The Intergalactic Highway

Starshadow growled and snarled each bumps and burns she took all thanks to Terrorsaur and his flight engines. The shocking did stop and she was about to lose her grip on him but there was no way she would let go of this opportunity. Not when it was too good to finally end this fight. The vampiric catbot wrapped an arm around his shoulders, sinked her claws in his armor, pulling out the cybervenom blaster, pointing the barrel on his lower back and fired pointblank before letting go, landing on her feet. Cecaelia's cybervenom not only renders an enemy paralyzed but also agonizing pain for a short while. If it where the liquidfied version, victims would be under a long period of excruciating pain, or it at least feels long. Starshadow smirked and kept the blaster away, taking out her own gun, Mortem aiming it at Terrorsaur, "get up, I dare you."

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Banshee's ears twitched as she heard loud banging sounds. Must've been that Ironclaw throwing one of his tantrums again. But continuosly? That can't be right. The bat femme picked up her bucket of dirty water and rag, walking towards the direction of that annoying banging, finding Landslide lifting up the CR door, "what is all of this commotion about?"

Megatron wrote:"I'm sending you Terrorsaur's coordinates, he and whats left of Waspinator and Quickstrike should be by the crew's quarters, be warned, Starshadow has allegedly undergone yet another change if Terrorsaur's last cry for help is any indication. Once you're done with her, you may proceed to deal with Zodiac, the sooner the better"

Umbra nodded and headed towards the coordinates turning his radio off. " Are you sure you should even be doing this? You don't even remember why you were on that ship. For all you know the Maximals hired you,and you turned your back on them.."

Inconsequential, they refused after. My hands were already too stained for their taste, doesn't mean I need to justify myself to every fool that thinks they can shine without walking over someone else's body.. Umbra muttered as made his way through the halls, hearing Starshadow's voice he came to a stop, hiding behind the corner before he could be spotted.

starshadow wrote: "get up, I dare you."

He slid his right leg slightly over as the octopus eye on it glanced around the corner looking at Starshadow and Terrorsaur, Umbra drew two throwing blades, then moved out from behind the corner throwing both blades, one knocking Starshadow's gun away, the other slamming into her chest and erupting into a small controlled explosion to knock her stumbling back and away from Terrorsaur.

"Just like you've stepped over so many bodies, you can see them now can't you? All those lost sparks.. relying on the strength of others to become stronger yourself."

Umbra hopped up along a wall activating his jump jet to propel him forward and past Terrorsaur as he landed, drawing both his short swords Stand down Miss Shadow.. You're still an ally even if you're a bit of a trouble maker.. However we don't have time for your aggressions..This sickness will spread among everyone, even you.. But if you persist.. As he spoke, the texture on his camouflage shifted showing what looked like a moaning faces and hands, trying to reach out for something before sinking back into his epidermal layer once again. As you can see.. I'm already infected..Any contact with me and you'll be the same.

"Even now, you're relying on my strength, my swords..And yet you haven't mastered them. How disgraceful!"



Quickstrike woke up rubbing his head, slowly getting up he pushed the vent cover off and looked around Ugh... Not again! he muttered frustrated.

Wintersong growled in frustration as she watched his retreating form, punching a wall just to let off a small amount of that building annoyance. She cared about the badger, she really did but there were days he could be frustrating even for her. And her patience wasn't exactly long, even with her changing attitude. 'Why won't you listen to reason Ironclaw? Primus what will it take to get through that iron thick head of your's' She thought with a sigh, knowing what it was like to jump head first into things and never trying to keep others close. She had even at one point stayed away from the main crew thinking she would be in trouble for stowing away and sneaking aboard and even when helping she knew her actions could put others at risk. But she had been changing, trying to reign in her former attitude and lack of listening since earlier of facing the Vok.

Sighing she finally stood straight again, the Transmetal tigress beginning to need some fresh air after all this. But she had barely taken two steps before she heard the echoed gunshot, making her spark drop before the banging followed and she quickly rushed towards the CR chambers while drawing her swords from behind her shoulders and coming across the growing number of Maximals. "What happened?" She asked, seeing everyone seemed just as confused and in wonder as she was, lowering her weapons slightly but only just.

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Spineback seemed to not really respond much to what Megatron was saying, her mind becoming highly distracted. She couldn't keep focused, the virus slowly breaking her will and strength of mind. It was bringing back old memories she sometimes wished gone...

Once again she was back in the off world colony, replaying that same scene of staring down at friends and acquaintances alike who lied around her feet with some survivors huddled close behind her. Her gaze was shifting over the energon and mech fluid staining the metal streets, before they came upon a mech looming over her as they stepped forward. From the corner of her optics five others followed suit, keeping them surrounded and were but a small number of a larger battalion who were elsewhere in the city. All of them, except the Decepticon soldiers around them, flinched when an occasional shot could be heard, another sign a spark had been snuffed and sent to the Well of Allsparks.

Her optics went fully back to the barrel of an energon pistol right at her head before shifting to be aimed at her very Spark. "We can do this two ways, either all of you kneel and declare your allegiance to the Decepticons now and be spared or, feel the quick sensation of burning energon through your Sparks. Just remember...no Autobots are coming to save you." The mech sneered as Spineback, known for a different name at the time, swallowed slightly as she was the first to kneel and it became an even greater shock to the remaining survivors as she declared calmly, "I, Sandback, declare my loyalty to my new leader Megatron and the Decepticon cause." She spoke as she bowed her head and two others finally did the same.

But when no one else followed such an example they were given only one last warning. Kliks ticked by as Spineback counted them in her head by the second before she closed her optics as the shots were fired...

Her optics flickered on then, her Plasma Ball Shooter activating by reflex as she truly thought she was back there. Her aim was immediately up and her optics wide, searching the room before realizing there was nothing but the present before her and she quickly lowered her arm. The argument she had with Taratulas at the moment forgotten, "Have you any need of anything yet spider?" She grumbled, shaking her head vigorously as she had no idea that Terrorsaur had called for help or some assistance.

Rather, she had completely blacked out, having completely been lost to the virus for a long moment. But one thing that seemed persistence was the sight and what she truly believed to be the lingering smell of energon and mech fluid spilt that day. She tried to shake the horrid image from her sight as she looked towards Megatron to see how he was but was briefly horrified as she thought him full of wounds and resembling a former face she knew, a friend who's name she long forgot but a few shakes of the head returned him to normal in her sight, biting back of asking how he was fairing knowing it probably was getting worse without her having to ask.

