The Intergalactic Highway

Starshadow started snarling when Umbra has finally get a perfect grip on her. Her optics slowly turned blue and the owner of the body returned from unconciousness, finding Umbra right infront of her. Because of that, she panicked and struggled, then activated her thrusters, flying through the vents while loud audio-piercing screeching metal sounds was made. Since the vents is now an unsuitable place to fight, she braced herself for impact as she crashed opened another vent opening which leads to the room full lava pools. For a flightless creature, the only means of fighting her are the hoverboards.

"I like my seafood barbequed," she mocked him and dived near to the lava pools. He can never stand the heat for a sea creature like him!

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Banshee listened to the accusations made and closed her optics while analysing.

"You should.. lock him up.. in the brig, For his own safety.. as well as ours."

That is interesting coming from him.

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.

Whitegrazer did have a point. Judging from Ironclaw's temperament, he would not be the sneaky kind of mech that would do something a spy or an infiltrator would usually do. Ironclaw is too reckless, has a mind of an angry recruit.
But after listening to Nexus, it seems like he wanted to Maximals to throw him in the brig so badly. It felt very odd...even from a high ranking Maximal officer.

Do you mind if we check up... on Optimus' .. progress first? I would.. feel much more secure .. if I knew he .. was.. doing better.

If her suspicions were right, he might be not one of them from the start. Banshee took up the dangerous gamble that would risk her colleagues' trust for her and followed the two mechs, taking out her gun and aimed it at Nexus.

"Not so fast..." she said in a serious tone, "For an admiral, you neither followed nor mentioned the proper Maximal Military protocols and their specific sections to deal with such defiant and foolish soldiers. From my observations, although Ironclaw may be reckless but he doesn't have a thinking of a spy or an infiltrator because he doesn't care if he's seen beating up a fellow Maximal and will admit to his actions as Whitegrazer mentioned, and that requires an interrorgation FIRST before giving the right punishment which is Rattrap's duty and I'm willing to volunteer myself in the questioning with another bot if it pleases you, Admiral Nexus sir," she narrowed her optics before continuing.

"As a soldier, you should get your wounds treated first to stabilize your condition before visiting Optimus who clearly needs more rest than you do. Landslide, I'd recommend you to give Nexus a body scan to find his major injuries so you could patch him up easier," she then turned her gaze to Ironclaw who was behind her, "You should surrender yourself. If you resist, you'll only make your problems worse."

If she is right, the body scan could prove that he is either the shapeshifter or not. If he has nothing to hide, he would not mind that. If he rejects the scan, she might start shooting him.

Umbra slid along being dragged through the vent, hearing the metal screech from her body grinding against parts of the vent, then suddenly felt the sudden rush as they came out of the vent over the lava pool.

starshadow wrote:"I like my seafood barbequed,"

Instinctively Umbra released Starshadow and expanded his tentacles,the mimic octopus flattening his body and the skin layer on his tentacles stretching out having his body act like a parachute or a flying squid, reducing the speed of his fall as he glided forward, his siphon shifting and releasing a short pulse of thrust having him glide sideways to a wall. I'm not on the menu, sorry.

As he came near the wall, Umbra transformed to his robot mode, his tentacles gripping onto the wall, moving like a spider's legs as he started to run along it. He swung his arm throwing four throwing blades out in a fan like pattern at Starshadow, on impact with her or her surroundings they explode.
_________________________

Terrorsaur wrote: "If you're not gonna help...Wheeze...Then get me & Wasp to the CR Tanks, PRIMUS SLAG IT!"

Quickstrike gave a nod walking over to Terrorsaur's unconscious body, then grabbed him and started dragging him to the CR tanks, loading him into the tank.

_____________________

Landslide observed as the others argued, then heard Nexus speak up.

Nexus Prime wrote: "Sounds like.. a plan I can.. live with." "Do you mind if we check up... on Optimus' .. progress first? I would.. feel much more secure .. if I knew he .. was.. doing better."

