"More Than Meets The Eye: Part I"

[NaitoKage]

(Well, I was going to wait for OOP to post.. but considering half the Predacons are already opening fire on them.. I think Landslide better step up.)

As Landslide examined the pod, he suddenly noticed a few shots coming from the sky towards himself and Rattrap, one or two explosive shots giving off a flash as they strike over his heavy armored body, but with little effect. Slag.. Landslide said, looking up as the appearance of multiple missiles came down towards them. If he was set for battle, he would of probably brought up his shield and attempted to shoot a few of the missiles down with his anti air guns, but as it was, all he could do was to grit and bear it.


Landslide turned and kneeled as the wingshield on his back expanded and armored faceplate slid up, exposing part of the heavily armored cargo box on his back. He grabbed Rattrap and pulling him under himself acting as a wall to his much smaller comrade.

The missiles striking against him and around him, with the pod exploding from the sudden chain of explosions, flames and concussive waves washing over and around them, his audios ringing from the rain of destruction. His backside scorched with a few dents, but mostly undamaged from the barrage.

Landslide shaked his head Ug... Gonna feel that in the mornin'..hm? he heard the sound of machine gun fire once again ricocheting off his body, turning his head and body slightly with his wingshield on his back closing. He raised his right arm towards Blackarachnia's direction as his forearm opened, extending out the barrel for his grenade launcher. My turn..

A low hollow thump noise came from the barrel as he fired off a grenade in Blackarachnia's direction, as it came closer to her in mid air, the grenade went off sending out a concussive blast wave against the widow. It probably wouldn't kill her, but would knock her on her skidplate.

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Quickstrike crawled along, making his way towards Megatron's position, transforming behind some rocks he spoke up This is gunna be good.., his body trembling in anticipation, like a kid in a candy store.. So many keisters to kick.. He could hardly contain himself at the thoughts of violence. He looked over the rocks, seeing the group of Maximals together, then noticed the new Maximal and ship in the background Huh.. funny lookin' fella ain't he? Quickstrike then said quietly, having never seen a cybertronian without a beast mode before.

________________

"How are you holding up, Dinobot?"

"I am...." "....better...." "Actually, I had much to discuss with you, Rhinox. I have discovered an alien artifact while I was on patrol, but my former comrades haven't given us much free time to talk about it. Perhaps when we return from our mission, we can take a look at it."

Cheetor observed as Dinobot and Rhinox conversed, it seemed Dinobot was still a bit shaken from losing Aerostriker. Though it was no surprise, everyone on the ship was taking the deaths of their allies badly. Cheetor then looked over as Frilla and Airazor walked in.

"Hey Dinobot, mind if this little lizard tags along?"

"You may,"

Cheetor followed as Dinobot motioned them on the lift, as he stepped off, he heard Frilla speak up.

"Hey Cheetor, do you mind a passenger?"

Cheetor smiled towards Frilla Sure thing Frills! Just try not to fall off. Beast mode! Cheetor responded a bit jovially, then transformed to his Cheetah mode, his "cyber thrust wings" and jets popping out of his sides, he looked over to Frilla Hop on!

(I couldn't help but laugh reading Dinobot's internal monologue about Frilla.. since that sounded more like Onyx. Frilla probably was never a Predacon programming wise since.. no one reprogrammed her, and her background was a librarian/researcher..)
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(Also to note, Spineback is smaller as she's only 7 ft in robot mode and 6 ft in beast mode. Tallest one in this group is probably Umbra. Strange I know, but size dimensions are usually weird in beast wars.)

Umbra watched as Tarantulas lead the group on into the jungle environment, vegetation was thick with only a few game trails and water ways. Though a little distance away Umbra overheard Tarantulas speak up to Arachnitron.

"Fairing well my dear?"

"I'm still functioning,"

To the ninja, they seemed close. Not exactly lovers, but something about them seemed to tie them together. Perhaps they'd formed a subgroup, he couldn't really tell at the moment, and it didn't matter too much for the mission at hand. Looking up at the tree canopy above them, he couldn't even see star light.(assumed because Banshee was eating another bat, ghostbats are nocturnal.) He looked back towards Spineback as he spoke up Watch your step.. it's not too hard to lose one's footing in this environment..

Umbra then started walking towards Tarantulas and spoke up Lieutenant, sorry to impose, but might I suggest we try surveying the environment from a higher point? We might have a better chance at spotting the pod's wreckage.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: Sorry, but I've been busy getting some teeth pulled today... Cut me some slack. ))

"Aye, that we do," "Please, let us dispense of the formalities," the soldier added, "Just plain, old Nexus is fine. I'm not one to embrace a title. I'd rather be known for who I am, not some silly title that has been bestowed upon me."

Optimus couldn't agree with him more. Although, Nexus deserved the title. Primal was simply a scientist who didn't exactly feel worthy of a title or a salute. All his rank called for was some reasoning, leadership and guidance for his crew.

"It's an honor, sir," "..Nexus,"

Optimus smiled at Aurora and Whitegrazer before they followed orders and headed to the Akira to see what they might find useful. As well, Silverbolt and Orcariner also took their leave to mind the borders of the crash site.

"We detected a quantum surge," "And traced its origins to this sector. I went to investigate." "Unfortunately I failed to anticipate the effects of the rift.."

