The Intergalactic Highway

(ooc: Well it's been 10 days since Mystrea's last post so I'm just going to post for my other characters. The race is on, Una!)

I will see if I could find what triggered the involuntary action.

Zodiac lifted his gaze from the floor while lowering his cuffed hands as he listened to the female invading his mind. Oddly enough he wasn't really angry with her for breaking her promise to leave him be, not anymore. His repairs were still ongoing but they were far enough along now that he was no longer on the brink of stasis, in fact he felt better than he had since he lost his powers. It may have only been a couple of weeks according to this planet's timeline, but to him it felt like an eternity.

She said she'd try to find out what triggered his response earlier, what made him attack Rhinox and nearly overpower him despite his injuries. Heh..

Zodiac leaned back against the wall of the CR chamber, pondering her promise. He was fairly certain he already knew what had possessed him. He had realized it when the fog eventually cleared from his mind. The sensation had been familiar, if unexpected. Or was it? The aliens would have received the signal from their machine in the mountain. Yet had they really wanted to target him, now that they knew where he was, it seemed unlikely they would merely have him attack some insignificant Maximals for a few moments. He had been around them long enough to know that wasn't how they operated.

He knew.

So the question remained.. Why had his old Vok programming resurfaced so long after he had rid himself of their influence? He was sure they were involved but it just didn't seem like them to target someone without having some greater plan in mind. Were they trying to force the Maximals to kill him by having him attack them like that? No. That wouldn't have amounted to anything worthwhile for them. Yes, he would have been dead and not able to cause any more problems for them, but it wouldn't fix anything he had already set in motion.

I know you will, he told the female using the exact same words Primal had told him right before locking him inside this chamber. Still his thoughts were racing.

Ironclaw, I believe, has been reasoned with. You saw him. He could have, but he didn't attack you. And Ironclaw isn't, wasn't the type to care with Optimus and the rest of us felt.

Give it time, Zodiac responded with a sigh. Yes, he was surprised Ironclaw hadn't jumped at the chance to wipe him from existence much like he had done to Dirge. But he was also aware that the influence the High Council held on their followers was without comparison. When the Council wanted someone dead, they would never tolerate failure to do so. Nor would they tolerate disloyalty. In the end Ironclaw was bound to fall in line and do their bidding. Unless, of course, the Maximals found a way to return to Cybertron before then. With him in tow. And that would be a fate almost as bad as if the Vok got a hold of him for good.

Indeed. Zodiac had no shortage of enemies. But that was hardly a surprise given his often violent history. He had infiltrated, killed, and stolen from his enemies. Now that he was vulnerable, they would no doubt line up to collect the debt.

He had to get out of here. As much as Primal had promised his Maximals was the renegade's best chance to stay alive, Zodiac knew better. And these Maximals were terribly naive if they honestly believed they would be able to withstand the assault that was no doubt coming. Megatron, for all his ruthlessness, was but a child compared to other threats out there.

Something is at that site. Something.... big. Powerful. Devastating. I had hoped Rhinox, Aurora, and I would have found something, but if it is something type of weapon, I don't think the Vok would make it so easy to find.

Her words left him with a small bewildering smile.

You are very astute, he told her after a brief all-telling pause.

There's no point denying it now. That weapon at the volcano? That was nothing compared to the treasures, or should I say terrors, hidden at their other sites.


He shook his head slightly while letting out a low, humorless chuckle.

That signal from the volcano did more than merely notify the aliens that this planet is still occupied by intelligent life. It also activated some of their other sites, of which the one you found me at is the more dangerous one.

Pausing while looking at his shackled hands and feet, the smile faded from his face.

As much as it pains me to admit it, I was actually at the site with the intent to stop them from destroying us all.

He let the words linger for a moment while he collected his thoughts on what he was trying to say.

Yeah.. I can almost see you smiling. But no, I haven't lost my sanity and suddenly started caring about your precious Maximals. It was merely out of self-preservation. I'm as stuck here as the rest of you are now, after all, and I have no desire to suffer the aliens' wrath. Why should I care what happens to the rest of you?, he said, almost sounding insulted at the notion. But his disposition seemed to soften a bit as he continued. I shouldn't have said that.. That was uncalled for.

His inner voice quieted as he trailed off and went silent. The renegade seemed almost lost in thought for nearly a minute, not saying anything more for that time.

I had to the do the same thing, and it wasn't easy, believe me. I felt the same way you felt when you came here. Vulnerable. Frustrated. Eager to find a way out. Away from those I... held contempt towards. But I realized, after a while, I had made mistakes. Did horrible things. I accepted it. Did my hardest to try and understand why I did what I did, so that I didn't make the same choices. It was difficult, but if you truly want to change, to walk a different path, you will find a way.

Despite all the things he'd done.. and said.. she still hadn't given up on him. That fact puzzled the renegade as he wasn't used to being treated that way. But her words made him break his silence.

I'm not sure I'll ever understand why you insist on helping me. You're.. the first to ever believe in me this way.


He sighed inwardly at that observation, seemingly unsure of how he truly felt about it.

Anyway.. I went to the site to try to stop them but I was struggling due to my injuries. When your friends showed up, I decided to try to use them to get repaired.. and to keep them away from the alien site. If they would have entered the site, they could have set off the security system there. The aliens protected themselves by implementing safeguards at their bases. Only someone with their own technology, their energy signature, or who had access to certain keys are able to enter their territory undetected.


His gaze lowered to the ground again as he pulled his chained legs up close to himself.

So you see.. it had to be me, he told her in a softer tone. I have their technology inside me so I can bypass their security measures. Now that I'm trapped here, in Maximal custody, I can't stop them..

A thought seemed to hit him and he sat up straighter, staring straight ahead as if he could see her through the walls of the chamber and all the other corridor walls that separated them.

But maybe you can! You were once one of them, after all, and the technology they used in me originated from you. So you should be able to go there in my place. I'll guide you on what you need to do, if, of course, you're willing to do this.


A smile crept back on his face, and he sounded hopeful, certainly more so than he had until now.

But you would have to hurry. And difficult as I know it would be for you, I strongly advice you not to tell Primal about this.. about any of it.. because he would surely try to stop you.

"Well..."

Nemesis, or rather AirRazor as she was pretending to be, waited as patiently as she could while Tigerhawk contemplated his next move. They didn't have much time before the others would be upon them, so she finally gave a little nod in the direction they would be going. Never had she seen anyone acting so suspicious of her motives when she'd done nothing to warrant it. At least not yet..

The rumbling sound of a sonic boom caught the female's attention as well and she impatiently reached out her hand towards the new arrival to forcefully drag him along. But it was too late. The newcomer was already heading in the direction of the sound.

"Seems our journey will have to take a small detour. Whoever made that sonic boom is heading our way swiftly, and without a vehicle mode such as yourself I'd slow us down."

She sent him a highly disappointed look. "I'm quite certain your speed will be adequate enough to.."

He interrupted her.

"Wait here if you wish Airazor, but I'd rather be certain this is your comrade or not, and if it is they can come with."

Wait!, she wanted to tell him, her frustration with this male's stubbornness reaching new heights, but she quickly realized it would be to no avail and the word simply died in her mouth. Mumbling something incoherent, she pondered simply pulling out her weapon and shooting the fool while his back was turned. As he had so accurately pointed out, he did not have the advantage of having an alternative mode yet so she doubted it would require much effort to bring him down in aerial combat.

As the fuzor disappeared out of listening range, she contacted the approaching Predacons via comlink.

"The target is awake and airborne. He goes by the name of Tigerhawk and believes I'm the Maximal AirRazor," she explained quickly and as quietly as possible on the private channel before adding, under her breath, "And he should have picked a mule as his animal form because he's certainly stubborn as one.."

Against her better judgement, she followed Tigerhawk at a distance. She wasn't sure who had caused the sonic boom just yet but it certainly wasn't looking like this would be an uncomplicated extraction.

"Leave him intact if you can. But if he starts resisting, just blow him out of the sky. Perhaps we can salvage the remains. If not.. well.. no great loss," she continued to her Predacon comrades, making sure she stayed well out of range for Tigerhawk to hear her.

She readied her weapons.

Terrorsaur wrote:"SQUAAK! Time to send you back where you belong Maximal!"

Cheetor's optics narrowed as he flew towards Terrorsaur, noticing the green shine in his optics. He was powering them up. With a swift flick of his thrusters, Cheetor suddenly barrelrolled to the left side of the optic blasts Whoa! Cheetor shouted, still heading on course with Terrorsaur. If he attempted to transform and fire on terrorsaur with this distance, terrorsaur would probably be able to dodge his attack and take him down. He'd have to get in close.

Kicking in his afterburners, Cheetor flew head on towards Terrorsaur, then swung his body up attempting to pounce on him with claws and fangs ready.

"I highly doubt that. I have a feeling their reaction to all of this will be one of heavy consequences, and they will discipline Ironclaw, Zodiac and myself no matter how hard any of us try to persuade them. Having said that, I'm grateful for your help, Whitegrazer, and I will fight to defend my entire crew to spare them anymore hardships and unfair justice. After all, none of this was their fault. They never had a choice participating in this war; a war that was probably intentionally started by...,"

"The High Council would be furious, but... They aren't as rigid as they loved to be." Whitegrazer reassured him. "I have dealt with the High Council for a long time, and from what I learned about them, they love to negotiate compromises and people's silence. Play our cards right, and adding what we have seen and been through, we may yet get them to lessen any sort of heavy consequence. Politics, Optimus, it's all politics. I always despised it, but that's the only thing they seem to respond to."

Whitegrazer lowered her gaze a bit, listening to Zodiac through their reopened link. There was still something Zodiac was omitting towards her about what transpired outside, but part of her was starting to put the pieces together.

I know you will,

I think I might have, at least, the trigger. Optimus just told me that a stasis pod has been activated. Activated around the same time you unwillingly attacked us. Maybe that could be the trigger? She thought for a moment. Maybe the aliens activated the pod for some reason, but why activate the pod in the first place? Of course. Could it be that...they were getting too close to something that they decided to try and distract them? But was the pod the distraction or was Zodiac's involuntary action? It wasn't their style. It was too small of a scale... even for them. It coudl have reactivated Zodiac's nanos... Wait a minute. That wasn't true. Zodiac's nanos remained inactive even when he attacked. That beg the question, though. What? And she asked it toward Zodiac. What they did they do, Zodiac? What happened between the Vok and you?

