FINALE 1 - First Blood

<< Bumper is right, HQ. Even pitfighters would be slumming it here. >>

A yellow scout is laying across the roof supports at the top of an old, broken down factory structure. The windows are broken and shattered. Nothing works. The rust has started to creep in, and meandering around old dumpsters and in the shadows of the once busy loading docks, shiftless Empties are scrounging for anything of value they can find. They blend into the rest of the decay, as broken and run down as the old structures themselves. They are a living testament to the fate of decommissioning, and the automation of some of the mining facilities to turn a profit.

<< Panorama 3 to Monitor - What makes anyone think there'd be anything other than rust going down in a dive like this? >> A red mech poised near the yellow one waits, a camera in his hands, while the yellow mech, with binoculars, listening devices and recording devices, checks his equipment.

<< -Panorama 3, you know the drill - mouths shut, eyes open. Maintain radio silence until an Alpha target is spotted or field team is compromised. Over and out.- >>

"Such a gearstick." Shiftlock makes her last complaint of the day as she settles in near Bumper and Fastback, holding her own set of multi-frequency scanning devices.

Time passes. The light moves from window to to window, east to west, changing color and fading into dusk.

<< Eighten cykes of this is enough to make even MY vision glitch, >> Fastback complains.

And then the rumbling of treads announces the arrival of the Constructicons. The six green and purple mechs set to work immediately, tearing down part of the old structures, melting, reforging, building. Bumper can only watch in horror and wonder as they round up even the Empties and toss them - alive - into the portable smelter for raw material. "Fastback, you getting this? No wonder we can't track them between venues - they don't ship the arena components to the venue - they build it on site!"

Shortly after, Megatron, Rumble and Frenzy arrive.

"This'll be the perfect spot for the new place," Rumble exclaims as he flies in with Megatron and Frenzy, watching as the Constructicons begin forming the foundation for the new Forge site.

Frenzy peers, his hand shading his optics, as he glances down at the site. "Yeah, looks good," he agrees, "I wanna put up a clubhouse made of scrap that says, 'no bots allowed' near there."

Megatron arrives onto the site chosen for the new Forge and gracefully touches down onto the ground. "I'm glad you approve. Rumble." the miner says and then looks at Frenzy, "First things first, Frenzy." he approaches the Constructicons and watches for a moment what they are doing. His optics are troubled though. His mind is heavy with things he never thought he'd have to deal with on top of the safety of his army and the 'cause' he realizes hes put first before everything else in his life. At least that's how the Autobots seem to want to make it in his mind.

Soundwave arrives not long after the others, appearing as he so often does almost "magically" out of thin air. He is just suddenly: THERE. On his shoulder is Laserbeak, flicking wings and watching keenly as the Constructicons work. Taking a break from his Swivel-watching duty is Ravage (Buzzsaw is currently tracking the femme), padding along silently not too far away. Soundwave approaches Megatron and speaks quietly to the Decepticon leader.

"Megatron, I bring news on Ruiner." His voice gives little away, but it is possible it sounds even more muted than usual.

Megatron stands for a moment not at all giving any indication that Soundwave has just magically appeared beside him nor said what he has. But slowly he turns to face the mech. "Go on." he says quietly noticing Soundwave's voice seems a bit quieter then usual. He glances around as force of habit as he waits for the mech to answer.

The three scouts are scrambling to get their listening and recording devices ready, aiming them from the roof above to the ground below. Shiftlock is noticeably reluctant, not sure how to feel about being sent on this mission. It wasn't what she wanted - despite being thrust out of the Decepticon ranks by Barricade, she still feels sympathy for them... but she dare not let that be known. Not yet. She can't afford to give away that her mind is once more intact. She raises the camera and silently takes pictures.

-*Readings off the scale*,- Bumper comments in a low whisper, barely audible save to Fastback and Shiftlock. Bumper has Soundwave in his sights, and there's an intense energy field around him the defies explanation. -*... Who the... No, WHAT the heck IS that guy ... ?*-

The viewscreen focuses in on Soundwave and Megatron speaking.

