The Intergalactic Highway

(ooc: So.. I have honestly no idea what to do with Wildfire's characters now that we've been so abruptly left again.. Getting so tired of people just disappearing without giving us a chance to wrap things up more neatly in the rpg.. )

“Only two? With this effort we may have the whole squad for bargaining chips.” Spineback commented, "Especially the rodent and the little kitten."

"You might just get your wish, doctor..," Nemesis replied, her weapon switching between her two targets as she kept firing at them. Fortunately she was fairly well concealed where she stood among the trees, so it was doubtful her targets would be able to see her before her shots hit their marks.

For a moment Nemesis lost sight of the new recruit and his target, as she was far more preoccupied with her own intended victims. The first one to fall prey to her shots was the young winged cheetah, who soon enough yelled out in pain as some of her shots pierced his armor and sent him crashing into some trees a short distance away. Watching the scene unfold caused a somewhat wicked smile to creep up on the avian female's face. It wasn't so much that she truly wished harm upon these Maximals, no, she respected Optimus Primal and his devotion towards his troops too much for that. No, the real reason behind her glee was that thus far this operation was running surprisingly smoothly and they were about to exceed the number of hostages strictly needed for Megatron's true goal to succeed.

"Quickstrike, secure the fallen Maximal kitty would you?," she told the cowboy fuzor just as the voice of her other target caught her attention.

“We really should stop meeting like this, Predacon.”

Cocking her weapon as she took aim at the seemingly wounded larger fuzor, Nemesis briefly shook her head since she remembered all too clearly how she and the tiger hawk hybrid first met. "You could have spared yourself a lot of pain if you had just joined me," the female replied, keeping her aim steady. Indeed it was a pity the fuzor had refused to listen to reason.. or deception as the case had actually been. Tigerhawk had always given her the impression that he was powerful, so needless to say he would have made a good Predacon. Oh well.. water under the bridge as they say..

Taking the opportunity to discharge her weapon against the large fuzor since he, on the other hand, almost seemed to hesitate to act against her, she fired at him again and again, only stopping the relentless shots when Megatron's voice patched through their secure channel. He always did have impeccable timing, that one, but Nemesis felt certain enough that the situation was well under control at the moment.

"We are not far from your position. Injure the rest, and we shall embark with our prisoners to the Axalon."

"Gladly," the female second-in-command responded, "And when we get to the Axalon I take it you wish to proceed according to the plan?," she added, all the while keeping Tigerhawk in her sights.

Aside from a few minor set backs, such as Terrorsaur taking a dip into the river, it really did seem like the Predacons held the upper hand. And Nemesis fully intended to keep it that way. She took note of the fire ant grabbing a hold of the unconscious rodent, only for some thus far unaccounted Maximal showing up to shoot at the ant for his efforts. Growling, Nemesis narrowed her optics as she tried to visualize who the new attacker was. And it wasn't long before she noticed something white against the green and sand colored background of the forest.

Her suspicions got confirmed a moment later when the other hostage holder got attacked as well. Ahh, those Maximals.. Always someone wanting to play the hero. And Nemesis wasn't having any of it.

"Listen up, Maximals!," she called out for the remaining foes to hear, "We already have some of your friends as hostages and if you do not stop attacking us immediately, we will execute your friends right here and now!"

She stepped out into the open as she spoke, still holding her assault rifle securely in her arms but without targeting any of them specifically. This confrontation needed to end sooner rather than later, before even more Maximals had the chance to join in and perhaps even gain the upper hand. The risk of that happening would increase significantly if Optimus himself decided to show up, so Nemesis

"Do not test my patience further, as this is the only warning I intend to give!," she told them all again before gesturing to the Predacons presently holding Maximal prisoners to wait for her signal. Surely these Maximal fools wouldn't be stupid enough to test her patience further. She hoped.

"Leave this place, Maximals, and your friends may just live to see another day."

After speaking those last words, she paused to eye them each in turn.

A short distance away Tarantulas had left the sanctuary of his lair to join up with Megatron. It was no secret that the two of them despised each other, their hatred of one-another only barely concealed by a thin layer of poorly disguised courtesy.

"Why, Tarantulas, how kind of you to join us today,"

"I heard you were hosting a feast, so I couldn't waste the opportunity to partake," the spider replied with his usual chuckle. Behind him a number of his spider drones were making their way closer as well, some of them being used to drag a cart filled with equipment along.

"However I did not come empty handed, as you can see. Hehehe," Tarantulas continued, indicating the weapons he had prepared for the special occasion that Nemesis had promised him.

"Long as there is enough of these Maximals left behind in the attack they will serve well as the entree. Preferably alive, otherwise what is a meal if one cannot enjoy the best and most flavorful part of it."

Ah yes, the infamous crab was there as well. Tarantulas had not officially met the large transmetal until now, however that by no means meant he had not been keeping tabs on him. He always did, no matter how insignificant they appeared to be in the greater scheme of things. Of course this transmetal crab required a certain finesse. And from the looks of it, he shared the spider's affinity for consuming their enemies while they were still alive.

Meanwhile back at the Axalon, Aurora's expression rapidly changed from terrified for her friends to a bit confused as Rhinox proceeded to update Tigatron about the recent turn of events.

"They already obtained the new protoform, so why are the Predacons attacking our team..?," she wondered out loud. Had it really all been a setup from the beginning? But from the sound of it, the Predacons were deliberately taking hostages instead of killing them. But why? What were they hoping to achieve?

The little fuzor then turned her gaze to Rhinox, wondering if they were going to send someone else to help out. It both seemed risky and logical at the same time to do so. Of course they needed to rescue their friends, but at the same time they would be stretching their resources thin and potentially put themselves at risk for an even larger attack. Yet they didn't have a choice in the matter right now, and it seemed Rhinox agreed since a few moments later he was telling the female spider to go there as well.

And here I thought I will die of eyestrain."

Aurora shook her head, not yet having realized that Whitegrazer was being sent with the spider as well since she hadn't received Optimus' response personally. And that was probably for the best, since she had more than enough to worry about already.

BlackArachnia left, leaving Aurora and Rhinox alone for the time being. The fuzor sighed as she turned her attention back to the taller scientist.

"They'll be okay.. right?"


Meanwhile, inside the brig, Zodiac had once again settled down in a semi comfortable position on the floor. He was attempting to rest, but without drifting off to sleep. Or at least he was hoping he wouldn't since being awake at least gave him a semblance of control over his memories. And right now.. that was truly the only thing he had control of.

“I...”

Optimus nearly "dropped everything" and almost held his breath when Wintersong began to speak. He wanted her to talk to him openly about what she went through, if she could remember any of it, and what she was still going through because as it stood, he knew nothing at all. And that deeply troubled him. But her voice trailed off and his eager attentiveness softened.

“I will step out for a little bit Optimus, just to clear my head. Perhaps we can speak after since...”

The leader followed her gaze to Whitegrazer until the tigress returned it to him.

“Since I feel more comfortable discussing matters privately with you when you have the time.”

"Of course, Wintersong, I hope the fresh air will do you some good. You take care of yourself."

"When you're ready, Wintersong," Primal said encouragingly. Progress. It was only a tiny bit, but it was progress nonetheless. And his optimism and patience assured him that their discussion would take place sooner or later, whenever she was ready and willing unless he would be provoked under dire circumstances to push it further. For now, she seemed grateful to be excused and to not be drilled with questions or for information that she might not even have the answers to. Still, he was very much concerned for her glowing chest, the whispers between them, and the oddities that Rhinox had discovered with her CR readings.

Now, back to this suddenly interesting and sorrowful development with Whitegrazer...

"I'm still in a bit of a shock, but yes, undeniably, Zodiac is my child."

Optimus couldn't hide the bewilderment in his optics, but there was also empathy and sadness, and a little bit of confusion. He hoped she would be able to help him understand this situation better.

"Back during the last half of the war, we were losing. Predacons had destroyed many factories where protoforms were grown, so we were losing soldiers. The High Council were aware of the Vok's natural ability to asexually reproduce, and persuaded me to use my ability to bring in more soldiers. It is skill carried over from our origins, the budding system, but due to the Matrix's purification, it isn't as violent and none of the protoforms come out with side effects. At first, I was hesitant to do so. It is an exhausting process, especially with a Cybertronian form. But we were losing, and I made a vow to help. So they brought in thirty empty protoform pods, and I created thirty innocent protoforms into a warzone..." "within my own spark., by myself"

Primal gently shook his head in disbelief and anger toward the Council's sheer disregard for life and the exploitation of others. Of course, he was just as guilty, but he knew better now and acted as such to set a better example for others even though the only ones he could influence were those stranded with him on Earth. Noticing Whitegrazer's body shiver and picking up the emotional anguish in her voice, he immediately moved toward her and wrapped his arms around her half skeletal and half normal body. Aurora was right; there needed to be more hugging. "I'm sorry for everything you've been through, Whitegrazer," he said softly, holding her close. As an Empath, he could only imagine everything she was feeling now because of this discovery. To know that at least one had survived, could there be more out there some where? Or was Zodiac the only one? And if there were more, what were they like? Could she sense them at all with her spark, or had they been completely disconnected from her as a precaution by the Vok or the Council to make sure that she would never find them? So many questions and possibilities.

"No, I am not all right, Optimus," "But I will be. I will be in time."

While he appreciated her honesty, her words made his spark sink dramatically, like a sudden drop in barometric pressure with an approaching storm system, causing him to tighten his embrace on her. He hated that she was hurting, and that she wasn't alright. His life source seemed to spiral into a void of helplessness and pain as if he was absorbing her suffering to help take it away from her. It was quickly replaced by a powerful sense of hope and existence as his spark expanded, growing brighter within his body and "reaching" out toward her's to engulf it in warmth and purity. It was the first time he experienced it while being conscious, and it felt as though it was pulling her toward him or him toward her; he couldn't tell. Startled by the odd and foreign sensation, Optimus immediately released her and stepped back, placing a hand over his chest and extending the other straight out in front of him with his palm facing the equine as if he was warding her to stay back. He wasn't even sure if she had felt anything. It could have just been his imagination. ...It could have been the Vok or TyCross... No, not them. This was different.

Calming down since it was quickly gone, he lowered his arms and searched her optics for answers. "Was that...?" He couldn't find the words to describe it, but he needed to know if it had really happened, or if he was starting to go crazy. If anything, he hoped it was a good thing, something that would help the others some how. He didn't know. Fortunately, she kept speaking, and even though it was about Zodiac, it still helped him to settle down.

Now, I wonder if that was the reason why Zodiac survived, if that was the reason I had a connection with him?"

"Besides the Vok-infused nanotech? I would have no doubt," Optimus mused. "Regardless of your relationship with him, you do understand that we have to keep him isolated and restricted until we can make some headway with him or transport him to a different location." He refrained from saying Cybertron since that was a touchy subject for her and Zodiac, especially now. Primus, if they both returned to Cybertron, what would happen to them? Optimus didn't even care about his own court-marshaling that was likely to befall on him, he was far more concerned about Whitegrazer's well being... and even Zodiac's. He wasn't going to go through all of this trouble protecting the shapeshifter from Megatron and Nemesis just to have him executed or murdered on Cybertron upon their return. Aurora's idea to relocating to another undisclosed planet was becoming more and more appealing to him.

After some thought, the leader wondered if this might actually help with their predicament with Zodiac. How was he going to react knowing that she was, technically speaking, his mother? She could be that nurturer that he so desperately needed but was ultimately denied and could likely benefit from it if he had one now. ...Maybe. Primal didn't believe that he was too far gone from redemption. He wasn't like Megatron. But after all of the brainwashing, torture, suffering and loneliness that the pretender had endured, it was going to take a lot of work to reverse all of it. If Zodiac was even opened to it. And this revelation of their relationship, well, that was for Whitegrazer to reveal to him if and when she felt the need to do so. It certainly wasn't Optimus's place.

"It is clear to me that they see me as a traitor, but now that you mention it, I wonder if they are just trying to scare me off, trying to manipulate my actions in a way. It is so sudden a change. I had been trying to mend things, and it seem like they were at least listening. Maybe they were and were just humoring me? Which doesn't seem liking. Something has changed, and we need to figure it out."

The TransMetal gorilla in robot mode grew thoughtful about that. Things between the Maximals, or just perhaps just Whitegrazer, and the Vok had calmed down after the Metal Hunter incident. There was still an unknown virus concealed inside of her, but that had been Tarantulas's doing. Now, they've inexplicably relapsed and wanted to destroy them all again? The only thing that's changed is Wintersong escaping the cocoon. "Is it a coincidence that this has occurred after Wintersong's capture-and-release?" he had asked her curiously, not that he suspected that any part of their potential planning involved the TransMetal tigress in any way. It was simply an observation - something Optimus had to be keen on as their leader - he was making that might trigger anything Whitegrazer may have dismissed or overlooked when TyCross or the aliens had spoken to the mare professing their regression.

"What bout you? This threw you for a loop as well. Are you okay?"

Oddly enough, he wasn't angry or even mildly upset. At least not toward Whitegrazer. The High Council and the Vok, on the other hand, he was furious with them. Optimus was genuinely putting all of his love's concerns and emotions before his own, and he couldn't selfishly make any of this about him. How was he doing? Finding a strange bout of tranquility inside himself, he was okay. For the most part, after her explanations and worrying more about her and the others, and almost losing Aurora and Wintersong only days ago, he was actually okay. Accompanied with Aurora's earlier statement that was full of confidence and faith in their success in this war, he smiled lightly at the Vok-turned-Maximal. Taking her hand in his feeling that it was his turn to take her burdens off of her shoulders as she did so often for him, he looked directly into her optics and said, "I'm alright, Whitegrazer. I know we can get through this together. We'll figure it out. And I will always be here for you. I love you." Those three words were easy for him to say despite the current circumstances that had thrown their relationship into uncertainty and possibly some turmoil. Something about his demeanor had kept him calm and surprisingly tolerant. As flustered as he was when Aurora had first shown him her findings, now that he had a better understanding after giving Whitegrazer a chance to explain herself instead of letting himself jump to inaccurate conclusions.

"I will go and help our friends. We can rely on us."

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before it slid out of his grasp as she walked away. Be safe, Optimus expressed to her through their bond when she disappeared around the corner of the corridor. Although he was concerned for his Maximals in battle, a battle he wasn't even sure why it happening, he was certain they could manage and return to Base soon. So, he proceeded with his next conversation, albeit reluctantly.

Turning he headed toward the shapeshifter's location with his limp. "Rhinox, report to the brig," he ordered his friend while abiding by his own rule to not visit Zodiac alone.

Don't worry, rhinox, I will make sure none of our comrades are in the hands of the Predacons."

But he did worry. Rhinox knew Tigatron, much like Airazor, could take care of himself. Unfortunately, he was at a disadvantage against most of the Predacons who were now TransMetals. Their armor was tougher, their vehicle modes were fast, and their weapons were more powerful than his. Odds were not on the older white tiger's side, so he hoped he would be extremely careful. "Just watch your back, old friend," he respectfully returned with caution.

"Tht shapeshifter is so full of surprises, isn't he? Even I was shocked when the existence of that ship."

"As were we all," Rhinox dryly replied to Blackarachnia. But, I suspect, for different reasons, he added somewhat accusingly in his head.

"Someone needs to mentally give him a spanking before he collapsed in hunger and sleep deprivation."

"Starvation and fatigue is punishment enough, even if it's his own doing," the scientist commented, finding her remark somewhat disturbing and unhelpful toward the renegade's predicament.

And here I thought I will die of eyestrain."

Big Green almost smiled at the widow's sarcasm. Almost. But the situation with his friends on the battle field put a strain on his sense of humor at the moment. He watched her prepare herself as Whitegrazer soon showed up to join her with their departure. Something important or significant looked like it was on the mare's mind as she passed by, but there was no time for inquiries. Whatever it was, he hoped she could remain focused out there and help bring their comrades back to the Axalon.

“Hopefully they move swift, we were scattered and the Predacons appear to be getting the advantage.”

Rhinox frowned at Tigerhawk's update. He returned trying to reassure him, "They're on their way. And Tigatron just arrived in your proximity."

“I just found him! He-”

He knew he was talking about Rattrap, but the Fuzor had been abruptly cut off before he could offer any inclination as to why his small, rodent friend hadn't been responding to his transmissions. "Tigerhawk?!" he worriedly called to him over his comm. link.

"They already obtained the new protoform, so why are the Predacons attacking our team..?,"

“What’s going on?”

"They'll be okay.. right?"

The green and brown engineer shifted his crimson gaze from Aurora to Wintersong when she appeared on the bridge soon after Aurora did. As much as he wanted to show her the slight abnormalities with her scan, he didn't have the time to get into it, so it might as well wait. Besides maybe Optimus had already spoken to her about it. In any case, now both of the present females were seeking answers from him and it was almost overwhelming as Rhinox was also trying to man the ship's communications. He tried addressing them in order looking at Aurora first. "That's a good question. If they're taking prisoners, then they have something else in mind." But they couldn't possibly know what. Megatron had that alien orb, maybe he was going to conduct experiments on Airazor if he managed to figure out how it worked. Or maybe it something else entirely. "But I don't know," he admitted. Sometimes Rhinox didn't have all the answers despite his miracle work and wisdom.

"We have a problem with the Predacons attacking the team I had sent out to retrieve one of our pods that was recently activated," he shortened the story for Wintersong. He kept his red optics from lingering on her chest, but it wasn't difficult when Aurora's question actually gave him doubts about their comrades who were suffering injuries out there. He decided to remain calm and suppress his anxiety and concerns for the sake of keeping the ermine Fuzor and the TransMetal tigress from panicking. It was then when Primal's commanding voice came through on the rhino's personal comm. link.

"Rhinox, report to the brig,"

"On my way, Optimus," he replied as he stood up from his console. He looked at the two females, finally answering Aurora's last question, and said, "They'll be fine as long as you two stay here and monitor the transmissions and Zodiac's video feed. Try to reestablish communication with our allies. ...I think Optimus and I are about to have a discussion with him." He looked at them both before taking his leave and exiting the command center as his heavy foot steps echoed down the corridor until they could no longer hear them.

Joining Optimus just outside of the brig, the engineer informed him, "Tigatron is also offering support to our team now."

"Good. I'm sure they'll be alright." Of course Primal was a little concerned, but his Maximals were about to outnumber the Predacons, as far as he knew, so they should be able to end the battle and retreat back to the base. They could handle it. Going through the security measures if took to enter the brig, albeit it was easier for Optimus, as the leader, since he had all of the short-cut codes that not even Rhinox had access to. The TransMetal ape entered first with his limp and then walked past the other empty cells until he came upon Zodiac's.

Rhinox stayed back near the security protocols in case the shapeshifter might have some tricks up his sleeves.

For now, Optimus wasn't interested in entering the cell. He knew Zodiac had Nexus Prime's identification chip, but he just wanted to see how the renegade was fairing since he had been strictly left alone ever since he had thrown him in there, completely devoid of communication and any kind of social interaction. Secluded and left with only his thoughts and nightmares to keep him company. He watched him from the monitor outside of his cell in silence sitting there as peacefully as he had ever seen Zodiac. He wasn't running his mouth, spewing lies and manipulations, he wasn't able to try and kill everyone, he wasn't instigating by shifting from one Maximal or Predacon to another, and he wasn't threatening anyone. He just sat there very still and very quietly. It was unusual to see him that way. But that would all change soon enough. In the back of Primal's mind, he couldn't believe that he was looking at one of Whitegrazer's offspring. Someone who was completely different than her. He could imagine what kind of influences and tortures one would have to endure to become someone like Zodiac.

Using an intercom sound system that was carefully wired through to the allegedly inescapable prisoner room, Primal pressed the button to speak into it. "If starving yourself is some kind of protest, I must strongly advise against it. You should keep your energy up," he said in his very distinguished voice to gain Zodiac's attention.

-----

"Long as there is enough of these Maximals left behind in the attack they will serve well as the entree. Preferably alive, otherwise what is a meal if one cannot enjoy the best and most flavorful part of it."

"I heard you were hosting a feast, so I couldn't waste the opportunity to partake,"

Megatron almost grimaced in disgust at the two. While he appreciated their desire to murder the Maximals, and although he was quite a merciless and callous Predacon himself, he didn't fancy in cannibalism. Ugh.