"Quantum sur-?" the younger leader questioned before it dawned on him. The aftermath of the explosion that had killed him and turned many of them into TransMetals was still drifting through space and triggering sensors? That was rather astonishing. You and your enemies have already contaminated the project. Begin termination sequence. The Beast Wars are over, Optimus. You... lose. MEGATROOOOOOOOOOON! He involuntarily turned his head away from Nexus while the Admiral looked back at his ship as the dreadful memories and nightmares flooded back in that bright explosion. They still felt fresh. They still caused pain. Optimus took a breath and looked back at Nexus as he continued.

"We thought the Axalon and its crew lost. Countless search parties could not produce any evidence of your whereabouts and finally all but a few gave up."

He bowed his head with some discouragement for a moment. "It's rather unfortunate that you were drawn here, Nexus. We have no means of returning to Cybertron, which means you're stranded here with us in a war of survival against Megatron. What we've been through, and the lives that have been lost, I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. Especially you. But I suppose that can't be helped. You're here now and we might as well make the most of it," Optimus said as optimistically as he could. But now he feared of losing Nexus, too. "Is there anything valuable on your ship that we might use?" he asked as he stretched out his hand and invited him to take point through the wreckage, and took one more glance around their surroundings as if wondering why the Predacons were so late. "Weapons and navigation systems? Shield generators? Spare power?"

-----

"It might be hiding you two, mean not every bot that comes online wants to be found so might be best if we try searching around. There's got to be some creatures around maybe we'll be lucky enough to find them."

Wiping off some of the scorch marks and soot in search of some identification while Wintersong and Landslide looked around, Rattrap turned puzzled and said, "...It ain't one of ours..."

Suddenly hearing a couple shots fired in his direction, Rattrap immediately turned and aimed his gun in the sky at their origin; Nemesis and Terrosaur. Great. Of course it was Nemesis and Terrorsaur. Just before the smaller Maximal was yanked to Landslide's side and protected from the explosions, he fired some shots at Terrorsaur's energy seeking missiles to either blow them up on impact or knock them off course to swirl around and hit the ground. "Take cover!" he hollered at Saber-Fang and Wintersong through his comm. link so they could hear him beyond Landslide's armor and barrage of fire power.

Ug... Gonna feel that in the mornin'..hm?

"Betta get used it, tough guy," the marksman recommended under the machine gun fire pinging off of his comrade's armor. "Just try not ta get yerself killed, eh?" It sounded like one of the spiders. Rattrap tried peeking out underneath the beetle to see what was going on. Without Orcariner's sonar, everything had to be done with their own eyes here.

My turn..

While Landslide focused on Blackarachnia, Rattrap gave him cover fire and jumped out away from him, jogging away and targeting Nemesis while he moved and then fired at her several times to distract her and likely Terrorsaur as well since he might still have a beef with him for some reason. Diving behind a rock formation, he crouched and peeked around it since it was too high to see over, counting the Preds. Nemesis, Blackarachnia, Starshadow and Terrorsaur. Yep, our kinda luck, he thought sarcastically. He aimed again at the fliers and continued firing at them.

-----

"I am...." "....better...."

Rhinox narrowed a somewhat suspicious optic at Dinobot's unconvincing answer.

"Actually, I had much to discuss with you, Rhinox. I have discovered an alien artifact while I was on patrol, but my former comrades haven't given us much free time to talk about it. Perhaps when we return from our mission, we can take a look at it."

"Of course," he said, almost with too much excitement as he was taken aback by this sudden news of him obtaining an alien artifact. Where and when exactly had he discovered it? Rhinox was quite intrigued. Optimus may have a different reaction to it considering what he went through with the Vok, but the engineer's curiosity couldn't wait to see what Dinobot had in his possession. How interesting.

"Well, our prayers have been answered,"

Big Green let a small chuckle escape as he watched the interaction between the warrior and the younger feline. Still, he hoped Dinobot would look after Cheetor, and he hoped that Cheetor would stay focused on the mission.

"Maximize." "Seems I missed the party,"

"Who says we can't have a party while everyone else is away?" Rhinox joked as he watched Dinobot's team depart and Feralnight arrive. "How are you feeling after the last battle? I know it took a toll on many of you."

[starshadow]

Starshadow transformed into her robot mode as soon as Blackarachnia got off her. It seems that the Maximals got to the pod first. The new maximal seems to have a durable armor after taking all of the missles. She dashed towards the giant bug and activated her thrusters, launching herself in the air for a few moments and landed on his back like a cat. "Is that a way to treat a ladu?" she smirked and charged up her hands with electricity, touching his right shoulder.

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As of this moment, you are designated as captain of this vessel. I am artificial intelligent backup unit "Ghost",so I suppose you could say I'm the computer for this ship. Arrangements are being taken to settle taking care of your disappearance. Displaying course of actions now.

He backed up his memory in the ship? Probably he had some doubts about Megatron's leadership.

As of right now, the Leviathan is completing it's docking process and minor repairs, after that is complete the two ships will remain docked unless situation requires purging the bridge. Once fueling,cargo, and resource storage is complete, the ship will take off. We will transwarp from here once we get out of range of either faction's scanners.. What destination do you plan to make course for?

