The Intergalactic Highway

WhathaveIdone, whathaveIdone, WHAT HAVE I DONE?! Starshadow screamed in her mind as her optics widened. No options left, she backed off with fear and transformed into beast mode and ran away, heading to a place not far from the Maximal's location.

Sonar smirked as he watched Starshadow take off with her tail between her legs.
He contacted Glowstick. "Squid, you still in postion? If you are i'm on my way."
He powered down his blaster, then went back inside to grab his sniper rifle.
"Beast mode."
Once in his beast mode he headed toward Glowsticks location.

Icebreaker walked away from the group, heading towards the water he began investigating noticing some crystals growing in the mud. He transformed to robot mode carefully extracting the crystals, then tied them to the end of a grappling hook. He then transformed to his beast mode walking towards the group carrying the grappling hook with crystals with his flipper.


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Glowstick detected Sonar's messages, then responded We're still in position. Take the route south or west and take a hiding position.Be advised the enemy is acting unusual at the moment, Steelclaw believes they may be planning something.

Glowstick then switched channel to StarShadow I don't know what you were planning, but I suggest you head back to base Star.. You probably still require repairs.

Glowstick then looked towards the battlefield, examining the activities from the distance still in his squid form. [/list]

"So," Steelclaw said in his com link, "are you in position? If so, when should we begin fire? The youngest Maximal is out on his own, the rest are all busy preparing things, so this could be a prime opportunity."

Steelclaw thought for half a second about asking Glowstick to give him access to talk to Valkyrie. It would add more time to the Maximals being away from their ship, and maybe he could even make them nervous so they'd fall easier.

But it would absolutely give Maximals the indication that the Predacons were there. Of course, they probably already knew. So, he decided to consult with the squid.

"Or... maybe we could talk to their leader over com link before we start shooting? Psychological warfare, laying down of terms, that sort of thing? Our last meeting was rather abrupt after all."

We're still in position. Take the route south or west and take a hiding position.Be advised the enemy is acting unusual at the moment, Steelclaw believes they may be planning something.

Sonar nodded and headed that way, once he got there he hid in a tree close to where Steelclaw was.

"Or... maybe we could talk to their leader over com link before we start shooting? Psychological warfare, laying down of terms, that sort of thing? Our last meeting was rather abrupt after all."

"What kind of Predicon are you? This isn't a just a war to win, its a war to rule all. There is no room for that sort of thing. Sonar terrorize." He said as he let go of the branch and landed behind the bear.

Steelclaw couldn't afford to take his sight out of his scope, so he kept staring ahead. But his allegiance, or at the very least, his combat methods had been called into question, so he felt like responding.

"To win and to rule all are both potential results of the war. If a show of brute force is a necessary means to attain either of those results, then so be it. But the use of a less forceful means does not make it so that we can't achieve an end result of total domination.

Megatron ordered us to keep them away from their base, so I have no intention of negotiating a peace and sending them away. If we can keep these Maximals here, Megatron might actually seize command of the Axalon and win this war today. But keeping them here by attacking them all is hardly different than talking and then attacking them all. Besides, I would have thought you would be the type to appreciate the effects that an enemy's state of mind can have on their battle effort.

Of course there is the chance that talking would somehow cause the Maximals to run away, or give away the fact we're ready to assault, so it seemed wise to consult Glowstick. That and... he's the only one who even can hook up communications with the Maximals."

"Sonar's here." Steelclaw said to Glowstick in his com-link.

"What model's your rifle?" he asked Sonar our of curiosity.

Glowstick's tentacles started to coil around the heavy gun in the back of the jeep, he then responded Hate to say it, but Sonar is right. Besides, in past encounters you found the maximals were more vicious then any of our own troops. They wont surrender.

We need to take down their commanding unit, destroy the head and the body rots away they say.. Just take your time and focus on taking out the bird, if you miss I'm ready on air support.

Then just focus on the other maximals. It isn't uncommon for a sniper to keep a entire unit pinned down for a week or more, so this method may also act to buy us time if that is necessary.

Glowstick then looked over the battlefield, his squid eyes watching the bright yellow and black cheetah run in the distance.

Starshadow sighed over the com. "I'll be alright..." she transformed to robot mode, heading to her lair and started to make traps using her stuffs. "Call me when you need me." she shut off the com links and looked at her first trap, a strong net of spikes. Then, she pulled out a large wooden block from her storage, dividing it into slim pieces by using her hand blades.

Some time later, she done everthing she needed to do and placed all of her new traps and a temporary weapon on the desk, waiting.

Hate to say it, but Sonar is right. Besides, in past encounters you found the maximals were more vicious then any of our own troops. They wont surrender.

Sonar smirked at that.

"What model's your rifle?"

Sonar looked at Steelclaw.
"A high powered sniper rifle, with silencer." He replied as he put the silencer on the barrle of his sniper rifle.

Glowstick wrote:Hate to say it, but Sonar is right. Besides, in past encounters you found the maximals were more vicious then any of our own troops. They wont surrender.

That did make sense, of course.

"Understood." Steelclaw replied. "I was just saying we could... it's an option."

