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Nemesis - Bridge

The doors slid open with a sharp hiss and Skyquake entered the berth shortly after. All the Vehicons manning their respective stations turned and saluted the Air Commandant before returning to their work monitoring and flying the ship.

"Commander Skyquake!" Skydive was quick to issue as he jumped up from the command chair, "Welcome back to the bridge. You'll find- heh, find everything is in order."

"That will be all, Skydive. Go and assist Stalker with the communications." Was all Skyquake responded with before he took the seat from the scientific advisor of his team.

Skydive gave an understanding nod then turned on his heel to leave the bridge. The Air Commandant then stared out into the blackened void of space as the ship continued onward on its trek.

Nemesis - Brig

"Well at least it's good to know the big guy's still alive." Rotorstorm commented on Road Rage's situation, trying his best to see the best of their predicament.

"But that means it looks rather daft on our end." Firestar chimed in as she tucked her knees against her chest. "Never pictured this is how'd I'd end up going. Heh."

"Well that's a rather gloom outlook." A voice came out from the vent grate right above cell Chromia and Flare Up were imprisoned within. Firestar's audio receptors perked at the gentle voice as she tried scanning the adjacent cell blocks.

"Was that?"

"I heard it too." Rotorstorm added, gazing towards the ceiling. "I can't see anyone though."

"Pssst, I'm up here!" Nautica quietly called out from the vent, waving her right hand back and forth quickly as her optics looked around the cell with what little area of view she could see from the slits. Oh there was Chromia, By the flame was she glad to see her make it out of this mess alright. "Hey Chromy, I think might be able to help."

Nemesis - The Resevoir

The three Vehicons, each not special enough to have earned a name, continued to prep Skyquake's living trophy. Tubes were extending from various devices to help pull energon from him set to the lowest setting as to make this last until Skyquake was done with his public execution ceremony. Up against the wall near the doorway the Air Commandant had left from stood a Decepticon Leaper, his arms folded over his chest plate as he oversaw the process.

"Hey, 9224, We get that monitor up yet?" The leaper asked with a small nod of his processor.

"It's on," The Vehicon replied as he ensured the locks were in place around Thunderclash's head restraint, "but it doesn't appear to be broadcasting yet."

"Who you think'a gonna be the one to pull the triggers?" Vehicon 1138 inquired, his actuators fiddling with more semi-life support systems. "If Skyquake is gonna take the mantle at the bridge, I'd love to see what Snare can do."

"Snare? Pfft. Stalker is the one with the crazy tools." 9224 quickly retorted. "Besides, he prefers the slow and torturous method. My shannix is on Falcon and Talon."

"Heh, what shannix?" The third Vehicon asked, breaking her silence.

"It's a figure of speech 5643! Why must you always shoot me down like this?"

The leaper rose from his position against the wall and prodded over towards the crucified Thunderclash, marveling at the damage he's sustained. Why they didn't just pop a fresh round into his processor and call it a day, he didn't know. But orders were orders he supposed.

*crreeeek* *buhh-rumnpt*

The Leaper and each of the Vehicons looked up towards the vents as they rattled up above. 9224 cocked his head to the side as it continued to rumble overhead.

*grrrriiiiick*

The Leaper's singular optic shifted from the ceiling over to the staring Vehicons "What in the pit? Is Bristles up cleaning the vents?"

"No, he shouldn't be..." 1138 slowly responded with, "There's no way he could have finished scrubbing the engines yet..."

Nemesis - Brig

Chromia heaved a heft sigh at the news that Thunderclash had been tortured. Of course. Her optics shifted to Rotorstorm and Firestar as each spoke their minds on their current situation. Hope was dwindling. Dying out. Chromia could see it happening. And, while her experience told her to try to keep it alive amongst the younger bots, it was difficult to keep herself hopeful. Their situation grew more dire each passing astrosecond.

"Well that's a rather gloom outlook."

Oh thank Primus, Chromia thought. Clutching her chest, Chromia sagged against the wall of her cell. Nautica. Tilting her head up to the source of the voice, she managed to spot the vent with surprisingly little difficulty.

