The Intergalactic Highway

OOC: Hi everyone, this is basically a post in progress, sorry about that, I'll try to complete it tonight after work or tomorrow, so please don't reply to anything on it until I've finished fine tuning it >_<

Phoenix wrote: "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!"

"I thought you'd never ask, bwahahahaha!" Tarantulas cackled with deranged mirth, even if he had every intention of foiling Megatron's long term plans for Cybertron he still couldn't help but join in the Tin Tyrant's malevolent delight over the impending demise of their long time adversaries, the Maximals.

It seemed like they'd been fighting the maximals forever, and after all the failed schemes to destroy them, after all the embarrassing defeats they'd had to endure, the predacons were finally about to emerge as the victors of the Beast Wars, for this brief moment in time, they were united as an army fighting for the same ambition rather than many individual ones struggling against each other.

"Enjoy it while it lasts Megatron, as soon as the last maximal spark goes out, you'll be joining them in this world's fossil records" Tarantulas mused inwardly, never before finding Megatron's dinosaur form so appropriate for the misguided would be conqueror. succeeding where the decepticons before them had failed with the autobots

Arachnitron wrote:
Tarantulas reminded her.

"I'll do my best," Arachnitron assured him. She wanted nothing more than to please him, but after her previous attempt, she wasn't sure she could do it.

Once they reached the other Predacons, Tarantulas transformed into his robot mode and began firing his cybervenom towards the Maximals. Arachnitron followed suit sending her own cybervenom into the fray. She flashed a nervous look towards Megatron hoping he would keep his distance during the battle and after. She didn't want to interact with him at all just in case she couldn't put on the kind of act Tarantulas wanted.

"Very good, until then Arachnitron, follow Megatron's advice and savor this moment, a once in a lifetime event, the maximals are about to go extinct" Tarantulas gloated, spinning the wheel at the end of his cyber venom blaster as he slowly marched towards the wounded maximal's encampment alongside the other predacons.

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote:
"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.

"Buff this out, Vermin! Hehehehehahahahaha!" Tarantulas laughed as he fired several cybervenom shots in the direction of the heavily wounded Rhinox, giving the rat the choice of allowing his already wounded friend die or come out to face certain death himself in order to protect him.

"This is for all those times you ruined my fun, rodent" Tarantulas murmured to himself as he waited for Rattrap to either take the shots or cry out in horror and despair as his hefty friend died from cyber venom poisoning.

Una wrote: 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!"

"Careful what you wish for my dear, it just might come true, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Tarantulas jeered, his mad laughter echoing everywhere around her as he slowly lifted her closer and closer to his face, the sight of his spidery fangs dripping with venom and hot, wet saliva the only hint she had of what he intended to do to her tiny, bite sized frame.

"Pity, if you'd submitted, you could have lived to enjoy the downfall of the maximals along with the rest of us, oh well, bottoms up!" Tarantulas said, lifting her up by her skirt and lifting his head, opening his maw as he finally dropped her, allowing her to fall down towards his waiting mouth, a cesspool of venom, spit, and poison green fire that put Inferno's to shame.

WorpeX wrote: 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!

Terrorsaur's eyes narrowed at the sight of his hated aerial rival, the memory of what she had done to him during their first encounter instantly pushing all thoughts of Dinobot and Nemesis out of his mind, replacing it with the desire to do to her what she had once done to him.

"It won't be a dogfight Featherhead, IT'LL BE A MASSACRE! RRRRAAAAAWWWWWK!" Terrorsaur screamed in murderous rage as he took off into the sky like a missile, the ground beneath him scorched black from his thrusters as he slammed into Airazor with a speed and force he'd never had before today, pummeling her brutally with his clawed fists rather than shooting her, wanting her to experience first hand how much better he was than her now that he'd been blessed with the gift of transmetalization.

"Surprised Princess? Don't be, you've had this coming for a long time! Special delivery from me, courtesy of the Transwarp Wave!" he exclaimed as he raked his clawed feet across her belly before kicking her away from him, sending two missiles to chase after her dazed and battered form.

"Fly little birdy, fly fly fly!" Terrorsaur rasped with a truly evil grin on his face, eyes blazing.

Starshadow was shot on the shoulder and the back. Whoever did it made a big mistake for interrupting. Looking down to the unknown bot who grabbed her wrist, the next thing she knew that she was strucked by a Maximal. The cat growled and held her head.

FOOL! How could you let her make the first strike?!

"Who said that?" she exclaimed while rubbing her forehead.

Keres! the voice yelled in her mind, Your ancestor and one and only mentor! (hurray she's finally in the RP after...4 years? If you people have forgotten about her in the OC lounge RP, she's a renamed and improved OC of Zira. STUCKINDAHEADFOEVARRR!!!)

"How did you..? Your spark was extinguished stellar cycles ago! You died in that explosion!"

Remember who you are TALKING to Nightstar..Recover and fight! I'll explain later... Starshadow growled but obeyed her order. She snarled at Whitegrazer and grabbed her neck, squeezing it slowly, "You are right at the doorstep of a slaughterhouse, Maximal...I shall end your misery with a painful death!" High voltage of electricity surged through Starshadow's body. The catbot directed the current to her hand that was holding Whitegrazer and shocked her with statics glowing and emitting from her arm. Although it felt painful even for herself but the act of making the Maximal suffer was exciting to her.

(Just to note, I've added profiles for the canon characters. If anyone has a problem with them, feel free to say so. And yes, Megatron and Optimus are "nearly" perfect stats.)

Megatron wrote:"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."

Umbra cringed at the response, but knew that would be the case. He looked up towards the Axalon. He still had to wait for his jump jet to recharge before being able to jump up that high, probably something he'd have to look into upgrading in the future. But even so, he wasn't really in a state for fighting..Perhaps he could fool whoever was inside and make a sneak attack. But he'd have to do it alone, if Cecaelia was with him, his cover would be blown again.

He looked towards Cecaelia Looks like I need to go back in... I can't take you with me though. I can't fool their defenses for both of us, so this is where we part for now ma'am.

He looked around, noticing the large pillar of rocks that surrounded the side of the Axalon, then made his way towards it, starting to climb. His camo kicking in unconsciously taking the texture and color of the rocks he was climbing.

_________________

Stag watched as the Cryoshots oddly didn't seem to work on Tantrum, as if the cow was somehow coated in teflon. Or perhaps through it's lack of intelligence, the creature had started to defy even the laws of physics? But it didn't seem to matter, even with the combine efforts of the Maximals, they were starting to fall, and without his Electron beam rifle component, Stag didn't have the firepower to even hold the enemy back.

