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Bottom of the Sea of Japan

As Scavenger dug and moved various parts of the seabed, he heard Bonecrusher's remarks. Though his inner parts were starting to feel a little off, Scavenger thought little of it. He had a job to do.

<<So I'll just spend a month in the CR Chamber when we're done. I'm sure Scrapper and Hook can fix->>

As he was about to suggest the Constructicon surgeon would fix any problems Scavenger had from the salt water, the excavator remembered what Bonecrusher had said earlier. Scavenger wasn't so sure he wanted Hook working on him, at least not until he knew for sure that the surgical engineer hadn't messed around with his circuitry.

<<I'm sure Scrapper can have me fixed in no time. I've got a job to do, I can't worry about things like that.>>

Determined to give Scrapper a level floor to build on, Scavenger continued shovelling, all the while ignoring the corrosive nature of his environment. After an uncertain amount of time Scavenger and Bonecrusher had levelled a large area. Remembering the blueprints as best he could, the excavator began digging small, deep holes at specific distances where the support beams for the foundation would be placed. Despite Bonecrusher's earlier warning, Scavenger transformed to his robot mode to get a better look at the work. Satisfied, he opened a comm link to his commander.

<<Scavenger to Scrapper, we've got a nice, big, level construction zone to build on now. I also dug some holes for the foundation, all we need are the materials.>>

OoC: W00t! First post as Bonecrusher!

Bottom of the Japan Sea

Bonecrusher lifted a large boulder from the foundation for the new base and threw it behind him; he heard the crash, though muffled, shortly thereafter. He grabbed rocks and stones and threw them at a rock face, where they shattered on impact. Ugh, how this would be much more efficient if he was in vehicle mode! However he didn't want to transform underwater, more specifically, he didn't want to rust and corrode like Scavenger will.

He grabbed a large stone, threw it behind him and it landed on the ground with a soft thud. Slowly but surely, the base was flattening.

He laughed at Scavenger's response, it was clear he was making an affect on the Excavator.

>>I'd watch yer back with Hook, ya never know when he'll snatch ya out of a CR chamber and do some more weird stuff.<< Bonecrusher said through a Comm Link with Scavenger.

Hmm. Better watch mine too; I can't be too careful. He thought as he lifted more rocks and stones and tossed them away.

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Having finished producing his third batch of foundational construction materials, Mixmaster transformed and quickly went over to where Long Haul was sitting in his truck mode and began unloading what he had brought.

"We get the dome submerged and connected to the foundation, then the place'll really start coming together, hehehe."

Who would have thought that the Constructicons would be the most feared name in the Decepticon empire? But it would be true soon. Oh so soon.

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

>>Ackknowledged, Scavenger. We're almost ready here. We'll be down shortly. Scrapper called as he helped Mixmaster offload Long Haul. "We have our build site ready, Gentlemechs, and it looks like we have the material to begin constructing the dome. Lets begin moving things underwater."

As he hefted a large load of dome material, Scrapper looked over at Hook. "Hook, if you're done with the holes, you can go find Oil Slick and Darkride, and head to the cave to get the pumping equipment ready. It shouldn't take too long."

"Alright, everyone ready? Let's go swimming."

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Once the materials were offloaded from Long Haul, Mixmaster went about gathering what he would need--both equipment and raw material wise--in order to finish the work they needed to do in a submersible state.

"Slag. This planet's liquid compounds chafe something awful. Ohhhh well, heheh," Mixmaster chuckled.

Every breem of delay was a breem that they weren't putting their efforts toward changing the landscape of Decepticon power entirely.

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Once Mixmaster and Scrapper had unloaded the materials from the green dump truck, Long Haul transformed back into robot mode and gave the Constructicon Commander a respectful nod. He certainly wasn't looking forward to getting wet as his specialty was transporting whatever needed to be moved on land, but orders were orders and the new base was going to be at the bottom of the sea so getting salt water in his gears was unavoidable. At least he wouldn't be exposed to the corrosive liquid for too long before the dome was finished and finally attached to the foundation the others had prepared.

