The Intergalactic Highway

"Icebreaker is dead," Aurora interjected, "He's not here to make his thoughts on this matter known."

"I certainly don't think he would have approved of Steelclaw shooting him in he face either,"

"Icebreaker was a fighter at heart," he whispered just loud enough for the others to hear, "He'd want us to keep fighting for him. Keep fighting until justice is served."

"There is a huge difference between revenge and justice, Orcariner. Really think about what you two plan on doing." Her tone still carried the calmness she spoke with earlier, "Aurora. Would you be able to live with it? To live with the emotional burden of willfully extinguishing the spark of a sentient being? Orcariner? Would you be able to live with the fact you dragged Aurora into this? Taking advantage of her vulnerability in such a matter? "

All she was left with was disappointment and lingering sense of contemplation towards the two. Were they really doing this for Icebreaker? Or were they trying to satisfy some selfish desire for bloodlust? To wash away their own guilt and responsibility towards his death? When those two had nothing to feel guilty about nor feel any responsibility?

But they will if they decide to track Steelclaw down and kill him.

She knew if she were dead, she would disapprove any who used her name to induce more violence and death. That was unacceptable in her optics. She lingered a stare at Orcariner as he quickly tried to get them back on track with the mission before she looked at Aurora who looked up at her with a sorrowful expression

"He didn't deserve to die,"

"The signal we originally picked up is gone, but it originated from somewhere in that direction."

She nodded in understanding, "No, he didn't." She walked the desert terrain, trying to find some clue that may help the in tracking whatever or whoever caused that signal, "I hope you two at least ponder my questions before you decide to carry out this act." She hoped they would choose the right path. If not, she will report this to Optimus. This was bringing up some nostalgic feelings. Bad ones at that. All this talk about revenge made her spark ache as flashes of a distance memory flooded her core processor. It was painful.

They needed to get back on task. She went around a boulder to see tracks of heavy indents across the sand, "I found something. It must be them and with these tracks they must be carrying heavy equipment. What are they doing here?" And where were they heading to? Must be something of great importance. Whatever or whereever, it may take some time to get there. At least, this travelling may give Orcariner and Aurora a chance to clear their heads and really think about what they want to do.


((OOC: I edited this post a couple time. Just to clean it up mostly, but I moved Whitegrazer's little speech up rather than after Whitegrazer's response to Aurora.

EDIT: I erased a sentence. The sentence after "...act."))

(The Retreat was called on the Maximals.. Megatron IS out for blood, specially after taking six of Aerostriker's missiles which took out his optic. Originally, the distance between Aerostriker, Megatron, and the other preds was further away, but Aerostriker can cover a few miles in a few seconds with his speed, Megatron.. seems able to do similar.

Megatron is now also shooting towards "Shadows" in the mist, which means Aerostriker and Dinobot. So.. expect attacks from Cecaelia, Umbra, or Spineback as well.

Anyway, I'll post a bit later, been asked to make some cookies. Alright.. I guess the battle progresses.. somewhere!)

As the mist started washing towards Dinobot, two figures seen running out of the mist past him. Cheetor and Onyx. Cheetor slowed down as he turned, dodging one of Megatron's blasts, then brought his arms together firing a plasma blast up at Megatron in retaliation. He turned his head calling out towards Dinobot Hey Dinobot, come on! We need to make tracks fast!

_______________________

Megatron wrote: "Spineback! Umbra! Report! Acknowledge my orders and implement them immediately!" "Troops, follow the light and destroy what you find"

Aerostriker's optic narrowed as he strafed one of Megatron's shots,overhearing his roar of commands. Not on my watch.. Stag, what is your status?

Stag spoke up Charge shot is not possible with current damage, normal shots still within operable tolerances. This action is unadvised. Good enough. Lets go partner!

After giving a energetic command, Aerostriker flew up into the air as he took notice of Megatron flying above the mist. As he flew, he moved along in strafing motion, circling behind Megatron rather easily as he started opening fire on the tyrant's damaged backside and thrusters with Stag's normal beam shots, as well as his own head pulse lasers, while still keeping his distance.

____________________________

Umbra looked around blindly in the mist, unfortunately he had no advanced sensory system. No radar, sonar, or even night vision. His only asset being a flashlight he stole from the Maximal base, but even that wouldn't be of use in the mist other then giving away his position. Cecaelia and Spineback were probably no different.

Megatron wrote: "Spineback! Umbra! Report! Acknowledge my orders and implement them immediately!" "Troops, follow the light and destroy what you find"

Umbra suddenly noticed the purplish pink fusion blasts through the mist, acting like a tracer or flare to mark where to attack. Umbra promptly started running towards the targets, though to no avail as Onyx and Cheetor were too swift for him to catch up to.

___________________________

Blackarachnia wrote:"That's the spirit."