"I agree," Primal said as he broke away from the Empath and limped over to one of the walls with his cave drawings covering it, examining them again, slowly and intensely tracing one with his index finger while he licked the scar over his mouth. "Unfortunately, we don't have the knowledge to decipher these, if in fact they can be helpful to us. Blackarachnia is working on the research with what little data Dinobot was able to download from the alien disk before we returned it to Megatron, but I'm afraid she won't get far, or not far enough, before they return. So, we'll just have to deal with them as we have in the past. Although I'm hoping Aurora's new scanner will be able to detect any alien activity prior to their arrival or at least notify us as quickly as possible when a new site develops so we can be the first on the scene to secure it before the Predacons show up."

Why did she get the feeling that they were running out of time? Yet, with so little knowledge, except for a site with something hidden, something unknown buried, that could lead to their destruction.

You are very astute, he told her after a brief all-telling pause.

There's no point denying it now. That weapon at the volcano? That was nothing compared to the treasures, or should I say terrors, hidden at their other sites.

That was something that was getting more and more apparent as time and thought went along. No doubt there was something there, and this stasis pod just activated could be just something to keep everyone busy.

That signal from the volcano did more than merely notify the aliens that this planet is still occupied by intelligent life. It also activated some of their other sites, of which the one you found me at is the more dangerous one.

As much as it pains me to admit it, I was actually at the site with the intent to stop them from destroying us all.

Yeah.. I can almost see you smiling. But no, I haven't lost my sanity and suddenly started caring about your precious Maximals. It was merely out of self-preservation. I'm as stuck here as the rest of you are now, after all, and I have no desire to suffer the aliens' wrath. Why should I care what happens to the rest of you?, he said, almost sounding insulted at the notion. But his disposition seemed to soften a bit as he continued. I shouldn't have said that.. That was uncalled for.

It's all right, Zodiac. Zodiac was right... She had been smiling when she heard Zodiac was going to try and stop whatever weapon was down there. Though Zodiac seemed to tell her that it was just for his self-preservation, his softer disposition in apologizing to her from his small little outburst like someone trying to ignore deep emotions, emotions one refused to accept or acknowledge. With your help, maybe just... maybe we can stop whatever it is aliens' have down there... before it does it's primary function.

"It could just be some incoherent or insignificant gibberish for all we know. There was so much in my mind that I couldn't get it out fast enough.

"It's all right, Optimus. I bet the experience and the images were intense for you."

At this point, after everything we've been through, I'll take anything into consideration, Optimus told her. After all, sometimes Rattrap's paranoia pays off. What is it, Whitegrazer?

She didn't know how to begin. It was becoming harder and harder as she gazed upon Optimus. Rhinox reassuring her that she underestimated Optimus, and that she could trust him with this. Though, it was her she really didn't trust. Not Optimus'.

Looking outside Optimus' quarters window ahead, she could see the sun outside. It was beautiful. "I do believe Blackarachnia might be able to help us. I think we just need to give her a little more time." If they had it.

How would TyCross know where to go? Was it because of Zodiac or because of the Vok? It couldn't have been a blind guess or a coincidence. Even though you put Aurora and Rhinox in harm's way, I wouldn't have wanted you to go alone in the first place. Why didn't you tell me about these coordinates? he asked her with a little bit of desperation, unable to understand why she hadn't. All of you could have been better prepared, even if you didn't know what you were looking for.

I...

Whitegrazer, hearing the desperation in Optimus' voice, was, for the first time, speechless.

He deserved an explanation. She knew it.

I'm not sure I'll ever understand why you insist on helping me. You're.. the first to ever believe in me this way.

He sighed inwardly at that observation, seemingly unsure of how he truly felt about it.

Anyway.. I went to the site to try to stop them but I was struggling due to my injuries. When your friends showed up, I decided to try to use them to get repaired.. and to keep them away from the alien site. If they would have entered the site, they could have set off the security system there. The aliens protected themselves by implementing safeguards at their bases. Only someone with their own technology, their energy signature, or who had access to certain keys are able to enter their territory undetected.

Whitegrazer playfully smirked at Zodiac's observation about her. You are till wondering about that, aren't you? Why I'm helping you? The playfulness dropped to a gentle smile. Because I'm responsible for what happened to you. I wasn't aware, but I made the conscious choice of risking exposing such powerful abilities toward the hand of people who are so eager to gain onemanupship over each other about who would have the strong hand when Cybertron's Cold War becomes a hot, boiling one. But even if I didn't feel responsible, I still would help you as I am doing now. Because it i the right thing to do.

Security system? Of course, why wouldn't there be one? Whitegrazer thought to herself, but what Zodiac continued to explain to her intrigued her. Their own technology. Wait... so if anyone had Vok tech implemented or was a Vok themselves, they could enter without being harmed?

Hopefully Aurora's machine will be able to tell us more then, he smiled lightly at her and reached up with his hand to rub her upper arm a couple times as a gesture of comfort. But was this all she wanted to say? Was this what she wanted to discuss in their link rather than speaking out loud about it? It was hardly a surprise. While his optics searched hers, he felt through their connection that there was something more pressing on her mind. Is there something else...? he inquired.

His attempt to comfort her, even though he truly appreciated it, made her feel more guilt and disgusted with herself. She gently took his hand into her own, leaning her forehead against it. Almost like she was giving him a head bow before he released his hand and smiled, walking toward the huge window overlooking the beautiful sun and part of the cliffs where down below was the river.

I believe I owe you an apology. No, I owe you more than that. Part of her refused to look at Optimus, but she realized that she had to. It wouldn't be right for her to not make full eye contact. She must be strong and treat Optimus with the respect and dignity he deserves. So she gazed at Optimus. I haven't been completely honest with you about who or what I'm really am. Please understand. I wasn't trying to deceive you... or this crew. I merely was only protecting you from information that could, as you put it earlier, heavy consequences with the High Council and targets of certain individuals who no doubt would use you to get to me. I didn't want you guys involved in such.... ghastly affairs.

"How are you planning on handling Zodiac's interrogation?" Whitegrazer asked to keep up the cover, but also, she was genuinely concerned as well as curious as to how Optimus was going to proceed. "Zodiac... He seems to be more cooperative now. He knows he isn't in any shape to attack or do anything to us. Though, that still doesn't mean he is completely harmless, but it seems he might have information about the aliens that can help us all. I know you want your answers towards what happened back at the Outpost and other events, and I know that Zodiac has done horrible things. Yet, I still want to believe that maybe we can help him. "

So you see.. it had to be me, he told her in a softer tone. I have their technology inside me so I can bypass their security measures. Now that I'm trapped here, in Maximal custody, I can't stop them..

A thought seemed to hit him and he sat up straighter, staring straight ahead as if he could see her through the walls of the chamber and all the other corridor walls that separated them.

But maybe you can! You were once one of them, after all, and the technology they used in me originated from you. So you should be able to go there in my place. I'll guide you on what you need to do, if, of course, you're willing to do this.

A smile crept back on his face, and he sounded hopeful, certainly more so than he had until now.

But you would have to hurry. And difficult as I know it would be for you, I strongly advice you not to tell Primal about this.. about any of it.. because he would surely try to stop you.

Whitegrazer thought the same thing. So maybe that was the reason TyCross wanted her to go alone? She wouldn't have been attacked by the Vok's security systems. Could she, by herself, try and speak with the Vok as Optimus did back at the alien' bunaglow? But the idea of hiding this from Optimus gave her pause.

I have changed my mind about Optimus, Zodiac. I'm actually going to tell him the truth about myself as well as the technology. Because of the seriousness of the situation, it might be wise if I did. Maybe he would understand what I must do.

Still, if she choose to, if she talked to the Vok, she had no guarantee that they would listen. Or what if they tried to take her away and condemn her to extreme punishment with such extreme prejudice?

Maybe a risk she had to take. For everyone.

Turning her attention back to Optimus, she took a deep breath, wanting to do a gentle approach. Did you ever wonder where the nanotechnology came from orignially? How the scientists were able to create such unbelievable abilities like Nemesis' regeneration or Zodiac's shapeshifting ability?

((OOC: I decided to not do the "shocking" development yet with BA. XD I will save it on my next post.))

Blackarachnia was continuing her research at the drawing symbols. An idea had popped in her head about the symbols, wondering if they were truly individual symbols for specific site hidden around Earth. She was going by her memories. She had seen such symbols in different places like the volcano. She had the computer call up an image of the areas in the world, so she could try and see if she could find a pattern. She added the bunaglow' symbol, the floating island's, the volcano with the device, and.... the coordinates from the "other site." How did she get it? Well, she hacked the ecurity footage of Rhinox's, Aurora's, and Whitegrazer' conversation before they headed out. With five put into their positions, that still wasn't enough to get a clear image. Yet...

The screen flicked for a second. "What the...?" It had only been for a second, so she didn't pay it any mind. After all, Maximal tech was quite primative than what she used back on the Darkyde. Pertaining to information anyway.

She needed to go deeper. Her senses were tingling. She needed to speed it up.

"I do believe Blackarachnia might be able to help us. I think we just need to give her a little more time."

"I'm more than willing to give her as much time as she needs," he told the mare, "until we're interrupted by their presence."

"The High Council would be furious, but... They aren't as rigid as they loved to be."

Optimus raised a quizzical brow at Whitegrazer as he disagreed with her. Were they talking about the same Council? The very same who ordered Optimus to chase down Megatron to retrieve the disk he stole which landed them stranded in the past on Earth with no communication to Cybertron? The ones whose plans were to create Zodiac, Nemesis and Protoform X, effectively and callously putting them through so much pain and torture for their own personal gain? The ones who entrusted Optimus to abandon X, they're beloved allegedly invincible creation, on a desolate planet? The ones who formed top secret elite groups, essentially bounty hunters, to track down and kill their experiments who had escaped, like Ironclaw had been sent to do so with Dirge and Zodiac? Was it any wonder why Ironclaw was so concerned about disobeying the Elders?

"I have dealt with the High Council for a long time, and from what I learned about them, they love to negotiate compromises and people's silence. Play our cards right, and adding what we have seen and been through, we may yet get them to lessen any sort of heavy consequence.

