The Energon Pub

Garrus 9 - Corridors

“Easy, Synapse...”

Synapse flinched at the sudden voice calling out to him. He glanced about to either side to see Lobe taking up a place on either side of him. As he was about to protest, Synapse stepped oddly and stumbled, almost falling over were it not for Lobe’s gentle yet firm hands on him.

“I’ll get you to a shuttle then have a look at you.”

“I…oh…very well…” Synapse muttered softly, unable to manage a greater volume at the moment. His vision was blurry and his footing uncertain. He wasn’t exactly in a position to debate or argue. “Thank you…Lobe…So sorry to trouble you like this…”

“Please tell me you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and you weren’t intentionally hit.”

Synapse’s optical ridge furrowed slightly at that. What…what was Lobe asking exactly? Intentionally hit? Did Lobe think him suicidal? “Please don’t tell me that you think I want to indulge in self-harm,” Synapse responded, a bit more firmly to his friend.

"Heh, and you say I need a few sessions. You don't look like you'll be leaving Flatline's ward anytime soon."

Snapdragon. Oh good. Just what he wanted. Craning his head around slightly to get a look at the Horrorcon, Synapse offered him a sort of wry smile. “I’m afraid the sessions that we require are of different medical disciplines, Snapdragon. You’re not getting out of yours. Not by a long shot. I can see to you from a medical berth if need be. I will never abandon someone in need, regardless of my own condition.”

Garrus 9 – Hangar Bay

Slog trudged along, making his way to the hangar in the wake of Icepick and his little friend. Really, his mind was a black haze. More so than the Monstercons, Slog in particular was most vulnerable and most heavily felt the after effects of Monstructor’s rampage. He placed a hand on his chest where he felt as if a darkness brewed. It rumbled quietly. Telling him to give in. Give up. As if he didn’t already grapple with himself on similar matters. The darkness implored him to destroy. To rend. Tear, smash, crush. Break.

That feeling, that nagging pressure on his spark as if something were trying to break free. That was Monstructor. He wanted out again. Slog’s grip on his chest tightened a bit, fearing that he was losing himself to it all over again. That was, until Scowl caught his optic and shot him a smile.

In that moment, Slog shook his head, clearing the dark thoughts from the forefront of it, for Scowl’s smile held something that he had allowed himself to forget. His team…No, his friends. They needed him to hold himself together. Moving over to his teammate’s side, his attention was caught by Wildfly up ahead, who had decided to pester Icepick and his friends.

“Yes, I suppose one could if you looked behind yourself as well, Wildfly,” Slog called out to their more rambunctious comrade, chuckling softly. He began to ascend the ramp to the shuttle that Icepick was boarding as well. “Well, Scowl, onto new horizons. Lord Scorponok assured me that we would be treated well, so I suppose we can be cautiously optimistic.”

Garrus 9 – Corridors

Oh great. Whirl had lost track of their greatest asset in all of this. Well, Roadbuster couldn’t put all the blame on his fellow former wrecker. After all, he hadn’t exactly been looking either. Of course, there was always the chance that she had left them to suffer their fates. Roadbuster wouldn’t put it past her given her history.

Roadbuster glanced down at Whirl when he asked if his scanning face was suspicious. What the pit did he mean scanning face? He didn’t have a face. After a long moment where the two stared each other down, Roadbuster offered the only thought that came to mind. “No more suspicious than you usually do,” he grunted, looking away. “She’s probably left us to die.”

Brainstorm called the two of them over. Roadbuster walked up, looking down at him. It looked like he had been stabbed to death already. Nasty, but he’d seen worse. So his job was scrap metal collection. Not the most glamourous or thrilling assignment, but it was something. He could feel the optics of the Decepticons looming over them burning into him even as he turned away to fetch some. It wasn’t hard.

Scooping up a few pieces of the specified size, Roadbuster returned and dumped them by Brainstorm’s feet. “How’s this? Look, we might wanna take this on the road if we can. Before the Cons make us. I can carry him.”

Hanger

On the way towards a shuttle, Nova Storm got a glimpse of Snarler’s reaction to his warning. He further narrowed his optics at the pig before he saw that Bomb Burst got between him and Snarler. Also, he heard what Bomb Burst said to him, which further irritated him. After a bit, he hopped down from the shuttle and walked towards the bat and pig. He replied back to Bomb Burst in a low and threatening tone of voice, particularly after he saw Snarler’s look towards him as what the pig said to Bomb Burst.

“Whatever...and that was no accident. When one senses a full on threat, you slagging well that one would return the threat with a warning. I will protect my trine at all costs no matter who they are...got it!?

