Yes, yes, I was already taking that into consideration as well. Go me! Although, if you think about it, if the Vok's attack didn't ignite it, then nothing will. Haha Kidding!However unfortunately for Stag's military logic, something Rhinox would know is that the Maximals and Predacons kinda frown on using large explosives or large quantities of explosives around their bases as a gigantic vein of Energon under both bases that could lead to their mutual destruction if ignited.
Hm. Well, I've thought of some more ideas they could use to avoid accidents and whatnot. ))Not to mention a lack of known time when the enemy would show up since planting mines would take time, as well as having to mark off where the mines are so allies don't step on them which could happen while Rattrap and Cheetor return. Those are the risks that come to mind anyway.
IC:
Rattrap tried pushing all of the jokes, negativity and panic aside for once so that he could focus and not screw anything up on his end. This was going to be tricky but he knew Cheetor could pull it off. The rat with wheels watched the flying feline lower his altitude and measure his speed, adjusting it as necessary. With his first attempt at a lift, Rattrap felt his paw entangle in his fast spinning wheel and cringed with him knowing how badly that must have hurt. At the same time, he fishtailed a little when he bounced back onto the rocky dirt. That had ta hurt, he thought."Alright, hold tight; here we go."
"Don't be sorry, kid, just try again. We can do this," he encouraged his younger comrade while continuing to drive straight and steady."Ah!" "Sorry!"
Suddenly, he felt Cheetor's grip around his sides again and was successfully pulled up off of the ground. Before he could stop his wheels himself as the cat frantically balanced the rodent in his legs, they had grinded against Cheetor's armor, creating a high pitch squeal that made him flatten his tiny, silver ears. "Phew!" Rattap sighed with relief as he watched the ground grow farther and farther away, climbing quickly stright up to the top of the cliff that they were aiming for. There was that free-fall feeling in his stomach again, which he hated, but he sucked it up and waited to feel the ground underneath his wheels again.
"We made it!" Rattrap toothfully grinned while the gold kitty carefully set him back down. "Way to go, Cheetor. You okay?"
Bursting flames and peeling out, Rattrap followed Cheetor heading back to their base of operations. "Probably not," he answered his question. Flexing his linked tail as he rolled along at a high speed, he didn't think it would hurt if he was carried by it, after all he used to use it to grab things and hold himself up from falling to his death. It wouldn't be the most comfortable position, though, nor would he prepared to land on his feet. But if the situation called for a quick getaway? Yeah, just grab the tail and go!"Uh... heh... maybe next time I just grab you by the tail. You think that would hurt? Er... right, we can talk about that later. Let's go!"
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"Well, that's some good news," Rhinox simply stated. A great advantage, however, as helpful as it was to them, it was just as helpful to the Predacons. "Could be an interesting confrontation the next time the Vok decide to attack us." Certainly this was not something they had intended. ...And that was if the Maximals survived Megatron's attempt to slaughter them first."The ship still registers sparse clusters of raw energon mines across the planet," "The transwarp explosion detonated most, if not all, of the surface energon fields. As a result, we witnessed a massive spike in radiation levels. When our bodies were altered, they changed in a way that helped us overcome some of our previous weaknesses. I guess you could say that we were subjected to forced evolution. With the energon radiation levels at an all-new high, those who were transmetallized had 'grown' highly advanced dampers. It's like we're immune to the side effects of raw energon now. Add increased strength, durability, and speed, and you have yourself a pretty impressive upgrade."
"You've read my mind, Stag," Rhinox said to the Targetmaster. "And, yes, we do. Although this would be Rattrap's expertise, we'll have to make do without him until he and Cheetor return." He paused in thought for a moment. "We may want to avoid using mines since there's a rather large vein of energon that runs underneath our base all the way to the Darksyde that we don't want to disrupt, and who knows if there are open cavaties now in the ground. But we can utulize and improvise with demolition charges, not just with the terrain, but by expanding their damage adding other objects to the force of their explosions. And there a few other tricks we could use. I'm just a little more worried about the fliers. They might focus on our autoguns and take them out first, forcing us to leave the base and defend it by our own firearms."Posing inquiry and combat suggestion. Does this facility contain landmines, democharges, or other well suited trap based explosives? Setting some traps in the field will reduce enemy numbers and improve control of the battlefield if placed at choke points. Further more, small charges can be used with motion detectors for causing landslides with some of the terrain if necessary.
"Saber-Fang," Rhinox called her over his comm. link, "Before you leave the armory, grab a box load of demolition charges, small fragments of scrap metal and nails, heat-signature hotboxes, remote detonators, motion detectors, trip wire, spare flares, and the smaller hologram simulators and bring everything to the bridge with Aerostrike."
"If there's one thing we're good at, it's being resourceful," the engineer smiled lightly at Stag and Orcariner. "We won't be going down without a fight."
"Copy that, Little Cat," Tigatron responded to Cheetor's transmission, careful not to elaborate on anything else in case the Predacons were capable of hacking into their signal, then he looked over at Rhinox."Cheetor to Maximal base; I think me and Rattrap are really... like, actually, heading in now. Good news is the Preds don't seem to be on our tails anymore. Bad news is I doubt it's because we outran them. I think they're getting more of themselves out here."
"They're probably regrouping," the rhinoceros answered Tigatron's quizzical expression. "We won't have much time to set up the traps. Tigatron, keep a close eye on the scanners. Have you heard anything from Dinobot?"
The white tiger shook his head. "Nothing yet. Perhaps he is still out of range. I'll keep trying." Turning back to face the intercom system, Tigatron pressed the button again, and said, "Axalon to Dinobot. Do you copy? Please respond."
In the meantime, Rhinox checked on Whitegrazer's status. Still holding steady, but she is a long way away. He couldn't imagine what she was seeing or feeling or hearing, if she was in fact on the other side like he had designed his machine to do. He hoped she would return soon without incident. Then the robust, green Maximal made his way to the CR chambers for a moment, checking on Ironclaw and Aurora. Peeking through the windows, they both appeared to be in a deep slumber, their bodies gradually being repaired, but he frowned sadly at the ermine's wounds for a moment. So innocent, young, full of life. Did most of those Predacons have no mercy? He knew all too well what it was like being in the CR. Although quiet and peaceful inside, he seemed to be spending a lot more time in those lately than he liked. Glancing at his own minor injuries on his hands and the black soot that settled itself in the deeper textures and joints of his armor, he walked back to the others in the command center and started looking over a map of the terrain surrounding their base.