"I'm all ready here, boss," Long Haul replied to Scrapper before he walked over to the pile of gear and raw materials that had once rested in his truck bed. He quickly gathered up a load of steel and other equipment in his arms and then walked through the sand towards the sea, allowing his feet to slowly become submerged once he reached the waterline. As Long Haul moved further away from the shore, the salt-filled liquid rose higher and higher until it had reached his shoulders. Taking a brief glance back at the rest of the team, the Constructicon transport let out a sigh before returning his gaze to the vast sea in front of him. Long Haul then continued onward until his cranial unit disappeared beneath the waves and into the murky depths beyond.

Transmission from the Thanatos to all Decepticon units

>>"Decepticons present within the Sol system--this is the voice of Military Operations Commander Shockwave. The loss of Megatron is a significant casualty to our resources. Couple that reality with the energy shortage we are faced with throughout the universe, and our eventual extinction as a species becomes more probable. Only for a matter this urgent would I have interrupted the mission that Megatron had sent me to complete on Cybertron. I have made advancements and retrieved technology that will render our energy crisis nil. Imperative: you will submit to my authority. In return, this war will end. Our civilization will thrive on advancements.

"Declarative: I calculate that Decepticon Air Commander Starscream presents the most significant threat to accomplishing this goal, as he has for countless vorns. He will not be alone. Any who stand against me also stand against the evolution of our empire. Those who thwart them will be the next to receive the rewards that Dreadwing and Darkwing have already experienced."<<

Off the Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Scrapper was deep underwater by the time he got the signal, but that didn't matter as much for a clear, full-broadcast signal like this. He listened, the slight smile he'd had behind his faceplate turning into a grimace as the message played out.

Its starting.... He quickly keyed in to his team frequency. >>Hook, belay that last order, and get underwater with the rest of us, now. Everyone, we've got to talk, and we can't risk any observation, understand? Now, double-time to the rendevous point!<<

The Engineer began to run as best he could in the thick liquid, to get out from any probling sensors or tracking signals. It seemed like the fate of the Decepticons was once again in the balance, and this time it would not be so easy to resolve.

Eastern Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Before Baneblade gave his answer to Astrotrain's earlier question, Shockwave's transmission reached his communications systems. Oh, this looks bad. Well, at least for Starscream. Astrotrain thought as he amplified the signal so that Baneblade, Blitzwing, Firebrand and Ramplate caught it too for certain. However, now the question was whether they'd proceed to their original target or disregard it in favor of supporting their commanding officer against Shockwave's arrogant claim over their dominion.

"Baneblade? How do we proceed?"

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Ramplate looked up with an incredulous look on his face. "You have got to be FRAGGING me!" he said as he heard the message from Shockwave. "Please tell me he isn't pulling this slag now? What is that overblown scientist got running through his processors?" Shaking his helm, he looked over at his teammates to see what their reactions were.

Off the Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Mixmaster had picked up his pace, just as Scrapper had instructed. The transmission from Shockwave was something of a surprise, but the Constructicon chemical engineer didn't really pay any more attention to it than that.

Deep underwater now along with the majority of the other Constructicons, Mixmaster went to work getting the polymer compounds that had been used to construct the dome in to their final placement so that the additional support structures could be put in place.

This would be a fine example of Decepticon structural engineering--once they were finished with it. Even with this core structure, there would be much more that they could add on as time went by, provided the requisite amount of resources were made available to them.

OOC: First post with the correct body of water. Sorry for the mistake.

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

Bonecrusher's words continued to make Scavenger worry for his safety. If the excavator couldn't trust a member of his own team to fix him, who could he trust? He now wished the demolitionist hadn't talked him at all.

The came the transmission from Shockwave, followed by the transmission from Scrapper about an impromtu team meeting. It was a lot for the mining and salvage expert to take, it had him giddy, nervous and excited.

<<Hey Bonecrusher, didn't Hook say earlier that Shockwave helped him with Devastator? Maybe if we side with Shockwave he'll reward us with Devastator. Oh, I sure hope that's what Scrapper has us do, I can't wait!>>

OoC: Thanks for the heads-up, Smokescreen, wouldn't have noticed otherwise.

