"OC Episode #5"

[Alak]

Not wanting to risk breaking the frozen surface of the quicksand, Orcariner instead took off in a quick sprint and jumped over to the other end. Walking away, he waved his arm towards Icebreaker and the rest of the group. The orca knew they were right. Based on what the group had experienced thus far, danger was certain to be ahead for him. Orcariner did feel some comfort knowing that the duo consisted of the Maximal's most defensive guardian and the Predacon's most offensive gunner. Granted, they were both injured. He chose to disregard that fact for the sake of maintaining confidence of walking into an uncertain situation.

"Pretty crazy, huh," he said to Steelclaw, who was following him from behind, "Took the lot of us to fight one alien. Now the two of us are walking into the unknown alone... probably about to walk into something worse."

Doubts were entering Orcariner's mind now. After a moment of courage inspired by an urge for satiating curiosity, he found himself growing unsure of his decision. Not only was his life on the line, but he had Steelclaw to look after, as well. Yes, the latter was a Predacon and should he fall in battle, Megatron's forces would be severely disadvantaged in the Beast Wars. Orcariner fought against that mentality. The two of them literally fell into this situation together, and the two of them will rise out of it alive. The Maximal recalled that Steelclaw was strongly independent in spirit. Perhaps it would not be necessary to worry over the bear's safety at all. Yet, Orcariner knew his protective nature would eventually win over.

This is probably going to be the death of me.

He tried to fight against that mentality, as well. Orcariner needed to remind himself that he was built to withstand punishment. He needed to remind himself that he endured worse before. Actually, taking another look at his body the killer whale knew that was a lie, but he went through a lot before. This was just another mission to add to his mental reminders. It will be his "I've had worse" story for future moments such as this.

[NaitoKage]

He watched as Orcariner headed off. Upon hearing no radio response to his call, Icebreaker loaded his grappling hook into his gun, then fired up towards the newly made hole. He then had the winch in the gun activate pulling him up to the hole. He climbed up as he spoke Radio silence likely means they're in battle..We'll have to go over there for support.

He then disconnected the wire from his grappling hook and reloaded his magnetic one, then pulled it out tossing the line at Rhinox, a loud clang noise followed as the hook attached to Rhinox's chest. Rhinox cringed slightly at the noise, then walked over to Rattrap grabbing him by the shoulder Alright, lets go.

Icebreaker walked back a bit and braced himself as he started the winch, lifting the two maximals up from the dark cavern. As Rhinox came to the hole,he raised his other arm grabbing the hole edge. Icebreaker moved closer to the hole drawing his knife and leaning closer to the ground slamming it into the ground, he then holstered his gun to his side and leaned closer grabbing Rattrap and pulling him up. Rhinox then lifted his arm which Icebreaker then grabbed and pulled him up falling backwards after from the sudden shift in weight. Oof..

Icebreaker got back up onto his feet detaching the magnetic hook from Rhinox and put it away with his knife, he activated his tactical visor looking over the area for a moment, then zoomed in on the battle ahead. ... That looks like a mess. Alright, lets get moving! Rhinox, your with me. Rattrap, circle around and help Rhinox flank those female predacons. I'll deal with getting Saber back to normal.. he said, then ejected the magazine from his gun loading a new one. He then threw down his shield as it transformed and stepped onto it.

Rhinox stepped on the board drawing his chaingun seeming a bit uneasy with two similarly sized people on it, Icebreaker then started up the board rushing towards the battlefield, as they got closer Rhinox shouted Get away from them! and aimed at the two females firing his chaingun in an attempt to maybe throw off their attack's aim.

[Night-Hunter]

The creature felt some thing cold near it feet but didn't take it eyes off the clone. One could bash it in the head with a two by four and it wouldn't notice. It growled and backed off when it saw a sword kill the clone, it didn't take its eyes off the others.

"Whitegrazer!"

"Oof!"

Optimus! Saber cried deep within the beast.

She had to fight hard to keep the creature to attack and kill the one who fired on Optimus, she couldn't allow Sonar to be right.