After the intense encounter with Wintersong, Ironclaw had made his way to the bridge, trying to avoid both her and the medical bay. He was angry with himself, choosing to do what he thought was right rather than what he wanted. The feelings almost overwhelmed him, though he did not let it show on the outside. However it did distract him enough to the extent that he barely heard the banging and gunshot. The badger took focus of his surroundings when Rattrap came running up to him making a lot of noise. "What do you want rat?" Ironclaw asked irritably as he step aside to let him pass. Now that he was concentrating there was some commotion further in the base, maybe by the CR chambers. For now he stayed away and remained at the bridge.

In a hurry, Rattrap squeezed past Ironclaw when he stepped aside and made haste to the room holding the CR chambers. Upon arriving, Landslide was already there lifting the door off of the chamber that Nexus seemed to have been occupying. His optics glanced around the damage to the repair chamber and to one of the cameras. Fortunately, Aurora's CR looked unharmed.

What in Alpha Trion's beard is goin' on in here?

"what is all of this commotion about?"

"What happened?"

"We heard a gunshot."

"I got no idea, but we're gonna find out," Rattrap said with a lot of suspicion, knowing Ironclaw had just passed this way. "Is Nexus okay? Maybe he knows what happened," he said as he peered past Landslide, Wintersong, Whitegrazer and Banshee, who was holding her bucket of soiled water, and to the inside of the chamber for a moment where the Admiral was. "Take him to the hangar's CR, Landslide. I'll get Cheetor ta clean this up an' fix the chamber. Keep me posted if Nexus tells ya anythin'." With that, Rattrap motioned Wintersong to follow him before he stepped back out and returned to the bridge.

"Cheetor, go and fix that repair chamber, would ya? Ironclaw, you stay put," Rattrap said, pointing his index finger somewhat accusingly at the badger before he moved to a console to bring up the repair chamber room's security camera footage. How did the Spy keep falling into these positions? Wasn't Optimus up and running yet? Rewinding the video feed, he looked surprised and then played it forward. It appeared to be Ironclaw attacking the CR that Nexus Prime was in and then shot the camera, ending the feed. "Uh... Care ta explain yourself, Ironflaw?" he asked the badger as he looked at him, ready to wield his weapon if he had to defend himself. What if it really wasn't Ironclaw in front of him but the shapeshifter? He smelled like the badger but could he rely on his sense of smell alone?

"Where are my hands, Landslide?" Rhinox inquired over his comm. link. He was vaguely aware of something going on as some of the commotion echoed down the corridors but it didn't stop him from working on the Maximal Commander; the others could handle it whatever the situation was. He was making progress but it was slow, and Optimus was still in a critical state.

Phoenix wrote:"I.. appreciate that," Nemesis told her, the words sounding strange.. foreign to her as they came out. This would take some getting used to for sure. "It's not often that I'm given such a privilege.""So tell me, friend, what went down at the exchange?,"

Whitegrazer had smiled. She did notice how strange and awkward it seemed for Nemesis to say such words. Whitegrazer hoped to show Nemesis that she could be trusted and didn't wish any malice or ill will towards her. Should be clear now as she had ever since Nemesis arrived here defended her and was more welcoming than some of the others. Despite the optimism and hope in her smile, there was a thought in her mind. There was a slight possibility that Nemesis might misuse her trust and open nature. After all, Nemesis has been hurt and betrayed. Probably many times. She couldn't hide it for her. But that was okay. Whitegrazer knew how hard it must be, especially for her to exactly trust or someone wanting to be a friend, but like she said earlier, she was going to try her best to persuade Nemesis to stay. She had a promise to keep after all. And she would try her best to be someone Nemesis can count on or trust.

Maybe some other time, she could answer Nemesis' question...

NaitoKage wrote:Clear. Landslide said as he walked into the room. Flipping his Electro laser away, he walked over to the CR chamber which a loud pounding was coming from. He leaned down pulling the locks out from the base of the CR chamber door, then lifted it open with relative ease. What in Alpha Trion's beard is goin' on in here?

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote:"Take him to the hangar's CR, Landslide. I'll get Cheetor ta clean this up an' fix the chamber. Keep me posted if Nexus tells ya anythin'."

Wintersong wrote:"What happened?"

starshadow wrote: "what is all of this commotion about?"

Wintersong and Banshee had entered the scene, but Whitegrazer didn't understand what took place here, shaking her head, "I don't know."

She rushed to the Admiral's side, gripping his shoulder, "What happened?" She looked up at Landslide then at a glance saw the camera that was broken. She looked concerned towards the Admiral, but inside, she was wondering what the shapeshifter was doing. Rattrap had exited the area swiftly like something caught his attention, making her wonder what he was thinking about. Did he know? She was stuck between curiosity and watching Nexus. She had only stepped out from the area only a few seconds when that happened. No matter what he was doing, she wasn't going to doubt herself. She needed to watch Nexus.

"Hey, Landslide, why don't I put Nexus in the hangar's bay Cr Chamber," she offered, " I know that Rhinox probably still needs you back in the medical bay. Nemesis and I could stand guard over Nexus. " If it was any type of sabotage...

She glanced back at Wintersong and asked her, "Would you keep us informed about what's happening on the bridge?"

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DarkSpark wrote:"I would if I could, but alas, I'm forced to resort to you! Just be quick about it, Megatron is sending someone over to the Axalon shortly to hunt for the cure as well, it would be best for you not to be there when he arrives, so find the antidote before then"

Great. Like that was going to be easy, and now, she had to worry about another Predacon approaching. No, she will get this cure. Somehow. She was staring across through a vent shatter at Rhinox was still working on the Big Ape. She glanced down noticing a fluid in vasks. One in particular caught her eye. The greenish one... Yo, legs! I see the cure. If she tried to crawl down or web down, she would be spotted immediately. And she didn't want to be blown to smitreens by his Chainguns of Doom. She will have to do something to catch some attention. Enough attention to get her enough time to study it.

I'm going to have to disable their Sentinel.She disappeared out of the vents back to the outer hallway. The hallway was crowded. She will have to wait for it to decrease in order to find some circuit board that will fry their security system, or cause some delay of some sort. At least, temporary.