"Hey Chromy, I think might be able to help."

“About time,” Chromia said with a smile. She glanced over to the door of the brig hastily then back to the vent. “’Lita with you, Nauty? Can you bust us outta there?”

The Nemesis--Above the Reservoir

"Who is this 'Prowl' and what does he want with me?"

"Optimus Prime's 'strategist-in-chief', basically. And you fit into that strategy somehow, though I honestly can't see why at the moment. You look like a Cybertronian but you're obviously not."

"Make it up as we go along. Got ya! I wish you would have been my supervisor back in my days in law enforcement. Would have saved me a lot of yelling sessions," Roulette added. Elita-smirked.

"Tell me about it. Would've saved me some too if I'd had some rooks who could improvise better back then."

Crawling on, the trio eventually wound up just over the central energon reservoir of the Decepticon flagship, and below...wow....Thunderclash. He looked more than a little worse for wear, but it was obvious he was being kept functional for some reason. Elita-1 turned back to face Windblade.

"You stay up here. I don't wanna hafta rescue you again," she said, before nodding to Roulette and pointing down at Thunderclash.

"Genericon one, two, three," she said, pointing to each of them in turn.

*crreeeek* *buhh-rumnpt*

Elita froze. Just one wrong step and she'd made a noise. Fraggit.

"What in the pit? Is Bristles up cleaning the vents?"

"No, he shouldn't be...There's no way he could have finished scrubbing the engines yet..."

Came the voices from below. There was one more in the room besides the Vehicons, but Elita couldn't see it from her vantage point. Oh well, he'd just have to meet Primus too. A moment later the fourth mech joined the others. A Leaper. Wonderful.

With a solid kick, Elita sent the grating cover crashing down and dropped smack on top of the first of the Vehicons, her optics instantly casing the rest of the room. The Leaper had instantly shot away from the group.

"Leaper there!" she said, pointing to the upper wall.

Nemesis -- Vents

As she shuffled along behind Elita One and Roulette, Windblade tried her best to puzzle out the information that she was given. Prowl was apparently the one who sent for her, though she couldn't exactly remember if that name should have meant something. Being the strategist-in-chief, Prowl likely had some sort of job for her to do, and he didn't seem to be the most forgiving, nurturing type. Windblade could only hope that she could do as he asked with her memory being as... Lacking as it was.

Even though Roulette seemed to want to liven the mood a little, Windblade was a bit too panicked to even chuckle. Her pulse raced through her veins, her breath tense and her hands clenched. Her wings were jutted upward at alert, scratching the ceiling of the vent if she came too close. She didn't know anyone, no one seemed to know her except for perhaps this "Prowl" she had heard so much about. Windblade didn't even know where she came from!

"You look like a Cybertronian, but you're clearly not." were the words that Elita used, shocking Windblade out of her festering self-investigation into her own mind.

"Cybertronian" was the word that caught her attention. Wasn't Cybertron Prime the evil leader that Megatron had to rise up against, which started Megatron's lust for power?

Oh.

Cybertron was a planet, or a country. That made more sense to Windblade. But there was something that made more sense to the femme in what Elita had said, that she was not of Cybertron. Without her memories, she couldn't say where she was from, but from what everyone was saying and from what general intuition that Windblade still possessed, she knew that she wasn't from Cybertron. But that answer only seemed to leave more questions than it answered.

But before she could ask any more questions, Elita had jumped down into a room and started an assault on three Decepticon soldiers, ordering Windblade to stay behind. She could only watch as the Autobot leaped down and began to attack the "genericons" as Elita had called them. But as Windblade watched, there was something deep within her. It wasn't rage, anger nor even her memories returning, rather, it was a sense of duty.

Without even noticing, she had placed her hand on what seemed to be the hilt of a sword on her hip.

Nemesis -- Vents

Roulette quickly crawled the edge of the makeshift entrance Elita had made. She watched where she was motioning and sat and turned her back to the hole. She smiled at Windblade.

