Transformers Titan: Escalation

by kira444

Volume 2 of Transformers Titan. The War for Terra escalates as new allies and enemies enter the fray while existing ones push themselves to the limit to gain the upper hand. The stakes are raised as Autobots, Decepticons and humans are drawn deeper into this war of blood and energon. (Revision!)

10. A Feast of Crows

Chapter 10-A Feast of Crows

"Come on, move it! We need to get this stuff loaded before nightfall!"

Major Klaus Kruger yelled his orders to his strike team in his usual hardline manner as Asuka mining talos loaded crates of energy crystals onto the airship. The immediate area was patrolled by infantry soldiers, while Codarl units kept watch out for any unwanted visitors, human or cybertronian. Klaus eyed the glowing alien mineral that was taken out of the cave it was mined from in the middle of Yellowstone. He sneered at the crystals as they passed him and cursed his situation.

This was one of many of OZ's global operations. The secret organization was hard at work in collecting as many energon crystals as possible in all six continents, even heading underwater operations for the fuel source. An operation of this scale would've been rather difficult had it not been for Thornment offering her assistance in locating the energon using specialized detection equipment. It was useful not just for finding energon, but also rooting out disguised cybertronians. The overall goal was to somehow create a hybrid fusion of Terran and cybertronian technology to create new, versatile weaponry.

His superiors were happy at how things were turning out for them, but Klaus wasn't all for it. He hated the blind trust they had in this alien, the same member of those race of machines that killed hundreds of his comrades (the Cons were rather thorough in their extermination of soldiers and personnel after finding and dismantling OZ installations). For all they knew, she was planning on killing them once they had the energon they needed. He was well aware that many of the Zodiac were impulsive or irrational to varying degrees, but for the steadfast, hardline Aries (a man Klaus respected greatly) to get roped into this ill-fated scheme was still infuriating.

'As if we don't have enough problems with those esper freaks in Karaba given us shit. Now we must deal with a bunch of aliens planning to scorch our beautiful Mother Gaia. What is this world coming to?' Klaus thought angrily.

"Trouble, Major Kruger?" A thickly accented voice asked.

"No, Dr. Singh, just thinking." Klaus answered briskly.

Dr. Arman Singh was a high ranking scientist and theorist in quantum theory in OZ's R&D division, not to mention he was also one of the minds behind the talos energon weapons development program. He was a tall middle aged man with no an ounce of hair on his head and a thin mustache that hinted at his Dacian heritage.

"Thinking of what, if you don't mind me asking." Singh inquired.

"This." Klaus waved a hand at the mining op. "When I signed up for the Zodiac's noble cause, I didn't expect to fight aliens or make deals with them. We waste our time searching for something that is more useful to the aliens than us while they continue using our planet as a battleground. Now we're working with one of them like its our friend!"

Singh raised an eyebrow. "I never pegged you for a xenophobe, Major."

Klaus glared at him. "I'm only stressing the need to address the clear and present threat sitting right next to us. That robot has us doing its dirty work, wipe out her enemies before turning on us. I will never question the wisdom of the Zodiac, but they're judgment seems to be limited in this particular situation."

"That's treasonous talk, Klaus." Singh hummed.

"Which is why I'm telling you, good doctor."

Singh laughed and walked past the major, picking up a small piece of energon. "Don't get me wrong, Klaus, your concerns are valid. General Aries' last alliance with one of these beings didn't go so well either. We are, of course, careful to avoid a repeat of that scenario."

Then his expression turned dark and he crushed the crystal in his hand. "But the Zodiac didn't pay you to think, they pay you to follow orders. Do not think that they don't have a contingency plan for this. With this energon, the cybertronians will not be able to stop our conquest of this world!"

The HSS tank behind Singh exploded, blowing the man off his feet onto his face. Klaus jumped back and drew his weapon as the site around him was suddenly attacked from above. Looking up, he saw two robot birds, one red and black and the other yellow and black, swooping down shooting lasers from their wings.

"What the hell is going on?" He yelled at a soldier.

"We're under attack, sir!" The soldier replied, pointing to the blue Decepticon that appeared at the edge of the site. "We have three NBEs attacking the camp!"

"Shit! Mobilize our mechanized units, bring those birds down and have the talos focus on the blue one!" Klaus ordered.

HSS tanks and Codarl talos focused on the Decepticon Soundwave as he unleashed hell on them with his concussion rifle. HEAT rounds and kinetic shells bounced off his body, leaving behind dents in his armor though did little damage. Still, Soundwave wasn't taking any chances if one of them scored a lucky hit between his armor, so he made their deaths quick. His chest panel opened and Ravage shot out, shifting to robot mode and tearing apart the humans shooting at him.

Klaus cursed the aliens as they decimated his small talos unit and jumped into one of the unmanned HSS tanks, spinning the vehicle around and pointing the tank's newly developed laser emitters, experimental weapons based on the same weapons used by the Navy in anti-ship combat, at Soundwave's back. Before he could fire a shot, a black shadow flew over him and he saw another Con shooting straight at the airship. He recognized her profile as the Deceptions' first lieutenant, Nightshade.

