"More Than Meets The Eye: Part I"

[starshadow]

I'm afraid that isn't possible Cecaelia.. You have already removed the Leviathan from the darksyde and further interaction with Starshadow and Megatron may lead to your demise.

Okaaaaayyy...the voice did exist.. Cecaelia thought.

A promise is a promise.. Cece.. it's time you go home.. You no longer need to waste your time on this pointless war..

Glowstick?! How is it possible?! "Go home..." a smile was slowly formed on her face, "Yes, let's go home."

Cecaelia walked back to the Leviathan and sat on the driver's seat, "Set course to Cybertron!"

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Nemesis, you will lead Terrorsaur, Starshadow, Manterror, and Blackarachnia to the pod that landed in maximal territory, get in and get out with the new predacon, then catch up with my team at the ship site so we can overwhelm the maximals with superior numbers, plain and simple. Tarantulas shall lead the third and final team to uncover the second stasis pod which fell in the rainforest region, take Spineback, Umbra, Arachnitron, and Caecelia with....WHERE IS THAT AIRHEAD INVERTEBRATE?!

Starshadow looked around only to find her unpresent. She would have to radio her after she leaves the Darksyde with her team.

As for the rest of you...Happy hunting

Starshadow transformed to her beast mode and lowered herself so that Blackarachnia could ride on her. Someone has to pick her up anyway. She looked up at the arachnid and smiled, "Girls have to stick together."

[Wintersong]

As Wintersong expected Rattrap was immediately ahead of all three of them, growling a bit as she had to close her eyes slightly as some rocks came rushing at her from his wheels but she looked forward again when he had some distance and dust no longer was being thrown in her direction. "Sometimes I think he lets those compliments go to his head," She said towards Saber-fang as the former general came up beside her. Well least they might have a chance to secure the pod before the Predacons at least, that's if none of their fastest transmetals were heading towards it which the transmetal tigress could only hope for possibly like the rest of her teammates. Though there was really no telling what was in store for them on this mission as she kept riding along as fast as her boosters would allow, her senses on high alert the further they were away from base.

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

Listening as Megatron spoke at last, Spineback couldn't help but being slightly disappointed at not being able to accompany Megatron's team in investigating the downed Maximal ship since it did somewhat intrigue her to see just what the deal was with the crash site. And maybe who was piloting it. But as usual she didn't complain and merely listened for her orders, waiting to see which unit she would be paired with to which it seemed she was taking the pod that had crashed within one of the forests that was plentiful on this planet and so far the only real teammate she knew on this mission was Umbra. He seemed like alright mech, more trustworthy it seemed then the spiders that were going to join them, especially the Tarantulas fellow. She didn't know what it was but something about their field leader just gave her a rather creepy vibe.

"I think he's already left us in the dust my friend, hopefully he at least saves some action for us." Spineback stated before Umbra left the room and the dino femme maneuvered her own hoverboard to the hall way to step off before heading to the hanger. She certainly hoped if her team did come across the Maximals that they could do some real damage this time, knowing last time was kind of a bust due to one annoying little bird who was rather brave but foolish at the same time. With some luck it wouldn't be repeat of when her pod activated.

Finally shifting to beast mode Spineback glanced back once more before she growled and took off towards the same direction Tarantulas had and to where the pod was.

[Blackrosefencer]

OOC: I'll post for Inferno for now. Don't have too much time on my hands at the moment. But Inferno should be a quick post. I'll give Worpex some more time to respond with Airazor. If he doesn't respond by Friday, then I'll go ahead and move on with the Dinobot crew without Airazor.

BIC:

"At ease, Sub-Commander. Now that you are all here, we shall divide our forces into units. Inferno, Tantrum, Quickstrike, and yes, even you Buster, shall accompany me to the fallen maximal vessel, I trust all of you shall endeavor not to disappoint me" Megatron explained, casting a long venomous glare in Buster's direction.

"Meanwhile, Nemesis, you will lead Terrorsaur, Starshadow, Manterror, and Blackarachnia to the pod that landed in maximal territory, get in and get out with the new predacon, then catch up with my team at the ship site so we can overwhelm the maximals with superior numbers, plain and simple. Tarantulas shall lead the third and final team to uncover the second stasis pod which fell in the rainforest region, take Spineback, Umbra, Arachnitron, and Caecelia with....WHERE IS THAT AIRHEAD INVERTEBRATE?!

"As you command, my Queen!" Inferno responded.

Inferno was a bit disappointed that his previous mission's performance meant he would not be leading his own mission this time. He hated the fact that he had disappointed his Queen. But, nevertheless, he was proud to have been chosen to go with him to investigate the fallen Maximal ship. Where had the ship come from? Who was flying it? Of course, he understood the significance. If a Maximal ship had landed on the planet, that must mean that others from Cybertron knew of their location. Megatron would not want to allow the ship to return to Cybertron. Inferno knew that Megatron would want to keep others from interfering in his plans...whatever those plans were.