"Make sure I don't fall down ok?" She fell back into the hole, keeping her lower legs on the edge to hold her up there. She quickly spotted her target where Elita had pointed and, in a smooth motion, she draw her pistol and fired at the Leaper. An extremely difficult shot for most but Roulette was good enough to make it look easy.

As the Leaper was struck Roulette grinned.

"Yeah, I'd totally be yelled at for this back in the day. I am glad I fitted my weapons for stealth before we came in here."

Nemesis – The Reservoir

When chaos broke out around Thunderclash, he barely registered it. One thing he did realize, however, was that it was now time for striking back. His hand lashed out at a Vehicon’s arm who drew too close. The Decepticon yelped and staggered. Thunderclash dug his digits into the Vehicon’s arm. The armor plating buckled under the sheer pressure.

The Vehicon let out a scream of pain, clawing at Thunderclash’s hand while frantically glancing around, hoping that no Autobot noticed or took advantage of its vulnerability. Thunderclash’s optics lit up, burning a cold, icy blue. He twisted the Vehicon’s arm, which elicited another scream. Eventually, the Vehicon gathered some semblance of its composure and drew its gun on Thunderclash.

Thunderclash, bound by the slab restraints, merely stared with cold indignation. The Vehicon hesitated, intimidated.

Nemesis - Brig:

Moonracer then sat down to think about what was going on. What kind of mess did they get themselves into? “I’m sorry, Bumper,” she said, “this whole situation is just stupid. We shouldn’t be here. I wish we were more careful. You did a great job though, Bumper.”

Moonracer sighed as she looked at the scratches on her arm, “Those Predators are going to pay for every bit of their evil actions soon. I can feel it. It’s even cruel for Decepticons to execute those who have surrendered, themselves.”

“Yes, I saw him. I saw Thunderclash. He’s not good, I’m afraid. He’d clearly been tortured, but physically he’s holding his own under the circumstances. It’s more than I could do in his position that's for sure. His emotional state, however, is another story. Skyquake managed to get the information he wanted out of Thunderclash, but not before one of us paid the ultimate price.”

Moonracer then felt even more horrible. If Thunderclash or anyone else were to die because of their stupidity, Moonracer was going to flip. It was starting to become less of a waiting game, and more like one of those Earth T.V. shows where no-one is safe. Anyone can just… die. Just like that.

"Wait, who die-"

"Well that's a rather gloom outlook."

Who- Is that... Nautica? I can't hardly tell or hear. Oh, Primus. Maybe we'll get out of here after-all. Moonracer walked over to the barrier and saw Chromia looking up at the ducts and talking softly. If was obviously one of them, even if it wasn't Nautica.

The Nemesis-– The Reservoir

Elita-1 had crouched down, ready to make a leap of her own to avoid the Leaper's crippling aerial attack. Roulette did her even one better and got off a shot that would have done the likes of Sureshot or Pointblank proud and nailed it right in the cranial unit, sending it off its mark and falling into the energon reservoir where it started to thrash wildly as it sank.

Then the room shook.

Elita had to steady herself, but she didn't have a moment to lose as she noticed one of the other Vehicons with its weapon drawn on Thunderclash. Operating more on instinct and training than strategy, Elita lifted her blaster and fired, blasting the weapon out of the Vehicon's hand. As it turned, another shot hit it in the chest, and then another, and then one through the cranium for good measure. It crumpled to the ground like an aluminum sheet.

"Haven't been graced by your presence in a while. My loss, I know," Elita said with a smile as she took out a new tool and set to work on disabling Thunderclash's restraints.

Nemesis -- Vents

Almost as soon as Elita leaped from their vent, the carnage began. Lasers, blasters, screaming and death, everyone who seemed to oppose the two "Autobots" were subsequently dismantled and destroyed. It was almost intimidating how well Elita killed her foes, blowing them apart by the seams. But just as she had begun to watch as the battle raged, Roulette suddenly turned and asked Windblade to make sure that she didn't fall out of their vent.

