The Intergalactic Highway

((Sorry for the delay))



Manterror had no time to react when Wintersong blasted him in the chest with her missile. The shockwave threw him backwards and into a leafy shrubbery. His systems were temporarily disabled as he lay on the bush, unaware of what just happened. The hit had taken him by complete surprise. Within seconds however, his optics flashed back on and he regained awareness. His first reaction was to inspect the damage. Much of his chest had been blown apart, but somehow, it still remained intact. It wouldn't take much to finish off the Mantis in this state, but that wasn't about to stop him.

His mind returned to the one who shot him up. Wintersong. Barely noticing the pain as he pushed himself back onto his feet, he quickly eyed up his target. "Lucky shot Maximal!, BAHAHA!" He screamed at her and began firing a barrage of his deadly discs towards her. He aim wasn't too good however, it was unlikely that very many of them would find their target.

--

Hey, I'm going to go down and investigate the pod, watch my back alright?

"You got it stripes!" Airazor responded back. She banked away from the cat and continued to circle around him from above before transforming into her robot form and landing beside him. She grabbed her handgun from her back and surveyed the area. Her eyes were drawn to the top of a particular tree which was moving in an unusual pattern. It's movements contradicted that of the light breeze that rustled the natural flora. Someone or something was up there, but she was unable to get a good look.

"Empty?.. Did the Preds get here first?" he asked himself aloud.

By the time Airazor pointed her weapon towards the tree-tops, the movement had stopped and the threat appeared to be gone.

"Possibly." She responded to Cheetor. Anything could happen in the Beast Wars and she tried not to over-think these situations. They won't know the answer to it until they find the protoform. "Someone was watching us from that tree." She continued, pointing at the one that Arachnitron was hiding in. "Don't know if its the protoform or the Preds... Or Both"

Saber's ears twitched at the sound of thrusters, she looked up just in time to see a foot coming straight at her. She was unable to react in time and ended up getting kicked in the mouth.

Searing white hot pain shot through her as the kick broke one of her fangs, leaving a jagged stump where the tooth had been only moments ago. Her eyes flashed neon green at the sound of Starshadows laughter before everything turned black.

The transformation was instantaneous, within moments the creature stood before them, it's neon green eyes bright with fury and hunger. It opened it's jaws and let out a thunderous roar, it's time had come again.

((OOC: insert fast paced Slipknot song here, lol.))

Silverbolt caught a glimpse of the exploding Akira as a gleam in his wing sword as he held it aloft above Quickstrike.

"Oh no, the Akira!" he exclaimed. Hesitating, he sheathed his wing sword and took flight. His quarrel with Quickstrike could wait. He needed to get back to the Akira to make sure that none of his comrade had been injured... or worse.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Whitegrazer wrote:She smiled at them both before she went to meet Tantrum face to face. Her stance wasn't threatening or antagonistic. She put her arms out like she was offering a compassionate ear or a hug, "Tantrum! I am the one who has wounded you!"

As the leviathan bore down on Whitegrazer, her actions completely confused him. Halting in front of the small Maximal, Tantrum stared at her raising one eye brow, and then the other in turn. What... is leetle Maximal doing? I could crush her like bug! No. That must be what she wants. What...?

Deciding that his objectives of blowing up the ship had been met, Tantrum decided he had had enough. Things were getting too weird and touchy feely for the Predacon's taste. Letting out a loud snort, he transformed into tank mode and drove off towards the Predacon lines.

OOC: Would now be a good time for Megatron to call off his forces or do you guys wanna keep fighting? I can alter my post accordingly.

Phoenix wrote: Hearing Megatron's words, Nexus immediately looked back just in time to realize his mistake. But it was too late, the cannon had already fired, and the impact forced the admiral to stagger back several steps as he grunted in surprise and pain. Immediately bringing his free hand up to cover the surely now gaping hole in his chest, Nexus sent the tyrant an exasperated glare. It quickly faded, however, as the thick smoke from the crash site began drifting towards them. His hand still covering his chest, refusing to show Megatron the extent of the damage he had inflicted upon him, the admiral maintained a standing position.

"Mahahahaha! MAHAHAHAHA!" Megatron laughed malevolently as he watched the oh so proud prime try to hide the extent of his wounds, which were surely extensive at that range, the exasperation in his optics making Megatron smile even more.


