"Bad Spark"

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: Excellent posts, guys! Now it's about to get crazy. XD una, I love that you're touching upon Rampage's past a little bit. It'll be interesting to see where you go with it. ))

"Their...reaction to Optimus wasn't meant to terrorize him nor any attempt of malice. Believe me, they, in their own way, respect Optimus, more than they do Megatron." "Maybe they will lessen their grip... when they stop trying to hurt us."

"He was carving symbols into the walls for months after his ordeal with the Vok," "Seems pretty terrorized to me."

Rhinox glanced between the two females and their conversation. It sounded like they were talking about Optimus and the mental anguish that the Vok had been putting him through, whether it had been intentional or not, and whether or not they were even aware of the tormenting that they had left behind. Much of it had subsided, but every now and then their leader went through spells of the pain, nightmares and visions. Like the virus inside of Whitegrazer, there wasn't much that they could do to help him or prevent the ordeals, but fortunately they hadn't appeared to compromise his ability to lead either.

"The brig is ready. All we need to do is wait for Optimus to give me the coordinates, and then maybe we can pull up the area here and formulate a plan to help our friends."

"Whitegrazer is quite the messy painter, but under my guidance we did manage to finish up all right,"

The engineer managed a small smile from Aurora to Whitegrazer as the Fuzor handed the unusual-looking mare a clean rag to wipe herself off with.

"Yes, and it makes sense. Rampage is basically a slave, and it presents an opportunity for Zodiac to gain an ally, an immortal and strong ally, to help him in his endeavors. Though, I don't believe Zodiac really understands who Rampage really is, and if Zodiac isn't careful, ally or not, Rampage might attack him, in order to regain his spark without anyone gaining a chance to use it against him again." "Megatron seemed to fare well enough, though, it seems."

Rhinox gave a thoughtful sigh to her words that also expressed concern. "Rampage wants to be free, and no one can blame him for that, but he's too dangerous. His disregard for life, his hunger to take it, his obsessions..." He shook his head with uncertainty. "It's not his fault, but we can't fight him and Megatron and Zodiac." He didn't comment further than that though because what else was there to do with Rampage? At least if someone had the other half of his spark, he could be controlled. To an extent. Was it ethical? No, unless one was saving the life of another. But what kind of life is that for Rampage? An unfair one. Rhinox didn't want to admit it, but maybe Megatron was right when he said he was doing them a favor by slicing his spark in half. Possibly the best course of action would be to put him back into stasis lock... if they could ever manage to do that again. Could he be reasoned with at all? Could Whitegrazer influence his spark and help him find peace? Rampage would have to be opened to the idea and willing to do it.

"Would it be able to bring us back to Cybertron?,"

The robust Maximal nodded to Aurora. "More than capable. If it's functional." His crimson optics suggested hope but also grave concern.

"I know. Another ship, right under our noses all this time. If we had known about that journal Zodiac hidden, we might have been able to secure it ourselves."

"As unfortunate as it is that Zodiac kept it hidden from everyone," although he had no idea how he did that, "we still have a chance to acquire it. I'm sure Optimus and Rattrap will do their best, but they'll be fighting against Megatron and Zodiac. If I know Optimus, he'll sooner damage it before anyone else can take flight. We can't risk Megatron or Zodiac leaving this planet," Big Green explained.

"What is the Viper, Rhinox? Is there anything you can tell us about it?"

"Not as much as I'd like considering its design was kept under wraps, but Nexus Prime was involved in its construction, so perhaps Optimus might have more knowledge about it. From I recall, it was in the prototype process when I learned about it. The Maximal vessel was to be equipped with the latest and greatest weapons system, shields, and more notably the newly designed transwarp cells which would have made it the most efficient and accurate ship for space and time travel," he emphasized. "But how it ended up here," he shook his head once more, "I haven't a clue."

"Rhinox, Optimus has given me the coordinates."

He watched her patch them into the center console of the bridge which then brought up a holographic map of the area it was currently located in. "I'm willing to bet that it's been hidden in that large body of water all this time," he pointed to the lake. "Zodiac probably needed Rampage to retrieve it for him, hence stealing his spark from Megatron as a bargaining chip," Rhinox surmised anyway. Everyone was going to want to get their hands on that ship for themselves, so what ever was about to ensue, it was going to cause desperate measures. And it was going to be very dangerous. "Its engines may very well be waterlogged, so it might take time to drain them in order to take flight, which would work in our favor to delay anyone trying to steal it. But again, I don't know the full schematics of such a ground-breaking vessel."

"We should probably arm up and go there to help Optimus and Rattrap out."

Rhinox nodded to Aurora in agreement. "Sentinel can handle the base while we're gone. If you have anymore weapons that would work efficiently against Zodiac and Nemesis, you better bring them along." He grabbed both of his chain guns and made sure he was fully loaded with their ammunition. Once they were all ready to go, he lead them out of the Axalon, transformed to his beast mode and galloped in the direction of the Viper at a pace he could manage with his size and weight without exhausting too much energy that he would need for battle. "Sentinel, on-line," he ordered their base's intelligent defense system.

"Acknowledged," it responded per Rhinox's voice recognition as the shields activated after the last Maximal departed.

-----

"In your own deluded dreams, grapeface."

Perhaps at the moment, but it will come to fruition in due time, Megatron thought confidently toward Blackarachnia's words. And he would revel in that day. He had had enough traitors among his ranks.

"I don't think it is my mouth you should be watching."

Well, to be more accurate, he did tell her to watch her mouth. He knew well enough to watch his own back.

"You could try."

And succeed ripping each of your legs off one by one, Terrorsaur had thought bitterly. Slag this truce, he cursed to himself.

"Any theories on what it could be that he's hiding from..,"

At the time Nemesis had inquired such a question, Megatron hadn't the slightest idea except for maybe one of the golden disks, but he was certainly not expecting to find a completely intact vessel.

"You can count on me,"

"I certainly hope so," he reiterated toward her. Of course she had been very compliant lately, and she did save his life, so he had faith in her success. But Megatron wasn't one to congratulate or dwell on such sentimental actions. He would offer her his appreciation as soon as she proved herself worthy, and should she be successful in securing the Viper, then perhaps he would reward her with the very action she sought after so hard for so long now; killing Zodiac.

We will get there as quick as we can, Optimus, and... watch yourselves.

Hurry, Optimus pleaded to Whitegrazer. There isn't much time.

Primal's enjoyment of witnessing Zodiac being taken aback by his sudden presence was short-lived while he quickly maintained his focus on the dire situation.

Megatron on the other hand was joyfully soaking up every second of it. Despite the shape shifter trying to hide his failure and ignorance, the tyrant picked up every spec of it in his optics, facial expression and body language while he tried to desperately disguise it. What a fool. He was clearly "sweating".

"Indeed," "But not to worry, you will both be dead soon enough."

"Not according to your track record of your attempts on our lives," Optimus said in his strong appearance standing there even though he was completely missing the entirety of Zodiac's notions.

"Careful, Zodiac," Megatron chimed in. "Your failed threats continue to damage your ego and self-esteem. Soon, your confidence will dwindle to a pitiful and helpless state of loneliness and depression." He smirked hoping to have made him second-guess himself, but little did he know that what Zodiac was planning on attempting wasn't far from Megatron's own ambitions there on pre-historic Earth.

"Call it a collection of a debt owed,"

Optimus narrowed his optics while maintaining his trained gun on Zodiac.

"Your beloved Nexus is dead and it would be a shame to let this beautiful ship go to waste, wouldn't it? I promise to put it to good use."

As hurtful as his words were, Primal tried to overlook them and stay on track. He had mourned for the loss of his mentor and father figure, and there was sure to be more mourning later, but right now he couldn't let it bother him. "I'm warning you, Zodiac!" he called to him trying to keep him distracted, his finger resting on the trigger of his weapon. The last thing he wanted the pretender to do was enter the ship because if that were to happen, then it would become increasingly difficult to stop him.

"Surrender like a good boy to face whatever punishment you two see fit? Hardly a favorable option for me when the future holds so many other favorable.. and delicious.. opportunities.

Even Optimus would have been more forgiving than Megatron would who merely want to end Zodiac's life as quickly as possible. At least the renegade could continue living under Primal's imprisonment and later face justice. But it seemed Zodiac had no interest in either avenues and wanted to pursue his intentions of escaping this planet and whatever else his plans entailed.

For the time being, however, I must bid you both farewell since from the looks of it you're about to have company."

The Maximal leader was about to squeeze his gun's trigger until he watched Zodiac morph into Nexus Prime causing him to freeze. Every detail was exactly how Optimus remembered him. It was as if it was really him standing there coming to rescue them instead of trying to terminate them.

"Computer, recognize admiral Nexus Prime. Power up weapon systems and make preparations for launch. Also prepare to bring shields back online on my order."

"Shoot him, Primal!" Megatron hollered impatiently at him. After all Zodiac still had the other half of Rampage's spark as far as any of them knew. Without it, there was no real way to stop his inevitable onslaught toward them. They would only be able to slow him down if they could inflict enough damage on him before his body could regenerate itself.

Optimus just stood there unwilling to fire at the fake Nexus Prime. He knew it wasn't really him and that it was Zodiac, but the uncontrollable overload of emotions caused him to hesitate.

"Welcome admiral Nexus Prime," "Rebooting systems now."

Still standing there he watched the pretender enter the Viper so effortlessly. The ship's computer simply confirmed him as if he was the real Nexus. Didn't it know he was dead? Didn't it scan any inconsistencies in his voice, structure, optic sensors, anything? It's not him! Optimus thought angrily as if the ship was supposed to know the difference or the fact that Nexus Prime had been dead for quite some time now by the very bot it just allowed to board.

"Snap out of it, Primal!" Megatron whacked his arm with his tail gun to regain his attention.

As if he had been fully aware of his surroundings the whole time, Optimus felt the tail smack his arm and he immediately grabbed a hold of his adversary's weapon with his free hand before he could pull it away and glared at him into his optics.

"We're about to have company!" the Predacon said to the Maximal, "And you have allowed him to slip into the vessel!" He yanked his long weapon away once Optimus gave it the slightest release from his grip.

While Megatron turned his attention to Rampage, Primal looked back at the entrance to the Viper where Zodiac had been standing before he vanished and spotted Rattrap in robot mode taking advantage of the unguarded doorway. A whole different expression crossed his face now; one of optimism toward his reliable comrade even though he was about to risk his life entering the ship.

The Maximal Spy had remained out of sight and sound nearby while he watched Zodiac shift to Nexus, waiting for the right moment. It would be so much easier to let Zodiac open the door for him as risky as it was letting him get in it, but there wasn't much he could do stop the renegade. However, there was a lot he could do to stop the ship. Just before the door closed, he ran up closer toward the Viper, grabbed one of his hubcaps and tossed it like a Frisbee at the entrance. His accuracy and perfect timing allowed the hubcap to prop the door open as it was wedged horizontally between it and the door frame. It gave him just enough space for his small body to squeeze through. As soon as he got in, he wielded his gun and knelt down just in case Zodiac was still in the vicinity or may have heard him. It looked like the coast was clear, so he stood up and made his way toward the engine room which was likely the opposite direction that Zodiac had taken.

"I will enjoy feasting on your spark!

"You will never be granted the opportunity, slave!" Megatron deliberately insulted the crab as he stepped back and motioned his Predacons to converge on the invincible monster in front of him. "It looks to me as though Zodiac is leaving without you and taking your spark with him," he grinned for a moment in hopes of distracting his desire to eat him alive.

"Fire at will!" Megatron ordered his troops while he charged his weapon and fired a couple shots at Rampage's feet before he ignited his twin engines and took to the air. He wasn't foolish enough to hang around the indestructible menace who was so eager to consume his life source. Megatron wasn't going to let anyone near his spark after the incident with Zodiac earlier that nearly left him terminated.

Inferno, Quickstrike and Terrorsaur also fired relentlessly at the king crab as they positioned themselves in front of Megatron to put them between the two until their leader flew off. Then they attempted to surround him while still firing upon him so he couldn't get the chance to shoot at their leader who flew over head toward the Viper.

Optimus followed Megatron on the ground running as fast as he could with his limp toward the ship that Zodiac was attempting to steal while his troops kept Rampage busy.

[Wintersong]

It was the worst pain she had felt in her life, worse than the stinging, burning pain Cecelia had briefly subjected her to that left her forever scarred on the chest. Her mind, her spark, it felt as if they were being ripped apart before it stopped, as if the ones doing it had rested. Then it started over again, leaving her mentally screaming in anguish as she felt the lingering power of the Vok surging through her frame. Was she even still in her physical body? She couldn’t tell anymore. All Wintersong knew was that it felt like an eternity before she felt the pain fade, ebbing away one final time...

‘I got to get free...’ Wintersong told herself, her conscience barely registering her surroundings. All she knew was she was confined in an extremely small space, movements quite restricted within that small space.

‘Break free...free yourself...

‘Not again! I have to...now!

Be free...serve your purpose...’

The voice echoing in the back of her mind was more than enough encouragement for the transmetal tigress, Wintersong’s spark racing anxiously, fearful of reliving that pain again. She had to break free! Now!

With a horrific, fearful screech, Wintersong began to become more aware seconds later, her body automatically reacting to tearing at her strange cocoon. Where it had not been so easily torn open from the outside, the inside gave way after several moments of her clawing and tearing at it. She was almost free, she just needed an extra push...Another surge of adrenaline coursed through the femme, clawing at the petals of the strange alien flower, which finally tore open in her frenzied attempts to escape the torture she felt from the lingering Vok presence, which sent her falling on her hands and knees onto the metal floor of what remained of the Metal Hunter, panting heavily as she processed what had just occurred.

Wait, where exactly was she? The shock and realization that she had been stuck in the cocoon long enough to end up somewhere completely different struck her quickly enough, the femme glancing at her surroundings with great confusion. How long had she been down here? Where were her teammates? The Predacons? And what exactly was here? There were so many questions but for now she knew she had to get out, the tigress pushing herself to her feet at last, face contorting into disgust at seeing her frame covered in some weird green goop. Probably from the cocoon she had just escaped that she had turned to examine briefly, noting her equally dirtied sword lying within. “Least it’s something.” She muttered, grabbing the blade and placing it where it belonged behind her shoulder before she transformed to her tiger mode and began trying to find her way out of the Metal Hunter.

It was a weird place, but that same voice at the back of her processor guided her, leading her to the nearest exit until she finally could leave the strange place. She wasn’t sure what had all gone down, but she didn’t remember that being around. It did seem connected to the strange flora however that her and Whitegrazer has found before all the chaos that followed. ‘Now your journey begins...’ Came the final hiss but Wintersong snarled, shaking her head. “No! Not for your sick ways.” All she could do was mentally block out that voice, ignoring what it said in response. “I have got to find the others. No better place to start than the Axalon.” She said to herself as she shifted to her wheels and side boosters, using them at full power to make her way towards the ship, her signal finally popping up at the ship’s computers.

+++++++++++++

Since the chaos that had involved the Metal Hunter, Tigerhawk has taken some time away from his new comrades to explore the planet they had crashed upon. Prehistoric Earth as he had been informed. He had heard the stories of their ancestors and how they had come to this planet, even fought the Great War right in some of these very spots years ago.

It was fascinating to him, more so when he got to see the natural state of the world, before it would become covered in what the humans would consider modern civilization to them. Especially considering his new career path he had had for years now.

But, he couldn’t continue galavanting around on a world tour for long. He knew despite the weariness some of them had shown towards him, Tigerhawk still had duties to perform for his new comrades. It was unusual having to be thrust into a war so suddenly, much less one being present at all for what was suppose to be an exploration crew. Yet, this was the reality of his situation now and he would not disappoint them, regardless of how they felt. In fact, after exploring the Arctic biome, he had directed himself towards the Axalon, intending to return to duty fully and ready to lend his support where he was needed.

As it so happened, as Tigerhawk was making his way there, the mech spotted a few forms heading in a much different direction, and in a hurry. Curious. Tigerhawk wondered if something was going on to be at such a pace, the fuzor banking sharply to his right so he could meet Rhinox, Aurora, and Whitegrazer along the same path, moving lower so they could speak easier, “Greetings my friends, I was just on my way back to the ship when I saw you. What appears to be the need for such urgency?” The former emissary inquired.

++++++++++

Back on the Darksyde, one Predacon still remained, ever diligent the past few days in handling injuries and the like. Spineback had found herself more than occupied with injuries after what had happened at the Metal Hunter, so she had volunteered to remain behind while majority of the rest of the Predacon team had taken off after the thorn in their side, Zodiac.

‘Being a Decepticon use to be less trouble.’ She thought to herself after organizing her tools and equipment, keeping things prepared for when she would have to handle further injuries no doubt. But, with her task completed, she finally made her way towards the control room of the Darksyde, stepping onto one of the hover platforms and moving towards one of the monitors to help keep an optic on things.

((Alright, I read the last few posts so I kinda have an idea what’s happening. I’ll respond with Terrorsaur next round after Una responds and I’m still trying to think of something for Dinobot. Probably have him been out of commission for months from an unknown mission, sometime off-screen. Really all I can think of to get him back into the story. If you guys have an alternative idea for how to include him I’m all ears!))

[Phoenix]

Aurora tagged along with the two larger Maximals as they prepared to depart the Axalon. She had already gathered her equipment for the no doubt coming battle, although her weapons likely wouldn't do much against the foes they were going up against. Still, every little bit helped, she supposed. And if the others wanted her there, she would certainly not disappoint. Especially not now after all the trouble she had caused recently, trouble that sadly ended up with the loss of a Maximal in the end even if Aurora has nothing to do with that other than it all having been brought on by her decision to sneak away.

And for that she felt absolutely dreadful.

No doubt Optimus still wanted to have a discussion about that decision when all this had settled down. And that wasn't something the fuzor looked overly forward to either. But perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.. Optimus might be the closest the fuzor had to a father figure, but he was also responsible for the well being of every Maximal on this planet. And that responsibility weighed heavy on him. So his priorities were more than likely elsewhere.

"Rampage wants to be free, and no one can blame him for that, but he's too dangerous. His disregard for life, his hunger to take it, his obsessions..." "It's not his fault, but we can't fight him and Megatron and Zodiac."

"On the plus side, chances are those three are just as likely to fight each other," the fuzor added. Three egomaniacs like those guys could never get along.. right? At least the fuzor didn't think so.

"More than capable. If it's functional."

The ermine pondered the reply for a moment. "So wouldn't Megatron and all sort of other shady Predacons want to get their hands on it as well, then?"

"As unfortunate as it is that Zodiac kept it hidden from everyone," "we still have a chance to acquire it. I'm sure Optimus and Rattrap will do their best, but they'll be fighting against Megatron and Zodiac. If I know Optimus, he'll sooner damage it before anyone else can take flight. We can't risk Megatron or Zodiac leaving this planet,"

Aurora hadn't really considered the effects such an event would have on everyone before now. "What do you think they would do if they did get off this planet?," she thought out loud. Probably nothing good.. Nope, definitely nothing good.