Ejecting the frost pistol from his back, he transformed to his beetle mode, then turned grasping the Democharge with his Mandibles, squeezing it to start the timer sequence. His wing shell spread open with his thrusters coming online as he took to the air, flying towards Tantrum.

As Steelclaw closed in on the Maximals' position, he saw that he was not alone. Onyx seemed hesitant to transform and join the fight.

What Onyx ended up doing seemed to make a lot of sense. This was what the Predacons had been working towards from the first day they'd landed on this planet. And when it came time that they would have their war on Cybertron, there would be thousands of scenes like this.

But not exactly like this. Beyond all doubt, there was something personal about this final battle, and it was because Steelclaw had actually been fighting with this specific, small group of Maximals for an extended period of time. He could essentially say that he knew them, if not in the fullest sense of the word--he certainly knew the personalities of many of them. This was much like running an extended espionage mission where the targets had to firstly be made acquaintances, or even something like brothers-in-arms. The difference here was that most of the members of this team of Maximals were clearly not the enemy Steelclaw was after in the long run.They weren't the kinds of Maximals who needed to be rebelled against.

That had only provided Steelclaw more reason for wanting what he had wanted from the very beginning. He wanted the Beast Wars to end with as little killing as possible. But Megatron was clearly interested in killing the Maximals, not only for the sake of winning, but also for the sake of killing them in and of itself. What was that? An arrogant sense of vengeance for the perceived insolence of the Maximals who got in his way? Cruelty? A worry that if the Maximals were not absolutely dead, they might somehow get in his way even after he and his crew were long gone?

The outcome was that the Axalon crew was going to be killed here and now. And if Steelclaw disobeyed these orders from Megatron, he had no illusions about being allowed to continue to fight for the Predacon cause under Megatron's command.

So he drew his gauss rifle and fired a round at Wintersong.

* * *

Dinobot was already too far away to hear that Nemesis had said anything, but he still got the message when the ground next to him erupted in a trail of small explosions which ran right next to his foot. Yes, he had kept her attention off of Airazor.

Not wanting to allow her be able to stand still, Dinobot looked up as often as he could spare his gaze from where he was sprinting, and fired upon her with his optic lasers time and again. But this proved mildly disorienting: Nemesis was seemingly everywhere at once--untouchable, constantly threatening--and it was hard to keep his sense of direction when switching between looking ahead and looking around and around until he found wherever she was. He refused to stand in place, however, because he still had hope he could get to his comrades. Nemesis had chosen an automatic weapon, something which would prove difficult to aim from any substantial distance--especially when she was moving so quickly and constantly.

Dinobot risked a little time to focus on the situation he was heading into. From what he could make out, many of the Maximals were already on the ground, only partially-hidden behind crumbling defenses. The Predacons were being noticeably more active, using an overwhelmingly greater amount of firepower which was mostly provided by Megatron and Tantrum.

"Rattrap," he spoke quickly into his com-link, "I am clos--NNGGUUUUH!"

The danger with automatic weapons, of course, was that when they hit their target, they really, really hit their target. Dinobot crashed into the hard dirt beneath him, losing his grip on the shield and rolling violently. Three burning holes stood in a line on his back, almost deep enough to puncture through to the front of his frame. Dinobot came out of his roll by stumbling tenaciously right back into a run. But his systems were already telling him enough for him to know that he was going to end up in stasis lock given enough time; getting injured even further at some point would just make that happen faster.

Continuing to run at his full speed exacerbated the burning in his chest, but Dinobot decided to embrace the pain as something enraging, something to spur him on to keep up the fight. Defiantly, he took another shot at Nemesis, and then another, which he kept going so that he could try to follow her flight path with it. He was not surprised when this failed, but that drove him even more.

Just as he reached the group by the front of the Axalon, Nemesis' weapon made a hole in his right leg, but Dinobot skidded on the ground to avoid the rest of the salvo, which spewed dust high into the air behind him. He came to a stop right next to Frilla; he had made it to the larger battle. Now, it would seem, Nemesis was every Maximals' problem. A fair trade off, Dinobot thought ruefully, for now he was going to be every Predacons' problem.

As Dinobot took the energy cannon from off of his back, he smiled grimly at Frilla. "It is a fine morning for you and I to show Megatron exactly what he drove away, don't you think?"

Pumping the rifle and standing up from behind a boulder, Dinobot put the tyrant in his sights and fired, over and over and over, growing only more angry with every shot. This was for Megatron's betrayal. This was for masking personal ambition under a cause that Dinobot had been willing to die for, to kill for. This was for Nightmist! This was for Valkyrie! This was for Icebreaker! This was for Optimus! This was for every Maximal alongside Dinobot now, or inside, or further into the battlefield, all of whom Megatron would destroy if he could have his way.

* * *

When Cheetor's optics came back online, he found himself looking up into the sky, half-obscured by the ship's bridge hanging over him. And then the pain came to him, dulled by his systems, but still reminding him of what had happened. He looked to his side and saw that his left arm was completely missing. Then he paid attention to his Heads Up Display, which told him that his energon levels were critically low. As an emergency measure, he had been reawakened from stasis lock; he had never had the opportunity to get to a CR chamber yet, and now his computer was giving him a brief time to find one.

But as he stood up, he could hear and see for himself how bad his teammates had it right now. So many of them were so badly hurt, and the Predacons' firepower kept coming in, shrinking the little bit of cover they had left in a storm of laser fire, cluster bombs, rifle rounds and a bunch of other things Cheetor didn't have time to pick out right then. And before he could stop himself, the thought occurred to him, and he couldn't shake it off--maybe this was what the last fight looked like. Maybe they were really going to die now.

He stood uneasily and walked over between Wintersong and Frilla. He wasn't going to go into a CR chamber while his friends were all fighting. And as he charged up enough power in his right hand to take a shot at the Predacons, he forced himself to put the despair out of his mind. They were going to be just fine. It wasn't their time to die; it just didn't make sense.

...But maybe it was? Cheetor aimed squarely for one of Tantrum's gun barrels and fired his laser at it. Maybe if he could just melt the end of it a little, bend it out of shape, it'd backfire, or it wouldn't aim right or something.

...But maybe it was? Cheetor heard something crack loudly, and he saw Whitegrazer's shield falling in pieces to the ground just before she went to her knees. Cheetor's HUD informed him that he didn't have enough power left in himself for his systems to divert any to his weapons. Cheetor tried anyways. A green, glowing sphere started to form at the center of his hand, and then it collapsed in on itself and disappeared.

He sat down then and leaned his back against a rock. It it was time, what would that be like? It wouldn't be much more painful, because his feeling had already been dulled by getting shot out of the air as high as he had. But that's not why death really hurt, was it? The whole... thought of it all just seemed so bad to him, like he was really desperate to not let go--the thought of letting go really scared him.

