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Rodimus Prime wrote:"What's criminal is having to wait this long for a response." Ironhide grumbled. "Hey 'Con, ya sure ya sent the right signal?"

"If you feel you can do a better job, by all means, Ironhide..." Feedback muttered. "The signal was sent, not my fault they are glad your cranky aft is gone..."

Approaching Sol-4

As the Obliteration continued on a flight path that would soon enter the frigate into the gravitational orbit of Sol-4, Vortex pulled up the specific transmission that Blast-Off had referenced and played it again.

>>"This is Decepticon Shuttle Delta-372. We have crashed on the fourth planet of the Solar System with Autobot stowaways. Please assist. Exact coordinates on subfrequency 019."<<

Vortex opened up a comm channel utilizing the same subfrequency.

>>"Decepticon shuttle Delta-372 this is the Decepticon frigate Obliteration. We've received your transmission and are currently inbound towards the provided coordinates. All Hail Megatron."<<

He then pulled up the provided coordinates and adjusted the Obliteration's heading accordingly.

"Mars Mars Mars Mars," Swindle muttered, looking over data from his terminal. Both an ancient god and a candy bar. Humans. Sigh."

Insidious wrote:
>>"Decepticon shuttle Delta-372 this is the Decepticon frigate Obliteration. We've received your transmission and are currently inbound towards the provided coordinates. All Hail Megatron."<<

Feedback tilted his head, the transmission from the Obliteration a welcome break from the uncomfortable situation they were in.

"Commander..." He said looking to Starscream. "The Obliteration just answered our distress call. They are inbound. No projected time of arrival sent."

He then opened up the comms again. >>"Obliteration, this is Delta-372, acknowledged."<<< He sent along an identification code on the sub-frequencies eo that the Combaticons knew that they were legitimately Decepticons... Of course he didn't figure that would prevent them from coming in guns blazing... But hey... At least he let then know it was legit.

Before Starscream could answer, Ironhide jabbed the barrel of his blaster into his back.

"The Obliteration?" he asked suspiciously. "I'm not familiar with that ship. Who's in command of it? Who's on board? Which 'Cons are comin' fer ya?"

"The Combaticons." Feedback answered Ironhide matter-of-factly.

Ironhide squinted his optics for a moment.

"Ugh. Not those idiots." he grumbled. "They will likely come off the ship shooting first."

He then turned to Starfire.

"I want ya to get back inside the wreckage. Have yer rifle ready." he said, then turned to Feedback. "Is that goin' to be a problem?"

But Starfire didn't move.

"Then what?" she asked. "Just start shooting when they get here?"

"Well,that will depend on how they behave. Doesn't hurt to be prepared." Ironhide answered, keeping his optics on Feedback.

Rodimus Prime wrote: Ironhide said, then turned to Feedback. "Is that goin' to be a problem?"

Feedback just glared and frowned in response, optics drifting to Starfire as she didn't move at Ironhide's order.

---

Vertigo looked to Feedback as well. "It's not like we can predict or control the Combaticons..." Vertigo finally said to Ironhide's likely rhetorical question.

---

Feedback; for his part; was trying to check how far The Obliteration was from them.

He could bounce a signal off the ship's comms array from his onboard comms, so long as they were close enough. His long range communications being farther than most, he could pick them up just before they entered an orbit, most other mech's long range communication maxed at orbital distance.. ish, without an amplifier.

He sent a repeating access request to The Obliteration's array, catching the bounced back automated acknowledgement from the array.

They were close.

"I doubt we can vouch for our own safety from the Combaticons." He finally said.

"That's because they're psychos." Ironhide said calmly.

"Uh, can I say something?" Starscream asked with a smirk. "Did they say whose command they were following? No way those simpletons get a ship to themselves."

Feedback shook his head.

"All they said was they were en route."

"Oh I have a bad feeling about this." Ironhide grumbled again. "Starfire, get inside the wreckage. Get ready."

"Don't you think they have sensors and will sweep the entire area before they even land?" Starscream asked in a condescending tone. "If you try anything that looks like an ambush, they will just blow you away from the air. Hah!"

Ironhide stayed silent for a few moments as Starfire trotted back inside the shuttle wreckage. Ironhide then turned to Feedback.

"What did you tell them?" he asked the 'Con. He knew he couldn't trust anything he said, and Feedback had no reason to tell the truth, but Ironhide couldn't think of anything better.

Sol-4--Skies

>>"Obliteration, this is Delta-372, acknowledged."<<<

Vortex pinged the response comm, per protocol, and saw that it matched up with the earlier offered coordinates. At least they weren't trying to trick them.

"Hey boss, got a response comm from the 'Cons on the ground. Coordinates link up," Vortex said, looking over his shoulder for a moment before returning his full attention to the station readouts in front of him.

Swindle sighed.

"I thought Earth was bad. This place is just rust-colored dirt as far as the eye can see."

