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Repair Bay

Scavenger hadn't paid any attention to the exchange between Long Haul and Bonecrusher, he just wanted to get going with his assignment so he could impress Scrapper. His enthusiasm dropped, though, as soon as Motormaster's announcement came. Not just his enthusiasm, but his self-esteem as well. Even though Motormaster had called every Decepticon on the ship a "sorry lot", to Scavenger it still felt personal.

"Slag!", he said as he transformed back to his robot mode.

The fact that Starscream was the new leader hadn't even registered to Scavenger, he was just disappointed at being delayed.

No, we need to get started on Devastator!

It was then that an idea popped into Scavenger's head. He knew the other Constructicons wanted to get this project going just as much as he did. Surely they'd want to get it started soon, as soon as possible.

Scavenger walked over to Scrapper, who was still near Hook. He went in close to the Constructicon leader, hoping no other audio sensors would hear him.

"Scrapper, would you still like me to look for a secure place? I'm sure no one will notice if I'm not at the briefing."

Medbay

Scrapper certainly didn't hold out much hope of Scavenger finding anything, not on a ship like this. With most of the Decepticons on the planet now crammed into the vessel intended for a single team, even getting basic privacy would be difficult. But still, there was a chance the sensor expert might spot something of use, and in any case, getting a little room to talk with Hook and Mixmaster would help lay out the project and figure out the entire logistics of it, and what the current situation would mean for it.

But this was not to be, as Motormasters announcement comes across the comms. Scrapper swallows a curse, and turns to the team. "No, Scavenger, we can't get away with that kind of thing right now. Starscream and the others would probably miss you, but not Motormaster or Soundwave. We can't be seen to be doing anything suspicious, not now, not when we've just gotten back on our feet. We'll just head along to this, and hope Starscream doesn't ramble on for too long. Then, we'll get back to the project."

Keeping his commanding tone as best he could, Scrapper led them towards the Hangar. "Mixmaster, would you be able to recycle my faceplate into a fresh one? I'm tired of walking about with a hole in my face."

Mixmaster was doing everything in his power to contain his excitement. The more he thought about the designs he had seen, the more his circuits tingled. If they pulled this off right, they might not only be the elite Decepticon team, but who was to say that Devastator could not rule over them all? Oh yes, excitement abounded.

Hearing Motormaster’s call for the Decepticons to assemble, Mixmaster gave a quick once over to the work he had finished on Ramplate’s knee joint and coverings before getting back to his feet. Everything looked satisfactory, but you never really knew until the subject got up and walked around. However it turned out, it would have to do. The Constructicon’s mind was racing with too many other things.

"That should do it, Rammer," he said.

The chemical engineer just wanted to get this meeting out of the way and get to work fabricating any materials they were going to need to ensure the combining process went smoothly.

"Sure-sure-sure thing, Scrapper, heheh. Have it by the end of the solar cycle."

Simple request, simple answer, he thought as he walked alongside Hook and Scrapper so that they could attend this little gathering. He had seen more than once how Motormaster treated his own little team of misfits. No need to draw that ire on himself for being late, especially now that the Stunticon leader appeared to be Starscream’s new, favored fool.

Corridors

Nightraven was taken completely by surprise to see Skywarp standing before her when she wound up on her aft. Staring directly up into the Seeker’s optics the femme paused before realizing he had extended his hand to help her up. Not wanting to upset the prankster Nightraven took hold of his out stretched hand and pulled herself up to her feet.

“It…it’s alright. I wasn’t paying much attention either.”

After a moment she realized that she hadn’t removed her hand from his and quickly withdrew it with an awkward smirk. At his discouraged comment Nightraven visibly cringed. She knew their previous encounter had been difficult for both of them, but it seemed that he was taking it much harder.

Shaking her head slightly, Nightraven took a hesitant look up at the Elite Seeker and let out a heavy sigh.

“Skywarp, I’m…I’m sorry.”

The slim femme gripped her left arm with her right hand and lowered her gaze to the floor.

“Everything just happened so quickly…first Megatron’s destruction and then from out of nowhere I’m told about…”

Her stare moved from the floor and traveled up his form until her optics met his and she finished her sentence.

“…how you feel.”

She shook her head and turned her back to him. It was then that Motormaster’s orders came booming through the ship wide PA system. Nightraven’s shoulders slumped low before she looked back to the teleporter.

“We better get to the hanger.”

Nightraven began to make her way back down the corridor hopefully with Skywarp in tow.

****

Darkride had made it back to, what he considered his personal chamber where he was settling in. Suddenly the announcement by the ship’s captain came through on the PA system. The interrogator sneered up at the ceiling just as he removed the torture device from pile of belongs he had brought onto to the ship.