OOC: Starshadow named her gun? Oh...Well...Megatron's gun is named...TIFFANY! TREMBLE BEFORE THE AWESOME POWER OF TIFFANY!

Starshadow wrote: Starshadow growled and snarled each bumps and burns she took all thanks to Terrorsaur and his flight engines. The shocking did stop and she was about to lose her grip on him but there was no way she would let go of this opportunity. Not when it was too good to finally end this fight. The vampiric catbot wrapped an arm around his shoulders, sinked her claws in his armor, pulling out the cybervenom blaster, pointing the barrel on his lower back and fired pointblank before letting go, landing on her feet. Cecaelia's cybervenom not only renders an enemy paralyzed but also agonizing pain for a short while. If it where the liquidfied version, victims would be under a long period of excruciating pain, or it at least feels long. Starshadow smirked and kept the blaster away, taking out her own gun, Mortem aiming it at Terrorsaur, "get up, I dare you."

Terrorsaur writhed on the floor, the pain from the impact nothing compared to the crippling agony instilled by the cybervenom...SINCE WHEN DID THE CAT HAVE CYBERVENOM?!

"Arrrghhh...HATE YOU...SO MUCH...RAWK!" Terrorsaur managed to wheeze out, gritting his teeth and clawing the floor as he tried in vain to fight off the venom's effects, but to no avail...He was gonna die here, the great and glorious Terrorsaur, on the floor, after having been shot in the back by a traitor! Oh the irony!

Naitokage wrote:
Umbra hopped up along a wall activating his jump jet to propel him forward and past Terrorsaur as he landed, drawing both his short swords Stand down Miss Shadow.. You're still an ally even if you're a bit of a trouble maker.. However we don't have time for your aggressions..This sickness will spread among everyone, even you.. But if you persist.. As he spoke, the texture on his camouflage shifted showing what looked like a moaning faces and hands, trying to reach out for something before sinking back into his epidermal layer once again. As you can see.. I'm already infected..Any contact with me and you'll be the same.

"Even now, you're relying on my strength, my swords..And yet you haven't mastered them. How disgraceful!"



Quickstrike woke up rubbing his head, slowly getting up he pushed the vent cover off and looked around Ugh... Not again! he muttered frustrated.

"Stop chatting with the witch and just SHOOT HER! RAWK!" Terrorsaur shouted at Umbra, pounding his fist on the ground in anger, as well as to fight off the pain, which honestly felt like he had scraplets crawling under his exostructure gnawing at his circuitry.

Noticing that Quickstrike had finally stirred, Terrorsaur snarled "Its about that you woke up!," the pain's intensity making him want to pass out, but was too fearful of what may happen to him if he went into stasis lock now of all times...Not that he'd have a choice if the venom's effects became too much for him.

Una wrote: Great. Like that was going to be easy, and now, she had to worry about another Predacon approaching. No, she will get this cure. Somehow. She was staring across through a vent shatter at Rhinox was still working on the Big Ape. She glanced down noticing a fluid in vasks. One in particular caught her eye. The greenish one... Yo, legs! I see the cure. If she tried to crawl down or web down, she would be spotted immediately. And she didn't want to be blown to smitreens by his Chainguns of Doom. She will have to do something to catch some attention. Enough attention to get her enough time to study it.

I'm going to have to disable their Sentinel.She disappeared out of the vents back to the outer hallway. The hallway was crowded. She will have to wait for it to decrease in order to find some circuit board that will fry their security system, or cause some delay of some sort. At least, temporary.

"Let me see!" Tarantulas inquired, seeing through Blackarachnia's optics to behold what she claimed was the cure, and it certainly looked promising, especially given its close proximity to the rhino and the ape, but obviously they would have to examine it first to be sure, or get one of the maximals to identify it.

"If a distraction is what you need, you could start a fire nearby so the Rhino would have to leave Primal's side long enough to deal with it, otherwise you'll have to bide your time, what little you have of it...Unless you were clever enough to bring an arachnoid with you?" Tarantulas inquired hopefully, having to cut the link temporarily and return his attention to the base as the female saurian disturbed him.

Wintersong wrote: Her optics flickered on then, her Plasma Ball Shooter activating by reflex as she truly thought she was back there. Her aim was immediately up and her optics wide, searching the room before realizing there was nothing but the present before her and she quickly lowered her arm. The argument she had with Taratulas at the moment forgotten, "Have you any need of anything yet spider?" She grumbled, shaking her head vigorously as she had no idea that Terrorsaur had called for help or some assistance.

Rather, she had completely blacked out, having completely been lost to the virus for a long moment. But one thing that seemed persistence was the sight and what she truly believed to be the lingering smell of energon and mech fluid spilt that day. She tried to shake the horrid image from her sight as she looked towards Megatron to see how he was but was briefly horrified as she thought him full of wounds and resembling a former face she knew, a friend who's name she long forgot but a few shakes of the head returned him to normal in her sight, biting back of asking how he was fairing knowing it probably was getting worse without her having to ask.

"Negative, unless you have something to add to what I've managed to decipher so far...Or are in need of restraints?" Tarantulas answered, pointing first to the computer's work in deconstructing and analyzing the virus, and then to her plasma shooter, which while lowered, was still out in the open, making the spider wonder if he had been about to get shot in the back.

Megatron meanwhile continued to battle his own personal demons, in the shapes and forms of his ancestors most famous leaders, one of whom was the size of a building and about to crush him to death with his over sized pincers!

"Stand down Relic!" Megatron ordered, raising his tail cannon, charging it and preparing to fire!

"Oh! So now you take my presence seriously? Splendid! Even so, do you really believe your puny weapon will even dent my armor, Little Tyrant?" Scorponok laughed, his voice echoing like thunder, splitting Megatron's audio sensors...Until out of nowhere a familiar violet blast connected with Scorponok's face, silencing him.

"I believe I called him that first, arachnid" mused the voice of Galvatron as he emerged from the lava pits below like a demon straight from the pit, eyes burning brightly with murderous intent.

"AAAARGGGGHHHH! There's not enough room on this world for two Emperors of Destruction, Galvatron!" Scorponok roared, his visor cracked and scorched from Galvatron's last shot.

" How amusing, I was just thinking the same thing!" Galvatron laughed as he continued his assault against the titan, flewing upward to face him, cackling madly in the face of such impossible odds while lesser cons would have been crippled by fear, the raw firepower behind his shots and aggressiveness of his attacks forcing Scorponok back despite his gargantuan size and stature.