And this had all come as a big surprise. Cheetor had basically always assumed they would win the Beast Wars because they were on the right side of things. Because it was necessary for them to win. Since Cybertron would be in trouble if they didn't win, the cards would play out right: life worked like that. That was the other reason he hated to die right now--the Predacons were going to get away with what they wanted to do on this planet, and then they'd ruin Cybertron. Evil wasn't supposed to win like this; it wasn't. So why was Megatron winning?

Cheetor tried to think his way away from it all again and feel like they were going to be fine. But as he did so, he looked around at all of the Maximals lying hurt on the ground, or fighting and getting hurt. And at the same time as he was becoming more convinced that they weren't going to make it, another thought occurred to him. Maybe they were never supposed to come out of the Beast Wars winning. Maybe it was their job to lose. Well, no, not to lose. But it was their job to make this war happen and to make it last a while, and it was just that, in going into that job, the way it was going to end all along was that they were going to die, and the fact that they ended up dying didn't take away from the fact that they did their job.

Oh, if only he could know for sure. He hoped so dearly that Cybertron had been paying attention, that they all went on alert after Megatron stole the Golden Disk. If it could just be that all this time, Cybertron had been building up its defenses, and when Megatron came back with his huge cache of energon, it wouldn't even matter. If it could just be that, while he and and his friends had been fighting here, the Predacons and Maximals on Cybertron had been given enough time to work towards an agreement about what to do when Megatron came back instead of the Predacons gearing up for some sort of revolution. The Axalon had been sent to stop a war--maybe that was how they were supposed to stop it.

If all of that was their purpose, then Cheetor would take it. He dreaded the final moments, and he began to miss every thing he'd known on this planet, and every thing he'd loved back on Cybertron, and every teammate here around him, and as of yet, he still couldn't convince himself that it was all alright, even at the thought that so many of his friends, his leaders, the ones he'd loved would be waiting on the other side. But if all of that was their purpose, then at least he got it, and he would take their work here as something that wasn't meaningless. Not even for the way it ended.

(( OOC: Phenomenal post, Blazemane! Deep, emotional and inspiring.

OOC: Don't wait for me. Orcariner is preoccupied at the moment being on the verge of death and all.

Ah. I thought maybe he could at least swat Starshadow away and help Whitegrazer but if not that's fine.

I just want to point out that you said AWAKE and not FUNCTIONAL. They can be awake even if they can't move or fight.....just sayin'.....

Same difference.

I'm just posting for RT and Rhinox tonight. Optimus may be appearing in my next post depending on how things progress with this battle dying down since most of the Maximals are heavily injured.))

BIC:

"What, dis? It's just a scratch. It'll buff out,"

Rhinox really wanted to smirk at Rattrap's intentionally poor diagnosis but there was only room for pain and courage. "My guns," he struggled to say. "Hand them to me."

Rattrap blinked at his large friend and put his own gun and shield away. Grabbing the twin chain guns, heavy as they were, which weren't far from their owner fortunately, he handed one of them to Rhinox but held on to the other with a sly grin.

The science engineer slowly sat up straight, grasping the weapon his short Commander handed him. His internal computer was firing off all kinds of warnings and imminent dangers but he ignored them. He knew there was a hole in his chest. So what? Orcariner had it worse right now, as well as Whitegrazer and Cheetor. A hole wasn't going to stop Rhinox. Not now. Gingerly, Rhinox managed to get himself kneeling on one of his knees and turned to target Starshadow whose back was facing him.

"Who said that?" "How did you..? Your spark was extinguished stellar cycles ago! You died in that explosion!"

At first, Rhinox wasn't sure if she was going crazy or not. Had the pressure of this battle gotten to her? Who was she talking to? As odd as it was to witness, he grew far more concerned for what she was about to do to Whitegrazer...

"You are right at the doorstep of a slaughterhouse, Maximal...I shall end your misery with a painful death!"

"Release her!" he hollered as if to warn the Predacon feline, but the rhinoceros opened fire anyway, just enough bullets to hit her backside and not Whitegrazer. Most of these Predacons didn't deserve warnings anymore. The only exceptions he could think of were Onyx and Steelclaw. Unfortunately, the chain gun he was using was the same one he had been using frequently since this whole thing began the day before, and it ran out of ammunition with a loud clunk. SLAG!

While Rhinox watched their backs, Rattrap focused on the rest. Airazor had taken to the skies, and thank Primus they still had a flier to handle the aerial acrobats but she was basically alone up there. He hoped she'd be careful and watch her back.

"Rattrap," "I am clos--NNGGUUUUH!"

Dinobot? Where the heck has he been all this time?! Dat porker! thought Rattrap. But it had sounded like he was preoccupied. Did he just get hit? What was his position? Who was he fighting? He gave a quick glance around the battlefield but couldn't see him. Not until he finally joined Frilla's side. Smiling with some optimism yet to spare, he then heard Tarantulas.

"Buff this out, Vermin! Hehehehehahahahaha!"

Crouching low to the ground, Rattrap strafed some of the TransMetal spider's cyber venom shots and finally stood up, lifting Rhinox's chain gun out in front of him with both hands. "Say hello to my 'lil friend!" he shouted back at Tarantulas, immediately pulling the trigger and firing off several rounds of bullets toward him. It mercilessly shook Rattrap's arms and he had no idea how Big Green was always so accurate with it but he tried maintaining his aim and keeping his balance.

"We have them now! Keep firing until only molten rubble remains!"

Rattrap was about to shift his target on to Megatron when one of the Predacon leader's shots hammered him in the shoulder and knocked him down near Rhinox, dropping the chain gun he was borrowing.

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

The rodent vaguely understood Megatron's words as he came to, slowly climbing out of the darkness that had surrounded him for a few moments. It was too much. The Predacons outnumbered them. Their ship was trashed. Some were running out of ammo. Hope was dwindling by a thread. So this was it? They were finally all going to die? After everything they had been through, the good guys were going to lose. So much for fairy tales and their terrible, misleading happy endings. In a slight daze on the ground, Rattrap leaned on his good arm and watched everyone as if it was happening in slow motion. Tigatron and Orcariner were down. Cheetor had been on the ground but now he was standing. How was he standing? And firing? Cheetor, this exploration kid, was like a super cheetah soldier now. If he could do it on the verge on death, then so could this little, insignificant Maximal. So Rattrap pushed himself up to his feet, drew his own gun in his good hand while his opposite arm was barely attached to his shoulder now, and began firing at the Predacons again with Wintersong, Frilla, Dinobot, Cheetor, and Feralnight until his ammo was depleted. Dropping his gun, he then pulled out his tail, whipping it once and locking the links to form a spear-like sword as if he was ready for hand-to-hand combat now. Of course he wasn't. One of his arms was about to fall off, and his back ached in a great deal of pain ever since the shot Steelclaw got on him. If Rattrap was to be the last one standing, the last one to witness the Preds kill of the Maximals simply because he was the acting leader and Megatron would love to put him through such torture, then that was how it was supposed to be. Had it been Optimus in his place, he'd have done the same with honor, dignity, and selflessness. Though their story would never be told, Rattrap just hoped all of this would not have been in vain, just as Cheetor had been contemplating.