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

Bonecrusher was enjoying messing with Scavenger, even though it brought up doubts of his own that Hook really did do those things to Scavenger. He just got finished lifting a boulder and tossing it out of the build range when he heard the signal from Shockwave. Lots of people were vying for leadership nowadays, most notably Shockwave.

Shortly thereafter, Scrapper sent a comm message to all the Constructicons. Something was wrong.

>>I dunno Scavenger, I think that we'll get Devastator out no matter what our COs say.<< Bonecrusher responded to Scavenger's comm with doubtful tone.

It was true, it didn't really matter whether or not their leader endorsed their decision of making Devastator, what was the whole point of the secrecy in the first place?

Not that Bonecrusher knew this, he just liked disobeying orders from the Decepticon Leader. Minus Megatron, of course.

Eastern Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Baneblade had been running several internal calculations about future targets for his mission when Shockwave's transmissions broke. It was surprising, and to the strategic analyst a foolish move. Although Shockwave was indeed intelligent, and powerful he lacked many key requirements that were needed to properly rule over the Decepticons, and he doubted that many would support such a cold, and calculating leader. Though when it came to Astrotrain's question he wasn't sure how to answer. This base was needed, the supplies his team were gathering were needed to complete the base, he was inclined to leave but with this game changing move by Shockwave he was uncertain on what to do next. For the most part Baneblade was inclined to support Starscream, although he had no particular loyalty to the Seeker he was so far the only leadership candidate showing any sort of inclanation towards following Megatron's vision as close as possible. Of couse he would not follow exactly what Megatron wanted, no one could, but at the moment he seemed the best option. Of course the other question was where did the troops under his command stand? So far most seemed rather neutral, though perhaps not inspired by Shockwave's rather blatant grab to secure power. The irony was not lost on Baneblade that making such a speech and then proclaiming himself leader was a move that Starscream seemed most likely to take.

"For the time being we wait. I do not trust the engineers and I believe they may be up to something, whether or not that is for their own agenda or they plan to support Shockwave is unknown, but it can be certain that they will not back Starscream." He cast his gaze around to the others. "Of course, the loyalties of every Decepticon in this system is now is put to the question as Shockwave has forced the issue of picking sides. I doubt many of us can remain neutral in the future. I for one do not believe that Shockwave can properly lead the Decepticons, he lacks many critical personality traits to be a leader most Decepticon's can accept. Primarilly he lacks a personality. Granted Starscream is far from what anyone can consider perfect, and is greatly flawed. However, he has demonstrated an ability to effectivly lead combat units and plan major operations, and has demonstrated a charaisma different from Megatron's but still compelling in its own right. I favour him for leadership. I will not fault any of you for disagreeing with me and siding with Shockwave, however I will not tolerate you under my command and I extend this offer once that if you wish to leave in Support of Shockwave do so now. I will not allow you to remain under my command other wise."

Turning away from his unit to let them think over what he just said Baneblade opened up a com line to Thundercracker.

>>"Thundercracker, I am sure you have heard the same message we did that came in from Shockwave. I am going to remain here for the time being to monitor the Constructicons. I believe the time to pick sides has been force and soon we all will have to decide who we will support for leadership. For the moment I am favoring Starscream, logically I believe you do as well, but I cannot confirm that. I think it may be best if you met me here so we can discuss how to collaberate incase we have to move against the Constructicons.<<

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Hook had taken to his work happily, or as happily as he was capable of doing anything. It was simple work, beneath him really, but called for an unerring accuracy that even the most perfect of drones could not achieve, let alone the other Constructicons. He carefully drilled the holes in the bubble structure, measuring them to several exact decimal points, as he did with all of his work. It was likely unnecessary, but he would not have it any other way.

The surgical engineer sighed as he received the orders from Scrapper. While he loathed working with his fellow Constructicons at times they at least had some commonality to them. Darkride and Oil Slick however were outsiders in every sense of the term. He did not relish the idea of ordering them around, let alone working with them. He walked over towards where they were assisting Mixmaster.

