The New Empire's Stockade

Coolant System Sewer Basin

The murky, stagnant swamps above drain down through countless ducts, pipes, and drains, eventually reaching this large basin. This huge, cylindrical chamber is nearly entirely full of dark, oily water, with more constantly flowing down from above from the myriad assortment of grates and sewers. Hoses and pipes criss-cross the open expanse, many broken and leaking, others providing a solid enough surface to stand upon. Spotlights rim the top of this chamber, but due to disrepair and the constant flow of fluid from the surface, few remain functional, and those that do sputter and flicker, providing only meager illumination. Deeper down, the lack of proper illumination and the dimness of the tainted water may yet hold secrets as to the purpose of this vast flooded chamber.

A dark and dingy basement?

And so our story opens on said mancave, a smell of mold permeates everything throughout the rough rectangular room. Decepticon gumbies are shackled to walls here and there, with Kickback and Harrow in stasis cuffs near the middle. There is light, however faint, in the form of a small lamp off to the side. However, the constant drip of liquid from the ceiling sizzles on the light fixture; sending a puff of putrid reek into the area.

Suddenly, the only door that leads to this room is opened.. and it's Sapphire, with Scorn (in stasis cuffs) in arm. Pushing her forward, the MYSTERIOUS Seeker sneers "I told the others you would be of no use to our plans, and who would have guessed I was right?" Shoving the Insecticon to the ground, Sapphire pauses to caress an index finger over her face. "Should have LEFT you in that rubble, pretty." she hisses, digging the metal digit into Scorn's cheek.

And on that note, Sapphire turns on her heel and exits the room.. a locking mechanism can be heard being activated soon after.

Harrow sits there broodily, leering at the ground. Thoughts run through her head - what did they want with their energon? And Backfire's medical records? And did she leave the arc welder on? She perks up when Scorn is tossed to the ground before them. "You're messing with the wrong empire!" she threatens.

In the corner, two red optics activate, as if the mech they belonged to had been woken up by the commotion. "Wrong empire?" He picks Harrow's words out of the air and fixates on them, a scratchy and slow voice muttering out in the darkness. "There is no right or wrong Empire, only the Empire. And the Empire, the empire has so much to say, medical seeker. So much to say. And no one to tell it, since the breaking."

"Well, isn't this a party," Kickback muses languidly. He's made himself as comfortable as possible, and doesn't seem to be terribly phased by the surroundings or what's been done to him - or at least he's good at not showing it.

"Good looking seeker, that one. Too bad she's so full of herself. Not that I wouldn't mind taking her down a notch or two," he idly comments, looking to the door that's been freshly locked.

Scorn isn't making the journey easy for the seeker femme, struggling all the while and making a racket as they make their way through the door. "Ngh, release me now or I swear I'll make your death as long as possible!" But one strong push from Sapphire and Scorn stumbles, landing hard on her knees with a grunt, hanginig there a moment before trying to stand back up, though the femme catches her up by the face. A move that has the mantis bearing sharp teeth in a snarl at her.

"As if you all /really/ thought I'd be able to build those stupid convertors for you. Do I look like an assembly mech??" Her finger digging into Scorn's cheek draws an aggitated hiss from her, snapping out to bite the offending digit, but Sapphire is already pulling away and striding out, leaving her in the dim light. "Slagging bitch, I'll get you!" She roars furiously, but eventually quiets down only to pick up two rather familiar voices that draw her attention to the surrounding room, antennas perking. "Harrow? Kickback?? What in the pit are you doing here! You're supposed to be rescueing me, not getting captured too!" Great, just great. Though there's another voice, Scorn eyeing the pair of optics in the dark off to the side. "..Who the slag are you?"

A surly mech, chained to the wall, leans forward into the light. Nothing special about him, looks to be a normal medic in the dark half light. "Don't listen to him, he's been spouting NONSENSE this whole time." the Decepticon spits, well.. he actually spits seeing as how they broke his jaw.