"Let's go back to Cybertron. Unless you have any other options, I'm willing to hear them."

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Xychona heard some voices just ahead of her. It sounded like they were searching for something. She flew high up to the tree tops and followed the direction where the voices were coming from. Once she spotted unfamiliar bots, she landed on a high brach nearby the group and hanged upside down, observing them. They do not look like the Axalon crew. What was going on while she was away?

[Alak]

Continuing his sweep patterns in the air, Orcariner's attention was drawn to his scanners. His optics narrowed and he opened his radio channel.

"Orcariner to Optimus. I just picked up Megatron's signal on my radar. I'm willing to bet that he won't be alone within the next few minutes. Should I preemptively engage?"

Orcariner knew that he would not be able to take Megatron in a fight, but he also knew that he would have to be ready to do what was necessary. Down below him stood the two most important Maximal officers on this planet. One of them was even reputable back on Cybertron, although, he had never actually met the individual back home. As an enlisted soldier from the Academy, Orcariner had an obligation to protect Nexus Prime with his life. As a friend and shipmate, it was his duty to defend Optimus Primal with everything he had to offer. Repositioning his body based on his Beacon 2.0 readings, Orcariner hovered in place facing Megatron's direction. Adjusting his optics, the transmetal orca zoomed in to try and grab a visual on the Predacon commander. It took him a moment, but he managed to spot the purple and bronze T-Rex near some rock formations.

Blast, he's in visual range.

If Orcariner's optics could spot Megatron, then the latter could also easily see him as well as the Maximals down below in the rainforest. Megatron was no fool. Surely his databanks would bring up some sort of memory of Nexus Prime. If the Predacons realized just how important that figure was, they would bring forth a storm of firepower that would be difficult to mount a defense against.

[Night-Hunter]

Saber spotted Rattrap and Landslide standing by the pod. Why were they just standing there? Was there something wrong with the pod? Before she could ponder it further, Rattrap and Landslide were suddenly under enemy fire!

Growling, she put on a burst of speed before leaping into the air where she yelled; "Maximize!"

She flipped and landed on her feet close to Rattrap, she whipped out her blaster and started firing, aimming for Starshadow. No doubt the crazed feline would want another go at her, if she wasn't to distracted by Landslide.

[Phoenix]

"It's nice to meet you, Nexus."

"The pleasure is all mine, my lady," Nexus responded politely, watching as the two females made their way over to his ship. He then turned towards his once-apprentice.

The admiral watched the changing emotions play across Optimus' face, a somewhat concerned yet calm demeanor donning his own features as the younger leader attempted to shield himself from his knowing gaze. Nexus knew suffering, he had seen it all too many times on the faces of his fellow soldiers as they marched into battle against seemingly impossible odds. And even more so on the features of those he had been unable to bring back.. There was a time when the younger version of himself always appeared confident that nothing bad could ever happen, sometimes overly so, but that was a long time ago. As with most things, time had influenced his attitude, teaching him over and over that nothing could be taken for granted. Especially not the lives of his friends.

As Optimus turned away, Nexus caught a glimpse of horror in his optics. Yet the admiral said nothing, instead he merely placed a soothing hand on the other's shoulder. Whatever Optimus had experienced, it was evidently not something he was ready to share with the world. Nexus respected that.

"It's rather unfortunate that you were drawn here, Nexus. We have no means of returning to Cybertron, which means you're stranded here with us in a war of survival against Megatron. What we've been through, and the lives that have been lost, I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. Especially you. But I suppose that can't be helped. You're here now and we might as well make the most of it,"

The contours of a smile, warm and reassuring, was building up on the admiral's face.

" The situation is never so grave that there's no way to rise back up," he said reassuringly, squeezing Primal's shoulder lightly as e spoke, "Besides.. Megatron is in the same situation, is he not, so we are by no means at a disadvantage."

A hint of playfulness could be noticed as the stoic warrior continued.

"I don't recall hopelessness being in the training manual, so cheer up, my friend. There is no place I would rather be."

"Is there anything valuable on your ship that we might use? Weapons and navigation systems? Shield generators? Spare power?"

"Some of it may be salvageable," Nexus confirmed, refusing to let anyone's grim outlook bring him down. It was bad enough that his beloved Akira lay in ruin, but perhaps some parts could still be of use and she could live on that way.

"It's all right. Maybe we can find something that will help us work our way back. If not, then there will always be another day."

Aurora nodded, withholding her response until she got further inside the ship. The Akira, as badly beaten up as it was, turned out to be surprisingly roomy, easily big enough to host a small crew. For a brief moment she found herself wondering why a single individual was flying such a sizable vessel, but then it occurred to her that the Admiral had probably been commanding this ship for a long time and perhaps had refused to take it out of service when he himself was no longer considered a soldier. The mixture of new technology along with some slightly dated equipment seemed to confirm this possibility.

Some portions of the ship was more badly damaged than others, whereas some seemed to be nearly intact. Aurora found herself moving further inside to check it out. "Might be something worthwhile over here," she said.

Nemesis was enjoying herself as she fired round after round at the Maximals below, watching as the explosive rounds caused the Maximals to scatter. The fun only increased as other Predacons joined in. However it would appear that the larger Maximal was shielding the others with his massive body, most of the shots merely leaving dents in his armor due to the thickness of it. Well, perhaps this one required a different, more intimate approach. But for the time being she was content with firing, having plenty of ammunition still. It was only a matter of time before their shots would break through the armor.

