"First Season Finale: Part II"

[Phoenix]

"This magnificent organic planet is far different from Cybertron. There is so much about this world that I will miss when we finally find a way home."

Home..


Aurora pondered the phrase for a moment. She knew very little about Cybertron, only what little she had been told by the other Maximals or had read during her studies. The idea of the metallic planet certainly did not seem like 'home' to her, and she had a feeling it probably never would. She hadn't really contemplated the idea of them ever leaving this beautiful planet, a world she considered to be her home, so Optimus' words hit her a bit harder than she'd care to admit.

This world was all she knew.

"Do we all have to go to Cybertron..?," she pondered before realizing she'd said it out loud.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: So sorry, Wildfire!! My deepest apologies. You play your characters so well that I just assumed. Very sorry. Thank you for posting despite how busy you've been. ))

"Do we all have to go to Cybertron..?,"

Primal hesitated answering Aurora's question. There was a time when the Predacons pulled off a grand scheme, fooling the Maximals into thinking they had destroyed themselves and left behind the energy and power to actually get the Axalon off the ground. And while Optimus and his crew were eager to go home, Dinobot had refused, wanting to remain behind on the planet. At the time, Optimus allowed his request, but Dinobot had a completely different reason for doing so. Things were a lot more complicated now. Survival and existance on this world was a lot more danergous. They could barely achieve it as a group let alone someone living here on their own.

"I'm afraid so," the Maximal Commander answered his young passenger. "With the threat and seemingly limitless power of the aliens who oversee this world, I would have to decline one's request to remain here. Unless there's some way we can co-exist or find peace with the Vok, it's far too dangerous for me to leave any one of my Maximals behind." He understood her question, and his answer probably disappointed her, but they had no idea what the aliens were capable of. It seemed they wanted nothing to do with both Maximals and Predacons being on the planet and weren't interested in negotiations at all. Optimus felt like they simply wanted them exterminated. Both factions were just in their way for whatever purpose of their own. Probes, floating islands with traps, and clones? Glancing high off toward the southwest, he studied the twin moons for a moment that orbited in the sky, thinking back to what Whitegrazer had told him; her visions and the voices she heard. If they were accurate, what in Primus's name were they in store for? The unknowing worried the Maximal leader a great deal, especially after Megatron acquired another piece of the puzzle, which was a giant step ahead of the Maximals. What if he could use it against them? What if it meant something else?

"Hang on, Aurora, we're heading in for a landing," he warned her. As they approached their destination, Optimus began descending quickly until they neared the ground. He significantly cut down the power to his thusters and kept himself upright for a very smooth landing on his feet. Disengaging his jets, Primal allowed the ermine Fuzor to jump off before he hopped in the air and shifted to his beast mode, landing back on his feet again in his gorilla form. Looking around the partially barren landscape with a few patches of grass and trees scattered about, his brown eyes and internal scanners searched the area for any threats. None were detected. Mentally Optimus tried preparing himself to keep calm despite the circumstances with which this meeting was called. Keeping himself under control might throw Megatron off instead of lashing out at him. It was difficult to think about, though, with Icebreaker's image constantly flashing in Primal's mind. "It might be best if you remained silent and observe, Aurora, even if Megatron addresses you. If he can't get answers, he might feel that he lacks control over this meeting. And the angrier he gets, the more his emotions get the better of him and something of importance might slip through his tongue," he explained his strategy to her over the situation as they patiently awaited the t-rex's arrival. Not that he really wanted Megatron to get mad, but it usually didn't take much.

-----

"Yea just think is all."

Tigatron wasn't entirely convinced of Wintersong's answer but he didn't want to pry in front of everyone else. Her wound appeared to be healing, slowly but surely. It still looked pretty painful, though.

"How are you guys doing so far?"

"It fascinates me how quickly these three scroll though the computer system and cure the infections that Glowstick implanted in it," he commented to the white tigress. "They're making significant progress."

[Blazemane]

How are you guys doing so far?

Cheetor actually wasn't sure. He'd just typed in a command that could have powered the shields up, thereby finishing the entire repair process. But it hadn't worked. Something was wrong.

