"Aftermath: Part I - New Introductions"

[NaitoKage]

"well..I think it's time to get going partner!"

Umbra nodded, following her outside. As she transformed and started to drive off, he suddenly activated his jump jet, landing on her back softly and taking hold of her handlebars Forgive my rudeness Cecaelia-sama, but this is a bit more convenient for travel. Don't worry about keeping up too closely with them. We only need to see they get their job done without screw ups..If we keep some distance and watch without being noticed will be to our advantage.

So she has taken the form of a motorcycle, this was fairly useful. Especially to an aquatic creature who would be slowed down on land normally. He leaned in closer to help with her aerodynamics, while his jump jet recharged. The scheme of his body changing colors to match up with the colors of the scorched desert earth. While Camo was less useful while moving, it still helped some.

_____________________

Icebreaker continued to observe the stranger, who claimed to be Tycross. Well.. he probably WAS Tycross as there wouldn't be anything to gain from lying at this point.. Would there?

Icebreaker then raised an optic ridge as he mentioned Whitegrazer.

"Don't be sad. You will see her again shortly."

Huh.. what's that supposed to mean? Is Whitegrazer in trouble now too? Slag.. he then thought to himself.

"He was right, you know?" "You Optimuses love to sacrifice yourselves, don't you? Well, I guess you should be glad you got that name and that it isn't your time. Not yet."

It wasn't his time? Wait, so Optimus had a chance of coming back? But how? Icebreaker's mind began to wander, was there really anything that could be done at this point? But as he drifted into thought, he suddenly came back into attention as he noticed a strange electrical string attach to Optimus.

"Don't pay any attention to that. Part of the process."

Uh.. Not to be a spoil sport, but as someone with a medical background, I'd be curious as to what you are doing Tycross? While, it probably wouldn't kill Optimus, Icebreaker in his own experience with linking to another spark resulted in some rather dangerous effects, of which his spark was still recovering from since the events of bringing Aurora online.

[Phoenix]

(ooc:

While, it probably wouldn't kill Optimus

What does happen if you kill someone who is already dead?

Really exciting interaction between TC and Oppy though! Looking forward to seeing how this plays out. Still clueless as to the motivations of this mysterious TyCross!

Sorry for slowness, guys, I am presently having an affair with my crazy work schedule.. It's been insane, but I do love my job. Off today while hubby is working, so today my schedule is filled with watching the kids, doing laundry, dishes, shopping, hopefully cleaning the house.. Bleh.. Hubby's been home with a broken toe for two weeks and only today went back to work. I love him for watching the kids and preparing dinner sometimes, but dear lord our house looks like a war zone..

I don't mind if Onyx plays the distraction between Silverbolt and Quickstrike if Inferno is otherwise preoccupied, unless BRF minds of course. There will be other opportunities for the fire ant to show off his mighty flame thrower.

Okay, hopefully that covers what needed to be addressed ooc..)

Aurora slammed her fist against the floor she was crouching on as the Predacon spiders and the black panther darted out the shutting fire doors, silently cursing the doors being so slow to close.

"Well, go ahead. Try and stop us,"

Merely sending the female spider an annoyed glare, Aurora did not bother to verbalize all the frustrations that had been building up within her from the moment a Predacon so carelessly had taken the life of Icebreaker. All the anger, the sorrow, the desperation.. Oh how the little ermine hated the Predacons for all that they had done and for all they would do in the future. She could not even begin to fathom what possessed them to act the way they did, to be so evil and uncaring towards those who shared this planet with them. They deserved the suffering they so eagerly forced upon others. Why should they be allowed to live when their kind refused to grant any mercy to those she held dear?

It surprised Aurora to find that as she stared at the armed spider in front of her, she felt no fear or regret for the situation she was in. Instead such emotions had been replaced by a sense of anger and disgust at the fact the Predacons would now be free to continue their reign of terror. They had already taken so much from her.

Not wanting the crazed spider to see the wide range of emotions that were crowding to occupy her all at once, Aurora turned her gaze away. Part of her almost wished for a swift end so she would not have to continue suffering as she had been, yet she did not desire to give the Predacons the satisfaction of acknowledging their advantage. No. She would not give them anything. How she felt hardly made a difference at this point in time.

Yet before the fleeing Predacons had a chance to settle the score, another came barging through the gap that remained before the fire doors closed. It was the large ant.

"FOR THE ROYALTY!!!!"

The red insect Predacon emerged with his weapons raised and bullets flying. Fortunately Aurora was tiny or she would have been a swiss cheese in no time as the barrage of bullets greeted her and Wintersong.

There was no more time for thinking.