"Don't you dare!" Klaus fired the laser emitters, but Nightshade was too fast as she fired a volley of mini-missiles at the airship. The poor aircraft didn't stand a chance and Klaus watched helplessly as the airship went up in a ball of flames that reached high into the sky. "NO!"

He shot at Nightshade in a fury, growing increasingly more frustrated as he missed her. Nightshade transformed to her bipedal mode and threw one of her swords at him. Klaus jumped off the tank just as the giant sword stabbed into the vehicle and it exploded, blasting him to the ground. Spitting out dirt, he took out his assault rifle and shot at Nightshade.

"Just die you filthy-"

A sharp pain rippled through his back as three large claws dug into his spine, tearing through his body armor like it was paper. Ravage pounced on him from behind and pinned him to the ground, his claws still digging painfully into the man's back. Nightshade walked past them, idly telling Ravage to join her as she went to survey the operation that was going on. In excruciating pain, but still coherent, Klaus pushed himself up and drew his pistol, shooting weak bullets at the back of Nightshade's head.

Nightshade didn't even turn to glance at him when she snapped her fingers and gave the order. "Ravage, clean up the vermin, please."

In a heartbeat, Klaus was assaulted by Ravage once again, this time in a more violent manner. Claws tore through his body armor, ripping into his skin and spewing blood everywhere, his arms were brutally torn from their sockets and skin peeled off his flesh in bloody ribbons. Ravage wasn't merciful as he tore out the still conscious major's chest and stomach, sending organs and entrails falling out, crunching bones beneath his feet. Within seconds, all that was left of Major Klaus was a few strips of meaty tissue, and a large puddle of blood on the ground.

Soundwave appeared beside Nightshade, who was stomping on the cockpit of one of the disable talos. In his hand was the terrified Dr. Singh.

"P-please, don't hurt me! I was just following orders, like any good soldier!" He whimpered. "I'll tell you whatever you want, just please don't kill me!"

"You'll tell us regardless," Nightshade said harshly, making him cower in fear. "And we don't exactly need you to speak either."

XXXXXX

Starscream watched disinterested from the doorway as Soundwave interrogated their human prisoner. The spymaster used his outlier powers to probe the mind of the OZ scientist for any information he might have. As for the good Dr. Singh, he was strapped to a chain, unable to move as his mind was mercilessly unraveled by Soundwave. To his surprise, Soundwave was having more trouble than he thought entering the man's head.

"Enjoying the show, Starscream?" Nightshade asked as she walked up to him.

"This is a waste of time." He said.

"Oh?" Nightshade said, not totally mocking but close to it. "How so?"

"We're expending our resources playing with humans when we should be making our presence on this world stronger. The Autobots know we're weak after Megatron's defeat, and if they catch wind of Barricade's death and Flamewar's defection-"

"They won't even get a hint…so long as you keep your mouth shut. This mission is important." Nightshade said. "OZ has been a thorn in our side since they abducted Lugnut. They obviously want a cybertronian body to harvest and don't care what faction they have to piss off to get one. But the real question is why. Why go through all the trouble?"

"To make weapons, of course. Surely you've seen how those animals work." Starscream sneered. "Give them an energon cube and rest assured they'll find a way to make a gun out of it."

"Given their recent excursions into energon mining, I'm inclined to agree with you, but what confuses me is how they even know about energon in the first place."

"Wishful thinking?" Starscream withered like a dry flower under Nightshade's glower.

"Whatever the case, OZ is a threat to our campaign on this world. It's bad enough that we have to fight the Autobots for energon, I'm not going to let a bunch of humans interfere in our war."

"Yes, but-"

"Listen to me, Starscream, if they manage to get a hold of our science and technology, then we'll be fighting a three way war that we're ill-equipped for. In our condition, that's the last thing we need. I understand your concerns, but we need to handle these things as they come along and not ignore them."

Starscream sniffed, not angry but just a little miffed at the dressing down. He knew it was important to eliminate any third party that interferes with their war and threatens their operation, but he couldn't help but feel this was personal in some way. And he made sure she knew that. "Are you sure you're not doing this as retribution for what they did to Lugnut?"

"Starscream, Lugnut died at the hands of the Autobots' pet human," She answered. "And since killing that bastard has gotten significantly more difficult, I'd rather slaughter humans less heavily defended."

'Yup, it's personal.' Starscream thought.

The door slid open and Soundwave stepped out silently. Nightshade inquired as to how the interrogation went.

"His mind is heavily shielded from my telepathy. It would seem that he has undergone mental recondition to resist telepathic manipulation." Soundwave reported.

"Even against your powers, Soundwave?" Starscream asked, slightly surprised. These OZ goons knew their stuff.

"His defenses held me at bay for some time, but even that could not keep me out. What he knows is limited, but according to his past experiences, OZ has possession of Barricade's remains."

"That explains his missing body." Nightshade muttered. "Do you know where they are?"

"I could not ascertain their current location, but I do know that they'll be transported to a secret base in Dacia, Europa."

"Good work, Soundwave. Keep probing his mind until he breaks, then dispose of him." She ordered and walked down the hall.

"And where are you going?" Starscream hummed.

"To war, my friend." She replied. "To war."

