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There it was. The hulking Seeker's crude side finally emerged. Starscream figured he could manipulate Feedback into doing what he wanted, due to the Seeker's reverence of him, and maybe even Vertigo to an extent, but he knew he had to be careful with Lock On, because not only was the huge Seeker stronger than Starscream, but Starscream couldn't forget that he wasn't as stupid as he looked. And without his ability to fly, Starscream was vulnerable in a physical confrontation. But to get this done, they all had to work together, and Starscream had to make sure they followed his commands. A united Decepticon crew would keep the Autobots from trying anything.

"So does that mean we're all in agreement?" he asked Lock On directly.

"Yes." Lock On simply said to Starscream.

--

Feedback nodded and Vertigo grinned slightly and nervously at the prospect of work with Autobots. "Of course, Commander." He finally said as confident sounding as he always was, Vertigo was always confident... Sounding.

"Alright then." Starscream said. "Let's get off this dirt ball."

Ironhide was still skeptical, but lowered his blaster.

"So now what?" he asked. "Do you know how to rig up a distress call?"

Starscream just looked back at Feedback, a questioning look on his face.

Back in her hiding spot, Starfire wasn't sure what was going on, but Ironhide didn't give a signal either way, so she stayed where she was.

Feedback was hesitant to approach the aft of The Lollipop, being that it was occupied by gun wielding Autobot's.

Carefully he began moving towards the wreckage, optic on Ironhide as he couldn't see Starfire or Pipes.

"Not sure how long this will take." He said. "Depends on howuch was damaged... Vertigo, you are technically inclined... Come on."

To be honest Feedback felt more comfortable having a Decepticon with him. And when Vertigo began to follow him wordlessly, his confidence in the situation went up a bit.

"You... Autobot." Feedback muttered gesturing to Ironhide. "Any of you know your way around a comm unit?"

"I don't know what ya goin' to find in there." Ironhide said. "That's the shuttle's rear section. Not much gear in there. We should scavenge the front half. If there's anythin' left of it."

Inside, Starfire stayed in her spot, not sure of what was going on. It looked like the 'Cons wanted to come into the wreckage. She kept her optics on Ironhide, waiting for a signal.

Feedback overly dramatically sighed and slumped his shoulders.

"Ground vehicles..." He grumbled before looking at Ironhide. "Since obviously you have no clue how aircraft communication works.... we have various components of communication gear all over."

--

"Cameras go in front." Vertigo said absently as he looked at his datapad. "Comms antenna in the back."

---

"Easier to manage the wiring since forward looking cameras have to be in front." Feedback added, considerably less sarcastically than he did a moment ago. "Shuttle's have the same basic layout. I suppose we could work without those components though."

"Oh, well excuuuuuuuse me." Ironhide said with heavy sarcasm. "By all means, go ahead."

He then gave an exaggerated bow and turned toward the wreckage.

"Stand down, Starfire." he said. "These dirty birds are going to save us all."

Starfire put her rifle on safety and placed it back in its place on her back. But she kept a hand on her blaster anyway as she watched Ironhide walk in. As she looked at his face, she could have sworn if he had eyeballs like a human, he would be rolling them.

Hidden Perch on nearby Mountaintop

When the Decepticon shuttle first crashed on this desolate rock, Laserbeak had been knocked unconscious for a cycle or two. Eventually, the red condor awoke and slowly crawled out of the wreckage of the front end, managing to fly up to his current perch close to the summit of a nearby martian mountain. He was banged up a bit but still functional enough to maintain surveillance of what Starscream and his wayward seekers were doing just as he had been instructed by Lord Razorclaw. Things had escalated quickly when fighting broke out between the seekers and a group of Autobots who had somehow managed to bounce onto the shuttle. Now, things seemed to have calmed down as a truce had been called in an attempt to work together in order to get off this red planet. Unfortunately, things weren’t going well in that department, either.

