"OC Episode #5"

[Night-Hunter]

"None of the 'bots in our group are what I'd call 'typical'," Steelclaw responded. "Would you, Waspinator?"

Waspinator shook his head. "Some of the bots are kinda normal. Batbot, the spider bots, and the crazzzed kitty bot are the onezzz you have to watch out for. Mostly it'zzz Bat-bot you have to worry about."

* * *

Inferno took a few steps back away from the large cat.

"Insolent fool! Feel the wrath of Inferno!"

Opens his large pinchers and tries to take her head off, but she proved to quick for him.

"WHITEGRAZER!"

Saber turned her attention to Optimus who seemed some what back to the normal, that was her mistake for Inferno grabbed her right hind leg with his powerful pincher/mandibles and tossed her into the air near a tree where she landed with a heavy thud.

She tried to stand, but the hard landing had caused her motor function to be temporarily off line, giving Inferno plunty of time to make Saber's demise as slow and agonizing as possible.

"Fare well, rival of my queens colony!"

[Wintersong]

Looking as she heard someone else Wintersong shook her head seeing Starshadow, of all bots. Since their past experiences together the tigeress had never like the panther and had looked forward to a rematch but this wasn't exactly the time,"What do you think I'm doing psycho cat, my night vision isn't the best. But the light you have gives us a better chance."Wintersong said grudgingly being nice to Starshadow or well polite at least,"Though your the last bot I'd expect be looking for traps Starshadow."She said as she went back to looking though only were seeing the strange carvings that seemed on every part of the tunnels.

[una]

The Vok slowly pulled himself up to kneel on one knee when Whitegrazer strolled over. Still invisible, he wasn't sure how he could see her but by this point it really didn't matter. He had seen what both allegiances could do, both with fighting the clone and those solving the traps under ground. Whether or not they worked together, both the Maximals and the Predacons had great potential interfering with their grand scheme, and this new realization will force the alien race to make the final call; to unveil their greatest weapon and exterminate the entire planet. It was the only way.

Decloaking, the clone stood up and faced Whitegrazer, his optics returned to red. He could feel the pain Primal was experiencing and rolled his shoulder twice before tilting his head at the female before him while she spoke. Straightening his head, the alien finally said, "We are not interested in speaking with you," completely disregarding any answers Whitegrazer sought.

Regaining control over himself again, Optimus's eyes flashed back to their normal red color and he took a deep breath as the energon fields were straining his systems. "Bea.... Beast-t-t mode!" After his body shifted and protected him from the raw energon, he grabbed his injured shoulder and sat up, glancing at Dinobot, Feralnight and Saber-Fang before finding Whitegrazer with his now visible clone. No... What was she doing?! Was she crazy? The alien wasn't going to listen her. They never wanted to listen! She has to get away from him! "WHITEGRAZER!" the gorilla called out to her in a panic. But because of that, it made his clone aware, and re-established his control over the leader. Primal's eyes didn't change from their brown color but his demeaner did, and he reached over picking up his sword and stood up, glaring at Dinobot and cracking his neck, ready to fight.

After Primal's plea to the female before him, the clone, whose eyes had turned back to white, lifted his arm to fire his wrist-mounted cannons at her stomach. Just before he fired, he was hit by Tigatron's shot which pushed him to the side. His cannons' shots narrowly missed their target, whizzing by Whitegrazer's side and leaving her unharmed. Surprised and furious by this, the clone watched his arm freeze over. But Icebreaker wasn't around. Who...?

The alien clone's retort didn't faze her but the panic shout from Optimus' did, making her look back. It was at that moment that she really didn't understand how these aliens were and her course of action wasn't the right one.

Your intention was good...

But still wrong.

They just don't care for any of you. They just want you gone. Pity.

Pity?

She noticed the clone's attack but he was stopped by Tigratron before she could react.

A pity that with all this power they have. They forgot how to talk.

Stepping out of his cover, Tigatron started to walk toward the alien and Whitegrazer, keeping his aim on the intruder and firing another shot.

The next blast hit the clone's chest and the ice branched out to his shoulders, neck and torso. The sensation was freezing and immediately slowing down his internal systems, significantly decreasing the temperature he needed in order to function properly and blocking his joints. He glared at Tigatron, falling to his knees.