"Sometimes as time moves forward, and there is no one to interfere, the darkness and greed in others grows," was all he said to her optimism with some skepticism and worry. As far as he was concerned, from his own experiences with the Council which were probably more recent than hers, the corruption and ruthlessness had been getting out of control, thus creating polar opposites such as himself and Megatron. No, he didn't expect anyone could persuade the Council, not even her. Not that he doubted her abilities and effort, but he was well aware that the Council had all the power to silence someone forever without anyone ever questioning it, which could be why he was in the position that he was in.

Politics, Optimus, it's all politics. I always despised it, but that's the only thing they seem to respond to."

"Politics and bribes," he muttered, "But I'm afraid there isn't anything they want or need that they don't already have." Primal couldn't help but wonder what had been transpiring back on their home planet ever since they had left. How different would it be by now? Who was in charge? Had the Predacons risen up from the oppression? He noticed her peer downward as though she was focusing or listening to someone else. "Whitegrazer...?"

"It's all right, Optimus. I bet the experience and the images were intense for you."

He almost dismissed her comment while it seemed she was practically having a discussion with someone else as quiet but intense as her presence was in front of him. "You've re-established your link with Zodiac?" he guessed. Who else would it be? Who else could keep her so distracted? Which brought up his next question, "Why weren't you able to detect his spark before he showed up and attacked Aurora and Rhinox?"

I...

Optimus waited for her answer to his previous questions about TyCross, but it never came. Instead, she seemed more interested in speaking with Zodiac, or so he assumed that's who she was sharing her connection with. He toyed with the idea of breaking through that barrier some how that she had put up between them but quickly decided against it. The leader watched her take his hand and bow her head before she stepped away from him and moved toward the window of his quarters, but he remained where he stood.

I believe I owe you an apology. No, I owe you more than that. I haven't been completely honest with you about who or what I'm really am. Please understand. I wasn't trying to deceive you... or this crew. I merely was only protecting you from information that could, as you put it earlier, heavy consequences with the High Council and targets of certain individuals who no doubt would use you to get to me. I didn't want you guys involved in such.... ghastly affairs.

Vexed, he simply looked at her with a perplexed expression. Whitegrazer, what are you talking about? Who or what you are...? he repeated her, confused. We're involved in these affairs whether we want to be or not. Just being present where and when we are means we're involuntarily involved. And I'll fight to defend each of us in front of the Council no matter the consequences. After everything he had been through, he was not afraid of the Elders - whom he had come to know during his time served under Nexus Prime - and their power, and his strength and defiance could be something he could use to shield and protect the others from suffering any wrath from them. Through their bond, his voice was a little more demanding, growing slightly impatient with her dodging his questions and now altogether seemingly talking about something else entirely; something with her identity that she hadn't been honest about. He didn't understand.

"How are you planning on handling Zodiac's interrogation?" "Zodiac... He seems to be more cooperative now. He knows he isn't in any shape to attack or do anything to us. Though, that still doesn't mean he is completely harmless, but it seems he might have information about the aliens that can help us all. I know you want your answers towards what happened back at the Outpost and other events, and I know that Zodiac has done horrible things. Yet, I still want to believe that maybe we can help him. "

Primal gave a slight chuckle and crossed his arms over his chest again. "He'll say anything to benefit himself. He was cooperative earlier because he knew I was going to allow him some repairs. What he said to me before he fell sounded genuine and it touched me deeply...," the Maximal Commander admitted and slowly trailed off for as he recalled that moment once more, the renegade's voice saying, Nexus would have been proud, "But he can't be trusted. He has lost his abilities to shapeshift, heal, and to pretend, so his only weapons left are his intelligence and his words." Then he returned to her question but hesitated upon answering. If she was sharing her link again with Zodiac, what if he could sense what she was hearing from Optimus? What if he was manipulating her and trying to find an advantage over him? He wasn't willing to take that risk. "That's none of your concern for the time being," he told her, not coldly but casually. "I'm done playing his game, and I have grown intolerant. If we are to find out anything about the Vok from him, then this is our only opportunity and I'm not going to waste it."

His internal computer then gave him a quick update on Zodiac's repairs which were progressing gradually and were remaining on that limitation of how far they were allowed to go. "Landslide, remain in the hangar, please," Optimus sent the beetle over his comm. link in case the large Maximal was planning on stepping out to work on something else.

Did you ever wonder where the nanotechnology came from orignially? How the scientists were able to create such unbelievable abilities like Nemesis' regeneration or Zodiac's shapeshifting ability?

Of course I wondered, the scientist and exploration Captain told the Empath, but it was highly classified. Only a select few were privileged to that knowledge, and at the time, as young as I was, I was not one of them. He paused and tilted his head a little as he looked at her curiously. Do you know...? He asked with caution, stepping lightly on the question as if he didn't have the authority to know such information, or was a bit afraid to know.

Wintersong growled as another of Inferno's shots nearly struck her, but luckily missed one of her wheels while causing her to veer of towards the right before returning to driving alongside the rat. And as much as she wanted to obey the rat she was rearing to blow the Predacon ant out of the sky, especially having a long grudge to settle in returning the favor when the ant burned her a long while back before the Planet Buster happened. But after mulling over it the Transmetal tigress decided this time to keep going, chances were Inferno would continue after Rattrap or vice versa if one of them tried to remain to shoot him down. Even then, his flight advantage wouldn't make him an easy target.

"We should have brought insect repellent." Wintersong remarked, dodging around the incoming shots towards them now somewhat regretting using her mini-missiles already to take out Spineback and Waspinator in their initial run ins. "Hope Tigerhawk gets it clear pretty quick whose who, we can't keep this up forever." The tigeress muttered, pressing forward and hoping by chance the awakened protoform was on their side or at the least held some Maximal sentiments.

-----------

Terrorsaur growled as Cheetor rolled to the side to avoid his blasts, making his somewhat annoyed but it didn't seem a total loss. The flying cheetah was still heading for a head on collision, making the flier smirk slightly. Sure it would hurt him as much as it would Cheetor, but it was well worth the risk to take out one of the Maximals for the benefit of earning a new member into their ranks. But just as it seemed they were about to collide, Cheetor suddenly changed his tactic and caught Terrorsaur by surprise this time, causing him to let out a 'rawk' sound as he felt the cat pounce onto his back.

"Get off you Maximal scum!" Terrorsaur roared, trying to shake off the Transmetal cheetah and being less than quiet about it. "You're going to have to handle him yourselves! I got my hands full with the flying furball! If he's looking too soft than blast him and let's get this over with!" He snapped over the private channel, trying to focus between Nemesis transmission and Cheetor.

-------

"I also have half a processor to know you and Terrorsaur right now have the greatest vantage points insect, Waspinator could have landed anywhere." Spineback growled, but for now didn't pursue an argument with the defective ant. If Megatron allowed her she would have put him under stasis and tried a procedure to fix whatever had his cranial wires crossed or what damage had been done in his crash there onto the planet. Then again, it probably wouldn't have been too wise since who knew what Inferno might be like decently sane. It was kind of a thought that made her second guess trying the procedure...

Once close to the valley though, the saurian femme had to pause to take in what all was going on, seeing Inferno off handling the two annoying Maximals from earlier and from the way Terrorsaur sounded over the communications he had his hands full as it was. Or well, his squawking and screaming were making that audibly clear. And that left Nemesis. "Nemesis, I'm close enough I can extract the mech if he's taken out or just shoot him out of the sky period if he decides to help." Spineback relayed to the Transmetal flier, growling as she transformed and having her weapons ready.

Tigerhawk failed to hear anything Nemesis was saying to her comrades, his optics fixed on yet other approaching Cybertronians which made him begin to wonder. Who was a Maximal and who was a Predacon? It didn't help further that two of the bots began to engage others who were converging on the location, making him mentally curse at himself for drawing so much attention and not taking some precautions. Yet, it did confirm one thing: Optimus has been right about being cautious.

It actually amazed him there was conflict going on so far from Cybetron, Maximals versus Predacons, the same old cycle that never seemed to end which made him frown slightly in disappointment. But, he couldn't just hover there and do nothing. He was aware "Airazor" was there not too far behind him, and he probably could have asked her for assistance in who was who but the sound of one of the combatants caused him to pause, listening as the pterodactyl practically yelled at his opponent to let go, much less using a common insult. "That answers about one." Tigerhawk muttered as his shoulder mounted Machine Guns folded up from behind his shoulders, ready to fire.

Diverting his attention then towards Terrosaur and Cheetor, Tigerhawk gave a glance to Nemesis, seeing she had her own weapons ready. But that suspicious part of him still came up again, knowing she had yet to do anything that was worth drawing suspicion but Optimus's warning and the names he gave seemed to bring them up anyway in his spark, making him somewhat hesitant to leave but caution was going to have to wait. Having to assume her nature he quickly flew towards the fight going on between Terrosaur and Cheetor, trying to find an opening in which to fire and leaving some distance in which he could avoid becoming part of the scuffle itself.

Zodiac took the opportunity to glance around the CR chamber when Whitegrazer fell silent for a moment. He gathered she was devoting her attention to someone else, which honestly was fine as it gave him a moment to gather his own thoughts and start working on his plan of escape. As the repairs to his injuries continued, most of his strength and energy was returning to him as well. The repairs to his badly damaged knee were almost complete, allowing him to flex the joint.. or at least to a point since his ankles were shackled together.

Well.. one problem at the time.

I think I might have, at least, the trigger. Optimus just told me that a stasis pod has been activated. Activated around the same time you unwillingly attacked us. Maybe that could be the trigger?

A stasis pod? Zodiac immediately pushed himself to his feet, so roughly that it interrupted the chamber's repairs on his shoulder.

Are you sure??, he asked her via their link, ignoring the machine that was desperately trying to complete its work.

A stasis pod.. So the Vok were sending someone.. It had to be, it was the only explanation that could account for why his own hidden programming had suddenly triggered. The vok hadn't targeted him, at least not directly, but instead they were sending someone. And that certainly wasn't good news given his past track record with them. He had managed to stay off their radar for a long time. They couldn't target him without knowing where he was after all.

"By the Pit..," he muttered, turning around with the very limited steps allowed him by his restraints, trying to locate something that could help him leave this place before the Vok emissary arrived. As things were, he was trapped. But he still tried to calm himself, not wanting the empath to sense his feelings on the matter.

What they did they do, Zodiac? What happened between the Vok and you?

Too late.

He sighed as he slowly sank back down to the floor, his back up against the wall of the tank.