A shot from below grazed her wing, singing her transmetal feathers in the process, causing her to grimace and shift her attention at the moving rodent below.

So the little pest wanted to play.. Nemesis was more than happy to oblige.

Switching targets, she began pummeling the rock formation the rat had taken shelter behind with rapid fire. Small pellets of rock soon began to break off, bouncing off Rattrap as they went.

[Blackrosefencer]

OOC: Sorry. I was too tired the other day to read the posts and figure out what was going on with Inferno's party. I will try to get a post done tomorrow (Friday), but if you don't see one by Saturday evening then just skip me. I'm off Sunday and will catch up then if I can't get to it tomorrow.

[Phoenix]

(ooc: Darkspark, I think you can assume that at least Tantrum is getting close. He was on his way and doesn't know what else to post until someone acknowledges his presence. As for Buster, I don't quite know if Alak noticed Tantrum talking to him since he posted for Orcariner and didn't mention Buster. )

[Mystrea]

Ironclaw was aware of some unsavory looks but he knew that some truly believed that Optimus would end this war but the badger was convinced. The new soldier jumped down the lift after the rest of them had descended. Once out in the open he reverted to beast mode and waited for instructions.

[DarkSpark]

OOC: Hi all, sorry for the delay, was getting fitted for a suit the other day, my little sis is getting married this summer. Busy, busy, busy! Sorry if I missed anyone.

Naitokage wrote: Quickstrike crawled along, making his way towards Megatron's position, transforming behind some rocks he spoke up This is gunna be good.., his body trembling in anticipation, like a kid in a candy store.. So many keisters to kick.. He could hardly contain himself at the thoughts of violence. He looked over the rocks, seeing the group of Maximals together, then noticed the new Maximal and ship in the background Huh.. funny lookin' fella ain't he? Quickstrike then said quietly, having never seen a cybertronian without a beast mode before.

Megatron didn't even spare the foolish fuzor a glance as he continued to observe his most unexpected opponent, Nexus, merely snorting a response "I should think so Quickstrike, considering that living fossil is a veteran of the last Great War. Arrogant codger never even bothered to update his form like the rest of his oppressive ilk, he's arguably more autobot than maximal, minus the larger stature of course. Lucky for him he didn't crash on this planet back when its energon fields were at their peak, he'd have perished quickly I imagine. Unluckily for him, we're here to ensure the old admiral never sets sail for home again, yesssss. Inferno, you and I shall concentrate our firepower on Primal and his old friend, I want them taken out of this fight as quickly as possible, one would be successor to Prime is bad enough, I don't need two of them afoot. Tantrum, I want you to go around the other side and hit that ship with everything you've got, I never want to see the stars again, nor do I want the maximals to salvage any of its technology, make it go BOOM...You like doing that don't you, yesss?"

As Megatron issued these orders, he spared a glance upwards and finally noticed the transmetal orca approaching them from the skies and added "Quickstrike, give Primal's eye in the sky a taste of poison would you? As for the rest of you, PREDACONS TERRORIZE!"

Transforming into robot mode at last, Megatron charged his tail cannon and leveled his shoulder guns at Nexus and fired, intending to demolish the old admiral under so much firepower that there'd be nothing left of him but ash. He didn't like Nexus being here, his reputation preceded him and he was more experienced than Primal despite being woefully outdated, the sooner he nipped this potential danger to his operations in the skidplate the better, Primal's regular crew was annoying enough on their own without a real military bot with war time experience backing them up. It felt strange trusting Inferno to gun down his old rival Primal instead of reserving the pleasure for himself, but Nexus was the greater threat this time and he wanted to take no chances of him surviving his first battle in the Beast Wars. Great War Vet or not, a transmetal's firepower should be far too much for an older model Cybertronian like him to handle...And his death by his own hand would spread fear through the collective sparks of every maximal on Cybertron, just as the legendary victory of the first Megatron over Optimus Prime had forever cemented his status as the greatest Decepticon leader who ever lived, beloved by Predacons and feared by Maximals even hundreds of solar cycles later to this very day.

"Today I make history, and you all shall bare witness to it, follower and foe alike, yesssss!" Megatron announced pridefully even as he continued to pore on the heat on Nexus & Primal.

Phoenix wrote: Nemesis was enjoying herself as she fired round after round at the Maximals below, watching as the explosive rounds caused the Maximals to scatter. The fun only increased as other Predacons joined in. However it would appear that the larger Maximal was shielding the others with his massive body, most of the shots merely leaving dents in his armor due to the thickness of it. Well, perhaps this one required a different, more intimate approach. But for the time being she was content with firing, having plenty of ammunition still. It was only a matter of time before their shots would break through the armor.

A shot from below grazed her wing, singing her transmetal feathers in the process, causing her to grimace and shift her attention at the moving rodent below.

So the little pest wanted to play.. Nemesis was more than happy to oblige.

Switching targets, she began pummeling the rock formation the rat had taken shelter behind with rapid fire. Small pellets of rock soon began to break off, bouncing off Rattrap as they went.

