Onslaught watched the assault unfold as planned. "Brawl, you're easing up and creating a potential escape point. I know you want to blast them outright, but stick to the plan."

"Come on Onslaught, we're just gonna crush 'em all anyway. Can't I have a few?"

"It's not about the numbers, Brawl. It how crushing their defeat is." Onslaught looked up, watching the explosions in the air, "Blast Off, Vortex, how are the skies?"

"They keep trying to shoot us down, but they ain't fast enough."

"Speak for yourself Blast Off! These guys are starting to get on my nerves with all of this flak!"

Onslaught ignored Vortex's complaints, turning to a narrow passage over a deep chasm. "Astraea, what is your status?"

"Just finished planting the last charge. They won't know what hit them."

"Good. Fall back to the rally point and prepare for the final stage of the plan. You have three cycles. Brawl, Blast Off, initiate the next phase of the plan."

Brawl was all too happy now, anchoring himself down and started using high explosive rounds to set off the next chain reaction. The explosions collapsed their last possible escape, forcing their targets toward Astraea. Blast Off pushed them further as he started to carpet bomb them with missiles.

Astraea was standing over the ridgeline as the Zoids entered the trap. She smiled as she pulled out her grenade launcher, lobbing three into their midst. Instead of just exploding, the three started to release a strange green gas. It appeared as though it didn't have any effect on them, however, that wasn't for them. A swarm of drones was starting to gather overhead, bombing the area and triggering a chain reaction of explosions that engulfed the entire column.

Even before the smoke cleared Onslaught slid down the hill and started moving toward the wrecked Zoids. "Slipstream, this is Onslaught. We wiped out the Zoids battalion as expected. We're moving in to gather cores and wipe out any survivors."

"Just remember to remind those idiots of yours to transport the cores secretly. The Predacons don't need to know about this."

"Understood. Onslaught out."

Onslaught cut her channel, turning back to his team. Brawl kicked one of the charred Zoids, "She's starting to get on my nerve, Onslaught. When do we get to blast her?"

Brawl wasn't the only one with that sentiment. "She thinks she's the new Megatron." Astraea pushed a core into Blast Off's hands, "If Sixshot won't step up, I think we should be in charge, sir."

Onslaught knew he could lead this operation better, however, "Without Sixshot on our side, it'll be impossible for us to take full control. We just need to keep working with her until Sixshot decide it's time for her to be removed from her position."

Vortex finally landed, looking around at the damage they did, "Can't say I'll miss her when it happens."

Onslaught cut their banter short, "That's enough. We may be outside her eyes and ears, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful. However, I must commend all of you. You too, Astraea. This may have been your first mission as a Combaticon, and I can say you've performed far beyond expectations. The loss of Swindle's resources will be a blow, but I believe your expertise and loyalty to us will more than compensate for that."

Astraea smiled, "You honor me by saying that, sir."

Blast Off seemed to have gotten really attached to her as well, "I can't wait to see the kind of carnage the new Bruticus can do when we finally form up. Maybe more explosive options."

Onslaught curbed the thought before the others started to say anything. "We will work out how that'll work later. For now, we just focus on the task at hand and prepare for our return to the proper command of Megatron."

Hiltz was moving with purpose, losing himself in his rage over the news of the loss of an entire battalion. Reaching his private quarters he quickly sealed the door, checking all channels before activating his personal channel to his contact. "I just lost men trying to move them through the passage you said would be clear! What happened?"

"Complication after complication. You managed to catch me on a good moment. Your Zoids were destroyed by Decepticons, not Predacons. They are steamrolling over all of our delicate plans but I'm doing everything I can to alter things back in order. Unfortunately, things aren't progressing very far."

"You better fix this before our heads are on pikes."

"You mean your head. Whereas I still hold animosity for our plots, you Hiltz are far too close to the ruling power for things not to go wrong for you. Especially after the Autobot's organic ally showed up in the middle of one of your meetings." Hiltz knew he wasn't the only one to work with the robotic scientist, though there were far too many witnesses to even begin to speculate on who. "Given everything that's been going on, this conversation has lasted too long. Get to work on the Autobots, and I'll do the same with the Decepticons. If you survive, our original deal will still be in effect."

The machine cut communications before Hiltz could rebuttal. Everything was falling apart when things were going so smoothly. Acceleration could be the solution or it could lead to a quicker demise. "Ambient. We're on our own for now. Subtlety is no longer an option. We need as many Zoids to be converted and altered as quickly as you can."

Ambient snarled, disappearing into the shadows. Without the Predacons to assist in a few aspects, Hiltz will have to be more aggressive with his part of the plan, ensuring they were prepared for Autobot and outsider interference. Not to mention a bothersome psychic usually around his primary objective. For now, he just needed to wait to find an opportunity to present itself or turn the Autobots into the enemy.

