"Bad Spark"

[Phoenix]

The noise from approaching footsteps caused the young male to stir from his spot curled up in the corner. He felt cold.. and a bit nauseated from the constant hunger.. but most of all he was frightened. He had been covering in the corner for a while now, well knowing what was about to happen. Not that he had any means to tell the time in the small cell they had provided him since there were no windows for him to see if it was day or nighttime, no clocks on the wall, and they had disabled his internal clock long ago as it was deemed unnecessary in the overall progression of the experiments. Still.. he knew. A part of him could sense it and he felt the dread build up inside him as the time drew near.

As the steps got closer, he forced himself to lay as still as he possibly could as not to tempt their ire. Not again. Not now that his aching body was still trying to recover from the last onslaught they unleashed upon him for disobeying their whim. And as he lay there, he dared to hope for that single fraction of a nanoclick, that maybe.. just maybe.. they were merely here to check up on him or perhaps even grant him some nourishment since it had been quite a while since the last time he ate.

Of course the chances of that were pretty slim.

"Get up."


The voice was cold, frigid almost, and most unforgiving. It was a new guard this time around, or perhaps it had just been a while since the last time he had dealt with this one. The young male couldn't be sure since most of them tended to blend together. Regardless nothing would change, the end results were always the same.

A moment later the guard repeated himself, and the words were accompanied by a slight kick from the tip of the guard's boot. Then another, slightly stronger kick when the first one didn't receive the reaction they were expecting. Still the young male didn't move, didn't say anything, just lay there curled up in a heap as if hoping he could simply turn invisible and fade out of existence.

He expected another kick, a harder one than the first two, and his aching body tensed up with the anticipation. But the kick never came, instead another voice entered the mix.

"Is there a problem here?"

"He's not cooperating," the guard responded with an annoyed huff.

The young male recognized the other voice as belonging to one of the scientists, a fact that hardly made him feel any safer. Their experiments had gone way too far for that, the torments they had inflicted upon him had burned into his very spark. He knew he couldn't trust them. Yet they.. and this life was all he knew.

"I see."

He could feel the piercing stare of the scientist fall upon him and at that moment he couldn't help but shudder. The scientist took note of this and knelt down next to him, placing what should have been a reassuring hand on the trembling youth's shoulder. But what should have been an act of comfort, a slight kindness in this Pit of an existence, felt like anything but. A fact that resulted in the male tensing up even more.

The scientist did not seem phased by the response brought about by his simple touch. Instead he simply remained where he was, not concerned at all by his proximity to the youth despite what he had been designed to be capable of.

"You should feel honored," the scientist continued as he addressed the young male while the guard paced impatiently behind him, "You have made some remarkable achievements thus far. With you we have accomplished something never seen before in the Cybertronian race. You are the first of a new breed."

Slowly, ever so slowly, the youth turned his head to look at the scientist, a single tear travelling down his cheek witnessing of the intense emotional turmoil he was struggling with. Realizing the tear was there, the youth turned his face away again, knowing from experience how they responded to signs of weakness like that.

The scientist merely looked at him for a long moment, his hand still squeezing the young male's shoulder. His face was an unreadable mask, completely devoid of emotions, as was always the case. They appeared to be devoid of emotions, a trait the youth envied them. Perhaps one day he'd be able to emulate their behavior.

"We've talked about this before," he continued in the same serious tone. "You need to endure and in time you will prosper. " He paused for a brief moment before removing his hand from the shoulder and standing up. The young male followed his movements with his gaze, still not saying a single word. And for a couple of seconds their gazes met in a silent understanding before the scientist broke the silence.

"Now come before I let the guard force you."

The young male cringed at that, knowing well what such a promise entailed. He then tried to force himself back up yet his legs refused to cooperate, no matter how much he attempted to force out the willpower to get up. Finally he managed to get on his hands and knees, but as he glanced up at the scientist he could see that he had run out of patience and nodded to the guard.

And the blow came hard and fast..

Zodiac's form hit the hard floor with a loud thud. He immediately used his hands to push his upper body up a bit as he scanned his surroundings, an overwhelming combination of confusion and panic making it hard for him to pull his thoughts together and think clearly. But his frantic visual search to locate his attacker wielded nothing. There were no attackers, no immediate threat to his survival, nobody else there.

He was alone.

Sighing in relief that it had only been a dream yet also cursing himself for falling asleep, the shapeshifter's attention quickly got drawn to the hologram of Nexus Prime that was still playing.

"They've kept me locked up here in this cell for several days now," Nexus said, clearly referring to his time in captivity just before Zodiac had disguised himself as Optimus and killed him. The shapeshifter scowled a bit at the hologram as he got off the floor and briefly dusted himself off.

How long had he been asleep for..?

His spark was still racing faster than normal and it was only now he could start to relax a bit again, the pulsations slowly returning to normal. Even now, though, his senses remained on high alert.

Just a dream, he told himself as he kicked the empty bottle he had dropped as he hit the floor away. Or a memory, rather, since the events in the dream had really taken place a long time ago. These memories had mostly faded now, mainly returning in his dreams. There was a reason he didn't like to sleep..

"I'm trying to stay positive, but part of me is starting to believe I will not be leaving this place alive," the hologram continued in the background.

Whatever gave that away?, the shapeshifter thought sarcastically, remembering how he had located the journal hidden in the cell in the aftermath of the mighty Nexus Prime's demise. At the time it had felt like quite the treasure containing all of the admiral's secrets, so he had to make sure he hid it well.

"I'm sorry, Optimus..," the aging admiral's voice continued, "It looks like your rescue will happen without me there to lead it. "

What a sentimental old fool.


Unbeknownst to Nexus, Zodiac had already intercepted the Viper at this point. His trusted lieutenant, the one he had selected to carry on the rescue mission until Nexus could follow with his own ship and troops, was dead. Although the Viper had launched regardless, heading to whatever coordinates it had been programmed for.

"If you ever do find this journal, Optimus, I want you to know that I never gave up hope that I would get you back. The Maximals need you, my boy, now more than ever. They will need your expertise, your guidance, your strength. And despite your doubts, I do not share them. You are everything I ever hoped to become and more."


A long sigh followed, the hologram revealing just how tired the aging admiral was. The almighty Nexus Prime showing his true self, and it took imprisonment and pending death to do it. Go figures..

"My time in this world is nearing its end.. I can feel it drawing closer every day that goes by. And I'm so very sorry I cannot be there for you.. Just know that I have placed all my faith in you, Optimus. You are our future. I have tried my best to show you the path, but only you can choose to make that final step. I believe in you, Optimus. Because of who you are, not because of what I've given you. I know you'll do the right thing when it's your turn to decide."


Zodiac had finally started listening to the sentimental nonsense the hologram was spewing out, partially due to some lingering hope the old fool would reveal some important piece of information in his near-death confession but also as it helped him focus on the task at hand instead of the horrific memories from his upbringing.

Yet where he expected there to be desperate pleading for a life the admiral surely knew he could never have again, there was instead an odd acceptance of reality. And more surprisingly..

"I have made many mistakes in my life. And I will likely never get the chance to ask you to learn from them. You see.. One of those mistakes is here and will surely cost me my life."


For the first time in a while, Zodiac's attention snapped to the flickering holographic version of Nexus Prime. What was he..

"Zodiac is alive. I've seen him among my captors. He's in disguise, of course, but I know it's him. Even with his no doubt extensive training, he can't hide that look he sends me."


Zodiac raised an optic ridge as he paused the hologram to give him a moment to digest this bit of news.

If Nexus Prime had seen through his disguise and knew it was him, that would also mean he must have realized it wasn't Optimus who killed him in those last few moments. Perhaps he hid the truth of this realization in an attempt to save his longtime pupil from the shapeshifter's wrath.. Such a grand notion made sense, even though it had ultimately failed to prevent the renegade from targeting Optimus next.

The thought of the old Maximal knowing who caused his death and still allowed it to happen without putting up a fight, however futile that would have been, angered the shapeshifter immensely. Enough so that he smacked the journal off the table it had been resting on, the hologram flickering a couple of times before turning off when the journal hit the floor. After staring in the journal's general direction for a few moments, Zodiac eventually turned his attention to the stolen golden disk that remained on the table.

"Outnumbered and outgunned. Your lackeys can't even stop me before..except for Umbra. Unfortunately he won't be able to now."

Nemesis shook her head. It was interesting to see how delusional the female was and how futile her pathetic attempts to save her beloved would surely be. Surely she didn't expect to get anywhere with this?

The avian female didn't hesitate when the crazed feline darted towards Megatron, immediately opening fire on her. It hardly mattered anymore if Starshadow.. or Nightstar as she seemed to be calling herself now, fell at Megatron's feet. In a sense it would be poetic justice given how unreliable and troublesome the other female had proven to be. She had become a problem, one that needed to be dealt with swiftly and hopefully painfully.

Meanwhile the white mare had taken it upon herself to flee, taking the mortally wounded fuzor with her. In a sense Nemesis was kind of relieved to see the mare-revealed-to-be-vok depart, given how peculiar her own encounters with the other female had been. Nemesis hadn't forgotten how she had been unable to destroy the white mare's spark when she was at her mercy, despite having had no real reason to let her live. Fortunately Megatron had not witnessed that little fiasco.. Albeit someone else had seen it..

"Where oh where could your spark be," he taunted, although he was uncertain as to the accuracy of its location. "Well, there's only one way to find out..."

Optimus.

Nemesis kept her focus on the crazed feline female, not wanting her own sense of conscience get in the way of Megatron's plans. After all it was Optimus' own fault he had gotten himself trapped in this situation. Right..? The foolish Maximal insisted on putting up a fight against someone who held every advantage right now. And there was nothing she could do to alleviate the altercation without putting her own position at risk.

"You're a fool... if you think... that'll keep him... argh... under your control! Remember what you said... about oppression, Megatron!"

Megatron threatened to do the same to Primal as he had just done to X. To carve his spark in half, which would certainly result in Primal's death. Exactly how X had survived, Nemesis wasn't sure. Perhaps that was the larger red male's advantage that made him such an important target in this war, one that both Maximals and Predacons fought to possess. And Nightstar of course, likely for other reasons.

Nightstar proved herself the fool when she proceeded to attack Megatron, but in doing so she also spared Primal a similar fate to that of X who remained still on the ground. Nemesis continued shooting at the other female, determined to bring her down.

Meanwhile Aurora remained unconscious, even as Rhinox halted the repairs and started moving her head to examine her wounds more closely. The wound on her head was still very much so visible even as the CR chamber had partially started the necessary repairs to close it up again. Her vital signs had started to stabilize by the time Rhinox opened the chamber, but she still had more repairs that needed to be done before her she'd be strong enough to come out of stasis.

Perhaps this was fortunate in a sense as well, especially given the dire situation Optimus had gotten himself into. And the torment Whitegrazer was going through as a result of all of this, one so intense it even threatened to bring out her true Vok appearance. Aurora slept through it all, even as Rhinox placed her back into the CR chamber to allow it to finish its repairs.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"Oh, I did show some of them my true potential. They just din't survive the demonstration."

Megatron had chuckled at X's comment. He would have made a formidable Predacon with his own free will, but alas, the tyrant was well aware that he would never follow under his command unless he had no choice. But now he had successfully stripped that freedom away from him. Now, X was his. Despite the foolish Maximals' desperate attempts to keep him out of his reach, and Primal failing the experimental protoform yet again, Megatron had gained an invincible member to his team who no doubt seethed with rage toward the Maximals.

"No one should be a puppet or a slave to anyone."

"I suppose you would have personal experience in that," the Predacon leader had told Whitegrazer while briefly stroking his chin as if he was actually being thoughtful about it. But then he just as quickly shrugged it off and added, "The Vok lack morality, and they use their own kind to further their goals. Well, the same could be said about the Maximal Elders for that matter. In any case, is this not a favor what I've done for you? Now X can be controlled instead of taking his life or roaming free and causing another massacre." He had grinned at her and Optimus.

The Maximal Commander watched Megatron squeeze X's spark, and then immediately looked at X when he screamed in pain and writhed on the ground. So, this had been his plan all along. It wasn't going to last. Sooner or later, X will regain his freedom and Megatron will regret this day. As the gun fire flew at Starshadow, Optimus remained on the ground so as not to draw attention to himself, but he slowly grabbed his clubs that had fallen to his sides and reattached them to his back. He wasn't going to be able to take too many more hits with his energy depleted and his injuries bogging his systems, but that wasn't going to stop him from doing the right thing. With any luck, Whitegrazer would have succeeded in returning to the Axalon with Aurora and sending more reinforcements to rescue him.

"I will enjoy feasting on your still pulsating spark!"

Watching X managing to stand up and then charge at him, Megatron glared at him and then squeezed his half of his spark even tighter for a longer duration in order to stop him in his tracks before he could reach him and inflict any harm.

With his nemesis distracted with X and the rest of the Preds focusing on Starshadow to keep her from attacking their dictator, Optimus got to his feet and tackled Megatron, wrapping his arms around his waist to make sure he had a good hold of him in order to knock him off of his feet.

"Oof!" Megatron growled when he hit the ground on his back. Dizzy for a moment, he hadn't realized what happened or who had taken him down seemingly out of no where. In fact, the first thing he realized was that his hand that had been holding his prized possession was now empty. With a faint gasp, he tried to sit up and look for X's spark, but then a fist collided with his face and he was forced back to the ground.

"What in tarnation?! That monkey don't know when ta quit!" Quickstrike proclaimed to get the other Predacons' attention on Primal while he began firing his venom at him once he realized that Megatron had been overthrown again.

After taking Megatron down in hopes of him dropping the spark, Optimus knew his Predacons would be targeting him now, so he turned around and activated the blasters on his back after he pulled them up over his shoulders. He started firing at Quickstrike, then down the line at Tarantulas, then Inferno, and when he got to Nemesis, he purposely only fired at the ground near her feet to keep her back without intentionally harming her.

Inferno was blown off of his feet as he cried out in pain and anger until he landed several feet away from the group.

The small Fuzor dived to the side to avoid the ape's firepower, sliding a little across the dirt, and quickly returned another shot with his cobra head.

"Argh!" Primal felt the sting in his knee as his entire leg suddenly glowed with the green venom and then collapsed to the ground as it went numb. Deactivating his blasters while he knelt there, he grabbed a club and swung it at the rest of the shots Quickstrike fired at him, ricocheting them until one finally hit him square in his chest. Every time he swung, however, it made him shudder as he twisted and stretched the hole on his side. There were faces he kept seeing in his mind that pushed him to keep going and fighting. They motivated him and inspired him. It was a strength that no one, not even Megatron or Zodiac, could take from him. The faces included his Maximals especially his youngest ones, Cheetor and Aurora, and of course Whitegrazer, and Nexus Prime. Then he felt a vice around his neck from behind. ...Megatron.

The Predacon leader squeezed the clamps on the end of his tail weapon to strangle the one who constantly got in his way.

Optimus gagged and struggled to break free, but it was futile while his back was facing him and his leg was still paralyzed. He grabbed one of the pincers with his free hand to try and pry himself free, but he was too weak and the teeth in the clamp made it nearly impossible to pull out of it. With some panic now, he dropped his club and used both hands to try and break loose, but Megatron squeezed it even more and then lifted him off of his feet.

"I should snap your neck right here and be rid of you, Optimus Primal!" he said angrily as he watched the Maximal squirm and kick while dangling him above the ground, finding some kind of sick amusement with the torture.

"Why... hesitate?" he taunted him in a choked voice.

Suddenly, a gun shot flew by Optimus' side and hammered the tail gun. Then several more followed past his feet and hammered Megatron in his knees. The tyrant was forced to release Optimus just as he fell to the ground. His knees throbbed and ached, and he looked around to find who carried out the assault. He growled deeply with anger when he spotted the culprit.

Primal fell hard to the ground, coughing and gasping for air before he could get to his hands and knees and look up to find Rattrap firing at the rest of the Predacons. Thank the Matrix.

"Time ta bail, Fearless leader!" the Maximal Spy told his commanding officer. Of course, his optics couldn't help but notice Banshee's mutilated body in the center of the disaster area, or rather what was left of it. The gruesome sight pained him... Another friend lost in this senseless war of Megatron's. It fueled his accuracy, however, which was what Optimus really needed right now in order to get him out of there.

Primal nodded lightly as he rubbed his neck and grabbed his club. But what about the spark? Where was the other half of X's spark? He frantically searched with his optics for it.

Instead of returning fire on that wretched rodent, Megatron reached for the spark that had bounced between a couple rocks and was only in his line of vision instead of Primal's. He grabbed it before its rightful owner could.

-----

"They must hurry."

"They're two of our fastest Maximals, Whitegrazer. They'll make it," Rhinox assured her as he watched her clutch a fist over her chest again. Still, he eagerly anticipated a status report from Rattrap.

"Megatron pulled out some kind of curve, energon blade. I think was it was raw."

Could raw energon really sever a spark in half without destroying it? Even one like X's? as intriguing as that was to Rhinox, he'd have to research more about it later. If that was really the case, then perhaps there was no way to take X off-line and he'd have to be forced back into stasis lock.

As Whitegrazer sat down, he examined the wound on the back of her head while she explained how Aurora's I.D. chip was missing.

"It was Zodiac."

"Zodiac?" Rhinox repeated taken aback. He was alive after all, but he was doing with Aurora's chip was quite a mystery. Or was it...? He continued listening to the Vok-turned-Maximal as her hoarse voice cleared to a softer tone.

"When I came to help Optimus and Aurora, there were two Auroras. One was Zodiac, and the other was our Aurora. Our Aurora had a severe wound to the head. I thought maybe Zodiac just hit her hard enough to keep her down. I didn't realize he took her identification chip." "No wonder he caused her such a deep wound to the head."

He glanced at the CR chamber that was busy repairing the young, white Fuzor as he recalled Sentinel being unable to detect her signature. If it couldn't detect her's, was it possible that it would have read Zodiac as Aurora instead if he had intended on infiltrating their base during the battle with him disguised as her? And if that was the case, for whatever purpose that could have been, was he still around? No, he couldn't be, otherwise Sentinel would have picked him up. But why go to all of that trouble? And was he really that heartless to leave her to die after stealing her chip? It wasn't often that Rhinox got angry, mostly when Rattrap would disobey Optimus' orders, but the callousness of Zodiac's actions to someone so vulnerable and kind boiled his mech fluid. Although, if he had known that she was the one who created that anti-nanobot serum, he might add her to his death list.

After Whitegrazer had touched the back of her neck which was covered in her own blood, the chief medical officer grabbed a clean rag and wiped off the rest of it before draping it around her shoulders and the base of her neck to catch anymore that oozed from the horrible wound.

"It wasn't Optimus' pain I was feeling. It was X. Megatron used that energon blade to cut half of X's spark out, and I was forced to feel it."

Grabbing some medical tools and supplies, Rhinox paused for a moment upon her confession. "You're linked with X?" He shook his head in disapproval not that she could see him behind her. "Whitegrazer, that's incredibly dangerous," he warned her. "And that's what was splitting your form when Megatron was splicing his spark in half?" He couldn't even imagine that kind of anguish and how someone could survive it, even if it wasn't physically happening to them. Despite the engineer's large hands and the strength behind them, he was very gentle with her wound as he cleaned it and performed some temporary repairs on it.

"But Optimus is in trouble too."

"Optimus is always in trouble," he commented from behind as he worked. "As our leader it comes with the job description in a war like this." Glancing over her shoulder, he could see her wiping away the blood on her face that didn't match her own. "Whose fluid is that?" He was almost afraid to ask since she had told them that Banshee had been violently killed.

"I didn't want to leave Optimus there, but Aurora was dying. Optimus gave a distraction and I took it. I had no choice." "If only I opened my link to him..."

"Then Optimus did what he thought was best to save both of you," the rhinoceros tried to console her. "He's a very opportunistic Maximal, and when he sees an opening, he won't want to waste it. It's our job to obey his commands when he gives them in order to carry out the advantage he's spotted no matter how much we don't want to leave him. Trust me, Whitegrazer, I've known him for a long time now, and it always concerns me that I'm here in the base more often than in the battle field to back him up. But I go wherever he needs me because I trust his leadership and judgement. You saved Aurora's life by bringing her back here when you did. She wouldn't have survived had you not left Optimus' side. We both know he can handle himself, but since he's outnumbered, Rattrap will give him the back-up he needs and retrieve him." Her last statement peaked his curiosity, so he asked her, "Why have you kept your link blocked from him? Has it been that way since the incident with the Vok and their Metal Hunter? I can't imagine him holding a grudge against your 'secret' identity, if that's the case." Perhaps Optimus would have needed time to adjust after learning her origin which came from the very race that repeatedly sought him as a target for some reason, but he was wiser in knowing that their actions didn't define her. She was her own being, an individual, and although she had a very complicated past, who she had proven herself to be during the Beast Wars thus far was who Optimus had fallen in love with and trusted his life. "There," he said as he finished up her bandaging. He cleaned up his supplies and walked around to stand before her. "You'll still need to log some time in the CR, so I want you to do that as soon as we're finished here. Besides, I'm sure you wouldn't want Aurora to see you like this when she emerges from her repair cycle."

