The transport ship had barely touched down on the frozen tundra outside Base One when Dirge hurried into the cockpit.
"My Lord, Lady Blackarachnia is here. She wishes to see you."
"Blackarachnia?" Skygnaw was slightly surprised, but he nodded. "Let her up."
Monts later, Blackarachnia boarded the ship. She looked troubled, her optics flickering with annoyance. "Skygnaw, I don't know what's going on, but Starscream is summoning us to a specific planet."
"Starscream?" A massive question mark practically ford over Skygnaw's head. "I haven't received any such ssage. And which planet is he calling us to?"
"Mars," Scalpel said, jumping down from Blackarachnia's shoulder. "Starscream has ordered all Decepticons on Earth to convene there imdiately. Soundwave just passed the ssage to ."
Mars? The Fallen?
In an instant, Skygnaw pieced together the situation.
"Blackarachnia, Scalpel—what do you intend to do?" Skygnaw decided to gauge her reaction first.
"Pfft," Blackarachnia scoffed. "Starscream is not the leader of the Decepticons, nor is he a Leader-class warrior. Why should we listen to him?"
She made no effort to hide her contempt. Clearly, she didn't take Starscream's "order" seriously.
Skygnaw pondered for a mont before speaking cryptically. "Starscream is ambitious, but he wouldn't pull a stunt like this without a reason. I suspect there's a power behind this."
Starscream didn't have the spark for such a bold move on his own. This command could only have co from the Fallen.
"You an..." Blackarachnia was no fool; Skygnaw's hint clicked instantly.
Skygnaw nodded. "Exactly. We'd better go and see for ourselves."
If they ignored the summons, there was no telling if the Fallen would settle the score later. Starscream likely already knew that Skygnaw had killed Skywarp, but Skygnaw wasn't planning on hiding it. He was a Commander-class warrior now; a subordinate attacking a superior resulted in death. That was the law of the Decepticons.
"It looks like we'll need to be ready for a clash with Starscream on Mars..." Skygnaw calculated as he watched Blackarachnia walk away. Fortunately, he wasn't without allies. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Returning to the pilot's seat, Skygnaw began summoning the remaining Decepticons on Earth. The survivors were few—only the Constructicon clones and Onslaught's team remained, totaling fewer bots than the garrison currently at Base One.
A few days later, under Skygnaw's summons, the five Constructicon clones, Sideways, Demolishor, and the long-absent Barricade and Frenzy all arrived at the Alaskan base.
"Lord Skygnaw."
Barricade and Frenzy greeted him respectfully, showing no signs of resentnt toward his rapid rise. Under Soundwave's orders, Barricade had been doing what he did best—skirting across the globe to gather intel on gatron's location.
For most Cybertronians, remaining at the sa power level for thousands of years was the norm. Skygnaw's ascent from a Basic warrior to a Commander in a single year was an anomaly that defied all logic.
Skygnaw gave them a flat nod. He had spent the last few days in the lab studying the four Cybertronian fras he'd brought back from Rubicund. He had made a chilling discovery: not only were the internal energy reservoirs empty, but the energy within their Sparks had been sucked dry. It was as if the eggshells were intact, but the yolks had been extracted through a vacuum.
...
On the other side of the base, the Constructicon clones followed Sideways and Demolishor to find Onslaught.
"Lord Onslaught, what are the Master's orders?" the clones asked, looking nervous and cautious.
"We are leaving this planet. Lord Starscream is summoning us," Onslaught explained patiently. He couldn't entirely ignore a team capable of combining into Devastator, even if they were clones. He knew his place; he was working under Skygnaw now, and compared to the elite "Horsen," he was still secondary.
"Lady Blackarachnia."
The gathered Decepticons offered their greetings as she erged from the base. Although she had technically gone rogue, her return to the fold seed inevitable in their eyes. Unlike Skygnaw's calm deanor, she remained cold and unsmiling.
Using the Energon reserves at Base One, she had restored herself to peak condition. The price was a temporary alliance with Skygnaw—at least when it ca to dealing with Starscream.
A dozen Decepticons of varying heights and forms now stood upon the Alaskan tundra. To an outsider, it would look like a Decepticon fortress on Cybertron. Thanks to Skygnaw's political ties with Clarice, he could assemble such a force in the open without imdiate human interference.
"Since everyone is here, let's move out," Skygnaw said plainly.
"Yes, Lord Skygnaw!"
Onslaught and Barricade led the boarders onto the ship. Skygnaw had decided to leave the Four Horsen and Scalpel behind to guard the base. It was a calculated move; he didn't know what would happen on Mars. If Starscream tried to whisper poison into the Fallen's ear, Skygnaw didn't want his core team caught in the crossfire. With the Fallen present, he wouldn't be able to openly kill Starscream if things turned sour.
As for Starscream's order for "all" Decepticons to attend, Skygnaw ignored it. Elite subordinates were ant to be protected and fed the best resources, not paraded before rivals.
"Let's go, Blackarachnia," Skygnaw said once the others were secure. This ti, she would travel on his ship rather than her own.
"Fine, Skygnaw." She followed him aboard.
The transport ship ascended slowly before vanishing into a space jump. Navigating within the solar system was quick, especially with pre-calculated jump nodes. It wasn't long before the red sphere of Mars lood in the viewscreen. Skygnaw piloted the ship down toward the coordinates provided by Starscream.
...
Mars: Inside the Fallen's Warship.
Learning that the Earth-based Decepticons had arrived, Starscream took a few of his personal followers and Soundwave to et them.
As Skygnaw stepped off the ramp, he saw Starscream approaching with a group of bots, Soundwave at his side.
Interesting... Skygnaw narrowed his optics. He wondered when Soundwave had arrived on Mars. Given Soundwave's history of guarding gatron's interests and Starscream's history of treason, the two were natural enemies. They shouldn't have been walking side-by-side.
"Decepticons! I am pleased to see you have not ignored my summons."
"Lord Starscream. Lord Soundwave," Skygnaw replied neutrally, his tone devoid of any real respect.
Blackarachnia stepped out behind him, followed by the rest of the Earth-based survivors. In terms of raw presence, Skygnaw's faction held its own against Starscream's group.
"Skygnaw... you actually dared to show up," Starscream said with a thin, sickly smile, his eyes dark. He had learned from Soundwave that the team he sent to "test" Skygnaw had been annihilated. He realized then that the bot he had once ignored was far more dangerous than he'd assud.
"Heh. Why wouldn't I dare co, Lord Starscream? Or is it that the Decepticons have a new Master now?"
Skygnaw's chuckle was light, dismissing the veiled threat.
"Skygnaw, you—"
Starscream started to snap, but Blackarachnia stepped forward. "Starscream. I see you've been hiding on this rock all this ti. What's the matter? With gatron gone, have you turned into a cowardly turtle?"
Skygnaw gave her a ntal thumbs-up. As a long-ti rival of the Air Commander, her verbal stings were top-tier.
"Blackarachnia!!" Starscream's optics practically spat fire. Being humiliated repeatedly was sothing his ego couldn't handle.
Behind them, the rank-and-file Decepticons looked at each other nervously, unsure if they should retreat to the ship in case a three-way Commander battle broke out. Soundwave remained silent, watching the exchange with cold, calculating optics.
Knowing this wasn't the ti for a brawl, Starscream took a deep breath, forcing a distorted smile onto his faceplates. "Blackarachnia. Skygnaw. Follow . The Master is waiting for you."
Blackarachnia looked at Skygnaw, confused as to who this "Master" could be. Skygnaw simply shook his head, keeping the secret for now.
He turned to Onslaught and the others. "Wait here."
"Yes, My Lord."
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