(( OOC: NK, it's fine if your characters choose to ignore Primal's orders, but you could at least mention doing so instead of not addressing them at all.
))
"You are a fool..," "I merely took advantage of the weak link in the chain."
Zodiac was right, he was a fool. This had never been written in his job description. Unlike Zodiac and Megatron, Optimus was not witty or cunning enough to get even one step ahead of either of them, and now he was against them both in this war. Still, his hurtful words fueled Primal's temper to heighten even more, causing him to fire his weapon as much as his trigger finger would allow. In his fury, he seemed to lose his sense of reasoning and logic. It wasn't that he was trying to kill the pretender, he just wanted to knock him down, but it was clear that the shapeshifter's nanobot tech wasn't going to make that easy, at least not with the ape's weapon. Recognizing the bluish hue of the glow from the advanced armor that immediately started healing the wounds he received, Optimus realized that this wasn't going to go anywhere but him likely ending up on the floor in a heap of scrap metal instead. But he didn't have anything within his reach that was strong enough to electrocute the intruder.
"Sentinel.. Activate self-defense protocols. Destroy anyone that leave the hangar. In fact extend that order to include all the Maximals."
"Acknowledged."
"Belay those orders, Sentinel! Access security override, commanding officer Optimus Primal. Stand down, Sentinel!" the injured gorilla ordered the computer in rage over the gun fire. He wasn't sure it would comply, but he had to try. The last thing he wanted was their own defense system attacking his Maximals, who had already been through so much, and either chasing them outside and leaving them vulnerable to any Predacon attacks, or shooting them down inside their own base of operations like a canned hunt.
The fake Prime's return fire distracted Optimus from stopping him reaching for the button that activated the scanner again. Why was he so determined to use it? There was no reason for it anymore. ...Unless he had an alternative motive with the scan. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to think it through. A couple of his opponent's shots narrowly missed Primal simply because they were off target. But one hammered his left knee, nearly blowing it off entirely, leaving him with a yelp of pain. In such close proximity and his already weakened state, he was too slow to dodge it. His leg buckled but he twisted his torso so his arms could catch the console next to him and hold him up. Changing his gun from one hand to the other, he continued firing at "Nexus" while holding onto the console. If he couldn't take him down on his own, then he would distract him long enough for his Maximals to think of a way to help and carry it out.
A bright flash of light in the hangar blinded Optimus for a moment, and then he heard a boom, and the scanner had stopped. Peering down, he saw Landslide had taken it out indefinitely and was now making his way toward the observatory room. The leader continued firing at the shapeshifter from his slouch on the console, only his right leg managing to hold him up against it, keeping him occupied. More of Zodiac's shots whizzed by him until another hit his shoulder, throwing his arm backward and the pain causing him to drop his gun and roll him onto his back across the computer console. Primal watched part of the fraud's body change into a larger, more powerful weapon which then targeted his exposed chest and abdomen that were still very weak and unable to take any substantial hits without serious consequences. Optimus merely glared at him, knowing there was nothing left he could do to fight him off but that he wasn't alone either. Landslide was there now, standing at the entrance, targeting the impostor.
"R-R-Rhinox."
Pulling her all the way out of the room and to the top landing of the stairs, a trail of her fluids following across the floor, Rhinox moved her to the side out of the way, holding up his weapon to keep her protected just in case someone would attack her, and looked at her as she spoke.
"Help him."
"Don't speak, Whitegrazer," he told her. He could see that it was painful for her to do so and he frowned slightly. He started to look over her wounds, mindfully categorizing her in critical condition. Of course he wanted to help his friend, but she also needed immediate medical assistance, and if they lost her, Primal's entire world would probably implode. However, he couldn't give both backup to Optimus
and tend to Whitegrazer's injuries, so he was going to need help. And just like that, help came. Landslide made his way to the observatory room, landing just feet away from him and the equine and shaking the stairs with the vibration, blocking the entrance and firing off an electrical blast at the shapeshifter. It was exactly what they needed to take him down.
"Needs...you. Needs a friend right now. Nemesis, too.... if she wants to. If she hasn't left yet..." "But you have to..." "I don't want him to... do... something. Don't want...energon on his hands. Not now. Not like this. Even if the shapeshifter may deserve it."
"He'll be alright, Whitegrazer," he tried assuring her.
"Landslide is here, he's helping Optimus. You need to sit still and calm down." Then, two other voices nearby caught the engineer's attention, and looked at them.
How are you holding up, miss?
"Whitegrazer.." "I'm fine..Had it worse than this," "I have to get back in there..Will you cover me?"
You're going to ask for cover at a choke point with limited mobility against an enemy made of nanomachines.. Not to mention that room has your allies in it. Here's a better solution.. Wait for him to get out of the room and hit his backside with this. Make sure no one is standing near him, it'll explode in 2 seconds after you squeeze and throw it and shower him in acid.I'll take a different vantage point to increase the odds. After that.. hit him with whatever you got.