"Now you understand what it means to challenge Megatron, old timer" Megatron said with an evil expression that would have sent shivers down the spine of Galvatron himself.

Phoenix wrote: His optics narrowing, his shoulder mounted cannons moving into position, Nexus addressed Megatron a final time.

"Do not mistake this for a victory. This battle is far from over."

And with those words he fired his dual cannons at Megatron, making sure to aim for both his chest and his knee to prevent the Predacon from blocking both with that shield of his. As soon as he had fired the shots, he then transformed and sped off towards the crash site. He'd lost sight of Optimus and his precious ship now lay in a smoldering heap. Anger began to overwhelm him as he sped closer.

This was not happening!

Megatron frowned at the old prime's words and cursed as Nexus fired his guns, the cowardly autobot spawn already fleeing the field rather than face his wrath! Reacting quickly, Megatron used his tailgun to shield his knee and allowed his chest plate to take the force of Nexus' shots! Normally Megatron wouldn't gamble with his life like that, but after being on the receiving end of Nexus' firepower this whole time and seeing his guns in action, he was confident his transmetal chestplate could endure his firepower, while the joints in his knee may not have been so lucky, and he couldn't afford to be left crippled on the battlefield when things were going his way.

"GGGRRRRR" Megatron growled between clenched teeth as he withstood the force of Nexus's shots, staggering back several steps, his chest plate scarred and and burnt but otherwise had succeeded in protecting him from any mortal injury...Nexus was strong and skilled, but his firepower was nothing compared to what Primal was capable of dishing out.


Ignoring the pain, Megatron watched as Nexus headed in the direction of his ruined ship of all places, as if there was anything he could do to save it at this point.

"Perhaps I overestimated you Nexus Prime, despite it all you still suffer from the same weakness as Primal and all your kind...Sentimentality" Megatron mocked as he opened a channel to all his forces and said "Attention all Predacons, status report, NOW!"

WorpeX wrote: By the time Airazor pointed her weapon towards the tree-tops, the movement had stopped and the threat appeared to be gone.

"Possibly." She responded to Cheetor. Anything could happen in the Beast Wars and she tried not to over-think these situations. They won't know the answer to it until they find the protoform. "Someone was watching us from that tree." She continued, pointing at the one that Arachnitron was hiding in. "Don't know if its the protoform or the Preds... Or Both"

Tarantulas switched from his wheels to his spider legs and crawled into the trees upon finally reaching Arachnitron's location so the maximal's wouldn't hear him, quickly making his way to her hiding place.

"Greetings" Tarantulas said to Arachnitron quietly as he then changed to robot mode and scoped out who they were dealing with...Seeing Airazor and his least favorite cat.

"Cheetor is transmetal like myself and can fly now, but lacks firepower in that form, whereas Airazor, despite lacking his upgrades, has a flying robot mode. She's the more dangerous of the two despite his speed, so we should endeavor to take her out so she can't pick us off from the sky" Tarantulas explained, drawing out his cybervenom blaster, readying to snipe her from the trees.

"You snipe the cat, I'll take the bird" Tarantulas said, realizing his transmetal venom maybe more lethal to Cheetor, but wanting to take no chances of the better flyer eluding them, and cybervenom was cybervenom, the cat would be slowed no matter which of them nailed him.

"1, 2, 3...Fire" Tarantulas whispered, firing his cybervenom shots in Airazor's direction, aiming for her chest plate and the spark chamber that lay within.

Wintersong let out a disgruntled grunt as the shockwave once again slamme her into the boulder she still was leaning again, furthering the pain in her back. Today was not her day with explosions but it was a necessary evil to take nonetheless. Forcing her body to withstand the pain she was in the Transmetal tigress stood while placing her sword, partially cut through from the mantis' attack, back against her shoulder. Seeing her other weapons spread apart Wintersong jogged over to grab her blaster before moving towards her other sword but she barely reached it before she noticed the mantis was back on his feet. And just as she figured Manterror was tough despite his usual yelling an attempts to slice the Maximals to pieces.

