The Intergalactic Highway

(( OOC: This is a lengthy joint post by Warwulf as Silverbolt and me as Optimus. Phoenix, I hope you don't mind that we moved Aurora. I assumed she would need a CR. ))

Blackness turned into a memory as vitals were ignited and systems activated. A very painful and powerful memory of fear and sorrow. An instant replay of what felt very real all over again.

"The Beast Wars are over, Optimus." "You Lose."

"MEGATROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!"

Megatron’s cruel and gloating words haunted him. Optimus released the deepest and most desperate of gasps, as if he had been holding his breath for several days straight. In a panic from the recollection, his fists pounded the small window above him nearly cracking it until he realized that they were not the hands he remembered. Where was his skin and fur? He slowly brought them down to his face for a closer examination. Hadn’t he died? …Yes… Yes, it was gradually coming back to him now; the alien weapon, the stasis pod, and his death. He vaguely remembered the Matrix. ((OOC: Pieces of that experience will come to him eventually.)) Was he still there? Was this part of death, a new life? His arms were thick and completely metal in silver; absolutely no sign of the black fur that used to cover them. What happened to him?

With a soft hiss, the stasis pod’s hatch opened and Optimus slowly sat up, hanging his legs out side of it and looking over his body as he adjusted himself to everything that was brand new for him. New sensors, abilities, weapons, everything. But for all that was new to him, he found himself surrounded by very familiar senses. Looking around the small room with his orange optics, there was no mistake that he was in his ship, the Axalon. His ape-shaped nose on his face that still resembled his old form could pick up scents that had been there not too long ago; Rhinox and… Whitegrazer.

Optimus... Don't worry. We are getting our base back, so you will be safe. We are still holding on. Alive.

He could feel her again. Primal simply reached out to her with a warm emotion, full of life and determination. Whitegrazer’s words were alarming, however. What was happening? Had Megatron infiltrated the Axalon? Standing up, he grew cautious and his sensors kicked into high gear. Sentinel was quiet but he could hear heavy gun fire just beyond the hull. There were no voices that he could hear inside. For him, it was a very eerie welcome back to life. The best conclusion he could make was that the Predacons were trying to defeat the Maximals once and for all. However, he had no idea how long he had been gone and what had transpired during his absence. …His death.

The best way to find out what was happening was to go to the bridge, so as he conquered his balance quickly and began getting a feel for his new feet and legs, Optimus headed for the doorway and peeked out into the corridor. The command center, which looked impossible to rebuild, was partially blocked off by debris, but something else much more desperate caught his attention. At first, he couldn’t see Aurora behind the bot that was crouching in front of her. This unknown character looked like a Maximal, and he had no idea what all of them looked like now if he looked so different himself, so he stepped out of the room and took a few steps toward the Fuzor before he noticed all of the autoguns that had been destroyed and a petite but very familiar white body behind him… and she wasn’t moving. In fact, she appeared to be seriously injured. Optimus didn’t want to jump to conclusions but his protective nature immediately took over. Although, he hadn’t drawn any of his weapons yet since this individual appeared to be terribly injured as well and unthreatening.

"Aurora!" Primal cried out. His voice was very much the same it was before in his old body, but if she was unconscious, then it didn’t help. Obviously taken aback by the situation and confused, he gave this unknown bot a chance to explain himself.

"What happened here?!" demanded Optimus.

Silverbolt's jaw dropped at the sight of the large Maximal. Regaining his composure, he thought quickly how to explain his presence.

"This... is not what it looks like," he offered, realizing just how bad the scene must look from the new arrival's standpoint. "Your defenses were compromised. Aurora succeeded in restoring them... but I was too late... and I failed at protecting her," he added sullenly.

Primal kept a skeptical gaze upon this possible intruder while he listened and examined the very questionable scene. Unfortunately, he had no time to waste since judging by Whitegrazer's plea and the sounds outside his help was needed.

"Move back," he told the Fuzor as the "new" Maximal stepped closer to Aurora and crouched down to examine her wound. He frowned for the pain she must have endured before she was knocked out, but she was still alive, and for that he was very relieved. "If your story holds truth, then I'm very grateful. You haven't failed. She should recover but she needs the repair chamber." Assuming they were working. "How are you holding up?" Optimus asked him.

"I give you my word, everything I have said is the truth." Silverbolt replied. "But I must also warn you that I am Aurora's prisoner. For you see, I am a Predacon."

The Maximal's expression shifted from speculation to thoughtful. A Predacon? That was rather surprising. He didn't speak like one, nor act or look like one, not that Optimus wanted to profile him. Something just didn't seem right. And since when did Aurora take prisoners? For all Primal knew, this guy could be lying through his teeth and had taken Aurora out while her back was turned to him. Still, listening to his instinct which had been fairly accurate before, he felt something different about this bot.

"You could've fooled me," Optimus commented. "What's your name?" Standing up, he walked to the bridge's blocked entrance and began removing the rest of the debris, quite effortlessly, listening to the so-called Predacon, and stacking it on either side of the corridor to get it out of the way. Luckily, most of the heavier stuff had been moved already. Possibly by Rhinox or Orcariner? He didn't know, but it had to be removed in order to get Aurora to one of the CR's.

