Optimus didn't think it was too strange if Nightmist hadn't followed on inside with everyone. He knew she preferred the outdoors, but he could have sworn he asked everyone to let him at least know where they were, or where they going, so he would know in case of an emergency. Watching Rhinox exit the hangar, Primal glanced at Cheetor before he got a call from Feralnight on the radio.She didn't come in with you? .. Strange. I saw her outside briefly, but she hasn't come inside yet.. It's probably nothing.. but I'm going check up on her. Beast mode.
Pulling out the radio, he listened to her report. Upset? More like confused and surprised. "Wait, Feralnight," he spoke, "Did I hear you right? Did you say Decepticon? I don't understand." How could there be an active Decepticon on this planet? Why would there be a Decepticon here in the fir... The falling object in the tundra, he pieced together. It was a Decepticon? But... how? From where? After shaking his head in disbelief, he immediately thought of Nightmist's disappearance. Primus, had she run into the 'Con? Alone? What came through his communication link next almost made his spark stop."Feralnight to Optimus, I know you might be upset about this but we got the Decepticon heading towards the ship. Whether or not she's there already is beyond me but be on alert, she already has the Levianthan grounded."
"Nightmist! Hold on! We're on our way!" Judging by her exasperated voice, she wasn't breathing right, as if something was crushing or squeezing her. There was little time to waste. He had no idea what her situation was."Primal.. Maximal base, come in!," "If you have time to spare, a little assistance would be greatly appreciated!!"
"Cheetor, inform everyone that we're on high alert!" Primal ordered him as he put the radio away again. "Nightmist may be face to face with a Decepticon." Sprinting out of the hangar, the leader followed Rhinox's direction and ignited his prime jets, blasting off toward Nightmist's location at maximum burn.
To Primal's surprise, a conversation continued through his link. Nightmist must have kept it opened.
He could hear another female voice and other noises, like a loud thud and energon radiation surges. Listening to all of it, he simply felt helpless, but he was ready to defend Nightmist no matter who the 'Con was."Don't waste your precious time," "Mmmph,"
Optimus detected the agony in her voice. Nightmist, hang on! Primus, please don't be too late! The following scream on the female Maximal's end nearly shorted his audio sensors."I'm a medic," "I can help you if you.."
Never going back? Back where? Who are you?! And what are you doing here?! RELEASE HER! Optimus begged himself to block out the possible outcome in his mind; what he feared most. But suddenly, everything was quiet. "Nightmist? Nightmist, do you copy?!" he cried into his comm. link. Nothing. "No!""No.. I'm never going back!"
Noticing some russeling with the trees below, Primal spotted Rhinox charging his way to help Nightmist. Shortly after he saw the gun fire from his friend aiming at the supposed Decepticon, whose signature did in fact read as said allegiance, he detected no other Predacons in the area. He didn't find Nightmist yet as his optics focused on the newcomer, but if Rhinox was firing at the female 'Con, then she must not have had their comrade in her grasp anymore. He wasn't sure if that was good or not, but he figured he'd assist with the firepower and drive the enemy away. Activating his shoulder-mounted missiles, he fired two of them at the Decepticon below as he began to descend toward the tree tops. Surely she'd retreat as she was outnumbered.
-----
Rattrap glared at Frilla for a second, and then he grinned mischieviously. "Remember all that demolition expert an' master marksman stuff I said? I'd watch yer mouth if I was you, Scales." Then he looked back at Whitegrazer after he saw Saber-Fang slink by. She looked pretty exhausted."If your a spy too rodent, you don't have to keep it quiet. But I'm surprised no one can smell your stench coming from a mile away."
He followed her hand to the pistol on her waist. "Huh. You didn't happen to keep any of those heavy weapons, did ya?" he smiled lightly. He would've liked to have had them if she didn't want them. But seeing as she traveled in a stasis pod, it was unlikely she had anything of that nature with her now. Pity."I used to carry alot of heavy machine weapons during my days as a soldier." "Now I travel light which is pretty liberating for me."
"Eh, not really. I don't follow all that martial arts dojo vodoo stuff," Rattrap answered the mare. But maybe she could teach him a thing or two. I could use it on ol' Dinoboob, he snickered to himself."Diffusion. Have you heard of it?" "It's an old Autobot self-defense style."
"Hey, Umbrella Head!" he shouted to Frilla when he saw her walk ahead of him. "Hold it! You follow me, remember? I'm givin' the tour here."
-----
Sounds like a good idea. Feralnight, fly up and contact the Axalon!
And you, Tigatron thought for Feralnight, watching her fly up and off toward the Axalon."You got it. Be safe you guys."
The tiger nodded to Orcariner in agreement. He only hoped no one would be harmed by the large Decepticon."She doesn't have a lot of time," "The Decepticon, I mean. Regardless of whatever plan she has in mind, her body is too expired to keep itself running out in the open with this much radiation. I give her a few cycles before she submits to stasis lock. Optimus and the others have the firepower and Sentinel to keep her at bay. Still, we probably should come up with a back up plan in case something goes wrong."
Everything the orca explained was really quite intriguing to Tigatron. It was detailed and thorough, and he was learning quite a bit about their ancestors. Too bad it couldn't have been under better circumstances."Decepticons and Autobots aren't any different from one another except for ideologies and faction symbols. It's these differences in principle that eventually led us to believe other differences such as 'Cons are planes and 'Bots are cars. That's just a stereotype; on an anatomical level they're identical. By accepting that they're physically the same means that we're accepting that their weaknesses are the same. The primary weakness to a Decepticon's body is heat, but the epidermal layer of their armor is specifically designed to protect them to an extent. Autobot firepower enables more penetration, but with the Maximal 'downgrade' a lot of our firearms won't be able to pierce her armor. Missiles and any type of warhead will do the trick since it allows the projectile to punch through the shielding and release heat from within; ergo, internal combustion. The second best weakness we can exploit is the Decepticon's vulnerability to cold. It's the same weakness that kept her in stasis lock until the Predacons managed to fish her out of the ocean. The bad news is that both of our ice-based Maximals are here instead of back home. Even in the event that she still functions once we get back, our cold attacks are too slow to keep up with her."
Orcariner had a pretty good plan and had faith that it could work. Simply freeze her back into stasis lock. It was possible. But he was also right about Optimus unleashing his own firepower. Tigatron admired their leader's courage. He had no doubt that he would not hesitate to battle a Decepticon in order to protect his crew. He was certain he would be able to stop her in the condition she was in if not with the rest of the Maximals at the Axalon. Assuming, of course, their leader hadn't been too damaged earlier in the race with the Predacons to that stasis pod. The big cat looked at the penguin to see if he had anything to add, but he really thought that they should make haste and follow Feralnight."Even your frost launcher can't hit a target that can obtain supersonic speeds in a nanoclick. That's where weakness number three comes in: overwhelming brute force. It's not even much of a weakness, just a principle rule in nature. I'm like what... somewhere between five to six meters in height. That's comparable to smaller Autobots who took on the forms of civilian automobiles. Primus knows that I pack more mass in me. When I analyzed the body, I noticed that the Decepticon was unarmed. Even as a flyer, she won't be able to touch me without getting close, so maybe I can goad her into engaging me in a fist fight. All I need is to be able to get a hold on her to prevent her from escaping, and we can freeze her back into stasis lock. Again, this is all assuming that Optimus doesn't kick her to the curb first."