Rhinox dropped his weapon as well and fell to both knees, looking at everyone around him. Perhaps his plan hadn't worked after all. Maybe something happened to the pod, or a Predacon got to it before the transfer of Optimus's spark was complete. Either way, their future was looking very, very bleak. This could very well be the end. "...Comes the dawn..." he said solemnly with the sunrise producing some of their enemies as silhouettes and his chest crackling and spewing out sparks.

The fuzor's optics narrowed as she had to keep ducking down behind a boulder or having to take a hit here and there, and if she could dodged some shots but it was clear they might not make it out of this fight alive and that was looking like their fate. More and more of the Maximals were falling or becoming injured, too injured to fight back still. Feralnight couldn't help dreading the thought of dying and going to the Matrix, but at this rate it seemed likely a welcoming idea as the Predacons continued to chip away their boulder defenses and only feeling shots pelt her armor and at least one of Megatron's fusion cannon shots had blown away her shoulder cannon, leaving her with one to use. But maybe going to the Matrix wouldn't be so bad, she had recalled the death of her friend so long ago before her return to Cybertron and could only wonder if they were there as well and in a way it was almost a comforting thought.

But they couldn't give up, not while they still had ammo and will to fight. Though Feralnight's attention was directed towards Starshadow when hearing Rattrap's warning and almost went to attack before seeing Whitegrazer make quick work of her...that was until the cat seemed to recover quickly to begin countering with an electrical-type of attack of her own. "Hey! Let her go you overgrown furball!"Feralnight growled, preparing to lung forward before feeling one of Tantrum's attacks collide into her back that knocked her forward on her knees, making the female fuzor grunt painfully to her already sore body. Already this battle had taken it's toll on her, mostly from her encounter with Terrorsaur who had bested her quickly with his new form and the fact she had really rushed in to help her comrades with not much of plan. That couldn't stop her now! Shaking off the pain going through her battered frame Feralnight prepared to attack once more only to see Rhinox make a final attack before his attack was in vain but hoped it would do the trick.

Instead she turned her attention back to the Predacons and began firing with the last good cannon she had until she only heard clicking and nothing more.

=============================

When it came to Frilla she could see her shield was cracking, only taking so much stress before it would prove useless and knowing this cover would not last for much longer. Even now the frilled lizard still had taken a blow to her hip from Megatron's cannon and several other shots had pelted her armor which with it's weak structure wasn't doing well to hold up for much longer and easily penetrating past those few layers. Another blow like that from the fusion cannon could certainly spell her death sentence. She was not one built for this type of work, none of them had been meant to be warriors and now they had little choice but to fight to the death. Already they were falling like flies and it pained Frilla to not be able to help her teammates now. She could only fight.

Turning when hearing someone slide up next to her Frilla was amazed to see Dinobot had finally made it, Nemesis hot on his tail but still he was a tough raptor and seemed to always refuse to give in. But she returned his grim smile with her own, "A fine morning it is," She said back to her fellow reptile and Predacon-turned-maximal. For once she would not be a coward and run away, she wouldn't surrender like her fellow Maximals. No, today she would fight until she ceased to function even if it meant having to die by Megatron's own hand. The last shot came and finally broke Frilla's shield and she decided to leave it and began firing once more with all she had with her weapon knowing it might not have much more ammo for this type of fight.

It was hard to believe after all these months the Maximals were at their end, an end they had not planned for. It always seemed in many tales that the heroes were the ones to prevail in their darkest hour and the bad guys were always beaten, somehow a miracle always worked in their favor and yet this time it didn't seem this tale was to go like they always did: the bad guys were winning and they had no ace in the hole. So it appeared. Wintersong couldn't remember the last time she felt so helpless, so full of despair at the fact they would be joining the Matrix with their thought to be dead commander. All of their efforts really did seem in vain.

Wintersong could recall a time when she didn't trust the Axalon crew, having felt like an outsider due to the fact she had been a stowaway and had never thought she was meant to come on this voyage. But perhaps fate had dealt her a hand where she was never meant to stay on Cybertron forever, a dare that had seemed harmless fun had become the best thing that had ever happened to her and the white tigress could never see herself regretting of accidently being on the ship. Really, she probably could have been a far better team player in the beginning and could have made better decisions. Looking across the field as she fired back at the Predacons she could see her former friend Arachnitron among them, one of the many mistakes she made in jumping to conclusions and one she'd have to live with. Yes, Wintersong regretted for what she had said but for now it was something she had to put behind her as she focused on the battle. But she knew her weapon was running out of ammo and eventually she only heard clicking as nothing else would come out. The mini-missiles she had before she only had a few left, and even that would not turn the tides in their favor but it was all the feline had left. Opening the right compartment of her wrist Wintersong fired the last two mini-missiles she still had into the group of Predacons, not really caring to where they ended up.

But a blow to her side and then to her thigh made her growl in pain, one blast from Megatron that had blown a decent sized hole in her side and the other from Steelclaw which still blew enough armor to expose the circuitry beneath while forcing her to one knee, some energon wires even spewing out the liquid onto the ground beside her. "No way is this feline going out without a fight."She growled to herself before reaching back to grab the hilts of both her swords and deflecting shots where she could but also shifting slightly enough she could see her fellow tiger still down and trying to protect Tigatron in his weakened state. "We need a miracle to survive this."

It was true Silverstreak had only been there a limited time, but how bad things had gotten in this war had become quite clear to her with a quickness. And even with the fact of knowing little about her new teammates or having really no connections to then quite yet she was willing to lay her life in this final stand. Steelclaw had presented the opportunity for her to run just a little earlier, and perhaps anyone with a real brain would have taken that chance. Not her. Leaving behind your team, no matter how new, was a cowardly act and would only save you so long before you were hunted down next. The little vixen wasn’t going to be one of those cowards and certainly wasn’t going to be hunted down like prey running from a predator; she was going to fight to the end.

Standing alongside the other Maximals Silverstreak continued to open fire until finally nothing more would come out. Her ammo was spent from her guns, leaving really little else to use except maybe her throwing knives for distance. But with the Predacons coming closer she was really making a desperate gamble when they were outmatched and outgunned. But her ear twitched when hearing Wintersong’s remark that they needed a miracle, and they needed it badly. “Think we need more than a miracle.” She said aloud, the compartments in the underside of her wrists opening up as she took out some of what remained from her throwing knives, now only awaiting their likely fate.