Quickstrike watched Blackarachnia for a moment, waving as she fluttered her optics at him. He then went outside, getting more supplies off the trailer and hauling them into the cave, the piles being more or less organized enough to make it easier to grab the necessary materials for building the station. Pulling out a small pole he set it down on the ground as it extended and set itself up, then he brought his snake head to it firing a small blast to light the torch on top. The torch seemed to be some sort of calcium carbonate torch, using water to bring out an acetylene gas. By Cybertronian standards it was primitive, but was better then wasting energon to light the structure. This however, was well over the head of Quickstrike who just simply knew how to use the device, not how it worked. He was still baffled that he was a robot and a scorpion snake thing.

With the room lit, he then went out to start unloading the other's trailers, muttering to himself Looks like I'm gonna end up the packmule.. he then hacked and spit on the ground.

Glancing at the llama's awkward movements, Optimus raised a brow at him, curious and uncertain about the new Predacon. He hadn't shown any aggression toward him so why was he trying to hide in the grass? Unbeknownst to the new guy, Primal was confident in his appearance before the female avian because he had faced worse than her. He had been fighting this war against Megatron for a long time now and had been weighed and tested time and time again, and had also dealt with the aliens which were the most powerful and unpredictable of their foes. He had been sacrificed and brought back to life. There wasn't much else for him to fear. He subtly shifted his gaze back to Nemesis.

"Trying to talk me down so soon?,"

The Commander's face softened, and the tiniest smile tugged at one corner of his mouth.

"I have no idea what you're talking about,"

Watching Nemesis carefully exchange one sword for another, he lowered his arm and studied the engravings she had decorated on his old blade while the tone of her voice toyed with him. He supposed Aurora wouldn't want it back now. "Are you keeping Maximal souvenirs? Or is it just a reminder of how easily you were brought down on-" Optimus suddenly cut himself off when he saw a burst of fire from the corner of his orange optic.

"But we were having such a good time!"

"Not from where I'm standin'," Rattrap muttered as the aches and pains continued to nag at his joints. He glanced at Silverbolt and Airazor who was still on the ground unconscious.

"Now it's your turn to burn, Optimus Primal!"

Like Nemesis, Primal leaped backwards away from her, but also away from Ironclaw so the flames wouldn't harm the already wounded badger. It was nothing as graceful as Nemesis's short retreat with her back-flips, but he had little warning and didn't care what it looked it so long as he hadn't caught on fire. Skidding across the grass on his side as the flames and heat followed in his wake, Optimus stopped and crouched on a silver knee that was now stained in green, grabbing his blaster from his hip and aiming at Inferno's shoulder. He fired two shots just before the fire was about to engulf him.

"Optimus!" Glaring at the ant's attempt to burn their leader, Rattrap also targeted Inferno at the side of his chest and arm that was holding the weapon and fired at him. "Ain't nobody havin' an ape BBQ tonight!" he shouted angrily at the red Pred.

-----

"Of course, I could use some as well."

There was a first for everything today it seemed. Rhinox had simply smiled in return. Looking over at Saber-Fang where she stood by the console, he was about to say something but hesitated when it looked like she was going to as well. He gave a moment to speak her mind but when she declined, he let it go and instead gave her an order.

"Saber-Fang, contact Cheetor's group. I ordered a retreat cycles ago and haven't heard back from them since. Ask for a status report." He also wanted to know Orcariner's progress but one thing at a time. Meanwhile, he went about keeping an eye on Orcariner's group and the signal before it disappeared. Narrowing his red optics at the screen the engineer hoped it was not Vok related, assuming they were even still around or had traps that were lingering on the planet. No, he was certain it was of Cybertronian. And Optimus's signature had long since vanished from the ship's scanners, which also meant his comm. link was out of range since he should have reached Rattrap's team by now. How he hated not being in contact with everyone.

OOC: Well Naito, I guess we're both annoyed then, so we're even.

However, it tis the season, so I don't wanna end things on a sour note, so I'd like to wish you & everyone else Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year! So peace on earth , just not ancient earth

Blackrose wrote:
She was intrigued by this new revelation, but she knew Blackarachnia would never allow it. She was probably up to something. She would never work with.....or for.....Tarantulas......not willingly anyway. Tarantulas would have to force her with his mental link.

Arachnitron finished what she was doing and then turned towards the conversation.

"Tarantulas, I've finished unloading," she informed him. She waited for his next instructions. If they really were going to make a lair or a fortress out of the cave, they'd have to rethink their plans for how to set up the equipment.

Tarantulas whirled around to face Arachnitron, relieved that it was only her and not one of the less reliable predacons who'd overheard his scheming, cursing himself for allowing his excitement over the prospect of a new lair to get the better of his caution, far too sloppy for an agent of his training and background. He'd have to be more careful in the future, but for now, he had work to do and only four predacons to pull it off with, three if he had to kill the fuzor to keep his silence.

Arachnitron would support his plan, and Blackarachnia had no choice in the matter regardless of whether she liked his idea or not, but it would be easier if she merely cooperated willingly for once like a good servant.