Landslide nodded That would be-

Banshee wrote:"Not so fast..." "For an admiral, you neither followed nor mentioned the proper Maximal Military protocols and their specific sections to deal with such defiant and foolish soldiers. From my observations, although Ironclaw may be reckless but he doesn't have a thinking of a spy or an infiltrator because he doesn't care if he's seen beating up a fellow Maximal and will admit to his actions as Whitegrazer mentioned, and that requires an interrogation FIRST before giving the right punishment which is Rattrap's duty and I'm willing to volunteer myself in the questioning with another bot if it pleases you, Admiral Nexus sir,"

"As a soldier, you should get your wounds treated first to stabilize your condition before visiting Optimus who clearly needs more rest than you do. Landslide, I'd recommend you to give Nexus a body scan to find his major injuries so you could patch him up easier," she then turned her gaze to Ironclaw who was behind her, "You should surrender yourself. If you resist, you'll only make your problems worse."

Landslide looked towards Banshee shaking his head Lass.. Put the gun down before you perform an act of treason. Under proper Maximal Military protocols, the Admiral is too damaged to take command, which is why Rattrap is to settle this. Under those protocols going by the evidence, Ironclaw is to be detained and interrogated until further evidence is brought forward to prove his innocence. However, if it calms everyone down, I will scan-

He then stopped as he overheard Sentinel alert about the power outage in the medical bay ...Now that's a problem.

(ooc: Naughty, Banshee, very naughty.. :p )

That would be-

Nexus briefly caught Landslide's nod and didn't bother slowing down since the large beetle appeared to agree with him. That is until the sound of a weapon being trained on him caught his attention, causing the admiral to slow his movements down to a halt as he looked over at the female that had made the sound. It was that new Maximal, the psychiatrist that Optimus so foolishly had offered himself and Nexus alike to Megatron for. How peculiar.. and annoying. Still, Nexus merely gave her a weary, tired look as she started to explain herself.

"Not so fast..." she said in a serious tone, "For an admiral, you neither followed nor mentioned the proper Maximal Military protocols and their specific sections to deal with such defiant and foolish soldiers. From my observations, although Ironclaw may be reckless but he doesn't have a thinking of a spy or an infiltrator because he doesn't care if he's seen beating up a fellow Maximal and will admit to his actions as Whitegrazer mentioned, and that requires an interrorgation FIRST before giving the right punishment which is Rattrap's duty and I'm willing to volunteer myself in the questioning with another bot if it pleases you, Admiral Nexus sir,"

Protocols.. He found it amusing that this upstart was lecturing him on Maximal protocols. Perhaps he wasn't really a decorated high ranking military figure, but he had spent enough time among the Maximals, studying them, pretending to be one of them, to know these protocols she spoke of well enough. What good would questioning a suspect without detaining him first do? It wasn't like he had broken any protocols by suggesting that Ironclaw should be taken into custody. Ugh.. how was Optimus even able to handle these upstarts he'd been stuck with? There had been a time when Zodiac had considered sparing a few of the Maximals, keeping them as labor much like they had done to him. But recent events had dwindled such thoughts to nothingness..

Without saying a word, Nexus' two shoulder mounted cannons popped into place and immediately targeted Banshee's arm that was holding the firearm. He held his fire, however, merely wanting to show her that he did not take kindly to being threatened. And should she be foolish enough to act on her impulsiveness, he could disarm her easily enough. Quite literally.

"As a soldier, you should get your wounds treated first to stabilize your condition before visiting Optimus who clearly needs more rest than you do. Landslide, I'd recommend you to give Nexus a body scan to find his major injuries so you could patch him up easier," she then turned her gaze to Ironclaw who was behind her, "You should surrender yourself. If you resist, you'll only make your problems worse."

Nexus sighed, his aim not faltering even as the female turned her gaze away. "You are out of line, miss. Insubordination isn't something I, nor Optimus, take lightly. I suggest you lower your weapon and surrender yourself to questioning as well. And in return I shall submit to this body scan procedure so the computer's findings may put your doubts to rest." He glanced briefly at the others present as he said those final words.

