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Location: The Autobot Scrapyard Base Content Warnings: Violence + threads of bodily harm Plot Summary: Red alert! Steeljaw, now an unlikely ally of Megatron, moves to ransom several Autobots hostages in exchange for the Iacon Relics that Teams Prime and Bee retrieved.
Due to the large list of characters involved, there will not be any official posting order for this thread. However, there will be a rough ‘group posting order’ of which adherence to will be strongly recommended. We also suggest allowing everyone to post at least once before posting again, though other members may opt to skip their post if they feel their character does not have anything meaningful to contribute. If you feel that your character would best fit in in an order that goes against the group posting order specified below, don’t be afraid to talk it over with the rest of those involved in Episode 3.1!
Note: Steeljaw will be posting first in this thread!
Group Posting Order:
The Decepticons: @steeljaw - @filch - @breakdown - @sv19
The longer that Steeljaw had to wait, the more aggravated he became. To say he was trilled about doing Megatron's dirty work was an understatement, but it was all a part of his grandiose scheme. He'd suffer with it for now, but when the time was right? He'd strike. He couldn't do anything when it was just Filch and himself, and his plan required him to gain a larger army.
This was just the beginning.
He'd given Megatron the location of the Crown City Autobot base. While it hadn't been what he was looking for, it was indeed a very close second. The location to this base was a huge leap forward, and got them that much closer to getting the main Autobot base's coordinates. However, there was something else that Megatron wanted as well. Iacon Relics, as they were.. Steeljaw didn't know anything about them, nor did he care, but if he ever learned what they could do? You could bet that he would be after them.
So in order to force the hand of the Autobots, a few hostages were required. Together with Filch, Breakdown, and the Vehicon known as Sv-19, they were able to accomplish such a feat. Three Autobots for three relics. A fair trade, perhaps. The femme they had found at the Scrapyard had indeed proven to be a difficult one to capture, but it had happened all the same.
Now, all they needed was for the Autobots to arrive.. to save their friends.
"Time's ticking, Autobots. If you don't want anything to happen to your friends.. I suggest you hurry~." Steeljaw cast a glance behind him, the three captives being guarded by Filch, Breakdown, and Sv-19. If he had his way, there was no way they would be leaving, even if they got their hands on the relics.
Breakdown himself had found it much more interesting a feat to catch the femme who had been in Jasper at the time. Knock Out would have loved to see the big hulking bruiser catch that femme! Dear Primus, that had been exceptionally amusing. But now he was guarding the small one, enjoying keeping a rough grip.
"Watch, they're going to be slower than a dinobot in tar." He hawed, his optic aglow with mirth. "Things ain't lookin' so good for you, are they little glitchmice?" He snorted to the Autobot prisoners that he and the other two Decepticons had in their grasps.
He couldn't wait. If they didn't show, or they didn't hand over those relics, they were going to get to do whatever they wanted with these glitches. And frankly, he couldn't wait to bring them back to Knock Out's med-bay and help him perform sick medical experiments on them. Vivisections, Dark Energon Mixtures...the works!
Gold-and-blue optics darted to Steeljaw. Certainly, she had a modicum of respect for the wolficon, earned due to his resourcefulness and respect of the Corvicon Signal Nests. Sure, she and Steeljaw were outnumbered so far as the Decepticons of Feral Mode, the Beast-formers as it were. But at least, for the time being, there was strength in numbers.
And apparently those numbers currently included a strange Decepticon who looked almost as though he could have been made-to-order and mass-produced. Almost. At least, that was what most non-animalistic Decepticons tended to be to her. Even ones with unique features like the other one.
Now that bulky one, she wasn't sure what to make of him, except that she had to stifle a laugh at his oafish voice and his being an optic down. Instead, she had gave guttoral squawking noises in an attempt to avoid arousing suspicion at the gleeful laughter she wanted to bust out.
"Doesn't seem like the Autobots are in any hurry. It's a shame." She then narrowed her optics and crooned to the Autobots in their grasps. "I guess you guys aren't shiny treasures to them. Such a shame, such a shame..."
Capturing the Autobot prisoners was tricky to say the least. Sev found himself enjoying the fight. Performing maintenance on the Nemesis was extremely boring, and patrols had been fruitless for the most part. Sev had almost been happy someone had been shooting and trying to kill him again. After the grueling battle, the respectably feisty Autobots were rallied and tied up. Sev had decided to make himself scarce.
