The Intergalactic Highway

Desperate green optics fell on Optimus as the larger Maximal brought up a last bit of strength so that he could get on his knees, ever refusing to give up that last bit of defiance. The ermine tugged at her chains again, if a bit more weakly this time, staring at the wounded leader with an all consuming sadness present in her eyes. The damage done to him was obvious at this close range, pieces of his armor having been bent out of shape to the point where some of it had actually shattered and now lay in pieces on the floor. If anything the expression on Aurora's face was a mortified one, yet harboring a sense of despair that was nearly unheard of.

"Please... Please don't... harm her..." Optimus coughed in a strained but soft voice as he looked on to Megatron, pleadingly. "I'll... I'll co-operate... as long as... no harm comes... to her."

The tone in Primal's voice was just beautiful.. So deliciously broken, proving to Megatron that he was indeed a worthy ally. At the moment there was very little left of the once proud commander and chief who had led the Maximals in this war thus far. A mere few nanoclicks had passed since Aurora had been revealed, but in those few moments Primal had gone from defiant and brave to utterly pathetic and agreeable. His choice in using the little fuzor's visage had turned out to be the right one, the spontaneous reaction from Optimus even more potent than if he had remained in Nexus' form. Interesting observation indeed..

"Please," the ermine continued, the voice growing ever more desperate as she addressed the Predacons surrounding her, "Please stop this.. Just let him be!"

Seemingly oblivious to the widows that were present in the room as well, Aurora could be heard whimpering a subdued "Don't..", whereas her gaze was fixed on Optimus. She still struggled against the chains a bit, futile as it was. Indeed, Zodiac's performance was flawless, but as tempting as the thought of his well deserved bravado was, he stayed in character. Oh how he looked forward to finally being able to look Primal in the optics and reveal himself, his true agenda, to the sentimental fool just before putting him out of his misery.. But not quite yet.

Through the corner of his optic he caught sight of Megatron grinning more widely than he had ever seen the tyrant do before, tempting him to grin as well and he just barely managed to avoid it, contorting the fuzor's face into a pained grimace instead as Megatron grabbed for the fuzor's neck.

"Hhhmmm? What was that Primal? I can't quite hear you over the child's weeping, shall I silence her for you?"

Immediately stopping the struggling, Aurora's optics appeared to widen even more as dread seemed to spread across her face. Megatron's touch was enough to make the fur in the back of her neck stand on end, her normally pointy ears now flattened against her head.

"Don't..," Aurora repeated, but the rest of the sentence drowned in pitiful whimpers.

"Well Primal, how about you show me your sincerity by giving me the access codes to Sentinel? As well as any files or portions of your ship's systems which may not be under Sentinel's influence, hmm? A fair trade for the continued well being of this precious ball of fluff wouldn't you say? Yesssss"

Aurora visibly cringed at the Predacon's words, looking for all the world like she was going to sink through the floor when the tyrant then placed his hand on her head and proceed to pet her. It wasn't exactly difficult to feign these emotions, since all he had to do was exaggerate his true feelings of revolt at being treated like a pet.

Quite the duo they made, indeed, of course neither one of them was foolish enough to trust the other in the least. But their shared hatred for the Maximals was enough to hold them together, for now. After the Maximals had been defeated, Zodiac would just have to re-evaluate the necessity of his friendship with the tyrant. Perhaps he could still prove useful, it was too early to tell.

"I'm sorry. It's not my intent to cause you any discomfort. I don't know any details. I only empathize with the emotions, feelings you radiate through my own experiences." She smiled warmly at Nemesis, "You might disagree, but despite our differences, I think you and I are a lot alike. "

Nemesis was hardly too well bred to snort and Whitegrazer's comment caused her to do just that. Granted, the white Maximal's all-knowing gaze did bother her a bit, since she hated the feeling of being exposed, but she was hardly about to admit to it.

"You overestimate your importance to me, Maximal," Nemesis retorted, not slowing her pace in the least, "I do not fear you.. or your abilities, whatever they may be. It is simply not a concern to me." She paused for a brief moment, uncertain if the other female was buying her dismissal. "And we certainly do not have anything in common," she finished, as if to prove a point. In a way it did, she supposed, but the way it came out almost made her sound a bit hesitant despite her best efforts to sound confident.

She just wanted to get this overwith as quickly as possible so that she could move on with her life without having to worry about these pesky Maximals breathing down her neck. The atmosphere in the Axalon was hardly better than at the Darksyde. It might smell a little better, but a majority of the Maximals had made their opinions a bit too loud and clear.

Nemesis only slowed down a tad as they got closer to the lab and she noticed Aurora and the larger bot, the one she recognized as Ironclaw, standing outside the fortified doors of the lab.

"Aurora, what's the matter?"

The fuzor merely shrugged, not entirely sure of what was going on herself either. She was about to answer when a scream from inside the lab made her answer all too obvious.

"I swear," He panted as rage boiled in his spark. "I swear in the names of Primus, the all mighty Unicron, even the Quintessons... I WILL DESTROY THE PRETENDER!"

Tugging lightly at her lower lip like she so often did when she was thinking about something, Aurora tilted her head slightly at Whitegrazer. "It seems like the virus hasn't run its course just yet. No matter. In my haste to get to the command center, I brought a needle with me so I can still get the sample I need. Stand still please," she said to Nemesis, who promptly rolled her eyes and crossed her arms when the little fuzor pulled out the needle. To her surprise the little Maximal then stabbed the needle in her foot, drawing back some mech fluid swiftly before the nanites had a chance to respond to the abrupt invasion. Nemesis winced ever so slightly at the sudden onslaught, but managed to refrain from letting her instincts to kill the nuisance get the better of her.

"We needed a clean sample, one that hasn't been contaminated by your..,"
Aurora started to explain.

She quickly changed her tone upon seeing the deadly glare the taller female sent her.

"..that hasn't been affected by your nanotech," Aurora quickly mended her initial statement, visibly relieved when Nemesis appeared to settle for that answer. Messing too much with live nanotech could be dangerous, she realized that, especially after seeing what the effects had been on Optimus. This way they wouldn't have to worry about that. But how to duplicate the specimen without use of the lab..

Thinking about it for a moment, Aurora's face suddenly lit up. Of course! The fuzor darted off with the sample, only shouting at them from down the hallway.

"I'll see you guys at the CR chamber!"

((OOC: Nice post Blackrosefencer! I hope you feel better soon!

Since Phoenix has posted, I will do both of my characters in one post. And hopefully, I will have those posts today or tonight.

Edited: Only have time to post for BA! Getting late here. But Whitegrazer's will be here tomorrow! Definitely! ))

DarkSpark wrote:"No thank you witch, I prefer to be on top, & Primal simply is not my type" Tarantulas retorted snidely, chuckling at his own joke and its implications, amused by Blackarachnia's condition and her distress over her precious finish.