"Poor little maximals caught out in the open with nowhere to run, too bad, so sad! EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!" Terrorsaur jeered as he mocked his enemies from above, nimbly dodging their shots while returning fire on them.

He fired a few more shots at Rattrap before leaving him to Nemesis, turning his attention to the large beetle maximal who'd been shielding his friends with his own body.

"Lets see how many shots it takes to get the energon filled center of a maxi-pop, a one! A two! A three!" Terrorsaur counted cruelly as he concentrated his eye beams on a single point on Landslide's shell, burning away at it while firing several more missiles to pummel his shell even further, Rattrap hopefully too busy fighting for his own life to block his shots this time with any of his own.

Naitokage wrote:
To the ninja, they seemed close. Not exactly lovers, but something about them seemed to tie them together. Perhaps they'd formed a subgroup, he couldn't really tell at the moment, and it didn't matter too much for the mission at hand. Looking up at the tree canopy above them, he couldn't even see star light.(assumed because Banshee was eating another bat, ghostbats are nocturnal.) He looked back towards Spineback as he spoke up Watch your step.. it's not too hard to lose one's footing in this environment..

Umbra then started walking towards Tarantulas and spoke up Lieutenant, sorry to impose, but might I suggest we try surveying the environment from a higher point? We might have a better chance at spotting the pod's wreckage.

Tarantulas didn't like being interrupted, but the cephalopod made a good point, and they may as well start taking advantage of the environment to reach the pod faster and get Megatron's little errand over with so they could return to working on something far more important, his lair!

"Sound advice Umbra. Arachnitron and I shall take to the trees and see what we can find, you and Spineback shall continue on foot for the moment, be sure to note any tracks that could be leading to or away from the pods crash site. Come Arachnitron" Tarantulas said, reasoning that tracks could warn them of maximal search parties ahead of them or a newly awoken protoform that had already set out on its own...Not so unbelievable considering the size inconsistencies between many cybertronians and the beast modes they adopted, his own spider form being considerably larger than any natural spider.

Tarantulas scurried up the nearest tree on his eight mechanized beast legs and quickly made his way to the top, hiding amongst the foliage of the rainforest as he spied out ahead for signs of the crash sight with his many green eyes.

[una]

"Might be something worthwhile over here," she said.

Whitegrazer looked around the ship. As Aurora was seeing, she also noticed that the ship was too badly damaged in some areas of the ship. She frowned abit, but that didn't mean the beaten areas were entirely useless.

She nodded at what Aurora pointed out, "Could be. Also, we should give the bridge a more det-" She stopped in mid-sentence as she sensed a few presences coming towards the area. Quickstrike. There was another one... Very empty, but she could feel raw power from it. Was that Tantrum? She never had the pleasure of facing him in the battlefield. Her spark then felt like some type of hand was grasping it, pounding it like a hammer. That had to be Megatron. Close by, she felt the flames of loyalty and death oozing next to him. That had to be Inferno. They had some firepower coming for them.

Mumbled cracks of thunder boomed outside. She was worried about Nexus as she wondered if it had been awhile since he has seen any type of action. She knew how easily it was to get a bit rusty, but no doubt his instincts would kick in. They had met new people and seemed to be losing them. She didn't want that to happen to them again.

She looked down at Aurora then glanced around the ship, "Aurora, let's get to the bridge. I have an idea. We must be swift, though before any of the Predacons decide to attack this ship or be aware that we are in it."

Hopefully, though, the Predacons would be too occupied in their lust for battle and consider such a busted up ship to be useless. If not, Aurora and herself must be as quick as a hurricane.
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My turn.. A low hollow thump noise came from the barrel as he fired off a grenade in Blackarachnia's direction, as it came closer to her in mid air, the grenade went off sending out a concussive blast wave against the widow. It probably wouldn't kill her, but would knock her on her skidplate.

Blackarachnia's face widened at the concussive grenade and jumped. Though, the blast did send her a couple of feet away, giving her a massive headache and bashed her against the ground. She shook her head and growled at the tank Maximal. He may be big, but the past few days haven't been kind to her.

So she just take her anger out of this Maximal. He was a big boy it seems. He can take it. She smirked a murderous grin towards the Maximal and dashed towards him, taking out her cyber venom. She aimed, but she didn't fire... yet.

[NaitoKage]

"I should think so Quickstrike, considering that living fossil is a veteran of the last Great War. Arrogant codger never even bothered to update his form like the rest of his oppressive ilk, he's arguably more autobot than maximal, minus the larger stature of course. Lucky for him he didn't crash on this planet back when its energon fields were at their peak, he'd have perished quickly I imagine. Unluckily for him, we're here to ensure the old admiral never sets sail for home again, yesssss. Inferno, you and I shall concentrate our firepower on Primal and his old friend, I want them taken out of this fight as quickly as possible, one would be successor to Prime is bad enough, I don't need two of them afoot. Tantrum, I want you to go around the other side and hit that ship with everything you've got, I never want to see the stars again, nor do I want the maximals to salvage any of its technology, make it go BOOM...You like doing that don't you, yesss?"

"Quickstrike, give Primal's eye in the sky a taste of poison would you? As for the rest of you, PREDACONS TERRORIZE!"

