Primal's voice had turned colder, almost frigid, as he addressed the shapeshifting killer on the ground. Zodiac twitched uncomfortably under the weight of the other male, wishing he had use of his hands so that he could force himself up or at the very least slam his fist into the other male's face. Unfortunately he couldn't do either so he decided to settle down, at least seemingly so, in an attempt to get the Maximal on his back to let down his guard."Their lives were not yours to take no matter what their crimes were,"
Zodiac let out a slight, low chuckle, but quickly stopped. Really? The almighty Optimus was going to make idle threats to make him comply? Surely that's what this was, a mere idle threat, since Primal was making quite the effort to restrain him when it would have been so much simpler to just have him killed. But that wasn't Optimus' style, was it? While it was true it had been a couple of Rattrap's explosives that brought down the Viper, on Primal's orders no doubt, murdering someone in cold blood didn't seem like the leader's style. He was too weak to make such a call, too much like Nexus himself."If it were up to anyone to take justice into their own hands, then I would have the right to kill you and Megatron. Both of you have taken lives, so would my actions not be justified?"
"If killing me would be justice..," he started, having to pause for a breath before finishing the sentence as Primal's weight was pushing his chest down, ".. then why haven't you done so already..?"
Hopefully his assumption that Optimus would never kill someone in cold blood was correct. Otherwise this encounter could turn rather.. messy..
Zodiac had made one last attempt at escaping when Primal uttered those words, but instead of physically moving he attempted to use his words to counteract the Maximal's intentions of cuffing him."Right now, you are at my mercy. Lucky for you, I have morals and compassion, so I will not cross that line no matter who it is that stands before me. And let's not try to deflect the person of interest here. I'm not talking about anyone else but you."
"Your Maximals need you.. Maybe you can still save them. So why don't you go be with them?"
Just a moment of hesitation, a short little glimmer of a distraction, and he could break free. The effects of the taser were starting to wear off so it wouldn't be long before he had regained control over his systems yet again.
Alas Primal was too stubborn, or perhaps determined was a more accurate word to describe it, and the renegade's window of opportunity quickly closed as the Maximal's grip on his wrists only tightened to the point of pain setting in. Upon realizing Optimus was not going to release him no matter what, Zodiac finally let out a sigh and complied long enough for Primal to slip the energy shackles into place. With his wings and tail trapped underneath his bound hands, the renegade was left with few options as far as making his escape, so instead he remained still while Optimus finally removed the club that was pressing against his neck. The release of pressure against him was a huge relief, immediately prompting the shapeshifter to stretch his neck. When Primal then climbed off his back, he let out a sigh since he was now able to breathe properly again, but he waited until the Maximal leader grabbed him by the arms to start pulling him up before making any additional attempts to move.
His first instinct when he was on his feet again and had regained his balance was to grab for the weapon he dropped only moments before, but with his arms bound behind his back he wouldn't be able to grab anything much less aim properly. Also Optimus seemed to have the same thought as he promptly bent down to pick up the weapon for himself. Zodiac merely followed his movements with his gaze, the expression on his face reminiscent of a strange combination of malice and regret. Primal then proceeded to poke the barrel of the weapon against one of the renegade's trapped wings.
Zodiac turned his head to see the direction Primal was implying for him to go, which of course was where the remainder of the Maximals were at.. still frantically trying to save their wounded comrades. The renegade hesitated only for an instant before the weapon against his backside persuaded him this wasn't an order he wanted to question right now. Although dragging his feet a bit, he did comply and walked in the direction of the Maximals with Optimus following closely behind him."Move,"
Aurora tried to smile, she really did, when Rattrap placed his hand on top of hers. She did feel comforted a bit by his kind gesture, but she was also more than a little upset by everything that had just happened. They had won the battle, the Viper had been destroyed, and they were all about to return home. And then two shots came out of nowhere to change their victory to something a lot more solemn. The little fuzor was still trying to process what had happened. Part of her could still feel the gentle touch of Whitegrazer placing her hand on top of the fuzor's shoulder as way of encouragement, but that gesture had disappeared too soon as Whitegrazer's attention turned to the others.