-----

"Really?" "You boasted and jested about your big old source of power too quickly, and it was snatched away from you as quickly as you got it. Take my advice, ptedactyl idiot, if you can't handle the power, especially with that new body of yours, give to someone who can! Like me!"

"I'd sooner take Rattrap's advice over yours, you sniveling, back-stabbing spider!" Terrorsaur retorted as an insult. Did she actually think she could handle this TransMetal power better than him? Hah! "I seem to recall how blinded you were by the Vok's power on that floating island, and you lost complete control of the situation, even when you had everything at your fingertips!"

"Oh? You would find out how little of a Maximal I really am."

"Don't bother denying it. It's in your programming!" he smirked back at her. He watched her flip in the air backwards a couple times as his optic lasers followed her, shooting at the ground as they missed her feet and claws in their timing. He grumbled at himself and tried shooting her in the air as she suddenly leaped off of a tree and came flying at him in her beast mode. He tried blocking her with his wing blade, but she managed to land on him. Feeling all of her legs touching him really grossed him out, and he frantically tried grabbing one of them to pull her off as he spun around. "You think you're so nimble, but let's see how well you fair in the air!" and he suddenly blasted off into the sky, taking her with him as his unwanted passenger.

[una]

"I suppose you would have personal experience in that,"

Well, in a way, she did. The Maximal Elders treated her like a weapon rather than understanding what and who she really was. Similar to X as well as Nemesis and Zodiac. For the High council, maybe it was their way of trying to cope with the idea of how powerful she was or the very concept of a cosmic being. Labeling her as a soldier, as a weapon, made it easier for them to do what they did to her. They were just lucky that she let their morals and laws stop her from claiming any vengeance against them. Though, part of her wonders if she did claim her vengeance, how would that have helped for X, or Nemesis, or Zodiac, or Optimus and the others who took part in such experiments and regretted it later? But she made her decision and she would stand by it.

"The Vok lack morality, and they use their own kind to further their goals. Well, the same could be said about the Maximal Elders for that matter. In any case, is this not a favor what I've done for you? Now X can be controlled instead of taking his life or roaming free and causing another massacre."

"I admit the faults of my people, and myself, as I am not as foolish or deluded as the High Council to believe I am a saint and the be all end all of morality itself, but it's hard to take advice towards a Cybertronian like yourself about morality." Whitegrazer shook her head. "You, Megatron, complained about our morality or lack thereof, and yet, you have tortured, manipulated, and used fear and intimidation to bring your troops in line. I have no doubt you would sacrifice your own people if it helped to secure you a powerful standing or Godhood. You pride yourself over controlling X? Please, don't not try and tell us you did it for our benefit. You knew his nature, and knew he won't join your cause willingly, so you will cut out half his spark, torture him into compliance and submission. You did not care for his life selflessly. You wish to use you for your own goals. You prevented a massacre? No, you prevented him from killing you, and I have no doubt in my mind, you would unleash him upon us. You proved me correct in my assumption about you, and you aren't no savior for Cybertron or your people. "


X wanted to grab a hold of this purple tyrant and rip him apart piece by piece, but before he could manage to grip him, Megatron squeezed his spark, and the pain surged him once more, stepping him in his tracks. He went down on my knee and held his spark area as he screamed in agony. But the pain immeidately stopped. Optimus Primal tackled Megatron to ground. He narrowed his eyes. The other half of his spark! He wanted to stand up and run towards it, but his body was still recovering from the surge. He looked at Nightstar, "Nightstar! My spark!" He pointed to the contraception, so Nightstar could go and get it, but his beloved sadistic kitten was overwhelmed and subdued. "NO!!!" X, for a split second, was torn between his possessive and angry over his companion's state or his drive to not be a slave to this purple tyrant.

He couldn't be a slave to anyone. Not again. Never again!

X ran towards the purple box, reaching for it when Tarantulas fired at him. Optimus had fired at the perverse spider previously, but he dodged the disgustingly persistent Maximal ape's. He was about to return the flavor when he noticed X's charge towards the purple box. After remembering what the giant crab did to him, he didn't want a repeat.

X fell down on his stomach and growled. But the purple box was in his reach! He must take it! Take it! His hand reached out but Tarantulas fired some webbing around his wrist and pulled it back. X growled as more webbing wrapped around his hand. He snarled and pulled back.

"AGGHHH! Can someone please help me here?" Tarantulas yelled out towards his comrades while grunting as he attempted to keep X from grabbing the purple box.

X got up on one of his knees and with one snap, the webbing tore off. Tarantulas yelped and fell back on his behind.

The webbing still lingered around X's wrist. He would deal with that later, and he turned around to see Megatron grabbing the box!

"NOO!" He snarled. His hands reached out and choked Megatron. He choked the purple tyrnat and started shaking him, "You presume to control me?!! I will do to you what I did to all those Maximal scientists back at Omicron! I would show you my true potential you gladly wanted to see so badly!"

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"They're two of our fastest Maximals, Whitegrazer. They'll make it,"

She didn't mean to sound so pushy or disrespect her comrades, as she knew they would be haste in saving him as they all wished to not lose more in this war. She was just worried for Optimus. Especially with X under Megatron's control.

"Zodiac?"

"Yes, though, I wonder why he went through all that trouble." Whitegrazer mused. What are you doing, Zodiac? What are you up to? "Rhinox, maybe we should check the sensors, and see if Sentinel has acknowledged her identification ship." Did he even have time to use it properly? She didn't know. She just wanted to be cautious.

"You're linked with X?" He shook his head in disapproval not that she could see him behind her. "Whitegrazer, that's incredibly dangerous," he warned her. "And that's what was splitting your form when Megatron was splicing his spark in half?"

"It was supposed to be temporary. Back at the forest, I wanted to reach out to his spark and tried to find a peaceful solution that didn't result in anyone getting hurt. X... is powerful. Not in only his arsenal, but in his spark. His experiences have left a taint, a passionate yet lingering darkness inside his spark. The pain and torment he went through on Omicron has shaped him in more ways than one. Pain, to him, a reality every day, and yet, a hunger that drives him to violence. " Whitegrazer sighed. It wasn't an excuse, but it was a tiny understanding she had got from X. Pain, his curse and his pleasure. Such a juxtaposition and a horrifying experience. "Yes, the pain was so intense and real that my computer systems thought it was happening to me. What you saw was like a soul stretching out towards the afterlife, or at least, thought it must until reality set in. My computer systems realized I wasn't in any danger or damage and everything went back to normal. Such a strange experience, and yet, a horrifying one to witness for you and Rattrap, wasn't it?" She didn't realize how intense it would be, but it was a spark being split in half. She should have expected such a horrific display, but she didn't think she would be feeling it. X forced the issue.

"Optimus is always in trouble," he commented from behind as he worked. "As our leader it comes with the job description in a war like this."

"True, but after what happened last time I left him with the Predacons..." She didn't really want to go through that all over again. "I want no one to be put in that type of position again."

"Whose fluid is that?"

"Banshee's. I spare you the details. Believe me, you don't want to know." She tried to wipe some more of the fluid off her face. "Apologies. Aurora was close to death, being threatened by death by Megatron, watching Starshadow kill Banshee right in front of my and Optimus' optics, Megatron's gloating and promises of pain towards Optimus, and feeling myself and X being ripped into pieces. I'm just... I don't want to see or taste death again."

"Then Optimus did what he thought was best to save both of you," the rhinoceros tried to console her. "He's a very opportunistic Maximal, and when he sees an opening, he won't want to waste it. It's our job to obey his commands when he gives them in order to carry out the advantage he's spotted no matter how much we don't want to leave him. Trust me, Whitegrazer, I've known him for a long time now, and it always concerns me that I'm here in the base more often than in the battle field to back him up. But I go wherever he needs me because I trust his leadership and judgement. You saved Aurora's life by bringing her back here when you did. She wouldn't have survived had you not left Optimus' side. We both know he can handle himself, but since he's outnumbered, Rattrap will give him the back-up he needs and retrieve him."

Rhinox was right. She smiled. She knew he was. She did the right thing, even if she felt guilty for leaving Optimus there. She would have felt guilty anyway if she defy Optimus' orders and let Aurora die because she didn't want to leave him.

"Why have you kept your link blocked from him? Has it been that way since the incident with the Vok and their Metal Hunter? I can't imagine him holding a grudge against your 'secret' identity, if that's the case."

"It's not just because of my deception. Though, I knew I needed to give him some space, so he could have time to process what happened. It is because of the drawings." She was rather spook by Optimus' drawings, if even she didn't show it. She realized how deep and subconscious what she was really was was spilling into Optimus. "I wondered what else Optimus had seen because of his link to me? What images or horrors from my own being or past haunted him?" She realized that wasn't all. She sighed. "That isn't all, though. Rhinox, when the Vok possessed me, used my abilities to hurt everyone, my powers weren't at full strength, so they had to improvise. They used my connection with Optimus, to draw connection to everyone else who I hadn't linked to, both Maximal and Predacon. They used my connection, my link with Optimus and took advantage of his own links and connections with everyone else. I fear that if I re-opened my link with Optimus, all those connections would activate. I do not know if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, but I fear to test that for both Optimus and everyone else's sake. I abused such links before, and though I have changed, I fear a repeat that I wish to avoid at all costs." What happened at planet Gaila will not happen here.

"There," he said as he finished up her bandaging. He cleaned up his supplies and walked around to stand before her. "You'll still need to log some time in the CR, so I want you to do that as soon as we're finished here. Besides, I'm sure you wouldn't want Aurora to see you like this when she emerges from her repair cycle."

She stood up. "Thank you, Rhinox." She looked at herself then out the hallway. "It's just cosmetic damage. Nothing major. They might need me out there. After all, even with Cheetor, Landslide, and Blackrachnia, we are still outnumbered at there and add X to that equation, they might need an extra set of hands." She knew Rhinox may disagree, but she didn't thnk she had a choice in the manner. She made her way to the armory to get a few things.

((OOC: Hey, Rhinox can stop Whitegrazer, if you wish, OOP. Partially why I taken long with this post was because I was hoping for NK to post for Landslide and Cheetor. I hope he is doing all right. ))

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________-

"I'd sooner take Rattrap's advice over yours, you sniveling, back-stabbing spider!" Terrorsaur retorted as an insult. Did she actually think she could handle this TransMetal power better than him? Hah! "I seem to recall how blinded you were by the Vok's power on that floating island, and you lost complete control of the situation, even when you had everything at your fingertips!"

"Says the pot calling kettle. Blackarachnia rolled her optics. "At least, I realized my mistake, and know power must be gained with a subtle yet calculating hand. I wonder how much you have learned about your new form? Hh? What? I bet you know one little dip of what you can do, birdbrain."

"Don't bother denying it. It's in your programming!"

Oh, that's it. She would make him hurt for that comment. No one calls her a Maximal, or blatantly suggests it!

"You think you're so nimble, but let's see how well you fair in the air!"

Blackarachnia let out a yelp, sliding down on Terrorsaur's backside. All eight of her legs held on to Terrorsaur tightly as they flew in the air. She couldn't transform without falling, so she was stuck, holding on to this annoying predactyl! Spiders don't belong in the air! She needed to bring him down. One leg at a time, she crawled back up towards his head area. "Get ready for a hard landing! She attempedt to yet to again to a bite into his neck and poison him as much as she could! Since he was transmetal, it would take a lot! But hopefully, he would become a little woozy, giving her a chance to plan her next move.

[Phoenix]

The hours were starting to drag on in his cave-like sanctuary when the lone male started to stir. After his earlier nightmarish memories had haunted him, he had avoided falling back asleep. But that still didn't prevent him from attempting to rest up a bit. After all, he had an eventful day coming up and he probably wouldn't get another chance to relax before well after he had re-entered Cybertronian airspace in the future. Well, at a point in the future to be exact. In those few unruly days prior to the signing of the peace treaty, if one could even call it that. The Maximals retained all benefits that were worthwhile when the treaty was signed, leaving the Predacons with little more than the right to exist. Of course they hadn't really gotten rid of all their weaponry like the treaty demanded and certain projects continued to be developed in the shadows, away from the scrutiny of the Maximal Council. On the other hand, the Maximals had their fair share of secrets as well.

A signature on a document meant to seal the fate of the Predacons.. That is what Cryotek had called it, although perhaps not in such polite terms. Yet he lacked the courage and resources to do anything about it at the time. It had been a very dangerous time, one that had threatened to plunge the two factions into another full-blown war. One that would threaten their very existence as a species, at least on Cybertron itself which would be the battleground. Even Cryotek had submitted to the Maximals' demands out of fear of their overwhelming resources after the Decepticons/Predacons had lost the previous war and were struggling to get by. The almighty warlord feared what the future could bring if he did not agree to the Maximals' terms, at least on paper.

Zodiac did not.

He may not have been created yet by the time the treaty was signed, but he still learned of its content during his upbringing. And of course Nexus' journal helped shed some insight on the intricate details of what truly had been going on during those few days. Nexus, too, obviously feared the consequences of another war. As did every living being who had set foot on Cybertron.

Not Zodiac.

He grew up on a secret colony well outside of Cybertron's reach, so a raging war between the factions would in truth not affect him much. He would of course use the extraordinary technological advantage of the Viper to change his own destiny as well, or at least the painful parts while retaining the powers he had been granted. And Cybertron could wipe itself out of existence for all he cared as long as the leadership was taken down. And with the help of X he would make sure that happened.. in the most painful way imaginable.

Anything that happened in the aftermath would not matter then. He would not have to worry about the Maximals and Predacons stranded on this planet in the past since that future event would never take place then. And now that Primal was dead, there was nothing the Maximals here could do to attempt to stop him.

Oh Primal.. Such a pity the renegade hadn't gotten to witness his demise in person. Or better yet be the cause of whatever mortal wound had been inflicted on his enemy. Still, Zodiac raised his half full mug of stolen Cybertronian ale into the air before bringing it to his lips for another sip. He then grimaced slightly at the taste of it before putting it down.

His head was still throbbing, as it had been for the last couple of hours since he decided to sample the rodent's collection of booze. Zodiac rubbed his temple in frustration over the sensation as he took in the visual proof of his celebration. Several bottles and mugs of Cybertronian ale, all of different and often questionable quality, lay scattered across the floor and he had nearly tripped over them a few times as he wandered around the cave. Fortunately his rapid healing ability was hard at work to help cleanse the toxins out his system. The nanobots came in handy for more than just changing his appearance and to repair wounds, which was a very good thing right about now. His head still throbbed, however, and at this moment he silently cursed himself for raiding the beverage from the Axalon and mainly Rattrap's quarters. Yes, he could cleanse his system faster than average, but he could still get drunk when he'd had too much to drink. And the hangover was real.

It had seemed like a decent idea at the time, he supposed, seeing he was going to leave this planet and all the Maximals and Predacons on it behind soon enough. It wouldn't be long now, he told himself, as he concentrated as best he could to encourage the nanobots to finish their cleansing of his system sooner rather than later. The headache was throbbing and he felt sort of queasy, but through some small miracle he was able to keep it down.

This was certainly not what he had planned on happening..

A mild buzz at most, that was it, but that one or two drinks he planned on having had quickly escalated to a considerably higher number the longer he listened to Nexus Prime's journal. Especially the parts concerning their capture of the shapeshifter himself and the specifics of what they put him through. He honestly hadn't planned to listen to that part and when it came up he had decided to just let it play, not expected it to be such a long and detailed process. And those details had brought back some memories he much would have preferred to forget all about, resulting in him downing one drink after another..

So here he was. Still sobering up, but at least he'd gotten far enough in the process to remember to pack up his belongings as he prepared to depart from this temporary base.

He still had things to accomplish before he could take the Viper and leave. Fortunately finding it was going to be easy enough since there was a tracking beacon aboard, and the controller for it was neatly tucked away within the journal. After his head finally had cleared up enough, he had activated the homing beacon long enough to get a good idea of the ship's whereabouts. Of course the tracker placed it somewhere remote and fairly inaccessible, in the middle of a lake some distance from the Axalon. So he really would need X's help to raise the submerged ship and with any luck he could persuade the crazed Maximal experiment to join him on his vendetta against the Maximal Council.

First he would have to find X, of course. But that task shouldn't be too challenging, provided Megatron was as determined to win as the shapeshifter gave him credit for. He would let Megatron deal with obtaining X from the Maximals and then the renegade would simply sneak in and steal X away for himself. And there was only one place Megatron would bring the beast when he got his hands on him.. and that was the Darksyde.

Zodiac grabbed the journal and the stolen golden disk and put them both away. He really didn't want to leave anything significant just in case the Maximals were able to stumble upon this place after his departure. One last look around to make sure he'd gotten everything he needed and Zodiac left his little hideout, quickly changing his form to that of Terrorsaur as soon as he was outside and took to the sky heading in the direction of the Predacon base.

The base looked just about deserted when he arrived there, or at the very least no welcoming party came to greet him with their weapons blazing. It was doubtful that Megatron would expect him to dare show up here after everything that had transpired between them in the past few weeks anyway. In fact the shapeshifter was still surprised the tyrant had let him go so easily during their most recent encounter during the capture of Optimus Primal, especially given the tyrant's attachment to the golden disk the renegade had stolen from him. Whatever Megatron had planned for Primal must have been even more important to him than the location of the disk at that time. Of course this focus could easily change, especially now that Primal was surely dead somewhere. Perhaps even alongside the little fuzor. Now wouldn't that be fitting? He doubted very much that the fuzor was still alive, not with the injuries she had sustained while he had extracted her identification chip.

It wasn't that he had deliberately set out to kill her. He just hadn't cared enough to be gentle while removing the chip he needed. The fuzor was small, weak, and wouldn't have lasted long in this ongoing conflict between the two factions on this planet. For however much longer that conflict would go on before the alterations he was about to make in the future would cause a serious ripple effect throughout the universe.

Zodiac, still disguised as Terrorsaur, made his way inside the Darksyde where he would just have to conceal himself.. and wait.

Meanwhile Nemesis kept barraging Starshadow with shots, even as the other female appeared to get knocked into stasis lock. She only seized when she was certain the crazed femme had been incapacitated, only to discover that X was now engaging Megatron. Letting out a sigh, Nemesis changed her target and shot repeatedly against the large crab's backside.

Why couldn't they ever come peacefully?

The crab was tough, that much was certain. He had somehow survived getting half his spark cut out and he shared a similar ability to heal to herself and Zodiac. Well, different and not quite as quickly, perhaps, but he also had much thicker armor so it took a lot more to damage him in the first place. He also seemed to have an endless amount of fury, perhaps even more so now that his beloved kitty was laying still on the ground.

After a few shots at the crab, she decided to change her tactics and jumped down from the rock she'd been standing on, only to land right next to the unconscious form of Starshadow. She promptly grabbed the other female by the forehead, forcing her head up enough to expose her neck, and then placed her own sword at the female's throat.

"X," Nemesis then shouted, trying to catch his attention, "If you do this, your beloved kitten will die!"

At the Axalon, Aurora's optics briefly flickered online now that some of her systems had gotten the repairs they needed. She glanced around the CR chamber, her optics widening in horror as she remembered the traumatic events that had lead up to this mess. Those memories were quite vivid, leaving the little fuzor quivering in fear.

"No.. stop!," she whimpered softly before drifting back to sleep again for a few nanoclicks.

"Rhinox, maybe we should check the sensors, and see if Sentinel has acknowledged her identification ship."

"Unit Aurora's signature last detected within the Axalon 4 cycles ago," the monotone voice of the computer sounded out.

The fuzor remained restless, squirming in the chamber and causing problems for the machine's desperate attempts to continue repairs. Suddenly her optics shot wide open again and she stared at the window in the tank, only seeming to relax when she caught a glimpse of the two larger Maximals outside even as Whitegrazer was leaving.

Whitegrazer.. She was there!

They must have escaped somehow. Exactly what happened, the little fuzor couldn't recall. Still.. A sense of relief flooded her for a brief moment, only for another realization to hit her.

Where was Optimus??


Suddenly everything got quite chaotic among the Predacons present. Primal continued his scuffle with Megatron and nearly lost his head as a result, X took the opportunity to threaten to remove Megatron's own head from his shoulders, and in the midst of it another Maximal had joined the chaos..

"Time ta bail, Fearless leader!"

Rattrap.. Of course..

Nemesis hesitated from her position on the ground where she was holding her sword against Starshadow's neck. It was certainly not that she feared the rodent despite his reputation as an excellent marksman, but the chaos that had erupted following what should have been a relatively simple extraction of X was turning out a bit more unfavorably for the Predacons. And in the midst of it, the half of the spark possessed by Megatron had gone bouncing off.. somewhere. Which could certainly lead to some negative consequences if X got a hold of it first.