Glowstick wrote:It isn't uncommon for a sniper to keep a entire unit pinned down for a week or more, so this method may also act to buy us time if that is necessary.

A stream of sarcastic remarks flooded Steelclaw's processor like actors auditioning for a show. But no, there was no point in responding. He'd just let it go.

He then addressed Sonar.

"As you are probably well aware, we'd have more tactical advantage if we weren't in the same spot. The Maximals can't all get behind terrain that's cover for our specific firing trajectory, they couldn't concentrate all of their fire on this one spot and stop both of us, etc. I can change positions if you want, but your flight would enable you to find an alternate location faster."

* * *

Cheetor was just about done. There wasn't anything new to see, and certainly not any one to see either. He began running back for the crash site.

"Hey Big V, I've got the map together and I'm headed your way."

Orcariner eventually found a small cave that caught his eye as he swam between two rock cliffs. There was somewhat of a trail that the terrain troops could use to enter it, and it was not too high should Orcariner need to he could leap into the river without damaging himself. The downfall was that any Predacon, especially aerial bound, could see all occupants inside. It was fairly shallow but enough to keep them out of the rain.

"Scout to team leader," he radioed, "I found a temporary HQ roughly 2 nautical clicks due west from Predacon LZ. Requesting orders, over."

Sinking back down to the bottom of the river, the killer whale waited patiently for a reply. The only thing keeping him company was the serene beeps of his radar.

"As you are probably well aware, we'd have more tactical advantage if we weren't in the same spot. The Maximals can't all get behind terrain that's cover for our specific firing trajectory, they couldn't concentrate all of their fire on this one spot and stop both of us, etc. I can change positions if you want, but your flight would enable you to find an alternate location faster."

Sonar smiled then went back into the tree and hung upside down the claws on his feet digging into the branch.
He was well hidden in the tree and he had a clear shot on Cheetor.
"Squid, i have a clear shot on the cheetah. Can i fire at him or just mess with his head by fireing to his right?" Sonar asked as he looked through the scope of his sniper.

Steelclaw hadn't meant precisely that. Oh well.

He was looking through his scope at Valkyrie.

Sonar wrote:Squid, i have a clear shot on the cheetah. Can i fire at him or just mess with his head by fireing to his right?

Oh the irony.

"Don't want him to get away. I say you wreck him." Steelclaw replied.

Oo, irony to the point of role reversal. Cool...

He looked again at Valkyrie in his sights. She seemed to be considering things, deep in thought. As Steelclaw moved his target over her frame, he wondered what she was thinking.

She wasn't facing him directly, but he guessed he had to be aiming close to her spark. If her spark wasn't placed where he suspected, she would at least sustain massive damage.

It was still hard to look at a target and kill them from a distance. Something inside him hoped she wouldn't actually die. But this attack was necessary.

So he fired.

"Scout to team leader," he radioed, "I found a temporary HQ roughly 2 nautical clicks due west from Predacon LZ. Requesting orders, over."

Valkyrie processed her options for a moment.
The next and only thing they could do right now is to gain as much information, and avoid as much damage as they could in the process.
"Orcariner. Make sure to collapse part of the gave so you have something to hide behind if things get hot."

"Hey Big V, I've got the map together and I'm headed your way."

"Alright. Cheetor, head for Orcariner's location. Upload the map when i'm in range, and figure out the next part. Stand by and help Orcariner till i have the next part of this project worked out.
And on a side note Cheetor, i'm not big."

Being already in the air after cooling down her internal systems so she could risk high level processing again for a while, so she could follow her team's progress step by step.
Everthing was going smoothly, but she was worried it went to smoothly.
This would be a perfect time for the Predacons to make a sneak attack.
And being the team's leader, she needed to be prepared for that situation, if it indeed accured.
She herself and Cheetor where the easiest targets for a sneak attack, so she needed herself and the cat to move illogically.
"Cheetor. Move to Orcariner's location while passing through section x234, y245, and w225. I need to readjust my targeting computer. while i fly in a similar fashion."
She changed her altitude sporadically while weaving quickly from one side to the other.
But instead of focusing on the speedy cheetah, she abserved the entire section below her from above the few clouds that filled the almost clear skies.

Then suddenly, out of the blue when she made her first sideways dive, she felt something slide through her left wing, and a few feathers where cut from her wing.
If she didn't move, whatever cut through her feathers would've made a nice hole in her chest.
"Maximals! We are under attack! Cut all radio chatter unless you need to warn a teammate!"

Glowstick watched the shot pass through Valkyrie's wing from the distance, he sighed. Then activated his comlink Take the shot on Cheetor, the enemy seems to have found a area suitable for cover..

Glowstick then started to proceed in jamming the maximal radio signals cutting off anymore long distance communication between them.

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Icebreaker ducked when he heard the shot, then moved into the woods for cover after hearing Valkyrie. He looked around, then set the energon covered grappling hook on the ground. This is getting me no where.. Icebreaker, Maximize! he then said to himself, his body transforming to robot mode he then slid down his thermal visor looking over the environment from the cover of the woods.