Deciding to take matters into his own claws, Laserbeak opened a private communications channel directly to Soundwave. Ordinarily, trying to send a message over a comm link from one planet to another would be near impossible without something to boost the signal. Of course, Laserbeak was not ordinary and Soundwave was more than capable of “hearing” one of his own cassettes wherever they were. Wasting no further time, the red condor directed his signal into the crimson skies above and towards Sol-3:

>>”Soundwave, this is Laserbeak. Do you read me? I’m currently on Sol-4. Starscream and his seekers crashed here shortly after they left the Thanatos. There is a small group of Autobots here, as well, lead by Ironhide. We need extraction ASAP. Initiating distress beacon now.”<<

Feedback felt like twitching. Well mentally he was. "I guess none if you Autobots know a thing about comms systems." He said aiming his gun at the shuttle and firing at in.


---

Vertigo jumped when Feedback fired at the ship, as he was not expecting it. Lock On, however, looked unphazed.

---

As the smoke cleared from the hole in the shuttle's hull, Feedback took hold of the torn metal and pulled. The shot had not penetrated the shuttles armor, but made enough of a hole to get a grip on it.

"Give me hand, Vertigo." He murtered pulling back enough metal for Certain to have room to hold as well.

Wordlessly Vertigo complied and the two opened the hull exposing the shuttle's wiring.

Shining a light in, Feedback studied the mess for a moment. "We need a power supply." Loud enough for everyone to hear.

---

Vertigo looked into the hull. The damage was minimal as far as the wiring was concerned. He didn't see too much burnt or damage. "Hey Autobots!" He yelled over to Starfire and Ironhide. "Is there a backup power supply in workable shape in mess inside?"

Without answering the 'Con, Ironhide turned to Starfire and widened his optics questioningly.

"How the hell should I know?" the fembot said, shrugging.

"Just go look so that bucket o' bolts shuts up." Ironhide said with exasperation. "I really want to get off this dirt ball as soon as possible."

Starfire didn't say anything, just started to the other end of the wreckage. The Lollipop broke apart on impact right along the seam where the cargo bay met the engine room, so she hoped some of the electrical equipment ended up on this side of the split. After a few moments of knowing where to look, she found it. The back up power supply, a battery pack that was ready to be activated in case the primary failed.

"Got it!" she said, pulling the large box out of the rubble. "Looks like it's not damaged."

"Good." Ironhide said curtly and turned around. "Hey bird'Con! We found a battery!"

As he said it, Starfire walked past him, holding the battery pack out to Feedback.

Starscream just stood off to the side, observing the events, calculating how he can turn things to his advantage if this scraplet-brained plan actually worked. He knew Feedback had some talent with communication equipment, but this was laughable. The shuttle was a wreck, there was no way this could work.

Feedback eyed the Autobot handing him the battery backup a bit suspiciously. With only the slightest dim of optics he accepted it with a nod. Starscream had said to work with them, he wouldn't be the one to break that uneasy truce.

"Oh perfect..." He muttered as he looked over the battery. Though not one to say thank you, his voice was definitely sounded pleased at the state of the power supply, 'oh perfect' would have to do in place of 'thank you'. "Vertigo, pull back the hull more." He said, and as the other seeker complied, he put his light in and looked around. "Frag. Autobot..." He said to Starfire. "You're small, can you wiggle in there
a bit more and see if you can find the transponder... or the amplifier?"

He looked at the smaller Autobot, then realized she may not know what one looked like. "They look very similar and either will do. Small..." He held his hands a bit apart to roughly what the size of a transponder or amplifier would be. "Rectangular... might have a display on the front.. wouldn't be on though. Usually racked but it may have come loose in the crash..."

Starfire looked at Feedback like the 'Con had just grown 2 more heads. She then turned to Ironhide who was standing by the entrance. He slowly nodded and patted his blaster hanging on his hip with one hand. She grimaced and turned back to Feedback.

"Okay, let's get this over with." she said and reached into the exposed wall of the shuttle, grabbing a metal beam that ran from the outer wall to the inner wall. All the electrical stuff was in between. She could barely fit, but she managed to pull herself in by grabbing another of the metal beams.

"Okay, I see it!" she said loudly. "It doesn't seem to be connected to anything! Is that good or bad?"

Starscream walked over to Ironhide.

"You know, that was unnecessary. She's not going to be hurt. It's time to trust each other, that's the only way we can get out of here." he said.

"Yer a 'Con." Ironhide stated matter-of-factly. "Yer all 'Cons. The day I lower my guard around you is the day my spark beats its last pulse. So just stay to yerself an' don't make sudden moves. Once this is done, we go our separate ways. Ya call yer fellow 'Cons an' we'll call our own. Then we'll see what happens."

