"Aftermath: Part I - New Introductions"

[una]

Every once and awhile, Blackarachnia glanced at Arachnitron and noticed how disturbed she looked. What was going through her mind right now, especially with her two other personalities? Since she knew the Predacon was far stronger than the weakling Maximal personality, she wondered how she was taking being pushed to pasture? Hmmm. Despite the obvious differences, Blackarachnia seemed to be in the exact same position. But not for long. And she didn't dare to show pity. That would be degrading to both widows. Not like she cared.

I wonder if that chip was permanent or temporay?

Inwardly, she thought that but she knew Tarantulas heard it. Maybe he would delight her with an answer?

Looking back towards the little widow, she noticed she had caught something of interesting.

"Maximal in the base," she announced quietly to them. "He's eyeing up these strange golden disks."

What?! Who?" "Destroy him immediately, those disks are irreplaceable, they must not fall into maximal hands"

What? She snuck a peek and didn't have a chance to react before Tarantulas controlled her, loading her guns and rushing towards Dinobot. The disks made her intrigued, but she didn't want to be sidetracked now! Stupid Maximal! Why did he choose this time to be here?

[Night-Hunter]

((OOC: Sorry for the wait, my phone is being stupid.))

"And fire is my brother."

Saber froze when Inferno aimmed his flame thrower in her direction, there was no way she would be able to get out of the way in time should he decide to use it.

She was at a loss of what to do, she couldn't make a grab for the blaster at her hip he would simply turn her into roast cat. Her optics widened a little when she felt the Beast's stir with interest and should the creature force its way to the surface Rhinox and Inferno would be in danger.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC:

I was pretty sure Inferno still had his other weapon, but if I'm wrong just let me know and I'll think of something else.

I think so, Blackrose... Ah well. Doesn't matter. I'm game. ))

"Yup. Bold new look. Same bad taste. But, say, do wanna be rude and cut out of the party early? I think we've missed our chance to help those other two."

"Maybe..." Rattrap replied to Cheetor over their transmission but he was skeptical as he referred to Cheetor's comment about being too late to help either of them. Watching the new wolf/eagle Fuzor interact with Steelclaw from behind his boulder made him wonder if Megatron's abusive actions were wrong and too unethical for him. Maybe, for once, Megatron was screwing up his own ambitions with trying to recruit more against their will. Was that even possible?

"Scrap that. Maybe this still is a rescue mission, after all. If the dog-bird is on our side, we gotta move before we know he is, 'cause at that point, he'll be dead. Uh... time for me to fly in?"

The small Maximal Commander was pleased to hear Cheetor make this observation as well. The cat still had a lot to turn, but at least he was brave and loyal and willing to see if there was anything they could do to turn the tables. Maybe they could find out where that bird-dog's spark really belongs. After all, this shiny, scorpion/cobra guy looked like a lost cause for the Maximals; he was having waaay too much fun attacking them. Only one way to find out where they stand. Here goes nothin'.

"Time fer you ta fly in," Rattrap agreed with Cheetor, repeating his suggestion. "Create a diversion," he told him over their comm. link, "I'll start pickin' 'em off." Reaching over his shoulder, he pulled off one of his hind wheel hub-caps to use as a shield as he gripped his gun tightly and gently laid his index finger over the trigger, ready to fire as he'd peek past his rock again.

(( OOC: Is it just Rattrap and Cheetor now? Not sure they can pull it off on their own. Where are Wildfire and New Moon?? ))

-----

"Fool, pain is my friend!

Yeah? Everything burns whether fire is your friend or foe, Rhinox thought impatiently. He was certain this heat was quite painful even to the weapon's owner, he just wished Inferno would shut up and retreat. He didn't have time for this. Through the flames Rhinox was casting toward the tall Predacon, he realized that the ant had pulled out his other weapon, and without announcement, fired a shot toward him. In a brief gasp, the science engineer strafed to the side to dodge the blast from his opponent and braced himself for the explosion behind him when Inferno's shot finally made contact on a wall. Despite all of the Predacon's offensive maneuvers, Rhinox kept the fire blowing toward the insect and continued stepping toward him.

"And fire is my brother,"

Yeah, yeah, yeah, he thought, narrowing his red optics slightly from all of the heat was building up in the immediate area and some of the pain in his hands and fingers from Inferno's propeller blades. What about bullets? Noticing him aiming now at Saber-Fang, who appeared to be frozen or in shock, the object she had used to lodge in his propellers was now thrown in his direction. Disengaging the flame-thrower and using it to block the piece of thick metal, Rhinox dropped Inferno's large weapon and immediately reached around with his other hand to bring out one of his chain guns. With the fire ant now hovering, the rhinoceros took aim and began firing at Inferno. With this weapon, as much as it shook Rhinox's damaged hand making him grunt a little, bullets were flying everywhere in Inferno's direction. But would they drop him, or force him to look for an exit? Maybe they should offer him a way out and he'd voluntarily flea. Yeah right, but it was worth a shot. "Sentinel, open roof hatch," Rhinox commanded and the computer responded to his order opening the hatch nearby in the bridge.

-----

"I think the Predacons would had deemed this pod a lost cause anyway."

"Not if Tarantulas would have found it," Tigatron objected to Whitegrazer's comment. "It seems he is nearly capable of anything."

"Hopefully, Inferno has been taken care of. I guess we could entered through the back just in case."

"Sounds like a wise choice," he agreed, looking from the mare to Aurora. Then he followed Whitegrazer's lead and grabbed the opposite end of the pod, lifting it up off the ground in his arms as she did. It was not so heavy with two bots carrying it. They would be back at the base in no time as they began their return. However, occupied with the quiet stasis pod in his grasp, Tigatron had only glanced back once to make sure Aurora was following - whether near or far - before she had decided to derail from the group entirely without them, or at least Tigatron, noticing any time soon.

-----

"Lost soul?"

Optimus raised a brow before exhaling quietly and somewhat relaxing, watching TyCross laugh.

"She said the same thing to me when we first met," "Chained to the wall at that Predacon colony who were using her for sport, looking for a scapegoat. They didn't think a puny Maximal could survive for so long. But they didn't realize that the Maximal was becoming too skilled in their little games, thanks to a little insider."