The sound of guns drove the creature deeper into the woods, only it's eyes could be seen in the dim light of the thick trees.

I have to get out of here, before I lose complete control! She told herself.

[starshadow]

"Get away from them!"

Bullets from Rhinox's chainguns hit the femme's backs, leaving black burn spots. It did hurt but that will never stop them from hurting their comrades.

Starshadow stopped and slightly turned around and narrowed her optics. She quickly took Cecaelia's venom blaster and fired two shots on the board. "Oops! Reflexes."

Cecaelia just looked at Starshadow, "We'll be surrounded by the maximals soon. What now?"

The catbot thought for awhile then looked at Clear Convoy and Optimus. "Hmmm..take the unconcious one. I think that's the alien I've been wanting to kill..." she could still remember the first time they met. Greeting with a gun on her neck and a goodbye with a blast of it.

Cecaelia walked towards the unconcious maximal leader with her tentacles wrapping around his arms and chest and started to drag him away from the battlefield with Starshadow following her slowly.

[una]

((OOC: Yeah! Good ol' Primal! ))

Since Tigatron was able to observe the area more than the others who were distracted, his sharp optics spotted Starshadow's plasma ball heading right toward the mare's back. "Whitegrazer!" he shouted to warn her. He could not have moved fast enough to push her out of the way.

Hearing Tigatron call the white equine's name, Optimus looked around to find what he was talking about and immediately reacted. Whitegrazer needed to keep spraying that ice on the clone so he'd have no chance of escaping, but Primal was in no condition to maximize. Dropping his sword, the gorilla leaped to the side and selflessly took Starshadow's projectile right in the middle of his upper chest to keep it from hitting his female comrade. "Oof!" The force of the shot tumbled him backwards, stretching and crushing his injured shoulder in the process that had been leaking quite a bit of fluid now as he hit the ground, and the Maximal leader laid flat on his back. A large, circular portion of his beast mode's skin and fur had been melted and burned down to his armor, a tiny stream of smoke sizzling up into the air from the fresh wound. Primal laid there unconsious for the time being, unable to object to Dinobot's next move.

She heard Tigratron yelling her name and turned her head to see Optimus taking a shot that was intended for her, "Optimus!" The predacon girls were firing at them, hitting Whitegrazer a couple of times but she kept focused and saw the girls have trouble of their own. It was Rhinox! Did they find a way out?

Looking up at Dinobot who towered over him in front of Saber-Fang who stood on top of the clone, and Whitegrazer beside him working on freezing his legs to the ground, he managed to hold his glare at all of them, even while facing Dinobot's sharp sword. "Clear Convoy's" optics darkened, bracing himself for the end. He showed no fear for death; no emotion at all. As the narrow blade came down and pierced his head, sparks flew out of his smashed optic sensors and a bolt of electricity shot up through Dinobot's sword. A jolt jumped through the clone's body, shattering the layers of ice that Whitegrazer had just applied. Then it was silent... except for a faint beeping coming from the lifeless body that was rapidly growing faster. Self-destruction had been activated. Anyone near the body had better back away.

Whitegrazer had to cringe when she saw that sword stab into the alien clone's head but it wasn't over yet as she heard the faint beeping that became louder each second. Widening her eyes, she realized what was going to happen, "Everyone, run! Go! GO!"

Saber had jumped into the woods...the Beast she meant. She helped Tigratron up and helped him gain distance before she sat Tigratron down. She saw Optimus being dragged by the girls ad raced towards them. She flipped and had her foot hit the side of Cecaelia's head with her open palm fist ready to dive into Starshadow's chest to push her away.

______________________________________________________________________

Blackarachnia was following the small path in front of her, continuing her way as fast as she could. She will have that device!