The purple mech placed his device back down on the pile and made his way to the door. Upon his exit he quickly locked the door with a heavily encrypted code known only to him. That done Darkride’s lips curled into a devious smirk.

Moving down the corridor the interrogator placed his clawed hand at the wall and ran his razor sharp fingertips along it causing a nauseating high pitch screech to emanate from the hallway behind Nightraven and Skywarp.

As if the screech was not torture enough to the audio receptors Darkride then began to whistle a dark tune.

Nightraven hadn’t gotten very far when she heard the high pitched noise coming from somewhere behind them, followed then by the strange whistling. The femme looked over her shoulder at Skywarp and then down the corridor.

“What is that?”

Repair Bay

Breakdown gave Drag Strip an agitated sneer before the white and blue Stunticon responded back.

“Frag you, Drag!”

His agitation vanished, however when the former racer actually agreed with his idea on contacting Motormaster. Unfortunately that required one of them to actually do it, and Breakdown was certainly not going to volunteer for that task.

After a few minutes of waiting for a response Breakdown decided to chime in.

“Maybe…uh…Motormaste’s busy? Or maybe he’s thinkin’ up a way to dismember all of us.”

The Stunticon visibly trembled at the thought of their leader storming out of his quarters and into the repair bay where he proceeds to beat the ever-loving slag out of each of them. Before he could voice another opinion Motormaster’s voice boomed throughout the entire Repair Bay. Breakdown physically jumped at the sound of their Commander’s voice.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right, Drag. Let’s go…like right now!”

Repair Bay

"All right, Scrapper." Scavenger reluctantly replied as he followed behind the other Constructicons to the Hangar.

As much as Scavenger wanted to being work on Devastator, he didn't want to upset Scrapper either. He would rather work than stand around some briefing, especially if he had to listen to Starscream. Scavenger always felt even more inferior around Starscream than most of the other superior officers, and now that Starscream was apparently the leader, he would get to feel even lower. Now however, Scavenger did have some reason to feel positive.

Starscream can go on and on about how great he is, but when Devastator is finished, he'll be looking up to us. Heh, all of them will be looking up to us- and me, they'll tremble at Devastator's powerful left hand!

Corridors

Ramjet had finally found an object of his entertainment! It was an empty storage crate that was unfortunate enough to be found. Ramjet felt a smile curl around his faceplate as he lifted the crate with ease and placed it on the ground to where he could smash it for his own pleasure.

I don't think they'll mind if a crate turns up smashed, he thought, Unless its for stability!

He chuckled at his own thought as he began to raise his arms to smash it in completely, but was cut short when Motormaster yelled over the intercom yelling about a briefing in the Hanger Bay.

Ramjet looked down at his crate with displeasure at the thought that he couldn't destroy it. He crossed his arms and began to make his way to the corridor that led from the Medical Bay.

He then came to a Corridor populated with Skywarp, Darkride and Nightraven all squabbling about. He simply passed them and made his way to the corridor that the Decepticons might travel in, and leaned up against a wall to find someone to follow later.

Outside Repair Bay

Drag Strip had ignored Breakdown’s initial, profanity-laced response to his little dig. The yellow mech had clearly gotten to him. Of course, that wasn’t hard to do, especially with someone so paranoid. What made Drag react more was when he noticed the white and blue Stunticon jump out of his armor plating at the sound of Motormaster’s voice. The former racer covered his mouth piece to prevent himself from laughing out loud at the hilarious sight. Naturally, one or two quick cackles made it through his actuators before he managed to hold it all in.

“Whoa, easy there, Breakdown! You’re going to rupture a fuel line,” Drag Strip warned as he lowered his hand to his side, the urge to laugh subsiding. “We’ll be fine just as long as we’re not late.” Drag then took the lead towards the hangar, assuming his frightened comrade and the other Stunticons were following behind him.

The yellow racer wasn’t looking forward to hearing what Starscream had to say as it was sure to bore him since he had heard the grand standing all before from the Seeker Commander. Although, it would likely be better than the usual briefing from Motormaster where the threat of harm to Drag Strip and his teammates would be considerably higher. Of course, it wouldn't be long before the Stunticon leader wanted to meet with his unit in private in order to berate them, both verbally and physically, for not doing better in the previous battle. Even Drag shuddered at the mere thought of facing Motormaster after such a terrible defeat at the hands of some lowly Autobots. I’d rather listen to one of Screamer’s grandiose speeches, Drag thought as he continued onwards to the hangar.

Corridors

Skywarp was pleased when Nightraven took his hand and gently helped the femme to her feet with ease. At first she didn’t let go of him before noticing that their actuators were still interlaced and quickly pulling her hand away. ‘Warp didn’t take the reaction personally as he could tell that this moment was just as awkward for her as it was for him. He listened to her apologize to him, explaining how everything had happened so fast and then she was hit the knowledge of how he felt about her. The teleporter looked down to the floor as she turned her back to him.

