1. No more than five Constructicons may be on planet at the same time.
"This gate will record all Decepticon arrivals and departures," Perceptor explained, as Arcee and Springer installed a simple security scanner, wide enough to drive through, at the base of the Constructicons' makeshift elevator. "You may only make landfall via the Space Elevator—needless to specify, our satellites in orbit as well as radar on the ground will be monitoring your movements. Upon disembarking, you will be obligated to pass through the gate which will proceed to identify your energy signature. If a total of six Constructions have their entry logged, alarms will sound both locally and in Iacon."
Hook stared dourly at the entirely functional structure and wondered if Iacon would look this boring when Perceptor was finished with it.
"Of course, of course." Scrapper was excruciatingly patronising today, but at least it was directed at the Autobots. "We quite understand how intimidating Devastator can be, so anything we can do to make you feel more comfortable. It's not like we'll need him anyway, so this won't be a problem."
Hook wasn't sure if they even could combine successfully right now. A certain amount of cooperation was required, and lately Scrapper's lead was inspiring rebellion. The Decepticons' downward spiral had continued past the Fall of Unicron, and Scrapper was in denial about that.
They were saved from further inanity by the arrival of Ultra Magnus bearing the container of Decepticon remains. It was simultaneously too big and too small—the numbers lost were vast, and yet they shouldn't fit inside that.
"We've identified what we can, and everything has been tagged with where we found it," Rodimus said quietly as he assisted in loading it onto the elevator. His eyes were dark with a sympathy that belied his youth; Scrapper was a fool to pretend the Matrix' influence could be ignored.
"I'll ride back to the ship with it," Hook said abruptly. "I'm not needed here—Scavenger can send me his report once he's surveyed the location, and that's all I'll need to get to work. In the meantime, I'll take care of these."
He deliberately didn't look to Scrapper for approval, instead nodding to Scavenger who nodded back earnestly. "I'll send everything through, soon as I can."
Scrapper didn't argue, and Hook almost wished he had looked at him, just to see if he'd reacted to his minor power play. Huffing a sigh, he stood on the platform and activated the climber-mechanism with a tug of a lever—even their own work lacked sophistication these days.
The trip back up took entirely too long, but once at the ship, Mixmaster assisted him in manoeuvring the container inside, humming cheerily all the while. Dirge lurked in a corner, and Hook kept a careful optic on him, not at all sure how he would react to this.
"Some assembly required, I see…" Mixmaster lifted out a crate the size of an energon cube labelled 'Acid Storm' and tossed it from hand to hand.
"Have some respect!" Dirge hurried forward, eyes flashing. He stopped in front of Mixmaster and gently took the crate, cradling it against his chest. He removed another from the container, this one labelled 'Unknown seeker (blue with black)' before placing both carefully on the cargo bay floor.
Mixmaster and Hook stood back and watched as the jet went back and forth between the container and his layout of remains.
"Finally fried his last circuit, hmm?" Mixmaster whispered with unusual discretion.
Hook frowned. "The physical evidence of what caused his trauma might act as a catalyst for his emotional reactions. By processing these bodies, he can also process his grief."
"So, he's loosening the screws before he tightens them? Hook, you're just making this up as you go along."
Hook sniffed. "Forgive me if I don't accept criticism from the clinically insane."
"One of these days, I'm going to get a second opinion on that, you know."