It's.. complicated.., he told her, hoping she would drop the subject matter altogether. Of course what were the chances of that happening? The female, of Vok heritage herself, hadn't exactly proved herself willing to let things go. Sure, temporarily she might, but not for long.

Complicated.. Indeed. As dealing with the Vok generally was. He fought back the memories as best he could, knowing the female would be able to see the flashes of how the Vok forced their own programming upon him.. Not unlike what Nexus had done, but with the aliens it was worse.. far worse. They stripped him of everything that made him, while carving him up to find out how his cybertronian body was able to function with their own technology. A vision of him standing in the midst of a dozen or so fellow prisoners he had brutally slaughtered on their command flashed through his mind briefly. He clenched his optics shut, his fists curling into balls with enough force to leave them trembling.. and aching.

When he had eventually overcome their attempt at taking over his mind and using him for their own personal gain.. and amusement.. his primary programming having reset to make that possible, a fail safe by those who made him to make sure he wouldn't be used as a weapon against them, he had taken what he could from the Vok and fled. Death had been better than have them probe around in his mind again.

Fortunately the female had gone silent again, perhaps from someone distracting her or maybe even as a small act of mercy, giving him time to gather his thoughts once more.

It's all right, Zodiac.

All right.. weren't exactly words he'd use to explain any of this. The vok site, an emissary on their way, and being a prisoner with weary Maximals all around him wasn't all right. Of course he realized what she really meant but her choice of words were.. interesting. But as things were, he needed her. She could very well be his best chance to pull through this provided, of course, she didn't turn her back on him.

With your help, maybe just... maybe we can stop whatever it is aliens' have down there... before it does it's primary function.

I fear you don't understand.., he tried to persuade her. And there's not enough time to explain what's about to happen. Just know that it's imperative that you get there very quickly.. or everything you hold dear will be gone.

His inner voice grew quieter, yet his message more desperate, as he continued.

I've already seen what the Vok are capable of.. I've experienced it. You know I'm telling the truth. So please.. It was not a word he liked to use but it seemed needed right now. Go there now. Alone or you'll trigger their traps. Don't tell Primal where you're going or why because he will try to stop you..

He paused, hoping she would listen to him.

You are till wondering about that, aren't you? Why I'm helping you? Because I'm responsible for what happened to you. I wasn't aware, but I made the conscious choice of risking exposing such powerful abilities toward the hand of people who are so eager to gain onemanupship over each other about who would have the strong hand when Cybertron's Cold War becomes a hot, boiling one. But even if I didn't feel responsible, I still would help you as I am doing now. Because it i the right thing to do.

He let out a sigh of relief, daring to hope he'd gotten through to her. That she would go to the alien site in his place.

Wait... so if anyone had Vok tech implemented or was a Vok themselves, they could enter without being harmed?

He nodded, knowing she would sense his confirmation.

I have changed my mind about Optimus, Zodiac. I'm actually going to tell him the truth about myself as well as the technology. Because of the seriousness of the situation, it might be wise if I did. Maybe he would understand what I must do.

I strongly advice against doing that, he told her earnestly. Primal will oppose your decision to go there. He'll delay you, perhaps even forbid you from going. He doesn't exactly trust me.. He.. doesn't know me as you do.

He looked down at his shackled arms and legs again, wishing he had the strength to merely break them open and make his escape.

And he will inadvertently be responsible for any consequences from the delay. Do you really want that on his conscience? On yours? Think about your Maximal friends.. Would you really wish to risk their lives like that?


He started reaching for the remnants of the makeshift immobilizer he had made for himself, tugging at it to pull it off his now functional leg.

You know better than anyone just how little regard the aliens have for other lifeforms. Do you really want the Maximals to experience it for themselves?

Zodiac briefly paused before he started listing up the names of Whitegrazer's friends, hoping it would push the female over the edge.

Rhinox... Rattrap... Wintersong... Optimus... Aurora..?

He let their names linger for a moment.

Go to the alien site.. now.. without telling Primal.. and save them, he urged her, yanking the metal splint apart and grabbing the pieces as he finished. Once done, he stood up, shuffling himself over to the door of the closed chamber. He waited for a moment for her response as he jammed the piece of metal into the crack of the door to use it to pry the door open. Even if he did manage to persuade her to do as he asked, he still needed to get out of here. Before Primal came to interrogate him, before the Vok emissary showed up, and certainly before he lost all hope.

The machine trying to repair him kept prodding him in the back, causing Zodiac to finally turn and smack the annoying thing out of his way with his cuffed hands. He then returned his attention to his makeshift crowbar, grabbing it and applying as much pressure as the less than sturdy device could muster. He had already determined that he needed something stronger to remove the restraints from his wrists and ankles but considering the CR chamber was located in the hangar bay, Zodiac didn't think finding the needed tools would be overly difficult. A glance through the tiny window in the chamber door didn't reveal anyone present, but then again he wasn't able to see most of the hangar through that little window.

Feeling the door start to give, he held it like that for a moment longer to give Whitegrazer time to leave. If she hurried like he asked her to, she should already be out of the base, so he finally pulled hard enough on the metal rod to open the door. As the chamber door flung open, the useless now broken pieces of his makeshift crowbar fell to the floor. Zodiac paid it no heed, wasting precious little time with disembarking from the tank. As soon as he was out, he spread his large wings wide and flapped them while igniting his thrusters to gain some lift. It wasn't exactly going to be graceful, not with his hands and feet still restrained, but at least he could move around a bit like this.

He looked around for any method to free himself from those pesky restraints, taking note of the large hangar doors to his left. The best solution would probably just be to leave this place behind before he attracted a crowd. No doubt Primal would be notified that the CR chamber door was open. Odd that he didn't have guards posted though..

Or did he?

Through the corner of his optic, Zodiac thought he caught sight of something moving. He wasn't about to linger to find out who it was, so the renegade immediately flew towards the controls for the hangar doors.

Nemesis followed Tigerhawk close enough to keep track of his movements and catch up if she needed to, but still far enough to be able to communicate with the other Predacons without arousing suspicion. The new Maximal seemed hesitant and refrained from attacking, as was understandable since he didn't know friend from foe.

"Nemesis, I'm close enough I can extract the mech if he's taken out or just shoot him out of the sky period if he decides to help."

The avian female let her arms hang at her sides as she hovered, weapons clenched in her hands, surveying the situation. As things were the Predacons were superior in the air, of course that could change in an instant if the Maximals had back-up on the way. Spineback might be right.. It was looking less and less like she'd be able to trick the new male to come willingly, which would honestly be far easier.

Not surprisingly Terrorsaur's screeching voice could be heard, the sound carrying for a much longer distance than anyone else's voice.

"Get off you Maximal scum!"

Idiot..


And not surprisingly, the new mech took notice as well. Nemesis sighed as she took aim. If Cheetor hadn't been in the mix, she would simply have proved herself by shooting Terrorsaur down. But since that was not an option, given how quickly the teenaged Maximal would give her away if he saw her, she was left with little choice.

"So much for the easy way..," she muttered to herself as she took aim at Tigerhawk's backside, near the shoulder where his wing was attached, and fired. With any luck her shot would leave Tigerhawk unable to fly and thus take one of the Maximal flyers out of the equation.

"I also have half a processor to know you and Terrorsaur right now have the greatest vantage points insect, Waspinator could have landed anywhere."

"Then we'll be sure to point you in the right direction, reptile!" Inferno bickered back at Spineback while he kept firing at the two Maximals below him.

"The target is awake and airborne. He goes by the name of Tigerhawk and believes I'm the Maximal AirRazor," "And he should have picked a mule as his animal form because he's certainly stubborn as one.."

"Ah, his beast mode won't even matter by the time we disintegrate him!" the pyro joyfully announced over their transmission.

"Leave him intact if you can. But if he starts resisting, just blow him out of the sky. Perhaps we can salvage the remains. If not.. well.. no great loss,"

Since Nemesis was the sub-commanding officer in their little group, Inferno didn't argue. Instead, since Tigerhawk was still a little out of his range, he remained focused on Wintersong and Rattrap, firing again and again upon them and having way too much fun doing so.

"We should have brought insect repellent."

After an exhaled laugh, enjoying Wintersong's sense of humor, Rattrap added jokingly, "You forgot it?! Ugh! Well, it doesn't matter 'cause we both got bug zappers!" While both of them narrowly dodged Inferno's shots that blew up chunks of the ground around them and in anticipation of their driving paths, he came up with an idea. Although Inferno had the advantage of flight, the rat and the tigress outnumbered him and could flank him from below.

"Hope Tigerhawk gets it clear pretty quick whose who, we can't keep this up forever."

"Yer right, Winter. Let's split up and give Blender-butt a taste of his own medicine." Looking ahead, it appeared Cheetor was dealing with Terrorsaur in the air, and not too far from them was Nemesis and what appeared to be Tigerhawk. "New guy's a big one, eh? Looks like Nemesis beat us to 'im. So let's make camp here and ground dis ant before we lead 'im ta Cheetor and the new Fuzor." He sent Wintersong a toothy grin and a wink before he suddenly veered away from her to put some space between them to make it harder for Inferno to shoot at them at the same time. Finding some cover behind some big boulders, Rattrap transformed and wielded his gun. He immediately started firing up at Inferno to cover his partner's back while she found her own spot and maximized.

Above them, Inferno had continued firing at the two nuisances until he curiously watched them split up. He started to concentrate on Wintersong who was still in motion but also unable to fire back until Rattrap's shots flew up at him distracting him, zipping by as he moved around in the air to dodge them. He laughed menacingly. "FOOLS! You will both BURN in my fire!" Adjusting his weapon, he started using his rocket launcher and fired two missiles at Rattrap. ((OOC: Inferno has rockets, right? XD ))

"Tigerhawk, right?" the Spy patched into his comm. link radio. "Dis is Rattrap. Me an' Wintersong are just a few klicks away but we're under attack and so is Cheetor. I might be askin' a lot of you but do you think you could lend a hand an' help us out? 'Cause we're a little outnumbered 'ere. And watch out for Nemesis behi-" Rattrap's communication to the new bot was cut off when Inferno's rockets hammered the boulders, exploding them into several chunks of rocks and causing Rattrap to duck to the ground as close as he could. But where was Spineback? He hadn't been able to spot her.

Optimus Primal wrote: "Landslide, remain in the hangar, please,"

Landslide raises an optic ridge hearing Optimus on the radio, then responds Understood.