Landslide looked towards Banshee shaking his head Lass.. Put the gun down before you perform an act of treason. Under proper Maximal Military protocols, the Admiral is too damaged to take command, which is why Rattrap is to settle this. Under those protocols going by the evidence, Ironclaw is to be detained and interrogated until further evidence is brought forward to prove his innocence. However, if it calms everyone down, I will scan-

Well.. The delay caused by the overeager female would prevent him from getting to the medical bay first, so he might as well let the Maximals deal with the intruder. Ending their suspicions quickly took priority right now. As Sentinel's alert about the power outage repeated itself, Nexus retracted his weapons and turned to Landlside. "Seems the medical bay is having some difficulties right now. While the others check it out, why don't we get this body scan out of the way?"

(( OOC: Rhinox is not going to make it easy for anyone to infiltrate the infirmary and steal the cure for the virus. I'm actually wondering how the Predacons are assuming anything about an antidote existing in the first place and that the Maximals were capable of creating one. ...IN YOUR FACE, PREDACONS! ))

"Here you go, Rhinox."

"Thank you," said the rhinoceros as he carefully took the hands and placed them at their respective forearms on the table after returning a short but warm smile back to the mare. Rhinox immediately started working on attaching the connections for one of them without minding Whitegrazer lingering and observing. She had probably felt almost everything that Optimus had been through and he couldn't imagine what that must have been like. On the outside, she would smile, but on the inside, he could see the concern and the pain. So, he continued to do his best to restore the one she cared most for. The one who had lead them into so many battles and succeeded despite his inexperience. The one who continuously gave his life for all of theirs so selflessly. While he worked, he noted what a fine job Landslide did manufacturing these hands. They weren't perfect but they functioned and the CR would be able to fill in the rest. A nice job done indeed from the beetle.

"I'm so sorry, Optimus."

Rhinox glanced at the mare, uncertain as to how any of this was her fault. Maybe she wished she could have done more for him, or that he hadn't ended up like this in the first place. But it was his choice. He knew the consequences of his decisions. He was lucky he was still alive, even if he was just hanging on by a thread. But Optimus had a long road of recovery ahead of him.

"The shapeshifter is here. And I must stop him from hurting us. Stop him before he turns us against each other."

"Wait, Whitegrazer," he said as he reached out to grab her arm and stop her, but with the tools in his hands, he had to set one down, and it prevented him from making contact with her. She was already out the door. Why did she feel responsible for stopping him? How were they going to determine who was the shapeshifter? He hated not knowing what was going on in the bridge. Without having any control over that situation whatsoever, Rhinox remained focused on his surgery for his old friend.

Suddenly, everything went dark and quiet. All the monitors were shut off, and the blue glow on Primal's chest slowly faded as the nanobot gel lost its power supply. Rhinox remained still, his red optics scanning the room frantically while his audio sensors were on high alert for any noises. What was the meaning of this power outage? Were they under attack? Besides his own eyes, the only other light source was the corridor's lights shining in through the medical bay's door's window. But if they were on, than this was an isolated incident. The robust Maximal set down his tools and reached for one of his chain guns from his subspace. Surely this power issue was alerting the others.

"Talk to me, Rattrap. What's going on? I need power," he demanded over his comm. link. His biggest concern was being delayed to save their commander by this interruption. And also for Primal's safety, so Rhinox wasn't going to leave his side until they knew what was going on. The cure that Aurora had produced was only an arm's length away from him. But was this a fluke? Or was someone on the prowl for something? But who? If there was an intruder, Sentinel would have alerted them. The engineer remained vigilant in his solitude and darkness.

-----

"Why don't you make me!,"

Rattrap passed Nemesis a glare but that was all before his attention was drawn to the others and the increasingly annoying and confusing situation.

"You should.. lock him up.. in the brig," "For his own safety.. as well as ours."

"It isn't him." "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." "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?" "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, " "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?"

"Obviously you haven't.. paid attention to.. the broken furniture.. around here," "Can you truly.. deny that.. Ironclaw is on.. a path of destruction, my lady?"

"I have seen no proof otherwise,"

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.

"Sounds like.. a plan I can.. live with." "Do you mind if we check up... on Optimus' .. progress first? I would.. feel much more secure .. if I knew he .. was.. doing better."

