"It matters not, that blood is still on her hands. You should be worried, Primal. History has a way of repeating itself, the beast has already tasted Cybertronian blood and in such confined spaces, I fear many of your troops will fall victim to this blood thirsty beast."
And yet there hadn't been an incident with the beast at all. Well, perhaps with some Predacons but not against his own Maximals. That wasn't to say it could never happen since she usually ran off when she could if it took over, and he was aware of that. But what could be done about it? There was no cure, he couldn't just lock her up like a wild animal, he couldn't let her aimlessly roam free when there were Preds and likely still to be Vok traps that could harm her or kill her. In this unique situation, Optimus was at a loss. He didn't know what to do.
"You do remember that in War, lives are always lost? It's the weak that always die first, but it would seem that you are the exception."
The point Primal had made earlier was that this didn't have to be a war. This was all happening because of Megatron stealing the golden disk. Optimus and his original
Axalon crew were not soldiers. They weren't trained for this kind of combat and loss of life. They were explorers and scientists. That was why it hurt so much when they lost a Maximal and it was difficult for Optimus to grasp it every time a friend died. Megatron knew all of this and took advantage of it. Come to think of it, however, it must have been pretty embarrassing and damaging to the Predacon tyrant's pride and reputation for a group of simple explorers who had been able to keep him on the ground and stop him just before he acquired victory at every attempt. What Sonar failed to realize was that were no "weaklings" in this war, not when it came to his Maximals.
"You truely believe that I am Megatron's pawn? If you believe that then you are a bigger fool then Megatron himself!"
Oh, sorry. With the exception of Sonar... and every other Predacon who would deny it and convince themselves otherwise because they all had their own agendas. The only agenda that mattered within the Predacon ranks was Megatron's, and anyone who defied him would be given the same treatment that Glowstick had fatally suffered. For any Predacon to think Megatron didn't already have a place for them in his grand scheme, whether it was death or bait or conspiracy, was a fool. He controlled everything.
"Yes, I follow Megatron only because I find his incompetence as a leader amusing. Anyone with a mind of thier own knows that Megatron will lose this war and it will be due to his arrogance an overblown ego!"
With Sonar's bellowing laughter and small perspective on the situation of this war, Optimus relaxed in his stance and reattached his mace to his back. The bat's "excuse" for following Megatron was not a viable one. And the t-rex, although arrogant and egotistical, was also brilliant. Primal hated to admit it but the ability that Megatron had to scheme and collaborate many steps ahead that would eventually lead to his true ambition and goals was null next to him, and his intelligence alone had always feared Optimus the most. He almost felt bad for the bat. If Sonar really thought Megatron was an incompetent leader, then why didn't he ever follow in Terrorsaur's footsteps and try to take the lead? Why waste his time? Was he simply waiting for Megatron to expire somehow at some point? He seemed nearly invincible. No. No one tried overthrowing Megatron because he was powerful and had several loyal troops only because their minds were a lot simpler and all they wanted to do was destroy everything and he gave them those opportunities countless times to satisfy their insignificant desires and keep them in line and happy. It was about manipulation. So what was Sonar's REAL reason for following Megatron, because Optimus wasn't buying the generic response.
"With that said I wouldn't let that go to your head. You still have to worry about Saber, are you sure you can trust her?"
Don't let what go to his head? Oh, right, Megatron supposedly losing this war. The bat did realize that they were on Earth, right? In the past. So if they could only figure out the exact date in which they were currently inhabiting the planet, then there may be a lot more at stake here than Sonar realized. A lot more. And it greatly concerned the Maximal leader. Besides, had Optimus not been given a second chance thanks to Whitegrazer and Rhinox, then Sonar would stand corrected because Megatron had been on the verge of defeating the Maximals; it already almost happened. At any rate, yes, he trusted Saber-Fang, but he did not trust the beast. Bored by the anti-climatic reactions, Optimus calmed himself and figured the best avenue with Sonar was just to talk. The bat made it obvious that he didn't wish to fight and Primal never intended on harming him in the first place. He just wanted to try and frighten him so that there might be more truth to anything that slipped out of his mouth. So much for that.
Refusing to comment on anything else the Predacon had previously said, Optimus asked him bluntly,
"What was your purpose coming here, Sonar?"
-----
If ya mean yer friend, I saw a large horned creature running from this place when I flew in lad. He was making a pace like Unicron was on his tail..
Rattrap looked at Landslide when he entered the room.
"Oh. Yeah, that was probably him. Wonder where he was goin'. You sure did navigate through the base quickly. We'll set ya up with a room... if we have one big enough for ya."
Not many around.. perhaps he had to go off to help yer friends?
"Primus above, you're voice is annoying,"
"I heard dat, Fangs!" Rattrap said feeling offended before he could take what the new guy said into consideration.
"Rhinox left to provide back up to the Orca's team."
"Gettin' pretty tense, eh?" Not that Saber would know or not. It was more rhetorical than actually asking for an explanation on the matter.
"Oh, Saber-Fang, dis is Landslide."
Then he slightly turned to Landslide to say,
"Beetle, meet a big-toothed cat." Yay for intros.
"So where's Optimus?" Rattrap asked the former General.
-----
Catching his breath, Rhinox cautiously approached Orcariner's location while still in beast mode as the TransMetal orca hovered in the sky. He waited for him to drop down or offer him a ride or point him in the right direction of the others.
"What's going on, Orcariner?" the rhinoceros inquired.