He’d given a glance at Steeljaw momentarily, and clutched his Nucleon Charge rifle. Without another word, Sev had made his ‘exit’, being sure the prisoners weren’t able to see him wind around the corners of the base.
Throughout his years of training in his boot-camp and his time fighting with the Decepticons, Sev had learned two very important things: The Autobots always had tricks up their sleeves. They could be honorable, but you never knew when they were going to pull a smart one. Recent access to records gave Sev data of countless Decepticon commanders being caught off guard by the Autobot’s cleverness. Sev calculated about a 40% chance of Autobot trickery, so after the prisoners had been captured, he took it upon himself to be ready. The other’s voices, cooing, and he-hawing was very audible, and perfect cover up noise.
The espionage vehicon soundlessly crept through the base, plantingexplosive knives in a tight radius around the prisoners. Of course these little daggers were placed in areas as concealed as could be, though one or two were likely to be spotted by the Autobots. Oh well. The knives’ were connected to a detonator of course. The reason he wasn’t just planting regular bombs was he’d implanted the equivalent of large grenades in his knife hilts, and they were in sink to his HUD. His body wasn’t made the best, his equipment didn’t have the greatest quality, but it did its job.
He navigated like a shadow, keeping behind cover so that he could effectively continue to plant his explosives. At this point he was directly behind the Autobots from 15 meters. Wordlessly, he briskly watch the weird looking bird-con drool all over the captives. Thanks to Steeljaw, I’m going to be seeing more of those strange cons around aren’t I? Animals of prey are fine, but hopefully he won’t introduce a cow. Sev thought to himself sarcastically, knowing that likely wasn’t at all what the wolf had in store for the Decepticons. The specialized vehicon continued to creep his way around the base, trying his best to remain undetected—
Stepper himself lamented the fact that he'd gone out without his rifle and datapad for once. He'd been careless, and that had been how he had gotten captured. He had been the one most infamous for trying to mount rescue attempts, including trying to use the nearest console to send an SOS. That had certainly gotten him in trouble, and he had ended up taking a hammer to the face for that.
And it had made him a little more wary of trying to get away so easily. However, it hadn't dampened his spirit to try to get free. He had just tried to get more sneaky and subtle about what he did. He had taken to trying to cobble things together when he was able to in order to try to get a signal out again. If asked what he was making, he would turn it over and try to half-sparkedly bang it like a drum.
"You won't get away with this!" He growled, thumping his bound fists against the "drum", as he had taken to calling it. After all, if he didn't get it to signaling, he would have to use it to entertain himself.
Frankly, that was all he could do to not lose his mind. His anxiety was off the charts between the Decepticons and being surrounded, being where he would hear their taunts, hear them torturing him. His processor was racing and his optics were tearing up. He started banging the "drum" harder, his only current way to stim.
Bound, subdued, restrained to where most of her limbs were utterly useless and the Decepticons had to practically carry or drag the flier about where they wanted to display her. She was enraptured by their binds. So many to keep her from fidgeting, having learned that she was one to lash out. Heavy restrictions didn't cover much of the charred remains of the battle on her armor nor the plethora of dents and holes left behind their brute force. Even her visor was cracked from a few well placed strikes to her head. A struggled breathing was what was heard from this femme while she sat on her knees, silently shooting daggers from her optics upon the free to move ones.
One in particular was receiving serrated daggers dipped in acid to sting, Breakdown. A soft grumble before a pained venting sound came forth. "You watch and see with that good eye of yours. We fought hard enough to warrant what you want." Just the sight of this big lug set her engines to a raging boil and the chopper blades on her hip fluttered in frustration. "You'll regret messing with the Autobots, more so me. I'll even be kind enough to slam a pede deep into that broken eye socket of yours and casually remind you to stay to the dirt where you belong."
With that being said, her gaze turned to the other prisoners at hand. She was disturbed at the placement of the daggers, a warning sign of not to move a muscle? Or just to spook them into a state of worry over something so harmless. With her armor she could take an explosi- No... she was already battle damaged as is and didn't want to risk any further harm. Let alone hurt her fellow comrades who may not be as beefy as she was. How did she get captured? Was she out run and gunned from behind? She was one to provide above ground support with missiles and rockets and fly by's with heavy machine gun fire. Yet robots in disguise here had her options limited...