As nice as it was to know that he and Whitegrazer now had one more thing in common, this time it was the Maximal's face that had suddenly changed; significantly from bewildered at this being carrying on before him to seriousness and shock of a startling revelation. Optimus remembered the image of Whitegrazer and chains that had spontaneously entered his mind not so long ago before his death. When TC just spoke of it, he could see the expression she had on her face, the pain, the determination. Was he implying that he was a Predacon? Did he rescue her? "...You were the 'insider' to her training and survival of their so-called 'games'?" he inquired. Still so many questions and not enough answers to satisfy Primal's overly curious mind.

"Good times!"

The Maximal shook his head and returned Ty's glare.

"I think you know who I am talking about. You think this was their last attempt?" "You all are still in danger. You were lucky they gave you a warning. Next time, I don't think they will be that generous," "I would know."

Wait... "The Vok?" Optimus said. Why the sudden jump of topics? Shaking his head with frustration, he realized that maybe the topics weren't so different. Were TyCross and/or Whitegrazer somehow connected with the aliens? Impossible. "No, I know it won't be their last attempt," he admitted. "As much as I had hoped... Now I'm beginning to understand. Their experiments. Earth. Prehistoric Earth," he corrected himself. "But how far back...?" to make them so desparate to destroy them and the whole planet because of their interferance with the Predacons, stranded there without a choice. Looking distracted, lost in thought, Primal suddenly looked back to TyCross, and asked, "How do you know? How do you know there will be a next time? How do you know about them at all?"

[Phoenix]

Megatron did not drop his scowl as his new feathered recruit regained his posture and proceeded to follow orders. This Silverbolt would likely require a certain deal of attention to assure his loyalty, something he was certain could be achieved through some reprogramming measures. For the time being, however, he appeared to be willing to follow command. It would have to do until they got back to base.

"Go, my Predacon brethren," the Tyrant told them as he readied his weapon for another shot, this time at the rocks off in the distance where he had seen the Maximals take cover, "Destroy them!"

As he shouted the words, he, too, began firing at their targets while making his approach.

Nemesis circled the area from high above to avoid unnecessary attention, having taken note of the fact the Maximals were carrying off the entire pod.

So for some reason this particular protoform had not activated. Damaged beyond repairs, perhaps? Albeit the pod itself didn't look to be in too bad of a shape, at least not from her view point far above. She had just decided to follow them from a distance when she took note of the smaller of the Maximals breaking away from the group. It would appear she had been noticed.

The bird/jet hybrid decided to take cover in the clouds.

Aurora glanced back at the others as they proceeded on towards the Maximal base, carrying the large pod between them. The pod wasn't too heavy for them to manage, however it did slow down their progression some, causing Aurora to decide that she would be able to catch up even if she did venture off to investigate that strange creature she had seen in the sky moments before.

But where did it go? The small fuzor looked around, perking her ears up, but wasn't able to see nor hear their unknown visitor anymore. In case there was trouble brewing, she converted to her robot form and grasped one of the heavy swords Optimus had given her. They were quite large for someone of Aurora's limited size and stature which made handling them quite cumbersome for the small Maximal, however she still found a certain security in holding tightly around the solid handle. The Maximal commander was dead, but Aurora had full confidence in his ability to defend her.. even now.. Perhaps even the sight of the weapon would be enough to deter any enemies waiting to attack.

She moved in a circular pattern, holding the raised sword up in case someone was to approach, her eyes and ears keenly scanning the environment. And yet there was nothing.

"Show yourself!," she demanded, her voice being carried off by the mild breeze. Several seconds passed without a response. The raised sword began weighing heavily on the strength of her arms so she slowly lowered it to the ground.

It must have been nothing..

Tigatron and Whitegrazer had moved out of sight by now, leaving her all to her lonesome self. And for a moment she regretted having gone off by herself, since she couldn't shake that eerie feeling that she was being watched.

A few moments later she decided to catch up with the others and moved to put the weapon away.

She did not even have time to react when the blast came racing down from above, the shot burying itself in her abdomen and causing her to drop the sword in a mixture of pain and surprise. Aurora grabbed for the burning pain in her midsection, not fully realizing what had just happened before her fingers disappeared into the gaping wound left behind in her smoldering armor. She immediately withdrew her hand, staring in shock at the now lubricated digits. Within a moments her knees buckled and she dropped to a kneeling position, her oozing wound leaving a large puddle on the ground in front of her. A sensation of dizziness overwhelmed her, the pain numbing her circuits at this point, causing her to collapse in a heap on the ground. With a whimper, Aurora lost consciousness.

How long she was out for, she could not tell. All sense of time appeared to halt the moment her body hit the ground, so she could have been laying there for hours.. or mere seconds. Aurora did not know.

As her optics flickered back online, everything looked so hazy at first, as if she was stuck inside a cloud. She could make out shapes in her surrounding area, what looked to be some trees off in the distance, a rock on the other side.. With a groan she clutched her abdomen again, attempting to stop the bleeding, as she sat up a little more. With the passing seconds she was able to make out more details and her attention got drawn to a humanoid shape standing only a short distance away, or at least Aurora perceived it as such.

The shape looked almost angelic in nature, with large feathery wings framing the body of a female. Aurora stared at the strange creature who began moving loser, causing Aurora to want to move away yet her broken body wouldn't let her. As Aurora's optics adjusted, more detail became apparent, colors appearing once more where she had only been able to make out shades of grey at first.

"Who are you..?," she whispered in a weak voice to the angel who was now standing only a few feet away.

The other femme merely stared at her for a long moment, the expression on her face unreadable. It was then Aurora noticed that the winged female had picked up Optimus' sword although she didn't specifically look like she was about to use it.

Tilting her head at the question, Nemesis upheld her unreadable stare for a moment longer. The smaller female, albeit obviously very different in appearance in many ways, also had certain details on her armor that very much so resembled that of Nemesis.

"Perhaps you can answer that question yourself," she responded, her voice going cold as her suspicions grew.