The Maximal Commander began involuntarily shivering, feeling the extreme cold temperatures over his chest, stomach and arms - when Tigatron froze his clone. But he managed to keep a grip on his sword and remained standing ready to battle the former Predacon.

Whitegrazer sighed sadly but despite her mistake in underestimating the alien's fury towards them, she kept herself collected and looked at the clone, "Then I feel sad for your creators as they seem to believe this destruction is worth all the trouble..." She shook her head, "and all the pain."

Tarantulus watched as his missile missed, then observed Whitegrazer's interactions with the clone. Foolish maximal.. she clearly doesn't understand.. none of them do.. he thought to himself, loading another missile into his launcher. His optics widen in surprise seeing the clone then frozen in place, such an opportunity.. the rapid freezing would render the clone's metal brittle, easy to shatter with a well aimed blow. He moved closer towards the clone raising his gun and leveling his aim, then fired off a grappling hook shaped missile, even if the ice didn't make his metal brittle it wouldn't matter, the sharp missile would sever his head clear from his shoulders.

."Oh no you don't spider!"She growled and grabbed the pistol at her side and began to fire towards Tarantulas, hoping to distract him while her teammates dealt with the clone.

Feralnight fired at the spider and Whitegrazer's eyes widened at the missile and tackled the clone, the missile zipping past her. That missile could have blow his head clean off!

You almost got your head blown off!

Looking down at the clone, her eyes stared at his, "Help us to severe the link now and release your control." She kept a firm grip despite the fact that the clone was helpless with his arms and torso frozen. She wasn't going to take chances.

He isn't going tell you, Whitegrazer. That link will kill them both and that's one less enemy they have to deal with. Then you will lose your leader and no matter if the clone is defeated, your people lose. Think about it, remember?

Think about it, right.

Whitegrazer closed her eyes, feeling her spark was rapidly pulsing almost like it was going to bust. No wonder I left.

It's all back to Optimus. Maybe we can get a clue or if depersate bring them both back to base. Very risky especially with the clone.

"Tigratron. I'm going to try and see if Optimus can tell us. We see him break through it but it keeps coming back. So..." She rubbed her chin, "Keep an optic out. I'm going to try speaking with Optimus one more time."

She tapped her comm and tried to get Optimus' attention, "Optimus." She kept her eye on the clone and the hand went like a flash to knock him out.

You are causing no more damage today.

_______________________________________________________________

Blackarachnia didn't seem interested in leaving the cave as she once thought she would. Maybe if she could come with Icebreaker and the others to "rescue" the other group, she may see more of these symbols. There had pattern somewhere or she could come back. She watched Scorponok though because she didn't want him to try anything on her like on the island.

"Icebreaker, may I stay with you and help?" She asked oh so innocently.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"Oh no you don't spider!"

Tigatron glanced at Tarantulas' grappling projectile and remained out of the way of it and Whitegrazer's tackle, seeing Feralnight immediately respond and go after the spider. He hoped she would be very careful persuing him. While the injured mare tampered with Primal's clone, Tigatron adjusted his gun's setting.

Tackled to the ground in order to avoid his head being sliced or blown off, "Clear Convoy" squirmed a little to try and free himself but it was no use with Whitegrazer holding him down and the ice that encased most of the upper half of his body. His white optics went back to red again.

"Then I feel sad for your creators as they seem to believe this destruction is worth all the trouble..." "and all the pain."

"It is YOU who do not understand," the clone growled in Primal's voice, glaring up at Whitegrazer. Then he calmed down and spoke normally. "Your presence on this planet can not be tolerated." He refused to volunteer anymore information than that because she was not Optimus Primal.

"Help us to severe the link now and release your control."

The Vok said nothing at first while data was being transmitted from great distances, debating on how to deal with this situation. Why not give them their leader back? They were all going to die no matter what. The final play was in the aliens' hands. There was no way these Maximals and Predacons could stop them. The Vok have learned what they needed to know. The project was ruined, and there was no turning back. They just didn't understand, and there was no point in trying to explain it. The simplest solution was to destroy them and the planet before it was too late.