"However I did not come empty handed, as you can see. Hehehe,"

The copper and purple t-rex glanced behind himself to see the conniving scientist's luggage. What was Tarantulas up to this time? What did Nemesis have in store with him? He didn't care to be left out of this loop of knowledge, however, he remained diligent in trusting his second-in-command for she had proven herself worthy thus far. Surely Tarantulas and his mindless arachnoids were only along for their plan to extract Zodiac and terminate him. After giving his body a light shake as if he was rolling dirt off of his armor, Megatron said, "I do not believe you were formally introduced to our new comrade, Tarantulas. Rampage is quite a unique individual given his ability to regenerate and his inability to die." He sounded like he was boasting about the crab, as if he was his personal body guard that Tarantulas would never be able to get through in order to touch the tyrant. Or maybe he just wanted to instill a little fear into the spider that if he were to cross him again, he would feed him to the hungry crustacean piece by piece. Then again, Tarantulas was one of the few who never trembled at Megatron's threats. He was just that crazy.

"Gladly," "And when we get to the Axalon I take it you wish to proceed according to the plan?,"

"That is correct," the Predacon leader confirmed with Nemesis. Observing the battle from a safe distance, out of sight, he was surprised that Primal hadn't shown up yet. Nor Rhinox or Whitegrazer. "We are merely awaiting your victory here," he added a little pressure on her not that he was in any hurry. Spineback had already procured Airazor, Inferno had Rattrap, Tigerhawk was injured, and Terrorsaur finally shook off the young cheetah that had been a thorn in Megatron's side ever since they first met, but the fool crashed himself into the river as a result. Who was left? His pink optics narrowed at Tigatron's interference that came out of no where, but Nemesis seemed to have noticed as well and immediately took control of the situation by exploiting the Maximals' compassion for one another.

"Listen up, Maximals!," "We already have some of your friends as hostages and if you do not stop attacking us immediately, we will execute your friends right here and now!"

"Hm. An intriguing approach," Megatron said out loud to the two Predacons with him, both of which were the only ones who could hear him. He wasn't so sure the Maximals would fall for it, however. They were relentless when it came to salvaging their friends from hostage situations. Although if Primal had been present, he would have easily lowered his weapons. With Rattrap down, who was left in charge? "This might prove interesting after all."

"Do not test my patience further, as this is the only warning I intend to give!,"

Of course, it would be interesting for him personally to see how serious the Maximals take Nemesis who had once found refuge under their roof.

"Leave this place, Maximals, and your friends may just live to see another day."

Like a well-respected commanding officer watching his troops from the safety of the sidelines in a civil war, Megatron appeared patient and curious for this outcome.

Inferno had just turned when Tigatron fired his shot at him and hitting his shoulder. He gave a loud grunt and immediately spotted his long-time foe rolling away to fire off more blasts at the other Predacons. "Ah, the white cat!" he announced to everyone sounding joyous as if he was actually happy to be confronted by him again. All Inferno really wanted to do was inflict emotional pain onto the old Maximal like he had done in the past when he killed his friend, Snowstalker. And maybe burn his tail and whiskers off. "Come to save your falcon?" he laughed. "Your pathetic heroics will only get her killed." He kicked the side of Rattrap's lifeless body before ramming the end of his gun's barrel into the Maximal Spy's collar. "Surrender, tiger! Or I shall blow your rrraunchy friend's head off!" he warned Tigatron per Nemesis's threat to the rest of their enemy.

Wintersong was rather surprised to hear about a pod activating after all this time, possibly shortly after she had gone to speak with Whitegrazer it had occurred. But as per the norm, the Predacons weren't allowing their comrades to leave without as much trouble and pain as they could inflict.

Though concerned and wishing she could give some help, the transmetal tigress knew she was unlikely to be sent as back up. She had a sneaking suspicion of why Optimus wouldn't want her to go considering how she had been lately, but she was in no mood to argue the point that she was capable of helping despite what the Vok were doing or the soreness from her recent surgery. "Guess some things never change with the Predacons." She muttered once Rhinox had got them up to speed, deep down hoping their friends were alright.

"We'll do what we can Rhinox." She assured the scientist, watching him leave before taking a seat at the console, her optics for a moment narrowing at the screen presently displaying Zodiac's cell. Regardless of how peaceful he appeared or how weakened he was, she still felt the same as she did earlier, 'Should just put him out of his misery and save us all the trouble.' She thought with disdain and hatred, "Let's see if we can't help our friends get home a little faster." Wintersong briefly turned back to the ermine fuzor, offering a quick smile of assurance before turning back to the monitor, "Tigerhawk, Tigatron, are you two there?" She tried coming her fellow felines while also keeping one optic on the camera in Zodiac's cell.

+++++++++++++++++

Tigerhawk gave only a small grunt in response to Nemesis remark, "If I had wanted to continue playing Predacon I would never have left Special Operations." He rebuffed, eyeing her weapon warily. His options weren't much from where he was standing, especially with hearing Cheetor being taken out as he nearly had been by Nemesis, leaving Tigerhawk rather lacking in what to do.

Part of him wanted to avoid attacking Nemesis and turning the full attention of the Predacons on himself, leaving no one else to likely save his teammates that had been captured and incapacitated in some way. Maybe he could back off just enough to get Cheetor and give themselves a short time or reprieve and regroup with their back up. But even then he didn't know how long they would take and getting an update in was going to be impossible without being distracted...Unfortunately, Tigerhawk's moment of trying to take in his options was cut short by another barrage of explosive rounds from Nemesis, snarling as the force was enough this time to throw the feline fuzor off balance and onto his back, wincing from the pain and grateful that something seemed to stop Nemesis' merciless attempts to take him out.

But the fuzor perked up upon hearing new shots going off, leaning up with a pained grunt to see someone had arrived, but not before Nemesis quickly caught onto their game. "You're bluffing." Tigerhawk immediately countered after her threat had been made, slowly flexing his previously paralyzed arm and his wings shifting out slightly. Yes, they were functioning properly, but only just. "You wouldn't go through all this effort to take hostages for some reason, otherwise you would have done that with our backs turned." Tigerhawk was taking a long shot with his next move, raising his arm that had been free of cybervenom to fire a few quick shots from his Electro Cannons towards Nemesis before giving his wings a few hard flaps to get some air while his shoulder-mounted machine guns shifted back over his shoulders and firing a few rounds towards Spineback and Inferno for distraction purposes.

Even if he didn't take any of the Predacons here out, he could perhaps throw them off long enough for Tigatron to act, Cheetor to get his bearings, and back up to arrive. But such an effort equally left the large fuzor vulnerable.

Spineback had finished bounding the falcon, ensuring her wings were pressed against her back and her arms secured behind her. Didn't need the female Maximal making an effort with those explosive darts of hers. But the veteran had just turned to observe the battle before Tigatron's first shot was fired at Inferno, raising an optic ridge of where it could possibly had come from. It certainly couldn't have been the transmetal cheetah, not from the rough landed he just had. But no sooner had the thought crossed her processor did Tigatron's next shot strike her side, causing a pained noise to come from the medic. Unlike the rest of the Predacons, except Inferno, she was not transmetal nor did she have the bulk and height that would have been afforded her the advantage of her old foes' descendants.

"I would think carefully what you do kitty cat, your falcon friend here is rather thinly armored." Spineback threatened, resting a foot on Airazor's form while aiming her Plasma Sphere Shooter dangerously close to her helm as emphasis. That was until a few rounds from Tigerhawk's machine guns made her raise her shield arm in response, the shots coming shot of actually hitting her but more than enough drawing her attention from Tigatron for a split second.

However, Airazor's systems began to reboot by then, the falcon stirring slightly beneath the former Decepticon's foot. She was only vaguely aware that shots were still being fired around her and several individuals seemed to be speaking, but what she really was more focused on was the heavy weight on her form keeping her from moving. Not that she seemed capable of doing that at all without that weight pressing down on her.

Once Airazor's optics flickered on it was only then did she find herself pressed against the ground, nothing but trees and rocks in her line of sight at first. Confused, the avian maximal began trying to take in what was going on, flinching when the side of her head bumped against the barrel pressed dangerously close to her helm, spying Spineback on the defensive from a side glance and only able to see parts of the battle field from this angle, spying Inferno looming over Rattrap, focused towards someone in the nearby trees but the others she couldn't quite find.

Cheetor groaned as he was slowly regaining himself, managing to take a few deep intakes but being rather disoriented from the crash thanks to Nemesis. The young feline was mentally kicking himself for having allowed himself to be open to attack, but given the stunt he just pulled it was to be expected. His body ached as a result, both from the explosive rounds that had penetrated his armor to the rough crash he had just gone through from such a height. He hadn't been able to fully take in what was happening around him now, only just getting his bearings enough to force himself to stand, albeit uneasily and stumbling about when he attempted to walk. "Now I may never hear the end of that one from Optimus." Cheetor mumbled, wondering if his father figure would fuss over his stupid stunt of the day.

Terrorsaur was likewise in no better shape after his crash.

The transmetal flier's back was aching, thrusters smoldering from the direct hits they took from the feline kid but compared to nothing of his damaged ego for being almost thwarted by the feline. It irked him, but at least he was free of his unwanted passenger and was dragging himself from the water, spitting some up as he did, his claws digging into the soft bank. A part of him wanted to just be done with this battle already, take what hostages they had managed to grab and leave while they had the chance. But given the shots that rang out, causing Terrorsaur to duck slightly by reflex, that wasn't likely to be the case any time soon. But sitting there on his hands and knees certainly wasn't going to get him anywhere either.

Hauling himself to his feet, Terrorsaur drew his blades as he took in what was happening, finding the tiger fuzor refusing to kowtow to the threats Nemesis gave, wondering himself if she was serious after all the effort they had gone through to get them. "Just fall already fuzor!" Terrorsaur screeched in annoyance, firing his eye lasers towards the airborne maximal, wondering if anyone else would do the same.

++++++++++

Rampage scowled slightly towards Megatron's words of his inability to die. As much as the transmetal crab was capable of hiding it, such a thought rather bothered Rampage. It was a constant reminder that, as far as he had seen, he was immortal or incredibly difficult to kill without serious effort or something of the extreme to ever be capable of piercing his powerful spark. A rather tortured one in fact.

The scowl quickly disappeared however as Rampage regarded Tarantulas in kind, a lot more wary of the spider by the fact he had heard the rumors among his fellow Predacons of the spider's underhanded ways and status as a scientist. Given the crab's history, scientists weren't exactly what he would call the most trustworthy from the start, always seemingly more concerned to what experiment could get them a promotion or testing the limits of what science could do, even on the innocent. If Rampage was even innocent from before the experimentation. Those memories of his life before being experimented upon at the hands of the Maximals was fuzzy, twisted, and forgotten, replaced by fractured recollections of dimness, pain, and death over the course of his changing into what he was today. "I'm sure it would be quite the shame if you happened to accidentally fall into my claws arachnid." Rampage remarked casually as he snapped his claws shut as a warning of his own.

When Megatron appeared to move closer to the battlefield however, Rampage returned his attention to the fight as well, still following on the t-rex's flank as they moved closer yet remaining concealed. "Hehe, interesting, but the Maximals aren't idiots to fall for such a bluff if you're obviously only taking hostages and not actively trying to take them out before." Rampage remarked.

"I'm sorry for everything you've been through, Whitegrazer,"

Whitegrazer expressed a little surprise when Optimus wrapped his arms round her. It was a closeness that had waned a bit after her deceptions about who she was. Something, that now, she wanted to change. That was why she was being as truthful as she could now. She fully embraced the compassion Optimus was showing her, leaning forward, resting her forehead on Optimus' shoulder. "It was my fault for being so submissive to their whims, not fighting back harder than I should have. Of course, I didn't think I needed to fight them. After all, I was a Vok. I believed no one, nothing could hurt me, nothing could stop me, that everyone would be too fearful of me, that I, with my all-powerful being, was invincible, untouchable, to be deceived or overtaken by inferior beings, physical, corporeal beings. My arrogance in believing that as well as believing I could end centuries of hatred and fighting just because of who I was was what brought me to this. I realized that now, especially after my exile and time spent on Cybertron." Now, after the revelation, she realized where Zodiac might had gotten his arrogance from. Her. Always seemed to lead back to her now, didn't it? Just as Optimus wondered, though, she too wondered of Zodiac was the only one? What if some more had survived? What if.. they created more from her with the sample of her spark they taken from her? Who knows? A scary, horrific thought crossed her mind as she wondered if they, like Zodiac, were put through those experiments? If they existed, of course. And if not, if they were wandering around Cybertron, aware or not, who were they? And where were they?

"Was that...?"

She felt Optimus' spark sank when she responded in a sorrowful tone that she wasn't all right. She had wanted to be honest. After all, some Maximals had expressed to her that they never actually believed her when she said she was fine. She thought it best to not be lying, but be honest. But she didn't want her honesty to hurt Optimus. No, it was something else entirely. She lifted her forehead from Optimus' shoulder and gazed into his optics. She could see the shock and confusion in his face as she could feel his own spark absorbing what she was feeling. This wasn't her doing, but his, subconsciously or not, Optimus' spark had reached out towards her, absorbing her own feelings, the sorrow, the pain, the agony of what the previous revelation and her thoughts wandering around, musing over her own past actions, or lack of action. No, it wasn't just absorbing her feelings, no, his spark was reacting the way her spark recated to his suffering. As she mused, and contemplated over this new power Optimus' spark as expressed, from the Metal Hunter incident and here, her optics continued to gaze at Optimus, not with surprise or shock, but a warm smile on her face, she figured it out .

"It was you," she said. "It make senses now. What happened in the Metal Hunter, what I and the others felt, your spark, due to our connection, and maybe, due to your past dealings with my people, has acquired an ability, due to continuous exposure." That was a logical conclusion. The nightmares he had, the symbols he drawn, maybe it wasn't just nightmares of fear and horror, but his spark, with newfound knowledge and understanding, trying to comprehend the language, the power of her people. "We had been looking at things the wrong way. Remember the nightmares, the drawings you created? Your spark was trying to understand what it absorbed, what it absorbed from me and my people." She lowered her gaze for a moment. How could she be so dense? Of course, it would make sense for Optimus' spark, due to being so close to all this abilities and power of her and her people, that his spark might have gained some of it, enough to do what it was doing now. "It is still in it's infancy. Despite the shock of this, please, don't be alarmed. I feel it. I know it now. You have gained a power within your spark, Optimus, and I don't know the right word to use for it, as the Vok word, if I can say, is a bit difficult to express in Cybertronian language, but this ability, whatever it will grow into, will be nurtured by your own being, yourself, and who you are." She smiled. "Hopefully, when there aren't pressing matters or fighting Predacons, through meditation and experience, we can see how this ability blossoms."

"Besides the Vok-infused nanotech? I would have no doubt," Optimus mused. "Regardless of your relationship with him, you do understand that we have to keep him isolated and restricted until we can make some headway with him or transport him to a different location."

"Yes, I do." That was a tragedy in of itself. The fact that Zodiac was her child, and yet, she had to keep him locked up due to his past actions and opportunistic and unpredictable nature. Though, this might only be temporary as she had faith that Zodiac could change and become an ally, a productive member aboard the Axalon, part of a team, a family, a family he should have had instead of that grueling horror he had faced. She had believed in that, even before she was aware of his genetic markers.

"Is it a coincidence that this has occurred after Wintersong's capture-and-release?"

"No, I don't think it is," she said. Like Optimus, she didn't become suspicious or distrustful towards the tigress. She knew the tigress was going through an ordeal and was trying to make heads and tails of it, but there was no making that the timing was odd. "Which is why we need to find out what they planned to do,." Especially if the plans involved Wintersong, and she didn't want the female tigress to go through what she had gone through when the vok possessed her, using her own body and powers to hurt everyone.

"I'm alright, Whitegrazer. I know we can get through this together. We'll figure it out. And I will always be here for you. I love you."

"I love you too," Whitegrazer said with all her spark and her entire being, smiling lovingly and warm towards Optimus, "And I will always be here for you as well." She took Optimus' hands into hers. She didn't want to leave, but she had to. Their friends needed help. Part of her sensed that. And another part of her was full of warm and fuzzy as some people called it. She was glad to know that Optimus and her were okay, and maybe, if they had a chance to explore this new ability within Optimus, they might grew closer through the experience.

Be safe,

As she walked away towards the bridge, slowly releasing Optimus' hands from her gentle touch, she closed her optics for a moment. You as well. Through Optimus and the rest of the Maximals are safe in the Axalon, due to past experiences, she hoped while they gone nothing surprising happened. Predacons. Vok. Zodiac. From anyone.

"As were we all,"

Blackarachnia couldn't read minds, but she didn't need to. Rhinox probably figured her anger and disappointment was due to the fact that the ship could have been useful to her.

"Starvation and fatigue is punishment enough, even if it's his own doing,"

"I'm just saying. Kinda acting like a spoiled brat, right now." Blackarachnia said with a shrug. If she was in the cell, she will keep her energy up and keep looking for opportunities to escape.

"Just watch your back, old friend,"

"Listen up, Maximals!," she called out for the remaining foes to hear, "We already have some of your friends as hostages and if you do not stop attacking us immediately, we will execute your friends right here and now!"

Do not test my patience further, as this is the only warning I intend to give!,"

"Leave this place, Maximals, and your friends may just live to see another day."

Nothing could be farther from the truth as Tigratron, through valor his actions were, they were futile presently. He took Rhinox's cautious advice with much weight, especially as he stare down at Nemesis, who appeared with her assault weapon in hand . Not aiming at him or any one of his friends, but he pulled no punches when it came to Nemesis. Despite her stint in with the Maximals, he knew she didn't wish to be one of them and it was mutual partnership. It seemed Whitegrazer befriended her and helped her despite all the distrust and anger they had of her due to her past actions against them. And he couldn't forget her own complicated relationship with Optimus. But he wondered if he could use that to his advantage? To help free his friends. He didn't want to spill energon nor did he relish in his previous actions. He wished to save his friends, but he didn't want any death to stain this peaceful area.

"Come to save your falcon?" he laughed. "Your pathetic heroics will only get her killed." He kicked the side of Rattrap's lifeless body before ramming the end of his gun's barrel into the Maximal Spy's collar. "Surrender, tiger! Or I shall blow your rrraunchy friend's head off!" he warned Tigatron per Nemesis's threat to the rest of their enemy.

"If that is what you came for, you would have alredy done it," Tigratron said. He dislike the firy ant. Not only due to him being as respinsible for snowstalker's death as he was, but his disdain of life and maniac loyalty towrds whatever destruction Megatron ordered the firy ant to accomplish.

"You're bluffing." Tigerhawk immediately countered after her threat had been made, slowly flexing his previously paralyzed arm and his wings shifting out slightly. Yes, they were functioning properly, but only just. "You wouldn't go through all this effort to take hostages for some reason, otherwise you would have done that with our backs turned."

Tigratron nodded in agreement with tigrehawk who seemed to be the only Maximal besides himself who was able to remain standing. Little cat was still healing from his wounds and battle from Terrorsaur. Airazor was still unconscious, and Rattrap seemed to be in similar shape also. Not good. "There is no reason for this senseless battle," he said, still holding his gut gun, pointing at no one, but like Nemesis, came it ready, if the Predacons choose to attack. "Clearly, you have won. The person within the pod has clearly shown he is one of you. Why not leave this place in peace and release our friends?" When Tigerhawk had attcked the Predacons, Tigratron put his hand up, "Hold on, Tigerhawk. Everyone, cease!" With Rattrap down, there was no leadership. Though, s much as his spark wanted to fire at this Predacons, and free their comrades, they mustn't be reckless, especially since their comrades were still in the hands of the Predacons.

"I would think carefully what you do kitty cat, your falcon friend here is rather thinly armored."

Tigratron's shot clearly hit spineback in the side. "You aren't doing so well yourself." It wasn't a boast nor a threat. But merely, Tigratron trying to dissuade any harm to his beloved. But as he thought of her, he also thought of the unconscious Rattrap and cheetor's injuries.

"Now I may never hear the end of that one from Optimus."

"You just rest, Little Cat," Tigratron said, with a sigh of relief, not letting his gaze off of Nemesis. His weapon still not trained on anyone.