Just as he walked away from Bomb Burst and Snarler, he saw the look that Acid Storm was giving him. He deeply sighed. There are times that he disliked that their trine leader had to be so quiet and reluctant to lead. Also, he looked towards Ion Storm who was walking towards Acid Storm and there was no telling if he was going to live up to his nickname or is right now he is being calm before a storm so speak. As he walked away, he face-palm and shook his head about the whole situation.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Ion Storm fully heard what was said in the conversation between Bomb Burst, Snarler, and Nova Storm. He was still very irritated from earlier in regards to being in a mine then on a flying tin can. When he was close to Acid Storm, he clenched his fists at his sides and had very narrow optics. He had sparks flying from his fists and optics.

“I ought to give that bat and pig a piece of my mind...they can’t slagging push us around like that!”

Hangar

Acid Storm frowned a bit at Nova Storm's noticeable frustration towards him. But before he could say anything, Ion Storm was speaking.

"I know, Stormy." Acid's voice was tinged with the frustration as he spoke. "I know you're ticked."

He wasn't sure what to do. Intinct said to just move on and avoid conflict right now. He didn't know much about Bludgeon's crew, but he knew enough. They had hair triggers and no restraint.

Hanger

Cascadia wrote:“Whatever...and that was no accident. When one senses a full on threat, you slagging well that one would return the threat with a warning. I will protect my trine at all costs no matter who they are...got it!?

Snarler grunted, obviously irritated. It almost seemed as if he was wanting to say something.

--

It was Bomb Burst, though, who did the talking.

"You would not need to sense a threat from Snarler..." He called to Nova Storm as the Rainmaker boarded the shuttle again. "No sensing involved, he'd be attacking you."

A slight smirk appeared. "And with me you would never see me coming to get a sense."

Optics went to Ion Storm and Acid Storm, though. The one called Ion Storm seemed noticeably angry.

Unfortunately, Bomb Burst had no sense of right time/wrong time... Unless it directly related to him. He caught Ion Storm's comment, his smirk grew even more wicked.

"You think you can teach me a lesson?" He called over to the two Rainmakers. "Sounds like a threat to me."

--

Nightbird watched carefully what was going on with Bomb Burst. Always ready to pull her weapons, she held off drawing the katana, but was ready to be in action in a split second.

---

Bludgeon noticed the tension going on between the Rainmakers and his crew, but put no stop to it, not ready to interfere with Bomb Burst.

Semper Tyrannis – Medical Bay

Spinister glanced to Ovelord as he heaved a sigh, missing entirely what he had said before. He jerked his hands out of his internals, optics wide. He hadn’t hurt him. Had he? It didn’t look like he was hurting. So…what then? Confusion crossed his features until Overlord spoke again. Or rather, it didn’t quite leave until more than a few astroseconds had passed for him to process what had been said.

And in confusion’s place was an expression that could only be described as one thing: Utterly lost. So he’s better but also not better? What? Something heated up in Spinister’s processor until a loud, booming voice nearly jolted him out of his armor.

Careening backwards onto the floor, Spinister has his guns in his hands in the next instant, pointed directly at the source of the voice, optics round as disks.

"…have a nasty little habit of doing exactly that, regardless of the circumstances."

Oh. It was just Scorponok. That was good. Hm. Picking himself up and glancing down at the guns in his hands as if he’d forgotten how they had gotten there, he stowed them away and returned to the side of the berth. His optics went from Overlord to Scorponok during their little exchange. Hm. Well, they didn’t seem to be talking to him. Back to it.

Tapping the arm that Overlord had outstretched as a sort indication that he was going to work on that now, Spinister went ahead and grabbed it, sticking things and bits back into place and inserting a few pieces that were missing and taking out broken bits.

ctrlFrequency wrote:Hanger

"You would not need to sense a threat from Snarler..." He called to Nova Storm as the Rainmaker boarded the shuttle again. "No sensing involved, he'd be attacking you."

A slight smirk appeared. "And with me you would never see me coming to get a sense."

Hanger
Nova heard Bomb’Burst’s response just as he went into a shuttle and grunted. Right now, he had other things on his processor and one of them was getting this shuttle ready to leave when the time comes. He made it to the cockpit and sat down in one of the seats and began working to get the shuttle ready. As he was working, he thought about how frustrated he was with Acid Storm. After a bit, he sent a comm to his trine.

”Uh, guys...if you are done messing with that group, you ought to board so that we can get out of here.”

Optics went to Ion Storm and Acid Storm, though. The one called Ion Storm seemed noticeably angry.

Unfortunately, Bomb Burst had no sense of right time/wrong time... Unless it directly related to him. He caught Ion Storm's comment, his smirk grew even more wicked.

"You think you can teach me a lesson?" He called over to the two Rainmakers. "Sounds like a threat to me."

Stormy heard Acid Storm’s comment to him. He hissed at him in his audio receptor. He then heard what Bomb Burst’s to him and Acid Storm. His frustration levels increased and his bolts grew more intense and gained strength. He smirked at the bat.