“It’s not your fault, Nighty,” Skywarp assured here as he raised his optics up again, seeing only the back of her head. “I should have been honest with you from...” His words were cut short as Motormaster’s loud and obnoxious voice came across the ship's speakers, ordering everyone into the hangar. Sigh. "I guess we should get going,” the prankster agreed, not finishing his prior sentence. Instead, he just followed behind Nightraven as they made their way to the meeting place.

Skywarp was thinking of what to say next. He didn’t want to come off as being pushy or make Nighty feel even more uncomfortable as she clearly felt already. However, before he was able to get any more words out of his mouth, a high pitched screeching sound filled the corridor from behind them. It was like nails being driven into a mech’s audio receptors. That sound was then followed by a strange whistle. Nightraven looked back and asked what that dreadful noise was. The teleporter didn't even have to think about it. He already knew what it was and whom it was coming from.

“It’s Darkride,” Skywarp answered confidently without having to turn around and lay optics on the interrogator so soon after their last encounter. 'Warp simply kept his focus on Nightraven, hoping to maintain his composure. “He likes to torment others, especially me, with his intolerable behavior. Let’s just keep going before he catches up.” The teleporter quickened his pace, hoping the femme seeker would follow suit.

Looking over at her, ‘Warp felt that this would be as good a time as any to warn her about the resident torturer. “He’s very dangerous, Nighty. He hacked into my processor to find out how I felt about you, and he didn’t do it to help either one of us. He just did it to be spiteful, and he’s capable of far worse. Believe me, I know. So, please, stay away from him.”

Skywarp continued moving down the corridor in the direction of the hangar, hoping that Nightraven would heed his warning and avoid Darkride like a cosmic rust plague.

Repair Bay

Fluid burbled as the CR chamber emptied, sliding off Ramplate's grey hull slowly. Optics rebooting, the Decepticon noted that a lot of mechs had already started to leave the room as the panel to the chamber opened. His struts were still a bit stiff, but his knee was better, which was good. He couldn't feel any more diamond shards sticking into his vents either, which was better. As he stepped out, Ramplate couldn't help but wonder what the commotion was about. "Did I miss something?" he said as he left the repair bay.

Corridor
Walking down the hallway, the warrior noticed two seekers along with another mech, all of whom seemed to either be in a hurry or... He winced at Darkride's clawing of the wall. This place was broken down enough already, Ramplate didn't think that it did anyone any good to start carving up MORE of it. "So where's everyone going off to?" he called out, hoping one of the seekers would answer and not the darker transformer.

Outside Repair Bay

Breakdown shot the yellow racer an angry glare when he heard the cackles from his teammate. He let out a blasé huff and waved his hand at Drag Strip.

“Please. I was just caught off guard, that’s all. No reason to make a big deal of it.”

The white and blue Stunticon continued down to the hanger where the meeting was to take place and walked inside. It looked as if not everyone had arrived just yet which meant he could easily find a place where he could observe Starscream and the others but still be secluded enough so no one would be looking at him.

The thought of one of the other ‘Cons just looking at him caused him so physically shiver.

“Hey, Drag, you guys need me I’ll be…around.”

That said the Stunticon scout took off for his chosen location. I hope I’m not mentioned during this thing otherwise everyone’s optics will be on me. Oh, Primus please don’t let anyone start to stare.

Corridors

The high pitched screeching continued along with the eerie tune being whistled as both Nightraven and Skywarp made their way further down the corridor and closer to the hanger. She had stopped to take a look back but couldn’t quite make out the interrogator just yet. Not wanting to be left behind with the creepy mech, Nightraven turned back around and quickly trotted to make up the distance between her and the teleporter.

As Skywarp warned her about the resident torturer Nightraven looked over and locked optics with the Seeker.

“Seems to me that he probably was the butt of one of your pranks and now he’s taking things farther than you like.”

She flashed him an awkward grin before her attention moved back to the corridor ahead. A few moments of silence lapsed between the two before she stopped and spoke up again. The femme put a hand up in front of Skywarp before he could continue any further.

“Skywarp wait. I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. Uh...my response to you earlier in the Repair Bay...it was premature. Frankly, I thought everything I was told about how you felt was part of some kind of elaborate prank and so…I panicked."

The femme lowered her gaze to the floor and shrugged her shoulders as she continued.

“It…I wasn’t fair. And, well, that’s why I’m going to give you the opportunity to prove to me that there’s more to you then just the pranks and jokes.”

Nightraven raised her head so she was looking the Elite Seeker in the optics, a slight smile on her face.