"I'm glad you said that." Starscream said, his voice like oil, his face in a smirk. "I want to go with you when your buddies come to get you."

"What?! Do ya have some wires loose or somethin'?"

"Keep it down!" Starscream said, his jaw clenched. He then looked over at Lock On and Vertigo to see if they heard.

"Ooo look... She's useful." Feedback said dryly as Starfire slipped into the tight space.

--

Rodimus Prime wrote:
"Okay, I see it!" she said loudly. "It doesn't seem to be connected to anything! Is that good or bad?"

"Careful, she may just hold the key to getting out of here." Vertigo warned Feedback as Starfire called back to them.

--+

Feedback let out an exasperated sound before answering Starfire.

"Hard to tell." He called back."They're usually pretty sturdy, though."

--

Lock On was only half paying attention to what was going on. Technical stuff went right over his head. Though he did keep an optic on Ironhide and Starscream out of distrust..

"Okay, well, I got it." Starfire said, a bit annoyed. "Pull me back out!" she said and wiggled her feet.

Starscream kept his optics on Lock On and Vertigo for a long moment, then turned back to Ironhide.

"Listen." he said with a whisper. "You don't need to know the details, but with the way things are, I'm better off away from the Decepticons, especially the high command. Since Megatron's...malfunction, the ones running the show have been anything but productive. They're not focused on the Decepticon cause, nor do they know how to properly make any plans that prepares us for the future. All they care about is their own little squabbles and making sure they have a hold on the reigns among their own little clique. They don't accept anyone's view who might have a different take on things. So-"

"That's enough." Ironhide said with a low voice, and held up a hand. "Starscream, I don't care what your problem is with the 'Cons who run the show right now. What I do know is that you have been nothin' but a rust spot for the Autobots ever since Megatron started the Decepticons. So forget about comin' with us. I'm not goin' to be a-"

"Fine!" Starscream cut him off with clenched teeth. "Take me as a prisoner if you have to, but when your friends show up, I want to be on that Autobot transport. I do not want to go back to the Decepticons, and I sure as hell don't want to stay here!"

Ironhide didn't answer. He thought about it for a few moments. Having Starscream as a prisoner would be a morale boost for the Autobots, even though they technically won the last fight against the 'Cons. Well, the last fight Ironhide was in anyway. The flip side would be that Starscream would be on an Autobot ship.

"We'll see." he finally said. "Depends on what happens with the others. We don't even know if we can get a signal off this dirt ball."

"Well, I guess that's all I can a-"

"But, prisoner means restraints. And a jail cell!"

Starscream didn't respond to that, just stared at Ironhide for a moment. It was his turn to contemplate things. Ironhide didn't wait for his answer, he walked over to where the 'Cons were standing.

"So what's the progress?" he asked Feedback, as he tried to look into the small space Starfire crawled into.

Private Communication from Soundwave to Laserbeak

>>”Understood Laserbeak, gathering the resources now. Reinforcements will be inbound momentarily.<<

Feedback grabbed Starfire by the ankles and carefully removed her from the shuttle's hull. "Oh perfect...." He said when he saw what she had procured. "The amplifier. Should be just strong enough to get a message to the Thanatos... And probably Earth."

He looked at the smaller Autobot for a moment then over to Starscream. Habit would have him send the message with encryption on secured Decepticon channels... But would the Cons come? Of course if he didn't send it secured would mean they potentially become Autobot prisoners.

He slumped a little bit and took the amplifier from Starfire. At the moment a distress message on all frequencies seemed like the smartest idea, even though it wouldn't be secure.

"Okay, so now what?" Starfire asked.

"Now we will send a message out to everyone just like we agreed." Ironhide said. "Ya 'Cons can go back where ya came from, we will go with the Autobots. Send a mayday message to Earth first, then ya can do whatever ya want with that thing. An' no funny business."

Ironhide then put a hand on the butt of his blaster hanging on his hip to put emphasis on the last sentence. Both Starfire and Starscream tensed up. Things had gone smoothly so far. Starfire readied herself in case things went bad.

"Now why would I ever want to irritate you lovely Autobots?" Feedback asked Ironhide with much sarcasm.