“Try me worthless piece of knockoff...”

He then heard Nova’s comm to him and Acid. Immediately, he deactivated his comm and turned his attention back to Bomb Burst.

“This one time, you are just lucky but...Consider this as a warning, next time you mess with my trine, you would get a taste of abilities.”

He looked back at Acid Storm before heading into the shuttle where he found Nova feverishly working on getting the shuttle up and running.

Garrus-9--Hangar

Almost without warning, save for the telltale increase in chittering *clicks* that could be heard in the corridors outside the hangar, the hangar itself soon found itself being literally swarmed by the diaclone army the Insecticons had amassed, various pieces of critical equipment also in tow. Somewhere in their midst, the majority of the core members of the Insecticons also skittered along, eyeing the various shuttles and directing their brood accordingly.

For most of the other Decepticons in the room, it was a critical motivator to get boarded and get off this prison-world. Several of the shuttles closed their bay doors and engaged their takeoff sequences even as the bugs approached.
___

The Semper Tyrannis--Bridge

Once his shuttle had landed within the hangar of the Tyrannis, Cyclonus had disembarked without saying a word and headed directly for the bridge. As Vice Commander, that was his place. Apart from that, he wanted away from this prison that had proven to be such a mixed bag of success and failure. It would take considerable effort to erase those failures.

Bypassing the various security protocols that were in place to keep interlopers from simply strolling onto the bridge of the 2nd Fleet's flagship, the lithe purple warrior finally arrived and found it to be practically uninhabited, save for a small skeleton crew of officers, Finback and a 1/3 of Reflector's trifurcated body.

"How far along is the evacuation process?" he asked coldly, approaching Reflector.

"85% of personnel and designated resources have been removed from Garrus," Reflector reported, not bothering to turn away from his station, save for the obligatory bow of respect he had given to the Vice Commander upon his arrival.

"Good. The fleet will depart within two breems," Cyclonus ordered, taking one of the unoccupied chairs near Finback--a chair that would soon be occupied by Lord Scorponok himself.

"And where is our Lord Commander at present?" Cyclonus asked, knowing full well that there could be any number of other matters for Scorponok to attend to before arriving on the bridge of his ship.

"In the med bay," Reflector responded, transferring a vidfeed to Cyclonus' console. Cyclonus looked, and then looked closer--his expression darkening.
___

Garrus-9--Hangar Bay

Snaptrap appeared to take some time to think on what Lightspeed had said. A few moments later, the Technobot found himself abruptly dropped to the ground. But the Seacon Commander's line of questioning was not yet complete. Lightspeed could only hope that his compliance would ensure some better treatment for all the members of his unit.

“You were aware of what you were doing while combined then. You collectively chose your actions after combination.”

"I was. Which was strange. I don't know how familiar you are with the Monstructor reports and the various interviews that have been done with the six of them over the years, but their experience was....is....very much different. They all described being lost to this new creature that took their place. Becoming one with the other Technobots was nothing like that at all...for me. I can't speak for the others. I wonder if it's an effect that will vary from unit to unit."

As Megatron and Scorponok inevitably subject you all to this process like the cyberrats we were, he thought to himself.

Garrus-9--Hangar Bay

“Relying on hope sucks, but it’s gotten me…us…this far. I’ll take any opportunity presented to me. I just hope they do, heh,” Umbra said, garnering a sympathetic nod from Icepick.

"It's gotten us all this far, heh," he said, agreeably. "And I'm sure you'll get your shot. Who knows? You might already be in the clear and in line for a commendation for what you did to help resolve our little gestalt mess back there. Time will tell, I suppose."

He looked over with a grin as the other Monstercons came within their vicinity. It was good to be a part of this unit. They'd been through a lot. Whatever may come, they would be best equipped to handle it together.

“Well, Scowl, onto new horizons. Lord Scorponok assured me that we would be treated well, so I suppose we can be cautiously optimistic," their commander said as they all steadily boarded their shuttle.

"To 'new horizons'," Icepick offered as a kind of departing toast, watching his step as Umbra had suggested.
___

“Heh, yeah. We better count our lucky stars. But I don’t think we’re able to relax just yet. Looks like we’re going to war…again.”

"Well, that glitchy glitch has got it comin'. Noone to blame but 'imself for this mess. Just glad I'm on this side of the battle," Stormwrecker chuckled.

The disturbing sound of a multitude of clicking jaws and mandibles prompted him to turn around, only to find an incoming horde of Insecticlones. Bleh.

"Let's go, let's go. Keep the shuttle full."

Garrus-9 -- Hangar Bay

One step after another. Scowl’s pace, dictated by the Seekers that were walking on either side of him, took him closer to the boarding ramp of the shuttle that would transport him to Scorponok’s flagship. Closer, closer, closer. One step after another.

