The Intergalactic Highway

The Maximal is down! Get closer to him and fire that bolt! Keres yelled at Starshadow in the mind.

Starshadow dived down at maximum speed as she channeled a high voltage bolt which was meant for a killing blow though it drained a lot of her energy. Once she was close enough, she aimed the bolt at Optimus' chest and fired. When she released that bolt, the excruciating pain surged through that arm once again, this time it is making her scream in pain.

"What..is..happening?!" she growled and held her arm as spark and smoke were emitted out. She could barely feel her twitching fingers. Her thrusters too were failing on her, slowly bringing her down, It only stopped working when she was a few feet away from the ground. That was the time she missed Glowstick's pressence. At least he would know how to fix these sort of stuff but no...he disappeared. Now she had to be extremely nice to Mr Grumpy Professor Sonar to get him to make something that would stop the pain or get a "doctor's consultation". This new upgrade she acquired from the bright light has its own defects. How could she fight if this kind of issue crops up in the middle of a battle. An annoying beeping from her systems just made the situation even "better".

Warning. Energy levels at 30 percent. My advice is to revert to beast mode and activate internal repairs. Switch to power saving mode?

Starshadow was about to say yes but a certain voice just had to push her to her limits.

Not yet, Nightstar! Not until you destroy that ape.

"Keres...I do not...have much energy left...If you keep pushing me like this...you'll be depleting all of my energy..and I'm as good as a dead battery..."

I DO NOT TRAIN YOU TO BE WEAK, NIGHTSTAR! GET UP AND FIGHT!

Starshadow sighed and slowly stood up in an unstable way, "Remind me in an hour."

Acknowledged.

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

Cecaelia's amber optics slowly lit up as the sound of the battle woke her up. Why was Umbra here? Did he managed to complete the mission? Steelclaw seems to be in a bad shape like her. She moved her tentacles to see if they are still functional after blocking those missle shots and then looked at her fellow aquatic comrade, "Hey partner...did you manage to complete your task?"

OOP wrote:
As the terrible 'dactyl finally released his grip on his hover board, Optimus reignited his thruster once more and straightened out in the air before his free-falling spiraling could come to an abrupt end in his low altitude. "Same old Terrorsaur," he said out loud to himself, shaking his head in disappointment. Reaching over his shoulders and reattaching his clubs to his back, Primal's attention focused now more on the bot that was attacking Steelclaw, the same one he had found seemingly expired or unconscious by the CR chambers in the Axalon. Ironclaw? Suddenly, a frantic beeping stole his attention; his internal scanners were warning him of an incoming projectile. From whom?! Just as he turned his head to see Tarantulas below having fired off a shot at him, Optimus tried veering out of the way but it was too late. The cyber venom collided with the Maximal, but fortunately his thick board took the brunt of it. ((OOC: DS, I hadn't even thought of Tarry using his venom, I thought maybe a missile or his wheel-gun thingy. How silly of me. So to keep Optimus rolling along and not pass out altogether, I'm going to keep it at a low dose and just have it minorly effect him. Hope that's okay. If the intent is to get him out of the air, then so be it. I just don't want him unconscious like Rattrap and Tigatron who were both hit by cyber venom and are completely out. XD ))

Primal could feel the paralyzing sensation devour his entire hover board, shutting down its thruster and engines. It slowly crept up to his feet which were attached to the board and he started losing altitude very quickly. Knowing he was going down no matter what, he thought it better to land in robot mode where he had more weapons at his disposal. So Optimus quickly transformed before he hit the ground and landed heavily on the dirt with a deep thud, kicking up a ball of dust from his weight and momentum, feet first before his legs immediately collapsed to his knees upon impact and onto the palms of his hands that braced him up and prevented him from falling flat on his face. His feet and legs felt numb from the venom, and he could feel it now creeping into his lower abdomen but his systems had the energy to continue fighting it. Catching his breath, the Maximal Commander took a quick glance around his surroundings where it was pretty open, but no sign of Tarantulas or any other Predacons yet. He looked upward in search of Starshadow but didn't see her from his location. Get up, he ordered himself. Get up now. With a slight wobble, Primal pushed himself up and managed to stand up straight, taller now in his new robot mode than he was before. He began gaining some feeling in his feet again but he was in no condition right now to fly any where.

"Hehehehehehahaha! Transmetal or not, no maximal can withstand my venom" Tarantulas bragged, pleased that his shot had succeeded in bringing Optimus Primal down to his level, granted the ape was still standing rather than writhing in pain or in stasis lock, but that mattered little so long as he was grounded.

"There's more than one way to skin an ape" Tarantulas jeered, just as another so-called "big shot" entered the fray before he could implement his next move.

