Title: Combaticons on the Lost Light
Chapter: 2/?
Continuity: IDW G1 (MTMTE)
Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing.
Beta: ultharkitty

This Chapter
Content/Warnings gen
Characters: Onslaught, Rung, Ultra Magnus, mentions of others
Rating: PG
Summary: Rung talks to Onslaught. Onslaught talks to Ultra Magnus; they seem to get along.

Note: This chapter contains mentions of The Transformers (ongoing 2009 – 2011) "For All Mankind", "The International Incident", "Police Story" and the RID Annual 2012.
Please heed the spoilers!

"Onslaught, is it?" Rung asked. He looked up from the datapad he'd received from Ultra Magnus. Most of the information wasn't helpful for his job. He didn't need the weapon classification of said mech or his known encounters with the Autobots.

He didn't need any of it right now at least.

His new patient sat in the patient's chair.

An interesting choice, Rung thought, and sat down in the other one, moving it so that they could look at each other.

"How are you feeling?" Rung began his session with an everyday question. He had yet to find out what he was supposed to work on with this mech – aside from reassuring the captains and Ultra Magnus that they'd made the right decisions concerning the Combaticons.

Onslaught stared at him. If he was confused, Rung couldn't see it because his visor and battle mask hid his face. After almost a klik, he nodded.

"I assume this is the opening question where I assure you I'm fine and you tell me everything I say will be dealt with the utmost medical discretion."

"You're familiar with this process then?" Rung said, not letting his surprise show.

"No," the Decepticon – ex-Decepticon? – replied calmly. "But I learned a thing or two from the best there is."

"I'm intrigued. From whom did you learn?"

"Vortex."

That took Rung off-guard with no way of stopping letting his confusion show. "Vortex? But he's said to be an interrogator."

Onslaught huffed, the noises of the vents almost as loud as from Fortress Maximus. "Is interrogation and what you do really so different?"

"Well," Rung leant back, eyeing the mech in front of him. "The purpose and reason are definitely not the same."

"But here you are, trying to get information from me. And in our case, the word interrogation is more fitting than counselling, isn't it?" Onslaught didn't seem annoyed, but amused rather. "But as long as they don't put a bullet through my head or those of my people if I talk to you, I'm happy to do that."

Rung uttered a soft laugh. It was no wonder this mech had been high-ranking in the Decepticon army.

"I'm glad to hear you're not averse to our conversation and future sessions, but you still haven't answered my question: how are you feeling?"

Another klik of silence passed, but Onslaught didn't try to distract from the query any longer.

"Cornered. I'm on a space ship full of Autobots. I fought them for millions of years, killed their friends, and they know it. We're not welcome, and that's what we know. The war might be over, but not for them, otherwise they wouldn't still cling to their faction."

"I understand." Rung intertwined his fingers and rested his chin on his hands.

"Do you really?" Onslaught asked.

Rung tensed. This time it was he who diverted from the topic. He'd have plenty of time to go deeper during the next sessions.

"What can you tell me about your team before I speak to them?"

Onslaught uttered this familiar huff again that reminded Rung of Ultra Magnus on a good day.

"Brawl is easy-going, lively, loud. He's not very bright, but has his moments." Onslaught gave a shrug. "He likes high-grade and bad jokes, and Vortex gets him way too easily to do things that get them both in trouble."

Rung listened. It was interesting how the former Decepticon spoke of his people.

"What else?"

"Brawl respects worthy opponents, is disillusioned, and is loyal to me. Swindle-" Onslaught paused. He shifted on the chair, his visor brightening slightly. Rung didn't interrupt him. "Swindle doesn't matter."

That statement told Rung everything he needed to know about their relationship.

"Vortex?" Rung said. "I'm curious, since you said he's the best."

Onslaught nodded. "Vortex is dangerous, and not just during battle. Like I said, he's doing the same thing you do, but for different reasons. A fair warning from me: don't let him play with you."

"Thank you, I appreciate it," Rung sat up straight again. "I'll keep that in mind."