Almost as soon as the words came from Roulette's vocalizer, she had leaned out of the vent and begun shooting. But even through the loud, whirring scream of Roulette's firearm, a bewildered Windblade noticed something: The scratching squeal of metal sliding against metal, and the slow slide forward of Roulette's feet. Stumbling forward with a gasp, the amnesiac fembot quickly grabbed hold of the lighthearted rifleman's feet, keeping her stable.

But almost as soon as the fighting began, it ceased. No screams, no gunfire, only Elita's low talking. Windblade peered around the woman that she was stabilizing and made an attempt to see to whom Elita was speaking. Who was it...? A... A prisoner? She couldn't tell, but she could only guess that they were important.

"Who is that?" Windblade asked Roulette with a whisper, the literal dead silence of the room echoing in the vents.

Nemesis -- Vents

Roulette took a deep breath to cool herself as she felt herself slip. Fortunately their new friend had good reflexes. She gave her a thumbs up.

"Thank you Windy." She said in a cheerful tone then she turned to see Elita slag the inferno out of some poor Vehicon. She almost felt sorry for it except for the shape that she saw Thunderclash in. She frowned and worked to pull herself up.

"A friend of ours. Looks like the Decepticons that had you locked up here were not kind to him." She whispered back. Windblade was part of this so she deserved an explanation plus it allowed her to give Elita and Thunderclash a moment.

"You should know that the Decepticons... well... ethics is not something they all adhere to. We have all seen some pretty nasty things they have done in the past and we might be seeing some of that before we are done here. I hope you don't but I thought it fair to warn you."

She speaks in a quite, thoughtful tone as she whispers.

Nemesis - Brig:

Boss remembered a trick that he used to use when in similar situations before and was in need of energon. How can I forget? It should be second nature by now.




Boss started to feel his arm get heavy. It was worth it however if he was to be able to make it out alive of this place, and not be a burden on his brothers and allies. His head started to feel clear again.

Boss turned to Scorch and spoke quietly, "I have some good news, and bad news. Firstly will be good news. I have just successfully redirected energon from an arm into my cranium, so now I'm not gonna be passing out. Bad news is I have a limp left arm now. Just wanted to let you know."

Boss stood up since he was no longer feeling like he was going to tip over. He felt like he could think clearly now.

Then, the sound of a sarcastic feminine voice came from the ducts above. How many of these female Autobots are there? The voice might've not amused the Turbomaster, but he still could feel a sensation of happiness to hear the voice of an ally who was not imprisoned.

"We would be much more useful without inhibitor claws on our chests," Boss said quietly to the voice in the vents, "Also, I sincerely hope that you have someone on their way to relieve Thunderclash, our leader. He may be a tough spawn-of-a-gun, but I'm not partial for him being tortured."

Boss then turned to Scorch again, "You were able to use your welder. Unless it was already deployed, that shouldn't be possible. Is 'your' inhibitor claw malfunctioning? Even if it's that your welder was already deployed, we could use that thing to our advantage somehow."

Nemesis -- Vents

With a panicked tug, Windblade heaved the Autobot gunner up from her sliding fall and back into the vent, scraping her alert wings along the roof of the vents as she rolled back into a kneeling position. With her newfound friend safe from falling into the room, the femme looked down into the room and watched as Elita approached her, from what Windblade had gathered, friend. As they were too far away, the woman couldn't exactly eavesdrop, not that she really cared to. There were other, more pressing matters.

Questions, questions, questions... Not many answers, either. She couldn't exactly keep berating her guardians with a barrage of questions, but she couldn't exactly fly blind, either.

Wait, "fly blind"? Fly... Yes, she could fly! She could... She could transform into a jet, she knew it; it was like remembering how to ride a bike after years of disuse. She had wings, she had ducted fans, she had... She could feel a glass canopy on her back. Her spark fluttered in her chest -- Windblade had just remembered something. She wasn't just a casual flier, either; she was extremely skilled at it. She could remember flashes of massive, metal skyscrapers, swooping about them in various, daring maneuvers. Was this the "Cybertron" that she heard of?

She was about to remark at her remembering, but as she drew breath, she suddenly she noticed something. It was apparent that her guardians didn't exactly know about her amnesia, and it was pretty obvious that they were retrieving her because of something that she knew. If she revealed her amnesia, it might make her "friends" less friendly.

