"Tangled Webs & Muddle"

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: If I'm not mistaken, Alak, I think Optimus secured that surveillance footage so only he can access it. ))

"Uh...I'm not sure what you're talking about with this whole Maximal racial thing. Last time I checked, I'm supposed to be a llama. I could be wrong, my pod fell head first on the ground, but I don't see what the fuss is all about."

Just like dropping a baby on its head. Rattrap couldn't quite tell if the llama was being serious or not.

"That lovely lady there is even gonna feed me!"

"Feed you what? Squirrel droppings and hair? That's all they got for trail mix." What did llamas eat anyway? Grass? There was plenty of that right where they were standing! "Uh, FYI, new guy, we got the greens at our base. They have rocks. ...And lava. ...And squirrel droppings," he added in again. "Probably not a good diet fer your coat."

"So much for a covert attempt."

At least the females listened to him and understood a little thing called tactic.

Rattrap took note of Ironclaw obviously ignoring his orders. Great. So he had two dead bulbs on his team; the badger and the bird dog. And everything quickly fell apart because of their lack of obeying his orders and disrespecting him. If they can't work together, then they might as well retreat before they all end up dead or taken prisoner.

"We can't seem to work together because we're in a war new guy, and you've just been thrown right in the middle of it."

"He ain't gonna understand," RT told Wintersong, implying that she shouldn't waste her time.

"Back off, traitor!" "He has already decided to come with us!"

"In hindsight, dat'll be a really poor decision," he said, shaking his head, feeling sorry for the llama guy and whatever silly bribery he fell for.

"Can't we all be friends and get drunk off energon together? I thought that's how things were done back home?"

"That's not how we do things here. We settle our arguments with some good, old-fashioned......." "Inferno!!!"

"Which for once, the ant actually said something smart...kinda."

"But not really," he bluntly added, rolling his optics at the ant targeting him momentarily.

"The choice is yours, my friend." "Do you really want to spend your life in battle? Come with us and spend your days in peace on Cybertron."

What 're ya talkin' about, 'Bolt? We're all stuck here spendin' our days dukin' it out, he thought, sighing and watching the Fuzor's words fall apart with the llama. He really shoulda left the talking ta me...

"Uh... Cybertron, right. I guess that's why you're stranded on this rock with the rest of us, bro."

See? Don't underestimate the new guy. Now you look like an idiot. The Spy shook his head and drew his gun while the Predacons grew restless.

"If I'm gonna be stuck here, I might as well be well fed." "Nothing personal."

"It's always personal, Stretch," Rattrap butted in and aimed at the llama's weapon, firing at it or the hand holding it. Fortunately, this newbie didn't know who he was dealing with; a master marksman. On the other hand, Rattrap had no idea what this guy was capable of either. Only one way to find out.

"Airazor, what are you doin' up there circlin' around like a turkey vulture?" Rattrap joked over his comm. link to her knowing full well he had asked her to stay put. His focus never left the llama, however, as his optics held steady on him. "Put out Inferno's pilot light, would ya?" He didn't mean his spark, he just meant get the pyromaniac's attention and knock his lights out so they wouldn't have to deal with that flier and his fiery ambitions.

"You're about to spend your days in permanent peace!!" "BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! I WILL DISMEMBER YOU ONE LIMB AT A TIME!! "

It seemed Nemesis had her sights on Wintersong and Ironclaw on Nemesis. That left Rattrap with this llama freak AND Starshadow, and Silverbolt with Manterror who just tackled him. Okay. They might just make it out alive from this. If the llama made his choice, then they should just leave him with it and let him figure it out on his own if it was the right for him or not. But maybe there was still a chance to change his mind, if there was any chance of that chance. ...Too many chances.

"Why yes little mousey~ would you be a good little squeak toy and stand there to be my target practice?"

"I got a better idea, ya flee-bitten feline. How about you come a little closer so I can gnaw off your crooked whiskers?" Lifting his gun again, he fired two shots at her feet to make her move. I just love bein' outnumbered at these little outtings, he thought sarcastically.

-----

“It would be my pleasure,” “And if my firepower should fail, then have Aurora send in the funk.”

The sense of humor in this group was a foul one, but still humorous. It brought a smile to Rhinox's face every so often.

"Have fun out there Dinobot, sure he might make good for target practice."

“Indeed.”

Once Dinobot exited the ship, the science engineer turned his attention back to monitoring the other situations. There wasn't much he could gather from Rattrap's team because of the distance, and that made it difficult for him not to worry about them. All they could really do was wait to hear from them. Since it had been a while when Cheetor's group had set out, he decided to check in with them. "Cheetor or Feralnight, this is Rhinox. What is your progress?" he called through the Axalon's communications.

"I agree with you on that, not a pleasant image." "To be honest, I'm glad it's only Sonar we're dealing with and not even more Predacons."

"I wonder why Sonar is attempting to attack us by himself. Is he truly stupid enough to think we'd surrender from a few shots bouncing off our shields?"