Thrashclaw was impressed, "Sounds like we've severely underestimated the capabilities you organics have."

"You could say there's more to them than meets the eye." Roadbuster knocked Whirl off his feet, "What was that for?"

"Why'd you say that?"

"I don't know. Thought it was something that was needed to be said."

Roadbuster kicked Whirl, "Same thing."

Broadside stepped in, "Knock it off you two." Roadbuster moved away as Whirl picked himself back up. "Now that you've gotten to know some of them, Decepticon," looking down to the Normandy and some of her crew, "I'm assuming you've been cooking up a plan."

Thrashclaw was rather bold as she walked in front of him, "I've got the start of a plan. Right now, there are too many unknowns and factors in play for us to act on it. That is assuming you want to live after the operation."

Vibes understood what she meant, "We need to wait for Krok to send updated information on the Predacons and our next contact with the Zoidians."

Slice was rather pessimistic, "Right. I'll leave you with that last one, Autobot. I wouldn't put any Shanix on them helping us."

Shepard was rather hopeful, "I think their leaders are willing to speak with us if we offer a chance of peace."

Thrashclaw wasn't as willing to hold her breath, "You do that, but I'd work on a plan without their aid. Look, we know how to hit either side without causing a war. And with Grimlock on our side, we can destroy a lot more. But for any of this to work, we need more intel."

Just as she said that the Xantium's speakers kicked on, "We've just got data coming in from Krok."

Ashley smiled, "Speak of the devil…"

Shred was overlaying the information she had with what Krok had sent. "This is amazing. So much detail… The council has expanded since we were last there. I can only imagine he might be working with an undercover Maximal."

Thrashclaw was still upset over Shred's lies, though she was overlooking that for the moment, "Any intel on who that agent might be?"

Shred was going through her list from when she was a Maximal, "I'm not 100% certain, but if I had to guess, I'd say someone rather bold and a risktaker. Probably someone like Depth Charge. Though he's gone through so main aliases I couldn't tell you what his current one might be."

Slice saw the similarities, "We've captured him at least once."

Thrashclaw didn't notice, "Really? How can you tell?"

Slice pointed to a notch on the projection's back, "See that cut down his back and fin? We made them."

Vibes was looking at the old injuries, "How can you be certain these aren't from something else?"

Thrashclaw saw it now, "Shred, zoom in here," pointing at the fin. "Slice likes to mark our capture targets with a unique mark from her raptor claws. This one's got 22 marked on him. And for you organics, it's in Neocybex. She's an artist when it comes to tiny details."

Slice knew she was making some comment on her sniping skills. "He was one of the few Maximal contracted bounties we took to look 'legitimate' before we rescued Gnash."

Thrashclaw was rolling her shoulder, "I'm starting to remember how much of a pain he was too. You ever work with this guy, Shred?"

"Sorry, I was data processing. If I ever crossed him, it was just in passing in a hallway or something."

"Regardless," Firestar pulled up the map of the Preadcon undercity, "if everything he sent us is accurate, then this assault just got a lot harder."

"Not really," Dropshot stood there examining the map, "I think things just got a lot easier."

Whirl poked at Dropshot, "Oh yeah, what makes you say that drone?"

Dropshot pushed Whirl away, "Because they're using the same basic layout that most Cybertronian city-state use." He flipped the map upside down, "The central hub is the point of entry from the surface. I'd wager this section over here is probably the council chamber. Most of the living quarters are on the opposite side leaving most of the marketplace in-between roughly over here."

While some were doubtful of Dropshot's assessment, Shred was left rather speechless. "How…?"

"Before the war, I was a construction unit. I worked on a lot of city expansion projects."

Thrashclaw turned to Vibes, "Looks like you've got a diverse group too."

Dropshot zoomed the map in, "I'm just concerned about having to adjust for support structures going down and how our allies might be limited in there without being inside a Zoid or vehicle."

"And that's what we need to focus on. Dropshot, work with Firestar and Shred to see what options we have that will minimize casualties on all sides. Include the Zoidians, but plan for them not to be there too. Shepard, we're leaving negotiations with the Zoidians in your capable hands. Hoist, Minerva, Nautica, see if you can accelerate repairs to the minds of the Dinobots to be capable of self-restraint."

Riptide scoffed from his corner, "I don't think you know Grimlock or his team. Self-restraint is the last thing they're known for."

"They could at least differentiate between noncombatants and those they shouldn't kill outright when they try to resist. Speaking of helping," Thrashclaw turned to the medical team, "Could you three also do some work on Gnash too? Slice will be there to try to keep her calm." Slice wasn't sure about the idea, though she didn't seem to care regardless. "Before we all break off and start requesting each other's help in something, I'd like a moment with you in private, leader bot."