The saboteur threw anxious glances all around him, seeing the same process being carried out: the Monstercons and various other prisoners boarding the shuttles. Scowl tried to reason with his wariness, tried to soothe the misgivings that were growing more inflamed with each passing moment, but it was a hollow endeavour. He was fighting a losing battle, even though he’d promised himself to do his best to remain optimistic.

Positive! Positive! This isn’t going to--

Wildfly’s cackling broke through the negative barriers starting to form and envelop the saboteur. Trust him to do that. His unique brand of humour being unpopular, not everybody could appreciate Wildfly’s jokes and antics. Some, they would dispute, wouldn’t call it humour -- not by a long shot -- but Scowl got it. He could dig what the avian Monstercon was grooving to.

Chuckling, Scowl said, “Nobody likes you, Wildfly. Leave them alone. And by the way, you left your personality component back in your cell. You really should go and get it.”

There was a lot of banter between him and Wildfly, and he relished it. It had helped Scowl manage the difficult times, when his voice had been stolen from him because of the dampeners the inhibitor claw possessed.

“Well, Scowl, onto new horizons. Lord Scorponok assured me that we would be treated well, so I suppose we can be cautiously optimistic.”

“To 'new horizons'," Icepick offered as a kind of departing toast.

Buoyed by Wildfly’s enthusiasm and feeling an improvement in his mood, Scowl nodded. Slog did speak the truth -- it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Considering the Monstercons had been released from their cells -- no more were they prisoners, incredibly -- no harm had come to them despite merging into Monstructor twice, and Scowl’s voice had been restored, he could afford to be cautiously optimistic, as Slog had put it. He could afford to have some hope.

“Yeah. Yeah,” he said to Slog and Icepick. “You’re right. I think everything’s gonna be okay. It has to beat being here.”

He followed his leader up the ramp, but turned suddenly when a faint yet distinct noise could be heard from beyond the entrance to the hangar. Like his voice, Scowl’s hearing was exceptional. He waited for it to appear. Them. The Insecticons.

A few astroseconds later, they did, and the sight of the bugs with their carapaces gleaming in the light as if they were coated in an oily liquid and the chittering sounds they produced as they scuttled into the hangar like antroids flooding out of their nest forced Scowl to shiver.

He grimaced. “Oh, yes. Definitely better than being here.”

Garrus-9 – Corridors

“C’mon, Ripper! I wasn't gonna hurt them. Well, not too bad,” Sinnertwin replied as he caught up to his teammate. Rippersnapper just chuckled as the shark monster trudged along down the corridor leading to the hangar. Blot mumbled something, as well, as he followed close behind.

“I’m not worried about you hurting them, Sinner,” the terrorist began to say. “I’m worried about Hun-Grrr’s reaction to you hurting them too soon. Lord Scorponok must have plans for those slaggin’ bots if they’re still functioning. I’d rather not us get in the way of that. Scorponok would likely take his aggressions out on our master again if we did anything stupid. No, we wait until those ‘Bots are no longer useful. Then, hopefully, we get to eat them. Heh.”

Garrus-9 – Hangar Bay

Entering the hangar bay, Rippersnapper plodded over towards the shuttle craft that was designated as the Terrorcons’ transport. The shark beast ascended the ramp and transformed back into robot mode, taking a seat within the passenger cabin. The former actor looked around and saw that Cutthroat was already present, but there was no sign of Hun-Grrr. At least, not yet. The Terrorcon Commander must’ve taken a longer route to the hangar in an effort to keep the rest of the Technobots away from their leader, Scattershot, whom Hun-Grrr had last been seen carrying over one shoulder.

Rippersnapper then leaned back in his seat, letting out a deep sigh as he waited for their master to arrive and the shuttle to depart this fraggin’ prison.

Garrus 9 – Hangar Bay

Wildfly looked behind to see Slog and Scowl. Ah, fresh scrap for the mind!

Slog wrote:“Yes, I suppose one could if you looked behind yourself as well, Wildfly.”

"Me?! Look behind me? All I see is an ugly stump on legs!" Wildfly's maniacal laughter exploded. Anyone in the hangar could've heard him. It was hard not to.

Scowl wrote:“Nobody likes you, Wildfly. Leave them alone. And by the way, you left your personality component back in your cell. You really should go and get it.”

"As if! AHAHAHA!" The aerial monstercon spread his wings., "Imma go get that personality component right now!" He charged towards Scowl, doing a somersault over his shoulders and using his wings to pull himself onto a piggyback around Scowl's back. Giving the saboteur a quick, light jab on the shoulder, he yelled loudly, "RUN SCOWL RUN!"

He sprang off Scowl's back and landed on his back to the floor. Ah, such fun it was! The joy of the situation made him forget everything about the pain from Monstructor. How exciting!

