"First Season Finale: Part III"

[starshadow]

Starshadow held her wrist after that burst of anger from Ironclaw. Clearly he doesn't want her anywhere near him which strangely upset her for a moment. Just because she was an ex predacon does not mean she would always stay as a bad femme. She was a Maximal before. Starshadow's ears drooped, knowing that she could not do what Rhinox advised. It was too painful to go through the rejection all over again even if she was nice to them or at least tried to.

"Fine..." she replied, adding much coldness into her words while hiding her sadness and left him, going to her quarters.

Once she had reached to her quarters, she sat on the berth and removed her helmet, rubbing her head. "Your maximal side makes you weak...no matter how hard you try, the results will still be the same...no point showing them your concern.."

Starshadow just listened to Visia through her mind. Maybe she was right. No matter what she do to help them, coldness would still be shown just like in her years as a Maximal, no one showed her any warmth in their words except those she truly cared for. But then again, gaining the Maximals' trust needs time. The catbot hugged her legs and waited for something to happen.

[Wildfire94]

((On second thought I'll go ahead and post to get things rolling. Besides the end is coming! ))

Megatron growled as the spotted feline jumped off his shoulders, half expecting Cheetor go running off while he had the chance and turned his attentions towards Whitegrazer to try and take care of her little distraction. What he hadn’t expected was Cheetor to suddenly fire and he had no time to turn around, feeling the shot hit close range with enough force to make him stumble forward a foot or two. “You’re going to pay for that pussy cat!”He snarled, turning to face the cheetah but he had barely raised his jaw cannon when the energon surge suddenly struck his systems from having been in robot form far too long since the Maximals had come out from the now humming, glowing alien structure.

"Predacons, transform and retreat immediately!"He commanded angrily, reverting to beast mode while stepping back through the cloud of dust kicked up by Whitegrazer's constant running around him. Though he paused when he stepped out from the circle of dust, glancing towards the structure in hopes of maybe trying to get something from it but hearing the humming and seeing the glowing made him realize it was a little late to try for his plans, they had to leave now. "This isn't over Maximals."Megatron said with a final glare before he turned his back to them and began to quickly head off towards the Predacon base, knowing what was to come soon enough.

Onyx however was watching the structure, not liking the sound of the humming and how it was glowing which could certainly tell something big was going to happen. Turning to the sound of Megatron's voice ordering them to leave he began to follow though his thoughts questioning Megatron's leadership made him continue to hesitate as he glanced back towards the Maximals for a few long moments, wondering if they would be alright. "Good luck Maximals, think we'll all need it."He said as he walked by before taking off in a full gallop after his leader and teammates, kicking up dust as he went.

((I'm skipping Silverstreak for now since there isn't much at the moment for her to do.))

[DarkSpark]

OOC: Oops! Sorry Blackrose, I didn't realize my mistake and only just tonight checked in to see if the game had updated >_<

I've changed my post so that Tarantulas doesn't seem like he had his head in the clouds when Arachnitron was explaining her plan, so you can alter your post accordingly as well, sorry for the delay, totally my bad

[Phoenix]

"What has happened was always meant to happen, therefore, no one is to blame for such tragedies; you least of all.

Aurora shivered as Tigatron's words affected her more than she'd care to admit. Yet as much as she wanted to believe him, forgiving oneself is one of the hardest things to do. Even if nothing she did would have changed the outcome for Icebreaker, she was still convinced she was the reason Valkyrie had met such a terrible end. It had been her fault for doing those stupid botanical experiments. Even if her intentions had been pure, the inevitable outcome would have been different without her intervention. It was her fault. And in knowing this fact it was easier to assume responsibility for the other deaths as well.

"You don't understand," she sighed, as she pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, "One of them would certainly have been alive if it wasn't for my doing.. my mistake. Nothing anyone says will change the facts.."

She paused as Tigatron continued.

The burden is Optimus's and his alone. Every one of us under his command is his responsilibity, and so he's capable of carrying the guilt for each of us on his shoulders so that we may move forward and continue functioning as a team to ensure our survival.

How was any of this Optimus' fault?


Aurora tilted her head while glancing from Tigatron to the dark night sky above them, a faint but forced smile appearing on her face as she contemplated how Tigatron was trying to make her feel better by putting the responsibility on their leader. The fuzor was aware of Optimus' tendency to blame himself for the mistakes made by his crew, wrongfully so most of the time, but it was a reaction most of the Maximals had come to expect. Certainly not one she wished to take for granted, or to belittle in any way, still she believed blaming him was wrong.