"Yeah..," she replied before glancing over at Whitegrazer, who was slowly and painfully moving on her own. Clearly the mare was more injured than she let on, she just was too selfless to tell them."Then all we gotta do is help Winter,"
Finally something resembling a smile did creep up on her face. The rodent was right. There would be a later, and Whitegrazer was stronger than she looked. She'd be fine.. right?"You can thank 'Grazer later,"
"Not sure if I should thank her or yell at her for taking such a foolish risk," the fuzor commented, although she really was grateful for what the mare had done to protect her. Still, Aurora couldn't stand the thought of losing another individual she cared about.. especially not someone like Whitegrazer.
Rhinox joined them just as the little fuzor was finishing up placing the dressing around the tigress' wound, applying just enough pressure to keep the wound sealed and hopefully keep it from bleeding any more.
"The CR chamber will be able to regenerate what she lost, right?," the fuzor asked with some hesitation. Wintersong really didn't look so great, but at least she had stabilized somewhat for now. Hopefully it would be enough to get her back to base without her condition deteriorating further."She's lost a lot, but we've stopped her from losing anymore,"
As usual Rhinox could read her quite well and he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before he spoke up again.
Did she, though? The fuzor wasn't quite so sure. Truth be told her initial reaction had been to freeze, thus wasting a few precious nanoclicks before she'd been able to gather her thoughts enough for her training to kick in. But whatever happened, it was too late to change anything now. So hopefully Rhinox was right and Wintersong would pull through."She'll be stable in stasis lock until we can get her back to Base," he assured her. "You did well, Aurora."
"How did this happen?," Aurora then asked meekly while glancing over at Rhinox. "I thought everything was under control and then sudden this happened out of nowhere." At that moment she questioned if they were ever going to be safe from harm. They had so many enemies who would go to such extreme lengths to hurt them.. or worse.
Well.. it wasn't that she didn't realize what had happened. The bullet holes told a story of their own, after all, even if she didn't quite know how the shapeshifter had managed to shoot so accurately and with so much force without being noticed. It's as if he'd been wielding a sniper rifle.
Rhinox helped get Wintersong loaded onto the back of their newest Maximal, Tigerhawk, who yet again was proving his value to the team. Aurora came along, staying with the larger fuzor and the wounded tigress as Rattrap joined them as well. Meanwhile Rhinox turned his attention to Whitegrazer to offer his assistance to her.
"All right..," the fuzor responded with the slightest of hesitation in her voice. "See you back at base.""I'll help her back to Base, Aurora,"
Gone was the excitement of getting to go home after what had been a very long day. Now she just hoped they all made it back to base.. alive. Without any further incidents.
But at least Tigerhawk was going with them this time, hopefully to stick around and take his place among their ranks. Aurora nodded in his direction. "Welcome to the Maximals, Tigerhawk, I just wish the circumstances could have been a bit better. Hopefully we can get around to proper introductions without anything else going wrong."You are welcome young one, anything to help my new comrades."
As if to prove he knew exactly how to cheer everyone up, their newfound comrade had one more thing to add.
A slight smile crept back on the little fuzor's face, since Tigerhawk's positive message had impeccable timing. It was exactly what they all needed to hear right now."Have faith my friends, they will pull through. If this crew has lasted this long then I imagine you won't be stopped now."
A transport for Zodiac? He should be the one to walk.. alone.. in the rain! In fact the fuzor wished all the bad weather in history to fall upon the renegade during the trip to the Axalon, but sadly someone would have to stay with him for the duration. And from the looks of it, that someone was going to be Optimus."Oh, don't worry, Aurora," "it wouldn't be the first time I walked back to base, and if I do say so myself, in worst shape than this back when I fought in the war. I can handle it. Besides, we need the space more for Wintersong and transporting Zodiac than myself."
"Let Rhinox give you a ride," the fuzor urged the taller female, "He might be a bit bumpy... and slow.. but he'll get you there."