Maybe if she hadn’t volunteered to run an errand to the Crown City base, Stormgear wouldn’t be in this mess. Infact, if someone more qualified were to have volunteered, the decepticons would have one less hostage. But no, Stormgear just happened to come waltzing to the wrong place at the wrong time. More so, she’d even allowed herself to get captured with little effort.
Stormgear sat upon her knees within the hostage assembly line. Unlike the other two autobots, Storm didn’t have room to make sharp comments ( or proclaim how they were ‘messing with the wrong autobot’ ). The youngling actually sustained the least amount of injuries. The only mark she had was a gash on the side of her head, where one of the decepticons had caught her off guard and knocked her out. Even if she hadn’t been hit, Storm wouldn’t have survived for long. She had been equipped with a sniper rifle. Sadly, the gun was nowhere to be found. This left Storm with her trusty melee shield, and a shiny safety sticker she was entrusted to deliver to the scrapyard base. The wrist restrains these ‘cons placed on Storm prevented her from using said shield. As for the sticker, it was locked away in her forearm subspace.
Ah, and how could she forget about the restrains. The binds on her wrist were made of thick wire, only because none of the cuffs her captors had would fit her small wrists. They hadn’t even bothered to bind her ankles. Storm was too light headed ( at first ) to run. Even if she did muster the strength, she wouldn’t be able to get very far. Her ‘guard’, a vehicon, was lurking about. Any means to run would result in recapture.
Stormgear inspected her wrist binds while Breakdown ( a mech she’d ran into upon her arrival to earth ) and a bird-like femme called her a ‘glitchmice’ and ‘shinies’. What were these names suppose to do, make her start crying for her mom? The callouts were pretty pathetic. Stormgear refrained from calling the two decepticons ‘idiots’, or making a snappy comment. What she needed to do is stay calm, and survey her limited options. And if she spotted the right window, and waited for the right time, she could easily turn the tides on these decepticons. stay quiet, and play your part.
There was one problem: the leader seemed rather sharp. Storm stole a glance at the wolf-like mech, who had turned to look at his hostages. Since the vehicon had wandered off, she was positive Steeljaw would be keeping an extra eye on her. Around this guy, keeping quiet would give away Storm’s intentions.
Stormgear’s glance turned into a curious gaze. She inspected the mech’s wolf-like appearance. “You know, that ‘evil guy’ look doesn’t suit you very well.” Stormgear swam through her headache to spit something out towards Steeljaw. She was certain Breakdown and Filch were to busy with their hostages to pay any attention to Storm’s comment. “If you were wearing a jester’s hat right now, I would laugh.” Proceeding her words was a very subtle smile. However, the expression didn’t meet Storm’s optics. This was her way of saying ‘i’m not scared of you’.
Ultra Magnus was itching to do something for his imprisoned comrades. Of course, he kept a stoic outward appearance. Internally, he felt as though he was going to burst. Knowing that his friends soldiers could be injured at the servos of some nobody Decepticon got his lines in a bundle.
Despite his yearning to bust down the doors to Steeljaw's stronghold himself, he awaited Prime's directions. He was, after all, still the second-in-command. He answered to Optimus' orders. He simply made sure he was at the ready whenever the leader may give his order.
"Sir, incoming transmission received from Decepticon operative Steeljaw," he passed the message along, playing it so that the Prime could hear the audio himself.
He watched and listened, taking in every word and gesture from the transmission as it was played for the room. He was already filing away the absolute worse scenario parameters for later use if it came down to it. First, though, Prowl wanted to try to get their comrades back safely to base. Without giving in to the demands of the tyrant.
There were several scenarios that could come from this situation, the most likely one was in planning a trap wherein they went to make the trade and opened fire on the Decepticons. That didn't account yet for the damages done to their comrades. He'd talk to Optimus about it later.
Prowl was a tactician, and he knew how to weigh variables and situational information. But it was up to Optimus or Ultra Magnus, to see those plans through. Particularly as he was carrying and it wasn't really safe for him to be on the battlefield personally.
Rodimus listened intently to the transmission being shared amongst the Autobots. Of course he was eager to take a crack at the Decepticons. It had been a long time since he'd held this mindset, and something felt odd about the yearning to hurt someone he felt like he knew.
He ignored it, though. There were prisoners being held at that base, and he would do what it took to retrieve them. Under the command and steady guidance of Optimus and Ultra Magnus, he believed they could get their friends without too much harm coming to them.