Whether he lacked much in the processor or not she had to give him credit for persistence. And just as she grabbed the hilt of her other sword she heard the crazy mantis yell out again and had to rush to duck down behind the boulder and barely miss getting her side cut. "Geez is there no shaking this guy?" She muttered already beginning to worry how much her frame could take before she'd go into stasis. Hopefully a lot since the others would need all the help they could get.

Though the roar from the Beast made her look over with a gulp, now worried they'd have more then the Predacons to worry about. 'Thanks a lot Starshadow.' She thought, keeping an optic on the other side of the battle field and one on her opponent, peeking over once in a whole and trying to figure out how to avoid ending up scrap on the field.

Landslide wrote:I think yer callin' a bluff lass.. The offer still stands.. Now git!

Nemesis merely tilted her head as she glanced back at the oversized bug. Was this guy talking again?

"You talk too much, old chap, considering there's a spot for bugs like you.. Crushed underneath my foot."


She smiled ever so slightly, a strangely calm smile all things considering, briefly looking up to take note of Terrorsaur once again joining the fray in the sky above.

Rattrap wrote:"Well, well, well. Big bad birdie has a weakness after all,"

Her smile only widened at that comment.

"Is that so?," she responded with a faint chuckle, relaxing a bit as she felt her nanites come back online after a successful reboot, "I wouldn't bet on it, rodent."

Not wasting any more time she suddenly did a flip forward, pushing up again with her hands as she landed, only to repeat the maneuver to form a series of surprisingly agile flips around Rattrap's position without getting close enough for him to attack her again with that taser of his. Upon the final flip she landed on her feet, immediately drawing her rifle. She proceeded to change her ammunition to acid filled bullets and then took aim at Landslide's kneecaps. Without hesitation, not wanting to give the rat a chance to intervene, she fired.

Engine roaring with the rapid acceleration as Nexus sped away from Megatron towards the remnants of the Akira, the old Maximal was unable to hear what the tyrant was saying. All he could hear was some distant mumbling, although he was fairly certain whatever the Predacon had just shouted after him it wouldn't be nice. Not that it mattered at this point since Nexus had far more urgent business to tend to.

The last time he saw Optimus, his pupil had been flying near the now scrapped ship, so there was a good chance the younger Maximal had gotten blasted out of the sky. But where would he have landed..?

Nexus slowed down considerably upon getting closer to the wreckage, unable to comprehend the extensive damage to his once so beautiful vessel. The Akira had been so much more than just a ship, it had been his home.. and for some time now his closest friend. The computer system aboard hadn't exactly had the most fulfilling personality, but it had certainly helped against the solitude of space. And now all that greeted him was a smoldering wreckage, some parts still had flames feeding on her broken remains. It was a horrifying sight to Nexus, truly, but he still managed to keep himself together. For now. The other Maximals still needed him and there would be time to grieve later.

"Optimus!," the admiral called out, transforming back to robot form and running the last short distance to get to the burning debris. He caught sight of the small, white and furry female with those overly delicate looking wings tending to the large transmetal male, while the taller female seemed unharmed where she stood, valiantly protecting her friends from the menacing tank.. who seemed to think the better of it and retreat. But no sign of Optimus.

Nexus turned his attention to the smoldering rubble at his feet, wondering for a moment if Optimus could be buried inside. Not waiting another moment, the old warrior threw aside some of the burning junk and disappeared inside.

Aurora gasped upon seeing this. "Is he crazy?," she blurted out loud, waving her hand to Whitegrazer to make the other female aware of the situation before turning her attention back to patching Orcariner back together.

Seconds ticked by, the fires still raging in several locations of and around the wreckage, the few structures that remained threatening to collapse at any moment. And then, suddenly, something stirred in the ruins. Before long Nexus emerged, his armor now smoking and covered in soot from the intense heat, but he still managed to make his way back to safety. Ignoring his own wounds from the battle with Megatron and then from the futile search inside the burning vessel, the admiral widened his search area. It didn't take long before he noticed an equally blackened figure moving in the distance. Visibly relieved upon recognizing the figure as Optimus, Nexus continued towards his location as well, blocking Inferno's path should he try to escape this way.

(Primus what a cluster.. )

Rattrap wrote:"Well, well, well. Big bad birdie has a weakness after all,"

Nemesis wrote:"You talk too much, old chap, considering there's a spot for bugs like you.. Crushed underneath my foot."