Quickstrike looked up towards Orcariner Whatever you say boss! Yeeehaw! he let out his typical hillbilly yell, heading out from behind the rock cover, then points his snake head up towards Orcariner firing a few poison shots into the air while running in Orcariner's general direction Bigger they are, the harder they fall! Lets see if that's true fishbot!

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"Is that a way to treat a lady?"

Landslide suddenly felt as Starshadow landed on his back, only suddenly being electrocuted by the feline. Landslide placed his hand on the ground to keep himself upright, gritting his teeth under his faceplate as he took the shock, only to feel sudden relief after Saberfang shot Star off him. Ug.. Thanks fangs!

His back then felt multiple small explosions potting against his backside from Nemesis, followed by the laser beam hitting his backside, a small area pitting and cracking from the constant random spray of explosive gunfire, while the laser slowly heated up a point on his back forming a dark red glowing spot. Landslide pushed himself up as his side thrusters extended turning opposite directions,then let out a short burst of thrust turning in the same spot quickly tearing up the ground a bit with his legs.

Lowering his shoulder horns with anti air guns, the twin guns started to spin up, then release what could be described as a twin cyclone of bullets up towards Terrorsaur's missiles in a short burst, causing them to explode in mid air. His guns and upperbody moving as he then took aim on Terrorsaur firing off another short burst, having become distracted by the priority of taking out Terrorsaur. Even though his missiles weren't as powerful as Starshadow's attack against him, the AOE effect from the missiles was more dangerous to everyone around, including even Terrorsaur's own allies.

___________________________

"Sound advice Umbra. Arachnitron and I shall take to the trees and see what we can find, you and Spineback shall continue on foot for the moment, be sure to note any tracks that could be leading to or away from the pods crash site. Come Arachnitron"

Umbra nodded, while he could just as easily move through the trees, splitting into two teams of similar capabilities was probably a wiser choice incase of ambushes. Sounds fine to me, radio if you find anything.

Umbra then tapped the side of his head, his sonar visor coming down. Since the environment was so dark, he could atleast see a bit better with the device. Following the gametrail, he then came to a stop as he noticed something unusual. For a few frames, the visor seemed to distort the image around him. He looked a bit confused, tapping the visor What the.. Is this thing glitching out? he muttered to himself, then turned around looking noticing the visor seemed to black out a few times as he looked behind him.

Umbra tapped the side of his head as the visor went up, then pulled out a small flashlight turning it on and looking around So much for stealth.. I'm picking up some interference by something Spineback.. Might just be an animal, but can't be too careful.. he said quietly, shining the light along the ground, then up into the trees looking for anything out of place.

_______________________

"Let's go back to Cybertron. Unless you have any other options, I'm willing to hear them."

I would of assumed you'd rather go to your allies, but if possible, we should make a detour.. There's a space station we should probably stop at before returning to Cybertron..There's a contact there that can help register the ship for Cybertronian space, as well as handle certain cargo aboard the ship..

A holographic image displays a modified stasis pod, the display then disappears as the computer speaks up again.

Preparations complete, beginning launch.

The small drone that took a sample from Cecaelia is seen floating out of the ship, the Leviathan itself sealing it's hatches as it starts to float towards and enter the waterway, the walls opening as the ship passes out into the ocean, then take off into the sky.

(Or in otherwords, they can't go back to Cybertron because it'll mess up the game. But I know a way to keep Cece distracted from returning to cybertron so no worries. )

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

Optimus looked to Nexus as he placed a comforting hand on the younger one's shoulder. He attempted to return a weak smile but it was rather forced than canon.

"The situation is never so grave that there's no way to rise back up,"

But of course. Optimus knew that from first-hand experience, though he hadn't wanted to.

"Besides.. Megatron is in the same situation, is he not, so we are by no means at a disadvantage."

"Not necessarily," Primal said. "Megatron is willing to take the lives that stand in his way, but I will not. And that's what wears on me the most. Every time I send my crew into the battlefield, I worry that they won't come back. ...A few have not. Most of us are scientists and explorers, not soldiers," he reminded his mentor. "And if it isn't Megatron trying to terminate us, it's the Vok." Although, if the aliens are still around or know that the planet failed to blow up, they have been awfully quiet...

"I don't recall hopelessness being in the training manual, so cheer up, my friend. There is no place I would rather be."

A real, natural smile finally emerged on his face bearing his sharp teeth a little, as he joked, "That's only because you found your star pupil. I admit there have been times when my hope was hanging by a thread, when all seemed lost, and I'd stand there wondering how we've made it this far because I lacked the experience and confidence in leadership and war. There is always hope and optimism, but more importantly, there is my crew. If not for these extraordinary Maximals, I wouldn't be here. So, growing in this war with them I've come to realize that hopelessness is not an option no matter how bleak things may be."

"Some of it may be salvageable,"

Primal's orange optics thoughtfully examined the wreckage of the once beautiful vessel while he started to gently sift through it out of respect for all of the missions she had been through and for her Admiral. It was a shame Akira's ending came to this. And it was tough to see her in this condition when the last he saw the her was on Cybertron some time ago, long before he was made Captain and given his own ship and crew. He dreamed of having a ship like her some day but the Axalon had served him and his Maximals well despite its shortened lifespan in travel. It still provided them shelter and protection and a place to call "home".