He hopped back up, jogging after the rest of his fellow Monstercons up the ramp as the clattering of Insecticons made its way to Wildfly's audio receptors. He turned his head and grinned as widely as he possibly could. This is gonna be GOOD!

Hanger Bay



Nosecone's optics slowly came back online. He looked around what little he could. When he tried to move his body, pain shot through. With what little he could move, he quickly realized he was tied down with maybe a millimeter of movement allowed. He then heard a strange voice but not the same one from his dream. After a moment of more pain as he barely moved his head, he seen a face he didn't quite recognize at first. It was an ugly face of a Con.

"Who are you? I am a bit out of it and barely can move. You aren't the same voice from my dream. Where am I at? I was apart of a much larger mech with a lousy name of Logicor. Please tell me I'm not being experimented on again."



Seawing walked up to the shuttle where they had taken Nosecone. He then saw one of his fellow Seacons trying to get information from him. If this Autobot would give secrets to anyone, it would be Seawing.

"Tentakill, get away from my prisoner. If you wanted your own to mess with you should have picked one up when you had a chance. Anything he has to share will be with those who are worthy of such information."

Seawing turned to Nosecone and looked his prisoner in the face.

"Oh my dear Autobot, you haven't felt what our Lord Commander Scorponok has in mind for you and your Technobot friends. The secrets the traitorous scientist had built into you five shall be ours to use in order to crush you and the rest of the worthless Autobots. I'm not certain as to what will happen to you once we are done with our information gathering. It wouldn't surprise me the Terrorcons would want to eat you. They have a tendency to eat our enemies once it is deemed there is little worth to them anymore."

Nosecone would have shuttered if he could have moved. It seemed their trials at the hands of the Cons and the mad scientist had only begun. He did notice something the Seacon mention. It will be Scorponok who will get the information as if the scientist is either dead or no longer a part of the Cons.

Hangar Bay

Nosecone wrote:"Who are you? I am a bit out of it and barely can move. You aren't the same voice from my dream. Where am I at? I was apart of a much larger mech with a lousy name of Logicor. Please tell me I'm not being experimented on again."

"No, Autobot, you aren't being experimented on. I am aware that I am not the same voice - you seemed to be hallucinating. Perhaps a side effect of the combination process."

Tentakil flexed his tentacles and contracted them behind his back. "Listen, I have no means to hurt you. I just want to talk. You seem like a nice enough mech. Is there anything that you would like to hav-"

Rudely, Seawing interrupted Tentakil from his conversation.

Seawing wrote:"Tentakill, get away from my prisoner. If you wanted your own to mess with you should have picked one up when you had a chance. Anything he has to share will be with those who are worthy of such information."

Ugh. Seawing and his antics. Who the frag even cared if someone was worthy of information or not? "Seawing, ah, what is the need for such an uptight behaviour? Can you not see that I am merely conversing with this fellow right here? How rude."

Tentakil started to make his way out, but not before giving Seawing a quick jab with one of his tentacles. He made his way onto one of the shuttles and took a seat there. At least now he would hopefully be able to think for a moment.

Semper Tyrannis – Hangar

"I was. Which was strange. I don't know how familiar you are with the Monstructor reports and the various interviews that have been done with the six of them over the years, but their experience was....is....very much different. They all described being lost to this new creature that took their place. Becoming one with the other Technobots was nothing like that at all...for me. I can't speak for the others. I wonder if it's an effect that will vary from unit to unit."

Snaptrap’s optics narrowed slightly. Of course they had. Scattershot would take advantage of any opportunity. As their shuttle arrived aboard the Semper Tyrannis, he was swift to lift Lightspeed up once again and sling the smaller Technobot under his arm. The last thing they needed was for the Technobots to combine aboard their flag ship.

Carrying Lightspeed off and away toward the brig, Snaptrap supposed that they’d be kept in separate cells now. At least until Lord Scorponok deemed to experiment on them or whatever he would end up doing to replicate the process. It was just as well. They could dissect Autobots instead of their own. His optics trailed to Overbite.

“You are opposed to undergoing the process, Overbite?”

Garrus 9 – Hangar Bay

"It's gotten us all this far, heh," he said, agreeably. "And I'm sure you'll get your shot. Who knows? You might already be in the clear and in line for a commendation for what you did to help resolve our little gestalt mess back there. Time will tell, I suppose."

Joining the Decepticons. That was what this was leading up to. Umbra felt something in her fuel pump twist unpleasantly. Maybe she should have been one from the outset. Mechs like Icepick…if there were more like him amongst their number then…surely, it wouldn’t be so bad? She cast a look back as more of the Monstercons – Icepick’s friends – filed in behind them. Maybe. But she was still worried about the Autobots that she’d left behind. Once she had a private moment, maybe she would radio them.