XXXXXX

It too a little longer than it should have for Soundwave to get the information they needed, but they were able to ascertain the location of Barricade's remains. According to Dr. Singh's memories, they were being transported to a villa owned by one of the Zodiac. Infiltration was key here, and lucky for the Cons, they had a way in that did not involve launching an air strike on the grounds. A summit was being held there, where the wealthy financial backers of OZ were assembling to celebrate the organization's success and talk on "important" matters. It took a few days to set everything up, but Nightshade was able to formulate a plan.

"You know, if I knew that were you going to be riding in my driver's seat, I would've sprayed some air freshener earlier." Knockout quipped.

"Just shut up and be a good car." Nightshade sighed. "As in, a quiet car that doesn't talk or flirt."

"Admit it, you love it."

"I could easily smash your windshield in, you know."

"Shutting up."

It was a twofold operation; Nightshade and Knockout would go in through the front door with their holomatter avatars to check out their enemies, disguised as a wealthy couple with non-direct ties to OZ. Meanwhile, Soundwave and his team will infiltrate the villa's security systems and find out where they're keeping Barricade's body. If everything went as planned, they would deny OZ another chance at becoming too powerful and maybe even kill a Zodiac if they play their cards right.

"Gathering information is crucial, but our main objective is locating Barricade's remains. Once we've found them, we'll either destroy or retrieve them." Nightshade told the Cons in the command room. "We can't let these humans insult us anymore than they've already have. We go in, do what we need to do, and get out as quietly as we came in."

"Do we know exactly where his body is?" Dreadwing asked.

"No, which is why I'm having Soundwave link into their computer systems to get a layout of the area. Knockout and I will find one of their generals and take him out if possible." She replied.

"Good luck with that." Starscream muttered.

In contrast to Starscream's cynicism, Knockout was grinning like a mad fool at the thought of escorting Nightshade to a party. Sure it was on a mission, but he'll have bragging rights for days afterwards!

It was late in the evening when they reached the villa. There were already an assortment of limos and expensive vehicles parked out in front, and Knockout (in his car mode) parked himself near the entrance, his deep red coloration standing out amongst the white, black and blue cars in the parking lot. Once he was parked, he transferred his consciousness to his avatar and grinned.

"Show time."

Nightshade rolled her eyes. "Stay focused, you moron."

Nightshade's avatar was that of a beautiful fair skinned woman with short violet hair and thin eyebrows. She had a heart-shaped face with narrow dark violet eyes and full lips coated in purple lipstick. Her outfit was a simple indigo dress that stopped at her knees with a slit running up her thigh and purple boots with matching gloves. A black fur shawl hung over her shoulders and gave her a rather regal look. Though she didn't realize it, Nightshade unconsciously modeled her avatar after the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, with a few cosmetic differences.

Knockout's avatar was also looking proper fresh; he took on the appearance of a handsome man with dark red hair smoothed back behind his head and a well-proportioned body that combined elements of a swimmer and an athlete together in one package. He had a dazzling smile that showed his sparkling perfect teeth and wore a crisp red suit with black shoes that hugged his body in just the right way. All in all, he felt bloody extravagant.

"My oh my, don't we look fine today?" Knockout smirked. He ran his eyes over Nightshade's avatar and whistled. "Not even the skin of a human can dampen your beauty."

"For Mortilus' sake, Knockout, don't start." She groaned. "Please, just…try to take this seriously."

"My lady, I am a master at mixing business with please. You can count on me." He said with another impossibly dazzling smile.

They approached the front doors, where two burly security guards in black suits and dark sunglasses stood guard reading the guests' invitations. Nightshade presented hers, an imitation stolen from its intended recipient who would later be found dead with his wife the next morning. It only took a second for the guard to skim over the letter and let them pass.

"Have a nice evening ma'am." The guard said politely. Nightshade smiled.

"Don't worry, I will."

Neither of the guards noticed her drop a tiny blue micro-cassette player on the floor, which sprouted tiny metal legs and scampered off into another part of the mansion. Soundwave was in.

XXXXXX

Since he had no prior knowledge of the estate's layout, infiltrating the building was a big difficult, though all he had to do was use his enhanced hearing to search out the security room, which was probably full of monitors he could detect from sound alone. Still, he had to be careful. The villa was the property of an OZ member, so there was a chance that there were anti-personnel countermeasures that were designed to completely tear apart intruders. One could never be too careful when the Zodiac were concerned.

While Nightshade and Knockout were mingling with the other guests in the main hall, Soundwave used the distraction to make his way toward the security room. Using his powers to listen for the human guards talking and walking through the halls, he deduced that the room was on the second floor and skittered along the floor on thin spider-like legs. There were no vents he could access, so he had to climb the stairs (which was a nightmare) and followed the sounds to the security room, where there were only two guards watching the monitors. Good, the less protection, the less mess he'll leave behind.

"This is torture." One guard yawned. "We're stuck in this cage while the rick folks get to party and have booze."

"Can it, James, this is our job. What the hell were you expecting when you signed up?" Asked his partner.

"Not sitting on my ass all day long, that's what." James grumbled. He whistled when he saw a purple haired beauty walk past one of the cameras. "Oh la-la, who's that?"