"Orcariner to Optimus. I just picked up Megatron's signal on my radar. I'm willing to bet that he won't be alone within the next few minutes. Should I preemptively engage?"

The Commander stopped everything he was doing and stood up straight looking in the whale's direction when Orcariner's voice rang in on his personal radio. "I hope you haven't grown soft in your retirement, Nexus," Optimus said to him without looking at him but there was a fine line telling the difference between a teasing tone in his voice and a serious one. "If you have any blast shields that we can use, then they should be retrieved. And if the Akira's weapons systems are still functional, we're going to need all the help we can get." Turning to him, he added with great respect, not mockingly, "You must understand how much more damaging our new TransMetal technology can be against you. And Megatron has become even more powerful with the upgrade. So if you don't hang back with Whitegrazer and Aurora while Orcariner, Silverbolt and I engage, then I must insist that you be extremely cautious in battle." It wasn't that he doubted the Admiral's skills and capabilities, it was the fact that Nexus was unfamiliar with this territory of new technology and the way Megatron and his Predacons went all out in determination of depleting their sparks. Not to mention that if he lost Nexus... he might spiral out of control.

"Evasive maneuvers, Orcariner!" Optimus called to him through their transmission as a storm of fiery rain began pouring down on them in every direction from the Predacons. Looking down, Primal kicked up a piece of the ship's exterior armor with his foot, catching it in his hands and holding it up in front of him to block most of the relentless firepower from Megatron that had been aimed at himself and Nexus, giving the Admiral a chance to slip back inside his ship and help the females inside. If Megatron was aware of the Admiral's presence, then Optimus was going to do whatever it took to protect him because he knew what a threat he was to the Predacon's plans of domination and conquering.

He was going to warn Whitegrazer and Aurora of the heavy fire power outside but Optimus could feel that the white mare was already well aware of the Predacons that were present. And she and the ermine were on the move. They would be safe in the wreckage for now, but he had no doubt that Megatron would turn his attention on it to demolish it so no one could use anything from it, and when that happens, that would be the time to flee from inside before anyone would get trapped in the fiery hazard.

"Silverbolt, keep Quickstrike away from Orcariner!" the Commander ordered him over his comm. link.

Holding on to the armor with one hand like a shield as it was pummeled by the gun fire, Optimus grabbed his gun from his hip and aimed it at Megatron and Inferno, firing several shots at them sweeping his aim back and forth. He tried targeting their engines in order to ground them, but it was difficult to see past his make-shift shield and all the incoming firepower. Some of the impacts forced him a couple steps back at a time to keep his balance.

-----

"Is that a way to treat a ladu?"

Landslide looked like a sitting duck out there, and Rattrap did not like witnessing Starshadow jumping onto his back and clinging on to him like a fish on a shark. But Saber-Fang jumped into the fray near the rat and started firing at Starshadow. Phew. Hopefully she wouldn't accidentally hit Landslide. His attention was immediately turned back to Nemesis while her constant barrage of firepower hammered his rock causing him to duck back behind it. Shards and smaller pieces of stones and gravel flew off in every direction, a lot of it raining down on the Spy as he heard it ping on his armor and bound off of his body onto the ground. Taking a chance, he peeked around a spot that was being less hit and fired a few more shots at the female aviator before ducking away again.

"Why did it have ta be Nemesis an' Terrorsaur?" he repeated to himself out loud. This time he hoped the two felines would get in a scuffle so it would be less for Landslide to handle. He had seen the beetle knock Blackarachnia down but he doubted that she'd be out of the fight. "Wintersong, focus on Terrorsaur! Take 'im outta de sky!" he ordered the TM tigress on his comm. link.

[Alak]

"Invasive maneuvers, Orcariner!"

"Yes, sir!" Orcariner replied with resounding confidence.

With a loud battle cry, the flying killer whale transformed into his robot mode. The engines in his back and legs roared to life and propelled him towards the Predacons at maximum acceleration. The memory of his last fight with Megatron was still fresh in his databanks. However, this time he had a full team fighting alongside him. This time he had Optimus Primal as his field commander. The sentry's face plate sealed itself over his vulnerable mouth and he powered up his shield and sword. In the distance, Orcariner could make out green traces of light. Quickstrike was firing at him now, but the orca was not worried given the distance between the two of them. He knew from personal experience that trying to shoot down a flyer with straight shots was exceedingly difficult. Trying to shoot one from a long distance was nearly impossible. Regardless, Orcariner was quickly advancing on the Predacons' front line and given his size, it would become gradually easier for their gunners to land their marks. Again, he reminded himself that he was not alone in this fight. It was just the confidence he desperately needed in order to engage his primary target: Megatron.

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

Buster was having second thoughts about his beast mode. It was slow and it was clumsy. As he struggled to keep up with those who had vehicle modes, the llama wondered if he should have taken up Tantrum's facetious offer after all. He pushed that thought aside the best he could. Buster did not have to put up with his teammates' insults. Once he jumped into this fight, he would earn his right to stay with the Predacons.

"Then, they'll all be begging to give you free rides, Buster boy!" he said to himself, still panting while he jogged.

He could barely make out Tantrum's silhouette. It was a hard fact to swallow that the cow-tank was capable of outpacing him, especially given how slowly the guy rolled about. Buster supposed that it was easier to transverse long distances when one had wheels (or treads in this case) as opposed to having incredibly skinny legs. He was fairly certain that he would be plagued with shin-splints by the end of this mission.