Phoenix wrote: Gritting his teeth in anger and frustration, the Predacon commander took aim with his arm cannon and started firing off shots at the blue monkey now that he was close enough to make an impact.

That, too, proved futile when Optimus suddenly plunged to the ground as well, struck by a direct hit from Tarantulas' spider venom.

Not waiting for an invitation and certainly not willing to let this chance slip from his grasp, Megatron landed again in a much more controlled manner than his enemy had done. His weapon blazing, firing shot after shot straight at his foe, Megatron's grim appearance changed to a satisfied one.

"I don't know how you escaped oblivion, Primal, but never fear.. your friends will join you back there very soon, yessss."

"Megatron. Tsk, tsk, tsk, you just couldn't wait your turn, could you?" Tarantulas said mockingly as he watched the latest, and possible, final confrontation between the two leaders of the Beast Warriors begin.

Some may call it history repeating itself or fate that these two should meet again to trade blows in mortal combat as the original Megatron and Optimus Prime once did so many solar cycles ago...Though to Tarantulas, it was merely more pompous posturing between a greedy lowlife who'd grown too ambitious for his own good and a mere ship captain trying to live up to his namesake's legendary heroism.

"Megatron or Primal, Primal or Megatron, regardless I get to see one of the biggest nuisances in my life join the Matrix, both if I'm lucky, and despite recent setbacks, I do believe I am, hehehahahaha!" Tarantulas mused to himself, not caring who lived or who died in this struggle since it benefited his long term goals either way...Still, no reason why he couldn't use this opportunity to hurry one of them along.

First firing a swarm of micro missiles towards Optimus, Tarantulas then switched back to beast mode and raced off before Primal could retaliate or Megatron bark an order at him, the spider finding cover behind more of the rocky outcroppings scattered across the maximal's home field, his new cycle mode continuing to prove its worth. He'd helped Megatron enough with that barrage, he'd let the tin tyrant wear the ape down for now and satisfy that pitiful ego of his, but lie in wait for another chance to strike at Primal's blind spot...Or take out Megatron as well if the opportunity presented itself.

Meanwhile, Terrorsaur continued to lay on the ground in a heap, the pterodactyl twitching every so often to show he was still functional, but thus far hadn't taken his hands from his face, whether out of shame for his defeat by Primal's hands or the pain of his injuries, who could say but Terrrorsaur himself? One thing was certain though...He was NOT happy, not happy at all.

"Pr...Pri...Primal..." Terrorsaur rasped with pure, undiluted hatred mixed with pain in his voice, barely above a whisper, peeking behind his hands to glare at the maximal's back as he confronted his insufferable false leader Megatron, his cracked, dimly lit optics soaking in the sight of the two most despicable bots in his life completely ignoring him as he lay in the dirt, struggling to stay online & not pass out from the pain...or the embarrassment.

"Slag you...If its the last thing I do...I. Will. Slag. YOU" Terrorsaur gasped, spitting mech fluid from his bloody lips in their direction, not specifying to whom he made this threat, though it could easily have been to them both, or perhaps a promise to himself more than a message to them.

Mystrea wrote: (Sorry Blaze but I'm going to continue onwards. Ironclaw has Preds to smash, bots to chat to, fembots to please, the usual. I'll have Ironclaw throw Steelclaw aside so that he can get away or whatever)

Ironclaw had managed to turn the sniper around to face him. However the sniper did have his wits about him and instantly started to open fire in close proximity. Some shots missed but some hit their mark. One hit his abdomen, the next his shoulder. Ironclaw reached out for him but one of the blast hit his hand blew on of his fingers off. He pushed past the pain and grabbed the sniper rifle, pulled the weapon and the sniper with it, closing the distance. a shadow was cast as Ironclaw's fist rose up into the air then came crashing down on the Predacons head casuing him to bend over slightly and stagger. By this point Ironclaw had could really feel the burning pain of the flaming dagger in his shoulder, the one left behind by the aquatic fembot. He pulled it out of his shoulder and thrusted it into the sniper, aiming towards his spark. Feeling satisfied with the damage he had dealt, Ironclaw pushed the used to be sniper down to the ground beside him and moved on.

Marching against the sun, Ironclaw saw Optimus battling in the skies above and was getting ever nearer. He wasn't sure what he would do once he reached Optimus but regardless he was determined to do so. It seemed that Optimus was performing well anyway, his last victim plumiting to the ground. Ironclaw made his way to what appeared to be a Predacon capable of flight, however it wasn't proving that helpful to him at his moment. The badger made his way over to him and inspected him for a while as he squirmed on the ground, covering his face with his hands. Ironclaw went over to him, smacking his hands our of the way he could try and get a grip on his neck.