"She's way out of your league, Romeo." His partner scolded. "Focus on your job or Ms. Scheele will have your head."

"Yeah, yeah."

They sat in silence for a few minutes until a series of loud metal clangs made them jump in surprise. The second guard got up and turned around. "What the-gah!"

He was cut off painfully as Frenzy gored his drill hand through his chest and out his back in a burst of blood, splattering the red liquid all over the monitors. James tried to draw his firearm, but Rumble transformed to full size and caught him in his claws. It only took a little pressure to snap his neck and kill him instant. The twins tossed the bodies to the side.

"The fleshies are down." Rumble grinned.

"Now it's time to go to town." Frenzy laughed.

He picked up the still transformed Soundwave and placed him on the desk. A cord extended from Soundwave's underside and plugged itself into the computer's access port, connecting him to the system and granting him access to the mansion's secrets.

XXXXXX

The party was already in full swing when Nightshade and Knockout arrived, but things didn't get started until sunset. Nightshade tried to keep herself and Knockout from mingling too much with the humans, though apparently their holo-avatars' appearances only attracted more attention from the opposite sex. Knockout was just loving showing off his "true grandeur" to the women who flocked to him, and Nightshade herself had to deal with the rich brats thinking they had a chance with her. She chose this avatar because it reflected who she saw herself as, but didn't expect it to garner this much attention. Having all these men hitting on her made her physically sick.

She got a ping on her internal comm and heard Soundwave's voice. "Nightshade, I have hacked into the security systems."

"Good," She smiled. "What did you find?"

"There is a tunnel under the mansion that leads to a storage facility hidden under a large hill a few miles from our position. That is probably where they store items of interest for transport to other parts of the country."

"Take your Minicons and go to the garage. Find that base and retrieve Barricade's remains. If you are unable to do so, then destroy them and kill anyone who gets in your way."

"Yes Nightshade."

She signed off and turned to Knockout. "We have our target."

"Good, I'm starting to get antsy here." Knockout frowned, pulling at his suit collar. "Like something bad is hovering nearby."

"That itchy feeling you get when you're near Megatron, me, Starscream and pretty much everyone you work with?"

"Yup. How did you know?" He asked.

Nightshade rolled her eyes. Working with him was such a hassle. How the hell did Starscream manage it?

The chatter in the ballroom quieted down as a young woman wearing an olive green dress that hugged her form with short blonde hair and sharp brown eyes walked down the stairs.

"Good evening honored guests, I am Anita Scheele, assistant to Mr. Harvey." She introduced herself. "I would like to formally introduce Laguna Harvey of Epsilon Holdings."

Another man walked down the stairs and this time he set off all of Nightshade's danger senses. He was a handsome man with chiseled features. He looked the part of a mild-mannered aristocrat; with short black hair, sea green eyes covered by narrow glasses and a charming smile, but Nightshade could see through his façade. The same air about him that Aries and Aquarius had.

"That's him, the Zodiac." Nightshade whispered to Knockout.

"Him?" Knockout blinked. "But he looks harmless!"

"All humans look harmless, but this man is definitely one of them. He's killed before." She narrowed her eyes. Nightshade could tell by the way he walked, how his eyes were always alert and focused, the slight tenseness of his legs and shoulders. He was a warrior, or at least a fighter.

"What should we do?"

"Keep an eye on him. He could have important information we could use. If not, then we kill him and OZ has one less general to bother us with." She said, crossing her arms. "We just need to give Soundwave enough time to do his part."

Nightshade and Knockout tensed up when they saw Laguna glance their way. He gave the pair a smile before addressing the guests.

"Welcome to my estate, comrades. I'll keep this short since we want you all to have the rest of the night to yourselves," Laguna said. "I want to thank each and every one of you for your contributions to Epsilon Holdings and supporting our work. Not only do I want to show my gratitude to my financial backers, but also the men and women who work hard to design new technologies to further our cause towards helping mankind. We all have worked to make the world a better place, and I am honored to work alongside such dedicated people."

The guests applauded their distinguished host, but Nightshade and Knockout were unimpressed. The former especially since something about the man rubbed her the wrong way.

"Someone's full of themselves." Knockout remarked.

"You're one to talk." She snorted. Ah! Now she knew what Laguna reminded her of…Starscream.

XXXXXX

While the party was going on, the still transformed Soundwave and his cassettes entered the tunnel they found in the mansion's database. It was basically a hidden road that led into a hangar built inside the hollowed out interior of what used to be a nuclear bunker. Fortunately, there were no vehicles going inside, because there were absolutely no places to hide, and it wasn't time to start shooting up the place yet.

"Scrap, how far does this damn tunnel go?" Frenzy grumbled.

"No idea, bro." Rumble replied. "You think we might find the end of Knockout's ego down here?"

"Nah, that's probably at the center of the planet."

"Would both of you shut it! We're in enemy territory." Ravage hissed. He hated being stuck with these morons. They make even the simplest of jobs more complicated than it needed to be. He paused and leaned down to sniff the ground, his snout pulling back in a snarl. "I smell metal, dead metal. Along with lots of humans, and maybe a few talos as well."