Which made it so odd to Rhinox. Was this not a trap or a trick? Was it really Sonar just going solo and seeking something of importance to him? "He and Saber-Fang have a history so he could be trying to draw her out, but it's hard to say what his real intentions are. Maybe Dinobot can find out. ...Or just chase him away."

[WorpeX]

((OOC: I really didn't understand the Inferno pun... the more it comes up the more I try to figure it out but I just dont get it. haha))

"Airazor, what are you doin' up there circlin' around like a turkey vulture?"

Airazor scoffed at the Rat. He ordered her to stay on guard and watch! The nerve of him to then yell at her for following orders!! She almost responded, but was immediately shut up when he continued.

"Put out Inferno's pilot light, would ya?"

That's more like it!! She thought, finally about to see some action. Watching the battle from above was quite painful. She saw the Maximal's completely blow it from above and even witnessed the new predicon firing at her team. It was a catastrophic failure. The only thing they had left now was to retreat and hope to get out in one piece.

"One bird bath coming right up!" She responded. With a quick flap of her wings, she turned towards Inferno and dropped into a nose dive. The wind swirled around her like a tornado and she folded her wings back to reduce its drag on her. It didn't take long until she hit her full speed. "RRRRRAACCCCKKK!!!! The falcon screeched, warning those below of her presence. Then, as she neared inferno and the other bots, she pulled up slightly and extended her talons. The crazed Ant was still showing off his weapon and Airazor snatched it with her Talons without much effort. She flew only a few feet away from Inferno before dropping his weapon into the bushes and turning back towards him. "Airazor..." She paused for effect. "MAXIMIZE!!" She finished and her falcon disguised melted away and became her pristine robot form.

Her eyes were trained on Inferno and she extended her weapons towards him. The miniature rockets protruded from her forearms - but she didn't fire. Instead, she waited to see what her opponent would do first. "Your move, sparky"

[Warwulf]

((OOC: I also misread it as not having actually fired yet. Therefore, I think he problem is the way Phoenix phrased her post. ))

With that, the llama finally transformed. Pulling out his side-arm, the Predacon recruit aimed his weapon at Silverbolt and grinned.

"Nothing personal."

He fired.

Silverbolt blinked his optics once has his face registered a combination of shock and horror at the turn of events. This... hadn't gone entirely according to plan. But Silverbolt didn't have time to revel in his shock as Manterror tackled him to the ground. Buster's shot passing over their heads from a combination of Manterror's tackle and Rattrap's quick, expert draw. As Manterror brought down his claw blades, Silverbolt managed to maneuver his arms free and stop Manterror from bringing the menacing blade down all the way. The two were now closely locked in a life-and-death struggle, with spinning blades hovering perilously close over Silverbolt.

"You're making a mistake!" Silverbolt called to Buster, not losing sight of his goal. "Let me help you find your way!"

[starshadow]

Cecaelia again used her tentacles as her shields and jumped off Umbra and waited for her gatling to cool for a bit, "I'll meet you up later!" she launched her tentacles to the nearest tree branch and pulled herself up to the top so she could see better. " Now where was that little tweety bird? With all those trees blocking her view, she couldn't shoot anything at the moment.

"I got a better idea, ya flee-bitten feline. How about you come a little closer so I can gnaw off your crooked whiskers?"

Starshadow knew that was coming. She quickly reverted to her beast mode and jumped out of the way. The galvaconduct driver was activated as she ran towards him with her wing blades forming with electric statics emitting out of it. "I would like to know what a burnt rat smells like! RAOWR!!" she then activated her thrusters to increase her running speed. She wants to see if the rat would turn and run from his natural enemy or risk being sliced into half.

((Life is giving me lemons..sorry for the late post.))

[Wildfire94]

Silverstreak was also quick to move, moving to some other bushes as the Predacons concentrated their firepower towards her and leaving her separated from Feralnight who she was too late to help. Then the surprising thing happened of Megatron ordering a ceasefire, least enough to make a warning of the fact they now had Feralnight as a hostage and threatening her life if she didn't come forward. Growling a bit the fox femme had no choice, she couldn't let the fuzor die but at the same time they might kill the fuzor and her anyway, it had been clear many days ago Megatron would stop at nothing to achieve in eliminating them so she was deep down hoping that Cheetor would return otherwise they were sitting ducks.

"Look I'm coming out, just don't shoot." Silverstreak called out before she emerged from the bushes, glancing to where Terrorsaur had her teammate having some concern about the fuzor's condition already as she then glanced at Megatron and the other femme who had a similar beast form which meant this was the protoform they had come searching for in vain. Sighing softly Silverstreak gave the command "maximize" and transformed, raising her hands to show she wasn't reaching for any weapons, not even her tonfas that were visible on her back. "Alright I'm unarmed, now let Feralnight go."She said, her ears flattening on her head in dismay at this turn of events.

