The Decepticons gathered in secret below the surface of Cybertron, and planned for the near-future of their faction.
Megatron: DECEPTICONS
Megatron: *stares at the third massive mech in the room other than Tarn and Overlord that he can’t recall meeting before what is this*
Soundwave: *forgot to introduce, oops*
Soundwave: *will nudge Shady to say something to his Lord*
Black Shadow: *is nudged* Ah hmm yes I am Black Shadow, friend to Soundwave. He sort of…brought me along today.
Megatron: …
Soundwave: *nods, he’s bringing reinforcements*
Starscream: A third phase-sixer to assist us…fantastic.
Steve: *tilts helm*
Soundwave: *squints* Well it’s the best that could happen don’t you mock his best friend, mister :I
Megatron: *to Black Shadow* Are you willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure the survival of the Decepticon cause?
Black Shadow: Of course…Lord Megatron.
Megatron: Then we should get along fine.
Megatron: Now then. I have gathered you all here to discuss something that has been left unaddressed for too long. The Nemesis cannot be allowed to remain in Autobot hands.
Steve: *Gives a little understanding nod of affirmation, along with several of the other mechs present. No it cannnot.*
Soundwave: *also agrees, retrieving the Nemesis is long overdue*
Megatron: More than that, they are still few, no matter the resources our ship affords them. They are vulnerable, and so far as we know, have no way of anticipating our newfound strength.
Starscream: Agreed, my liege. I assume during your long recovery you have dedicated plenty of thought to how we might take our ship back with the aid of our new troops?
Megatron: *A glare is shot at Starscream.* I have been able to consider several possibilities.
Starscream: Excellent. And what might those be?
Megatron: Firstly, I have been informed of our restoration of the small battle cruiser.
*Some of the vehicons stir before Kenny has the nerve to move forward*
Kenny: The Adversary is prepped for whatever use you see fit for it, my lord. It’s top pilots and crew members are present here among us to carry out your wishes. The vessel is battle ready though I would advise keeping it out of the brunt of the fighting. Though we’ve done our best to restore and improve it, it’s still an old model. It won’t take too many direct hits before it falls out of the sky.
Megatron: Which is why I believe it is best that it merely be used to draw a few of the Autobots out from their fortress.
Starscream: It is not like they’ll be able to use the Nemesis to try and take the Adversary down, and the only Autobot capable of creating any aerial attack is the Prime. I doubt he alone could take it down.
Tarn: The Peaceful Tyranny is also ready for mobilization wherever you need her, my lord.
Megatron: My aim is not to draw Optimus into the fray with the others. A ship such as yours, Tarn, would be considered too large of a threat for him to ignore.
Tarn: Understood, sir.
Starscream: With the Adversary, as well as myself and the Eradicon fliers, we’ll have the skies more than covered.
Megatron: I do not want them aware that the entire Decepticon fleet is upon them until escape is impossible.
Steve: *notices an immediate problem with this idea* Their groundbridge, my lord…
Megatron: Must be neutralized.
Soundwave: *will cover that up and counter it whenever they should try and open one*
Megatron: Soundwave should still be able to sync with the ship’s computer systems once inside, and prevent them from opening further bridges.
Soundwave: -telepathically- …If they should be so stupid as to go into theirs when he opens another we will see who gets their aft to the shadowzone this time.
Megatron: *smirks at the thought*
Starscream: Excellent. So taking over their bridge controls will be simple. However, they could still manage to escape before Soundwave can make his connection.
Megatron: Not if they don’t realize the threat.
Soundwave: *will have to infiltrate before the initial attack then*
Starscream: You think they wouldn’t turn tail and flee as soon as they knew three phase-sixers were coming for them?
Megatron: And you think that I would allow them to know that all three were attacking before Soundwave had regained control?
Soundwave: *just wanted to say the same*
Starscream: So…we only let them see a portion of our force.
Starscream: *grins*
Megatron: Precisely.
Soundwave: *would say not even that before he’s inside*
Megatron: They believe we have been reduced to minimal numbers, and know neither of the multiverse’s intervention, nor my survival.
Starscream: So we only send, say, a handful of Eradicons after them. Do you wish me to be included in the decoy force?
Megatron: Of course. The Autobots know that you escaped. They would not expect you to fly with anything less than your entire armada, and once they see the size of it, they shall have their false sense of security.
Soundwave: *has a question though*
Megatron: *turns to Soundwave*
Soundwave: *would like to know what your order will be for those soldiers who are still on the vessel, or even joined the Autobots*
Soundwave: *thinks it will be hard to decipher them on first sight*
Megatron: If they fire upon you, or hinder your progress in any way, they are to be treated as the enemy.