Terrorsaur hissed at the badger for interrupting his thoughts, and worse, prying his hands away from his face, which was now a smoldering mess, burnt and blackened, exposed circuitry and cracked optics giving him an almost undead appearance. He took one good swipe at Ironclaw, unsure if he was facing friend or foe with his damaged optics & half crazed state of mind, and not really caring, he was BEYOND furious over his recent misfortune, the pain from his face and fall doing nothing to improve his mood.

"What do you want, mammal?!" he rasped, mech fluid bleeding between his tattered lips, holding himself up with one hand while the other massaged his face in a vain attempt to quell the pain.

(ooc: Well.. got back from work at 1 am. So if I fall asleep in the middle of this post, that would be why!

I'm assuming Nemesis cannot see TC?)

Umbra wrote:Seems like you've been left to the grunt work lady Nemesis. I'd offer you a hand, but I respect your skills too much to say such an insult.

Albeit she refrained from looking in the general direction the voice was coming from, Nemesis immediately recognized it as the voice of Umbra. So the squid had not only survived but also made it back outside alive. Some Predacons went above and beyond, it seemed.

Silverstreak wrote:"I don't think so bird brain!"

Nemesis' piercing gaze landed upon the smaller femme, a Maximal she could not recall having encountered until this day, followed by an annoyed snort.

Keep pushing..


Swinging her sword from an angle, the solid metal blade surprisingly grinded to a halt against the Maximal's twin tonfas. The force of the blow had been powerful, so much so in fact that it sent Silverstreak skidding backwards in her effort to halt the taller femme's movement. The high momentum even sent Nemesis herself sliding against the sandy ground, forcing her to withdraw her sword and grab for the female Maximal's arm instead. Feeling her hand impact, Nemesis immediately closed her fingers tightly around the smaller fembot's arm, squeezing it so hard that it must have felt as if the metal was about to crumble.

Leaning in close, the avian Predacon whispered to the Maximal; "Did you honestly think it was going to be that simple?"

A voice from behind her caught her attention next, yet her grip remained solid to prevent any escape attempt.

Whitegrazer wrote: "Nemesis! Stay your hand. Those who quenched the thirst of their demons become a demon themselves."" I'm not going to be slient, Nemesis. I'm not going to pretend I know what you have been through, but I do know what happens to one who gives in to their own darkness. If you keep feeding the demons inside of you, they will forever stay within you. Do you really want them to win? If you don't, lay down the sword and calm the anger burning inside you. Walk away in peace. "

Part of her wanted to shout back at the other female, once and for all settle this confusion and to make it abundantly clear that she was that demon. How many of the Maximals would she have to kill to prove it to them? Her death toll counted 3 of them already, all having fallen victim to her.. to those demons within as Whitegrazer had so elegantly put it. Their deaths had been brutal, sudden, unexpected.. She had consumed them as if they were little more than raw materials to her, and yet even now the foolish Maximal insinuated that there was hope for her still. Hope for forgiveness, of healing.. It was quite infuriating, honestly, and a grave and foolish mistake.

Whitegrazer wrote:"I have your sai. You can have it back if you want."

Ignoring the final comment, Nemesis' grip on Silverstreak tightened a little more.

"Is that so?," she responded to Whitegrazer in what sounded almost like a challenge. A smile brightened her face as she locked optics with the white mare again.

"I wouldn't bet on it if I were you."


With a powerful yank, she then thew the silver fox straight into the small mob of injured Maximals who were attempting to save their comrades. Next she pulled out her firearm, sending several explosive rounds at the helpless group.

((OOC: Yes, she can't see him.

Thank goodness, the others are finally getting those repairs. XD I feel bad for them. ))

"Is that so?,""I wouldn't bet on it if I were you."

She could see Nemesis wasn't listening to her. TyCross suspected as much. But she had hoped. Hoped that the Predacon would have at least just walked away. Walk away for her need for violence and leaving destruction everywhere she went. She sighed and placed the sai on her person when Nemesis yanked Silverstreak away. She saw her hand going down to grab her firearm, the instincts to help Nemesis changed to the instinct to save her comrades.

Summoning all the energy she had left, she dashed towards Nemesis to stand in between her comrades as she disarmed Nemesis. Her left hand knocked Nemesis's firearm away while the other arm gripped Nemesis' arm. She shook her head with a sorrowful expression, "I gave you a chance to walk away and you didn't take it." She proceeded to use three palm strikes against Nemesis's head to push her back like a mother spanking her child for inappropriate behavior, "But I'm willing to give you another one and another and another."

I would kill her.

I'm not you.

Nor I you. Nor is she. You were redeemable. But her? It may be too late for her.

I will give her a chance.

And if she holds one of your comrades', Optimus's, or even worse, Aurora by the throat ready to slaughter their lives? You can't do anything but fire the gun in your hand? Would you kill her then?

...

...