Aurora acted on instinct and immediately tossed herself into Wintersong with as much force as she could muster to knock the other female out of the way. As she did, a few bullets graced her arm and shredded holes in her wings as if they were made of paper. The ermine fuzor whimpered at the initial pain as she pushed herself up and ran as fast as her legs would carry her to get some distance between herself and the insane ant. She rounded the corner and kept running, and she could only hope that Wintersong would get away.

Albeit powerful, the fire ant was not the fastest of Predacons. Perhaps he just enjoyed hunting his prey slowly. Regardless, Aurora did not wish to take any chances of him following, so she acted as quickly as her aching body let her. The wounds she had sustained were fortunately only superficial but that's not to say they didn't hurt. Yet her survival instinct was stronger.

Grabbing the twin swords Optimus had given her before making his journey, she stood them up against the wall on either side of the corridor. She then grabbed for her taser, pulling the metallic strings out without firing the weapon before attaching the probe end to one sword and the main section of the taser to the other. Then she pulled the trigger, resulting in a surge of electricity spreading between the two swords. Finally she dove for cover behind some shelves, not wanting to leave the area just yet in case Wintersong was to round the corner first. Hopefully she had taken another path to safety..

(Will post for preds later..)

[Wintersong]

Wintersong merely nodded when Aurora said nothing was really happening so she paid attention to the halls while the little ermine worked, but she was surprised when the alarms began to go off and soon the doors were beginning to close. The tigress then realized what was going on, Aurora was trying to trap the Predacons inside. Smart little femme. But the hope that such a plan would work was for naught as the spiders were swifter then the slow moving door, leading for both sides to come face to face and Winterwong tensing at the moment that she was now facing her former friend.

In all honesty the tiger femme still regretted for jumping to conclusions those few days before, having not realized Arachnitron having three personalities until it was too late and had suspected at first she had merely been swayed to join them instead. It would be one thing she would regret the remainder of her life, just as much as she would never forget the hurt that had shown in the widow's optics that day. As much as Wintersong wanted to raised some kind of weapon she didn't even bother,"Why make a friend suffer even more then she already has suffered enough,"She remarked aloud, knowing Arachnitron would hear her before Inferno came bursting in before the doors had just barely closed which made her amber optics widen slightly. The ant was awake already too! And it unfortunately gave them little time to worry for the spiders as the maniac bug began to open fire, a few shots skimming her armor that made her grunt in pain before suddenly finding herself being knocked to the side by someone.

It was something Wintersong had last expected from Aurora, but it saved her from being hit by anymore shots and the ermine fuzor taking the hits instead to which Wintersong could hear her slight whimper. Instead of sticking around however she bolted off down a different path, suspecting Aurora was doing the same and praying the ant would take after the spiders rather then one of them. After a short time of running Wintersong was panting slightly when she had to come to a stop, listening for signs of being followed at first before hearing the others from the bridge just a few more halls down and deciding to just make her way there knowing Aurora would have to be heading the same way, least she expected as much, and was appearing in the bridge a few moments later. "Inferno is on the hunt."She said, panting a little from the rush.

[Phoenix]

As Megatron approached the landing site of the two pods that had crashed in close proximity to each other, it became apparent that the occupants had already engaged in battle. Fortunately there were no Maximals in sight, however, so it should not prove very challenging to reel the two combatants in on his side.

The tyrant took a moment to survey the situation before turning his attention to Onyx.

"Ah, good of you to join us, Onyx. Your timing is impeccable." he said without paying any more attention to the fact that Onyx had left during the debriefing earlier. "Our two comrades may require some attention. So break up their little squabble, would you?"

"Keep a look out for both the pod and any incoming fliers. We must reach the pod before the maximals do, or worse, before the protoform activates on its..." Terrorsaur began to say as his radar picked up the energy signature of a rather large cybertronian off in the distance, "Own..."

Nemesis delighted in the disappointed tone of Terrorsaur's voice as it turned out their new potential team mate was already up and about, albeit she kept silent on the matter. As Manterror was told to investigate the situation further, the female of the group swooped down to ground level and transformed, skidding to a halt on solid ground.

Their target was quite obviously much larger than any of them. His size was in fact comparable to what hers had been in her days as a Decepticon fighter. At this distance there was no telling if the larger transformer had detected them. This fact was what caused her to land, in the event that their target was a hostile one. Nemesis was much faster in the air, but at visual range with a clear sky the group of Predacon flyers stood out like an eye sore.

[Blackrosefencer]

OOC: I'm okay with Onyx taking over that part of the episode instead of Inferno. Inferno could probably still find a way to throw those lines in that we all love so much!