"What do you mean..?" The question caused Aurora's voice to crack, the loss of fluids causing her to feel cold and weak.

Nemesis smiled ever so slightly and crouched down so she could be closer to the smaller female's face.

"You resemble someone I used to know.. and someone I used to be.. "

Indeed. At a distance it would have been difficult to make out all the physical attributes shared by the two females, but up close like this some of them became all too apparent.

Aurora didn't respond. Instead she merely lowered her gaze to the ground, her thoughts drifting back to the days that followed after her activation. There had been questions she had never gotten answered and those who could answer them had since died. Out of respect for them she had never made too much effort into looking into the sealed records either. It was now starting to dawn on her that there was likely a very good reason those records had been sealed.

The avian female frowned at the pathetic creature laying at her feet before moments later she grabbed Aurora by the throat with her free hand and lifted her limp form up with ease. Aurora gasped in surprise and pain as the grip left her dangling several feet off the ground, not having realized how much taller the other female was before she got lifted. "What are you talking about..?," she whimpered, but her request for clarification was cut short as the taller female shook her violently to shut her up.

"How did they do it?," Nemesis demanded, the growing frustration evident in her voice, "Did the Maximals use a sample of my nanites to create you?"

Not bothering to wait for a reply, the enraged femme hurled the much smaller one several yards away. Aurora groaned in pain as she slammed face first into the ground, rolling onto her back from the excessive force used in the throw. In the distance she could see Nemesis turn towards her again.

"No matter. It was a mistake I can easily rectify."

The words only reinforced that firm belief Aurora had that the other female had no intention of letting her live past this encounter, and for a brief moment she actually felt ready to embrace death as it would give her a chance to meet up with her loved ones who were lost to her.

Yes. It was how it was meant to be.


The serious expression on Nemesis' face gave way to a mildly amused one as an idea entered her mind. "Well then..," she said, taking note of the smaller female's lack of desire to fight back, raising the sword in her hand as she spoke. "I can just imagine the look on Optimus' face if he knew his beloved pet is about to die by his own sword!" The vicious glee in her voice was almost childlike in nature, the words causing Aurora's optics to widen in disbelief and fear. It wasn't the prospect of dying, exactly, that frightened her but more so the method that had been selected to kill her.

"How can you be so cruel?," Aurora responded, hauling herself backwards in the dirt to put some distance between them.

The amusement on her opponent's face dropped instantly.

"Cruel.." She pondered the word for a moment. "The Maximals kept me locked up, alone, in a bare cell for months, and you dare speak to me about cruelty?" She stepped closer as she spoke, rapidly closing the gap between them until she was menacingly close once more.

"You cannot blame me for what happened to you," Aurora blurted back, anger having started to assert itself as her dominant emotion, "You attacked us for reasons I cannot even fathom!" Her optics narrowed at the other female. "You deserved everything you got and much worse.. Someone like you does not deserve to live!"

Nemesis merely looked at her like she was a disdainful obstacle, however the smirk once again returned.

"Well.. at least you have some guts. Not that it will change the outcome any at all."

She raised the sword, preparing to strike, while savoring the moment. It gave Aurora just enough time to pull out her own crossbow and aim it at her, point blank. Aurora did not hesitate for even an instant as she pulled the trigger.

Nemesis staggered back as the arrow impaled itself in her chest, a grunt of pain escaping as she did. Her natural instinct was to grab for the offending object, wanting to pry it out, yet she left it where it was. Aurora merely stared at her, wanting nothing more than for the other female to fall over dead right then.

A moment passed without either one of them saying anything before Nemesis appeared to straighten out. It was then Aurora took note of the shimmering around the penetrating wound, the metallic arrow getting engulfed by the substance before part of it broke off from the strain exerted on it. Aurora gasped in surprise, seeing her opponent was not only still standing but had even healed during this short time. Nemesis must have noticed the look of awe on her face, because she smiled almost secretly.

"Don't look so surprised. You were created in a similar fashion."

And with those words she raised her sword again.

Aurora panicked. She used the last strength that she had to haul herself to her feet and proceeded to limp away as fast as she could. Nemesis merely followed, almost casually, finding a certain satisfaction in the hunt. It was always more fun to slay an opponent who tried to resist, after all.

Crossing a short body of water as fast as her shaky legs would carry her, Aurora glanced over her shoulder to see that her foe was still following. And apparently was growing tired of this game because she was preparing her stolen sword for another swipe. Frantic, Aurora made sure she was back on solid ground before grabbing for her taser. She aimed it at the water Nemesis still stood in, briefly making eye contact just as the other female realized what was going to happen. But before giving her a chance to escape, Aurora smiled back, that same wicked grin Nemesis had given her a short while ago, and pulled the trigger.

Optimus' metallic sword only served to boost the electric surges that passed through the water and up through Nemesis' legs. Her body shook as the surges caused her to spasm, her hand attempting to drop the sword but her fingers remained locked around it. Aurora had set the weapon to full power which caused a massive voltage to wreck havoc with Nemesis' systems. Within moments it was over, the taller female slumping over as the weapon had discharged all its energy, a few sparks appearing on her still form and smoke raising from her feathered wings as she collapsed in the water.

Despite the weapon now being useless and her opponent immobilized, Aurora maintained her firm grip on it as she too fell over from the exhaustion. Hopefully her comrades would find her quickly..

[Blackrosefencer]

OOC:

Saber froze when Inferno aimmed his flame thrower in her direction, there was no way she would be able to get out of the way in time should he decide to use it.

Just to clarify, Inferno does not have the flamethrower yet....Rhinox has it. Or at least Rhinox had it at the time of my last post...now Rhinox dropped it. Inferno was aiming his rocket launcher at Saberfang not the flame thrower.

Which my bf claims it's not a rocket launcher, but I disagree. I think it looks like a rocket launcher so that's what I've been calling it.

Anyway, again sorry for the delayed post....I usually post on a Wednesday or Thursday, but I was filing my taxes this week and worked different hours those days than usual so that also messed up my normal routine a bit.