"Tigratron. I'm going to try and see if Optimus can tell us. We see him break through it but it keeps coming back. So..." "Keep an optic out. I'm going to try speaking with Optimus one more time."

"I will keep him grounded," Tigatron assured Whitegrazer. Pointing his weapon at the clone, he sprayed a fine, icy mist over the ice that already confined him to his position to keep it from melting, other than the mare holding him down. He was very careful not to spray her as well.

Still glaring into Witegrazer's eyes and ignoring Tigatron, the clone opened his mouth to speak but suddenly felt a sharp pain a second before everything went black, including his optic sensors. The Maximal equine had knocked him unconscious. He laid there damaged and silent.

"Optimus."

Receiving Whitegrazer's voice over his communication link, Optimus was himself again and he turned his head in her direction, looking past Dinobot. "Whitegrazer?" But then he suddenly witnessed Inferno toss Saber-Fang into the trees.

"Insolent fool! Feel the wrath of Inferno!" "Fare well, rival of my queens colony!"

"Saber-Fang!" She needed help! But how could he get there in time in his beast mode? Where was Feralnight? He found her attacking Tarantulas who apparently was attempting to get rid of the clone, which might in fact get rid of him as well; in theory. What about Valkyrie? His concerned eyes searched for her in the blue sky. Dinobot?

Well this drama has certainly played out long enough.. beast mode.

"Oof!" Hammered by Megatron's powerful tail on his chest that still felt very much frozen, the gorilla flew backwards into a nearby boulder, knocking the back of his head on the large rock and falling limp onto the ground on his stomach, his sword still in his hand and his eyes closed. The Maximal commander didn't stir. Both Primals were finally still... and vulnerable.

-----

"Some of the bots are kinda normal. Batbot, the spider bots, and the crazzzed kitty bot are the onezzz you have to watch out for. Mostly it'zzz Bat-bot you have to worry about."

"Yer wires must be crossed, Waspy, 'cause there ain't no such thing as a "normal" Predacon," he said back at the group's conversation. "It was a trick question," he smirked, shaking his head.

Slowing down in the tunnel, Rattrap felt something different with the ground under his paws but continued moving forward until he stopped and looked around. Why did it feel like the ground was moving? But not like an earthquake. It was a slow movement, and the dirt felt loose. "Guys? Ya might wanna stay where you are," the rat gulped. "I think dis is quick sand." In a tunnel? What was up with these alien traps?! Rattrap didn't bother struggling although he was on the verge of panicking if someone didn't help him soon. His little rat body could only do so much!

(( OOC: And if anyone wants to add a fun monster of somesort (a sand worm! hah!), or a trap within a trap, or a bomb or something, feel free to do so. I'm too tired now to keep writing anything decent with suspense. ))

[Alak]

Scorponok looked up at the dripping mech fluid. According to his scans, it was still warm so whatever battle had passed above them, it must have been quite recent.


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


Orcariner listened to Rattrap's rebuke, and he was a bit afraid that the rodent's behavior would further alienate their Predacon teammates. The orca was genuinely curious about Steelclaw's past and how he became so free-willed in a society that desperately needed control in order to survive. Before he would say something, Rattrap warned them to stop moving.

"Guys? Ya might wanna stay where you are," the rat gulped. "I think dis is quick sand."

Orcariner instantly halted even though he had no idea what "quick sand" was. It must have been a danger found in the jungle or someplace he did not venture out to often. Shining his blades up ahead, he saw the rodent stuck knee-high in what appeared to be mud.

That doesn't look like sand to me...

Carefully stretching his arm out, Orcariner plucked Rattrap out of the pit. The mud slid off of the small Maximal's fuzzy body and the orca could not help but smile. This "quick sand" was not so terrible.

"Are you al-"

The giant was quickly interrupted as a worm-like creature lashed out from beneath the quick sand and bit into Orcariner's outstretched arm. The surprise attack disrupted the giant's balance as he found himself tumbling into the muddy pit.

[Blazemane]

"Aw man," Cheetor complained as they started heading back down the tunnel. "I just got out of this pit."

Hearing Icebreaker say he planned to stay behind, Cheetor began debating with himself. He wanted to get out of the caverns, and maybe the others above ground would need help. But it seemed bad to leave Icebreaker.