"Watch and learn Little Tyrant, watch and learn!" Galvatron bragged, the transmetal predacon having little choice in the matter as the mad decepticon continued his duel with one of the largest and strongest decepticons of all time...Something Megatron might have considered a privilege to behold if it wasn't all the product of a viral induced illusion, though it didn't stop him from admiring the spectacle, relieved that for the moment he had an excuse not to power down his weapon.

Nexus' movements had grown ever more desperate inside the now malfunctioning chamber, to further give off the impression that he was in dire distress. As the nanoclicks moved on without anyone showing up to assist, the shapeshifter started growing restless. Fortunately, just as he was about to give up, the sound of someone removing the door off its hinges caught his attention.

What in Alpha Trion's beard is goin' on in here?

He immediately recognized the voice as belonging to Landslide, the rather large and heavily built beetle. He didn't know too much about him yet, other than that he seemed to have some extent of knowledge within the field of mechanics, since he had been the one to attempt to do some manual repairs on Nexus when they first arrived at the base. In a sense Nexus was relieved to see who had come, since the situation would have been awkward to say the least had it been Ironclaw that had responded to the noise. Not that he expected the brute to bother.

It was what appeared to be an exhausted Nexus Prime that stepped out of the chamber on shaky legs, his armor looking even worse off than it had been when he entered the chamber in the first place. A number of new, albeit smaller, dents were visible, some puncture holes as well, and the metal plate that Landslide so meticulously had inserted on his backside earlier was now partially mangled by what looked like the repair mechanism inside the tank. In his hand Nexus clutched onto one of these mechanisms, clinging onto it with such force that it was bent to an almost unrecognizable shape within his grasp. His bottom lip now had a deep laceration cutting through it as well. If he hadn't looked enough like a mess going into the machine, he certainly looked it emerging from it.

Nexus looked dazed and disoriented, staggering a bit as he walked, before finally managing to support himself against Landslide's sturdy arm. Just then a number of other Maximals joined them, including the rodent spy. Nexus barely glanced at them, even as the female came up to him.

"What happened?"

"He.. tried to.. disable me..," the aging admiral responded to Landslide's earlier question and the equine's as well, his voice raspy and straining to find the right words to describe the ordeal he had just been through.

"Take him to the hangar's CR, Landslide. I'll get Cheetor ta clean this up an' fix the chamber. Keep me posted if Nexus tells ya anythin'."

The admiral straightened out a bit at those words and shook his head, not in defiance, exactly, but more so a genuine concern for his own well being.

"Hey, Landslide, why don't I put Nexus in the hangar's bay Cr Chamber," she offered, " I know that Rhinox probably still needs you back in the medical bay. Nemesis and I could stand guard over Nexus. "

"No," he said sharply, apparently regaining his perspective of his surroundings a bit more clearly, "That.. chamber.. could have.. killed me," he continued, authority filling his voice even in this poor physical state, "I will.. not.. return to .. another.."

The chamber had apparently at least gotten to start doing the repairs, because it was two optics that fixed on Ironclaw's form in the background. "You didn't.. even have.. the courage to.. face me.. in battle.. Instead you.. attempted to.. rid yourself of me .. while I was.. in a helpless.. state," he accused the badger, keeping his stern gaze on the Maximal traitor while Rattrap did the only logical thing and checked the camera feedback. Which of course was confirming Nexus' story.

Nemesis felt her hand gripping her weapon in increasing anger as she watched Ironclaw's every move as well. It seemed like a clear cut case now, the security footage only proving what she already had started suspecting. That there truly was more to that angry brute than met the optics.

"My offer from earlier still stands, " she hissed, "And since you Maximals will no doubt insist on it, I will be merciful and make it quick. Just say the word."

((OOC: TIFFFANNNYYY!!))

"Arrrghhh...HATE YOU...SO MUCH...RAWK!"

Starshadow was about to pull the trigger with a twisted smile on her face but was disarmed and knocked away by explosive knives. A large crack was formed on her galvaconduct driver and within seconds, the glows on her armor went out. The vampire bot raised her optic ridge looking at the major drop of her power levels, still unphased by the fact that her electric based weaponry are rendered useless. Such a clever bot (not that horrible website I used to troll idiots LOL!), but she still have some tricks in her sleeves. Starshadow looked up to see what the cephalopod has to say.

Stand down Miss Shadow.. You're still an ally even if you're a bit of a trouble maker..

"Anyone who are after my personal data is my enemy,"

However we don't have time for your aggressions..This sickness will spread among everyone, even you.. But if you persist..

She ignored Terrorsaur and continued speaking but in a darker and eerie tone, picking up her gun and started walking towards him, "The only aggression I'm getting is from you rabid Predacon lapdogs trying to hunt me down dead or alive..I am the entity of chaos itself and I suggest you..." she pulled out a cube, "have a drink with me?"

That was a lie, an obvious lie. Starshadow dropped the cube on the floor right infront of Umbra and smiled, "oops...my bad.." she kicked off the floor backwards and activated her thrusters, flying away from him with a good distance before firing her gun at the cube, leaving an explosion. With all of that smoke, it could probably buy her some time while she makes her escape. The catbot laughed and made her way to the vent opening and ran like a cat through the vents. She would have to find the bigger ones sooner to get some space for proper flying.

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Nexus looked in a pretty bad shape. But which Maximal would even do this..?

"He.. tried to.. disable me..,"

Who?

"Take him to the hangar's CR, Landslide. I'll get Cheetor ta clean this up an' fix the chamber. Keep me posted if Nexus tells ya anythin'."

"Hey, Landslide, why don't I put Nexus in the hangar's bay Cr Chamber, I know that Rhinox probably still needs you back in the medical bay. Nemesis and I could stand guard over Nexus. "

"No, That.. chamber.. could have.. killed me, I will.. not.. return to .. another.."

It sounded like the chamber wanted to eat him up. An amusing thought but...that is not even possible.

You didn't.. even have.. the courage to.. face me.. in battle.. Instead you.. attempted to.. rid yourself of me .. while I was.. in a helpless.. state,"

Banshee ears perked up. Did she heard it wrong? Ironclaw tried to kill Nexus? Although he may be an annoying soldier who complains about many things but this is just UNFORGIVABLE. Of course she would not judge on just one statement. She has to hear from both sides, footage or no footage.