Blackarachnia just sniffed at the Predacon tarantula, "Nor mine." Her type was the ghouls, the gruesome, the ones with the bite and dripping with their own aroma of wickedness and dread. Ones that the "good girls" stay away from. Sometimes, she loved the big and dumb ones, but soon, those got boring. She wanted someone she could catch in her web, break free until she could catch them again. She wanted to be the dominator and corrupter. A game to be played and played with.

She smirked at the injured leader, "Though, we do know your type, don't we?"

"Its okay, I'm a doctor, bwahahahahahahaha!" Tarantulas cackled wildly as his claws graced Primal's hide, the cables inches away from accessing his core processor as he pried open the side of his helmet to gain access

.

Blackarachnia watched as Tarantulas got on top Optimus. It actually reminded her of those times in the lair where she had to watch Tarantulas play with his food. Deers. Rats. Anything. Disturbing. But watching him work on Optimus just made her laugh, "Nah! I think it can work between you two! Optimus, he is just playing hard to get." It paid to see Tarantulas going inside someone else's processor for a change. If anyone thought she might feel sympathy for Optimus for what he was going through, they were dead wrong. Simple as that. she didn't care for the well-being of Primal and it was nice to see Tarantulas distracted. She needed some space in her own mind. Thanks Primal! Part of her actually wished something blew up though. She didn't know if Optimus had the golden disks or not.

If that knowledge was known, she could be in trouble. And that fear rose when Tarantulas got accessed to Primal's head. She tried to hide her expectations, but the only thing she hid was the sigh of relief when Megatron came inside. Loving every second of Tarantulas' little explanation that Megatron wouldn't believe.

Megatron had a gift and it was that little pipsqueak, Aurora. Though, how did that kid get inside with no one knowing? That interested her more than the interrogation. Were they really that lax and what happened to the old timer was he dead? Oooooooo maybe he was, but that still beg the question: how did she get inside?

DarkSpark wrote:"Enjoying the show my dears?"

"May have been better if we got the horsey." She sighed in fake disappointment. "But I guess you can't buy love, huh, Primal?" She didn't really care... for now. She was going to let Megatron have his hand at Primal's vulnerabilities.

Blackrosefencer wrote: "Of course," she replied grinning. She enjoyed watching Aurora experiencing this pain and fear after looking down on Arachnitron for the way she reacted to pain and fear. Perhaps she would now learn how quickly it can change someone and how devasting it can be.

She let her mind wander to Arachnitron and decided to play with the little widow for awhile, "Oh, I'm glad to see you have hardened yourself to an old comrade's pain. I thought he was softening you up a bit there."

((OOC: I'm going to move on since it has been days/weeks? since Mystrea posted.))

"You first Nosferatu!"

Starshadow's optics widened and brought her arms forward to block the incoming laser and took the shot, resulting a large burn mark inbetween it. She hissed at Terrorsaur as he fell from the skies then smiled. The other big guy who was waaaay behind was too slow to catch up. This might be the perfect chance to escape from Megatron's goons. Starshadow let out a loud laughter to humilate those who were defeated by her and flew up higher to the skies and to the direction of her desired destination.

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

Banshee gaze turned to the direction of the screams of horror and raised an optic ridge. She turned back to her fellow maximal companions, listening to their plans of rescuing Optimus.

Though.. I have to wonder.. even if we defeat this Darkwind.. what do you plan to do with him?

"I suggest putting him down like a rabid dog just like what we should do with Nightstar. He's too dangerous to be around."

Then a thought hit her, "hmm...a hallucinogen...since the Predacons gave us this virus, we can return the favor... We might be able to get something more, not just Optimus," she stretched her wings before speaking again, "you see, we all know that our minds will be in a complete mess when we are in extreme fear and most of the time, we will do anything to make it stop unless your willpower is just that strong or you got over your fears. I'm thinking if we infect Megatron with the virus, we may be able to bargain with him. Trade with Optimus for the cure. Now, before we infect him, we must take out their scientists or anyone who carries cyber venom. If we're lucky, we might be able to steal some their energon supplies and use the rest as explosives although I prefer tainting them with the virus," she cleared her throat before continuing.

"Here's my plan, each of us will have this...UV dye if one of us ran into the shapeshifter. Smelling their scent won't be efficent so we'll need different "passwords". It's difficult but it's the safest password. If one of "us" doesn't give a proper answer in a second, keep yourself in a safe distance before shooting. Remember to keep us updated on your location through the comlinks every 10 cycles. The stealth team will go after Optimus and infect Megatron with a sharp projectile with the virus. The assault team will keep his goons busy without the any weapons that's infected because we will risk getting ourselves infected and that's a stupid thing to do. Assault team's primary targets will be those who are scientists or anyone that have cyber venom weapons. If there's a tank, we'll need Landslide to keep him occupied. This mission is similar to one of my past undercover missions of the attempted assassination of one of the High Council Member Magnaboss. I'll need all the information about the Predacon units. Does the computers have any data on them?"

Phoenix wrote:"You overestimate your importance to me, Maximal," Nemesis retorted, not slowing her pace in the least, "I do not fear you.. or your abilities, whatever they may be. It is simply not a concern to me." She paused for a brief moment, uncertain if the other female was buying her dismissal. "And we certainly do not have anything in common," she finished, as if to prove a point. In a way it did, she supposed, but the way it came out almost made her sound a bit hesitant despite her best efforts to sound confident.

She expected such a statement from Nemesis, but a word caught her attention. Importance? No where did she implied any importance or assumed anything from Nemesis. Interesting that her attempt at a dismissal and denial just proved there was something inside Nemesis that may have tried to connect. Some part that she could reach. Despite what Nemesis says, she did see something in there, but she wasn't going to press. Nemesis was protective of feelings and weaknesses. To try to get her to attempt it would be answered with the worse case scenario of her sticking a dagger into her chest in anger. Predacons don't like to hear the talk of emotions or feelings especially from Maximals. Nemesis may not always been Predacon, but Decepticons had a similar ideology. Whitegrazer wasn't going to tempt fate. She was smarter than that. Or at least, she tried to be.

She just smiled warm, gentle. Gentle as her tone was when she spoke, "Maybe, depending on how long you stay, I can prove you wrong in that statement."


She felt something within Optimus crack a bit. Some tears formed on her optics. Part of what those spiders tried to do, but something else too. What was going on? For a moment, as she looked upon the Maximal ermine with wings. She saw her entire body blackened and drenched in tears, leaking from her optics. The picture made her unnerved, her spark beating rapidly. Before she shook herself back to the reality she was in, not the one Optimus was seeing.

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote:Was he? He sure didn't feel like it. So tired he was. So very tired. Wait... What...? he asked of Whitegrazer. On the outside to the Predacons Primal suddenly appeared confused. Aurora... is with you? But she's... she's right in front of me. Megatron is... is holding her captive... before me... He didn't understand. Was this not her? His legs started to weaken but he refused to fall. His orange optics mysteriously lingered on "Aurora".