"My name is Silverbolt," he answered. "And though Predacon I may be, I do not let it dictate my actions. I chose to have a conscious and act with honor. I suppose that may set me apart from others, ever since I awoke from that stasis pod. But it is the only way I know how to live my life."

A couple key words stood out for Optimus; his name and how he arrived. A very small smile formed on his mouth for a moment as if he knew something that Silverbolt didn't, until he spoke with a tone that held some cold truth to it. "Those are traits I admire," he began, "but I'm afraid your personality clashes with Megatron's. And he doesn't want Predacons who set themselves apart from him or his other troops." Dusting off his hands as he finished, he went back over to Aurora and carefully scooped her up into his arms, an expression of sadness and compassion blanketing his face. As he started walking to the bridge, passing Silverbolt, he said, "You came here as a Maximal, Silverbolt. Your name was on my roster of stasis pods. I don't know how you ended up in Megatron's hands, but whether you wish to stay with him or be with us it is entirely your choice."

Coming to the CR chambers, both were unoccupied, but Ironclaw was laying outside the one he had been in since before Optimus had even left the planet. At least he thought it was Ironclaw. He looked different now, like him, but appeared to be off-line or unconscious. Had they lost him just like Icebreaker? He certainly hoped not. Primal gently set Aurora down in one of the empty chambers and closed it so it would begin repairs immediately.

Silverbolt remained pensive for a while, letting the words sink in. He had heard the assertion that he was a Maximal before, but where? Of course, the Maximal rat! This time, he found that claim to be more credible. He had been feeling that there was something... wrong. Things did not seem to fit. Perhaps he was meant to be Maximal after all.

Silverbolt tried to stand, but was unable to find the strength. He mistakenly stretched his wings out for balance, but was again rewarded with pain and a shower of sparks from his damaged wing. He wasn't going to be making a speedy return to the Predacon ranks like this.

Returning to Silverbolt, Optimus watched him struggle to get to his feet only to fail and see his wing go off like a sparkler. Frowning, he moved quicker to reach him and said, "Hold on. Let me help you." Leaning over, Primal carefully took one of the Fuzor's arms and wrapped it around the back of his neck, tenderly lifting him up to stand as the Maximal straightened himself. Taking a small steps, they slowly moved toward the other CR chamber. "You can get repaired in one of our chambers. It'll give you plenty of time to think about your position in this war," he said with a lighter tone.

"Why are you helping me?" Silverbolt asked.

"Because you helped Aurora," he answered Silverbolt, looking at him next to him as they arrived at the CR, carefully stepping around Ironclaw. "And because I'm a Maximal, and this is how we operate." He paused to finally introduce himself. "I'm Optimus Primal, Commander of this vessel." After he assisted Silverbolt, he kneeled down to who he thought was Ironclaw and positioned him next to Aurora's CR, propping his back up against the wall. He was certain he would be all right; there were no apparent injuries on his exterior, but for now, this was all he could do for him.

Standing up, Optimus placed a hand on the ermine Fuzor's chamber window and said softly to himself, "Hang in there, Aurora. Don't give up. I'm back." With that, he entered back into the trashed command center and used the last console that Rhinox had. It was still malfunctioning like it was when Rhinox was using it earlier before the virus hit, but Optimus was unaware of all of that. All he needed was a visual on what was happening outside. Accessing one of the exterior cameras, his optics narrowed at the scene, watching some of his team take a courageous last stand against Megatron - it had to be Megatron despite his new look - and protect Orcariner. It was a sight to see, especially since a lot of his Maximals had had upgrades as well. He couldn't wait to see all of them. But enough was enough before anymore lives were lost. It was time to pull the rabbit out of the hat, so to speak. Time to turn this around. He had a plan.

With haste, Primal left the bridge and headed to a weaker part of the ship judging by the damage it had inflicted already. On the way, he grabbed a heavy, thick, sturdy shield and prepared himself...

OOC:

Wintersong wrote:((Sorry about that Blackrose, I must have logged on and posted without even realizing you were on as well. That I apologize for and I thought that might help is all, but it wasn't my intention to make you mad or cause offense.))

No, no. It's okay. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm sorry. It's just been a really long couple of days and my fuse was a little short. But truth be told, the extra post was helpful. Thank you!

One of those players should have answered you. I had lost track of them since their arrival and haven't had the time to look back and re-read everything. My statement about getting all of them gathered at the bow of the Axalon was simply a push in a general direction for everyone to move their characters to eventually and wasn't intended as answer to your question.

I apologize, but the way it was written made it sound like you were basically saying "read my previous post, duh." And since it happened to occur right after I asked my question about where everyone was, it made it seem like an answer to my question and not a "Hey everyone! Don't forget..." type of comment.