It fascinates me how quickly these three scroll though the computer system and cure the infections that Glowstick implanted in it. They're making significant progress.

"Uh... well, I thought I was. Now I think I might be stuck," Cheetor responded.

"So, you don't know what you're doing?" Dinobot repeated the young Maximal's earlier statement with obvious enjoyment.

"Shut up."

[Blackrosefencer]

Arachnitron observed the other widow begin sorting through Tarantulas' stuff. Arachnitron chuckled as she realized that whether or not they found anything, the other she-spider would continue to toy with the Tarantula. She liked her line of thought! She watched the Tarantula squirm in the webbing he was wrapped in mumbling protests under his breath.

"Let's see then."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll keep an eye on our new pet." Arachnitron responded playfully tickling him under his chin and winking again.

The other femme didn't seem to share the two spiders' enjoyment in this little game they were playing. Suddenly, the cat bot stood up and announced in a bored tone:

"ugh...call me if you need me..I'll be at the main bridge."

Starshadow walked out of the lair leaving the three spiders alone. Arachnitron shrugged. That was one less passenger they had to worry about.

She turned her attention back to the spider in front of her and spoke to him feigning a polite, conversational tone as she explained who she was....well, she had to adjust her tale a bit so as not to reveal the existence of her alters. "I'm Arachnitron. My pod crash landed here a short time ago and I was sort of shanghaied into playing with the Maximals for a few days after that slaggin' penguin bot messed with my guns. I had to convince them I had defected in order to get them returned to me unfrozen. Slaggin' feather-brained freak! Of course as soon as I had them back I shot up the place and high tailed it out of there. The Predacon attack was a perfect diversion. They had impeccable timing." She grinned mischievously.

Now that the ridiculous act of introducing herself was over and done with she could focus on the task at hand. She absolutely hated telling other bots about herself. She much preferred to remain a mystery to everyone, but she knew that they would be asking questions soon enough and she would need to explain why she had spent so much time with the Maximals before the other Predacons would trust her enough to work with her. She had too much pride to say she had been a hostage. She watched the other widow still messing up Tarantulas' lair.

"So, find anything useful?" she called over to her.

[una]

((OOC: Hmm. I think I would like it if he or anyone didn't see it...for now anyway. I like to keep the conversation secret from everyone except for Optimus because she said she would explain it to him. Also, I think if Steelclaw found out there was another Maximal nearby. He might flee. But unless, Blazemane, you want him to see? ))

Whitegrazer smiled, listening intently towards Steelclaw's words. Already, there were differences in how they thought, which was not a surprise. It was actually good and expected. They have something to debate on.

She loved debates especially philosophical ones. Now, it was her time to answer him in her own little way.

"And... how'd we get to talkin' of this, anyways? What are you hoping to find?"

"What am I hoping to find," Whitegrazer contemplated, "I suppose I'm just searching for an answer."

Taking a stick from nearby, she pointed the stick down on the ground and drew a circle, "Inner. Societal. They sound so different from each other, and yet, they are the same in context."

She was drawing lines within the circle, "What is an individual? What makes an individual, Steelclaw? What makes us each unique from one another?"

She glanced up at Steelclaw with a smile. He probably was wondering what and why she was drawing aside with the whole why was she asking him such questions. There was a purpose in those questions and there was no harm in illustrations she thought.

____________________________________________________________________

The catbot was getting annoyed with boredom, "ugh...call me if you need me..I'll be at the main bridge." and with that, she walked away to find the exit of Tarantulas' lair.

Blackarachina take a glance at Starshadow who was walking away. Cats were always so impatient.

I'm Arachnitron. My pod crash landed here a short time ago and I was sort of shanghaied into playing with the Maximals for a few days after that slaggin' penguin bot messed with my guns. I had to convince them I had defected in order to get them returned to me unfrozen. Slaggin' feather-brained freak! Of course as soon as I had them back I shot up the place and high tailed it out of there. The Predacon attack was a perfect diversion. They had impeccable timing."