Aurora? She asked in question, staring at the young ermine. Why was he- Of course! Her optics widened. Optimus, whoever you are seeing there. It is not Aurora. Aurora is right here with me, alive and well. The person you see right in front of your eyes is a shapeshifter, probably the Predacon Darkwind. We were discussing what transpired with Nemesis. We thought he might be a shapeshifter, which explains how Nemesis got framed and Sonar's escape and the virus. The idea that they guessed correct made her confident, but also, the idea made her realize that whoever that individual was... was more than dangerous than she realized. Now, that bot was trying to masquerade as Aurora. It made her question how that individual made such performance that Optimus almost believed.

Phoenix wrote:"It seems like the virus hasn't run its course just yet. No matter. In my haste to get to the command center, I brought a needle with me so I can still get the sample I need. Stand still please,"

Whitegrazer peered inside the lab, watching as Rhinox and Ironclaw tried to pacify their other Predacon ally for the time being, Sonar. He seemed to be going insane because of the effects of the virus courtesy of their shapeshift- Wait a minute. She watched as Aurora in wide eye amazement as the young ermine took a sample from Nemesis' foot. Nemesis wasn't too happy about it, but Aurora had her reasons.

Phoenix wrote:"We needed a clean sample, one that hasn't been contaminated by your..,"
Aurora started to explain.

"..that hasn't been affected by your nanotech,"

Of course! "I'll see you guys at the CR chamber!"

Whitegrazer tilted her head still in wonder at Aurora's way of thought and smiled at it before she glanced at Nemesis, "Let's go." Before she took one step, she didn't look, but a dark aura shook her body. She knew where it was coming from. She felt like she was punched in the stomach. She felt like she was in danger yet not. It was such juxtraposition that it made her so shocked at such feelings. It was coming from the lab, but it wasn't Sonar. Ironclaw. Just like she felt before when he was in the CR chamber back after the transwarp wave.

She shook herself and started to walk along with Nemesis, "Nemesis, we were correct in our assumptions that Darkwind is a shapeshifter."

You know who it is, Whitegrazer. You just don't want to attempt it.

Ironclaw stood firm by the lab door like a silent guardian. Aurora stood beside him wanting to gain access to complete her work but he wasn't having any of it. He didn't like what was going on in there and he wouldn't risk it. He took a few steps back, examining the door as Aurora tried to communicate with Rhinox. After a few moments two bots approached them from behind. The badger partially turned to see who was coming. Nemesis and Whitegrazer, he was fond of neither. Ironclaw turned around fully to present himself to them. He dismissed Nemesis quite quickly, not giving her any undeserved attention. His gaze then fell on their mystic female Maximal. They did not trust each other, that was obvious but there seemed to be something deeper going on. His eyes narrowed as he looked into hers, a conflict was brewing and at some point it would have to come fruition. As usual, Aurora's outburst broke the tension and she quickly made her way to the bridge. The soldier followed her, giving Whitegrazer a stare as he passed her.
Ironclaw marched into the bridge and came up behind Aurora. He stiffened up, eyes focused on one thing, he hadn't seen her in long time. She gracefully emerged from the CR chamber and stood there looking as if she had just come online. Wintersong. It's as if nothing else was in the room.

Umbra shook his head as he observed Starshadow fly off into the distance, unable to pursue at this point. Now all that could be done was take care of the damage left behind. Umbra looked up as he noticed a blip appear on the computer, then turned around looking towards Spineback enter the ship Ah, Doctor.. it's been awhile. Many events have transpired since you were last with us, however I believe your skills may be of use.. we have some casualties from a prisoner escape.. I'll bring them along shortly and fill you in more..

Umbra turned off the autoguns on the ship, then exited the darksyde, towards Terrorsaur and Waspinator's coordinates.

Before long, Umbra made his way to their location, his tentacles picking up pieces of Waspinator and piling them together on his back as he made his way to Terrorsaur Lets get you patched up.. Umbra pulled Terrorsaur up to his feet Can you walk?

((OOC: Sorry for the wait. If it is alright I am going to say someone showed Night Terror where a CR vat is so he can be repaired. That way we can keep the story moving. If it is not, I will change my post.))

Stepping out of the CR vat, Night Terror composed himself. He readopted his air of authority and his calm arrogant manner. He fold his arms behind his back and proceeded back to the control room. Having his systems restored and repaired, Night Terror felt himself again.

He assumed that Dirge and Megatron's troops would have handled the situation. Once he realized that the prisoner had escaped, his irritation returned. He watched as Umbra helped the flyers up, then greeted another Predacon. Night Terror turned back to one of the work stations, he accessed what files he could from the Darksyde's systems. He downloaded mostly basic data, ones that would help him form a battle strategy. Maps, past battle reports and any information on the Maximals and their base. He could not get much, since he has not been given the ship's computer codes yet, but ever little bit helped.

Might as well make myself useful until Zodiac is finishes with his little play.

"Dirge, return to your basic protocols. Night Terror to Inferno, inform... Lord Megatron that Terrorsaur and Waspinator has failed to recapture the prisoner. And that I would like to see him at his earliest convenience."

((OOC: Hope this is okay guys. Let me know if I need to change something or if I missed something. Sorry it has been a long week.))

(( OOC: Welcome back, Wintersong! Yay! ))

"I wasn't asking for mercy," "Unless doing what the femme with the gun orders you to do is considered mercy.....in that case, you should really show that mercy more often."

The Maximal Commander disagreed. Sparing someone's life was an act of mercy and compassion and a choice that everyone had. But these Predacons surrounding him probably couldn't care less, and he sure as heck wasn't going to waste his time and what little energy he had left arguing with them.

"Hhhmmm? What was that Primal? I can't quite hear you over the child's weeping, shall I silence her for you?"

Primal's intense optics, full of emotion, followed Megatron's hand that gripped "Aurora's" neck and squeezed it ever so slightly. He desperately wanted to reach out to her but his restraints denied him the motion. Instead, he stood there, physically and emotionally crushed, against the wall as a couple more bolts and small pieces of armor and paint fell to the floor by his shot-up feet.

"Enjoying the show my dears?"

"Of course,"

"May have been better if we got the horsey."

These intentionally cruel Predacons were the worst he had ever met. So dark and twisted. It wouldn't have mattered which Maximal they miraculously captured, it would have had the same effect on Optimus. But where was Nexus Prime...?

"But I guess you can't buy love, huh, Primal?"

"Unfortunate... for you since... it would have... been the only... kind... you could have... ever found," the ape dug in at Blackarachnia for her snide remarks as he tried to speak coherently. Did any of these Predacons know love? Besides the love they had for torture, death and domination. It was as though they were incapable of that emotion, as if it wasn't in their programming. A real shame, they would never understand.

"Well Primal, how about you show me your sincerity by giving me the access codes to Sentinel? As well as any files or portions of your ship's systems which may not be under Sentinel's influence, hmm? A fair trade for the continued well being of this precious ball of fluff wouldn't you say? Yesssss"

"Please," "Please stop this.. Just let him be!" "Don't.." "Don't.."