When Hot Shot had learned that their friends had been captured by the Decepticons, he'd had to resist any and all urges to just take off and search for the Nemesis. It proved to be a wise idea, as they weren't even being held there at all, but rather.. at the Crown City Autobot base. He'd never been there before, but he'd heard the place was located in a rather interesting place.
The young Wrecker listened along with the others to the transmission. He wanted to go and help them, and he wanted to kick some Decepticon skidplates as well, but there was one other reason he wanted to go. He wanted to prove to everyone that he wouldn't make the same mistakes he'd made before. Just talking and sparring with Rodimus helped him see that.
"We can't just leave 'em hanging. We gotta go after 'em, sir!"
Hot Shot threw a closed fist into an open hand, showing off just how eager he was to go on this rescue mission.
Under the premise of harm done to his fellow Autobots, Optimus was in a position where he wasn't as accepting to many greater hospitalities. This was Earth and that meant every member counted. Their views, skills, and even just being there. To have 3 of his comrades taken had worked the gears inside of him into a rusted, pinned, stopped state. He had his fists formed more often here while listening to the message that Steeljaw had communicated.
Keep calm and think things through. The fists fell away while a moment of clarity came to the leader, one that he had cast his gaze upon both Prowl and Ultra Magnus, both will have valuable inputs in this transaction... Trade. A press of a button on a console within the junkyard base allowed him to communicate outwards to Steeljaw and his goons, "Alright Steeljaw. You have our attention for sure. What is it you want?" A cold voice was spoken to the mic while he searches Steeljaw's bio for anything to use against him. Play to the Decepticon's "strengths" and get a hand up on them.
Steeljaw's frustrations only grew as he waited to hear from the Autobots. The three behind him, guarded by Filch, Breakdown, and the Vehicon who's name he couldn't quite remember (they all looked so similar, though some had their differences), were making a ruckus in their own right. Each adding to the wolf's annoyances.
The mech was banging on a trash can. What he was trying to accomplish, Steeljaw would never know. Drawing attention to others was pointless at this point. He'd need to think big if he wanted to find a way out of this situation if he wasn't rescued. The feisty one with Breakdown? That one was quite the chatter box. Steeljaw simply rolled his optics as she jabbered away, making boastful claims of what she would do to the one opticked mech.
The third hostage, however..
That was the one that got under the wolf's plating. Steeljaw turned to the younger femme, keeping his composure as best he could. "I admire your zeal, however.. it won't get you far. If you had any idea who you were dealing with, you would find it best to keep your insults to yourself. Besides. It's not like any of you are going anywhere."
Before he could continue, that's when the Autobots finally called. Steeljaw grinned to the hostages, then turned away from them. Allowing the monitor display to turn on, he looked to the one that couldn't be mistaken for anyone else. He was speaking with Optimus Prime himself.
"Optimus Prime.. An honor to finally get the chance to meet you. I am Steeljaw. By now I'm certain that you're aware that a few of your companions have gone missing." He chuckled a little, a wicked smile forming. "Oh, don't worry yourself. They're quite fine, and they'll stay that way so long as you give us what we are looking for. You see.. My crew and I have formed an alliance with Megatron, and there's something that the both of us would rather like to get our hands on. For the price of three relics: say... the Spark Extractor for one? I've heard that one's rather lovely."
Breakdown looked over to the one that was banging on the trash-can-like piece of scrap. Annoying. That one was getting annoying. He motioned for Filch to take over his spot, then stormed over, transforming his hand into a hammer. He then scowled sharply and swung his hammer to strike Stepper harshly.
"Pipe down ya damn Glitchmouse!"
He then motioned to Filch once more to switch once more. He didn't want to spend more time around that annoying, scrawny little Autobot if he could help it. No, at least the stubborn one despite her threats wasn't annoying. No, she actually seemed like a serious threat compared to the annoying one.
"I welcome ya to try, sweet plates. Y'ain't gonna get far right now, and even when your little friends come, I'm not gonna go easy on you. See what I did to that little scrapper over there who wouldn't stop banging? I got two hammers with your name on 'em, honey."
That wasn't even a boast either. She was going to be his next target. He was determined to make sure Rotor was his next target. And he sure as hell wasn't afraid to show it if push came to shove. Hell, he was pretty sure that not even that bird-brain on their side wasn't going to mess with him after that. If she was smart.