HOWEVER....one part of the story that we seem to be missing is Dinobot stealing the golden disks. We had all agreed that the whole golden disk thing was kind of crucial to the underlying plot line. I mean, without Dinobot stealing the golden disks, Blackarachnia has no reason to go looking for the back up copy and, in turn, has no reason to download those data tracks. Those data tracks allow her to access all of the Ark's controls which was kind of an important plot point. Unless, Una doesn't want to take that route with BA....in which case, then the only story line that it effects is Dinobot betraying the Maximals later on and having that moment of inner turmoil. Either way, that whole Dinobot thing happened while the Preds were out of the base chasing stasis pods.

BIC:

Aurora shot Arachnitron a glare. Not that Arachnitron cared. Then Blackarachnia spoke.

"We will let Megatron's loyal drone take care of the Maximals for us, wouldn't you agree?"

Arachnitron was not the least bit surprised that the other widow would take advantage of this diversion. In fact, she had kind of been counting on it. She wouldn't hesitate to shoot the little ermine, but Wintersong was another story. Perhaps it was because the Maximal programming was slipping through the inhibitor chip, but she couldn't help to still feel strongly for the tiger even though she had felt so betrayed by her actions. She could feel the Maximal programming growing stronger. She wondered why she felt the Maximal more than the Predacon. She had always thought the Predacon to be the stronger of the three personalities, but she didn't feel the Predacon at all yet.

"Lead the way," she agreed looking away from the Maximals.

Blackarachnia raced ahead to the platform and the two spiders lowered Tarantulas to the ground. As they were leaving, Arachnitron overheard Wintersong say something. She said it loud enough on purpose so that Arachnitron would hear....she was sure of it. Arachnitron turned her head at the sound of the tiger's voice. She noticed that she didn't raise up her weapon to counter attack.

"Why make a friend suffer even more when she already has suffered enough,"

Arachnitron felt her head swim in confusion. Now, she was her friend? Yet she still felt so alone and so unwelcome. She held her hands to her head as it throbbed in pain. The moment seemed to last forever. She knew that pain well. She checked her left arm for the spider insignia. It had just about completely faded. It was only a matter of time before her alters wound return.

She looked away from Wintersong. The lift began lowering the spider trio to the ground outside interrupting Arachnitron's thoughts.

Arachnitron and Blackarachnia stepped off the lift. Blackarachnia looked around at the world after the alien's weapon had done its dirty work. There was sand, dust and ash everywhere. Everything was charred and dead. And there was only one moon.

"Things have changed around here."

That's what Blackarachnia said using her own voice. Then a split second later Blackarachnia spoke again only this time it was Tarantulas' voice that Arachnitron could hear.

"Stop admiring the scenery, Witch, AND GET MY BODY OUT OF HERE!"

Tarantulas forced Blackarachnia to shoot her grappling hook into a tree.

"Hold on to Blackarachnia, Arachnitron, and don't you DARE drop my shell, Widow, or I'll drop you!"

Arachnitron shrugged and did as she was told grabbing on to Blackarachnia's arm. She had her own grappling hook. She was a spider after all. She didn't necessarily need a ride, but her head ached too much to mention the obvious.

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

Inferno watched the smaller of the Maximals respond quite unexpectedly to his shooting. Instead of fighting back, she dove at the tiger female and pushed her out of the way. This action put her in the line of fire putting small holes in her wings. He heard her whimper and chuckled diabolically at her pain.

Then.....she ran. He turned his attention to the other Maximal who hightailed it in a completely different direction. He chuckled again at the Maximals' reaction feeling quite satisfied with himself. He knew The Royalty would be proud of his recent accomplishments. But he wasn't done yet. He had to satisfy his need to destroy. He had to cause more damage in the name of the Queen. He knew there were more Maximals to fight just around the corner. And he knew which of the two Maximals would lead him to the others.

Inferno laughed so loudly that his demonic laughter reverberated off the walls and ceiling of the Maximal base. He switched weapons pulling out his large flame thrower.

"Insolent ones! It is time to burn in the fires of Inferno!!!! HAHAHA!!"

He fired up his flame thrower sending flames spitting out ahead of him as he ran off at a lumbering speed after the white tiger female. He was half tempted to follow the fuzor. She was strong-willed and tenacious. She would be a great opponent on the battlefield, but he knew where the true prize would be. He remembered coming from the other direction earlier when he had been following the spiders to stop their treachery...the direction in which the white tigress ran. The main command center would be in that direction....as would the rest of the Maximals. It was time for some more carnage!!

[Blazemane]

((OOC:

HOWEVER....

I've been thinking about that, too. I could have Dinobot disobey Rattrap, and that would fit their dynamic rather well, but it might kind of contradict the progress Dinobot made in "Chain of Command," and then when the Maximals fail to bring Tantrum to their side, he'll probably feel like he could have changed the situation.