Rhinox went on to explain what he knew about the Viper, which only confirmed the seriousness of this matter. Aurora's ears listened intently to what Rhinox had to say, letting him and Whitegrazer finish before she interrupted again.

"But how it ended up here," he shook his head once more, "I haven't a clue."

The fuzor drew in a breath before offering her own possible scenario, the only one that seemed likely to her.

"I think Nexus Prime must have sent it," she offered, her voice a little quieter as the gravity of the situation was becoming apparent to her. "Why else would Zodiac need Nexus' journal in order to locate it? How would he have known to note that down in his journal if he hadn't been aware of its destination?"

Another reason why this whole thing would get very personal for Optimus.. Hopefully he wouldn't let his emotions get the better of him.

"Zodiac probably needed Rampage to retrieve it for him, hence stealing his spark from Megatron as a bargaining chip,"

So if Zodiac had stolen the spark, he had surely made Megatron his enemy. And Rampage wasn't likely to bow down to anyone, even if they held a part of his own spark in their possession. Everything Aurora had heard about this guy told her he was extremely dangerous, perhaps even more so than Megatron and Zodiac in the end. And if he was truly immortal, as indicated by him surviving the traumatic event of his spark getting split, that could really cause some trouble!

Hopefully the rhinoceros was right about his theory on the Viper needing some prep work before it was ready to take off.. Otherwise they could really be in a world of trouble.

"Sentinel can handle the base while we're gone. If you have anymore weapons that would work efficiently against Zodiac and Nemesis, you better bring them along."

"Sort of," the fuzor replied as she held up a small vial, "I don't have any electric weapons, unfortunately, and we're all out of the experimental nanogel and I can't make anymore without additional supplies.. But I did bring some sedatives that could help calm someone down if the situation calls for it."

They left the Axalon and Rhinox activated Sentinel to keep a watchful eye on their home until they returned. Then they started on their way, however they didn't get far before a vaguely familiar voice appeared.

“Greetings my friends, I was just on my way back to the ship when I saw you. What appears to be the need for such urgency?”

Tigerhawk!

Aurora's mouth dropped open a bit in surprise, but she quickly replaced the expression with a wide grin. She really didn't know their thus far newest recruit very well.. at all.. She'd only briefly seen him on site with the Metal Hunter, but Primal had briefed the rest of them a bit later. Yet until now nobody had really known what had become of the other fuzor.

"Aren't you a sight for sore optics!," Aurora exclaimed to the other fuzor. "If you're not too busy, we sure could use some help."

"I certainly hope so,"

Not surprisingly, Megatron's tone was somewhat cold and distant still. Not that the avian female blamed him for distrusting those around him. That distrust was honestly probably the only reason Megatron had managed to stay alive while surrounded by so many backstabbers, quite a few of them being present right now in fact. She had certainly noticed the way his mouth curled into a sneer whenever the black widow was near him or spoke in his presence.

She didn't reply, instead she took the opportunity to sneak away and move closer to the unknown vessel. Zodiac seemed distracted enough, right now, but unfortunately she couldn't see any easy way inside the ship for the time being. So she stayed hidden, watching the traitorous renegade closely while waiting for the chance she needed.

"Not according to your track record of your attempts on our lives,"

Zodiac had smiled ever so slightly upon hearing Primal's remark. Clearly his foes were still clueless about his true intentions with the Viper. Good.

Oh, how badly he wanted to torment them with the threat of their pending doom. But it wasn't in his nature to brag about his plans until after they had come to fruition. So for now that slight smile and a certain gleam in his optics he simply couldn't hide were the only clues he was willing to give.

"Careful, Zodiac," Megatron chimed in. "Your failed threats continue to damage your ego and self-esteem. Soon, your confidence will dwindle to a pitiful and helpless state of loneliness and depression."

"So philosophical you've become in your older years," the renegade replied, honestly a bit puzzled by Megatron's rather cryptic warning. "Got any more pearls of wisdom you'd like to share now that Cryotek is not here to talk us all to sleep with his boring lectures?" Not that Zodiac hadn't looked up to Cryotek once.. He certainly had, to the point of even adapting his own alternative mode to be similar to the dragon Predacon. But upon achieving freedom from Cryotek and his men, the renegade certainly had no intention of ever serving them.. or anyone.. ever again.

Primal had been keeping his weapon trained on the shapeshifter since this confrontation began, but Zodiac had mostly ignored this fact. Without an electric weapon, there wasn't much Primal could actually do to stop him. Sure, he could shoot at him and likely cause some pain, but that wasn't going to stop Zodiac from taking off in the Viper. Besides.. he had Rampage on his side and the crab was more than capable of taking care of these pests.

"I'm warning you, Zodiac!"

Unable to fight that unresistable urge to torment Primal further before leaving them all behind to their own demise, Zodiac turned his weary gaze upon the Maximal commander after he had changed his shape to that of Nexus Prime, Primal's old friend and father figure, and spoke in calculated words.

"I chose you for a reason, Optimus," the aging admiral's voice said, "The voices of all those who opposed my decision to appoint you were silenced. You were the one who could never fail, never disappoint.. And yet you let me down so brutally. How could you betray me so, Optimus?"

It was all a ruse, of course, as the real Nexus had never uttered such words about his young apprentice. But Zodiac had no quarrels with playing on Primal's insecurity and fears of disappointing those he cared for. And for the time being, the Maximal commander looked to be in a trance of sorts, mesmerized by the very image of his long lost father figure. Zodiac did not hesitate about taking the opportunity this gave him.

"Shoot him, Primal!"

Megatron's holler seemed to fade into the background as the clone of Nexus Prime used his mirror image of the old admiral to gain access to the Viper. And he certainly wasted no time with entering as soon as the doors opened.

After directing the ship to prepare for lift-off, Zodiac stopped and crossed his arms as he addressed the ship once more.

"Set coordinates for Cybertron.. The city of Iacon, date of 92,254 of the new era."


This particular date would more than likely seem familiar to anyone with even some knowledge of the history of Cybertron. It happened to have been the date and location the peace treaty between the two factions, however shaky, had been signed. But while the Maximals had secured some semblance of peace and thus also security, the Predacons had been left as second rate citizens.. Allowed to co-exist, but not much more. Still, the peace treaty allowed them to live on their home world and not having to serve out their time in Maximal prisons. Among other prominent leader figures, Cryotek had placed his signature on the agreement as well. It had been viewed as a necessity to survive at the time, and frankly many of the Predacons had continued their operations in secret. Cryotek included.

Oh, what fools they had been.. Of course now that he had the Viper in his possession, history wasn't set in stone any longer.

"And let there be war," the disguised renegade chuckled to himself as he viewed the progress of the Viper, thus far not aware of the unwanted guests who had managed to sneak aboard.

Nemesis had remained hidden while Zodiac morphed into Nexus Prime and proceeded to gain access to the ship. And fortunately, the rodent had been kind enough to make sure the doors didn't close before she had a chance to get inside as well. He'd done so by using one of his hubcaps, which honestly didn't leave much room for her to squeeze inside, but with some effort she still managed. Once inside, she took a quick glance around before following Zodiac, albeit making sure she stayed out of sight as she did.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: I'm intrigued by the plans you have for Wintersong. As for Dinobot, which I forgot to cover in my last reply, I don't know how to get him back into the flow. It's been so long without him. I guess it doesn't really matter where you put him if you want to play him. Sorry that I can't think of anything more creative at the moment. XD ))

"On the plus side, chances are those three are just as likely to fight each other,"

Now that Aurora mentioned that, Rhinox had raised a thoughtful brow and added, "We might be able to use that to our advantage if we can spread fabricated intentions to turn them against one another."

"So wouldn't Megatron and all sort of other shady Predacons want to get their hands on it as well, then?"

"Yes," the engineer answered as he tried to avoid imagining all of the squabbling and fighting that could erupt over this means of transportation that abruptly came into awareness for everyone.

"What do you think they would do if they did get off this planet?,"

"Well, even before they get off of the planet, they might risk trying to destroy our base first. Then they might try to harm us," he tried putting it lightly for the young Fuzor that had already been through so much and lost a couple friends. "Whether or not they succeed with that, I can only assume that they would return to Cybertron and wreak havoc there as well. But the ship is also capable of time travel, so they could arrive at any point in time." The possibilities were nearly limitless.

"I think Nexus Prime must have sent it,"

The rhinoceros had studied her quietly for a moment. It seemed like the only logical explanation after all.

"Why else would Zodiac need Nexus' journal in order to locate it? How would he have known to note that down in his journal if he hadn't been aware of its destination?"

"Aurora, you bring up some very valid points. You may be right," he said with widened optics. "All the more reason to get that journal back from him. Who knows what other secrets Nexus Prime might have kept in it." Although Rhinox felt like the Admiral should have been a lot more careful about mentioning such details and missions and the like in a journal that anyone could have gotten their hands on. Hopefully none of it would be erased or damaged, especially if there were messages to Optimus inside of it. Maybe it had answers for him, or words of encouragement. Anything to help their leader find some closure to such a traumatic loss.

"Sort of," "I don't have any electric weapons, unfortunately, and we're all out of the experimental nanogel and I can't make anymore without additional supplies.. But I did bring some sedatives that could help calm someone down if the situation calls for it."

Rhinox had glanced at the vial she lifted up, and he nodded in approval. "They've worked before, so we might as well use them again." It was great thinking on her part since their weapons, including his chain guns of doom, could only do so much damage to "invincible" bots like Rampage and Zodiac.

As the small group hurried together toward their destination, a familiar voice descended from above, and the rhinoceros was pleasantly surprised. They hadn't heard or seen him for quite some time since he had decided to venture out to discover himself and explore the planet.

“Greetings my friends, I was just on my way back to the ship when I saw you. What appears to be the need for such urgency?”

"Tigerhawk!" his deep voice rumbled smothered in relief to receive the extra assistance. Aurora was quicker to chime in on the matter while none of them bothered to stop and chat; they simply continued at their manageable pace.

"Aren't you a sight for sore optics!," "If you're not too busy, we sure could use some help."

"We're rendezvousing with Optimus, Rattrap and Blackarachnia to try and secure a vessel that we just found out was hidden here for some time. Zodiac's trying to steal it, and it's likely that Megatron will want it as well. You should also know that we're currently under a cease fire with the Predacons in order to stop Zodiac who seems to have allied with Rampage." Oh, that was right, Tigerhawk didn't even know about Protoform X yet. "And he's another story that we don't have time to get into right now. All you need to know about him is that he can self-regenerate. Earlier, Megatron used an energon blade to split his spark. He succeeded in order to keep Rampage under his control, but Zodiac has allegedly stolen that half of the spark from Megatron. Needless to say, this entire day has been a disaster with little to no rest involved. Our primary concern is keeping the ship out of the Predacons' and Zodiac's hands," Rhinox updated to the larger Fuzor. He was certain that Optimus would also want a full report from Tigerhawk's absence, but that could be done after this situation was dealt with. He was very curious himself to know what Tigerhawk may have uncovered during his travels, but he had to tuck it away for now and concentrate on the present circumstances. It was an immense relief to their comrade return to them in great shape and high spirits.

"ATTENTION: Unit Wintersong detected," Sentinel alerted Rhinox over his comm. link.

"Wintersong?! It can't be...," Big Green said aloud. He wanted it to be her, but they had been forced to abandon her when she was still encased in the Vok cocoon and had fallen through the ground as they tried to keep Megatron from commandeering the Metal Hunter and the Vok from killing all of them. Was she alright? Was it really her or an alien trick? If Sentinel was scanning her signature, then it had to be her, so he decided to reach out to her.

"Wintersong, this is Rhinox. Do you copy?" he sent over his comm. link to her between breaths in his gallop eagerly anticipating her response.

-----

"So philosophical you've become in your older years," "Got any more pearls of wisdom you'd like to share now that Cryotek is not here to talk us all to sleep with his boring lectures?"

"Perhaps, but you would fail to benefit from them, just as you will fail to commandeer this vessel!" Megatron had forewarned Zodiac. But as cocky as the shape shifter was, which was the pot calling the kettle black, he was likely going to ignore the tyrant's words and carry on with his plan regardless. The fool.

"I chose you for a reason, Optimus," "The voices of all those who opposed my decision to appoint you were silenced. You were the one who could never fail, never disappoint.. And yet you let me down so brutally. How could you betray me so, Optimus?"

Even his attempt at replicating Nexus Prime's voice was perfect, which helped seize Optimus and keep him where he was instead of attacking the renegade to keep him from boarding the Viper. It's only a disguise, he had to tell himself. If he didn't repeat that, he would surely break down, and now was not the time for tears and self-pity. It was bad enough that he had been frozen in his tracks and he allowed the shape-shifter's disguise compromise his emotional stability. Those aren't Nexus' words... The voices of all those who opposed his decision to appoint him were silenced? How accurate was that statement? Or was Zodiac just blowing smoke to keep Primal distracted? Well, it hardly mattered at that moment but it worked in Zodiac's favor. Because of Optimus' hesitation, Zodiac was now inside of the Viper. It was only a matter of time until he reached its controls, activated its defensive systems and shields, and got it airborne - assuming that it was indeed capable. No more reluctance! he demanded himself. They couldn't afford it!

After Zodiac had vanished into the vessel, as well as Rattrap, the Predacon leader followed after Nemesis who had already squeezed her way inside. Since this ship had state-of-the-art armor, he assumed his weapons would take too long to damage the entrance enough for him to fit, so he took a more direct approach. Upon landing at the doorway, Megatron noticed the rodent's hubcap holding it open and he narrowed his optics. "Nemesis, find the Maximal vermin and interrupt his plans, whatever he may be conjuring," he relayed quietly to her over his comm. link so that Optimus couldn't hear him. "But maintain the truce," he added.

Then the Predacon leader reverted to his beast mode and turned his head side ways with enough room for it to fit through the opening. Clamping his steel jaws and razor-sharp teeth onto the door near where Rattrap's hubcap shield had been wedged, he pivoted on his toes and jerked his body to the side in one, quick motion, completely ripping the door off and tossing it aside. The heavy object banged across the ground with a row of punctures on both sides of it while the hubcap fell to the floor and rolled further down the corridor inside the ship until it came to a stop and laid flat. After achieving that, taking the measures that Optimus was too cautious to do himself, Megatron transformed back to his robot mode and dashed inside. Unlike Nemesis, he paid no mind to the noises he made. If Zodiac took notice, good. At least he'd direct his attention on to him so he'd overlook her.

Primal was a little behind due to his limp, but once he witnessed his adversary make a more permanent entry way to the Viper, he halted himself from rushing into the danger. "Rattrap, status report," he called over his comm. link.

"I'm just meanderin' about ta the engine room, fearless leader," the Spy replied as he grabbed both railings with his hands and feet to a ladder and slid down to the next floor below.

"Hurry. Megatron and Nemesis are already inside, and I don't know how long the rest of the Predacons can keep Rampage busy."

"It ain't like I'm stoppin' for a break ta nibble on some cheese, ya know. I ain't familiar with dis ship, so unless you got some blue prints to talk me through, I'm gonna need a little more time findin' my way around. Alright?"

"Copy that," was all Optimus responded with. Rattrap was right. He'll need more time, and he could give him that. So, Primal immediately headed in after Megatron as they made their way to the bridge. The Maximal Commander surveyed the flooring, every wall, the ceiling, every switch, outlet, room, doorway, light fixture, everything. This was the vessel Nexus Prime had mentioned under secrecy, the very ship he had helped design and engineer. All of it reminded Optimus of him. Had his mentor stepped foot in it himself? Was he walking down the very corridor that he had once stepped through? It was a lot for the Maximal to absorb while keeping his emotions and thoughts from wandering too far. Still, he couldn't help but see Nexus' face in his head, and hear his voice in his memories. They had spent so much time together, it was impossible to just ignore all of it.

Finding himself lost in thought as he limped on behind Megatron, just for a moment, Optimus reached out with a hand to trace his finger tips along the wall as if he could feel Nexus' presence through the ship. But just before they touched it, he curled his fingers into his palm and pulled his hand away. How silly of him... What nonsense to think this ship could bring him any closer to his dead mentor. He was gone. Long gone. There was no possible way to communicate with him. No way to save him or to say good-bye. Unless they could spare this ship from destruction, Optimus could use it to travel back in time and stop Zodiac from murdering him. Actually he could just stop them from creating Zodiac in the first place. Couldn't he? Was that possible? Stop it, he told himself. Focus.

While Megatron was most assuredly taking in all of the same information about the layout of the ship, he held no sentimental value to it. No thoughtfulness or loneliness. All he wanted from it was the flight capability, the transwarp technology, and an enormous advantage over the Maximals. Oh yes, this ship was definitely going to be his. And Rampage's spark. "You never disclosed your reasoning for pursuing Zodiac," he said to Optimus phishing for knowledge as they headed toward the fake Nexus Prime's location.

"No, I didn't," Optimus reaffirmed letting him know it had been done deliberately. "It must bother you when information is purposely kept out of your reach," he added with some bite in his voice.

"Hmph," the tyrant humorously scoffed. "You knew about this vessel and risked leaking it to me, which leads me to believe that there is something else you are seeking from and that this ship is disposable." It concerned him what Rattrap may be up to.

"You're suggesting that I've been deceitful? That would be entirely out of character for me, Megatron," he said in a lighter tone. "Here's another thought; it might just be none of your business."

Megatron chuckled. Playing hard to get. Fine, Primal, have it your way, he thought deviously. He'd find out sooner or later. Never mind all of the secrets he always kept from him.

"Shhh," Optimus suddenly sounded off to his adversary as he heard Zodiac's voice nearby. Both of them grew quiet as they stopped where they were to listen.

"Set coordinates for Cybertron.. The city of Iacon, date of 92,254 of the new era."

"Primus..." Primal whispered. "He means to interrupt the treaty." A wave of desperation washed over him as he realized how significant this plan of Zodiac's was.

"Admittedly, I am not against this notion," Megatron smirked. And he would be more than happy to kick Zodiac to the curb to claim his idea as his own with the addition of improvements.

"Don't be naive, Megatron. It would have profound affects on both Maximals and Predacons."

"Sweet, innocent Optimus," he mocked him before his voice turned cold and bitter, "You have no idea what we Predacons have been put through ever since that peace treaty was signed. The ignorance dwells deep within you and your kin."