Optimus couldn't take his eyes off of "Aurora" as the tyrant stroked her furry head, tears gradually trickling down his cheeks to his chin and dripping off with the fluid from his cut lip, splashing tiny pools of sorrow and pain at his feet on the dark, cold metal floor. Watching "Aurora" like this... It tore him apart. His spark felt suffocated and broken despite Whitegrazer's attempts to help sooth his despair from her end. His mouth opened on the verge of spilling Sentinel's codes but then he hesitated...

Aurora? Optimus, whoever you are seeing there. It is not Aurora. Aurora is right here with me, alive and well. The person you see right in front of your eyes is a shapeshifter, probably the Predacon Darkwind. We were discussing what transpired with Nemesis. We thought he might be a shapeshifter, which explains how Nemesis got framed and Sonar's escape and the virus.

The TransMetal Maximal bowed his head for a moment, full of confusion as his exhausted mind tried sorting out what he saw in front of him and what he was feeling and gathering from Whitegrazer. A shapeshifter? While Optimus was overwhelmingly relieved that it wasn't actually Aurora in front of him, this imitator sure did put on a flawless performance. How intriguing... Who exactly was this bot and what did he want? What was he gaining in this horrible act of cruelty? In that case, he didn't have to cave in to Megatron's demands after all. Confidence and relentlessness suddenly returned to Primal as he slowly lifted his head to glare directly at Megatron and "Aurora", and said firmly with a hardened face, "Darkwind." And then awaited their reactions.

-----

"I swear," "I swear in the names of Primus, the all mighty Unicron, even the Quintessons... I WILL DESTROY THE PRETENDER!"

Rhinox had fallen backwards onto the floor, losing his footing after he had bumped into that table and then covered his audio sensors with his large hands from Sonar's deafening bellow. Sitting up, he watched in horror with his warped and skewed vision as the bat bit himself in the arm and then spit the fluid out of his mouth.

"You have got to calm down, Sonar!" the engineer told him. He got back to his feet, slowly while he tried maintaining his balance as if he was walking on a tight rope, and approached Sonar. He went to grab his shoulders and force him onto the cot he had had him on earlier.

(( OOC: Sorry, I don't have time for Rattrap tonight. Lots to do with him and more I need to think about. I'll add him tomorrow night. ))

(OOC: Sorry for the wait. I was so busy, I completely forgot about Dinobot....)

Wintersong. It's as if nothing else was in the room.

Awww!!! That was cute! ....... sorry, you probably weren't trying to be cute....

BIC:

In the Maximal base, ideas began to take shape and suggestions were thrown around the room about the plan to rescue Optimus. Banshee spoke up with an idea....

"Hm...I suggest not to trade the golden disks," now to support her statement, "there is no need to. If Megatron's going to be a stubborn fool. I can be stubborn as well...My plan is we form two teams. The first team will be for diversion, any of you sharpshooters must take out their ship's autoguns while the rest focus on taking them out. The second team will sneak in to their base while the Megatron's lackeys are distracted by our attack but one of you must know the ship's layout inside out and quick on his feet," she paused, thinking deep again.

"If they realize what we're up to, diversion team will have to move in to keep them busy but becareful of the 'polite one'," Banshee did notice Landslide from the corner of her optics. Maybe he can be useful..

Dinobot snarled in response and shook his head. "We are far too outnumbered to hold off a diversion attack. As we said before, we should lure a few out and reduce their numbers before we attack outright."

"Look, either way, as soon as we show up, dey're gonna know we're up to somethin' and the only thing we want is Optimus. ...And maybe Nexus so he can answer some questions. So matter what, we're not gonna be able ta catch 'em by surprise," the Spy-turned-Commander explained. "I think we're all on de same page with ya, Banshee, but we gotta find out if the disks got any value to the Preds, specifically Megatron. If so, maybe we can draw some of 'em away from the Darksyde ta meet for a trade in neutral territory or even at our base since we got our autoguns and shields to help us out. I'd hate ta give them the actual disks without us studying them first or make copies of 'em. If we can't get Optimus back with just the golden disks, then I say we use the virus, infect a few Preds with it, and offer the antidote."

Dinobot found himself more willing to agree with Rattrap than this new comer, surprisingly enough. He did agree that perhaps the Predacons could trade in neutral territory. Although, he decided that, given his experience earlier after telling them about the disks, he would NOT tell them that he had already downloaded the information off of the alien disk. This would just create more animosity and cause them to be more suspicious. He got the feeling that not all of them were convinced of his intentions.

"By the way, who's 'the polite one'?" Rattrap asked Banshee. "'Cause I ain't aware of any polite Preds."

Cheetor answered the question as he entered the room. Dinobot recalled the "tentacled freak", as Cheetor so eloquently put it, and how he had tried to talk Ironclaw down from attacking Arachnitron while she was unarmed.

"I was quite surprised that he and I seemed to have some similar ideals regarding honor and a fair fight." Dinobot added.

Whitegrazer and Nemesis made to follow Aurora out of the bridge and down to the med bay, but before they did, Whitegrazer turned to the group to offer up a suggestion.

"I suggest we tried to get them to bring Optimus and Nexus up here. We know they are alive, but the Predacons don't know that. They would expect us to ask them for confirmation." "Optimus and Nexus would need full medical attention quickly. So the closer we can bring those two here the better." If they could do that, "If the Predacons agree, maybe we can use the time they get here to copy what we can from the alien disk."

Dinobot again shook his head. "I doubt my former comrades would agree to our terms if they involved coming to the Axalon. They would be more likely to agree to meet in neutral territory." But then he thought about the idea some more. "Of course," he ammended. They just might agree to terms at the Axalon.....with our dwindling numbers, we would be an easy target. They would not hesitate to have reinforcements at the ready to launch a full scale attack and try to overtake our base," Dinobot cautioned.

Banshee spoke up again.

"hmm...a hallucinogen...since the Predacons gave us this virus, we can return the favor... We might be able to get something more, not just Optimus," she stretched her wings before speaking again, "you see, we all know that our minds will be in a complete mess when we are in extreme fear and most of the time, we will do anything to make it stop unless your willpower is just that strong or you got over your fears. I'm thinking if we infect Megatron with the virus, we may be able to bargain with him. Trade with Optimus for the cure. Now, before we infect him, we must take out their scientists or anyone who carries cyber venom. If we're lucky, we might be able to steal some their energon supplies and use the rest as explosives although I prefer tainting them with the virus," she cleared her throat before continuing

Dinobot again shook his head. Was this newcomer even following the conversation?

"Perhaps you had not yet arrived when we discussed this..." Dinobot interrupted. "But that plan is not wise. As I already stated....I have seen the virus in action. Innocent bystanders, for example US, could be seriously injured by the Predacons in their delusioned state...more importantly, the very Maximals we are trying to SAVE could be put in extreme danger. It will be a difficult task enough to take on the unafflicted Predacons with all of our missing comrades, but to try to take on delusioned Predacons would be suicide. Once the virus takes hold, you have no idea how it will affect Megatron."

