"Oh well, wishful thinking I suppose, regardless, good to know what my soldiers can and cannot do, makes strategizing faster and simpler, and there are of course always the old fashioned methods of getting work done, yyyyyeessss"
Megatron's words echoed briefly in Nemesis mind as she settled on her perch overlooking the Maximals below. This honesty business wasn't something she was accustomed to yet, but she had quickly realized that Megatron despised having secrets kept from him. Although his idea of old fashioned methods might differ a bit from hers, given her ability to consume the very armor from her components in order to feet the nanomachines within her, she could certainly appreciate the sentiment. In some ways she was also starting to appreciate Megatron's leadership. Yes, he was ruthless and unforgiving to those who opposed him, but he also treated those that served him well fairly enough. Whereas his temper could be foul at times, his knowledge and loyalty to what he deemed to be a worthy cause was commendable. And as things were, Nemesis happened to agree on Megatron's ideal cause.
Using her wings as a cape to shield her bitter wind and constant blowing snow, she watched the Maximals in silence. Ironclaw and Primal appeared to be discussing something, but unfortunately she was too far away to make out their words. Granted, as soon as she informed Megatron of the beacon, his priorities rapidly changed.
"NO! The fool! He'll draw the Vok's attention back to us too soon!" "Join Umbra on the inside, I want that weapon destroyed and more importantly its signal cut off immediately!"
Was he serious..? He wanted her, the queen of the sky, to climb down a narrow hole in the ground..?! Her claustrophobic tendencies started acting up a bit just thinking about it. Slowly standing, she stared down at the hole that was completely surrounded by Maximals. How would they ever get down there unnoticed even if she would be able to tolerate such confined quarters?
Deciding they couldn't possibly enter the same way, her gaze went skyward to the beam that was firing from the mountain. That beacon had to come from somewhere, a fact that told her there must be more than one way inside. And from the looks of it, Umbra had the same idea.
"I'll meet you by the beam origin point," she told Umbra via com link while hoping there would be more space available than in a small hole in the ground.
"We're going in," she then informed Megatron next.
"Yes, it is," Optimus agreed, watching him closely. "Of course, I can't know for sure that Zodiac is dead unless I see some evidence."
There was something about Optimus' words that made Zodiac feel a bit more on edge. Was Optimus dragging out this encounter? He still wasn't convinced Whitegrazer had seen through his disguise or not, or if she'd informed the others.. of course she would tell them if she had any inkling of a suspicion! But until any of them had said something to definitely prove his theory right, he was just going to play along. It wasn't just for the Maximals he was acting, after all, but also the Predcons that were watching them from a distance. As things were he just needed to leave this place without getting followed, something that would be virtually impossible if Megatron and his goons were after him too.
"Feel free to check the cave," the pretender told Optimus without slowing down or looking at him. At this point it hardly mattered if they did find the machine or even Ironclaw, dead or alive, down there. With any luck the entire cave would collapse while the Maximals were in there, of course this seemed unlikely given the shape shifter's bad luck streak as of late.
They aren't dead, Zodiac. You failed. You have a decision to make here. Do you realize that your revenge has cost you more than you realize? How much more do you have to lose? Your life? It doesn't have to be this way. Face up to what you have done. We can help you.
Again the female's voice entered his mind, violating his thoughts, his very being. And her words struck a nerve, proving to him that his hope of remaining undetected had been crushed. To add further insult to his already wounded pride, the pesky female dared to try to reason with him. She even went so far as to ask him to surrender.
Help me?!, he argued with her.
It is the Maimals' generous 'help' that got me in this situation in the first place!
He clenched his fists as he continued walking away, keeping his pace steady as not to draw more attention to himself. Although he was surprised Optimus had not unleashed his fury on him yet. Could it possibly be that Whitegrazer had decided to keep his true identity hidden for some reason? It was true he had a hard time understanding how the female operated, but that wouldn't make sense if she was willing to just let him slip away while at the same time trying to persuade him to surrender himself. Did she honestly expect him to agree to such an unfavorable agreement? Zodiac had spent most of his life in one or another form of chains so the thought of taking responsibility for his actions, like she had asked him to do, was definitely not something he'd be willing to consider.
"No," he began thoughtfully. "That would be counter-productive,"
The pretender wearing Ironclaw's shell slowed his movements ever so slightly upon hearing those words, wondering what Primal meant by that. Was he merely saying no to returning to the Axalon because of the damage done to the base, or was there some other reason for his reluctance to do so?
"We have time," "It typically takes the Vok days or weeks to send a response."
Oh the arrogant fool, Zodiac thought to himself as he kept walking away. It really didn't matter if the Vok took a few days to a couple of weeks by this planet's time rotation. The fact of the matter was that they would be coming to resolve this issue. And the shape shifter had no plans to remain here when that time came. He would need whatever time he could spare to gather resources so that he could get off this planet. He had seen their handiwork and he had physically felt it. It was an experience that had nearly killed him. And if they returned here to find what he had done and what lengths he had gone to in order to come here and activate their weapon, part of him knew the fate that awaited him would be worse than any death he could imagine.
No, he would let the other Cybertronians who had made this planet their home deal with this mess while he escaped. He was free now, didn't have to answer to anyone, so he could be anyone or do anything he wanted. And since the few that knew of his existence would be dead and the remaining few on Cybertron that knew would believe he had died with them, there would be nothing to stop him from wrecking havoc on those who had wronged him.
Just let go.