"Optimus has been nothing but a gentle leader and a great role model. It just isn't right to place any blame on him. He may see it as his responsibility to carry the burden by himself, but I don't think it's right. We all need to face the consequences of our own actions. No single individual should have to.."

She stopped in her tracks as she realized that the words coming out of her mouth could just as well be describing her as they could Optimus. Perhaps that had been Tigatron's intentions all along.

"Well played," she told him, "But the situation is different when it's your actions that caused the mess in the first place."

A sigh followed. Gone was the faint smile again, now replaced by large, tearful green eyes staring at Tigatron as he pulled her closer for a comforting hug.

"Icebreaker should not have died.. I wasn't there to stop him from engaging the enemy. He could have.. He should have.. lived."

The last few words came out as half choked gasps, her body trembling as she once again averted her eyes. She had tried so hard to deny the truth to herself, to keep her emotions bottled up, but she was now failing miserably at it. Out came the sorrow, bitterness, and despair, followed by anger for what had happened and the Predacon responsible.

It took her several moments to calm down enough to continue. When she did, her voice was quieter and she stopped every so often as if contemplating her words carefully.

"What happened to Valkyrie.. the fault for that ultimately falls on me. In the midst of the aftermath of the battle, I forgot all about some alterations I had made to the temperature settings.. She died because of that.. and nothing anyone says or does will change it."


She fell silent again, pondering what her fellow Maximal had told her about focusing on the better memories and persevering. His words made sense, in a way, but it was so hard to follow through..

[Wintersong]

Wintersong's ears twitched back slightly from the echo of Ironclaw suddenly yelling down the halls, making her turn in the chair with a concerned look of what was going on between him and Starshadow. It sounded like he was irritated with something and she was growing a little concerned that the stress of worry the badger was feeling might be making him on edge, which was a likely the case. "Frilla I'll be right back,"She told the frilled lizard before standing and walking past the other two femmes within the bridge quickly made her way down the hall where she had last seen the two go. But she briefly paused before she was within sight, sniffing the air a moment to check if both were still close by but for now she only smelled Ironclaw around the corner and it seemed Starshadow had headed elsewhere instead.

Stepping around the corner the white tigress found Ironclaw still there seeming to be thinking about something and she hoped that she wasn't interrupting his thoughts."Ironclaw,"Wintersong spoke softly as she approached, not wanting to startle him if he wasn't paying attention at the time."Do you want to talk? Might help get some of the stress off your chest but if you want to be alone that's fine."She offered while holding out a hand to him but she was giving him that choice of whether or not to do so.

[Mystrea]

Ironclaw heard the soft voice coming from down the hallway. Although he was still agitated this drew his focus, it was a fembots voice. Simultaneously he saw and realised that it belonged to Wintersong. This immediately softened both his gaze and his mood. Her presence was a powerful thing he could not yet identify. As she approached he sunk to her level and without doubt accepted her offer to speak with her. She could offer him much needed council.

Ironclaw took her hand and held it quite tightly. "You must understand that I did not want her kindness. She just touched me. It wasn't what I wanted." he tried to explain to her, his eyes shifting as he does.

[Blackrosefencer]

OOC:

OOC: Oops! Sorry Blackrose, I didn't realize my mistake and only just tonight checked in to see if the game had updated >_<

I've changed my post so that Tarantulas doesn't seem like he had his head in the clouds when Arachnitron was explaining her plan, so you can alter your post accordingly as well, sorry for the delay, totally my bad

It's no big deal. I've altered my post as well. I think we're ready to put this plan into action. I just kinda picked a sector at random...I don't know much about sectors...nor am I able to really visualize where everything is in relation to other things....where is that map NK was working on??

[una]

Blackarachnia narrowed her eyes at Tarantulas little insults, but just shrugged her shoulders with ease.

Don't worry, "partner". You won't have to put up with me where you are going after I'm done with you.

Her optics glanced at Arachnitron who winked at her. Blackarachnia just played along, smiling at the little widow.

And if you get in my way, little widow, you would meet the same fate...regrettably.

There wasn't anything to worry about; her plan would work until they entered the Maximal base. She wasn't dumb. When they entered the base, all bets were off. After she took the device off the cell, she would have to act swiftly, dealing with them both and figure out how to make Tarantulas comply or figure it out all by herself. She had the intelligence to do that if the situation was urgent.