Hearing what the new spider was saying bought up questions inside her mind as she collected something Tarantulas was hiding in one of his darker corners. It seemed after many attempts of building a ship of his own was failing horribly that he ditched the plates and welding tools for probably something that was already built.

"There are some extra plates to help fix the pod, probably being able to increase its size and help fix whatever was damaged in the crash." She pulled out the compartment using it as a little wagon to place the spare parts in.
_______________________________________________________________________
Tarantulas stopped squirming, giving up.

Arachnitron introduced herself, which he didn't care for not at first, but this spider was very odd. She was hiding something from them. He looked at Blackarachnia with a scowl on his face, making Blackarachnia chuckle darkly at him.

I will get you for this, witch. I promise you that.

Maybe he can get Arachnitron on his side? It was worth a shot, but he needed to find a way for them to take off this stupid webbing. He could eat it and spit it out if he couldn't get them to. He was really desperate to get out of this humiliation these femmes were subjecting him too.

[WorpeX]

"Might as well drag me over by your feet, that way you can gimme a shoulder massage at the same time. Nothin' like flyin' first class!"

"Suit yourself." She responded, before flapping her wings to get airborne. She hovered only a few inches in the air before grabbing hold of the rat by her talons and took off into the sky. She did her best to try and not rip his shoulders apart with her claws, but knew that if they encountered any Predicon resistance, she would need to tighten her hold considerably. Luckily, they shouldn't have that problem due to the "truce" which they were supposed to have.

With her wings outstretched to catch a wind current, she soared through the sky at a steady pace. With the added weight of her passenger, she wasn't able to fly at her usual high speed. While she wasn't particularly worried about Rattrap getting sick (she had seen some of the food he eats on a daily basis - If that didn't get him sick, nothing would!) but she was worried that Iron Claw wouldn't arrive in time. So she kept to a slower pace to allow the ground team some time to arrive at the Predicon base. Still, it hadn't taken her more then an hour of flying until they arrived at their destination.

"Pred base is just a few clicks away. I'll drop you down near some rocks when we get a bit closer." She told her partner before dropping altitude and slowing her pace. Megatron needed to know that they were coming, so she did her best to make herself an obvious target. Hopefully this would give Iron Claw a chance to get into the base undetected!

---

"Stupid machine! Let me have access!" Manterror screamed at the now broken keyboard. In response, the monitor lit up and flashed red. It spoke to him... almost as if their minds were connected!

"Voice not recognized. Please speak the password clearly."

Ah Ha! Progress! Destroying the keyboard allowed him to use voice recognition! Perfect! Using his best Megatron impersonation voice, manterror spoke up: "This is Megatron... yeeesss... The Password is..." Manterror paused, suddenly forgetting the password. "It's, YOU ALL SHALL DIE TO MANTERROR!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!" He screamed with a creepy smile plastered on his face. Still, the machine was not impressed with his failed break-in. Nor was it scared in any way.

"Security measure activated. Have a nice day!"

Without warning, a machine gun dropped down in front of Manterror and fired a shot at his chest, throwing the predicon backwards and into pile of debris.

[Phoenix]

"I'm afraid so. With the threat and seemingly limitless power of the aliens who oversee this world, I would have to decline one's request to remain here. Unless there's some way we can co-exist or find peace with the Vok, it's far too dangerous for me to leave any one of my Maximals behind."

The white ermine had a hard time hiding her disappointment with Primal's response and found herself glad the Maximal commander was looking where he was going rather than directly at her to see the frustration on her face. She truly did not want to leave this beautiful planet which was all she'd known since she had first come online. Surely the bare, metallic landscape of their home world of Cybertron could not compare to the magnificence of an organic planet overrun by life forms, and with two mysterious moons in the sky as if they were guardians to keep this world safe.

She cast a glance at what appeared to be the closer of the two lunar companions. She had looked at it many times before, but never from a view point far up in the sky. It appeared a little different than the other one, smaller with a more even surface, yet it reflected light a little differently than the other moon did. It was if it didn't belong, in a sense, like it had been traveling through space until the planet had captured it within its gravitational field.