But deep down, she was really hoping this was not destined to be their end. Having recently joined the team Silverstreak greatly wanted to believe that they’d come out of this alive or somehow be able to turn the tables in their favor, but with the increasing number of Maximals falling that chance looked bleak.

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

For Onyx this was something he just couldn’t seem to go through with, watching as one by one the Maximals fell to their continuous fire and obviously they wouldn’t last. Valiant as it was they continued to make a stand where there was obviously no chances the Maximals would get out of this alive, and if any did survive they would be killed on sight. There was no running, no surrender, no holding back, they would be done for. The resilience this team showed was truly admirable, as he had thought from the beginning and he humbly wished there was a different fate for the crew.

Upon hearing Megatron’s words to move in closer to savor the victory the black stallion could only look at him in disbelief, never meeting a bot who could see this as victory. They were about to commit mass murder! He had been around a few small units in his life time when this happened, he had even joined in on one or two but each time it left a somewhat bitter taste in his mouth that he never mentioned to others. It wasn’t exactly Predacon of him to feel guilt and remorse for those he killed but he couldn’t help it. It just wasn’t right to kill others unless truly in a formidable match, or at least the bot being able to defend themselves not lying about while heavily damaged and no doubt meeting an end that seemed unfitting. They may not have been warriors or soldiers but they sure had shown they had a lot of courage and will, certainly something worthy to acknowledge. Not that Megatron cared, or any of the other Predacon for that matter and it was a little infuriating. But what could he really do? He had faced the tyrant’s wrath once; he didn’t want to have to face it again.

However, every fiber of his being was screaming not to continue. Even if the dawn was approaching for the end of the Maximals Onyx had been satisfied shooting at random but not actually aiming for a kill shot. Now…Shaking his head the larger mech decided to stay right where he was after just taking one step forward and lowering his gun, having had enough taking part in this act he thought was overkill. Yes, he was a Predacon but he was also one who had his morals and this was not one of them. “This isn’t right to kill them in this condition; they’re hardly in any position to fight anymore.” He said, knowing the other Predacons might hear him but he didn’t really care at the moment as he put his pistol back at his side. And though he already had considerable amount of puncture wounds in his thick armor he really could careless for the damage.

((Well, seems Onyx has done it again. One of the Predacons with morals and unwilling to help finish the job. He won't become a Maxie but he certainly is going to have a miserable time form here on out. ))

(ooc: Bah! Silly morals getting in Onyx' way of having fun.

Very good posts, everyone, especially Blazemane's left me baffled.)

Nemesis fired shot after shot at the fleeing Dinobot, not giving him a moment to recover even as he stumbled forward from getting hit in the backside. He was a traitor, undeserving of any small mercy. He had to die alongside the rest of his Maximals. Megatron had willed it and Nemesis was happy to oblige.

Dodging a few incoming shots she realized she'd fallen into a flight pattern and quickly reverted back to moving more randomly, swerving to either side and accompanying the move with a series of almost elegant rolls and aerial flips to make herself the hardest target possible. It appeared to work as none of the remaining shots came even close to hitting her.

Being in the sky, she definitely had a huge advantage over her ground based foe below. Another of her shots appeared to hit its target but not in time to stop him from reaching the remaining Maximals. Nemesis halted her approach momentarily, scanning the numerous targets below.

She was rather surprised to find a strong unity among her foes. Their best chance against such a large force of attackers would have been to split up and run away, and yet here they were.. hurdled together like sheep while making a last stand. This action was confusing to Nemesis since even someone with the brains of a simple calculator would realize that their efforts were futile. They were wounded, some near death, and most of them were running out of ammunition it seemed. And still their self preservation routines had not kicked in to the point where they would just make a run for it, instead they remained here.. defending their fallen comrades.

Very few Predacons were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice while defending their comrades. It just wasn't in their nature to do so.

She had seen the same Maximal solidarity before, back when she first arrived on this planet and had been holding one of them hostage. That same one, that she now recognized as Rhinox, was now part of the group below. Dinobot had been one of that group during the initial confrontation as well. And yet now she was the uninjured one, the one with the advantage, the one with the army to back her up.

As he had encouraged his troops to do, Megatron proceeded to move forward. He walked closer in an almost casual manner, taking his time while savoring every moment of the scene that was unfolding in front of him. A majority of the remaining Maximals were trapped like fish in a barrel, wasting their last ammunition on fighting a losing battle. For every step he made, fewer and fewer shots came at the Predacons in return. Those that still had ammunition, were often too damaged to take proper aim and thus the shots missed their intended targets by several arm lengths.

If at all possible, Megatron's confidence grew even more as he started getting close enough to make out some of the beautiful details this slaughter had brought about. The Maximals were frantically trying to take cover behind a few remaining boulders, many of them missing limbs or were decorated by large holes in their armor. Their faces, albeit still showing futile determination, for the most part reflected the horror that had been thrust upon them.

Indeed. It was a marvelous sight.

All that remained now was to finish the job. As he walked, he maintained his pattern of shots, peppering his foes with his powerful cannon.

It was then Megatron came to realize he might have underestimated the remaining Maximals. The impact of Dinobot's rifle shots impaling his abdomen and chest was forceful enough to knock him backwards. Megatron staggered, attempting to regain his composure, but another well placed shot set him hurling against the ground where he landed in an unholy heap. He grimaced in agony as he glanced down at the twisted and dented metal, his optics flaring in anger and hatred at the damage his former comrade had done. The wounds were not terribly deep since his new transmetalized body had reflected most of the impact, but the very notion that someone who had been under his command had inflicted any sort of damage on him was unheard of.

With a sneer that could have frozen a bot in his tracks, Megatron pushed himself back to his feet. He had planned to enjoy the act by killing them slowly, but now he merely wanted them dead as swiftly and painfully as possible.

"Predacons!," he ordered as he targeted Dinobot with his fusion cannon and opened fire, "Show no mercy! Destroy them; now!"


Megatron's orders came through loud and clear. Nemesis took aim at the little rodent who had taken it upon himself to function as the new Maximal commander. As commanded, she did not hold back, firing a series of blasts at Rattrap with as much accuracy as her hovering position would allow.

OOC:

I just want to point out that you said AWAKE and not FUNCTIONAL. They can be awake even if they can't move or fight.....just sayin'.....

Same difference.

Not to us Predacons it isn't. BWAHAHAHAHA!!!