"Perhaps when pigs fly" Tarantulas murmured to himself, chuckling softly when he realized that with the advent of fuzors and now transmetals, the notion of a flying pig wasn't really so outlandish at all.

"Very good my dear, tell me, how much of that did you overhear?" he inquired, placing a clawed hand upon her shoulder, still annoyed at himself for speaking his thoughts aloud, a bad habit he'd picked up from time spent alone in the privacy of his lair, but not wanting to have to repeat himself if he could help it.

Naitokage wrote:
After giving a energetic command, Aerostriker flew up into the air as he took notice of Megatron flying above the mist. As he flew, he moved along in strafing motion, circling behind Megatron rather easily as he started opening fire on the tyrant's damaged backside and thrusters with Stag's normal beam shots, as well as his own head pulse lasers, while still keeping his distance.

"AGH!" Megatron bellowed in growing outrage at the annoying maximal's persistance...What kind of fool goes to all the trouble of creating the perfect smokescreen for an escape, only to come flying back into the jaws of death? Truly, Megatron had to wonder if the bird's sanity was less than that of Manterror at this point.

Megatron knew the bird's game, damage or take out his thrusters so he couldn't pursue him and his friends further, something which wouldn't have been an issue for the maximal if he'd stayed hidden...Not that the tyrant was complaining of course, despite making no tactical or common sense, it made his job easier, minus the annoying gunfire, aerial hotdogging, and his missing eye of course.

"GGGRRRRRR!" Megatron hissed betwen clenched teeth as the bird nailed one of his jets, the engine slowing and sputtering sparks, causing him to lose altitude.

He would have to act fast if he were to slag the bird now before he fell from the sky, so with a mighty motion he turned himself to look up at the bird, hissing in pain from the potshots in his armor and his damaged flight gear, but most of all, his eye, and raised his gun, fully charged, and fired several shots of his own at the maximal's wings and thrusters, determined to take him down with him.

"Fall to earth little bird, fall, fall, fall! MAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Megatron laughed maniacally, pleased with himself even as he hit the water, the geyser that followed obscuring him from the view of friend and foe alike.

Blackrose wrote: Dinobot had been taken by surprise once, he wasn't going to be taken by surprise again. This time when Terrorsaur shot at him with his eye lasers, Dinobot made a point to raise his shield and block the missiles. Then he decided some more drastic measures needed to be taken. He unsheathed his spinning sword and lunged towards Terrorsaur.

"Why don't we test out that new armor and see how outdated I really am!" Dinobot said with a snarl. "Or don't you think your shiny, new transmetal body can handle my non-transmetal weaponry?" Dinobot challenged inching a bit closer to Terrorsaur.

Before Dinobot could get close enough to actually use his spinning sword, a heavy, muddy mist began filling the battle field. Dinobot took a few steps backward to get a better look at what was causing the mist, Aerostriker seemed to be malfunctioning as he tried to escape which was kicking up dust and mud and other debris into the air obscuring the warrior's view of the battlefield. But he continued to stand in front of Terrorsaur in his fighting stance not wanting to be the one to retreat first. He hoped the pterodactyl would retreat before the mist covered the entire battlefield.

Annoyed that his upgraded missiles had been blocked by Dinobot's outmoded shield, and that the walking relic had the nerve to call him out, Terrorsaur drew his own blades and said "I don't think I can beat you throwback, I KNOW I CAN BEAT YOU! RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWK!"

Thrusters putting extra power behind his attack, Terrorsaur lunged at Dinobot top speed, slashing at him with his twin blades, but unfortunately, a sudden mist obscured his view so he couldn't tell if he'd damaged the traitor or not.

"What the scrap?" Terrorsaur sneered, confused by this interruption, still eager to kill Dinobot, but not wanting to get caught in the fog like this unawares by his opponent, memories of the massive cloud that had obscured the flying alien mountain coming to mind, so instead he flew upwards out of the cloud, looking down for signs of Dinobot in the mist.

As he rose up towards the sky, Orcariner exhaled and closed his eyes for a moment. That conversation went sort of as he had expected, but even still, it was still stressful to be so torn between giving into his ambitions while paying heed to wisdom. Deep down, he knew the equine was right, but he chose not to care... for the most part. Opening his eyes, the Maximal stared towards the direction where Aurora had pointed out. There was a small mountain with several cave entrances. It was really difficult to tell if they were natural openings or if they were artificially created.

"Ok," he said to himself, "Let's try to focus on the mission at hand."

Now that he was already within the designated zone, Orcariner could no longer utilize auto-pilot to maneuver around. Taking a deep breath, he leaned forward and felt the main propeller push his metallic body towards the mountain. Opening his radio channel, he spoke out to his other two teammates.

"I spot several caverns, but since they go into the mountain, my radar is unable to see which ones lead to dead ends and which ones could lead to potential danger."