When Terrorsaur screamed and powered up his purple eye lasers, Tigratron looked up at Tigerhawk, warning him, "Watch out, Tigerhawk." Tigratron kept his cool. "Nemesis, I ordered my team to cease. Maybe, if you clearly want this to go without more spilling of energon, you cease your teammates from attacking us and we can discuss terms."


Whitegrazer and Blackrachnia were still not there yet when Whitegrazer felt a presence within her spark. Seeing a large pod, dark forest, and an ominous large shadow overlooking her. It could only be.. Rampage. She didn't open a link. More like awareness like a breeze off a tree, an aroma off a room.

Whitegrazer stopped,"Blackarachnia, I sense Rampage. He must be there too. Hopefully, he doesn't sense me as well." hoping, if Rampage did sense her presence, she galloped back.

"Oh, great, being a snack for a cannibal serial killer wasn't on my menu of fun today." Blackarachnai noticed she wasn't moving, "What are you doing?"

"I can't go, not yet. Rampage might be able to sense me."

"If you sensed him, he probably sensed you already. Does it matter?"

"Maybe, maybe not, I can't take that chance. Until the situation has been assessed."

"Is there a way to mask your presence?"

"I can try to, I have done it before, but I'm not actually a ninja. More like a trick, or a distraction." Whitegrazer told the she-spider.

"Well, I am, sort of, can't you just pretend you not here or something?"

Just pretend I'm not here. "It really doesn't work like that. It's more fo a feeling, a touch on a shoulder," Whitegrazer clarified but no less smiled at Blackarachnia, "I can try., though." She closed her optics, and pretended to see, not forest, but a green meadow, a breeze off a tree, just a rustling of leaves, she breathed in and out. She wasn't here, she was somewhere else. She was aware of hiding her presence, but it is hard to hide, especially with certain individuals, especially ones like Rampage, especially after the last encounter that left Banshee murdered. A scene still vivid in her mind.

She continued on, hoping her little trick worked, as well as keeping herself from feeling, expressing any fear or doubt. She had to bcome, in sense, air, nothingness.


Like Tigratron had done previously, Whitegrazer kept herself hidden when they gotten closer to the area, surveying what was going on, hearing the back and forward from the Predacons and their injured comrades. Whitegrazer assessed the situation. They could attack, but Airazor was still at the mercy of the Predacons, Cheetor looked injured, needing time to heal, Rattrap, like Airazor, unconscious, and Tigratron seeming seemed to be trying to talk and negotiate with Nemesis. Part of Whitegrazer was glad to see Nemesis, but saddened at the circumstances. She kept telling herself to expect to meet the black bird in battle against her, and yet, she wished they didn't have to. Wait a minute. She sensed Rampage, but where was he?



Blackarachnia did the same thing, assessing the situation, making up targets and seeing what is the sfeest way to harm her old comrades in arms without putting herself in harm's way. But as she remained where she was, her spider senses were tingling, "Something doesn't smell right. I will scout the perimeter."

"Wait," Whitegrzer grabbed Blckarachnia's shoulder, "I sensed Rampage, but he is nowhere here. We should stick together. Just in case, something goes awry." Whitegrazer suggested.

"Something will go awry," Blackarachnia said with the smirk and roll of her optics. Blackarachnia went back into her beast mode. "We, spiders, are solitary creatures. I do my best thinking stalking prey. If Rampage is here, if you sense him, then he must be around, I will find him. Maybe there could be others besides us that are watching the show, hmm?"

"Okay, but keep your optics sharp and continue to keep contact with me," Whitegrazer shook her head and sighed with a smile. She may disagree, but that spider was a survivialist.

She trusted Blackarachnia to not doing anything to harm herself. She decided to send Tigratron, Cheetor, and Tigerhawk a message, alerting them secretly that Blackarachnia and her were here: "BA and I are here. Sensed Rampage. Will contact base. Formulate plan."


The message appeared on Tigratron's optics. Tigratron made no hint or notice to avoid giving any Predacons anymore trigger fingers. Rampage, huh?

Whitegrazer then contacted base, informing Rhinox of the situation, not realizing that Rhinox left, and Wintersong replaced him, "Things aren't looking good here. Airazor and Rattrap are both unconscious. Airazor looks like she has been cuffed. Cheetor's conscious but injured. Tigerhawk as well and seems to be in better shape then the others. Tigratron is talking to Nemesis. Right now, everything seems to be-" Terrorsuar shot at Tigerhawk, but tigatron seemed to be trying to keep the fighting stalled. "seems to be quiet. But also, I sensed Rampage nearby and yet he is nowhere to be seen. Blackarachnia is scouting the perimeter. Hopefully, she can find him."


((OOC: I hope I got everyone. XD Sorry for the edits. I forgot one little detail, and I needed to rewrite a bit.

Also, sorry if I'm missing "a" my keyboard is screwy a bit. XD ))

"If starving yourself is some kind of protest, I must strongly advise against it. You should keep your energy up,"

Hearing the voice of his enemy turned captor stirred the shapeshifter from his rest, yet after being left in solitude for as long as he had been he couldn't be sure that it wasn't just his mind playing tricks on him at first. Perhaps he had drifted off to sleep again and the voice was nothing more than a figment of his own imagination? No, it couldn't be.. There was no immediate sense of terror accompanying the voice, and he was still in his new prison and not a vok prisoner or guarded by Cryotek's goons..

The all too familiar voice that echoed through the cell did indeed cause Zodiac to lift his head and look around, but he settled his gaze back on the floor as soon as he had confirmed that Optimus hadn't somehow entered the cell unnoticed. So they were still just watching him.. Probably from the safety of a completely different part of the ship.

Cowards..

Although oddly enough the voice offered some semblance of comfort as well, since at least it proved Primal didn't intend on just leaving him there forever to be consumed by his own mind, his thoughts.. his terrors. So at the very least there was that, of course it also brought about the question of what Primal wanted from him.

So the shapeshifter smiled ever so slightly before addressing the individual behind the voice, still without moving from his spot against the wall.

"Interesting advice coming from you.. After all you will ultimately put me on trial and watch me get executed, so you should be pleased that I'm speeding the process up for you."


His voice was surprisingly calm, like he had found some semblance of peace despite the dire circumstances he was in. On the inside he was in a bit more of an emotional turmoil, however he had calmed down considerably during the last few days he'd been locked up. He always had been good at keeping his emotions buried, at least to an extent, a trait that had been imprinted into him after countless lessons by his keepers.. whoever they were. For the time being it appeared to be Optimus, heh, oh the irony..

"I don't suppose you've decided to check up on me to discuss the terms of my release?," he asked next, albeit he was aware of how unlikely it was Primal would have changed his mind. Still, it felt sort of nice being able to discuss with someone who wasn't a figure of his own imagination. In a way he had fully expected Primal to keep him secluded given what had happened just prior to his incarceration, but he was a bit surprised all of the Maximals had obeyed those wishes. Even Whitegrazer had been quiet, having kept their connection closed. In the beginning he had been grateful for her decision to do so, having appreciated the privacy to try to figure a way out. But after testing every inch of the cell for a weakness he couldn't find, he had started growing bored.

Elsewhere in the Axalon, Aurora tried to stay vigilant with the influx of information about what was occurring with the Maximal rescue team. And the news didn't sound great at all. Well, hopefully with the arrival of Tigatron who would soon be joined by Whitegrazer and BlackArachnia the tide would turn.. Aurora hoped.

"That's a good question. If they're taking prisoners, then they have something else in mind."

The little fuzor let out a low sigh when Rhinox admitted he had no idea what the Predacons could be up to. Well, it had been a long shot to presume Big Green had all the answers, especially since he usually found himself confined to base working on all sorts of projects.

Whatever the Predacons were up to, it couldn't be any good. And thus far they seemed to have the upper hand.

"Maybe our troops should pretend to withdraw," the fuzor muttered to nobody in particular, "So they can get the drop on the Preds when they're not expecting it when they retreat back to their base."

At that time Wintersong joined them, asking questions of her own about what was going on. Aurora was still a bit out of the loop since she had just arrived too, so she was grateful that Rhinox explained the situation to the recently returned white tigress.

"We have a problem with the Predacons attacking the team I had sent out to retrieve one of our pods that was recently activated,"

Aurora merely looked at the other female, curiously, wondering how she was doing after her own ordeal. After all Wintersong had been going through a rougher time than most, having been held hostage by the Vok with all the horrors that entailed.. only to get shot and nearly killed soon after returning to the Maximals.

"We'll do what we can Rhinox."

Of course Wintersong wasn't saying much about how she truly felt. On the outside she looked okay.. or at okay as could be expected. But who knew what thoughts were roaming around her head. Hopefully Whitegrazer had been able to talk to her a bit and perhaps helped soothe those feelings.

"They'll be fine as long as you two stay here and monitor the transmissions and Zodiac's video feed. Try to reestablish communication with our allies. ...I think Optimus and I are about to have a discussion with him."

Oh..

Well.. great. Now their voice of reason was heading to the brig to talk to the one who had been responsible for so much spark ache since his arrival on this planet. And leaving the fuzor and the still not completely recovered tigress to handle communications.

Aurora wanted to protest, but the words got stuck in her throat and wouldn't come out. So she merely watched as Rhinox took his leave, then turned to look at Wintersong again. She tigress had already seated herself at the console with the screen overlooking Zodiac's cell. The shape shifter was surprisingly calm in there, whether as a result of his self-inflicted starvation and resulting weakness, or whether he was just calm before the storm was hard to tell.

"Let's see if we can't help our friends get home a little faster."

The fuzor tilted her head, which promptly made her sweep the unruly lock of fur out of her optics, before she responded.

"Do you have something in mind?," she asked the other female, hopeful that she did since aside from her earlier suggestion the fuzor was drawing a bit of a blank.

"Tigerhawk, Tigatron, are you two there?"

And they waited, rather impatiently, for a response. As time passed, Aurora started feeling more and more certain they wouldn't be getting any reply, a fact that made her spark sink. That is until..

"Things aren't looking good here. Airazor and Rattrap are both unconscious. Airazor looks like she has been cuffed. Cheetor's conscious but injured. Tigerhawk as well and seems to be in better shape then the others. Tigratron is talking to Nemesis. Right now, everything seems to be-" "seems to be quiet. But also, I sensed Rampage nearby and yet he is nowhere to be seen. Blackarachnia is scouting the perimeter. Hopefully, she can find him."

Well.. that couldn't be good. "Why is Tigatron negotiating with Nemesis?," Aurora pondered out loud, "Unless Megatron isn't present..," she then added, answering her own question. So Nemesis was the one in charge, but where was Megatron then? And would the tyrant really let the murderous crab roam around freely in the area unsupervised?

After glancing over at Wintersong, Aurora flicked the switch to open the communication channel to Whitegrazer. "We hear you, Whitegrazer. Please be careful. There could be more of them lurking around," she warned the other female.

"That is correct," "We are merely awaiting your victory here,"

No pressure huh? Nemesis was all too keenly aware of the fact that Megatron was watching them from the distance, judging her every action from his presumably safe location on the hills above them. But she had every intention of impressing him, of earning his respect.

"If I had wanted to continue playing Predacon I would never have left Special Operations."

Nemesis crossed her arms as she eyed the large fuzor somewhat dispassionately. This Tigerhawk was starting to become a real nuisance, and part of her was tempted to tell all the Predacons to focus their combined firepower on him. But for the time being she held off, still hoping to knock some sense into these Maximals instead of wasting the better part of the day in battle. After all they had places to be and other targets to fry.

"Well, if you don't feel like playing our little game you could always leave this place," she retorted in a mocking tone. Of course she wasn't expecting him to actually listen..

"I would think carefully what you do kitty cat, your falcon friend here is rather thinly armored."

The avian female Predacon shook her head briefly. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in her Predacons to accomplish such a feat as making the Maximals leave, especially since the Maximals still lacked some of their big hitters such as Optimus and Rhinox. But it would take up time and give the Maximals a chance to retaliate, something Nemesis didn't want to do right now. She wouldn't have minded a third hostage though, such as the young cheetah she had ordered Quickstrike to intercept, but much like Quickfix the smaller fuzor seemed to have failed at taking the opportunity to do so. Through the corner of her optic she could see Cheetor already getting up, wounded but functional. And to make sure the Preds kept the advantage, they may have to step up their game a notch.

"The Maximals will fall soon enough," Nemesis told Spineback in private to reassure her, "But we need to move before they bring in too many reinforcements. Take out one of the prisoner's joints or optic if you need to, just keep her alive."

She trusted that was something their resident medical officer was capable of.

"You're bluffing."

Again Nemesis smiled a bit. It wasn't a friendly smile by any means, but more so a bit of a challenging one.

"Am I?," she responded to the fuzor.

"Is that really a wager you are willing to make?," Nemesis retorted back, holding back the nuisance she felt since she didn't want to fuel the large fuzor further.

"You wouldn't go through all this effort to take hostages for some reason, otherwise you would have done that with our backs turned."

The smile dropped as suddenly as it had appeared and the avian's optics narrowed at the fuzor when she spoke again.

"Sacrifices can be made," she told him with utter confidence, "After all there's more of you here. Perhaps I'll settle for you as a hostage instead."

And at that point she turned away in order to give Spineback the go-ahead to injure the imprisoned falcon as the female medic best saw fit, temporarily turning her attention away from Tigerhawk. A fact that quickly proved to be a mistake.

The fuzor pulled out his electro cannon and fired several bursts down at Nemesis on the ground below. And the first shot impacted against her unprotected backside, immediately causing a chain reaction as the electricity spread rampant throughout her systems. Nemesis growled out in pain as she quickly hit the ground, only barely avoiding the following shots that pierced the ground uncomfortably close to her. The avian female draped her wings around herself, trying to shelter herself to avoid getting hit again, while the surge caused her nanomachines to scatter within her, temporarily offsetting their normally conjoined efforts to heal her. Her hands balled into fists, her face briefly contorted from the pain before the electricity faded and then disappeared.

Still she stayed there for another moment or two before regaining enough control of her limbs to slowly, carefully, push herself up again. Her hand immediately went for her weapon again, her enraged optics scanning the sky above for the foolish Maximal who had just dared attack. And then another voice, one she quickly recognized as belonging to the male white tiger, spoke up as well.

"There is no reason for this senseless battle,"

She disagreed, but somehow managed to remain calm enough not to shoot him at sight.

"Clearly, you have won. The person within the pod has clearly shown he is one of you. Why not leave this place in peace and release our friends?"

Nemesis groaned a bit as she straightened out once the electric surge had passed through her, each of her joints aching but overall her systems seemed to be operational still. She'd been lucky that time..

"You are not in a position to be making demands," the avian second in command hissed as she turned her attention to Tigatron, who seemed to have taken charge of the remaining Maximals. "Your friends stay with us until I see fit to release them." The fact that Quickfix had chosen the Predacon side didn't matter in all of this, although she did briefly wonder where he'd ended up since she had lost track of him during the battle.

"Nemesis, I ordered my team to cease. Maybe, if you clearly want this to go without more spilling of energon, you cease your teammates from attacking us and we can discuss terms."

"I've already laid out my terms!," the avian female hissed back, clenching the weapon in her hand a little more tightly. "But perhaps you need a reminder of what will happen to all of them if you do not halt your attacks and leave this place right now..," she then added as she suddenly took aim with her weapon again and fired several shots, still using the explosive ammo, at the already wounded young cheetah. She would have picked Tigerhawk as a target, but he had already moved away from her and was now being attacked by Terrorsaur.

"I do not believe you were formally introduced to our new comrade, Tarantulas. Rampage is quite a unique individual given his ability to regenerate and his inability to die."

"Is that so?," the arachnid replied in his usual manner, his optics darting up at the larger crab's face as he eyed him rather hungrily. The crab, of course, was having none of it.

"I'm sure it would be quite the shame if you happened to accidentally fall into my claws arachnid."

Tarantulas swiftly took a slight step back and briefly raised his arms, all ten of them, in a gesture of innocence. Of course that was the only thing innocent about him and his motives, however as intriguing as the crab and his internal workings were to the scientist he had come here with another freak of nature subject in mind.

"I come bearing gifts," he assured the two while gesturing at the wagon his arachnids had brought. "I'm sure you will find the contents of my hard labor quite.. exuberant, Megatron," the spider assured the tyrant before following up with another maniacal cackle. As much as he loathed the tyrant, he could appreciate the brutality he showed towards his enemies. And when Megatron was done extracting his revenge, Tarantulas would harvest the remains of the victim to perform his own experiments on him.

The wagon was filled to the brim with a number of weapons and other items that could only be referred to as torture devices. All of which had been especially designed to be able to counter the shape shifter's abilities. And of course the spider kept the most valuable weapon to himself, the virus he had created to leave the victim in a helpless state, yet keep his nanomachines alive so that they could be extracted afterwards.

"This might prove interesting after all."

"Hehehe," the spider cackled as the three of them watched the scenario unfold in the wooded area below.

"It was my fault for being so submissive to their whims, not fighting back harder than I should have. Of course, I didn't think I needed to fight them. After all, I was a Vok. I believed no one, nothing could hurt me, nothing could stop me, that everyone would be too fearful of me, that I, with my all-powerful being, was invincible, untouchable, to be deceived or overtaken by inferior beings, physical, corporeal beings. My arrogance in believing that as well as believing I could end centuries of hatred and fighting just because of who I was was what brought me to this. I realized that now, especially after my exile and time spent on Cybertron."

Optimus was about to put all of the blame onto the Council and the Vok, but he stopped himself when he quickly realized that he blamed himself for the experiments that he had been a part of when the Elders were just as much as fault. Whitegrazer, of course, always took the blame for everything. She would probably blame the creation of Primus and the Quintessons on herself even though she had nothing to do with them. "They shouldn't have put you in that position either, Whitegrazer," he had said to alleviate her guilt. "They took advantage of you. They preyed on your weaknesses and abilities for their own benefit. And that wasn't right. You are not the only one to take fault here." It was astonishing to hear, however, how different she was long before they had met. He tried not to allow any doubt to obscure or tarnish the beautiful, caring individual he had come to fall in love with. Whitegrazer was a prime example to show how some bots were capable of changing no matter the darker paths they had chosen in their past.

Feeling her fall into his embrace, so to speak, welcoming his compassion and altruism, it was far more rewarding to be kind than to be cruel and callous. Optimus just didn't understand how some saw Megatron as a savior. Well, he wasn't naive about it either, since many who had been wronged by the Elders and Maximals; oppressed, mistreated, shunned, wrongfully accused and jailed, the list went on, now saw him as a beacon of hope to their injustices and revenge. They viewed Megatron as a respectful renegade who was powerful, well educated and intelligent. But his recklessness, ego and merciless tactics would be his downfall in the end. Whether Optimus would able to stop him or someone else would, Megatron would falter. It was inevitable. Sometimes Primal still asked why. Why him? Why had he been thrown into this mess with quite possibly the balance of the universe in his hands?

Earlier, Aurora's optics had shown him some despair toward his appearance, as if this war had taken a toll on him. She wasn't wrong. His armor was not as nice as it once was when he initially returned to life in this TransMetal body, there was a scar across his mouth, and he had a faint limp that couldn't be corrected. That was just the obvious, physical measurements that anyone could see. Mentally, he couldn't deny that he was exhausted and tired, and he wished he could end this war with a wave of a wand. It wasn't that simple. But Optimus persevered every second of every day because he had to. He had to face the challenges with his Maximals that were brought on by Megatron and the Vok because there was no one else to stop them. And that was a huge amount of pressure and stress for anyone to endure with limited resources for years on end. And yet Primal wouldn't and couldn't give up. Maybe it was in his programming, maybe it came with the name, but there was too much at stake now to quit, and he would not fail his Maximals.

In any case, it felt really good to hold Whitegrazer so close and listen to her. Learning about Zodiac being her offspring was quite a revelation, but he certainly wasn't going to deject her for it or send her away. She hadn't even known. How would he liked to have been treated after learning about something as life-changing as that? He wouldn't want to be cast away or punished or isolated.

"Yes, I do."

That was good that she understood Zodiac's confinement. It was simply the precautions they had to take because he was so dangerous no matter whose child he was. He hoped he could be more lenient on the shape shifter's imprisonment some day, but that was not to happen any time soon, he was sure.

"It was you,"

Whitegrazer confirmed with her expression and voice that the strange anomaly had indeed originated from his spark. Should he be scared or excited? He had no idea what it was or what it could do, but at least he knew he wasn't going crazy.

