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Location: The Nemesis Content Warnings: Violence Plot Summary: Whilst the Decepticons are distracted, Dreadwing, disenchanted by the Decepticon Cause, moves to get out once and for all.
Below is the posting order for this thread. Members may opt to skip their post if they feel their character does not have anything meaningful to contribute for their turn. 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 3.2!
Dreadwing had spent considerable time thinking about what he was about to do. Treason was not something he took lightly, but it had been a long time since he had felt the all encompassing loyalty to the Cause which he had once dedicated his life to. His Lord and Master had become more and more obsessed with winning the war, and he could no longer recognize the inspirational revolutionary he and his brother had chosen to pledge allegiance to. The Cause itself no longer felt like a movement for freedom and hope but a campaign of oppression and tyranny, with little choice or agency afforded to those who served it; perhaps this was why his young student, Moonwing, had deserted but a short time ago.
The most disconcerting thing of all, however, was the fact that Skyquake’s abrupt and suspicious absence had gone completely unnoticed by everyone but himself. Dreadwing had first thought that this disrespectful lack of awareness of a prominent officer’s disappearance had been some sort of terrible prank, but as time wore on and Skyquake’s absence asserted itself more and more, until it had been impossible for Dreadwing to pass off as fraternal mischief. It was as if his brother hadn’t been resurrected from his sentinel’s slumber but a short time ago! His repeated reports of a missing crewmember went ignored, and he wasn’t blind to the fact that many now regarded him as someone who’d knocked a few screws loose in his processor.
(Sometimes, Dreadwing wondered if he had, and if he was going insane, but- Skyquake had been here. Dreadwing knew it, as certain as the bond between their twin sparks.)
With current talk of acquiring hostages through dishonorable, he knew one thing for certain: the Decepticon Cause as it was not something he desired to be a part of any longer. He quickly realized, however, that simply leaving was not something he could do in good conscience, not when his honor called for him to do something more.
Dreadwing bypassed the lock on the door with a localized explosive that short-circuited the entire panel. With any luck, the alert of a security breach would not reach the bridge until he had snatched his prize. Still, his time was limited, and he would have to act swiftly; he did not have time to grab every Iacon relic locked within this vault. His optics fell then upon the holiest artifact, and he knew in his spark: he would take The Forge of Solus Prime.
Another bomb was expertly placed to short out the forcefield around it, and it was not long before Dreadwing had the hefty hammer clutched in his claws. He did not know yet what he would do with it, but something inexplicable told him that it was his destiny to carry it from this ship. The heavy seeker felt a sense of deja vu come over him then, as if he had done this before.
The loss of Moonwing hadn't gone unnoticed, especially by the leader of the Decepticons himself. Don't get him wrong. While he had noticed she never returned, he didn't allow himself to be bothered by it in the least. She had been a failure, she had been a coward.. and if she had turned traitor? She would meet the same fate as everyone else who left the Decepticon Cause.
However, there was one other failure that Megatron still had to deal with on the Nemesis, and that was Dreadwing. His faithful officer, but he couldn't forgive the destruction of the Tox-En. He could claim that he wasn't the only one on that mission all he wanted. The tyrant knew full well that Dreadwing had gone alone. Skyquake hadn't awoken from his seemingly eternal slumber, which had meant that the blue twin was not only placing the blame on his napping sibling, but was covering up his own clumsiness.
He tapped on his throne with a single digit, growing in frustration. He'd yet to hear back about the hostage situation, and he was still waiting on Jazz to bring the Autobot medic to him. Even if they lost the hostages Steeljaw had claimed to have along with Breakdown and the others, getting their hands on Ratchet would make the day victorious for them.
Tired of waiting, the former gladiator stood from his seat, leaving the room in order to take a short patrol walk down the halls. He made it habit when he grew tired of waiting, and it gave him a chance to take it out on someone.
And there was indeed someone that he could take his frustrations out on as he spotted a figure in a place they should not have been.
Dreadwing.. with the Forge.. in the vault.