"Hmph." Harrow peers at the other chained up 'con, then back to the mysterious red optics. "What breaking," she asks dispassionately. When Scorn addresses them, she vents a sigh and rolls her shoulders in a shrug. "Such is life."

"Ah, there you are Scorn! Are you relatively unharmed?" Kickback asks the femme mantis. "I came looking for you as soon as I heard you were missing." He says nothing about his being captured, as if that fact is just completely irrelevant.

He glances around the room. "And this is all of us, here? Looks like we have several injured, some mental as well as physical. Good thing we have Harrow here."

The optics belonging to the shadow covered mech in the corner narrow at Scorn. A long moment of silence hangs in the air before he responds. "I am the Empire, but I am broken, Insecticon..." When Harrow speaks up, he repeats himself. "BROKEN. You will break too, there are so many to do the breaking, here and out there. THe Dark Dwellers, the hive queen..."

And then the broken jaw medic speaks against him. The mystery shadow mech hisses back at him. "He says it is nonsense, but I spout wisdom, were he not too young, too impatient to hear it. Youth is infuriating, but in the end, it will break, too."

"Harrow?" the surly mech chained up says, leaning further into the light. He appears now, to be a mish-mash of robotic parts. "You probably don't remember me, but it's Jigsaw." he says, somewhat enthusiastically. "Remember when you repaired Lord Galvatron's achilles-displacer malfunction? Remember??" he says frantically.

"Haha, it was like yesterday. You were there, had our Lord's heel opened up and what was it you said to me? Ah, it was harmonious. Ah, I remember. You said 'Scalpel'." Jigsaw smiles, awkwardly. "And I was the one who handed it to you!"

When the red optic'd stranger in the corner pipes up, Jigsaw sneers. "See, nonsense. Utter nonsense!"

"Such is life??" Scorn snarls at Harrow, bristling. "Don't give me that! At least Kickback was looking for me! What were /you/ doing? Certainly not doing the same!" She has the sudden, burning desire to kick the seeker medic, and is so close to doing it until she roars in anger and wrestles against the stasis cuffs pinning her arms back. "Rgh, just let me out of here!"

She keeps going for a while until there's nothing left, Scorn bowing over in exhaustion and venting hard. "..Gonna kill the whole lot of them here. /Especially/ that damned Backfire.." She grumbles lowly, sniffing dirisively and finally looking to Kickback. "I'm fine, thankfully." A look back to the crazy mech has her narrowing optics. "As if they'll be able to break me. I'll be out of these cuffs and devouring them before they can even think of it."

"Oh... yeah... Jigsaw." Harrow probably thought he was Carjack or something. "What in the stars happened to you?" she asks, looking over the frankensteined parts. Scorn draws aggro. "ZIP IT, STRUMPET. If you could EVADE with perhaps your TINY MANTIS FORM then we wouldn't be in this mess!"

Kickback sighs. "Save the fury for when it's needed!" he exclaims suddenly, raising his voice to be louder than everyone else in the room, at least for a few moments. "We need to conserve our energy, be patient, and keep our wits about us. We'll escape, but not if we're busy fighting each other like malfunctioning drones," he firmly, commandingly states.

The locust looks to the one who is 'babbling'. "Hive queen, hmm? Do you have something you want to tell us, elder? I'm listening."

"WHAT?!" Scorn hisses in threat at Harrow. "That's it!" She's about to fling herself forward, looking to bite anywhere she can on the seeker, but Kickback speaking up actually stops her. Optics flick his way to stare for a good few moments before she relents and grumbles lowly under her breath while scooting over to sit closer to the mech, feeling more comfortable being around a fellow Insecticon. Bonus that it's him and not someone like Buzzkill. Jigsaw gets an odd look, his injuries making her feel a bit hungry, but she pushes past it and looks to the pair on the wall.