"Ironclaw...what do you have to say for yourself..?" she placed a hand on her gun just incase he turns violent.

starshadow wrote:"Anyone who are after my personal data is my enemy,""The only aggression I'm getting is from you rabid Predacon lapdogs trying to hunt me down dead or alive..I am the entity of chaos itself and I suggest you..." "have a drink with me?" "oops...my bad.."

Umbra moved back a bit using two lower sets of his tentacles as the Energon cube exploded,His optics flashed red as his Sonar visor sliding down over them, seeing through the smoke as he watched Starshadow escape into the vent. Well.. your funeral ma'am..

Umbra hopped through the smoke, grasping the wall with his tentacles as he lifted himself up transforming to his octopus mode climbing into the vent, then slithered through the vent chasing after Starshadow like a inky black mass. He almost wondered why she bothered going back into the vent, as his body was adapt at moving through such spaces compared to hers.. But it didn't matter, he'd tear her apart for this..

The Octopus's tentacles launched out to grasp her and constrict around her arms,legs, and neck, pulling her in towards him, his beak gripping into the back of her leg, with almost enough force to amputate it.

_____________________________

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote: "Is Nexus okay? Maybe he knows what happened," "Take him to the hangar's CR, Landslide. I'll get Cheetor ta clean this up an' fix the chamber. Keep me posted if Nexus tells ya anythin'." "Cheetor, go and fix that repair chamber, would ya? Ironclaw, you stay put,"

Cheetor gave a nod to Rattrap and walked into the room, pulling out a few tools he started to work on repairing the CR chamber.

Whitegrazer wrote:"Hey, Landslide, why don't I put Nexus in the hangar's bay Cr Chamber," she offered, " I know that Rhinox probably still needs you back in the medical bay. Nemesis and I could stand guard over Nexus. "

Rhinox wrote:"Where are my hands, Landslide?

Nexus wrote:"He.. tried to.. disable me..,"
"No," "That.. chamber.. could have.. killed me," "I will.. not.. return to .. another.."
"You didn't.. even have.. the courage to.. face me.. in battle.. Instead you.. attempted to.. rid yourself of me .. while I was.. in a helpless.. state,"

Landslide looked towards Nexus, then looked towards Whitegrazer Er... You can come with me if you want lass, It'd help me out if you could deliver those hands fer Optimus to Rhinox, I just need to finish installing the servos in them.. then I'll work on repairing Nexus, manually.

Landslide put an arm around Nexus to hold him up We'll leave Ironclaw to Rattrap. Come on, I'll take you down to the hanger. Besides the CR chambers, my workshop is down there.. All the tools needed to repair some rust buckets like us. He smiled as he helped Nexus down the hall, activating his comlink Sorry, bit of a hold up. There was an attack in the CR bay. Nexus and Aurora are alright, but Nexus is damaged.. I'm taking him down to the hanger to get fixed, Whitegrazer should be delivering the finished hands shortly.

OOC: hope this is okay, didn't post for Tarantulas cuz there wasn't really anything for him to say or respond to yet lol.

Starshadow wrote:
She ignored Terrorsaur and continued speaking but in a darker and eerie tone, picking up her gun and started walking towards him, "The only aggression I'm getting is from you rabid Predacon lapdogs trying to hunt me down dead or alive..I am the entity of chaos itself and I suggest you..." she pulled out a cube, "have a drink with me?"

That was a lie, an obvious lie. Starshadow dropped the cube on the floor right infront of Umbra and smiled, "oops...my bad.." she kicked off the floor backwards and activated her thrusters, flying away from him with a good distance before firing her gun at the cube, leaving an explosion. With all of that smoke, it could probably buy her some time while she makes her escape. The catbot laughed and made her way to the vent opening and ran like a cat through the vents. She would have to find the bigger ones sooner to get some space for proper flying.

"Oh for the love of Primus" Terrorsaur grumbled in response to Starshadow's proclamation of being the entity of chaos, because what the crew truly needed was another psycopath high on herself and full of delusions of grandeur...Why was he the only normal pred on this ship?

The energon detonation that followed startled him, but didn't appear to be anything major, just a makeshift smokescreen to cover her retreat...Granted, even if it HAD been a grenade grade energon explosive, in his current state Terrorsaur was in no shape to run for cover anyway.

Naitokage wrote:
Umbra moved back a bit using two lower sets of his tentacles as the Energon cube exploded,His optics flashed red as his Sonar visor sliding down over them, seeing through the smoke as he watched Starshadow escape into the vent. Well.. your funeral ma'am..

Umbra hopped through the smoke, grasping the wall with his tentacles as he lifted himself up transforming to his octopus mode climbing into the vent, then slithered through the vent chasing after Starshadow like a inky black mass. He almost wondered why she bothered going back into the vent, as his body was adapt at moving through such spaces compared to hers.. But it didn't matter, he'd tear her apart for this..

The Octopus's tentacles launched out to grasp her and constrict around her arms,legs, and neck, pulling her in towards him, his beak gripping into the back of her leg, with almost enough force to amputate it.

Terrorsaur grimaced in pain as he watched Umbra give chase after Starshadow, muttering "Go get her killer" before turning his attention to Quickstrike and said "If you're not gonna help...Wheeze...Then get me & Wasp to the CR Tanks, PRIMUS SLAG IT!"

With that said, Terrorsaur passed out from the cybervenom, his body twitching reflexively from the agonizing effects the toxins were having on it, unable to do anything more until the venom was purged from his systems.

Elsewhere, Megatron continued to observe in stunned silence the epic showdown between Galvatron and Scorponok, two of the most legendary Decepticons of all time! Even if it was just a figment of his imagination spurned on by a disease beyond his control, it was still a glorious sight to behold, and a welcome distraction from his deteriorating state.

"Surrender Galvatron, you cannot hope to defeat me! I dwarf you!" Scorponok bellowed, swinging his shell crushing claws back and forth, trying in vain to swat Galvatron like an over sized fly.

"Size doesn't count for much when you're too slow and clumsy to hit your target...Is that the reason why you never had the nerve to face me directly, Scorponok? Always plotting behind my back from the shadows with your hapless Headmaster minions? Was the mighty titan Scorponok afraid of little old me?" Galvatron jeered, his laughter growing more crazed with every blow his opponent failed to land.