Megatron wrapped up some lose ends with the other field units and then flew off in the direction of the Maximal ship. Inferno, who was already in robot mode, fired up his rear propellers, took to the air, and followed the Royalty through the hangar doors.

[Night-Hunter]

"Sometimes I think he lets those complinments go to his head."

Saber gave a good natured chuckle. "Rattrap, at times can be simple minded. But I try not to hold it against him."

Once they reached the pod, her plan was to keep her distance from it and stand guard, that way should the worst happen, Primus forbid, she would have a running start. She did not want to be responsible for the death of more innocent lives.

[WorpeX]

Airazor lie in her bed, half awake and half asleep. It had been a long and frightening night for her. Her mind was trapped inside a nightmare where he was a pilot of a ship locked in a gunfight with the "Darksyde". Tigatron was the only other occupant of the ship and he was manning the guns. The two of them were trying desperately to stop Megatron and his gang of misfits before they fled Cybertron - but they were badly outgunned. Airazor's vessel was almost to the point of destruction. Part of the ship had already completely broken off and the rest of it was in ravaged by flames. "They just took out our engines!" She yelled to Tigatron. Her control over the ship was now completely forfeit. She looked over to the gunman and saw a worried expression on his face, but he never stopped firing at the predicons. "We failed." She spoke her final words to him before the ship succumbed to the flames.

Luckily, just seconds before it exploded, Airazor awoke from the dream. A moment of panic filled her mind as she snapped back to reality. Once she realized where she was, her mind calmed slightly. It felt real. She thought to herself, thinking back to the dream. Never had she dreamt so vividly before and especially not about a world that she never knew. Cybertron was as distant to her as the sun and the stars. Almost every member of the Maximal team had memories of their species homeworld and they spoke of it frequently. Yet, she did not. All she knew was this world that she was born into.

"Dinobot to Airazor, Ironclaw and Cheetor. We have been asked to assemble at once for stasis pod retrieval. Meet me on the bridge. We must leave immediately. Dinobot out,"

Thank the matix. Glad to have an excuse to get out of bed, Airazor responded back to Dinobot. "I--- I am on my way" Her voice sounded as if she had just seen a ghost. Hoping no one noticed, she slid out of bed and quickly freshened herself up. Then, joined the rest of her crew on the bridge.

---

"Meanwhile, Nemesis, you will lead Terrorsaur, Starshadow, Manterror, and Blackarachnia to the pod that landed in maximal territory, get in and get out with the new predacon, then catch up with my team at the ship site so we can overwhelm the maximals with superior numbers, plain and simple. Tarantulas shall lead the third and final team to uncover the second stasis pod which fell in the rainforest region, take Spineback, Umbra, Arachnitron, and Caecelia with....WHERE IS THAT AIRHEAD INVERTEBRATE?!"

Manterror listened to his commander before joining Nemesis in the skies towards their destination.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: Sorry for my absence lately. Was awfully sick all day Thursday out of the blue, running around Friday, trying to get things squared away to pull two wisdom teeth out next week. Craziness. Tired of it all.

Welcome back, New Moon! ))

"We are quite all right, Optimus,"

Was he certain? They both looked a little beat up, and who knew what kind of journey Nexus had endured to be there. Primal returned the smile, happy to know that Nexus probably recognized him through his voice if nothing else, as he tried taking all of this in so suddenly. How could he be right in front of him? Right now? He accepted the Admiral's friendly embrace, his hug probably a little tighter than Nexus's. To see such a face standing before him after everything he had been through with his Maximals, it was a tremendous relief for him. It was as if he suddenly didn't have to keep all of his burdens to himself anymore. There was someone far more experienced and knowledgeable here now to guide him and help them through this mess of a war. Optimus didn't know how he got there but right now he didn't care.

"It is good to see you, son! You are looking well, if a little.. different."

"All things considered, you have no idea," Optimus said as they released each other. "I...," the Maximal stammered as he looked over Nexus again with a light shake of his head in disbelief, "I can't believe that you're here."

"Uhm.. who's the old guy?,"

The Commander smiled at Aurora and was about to answer when Whitegrazer hurried up to join them and introduced herself.

"Hello, I'm Whitegrazer," "You two know each other?"

"I'm sorry," Primal apologized for his lack of etiquette, and for a moment gently laid the palm of his hand on Whitegrazer's lower back when she came up beside him and the ermine. "Aurora, Whitegrazer, Silverbolt, Orcariner ((whenever he shows up )), this is Admiral Nexus. My mentor, if I may. He practically taught me everything I know." Like Nexus, Optimus had also left off the "Prime" in his name but it was out of habit instead of deliberation since he had never enforced formalities. Clearly. Perhaps Nexus was who Primal acquired that same laid back mentality from. However, the Admiral had a lot more military background than Optimus did because he had chosen the path of science and discovery.

