Chapter 10-A Feast of Crows

"Come on, move it!" Major Klaus yelled at his men."We need to get this stuff loaded before nightfall!"

Klaus Ironblood monitored his team as they loaded crates of energon crystals onto the airship. Orange labor Talos would pick up the large crates full of the alien mineral mined by the OZ foot soldiers patrolling the area. Zygart Talos stood at the perimeter keeping watch for any enemies, human or cybertronian. Klaus eyed the bright blue energon they were gathering from the cave in some nameless forest in the middle of Yellowstone. He sneered at it and at the situation he was often finding himself in these days.

This was just one of many OZ operations being carried out on a global scale. The secret organization was hunting down energon deposits in six of the seven major continents, even heading underwater operations for the fuel source. Such a mission would've been impossible had it not been for Thornment offering her assistance in locating the mineral using specialized detection equipment. Useful not just for finding energon but for also rooting out disguised cybertronians. But the main goal was to create a new generation of hybrid weaponry born of terran and cybertronian technology.

The higher ups in OZ were elated at how much progress they were making in such fields, but Klaus wasn't as happy. He hated the blind trust his superiors placed in this alien, the same member of the race that killed hundreds of his comrades (the Decepticons were rather adamant about 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 the Zodiac were impulsive to varying degrees, but for the steadfast and militaristic Aries (a man that Klaus respected greatly) to get roped into this ill-fated scheme was still infuriating to him.

'As if we didn't have enough problems with those esper freaks starting World War 3. Now we must deal with warring aliens trying to rape Mother Earth. What is this world coming to?' Klaus thought.

"Trouble Major Klaus?"

"No Dr. Singh, just thinking." Klaus answered through clenched teeth.

Dr. Arman Singh was a high ranking scientist and theorist in quantum theory in OZ's R and D division, not to mention he was also one of the minds behind the energon weapons development program. He was a tall middle aged bald man with a thin mustache that hinted at his Dacian heritage, with a thickly accented voice.

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

"This," Klaus waved a hand at the operation around them. "When I signed up for Zodiac's noble cause, I didn't expect to fight aliens or make deals with them. We waste our time searching for this resource they desperately need, while they continue warring on our planet. Now we have one of them lording over us like some god!"

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 threat sitting right under our nose. That robot has us do her dirty work, wipe out her enemies before turning on us. I will never jeopardize the wisdom of the Zodiac, but their 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." He replied.

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 out conquest of this world!"

The HSS tank behind him exploded, knocking Singh off his feet. Klaus saw a red and black metal bird fly over their heads, firing ruby lasers from its wings and immediately got into action, ordering his forces to attack as another tank exploded.

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

"Enemy contact!" The man replied, pointing at the blue Decepticon tearing apart their Talos forces. "We have three NBEs attacking from out twelve!"

Klaus had his mechanized forces, both tanks and Talos, open fire on the three Cons with devastating weaponry ranging from kinetic shells to HEAT rounds designed to destroy tanks. The Decepticon that was Soundwave unleashed hell on the retreating humans under him with his mini-rockets while Ravage ran around ripping and tearing at the solders and tanks. A black shadow flew over them and he looked up to see another Con flying low to the ground, circling around the airship. He recognized her profile as Nightshade, the Decepticon first lieutenant.

He scowled and jumped on a still functioning HS tank, targeting her and firing the tank's pulse cannons, a new weapon brought about by OZ's new energon weaponry. He tried to shoot her down, but she was fast for her size, and she barely paid him any mind as she fired down on the airship with her mini-rockets. Klaus watched in dismay as his only means of escape went up in an explosion.

"NO!" Klaus roared and continued firing his pulse cannons haphazardly. Finally, Nightshade caught sight of him and switched forms, throwing one of her swords in his direction. He was forced to jump off the tank before it was nearly cut in half by the giant sword was went up in flames, knocking him off his feet.

He pulled himself up and took out his assault rifle. "Die you filthy-"

His words were cut off in a pained cry as Ravage pounced on him from behind, claws tearing into his back. Slicing through his body armor and tearing up his spine. Klaus howled in agony as the feline Minicon pressed him into the ground, gushing blood from his severe wounds. Nightshade landed on the ground and calmly walked past them. Klaus, still in pain but coherent, drew his pistol and fired a few rounds at her. She felt the bullets bouncing off her armor, but paid it no mind, not even looking in his direction as she gave the order.

Snapping her fingers, she said, "Ravage, send him away please."

In a heartbeat, Ravage was torn asunder by Ravage, his arms tore from his torso, face and chest ripped to shreds in a shower of blood and skin peeling off 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 one of the disable Talos that was struggling to move. In his hand was the terrified Dr. Singh, who was begging for his life.