Starscream looked up as the Obliteration became visible in the sky over Mars. Just a tiny dot at 1st, but growing larger.

"Here we go." he said calmly, and Ironhide looked up as well.

Suddenly, Starscream spun to his right, knocking the blaster out of a distracted Ironhide's hand with his right arm and smashing his left fist into the Autobot's face. Ironhide, more stunned than hurt, stumbled back a couple of steps as Starscream reached down and grabbed blaster. Ironhide stepped forward and reached for him, just to have his own blaster be shoved in his face.

"Stop!" Starscream ordered.

He then turned to the other 'Cons first to make sure they didn't do anything stupid, then he looked at the shuttle wreckage.

"Get out here!" he shouted to Starfire. "You're gonna get us killed!"

But she didn't move, and Starscream knew she was trying to decide the pros and cons of taking him out with her sniper rifle. He turned back to Ironhide.

"Tell her to get out here. Now!" he said firmly. "If the Combaticons are on their own, I can handle them. What she's doing will just provoke them into shooting first."

"I will NOT be a prisoner." Ironhide answered firmly. "I would rather take my chances in a shootout."

"Against the Combaticons?!" Starscream snapped back. " They will kill you! Their specialty is gunfights and hand to hand combat! It's what they were built for! Hence the name! 'Com-ba-ti-cons!'"

Without waiting for an answer, Starscream turned to Feedback.

"Hey! What are you, a silent partner? Help me here!" he said to the stoic Seeker. "These idiots will get us killed!"

Feedback was about to shoot out a sarcastic answer to Ironhide's question when Starscream made his move. He stayed still, not ready to be in the middle of a fight since he had barely been repaired just a few hours ago.

Vertigo too was reluctant to get into a fight.

---

Lock On, however, despite having just been shot down, was eager jump into a fight. His gun trained on to Ironhide as soon as Starscream secured Ironhide's gun.

---

Feedback looked to Starscream as the Air Commander shouted to him. He frowned a bit out of pure exhaustion before turning for the shuttle wreckage. "I'll get her." He growled, the growled not directed to Starscream, but the situation.

He ducked into the shuttle.

"Come out come out little Autobot..." He called out to her in a sing-song tone.

This was not good. The Cons were gaining control of the situation, just as a Con ship was preparing to land. Starfire had stayed inside the wreck, under cover of the mangled fuselage, her sniper rifle trained on Starscream. Ironhide had messed up, but the situation wasn't lost yet. Then she heard one of the Cons calling out to her, close to her hiding place. She couldn't see him, but she dared not take her sight off Starscram.

"Damn it!" she cursed quietly to herself.

Does she take a shot at Starscream, allowing Ironhide to get away? But having Starscream is their bargaining chip to safety once the Con ship lands. But if they don't resolve this situation first, anything else might not matter. She looked away from Ironhide and started looking for the Con that called out to her.

"Go back to the others!" she said in a firm tone, even though she couldn't actually see the Con. "Tell your boss to let Ironhide go, or I start shooting! You have 10 seconds!"

Feedback grabbed Starfire by the arm and tugged her towards him, her speaking having given away her position. "I'm afraid I can't do that." He muttered to her.

Caught by surprise, Starfire dropped her rifle as she got yanked out of her hiding place. But she didn't go without a fight, and started kicking Feedback's legs.

"Let me go!" she protested.

((OOC: Continuing from Obliteration Thread))

Obliteration - Bridge

Onslaught could only chuckle behind His mouthplate at Brawl’s outburst. Sure, he wasn’t the brightest of mechs, but he had his moments of brilliance.

“Excellent work, Brawl.” Onslaught said rising from his command chair to approach the forward viewscreen, looking down at the red rock below. “As for boarding anything? No, I don’t think there’s anything flight-capable we could board out here. However, we can still utilize the tractor beam to pull those seekers back to Megatron. Whether we pull them aboard or in tow is up to Starscream’s compliance.”

“Blast-Off, keep the engines warm and fly us in close. Once we get Starscream and his lot, we bee-line it back to Megatron. Brawl, if any of those Autobots make any sudden movements or try something funny, I want you to vaporize them. Leave nothing but spare parts and broken spanners.” Onslaught pivoted in his heel as he made his way towards the airlock, steeling his circuits for anything unexpected during this “rescue” operation. “Vortex, Swindle, you two with me. We’re going to get those seekers onboard. Ready that adhesion gun of yours, Vortex. If things get dicey I need you to hold people in place and give Brawl an easier target to hit.”

After a short stroll to the airlock, Onslaught placed his actuators to the controls. The door hissed open and red Martian dust kicked up into the cabin. Like an unmoving golem, the Combaticon Commander stood in the passage way as the airlock doors slid into their captivity hold. He readied his sonic stun gun and felt a pair of photon missiles chamber themselves into the cannons on his back. Prepare for the worse, and you won’t be surprised when it hits...