Primal fell silent for a moment while he tried to perceive life from the Predacons' point of view. Yes, there had been oppression and certain rights stripped from them. There were things that happened to them that Optimus disagreed with but had no power to change. And clearly it had gotten much worse than the Elders had anticipated since there were powerful Predacons like Cryotek and Megatron secretly rising from the shadows. But this kind of power that Zodiac was seeking was too abusive and extreme. It would have negative impacts. "We could make a better argument for change by returning to Cybertron and approaching the Elders together with cooperation instead of interfering with the past and causing more damage."

Megatron couldn't help but laugh at Optimus. "Yes, I am certain your Maximal Elders will take the time to consider our words carefully instead of throwing me in prison and having you court marshaled, to silence us both!" he said with great sarcasm. "You and your delusions are priceless, Primal. Zodiac's plan is the far greater option with the least resilience."

The Maximal shook his head in disagreement. He would have indulged more in their conversation but Megatron started moving again, and they came upon the very bot they sought after by following his voice.

"And let there be war,"

"You really ought to learn to lock your doors, Zodiac. It is the most elementary technique to avert hijackings," Megatron smirked as he approached the pretender from behind with Optimus in tow. "And I hope you are aware that the word 'war' is not to be used lightly, nooo. It would just devastate me to witness such a prodigious opportunity go to waste in erroneous, implausible hands," he grinned as he purposely tried insulting the renegade with his cocky, overly dramatic foreshadowing.

-----

Meanwhile, outside of the protected interior of the Viper, Inferno, Quickstrike and Terrorsaur were dealing with Rampage in order to keep him occupied and away from Megatron.

"You will never be granted the opportunity, slave!" "It looks to me as though Zodiac is leaving without you and taking your spark with him,"

The t-rex's words were enough to stop Rampage in his tracks, albeit only briefly, and he lifted a fist to his chest as he snarled and hissed through his unusually designed mouth toward the shape-shifting occupant inside of the ship. He had better not be planning to leave without me! he screamed in his mind. But he mustn't be so foolish by listening to Megatron's deceitful and poisonous words. After all he knew he still wanted the other half of his spark back.

"Fire at will!"

The crab immediately turned around to face the Predacons when he heard their leader's command to open fire on him. He wielded his large weapon and set the ammunition to rockets as it required both hands to hold it steady. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" he laughed as he walked toward them and fired explosive rocket after explosive rocket.

Inferno jumped into the air and fired a few rockets right back at Rampage while Quickstrike strafed to the side to dodge the explosions on the ground as debris rained down everywhere and craters decorated the sandy beach. Finding cover behind a small boulder, he peered around it and shot some of his venom at the crab.

[Wintersong]

"It is good to see you too, young one." Tigerhawk greeted Aurora, giving her a small grin of his own. He had not officially met the smaller, younger fuzor, but nevertheless he did recall her back during the incident with the aliens. In fact, she was probably the youngest of the Maximals he had met thus far, which was rather unusual to the larger fuzor who would last expect someone so young to be among the crew. But, if she had made it this far after all that had happened, he suspected she could handle herself well enough.

Still, their surprised tones were better than the weariness he had been met with by Rattrap when he had first come across the Maximals. Tigerhawk half wondered if the transmetal rodent was just paranoid to a degree, not that he would express this to the rat's face of course. For now, he turned his attention to Rhinox who brought him up to speed on the situation.

Zodiac? He recognized the name, but it was still vague to him. That had been the mech they had dragged along when he first met the group if memory served. He did not know the full situation with the strange mech, but he certainly had felt no amount of trust, not with his demeanor nor how the Maximals had seemed to act towards him, among others. But the fact there was a ship accessible here, so far back in time was certainly intriguing as well. "Much has gone on since I went on my little tour." Tigerhawk remarked thoughtfully, glancing forward for a moment as he took in everything Rhinox explained to him. And this Rampage...apparently even those on the Maximal side had their own dark secrets and pasts, ones they seemed to have want kept hidden. Something he could empathize with. Yes, much had happened and there was no time to consider asking if anything else of note had occurred before all that.

"Well then, looks like I chose a good time to return to active duty. I will be your eyes from above and the air support you seem to be desperately missing." Tigerhawk assured them with a reassuring nod. However, some apprehension did grip his spark at the thought of a vessel being there, capable of bringing them back to Cybertron. With the Tripedicus Council's goons waiting back home and no doubt would be breathing down his neck within a short time that he remotely stepped off that ship if the Maximals themselves decided to make use of it to return home. The thought made him visibly frown, having mixed feelings about returning to Cybertron and part of him almost wanting to opt to stick around on prehistoric Earth.

+++++++++++++

Someone hailing her com-link made Wintersong jump slightly, nearly causing her to go out of control before she caught herself, abruptly stopping her boosters and shifting from her tires to her paws to skid into a sideways halt. The voice was of Rhinox, making her all the more assured that this was indeed all real and her not slipping into an uneasy dream.

"Primus Rhinox, I'm so glad to hear a familiar voice!" Wintersong answered right away, relief filling her voice and partly reassuring herself once more that this wasn't so screwed up trick by the Vok to lull her into a sense of security once more. It had happened twice before while she was ensnared into that cocoon, so to say the least she was still slowly trying to come to grips that none of this was just a figment of her imagination. "I was on my way to the Axalon just now. I-I don't know what's going on, only that I'm free of the Vok's hold." Her voice was slightly shaky to say the least, the gravity of not knowing what had happened and that the situation had gotten bad enough her teammates had to abandon her starting to hit her full force. And that was without her knowing what additional tampering still yet await her.

She by no means held blame towards them, with all things considered. She was just confused and bewildered, trying to understand what in the world had gone on while she was stuck in what felt like endless torment and anguish.

"Rhinox, where is everyone? Just direct me in the right direction and I'll meet you guys." Wintersong inquired, probably not in the greatest shape to be taking part in a mission, but if they were out and about she wasn't going to stop doing what she had always done since giving her full loyalty to Optimus Primal and his Maximals. She had lost time to make up for. If anything, the transmetal tigress was desperate to launch herself into something familiar, to get her mind focused rather than being a whirlwind of confusion and uncertainty.

+++++++++++++++

Terrorsaur squawked in annoyance as he flew upwards from the ground, barely avoiding one of the rockets launched in his direction along with Inferno and Quickstrike. This Rampage was one tough customer, and their little bit of firepower didn't seem to be even making a scratch on the demented mech, making even Terrorsaur a little uneasy. An immortal spark was one thing, but it appeared more than just Rampage's spark was of concern.

"You wanna play with rockets crab, I'll happily oblige the favor!" Terrosaur rawked with a wide, confident grin. His optic lasers may not be doing much damage, but he certainly had something else that could pack a punch, his shoulder-mounted rocket launches shifting and taking aim upon their adversary, "I'll gladly send you back to the Pit you crawled from!" With that, two of his rockets launched, aiming directly for the transmetal crab's torso. Maybe, just maybe, this would disorient or incapacitate their target enough they could move in closer and really do some damage.

((You know, to play it safe, I may bring Dinobot in for the next episode because I'm presently coming up empty. It'll give me a little more time to think of something proper for him. If not, I can always take one of the other Maximals that have disappeared from the story.))

[Phoenix]

"We might be able to use that to our advantage if we can spread fabricated intentions to turn them against one another."

"You mean they aren't against each other already?," the fuzor inquired. She really didn't know much about these guys and their relationships, but with egos that massive it seemed unlikely they would ever be able to trust each other or get along.

"Well, even before they get off of the planet, they might risk trying to destroy our base first. Then they might try to harm us," "Whether or not they succeed with that, I can only assume that they would return to Cybertron and wreak havoc there as well. But the ship is also capable of time travel, so they could arrive at any point in time."

"Time travel? Isn't that technically what the Axalon and the Darksyde did when you guys first arrived on this planet?," the fuzor asked. "Or are you saying it's better equipped for these time jumps? "

Time traveling to any time in history sounded quite intriguing, to be honest, and fun. Of course the fuzor didn't want to imagine what the likes of Zodiac and Megatron would do with this power.

Their conversation continued as they hurried as fast as they could to meet up with Optimus. Of course Rhinox and Aurora weren't the fastest of Maximals so their trip wasn't as swift as the fuzor would have liked given the circumstances. Hopefully Primal could hold on for a little while longer..

"Aurora, you bring up some very valid points. You may be right," he said with widened optics. "All the more reason to get that journal back from him. Who knows what other secrets Nexus Prime might have kept in it."

"Old men and their propensity to write everything down..," Aurora snickered before suddenly covering her mouth as she realized she had spoken out loud. "Eh.. No disrespect to Nexus, of course, I know he must have been a good guy." Optimus always said that he learned so much from his mentor and that Nexus had been a huge influence on him.. Also when Zodiac first arrived disguised as him, he must have acted much like the real Nexus would have.. or Primal would surely have suspected something.

Then another thought occurred to her.

"Optimus would surely be devastated if he lost this one last part of Nexus.. the real Nexus."


It was true. That look of despair on Optimus' face when he realized Nexus was gone, had been enough to shatter anyone's spark. And if it hadn't been for the diligent help of Whitegrazer, that probably is what would have happened too.

"They've worked before, so we might as well use them again."

Well.. their supply was a bit limited this time since they had to travel relatively light so they could get there sooner. But hopefully it would be enough!

"As long as I don't have to be the one to haul any unconscious bots back to base, I'm game," she replied, a bit teasingly, before the approaching flyer snagged her attention.

"It is good to see you too, young one."

Aurora's smile widened a little upon hearing the friendly greeting the larger fuzor gave in return, a genuine smile showing that she was indeed happy to see him despite what little time they had spent together before. Truthfully the little fuzor only knew of him by way of what she'd been told by the other Maximals who had actually spent a little time with the mysterious newcomer. She'd been curious, of course, but hadn't been able to have that curiosity satisfied since everything had been so hectic during the battle with the Vok. And by the end of it, their newest Maximal member had merely disappeared, wandered off to do his own exploration and to improve his own sense of self-awareness. Or at least that's what she had presumed he'd gone off to do.

The look he gave her was a bit puzzling though, like he couldn't quite make of what she was doing there. It was a look she'd seen before and frankly she'd gotten used to ignoring it. It was true she hadn't enrolled for the mission like the others aboard the Axalon, instead she had only been brought to life some time after arriving on this planet and it was therefor the only home she'd ever known. But she was still a Maximal at spark, throughout, with all the complexities and morality such a thing required of her.

"And you as well!," she told Tigerhawk back. "We really could use some help on this one, and really.. feel free to stick around! We got plenty of space at the Axalon."

It was true. With the loss of some of their comrades in the ongoing war against the Predacons and other beings with the intent to destroy them, there were a few rooms available at the Axalon. And more crew members to fill them would be nice.

Rhinox went on to explain what the situation they were up against was, or at least a quicker version of such. The whole story would have to wait for another time when they weren't in such a hurry, given the complexity of their insane adversaries. Rampage and Zodiac were frightening enough, but when Megatron got tossed into the mix it sounded like the stuff nightmares are made from..

"Much has gone on since I went on my little tour."

"No kidding," Aurora blurted out, "And much worse things will happen if those guys manage to get away with the Viper."

She paused for a brief moment before correcting herself. "The ship, I mean, it's called.. well, you get the picture."

"Well then, looks like I chose a good time to return to active duty. I will be your eyes from above and the air support you seem to be desperately missing."

Aurora drew a silent sigh of relief upon hearing Tigerhawk was willing to help them out. And he wasn't wrong in his assumption either, given the overall Maximal inability to fly. Optimus aside, there were only a few of them with flight capabilities, and those that did weren't exactly aerial experts like Tigerhawk.

A sudden surprised gasp from Rhinox drew her attention over to the larger, bulkier male.

"Wintersong?! It can't be...,"

Wait.. what?

Aurora now must have looked just as confused, if not more so, than Rhinox. "This is almost starting to get a bit creepy..," she muttered just loud enough for the others to overhear. Frankly, the little fuzor hadn't thought they would ever see Wintersong again after the cocoon which housed her had disappeared underground at the alien site. And now she was somehow back and presumably alive and well enough to have made it to the Axalon?

"What is going on?," the little female then asked Rhinox, hoping for some clarification, "Is Wintersong all right?!"

"Perhaps, but you would fail to benefit from them, just as you will fail to commandeer this vessel!"

Zodiac, who had completed his transformation to Nexus Prime's form at this point, sent Megatron a rather uncharacteristic grin for the respected old admiral.

"That is quite amusing, coming from the self-proclaimed Predacon leader.. who had to ally himself with his worst enemy to try to stop me from taking possession of what is mine. You're still clueless, Megatron, and soon you will learn just how wrong you are.."


Primal was standing nearby as if in a trance, merely staring at the pretender without being able to move. So Zodiac had paid him no heed and instead left it up to Rampage to deal with these two fools. He continued with his plan and gained access to the Viper without any further interruptions.

Nemesis followed Rattrap inside since he'd been kind enough to leave her a way in, however unwittingly he did so. Fortunately for her, she was far from as bulky as many of the males despite her taller stature, so it didn't require too much effort to force her way inside. Once inside, she had immediately started heading towards what she believed must be the bridge of the ship, but Megatron's voice in her audio receptors caused her to stop in her tracks.

"Nemesis, find the Maximal vermin and interrupt his plans, whatever he may be conjuring," he relayed quietly to her over his comm. link so that Optimus couldn't hear him. "But maintain the truce," he added.

Maintain the truce..? How was she supposed to stop Rattrap from doing whatever he planned to do and still maintain the truce? Did Megatron believe she could merely talk the rodent down? Or.. ugh.. she honestly didn't even want to consider the alternative.

Oh well, Megatron had given her an order. However unobtainable it might be.

So she changed directions and made her way down the path she'd seen Rattrap move to before he disappeared out of sight. From the look of it, he was heading towards engineering. Why there, she wasn't exactly sure, but knowing the rodent the way she did she knew it couldn't be good news.

The ship was surprisingly roomy all things considering. It wasn't quite as large as the Axalon, but it was certainly built to keep its crew comfortable for long distances in space. The hallways and equipment all had a modern feel to them, yet here and there she noticed Maximal artwork and symbols. Their locations seemed to be a bit random, as if someone had been trying to decorate but had been pulled away for other duties. In fact some parts of the ship made it fairly obvious that whoever had been working here, had to finish in a hurry. Still, none of that took away from the overall impressiveness of the ship. Honestly, the Viper could be a gorgeous addition to the Predacon cause.

She slowed her movements when she heard someone speak not far up ahead, and peered around the corner to see Rattrap slide down to another level. Growling a bit, she followed him, keeping a short but much needed distance. She still wasn't quite sure how to carry out Megatron's orders without breaking the truce, but she would have to come up with something fairly soon since the rodent would reach his destination soon enough. From all appearances, he was indeed heading towards the engineering section of the ship.

As she dropped down to the level below, she took note of the machinery surrounding them starting to come to life. It was obvious that Zodiac had started powering on the vessel and thus far it seemed like it was not too badly damaged by its stay at the bottom of the nearby lake. If there was any damage at all.

"Engines will power on after water has been completely drained from the intakes," the soft voice of the computer informed Zodiac as he placed his hand on the backrest of the captain's chair.

"Do it. And get those shields and weapon systems online," Zodiac, remaining in Nexus Prime's form, demanded as he looked around for a way to view the cameras to be able to see for himself as his companion ripped those two unlikely allies to pieces. Surely a bridge would contain some..?

"As you command, admiral. Weapon systems coming online. What is my target?"

Zodiac couldn't help the grin that grew on his face from hearing this. "The Predacon attackers, of course. Destroy them," he told the computer before pulling the half spark still in its torturous contraption, "But spare the one with an energy signature like this spark. I wish to keep him alive."

And for a moment he glanced over at the spark, still pulsating strongly.. vibrantly.. with a life force that mirrored the taste for death the spark's true owner held. He held it in his hand, his fingers wrapped around the vice that hosted it, well knowing he would more than likely need to use this contraption sooner or later to keep his ally compliant. But for now he didn't, of course, after all he needed Rampage at full strength and with his rage directed at their enemies.

"Maximal signatures also detected," the computer replied, causing the renegade to pause for a brief moment. The computer did have a valid point.. He'd have to make sure nobody else attempted to override his authority.

"Those are not Maximals," he told the computer to reassure it. "Verify admiral Nexus Prime. Nobody else is to gain access to the computer systems of this vessel. Activate the weapon systems on anyone who tries to obtain access to any function of the Viper. Show no mercy to the false Maximals."

"Acknowledged," the computer responded, lacking the ability to question such an order.

Zodiac grin grew wider still and he then slid into the captain's chair and put his feet up on the console. Outside the ship he could hear the sound of gunfire as the ship's defenses now started targeting the Predacons in the area and any Maximals unfortunate enough to be there as well.

"Computer, I wish to have visuals on the attackers."


No sooner had he uttered those words before several view screens in front of him lit up, showing the ongoing battle outside. Zodiac glanced from one screen to the next, yet the true targets he was looking for escaped his view. Where were Optimus and Megatron hiding..?

"You really ought to learn to lock your doors, Zodiac. It is the most elementary technique to avert hijackings," Megatron smirked as he approached the pretender from behind with Optimus in tow. "And I hope you are aware that the word 'war' is not to be used lightly, nooo. It would just devastate me to witness such a prodigious opportunity go to waste in erroneous, implausible hands,"

His answer came from a source much closer than he would have liked, causing the disguised Zodiac to swivel his chair around only to stare into the optics of his two primary targets. Gone was the grin that had decorated his face mere moments ago, his optics narrowing in annoyance, and the renegade quickly put the glowing spark away as not to tempt fate further.

"I suppose I should welcome you aboard.. However I don't recall having invited you," the renegade replied while hastily standing up from the chair. Megatron's attempt at hurtful words seemingly not phasing him, at least not visibly so, but Zodiac had always been quick to counter. He was, after all, trained to infiltrate and as such he couldn't let anyone break him with words alone. At least never on the outside.

His gaze drifted from Megatron to Optimus, who again remained silent.. at least for the time being. Part of Zodiac kind of wished Primal would speak up, since then he would at least know what he was thinking. Right now he didn't have that. And it was quite frustrating.

"However I could always use more fuel for the trip back home," he told them, indicating he planned to use them for that purpose. And as he finished speaking, the modified shoulder cannons popped into place and took aim at the two unwanted intruders.

[una]

"But aren't the Vok essentially ageless? Why would they be in a hurry to advance a civilization when their concept of time is so different from our own?"

"I guess after so many failures anyone would grow impatient," Whitegrazer smiled a bit. "Even ageless beings like us., and despite all the time in the world, we still feel out of time." That was the truth. It's funny. Despite the fact they were born during the time of the Second Generation Decepticons, they have implanted themselves in different parts of history, observing, tweaking certain trivial actions in history as to not affect the timeline, but timeline was an unpredictable beast altogether. Time isn't some linear line of thought. It was a tree, a long, thick tree with multiple branches sprouting in every direction with deep, seeping roots of multiple universes, of multiple dimensions, of multiple individuals, both normal and shattered, broken, twisted, both nurturing and overbearing the complicated objectives that her people, as well as herself, hoped to keep watered, healthy, and stable.