She decided to hold her ground, hoping that X' devotion to the crazed female would be enough to calm him. Even as Rattrap's shots came flying around her, she stayed still with her sword against the other female's neck.

"Make your choice," she urged X, wanting little more than to get out of here before the Maximal reinforcements showed up. And surely they would now that Rattrap and whoever else he had with him proved they were well aware of what was happening here. This was the second time in only a few nanoclicks she had been shot at by Maximals, the last one being Optimus himself. Of course Primal had deliberately attempted to avoid hitting her. She expected no such mercy from the rodent. Still, even if he was to hit her, she could heal quickly enough.

In truth part of her was a bit relieved it seemed Primal might just make it out of this alive, all depending on how willing he was to let X go.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: Great posts lately, ladies! NK posted in the absentee topic that he'll be MIA from the game for a while, so we'll have to carry on without him as well as starshadow for now. ))

"I admit the faults of my people, and myself, as I am not as foolish or deluded as the High Council to believe I am a saint and the be all end all of morality itself, but it's hard to take advice towards a Cybertronian like yourself about morality." "You, Megatron, complained about our morality or lack thereof, and yet, you have tortured, manipulated, and used fear and intimidation to bring your troops in line. I have no doubt you would sacrifice your own people if it helped to secure you a powerful standing or Godhood. You pride yourself over controlling X? Please, don't not try and tell us you did it for our benefit. You knew his nature, and knew he won't join your cause willingly, so you will cut out half his spark, torture him into compliance and submission. You did not care for his life selflessly. You wish to use you for your own goals. You prevented a massacre? No, you prevented him from killing you, and I have no doubt in my mind, you would unleash him upon us. You proved me correct in my assumption about you, and you aren't no savior for Cybertron or your people."

Despite how accurate and correct the Vok was, her words had meant nothing to Megatron. And to show her how much he disagreed with them, he merely gave her the smuggest of smiles that he could muster on his shiny, purple face, with evil optics full of ambition and danger. Her lectures were more intolerable than Primal's.

"AGGHHH! Can someone please help me here?"

Quickstrike attempted to offer his TransMetal venom to help Tarantulas gain control of X by spitting a few rounds at the crab before he had been hit by his own shot from Primal bouncing it off of his club and nailing him in his chest. The small Fuzor trembled as he lit up in his own green mess and fell over on his back, temporarily paralyzed. Fortunately, since he was part scorpion, his armor was thicker than it appeared, so any venom he would be poisoned with would be absorbed fairly easily and wouldn't keep him numb for long.

As Megatron got back on his feet with X's spark in his hand, relieved, his knees still throbbing from the rodent's firepower and his face still aching from Primal's punch, his peripheral vision was too late in catching Protoform X coming at him so quickly and wrapping his hands around his neck. Now he knew what it was like when he had been strangling Primal just moments ago. The Predacon growled and gagged a little as he glared at the crab who was face-to-face with him now, finally up close and personal. He tried remaining calm despite this mishap.

"NOO!" "You presume to control me?!! I will do to you what I did to all those Maximal scientists back at Omicron! I would show you my true potential you gladly wanted to see so badly!"

"X,"

Megatron immediately formed a plan in his head to escape this debacle, and it was working out nicely as soon as he glanced beyond over X's shoulder to see Nemesis taking Nightstar hostage. Well done, Nemesis, he congratulated her in his mind. One of X's weaknesses was that trouble-making traitor, and the Decepticon-turned-Predacon was exploiting her perfectly in order to get X's attention off of him. Of course, he was quick to capitalize on this as well.

"If you do this, your beloved kitten will die!" "Make your choice,"

The tyrant managed a grin despite the tight grip around his neck and the shaking X gave him, as if Megatron wasn't worried about the predicament that he found himself in. And he wasn't. Then he suddenly activated his shoulder mini-guns and fired them repeatedly at X to release him and distract him. And since that wasn't enough, he squeezed his spark once more to blatantly torture him with pain again and get him to be more submissive to Megatron's liking.

Meanwhile, realizing that he had missed his opportunity to steal the half of X's spark that Megatron carved out of him, Optimus removed himself from the fray to regroup with Rattrap as he regained feeling in his leg. He stayed low and moved as fast as he could considering the extent of his wounds and his permanent limp. "We can't leave her body," he pointed to Banshee from the sideline as the Preds battled on.

"We can come back for her, Optimus. You ain't in any shape ta keep fightin' 'ere," Rattrap recommended. He relieved his aim to be more sporadic since his leader joined him by his side. "And I really don't feel like hangin' around any longer dan we have ta." He stopped firing entirely when the Preds shifted their focus on X and Nightstar.

"We can't let Megatron get away with X's spark!" Primal told his shorter comrade.

"We're still outnumbered, outgunned, and yer heavily damaged. We don't stand a chance helpin' him and Nightstar now, even with Rhinox's help!"

Rattrap was right, but Optimus hated feeling so helpless. First he watched Banshee die right in front of him, and now he was going to lose X. This was too much failure for him in one day, and he as not happy about it. Only one thing could lift his spirits at that point. "Did Whitegrazer and Aurora make it to the base?"

"Yeah. She got Aurora into the CR just in time," he told the TransMetal ape. "'Course, she didn't look too good herself."

"I know..." A wave of relief washed over Optimus. He held a hand over the large, deep wound on his side that was still leaking a little bit after Megatron stripped some hoses and wires inside. He started to feel light-headed as his body faintly swayed a little. "Zodiac was here... He was disguised as Aurora... Keep an eye out for him... just in case..."

"You know, yer just a ray of sun shine with good news today, Boss Monkey," Rattrap said light-heartedly, and he kept his sensors on alert for Zodiac. He wondered why the shape shifter would even bother posing as Aurora. It seemed odd to him. But he clearly couldn't keep pressing Optimus for answers because he looked like he was about to fall over. "Here, sit down," he told him and he pointed to a boulder nearby that would provide them some cover while the Preds duked it out with each other.

The exhausted leader finally a took a seat on the ground as he slowly propped his back up against the large rock, listening to the fire power and voices behind him.

Rattrap watched him with worry before returning his attention to the Preds, observing Nemesis for a moment as she held Nightstar with her blade to her throat before shifting his gaze to X and Megatron. At least they lost interest on them for the time being.

-----

"Yes, though, I wonder why he went through all that trouble." "Rhinox, maybe we should check the sensors, and see if Sentinel has acknowledged her identification ship."

"We'll get to that soon enough," he told Whitegrazer suggesting that she be patient while he tried to assess the current situation before everyone scattered like cockroaches when a light is suddenly turned on.

"Unit Aurora's signature last detected within the Axalon 4 cycles ago,"

"Four cycles ago?" he questioned thoughtfully. That was incredibly recent! "Primus... He was just here. Well, if he was in a hurry, I doubt he had time to mess with our security footage. We can check the cameras, and hopefully we'll find out what he's been up to." Was he trying to infiltrate their records for information? Was he stealing from their armory? Rhinox started to type in commands on the console to bring up the footage but turned away from it as he continued assisting Whitegrazer. One thing at a time.

"It was supposed to be temporary. Back at the forest, I wanted to reach out to his spark and tried to find a peaceful solution that didn't result in anyone getting hurt. X... is powerful. Not in only his arsenal, but in his spark. His experiences have left a taint, a passionate yet lingering darkness inside his spark. The pain and torment he went through on Omicron has shaped him in more ways than one. Pain, to him, a reality every day, and yet, a hunger that drives him to violence."

He studied her with deep concern as she explained in detail what she felt from X's spark. It was as he feared, and it wasn't good. What were they to do with him now? How could they get him out of Megatron's control if he was to succeed?

"Yes, the pain was so intense and real that my computer systems thought it was happening to me. What you saw was like a soul stretching out towards the afterlife, or at least, thought it must until reality set in. My computer systems realized I wasn't in any danger or damage and everything went back to normal. Such a strange experience, and yet, a horrifying one to witness for you and Rattrap, wasn't it?"

"I didn't think anything like that was possible, so I must admit that I was more intrigued, and perhaps taken aback, than frightened. Although, by this point in this unique war of ours, nothing should surprise me anymore. Rattrap, on the other hand, probably doesn't understand what happened to you, and you know how skeptical he can be. I have to ask you, though... Are you alright? I can only imagine how traumatic that must have been," the engineer asked her warmly.

"True, but after what happened last time I left him with the Predacons..."

"That wasn't your fault, Whitegrazer," he assured her.

"I want no one to be put in that type of position again."

Rhinox shook his head and spoke softly in his deep voice. "Whitegrazer, we can't be everywhere all at once. We can't... save everyone from death, and we can't protect everyone from pain." Unfortunately, that was the reality, and he felt as though she might be obsessed with the notion of trying to be there to prevent any kind of suffering from happening to any of them which simply wasn't feasible. They were in a war. "Optimus is just as determined to save all of us and get us back to Cybertron as you are, but he's lost Maximals under his command. No matter how hard he's tried, he failed to stop it from happening. I know he still blames himself, but they were out of his control. He lives with it every day." He sighed. "We both know that none of us signed up for this. And most of us didn't arrive here as soldiers, especially Optimus. He wasn't prepared for casualties... And it's changed him, as it would anyone with a spark as big as his just trying to do the right thing all the time. It affects everyone differently. Whitegrazer, I need to know that you understand that you can't always be there for each of us, and that if you aren't, it isn't your fault. Because the harder you try, the more you put yourself and potentially others in danger." His light tone had changed to that of concern.

"Banshee's. I spare you the details. Believe me, you don't want to know."

The robust Maximal handed her a clean rag to wipe off her face since her stained hands were merely smearing Banshee's blood around. He frowned sadly at her words and could only imagine the worst of deaths, but that probably didn't even come close as to the real sight, sounds and smell of the slaughter. A terrible thing to happen... Terrible. Poor Banshee... He only hoped that Aurora hadn't witnessed it.

"Apologies. Aurora was close to death, being threatened by death by Megatron, watching Starshadow kill Banshee right in front of my and Optimus' optics, Megatron's gloating and promises of pain towards Optimus, and feeling myself and X being ripped into pieces. I'm just... I don't want to see or taste death again."

Rhinox lowered his head in silent mourning and took a deep breath. "You don't need to apologize. You did what you could under the circumstances. I think mistakes were probably made, but I'm sure Optimus will address those when there's time, including his own." That was an admirable trait of Optimus's. Young and inexperienced as he once was when the Beast Wars began, he was still humble and modest, and he recognized his faults and owned them. He wasn't perfect, no one was, and didn't see his life worth more than anyone else's. "After all, we can only do better by learning from them." Her last comment made him realize that he might recommend to Optimus keeping her off the battle field for a while. She was obviously exhausted and full of compassion fatigue. Whitegrazer needed rest for both her mind and body.

"It's not just because of my deception. Though, I knew I needed to give him some space, so he could have time to process what happened. It is because of the drawings."

Yes, the drawings in his quarters that were still there. They were eerie and mostly incomprehensible even after studying the alien disk. Megatron clearly understood the Vok language better than they did, which was an advantage he had over the Maximals.

"I wondered what else Optimus had seen because of his link to me? What images or horrors from my own being or past haunted him?"

"Maybe he hasn't told you, Whitegrazer, but he started experiencing the dreams and visions since the first encounter when the Vok abducted him years ago at the Standing Stones. It didn't affect him too much at time, or he hid it very well, but over time and the more dealings we've had with them their invasion in his mind progressed. Optimus has fought hard to maintain his focus on us and the Predacons without letting the aliens interfere, but there are instances when he can't control it. Hence the morning he drew all of those symbols and diagrams of past alien sites in his quarters. Of course, that's not to say that it hasn't increased with you both being linked to each other."

"That isn't all, though. Rhinox, when the Vok possessed me, used my abilities to hurt everyone, my powers weren't at full strength, so they had to improvise. They used my connection with Optimus, to draw connection to everyone else who I hadn't linked to, both Maximal and Predacon. They used my connection, my link with Optimus and took advantage of his own links and connections with everyone else. I fear that if I re-opened my link with Optimus, all those connections would activate. I do not know if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, but I fear to test that for both Optimus and everyone else's sake. I abused such links before, and though I have changed, I fear a repeat that I wish to avoid at all costs."

Rhinox nodded lightly recalling that feeling albeit small since he wasn't as physically close to her and the Vok when it happened while all of them were in the Metal Hunter. But now he understood how dangerous it might be for her to re-establish her link with Optimus. "Would it make a difference if Optimus the was one who opened your link instead? Would he essentially have more control over it than you if he did? Or is the control mutual? Perhaps if he establishes the link first, the window won't open for anyone else to intervene. You and Rattrap had reported that during your escapade in the Metal Hunter, a 'purer' feeling originating from Optimus touched all of your sparks. It was brief, but when I questioned him about it later, he didn't have any recollection of it. Maybe that's something he can gain control of and help your bond? I don't know how or where he would have gained such an ability since our sparks aren't tools or weapons, and we can't physically change their atoms or attributes...," he paused when he realized who he was talking to about it, "Well, excluding present company, and the fact that Megatron just cut an indestructible spark in half. All I can conclude is that his spark traveled beyond the Matrix when he died, so who knows what it might have picked up along the way before we were able to bring him back."

"Thank you, Rhinox."

"No need to thank me. I'm just doing my job," he told her. One of many, he thought in addition as he watched her stand up. Where did she think she was going...?

"It's just cosmetic damage. Nothing major. They might need me out there. After all, even with Cheetor, Landslide, and Blackrachnia, we are still outnumbered at there and add X to that equation, they might need an extra set of hands."

Following her toward the armory, Rhinox grabbed her arm and pulled on it gently to stop her. "I can't let you go, Whitegrazer. You need to rest," he said to her firmly. "Stay here, guard the base, and watch over Aurora's repairs. You can get a head start for me and review the footage on the cameras to see if they picked up Zodiac... or rather Zodiac disguised as Aurora. I'll go and assist the others." He placed his hand on her shoulder reassuringly before he opened a radio frequency to their Spy. "Rhinox to Rattrap. What's your status?"

"De Preds are in it heavy fightin' over X," he responded with some static given the distance of the communication. "I got Optimus, but we ain't outta de woods yet," he said metaphorically. "We could use your chain guns of doom, buddy."

"I'm on my way," Rhinox replied as he looked at Whitegrazer who would have heard their conversation and who was hopefully relieved enough to stay put so she could be there for Aurora when her repairs were done and not follow him to the battle. He turned and hurried down the corridor. Once he exited the base, he converted to his beast mode and ran as fast as he could to their coordinates. "Blackarachnia, where are you now? Are you still engaged with Terrorsaur?" he asked over his comm. link to her. They hadn't heard from the black widow in a while, and although that was typical of her independent nature, he wanted her to know that they hadn't forgotten her and if she needed help, then they would provide it.

After several minutes, the large rhinoceros arrived to support his friends. "Rhinox, maximize!" he roared as he transformed to his robot mode and automatically drew his twin chain guns. Standing near his comrades, he began firing at Megatron and the other Predacons to force them to retreat. He wasn't necessarily aiming to injure them, but they definitely overstayed their welcome in Maximal territory, and it was time for them to leave.

Being pelted now by the rhinoceros' onslaught of bullets, Megatron had no cover to use and most of his Predacons had been injured, so his best option was to fall back now and salvage what was left of this day. He still had X's spark, and he had acquired that mysterious, alien orb from the cave, so overall he had been successful, much more so than the Maximals. "Argh! Predacons, retreat!" he ordered over the hailstorm from Rhinox. "Nemesis, bring Nightstar! Quickstrike, retrieve Umbra! Inferno and Tarantulas, show our guest of honor the way to our base of operations who will cooperate or else," he threatened the crab with a squeeze of his spark and his beloved Nightstar's life who was currently in Nemesis' hands. And where was Terrorsaur?!

"Says the pot calling kettle. "At least, I realized my mistake, and know power must be gained with a subtle yet calculating hand. I wonder how much you have learned about your new form? Hh? What? I bet you know one little dip of what you can do, birdbrain."

"Heh heh heh heh!" Terrorsaur chuckled. "I've got a few new tricks up my sleeve," he boasted. As he flew off with his hitchhiker on his back, he performed several barrel rolls at a very high speed through the air to see how well she could hang on. Then he rocked his entire body back and forth trying to knock her off so he could watch her fall and splat on the ground far below. But she kept hanging on! Time for a new tactic, he thought, and he sped off toward Megatron's location.

"Get ready for a hard landing!

Feeling the bite on his neck, he suddenly reached over his shoulder and tried smacking her face away from him. "Slagging vampire spider!" he yelled in anger. He could feel her venom starting to plague his body. His neck began feeling numb, and his and his shoulders. Realizing he was in danger of plummeting out of the sky, he dived toward the group of Predacons who were now retreating.

Looking up, Megatron spotted the inbound TransMetal bird who was carrying an unwanted passenger; Blackarachnia. Growling as his optics zoomed in on the traitor, he lifted his tail gun and fired a shot at her, hoping he would blast her right off of him.

[una]

((OOC: Hey, guys, I posted! I felt better after few hours of not feeling good. Though, I'm not sure if I got everything or how good it is. Hopefully, I didn't forget anything. ))

Nemesis' shots hit his backside, but he kept his grip. Nothing but fury and contempt fueled his wrath towards Meagtron.

"X," Nemesis then shouted, trying to catch his attention, "If you do this, your beloved kitten will die!"

X halted his choking as he looked at Nemesis who held a sword at Nightstar's throat. He snarled at the black bird.

"Make your choice,"

He didn't have a chance to make a choice when Megatron used his shoulder cannons and pounded him until he went to the ground. Optimus and Rattrap were retreating.

"Nemesis, bring Nightstar! Quickstrike, retrieve Umbra! Inferno and Tarantulas, show our guest of honor the way to our base of operations who will cooperate or else,"

X looked at the purple contraception and glared at Megatron, "Don't lose it, Megatron. One day, I promise you." He would rip out his spark and eat it right in front of him! X got up and off his feet. Hands balled into fists.

Tarantulas chuckled as he used some of his webbing to tie up X's arms like handcuffs. X coul break out of them easily, but it was just to hmilate the monster crab even further.

"No.. stop!,"

Aurora's sudden shout and plead ached her spark, "Aurora..." She couldn't move as Rhinox was still working on her, but her arm reached out towards the little one. In that moment, she reestablished the link towards Aurora, "You are safe, little one. Don't be frightened. They are only nightmares. Nothing can hurt you. The others will come. Optimus will be here shortly."

"Four cycles ago?" he questioned thoughtfully. That was incredibly recent! "Primus... He was just here. Well, if he was in a hurry, I doubt he had time to mess with our security footage. We can check the cameras, and hopefully we'll find out what he's been up to."

So Zodiac had been inside their base. He had to have taken Aurora's form for a reason. But what? Since Rhinox has made it clear, he was quick, so he didn't mess with their security footage or anything related to Sentinel. Why? Why did he need to come back? Was it for something?

"I didn't think anything like that was possible, so I must admit that I was more intrigued, and perhaps taken aback, than frightened. Although, by this point in this unique war of ours, nothing should surprise me anymore. Rattrap, on the other hand, probably doesn't understand what happened to you, and you know how skeptical he can be. I have to ask you, though... Are you alright? I can only imagine how traumatic that must have been,"

"I will be... in time," she said simply. She was going to say she was fine, but that woul be lying. Rhinox wouldn;t believe her anyway. Heck, no one believed her when she said that.

"That wasn't your fault, Whitegrazer,"

"Maybe not, but maybe I should have done more."

"Whitegrazer, we can't be everywhere all at once. We can't... save everyone from death, and we can't protect everyone from pain.""Optimus is just as determined to save all of us and get us back to Cybertron as you are, but he's lost Maximals under his command. No matter how hard he's tried, he failed to stop it from happening. I know he still blames himself, but they were out of his control. He lives with it every day." He sighed. "We both know that none of us signed up for this. And most of us didn't arrive here as soldiers, especially Optimus. He wasn't prepared for casualties... And it's changed him, as it would anyone with a spark as big as his just trying to do the right thing all the time. It affects everyone differently. Whitegrazer, I need to know that you understand that you can't always be there for each of us, and that if you aren't, it isn't your fault. Because the harder you try, the more you put yourself and potentially others in danger."