Megatron tilts his head up. He's staring right back at Bumper.

Soundwave hesitates a moment, also not a good sign. He glances towards where Rumble and Frenzy are, then sends Laserbeak out to take a look around. "The news: not good." Another pause, then he delivers the rest. "Ruiner has been interrogated and reports are information about the Forge has been compromised. My sources inform me that the Autobots /know/. They may know /everything./ And..." Another pause. "You KNOW the barbaric techniques they use to get the information and results that they want. I am... sorry, Megatron."

The outlier is about to say something more when he picks up the fleeting sense of a... foreign thought. A snatch of someone's mind- and it's not anyone he knows. He looks around, but doesn't see any strangers. With a flick of his wrist and a radio message, he has sent Laserbeak and Ravage out to investigate the area for intruders.

Rumble listens attentively to Soundwave's report on Ruiner, and he frowns slightly. The strange, sudden tenseness of Megatron, and then Soundwave, has him confused. He glances over at Frenzy briefly, then frowns deeper. "...What is it," he asks, in a tone much softer than he's accustomed to using.

And so it begins.

Megatron's face doesnt move a mocrobe but his optics tighten slightly and his right hand - his cannon hand, slowly clenches. It is as bad as he feared but what scares him more is its not the safety of the forge and the troops that are first on his mind but of Ruiner.

"What...is Ruiners status now?" he asks and to anyone else he sounded normal but not to Soundwave

Soundwave seems subdued, even for him. "My sources seem to indicate he is.. alive. beyond that, I do not know. His mental state is... unknown."

Megatron's optics tighten more and he clenches his dental plating. "IF they know everything his mental state is slag..." that wonderful mind. that brilliant spark and the Autobots destroyed it for what?

One of the Constructicons points directly up at Fastback. "Look!" he shouts. "Up there!"

"Scrap!" Bumper gasps, beginning to panic. So much for training. <<Bail bail, we have to clear the site! This is Op team panorama response team on hostile encounter -->>

*<<\*cccchhhhhhhhcckckckcck\*>>*

Bumper begins to pull equipment off his arm to make a faster escape. << Panorama 3 calling for urgent response team, confirm! >>

*<< \*zzzzkkckckcckttt\* >>*

Feline and Avian shapes are moving in from the shadows in the rafters.

"No good, we have to get out of here!" Shiftlock harshly whispers, tossing aside the monitoring equipment.

"Fastback, bail out --"

Weaponsfire is coming from the red scout's position. "Fastback...?"

"Oh no, don't tell me they scrapped Ruiner," Frenzy says, "Those dirty bots, they'd do a thing like that, wouldn't they?"

Megatron snaps his head in the direction the construction pointed and when his optics take in the sight of the spy, they flare brillent red. "Do not compromise your identity, Soundwave." he commands even though its a sure bet the bots arent goig to live long to report back theres no point in taking unneeded chances. He lifts up into the air to head toward the spies. "Decepticons, leave no one alive." and he closes in on the rooftop the mech known as 'fastback' is, or is trying to escape from.

Soundwave follows Megatron's advice and steps back into the shadows. Laserbeak and Ravage close in on to Bumper and Shiftlock. However, odds are Soundwave's already been spotted, which leaves Megatron's command the only option to guard against even MORE compromises.

Megatron's jump (not all Decepticons can fly in robot mode, after all) thrusts him straight up into the rafters - the Constructions have excellent upgrades. Fastback is already being fired upon by Laserbeak, catching the confused and terrified scout offguard.

"AAAAH!" Ravage leaps out of the shadows and knocks Bumper off the heavy beam above, sending both of them sailing to the ground below; wisely the black felinoid uses Bumper as a crash cushion to absorb the impact of the fall.

Shiftlock is shot at by Buzzsaw, but the training given to her by Banzaitron gives her a slight edge against surprise attacks (+1 Sensors). Unfortunately there isn't much room to maneuver, so she, too, goes falling - but she has enough grace to control her fall and land feet first onto the ground.