"Pick any cooridnates that suits your fancy. It just needs to be long enough to distract them so we can get inside and do what must be done."

She had a feeling they didn't have much time left to waste. There was a certain fade, white glow. It was odd and her instincts told her it was nothing good.

"If we waste more time, I feel we will be too late." She said in a dire voice.

She really didn't want to die here. No way. She was going to do what she had to survive and get off this planet.

[NaitoKage]

(*LOL* You need that map now? Really, most the time with the sectors they just make things up. You could literally say "Sector Bababooey" and they'll go there.

As for a map of the Axalon.. I do know of it's layout, so I could probably draw one up, but I'd have to physically draw it, which probably wouldn't be too bad I guess. Do you want a map of the Axalon/area around the Axalon? )

Umbra looked towards Cecaelia as he crawled inside of the Darksyde hanger with the stasis pod, his shape altering to it's default shape and color. He wagged a tentacle Everything has a value, though you may not be able to appraise it at first glance.

He slid out of the stasis pod, then transformed to his robot mode, rolling his shoulders, then rubbed his neck with a hand Well that was some journey, you guys sure know where to land a ship.. the stagnant heat from the lava would kill most lifeforms.

He then turned glancing towards Steelclaw and Cecaelia Now.. I suppose I should be talking to your boss about arrangements, do you know where Lord Megatron is?

[WorpeX]

Whitegrazer had taken Manterror onto her back and ran him around Megatron. All the while, the mantis screamed at the top of his lungs. "I TAKE BACK EVERYTHING! WE WONT TURN YOU INTO GLUE! PUT ME DOWN YOU CRAZY MARE!!! PUT ME DOWN!" It wasn't until megatron called the retreat that the mantis was finally kicked off. He landed on the ground with a soft thud, but quickly got back to his feet and scampered away. Trouble is, the horse had him going in circles and he was still a bit dazed from his ride. His escape route ended up being a bit of a zig zag.

Airazor was quite shocked to see her opponent give in rather easily and walk away. Looking around, she saw that the others had mostly finished their opponents except for nemesis who was giving rattrap a bit of trouble. Luckily, Optimus stepped in to be sure that it was done.

"They called it a termination sequence," the Maximal Commander explained with a growl in his voice. "We don't have time for this!"

The green mushroom had begun to light up and looked as if it was about to explode. Airazor was a bit confused by Optimus' words. Did these aliens intend to destroy the entire planet? What gives them the right to do such an atrocity? It would kill every living creature! Or, does a termination sequence merely mean to terminate the cybertronians? "Whatever that means, I think its time to hit the wind!" Airazor said, transforming into her beast form and getting airborne. She quickly noticed that Nemesis had begun to depart and flew over to help Rattrap. He was the only one light enough for her to carry, so she grabbed his shoulders in her talons took to the sky, despite any sort of comments he would make.

[DarkSpark]

Blackrose wrote: She liked where he was going with this plan...it got better and better every minute. She could get used to this.

She grinned mischieviously. "It is polite to offer gifts to others, isn't it..." [/color] She had a playful and devious glint in her optics as well as wickedness dripping from her words. She could just imagine the Maximals running off on a rescue mission only to end up needing rescueing themselves. It was too perfect!

"Okay....how does sector 5 5 9 sound? Is it far enough away? I'll send them when the drone is in place and Blackarachnia is ready."

Still wearing a devious smirk, she waited paiently for the others to be ready to infiltrate the base.

"Those coordinates should work nicely, deep enough in Maximal territory to dissuade the rescue party from suspecting a trap but far enough away to keep them out of our business...Perhaps even close enough for us to see the fireworks off in the distance, bwahahahaha!" Tarantulas laughed as he programmed his arachnoid drone to self-destruct when the Maximals found it as planned, sending it off to the location they had decided upon as quickly as its little legs could carry it.

He also prepared several other drones for use inside the Axalon once Blackarachnia fulfilled her end of the plan and deactivated Sentinel's shields...Assuming she really could.

Una wrote: Blackarachnia narrowed her eyes at Tarantulas little insults, but just shrugged her shoulders with ease.

Don't worry, "partner". You won't have to put up with me where you are going after I'm done with you.

Her optics glanced at Arachnitron who winked at her. Blackarachnia just played along, smiling at the little widow.

And if you get in my way, little widow, you would meet the same fate...regrettably.