Revisions were made. Whatever those involved edited to accomodate where everyone needs to be is accurate now in their posts. Re-read them. Orcariner took Manterror through the Axalon from the hanger to the bridge and are now out there facing Megatron and some of his goons. I'm still uncertain as to who all the Preds are right now with him, but Orcariner, Rattrap, Rhinox, Tigatron, and Wintersong are now at the front of the Axalon and battling Megatron, Tantrum, etc.

I DID re-read them which is why I am annoyed. It's one thing to misread a previous post and edit your post so that it follows the storyline, but in this instance, nothing was inaccurate at all about what anyone had said in their posts so to go back and edit was a complete waste of time. It just meant that anyone who had already responded had to go back and edit their post too which holds up the game. The Predacons were supposed to END UP over there....no one was wrong about where their characters were. It would not have been a big deal to just let the characters get there naturally instead of warping and time jumping throughout the battlefield rushing through their side battles to get to that spot.

Several times now, I've had players I was interacting with edit a perfectly good post for no reason whatsoever with stuff that directly impacted other players, but without it, the post would have still followed the story line. There's no reason why people should have to respond to Jim's post and be waiting for Jim to post again, come online and see that instead of posting a new post, Jim went back to edit an old post with information that changes everyone else's post behind him!

Nothing was wrong with their comm. links in the first place. Before I went back and edited my post, I was under the assumption that when NK said the Axalon's wireless system was down that it included their comm. links (because I wasn't sure, I was just trying to be a good RPer and remember little things like that). And I WARNED everyone in my post that if I was wrong, then I'd go back and edit it accordingly. NK said the comm. links were NOT affected, so I edited and corrected my post. What's written there now is accurate. Everything should be up to date now. If people just go back a page or two and re-read things that may apply to their characters, then there shouldn't be such a problem. But I apologize for the confusion, Blackrose.

It's no big deal. I read that post by NK, but I guess all that techno babble went over my head and I got confused. Thanks for clearing that up.

BIC:

Inferno watched as his rocket launcher blast sent the Maximal flipping forward face first. He laughed at her misfortune, but was a little disappointed that she just laid there in the dirt without returning fire.

"Such a shame. The Maixmal no longer wants to play," Inferno muttered to himself as he slowly switched weapons. "In that case, YOU SHALL BURN!!" he cried out triumphantly.

Before he got the chance to use his weapons on her, she transformed to beast mode and raced away in her vehicle mode.

"Oh good," Inferno exclaimed happily. "Round two!"

And that's when he heard the sounds that the Maximal heard that made her jump up so quickly and race off to the Axalon. From the distance, he heard Megatron ordering the other Predacons to destroy the Maixmals once and for all. Had that time arrived? Finally? That time when the Predacons would finally triumph over their foe? Inferno could not miss these last few moments of the Maximal's lives! He didn't want to be the only Predacon who didn't get to witness this moment!

So as not to miss another moment of the action, Inferno flew off towards the battle at the Axalon hoping to get a few last shots in before the Maximals' demise.

Feralnight knew this was going to hurt to transform, her repairs having only very little progress since her encounter with Terrorsaur and then the autogun at the top of the base that could have taken her out as well. Deciding to suck it out for now the wolf/raven fuzor growled as she transformed to robot form with a slight edge of pain in the sound and activating her shoulder cannons which still had some ammo in them thank primus, how much though she wasn't quite sure but hopefully it would be enough to make it through this final stand. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her body the fuzor femme began to fire with all the power she could muster back at the Predacons, standing by her comrades even if it meant ending up offline.

At the same time Frilla also got the call and was merely feet from the Axalon, still worried of trying to skirt the Predacons to help her friends and ending up toasted lizard in the middle of a firefight or letting them die and doing nothing. But what choice did she have? Swallowing, the little femme mustered up her courage and picked up Cheetor once again in one hand and kept her blast shield up in the other before she made a quick sprint to join the other Maximals and the fallen Orcanier managing to deflect some shots and avoid a few others before she was finally with them and setting Cheetor down but shifting the shield so it would protect his already vulnerable form. With this done she took her double-barrel laser gun and began to fire upon her former teammates, still anxious in having to face them like this and knowing her armor would not stand against very many shots.

Quite honestly, Frilla never expected to be facing them like this again or to the bitter end so soon. But sometimes fate seemed cruel at times and tossed a few unexpected moments in one's life and it seemed for the Maximals they were truly taking a final stand against their foes.

((OOC: Woohoo! Optimus is back! Happy happy joy joy! Happy happy joy joy! And now, what we Maximals are to do? *smiles wide* We get tore apart!

On a serious note, since Optimus is back online, the battle is soon going to be drawn to a close, isn't it? I just wanted to know if Phoenix, you still want Nemesis to battle Whitegrazer or not? If you change your mind, that's okay. There would be other times these two could fight. But I believe we still have a chance for these two to have a good, brutal battle Also, Blazemane, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Steelclaw and Whitegrazer having alittle talk. I wondering if maybe they talk after the battle?