BIC:

Inferno had hoped that his firing his rocket launcher would entice the green Maximal to drop the ant's other weapon, but he didn't....at least not at first. The flames continued to dance against Inferno's outer structure. He set his jaw against the pain refusing to show that his own weapon was indeed hurting its owner.

It took a last act of desperation to finally cause Rhinox to drop the Predacon's weapon. Inferno took the object that the sabertoothed tiger had thrown into Inferno's propellers and threw it at the rhinoceros. With his propellers free from the obstruction, Inferno was again able to take flight. He hovered above the floor of the Maximal's base.

He grinned slyly as Rhinox finally dropped Inferno's flame thrower on the ground. But he reached for his own weapon and began firing it at Inferno.

Inferno shielded his face from the bullets that Rhinox was shooting off in Inferno's direction.

"ARGHH!!!" Inferno screamed in anger.

The ant continued to fire his rocket launcher wildly not able to see through the bullets that flew freely from the chain saw, first firing in the general direction of Saber-fang and next firing several shots in the general direction of Rhinox.

He peeked out from under his arm just long enough to see where his flame thrower had been dropped. Using his greater speed to his advantage, Inferno dipped down swiftly, grabbed his flame thrower and glided away from the fray dodging the chain saw's bullets mostly unsuccessfully.

"Sentinel, open roof hatch," Rhinox commanded and the computer responded to his order opening the hatch nearby in the bridge.

Inferno watched the roof hatch open up allowing the Predacon to leave, but he wouldn't do so without leaving a path of destruction in his wake.

Inferno deftly switched weapons and fired up his flame thrower again.

"Now it's your turn to burn, Maximals!"

He left through the roof hatch firing his flamethrower at the Maximals as he left. He waved it around the command center hoping to set the furniture in the bridge alight as he retreated and hoping to use the smoke from the fires he had set to mask the smoke from his damaged propellers.

Once he cleared the roof hatch, Inferno flew over the Axalon and into the woods away from the Maximals. He drifted to the ground and landed with a soft thud.

Now that he was away from the Maximals, he could examine the damage that had been done. His body was riddled with holes from the green giant's chain saw weapon and his exostructure was charred beyond recognition, not to mention the injuries he had endured from the giant killer whale earlier and the spiders' cybervenom. On the plus side he could take flight, but the flight would be slow and arduous. He would have to walk. He clutched his side as he limped painfully through the trees using the tree limbs to assist in his travel.

Finally, being able to bear the pain no longer, he transformed into his fire ant form to make the trek back to the Darksyde easier. His beast form would be able to start repairs to his badly broken body. He would have to find a CR chamber before he were able to return to his Queen for further instructions and to make his report about the spiders' betrayal that he had witnessed earlier.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What?! Who? Destroy him immediately, those disks are irreplaceable, they must not fall into maximal hands"

Arachnitron nodded and raced ahead of Blackarachnia/Tarantulas.

She headed to the door, but skidded to a halt as it closed shut in front of her. She watched as Blackarachnia, with Tarantulas controlling her motions, attempted to open the door, but Dinobot had clearly done something to shut down the controls to the door. She couldn't help, but be a bit curious as to the origin of these golden disks. What were they and why were they so important that Dinobot had been drawn in to steal them and Tarantulas was willing to abandon his mission to regain his body in order to get them back? She couldn't take the time to ponder it though. Whatever the disks were, they weren't supposed to fall into enemy hands....and the Maximals had made it perfectly clear that she had never been welcome there. She and the other spiders had to stop Dinobot before he left with Predacon property, but the door just wouldn't open.

"SLAG! Blow the door down, we can't let the maximal escape with what's inside!"

Arachnitron watched as Tarantulas again took control of Blackarachnia's body and raised her weapon level to the door. She raised an optic ridge curiously. Again thinking about the golden disks and how they could be this important. But no matter their origin or identity, they needed to be retrieved and they weren't going to get anywhere with cybervenom launchers and energon pistols. Arachnitron opened up the compartment in her wrist and pulled out her explosives and set the charge. She raced over to the door to place the charges braving the inevitable fire from Blackarachnia's weapons. She set the explosive on the door and dove behind the nearest wall bracing herself for the loud blast that was to ensue from the explosion.

"Fire in the hole!!" she warned the others. (OOC: I have no idea if Cybertronians say that....)

She could only wait and hope that her explosives were strong enough to take down the door.

[DarkSpark]

Naitokage wrote: Aerostriker watched as Airazor took to the air, but without any time to react Nemesis took off after her. He was starting to get annoyed. As he was about to attack, he heard his partner speak up once again Evade!

The thrusters on the rear of his targetmaster partner then activated pulling him to the right of one of Tantrum's stray shots, the impact causing a bit of dust in the air.It was enough to distract him as Nemesis made her attack on Airazor once again. Raising his gun, he was about to make an attack on Nemesis as she then veered off, only to see Terrorsaur in his sights. Placing his left hand under the gun for support, he locked on, while the gun's AI assisted to correct his aim.

Though Airazor was near Terrorsaur, Aerostriker was without hesitation. Perhaps it was faith in his weapon, or just not thinking ahead. He fired. The searing electron beam rushed through the air from a low angle slammed into Terrorsaur's "posterior", the beam seeming to push Terrorsaur higher into the air off course as eletrons hammered his frame, more then likely to super heat his tail thruster or overheat and stall the jet.

After the shot was fired, the gun once again ejected a blackened burnt fuse from it's backside with a small trail of smoke coming off the fuse, followed by a mechanical sound as another fuse was cycled and the gun prepared to charge once again.

"SQUAWK!" Terrorsaur yelled in pain as he was hit, his tail thruster feeling hot, his eye catching a glimpse of the maximal who shot at him.

"From one cheap shot to another, next time, shoot to kill!" Terrorsaur menaced as he switched to robot mode, twisted around, and fired his twin eye beams at Aerostriker as he braced himself for a rough landing, intending to maim the maximal who robbed him of a sure kill.

OOC: I dunno what the rules are about actually hitting eachother (been a while lol), but its my intent for the missiles to hit Aerostriker as the beam struck Terrorsaur. Alternatively, I could modify it so his eye beams or even a thrown wing blade hits instead.