Banshee continued.

"Here's my plan, each of us will have this...UV dye if one of us ran into the shapeshifter. Smelling their scent won't be efficent so we'll need different "passwords". It's difficult but it's the safest password. If one of "us" doesn't give a proper answer in a second, keep yourself in a safe distance before shooting. Remember to keep us updated on your location through the comlinks every 10 cycles. The stealth team will go after Optimus and infect Megatron with a sharp projectile with the virus. The assault team will keep his goons busy without the any weapons that's infected because we will risk getting ourselves infected and that's a stupid thing to do. Assault team's primary targets will be those who are scientists or anyone that have cyber venom weapons. If there's a tank, we'll need Landslide to keep him occupied. This mission is similar to one of my past undercover missions of the attempted assassination of one of the High Council Member Magnaboss. I'll need all the information about the Predacon units. Does the computers have any data on them?"

Dinobot was frustrated. Who did she think she was just randomly showing up and creating plans and ordering people around? Dinobot had been taught long ago that the Maximals ideas of "chain of commander" was far different than that of the Predacons. You had to earn it, you didn't just take it. That was one thing that was impressioned upon him from the beginning of his time with Optimus and the others. It had taken a lot of practice and Dinobot had to swallow his pride one too many times, but he thought that he had proved himself enough to have earned some leadership opportunities. What made this newcomer think they were all just going to trust her so easily and follow these plans?

Dinobot opted to say nothing as Rattrap interrupted his thoughts.

"What do ya think, Chopper Face?

"I disagree with the plan to use the virus as Banshee suggested. If it can be altered to inflict paralysis then it may be safer to use that way. Inflicting fear and hallucinations on the Predacons would only amount to more blood shed and greater losses."

"We should give a call to yer old pal Megs and find out how badly he wants his disks back, but I guess we gotta wait until we're certain we can beat dis hallucinogen virus," he said to the warrior.

Dinobot sighed. He didn't want to lose the golden disks after he had finally gotten his hands on them, but everyone was right. It was their best chance to get Optimus back. Dinobot respected the ape far too much to let him take the fall for something he did....but, of course, he'd never say that out loud....

"We gotta be able ta back up the files, though. Or give 'em fake disks so we can keep the originals. If you went to all dat trouble betrayin' everyone, den they gotta be pretty valuable and we need all the advantages we can get in dis slaggin' war."

Dinobot snarled at the vermin's implication. "Believe what you want, furball, but I assure you if I were betraying anyone I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of hiding it!"

(OOC: Sorry everyone....Inferno kind of got neglected this time around....hopefully tomorrow...I just don't know what to write at this point....)

"You have to calm down, Sonar!"

The bat sat on his knees, panting hard as the tremor/episode finally past. If that was only tremor, he was afraid of what the main event would be like.

He just looked at his arm with detatched interest as small trails of energon slowly made paths down his arm, forming a small pool once they had freed themselves from the tips of his claws.

He had nothing left in him, he didn't even flinch much less fight back when Rhinox grabbed his shoulders and made him lie down on the cot again.

This isn't how I planned on meeting death, Sonar thought as he stared up at the ceiling. I... I just hope it happens quickly...

OOC: I may have overdid it with Big T's creep factor this page so lemme know if anyone wants me to edit it, but I felt it was appropriate given Big T's creepy Baron Von Frankenstein/Hannibal Lector vibe he often gave (happy first fay of October everyone lol). I also apologize for the pun at the end of my post, totally intended

naitokage wrote: Umbra shook his head as he observed Starshadow fly off into the distance, unable to pursue at this point. Now all that could be done was take care of the damage left behind. Umbra looked up as he noticed a blip appear on the computer, then turned around looking towards Spineback enter the ship Ah, Doctor.. it's been awhile. Many events have transpired since you were last with us, however I believe your skills may be of use.. we have some casualties from a prisoner escape.. I'll bring them along shortly and fill you in more..

Umbra turned off the autoguns on the ship, then exited the darksyde, towards Terrorsaur and Waspinator's coordinates.

Before long, Umbra made his way to their location, his tentacles picking up pieces of Waspinator and piling them together on his back as he made his way to Terrorsaur Lets get you patched up.. Umbra pulled Terrorsaur up to his feet Can you walk?

"Yeah yeah, I can manage" Terrorsaur grumbled, not wanting to appear weak or useless, or develop a reputation for being shot down easily like Waspinator, who was honestly his best bud, but he couldn't deny the awful luck the bug had developed over the course of the war, which he think was improving now that he had become transmetal, but you wouldn't know that after today's display...Hard to believe not too long ago they had defeated a heavily armed warship and its crew.

"You still functional Wasp?" Terrorsaur inquired, forcing some good humor into his voice for his pal's sake but honestly in a rotten mood over losing to Starshadow, a mood that was not helped by his own injuries either as he limped towards the base alongside the two of them, eager for a dip in the CR tank.

Turning to Umbra, Terrorsaur asked "Did anyone else know that Starshadow was a slagging vampire?" before turning to face the returning spinosaurus doctor and asked "Where the slag have you been?! Its been chaos around here!"


Seriously, it seemed the base and all its occupants had gone mad since Terrorsaur had been away, and that's saying something considering there actually were crazy bots amongst their crew.

Arachnitron wrote:
"Of course," she replied grinning. She enjoyed watching Aurora experiencing this pain and fear after looking down on Arachnitron for the way she reacted to pain and fear. Perhaps she would now learn how quickly it can change someone and how devasting it can be.

"That a girl" Tarantulas commended his assistant, patting her on the back in congratulations, happy to see her developing more of a mean streak, so long as it wasn't direct at him at course, and of course giving him an excuse to make physical contact with her as he watched the proceedings.

Una wrote: "May have been better if we got the horsey." She sighed in fake disappointment. "But I guess you can't buy love, huh, Primal?" She didn't really care... for now. She was going to let Megatron have his hand at Primal's vulnerabilities.

"We work with what we're given, bwahahahahaha!" Tarantulas laughed, wishing he had a rat or two or three to munch on while he watched Primal squirm, the ape appearing more distraught and utterly destroyed than he had since the interrogation had begun, curious to see what secrets he would spill before Megatron finished him and the furry fuzor off...Who Tarantulas couldn't help but drool at the prospect of having alone to himself to devour at his leisure back at the lair.

"Tell me Primal, are little maximal femmes really made of sugar and spice and everything nice?" Tarantulas inquired, making a disturbing slurping sound with his fangs as he fantasized about bleeding the little winged mammal dry.

OOP wrote: Primal's intense optics, full of emotion, followed Megatron's hand that gripped "Aurora's" neck and squeezed it ever so slightly. He desperately wanted to reach out to her but his restraints denied him the motion. Instead, he stood there, physically and emotionally crushed, against the wall as a couple more bolts and small pieces of armor and paint fell to the floor by his shot-up feet.