Corridors

Ramjet watched as The Constructicons passed him by and decided that they were the best ones to follow, if any of his other Seeker partners were not going to pass him in any kind of short time.

He stood up from leaning against the wall and began to follow behind Scrapper to the hanger, so he may have someone to talk out of Starscream's leadership and perhaps he would have a partner in him.

"Hey, uh, Scrapper," Ramjet said to the back of Scrapper's head, "Sorry for messing up the repair bay, it was uncalled for..."

He was half lying, because he was sorry for damaging the repair bay and getting into trouble, but he wasn't sorry for attacking Dead-End, he really wanted to pound that one's faceplate in. And he would have enjoyed it too.

Soon, you'll learn how to follow me my green "friend" Ramjet thought.

Hangar

Long Haul had arrived in the hangar first and found himself a place to stand against the back wall before more Decepticons began filing in. He was eager to get this briefing over with as soon as possible so he and the other Constructicons could get back to work on Devastator. The quicker they were able to put that monstrosity together, the better it would be for them as well as for the entire empire. He wasn’t concerned with his part in the overall design. While Long Haul would’ve liked to be an arm or a leg so that he could smash or step on enemy mechs, Hook was right to place him where he did. The green transport had the necessary strength and stability in order to provide the lower support needed for the gestalt. Without him, Devastator would likely collapse under their combined mass.

With Long Haul’s thoughts keeping him occupied until the meeting started, he took little notice to anyone else around him. He simply waited for their new ‘leader’ to show himself.

******

Drag Strip entered the hangar with Breakdown in tow, who was now trying to shrug off his previous, frightened reaction to Motormaster’s voice. “Yeah, sure, caught off guard, got it,” Drag replied, allowing a low chuckle of disbelief to escape from his vocal processor. His paranoid comrade then made his way over to a secluded area where he wouldn’t draw any attention to himself. The former racer just shook his head as he thought about pointing at Breakdown during the meeting just to make him feel uncomfortable. Although, the blue and white mech would probably overreact the way Dead End had done and thus cause more problems for all of them.

Best to leave the anxious one alone for now, Drag Strip thought as he found a place to sit on a metal crate near the back of the hangar. He then waited for Starscream to arrive and begin the expected pretentious speech that would surely make everyone's optics role back into their cranial units.

Corridors

As Nightraven caught up to Skywarp’s quickened pace, she almost psychically called him out on the prank he had previously played on Darkride. She didn’t actually know for a fact that he had done anything to the interrogator. The femme simply assumed that was the case based on his reputation as a prankster. Of course, she had guessed correctly.

“Yeah, well…he more than deserved it,” Skywarp replied to Nightraven after a few moments of silence between them. He wanted to explain further about the prank he had played and why he had done it. But then Nighty stopped him, placing a hand up in front of his chest plate to prevent the teleporter from continuing onward. What she said next caught him completely off guard.

Nightraven admitted that her response earlier had been a bit impulsive and unfair to Skywarp. When she mentioned that she had thought the whole thing was one big prank, ‘Warp immediately understood. He didn’t blame her for thinking that since most ‘Cons looked at him as nothing more than just an immature jokester that couldn’t be taken seriously. Only Thundercracker seemed to understand him, which was one reason why the two seekers were such close friends. Still, it would be nice for others to know that there was more to him than all the pranks and jokes and now Nighty was offering him the opportunity to prove himself to her.

“Really?” Skywarp replied, his optics widening in excitement. He couldn’t believe that she was actually willing to give him a chance when her attention had always been directed towards ‘Cracker in the past. Those feelings likely still existed, but perhaps the teleporter’s willingness to help her and Hellion get out of the base down on Earth had made her realize that he wasn’t all bad. “I can’t believe it. I mean, that’s great! I’m willing to do whatever it takes, Nighty. Just give the word.”

Skywarp smiled back down at the object of his affection. He wasn’t sure where this would all lead, but at least he now had a real shot at winning her over. The only one who could ruin this for him was the teleporter, himself.

Corridor

"Thanks..." Scrapper managed the compliment to Mixmaster, even though he wasn't sure he wanted to wait that long for the faceplate. Not when he was one of the few authority figures on this ship of fools. His mood was still dark, and if anyone gave him any trouble, he would be sorely tempted to take that mechs faceplate as his own, without undoing the bolts first.

He barely responded to Ramjet, giving little more than a grunt as recognition that the rowdy seeker was even there. He didn't want any apologies, he wanted the Decepticons working as a cohesive force again. He picked up the pace to get into the hangar and get this over with...

Hangar

Scrapper, rather than head up to the front, fell into line beside Long Haul, and even leaning against the wall for a bit of rest. From here, he could see the rest of the Decepticons gathering. He was curious how they were going to react to all of this: Was there any concern for the Empires stability among the rank and file?