A mistake. She can't stick the landing yet and her own weight against the hardened alloy floor causes her ankle mounts to bend. Welds bust. She crumples forward onto the ground, unable to move her feet.

Once Megatron gives out the order, Rumble pulls out his laser-rifle and begins advancing toward the spies. "C'mon, Frenzy, let's waste 'em!" He...basically sprays laser-fire around like some two-bit gangster -- look out, Ravage and Busszaw! His aim is not the best, but all he really needs to do is get close enough to start pounding one of the spies.

"Yeah, let's shoot some titanium turkeys!" Frenzy says, copying his twin's actions as if they were mind-linked like Tomax and Xamot. "Nobody spies but us!"

Megatron isn't bothered by the laserfire around him, could care less if any of it hits him. He gives no reaction to any of the stray shots that do connect. All hes intent on is getting his hands on the the Autobot spy. With one swift move -- the speed defying his bulk he grabs the Autobot by the throat. "One senseless murder deserves another." he seethes, Soundave report ringing in his audios. His anger slowly takes over any sort of civility he could use in this. "And you will be the example." he rears a fist back and punches the mech full in his face, pulls his fist back and does it again, and again.

Ravage IS a wise cat, and now that he has Bumper laying there on the ground he catches the mech's throat in his jaws and attempts to pin him and KEEP him on the ground. Laserbeak swoops down towards Shiftlock. There is a momentary pause. The bird remembers her. he remembers a meeting- it seems so long ago now- when Soundwave spoke to her in the government halls and revealed that he was an outlier. A shame that it has come to this. But orders are orders, and the cassette glides in and attempts to grab her in his claws and pin her, too. Soundwave, meanwhile, watches this- and also what Megatron is doing to Fastback. He can FEEL the red, jagged anger emanating off the Decepticon leader.... and it is frightening.

Bumper is helpless as Fastback is mauled to death in front of him. "W-why!?" he gasps, pinned by Ravage. "Why are you doing this?!" Fastback's mangled corpse oozes inner energon in a rapidly forming puddle at Megatron's feet. The impacts splatter the champion of the pits with mechanical gore.

Shiftlock can't move and finds herself inexplicably frozen in place. Her motor systems won't respond. There's just something in laserbeak's red optics that hold her transfixed. She can hear the murder going on around her, and can only listen.

Rumble doesn't want to take Megatron's moment of glory, so he steer clear of the soon-to-be-extremely-dead Fastback, and heads over to the one who's being held by Soundwave's tapes (of which he is not yet one).

He startles with some surprise when he recognizes the enemy agent. "..." Nope, it isn't Bumper he recognizes, it's the femme. "Why the frag'd you even come back here," he mutters, shaking his head.

Frenzy asides to Rumble, "What's SHE doing here?!" as he moves in along with his brother.

Megatron keeps punching fastback until there is nothing left of the mechs head or spark and half of his fluids seem spilled all over the Gladiator and the floor and anything around them for that matter. And each punch is a bit of his anger over what they have done to Ruiner, what they are sure to do to the mech, the audacity to spy on them and how they even got the knowledge of this general location to begin with.

Its some time before the Miner stops, and he just lets the body fall out of his grip. He looks down at the dead mech and then slowly looks around. He notices two more have been captured and he calls out to Soundwave a bit hoarsely. "Soundwave, interrogate them. I want to know everything they know about us and what they plan to do with it."

Laserbeak keeps Shiftlock pinned in place, and Bumper's only answer is a growl from Ravage as he keeps the Bot pinned. Both await orders from Megatron or Soundwave, who moves in a little closer but remains hidden away for now.