"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 from the door as Soundwave interrogated their human prisoner. The spymaster was currently using his powers to probe the mind of the OZ scientist for any decent information he might have. As for , he was strapped to a chair and struggling in vain to escape as his mind was slowly unraveled by Soundwave, who was having more trouble than he thought entering the man's head. A dull hum droned in the air as Soundwave's red visor glowed in response to his powers.

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

"This is a waste of time."

"Oh? How so?"

"We're spending our resources playing with humans when we should be making our fortifications stronger. The Autobots know we're weak after Megatron's defeat, so what do you think they'll do if they find out about Barricade's death and Flamewar's defection? They'll come down on us like a pack of scraplets."

"Only if you keep your mouth shut." She replied. "This mission is important. OZ has been a thorn in our side since they abducted Lugnut. They obviously want a cybertronian to harvest and don't care what faction they have to piss off to get one. But the question is, why? Why go through all the trouble?"

"To make weapons of course, have you seen 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."

"That's what I thought too, until I learned that they're started mining energon. How they knew about that, I doubt we'll truly know, but they're a threat to our operation on this planet. It's bad enough that we have to contend with the Autobots for energon, but I'm not going to deal with a bunch of humans trying to interfere with our war."

"Yes, but-"

"Listen to me, if they manage to get a hold of our science and technology, then we'll be fighting a war on both fronts, and that's the last thing we need in our current condition. I appreciate your concern, but this is my decision as acting commander, got it?"

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 smirked back at him. "To war."

XXXXXX

"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 took a while for Soundwave to obtain 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 generals, a man named Pieces. Infiltration was the key here, and lucky for the Cons, they had a way in that did not force them to launch an air strike on the grounds. A summit was being held there, where the wealthy financial backers of OZ were assembling to celebrate the success of the organization. It took a few days to set everything up, but pretty soon Nightshade was able to formulate a plan.

The operation was two-fold; Nightshade and Knockout were going to go in through the front door via their holomatter avatars. They were going to check out their enemies under the guise of a wealthy couple with clandestine ties to OZ. Soundwave and his Minicons will infiltrate the villa's security systems and find out where they were keeping their deceased comrade. If everything went a planned, they would deal a critical blow to whatever OZ had planned, and potentially kill one of those supposed Zodiac.

"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 exact;y where his body is?" Dreadwing asked.

"No, which is why I'm having Soundwave ink 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. He thought back to when he fought against one of the Zodiac on the way Jetfire's body was discovered. His brief fight against Aquarius had lost him an arm and nearly froze his body from the inside out.

As for Knockout, he wasn't so worried. He had a chance to show the humans what true perfection looked like, and got to go out with Nightshade. As far as he was concerned, his mission was already accomplished.

It was late evening when they reached the villa. There were already a collection of limos and other expensive vehicles parked out 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 that seemed to dominate the parking lot. Once he was parked, Knockout mentally grinned at the night he was about to experience.

"Show time."

"Cut the chatter and stay alert." Nightshade scolded him.

The two holo-avatars exited the not-so humble sports car. Nightshade's avatar was that of a beautiful fair skinned woman with short violet hair with her bangs cut just above her eyebrows. She had a heart-shaped face with narrow dark purple eyes and full lips coated in purple lipstick. She sore a simple indigo dress that stopped at her knees with a slit running up the side, and purple boots with matching elbow gloves. A black fur shawl was attached to her shoulders that hugged her deep cleavage nicely. Though she didn't know it at the time, Nightshade's avatar had unconsciously modeled her appearance after that of Cleopatra of Egyptia, with a few notable cosmetic differences.

Knockout's avatar was best described as the personification of his narcissism. He appeared as an inhumanly beautiful man with tan skin, short russet brown hair that was slicked back smoothly and finely sculpted features. He had a dazzling smile that showed his perfect teeth that shined. He wore a crisp red suit with black shoes that hugged his athletic, Apollo-like physique. All in all, he was bloody extravagant.

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

"For god's sake Knockout don't start." She groaned. "Try, just try to take this seriously."

"Please my lady, I know how to mix business with pleasure."

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

Infiltrating the mansion was difficult, as Soundwave had no prior knowledge of the estate or any countermeasures it might have. Being the property of an OZ member, especially a Zodiac general, he had to be careful to avoid any defenses that were designed to repel cybertronians. Sneaking in was the only way to gain information without initiating a direct confrontation. One could never be too careful when the generals were concerned.