Icebreaker, may I stay with you and help?

Especially if that happened. After thinking for a while, Cheetor decided he'd decide later.

* * *

Dinobot watched Optimus go down and quickly looked over the battlefield to see that the alien clone was also down for the count. Now it was time to do what he really wanted to do.

He quickly stood between Optimus and Megatron again. But this time, he was facing his true adversary.

"Come, Megatron. Let's see how you fare in unarmed combat," he challenged.

* * *

Steelclaw was alarmed when Ocariner went down. Rattrap had been removed from the quick sand easily enough, but the giant Maximal was going to be considerably more challenging.

None of them could lift him out. Even with their combined strength, they lacked the means to properly reach in without getting themselves in trouble, and that wouldn't save Ocariner either.

Was there, maybe, something they could use to extend their reach to him?

And then there was the monster to think about. Steelclaw figured his normal rifle wasn't going to cut it, but just maybe a more powerful shot from his sniper rifle would do the trick. Laying his gauss rifle down at his side, he retrieved the other weapon. He hadn't been able to use any of his new rounds on the tentacled robot, so he had three shots, if he'd need them.

The tentacled robot...

"Could somebody go check if the cave-in was too much for us to grab one of those severed tentacles? They should be sturdy enough for us to haul Ocariner out with."

The next moment, he fired a round with his gauss rifle into the huge, unprotected side of the sand worm. If he could just stir it enough...

"Come on..." he muttered under his breath as he grabbed his other rifle into both hands. "Show me your face..."

((OOC: Hey, Worpex, I'm not trying to ignore your post about a blockade standing in the way of that part of the tunnel now. You can decide if the tentacles can't be reached at all. But I figured if there was a chance for a small opening to be in that blockade, someone like Rattrap or Airazor could crawl in and find something.))

[Venatrix]

Her plan went to hell, when Tarantulas fired his missile.
Not only would he dodge the spiders attack, she was forced to evade the missiles trajectory if it wasn't a smart missile.
She couldn't take the chanse.
Valkyrie twirled out of the way and transformed back to her beastmode.
When she had leveled herself out, she took another look.
The battlefield had changed dramatically.
Optimus was amout to short out when he transformed back to her beastmode.
Dinobot seemed successful in distracting Megatron, the clone had disengadged his cloking meganism.
The one that was in the worst predicament would be Saber.
She was about to be mauled down by the Predacon fire ant.
Now that her battleplans have been terminated, the most logical thing to do was to render some assistance to a fellow Maximal who, by all appearances, needed the support.
After folder her wings partialy onto her back, the Maximal bird dived down towards the Predacon ant.
Within moments she caught him betwean her talo. But instead of taking him up, which she knew would have been pointless as he to was a flyer, she spread her wings widely, and made a summersalt quickly and released Inferno, sending him flying.
While still in her summersalt, she transformed back to robot mode, and fired 2 missiles at the ant.

((I 'll create something for the second team to sink their teeth in. I will need a little while to set it up, but i expect it would be done in about 8 hours, after some well deserved rest.
I'll also be posting for Venatrix then.))

[Night-Hunter]

Saber saw darkness edge ever closer into her vision, which meant that the beast was about to take over.

How is that possible? The serum is suppose to weaken the need to change! Her mind screamed.

She looked at her paws, the fur had changed from light tan to rusty red.

"Saber-Fang!"

She heard Optimus' voice, his voice alone caused the darkness to ease but it didn't stop it. The only thing that did was Inferno's sudden disappearance, all she heard was a startled cry and the sound of 2 missiles being fired. She back at her paws and found that the fur had changed back to normal.

* * *

Inferno narrowed his optics when he saw the large maximals green eyes change to bright neon green as well as the sudden change of her fur.

What trickery is this? He wondered.

Before he had a chance to find out he suddenly felt claws sink into his back, letting out a cry of shock and pain he was lifted into the air and thrown deeper into the trees, the last thing he saw before stasis lock took over was two missiles coming straight for him.

[WorpeX]

"Guys? Ya might wanna stay where you are," the rat gulped. "I think dis is quick sand."