With Kickback speaking to the crazy one she instead addresses Jigsaw. "How long have you two been in here? I assume you know your way about this place and a little more about what's going on with these strange convertors and talk of another 'Empire'?"

"Do I have something to tell you?" The shadowy prisoner is quiet for a moment. "It was my function to tell, though the words are not my own. Timestamp: Marked Urgent. Locked at Command 5 and above. Autobot test subject has escaped via stolen Decepticon dropship. Calculated trajectory: Earth, Tokyo. Expect heavy resistance. Scramble immediately. End message. I am broken, Insecticon. Broken and unbroken, like a wheel. You will break, too, no matter how much energon you conserve. My hope was broken by the Hive Queen before I came here, but here it dies completely."

At once, the door outside is alive with noise of the lock mechanism being lifted. After a complicated series of twists and turns, the door opens and bathes the dingy and dark cellar with light. But then a figure steps through, walking awkwardly in. It's.. another Seeker? This one is mainly white and grey, with maroon trim around certain parts of his wing fixtures. Strolling in, with a blank expression on his face, the Seeker gives the others a glare in the room.

"Be quiet, youse too loud." he barks, marching over towards Jigsaw. "Boss say time up for youse." the Seeker smiles oddly at the surly mech. Wriggling against his bonds, Jigsaw yells out "Nooooo, Campfi.." and he's broken off by a stinging to the midsection with a what looks like a cattle-prod. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"


 * bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt*

Harrow sticks out her chest, unmoving as Scorn threatens to leap at her. Kickback brings an end to it. She huffs and continues to glower, this time in the direction of the red optics, until the white seeker enters. Then zaps Jigsaw! What's this, empathy!? Harrow struggles in her cuffs. "What're you doing with him!" She glares back at the shadowed mech, "What Autobot test subject? Stop speaking in riddles!"

Kickback watches dispassionately, suddenly quiet, but he scoots just a little closer to Scorn, turning himself to face the strange Seeker and shelter Scorn as much as possible with his body.

"Harrow, be QUIET," Kickback hisses, eyes still locked on the strange seeker.

Turning to give Harrow a dumb expression, Campfire unshackles Jigsaw and begins dragging him from the room. "Don't worry Domni-matrux." he slow drawls, the scrape Jigsaw makes against the ground nerve racking. "Boss say you time come soon nuff." he gruffs, almost to the door at this point.

Jigsaw looks up, pleading optics stare out at Harrow. "Hrroo.. dnt frgt meeeeeee.." he mumbles, then passes out from exhaustion.

And like that, the door is relocked through a series of loud noises and the room dims back down to it's usual dingy lighting.

Scorn doesn't like the sound of this 'Hive Queen'. Sounds like a threat in bug terms. Once the doors fling open Scorn is hunkering down a bit at Kickback's side, as if trying to make herself appear less noticeable. This may or may not be because she was smacked around a little before for not being able to build the convertors.

Optics narrow at the sight of Jigsaw getting a dose of electricity, the femme speaking up quietly over Kickback's shoulder. "That's going to be us if we don't get out of here soon." Campfire even confirms this in his dimwitted drawl. "We need to make a plan, and fast.."

Harrow bites down on her lip and eventually slumps back, optics still narrowed, especially at the nickname. Nickname... Jigsaw's pitiful mumbling earns more fidgeting but little else, and she looks to Kickback for a plan.

"A plan..." The shadowy mech mutters, echoing Scorn. "The Insecticon needs a plan." His optics go offline briefly, before glowing to life again. "And I'll have /you/ know that I'm your superior! But since you've already messed things up I suppose you can help by keeping these Bots busy while I get a better look at that contraption."

"We'll get out of here. I didn't let myself get captured just to die all over again. It was bad enough the first time," Kickback says quietly.