But she had to trust them. There wasn't exactly any reason to lie to Windblade, after all, and there might be an easy fix. But there was no way to tell. She could end up making herself useless to them all. But it was better here amongst those who might be understanding, than in front of this... "Prowl" character who seemed to be the less forgiving type.

"Roulette... Can I trust you with something?"

The Nemesis – The Reservoir

As if by clockwork, Elita-1 capitalized on his captive Vehicon, destroying the Decepticon before the Con could end Thunderclash. Thunderclash’s optics trailed down to the crumpled, broken corpse of the Vehicon without pity. This was only the beginning of Thunderclash’s righteous retribution. Of that, he was sure. Whether or not he could exact it to its fullest right now was another matter. Most of his men were injured. He needed to get them to safety.

"Haven't been graced by your presence in a while. My loss, I know," Elita said with a smile as she took out a new tool and set to work on disabling Thunderclash's restraints.

As the first of his restraints popped open, Thunderclash flexed his hand experimentally. His face a serious mask, he tore at the other restraint, and with a creak of strained metal, it gave way. He tossed it aside with contempt. As he began to pry the ones binding his feet, he glanced about.

“How many are we? What of my crew?”

Nemesis -- Vents

Roulette was surprised. She was not expecting a question like that.

"Sure, I know how to keep my vocal systems shut off. If I can help out with something I would be glad to."

Nemesis -- Vents

Despite Roulette's seemingly sincere response about her ability to keep her mouth shut about certain things, it didn't exactly ease Windblade's mind. It wasn't exactly the easiest thing to admit, especially to someone whom she had just met, but there were few other choices at hand. It would eventually come out, and she much preferred it in a controlled environment where the problem could possibly be solved instead of in front of those who had summoned her.

Did she believe that Roulette was sincere? Of course. But it was less than comforting knowing Elita's virtual zealot mentality toward the Autobot cause, and the possible sense of loyalty that Roulette would have toward Elita made Windblade worry that Roulette would reveal Windblade's secret if prompted by her superiors. But she had to hope for the best.

Time to sort the friends from the enemies.

"Um..." Windblade placed her hands on her knees and closed her fingers, "I... Don't know how long I was in that obelisk, but however long it was, it... Affected me. I can't remember, well, anything. I barely even remembered my name let alone where I come from. I just now -- just now -- remembered that I can turn into a jet. Sure, there are things that come naturally to me: Language, logic, so on, but I don't... I can't remember anything else."

She paused and looked down.

"I'm sorry. Whatever you opened that obelisk for, I... I don't think I can be of any help unless there's a way to get my memories back."

Nemesis -- Vents

Roulette sighed at Windblade's story. She didn't want to do this but maybe it would help.

"You know, I wasn't always a soldier in a war. Back in the day, before all of this started, I was a sharpshooter. I would go around and entertain people with all kinds of trick shots. One day I participated in this big competition called the IntraFormers Sharpshooting Competition, all of the big names where there, the best of the best. I finished second to this slag head called Sureshot."

She said "slag head" playfully showing no real hard feelings.

"It stung a little that I lost but still, I finish second that should have been good, right? Except it wasn't. Most of those who reached the final stages in the competition would go on to great fame and glory. All except me. For whatever reason I was thoroughly forgotten. Sent me down a little spiral as I questioned myself since no one else seemed to think I was good for anything. What could I really contribute?"

Her tone turns a little sadder as she recounts that but bounces back as she continues.

"Still, I managed to bounce back. I joined law enforcement and used my skills to protect others. It was pretty good work until, well, we realized how corrupt law enforcement had become towards the start of the Decepticon rebellion and that collapsed too. Once again I found myself forgotten. Law enforcement officials were completely irrelevant in the midst of rebellion and, again, no one had any use for me. Eventually I had to reinvent myself once more this time into a solder."

Roulette places her right hand on Windblade's shoulder.