Airazor reacted quickly to the Rats comment, she had no desire to get caught up in the quicksand. Bending her knees slightly, she silently hoped that her jets had repaired themselves. In one quick movement, she shot straight up, activating her jets and sending her airborne. Lucky for her, repairs had been made by now. A small burst of fire from he backside propelled her upwards, but it lasted for only a few short seconds. The cave was not tall enough for her to go too high.

Stopping her ascent before she hit the roof, the female looked down on her comrades. It appeared as if they had found some sort of snake creature... or well, it had found them. Her gun still in hand, she fired two shots at the creature, but missed both times.

"Could somebody go check if the cave-in was too much for us to grab one of those severed tentacles? They should be sturdy enough for us to haul Ocariner out with."

"I''ll go!" She spoke, and quickly flew off back down the winding halls that they had traveled before. It was only than that she realized that she had no light source. When you're around something for so long, it can be quickly taken for granted. In this situation however, she had no choice but to tough it out. Those with a light in their group were pinned down and unable to backtrack. Not only that, but only she could make it back to the wreckage fast enough to save Orcareiner.

Closing her optics, she tried to picture what the hallway looked like when they walked through it before. Her mind remembered the darkened passageways as if she had walked them all of her life. Moving at full speed, she raced through the winding curves and bends of the passages towards her destination solely on her own memory. Her expert flying skills kept her from ramming head first into anything. Until soon, she arrived at her destination. The Maximal slowed down and softly landed on the ground again.

Turning her optics back-on, she was blinded by... light? Squinting her eyes, she looked up towards a narrow gap in the ceiling. The suns rays shined down on the cave and lit the whole cavern up. The rest of her squad would likely need to know about this. The cave-in must have dropped enough rock from the ceiling that the world above was visible again. Perhaps, with the help of the whole crew, they would be able to dig themselves out. For now though, she had a job to do.

Finding one of the tentacles lying on the ground, she dragged it out from under a rock. It appeared to have already been severed from the body and would make for a perfect device in lifting the Orca out of the mud. Taking a firm grip on the object, Airazor, set back off the way she came. She had a maximal to save!

((Lets get out of this cave! Perhaps we can have the worm thing chase them back down the hallways... or an even bigger one can arrive after they kill this one and the bots can decide to run at that point!))

[NaitoKage]

Icebreaker raised an optic ridge as Blackarachnia as she asked to assist. While her beast mode was rather useful in an environment like this, it seemed unlike her to want to help others. Her prior actions showed she was possibly more reckless then even himself, which he had enough trouble dealing with. Plus the traps in the environment..He then remembered the report on the flying island incident, she was the one seeking to use the island as a means of power. It seemed like the cute ones were always a little twisted in some way with this group, he'd probably have to be even more careful of Starshadow as well.

He shaked his head and finally responded Ah.. No, I don't believe it would be in your best interests in helping me.Your realitively healthy compared to the others at the moment, and from reports your intellect and skill may be valuable for your comrades as you return to your respective base. I may be a medic, but I can't take care of your friends outside of neutral territory. And besides..if I fail and get scrapped, well.. Better me then you right? he smirked with a slight laugh.

His optics shifted as he looked towards Scorponok looking at the ceiling, then looked at it himself, noticing a warm chemical dripping from it. That's strange.. the temperature of the area should have gone down a few degrees after freezing so much water..I think there's some cracks in the ceiling.. so whatever that is, must be from above. I guess that is where they must be.. Alright. Scorponok, remember what I said and good luck. When your all down in the tunnel bellow, I'll blow out the ceiling and investigate that area on my own. Just remember to look for the hole in the ceiling in that room, you should be able to reach it with Blackarachnia's help.

He then walked over to Terrorsaur, drawing his gun and holding it in a funny manner not pointing it at the predacon, then seemed to be pulling a line of cable from it. He holstered his gun at his side again, then loop it around Terrorsaur's chest and made a few more loops in a pattern between his legs, then stood up and bent the end of the cable forming a loop on the wire, he then pulled out a clip of metal and a crimping tool, crimping the wire in place. Heh, never thought I'd see the day I'd be helping a flying bird from a high place. He then grabbed his gun and using his other arm lifted Terrorsaur by the wire, he then held him over the edge and turned on the winch, lowering Terrorsaur down the hole to meet with the two girls. At the bottom once he came to the ground he noticed the cables seemed to loosen and fall to the floor, the cable end at the top clipped.