Soundwave: *will take it then that he has to wait if he’s fired upon or not?*
Starscream: Ah…you mean the few Eradicons that turned traitor, along with our former medic?
Megatron: *glares*
Megatron: Neutralize them, but do not kill unless they are seen to be hostile. Knockout, I wish to speak to myself, after this is over.
Soundwave: *nods, the order is taken then*
Starscream: You’ll probably have to get through his bondmate first. Not that that will be a problem, will it?
Steve: *remains uncomfortable and fidgety throughout the exchange. He would rather deny the existence of these traitors… but there were those few that sold out their faction. Wishing it wasn’t so won’t change that. To Pit with them then…*
Megatron: Once Soundwave has taken control, he can take down any shielding the Autobots have put into place. We can then use our bridge to infiltrate the Nemesis with our remaining forces.
Starscream: Ah, that reminds me…
Starscream: What about rescuing those of our troops who are still there against their will? Who will be in charge of securing them?
Megatron: *turns to Steve*
Steve: …
Soundwave: *tilts his head, do we vaguely know who’s still trapped on the Nemesis?*
Starscream: *focuses on Steve as well*
Megatron: You remember how and where those soldiers were kept?
Steve: Ah… all over the place, sir… in any spare storage room…
Starscream: Hm…
Steve: Although… I thought we had evacuated all of our own…
Kenny: *steps forward*
Kenny: That’s not entirely correct… I received a distress signal from one mech who’s still apparently being held.
Starscream: Do you think you can make contact with them before this begins?
Megatron: Can you verify that it is not simply a trick?
Kenny: No sir… the comm I received was anonymous. It could be a trap… but it could just as easily be a smart one of ours that knew better than to send an unencrypted comm that the Bots could pick up on.
Soundwave: *would go the simple way and just count though if there’s someone missing?*
Megatron: It may be best to leave this to be investigated after our attack.
Starscream: I do not think they would go to the trouble of creating a fake message in the guise of one of our own.
Megatron: You underestimate them, Starscream.
Megatron: It is too great a risk to contact this individual beforehand.
Starscream: Considering their views of us, do you truly believe they would think they could draw us out by pretending one of our own is in trouble?
Soundwave: *for once does agree with the Seeker though. They believe you offline, and the war won. They are far too busy with restoring Cybertron than to try and lure in the “rest”*
Kenny: If there’s a true Decepticon still on board that ship, they’ll know not to attack their own. We’ll just have to be discerning in who we shoot at… take prisoners where we can, and then sort them out after the fact.
Megatron: *glares again, he doesn’t want to blow their cover* Agreed. We will find them.
Starscream: One other question, my liege.
Starscream: How many of them are you hoping they send to deal with us?
Megatron: Enough to separate their forces.
Megatron: Tarn. I would like you to be on the Adversary.
Starscream: Well… they may decide to send all three of the Wreckers on their team. It’s nothing I couldn’t handle…but the three of them, especially their rather large commander with the Forge as his weapon, are quite a formidable group. I am sure you would not like to lose any of the eradicons that I would be leading, even if we are essentially decoys.
Megatron: That is why Tarn will accompany you.
Steve: So the Adversary and seeker armada will be… together?
Steve: *thinks if there’s that much of a fighting force they probably will send their heavy hitters…*
Starscream: I think that would be a fine idea…They’ll consider us and him a serious enough threat to send their more skilled fighters. It will make things easier for those of you infiltrating the ship’s interior.
Starscream: It will be especially good to get the Wrecker’s commander out of your way. Tarn will have no trouble against him and his weapon.
Soundwave: *wonders though, if they acquired new forces from the multiverse, perhaps the Autobots did too?*
Steve: *hadn’t thought about that… it’s a fair point…*
Megatron: They have no reason to, as you said.
Soundwave: * thinks this is not about the reason for battle. It could be also because of Cybertron’s ongoing restauration?*
Soundwave: *doesnt say they have to, but it’s an aspect with no accessible records to calculate*
Megatron: I doubt that they have an army at the ready to restore the planet. Things have been relatively quiet on their end as they bask in their pretend victory.
Soundwave: *was not talking about an army either, a single miscalculation could be fatal. But there’s no way to find out other than observing and this would take time.*
Soundwave: *doubts that, but as he said the possibility of unknown obstacles is likely*
Starscream: No matter what new additions they may have made to their ranks, could they possibly measure up to the might of three entire phase-sixers?
Megatron: New threats shall be dealt with as they are discovered.
Starscream: Our leader is confident. What reason do we have to worry?
Starscream: Though I do have one concern…
Starscream: You wish to isolate the Prime. What makes you sure he won’t join to take care of the decoy force?