"How did you find us? Or is all of this by chance?" Optimus asked Nexus. Was anyone even still looking for the Axalon and its crew ever since that last probe had orbited the planet? As far as he knew, they never established contact with it thanks to Megatron and his Predacons. It was a lonely feeling to think how far away they were and when, having no help or communication with anyone. So how did Nexus stumble upon them? "After we chased Megatron for the golden disk and crashed here on Earth, we lost all contact with Cybertron." Despite his endless search for answers, Primal had to remember that there may very well be Predacons on the way, so perhaps they should keep their discussions brief.

"Silverbolt and Orcariner, set up a perimeter and be on alert for any Predacons," Optimus told them.

"Aurora, Whitegrazer, salvage anything we can use from the Akira. I'd rather not leave anything behind that Megatron can use to his advantage."

Primal stopped and looked at Nexus, asking him, "That is, if that's all right with you. We were hoping your ship would still be functional as a means to return to Cybertron but it doesn't look that way." Disappointment was difficult to disguise in his tone since time and time again the Maximals had been cheated out of a way home.

-----

The terrain grew a little rockier as Rattrap approached the pod's proximity. It was a bumpy ride on his wheels but he made sure to dodge the larger rocks so that he wouldn't have any alignment issues. Slowing down, the dragster rat came to a stop and quietly checked out the area, his nose in the air to try and sniff out any Predacon scum. He didn't smell anything foul, yet, but that didn't mean that they weren't on their way or in hiding waiting to ambush them.

Lifting his wheels, Rattrap maximized and drew his gun, waiting for the rest of his group to show. He cautiously made his way closer to the pod that appeared to be in bad shape. From what he could see at his distance, it looked like it was smoldering and the lid had been opened. Were they too late? Had the Preds already come and picked up the protoform and left? ...Or destroyed it...? The situation may have become more grave than he had hoped, so Rattrap jogged over to the pod while being mindful of his surroundings. Standing next to it as he waved the smoke away from his face, he looked inside and a sudden expression of confusion and perhaps disappointment appeared on his face. "Eh?" It was empty...

[Alak]

"Silverbolt and Orcariner, set up a perimeter and be on alert for any Predacons,"

"Copy that," Orcariner replied.

Hovering high above the landing zone, the helicopter began to perform circular sweeps around the region. His radar had enough range to detect any in-coming hostiles, but the Maximal figured that it was best to be mobile. Despite having such powerful scanners, Orcariner knew that he would sometimes be ignorant to what was on his HUD. Simply staying still while daydreaming would only lead to disaster if a Predacon wanted to shoot down a very large target.


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


Buster was excited that he was able to fight alongside Megatron. Hopefully, it would redeem him in the eyes of his commander. Yet, there was one problem that needed to be addressed. It was one that became apparent as soon as Megatron took off into the skies.

"Uhhhh, guys. I can't fly."

Looking around at the other Predacons, he flailed his arms.

"Anyone wanna give me a lift?"

[NaitoKage]

"Uhhhh, guys. I can't fly.""Anyone wanna give me a lift?"

Quickstrike turned his snake head back as he moved , noticing Buster not following Where in the pit is that green horn? he muttered to himself, placing one of his claws up against the side of his scorpion head he activated his comlink Hey tall goat! Ya got legs don't cha? Move yer keiser before I go back there an kick it myself! he then shouted in to the radio.

Quickstrike shaked his snake head, following Megatron and Inferno's path the best he could, the two weren't the fastest fliers luckily, but they didn't have to weave or take altered courses due to mountains, rocks, or cliffs, which made them have a faster approach. But even then, Megatron wasn't so foolish to move completely ahead of his forces to leave himself open to an attack.


__________________________

From high above, Landslide observed the surroundings. So far he couldn't detect anything besides Rattrap and his fellow Maximals, he activated his radio sending a signal down to Rattrap Area clear lad, comin' in for a landing.

Coming down, he transformed to robot mode with his shield attached to his back and sword stored away, floating down to the ground with his rockets, he then cut his thrust landing with a loud thud, then made his way towards Rattrap looking over the pod. As he came closer, he noticed the damage, tilting the pod with his left arm he looked it over Scorch marks on the inside.. the hatch musta blew open mid entry.. No signs of molten metal from the protoform though.. Landslide looked over the pod, running his hand over where the pod would of designated if it was a dud or not. Too much soot on the haul to tell if it was a blank or not. he said wiping his hand over the burnt metal, then set the burnt pod down.

___________________

"Go home..." "Yes, let's go home." "Set course to Cybertron!"

The hologram of Glowstick watched Well.. that didn't take much.. As you command.