I would do what I must to protect those in need.

A very good but vague answer. But I have no doubt you would do what you have to do. Remember, there is no shame in taking a life to save others.

But she is already dead, TyCross

Ironclaw tilted his head slightly, his hand slightly reluctant to grap the Predacons neck when he asked him what he wanted. He didn't expect this from any of his foes, he expected then to just die. The noise that exited their mouth was a concern of his until this moment. His guard lowered for a second and that was the chance the flyer needed to swipe at Ironclaw. The blade cut a gouge his to his thick chest armor, thus disfiguring the symbol on it. Ironclaw extended his reach and grabbed the neck of this particualar victim and pulled him off the floor and drew him closer. The cannon from his left forearm deployed and business end shoved up against the flyers abdomen. "I want nothing from you, Predacon" he answered him discharged a shot from his weapon into the Predacon. Ironclaw did not care for the damage that he had caused, he simply dropped him and moved on.

Optimus had now been grounded and had to fight like Ironclaw. A spider had brought him down. His eyes narrowed and he made his way toward to the Predacon. Megatron had also revealed his position. The badger clocked him and moved accordingly.

((I'm sorry for being so slow to reply everyone but things have gotten a bit worse at home, so not sure how well I might be able to keep up in this episode.))

Both Frilla and Feralnight continued to pull Orcarnier towards the hanger, both knowing the only CR chamber large enough would be inside their mobile base of sorts the Nomad and it was at that moment they heard Stag. "We're working on getting him there now Stag, but many thanks for alerting us of the power." Frilla responded as they both were jsut reaching the hanger before wincing as some of the shots hit close from Nemesis, just barely missing either of the femmes but they continued inside to the hanger for cover and dragging the orca into the vehicle towards the CR Chamber. "As for the others I shall be there momentarily," She added while the frilled lizard and wolf/raven fuzor shifted Orcanier around so he was fully into the repair chamber before closing it. "Feralnight can you go get me a cable? Any one that's long enough."Frill asked as the fuzor nodded and hurried out.

Looking among some of the cables in the hanger Feralnight finally found what she was seeking and knelt on one knee to begin disconnecting one of the power cables before dragging it into the mobile vehicle, which luckily it was long enough and handed it to the much smaller Maximal. "Perfect, now just need to connect it..."Frilla took the cable and began making some adjustments to get a proper connection before getting a confirmation power was being restored to a normal level. "There, that should help the big guy and hopefully get him back in top shape."Frilla said with relief,"Now let's get to the bridge, revert to beast mode." Frilla and Feralnight both did so and began their internal repairs before heading out of the Nomad and rushed to the bridge to meet with the others as they arrived. And lucky enough Frilla could still use her claws as well as she could with her hands in robot mode, so making use of the tools needed for repairs wouldn't be a problem, it just would be slow with her limited experience as a medic.

(( Thanks OOP, but I think that was New Moon with Frilla telling the others they better start bringing the others in.))

Wintersong heard Stag but didn't really know how much she should acknowledge of his information, "Then we better get the others inside Stag, we'll have to meet Frilla in the bridge and if Aurora's repairs get done we can put one of them into that CR Chamber." She responded as she stepped onto the lift with supporting Rhinox and glancing back towards the chaos still going on behind her. Her optics widened as Whitegrazer and Silverstreak were still having issues with Nemesis and she grunted as a few shots hit her, making the tigress stumble a bit but keeping her grip on the unconscious mech she supported. This bird just didn't know when to quit. Patiently though she waited for Stag to arrive with her fellow tiger before the lift went upwards and brought the four of them into the bridge seeing Airazor still there.

"Well seems almost everyone is here."Wintersong commented as she moved into the bridge and carefully lied Rhinox down on his back, hearing the sound of Frilla and Feralnight rushing down the halls to join them. But with a low growl Wintersong reverted to her beast mode, knowing she wasn't as damaged as some of the others there or could wait, she had lasted this long she could last a bit longer. "Begin internal repairs." She ordered to her internal computer getting an "Acknowledge" in return before she sat down to finally rest and allowing her systems to handle some of the repairs.

OOC: Oh! Ironclaw is a maximal? Sorry...Can I edit my post? I forgot which side he was on, thought he was a pred

(Yep, Ironclaw is a Maximal though admittedly I think he would probably make a good Depthcharge. Don't forget to use our profile index if you have any inquiries about other characters. )

((OOC:

Sorry Blaze but I'm going to continue onwards. Ironclaw has Preds to smash, bots to chat to, fembots to please, the usual. I'll have Ironclaw throw Steelclaw aside so that he can get away or whatever

You don't have to be sorry for anything. Like I said, I had gone way over my three days.))

Steelclaw had heard only the last of Ironclaw's approaching footsteps before he was pulled around to face him.