While Nightshade and Knockout were with the other guests in the ballroom, Soundwave made his way towards the security room. Using what little information he gleaned from Dr. Singh's brain, he located the room on the second floor and waited for one of the guards to leave before skittering in on thin spider-like legs. Once inside, he saw only two men watching the security monitors. Good, that will make things easier.

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

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

"Not sitting on my ass all day long, that's what." James grumbled. He whistled when he saw a purples haired beauty walk past one of the cameras. "But it has its perks."

"Put your tongue away Romeo, she's out of your league." The chief scolded. "Just focus on your job or Ms. Scheele will have your heads."

"Yeah, yeah."

They sat in silence for a few minutes until a series of loud metal clangs made them jump in surprise. The chief 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 really started until sunset. Nightshade was trying to keep herself and Knockout from mingling with the humans too much. She didn't want to interact with these humans anymore than she had to; which was difficult seeing as Knockout couldn't keep himself from flaunting his looks to the ladies. The fact that some rich brat would be drawn to her like a moth to a flame didn't help things either. The holomatters were designed to reflect how a bot see's themselves, but she didn't expect that her avatar would make her look like a femme fatale. Having all these men hitting on her like they were suave bachelors nearly 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."

"Shut up." She sighed. 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

"Slag, how far is this damn tunnel?" 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 you two shut up and focus! We're in enemy territory!" Ravage snarled. He really hated dealing with these two morons. How could two mechs make a simple job more complicated than it needed to be?"

It was a few minutes since the transformed Soundwave and his cassettes entered the tunnel under the mansion and they were making their way towards the secret bunker where Barricade's body was being held. It was fortunate that no vehicles were driving in the tunnel, because there were no places to hide, and they couldn't start the fireworks until they reached their objective.

Ravage sniffed the ground a bit before his lips pulled back in a growl. "I smell metal, dead metal. Along with lots of humans, and maybe a few Talos as well."

"We are close." Soundwave said. "Keep moving forward."

After a few more minutes of walking, they finally reached the bunker. It was larger than they had anticipated, big enough to fit nearly two dozen Talos and tall enough that a full grown cybertronian could walk around without bending over. The bunker was full of armored vehicles and forklifts that were moving large metal crates around onto docking bays. Abnormally proportioned construction Talos were moving the lighter cargo to the sides of the bunker, while the familiar ebony forms of the Zygart combat mecha stood guard with different looking rifles. There were also a number of humans standing guard at key points in the bunker.

The Minicons quickly snuck into the chamber and hid behind a few untouched crates. Ravage lifted his head and sniffed around. Being dead, Barricade's body would have a distinct scent from living cybertronians, the smell of living metal in contrast to metal that lacks the infusion of a Spark's energies. Laserbeak was sitting atop the scaffolding on the second level, recording everything from above.

"I've got it," Ravage muttered. He nodded his head towards the far corner of the room. "They're keeping him in those crates over there, three in total. Apparently Flamewar was very thorough in her murder of him."

"I see 'em," Laserbeak confirmed. "They're large, too large for us to drag outside."

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

"On it boss." Frenzy ran out from cover and threw the small cassette. "Time to bring the pain!"

The guards and Talos pilots didn't notice Soundwave flying through the air, so it was all the more shocking when Soundwave suddenly appeared in the middle of the bunker, transforming from a tiny micro-cassette player into a 35ft tall Decepticon who immediately began shooting down the Zygarts with his mini-rockets and concussion blaster. The soldiers fell back as Soundwave rushed forward and blew out the chest of a Zygart before it could fire on him.

"We've got intruders!"

"Sound the alarm!"

The solider ran towards the emergency alarm, but was knocked into the air by a bone crushing punch from Rumble that was sure to have ruptured some organs. Frenzy and Ravage started massacring the other soldiers and workers without remorse, making sure to keep anyone from sending word for reinforcements. Within seconds it was chaos as the humans fired on the Minicons with their assault rifles, only to get slaughtered by the powerful Cons.

Soundwave crushed the head of a Zygart and tossed its body aside before turning towards the crates with his former comrade's remains. But as he moved towards it, he got hit in the shoulder by an energy blast that made him stagger a bit. Looking up, he was honestly surprised to see that two Zygarts were firing plasma blasts at him. Energy weapons? He knew the humans weren't advanced enough to develop competent energy weapons; but that was an issue for another time.

He ran forward, ducking under their plasma bolts to get under their guard. He grabbed their rifles and crushed them before blasting their cockpits into molten slag with his concussion rifle. Taking down the last of the enemy mecha, Soundwave looked at the two crates holding their objective. Nightshade had ordered the remains to either be retrieved or destroyed if need be, and time was short, so the latter was the most logical decision. He stepped back and pointed his rifle at the first crate, charging it up to lethal levels before pulling the trigger.