"SILENCE! Who are you to speak to me this way?! I ruled the Decepticons after you! I ended your reign!" Scorponok proclaimed angrily, slamming his claws down onto the deck itself, Megatron bracing himself despite his common sense telling him he was in no danger of being squashed or the floor being taken out from under him.

"Funny, I don't recall you being the cause of my demise...Or your so-called reign being anything grand enough to write home about!" Galvatron continued to mock Scorponok, flying upwards and changing into his cannon mode to fire yet another brutal blast of energy into his foe's now unprotected face, shattering half of his visor!

"AAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Scorponok cried out in pain as he backed away from the ship, bringing one pincer up to shield his damaged optics while the other swung at Galvatron blindly, this time landing a lucky blow that sent the smaller decepticon reeling to the ground, landing with a thud beside Megatron, the transmetal offering his hand to help the fallen warlord up.

"Concerned for a figment now are we, Little Tyrant?" Galvatron teased, Megatron gasping in shock as he beheld his face, cracks in his purple helm revealing hints of white beneath the surface, smirking as he added "Headmasters, always thought so highly of themselves and their transtector bodies, especially that fool, but they always neglected the one most obvious weak point in their designs, those empty heads of theirs!"

"I have no need of your assistance, predacon, simply sit back and watch me work, you might learn something" Galvatron said as he got back up on his own, swatting the young commander's hand away, Megatron swearing his voice had begun to change, as the former herald of Unicron took flight once and more and shouted "Ready for your execution now Scorponok?! ARE YOU READY FOR GALVATRON?!"

"DIE! JUST SHUT YOUR INSANE MOUTH AND DIE!!!" Scorponok bellowed in rage as he fired all his weapons wildly at his enemy, all that firepower to kill just one mech boggling the mind of Megatron as he continued to silently observe this battle of the tyrants, finding it harder and harder to believe none of this was really happening, though the evidence lay in the fact that despite it all he and his minions remained alive, something far less likely to be the case of the real Scorponok had been bombarding his territory with endless onslaughts of raw destructive power ranging from artillery to laser fire.

Ironclaw was distracted by his thoughts when whatever had happened by the CR chambers had made its way over to him and he couldn't help but look at the Maximals surrounding. And Nemesis. He knew he was not the most favoured one around here at the moment but this looked ominous. Lots of eyes were darting against him, for some reason the badger sensed violence in his near future. He stood up straight, towering over his current team mates and gave them all a look as they questioned him. It started with Rattrap telling him to stay put. Despite the rats recent success, he had no intentions of following that order even though he was surrounded. No one had spoken until the old rust bucket came clambering into Ironclaw's view, accusing him of an attack. I knew it he thought to himself. "You dare accuse me you old fool, or whoever you are" the soldier growled at the supposed veteran. Stepping forwards and raising his fist to give emphasis to his words. Ironclaw could feel the weapons that were being prepared. Then they all asked him to do the same thing, to explain himself. The badger turn around to see a screen showing camera footage of the CR chambers. It was him, attacking the chamber. He couldn't even explain it to himself. "I couldn't, I was with..." Ironclaw trailed off realising he did not have an answer for them. He was unsure what to do next.

"He.. tried to.. disable me..,"

He who? Rattrap heard Nexus telling the others what happened when the silence fell upon the bridge with everyone else's optics probing Ironclaw accusingly.

"No," "That.. chamber.. could have.. killed me," "I will.. not.. return to .. another.."

What was the deal with this old timer refusing to use CR chambers? They were genuinely safe. It wasn't the chamber that attacked him, it was someone else on the outside. And whoever it was was clearly targeting the Admiral and didn't bother with Aurora.

"You didn't.. even have.. the courage to.. face me.. in battle.. Instead you.. attempted to.. rid yourself of me .. while I was.. in a helpless.. state,"

"You dare accuse me you old fool, or whoever you are"

The Spy looked from Nexus's direction back to Ironclaw to see his reaction to his words, who seemed surprised and offended. While the surveillance video matched what the Admiral was saying, it didn't necessarily mean that it was really Ironclaw who attacked him. They were all aware that there was a shapeshifter among them. Could the shapeshifter be Ironclaw? He'd think someone with his poor attitude and inability to cooperate with anyone would do a better job hiding that and pretend to be the best possible Maximal just to get along and fool everyone. Nothing was making sense.

"My offer from earlier still stands, " "And since you Maximals will no doubt insist on it, I will be merciful and make it quick. Just say the word."

"Ironclaw...what do you have to say for yourself..?"

While Rattrap was still interested in continuing an investigation with this situation, it was clear that Nemesis had already made her case and was willing to carry out her own prosecution. And Banshee was right behind her. His optics followed her hand move to her weapon, though he was certain it was just for precaution in case Ironclaw was going to lash out as they watched him raise his fist and step toward them. After all, this was a lot for the badger to handle with everyone's eyes on him, some of them full of hatred. But he stopped and spoke. "Not so fast, you guys," he told them, sending a glare to Nemesis knowing how eager she was to put the TransMetal badger out of his misery. "Why don't you just back off, Predacon," he stated at Nem instead of making it a question which would give her a choice.

"I couldn't, I was with..."

"With who?" Rattrap inquired. "You came ta the bridge alone right after I started hearin' all the commotion from Nexus," he pointed out, but his voice was calm as he tried to keep the situation under control, his bright red optics searching Ironclaw's for the truth.

-----

Sorry, bit of a hold up. There was an attack in the CR bay. Nexus and Aurora are alright, but Nexus is damaged.. I'm taking him down to the hanger to get fixed, Whitegrazer should be delivering the finished hands shortly.

Perplexed by Landslide's explanation, Rhinox figured there was nothing he could do to help them while he was helping Optimus, so he had no choice but to leave it up to them. At least the beetle assured him that both the Admiral and the young Fuzor were alright. While he waited for Whitegrazer with Primal's hands, he typed in a command to the computer with the leader's schematics of his body and transformations to run it and then pause when his forearms opened and would switch his hands ((I'm basing that more on the toy than on the show)). As the rhinoceros examined the other set hidden inside, they were slightly damaged from the injuries his armored forearms sustained but the CR would be able to handle their repairs. Rhinox began working on the connections for the hands that Landslide built in preparation for when Whitegrazer would arrive with them and cleaned up what was left the original ones Megatron had mauled.