"What I am trying to say with all that story time is don't let others decide for you if you are useful or not. We'll try to help you get your memories back but, even if it doesn't work out, you can still contribute to whatever you want to do. I don't know who you were in the past but you were good enough to make the 'Cons go through the effort of locking you up in there so you have lots of potential. Don't ever give up on yourself, ok?"

The Nemesis-–The Reservoir

Elita-1 took a satisfied step back as Thunderclash set to work freeing himself from the remaining restraint now that he had a hand free to assist him in the effort.

She looked up to Roulette and caught her optic and signaled that it was clear for her and Windblade to come down and join them. She didn't want this small of a group getting separated again. Losing Nautica was bad enough. But she held out hope that the innovate little engineer was holding her own within the bowels of this nightmare vessel. It would take ingenuity, but that was something that she seemed to have in spades.

“How many are we? What of my crew?”

"I managed to get a strike team in. I'll send you the roster now. As for your crew, you're the first I've seen so far, but I'm working on getting you all out now that I've accomplished my priority mission objective, per Prowl," she said, pointing up at the mech interacting with Roulette. "High-priority target. No idea why. But that's not for me to figure out. With you loose, I figure our odds of getting clear of this heap just increased a hundredfold."

If you're dealing with a mech with a known gift in the confidence department, no harm in playing to it.

The Nemesis – The Reservoir

"I managed to get a strike team in. I'll send you the roster now. As for your crew, you're the first I've seen so far, but I'm working on getting you all out now that I've accomplished my priority mission objective, per Prowl," she said, pointing up at the mech interacting with Roulette. "High-priority target. No idea why. But that's not for me to figure out. With you loose, I figure our odds of getting clear of this heap just increased a hundredfold."

“I see,” was all Thunderclash said in response. After prying himself free completely, he slid down the tilted slab onto the floor. He staggered as his weight went down on his injured legs. “Hrrgh…But I am not so certain that I will be of much use. I will endeavor to be an asset, however,” Thunderclash grated out, steadying himself on the slab.

Running down the roster, Thunderclash let out a light harrumph. Not many. Elita, Roulette and Nautica as well as the high priority target that they had collected. It struck him that he had to inform Elita-1 of something. “Escape may not be as easy as you initially planned, I’m afraid. There’s no time to soften the news, but your ship was destroyed. We will have to pursue a different avenue of escape.”

“I imagine my crew and yours are being kept in the brig. I’m not sure where it is, however.”

Nemesis -- Vents

As Windblade listened to Roulette's story -- eloquent as it was -- she couldn't help but to think that Roulette had missed the point. It wasn't that she felt useless so much as she felt like a burden, a dead-end, a wild cybergoose chase. What would the point of these "Autobot's" mission to rescue the femme if Windblade couldn't remember what they wanted to know?

She had no doubts that she could find a place in the war as cannon fodder, if she even wanted to join the war at all, so her future wasn't really in question in that regard. She could do as she wished, even leaving them all behind in search of answers for herself. But the fact that she had whatever answers that they so desired at her fingertips and that she let them slip away! That alone was almost too much for mere stories to remedy.

Besides, if this "Prowl" was as strict as he was made out to be, Windblade was understandably less than certain that Prowl would be as forgiving as her rescuers were.

"It's not about how I failed myself; not really. Roulette, how much has your team lost on your mission to rescue me?" Windblade asked, looking up from her knees, "And from what you see here, was all that you sacrificed... Was it all worth it?"

The Nemesis-–The Reservoir

“I see Hrrgh…But I am not so certain that I will be of much use. I will endeavor to be an asset, however,” Thunderclash said, causing Elita's expression to shift in surprise. That didn't sound like the Thunderclash she knew.

"Geez, 'Clash, what did the 'Cons do to you? I've never heard you talk like that. You're the inspiring hero mech whose pulled afts out of a lot worse fires than this. Well, maybe not a lot worse than this, but you know what I mean. If the 'Cons replaced you with a facsimile I'm not gonna be happy."

Elita smirked and began to plan out their exit.

"Hey Rou, how about we-?"