Suddenly a vine burst from the ground and wrapped around his arm, pulling it to the side just as the concussion blast left his rifle and hit a downed Zygart. Soundwave jumped back as a giant metal rose exploded from the ground and unfolded in a swirl of robotic pars to reveal the golden face of Thornment.

"Hello Soundwave," She cackled. "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 if 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

Soundwave jumped back from the crates as Thornment lashed out at him. Thorny vines extended from her arms and left deep gashes in the floor as she twirled them around in an effort to entrap him. One vine snagged his right arm, but he dug his feet into the ground and pulled her forward. Thornment was dragged towards him, but quickly leaned her head back to avoid the punch he threw at her when she was close enough. She planted her feet in his face and kicked him away from her into a pile of cargo. Ravage pounced at her, but Thornment spin kicked him into a wall.

"Let's take this outside, shall we?" She whispered. "Don't want to damage the merchandise."

She reconfigured into her aerial form and flew into the tunnel, dragging the ensnared Soundwave behind her. His proxies 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.

Outside the bunker, Thornment dragged Soundwave deeper into the forest, dragging her as far from the mansion as possible before he broke free. He rolled across the ground and got to is feet, ducking under a large vine that smashed the tree trunk behind him to splinters. Thornment ran at him and threw a punch at his face, but he dodged it and kicked her in the side. He tried to grab her, but she wrapped her legs around his arm and used her body weight to bring him to the ground.

"You Decepticons think you're so clever. That no one, let alone a race of walking monkeys could outsmart you, well how does it feel?" Thornment whipped a vine against his chest, her thorns leaving a deep cut in his chest plate. "Did you think we didn't anticipate you coming to retrieve the body? These humans I work with are a hell of a lot smarter than those morons that run the planet!"

Soundwave deployed a blade from his arm and started slashing and stabbing at her, but her spindly body deftly avoided all of his strikes with ease, weaving just inches away from the blade. She knocked his arm away and kicked him in the chest before cracking a vine at his face. it caught him on the side of his head and he stumbled back, glowing energon leaking from the cut under his visor.

"Such arrogance must be punished," She spat, cracking her vines like a whip. "And I can't wait to see the humans light your friends up like a firecracker!"

Soundwave leapt up and thrust his blade forward. She jumped to the side, but the rocket launcher on his shoulder fired three rockets that blasted her to the ground. Soundwave pounced on her, but she punched his face hard enough to crack his visor. She spun her body around and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his bad. He felt his joints and servos groan from the strain she was putting on them and he tried shaking her off by slamming her into a tree. She did not let go, instead wrapping her legs around his shoulder and pulling even harder than before. He continued to slam her into the trees, but it did nothing to the steadfast femme.

"Do you feel that, Soundwave?" She hissed. "The feel of my slowly ripping your arm from its socket? That's pain. It reminds us of our mortality. That we are not gods, just fools who take our natural longevity for granted. Death holds sway over all, and you are no exception!"

Soundwave tried to pry her off with his free arm, but some vines sprouted from the ground and wrapped around is other limb, pulling it to the ground. Thornment cackled madly.

"Now fall, Soundwave. FALL!"

XXXXXX

Nightshade and Knockout were taken to Pisces' personal study, a small but cluttered mini-library of books that she figured were just there for show and were never read even once. It was probably there just to show off his so-called "knowledge". The arrogant bastard was almost as pretentious as Knockout. Once they were situated, Pisces took a seat at his desk and signaled the bodyguards to give them some privacy.

Knockout looked around the room with a sneer. "So, is this where you brag and tell us your evil plan?"

"Knockout!" Nightshade hissed. She punched him in the arm to shut him up. This was not the time to start fights they were at a disadvantage in.

Pisces smiled. "Well this is a surprise. I was expecting something more direct from the Decepticons, like an air strike or frontal assault to kill everyone here."

"Contrary to what you 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 huffed.

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

"Go frag yourself!" Knockout growled.

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

"Because unlike my less intelligent comrades, I prefer to use words to get my point across. And as it is, we have enough violence in one night, yes?"

He pressed a button on his desk that made the painting above the fireplace slide to the side to reveal a tv monitor, and it was showing Soundwave's battle against Thornment. Nightshade and Knockout couldn't hide their surprise.

"A femme? Here?" The medic gaped. "What the hell is going on here?"

