"First Season Finale: Part II"

[Blazemane]

The first place Steelclaw stopped after Megatron sent everyone away from the bridge was Glowstick's room. He was going to take as much of the scientist's research as he could and store it in his own quarters; he wasn't sure what he'd be able to make of everything with his own pitiful level of mechanical knowledge, but something about having all that work sitting in an unguarded room with the likes of Blackarachnia, Tarantulas and Sonar (and even Scorponok) roaming around made him uneasy. He couldn't put his finger on why.

He debated with himself about it, too. It all felt like stealing, even though Glowstick was dead. Maybe he'd just look around and see if anything seemed particularly important...

When he arrived at the door, he pressed the button for the door to open, and then the obvious roadblock which he had not yet considered hit him- the door was locked.

Well, that was for the better, he supposed. Nobody else would be able to get into his room, then- at least no one besides Megatron, who would have been able to get into Steelclaw's quarters just as easily. Though, maybe one of the other scientists knew how to hack their way inside.

With nothing else to do, he should have just moved on and gone back to his own room. But Steelclaw was suddenly caught by the mental image of Glowstick's belongings-- his tank, his computers, his welding tools, his speaker retrofits-- sitting behind that locked door, waiting and ready to never be used. He wondered if there were any machines still on in there, and whether they would eventually run out of power and shut off where no one saw them.

"Glowstick..."

As if he would come and turn them off.

* * *

Cheetor stumbled back when Ironclaw pushed past him, but he didn't say anything. He was used to this kind of thing from Dinobot.

And he said he was fine, but he didn't seem like it. Cheetor was curious now, but... stasis nap?

Stasis nap.

One cycle later, he was in his room and completely gone.

[NaitoKage]

"Glowstick..."

Everything seemed silent, as it should, until Steelclaw heard a noticeable click as the door unlocked and opened. The room was rather dark with a low glow from leds of an assortment of equipment.

a distorted static came from Steelclaw's comlink, followed by a voice You've been expected.. Though I have no reason to wonder why you were using the radio on the Leviathan.. but I advise that may be too dangerous in the future depending on who you call.. You may enter, I'm sure you have things to discuss.

______________


As dawn had arrived, not too long multiple signals were detected on the variety of computers. Each base computer detecting an abnormal energy signature had suddenly shown up with a remarkably similar frequency to the signature at the standing stones. The location was Grid Trion.

The computers also detected that an assortment of stasis pods had been knocked out of orbit prematurely, however due to the alien energy signature, the amount of plasma generated in re-entry was abnormal, making the computers estimates on how many pods were coming down as inaccurate with an estimate of 2 to 4, with a suspected one or two landing near a coastal region not too far from the Maximal and Pred base, while a second definitively landing in a forest also not too far away.

(Okay, you can write in for Silverstreak Wildfire. Left things a bit ambiguous if Cubic doesn't want to pop in, or if Alak feels he's too busy to bring Buster in yet. )

[Wildfire94]

((Sweet thanks NK!Here comes Silverstreak!!))

Megatron yawned as nothing really seemed to be of great importance at the current moment, not since the Maximals had made a successful escape with important information he had decoded from the Golden disk, which he was still annoyed with and knew this would cause much more tension among the two sides. Their attack earlier had just been the start of it and the Maximals countering to obtain information fueled the fire that could break the 'truce' he had offered, oh yes the purple t-rex was well aware that this truce wouldn't last forever. He wouldn't it allow it for long. In fact he was looking to get the upper hand on the Maximals if the Golden Disk provided more information to...

Suddenly the alarms were going off which made Megatron lean up in his energon hot tube, the computer warning of a handful of stasis pods coming down but an abnormality was causing some issues in the exact number. "Hmm, this similar to the incident at the standing stones but an opportunity for new troops, yes." It caused further irritation for not knowing how many stasis pods had crashed but there were sure decent enough leads on their locations, making it somewhat of an easier task but not by much. "Attention all predacons, unknown number of stasis pods have been detected at coordinates Grid Trion. All avaliable Predacons are to retrieve them at once and remember we are at a cease-fire so handle the situations...peacefully."He ordered, adding a hint of sarcasm about the peaceful ways. Turning off his communications Megatron gave a wide wicked grin,"A chance for more Predacons means more troops and more pawns, yes."He said as he lifted the rubber ducky in his jaw hands, as if speaking to it.