Don't mind me, guys. I just want to make sure I got a plan going before I post for Whitegrazer. That's all. =D ))

"Resistance? Control? These words mean nothing to you anymore my dear, your mind and body no longer belong to you, any influence you think you have is but a courtesy on my part, a luxury I can snatch away at any moment. You can talk big & drudge up the past all you like, just as Megatron can delude himself into thinking he's the second coming of our ancestor's greatest hero, but in the end even he and his petty schemes are nothing compared to the far larger web that I have spun throughout the course of this war. A single fly's struggles cannot harm the web as a whole, nor escape its grip, MY grip. You're no longer the rogue creation to my Frankenstein my dear, you're merely a spoiled little girl who's used to getting her way, throwing a tantrum because the time has finally come for her to be disciplined...And THAT my dear, is what truly frightens you, the realization that all you can do now is cry & whine and stamp your feet in the face of my power. Submit, or else this lesson in humility shall become one of...PAIN." Tarantulas said, his voice echoing all around her as though he were Unicron himself.

Tarantulas' silence made her laugh even more. She thought she got him where it hurts. After all, she knows his thoughts as well as her own. It was a two-way street now where it was a battle of wits. Who could crack the other one first? And for a moment, she took a victory for herself, patting herself on the back... until the area trembled with a great force. Chalkboard cracked into two and fell down the cracks of a forming bottomless pit. She tried to flip towards the other side, but all she hit was an invisible barrier that caused her to fall back into darkness.

She screamed as she fell down, wondering where he was taking her. His yellow visor appeared before her. Like he was holding her in front of him, squeezing her, she felt an overwhelming pressure that suffocated her, choking her as he talked to her.

Submit? Never. She fought, but no matter how hard she struggled, the suffocation increased. It felt like her innards were bursting into flames.

"No, " she choked than spat out painfully, "I rather die!"

It started with lights flickering, digits fidgeting, whatever had brought Optimus back from the dead had casted it's effect upon Ironclaw. Power was being restored to his systems, his spark pulsated more than it had ever done before, he was being revived from his poison induced slumber. Suddenly his optics shot open as a sharp whine sound went off, signifying that he had regained consciousness. His big blue optics scanned around the room inspecting his surroundings. He blinked a few times and thought 'Where am I?' Instead of spending too long thinking about it, he took to action. He clambered to his feet and then stumbled, causing him to put his hand out to balance himself against something solid. Whatever made contact with his hand casued him to gasp and shut his optics. So many memories ran through his mind in just a few sceonds, he felt like he was hit on the back of the head. 'Crashed....Axalon.....Optimus....' Certain memories were more prominent than others. The moment past, he opened his optics and got control of himself. Ionclaw took his hand away from the metallic surface and saw the scratches left. He then took a good look at these unfamiliar tools of destruction. As he turned his hands back and forth he observed the claw like figner tips, the realization soon came to him. He had changed, but more importantly his change seemed to have one simple function. To cause damage. A small window on his new scratching post dew his attention. Ironclaw looked inside and noticed something on the other side which made him come to the conclusion that he was infront of a CR chamber. There was a small female inside. She had youthful and some what angelic looks about her. He knew her face but wasn't sure of who she was, however she had sustained considerable damage and her facial expression did show it. Something deep inside Ironclaw began to cultivate an anger, his face screwed up and his body flexed. A loud roar echoed through the Axalon followed by thundering foot steps as he marched towards his first victim. He decided to test out his new body and abilties. First with whoever hurt the female, then, with Optimus.

(Actually NK, I was hoping they'd both fight just to show off Ironclaw fighting 2v1 in this sequence?)

((OOC:

(Be advised Starshadow and NK, I am about to post for Ironclaw and he will be coming for Cece and Umbra. So lets have a good fight and allow Ironclaw to scare them off along with the other Predacona who Optimus will be dealing with.)

Heck yeah! Cece just said "COME AT ME BRO!" But with Umbra's condition, not sure how she would react. We'll just wait and see.
At least I have some ideas on what to do with Star AFTER SOOOOOO LONG *hint hint, she be taunting for no good reason as we all know what would happen next* since I don't want her to jump into other OCs' fights and get the other players pissed. ))

"System Restore complete. Goodbye."

Seems we had some rats scurrying around that quickly made work of Tarantulus's efforts.. We'd best hurry..

Sentinel has just been restored that quickly? "Oh fantastic! The defense system is back on. We should just slag the whole base with my cannon!" Cecaelia said with sarcasm. Unfortunately with Umbra on tranquilizer, they had no choice but to retreat. It was to Cecaelia's surprise that Umbra could still carry her.

"You know...you don't have to carry me around."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Destroy them all!"

Time for this kitty to electrify the crowd. she thought as she activated her thrusters and kicked off at the edge of the cliff, diving downwards. Mortem was drawn out and fired at all the maximals who were scattered around the battlefield. After that, she landed infront of the damaged Orca.

No Starshadow, that one is an easy prey. It will destroy your reputation. she told herself. Oh what the heck just kill him.

Mortem's barrel was pointed at Orcariner's chest, her optics glowing brightly, "miss me big boy?"