The squid drone floated along following her, a second one flew by, running it's tentacle along her tentacle taking a swab sample, then floats away mysteriously.

The hologram of Glowstick appears on the bridge of the Leviathan As of this moment, you are designated as captain of this vessel. I am artificial intelligent backup unit "Ghost",so I suppose you could say I'm the computer for this ship. Arrangements are being taken to settle taking care of your disappearance. Displaying course of actions now.

A holographic display appeared infront of Cecaelia showing a chart As of right now, the Leviathan is completing it's docking process and minor repairs, after that is complete the two ships will remain docked unless situation requires purging the bridge. Once fueling,cargo, and resource storage is complete, the ship will take off. We will transwarp from here once we get out of range of either faction's scanners.. What destination do you plan to make course for?

[Warwulf]

"Greetings, good fellow!" he responded as way of formal introduction without having mentioned his name yet, "You'll have to excuse if I seem a little disoriented, but this.." He cast a glance back at the remnants of his ship. ".. was not exactly how I planned on this first meeting to occur. It is most fortunate I didn't run you over during my arrival," he continued, shifting his weight over on the leg that looked less damaged.

Silverbolt started to open his mouth to say that he had, in fact, been very nearly run over by his ship careening towards the ground. But Silverbolt thought better of it. There was no need to burden him with this information.

"My name is Nexus," he added, almost as an afterthought, deliberately leaving out the Prime portion of his name. It seemed unnecessary to burden someone with such a trivial fact, and almost a little bit embarrassing after having just had a witness to his less than graceful landing.

"My name is Silverbolt," Silverbolt began. (cue corny trumpet fanfare) "Strong, pure, and--" Silverbolt trailed off as Optimus's arrival interrupted his introduction.

Moments later another flyer, this one all blue and shiny to the point it almost made Nexus a little self-conscious considering his own dirt covered and dinged frame, rapidly approached on what looked like a board. Nexus did not recognize him, albeit he did have something of a commanding presence. Not quite to the extent that Nexus himself did, but even as he paused for a brief moment to allow a much smaller furry creature to get off the board before transforming and giving a salute.

"Admiral," Optimus greeted him with a salute, minding his rank. He had forgotten how much his appearance had changed - twice now since he left with the Axalon from Cybertron - and that he might not look familiar to Nexus. He may very well recognize his voice, however."Are you both all right?"

"We are quite all right, Optimus," he assured him, opening his arms while closing the distance to his old friend in a few, quick steps, "It is good to see you, son! You are looking well, if a little.. different."

Silverbolt nodded to his commander. "I am well, Optimus," Silverbolt answered. "All things considered. But my comm system did not fare well in the crash, I'm afraid."


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

"At ease, Sub-Commander. Now that you are all here, we shall divide our forces into units. Inferno, Tantrum, Quickstrike, and yes, even you Buster, shall accompany me to the fallen maximal vessel, I trust all of you shall endeavor not to disappoint me" Megatron explained, casting a long venomous glare in Buster's direction.

"Uhhhh, guys. I can't fly."

Looking around at the other Predacons, he flailed his arms.

"Anyone wanna give me a lift?"

Tantrum followed his teammates out of the ship in vehicle mode. On the way out, he caught Buster's plaintive cry for a lift. Not being one to miss an opportunity, he stopped next to Buster.

"Hey Goat-bot," he taunted. "Climb in end of barrel and Tantrum will make you fly. HAHAHAHAA!"

Tantrum took off laughing at his own joke, kicking up pebbles with his treads.

[Phoenix]

Nemesis hurried towards the destination of the fallen pod. Unfortunately it had crashed in Maximal territory so there was a high likelihood that their foes had already gotten to it by the time the Predacons got there. No matter. Given the sudden appearance of a total of three objects of interest, the Maximals were bound to be spread out as much as the Predacons were. And she had a feeling that the heavy hitters would be going to the crashed vessel which made them Megatron's problem for now. Sure enough her team had been ordered to back them up after they had retrieved the content of the pod, but for the time being she got to enjoy the trip.

She used clouds to hide her approach as much as possible, letting the rest of the group that had been assigned to her fend for themselves. Most of them had fallen behind very rapidly as her speed picked up, and she imagined the ground based ones probably had not even left the sanctity of their base yet. Why anyone would pick such useless alternative modes, she could simply not fathom..

Yet she did not have long to ponder it either as an alert suddenly notified her that she was approaching her destination. Slowing down to do a quick survey, she realized that she was not alone. That annoying rat was already at the pod, examining it, and from the looks of it the pod was empty. There was another, much larger, Maximal present too. Or at least she assumed it was a Maximal based on how friendly he appeared around Rattrap. The avian female did not recognize him, but it seemed unlikely that someone as large as him would have emerged from a pod that size.