That would be-

"Not so fast..." "For an admiral, you neither followed nor mentioned the proper Maximal Military protocols and their specific sections to deal with such defiant and foolish soldiers. From my observations, although Ironclaw may be reckless but he doesn't have a thinking of a spy or an infiltrator because he doesn't care if he's seen beating up a fellow Maximal and will admit to his actions as Whitegrazer mentioned, and that requires an interrorgation FIRST before giving the right punishment which is Rattrap's duty and I'm willing to volunteer myself in the questioning with another bot if it pleases you, Admiral Nexus sir," "As a soldier, you should get your wounds treated first to stabilize your condition before visiting Optimus who clearly needs more rest than you do. Landslide, I'd recommend you to give Nexus a body scan to find his major injuries so you could patch him up easier," "You should surrender yourself. If you resist, you'll only make your problems worse."

"You are out of line, miss. Insubordination isn't something I, nor Optimus, take lightly. I suggest you lower your weapon and surrender yourself to questioning as well. And in return I shall submit to this body scan procedure so the computer's findings may put your doubts to rest."

Lass.. Put the gun down before you perform an act of treason. Under proper Maximal Military protocols, the Admiral is too damaged to take command, which is why Rattrap is to settle this. Under those protocols going by the evidence, Ironclaw is to be detained and interrogated until further evidence is brought forward to prove his innocence. However, if it calms everyone down, I will scan-

Too damaged? Never mind that Nexus Prime wasn't originally part of their Axalon crew and didn't have the seniority among them like Rattrap and Rhinox did. Granted, he had the military status to take control, but he didn't know this crew like Rattrap did. And even though the rodent wasn't fond of leading all of them and performing the responsibilities that it entailed, he'd sooner keep control than hand it over to the Admiral. If he could and if Nexus wasn't interested.

"Seems the medical bay is having some difficulties right now.

...Now that's a problem.

While the others check it out, why don't we get this body scan out of the way?"

It was just one thing after another around there. What was the deal?! The power outage couldn't be a coincidence. Was it a distraction? Who was behind it? And was Ironclaw guilty of attacking Nexus in the CR chambers and being the shapeshifter? Was the Admiral who he said he was? Rattrap's mind desperately tried processing all of this information and accusations as it unfolded. He didn't know what to think, so the best thing he thought to do was to try and take some control to at least bring some organization to this chaos. But he really wished the boss monkey was around to handle all of this.

"Talk to me, Rattrap. What's going on? I need power,"

"Stand by, Rhinox," the Spy told the engineer. "Stay put. I'm sendin' Whitegrazer back ta check things out." Rattrap motioned to the mare to go to the medical bay and see what was wrong. Then he pulled out some energy bond "hand cuffs" and walked up to Ironclaw. He didn't feel right locking him up in the brig despite how reckless and uncooperative the badger was, and since Rattrap was short-handed, he thought it best to cuff the badger but still allow him to hang around as another pair of eyes and ears, and so he could still be questioned. He wasn't entirely convinced that he was the one on the video or the shapeshifter, but just in case, he had to show some authority and protect the others.

"Hold 'em out," Rattrap told Ironclaw as he stood before the larger Maximal and waited for him to extend his wrists toward him so he could apply the cuffs. "Just 'til we can figure what's goin' on on dat security footage," he explained, glancing up at the fellow TransMetal. "If things keep happening an' you haven't moved from here, maybe it'll prove your innocence." If he was innocent.

"Landslide, get dat scan done on Nexus and his repairs," he allowed them. The Admiral, who had probably seen better days, looked like he might pass out soon from his wounds, and they couldn't have that if they still wanted some answers from him.

"Banshee, put yer gun down and do what psychologists do best; ask Ironclaw questions. Shouldn't you be the one sittin' back and observin' behavior, not confronting with your weapon? So take a seat and start askin' as if he were a patient," he ordered her.