"He is manipulative, backhanded, and sadistic. He has sociopathic tendencies-" Onslaught stopped again, as though trying to measure what he should or should say. "He's loyal to me."

With a nod, Rung accepted the information and filed it away. Onslaught's tone when talking about Vortex had been very different to the one he used to describe Brawl.

"And Blast Off? I want to talk to him, too, once he decides to come inside."

Onslaught shook his head slightly, but Rung couldn't tell if from amusement or annoyance. His tone was blank when he spoke again, making it difficult to give a hint to his relationship to the shuttleformer.

"He's aloof, like most shuttles, doesn't like people and talking. You'll have a hard time getting anything out of him."

"But he follows your orders?"

"He does. He's loyal to me." Onslaught responded, his tone leaving no doubt that there wasn't anything else he'd say about the shuttle.

Rung let the information sink in for a moment, let the words repeat in his head. He would have lots of work to do with those four.

Eventually, Rung continued their conversation. "When you said they're loyal to you, did you mean-"

"They're loyal to me, not to Megatron." Onslaught interrupted.

"I see." Watching the Commander closely, Rung knew from everything the other radiated what the answer to his next question would be. Still, he needed to hear it. "Where does your loyalty lie?"

Onslaught didn't move, but his voice changed slightly, a hardly audible aggression beneath the calmness.

"Myself."

Onslaught strolled down the corridors of the Lost Light. They were empty, and he'd quickly learned that most people were at Swerve's at this time. He also guessed that since he and his team weren't restricted to quarters any longer, Brawl might be there.

The tank never said no to high grade, and shortly before the incident with their space ship he'd run out. Onslaught uttered an annoyed grunt when he thought about it all.

Onslaught stopped in front of Magnus' door, and pinged the SIC.

Reporting to him had been one of the rules they had to follow for being allowed to move mostly freely through the Lost Light. The other two rules were the mandatory sessions with their psychiatrist and handing over all their guns.

Vortex had been very happy about this certain aspect of phrasing, and Onslaught had been glad his whole team wore face masks to hide the grins that most certainly had been there.

The door slid open and revealed the very tidy and clean office of Ultra Magnus.

Onslaught was not surprised.

He was surprised that Brawl was standing in front of the desk, fidgeting slightly and hiding the broad frame of the SIC.

"Onslaught," Brawl said as he turned, relief in his voice.

The commander gave a brief nod, and stepped closer when Magnus kept quiet. He didn't need to talk when Brawl let his mouth run.

"Just finished reporting here. Though, there's nothing to report, really," Brawl spoke hastily, and added even more quickly, "not that it's a bad thing or something."

"Brawl," a stern voice interrupted the tank, but it wasn't Onslaught's this time. "You're dismissed."

Onslaught knew Brawl frowned behind his visor, looking at him.

"You're dismissed," Onslaught repeated the Autobot's words, and only then the tank moved.

"Sure thing," he said, and gestured a lazy wave when it looked like not being able to leave the office quickly enough.

"You trained your team well." Ultra Magnus stared at Onslaught who gave a shrug. He wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a compliment. This was Ultra Magnus after all.

"They're good soldiers."

"If you read their profiles, you'd think so. Unfortunately, we only gained experiences of their abilities from the other side of the battlefield. Please," Ultra Magnus gestured towards a chair near the desk, "take a seat."

"I'm not sure what I could report that requires me to be seated," Onslaught said, but sat down anyway. He leant against the back rest and tilted his head slightly.

Magnus merely nodded. "I'm not a person fond of small talk, so I will come straight to the point."

"I appreciate it."

"Swindle," was all Ultra Magnus said.

The commander's visor darkened, his frame tensed. It wasn't a name he wanted to hear. "He's not with us if that was what you wanted to know. Your people searched our space ship."

"I want to know where he is, and why he's not with you."

Onslaught frowned. A gesture the other couldn't see because of his visor and how the light was set in the room. For once, Onslaught was glad about it, even though he doubted it'd made Ultra Magnus come to any conclusions.

He wasn't Vortex.