"I understand," Whitegrazer smiled at Rhinox, "That's one of the disadvantages of being an Empath. We want to avoid pain because we know we would feel it. Even though I couldn't feel Banshee's death only witness it, my spark breaks when someone dies. As someone who has touched death on numerous occasions, I didn't need to feel it in order to understand what pain she must have suffered. And the guilt of not saving her. It was selfish of me to believe I could control what happens and push myself to avoid such pain, pain of loss, to feel those around me suffer while I'm helpless. I'm soldier, Rhinox. I have seen war and been through it. I know, and it breaks my spark to see Optimus and you all fighting a war that you shouldn't have had to. Because I feel responsible. Because I know I am responsible. I know how selfless Optimus and you all can be, but if it came down to who I should sacrifice myself or you all, I will choose myself every time. You are good people. Enough good people have died already. I don't want there to be more. That's why I push so hard, but I understand what you are saying, Rhinox. I will try and.... not be so overbearing in my heroics. But you promise me that Optimus would as well. He is needed. More than I am."

"You don't need to apologize. You did what you could under the circumstances. I think mistakes were probably made, but I'm sure Optimus will address those when there's time, including his own."

"Yeah, I shouldn't have went in alone. My first mistake," Whitegrazer said, remembering what Rhinox just said earlier about her need to save everyone and everyone from pain. "I didn't realize how injured Optimus was nor did I realize Aurora's state as well. I thought if I released Optimus and that we could take down Megatron, but then I realized Optimus couldn't. That was my second mistake. "

"After all, we can only do better by learning from them."

Whitegrazer only nodded, knowing what he meant.

"Maybe he hasn't told you, Whitegrazer, but he started experiencing the dreams and visions since the first encounter when the Vok abducted him years ago at the Standing Stones. It didn't affect him too much at time, or he hid it very well, but over time and the more dealings we've had with them their invasion in his mind progressed. Optimus has fought hard to maintain his focus on us and the Predacons without letting the aliens interfere, but there are instances when he can't control it. Hence the morning he drew all of those symbols and diagrams of past alien sites in his quarters. Of course, that's not to say that it hasn't increased with you both being linked to each other."

"It's because of who he is related to." Whitegrazer pointed out. "I remember reading the reports about the Standing Stones. Somehow, I don't figure it as an accident that the pod chose him. Optimus Prime. The Vok... We still are grateful for what he did for us during the time Jhaiaxis and the Second Generation Decepticons battled both Autobot and Decepticons. That is why... the Vok have been... generous in their efforts." She realized generous wasn't maybe the right word. After all, they did try to kill them all several times. She closed her optics and then re-opened them, " I mean.... as generous as they can be. They can be reasoned with. They are just too stubborn in their mindsets. Maybe what has happened might change their minds." Whitegrazer knows she hasn't been truthful. She has made several communications between her people and herself. It was her way, trying to talk to her people. She didn't want no more violence between them. She wanted peace like she wanted peace for the Maximals and Predacons. "Still, I believe subconsciously maybe I did I want to tell Optimus every thing. There is just so much to tell, and yet, I can't. I don't mean to withheld information. I only wish to protect and do no more harm than I have already. "

Would it make a difference if Optimus the was one who opened your link instead? Would he essentially have more control over it than you if he did? Or is the control mutual? Perhaps if he establishes the link first, the window won't open for anyone else to intervene. You and Rattrap had reported that during your escapade in the Metal Hunter, a 'purer' feeling originating from Optimus touched all of your sparks. It was brief, but when I questioned him about it later, he didn't have any recollection of it. Maybe that's something he can gain control of and help your bond? I don't know how or where he would have gained such an ability since our sparks aren't tools or weapons, and we can't physically change their atoms or attributes...,"

Whitegrazer widened her eyes and another smile brightened her face, "I think that would be the best. The control is mostly mutual. Like what happened with X, depending on how mentally strong an individual is, they could overpower me. If Optimus re-opened the link himself, though, with the proper discipline, we can make sure no further links are established. It would take a few sessions. It's worth a shot, at least." When Rhinox mentioned that purer feeling she nodded, "It was a beautiful serenity. It rivals my own, especially during a time where I wasn't able to bring such to him or you all like I always did. That may help as well. Maybe, if Optimus would allow, I might be able to help him recall and experience himself."

Well, excluding present company, and the fact that Megatron just cut an indestructible spark in half. All I can conclude is that his spark traveled beyond the Matrix when he died, so who knows what it might have picked up along the way before we were able to bring him back."

Whitegrazer chuckled at Rhinox's comment, "You all have more power in your sparks than you realize. " The idea of Optimus' Matrix trip would answer why he now had that purer feeling, "Yes. It must be from the Matrix! It would make sense. His spark touched that place. Even though it was for a short period of time, there is still echo, an echo of that warm embrace of peace and unity, and that echo seemed to only appear when in serious danger like his spark was reaching towards it subconsciously. He tried to spread to me and to the others. "

"I can't let you go, Whitegrazer. You need to rest," he said to her firmly. "Stay here, guard the base, and watch over Aurora's repairs. You can get a head start for me and review the footage on the cameras to see if they picked up Zodiac... or rather Zodiac disguised as Aurora. I'll go and assist the others."

She relented her march towards the armory with a sigh and nod, "I will watch over Aurora and see if I can find out what Zodiac was looking for. Just take careful of yourself out there too, Rhinox." She patted the hand he laid on her shoulder.

"Rhinox to Rattrap. What's your status?"

"De Preds are in it heavy fightin' over X," he responded with some static given the distance of the communication. "I got Optimus, but we ain't outta de woods yet," he said metaphorically. "We could use your chain guns of doom, buddy."

Whitegrazer was relieved to hear that Rattrap was with Optimus. Though, she felt guilty over what happened with x and Starshadow. Despite what happened with Banshee, she wished things turned out differently, and she would always remember that she was the one who brought them there. In a way, she too was responsible over Banshee's death. But no time to dwell on it now. Maybe focusing on watching over Aurora and fidning out what Zodiac was doing here wold calm herself in a way. Right now, the battlefield wounded her more emotionally than physically. She needed a breather, a break to reanalyze what has happened and do better. That;s all she could do right now.

"I'm on my way,"

"Don;t worry, I'm staying," she reassured Rhinox. "I can take a hint." She smile at her friend, watching him go and give their friends back up. As Rhinox left though, she felt a chill run up her spine. A presence. A lingering presence. Like a tap on the shoulder or someone breezing past her. Yet, no one was there. She got on her knees, touching the ground. Step by step, little feet stomped with a purpose. The feet, it tasted her hands like white fur. White fur. Aurora? No, Zodiac. She crawled and followed the scent by her beast form's ability as well as her clairvoyant ability. She followed until she entered an empty room and touched an area disturbed. Something laid here. Something was here. What was it? Zodiac took something from this room. What was it?

"Heh heh heh heh!" Terrorsaur chuckled. "I've got a few new tricks up my sleeve,"

Blackarachnia growled and held on as tight as she could. Spiders weren't mean to be this far up!

Slagging vampire spider!

Blackarachnia kept her teeth sinking into Terrorsur's metal flesh, injecting as much venom into his systems as she could. Transmetla were resilent. It took a lot to bring him down, but all she needed to do was kept her head and grip.

"Blackarachnia, where are you now? Are you still engaged with Terrorsaur?"

She let go of his flesh when she heard Rhinox's voice, "Yes, I am. Having a blast of a roller coaster ride up here. Since you guys are having fun down below, maybe you all should-" A purple laser blasted her off, interrupting her conversation with Rhinox. She flew off into the distance and screamed as she crashed land into some trees, falling down a few feet below landing on the ground with a thud.

[Phoenix]

Nemesis remained at her post, keeping her sword pressed firmly against the unconscious crazed female's exposed neck. She hadn't lit the fire element of the sword yet, not wanting to kill off their one bargaining chip before they had a chance to calm X down and return him to base with them. And for a moment, when X turned his head to look at her, she could see what appeared to be concern in his optics as they lingered on Starshadow a tad longer than what was necessary.

Come on, she thought to herself, hoping the rampant crab would take the bait soon. If she got forced to actually make good on her threat, there was no doubt that X would retaliate. And more than likely Megatron would be at the receiving end of such a retaliation.

Also if they lingered in this place for much longer, she had no doubt that more Maximals would intervene. They were fairly close to the Axalon after all, and Rattrap had already showed up to aide his commanding officer. Perhaps it was her imagination, but she could swear she also heard others approaching through the tall grass as well. The sound of a branch breaking, small rocks getting kicked around, oh they definitely were about to have more company.

It wasn't until Megatron used X' distraction against him that the taller bot relented. The tyrant shot at him at close range and followed up with a squeeze of the spark he had managed to get his hands on again. Nemesis drew a silent sigh of relief at that, wanting little more than to leave this place by now. Any longer and this operation would surely blow up in their faces.

She had halfway expected some of Rattrap's shots to hit her, especially since she wasn't exactly doing a good job of concealing herself while standing out in the open with her sword against Starshadow.. or Nightstar's neck.. Nemesis still couldn't tell the difference if there was one. But the Maximal master marksman's shots did not hit her, leading her to realize he was merely attempting to distract the Predacons while he made his escape with Optimus in tow.

A movement in the sky pulled the avian female's attention. It didn't take long for her to realize it was Terrorsaur flying in low to join the fray.. Or was he? From the looks of it, her fellow avian was not alone. In fact she caught a glimpse of BlackArachnia clinging onto the red transmetal pterodactyl. And that wasn't all..

"Rhinox, maximize!"

Just great..

Swapping her sword to the other hand, she pulled out her firearm so that she could shoot at the traitorous she-spider when she got close enough, hopefully without reducing Terrorsaur to shreds in the process. But just as she was about to fire, the loud sound of gunfire started up behind her. And a moment later she felt the searing pain of a pair of bullets from Rhinox' weapon lodge themselves in her shoulder effectively leaving the arm holding the firearm disabled.

Growling in pain, Nemesis instinctively dropped the still unconscious form of Nightstar as well as her own weapons, bringing her remaining functional arm to support the now limp arm that was hanging at her side.

"Argh! Predacons, retreat!"

Now that was a plan she could get behind.. Not that she enjoyed retreating, but they already got what they came for. And the idea of getting locked up in the Maximal brig for outstaying their welcome was less than appealing.

Nemesis' shoulder was already glowing, the wounds effectively getting repaired, and it only took a few nanoclicks before she was able to move her arm again. She promptly grabbed her weapons after testing the strength of her nearly fully functional limb before staring dispassionately at the downed female at her feet.

"Nemesis, bring Nightstar! Quickstrike, retrieve Umbra! Inferno and Tarantulas, show our guest of honor the way to our base of operations who will cooperate or else,"

Lucky her.. Well, she supposed it was better than having to drag X along. Instead she merely got stuck with the equally psychotic girlfriend of such.

The barrage of incoming shots had ceased, so Nemesis took the opportunity to transform to her avian mode and then grabbing the unconscious female with her talons. A moment later she took to the air with the other female in tow.

She proceeded to fly towards the Darksyde, not really waiting for any of the others since she couldn't wait to drop off her package in the brig. But as she flapped her wings to gain some altitude, she briefly wondered what Megatron had done with the traitorous shapeshifter. He hadn't been present when she returned.

"Aurora.."

The little fuzor looked around frantically, too dazed to make much sense of the machinery trying to repair her and struggling to do so even more now that she was moving again. She vaguely recalled Megatron holding herself, Whitegrazer and Optimus prisoners, and flashes of Banshee's lifeless optics staring ahead kept entering her mind.. It had to have been a dream, it couldn't be real. It was true that Banshee was quick to anger and often rushed into battle, an approach most unlike the stereotype of a psychiatrist.. Not that Aurora knew too many psychiatrists so perhaps she was wrong on that account. But something about that vision just seemed so unreal, probably because the fuzor had been drifting in and out of sleep when it happened.

It wasn't real.. was it?

It was then she glanced down at her own fur and saw what looked like mech fluid staining the white patches.

.. It wasn't real.. was it? This was only mech fluid from her own sustained injuries.. right?

Her movements growing a bit more frantic, causing the CR chamber's machines to halt the repairs for a moment, the next thing she became aware of was Whitegrazer's voice entering her spark.

"You are safe, little one. Don't be frightened. They are only nightmares. Nothing can hurt you. The others will come. Optimus will be here shortly."

What a relief! I'm so glad you're all here, everyone is safe!

At least that's what she wanted to tell Whitegrazer, but all she could muster was a pained..

My head hurts.. What happened?

It felt so strange hearing the other female inside her head. By now she was awake enough to realize Whitegrazer was using that newly established link of hers, but still it would take some getting used to. Ever since their encounter with the Vok not long ago, the white mare/vok had attempted to keep her powers under wraps for reasons the fuzor didn't quite understand. At least she did.. until now.

As she calmed down, the CR chamber continued its repairs. At least as far as it could given it still wasn't able to detect a identification signature from her. So it did as best it could without it, merely stabilizing her if not repairing her perfectly.

Whitegrazer soon disappeared off to who-knows-where, leaving Aurora even more confused. And Rhinox left too, leaving her by herself in the chamber. Alone. It didn't take long before she halted the repairs and opened the chamber, wanting to find out what was going on.

The base seemed empty, although the fuzor knew Whitegrazer couldn't possibly be far since she had just left. Aurora looked around as she took her first few shaky steps outside of the CR chamber. She still felt weak, her mind still a little foggy. Hopefully it would pass soon. The chamber had completed most of the repairs, but it had some trouble since it wasn't able to identify her and most of her damage had been inside her head. A very tricky location even for the best of surgeons, and certainly the emergency repairs rendered by the chamber's robotics.

Yeah.. She just needed some more rest.. Perhaps a little fine tuning by Rhinox. Now if she could only find the others, the loneliness was already getting on her nerves!

"Hello?," she called out, wanting to find some of her fellow Maximals. "Where did.." She paused, her head feeling especially clouded at that moment.

"... Amphibian go?"


Catching herself, she hesitated.

Amphibian.. ? Where had that come from?

"Elevation going on?,"
she called out again to anyone who might have been close enough to hear her.

Realizing she had used another incorrect word, the fuzor placed a hand on her throbbing forehead, struggling to concentrate. Something was definitely not right..

After remaining still for a few moments, she decided to try to contact Whitegrazer again via the link the white mare/vok had opened earlier. Hopefully she hadn't shut the link down since it appeared to be the only way Aurora could communicate right now.

Something's wrong.. There's some collateral damage beyond just the missing identification chip. Where are you??


The words came out as a bit frantic.

Meanwhile, just outside the Predacon base's sensor reach, Zodiac had halted to survey his target. The base looked virtually deserted, indicating that the Predacons were still preoccupied with their battle for X.

Good..

That would give him time to find a good hiding spot before they came back.

The shapeshifter took note of the mangled remains of a bot not far from his location, an unfortunate mech who had no doubt crossed the line with Megatron and had since paid for his misdeeds. In fact the charred and beaten remains, barely recognizable as a bot anymore, did bear a striking resemblance to the shapeshifter's old companion Night Terror.. Not surprising if that was truly how his old friend had ended his days given Megatron's ruthless nature and anger management issues. Well.. If that was the case, it would hardly matter. Soon, none of this would.

Zodiac did not take the time to investigate the remains more closely. He was in too much of a hurry for that, and his head still pounded a bit from the hangover. No, he had to stick to the schedule.

Almost as an afterthought, he pulled out the little fuzor's identification chip that he had been holding onto and looked at it for a moment. He briefly wondered how long she had lasted before succumbing to her wounds, and if Optimus had watched it happen before he met his own demise. Such a pity he hadn't been able to witness any of it.. A pity indeed.

He dropped the chip in the dry volcanic sand, not wanting to risk the chance that the Predacon sensors would pick up on it when he was inside. Not that Predacons kept their base on as high alert as the Maximals did, perhaps due to a false sense of arrogance when it came to the Maximal ingenuity but more likely due to the fact Maximals were rarely on the offensive. But just to be safe.. He was, after all, wanted by Maximals and Predacons alike. His core programming may have been Predacon, but he wasn't like these other Preds.. And he held no loyalty to Megatron or his cause. Seeing the remains of whom he could only presume was Night Terror only reaffirmed this belief.

Maintaining Terrorsaur's form, he then made his way inside and quickly located the maintenance shafts intersecting above the hallways. It would be a tight squeeze getting in there, so after making sure he wasn't in view of a camera, he changed his form to that of Rattrap and proceeded into the shaft. Hopefully he'd find a good spot to spy on the Predacons when they returned..

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"I will be... in time,"

That's what Rhinox thought, and in a way, it was he wanted to hear from Whitegrazer.

"Maybe not, but maybe I should have done more."

There was no point dwelling on the past. What happened happened. Clearly whatever didn't kill Optimus, or any of them for that matter, only made him and them stronger.

"I understand," "That's one of the disadvantages of being an Empath. We want to avoid pain because we know we would feel it. Even though I couldn't feel Banshee's death only witness it, my spark breaks when someone dies. As someone who has touched death on numerous occasions, I didn't need to feel it in order to understand what pain she must have suffered. And the guilt of not saving her. It was selfish of me to believe I could control what happens and push myself to avoid such pain, pain of loss, to feel those around me suffer while I'm helpless.

The engineer had frowned lightly at her explanation. He understood how precious life was and death, more specifically murder, was a very dark and painful end to one's journey who didn't want to die. "Perhaps, Whitegrazer, you should draw more from the life around you instead of the losses. Draw from the strength and optimism and not the anguish and torture. I'm not saying you should ignore your Empath instincts, but it also seems as though you focus too much on the pain, absorbing it from the rest of us to prevent us from suffering, and that could have a negative impact on both you and those of us who need that feeling in order to learn from it and survive. It can drive us to do more from letting it happen again."

I'm soldier, Rhinox. I have seen war and been through it. I know, and it breaks my spark to see Optimus and you all fighting a war that you shouldn't have had to. Because I feel responsible. Because I know I am responsible.

Rhinox's gaze upon her turned quizzical. She blamed herself for this war? How could one person be the igniter to such a force behind Megatron's ambitions? Maybe she meant something behind the scenes with the Elders and her Vok interference. He could understand if she had some kind of influence with what they were dealing with when it came to the aliens, as well as Zodiac and Nemesis, and if there was any kind of conspiracy with the High Council "conveniently" sending the Axalon crew to chase Megatron down with the stolen golden disk, but to take any responsibility for Megatron's own actions and his obsession conquering Cybertron or the universe was a bit far-fetched. Only he should be held responsible for that.

I know how selfless Optimus and you all can be, but if it came down to who I should sacrifice myself or you all, I will choose myself every time. You are good people. Enough good people have died already. I don't want there to be more. That's why I push so hard, but I understand what you are saying, Rhinox. I will try and.... not be so overbearing in my heroics. But you promise me that Optimus would as well. He is needed. More than I am."

The robust Maximal's crimson optics sheepishly slipped off of the equine's for a moment since he knew the truth. That was something he couldn't promise because it was their leader's job to ensure their survival to the best of his ability. Like her, Optimus would sacrifice himself every time, but that was part of his occupation, not Whitegrazer's. That wasn't to say that he deliberately went out and purposely put himself into those situations every time because he didn't. He wasn't suicidal, but he was there to protect them, lead them and teach them. After all, time and time again, and most recently with Banshee, he failed saving and protecting some lives. Would he have traded places with them? Every single time. But he couldn't. And so the world and time moved on, leaving him there in his existence to learn from his mistakes and losses, to never forget those faces, and to continue trying to get the rest of them home. "I... will speak with him about it," Rhinox finally said even though his voice probably failed to reassure her. "But as involved as you have gotten with us... I'm afraid, Whitegrazer, that you are very much needed."

"Yeah, I shouldn't have went in alone. My first mistake," "I didn't realize how injured Optimus was nor did I realize Aurora's state as well. I thought if I released Optimus and that we could take down Megatron, but then I realized Optimus couldn't. That was my second mistake."

Rhinox only sighed lightly and nodded. It wasn't his place to point fingers, nor give her a lecture; that was Optimus's job. But he was certain that she wasn't the only one who made mistakes. Even Aurora shouldn't have ventured out alone, and Optimus should have repaired himself. Of course, no one could have predicted Zodiac and Megatron wreaking havoc on them as well. The whole situation was a mess.

"It's because of who he is related to."

It was obvious by Big Green's facial expression that he suddenly saw something so clear by what she had just said. Of course! There was some deep secret he had read some time ago back on Cybertron about Optimus Prime's involvement with an "alien" race. How could he have forgotten about that after everything they had dealt with here and Primal being in the Vok's line of sight so frequently? Her further explanation confirmed his vague memory...

"I remember reading the reports about the Standing Stones. Somehow, I don't figure it as an accident that the pod chose him. Optimus Prime. The Vok... We still are grateful for what he did for us during the time Jhaiaxis and the Second Generation Decepticons battled both Autobot and Decepticons. That is why... the Vok have been... generous in their efforts." " I mean.... as generous as they can be. They can be reasoned with. They are just too stubborn in their mindsets. Maybe what has happened might change their minds."

"Maybe there's a greater force behind the Vok," Rhinox muttered thoughtfully. What was their motivation for all of this?

"Still, I believe subconsciously maybe I did I want to tell Optimus every thing. There is just so much to tell, and yet, I can't. I don't mean to withheld information. I only wish to protect and do no more harm than I have already."