Vibes wasn't going to ignore her, "Very well. Unless there's something else that needs to be addressed, I believe we're finished." Everyone was rather quiet, not arguing against the assertion. "Alright, we all have our tasks at hands. Let's do everything we can." The others scattered off on their own, though few like Tali, Shepard, and Dropshot lingering for a moment before leaving the two contrasting leaders to themselves. When everyone had left, Vibes was trying to get a read on Thrashclaw, "I can only assume you wanted to talk about this plan in private…"

"That's most of it." Thrashclaw moved toward the still active hologram of the central hub the Predacons created, "I can't say I'm a big fan of your plan, though we have been of worse ones."

"Was there something you wanted to bring to my attention or had you another concern you wanted to bring up?"

"A mix of both actually." Thrashclaw zoomed toward the surface of the capital. "Your whole spiel about wanting to protect all of this wasn't just some empty Autobot promise."

"You thought I wouldn't try?"

"Let's see, you've got a number of former Decepticons ready to fight, Grimlock's team looking for revenge, and a group of Wreckers on the edge of breaking out of your control. Casualties are going to be unavoidable. You know that?"

Vibes leaned against the panel as well, "I know. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try. I can't blame Grimlock or his Dinobots for what they might do, but I will bear the full responsibility for it."

"You might not be so inclined to say that if casualties skyrocket." Thrashclaw then added the Decepticon ship over the city, "So, can this hunk of junk stand toe-to-toe against a Decepticon warship?"

"This is a Wrecker ship. I doubt this ship will go down so easily."

Thrashclaw started playing around with the numbers of expected Predacons and Maximals, "As much as I doubt it, I might feel more comfortable if we had a group of Zoids to bolster our numbers."

Vibes was obviously hesitant in doing so, though even she knew they were still severely outnumbered. "It's not the most ideal of plans, but we won't be able to do this without them and survive. I've unfortunately learned long ago during our war, in order to survive, compromise must be made."

"Haven't we all."

Thundercracker had mostly remained on the surface level of the capital rather than the ever-expanding underground. Though from everything he could learn from the locals, the current level of activity on the surface had only surged thanks to the news about the Reapers' destruction. Not much was different from a city-state on Cybertron except for the mass of organic mess that covered certain sections.

"Excuse me," a soft-spoken voice called out to Thundercracker, "Could you watch where you step?"

Thundercracker looked down, only seeing some vines laying in his way. Or they did until they started to move on their own. Thundercracker followed the retreating vines until it led him to a tangled cluster that went on to form a body. Much of the vines were covered in pulsing circuitry patterns with golden armor covering the chest arms and head. Her arms split in two at the elbow joint, giving her four arms. After Thundercracker's moment to observe her, he quickly stepped back, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that there were Predacons who took on botanical forms."

She smiled, "We are few and far between. Much of our coverage could not have been so well maintained without us. Maintaining the local floral to a reasonable and manageable spread to appear abandoned is no easy feat. Though now it would seem the need for such control or deception is no longer a necessity."

"It's a shame really." Thundercracker's compliment seemed to have caught his new acquaintance off guard, "The scientific feats alone to maintain a technorganic form such as yourself and the manipulation of the surrounding organic matter couldn't be easy. The main problem would undoubtedly be the neural pathway connections needed to establish between your brain module to organic matter with no means of external input."

"That is where you are actually wrong." She lifted one of her arms as she turned toward a vine covering a nearby building as it reacted to her and moved, "There is a surprising number of ways for a connection to be made using another organic matter that often attaches themselves to others." She returned the vine to it's original placement, "I'm surprised to hear such scientific curiosity from one…"

"Who retained their Cybertronian form?" Thundercracker offered his hand to her, "I try to keep a more open mind regarding scientific pursuits. And right now, I need a bit of a distraction for the time being."

She noticed the new cut on his face, "Have you gotten into a fight with your Conjunx Endura?"

"Well, she's not my Conjunx but there was a fight involved. Do you think we could discuss the effects of the floral adaptation and how it has affected you and others like you?"

"I wish I could, but I'm expected to return to the council chamber soon. There's going to be another meeting soon with Decepticons and I must attend."

"Are you a scribe or advisor?"

She smiled, "I get the unfortunate task of being on the council." Thundercracker's shock was plastered over his face, "I'm sure you're wondering why someone like me is even out here."

"That is one of a few questions at the moment."

"My name is Botanica and I try to represent those of us with fauna form. Though honestly, I was only given this role to appease our small faction that could endanger our control, or at least until the Decepticons arrived."

Thundercracker knew she could see his Decepticon emblem, though he wasn't sure what to say now. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. You are doing what you believe will help our people. I must do so as well. Even if it goes against your desire to fight." Her tendrils started to move, dragging her toward the center, "I can only hope that should we cross paths again it will not be on the opposite ends of a weapon."