"It make senses now. What happened in the Metal Hunter, what I and the others felt, your spark, due to our connection, and maybe, due to your past dealings with my people, has acquired an ability, due to continuous exposure."

If her assessment was accurate, was this a good thing? Primal wasn't entirely comfortable being aware that such a power that could reach to others through their sparks was in his possession. What if it could harm someone? It didn't quite feel like it could, but how was he to know? Primus, why me? he thought. Was his spark compromised now? Was he fit to continue leading?

"We had been looking at things the wrong way. Remember the nightmares, the drawings you created? Your spark was trying to understand what it absorbed, what it absorbed from me and my people."

Optimus peered at her quizzically because he wasn't so sure this was coming from the Vok or her, although all of those occurrences that she had mentioned were definitely related to the lasting trauma he had endured from her people, much like what Wintersong was experiencing. Perhaps a part of it did evolve from them and her, but there was another side to it that felt like it was buried deep down inside of his soul, and it would only show itself at the surface - just out of his reach - when the others were in extreme duress or dire need of something, whether it was comfort or hope or to be relinquished from pain. It was something in the pit of his spark that had latched on ever since his death and crossing over the Matrix.

"It is still in it's infancy.

That was actually a pretty good way to describe it, so her words comforted him a little bit. If anyone would know anything about unusual abilities that were derived from one's spark, Whitegrazer would. This was something so new to him, intriguing as it was, but he maintained his caution. It would likely need nurturing and understanding to help it grow, and it would require control.

Despite the shock of this, please, don't be alarmed.

Don't be alarmed? Was she joking? There was something inside of him that could reach out to all of them, and he had no idea what it was! The mare was right... He mustn't panic. They could explore it at a later time and figure it out. ...What would Nexus think of it? What would he think of his "star pupil" if he saw him now...?

I feel it. I know it now. You have gained a power within your spark, Optimus, and I don't know the right word to use for it, as the Vok word, if I can say, is a bit difficult to express in Cybertronian language, but this ability, whatever it will grow into, will be nurtured by your own being, yourself, and who you are."

Was Whitegrazer right about that? Was it safe from anyone else manipulating it? Could it be tainted? What if he was just a vessel for the Vok's plans to come back and kill them? On the other hand, if it was under his own control, she gave him great comfort and support in developing it into his own unique ability. If it could turn into anything, he would only want it to help others, not to harm them. He supposed time would tell.

"Hopefully, when there aren't pressing matters or fighting Predacons, through meditation and experience, we can see how this ability blossoms."

Optimus had nodded lightly to the equine in agreement. "That's probably a good place to start exploring it." He was trying to be brave about it, but his nervousness and uncertainty were still slightly evident in his optics.

"No, I don't think it is,"

Whitegrazer's answer about Wintersong being connected to the new development of the Vok returning to their prior intentions on destroying the entire planet had taken him aback a little. There was no blame to place on the TransMetal tigress though. While the Vok had held her captive, they could have probed her mind, they could have coerced her to say things she didn't intend to, she might have shared information she shouldn't have. Or none of that played a factor into them changing their minds. No one knew. Maybe Wintersong did and was too frightened to share it, or she couldn't recall. Either way Optimus wasn't willing to single her out or expect her to have answers for them.

"Which is why we need to find out what they planned to do,."

How? he wondered. How could they possibly find out? They weren't exactly the chatty type. And they, along with TyCross, seemed to have disowned Whitegrazer now. What else was there to use to figure it out? His own corrupted mind full of alien chaos? The orb Megatron had in his possession? Wintersong?

"I love you too,"

Her words warmed and fulfilled his spark in a way that no one ever had before or that he had ever experienced. He had a fondness from Nexus Prime, but that was a different kind of love; a mutual respect and someone Optimus looked up to as a guide, a mentor, a teacher, a father-figure. Whitegrazer was a unique, strong and independent female. She was nurturing, caring, selfless, thoughtful, supportive, trustworthy and one-of-a-kind. He never knew how empty his spark had felt until he met her and began sharing a connection with her. She had been an awakening for him to learn so much more, opening his mind and expanding his horizon. How could he ever return that same kind of affection and ascension?

"And I will always be here for you as well."

I know, he thought kindly. Such devotion. The Maximal leader's hands caressed her's as she held his. He didn't want to let go, but there was work to be done and friends to rescue. They couldn't allow their relationship to interfere with their duties or something would surely go wrong.

You as well.

And just like that, Whitegrazer was gone. He hoped she and Blackarachnia would be successful in providing their team with back-up, but he didn't know the extent of their injuries and the Predacon obstacles they were faced with and were about to face.

-----

"We'll do what we can Rhinox."

He knew Wintersong and Aurora would do their best, but just in case they ran into any trouble, he added, "Let me know if you have an emergency," before he left them alone in the command center.

"Interesting advice coming from you.. After all you will ultimately put me on trial and watch me get executed, so you should be pleased that I'm speeding the process up for you."

"For someone who is supposed to know their enemy so well in order to ensure impeccable shape-shifting disguises that are meant to trick others and infiltrate their ranks to destroy them from within, you hardly seem to know me at all," Optimus casually threw back to Zodiac through the intercom. He couldn't blame him for him automatically assuming that that would be his fate, but it showed Primal that Zodiac was merely categorizing the Commander with the rest of the Maximal authorities and what they would do to him in his position. Fortunately for the pretender, Optimus had more mercy than they did and a different approach to a possible solution. Compassion may have been one of Primal's most recognizable traits, but his unorthodox problem-solving probably came in as a close second. "I would find no satisfaction in any of those outcomes, Zodiac," he told him truthfully. Interestingly enough, the renegade's voice was serene, but could that have just been from his exhaustion and fatigue?

"I don't suppose you've decided to check up on me to discuss the terms of my release?,"

"Not exactly," the Maximal leader responded. Zodiac was really striking out on his presumptions, but Optimus assumed that he knew what he really wanted since he was flashing it all over the camera earlier. However, since he was the empathetic and compassionate type, Optimus didn't want to just jump into that topic without a genuine desire to know what he was going through, if he could actually obtain any honesty from the black dragon. "Have you given any thought about your current circumstance and what has lead up to it at this point in your life? The revenge you've attempted on me over and over again seems to go deeper than just my regretful involvement on your experiments, of which I am deeply sorry for. I've noticed a personal fixation you have on the relationship I once held with Nexus Prime."

Rhinox remained quiet at the controls in the brig allowing his friend to speak with the troubled bot without any interruptions.

-----

"If that is what you came for, you would have alredy done it,"

Inferno gave Tigatron a toothy grin before he noticed Rattrap beginning to stir. "I have my orders, cat," he returned threateningly.

The Maximal Spy could visibly been seen starting to wake up as his body slightly writhed on the ground, dazed and confused, his vision blurry. "Tiga... tron...?" he muttered when he recognized the Maximal's voice. What happened? Where was he?

To show the seriousness of the situation to Tigatron, the tall Predacon looming over the rodent peered down at him and rammed his weapon into Rattrap's head to immediately knock him unconscious again. Then he placed one of his feet on his chest and pressed down on the small Maximal to keep him pinned there while he took aim at the white tiger who decided to start a pointless conversation with Nemesis.

"You're bluffing." "You wouldn't go through all this effort to take hostages for some reason, otherwise you would have done that with our backs turned."

What is the point of Nemesis obtaining these hostages? Megatron pondered while he observed from afar. It must have had something to do with a plan to infiltrate the Axalon. After all, they would need a way around their shield and defenses with as less bloodshed as necessary to carry out the tyrant's end game. Clever but risky, and not so easy to accomplish as she was probably realizing now. From his vantage point on higher terrain, he noticed two more Maximals arriving before they vanished under the cover of some forestry. Momentarily, his pink eyes searched the sky from underneath the clearing of the canopy of trees for his nemesis, but to his surprise, Primal was still a no-show.

"Is that so?,"

"I'm sure it would be quite the shame if you happened to accidentally fall into my claws arachnid."

Megatron chuckled inwardly to himself at Rampage's comment toward the TransMetal spider.

"Hehe, interesting, but the Maximals aren't idiots to fall for such a bluff if you're obviously only taking hostages and not actively trying to take them out before."

"Why, Rampage, you sound surfeited," the tyrant smirked in his beast mode. "I believe it is near the time we remedy this monotonous scenery below."

"I come bearing gifts,"

The t-rex shifted his gaze to the tarantula's transport of goodies. "Gifts, or traps?" he asked somewhat rhetorically since he obviously didn't trust him, and his skeptical voice didn't bother hiding it.

"I'm sure you will find the contents of my hard labor quite.. exuberant, Megatron,"

The Predacon leader studied Tarantulas for a thoughtful moment. "We shall see," he commented with as little enthusiasm as possible in order to deny the arachnid any gratification. Although he couldn't lie to himself that he was at least a tiny bit curious about the toys he brought along with him. "Have you any kind of an EMP device that could disrupt the Maximals' communication links? We really do not need any more unwelcome company," he implied to the scientist. There was no time to build a jamming station, nor did anyone have the supplies and components. At the risk of shorting out their own communications, it didn't really matter to Megatron because all of the Predacons were already present, but he was sure that if Tarantulas had such a tool that it would be modified to only interfere with their enemies' communicators and not their own, which would be a great advantage for them.

"Am I?," "Is that really a wager you are willing to make?,"

Megatron's demeanor soon shifted from confidence in Nemesis' ability to end this stand-off to disappointment and even a little opprobrium as he watched Tigerhawk effortlessly subdue her when she distracted herself by instructing Spineback to torture Airazor before Terrorsaur finally returned to the air and attacked the Fuzor keeping him distracted.

"Just fall already fuzor!"

"As a spectator, I have grown weary. You two will intercept Whitegrazer and Blackarachnia. Separate them, and deny them access as reinforcements. But do not execute Miss Arachnia. I wish to make an example out of her treachery myself," Megatron instructed Rampage and Tarantulas. Slinking back into the forest, the powerful t-rex opened a transmission to the ant while he made his way down the incline and toward the battle field still hidden by the thick trees in the opposite direction from where the two female Maximals were approaching.

"Inferno, quit standing around and incapacitate Tigatron." His voice was impatient and cold.

The pyro nearly gasped upon hearing his Queen on his personal radio. He only wasted a moment's thought as to where Megatron was that he could see him until he simply obeyed his order with, "As you command!" and fired a few blasts at Tigatron who was busy trying to talk Nemesis down and then had the nerve to shoot the Predacon doctor who had Airazor in her possession.

Wintersong was about to answer Aurora's question when Whitegrazer finally chimed in after not hearing from Tigatron or Tigerhawk. Perhaps unable to answer from the battle she was beginning to guess, and partly worry. Ordinarily they would have had an immediate answer but the one Whitegrazer offered didn't exactly change the gravity of the situation.

"Whitegrazer, all of you may have to retreat. If the situation is that bad you need to regroup, maybe get back to the Axalon and we can figure out a better plan." Wintersong put in as well, expressing deep concern for their teammates, a hint of frustration in her tone for not being able to go help. "If Rampage is there, Megatron can't be that far off." With Optimus and Rhinox talking with Zodiac it would be in their best interest if someone was there to give them back up if their situation went south as well. But from where she sat it seemed unlikely the situation could get out of hand compared to what was going on with the pod retrieval.

At that was probably the most visibly frustrating part for Wintersong, feeling like she could go help but doing so could leave Aurora, Optimus, and Rhinox at Zodiac's mercy. "To be honest Aurora, I don't know what to do, and I feel like I could be doing more than I am." Wintersong finally answered her previous question, slumping in the chair slightly, "If we didn't have him to be worried about maybe we could turn the tide of this battle." She short a hateful glare towards the monitor, wishing Zodiac was one less problem they should have on their shoulders.

++++++++++++++

Cheetor had finally recovered enough to be more aware of his surroundings, just in time enough to catch Tigatron's words of encouragement to rest, "Big Cat?!" Cheetor was surprised to hear the white tiger mech but at the same time thrilled to have him back once again. It had been a long time since he had been among them, and given everything that had happened he admittedly was worried what could have happened.

Not that the young feline had a chance to process everything before Tigerhawk seemed to take matters into his own hands.

Tigerhawk's attempts hadn't met much success, Spineback and Inferno both remaining firm to their orders much to his dismay. The fuzor was running out of ideas and ways to buy them time to figure out what they could do, somewhat frustrated by Tigatron's attempts for a diplomatic approach that wouldn't work this far into the battle. The older feline had a chance to make a move and wasted it trying to talk sense into Nemesis, which had done the exact opposite of what he was hoping for.

"The chance for diplomacy has passed!" The fuzor called to him, moments later having to fly back to avoid the eye lasers sent by Terrorsaur. Not that was a difficult task thanks to the flier's screechy voice giving it away,

Flying forward to avoid more eye lasers shot his way, Tigerhawk tried to see what was going on below once again, optics narrowing when seeing Nemesis turn her annoyance towards Cheetor, causing the fuzor to growl softly. For now he could only see Whitegrazer's message flash across his visor, having to ignore it in favor of taking the direct approach again, "Figure something out, I'm going to try and keep Nemesis' attention on me, maybe they'll lose some coordination." But with all the chaos going on, Tigerhawk couldn't quite confirm if the Predacons had their own back up or where the cannibal crab was and put his immediate focus towards the avian Predacon, diving back down near her and firing more electrical blasts towards or near her, "You couldn't just take the new Predacon and leave."

Cheetor in the meantime gasped and dove towards the side to avoid the explosive ammo, barely missing his chest plating being blown further by the Predacon second in command and coming back to his feet a short distance away. "This is getting us no where, we need to fall back now Maximals, you too BA. The Predacons have us outmatched right now, try and regroup behind the rubble they tried to squash us with earlier. Once we do we can formulate a plan then.[/b]" Cheetor messaged back to every Maximal present, including the she-spider in the hopes all of them could do just that. Even if Tigerhawk seemed adamant in sticking to his guns.

Glancing towards where Tigatron was though, Cheetor brought his hands together and began to fire on Inferno, Spineback, and Terrorsaur, the transmetal flier seeming to turn his attention towards his fellow cat instead while avoiding striking his teammates. "Come on Tigatron!" The transmetal cheetah called, anxiously watching to see if the older cat could get away in time as he moved towards the rubble but never letting up on his shots.

"I can manage." Spineback dismissed Tigatron, showing little concern for the side wound she got.

Honestly, she had had far worse in her time. It was sore sure, but it would be an easy fix later. But she didn't linger on it as she felt movement beneath her foot, glancing down to find Airazor struggling at last, "Tigatron!" It seemed the falcon had realized who was there attempting to salvage the situation, poorly at that, and she could do little to help. "Can it feathers, your furball boyfriend won't even come close." The veteran chuckled, deciding to allow Terrorsaur and Inferno to handle the cat while Spineback decided to use the chaos to slip back into the forestry, dragging the falcon along despite her struggles.

"All of you get out of here while you still can!" Airazor tried to call out to her loved ones, only able to watch helplessly as her friends were ruthlessly attacked and her position leaving her unable to give them proper aid. "You and the rest of the Predacons will regret this reptile." Airazor spoke coldly, turning her head to peer at her captor only to grunt as she was punched hard enough to daze her, causing her lip to split open on one side, "Yea, I hear it all the time." Spineback grumbled, occasionally glancing back at the battlefield to keep track of what was happening.

Deciding to give up his attempts with the fuzor, who seemed to have been alerted to his presence anyway, Terrorsaur began to search for an easier target. His optics quickly fell to that of Tigatron, the nature loving cat attempting the same old diplomacy tactic. 'When will they learn talking down a situation is cheap.' The transmetal flier thought with a roll of his optics, focusing his efforts on Tigatron for now as he began firing his eye lasers towards the feline and giving Spineback the chance to drag one of their hostages to the safety of the trees.

Rampage turned his gaze towards the cart with a look of disinterest.

He highly doubted he would really be making much use of the weapons himself, especially given the firepower he could pack with just his handheld rocket launchers alone. More than likely he would be designated to providing the heavy artillery to draw out the Maximals at some point down the road that day, whatever it was Megatron had planned for the next part of this little plan.

However, his attention was soon drawn by an unseen force, turning in the direction of a rather familiar presence before it disappeared a short time after. But there was no mistaking it, the Vok white mare had come to the aid of her unfortunate comrades. "I'm sure you can handle our hybrid equine friend without a problem, eh arachnid." Rampage spoke as he crept away to handle the other individual he was sensing, giving Tarantulas no chances to protest over his choice of a target. Truth be told, he wasn't all for hearing Whitegrazer's usual "you can change" mush, preferring to confront someone who would be of greater sport to him and shifting to his robot mode as they got closer and closer to crossing paths. "Time to draw out a little spider." Rampage cackled darkly, drawing out his rocket launcher to fire two shots into the tree cover in the area between himself and Blackarachnia, attempting to give the she-spider few places to hide.

((OOC: I hope this post is all right, that I got everyone, and I didn't do too many moves. Sorry for the delay, the last few days have been very distracting and hectic. Yuck! ))

"They shouldn't have put you in that position either, Whitegrazer," he had said to alleviate her guilt. "They took advantage of you. They preyed on your weaknesses and abilities for their own benefit. And that wasn't right. You are not the only one to take fault here."

"You are right," She smiled. To be honest, part of her was tired of feeling guilty over what had happened. Guilt had lead her to do some desperate things that had made matters worse, and she should have known better than to allow her guilty conscience override everything else. She took responsibility for her actions. And she will continue to make things that had been wronged become right again. That's all she could do. She must trust in herself. Trust in those around her, and most of all, trust in her abilities and training. Nothing more, nothing less. Also, to learn to not put trust in those who haven't earned it or betrayed that trust. Like the High Council. "I realized now that I put too much trust and faith in those who had none towards me and towards the very ideals they preached to me, that sung to my soul. Despite my Vok nature, I was naive and was too taken in, impressionable towards those with great power and supposed prestige. My lesson has been learned." She was hesitated to wrap her arms around Optimus. It was her, really. Part of her still didn't believe she deserved Optimus, but no matter if she deserved him or not, she valued the relationship she had with him. So, despite her earlier hesitation, she wrapped her arms around him, still resting her forehead on his shoulder.

She sensed through their bond that Optimus was in deep contemplation. She didn't know the details, but she sensed an exhaustion, anxious, a weariness. Was he thinking about this war and how much has changed. It would be blind of her and everyone else to not to see how much this war has affected them in both good and bad ways. She had seen, felt the changes within Optims because of this war. He had become hardened by his experiences, it was only natural. A exploration captain forced to become a leader in amidst of war which shouldn't have been. Everything rested on his-no their shoulders. They carried the burden together, and she let an ounce of warmth flood through their bond. She hoped he realized that they shred that burden. All of them did. For a split second, she seen an visage of Aurora. Well, she was aware of Optimus and Aurora talking, but she hoped everything between them had been settled, and Optimus wasn't too hard on the little one. Despite how it disappointed them when she ran off without reporting in or telling any of them, leaving herself vulnerable to Predacons, to Zodiac, who was once presumed dead, Aurora just let her curisoity get the better of her. Hopefully, she let her logic keep her cursiosity at bay, but not let it dwindle. Aurora had become a bright student in many subjects especially in biology. Then she pondered who gave Optimus that pad and found those genetic markers. Only rhinox or Aurora would have the brains for such a discovery, and she didn't think rhinox would have the time to actually search. It had to have been Aurora. Clever girl. She wondered why Optimus didn't reveal it to her. She wouldn't have been angry. Actually, she would have given Aurora a hug and commend her discovery.

"That's probably a good place to start exploring it."

She was excited over this, but it waned a bit when she felt and noticed how uncomfortable and worried about this discovery it made Optimus. "With time, and wisdom, we can see what this newfound power is, but please, I apologize, don't fret about it, whatever it is, it came within a time when your loved ones were in trouble, and gave us a chance, a place of solitude and warm, no matter where it came from, it manifested within you, and you are good, wise person, Optimus. I don't sense any ill or malice from it."


Back in the battlefield...

"We hear you, Whitegrazer. Please be careful. There could be more of them lurking around," she warned the other female.

"Whitegrazer, all of you may have to retreat. If the situation is that bad you need to regroup, maybe get back to the Axalon and we can figure out a better plan." Wintersong put in as well, expressing deep concern for their teammates, a hint of frustration in her tone for not being able to go help. "If Rampage is there, Megatron can't be that far off."