Landslide then promptly heard some noise coming out of the CR chamber, turning his head towards the CR chamber. Oh you have got to be kidding me.. he thought to himself, seeing the CR chamber forced open from the inside.

Then just as quickly as the chamber door was opened, Zodiac took to the air, likely due to his restraints. Landslide turned around looking up towards Zodiac. The large beetle's thrusters shifted out as he crouched, then leaped up with assistance from his thrusters, raising his left arm and ramming his elbow and shoulder into Zodiac's back, his right hand grabbing onto his wing and shoulder as he crashed into the draconic decepticon. Landslide's thrusters then pointed up slightly, driving Zodiac and Landslide into the hanger floor with a loud metallic clang, bending some of the floor panels and sending a rumble through the ship.

The slag you think yer goin' ?! Landslide shouted cutting his thrusters, he then shifted and promptly sat on Zodiac's back, using his abnormal weight to pin the former shapeshifter to the floor.

_________________________________________________

Terrorsaur wrote:"Get off you Maximal scum!"

Cheetor bit down hard into Terrorsaur's shoulder, his front and rear legs on the two protective armor panels on Terrorsaur's back. A muffled sound was then heard from Cheetor's jaws as he seemed to say "cheetor maximize", then transformed while still near Terrorsaur, Cheetor's arms held together as he fired his laser blasts near point blank into Terrorsaur's back jets. Cheetor started into a free fall once again, hearing Nemesis fire near by, Cheetor turned in surprise to see he wasn't the target, with the new flyer being shot at. Pointing up at Nemesis, cheetor let out a few shots No! he shouted.

((Dang, take care Una! I've been having the same concern as well but it seems we may just get some wind and rain here where I am. Hopefully it doesn't affect you guys too badly!))

Terrorsaur growled as he struggled to get Cheetor off, knowing with the way the feline was holding onto his back the way he was he couldn't properly transform. He was growing to the point the mountain was becoming more and more of an idea to just get the meddlesome feline off his back. "You..." Terrorsaur began before he heard Cheetor speak something, muffled against his hold onto his armor by his teeth before he felt the Maximals release hold. But as he turned his head to look over his back, his optics widened as he saw Cheetor's hand brought together and let out a pained screech as his back thrusters were taken out.

"Slag you Maximal!" The Predacon flier cursed as he struggled to maintain his flight, forcing him to transform to robot mode but slamming into the valley wall with a pained grunt, for the time being taking the 'dactly out of the fight.

Tigerhawk kept his position for a moment, watching as Cheetor seemed to handle Terrorsaur on his own. Perhaps he wasn't needed after all, but there were still others to be concerned with as the fuzor was about to turn his attentions to where Inferno was but paused when Rattrap patched into his channel. "Rattrap, glad to hear a friendly voice. Optimus told me you were on your way." Tigerhawk confirmed, flapping his wings in place as his optics shifted then to the flying ant, figuring that was who they were being held up by. "Not a problem at all." The fuzor assured him, ready to leap into the fight despite his reluctance to do so. At this point, he didn't have a choice since the Predacons seemed not to hesitate in their attacking his fellow Maximals.

His focus would have to be the other airborne enemy but he froze when he heard Rattrap's warning, or the beginning of it. Though the rat hadn't finished it completely Tigerhawk looked back with confusion, wondering who this Nemesis was until he saw it was the femme he had thought was named Airazor. It was but a split second that he saw the shot and by immediate reflex he ducked towards the side, grimacing in pain as the shot didn't completely miss him. It struck part of the top of the wing and his upper shoulder, the first of many wounds he likely would earn in this war. He barely acknowledged for a moment that Cheetor had also noticed the shot, not until he forced himself to ignore the throbbing pain from the shot and finally glancing up to see the younger mech was shooting towards Nemesis. "I shall try to join you soon Rattrap, let me help take care of this Nemesis first." Tigerhawk growled over the com-link turning his weapons on her. "You shouldn't have wasted your time with me Pred, should have just taken me out when you had the chance." Tigerhawk told her as he began firing his Machine Guns towards her.

Below however, Spineback realized things were taking a turn for the worse and that Nemesis was being outnumbered, maybe quicker than anticipated. "So much for waiting on an order." The saurian femme sighed, aiming her left shoulder Missile Launcher towards Cheetor who seemed in a free fall and the easiest of the targets. She had a feeling Nemesis could out maneuver Tigerhawk but adding the cheetah in the mix would put a bit more of a risk. "Been needing some proper practice, have a nice fall Maximal." Spineback chuckled darkly, before firing two of the four missiles aimed right for the transmetal feline hoping to at least take one Maximal out in all this chaos.

----------

Wintersong nodded before she grinned back, knowing one of them was bound to shoot the insect out of the sky. She separated from Rattrap at the same moment he took a different direction, quickly finding cover close by while she kept going forward, scanning the area for a decent place as she dodged around some of the shots fired from Inferno. But Rattrap's cover shots gave her enough time to finally find some rocks to duck behind before she maximized to her robot mode, taking her gun in hand a moment later.

"Hang in there Rattrap! I got you cover!" Wintersong called, aiming her weapon and firing upon the airborne Predacon, trying to draw his attention away from her friend and teammate. But as she fired she noticed from the corner of her optics two missiles fired some yards away, indicating that the saurian female was in the area. "Think we found Spineback." She relayed to Rattrap but tried to communicate to Cheetor, "Cheetor you got in coming!" She tried to warn him, hoping her fellow cat would see the incoming attacks.

((OOC: I'm sorry if this seems rushed, working on this pot for six hours, but I was taking too long with it. Also, because of the storm approaching, I'm feeling really weird. Everything is just dark and weird now. Forecasters are saying it is because of the storm. Never heard that before. Dark all day because of scattered showers.

I hope this post is all right, especially the rushed ending. OOP, I am sorry to cut the conversation between Optimus and Whitegrazer short. I didn't know how to get Whitegrazer out of there without Optimus knowing and that seemed like Zodiac escaping would make him distracted and allow her to.

I hope I might squeeze in another post for Whitegrazer, but that would depend upon what happens tomorrow and Friday, so if no new posts, don;t expect me to respond until at least Tuesday. ))

It's.. complicated..,

Whitegrazer saw the flashes Zodiac wanted to so hard hide from her. She was disgusted by the actions the Vok had taken towards Zodiac. The image of his body being invaded by their invasiveness, feeling their touch stabbing and gripping almost to the point of suffocation, reminding her of what she had felt when Optimus was in their hands back at the bunaglow before the Vok activated the Planet Buster. Wondered if that was when they figured out the horrible mistake they made when they exiled her on Cybertron. Though, she got the distant feeling that they would hold her accountable for that as well as among a lot of things. The slaughter they had Zodiac carry out, an attempt to try and rectify the error, made her feel a sense of foreboding and horror.

I fear you don't understand.., he tried to persuade her. And there's not enough time to explain what's about to happen. Just know that it's imperative that you get there very quickly.. or everything you hold dear will be gone.

I've already seen what the Vok are capable of.. I've experienced it. You know I'm telling the truth. So please.. It was not a word he liked to use but it seemed needed right now. Go there now. Alone or you'll trigger their traps. Don't tell Primal where you're going or why because he will try to stop you..

"Whitegrazer...?"

She looked at Optimus, wondering if she cut this conversation short and go to the alien site or should she just stay and tell Optimus the truth then go.

"You've re-established your link with Zodiac?" he guessed. Who else would it be? Who else could keep her so distracted? Which brought up his next question, "Why weren't you able to detect his spark before he showed up and attacked Aurora and Rhinox?"

"Yes, I did," she said regretfully, still disgusted by her action despite her reasons. "I did it because I wanted to know if Zodiac was attacking us of his own free will or if...something was forcing him to. When he stared at Rhinox and I, before he attacked Rhinox, his expression was blank. His eyes almost seemed devoid of life for a second. I didn't want to re-establish the link because I felt like it was a violation, but if I didn't, Zodiac might be accused of something he had no control over and... his door of opportunity for change would close." She placed her hand over her spark, "I couldn't detect his spark. How could I when I thought he was gone? But when I ran closer, I did feel something was wrong and that Rhinox and Aurora were in trouble."

I strongly advice against doing that, he told her earnestly. Primal will oppose your decision to go there. He'll delay you, perhaps even forbid you from going. He doesn't exactly trust me.. He.. doesn't know me as you do.

And he will inadvertently be responsible for any consequences from the delay. Do you really want that on his conscience? On yours? Think about your Maximal friends.. Would you really wish to risk their lives like that?

Whitegrazer, what are you talking about? Who or what you are...? he repeated her, confused. We're involved in these affairs whether we want to be or not. Just being present where and when we are means we're involuntarily involved. And I'll fight to defend each of us in front of the Council no matter the consequences.

Should she? Or should she forget it? She reassured Rhinox that she would tell him, but if Zodiac was right, she might not have time to tell this now.

"That's none of your concern for the time being," he told her, not coldly but casually. "I'm done playing his game, and I have grown intolerant. If we are to find out anything about the Vok from him, then this is our only opportunity and I'm not going to waste it."

"I understand your precaution." Whitegrazer stared outside for the moment. "You have no reason to trust him. And every right to be cautious with him, but he... is frightened. Vulnerable. In those states, people get desperate. Whatever it is you wish to discuss with him, I suggest you do it carefully. He doesn't like being here, and if any action he dictates is a threat to him, he will do his best to protect himself. Just be careful."

She wanted to tell Optimus about the promise she made with Zodiac, but... she realized Optimus wouldn't trust him. Even if she felt truth in those words, Optimus... and the others might believe Zodiac was just using her or taking advantage of her. A part of her was... despise that. Making her wonder if they.... lost their trust in her. Faith in her. Or she was that naive or... weak.

Because right now, she felt alone. Even with her connections.

You know better than anyone just how little regard the aliens have for other lifeforms. Do you really want the Maximals to experience it for themselves?

Listen to him, Whitegrazer. I warned you.

Rhinox... Rattrap... Wintersong... Optimus... Aurora..?

I gave you thoe coordinates for a reason. For you to come alone, and now, you are being told the same thing by that shapeshifter. Just to give you a little incentive.

Her head started to hurt for a moment. There was a flash of some floating fortress, all silver and looked like a flower she saw on the planet. Heard screams, screams coming from all directions. Images of Optimus, Rhinox, Auroa, Rattrap, Wintersong, Nemesis, Zodiac, Megatron, Terrosaur, Umbra.... All of them, everyone, gripping themselves. Screaming in pain. Reaching out. Then flames and suddenly, silence.