================

Cheetor had only gotten so far before he finally decided he should stop running, especially with now hearing shots in the distance that was undoubtably the Predacons and the rest of his team fighting. But as he skidded to a halt to face Onyx head on his optics widened when the stallion took the chance of the transmetal feline's slow pace to stop, charging full on into Cheetor and knocking him over with the force of the stallion's momentum. A growl escaped Cheetor as he was rolled over a few times and a little dazed, shaking his head when this left him vulnerable to the Pred equine who had transformed and moved over the slightly smaller bot, swords Cheetor had not seen before coming into view.

Onyx now loomed over the cheetah, the swords in his wrists having ejected to handle Cheetor swiftly since he now had the young Maximal at his mercy and knew it was his orders to eliminate the Maximals if they were to come across them. But the burly mech could only meet Cheetor's gaze behind his visor, staring at the slightly fearful feline who seemed frozen with the fact his life could be ending right there and then but Onyx only stood there, swords poised to strike down the finishing blows but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Every ounce of his doubt to Megatron's ways was still fresh in his mind and now seemed to hit him like a tidal wave at facing the currently defenseless Maximal and finally he sighed, retracting the blades and offering a hand, "Here, I can't keep pretending to do this anymore." He said as Cheetor transformed and took Onyx's hand with a shocked expression and was helped back to his feet.

"Er, thanks. But aren't you suppose to be, you know, the bad guy? Cutting me to pieces, tearing me limb from limb?" Cheetor said, quite confused and surprised at this turn of events making Onyx shake his head. "Not this time cat, I'm growing tired of trying to please a commander I have lost hope with and do not agree with his methods for 'peace', so he calls it." Onyx said before deciding now was the time to make that change, "In fact, I think it's time we helped your comrades." He said dismissively, making Cheetor shocked but grinning at this change. "You bet!" Right now he was just glad to be alive, and would worry about what Onyx said later, but he had a feeling deep down there wouldn't be just four of them returning as he quickly bolted off towards the battle field with Onyx in tow. But he frowned when hearing Rhinox, "Well, we found the pod and the protoform but old grape face got to her first. Not to mention it seems this newbie has been a Predacon from the start, although she has an odd signal I can't be sure why and well, we're handling the little Pred problem now."Cheetor reported but stopped with Onyx when seeing the sight just through the trees.

"And it seems things just took a bad turn,"He added grimly, not liking this situation at all as they were just off to the left of what was going on. They had to do something now or else Feralnight and Silverstreak were good as gone. "You sure you really want to be attacking Megatron Onyx? He could scrap you for this."Cheetor said, bringing his hands together and preparing to fire. Onyx was likewise doing the same, drawing his Friction Rifle as he knew any movement would cause things to heat up real fast. "I'm certain Cheetor, I...don't belong with this group of Predacons. I feel out of place and things will only get worse as this doubt grows."Onyx put it, this being the first time he expressed his doubts to anyone but he merely motioned they needed to hurry before both began to fire upon Terrorsaur, Spineback, and Megatron, Cheetor aiming to Megatron's fusion cannon so it was blasted away from the fuzor.

((Sorry for a late post guys, life has been in the way. And the more than likely much anticipated defection of Onyx begins, and I do believe it won't be much of a loss.))

[Wintersong]

Wintersong growled as she jumped back when Nemesis fired towards her and not far off Ironclaw, making the feline glare towards the bird. But from looking at the battle field it seemed Silverbolt and Rattrap needed an extra hand though it seemed she would have her hands full with Nemesis for a bit until it seemed the avian femme became more interested in Ironclaw. Glancing towards him she took a moment to wonder if he would be able to handle the Predacon but she decided he might be able to handle at least holding her off, the other two really needed the help and it was good timing Airazor was handling Inferno. At this rate it might be better to surrender and leave this a failed mission than to end up in pieces as Buster seemed to have picked a side already.

"Hang in there Rattrap, I'm coming."She called to him as she quickly transformed to beast mode and ran forward seeing Buster had his attention on Rattrap allowing her the chance to lung forward and tackle the llama, not actually trying to hurt him merely pin him down. "Your making a mistake joining the Predacons pal, you'll only be used as a pawn from here on out,"She tried one last time to warn him, wondering if she really was wasting her time as much as Silverbolt. But they had to at least try right? It seemed Buster only sided with the Predacons with the promise of food, something of which either side could offer and just from his beast form couldn't he just eat grass too?

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

Spineback had continued to fire until Megatron raised his hand, knowing the signal for a ceasefire and for now only keeping her weapon at the ready as it took merely a few seconds before the Maximal came out. This femme was quite the small one. In fact, one hit from her fists could have easily dented Silverstreak's armor like a tin can and could likely prove a fatal blow, something of which Spineback could entertain the thought of any day but for now she only held ready to either fire upon the unarmed Maximal or upon her comrade who was in the clutches of Terrorsaur. "Typical Maximal," She commented softly, truly finding these Maximals no different then their ancestors and willing to sacrifice their own lives to keep their friends from dying.