Her somewhat upbeat mood was soured immediately by the sight of Insecticon hordes incoming. They knew. They would know…so much about her situation. It was Stormwrecker that brought her fear addled mind back to reality.

“Y-Yeah, let’s hurry,” she muttered, turning away and climbing into the shuttle.

Slog nodded in agreement, glancing at Wildfly and Scowl with a bit of bemusement. Well, that was just like Wildfly, wasn’t it? Climbing onto the shuttle behind Icepick, he found a nice section of wall and slumped to the floor, more than a little drained after that whole experience. Even as the other Monstercons got aboard, someone shut the shuttle door. Probably eager not to share the company of the insecticons.

“Are the Insecticons really that unpleasant?” Slog mused aloud, bracing himself as the shuttle shook as it took off.

Shuttle in Route to Semper Tyrannis

Overbite had let Strafe fall to the ground of the shuttle. He didn't fill the shuttle take off. He wasn't aware of the different individuals walking around. The Technobot's optics were shut tight. He had subconsciously backed himself into a wall, laid down on the floor all curled up.

Inside his mind, he was too confused to panic. He could feel some memories beginning to fade. His... memories... going... going... Oh, no, wait. Not his. Those were... Why were Scattershot's thoughts... or Afterburner's...? Logicor. That's it. His were still here...

"Scattershot... fzzle... Logic... Enero... Oh-oh-oh-... -beeeey..." His thoughts he tried to get out he mumbled like so.

-

Hanger Bay of Semper Tyrannis

Lightspeed wrote:"I was. Which was strange. I don't know how familiar you are with the Monstructor reports and the various interviews that have been done with the six of them over the years, but their experience was....is....very much different. They all described being lost to this new creature that took their place. Becoming one with the other Technobots was nothing like that at all...for me. I can't speak for the others. I wonder if it's an effect that will vary from unit to unit."

Losing himself to a new creature. Overbite wasn't sure how he felt about this. He worked well with himself only, with his own unit when he knew it was better. Overbite took a moment to think about it. Maybe... it would be best if they were all shut all.

He thought again about at least finding some sort of common ground with all of them. What were his team trained for? The hunt. Under the sea. If a gesalt with this crew were to be stable and work, maybe incorporating these into the form wouldn't be a bad idea.

Snaptrap wrote:“You are opposed to undergoing the process, Overbite?”

He immediately looked up at his leader. Overbite was... almost surprised that Snaptrap was curious about his opinion. However, he remembered the years years they had worked together. Even if his opinion wasn't taken into account, somewhere in Overbite's spark appreciated the gesture.

"I... have some concerns with merging all six of us. We all very much different... the Technobot I found was in worse shape than that one. I don't know the process, but if we were to find some uniting link between all of us that overrides everything that is conflicting, we may form a formidable hunter."

One last thing he wasn't even going to add. Keep Nautilator out. His incompetence would mess the entire process up.

Shuttle en route to Semper Tyrannis

Tentakil heard Overbite drop his Technobot onto the floor. The Technobot was rambling, much like Nosecone was, but this time it was less coherent and more just mumble-jumble. The Seacon got up and went over to the struggling 'bot. He too looked like he was experiencing some sort of leftover hallucinations from the combined mind.

He bent down and placed his hand on the curled up Technobot. What was this one's name again? Stryke... no, Strum... Strafe! Yes, that's what it was. Tentakil spoke very gently, "It's okay, Strafe, it's going to be all over soon. Try to relax." Tentakil put on his best friendly face, his amber optics glowing dimly. "I'm here to help."


Garrus 9 - Hangar

Kickback shifted through his horde of Insecticlones. The others were somewhere amongst the crowd too, but he chose to not pay much attention. He drove his share of the clones towards one of the shuttles, just in time before they took off.


Garrus 9 - Corridors

Wheelie trudged along behind the remainder of the Autobots. "Agh, my servos are feeling hot, not quite unlike a drought!" The survivalist muttered under his breath. He looked around, trying to see if there was any way that he could make a distraction. Alas, nothing was to be found. Decepticons everywhere. He followed in the shadow of a larger Autobot to remain hidden.

Corridors - Garrus 9

Pointblank felt useless. He could make trouble for the Decepticons. It would certainly hasten the inevitable. Then he saw Brainstorm quickly working to repair one of the Technobots, and decided against it.

Wheelie wrote:"Agh, my servos are feeling hot, not quite unlike a drought!"

Pointblank turned to see the much smaller Autobot hiding in his shadow. He reassuringly put a hand on Wheelie's.

"Hang in there. We'll get out of this."

It wasn't a lie. They were no doubt getting out of this. Just as scrap metal and dead weight. Even if the other Autobots didn't realize it, their chances of survival were low.