"I can hear them. We are close." Soundwave said. "Keep moving forward."

After a few minutes, they reached the bunker. It was larger than they thought, big enough to fit nearly two dozen talos and tall enough that a normal cybertronian could walk around freely. The bunker was full of armored vehicles and forklifts moving large crates onto trucks. Civilian scale construction talos moved lighter cargo to designated areas of the bunker, while the familiar forms of the Codarls stood guard with strange looking rifles. There were also many armed humans standing guard as well.

The cassette team quickly snuck into the bunker and hid behind a few crates. Ravage lifted his head and sniffed around. It shouldn't be too hard to find Barricade's body; a mechanoid corpse smelled differently from a living body, a contrast between a body that was no longer animated by a Spark and was slowly rusting. Laserbeak sat away from prying eyes, recording everything for future reference.

"I've got it." Ravage said. He nodded his head towards the far corner of the room. "They're keeping him in those crates over there, three in total."

"Three?" Frenzy said.

"Flamewar was very thorough when she killed him."

"I see the crates." Laserbeak said. "They're large, too large for us to carry outside."

"Then we must terminate the remains." Soundwave said. "Frenzy."

"On it boss. Time to bring the pain!" Frenzy took Soundwave from Ravage and threw him into the thick of the activity in the bunker.

Nobody noticed Soundwave flying through the air, but they definitely noticed the Decepticon transforming from a tiny micro-cassette player into a thirty-two foot Decepticon who immediately began shooting them down with his rockets and concussion blaster. The soldiers fell into disarray as Soundwave quickly disabled the talos before they could even point their weapons at him.

"Intruders!"

"We've got an NBE attacking!"

"Sound the alarm!"

A few soldiers ran toward the emergency alarm, but Rumble and Frenzy moved in to cut them off. They started massacring them without remorse, making sure to keep anyone from sounding the alarm for reinforcements. The other soldiers shot at them with assault rifles, but their bullets were largely ineffective on their touch armor.

Soundwave blasted a hole in the cockpit of a Codarl and crushed the head of another before moving to the crates carrying his former comrade's remains. He took a step towards the crates, but a blast to the shoulder from a plasma blast staggered him. He spun around and was surprised to see that two Codarls were shooting energy blasts at him! Energy weapons? Humans weren't advanced enough to weaponized laser weaponry. Soundwave was puzzled, but pushed down his shock and moved in.

He charged at the talos, ducking under their plasma blasts and got inside their range. He grabbed their rifles and ripped them from their hands before using them to blast their cockpits into molten slag, incinerating the pilots within. Tossing the guns away, he looked back to the containers. Nightshade said that Barricade's body was to be retrieved or destroyed, and with their small time window, the latter was the most logical decision. He stepped back and pointed his concussion blaster at the crates.

Before he could pull the trigger, a glowing red vine burst from the ground and wrapped around his arm, pulling his arm to the side just as he fired and the concussion blast hit a truck, destroying it. Soundwave jumped back as an alien looking aircraft burst from the ground and shifted in a mess of parts to form the Order acolyte Thornment.

"Hello, Soundwave." She said, grinning. "Fancy seeing you here."

XXXXXX

Nightshade stood on the balcony on the second floor tapping her finger on the banister impatiently. She knew that Soundwave must have infiltrated the bunker by now, but for some reason he wasn't answering her calls, and he wasn't reporting in either. None of them were. This was troubling; they were in uncharted territory here and they couldn't risk making mistakes that could end up with them on a lab table. She groaned and shook her head. This was why she didn't like taking command. That nagging feeling at the back of your mind that every mistake, every death that happens on a mission will fall on you. It was stressful and made her feel older than she really was.

"Are you alright ma'am?" Laguna Harvey, the devil himself, walked out onto the balcony, his glasses glinting in the moonlight. "You look a little pale."

Nightshade inwardly cursed, but she replied smoothly. "I don't do well with parties. They're not my thing."

"I know how you feel. It gets slow after a while." Laguna said and leaned on the banister, looking out into the dark forest before them. Night had finally fallen, and all was eerily quiet. No sign of any nighttime critters and it felt a little foreboding. "I never got your name, Ms.…?"

"Florence," Nightshade said, violet eyes glancing at Laguna sharply. "Florence Nightingale, Mr. Harvey."

"Please, just call me Laguna." He smiled. "So how are you liking the party, Florence?"

"It's nice and all, but you'll have to forgive me if I'm a bit weary of gatherings like these." She frowned. "I'm a woman of action who likes to get her hands dirty. All this standing around and laughing with fake smiles doesn't appeal to me. No point in making friends with people you're only going to stab in the back in the future. Sorry for my bluntness."

"No, I get where you're coming from. Unfortunately, much of the aristocracy, no, mankind itself is like that. A world full of fake smiles and hidden intentions. It makes one hard to trust in this day and age." Laguna hummed. "Tell me, Florence, if you had the power of a god, what would you do with it?"

That question caught Nightshade off guard. "What?"

"If you had the power of a god, what would you do with it? Use it for yourself, or use it to preserve your race?"