But it seemed this wasn't to last as a few shots hit the new Predacon in the back, causing her to turn to raise her arm shield to block a few shots coming from their right, "Seems we forgot one Maximal sir...and a Predacon?" Spineback cocked an eye brow as she looked back towards the tyrant, her shield absorbing the energy of Cheetor's energy blasts but as she went to lower her weapon it seemed to burst into flames making her look with surprise and quickly lower her arm into the water close by to put it out, glaring towards the trees. Wasn't this the work of a Friction Rifle? She hadn't seen such a weapon in ages but what really got her was the fact a Predacon would be helping a Maximal and attacking his own brethren in the middle of a fight. It seemed they had a traitor in their midst the very first encounter with these new groups of CYbertronians.

[una]

((OOC: I loved your post, Blackrose! I love this little thing between Blackarachnia and Arachnitron.))

Blackarachnia had focused her attention in her duties after she got in between Tarantulas and Arachnitron. Part of her wished she could see Arachnitron's face. Was it anger? Or was she having the look of a lost puppy without it's owner, wondering what to do? That pathetic look of codependency and the need for affection, especially from someone like Tarantulas. Did she really think that she will get that from him? She would have laughed, but there was something different. Her weight was heavier than it was a second ago.

Arachnitron had passed her a little too quickly with the load she had given her, giving her that narrowed expression. Blackarachnia just gave her a stern one.

She had trained herself to notice little details, but she didn't need to stop and deduce what Arachnitron had did. Did she really think that more weight would slow her down? It was uncomfortable, though. Taranutulas and Arachnitron were getting too much distance away from her. That couldn't happen. She needed to watch those two like the Byronic Plague if she wanted to stay ahead of their little game. Her legs scampered down closer to them. As she had made a turn, her need to stay ahead against the weight of her cart caused the cart to hit a nearby rock, falling over. Slag! All the boxes and steel structure pillars laid out on the sandy surface. She looked back to see Tarantulas and Arachnitron getting further and further away. Cursing under her breath, she tried her best to reload her cart before those two did anything to get her in trouble.

[Mystrea]

Ironclaw maintained his pace as he marched towards his target, the female Predacon's attention was fully upon him now. The weapons discharge had stopped and it seemed she would prefer to resolve this battle with skill and steel. However she was quick on her feet and as he closed in she was able to roll around him as he swung his first punch. He was aware that she was behind him, but she struck him on his back side causing him to fall forwards. The transmetal badger kicked his foot out to allow to regain his balance and to throw his fist around. Sadly for him she had moved away quick enough so he completely missed, though now he was facing her. Ironclaw kept up his silence and just met her eyes. She tried to entice hi with words but it meant nothing. She was a Predacon and that was enough for him. He was weary of her blades so he stood his ground and waited for her to make the first move.

[Alak]

Buster cocked a brow as his shot missed. A blur a green had sped in front of the bullet, knocking Silverbolt to the ground. Staring downwards, the new Predacon could see that Manterror had engaged the fuzor in an epic dual of fisticuffs. There was a sound of heavy footsteps and Buster could see that a large, bulky Maximal was bearing down on Nemesis. He chose to ignore the two and instead simply stood there in one spot as a battle erupted all around him.

"Your making a mistake joining the Predacons pal, you'll only be used as a pawn from here on out,"

Turning his attention to the approaching Tigress, Buster turned to fire at the new arrival, but a shot from one of the other Maximals knocked his weapon clean out of his hands. The accuracy was impressive. Despite his prior comedic bumbling and nonsensical babbling, the llama decided to be serious for just one moment.

"I appreciate the concern, pretty lady, but truth be told I've been a pawn my whole life. Long enough to know that I'll never be more than some tool for the higher ups to use. It's cool, though. I've resigned to the fact that my best chance of success lies with the team that knows how to use me best. Preds came to me first and offered me grub. You and your flying puppy gave me nothing but the promise of an impossible dream."

Buster transformed back into his beast mode.

"Go on home and take your pals with you, miss. You lost."


((OOC: Sorry for the short post. I'll try to put something in for Orcariner later on.))

[NaitoKage]

"Tell me fuzor, if a maximal dies in a swamp and no one hears her scream, will anyone care?"

"Dear doctor, I do believe you'll do well amongst our ranks, Yesss."

"We have a hostage now on top of our superior firepower, maximal, come out of hiding, drop all your weapons, and surrender peacefully and she shall be spared...If not..." "We'll all get to see first hand just how empty the inside of a maximal's head truly is, if you catch my meaning. You have til the count of ten, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..."

Aerostriker heard them speaking as he hovered above the tree tops, using the location data from Stag he moved into position placing the fully charged target master up against his shoulder aiming down at Megatron. Seemed these Predacons didn't learn a key element.. always look up. The speed Cecaelia was moving in the tree branches was luckily slow enough that she couldn't catch up to Aerostriker in time, not to stop him from this atleast..

If Feralnight hadn't been in danger, this would of ended. From this angle, he could just let loose every ounce of firepower in his body and destroy the three predacons in a way that would only leave a smoking hole in the ground, but he couldn't take the risk of harming her.