===============

Upon hearing the announcement Onyx had peered up from polishing his rifle, tilting his head at the mention of more stasis pods which surprised him a little bit, considering it had been merely a few days before that his own stasis pod had crash landed which meant he wouldn't be the newbie and most likely target of blame. Though he probably should have argued his defense Onyx had quickly learned Megatron wouldn't have quite cared, long as someone was to blame he could just put that blame and give the punishment, even if it wasn't pleasant. The black stallion had merely sighed and was shrugging it off, not finding it a need to dwell on and pushed it to the back of his mind.

Standing as he placed his rifle on his back and grabbed his pistol, the first weapon he had polished to past the time, stretched for a moment before he made his way to the door and stepped outside. Giving a quick glance he didn't quite see anyone else getting ready yet so he took the initiative to head out before them, not wanting to hear sneering, jokes, and comments about being confined to quarters so he took off to the hanger, transforming as he came outside and took off full gallop towards the one having landed in the forest.

================

Upon crashing along the edge of the forest and a little ways off from the ocean the stasis pod had luckily remained in one piece, allowing for the normal functions to begin the process of activation. "Scanning for suitable lifeform," The computer said as the DNA scanner popped up, activating two transparent yellow lights to scan in a 360-degree circle to find signs of life and just as it was about to finish a small canine creature darted away in fright of the light running over it before the scanner returned to the pod. "Life form found, beginning download."

Few kilks after the top of the pod hissed as it opened, leaving a small crack enough for a small silver-black furred muzzle to sniff the air slightly before popping it's head up to reveal a Wild Silver Fox to replace the protoform once housed inside. Cyan colored eyes blinked for a moment as she peered around before pushing the top up more with her head and jumping down to the dirt, turning in a circle to take in the sights with awe,"Wow...now this is a planet! No metal, no buildings, just organic life!"A young female voice said with excitement, having looking forward to exploring. "Silverstreak, maximize!"She commanded as her head went down to cover part of her chest, her front legs folding behind her arms and leaving her more humanoid hands out and leaving fur along the sides of her upper arms and upper legs while her back pas made up the top of her feet and the back became like low heeled shoes. Part of her stomach remained with fur below the head and just above that was her 'breast' plating and along her sides and part of her chest showed her armor with a rib cage like metal long her sides.

Overall Silverstreak was lithe and slender for a young femme and her head was circular in the primary shape with fox-like ear designs along the sides of the top, an M shape around her face down to rectangular face vents, and a triangular protrusion running down the middle of her head and her tail remained in her robot form. Looking around once more, using her visor to scan heat signatures the black and silver femme decided to wait for a bit to see if anyone else came around and turned on her stealth mode before quietly taking refuge behind some pushes and crouching, watching where her stasis pod laid and waited.

[New Moon]

"Aren't you a flea bag too Rattrap?"Frilla asked teasingly, having heard him from the hall as she was heading to the bridge finally, giving a quick glance at the others but couldn't help shaking her head at the little moment between Ironclaw and Wintersong. It seemed in a short time span they had become pretty close, not just friends or comrades either which seemed to be common lately. "Is cupid hitting everyone all of a sudden?"She said to Rattrap as she came to the console giving a glance to where Feralnight was who hadn't said much lately which was becoming very odd for the fuzor. Her being so silent for so long just wasn't well her.

Shrugging it off the frilled lizard looked back at the monitors until the computer warned of several stasis pods beginning to enter the atmosphere or preparing to land, but at the same time there was an abnormality. "Hey guys looks like it's time to go pod hunting, about 2 or 4 stasis pods at once but it's hard to say for sure in Grid Trion." She said while looking over the coordinates but looked towards the signal being detected,"This signal...seems our Vok friends might have been careless and brought some friends down."She added.

Feralnight looked back when Rattrap followed by Frilla came in but she merely nodded and looked back at the key board connected to the Axalon computers, not in much of a talking mood and still a little tired from not getting much sleep. All because her nightmares were keeping her awake when she got the chance for rest the last couple days. 'I really need to consider tell them, might get this issue off my back.' She thought with a yawn and shifted her wings a bit on her back before jumping a bit as the alarm went off followed by the Axalon computer warning of multiple stasis pods coming towards the planet which meant they would be off on a retrieval mission soon.

Stretching slightly she turned in the chair to face them,"Guess we better get moving soon. No doubt the Predacons will be heading off to gain some friends of their own, or well pawns as they like to call them."She said, yawning once more and shaking her head to shake off the sleepiness.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"Aren't you a flea bag too Rattrap?"

"Awe, you noticed," Rattrap played along with the frilled lizard, teasingly batting his black eyes at her from his chair. "Don't you have ta go shed a layer of dead skin or somethin'?" he smirked.