There was a small, absurd kind of a moment of silence as Steelclaw stared at the Maximal. This 'bot was huge! And maybe stealthier than his size would at first suggest. Steelclaw berated himself for letting his opponent bring this fight into close quarters.

"Hello, there," Steelclaw said amiably. "Would you mind letting me win?" Even as he was speaking, be brought his rifle around, firing straight into Ironclaw's abdomen. The Maximal was so big, however, that he was will standing after the injury. Steelclaw realized then that Ironclaw was simply going accept the damage of getting shot in close proximity and keep going on the offensive anyways. So he tried a different strategy, shooting Ironclaw's shoulder in the attempt to literally force him backwards with the momentum of the rifle rounds.

But he found himself realizing yet again... this 'bot was huge. Ironclaw wasn't forced back at all; he was, as predicted, going on the offensive, reaching for his enemy. Steelclaw reloaded and fired in rapid cycles after that, missing twice in his haste, but then finally hitting Ironclaw's hand.

That didn't do much either. Once Ironclaw grabbed the rifle's barrel, Steelclaw deployed the PPC on his wrist. But before he could even use it, a withering blow connected with his head. And then the dagger blade buried itself into his chest.

He knew he'd lost the fight, then. As he had done once before after being stabbed by Dinobot, he crumpled to the ground--only this time, it was much less of an act. He could feel himself hovering close to stasis lock; the dagger had actually hit the outer edge of his spark chamber, standing a fraction of a space away from the interior.

Soon, the feeling of weakness which was bringing him close to stasis lock was replaced by a wave of intense pain. Steelclaw half-laughed, half-coughed as he laid on the ground and thought through how he could keep opponents from taking him by surprise like that in the future.

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Umbra, who was carrying Cecaelia on his back, had knelt down beside him. He was just about to speak some sort of greeting or another when Umbra pulled the dagger out of him and the pain spiked to a new level. He decided to stay silent, because if he made any sound, it was going to be some kind of yelp.

Umbra wrote:If your still with me, just hold on.

Steelclaw waited until the feeling had receded a little before answering. "If I wasn't before, I am now. Beast mode." After Steelclaw transformed, he could see a huge gash along the side of his muzzle where the dagger had glanced his beast mode face on its way to the spark chamber, and the singed fur which had been lying close to the red-hot blade. He could feel the aftereffects of it all, too. Looking up at Umbra and Cecaelia, he could see that they'd been through quite a bit, too. "How're you holding up?"

* * *

I didn't plan to stay. None of you have anything to fear....from me anyway. I had a score to settle and I settled it, but you're wrong. The battle isn't over yet. They won't stop until they take down Optimus.

...I know. But you were right. You all were. I didn't belong. I'm not a Maximal. I'm not sure what I am. The only thing I do know is that I'm broken and Tarantulas can fix me.

...I can't defy him or he'll put me back to the way I was. But I'll try to miss.

Dinobot was completely surprised by Arachnitron's response, but that in and of itself was part of the reason he kept his weapon trained on her while she left. He had never been one to trust others easily. Part of him felt that it wasn't even right to let her go if she was going to go attack Optimus now with the intention of "trying" to miss. However, given that she was leaving (or pretending to leave) on peaceable terms, it did not seem honorable to attack her for even sound tactical reasons. And still, he felt conflicted about other aspects of the situations. She had just put Rattrap into stasis lock--apparently to get even with him about something. And that was something they would allow to go unanswered? It was the vermin she had attacked, but for Dinobot, there was a difference between harming him and letting the enemy harm him.

And what of her claim that she didn't belong to the Axalon crew because she wasn't a Maximal? He proudly called himself Predacon, after all. And he knew she was confused if she thought Tarantulas would be of assistance to her.

There wasn't really enough time in that moment to a conclusion about everything. Arachnitron left, and it seemed that none stopped her. Once Dinobot judged that she truly wasn't coming back--or at least that she'd gone far enough away that that he'd have time to see her coming if she doubled back--he relaxed his aim. It was then that he realized how much he felt like going into stasis lock. Fittingly, his HUD was warning him that eventually he would.

But there was still Nemesis to deal with.

...Up until Frilla took her down with the electro scrambler. But with Nemesis' regenerative capabilities, he wondered how long that would last.

Frilla wrote:Guys if any of you are well enough to stand than come help me bring in those who are down, Orcarnier, Rhinox, Rattrap, and Cheetor need to be brought inside ASAP.

Frilla was right; this was their window of opportunity. So Dinobot started looking around to see who to help. But then he saw Nemesis' appearance coming back to normal. Now the situation had changed. He was going to assume that the Maximals in stasis lock could wait. Nemesis would surely take advantage of the active Maximals distracting themselves and lowering their defenses in their attempts to bring their comrades inside. Right now, they all needed to concentrate on defeating her or forcing her to retreat.