((Anybody is welcome to interrupt Star's fight. ))

(Heh, I would also assume due to Cecaelia's fighting style, Umbra would just get in the way. So best to just let her deal with Ironclaw herself on even terms. )

Cecaelia wrote:"You know...you don't have to carry me around."

Umbra set her down Er...Just consider it repayment for the ride you gave earlier, not like either one of us needs to sustain damage due to a fall. he rubbed the back of his neck glancing to the side, seeming slightly embarrassed by the comment.

Umbra glanced towards the battlefield Looks like the Maximals are on their last stand..

He then walked a bit closer, activating his comlink.. regrettably.
Lord Megatron, there seems to be a problem. The Maximals regained access to their defense computer. While the exterior defenses are mostly destroyed, it's concerning they had such a high level hacker hidden.. Be careful.A cornered rat's desperation is always dangerous.

____________________________________

Stag rolled along the hanger, going inside the Nomad once again. Still receiving data on the battlefield, he knew he wouldn't be of much use without an operator, but still had to attempt to alter the course of battle. His programming protocols dictated it, no matter the cost to himself. He drove up to a box of mining equipment in the back, then pushed himself up onto his hindwheels, climbing the side of the box with his head and front wheels to look inside, his mandibles gripping onto and pulling something out of the box as he then fell back.

His mandibles held a Democharge firmly, he then rolled out of the Nomad and flew up into the air, landing onto the back of the Axalon. He then started driving towards the bridge, examining and analyzing the battle while he was on the move. Orcariner seemed too damaged to continue, and the others were attempting to protect him.

After analyzing the battle, going through both ally and enemy strengths, he activated his comlink. Unit Tigatron, this is unit Stag. Requesting battlefield convergence, Target the large bovine Predacon with your cryoshot after his initial distraction.

Stag came to a stop on the roof of the Axalon setting the demo charge down to the side, his head then split open while his wings opened, transforming to his "gun" mode, with the smaller frost shot pistol flipping out in place of his destroyed Electron beam rifle. His wheels shifted adjusting his aim, he then fired a three shot burst of freezing blasts towards Tantrum's face and chest. While the pistol was only rated for firepower:4, it was still capable of caking ice and blinding or limiting the mobility of the target.

Cackling gleefully, Tantrum let his gatling spin down and stop firing as it became apparent that Orcariner was done for. However, the gunfire from his comrades impacting his armor annoyed Tantrum. Who did these Maximals think they are, attacking him?

"Hahaha! I AM BULLETPROOF!" he taunted the Maximals.

Resolving to teach the pesky Maximals a lesson, he deployed his leg stabilizers, bringing his rail guns online. Taking aim at Rattrap and Rhinox, he fire a salvo of high explosive rounds in their direction, laughing maniacally. Stag's shots impacted Tantrum, but the combination of his armor and endurance and an apparent lack of processing power to process pain left his shots relatively ineffectual. Not considering Stag a credible threat, especially without an operator, Tantrum continued to focus his immense firepower at the two hapless Maximals.

"Already inside the base and working on it,"

"Guess I read yer mind!" Rattrap had responded to Aurora just before things got worse and very serious outside. And little did he know what happened to her. That was the last time he heard from his young friend.

He had glanced at Whitegrazer to see her offering quick assistance and shielding Orcariner as best as she could. This really was the end, wasn't it? When everyone comes together and they all meet their fates.

"On my way Rattrap,"

Winter was on her way! Good, more back-up! Although, he didn't think it would be enough.

"Maximize!"

Rattrap was very relieved to see the white tigress arrive and immediately start helping them defend their large comrade and their ship. She definitely had learned a lot after being a stowaway and her lack of involvement in many missions. He thought Optimus would be proud to see her now. Courageous and confident. Better late than never, he guessed. Focus, Rattrap! he told himself. Save it fer later! ...If there's gonna be a later...

He was also happy to see Silverstreak, someone who had only just joined the team and had witnessed just how merciless this war was. A war that anyone with a brain would have turned away and said no to getting involved with. But she didn't. Even though she hardly knew most of the team, she was doing everything she could to protect and help her comrades.

Then Feralnight and Frilla also joined in the intense altercation. Frilla, one of the smallest on their team, had actually carried Cheetor from some distance to the Axalon. And Cheetor looked bad. Real bad. The acting Maximal leader couldn't help but frown at his poor condition. Was he still alive? He hoped so. The cheetah had come so far in this war despite his age and inexperience.

"Destroy them all!"

After Megatron's vicious bellow, the rodent tried preparing himself for the inevitable slaughter. How does one prepare for death? Was this the fear and adrenaline that Optimus felt before his demise? He supposed everyone coped with it differently. And he supposed this was their time, to join their great leader in the Matrix.

Rattrap stopped firing and tried shielding himself with his small hubcap and the cluster of boulders before him. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. The ground shook beneath his feet, chunks of the boulders blew up in every direction from Megatron's, Tantrum's, Onyx's, Arachnitron's and Tarantulas's immense fire power. The blasts knocked him off of his feet, causing him to land on his back, dazed, but with shield and gun still in his grasp.