"T-that's a loaded question! Of course, I'd use it to preserve my race, especially if they were on the verge of extinction." She answered, thinking back to Cybertron and the state of their race right now. She'd give anything to save her people and fulfill Megatron's dream of a grand future for all of them. "But what good is being a god if you're practically handed everything? Where's the fun in that?"

Laguna looked down at her and smiled. "Yes, you'd save your people. That's what most would say. The thought of being alone in this cold universe is not an inviting thought for anybody, even a Decepticon such as yourself."

Nightshade froze and slowly turned to the smiling noble. "What did you say?"

"Don't play games, my dear. You're not a very good player." Laguna tapped the lens on his glasses, which glowed like a miniature computer screen. "These glasses were designed to see through most technological illusions, even your holomatters are not impervious to my sight."

Nightshade's hand shot up to grab his neck, planning to snap his neck to kill him in one quick movement. But Laguna easily caught her hand in a tight grip that was definitely inhuman. She tried to break free but couldn't pull away and he was still smiling all the while.

"No need for hostilities, Nightshade. That's your name right? We don't want you making a scene now, hmm?"

Nightshade tried to disengage her avatar and call Knockout, but both her comm and her avatar weren't responding. She got no signal on her comm-link and her avatar wasn't phasing out like it should. She was stuck in this form!

"So long as you're in my territory, on my hallowed grounds, your holo-avatars are here to stay. Your conscious minds are stuck in the faux bodies of the humans you so despised and your internal comm channel won't work within OZ airspace." Laguna sucked his teeth in mock pity. "We wouldn't want you calling for an air strike, wouldn't we?"

"You good for nothing hairless ape!" Nightshade growled.

"That's a new one. Much more unique than scrap or fleshy." He grinned. Three guards approached them, one of them holding a struggling Knockout. Laguna took off his glasses to reveal his glowing amber gold eyes. "Now let's introduce ourselves for real, shall we? I am Pisces of the Zodiac, and I welcome you two to my humble abode."

XXXXXX

Thornment gave Soundwave no time to react when she lashed out at him. Her spike ridden vine-shaped heat rods spun around her body, tearing up the floor as she tried to ensnare him. One heat rod snagged his right arm, but he dug his feet into the ground to anchor himself. Soundwave yanked back and pulled her forward instead. Thornment, being lighter than Soundwave, was yanked off her feet, but she leaned back to dodge the punch he threw at her face. She planted her feet in his chest and kicked him into a forklift.

Seeing that Soundwave's team were focusing on her, she decided a change in scenery was needed. "Let's take this outside, shall we? Civilized beings like us need our privacy."

Thornment transformed into her aerial mode and flew into the tunnel, grabbing Soundwave with her heat rods and dragging him after her. His team couldn't do anything as their leader was taken right from under their nose.

"Boss!" Rumble yelled.

Ravage and Laserbeak were already on the move, zooming past the twins as the former gave his orders. "Take care of the crates! We'll find Soundwave!"

Rumble and Frenzy watched them vanish into the tunnel and turned to face the remaining Talos. It would've been easy for them to dispatch one or two alone, but then they saw a couple of more Talos equipped with their dangerous plasma rifles marching into the room. Reinforcements called by Thornment.

"I hate my job." Frenzy groaned.

Thornment dragged Soundwave outside and into the forest surrounding the mansion. They flew almost a mile away from the mansion before Soundwave got free and rolled across the ground, smashing through a tree before getting to his feet. Thornment transformed and threw one of her whips at him, which he dodged and kicked her aside. Thornment fell back, but avoided his outreached hands and jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his torso and using her weight to drag him to the ground.

"You filthy Decepticons think you're so powerful, that a race of bipedal monkeys wouldn't be able to best you at anything. Well, how does it feel to be outsmarted by them?" Thornment wrapped a heat rode around his chest and squeezed, digging her thorns into his metal skin. "Did you think we wouldn't anticipate you coming to retrieve the body? These humans I work with are a hell of a lot smarter than the morons who run this planet's modern society!"

Soundwave deployed a blade from his arm and slashed at her, but she quickly disengaged from him and back-flipped away. He stabbed at her, but she kicked his arm aside and slammed that same heel into his face, cracking his visor. A whip slash left a bleeding cut in his shoulder and he stumbled back.

"Such arrogance must be punished." She spat. "And I can't wait to see those humans light you barbarians up like a firecracker!"

Soundwave fired three missiles from his shoulder cannon, which she dodged, but they destroyed the trees and brought them falling on her. Thornment jumped away from the falling trees, but Soundwave slammed into her, crashing through two trees before throwing her to the ground. She rolled away before he could stomp on her face and kicked him in the visor. She weaved around his bod and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back and pulling. Soundwave grunted and smashed his arm and her into a tree, but she didn't let go. She wrapped her legs around his shoulders and pulled even harder than before, even when he started slamming her into anything in sight.

"Do you feel that, Soundwave? The feel of your arm slowly being torn from its socket?" Thornment hissed. "That's pain. It reminds us of our mortality. That we are not gods, just fools who got too full of ourselves because we don't age. Death holds sway over all, Decepticon, and you are no exception!"