There wasn't anything to worry about; her plan would work until they entered the Maximal base. She wasn't dumb. When they entered the base, all bets were off. After she took the device off the cell, she would have to act swiftly, dealing with them both and figure out how to make Tarantulas comply or figure it out all by herself. She had the intelligence to do that if the situation was urgent.

"Pick any cooridnates that suits your fancy. It just needs to be long enough to distract them so we can get inside and do what must be done."

She had a feeling they didn't have much time left to waste. There was a certain fade, white glow. It was odd and her instincts told her it was nothing good.

"If we waste more time, I feel we will be too late." She said in a dire voice.

She really didn't want to die here. No way. She was going to do what she had to survive and get off this planet.

Tarantulas didn't fail to notice Blackarachia's optics narrow from his insults, something which pleased him immensely. However, he also took note of the more serious tone in her voice when she brought up the matter of how time was of the essence...Something he'd pointed out already.

"Oh? So NOW you're in a hurry my dear? You're sure you don't wish to play keep away one more time before the world comes to end? No? Good, you said you could breach their shields, prove it" Tarantulas challenged as he switched back to beast mode, a several little arachnoid drones standing at attention beside him as he waited for Arachnitron to give out the false distress signal and for Blackarachnia to grant them entry within the Maximal base.

OOC: how this gang? My post alright? :3

[Blazemane]

Well that was some journey, you guys sure know where to land a ship.. the stagnant heat from the lava would kill most lifeforms. Now.. I suppose I should be talking to your boss about arrangements, do you know where Lord Megatron is?

Steelclaw looked into space inquisitively. "I'm pretty sure he had to go on a separate mission from the one we had to pick you up. If he's back," he said, motioning down a hallway to the left with one arm, "he'll be in his personal quarters. I'll go with you; help explain how everything went down."

Uprighting himself on two feet in robot mode, he started heading in that direction and then added, "Just so you know ahead of time, the rubber duck is not for sale."

* * *

Cheetor instinctively shrunk backwards after Megatron stumbled; he didn't want to be withing arm's reach if and when the Predacon swung around.

You’re going to pay for that pussy cat!

Cheetor pumped the barrel on his quasar gun defiantly (but unnecessarily--after only one shot, it was still close to being fully charged) and steeled himself for the oncoming attack. When Megatron turned and faced him, Cheetor raised his weapon again, and just as he was beginning to remember how much... nothing the cannon had done against Megatron on the first day of the Beast Wars, he was saved by his enemy's circuits shorting out.

Predacons, transform and retreat immediately!

O.k., so that meant the Maximals had survived the truce-breaking part of Megatron's plan. But some part of Cheetor hated that the jerk was calling it quits. Cheetor had already forgotten his fear from just moments before, and he was still angry.

This isn't over Maximals.

"You got that right!" Cheetor called back. He kept his gun trained in Megatron's direction as he watched the Tyrannosaurus Rex stomp-run further and further away. But then his attention was called upwards by the blurred form of Nemesis flying away, and he brought his gun upwards to track her. After a few indecisive moments, he growled in frustration, but finally let his arm drop to his side.

((OOC: If it's o.k for me to assume that Nemesis is flying away, and flying away in beast mode, Phoenix. If not, I can change this. I know last post she only started pulling away...))

[Blackrosefencer]

OOC: It was fine, Darkspark!

BIC:

Those coordinates should work nicely, deep enough in Maximal territory to dissuade the rescue party from suspecting a trap but far enough away to keep them out of our business...Perhaps even close enough for us to see the fireworks off in the distance, bwahahahaha!" Tarantulas laughed as he programmed his arachnoid drone to self-destruct when the Maximals found it as planned, sending it off to the location they had decided upon as quickly as its little legs could carry it.

Arachnitron watched the little drone head for the coordinates she had picked out. Tarantulas quickly fashioned some more drones as well presumably so they had something to use inside the base should their plan go south at any point. She admired him for this. He was always prepared for the worst.

She wanted the drone to be in place before the Maximals arrived to her coordinates so she decided to wait a second or two before sending out the call to the Maximals. She listened quietly to the little banter going on between Blackarachnia and Tarantulas while she waited.

"If we waste more time, I feel we will be too late." Blackarachnia said in a dire voice.