Hangar

Scavenger followed Scrapper and Long Haul's lead, going to the back of the hangar.

Walking through the Ultrax had given Scavenger time to think about his assignment, and he started to believe he would fail. Had this ship been run by the Constructicons, there was no way Scrapper or Hook would allow it to get to such a state of chaos and disrepair. There was debris all over the floors, wires and cables exposed or hanging from the walls and ceiling, even a few from the floor. All those power and communication signals would greatly interfere with Scavenger's shovel sensors.
Not only that, Scavenger only now realized he didnt' really know what to look for. He had no real experience in security or communications, and he worked best when ordered to find "a lot of this mineral" or, "none of this radiation", or even, "dig this many cybermeters until you hit something.". Though he knew it would make him look stupid in front of his teammates, Scavenger would have to ask Scrapper for some more specific intructions on what to look for if he was going to located a secure location to work on Devastator.

Though Scavenger tried to stay at attention, alert about what was happening around him, he just couldn't keep his mind focused.

Corridors

Ramjet walked behind Scrapper, who grunted at Ramjet's presence, and followed him into the Hanger where Motormaster said to go.

Hanger

Ramjet followed Scrapper to a wall and also leaned on it, he crossed his legs and arms, making himself look as personable as possible, he would need it to make himself the candidate for the throne.

C'mon my very green friend, you know you want yourself on that podium... Just show it! Ramjet thought while planning how to snag leadership for himself.

"You know, I thought you might be the best man for the job of leading the Empire," Ramjet tried his best to flatter Scrapper, "You'd make this place look as good as Maccadam's Oil is delicious if you were in charge."

His motive was simple, make Scrapper think that Ramjet was an advocate of him, so he would go around and begin to think of himself as better than the new leader and try to take the throne, and that is when Ramjet would strike...

Ultrax--Hangar

Mixmaster had nodded as Scrapper offered his brief acknowledgement of gratitude, not that Mixmaster was the type who sought after such things, and they all went about their way, filing in to position in the hangar. The other Constructicons had chosen a place near the back, keeping themselves out of the sight and hopefully out of the crosshairs of the plethora of volatile individuals who roamed these halls.

Case in point....

Mixmaster took another tentative step away, distancing himself just a little bit more from Ramjet as he approached to talk to Scrapper. Ramjet was the very definition of volatile.

And so it begins, Mixmaster thought, as Ramjet started speaking to Scrapper, even though he couldn't hear what exactly was being said, he suspected it wasn't anything that would benefit the rest of the Constructicons in the long terms. Seekers only really looked after other Seekers. And even that was pretty debateable at times.

"I see this whole thing going real well," Mixmaster mumbled sarcastically. Mixmaster didn't particularly object to Starscream's leadership any more than he had of Megatron's. They were both considerably more powerful than him. He would follow either of them, and several more besides, so long as it meant he could keep doing his work with the other Constructicons.

Repair Bay

Hook let out an annoyed sigh as the signal came in over the intercom. It seemed the little ‘meeting’ Scrapper had been a part of had gone just about like he figured it would. Starscream finally made his play, with Motormaster beating anyone who disagreed. The Constructicon had always respected Megatron. He was ruthless, but efficient and calculating. When he was brutal you could count on there being a reason why. Now though, the Decepticons were going to be ruled by a bunch of glorified thugs and lackeys. Things were going to get very ugly, very quickly.

It was all the more reason to get to work on Devastator. At the very least he would prove to be the biggest ‘thug’ of them all. The Constructicons might not become the new leaders, but they would not be trod underfoot. They would be respected and consulted when appropriate. The thugs and idiots would do their grunt work while they built the future of the empire.

The surgical engineer fell in line with the other Constructicons, quietly contemplating their future.

*

Corridors

Hellion had almost been having fun obliterating the various random pieces of broken equipment and scrap that was piled into her future quarters. At the very least it gave her some opportunity to vent about current events. It wasn’t enough of course, only slaughtering Autobots really brought her temper down much, and it had been far too long since that had happened. Now with Megatron gone who knows if she would ever get the opportunity again.

She had left the room to find out what was taking Nightraven so long when the announcement came in from Motormaster. She snickered at his command. Starscream was finally in charge. While she wasn’t thrilled at that prospect, it could also be far worse. Starscream would at least make sure the seekers remained the elite of the Decepticon forces. She couldn’t say the same if Motormaster were in charge. He would likely have them all taken on ground modes.

Grimace on her face the female seeker made her way towards the hangar bay and whatever grandiose speech Starscream had in mind.