Nemesis transformed to robot form, maintaining her distance high above.

There was no sign of the protoform anywhere near the pod so it did not look like it had gotten ejected from the impact. Nor did she believe it had been a blank, since the physical protoform should still be there then. The Maximals had been transferring a number of pods, but from what she knew none of them had been vacant. The only conclusion was that whoever had been occupying the pod had already left the immediate area. She doubted the Maximals had found the protoform, given there was only one of them present thus far so chances were that Rattrap just happened to be the first one to arrive at the scene.

"Predacons," she radioed on a secure channel, "The protoform appears to have left the pod. Spread out and approach my coordinates, keep your scanners on alert. They can't have gotten far. Be aware that there's Maximal presence in the vicinity."

Well.. that minor nuisance could be taken care of easily enough..

There were times that Nemesis loved being a flyer. It made for quick and easy transportation, it was fun, and it certainly gave her an advantage when preparing an ambush. So she took out her assault rifle, making sure it was set to firing explosive rounds, and took aim at the rodent below. Then she opened fire.

"My name is Silverbolt," Silverbolt began. (cue corny trumpet fanfare) "Strong, pure, and--"

"Hello, I'm Whitegrazer," She greeted the person with a warm smile, holding her hand out for a shake, "You two know each other?"

Nexus smiled warmly back at the female who had just introduced herself as Whitegrazer, releasing his grip on Optimus for a moment to return the handshake. He also nodded to Silverbolt to acknowledge his introduction as well, a passing look of concern appearing on his features. Well.. The young pup looked healthy enough, so whatever ailed him after his close encounter with the Akira could surely be fixed.

"Aye, that we do," the admiral confirmed, pausing as Optimus then proceeded to make formal introductions.

"Aurora, Whitegrazer, Silverbolt, Orcariner , this is Admiral Nexus. My mentor, if I may. He practically taught me everything I know."

Aurora's optics widened and she quickly bowed her head, feeling more than a little embarrassed by her earlier outburst. Albeit the admiral himself looked to be a little bothered by the title also, moving one hand up as if to calm everyone. "Please, let us dispense of the formalities," the soldier added, "Just plain, old Nexus is fine. I'm not one to embrace a title. I'd rather be known for who I am, not some silly title that has been bestowed upon me."

His words sounded so genuine, Aurora could not help but smile a little too. They'd barely met and she already liked this guy. He displayed a sense of honesty and purity that was rare, even among Maximals.

"It's an honor, sir," she reassured him, before the look he gave her caused her to correct herself. "..Nexus," she added, her smile widening.

Nexus held back a chuckle as he turned back to Optimus who of course had questions of his own.

"How did you find us? Or is all of this by chance?"

"We detected a quantum surge," Nexus replied, "And traced its origins to this sector. I went to investigate."

He paused for a moment, casting a somewhat sullen look at what was left of his beloved ship. "Unfortunately I failed to anticipate the effects of the rift.."

Nexus fell quiet again for a moment, contemplating.

"After we chased Megatron for the golden disk and crashed here on Earth, we lost all contact with Cybertron."

The admiral nodded, forcing himself to look away from the ship. "We thought the Axalon and its crew lost. Countless search parties could not produce any evidence of your whereabouts and finally all but a few gave up."

He didn't mention any names, felt it wasn't necessary. Optimus knew him well enough to know he was not someone who would give up hope. Ever.

"Aurora, Whitegrazer, salvage anything we can use from the Akira. I'd rather not leave anything behind that Megatron can use to his advantage."
Primal stopped and looked at Nexus, asking him, "That is, if that's all right with you. We were hoping your ship would still be functional as a means to return to Cybertron but it doesn't look that way."

"By all means," Nexus responded, attempting a hopeful smile.

Aurora nodded, casting a quick glance at the acknowledging look from Nexus before she proceeded to the ship. Unfortunately her hopes sank even before she set foot aboard the Akira, seeing the massive damages done to the once so majestic vessel.

[Wintersong]

Wintersong chuckled a bit as she nodded, continuing on their path towards the pod and keeping her optics peeled until finally arriving shortly after Landslide had. Though the transmetal tigress decided to stay back enough to watch Rattrap and Landslide's backs, transforming to her robot form as she listened to the two speak. She was quite surprised to hear the fact there was no protoform inside and it seemed to have had a rough landing from the looks of things, although that didn't mean the protoform might have survived within. So if it was empty it likely was somewhere else. "It might be hiding you two, mean not every bot that comes online wants to be found so might be best if we try searching around. There's got to be some creatures around maybe we'll be lucky enough to find them." The tigress pointed out, deciding searching while they had the chance seemed the best option at this point.