It was good to hear both Wintersong and Aurora's voice, and she smiled, "I will keep myself alert, Aurora." Aurora was right about one thing, though. There could be more Predacons lurking, especially if Rampage was hiding around somewhere, and Wintersong made a very good point about Rampage, Megatron controlled him with half of his spark within a tortuous device. Megatron had to be nearby. And who else could be here with them? "I agree. This isn't about a pod no more. The fact that they are taking hostages means that they want something that we have and that means-"

A feeling of dread washed over her. What if... they were taking hostages for exchange? Could they be trying to get Zodiac? She didn't know of their intentions, but she still knew Nemesis wanted Zodiac's head for his betrayal and the actions he took against her. And Megatron had made it clear that he too wanted zodiac's head.

Whitegrazer realized she didn't finish her sentence to Wintersong and Aurora, "I will try and see if I can help in anyway to rescue our downed comrades." Carefully, though. Spineback loomed over her falcon friend. And Airazor had been cuffed, injured, ready to be used as bait as a hostage. Rattrap was in the same situation, being loomed over by Inferno. Tigrtaron had been trying to negotiated to see if the conflict could dissipate or give a chance for their comrades to seize advantages to repair or attack, but it seemed the Predacons wanted to continue, Nemesis wanted to fight.

Tigratron would have no choice but to fight.

But she wasn't just going to sit here and let their comrades be hostages. Taking a couple of her smoke grenades, she threw them into the field one around Inferno who had Rattrap underneath his kneel and one towards Spineback who was dragging Airazor away.

"I have my orders, cat,"

"Yes, and under whose orders would that be?" Tigratron said, keeping his optics on Nemesis, wondering if he could get a hint of what was going on since normally Inferno only answered to Megatron but it seemed Nemesis was in charge here, so what was the game here, what was the gain of trying to capture some of their crew? He kept a stoic expression, but his spark shivered with concern towards Rattrap who was underneath the firy ant. Inferno was a pyromaniac, and he didn't want to jeopardize the rat's nor Airazor's..., who was, like Rattrap, down with Spinback looking over her and in danger.

"You are not in a position to be making demands," the avian second in command hissed as she turned her attention to Tigatron, who seemed to have taken charge of the remaining Maximals. "Your friends stay with us until I see fit to release them.

"I've already laid out my terms!," the avian female hissed back, clenching the weapon in her hand a little more tightly. "But perhaps you need a reminder of what will happen to all of them if you do not halt your attacks and leave this place right now..,"

"The chance for diplomacy has passed!"

Tigratron regretted not using Tigerhawk's distraction in order to talk down this battle, but there would be other opportunities. He growled at Nemesis, who seemed adamant in continuing, threatening, and firing at the downed young cat "Whatever, whoever it is, that you wish to gain by using our friends, it will not happen." Tigatron side-jumped to his right and fired his gut gun straight at Nemesis' weapon then a few shots at her. It was around this time that Inferno started firing at him. There wasn't much cover nor did he have time to find cover. One of Inferno's shots scorched his shoulder. He hissed, gotten on one knee, rubbing his wound, but as he saw one of the smoke grenades landed and pop next to Inferno, he was about to use the opportunity when terrorsaur shot at him with the eyebeam. He was shot in the chest and fell a few feet back.

This is getting us no where, we need to fall back now Maximals, you too BA. The Predacons have us outmatched right now, try and regroup behind the rubble they tried to squash us with earlier. Once we do we can formulate a plan then.

Tigatron!

"All of you get out of here while you still can!"

"Airazor!," He reached for her as he struggled to get up from the blast. Spineback seem to be dragging her away from the field. Primus knew where. No! But he couldn't help her yet. Not with Terrorosaur firing at him. His gun turned towards Terrorsaur, and he fired at the flying pterodactyl. The burn from Terrorsar's eyebeam left a smolder on his chest, a small line of smoke lingered off it, and it strung like the Pit.

"Come on Tigatron!

"Go, little cat!," he said, waving away, keeping his optics on all Predacons nearby. "I will be with you all momentarily." He stood up.


Since Tigratron was being shot at by terrorsaur, Whitegrazer took the opportunity while Inferno was distracted and rushed towards him while he was too distracted by Tigrtaron and possibly the smoke, her hand grabbed Inferno's wrist, which held his weapon, and gave an open palm uppercut underneath Inferno's chin, hoping to throw him back away from Rattrap and herself, while tearing the fire ant's weapon away for herself, aiming it around as she placed herself above Rattrap, protecting him. She hoped to help the others get a chance to get away while Blackarachnai and her could help them downed comrades escape Predacon crtuches.. or at the very least dra out any Predacons who seemed to hiding, if there were any more besid Rampage.


Blackarachnia had taken shelter above one of the trees. She took out her weapon and shot at Terrorsaur then some at Nemesis. She had heard the call of retreat. Which she would obey right after, she took care of some business of her own. Spineback was dragging poor cuffed Airazor out of the battlefield into the forest, next to her, passing by the tree Blackarachnia nestled herself into. Taking this opportunity, Blackarachnia jumped out of the tree and her feet crashing forward into Spineback's back. "Catching prey like us spiders, huh, Spineback? I must warn you, though, falcons really are too tough to eat." She smirked, but that smirk turned to shock as missiles penetrated the trees next to them, and crashing down towards them. Blackarachnia jumped, grabbing Airazor to try and run from the falling trees.

"Let me know if you have an emergency,"

An emergency? Aurora pondered the choice of words the lead scientist had decided to leave them with, as between Primal being preoccupied with the shady shape shifter, their trusted Whitegrazer seemed to share a lot more with the same prisoner than she had let on, and more urgently.. The Predacons were picking them off one by one in the battlefield. But for what purpose? Surely it wasn't to kill them or they wouldn't have bothered leaving the hostages alive..

So yeah.. The fuzor watched Rhinox depart with some concern, since she was worried what the next bit of bad news that would come over the radio would be. And frankly she would have preferred it if Rhinox could have stayed to handle it, since he always had such a good grasp on such things. But at least Wintersong was still here, even though the little fuzor wasn't entirely convinced of what the other female's state of mind was after her ordeal with the Vok and then getting tossed right back into this ongoing war.

For a moment her optics drifted to Wintersong, then to the monitor showing Rhinox join up with Optimus in the brig. She was genuinely curious what they were saying, but at the same time she didn't want to miss any new distress calls from their comrades out in the field so she fought that urge to listen in to the private conversation in the brig. For now..

"To be honest Aurora, I don't know what to do, and I feel like I could be doing more than I am."

The other female sounded rather irritated, and frankly.. the fuzor couldn't blame her in the least. Here they were stuck at the Axalon while their comrades were in danger, and honestly every circuit was telling the fuzor she needed to be out there too to help them. But she couldn't.. She had just had a lengthy conversation with Primal and she really didn't want to disobey him again. At least not so soon.

"You and me both," the fuzor agreed, "But until Optimus gives the word, there's nothing we can do about it.. right?"

She looked at the other female, hoping she would have an idea of what to do. After all, Wintersong was more experienced and had a higher rank.. or at least so Aurora presumed.

"If we didn't have him to be worried about maybe we could turn the tide of this battle."

"We could always fill his cell up with gas and put him to sleep?," the fuzor suggested, half jokingly. "Or.. we could start preparing by setting up some traps for the Predacons so we can at least match them at their own game. If they're taking hostages, they must want something from us. Something that only recently came into our possession since they didn't try this approach before.."

Again her optics darted to the monitor showing the subdued renegade in their brig, just as Whitegrazer's voice came through the com link again.

"I will keep myself alert, Aurora."

You better!, Aurora wanted to tell her and probably would have if Wintersong hadn't been right there and the fuzor didn't want to come across as too.. motherly.. towards one of the other crew members, the one who in fact was like a mother to her.

"I agree. This isn't about a pod no more. The fact that they are taking hostages means that they want something that we have and that means-"

She waited patiently for Whitegrazer to finish her thought, trying not to let her increasing paranoia get to her.

"I will try and see if I can help in anyway to rescue our downed comrades."

"It's too dangerous right now, Whitegrazer!," Aurora protested through the com. "You guys need to regroup and try to come up with another, less dangerous approach. I.. We cannot afford losing any more.."

She stopped her rant as she realized all she could hear now was just static coming through the communication systems. Now what?

"For someone who is supposed to know their enemy so well in order to ensure impeccable shape-shifting disguises that are meant to trick others and infiltrate their ranks to destroy them from within, you hardly seem to know me at all,"

The captured shape shifter smiled a bit upon hearing Primal's outburst, a rather puzzling smile that held little humor or joy. In turn the smile was followed by a low sigh as the renegade straightened himself out a bit.

"You speak as if you'll have a choice in the matter.. Yet you're fully aware of the circumstances you're faced with. If you stay here on this planet, sooner or later someone will destroy your precious Maximals.. Whether it be Megatron or the Vok.. or some other as of yet unknown entity. Which leaves you with few options other than to return to Cybertron, and we both know what awaits us there."


Briefly, the renegade looked up at the camera before lowering his gaze to a non-specific spot in front of him again.

"I would find no satisfaction in any of those outcomes, Zodiac,"

"Oh really? I wouldn't have guessed based on the security measures you put in place," the renegade responded with a slight, humorless chuckle. His voice sounded surprisingly calm, his demeanor likewise. Yet there was a certain sense of defiance in his words, possibly from his present predicament or who he was being forced to deal with.

"Not exactly,"

Shaking his head briefly, Zodiac made a slight grimace which was quickly followed up with a "This is my surprised face" comment. Was he surprised? Not in the least. But at least Primal was willing to talk, even if he was hiding behind the safety of his cameras to do so.

"Have you given any thought about your current circumstance and what has lead up to it at this point in your life? The revenge you've attempted on me over and over again seems to go deeper than just my regretful involvement on your experiments, of which I am deeply sorry for. I've noticed a personal fixation you have on the relationship I once held with Nexus Prime."

A personal fixation.. Heh, that was an interesting way of putting such a complex issue. Indeed, Zodiac was aware of his own somewhat unhealthy and overly complicated relationship with Nexus Prime and also Primal by association. He wasn't oblivious to how Nexus often infiltrated his dreams, when he allowed himself to sleep long enough to have them, as well as the lengths he had gone to in order to get even. Or at least what he had perceived as getting even when he first made his plans.

Everything had changed since then..

Zodiac dimmed his optics ever so slightly, remaining silent for a long moment, before eventually looking down at his own closed hands. Upon opening them, the identification chip came into view inside in one of his palms. The renegade then took the chip and held it, surprisingly gently, between the thumb and index digit of his other hand, holding it up for Primal to see.

"I presume this is what you are looking for?," he asked, although he already knew the answer. His one bargaining chip, and something he was well aware that Primal would want.. not only for practical reason, such as gaining access to the locked parts of the journal he already held in his possession, but it no doubt held sentimental value as well. Much like it did to the renegade also, in some strange ways..

"If so just come and get it. I don't have much use for it anymore," he continued while trying to keep his voice neutral. After all there wasn't much he could do while Primal remained on the other end of a microphone. Of course he wasn't quite sure what he planned to do when, or if, Optimus accepted his offer. Or challenge as the case may be. If anything, the renegade was a bit at a loss for what his options were at this point. Surely Primal wouldn't risk a lone encounter with the shape shifter, but even if he managed to overpower them in his present state how would he be able to get out of the Axalon? Of course Zodiac remained unaware of the fact a majority of the Maximals were not present right now.

"Unless of course you would rather I destroy the chip and rid Nexus from both of our lives?"


Would he actually follow through with such a threat? Probably not. There was nothing for the renegade to gain from it, and truth be told he felt far less vindictive now than he had before. Being secluded for a while had left him with nothing but time to contemplate his past actions, a fact that had an oddly calming effect on him. Or perhaps that was mostly due to his lack of eating and sleeping.. Zodiac couldn't really tell anymore.

In that regards, as much as he hated to admit it to himself, there was an inkling of self doubt within the renegade that had started growing bigger and more noticeable. And to make matters worse Primal was right in his assumption about how the renegade was doing. Indeed, he had spent too long contemplating his very existence during these last few days, having had little else to preoccupy himself with. And sadly none of the conclusions he came to seemed beneficial for him.

How very far he had fallen..

His optics fell upon the little chip in his hand and for a moment he did contemplate crushing it, just to feel the last fragment of someone who'd held such influence over his own existence shatter to dust between his fingers. He could feel himself apply some pressure to the chip, but stopped himself before he went too far. So he sighed and placed the identification chip on the floor next to him, before pushing himself up to a standing position and walking a few steps away before again returning his focus to the camera while muttering, in a low voice.

"He would have wanted you to have it."

At that moment Zodiac hated how broken he sounded, but more so how he felt. Not strong, certainly not invincible, but alone, abandoned, surviving at the mercy of those he frankly didn't deserve any from. And he worst part was that he knew it. Change is always difficult, but for none so more than those who were designated to bring about such change.

"Gifts, or traps?"

The spider chuckled, finding some deranged enjoyment in Megatron's constant suspicions. It was wise of the tyrant to have his reservations about Tarantulas' motivations, but it also went to show the scientist that the Predacon leader respected him.. perhaps even feared him in a way.

Good.

"Depends on the intended recipient," the spider said with glee. "But in this case let me put those doubts to rest," he continued as he made his way over to the cart, only to pick up what looked like a whip wrapped in coils from the number of toys he had brought with him. The spider then resumed chuckling as he pressed a button on the shaft, immediately resulting in tiny sparks appearing from the coils, and proceeded to lash the whip at a nearby small tree. The whip wrapped itself around the tree, the electric coils leaving burn marks in the wood while sparks flew and promptly resulted in some of the branches catching fire from the impact.

Tarantulas admired his handy work for a brief moment before returning his attention to Megatron.

"I'm certain you will find these toys to your liking hehehehe."

"We shall see,"

You blatant ignoramus.., the spider thought to himself without verbalizing his dismay at Megatron's lack of enthusiasm. Well, it would hardly matter when the shape shifting renegade was in the spider's possession. Oh the fun he was going to have with such technology in his claws!

"Have you any kind of an EMP device that could disrupt the Maximals' communication links? We really do not need any more unwelcome company,"

"I might just happen to have a communication disruption relay among my toys. Or perhaps I left it in my base. I suppose there's only one way for you to find out," he told the tyrant bluntly, for once not following up with his usual cackle. Indeed, if Megatron wasn't going to appreciate his genius for what it was, the spider wasn't going to go out of his way to try to gain favor like many of the other Predacons would.

"As a spectator, I have grown weary. You two will intercept Whitegrazer and Blackarachnia. Separate them, and deny them access as reinforcements. But do not execute Miss Arachnia. I wish to make an example out of her treachery myself,"

Yet his disappointment quickly faded upon realizing that his old pupil, the female he had created in his own image, was so close by. Converting to his spider mode and rubbing his front legs together, Tarantulas seemed quite content with the thought of making BlackArachnia suffer for what she had done.

However it seemed as if the larger crab had already claimed this target for himself, much to the spider's dismay.

"I'm sure you can handle our hybrid equine friend without a problem, eh arachnid."

No! The traitorous she-spider was his creation, she was his right to dismember!

But just as the spider was about to hiss out his protest, the crab had already moved away into the wooded area with his rocket launcher drawn. And a glance at that weapon was enough to make Tarantulas reconsider, especially since Megatron had made it abundantly clear that he wanted the female spider taken in alive. So his revenge would just have to wait.. a little bit longer.

"Hehehe, happy hunting," the scientist said mostly to himself since the crab was already some distance away, before he too started making his way towards his prey. And unlike the crab, Tarantulas took a more incognito approach as he silently made his way closer to Whitegrazer.

He found her in the process of throwing a smoke grenade at Inferno, no doubt intending to try to save the hostages. Tarantulas watched her from his hiding spot between some trees, well hidden by their branches, before making his move. In an instant he had thrown one of his webs at the equine vok female, only this one laced with his cyber venom for some added.. kick.

Meanwhile Nemesis was getting frustrated with the lack of cooperation she was getting from the Maximals. Even though two, soon to be three with any luck, Maximals were being held captive, there seemed to be an endless influx of do-gooders trying to save them. And even though she had laid out her terms as simply as she could, these remaining Maximals refused to listen, whether because she didn't demand as much respect as Megatron or for some other equally infuriating reason. And considering the commander was indeed watching her progress, she was beginning to feel the stress.

It wasn't so much that she craved respect in the same way the tyrant did, but more so that she was trying to prove herself to him. After all, Megatron held the power to change the course of history, as he had revealed to her during one of their few sit downs. But as things were, she both wished and dreaded that Megatron would get involved and take charge yet again.

"You couldn't just take the new Predacon and leave."

The voice of the tall fuzor hybrid returned, quickly followed by a series of shots that hammered the ground near her as well as a few that came dangerously close to actually hitting her. In fact they probably would have hit had she not used her agility to throw herself out of the way, following up with a number of acrobatic flips and turns that got her just far enough away to avoid the incoming shots.

Landing on her feet with surprising grace all things considering, Nemesis whirled on her attacker and narrowed her optics. "And a pity you insist on throwing away your own as well as your remaining comrades' lives. Now you leave me with no choice."

She then turned her attention to the Predacons who were scattered around her. "Predacons, it would appear the Maximals need a little extra incentive to leave.. So let's give it to them, shall we? Those of you who are not watching hostages right now, focus your firepower on this loudmouth fuzor here," she ordered them while making a gesture at Tigerhawk. "Let him be an example of what happens when you cross us!"

Hopefully that would keep the nuisance busy.. if not put him out of his misery permanently. Meanwhile she would deal with the other Maximals, who were hopefully a bit more reasonable..

"Whatever, whoever it is, that you wish to gain by using our friends, it will not happen."

It was then that Tigatron's shots suddenly appeared, the first of which aiming at the large weapon in Nemesis' hand. The sudden impact forced her to drop the weapon, causing it to land unceremoniously in the dirt at her feet. No sooner had the avian female leaned down to grab her weapon back, before another few shots came raining down upon her. This time the shots hit their mark, piercing through her armor in her right shoulder, followed by one penetrating her shoulder blade, while the last one grazed her left hip. The pained grimace on her face was the first sign she had been hit, followed by a growl from the pain, before Nemesis dropped to her knees in the dirt. While in that position she curled up to make herself a smaller target in the event there were more shots coming her way, her wings wrapping around her to form a protective cape of sorts.

Fortunately that turned out not to be the case and within moments Nemesis' wounds started glowing as the rapid healing process began, leaving Nemesis feeling better, at least physically, moments later. Mentally, however, she was getting quite ticked off. So as soon as her wounds had healed enough, or perhaps even a moment before, she got back on her feet and grabbed her weapon before heading in the direction of Spineback and her hostage with a determination rarely seen in the Predacon second in command.

Upon seeing the captured avian Maximal being awake once more, and even weakly fighting against her captor, the futile struggling only added fuel to the already enraged Nemesis. She stopped right next to the pair of them, eyeing AirRazor with fury glowing in her optics. Then, without offering as much as a warning, Nemesis located one of the captive female's knee joints and brought her leg up to stomp it as swiftly and hard as she possibly could. The angle and violence from the sudden kick could easily have dislocated the joint itself, snapping the more flexible but also frail area like a twig.. Or at the very least such a move would cause a significant amount of pain. After the act was done, she glared over at Tigatron's location.

"Unless you want me to blow her head off, you will get your Maximals in line and leave this place.. NOW! Do not test my patience further!," she called out to him as well as any other Maximal in the area. She was done playing games.

(( OOC: Slow your roll there, una! We actually need the Predacons to succeed in this battle, including capturing their hostages. So, there's no need to play the hero right now. The Maximals will have the opportunity to get them back later.

Also I'm going to take back Quickstrike to increase the Predacons' numbers. ))

"You are right," "I realized now that I put too much trust and faith in those who had none towards me and towards the very ideals they preached to me, that sung to my soul. Despite my Vok nature, I was naive and was too taken in, impressionable towards those with great power and supposed prestige. My lesson has been learned."

"As has mine," Optimus had consoled Whitegrazer, finding himself relating to her mistakes rather well when it came to the exploitation, pleasing and trusting others, and being naive.