Una wrote: Every once and awhile, Blackarachnia glanced at Arachnitron and noticed how disturbed she looked. What was going through her mind right now, especially with her two other personalities? Since she knew the Predacon was far stronger than the weakling Maximal personality, she wondered how she was taking being pushed to pasture? Hmmm. Despite the obvious differences, Blackarachnia seemed to be in the exact same position. But not for long. And she didn't dare to show pity. That would be degrading to both widows. Not like she cared.

I wonder if that chip was permanent or temporay?

Inwardly, she thought that but she knew Tarantulas heard it. Maybe he would delight her with an answer?

Looking back towards the little widow, she noticed she had caught something of interesting.

Overhearing Blackarachnia's thoughts, Tarantulas gave her a touch of neural pain to "clear her head" and cryptically answered "How unlike you to think about the fates of others, keep your mind on the task at hand, your fate and mine depends on it."

It really did, if Dinobot, the predacon turned maximal ronin got his hands on the golden disks there was no telling what he'd do with them, use them for his own personal gain like an self-respecting predacons or hand them over to maximals? Either way, if he actually had the ball bearings to use the disks to their full potential there was no telling how history could be rewritten and their lives affected. On the other hand, if Blackarachnia died by Dinobot's sword trying to reclaim the disks, neither of them would be around to care how the timeline shifted. Either way, the two of them could not afford a loss at this juncture.

Blackrose wrote: Arachnitron watched as Tarantulas again took control of Blackarachnia's body and raised her weapon level to the door. She raised an optic ridge curiously. Again thinking about the golden disks and how they could be this important. But no matter their origin or identity, they needed to be retrieved and they weren't going to get anywhere with cybervenom launchers and energon pistols. Arachnitron opened up the compartment in her wrist and pulled out her explosives and set the charge. She raced over to the door to place the charges braving the inevitable fire from Blackarachnia's weapons. She set the explosive on the door and dove behind the nearest wall bracing herself for the loud blast that was to ensue from the explosion.

"Fire in the hole!!" she warned the others. (OOC: I have no idea if Cybertronians say that....)

She could only wait and hope that her explosives were strong enough to take down the door.

Tarantulas hissed through Blackarachnia's teeth and willed her body to run and seek cover before the bomb went off, his already bad mood made even fouler by the second widow's actions, first interfering with his & BA's shot and then planting a demolition charge with barely enough warning to get away.

"Next time give more warning before you do that again!" Tarantulas scolded Arachnitron, BA's eyes glowing green with his fury, but refrained from striking Arachnitron since he still required her services.


OOC: Lemme know if ya wanna handle the explosion yourself Blackrose (hence why I didn't depict the bomb going off), or if Dinobot needs time to do his thing before the preds blow the door down.

[Blazemane]

Dinobot slid the small compartment-door towards the field generator as soon as the slab of metal hit the ground.

A number of fascinating and completely unexpected objects fell to the ground in front of him: a pair of maces, a model of a human airplane, a pocket watch, a trophy, an uncolored replica of one of the Decepticon seekers' heads (what in the world was Megatron thinking--or was this someone else's collection?) and a rubber duck (yes, Megatron's collection).

Hearing the sound of angry shouting and gunfire on the other side of the door, Dinobot grabbed as much of the pile of odds and ends as he could and threw it at the energy field. The objects conducted a substantial amount of electricity and started to suspend in the air--with the exception of the duck, which went straight through the field and landed on the other side with a squeak--but soon after, the system seemed to recognize them as too light or too small, and they also fell back the ground.

Dinobot then heard one of the spider's shout something that sounded in its tone like an announcement. A few moments later, there was loud concussive burst, and the large door Dinobot had locked sailed inwards off of its hinges before coming to land and screeching quickly towards his feet.

With a hardly a moment's thought, Dinobot kicked the door off of the ground, caught it and threw it the rest of the way into the energy field. He fired a series of laser shots through the open doorway, intending to deter any Predacons who may have been waiting to pour in immediately. Then, when he turned around, he saw that the energy field had transformed itself into something like a collection of violet-hued lightning bolts focused on the burned door.

Seeing his chance, he reached inwards and grabbed both of the Golden Disks; then he turned around to face whoever was coming for him.

((OOC: Meant to get Cheetor and Steelclaw today, too, but sleep calls. Phoenix--that scene between Aurora and Nemesis was great, and I actually got into feeling concerned for Aurora's life there.

I am kind of intrigued by Steelclaw and Silverbolt though... Might be an interesting area for the players to develop further.

I'm looking forward to it, too, though I don't actually know how it's going to go...

As regards Terrorsaur and Aerostriker, my own two cents have always been that "hits" on characters should be the choice of the author of the targeted character. As logical or illogical as some things might be--how far away a character is/how their skill ratings compare/how a targeting system is developed/how a weapon works in reality/and on/and on--it's my opinion that what really matters most here is the story, and each author's autonomy in regards to their own characters' places in it. So, in this specific instance, I feel like Darkspark should get to decide whether or not Terrorsaur was hit, and NaitoKage should get to decide whether Aerostriker will be.))

[una]

((OOC: Hope this post is okay. I will post for Blackarachnia later. ))

Her reconnection to Optimus had lifted her spirits--though, she knew the others wouldn't notice such a change--, but she wished she could share such an experience with everyone to feel, knowing he was okay and to not fret. If she had still been in full power, she could do it within an nanoclick for everyone. But...that wasn't possible anymore. And the Maximals she had been with weren't sensitive enough to feel her energies unlike Optimus. Maybe Tigratron and Rhinox did...Aurora.

The last time Whitegrazer glanced back at Aurora, she was still following them. A bit slowly, but she was still within eye distance. Whitegrazer smiled at her while the little one seemed curious about the blank protoform. She didn't want to bother the little one and her thoughts, so she kept silent hoping Aurora will get the answer she sought. Even though, blank protoform were always mysterious as to what had happened to their comrade or it was always a hollow shell.

Now that she really thought about it, she should know better than to add reason towards the more... chaotic spectrum of the Predacon team.

"Not if Tarantulas would have found it," Tigatron objected to Whitegrazer's comment. "It seems he is nearly capable of anything."