*

Oil Slick had begun attaching the polymer beams he and Darkride had been creating to the inside of the bubble structure Mixmaster had formed. It was forming a spider web like lattice inside the bubble to help strengthen it without losing much flexibility. It would likely still need metal supports to fully insure its strength. Oil Slick assumed that’s what the holes Hook was drilling were for. He turned to face the Constructicon as he approached them.

“Darkride, Oil Slick, I need you to..”

All conversation and work was cut short as Shockwave’s announcement came down to them. Oil Slick remained stone faced as always but ran the information through his processors several times. This did change the political landscape, but he did not see it as particularly negative. While Starscream and Motormaster might turn a blind eye to his work, Shockwave may find it of interest and give him additional materials to continue it. Either way the confusion of the power struggle would give him opportunities to continue some of his more illicit activities.

Once the communication ended Hook spoke up again. “Nevermind, continue as you were,” he said with a hint of confusion. The Constructicon transformed and drove into the water after the others. It didn’t take long for him to transform and join Scrapper in the others in the impromptu meeting.

Oil Slick looked over at Darkride. “It seems we live in an interesting time and place.”

Eastern Shore of the Korean Peninsula

To Blitzwing, Shockwave's sudden declaration was not that surprising. The triplechanger had learned long time ago that when it came to Shockwave, Blitzwing just did not know what to expect. As logical driven as Shockwave was, Blitzwing's own logic did not agree with the ancient Decepticon all too often. And to be honest, he did not really care for scientist. The Decepticons had survived and even thrived for thousands of vorns without Shockwave. Who the slag he was to demand position of leadership now?

The brash Decepticon was getting angrier and angrier by every moment and Baneblade's words did little to affect that.

"Just shut up Baneblade." Blitzwing snarled. He didn't particularly care for this large Decepticon either and feared him even less. "That slaggin' glitch cut me and Astrotrain here open and experimented with us only to throw us away when he found more suitable lab rats in form of the Horrorcons. If you think for one astrosecond that we are going to follow him, you're dead wrong!"

Stepping up to Baneblade with a scowl on his face Blitzwing shoved the larger Decepticon against the wall behind him and drew his sword in case Baneblade would retaliate. "We follow Starscream! Me and Astrotrain! Get it! Not you! Don't give this 'under my command' crap to me! Starscream may have put you in charge of this mission and I am fine with that. But don't you slaggin' go all better than thou on me!"

Blitzwing's eruption wasn't really aimed to cause a fight with Baneblade. The belligerent triplechanger just was not all that good when it came to process his emotions. Astrotrain knew that. And they were really on the same side at the moment too.

"Frag! Just get me on board the Thanatos and I'll experiment on Shockwave myself!"

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

The Constructicon Chemical Engineer was anxiously shifting his weight from one foot to another. It felt weird, now that he was completely submersed in this planet's primary elemental compound but even that was a just a minor distraction.

His mind had already been flooded with thoughts of Devastator, attempting to balance them with the responsibilities they had to complete and construct for the empire. But now the transmission from the Military Operations Commander had jostled those thoughts and priorities even more. Who was more likely to assist them in making Devastator a reality? Any of them? Or would the Constructicons be summarily executed for even having come up with the idea?

"Soooo...whadda we do?" Mixmaster interjected, his optics looking nervously from Scrapper to the other members of the team. "If we had maybe finished our little project sooner than now, heheheh, it could have been us carrying Megatron's legacy. Now--maybe...maybe not."
___

Eastern Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Astrotrain had gotten the answer to his question that he wanted. He had been curious how Baneblade would side, and now that that curiosity had been satisfied, he had to return to his own thinking.

Starscream was an interesting mechanoid. He didn't spend an excessive amount of time with the Seekers, but he was able to get in to the air often enough that he had established a little rapport with the flyboys. They were all pretty solid Decepticons. That blue one seemed to hesitate, but overall they were effective warriors and Starscream an able leader of them.