"Dreadwing.. Care to explain what you are doing here.. and with my Forge? You will return that to it's rightful place.. or you will suffer the consequences." Megatron sneered, a dark glare focused on the seeker. "I have already lost one relic to you. I will NOT lose another!"
Knock Out had grown tired of the med-bay on a quiet day. There were no patients, no immunizations, no new reports to file or read. Frankly it was getting a bit too boring and he wasn't allowed to sneak out and race--Megatron and Soundwave would both know that he fiddled with the groundbridge and that was no bueno.
A commotion had started sounding near the vault, and never one to miss out on an interesting situation or juicy gossip, Knock Out would sidle nearer to the vault, just in time to hear something interesting, something extra juicy. Oh, some of the vehicons in the med-bay would totally trade some of their rations to him for this kind of gossip. Primus, he could even trade secrets with his fellow Decepticons for the juicy stuff like this!
Hey, Knock Out had to keep them from scratching him up somehow, right?
"Someone's in trouble." He crooned.
He couldn't help but love the though of just taunting Dreadwing. It made him feel better, made him feel superior after all the stuff he'd had to deal with for a while. And frankly, he was GLAD to be able to rag on someone.
"And I don't think he's going to let you off easy this time." He leaned against the wall with his arrogant smirk, arms folded lightly. Right now he looked like one cool customer.
Raiza let herself stroll along the halls of this warship they called the Nemesis, walking in a fashion that showed a carefree attitude within her movements, while passing along those grins and smirks that were proven rather "unsettling". A little bit of sass, and a devious, calculating mindset, the red femme was a puzzle with a small stature.
So far, Raiza's need for allies has been beyond a typical need. After all: she was a damsel in distress, but in a terrible way; not to mention that she was extremely difficult when it came to serious conversation. Now, those conversations bored her, and her kind of "excitement" was rather...warped, almost like in a crazy, thrill-seeking way: feigning remorse for her actions, as well as her submissiveness in critical situations. What's to say? The red femme was a "bad" girl; she didn't allow herself to be "mean".
(Though this delusion was rather apparent to others, she's not even aware of it)
Turning a corner, Raiza came face-to-face with a predicament before her: a treachery (from what she heard at least). Giving a smirk of amusement, she approached the scene with some gymnastic feats, until she came to a halt next to the smirking red mech. "More like ding-dong trouble with the big mech", the red femme added to his taunt, adding a chuckle.
Though he had certainly never stolen such a precious relic before nor had he ever committed treason such as this before (barring the destruction of the Tox-En), he could not shake the sense that he’d still done something like this before. Each motion and movement felt familiar, and even though he had not held The Forge of Solus Prime within his hands in his life, he knew its heft and weight as intimately as he knew the feel of his own sword.
The arrival of his Lord- no, his Former Lord and Master promptly decimated that sense of deja vu., and he was jarred from his contemplation as swiftly as if someone had dumped cold water over him. “I am merely attempting to right a wrong I have committed- many wrongs, in fact,” The heavy seeker said, careful and prim with his words - and yet the tightening of his claws around The Forge’s handle and the slight twitch in his elegant wings couldn’t have been missed. “Its rightful place is not here, and I only regret that it took me this long to realize so.”
To an experienced eye, it was obvious he had not expected anyone to come across him. Dreadwing’s crimson gaze flicked from Megatron to the others clustered by, smug and eager to watch how things would play out. There had never been such a tighter noose to slip before, but he was one of the more clever and wily of the crew… and The Forge of Solus Prime was in his grasp. Lightning quick, his processor evaluated every option available to him, before he settled on the one most probable to be successful.
’Sweet Solus, I have done wrong, but please watch over me as I try to make right,” he silently prayed, and, with hopes that he would indeed have some deity to guide his way, Dreadwing lunged forward, and swung the Forge hard, hoping to catch Megatron off guard.
As Knock Out and Raiza arrived on the scene, Megatron did not dare turn his attention away from the treacherous thief that stood before him. He merely rolled his optics as they spoke, though not quite helping the situation by pointing out how much trouble Dreadwing was going to be in. He already was in trouble.. and wouldn't be getting out of this situation unscathed.