The shadowy prisoner keeps talking, and the locust is mentally logging all of it. "Firstly, we are being listened to, in some degree. Keep your voices down; we know they respond to loud sounds but I can't tell if they don't have some sort of listening device piped into this dungeon. Secondly, we need to see if they are making routine checks from the outside, so we can time our efforts to where the guards will not suspect our escape attempts. Thirdly ... our friend over there has something to say we need to hear. I know intel when I hear it... maybe these reports he's spouting have something to do with this whole mess. Fourth: We need to know who can do what and put that to use in a team effort," the locust spouts off. He looks at the stasis cuffs on Scorn. "... I might have an idea on how to get loose... but first..." He looks back to the prisoner. "Elder? Can you hear me? Who is the Hive Queen? What are the Dark Dwellers?"

The optics in the dark flash towards Kickback. "The Hive Queen is the Empire. The Dark Dwellers are the Empire, though the Dark Dwellers are closer. The Insecticon needs a plan. Launch Secure Response: A proactive shipment monitoring and risk management solution to protect customers against lost profits. But that was before. Now there is only the Empire."

Vicious snarls and barks are heard from the far wall, one of the gumbies shackled had accidentally bumped into a small roughshod figure laying against the floor. Snapping its maw at the gumbie, the small figure actually manages to lock down onto a foot.

"GAAAAAAAAH!" the gumbie cries out, flailing with a kick before succumbing to stasis shutdown. The blow lands, however, and the small figure is sent shuffling towards the middle of the room.. still shrouded in darkness.

The figure's shambles knock into the light fixture, sending it swaying. In rhythmic fashion, the shadow mystery prisoner is exposed as none other than.. Viator.

Harrow recoils at the snarling form mauling a gumbie's foot. She draws her feet in, knees under her chin, eying the bitey thing warily. When Viator reveals himself, she lifts a brow. Nope, don't recognize him. But Seekers all look alike anyhow.

Thought it may take a long, long moment to recognize the mech. The mustard yellow and brown Seeker's face is familiar, though his arms have been replaced with red and blue limbs with wheels at the shoulders. Viator currently has no legs, though there is a pile of different kinds of legs under him. One gets the sense that they've all been installed and torn off. "My Empire rewarded me. But my Empire took me. Gave me to the Hive Queen. I was broken, Decepticons. Before I came here. And then I truely learned what it meant to be broken. Make your plans. The Dark is the Empire. The Dark will break you all. Slugfest, you brainless primative, stop rolling in the sun and attack!"

Scorn nods to Kickback. "It's a start... Harrow, do you still have any of your tools, or did they strip you?" She glances to the medic. Surely she has a laser scalpel or something? "Or we could just try and bite through these cuffs.." She muses, about to speak up again to say how she could offer help with the distraction, but the cry from the corner alongside the other wall and the snarls have the femme bristling suddenly, ready to back up as the thing begins to move closer.

A glance around for anything useful has her pausing when a familiar bit of color catches the swinging light, Scorn almost forgetting the figure moving closer as she stares at the 'mystery mech'. "/Viator/?!" Kind of hard to mistake that UPS colorscheme and that curmudgeony expression for anyone else. She's quite speechless. "Ngh.. We should try and bring him with us when we leave." She soon asides to Kickback. What's this? The mantis wants to help someone? Surprising.

"My thoughts as well," Kickback says. "He's got valuable information... and it wouldn't be right to leave him in this state. Not alive, anyways." He turns his attention to try to see the small form that was kicked nearby. What is that?

"Yes... they didn't secure our mouths, did they?" the locust adds with a note of amusement. "If we can reach these cuffs, they might be edible."

Harrow lifts her head. "I can't get at my tools with these cuffs. And this mech is damaged, or he's not thinking right. His words don't mean anything, they must be old messages."

At the sound of speech, the shadowy figure shambles ever closer towards the middle of the room. The swaying light conviently hides it from identification, but they can tell it is crawling low to the ground and taking pained steps. The whimpering is evident after each painstakingly step, a slight growl escaping its snout.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrorrrrrrrr."