[Wintersong]

When everyone else had pretty much come out Wintersong growled and followed Frillatowards the doors jumping when some laser blasts fired across the hall and she dashed forward picking up the Frilled lizard before she ended up bar-b-qed,"Man I've had it with this temple or tunnel network to last the rest of my function."She muttered to Frilla before stopping near the doors and pulling them open again,"Beast mode!"She commanded and transformed before looking at Frilla,"Come on Frilla get on, I'll get you out of here faster. We can regroup with Feral and get out of here." She said before moving to where she could just make ou the shape of the fuzor and the stasis locked Glowstick who still seemed to be out.

[New Moon]

Frilla hadn't expected the trap that had lied ahead with the energy blasts or it could have been alsers too but the frilled lizard hissed and moved forward but winced as one skimmed her back, feeling a sting fromt he burn. Though before she had moved much further she felt herself lifted from the ground and looked to see Wintersong move her out of the way and avoiding being hit,"Agreed. And I just hope the others didn't face too much trouble." She said with concern hurriedly climbing onto the tigeress's back and holding on as they moved.

Feralnight looked back at them as they approached and looked forward,"Well guess we better hope some Predacons still remain." She sighed and spread her wings slightly,"Computer divert weapon power to field dampers."She ordered and picked the stretcher up before taking flight and heading out of the cave and into the open skies again,"Feralnight to Maximals, most everyone is out of the caves." She reported but sniffed the air and narrowed her eyes as she smelled Cecaelia and Starshadow,"Well seems some stuck around after all."She flapped her wings and flew towards their location glancing at Glowstick briefly, wondering if the two would remain though among them she could smell Whitegrazer and Optimus which concerned her and the fuzor moved a bit more quickly.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: at Cecaelia and Starshadow! Nice. Kidnapping the monkey. ))

Coughing lightly, Optimus was slowly resuming consciousness but something felt off. Was he moving? How long had he been out? He could feel his back dragging along the ground with a slight pressure around his severely damaged chest, a trail of mechanical fluid leaking from the hole through his shoulder dampened the grass that he was being dragged over. Moving his arms, agony crossing his systems from his shoulder, they felt bound. What...? Looking around, Primal found that Cecaelia had his upper body restrained in her tentacles and was pulling him away from his crew and the battle scene. Lifting his head off of the ground just a bit, he saw Starshadow following them. Unaware of their intentions, he kept himself calm. With Cecaelia's tentacles wrapped around him, even Optimus and all of his strength would have a very difficult time escaping the power of her suction cups.

"Everyone, run! Go! GO!"

"Saber-Fang!" Tigatron called after her, but she, or the beast in control of her, didn't miss a step retreating further into the woods. He felt like someone should follow her and not leave her alone on her own. The Predacons were still out there somewhere. He was surprised how quiet they had been all this time. Maybe they left with their wounded after all? Would Megatron actually give up the transwarp device that easily? Or perhaps they made a run for it while the Maximals were distracted with the clone.

Assisted by Whitegrazer, Tigatron limped away with her from the alien's body as quickly as he could. When they stopped, he watched her go back to help their commander. In the mean time, he reverted back to his beast mode, allowing repairs to begin on his cut leg. The white tiger turned his head back toward the forest, pondering about his next move. Stay there and make sure no one else needs his help, or turn around and search for the former general? Decisions...

BOOM! The clone's body's termination shook the ground, sending all kinds of debris in every direction. Anyone in close proximity would have been damaged severely, or sent into stasis lock. Nothing was left except for a large crater in the ground covered in soot. Rocks and shards of stone scattered the area, and a shock wave skimmed the ground about a foot above it.

What was that? What happened?! thought Optimus, hearing the explosion and feeling the ground tremble a little under his back. He feared it had something to do with Saber-Fang who he remembered had recently lost control over herself. Looking around, he couldn't see much of anything from his low position on the ground, being dragged through the grass on his back. Suddenly, he saw Whitegrazer flash by and heard a small collision that caused Cecaelia to loosen her grip on him. ((OOC: I won't say she released OP because that's up to SS.)) The gorilla got an idea; hopefully while Starshadow remained distracted by Whitegrazer. Painfully rolling onto his stomach and chest as he crushed his injured shoulder, Primal rolled again in the same direction onto his back, and then again onto his stomach, attempting to twist Cecaelia's tentacles and make her release him.

