TFARCHIVE FORUMS

Astrotrains Office

As the corpse sailed at Hightower , he caught some good fortune as he moved slightly in his charge and the tail of the corpse once known as Slugfast only nicked his left arm slightly. Nonetheless Hightower lunged thru the hole in the wall at Megatron, decideing that fusion cannon had to go, making it his main target.

Thrust stood there in shock as Skywarp was taken out. He turned to Tinker, "Patch me up as best you can, as fast as you can." His usual cowardice being replaced by thoughts of vengeance.

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Clench grabbed a support beam that had fallen and turned towards Megatron only to watch Laserbeak and Slugfest get killed. "At least when you killed me, it had purpose. This is madness!" He yelled, closing the gap between Megatron and himself, swinging the beam down towards his head.

Astrotrains Office, Darkmount

It's about time... Tracer thought sourly as Starscream's form finally joined the battle. His own shots had been less than effective, but he knew better than to getin closer to Megatron (especially after how well that'd worked with other cons), and stuck close to his original possition of guarding Astrotrain's body. With the red Seeker finally in the area, it seemed things were taking a better turn, judgig from the wall Megatron had just gone through.

What needs to be done? Tracer transmitted silently to Soundwave. Tracer had stopped firing for the moment, unable to see Megatron now at his own angle and not willing to potentially shoot any allies and not yet willing to leave his spot.

Astrotrain's Office, Darkmount

"I can do that, Soundwave. I am doing that." Bombshell told Soundwave, nodding vigorously, a dangerous glint in his optics. And he did push a little bit harder, commanding his cerebro shell to push onto the part of Megatron that controlled his reflexes. Bombshell's optics narrowed as the other Decepticons pushed Megatron onto another part of the room, and moved slightly closer.

"I-" Shrapnel began, wanting to question Soundwave's orders, but decided that it's no use arguing over it now, shrugged and leapt into battle. "Kickback, Screamer, let's go, go." Shrapnel said, not caring much about the others.

Shrapnel transformed back into his insect mode, letting out another loud battlecry, keeping in pace with Hightower and Vindicator.

Bombshell watched as Shrapnel charged, glanced at Kickback and shrugged. "Viva Insecticons?" he asked, knowing full well that any of the three of them might die in the next few minutes. "Let's do this."
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"Wrrrraaaaaaaa!" Bonecrusher roared as he followed Clench and Vindicator in charging Megatron, holding his missile launcher in one hand and Devastator's drill in another.
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Blackjack watched in stunned shock as Skywarp and then Slugfest were successfully taken out of battle and life.

Then Ramjet moved. Blackjack glanced up at the Conehead. "Go get him." the Micromaster said, before opening sending a text message to Soundwave. "Soundwave, what are our orders?"
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Tinker also stared silently beside Thrust as what was left of Skywarp's body sailed through the air. The medic blinked, then growled. "I'll have to amputate this stump of your arm, if we want to join the battle fast."

And without waiting for any permission, Tinker morphed his right arm into a buzzsaw and methodically sliced off a thin section of where the railgun had embedded into Thrust's arm, whilst cauterizing the wound with another to staunch the bleeding.

"We're done. Let's go." Tinker told the other Seeker and followed Shrapnel into the fray, Energon spear materializing in one hand and tranquilizer darts on his shoulders.

Astrotrains Office

Slicer span out of control as Megatron's shot punctured a tire.

"Look out."

The vehicle and its spinning blades cut a swathe through the room as Slice careened out of control.

Astrotrain's office

Starscream nodded to Soundwave, but he was biding his time, gaging the moment. He could afford to wait - this once.

Besides, it was an all-out brawl in there and (he allowed his optics to wander briefly down to his outstretched arms) he rather thought that Buzzsaw's work did not lend itself to damage so soon after application. He had missed his proper colours...

At his side, Hook murmured, "I do not believe Skywarp will return."

Starscream, it could be honestly noted, was egocentric; self first and self last in all things. He believed this was also true of Skywarp - although he had doubts about Thundercracker, who had always seemed the odd one out of Megatron's Seeker cadre. Basically: if any one of them was going to throw himself gallantly into self-sacrifice, it would not be Skywarp. But it seem otherwise, which was particularly interesting as Skywarp was as true to Megatron as any Decepticon could be.

And, at last, Starscream's smug calm visage changed into a snarl, and he blast null-rays towards Megatron, not even caring who was in the way.

