"Chain of Command"

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"Orcariner to Rhinox," "Wintersong and I are on route to your destination. How far are you from the standing stones?"

This is Rhinox speaking, we are currently half way to the standing stones. So what do we do? Proceed on course or meet up with them?

Running as fast as he could with his little legs, Rattrap glanced at Rhinox striding beside him and answered, "We keep movin'. The Preds are probably there already. We can't let 'em blow anything up an' risk losing Optimus. Besides, if Val's team is back, then Megs might be roundin' up some reinforcements too." So this might not be as "easy" as the battle back at the Axalon.

-----

At the standing stones, Terrorsaur followed Tarantulas's example and flew behind one of the large, tall stones. He landed and quietly tucked in his wings, waiting patiently for the foolish Maximls.

The Predacon leader gave one more long look at the hovering pod, thoughtfully squinting a bright red eye, before turning his large body away from it and vanishing behind the stones. Soon the alien probe would be in his grasp. All he needed was the upper hand and to outnumber those misguided Maximals.

(( OOC: I'm guessing that Rattrap's team will show up, then Megs shows himself, then the rest of the Maximals and Preds coming could show up at the same time? ))

[Blazemane]

After watching Icebreaker's signal until he went beyond the scanner's range, Cheetor turned around to Skyfire. He noticed for the first time that she had taken some damage.

"Hey," he said with concern written across his features, "what happened to you?"

[Venatrix]

Venatrix caught up with the rest of the predacons quickly enough.
The only problems she had with Megatrons tactics to stay in hiding till the Maximals came to the pod and wait for the Predacon reinforcements before they strike hard at an inferior force.
It was dishonerable, but effective.
Her former self prefered these tactics, but after observing Dinobot's ways, she had a change of heart.
But then, things haven't worked out for Megatron since they all crashed on this strange planet. So what would have been changed now?
She could only find it logical the Maximals would have some soort of back-up on the way them selves. Plus they should know they where walking into a trap.
The standing stones will turn out to be a battlefield, and she expects this battle will end up destroying this site.

But it wasn't her place to question Megatron's orders, so she hid, like her fellow Predacons behind the stone, and waited for their prey to enter the battleground.
Silently she hoped she could face the more experianced Maximal cat.

[Night-Hunter]

"We keep movin'. The Preds are probably there already. We can't let 'em blow anything up an' risk losing Optimus. Besides, if Val's team is back, then Megs might be roundin' up some reinforcements too."

Saber had caught the transmission and said nothing, she would have to stay focused, if they wanted to know her opinion, she would give it, if they wanted to know what she had to say. She kept her mouth shut and continued along side Rattrap, her claws inching for another fight with the Predicon she-cat.

[SkyxDB]

"Hey," he said with concern written across his features, "what happened to you?"

"Oh well, the Predacons attacked outside here earlier and I took some damage during the fighting. So until I can get repairs, I'm grounded. But don't worry other than that I'm okay. I'll live." Skyfire answered Cheetor with a little bit of a smile to try to reassure him.

[Blazemane]

Cheetor was almost shocked to hear that news.

"The Preds attacked the base while we were gone, too?" he asked incredulously. "I guess you guys must have fought 'em off though."

That brought him to another question...

"If Optimus is trapped, who's leading right now?"

[SkyxDB]

"If Optimus is trapped, who's leading right now?"

"Well until we get Optimus back, Rattrap incharge." Skyfire answered.

[Blazemane]

"Rattrap?" Cheetor repeated.

But, if the Predacons had been fought off from the base, it must have meant Rattrap was capable of leading after all.

Then Cheetor cast a glance back at the second CR chamber and then back to Skyfire.

"Hey... y'know, if the damage you took is too much for your internal repairs to handle, I can watch the base if you want to use the CR chamber." he offered.

It seemed unlikely that she actually needed it. She was standing there, and she hadn't been complaining or anything. But he figured he should ask just in case.

[SkyxDB]

"That nice of you to offer" Skyfire said to Cheetor. "But you look like you could use it more then me. Why don't you go first. Then as soon either you or Val repaired, then I'll go next."

[Blazemane]

Cheetor looked inquisitively at his shoulder. He hadn't thought the bullet hole would be visible in his beast mode. But sure enough, there was just a little bit of evidence of a puncture.