>>”All Decepticons, this is Onslaught. Your ride off this ball of dust and dirt is here. All hail Lord Megatron.”<<

Feedback ignored Starfire's kicking. Compared to the pummeling Crueljaw had given him earlier today on Earth, it barely registered.

"The commander wanted you, who am I to say no...." he muttered to her as the message from Onslaught came through. He was careful not to mention the communique to Starfire, though, in case it increased her efforts.

--

Since Onslaught's message was on near range comms, and open Decepticon frequencies , both Lock On and Vertigo heard it too.

Vertigo sighed in relief before the stress of the Combaticons being their chosen rescuers swept him back to a nervous state. He flicked his optics to Starscream briefly before raising his gun at Ironhide. "Might want to hurry up, Feedback!"

"So what's goin' to happen here?" Ironhide asked.

"Seems like they have no interest in you." Starscream replied with a smirk. "Looks like you get to stay here for a while longer."

"And you?" Ironhide asked again. "What about... hey! Let her go! " he shouted at Feedback.

Ironhide then stepped towards the approaching Con.

"Stay where you are." Starscream said calmly. "Or you'll be vaporized." he had heard Onslaught's transmission. "There's only one way out of this. Be as least threatening as possible."

He then turned toward the Combaticons' vessel, and saw Onslaught. He opened his comm link and sent a message.

"Onslaught, this is Starscream. What are your orders regarding me?"

Rodimus Prime wrote:
"And you?" Ironhide asked again. "What about... hey! Let her go! " he shouted at Feedback.

Ironhide then stepped towards the approaching Con.

Feedback regarded Ironhide for a moment with disinterest. "No." He said and continued his way towards Starscream .

Surface of Mars

Swindle and Vortex had followed their commander dutifully off the bridge and out of the ship-proper.

The sight that greeted them was a unique one to say the least. Starscream....Ironhide....and an assembly of other random Cybertronians who held no immediate interest for Swindle. Perhaps future circumstances would dictate otherwise. Nevertheless, Swindle was no stranger to unique situations. Here he could do his best work and remind Onslaught why he was a valuable commodity.

Starscream's query to Onslaught over the 'Con comm was pretty straightforward.

"Commander, if I may," Swindle said, stepping past Onslaught. Vortex just watched, arms crossed over his chest. Receiving the nod of approval from Onslaught, Swindle turned to face Starscream, grin etched on his metallic features.

"Starscream! A mech after my own spark, if ever there was one. Our orders, as it should happen, come from Megatron himself. It seems we received a distress call from this location. He ordered us, quite simply, to answer the beacon and retrieve you. Beyond that, well, he chose us because we could assess any other...variables....once we got here."

His gaze shifted from Starscream to Ironhide and the others before shifting back to the Seeker Commander.

"Megatron?" Starscream asked suspiciously. "But...but I thought...how long has he been back?"

Ironhide watched the exchange intently. He weighed his options as the other Seeker was dragging Starfire towards them. We can NOT be taken prisoner! he thought as he turned his attention back to his blaster being held on him by Starscream, who was distracted by the Combaticons. He knew he had to wait for the right moment. He heard Swindle say that the Combaticons were here specifically for Starscream. That meant the Air Commander was the key to getting out of here. And Ironhide also knew something the Combaticons didn't: Starscream didn't want to go with them.

Starfire tensed in Feedback's grip when she saw the Combaticons arriving. She had planned to free herself with the hidden blaster she still had under her rear blast shield, but with the new arrivals, even if she got free of Feedback's grip, she would be gunned down by the others. So she allowed herself to be taken to the others as she waited for a signal from or a move by Ironhide. Once that happened, she would follow his lead.

Surface of Mars

"Megatron? But...but I thought...how long has he been back?"

Swindle's smirk grew wider. Starscream didn't know. Well, of course he didn't know! He'd been adrift on this wayward little rock for who knows how long. Swindle himself hadn't known until just a relatively short time ago.

Still, that made this whole interaction that much more delicious--especially since Ironhide probably thought that Megatron was dead too. Oops hehe.

"Not long. But you know Megatron. He has a tendency to....not die, heh," Swindle said, trying to keep the mood light despite the obvious tension in the area. "Sooooo.....I'm sure there's an interesting story behind all this. I mean, when we arrived and saw Autobots, I think we all expected you to be in the throes of combat. Has that already been resolved? Are these Autobot prisoners for us to take back? I'm not sure we're doing the whole 'prisoners' thing. Are we, sir?"

Swindle looked to Onslaught to provide clarification on their mission parameters.

A loud, rumbling bellow could be heard from within the depths of the Obliteration. There was no mistaking the source of the voice. Brawl. And he was getting triggerhappy.

”THIS IS TAKING FOREVER! CAN I SHOOT THEM ALREADY?!”

Feedback moved Starfire in front of him. "Shoot her, she's a Bot!" He yelled towards the Obliteration.