There was nothing to be seen on the surface and the signal had ceased its broadcasting. Part of him wanted to scoop up Aurora and Whitegrazer and fly home. Yet, his instincts told him that there was probably something occurring underground. There was the possibility of a Vok resurgence. After all, Orcariner did fight them underground in the past. Although, it was due to that experience that he was hesitant to fly down and enter the caves. He certainly did not want to end up back in the CR Chamber so soon after waking up inside of it.

((OOC: Sorry for the SUPER late reply. Im pretty far behind but luckily my characters aren't really holding anything up. haha Thanks for waiting Alak!!

It's been my understanding that stasis lock was a state that required a CR chamber in order to repair and come out of stasis lock. Heck, in canon Dinobot dies from fighting past the point of stasis lock. WorpeX, I'm not sure if you'd rather amend your original post to have her be knocked unconscious so she wakes up when Optimus arrives or stay in stasis lock.

I don't think that is true. As long as they are in beast mode, which Airazor is, their robot forms are being repaired. In the episode with the flying island (can't remember its name) Airazor is shot from the sky by Scorpinok and knocked into stasis lock. Then later in the episode, she comes back online without the need for a CR Chamber. In that episode with Dinobot, he also refused to go into Beast Mode for repairs.

I'll not post for Airazor for now, just in case someone disagrees with me. I'm fine with leaving her offline if others think that she should see a CR Chamber first. ))

"Holy monkeys on steroids," he muttered. "Is that their boss?"

The mantis just began to laugh, quietly at first then a little louder. "Baahahaha!!! Optimus Prime is NOTHING compared to our MEGATRON! AAHAHHAAHA" He got carried away with the laughter, as usual. However, he eventually calmed down and watched the battle. Optimus arrived, which gave him an itch to get back into the battle. He was still beat up from fighting earlier with Silverbolt but, he could fire a few shots from the distance to help the rest of the preds out.

Watching Rattrap get back into the Action, the Mantis stepped up back into the fight as well and glared at the rat. In one swift movement, he fired two of his spiked discs towards his location. Manterror kept his distance, he knew that he was in no condition to take more shots, however, from afar, he could do a small amount of damage and easily dodge anything coming his way!!

---

DarkSpark wrote:OOC: Well Naito, I guess we're both annoyed then, so we're even.However, it tis the season, so I don't wanna end things on a sour note, so I'd like to wish you & everyone else Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year! So peace on earth , just not ancient earth

(Heh, Happy holidays Darkspark, and to the rest of the community. )

As Aerostriker desperately fired on Megatron, he saw that with luck his shots had made it into one of the Predacon's turbines, causing him to start to fall. As he was about to change his course, he heard Stag speak up. Evade--Error!Fuel low! Eh?!

Aerostriker's optic widened as his RCS tried to kick in giving a small puff of thrust, attempting to evade Megatron's shots, twisting his body as they flew towards him,one of the shots tearing through his right shoulder and collar section, the area sparking violently with a molten glow visible to bisectioned metal as the blast passed through, the remains of his right arm falling to the water bellow, bubbling violently. Arg!

Megatron wrote: "Fall to earth little bird, fall, fall, fall! MAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

As he started to fall back with a sputter coming from his right jet engine, Stag's rockets kicked in, suddenly dragging Aerostriker up and backwards. Damage threshold exceeded, proceeding with emergency override measures. Stag's gun retracted, with his head folding in place, in a strange mix between his gun and beast mode. Aerostriker was about to speak up, but his optic turned black as he felt himself slip away into stasis lock, though strangely his engines still active as he was dragged along through the air by his targetmaster partner.


In the distance on the Axalon's scanners, a large heat signature was detected in the air coming towards it. The radio coming to life as a message came in Re-cov-ery comp-lete... Ener-gon-gon low..Med-ic.. re-qui-red.. the voice sounding much like a toy with a dieing battery.


As they started to lose altitude, Aerostriker's engines kicked off, while Stag's rockets started to sputter as his energy levels became far too drained. His rockets then cut out as his optics turned black, slipping into sleep mode. The two taking a low crash, skidding across the desert sand infront of the Axalon, with dust blowing up in the breeze from the sudden fall.

"Saber-Fang, contact Cheetor's group. I ordered a retreat cycles ago and haven't heard back from them since. Ask for a status report."

She gave him a small nod and a thumbs up. "I'm on it." She quickly contacted Cheetor. "Maximal Base to Cheetor. I repeat; Maximal base to Cheetor. Status report."

She fell silent as she waited for a response, she once again glanced over at Rhinox, debating on whether she should simply come clean and tell him everything before they found out in the worse possible way.

(ooc: I hope you all had a great holiday! Sorry for the delay on my part.. Busy with family and work this Christmas, but I'll try to get a post in tomorrow.

Edit: Tomorrow is today!)

Optimus Primal wrote:"Are you keeping Maximal souvenirs? Or is it just a reminder of how easily you were brought down on-"

Nemesis did not have time to reply to Primal's snippy remark before the flames forced her into a temporary retreat, but the moment she touched the ground again she shot Primal a glare. Optimus' words had hit a nerve, but she was not about to admit it. However she took some comfort in the fact that Primal had not been there to witness what had taken place so whatever assumptions he might make would never be more than mere guesses. And her mistakes that day could still be rectified..