Taking a deep breath, holding her head for a minute. Looking a little fazed and unfocused for a time. No.

Time' aticking, and you are almost out of time. Do you want them to die.. just like what happened to those you served with back in the war?

Go to the alien site.. now.. without telling Primal.. and save them,

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote:Of course I wondered, the scientist and exploration Captain told the Empath, but it was highly classified. Only a select few were privileged to that knowledge, and at the time, as young as I was, I was not one of them.

Whitegrazer put her hands in her face for a moment, calming herself down, thinking , contemplating how to reveal herself and quickly, for Zodiac seemed to think the aliens were planning to enact their plan soon, and this time, she feels it would be quick yet deadly.

Optimus, they got the technology from me. Whitegrazer kept her gaze at Optimus, staring deep into his optics. You called my abilities extraordinary... Despite how my abilities resemble those of Empaths, my abilities aren't because I'm an Empath. They are not of Cybertronian origin. They are... of alien origin. Whitegrazer lowered her gaze for a moment. I... have lied to myself. Kept up this lie to protect myself like a shield, so that I could destroy those feelings of abandonment and angry. Trying to avoid the truth that I will never be Cybertronian. I believed it. Even when my brethren were staring me at the face.They don't seem to care nor wish to have a conversation me. Condemned and exiled, discarded like a defected circuit. She turned away to stare at the sun before turning back to face Optimus. My own powers used to torture and murder. Taken... used by scientists who knew nothing of what they were dealing with. Yet, if I haven't come here, if I haven't arrogantly believed I could heal the conflict between the Cybertronian race, you and the others... wouldn't have had to go through what you did. I'm so sorry, Optimus.

One tear went down her cheek. Not just to what she is confessing and pouring out to Optimus, but because of what she had to do.

She had to face them. She had to make them see reason... even if she had to fight it into them. She will not allow them to destroy this planet or the people in it.

It is time for her and the Vok to have a little chat.

Zodiac, I agree. I'm going. But you have to stay here. I know you are trying to escape, but it's much safer here than being outside.

Still, she needed to get out of here, but Zodiac was right. Optimus won't let her go. Zodiac, you must trust me. It's the only way.

She kept a silent for a moment, looking towards the door before her eyes lit up, realizing what was happening. "Optimus, Zodiac is trying to escape. We must hurry."

Whitegrazer knew this might be the only way to get Optimus out, so she could slip by and go to the alien site. As Optimus made his way out, Whitegrazer let herself follow... until they got to the hanger bay with Landslide and Zodiac, but Whitegrazer went to the bridge and took the platform outside.

Transforming into beast mode, she galloped. Galloped... towards the alien site.

(( OOC: Ah yes, I remember when Hurricane "Frankenstorm" Sandy hammered us up here and my power was out for about a week at the end of October. It was cold and I got smelly but I had off of work for four days that the insurance covered! And when that snow storm hammered us the year before again in October, trick-or-treaters strolled through the Halloween snow and the power was out for a few days. I tried preserving some of our refrigerated items using the snow from outside but we eventually lost pretty much everything. I don't mind one day without power, but when it's several days it sucks. Meeeeeemories. They've since trimmed back almost every tree from the telephone/electric wires. Stay safe, una, and keep us posted when you can so we know that you're alright!

at Landslide sitting on Zodiac! ))

Understood.

ALERT: Unit Zodiac has almost completed his repair cycle, Primal's internal computer told him.

Good, thought Optimus. Since Zodiac was almost done with his partial repairs, he had no doubt that he was going to try and escape. It would take guts and determination, but he knew Zodiac had both those qualities and more.

"Yes, I did,"

Primal raised a brow at Whitegrazer, noticing the tone of regret in her voice which suggested she had done it against Zodiac's will, which probably left him a bit frustrated and vulnerable. That wasn't like her. ...Was it? After all, she was about reveal something about her identity...

"I did it because I wanted to know if Zodiac was attacking us of his own free will or if...something was forcing him to. When he stared at Rhinox and I, before he attacked Rhinox, his expression was blank. His eyes almost seemed devoid of life for a second. I didn't want to re-establish the link because I felt like it was a violation, but if I didn't, Zodiac might be accused of something he had no control over and... his door of opportunity for change would close."

So, Optimus wasn't alone when push came to shove. And he still wasn't convinced that Zodiac could change at all, but he wasn't going to stop Whitegrazer from trying, at least not yet. Like her, he still saw that tiny window of optimism for the renegade, however it was continuously closing in on itself. The leader gave the mare a slight nod in understanding. "But you're still not sure what caused him to react in that way?"

"I couldn't detect his spark. How could I when I thought he was gone? But when I ran closer, I did feel something was wrong and that Rhinox and Aurora were in trouble."

Well, Primal wasn't sure if it mattered what she thought. If a bot was around and she could feel their energy or their spark, what would it matter who it was and if they had been assumed dead? Sometimes he just couldn't figure out her abilities as spontaneous as they were to him every once in a while.

"I understand your precaution." "You have no reason to trust him. And every right to be cautious with him, but he... is frightened. Vulnerable. In those states, people get desperate. Whatever it is you wish to discuss with him, I suggest you do it carefully. He doesn't like being here, and if any action he dictates is a threat to him, he will do his best to protect himself. Just be careful."

Optimus sighed quietly to himself as his gaze drifted away from her for a thoughtful moment. Of course Zodiac was probably frightened and felt vulnerable but it wasn't because of the gorilla, whom Zodiac enjoyed looking down upon and outsmarting even without his shape-shifting abilities, and it wasn't because of Whitegrazer. It may not have even been because of Megatron who wanted to kill him. But there was Ironclaw and the Vok, two things that might have been the renegade's greatest weaknesses. But even with all those to worry about, Primal doubted that Whitegrazer wasn't seeing past his manipulative words and emotions, whatever he was feeding her to convince her to take pity on him. The Maximal leader nodded once more confirming her warning, whether he'd heed it or not, and licked the scar across his mouth. He then felt a very unusual emptiness emitting from her and he grew more concerned as he observed her silence, especially when he thought he heard some distant screams. He was about to reach out to her before she spoke to him again through their connection. And it was definitely not what he was expecting.

Optimus, they got the technology from me.

He stared at her, lost for words. Her optics pierced into his and wouldn't let him go. He couldn't look away. He tried searching for something to say but his mouth was merely cracked open with silence. Primal blinked with bewilderment, pitying her and what she must have gone through so many years ago and for what she was still probably going through now. No wonder she was so desperate and determined to help others who were experiments; she was one, too. She knew exactly what they had been through; all of the pain, the torment, the darkness, seclusion, captivity, and who knew what else. But that wasn't all of it...

You called my abilities extraordinary... Despite how my abilities resemble those of Empaths, my abilities aren't because I'm an Empath. They are not of Cybertronian origin. They are... of alien origin.

Primal's spark sank and he suddenly felt nauseous. He stumbled a little as he took a step back from her, his spark accelerating. Was this a trick? A sick joke? What...? You're Vok...? He could barely think the words to her. Was this why he was targeted so much by the Vok, because of his connection to her and their relationship? Was she causing these events? No, no, no, no! How could he accuse her of such things?! He knew her so well, everything he ever felt from her was pure and honest. She helped bring him back to life. She tried helping everyone all the time. Was she assigned to his vessel because someone knew about her past and that she might attract the aliens to him? Could it seriously be that big of a conspiracy? No, no, no, there had to be more. It may not be a coincidence but there had to be more. By Primus...

I... have lied to myself. Kept up this lie to protect myself like a shield, so that I could destroy those feelings of abandonment and angry.

He shook his head with disbelief and sorrow, maybe even a little bit of betrayal, but he kept listening. By the Matrix, he kept listening despite what she had already confessed.

Trying to avoid the truth that I will never be Cybertronian. I believed it. Even when my brethren were staring me at the face.They don't seem to care nor wish to have a conversation me. Condemned and exiled, discarded like a defected circuit.

Now there was more sadness and empathy in his orange optics instead of fear and accusations. Because he had to believe her. He had to. There was no way he could imagine or think that she had anything to do with how the Vok were treating them here and trying to dispose of them and the planet. She had never given him a reason not to trust her or punish her. She was always there for all of them, especially Aurora. One can't simply pretend to care that much for so many years. He was certain that even if Zodiac was in disguise, he wouldn't be able maintain an unwavering affection and kindness to others for as long as Whitegrazer has. But was it just blind love? He couldn't see her faults because he refused to see any kind of badness or manipulation in her? No, that can't be. For the most part, Optimus was a pretty level-headed guy, and he thought things through. He had to remind himself to focus on that now, but it was such a shock. Why hadn't she told him all of this sooner? Did she not trust him? Was she afraid of his reaction? And did she honestly not recognize or know any of the ancient alien language he had etched into his walls and floor? Was she not aware of their plans. Well, if she was exiled like she claimed to be, then perhaps she really wouldn't know anything about the more recent and current events. He had to trust her with this. He tried so hard to not get upset or blow things out of proportion. He still loved her; he couldn't hide what he felt for her. Just because she originally came from that powerful and mysterious race of aliens didn't mean she was anything like them.

My own powers used to torture and murder. Taken... used by scientists who knew nothing of what they were dealing with.

Then that meant that even Nexus and Optimus had likely used her powers on others without even knowing. Others like Zodiac? Well, Optimus didn't know, he just did what he was told. Was this the shapeshifter's connection to the Vok and his abilities? His optics enlarged and he held the palm of his hand up to his temple, shaking his head in disbelief. This knowledge was so big... so heavy...

Yet, if I haven't come here, if I haven't arrogantly believed I could heal the conflict between the Cybertronian race, you and the others... wouldn't have had to go through what you did. I'm so sorry, Optimus.