Now Whitegrazer was off of the ground and moving around, so there wasn't as much danger in confronting her as there had been before. He was just about to move in and help the offensive, but then Nemesis threw Silverstreak and aimed her gun in the Maximals' direction. Thinking quickly while the first two rounds came in, Dinobot picked up a piece of scrap metal which had fallen from the Axalon's hull, and used it as a blast shield, running in front of Silverstreak and Cheetor, and blocking the rest of the salvo. When it stopped, he looked from behind the shield to see that Whitegrazer had knocked the weapon away, if only for the moment.

* * *

Cheetor had tried thinking of a way he could help out. He was completely out of energy for his own weapons, and he only had one arm. Frilla was even saying what he thought was probably true and what he just didn't want to be true--that he was one of the 'bots who needed helping, rather than one of the 'bots who needed to help.

...But maybe if he went into the Axalon quick, he could find a weapon in the armory with its own energy supply. Or maybe he could figure something out with the ship's weapon system. Or... he didn't know exactly what there was he could do, but he was going to try to find out.

He ran to the lift and got onto its platform.But even as it was taking him up, he felt at peace again. With Optimus back, he just... figured they were all bound to get out of this battle alive. He was just wanted it all to end as fast as possible, and he wanted to help in any way he could.

Once the lift came to a stop, he took a few steps into the bridge and looked around, trying to get a few ideas of what he might be able to do to finish the fight outside. "Hey, Airazor," he said, waving his hand. Without warning, he went right back into stasis lock and fell to the ground.

To her surprise, the wounded mare jumped to her feet, ignoring her own severe injuries, and came to her comrades' rescue. The reaction came quickly while Nemesis was focused on her moving targets, causing the move to catch her off guard.

Whitegrazer wrote:"I gave you a chance to walk away and you didn't take it."

If anything, Nemesis gave her an amused look for that brief moment before Whitegrazer's palm impacted with her head. The avian female's head snapped back, her body barely able to follow to avoid losing her balance as the sudden pain flooded her senses. A second blow nearly knocked her off her feet, leaving her feeling disoriented and dazed for a moment. However she recovered quickly enough to catch sight of the third incoming blow, allowing her to bring her own free arm up to deflect it. She then grabbed for the mare's extended arm, yanking her forward as she brought her knee up hard into the female's abdomen and side, before following up with a swift kick to the side of her face.

"Who do you think you're kidding?," the Decepticon-turned-Predacon hissed, "You're wounded, barely able to stand, and you think you stand a chance against me? You just made a big mistake.. One that sealed not only your own fate but the lives of your miserable friends as well."

It was a promise, not a mere threat.

Nemesis used to not care too much about Megatron's agenda until that faithful day when it had become abundantly clear where she and the others had ended up. She had never been on this planet, this Earth, in her days as a Decepticon, but she had been raised on the legends of what had happened here. That day she had come to realize that this was not just a simple squabble between Maximals and Predacons, but that something much grander was at stakes here. It fueled her, gave her a purpose to see this through to the end.

She was not a Maximal. She was only a Predacon by appearance. In her mind she was still very much so a Decepticon, for better and for worse, and as such there was simply no way she could merely walk away like the Maximal mare had suggested. These Maximals were her enemies, who had held her captive, sealed away in a cage until one faithful day one of them had made the mistake of coming to see her. They did not wish her well. There could only be one winner in this war. A Maximal victory meant that she would be brought back to Cybertron in chains. There was no way she could let that happen. Despite the odds being against her, no matter if the risks were great, even death would be better than spending one more day in a Maximal prison.

Releasing Whitegrazer's hand finally, Nemesis then moved her hand up to grab a hold of her opponent's throat. With her other hand she holstered her firearm before reaching around to snatch back her sai from the wounded female's body. This weapon had served her well and she was unwilling to part with it.

She brought the sharp spiked weapon to the other female's chest, letting it rest against the armor much like she had done with her sword a few moments before.

"Now.. where were we?"


Her voice, threatening as the words sounded, held a certain edge of glee about them. This was something she was going to enjoy.

Whitegrazer used her injured arm to block the knee to her stomach, but Nemesis had a good grip on her extended arm. The swift kick to her head left her in a daze, seeing three Nemesis's appearing in front of her.

"Who do you think you're kidding?," the Decepticon-turned-Predacon hissed, "You're wounded, barely able to stand, and you think you stand a chance against me? You just made a big mistake.. One that sealed not only your own fate but the lives of your miserable friends as well."