Megatron: Because I will contact him myself.
Starscream: I see. So you plan on convincing him to join you somewhere more…private, I’m sure.
Megatron: Anywhere that our battle will not be interrupted.
Soundwave: *isn’t too fond of that plan but he trusts his Lord’s decisions*
Megatron: *sends a comforting brush of his field to his mate*
Soundwave: *twitches but remains untouched otherwise. He knows you will succeed.*
Starscream: So…we send a decoy to lure out a greater portion of their troops. Meanwhile, the rest of you sneak aboard the ship and hijack the bridge, isolate any prisoners and traitors to be dealt with later, and you confront the Prime.
Soundwave: *thought he’s going to hijack the bridge before anything starts at all*
Megatron: After Soundwave infiltrates the ship. And one more thing. *He walks up to the eradicons present.* You have been selected to guide the other soldiers, and as such, I would prefer that you receive a few minor enhancements before the attack.
Steve: *his and several other eradicons’ optics widen*
Megatron: Tarn. Your medic Pharma has assisted us in the past, and we have the resources to give upgrades to the hydraulic systems of a few soldiers. See to it that he is utilized- and supervised.
Pharma: *wiggles fingers contentedly from the corner, one hand on his hip as he leans on the wall, bright blue optics watching eagerly over the other mechs*
Megatron: *puts emphasis on supervised make sure he doesn’t go nuts with the chainsaws*
Pharma: *wouldn’t do that pssh you kidding? He’d rip them apart with his bare hands ehehehehe… I mean what*
Tarn: I will watch him closely, sir, nothing will go amiss with these upgrade operations.
Starscream: What is it you intend to have done to the soldiers?
Megatron: They will be made stronger. Nothing invasive. But it is long overdue, and now we have the resources and parts for upgrades. Not enough yet for the entire army, but these few here.
Kenny: *Murmurs of excitement arise from the eradicons present. Oh boy. This is big. None of them have been upgraded in centuries.*
Starscream: That sounds like a marvelous idea.
Tarn: *pinches Pharma’s wing* You better behave.
Pharma: Ow ow, yes sir ow.
Soundwave: *almost finds that adorable*
Pharma: *crosses his arms and grumps, pouting*
Tarn: *releases to pet over the wing possessively, turning respectively back to Megatron for any further details*
Soundwave: *does find it adorable, dammit*
Megatron: *can hear you, Soundwave*
Pharma: *leans on Tarn like he’s been taught to do, smiling to himself at the thought of SURGERY*
Tarn: *grins, such a good little pet he has~*
Starscream: …-ahem-
Starscream: So, my lord…is there anything else you believe should be discussed while we are all here?
Soundwave: *will give a report on the details to Overlord later. What shall his position be?*
Megatron: Overlord will remain inside to control the remaining Autobots. Black Shadow will be placed outside, and is to remain hidden until Overlord has made enemy contact. His job is to keep the Wreckers from returning to the ship.
Soundwave: *nods, acknowledged. He will deliver the information to Overlord then.*
Black Shadow: Can do, boss – er – Lord Megatron.
Soundwave: *chuckles*
Tarn: So Overlord is to assist me?
Megatron: No. Black Shadow will.
Megatron: *knows better than to put you and Overlord on a team*
Tarn: *grins, nodding in understanding*
Black Shadow: *optics widen but he nods nonetheless*
Megatron: *might start humming “who’s afraid of the DJD” in his head*
Tarn: *definitely starts humming it aloud*
Starscream: …So, will that be all, sir?
Megatron: For now. Pharma. Begin your upgrades as soon as possible. I have troops to rally.
Black Shadow: *is going to try and ignore Tarn for the moment. He’ll just go to his mental happy place now.*
Tarn: *will play nice for this mission, only because the success for Lord Megatron is more important than past treason*
Starscream: Are we dismissed, my lord?
Megatron: *has turned away and is leaving*
Steve: *Himself and the other eradicons cluster up into groups and chatter among themselves excitedly. The word “upgrades” can be heard repeated often.*
Starscream: *makes his leave as well*
Tarn: *will escort Pharma to the medbay to begin preparations for the upgrades*
Megatron: *requests Soundwave to follow*
Soundwave: *will follow his Lord of course, and also shoot a glare at Tarn for unsettling Black Shadow*
Pharma: *goes and does as told, preparing things for the upgrades*
Black Shadow: *gives a silent nod towards Soundwave as he takes his leave. They will meet up again on Overlord’s ship later*
Soundwave: *returns the nod, he though sends a thankful brush to the Phase Sixer before he leaves*
Megatron's back up 