"You have that right to do what you feel is best, Whitegrazer. No one is going to coerce you in order to obtain that information. Optimus least of all. There might come a day when this war ends, and only then might you share your knowledge. But only you can choose the right time."

"I think that would be the best. The control is mostly mutual. Like what happened with X, depending on how mentally strong an individual is, they could overpower me. If Optimus re-opened the link himself, though, with the proper discipline, we can make sure no further links are established. It would take a few sessions. It's worth a shot, at least."

Rhinox had returned her smile with his own, agreeing with her assessment.

"It was a beautiful serenity. It rivals my own, especially during a time where I wasn't able to bring such to him or you all like I always did. That may help as well. Maybe, if Optimus would allow, I might be able to help him recall and experience himself."

And maybe... maybe that was the element Optimus unknowingly had now within his own spark; an element of serenity, purity, clarity, positivism that could overcome the pain and suffering that Whitegrazer absorbed like a sponge. And could it extend to all of them? Could it be an inexplicable force that would "light their darkest hour"? ...Nah. Optimus may have spiritually acquired some piece of the Matrix, if that had been the case, but he didn't have the Matrix. For all Rhinox knew, this may be something Optimus had all along, and it just needed something to trigger it. He was fairly certain that he would accept Whitegrazer's guidance to recall the intriguing phenomenon that he wasn't even aware he had, in due time.

"You all have more power in your sparks than you realize. "

Rhinox blinked at that statement and before giving her an uncertain but curious smile. She probably knew more about that than he did since she could reach into all of their sparks, so he certainly couldn't disagree. But just how powerful could they be? And what kind of power?

"Yes. It must be from the Matrix! It would make sense. His spark touched that place. Even though it was for a short period of time, there is still echo, an echo of that warm embrace of peace and unity, and that echo seemed to only appear when in serious danger like his spark was reaching towards it subconsciously. He tried to spread to me and to the others."

The engineer thoughtfully stroked his chin over what she said. If that was the case, it might be more difficult to bring it back on command, but Rhinox had faith in her teaching abilities with such mysterious occurrences.

"I will watch over Aurora and see if I can find out what Zodiac was looking for. Just take careful of yourself out there too, Rhinox." "Don;t worry, I'm staying," "I can take a hint."

He had smiled at her patting his hand and to reaffirm that he would indeed take care of himself as well their comrades out in the field. "Good. Because Aurora will need you," he had said warmly before he had left her at the Axalon.

-----

"Yes, I am. Having a blast of a roller coaster ride up here. Since you guys are having fun down below, maybe you all should-"

"Blackarachnia!" Rhinox called to her over his comm. link when he witnessed Megatron's blast knock her right off Terrorsaur who also appeared to be distraught in his flight. Since she was too far away to help her in that moment, Rhinox focused his firepower of both chain guns on the Predacon leader to force him out of the area after he already proclaimed a retreat for his troops and allowing Nemesis to take to the sky with Nightstar's unconscious and damaged body.

Megatron, while satisfied that his shot was successful in knocking the treacherous black widow out of the sky, was suddenly pummeled by relentless bullets from the rhinoceros, and he gave a deep cry of agony before he finally managed to escape the situation with his Predacons in tow, as well as X.

Inferno finally got back to his feet and fled with his Queen while assisting Tarantulas with guiding their new comrade out of the path of gunfire with his own large weapon trained on the monstrosity.

Quickstrike reverted to his beast mode and scurried off to the bushes where he had left Umbra's body earlier, grabbing three of his tentacles with his cobra head tail, and dragging it along behind him as he retreated.

Terrorsaur eventually fell from the sky and skidded along the ground not far in front of the Predacon group who was now advancing in his direction. He rolled several times across the dirt and rocks as his body went numb from Blackarachnia's venom. It hadn't been enough to keep him down long, however, considering his TransMetal upgrade could withstand more abuse and toxins that her standard venomous bite was able to offer. He was glad Megatron's shot got rid of his hitchhiker in the worst way possible, and he was also relieved that he hadn't hit him instead. Although he doubted Megatron would have cared either way, so long as his shot took Blackarachnia down.

Finally coming to a stop, Terrorsaur laid there for a few moments as his systems re-calibrated and assessed his damages as well as the venom he had been injected with from her bite. Ew, she had actually BIT him! Her "teeth" had sunken into his neck, piercing his armor, and she BIT him! The very thought of the experience made him shudder in pure disgust. He almost gagged. Feeling woozy, he continued to lay there a bit longer while he heard the other Preds getting closer.

"Don't lose it, Megatron. One day, I promise you."

Once he calmed himself down after the fury he felt from the Maximal onslaught while walking along with his troops, Megatron glanced upward to see Nemesis fly over with Nightstar back toward the Darksyde. He had been pleased with her cooperation and obedience this time around, but he was not foolish enough to simply accept that she was 100% loyal to him. Even though he missed the very anti-climatic exchange between her and Optimus, he couldn't just assume that she wouldn't hesitate to take any of the Maximals' lives. Converting to his beast mode, the purple and copper t-rex looked at X with his two escorts and gave him a toothy grin as he bared his very sharp teeth. "I would not be so careless to lose what I worked so hard to gain, Protoform X. This half of your very existence," that was now stored in his subspace, "is quite valuable to me, yesss." Megatron fell silent for a moment in thought before he repeated, "Protoform X. Such a colorless and simple generalization to name someone so full of rage and power. I'm afraid that title won't do."

-----

Rhinox stopped firing once Megatron and his gang of misfits pulled away from them, and then he put his weapons away to examine their leader's injuries. "Rattrap, retrieve Banshee," he told him solemnly when he glanced at her lifeless and mangled body not far from them before he knelt down beside Primal.

Rattrap nodded although he was reluctant to approach a dead body, an empty shell... He had just spoken with her and worked with her earlier that day. Putting his weapon away, he frowned as he walked up to the pieces of her scattered about, her blood and fluids staining the ground in a pool around her.

"How are you feeling, Optimus?" the chief medic inquired as he carefully lifted his arm out of the way to look at the hole on his side. He peered inside of it but saw nothing serious that was damaged. A few sparks from some severed wires, but the leaking of his fluids had stopped. Primal's hands were covered in his own mech fluid from covering the wound, his neck was still sore, and the majority of his armor all over his body looked dull, scratched, dented with some black soot here and there from the day's entire events.

He coughed a little before answering his friend, "I've had better days... but alive..." His last word made him think of Banshee, who was not so lucky, and he lowered his head for a moment in sadness while Rhinox looked him over.

"You've depleted a lot of your energy, so we're going to give you a ride back," Rhinox told him as he examined the rest of his injuries. "But we need to rendezvous with Blackarachnia who was shot down by Megatron."

Optimus nodded as he attention was taken from Banshee to Blackarachnia's well being. "I could... revert to-"

"No," Rhinox interrupted him. "I don't think transformation would be wise at this point. Stay in robot mode, and you'll be fine."

"I would have lost... a lot more had Nemesis not... she applied a bandage to me earlier. She said it was only... to prevent them from losing their advantage, but... I have a feeling it was more than that."

"The mutual respect still lingers between you two? That's good," Rhinox said. "She may not realize it, but that simple notion might have saved your life, or it at least helped you get this far through battle for so long."

Rattrap grabbed everything he could from Banshee's body, converting to his vehicle mode and tucking all of it as well as he could under his tail on his back in order to carry it back to their base.

"Go on ahead to the base, Rattrap. We'll catch up after we retrieve Blackarachnia."

"Alright. Watch yer backs." And with that, the smaller Maximal drove off toward the Axalon.

"Beast mode," Rhinox commanded his internal computer once he stepped away from Optimus. "I may not be the smoothest ride, but I can carry your weight. Climb on," he told his friend.

Nodding, Primal got to his feet and stretched one leg over the rhino's back to sit on him. He laid his chest against his back, however, since it was more painful to sit upright. Then Rhinox galloped off toward the black widow's location, hoping they weren't too late to help her. "Rattrap said Whitegrazer returned with Aurora. Are they... alright, Rhinox?"

"For the most part. Aurora's identification chip is missing. Sentinel couldn't recognize her, nor could the CR do the correct repairs on her, but it should suffice for now."

"Zodiac stole her I.D. chip?" Optimus asked, vexed. That was the hole in her head he saw... Poor Aurora. It was so deep, and it was such a careless extraction putting her life in jeopardy for something so petty and selfish. "What would he even do... with that?"

"Infiltrate our base without being detected," the rhinoceros declared. "At the time, the base was empty, but even if it wasn't, and if he was disguised as Aurora, no one would have questioned it, unless Rattrap could have picked up his scent."

"Why?"

"We don't know yet. Whitegrazer should be reviewing the security footage right now. Maybe he was after the golden disk that has been in your possession since the Metal Hunter incident?"

"Maybe." Although Optimus kept that with him at all times, just like Megatron had done with his in fear of someone breaking into the base and stealing the valuable artifact. How peculiar of Zodiac... And what he did to Aurora, it simply infuriated Primal.

For a moment, Rhinox could feel him tense up on his back, but it quickly passed. "We'll figure it out. The important thing now is that Aurora is okay. She was barely clinging to life. And I was thinking... We should be able to track Zodiac down if he's still using her chip. After all, we'll have to retrieve it in order to return it to Aurora so she can be recognized on our transmissions and our scanners."

As much as Primal wanted to face Zodiac again for what he did, he was hesitant in tracking him. He had proven himself to be very dangerous and unpredictable. In fact, how was Optimus to know that he was with Rhinox right now and not Zodiac? What if they were running into a trap and Blackarachnia was actually Zodiac who would find it very easy to finally finish Optimus off with the poor state he was currently in?

"Whitegrazer had also sustained a serious injury to the back of her head, and some damage to her back."

"Protoform X... and Tarantulas," was all Optimus said when he recalled witnessing them hitting her and stomping on her back.

"Hm. I think she'll be alright. She wanted to return to rescue you, but I determined that she wasn't fit to re-enter battle, physically and mentally. However, something rather extraordinary happened to her. Optimus, I have never seen anything like it before."

"What happened?" he asked with some eagerness and uncertainty.

"When Megatron was splitting X's spark... I'm not quite sure how to explain it. Well, she could feel all of it with her connection to him, and the trauma of such pain physically split her Vok form from her Cybertronian form."

"Primus... That must have been why... I felt it, too," Primal noted. "It was as though... someone was twisting my own spark. It was excruciating. I can't... imagine what she must have felt." And he tried visualizing her body splitting between both forms, but he really had no inclination of what something like that would look like. Taking a deep breath with reflection, he added, "So much went wrong today, Rhinox. ...So much."

"Some of it also went right," he tried cheering up his friend. "We can still attempt to reacquire X's spark at some point. It's not like Megatron's going to dispose of it."

"But we can't reacquire Banshee's..."

"I'm afraid not. I'm sorry, Optimus."

"Me too..."

"Whitegrazer also mentioned that you reached out to her again with your spark, the way you did in the Metal Hunter. She described it as pure, serene, and there's a feeling of unity with it. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

Optimus shook his head. "I don't remember. It happened again?" He sighed lightly. "Perhaps it was after... the stress I felt from X through her... I don't know."

A soft, thoughtful, "Hmph," escaped the rhino's mouth, but he couldn't question it further when he spotted someone ahead of them. "There she is! Blackarachnia!" Rhinox called out to her as they approached the she-spider.

Optimus lifted himself up a little higher over Rhinox's withers to see her up ahead.

Getting closer to her, the rhinoceros stopped to let Optimus off of him and then he maximized to his robot mode to investigate the area while he carefully went to her aid.

Meanwhile, Rattrap pulled up to the Axalon and entered through the hangar with Banshee's body, hoping he wouldn't bump into anyone who shouldn't see such a violent death before he could stow it away properly in a temporarily sealed coffin.

-----

"Get up, you fool," Megatron nudged Terrorsaur's body with his sharp, purple toes.

Terrorsaur groaned and moved a bit. "Ugh... Megatron? That was quite an exceptional hit you took on Blackarachnia," he brown-nosed his leader while looking up at him from his back on the ground.

"Don't patronize me, Terrorsaur. Had you followed my orders and regrouped when I told you to, you would not have found yourself in such a pathetic predicament," he growled down at him. "We're returning to base." Megatron purposely and rudely stepped over Terrorsaur's body as he continued walking.

Terrorsaur lifted his arm to block his face from the dirt that fell off of Megatron's feet and onto him. Then he rolled over and got up, feeling the two punctures on his neck and grumbling under his breath, cursing at the black widow making him look bad. Waiting for the dizziness to subside after he stood up so quickly, he began following the others back to the Darksyde.

Megatron's mind was elsewhere during their journey back. He searched for a proper name for X, and he thought about the mysterious alien orb he had found in that cave. He was anxious to examine it and study it, but all in due time. For now, he would have to reiterate a very paramount revelation to X, and give him his new "identity". "I must admit," he addressed the crab, "Primal's along with the Maximal scientists' development of an indestructible creation is impressive. Using an energon blade on any other spark would have destroyed it. However, it seems you can not be terminated. An advantage. ...Or is it?" Megatron grinned deviously in his beast mode at the large experiment while they walked, referring to squeezing his spark in the vice it was now caged in without actually bringing it out for another demonstration. "Welcome to the Predacons, Rampage," he delivered his new name. "You shall be an honored member, so long as you never forget one important fact about your new life... It's mine," he greatly emphasized, proud of his own, unethical accomplishment. "Welcome, my new servant. Yesss. Welcome... to the Beast Wars." He chuckled in an evil tone with a chorus of the rest of his Predacons joining him.

(( OOC: Sorry, I had to use those lines from the show. It was an epic ending in the episode to show just how evil and badass Megatron is. ))

[una]

((OOC: Oh yeah! I love that quote, OOP! ))

"Perhaps, Whitegrazer, you should draw more from the life around you instead of the losses. Draw from the strength and optimism and not the anguish and torture. I'm not saying you should ignore your Empath instincts, but it also seems as though you focus too much on the pain, absorbing it from the rest of us to prevent us from suffering, and that could have a negative impact on both you and those of us who need that feeling in order to learn from it and survive. It can drive us to do more from letting it happen again."

"I usually do that, Rhinox, but after what happened in the Metal Hunter combined to what happened out there, " Rhinox's advice was sound. She had been doing that for awhile by herself, but what the Vok did to her back at the Metal Hunter, they shattered her to pieces, chewed and threw her around like some kind of plaything or one of their experiments that they needed to control, took her over without a remorse or regret, even her mentor, TyCross, and that left her... shaken and angry. Angry because they used her abilities to do what she promised herself she wouldn't let happen again. Angry because they allowed her to watch but be unable to stop them. Angry because she find out their true reason for what they did back at the Metal Hunter. The true reason why they fought so hard to control her and do this to those she loved was because they wanted to force her back with them. They were willing to kill Optimus, Aurora, Zodiac, Nemesis, Rhinox, Umbra and everyone else in order to insure that she would return with them. That, without no bonds, no emotional ties to stay where she was, she would have to return to them. They were the ones who exiled her in the first place, and yet, now, they wanted her back? Their little stunt just reminded her about all that pain, all that trauma she hoped to cope and recover, and all that torment and torture she wanted to undo. It was like they ripped her apart piece by piece, and now, she was trying to put herself back together. What happened there was still recent, it still echoed. It only be a day, and now, combined with what happened outside, the stench of death was hard to erase from her spark.

She realized she didn't finish her statement to Rhinox, who was probably waiting for her to continue, "there are still some things I must work out." That was an understatement. There was more going on within her that Rhinox or the others were aware of. There was a fight, a struggle within her. Who did she want to be? A Vok? Or a Cybertronian? Could she be both? Or could she be only one?

"I... will speak with him about it," Rhinox finally said even though his voice probably failed to reassure her. "But as involved as you have gotten with us... I'm afraid, Whitegrazer, that you are very much needed."

Whitegrazer looked at Rhinox unconvinced about what he said. She knows he would try, but... Optimus needed to be more careful as well. She knew he would take Banshee's death pretty hard as well as the events that transpired today. She knows she is. Like she and Rhinox both agreed on, mistakes were made. Aurora shouldn't have go alone, Optimus shouldn't have gone alone, especially with how he was still recuperating from the forest battle, and she shouldn't have gone alone. She wasn't pointing fingers or anything. After all, she was the one who bought X and Starshadow to Megatron. Maybe if she hadn't... Banshee would still have been alive. It was just that, like her, as Rhinox pointed out, Optimus wanted to protect them. But he was their leader. He might not be suicidal, but he might be just as reckless as she was when others they loved are in danger. She smiled. So was she.... She had realized from past experience now that going alone done more harm than good for both parties involved. They couldn't go alone with this. Not anymore. They must work together.

They. Must. Work. Together.

She said that more to herself than to the others because she couldn't actually say that without doing it herself, and it was a point she started desperately to hammer it in. They all must learn from past mistakes. No more despair. No more loss. No more. They must, as Rhinox said, learn from their mistakes and move on. And the only one to move on was to grow, to develop a better way. She had to make a choice, and then put it all behind her.

Whitegrazer appreciated Rhinox saying she was needed, but they were needed more than she was. So was Optimus.

"Maybe there's a greater force behind the Vok,"

Rhinox said something under his breath. She only caught a glimpse of what he said, but she deduced what he meant. Rhinox didn't realize how right he was, and even Vok and herself, find him unknowable.

"You have that right to do what you feel is best, Whitegrazer. No one is going to coerce you in order to obtain that information. Optimus least of all. There might come a day when this war ends, and only then might you share your knowledge. But only you can choose the right time."

Problem is, she might never be able to share sch knowledge, about the Vok, about the Tripredicus Council, or about the High Council. There was just some knowledge that was just too deadly to speak out loud.

"Good. Because Aurora will need you,"

"I know." She said softly. The little one is confused about what happened, and due to her nightmares, she was frightened.

My head hurts.. What happened?

Aurora spoke through her as she examined the depression on the floor of the room that lingering scent of Zodiac's left. "This must all be so confusing for you, Aurora. Zodiac attacked you. He took your id chip, so he could disguise as you and enter our base. Don't worry, it seems Zodiac only came to retrieve something, not to do anything damaging. Though, the question is... what did he take?"

Something's wrong.. There's some collateral damage beyond just the missing identification chip. Where are you??

The little ermine seemed utterly frantic. Did she exit out of the CR Chamber? Whitegrazer stood up and went back to the bridge. Aurora was standing outside of her CR Chamber, looking frightened and uncertain. She knelt down, "I'm right here. You say there is something else wrong? Tell me."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Blackarachnia!"

She head rhinox's voice from her com-link but at the time, she was too busy screaming as she fell down upon multiple branches and then plopped down on her beast mode's back against the dusty ground.

"Hmph," escaped the rhino's mouth, but he couldn't question it further when he spotted someone ahead of them. "There she is! Blackarachnia!"

All eight eyes trained on Rhinox, who looked pretty good cpompared to the Maximal Ape. She slowly turned herself over and transformed into her robot form, holding her spinning head as well as balancing her stumbling feet, "Next time, I will find a ride with not as much turbulence." She shook her head until her vision cleared. "All right, can someone please tell what happened?"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I would not be so careless to lose what I worked so hard to gain, Protoform X. This half of your very existence," that was now stored in his subspace, "is quite valuable to me, yesss." Megatron fell silent for a moment in thought before he repeated, "Protoform X. Such a colorless and simple generalization to name someone so full of rage and power. I'm afraid that title won't do."

"If you are looking for new names, how about your nightmare?" X snarled, wiggling at his web restraints. Pathetic. He could exit out of these in a moment's notice, but if he tried, no doubt Megatron would squeeze his spark again. He wanted to avoid that, so like a good pet, or a slave, he remained compliant.

After all, this was his existence, it seems. No matter how hard he tried.

"I must admit," he addressed the crab, "Primal's along with the Maximal scientists' development of an indestructible creation is impressive. Using an energon blade on any other spark would have destroyed it. However, it seems you can not be terminated. An advantage. ...Or is it?"

"Is that jealousy, I hear?" X balled his fists, narrowing his optics.

Tarantulas let out a low dark chuckle, enjoying X's misery.

Welcome to the Predacons, Rampage," he delivered his new name. "You shall be an honored member, so long as you never forget one important fact about your new life... It's mine," he greatly emphasized, proud of his own, unethical accomplishment. "Welcome, my new servant. Yesss. Welcome... to the Beast Wars."

Rampage, huh? Appropriate, he had to admit. Especially with the crimes and deaths he was responsible for. But the idea of being this tyrant's slave and pawn in this war did little for him. Their cause meant nothing to him. He wasn't a Maximal nor a Predacon, and one day, one day, he would regain the other half of his spark!

And then, it would be him laughing as he rips that purple T-Rex to bits! Starting with that voice box of his! To slice that throat of his, stopping his mocking laughter! But that black bird held his companion. He was powerless.