"With time, and wisdom, we can see what this new found power is, but please, I apologize, don't fret about it, whatever it is, it came within a time when your loved ones were in trouble, and gave us a chance, a place of solitude and warm, no matter where it came from, it manifested within you, and you are good, wise person, Optimus. I don't sense any ill or malice from it."

Her words were so comforting and sweet. They made him feel a lot more confident with this unknown "entity", so to speak. And it only made sense. Her assumption had to be right. Even after ending their embrace, he could still feel her in his arms with her head resting upon his shoulder. Neither of them were used to being cared for by another since they had been fairly independent most of their lives, but nurturing and protecting each other seemed to come to them naturally in their relationship despite all of the hardships that they had been through, including the most recent. Optimus took her words to heart just as he had Aurora's earlier. He was understanding now how much all of them need each other and how their survival depended on one another.

-----

"You speak as if you'll have a choice in the matter.. Yet you're fully aware of the circumstances you're faced with. If you stay here on this planet, sooner or later someone will destroy your precious Maximals.. Whether it be Megatron or the Vok.. or some other as of yet unknown entity. Which leaves you with few options other than to return to Cybertron, and we both know what awaits us there."

"I do have a choice," Optimus firmly told Zodiac so that he might listen. "As long as I'm here, I have a choice," he reiterated. "As do you. Zodiac, I keep very detailed logs of our experiences in this war, both with my crew and with our enemies. And those logs will eventually find their way to Cybertron." He hoped, anyway. "The sooner you start making progression toward being a lesser threat, the better your chances will be of a significantly decreased punishment on our home planet. But it's your choice. You can either stay on this path of self-destruction and loneliness, or you can see past the revenge or justice, however you view it, and redeem yourself. What have you got to lose? Don't you think it's time for a change?"

"Oh really? I wouldn't have guessed based on the security measures you put in place,"

Primal didn't bother wasting his time commenting on that. Was that really the shape shifter's perspective on the precautions the leader was taking to ensure his Maximals' safety?

"This is my surprised face"

Watching the renegade's face in front of the camera on the monitor, Optimus again remained silent and merely shook his head at his display of immaturity. How could he not be taking this seriously? Primal was offering Zodiac a way out of this catastrophe that he called his "way-of-life", and all he had to do was play nice, prove he was above all of this rage and violence, and start growing into someone who could truly be great and make their life meaningful by helping others with those amazing abilities of his. Well, perhaps Primal's eagerness to help him was far-fetched or just a fantasy. Maybe Zodiac couldn't or wouldn't change. As he grew quiet in his cell, the Maximal on the other side of the door allowed the silence to wrap around them both for a few moments. Then Zodiac stirred and revealed the chip again.

"I presume this is what you are looking for?," "If so just come and get it. I don't have much use for it anymore," "Unless of course you would rather I destroy the chip and rid Nexus from both of our lives?"

Optimus couldn't deny the jump in his spark when he saw the tiny object in the pretender's hands for the first time. Strange and surreal as it was to think that that was the last physical part of Nexus Prime's being, the leader sighed inaudibly to Zodiac and looked away from the monitor while he accepted the sadness and frailty that he was experiencing. He was still quiet for some time, long enough for Zodiac to think that the gorilla might have already left the brig without saying good-bye. Nexus is already gone from my life, he thought sorrowfully. Why does he still haunt yours? he wondered. Yes, it was true that he sought the identification chip from his murdered mentor, but there was more, so he made an attempt to ignore the dragon's offering as well as his own desire to have that object in his possession. "What I'm looking for," he started strong with a stern voice before he paused and softened it, "is remorse. An interest in redemption. Even in the slightest. Some kind of inclination that you might want more from life than what you've been doing with it so far."

Offering the chip to him and placing it on the floor while he stepped back couldn't help but make Optimus feel as though Zodiac had other intentions. As soon as the Maximal would open the door, the chances of Zodiac escaping increased significantly. And he could just as easily crush the chip before Optimus could even retrieve it. So, he weighed his options carefully while he decided whether or not to enter his cell. For the time being, it appeared as though Primal wasn't willing to take the bait as he inquired quite skeptically, "What is this supposed to be? A sign of good faith that you won't attack me?" He didn't sound impressed or convinced. As much he wanted it to possibly be a new beginning for the pretender in hopes that he was actually be sincere and truthful for once, Optimus's habit of trusting too much sometimes got him into trouble. He had been in this war too long against Megatron to still be too naive about certain situations and manipulations. Zodiac couldn't blame him for being extra cautious, especially since he wasn't offering him any insight into his current mentality and emotional state.

"He would have wanted you to have it."

Playing that card again? Nexus Prime shouldn't even be dead! But Primal digressed from his anger. And despite the shape shifter's unusually solemn voice that seemed to withhold its all-too-familiar bitterness and spite, his words still didn't convince him to risk his life and his Maximals' lives by entering that room. If he was preying on Optimus's emotions again knowing full well how much Nexus meant to him and trying to take advantage of it, then he wasn't going to fall for it. That scheme was way too easy. Primal needed more definitive proof to consider stepping into that room even if he was armed with a weapon that would easily subdue the unique bot.

-----

"Depends on the intended recipient,"

As Tarantulas cackled, Megatron pondered how he ever acquired such an insane member of his ensemble. Of course, unbeknownst to him, that would be revealed at a later time.

"But in this case let me put those doubts to rest,"

That addition to his statement had managed to peak the t-rex's curiosity enough to make him stop in his tracks and turn his attention back to the scientist. He watched him pull an interesting weapon off of his cart that was full of coils but looked to be a whip of some kind. Crazy as the spider seemed, watching the coils spark when he activated the weapon, wrapping the whip around a tree, essentially electrocuting it and even catching some of it on fire, Megatron had to admit that was an intriguing tool to use against Zodiac. There was finally some appreciation and a look being impressed on the tyrant's face while he observed its effectiveness.

"I'm certain you will find these toys to your liking hehehehe."

A small smile crept onto his shiny, purple face in response. "I trust you will keep these available to our final destination," the Predacon warlord surmised as he wished to torture Zodiac with that whip before he strangled him to death.

"I might just happen to have a communication disruption relay among my toys. Or perhaps I left it in my base. I suppose there's only one way for you to find out,"

Megatron's smile quickly transitioned to a glare toward the TransMetal spider's sourness and spiteful tone. He despised his mind games. Of course, Tarantulas was only reacting to the leader's blunt disinterest, but Megatron wouldn't have seen it that way. And even if he did, he would simply strike fear into his opposing insubordinate to make him submit to his will regardless, physically or verbally. There was still a way to seamlessly coerce the arachnid, however, and that was reverse psychology. He prided himself too much with his concoctions and inventions to allow any doubt or belittling to be spoken about them. "Whether it is on your person or not, it may very well lack the functionality we require for such a successful impact at this moment. But you would rather play games than prove me wrong." Megatron had no doubt that such a device existed among those tools and weapons on Tarantulas's transport, and he had no doubt that it would work flawlessly, but he wasn't going to make it that obvious or easy.

Stopping midway down the forest-covered hill that continued to provide him a disguise, the dinosaur peeked through the brush to observe what was going on. Some gunfire could still be heard, and he could see most of those involved in the battle, but he had lost visual on Rampage, Tarantulas, Whitegrazer and Blackarachnia. Whitegrazer... Primal's squeeze. What a prize she would be to use against him, and all of the Maximals really. Perhaps not at that moment, or even later that day, but at some point in the future that idea could prove to be very, very useful. Well, assuming she survived this battle. He nearly chuckled at that thought and the personal anguish it would cause his enemy.

Nemesis was taking on some heavy hits which almost prompted Megatron to provide back-up, but she soon recovered and even intentionally inflicted some serious pain onto Airazor. He certainly approved with a devious, toothy grin. She was going to have to learn how to earn respect from the Maximals by any means necessary.

"Yes, and under whose orders would that be?"

"I cannot hear you over the rrroar of my incredible firepower!" Inferno laughed at Tigatron as he fired several more shots in his direction. He abruptly halted his onslaught when he noticed some green shots hitting the ground around him that were coming from the other cat. He started firing back at him when saw a grenade that had been tossed at him. "Huh?" It quickly dispersed an ongoing cloud of smoke that immersed him and Rattrap.

"Blaaah!" he briefly cried out. "It seems I've lingered too long." The ant knew better than to continue loitering in the same spot for an extended period of time. And it had been long enough already. Before Whitegrazer could make her appearance, Inferno stepped off of Rattrap, bent down and slung the small Maximal over his shoulder. Immediately, he ignited his engine and rotating fan which swiftly propelled him upward, wafting through the plume of smoke and straight up into the air out of the equine's reach. He wasn't too concerned about any Maximals foolishly shooting at him because he was carrying one of their friends who they could have easily hit as well.

Megatron's pink eyes sharply caught Inferno rising from a cloud of smoke with Rattrap draped over his shoulder. The rodent was unconscious and in their hands now? How delicious. "Inferno, take your hostage and regroup with Nemesis and Spineback," he sent him via his comm. link. It was time for the Predacons to pull together and end this battle.

"Quickstrike, concentrate your firepower on Tigerhawk," he instructed him.

The Fuzor glanced around for the mighty tyrant, but couldn't spot him from where he was. "On it, Boss Bot!" he shrugged and aimed his cobra head at Tigerhawk, happily firing several shots of of his cyber venom at the large Maximal's legs and wings.

"Come on Tigatron!"

Ah, the young cat. Megatron observed Cheetor below finding him to be a very easy target as he threw out some orders and attempted to provide cover-fire for some of the other Maximals. While he was distracted, Megatron terrorized to his robot mode, stepped out from his cover and loomed over the cliff's edge with no one noticing. Charging and steadily aiming his tail gun with his moving target, he fired twice as an ambush anticipating Cheetor's next steps in the same direction that he was already moving in intending on hitting his side or legs. Then Megatron suddenly leaped off of the edge, his clawed toes breaking off small rocks and dirt along the way that tumbled down from the force of his weight. His large, heavy body landed with a thud on its feet not far from Cheetor as he grinned deviously at him whether he injured the younger Maximal or not.

"Inferno, take your hostage and regroup with Nemesis and Spineback,"

"Yes, Royalty!" the pyro joyfully obeyed. Flying over to Nemesis and Spineback, who also had Airazor, he carelessly dumped Rattrap's lifeless body to the ground near the falcon and automatically started firing at Tigerhawk like Nemesis had previously ordered. "Restrain the rodent!" the ant told the doctor over the noisy gun fire. Hopefully Terrorsaur would be able to catch the large Fuzor off guard or pin him between his gunfire and theirs so they could take him down and be done this battle.

((Whew okay! I hope I got everything, this took me longer than I thought and had to restart it since I did half of a post earlier today, which I either deleted by mistake or it didn’t save in the document. Let me know if I missed anything!))

“Yea, guess we really can’t go rushing off, not with so few of us here at the base.” Wintersong sighed, remembering at the start of this isolated war she had no problem doing just that. With having not originally being part of the crew she had felt no obligation or need to listen to Optimus or his exploration crew. Though he had more than set the record straight back then, and time and again proved the crew had been worth fighting for.

Given the circumstances however, the transmetal tigress was almost tempted to ignore such orders for their sake.

And Whitegrazer’s next words didn’t exactly help their present situation. “Just don’t play hero Whitegrazer, do what you need to get who you can and get out of dodge.” Wintersong added, frowning as she wondered if the white mare would heed their urges to retreat. But the feline femme had a suspicion it wouldn’t be that simple.

“What sort of trap could we make on short notice? We would have to meet Megatron with his own mind games if we wanted to avoid a slaughter on our hands.” Wintersong asked, turning her gaze back to the monitor that was constantly focused on Zodiac. She eyed him closely, seeing he seemed to be speaking with someone, most likely Optimus by now and appeared to be almost taunting him with Optimus’ late mentor’s ID chip. She recalled some of his past manipulations, including someone she had once held dear but no longer seemed to be with them since her disappearance. The tigress still wondered if what she had heard about Ironclaw was all true and that the one bot she thought she could confide in was only another tool of the High Council, someone who had simply used them for their gain. Such a thought hadn’t exactly been helping her state of mind either.

If anything was certain, Wintersong seemed heavily uncertain what to do anymore without wanting to rush head first into something. Quite frankly she cared not what they did, just as long as it was something to keep herself occupied.

+++++++++++

Cheetor was careful where he aimed his shots when it came to the pyromaniac. Rattrap was still at his mercy and one wrong shot could put his friend at risk, making his task difficult, even more so when adding Tigatron in the equation. The older cat still refused to leave despite many warnings, concerning the transmetal cheetah of what could result if he became overwhelmed. As seemed to be the case as Terrorsaur decided to join in. “No, come on Big Cat.” Cheetor muttered to himself, turning to fire towards the transmetal flier.

Unfortunately for Cheetor Terrorsaur easily dodged his futile attempts to shoot him down once again. With the little cat now out in the open and grounded the transmetal flier found no reason to concern himself with the feline. “Heheh, gaining ground at last. Time to finish this furball.” Terrorsaur spoke gleefully, eager to be done and over with such a disastrous battle. Perhaps more so for the Maximals, but nevertheless it was more than a pain in the tail to deal with their foes on a near daily basis after a few years. He even took great satisfaction seeing Tigatron fall from both Inferno’s and his attacks. Looked like that diplomacy method would be the feline’s undoing.

But just as Terrorsaur reached Inferno, Whitegrazer released the smoke bombs that began to make a thick covering shielding them from his optics. Snarling, Terrorsaur scanned the smoke for a target or signs of his teammate, having to impatiently refrain from shooting half-cocked without risking losing a hostage in the process. But as it so happened, the fire ant chose to wisely retreat from the two Maximals still standing, “It was almost too easy this time, almost.” The transmetal flier snickered as Inferno passed before turning his attention towards Tigerhawk who seemed to be struggling to keep going even when facing Quickstrike’s venom and soon joined in firing his eye lasers towards the large fuzor.

As the smoke began to cover the area, Cheetor stopped shooting any further, hoping the white mare hybrid knew what she was doing. It was a good tactic but it could easily play against her if she wasn’t careful. “Whitegrazer, no more fighting, get Tigatron out of there and retreat! That’s an order.” Cheetor commed towards her, tone firm and commanding which even surprised the young mech a bit. He wasn’t usually one to take charge but given they had no one else at the helm at the moment he was stepping in this one time to try and save a few of the Maximals.

However, the young feline snarled in pain as one of Megatron’s shots struck his side, causing him to stumble while the remaining shots struck dangerously close to the point he could feel the heat, one even grazing his leg. With a pained hiss, Cheetor drew his tail sword just in time as Megatron landed feet from him, the smaller mech narrowing his optics slightly, “You won’t get away with harming my friends for long grape face, one day you’re going to regret all of this.” Cheetor growled as he lunged forward, striking out with his sword toward the tyrant, hoping to keep his attention away from Whitegrazer and Tigatron despite the pain he was already in and the damage he had.

Well, the barrage of shots from his cannons had done enough to take Nemesis’ attention off the other Maximals, that was one thing Tigerhawk could say he accomplished. But he unfortunately backfired in Nemesis deciding to take advantage of his lone position, knowing full well this could have been an outcome. But with the chance of the others retreating when they could having slipped once, the fuzor was taking what risks he could to ensure some of them escaped.

As Tigerhawk went to follow Nemesis once more he winced as he felt the small arachnid fuzor suddenly strike his wing once more, forcing him to attempt to dodge the other venom blasts, though with his one wing struggling to move that proved difficult to do so. A few more still struck the feline fuzor forcing him to drop to the ground roughly, jolting him enough to fall to his hands and knees, vulnerable and defenseless. ‘Primus, please let this have worked.’ This final thought crossed his processor as he closed his green optics, accepting his fate in that moment as the combined firepower of Inferno and Terrorsaur blasted him a few feet away, sending him into stasis lock due to the combined damage he had sustained already.

Spineback ignored the struggling Airazor, moving as far back into the trees as she could to avoid further gunfire coming her way with trying to save her own hostage. Once it sounded like they were a considerable distance, the veteran finally stopped to see what was going on, moving aside some branches to watch the remainder of the fight from a distance, “I guess some things never change, the heroics mush is far too ingrained in you Maximals as it was with your ancestors.” Spineback spoke with a shake of her head, almost feeling a bit sorry for the Maximals, almost. But the remark earned nothing in return, the falcon refusing to comment and only able to look at the ground, knowing she had been taken out of this fight far too quickly which frustrated her to no end.

Though the two weren’t alone for long before someone slammed into Spineback’s upper back, causing the Predacon medic to almost stumble forward, catching herself on a tree in time to hear the traitorous spider, “Not as tough as you think spider, and it’s even easier to squash an insect.” The femme growled as she whipped around to see Blackarachnia grabbing Air Razor.

Even Airazor herself was stunned to see the black widow risking her hide for her own, “You of all bots are saving me? Now I’ve seen everything.” Her bewilderment was quickly replaced with a surprised gasp as Rampage’s rockets caused enough damage to send some trees falling their way. “Blackarachnia worry about yourself! Move!” She tried to warn but found herself suddenly yanked out of the way of the falling trees by Spineback herself, “Sorry little bird, can’t have you go getting crushed now can we.” She chided, keeping a close optic for the black widow even as Rampage came to see his handiwork.

Feeling the cannibalistic crab could handle the widow, Spineback turned back in time to see Inferno arrive, nodding to him when dropping Rattrap beside the falcon, bounding him up in additional energy bands just as Nemesis soon followed. Curiously she watched the second in command, having never seen her so ruffled and furious before, raising an optic ridge as she suddenly used as much force as she could muster to damage or dislocate Airazor’s knee joint, causing the falcon to briefly yell in pain before she was biting back the rest. Apparently the female Maximal wasn’t willing to draw further attention to her plight than she already had. “Nemesis, you need to calm your anger.” Spineback tried to soothe her fellow former Decepticon knowing this seemed an important mission, the last thing they needed was one of their commanding officers to lose to their emotions.

Rampage tried to sense for the she-spider, finding that she was close but he couldn’t quite tell where. Unlike Whitegrazer, his capability to sense emotions were not as attuned as hers, just enough to know he wasn’t alone. Still, it didn’t deter him from following her presence, feeling it getting closer and closer with each step he took, ignoring the additional gunfire nearby and focusing on his prey.

Feeling he had trekked a decent distance, the transmetal crab fired one last missile into the trees, squinting his optics against the fiery blaze that followed before he caught the sound of voices nearby followed by the crash of trees. No doubt part of his handiwork just now. Smirking, the large immortal followed the voices towards their source, “Trying to hide all this time and giving yourself away to save a Maximal? I think you’re losing your edge little spider.” Rampage mocked, missile launcher in hand, “But I am sure some time away from the Maximals can rectify this oversight.”

((OOC: I hope this post is all right. Again sorry for the holdup. ))

"I know, Aurora," Whitegrazer agreed wholeheartedly with the little one's statement. "I don't want to lose anyone. This entire situation, the Predacons taking hostages, feels like deja vu to me." It was true. The wounds of when Optimus turned himself in to the Predacons to exchange himself for Cheetor and Ironclaw. The hallowing hours that counted down as they all tried to help Nemesis and find a way to save their leader. All the while, Megatron tortured him brutally, sadistically, and she allowed herself to be there to help Optimus during that ordeal, feeling his emotions, pain. That was why seeing Airazor cuffed and down, Rattrap injured and unconscious, Cheetor hit, and Tigratron nd Tigerhawk trying their hardest to save their comrades unerved her. She knew she knew the Predacons were up to something, wanted something, and if her instincts were correct, she will not allow that to happen. Not again. Never again.

"Don't worry, Wintersong. I will try and not doing anything foolish," she reassured both Wintersong and Aurora. "But our friends are in trouble. Maybe I cand provide them backup as we regroup and tried to help our captured friends." It was a foolhardy plan to begin with, she soon realized. Her smoke grenades did nothing to deter Inferno or Spineback. Nemesis held Airazor by the throat against tigratron. Nemesis was a brutal fighter in her own right, she would know as she had fought the former Decepticon in battle once before, but by the tone of voice, her overly ruthlessness and quickness to inflict harm, Whitegrazer sensed something amiss within the woman who she had helped and a woman she thought of as a friend, even though her friends looked at her aghast at such a revelation, someone who reminded her a bit of herself, and not just her past self either. But no matter how much she wanted to go up there and speak with Nemesis and help Tigratron, she wanted to help their captured friends. But Inferno had already took off with Rattrap. Nemesis, like she stated earlier, held Airazor against Tigratron. She wondered about Blackarachnia and how she fared when her ears perked.