(OOC:

OOP wrote:(( OOC: Rhinox is not going to make it easy for anyone to infiltrate the infirmary and steal the cure for the virus. I'm actually wondering how the Predacons are assuming anything about an antidote existing in the first place and that the Maximals were capable of creating one. ...IN YOUR FACE, PREDACONS! ))

I've wondered how the spiders assumed the Maximals had a cure as well..For all they know that vial in there is turtle wax in the case of Umbra wanting to go there, it's due to Zodiac being the head of Night Terror's group, so he's the only one with answers or a possible cure if there is one from Umbra's perspective.

As for the ranking thing, it's assumed due to "Prime" being the highest rank possible in the Autobot/Maximal chain of command, with the Maximal one getting fuzzy as there are multiple Primes..as well as the Maximal council. So Nexus could just take over the Axalon command easily even though he isn't part of the Axalon's command, but being so damaged, he isn't fit to command, meaning Rattrap as the next in the line of command is the one giving orders. Ofcourse this could just be Landslide's perspective based off the old days. )

Nexus Prime wrote:"Seems the medical bay is having some difficulties right now. While the others check it out, why don't we get this body scan out of the way?"

Rattrap wrote:"Landslide, get dat scan done on Nexus and his repairs,"

Landslide nodded and responded to Rattrap Aye sir.

He put an arm around Nexus Prime leading him to a room next to the medical bay, which revealed a strange looking partition sticking up from the floor with cables leading to a computer, Landslide stopped by the partition. You can lean against the machine to support yerself, this shouldn't take too long.

Landslide then walked over to the computer console, carefully typing into it and pushing up a lever powering the scanner up. (This is essentially the same scanner Rhinox used to scan Optimus to try to understand Transmetal anatomy.)

((OOC: Hey guys. I'm currently in a critical state of depression so my post may not be well done or anything, so if there's anything wrong with my post, please let me know.))

I'm not on the menu, sorry.

"Soon cephalopod, soon.." Just when Starshadow flew towards him with a burst of speed, four knives were sent towards her and suddenly it transformed into a form of a horribly mutilated mutant bot, whose torso vertically split into two like large jaws with three sets of sharp teeth with a previous teammate being eaten alive inside, stretching out his hand towards the cat bot as he screamed in pain which made her screamed out of fear, shutting down her thrusters to freefall for a moment while the knives exploded above her. As her vision soon went back to normal, she flew up and landed on a hoverboard, still thinking about what she saw.

"No..it can't be..Famine was DEAD!" she yelled in disbelief. The moment she looked up, she found herself in a familiar place. An enemy's throne room on Netherzar, Queen Averna's fortress. The eyes of the wall sculptures around the room glowed amber and looked towards her and the figures started emerging from it, crawling out and hissing at her. Some vomitted out the melting parts of her former comrades, few of their heads severed from their own, each one of it crying out to her for help. The catbot's optics widened in fear, almost petrified by the sight of it. She tried shutting her audios with her hands but their helpless screaming kept replaying in her head which made her. Knowing that it was impossible to take on a horde by herself, she darted to the vents, flying inside again. Starshadow had never felt so terrified in her whole life as she glanced behind finding the horde of the vampiric creatures close behind her, stretching their claws towards her.

How did they even catch up?! she thought as her spark was beating unnaturally fast. It was bad. really bad to be in a dire situation such as this. Just as soon she crashed opened another opening, she found herself in another place, a gloomy wasteland.

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"You are out of line, miss. Insubordination isn't something I, nor Optimus, take lightly. I suggest you lower your weapon and surrender yourself to questioning as well. And in return I shall submit to this body scan procedure so the computer's findings may put your doubts to rest."

Lass.. Put the gun down before you perform an act of treason. Under proper Maximal Military protocols, the Admiral is too damaged to take command, which is why Rattrap is to settle this. Under those protocols going by the evidence, Ironclaw is to be detained and interrogated until further evidence is brought forward to prove his innocence. However, if it calms everyone down, I will scan-...Now that's a problem.

"Talk to me, Rattrap. What's going on? I need power,"

Well isn't that a coincidence. First an assault and now a power shortage. Something is definitely not right.

"Banshee, put yer gun down and do what psychologists do best; ask Ironclaw questions. Shouldn't you be the one sittin' back and observin' behavior, not confronting with your weapon? So take a seat and start askin' as if he were a patient,"

Banshee sighed and lowered her weapons, keeping it away and turned to Rattrap, "of course."