"Is cupid hitting everyone all of a sudden?"

Snickering, the brown rat commented, "Ironclaw is Cupid, Frills. Didn't you know? And you might be next on his list, you know, so you betta watch out." After a wink, Rattrap grew more serious when Frilla and the computer alerted them of incoming stasis pods.

"Hey guys looks like it's time to go pod hunting, about 2 or 4 stasis pods at once but it's hard to say for sure in Grid Trion."

"At least they ain't too far away for once," said the brown rodent as he attempted to triangulate the positions of their landings or predicted paths but it was useless. There was some kind of interferance.

"This signal...seems our Vok friends might have been careless and brought some friends down."

"Eh?" Rattrap peeked over at Frilla's monitor. Not liking the idea of the Vok possibly having a play in knocking down some of their stasis pods, an unsettling feeling emerged in his gut. "Can you get more data from that crazy amount of plasma?" he asked Frilla.

"Guess we better get moving soon. No doubt the Predacons will be heading off to gain some friends of their own, or well pawns as they like to call them."

Glancing over at Feralnight, surprised that she had finally spoken - what was her deal lately? he'd have to investigate her more sooner or later - Rattrap nodded at her in agreement but thought it wise to get some of the others' attention before the few of them would rushed off. "Couldn't sleep?" he inquird the wolf/raven Fuzor.

"Yo, Big Green," he called to Rhinox through his communication link, wherever the big guy was, "we gotta situation 'ere. Multiple stasis pods inbound and alien interferance. You wanna come to the bridge an' check it out?"

[Alak]

Rhinox barged onto the bridge.

"I'm here!" he exclaimed.

He was unable to get any sleep that evening, so instead he chose to lurk around the ship. The news of stasis pods arriving caught his attention just as his late night walk was nearing the command center.

"Track the pods' trajectory and get me coordinates as soon as they're calculated. We'll round up anyone who is still awake and willing to journey out to retrieve the protoforms."

[starshadow]

((Hmm...nobody responding to the trapped cat banging the doors? :/ ))

[NaitoKage]

( Er, technically those doors should be able to unlock from inside..so Starshadow should be able to open it unless she broke the lock.. or doesn't know how..)

The second pod broke through the atmosphere, a burning spray of plasma and fire rolling over it's haul as it broke through at frighting speeds, only to have it's under carriage thrusters kick in and reduce it's velocity.

The craft came down with a hard splash into the ocean coastline, jarring the stasis pod violently but surprisingly surviving with little visible damage. The DNA scanner on the stasis pod opened and raised on it's mechanical arm as the computer spoke "Scanning for suitable life form," which followed with two wide beams of energy scanning the coastline, it then stopped and spoke once more "Life form found, beginning download."

The hatch on the pod opened slowly only a crack as a set of brown banded tentacles slide out,pulling the creature through rather effortlessly. The mimic Octopus glanced over itself and it's surroundings, as his colors started to change to jet black and gold accented. He felt as the ocean's tide pushed and pulled his body, sliding his waterlogged pod towards the surface beach.

A planet covered in.. water..? But why am I here?.. I can't remember.. he placed a tentacle against his mantle, his mind had come to a blank. Well.. I guess I'll figure that out.. for now, I should do what I can remember.. Umbra, Maximize!

He walked out of the water, observing the area carefully as he made it to the coast line. In a situation of survival, observation of the area from a high point would provide an advantage, normally. After looking around for awhile, he soon realized the area was realitively flat other then trees. Walking towards a palm tree he swiftly made his way up it with the help of his extra appendages, hanging from the side he raised his hand above his optics as a means of shade against the light, his body instinctively taking the color and texture of the palm tree's bark as he surveyed the land, he then glanced towards the ocean seeing nothing but blue as far as the optic could register.

He then thought for a moment. The ocean was vast, perhaps being being the majority of the planet. Would it be auspicious for him to explore the ocean, or traverse the dry sandy beach and grove of palm and other species of plant life? The Topography seemed easier to navigate and map then the sea. Alright, I guess I'll explore this area, if it becomes rough I can just turn back and explore the sea, or find another route.. he thought to himself, then sprung off the tree, his tentacles grabbing the next and swinging his body forward through the branches, almost like an ape.

[starshadow]

((OOC: She can't since her shoulder joints were ruined (or severly damaged) by the fight with Vissy. I thought the quarter doors were the sliding type. The loud bangs made by the kicks should be loud enough for anyone to hear... ))

[una]

"No,"

Whitegrazer was relieved, but she knew she would have to talk to him, "That's good. I must talk to him and ask him not to speak Steeclaw's name. Steelclaw and I both promised each other to not tell what happened there to avoid danger from our opposing sides except to a person we trusted most. I trust you, Optimus."