Megatron relished the sight of Primal's tearful eyes, flooded with undisguised dread and desperation, focused only on his precious "Aurora's" well-being even as his own body was painfully restrained and falling apart bit by bit. What a pitiful sight, Megatron could not fathom how the maximals continued to function as a faction when they so openly and unabashedly flaunted their emotions at the drop of a hat, threw away their own wants and desires for the sake of expendables pawns like Aurora, Cheetor and the rest...THIS was the adversary that had stood in the way of his plans for so long? Disgraceful, entertaining and satisfying to watch, but still, disgraceful, Primal simply was not living up to his namesake's legacy at all...Perhaps Megatron would skip over him in his memoirs as a minor bump in the road on his path to power rather than dignify him as his nemesis after all, but he supposed the sparklings would want a "villain" to challenge their hero Megatron when they read about him in the historical texts, just as he had enjoyed the original Megatron's victories over Optimus Prime and his final vanquishing of him at the end of Great War I.

Megatron allowed himself a satisfied grin as he lorded "Aurora" over his fallen rival, looking down at him like a parent humoring a frightened child, only he had no intention of alleviating the ape's fears whatsoever.

OOP wrote: Optimus couldn't take his eyes off of "Aurora" as the tyrant stroked her furry head, tears gradually trickling down his cheeks to his chin and dripping off with the fluid from his cut lip, splashing tiny pools of sorrow and pain at his feet on the dark, cold metal floor. Watching "Aurora" like this... It tore him apart. His spark felt suffocated and broken despite Whitegrazer's attempts to help sooth his despair from her end. His mouth opened on the verge of spilling Sentinel's codes but then he hesitated...

Megatron's optics lit up with heightened interest as Primal appeared about ready to spill the beans so to speak, the transmetal tyrant continuing to "gently" pet "Aurora's" head as he waited for the secrets he desired to spill forth from Primal's lips as freely as the mech fluid that dripped from his injuries or the tears from his optics.

"Yessss?..." Megatron inquired smugly, leaning forward ever so slightly in anticipation of the codes he needed to gain complete access and control over the Axalon and all it held within its walls, the keys to his ultimate victory which would end the Beast Wars once and for all and mark the beginning of his glorious conquest of Cybertron, and finally, the universe!

OOP wrote:
The TransMetal Maximal bowed his head for a moment, full of confusion as his exhausted mind tried sorting out what he saw in front of him and what he was feeling and gathering from Whitegrazer. A shapeshifter? While Optimus was overwhelmingly relieved that it wasn't actually Aurora in front of him, this imitator sure did put on a flawless performance. How intriguing... Who exactly was this bot and what did he want? What was he gaining in this horrible act of cruelty? In that case, he didn't have to cave in to Megatron's demands after all. Confidence and relentlessness suddenly returned to Primal as he slowly lifted his head to glare directly at Megatron and "Aurora", and said firmly with a hardened face, "Darkwind." And then awaited their reactions.

Megatron smiled as Primal bowed his head in shame, knowing that when his rival next shifted his defeated gaze upon his victorious visage, he would surrender the codes he required...Only to be sorely disappointed when Primal instead greeted him with a look of resolute defiance as he uttered the name of one of Nexus' aliases instead. Megatron felt like snapping "Aurora's" scrawny little neck and throwing "her" in Primal's face in that instant, but to his credit did not betray himself by giving away the ghost just yet, but instead cocked an optic brow and feigned bemusement "Interesting choice of access code Primal, though I suppose its more clever than simply "password."

Megatron's face and actions did nothing to indicate that he was familiar with the word Darkwind, but inwardly he was busy contemplating how in blazes Primal could even begin to suspect what was really going on here?! It was true that Nemesis had gone over to their base seeking shelter, but she couldn't possibly know anything of Darkwind's true nature as Zodiac, unless the faceless fool had said or done something to betray himself to her, otherwise, even if Optimus knew the name Darkwind he would have no reason to suspect he was a shapeshifter, let alone one disguised as his favorite fuzor! Megatron said and did nothing to indicate his concern or outrage to Zodiac, but trusted that the so-called master of disguise had enough sense to know he had better step up his game and convince Primal he was who he appeared to be or else his usefulness to his new leader was going to reach an early end much sooner than either of them had predicted.

Tarantulas meanwhile watched on with renewed interest, wondering if his torture session had broken Primal's mind after all and he couldn't tell his young charge apart from the mysterious new recruit who'd last been seen with Nemesis, or if there was more going on here than met the eye.

Terrorsaur wrote:"Yeah yeah, I can manage"

Umbra gave a nod releasing Terrorsaur as the two walked back towards the ship.

Terrorsaur wrote:"You still functional Wasp?"

Umbra turned as one of his tentacles brought up Waspinator's head and examined it He appears to be in stasis lock.

DarkSpark wrote:"Did anyone else know that Starshadow was a slagging vampire?"

Umbra's optic raises Er.. well, from reading the combat reports left over by the previous Sub commander.. Glowstick I believe his name was, he did note some unusual feeding habits of hers.. including draining energon from the scientist Sonar to have enough energy to blast at the maximal titan Ocariner.. further more she did make unusual noises from her quarters at night.. and if you've seen the room.. it's a bit of a stye filled with torn up garbage and blood smeared on the walls.. Documents also stated you two had a flirtatious relationship.. but I suppose nothing was brought to light of that if you don't know anything.. As it stands with Glowstick and Cecaelia dead, our only lead as to what miss Starshadow is.. currently lies with the bat we just released to the Maximals.

Terrorsaur wrote:"Where the slag have you been?! Its been chaos around here!"

Umbra looked towards Spineback, then looked to Terrorsaur In a thick muddy jungle I'd imagine.. outside of the arachnids and myself, mobility was nearly impossible on foot in that jungle.. I'd have brought her back, but my arms were full dealing with our prisoner and Arachnitron's escape..

Umbra then gave a light bow to Spineback I apologize that you were left behind like that. However at the moment we are a bit understaffed, if possible could you repair our Air Commander here?

Umbra then walked towards Quickstrike picking him up from the floor These two will need repairs in the CR tanks.

(Nope, your post is fine. Basically Starshadow used to flirt with Terrorsaur to get free rides since he could fly and at the time she couldn't. Otherwise Terrorsaur didn't do that many missions with Starshadow, so he wouldn't know much other then once or twice having a kiss on the cheek. Not sure if Nighthunter is carrying this along still either, but at one point Terrorsaur used Sonar as a living shield.. which later Sonar got revenge by blowing up Terrorsaur with the Leviathan's main guns. Alot the characters that would know Starshadow well are.. gone. Glowstick died, Cecaelia is off in space, Steelclaw is gone, Sonar has been in the Maximal base so long that he hasn't been to the Pred base in over a year or two, Frilla joined the Maximals and is gone, Snowtrix is assumed either run off into the wilds or died from the planet buster burning half the planet. So outside of a few old documents, most the Predacons have no idea the horror story that happened behind the scenes. )

Spineback finally seemed in luck that she came across the mimic Cybertronian, Umbra. Though it seemed before she could have the chance to inquire where everyone else was he conveniently mentioned several things had transpired in her absence, bring up some interest and curiosity to what could have possibly happened in the span of a handful of hours, maybe more then she realized. Walking through that jungle with no sense of direction had really messed up her timing too it seemed as she thought it felt more like a few hours was all, or had it been longer? "I'll be here then." She told Umbra before he had gone to retrieve some of the others who she might have completely missed on her way there before she growled and transformed to her robot mode, feeling better then earlier.