"What species are you talking about? Who did they kill? And why are they so grateful to Optimus Prime?"

"During the tail end of the Great War, when Jhiaxus and his Second Decepticons attacked Autobot, Decepticon, and human alike, much of this planet, Earth, had been devastated, and just by us, when we used to be the Swarm, but by the Second Decepticons, almost crippling the planet itself, and it's people." Whitegrazer lowered her gaze. "You see, indirectly, we were responsible for the way Earth is now, in the future. Broken, defeated, it's people scattered and still trying to pick up the pieces. There is much resentment and not enough healing going on there. Earth, humanity, deserved better than what they have now." And that was crucfix of it, basically, the Vok felt responsible, but also, felt great hatred, burning fury towards the Second Decepticons, as well as towards the Autobots and Decepticons. The only reason they halted their fury was due to the actions of one autobot, Optimus Prime, who saved their souls and gave them a new identify, a greater purpose than the wandering dust of death and consumption they once were. "It was Optimus Prime, who awakening us, and despite it all, we Vok remember those who saved us, and take that into consideration. That was why I came here in the first place. I wanted to help Cybertron achieve a peace on both sides. Of course, I made a grave error, and my purpose... has yet to be accomplished."

"He was carving symbols into the walls for months after his ordeal with the Vok," the fuzor pointed out. "Seems pretty terrorized to me."

"Aurora, forgive us, forgive me," Whitegrazer added herself into this because she is also directly responsible for Optimus' suffering here. "Our presence, our power, is unique to this universe, beautiful yet haunting, calm as a meadow yet as terrifying as a storm in the seas. We never... I was never met to be this close." Now, she had finally understood why the Vok were so resistant to her idea about taking a physical form, a Cybertronian form, in the first place, why they were so keen to remain distant. Her presence, their presence, was a threat to those around them, physical beings who lived in linear time with limited perspectives, lifespans, and abilities. The knowledge she, and they, had was endless like the abyss itself, knowledge that no one could comprehend. What happened with Nemesis, Zodiac, and Primus knows how many more people wandering around tormented by such a tortured existence, proved it. No one could comprehend, duplicate, or control their power... but themselves.. And she gave them that power because of her actions. "I will find some way to make it right for Optimus, to you, and to everyone else."

She watched with amusement at Aurora and Rhinox sharing a laugh at her messy appearance, thanking Aurora for the extra rag, which she used to wipe herself off again, and again, but even after that, she wanted to just run and drip herself in a pond or something. That would have to wait, though. "Next time, a person like myself, should get a bib," she smiled.

"Rampage wants to be free, and no one can blame him for that, but he's too dangerous. His disregard for life, his hunger to take it, his obsessions..." He shook his head with uncertainty. "It's not his fault, but we can't fight him and Megatron and Zodiac."

When the conversation steered to Rampage, Whitegrazer felt a great pain, physical and emotional. "The only life Rampage ever knew was in the hands of scientists who cared nothing for his own suffering, inflicting all kinds of pain and horror, and not to mention, cruelty and coldness, devoid of warmth, and compassion. Birthed into that type of environment, it is no wonder he is who he is now. To him, death is a blessing. We can die, and he is resentful yet envious of us for that. I guess, in a way, he feels that if he might share in the pain and death of others, to feel it himself, it would be granted to him, but it hasn't." She gazed at Rhinox, noticing him in deep thought and she could tell what he was thinking. She thought the same thing to. "He wants to die, and yet, we Maximals abhorred the idea of killing. I don't want to give up, but we must also take into consideration the lives on this planet. Also, maybe it is what he wants." She shook her head. "But... we must do what is right. If there is a chance, even a small sliver, I want to try. I want to do better."

I want to do better....

Hurry, Optimus pleaded to Whitegrazer. There isn't much time.

Whitegrazer closed her optics. She could feel the urgency, the need for them, for help. Optimus, Rattrap, and Blackarachnia were capable warriors all of them, but they were surrounded by Megatron and his Predacons who would no doubt use this to their advantage and backstabb whatever truce they had, and not to forget, Rampage, and Zodiac, Zodiac, whose goal was unclear for now, and an opportunist.

She wanted to get there as soon as possible.

"Not as much as I'd like considering its design was kept under wraps, but Nexus Prime was involved in its construction, so perhaps Optimus might have more knowledge about it. From I recall, it was in the prototype process when I learned about it. The Maximal vessel was to be equipped with the latest and greatest weapons system, shields, and more notably the newly designed transwarp cells which would have made it the most efficient and accurate ship for space and time travel," he emphasized. "But how it ended up here," he shook his head once more, "I haven't a clue."

Time travel...

She didn't know why that stood out to her, but from Aurora and hers previous conversation, time has become a foremost idea in her mind right now.

"Optimus would surely be devastated if he lost this one last part of Nexus.. the real Nexus."

"Optimus hasn't had a chance to properly grieve or gain some closure over what happened to his mentor. Hopefully, if we can get the ship or at least the journal itself, he might gain the closure he needs."

And she was there for Optimus, if he needed it.

"Sentinel can handle the base while we're gone. If you have anymore weapons that would work efficiently against Zodiac and Nemesis, you better bring them along."

"Sort of," the fuzor replied as she held up a small vial, "I don't have any electric weapons, unfortunately, and we're all out of the experimental nanogel and I can't make anymore without additional supplies.. But I did bring some sedatives that could help calm someone down if the situation calls for it."

"That's all right. Hopefully, we can still make use of cuffs you gave to Rattrap, who I have no doubt has used them, and hopefully, still in use." While Aurora had sedatives, Whitegrazer grabbed a couple of smoke and stun grenades from the armory. She still had that taser from beforehand. It was a low voltage, and maybe do nothing but tickle, but still, better than nothing.

I'm still going to be so naked and vulnerable in that battlefield.

She smiled to herself. Aurora and herself both only seemed to have short range compatible, and because of Aurora's form, she thought of an idea. "Aurora, we don't know how the battle is going on there, so stay close to me, okay. I will make a good shield and cover for you, if anyone tries to fire at you." She smiled down at the little one. She wanted to make sure that the little one remained safe, and yet, able to fight.

“Greetings my friends, I was just on my way back to the ship when I saw you. What appears to be the need for such urgency?”

As Rhinox, Aurora, and herself made their way to Optimus and the others, she expressed joy to see another one of their comrades returning, and with his help, their chance have increased. "Tigerhawk, it is good to see you are well."

But Tigerhawk wasn't the only one who she felt.

In the distance, someone appeared, fighting, grasping for life, and in a split second, she could se Wintersong, breaking out of the cocoon.

"Wintersong!"

"Wintersong?! It can't be...,"

Rhinox must have be alerted to her as well. Whitegrazer used her com-link to contact Wintersong along with Rhinox. "Wintersong, you are out of the cocoon?"

Rhinox, where is everyone? Just direct me in the right direction and I'll meet you guys."

"Rhinox, I will go and meet up with Wintersong, and make sure she arrives here safely." Whitegrazer said. Wintersong had been stuck in that cocoon for Primus knows how long, and it will be nice to help the female cat slowly ease herself back into things, especially since they needed her to help them in this battle. "Wintersong and I will meet you guys at the coordinates."

Whitegrazer nodded with a smile and made her way towards Wintersong.

She felt responsible for what happened to her. Also, she felt it be right for her to meet and greet the female cat. To make sure she was all right, especially in that cocoon. Wondered if Wintersong needed to talk about it or anything. As she raced to meet up with Wintersong, her spark ached, a hollow ache, disstant pain, she wondered if Optimus still was connected with her through the link. She wondered what was going on, but from the hollow ache, she could feel such agony, desperation, and longing regret pounding her spark in waves.

Don't worry, Optimus, we are coming. Hang in there. I will make sure you get your closure."

Once she saw Wintersong, she waved at her, "Wintersong, I'm glad to see you all right. Are you okay?"


Blackarachnia was pleased with herself when she ticked every one of her former comrades. Did she care about their threats, especially Megatron's? No, not at the very least, not at the moment anyway. Right now, she focused on her goal: to help Rattrap.. until she could find a way to take this vessel for herself. But first, Zodiac and Rampage needed to go first. First, Rattrap and her had to get inside without being spotted. She kept an optic out for an opening when Rattrap seemed to had find one. Rattrap threw one of his hubcaps, keeping the doors from sealing off completely. Rattrap squeezed himself in first, than she followed. As she followed Rattrap to the engine room, she admired the ship. A lovely little ship. Big enough for a spider like myself. She smirked. Though, she didn't know much about the ship herself. The only ones who would know were Zodiac, and from what she could see, Optimus as well.

So, Ratface," she whispered as she crawled down the ladder with her eight legs, keeping a distance between Rattrap and herself. "what's the plan here? Plant a few explosives? Cross a couple of wires? Plant little traps to surprise Zodiac with?" She fluttered her eight eyes.


Rampage saw Inferno fire a couple of rockets at him. He shot them down with his own launcher while shooting a couple of his own missiles back at the flying ant. Quickstrike's venom hit him square in the back. "Ooooh, that tickles!" Rampage laughed wildly as he turned around and fired missiles at the boulder, hoping to blow away the Predacon's fuzor cover and let him open for a barrage of missiles that headed his way.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: una! It's good to hear from you!

That sounds like a good idea with Dinobot, Winter. ))

"The only life Rampage ever knew was in the hands of scientists who cared nothing for his own suffering, inflicting all kinds of pain and horror, and not to mention, cruelty and coldness, devoid of warmth, and compassion. Birthed into that type of environment, it is no wonder he is who he is now. To him, death is a blessing. We can die, and he is resentful yet envious of us for that. I guess, in a way, he feels that if he might share in the pain and death of others, to feel it himself, it would be granted to him, but it hasn't."

Rhinox agreed with what Whitegrazer said, and he assumed she felt a lot of her conclusions through the crab's tortured spark. But did she realize that she was including Optimus in all of that as well?

"He wants to die, and yet, we Maximals abhorred the idea of killing. I don't want to give up, but we must also take into consideration the lives on this planet. Also, maybe it is what he wants." "But... we must do what is right. If there is a chance, even a small sliver, I want to try. I want to do better."

"It's important, Whitegrazer, not to make it about you," the science engineer commented. He wasn't trying to sound condescending, but he didn't want her to fall backwards when she was supposed to be stepping forward after their talk.

"It is good to see you too, young one."

"And you as well!," "We really could use some help on this one, and really.. feel free to stick around! We got plenty of space at the Axalon."

"Not that we should impose," Rhinox slipped in light-heartedly during their in-travel conversation as he looked at Aurora before peering back up at Tigerhawk, "But I'm sure Optimus will want to be briefed on your journey once things have calmed down."

"Much has gone on since I went on my little tour."

"No kidding," "And much worse things will happen if those guys manage to get away with the Viper." "The ship, I mean, it's called.. well, you get the picture."

"A lot has happened," Rhinox agreed with both of them, "But it's good to have you back with us, Tigerhawk. We can use the help, especially with aerial support since the Predacons have outmatched us in that regard for quite some time."

"Well then, looks like I chose a good time to return to active duty. I will be your eyes from above and the air support you seem to be desperately missing."

"Can you fly ahead and establish contact with Optimus? I'm sure he could use the back-up right now, but we're going to take a little longer to get there on foot," he said between breaths. The rhinoceros sent the large Fuzor the coordinates to the Viper's location in hopes that they wouldn't be too late.

"You mean they aren't against each other already?,"

Rhinox glanced at Aurora and almost smirked. "I suppose they are, but not enough to have them at each other's throats."

"Time travel? Isn't that technically what the Axalon and the Darksyde did when you guys first arrived on this planet?," "Or are you saying it's better equipped for these time jumps?"

"The Viper's technology is far more superior to that of our ship's and the Predacons'," the engineer went on to explain to the younger Fuzor. "The Axalon wasn't equipped with a transwarp cell. We simply followed Megatron in the Darksyde's wake, tailing him close enough to pull us through with him." ((OOC: I'm just winging it since I'm not exactly sure if the Axalon had a transwarp cell to being with [which could help feed into our whole corrupted Elders thing and conspiracy theories thereof], or if it was damaged.)) "Space and time would be far more efficient to acquire and control with the Viper. After all the Maximal Elders weren't going to entrust a vessel like that as Optimus's first." It was like a teenager's first car, which likely wasn't going to be an obnoxiously fast or expensive vehicle because their odds of getting into an accident were significantly higher than a more experienced driver.

"Old men and their propensity to write everything down..,"

Big Green almost chuckled at her comment, which was probably close to something Rattrap would have said, but he withdrew it before it came to the surface considering the circumstances.

"Eh.. No disrespect to Nexus, of course, I know he must have been a good guy."

"He was a highly respected Admiral. And a Prime no less," the engineer spoke thoughtfully as he galloped along across the terrain. "It's a shame what he got mixed up in while taking Optimus with him, but I don't believe it was intentional. Sometimes you just follow orders blindly from those higher up because of fear, respect, ignorance, or personal gain. Or all of the above."

"Optimus would surely be devastated if he lost this one last part of Nexus.. the real Nexus."

"Yes, he would," Rhinox admitted. "But he's stronger now than he was before. There's something different about him..." He trailed off somberly for a moment before continuing. "Well, perhaps more can be discussed on that matter later." And most likely with Whitegrazer's help.

"Optimus hasn't had a chance to properly grieve or gain some closure over what happened to his mentor. Hopefully, if we can get the ship or at least the journal itself, he might gain the closure he needs."

Hopefully. However, Rhinox had a feeling that even if their leader didn't get the closure he deserved, he would be alright. He would survive. Because he had a crew that supported him in every way that mattered.

"As long as I don't have to be the one to haul any unconscious bots back to base, I'm game,"

No, that's usually my department, Rhinox thought. He was after all one of the bigger Maximals who could manage carrying others back that were injured, and he was fine with that. He always helped in any way that was required of him without complaining, unlike his smaller friend, Rattrap.

"Wintersong!"

The rhinoceros looked to the equine a little taken aback by her outburst declaring Wintersong's presence. He could only assume that she had felt her through her spark, but it nearly caught him off guard.

"This is almost starting to get a bit creepy..,"

Coming back to suddenly learning about Wintersong's survival after her ordeal with the Vok, Rhinox tried offering his attention to both Aurora, Whitegrazer and the TransMetal tigress as his ears twitched and rotated in both directions.

"What is going on?,"

"Sentinel just alerted me that her signature has been picked up on our scanners," he explained to Aurora.

"Is Wintersong all right?!"

"Wintersong, you are out of the cocoon?"

He decided to adjust his comm. link to a speaker-like setting so that everyone could hear each other which would save him and the Empath from repeating everything. He was in just as much shock about it as Aurora and Whitegrazer were.

"Primus Rhinox, I'm so glad to hear a familiar voice!"

It certainly sounded like her! This was such an incredible phenomena to have both her and Tigerhawk return to them in one day. It was definitely something Optimus was going to be overjoyed about. "It's really good to hear from you as well, Wintersong! We thought we had lost you."

"I was on my way to the Axalon just now. I-I don't know what's going on, only that I'm free of the Vok's hold."

The vulnerability and uncertainty in her voice was easily detectable by Rhinox. And while he tried to empathize with her on what she must have gone through, perhaps only Optimus and Whitegrazer could fully understand her experience. Clearly it had been traumatizing, and she had been left there all alone. "Everything's alright, Wintersong, you're safe now. Just breathe. You've been through a lot, and we'll help you cope with it, but I have to ask you to have patience."

"Rhinox, where is everyone? Just direct me in the right direction and I'll meet you guys."

"One thing at a time," he instructed her to take it slow while his own rapid breathing carried on as he hurried along with the others. "We have a bit of a situation that Aurora, Whitegrazer, Tigerhawk and I are en route to. I would highly recommend that you remain at the base to recover," he suggested until Whitegrazer chimed in with another idea.

"Rhinox, I will go and meet up with Wintersong, and make sure she arrives here safely." "Wintersong and I will meet you guys at the coordinates."

"Alright," he allowed her. Perhaps it would be better to have someone like Whitegrazer to keep Wintersong company after everything she had experienced with her Vok interaction. Maybe the tigress could explain to them what had happened to her later. There was so much to catch up with both her and Tigerhawk. Watching her veer off away from the group, Rhinox continued to lead the others toward the Viper hoping they wouldn't be too late to stop Zodiac and Megatron.

-----

"That is quite amusing, coming from the self-proclaimed Predacon leader.. who had to ally himself with his worst enemy to try to stop me from taking possession of what is mine.

Megatron couldn't help but bellow out in laughter. "Optimus is not my worst enemy. He is merely an insignificant spec of constant aggravation that I will one day be rid of again," he emphasized due to his past victory of destroying the Maximal Commander. "Do you wish to know what I think, Zodiac?" It was a rhetorical question since he was going to continue whether he wanted to listen to him or not. "I believe you are petrified. You are petrified with this partnership I have acquired because you did not foresee it, and thus you lack the experience or resources to vanquish such a feat, to battle us both, and, in the end, prevail," he had smiled smugly at him. "Lest we forget, there is favor I must return to you," he said as his fingers traced the scar across his abdomen that Zodiac had given him earlier from a near fatal wound.

You're still clueless, Megatron, and soon you will learn just how wrong you are.."

The Predacon stiffened his body which made him appear as though he was standing taller than just moments before. Zodiac's comment made him swap his smile for a glare with a wrinkled nose of irritation. Clueless? Megatron? Never! He couldn't wait to crush this fool's soul as he watched him cowardly disappear into the Viper.

"Remember, Nemesis, that although we have established a cease fire with the Maximals, I find that taking advantage of the vague details within the verbal truce does not prohibit the use of hand-to-hand combat," Megatron had sent her as clarification with a slight tone of deviousness.

"I suppose I should welcome you aboard.. However I don't recall having invited you,"

"Well, you excused yourself with such haste that you precluded to give us the opportunity to bid you farewell. Consider this our parting gift to you. It is the least we can offer after everything we have endured from your meaningless existence," Megatron told the fake Nexus Prime coldly. His narrowed optics gave a quick pass over the design of the bridge and its intricate and ornate controls, consoles and monitors that were laid out behind Zodiac. The Viper was beautifully engineered, and he could only imagine what could be accomplished with its full potential once - not if - it was in his possession. Speaking of what should be his, the TransMetal t-rex in robot mode caught a glimpse of the split spark that he had worked so hard to obtain in Zodiac's grasp before he stored it away. While one hand was holding his tail gun, the other balled into a fist of rage, so eager to reacquire what was stolen from him. That pathetic, sniveling shape-shifter that deliberately attempted to murder me, he thought angrily.