"Spur of the moment?" Primal repeated her words in a rhetorical tone as his crimson optics drifted away from her gaze, disappointment flashing across his face. "That was incredibly risky to approach him by yourself, Whitegrazer," he said in a soft voice. "After all, it had only been hours after he had shot Icebreaker," as his optics lifted up again to fixate back onto hers. In a thoughtful stammer, Optimus added, "I... I don't think he meant to actually kill him, though. Some Maximals may disagree... Primus knows what Orcariner will do if... when he finds out, if he hasn't already." Worry filled his optics. "I'm not even sure Steelclaw knows." What a tragic and painful situation it was. And how was Orcariner coping so far? The largest Maximal had been awfully quiet all night long. Quiet and secluded. It concerned Optimus greatly. He should approach him when he was done meeting with Whitegrazer.

"Was there a willingness of compromise or co-operation?"

She held a soft smile at Optimus' reaction for admitting the risk she was taking but did it anyway. It reminded her how she missed someone's rebuttal her sometimes risk nature, especially when it dealt with her mission. Her master did and still does, but this was different. Her master was always there for her even back on Cybertron, a planet a tick away from exploding in war and chaos. From the battlefields, tribunals, betrayals she suffered from those close and from the people she swore to protect and defend, her master was the only constant until she went on the Axalon that is.

But the soft smile changed into sadness then disappointment when Optimus mentioned Steelclaw being involved in Icebreaker's death.

"Orcariner and Icebreaker were close." She herself had been concerned just as Optimus was at Orcariner's absence.

Mentally, she shook those thoughts and went back to discussing what Steelclaw and her conversed about.

"We talked on neutral ground. It was mostly a philsophical debate, but we never came to a consensus on the topic of peace. Steelclaw believes Maximals will always to try to control Predacons and vice versa. From what I can tell, he believes this war could change things for the Predacons back on Cybertron. Free them from their oppression. They believe war is their only option."

"But he is wrong on both accounts. We have seen that Maximals can work together with Predacons. Evidence that has been proven by you, Optimus, " her soft smile returned, "You had taken in Dinobot, Frilla, and Starshadow. You had also taken in a Cybertronian suffering from split personalities and you and the rest had treated her as a person, not a slave nor a second-class citizen."

"War doesn't solve problems. It causes them. Even if it did solve one, many more would have taken its place. If Predacons won, what would happen?" She asked rhetorically, " History has shown that new wars are caused by the remains of old ones. The ones who have lost would have taken the place of the victors. Oppressed, they will fight to gain their freedom just as the victors' had done to them. It's a cycle that will continue unless there can be a peace, but it would take both sides to compromise which certain individuals on both sides will not allow."

"As a Maximal, I have seen the evils of my own kind on Predacons and sadly, on other Maximals," she had first-hand evidence on that,"but so have I seen the evils of Predacons on us and their own."

"Maximals or Predacons? What are our differences beyond our insignia and designs? We are all Cybertronians. Individuals. Yes, individuals can be cruel, selfish, sadistic, vile, controlling and corrupted, but that's just one side of the mirror, of the world. The other side is that individuals can be compassionate, selfless, merciful, and innocent. Every soul is different and tells a tale wrapped in layers of experiences and beliefs."

"It's a world of grey, but that doesn't mean right and wrong have totally disappeared. Everyone is responsible for their own actions, choices and the conquences that follow them. We all have the free will to choose our own destinies, our own fate. People can change, but we can only offer it. It is they who have to accept it or decline it."

"I can't change Steelclaw's beliefs nor can he change mine. I can only tell him what I believe. He can choose to think about it or dismiss it. It's his choice, but he will have to live with the consequences of it like I do with mine. With more time and conversations, we will just have to see. "

She wondered if, at least, she changed his perception on her. That will have to be seen when they continued the conversations.

She chuckled jokingly at herself, "My master was right. I can't summarize anything. I always turn everything into a speech. I'm surprised I lived as long as I have with my mouth back on Cybertron. Primus knows lots of people want to shut me up."

Sighing softly, she tilted her head to her left still carrying a smile.

[Blazemane]

You've been expected.. Though I have no reason to wonder why you were using the radio on the Leviathan.. but I advise that may be too dangerous in the future depending on who you call.. You may enter, I'm sure you have things to discuss.

Steelclaw was confused by the sudden turn of events, but it seemed obvious enough that he should go into the room that had just been opened for him, so he did.