While she waited she ran a full systems diagnostic, triple checking to be certain her systems were fully functional and after a few minutes she was satisfied fully that nothing else was still wrong from Frilla's Electro Scrambler. Though it wasn't long before Umbra was arriving with the likes of Terrorsaur, Quickstrike, and Waspinator, the former Decepticon noting that the wasp Transmetal had seen better days, but then again she had heard hear and there that among the crew Waspinator had the worse of luck, rotten probably best describing it. "Seems compared to those two this shouldn't take long. Least long as he doesn't squirm so much, then I just might have to put him to sleep the old fashioned way." Spineback stated as she took out some of her medical tools rolling her optics at Terrorsaur's annoyance of her lateness to return. "You get hit with a shot or two of an Electro Scrambler and let's see how your flying goes bird brain. Sure your fancy aerial navigational systems wouldn't be so helpful then now would they?" She remarked in return calmly as she came to Terrorsaur, seeing he likely would be the easiest to repair. But if she had been repairing the other two downed mechs they might take much longer.

"Now hold still you featherless airhead, I'm not above knocking your sorry processor out long enough so I can make these repairs then repair the dent to your helm afterwards." She said in a rather stern voice, though there was certainly an edge of seriousness to her threat as she went to making the repairs to Terrosaur's armor, shaking her head at the damage. "Hm, and here I thought transmetals were tougher then us non-transmetals, but guess even with alien technological upgrades you can be as vulnerable as a sparkling given the right amount of power." She commented, partly to herself.

(Gonna have to wait for OOP's post it seems since the only one who seemed to acknowledge Wintersong even being there was Ironclaw. Surprised no one else in the room aside from Rattrap wouldn't have answered but go figure I guess.
Aside from that thanks for the welcome backs guys, I'm glad to be back. )

(( OOC: So sorry for the delay with Rattrap, ladies. There was a lot to cover and I didn't want to rush it. I hope I didn't miss anything.

Phoenix, I'm going to add a little bit more here for Optimus so you have more to work with. ))

"We work with what we're given, bwahahahahaha!"

Primal sneered faintly at Tarantulas's laughter. Then... it doesn't seem... that you're... given much, he thought coldly, standing there in his energy bonds as well as he could propped up against the wall, swaying ever so slightly.

"Tell me Primal, are little maximal femmes really made of sugar and spice and everything nice?"

The Maximal leader made no comment or expression at the maniac scientist. He'd rather not give him the satisfaction.

"Yessss?..."

Observing Megatron's eagerness and anticipation, he wasn't certain how he was going to react to his vague answer.

"Interesting choice of access code Primal, though I suppose its more clever than simply "password."

Optimus squinted a little, unable to determine if Megatron recognized the name or not. For all he knew, Megatron might have thought that it really was Aurora and not an imitator. Or he did know and was just playing along. Shaking his damaged head lightly, Primal said, "No. That... That isn't Aurora." And then, to taunt the Predacon leader and the impostor, a very small smile started to tug at the corner of his wounded mouth. The tears had since stopped falling from his orange optics and his posture grew a little taller as he painfully straightened his back with a groan. He obviously knew this was a trick but how? None of them would know. "I told you... I told you you haven't thought... of everything," he said, confidently locking his optics with Megatron's.

-----

Or quiet for that matter.. So.. What are we going to do about Optimus?

Rattrap hesitated to answer Cheetor when the TransMetal cat's hopeful topics settled on him pleadingly. He knew how much Optimus meant to him but they were only just beginning to formulate a first-draft plan to get him back.

Yer lucky you had all the supplies on hand. I went with acid pellets to go with the UV pellets. Just be careful on that trigger, you can pump six shots in 2 seconds if yer fast enough. Such an attack would eat through even MY armor.. And just incase yer feelin' a bit naked.. take some of these along with ya.

The rat looked at the shells that Landslide placed on the console next to him after the larger Maximal had entered the command center. "Nice job, 'Slider. We don't need ta melt anybody," he lied, because he would have really liked to have melted all of the Predacons into some kind of disgusting fondue, "just make 'em stand out with the UV dye." Rattrap stored them, along with the limpet grenade shells, in his subspace that was already holding the grenade launcher that the beetle had given him earlier. Needless to say, he was all stocked up, but his chest was still damaged from the battle the day before and he was still missing a hub cap.

Wait.. So there's a new Pred to deal with, as well as the virus running around the ship? Why don't we ever get a break?

"'Cause we're de good guys," Rattrap bluntly told Cheetor. He was about to explain to him what they had so far when it came to rescuing their fearless leader, but a notification and a hiss from one of the CR chambers distracted him and pulled his attention to the TransMetal white tigress.

"Wintersong! It's about time! Nothin' like milkin' the CR when somebody else needs it," he teased her with a wink as he referred to himself. She had been pretty heavily wounded from that battle yesterday so it was no surprise that she required that much time for repairs. Thankfully, she looked a lot better now and seemed eager to join the fray! And then there was Ironclaw who showed up back on the bridge and seemed to be staring lustfully at Wintersong. Ugh.

"Geez, I need to keep track of my lives, think I'm on number six by now."

"You an' Cheetor both," he commented semi-seriously as he looked at the two felines, wanting them to stop wasting all of their cat lives so recklessly.

"Uh, what's been happening? And why does it sound like the rat with wings has finally cracked?"

"Oh boy," Rattrap sighed, trying to recollect everything that had happened so far. "Uh, long story short, we're dealin' with a hallucinogen virus that enjoys bringin' out our worst fears, and Aurora's workin' on a cure. The so-called Nexus Prime crashed here and he an' Optimus traded demselves to the Preds fer Banshee an' Cheetor, so we're workin' on a rescue mission. Judgin' by Whitegrazer's reactions, they ain't treatin' him very well. We're harboring Nemesis by the monkey's demands since she got herself kicked off of the Predhead team by somebody called Darkwind who might be a shapeshifter, so she's helpin' us - sort of - as we help 'er framed situation. Two new Preds also 'coincidentally' landed here after Nexus," he emphasized. "We're pretty sure Nexus is dirty," he said almost dismissively as if it was a no-brainer. "Also, Saber was infected with de virus an' took off, so she's on de loose and we have no idea where she is."

Though.. I have to wonder.. even if we defeat this Darkwind.. what do you plan to do with him?

"I suggest putting him down like a rabid dog just like what we should do with Nightstar. He's too dangerous to be around."