"Oh? So NOW you're in a hurry my dear? You're sure you don't wish to play keep away one more time before the world comes to end? No? Good, you said you could breach their shields, prove it" Tarantulas challenged as he switched back to beast mode, a several little arachnoid drones standing at attention beside him as he waited for Arachnitron to give out the false distress signal and for Blackarachnia to grant them entry within the Maximal base.

Arachnitron looked at Blackarachnia and then looked back at Tarantulas. It didn't sound as though he completely believed that Blackarachnia could do what she claimed. What if she could't? How would they get inside? She supposed that they could climb aboard the lift once the Maximal rescue party came out, but that would be quite a risky move. Arachnitron pushed the thoughts out of her mind. Taranatulas would think of something, but she imagined Blackarachnia wasn't in the habit of making claims she couldn't actually do. That would be damaging to her ego which Arachnitron realized by now that all Predacons had a fairly large ego. It matched their hunger for power.

Arachnitron decided it was time to place the call to the Maximals. She took a deep breath and tried to sound as though she were in great pain. She gave it the most panic-stricken tone she could manage and hoped that she sounded like her Maximal programming.

"Arachnitron to Maximal base. The Predacon programming had led me to the Predacons. She's gone now, but she's done an aweful lot of damage. Please send help. I don't think I can go much further. I'm in sector 5 5 9. Arachnitron out."

She clicked off her comm link and looked towards Blackarachnia expectantly.

"Okay. Your turn."

Now it was all in Blackarachnia's hands. She had to get them in without Sentinnel knowing they were there. She hoped BA knew what she was doing.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: Awe. Poor Starshadow.

Please read this post carefully, guys. There's a lot of jumping around in order to keep the small talk rolling.

And, OMG, Arachnitron! Just terrible. XD ))

"Go ahead," "But I think we both know you are not a killer. Nevertheless I'd be careful with where you point that thing. You've seen the results of similar actions before, and know that it would be no different this time."

Primal merely narrowed his red optics at Nemesis's words but that was all at the moment. He didn't think he'd ever fully understand her or her history as awful as it had sounded. And he was no better than the ones who had done that to her. Much of what he felt around her was guilt, but he kept it himself.

"Something tells me you're not kidding about this..," "Get moving!,"

No, there was joke to this threat. Leaving the former Decepticon alone as she pulled away, he sheathed his own sword and disengaged his missile launchers on his shoulders, retracting them to his back where they were stored and watching her grab her sai before leaving.

“You’re going to pay for that pussy cat!”

Upon hearing Megatron's bellow, Optimus immediately looked in his direction to find him battling with Cheetor until an energon surge started to rattle the tyrant's systems. Relieved that this battle was over, it was time for him and his Maximals to depart as well.

"Predacons, transform and retreat immediately!" "This isn't over Maximals."

The Maximal leader actually hoped that it wasn't over. He'd sooner continue fighting this war with Megatron rather than be wiped out completely by these merciless aliens.

"Good luck Maximals, think we'll all need it."

Nodding kindly to Onyx as he walked by, Primal repeated, "Good luck," although in the back of his mind no one knew just yet how desperate the situation was going to get, but they were about to find out what the Vok had in store as a means of completely destroying this beautiful planet.

"I TAKE BACK EVERYTHING! WE WONT TURN YOU INTO GLUE! PUT ME DOWN YOU CRAZY MARE!!! PUT ME DOWN!"

Watching Manterror fly off of Whitegrazer, he was glad the mantis wasn't crazy enough to waste anymore of anyone else's time trying to defeat them despite how outnumbered he would have been by himself. Both factions had a much bigger problem to deal with now.

"Whatever that means, I think its time to hit the wind!"

"Eh?" Rattrap squeaked, for as soon as he had stood up after Optimus assisted him with Nemesis, his shoulders were suddenly picked up by very sharp talons. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" the rat whined, trying not to squirm which would make it worse. "Easy with de claws! Couldn't ya have given me a little more warning?!" he snapped at Airazor before he looked down and watched everyone else getting smaller as the falcon lifted them higher.

"Whitegrazer, Cheetor, return to the base immediately! We'll meet you there!" Primal ordered them before he ignited his prime jets and took off to the sky in persuit of Airazor and Rattrap. Now it was time to make the call to everyone. It was time to make whatever logical preparations they could in order to survive or stop the aliens' insane ambition of terminating this whole world.

"Optimus Primal to all Maximals!" the Commander called through his communication link that suddenly linked to every Maximal frequency including the Axalon's. "Regroup at the base at once! Code X!" The chosen code supplied everyone as the utmost emergency and priority. A very grave situation was unfolding, and this was not a drill.