..Or alive if Megatron had anything to say about it.
"And what, pray tell.. is this wrong you speak of? If you truly wished to yield the Forge of Solus Prime, then you would have done so by proving your worth to me. However, you have failed to do so. My patience is running thin, Dreadwing. I will not warn you again. Return the Forge, or suffer the consequences."
It came as little surprise to the warlord that the traitor foolishly decided to strike, even if in a mediocre way. As Dreadwing swung the Forge, Megatron made a jump to the left. He proceeded to take a step to the right once the attack had failed, throwing a punch Dreadwing's way.
"You forget yourself, Dreadwing. You do not stand a chance against your ruler, and a former gladiator. Your unwise decision to strike against me will be your undoing."
Aha, so Dreadwing was going to play that, huh? He glanced to Raiza with a smirk, as though to say he was about to do something. This was either a cue to watch and learn, or to back him up when the time came. Slender digits pressed a well-hidden button on the side of his small shock prod that he used for medical purposes. It extended to reveal his infamous shock prod, which he gripped tight.
Silently, cunningly, he seemed to launch the shock prod in Dreadwing's general direction as though he were a hunter lobbing a spear. Drawing closer would have been suicidal at best; fighting from a distance was the best way to save his aft and give Megatron the proper support. Some would call it blasphemy, some would call it madness. Some might even call it one of the Greek city-states of Earth that apparently had three hundred warriors fighting a larger army. But that was beside the point.
"Watch out, my lord. I wouldn't want you caught up in a shocking turn of events." He gave a simple croon.
The red femme gave a glint of calculation and deviousness back to the ship's doctor. Under some strange circumstances, it's like as if they were both thinking alike, almost as if they were "twins". Ever since the discovery of her fifty-percent relation to Knockout, Raiza found herself glued to his hip-plate...as if they were actually siblings, paternally. She was almost like his right-hand "femme", really. If there were any gestures the vain mech expressed, it was for her to decipher at this given moment.
Smirking, almost too much, Raiza had her wrist-blades retracted as soon as he made the strike with his prod. "I don't know if that's too much for you to say, or if that's not enough to make your leave", she commented to the seeker, and using her speed to run at Dreadwing, she made a scratch upon his faceplate with her blade, just at the cheek. Retracting the "high-pigtail"-like tentacle appendages that were dangling down from helm to waist, she propelled one of them to restrain him by constricting it around his right wrist. "I mean, come on, Dread! We just met", oh, the thrill of battle. Feels good to have the adrenaline come alive...
“For too long have I willingly committed terrible crimes in your name, but I will serve you no longer. Your cause is corrupt and degenerate, and no longer resembles the movement of change I had supported!” He knew very well that the longer he talked, the more likely it would be that Megatron would take advantage of his distraction… but he intended to ensure that the tyrant knew why one of his most loyal had turned from him. “I must earn back the honor which I have lost serving you!”
Though he might have felt as if he had held The Forge of Solus Prime before, wielding it was another matter. Dreadwing’s swing was sloppy, being so unused to handling a hammer instead of a sword, but even despite his inexperience, the Forge was certainly a powerful weapon in its own right. Unfortunately, Megatron stepped to the side, and he missed his mark entirely and left him stumbling to regain his balance - the hard blow that landed upon his exposed side only further knocked him awry and forced a sharp, snarling gasp from his vocal processor.
The blow was a sharp reminder of just who it was he was up against. It was true that he was likely walking right into his death now, and that he was a fool for challenging Megatron to a duel when the tyrant was clearly the stronger and cleverer of the two of them… but Dreadwing would at least give him a run for his money. “You are no longer my liege, and I am no longer your slave!” The heavy seeker spat, his fangs bared in determination as he turned to face him once more.