"What she said," Rattrap jokingly agreed with Banshee. Honestly, he had no idea what they would do with Darkwind. Lock him up? He seemed to be too resourceful and dangerous to risk him breaking out and dealing with another hallucinogen epidemic in their ship. "But who's Nightstar?" he inquired curiously.

"We are far too outnumbered to hold off a diversion attack. As we said before, we should lure a few out and reduce their numbers before we attack outright."

Rattrap simply nodded at Dinobot in agreement. Yeah, we got dat part covered, he thought, trying to move forward with the brainstorming.

"I was quite surprised that he and I seemed to have some similar ideals regarding honor and a fair fight."

The rodent knew there was a joke in there somewhere for him to jump on but he surprisingly avoided it, trying to stay focused on the rather serious matters at hand.

"I doubt my former comrades would agree to our terms if they involved coming to the Axalon. They would be more likely to agree to meet in neutral territory." "Of course," They just might agree to terms at the Axalon.....with our dwindling numbers, we would be an easy target. They would not hesitate to have reinforcements at the ready to launch a full scale attack and try to overtake our base,"

Decisions, decisions...

"hmm...a hallucinogen...since the Predacons gave us this virus, we can return the favor... We might be able to get something more, not just Optimus," "you see, we all know that our minds will be in a complete mess when we are in extreme fear and most of the time, we will do anything to make it stop unless your willpower is just that strong or you got over your fears. I'm thinking if we infect Megatron with the virus, we may be able to bargain with him. Trade with Optimus for the cure. Now, before we infect him, we must take out their scientists or anyone who carries cyber venom. If we're lucky, we might be able to steal some their energon supplies and use the rest as explosives although I prefer tainting them with the virus,"

"Perhaps you had not yet arrived when we discussed this..." "But that plan is not wise. As I already stated....I have seen the virus in action. Innocent bystanders, for example US, could be seriously injured by the Predacons in their delusioned state...more importantly, the very Maximals we are trying to SAVE could be put in extreme danger. It will be a difficult task enough to take on the unafflicted Predacons with all of our missing comrades, but to try to take on delusioned Predacons would be suicide. Once the virus takes hold, you have no idea how it will affect Megatron."

Rattrap's attention on the discussion leaped back and forth like a tennis ball in play on a tennis court between the doctor and the warrior. "As much as I'd love ta watch 'em squirm in deir own fears, we gotta take what Dinobot witnessed with the virus inta consideration. None of us have seen its effects like he has, except for de aftermath around here, and Optimus is already infected with it. Wouldn't surprise me if Nexus is immune to it if he's a shapeshifter and was the one who started dis whole mess in de first place. But we still don't know if it's contagious, and we still need a cure before we tamper with it, so our greatest leverage right now are the golden disks."

"Here's my plan, each of us will have this...UV dye if one of us ran into the shapeshifter. Smelling their scent won't be efficent so we'll need different "passwords". It's difficult but it's the safest password. If one of "us" doesn't give a proper answer in a second, keep yourself in a safe distance before shooting. Remember to keep us updated on your location through the comlinks every 10 cycles. The stealth team will go after Optimus and infect Megatron with a sharp projectile with the virus. The assault team will keep his goons busy without the any weapons that's infected because we will risk getting ourselves infected and that's a stupid thing to do. Assault team's primary targets will be those who are scientists or anyone that have cyber venom weapons. If there's a tank, we'll need Landslide to keep him occupied.

"I disagree with the plan to use the virus as Banshee suggested. If it can be altered to inflict paralysis then it may be safer to use that way. Inflicting fear and hallucinations on the Predacons would only amount to more blood shed and greater losses."

Rattrap sat there with a raised optic at Banshee. "What, uh, what kind of doctor did you say you were?" he asked her rhetorically. "Look, the virus is a last resort, guys, and something we could implement after we've rescued our fearless leader. Our priority is gettin' Optimus back in one piece and the disks might be enough in exchange for his life. ...If we ain't too late."

This mission is similar to one of my past undercover missions of the attempted assassination of one of the High Council Member Magnaboss.

"Oh yeah? How'd that turn out?" asked the rat, rhetorically again or not. "No offense, Banban, but you just got here. Dis ain't exactly an attempted assassination, it's a hostage situation with our highest ranking officer who's been nothin' but a constant nuisance to one of the worst and most ruthless Predacons ever since we crashed here. We gotta approach it delicately 'cause we're only gonna get one shot at dis. One slip up and dey're gonna kill Optimus, defeat us, and take the disks."

I'll need all the information about the Predacon units. Does the computers have any data on them?"

That was a good idea for her to do with or without her plan unlike Ironclaw. The better she familiarized herself with their enemy, the more efficient she would be on the battle field. "Our ship's computer has everythin' logged up ta date on all of 'em except the two newbies."

"Believe what you want, furball, but I assure you if I were betraying anyone I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of hiding it!"

"Yeah, yeah," Rattrap told Dinobot with the addition of a dismissive wave. "Okay. We'll suggest neutral territory 'cause we don't need 'em beatin' up our base like dey always do, an' hopefully the disks will be enough fer Megatron ta agree leavin' the Darksyde behind and bringin' our ape with 'im. He'll likely try ta kill Optimus anyway dependin' on what shape he'll be in so we'll need a group ta swoop in and secure him from anymore injuries... I'm thinkin' Landslide essentially as de ambulance and defense, Dinobot an' Banshee for offense an' protection, and Aurora with de cure in case Optimus shows signs of the virus. The rest of us'll practice assault and flanking maneuvers until we can pull out of the area safely." He'd hate to lose the disks and give Megatron the upper hand he had before Dinobot stole them but Primal's life was far more important than the data that was stored on them. "If we gotta deal with Darkwind, we can use Banshee's password idea that she suggested since not all our senses of smell are as sensitive as mine," he boasted for a second, "as well as the UV dye if we can apply it on 'im effectively. The more options we have the betta we'll know who's really who out in the field."

-----

Studying Sonar's expression as he laid on the cot without fighting against him, Rhinox felt a little sorry for him. A little. After all, it was his own fault for subjecting himself and everyone else to the hallucinogen. The bat seemed to be experiencing the worst effects of this virus but was calming down now enough for the large Maximal to restrain him again. He carefully tucked in his wings and secured his chest and upper arms, ankles and wrists with straps. Although Rhinox was feeling dizzy and his vision continued to play tricks on him, he would stop every so often for a moment or two and close his eyes, taking deep breaths. After one of these quick sessions of gathering himself, he resumed helping the Predacon and efficiently wrapped up his self-inflicted wounds on his arm to stop the energon from leaking so that he wouldn't bleed to stasis.

"Aurora, Ironclaw, I have Sonar secured again," he reported to them over his comm. link. He glanced at the small pool of Sonar's fluid on the floor but thought himself too clumsy to clean it up without making it worse and slipping on it. He thought it best to leave it there and just caution the others about it to avoid it.