When the swinging light finally stablizes itself, a purple and yellow maw can be seen at the edge of the illumination. Perking at first Scorn's voice, then Kickback's, the small figure shambles forward again.. seemingly pained and with only one arm/leg/thing.

It's.. Munch?

Primus. First Viator, now Munch? Admittedly Scorn never really paid much attention to the little Insecticon, but she recognizes him easily enough when looking over at him approaching. She's far from heartbroken to see the little mech all busted up, but she's still a bit sad and plenty angry with the grimace on her face. "Munch..? That's it. I'm personally slaughtering the lot of these mechs when we break out of here."

A look to Kickback now and a gesture of her head to get him to bend forward. "Let me at those cuffs. You keep planning."

"Be careful," Kickback admonishes. "They may be boobytrapped. I don't want you to get electrocuted trying to free us." His attentions turn to Munch. "Munch? It's me, Kickback. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Inching himself forward, the littlest Insectihound makes his best effort through labored breathing and one arm to make it closer towards Scorn and Kickback. Once he's fully in the light however, it appears this little guy has been through the wringer.

Munch's antennae have been twisted and one broken off at the mantle. As well, one of his mandibles has been completely removed and replaced with a jawline. A Sweep's jawline at that. As noted before, all of his legs have been removed except for one in the front. The others are a combination of amputations, stumps, knubs, and one is even a shoulder. Finally, entire pieces of his carapace have been removed.. exposing the innerworkings of the Insecticon.

At the sound of Kickback's voice, Munch pulls himself closer to rest between the two Insecticons. "Kickback.. Munch know." he growls whimperly, energon snot running from his snout. "Why this.. happen?" the Insectihound whines, burying his face down inbetween the pair and letting out a sad howl/sob.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7yc7ygB_LpM#t=104s

Munch's stinger wags awkwardly, digging into the ground and back up again.

Harrow tries to remain pointedly detached, and largely unhelpful. Looks like Scorn's going for the chewing thing. Munch's utterly heart-wrenching whimpers and his horrifice state manage to tug at her frozen healer side, and she looks back to the entrance. "What could they possibly be doing here... What purpose would this serve?"

Viator coughs up a good bit of energon as he watches Munch crawl to their guests. "It has happened because you are the Empire, little Insecticon. Because the Dwellers are the Empire." And then, two legs from the pile under Viator start to shake, and attach themselves to his torso, as if magnetically drawn. That was weird.

"Trust will break you all." He glowers at the trio, energon dripping from his chin.

"I don't know," Kickback says softly to Munch, reaching out to place his hand on the insectihound's head, trying to find a tactile sensor that isn't damaged and apply positive sensory feedback to counteract all the negative (pain) that the little guy is feeling. "We're going to find out. We're going to make it stop."

Dear Primus it's horrible. So hard to watch the mangled insectihound weakly crawl up to them and rest, Scorn actually having to turn her head away while forcing back a twinge of emotion from the sight and sound of him, something she hasn't felt for a long time. Beating it back she steels herself and just leans over behind Kickback, jaws splitting wide and clamping onto the stasis cuffs, after he pets Munch, to try and chew away in typical Insecticon fashion.

"Viator - that's your name?" Harrow tries, a bit more quietly. "Focus, what did you see /exactly/? Why are those limbs being drawn to you?" How she craves to open these parts up!

Viator glares at Harrow, though after a moment the glare softens. "CPS accepts laser weapon parts for shipment, provided the part is not a "laser weapon" as defined under Prime law; the contents of the package cannot be assembled to form a laser weapon; and the package otherwise complies with Prime, city-state, and local law. There was pain, Seeker. I was broken. Technobots. Chaos. The Hive Queen took me, returned me to the Empire. But I was broken. Wandered. Seekers came, they were the Empire. But their Empire was in the Dark, though the Empire was the same. The breaking. I am new, Seeker. I am new. You will be, too."