Sounds good!))

I want Orcariner, Dinobot, Wintersong and Airazor on this pod.

Dinobot took a moment to survey the location of the pod on the monitor. Far away enough to give fliers a significant advantage in getting there first, and so open that there would hardly be anywhere to defend one's self from enemy fire (another advantage for the fliers, actually). He would have to be prepared to engage the Predacons from a distance.

He ran a quick check of his laser system. All ready to go.

Airazor. You should take point since you're the fastest one here. We could use an informative scout who can get in and out of danger in a blink of an eye.

Dinobot recognized that, even with Cheetor's upgrade--perhaps especially with Cheetor's upgrade--the Predacons still had the capacity to dominate aerial combat through their numbers alone; Orcariner's plan was still a sound strategy, however, for it was a necessary strategy. Airazor would merely have to be ready indeed to get out in the blink of an eye. And hope that none as swift as her were pursuing...

"Beast mode," Dinobot commanded.

Dinobot and Wintersong can pursue on land and I'll bring up the rear.

He was already on the platform to get down to the ground, and he nodded affirmation. Then he descended out of sight.

The first thing he noticed outside was how dark, and flat, and rocky it was. The alien machine had literally been charring the soil, and that soil now stood in hard, cracked plates whose borders fed into one another in thousands of contorted lines. He jumped off and landed on a few of these plates, sending a small burst of dust up through his claws.

Then he noticed the next thing. The ground was just barely illuminated by moonlight. As he started running at full speed towards the general direction of the pod he and his comrades were after, he took a glance upwards to the moon itself, which was now--as he already well knew--on its own.

So, now this planet joined the ranks of those with only one moon, as it had been in the ranks of those with water, and oxygen, and energon...

Which it now had much less of...

And as it had been in the ranks of those with intelligent life--intelligent life of the same variety as Earth's.

Dinobot skidded to a halt and sent the dust up much higher this time. He looked down the length of his scaled snout to the webbed claws at the end of his arms, which he turned curiously. He raised a foot and brought it down heavily, and then looked to the moon again, tapping his biggest claw against the ground in intense thought.

No... But perhaps...

Dinobot slowly picked up his pace again, but now his mind was fixated on this one problem rather then the actual mission ahead of him. He would be hard pressed to admit it to himself, but the truth seemed to be coming out in starker detail with every moment. Perhaps Megatron's navigation had not been so off, after all...

((OOC: Will post for the rest later.))

[una]

((OOC: Hopefully not. Because the site is working properly now. Yay! Glad you are enjoying the interaction between TyCross and Optimus, Phoenix

I think we will probably have to do it another way, Blackrosefencer. I still very much would like to have Blackarachnia get those codes.

I post for BA now. ))

"Stop admiring the scenery, Witch, AND GET MY BODY OUT OF HERE!"

"Watch what you say," she sneered at that voice, "or I will self-destruct and slag you along with me. Think about that."

It was a clear threat towards Tarantulas: she may be at his mercy, but this was still her body and mind, not his. If it ever came to it, though she hoped it wouldn't, she would destroy herself along with him. After all, death is better than submission.

Hold on to Blackarachnia, Arachnitron, and don't you DARE drop my shell, Widow, or I'll drop you!"

She kept her scowl, flying across the distance of the huge ravine of water. She wondered what Tarantulas planned on doing. Hopefully, get out of her body quickly! Maybe something back at his lair? Of course. There had to be something there.

Her thoughts had lingered on the planet and that one moon... Glancing around, more of the weapon's destructive power showed itself. The world seemed to be more of yellow, orange, red, and black color now. Then her thoughts went towards their other comrades back at base: what was Megatron planning on doing now that the Maximals' leader was now gone? She would think he would take advantage of the situation and attack the Maximals while they were down.

She guessed they will have to see once they get there.

Staring down at Arachnitron, she wondered what was going through her head now, especially at that female tiger's words. She wasn't too surprised that a Maximal would befriend her, but what good are friends that are useless? Wouldn't they supposed to be scientists anyway? She just shrugged inwardly at that.

((OOC: Hope this post was all right.))

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( So sorry, guys! Great posts!

Phoenix, I love what Aurora did with OP's swords. Very creative and improvising of her. ))

"Airazor," "You should take point since you're the fastest one here. We could use an informative scout who can get in and out of danger in a blink of an eye." "Dinobot and Wintersong can pursue on land and I'll bring up the rear."

"Easily." "Beast Mode!"

Even though some of them had gained flight through the TransMetal upgrade, the Maximals still could have used more fliers. Who knew what the Predacons were gaining through this... It made Rattrap a little uneasy but he guessed they were about to find out.

"Insolent ones! It is time to burn in the fires of Inferno!!!! HAHAHA!!"