And dang it...my character was shooting at Rattrap, but I didn't have time to finish the part for Inferno so I saved it for later. Later came too late. Oh well, I will leave it the way it is just in case one of us misses. It makes sense that Arachnitron would shoot at Rattrap given who he was shooting.

BIC:

Phoenix wrote: "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!"

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

Inferno gleamed with delight at his Queen's words. He saluted The Royalty and marched forward with the rest of the Colony. One by one each Maximal seemed to fall out of the battle as the Predacons drew nearer; some due to damage, but others due to having no ammunition! This was starting to look like a glorious day!

It was a day all Predacons dreamed about witnessing, but it was bitter sweet for the pyromaniacal red ant. He faced the Maximals death with a bit of nervousness. He knew he would regret this course of action one day. He may have been grinning on the outside, but this greatly disturbed the ant. After all, he was a defender of the colony, but who would he defend it from if there were no more enemies? He would have nothing to do. This brought great fear to the ant. Destroying Maximals was his life! He couldn't exterminate them. Then there would be no one left to terrorize.

What would he do? Would he have to defend the Colony from other Predacons? Maybe so. Maybe there were even other factions out there: Insecticons for instance? Did they even still exist? But that just wasn't the same as fighting Maximals.

Inferno heaved a sigh of defeat. It would be wrong of him to interfere with the will of the Queen. He would have to do as he was told. He could do the only thing he knew how to do: Do his best to please his Queen and savor every part of the last moments of the Maximals.

"Predacons!," Megatron ordered as he targeted Dinobot with his fusion cannon and opened fire, "Show no mercy! Destroy them; now!"

Inferno gave another gallant salute. "FOR THE GLORY OF THE ROYALTY!!!" Inferno shouted before switching on his flame thrower and setting fire to everything the Maximals were using for cover!

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

Phoenix wrote: "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!"

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

"I thought you'd never ask, bwahahahaha!" Tarantulas cackled with deranged mirth.

As the dawn approached, Arachnitron watched exactly how this battle was playing out. Most of the Maximals had been badly damaged and across the battlefield, nearly every Maximal's gun began revealing the tell tale sign of empty ammunition chambers.....each weapon began clicking and, one by one, each Maximals' stream of bullets began sputtering to a halt. But as their teammates fell to the Predacon's fire, a few Maximals faced them bravely using whatever means they had to protect themselves: Makeshift shields using the rocks and rubble that surrounded them, for instance, and some of the Maximals actually still had weapons such as throwing stars or swords that they used to shield themselves.

She also noticed the Predacons' reactions. She looked around at the other Predacons not exactly sure how she felt herself. Most were approaching the Maximals triumphantly as ordered such as Tarantulas, but there were a few who approached rather reluctantly. One, a black stallion, had even halted his approach entirely and lowered his weapons. She, too, stopped shooting and looked over at the defiant Predacon.

“This isn’t right to kill them in this condition; they’re hardly in any position to fight anymore.”

She turned to her left at the sound of Tarantulas' voice.

"Very good, until then, Arachnitron, follow Megatron's advice and savor this moment, a once in a lifetime event, the maximals are about to go extinct" Tarantulas gloated, spinning the wheel at the end of his cyber venom blaster as he slowly marched towards the wounded maximal's encampment alongside the other predacons.

His words and those of Onyx seemed to resonate within her. She could feel it happening again. That feeling she always felt. That feeling of not knowing who was right and who was wrong. She held back with Onyx for a moment. She didn't want to admit that she kind of agreed with him. She wasn't one to resort to fighting all the time....that was a personality trait that her Predacon side felt. The Hybrid would rather have just taken them all prisoner. And they could have! No one had ammo, they were all damaged! They wouldn't have put up much of a fight if they took them all captive!

Not only that, but she still wasn't sure she was a Predacon. And how could she be with so much Maximal running through her? With that thought, she realized that if Tarantulas were right and the Maximals were eliminated entirely, then her personality with the Maximal programming would be the only Maximal remaining. What would she do? More importantly, what would the Predacons do?

She looked across the battlefield at her former friend, Wintersong. She had felt so betrayed by her defeated words towards her. "Just go with them Arachnitron," was what she told her when the Predacons had attempted to abduct her. Just like everyone else in her life who gave up on her. Just like the ones in the orphanage who had sent her away to be experimented on when they could no longer control her and just like the scientists who aimed to destroy her when the experimentation had made her even more unstable than she was before. Tarantulas, though, hadn't done any of that. The inhibitor chip had been the answer that no one else could give her and it was for that reason she had to keep fighting as a Predacon.

Suddenly, Arachnitron noticed Wintersong was looking in her direction. "I'm sorry," Arachnitron mouthed to her and she was. Sorry that she couldn't fully explain why she needed to stay with the Predacons. Sorry that the Maximals couldn't offer her the same kind of things that Tarantulas had given her. Sorry that she blamed all of this on Wintersong when really she had been right all along. Arachnitron didn't belong with the Maximals. They didn't have any way to help her. She could see that now.

But it was at that moment that the Maximal programming inside of her tried to burst through the barrier of the inhibitor chip. It was as though she sensed the impending doom of her comrades.The Hybrid struggled against it doubling over in pain. She slid behind the rock she had been using for cover and stifled a scream. Her face twisted in agony as the Maximal continued to try to resurface.

"No! No! No!" she cried out defiantly. "Not now! Not again!"

Arachnitron struggled against the Maximal's attempts to free herself focusing on the sounds around her. One voice drifted over the din and caught her attention.

"Buff this out, Vermin! Hehehehehahahahaha!" Tarantulas laughed as he fired several cybervenom shots in the direction of the heavily wounded Rhinox, giving the rat the choice of allowing his already wounded friend die or come out to face certain death himself in order to protect him.

It was Tarantulas taunting and laughing at...it had to be Rattrap.

"Say hello to my 'lil friend!" Rattrap shouted back at Tarantulas, immediately pulling the trigger and firing off several rounds of bullets toward him. It mercilessly shook Rattrap's arms and he had no idea how Big Green was always so accurate with it but he tried maintaining his aim and keeping his balance.

Gun shots. Hearing the shots towards Tarantulas sobered Arachnitron immediately. The future played out in Arachnitron's mind in seconds and without Tarantulas, her future would be grim at best. Not only would she be targeted without him around to repair the Inhibitor Chip and keep the Maximal programming at bay, but she would be lost without his guidance. She needed him.

"TARANTULAS!" she cried out fearfully. Pushing past her own pain, she climbed up over the rocks she had been using as cover, but Rattrap had disappeared for a moment. She raced across the battlefield to see how Tarantulas fared after taking the shots from Rhinox' chain gun weapon.