*

Bridge

Soundwave was moderately annoyed to hear Motormaster’s voice boom over the intercom. He wasn’t sure if the Stunticon was overstepping his bounds or his announcement had been arranged with Starscream earlier. Either way he did not like having his communication duties co-opted by the likes of him. He would have to make sure he was dealt a harsh lesson some time in the future. He was patient, and with a fool like Motormaster and opportunity would present itself eventually.

The communications expert turned in his chair to face Starscream. “It is critical that vessel operations be monitored at this time. I will remain on the bridge while you speak with the others. I will inform you if anything changes.” It also meant he could keep his optics on the communications console personally for a reply from Shockwave.

“Laserbeak: eject. Operation: observation.” The cassette flew from his chest and transformed to his bird mode. “Laserbeak will observe and record the event for historical reference in the future. I will monitor on security cameras.” He knew that having Laserbeak along would help bolster the seeker’s confidence and reassure him that he was firmly on his side.

Laserbeak circled the room. He wasn’t happy about the whole situation. Starscream would have been one of his last picks to lead the Decepticons. Odds were the egotistical seeker would get him killed in some sort of frontline action. Still, he knew that appearances had to be maintained. Reluctantly he swooped down and settled on Starscream’s shoulder, much as he would with Soundwave and Megatron in the past.

Med Bay

Thundercracker and Astrotrain had barely been out of their respectable CR chambers when Motormaster's command had boomed through the ship's speakers. Being as fast as he was, Thundercracker had quickly slipped out of the med bay and headed into the hangar leaving Astrotrain behind to see whether his fellow triplechanger Blitzwing was ready to be reactivated.

Astrotrain had not been the last one to wake up from the CR chambers though. For while he was busy checking the readings from Blitzwing's and Thrust's chamber, he noticed Ramplate wandering out of the med bay somewhat confused looking. Sighing audibly as it appeared neither Blitzwing or Thrust were ready to leave their CR chambers, Astrotrain headed after the large warrior.

"Everyone is off to the hangar Ramplate." The triplechanger spoke up as he caught up with Ramplate, while trying to ignore the irritating sound caused by Darkride. "Motormaster called everyone there for a briefing to be given by Starscream."
______________________________________

Bridge

The banged up doors of the bridge screeched as they slid open to allow the massive form of Motormaster to enter. A keen optic could spot few small changes on his imposing frame since he had left the bridge for repairs. Aside the repairs to the obvious battle damage he had suffered earlier, his joints appeared to be better shielded from front and sides. Details on his body also clearly indicated that he had changed his alternative form.

"Time to go Starscream." The massive Stunticon chuckled with a characteristic smug grin crossing his face. "Your grand moment is at hand. Can't keep your audience waiting for too long, eh? New pet parrot or no."

While it was obvious that Motormaster had decided to support Starscream, it also appeared that he was more than comfortable addressing the master of the seekers as a peer rather than a superior in the privacy of the bridge. Which of course was to be expected. The large Stunticon could not be intimidated like rank and file. For now, this was an alliance of convenience - it would be up to Starscream to keep Motormaster convinced to follow him in the longer run.

Corridors

At Skywarp’s initial excited utterance Nightraven lowered her optics and smiled, hoping the teleporter hadn’t noticed. She took a moment to compose herself before she looked back up, this time her expression was neutral when he began his jovial expression. Once he finally calmed down Nightraven let out a low sigh.

“Just…don’t get yourself into trouble. That’s what I want…for now.”

The femme offered Skywarp a slight smile before she patted his chest plate.

“We’d better get a move on. I doubt Starscream would be too happy if we were tardy.”

Nightraven moved her green optics from the mech standing in front of her to the corridor behind him. From around the corner Darkride suddenly appeared. The interrogator pulled his claws away from the wall and stopped his advance when he spotted both Seekers.

As Nightraven peered around Skywarp she caught the glint of the interrogator’s optics as he slowly, and deliberately began to make his way toward them both. The femme looked back up to the larger Seeker and gripped his forearm firmly.

“Please, just…don’t do anything.”

When Darkride finally made his way to where both Seekers stood he flashed Skywarp a devious grin before his attention fell upon Nightraven. The slim ‘Con eyed the femme up and down for a moment and then looked back to Skywarp.

“Exquisite. I envy you.”

Not wanting to linger, the interrogator placed both hands behind his back and meandered down the rest of the corridor; a deep malevolent chuckle soon followed.

Nightraven kept her hand on Skywarp’s forearm hoping that the simple gesture would prevent him from doing anything to the interrogator. Once Darkride had left Nightraven released Skywarp’s forearm and locked her emerald optics on his she then flashed him an awkward smile.

“We’d better get going.”

Hanger

Not long after seeing the two Seekers and being passed by Astrotrain and Ramplate, the interrogator made his way into the Hanger and sauntered through the masses to take a position at the front of the gathered ‘Cons.