For once, he didn't know what to say. This was such a devastating yet revealing turn of events. He watched the tear form on her optic and roll down her white cheek, and he felt so sorry for her as he pushed aside his own selfish feelings of anxiety and deception. How difficult it must have been for her to admit such a past full of cruelty, lies, responsibility, and loneliness. Primal slowly reached toward her face, obviously not afraid to touch her and comfort her despite that she just revealed that she was of Vok origin; aliens that tended to be one of his greatest enemies by abducting him, abusing him and inadvertently taking his life. And he gently wiped the tear off of her chin with his index finger before it could fall off of her delicate jaw. "I understand why you kept this a secret for so long, Whitegrazer," Optimus finally said out loud, breaking away from their private communication. "And it must be such a terrible and exhausting burden to you... I can't even imagine. You have done so much for us that I simply can not turn my back on you. Not now. If you have been exiled from them, then you will never feel such abandonment again from my crew or from me. I just... I need some time to process all of this," he admitted. He wasn't sure how everyone else would take it - not that they needed to know - but they shouldn't judge her on her past, they should only remember who they know her as and how she has treated them. It was no different than the Predacons Optimus had allowed to join them. "And, Whitegrazer, you may not be able to settle the conflicts between the Cybertronian allegiances alone, but together we might just be able to start a revolution. After all, my crew is already a great start since it consists of Maximals, Predacons and Vok." He smiled softly and pulled her toward him as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close in an embrace. Someone like him who appeared so tough on the outside as a powerful TransMetal was much softer and wiser on the inside. Yes, he had so many more questions for her, and perhaps a few doubts, but he hoped he wasn't trusting too much to be blinded by highly probable dangers. He was just following his instincts and didn't have the time to find out more. Also, he had to ready himself for Zodiac.

WARNING: Unit Zodiac has forcefully opened the repair chamber, effectively deactivating repairs.

"Optimus, Zodiac is trying to escape. We must hurry."

"I know," he said as he ended their embrace and broke away from her. "I have to get down there immediately." Hurrying out of his quarters, he expected the mare to follow him but as he made his way to the hangar he noticed that she was gone. She probably just made a detour to the bridge if Ironclaw and Aurora were there, so he didn't think much of it. Before he entered the large room, he took a deep breath and composed himself, trying to put aside everything that Whitegrazer had just told him so he could concentrate on this important matter.

"Rhinox, is the serum ready?" he sent quietly over his comm. link to his old friend.

"Yes," he answered.

"Alright. I'm moving Zodiac to the brig shortly." While he was uncertain as to what he might find since Zodiac got out, he was confident that Landslide could have subdued him. Wielding his gun from his hip just in case, Optimus cautiously opened the door and entered slowly as he glanced around. As he walked in a little further, he noticed the beetle awkwardly sitting in an unusual spot with something underneath him, or rather someone. Recognizing the black wings and limbs protruding out from under Landslide's body, Optimus put his gun away and limped over to them while shaking his head.

"It's so predictable of him attempting to escape," Primal said to the big beetle with a small smirk as he walked up to him. "That can't be comfortable for you, Landslide, but thank you for incapacitating him. You may get off of him."

"Zodiac, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't like it here. I give you shelter, protection and even repairs, and this is how you thank me? Such poor etiquette." Reaching under one of Zodiac's arms, Optimus helped pull him up off of the floor roughly and onto his feet - as far as he could reach anyway - seeing that his wrists and ankles were still restrained. "I hope you didn't actually think I wasn't monitoring you and had left you completely unguarded here." He shook his head. "Now, how about that talk you promised me?" Optimus asked him as he gestured to him to start walking toward the corridor. In the back of his mind, however, he was still thinking about Whitegrazer and what she had revealed. Her abilities could be a part of Zodiac's creation which Optimus was a part of while studying under the mentoring of Nexus Prime. How bizarre and ironic that would be.

"Aurora, can you report to the lab, please?" Rhinox sent her. "I need a hand with this data. I'll have to assist Optimus with Zodiac soon."

-----

"Hang in there Rattrap! I got you cover!"

"You are no match for me, cat!" Inferno laughed and fired a few rockets at her.

Rattrap took advantage of Wintersong's distraction and looked for new cover but hiding places were slim outside of the forest where it was a little more barren and boulders were sparse. If he could just get to some of those trees... Jumping up to his feet, the small Maximal made a run for it, but his movement caught Inferno's attention above.

"Where do you think you're going, pest?!" the pyro asked rhetorically as he fired at Rattrap again after he was done making Wintersong hide from his explosives. Then he dipped down in the air and flew after the pint-sized Maximal rodent, firing two more rockets.

"Rattrap, glad to hear a friendly voice. Optimus told me you were on your way."

"Yeah, sorry for the delay. I hope you didn't let Nemesis lay a finger on you. Dese Preds are known ta reprogram protoforms against their will," he warned Tigerhawk with a colder tone on the subject as he sprinted across the field with Inferno in hot pursuit.

"Not a problem at all." "I shall try to join you soon Rattrap, let me help take care of this Nemesis first."

"Only if you got electrical-based weapons!" the rat tried explaining in his exasperated breaths. "She's got tech dat can rapidly regenerate her injuries but electrocution is her weakness. She ain't one ta mess-" One rocket missed just to the side of Rattrap, who glanced over his shoulder at the incoming bug and fired at him. But the other rocket blew up right behind his feet and sent him flying into the air and then rolling across the ground. Rattrap laid motionless on his stomach, temporarily unconscious.

"AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Your head is mine to give to the Royalty!" Inferno announced victoriously as he swooped in and landed near Rattrap. So engrossed in his defeat, he forgot about Wintersong as he placed one of his feet on one of Rattrap's hubcaps that was attached to his back and targeted the barrel of his rocket launcher point blank to the Maximal's head. "Wake up, vermin! I want you to witness your failure as a pathetic Maximal," he said with a toothy grin and narrowed red optics, his finger on the trigger as he bonked the barrel of his weapon against Rattrap's head a couple times.

The prodding made the Spy come to but he felt the pressure of Inferno's foot on his back which pinned him to the ground, and he didn't have to move his head much to notice a long, dark tunnel of a launcher barrel staring at him. The diameter of the barrel was larger than his head! Rattrap swallowed realizing he was in a dire situation, but he knew Wintersong would help him...

Zodiac flapped his large wings to remain hovering as he located the controls to open the hangar doors. Part of him was actually somewhat surprised that Optimus hadn't been waiting for him as he emerged from the chamber, but he no doubt had planned for such an outcome so it wouldn't be long before some of his goons showed up.

He could but hope that he had enough time in case he'd failed to persuade the female to go there in his place. She was difficult to read.. even though he was as much inside her head as she was in his. Then again he had never quite understood the Vok during his time with them, and this one was so unlike any Vok that he still didn't quite know what to make of her confession of being one. Had she told Optimus yet, he wondered. Hopefully not since knowledge could definitely be considered power and right now that was something he desperately needed. Since he didn't have his own abilities right now, the power his words could inflict on his enemy could very well be the only leverage he had. Optimus.. seemed much more determined than before. Stronger. Or at least able to hide his weakness better than he used to be.

Of course luck had something to do with it as well. And unfortunately his luck hadn't exactly been present lately.

As would turn out to be the case yet again. Landslide slammed into Zodiac's backside with enough force to bring down a cargo flight. The renegade grunted and tried to twist around to face his opponent, his thrusters firing as he twisted in the air, but alas his attacker had already grabbed a firm hold of where his wing attached to his shoulder blade. Spinning out of control when the large beetle ignited his own thrusters, Zodiac found himself crashing hard into the floor a mere nanoclick later. He immediately attempted to get up again, only to get forcefully shoved back down to the ground when his tied arms and legs weren't able to withstand the weight applied to his back.

The slag you think yer goin' ?!

"Get off me!," Zodiac protested, his large wings flapping a couple of times before coming to a rest on the floor. "Seriously.. you are crushing me..!"

Of course he was exaggerating a tad. Yes, Landslide was quite heavy but not enough to cause harm. Still, it was rather uncomfortable being in this position. All in all, though, it was what little was left of his own sense of dignity that took the brunt of the damage.

After renewing his struggle for one last, brief attempt, Zodiac calmed down. Landslide was simply not budging from his spot on top of him. And even though he couldn't see his face from his present location, he could swear he had seen the beetle grin. Ugh.. the humiliation of having fallen so far..

Whitegrazer had been silent in his head for a while so he could only presume she was talking to Primal. Or that she just enjoyed keeping him in the dark about whether she'd do as he asked or not. Although that didn't really seem like her..

Zodiac, I agree. I'm going. But you have to stay here. I know you are trying to escape, but it's much safer here than being outside.

The sudden reappearance of her voice startled him a bit, enough so to lift his head up ever so slightly. Well.. at least she agreed with him, agreed to do as he had asked of her, but she said nothing about what she had told Primal. Which probably didn't bode well for the former shapeshifter.

Very well, I'll stay.. But only because you asked so nicely, he told her in return, his words almost dripping with sarcasm since he would gladly had left had he only been able to. He didn't agree with her assumption that it was safer for him to remain here, but he didn't argue the point. Not now. Not when she finally seemed to listen to him. He had no intention of jeopardizing her decision to go there.

But safer here? Hardly. Primal might try to keep his own angry crew from trying to inflict harm upon him, but that didn't change the fact that he was still a prisoner.. Someone expected to spill his guts about every dirty little deed he'd been involved in. And there were quite a few of them now that he thought about it. And worse still was that the Vok emissary, the one Whitegrazer had revealed to be in the pod they were in the process of recovering, was on his way. Considering his past history with the Vok, that couldn't be a good thing. And worst of all.. If he was to remain here, imprisoned, he'd have no way to defend himself when the Vok decided to launch their attack. What he told Whitegrazer had been at least partially true, even if he may have let a few details remain hidden.

Zodiac, you must trust me. It's the only way.

He shook his head briefly at that, a part of him wondering if the giant beetle would ever get off his back.

You're wasting time.., he told the female. Just go. And hope it's not already too late.

He sighed inwardly at her delays. She was way too bound by her emotions. How could she possibly have been Vok? Well at least she was now going so at least things were starting to look up a bit..

"It's so predictable of him attempting to escape,"

.. or not.

Zodiac bent his arms at the elbows, using his cuffed hands to support his chin as he glanced over at Optimus.

"I suppose I should feel fortunate if you don't add an act of Cybertronian nature to my no doubt already substantial list of crimes?," he told the Maximal leader, attempting sound defiant and that his current predicament was nothing more than a mere inconvenience. A slight flinch as Landslide shifted his weight a bit revealed that was far from the truth.

"That can't be comfortable for you, Landslide, but thank you for incapacitating him. You may get off of him."