Shockwave...eh, Shockwave was Shockwave. There wasn't a lot to be inspired by. Not like with Megatron. But the cyclops had been the one responsible for turning Astrotrain in the mech he was today. Granted, he had been an unwilling participant at the time, but he had more than grown accustomed to his changes over the vorns. He had to wonder might be in store if the cycloptic bore found himself in charge. Would Astrotrain get another alt mode? He liked the ones he had, but he wouldn't mind adding another.

Baneblade's ultimatum of choosing now what side they would pick didn't sit well with the triple-changer. Starscream and Shockwave both had their pros and cons. Before he could say anything though, Blitzwing had taken care of that for him. More than that, he had now put Baneblade up against a wall. This could get ugly quick.

As Blitzing started raging on about his--and apparently Astrotrain's--suddenly declared allegiance to Starscream, Astrotrain's face twisted a little in obvious confusion. If they got in to a brawl inside of him...bleh...that was going to hurt.

"Hey now..."

"...Starscream may have put you in charge of this mission and I am fine with that. But don't you slaggin' go all better than thou on me!" Blitzwing soldiered on.

I agree with that at least, Astrotrain thought, adjusting his altitude slightly.

"Frag! Just get me on board the Thanatos and I'll experiment on Shockwave myself!" Blitzwing had blasted out to end his point.

"Whoa. Hold on," Astrotrain began, his voice sounding as it typically did, like a mech speaking in to a hollowed out steel drum. The effect was amplified even more when he was in shuttle mode. "You go up there half-slagged and you're going to find yourself somewhere worse than Shockwave's laboratory. We need to play this smart.

"And as for you Baneblade, I say it ain't smart siding with anybody until we decide what they can do for us. We couldn't pull that with Megatron, but in case you guys haven't noticed, Megatron isn't around anymore. I bet we can get a better deal. You do what you have to do. I plan to do the same."

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

With all of the Constructicons assembled, Scrapper took a moment to collect himself before beginning his response. "You're quite right, Mixmaster, and in fact thats exactly what I had hoped to accomplish if we'd been given the chance. But we weren't, despite our efforts. We have all the preperations done, and if we had 10 Breems alone, I'm sure we could have the dome assembled and drained to form stage 1 of the base. But its probable we don't even have that long."

"I don't think any of us doubted this would happen eventually, it was obvious that without Megatron, someone would make this power play. And I don't mind saying, I didn't support Starscream because I wanted to, but rather because I would have had to start a civil war right there and then to stop him. I've tried to play for time, ever since, to give us a chance to finish the Devestator project, but we've run out."

"As I see it, we have three options. Sticking with Starscream really isn't one, even if he had the loyalty to win a fight with Shockwave, he'd still be too flawed as a leader We can respond to Shockwaves call, but only to declare allegiance, and try to continue on the construction while under his protection. We can tell Shockwave about the Devestator project, in order to get resources to complete it faster, but that means giving up our independence in the hopes Shockwave will bring order to the Decepticons. Lastly, we can break contact with all sides, and continue the project with the resources at hand, ignoring any civil war until we have the power to end it ourselves."

"These are all risky ideas, and none of them are perfect, but we're used to working in imperfect circumstances. Still, I want feedback from all of you. If you support any of these ideas, or have one of your own, say it now."

"We don't have long to decide. War waits for no mech."

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

The interrogator had been busy getting the polymer beams in place when Hook had approached him and Oil Slick. Darkride stopped his work as the Constructicon surgical engineer began to address them both. Darkride's head cocked to one side as the mech stopped mid-sentence; he soon realized why. It seemed as though Shockwave had begun his ploy to nominate himself as the new Decepticon lord and master.

“Curious.”

The situation was, but Darkride cared little for what Shockwave, or any other potential candidate who wanted to fill Megatron’s shoes, was up to. All the sadomasochist truly cared about was being supplied with a steady flow of bodies to torture and break. Whoever provided that to him would gain his backing.