Rhinox could tell that his bullets had had an impact on Megatron, however, it wasn't enough, and now the Predacon leader was even more furious. Like Rattrap, he halted his fire and tried to find refuge behind the small line of boulders that were simply shredded apart from enemy fire as if they were using jackhammers to chisel them away. As big of a target as he was, he felt something blast into his chest that blew him backwards and spun his body in the air, landing on his stomach. His twin guns were thrown out of his hands, scattered to wherever, he didn't know. Groaning, he rolled over onto his back and laid there. Sparks flew out of the hole in his upper chest, and pain consumed him. The engineer laid there near Orcariner in disbelief, confusion and anguish.

Unit Tigatron, this is unit Stag. Requesting battlefield convergence, Target the large bovine Predacon with your cryoshot after his initial distraction.

Meanwhile, after Tigatron saw Wintersong and the other Maximals joining them by their sides, he heard Stag's suggestion and waited for his signal, so to speak. Once he saw the little Targetmaster make his move on Tantrum, the white tiger began firing cryoshots at the monstrous Predacon. That is, until he was hit with one of the spider's cyber venom. In a convulsing motion, he immediately stopped firing and fell to the ground in pain and paralysis.

"Hahaha! I AM BULLETPROOF!"

Getting back up to a kneeling position, Rattrap rolled his injured arm a little and arched his back. Both were still bothering him but not enough to stop him. Hearing Tantrum, he shook his head and said outloud to himself, "Are ya stupidproof?" Looking around at the terrible battlefield, he noticed Starshadow closing in on the orca. Targeting her with a glare and his gun, he said, "I don't think so, sista," and fired a couple shots at the cat.

"Feralnight, watch out fer Starshadow!" he warned the wolf/raven Fuzor.

"Rhinox!" he called out to him but the rhino didn't move. Rattrap hurried over to him as he kept himself low to avoid fire power to see what happened to his friend. "Rhinox?" He was laying there with a large hole straight through his chest.

Hearing Rattrap, the rhinoceros said softly, "I'm having... a really... really bad day."

"What, dis? It's just a scratch. It'll buff out," the TransMetal rat smiled lightly at him after leaning closer to him in order to hear him over the gun fire. "Hang in there, buddy," he said as he patted his large shoulder.

(( OOC: I think I covered everything... I have a feeling this is going to be a very confusing battle with all of these characters all at once. ))

Manterror completely forgot that he had allies. Orcariner was shot almost immediately after exiting the maximal base. It took both of them by complete surprise. The Mantis looked over towards his maximal companion who was getting bombarded with weapon fire. It took a few minutes before the stunned look on his face was replaced by a huge grin. Then the laughter followed. "Bahahhaha!! You walked into my trap!!" He lied, trying to turn the situation into a victory for himself. Activating his vicious saw blades, the green predicon walked towards his opponent to finish him off. "For not thinking with your head and allowing me to live... He said, now standing over his victim. "I shall completely remove it. HAHAHAHAHAHh!!!!" With a single motion of his arm, he spun his saw blade into a powerful arc towards Orcariners neck.

But, as usual, his valiant attempt at victory was soon halted. Rhinox's twin chain guns shot him in the arm and knocked him away.

"Listen up, Preds!" "I have a bomb here that packs enough oomph to kill me and the bug here. If you respect his life, you will hold your fire!"

"AHHH!!!" Quickly turning a running in the opposite direction, the Mantis ran towards his allies in hopes that he could get as far away from the blast as possible. Bluff or no bluff, he had no intention of exploding.

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"Ain't that the way we love it?"

"No." Airazor interjected quickly. "I'd much rather take a quiet nap in the trees."

"Airazor, Tigatron, let's give some back-up to the others,"

With a nod, Airazor reached to her back and grabbed her talon blaster. Walking with the rest of the maximals, she followed tigatron out of the elevator shaft. However, instead of landing on her feet, Airazor took to the skies! She saw the battle below her and was shocked at how massive it was. She knew things weren't going well, but this was more than she ever imagined. Both sides were locked in a massive battle and luckily, it had just begun. Eyeing up her arch enemy, Airazor soon found him on the ground swinging his blades around.

"Lets begin the aerial dogfight, shall we?" She spoke to herself before firing off multiple shots from above towards Terrorsaur. He would get the hint eventually and join her in the skies. If not, she would just take him out with ease!

(ooc: Still waiting for Dinobot's response but I suppose I can reply for the others in the meanwhile.)

Aurora had already slipped into stasis and thus did not respond when strong and unknown, yet in some ways so very familiar, arms scooped her up and swiftly brought her to a CR chamber. She had not even had time to get scared when the blast impaled her backside, leaving a gaping hole in its wake, her body just shutting down. In a way it was almost a welcome change, giving her a brief but much needed break from all the torments that had haunted them lately. The pain had been intense but only for a short moment, her exhausted frame choosing the easy way out rather than fighting the stasis lock this time.

If she was to die, here and now, at least she had some close friends waiting for her on the other side.

Icebreaker, Optimus..

