like Venom was trying to use the Sweeps for his own personal vendetta seeking to get so cozy with the Sweeps, almost like he owned them already. No, it should be the other way around. The Insecticons are the pawns.

Sonic Canyons

Macabre looked to his brother and sister,

"If I could fly or transform do you think I would keep Master waiting by calling you back here?"

He couldn't help but be a little sarcastic.

"My flight abilities were knocked out during the battle. I had hoped to make my own way back to Kolkular, but it seems I don't have the luxury of time."

Moving towards Discord and Turmoil he held out his arms.

"Each of you take a side and help me fly. Venom, you will find your own way back. Crafty little insect that you are, I'm sure you'll be fine. I will listen to your petition after I have recieved my punishment, provided that I am able."

Sonic Canyons~Former battlefield

Venom knew that everything was in his favor, no matter what the others said. Everything was playing out as he expected it to, for once. Now he just had to seal the deal. He transformed and pulled from one of his storage compartments a container. He tossed it to Macabre. "This package contains the antidote to my paralayzer. Use it amongst yourselves. Consider it a peace offering. As to finding my way back, that shouldn't be an issue. Call me when you're ready." He transformed and flew off.

Airspace above Kaon

As he flew, Venom decided, in retrospect, he shouldn't have offered to latch on to a femme. But he had more pressing issues. Shrapnel and co. would want him dead sooner or later. He needed protection, and he knew just where to find it. He changed direction to the forge.

Sonic Canyons

Turmoil grabbed Macabre's arm and looked his XO in the eye rather solemnly.

"This might sting... many many many times. There's nothing I can do about that unfortunately."

Turning then to Discord,

"I'm ready when you are."



Kolkular - Secondary repair bay

Chop Shop sat down and let the repair drones fix him. He had managed to avoid fighting any sweeps up close and so he was mostly undamaged. He did fight two of the new recruits but they were both mediocre fighters, however brave they may have been.

He looked at Bombshell.

"Maybe I will take care of Venom myself. He knows things I'd rather him not tell anyone about. He hates my guts too, so he wouldn't think twice about betraying any of my secrets.

He turned to Shrapnel.

"What do you think boss? Should we worry about what Venom might do?"

Chop Shop reflected on his own Paranoia.

Now I'm starting to sound like Venom.

The Sonic Canyons

"It is my turn to apologize, Sub-Commander Macabre." She says with a bow, then follows orders, helping Macabre, shouldering him with Turmoil. "Alright, lets take it easy now, my flight system is fragile at this point."

She adjusted her radio frequency and encrypted it heavily before sending a message to Macabre. >>I feel Venom is not one to be trusted readily. He is just going to try to use the Sweeps to regain his leadership of the Insecticons. As a leader he failed to control his unit, and never ordered his unit to halt their assault on us, unless he did order them to assault us. He may fail again, and again as a leader leaving us to pick up the pieces and likely get attacked by Shrapnel time and time again, and the fact Venom may betray us outright is there. He has thoroughly disrespected us by hacking into our radio frequencies, and assuming we'll let him, a trained assassin, see Scourge blindly. Shrapnel might be a stronger leader, and if he can control his team thoroughly, then making a truce with him would be more beneficial. I feel if I could get in contact with him, I could make an alliance with the Insecticons, and potentially use them against our enemies inside and outside the empire. And lets not forget who is the stronger force between Venom and the rest of the Insecticons.<< She spoke candidly. Her diplomacy program sought out the most beneficial scenario instead of just making nice with everyone despite appearances. Sometimes it just wasn't wise to be friendly with everyone. You're bound to make enemies that way. Becoming allied with Venom might earn the eternal enmity of the rest of the Insecticons, and she is fairly certain no one wants that.

Sonic Canyons

Turmoil responded with a nod.

"I understand. There's no need to rush this in your present condition. Given the circumstances I think Scourge can wait."

He adjusted his grip on Macabre to hold him in the least painful way possible.

"All right, let's go."

Turmoil started to take off slowly, waiting for Discord.

The forge ~ Arena

As he watched the gladiatorial matches take place, he still felt uneasy. What's my problem? I came here to relax. While death and violence served as a good source of entertainment for the Ex-Insecticon, he still had this awful feeling in his energy processer. He had come to calm down and relax, before he geared up to take on Shrapnel, but the execution-style finishers only increased his fear of what would happen if he failed. The idea of confrontation and defeat was hanging over him like some vast, predatory bird. He couldn't watch this. He needed to get back to work.