Taking a moment to glance around the battlefield, it became abundantly clear that this battle was becoming somewhat futile. A majority of the players were either wounded or had stopped fighting for other reasons, and the object of this hunt had already declared himself a Predacon thus making this standoff about something else entirely. Optimus was not here to fight for the protoform, he was here to protect his crew. The Maximal strength lay not in the power of an individual, but rather the unity of the group itself. The outcome of this single battle held very little influence over the eventual outcome of this war, but perhaps the turn of events could be shifted to the Predacons' advantage.. This thought lingered in her head for a moment.

Deciding to take advantage of the situation, Nemesis pulled out her firearm and took aim at one of the non-combatants.. One that was now attempting to protect the downed Maximal. The traitor Silverbolt. She centered her sights at his upper backside, confident the flying wolf would never see the shots coming, and pulled the trigger.

Whitegrazer wrote: "No, he didn't."

Aurora drew a heavy sigh as they trailed across the sandy terrain. Despite their surroundings being the last place the topic of their conversation would ever go to, her thoughts lingered on what had happened to Icebreaker. But she did not wish to discuss it further with the white mare, knowing full well that she would never be able to persuade the taller female of how justice could.. and should.. be served. In fact Aurora herself wasn't quite sure how to proceed with this new information yet.

Whitegrazer wrote: "I hope you two at least ponder my questions before you decide to carry out this act."

She wanted to say something, to deny the older Maximal's insinuations, but she could not. It was impossible to argue with someone who could read their emotions so easily. So Aurora kept quiet for the duration of their walk.. That is until..

Whitegrazer wrote:"I found something. It must be them and with these tracks they must be carrying heavy equipment. What are they doing here?"

One glance and Aurora had to agree. "Seems to be a few of them judging by the tracks." She pushed a few of the plants that would grow in this place, immediately halting in her tracks as she saw what revealed itself in the distance. A large cave-like structure, of sorts.

((OOC: No worries, Wintersong! I know how it is... life gets busy, and then you need even more time to catch up to events that unfolded in the RPG. Silly life, getting in the way. Catch up when you can! ))

Nemesis wrote:Deciding to take advantage of the situation, Nemesis pulled out her firearm and took aim at one of the non-combatants.. One that was now attempting to protect the downed Maximal. The traitor Silverbolt. She centered her sights at his upper backside, confident the flying wolf would never see the shots coming, and pulled the trigger.

Silverbolt had just enough warning from the hiss of the projectile heading straight for him to brace for the imminent impact. It came hard and fast, hitting him squarely in the back and forcing a groan of surprise and pain from his mouth. By the skillful accuracy of the shot, he knew that this was no errant shot -- some lowlife Predacon was deliberately aiming for him and Airazor. The blast had knocked him forward on top of Airazor, but as the dirt and debris finished raining down on them, he realized that neither of them were significantly worse for the wear from the sudden attack. Silverbolt knew that if Airazor were to make it, he would need to draw fire away from her -- and such dishonorable aggression against the weak and vulnerable could not go unanswered.

Keeping himself directly in line between Nemesis and Airazor, Silverbolt approached Nemesis as the dust kicked up by the blast swirled lightly around him. "Attacking the injured and defenseless now? That's low, even for a Predacon. And that is something that I, for one, can simply not abide." [Cue corny, heroic fanfare.]

Silverbolt drew his wing missiles in his hands and took to the air, hovering a few feet above the ground -- relieved that his wings still worked. "I would never strike a female -- even a female Predacon. But for you, foul villain, I believe I can make an exception. So let us test your mettle, Predacon, when you aren't shooting your enemies in the back."

He took up a heroic pose, ready to do battle. Looking to Optimus, he simply asked "With your permission?"

Wintersong couldn't believe how defiant Ironclaw really had become, recalling her earlier times when she had been that way with Optimus but a talk with the big monkey and a near death had really impacted that part of her personality over time to the point she no longer did that. When she had tried to fight Glowstick she had been irrational and refused to give in, if not for his more merciful ways before she likely would have been an icicle to have been fished out of those icy depths. A icy, snow barren terrain like that was suppose to be where she would have best fought at but now she rarely went there or anywhere near water. She hadn't even told her teammates about this new found fear of water, which kinda ironic that her form was one of the few big cats that enjoyed water!

Though as more chaos broke out she was relieved to see Primal show up when he did, realizing she had been too distracted in watching the fight to really have tried anything else but also decided to give aid to Silverbolt in helping to protect Airazor. Though eventually this quickly went down hill as Nemesis decided to turn her attentions towards them when Optimus interfered with the fight between the avian female and the badger. Growling as she transformed once more Wintersong quickly took up to watching over Airazor when Silverbolt went to stop Nemesis from harming him and the fallen falcon. Though she also realized she was still concerned about Ironclaw's well being and had to at this point only hope he'd at some point get sense into his thick head. Really, his actions somewhat disappointed her, knowing he could be brash but even this was more so than their upgrades and that was evident from his damaged form.