As quiet as it was in the room that he and Optimus only occupied at the moment, or so he thought, the engineer thought he heard something and stopped working. Besides the monitor beeping with the Commander's vitals, it was a sound that came from a different direction. To his far left, almost behind him? Above him? His red optics searched the room for a moment, including looking up at the ventilation system on the ceiling only to come to the conclusion that it was probably just the ship's typical creeks, expanding and contracting or something of that sort. As beat up as it was by this point in the war, it certainly wasn't the quietest vessel anymore even if it was just sitting still above a waterfall. It took a relentless pounding from the Predacons once in a while and the weather elements. Shrugging off the noise he thought he heard, he went back to work, glancing at the blue glow on the side of Primal's chest as the small voltage of electricity made the nanobots all abuzz.

NaitoKage wrote:There was an attack in the CR bay. Nexus and Aurora are alright, but Nexus is damaged.. I'm taking him down to the hanger to get fixed, Whitegrazer should be delivering the finished hands shortly.

Phoenix wrote:"He.. tried to.. disable me..,"

Phoenix wrote:"No," he said sharply, apparently regaining his perspective of his surroundings a bit more clearly, "That.. chamber.. could have.. killed me," he continued, authority filling his voice even in this poor physical state, "I will.. not.. return to .. another.."

Nexus had other plans, heading towards the bridge just as Nemesis quickly was going. Whitegrazer didn't like this one bit, but she decided to do the task Landslide had given her: retrieving Optimus' replacement hands. Just thinking about it made her shiver in disgust at such cruelty Optimus endured by the spiders' and Megatron's hands. She didn't condone such cruelty from Maximals or Predacons. No one should had ever had to go through what Optimus did nor had he. It hurt her deeply. More than anyone could imagine. After all, she held the burden of this war inside her everyday. And what had happened today with Optimus and Aurora awakened those old feelings she felt back on Cybertron. Those horrible days where she was still trying to figure out who and what she was. The truth of what Cybertron tried to hide. Some of her questions were answered, but some weren't. She may never get those answered. But that's okay. She was focused on what was going on now.

She grabbed the hands Landslide made, holding them firmly yet gently. She walked inside the medical bay and despite everything, like she always trained herself to do, she smiled at Rhinox warmly, "Here you go, Rhinox." She handed them to Rhinox then stared at Optimus. He was slowly but surely looking more like himself again, thanks to Rhinox. She bowed her head abit, knowing the dark revelation she held her vocal processor. If it was true, this would break Optimus. He has been through so much. What if he awoke just to hear... But maybe there was hope that the real Nexus was still alive... Maybe he was. But deep down, there was a dull voice that whispered towards her, erasing such optimism. She looked at Optimus' optics, "I'm so sorry, Optimus." She lifted her gaze to glance at Rhinox, "The shapeshifter is here. And I must stop him from hurting us. Stop him before he turns us against each other."

She straightened her posture like a soldier did in attention before she left the medical bay, heading towards the bridge.

Phoenix wrote:"You didn't.. even have.. the courage to.. face me.. in battle.. Instead you.. attempted to.. rid yourself of me .. while I was.. in a helpless.. state,"

Phoenix wrote:"My offer from earlier still stands, " she hissed, "And since you Maximals will no doubt insist on it, I will be merciful and make it quick. Just say the word."

Mystrea wrote:"You dare accuse me you old fool, or whoever you are" "I couldn't, I was with..."

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote:"With who?" Rattrap inquired. "You came ta the bridge alone right after I started hearin' all the commotion from Nexus,"

She stood in direct center of the entrance of the bridge and calmly spoke towards her comrades, "It isn't him." She shook her head, "Whatever the camera is showing you, it is incorrect. Ironclaw and I might not be close, but I do know this: He would have owned up to it. He would have said his reasons and justify it to himself and us." She looked at Ironclaw and nodded before returning her attention to everyone, "Ask yourselves this: Why would he destroy the camera? If the shapeshifter is Ironclaw, he wouldn't need to destroy the camera. I have no doubt in my mind if he truly did, he would have done it the last two times. But he didn't. Then why destroy the camera? It makes no sense. Ironclaw would have taken the blame and it would be over, but by destroying the camera, it shows he was hiding something. If not hiding something, why would he do that? To show that he is Ironclaw? Ironclaw wouldn't destroy a camera."

"Rattrap, is he Ironclaw? The one who has been here ever since he came to us?" She looked at everyone in the bridge, "We shouldn't doubt ourselves. We shouldn't allow this shapeshifter to turn us against each other nor have us doubt our own abilities. Nemesis, " she softly said to the female, " are you certain it is him? Look at Ironclaw, look at his optics deep inside him. Look at him. Are you certain that the bot you have held by your sai, is the one who you are after? Or.... do you want it to be him because of how he has treated you? His treatment towards you has been inexcusable, but is he truly the one?"

"This is one of those times where you need to look beneath the surface for the answers you seek. Isn't that right, Nexus?" she asked the Admiral. The same question he should ask himself.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DarkSpark wrote:"Let me see!" "If a distraction is what you need, you could start a fire nearby so the Rhino would have to leave Primal's side long enough to deal with it, otherwise you'll have to bide your time, what little you have of it...Unless you were clever enough to bring an arachnoid with you?"

Or I could cut the power from the medbay. Thanks to Tarantulas, she had a neat little idea. She snickered to herself as she headed towards the hangar bay, grabbing a blow torch from the tabletop. One that giant beetle was using to make hands, which the Maximal horsey had taken such hands. Using one of her spider legs, she flicked the flame with a slight giggle and headed back towards the maintenance shaft. She would hum a tone, but she didn't want to push it. Anything could happen. She just hoped everything turned into her favor. She was shaking with delight as she stabbed through the metal conduits with the blow torch. As she carved a small square hole, she caught the piece so it didn't make any unnecessary noise. She observed the wires that were exposed to her. She took the blow torch and cut one of the wires. The one that controlled the power in the medbay.

Er... You can come with me if you want lass, It'd help me out if you could deliver those hands fer Optimus to Rhinox, I just need to finish installing the servos in them.. then I'll work on repairing Nexus, manually.