With that said Wintersong looked around for a moment before activating her thermal scanners, her optics shifting to a green coloration as she began to seek out any heat signatures within the area. There were a few occasional animals but she didn't know if any of them might be the protoform that was missing or not, if the Predacons hadn't gotten there first. Though that was very unlikely since this was Maximal territory which meant they likely could secure this pod and the missing cybertronian before the Predacon forces likely could ever reach them.

How wrong she was as the femme hadn't gone very far from the crash site before she heard shots being fired behind her and turned to see the shots raining down towards Rattrap and Landslide.

[DarkSpark]

OOC: Hey guys, sorry for this post being relatively short, figured I should give the others a chance to catch up before doing anything, plus my back has been giving me grief lately >_<. Hope its okay that Megatron is familiar with Nexus, I figured a bigshot like him would be well known to the predacons even if he didn't know the personal history between him & Primal.

Phoenix wrote: "Predacons," she radioed on a secure channel, "The protoform appears to have left the pod. Spread out and approach my coordinates, keep your scanners on alert. They can't have gotten far. Be aware that there's Maximal presence in the vicinity."

Well.. that minor nuisance could be taken care of easily enough..

There were times that Nemesis loved being a flyer. It made for quick and easy transportation, it was fun, and it certainly gave her an advantage when preparing an ambush. So she took out her assault rifle, making sure it was set to firing explosive rounds, and took aim at the rodent below. Then she opened fire.

Terrorsaur was the one flyer capable of matching Nemesis' speed, so while he had not deemed to fly along beside her, he'd never lost track of her, and thus was the closest by when she gave out her secure message & then proceeded to open fire on the maximals scurrying about below.

"Hunting from the sky with automatic weapons, NOW THAT'S A SPORT! Terrorsaur, TERRORIZE!" he crowed to himself from the safety of the clouds as he changed to robot mode and fanned out as Nemesis had asked, activating his shoulder guns and firing several rounds of energy signature seeking missiles in the same direction Nemesis had been firing, aiming for the rat and his new big buddy.


Meanwhile, elsewhere Megatron watched patiently and silently from behind the cover of several rocky outcroppings, clicking his t-rex fingers together as he pondered over what he saw transpiring down below. While he could not hear what was being said, Megatron knew at a glance who it was Primal and his crew were associating with, the legendary Admiral Nexus Prime, hero to maximals everywhere, bane to the predacons. He did not know the nature of their relationship but clearly Primal was on good terms with the old admiral, which could explain why a mere exploration ship captain had been able to cause him so much trouble for so long, if he'd been trained by the best the maximals had to offer.

"My my my, will you ever cease to surprise me Primal, no?" Megatron mused to himself, waiting for the rest of his crew to assemble, though already deciding that he would annihilate Nexus and his ship, not just to prevent Primal from gaining a possible means of returning home, but also to prevent him from gaining a definite military advantage in the form of a war hero no less.


Even further away, Tarantulas led his own crew of predacons toward the rainforests where their target awaited them, and judging by the terrain, Megatron had chosen wisely for once to choose soldiers with beast forms well suited to wet and forested terrain. He was traveling slower than he would have liked due to his crew being mostly non-transmetals, but he remained at the head of the pack, but close enough so they could remain in earshot of one another.

"Fairing well my dear?" Tarantulas inquired of Arachnitron, his one truly loyal underling amongst Megatron's sea of cronies, though he was glad that he had two competent subordinates like Umbra and the massive Spineback on his team this time, even if he didn't trust them with his more personal secrets.

[Blackrosefencer]

When Dinobot arrived on the bridge, Rhinox was there to greet him.

"How are you holding up, Dinobot?" the science engineer asked him, concerned for his mentality ever since Aerostriker's passing.

Dinobot cringed as he remembered his outburst. While losing his temper wasn't uncharacteristic of the velociraptor, being so torn up over the death of a comrade was not something he was known for doing. He knew the other Maximals had probably misinterpreted his feelings of frustration and insecurity for feelings of sentiment for Aerostriker. He almost wished he had the words to explain the feelings that were swirling through his core processor just for the sake of restoring his reputation of being a battle-hardened soldier.

"I am...." Dinobot hesitated. He was still conflicted, still confused and still had much on his mind, but he felt better about his performance on the battlefield. "....better...." he finally answered. "Actually, I had much to discuss with you, Rhinox. I have discovered an alien artifact while I was on patrol, but my former comrades haven't given us much free time to talk about it. Perhaps when we return from our mission, we can take a look at it."

It was then that Cheetor came bursting onto the bridge.

The golden rocket is ready for action!

Dinobot rolled his optics noticeably to keep up appearances.

"Well, our prayers have been answered," Dinobot answered sarcastically. Though he'd never admit it, he actually enjoyed the young cheetah's company. He was a tough fighter, though he often didn't know when start taking things seriously. He needed to do more focusing and less playing around.