Scorn grunts while working. These cuffs were thicker than she realized. A bit harder to gnaw on. But she doesn't get very far anyway once she pierces it with her teeth, some anti-tamper device activating and letting loose a shock of electricity that courses through her and has her seizing up while it shocks Kickback as well. "Hrgzzzkh!"

With what strength she can muster she releases the cuffs from her jaws and flops over onto the ground, mouth smoking from electric burns on her lips and optics wide and still bright as ever from the overload of power. Even the space between her antennas connects a few stray sparks while she twitches. "Hnnggh... Bad.. idea.."

Kickback moves his hand away from Munch just in case --


 * zzzzzzrrrrchht*

His systems freeze in place and his teeth clench. "Hnnngggg!" he grunts, enduring the painful, powerful shock.

"... thought that might happen," he mutters.

Harrow begins to grow frustrated. "He's just muttering things from some courier service or something. Technobots? The only /queen/ I know of would be Buzzkill, but-" She's cut off by the sudden jolt of electricity that throttles Scorn and Kickback. Well chewing didn't work. "Perhaps we can strike a deal," she says, lifting her voice.

As the shock courses through Kickback and Scorn, so does it transfer to Munch as well. Letting out a wail and flailing with strength that defies his broken form, the little Insectihound jerks back and lies on the ground.. smouldering.

When Scorn flops back, Munch finally jerks to life again and pulls himself to the side.. towards the mech-mantis. One arm fruitlessly reaching out, he manages to drag his broken carapace over towards her and slumps his head on her chest. "Munch.." he bites out, energon not only oozing from his snout but his cracked mouth as well. His optics start to dim, as does the rest of his body.. color is fleeting his form, the bright yellow and royal purple fading to neutral shades. A cough and wheeze escape his maw, Munch inches his head inbetween Scorn's armpit.. or the Cybertronian equivalent.

"Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrreee.." the little Insecticon gasps out, a wheeze of breath escapes him for the last time. His coloration suddenly grows to dull grays and whites, Munch's optics go dark.

Viator stares dully at Munch's last wonderful moments on the planet. "The lab. Seekers. The Empire called them Mia but they have their own names...The target will die. There is no stopping that. Not now. Not when the Empire breaks."

Kickback had TRIED to avoid shocking Munch, but there wasn't enough distance. His antennae hang for a moment as the little guy shuts down for keeps, going completely offline.

He doesn't tell Scorn that he had hoped to talk Munch into trying to chew the cuffs, so as to put the risk on the wounded creature, doing it a favor by putting it out of its misery, while letting it have victory in freeing those that actually gave a damn about it. No, being pragmatic around Scorn right now would not be wise.

He looks over Munch's deceased body, and tries to weigh how much energon the carcass would give the two of them if they needed to consume it.

Viator's words are starting to add more pieces to the puzzle. Now, if only Kickback had the top of the puzzle box to help him put things together.

Suddenly, the door violenty opens again with the sound of tumblers lining up and breaking the lock. Swinging open on the hinges, which need some oil.. sounding creaky, the room is once again bathed in foreign light. Sauntering in with a pan of energon, Sapphire merely smiles as she approaches the middle of the room.

"Attempted to eat your way out, eh?" she gleefully plays, tossing the container to the ground inbetween the trio. "Seems you've only doomed Timex here." Sapphire giggles, leaning down low to seize Munch by the stinger. "And here I thought he'd keep tickin'.. a shame, really. We put this little bastard through such hell."

Palming Scorn's face in her hand, Sapphire pulls it up to look her in the optic. "You'd be wise to heed Viator's warning, Backfire's new Empire cannot be stopped.. nor will it be deterred." Playfully slapping the cheek of Scorn aside, the femme Seeker stalks out of the room and slams the door shut.. dragging Munch's corpse along with her.