...Or not. What the heck was going on? Hearing shouting echoing through the Axalon's corridors, it sounded an awful like Inferno's voice. "Everybody, watch out," Rattrap warned the rest of the Maximals who were still in the bridge with him. Pulling out his new gun, he moved quickly toward the entrance to the hall where the hollering was coming from and peeked around the corner. At least that was good thing about that simple-minded ant. He failed everytime at stealth because of his big mouth and pryo-maniac nature. But where were Aurora and Wintersong? Did he injure them? What about the spiders and Starshadow? Where were they?

"Wintersong, Aurora," he called them through his comm. link. "What's happening?!"

They really didn't have time for this. There were pods out there that they needed to reach before the Predacons do! But Rattrap couldn't just leave the base until this was resolved.

(( OOC: Silverstreak, Feralnight, and Cheetor players, get on here and post already. You're missing out on the fun, and I'm going to need you for RT's team soon. ))

-----

After watching Airazor take a hasteful leave through the roof hatch, Tigatron hesitated to wander outside just yet. Instead, he waited to see if Whitegrazer would get any confirmation from Aurora just in case anything might go ary with the Predacons who were still in the Axalon. He was tempted to go down to the brig and give them help, but he was certain Aurora and Wintersong could handle themselves.

Then, like Rattrap, he heard the shouting. Quickly he drew his weapon and stood on guard, patiently waiting for Rattrap's orders.

-----

While most of the Maximals were leaving, Rhinox immediately left the bridge and walked to various rooms to gather tools, equipment and machinery. Returning to the command center, he dumped everything on the floor in an open area and started to work diligently. "Frilla, if you can, focus on repairing the shields like Rattrap said while I work on something else. Something I need to build rather quickly... just in case," the science engineer explained pretty vaguely without stopping on his work. He gathered cables that ran from the bridge to another room where he would set up another piece of equipment essential to his plan, assuming, of course, that anyone would come across a blank protoform, undamaged in its stasis pod. "I hope I know what I'm doing," he mumbled to himself as the robust Maximal continued walking back and forth.

Before Inferno's shouting bounced off every wall in their base, Rhinox stopped what he was doing and stayed in the other room where he has been setting up more things, waiting quietly to see what was going on. Slowly, he pulled out one of his chain guns and hid next to a wall in the room near the entrance. Can't we just get a break around here? he thought somberly.

-----

"Well, well, well, you are a fasicinating Maximal, aren't you?"

Was he? Optimus didn't think so. He was simply speaking his opinions and thoughts like any other Maximal.

"Don't be sad. You will see her again shortly."

Was TyCross actually offering him some empathy now? This "master" of Whitegrazer's was beginning to puzzle him. First he seemed rather condensending and now he's trying to comfort him? Odd. What does he mean I'll see her again shortly? thought Primal. Had his unfortunate sacrifice not worked? Was the planet destroyed after all, and Whitegrazer along with everyone else were on their way here? It can't be. They're okay. They had to be.

"He was right, you know?" "You Optimuses love to sacifice yourselves, don't you? Well, I guess you should be glad you got that name and that it isn't your time. Not yet."

Studying TyCross closely, watching his face twitch and his demeanor change somewhat significantly, Optimus wanted to scream that it wasn't a sacrifice, that he had no intention of being compared to the great Autobot leader before him, and that he was tired of hearing it and the presumptions. Instead, he remained calm and simply said, "Every one of my Maximals were willing to do the same thing." It didn't make him anymore "special" than them. It had simply come down to him not allowing them to do so when he felt it was his mission and his alone because of how dangerous it was. TyCross's words took him straight back to his last moments with Megatron, trapped inside of the pod and the sudden explosion that had wiped him out. He wished he still had Aurora's gift, so that he could look at their faces again and ignore TyCross's words. It seemed when you died, though, you never took your possessions with you. Thinking about Aurora saddened Primal once more. He broke his promise to her. However, Whitegrazer's master's last statement caught his attention.

"I don't understand," he admitted, an expression of confusion crossing his face. Just because of his name he wasn't meant to be here? He wasn't meant to be dead? Could it be that the threat he had wanted to give to Megatron was actually accurate? Suddenly laughing at himself on the inside, Optimus realized how crazy that sounded and what a fool he was for even thinking that it was possible. He had no way of going back. No one did. It was false hope. Circumstances for Prime's return from death were far different, and Primal didn't think himself worthy of performing the same trick.

"Don't pay any attention to that. Part of the process."