However, she didn't have much time to ponder it before Optimus' voice warned her of a pending landing. Holding on more tightly as they descended and landed, Aurora then slid off.

"It might be best if you remained silent and observe, Aurora, even if Megatron addresses you. If he can't get answers, he might feel that he lacks control over this meeting. And the angrier he gets, the more his emotions get the better of him and something of importance might slip through his tongue,"

"Aye," she responded, almost a bit solemnly as she struggled with the feelings of disappointment and sadness from recent events. She had never seen Megatron up close, but she had heard the stories of horror told by the other Maximals. Aurora was aware of the beginning of the socalled beast wars, after they had been lead to this unknown destination by the fugitive Megatron who had surely been searching for something. Could this unexpected truce the Predacon commander had offered be related somehow? It almost seemed a little convenient in a sense. Perhaps the dinosaur had recovered something of importance or at the very least realized something that could give him an advantage.

Seeing no sign of the Predacon yet, she trotted along with the Maximal commander.

"Optimus.. I know you're willing to go to great lengths to protect us, but there is something about this truce that irks me. Megatron has resorted to trickery before. The Predacons have done so much so its doubtful they've had a change of heart. Please don't let your emotions drive you on this. When Megatron has what he wants, he will not need us anymore.."


Under normal circumstances Aurora would have been jumping with joy for a chance for this war to end, but after experiencing the recent loss of her mentor, Icebreaker, and seeing the destruction left behind by Megatrons' troops, she found it difficult to give the truce and therefor the Predacons a chance. She did not want to see any more Maximals she cared for wounded or worse.

Trust is not something that can be easily repaired once broken..

She kept her voice low in case someone was watching them from the distance. It would be difficult to detect someone with only the glow from the moons to shed a little light on them.

[New Moon]

Frilla laughed slightly at the two and shook her head,"The virus could have caused the shield repair systems to not work, but I'll see what I can do with them and get the shields working." She told them as she stepped back up to the monitor and began to work, though was making sure Tigatron had a view to where he could watch and learn at the same time, least that way it could be more of a multitasking thing. The frilled lizard had to pause for a moment, rubbing her chin slightly as she thought about what to do for the shields, wondering if a bypass code could help and get the shields power for working and being repaired.

"Alright let's see if this works, making basic defense systems were easy this shouldn't be too hard." She said rubbing her hands together before starting to work, typing in a code to start bypassing the usual commands to get the shields working and scanning the screen as she went and her fingers danced across the keys with practiced ease. Finally after a few minutes Frilla pressed a few more keys and entered the final code, listening as she heard the computer speak,"Shield systems reactivated, repair systems initiated." She couldn't help grinning,"One problem solved."

[Alak]

((OOC: So I just realized that in order to achieve transmetalization, Orcariner can't be inside the CR chamber. I'm going to gradually pull him back into the story here.))

IC:

A groan was released as Orcariner was beginning to rise from his slumber. The soft whirring from the polishing tools was comforting to his body, but he had been in stasis long enough. With his vision adjusted to the light from the window, the giant peeked through the glass and saw that the hanger bay was still empty. He wondered how long he had been in the CR chamber and how much longer he had to stay inside. The internal injuries were already repaired. The machine was simply trying to pretty the Maximal up now. Orcariner closed his optics and rested his head back in order to allow the chamber's arms to buffer out his chin guard. He focused on the radar on his interface and found that only half of the Maximals were left on base.

Where did they all go?

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: Yay! Orcariner's back! ...Soon. XD I'm not sure what to do with Rhinox. Does anyone want to give him a shot? If I fill in for him, my posts will probably be very short. I'm not good at all of that science and technical and engineer babble. I love the big guy but I don't have time to cover that much for him. It's difficul to find someone willing to play a character such as himself; a "miracle worker."