As Landslide kept aim on Nemesis,he would of interjected about how it'd be more likely she'd break her own leg off before stomping through his armor but, he noticed a sudden pain in his arm as the laser hit. It plinked off knocking his aim slightly off, but didn't seem to do any noticeable damage other then a scorch mark. Ow.. he muttered.

Nemesis wrote:"Is that so?""I wouldn't bet on it, rodent."

Rattrap wrote:"Landslide!"

Landslide noticed Terrorsaur up into the air from Rattrap's motioning, turning slightly to bring his grenade launcher to aim onto the flier and fired off a grenade in Terrorsaur's direction which promptly exploded just infront of the flier remotely. He then heard a commotion behind him.

Starshadow wrote:"letting one's guard down is one of the huge mistakes a maximal could do when I'm around.." "What do we have here? A souvenir! I'll take that as payment for your dental treatment. Hm...then again, I could just make it an accessory,"

In the corner of his vision, he noticed Saber had transformed into.. something. He'd been warned by Optimus, but he wasn't sure what to expect. A sudden pain them came from his kneecaps, which doubled as his beast mode's feet for his last pair of legs, a searing bubbling noise coming the impacted areas which pitted deeper then some of the other attacks so far. He let out a low hiss from the pain, which had started to slowly irritate the titan.

Surrounded by enemies with the beast just behind him, the situation was bleak to say the least. He turned bringing his anti air guns down, aiming in Nemesis's general direction as the twin guns started to spin up and fire wildly into her and the ground around her in a twin circular pattern with continuous fire instead of the usual burst fire. It wasted more ammo and made his guns heat up more, but would likely at least stagger Nemesis from the sudden wall of bullets.

___________________________________

Airazor wrote:"You got it stripes!" "Possibly." "Someone was watching us from that tree." She continued, pointing at the one that Arachnitron was hiding in. "Don't know if its the protoform or the Preds... Or Both"

Cheetor looked towards the trees as Airazor spoke up, then heard his radio.

Dinobot wrote:"Cheetor, have you arrived at the stasis pod?"

Cheetor to Dinobot, I've arrived at the stasis pod. It seems to be empty.. But there's something moving around in the trees, we're going to investigate. Over. he responded on his radio, then brought his arms together, about to move towards the trees as a shot came from the trees at Airazor.

Cheetor suddenly rushed to the side, taking cover behind the Stasis pod. Airazor! Cheetor called out towards his comrade in a panic.

_____________________________

Silverbolt wrote:"Oh no, the Akira!"

Quickstrike watched as Silverbolt retreated off towards the burning wreckage, he got up slowly muttering Yeah.. you run!.. oh my aching.. he held his arm starting to walk sheepishly from the battlefield as he heard Megatron

Megatron wrote:"Attention all Predacons, status report, NOW!"

Er.. Quickstrike here,status.. alive? he said not entirely sure what to report.

_________________________

Tarantulas wrote:"Spineback! Umbra! Did either of you retrieve the protoform? If not, be on alert, we don't know if the protoform in question will retain its original programming or not."

We're almost in position, we've detected something unusual in the trees, but other then that nothing. Umbra responded to the radio, listening to Spineback speak up.

Spineback wrote:"Well, this mission is finally getting exciting hopefully. But I think I'll leave the tree traveling to you and the spiders Umbra. This isn't quite what I had in mind for quick travel."

Umbra gave a chuckle as they came down, his tentacles having them swing from some branches, then come down into a clearing with a surprisingly soft landing. He set the medic down Not much for parkour Doctor? I can't blame you, but it has it's merits if you can do it safely. he responded.

Whitegrazer had felt Optimus' getting cut off from her. The feeling made her looked towards the debris of Akira. Her expression filled with concern , but fuel her determination to deal with Tantrum and Buster, protecting Aurora and Orcariner so that she could then help Optimus and Nexus. She was ready for Tantrum when, surprisingly, the Predacon tank retreated away from her with a face that looked at her like she was insane. Not the first time she was looked upon with such a face, but maybe it was a good thing that he did.

It was then she felt Optimus again, feeling the damage he had sustained. He had suffered much in his battle, but that was obvious based on all the damages he had sustained both from battle and the explosion.