But just then a shudder ran through the entire ship. It shook the floor and the walls so violently that she almost fell into the energon reservoir with her rescuee.

"Whoa....what in the Pit?! Was that your people?"

Nemesis -- Vents

Roulete shrugged. "It's fine. We did not know Thunderclash's crre were in trouble so, if anything, us coming to rescue you now puts us in position to rescue them. If we can get our team and Thunderclash's to safety then all would have been more than worthwhile."

Roulette smiles. "Let's worry about getting out first ok?"

At that the shil shuddered and Roulette fell back "Whoa!" She yelled as she fell through the hole and feel on the ground.

"Ow..." She said wearily. "The slag was that?"

The Nemesis – The Reservoir

"Geez, 'Clash, what did the 'Cons do to you? I've never heard you talk like that. You're the inspiring hero mech whose pulled afts out of a lot worse fires than this. Well, maybe not a lot worse than this, but you know what I mean. If the 'Cons replaced you with a facsimile I'm not gonna be happy."

Thunderclash regarded Elita-1 at that. No, she – she was right. What was he doing? No matter how bleak the circumstance, he could not give in to despair. No matter what Skyquake and his fiends did. Their revenge should be escaping without further casualties. That would really drive Skyquake’s faceplate in his failure.

He shook his head. He was free. He had reinforcements. The time to act was now. He would save them. All of them. It was the very least he could do after he had failed them so totally.

A sudden shudder ran through the ship, shaking it violently. Thunderclash steadied himself by gripping the slab, keeping a hand on Elita-1 to ensure that she did not fall.

"Whoa....what in the Pit?! Was that your people?"

“I don’t know. But what I do know is that now is our opportunity,” Thunderclash offered Elita-1 one of his trademark, confident smiles, “C’mon. Let’s go find our people and get out of here. Maybe we can wreak a little havoc of our own as we do.”

Thunderclash stalked toward the door, holding himself high despite his injuries. He had to. His crew – the Autobots needed him. Now more than ever.

The Nemesis – Brig

Road Rage remained in a seated position on the floor as her fellow Autobots is the cells around her chatted about what she had revealed in regards to Thunderclash’s condition. Moonracer wanted revenge against the Predators. Who could blame her. Even the crimson femme wanted to see Skyquake and his vicious brood suffer for the atrocities they had committed, especially against poor Speed Bump.

”Wait, who die-”

The former bodyguard looked across the cell block at Moonracer, knowing exactly what the teal femme was trying to ask her. However, Moonracer was quickly interrupted by a sound from above.

”Pssst, I’m up here! Hey Chromy, I think I might be able to help.”

Road Rage peered up at a vent in the ceiling of the brig to see a purple femme waving at everyone below. A sense of relief filled the crimson warrior’s entire frame. However, they were not saved yet. If one of the guards were to enter within the next few astroseconds, the purple femme could be discovered. She had to work fast to free them all before it was too late.

“About time. ’Lita with you, Nauty? Can you bust us outta here?” Chromia replied.

Minding her damaged right knee, Road Rage managed to crawl closer to the force field that kept the crimson femme in her cell, her optics focused on Nautica. “Hey, 'Nauty' is it? You wouldn’t happen to have a spare knee joint up there by chance would you? ‘Cause I could really use a new one right about now. Heh,” Road Rage called out to their impending savior in a hushed tone.

Nemesis - Brig

"'Lita with you, Nauty? Can you bust us out of here?"

"Hey, 'Nauty' is it? You wouldn't happen to have a spare knee joint up there by chance would you? 'Cause I could really use a new one right about now. Heh."

"Uhh, can't say I do..." Nautica quietly replied to the crimson femme sharing a cell with Chromia, "I'm no doctor, but I'm sure we can jury-rig something for ya! As for getting you lot out of here let's see what I can do-"

The violet and gold engineer was cut off by the sudden jerk of what felt like a minor quake erupting through the ship. Metal creaked and systems practically moaned around them. Nautica peered back down the vent and give a reaffirming smile before crawling towards the vents overhanging outside the cell block "I'll try and be quick!"