Soundwave hears the order, and so that's what Soundwave does. "...Understood." He ignores the dead Fastback for now. While Laserbeak keeps Shiftlock pinned, the outlier first approaches Bumper. Ravage lifts him by the throat so that Soundwave has clear access to the Bot's head. That's when the boxy blue mech looms over him, hands outstretched. Ravage keeps him in place as Soundwave clasps both hands on Bumper's head. Then- he CONCENTRATES. The touch, the concentration, the close proximity- THIS sends /everything/ rushing into Soundwave's mind. Bumper's thoughts, his experiences, his memories, his debriefing for this mission... /everything is laid bare/.

And what he sees is not good. " Sentinel Prime himself is hunting the Decepticons... he wants us ALL found and taken down. /Especially/ you, Megatron. He has cast a broad net, trying to snag anything he can, and our location is compromised. His security forces are at work as I speak, gathering, plotting and preparing for a massive assault against us. They want to crush us- down to the very last Decepticon."

This means that Bumper is neither an immediate threat, or a useful tool. It's not good for dear ol' Bumper.

"Cram it up your vent you psychopath!!" Bumper curses defiantly at Megatron, trying to screw his courage to the sticking place in the face of impending death.

Shiftlock can't see Rumble or Frenzy, she's pinned. She knows what Soundwave can do, and she knows who he is. They once served the same master. She prays that fact alone buys her time to live.

Rumble remains standing near where Shiftlock is being pinned, although his attention turns to Soundwave and just how well the outlier is able to read a mech's processor. It amazes him jut how well he can do that. He stands there with his firearm in-hand, awaiting further orders.

Frenzy also waits, though occasionally shooting a glance between Rumble, and Shiftlock.

Megatron listens to Soundwave's report and is already plotting his next move. And then Bumper tells him what to do with it. He half grins and walks toward the pinned Autobot. Out of the corner of his optic he sees Rumble and Frenzy and the other mech they captures. A femme and one he knows. Her time will come soon.

Megatron pauses standing over Bumper and with a deliberate move stands on the mechs hand. "Oh I plan on doing nothing of the sort, mech." he says and grinds his foot slowly. "I've made an example of your team mate if you will and I will continue with you. I could have Soundwave extract it from your mind but wheres the fun in that?" he grinds his foot into the mechs hand more and continues, "What information have you sent back from this 'mission'?"

Soundwave and Ravage watch this. The raw anger Megatron feels is almost overwhelming to the empath. The outlier even has to shake his head once in order to clear it. He watches the foot grinding that hand, a little subdued at the viciousness Megatron is displaying... but can he really blame the mech? After hearing about Ruiner? ... Not really.

Bumper braces for the worst, as best as he can. *Primus spare my spark!*, he thinks to himself. "I'm not telling you anything you murderer!" he growls at Megatron. And he means just that.

Megatron suddenly kneels down and latches a hand around Bumpers throat. "I was hoping that's what you would say." he lifts Bumper up by his throat and pulls the mechs face toward his, "Murderer?" his fingers start pressing in on the mechs neck. "Soundwave, can you.. project into this mechs head?" and what he has in mind the telepath might catch a glimpse of.

Soundwave can't project thoughts into anyone's mind, but he can read the thoughts Megatron is sending him. He leans in close, his monotone voice sounding rather ominous in this context. "You Autobots take things- and people- that do not belong to you. And now, Megatron will let you know the anguish that you have brought to us- to our kind. We will revisit it upon you- a thousand times over. As long as you attempt to wipe us out, we will respond in kind. Until your corruption, malice and arrogance is wiped clean of this planet."

Shiftlock's optics turn to Rumble. She can't say anything to him, not pinned like that, but her optics seem to try to say it for her: She recognizes him. She understands what he has to do, if it comes to this. She manages a weak smile.

"FRAG YOU! You're all a bunch of death-hungry low-life SCUM!" These are probably Bumper's last words as he begins to struggle to get free.

Rumble frowns in apparent irritation as he happens to meet Shiftlock's gaze, but Soundwave and Frenzy will probably know that there's a lot more complicated emotions going on. There's a lot he really wants to ask Shiftlock, but he seriously doubts that she's going to live long enough to answer his questions. He might even need to be the one to kill her, and he has to be prepared for that eventuality.