Pointing her left arm at his waist, she shot a heat rod to wrap around his waist as act as an anchor as she planted her feet on his left side and pulled as hard as she could. Metallic groans could be heard as his arm was strained under the intense pressure.

"Don't worry, your little nightingale will follow soon. I'll make sure to send her to you personally!"

XXXXXX

Pisces escorted Nightshade and Knockout to his personal study, a cozy little mini-library full of books that Nightshade figured were just for show and were never read even once. The room was probably here just to show off his "knowledge". The arrogant bastard was almost as pretentious as Knockout. Once they were situated, Pisces dismissed the guards and sat at his desk, though the two Cons refused to sit down.

"Nice little place you got here." Knockout said, looking around with a sneer. "So…is this the part where you tell us your evil plan?"

Pisces merely smiled at them. "I must say, this is a surprise. I was expecting something more direct from the Decepticons. Like an air strike or a frontal charge to kill everyone here."

"Contrary to what you've heard, we operate through deception." Nightshade spat. "It's in the name."

"Unlike you humans who like to blow things up on a daily basis." Knockout said.

"How true you are, Knockout. We humans are savages, aren't we? Our races are quite alike in that regard." Pisces smirked. "Granted, unlike you cybertronians, humanity still has a planet to call home."

Knockout bristled. "Go frag yourself!"

"Get to the point, Zodiac. Why are we talking like old college buddies instead of trying to kill each other?" Nightshade asked. "You clearly have us at your mercy, and yet you're only seeking to talk to us."

"Because unlike my more trigger happy comrades, I prefer to use words to get my point across. Wastes less time and resources, yes? Besides, I think one fight is another for tonight."

He pressed a button on his desk and the painting behind his chair slid to the side to reveal a monitor. It was showing Soundwave's battle against Thornment, which surprised Nightshade and Knockout.

"Who is she?" Knockout gaped. "What's she doing here?"

"That's Thornment, our newest business partner. A woman-er, femme-with similar goals to ours." Pisces said. "At the moment, she's giving your friend a well-deserved beat down in response to his attempted theft of our property."

He switched the TV off and leaned back in his chair. The glare Nightshade was giving him would've been enough to put the fear of god into the hearts of lesser men, but the general was unfazed.

"I know you currently hate me right now because my friend is killing your friend, but believe me when I say that I only want to talk."

"Then talk." She said stiffly. "What the hell do you want?"

"A possible alliance between OZ and the Decepticons." Pisces grinned at the shocked looks on the Cons' faces. "As you know, OZ's main goal is to dominate this world and bring mankind into its next state of evolution. Similar to you Decepticons seeking to conquer the galaxy to revive the glory of your species."

"Get to the point."

"Despite the physiological differences between our races, we are both plagued by the one element that haunts all life in the universe-death. Death is the enemy of all physical creatures; it crumbles mountains, destroys kingdoms, and steals everything from us without an ounce of mercy. You cybertronians may be near immortal, but you are still vulnerable to the laws of causality, and I know that your lack of a proper method of steady reproduction means that your people are slowly edging toward the endangered species list. More people die than they are born, and humans have a bad habit of burning everything they touch. So why don't we join forces to enact the Grand Plan?"

"The Grand Plan?" Knockout echoed.

"OZ seeks to further the evolution of humanity into a new form of life, one that is united as a single biological entity, the greatest in the galaxy, but the reality is that we do not have the resources to really complete such a goal in the near-or far-future, advanced technology or not. If our evolution can't be physical, then it will be mental, and all Thornment has given us a new direction to go down. The possible means of achieving true evolution…is to shed our physical forms." Pisces stood up, his eyes glowing a bright amber. "We were tasked to find a possible way to evolve humanity, and we have found it. All that remains is the resources to initiate it. Join us, and together we can become immortal beings immune to the ravages of nature. That is what you want, yes? To become the strongest beings in the galaxy?"

A lesser being would have accepted this offer, thinking that it was a clear path to victory, but Nightshade wasn't so foolish. She didn't like the implications of this goal, the elimination of individuality, stripping away their very nature to become something that doesn't belong in this universe. It sounded slightly monstrous to her.

What's worse is that Pisces' preaching reminded her of the ravings of a cult back on Cybertron…a cult run by a witch who ruined so many lives in the name of her "God". No, she couldn't accept this, not when it was liable to do more harm than good to her race in the long run.

"We are aiming to become the strongest beings in the galaxy…we are the strongest. That was never an issue." Nightshade said. "And I have only one goal…to help Megatron win this war and conquer the galaxy. I don't have time to entertain your fanatical dreams."

"It's only a dream if you lack the means to make it come true." Pisces said.

"The answer is still no." She said.

"Yeah, what she said." Knockout grinned.

Pisces frowned and sat back down, tapping his desk. He looked only slightly disappointed, but not overly so. He expected this reaction. "That's a shame. We could've achieved so much together."

"Maybe if you didn't dissect one of our troops and kidnap the corpse of another, we would've considered it." Knockout remarked.

"In that case, I see no reason to keep you around anymore. Goodbye, Nightshade of the Decepticons. I'll make sure to tell Thornment to leave Soundwave's head to you."