"You have a point there."

It didn't take too long for them to reach the Axalon as they walked to the back lift closest to the waterfall chasm. When she helped Tigatron place it on the lift, an image flashed before her eyes: a set of feather wings black like death, sliver of a sword lifting, smiles spellbounded in pain and pleasure. A foul wind carried a stench of burnt metal; it reminded her of that time when she took a grenade to chest, exposing her spark to all. Days it took for the air and rain to wash away the wounds of that episode.

The image blindsided her again.

But the person's face... it wasn't hers...

____________________________________________________________________________________

"...You were the 'insider' to her training and survival of their so-called 'games'?"

TyCross just shrugged his shoulders in a causal manner, "Maybe."

"

How do you know? How do you know there will be a next time? How do you know about them at all?"

TyCross smirked, tapping his forehead with his finger, "A lot of knowledge can get a bot kil-"Tension cut like a blade and stabbed him into a complete stop. Images of his young apprentice in a field of nothing but dead corpses. Her scream across the sky fists clenched and punched through the metal of her enemies in a smile of pain and pleasure.

A flash of Aurora down and Whitegrazer running towards her...came between them.

"Don't you feel it, Optimus? She feels the pain of the little one, reaching out to her. Empaths imprint themselves upon others, Primal, but others also leave their mark on the Empath. "

TyCross narrowed his optics at Optimus for a moment before he just smirked, "It's a strength and weakness. I wonder what mark you will leave on her... as well as the little one. "

He didn't expect to be interrupted by one of Whitegrazer's empathetic visions. Yes, that Maximal can leave a mark on anyone. Sometimes, he always wondered if it was he who left the better mark or did she? Of course, that answer was simple. He wouldn't be here if it was his. So much for his dominance over everything.

____________________________________________________________________

"... Aurora!"

Pain swelled around her abdomen. Images of her lying down, exhausted and shaken. Body slumped with a sword deep in chest. That smell of burnt metal still stung the air.

Whitegrazer ran in a direction before she turned back towards Tigratron, realizing her mistake, "Aurora's hurt. She is calling for us."

She ran back and pressed the lift for the pod and Tigatron to enter inside the Axalon's hangar, "I will return with her shortly."

She had transformed, racing with the follow of the scent. It had lead her to a shore of the connecting stream. The scene made her widened her optics.

Transforming back to her robot mode, she looked at the injured Aurora with concern and gentleness. Gazing out towards the water, she saw Nemesis. She didn't seem alive, but it was hard to tell from where she was as the body seemed to be drift away. Whitegrazer scooped Aurora into her arms carefully. Poor thing was injured, exhausted and shaky. But she was clearly disappointed and dismayed. Aurora running off like that... Nemesis for being here...that image from earlier still burned into her mind. Whatever happened here, she will talk to Aurora about it, but not before she gets some repairs.

Looking down at the unconscious Aurora, Whitegrazer prayed strength for the little one before she dashed back to base, leaving Nemesis where she was.

[NaitoKage]

Aerostriker watched with much surprise as Terrorsaur transformed in midair after being shot by the beam, only to follow by two lasers coming from the falling Predacon. Raising his gun up he swung his left arm infront of himself to take the hit seeming to be knocked back while still floating in the air, his rear thrusters flaired up with a few verniars on his body popping out and releasing quick bursts of thrust to re-orient him in flight.

His left arm sparked from the now exposed internals, the bird head half on it damaged with the optic cracked. Ug.. That idiot.. If he stayed in beast mode he could of still used his wings to keep from crashing..

His partner Stag then spoke up Predacons.. do not possess efficient cognitive functions.. Damage sustained to left manipulator minor, beast mode optical sensor impaired, continue with the mission...100 seconds til recharge complete. Do you wish to terminate the enemy?

Aerostriker shaked his head No.. We're moving out. Beast mode! he then spun around in midair transforming to his swift mode, flying off and soon catching up with Airazor and Orcariner So, I'm guessing your base camp is in this direction?

[WorpeX]

Airazor heard Nemesis' jets ignite behind her and knew that she was in trouble. Her instincts were correct, the predicons were not going to let her get away easily! She was already flying as fast as she could, but within seconds, her enemy appeared next to her. The falcon had no way to defend herself while in beast mode and as damaged as she already was. There was nothing she could do to stop Nemesis physically. However, Airazor remembered times when Rattrap would insult his opponent and successfully throw them off enough to get an edge. Perhaps that would work for her?

Looking towards newly transmetaled predicon, she spoke at the top of her lungs. "Don't you have anything better to do then mindlessly obey Megatron, Nemesis?" Her words didn't exactly stop the much faster bird. Airazor received a metal wing into her side as Nemesis slammed into her. Struggling to keep her balanced, the falcon flailed around and lost much altitude. Panic set in as the ground came closer and closer. Then, a gush of wind blew through allowing the falcon to regain her composure and keep airborne. Whew...

Her bad luck wasn't improving however. While Nemesis seemed to have stopped her pursuit, Terrorsaur quickly engaged. From behind her, she heard his screaming about nonsensical things. She wasn't about to let him get to her though! She intended to get home in one piece where she could seek the comforting solitude of the CR chamber and get some much needed rest. Evading to the side with a barrel roll, Airazor was able to unintentionally dodge Terrorsaurs bite.

Thankfully, her new friend Aerostriker stepped in and cleaned up the predicons for her, or else she would have been dead meat. Airazor heard bullets resounding in the distance but didn't turn to look. After only a short while, the other Maximal flier appeared next to her once again.

So, I'm guessing your base camp is in this direction?

"Among other things." She said confidently. "Follow me!"

[Night-Hunter]

Saber's optics flashed neon green when Inferno fired at her but she managed to dodge it and find cover. She could feel the beast stirring and if this fight continued the beast would force its way to the surface.

She was vaguely aware of the roof hatch opening and she felt the urge flee through the opening.

Now its your turn to burn, Maximals!

Without meaning to Saber transformed into her beast form and found cover from the fire, her spark raced as she fought to stay in control so the beast couldn't take over otherwise Rhinox would be in danger.