Over his comm, Dinobot heard a shaky Airrazor answer

"I--- I am on my way"

"Aknowledged," Dinobot radioed back to her.

Then, Ironclaw joined the crew. The badger had just finished repairs. Dinobot hadn't interacted much with the badger, but he had often witnessed the aftermath of missions where he hadn't followed the orders of his commander or sub-commander. Dinobot was not Primal....hopefully, Ironclaw wouldn't feel the need to find that out.

Dinobot aknowledged the badger's presence with a nod and then, he turned around in response to a voice behind him.

"Hey Dinobot, mind if this little lizard tags along?" She inquired, letting him decide since the raptor seemed to be in charge of this mission.

Dinobot was relieved to have another former Predacon interested in this mission. One that would understand the importance of discipline and focus to this mission. He would be happy for the company of one who had a similar background as him.

"You may," Dinobot answered.

Once everyone had arrived, Dinobot motioned for the others to follow him down the lift towards the coordinates of the fallen pod.

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

Arachnitron heard the call from Megatron over her comm rallying all the Predacons to the bridge. She found her way to the bridge and stood near Tarantulas to listen to Megatron's orders

Tarantulas shall lead the third and final team to uncover the second stasis pod which fell in the rainforest region, take Spineback, Umbra, Arachnitron, and Caecelia with....WHERE IS THAT AIRHEAD.

Finally, Megatron dismissed the troops. Tarantulas transformed into his vehicle mode.

"Well, you heard him, Arachnitron, Umbra, Spineback, lets get this show on the road, the sooner we run this little errand for our glorious leader the better"

Arachnitron figured he was anxious to return to his lair that they had pretended to destroy. Tarantulas wasn't really interested in waiting for the others. He sped off in the direction of the pod that they were being sent after.

Umbra looked over at the others who had been left behind.

Well I suppose we should get going ladies, before our... "commander" leaves us completely in the dust.

Umbra also transformed and headed out after Tarantulas.

"I think he's already left us in the dust my friend, hopefully he at least saves some action for us."

Spineback transformed and used some sort of hoverboard to travel to the hangar where they were departing from. Arachnitron followed behind her in her spider form.

But, as it turned out, Tarantulas had actually waited up for them.....or waited for her? She hoped it was the latter. She scurried to follow as closely to him as possible.

"Fairing well my dear?" Tarantulas inquired of Arachnitron, his one truly loyal underling amongst Megatron's sea of cronies, though he was glad that he had two competent subordinates like Umbra and the massive Spineback on his team this time, even if he didn't trust them with his more personal secrets.

Arachnitron figured he was referring to the inhibitor chip. She gazed down at her left arm. Normally, the black widow did not have any energy signature whatsoever, a side effect of the experimentation that had been done on her in her youth. The inhibitor chip, though, had put a unique energy signature on her arm in the shape of a deep purple spider. It was almost like a confirmation that she belonged somewhere. She belonged with the group of spiders....although, she hadn't missed the way that Blackarachnia had been glaring at her and Tarantulas.

"I'm still functioning," she told Tarantulas, but what she really meant was that the inhibitor chip was still functioning like normal. She knew Tarantulas would know what she meant by that. But she knew better than to mention the inhibitor chip in front of the other Predacons. No one was supposed to know about it.

(Sorry....that post was just terrible. It is really difficult to keep track of two threads at once.... )

[New Moon]

Frilla glanced back as Airazor finally joined them while Cheetor and Ironclaw were already there but she was a little surprised to see that Ironclaw was rather quiet, usually he had something to say but she figured it was for a reason. Considering what she heard from the last mission he was on things had not gone well when it came to following orders and she hoped this wouldn't be the same problem for this one, especially since Cheetor was still known to do his own thing from time to time. Likely because he was still young it wasn't really a surprise anymore at what the young cheetah would do. But with both that might turn out to be a concern, but this was one concern Frilla kept to herself so not to cause problems before they have even left. Though, she still had some concern of her own size and vulnerability compared to her current team for this mission as it seemed a majority of them would be the heavy hitters and could last a while in a fight where as Frilla would have to avoid too much firepower or she was pretty much out of the fight. Then again, her small size could be of use from time to time so she often pushed aside those doubts that she'd be useful at all. And with some medical training she now was a better asset to the team then just being a data analyst.