Yet as far gone as she was when the stranger placed her in his arms, there was a peculiar familiarity to the sensation. She only registered fragments of what was going on. Silverbolt coming to assist her, heavy footsteps following, a touch.. And then nothing.

She merely lay in the position she was placed in the CR chamber, unaware of what had just transpired.

Umbra wrote:Lord Megatron, there seems to be a problem. The Maximals regained access to their defense computer. While the exterior defenses are mostly destroyed, it's concerning they had such a high level hacker hidden.. Be careful.A cornered rat's desperation is always dangerous.

Umbra's report demanded a certain level of intrigue of the tyrant. He had not expected the Maximals to work around the issue, but at this point it hardly mattered. Most of them were already gathered in front of their base in a futile attempt to make a final stand.

"Eliminate the remaining resistance within the base and join us outside for the final confrontation. The Maximals are too late to change the inevitable, even if they have managed to shut down the computer systems."

Megatron's frown soon turned into a grin as his fellow Predacons made short work of the Maximals foolish enough to come to their companions' aid. Their behemoth champion had already been mortally injured, and more and more of the others were about to join him. Soon they would all follow their leader's path and be nothing but a memory. For it was the Predacons, under Megatron's leadership, who were destined to rule. This world would soon fall, and the remaining Maximals back on Cybertron would never even know what happened.

His plan was flawless. The tyrant's only regret is that the remaining Maximals would never even realize who was responsible for their downfall. His actions were about to rewrite Cybertronian history and as soon as these meddlesome fools had been melted down there would be no one left to challenge him. It was a magnificent triumph that was taking place!

The cannon forming his arm fired shot after shot at the hapless pathetic crowd that had gathered in front of the Axalon. By now he had abandoned his initial approach of firing at specific individuals and was instead firing at random Maximals to further spread terror. None of them were to feel safe, all of them were equal targets. Megatron served as their jury, judge, and executioner, sentencing each of them to die in a horrific painful manner. For the Predacon commander did not care about their suffering, all he wanted was to claim his rightful place as ruler of Cybertron.

"Yessss...," he told his fellow Predacons, smoke rising from the heat produced by his fusion cannon, "We have them now! Keep firing until only molten rubble remains!"

The battle had been ongoing for quite a while already and now dawn was upon them. It provided a very picturesque setting for the Maximals' demise.

Constant fire had chipped away at the rocks the smaller Maximals were taking shelter behind, in the end leaving nowhere for them to hide. The Predacons remained on a higher ground, maintaining their advantage.

"Predacons, let us savor our victory! Move in so that we can be close enough to enjoy it!"

Rattrap wrote:Maximals, dis is Rattrap. All units converge on Orcariner's location. We gotta draw the line.

With his attention so strongly focused on the battle at hand, Dinobot just barely caught the order. The situation at the base seemed to be critical, then. Since that was the case, Dinobot actually wanted to listen to Rattrap’s orders without giving him any trouble, but trying to break closer-quarter engagement with two foes who were both capable of simply flying after him and attacking from a safe distance seemed like maneuver that wouldn’t help anyone.

A collection of internal systems suddenly hitched as Nemesis’ elbow caught him in the throat, and before he could dwell on what had just happened, another elbow connected solidly with his face. Within that very nano-click, he realized that his sword and shield were positioned on the other side of his body, far away from Nemesis, and that he had lost track of where his opponents’ weapons were. He decided it would be far too risky to take the time to simply reel around in order to try to confront her again, so he went with the direction that his head had been torqued. Even as he was moving to the ground, he felt Nemesis’ sword slash across his back, but he kept going, rolling over his shoulder and coming back to his feet facing both of his opponents.

Almost immediately, Terrorsaur’s lasers burned into Dinobot’s sword-hand, and the warrior dropped his weapon reflexively. Reacting quickly, he moved his shield to the side and made Terrorsaur’s second shot, which had been aimed for his other hand, fly through the air harmlessly. Now Dinobot took his shield in both hands and held it in front of himself like a perpetually-spinning staff, but a moment later, he realized his right hand wasn’t going to be able to handle the stress, and he let it relax. Terrorsaur was after him, then, attacking with both of his blades. Dinobot made sure that the Predacon didn’t find any opening, but he knew Nemesis would make another attack soon, and against two combatants, armed only with a shield that could at most cause blunt damage, he figured he was in a losing battle. Perhaps he might use his shield to steal a blade from one of his opponents… But would be any sword be worth having since he would have to drop the shield to use it?

Then Dinobot was greeted by a rather welcome sight—a salvo of Airazor’s ammunition raining down at Terrorsaur. Dinobot quickly backed away, given his proximity to Airazor’s target, and then he decided that it was now or never. Keeping his shield ready to try to deflect any attacks along the way, Dinobot took a shot at Nemesis with his own lasers in an attempt to throw her off balance for a moment and to keep her attentions on him rather than Airazor, and then he ran for the group of Maximals who were defending the Axalon.