Astrotrain's Office, Darkmount

Megatron pushed himself up, took aim with his fusion rifle and opened fire at the charging Hightower. The move put Clench's swing off-line, but the beam still came down on his shoulder with a crunch, cracking through the armour on his right arm. But if Megatron felt any pain, he didn't show it. He just charged at Clench, trying to the other Decepticon's face with his forehead.

"Then allow me to kill you again!" he barked as Starscream's null ray blasts peppered the entire room.
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Without thinking, Buzzsaw dove at Hightower and tried to pull him out of the line of fire.

"I can't believe I'm doing this..."
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"Attack him..." Soundwave replied hoarsely, to Tracer, Blackjack and anyone else who asked. He was pushing against Megatron's shell program, forcibly inserting undesirable thoughts into his former master's mind from afar.

You are a clone. The Quinessons built you. You are under outside control.

The shell program batted the thoughts away almost as soon as they were spawned, of course, but they weakened the shell program's defenses, making it more susceptible to Bombshell's attacks.
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Kickback thought about joining his indiscriminate fire with Starscream's but the Insecticon decided to duck into a nearby office instead.

Transforming to Insect mode, he kicked through a nearby wall, giving him a better vantage point for attacking Megatron without killing his fellow Decepticons.
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Garboil perched atop the door frame and glared down at Megatron before letting out a sensor-splitting caw that would spread processor-crippling confusion in the Decepticon leader and, regrettably, everyone else who'd followed him into the office suite.
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Ramjet ducked, narrowly managing not to get decapitated by Slicer's vehicle.

"Park that thing somewhere and fight like a mech!" he barked angrily.

Then he got clipped by one of Starscream's null rays and he growled, "Screamer, you idiot!"

Astrotrain's Office, Darkmount



Slicer wrestled back control. Pointing the Beast in Megatron's direction he opened fire on him with the vehicles weapon's

"armoured siege vehicle or come out there I think not?"

Astrotrain's office

From his point just at the doorway, Starscream managed to pick up Ramjet's imprecation; he usually picked up on his name in conjunction with the word' idiot', as Megatron had used it, along with 'fool', so often.

"You're all idiots!" he snapped, something of his old high vocalisation breaking through the newer deeper one. "Stand aside and let me get a clear shot!"

He anticipated being able to disable Megatron with the null-rays. However, this time he intended to follow through and claim his long-delayed triumph.