"So... unless you're a better mech-builder than I have you pegged you for, it was you that Megatron tossed in lava; you're dead, or... 'you' are dead. What am I missing here?"

He expected the next answer from his com-link, but he had to keep himself from jumping when it was Megatron's voice he heard and not Glowstick's.

Attention all predacons, unknown number of stasis pods have been detected at coordinates Grid Trion. All avaliable Predacons are to retrieve them at once and remember we are at a cease-fire so handle the situations...peacefully.

"Peaceful... protoform retrieval," he muttered. "Yes. This is going to take some ingenuity."

* * *

Dinobot was almost directly behind Rhinox, and would have followed him all the way to the bridge, but he stopped himself when he heard a knocking on Starshadow's door.

Out of curiosity, he tried to open the door, and found it locked. At a complete loss for words he shook his long head and continued on his way down the hall.

Track the pods' trajectory and get me coordinates as soon as they're calculated. We'll round up anyone who is still awake and willing to journey out to retrieve the protoforms.

"Hmm... and those who are not ready and willing to journey out; can we make them of the opposite persuasion?"

Where was Rattrap, on that note? Ah, right there in the bridge. Good to know for the immediate future...

[Wintersong]

Seeing that Ironclaw was much more relaxed Wintersong was glad for that, since she still really didn't see the reason why he would need to be but none the less she was still glad the nervousness was gone. Though it seemed his confidence returned when that smile was now a grin and the sudden gentle tug closer certainly showed it, even making the white tigress feel like she could be blushing then if they could before the alert of the stasis pods were quick to ruin the moment more then Rattrap and Frilla's remarks. "I wouldn't mind telling you some things Ironclaw, though duty calls."She said, hating the fact that sometimes the stasis pods could come down on the worse possible moments but at the same time this could be a good thing.

"Though we could always talk on the way to one of the stasis pods if your up for it."She suggested with a slight grin in return before letting Ironclaw's hand go to see the locations where Frilla and Rhinox were looking into. Her spark sank however at seeing one had crashed in or near the ocean, the last thing she wanted was to be near any form of water, especially the ocean. "I volunteer to help retrieve the one in the forest, no way am I going near the ocean again." She said immediately before someone could assign the locations to them. Unfortunately her fear of water was still there.

[starshadow]

((OOC: Sorry for the late response as I was waiting for the damsel in distress to be "rescued" by her knight-in-shining-armor but everyone seems to be...ignoring her *except for Dinobot, it's understandable* I thought I could post it with Cece but *sighs* I guess not...Since it's late-morning if I'm correct, I'll be putting Cece somewhere else since I have completely forgotten about her...))

"Attention all predacons, unknown number of stasis pods have been detected at coordinates Grid Trion. All avaliable Predacons are to retrieve them at once and remember we are at a cease-fire so handle the situations...peacefully."

Cecaelia bursted out of her quarters and ran to the bridge, "PODS?! WHERE WHERE?!" she looked at the screen and took some time to choose a coordinate, "to ocean!"

And with that, she rushed out of the Darksyde and ran towards the chosen pod location. She need to stop thinking about Glowstick's death anyway.

((OOC: Is it confirmed that Aphrodite is joining this thread? if not, I could change to another coordinates since Cece is the only marine unit of the preds now..I'm going to pity her if she faces the big sea mammal.))

[Mystrea]

Ironclaw saw that Wntersong was comfortable around and by the reaction she had to to him tugging on her, he was certai there was something there. He could see it in the way she smiled at him. Like her, the remarks didn't bother him either and he just carried on. However the stasis pod alert was enough to ruin the moment. He sighed a bit when he heard and knew they had to get to it. She did seem willing to tell him about herself whic was significant to him. She offered to talk to him during the trip to the stasis pod. Though she did it in such a way, with a grin to make him think she was suggesting something more.

He was about to tighten his grip on her hand but she pulled away from him and went to the monitor. He walked up behind her and discretely placed his hand on her lower back and saw that the stasis pod was in a forest. At that point Wntersong mentioned not wanting to go near the ocean. He was curious about it and might ask her about it. He squeezed her with his hand, his hand almost able to grip round her waist. " I'll go with Wintersong"

[Blackrosefencer]

OOC: @ Stashadow, if the doors ARE sliding doors shouldn't they just slide open automatically? Shouldn't the fact that she is standing by the door be enough for it to open? It's a legit question....they rarely showed the doors on the show....the doors were either aleady open or already closed when the scene started, but if they are sliding doors then she doesn't even need her shoulders, does she?