As he was about to move in, suddenly Silverstreak came out of hiding, to surrender. This was not looking good. With Cheetor gone, it would of just been him. As he was prepared to make an attack, suddenly he heard gunfire coming onto the Predacons from Cheetor and surprisingly Onyx. Well looks like it's now or never..

Moving out from the treeline, Aerostriker floated down swiftly behind Megatron holding Stag propped up against his shoulder he pointed the gun angled upward slightly at Megatron's lower back, his thrusters to counter force generated then fired as he fired the charged beam (Firepower:10) from the targetmaster,using 1/5th of Aerostriker's energy supply in the process. a Massive continuous beam expelled out lifting Megatron up into the air pushing him above the treeline roughly 300 ft away from the group, however due to the width of the beam, it did not burn through his body like the more narrow beam original could.

Aerostriker cut the thrust from his back, hovering above the shallow water as he lowered his rifle pointing it towards Terrorsaur, a glowing cartridge ejected from the top of Stag flying in an arc as it came down into the water, on contact causing the water in a small area to violently boil much in the way of molten metal being quenched. Do you mind stepping off the lady there? He couldn't prepare another charged shot in time, but a normal shots could still work.

___________________________

Umbra gave a slight nod as he saw Cecaelia off, his eyes then turned noticing Onyx and Cheetor. What is with today and friendly fire? he muttered to himself, then sank into the water. Still disguised as an Crocodile, he swam quietly towards the two coming up from behind in the murky waters.

Silently he then launched from the waters turning sideways as what seemed like giant jaws clamped onto Onyx, the disguise wearing off revealing it to be a set of large tentacles wrapping around his upper body while a second set of limbs coiled around his upper legs, dragging him into the shallow water. I was wondering when this day would happen, too bad it was on my watch.. he then spoke in a disturbingly calm tone, then let loose a jet from his siphon dragging Onyx towards the deeper waters.

_____________________

As Quickstrike caught up with the others, he noticed Blackarachnia in distress. Sugarbot!! Are you okay?! he said in a panic, racing towards her and coming to a stop. He released his bite on his trailer as he came towards her, then lifted some of the "I" beams and boxes adding them to his trailer Here,let me take some of that thar load off for you little lady.

[Phoenix]

Nemesis swirled her sword, eyeing the bulkier Maximal with a playful grin on her face. The playfulness was certainly not returned, as her opponent held a rather grim look on his features. This, in turn, only heightened the female's delight, having already demonstrated how easily she could avoid his punches and thus shaken his determination.

She moved sideways in a fluid, circular motion, watching him intently to size him up as well as to counter every move he made. Aside from a couple of rather clumsy attempts at striking her with his fists, he remained hesitant on attacking. Uncertainty, perhaps, or some inherent Maximal flaw that prevented them from wanting to do harm deep down? No.. one glance at the hateful gleam in his optics revealed that the male had no such inhibitions. The male had a warrior's rage written on his face, quite unlike the normal Maximal response.

A Maximal war machine.. How intriguing!

Yet he still hesitated.

Fortunately Nemesis had no such reluctance.

Deciding she likely didn't have much time before the Maximals withdrew from this futile fight, her initial attack came in the form of a sudden and powerful kick aimed directly at the male's throat in an attempt to push him off balance, immediately followed by a swift swipe with her sword at an angle across the chest region. The speed of which she executed these moves were quite impressive, her transmetal body having granted her with an increase in speed while retaining the gracefulness she'd always had. With any luck she would sooner or later have regained the full power she possessed as a Decepticon.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: Rattrap had fired at Buster as well, but it's not that important. I'd say this battle is pointless now, so be ready to move out, Maximals. ))

"Hang in there Rattrap, I'm coming."

"Hey, thanks for the back-up, Winter," he said before looking at the llama who apparently decided not to fight back now. This guy was confusing. What was his story?

"Your making a mistake joining the Predacons pal, you'll only be used as a pawn from here on out,"

"I appreciate the concern, pretty lady, but truth be told I've been a pawn my whole life. Long enough to know that I'll never be more than some tool for the higher ups to use. It's cool, though. I've resigned to the fact that my best chance of success lies with the team that knows how to use me best. Preds came to me first and offered me grub. You and your flying puppy gave me nothing but the promise of an impossible dream."

"Okay... You could be more and not a pawn on our side. But if that's whatcha want, go for it, Stretch. I ain't wastin' my time here. Good luck devoting your life to Megajerk's desires 'cause who cares about yours. You wouldn't even be here if not for our leader." Sometimes Rattrap just couldn't understand the logic these Predacons had.

"Go on home and take your pals with you, miss. You lost."

"My thoughts exactly," the Spy agreed as the new Pred surprisingly reverted to his beast mode. Maybe Optimus would've tried harder to get this guy to see some sense - he had better negotiating and communication skills - but this was too dangerous with all of these Preds around and Rattrap didn't want to risk their lives over something that wasn't going to change.

"I would like to know what a burnt rat smells like! RAOWR!!"