After Shockwave’s announcement was complete, and Hook disregarded what he was about to say, Darkride watched, with piqued interest, as the snobbish Constructicon transformed and followed behind his fellow teammates into the depths of the sea.

Without breaking his gaze from the water, Darkride responded to Oil Slick’s statement.

“We do. We do indeed. However, I do find what the Constructions might be up to to be much more interesting.”

Finally looking back to the chemist, Darkride flashed the him a malevolent smile.

“Care to join me for a swim, Oil Slick?”

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

As Long Haul trudged through sand, rocks and seaweed along the uneven sea floor, Shockwave’s transmission came in over his comm line. He was a bit surprised at the purple scientist’s sudden proclamation of assuming power, knowing full well that this put a damper on their plans for Devastator. How would this ultimately affect the Constructicons’ secret project in the long run? Could it even be done now that a civil war seemed almost a certainty with Shockwave on one side and Starscream on the other? These were questions that needed answers and fast.

Therefore, it came as no surprise when Scrapper wanted to have a team meeting, forcing Long Haul to double time it to the location where the others would be waiting. Moving quickly through the dank water that surrounded him was no easy task, especially while carrying a heavy load of materials for the new base. Still, the green transport was tough enough to endure the trek and made it to the meeting place just in time to hear Scrapper begin to speak.

Placing his pile down on the sea floor, Long Haul straightened up as the Constructicon Commander laid out their options. It was either side with Starscream, Shockwave or neither. The transport was not a strategist by any means. Carrying things from point A to point B did not require a lot in the way of thought processes, but it was still nice that Scrapper had asked for everyone’s opinion on the matter, even Long Haul’s.

“I don’t know, boss,” Long Haul began to respond to Scrapper with a slight pause in his voice before he continued. “I agree that Starscream is not an option, but bringing Shockwave into our business could cause problems for us, too. Like you said, our independence would be taken away even with the extra protection. I mean, weren’t the Devastator plans something ol’ one-eye originally cooked up? I’m sure he’d want to take the project back if we told him about it.” Long Haul paused again, looking around at his assembled teammates. “I say we go it alone. We can always get more materials on our own if needed. We are Constructicons, after all.”

Bottom of the Yellow Sea-

Scavenger waited patiently for the rest of the team. As Scrapper and the others arrived, he hoped he would recieve a compliment for the job that he (and Bonecrusher) had done. Though disappointed that nothing was mentioned of his work, he listened carefully as Scrapper talked, describing their options. All the while, Scavenger kept looking over at Hook, wondering what to think of the surgical engineer after hearing Bonecrusher's rumors.

Did Hook reprogram me? Or did he rewire my shovel without me knowing? Or was Bonecrusher really just slagging with me? Slag, I don't know what to think!

The excavator was then taken aback when the Constructicon leader asked for their opinion- not just Hook's, as was normally the case, but from the entire team. Surprisingly Long Haul was the first to respond. Scavenger liked what he heard.

"I think Long Haul's right, we should do this alone! I'm sick of all the other Decepticons, they tell us to build this, build that, dig this, repair that, and then they treat us like slag! Let's make Devastator on our own, then we'll show them who's slag!"

After a moment, Scavenger looked around and thought twice about what he said.

"Unless you decide not to, Scrapper. I'm happy with whatever you decide."

Eastern Shore of the Korean Peninsula

Ramplate watched as Blitzwing and Baneblade 'discussed' things with each other, before Astrotrain also gave his decision. To the newcomer tank-bot, it seemed like a repeat of what had been going on on the Ultrax... or maybe it just never ended.

To be honest, Ramplate himself was still worried about it as well. He had joined up because he honestly believed the propaganda of the Decepticon cause. Destroy the Autobots and their stranglehold on Cybertronian civilization, and bring about a new world. That was what he believed in, and fought for. He had chosen Starscream for one reason... Of all the ones who thought to take the spot of 'leader', the Seeker Commander seemed to be the only one inclined to follow Megatron's orders after the fact. Which brought about an interesting line of thinking....