First though, she needed to be sure Dinobot would even allow her to join on this mission which luckily he was fine with. Smiling a bit the frilled lizard was glad to be getting out of the base for a while, having had her processor focused upon her research and categorizing the information for some hours now so a break like this is just what she needed to clear her head again. Seeing the raptor motion them to follow the small femme began to follow and stepped onto the lift before realizing she would need a lift herself, considering she lost the speed her pre-transmetal form once offered when running on two legs as opposed to four. Though her transmetal form made up for that with new strengths, "Hey Cheetor, do you mind a passenger?" She asked, glancing towards the transmetal cheetah to see if he could give her lift.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside the Maximal base Feralnight silently soared over the base, testing her wings after having them repaired yet again and surprised they were even working properly so far. They had been torn up pretty badly by Terrorsaur twice now and she was certain she had a few scars on her back from his sharper talons that had dug into her back, especially on the recent mission where she basically became a helpless hostage and couldn't do much to help her comrades. This was something the fuzor femme hated herself for, as maybe she could have even helped to save Aerostriker's life instead of the Maximals losing yet another teammate in this war. They had lost many and it was becoming obvious it did ware down on them after so many times.

Sighing she tried to shake off these dark thoughts and circled around once more, flapping her wings a few times and finding them to lack any soreness and pain and they hadn't shown to really be acting oddly. So with her test flight done Feralnight decided it was time to head back in and see what was going on. Diving down towards the Axalon the wolf/raven fuzor flared her wings just before she reached the roof as the hatch for the fliers slid aside as it detected her presence and she slowly flew into the bridge before landing across from the others as they were leaving. It seemed the place had cleared up pretty quickly compared to earlier and she figured by now many of the Maximals were on missions somewhere. "Maximize." Feralnight commanded to her internal computer before transforming to robot mode and stretching her wings one last time before folding them again.

"Seems I missed the party,"She commented softly, watching as Dinobot's team departed.

[una]

"I'm sorry," Primal apologized for his lack of etiquette, and for a moment gently laid the palm of his hand on Whitegrazer's lower back when she came up beside him and the ermine. "Aurora, Whitegrazer, Silverbolt, Orcariner ((whenever he shows up )), this is Admiral Nexus. My mentor, if I may. He practically taught me everything I know."

Admiral Nexus? Oh! She remembered the name coming up in a few times during her days as a soldier, but she never saw him before nor worked under him. Mostly, she worked with generals. From the stories she had heard from her old comrades, Nexus was well-respected and treated with much admiration.

"Please, let us dispense of the formalities," the soldier added, "Just plain, old Nexus is fine. I'm not one to embrace a title. I'd rather be known for who I am, not some silly title that has been bestowed upon me."

Whitegrazer's face brightened at the two, "It's nice to meet you, Nexus."

His demeanor really reminded her of a certain individual next to her. So this was the bot who helped shaped him? She chuckled inwardly at the fact that she met Optimus' mentor and the fact that they both have been formally --or informally, in the case of TyCross-- introduced to people who have influenced them in many ways. Though, she wished she was there to see how TyCross conducted himself towards Optimus. There was a reason she had her doubts about any type of meeting between the two. Being as TyCross and her were polar opposites while Nexus and Optimus seemed to be similar in personality. She really would love to hear stories of younger Optimus. Maybe Nexus could share some when they had the time.

"Aurora, Whitegrazer, salvage anything we can use from the Akira. I'd rather not leave anything behind that Megatron can use to his advantage."

Primal stopped and looked at Nexus, asking him, "That is, if that's all right with you. We were hoping your ship would still be functional as a means to return to Cybertron but it doesn't look that way."

She acknowledged Optimus's order and smiled down at Aurora. She gave Silverbolt a warm grip of his shoulder to hopefully, calm him down before she, along with the young ermine, entered inside Nexus's ship.

Aurora nodded, casting a quick glance at the acknowledging look from Nexus before she proceeded to the ship. Unfortunately her hopes sank even before she set foot aboard the Akira, seeing the massive damages done to the once so majestic vessel.

She noticed the hopeless expression on Aurora's face, "It's all right. Maybe we can find something that will help us work our way back. If not, then there will always be another day." She smiled at Aurora. She needed to keep hoping.

They will find a way back on Cybertron. It was just the matter of when.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Starshadow transformed to her beast mode and lowered herself so that Blackarachnia could ride on her. Someone has to pick her up anyway. She looked up at the arachnid and smiled, "Girls have to stick together."

Blackarachnia returned the smile despite her mood. She got on top of Starshadow and was ready to move to their destination. She gave a side glance towards Tarantulas and Arachnitron before she gave one to Megatron. She was itching to know when he was going to stop with these pesky protoforms and focus more on his so-called agenda. She wondered how many Predacons knew the truth of what was going on.

Not many.

"Predacons," she radioed on a secure channel, "The protoform appears to have left the pod. Spread out and approach my coordinates, keep your scanners on alert. They can't have gotten far. Be aware that there's Maximal presence in the vicinity."

As Starshadow and her raced to the cooridnates, Blackarachnia jumped off and scanned the area. She wondered how far the Maximal was, but that was no matter as the Maximal may come to rescue his/her comrades if they were in trouble. She joined Nemesis in her assualt towards the Maximals in that vicinity. Her legs fired at Rattrap as well his companion.