Pisces snapped his fingers and the holomatter avatars vanished in a flash of light.

XXXXXX

Nightshade's purple optics flickered on and she shot her head up. It took her a moment to gather her bearings and realize that she was in her beast mode 400 miles away from the mansion. Songbird, who was resting on a tree branch, squeaked as Nightshade transformed to robot mode and punched a hole in a tree trunk.

"That bastard!" She roared. "Who the hell does he think he is? Preaching the choir to me like I'm some fragging moron! That slag might work on Starscream, but I won't be led astray by some human who thinks he's a god!"

"Mistress, what happened?" Songbird asked.

"Whoa," Knockout said over the comm. "Is anyone else getting feedback by the sudden deactivation or is it just me?"

"Quit your yapping Knockout and call Leader-1 for a ground bridge! I'm going after Soundwave, Songbird, come!"

Nightshade was already in the air and flying towards Soundwave's location with Songbird in tow.

XXXXXX

"I've heard many stories about you, you know. Bludgeon's little pet, the mind reader. Megatron's silent killer who does not scream, cry or shout. A literal blank slate. A glitch perhaps? Or something personal?"

Soundwave's arm was already dislocated, but he didn't flinch or scream, having severed his neural connections to negate the pain. But with one arm broken and another restrained, Thornment had was slowly straggling him with her legs around his neck, using her thighs to slowly put pressure on his throat and trying to pop his head off like a champagne bottle.

"Autobots, Decepticons, you're all children squabbling over something that's already taken. This galaxy, this universe, it all belongs to the gods. If you beg for forgiveness, the maybe you will be granted a place in their Host. Eternal paradise sounds nice, doesn't it?"

S-Soundwave superior," He grunted. "Thornment inferior."

Thornment hissed and started putting pressure on his neck, ready to snap his head off with brute force. But a particle blast to her back blasted her off Soundwave and sent her into a tree. Laserbeak swooped in low, firing his laser cannons at her while Ravage tore apart the vines holding Soundwave. The spymaster fell to the ground, clutching his broken arm.

"Sorry we're late." Ravage said. "We ran into human forces on the way and it took some time killing them."

"You filthy animals!" Thornment shouted and smacked her vines into Laserbeak, sending him into a tree branch. "I'll decapitate you all!"

"You're not the first one to say that!" Laserbeak cawed.

Thornment snarled and cracked her whips against the trees, destroying them. She didn't care if she was outnumbered, they were all going to die here in the dirt like the animals they were!

Unfortunately, her plan never came true, as an arrow flew past her and hit the ground right in front of her. The explosion blasted her back and she crashed into the ground. Nightshade flew through the trees and landed on the ground, pointing Gandiva at her head.

"Go ahead," Nightshade growled. "See what happens."

Thornment hissed and jumped back, retracting her whips. "This isn't over."

Thornment transformed and flew away, easily flying out of range of the laser blasts Ravage and Laserbeak shot at her.

"Little bitch." Nightshade hissed and turned to Soundwave. "Are you alright?"

"I have minimal damage," He told her. "It is not relevant."

"A broken arm and multiple lacerations is definitely relevant, Soundwave." She sighed. "Come on, let's get back to base and-"

A blue energy bolt hit her shoulder and she stumbled back. Clutching her arm, Nightshade saw a dozen Codarls charging at them, firing plasma bolts at the Cons, and running from them were Rumble and Frenzy.

"Those weapons...how…?" Nightshade gritted her teeth. "Thornment!"

She shot down one talos while Laserbeak and Songbird took care of another, but the humans still pressed their charge.

"Knockout, get that ground bridge!" Nightshade yelled.

The green vortex appeared behind them, and Soundwave limped into the portal along with the Minicons. Nightshade fired one more arrow before jumping into the bridge. The portal vanished before the Codarls could reach them, leaving their enemies in the dust

XXXXXX

"I'd say that was a successful test run of our new Talos weaponry, wouldn't you agree Thornment?" Pisces said, sounding quite pleased despite the circumstances.

He was still in his study, but with a human-sized hologram of Thornment standing next to him and looking quite pissed off at the moment.

"You damn fool!" She growled. "Why did you let them go?"

"It was to spread the word of our cause. It didn't matter much to me since they didn't get anything valuable." He saw the scowl on her face. "Don't be like that. We can't fight them with all these witnesses around. Fighting them would be counterproductive."

"You made me lose my prey! I had the spymaster at my mercy before the glitch you set free almost killed me!"

"It's not my fault you ignored my warnings to bring back-up." He replied, earning a plethora of cybertronians curses from her. "Relax, you will have other chances to kill them. But right now, we have more pressing matters to attend to."

He pointed at his desk and where there was a thick folder titled "Project: Uber" on the cover. Thornment cursed him again, but let the issue go…for now. "Fine. I'll head over to Wyoming with Aries. You owe me a Decepticon head, you stupid fish."

Pisces waved her off as her image vanished. Sighing, he walked over to his desk and took a sip of his vintage white wine, pressing a button on his phone to call up one of his researchers. "Stephanie, could you give me an update on Mr. Harkins' condition? I think it's time we went to the next phase of Project: Uber."