Before she could reach Tarantulas, Rattrap appeared again armed with his rat tail turned sword. She noticed one of the other Predacons flying above and firing at the rat. Even though she knew he'd be taken care of, she didn't care. She had no idea what he had done to Tarantulas. He may have missed for all she knew, but she didn't care. She was angry that he had fired at Tarantulas at all. She turned towards Rattrap with an icy glare. Without a moment's hesitation, she raised her cybervenom launcher and fired at him hoping to hit him square in the chest. She didn't speak a word, she just sent him a look of intense anger as an explanation for her actions in exchange for what he had done to Tarantulas.

Tantrum continued to pour his immense firepower into the Maximal line. He was in his element. There was nothing Tantrum loved better than the sensation of blasting helpless Maximals with volley after volley. He fired his gatling, savoring each recoil as he sent another round downrange to hopefully bring pain and ruin upon his foes. While might not understand a good deal of things, wanton slaughter spoke to his spark in ways that nothing else could. His gatling barrels were becoming white hot from the high rate of fire. His rail guns were beginning to run low on high explosive ammunition.

Among the rounds impacting his armor was a blast from Cheetor's laser. However, Tantrum's massive chest rail guns are designed to effectively dissipate the tremendous heat rail guns provide. In Cheetor's weakened state, the laser was ineffectual against the sheer hulk of Tantrum. Still, the ungentle giant remained oddly silent. The language of death and destruction was the only communication he need at the moment.

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

Tantrum grinned from ear to ear. As the sun rose at his back, the only light punctuating his silhouette was that of his frightening optics, shining brightly. He drew his electro-sword and as his hissed and crackled, moved in on the downed Maximals. His immense form cast a dark shadow as he loomed menacingly over the helpless Maximals.

Ironclaw continued to march down a corridor when he came across a hole in the Axalon. He saw a female Predacon, her alternative form being aquatic in nature. He drew his wrist mounted cannons ready to engage the enemy. Then for a second his attention was drawn to another part of the Axalon. It was an explosion, part of the hull had been destroyed and light had breached the inner corridors. He could see a shadow of someone, he quite make who it was but he could tell that whoever it is , was heading for the battle. Exactly where he wanted to be. Ironclaw fired a few volleys at the Predacon, merely to deter her and anyone else from entering. He stopped firing and then made his way to this figure.

(( OOC: I'm thrilled about all of the active posting, guys, thank you! It's nice to see the game rolling smoothly again.

As for Arachnitron, d*mn, Blackrose. Rattrap will never trust her again.

Here comes Optimus! ))

Rattrap and Rhinox listened as one Maximal after another ran out of ammunition. Rhinox could not stand as his systems were hanging on by a thread. As much as he wanted to be by his brave comrades' sides, he was forced to lay on the ground where it was no safer than where they stood. Watching all of them from his perspective was quite remarkable. He felt honored to be a part of this crew, ever since the beginning when they were ordered to chase the Darksyde down and retrieve the golden disk that Megatron had stolen. Whoever thought it would come down to this. Sure it wasn't fair, but perhaps this was how it always meant to be despite Optimus's hopes of ever getting them back home safely. Odd, though, how not all of them were present. Whatever happened to Ironclaw and the energy Whitegrazer was receiving from him before he was taken out of the CR? Where was Aurora? He feared for her safety the most right now and yet she was no where to be seen. And where was Aerostriker? In a CR? He thought he saw Stag approach Tantrum but there was little he could see from his view point on the ground, especially with such a small bot. Watching Dinobot and Frilla pair up to face their former comrades was incredibly admirable. He couldn't imagine the roller coaster of emotions they must have been feeling toward them. Rhinox had always been happy to have them on their team, especially when both of them had been so close to taking Optimus down and instead found their own honor, mercy and compassion to spare his life and actually join under his command. If only he was still there. If only the Vok hadn't tried wiping them out with their slagging fake moon and someone, likely Megatron and/or Tarantulas, hadn't sealed the pod so Optimus couldn't escape. If only. But here they were facing fate, facing their destinies.

Rattrap stood there, a little shaky on his feet while his annoying computer continued to tell him what was malfunctioning with his TransMetal body, his tail "sword" gripped in his hand that could hold it. Beside him were Silverstreak, Frilla, Dinobot, Cheetor, Feralnight, Rhinox, Wintersong and Whitegrazer. It did cross his mind what had happened to Aurora, and he was going to send her a transmission, but just maybe she was working on something to help them out. Maybe she was keeping a secret for something to turn the tables in this battle of inevitable death. After her scream for Tarantulas, he looked at Arachnitron, or rather her silhouette since the rising sun behind her and the rest of the Preds over there was shadowing the detail of their bodies; except he could make her optics' ice cold stare. What did she have against Rattrap? Anyway, the Predacons looked like big, black, ominous blobs moving toward them. He took note of Onyx lowering his weapon although it didn't surprise him. What disappointed the rat was the fact that those who believed what Megatron was doing wrong and acting unethical weren't stopping him. Not even trying. Cowards, he thought angrily. The ones who could turn dis around an' they're too chicken ta stand up ta Megajerk. He glared at them, standing as straight and tall as he could, ready to face death; of all bots. Maybe their spectacle of courage would teach some of those Preds to find theirs. But the Maximals were already ahead of them on that. Shame on those lousy Preds. Shame on Megatron.

Suddenly, Rattrap was bombarded by some aerial shots courtesy of Nemesis. She had been a thorn in their sides for a long time now, ever since she had killed Nightmist. Unpredictable and merciless, he still didn't know what happened between her and Optimus when they were holding her prisoner and the words that had been exchanged. The secrets that monkey kept and were now lost with him. The acting Maximal leader could do nothing but crouch to the ground as her shots decorated his position and the ground surrounding him.

"Rattrap!" Rhinox called out over the gun fire. He wanted to move in and help him, to shield him from her shots, or even return fire at Nemesis's cowardly attack but he was stranded where he was as his the hole in his chest continued to spark with severed wires and missing armor plating.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Nemesis's attack had pushed Rattrap down just before Arachnitron's shot blazed across the air right above him where his chest would have been had he not lost his footing. Landing on his back, he rolled to his side and curled up into a ball to make himself as small a target as he possibly could. One of her shots pierced the side of his stomach, however, sending a burning sensation to his processor which announced the danger he was in in his current state. Like Rhinox and Whitegrazer, he now had a hole to brag about, although it didn't go all the way through his body like theirs but they were not TransMetals.

Laying there on the ground together, the rat and the rhinoceros could feel the heat from the flames that Inferno was beginning to blow across what little cover they had left. Rattrap tried getting up and calling to his Maximals but he choked and coughed from inhaling Inferno's smoke.