Whitegrazer's constant attempts at reasoning with him accomplished little more than making the shapeshifter more frustrated. The more he thought about everything.. his plans going astray, the deaths of his comrades, being hunted by a bounty hunter or whatever Ironclaw was, losing the alien machine, that annoying voice in his head, Nexus Prime, Optimus... the stronger his desire to lash out one final time got. If only to stop the endless bickering in his mind and be able to depart with the knowledge that he had destroyed the one thing Primal clearly relied on more than anything. It would be his parting shot. Knowing the Maximals they would be too busy with their futile attempt to save Whitegrazer's life to be able to follow him, much less catch up with him.
His backside still turned to the others, he moved his arm up in front of his chest so it was hidden from their view. Then the wrist mounted cannon, like the ones the real Ironclaw wielded only fortified with the firepower from his own fusion cannon, slid into place. He prepared himself to end that annoying voice in his head once and for all.
Behind him he could hear Optimus still talking to him yet Zodiac paid it little heed. It was of no consequence anymore. Or so he thought, at least, not until..
"As it stands, the only threat we're currently facing... is you,"
He stopped as Optimus uttered those well calculated words, starting to move his head to glance behind him when..
The first shot rammed into his joint, hitting the vulnerable section behind the knee and causing the limb to buckle. Two more shots followed immediately after the first one, burning him, ripping holes in the armor and destroying circuitry in their path as they completely destroyed the functionality of the knee. Zodiac cried out from the sudden pain, his arms shooting out to catch him as he fell forward now that the knee wasn't able to hold up his weight. The pain was severe, a penetrating sharp and burning sensation that seemed to spread throughout the leg with even the slightest of movement in the area. And for that moment, his complete attention was on his wounded leg, now a mangled twisted mess of dislocated circuits where the knee joint had been. It took him a moment to realize that the disguise was quickly disappearing, the nanomachines sweeping over his form from the feet up to reveal his normal appearance in their wake. The bulkier form of the badger was swiftly cast aside for the sleeker, darker appearance of his dragon form. Talons grew out of his heels and ankles, scaly details spreading up his legs, thighs, sides and arms, his helmet changed to that of the dragon's head, and finally a pair of large wings burst out of his backside before coming to a rest on top of the piles of snow and ice that surrounded him.
Zodiac turned his head to look at Optimus with a pained sneer. Even in this form, his affected leg lay twisted in a most unnatural angle, making it blatantly clear that the pain that was so clearly visible on his face was not just for show. For a moment he lay still in the snow, seemingly defeated, until the nanomachines had gathered their senses enough to rush to the wounded joint and proceeded to work on it. But when they did, the process was quick, his leg regaining some functionality within the blink of an eye.
The shapeshifter wasted no time. As soon as he was able to move the leg again, if a bit stiffly since the repairs were not yet complete, Zodiac rolled to the side and pushed himself up with his arms. At the same time Umbra flew overhead and launched his own attack in the form of some blades rigged to explode upon impact. Zodiac narrowly avoided the first blade but the second one hit its mark, embedding itself into his right wing before promptly exploding to form a fair sized hole in its target. Again crying out from the pain of the unexpected sneak attack, Zodiac's wing now hanging limply at his side with smoke emerging from the burnt edges, the wounded pretender chose to ignore the second attacker for now. He had more pressing matters to attend to, and his nanomachines would repair the wound soon enough. There was still some residual pain as the repair process was still ongoing, but that wasn't going to stop him from doing what he should have done long ago.. Destroy Optimus Primal! Now in a state of pure rage, he lunged himself at Optimus at a much faster pace than should be possible given his injuries. Claws extending from his wrists, sharp enough to shred through even the strongest of armor, came slashing at Optimus while Zodiac tackled him to the ground.
"Maybe... Or it's just the immense heat from the vents created by the quakes."
Aurora couldn't be sure, honestly. All she knew is that it was hot enough in this part of the ship to actually melt parts of the floor. Not that it mattered much at this very moment. Right now they just needed to get out of the ship. Hopefully anyone else that were still occupying the vessel had made it to safety by now.
The fuzor's steps on her stilts were cumbersome to say the least, but they got the job done.. somewhat. If she was taking anything from this experience, it was that Waspinator's life was not one they should envy. But at least his broken off limbs came in handy in a pinch. Rattrap would be so proud of her had he been there to see this.
"I'm here, Aurora!" he called out to her. "But I'm afraid this is the farthest that I can approach."
"It's all right," the fuzor assured the engineer,
"I can manage.. I think." As she talked, she made a few more stumbling steps towards him on her stilts. But on the positive side, it didn't seem like the temperature was climbing anymore. If anything they seemed to have reached a plateau where the temperature was concerned, or perhaps it had even dropped a few degrees. As if the weapon causing this mess had been turned off.
"The others must have succeeded, " Aurora pointed out as she touched the floor with one foot to test it before abandoning the stilts altogether.
"The Axalon seems to be stabilizing." She hoped it would last.
"Well, it works,"
Aurora could not help but smile at the somewhat surprised look on Rhinox' face. Or at least she did until she accidentally shrugged her shoulders enough for the pain from her malformed wings kicking in. Ouch!
"I learned from the master," she responded after letting out a small wince, gesturing Rhinox himself of course. The floor seemed stable enough, so she walked the few remaining paces to get to him.
"At least it seems the earthquakes have stopped,"
She nodded in agreement, still eager to get outside though. And to open every door and window possible on the way there to vent the base out.