They were just about to leave when Rattrap called their attention to someone else who had decided to join them.
Aurora's optics darted over to Optimus and the tied up figure in front of him, but she quickly averted her gaze since the very sight of the renegade was causing her to feel angry. Instead she reverted her attention to Rattrap, whispering to him; "Do you still have any of that tranquilizer left? Optimus might need it.." Not that it didn't seem like their leader had everything under control, but she'd thought the same just before those two shots had made their marks."Uh, we got company, Big Green,"
Zodiac had been avoiding making eye contact with Primal and after that his Maximals as the commander lead him to a position near them. Fortunately the ape gestured for him to stop before he was forced to mingle, no doubt to keep his precious team safe. Zodiac rolled his optics a bit over that, briefly wondering if Optimus thought he was going to use his legs to kick them. But to avoid enraging the monkey further, as the consequences might not be to the renegade's liking, he did stop when the Maximal leader wanted him to.
Yeah, that actually sounded like a great time to the renegade. And he almost told Primal so, at least until the sight of his modified weapon still in Optimus' possession persuaded him otherwise."This is what you're advocating for, Zodiac? Harming and trying to kill innocent bots in order to punish me? To tear me down? To break my spirit and my spark?"
He fought, not entirely successfully, to restrain that mischevious fire in his optics as he finally turned to face his foe.
"What do you want from me, Optimus?," he asked him as sincerely as he could. "An apology? Sure, if we can just leave all this behind us I'd be happy to apologize if that is indeed what you wish to hear."
The renegade let out a sigh as he inclined his head in an attempt to look remorseful. It wasn't exactly that he felt nothing for what he had done, and part of him certainly understood Primal's anger all too well. But to him the wounds left behind after losing the Viper and before that his only allies were still too fresh, too raw, and despite having spent time among Maximals in the past he still didn't understand concepts like forgiveness and remorse."Look at them," he told him. "Do you feel no remorse? No sadness? Look at Aurora's head. You stole her chip and left her for dead just so you could infiltrate our base and reacquire Nexus's journal that you stole after you killed him!" Primal's voice was raised a bit with vexation and irritation. "Wintersong has done nothing to you. Nothing! You don't know her, yet you had no quarrel with your attempted murder. Your cruelty now goes beyond your revenge for me, Zodiac, and I won't tolerate it. If you want to make me suffer for my part in your torture and experiments, then you confront me face to face, and leave my crew out of it,"
Slowly he turned his head to look in the direction of where the Maximals were starting to move, towards the Axalon. A few of his dreadlocks were draping along his face, and he wished he could move them back when he felt the first few drops of the rainstorm they had seen moving in. These first few drops were quickly followed by more, and soon the rain was pouring down over all of them. Zodiac shook his head in annoyance over the rain dripping down his face, but it was a futile act now that the water was just gushing down and forming puddles at their feet.
"A soldier under your command killed one of my men in cold blood," Zodiac then said to address Primal in a low voice, "And you happily brought down my ship. There are casualties in a war. For your sake, I hope you can prevent these two from joining those statistics."
No apologies, not now. Not until he felt he stood something to gain from it, and right now Primal had made his intentions clear. Unfortunately Primal wasn't the only one who wished to talk to him, as the all too familiar voice within him then came back to life. And despite her physical injuries, the voice seemed surprisingly strong. Much to Zodiac's dismay.
We won't allow Megatron or any other Predacons harm you, Zodiac,
Well.. that remained to be seen. If put to the test, if Primal actually had something to gain by trading him to the Predacons, Zodiac didn't think him fool enough to refrain from grabbing such an opportunity.
I look forward to finding out how you plan to stop them, he told her in return, trying his best to avoid looking at her. Still, he felt her gaze piercing his armor and into his very spark. And he hated it. He couldn't stand how vulnerable she made him feel, and how exposed.
Listen to me, Zodiac, I know you despise what is happening to you right now, and I hate it too. I don't relish in what we have to do.
You could just persuade Optimus to let me go and I would disappear from here and not pose a threat to any of you again.