She turned around to see a web thrown straight at her, knocking her to ground. "Tarantulas," she said as she struggled to free herself from the webbing. Cybervenom coursed through her body. The venom, burning hot and biting, threw her systems out of whack. He must have laced the webbing full of it to knock down a horse like herself. There was no point in struggling. As previous experience proved time and time again, the webbing got worse the more you struggled and with her body altering her to the strange venom inside her circuits, she needed to save her strength. She closed her optics, to center herself and ease the pain the cybervenom caused her.


Tigratron watched, holding his burnt chest and wobbling a bit, due to his injury from Terrorsaur, in horror as Nemesis' stomped on Airazor's already damaged knee joints, "Stop!" Tigratron was appalled by Nemesis' behavior, and he knew that Nemesis nor cared about his own opinion of her. Cheetor yelled at him to follow. Tigratron realized that was the best course of action, even though it pained him to Airazor to hands of such brutality. "We will leave, Nemesis, he growled at the former Decepticon before his expression changed as he gazed down at his beloved. "We will return for you and the others." He then looked back at Nemesis with a narrowed optic. "I guess both Optimus and Whitegrazer were wrong about you." He said it sharply as he backed away slowly to follow Cheetor, who was striking at Megatron. Despite how tigatron wanted to attack Megatron, he realized, especially after Nemesis display of violence towars Airazor and no doubt the similar treatment would be given to the others, Tigratron knew that Little Cat had to follow his advice. "No, Cheetor!" He stopped the young cat before he made his move, but grabbing him. "I'm sorry, Little Cat, but you can't face Megatron or fight him not in this condition. There is always another time." He continued his retreat as he brought cheetor with him. He looked for Tigerhawk when he saw another Maximal fall. "Tigerhawk!", he shouted as he reached out towards his comrade. But they couldnt do anything but retreat. Saddened by the turn of events, he whispered, "Primus helps us." tigrtaron used his comlink to communicate with both Whitegrazer and Blackarachnia. "Whitegrazer, Blackrachnia, we are retreating.

Whitegrazer, still covered in webbing and keeping herself from falling into stasis lock, merely said, "Sorry, tigatron, Tarntulas shot me with his webbing and it laced my entire form with cybervenom. Take whoever you can and go."

Tigratron simply shook his head. It just got worse.


Yeah, me too. You would think I was a Maximal," Blackarachnia said to Airazor with a chuckle. Who would have thought she would risk hr life... for a Maximal? Heh. Was she getting soft? "We better get outt here before someone tries to-" She wouldn't be able to finish her sentence as the trees crushed her to the ground. Spineback made a little comment at her expense. "Tough than you, pussycat," Blackarachnia said with a sultry flare as her hand finally pulled out her weapon from underneath the tree trunk and fired one shot at Spineback as she used her feet to prop up the tree. A bit. Her previous attempt to save a life failed as Nemesis brutalized the birdy right in front of her lover. Huh. Nemesis was a brutal person in nature, so her actions didn't surprise her one bit. Rampage loomed over her. She won't become like the others, captured by the hands of people who will delightfully, gleefully tear her apart bit by bit, so she slithered away fully out from undnreath the tree. "And become a experiment or food for you, cannibal freak, I don't think so! Her legs sparked, wobbling from the crush, as well as her body, alerting her to damaged systems. She shot at his crabby face, transformed into her beast mode, and made an escape. When tigatron contacted her, she grunted, not realizing how much pain that tree caused her, "You think I will waste more time here, kitty cat?" She began to retreat and find Tigratron and Cheetor as she herd Whitegrazer's voice and she realized that the white mre was just another captued Maximal. "I thought you would be able to sense anyone?" Blckarachnia didn;t get the white mre's powers sometimes. It was like sometimes they worked and sometime sthey didn't. But really, Blackarchnia was just angry. She knew why Whitgrazer couldnt sense Tarantulas as Trantulas was one of those ninja types, who could mask his presence even from a half Vok nd half Cybertronia like Whitegrzer.

"Are you certain he's ready?"


The authoritarian voice sounded doubtful, the concern for whether or not this young soldier would be capable of taking on such a task by himself clear in every word. His doubt was palpable, and ever so subtly he nodded his head in the direction of the topic of their conversation.

A sigh followed from his companion, the lead scientist in charge, who stood next to the warlord with his arms crossed. "I assure you we have followed the protocols you wanted to the letter. He has received all his formal training and is perfectly capable to adapt to.."

"That is not what I asked," Cryotek interrupted, sounding irritated. "Is he ready?!"

A short distance away the young male in question briefly glanced back at them before returning his attention to the monitor in front of him, next to him another scientist hovered, apparently growing impatient since their timetable had been sped up and they now had a week less to prepare. Even with the original schedule, there had been a lot to cover, but now the looming project they had been tasked with seemed almost impossible.

On the monitor several profiles of relevant Maximals that Zodiac needed to memorize for the mission kept flashing across the screen, most of them close to Nexus Prime himself. Some of the profiles, however, were of crew members of the missing vessel that Nexus Prime was presently searching for.. The Axalon. That, too, was information he needed to know.

Zodiac yawned, since this kind of research was actually quite boring to him. And he had been doing it for a few days now, ever since Cryotek had sent for him to be brought here from the research facility he spent most of his time at. His home, if it could be called that, or at the very least the place he knew the best. It felt rather odd to know he likely would never return there, not after he got the chance to implement his own plans amidst the capture of Nexus Prime that Cryotek wanted him to do. He had already allied himself with a few vigilantes willing to join up with his own cause and when the time came they would join him on his quest to locate Nexus' protege. And that time was rapidly approaching.

Behind him he heard the lead scientist and Cryotek still squabbling, the latter loudly expressing his concerns with Zodiac's ability to take on such an important mission by himself. Granted, his first few solo outings had rendered some rather mixed results, so in a sense Zodiac did understand the concerns. On his first solo infiltration assignment, he had been captured by the very Maximal they were now trying to take hostage. And it had taken him quite a while to escape. Cryotek had certainly not greeted him with open arms when he did make his return either, oh no, instead he had been severely beaten and tossed in a cell. And again he had heard the guards whisper about his allegiance, and how they questioned the loyalty of such Maximal filth.. As if he'd had any choice in the matter.

His entire life he had heard those whispers, seen the way even his fellow test subjects looked at him. When he did something to impress the scientists, one of them would sometimes offer a few words of encouragement. Yet the rumors about his supposed link to the Maximals persisted, on occasion even prompting the guards to beat him while calling him prerogative terms involving his supposed origin. Zodiac had never quite understood it, since he had only been given life at the facility and never had any meaningful interaction with the Maximals.. aside from the time period he was forced to spend with them, with Nexus Prime and Optimus pulling his strings.

"Are you listening?," the impatient scientist suddenly exclaimed while slamming his fist against the computer console. "We need to get underway before Nexus Prime launches his rescue attempt or slips off the grid again, but we can't very well send you in undercover if you don't know the details about the mission."

"But I do know them!," Zodiac protested, sounding very much so like the petulant teen many of them viewed him as. Through the corner of his optics he could see Cryotek shaking his head at that statement, but he seemed to have given in due to the sense of urgency they were all feeling right now. "Then prove it. Get me Nexus Prime."

Oh, no worries. Zodiac fully intended to give the warlord exactly what he asked for.. And then snatched it all away from him in the blink of an optic. Of course Cryotek hadn't shared his full plans involving the aging Maximal war hero with him, but he really didn't have to. His reasoning would be inconsequential in the greater scheme of things, and soon enough it was going to be Zodiac calling the shots. Reckless and irresponsible, some of his superiors had called him, arrogant and inexperienced others would say. It didn't matter what they said or thought about him. He was going to prove them all wrong!

He wasn't ready.

Zodiac sighed as he took in his surroundings yet again, as if expecting the cell he had been granted to suddenly change. He was still alone, communicating with the Maximal he had recently tried to kill via an intercom.

"I do have a choice,"

Zodiac's gaze had drifted back over to the camera when Primal uttered those words, his expression showing the doubt he was feeling. While he would normally try to hide his emotions from those he considered to be his enemies, some small part of him was telling him to listen to what Optimus was saying. Perhaps it was the loneliness causing him to crave the attention of another individual.. of any other individual.. Or perhaps it was due to that awful feeling that had been growing within him over the past few days in captivity, that feeling that he was in way over his head. Thus far his plans, as well planned out as they had been, had all blown up in his face. Was this the self-doubt Megatron had warned him about when the tyrant had joined forces with Megatron to stop him from taking the Viper?

Ugh.. Whatever it was, Zodiac hated the feeling of insecurity. His own lack of experience had lead to this, he had messed up big time. Cryotek had been right and look where it had gotten him.

"As long as I'm here, I have a choice,"

Zodiac must have looked quite uncomfortable as he shifted his weight in the camera's view, still trying to ignore that sense of hunger in his stomach that only seemed to be getting worse the more his pride was being torn down. He tried so hard, he honestly did, to remain dignified and strong. But his thoughts and memories, perhaps more so than Primal's presence, were doing a fairly good job of yanking him back down to the reality of his situation.

Only a few days prior when the shapeshifter first had been placed in chains, the then enraged Primal had told him he was at Optimus' mercy. And by now it was starting to feel as if he genuinely was. "Why are you here?," Zodiac responded, trying to change the subject to something less uncomfortable than where he was expecting this conversation to go.

"As do you. Zodiac, I keep very detailed logs of our experiences in this war, both with my crew and with our enemies. And those logs will eventually find their way to Cybertron."

The renegade sighed upon hearing that. It wasn't that he was surprised that Primal had taken up the same hobby of keeping logs over everything, much like Nexus did, but if those logs, particularly the parts devoted to Zodiac himself, were to ever fall into the hands of anyone.. well.. Whatever farfetched hopes he might have of ever being able to have a life in freedom would surely dwindle even further.

But Primal's next words did prompt a reaction that was less gloom than that.

"The sooner you start making progression toward being a lesser threat, the better your chances will be of a significantly decreased punishment on our home planet. But it's your choice. You can either stay on this path of self-destruction and loneliness, or you can see past the revenge or justice, however you view it, and redeem yourself. What have you got to lose? Don't you think it's time for a change?"

Almost immediately, Zodiac stopped the pacing he had started doing, and turned his gaze back to the camera. Was Primal actually offering him a way out, or was he merely pushing for the renegade's cooperation by making false promises..? That didn't really sound like something Optimus would do, however, so could he actually be serious about this..?

"You're saying you would be willing to give me a chance to get out of this mess?," Zodiac asked hesitantly after a lengthy pause, his mind still trying to process the exact meaning of the words Primal had used. Was this a setup of sorts?

He paused again, only to finally turn his attention to the as of yet untouched food in the corner. Contemplating his next move for a moment, he decided to let his actions speak for themselves. And to prove to Primal that he was willing and able to listen to his advice. So he walked as calmly as he could over to the food, grabbed the tray, and proceeded to walk across the room to the bed they had provided him with in the corner. He then sat down on it and proceeded to start eating some of the food.

For prison food, as the term goes, it didn't taste bad. But perhaps he was just so hungry that anything would taste relatively good right now. Regardless he kept eating while Primal paused, possibly even having left the area although that seemed doubtful, only stopping when Optimus spoke up again in a stern voice that seemed to soften as he went on.

"What I'm looking for,"

Zodiac looked up mid bite, bringing one hand up to brush the dreadlocks out of his face while he pondered applying his battle armor which would promptly solve his problem. Of course he wouldn't since it seemed like a bit of a hostile act to do so, and right now that didn't seem like it would help his cause any at all.

"is remorse. An interest in redemption. Even in the slightest. Some kind of inclination that you might want more from life than what you've been doing with it so far."

Zodiac tilted his head while lowering the plate of food to a spot on the bed next to him. He then slid back a bit, leaning against the wall, while looking over at the camera again. It almost sounded as if Primal truly was planning on giving him a chance, provided he could prove himself worth the trouble. How very.. interesting. And promising.

Well, if that was the case then Zodiac could certainly play nice for a while. If nothing else, it could at least lure Primal inside the cell.

"That's.. a unique proposition, I must admit," Zodiac then replied in earnest. "You're the first one to ever say that to me.."

His voice grew a little quieter, his hands folding in his lap. "What you're saying does make sense.. However I don't suppose a mere promise to do good will be enough to soothe your reservations. If you're ready to talk, I'm willing to listen."

His optics dimmed ever so slightly as his voice trailed off for a moment. "And I'll tell you whatever you want to know. In person."

"What is this supposed to be? A sign of good faith that you won't attack me?"

Primal's voice as he indicated the identification chip on the floor sounded like he was less than impressed with the renegade's offering. Of course that sort of reaction was to be expected, given the past history between the two of them. Zodiac responded by raising his arms up together, just enough to be noticeable on the camera as a sign of his present submissive state.

"If you can't bring yourself to trust me, I understand. Feel free to have your friend put the restraints back on me," he started, revealing that he fully expected Primal to bring help, "..if that's what you need to do to feel more secure. All I ask is for a chance to be heard."


Meanwhile Aurora remained on the bridge with Wintersong, both females seemingly equally concerned about what was going on and what could be done to stop it. On one hand, the fuzor didn't want to interrupt Primal's interrogation of their prisoner, but on the other hand the Predacons seemed hellbent on taking the Maximals down. But the scary part is that this time they actually seemed to have the coordination to work as a team in order to do it.

“Yea, guess we really can’t go rushing off, not with so few of us here at the base.”

The words coming from the other female at least helped the fuzor realize that she wasn't the only one feeling like this was going to be another day from the Pit. But thus far there really wasn't much they could do to help the others, beyond functioning as a communications relay for their updates.

"Well, to be blunt.. What do we need to protect the base from right now?," Aurora pondered out loud. "It seems like all the Predacons are located near the pod crash site. So there's nobody left to attack us."


Especially after Whitegrazer reported back about how serious the situation was becoming, Aurora had to struggle with herself not to set off after the mare and the others. She tried hailing Rattrap, but received no response.

"I know, Aurora," "I don't want to lose anyone. This entire situation, the Predacons taking hostages, feels like deja vu to me."

At that moment the fuzor knew that Whitegrazer was indeed about to take matters into her own hands, like she so often did and would no doubt continue to do. There was just something in the vok equine's nature that denied her the ability to put her own safety first. So Aurora tried to protest, tried to tell the other female not to go, but Wintersong got her own protest in first.

"Don't worry, Wintersong. I will try and not doing anything foolish," "But our friends are in trouble. Maybe I cand provide them backup as we regroup and tried to help our captured friends."

"Just pull back!," Aurora begged her via the comlink, "It's not safe! You might get.."

And then.. static. As if something was jamming their signal. Aurora tried to hail Whitegrazer again, then one more time, before turning back to the other female. The worry showing clearly in her optics as she did.

“What sort of trap could we make on short notice? We would have to meet Megatron with his own mind games if we wanted to avoid a slaughter on our hands.”

"Don't forget we have Sentinel at our disposal. We can also set up some basic traps like trap doors and such around the base, which could at least help slow them down should they be coming this way."


So now what? Should they wait a few more moments, or contact Rhinox right away? She decided on the latter and immediately contacted Big Green.

"We seem to have lost the signal with our team. I'm trying to get it back up," she assured the resident medic, mechanic, and pretty much overall 'fix it' person.

"I trust you will keep these available to our final destination,"

"But of course," the spider told the purple tyrant before slithering away towards his prey. "I do want to show off my genius."

And gain himself an advantage.

"Whether it is on your person or not, it may very well lack the functionality we require for such a successful impact at this moment. But you would rather play games than prove me wrong."

The spider scoffed at that statement since his track record spoke for itself as far as his inventions were concerned. Well.. for the most part. His plans involving BlackArachnia hadn't exactly worked out to his advantage, but the scientist chose to blame that on the default Maximal prototype rather than his own programming skills.

Still, the tyrant's words irked him more than he cared to admit. How dare he question my superb skills?, he wondered, his mood soured. "You shall just have to wait and see then," Tarantulas replied, not wanting to let Megatron get the final word about this subject. Did he have such a device in his possession? Well, of course he did. But he wanted to wait for the right time to use it and that time wasn't just yet..

He watched his intended prey, the tall equine female, in silence for a moment before setting his own devious plans into motion with a sense of glee. Which only heightened when his trap seemed to work.

"Tarantulas,"

"Hehehe, in the flesh!," he told her as he came closer to make sure she wouldn't be able to escape his poisoned web. "Now hold still, this should only hurt.. a lot," he then said as he doused the web and its occupant with even more cyber venom. Upon feeling secure that she wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer, he then transformed to his robot form and took out the device Megatron had inquired about only a short time before.

"Now then, Maximals, time to turn off the sound. Hehehehehe...!!"

He flicked the switch, which caused the device to send out a jamming signal to prevent any of the awake Maximals to contact the Axalon. Satisfied, he then grabbed the webbed up female and proceeded to drag her along the ground towards Megatron's whereabouts.

"Stop!"

But she didn't stop. She refused to do so after having given the Maximals several chances to do as she told of them. They forced her to do this, to turn to violence to make them comply to her demands.

“Nemesis, you need to calm your anger.”

Calm herself? Oh no, she had tried the calm approach but these Maximals were too foolish.. or stubborn.. to listen! So Nemesis merely grimaced and applied even more pressure to the joint until the captured Maximal female let out a loud whimper. "I've had enough!," the Predacon second in command hissed in return, following up her brutal attack on the knee joint with another kick towards the captured bird's head meant to knock her out again.

It did seem, however, that her outburst was about to wield some desired results..

"We will leave, Nemesis,

The fire still glowing in her optics, Nemesis stopped inflicting damage to the captive Maximal, at least temporarily, and took a step back before turning her glare to Tigatron yet again.

"A wise decision," she told the white tiger while her Predacons returned their attention to securing the prisoners.

"We will return for you and the others."

"If you want to return and find them in one piece, you will honor your word," the avian female warned before briefly turning her attention to the other Predacons.

"Round the rest of the prisoners up," she told the others upon witnessing the annoying large fuzor finally going down for the count. "We're likely going to need to divide them up later for expedience," she then said, starting to calm down now that the situation seemed to be under control. In the background she could hear Rampage dealing with someone.. truthfully Nemesis didn't quite know who it was, since she had been so focused on AirRazor she had paid little attention to what else was going on around her at that time.

Only after that did she return her attention to Tigatron, who was still staring at her with narrowed optics. But it was his departing words that left a bit more of an impression..

"I guess both Optimus and Whitegrazer were wrong about you."

He then turned to leave while ordering his troops to do the same, leaving Nemesis staring after him for a bit as he moved away. She had calmed down enough to think clearly now, and the tiger's words had oddly enough struck a bit of a nerve. Oh how badly she wanted to shout insults at him as he left, to assure him she didn't care what Optimus or anyone else for that sake thought about her. But she couldn't budge. And for a moment she felt something of a lump in her throat, which fortunately dissipated quickly enough.

They didn't understand.. And how could they? Ever since Megatron had shared his vision for the future with her, she had been captivated by the idea of creating a better world for herself and her kin. And the tyrant was the individual who was going to make it come true. She would have to be strong for him, for their cause, and not let personal feelings get in the way.

Fortunately, and somewhat surprisingly, Primal hadn't showed himself during the battle. Which was of great relief to Nemesis, since it would be nearly impossible to hide her hesitation to cause harm to the Maximal leader while her every move was being scrutinized by Megatron. Most of the Maximals she held no such compassion for, but somehow Primal had gotten to her. And try as she might, she couldn't change the way she felt. Whitegrazer, well, she was a complicated case as well. Nemesis had attempted to kill her once, only to be stopped by some.. force. She couldn't quite explain it. Perhaps her own conscience had gotten in the way?

She watched as Tigatron rounded up his soldiers before turning back to her own team. A quick head count revealed that this operation had been even more profitable than she had initially thought, with Rattrap, AirRazor, Tigerhawk.. and from the look of the prisoner being dragged closer by Tarantulas she could now add Whitegrazer to the list as well. Well.. that was rather.. interesting. Hopefully the other female would stay unconscious and not try to talk to Nemesis too much.