-----

Meanwhile, the alien mushroom sending out larger pulses of light and energy, the top of the dome exploding into a hole from which it suddenly shot a steady beam of white and blue illumination that exited the planet's atmosphere and straight up to one of the moons. From there, the energy beam began revealing that moon's true identity, the very one Rhinox had first concluded long ago was far lighter than it should have been for it's density and diameter unlike its twin; as if this particular moon was hollow. As soon as the energy had touched it, it appeared to be "burning" off it's outter layer which then revealed millions of little arched pillars on the surface, much like the ones that had been associated with the dome. Then, all of those pillars lit up in a wave following the burning effect that swept what was now a fake moon. As if things couldn't get worse, an electrical current was sent throughout the planet's orbit, frying and electricuting all of the helpless stasis pods that were still rotating around the big blue world and would now be forced to crash quickly onto the planet's surface. This would ensure their destruction to be blown up with the rest of the planet instead of accidentally being thrown uncontrollably into space and rescued or possibly activated. These sparks that had been "dumped" there since the beginning of the Beast Wars where Optimus thought they would be safe in case the Axalon and its crew didn't survive the crash were now threatened by death after all. Had it all been for not? The beam now engulfed the entire sphere, making the fake moon a very vibrant and bright ball in space with the energy stream still attached to it from the dome on the planet.

-----

As the pods spiraled out of control from their orbit and down toward the planet, alarms and scanner detections were sounding off almost simultaneously inside of the Axalon, alerting the Maximals ((and particularly Frilla if Rhinox isn't around)) inside what was happening.

"Massive energon surge emanating from Grid Trion," Sentinel announced inside the Maximal base as the monitors began flickering with interference. "Communications impossible."

-----

"I've been sayin' it eva since we hit this mud ball!" Rattrap told Airazor and Optimus who flew beside them, witnessing what was happening to one of the moons. "We're all gonna die."

"We're not scrap yet!" Primal assured the Spy, growing tired of his lack of optimism and positive attitude. "Frilla and Rhinox will find a way to deal with these aliens." He hoped. What else could they do? But something else that struck Optimus now was that if one of the moons had been fake this entire time, and so much of this planet was far too similar to Earth to be coincidental, could they have actually followed Megatron back in time to Earth? If so, how far back had they gone...? And did this knowledge have anything to do with the Voks' "project"? But why? What was he missing? Unable to find all of the answers, Primal kept his assumptions to himself for the time being and focused on the matter at hand.

(( OOC: I'll leave it there for now before the beam disappears and seemingly the weapon as well, so the Preds have time to get back to base and everyone else can react to this sudden turn of events. ))

-----

"You don't understand," "One of them would certainly have been alive if it wasn't for my doing.. my mistake. Nothing anyone says will change the facts.."

Tigatron frowned slightly, watching Aurora curl up in her position that was now telling him how closed off she felt or uncomfortable.

"Optimus has been nothing but a gentle leader and a great role model. It just isn't right to place any blame on him. He may see it as his responsibility to carry the burden by himself, but I don't think it's right. We all need to face the consequences of our own actions. No single individual should have to.." "Well played," "But the situation is different when it's your actions that caused the mess in the first place."

The taller Maximal was about to give into her innocence and inability to understand at such a young age when her last words seemed to have caught on to his meaning, and inside he smiled at her maturing mind. However, she was still blaming herself. Perhaps because he didn't entirely know the details to what caused one of their deaths, he was actually the one running into this blind and missunderstood.

"Icebreaker should not have died.. I wasn't there to stop him from engaging the enemy. He could have.. He should have.. lived."

"That was out of everyone's hands," Tigatron finally spoke, avoiding the mentioning of the one who pulled the trigger because he didn't want to focus on that point and possibly make her dwell on revenge. "If you blame yourself for not being present during that tragedy in order to prevent it, thinking Icebreaker was your responsibility, that can't be so. I could say the same thing, as could Optimus, and anyone else who would have given their life for him. Aurora, you were Icebreaker's responsibility and he was Optimus's. There is no fault in that scenario that's attached to you. It could have been anyone. His death may not have even been intentional." It was something to consider. He knew their leader did.

"What happened to Valkyrie.. the fault for that ultimately falls on me. In the midst of the aftermath of the battle, I forgot all about some alterations I had made to the temperature settings.. She died because of that.. and nothing anyone says or does will change it."