Also, do you guys want it to be dusk now, or nightfall? I keep picturing everything at night now. I know when I had Primal look at the moons, Phoenix, I think maybe you thought I was implying that it was nightfall now. I wasn't since you can see the moon during the day at times, but still, the game feels like it should be nearing nighttime now. Does anyone else think so? Could make the cease-fire "battle" more interesting.

at Manterror

By the way, Blazemane, fantastic job with all of the interaction between Cheetor and Dinobot! I love it. XD ))

IC:

"Optimus.. I know you're willing to go to great lengths to protect us, but there is something about this truce that irks me. Megatron has resorted to trickery before. The Predacons have done so much so its doubtful they've had a change of heart. Please don't let your emotions drive you on this. When Megatron has what he wants, he will not need us anymore.."

Optimus glanced over at Aurora as he walked with her for a little bit on his feet and knuckles. "As far as I'm concerned, Aurora, we have never been of any importance to Megatron. In fact, we just keep getting in his way with every scheme he tries playing. If we weren't even here, he'd be sacrificing his own Predacons to trigger the traps first and use them to his advantage," he explained to her in the same volume of her voice. The thought was even disgusting to the gorilla. How can someone do that to anyone let alone their own crew? "I know this so-called truce will not last. Megatron is just trying to buy himself time to review what ever it is that Inferno uncovered for him at the mountain, which means that he might not even have the ability to use it, or it'll just take him longer to figure it out. Right now we only have one shot to find out what he knows." Primal thoughtfully paused on his words for a moment. "Although, I doubt things will remain calm for much longer after this. If there's one thing I've learned about the Vok it's that they'll place the bait and once it has been activated by someone discovering it, they make sure things get real messy real quickly." They had to find out what Megatron knew; he was well aware of the danger. Optimus prayed Ironclaw would be successful, otherwise, the Maximals would be at a tramendous disadvantage. Stopping, the Maximal Commander remained on his knuckles and looked around, his audio sensors listening for every little sound. Crickets chirped about, and bats clicked in the air, swooping down for bugs and immediately accelerating up into the darkening sky. "We can wait here for Megatron," he said softly. Very close by were some boulders, and a group of trees on a patch of grass; cover that he purposely sought for while they waited for Megatron just in case of an ambush. Inhaling deeply through his nose, Primal also picked up various scents, but none of them yet were of Predacon. Of course, that also depended on which way the breeze was gently blowing. "Do you want to tell me about that device Icebreaker wanted you to have?" he asked Aurora curiously.

-----

"Suit yourself."

"Look, just don't chop off my head or my arms, Bird Lady. All right?" Rattrap joked at Airazor as she picked him up. Feeling her sharp talons grip around his rodent shoulders, he inhaled for a moment at the little bit of pain that was unintentionally applied but tried pushing it off by rhetorically asking her, "Sheesh! Don't you ever trim these things?"

"Pred base is just a few clicks away. I'll drop you down near some rocks when we get a bit closer."

After the long travel in the air, Rattrap was growing weary of Airazor's talons digging into him, and him swaying back and forth in her grasp high above the ground. He always hated flying! "Awe man. Ain't there a rule that us hero types gotta get more dignified transportation?" he complained. And that badger better be on track, he thought. This close to the Darksyde, Rattrap was definitely expecting them to be picked up on their scanners and greeted by a welcome committee. He sure hoped the boss monkey's plan would work as easily as he had made it sound. Of course, if he and Airazor got shot out of the sky, well, it was a long way down.

(( OOC: Do we have a Predacon ready that'll respond to Airazor when she calls in about the defense system firing at her? And whoever's playing that Predacon can also control the gun turrets. ))

-----

"Uh... well, I thought I was. Now I think I might be stuck,"

"So, you don't know what you're doing?"

"Shut up."

Smiling at Cheetor and Dinobot, Tigatron briefly placed a reassuring hand on the cheetah's shoulder to let his younger friend know that he acknowledged his efforts and intelligence on the difficulty of the matter.

"The virus could have caused the shield repair systems to not work, but I'll see what I can do with them and get the shields working. "Alright let's see if this works, making basic defense systems were easy this shouldn't be too hard."