Phoenix wrote:"Is he crazy?,"

She looked at Aurora, "How's Orcariner doing, Aurora?" She saw Silverbolt coming to their aid. Megatron was in the background, looking like he was calling his troops. Whitegrazer thought hard her next course of action. She wanted to help Optimus and Nexus in their fight with Inferno, but she also didn't want to abandon the Maximals. Nexus did seem like he was still capable of helping Optimus with Inferno. She thought it would be better if she just made sure that no Predacons decide to bombard more heat on her comrades. She will do her best to defend and protect them. Though her spark ached for Optimus's injuries, she knew he will be all right with Nexus there.



((OOC: I don't know what to do with BA yet, but when I do, I will post for her. ))

(Darkspark: Generally you should use your lasers more then your missiles anytime your teammates are near someone, and at the moment Rattrap,Landslide,Starshadow, and Saberfang are close to each other's proximity, with Nem also within blast range. Also you have less missiles then you do energy for lasers, you should try to conserve them or else run out of ammo.

As for Landslide's grenade launcher, you'll have an easier time hitting his entire arm because most of it's components are inside his right arm even when it's exposed, and yes I know the barrels short. Grenade launchers don't usually have long barrels, even the automatic ones or handheld ones are practically like a sawed off shotgun.


Alternatively, since you didn't really post how high you were flying anyway, I could just edit the post about not shooting back at you, as Landslide's weapons do have a range limit and while some auto grenade launchers can shoot over a mile away for max range, they don't usually do it straight up into the clouds..


Phoenix: Okay, so.. basically what happened Starshadow flew up with Saberfang, then dropped Saberfang, this was while Landslide was in the air fighting Terrorsaur, after that, Landslide caught Saberfang from the mile high drop, and landed near Rattrap, who you were pinning. Landslide set Saberfang down, told her to watch for Starshadow(which she instead focused on Nemesis attacking Rattrap) while Landslide tried to distract Nemesis. Rattrap stungunned Nemesis, got away to Landslide and Saberfang's position. Landslide stepped forward with his weapon still drawn on Nemesis, Terrorsaur attacked shooting Landslide's arm/grenade launcher, while at the same time Starshadow came down and kicked Saberfang in the teeth, causing her to transform into the beast behind Rattrap and Landslide. Nemesis promptly did a bunch of flips infront of Landslide and Rattrap (I don't know why other then Ninja I assume. ), then shot at Landslide's kneecaps, while Landslide tried to fire back at Terrorsaur, then being shot prompted him to shoot back at Nemesis. )

((OOC: Annnnnndddd nobody cares about my post for Banban..oh well...I deleted it.))

Starshadow cracked her knuckles and smirked at Saber's rage. Now it seemed that there was no way she would hold back taking a life. "Let's finish where we left off, shall we?" and with that, her body started to glow white as mass amount of electricity travelled through her body and her optics turned red. Now the catbot was out for her life.

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


Xychona followed the eight legged creature while remaining hidden.

Airazor!

That sounded like the kid who was part of Primal's crew. These two bots were Predacons all along! She was not going to just hover and watch her fellow crew members get attacked. Although she abhor violence, but that does not mean she would not defend her colleagues.

"That is enough!" she fired a soundblast at the bigger Predacon(Tarantulas).

Rattrap found himself in a bit of a pickle. Before him was Nemesis, and Landslide distracted by Terrosaur. Very close by, almost too close for comfort, were Starshadow and Saber-Fang. However, the rat noticed her eyes change color and the change in her demeanor; Star had pushed the beast out of Saber and now she was running rampant as a ferrule. Didn't Optimus and Rhinox figure out yet to help her control it? He guessed not. Great. Well, as brilliant as he was to think ahead of such situations, that's why he brought the tranquilizer gun. Unfortunately, he couldn't help Saber or Wintersong at the moment because he was forced to keep a close eye on Nemesis.

"Is that so?," "I wouldn't bet on it, rodent."