"However I could always use more fuel for the trip back home,"

Standing beside Megatron, Primal's optics locked on to his "mentor's", or rather Zodiac's. No doubt he was planning on causing more emotional turmoil for Optimus by remaining in that disguise, but that was an old trick now. He could no longer allow it to compromise him. This is the bot who murdered Nexus Prime and so many others, he told himself as he licked the scar across his mouth before clenching his jaws. The very same bot who tried murdering my crew by my own hands! He slowly reached over his shoulder and removed one of his clubs from his back with a very tight grip on it. And now he wants to travel back in time and stop the treaty from happening, including who knows what other damages he wants to inflict! It's time to hold him, and myself, accountable. His feet shifted to balance his body in a defensive stance while he watched the cannons on "Nexus's" shoulders activate and target him and Megatron. His optics didn't waver from Zodiac's in order to show him his defiance and strength, which hopefully indicated to him what little effect his words and masks had on him now. So, what else could he use against him to cause that instability that the pretender so thoroughly enjoyed inducing on the Maximal leader?

Don't worry, Optimus, we are coming. Hang in there. I will make sure you get your closure."

Primal heard Whitegrazer, and he felt her contact with him through each other's sparks, absorbing her energy like a sponge. My closure can wait, he told her firmly. There's a greater risk here that must be dealt with first. Unknowingly, he started to draw more strength from her spark. And more. And more. It was like a hunger he needed to quench that grew more desperate as he made his decision on how to approach Zodiac. Finally noticing this odd sensation of extra mental stability invading his body that was originating from his spark, Optimus panicked sending the Vok-turned-Maximal a quick, I'm sorry, Whitegrazer! before abruptly severing their link. At least temporarily. There was some concern and embarrassment in his apology since he felt as though he had done wrong by what happened even though it hadn't been intentional. But his emotions were overwhelming him again, and he needed to calm down. He took a couple deep breaths to compose himself pushing away the intrusive visions of the alien symbols that came along with the energy transfusion from the mare.

Megatron charged his tail gun while he held it by his side. Everyone seemed to wait on who would make the first move to attack. It was two against one, and he reveled in those odds. That spark and this ship are mine! In a swift motion, he lifted his large weapon and fired repeatedly at Zodiac.

Optimus took advantage of the distraction by sprinting toward the renegade, leaping into the air and using a boost from the thrusts in his feet to add height and momentum in his attack, before barreling down upon Zodiac swinging his club over his shoulders with both of his hands on the handle and aiming for his shoulder and neck or possibly damaging one of his cannons.

The Predacon leader was careful to maintain his aim away from Primal despite how tempting it was to knock him down. Megatron's goal was to let the two fight among themselves while he would attempt to gain control over the ship and then take Rampage's spark back.

Optimus, putting his life on the line, was merely buying time for Rattrap. If the ship was programmed only to respond to Nexus's voice, which seemed evident when Zodiac entered the vessel, then it was going to take too long to try and override it while they were battling Zodiac at the same time.

-----

So, Ratface," "what's the plan here? Plant a few explosives? Cross a couple of wires? Plant little traps to surprise Zodiac with?"

The Maximal Spy shuddered grotesquely at her fluttering eight eyes that disgusted him. Why was she there? Ugh. Maybe Optimus sent her... Maybe not. He was fully aware that she wanted to steal this vessel as much as Megs and Zodiac did. But it would probably be a good idea not to let her in on his intentions. "The plan... is fer you ta watch my back," he cautiously told the she-spider while he kept moving toward what sounded like engines that were warming up just ahead in a large room.

-----

The force of the explosions from Rampage's rockets recklessly colliding with Inferno's blew the flying ant backwards which jumbled him around a little, knocking him off course. He was forced to land on his until his navigation and spinning head, so to speak, returned to normal.

"Ooooh, that tickles!"

"Hold still and let me pour my venom down yer throat, and we'll see if it still tickles yer insides!" Quickstrike threatened the TransMetal king crab before his relentless fire power showered him, blowing chunks of his cover in every direction until there was barely anything left. Uh oh, the Predacon Fuzor thought with a gulp. Jumping to his feet, he fired more shots of venom at their opponent as a diversion before he ran to find more cover. That was when he noticed the Viper's weapons activating and targeting them. "Look out, you pyro maniac!" he warned Inferno.

"Shoot the cannons while Terrorsaur has the freak distracted!" the red Predacon told the little Fuzor as he found cover behind a tree and gave some time for his systems to recover. Then he peered around the thick trunk and started firing his rockets at the ship's powerful weapons.

Quickstrike followed the ant's example and fired several rounds of his venom at the cannons within his view and range.

[Wintersong]

Yes, Tigerhawk recalled the Predacon forces, most of which were quite flight-capable.

He himself had not been so swift with using flight. He had been a ground-based Cybertronian all his life up until this point where his pod had a slight malfunction, resulting in the fuzor he was now. Luckily, in his trip to better understand this world and what it was like, he too had taken that time to better adapt to the new wings afforded to him after emerging from his long stasis. They still felt rather odd to say the least. Yet, surely and gradually they were becoming more familiar, more natural. Now, this mission would be the first real test to see if all that practice and patience had paid off.

"Travel safe, I will see you three shortly." The moment Tigerhawk had received the coordinates he gave his large wings a few hard strokes, flying a bit higher in altitude before flying on ahead. No doubt he would get there far faster than his ground moving compatriots, which appeared to be exactly what they needed with the urgency they moved.

Luckily, his form allowed for him to get further ahead, for a moment sniffing the air for signs of a scent trail to follow until the sounds of gun fire and explosions made his ears perk forward. Looks like he was almost there. "Optimus, this is Tigerhawk coming to the site of the Viper. I'm here to grant what assistance I can until the others can get here." Tigerhawk commed towards the transmetal gorilla, optics zooming in on the ship as it came into sight, jaw dropping somewhat at the sight of the ship...and the weapons it seemed to be packing. "The Allspark..." If the situation wasn't so dire, Tigerhawk would have reacted like the rest and taken more time to admire the craftsmanship and work put into the vessel. Quite a magnificent piece of engineering, but unfortunately it appeared it may not survive the intense conflict to come.

Not to mention, the weapons had also seemed to focus on his approach, the larger fuzor growling and having to barrel roll out of the way of some cannon fire, "Rhinox, Aurora, Whitegrazer, I advise to use extreme caution on your way here. Someone appears to have activated the ship's weapon systems, and its trained on everyone except this...Rampage." The former emissary commed to approaching group, taking a quick note of the battle going on outside the ship and maximizing to his robot mode. "Fortunate for the Predacons, this is a ceasefire." It made things easier not having to worry about an attack from below, not at the present moment any way. But, Tigerhawk would take advantage of the moment, his two shoulder-mounted machine guns folding up and over his shoulders, beginning to fire at what weapons he could upon the vessel, having to use evasive maneuvers as he went.

++++++++++++++

The answer to Whitegrazer's question seemed rather self-explanatory, but the tigress held back giving a sarcastic remark. It seemed there was more than enough to worry about than her usual attitude she had. Not that she could really muster the effort to remotely show that in such a shaken and uncertain state.

"Patience...right, sorry. I just...I'm glad to hear someone, anyone right now." Wintersong apologized to the rhinoceros. She realized bombarding Rhinox with question and inquiries was the last thing that she needed to be doing, especially with how the others sounded over the speaker. She recognized the voices right away, Aurora and Whitegrazer, and a fourth voice maybe? She couldn't tell exactly until Rhinox confirmed they were in the middle of something, and from the sound of their voices it seemed to be highly urgent.

Coping and staying at base to recover...those weren't an option in her mind. Though, it was more so the tigress felt if she did not have her mind distracted the echoing, lingering presence of the Vok would creep back into her processor and it would do more than just compel her to go somewhere. "My recovering can wait, I will help with whatever I can if all of you are heading wherever it is you need to." Wintersong tried in vain to sound her usual self, usually all the ready to jump at the opportunity for a battle, mission, patrol, whatever she could so she didn't become unbelievably bored sitting around the Axalon. But this time, it was almost too eager, even for her, as if going on this mission as opposed to the base seemed a perfect excuse not to take the time to settle.

In retrospect, she probably should be sitting down, recovering from such invading, probing thoughts. The skull-like beings were nothing she had ever seen or felt before, and it had shaken her to her core such beings could easily tear into her very life force, her memories, her being...It made her shudder, claws digging into the ground beneath her.

Upon hearing Whitegrazer say she would meet her, Wintersong couldn't help feeling the relief return. "I'll see you soon Whitegrazer." With that, Wintersong for the time being cut her com-link connection, changing her direction from the ship and where she had come from to hopefully the same direction her comrades were going. Sure enough, after some minutes had gone by she spotted the familiar galloping form of Whitegrazer approaching, having not seen the femme since she had been encased in that cocoon. "I'm alright Whitegrazer, just...getting my bearings." Wintersong's thinly veiled attempts at being reassuring would surely fall to pieces when it came to the mare. Her what the tigress still assumed was to be empathic abilities no doubt would pick up on her currently vulnerable state despite the front she tried to put up.

Not that her appearance exactly helped either. Still covered in what goop had been within the pod and looking like she hadn't slept in weeks at best, she might as well have been a walking morning horror show, "Like I said before, my recovering can wait. We need to get to that location and help the others, I'll last until then." Wintersong briefly had that determination back, waiting for the white mare to lead the way.

++++++++++++++++

Terrorsaur snarled under his breathe as the rockets still seemed to do nothing. Immortal, indestructible, aura of creepiness probably equal to Tarantulas himself...Why did the oaf Megatron want such a mutant on their side again? Far as the pteranodon was concerned, they would be better ripping out the mutated freak's spark and placing it in a protected, secured place where it could never be found. 'Maybe a nice little lava bath would do.' He thought with a mental smirk. If it was so indestructible, perhaps Rampage would have no issue being tossed into the makeshift smelting pool they had around and beneath their base.

Though upon hearing Inferno's orders, the Transmetal flier growled in irritation, "Sure, send one of our factions best fliers as the freak's bait, excellent idea." Terrosaur spoke, voice full of sarcasm and annoyance. Figures the craziest of their faction would assign him the most difficult task at the present. Terrorsaur barely even acknowledge the addition to the fray, the strange fuzor that had gone missing in the last battle at some point.

"Alright you mutant freak, lets dance." Terrorsaur sneered, firing his optic lasers in a more concentrated, continuous beam towards Rampage, not caring where he struck, simply trying to take this crab down.

[Phoenix]

"I guess after so many failures anyone would grow impatient,"

While the white mare of Vok descent certainly had a point there, the fuzor still wasn't quite satisfied with her answer. Perhaps part of her wanted Whitegrazer to denounce the Vok aspect of her past, however improbable it was that the mare would ever do such a thing. It simply wasn't in her nature, despite her obvious choice of remaining with the Maximals. If their roles were reversed, Aurora was honestly not quite sure what she would have done. Or could have. The mare's position was unique in that respect.

"Some might say they should have tried a different approach after so many failures, as you put it," the fuzor remarked, sounding a bit annoyed. Not by Whitegrazer, but by the vok philosophy that she disagreed so completely with.

"Even ageless beings like us., and despite all the time in the world, we still feel out of time."

It was a concept the fuzor, and most Cybertronians, couldn't quite grasp. While their lifespans weren't as limited as most organic creatures, those belonging to the race of transformers still grew older. Granted, it was rare that any of them died of old age, as other causes tended to interfere, but one could definitely tell when a Cybertronian had reached a ripe old age.

"Out of time..," she repeated under her breath, trying to grasp the conflicting concepts of someone who could be seen as near immortal being low on time.

"During the tail end of the Great War, when Jhiaxus and his Second Decepticons attacked Autobot, Decepticon, and human alike, much of this planet, Earth, had been devastated, and just by us, when we used to be the Swarm, but by the Second Decepticons, almost crippling the planet itself, and it's people." Whitegrazer lowered her gaze. "You see, indirectly, we were responsible for the way Earth is now, in the future. Broken, defeated, it's people scattered and still trying to pick up the pieces. There is much resentment and not enough healing going on there. Earth, humanity, deserved better than what they have now."

Aurora's gaze dropped to the ground as well while Whitegrazer tried to explain the history of a futuristic Earth that the fuzor had never seen. In fact she had never seen Cybertron either, or any other world than the prehistoric one they lived on right now. And it was a beautiful place to live, as far as she was concerned, so the thought of the planet being in ruins in the future was indeed a grim prospect. And certainly not something to look forward to.

"Are we sure it's a good idea to leave this place?," the fuzor pondered rhetorically, "Despite the Predacons, it's really quite comfortable here. Certainly more so than some dull metallic husk of a planet.. " Cybertron was still a foreign world to her, and frankly didn't sound very appealing. Too much politics, too many casualties of war.. It just didn't seem like a good trade to leave this planet, this Earth, for Cybertron in the state it was in. Not appealing at the least. But frankly.. nor was the future of this planet that Whitegrazer had just mentioned. Maybe there was a way to alter the timeline so it didn't have to come to that?

"It was Optimus Prime, who awakening us, and despite it all, we Vok remember those who saved us, and take that into consideration. That was why I came here in the first place. I wanted to help Cybertron achieve a peace on both sides. Of course, I made a grave error, and my purpose... has yet to be accomplished."

So Optimus Prime had saved the Vok by awakening them.. with the power of the Matrix, the fuzor presumed, but still these Vok had left worlds demolished in their wake.. In some ways it was even worse than they did it now that they were supposed to have awareness, since they no longer had the excuse of not caring. Perhaps, if somehow the Vok could be persuaded to stop destroying the life forms they were trying to protect, Aurora could be persuaded they deserved better.. But as things were, she simply couldn't forgive them.

"Aurora, forgive us, forgive me,"

And finally the fuzor's green optics settled back on the mare. They held some resentment, yes, but it wasn't for anything the mare had done. Instead that lingering distrust was towards the Vok.

"I don't blame you," she told Whitegrazer earnestly, "Besides.. You were already here, in this form, so you couldn't have had a part of it. "

"Our presence, our power, is unique to this universe, beautiful yet haunting, calm as a meadow yet as terrifying as a storm in the seas. We never... I was never met to be this close."

And there it was. The reason Whitegrazer blamed herself.

Aurora tugged slightly at her lip before blowing the lock of fur that constantly dropped down into her face away. "Don't be so hard on yourself..," the fuzor countered. "Without you, I don't think Optimus would ever have become what he is today."

Again showing a glimpse of a wisdom beyond her years, Aurora smiled ever so slightly at the mare who was always blaming herself for.. well.. everything.

"I will find some way to make it right for Optimus, to you, and to everyone else."

"Don't worry about that. Just help us make sure he's given time to heal. "

"Next time, a person like myself, should get a bib,"

Now that would be an interesting look! But the fuzor didn't say anything about it, rather she let the growing smile on her face do the talking for her. The smile faded, however, when the other two started talking more in depth about Rampage and what he was and had gone through. Aurora found the crab quite terrifying, honestly, in some ways maybe even more so than Megatron. For while Megatron at least for certain wanted to stay alive, the crab was complete unhinged. And that made him extremely dangerous.

"Optimus hasn't had a chance to properly grieve or gain some closure over what happened to his mentor. Hopefully, if we can get the ship or at least the journal itself, he might gain the closure he needs."

Aurora nodded in agreement. Indeed, she understood the need for closure all too well. If she hadn't ransacked Icebreaker's quarters to salvage some treasured memories after his passing, she probably would have been worse off than she was.

"That's all right. Hopefully, we can still make use of cuffs you gave to Rattrap, who I have no doubt has used them, and hopefully, still in use."

"I hope you're right. It did take a lot of effort to develop those things. However I seem to have lost the signal from the tracking beacon, so it's a good thing Optimus and the others followed him."

"Aurora, we don't know how the battle is going on there, so stay close to me, okay. I will make a good shield and cover for you, if anyone tries to fire at you."

Shield..? Yeah, the fuzor didn't want to hear it. The way Whitegrazer spoke it sounded like she was offering to use her own body as a shield, which would leave her as the target. And despite their sometimes rocky relationship, the fuzor would die inside if Whitegrazer got seriously hurt or worse..

"I'll stay close.. But only to keep you from doing something silly," she said in a teasing tone. Despite the tone, however, she meant it.

The sudden appearance of Tigerhawk had stopped the little group in their tracks, and Aurora found herself staring in awe at the large winged male. Truthfully she hadn't expected to see him again, so it was a pleasant surprise to have him join them.

"Not that we should impose," "But I'm sure Optimus will want to be briefed on your journey once things have calmed down."

"Oh man, poor Optimus is going to be stuck in his office for weeks with all this stuff he has to take care of," the fuzor teasingly replied. Although Rhinox did have a point. Optimus was diligent in his duties, nobody could ever accuse him of anything else.

"A lot has happened," Rhinox agreed with both of them, "But it's good to have you back with us, Tigerhawk. We can use the help, especially with aerial support since the Predacons have outmatched us in that regard for quite some time."

Aurora couldn't help glance at her own wings, so frail yet shimmering quite beautifully in the light, and pondered if she had made the right decision when picking a butterfly as her additional mode. Unlike the rest of them, she'd actually been given the opportunity to pick her own modes. And in her excitement she hadn't really considered practicality as much as appearance. Pity. Her wings allowed her to glide, but couldn't support the weight to lift her further into the air unless she happened to catch an updraft.

"Travel safe, I will see you three shortly."

The larger fuzor quickly departed for the Viper, which was fair enough since the rest of them weren't able to keep up as easily. Aurora waved as Tigerhawk started disappearing into the distance, but she avoided shouting in case any of the Predacons were nearby. No need to attract unwanted attention after all.

"I suppose they are, but not enough to have them at each other's throats."

"Do you have any ideas on how we could accomplish that?," Aurora inquired with increased curiosity. After all, it would be nice if it could be as simple as walking in and just taking the ship due to the two Predacons battling it out over it.

Their conversation then moved on to the Viper.

"The Viper's technology is far more superior to that of our ship's and the Predacons'," the engineer went on to explain to the younger Fuzor. "The Axalon wasn't equipped with a transwarp cell. We simply followed Megatron in the Darksyde's wake, tailing him close enough to pull us through with him.""Space and time would be far more efficient to acquire and control with the Viper. After all the Maximal Elders weren't going to entrust a vessel like that as Optimus's first."

But they would trust Nexus Prime with it.. Or would they? Granted, they probably didn't have much choice in the matter since Nexus had overseen the construction of the Viper from what she'd been told. But she also got the impression that Nexus didn't always listen to the Elders and their opinions..

"If we could gain control of this Viper, we'd be able to save this planet from the Vok. Of course we'd have to rename the ship something else, as Viper sounds kind of.. creepy.. to be honest. I don't want to go down in the history books as saving Earth on a ship named that," she told Rhinox with a grimace. Of course Earth had top priority for her, but she quickly realized it and added, "And Cybertron as well."