((OOC: I might actually have a post for Cheetor tomorrow, and I might also have a second post for Dinobot so he can be at the Axalon when everything goes down. But if OOP wants to have Primal come back tomorrow (“today” would be more accurate, I suppose), then don’t anybody wait around for my characters.))

Making sure to stay out of sight by using the clouds for cover, Sonar arrived just in time to see it all start to go horribly wrong for the Maximals.

Well, it looks like Megatron isn't holding anything back this time. Nice to see that he does have a ruthless side. Sonar observed as he continued to survey the scene going on below him. If he continues like this, he might actually win this fight, not to mention this war. And if he does, there will be no need to keep Saber-Fang alive any longer.

(ooc: I'm still interested in having Nem and Whitegrazer square off. Not entirely sure when we'll be able to do so though. Perhaps while Optimus is cleaning house? Or maybe next episode. There's just so much about to go down in this one.)

Nemesis twirled her swords again as she eyed Dinobot rather menacingly. The traitor had just rolled out of harm's way, well, mostly. Her swords had left a pair of nasty gashes along his backside during his attempt to evade them. Her lips curled up into something resembling a faint smile as Terrorsaur's attack rendered one of their foe's hands effectively useless, taking an almost casual step closer with the swords still in hand as she prepared to finish the job.

Incoming fire from above caught her attention, causing Nemesis to instinctively leap to the side to get out of harm's way. She glanced up to see AirRazor raining fire down upon Terrorsaur, apparently oblivious to Nemesis' own presence in her eagerness to take down Terrorsaur. Through the corner of her optics she caught sight of Dinobot shooting his laser beams at her as well before making a run for it. Nemesis twisted to the side, narrowly avoiding one of the twin beams but the other one slammed into her shoulder. The impact forced her backwards, nearly knocking her over until she managed to regain her balance. Gone was the smile, now replaced with a infuriated and agonizing grimace if even for only a brief moment. Groaning in pain, she turned her head to look at the gaping and smoking hole in her shoulder.

"You'll pay for that," she sneered while clenching her fists, a blue glow already filling up the hole in her shoulder. Within moments the smoke dissipated, now replaced by a more intense blue shine that appeared to move closer to the surface until the entire wound was covered. Seconds later it was over, the nanites retreating back into her innermost circuits leaving Nemesis fully repaired. The wicked smile returning as she tested the use of her arm, finding it to be fully operational once again, before giving Terrorsaur a wink as she shot up into the air in pursuit of the fleeing Dinobot. Swords now stored again, she wielded her automatic assault rifle instead. As Dinobot was not the fastest Maximal out there, she decided to remain in robot form otherwise she would just shoot straight by him. It also gave her use of the more versatile of her long range weapons, having loaded the weapon with explosive tip ammunition to cause more damage. And being in the air, she was truly in her right element, flying elegantly in random patters to avoid any incoming fire while she showered the ground bound Dinobot with shots. She was confident that Terrorsaur could handle the other nuisance.

((OOC: Yeah, there is alot going on and I don't want their battle rushed or anything so we could do it another time. It's all good. I just wanted to know before I posted for Whitegrazer.

Edit: Well! Here is my post!))

"Aurora."

The sting on her back. An image of the young one laying in smoke and shock. Whitegrazer remained focus in protecting Orcariner from any Predacons who dared to fire on a defenseless opponent. Her spark ached, seeing the young one in more pain like last time, but she knew Aurora was safe while she was in the base. Away from the chaos that was happening here. Megatron's blast were brutally hitting against her blast shield. Tantrum was towering over them like ants. The rest of the Predacons were just pounding them to submission yet still they stood their ground.

A warm presence gripped her spark like a gentle embrace.

"Optimus..."

The blast shield she had shattered like glass as one of Megatron's blasts came through, hitting her straight in the abdomen, and left a hole. Shards from the blast shield stabbed her exposed innards as energon sprayed out, dripping on the ground she stood on. She went on her knees, using her arms to put pressure on the wound. Pain swelled inside of her as her computer warned her of many ruptured lines and it's inability to flush out the foreign objects inside her. A bit of energon leaked from her mouth.

Yet, despite the pain she felt, it didn't destroy the smile of her pure joy and embraced the warmth that consumed her soul, feeling his life, his entire being, and knew that everyone will be okay as well as herself.

Seeing Rhinox having the hole in his chest pained her. He didn't know if his invention had worked. If only she could tell him and everyone. She looked around, seeing her comrades fight to the last. They weren't soldiers, but it didn't matter. They were showing some much courage and strength.

A voice beside her caught her attention. It was that of Starshadow who was holding a gun to Orcariner. Her systems were sending her alerts of her injuries, but she couldn't allow herself to fail in her duty. One of her comrades was hurt and needed defending. She couldn't let her own pain slow her down. Optimus was sending her his own life and determination. She must hold on alittle bit longer! Rattrap had shot at the cat. Her open palm striked her wrist--her own energon that leaked onto her arms dripping on starshadow-- that held the weapon upwards with her other arm giving a palm strike to the Predacon female's stomach then head. It was meant to disorient, not to hurt.