He won't forget the betrayal he and his companion suffered at the hands of the Maximals. The betrayal that has led him to this.

[Phoenix]

"This must all be so confusing for you, Aurora. Zodiac attacked you. He took your id chip, so he could disguise as you and enter our base. Don't worry, it seems Zodiac only came to retrieve something, not to do anything damaging. Though, the question is... what did he take?"

Aurora had been looking around for any sign of anyone else when Whitegrazer responded to her call. Somehow knowing that Zodiac had been digging through her head while trying to obtain something as personal as her identification chip, did not make her feel any better. Although it did help explain a thing or two about why she was feeling the way she was and more importantly why she was having such difficulty forming words now.

The renegade had no doubt caused some damage inside her head the CR chamber was unable to repair, leaving the fuzor terrified the damage could be permanent.

She had never had to deal with literally not being able to express herself, something that was quite serious for someone who relied so much on her ability to express herself in her field as a scientist. Her very persona was talkative, so she couldn't exactly wrap her mind around the prospect of having to give that up.

After letting out a deep sigh, secretly wondering if Whitegrazer was able to pick up on how scary she found the thought of losing something she relied so heavily on. She really didn't want to think about it right now, she couldn't, so instead she immediately turned to what she did best.. Find a solution, or at the very least a distraction to keep her mind preoccupied for a moment until she had enough time to process everything that had happened.. and then find a solution.

There was always hope!

Her fellow Maximals consisted of a strange mixture of talents, but talented they were. Perhaps Rhinox could help her.. The rhino was probably the smartest individual she had ever met. Albeit he did have awfully big hands and may not be suited for neurosurgery.

No, she had to focus on something else. She was already starting to calm down after her initial reaction upon realizing her verbal handicap. No point in working herself up about it now.

So she kept looking around until her optics drifted to the video footage still playing after Rhinox had accessed it earlier. And there she.. no he was. Small, white, messy hair.. The likeness was uncanny and had she not known Zodiac had come here disguised as her, she would have assumed the video was of herself. Well, aside from the fact that the intruder seemed to be on high alert, frequently glancing over her.. his.. shoulder while moving from room to room. A few different cameras had picked up on his movements, which included the now empty storage room Nexus Prime had been assigned as his quarters during his stay at the Axalon.. And then the fiend had broken into Rattrap's quarters only to return with a handful of booze a few moments later.

Aurora intently watched the scene unfold from the cameras' perspective, briefly wondering not only how to explain all of this to the others before realizing she could have Whitegrazer function as a translator of sorts. The fuzor's ears perked up just then, hearing footsteps rapidly approaching, so she quickly selected the cameras that had gotten the best look at the fake Aurora's movements and left the video on a loop for the others to see as well. She then turned to see Whitegrazer hurrying to get to her.

"I'm right here. You say there is something else wrong? Tell me."

The fuzor stared at the other female for a long moment, her mouth dropping open as she truly wanted to say something. But as the taller female knelt down in front of her, giving Aurora her first good look at the Vok/Maximal hybrid's new appearance, the fuzor froze. Whitegrazer looked so different now, like a strange mixture of two completely different creatures. One strong, comforting, nurturing, familiar, and beautiful. The other strange.. almost bizzare.. and quite frankly quite scary to look at! It was even more extreme, a lot more in fact, than the time she'd seen the shapeshifter split into two individuals as well.

"What...fish!!," the little fuzor exclaimed after letting out a surprised gasp, involuntarily taking a step back. "Digging !," she then said, stuck between utter shock from seeing Whitegrazer in this state and from annoyance that she wasn't able to express herself.

What happened?!, she then demanded of the other female, oddly enough feeling more comfortable conversing via the newly established spark link than speaking right now.

Regardless of the other female's appearance, however, Whitegrazer still very much so radiated that warmth she'd gotten so well known for. It helped Aurora relax, at least a little, and she took a deep breath before she slowly reached her hand out to touch the other female's Vok half.. Partly because the fuzor wanted to make sure she hadn't become delusional from the recent trauma to her own person. Her touch was quite soft though, not wanting to hurt the other female in case she'd been wounded.

Are you hurt..?

Whitegrazer looked like she'd been dragged through the Pit and back, but despite the few obvious wounds the fuzor could see had been inflicted on her, such as a traumatic injury to the back of her head and neck area, she didn't seem.. or rather feel.. too different.

I'm not sure this makeover of yours truly fits your personality.., the fuzor finally told the other female before noticing another Maximal that had just arrived.

Rattrap!

Fortunately Aurora hadn't seen the rodent put Banshee's remains in the coffin, which would surely have made her even more uncomfortable. So she let go of Whitegrazer and waved over at Rattrap to try to get his attention.

"Papaya!," she shouted, "Window here!"

Dang it.. This was really starting to get on her nerves. And it would take a while before she could get used to this. If ever. So Aurora followed up by pointing at the video feedback loop on the monitor, hoping Rattrap would be able to put two and two together. Or that Whitegrazer would help explain..

Nemesis flew overhead in her avian mode, the traitorous and obviously insane unconscious feline held tightly by her talons. She could, of course, speed back to base and depose of her unwanted cargo sooner rather than later, but given the injuries some of her fellow Predacons had sustained in the battle, it almost seemed more appropriate to linger close by in case the Maximals attempted to pursue. Not that she believed they would, albeit the Maximals had surprised her before. Indeed, under Optimus Primal's leadership the unorganized group of Maximals, most of them with little combat experience prior to joining the beast wars, the group had not only survived but in some ways improved.

Ultimately they would lose, no doubt, since Megatron was so ruthless and determined. And he actually had a plan, whatever details it entailed, on how to win this war. As far as she could tell, the Maximals had no such plan in place right now. Instead they were merely reacting to whatever their enemies threw at them. Surprisingly they had actually manage to counter many of those attacks, something that said a lot about Primal's qualities as a leader. Perhaps Nexus Prime had not been so careless after all when he chose to groom his younger apprentice. Or at least that's the impression she had gotten during her stay at the Axalon, before that Nexus Prime was revealed to be an impostor.

Zodiac..

She briefly wondered where the hybrid shapeshifter was now. Had Megatron killed him already and was just waiting to share the good news with his crew? Did he escape, somehow? She hoped not.. on both accounts, actually, since she wanted nothing more than to extract revenge on the shapeshifter herself. Hopefully Megatron would explain it all when they got back to base.

Meanwhile at the Darksyde, the renegade had made the most of the time he had at his disposal. By now he had become fairly certain that the base was effectively abandoned, so he had allowed himself to venture around more freely after locating a few places he would be able to spy on the Predacons when they returned to base. More importantly, he had been able to access the computer and download some files he needed from there. Fortunately the Predacon computer system wasn't quite up to the standards of Sentinel, so it hadn't been a great feat to delete his own energy signature from the computer files so the Predacons wouldn't be able to track his movements around the base.

Almost as an afterthought, the hybrid decided to change one more setting in the computer system. Since the Maximals were no doubt going to be busy mourning the losses of their own crew members, including their leader and that annoying little fuzor, the renegade believed that Megatron could be the only potential threat to his operation. Thus he had to make sure the tyrant wouldn't be able to interfere.

Since he wasn't able to hack into Megatron's encrypted files, the tyrant had made sure of implementing that, Zodiac decided to leave the Predacons with a little trojan horse much like the one he had used on the Maximals. Well, to an extent. This particular one only had one purpose. When activated with a specific code, the computer virus would temporarily make the Predacons' signatures appear to be those of Maximals. As an added bonus, the weapon systems would then engage those Maximal signatures. The effect wouldn't last very long, but should be enough to cause some havoc in the event the renegade was to run into trouble.

Alerted by the signal of the approaching Predacons, Zodiac hurried back to his hiding spot. Now it was time to see if his gamble would pay off.. and hopefully his prize, X, would be with the incoming Predacons.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"I usually do that, Rhinox, but after what happened in the Metal Hunter combined to what happened out there, "

Rhinox understood as well as he could considering he couldn't relate to everything she was going through and had been through. The events that took place on the Metal Hunter obviously made a huge impact on many of them. And Whitegrazer was still infected by some unknown virus that Tarantulas had injected into her. He was a tricky arachnid... In a few ways, he and Tarantulas were similar. They were both engineers and scientists, but the spider was a bit more unhinged. The rhinoceros had waited patiently for Whitegrazer to continue speaking her thought since her expression suggested she had trailed off without finishing what she wanted to express to him.

"there are still some things I must work out."

"If I can be of any assistance, please let me know," he had offered her.

-----

As Rhinox and Optimus approached Blackarachnia, both of them appeared cautious. But it wasn't because of her. Well, not necessarily. Yes, they had to be careful that she wasn't Zodiac, but their sensors were also on alert for any Predacon ambushes despite their retreat. They both seemed to relax a little bit as the minutes passed and nothing occurred.

"Next time, I will find a ride with not as much turbulence."

Rhinox nodded at her while his optics automatically scanned her body for injuries. It was just how medics were trained to respond and assess those who needed aid.

"Are you... alright, Blackarachnia?" Optimus inquired with some concern. He expected her to deny her wounds and lie about her pain. Was it because she had too much pride? Or because she found it difficult to accept the Maximals' help?

"All right, can someone please tell what happened?"

"I'll explain on the way. As you can see, we need to get this one back to Base for repairs as quickly as possible," the engineer implied toward Optimus. "Beast mode," he commanded his internal computer and he returned to his large rhinoceros alternative mode. Primal, again, gingerly clambered onto his back cringing with some anguish as he did so, tired and exhausted. They started off at a pace which she could keep up with, and Rhinox proceeded to explain to Blackarachnia about the events that had recently unfolded, while Optimus remained uncharacteristically quiet. He couldn't help but replay the events that took place that day, and furious X must have been with him and his Maximals, which wasn't good. The chief medic told her about Zodiac targeting Aurora and stealing her identification chip and then infiltrating their base although they didn't know why yet, and Megatron successfully carving X's spark in half and using it to control him along with taking him and Nightstar back to the Darksyde, and how they lost Banshee. It wasn't the Maximals' finest day, but fortunately the Predacons hadn't taken anymore lives, including Blackarachnia's.

-----

Once Rattrap had carefully put Banshee's remains away to be taken care of at a later time, he respectfully bowed his head in silence for her and laid the palm of his hand on the "coffin". Sighing, he turned away and headed toward the bridge.

Upon arriving, he spotted Aurora waving to him, and he smiled while waving back. That spunky, little ermine always found a way to brighten a dark day, and her company was exactly what he needed. He was glad she was out and about already except for some of her injuries not being fully repaired. He could only assume that it was because her chip was missing and the CR chamber couldn't perform the proper fixes that were specific to her. But what she said next kind of threw him off and his smile wavered because of it:

"Papaya!,"

At first Rattrap thought she was just joking around as she tended to do more so around him than anyone else, so he returned a smart-mouthed response. "No way, kid. I ain't your 'papa'." He smirked for a moment at his own tease, purposely misunderstanding her random word, but it wore off when she said something just as confusing again.

"Window here!"

Half of the Spy's upper lip bent upward with a perplexed expression. "Eh?" He looked at Whitegrazer who was standing nearby. Of course, his gaze was one still of uncertainty toward her and what he witnessed earlier with her body forms splitting apart. "Uh, you sound like de late Autobot Wheelie. Heh. Are we playin' some kinda game here? 'Cause, eh, I ain't really in de a mood. Sorry, Aurora." He was about to pat the top of her head with the patch of fur that hung in her face to apologetically dismiss her odd game of spontaneous words when he followed her finger pointing to the monitor that was playing a looped video feed of her roaming around the corridors. "Oooookaaay," his voice waned as his skeptical optics shifted quickly back and forth from the video to her a few times since he didn't quite understand what was going on. "I don't get it," he shrugged. Just when he was about to turn away from the monitor, he stopped himself and leaned closer to it when he noticed her in the cameras coming out of his quarters with his home-made alcoholic beverages. "Uh, Aurora? You know you aren't supposed ta take my special drinks. And secondly, I'm really disappointed with how obvious yer bein' about it here. I taught you better than that." Rattrap folded his arms across his chest waiting for an explanation from the young Fuzor.

"And, 'Grazer, you look like you need repairs," the rodent commented with a glance in her direction, implying that she should log some time in a CR chamber, before looking back at Aurora. Rhinox had obviously helped the equine with her head injury, but she still looked pretty beat up. "Optimus, Rhinox and de she-spider will be returnin' soon," he added as if it was supposed to entice her to get it done beforehand, but he doubted she would comply. She was stubborn like that sometimes. She and Optimus were an awful lot alike.

-----

"If you are looking for new names, how about your nightmare?"

Megatron had a hearty, deep chuckle at Rampage's suggestion. His nightmare? Noooo. Megatron was the nightmare here and with free range to do as he pleased.

"Is that jealousy, I hear?"

"Jealousy?" His voice sounded taken aback by the interesting choice of word that the crab used to describe his emotion. "No. Nor is it envy. Not quite. You see, to live forever is one thing if you're free and destined for greatness." Like himself as his tone implied. "To live forever in pain and as a slave is entirely different and grotesque. Life is cruel, is it not, Rampage?" he asked him rhetorically. "You can not be terminated, but your immortal existence is riddled with endless suffering and anger. No, I would rather expire before I were bequeathed with such a tragic and amaranth life."

"Here we are," Megatron announced as he stepped up to the Darksyde's entrance and paused. "Home sweet home. Descend and join us, Nemesis," he called up to her as she circled above with Rampage's precious friend still in her grasp. "Please secure Nightstar in the brig. And if you wouldn't mind unbinding Rampage from your webbing, Tarantulas, and take Umbra to a CR tank. Quickstrike will give our new recruit a quick tour while the rest of us mend. And he will behave or else, unlike his own eternal life of misery, his companion's will be cut infinitely shorter," he threatened Rampage. "Shall we?" After a smug, toothy grin to the TransMetal crab, Megatron entered the Predacon base with his heavy, tyrannosaurus foot steps that clanged loudly against the metal flooring.

Quickstrike simply looked up at their leader while he gave them their assignments. His cobra mouth dropped Umbra's tentacles so Tarantulas could pick him up and carry him inside. Then the Fuzor terrorized to his robot mode and kept his weapon trained on Rampage.

Inferno snapped to attention and saluted his Queen in compliance, following the others inside with Terrorsaur behind him. The two fliers would soon head to the CR tanks for repairs.

The air was hot and dry inside from the lava that bubbled within the melted bottom of the broken vessel. Before the group split up, Megatron stopped and turned to them in a corridor that lead to their "command center", but his pink optics eventually gave Nemesis more attention to observe her reaction. "Zodiac..." His name left a foul taste on Megatron's tongue. "He was disguised as that Maximal Fuzor, Aurora. I can't fathom why unless he intended to steal something from those foolish Maximals or trick them, but let us remind ourselves that he is very much alive, and he could be lurking anywhere disguised as anyone." He doubted the shapeshifter would have planted himself at the Predacon base since he was at the top of Megatron's death list, as well as Nemesis', but he wanted his troops to be aware of his existence and that he was up to something, whether it involved the Predacons or not. Hopefully he was busy terrorizing the Maximals right now since his earlier disguise and attack on Aurora seemed to suggest that. Even so, Megatron was not one to let his guard down or completely ignore possible threats and intrusions. However, he needed his own repairs at this time as well, but he would obtain them privately in his quarters with Rampage's spark and the alien orb in his possession. "Dismissed," he told his Predacons and then turned around to head toward his own CR tank.

"Yes, Royalty," Inferno bowed and headed to the other CR tanks.

Terrorsaur rolled his optics and grudgingly followed the overbearingly loyal fire ant.

"Welp, ain't much left to this ship," Quickstrike told Rampage. Despite the king crab towering over him, the smaller Predacon obviously wasn't intimidated. It might have been because the former experiment had to cooperate, so he foolishly believed that he would simply behave. But more than likely, it was due to the Fuzor's own ego and belief that he was a real "tough guy". "That way's the repair tanks, though I reckon you won't need 'em. That way's what's left of our bridge, but ya might wanna watch yer step 'cause the floor is, well, it's pretty much lava, and you probably don't wanna end up bein' a broiled crab." He started walking down the corridor to guide Rampage along even if he was talking to himself because little did he know that Megatron's new slave probably didn't give a slag about the place and likely wouldn't be spending that much time in it. Well, if he'd have it his own way he wouldn't, but Rampage didn't have a choice while Megatron controlled his life.

[una]

"If I can be of any assistance, please let me know,"

She nodded. She would remember Rhinox's generous offer.

If the last few days have shown her, they all needed each other in this war. Especially, after what happened to Banshee. What she did to X and Starshadow. What almost happened to Aurora and Optimus.

"What...fish!!," the little fuzor exclaimed after letting out a surprised gasp, involuntarily taking a step back. "Digging !,

"Aurora?" She looked confused at first. Why was Aurora talking in this matter? She didn't make any sense. It was almost like... Realization dawned on her. Zodiac's injury must have done more harm than good. After all, you couldn't just tear into someone's core processor and rip out their id chip without tearing or knocking some things loose in there. Zodiac's little stunt must have damaged something in her processor where her thought processes connected to her vocal processor.

When she knelt down, the little one froze like a statue. What else was the matter? Oh. Right. Her facial features. That was it, wasn't it? Aurora wasn't used to see the skeletal half of her face, thank to her people, up close like this. She forgotten.

What happened?!,

She wondered what Aurora meant. Was she asking about her injuries sustained by Tarantulas and X? Or was she asking about the other half of her face? Aurora knew about this other half, or maybe, after the ordeal she went through out there, she wanted to make sure what she was seeing was actually there and not something due to her recent injuries. From the link she opened, Aurora just seemed a bit confused as well as frustrated. Must be due to her situation with the whole thoughts not connecting with the words she expressed out loud. "It's okay. I think my people just wanted to remind me, and everyone else, who I really am. Can't say I enjoy the new look myself, especially when I wake up in the morning." She smiled at the little one.

Are you hurt..?

Aurora placed her soft, gentle small hand on the skeletal half of her face. She was more hurt emotionally due to what happened and the mistakes she made that almost led to people she cared about being killed or killed, but that was something she was slowly dealing with. Rhinox's advice rung inside her head.
She would be fine. eventually. But seeing Aurora alive and knowing Rhinox and Rattrap would bring back their friends and Optimus lifted her spirits. I'm all right. Rhinox already took good care of the wound on the back of my head. All the wounds were just cosmetic. Nothing serious. I was much more worried about you as well as Optimus. I'm glad that we were able to get you to the CR chamber in time."

I'm not sure this makeover of yours truly fits your personality..,

She laughed. "I agree. I'm not really into scaring or intimidating people."


When Rattrap came back, she stood up, smiled and greeted him. So did Aurora.

"Papaya!," she shouted, "Window here!"

"Eh?" He looked at Whitegrazer who was standing nearby. Of course, his gaze was one still of uncertainty toward her and what he witnessed earlier with her body forms splitting apart. "Uh, you sound like de late Autobot Wheelie. Heh. Are we playin' some kinda game here? 'Cause, eh, I ain't really in de a mood. Sorry, Aurora."

Whitegrazer noticed Rattrap's uncertainty towards her, but she paid it no mind. After all, after seeing what happened when she felt X's spark split in half, she understood his feelings. "Zodiac took her id chip, but because of his recklessness, I believe he must have damaged the part of her processor that deals with our speech. When Rhinox returns, we must have him do a complete neurological scan on her to see how much damage and figure out the way to repair it."

"Oooookaaay," his voice waned as his skeptical optics shifted quickly back and forth from the video to her a few times since he didn't quite understand what was going on. "I don't get it," he shrugged. Just when he was about to turn away from the monitor, he stopped himself and leaned closer to it when he noticed her in the cameras coming out of his quarters with his home-made alcoholic beverages. "Uh, Aurora? You know you aren't supposed ta take my special drinks. And secondly, I'm really disappointed with how obvious yer bein' about it here. I taught you better than that."

She looked at Rattrap then at the video playing over and over again as Aurora or rather Zodiac disguised as Aurora went into Rattrap's quarters and stole a few bottles. "That's not Aurora. That's Zodiac. And he did more than just steal a few bottles. I felt his presence inside the room we assigned him when we thought he was Nexus Prime. He took something from there. Must have bee something he forgot to retrieve. The question is what was it?"

"And, 'Grazer, you look like you need repairs," the rodent commented with a glance in her direction, implying that she should log some time in a CR chamber, before looking back at Aurora. Rhinox had obviously helped the equine with her head injury, but she still looked pretty beat up. "Optimus, Rhinox and de she-spider will be returnin' soon,"

"Thank Primus." She was relieved that they were returning. Optimus needed repairs badly, and she as glad to hear that the others were doing okay, at least. "I will, I promise, but I want to make Optimus as well as the others get their much needed repairs first. Mine are just cosmetic."