In a split second, there was this string tied to Optimus on one end and to TyCross on the opposite. "What is this?" the former Maximal leader inquired, glaring at the spirit at the other end. "What are you doing?!" It was strange, though, because even though it looked like it was tied to his body, it was actually tied to his spark. Such an odd feeling. Primal tried to stay calm but there was some panic beginning to rise in him, fearing the unknown, especially when TC's eyes began glowing brighter. But what was there to fear in death? It's not like he can die again. Die in death? What an insane thought.

Uh.. Not to be a spoil sport, but as someone with a medical background, I'd be curious as to what you are doing Tycross?

Optimus looked at Icebreaker with concern filling up in his crimson optics. "That makes two of us," demanded Primal as he turned his attention back to TyCross and went to grab the wire with his hand.

[Phoenix]

(ooc: I just wanted to confirm something.. It was my impression that Inferno had followed Wintersong to the bridge and is currently attacking the remaining Maximals there. Did Rattrap and Tigatron leave the bridge prior to this, or did I simply misunderstand something somewhere along the line?

@OOP; Thanks. Yeah, she's a regular little McGyver.

Loving the interaction between TC and Oppy still!)

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: Did I really miss all of that with Inferno? How did he get that far? It's because it's been too long since I fully read anything instead of skimming other posts and rushing through mine. My bad! Sorry, sorry. I shall edit accordingly right now. Thank you, Phoenix.

LoL @ una. OP can't figure him out, and now he's starting to try his patience with all of his whimsacle mysteriousness. ))

EDIT:
Okay, I edited my last post. Hope that works better. It didn't seem like Inferno had actually made it to the bridge yet, which is probably why I thought I could get a jump on the pods. I guess those pods are pretty much a lost cause for the Maximals now since the Preds have such a bigger start on them.

[Blazemane]

Steelclaw listened carefully to Megatron's instructions, and he silently realized that Megatron was asking the Predacons to leave their base unguarded while they went for the other pods. Well, fine by him, he supposed; the Maximals were probably still reeling from Optimus' death--thinking more defensively than offensively. And anyways, the automated systems could handle things.

But he was tempted to ask to stay behind anyways when he saw Megatron take off in his new flight mode and realized he was being asked to follow on foot. He'd have to sprint the whole way to make it to even part of the mission with the speed the T-rex was going...

He was glad he went. Onyx outdistanced him easily, and he was left totally alone in the ruined landscape left behind by the Vok. Something about the terrain was strangely interesting--saddening or calling for action or... real or important--he couldn't pull up its number. And it fueled him and his thoughts like he hadn't expected. The dilemma he'd been facing earlier returned; if Megatron won, then what to do when he achieved that victory--could any of the Maximals be saved? But there was more. If Megatron won, then... what to do when he brought the fight to Cybertron--could he be trusted? If things truly become intolerable, would he see it in time? And how (really?) had he gotten into this position in the first place.

When Steelclaw finally came up behind Megatron and Onyx, he disguised his emotions--which really wasn't that hard, since he was panting heavily.

"Woh. Hoo. Yeah, next time, I think I'm just going to bring the Leviathan, sir. What's the situation here?"

* * *

When the team thought about all of the pods out there and Rattrap told everyone what to do, Cheetor's excitement died down to get replaced with concentration. The idea that they might lose Maximals protoforms immediately reminded him again of Optimus' death, and the feeling of loss came right back to him. Well, he was determined to make this work out right.

For the first time he'd ever even tried, in a fit of determined energy, Cheetor leapt up from the floor and through the roof hatch to land on top of the Axalon. He was gonna fly out there.

Then he saw the view from on top of the ship. The... emptiness of the air, and the flatlands out beyond the Axalon, suddenly a lot more expansive-looking--and even moreso when he thought about the sickening drop to the ground below. He was gonna fly out there...

The only other way back down was through the roof hatch, and everybot' would see him chickening out. He stared ahead and let the thrusters expand out from his sides, and they took on the gleam from the moonlight like the rest of his transmetal frame; he didn't notice, and if he had, he probably wouldn't have cared.

He remembered from his first short flight that turning his thrusters on was like moving a foot or turning his head; he couldn't ask his systems to do it and leave the execution to them--he had to consciously commit to flying, which took a lot more courage then he thought it would take. So he finally crouched down really low to the roof and leaned as close as he could, and then he just sort of... committed.

He was skidding loudly across the alloyed surface until he realized he'd have to go faster. So he made the thrusters burn harder. And then he was off, and dipping down, and his own processor-gyro coordination sort of knew how to turn him up, and he was safely going back up in the next moment, and he realized he was just fine, and that he was going faster than he'd ever gone before, faster than he had ever run, and that he wasn't bound to the terrain--to dodging trees or going up and then down a hill--and he felt like he had accessed some fourth dimension, and that if he had only known this world existed... and he barreled sideways, and actually reveled in the instability of the moment where he tried to get himself level again and couldn't at first, and he shouted on his comlink in full-voiced exhilaration, "Airazor! Wh-heh, Why haven't you ever told any of the rest of us!?,"

and he was free.