Though from the distance she was at she noticed Manterror’s attempt to attack the already damaged Rattrap, causing her to react quickly and draw her laser rifle, firing towards the two discs and blasting them off course. “Rattrap, you might want to back off this way, seems you got a pest problem from behind.” She called to him.

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

Spineback in the meantime had gotten somewhat busy in all the chaos; firing off in the directions she saw their enemies and doing what she could to help her new leader. But these Maximals were surprisingly persistent despite most of them retreating. Though she took note as well that one Maximal had shown up, this one having a dinosaur form like her and Megatron, though this brief distraction made her not even look towards the water until the mist came into her general optical sight making her raise her shield to block some debris that came her way, making her growl slightly. Well the Maximal had a neat little trick but it likely wouldn’t stop them from firing upon him and the rest of his comrades. And Megatron seemed insistent on gaining revenge.

‘I wonder if he realizes this is somewhat useless.’ She thought, as she began trying to track the Maximals and following the light of Megatron’s fusion cannon. But the mist was thick and her senses were somewhat thrown off by the sudden mix of scents, making her somewhat unable to use them. “Sir, this might be a lost cause. Majority of the Maximals are retreating or gone, there was one new arrival but they might be going too if he saw his friends leaving. Much as I hate to say this but we may have to wait another time to finish them.” Spineback informed him.

((Hope this post is alright, kinda going with what I can to get back into this.))

((OOC: I will try to post today for both of my characters. If not today, most definitely, tomorrow morning!

Edit: I will post for Blackarachnia for now. Still contemplating Whitegrazer's))

Blackarachnia was helping Quickstrike placing the torch pillars to help them when they work on extracting energon for fuel. Striking the pillar beside the cavern wall, she noticed two spiders were missing which prompt her to abandon her duties to see what those two were doing. What was she saying? She knew actually what those two were doing. Well, Tarantulas anyway. She could feel the vibrations and whispers of some dark agenda brewing inside that gruesome yet cunning processor of his.

If he was planning on dragging her into something against Megatron, she wasn't going to do it.

She rested her back against the entrance, seeing the ceiling of energon above, which she had to admit was quite a sight to behold. Tarantulas and Arachnitron were standing together and she let out a little cough, "What are you planning inside that devious brain of yours, Tarantulas? You are not trying to usurp Megatron, are you?" She let out a short laugh.

(( OOC:

Optimus' words had hit a nerve, but she was not about to admit it. However she took some comfort in the fact that Primal had not been there to witness what had taken place so whatever assumptions he might make would never be more than mere guesses. And her mistakes that day could still be rectified..

Curses! Nemesis called his bluff. Why hasn't Aurora told the Maximals about electricuting Nemesis with the sword and water?! XD ))

“Rattrap, you might want to back off this way, seems you got a pest problem from behind.”

Rattrap looked over his shoulder in time to see Wintersong's shots blast Manterror's disks off of their target which had been him. "Thanks, Winter," he said gratefully and heeded her suggestion, moving away from Inferno and back toward her. Hurting and scratched all over, he just wanted this day to end.

[Cue corny, heroic fanfare.]

"Hey, do you hear that?" the wounded rat asked the tigress as he looked around in the sky for the source of the music. (( Random fun. ))

"I would never strike a female -- even a female Predacon. But for you, foul villain, I believe I can make an exception. So let us test your mettle, Predacon, when you aren't shooting your enemies in the back." "With your permission?"

Shaking his head at the bird dog's exaggerated pose of heroism, Rattrap threw his arms up in the air, frustrated and in disbelief. "Sure, NOW he asks before he screws everythin' up."

Primal had kept himself low to the ground to avoid the fire from Inferno's flamethrower, and rolled lengthwise across the grass before standing up when the flames were gone. It was then when he noticed Nemesis fire at Silverbolt and Airazor who was still unconscious. It could have been a serious hit on the new Fuzor but then he watched him stand up and put himself between Nemesis's line of fire on Airazor. Silverbolt definitely belonged on their team, but Optimus already knew that.

"With your permission?"

Holstering his blaster back to his hip, the Commander said to Silverbolt, "No. I've got this covered." He brought up his personal miniature autoguns over his shoulders and targeted the Preds with it, beginning with Nemesis, and started the alternating firing nonstop. Primal's feet slowly slid backwards on the grass inch by inch from every shot by the power and force that came out of his weapons. Most of his shots were meant to miss the Predacons on purpose, zipping through the air or hitting the ground near their feet because Optimus just wanted to drive them away and end this senseless battle so that he and his wounded Maximals could take a peaceful leave. He didn't even bother firing at the llama since he hadn't shown any aggression and seemed frightened enough with the whole ordeal, hoping he would simply follow the others in their retreat from all the gunfire.