-----

This looked like a good spot. There was already a breach in the hull where a few small holes let in some light to the dark hallway. It must have been a result of the Predacons' relentless firepower on the Axalon while the shields had been either lowered or depleted entirely. Setting his blast shield down, leaning it against the wall behind him, Optimus grabbed his gun from his hip and targeted the exterior wall. It felt odd to blast a nice, big hole in his own ship but what was difference since most of it looked like swiss cheese already.

"Optimus..."

He felt Whitegrazer's response to him reaching out to her, as well as her concern for Aurora. But she was all right. He could also feel the pain she was in, both emotionally and phsyically. Hold on, Whitegrazer, thought Optimus with great optimism.

Primal hesitated for a moment when he heard a muffled roar echo throughout the damaged and empty corridors of his vessel. He could assume it might have been Saber-Fang even though he hadn't seen her while he helped Aurora and Silverbolt. He wouldn't have thought it to be Ironclaw. Whoever it was would have to wait. Both Fuzors would be safe in their CR chambers.

"Predacons!," "Show no mercy! Destroy them; now!"

Those words from Megatron... Anger filled up in his new chest. These were his friends, his family, that his nemesis was about to kill so joyfully. What was wrong with Megatron? How could he do this? Primal's sharp teeth ground together in fury. No more time to wait. He had enough. This was it. His Maximals needed his help before it was too late. ...He hoped he wasn't too late...

BOOM!

A loud explosion erupted from the side of the Axalon and before the smoke could clear, Optimus holstered his gun and stood there in the new opening with confidence and defiance. His orange optics quickly surveyed his injured Maximals before scanning over the Predacons, recognizing most, with or without TransMetal upgrades, while discovering a rather new, big guy. Now, what was something he always said so that they could recognize him and turn all of their attention to him? Ah yes...

"Well, that's just prime!" Optimus Primal called out in a deep and confident voice, looking straight into Megatron's optics and adding a smug smile to his infamous quote, purposely antagonizing the tyrant. Just when Megatron thought he got rid of him for good in the most cowardly action, there was no way the Predacon leader could resist his return from the dead. And as predictable as Megatron was, Optimus was prepared for him to order all of his minions to unload their firepower solely onto him even though he was only one Maximal clearly outnumbered and outgunned. While he waited for them to attack, he familiarized himself with the readings and settings that his internal computer was sending him. An alternative vehicle mode with flight? Excellent. The clubs on his back were also personal "auto-guns"? Excellent. Primal could handle this, yessss.

((OOC: OH YEAH!!! RUN PREDACONS! RUN!!! ))

"You are right at the doorstep of a slaughterhouse, Maximal...I shall end your misery with a painful death!"

Starshadow was acting stranger than usual, but she couldn't do anything as the being, which possessed the Predacon female, gripped her throat.
Electricity surged through her entire body, causing it to trembling in her grasp. Tiny flames littered her hole. The smell of burnt circuits and fur stung the air.

"Release her!"

She heard Rhinox's shout and fire of his chainguns as well as Feralnight's shout. Using all of her energy to make sure her friends; help wouldn't be in vain, she had her arm strike the joint of starshadow's choking arm and used her other arm to palm strike her stomach in an effort to push some distance between them.

Coughing up smoke from her insides, she was mess like all of the others. Even she was shocked at how she was weakened and exhausted from Megatron's blast and Starshadow's shocking new move. On her knees. Her systems were giving warning signs as it ran dianogtics over the wounds and flames. She had lost a lot of her energon and fluids, burns ran across her body, and not to forgot the wounds inflicted by Umbra pounding her through the consoles. Her entire front was shredded as well as the right side of her face.

Staring at Starshadow or whoever was talking to her, she stood up with trembling knees and nearly fumbled her balance before she landed her foot in front to keep herself from falling, "I don't fear death."

She stared at those who laid on the ground. Some were unconscious and others like her still aware of the destruction around them.

"What greater way to be at life's end than around my comrades, my family? It would be an honor for such valiant warriors and... valiant friends." She smiled with her optic dimming.

The sun was coming up on the horizon, filling the darkness with it's light. It was warm and comforting just like the presence she felt that drew closer and closer.

An explosion commanded attention. Though, she didn't need to turn her head to know who it was, but she did to look upon him.

"Well, that's just prime!"

It was hard to get a good look at him with one optic even when the smoke cleared, but despite the bronze and bulkier appearance, that voice was easily recognizable.

"Optimus!"

Swirls of joy erupted within her seeing him standing there and ready to force the Predacons back to their base, putting an end to this massive slaughter. Her spark pumped rapidly as she waited to see the faces of her comrades to see the miracle right there, especially Rhinox. The poor Maximal engineer didn't know if his idea had worked and seemed to be losing hope like everyone else. But now, he could see him with his own optics: their leader was back.

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"Pity, if you'd submitted, you could have lived to enjoy the downfall of the maximals along with the rest of us, oh well, bottoms up!"

Blackarachnia watched as she was about to fall into a pit of mess that could vaporize her. Even though she was dreaming, she couldn't allow herself to die like this, but his hand! She curled up into ball, thinking up ways to get out of this nightmare. It was all a nightmare! It wasn't real! It was as real as she let it be. To see her actually taking all this slag from him made her want to slap herself across the face for allowing him to hurt her like this. She closed her optics and imagined herself back at Megatron's room, laying limply on the ground before she was thrusted into Tarantulas's personal Pit for her. Yes, it wasn't real! This isn't happening!

Like she was breaking the chain gripping her, she uncurled herself. As she landed in the pit, her optics went white before the damaged console reappeared in her sights. she lifted herself off the ground with a little stagger, holding head with a snarl, "Tarantulas, I won't forgive you for this!"

Trying to shake off the nightmare, she remained herself that she had an advantage above him, which made her chuckle gleefully.

(Mystrea:Er.. probably didn't notice since it has been awhile so also not too serious, but the Predacons did exit the ship through a hole in the wall. However, they are still standing around the hole, so if you wanted to drop from above ontop of them or shoot at them from the "high ground" are options. Umbra was climbing a rock wall though camouflaged to reduce his visibility, he's still visible to the naked optic considering the close proximity, Cecaelia standing on the ground.

I'd say the fall is about 20 ft, but shouldn't be a problem since Ironclaw is tanky and big.. and Honey badgers like most weasels when riled up are more balls then brains anyway.. or so my experience with ferrets over the years has been, so the berserker stuff isn't a problem. )


As Stag closed in on Tantrum, while the crowd was suddenly distracted by Optimus's triumphant return, the Targetmaster continued on course, releasing his payload just above Tantrum, then continuing on as the Democharge went off infront of the giant. The close range of the shockwave from the explosion sending Stag flying out of control and crashing into the ground a bit of a distance behind Tantrum.