[Phoenix]

(ooc: No worries, OOP. I'm sure Silverbolt will defect to the Maximals soon enough. Didn't the Maxis fall a bit behind in the show too?

And whatever happened to Waspinator? He hasn't responded for a while.. Same with Manterror. And is Onyx going to jump into action? Wake up, peeps!)

Aurora remained perfectly still for what felt like an eternity when in reality only a few moments had passed, her eyes fixed on her little trap in case another Maximal was to round the corner first.

Yet only silence and an empty hallway greeted her.

The realization that their foe must have taken another path finally dawned on the young female. Aurora slowly stood up, still tense and on high alert, but still no approaching footsteps sounded.

"Insolent ones! It is time to burn in the fires of Inferno!!!! HAHAHA!!"

Her suspicions seemed to be confirmed just then as the muffled echo of Inferno's insane laughter sounded through the hallways. Although the sound carried throughout a large portion of the base, it distinctively sounded like he had gone the other way. Aurora's disappointment became quite evident on her face and she let out a soft sigh as she returned to the swords to disassemble the trap while she still had some battery life remaining in her taser. It was only as she started moving that she realized that her body ached from the wounds, so after reclaiming her weapons she transformed to beast mode to give herself a chance to heal.

No sooner had she done that before Rattrap's voice came through on the comm link.

"Wintersong, Aurora," "What's happening?!"

Thank the stars!

Rattrap was apparently all right which suggested the others probably were too. Or at least most of them.. The fact he had asked for Wintersong also made her more than a little concerned.

"Am I glad to hear from you, cheese breath!," she radioed back while trotting closer to the command center to meet up with the others, all the while attempting to avoid the corridor the insane laughter was coming from.

"We ran into the Predacons as they were leaving the brig. That crazy ant showed up and attempted to kill us so we both ran. I think he is heading your way, so please be careful!" she urged, neglecting to mention anything about sustaining injuries since she was sure Rattrap had more than enough on his plate right now.

[WorpeX]

((Hasn't been that long since I last posted, has it? I'll post for Manterror first since he appears to be holding everyone up, ill get an Airazor post out asap.))

"Manterror! Fly on ahead and ascertain if the target is hostile, if we're lucky perhaps its identity circuits were damaged like Inferno's and we can convince it to join us. If not, we'll kick the slag out of it and carry it home for reprogramming...Or execution"

"Execute you say?" The mantis responded, completely ignoring everything that terrorsaur had said. "My favorite word! HAHAHA!!!!" The mantis took off towards the new arrival at full speed and a giant grin on his face. It didn't take long until he noticed how large his adversary was... and while that unnerved him a bit, it didn't slow him down. All Manterror had to do was chop off its head. The best assignment hes ever been given so far!!! He liked Terrorsaur more then Megatron already.

Only a few kilometers away from the protoform, manterror activated his saw's and began to scream maniacally. "PREPARE TO DIE MAXIMAL!! BAAHAHAHHAHAH!!!" His weapons aimed directly at Tantrum's throat, he moved in for the kill!!!

[Warwulf]

"PREPARE TO DIE MAXIMAL!! BAAHAHAHHAHAH!!!" His weapons aimed directly at Tantrum's throat, he moved in for the kill!!!

Tantrum had been sauntering aimlessly through the field when he heard the approaching threat. He would have ordinarily shrugged it off, but the assertion that he was, in any way, shape, or form a Maximal stung his circuits. His apertures puckered and his nasal passages vented the steam from his overheating anger chip. While not entirely sure how or by whom he was freed from captivity aboard the Maximal ship, he knew he was Pred, through and through. To think that he could be mistaken for a Maximal was udderly insufferable.

"Wat you say--?" Tantrum asked with rising anger. To further underscore the point, he added "Tantrum... TERRORIZE!"

Tantrum turned to face his adversary. "Who sent dis insect to fight!? I CRUSH YOU LIKE BUG!" And with that, he started wildly firing his 40mm gatling.

[DarkSpark]

Una wrote: "Watch what you say," she sneered at that voice, "or I will self-destruct and slag you along with me. Think about that."

It was a clear threat towards Tarantulas: she may be at his mercy, but this was still her body and mind, not his. If it ever came to it, though she hoped it wouldn't, she would destroy herself along with him. After all, death is better than submission.

"This time you waste talking can be better spent moving! The sooner we reach my lair, the sooner we can both return to our normal lives!" Tarantulas spat back, unperturbed by her idle threats, knowing he could stop her from performing any such suicidal act since he had control over her body.