"Good work," she told the Predacons that were gathering around her. "We're ready to start the next phase of the plan," she continued before taking note of Megatron approaching them as well.

Optimus was watching Zodiac's demeanor and facial expressions as carefully as he could through the video feed on the monitor outside of the pretender's cell. For once, when it didn't come to his cockiness and spitefulness, his defeat and doubt appeared genuine. This was a different side to the shape shifter that Primal had yet to witness, but he was still cautious. Zodiac was, after all, a master at manipulation and deceit.

"Why are you here?,"

Didn't he realize yet after all this time, and even from Whitegrazer's prior conversations through their link, why Optimus was there? Sometimes Zodiac could appear so innocent.

Seeing the black dragon stop in his tracks with his pacing and gaze into the camera after what the Maximal leader had offered, essentially looking into the gorilla's optics, Primal knew he had made some kind of impact or influence with his words. It was an authentic reaction.

"You're saying you would be willing to give me a chance to get out of this mess?,"

"Yes," said Optimus. "I owe it to you." Strange as it was, after everything Zodiac had put Optimus through trying to kill him and his crew a few times now, as well as successfully murdering his mentor and Admiral, Nexus Prime, the Commander still felt as though he needed to help him for what he had been a part of with the pretender's experiments and torture. Now, after eyeing the food, Zodiac had picked it up and taken it to his cot, and he finally started to eat when he sat down on the bed instead of the cold floor. Was this all part of the renegade's game though? Or was he finally letting his guard down and heeding Primal's words? Optimus glanced at the tiny chip that Zodiac had left unharmed alone on the floor far out of his reach now.

"That's.. a unique proposition, I must admit," "You're the first one to ever say that to me.."

Primal remained silent but thoughtful as he presumed Zodiac might have more to add after he had set his food down and scooted back to lean against the wall while still poised on his cot. Again, Optimus studied his body language closely, observing his folded hands in his lap and listening to the stillness and possibly even the peace in his voice.

"What you're saying does make sense.. However I don't suppose a mere promise to do good will be enough to soothe your reservations. If you're ready to talk, I'm willing to listen."

The Maximal lifted his chin at that with a tiny bit of skepticism that couldn't be helped, but also with new-found hope for Zodiac's situation. It was what he wanted to hear, but of course the manipulator would know that. However, there was something different this time about him. Besides the defeat and vulnerability, he also appeared to be experiencing humiliation.

"And I'll tell you whatever you want to know. In person."

In person. Zodiac now seemed more inept to have him enter his "room". The hints he kept dropping were giving Optimus red flags, but on the other hand, he could simply just be that lonely that he was merely seeking some companionship, even if his only option was the very one who had been involved in his creation and suffering as well as his current imprisonment. Such an unlikely pair, they were. Possibly more so than Zodiac's relation to Whitegrazer.

"If you can't bring yourself to trust me, I understand. Feel free to have your friend put the restraints back on me," "..if that's what you need to do to feel more secure. All I ask is for a chance to be heard."

Muting their communication so Zodiac could no longer hear anything on Primal's side of the door, Optimus grabbed a pair of energy bonds that were hanging on the wall and turned slightly to look at Rhinox standing by the controls several feet away. "Open his cell," he told his friend firmly.

"Are you sure you should go in there? It could be a trap," the engineer reminded Optimus.

With his free hand, the leader picked up a rifle-like weapon from the table nearby with what looked like a radial bowl on the end of the barrel that was designed by Rhinox specifically to deactivate or scramble Zodiac's nanobots by sending out a concentrated transient electromagnetic disturbance, effectively keeping him from attacking Optimus should that be his intention once he entered the cell. But instinct told the Maximal that he was going to behave for once. "Only one way to find out. Open his cell," he repeated as he turned to face the door and waited for Rhinox to comply.

The overly cautious and robust Maximal gave a sigh of reluctance and did as his commanding officer ordered. Initiating a code with some buttons, the door hissed and opened wide enough for Optimus to walk through at his shoulder's length which was slimmer than Zodiac's who was taller than the TransMetal gorilla.

Stepping into Zodiac's cell, Primal remained at the entrance and locked his optics onto the renegade holding the weapon in one hand at his side and the bonds in his other hand. "It would seem we're asking for the same thing from each other; to be heard." He paused before he precisely tossed with an underhand the energy bonds to Zodiac which landed on his cot without actually hitting any part of his body. "Restrain yourself," he told him. Energy bonds were convenient like that in the way that no matter the size of one's wrists, they conformed to them as needed to be effective and secure. And they weren't made out of a material that Zodiac's nanotech could consume. Optimus refused to speak more until the dragon's wrists were shackled.

While Zodiac proceeded to do that, there was an odd sensation that Primal was feeling which caused him to slightly turn his head from the shape shifter. It felt like being subjected to cyber venom, the stinging, burning and paralysis, but very faint as though it was weakened by a great distance. Was it coming from Whitegrazer? Or Wintersong? Unfortunately, he didn't have the time to concentrate on it since he needed his full attention on Zodiac, so Optimus ignored it until it faded away, and he looked at the other occupant in the cell with him.

Rhinox kept the door open in case Optimus would need a quick escape, and he remained diligent and alert as they conversed in the cell. Well, until Aurora's voice came through on his comm. link.

"We seem to have lost the signal with our team. I'm trying to get it back up,"

"Radio communication?" he clarified with the Chief Biologist. That wasn't good. Did the Predacons have a jamming station out there? He didn't think so. "Keep trying," he suggested since right now he couldn't abandon his station in the brig to assist with the matter. "If you can't get through, send Wintersong to investigate; recon only," he enforced. "They should have been back by now," he said with worry. Was it wise to put Wintersong in the field considering her current condition? Maybe not, but since her vehicle mode had wheels and thrust, she could get there quicker. "Keep Sentinel on alert," Rhinox added as he gut was telling him that something was very wrong.

-----

"But of course," "I do want to show off my genius."

The tyrant had struggled to smile honestly at the TransMetal tarantula's ego before it dissolved into a neutral expression.

"You shall just have to wait and see then,"

That sniveling spider, Megatron had sneered in his thoughts when he had walked away from him earlier. Still, he did hope that Tarantulas had something to disrupt the Maximals' frequencies. He wouldn't want their plans spoiled to the rest of them at the Axalon.

"Yehaw! The big, flyin' cat is down!" Quickstrike happily jeered for primarily his and Terrorsaur's efforts in the accomplishment even though Inferno had helped with his firepower as well.

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Inferno laughed while he watched Tigerhawk fall. "The battle is nearly ours!" he proclaimed.

“You won’t get away with harming my friends for long grape face, one day you’re going to regret all of this.”

"Hardly," Megatron scoffed with his ego and a smirk at Cheetor. So young and so naive. Such a fool. No one stood in Megatron's way now for his ultimate conquest. Certainly not this teenager, and not even Optimus Primal. Watching the young Maximal retaliate with an attack rushing toward him with his tail weapon that was no match for the Predacon leader's own tail gun that was charging again and ready for a powerful discharge, he aimed it directly at his approaching target.

"No, Cheetor!"

Megatron's optics that were full of eagerness to strike Cheetor down slightly shifted off of him to the older cat that appeared on the scene just in time to guide the cheetah out of Death's way.

"I'm sorry, Little Cat, but you can't face Megatron or fight him not in this condition. There is always another time."

"Ever the perspicacious observer," the Predacon warlord commented toward Tigatron in his deep voice, almost as a compliment. Deciding to spare their lives, Megatron ignited his twin engines and lifted his body high into the air to survey the battle from above.

"Tigerhawk!"

Having heard Quickstrike's outburst about it as well, Megatron spotted the large Maximal on the ground from his vantage point. His internal scanners indicated to him that Tigerhawk's energy levels were dangerously low due to his injuries and that he was probably in stasis lock. Finally. That was one less inconvenience to deal with. Where have Blackarachnia and Rampage gone...? he then pondered. It was actually Tarantulas's bright, blue webbing pinning Whitegrazer down that had caught his attention from above. But as small, slim and dark-colored as Blackarachnia was, it was difficult to spot her from that altitude with so much forest veiling the terrain providing her a shadowy cover. And if she was in beast mode, his sensors wouldn't be able to detect her. Some areas showing signs of heavy action with burnt and fallen trees indicated Rampage's presence, but it appeared that the battle was winding down now, which meant it was about time for the Predacons to grab their hostages and move forward to the Axalon. His desire to rip the treacherous she-spider limb from limb would have to be postponed for a later date.

Now, he was interested in the helpless half equine/half Vok, so he lowered himself toward her location while Tarantulas dragged her to the other Predacons and Maximal hostages who were gathering and landed on his feet. "Well, well, well. Who do we have here?" Megatron grinned as he approached her wrapped body encased in the cyber web and possibly poisoned or paralyzed. He took a knee and tilted his head to the left as he peered at her curiously but also quite coldly and menacingly while his optics suggested a longing to harm her and eventually terminate her. Whatever it would take to make Optimus suffer. "Primal's squeeze." His smile was short as he stood back up and surveyed his troops with their prizes, Quickstrike quickly catching up to them as well once he noticed everyone gathering in that area.

"Rampage, Terrorsaur, regroup," he bellowed to them. The crab would do better not to disobey Megatron.

"We're ready to start the next phase of the plan,"

"Well done, Nemesis," the tyrant awarded his second-in-command's success as his confidence and trust in her abilities further assured him. His optics loomed over Rattrap, Airazor, Whitegrazer and Tigerhawk. "But a bit more than you bargained for?" he asked her. They wouldn't be able to take all of the Maximals if that was her plan.

Inferno stood at attention for their Royalty.

"Uh, Boss, why don't we just finish off the rest of the Maxis while they're weak?" Quickstrike asked with a little disappointment. He wanted to sink his cobra's fangs into them so badly.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, Quickstrike, but most of you have exhausted much of your firepower already. We need to reserve the rest for our next objective," he explained somewhat vaguely.

The Fuzor's shoulders sank with the let-down, but he understood and opted not to argue with their leader because it usually resulted with physical punishment. On the other hand, now he could look forward to slagging the rest of the flea-bags, which only lead him to believe that their next stop was the Maximal base. The simple-minded scorpion/snake didn't even bother to wonder why or what their mission was, he just wanted to thrash and bite some enemies!

"Leave Whitegrazer and Tigerhawk here," Megatron instructed his troops. Whitegrazer and Tigerhawk being the larger and heavier of the four Maximals, they would require more hands to carry and slow them down. Megatron wasn't interested in that. And knowing Whitegrazer's ability to communicate with Primal without radio transmission, he didn't want to risk her giving him any spoilers on the Predacons' intentions. He much rather enjoyed surprising his adversary. "If we require more hostages, then we can return for them," he further commented while purposely leaving out other details in case the Vok/Maximal was listening. "Quickstrike, you will remain here to guard them."

"What?!" the Fuzor suddenly outburst. "I ain't no Maximal babysitter! Boss-bot, you gotta let me come. I gotta slag me some Maximals!"

The dictator raised his tail gun and swung it at the smaller Predacon, backhanding him right into his chest and effortlessly knocking him off of his feet. He charged it and targeted him on the ground. "Do you wish to display any more defiance, Quickstrike?" he threatened him.

The Fuzor landed on his back with an "oof" and started to sit up until he noticed Megatron's very powerful weapon drawn on him. He swallowed in fear since being at that end of the plasma canon wasn't pleasant, and he shook his head.

Optics narrowed at the puny Predacon, Megatron deactivated his weapon and withdrew it from aiming at him. "Should they stir, your cyber venom will keep them subdued. And, surely, you can handle any others who will inevitably come to their rescue," he falsely held confidence in his smallest troop. In fact, Megatron was planning on the Maximals who were retreating to return and reclaim their comrades because it would keep them distracted and away from the Axalon. Whether they would get by Quickstrike and save their friends or not didn't concern him. At this point, the Fuzor was merely a pawn and two of their captive Maximals were a diversion. Of course, Megatron would have liked to have held onto Whitegrazer, but he might have another purpose and opportunity in mind for her later down the road.

The Fuzor nodded and slowly got to his feet standing by the large flying tiger and the Vok equine.

"Spineback, will our hostages be incapacitated for the duration of our journey?" he inquired again without verbally disclosing their final destination while they were within ear-shot of Whitegrazer. He wanted no mistakes and no distractions from them. He visually examined Airazor's wounds, particularly her recently injured leg done by Nemesis, and grew skeptical of Rattrap's unconsciousness knowing how the Spy easily fooled some with his antics.

'No self-preservation whatsoever.' The tigress thought incredulously, wondering if Whitegrazer would ever consider making a tactical retreat as a course of action rather than risking her life. Her and Optimus were definitely more alike than any of them there.

Next thing they got was static before Aurora could finish her own protest, Wintersong glancing at the younger female, finding her worry reflected in the ermine's own expression. Especially when Aurora could no longer patch through to the white mare, or anyone else for that matter. Great, now their communications was being jammed, causing Wintersong to slam a fist on the console in frustration, "Of all the times for her to be stubborn." She growled, unable to contain her growing frustrations. Especially when the young fuzor had a point that there wasn't exactly much to protect against at this moment.

"Well, the Predacons have been stopped by simple methods before, suppose we could do it again and slow their advance." The transmetal feline agreed with a sigh, turning her attention back to the camera fixated on Zodiac. From his movements and reactions, it seemed Optimus was getting through to Zodiac about...something, enough he seemed to look strangely defeated and more vulnerable than she had ever seen the shapeshifter. He was even eating the food he tended to push off to the corner. Though curious, Wintersong still didn't understand why Optimus bothered with the renegade. Even if they had managed to sway his views to them, that wouldn't stop the animosity that lingered among their numbers, possibly even risk dividing the Maximals due to one Predacon, maybe capable of causing more damage to them than Megatron and his followers ever would do.

Wintersong though turned her head slightly to listen to Aurora's and Rhinox's exchange. The young fuzor brought the unfortunate news to Rhinox, hearing the worry laced in his voice as he spoke of them to keep trying and possible her going out to figure out what was happening. Yea, like she was going to keep sitting here and waiting. The moment the words had left the rhinoceros' mouth, Wintersong was on her feet, "Sorry Rhinox, we've been waiting too long as it is. Like you said, they should have been back by now which means we can't keep sitting around waiting." The taller femme placed a hand on Aurora's shoulder as encouragement, "Keep trying kid, I'm sure someone was able to get themselves away from the battle. If not, I will contact you the moment I get the chance." Wintersong's mood seemed to have changed from defeat to her old self, the call to act seeming to knock her out of her stupor...temporarily anyway.

Offering a brief smile, Wintersong left Aurora's side to the lift as she shifted to beast mode. The moment the lift had gone down Wintersong shifted to her vehicle state, "Boosters maximum burn!" Wintersong spoke before she was taking off at full speed, keeping her optics peeled for signs of movement ahead.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Cheetor narrowed his optics, willing to take the chance to get back at Megatron, and maybe give Tigatron, Whitegrazer, and Blackarachnia a chance to escape while they could. However, Tigatron himself stepped in, grabbing his shoulder before he could make another step, "Let go! I can take him!" Cheetor protested, trying to yank himself free of the older cat's grip, but Tigatron's grip was strong, keeping a hold of the young cheetah.

Unfortunately, Tigatron was right.

Peering beyond Megatron, Cheetor realized it was just the two cats and Blackarachnia, slippery and elusive as always. With a reluctant growl he finally backed off, glaring after Megatron after his little comment, “This isn’t over by a long shot.” He called after the tyrant before turning away to follow after Tigatron and Blackarachnia, “I can’t believe they caught us off guard like this, and now we got nothing to show for it.” Cheetor was clearly distressed and angered, wishing they had been able to do more. But, with all the Predacons present and attacking from all sides they had been lucky to escape at all, that much he knew.

But as the teenager shifted to his beast mode, having to follow on foot when his internal systems warned of one of his jets being damaged, a thought did occur to them. Tigatron had indicated they would be leaving, but what if they only appeared to do so? He waited though, occasionally checking back over his shoulder to see their distance, waiting until they were out of sight before he stopped. "Wait, maybe we can still save some of them. Megatron can't take all the hostages at once, Whitegrazer and Tigerhawk are the biggest of the group at the moment." The young cat told them, clearly not about to give up trying to save at least a few of their friends if possible. "Tigatron, go on ahead of us, warn Optimus and the others back at base. I know you promised Nemesis your word we would leave, but we can't leave them Big Cat, not like this." Cheetor was apologetic but determined. He turned his head towards Blackarachnia, "Think you can back track without being seen BA? We can meet in the middle and take out whoever remains behind, give them a little taste of their own medicine."

It was a long shot, but just maybe they could do this if there was even the slightest opportunity.

Air Razor tried her hardest not to cry out from the pain, attempting to refuse giving her avian counterpart the satisfaction of causing pain to her beloved and her friends. But the continued pressure and kicking to the damaged joint made a whimper escape her until a violent kick to her head caused the falcon to grunt.

The force of the kick was enough to knock her silly, disorienting the falcon but not quite knocking her out. She only vaguely heard Tigatron, his plea thankfully stopping Nemesis anger filled assault to her frame end. Not that it did much to change their predicament, the femme painfully lifting her head enough to look at her beloved's expression, no doubt reluctant to leave them behind, only able to offer a pained, weak smile towards him. If Tigatron even saw it at all. But, she trusted somehow, some way the Maximals would save them, no matter what it took they would get them back.

Spineback snarled as she was blasted in the back, whipping around to fire a few shots in response towards the black widow who swiftly scurried away, seeming to realize she was outmatched in this fight. Hissing a little, the veteran lowered her weapon, finding no reason to give chase after the smaller femme who would likely meet an end sooner or later depending on how the next phase of the plan went. In which case, Spineback turned her attention back to the avian second in command, only able to shake her head slightly.

Well, she tried at least but there was no changing the mind of an angered bot, merely leaving Nemesis to take her rage out on the helpless Air Razor. Guess the Maximals would learn one way or another to take an offer that was presented and not squander opportunity as they had done that day. “Sentiment and heroic programming must run deeper than I thought in Autobot descendants, go figure.” The Chief medic remarked, watching the Maximals at last make their leave. Such a stubborn lot.

Glancing back at her teammates, she counted the number of Maximals in all they had managed to capture, finding quite a haul after the conclusion of this battle. She relatively ignored Quickstrike’s insubordination even, scanning the Maximals to make sure they still functioned well enough. Dead hostages were useful to no one after all. But she soon perked up once Megatron addressed her, “They’re pretty battered sir, but...” Spineback took out two syringes of sedatives, carefully injecting them into the neck of Air Razor, who finally passed out once more, and Rattrap, “That should last until we get to our next destination.” She affirmed.

Terrorsaur snickered in delight to see the fuzor fallen, no longer moving and being a pain in the tail. He had dug his own grave continuing to engage such odds, but no one said the Maximals were exactly smart either.

Lowering from the sky to join his comrades, Terrorsaur did flash a bit of annoyance at Nemesis being praised, “She wouldn’t have quite a big catch if not for my plan to scatter them in the first place.” He grumbled, hovering in place nearby as his ego once again couldn’t be contained. Though he made no further complaints about it as Megatron spoke they were to separate the hostages, listening intently with recalling the tyrant had mentioned a mission earlier. Until Quickstrike had to complain about not being taken along to handle the Maximals, cackling audibly as the fuzor was backhanded for his insolence.

Once the good doctor had finished ensuring Air Razor and Rattrap were ready for transport, the transmetal pterodactyl lowered down and scooped up Air Razor over his shoulder, “Lets get a move on already then.”

Rampage smirked slightly as he loomed over the widow, ready to make a grab for Blackarachnia before she used her smaller size and greater speed to return the favor, the blast causing Rampage to snarl in rage, grabbing his face with his free hand. Despite his durability and capability to heal, the blast still stung, hissing as he touched the area and shook his head slightly. Oh, he would get the widow one day for that low blow. But, it didn't take long for the scorched area and small chunk of armor to heal over in no time as the transmetal crab lowered his hand, looking around the area one final time on the off chance he could catch the spider slipping. Alas, he was not so lucky.

And the opportunity would wait as Megatron ordered him to regroup, the crab only shrugging off his unsuccessful retrieval before making his way over, placing his missile launcher on his back. But the immortal crab said nothing, crossing his arms as he awaited for their next move, eyeing the Maximal hostages and wondering if this still worked into Megatron's grand scheme of things.