Onslaught sat at his desk, drawing a battle plan. Time was something that was not in his favor, so he had to settle for quickly-drawn stick figures and crude lines. He cringed at his work. "Uh... Onslaught?" Vortex asked.

"Yes, Vortex?" Onslaught replied.

"You've been cooped up in here for days now, you won't drink any Energon, you won't eat, I'm worried. You okay?"

"Yes. I'm just focused. I have our plans almost finished. Bludgeon, Mega-Octane, Long Haul, Blast Off, Movor, and myself will transport metals, berths, vidscreens, and anything else we might need, through the GroundBridge. You and our other Combiner brethren will cover our exit, and follow us through. Cutthroat will destroy the GroundBridge and fly to the site where the Constructicons will build our base. We will meet the Autobot Combiners there. I have communicated with Scattershot, and he agrees with my plan."

"How did Soundwave not hijack the frequency and shut it down?"

"Too many firewalls. He can't get past that many. Flowspade has direct contact to Shockwave, and she threatened him with death. He

agreed to strengthen the comm. Shockwave is an ally, just out of fear. However, if he blabs, he doesn't know where our new base will be."

"I can't find a fault in your logic."

"There's a reason that I'm the Decepticons' lead tactician."

"Not for long, you aren't," muttered Trickdiamond.

"Holy slag!" Vortex said, obviously startled. "Where did you come from?"

"The shadows." Was Trickdiamond's curt reply.

"Whatever. I'm gonna go cause trouble with Sinnertwin." Vortex exited his hab suite that he shared with his brothers.

"I'm gonna go too." Trickdiamond followed Vortex out but she went the other direction.

Onslaught swiveled his chair back to face his desk. It was then that he realized how hungry he was. He exited his hab suite and walked to mess hall. Onslaught filled a cube with Energon and grabbed a piece of Energon cake. He sat down and Ruckus sat next to him.

Onslaught retracted his mouthplate and took a sip of his Energon.

"So... Tomorrow's the day?" Ruckus asked.

"Yes. You know your position?" Onslaught asked.

"Yeah. Cover your exit. So, word has it that you and Scattershot are running the show?"

"Yes. We are meeting him and the other Autobot Combiners at our designated neutral zone, where the Constructicons will build our base. Shockwave is an ally via Flowspade, and Tarantulas of the Tripredacus Council is in contact with the Elite Guard, and they understand why we're doing this." Onslaught took another sip of his cube. Ruckus sipped at his. Hunger joined them at the table.

"You're here about Vortex and Sinnertwin, aren't you, Hunger?"

"Yep. Not that my brother's the politest bot, but Vortex ain't exactly helping." Hunger closed his optics and took a long swig of his cube.

"But, who am I to tear 'em apart?" Hunger shrugged and left.

- (1 hour timeskip brought to you by lazy Thundercracker)-

"Tomorrow, Scattershot. Do you have the coordinates?" Onslaught asked.

"Yes. The leaders of the other teams have them as well," Scattershot replied.

"Good. I can't wait. My brothers are giddy with excitement."

"As are mine. We will be bringing enough Energon to last everyone a year." Onslaught informed. "I've been stockpiling."

"Oh, scrap. Optimus is looking for me. I'm supposed to be at a meeting. See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Scattershot."

-the next day-

Onslaught was sitting at his chair in the meeting room, next to Starscream and Razorclaw. Starscream was going over his weekly report. When he was finished, he smiled hopefully at Megatron. Megatron gave a disapproving scowl. Starscream sunk down in his chair. Onslaught rose with his datapad in servo. "My lord, I must speak with my Combiners." Onslaught looked away.

"It can wait," Megatron grunted.

"I'm afraid it's urgent."

"Fine. Know that there will be retribution for that. You will be punished by public flogging. You don't want that."

"I will take the consequences."

"Tomorrow, midday. Don't be late."

I won't be here tomorrow, Onslaught thought. "As you command, Mighty Megatron."

Onslaught and the other Combiner teams went into a private meeting room. Divebomb caught a camera lens out of the corner of his optic

and shot it. "You all know your positions?" Onslaught asked.

"Transport," Bludgeon, Mega Octane, Long Haul, Blast Off, and Movor said.

"Construction," the Constructicons said.

"ATTACK!" Everyone else shouted.

Onslaught and the other transporters went to an underground room where Onslaught had been storing resources, from vidscreens, to berths, to metal, to Energon. The room was huge, but everything was able to fit, and Onslaught was free to fight.

Hellbat went outside to the GroundBridge controls. He overthrew the two Vehicons with ease. One commed Megatron before he blacked out. The entire Decepticon army was outside in minutes. While Hellbat was distracting the Decepticons, Onslaught took the opportunity and had the transporters go through the GroundBridge. "Enough of this!" Megatron shouted. He transformed and Skywarp grabbed him out of the air. He aimed. Vortex and Sinnertwin were in the sights. Skywarp couldn't shoot them! Those were his two best friends in the Decepticon ranks. They all pulled pranks together. Skywarp loved it. While Skywarp was fantasizing, Megatron fired himself, hitting Vortex in the chest and Sinnertwin in the shoulder. They both fell limp.

Onslaught picked both of them up. "Combiners, through the GroundBridge!" Onslaught barked. No one argued.

Once everyone was through, Cutthroat sabotaged the controls and flew off. He felt his brother's pain, pulsating through his veins. He reached his friends and the Autobot Combiners at the neutral zone. The Constructicons already started building. Ramhorn, Drillhorn, and Nosecone were drilling into the ground so no one could go under the wall that was going to be built around the base of operations. "The controls are fried, Onslaught." Cutthroat transformed.

"Thank you, Cutthroat."

"How's my brother?"

"Managing. Fractyl, First Aid, and Hook are working on him and Vortex. He will need a sparkbond, to fill him with energy. He is weak right now."

"I understand and will do anything I can to help my brother."