"Does Shockwave even know what's going on here? I mean... he seems to know that Megatron's missing, but if he's trying to counteract Megatron's last orders... doesn't that technically make him a traitor?" the silver mech asked. "If so, I don't think anyone's going to be too inclined to side with him at all, especially since it makes his attempt here a bit... you know... Moronic?"

"Still... Don't that just mean we need this base made and all that, that much sooner? Shouldn't we be working?" he said, looking over at Baneblade.

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

Bonecrusher stood there, taking in all the other Constructicons had to say. Frankly they all said the same thing, go it alone. That was the subject even Bonecrusher agreed with.

"Frag those Decepticons and Autobots, I say we go it alone! With Devastator we can do anything!" Bonecrusher stated, clenching his fists.

He looked at Scrapper, crossed his arms and said, "I think that is the only option if we are ever going to have Devastator in this Vorn. We will be an unstoppable force with Devastator, I don't see why we should be a subordinate when we can crush those who oppose us under our foot!"

It was an unfortunate situation, a majority of the Decepticon Army wanted leadership and would be willing to fight to the death for it. Even the most unlikely, for instance Ramjet, wanted to claim leadership.

A pity that there will be anarchy before order. Not that he cared about the anarchy, more that he wouldn't be the one to smash some heads.

Bottom of the Yellow Sea

Mixmaster nodded as Scrapper had acknowledged his initial thoughts with a direct response. Hearing Scrapper's thoughts and the thoughts of others on his team had helped make Mixmaster consider the wider potential of what lay in front of him. Leadership politics was normally the domain of far more powerful individuals than he. Now, though, they were at least facing an opportunity to inject some of their own influence in to the discussion.

As various other Constructicons spoke of going it alone, Mixmaster had continued to nod, finding general agreement with pretty much everything that had been said so far. Starscream wasn't an option at all in Mixmaster's view, but they would have to be cautious with Shockwave too. He might love their idea, well, as much as the walking computer loved anything, but he would surely want control of it, too. Going it alone and securing their own power base seemed as reasonable an act as any.

"Go it alone. Hold out as long as we can. Make as much progress as we can. Maybe dictate better terms for ourselves than we can now, heheh."
___

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

In a flash of white and disrupted terrain, Onslaught appeared on the Korean surface. He took a moment to acquaint himself with his new surroundings. So, this was where Starscream had wanted their new base to be built? It looked...barren. But perhaps that was the idea. Onslaught couldn't really judge until he had scouted the area more thoroughly and seen how much progress had been made.

>>"Priority one, find the Constructicons. Priority two, establish makeshift perimeter defenses, just as we did back on Polyhex. We'll probably have even less resources to work with, but perhaps our engineer brothers will be able to assist with that,"<< Onslaught transmitted to other Combaticons that would be arriving shortly behind him, some of whom were already beginning to appear.

Onslaught checked the datapad that Starscream had provided him. Certain Decepticon signals were coming through more clearly now.

"Underwater, eh?" Onslaught said softly, approaching the shoreline of the Korean peninsula. "Not bad."

Western Shore of the Korean Peninsula

>>"Priority one, find the Constructicons. Priority two, establish makeshift perimeter defenses, just as we did back on Polyhex. We'll probably have even less resources to work with, but perhaps our engineer brothers will be able to assist with that."<<

The moment Brawl materialized on the North Korean soil, a transmission from Onslaught penetrated his audio receptors with enough volume for even Brawl to stop and listen to what his commanding officer had to say. The message didn't really contain any surprises. Find the target. Establish defenses. Yeah, nothing out of ordinary for the Combaticons.

>>"Got it boss bot."<< Brawl transmitted to Onslaught and transformed into his tank mode. Variety of scanning instruments Brawl possessed for target finding came alive and began to sweep the empty strand. Aside tracks left by wheels, tracked vehicles and feet of Cybertronians, there really was nothing there other than a recently dug up cave that had been camoflauged by a basic hologram cloak.

>>"There's a camoflauged cave to north boss. And traces of energy emissions leading to both into that water mass and into the air. I ain't getting any signals though."<<