And the leadership of the Decepticons.

~~~

Hook winced at Garboil's shriek. Even from his position beside Starscream, he felt a wave of vertigo, his optics blinking on and off for several astroseconds until he managed to regain control of his processors. He shook his head as if to clear static.

He realised that everyone in the room would react in some way to that electronic disruptor and stood ready, gun braced, to take advantage of the coming confusion.

Astrotrain's office


Slicer slumped forward.

His body nudged the controls of the Beast and the cannon swivelled upwards cutting through the ceiling and everything in the way be it pipes, cabling or anything else in the way.

As Megatron's headbut collided with Clench's face, Clench realized that this was just not his day. He stumbled backwards, and was shot from behind by one of Starscream's nullrays in the area already damaged by Ramjet's fire earlier. The null-ray hitting an already exposed area of circruitry caused Clench to seize up, leaving him dangerously exposed to Megatron, unable to control his body for a few moments.

Astrotrain's Office, Darkmount

"Wonderful..." Blackjack murmured as he joined in the general charge, spotting the spot where Vindicator's blade had gouged a gash in Megatron's body and aimed his laser blasts there.

Garboil's scream filled the room. Blackjack, noting the Cassettecon earlier on, had wisely stayed out of range.
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YOU ARE UNDER MY COMMAND! MINE MINE MINE MINE! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A PUPPET! SUBMIT TO THE WILL OF BOMBSHELL!

The Insecticon sent thoughts such as these towards Megatron, noting that Soundwave seemed to be doing the same. The cerebro-shell embedded in Megatron, it was child's play to focus all his concentration at the shell.

"Nice trick of Garboil's. Never knew he could do that."
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Shrapnel, unsure what Kickback was doing, shrunk and followed the other Insecticon as well.

"Attacking directly won't do much harm, I've tried it, it. Any suggestions, suggestions?" Shrapnel said as he perched beside his brother Insecticon, antennas twitching.
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Tinker and Bonecrusher both had to duck to avoid being hit by Starscream and Slicer's indiscriminate attacks. "GODAMMED SEEKERS!" Bonecrusher cursed.

Tinker glared at the Constructicon and charged Megatron, but stopped in his tracks in confusion due to Garboil's attack.

Astrotrain's office

From his vantage point, Starscream kept on firing towards Megatron, although he was distracted when, in a slow cascade, a whole chunk of the ceiling began to subside onto the combatants.

He had not noticed Slicer's mis-aimed shot, but could plainly see that there was going to be a world of hurt for a few of those inside the room...

Astrotrain's Office, Darkmount

Megatron raised his fusion rifle to put an end to Slicer's annoying taunts...then froze in place like a statue as the combined efforts of Soundwave, Garboil and Bombshell overwhelmed his controlling shell program. Starscream's fire hit him, but since he was already immobile it wasn't immediately obvious what effect the null rays had had on him.

"I'm...I'm...a clone?"
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"I don't plan to kill him," Kickback told Shrapnel as he returned to robot mode. "I just don't want to die myself either. So..."

Then he fell to the ground with a whimper as Garboil's squawk carried through the new hole in the wall and overloaded his sensitive antennae.
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"Like hell!" Ramjet ignored Starscream's order and Garboil's cry -- although in his state, it's not like his brain could be any more scrambled than it already was -- and swung a haymaker at the paralyzed Megatron. The Decepticon leader took the blow on the jaw and collapsed to the ground awkwardly, landing directly in the Beast's path milliseconds before the section of ceiling landed on all of their heads.

Garboil was caught in the fall of debris and buried. Ramjet, as usual, barely seemed to notice as he stood there with a mildly confused expression on his face.
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"It would appear...that the past tense...is appropriate for Garboil now." Soundwave replied to Bombshell, then turned to Starscream.

"With Garboil down this is your only shot. Get in there and finish this."

Howlback silently fell in alongside Starscream, ready to use her feedbacker shield to protect the seeker if need be -- albeit with no small amount of displeasure at the prospect.
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Scrapper rolled forward from the safe position he'd taken, using his shovel to push debris out of the way as he cut a path toward where Megatron had fallen.

"Constructicons, with me!"

Astrotrain's Office, Darkmount

"Yes, you are!" Blackjack shouted just over then din at Megatron. "The Quintessons built you! If any part of you is truly the Megatron that the Decepticons feared, you know what you are doing is wrong! You're killing your own people!"

The Micromaster winced as Garboil was crushed, but it did mean that the coast is clear for safe attacks. Following behind Starscream, Blackjack pulled out his tiny shotgun, ready to distract Megatron to the best of his abilities.
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Shrapnel sighed as Kickback fell. What a tool.

"Best thing is if we kill Megatron, Megatron. But I don't really feel like helping out Soundwave, not after he kept us all in the dark about this, this." -And nearly got us all killed when we attacked Astrotrain-, Shrapnel mentally added.
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"Funny how you could treat your Cassettes with such indifference." Bombshell muttered at Soundwave. "People say you are very protective of them. But-"

Bombshell didn't speak any further, and instead focused his attention on Megatron. Partly because Megatron will kill them all if they failed, and partly because he didn't want to piss Soundwave off. That usually had a bad effect, especially since Soundwave is liable to assume command after Megatron's death.

YOU ARE A CLONE! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A FAKE, A PUPPET- MY PUPPET! MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE YOU ARE MINE TO COMMAND! OBEY MY COMMANDS! STOP MOVING, STOP MOVING AND STOP MOVING!
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"Hell yeah!" Bonecrusher roared, following Scrapper's charge, ramming his fists together, and pulling out his missile launcher out of subspace as he charged Megatron.