_______________________

Rhinox watched as Rattrap and Orcariner ended up in the quicksand, he then shouted out to Orcariner Use your gravity lifts to keep yourself from being pulled in, you might even be able to get out of the quicksand with them!

He then pulled out one of his guns while taking the light off his shoulder and manually shining it over the quicksand to view it.

(A worm eh? Why do I have a feeling it might be more like Tremors then Dune.)

______________

Megatron turned his attention towards Dinobot, his beast mode lips curling into a fanged smile. How I fare in unarmed combat? You must take me for Venatrix... Primitive.. but fitting for you. Very well. he then lunged forward with his massive jaws opening and snapping towards Dinobot.

_________

Tarantulus was suddenly knocked back by the blast letting out a scream. He leaned up as energon started to surge over him UG! I've had enough of this! If you fools are so willing to get in my way then you can have him! BEAST MODE! he then shouted transforming to his spider mode, then started to swiftly crawl off in retreat. The Aliens were likely soon to be at the tipping point from this, but at least the maximals were distracted. Perhaps.. he could use this to his advantage. He'd had difficulties procuring a stasis pod of his own, even with the arrival of so many predacons and maximals, the a cursed squid always got in his way, hording the stasis pods for himself, while being so paranoid that even Tarantulus's attempts to access and steal the Leviathan being nearly impossible. Something he couldn't stand for,specially against a lower lifeform such as the cephalopod.

But he would still need some time for preparations, time which.. in either case, he may not have..

[una]

Still glaring into Witegrazer's eyes and ignoring Tigatron, the clone opened his mouth to speak but suddenly felt a sharp pain a second before everything went black, including his optic sensors. The Maximal equine had knocked him unconscious. He laid there damaged and silent.

Oops, you were right this time.

What?

Ummm...I think he was about to...

Oh master.

You called me first! Don't blame me! Now, where is my stick?! The voice soon faded away. There was a tiny relief in knowing she was alone in her mind...again.

She didn't call....oh right. She held her chest for a minute after her spark slowed down finally. So that was causing her spark to beat that rapidly? It didn't do that before but it was one of the effects he had warned her about.

I really need to remember I can do that. And note to self, never in the middle of a battlefield.

"Oof!" Hammered by Megatron's powerful tail on his chest that still felt very much frozen, the gorilla flew backwards into a nearby boulder, knocking the back of his head on the large rock and falling limp onto the ground on his stomach, his sword still in his hand and his eyes closed. The Maximal commander didn't stir. Both Primals were finally still... and vulnerable.

"Optimus? Optimus?" She poked her comm and noticed that it was Megatron's fault but Dinobot was there, ready to handle him.

My dampers are holding up but not for long. A surge went through her, making her whole body spasm. Dang.

Looking back at the clone, she sighed. She placed her hands on the clone's face and tapped him to try and get him awake and apologized, "Sorry, you were about to say something?" She kept tapping as she noticed that Tarantulas left. That was one person off their tail. She looked around to see Megatron attacking Dinobot.

Keep fighting him, Dinobot. I know you can beat him.

((OOC: Slap slap, OOP. XDDDD Slap slap! XD Well, actually, she is tapping XD))

________________________________________________________________________

Blackarachnia made a playful pout to hide her attitude and moved her hips, "Oh come on." Slag!

Oh well, she could always dig back here. She hoped it stayed. It better. She needed some type of advantage over that spider and that blasted T-Rex. That island was something that gave her that but she lost it and got a very brutal punishment from Megatron afterwards. That was in the past though, she won't make the same mistake again.

[Alak]

Quick sand was certainly more daunting once Orcariner found himself inside of it. His large frame had actually prevented him from completely sinking in due to the wide surface area. Trying to swing his arms to raise himself above the mud, the giant found himself going deeper instead. Panic was quickly rising within the orca.

Use your gravity lifts to keep yourself from being pulled in, you might even be able to get out of the quicksand with them!