Darkride glanced around and took notice of just who was present. It seemed that all of the Constructicons had made their way to the hanger, as did the Stunticons, save Motormaster who was, no doubt, still on the Bridge. Hmm, no Soundwave. Interesting.

After a few minutes of scanning the rest of the hanger Darkride took note of Ramjet and Thundercracker. Once he finished his observation, Darkride settled in by leaning against a large crate near what would likely be the makeshift stage for Starscream’s up coming speech.

Hangar

Scrapper, rather annoyed at this point, turns and glares at Ramjet, trying to figure out what the conehead Seeker was try to get at. Whatever it was, he didn't appreciate it.

"...You must be a very lonely Decepticon then, Ramjet, because I generally find that praise for the engineers and other supporters who make this empire run is thin on the ground amongst the soldiers. I'm not fool enough to think that because Megatron appreciated my talents enough to give me this job, that I can use that to convince the ordinary mechs on the ground that I could be a leader. If I was up there on my own, all that would happen would be constant challenges for leadership and overconfident assassination attempts, which would achieve nothing but causing more chaos, exactly what we don't need right now."

The Constructicon leader folded his arms and turned back to the podium. The grimace behind his faceplate is hidden. "I might be a good leader, I might even be the leader the Decepticons need. But I'm not the leader they want, and I'm not the leader most of them deserve. And thats what matters, Ramjet, not how much you think I might do."

"Now be silent, our leader will be talking shortly."

OoC: I won't be able to post for a while after this, I might be able to, but not likely, as the wise words of The Terminator go: "I'll be back."

Hanger

Ramjet looked back at Scrapper, trying to hide his distaste with Scrapper's answer, but he could still work with it, and he could also get the slightest hint of desire for leadership in Scrapper's voice...

"Is that so?" Ramjet said trying his best to sound genuine and intelligent, "I think you'd be the best man for the job over Soundwave, Starscream, Motormaster, Shockwave, Skyquake, and all of the rest of them. Assassinations? I think you of all Mechs could deal with that, nah, you'd take it by storm!"

He stopped to take a short breath, "Even then, Starscream will probably drive us all into the ground! Ugh, you know when I tried to kill him earlier? That was trying to save the Empire! He doesn't give a frag about any of us, to him, we're all expendable! You've heard him, he's as selfish as a School of Sharkticons fighting over a scrap of metal!"

He lied about him trying to kill Starscream being about saving the Empire, that was just him trying to snag leadership, but his tirade might just prove to be a nice attribute, if he could just hit home...

"Face it Scrapper, we are going to have a bad leader either way, Soundwave... Eh, I won't get into him." Ramjet paused as a chill went through his circuitry before continuing, "Motormaster? Ha! We'll all be dead by the end of the solar cycle if he wants to 'whip us into shape' so to speak. You on the other hand, your the best one for the job, and I know for a fact I'd be an, uh, advocate, that's the word... An Advocate of your leadership! I'd ask around to see who wants who, and I'd bet you'd be surprised." Ramjet had exhausted himself just talking, but he didn't show it as much as he could, though he was leaning on the wall a bit more.

He shut up when Scrapper said to stop talking, though he'll save himself the "Yeah rights"s and the guttural groans for later when he is actually talking.

Corridors

“Okay, I can stay out of trouble. No problem!” Skywarp replied with a grin as Nightraven patted him on his chest plate. Her touch made his circuits heat up but he didn’t let it show. She was willing to give him a chance, but that didn’t mean they were automatically an item now. Even ‘Warp was smart enough to know it would take more than his word to convince her that he was worth her time. Of course, staying out of trouble was easier said than done for the resident prankster, who would surely find it hard to resist playing a trick on someone, especially if he got bored during the inevitable downtime.

I can do it, Skywarp thought to himself as he simultaneously nodded at Nightraven’s suggestion that they get a move on. “Yeah, we wouldn’t want ‘Screamer to get mad at us. Although, I’m sure we wouldn’t miss anything that we haven’t already heard a million times from him before.”

Nightraven then peered around the teleporter before gripping his arm tightly and asking him not to do anything. At first, Skywarp wasn’t sure what was wrong, but then Darkride suddenly appeared next to them, stopping briefly to offer the prankster an evil grin. ‘Warp managed to remain calm as Nighty had requested even when the interrogator looked the femme seeker up and down as though he was sizing her up for one of his devious torture devices. Once Darkride had made his crude remark to the teleporter, the small deviant continued onward down the corridor.

It had been difficult for Skywarp not to lash out at the interrogator, especially since he had apparently already broken their prior agreement to stay away from each other. Of course, that was hard to do considering they were all heading for the same briefing. Regardless, the thought of Nightraven falling victim to something Darkride may have already done to her was more than enough to keep the teleporter from doing anything rash.