"She's our newest partner, Thornment. A woman who has similar goals to ours." Pisces said. "At the moment she is currently giving your friend a solid 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. Similiar 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 y one fatal element; death. Death is the enemy of all physical creatures. It crumbles mountains, tears down kingdoms, and steals our loved ones from us. You cybertronians may be near immortal, but you are still vulnerable to natural elements, and I know that your species is edging ever so closer to the endangered species list. More of you die than you are born, and humans are just as in danger of a similar fate if we continue to live at the behest of Mother Nature. So why not join us in our quest to fulfill the Grand Plan?"

"The Grand Plan?" Knockout repeated.

"We preach the goal of transforming humanity into a new form of life, one that is united as a single entity, the greatest in the universe, but the reality is that OZ does not have the resources to complete such a goal in the near or far future, advanced technology or not." Pisces elaborated. "But Thornment has given us a new direction to go into. The possible means of achieving true immortality…by shedding our physical forms." He stood up, his eyes glowing once more. "We were tasked by our queen to find a possible route of evolution for mankind and we have found it. All that remains is to gain the means to initiate it. Join us, and together we could become ethereal beings immune to the plagues that are death and time. Through this Ascension we can cement ourselves as the most powerful beings in the galaxy."

Nightshade narrowed her eyes. She heard this before, from a cult that existed on pre-war Cybertron…a cult that was run by the witch who caused so many people pain and misery in the name of her "goddess". She never thought about it until now, but these humans were preaching the exact same methodology that those of the Order dictated. If that was the case, then she couldn't accept it.

"I have only one goal in life," nightshade said. "And that's helping Megatron win this war and make our people the strongest in the universe in a unified empire. 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 replied.

"The answer is still no." She said.

"Yeah, what she said." Knockout nodded.

Pisces frowned and sat back down, looking slightly disappointed, but not overly so. "That's a shame. We could've achieved so much together."

"Try not dissecting the friends of the people you're trying to recruit." Knockout remarked.

"In that case, I see no reason to keep you around anymore. Goodbye Nightshade of the Decepticons. I'll send you Soundwave's funeral card in a few days."

Pisces snapped his fingers and the holo-avatars of the Cons vanished, flickering out of existence like a bad television reception.

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 stories about you, you know. Bludgeon's little pet, the mindreader. The silent killer. He who does no scream, cry or shout. A literal blank slate. A glitch perhaps, or something more personal."

Soundwave's arm was already dislocated from its joint, but he did not flinch or cry out, having severed his circuit connections. But with one arm broken and another restrained, Thornment was now slowly strangling him with her legs around his neck, tightening her hold on him each second, ready to pop his head off like a champagne bottle. Soundwave knew he wasn't in a good position right now, and help was not going to get there in time.

"You are no conqueror or warrior, you are a child. Autobots, Decepticons, all children in the eyes of the true Creator. Maybe if you plead for forgiveness, the glorious Jubileus will grant you a place in her Host. She will grant you eternal Paradise."

"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 grould, 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 can try." Laserbeak groaned.

Thornment slammed her hands into the ground and extended the razor thin circuits in her arms into the soil, connecting with the roots of the trees around her. She planned on bringing this entire forest alive to bring these heathens down, even if it drew attention to her. She didn't care! She was through playing games now, she was out for blood!

Only she never got the chance as an arrow flew past her ace and hit the ground under her, blasting her away with a large explosion that ruptured her connection. She crashed at the foot of a tree and saw Nightshade fly through the canopy and land on the ground, aiming Gandiva at her head. Thornment was ready to tear that bird a new one, but she knew how dangerous that bow was. Vowing to kill her and Soundwave slowly, Thornment transformed into her rose mode and dug her pointed legs into the ground, spinning in place and sinking into the ground, already gone before Nightshade could fire an arrow 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-"

An energy bolt hit her in the shoulder and she fell to the ground. clutching her arm, Nightshade saw a dozen Zygart Talos charging at them, firing plasma bolts at the two Cons. Running away from them were Rumble and Frenzy. Nightshade recognized the blue glow of those energy bursts and purified energon usually channeled in blasters and other energy weapons.

"Energon? But how did…?" She gritted her teeth in barely controlled rage. "Thornment!"

She fired an arrow and destroyed one Zygart before Songbird and Laserbeak brought down another, but the humans pressed the assault with their new weapons, which were much more effective than projectile weaponry.

"Knockout, get that ground bridge now!" Nightshade shouted.

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 Zygarts could reach them, leaving the forest dark once more.

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: Inhuman" 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 of Theodore Harkins' condition? I think it's time we went to the next phase of Project: Inhuman."