(( OOC: I'm just trying to drive the Preds away and finally end this battle because there's a line that Warwulf's obsessed about saying with Silverbolt that can't really be said unless the Preds leave first. Silly Warwulf. ))

-----

"I'm on it." "Maximal Base to Cheetor. I repeat; Maximal base to Cheetor. Status report."

While they waited for Cheetor's response, Rhinox looked at the former General and noticed her glance at him again. It seemed as though she was having trouble debating with herself about something. "Is there something on your mind, Saber-Fang?" he finally confronted her.

As he cowered in the grass and watched Optimus and Nemesis exchange words, Buster saw that the wolf/eagle fuzor returned to his leader's side. The ape not only was courageous enough to stare down the finest Predacon soldiers, but he in turn inspired courage into his own teammates. Now the fight was going to be a bit more even with more Maximals showing up, that meant Buster's chances of getting out of this place unscathed was reduced.

Gotta act quick. Hit 'em before they notice me hiding all ninja-esque in the grass. Probably hit 'em with the rocket launcher. Monkey steroids can't deflect rockets.

Before he could even transform, however, Optimus landed onto the ground and two heavy machine guns rose from his back before resting on his broad shoulders. The llama's eyes widened at an alarming rate as the Maximal leader opened fire.

"BY UNICRON'S GOATEE, WE'RE DOOMED!!!" he screamed, "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!"

Hoping up onto his feet, the llama took off sprinting in the opposite direction. Buster was completely oblivious to the fact that Optimus was intentionally missing his targets, or even the fact that his shots were ignoring Buster entirely. All he knew was that the rate of fire on those cannons were ridiculously high, and the explosions that erupted all around him were ridiculously loud.

OOC:

Guess it was just kinda assumed since, Maximal mentality is to avoid needless battles and already proven pred aggression.......

But Dinobot doesn't think like that. He's not of Maximal origin. His first instinct would be to fight. Unless Optimus says back down, he'll just go with his Predacon instincts.

For some reason I assumed he knew why he was going to give back-up.

Well I knew why he was going to give back up, but everyone seems to get upset when you act on knowledge that the player knows and not that the character knows. It's always something that gets people in a tizzy!

That's not entirely true OOP. I did mention retreating on the Maximal radio on the 9th, but it's easy to overlook things, specially in the hectic holiday season. Anyway, needless to say, Dinobot knows to retreat. They will be retreating, and Aerostriker can then rust in peace.*LOL*

But Dinobot was off fighting Terrorsaur. He wasn't near Aerostriker and the preds Aerostriker was fighting. I thought Aerostriker was talking to the characters that were near him who needed the cover fire. Dinobot didn't need the cover fire.....he was providing the cover fire. I think he's even the only one still functional enough to do that!

As for me, well, I've been waiting a week now from my last post for Mystrea to make some kind response with Ironclaw (who could actually help push Optimus out of the way of Inferno's flamethrower if he wanted to, assuming OP's and Rattrap's shots don't stop Inferno beforehand). Thus leading up to another one I've been waiting for which is Blackrose with Inferno. Since we're long past the three-day waiting period, I'll just post tomorrow and move on because I will be busy Tuesday and Wednesday, and I go back to work Thursday. ))

Aside from holiday obligations and WorpeX's bday, I was also waiting to see what Mystrea would do since he's right where Inferno is firing his flamethrowers. But I guess I'll just post. Oh and....when I tried to post this earlier....I got a general error message again.

I always wondered what bolt would have done if Megs had ever recruited more female warriors, I doubt his chivalrous ways would have worked on all of them lol.

True....he would be pretty unproductive....and kind of obsolete in battle. He'd be a pretty easy foe to defeat for the Preds...if they ever see Silverbolt doing something they want him to stop doing, all Megs would have to do is send all the femme bots. Easy victory!

BIC:

"I don't think I can beat you, throwback, I KNOW I CAN BEAT YOU! RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWK!"

With his next taunting breath, Terrorsaur lunged towards Dinobot with his twin blades. Dinobot raised his spiral sword to parry the impending the attack just as the mist wafted over the rest of the battlefield. Dinobot couldn't see where his foe went, he could only take a quick stab in the mist where he thought the Predacon might have ended up. He could hear Terrorsaur's confused voice muttering curses and slowly getting further and further away. Where was that featherless freak?

Dinobot glanced around at the rest of the mist seeing only the blurred shadows of the terrain and hearing Predacon voices from outside of the mist. Dinobot decided the best thing he could do was forget about Terrorsaur and keep moving. He shuffled forward slowly searching for the end of the fog or at least something to provide cover until the fog lifted. Suddenly, he heard Cheetor's voice calling to him.

Hey Dinobot, come on! We need to make tracks fast!

He activated his comm link. "Keep moving, feline! I'm right behind you!" he growled quietly into his comm link. But was he right behind him? Dinobot wasn't really sure.