Her emerald optics locked on to his own as she released of his forearm and gave him a smile. “Agreed. We should get going now,” Skywarp replied, returning a smile of his own before heading down the corridor in the direction of the hangar with Nightraven by his side.

Hangar

Skywarp entered the room where most of the other Decepticons on board had already arrived for the briefing. He immediately took note of Darkride’s position near the front as the interrogator leaned against a crate. “Well, the freak is up there so we should head for the back and avoid him as much as possible,” the teleporter suggested, looking over at Nightraven. Hoping she would follow him, he made his way through the crowd of mechs towards the rear wall where he spotted Thundercracker standing off by himself.

"Hey, 'Cracker! How's it going, buddy?" Skywarp asked, approaching his blue friend and patting him on the shoulder. "So, it seems Screamer’s our leader now. That can only bode well for us seekers, don’t you think?” The teleporter then glanced back to see if Nighty was still with him or not.

Hangar

"Are you SURE this isn't a joke?" Space Case was having trouble believing his wing mates when told of Megatron's fate. The fact that one was a liar and the other a prankster saying the Invincible Megatron was no more was too much for him to accept. "I'm not going to believe you two. I wanna go ask Soundwave. He won't lie."

"You're not asking Soundwave scrap you dingus." Hooligan says, holding him back.

"Just cool your jets and wait for Starscream." Skyjack says, trying to pin back his missile arm.

"But he's a liar too, especially about Megatron." Space Case says as he struggles.

Snowcap stood off to the corner, angered by all of this. "I will avenge you my Master...even if I have to do it alone."

Hanger

Nightraven was thankful that Skywarp had not engaged the interrogator in the corridor, not only would it have been very unwise, but it would also attract too much attention; which probably not what Starscream would want to have to deal with at this point. The femme Seeker moved through the remainder of the corridor next to the teleporter and entered into the Hanger.

The gathered Decepticons were already filling up the large room making Nightraven feel all the more claustrophobic. Not only were they all stuck aboard the Ultrax, but there was also no room to maneuver. The frigate was not built to hold such a large number of Cybertronians at one time.

Nightraven was shaken from her reverie when Skywarp mentioned that Darkride had found a location in the front of the gathered group and that they would be better off in the rear. She nodded in agreement and kept close as he paved way through the crowd where he spotted Thundercracker. Just great.

As she settled in beside both the Elite Seekers, Nightraven began to look over the remainder of the gathered Decepticons in hopes that she would be able to spot Hellion. She let out a soft sigh of defeat, but when she caught Skywarp taking a glance back at her she flashed him a slight smirk.

It wasn’t long until Hellion finally made it into the Hanger. At the sound of the doors sliding open Nightraven raised herself up on the tips of her feet to get a better look. A smile made its way to her face when she spotted her brightly colored sibling.

“Helly! I’m back here!” She said waving a hand to get the berserker’s attention.

Hangar

Skywarp suddenly calling up his name stirred Thundercracker from his thoughts. "Oh, hey 'Warp... 'Raven. Going as good as one can given how things are 'Warp." He replied, flashing a grin and punching Skywarp's chest playfully.

"I'd certainly hope so." He then replied to Skywarp's question. "You gotta give it to him, Starscream has always been pro air forces. I don't see it changing now."

Reaching to rub his chin thoughtfully, the blue seeker continued. "I don't know what this is about but I am pretty sure Starscream and Soundwave were aware of Megatron's plans to some agree at least. I expect we'll be sent of to achieve those goals, whatever they are."

"Not to forget that we lost most of our energy reserves with the base." He added, shaking his head.

Hangar

Hellion stalked into the room and glared around her. She didn’t like meetings, it meant a bunch of pointless talk that only delayed the eventual battle to come. This particular meeting was going to be even worse then usual though, what with Starscream preening and trying to get everyone to go along with him. That was definitely the type of talk she could live without hearing. As long as whoever was in charge just kept sending her into battles she was happy.

Since this was supposed to be an important meeting it meant every Decepticon that had been posted on Earth was present, irritating her further. She wasn’t exactly fond of most other Decepticons as they were annoying, stupid or cowardly, and sometimes all three. There were very few exceptions to that rule, her sister being one of them.

The seeker heard and saw Nightraven waving and shouting for her attention. She walked over to her sister, a frown forming on her face as she saw who she stood with. The berserker didn’t fully know what was going on, but she knew it was irritating her. “I cleaned up our quarters as best I could, by myself,” she stressed the last two words. “I see you got here with both of your….friends.” She scowled at Thundercracker and Skywarp before looking back at Nightraven.