Rhinox's voice echoed through the air and Orcariner quickly activated his boosters. He felt air push away from the mud beneath him as his systems struggled against the trap. The Maximal's large body slowly pushed upwards, allowing him to grab the edge of solid ground, but it was not long before he felt himself sinking once again. The air ducts he had which helped him swim in beast mode were undoubtedly clogged with mud. The gravity lifts were designed to only keep him afloat, but the strength of the mud was overwhelming them. To make matters worse, Orcariner felt the worm coil itself around his body.

"It's on me!" he yelled to Rhinox.

Trapping his right arm, the worm surged back to the surface and lunged for Orcariner's vulnerable face. Instinctively letting go of the ground, the orca grabbed hold of the creature's face with his hand. He successfully held back the attack, but now Orcariner was sinking faster than before due to the worm's pull. Time was running out.

[Blazemane]

Steelclaw saw his opportunity once Ocariner withheld the monster's face with his hand. And at such a short distance, he wouldn't have need of his rifle's scope. He couldn't see any eyes on the creature, but it seemed logical that its processor would still be located at the front, as seemed the way of most creatures he knew.

Steelclaw, about to pull the trigger, realized he didn't have any epic words to take the creature out with.

"Uh... sink this?" he murmured. The next moment, his rifle's firing resounded through the cave. Steelclaw took the weapon's recoil with practiced grace.

The sand worm shook from the impact and there was a small explosion of frayed metal as the round penetrated through a part of the creature's back.

The alien creation thrashed in Ocariner's grip, but seemed considerably weakened. Steelclaw quickly discharged the empty shell from his weapon and loaded the next of the prototype rounds.

He took one more shot, and then the creature went limp.

"The bullets work," he commented nonchalantly before discharging the next shell. "All Maximals, run while you can."

* * *

Dinobot reflexively jumped to the side when Megatron lunged for him. Moving quickly, he rammed his own side into Megatron, hoping to knock the tyrannosaur to the ground before he could fully regain a balanced foundation from his first attack.

Of course, knocking the tyrant over was all the Dinobot could do. He was completely outmatched in terms of power, which meant he would not only be unable to harm Megatron, but also that he would have to stay well out the way, or he would easily be destroyed.

* * *

"You mean, you're not even coming down there with us?" Cheetor asked Icebreaker. That meant he'd have to decided right then.

He'd mostly been spending his time falling through holes, he still had a lot of damage from the fight above ground, and he didn't have anything special to help Icebreaker with either. So, even though it felt rough to leave a teammate behind, it was probably for the better. He'd get in the way.

So he climbed awkwardly down the rocks in the hole, trying to hold the flare in one hand while using the other to help him balance and hold on to the terrain.

[Night-Hunter]

The second the worm showed up, Waspinator took off in the direction that Rattrap had disappeared to with a frighten shriek, he didn't have the fire power to deal with the monster. He didn't think of it as cowardice, he thought of it as self preservation.

Wazzzpinator can handle being yelled at by Megatron. But Wazzzpinator can't handle a giant worm. He thought.

* * *

Saber knew she wouldn't be much use in a fight, but she could at least protect her commander from harm. Getting to her feet, she limped over to Optimus and stood infront of him, challenging any one to harm the down Maximal.

Let them try. She thought with a soft growl, she unsheathed her claws for added measure.


((OOC: Sorry for this really short post, but it's late and I really can't think of any thing.))

[New Moon]

Feralnight sighed in relief when Taratulas took off then looked towards Whitegrazer as she was trying to awaken the clone. Turning her gaze towards where the other Maximals were plus Megatron the fuzor wondered just how much longer Megatron would keep this up before he would retreat just wait for his teammates that were underground just as the other Maximals were though she left it alone for now. "Hopefully the other Predacons above ground stay back for a while."She muttered but growled as she felt a surge from the radiation,"Ugh beast mode." She ordered and transformed.

Moving back closer to Whitegrazer and Tigatron she kept an eye on the area just in case more trouble decided to show up.

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

"Just try not to get yourself into too much trouble Icebreaker." Frilla said as she came near the hole letting Cheetor get some chance to head down before she transformed to beast mode and began to climb down having a better grip but it made her nervous still as some rocks fell from her claws digging into some places. "I thought trees were a pain to climb up and down but this is worse." She glanced down and continued to carefully climb down.