Tinker, while not exactly a Constructicon, followed Starscream and the Constructicons nevertheless. He briefly glanced at the wounded, and shook his head. Kill Megatron first, repair the others later.

remains of Astrotrains Office

Scavenger charged with his teamates.

"Just let me at them boss I'll show them what I can do."

Astrotrain's office

"Yessss..."

Starscream flashed Soundwave a quick (and quite evil) grin, and stepped forwards, his large, older form suddenly dominating the scene.

Throwing his arms wide, he ordered, "Stand aside!": aiming this primarily at the Constructicons who were present.

Hook, who had charged forwards to assist Scrapper, pulled up short. That was a mistake; he found himself looking round at the wounded and wondering what he could do to fix them - and that included Megatron...

"Get that out of there," he went on, with the sharp emphasis meant to signify Megatron. "I want to look it in the optics when I terminate it's programme - for the Decepticons!"

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Upper Darkmount level

Relay could find no one, only a few repair dones going about their pre-programmed duties. The Tower seemed strangely deserted.

Blundering through a non-descript open door, he found himself in one of the monitoring rooms which kept watch on internal atmospherics; he had seen similar equipment in Iacon. He looked listlessly at the bank of screens which allowed the operators to visually check out any emergencies detected in order to decide on priority, then he gave a shocked cry.

The system had detected some structural damage and focussed a nearby hub on a doorway beyond which there seemed to be a fight reaching a natural break. He caught a glimpse of Soundwave.

Astroseconds later, armed with a location lock, he was charging down Darkmount's corridors.

Clench, still frozen from being hit with the null rays on exposed circuitry, watched as the ceiling collapsed on him. Hope one of the medics survives this because I'm gonna need them.

Thrust, for his part, remained in the back, content to let Starscream, Soundwave and the others finish Megatron.

Astrotrain's Office, Darkmount

A battered Megatron dug himself out of the debris and stared at Blackjack, but his optics were blank, unfeeling. Then he spoke, his voice dead and mechanical.

"Subject compromised. Initiating contingency plan 7-A."

Megatron's voice returned to normal then, and he muttered, "Starscream..."
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"Then you're an idiot," Kickback told Shrapnel weakly as he got up. His antennae had stopped burning, but that was only because they'd stopped working entirely. He supposed that he should have still been writhing in pain, but when he'd heard his fellow Insecticon's ignorant words something inside him just seemed to snap. "You think this is about you? You think you even matter in this equation? Whatever that thing is, it's killed half a dozen Decepticons and wounded who knows how many more. And that's when we were ready for a fight and it wasn't. What the Pit do you think would have happened if Soundwave just announced over the intercom that Megatron was a clone? How many dead do you think we'd be piling up for smelting now? Or do you even care? Is your own fragile ego so important that you're willing to let other Decepticons die to soothe it?"

He raised his machine gun and fixed the barrel on Shrapnel's centre of mass. At this range, missing wasn't likely even with Shrapnel in insect mode.

"But I'm more than willing to watch traitors die. So either you get into the fight our we have it out right here."
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"Only the ones that I like," Soundwave told Bombshell flatly. "The bulk of them are expendable, not to put too fine a point on it."
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Scrapper fired his blaster at Megatron, fully aware that the shots would ping harmlessly off of the Decepticon leader's -- or at this point, Decepticon-leader-shaped-drone's -- chest like everyone else's. That wasn't the point, though. The blasts weren't meant to hurt, but to serve as guidance lasers for his battle wing, which flew straight at Megatron, slammed into his chest and detonated all of it's ammo and fuel in a single blast.

"Now, Constructicons!" he shouted. "Fire! Hit him while he's distracted!"

But Megatron pushed through the wall of debris and fire, stalking toward Starscream like a golem made of fire.

"Starscream! This is your doing!"

He swung one flaming fist at the seeker's head.

"The only one who will be hauled away is you, traitor!"
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Ramjet sat back, content to let Megatron be as long as he was only hurting Starscream.

Astrotrain's Office, Darkmount

Blackjack froze when Megatron glared at him, thinking that those dark optics meant he was going to be vaporized with some kind of optic beam or something. But the Quintesson programme spoke, and Blackjack repeated dumbly, "Contigency plan 7-A?"

This is bad. This is very very bad. "Starscream, kill him quickly! The Quintesson shell program has taken over!"
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Shrapnel laughed. It was a dry, dark laugh.

"You are mistaking me for Bombshell, Kickback, Kickback. I may be angry about being left out of the loop, but who has been fighting Megatron all this time while you're making your way down with Starscream? Who suspected something was going on and organised the troops and brought them into Astrotrain's office, office? Who do you think got them ready, while you and Soundwave are still fussing over Starscream? Me. It's not about my ego, Kickback. If I had not done this, Astrotrain, Hook and Tracer would be dead by now, and the Decepticons would be scattered and confused, confused. But instead, we tried to kill Astrotrain, who, apparently, was our ally, ally. Why did Megatron kill Astrotrain anyway? Did he find out that Megatron is a clone?"

Shrapnel transformed into robot mode and shook his head. "I don't care enough to kill you, Kickback. Let's take this thing down, down." Saying so, he aimed his grenade launcher at Megatron and launched a shrapnel grenade. Screw Starscream if he was in the way.
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"You're a serious jerk, you know that, Soundwave?" Bombshell shook his head in wonder. Megatron spoke about contingency plans. "Now what's that, Soundwave? You're the mind reader. What is this contingency plan?"
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"Nice shot, boss." Bonecrusher told Scrapper, pulling Devastator's lower arm out of subspace and launching the massive drill that was attached to it at Megatron. "EAT LEAD, TRAITOR!"

Tinker joined in, launching the sleeping darts from his shoulder cannons.