He could only hope his lair or at least his equipment had survived the cataclysm, if not he faced the disturbing possibility of having to remain inside the widow like a disembodied hitchhiker, which was simply unacceptable. As Blackarachnia carried them all across the landscape he too noticed the changes and damage caused by the alien weapon, the single moon in particular, no doubt Megatron himself, if he still lived, already suspected that the planet was indeed earth, as Tarantulas had known all along. It was also possible that other members of their original crew, even half wits like Waspinator, had figured it out at this point, meaning that sooner or later the Golden Disks themselves were in danger of being targeted by the desperate or ambitious...Dinobot or Terrorsaur came to mind. Hopefully his "comrades" current and former would be too busy causing trouble for the maximals while they were weak or chasing fallen stasis pods to interfere with his resurrection, only time would tell.

Worpex wrote: "Execute you say?" The mantis responded, completely ignoring everything that terrorsaur had said. "My favorite word! HAHAHA!!!!" The mantis took off towards the new arrival at full speed and a giant grin on his face. It didn't take long until he noticed how large his adversary was... and while that unnerved him a bit, it didn't slow him down. All Manterror had to do was chop off its head. The best assignment hes ever been given so far!!! He liked Terrorsaur more then Megatron already.

Only a few kilometers away from the protoform, manterror activated his saw's and began to scream maniacally. "PREPARE TO DIE MAXIMAL!! BAAHAHAHHAHAH!!!" His weapons aimed directly at Tantrum's throat, he moved in for the kill!!!

"Oh Manterror, I hope you never change you delightful dimwit" Terrorsaur chuckled to himself as he watched the outdated flyer swoop in to attack the far larger Cybertronian, surely lunging into his own doom, but then again, that's what cannon fodder is for.

Warwulf wrote: Tantrum had been sauntering aimlessly through the field when he heard the approaching threat. He would have ordinarily shrugged it off, but the assertion that he was, in any way, shape, or form a Maximal stung his circuits. His apertures puckered and his nasal passages vented the steam from his overheating anger chip. While not entirely sure how or by whom he was freed from captivity aboard the Maximal ship, he knew he was Pred, through and through. To think that he could be mistaken for a Maximal was udderly insufferable.

"Wat you say--?" Tantrum asked with rising anger. To further underscore the point, he added "Tantrum... TERRORIZE!"

Tantrum turned to face his adversary. "Who sent dis insect to fight!? I CRUSH YOU LIKE BUG!" And with that, he started wildly firing his 40mm gatling.

"A predacon? Out of a maximal stasis pod? Well now, that's not something one sees every solar cycle" Terrorsaur mused to himself.

This made things both easier and more complicated, since this "Tantrum" was clearly one of their own & thus reprogramming him was no longer necessary, but now he was on the warpath, so now they either had to beat him into submission or appeal to his sense of Predacon patriotism, or simple desire to do harm as the case maybe, to get him to cooperate. At either case, the situation was still within acceptable parameters, & he had many questions to ask this mysterious new predacon.

"Waspinator, I'll fly right and you fly left. He hasn't fired at us yet because he's still preoccupied with Manterror, but lets not make ourselves easy targets shall we?" he commanded as he went one way and his insectoid partner went the other.

Phoenix wrote: Nemesis delighted in the disappointed tone of Terrorsaur's voice as it turned out their new potential team mate was already up and about, albeit she kept silent on the matter. As Manterror was told to investigate the situation further, the female of the group swooped down to ground level and transformed, skidding to a halt on solid ground.

Their target was quite obviously much larger than any of them. His size was in fact comparable to what hers had been in her days as a Decepticon fighter. At this distance there was no telling if the larger transformer had detected them. This fact was what caused her to land, in the event that their target was a hostile one. Nemesis was much faster in the air, but at visual range with a clear sky the group of Predacon flyers stood out like an eye sore.

"Terrorsaur to Nemesis, try to get the big lug's attention so Waspinator and I can nail him from the air...And support Manterror if we feel like it I suppose. But try not to damage this "Tantrum" too badly, we're all predacons here after all, no need to waste a perfectly good new recruit before he's even had a chance to slag a maximal, eh?" Terrorsaur radioed to Nemesis before adding "Terrorsaur, TERRORIZE!" as he transformed into robot mode and tried out his new and improved eye lasers, twin beams of light shooting out to strike not at Tantrum himself, but the ground around him, kicking up clouds of dust Nemesis could use as cover if she was smart enough to figure out Terrorsaur's intent, and more importantly, make it harder for Tantrum to target the flyers in the open sky above him.

OOC: finished my post finally, if anyone has any issues with Terrorsaur's course of action this turn let me know and I'll change it accordingly