-----

Radio silence likely means they're in battle..We'll have to go over there for support.

Rattrap wondered what sort of mess they'd be getting into once they were above ground again. It never ended!

"Need a lift Rattrap?"

Alright, lets go.

"Thanks, Airazor, but you betta save your strength," the rat recommended when he felt Rhinox grab his shoulder. "Who knows what's goin' on up there." The small Maximal was suddenly lifted up by Icebreaker and climbed up on top of the ground. He still didn't like the idea of leaving Orcariner down there. It was so dangerous. He had risked so much protecting all of them, and now it was like he was just throwing his life away.

... That looks like a mess. Alright, lets get moving! Rhinox, your with me. Rattrap, circle around and help Rhinox flank those female predacons. I'll deal with getting Saber back to normal..

Expressing anymore worry over the whale Maximal would have to wait. Rattrap nodded to the penguin and pulled out his gun. He broke away from the group and started sneaking over very quickly to flank Starshadow and Cecaelia on the opposing side of 'Breaker and Big Green. Just when he was about to fire, Whitegrazer stepped into the arena, and he also spotted Optimus on the ground. Crouching on the ground, he hesitated to fire. Optimus appeared to be restrained and the femmes might use him as a hostage. Whitegrazer was too close and in the way of his line of fire. Slag!

[Blazemane]

There was a satisfying sense of finality in seeing the alien's optics grow dim. But Dinobot knew he couldn't stand still with the Predacons attacking. And once the robot in front of him started beeping, he was given further motivation to run.

Saber Fang was in no great danger- she could wait for assistance. But seeing Optimus getting taken made Dinobot's fluid boil. He charged after the two Predacons, sword at the ready.

He just barely got out of the clone's range. He was bowled over by the shockwave of the explosion, and he took a small amount of shrapnel in various places along the back of his frame, but nothing was critically damaged.

Pulling himself to his feet with a snarl, he quickly resumed his charge.

* * *

Cheetor looked down the hole. He wasn't going to leave until Scorponok and Terrorsaur found a way up. He liked the idea of leaving them alone, but Big 'Bot would have made sure they got safe after the way the whole group had gotten along with each other in the caverns.

"Hey," he called down. "Uh... you guys gonna need any help?"

* * *

Steelclaw was shaken to the ground once Orcariner's considerable weight came down on the other side of the pit. Fortunately, the frozen sand held.

As he got up and started walking again, he spoke to the Maximal. "Hey, I know you're excited to see what's up ahead, but you don't have to bounce the whole way to prove it."

Pretty crazy, huh? Took the lot of us to fight one alien. Now the two of us are walking into the unknown alone... probably about to walk into something worse.

Steelclaw paused for a second in thought before speaking. His next answer was considerably more somber.

"Finding courage in the face of danger can be complex and difficult, but I think we both have experience with that, and since we're continuing to walk ahead, it's clear we've found some form of bravery or another. What I'm more interested in is why we've chosen to find that bravery.

"I think some things are worth risking your life to find out. Of course... this probably isn't such a thing. Truth be told, I came because you said you were going, and I wasn't about to let you just pursue your mission without me pursuing my own.

"Suppose this transwarp signal comes from a device we can actually take and use. Megatron wants it. Optimus wants it. But more importantly, I want it and you want it, if only for the sake of our respective teams. But only one of us can have it, and it may very well come down to who can take it- whether by force, or by strategy.

"Does that bother you? Does that make you think I'm wrong? Does that make you think you're wrong? And, with this grim possibility of confrontation in mind, why do you exercise courage now and charge on ahead towards the threat of aliens traps and one another? What's motivating you?"

[Night-Hunter]

"Saber-Fang!"

For some reason the creature didn't reconize Tigatron's voice, so it simply ignored the striped cat. As it turned to walk away the clone exploded, luckily no shrapnel hit the creature. But the noise is what got, growling in pain, it rubbed its ear with the back of its paw and shaking its head.