But trying to kill Wintersong and Aurora, and everything you have done to us, is something you must take responsibility for. You have shown us time and time again how far you are willing to go for your goals, your revenge towards Optimus. I understand your feelings towards Optimus and Nexus, but you had no right to use me or Optimus and or friends, our loved ones, to hurt him. They didn't even know nor were involved at all. You only did it out spite and malice, and that was wrong, Zodiac.
He shrugged his shoulders, secretly wishing it had been Whitegrazer laying there dying. Instead she seemed to be holding up surprisingly well. Yet being near her like this, he felt his own abdomen hurt from where the bullet had hit the female equine. It wasn't extremely painful or anything, since no doubt she was stupidly sheltering him from the pain, but he still felt the dull, cramping ache in there. And it made the entire situation feel all the more.. real.
I always did wonder which one of my proud parents I got those traits from.. Perhaps it was you, he told her via their link, every bit as spiteful as before. Not that he expected his words to actually phase her much, but hopefully he could at least shut her up for a few moments if that was even possible.
If you were in our shoes, would have you done the same?
Would he have done the same? Not a chance. If their roles had been reversed, he would never have allowed his foes to harm his team.
...
He refused to even consider that he could possibly be at fault for his own team's demise. No, admitting to such an option would be acknowledging his own faults. To expose his own vulnerabilities to his enemies could lead to his downfall, and had been one of the lessons Cryotek had imprinted upon him. Yet a part of him, a small part, did have some doubts about whether he did contribute to the demise of his comrades. Would Dirge have lived if the Maximal Council hadn't sent one of their agents to take down the shapeshifter? Would Night Terror have succumbed at the hands of Megatron if he hadn't been carrying out the shapeshifter's orders? Of course he couldn't let these lingering doubts of his show, since even his earliest training included never to show weakness around his enemies.
The renegade tried to push such thoughts aside and then lowered his gaze, the rain still pouring down all around them.
Despite it all, Zodiac, we don't wish you death. I don't. You will be treated fairly and decently, I will make sure of that, and also, I will do my best to help you, to give you that chance, a chance you probably tried to create yourself, a fresh start.
A fresh start.. to do what?, he asked after a long pause as he looked at her again, his drenched locks again hanging down his face and making him look even younger.
To start over? As what? I can't abide by Maximal protocols, it's just not who I am.
Perhaps it was her uncanny ability to read him down to his very spark, or that calmness that always emanated from her.. Whatever it was, it affected him as well. And for the first time this encounter, he dropped the superior attitude he so often had.
Meanwhile, Aurora quickly used what supplies she could to drape over the wounded female, not wanting her to get wet and cold on top of everything. Poor Wintersong.. And Whitegrazer. They really had enough to deal with without the weather taking a shot at them as well.
Some distance away, the Predacons were nearing the Darksyde's location. Megatron was still trying to instill some semblance of cooperation from the crab, and he was being surprisingly calm about it. Perhaps it was due to his own injuries, or perhaps he was just trying a different approach altogether. Either way it had kept the crab calm thus far.
"Nemesis is correct," the tyrant assured Rampage. "She knows Zodiac... better than any of us."
"Entertaining as it would be to watch you tear the traitor limb from limb, you might just have to wait a bit for the chance. I wouldn't worry overly much, though, since the Maximals are weak-willed and will no doubt not do much other than keep the traitor detained for the time being. At least we'll know where he is should the opportunity to extract revenge present itself. Given your own qualities, you will be a welcome element when that time comes.""I suppose your words hold truth little bird, but perhaps I would have done some of you a favor and torn him apart in the process."
Nemesis refrained from pursuing the topic further, as she didn't especially wish to dwell into details about how she knew Zodiac so well. Granted, if Megatron would ask her about it, in private, she would share the information, but she didn't feel any overwhelming desire to let the other Predacons know about her past. All they needed to know now was that Zodiac was their enemy.
Fortunately the crab didn't let things escalate any further, and before long they could see their base appear below. Nemesis descended, assisting Megatron as needed but without interfering with his plans or making it obvious that he needed help.
))