Glaring at her, Rattrap fired several times at Nemesis but his shots were a mere split second behind every move while she kept flipping all over the place. She sure was nimble for someone so big. And cocky. Since she was too far away for him to jab her again with his little taser, he restored it in his forearm and watched her finally stand still. But then she aimed at Landslide with her rifle and fired at him. Rattrap jumped back from the female Predacon as the beetle suddenly targeted her and returned fire. With everything seemingly out of control, he decided to shake things up and hopefully put some space between all of them. While Nem was distracted, he crouched down and put his gun away. On his other forearm, he pulled out a demolition charge and set the ignition timer for three seconds. Activating it, the demolition expert tossed it in Nem's direction, the explosive device landing behind her and near Starshadow as well. ((OOC: It may also impact Saber but that's up to you, N-H. Rattrap wouldn't put his own comrades in harm's way but since the beast is out, he'd have little control over bossing her around. It's probably not enough power to seriously injure any of them but it may knock them off their feet. I think Blackarachnia might get hit by it, too. ))

The smaller Maximal jumped to his feet, "Three...," and started jogging, "Two...," away from all of them toward Wintersong and Manterror. "One..."

BOOM!

-----

"No it's fine Rhinox. I'm sure it's nothing major to worry about, and honestly I sometimes wish memories could be modified at times."

Rhinox studied her as she sat up, frowning at Feralnight's optics full of pain and mystery. "All of us suffer with painful memories and nightmares, but they also make us who we are and teach us mistakes and accidents that we can learn from," he tried comforting her and avoided convincing her to restore them. That was simply her choice and he respected it.

"Guess Primal won't be ecstatic to hear about that virus though. I can only figure it happened with my encounter with Glowstick, he was the sneaky type."

"Perhaps, but Optimus will understand it wasn't your fault and it wasn't done on purpose. I'd like to analyze the virus. Maybe I can find out what it may have told the Predacons. Yes, I have no doubt that this was the work of Glowstick, however, I'm fathomed as to how he injected you with it. Do you recall what happened? And how long ago?" They couldn't know at this point how much the Predacons may or may not have gained using one of their own Maximals as a spy. It was a bit troubling to Rhinox but there was nothing they could do about it now, assuming Glowstick was even sharing the information wherever or whoever it was being transmitted to and collected. And maybe it had even been deactivated when Megatron killed him.

"Would you also like me to take a look at her wings, Feralnight? I may be able to modify them to withstand more damage," the engineer offered.

(( OOC: Will post for Optimus when Blackrose can react with Inferno. ))

Ironclaw exited the brush to arrive at a battle that had already finished. He could see that the spider had sped off into the distance. In disappoint, the badger relaxed and then turned to his team mates. Contrary to Frilla's previous thoughts, she had actually held her own quite well. Ironclaw watched her as she picked up her weapon and pretty much shrugged off her arm injury. She then proceeded to the next task. He almost wanted to smile but then he realised they still had the enemy ahead of them. Ironclaw followed.

OOC: I'm planning on posting more for Megatron today, BUT, waiting on a reply from Phoenix in my notes first. I posted a little for Megs, but I may edit it later, so please bare with me a bit guys, sorry >_<

Naitokage wrote:
Landslide noticed Terrorsaur up into the air from Rattrap's motioning, turning slightly to bring his grenade launcher to aim onto the flier and fired off a grenade in Terrorsaur's direction which promptly exploded just infront of the flier remotely. He then heard a commotion behind him.

Terrorsaur crossed his swords in front of himself to shield against the proximity blast, flying backwards a bit before finally righting himself.

"Stupid bloated bug!" Terrorsaur cursed as he watched him turn his back on him AGAIN to shower Nemesis with gunfire.

Furious at the insect, Terrorsaur decided to do away with restraint and caution and resort to his shoulder missiles again, reasoning that Nemesis could fly away from his attack, or at the very least could survive it considering the freaky healing factor she seemed to possess.

"I'd take to the air if I were you Fearless Leader, otherwise, heads up!" Terrorsaur warned over their private coms as he fired two shoulder missiles at the distracted beetle, then taking evasive maneuvers to a higher position in the sky to better avoid any counter attack the maximal may employ if he didn't go boom this time as planned.

Starshadow wrote:
That sounded like the kid who was part of Primal's crew. These two bots were Predacons all along! She was not going to just hover and watch her fellow crew members get attacked. Although she abhor violence, but that does not mean she would not defend her colleagues.