Bridge

"What. Happened." Skyquake asked with an immense measure of displeasure staining his voice. The various vehicons manning the control panels along the bridge frantically scanned over their terminals to determine what Skyquake was inquiring about.

"Unknown. I've got green indications across the board. Cameras are reporting nothing out of the ordinary."

"Asteroid collision?" Another of the pilots asked as he ran diagnostics on his screen.

"Couldn't be! Sensors would have picked it up and if not, shields are still holding at full."

"Ships do not just shake." Skyquake bellowed, rising to his full height as his optics turned to slits of jade fury. The vehicons all flinched as his voice boomed throughout the bridge. Another tremor then swept through the entirety of the ship, the Predator commander gripped his seat tight to prevent himself from falling over while some of the vehicons were tossed out of theirs.

"None of this makes sense! Scans are showing nothing is out of the ordinary!" One of the pilots cried as he struggled with finding a source on his terminal.

"Then we shall have to investigate." Skyquake retorted coldly. "Manually."

Corridor - Brig Entrance

"You good?" One of the guards atanding watch outside the brig asked to his fellow Decepticon as he rose from the tremor.

"Yeah, fine." He hastily replied, trying to hide his embarrassment from such a stumble. A small squad of vehicons past y their position with what seemed to be their weapons drawn. Investigation crew perhaps? "What in the pit, did something hit us?"

"You'd think so, but we would've heard something if we did, no? I mean, there's no alarms blaring. Doesn't excuse why teams are running past like something did."

>>"Squad 7 do you read?"<< Came a call across the Decepticon comm channel.

>>"Command, this is 7, I read. What's happening?"<<

>>"We seem to have lost contact with squads 9 and 16, they were sent to investigate the maintenance areas per Skyquake's orders. You're the closest in the vicinity, need you to investigate."<<

>>"Copy that, we'll take a look."<<

"Aren't we suppose to be guarding the door?" The Decepticon who had previously fallen inquired as he slung his weapon over his shoulder.

"Eh, I think Command is gonna take watch from here, or send another team to take over for us. Besides, weren't you itching to get the servos moving again? Come on."

The two vehicons standing outside the door then started to pace off down the corridor and on to their new orders. From above, Nautica peered through the ventilation grate, trying to see if she could spot any other Decepticons on the move. Feeling secure, the violet and gold femme kicked out the vent and slowly dropped back into the corridor. She reactively and unintentionally gave her servos and pistons a stretch, having been stuck crawling in the ducts for a while. Nautica then turned to the door and approached the command console. There didn't seem me to be a lock in place... curious... A key for the inhibitor claws also seemed to be missing too, yet everyone she could see back there was wearing one. "On but not locked?" She thought. The engineer then pressed the command that opened the door, which in turn opened with a sharp hiss. Nautica poked her head around into the brig to see the series of high-energy plasma cells glowing brightly and the inhabitants of said cells turning to face her.

"Nautica!" Firestar gently and quietly gasped as she rose to her full height, "It was you!"

"Well, not the most exciting rescue," Rotorstorm began as he stood up as well and put his hands on his hips, "but it sure is a welcoming one. Nautica then fully entered the brig and moved to disable the barriers. When the high-energy fields dispersed, she drew her trusty wrench.

"Alright, line up and let's see what we can do about those claws! And leg, for the missus in need of a knee. Or rather, in kneed. Heh..."

Corridor - Brig Entrance:

"Hey sista!" said Moonracer, "Glad to see you here! Or rather, glad to see you not in here, hah."

After the brig doors dissipated, they were then free. Well, as free as ones with inhibitor claws still on them could be.

"Alright, line up and let's see what we can do about those claws! And leg, for the missus in need of a knee. Or rather, in kneed. Heh..."

Boss felt the welded section on his head and said, "We need a few free and on watch while the more injured of us take more time to be made ready."

"I'll go first," said Moonracer, "Then I can guard the entrance after I'm able to access my trusty weapons. Take off the claw and I'll be good to go."

Boss glanced at Moonracer, and then said to Nautica, "I'll go whenever. I can help guard, or help with repair."