"Are you... alright, Blackarachnia?"

"Dizzy, and a little bit miffed, but otherwise, I'm good." Blackarachnia said simply, denying the blast to her side that Megatron gave her. Though, she just ignored the stinging hot sensation sparking out of her side. It was a side of weaknees to reveal such. Optimus was different than Megatron, but still, some habits don't die that easily. She gave a good long look at the Maximal ape. "It looks like you been through the Pit and back."

"I'll explain on the way. As you can see, we need to get this one back to Base for repairs as quickly as possible," the engineer implied toward Optimus. "Beast mode,"

She was still getting used to the whole Maximal thing. It was an interesting contrast between Optimus and Megatron. Here was Optimus, injured and thrown to the ground while Megatron flew high and mighty, smirking like the smug tyrant he was. As she listened to Rhinox's explanation of the events that took place she just shook her head. Not only at the mistakes that were made, but how stupidly and foolishly the heroic and self-sacrificing of the bunch of Maximals almost gave killed, got one of their own killed, and broke a promise on a psychic crab and his sadistic kittycat. "You need to put a leash on that kid. Also, a leash on you Optimus as well as that freakish white mare of yours. All leashes. " They probably either take this as joke or serious, but really, she was only half-joking and half-serious. "Or tracers. Tracers work too. Cameras."

"Jealousy?" His voice sounded taken aback by the interesting choice of word that the crab used to describe his emotion. "No. Nor is it envy. Not quite. You see, to live forever is one thing if you're free and destined for greatness." Like himself as his tone implied. "To live forever in pain and as a slave is entirely different and grotesque. Life is cruel, is it not, Rampage?" he asked him rhetorically. "You can not be terminated, but your immortal existence is riddled with endless suffering and anger. No, I would rather expire before I were bequeathed with such a tragic and amaranth life."

"I'm willing to die." Rampage smirked darkly. "I will just take you all with me. After all, we are one big, happy family now, so we should all die like a family together, shouldn't we? " Rampage chuckled at the last statement with a harsh, bitterness to it. Megatron would no doubt approve of sch a statement, but he didn't want his approval nor did he care to appease nor help the purple tyrant in any shape or form. He won't let Megatron think for one second that he was done fighting, just because he had half of his spark. Though, it pains him that his just as twisted beloved shared a similar fate, but it wasn't finished yet. They plan their escape and just as Megatron given name towards him suggest, he would rampage through the entire Predacon base and slaughter them all, slowly and painfully.

Here we are," Megatron announced as he stepped up to the Darksyde's entrance and paused. "Home sweet home. Descend and join us, Nemesis,"

Rampage saw the Darksyde from outside. It looked like a bird of prey melting inside a poll of lava. The hot, smoldering rocks from outside mixed with the shearing metal of the ship left a powerful stench.

Please secure Nightstar in the brig. And if you wouldn't mind unbinding Rampage from your webbing, Tarantulas, and take Umbra to a CR tank. Quickstrike will give our new recruit a quick tour while the rest of us mend. And he will behave or else, unlike his own eternal life of misery, his companion's will be cut infinitely shorter,"

Rampage growled at Megatron's smug face, threatening his beloved, knowing he wouldn't allow anyone to cause her pain. That was his job.

Tarantulas unbinded him from his webbing, and when his hands were freed, Tarantulas quickly made haste away from Rampage and took Umbra to a Cr Tank. He dumped the injured, unconscious Predacon onto the platform and watched as the metal grate descended Umbra into the pool of rejuvenating water. After that, he made a break away from the bridge. He despised how Blackarachnia slipped from his grasp. He needed to figure out a plan to draw Blackarachnia to him and capture her for her knowledge. The Vok and that old hag... He at least had the knowledge that they would die a slow and paifnul death. Too bad he might not be around to see it, due to the fact he still had no idea where they were. Not that it mattered. Of course, he could use that to his advantage. Made kill two birds with one stone. He chuckled to himself as he scramble away.

"Welp, ain't much left to this ship," "That way's the repair tanks, though I reckon you won't need 'em. That way's what's left of our bridge, but ya might wanna watch yer step 'cause the floor is, well, it's pretty much lava, and you probably don't wanna end up bein' a broiled crab."

"Quaint." X said. Clearly, bored and not really interested in the base. He sensed no fear from the half-scorpion, half-cobra Predacon, but that would change. "Hmm, I never had a crisped half-scorpion and half-cobra before, but I guess there is a first time for everything."They should all fear him. He bent over and stared at the Predacon fuzor's crimson optics with a small smirk. "Now, where is Megatron's quarters? Since I'm his pet, it seems, it would make sense for me to be there?"

[Phoenix]

"Aurora?"

Whitegrazer knelt in front of her and Aurora merely stared at her with wide optics. She looked so different.. Like.. the fuzor could obviously recognize the parts that remained like Whitegrazer, but that other part of the white mare looked bizarre at best. Aurora tried, and failed, to hide her shock. But slowly that too subsided, Whitegrazer's warmth and inviting nature had that ability.

"It's okay. I think my people just wanted to remind me, and everyone else, who I really am. Can't say I enjoy the new look myself, especially when I wake up in the morning."

For a moment the fuzor wondered if the other female realized how much she had physically changed. Of course the fuzor didn't know about the effects after X' spark had been severed. Was this a permanent change, she wondered, or could the older female pull herself back together.. somehow? She had placed her hand on the older female's face, partly to confirm she wasn't just seeing things but more so to offer some means of comfort in case Whitegrazer was truly hurting.

I'm all right. Rhinox already took good care of the wound on the back of my head. All the wounds were just cosmetic. Nothing serious. I was much more worried about you as well as Optimus. I'm glad that we were able to get you to the CR chamber in time."

Oh.. Right. The CR chamber. For a moment Aurora had actually forgotten how close she had come to dying. And at that moment she felt a little dizzy, having to use Whitegrazer to support herself so she wouldn't fall over. Perhaps she was overdoing this a tad..

Thank you, she told the other female, smiling a bit. She honestly couldn't remember much of the trip back before she woke up in the CR chamber, but now it seemed evident it had been Whitegrazer that got her there. The dizziness cleared enough to allow her to stand somewhat steady again.

"I agree. I'm not really into scaring or intimidating people."

Perhaps.. But that split face of hers could persuade most otherwise.

What happened?, she then demanded, hoping Whitegrazer would be able to fill in some of those gaps in her memory. Optimus was with us.. And Megatron, and.. whom I can only presume was Zodiac disguised as me. He got away, didn't he?

She then nodded to the monitor, indicating her clone wandering freely around their base.

And Banshee.. I thought I saw her. But I'm having a hard time remembering the details. Something happened, didn't it?

She glanced over at the CR chambers. Banshee isn't in one of them, is she?

The truth was starting to dawn on her, those bits and pieces she could remember coming together to form a more complete puzzle. And her spark sank. She had never been very close to Banshee, but the Maximals had seen too much death among their ranks already.

The little ermine fuzor smiled as best she could despite some residual pain and the turmoil she was still feeling after her earlier encounter with the Predacons as well as the growing realization that Banshee was no longer with them. She looked a dreadful mess too, honestly, her white fur dirty and the normally unruly locks of fur on her head were drenched in what she could only presume was her own mech fluid.. Albeit she remembered bits and pieces of what happened after Zodiac had attacked her and left her for dead in the cave, those memories were scattered and kind of vague. Like she had been dreaming. No, not dreaming. Having a nightmare she hadn't been able to wake up from.

Whatever had happened, she was safe now. Home where she belonged. It was only now she started to consider the consequences of her having disobeyed a direct order to head out to the cave in the first place, a fact that caused her smile to falter a bit for a moment. She knew the other younger Maximal in the group, Cheetor, had been confined to base more than once. Hopefully this would all pass without anyone bringing her stupid actions up in the conversation that was bound to happen. Well, if she could talk properly to explain herself that is.

"No way, kid. I ain't your 'papa'."

Rattrap was staring at her, a bit confused himself, and it was only then she realized the randomness of her greeting towards him. Shaking her head as if to try to clear it, she pondered how to explain the situation to him without confusing him further.

"Yellow tree moose banana," she replied, using her arms to gesture as well. The rodent certainly didn't look any less confused as more random words escaped her, even though she had formulated the words quite clearly in her head. They just did not come out that way.

No, you don't understand..

She looked back at Rattrap, hoping he would understand despite her inability to explain it to him. Then she glanced over at Whitegrazer ever so briefly, wondering if the other female, however strange she looked at the moment, could help her put these thoughts into words.

"Uh, you sound like de late Autobot Wheelie. Heh. Are we playin' some kinda game here? 'Cause, eh, I ain't really in de a mood. Sorry, Aurora."

Ugh! This was getting most frustrating for the fuzor, and her facial expression did little to hide the fact.

"Pearl ostrich!," she then said, pointing at the video screen again. Her words were only getting more scrambled, perhaps in part due to the fact that she was getting increasingly frustrated by all of this.

Her green optics then settled on Whitegrazer once more, her mind focusing to try to explain it to the white mare/vok.

There's some residual damage affecting my ability to put my thoughts into words. He doesn't understand..

Those same green optics had a bit of a pleading look to them, perhaps due to the increased sense of desperation she felt. Being unable to communicate wasn't something Aurora was accustomed to. In fact she often could talk on and on for hours if the topic interested her enough. Meanwhile her finger still pointed in the direction of the screen, which still showed the looped video of her.. or rather someone who looked exactly like her.. rummaging through their base.

"Oooookaaay,"

Aurora turned back to Rattrap, for a moment hoping he was starting to understand what she was trying to explain to him.

"I don't get it,

Nope.. He wasn't. But at least he was paying closer attention to the video feed. Or at the very least the part where her lookalike emerged from Rattrap's private chambers, with their arms full of the rodent's booze. Surely now he would understand!

"Uh, Aurora? You know you aren't supposed ta take my special drinks. And secondly, I'm really disappointed with how obvious yer bein' about it here. I taught you better than that."

Aurora's mouth dropped open a bit as it dawned on her. Rattrap believed she was drunk! Just great.

Not knowing what else to do at the moment, the fuzor face palmed herself. After a moment she peered out again from underneath her hand, slowly shaking her head as she did.

I'm not drunk!, she wanted to protest, but of course the words that came out sounded like anything but.

"Island rolling fever! Bronze lasso!"


Fortunately Whitegrazer seemed to have understood what the rodent couldn't yet.

"Zodiac took her id chip, but because of his recklessness, I believe he must have damaged the part of her processor that deals with our speech. When Rhinox returns, we must have him do a complete neurological scan on her to see how much damage and figure out the way to repair it."

Aurora nodded eagerly, her head turning from Whitegrazer to Rattrap and back again.

"That's not Aurora. That's Zodiac. And he did more than just steal a few bottles. I felt his presence inside the room we assigned him when we thought he was Nexus Prime. He took something from there. Must have bee something he forgot to retrieve. The question is what was it?"

The bastard, Aurora thought but without verbalizing her dismay at this time. She was just happy Rattrap would finally understand what really happened. But upon hearing that Rhinox, Optimus, and even BlackArachnia were returning to base her mood lightened considerably. And in her mind she had already started pondering ways to get her identification chip back, even if that no doubt meant they would have to go after Zodiac. So be it. As much as she feared the shapeshifter from all the things he had proved capable of doing, this time the Maximals knew what they were dealing with. And knowing allowed them to prepare.

Meanwhile back at the Darksyde..

"Home sweet home. Descend and join us, Nemesis,"

Nemesis had been circling above for a while when Megatron gave the order to proceed inside. It had been refreshing to feel the air under her wings for this short time, albeit like all good things that too had to come to an end. Oh well, she'd find an excuse to leave their molten home soon enough.

Releasing her grip on the female, the avian Predacon watched as she plummeted to the ground before she also made her descent. She had no intention of taking it easy on their traitorous captive, not after all the trouble Starshadow.. or Nightstar.. or whoever she was now.. had caused in the past. In fact if Megatron was to give the word, Nemesis would have no quarrels with impaling the other female's spark with her sword. Alas, Megatron felt he could still make use of their unconscious captive. To help control X, no doubt, until the large crab had learned his place. Given his immortal spark, however, as proved by the fact he survived getting it cut in half with a rough blade, that could be a very long lifetime worth of servitude.

X' careless attitude towards life and death was starting to make sense now. And in a way Nemesis could relate. She did not have an immortal spark like the male, but she did have abilities beyond those of a regular cybertronian. It would take a lot to destroy her body, a lot of pain and suffering, but eventually her spark would not be able to hold up to such tortures. X did not have that benefit. He would have to endure to the end of time. No wonder Megatron wanted this powerful bot as an ally, no matter how difficult he was to control.

"Please secure Nightstar in the brig.

Nemesis had landed on the ground right next to the fallen female, and gave Megatron a nod before grabbing the other femme and dragging her inside. She didn't even bother carrying her at this point, instead she merely dragged her along the rocky floor until she reached the brig. Once there, she made sure Nightstar had been disarmed before securing her inside.

Afterwards, the winged female looked forward to return to her quarters for some rest. Of course first she would stop to check in with Megatron and so she did.

Meanwhile Zodiac watched the Predacons arrive with their prisoners in tow on a small monitor he had connected to the Darksyde's camera feeds. He was able to at least partially hear some of the things they were saying when they got within range of the microphone inputs of the cameras, although the sound was far from crystal clear. Oh well, at least this would give him an overall idea of how to approach his goals from here on.

Megatron was standing next to a larger, unknown male, one Zodiac could only presume was the infamous X. The two had never actually met in person, but Zodiac still knew a fair amount about the experiment from the files he had recovered from Nexus Prime. Oh such secrets the old admiral had kept hidden. They stood in sharp contrast to the respectable war hero Nexus always came across as. Only his innermost circle knew the lengths he had been willing to go to in order to secure peace for his Maximals.

Oh, such hypocrites they were..

Of course Zodiac's own experiences and those of X must have been vastly different. They were both designed with the intention of creating the ultimate version of their race. But whereas one had been condemned with an indestructible spark and a soul that desired nothing more than to see it extinguished, the other had been told repeatedly he was the next step of evolution and had an intrinsic desire to live. Two tortured souls with a similar background, yet so very different.

Zodiac crouched down as he viewed the image on the small monitor, finding some relief in the fact that X was quite large and intimidating. Perhaps he would make a good substitute for Dirge. He certainly looked strong enough to assist on the shapeshifter's little adventure..

Quickstrike .... new recruit ....tour ... behave or ...companion'...cut infinitely..."

The microphone didn't pick up more than a few words due to the distance to where Megatron and his new recruit were standing. But it wasn't hard for Zodiac to piece together the missing words. A slight smirk formed on his face as he watched Megatron and the other Predacons move into the base. In some spots he could hear everything that was being said while in others only bits and pieces or nothing at all. Oh well, such was the luck of the draw, he supposed, as he had only had time to place a few miniature mics in a few select locations before withdrawing to his hiding spot.

When they ventures inside, he quietly and carefully followed their movements as he crawled through the maintenance shafts above the main corridor. Rattrap's mode seemed to be well suited for crawling through tight spaces without making a noise, so part of him understood why the rodent had selected that as his beast mode.

He stopped when Megatron halted in the corridor beneath and gestured for his soldiers to come closer. Zodiac watched them through a grid, well hidden in the darkness of the cramped space he was in, his curiosity only growing as he heard..

"Zodiac..."

For a moment he thought that perhaps he had been detected, but the lack of gunfire shooting at him persuaded him this wasn't the case. So he listened intently.

Nemesis tilted her head as she watched Megatron, her optics briefly flashing red as her leader mentioned the name of their common hated foe. But she remained still, patiently waiting for Megatron to finish.

"He was disguised as that Maximal Fuzor, Aurora. I can't fathom why unless he intended to steal something from those foolish Maximals or trick them, but let us remind ourselves that he is very much alive, and he could be lurking anywhere disguised as anyone."

Indeed, Zodiac thought to himself, a grin spreading on his rodent face.

So Megatron did let him go, Nemesis thought with some disappointment. She had hoped that the shapeshifter was at the very least secured as he'd been left behind, but apparently not. Still, her expression remained as neutral as she could muster, not being one to openly question the tyrant's judgement very often.

"Requesting permission to take a team, seek him out and destroy him after everything's been taken care of here at the base," she asked when the tyrant was done explaining the situation to them. The hybrid was too dangerous to be allowed to live, much less wander around freely as he pleased. He had proven that much.

"Dismissed,"

The Predacons spread out and returned to their own duties, but Zodiac remained where he could keep an eye on X. Megatron, too, left, leaving X alone with the pathetic Quickstrike to guard and guide him. Zodiac followed them as best he could while the fuzor showed the new guest around. X, of course, wasn't having any of the false pleasantries.

"Now, where is Megatron's quarters? Since I'm his pet, it seems, it would make sense for me to be there?"

Well.. it would appear that was the shapeshifter's cue. He couldn't very well let X find a way out of this mess himself, now could he? It was quite evident that Megatron had something on him after all. It could be the life of X' companion, he supposed, but he had a feeling he would be able to persuade X to tell him the truth soon enough. That is if he could get Quickstrike to leave, that is..

The hybrid moved far enough away that he'd be able to get out of the duct without being noticed all the while checking to make sure he wasn't being watched or had any cameras nearby that could pick up on his presence. And no sooner had his feet hit the floor before his entire body started changing. He grew taller, his shape shifting to that of the female he knew so well, the armor taking on a black and red hue with silver and white details, and large feathery wings grew out of his backside. The process only took a moment, the female's appearance very familiar to him. It felt like a lifetime ago now, but at one point the two of them had been close. Partners in a cruel world, almost like siblings. They both had changed so much since then.

He had chosen Nemesis' form since he had familiarized himself enough with the Predacons to at least have a basic understanding of each one. And the smallish fuzor who had been assigned to guard X, Quickstrike, liked to consider himself to be quite the ladies man. Since the Predacons were running short on remaining female Predacons that even resembled the description of a lady, Nemesis seemed like the only option. Would the real Nemesis ever flirt with the likes of the cowboy fuzor? Probably not. Nemesis had never been one to use her gender to get things her way. However, the fuzor was quite dimwitted and Zodiac didn't have all day.. So he moved quickly around the corner to where Quickstrike and X were still standing.

"Quickstrike, I'm glad I found you," Zodiac said while in Nemesis' form with his voice matching hers exactly. "I need your help with a situation that's come up. Some Maximals have been sighted approaching our base from the south, no doubt wanting to reclaim their prize here."

The Nemesis clone paused for a moment to glance over at X before swiftly returning her gaze to the fuzor. "I've been tasked with gathering a welcome committee to deal with those Maximal pests. And since you're one of our bravest and best, if not the best, fighters, I need you there to lead the assault. The Maximals were sighted at the following coordinates; 138.12.14. Don't worry about our friend here, I'll take care of that. So if you can go to those coordinates and lead this glorious charge, I will see to it that you receive a very special reward afterwards."

Nemesis gave the fuzor a wink and waited, secretly wondering how stupid the fuzor cowboy had to be to actually fall for something like this. Normally the shapeshifter would use much more elaborate cover stories, but he was in a bit of a hurry right now. If the fuzor wouldn't budge, however, he would simply have to knock him out or kill him, whatever he felt like if the situation came to that.

Fortunately, for the fuzor at least, the scorpion/snake hybrid departed soon enough, allowing the pretender to turn his attention to X.

"I know this will seem strange to you and I don't have a lot of time to explain right now.. But I'm here to offer you a chance to extract your revenge on both Megatron and the Maximals that created you. Whatever Megatron's hold on you is, it's within my capabilities to stop him. All I ask in return, is for you to assist me against our common foes."

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"Yellow tree moose banana,"

"Wait! I got 'banana'!" Rattrap suddenly exclaimed as if he thought he understood Aurora. "Moose banana. Moose are pretty big... Like Big Banana, right? He's on his way back, so relax, would ya?" But he clearly wasn't catching on. "'Yellow tree'... That's a tough one. Yellow... tree... or tree moose," he thoughtfully tapped his chin with his index finger. "I can't say I've seen a yellow tree or a tree moose. I'm stumped, kid. But I never said I was good at riddles."

"Pearl ostrich!," "Island rolling fever! Bronze lasso!"

"Okay, the tone is there," he studied Aurora while squinting his optics. "I obviously said somethin' offensive..." Rattrap glanced at Whitegrazer with confusion searching for clarification from the freakish-looking mare. None of these words had anything to do with making sense. "Come on, guys, seriously. What's de game? It ain't fair, but call me stupid. I ain't followin' yas." Perplexed, he scratched his head looking at both of the females.

"Zodiac took her id chip, but because of his recklessness, I believe he must have damaged the part of her processor that deals with our speech.