Dear Primus, what the heck was that? She wondered.

Ears ringing and partly deaf, the creature headed deeper into the woods.

[starshadow]

((OOC: They iz evilzzzz.... ))

"GAWK!!" Cecaelia just got kicked by a fat horsebot and almost fell on the ground, loosening her grip a little on Optimus. She then felt her tentacles were twisting but it didn't hurt since tentacles never had bones like fishes and warm blooded creatures, especially reptiles. "STOP TWISTING THEM, MONKAAYYY!! OR I'LL BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF!!" she yelled at him and continue to drag him deeper into the woods as fast as she could.

Starshadow skillfully grabbed Whitegrazer's wrist when the horse attempted to push her away with a palm, then forcefully pulled her closer, slamming her elbow on her face and pushed her head away and quickly caught up to Cecaelia.

[NaitoKage]

As the shot came towards Icebreaker and Rhinox, he leaned back kicking up his shield to take the shot. Rhinox losing his balance from the board and falling off landing with one knee on the ground, he then got up Beast mode! he shouted as he started charging after the two females, ramming through a tree as if it was made of cardboard on his way.

Icebreaker blinked and shrugged, accelerating once again easily catching up to Cecaelia, seeming to bump the lever for his gun with his leg. As he came closer he suddenly tackled Cecaelia, while pointing his right arm out,using his left arm to keep himself from completely crushing her, he aimed towards Starshadow firing off an ice blast towards her legs to trip her up. Icebreaker then looked down towards Cecaelia Um.. Hi. Fancy meeting you here.. Mind releasing my leader? Maybe we could even make a trade. he then said leveling his aim toward Starshadow's upper body.

Rhinox slowed down transforming to his robot mode drawing both of his guns pointing them towards Starshadow Don't move an inch.. Optimus, are you alright?

[una]

((OOC: Those girls... ))

Starshadow skillfully grabbed Whitegrazer's wrist when the horse attempted to push her away with a palm, then forcefully pulled her closer, slamming her elbow on her face and pushed her head away and quickly caught up to Cecaelia.

Whitegrazer was impressed by Starshadow's counter, taking the elbow to the face wih a smile despite the situation. She held her face for a second and kept her balance from the shockwave the explosion before she caught up with the females as Icebreaker and Rhinox entered the fray also noticing Dinobot charging and he looked pretty ticked.

Standing close to Optimus, she looked at both of the girls than at Starshadow, "Nice counter you gave me back there. I will remember that the next time you and I are in battle." Whitegrazer smiled than wink. Oh yeah, she will remember that.

Next time, I will trip you.

"I think you ladies should cut your losses and get outta here."

((OOC: Whitegrazer She's still more of a teacher than a soldier. ))

[New Moon]

Feralnight finally made it to the others and hovered a bit as she saw Icebreaker, Rhinox, and Dinobot come into this too. "Hey Starshadow, Cecaelia!" She called and carefully landed setting the stretcher down."How about taking that trade up. Your injured friend for Optimus, I doubt Glowstick has long before this radiation will start affecting his systems and Icebreaker was willing to help." She told them but was ready to help if either attacked.

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

Back in the cave Frilla looked back a bit and sighed,"Winter go ahead and stick here see if the two Preds back there need help. You can see better in darkness where I can barely see my own hands. I'll go see if I can find the others." She said and jumped down before scurrying off out of the cave looking around at the battle field briefly before heading towards the trees.

[Wintersong]

Wintersong watched Feralnight leave and wondered if the fuzor would really be so lucky. Though the tigeress stopped when hearing Frilla,"Wait stay and help? Frilla come on!" She said but saw the little lizard disappear before she could argue. Growling she didn't much like the idea of helping some Predacons but turned back and rushed down the tunnel she had come from growling as one of the energy blasts caught her side. Shaking her head the tigeress eventually found her way to the whole and Cheetor,"They coming or are they stuck?" She asked looking down the slope.