The aging admiral didn't react to Landslide's promise to repair him manually, instead his focus seemed to be on the tall transmetal badger. Not surprisingly Nemesis was very much so on the edge, barely refraining from plunging her weapon through the male's torso to simply be done with it. In fact it rather surprised the shapeshifter that she had self control enough not to do so, but a quick glance at her hands easily revealed just how tightly she was clutching her weapons. All she'd need was a little push..

"You dare accuse me you old fool, or whoever you are"

Not surprisingly, Ironclaw denied the accusations against him. Or at least he did initially, until his optics darted over to the video still playing on the monitor in the background. The shapeshifter glanced over at the screen as well, before quickly feigning disinterest. It was good to see that his attention to detail hadn't diminished, at least, because his replica of the transmetal badger had been down to the finest details. In fact even the badger seemed caught off guard by what he saw, his voice and demeanor changing with the shock.

"I couldn't, I was with..."

The admiral shook his head with a heavy sigh, turning to face Rattrap. The rodent was one of the smaller crew members, and he hardly looked intimidating with that stature, but still he did pull some weight as the acting commander of the Axalon. His Maximals would follow his lead, even if not as readily or quickly as they would Optimus. "You should.. lock him up.. in the brig," the admiral encouraged the acting commander, "For his own safety.. as well as ours." His voice sounded strained, caring and understanding, yet determined at the same time.

"Not so fast, you guys," he told them, sending a glare to Nemesis knowing how eager she was to put the TransMetal badger out of his misery. "Why don't you just back off, Predacon,"

"Why don't you make me!," Nemesis blurted back, obviously very near her breaking point. The words came out as a challenge, a taunt, with every bit of defiance she could muster. Her patience really had been stretched well beyond tolerable limits.

"It isn't him."

Whitegrazer's words cut in as the voice of reason, the one attempting to soothe the anger and hurt egos. She sounded confident without being judgmental. Nemesis growled as way of response, tired of the other female's endless efforts to settle things without bloodshed. Some things simply could not be settled peacefully. It wasn't the Predacon way, it wasn't the Decepticon way, it wasn't her way.

"Whatever the camera is showing you, it is incorrect. Ironclaw and I might not be close, but I do know this: He would have owned up to it. He would have said his reasons and justify it to himself and us."

The white mare was astute.. and brave enough to tread waters she really should stay out of. Nexus crossed his arms as he listened to her assessment of the situation, making no efforts to interrupt her.

"Ask yourselves this: Why would he destroy the camera? If the shapeshifter is Ironclaw, he wouldn't need to destroy the camera. I have no doubt in my mind if he truly did, he would have done it the last two times. But he didn't. Then why destroy the camera? It makes no sense. Ironclaw would have taken the blame and it would be over, but by destroying the camera, it shows he was hiding something. If not hiding something, why would he do that? To show that he is Ironclaw? Ironclaw wouldn't destroy a camera."

That last sentence almost brought on a chuckle in the old admiral and he just barely managed to avoid it. "Obviously you haven't.. paid attention to.. the broken furniture.. around here," the admiral corrected her, referring to the many dents Ironclaw had put into walls, doorways, and even that broken table after his squabble with Nemesis. "Can you truly.. deny that.. Ironclaw is on.. a path of destruction, my lady?"

A sorrowful sigh followed as he looked across the room at all the occupants that had gathered.

"Rattrap, is he Ironclaw? The one who has been here ever since he came to us?" She looked at everyone in the bridge, "We shouldn't doubt ourselves. We shouldn't allow this shapeshifter to turn us against each other nor have us doubt our own abilities. Nemesis, " she softly said to the female, " are you certain it is him? Look at Ironclaw, look at his optics deep inside him. Look at him. Are you certain that the bot you have held by your sai, is the one who you are after? Or.... do you want it to be him because of how he has treated you? His treatment towards you has been inexcusable, but is he truly the one?"

"I have seen no proof otherwise," the avian female snapped back. She was about to continue but paused briefly to gather her thoughts. Whitegrazer was staring at her, almost pleading with her to reconsider. It would be better to deal with this situation with Ironclaw in private, when there were nobody around to attempt to stop her. Nemesis, realizing that she wouldn't get anywhere here, merely let out another discontent groan and marched out, pushing her way past Whitegrazer as she did. She was heading back to the medical bay, since at least Rhinox had more common sense than any of these fools. Nexus briefly shook his head, not bothering to respond to anything she had just said. He wouldn't be able to change her mind anyway. Instead he had already started making plans for how to deal with this troublesome female.

"This is one of those times where you need to look beneath the surface for the answers you seek. Isn't that right, Nexus?"

Using his own words against him, the irony wasn't lost on the shapeshifter. His patience was starting to run thin with this female and her antics, her persistence, and her tendency to interfere. Still he smiled back at her, as caring of a smile that he could manage. "I don't believe .. this is the right time.. to take chances, do.. you?," he asked her softly, his voice a little quieter to keep their conversation a little more private. "Is it not .. better.. to keep Ironclaw secured.. until we can.. rule him out.. of this.. entirely? No further harm.. will come.. to him.. or the rest.. of us."

By now the admiral's legs began to buckle, again proving just how damaged he really was and how taxing this experience had been on him. A large yet strangely gentle arm then wrapped around Nexus' form, helping him stand up straight. Fortunately most of the Maximal crew still believed his story, then again.. it was almost too easy to accuse the likes of Ironclaw of treason.. Given the fact he had pretty much dug his own grave already.

We'll leave Ironclaw to Rattrap. Come on, I'll take you down to the hanger. Besides the CR chambers, my workshop is down there.. All the tools needed to repair some rust buckets like us.

At last Nexus acknowledged the bulky insect's efforts, giving him a courteous nod and a slight but friendly smile as they started walking. "Sounds like.. a plan I can.. live with."

They had only been walking for a short distance when Sentinel contacted Nexus on a private, secure channel to inform him of the abrupt power outage that had occurred in the medical bay. The admiral stopped in his tracks, looking as if he was catching his breath, and then turned towards his companion. "Do you mind if we check up... on Optimus' .. progress first? I would.. feel much more secure .. if I knew he .. was.. doing better."

Without waiting for a response, Nexus changed his direction to head down to the medical bay. As he did he also sent a signal back to Sentinel, stating it was okay to inform the other Maximals of the power outage. There was no point in delaying the process since Rhinox was currently still in the medical bay and would surely tell them in a moment anyway.