(OOC: I was going to reference that time when Dinobot, Rhinox, and Cheetor were temporarily blind.....but I wasn't sure if you guys RP'ed that episode or not....)

It wasn't long before the Predacons momentary ceasefire ended. They had stopped firing in their confusion when the mist first covered the battle field, but he heard Megatron give the order to continue. They began firing blindly into the mist hoping to catch one of the Maximals unawares using each other's weapon's fire so the others could see where to aim. Dinobot couldn't hesitate anymore! He had to run! Stray bullets and lasers pierced his armor as he stumbled through the mist in the direction of Cheetor's voice.

Dinobot realized that if he reacted to the sound of the weapons' fire, he'd be reacting too slowly. He had to react to the light. He also realized that if he returned fire, the Predacons would know where to shoot. Right now, they were just guessing. But perhaps he could fool them into thinking he was somewhere he wasn't.

He continued to race forward, but instead of raising his shield when he heard the laser fire, he raised his shield when he saw the light. He successfully shielded his aching body from any more damage. He also, hopefully, would confuse the Predacons. The sound of the laser fire and other ammunition hitting his shield was distinct enough to hopefully convince the Predacons that he had given away his location and draw their fire to the sound! But by the time they would hear the sound of the lasers on his shield, he would be several feet away. Dinobot hoped the Predacons would fall for the trick long enough to buy him some time to get away.

(OOC: I have no idea if that would even work.... :-/)

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

Inferno gleefully allowed his flamethrower to continue firing at the Maximals long after it was necessary. He couldn't help it. He just loved the sound of the flames spitting out towards his enemy and he loved the smell of the burning grass beneath his feet.

"This is for you, my Queen!" He thought to himself proudly as the Maximals responded to his fire.

Optimus skidded away and Rattrap panicked! How much more perfect could things be?

Just then, Optimus raised his blaster, aimed, and fired two shots at Inferno. The first shot met its mark and knocked Inferno off his feet. The second one flew over Inferno's head as he cradled his injured shoulder. But it wasn't over yet!

"Optimus!" "Ain't nobody havin' an ape BBQ tonight!"

Inferno could hear Rattrap's voice over the sound of the other Predacons returning fire. He turned towards the vermin just in time to see him raise his weapon and aim at the ant's flamethrower. Inferno tried to shimmy out of the way, but he was too slow. The blast hit his flamethrower and, as a result, thick, black smoke rose up out of the weapon's igniter.
Inferno looked down at his weapon in horror.

"What.....what HAVE YOU DONE?!!!!" Inferno shouted angrily. Fuming, the ant struggled to his feet intending to run headlong into the fray. Having no more functioning weapons, Inferno would have to resort to hand to hand combat. Whatever needed to be done to make the Maximals pay for destroying his weapon!

But before Inferno could even make it to his feet, Optimus readied himself to send off the next round. He brought out a set of personal miniature autoguns that came up over his head and sat on his shoulders. He began with Nemesis and started firing non stop at the Predacons. Though many of his shots missed, perhaps intentionally, the blast waves launched dirt and debris, and even Inferno himself, backward with incredible force!

Inferno landed a few hundred feet from Optimus with a damaged shoulder, no working weapons, malfunctioning audio sensors, and countless internal damage. He noticed the new recruit already leaving and figured the others would be following close behind. He initiated his comm link.

"Inferno to all Predacons in the area. We must retreat and return to the colony immediately! Do you read? RETREAT!"

Inferno clicked off his comm link and, not waiting for confirmation from the other Predacons, transformed to beast mode and headed back to the Darksyde.

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

Arachnitron was quite surprised when Tarantulas spun around to face her so quickly. She hadn't expected to startle the tarantula who, apparently, had thought he was alone with his thoughts. But she was glad at how relieved he looked when he saw it was her behind him and not Blackarachnia or Quickstrike.

Tarantulas placed one of his claws on her shoulder. Her breath caught in her throat at his touch. (OOC: Sorry that was horribly cheesy.....and so creepy!)

"Very good my dear, tell me, how much of that did you overhear?"

How much of it did she hear? What kind of question was that? She had been standing near enough to him to hear the entire conversation between himself and Blackarachnia. She had heard everything the two of them had said. But should she admit to hearing everything? What if she wasn't supposed to hear any of it? What if that changes how he acts around her? She didn't want anything to change between them. But she knew how costly it could be to keep things from him. He always seemed to know when she was hiding something.

"Something about a fortress...." she mumbled which wasn't completely a lie. She hoped it was enough of the truth to please him, but not enough to make her a liability to continue to have around. She watched him nervously and waited for him to answer.

Before he could answer, Blackarachnia, who had left momentarily to seduce the fuzor, had returned and waltzed back up to Tarantulas and Arachnitron.

"What are you planning inside that devious brain of yours, Tarantulas? You are not trying to usurp Megatron, are you?" She let out a short laugh.

Arachnitron was glad for the momentary distraction, but annoyed at the same time. Did that devious spider always have to show up and interrupt her moments alone with Tarantulas?