There was movement out of the corner of his optic, but by the time he realized who it was, it was too late. Dreadwing snarled as Knock Out’s spear sailed through the air towards him, swinging the Forge at it as if to bat it away, but it clipped his wing and sent electricity surging through his entire body. Within nanoseconds, there was a sharp pain across his face - the pit-damned femme and her little knives! With an irritated snarl, he effortlessly yanked himself free of Raiza’s grip and swiped at her to send her skidding backward.
‘Enough!’ It did not surprise him that there would be no honorable duel here. He drew his sword. Duel-wielding had never been a strength, but having his sword in his claws reassured him. Still grimacing in pain from the shock prod, he charged at Megatron again with a wordless battlecry, knowing that if he happened to miss his mark with the Forge, he would not with his trusted blade. This time, the tyrant would not be so easily able to dodge away from him.
"The only honor you lose is the betrayal you are committing right this very moment. Exactly what is it that you hope to achieve? Do you believe that aiding the Autobots will somehow save you?"
Megatron sidestepped Deadwing's swing, slugging him right in the side and knocking the mech back. Megatron was a fighter, and there was no way he was going to lose without going down with a fight. Besides.. didn't Dreadwing realize that he didn't stand a chance against him? "That might be, but you of all should know what happens to those who betray me. There is nowhere you can hide me, nowhere one of my army won't find you."
The tyrant cast a glare back towards Knock Out and Raiza as the two entered the fray. True that they could occupy the traitor for a long enough time for Megatron to subdue him.. but he didn't ask for their help. He didn't need it when it came to Dreadwing. "Knock Out! Raiza! You will leave Dreadwing for me! Retrieve the relic!"
A grin of malice formed the moment the treacherous seeker switched his weaponry from the Forge to his own blade. True, Megatron could have fought with his own Dark Star Saber, but he didn't see the need. He could handle Dreadwing as he was. As Dreadwing charged towards him, Megatron merely did the same with his own bladed arm, swinging upwards with such intensity and ferocity that he not only struck the blue mech's blade.
"By your word, my liege!" Knock Out growled. He would be skidding to try to retrieve the shock prod as well, but he was determined to grab the Forge of Solus Prime. He would flip the prod slightly to try to use it as a pry of sorts in order to pry the giant hammer from Dreadwing's hand.
But that was easier said than done. He'd forgotten how firm Dreadwing's grip was, and how much of a moving target he could be. This job was easier said than done. He made a wordless nod to Raiza as though to indicate to her to help.
It was strange still. He could communicate as wordlessly with her as a twin could with their twin. She seemed to know his movements so well that he didn't even have to say anything. Now Dreadwing on the other hand, his movements were more unpredictable, less fluid. They were rough, like the brute himself.
Raiza may have gotten in way over her head when the seeker managed to escape the bonds of her most constrictive weapons. Guess the strength of these appendages can't handle the strength of bigger brutes like Dreadwing here. Primus' beard, they would never work on Megatron, the so-said master of this warship. The red femme heard (and seen from a good distance) of Kaon's aggressive tyrant, but she never actually said that she served under him. One of those advantages to express her carefree attitude. If she wasn't so recklessly arrogant in her manuevers, she would have seen the incoming assault from the back of her helm.
The blow knocked Raiza off course, loosening her grip on the seeker, as she skidded backwards on the ship's floor, nearly hitting the wall. This battle became a complex chess game, and Dreadwing became unpredictable; at this rate, she and Knockout were at a disadvantage against a mech that's twice their own size, perhaps combined. Having Breaky here would help suffice things, but they were on their own. But that didn't mean that they were out of ideas. They have to get the forge out of the seeker's possession. Raiza received her "twin's" signal, and acknowledged him with the same signal, with an addition of a devious smirk; the traditional one between them.
"Hey Doc', just how strong can that prod of yours go?", she thought aloud, before giving that said-thought the opportunity to present itself. Attempted plan: Raiza would restrain the seeker once more, so Knockout can have an open window to shock him once more; this time, on either his arm, his servo, or rib-plate. That way it just might loosen Dreadwing's grip on the Forge. She acted fast; with splitting speed, Raiza launched both of her appendages at the seeker again, wrapping them both around that one wrist that's in custody of the relic.