Despite that, he had work to do. First he had to get power to the amplifier, easy enough, he hooked up the back up power supply to it and then hooked both up to the antenna in the shuttle.

Using his own onboard transmitters, the electronic warfare specialist tuned the amplifier to his frequency and sent out a simple distress message on all Cybertronian frequencies, specifically avoiding human ones.

>>"This is Decepticon Shuttle Delta-372."<< He said giving out the shuttle's official designation. >>"We have crashed on the fourth planet of the Solar System with Autobot stowaways. Please assist. Exact coordinates on subfrequency 019."<<

He set the message to repeat as long as he was close enough to the amplifier and looked up to the sky. "It's going out over all frequencies, which includes Autobots. Someone is bound to pick up sooner than not. Will they believe it's a genuine distress signal? That I can't say. But at least it is on Decepticon secured channels."

Ironhide couldn't help a condescending expression, especially considering the sarcastic comment Feedback had just made.

"Finally we can get outta here." he said, looking at Feedback. "If ya know what yer doin', that is."

Starscream looked up at the sky. He said nothing, but his thoughts were spoken out loud by Starfire.

"Let's hope the Autobots get here first." she said. "There's no way the 'Cons are taking me prisoner, and I didn't picture my spark being extinguished on this worthless dirt ball."

"Nah, I think the 'Cons will play nice if they get here first." Ironhide said and drew his blaster from his hip. With a swift motion he stepped behind Starscream, both to shield himself in case the other Seekers got any ideas, and to put the blaster to the totally surprised Starscream's head. "Or else hot shot air commander here loses his head."

Starfire was caught off guard as well, but she recovered quickly, pulling her rifle off her back, but not pointing it at the Seekers. Not unless they gave her a reason to. She stepped closer to Ironhide and Starscream, but not too close, in case Starscream decided to do something stupid. She then waited to see if the 'Cons made a move.

"Now, we're all gonna stay just like this until someone else shows up." Ironhide said. "And if the Autobots get here first, yer fearless leader here's comin' with us. If yer fellow scrapheaps make it here first, this is our insurance. I doubt they would risk losin' one of the finest 'Con warriors that ever lived."

The sarcasm of the last sentence made Starfire smirk slightly and Starscream sneer. But inside he was overjoyed. He might make it out of this mess in one piece after all, and not even end up in a Decepticon jail cell.

"Oh come on!" Feedback said irritated with Ironhide's attitude. "I was built for it."

But all three went stone serious when Ironhide's gun went into Starscream back. Lock On started drawing his gun but Vertigo stopped him by placing his hand on his friend's weapon and shaking his head.

"I'm glad we got that sorted out." Ironhide said with a slight smirk.

Starfire didn't move and Starscream made facial expressions like he was very upset. But he knew Ironhide wouldn't shoot him in the back so he wasn't worried. Or would he?

"Alright... I get you don't trust us, Ironhide..." Feedback began. "I wouldn't either given our track record, especially Starscream. But I don't know how long we are going to be waiting, so could we all agree to not point guns at each other?"

"Oh I'm sure Starscream doesn't mind." Ironhide said with a smirk.

Starfire, with her rifle still pointed to the ground, smiled as well. She then got a serious look on her face and looked at Vertigo.

"Let me ask you this: why are you on the Decepticons' side?" she asked. "A bot with your talents could go far in the Autobot ranks." she looked at both Vertigo and Feedback as she said that, but ignored Lock On. The Autobots weren't interested in mindless brutes.

Vertigo just stared in disbelief at Starfire after she asked her question. It took him a bit to answer her.

"Because I am a criminal, Autobot." He finally answered. "Not convicted.. no, I spy on people and sell the information... When I am being nice, blackmail when I am not. What more, I like doing that."

He shook his head slightly. "Not everyone fits in the pretty little mold the Autobots have in mind for the universe." He muttered. "Optimus Prime can keep his platitudes and peace and love. I'm here to make you miserable."

--

Feedback let out an audible sigh and grumbled "you don't even want to go there..."

"Okay." Starfire replied with a smile. "I just thought I'd take a shot. But if you want to be a criminal, that's fine. I will have no problem treating you like one."

"What's criminal is having to wait this long for a response." Ironhide grumbled. "Hey 'Con, ya sure ya sent the right signal?"