((OOC: Finally got my internet back.))

[una]

"Fire in the hole!!"

"Next time give more warning before you do that again!"

Blackarachnia kept mumbling to herself, trying to get Tarantulas to let go of his control over her, " What am I? A third wheel? Let me handle this, Legs!" She grunted as she find herself firing at Dinobot, but wondered if it was her will or Tarantulas'. Grrr! There was no time for her to second guess herself. All she had to do was focus and make sure Tarantulas and/or Arachitron didn't get her killed! Dying at the hands of a former Predacon or the other spiders was not how she wanted to go down!

With a hardly a moment's thought, Dinobot kicked the door off of the ground, caught it and threw it the rest of the way into the energy field. He fired a series of laser shots through the open doorway, intending to deter any Predacons who may have been waiting to pour in immediately. Then, when he turned around, he saw that the energy field had transformed itself into something like a collection of violet-hued lightning bolts focused on the burned door.

Seeing his chance, he reached inwards and grabbed both of the Golden Disks; then he turned around to face whoever was coming for him.

She had went flat on the ground when green lasers came at them, dodging them. She stopped firing to see Dinobot holding the Golden Disks. Hmmm...she wanted to know what secrets laid in them, but her priorities were stalled until Tarantulas was gone. It was a risk to fire on them and Dinobot really seem keen to get them. Was she really that eager to die to get some old artifact? No.

[Blazemane]

((OOC: Hey, New Moon--Feralnight is still hiding behind Megatron's group, right?))

Time fer you ta fly in. Create a diversion; I'll start pickin' 'em off.

Cheetor's rockets unfolded and started to burn. "I'm on it!" he said enthusiastically, and then he jumped onto his boulder before throwing himself higher into the air and letting his thrusters kick it up a notch.

A green flash from the scorpion-bot's weapon passed underneath Cheetor as the new Predacon kept firing at his pals. Cheetor entertained the idea of flying straight up and then letting himself drop all the way down onto the new guy. But that was a terrible plan. The Pred might see him and step to the side; even if he didn't, Cheetor would still end up hurting as much as him.

(But it would look like the ultimate take-down if it worked.) Oh well.

Cheetor had to dip lower when one of Megatron's shots came for him, so he started to go on a diagonal to the Preds instead of charging straight at them. "Hey, I'm flying here!" he shouted ahead. "And shouldn't you be practicing with some easier targets, anyways?"

He hoped this diversion-thing was working, but for all his bravura, he really wished he could shoot back. Maybe Rhinox could work something up for his beast mode...

* * *

Thank you, friend.

Steelclaw was immediately reminded of Onyx and wondered what he was making of Silverbolt and Quickstrike's characters.

"No problem at all," he responded simply.

And I am... fine.

Steelclaw simply nodded in acknowledgement, and then watched while Silverbolt took a little while to look around himself and think about... something. Was he hesitating about the idea of attacking the enemy? Was he enjoying the view? Hating it? Maybe what mattered most was the way he was thinking--he'd seen Tarantulas and Sonar and Megatron take time to ponder, and often times it was a bit unsettling. When Silverbolt was thinking just then, his expression seemed... wistful? Suddenly, Steelclaw was taken by an extreme curiosity; he had to figure out what kind of life this 'bot had lived back on Cybertron. Perhaps the data tracks Glowstick and Steelclaw had taken from the Axalon a while back would prove useful...

(Which instantly reminded him of a number of unanswered questions and old discoveries--of Saber-Fang and Sonar and Maximal guns and Optimus Primal's music collection--but none of that was all that important right now.)

I am a stranger here, forgive me. You seem to know how things work around here. If you think a fight is necessary, than fight I shall.

"Hmm? You haven't done anything wrong. I'll try to keep you up to speed with this stuff as best I can. But yeah, go ahead."

Go, my Predacon brethren. Destroy them!

Steelclaw almost transformed, but he stopped himself when he remembered he was already in robot mode. The lack of energon radiation didn't feel normal any more, but it was liberating. It was just like back on Cybertron.

Steelclaw drew his sniper rifle and got into position. The rock pillars and boulders in the terrain were excellent cover for the Maximals to hide behind, but all he needed was a few moments for them to break cover. So if they grew overly-confident in their ability to conceal themselves, maybe the landscape would work to his advantage.

He noticed Cheetor flying towards them, and he probably would have been easy to hit, but Silverbolt was flying in that general direction, and it would probably be better to let him handle the airborne Maximal instead of taking the cheetah out and forcing Silverbolt to put himself deeper into the enemy lines. Besides, if he focused on Cheetor now, he might miss an opportunity with the other Maximals; something about this whole thing seemed diversionary, so he didn't want to get caught off gaurd.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC:

((OOC: Hey, New Moon--Feralnight is still hiding behind Megatron's group, right?))

Thanks for posting, Blazemane. As for Feralnight and Wildfire who have been MIA for a few weeks now with no communication, we're just going to have to move on without them, which makes Cheetor's and Rattrap's mission nearly impossible so they'll have to retreat a lot sooner than expected.

(Which instantly reminded him of a number of unanswered questions and old discoveries--of Saber-Fang and Sonar and Maximal guns and Optimus Primal's music collection--but none of that was all that important right now.)

I have to remember that music collection the next time I have OP in his quarters, updating the logs or something. Forgot all about that.

(OOC: I have no idea if Cybertronians say that....)

Sure you do, Blackrose. Optimus said it in the second season.

Since it has been over a week since my last post, I'm going to move forward with what I can. Been patient enough, although I'll give NK with QS more time to react to that battle. ))

IC:

"ARGHH!!!"

Rhinox had to cease his fire shortly after Inferno's cry of pain rang out because the fool decided to randomly fire rockets in every direction, one of which had hammered the flooring right in front of the large Maximal. The force of the explosion knocked him off of his feet backwards, landing on his back with a thud, his legs and chest blackened from being slightly burned and the smoky soot that had dispersed into the air.

"Now it's your turn to burn, Maximals!"