The pan of energon looks.. strange. Light pink, it's obviously diluted.. mute. Just enough to stave off shutdown, not much else.

"...Backfire's emp-" Harrow groans, rolling her helm back. "I guess that's why they had me looking up his records. And repairing methods... What possessed him to do this? I mean, I know he's a little /off/, but he's not /evil/. Well... okay, Decepticon Evil but not Evil Evil!"

Scorn coughs a little plume of smoke, still laying there and optics dimming back to normal as extra power trickles away and her body eases once joints unlock. It's only when she feels something at her side that she snaps back to attention and looks down, seeing the poor mangled Insecticon settling up against him with the last of his strength. She'd be thinking like Kickback usually, yes, but Scorn has never had someone die in her arms before, especially a loyal little guy like Munch, so it's puting a strain on unused emotions in a broken mind.

All she can do is frown while sitting up as he fades off and grows grey and still. She has no idea what to say. Not that she has to when the door and the horrid bitch that is Sapphire stalks in again to slap down their ration and hold her head again, Scorn bearing teeth again. "And you'd be wise to heed /mine/. Enjoy your time in your little turborat hole while you can, because we will have the /true/ Empire upon your heads before you can even think. And I will will come for /you/ personally."

She hisses at the slap, but looks alarmed when she notices her exiting with the dead Munch. "Give him back! He's not yours to take!" Here comes anger again, Scorn immediatly springing to her feet and making a run for the door as it closes, but to no avail. "Rrgh!" She screeches in fury, slamming her shoulder on the door once or twice before wheeling around to glare at Kickback and stalk up to him, nearly spitting as she growls out. "You're the smart one, so think of something! /Now/! Before I try to melt down that door and take on this whole place myself!" She balancing on the edge of going literally crazy right now.

Viator just starts chuckling as Scorn screams at Saphire. And then his arms fall off. His optics flicker, and then glow brightly. And then he starts sing/shouting pre war protest songs.

Some mechs are built to serve the Matrix, Ooh, they're red, blue and wheeled. And when the band plays "Hail to the Prime", Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord!

Some folks are built third alt mode in hand, Lord, don't they help themselves, oh. But when the functionist comes to the door, Primus, the house looks like a rummage sale

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son. It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no Primus blessed one, no!

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==================== Decepticon ================================= Message: 2/82                     Posted        Author Decepticon Disappearances         Thu Jun 27    Backfire --
 * A news feed flashes before the screen, preempted by the Decepticon News Corporation logo before such.*

A disembodied voice speaks, it's Linchpin.. everyone's least favorite anchor! "Do you know where your fellow Decepticon is?" Flashed on the screen are still images of certain Decepticons, renegades or missing persons with text beneath them.

Scorn - Missing - Last Seen in Finger Canyon Rubble Overture - Renegade - Eliminate on Sight Kickback - Missing - Questionable Disappearance Jigsaw - Missing - Last Seen Assisting Harrow in Surgery Viator - Missing - Presumed Dead of Natural Causes Backfire - Renegade - Eliminate on Sight Munch - Missing - Last Seen Frollicking Harrow - Missing - Presumed Yelling About Something

Linchpin's voice continues while the images flash, "Spinister of the DJD and his.. team had this to say." Before the feed, Spinister appears with Singe and Hairsplitter. The Targetmaster himself stays quiet throughout the entire feed, "Who was kidnapped? A buncha Insecticons and Harrow? Who cares." Singe treats the audience. "I have prepared the faction a spreadsheet of the Decepticon Justice Division's missing persons which has been available for weeks now. Doesn't anyone read my memos?" Silence follows, before the interview is ended with Hairsplitter saying "Yeeeeeeeeeeah, just like my TPS reports."

The screen then flashes back to the Decepticon News Corporation's logo, "Remember, report any sightings to your nearest DJD representative. For DNC, this is Linchpin.. signing off!"


 * The logo continues, then back to the Decepticon spinny!*