"That is enough!" she fired a soundblast at the bigger Predacon(Tarantulas).

"Keep your eye on the birdy, heheh...NNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAGGGHH!" Tarantulas cried out as he was struck by a sonic attack that knocked him from the trees and right on his back.

"Unicron's beard..." Tarantulas hissed as he struggled to his feet and looked up to spot a bat based cybertronian, activating his coms and saying "Spineback, Umbra, we require backup on the double, the protoform has assumed the form of a bat and has chosen a side...Poorly."

Not wanting to be gained up on, Tarantulas fired a barrage of missiles in Cheetor's direction to stop him from shooting at him now that he was in the open, then fired back at the bat with his cybervenom blaster.

"Get the bat Arachnitron!" Tarantulas ordered, not caring if she was killed or captured so long as she didn't add to the maximal's numbers.

Naitokage wrote:
Er.. Quickstrike here,status.. alive? he said not entirely sure what to report.

Megatron rolled his optics as his first soldier to report back was none other than Quickstrike, the foolish fuzor with a likable love for destruction, but who's bluster often outstripped his actual capabilities.

"Pull yourself together Quickstrike and withdraw. Attention all Predacons, return to base! We've accomplished what we came here to do, let the maximals wallow in their misery for now, we shall return in force to finish them off later, Megatron out" Megatron proclaimed over the preds com channels before taking off into the sky, looking down at the maximals amongst the wreckage as he mused "Cherish your final moments with your mentor Primal, I'll be back for both your heads soon enough, Yessss..."

As he flew off into the distance and began his journey back to base, knowing his troops would not be too far behind, Megatron decided to check in on Team Nemesis, the pod hunters closest to maximal territory.

Opening a com channel, Megatron inquired "Megatron to Nemesis, come in, status report, now!"

Nemesis smirked as her shot penetrated the giant insect's knee, the acid content breaking free to wreck further damage on the limb. It was only a matter of time before all of these Maximals lay in a smoldering heap on the ground. That fact ought to make up for the pod being empty when they got there, regardless of how Megatron's own team had done on their own mission.

Not surprisingly the oversized bug responded by aiming his weapon and proceeding to open fire on her, a rapid succession of bullets digging into the ground all around her. Fortunately the Maximal's aim left something to be desired, so only a few bullets came close enough to actually pose a risk and even fewer still managed to actually hit their target. Those that did caused Nemesis to stagger back from the force, grunting in pain as she folded her wings around herself like a cape and ducked down to the ground to make herself a smaller target. Dust whirled up all around as additional bullets peppered the area, but Nemesis stayed put until the shots started dying down. Only then did she stand back up, if a bit shakily, one hand covering her thigh and a gaping hole evident on the opposite side of her abdomen, while a third bullet had pierced her left wing.

Glancing at the damage, Nemesis then tilted her head as she lifted her hand from her thigh, exposing that the bullet had gone straight through the hand before burying itself deep into her thigh. Annoyance apparent on her face, Nemesis held up her wounded hand, slowly rotating it as she eyed the damage. The all-too-familiar blue glow inside the opening grew brighter, within moments spreading out to fill the entire opening as well as the other injuries she had sustained, the wounds rapidly healing as she stood there oblivious to Rattrap and even the beastly figure of the former general who had recently transformed, her optics shifting their focus between her own wounded appendage and the large bulky Maximal she had been shooting at moments before.

Her other hand quickly swapped from her firearm to the sword, ready to light it up, as she took a step closer to Landslide. "Now is that any way to treat a lady?," she asked him menacingly, preparing to slice at the heavily armored bug's less protected joints, her own wounds barely visible anymore.

It was then that she caught sight of something small moving through the air, the accompanying countdown only confirming her suspicions.

Rattrap wrote:"Three...,"

Well.. wasn't that just great..

Rattrap wrote: "Two...,"

Nemesis turned on a dime, diving forward to get out of reach before the darn thing exploded.

Rattrap wrote: "One..."

Landing on the ground, she made a swift roll before getting back on her feet and sprinting as fast as she could to get as far away as possible.

BOOM!

..Which wasn't far at all. She could feel the burning singe her transmetal feathers as the shockwave from the explosion sent her crashing back down onto the ground. Shaking her head as she attempted to orient to her surroundings again, a warning from Terrorsaur came through.