She was on her knees, feeling the dagger's tip at her chest. One strong stab to the area would cause a fatal wound. From all looks and appearance, Nemesis had her at her mercy. Nemesis's taunting and ecstasy at the thought of her death by her own hand didn't faze her at the slightest. She just felt disappointed. Disappointed. Following the sai all the way to the amused and gleeful expression on Nemesis's face, she stared at her optics intently. Her systems were warning her of the lost energon that still dripped from her wound, making tiny little streams run down her left arm that held it. Stasis lock wanted to take hold of her so badly. The computer's voice was monotone yet urgent in its messages to her systems. But she couldn't obey... not yet.

There was still one thing she wanted to do.

Her spark was pulsing to a hum, aching again. Aching like last time before she sensed Nemesis behind her. Burning. Her spark... it was trying to regain what it had lost. But the wound was too great. Too painful. It needed more time. Nemesis seemed covered by the long-legged termites again. But this time, they were looking at her. Their crawls slowed to a halt and their focus went onto her. Their expressions were the same as Nemesis's. They looked ready to gorge on her body and soul, reviling in anticipation.

"Nemesis," Whitegrazer had her injured hand grabbed the sai's blade. "It is you, who is making a big mistake." Her other hand gripped the wrist of the one that held her by the throat, "I am a soldier, but I am also a teacher..." As she talked, her hand that gripped the sai blade had went for the wrist. Simultaneously, she twisted Nemesis's wrists in a locking maneuver that will cause Nemesis's body to follow through to the ground.

Taking a few steps back, she put her two hands together in a mediating position. She closed her optics and smiled warmly, "If you can't calm the demons inside of you, I will calm them. I will teach you the power of serenity and control."

Steelclaw wrote:"If I wasn't before, I am now. Beast mode." "How're you holding up?"

Cecaelia wrote: "Hey partner...did you manage to complete your task?"

Umbra glanced down slightly as he spoke From what I can tell, the mission is a failure. The virus Tarantulas prepared was taken down swiftly and Sentinel is already up and running. My skills with hacking are not up to what is required and the operator of the defense system seems to be paranoid from the battle attacking my disguises.

Umbra then glanced back towards the battlefield And from what I can tell, the Predacons chasing that flying ape around are falling left and right. Battles have an ebb and flow.. like the ocean.. It would seem the Maximals' high tide has come. The effects of which even one of the bots ran screaming into the woods.. I'm not really sure who or what it was though.

Umbra then glanced back towards the two I did however manage to get some of their supplies from the armory and medical bay.. I'm not a medic, but we should be able to do some field repairs with these.

Umbra then handed Cecaelia her flame dagger in it's deactivated state back to her.

______________________

Stag dragged Tigatron out from the lift, he glanced towards Cheetor for a moment as he observed him come in, then fall into stasis lock. The Artificial intelligence simply remained silent, not understanding how to process the scene.

He then linked into the Axalon's external view, noticing Whitegrazer combating Nemesis still. Maximal records showed Nemesis's history so far had been bloody, taking the lives of two other Maximals before and being classed as a Class 1 Biohazard due to her nanomachines. She was literally a walking death machine. Her history also showed she was originally larger, showing up as a meteor and crashing into the arctic. The meteor records at the time seemed to contain high traces of water, which wasn't unusual for meteors, as many comets and space debris contained ice.

If not stopped, perhaps she could at least be slowed down..

Whitegrazer wrote:"Nemesis,"

The avian female eyed the Maximal suspiciously as she put her hand on the middle blade of the sai, applying a bit more pressure against the other's chest plate. Only the curiosity of what the other femme's last words would be held her back from plunging the blade all the way through, or at least that's what she told herself in that brief moment.

Whitegrazer wrote:"It is you, who is making a big mistake."

Nemesis tilted her head, the ridges surrounding her optics narrowing at those words. This Maximal just would not give up, no matter how impossible the odds seemed. Whether it was a perpetual optimism or simply pure stupidity, Nemesis could not be certain.

Whitegrazer wrote:"I am a soldier, but I am also a teacher..."

The Decepticon-turned-Predacon felt the hand crawl up to her wrist, only causing her to tighten her grip on the other female's neck as a result. This game was going nowhere. The other female was merely stalling for time. Time was something Nemesis did not have an abundance of, after all the other Maximals were bound to regroup and attack at some point. More than likely the monkey-bot in the sky would join as well. As confident as Nemesis was in her abilities, to the point of being cocky some might say, she did realize that the odds would be stacking against her when that happened. No.. time to end it!

With her free hand she retracted the sai a bit, preparing to plunge it straight through the white mare's chest and impaling her spark in the process. Or at least that had been her intent when the sudden pressure of her wrist getting twisted to the point of nearly breaking caught her attention. To avoid the injury and more so the pain that would come with it, Nemesis followed the movement and made a roll on the ground before leaping back onto her feet. She briefly rubbed her wrist, assuring that nothing had broken, while glaring at the other female's sickeningly warm smile.