As his gaze drifted from Whitegrazer to Aurora, it finally came together for him. "Oooooooohhhh. Sooo... Not drunk? Are you sure? 'Cause I've been around plenty of drunks ta spot 'em with my eyes closed. Just gotta use de old super sniffer," Rattrap said as he sniffed at Aurora's breath. "Yep. I definitely smell something," he playfully teased while smirking. "Eh, sorry, kid," he apologized to the Fuzor who was like a niece to him. "It's been a long day. My processor's runnin' a little slow, you know what I'm sayin'?" He tapped the side of his head. "'Course, dat means I coulda used those drinks right about now..." But someone stole them from him. The same someone who stole her I.D. chip!

When Rhinox returns, we must have him do a complete neurological scan on her to see how much damage and figure out the way to repair it."

The Spy frowned a little since they didn't know how much damage Zodiac might have caused. It angered him because he cared a lot about Aurora and protected her in a different way from Whitegrazer's motherly nature. Rattrap nodded and added to boost Aurora's optimism, "Hey, yeah. After all, he brought back a dead guy. Neurosurgery should be a cinch." He smiled again at the ermine whose white fur was still filthy and matted in fluids, and her wings were still crimped and flaky.

"That's not Aurora. That's Zodiac. And he did more than just steal a few bottles. I felt his presence inside the room we assigned him when we thought he was Nexus Prime. He took something from there. Must have bee something he forgot to retrieve. The question is what was it?"

He frowned a little as he realized that that wasn't Aurora on the video feed, it was Zodiac. And Whitegrazer had been quick to confirm his assumption. "Yeah? Well, dat thief also stole my stash of home-made happy-hour cocktails!" as if that was more important than what Whitegrazer had suggested. "Dat creep was snoopin' around in my quarters! He probably planted another bomb, fer all we know! Are we sure he still ain't lurkin' about?" Rattrap quickly programmed Sentinel to scan for any detonation devices but none were detected. He was somewhat relieved considering the shapeshifter had rummaged through his room and violated his privacy. Why his room?! There was nothing valuable in there!

"Dizzy, and a little bit miffed, but otherwise, I'm good."

Rhinox gave Blackarachnia a side glance, while Optimus raised a brow at her, neither of them convinced of her self diagnosis. "You should remain in beast mode for a while to allow your internal systems to repair yourself," Rhinox recommended.

"It looks like you been through the Pit and back."

"I've had... worse encounters," Optimus told her softly. "Not that those... make this any... less agonizing," he admitted.

"You need to put a leash on that kid. Also, a leash on you Optimus as well as that freakish white mare of yours. All leashes.""Or tracers. Tracers work too. Cameras."

This time the rhinoceros passed a glare in her direction while he walked with his commanding officer straddling his back, but Primal gently patted his friend's shoulder with his blood-stained hand as a gesture to not let her words bother him. In a way, she was right. "Megatron... intentionally kept us segregated. You didn't have... to assist my crew, especially with that... bull's eye on your back... Thank you," Primal finally got to his point with the black widow as they approached the Axalon. The air surrounding it was sweet and fresh; a welcoming scent among the carnage, gunfire smoke and mech fluid that still lingered in the leader's nostrils. Optimus slid off of Rhinox's back with a light groan and had to concentrate keeping his balance while the engineer maximized once more and offered to be a crutch for him. Gesturing Blackarachnia to step onto the lift first after it lowered for them, the three of them crammed on it together and elevated them straight up to the command center where the others were.

"Aurora, your repair cycle is complete already?" Rhinox inquired, obviously puzzled by her having already emerged from the CR chamber, but she clearly wasn't repaired as well as he had hoped she would've been despite her missing chip. Optimus, happy to see all of his Maximals present, managed to smile at them as his arm was draped around Rhinox's shoulders for assistance with the rhino's arm wrapped around their leader's back to keep him from falling or stumbling. Even though Aurora hadn't been fully repaired because her chip was missing, he was extremely relieved to see her up and about already. It was like the weight of the world had lifted off of his shoulders for the first time in a long time, especially after losing Banshee. And Whitegrazer looked well enough. Rhinox's handiwork on the back of her head was recognizable but it was only temporary.

Rattrap shook his head and vigorously waved his arms at Rhinox dismissively, telling him not to encourage Aurora to speak, but Big Green furrowed his golden brows and ignored him. Why wouldn't he want Aurora to talk?

"She's got, uh, 'word salad', Big Green," Rattrap explained judging by his expression.

"'Word' what?" he asked, having never heard of such a condition before. It sounded like something Rattrap had just invented.

"Word salad. You know? Sorta tongue-tied. Her speech ain't workin' right, thanks ta Zodiac. Show 'em," Rattrap then requested of Aurora as he folded his arms over his chest.

Optimus looked over at Aurora with concern, while Rhinox remained skeptical. "Did you find anything on the security cameras?" he asked Whitegrazer while they waited patiently for Aurora to demonstrate whatever it was Rattrap was talking about. Glancing at the monitor, there was a looping video of their resident ermine/butterfly Fuzor roaming their base of operations, but it was obvious to Rhinox that it wasn't her. That was Zodiac. However, it wasn't showing anything of real importance. Why had he come back? Why bother disguising himself and going to all of that trouble?

-----

"I'm willing to die."

"If that were true, you wouldn't be here," Megatron commented toward the large crab. "You would have found a way to self-terminate, but here you are." He paused to correct himself. "Here we are," he emphasized smugly.

"I will just take you all with me. After all, we are one big, happy family now, so we should all die like a family together, shouldn't we? "

The tyrant had chuckled coldly. "I enjoy your dark sense of humor, Rampage." But it was difficult to tell if the dinosaur was being honest.

After studying Nemesis's reaction when he mentioned Zodiac, it was clear to Megatron that she still harbored ill feelings toward the shape shifter. That was some positive reaffirmation for him.

"Requesting permission to take a team, seek him out and destroy him after everything's been taken care of here at the base,"

"Permission denied," the TransMetal t-rex told her as he looked upon the black female. "I admire your tenacity, Nemesis, however, most of my crew need repairs. As do I. Time enough later to hunt him down and end his existence. For now, I recommend that you rest until we can regroup." With that, the Predacon warlord continued to his quarters and closed the door behind him. Finally, peace and quiet.

Terrorizing to his robot mode, he looked down to his abdomen and gently traced the slash Primal had given him with the energon blade. He growled deeply as the opportunistic leader's face appeared in his mind. Never would Megatron have thought that this low-life, inexperienced Maximal scum would cause so much trouble interfering with his conquest. He had been told that it would be easy; easy to crush him, easy to overpower him, easy to steal the golden disc relic and lure him away from Cybertron. Well, Megatron had deviated from that scheme some time ago, ever since he realized just how much power he had gained in this venture, and now he was in this for himself. It was all his for the taking. Those fools. Of course, he wasn't expecting the other obstacles like the Vok, Whitegrazer and Zodiac, but no matter. None of them will matter once he could confirm his suspicions and start a new beginning.

Pulling out the half of Rampage's spark that was now his, he set it down beside his CR tank and then took out the alien orb as he climbed in to the tank for his repairs. The liquid regeneration was warm and soothing against his armor as it immediately went to work polishing his armor, sealing the stab wound, and fixing everything else. He wriggled his pointy toes as his rubber ducky floated around. Megatron leaned back against the wall of the CR tank while he carefully examined the artifact in his hands. If it was of any significance, he wasn't sure how to activate it or use it. Some of the alien symbols engraved on it were familiar to him, but he couldn't decipher most of it. Nevertheless, it was indeed a foreign Vok object. How it ended up in the ceiling of a cave was a bit boggling, but at least it was in his possession and not Zodiac's or the Maximals'. Sure enough, he would find a way to use it to his advantage no matter what it was really meant for.

"Quaint."

Quickstrike could sense the sarcasm in the crab's voice, but he didn't care. He was only doing what Megatron told him to, and no one disobeyed him without suffering the consequences.

"Hmm, I never had a crisped half-scorpion and half-cobra before, but I guess there is a first time for everything."

The small Fuzor gulped in his throat as he tried remaining calm and tough, as though the much bigger and invincible bot wasn't intimidating to him. He continued walking and showing him around the joint despite that creepy feeling of being watched, or rather stalked from behind.

"Now, where is Megatron's quarters? Since I'm his pet, it seems, it would make sense for me to be there?"

"Boss Bot? Uh..." Quickstrike wasn't sure he should answer that, but with Rampage looming over him with very hungry and ominous green optic sensors, the much smaller and now timid Predacon shivered a little and caved. Eventually the crab would find out anyway, so what was the harm in telling him now? Then it would be up to Megatron to let him in or not. And Megatron always kept tight security around his quarters. It wasn't like he allowed anyone to come and go as they pleased. No one could just sneak in there unless Megatron allowed them. "Well, uh," he scratched his head as he stammered, "Now, if, uh, Boss Bot wanted ya there, he'd summon ya. But, uh, you ain't summoned, are ya?" he asked rhetorically since he already knew the answer was no. "But if you wanna go knockin' on his door, be my guest," he smirked. "His quarters are down that corridor there and to the left."

"Quickstrike, I'm glad I found you,"

Hearing someone approaching them fast as their quick footsteps banged against the metal flooring, Quickstrike turned around to find "Nemesis" excited about something. What did she want now? It wasn't like her to come to him for help. His quizzical gaze darted from her to Rampage and back to her.

"I need your help with a situation that's come up. Some Maximals have been sighted approaching our base from the south, no doubt wanting to reclaim their prize here."

Already? Weren't they needing repairs like the Preds were? Skeptical, he was also curious. And he never passed up an opportunity to slag some Maxis! "This's got our boss's approval?" the Fuzor asked. He sure as heck wasn't going to double-cross him. It was a little odd that Megatron wasn't barking orders at them to finish the Maximals off. Instead, it was coming from "Nemesis". Although, she was like second-in-command or something.

"I've been tasked with gathering a welcome committee to deal with those Maximal pests. And since you're one of our bravest and best, if not the best, fighters, I need you there to lead the assault. The Maximals were sighted at the following coordinates; 138.12.14. Don't worry about our friend here, I'll take care of that. So if you can go to those coordinates and lead this glorious charge, I will see to it that you receive a very special reward afterwards."

Staring up at her wide-eyed, infatuated with her flirtatious wink, someone as strong and yet still feminine as her, giving him this kind of attention and certainty... He was awe-struck to say the least. "Uh," was all he could muster in response at first. Now, he had been played and made the fool of by Blackarachnia's callous flirting, but maybe this was different. Nemesis wasn't as shallow as that spider. Was she? He didn't think so. Blackarachnia was so crazy that she went and joined the Maximals. "I'm on it, dark damsel!" Quickstrike joyfully obliged, happy to get far away from the crazed crab, and without a second thought, he hurried off as he was anxious to prove himself to her and find out what the reward was. "I won't let you down!" he shouted back before disappearing down the shadowy corridor and running out of the Darksyde toward the coordinates he had been given.

[una]

Thank you,

Whitegrazer noticed Aurora's dizziness. Her hands caught the little one, so she wouldn't hurt herself. Easy, Aurora, you have just got out of the CR Chamber. You still need some rest.

What happened?, she then demanded, hoping Whitegrazer would be able to fill in some of those gaps in her memory. Optimus was with us.. And Megatron, and.. whom I can only presume was Zodiac disguised as me. He got away, didn't he?

Yes, he did. Megatron realize he would already have trouble watching Optimus and me, so he released Zodiac. That was how Zodiac was able to have the time to do what he came here to do since most of our people were outside, fighting the Predacons.

And Banshee.. I thought I saw her. But I'm having a hard time remembering the details. Something happened, didn't it?

Whitegrazer lowered her gaze. Since they were still connected, Aurora probably sensed she was right in her statement. Something did happened to their comrade. She wanted to spare the little one, but Aurora deserved to know what happened.

Banshee isn't in one of them, is she?

No, no, she isn't. Whitegrazer said. Sorrow in her voice as well as guilt. Optimus felt the same way. After all, they were both forced to watch their comrade, who was still pretty new of the crew, being devoured, consumed by Starshadow, the one who they tried to help along with X, and the helplessness of watching her spark being consumed. Her spark ached. To watch someone die like that, to watch their soul, their essence be consumed like food, wasn't something she cared to see again. From what she sensed in Aurora as well as gauged from the little one's expression, she knew it too. She probably didn't know all the details, but the most important was the fact that they lost a comrade. Again.

"Yellow tree moose banana,"

Wait! I got 'banana'!" Rattrap suddenly exclaimed as if he thought he understood Aurora. "Moose banana. Moose are pretty big... Like Big Banana, right? He's on his way back, so relax, would ya?" But he clearly wasn't catching on. "'Yellow tree'... That's a tough one. Yellow... tree... or tree moose," he thoughtfully tapped his chin with his index finger. "I can't say I've seen a yellow tree or a tree moose. I'm stumped, kid. But I never said I was good at riddles."

No, you don't understand..

"Pearl ostrich!,"

There's some residual damage affecting my ability to put my thoughts into words. He doesn't understand..

"Island rolling fever! Bronze lasso!"

"Okay, the tone is there," he studied Aurora while squinting his optics. "I obviously said somethin' offensive..." Rattrap glanced at Whitegrazer with confusion searching for clarification from the freakish-looking mare. None of these words had anything to do with making sense. "Come on, guys, seriously. What's de game? It ain't fair, but call me stupid. I ain't followin' yas."

Whitegrazer felt bad for Aurora's predicament. It must be so frustrating to not be able to communicate properly, and how frustrating it would be for others to understand her.

She waved her hands, and explained the situation to Rattrap.

"Oooooooohhhh. Sooo... Not drunk? Are you sure? 'Cause I've been around plenty of drunks ta spot 'em with my eyes closed. Just gotta use de old super sniffer," Rattrap said as he sniffed at Aurora's breath. "Yep. I definitely smell something," he playfully teased while smirking. "Eh, sorry, kid," he apologized to the Fuzor who was like a niece to him. "It's been a long day. My processor's runnin' a little slow, you know what I'm sayin'?" He tapped the side of his head. "'Course, dat means I coulda used those drinks right about now..."

Whitegrazer just smiled, shaking her head at Rattrap's playfulness towards Aurora. HE always treated like an uncle would treat a niece.

"Hey, yeah. After all, he brought back a dead guy. Neurosurgery should be a cinch."

"It would be a delicate procedure." Whitegrazer disagreed with Rattrap's quick assessment. True, Rhinox brought back Optimus, and that is a difficult feat on itself. But neurosurgery was different. It took patience, and despite how powerful she was, her abilities, unlike with helping with Optimus, didn't help with such a complex procedure. "But it can be done. I have no doubt Rhinox would be up to the task, but he won't be alone. We will help him with whatever he needs. " She wondered if Rhinox has done such a procedure before. "But first, we need to see what the scan brings up before we do anything. So, during that time, I will be her translator."

She smiled at the little one.

"Yeah? Well, dat thief also stole my stash of home-made happy-hour cocktails!" as if that was more important than what Whitegrazer had suggested. "Dat creep was snoopin' around in my quarters! He probably planted another bomb, fer all we know! Are we sure he still ain't lurkin' about?"

"I don't think he would have time to plant any bomb in your quarters." Why did Zodiac go in Rattrap's quarters, though? Was it really just to grab a few bottles? Maybe it was, and if it was, no doubt it was in celebration of something, but what? "But I suggest, just in case, we make sure he didn't leave a present for us. I sincerely doubt he did."

"You should remain in beast mode for a while to allow your internal systems to repair yourself," Rhinox recommended.

"Maybe, but after being flown in the air, I rather keep my two feet planted on the ground for a moment."Blackarachnia didn't really want to show weakness to the Maximals, but what she wasn't completely false. She's a spider, she didn't belong in the air.

"I've had... worse encounters," Optimus told her softly. "Not that those... make this any... less agonizing,"

No doubt, and she had been there to witness some of them. And participate in some.

It's weird that the Maximal ape didn't feel obliged to return the favor of what she did to him back in old battles or when he was tortured. She didn't give him a few good kicks and taunts, trying to wear him down.

"Megatron... intentionally kept us segregated. You didn't have... to assist my crew, especially with that... bull's eye on your back... Thank you,"

Oh, here they go again. She rolled her optics. She didn't want these Maximal thinking she was getting soft on them nor did she want them for one second to believe she did this for good reasons. She was evil. Evil. She needed to pound them on the head with it, so maybe it would sink in. "Hey, I was a target too. Tarantulas still won't take no for an answer, and Predacons despise those who leave their ranks, especially to side with Maximals." She pointed towards her head. Optimus and Rhinox would probably think she was worried about those two controlling her once more, but there was more to it than that. She still carried the codes for something big, something she needed in order to secure her own dominance. Her own survival. None of the Maximals were aware of this, and she would keep it that way.

She stepped on the lift alongside the bigger Maximal males.

"Aurora, your repair cycle is complete already?"

Whitegrazer saw the lift go down. Someone must have called it. It had to be Rhinox, Optimus, and the others. When Rhinox, Optimus, Blackarachnia came inside the Axalon, she smiled. Despite the fact that they lost someone and lost X and Starshadow to MEgatron, which was her fault and she accepted that, it was good to see that everyone else was all right. Finally, Optimus can get some repairs and rest himself.

"She's got, uh, 'word salad', Big Green,"

"'Word' what?"

"Word salad. You know? Sorta tongue-tied. Her speech ain't workin' right, thanks ta Zodiac. Show 'em,"

"She is all right, but it seems Zodiac's injury to her head must have knocked or damaged the part of her brain that controls the signals between her thoughts and vocal processors." She explained. "I suggest we give her a full neurological scan and see what happened in there. Until that time, I will translate what she is saying. Due to my link with her, I will be able to communicate what she is trying to say to you all."

"Did you find anything on the security cameras?"

"Yes, and I was also able to track Zodiac's movements. I felt the residual, a fragment of his presence still lingering here. I followed it to where we assigned quarters for him when we thought he was Nexus Prime." Saying that name she looked at Optimus, it still pained her about what happened to his mentor. She wold have loved to meet him. She had hoped for a happy ending, but it was clear to her that Zodiac took that away from Optimus and Nexus Prime. "He took something from that room, but I have no idea what it was. Since he went straight there, that must have been the reason why he disguised himself as Aurora.

"If that were true, you wouldn't be here," Megatron commented toward the large crab. "You would have found a way to self-terminate, but here you are." He paused to correct himself. "Here we are,"

Rampage didn;t comment on Megatron's point. He couldn't self-terminate. He tried. Several times, and yet, he couldn't do it. He wanted to die, but by his own hand? No. There was a time he did with no success. Until he met his "friend", Depth Charge. He had to seek their game to the end. Hopefully, he would come. He always came.

It's only a matter of time.

He would be disappointed, if he didn't.

"I enjoy your dark sense of humor, Rampage."

Rampage's optics burned as he stared at purple metallic dinosaur with a half-smirk, half-sneer. Oh ho ho, his sense of humor was dark and as morbid as he did. He had other "jokes" to share, but right now, he wanted to avoid more pain, especially from Megatron.

"Boss Bot? Uh..." "Well, uh,""Now, if, uh, Boss Bot wanted ya there, he'd summon ya. But, uh, you ain't summoned, are ya?" he asked rhetorically since he already knew the answer was no. "But if you wanna go knockin' on his door, be my guest," he smirked. "His quarters are down that corridor there and to the left."

The Predacon fuzor took him on a little tour, seeing all the useless sights of the CR Chamber, which he would never use due to his own regeneration, going down the dark and gloomy halls, a nice atmosphere that fit him he would admit, passing the quarters of his so-called comrades, and other places on the bridge communication weapons, and all that other meaningless junk. He took some enjoyment out of making the fuzor squirm, though.

"I don't knock, fuzor." Rampage chuckled darkly at his comment, leaning closer towards fuzor. "I'm the monster that hides underneath your bed. I'm the monster who stalks you from the darkness of your halls. I am the monster who invades your dreams. I'm the monster who is puzzle that can open pain or pleasure for you."

Rampage laughed with a dark playful tone to it. "Ah! Your leader is right. I do have a dark sense of humor."

He smiled down at the fuzor. Rather he meant what he said or he lied, whatever it was, it was mean to freak him out. And he loved it.

"Uh," "I'm on it, dark damsel!" "I won't let you down!"

When the black bird appeared, Rampage stared at the female Predacon. Strange. Her presence radiated differently here. Maybe it was just the battlefield, but something about her felt and smelled different. The Predacon fuzor was all too eager to get far, far away from him as quickly as possible.

"I know this will seem strange to you and I don't have a lot of time to explain right now.. But I'm here to offer you a chance to extract your revenge on both Megatron and the Maximals that created you. Whatever Megatron's hold on you is, it's within my capabilities to stop him. All I ask in return, is for you to assist me against our common foes."

Rampaged leaned forward to piercingly stare at the blackbird, who quite clearly didn't sound nor seem like her. After all, she seemed oyal to Megatron. At least, loyal enough not to cross him.

He just smiled and whispered, "Tell me more, friend."