"Well, Icebreaker already did the main repairs on the battlefield, so my internal repairs are set to take care of the rest."

[SkyxDB]

"Well if you're sure that internal repairs are enough, I guess I could use the CR. Besides in beast mode, one of my wings are in bad shape." answered Skyfire.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: Ven: Sorry if my Megatron posts seem ho-hum. I'm not very good with the evil characters. And since he really isn't mine, I'm just following the show and trying to fill in gaps. ))

Slowing down now and approaching the standing stones, the small rat cautiously looked around before stepping up to the alien probe with Rhinox, Saber-Fang and Dinobot. No sign of the Predacons? That was weird. Almost as weird as the floating pod before them, quiet and somehow containing Optimus inside doing who-know's-what to him. He sure hoped Rhinox's extraction device would work.

Rattrap maximized and drew his weapon, just incase. He may be a paranoid Maximal, but sometimes it paid off.

[Blazemane]

Steelclaw, after a great deal of running, was finally close enough to the Maximal base to see it, but not so close as to be seen on any monitors... or so he estimated.

Where he stood now, the land was dusty and full of rocks and boulders. It was, likely, a continuation of some of the land the Maximals and Predacons had fought over the day before.

"Steelclaw, terrorize!" he commanded. After transforming, he took his sniper rifle and set it up on the ground. Then he looked through the scope and chose a place somewhere near the center of the Axalon to shoot at. The Maximals would probably have their shields up, but that wouldn't be a problem.

Then Steelclaw put a sizeable rock behind the rifle, and another one in front of its bipod. After turning a small dial on the side of the weapon, he saw a few green lights show up on the barrel, and, satisfied with his work, he transformed again to being a bear.

He ran a long way around to get behind the Axalon, and hastily swam across the river that fed the water fall near it. He zoomed in with his optics for any weak spots in the structure. Certainly the Darksyde could have been expected to have done as much damage to it as it had done to the Darksyde.

But to Steelclaw's chagrin, he found that some chump (or many) had covered all the holes.

The holes had to be there, so he'd have to discover them. It was time to move in the Axalon's scanning range. He could only hope that having never been reprogrammed, his Maximal signature wouldn't give any of the ship's sensors something to warn everyone inside about.

He took a deep breath and released it. Then he set off running.

* * *

Dinobot came to the pod with the Maximals, but he was focused on Megatron and very little else. Rhinox would need to act fast, because Megatron was, without a doubt, going to anticipate this move.

[Night-Hunter]

Saber came to a stop near Rattrap, she growled slightly at the sight of the floating pod. What ever would happen next she did want to lose another Maximal to that pod.
She transformed and took out her weapon and and looked around for any sign of Predicons. Her ears moved every which way but she didn't hear any thing Pred wise.

[NaitoKage]

Rhinox transformed walking towards the alien pod, the device he was working on earlier mounted to his wrist. He looks at it warily as he starts to press a few switches, red and green lights blinking in a sequence I don't know if this thing is going to work.. but it's as ready as it'll ever be.

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Glowstick watched from the sky as Steelclaw moved on ahead, Glowstick looked at the river outside the Maximal base Lucky day it seems.. he then says to himself descending from the air Glowstick, beast mode! His body twists as he transforms to his squid mode diving into the river, his siphon then blows a jet of water while under the rivers surface propelling him towards the Maximal base entering their scanner zone.

Floating near the base of the waterfall just before the current, his tentacles latch onto a rock. His feeder tentacle slides into his mantle pulling out the mini repainted spiderbot, then the feeder tentacle extends out towards the river shore edge. His tentacle then retracts as he moves himself closer to the rock, his transparent body in the rough water making him extremely difficult to notice optically.

the tiny repainted Spiderbot twitches to life on the ground, a video feed transmitting from it to Glowstick as it crawls along the rock face towards the axalon.

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Icebreaker rushes in from the distance behind Wintersong, he shifts his board as he comes up to the side of her Hey pussycat, you know.. I don't see you around base much. he then states looking at her, he then looks forward noticing some rocks, he makes a loud shout Whoa!,taking a hard turn out of the way of them,he makes his way back near her again.