He kept an optic on Wheelie and made his way over to where Brainstorm, Whirl, and Roadbuster were working to patch up the Technobot. Pointblank looked over the fallen mech. His injuries were severe. However, it was likely that he'd live, at least until Scorponok was done with him and his team.

"Any chance I can lend a servo?"

Pointblank took up a guarding position and watched the assembled Decepticons.



Corridors - Elsewhere in Garrus-9

Sinnertwin noticed Blot trudging behind. He was mumbling something about...something. Honestly, Sinnertwin really didn't care. He wanted to destroy something to celebrate their victory here and Blot was ruining the mood.

He turned his attention away from his disgusting smelling teammate.

Rippersnapper wrote:“I’m worried about Hun-Grrr’s reaction to you hurting them too soon...Scorponok would likely take his aggressions out on our master again if we did anything stupid. No, we wait until those ‘Bots are no longer useful. Then, hopefully, we get to eat them. Heh.”

Rippersnapper had a point. As much as Sinnertwin hated it -and he did hate it- he had to acknowledge that that Ripper had a good point.

"Hnph. Let's hope that time is close. I'm bored."

He followed Ripper onto the shuttle, transforming to bot mode and finding a seat. "Let's get off this rock."

Semper Tyrannis - Med Bay

Scorponok’s face remained unchanged as he listened to Overlord talk. Internally though, he was seething. Killing this idiot right here and now would spare him of great deal of trouble later. And yet he could not deny the usefulness of someone as powerful as the madmech before him. Then again, giving in even little trust to madmechs hadn’t exactly gone the way he had planned as of late.

"I have a nasty little habit of doing exactly that, regardless of the circumstances," the Phase Sixer quipped back. "I see that the Omega Guardian survived you, also. Unless you're towing him behind the Tyrannis as we speak. Is he here? I'd love to chat."

”The Guardian barely escaped with his life,” Scorponok illuminated Overlord on Omega Supreme’s fate while observing his reaction to the news. Clearly it had invigorated the phase sixer. He wanted a rematch. Of course he did. ”Scourge will find him. Perhaps you will have yet an another opportunity to fight him.”

"On that....we are in agreement. Primus only knows how much time it would have taken me to recuperate, had you simply left me marooned back on that rock. And I'm no fan of being in debt to any of my colleagues. So....the little walking-talking camera was correct when he said I'd feel compelled to owe you a boon for the efforts of your associates here to piece me back together again," Overlord stretched out a cyberskeletal hand, examining it idly. "So, my bargain is this--we accelerate and finish this little recuperative nightmare and in return I will set aside my own personal enjoyments for a while and assist you in accomplishing some goal. Megatron no doubt has given you a list longer than this ship. We find one that I am uniquely capable of completing and get it done. After that? I return to doing what I was made to do."

”As if you had any other credible choice.” Scorponok stated darkly and rose to his full height, staring down the wounded warior before him. ”I am not going to micromanage you. However, you will heed my orders. You will respect the lives of my Decepticons. Cause any harm to them and our deal is off and you will find yourself on the very top of Tarn’s list.”

Having said that, Scorponok reached past Spinister and and tore a small part of Overlord’s ribcage off for later study. It was a rare opportunity to get his claws on a damaged phase sixer and he was not about to let Overlord go without learning something new. How ununtrium reacted towards superheated plasma of an Omega Sentinel’s main armament wasn’t exactly well studied case after all. Nor was the ununtrium’s properties itself. Megatron had kept the details of his superwarrior project secret even from the Conclave. Scorponok wanted to know more. There had to be reason why the process hadn’t been repeated in hundreds of thousands of vorns. Though Rossum’s disappearance around the same time Overlord had been created couldn’t have been a coincidence.

Turning to leave, Scorponok addressed Overlord one last time, only making optical contact from the corner of his visor with his back turned towards his prey, ”That is, if you survive me first.”

That being said, Scorponok marched out of the med bay, with the words ”Fix him up,” being the last words he spoke before the doors shut behind him.

Garrus-9 - Corridors

”Aww, easy up on Snaps doc.” Apeface blurted out as he reached the other Horrorcon who had stopped by Synapse, ”He is such a gentle soul. The prospect of therapy terrifies him, doesn’t it?”

The simian jester gave his buddy a friendly pat on the back, winking. ”I mean, it is one sure way to fire off his PTSD for months and I am the one who has to deal with it.”

Before Synapse or Snapdragon had a proper chance to reply back though, Apeface gestured everyone to fall silent. >>”I heard something above us.”<<

”There!” Apeface shouted out suddenly and bounced towards the ceiling, smashing his way through it and into someone. Someone who had tried to sneak away from them.

”Gotcha, ya sneak!” The brutish triplechanger cheered as he fell back to the floor with a knocked out Autobot in his tight grasp. ”Thought he’d get away, heh. Can’t blame him I guess. Skyhammer is nothing but persistent, eh?”