"He was a highly respected Admiral. And a Prime no less," the engineer spoke thoughtfully as he galloped along across the terrain. "It's a shame what he got mixed up in while taking Optimus with him, but I don't believe it was intentional. Sometimes you just follow orders blindly from those higher up because of fear, respect, ignorance, or personal gain. Or all of the above."

"I'm sure he was special.. It takes someone like that to influence those around him. And Optimus always spoke very highly of him."

It was true. The fuzor had never heard Primal say a bad word about the admiral. And his grief upon realizing the admiral was already dead had been spark-felt. No wonder the journal meant so much to Optimus.

"Yes, he would," Rhinox admitted. "But he's stronger now than he was before. There's something different about him..." "Well, perhaps more can be discussed on that matter later."

Different? In what way?

"Grief brings people together. And hard times bring out strength."

And then Wintersong made her presence known as well, improving the odds still. Or did it? Whitegrazer seemed to think so, at least, so she went to join up with their missing team member to bring her back there. Aurora was in shock still, no doubt, but she did think Wintersong needed to heal up before even considering battle. She'd been trapped inside a Vok contraption for a long time, so who knew what she had gone through. Or if she was wounded. But the fuzor refrained from protesting when she realized she had ignored the urges to remain in the CR chamber herself as well. Although aside from a few scratches, she was mostly healed by now.

"Sentinel just alerted me that her signature has been picked up on our scanners,"

So it wasn't only a voice, but also her signal.. This was starting to look more and more like Wintersong truly had returned! Which briefly brought Aurora's thoughts to her own identification chip, still in the possession of Primal. Hopefully she'd be able to acquire it before they returned to base, given Sentinel's active status and its inability to detect her identity without the chip.

"We have a bit of a situation that Aurora, Whitegrazer, Tigerhawk and I are en route to. I would highly recommend that you remain at the base to recover,"

Yeah.. no kidding.. The fuzor listened in as she was in close proximity to Rhinox, but she inadvertently swiped some fur across her head to better cover the still only partially healed wound.

"Wintersong and I will meet you guys at the coordinates."

"Be careful!," the fuzor warned, not sure if the Wintersong that had emerged from the cocoon was quite the same individual she had been. And why now? Did the Vok have something to do with this..?

She didn't have much time to ponder it, however, as something large started to emerge in the distance. There, situated on the shores near a lake, Aurora saw the contours of a ship.. Dark in color, with a modern architecture. And in front of said vessel she saw the large crab, tearing his way through the Predacons. Well, it would appear Zodiac and Rampage were still teaming up. But no sign of Zodiac, Primal or Megatron as of yet.

"Over there!," Aurora pointed out to Rhinox, as if the sound of gunfire and the visual confirmation of the ship's whereabouts wasn't enough to catch the rhinoceros' attention. They were still too far away to attract the Viper's gunfire, but they were getting closer by the nanoclick.

"Wow, that thing is creepy.. Well deserving of its name."

"Optimus is not my worst enemy. He is merely an insignificant spec of constant aggravation that I will one day be rid of again,"

Zodiac in Nexus' form tilted his head a bit, glancing ever so briefly over at Primal to see if there would be any reaction. Oddly enough there wasn't. Optimus remained still, his weapon trained on the shapeshifter yet he hadn't made any attempt at firing it yet. And Zodiac was fairly certain he knew why that was, given the Maximal leader's relationship with Nexus. Yet still the very fact that Primal's face was essentially devoid of emotions bothered him a bit.. Certainly more than Megatron's frequent threats did.

What was going through Primal's mind?

The shapeshifter wished he knew, since so much of his actions depended on being able to read his opponent. Megatron, in that respect, was pretty easy to read. But for some reason Primal remained completely unreadable right now.

"Such arrogance nearly cost you your life recently, Megatron, and I'm sure your slave will be more than happy to finish the job," Zodiac told the tyrant with his optics narrowed.

"Do you wish to know what I think, Zodiac?"

Well.. this should be interesting.. The shapeshifter was certain his recent attack on the tyrant had landed him right at the top of his death list. Not that he would ever get the opportunity to do anything about it.

"I believe you are petrified. You are petrified with this partnership I have acquired because you did not foresee it, and thus you lack the experience or resources to vanquish such a feat, to battle us both, and, in the end, prevail,"

As much as the renegade hated to admit it, Megatron was at least partially right in his assumption. The two of them together, side by side, was not an outcome Zodiac had planned for. And if their unholy union could persist.. somehow.. as unlikely as such a scenario seemed, they could indeed pose a threat to his own operation. Granted they were more likely to turn on each other, so Zodiac tried to push such thoughts aside.

"Really now? Well.. as entertaining as it would be to stick around and prove you wrong, I do have other matters to attend to. But do not fret, Megatron, for you will see me again."

And it's the last thing you will ever see, the renegade added mentally to his own words.

"Lest we forget, there is favor I must return to you,"

A trace of a smirk started forming on the pretender's face as he eyed the permanent damage he had left on Megatron's abdomen. It had been quite the thrill to inflict such torment on the tyrant and frankly.. he couldn't wait to do it again, only making sure the damage was terminal next time.

"It will take more than you and your silent partner to manage such a feat," the fake Nexus responded, putting on his best look of confidence that he could muster.

Zodiac then let Rampage deal with these fools as he made his way inside the Viper.

"Remember, Nemesis, that although we have established a cease fire with the Maximals, I find that taking advantage of the vague details within the verbal truce does not prohibit the use of hand-to-hand combat,"

Megatron's transmission came through as Nemesis was making her way through the hallways of the Viper, following Rattrap and the traitorous she-spider deeper into the ship to what appeared to be the engine room. The female was still trying to maintain stealth, which would have been far easier if she could fly in here. Unfortunately that wasn't an option so she followed on foot.

Her leader's message didn't surprise her in the least, and frankly she was glad since at least it gave her some limited options. It wasn't ideal, but then again.. was it ever?

She dropped down in the engine room and looked around for her targets before hearing their voices just a short distance up ahead. Following the voices, she hid behind a console for the right opportunity to strike.

"what's the plan here? Plant a few explosives? Cross a couple of wires? Plant little traps to surprise Zodiac with?"

"The plan... is fer you ta watch my back,"

The sound of engines firing up only a short distance away alerted Nemesis that they were short on time. This ship could be taking off within moments judging by the hum of the engines. And as things were, she had two pests to deal with in order to gain control of the ship for Megatron. Rattrap was packing explosives, she knew that much, and the spider could incapacitate her temporarily with her venom.. Perhaps the way to go about this would be to appeal to Rattrap's inert Maximal programming. Tough as the rodent acted sometimes, he was, after all, a Maximal at spark. And it was unlikely he would deliberately put his little partner in crime in a dangerous situation. It was doubtful the spider harbored such sentimentality.

"Well, you excused yourself with such haste that you precluded to give us the opportunity to bid you farewell. Consider this our parting gift to you. It is the least we can offer after everything we have endured from your meaningless existence,"

Zodiac smirked again, although to a keen observer it could be noted that this time it wasn't quite as overly confident as before. It was true he was getting a little stressed by now having to evict these unwanted tenants from his ship's bridge. How had they gotten inside anyway? The doors should have sealed behind him and even Megatron should not have been able to penetrate a closed door. Not on this ship. It was designed for deep space travel, after all, and had extra armored walls in case it was to be used in a battle.

No, something was off here.

"Computer, identify location of energy signatures within the Viper," he told the computer, his optics never wearing off the two intruders only a short distance away and his stolen shoulder-mounted cannons still tracking their every movement.

"Multiple energy signatures detected. 3 in the bridge including yours, admiral, and 3 more near the engine room," came the response.

.. So these two weren't alone. Wasn't that just.. Prime. Zodiac sighed inwardly at that bit of news. He'd have to get rid of these trespassers first.

"Engines will be at full capacity within 4 nanoclicks. Preparing for lift off."

"Delay take-off. Activate internal defenses and use lethal force against the intruders in the vicinity of the engine room."


Tempting as it was to order the weapon system to deal with Megatron and Primal as well, that was a risky move, given their close proximity to both the shapeshifter and the intricate instruments of the bridge, he would rather try to avoid for now. Besides.. he had other ways to deal with them.

"As you command."

Zodiac wasn't exactly sure on how to proceed from here.. but he knew he'd need more help.

"Return to the Viper, Rampage, we are leaving momentarily. And your feast awaits you here," he messaged the crab.

Near the engine room a few decks below, some panels in the walls started opening and the cannons emerged from behind them. They immediately started scanning the environment, ready to fire upon any intruder unfortunate to be within their reach.

One crisis averted.. hopefully..

Zodiac could finally turn his full attention back to the two commanders invading his bridge. Megatron's choice of words had been interesting given how these two would soon be nothing but a distant memory.

"If that's the case, permit me to bid you both farewell. Not that it hasn't been a pleasure knowing you, but.." As he spoke, his cannons started heating up, preparing to turn these two to molten slag. His premature victory speech was cut short, however..

It was Megatron who fired the first shot, and second, and third. Zodiac stumbled backwards from the sudden impact to his upper thigh, the heat generated from Megatron's cannon blast scolding him and piercing through the outer layers of his armor. He grimaced in pain, twisting sideways to avoid the next shot and very narrowly managed to avoid the second searing blast, only for the third one to impact into his left shoulder and nearly knocking him off his feet. Fortunately the damage wasn't too extensive, certainly nothing his nanomachines couldn't handle, so he left them to deal with the damage while he concentrated on regaining his balance enough to fire two rounds back at Megatron.

Only to get Primal barreling down ontop of hip, the Maximal's clubs swinging at the shoulder-cannons and knocking his aim off their target. Zodiac growled, his fist shooting out towards Primal's throat in a rather desperate move to gain some distance between the two. But upon doing so, he also lost what little semblance of balance he had left and went crashing onto the floor when the club slammed down upon him again.

Zodiac swiftly rolled over, moving his arms into position ready to push himself up again. His wounds were already healed for the most part, allowing for him to command his nanotechnology to create sharp, curved blades emerging from his forearms. Upon sitting up, he immediately attempted to slash at Primal with both arms.

[una]

((OOC: Sorry for teh delay, guys. I hope I got everyone, and answered everything. =D ))

"That is something I hope to try and make them understand," Whitegrazer smiled at Aurora. "After all, they, at least, listened to me about not destroying this planet again. True, they tried to possess me and used me to try and destroy you all. I detest them for that, but it shows that they are malleable. And that gives me hope." The only thing she needed to do was to try and make them understand that the Cybertronians weren't their enemy, to look go of past grievances, to remember the honor and duty they absorbed from the Matrix and Optimus Prime, to show lenience towards Optimus Primal and the Maximals here. Of course, she couldn't forget the Predacons. No matter how she disagreed with their ideology, no matter the actions of Megatron and a few Predacons over the years, no being, Cybertronian or otherwise, deserved a fate that waited for those who made themselves an enemy of the Vok. There were some things worse than death in those who lived in a linear time. She heard the little whisper from Aurora and nodded, "Time isn't linear for the Vok, or for me. We exist in the past, present, and future, but time isn't something that you can just change and except a different outcome. It just doesn't work that way. The Vok have to make subtle repairs and tweaks to an alternate event, and even an alternate event splinters into another pocket in this vast universe, creating another set of events, a different timeline. Think of it as wound, you can heal the wound, but the body remembers it, even if your mind doesn't. The wound could become scar, or if you re-open and close it multiple times, you just make a mess and can damage a part of your body, your system irreparably."

Aurora had been born on Earth. She could see why the little one could be attached to this planet, but Whitegrazer sadly shook her head, "I don't think it would be wise. Earth holds a history to the Cybertronian people. Our presence here in the future years of this world could have effect our present. It would be best for us to leave, once we are finished with our purpose here. No doubt, once we find a way off this planet, the High Council of Elders would send a team to clean up the mess our war left behind. And the Vok would clean up the rest of it." She got down on her knees to and faced the little one, actually hugging the little one, a small one, before she let go, patting the little one on the back gently. "But I would believe it to be a shame. This planet, as it is right now, is actually quite peaceful, something that I think everyone here needs. I don't suppose staying for awhile longer wouldn't hurt." Whitegrazer wasn't too keen on returning to Cybertron, she had to admit, something dreadful, dark and ominous awaited for her there, but she can't run away from her purpose. She had to return to Cybertron, she had to use what she learned here to help build a better future for their world. When Aurora easily forgave her, not holding her responsible for the actions of her people, brightened her spark, but the light grew a bit dull when Aurora mentioned her own actions. She lowered her gaze. She had to be honest with the little one. Aurora deserved that much. "I was with them once, Aurora, and for awhile, I believed the cause they had, like them, I believed the morality and ethics of corporeal beings were no concern of ours. Until... I became one. I gained a fresh perspective, and in that perspective, I have come to understand how distant and so far removed we were to those we seek to help, to guide. We forgot ourselves, our heart." Whitegrazer wasn't going to remove herself from her people's actions. She was just as responsible, just as guilty, and even those she was Cybertronain, there was still a piece of her that was still yearning for her people.

But Aurora still smiled at her, which she couldn't help but return in kind. So wise she was. Her statement about Optimus made her wonder the truth of the little one's statement. She was so sure that Optimus Primal, even without her presence or guidance, no doubt, would have still been as incorruptible as he was now.

Rhinox's statement towards her, at first, confused her. Then she realized. She smiled at him. He must have saw her statement as one of self-pity, but that wasn't her intent. It was a statement of determination, to be better than her people, to be better than those Maximal scientists, to be better than the High Council Of Elders. She glad to see, though, that Rhinox was ready to help and make sure she was grounded back into reality. To make sure she didn't withdraw into a spiral of despair and self-pity that could destroy her very being, to make sure to snap her out of anything that could not only hurt her but those who she was connected with like Optimus. Rhinox had been friends with Optimus, knew Optimus for a lot longer than she knew him, and she respected Rhinox's concern for his friend, the wariness of her abilities and great effect and allure to can be. Her hand gripped Rhinox's shoulder gently, and she smiled and nodded in understanding, with a silent promise to be careful, for Optimus' sake as well as everyone else's.

As Rhinox and Aurora talked about the Viper, the more she hoped they could stop Zodiac, and also, pretend the Predacons for taking advantage and seizing any opportunity to take the vessel for themselves. Especially, with time travel mechanics involved. But with TigerHawk's support from the air, no doubt in her mind, their odds have increased. Not to mention, with Wintersong, who has awakened from her stasis in that cocoon.

She went to rendezvous with Wintersong, for they had bonded over their experienced with the Vok, for she felt that it was her duty as a comrade, a friend, to make sure Wintersong was okay. When she saw Wintersong in her sights, her gaze was that of concern and horror at what her people had doen to teh female cat. She went to Wintersong's side, the female cat seemed to be eager to fight, to join their battle. Then she realized how much she had change, having how her skeletal structure, her Vok half, in a physical sense anyway, appearing from the right side of her entire body. "Looks like we both have been altered by our experiences." She said softly to the female cat, hoping her appearance didn't frighten the female cat. It spooked a few of our friends, and also, some of the Predacons. "Wintersong, I know you want to help us, but I need to ask you this: what happened to you? Did my people... the Vok communicate with you?" She felt it from the female cat. Her spark pulsated from the familiar echoes of her people, the cold, clinical caresses, like a scientist examining a pet project. "I was concerned about you."

Optimus thought his closure could wait, but the closure of his mentor tied to Zodiac, her mentioning of closure was to help Optimus reach an end, an end where all parties involved, Zodiac, could heal from their past, could find a chance to have solace, a peace with themselves towards a new future, a new beginning. As she reached out towards Optimus, wondering what was happening in the battle, Optimus, unintentionally, was absorbing much of her energy, her power, drawing strength, warmth, serenity, and it took her breath away for moment, causing her to gasp and hold a hand over her chest. She heard the apologetic, and she reached out towards him to tell him that it was okay. The link severed. Their connection.... They really needed some time to meditate and help study the newfound power their connection had now become. Oh, Optimus, please don't be sorry, you were unaware, you didn't know, how could you have known. Our link, our connection, our bond, my abilities have grown, I can, I can,... whitegrazer realized she was talking to no one in her spark as Optimus had served the link. Please, Optimus, come back.






Blackarachnia just shrugged at Rattrap's comment. She decided it was best to hang out with the ratface since this is a new surrounding, and with Optimus on speed dial, and with Predacons wanting to dig their claws into this ship, she was still a Predacon, she knew Megatron had no intention of letting this ship fall into Maximal hands, she might need an extra hand, or a shield. She smirked to herself as she followed her "comrade" into the engine room. It was quiet, humming, pulsating, wait a minute, the engines heated up, rolling steady into a frantic pace. "We better make haste. I think our shapeshifter is impatiently wanting to get out of here." Who can blame him? She felt the same way too. "Look, whatever it is that we needed to get done, we need to get it done fast before Zodiac realizes- Small compartments from the sides and a few from theceiling opened p to reveal cannons, aiming and powering up. "Look out." She pushed Rattrap behind one of those engines. Hopefully, the cannon's programming was smart and didn't hit any vital compartments. Maybe she should have let Rattrap get hit. Why did she push him away? She still needed him because she smelled something funny, and it wasn't the rat's putrid deodorant of trash.



Rampage just laughed, enjoying the carnage he was inflicting upon the dull ant, and that stupid fuzor, finding sick pleasure of the futility of any chance for that fuzor to hide from him. No one can hide from him forever, he would always seek and find his prey, but let them try, though, he always loved the game. And there wasn't much joy in his life, anyway. The Maximal scientists back in Colony Omicron made sue to inject him with chemicals that induced pain along with those which induced pleasure, so that any wound, from any weapon, would be met with joy and a laugh, that when ever he entered the battlefield, his empathy for others, if he ever had any to begin with, would be drowned out with his body's eagerness for pain and to give pain, even if a small part of him regretted the actions and emotions, detested the fact that it was those sadistic Maximal scientists that had forced him to react in this way, like some programmed drone, like that drone of an ant in Megatron's army! He laughed harder to hide his rage towards Megatron's second-in-command.

The fuzor went to hide behind a tree as the annoying bird above called out to him, calling him a freak. Names meant nothing to him. He had been called all the names in the book. Terrorsaur's optic lasers scotched his chest as the fuzor's venom coursed through his body. Ah! Pain, burning, searing pain! Going down to one knee, his body took a moment to adjust, letting the venom hit his spark only for it to be destroyed by his immortality. "More! More! Give me more!!!" Rampage pleaded towards the fuzor, waving for Terrorsaur to come forth at him like a dead man beckoning for release.

Let them come close.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"Travel safe, I will see you three shortly."