"Man, why couldn't I have a fraggin' vehicle mode? What I'd give to be a llama-tank..."

His complaints drifted off into silence as he saw flashes of green in the distance. It looked as if someone had already started to fire off shots into the air. Buster's legs started to move a little faster. He could not believe that they would start without him. Sure, he was slow but every team has that slow person. At the very least they could have waited for him.

Nah, I wouldn't have even waited for myself.

"Shut up."

With a surge of adrenaline, the llama was now galloping in full stride. He could make out Megatron's massive body armor. Tantrum, another hard-to-miss figure, seemed to be swinging around for a flank. Everyone was shooting downward except for Quickstrike, who was still spitting out cyber-venom into the sky.

What in the world is he shooting at?

As Buster got closer to his teammates, he zoomed in his optics and caught a glance of what was in the sky.

Aw... slag.

Apparently, the Maximals managed to get their hands on some autobot-sized baby beluga. It was like a metallic meteor that was headed straight for Megatron, too. Buster quickly transformed and continued to sprint towards Megatron while hoisting his sizable rocket launcher onto his shoulder. A compartment in his left thigh opened up to reveal ammunition. Grabbing an explosive round, he put it between his teeth while fumbling with the loading chamber of his launcher.

Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on.

He slapped the rocket into the chamber and turned on the targeting computer to achieve a lock on the incoming Maximal titan.

Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on.

"SHADDUP!!!"

The light turned from yellow to red and Buster fired his rocket launcher. The rocket itself flew forward with incredible speed, marginally missing Megatron's head by half a meter, for which Buster was glad that he did not accidentally assassinate his own leader.

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

Still surging forward through the sky towards Megatron, Orcariner was surprised to hear his tactical headset detect an incoming missile. A target box was brought up on his HUD that locked onto the incoming projectile. Yet, due to Megatron's large body blocking out any visual of the original shooter, he had no idea who was aiming for him. As far as he knew, Quickstrike was the only Predacon who was even paying any attention to him. Regardless, Orcariner now had a locked-on warhead approaching him fast.

"Countermeasures?"

Unable to deploy in current mode.

Not willing to sacrifice his current momentum, Orcariner readied his sword and shield for action. He remembered watching some action movies back home on Cybertron where Autobots known as cyber-ninjas were able to casually slice through missiles and such with their swords. Part of him wondered if that would be possible in this case. If he could pull this off, then he would not lose any significant speed that would cost him a very valuable blitz against the superior Megatron. It was either that, or use his energy shield to endure the hit which would affect his velocity significantly. If he had more time, Orcariner would have processed the whole risk versus reward scenarios in his mind. Unfortunately, he only had less than a second to decide now.

Risk it!

His HUD was blinking vigorously to warn him of the imminent contact. Orcariner growled as he swung out with his sword to slice through the incoming projectile.

This might look really cool.

The rocket exploded before the Maximal's energo-sword even made contact. The explosion took Orcariner completely by surprise. His body left a trail of smoke as it tumbled down towards the Predacon lines. He was still going to make it towards his destination, just not exactly in the same way as he pictured it in his head. In his dazed state, he humorously remembered that surface to air missiles detonated on proximity, not on contact. At any other time, Orcariner would have laughed at his mistake. Instead, he simply stared blankly at the world spinning around him. It even appeared to continue to spin as his body crashed into the ground, leaving a heavy impact crater in the nearby vicinity.

"Ugh... Or-Orcariner to Optimus. I... I-I think I'm down."

Slow to get up, the orca palmed his temple with his left hand. His energy shield was in the process of recharging due to being depleted by the explosion and subsequent crash. Looking up, Orcariner's spark skipped a beat and suddenly his vision became clear once again. He was staring at Megatron and his Predacon team. Even a new Predacon carrying a rocket launcher, evidently the same one that shot him down, was arriving to the scene. Orcariner had hoped that he would fare a lot better in a fight against the purple T-Rex the second time around. Instead, it appeared that this was going to be a lot worse than before.

"Down... but definitely not out," he muttered under his breath, undeterred by the odds being stacked against him.

Unsheathing his energo-sword once more, he vigilantly readied himself for what was surely a tough fight ahead.

[starshadow]

Starshadow hissed when Saber shot her down off the beetle. She stood up, dusting herself and pulled out her gun, "I'm getting tired of you Saber.." She pulled the trigger and start firing, "Our little grudges mean nothing now. I have proven myself stronger than you are from our last two battles. Save yourself from another session of humiliation and turn back!"

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

"Sound advice Umbra. Arachnitron and I shall take to the trees and see what we can find, you and Spineback shall continue on foot for the moment, be sure to note any tracks that could be leading to or away from the pods crash site. Come Arachnitron"

Xychona narrowed her eyes at the group but kept silent. It seems the group was looking for her but what they did not know was that she was already out. None of the bots were familiar, definitely they are not to be trusted...yet. When male spider climbed up to the tree she was hanging on, her leg claws released the branch and her wings flapped silently, flying to another tree and hanged herself on another high branch. Since it was night time, she would probably have an advantage. (It's ninja time! Hide and seek~ )