Now Tigatron understood a lot more about her emotions and guilt. "Our sweet Aurora," he said softly in a warm tone while he pulled her close to him again with his arm around her shoulders to try and comfort her. "Had Valkyrie not made the decision to disobey Optimus's orders and visit Nemesis alone for whatever reason she had in mind, whether she was thinking clearly or not, then she might not have found her fate so soon. And if stricter security measures had been made, the temperature alterations would not have made a difference. Do you see how many factors were in play? It was Optimus's choice to keep Nemesis in our brig despite the dangers he was well aware of. But it still comes down to Valkyrie's own irresponsible choice and making herself vulnerable to Nemesis. After that decision was already made, there was little else that mattered to the other contributing factors."

"Optimus Primal to all Maximals!" "Regroup at the base at once! Code X!"

Interrupted by their Commander's voice over the comm. link, Tigatron's attention was suddenly pulled to the side where a bright beam originating from the location Optimus and Cheetor had gone to rescue Airazor, Whitegrazer and Rattrap illuminated everything and attached itself to one of the moons, drowning it in the glowing energy. "By the Matrix," he said with a quiet gasp as he watched this unfold. What was happening?! And was Airazor all right? "The light at the end of the world," he muttered. "Aurora, I can't force you to come with me back to our ship, but this looks like nothing I have ever seen before and Optimus might need our help," he pleaded, seemingly uncertain if her guilt would prevent her to accompany him back and disobey their leader's order.

[NaitoKage]

(welcome back OOP.

Oh yeah, do you still want that map Arachnitron, and what do you want the map of exactly?

Also to note, due to the attack made ages ago by the Leviathan and Glowstick when he was alive, most the exterior defenses of the Maximal base should still be down other then maybe one or two guns up, so you guys should be able to get in without much resistance on the outside. Inside is another story.)

"I'm pretty sure he had to go on a separate mission from the one we had to pick you up. If he's back," "he'll be in his personal quarters. I'll go with you; help explain how everything went down."
"Just so you know ahead of time, the rubber duck is not for sale."

Umbra smirked following Steelclaw That's too bad, I hear they go for alot on the Auction sites back home. He glanced over at the door, then suddenly heard the computer console speak up from the Predacon's respective computer( As I assume it would do that too.)

"Massive energon surge emanating from Grid Trion," "Communications impossible."

Waspinator spoke up sitting at a computer Terminal bbzzz.. Wazzpinator doezzz not like the zzzound of that..

He then glanced towards Steelclaw and the new comer Umbra. OOooo.. Bearbot bring new Protoform! Bzzz But will Megatron be happy with new fizzhy bot? He said hovering towards the two.

Umbra put his hand up to his chin examining Waspinator, scanning his form over as he walked around the insect transformer I'm sure he'll be fine with me, once we set up a terms of service..And if not me.. well..

As he finished walking around Waspinator, suddenly a second Waspinator was visible to the group. Bbbzzz.. Then I'll be you.

Waspinator's optics widen with his jaw drop in horror as he flied back Huh?! NOooOoo! Wazzpinator izz wazzpinator! Wazzpinator can't be wazzpinator! Impossible!... He flew closer towards the fake Waspinator looking him over.

The fake waspinator smirked Bzzz.. But Wazzpinator iz wazzpinator. How do you know you are really wazzpinator?

Eh?! Wazzpinator has been zzhot, blown up, burned, zztabbed, cruzzhed, electrocuted, farted on, and now cloned?! bbzzz.. Wazzpinator iz going crazy!

Waspinator suddenly flew while giving a enraged scream, charging at the fake Waspinator. As he came in reaching for him, his hands were grabbed as the fake swung his leg up onto Waspinator's stomach while falling and rolling with the curve of his back to use Waspinator's own momentum to throw him through the air and into a steel girder.

With a loud ding like a bell, Waspinator then fell towards the floor in a slow spiral. oooOOoo.. Wazzpinator hazz headache.. he said to himself, then hovered wobbling dizzily towards the CR tanks climbing into one.

Umbra stood up as his disguise started to fade away, which appeared to be his skin, tentacles, and other bits of his body untwisting or twisting back into their natural shape, texture, and colors. He rubbed the back of his neck as he watched Waspinator Heh.. I guess that Joke went a little too far..?

(Alrighty, Waspinator is in his CR tank, no transmetal upgrade for him.)