Oh the smugness and arrogance.. If Zodiac was able to, he would likely have punched Primal right then and there. He was simply not capable of recognizing the attitude as being similar to the one he so often displayed himself. All the scenarios his extensive training had prepared him for, not showing weakness to an enemy was one of the most important ones. And often that required the portrayal of confidence in the form of appearing smug and arrogant. Perhaps Primal had learned the lesson too well?

"How considerate of you," Zodiac pointed out in a snarky tone as Landslide finally got off him, releasing that heavy burden that had kept him pushed down against the floor for a while now. Well.. it probably felt longer than it truly had been considering how uncomfortable it had been.

"Zodiac, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't like it here. I give you shelter, protection and even repairs, and this is how you thank me? Such poor etiquette."

You also electrocuted me twice, allowed them to experiment on me, and you're about to lock me up, Zodiac thought bitterly and came very close to verbalizing his thoughts until he thought better of it.

"Don't mistake my desire for freedom as ungratefulness," he responded under his breath as Primal reached under his arm and pulled him up to a standing position, deciding the best approach would be to buy his time until Whitegrazer had arrived at the alien site at least. It took him a moment to regain his balance, restraints still in place and Primal tugging at his arm and all, but once he did he turned to look at Optimus.

"I hope you didn't actually think I wasn't monitoring you and had left you completely unguarded here."

A shrug of the shoulders greeted the question and Zodiac then spread his wings out as far as they could reach before folding them around himself.

"It wouldn't have been the first time you underestimated someone," the renegade pointed out quite bluntly, "I figured I had nothing to lose by trying." He followed up by briefly glancing at the beetle still lingering in the background. Of course deep down he hadn't actually believed he'd be getting out that easily but the attempt had served its purpose. Whitegrazer had left and was now on her way. And Optimus remained clueless to that fact thus far, he had to.. Otherwise Zodiac was sure the Maximal commander would never have let her out of his sights.

Primal directed his attention towards the corridor, warranting a slow nod of understanding from the renegade. He knew Maximal regulations and he knew the Axalon quite well from his time there as Nexus and from the blueprints before that. He was well aware that the security measures were about to become far stricter. So he didn't exactly hurry as he started moving in the direction Primal wanted him to.

"Now, how about that talk you promised me?"

Zodiac let out an exasperated sigh yet his voice was defiant to a fault when he responded after a long pause.

"I hope your powers of persuasions have evolved a bit from the torture you put me through last time we attempted to have this talk," he said. He only planned to tell Primal very specific details, of course, meant to devastate him and force him to let the renegade go.

"Aurora, can you report to the lab, please?" Rhinox sent her. "I need a hand with this data. I'll have to assist Optimus with Zodiac soon."

Aurora had been with Ironclaw for a good while when Rhinox' transmission came through. Yet the transmetal badger was as unwilling to talk as ever despite her best efforts. She cast one last glance at Ironclaw before shaking her head and turning to leave. "I'll be there in a nanoclick," she told her comrade, silently wondering if she'd ever be able to get through to the badger or that he'd be willing to open up even a little. A short walk later she stepped back into the lab, finding the bulkier male still there. "Okay, let's do this," she said while clasping her hands together as she walked over to the sensors. Thus far she was blissfully unaware of what was going on in the hangar and that Whitegrazer had left.

(ooc: My apologies for the delay in posting as Nemesis. Work, school, life got busy. )

"You shouldn't have wasted your time with me Pred, should have just taken me out when you had the chance."

Nemesis smirked at Tigerhawk's immediate response now that he finally figured out she was indeed not a Maximal. Of course it would have been much simpler to just lure this fuzor back with them but since that was evidently not going to be possible anymore, reducing him to scrap sounded like a good option. Or at least a more fun one.

Tigerhawk started firing his machine guns at her but Nemesis was in her right element right now. She spun around before making a sharp climb and then suddenly looped around to avoid the majority of the incoming shots. Still one or two of them managed to hit their target, embedding themselves into her wing and thigh. The female grimaced a bit at the pain but fortunately her nanomachines were quick to start repairs, the wounds glowing briefly in a faint blue glow before they seemed to vanish.

She glanced down at Tigerhawk below her, curious to see if the fuzor even noticed. Of course she was as of yet blissfully unaware of Tigerhawk's true nature just like she didn't know that her own nanotechnology was of Vok origin.

"As you should have not tested my patience and we could have avoided all of this. Now we'll have to give you a proper welcome to the beast wars.."


Abruptly angling her aim downwards, she started firing at the fuzor again attempting to take out his thrusters and wings.

( Been busy with the garage build as I showed you. )

Terrorsaur wrote:"Slag you Maximal!"

Wintersong wrote:"Cheetor you got in coming!"

As Cheetor was freefalling, he was about to transform as he turned his head noticing the missiles, pointing his left arm out he fired rapidly at them, taking one of the missiles out, the other crashed into his chest sending a spray of metal with a open hole seen in his chest Arg! Cheetor screamed, then slammed down into the side of the mountain, bouncing and sliding along, coming down towards the bottom his optics turned dark in stasis lock.
_______________________________________________________

Zodiac wrote:"Get off me!," "Seriously.. you are crushing me..!"

Optimus Primal wrote:"That can't be comfortable for you, Landslide, but thank you for incapacitating him. You may get off of him."

Optimus Primal wrote: "Zodiac, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't like it here. I give you shelter, protection and even repairs, and this is how you thank me? Such poor etiquette." "I hope you didn't actually think I wasn't monitoring you and had left you completely unguarded here." "Now, how about that talk you promised me?"

Landslide stood up, looking if Zodiac had taken any damage from him sitting on him, though was not the case surprisingly. Landslide then started to walk towards the CR chamber with a frown Slaggin winged newt broke the chamber again! he said displeased, and started work on repairing the broken CR chamber door.

The explosives coming her way caused Wintersong to quickly hit the deck behind her cover, wincing as the rockets blew her own cover to rubble and feeling some of the remains of the boulders pelt her armor. Luckily, the attack didn't last which made the Transmetal tigress confused and relieved at the same time, but she also was mainly worried to why Inferno suddenly had stopped until she heard his words and quickly peeked a glance up to see that the flying ant had turned his attention to Rattrap, seeing he had made a break for the trees.

Pushing herself to her feet, the tigress barely had stood back up before she heard more explosions watching with wide optics as the Transmetal rat was blown off his feet and vulnerable. Growling softly, Wintersong shifted to her tiger form and made her way forward as quietly as she could, realizing that Inferno had completely forgotten her presence, much less that she could still be a threat to him. His back was to her, focused instead on Rattrap who would have his head melted to to scrap if she didn't make her move. Just a short distance away she made her move. Crouching in a way as if to pounce prey, Wintersong launched her body forward, pushing off her back legs to get some air before firing her boosters on her sides to add momentum to her attack and slamming her body head first into Inferno's back to knock him away from Rattrap.

But she quickly transformed a moment later and skidded to a stop, her head swimming with dizziness from the head on collision with rather durable armor. "Never turn your back on an enemy insect, I could have just blown your head off in return." Wintersong growled, shaking her head to rid of the dizziness but looking back enough to see where her teammate was, offering her hand to the smaller mech to help him back on his feet.

So, that was why Nemesis had been so adamant of getting him away from here. Tigerhawk had almost gone with her before Rattrap had made contact, which would have probably put him in the clutches of the Predacons and made him vulnerable just by their numbers and sheer firepower alone. Sure Tigerhawk could have held them off alone, but eventually they would have worn him down, maybe even quickly. He was out of practice with fighting, much less a few minutes ago he had thought he was meeting a fellow Maximal and suddenly thrust into an unexpected conflict he hadn't expected to face when he awoke from his pod.

The fuzor frowned in concentration, trying to aim for Nemesis and following her the best he could with his weapons, but her speed allowed only a few of his shots to strike with the obvious grimace she gave. Unlike her, the mech was far out of his element in the air at the moment, knowing he would have to quickly adapt to this newly added aerial form when he wasn't exactly built for it before. But he paused his attack to try and think of a better strategy, his optics noticing a blue glow on her armor just as Rattrap mentioned that she could heal. "Wonderful." Tigerhawk muttered, seeing she could rapidly heal in such a way he had never before seen. He had heard of Cybertronians having strange abilities in their history at times but this was the first time he had ever seen such technology as to allow one to heal faster than any other. And as luck would have it, he had no such electrical-based weapons giving him a further disadvantage.

"How un-gentleman like of me to try the fair lady's patience, I'll take note not to do so in the future." Tigerhawk retorted dryly, giving a mock bow of apology without taking his optics off her. But the moment she began to fire he immediately began to try and dodge around the shuts, wincing as some still struck his armor and dangerously close to the only things keeping him from crashing into the ground below. 'Probably time for a Plan B...whatever that'll be.' Tigerhawk thought to himself as he flew backwards to try avoiding more shots, firing his Machine Guns in her direction yet again, at this point taking the risk of them not doing much. But his best bet was likely getting to Rattrap and his companion at this rate. "Beast mode." Tigerhawk commanded to his internal systems as he twisted to fly straight and transforming in the process, flapping his wings to keep airborne before heading towards Rattrap and Wintersong, "Rattrap, I'm heading your way now. If you two can give me some cover fire that might be great, you know my opponent better than I do and at the moment I'm outmatched in the sky."

Spineback watched as the Transmetal took down her first missile, only able to wait to see if her second one would hit it's mark....which it did seconds later. Her attack had worked as expected, taking out the flying cat in no time and watching as his stasis locked form crashed into the mountain, and sliding down in a way she already could figure he would be feeling later on. "That's going to leave a few marks." Spineback said with satisfaction, turning her attention to the skies, watching as it seemed Nemesis engaged Tigerhawk who seemed not to hesitate to fight back. All well, it made things more interesting for the Predacons when their prey fought back and gave them a decent challenge.

"One of their aerial support is down for the count, that leaves three Maximals." Spineback reported to Nemesis and Inferno, not knowing if the insect was fairing any better, having not really been paying attention. But at this rate she probably would have to concern herself with seeking out their wounded. "Nemesis, Inferno, I'm going to retrieve Terrorsaur then find Waspinator, seems like we could wrap this up quickly at the rate we're going." She added as she made her way to retrieve the fallen Transmetal pterodactyl before she opened a com. link to Waspinator, "Waspinator can you hear me?"

((No worries Phoenix. To be honest, I'm going ahead posting tonight since it might not be until Thursday I can get in another post at the latest. Kinda have a lot to do this week, most importantly a Mid-term I have to do for one class so will see how this goes.))