"Well, I don't wanna know!" Rattrap scoffed at Starshadow. His optics widened a bit as he watched her twinkle like a sparkler when she activated all of her fancy electricity abilities.

"Dis mission is a lost cause, guys! I'm callin' a retreat!" Rattrap said over his comm. link to his group of Maximals. As soon as he made that announcement, he fired a few shots at Starshadow while she raced toward him. At her speed, she might not have been able to avoid them, but it didn't matter. He wasn't going to hang around and fight. Immediately following, he jumped out Star's way and transformed back to his vehicle mode before landing on the ground on his wheels and peeled out, kicking up the torn grass and then the dirt underneath, driving off in a large circle. He tried keeping Starshadow distracted so Wintersong could make an escape from Manterror without also having to worry about her as well.

-----

"Well, we found the pod and the protoform but old grape face got to her first. Not to mention it seems this newbie has been a Predacon from the start, although she has an odd signal I can't be sure why and well, we're handling the little Pred problem now."

Listening to Cheetor's report, Rhinox sighed and realized that they were either too late or it had been a Predacon from the start that they were transporting before they landed on Earth.

"And it seems things just took a bad turn,"

"Cheetor, just get out of there," the green bot said. "There's no point in hanging around and fighting the Preds if the protoform has already been lost," so to speak. They weren't supposed to engage the Predacons anyway unless they could protect or defend the pod and its occupant if it was a Maximal. And since Megatron was there... Optimus wouldn't like the situation they were in at all. "You and your team need to return to Base," Rhinox told him firmly. He glanced over his shoulder at Frilla and Aurora, some concern in his red optics as he waited for confirmation from Cheetor.

[WorpeX]

((@OOP: Its not a big deal, but Manterror is on Silverbolt, not Wintersong.

Waiting on BlackRose before I post for Airazor. Could just have her retreat but I want to give her more time for Inferno to respond to my post first!))

"Dis mission is a lost cause, guys! I'm callin' a retreat!"

"You've failed, LOSER!! Manterror screamed in Silverbolts face. They were still locked together as the Mantis struggled to get his blades closer to his prey. He thought about simply firing them at point blank range but immediately realized that he would suffer collateral damage. Besides, that's not nearly as fun. "I will let you leave with your friends." He said finally, with a strange tinge of sincerity in his voice. His grip on Silverbolt loosened just a little, but he didn't let go. But it all changed again in a split second! "BUT ONLY AS A HEADLESS BIRD/DOG!! BAAHAHAH!!!" He screamed and made one final push to get his saw blades to sink into Silverbolts metallic flesh. He used all the strength he could muster, hoping that his opponent had let down his guard enough for him to capitalize!!

[New Moon]

Feralnight growled as she was grabbed by Terrorsaur, causing her to struggle slightly in trying to get back at the transmetal pterodon for this and still had a bone to pick witht he flier from the last battle they had. But the punches to her head didn't help with the fact her disoriented state hadn't completely worn off and this didn't help at all, causing her vision to blur slightly, optics flickering to a point as she tried to regain her wits once again. That was when Megatron's words had the energon running through her system go cold, turning her gaze towards the weapon currently held to her head with wide optics. "Silverstreak, don't listen to him." She tried to call out, watching in dismay as the younger femme came forward in surrender.

But when hearing the firing coming from different sides she was slightly relieved but could have sworn one of the scents she detected among those firing was Onyx. But why would he be helping them? Though curious she knew right now she had to get free of Terrorsaur to who she had been ignoring of his tauntings and quickly reached down by her side, a compartment opening up slightly to reveal she had some small explosives, a little change in her arsenal of weapons for such an occasion. "Hey Terrorsaur, hope you like fireworks."She said as she pressed the middle of the square device and tossed it up, having set this one to three seconds and just having enough time to throw it right in front of the transmetal predacon before covering her head slightly.

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"Who knows Aurora, for that maniac scientist it could be anything, even Saber he could be after. Sometimes he just does these things out of boredom or just to cause some trouble from what I can remember." Frilla said, shrugging her shoulders slightly at this fact as she looked at the ermine fuzor having been wondering the same thing herself the last several minutes. "Course, he could just have a few wires crossed up in the processor, so could be some glitched programming," The frilled lizard said, only half teasing about it but still wondered. For a long while she had though Sonar had a few screws loose from the beginning just like Starshadow, those two together it would have been far worse and likely DInobot needing back up. "Let's just be thankful Starshadow isn't with him." She added before turning towards Rhinox, hearing Cheetor's report which made her from with some concern.

But would they really have engaged the Predacons like this when it sounded like they were outmatched? "I hope they weren't the ones who made the first move," Frilla said to Rhinox as she glanced back at Aurora with the same concern then back towards the rhinoceros.