His audio receptors ringing from all of the loud explosions around him and Saber-Fang in such a small area, Rhinox's consciousness slowly came to and he lifted his head in time to see the end of Inferno's fiery tantrum before he exited their base through the roof hatch like he had hoped. Good riddance, thought the rhinoceros. Putting his chain gun away as he got to his feet, Rhinox's red optics surveyed the damage and the chairs with some consoles that were now burning, as well as all of the shell casings from his weapon that laid scattered across the floor. Frowning at the mess, he briefly balled and flexed his minorly damaged hands before looking at Saber-Fang. How can one Predacon create so much destruction so quickly? he pondered sadly. He purposely left the roof hatch open so that all of the rising smoke could escape.

"Saber-Fang?" Rhinox called calmly to her. "Just try to relax. He's gone now." He could see her struggling to stay in control. The last thing he needed was her inner beast coming out and going feral on him. Now that the threat was gone, he hoped she'd manage to ease away any temptations of letting the beast out.

In an attempt to keep things quiet for the former general, the engineer made his movements slow as he reached for a fire extinguisher and began putting the fires out around the bridge and the corridor.

-----

Hauling the blank protoform within its stasis pod into the hangar with Whitegrazer's help, they slowly sat it down and immediately Tigatron's optics started to search for Aurora. She wasn't with them? Where did she go? The white mare's expression was not very comforting. He realized she was seeing something, and it seemed to be terrifying. Was it Aurora?

"... Aurora!"

Indeed it was, but her voice was heavy with fear and worry.

"Aurora's hurt. She is calling for us." "I will return with her shortly."

"Whitegrazer!" his rumbly voice called after her but she didn't stop and she didn't look back. "By the Matrix... What happened, Aurora?" he asked himself outloud. Lowering his head with great concern, the only thing he could do now was move ahead and inform Rhinox what was going on. And he certainly hoped they had been successful driving Inferno out of their base without anymore injury.

"Rhinox, this is Tigatron. Whitegrazer and I have successfully retrieved a blank protoform. I have it here in the hangar, but Whitegrazer has run off to Aurora's aid," he said over his comm. link.

-----

"Rhinox, this is Tigatron. Whitegrazer and I have successfully retrieved a blank protoform. I have it here in the hangar, but Whitegrazer has run off to Aurora's aid,"

While Rhinox didn't understand what was going on with Aurora, he knew Whitegrazer would be able to take care of it. He was just relieved and surprised that they had managed to find exactly what he needed to pull off this crazy and miraculous idea of his. But with himself injured yet again, fresh out of the CR, he would certainly need Whitegrazer's help now to pull it off. He could only hope that she would return without harm and safely with Aurora.

"Copy that, Tigatron. I will send Saber-Fang down shortly to help you move it up here where I need it," Rhinox responded as he glanced at the saber-tooth while he finished smothering all of the fires. That was, of course, if Saber would manage to keep herself under control. If she could assist Tigatron by bringing it up to the room that he had been preparing already before Inferno's attack, then he could continue building his secret miracle machine and wiring things up. There wasn't much time left.

"Understood," the white tiger replied, and simply stood there in waiting beside the quiet and sparkless protoform, praying for Whitegrazer and Aurora and the rest of their team that was scattered about over other stasis pods, battling with relentless Predacons. Tigatron didn't understand why Rhinox wanted the large stasis pod up there instead of the stasis hold or in the hangar, but he did not need to question the engineer's wisdom and ambitions; he simply trusted him.

-----

"Maybe."

Maybe? MAYBE?! I have had enough of these games! Optimus hollered inside his mind. And all the questions that you've avoided answering!

"A lot of knowledge can get a bot kil-"

Glaring heavily at TyCross, Primal lifted a brow when he suddenly stopped himself short of what he was going to say.

A flash of Aurora down and Whitegrazer running towards her...came between them.

Quickly, everything melted away. Optimus almost gasped at the vision and the feelings that were suddenly filling up inside, his crimson optics staring off into the distance. He felt choked up and a deep emptiness in his stomach. "Aurora..." he whispered. Primus, what happened to her? Was she all right? There was something vaguely familiar with the trauma... He focused harder in search of the answer, and there it was. ...Nemesis... Nemesis was involved. And he wished he had explained everything to Aurora. He wished he would've made it a priority to tell her how she came to be. It was just one more thing he had failed to do. He wished he could be there to comfort her, to protect her like he had sworn himself to do with her and every one of his Maximals.

"Don't you feel it, Optimus? She feels the pain of the little one, reaching out to her. Empaths imprint themselves upon others, Primal, but others also leave their mark on the Empath. "

Shifting his gaze back to TC, Optimus swallowed with a distressed expression.

"It's a strength and weakness. I wonder what mark you will leave on her... as well as the little one. "

Fed up with the games as his patience wore thin with this TyCross spirit, the former Maximal leader grew quiet and lost in his own thoughts. What else was there to ask when the majority of his previous questions had gone unanswered? What was the point of talking anymore? Couldn't Primal just float away and live happily ever after in the Matrix? After all, he didn't see how he was needed any longer. This joker refused to give him straight answers and enjoyed tugging him along like a tiny dog lagging behind on its leash by an owner who frequently yanked on it.

Optimus was greatly concerned for Aurora, his entire team that he left behind to fight alone against Megatron and the Vok - should they return - and... that one protoform... Another to add to his list of failures. He thought of him as a more terrifying circumstance than the aliens. ...A creation he had taken part in... If he was ever found... and activated... By Primus, what had he left his Maximals to do on their own? Crossing his legs as if sitting on a floor, Primal's crimson optics dimmed to darkness while he started to do the only thing he could think of at this point; meditate and clear his mind.

[Night-Hunter]

Saber had no idea what was going on, her world seemed to be falling into darkness...

"Saber-Fang?" Rhinox called calmly to her. "Try to relax, he's gone now."

Hearing Rhinox's deep, calm voice snapped her out of it, she was trembling a little as if she had been awoken from a nightmare. She blinked a few times which caused the room to come into focus again.

That was to close... She thought upon realizing how close she had been from turning.

"Copy that, Tigatron. I will send Saber-Fang down shortly to help you move it."

"Move,"Saber cleared her throat before speaking again a little louder this time. "Move what?"