You do the same, Rhinox thought to Tigerhawk. Obviously the larger Fuzor was capable of taking care of himself, but he hadn't seen much conflict since his arrival. At least not with this particular group of Predacons. So, he may have been less experienced in that aspect.

"Oh man, poor Optimus is going to be stuck in his office for weeks with all this stuff he has to take care of,"

Rhinox gave a soft chuckle to Aurora's tease as she seemed to attempt to keep the group's moral positive. "Comes with the job description," he commented. Personally, he didn't care for the logging, paperwork, and having the responsibility of all these unique individuals' lives that came with such a rank. Rhinox was obviously capable of leading, as he had proved many times, but it wasn't a full-time job that he desired. Optimus was doing an exceptional job with it in his own way. He wasn't Optimus Prime, Rodimus Prime or Nexus Prime, and he wasn't even trying to be any of them because he was his own bot. Sure, a lot of his decisions were unorthodox, and at times his leadership was questionable, but the engineer felt that considering their situation, he was an admirable leader who had to learn along the way without any guidance or authority from his superiors. Primal's most endearing qualities that likely surpassed the most iconic commanding officers in Cybertron's history were his limitless compassion, modesty and selflessness.

"Patience...right, sorry. I just...I'm glad to hear someone, anyone right now." "My recovering can wait, I will help with whatever I can if all of you are heading wherever it is you need to."

"No need to apologize, Wintersong," the engineer returned with a lighter tone in his voice. All of them could probably understand her eagerness to be around familiar faces and those she trusted. It might not have been the best timing, but they would work something out. All of them would be together again soon enough. ...As long as Zodiac and possibly Megatron are stopped. "Don't worry. You won't be alone much longer." Who better to meet up with her than Whitegrazer? If she needed to, she could calm her spark and put her mind at ease after the ordeal the tigress must have gone through. Although in this instance, Optimus could probably relate to Wintersong the most as an outsider to the Vok. Hopefully he could help her along with Whitegrazer, that is if Wintersong sought to have it.

With the odd-looking equine galloping off to greet the TransMetal tigress, Rhinox pushed forward at his own pace with Aurora.

"Do you have any ideas on how we could accomplish that?,"

"Get them paranoid so they second-guess their trust to each other in their ranks. There are always back-stabbers in that group. Terrorsaur, Tarantulas, possibly Quickstrike. If we can spread lies about any of those to Inferno or even Megatron about who's trying to steal the ship, then we can distract them at opportune times. It might be tricky, and we can't seem obvious about it or they'll be more suspicious of us than their own comrades," Rhinox explained. He grew quiet for a moment as he contemplated more on the matter. "We'll see how the battle is progressing once we arrive before we try that route."

"If we could gain control of this Viper, we'd be able to save this planet from the Vok. Of course we'd have to rename the ship something else, as Viper sounds kind of.. creepy.. to be honest. I don't want to go down in the history books as saving Earth on a ship named that," "And Cybertron as well."

The rhinoceros in motion managed another chuckle at his smaller, science partner's comments. "It does sound rather malicious instead of heroic, doesn't it?" he asked rhetorically in response to her observation on the vessel's name. "It obviously isn't meant for exploration, unlike the Axalon."

"I'm sure he was special.. It takes someone like that to influence those around him. And Optimus always spoke very highly of him."

He nodded as his ears wiggled in the breeze. "Nexus had a very commanding presence about him. You knew when he was in the room, even if he was silent and tucked away in the shadows. He was quite humble considering his status and how well-known he was. Despite what he had gotten himself into, I think he was a great mentor for Optimus, and a lot of his traits show through him."

"Grief brings people together. And hard times bring out strength."

Rhinox smiled at her wisdom in his beast mode. "You're absolutely right about that, Aurora." But let's hope for no more casualties, he thought. The Maximals really needed to stop losing their friends. Every time it happened, it was a harder blow to cope with.

"Rhinox, Aurora, Whitegrazer, I advise to use extreme caution on your way here. Someone appears to have activated the ship's weapon systems, and its trained on everyone except this...Rampage." "Fortunate for the Predacons, this is a ceasefire."

"Copy that, Tigerhawk," Rhinox acknowledged with a slight grumble in his already deep voice.

"That's not the news I was hoping for," he said to Aurora with concern. "That means someone has already gained control of the ship, and judging by that action of offense, it isn't one of ours." It must be Zodiac, he thought. Primus help us all if he launches.

"Over there!,"

Rhinox followed the ermine's gesture to the commotion as it came into their view and their audio sensors. The battle was well underway as Tigerhawk had reported and dangerous with the Viper's weapons activated. Maybe they could survey what was happening before getting involved to make a better entrance.

"Wow, that thing is creepy.. Well deserving of its name."

"It's also fast and highly maneuverable," he added as he slowed down to a stop and looked around.

"Tigerhawk, what else can you report? Do the Predacons need our assistance?" He had no idea where Optimus, Rattrap and Blackarachnia were. Maybe he and Aurora would have to focus their firepower on the ship'd weapons. He wasn't sure they'd be able to get inside of the ship since from where they stood, the front of it where Megatron had ripped the door off was not in their line of sight.

-----

"Such arrogance nearly cost you your life recently, Megatron, and I'm sure your slave will be more than happy to finish the job,"

"That was not arrogance on my part," Megatron snarled at Zodiac, correcting him. "That was a coward in disguise who otherwise would have failed miserably sneaking around my base of operations, and who could not face his adversary in his true form."

"Really now? Well.. as entertaining as it would be to stick around and prove you wrong, I do have other matters to attend to. But do not fret, Megatron, for you will see me again."

"No, I will not," he said coldly determined to either commandeer the shape shifter's plan or throw it out entirely once he gains control of the ship and do with it as he pleases.

"It will take more than you and your silent partner to manage such a feat,"

So, Zodiac had noticed how quiet Optimus had been so far. The fact that he made a point to mention it made the Maximal wonder if it was bothering him in some way. Truth be told, there was nothing Primal needed to say that he hadn't said already during the duration of the pretender's stay here on pre-historic Earth. He just wanted to focus on what he needed to do interfere with his plans.

Megatron scoffed at Zodiac's poor attempt of acting more confident than he really was, saying to him metaphorically, "You appear to be sweating."

"Computer, identify location of energy signatures within the Viper,"

Neither commanding officer changed their expressions or moved when Zodiac gave the order. If the ship's computer was going to discover Nemesis, Blackarachnia and Rattrap, then there was nothing they could do about it from where they were. They needed to maintain their patience. Anything the ship could throw at them, they could handle it.

"Multiple energy signatures detected. 3 in the bridge including yours, admiral, and 3 more near the engine room,"

Primal had licked the scar across his mouth in irritation when the ship identified Zodiac as Nexus. It wasn't him! Slag it all! At least told Optimus that Rattrap and Blackarachnia weren't alone. Who else could be there? One of Megatron's troops?

Just the same, it also made Megatron aware that Nemesis had company. Obviously Rattrap, but who else was with them? And what were they doing near the most important part of the vessel?

"Engines will be at full capacity within 4 nanoclicks. Preparing for lift off."

Not unless Rattrap gets his hands on them, thought the Maximal leader.

"Delay take-off.

This time both leaders couldn't help but allow a quizzical expression to cross their faces. What was the pretender up to...?

Activate internal defenses and use lethal force against the intruders in the vicinity of the engine room."

"As you command."

You can try, but I've got my master marksman and demolition expert down there, Optimus told himself in great confidence toward Rattrap. He'll succeed sabotaging this ship before you go any where, Zodiac. He narrowed his orange optics at the renegade.

"Return to the Viper, Rampage, we are leaving momentarily. And your feast awaits you here,"

Finally, a smirk appeared on Megatron's purple face. "You do not possess the kind of ferocity it will take to manage and dominate him in a long term scenario. This is out of your league, Zodiac. Even now he defies you," he chuckled in hopes of it embarrassing the shape shifter since Rampage didn't respond and likely wasn't going to comply when he was having too much fun tormenting his Predacons outside on the lake's beach. "I am far more qualified, thus his spark would do better in my hands where it is meant to be. I suggest you return it. Now," he told Zodiac in a threatening voice.

"If that's the case, permit me to bid you both farewell. Not that it hasn't been a pleasure knowing you, but.."

Well, that couldn't be farther from the truth, nor could the same thing be said about him.

As the battle ensued in the Viper's command center, Megatron's shots brilliantly hammered the fake Nexus Prime forcing him to falter backwards, but his opponent's return fire was quick, and Zodiac's first shot had nailed his right shoulder before he could react by using his tail gun as a shield which deflected the second shot.

Meanwhile, Optimus had swung his club down upon Zodiac with much of his strength and weight, knocking the pretender to the floor and temporarily damaging one of his his shoulder cannons. He lifted his arms upward to swing down once more but that left him wide open to a counter attack. Zodiac suddenly rolled, sat up and slashed at him with newly formed blades on his forearms, one of which managed to glide across Primal's lower abdomen. The Maximal managed to move backward enough to keep it at a minor incision when it could have had a lot of more depth and avoid the other blade. He could feel the sharp edge sliding across like a razor and thinly splitting his armor, which alarmed him as his internal sensors alerted him of the wound and pain. This forced him to back off for a moment. As much as he wanted to examine his cut and make sure it was as small as it felt, he instead kept his focus on the murderer before him ready to keep defending himself.

Megatron was more opportunistic at that time, so, just as he witnessed Zodiac attack Primal with his arm blades, he fired again at him to throw him off and hinder any further attacks.

"Optimus, this is Tigerhawk coming to the site of the Viper. I'm here to grant what assistance I can until the others can get here."

"Tigerhawk!" The TransMetal gorilla sounded just as surprised and relieved to hear him as the others did when they saw him. Relieved both that he was well and to have the extra support. He re-positioned himself to defense with his club while Megatron sent a barrage of plasma toward Zodiac. Obviously, they couldn't stop him with just their fire power. They'd wear themselves out along with their ammunition before they could knock him unconscious or wound him beyond regeneration. The gun fire in the confined room could be heard over Primal's open transmission with the large Fuzor. "Your timing is impeccable," he said, his voice suggesting that he was a little preoccupied, but Optimus was capable of multi-tasking, like many of his Maximals were. With his free hand, he subtly took out the taser from his subspace and set the power higher to hopefully do a bit more damage to Zodiac's nanobots wherever he'd be able to shock them by a smooth motion of his thumb on a button on the device. He held his club in front of him as misdirection so Zodiac might not notice the taser. "Secure a perimeter around this vessel, and keep Rampage occupied," he told Tigerhawk.

Oh, Optimus, please don't be sorry, you-

That was all he had heard from Whitegrazer when she reached for him before he had cut her off. He hadn't meant to, but there was so much going, so many emotions, he just wanted to concentrate on Zodiac and Megatron. But what if she could have helped in some way? Maybe she knew how to control the energy he had been "stealing" from her which had terrified him at first. He didn't know if it was him or her. She had mentioned earlier that she was stronger now with her abilities. But what exactly did that mean? Possibly against his better judgement as curiosity got the better of him, he reestablished their link again, and her presence and awareness spilled into his spark. And there was someone else with her as he could feel the enlightenment emitting from the mare. Someone... who had recently been in contact with the Vok. He deliberately didn't ask who it was though. Could it be the Vok?! What if they were influencing her again and trying to overthrow her spark? All of this uncertainty at once with too many inquiries was practically unbearable for him, so he suppressed most of it so that it wouldn't distract him from his task at hand anymore than it already was.

-----

"We better make haste. I think our shapeshifter is impatiently wanting to get out of here."

"Oh, really? Got any other conspicuous observations you'd like ta make, legs?" Rattrap asked Blackarachnia sarcastically while he surveyed the area carefully.

"Look, whatever it is that we needed to get done, we need to get it done fast before Zodiac realizes-

"What's dis 'we' stuff? I got it covered. You just keep an eye out for any of yer old pals," he told her, trying to keep his plan vague in case she would try to interfere, before he saw the movement above them.

"Look out."

The small Maximal felt a hard shove that knocked him off balance as he stumbled with his feet and fell down. He was about to yell at her as he rolled over on the floor and sat up behind one of the powerful engines until he realized that she had just prevented him from being shot by the ship's automatic weapons. Of course, he wasn't willing to give her a verbal thank you, but he at least nodded to show her he understood what she did. However, it didn't make him trust her any more than he could for a Predacon spider. It was more than likely that she was just using him, or planning to use him, in some way or another. "We gotta get rid o' these auto cannons!" he called to her since he wouldn't want one of his explosives to detonate prematurely by random gun fire. Peering around the large cylinder that was giving off some heat now, he targeted the weapon at one of the guns and fired at it before quickly taking cover again.

-----

"Sure, send one of our factions best fliers as the freak's bait, excellent idea."

"All the more reason for our inevitable victory!" Inferno blurted out to Terrorsaur whose ego was probably too overwhelming to ignore the ant's declamation. "Do not question my orders!" he demanded his respect.

"Alright you mutant freak, lets dance."

"More! More! Give me more!!!"

"This crab puff's got a few wires crossed, I think," Quickstrike commented to no one in particular as he kept firing balls of venom at Rampage's chest and legs as was encouraged by the monster who had now collapsed to a knee but still beckoned for the pain. Or pleasure? The small Fuzor couldn't quite understand his logic.

Good. The two were cooperating and keeping the giant crab's attention on them. "Maintain the diversion while I see to the ship's defenses!" Inferno told Terrorsaur and Quickstrike before he blasted off into the air and approached one set of auto guns. He fired two rockets at it from a safe distance before he took notice of Tigerhawk descending toward the area. Another Maximal joins the fray, he thought although he didn't really recognize him since he hadn't been involved in too many disputes between the two factions. Was this good or bad for the Royalty's scheme? He supposed it didn't really matter since they were under a cease fire.

[Wintersong]

Optimus' surprised response was to be expected, making the large fuzor smile faintly. Guess when you were the new guy and didn't exactly spend much time around your new comrades right off the bat the surprise wasn’t unwarranted. Nevertheless, the fuzor still listened as he kept some distance from the ship, firing his machine guns at the defenses, taking a few out in his maneuvering and others he just damaged. "As seems to be the case since I awoke from my stasis pod." Tigerhawk responded towards his impeccable timing.

Because according to his track record, he had awoken at a rather unexpected time then, but before it had dealt with these alien beings, the Vok as they had mentioned. He'd have to inquire more about what these Vok were because it was not something he had heard until he had arrived here.

Still, Tigerhawk flapped his wings hard for a moment to hover in place, "Securing a perimeter will take a little time sir, but it shall be done...momentarily." For now, even Tigerhawk was not sounding completely certain of that himself. The ship was rather well-equipped and it sounded as if Optimus himself was going through a situation of his own. Soon enough however Rhinox was inquiring for what was going on, causing the fuzor to switch channels for the time being. "It appears the Predacon fuzor and one of the Predacon fliers are preoccupied with Rampage, and aren't exactly making a dent so they may need a hand. Optimus sounds like he's got his own hands full, probably inside the ship because I don't see him outside."

Another observation of the battle field confirmed that. Tigerhawk had not initially taken note of this before but somehow the others had gotten inside, "Rhinox, Aurora, there must be a way inside the Viper. Optimus isn't the only one not accounted for, it appears-" Tigerhawk cut off as he noticed at the last moment one of the nearest weapons to his left had fired, causing him to allow his form to take a free fall but snarling as the shot still grazed his side, tearing through some of the top layers of his armor and causing him to back off some more. 'I really need to improve my improvising, I'm a little rusty. He thought, shaking off the pain flashing across his sensors. "It appears Megatron is likewise not present. And Optimus wants a perimeter secured, it just may be a little tricky with these defense systems operational."

There had to be a different tactic in handling these weapons or delaying the ship's take off sequence. From the humming coming from the engines it sounded like it wouldn't long. "You, insect!" Tigerhawk called as he dove down to avoid some cannon fire and coming to fly near Inferno, throwing all caution to the wind, "Those cannons can't be taken out all that easy, perhaps we can cut some of their numbers in a different manner, which I suggest turning the defenses on themselves and maybe the ship." Tigerhawk suggested to the ant, figuring the hull of the Viper could take some punishment. "Because if we don't do something swiftly no one will live to take this ship."

The large fuzor was really pinning such a plan on Inferno's cooperation. Despite the ant being psychotic surely he could see reason that their tactics would take far too long if they kept it up the way they were now. So without waiting for an answer, Tigerhawk dove downwards, shots coming his way until he finally shifted back to his beast mode and landed upon the ship, dodging aside from another blast, that barely missed him and struck a cannon opposite of the one he had avoided.

+++++++++++++++++++

"Oh, I question more than just your orders insect. Don't even get me started on the state of your sanity." Terrosaur retorted sharply, more than itching to turn some of his own optic lasers upon the annoying ant. The only reason Inferno remotely could give the likes of Terrorsaur orders was due to the fact he had long since made himself known to not be truly loyal to Megatron. But he was only saved by the fact the Predacons did need the numbers and their superiority in the air.

As Rampage fell to one knee, the Transmetal flier finally stopped his attack briefly, optics still bright to show he wasn't completely powering down his lasers. He still moved, thrived. He wanted this pain. He hungered for it. For someone like Terrorsaur, who didn't quite mind taking a little pain to get his own agendas moving, this was something far above he could imagine for any Cybertronian, even a mutated one. "Masochistic freak." He muttered to himself, scowling at the fact even Quickstrike's venom seemed to be doing little. It was potent, enough to knock most bots into stasis. But Rampage wasn't most bots.

"You want pain, I'll happily oblige." Came the screechy voiced response as Terrorsaur once more fired his eye lasers, moving closer and closer to the king crab, hoping somehow, someway he could tear open the very chest of this crustacean and destroy what remained of that wretched, twisted spark.

+++++++++++++++++

Wintersong's smile of relief was quickly replaced with a much different reaction, but it wasn't one of being scared or spooked.

No, it was a look of shock and disbelief upon seeing the right side of Whitegrazer, a reflection of their nature. She stood frozen, frame tense and staring at the white mare, wariness showing in her amber optics. She had just escaped seeing their skeletal, ethereal, emotionless faces, now here she was staring at the one Cybertronian among them that now shared that appearance. An appearance that still haunted her thoughts despite every effort to push them aside since she had broken free of that cocoon minutes earlier. And her question that followed didn't help.

In fact, the question triggered her to react differently than the mare was probably expecting, "Communicate with me? Whitegrazer, they invaded my very core. If it wasn't my thoughts it was my spark, my very being. I felt like they were tearing me apart in every way possible!" Wintersong snapped, her tone harsher than she intended it to be. But seeing that side of Whitegrazer, seeing the appearance of those who had tormented her...she didn't know how Whitegrazer could continue to defend her people or how Optimus hadn't gone insane after she had seen what they were capable of first hand. Experienced it even. "I don't see why any sane being, Cybertronian or not, would continue to defend individuals such as them." She snapped once more, pent up anger and despair coming out all at the same time before she could even stop herself.