"As far as I know, he's on Cybertron. We left after some Metrotitan declared Starscream of all people the harbinger of peace for Cybertron. Swindle didn't come with us."

Onslaught remembered the event well. Blast Off had been on the Metrotitan site with some other Decepticons. The shuttle had seen Starscream entering the hole in the ground. When later the seeker had proclaimed being chosen for whatever purpose, they'd decided that it was a good time to leave. They weren't the most religious people, and certainly not convinced by the lord of treachery.

They'd never asked Swindle, hadn't even spoken to the mech after Earth.

"I see." Ultra Magnus dragged Onslaught back to the present time. "Why did you leave him?"

"Why do you want to know?" It was Onslaught's turn to ask.

"There are still pending charges against him. And you are responsible for his actions as well if he's part of your team."

"Stop right there," Onslaught spat, unable to hinder the anger in his voice. "He was never a real part of us. If you want to blame his money seeking issues on us-"

"Then what? Are you threatening me?"

Onslaught huffed. "No, but then we'll leave for Cybertron and drag that greedy idiot in here to confess to you."

"How would you do that with your damaged ship." Ultra Magnus stared at him, certainly not open for jokes. "I saw it. It's pretty bad."

Onslaught didn't reply. They still had Blast Off, and while he was too small right now, it could be changed. Not that Onslaught was very fond of the idea of riding inside him, but if he had no other choice…

"And I never said I'm blaming you for Swindle's 'business' with aliens, but it made me wonder how you could allow it."

"Like I said," the commander said with a stern voice, "he was never a real part of the Combaticons."

"Why did you let him lead you on Earth then?" The way Ultra Magnus spoke made Onslaught itch. He felt like being interrogated. He'd have liked Vortex to be at his side right now.

"He claimed to get along well with aliens," Onslaught answered truthfully. There was no reason to lie. "Which we both know he does. I gave him a chance. He messed up and left us with the mess. We haven't talked to each other since."

The talk about the chaos that happened on Earth wasn't something Onslaught liked to be reminded of. It came with the memories of Brawl and Vortex mocking him for him needing Swindle to come up with a plan. After the salesmech had left them in favour of creating his own gestalt, Onslaught had had to improvise. He utterly hated to improvise.

Ultra Magnus didn't need to know all of that, but from the measured look the mech gave him, he might have to tell everything.

"Why do you want to know?" Onslaught repeated his earlier question.

"You already asked that."

"As far as I know, you're not longer duly-appointed enforcer of the Tyrest Accord." To Onslaught's understanding, Ultra Magnus didn't have the rights to arrest anyone any more.

"How do you know?" Ultra Magnus seemed surprised.

"The title is missing from the sign on your door and on your desk." Onslaught wouldn't have noticed it himself, but Vortex had mentioned it to him earlier. "And I think if you were still the duly-appointed officer, you'd have arrested us rather than let us walk around freely, no matter what Article 7 of the Autobot Code says."

Now Ultra Magnus showed his confusion openly. His optics flickered once, and narrowed as he asked, "You know the Autobot Code?"

"I just started reading it," Onslaught explained and gave a one-sided shrug. When Ultra Magnus didn't seem satisfied with the answer, he continued. "It's one of the files we have access to from the consoles in our rooms. I don't have much else to do. Your scientists won't let us near our ship to begin with the repairs."

"And you started reading it?" A hint of disbelief in Ultra Magnus' voice as he said it.

"Well, I did, yes." Onslaught wasn't sure what the mech was getting at. "Unfortunately you can't expect the same from the rest of my team. They're not much interested in reading." Another shrug. "Blast Off is, but he only reads scientific texts and reports."

"I'm not expecting your team to read it. I'm just surprised. Not even Megatron had read the code."

Onslaught grinned. Did he hear an edge of bitterness and disapproval in the mech's tone?

Uttering a huff, the former Decepticon shook his head. "I guess Megatron is not the great writer and reader he once was before he became a tyrant."

Ultra Magnus' optics brightened for a moment. "My sentiment exactly."

Later, when he left, Onslaught had the feeling he and Magnus would get along better than he'd expected.