"Wait!" Rhinox called out to Umbra and Banshee.
"We don't want to kill him or disintegrate him when we still have questions that need answers. We know electrocution stops the nanobots and Landslide is providing that offense right now. I have a tranquilizer dose heavy enough to keep him sedated if I can administer it." Pulling out some medical equipment from his subspace with his free hand, he glanced down the stairs to see Aurora squabbling with Cheetor, even threatening him with a taser.
"Cheetor, let her pass. I need her to help me patch up Whitegrazer's potentially lethal wounds. There's no time to waste!" he insisted while she had managed to push past him anyway.
In his small pouch of first-aid equipment was a small spot welder.
"Aurora, we need to stop her from bleeding out; she has already lost a lot of fluids," the chief medical officer instructed her.
"Start welding the larger holes on her abdomen to close them."
"Hold on, Whitegrazer, I'm just going to roll you on to your side so I can see your back," he warned her. He moved her slowly and gently to examine her backside which also consisted of holes and leaking fluids. Rhinox sighed quietly to himself, taking a breath since he was exhausted and without rest for some time now. He was beginning to grow groggy and sluggish just operating on Optimus earlier and now there was all of this to deal with. But he had to push it aside somehow and focus on the life that was in his and Aurora's hands.
"Some of these holes have penetrated all the way through her body," Rhinox told Aurora.
"There are damaged internal wires, tubes, circuitry, and nerves," he examined.
Optimus, awkwardly smiling at Zodiac before he had turned away as if he knew something that he didn't, watched him suddenly fly across the room, hitting a wall and then falling to the floor after Landslide zapped him. Rolling over onto his side draped on the console to see what was happening next, Primal's footing slipped and he slid down on to the floor with a little thud. Sitting up, he watched Zodiac smoking and starting to change. He tried to look strong and defiant as the shapeshifter turned his head to look at him. Their optics locked, and before his eyes, Optimus recognized what the nanobots were doing as they lost control, succumbing to the voltage of electricity that the beetle had shocked them with. They were going through the bots that they had mimicked like Nemesis, Aurora, himself (which was a bit unsettling, to say the least), Ironclaw and ones he wasn't familiar with. It was a rapid succession that Zodiac had clearly lost all control over, even his weapon, until they finally settled into a stable form. Unfortunately, as he stared at him, he still wasn't sure who he was. Nothing but his name and what he was triggered anything. But he obviously had a personal vendetta against him.
"Thank you, Landslide," he said gratefully, looking up at him from the floor.
"Rhinox!" he called for him.
Upon hearing his name called, Rhinox told Aurora,
"Stay here with her," and got up, grabbing the tranquilizer from the kit and squeezing in past the larger beetle. His crimson optics scanned the room quickly, finding Optimus and Zodiac on the floor.
"Hurry... While he's unable to move," the TransMetal gorilla ordered his friend.
The engineer nodded and made his way to Zodiac, cautious at first since he wasn't entirely sure what a shock like that would do to someone who seemed so powerful and almost invincible. Kneeling down, he stabbed the shapeshifter with the syringe and then injected the heavy tranquilizer. He stood back to make sure it would take effect on him.
When he was fairly certain that the situation was finally under control, Primal relaxed, causing him to involuntarily tremble for a few minutes, trying to process everything.
"Whitegrazer?!" he suddenly asked.
"She's with Aurora. She's going to need a lot of time for repairs," he answered him, standing by Zodiac with his large chain gun targeting him in case the sedation wasn't going to work.
Optimus only nodded, searching for her in their connection as he sat there, looking somewhat bewildered, every so often glancing at Zodiac as if he were expecting him to jump up and attack.
Meanwhile, Rattrap hurried along through the hallways until Sentinel had apparently been ordered to track him and attack him. Any guns that had been spared from the earlier chaos were now targeting him.
"Slag!" he said and reached back, detaching one of his hubcaps to use as a shield while wielding his gun in his other hand. As the turret fired at him, he blocked with his hubcap which ricocheted the shot and then returned fire, scrapping the gun. He moved on as quickly as he could before encountering another one and more after that.
"Come on, Sentinel. We've already been through dis before, remember? I thought we were friends now," he joked. It was unlikely that a program he helped design and knew everything about could stop him.
Take that, Zodiac. "I ain't the enemy!" Taking down gun after gun with his master marksmanship, he continued for the command center where more controls would be accessible to him.
"Hello?! Repairs done! Let me out!" "Yo! If anyone can hear me, can I help or maybe join in?"
Rattrap was jogging by the room when he heard Blackarachnia calling out from inside the CR chamber that Optimus had placed her in. He stopped and backtracked, entering the room where the guns had already been taken out by the fake Ironclaw.
"Ain't nobody lettin' you out, she-spider. We got enough problems of our own right now and don't need you makin' 'em worse. Capeesh? So just sit tight and shut up."
))