Frenzy snorts at Bumper's last-minute curses. "Tell that to your masters, if you live long enough," he says.

Megatron seems even madder because he cant have projected into Bumpers mind what the senate has done and how wrong this mech is about the Decepticons. And that added anger (though not addressed at Soundwave. If the mech does not have the ability you cant fault them for it) and why gives him an idea. He drags Bumper over to a pile steel girders. And using them as a table of sorts his throws Bumper onto them and then grabs some nearby chain and starts chaining him down. He saw glimpses of this through is beautiful destroyers mind... tear them apart while they are alive and that's exactly what he does to Bumper. And he learned it from Ruiner...

Soundwave watches Bumper's fate.... and then... it's time for Shiftlock. Soundwave moves towards the femme where Laserbeak holds her in place. He frowns a little under the faceplate as he draws near the femme. He remembers her, as Laserbeak does. A flicker of regret wafts through his spark and mind. He enjoyed his discussion with her, felt a connection, even. But that was then and now... she is with THEM.

The outlier looms.... then reaches. Clasping her head, he states, "Shiftlock. Once a friend of the decepticons, now an enemy. She was taken by the Autobots... mind-controlled... but..." He tilts his head, "She freed herself mentally. A residue of her... old shifter programming. ...Interesting." His fingers grip harder. "She holds key evidence against Senator Ratbat, which is something the Senate is keen on exploiting. She is a free mind now, keeping undercover because she fears the Autobots will erase her memories again. She does not hold ill will against us personally." Rumble's feelings are noted, too, and Soundwave glances briefly at him.

Shiftlock just whimpers faintly at having her mind invaded like that - it is uncomfortable and after the brainwashing code trying to constantly overwrite her neural net, she's mentally 'sore'.

Bumper screams. A lot. Horribly. His death is not for the faint of spark.

Megatron steps back and looks at his handiwork. Something he learned from Ruiner and he wonders if he did the mech proud. Now covered in even more internal energon and fluids the Gladiator must look even more terrifying as he turns and walks toward where Shiftlock is being held. He listens to Soundwave and then focuses on the femme. "I want everything she knows, Soundwave." he says still looking at her. "And lucky for you you have no ill will toward those that now imprison you." his voice has a cold timbre to it and he abruptly turns his back on her and looks at the Constructions. "Pack it up now. We are moving the location of the Forge yet again. I will tell you the coordinates shortly." and with that he simply walks away leaving a very cold and bad air in his wake.

Frenzy winces a little on the inside as Bumper is extinguished. Of course, being a tough guy like Rumble, he has to put up a bold, devil-may-care front, looking as stoic and dispassionate as possible.

Rumble doesn't even seem phased by Bumper's fate -- far as he's concerned, the mech fully had it coming to him. After Megatron finishes with Bumper and decides what's to be done with Shiftlock, he has a moment of relief, which he's certain that Soundwave is going to question him about at some point. He's fine with that; he has nothing to hide, and in fact, he feels like he'd probably feel better if he got it off his chest anyhow. Secrets had a short shelf life in this organization. For now, he feels like anything he'd say would betray his state of mind, so...he says nothing at all. He just stands there stone-faced. But Soundwave would know better. So would Frenzy.

Soundwave is somewhat subdued, as well. The raging, violent emotions coming from Megatron are almost exhausting to the empath. But his loyalty remains absolute. Megatron has reasons to be angry. Megatron is the one who will lead Cybertron into a better age, and there may be... bump(er)s along the way, but that better life for the planet is coming. Will come. Rumble and Frenzy's emotions are noted still, and Soundwave feels a tinge of empathy for him. But duties must be performed.

"Yes, Megatron. ....Understood." The outlier grabs Shiftlock, holding her tightly. Ravage flanks him and Laserbeak circles overhead. Shiftlock's feet are battered and she's exhausted... she won't be escaping. He forces her to move- carries her in required- off to a more secure location to await further instructions.