Whitegrazer wrote:"If you can't calm the demons inside of you, I will calm them. I will teach you the power of serenity and control."

For a moment, the anger faded a bit, as Nemesis found herself in a different moment, another situation, altogether.

"We all have our demons,"

The voice held an eerie and uncomfortable edge to it, as if the speaker had been on the brink of panic. It had a familiarity to it at the same time that it sounded completely foreign.

We all have our demons..

It was her own voice that spoke the words at a moment of intolerable weakness. There was only one other present, a male whose face was obscured for a moment before his features became clear. She recognized him as her enemy, the one who had imprisoned her, the one who held the power to decide her fate. His face was stern, yet he showed her compassion.. He didn't offer forgiveness, exactly, but rather than having her killed for the crimes she had committed against him, he had let her live..

Nemesis did not understand why Optimus Primal had chosen to go down that path, and now this female Maximal only reinforced the notion.

It was becoming clear to her that this female, Whitegrazer, did not wish her harm. But why? She had killed several of them, never giving them the option of life. It was not in her nature to do so. They were in a war for survival where only the strongest could live.

She was a ruthless killer, determined to win at any cost.

So why was this Maximal attempting to not only analyze her, but even offer assistance? In fact she was going even further than Primal had done during their conversation in the cell. This one was offering a possibility of redemption.

But.. why?


Why did the other female persist when the cause was obviously a lost one? It was completely illogical and left Nemesis feeling more than a little uncomfortable. Kindness was not something she was accustomed to and as such she had no idea how to respond to it .

Looking down at the sai in her hand, Nemesis slowly lowered her arm so that it was hanging in a less threatening manner.

"Why are you doing this?," she finally asked, "Are all Maximals so naive that they truly believe everyone can be redeemed and live by their ethical codes..?"

A sigh followed.

Forgiving one's killer was just a concept Nemesis could not wrap her mind around. It didn't make her change her mind about what had to be done, however.

"Very well. Let's play it your way. In the pretense that you could offer me some absolution, then what? Do you honestly think that your kind will be as easily persuaded?"


She took a step closer, the sai remaining in her hand at her side.

"Do you really believe we could all live as a big happy family? Surely you're aware of the things I've done.. I hardly think the others will offer forgiveness as freely as you."


A faint smile again appeared on her face.

"You're a fool if you think you can protect me, Maximal."


The discussion was over. Again rising her sai, Nemesis plunged it straight at Whitegrazer's chest with enough force to run her through.

Silverstreak growled when she couldn’t get free, struggling having proven to be futile when Nemesis had a grip upon her arm. And being far smaller than the avian femme didn’t exactly help nor being weaker, as the grip only seemed to get tighter and tighter to the point the young femme thought she just might have the armor crushed. Luckily this wasn’t the case. But instead Silverstreak found herself easily being thrown, like she might as well have been a rag doll or the toy of a small child having a fit as she sent towards her teammates and landing hard enough it jarred her body.

The pain that followed though made Silverstreak shudder and grunt in pain, an expression of pain showing on her face, or at least her lower face as her visor hid her cyan colored optics. This pain wasn’t close to when Steelclaw’s explosive rounds had blown away part of her left side but it still made it return to her already sore, battered frame and causing her to wince as she began to move to stand. Though when the sound of shots were suddenly being fired in their direction the young fox femme reacted quickly of dodging by reflex and grabbing her tonfas that had slid away a few feet when she crashed. Luckily though they missed this time, and the rest were blocked by Dinobot’s timely arrival with the scrap metal he used as a temporary shield. She was actually quite grateful this arrival and it gave her a chance to glance around to find that the only one who remained was Rattrap who still lied in stasis lock from Arachnitron’s cyber venom.

“Dinobot I’ll be right back, I’m going to get Rattrap inside before he suffers any more damage.” She told the raptor, quickly putting away her tonfas and heading to the transmetal rat. But as she moved she glanced back towards Whitegrazer still fending off Nemesis despite all the damage she had sustained, something of which she admired about the older femme. In fact, she had come to admire the entire crew for their resilience and courage against the Predacon forces and she couldn’t be more honored to be part of this crew even if they were stranded on this prehistoric Earth.

Turning to glance down at Rattrap she finally lifted his limp form, finding he wasn’t exactly that heavy for her and moving to the lift as one of them came down. Stepping onto it she let it take them both up and frowned when seeing a majority of the Maximals were down and greatly in need of repairs as she gently set down Rattrap with the others. Swallowing back her concern that some of them might not make it Silverstreak once again grabbed her tonfas as the lift took her back down and she stepped off, watching towards the continuous struggle with their avian foe and towards the Predacons still facing Optimus.