[DarkSpark]

OOC: was waiting for Blackrose but it looks like we're moving ahead with these battles, sorry BR

Wildfire94: "Look I'm coming out, just don't shoot." Silverstreak called out before she emerged from the bushes, glancing to where Terrorsaur had her teammate having some concern about the fuzor's condition already as she then glanced at Megatron and the other femme who had a similar beast form which meant this was the protoform they had come searching for in vain. Sighing softly Silverstreak gave the command "maximize" and transformed, raising her hands to show she wasn't reaching for any weapons, not even her tonfas that were visible on her back. "Alright I'm unarmed, now let Feralnight go."She said, her ears flattening on her head in dismay at this turn of events.

Megatron smirked malevolently as the maximal fox predictability followed his orders and disarmed, leaving herself wide open to attack and with no bargaining power whatsoever, only the vain, desperate hope that he would show her & her captive fuzor friend mercy. Which of course he would not.

Wintersong wrote: Spineback had continued to fire until Megatron raised his hand, knowing the signal for a ceasefire and for now only keeping her weapon at the ready as it took merely a few seconds before the Maximal came out. This femme was quite the small one. In fact, one hit from her fists could have easily dented Silverstreak's armor like a tin can and could likely prove a fatal blow, something of which Spineback could entertain the thought of any day but for now she only held ready to either fire upon the unarmed Maximal or upon her comrade who was in the clutches of Terrorsaur. "Typical Maximal," She commented softly, truly finding these Maximals no different then their ancestors and willing to sacrifice their own lives to keep their friends from dying.

"Indeed, sometime remind me to tell you the tale of how I manipulated three of these fools to stand down by threatening the lives of mere wildlife" Megatron bragged, leaving out the part about how one of those two tigers he'd threatened turned out to be a maximal, it was still absolute madness to surrender victory over the life of another, especially the life of a lesser life-form.

"First things first alas, business before pleasure..." Megatron quipped before shooting Silverstreak right in the chest with both shoulder guns.

"Or pleasure before business I suppose" Megatron gloated as he watched the maximal fall backwards from the powerful shots, his tailgun still pointed as his friend's head and ready to fire.

Wildfire94 wrote: "And it seems things just took a bad turn,"He added grimly, not liking this situation at all as they were just off to the left of what was going on. They had to do something now or else Feralnight and Silverstreak were good as gone. "You sure you really want to be attacking Megatron Onyx? He could scrap you for this."Cheetor said, bringing his hands together and preparing to fire. Onyx was likewise doing the same, drawing his Friction Rifle as he knew any movement would cause things to heat up real fast. "I'm certain Cheetor, I...don't belong with this group of Predacons. I feel out of place and things will only get worse as this doubt grows."Onyx put it, this being the first time he expressed his doubts to anyone but he merely motioned they needed to hurry before both began to fire upon Terrorsaur, Spineback, and Megatron, Cheetor aiming to Megatron's fusion cannon so it was blasted away from the fuzor.

Before he could finish the fuzor off however, they were suddenly set upon by more maximals, his fusion cannon being pushed back but undamaged by one lucky shot.

"Rgggghhh! Maximal filth! Destroy them all!" Megatron snarled in anger, firing back at the newcomers with his fusion cannon and shoulder guns, intending to blow them all to scrap even if he had to take the blasted swamp with them.

Terrorsaur joined in and added his energy signature seeking missiles to the barrage of fire power being turned against the maximals, the pterodactyl using the wings attached to his arms as shields to protect himself from their firepower as best he could with a hostage in his grasp.

Wintersong wrote:
But it seemed this wasn't to last as a few shots hit the new Predacon in the back, causing her to turn to raise her arm shield to block a few shots coming from their right, "Seems we forgot one Maximal sir...and a Predacon?" Spineback cocked an eye brow as she looked back towards the tyrant, her shield absorbing the energy of Cheetor's energy blasts but as she went to lower her weapon it seemed to burst into flames making her look with surprise and quickly lower her arm into the water close by to put it out, glaring towards the trees. Wasn't this the work of a Friction Rifle? She hadn't seen such a weapon in ages but what really got her was the fact a Predacon would be helping a Maximal and attacking his own brethren in the middle of a fight. It seemed they had a traitor in their midst the very first encounter with these new groups of CYbertronians.

Hearing the words of his new recruit, Megatron did a doubletake and quickly discovered she was right about a predacon turncoat in their midst, half expecting one of the spiders to be the culprit, and would have suspected Terrorsaur if he wasn't right there with them...Only to spot the cowardly horse Onyx to be the guilty party!

"YOU DARE EQUINE?! YOU DARE?!" Megatron roared in fury, concentrating his firepower on the treacherous mammal, all his rage towards the first turncoat Silverbolt being directed on the unlucky horse all at once.

Naitokage wrote: Aerostriker heard them speaking as he hovered above the tree tops, using the location data from Stag he moved into position placing the fully charged target master up against his shoulder aiming down at Megatron. Seemed these Predacons didn't learn a key element.. always look up. The speed Cecaelia was moving in the tree branches was luckily slow enough that she couldn't catch up to Aerostriker in time, not to stop him from this at least..

If Feralnight hadn't been in danger, this would of ended. From this angle, he could just let loose every ounce of firepower in his body and destroy the three predacons in a way that would only leave a smoking hole in the ground, but he couldn't take the risk of harming her.