Semper Tyrannis – Medical Bay

”I am not going to micromanage you. However, you will heed my orders. You will respect the lives of my Decepticons. Cause any harm to them and our deal is off and you will find yourself on the very top of Tarn’s list.”

Firewire had kept her reactions internalized for the most part during Scorponok and Overlord’s little discussion. But that last tidbit made her choke up and look at Scorponok with optics that were immensely grateful. Not that she doubted that he cared for his troops, but she was so scared of Overlord it hurt. This was such a relief…!

Keeping out of his way as he tore off a piece from Overlord, Firewire watched Lord Scorponok leave with admiration and immense respect.

”Fix him up,” being the last words he spoke before the doors shut behind him.

The doors shut with a sound that was almost final. Part of her wanted to plead with him to not leave her alone with this madmech, but she had her job to do. Time to suck it up. Pretend Overlord was Hun-Grr. That would help. Hun-Grr was pretty depraved too, but no one she hadn’t seen to before. Well, not without her fair share of dents and scratches maybe...but yeah. That’s all she had to do.

“Yessir,” Firewire muttered in response to Scorponok even though he had long since left the room, turning her attention back to Overlord with a weighty sigh. Diving back in, she glanced to Reflector. “Could you grab me some scrap metal so I can patch up what Lord Scorponok took, ’Flector?”

Garrus 9 - Corridors

Wheelie wrote:"Hang in there. We'll get out of this."

The larger red 'bot gave Wheelie a sense of relief. "You sure do reassure, friendly Pointblank. I do hope the feelings are pure, to be quite frank!" As the larger 'bot went over to the wounded Technobot, Wheelie followed, but not before spotting a Decepticon far off. He saw him take down Skyhammer onto the floor. This gave Wheelie an idea.

After having looked around, Wheelie found a few ordinary chunks that he could use his slingshot for. He quickly tapped Pointblank on the shoulder. "I will be right back, wait for me! Wheelie has something for which he must see!" The jovial survivalist quickly disappeared into the shadows, out of sight for anyone.

From the dark side, he quickly drew his slingshot, aimed at the wall, figuring out where the best place to ricochet off would be. After having found a suitable spot, Wheelie aimed and fired a small stone, which should have bounced off from Snapdragon's direction just right enough to hit Apeface in the head, provided he didn't move much. Wheelie seized the day and quickly hid his slingshot and discarded the remainder of his makeshift ammunition. He quickly moved through the shadows and came stood beside Pointblank again. He gestured Pointblank to keep quiet and not tell anyone of his mysterious, short disappearance.

((OOC: Edited because the formatting was fighting me))

Garrus-9 – Hangar Bay

Scowl ascended the ramp, his apprehension fading now that his brothers shared a collective positivity (a cautious positivity, but nevertheless) to the future they were going towards. Their future. Unpredictable were the times ahead, as he’d spent a significant portion of his life ruled by predictability and repetition that comprised the essence of imprisonment, but with his fellow Monstercons by his side, Scowl allowed his hope to burn a little brighter, wielding it in the darkness that lay in front of him – washing it away to show that he was prepared and unafraid.

Wildfly wrote:“Imma go get that personality component right now!”

Scowl grinned. “Not as dense as you look, are you?”

Catching Scowl off guard, Wildfly somersaulted over the Monstercon – cleanly, too, the surprisingly acrobatic smart aft – turned, then leapt onto his back, went crazy for a few astroseconds – “RUN SCOWL RUN!” – and finally jumped off, using him like a springboard. Scowl stumbled, quickly regained his balance, and laughed. Classic Wildfly. You had to love him.

“I’ll get you for that, Wildfly! Watch yourself!” he said teasingly.

Scowl entered the shuttle, the remnants of his laugh escaping through his smile. Among the Decepticons having also boarded the craft, he found a space big enough for him to either stand or sit comfortably and claimed it. A mix of fatigue and relief swiftly visited him, compelling the saboteur to take a seat on the floor. He crossed his legs and sighed deeply.

Slog wrote:“Are the Insecticons really that unpleasant?” Slog mused aloud, bracing himself as the shuttle shook as it took off.

Even though Scowl’d never met the Insecticons – being locked up in the penitentiary sort of limited the amount of socialising you did, particularly on the outside world – he believed he was qualified to reply to Slog’s question.

Scowl’s short answer: “Yes, they are.”

Scowl’s long answer: “They really are. I mean, look at them. All creepy and greasy and weird noises. Kind of like Wildfly when he’s recharging.”

He would’ve stood and peeked out of the viewport situated in the wall above him to emphasise his point and to watch as their repugnant scuttling forms shrank to repugnant scuttling pin-sized forms with the shuttle’s take off...but he couldn’t be bothered. He was content sitting on the floor.

“What do you think of them, Slog? Did you talk to them or anything?”