Tigatron watched closely over Frilla's shoulder, and remained quiet and patient as she thought things through, looking for the answer and trying different methods in order to re-establish their shields.

"Shield systems reactivated, repair systems initiated."

"One problem solved."

"Well done, the three of you!" the white tiger commended them. It was certainly more than he could've done, especially if he had been on his own trying to figure it out.

[WorpeX]

((OOC: Uhhh... Well Manterror can, but I can't foresee that conversation going in the intended direction considering hes completely clueless about the truce. Actually, hes just clueless in general!))

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: !! I know, WorpeX. I was thinking more along the lines of Scorponok handling it. Someone who wouldn't disobey Megatron's truce and would actually listen to Airazor, but also catch Rattrap hiding and telling her to take him away with her. ))

[Night-Hunter]

After Rattrap and Airrazor left, Saber turned her attention toward the Axalon. After taking a calming breath she walked toward the lift and stepped onto it, there was a small jerk and lift with her in it began to rise. There was only a few seconds of darkness before she entered the Maximal ship, it was as if nothing had changed, yet every thing had changed since she had been gone.

Home sweet home. She thought with a small smile.

She stepped out of the lift into the control room, wondering she should frist head to her quarters where she had left her locator and COM link before she had left to see Sonar.

((OOC: Brain fart. Lol.))

[Blazemane]

((OOC: Hey, Mystrea, Una and I think Ironclaw ought to be able to see Steelclaw and Whitegrazer talking, but that Steelclaw won't detect Ironclaw so Whitegrazer and Steelclaw's conversation doesn't stop abruptly. Otherwise, Steelclaw would probably suspect Ironclaw's motives and flee the scene.

Man... that's a lot of repeated names.

And thanks, OOP!))

What am I hoping to find. I suppose I'm just searching for an answer.

You're searching for an answer to what question? Steelclaw wanted to press the matter. He figured she was searching for something. He wanted to know what. But he held off saying anything, for it looked like she was about to elaborate.

Inner. Societal. They sound so different from each other, and yet, they are the same in context. What is an individual? What makes an individual, Steelclaw? What makes us each unique from one another?

The conversation ran through Steelclaw's mind in rapid motion.

An individual is their own unique person, see...

Oh, really?

Pretty much, really.

Ah. But we're all connected.

Are we? If we are, so what?

Well, you see, my friend the sniper, if an individual is a connected part of an entire fabric of existence, then one person's lack of inner peace is a deficit in society's peace and vice versa. So they can't be different concepts.

Yeah they are.

No they're not.

Yeah they are.

Slag. They were going to hit an impasse.

"You've got your own spark, you're your own 'bot?" he answered tentatively. "How do you mean, exactly?" Steelclaw tried to see if the conversation would at all go in a different direction, or if the problem he foresaw was what she wanted to get to.

[WorpeX]

"Awe man. Ain't there a rule that us hero types gotta get more dignified transportation?"

Looking down at the rat below her, she responded sarcastically. "If you could shed a few kilos, this would be easier on both of us!" By the time she looked back up to see where she was going, it was too late. The Automated defenses at the predicon base had activated and fired a warning shot at the two of them! Airazor took the hit straight in the chest, but managed to hold on to her precious cargo. A select few feathers dropped from the sky as she beat her wings wildly to keep herself airborne. Once at a hover again, more auto cannons began popping up at every location in the area. It seemed as if the predicons had been expecting some sort of company.

With no time to waste, the falcon set off to towards the drop off point, ducking and dodging bullets along the way. Luckily, it wasn't difficult to avoid the slow shots from these defenses and even if you did get hit, these bullets weren't nearly as devastating as taking a shot from any of the bots they faced. Perhaps that was why the Predicons had so many autocannons? Still, there was no time to think about such matters. Through the gunfire, Airazor could hear Rattraps plea of "We're gonna die" and she responded again - this time taking Rattrap's own words and changing them to fit the situation. "Isn't there a rule that heroes have to face destruction with dignity?"

((OOC: feel free to use Airazor a bit in this OOP (as I did with Rattrap); we already know whats going to happen. I'll let you catch up though.))