Terrorsaur wrote:"I'd take to the air if I were you Fearless Leader, otherwise, heads up!"

Nemesis glanced back, quickly realizing she'd put enough distance between herself and Terrorsaur's target to be out of danger, so she eased up quickly and forced herself back up into a standing position. At least the explosion hadn't caused any real damage, but it had forced her to take her attention off her target for a few brief moments.

( Since I've been getting complaints.. while facepalming.. Darkspark, stop shooting missiles at Landslide's back. Terrorsaur's just been breaking a shield and hitting an armored container big enough to carry Optimus Primal inside.. even if you break through all that.. your not aiming for the weakpoints for maximum damage.

Shoot your lasers in continuous beams instead of quick beams and aim for weak points, Joints, his face, his stomach, anywhere in the front of his body. A well placed headshot with the laser could blind him, a continuous beam for two posts and you'll melt through his face and kill him. )

Landslide stopped firing as his guns started to overheat, then brought them up. He heard Nemesis speak up as she drew her sword,observing as the damage he had done was sealing up rather quickly. She seemed to be the one carrying Nanomachines for certain, and his normal weapons probably wouldn't work too well on her.. He'd have to see if he could disable that himself.

Nemesis wrote:"Now is that any way to treat a lady?,"

Landslide tried to stifle his laugh Yer about as much of a lady as I'm a "gentlemen" lass.. he responded, then noticed something land near Nemesis, while noticing Rattrap run. He retracted his grenade launcher holding up an arm as the demo charge exploded. Unfortunately, it seemed the demo charge didn't keep her down. It didn't matter though, he had an idea what Rattrap was doing. Since they were outnumbered, if he could help Wintersong, it could even the odds.


Landslide then heard Terrorsaur in the air, as Terrorsaur was about as quiet as a bomb going off, probably so people could hear him over the sound of his own jets.

Terrorsaur wrote:"I'd take to the air if I were you Fearless Leader, otherwise, heads up!"

Landslide extended the wing shield on his back as he took the two missiles in the back, lurching forward from the hit, his right knee started to spark as he leaned up, his wing shield revealing multiple cracks with now two large holes, his insect wings tattered, but the layers of armor underneath weren't in too bad of shape. Tilting his head Landslide watched as Terrorsaur flew back high into the sky, he then looked towards Nemesis.

Reaching for his back, he drew his heavy chainsword, nearly as big a weapon as Nemesis herself. The blade started to spin up I'll give ya one thing "lady", you got bigger bearings then Needle nose there.. I wonder how long yer repairs can hold up though..Since that must eat alot of energon and resources..

Landslide's back thrusters activated as he rushed forward towards Nemesis in a surprising burst of speed for the heavy insect, dragging his legs somewhat as he swung his chainsword in a heavy downward chop at Nemesis.
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Tarantulas wrote:"Spineback, Umbra, we require backup on the double, the protoform has assumed the form of a bat and has chosen a side...Poorly."

Umbra heard his radio, then responded On it Lieutenant. He looked towards Spineback I'll go ahead, try to follow me. Radio if you have any trouble Doctor.

Umbra then sprung up with his jumpjet, launching into the trees as he headed to Tarantulas's location.

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Cheetor heard the sonic blast, followed by Tarantulas's familar scream. He activated his comlink Cheetor to Dinobot, Airazor and I are taking fire from the spiders! He then looked up as he noticed a large white fluffy bat in the air Maximal protoform has been found, it seems to be helping us I think.

He got up watching , then noticed Tarantulas had fired a cluster of missiles at his position Oh no.. Better bail! he said to himself as he ran from the pod as fast as possible, then stasis pod errupting into a fireball from the missiles, the blast sending Cheetor up into the air as he let out a yelp and flying into some jungle debris, much like a scene out of an action movie. He got up slowly with his back singed coughing a bit.

______________________

Megatron wrote:"Pull yourself together Quickstrike and withdraw. Attention all Predacons, return to base! We've accomplished what we came here to do, let the maximals wallow in their misery for now, we shall return in force to finish them off later, Megatron out"

Quickstrike responded You got it! he responded, then started walking back towards the Predacon base.