“I will earn back my honor!” He repeated with a snarl, his wings flaring in agitation. He of all mechs did know what happened to those who betrayed The Cause, for how many traitors and deserters had he brought before his Master to face their due punishment? What an irony it was now that he now occupied the role when he had spent so long adamantly hating any and all who defied Megatron’s will.
(He did not think about Megatron’s other words, for he could not afford to. Megatron would hunt him to the ends of the universe… but Dreadwing was clever. If he could just stay one step ahead-)
Their blades came together in a terrible screech of metal. Dreadwing had planted his feet in order to stand strong and hold his ground, but he had clearly made the mistake of underestimating just how much strength Megatron’s fury lent him. His hand tightened around the handle, his face distorting into a snarl as he pressed into the blow-
And then-
His blade shattered within his very hand, fracturing like glass under the brutal swing Megatron had bestowed. Dreadwing barely had time to comprehend the demise of his weapon of choice before he was rearing back with an agonized howl, his vision suddenly obscured by energon in his optics. The inertia of the tyrant’s blade had not even been slowed by his own, and had left an ugly gash across his faceplates. On either side, there were two shallower marks, likely a result of Megatron’s sharp plating.
At the very same time, something wrapped around his wrist, wrenching it to the side in a clear attempt to divest him of his last remaining weapon, the Forge of Solus Prime. With a roar, Dreadwing took the handle of it with both of his hands and pulled back hard. Effortlessly, the bonds snapped, and the momentum carried the hammer forward. Half blind, the seeker didn’t realize until the Forge struck something with a mighty and deafening clang that he had swung right at Megatron. This time, however, by some miracle, he finally had landed a blow, and it was a blow that surely would send the tyrant stumbling backwards.
Dreadwing looked upon him with wide optics, as if he were shocked by his own actions. His chest heaved once, twice, before common sense returned to him and spurred him to take advantage of the opportunity he now had. He was not usually one to back down, but even Dreadwing knew when he was outmatched, and he knew the value of a tactical retreat. He spun on his heel and bolted down the hallway, hefting the Forge over his shoulder and onto his back for ease of transport, and hoped he could find an airlock before Megatron came to his senses and came after him.
It did not surprise Megatron in the least that Dreadwing wasn't listening to his words. He was a fool, and he was going to go out just like any other fool would. If by some means he managed to escape, the warlord already had a contingency plan set. That's what the Decepticon Justice Division was for after all. He'd have them add Dreadwing to the list, even if they merely brought the traitor back to him instead of their usual means.
He snarled as Raiza grabbed Dreadwing's arm, she and Knock Out attempting to pry the Forge from his grip. Yes he wanted them to focus their attention on getting the Forge away from the seeker, but grabbing him in such a manner infuriated Megatron. They were doing as they were told, but the tyrant saw it as a means of distracting Dreadwing from his battle. "Did I not instruct you to leave Dreadwing for me!?" He seethed in a childish manner, as if he were a sparkling who was angry for simply sharing.
When he struck Dreadwing's sword, he was more than happy to see it shatter. However, it hadn't been the only damage he'd caused. He grinned as his attack slashed at the mech's faceplates, Dreadwing's vision now impaired due to the Energon in his optics. "That is only the start of what I plan on doing to you."
As he raised his arm to swing at Dreadwing once more, he hadn't counted on the traitor breaking free from Raiza's grip, the Forge swinging in his direction and bashing him in the faceplates. He recoiled, launched back but still landing on his two peds. Not many got so lucky to land a blow on the Decepticon leader, but Megatron would simply have to make sure that he never got so lucky again. He touched his face with a couple of digits, noticing a small trace of Energon leaking from the impact.
And that's when he noticed Dreadwing making his escape; one that Megatron would not allow to happen easily.
"All Vehicon troops, track Dreadwing down immediately and dispose of him!" He glared to Knock Out and Raiza, his rage insurmountable. "What are you waiting for?! After him!"