As he was about to move in, suddenly Silverstreak came out of hiding, to surrender. This was not looking good. With Cheetor gone, it would of just been him. As he was prepared to make an attack, suddenly he heard gunfire coming onto the Predacons from Cheetor and surprisingly Onyx. Well looks like it's now or never..

Moving out from the treeline, Aerostriker floated down swiftly behind Megatron holding Stag propped up against his shoulder he pointed the gun angled upward slightly at Megatron's lower back, his thrusters to counter force generated then fired as he fired the charged beam (Firepower:10) from the targetmaster,using 1/5th of Aerostriker's energy supply in the process. a Massive continuous beam expelled out lifting Megatron up into the air pushing him above the treeline roughly 300 ft away from the group, however due to the width of the beam, it did not burn through his body like the more narrow beam original could.

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Megatron bellowed in absolute rage and indignation as he was sent flying through the air and into the distance, the shot doing little damage to his person, but the force of it propelling him far (dunno about 300 feet mind you).

Naitokage wrote: Aerostriker cut the thrust from his back, hovering above the shallow water as he lowered his rifle pointing it towards Terrorsaur, a glowing cartridge ejected from the top of Stag flying in an arc as it came down into the water, on contact causing the water in a small area to violently boil much in the way of molten metal being quenched. Do you mind stepping off the lady there? He couldn't prepare another charged shot in time, but a normal shots could still work.

Terrorsaur might have merely froze in fear and complied with the maximal not too long ago, but with his recent upgrade, he had both the confidence and the speed to handle this situation.

"Should saved that shot for me maximal" Terrorsaur chided as he quickly cut Aerostriker's beam rifle in half with one of his blades, and with both swords in hand took several swings at the maximal's hide, his hostage still clutched in his clawed feet as leverage.

"RRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG!" Megatron roared once more, his voice getting closer and closer as he jetted back to the battlefield, Terrorsaur's enhanced optics allowing him to see the look of pure murder on his purple face as he fully charged his fusion cannon, already aiming for & firing at Aerostriker, the fusion beam blast HUGE compared to his normal quick bursts.

"Ooooh boy...You REALLY should have saved that shot for me" Terrorsaur cackled, shaking his head in mock pity, knowing all too well what it was like to be on the receiving end of one of Megatron's tantrums, backing away already to put some distance between himself and the maximal bird Megatron was about to be burned to scrap, firing his eye beams to keep Aerostriker back.

NewMoon wrote: But when hearing the firing coming from different sides she was slightly relieved but could have sworn one of the scents she detected among those firing was Onyx. But why would he be helping them? Though curious she knew right now she had to get free of Terrorsaur to who she had been ignoring of his tauntings and quickly reached down by her side, a compartment opening up slightly to reveal she had some small explosives, a little change in her arsenal of weapons for such an occasion. "Hey Terrorsaur, hope you like fireworks."She said as she pressed the middle of the square device and tossed it up, having set this one to three seconds and just having enough time to throw it right in front of the transmetal predacon before covering her head slightly.

"SLAG!" Terrorsaur cursed as he had just enough time to bring his blades in front of himself to shield himself from the explosion, the blast still sending him flying backwards into the waters of the swamp, his prey coming with him for a bit before he unwillingly released his grip on her, tearing some of her back out with him as he tumbled through the water and she went flying in the other direction.

Una wrote: She had trained herself to notice little details, but she didn't need to stop and deduce what Arachnitron had did. Did she really think that more weight would slow her down? It was uncomfortable, though. Taranutulas and Arachnitron were getting too much distance away from her. That couldn't happen. She needed to watch those two like the Byronic Plague if she wanted to stay ahead of their little game. Her legs scampered down closer to them. As she had made a turn, her need to stay ahead against the weight of her cart caused the cart to hit a nearby rock, falling over. Slag! All the boxes and steel structure pillars laid out on the sandy surface. She looked back to see Tarantulas and Arachnitron getting further and further away. Cursing under her breath, she tried her best to reload her cart before those two did anything to get her in trouble.

Tarantulas chuckled at the sight of Blackarachnia spilling her cart's load, Arachnitron's little prank working out far better than he had hoped, his assistant catching up to him while his slave scrambled to clean up her little mess.

"That was sneaky and underhanded by dear...Well done" Tarantulas complimented Arachnitron as they continued on ahead to their destination.

Naitokage wrote: As Quickstrike caught up with the others, he noticed Blackarachnia in distress. Sugarbot!! Are you okay?! he said in a panic, racing towards her and coming to a stop. He released his bite on his trailer as he came towards her, then lifted some of the "I" beams and boxes adding them to his trailer Here,let me take some of that thar load off for you little lady.

"He'll regret getting close to her" Tarantulas thought to himself as he glimpsed back to see the new fuzor with the stupid cowboy accent lending Blackarachnia a hand, curious to see if Blackarachnia would take advantage of his aid or blow him off.