But after speaking those final words, Wintersong realized how harsh she really had sounded, causing her to look at the ground in shame. How could she allow her volatile emotions explode like that on a friend? This wasn't the mare's fault despite her other worldly origins. No, she was different, she wasn't them. Still..."I apologize Whitegrazer, that was uncalled for. I'm just still coming to grips with what happened, and right now what they did, what they asked of me, is not important. We got friends that need our help and I won't sit about the Axalon knowing this may end up being the only time I see everyone if everything goes horribly wrong." Wintersong apologized softly, finally lifting her gaze. "Just please...don't pry, not right now. Everything is still too raw, too fresh...I need time to come to terms with everything that's occurred, but this isn't it."

It was going to be difficult to ask someone with Whitegrazer's abilities to ignore the fear and uncertainty radiating off her, especially considering her ability to read the sparks of others. But, Wintersong wanted to focus on the present situation. "Come on, we don't have much time waste." Without awaiting a protest or further inquiries, the Transmetal tigress took off in a gallop this time so Whitegrazer could keep pace, pushing herself to go her fullest speed possible in her beast mode. And after a little time began to see the site ahead, unaware that the strongest taint the Vok had left wasn't just the echoes of their presence mentally and spiritually, but physically as well, a softer rhythmic pulse echoing a few seconds shy of her spark's own rhythmic tune.

[Phoenix]

"That is something I hope to try and make them understand," Whitegrazer smiled at Aurora. "After all, they, at least, listened to me about not destroying this planet again. True, they tried to possess me and used me to try and destroy you all. I detest them for that, but it shows that they are malleable. And that gives me hope."

Aurora's ears rotated ever so slightly as she listened to the taller female's explanation. It was odd to her that the white mare, albeit now looking more unique than ever, always sought the good in someone. Even someone like the Vok, who had tried to kill them several times. Even though the mare admitted their goal being just that, she still sounded like she would forgive her old 'people' at the drop of any signs of remorse. But could it ever be so simple with being so powerful and seemingly unrelenting?

"Hopefully that is their final decision on this matter," Aurora said, referring to the Vok trying to destroy the planet again. They simply had too many enemies and didn't need to fight the Vok as well.

"I don't think it would be wise. Earth holds a history to the Cybertronian people. Our presence here in the future years of this world could have effect our present. It would be best for us to leave, once we are finished with our purpose here. No doubt, once we find a way off this planet, the High Council of Elders would send a team to clean up the mess our war left behind. And the Vok would clean up the rest of it."

Shaking her head in disagreement, the fuzor couldn't bring herself to even try to understand.. and much less agree..

"Then maybe leave me here," she said, sounding a bit annoyed. "Cybertron holds nothing for me. It's metallic and lifeless as far as I'm concerned. "

She really didn't want to leave this planet.. This Earth.. to join the others on a world she felt no kinship with whatsoever.

Whitegrazer looked at her and then got down to her level so she could give the fuzor a hug. Aurora tried to squirm away but only briefly before the comfort of the hug overtook her and she then leaned into it.

"But I would believe it to be a shame. This planet, as it is right now, is actually quite peaceful, something that I think everyone here needs. I don't suppose staying for awhile longer wouldn't hurt."

The fuzor smiled, a slight but still most genuine smile, but without looking straight at any of them. She trembled ever so slightly, feeling kind of overwhelmed by all the conflicting emotions. She loved her team members, of course, they were her family after all. But this planet was her home, not Cybertron, not anywhere else, but here.. And she couldn't imagine leaving this place for anything or anyone.

Slowly her arms crept up as she returned the hug, letting out a sigh as she did. Part of her wanted to cry, but she somehow managed to avoid it. Thankfully.

"Perhaps we can make a while longer last forever?," the fuzor inquired, her tone softer and more vulnerable than before. Whitegrazer had been smiling both at her and Rhinox, and then she left to go find Wintersong and bring her back. Upon watching the white mare gallop into the distance, Aurora had turned her full attention to Rhinox.

"Get them paranoid so they second-guess their trust to each other in their ranks. There are always back-stabbers in that group. Terrorsaur, Tarantulas, possibly Quickstrike. If we can spread lies about any of those to Inferno or even Megatron about who's trying to steal the ship, then we can distract them at opportune times. It might be tricky, and we can't seem obvious about it or they'll be more suspicious of us than their own comrades," Rhinox explained. He grew quiet for a moment as he contemplated more on the matter. "We'll see how the battle is progressing once we arrive before we try that route."

So.. beating the Predacons using their own underhanded methods? The fuzor briefly wondered what Optimus would say about such a plan. Their leader had made it fairly clear he wanted them to cooperate with the Predacons during this mission.. But it was also clear to the fuzor that none of the Predacons would honor their end when they had gained control of the Viper.

"So.. who do you propose should be the one to do this? It seems right up Rattrap's alley." Of course it was doubtful any of the Predacons would trust the rodent, at least if they had any idea about his history at all.

"It does sound rather malicious instead of heroic, doesn't it?" he asked rhetorically in response to her observation on the vessel's name. "It obviously isn't meant for exploration, unlike the Axalon."

"So it's probably heavily armed then?," Aurora pondered out loud. Well, great! Of course from the ship's abilities that Rhinox had described already, some cannons seemed like the least of their problems. "You know.. I thought they signed a peace treaty between the Maximals and Predacons on Cybertron.. Long before this vessel must have been developed. So why would they make a militarized ship when there was supposed to have been peace?"

Her curiosity was genuine. It seemed like an odd choice. Obviously a lot of thought and resources had to have gone into developing the Viper. And a lot of secrecy as well. So why do it, if there wasn't strictly a need for such a ship? Or were things back on Cybertron less stable than what she'd been told thus far?

"Nexus had a very commanding presence about him. You knew when he was in the room, even if he was silent and tucked away in the shadows. He was quite humble considering his status and how well-known he was. Despite what he had gotten himself into, I think he was a great mentor for Optimus, and a lot of his traits show through him."

"So you knew Nexus on a personal level?," Aurora asked. Well, the question came across as a bit redundant given the information Rhinox had just provided, but she wondered nevertheless. A great leader figure among the Maximals, but one that harbored so many secrets. She wondered how many of those secrets Optimus knew about.

"You're absolutely right about that, Aurora."

The larger male confirmed her suspicions about grief and strength. Of course they all grieved differently, and honestly Aurora had probably experienced too much of it for her young age. She smiled slightly as him as he continued after addressing Tigerhawk's report.

"That's not the news I was hoping for," he said to Aurora with concern. "That means someone has already gained control of the ship, and judging by that action of offense, it isn't one of ours."

The fuzor stopped for a moment to look down at the Viper resting at the edge of the lake. It did look quite menacing, and the sound of gunfire filling the air certainly wasn't helping.

"Well, that rather limits the options now, doesn't it?," she responded. "Can we shut it down somehow? Prevent it from launching?"

That is when she realized that she couldn't see Rattrap, Optimus or certain of the Predacons down there. So there was a good chance they were already inside the ship. Blowing the lock of fur out of her face, she turned to look at Rhinox once more.

"It's also fast and highly maneuverable,"

Aurora barely heard the male's final comment as her thoughts were now racing with the endless possibilities, very few of them any good.

"Where's Optimus and Rattrap?," she asked with increasing worry.

"We better make haste. I think our shapeshifter is impatiently wanting to get out of here." "Look, whatever it is that we needed to get done, we need to get it done fast before Zodiac realizes-

The avian female ducked down behind the console as the guns suddenly came to life, targeting anyone in sight. Fortunately for her the traitorous spider and the rat were closer so the weapon seemed to focus on them first. Of course that could change at any moment, and there were plenty of other areas where weapons could be waiting to pop out. She glanced around a bit nervously, trying not to make a sound. Not yet.

"That was not arrogance on my part," Megatron snarled at Zodiac, correcting him. "That was a coward in disguise who otherwise would have failed miserably sneaking around my base of operations, and who could not face his adversary in his true form."

Zodiac had narrowed his optics at Megatron for daring to utter those words. Who did he think he was anyway? The shapeshifter was clearly the one with the superior technology whereas Megatron was outdated and weak. A has-been not worthy to lead the Predacons. Not that Zodiac desired to do so either, as he found most of them to be utterly useless and untrustworthy. The shapeshifter knew better than to surround himself with losers like that, instead forming his own crew with only the select few he trusted.. or that he knew he could control one way or another.

"Have it your way then.. Is ignorance a phrase you prefer to describe your own inadequacies?"

His words were dripping with sarcasm and were clearly meant to enrage the tyrant.

"No, I will not,"

The renegade had merely chuckled at that as he walked away, not really caring what the grapefaced Predacon had to say on this matter. He was clearly desperate to get the last word.

Once inside the ship, after Megatron and Primal had showed up to try to thwart his plans, Zodiac's smugness had quickly faded to a look of annoyance instead.

"You appear to be sweating."

Sweating? Well.. Not really.. But Megatron wasn't too far off in his assumption, even if the renegade would never admit to such. He was uncomfortable, for sure, and it would appear these two weren't alone either. And Rampage hadn't showed up yet.

"You do not possess the kind of ferocity it will take to manage and dominate him in a long term scenario. This is out of your league, Zodiac. Even now he defies you," "I am far more qualified, thus his spark would do better in my hands where it is meant to be. I suggest you return it. Now,"

Zodiac shook his head at the poorly executed attempt to render him defenseless with the mere use of words. He was disappointed, truly, as he thought Megatron was more of a man of action than words. Perhaps Cryotek had been wrong about that too.

"You truly are pathetic if you think you can discourage me when I hold all the trump cards," the shapeshifter said, his optics focused on Megatron while he pulled out the spark in the contraption and proceeded to squeeze it as to encourage Rampage to not disregard his summons. It was a mild squeeze at first, but then a bit harder still to prompt a more rapid response from the giant crab.

The spark pulsated more quickly as Zodiac gave it one final squeeze before putting it away as not to give Megatron the opportunity to attack him for it. He had no intentions of giving up his advantage. Not now, not ever.

Within moments the three males were engaged in physical combat. Zodiac had temporarily managed to drive Megatron back by firing at him, but Optimus' response with his clubs forced the renegade to focus his attention more on the Maximal. He did so by attempting to slash him with his arm blades, his efforts fueled by the damage he managed to do to Primal's midsection. While Primal would weaken from his injuries, Zodiac was quick to repair the damage done to his cannons and himself from the ape's attacks on him. In fact the situation was quite thrilling and within moments Zodiac brought his knee up against the Maximal's midsection, more sharp spikes appearing to grow out of his armor near the knee as he did.

It was Megatron's shots that he fired at him from behind like the coward he was that forced Zodiac to rethink his strategy. Clearly he had an infestation problem right now, but chances were that more of them would find their way aboard the vessel if he didn't get it off the ground. He was confident he'd be able to rid himself of these nuisances once he got into orbit, especially with the help of Rampage provided the crab was intelligent enough to get the hint he'd given him by squeezing the spark only a few moments ago. If not.. well.. it would be a shape to leave Rampage behind, but whatever it took to accomplish his goals, the renegade thought to himself.

"Enough!," Zodiac shouted as he slammed his fist into Primal's chest so that he could gain a little distance from him while Megatron kept blasting him from behind. His nanomachines were working tirelessly to repair the damage, but the pain was still very much so there. "Reactivate the blastoff sequence! And activate the weapons in the bridge as well to rid me of these fools," he ordered the computer while reverting to Nexus' voice again, as his cannons rotated to target Megatron once more. They fired as soon as they detected his signature, followed by blasts from the until now hidden weaponry within the bridge as well. Zodiac didn't care if he ended up melting Megatron at this point, he just wanted these fools off his ship!

"Acknowledged."

Again the sounds from the engines got louder, making it clear the vessel was preparing to launch.

[una]

((OOC: I'm so sorry, guys. I didn't mean to disappear again, but stuff happened and boy, it did. I tried a couple of times to try and write a post but got distracted. Wanted to write a post yesterday, but I was too tired to write any coherent thought. Again, so sorry for delay. ))

Whitegrazer knew her people. When they make a decision, it was final, but they could be persuaded to know that their decision was wrong and change accordingly. Despite how stubborn and ruthless her people can be, they could be reasoned with, even if it was like pulling teeth sometimes. Optimus could attest to that as well as she could. The hug she given to Aurora was moreso to comfort the little one as it was to show her how much she too agreed and understood the little one's reasoning about this planet. It was so serene, so peaceful. It reminded her of Gaila, the planet she last fought in the war, the last battlefield, before she tainted such a memory with her own actions. She could feel Aurora's frustration, aggravation towards the goal of them returning to a planet she only heard of from everyone else. Everyone else wanted to return to Cybertron, to go home, such as it was, but what about those Maximals and Predacons were born here? Maybe, there was an option, but there was no option, no choice, for her. She had to return to Cybertron, and finish what she began, even if it might lead her down a path of destruction, as her people kept warning her about. But she must accomplish her purpose, her mission, and hopefully, stop so much death and violence before another war, another conflict happened... like how one sparked here.


When Whitegrazer met up with Wintersong, she noticed how the female cat looked at her. Shock. Disbelief. Whitegrazer for a moment regretted coming for the female cat, realizing almost too late how her appearance might trigger a traumatic flashback of whatever her people did to her friend while she was trapped inside a cocoon. When Wintersong lashed out at her, Whitegrazer wasn't angry nor hurt. She allowed her friend to vent, to rant, to let out all her emotions towards her. She only smiled with understanding and softness, "Don't apologize, Wintersong. What you have been through, I don't blame you." As she walked closer to Wintersong, "If you want, when this is done, if you want to talk, or just vent," Whitegrazer continued to smile, "my door is always opened." She was a bit worried about Wintersong though. She should be resting, but... if she was in Wintersong's shoes, she would probably just be as stubborn and eager to help her comrades. More than just sitting around, thinking, allowing such thoughts and a horrific experience to cloud her mind. Maybe giving her some thing to focus on would be the best thing right now. But that didn't mean Whitegrazer wasn't going to watch over her, or keep an eye on her, for her sake, as well as everyone else's. Also, Wintersong would probably just go anyway. "I know I won't be able to convince you to rest at the Axalon, but all I ask is that you pace yourself, get your bearings, and remember... you are not alone. I, and the others, are here for you, whatever you need." As the female cat transformed into her beast mode and headed towards the others, Whitegrazer looked towards the direction where laid the remains of the cocoon. Her face turned stoic, optics blazed with a fire, a sudden, low growl upon her throat processor, an otherworldly one. Her people needed to change, and swiftly. How many more chances was she willing to give them? Despite how little chance they gave the people she loved as well as herself?

Whitegrazer galloped, pushing herself to match Wintersong's desperate, eager speed. Whitegrazer used her com-link to contact Rhinox, "Rhinox, Wintersong and I will be at your location shortly. How's the situation over there?" As she caught up beside Wintersong, she listened intently to hear what Rhinox had to say, as she could feel a slight echo, a slight stain of her people, glowing from within Wintersong. What you done to my friend? she said inwardly, towards the Vok, towards her people.

She felt Optimus reestablish their link, and when he did, a wave of contentment flooded her spark, happy to feel his presence. What you need, I will give. She wanted to be sure Optimus knew she held nothing towars what happened eariler. It was an accident, and it was her fault for being so taken aback by her newfound powers. She wondered if she should tell Optimus about Wintersong, but he probably had too many things on his mind already. Rhinox, Aurora, Tigerhawk, and herself, of course, would make sure Wintersong was okay, and if her people did pull something, or try to do to Wintersong like what they did to her, she would do her darnedest to help and stop her people's interference. Though, hopefully, they won't, as this was a battle, her people wouldn't view as relevant, or would they?


Blackarachnia just rolled her optics at Rattrap's sarcasm. Must suppress urge to tie him up and eat him. Must suppress. After she pushed the rat out of the way, she kept herself behind cover as Rattrap screamed for her to take out those auto cannons. It was going to be delicate work, after all she wanted this ship to remain intact. If damaged, then it was useless junk. She snuck around, keeping herself as low as possible, going underneath one of the autocannons. She transformed, and fired at the cannon's underbelly, watched as the cannon's exploded into pieces of shrapnel like a tiny insect exploded juices. She smirked in triumph, but it was too short as another autocannon showed itself in front of her, aiming and firing at her quickly. She jumped, rolled, but she didn't have a chance to get back into cover. Also, the force of the shot loose her grip on her weapon. Careless, she growled at herself for being so careless, she made haste to pick herself off and roll towards her weapon as the autocannon shot again at her. The force and heat of the weapon blew her clear to the other side of area, her back banged hard against the hull. She shook her head and arched her throbbing back. At least, she was able to grab her weapon. For a moment, as she looked around, getting her bearings first, she noticed a set of wings, familiar set of black wings. Huh, they had more company than they realized. She smirked as she thought of an idea. She took cover at the closest humming engine, keeping herself hidden from the autocannons and from their unwelcome stalker. Going around a corner, she spotted another shelf for an autocannon. She slid off from covering, noticing immediately the weapon appearing and aiming at her, and made a break for it. As the autocannon aimed, Blackarachnai ran past from behind Nemesis, with a laugh, as another autocannon activated, firing right up behind her, "Run, birdie, run!" Blackarachnia jumped out of the way of the blast, so the blast would fly straight at Nemesis. She flipped over, dodging another cannon that actviated, and ran towards the cover, peeking over to see what happened with Nemesis when she noticed that the engines were firing up again, "The engines! They are starting up again!"

((OOC: I hope this is all right, Phoenix. I don't know if you wanted Nemesis spotted yet or not. If you don't like it, I will gladly edit my post. ))

Rampage took Quickstrike's shots of venom to his chest and body with glee, remaining on his knees, his raucous laughter echoing across the battlefield. Pain in his chest cut off his laughter, his spark energy sparking, a surge of overwhelming blue energy overwhelmed his body. Zodiac! That shapeshifter was squeezing the other half of his spark! He coughed, spat, as the pain, which caught him by surprise, stopped. Breathing harshly, his one free hand clawing the sand of the ocean's shore. Terrosaur's optic lasers fired deep into his aching, hollowing chest cavity. His spark pulsated, beated with a vicious taste for energon, a spark to rip out and taste, and since Zodiac was too far away, he settled for the ptedactyl heading towards him, calling him names. As Terrorsaur gained closer, Rampage swung the handle of his launched like a bat, bashing it into the annoying screecher's head, hoping to knock the bird and upon the ground. Rampage stood up, letting out a roar full of murderous rage, full of a need, a thirst for carnage.

The pained immortal only saw crimson in his emerald optics, as he charged at the tree Quickstrike hid from.