(If you want Darkspark, your only half way through the dark emperors.. If you include the Japanese continuity and marvel comics anyway. Then you can add Ratbat, Bludgeon, Thunderwing, Liege Maximo, Jhiaxus,Overlord,Black Zarak/Devil Z, Dezarus, Violenjiger, Super/Ultra Megatron, BW Galvatron, and BW Magmatron. Though at that point Megatron will probably be hearing this song in his head watching all that... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WgT9gy4zQA )

Starshadow wrote:"Soon cephalopod, soon..""No..it can't be..Famine was DEAD!"

Umbra observed, about to react as he saw Starshadow had succumbed to the virus. He shook his head taking a deep breath, then exhaled, refocusing his mind. Seems you didn't heed my warning.. Enjoy your madness.

Umbra made his way to the maintence vent, crawling through and closing the hatch behind himself. He made his way to the vent's entrance he came through before, noticing Terrorsaur missing, he shrugged, then walked to the bridge. Starshadow's been consumed by her own madness in the lava pools, keep that area sealed. I'm opening the blast door and heading out. Lock it after I'm gone..

Umbra walked over to the console, typing into it as a single blast door opens to the outside, he then exited the Darksyde, making his way to the Axalon. As he walked, the voice he'd heard before spoke up. " You didn't even finish her! You've grown far weaker then I last remember, and far more arrogant. What chance do you believe you'll win against that monster? Just give up.."

Umbra laughed to himself as he made his way to the Maximal territory Give up? Those were words my Master didn't know the meaning of. Besides.. "True strength lies in winning without a fight" does it not? I may not be able to live up to your words, but I also wont forget them..

As Umbra made his way, he activated his comlink Lady Nemesis.. I wish to discuss a matter with you of mutual interests..

Phoenix wrote:"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?"

Whitegrazer didn't show anything of what she was feeling as Nexus told her this. Yes, Ironclaw was destructive, but his destruction held a purpose even if she didn't agree to such a display of aggression. She knew Ironclaw wasn't too friendly with Nexus, but surely, he wouldn't do such an act.

Phoenix wrote:"I have seen no proof otherwise,"

Whitegrazer let Nemesis walk past her. Maybe when Nemesis saw the truth, she will realize that she had stopped Nemesis from making such a big mistake. As of now, she was quiet, letting Nemesis sort it all out herself. She, like Ironclaw, was destructive, but she was smart. Once she calm down and let her thoughts guide her, she will know the truth. She believed Nemesis and believed in her.

Phoenix wrote:"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."

She gazed at Nexus, watching how softly he spoke to her before he went. Is he or isn't he? A flash of some sort filled her vision for a moment. She wished she knew what she saw, but the emotions from it wasn't from her nor did it portray Nexus in anymore than a positive, almost admirable light. She wished she could see him. Why couldn't she? Was it because of Optimus?

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote: "Talk to me, Rattrap. What's going on? I need power,"

Blackarachnia was staring at the rhino through night vision. She was getting aggravated. Come on, get out of here! More Maximals were arrive here and she really was getting sick of being around Maximals. If she stayed anymore, she might feel something. The sight of the medical bay made her sick and gloomy. Looking at Optimus' damaged body made her think about her future in this war. She wasn't going to allow herself to be like that. Damaged. Beaten. Broken. It made her survival instincts grow even more desperate. She wasn't going to die or be used. One day, she would be free. She noticed Nemesis heading inside

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote:"Stand by, Rhinox," the Spy told the engineer. "Stay put. I'm sendin' Whitegrazer back ta check things out."

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote: "Hold 'em out," Rattrap told Ironclaw as he stood before the larger Maximal and waited for him to extend his wrists toward him so he could apply the cuffs. "Just 'til we can figure what's goin' on on dat security footage," he explained, glancing up at the fellow TransMetal. "If things keep happening an' you haven't moved from here, maybe it'll prove your innocence."

Whitegrazer looked at Ironclaw and saddened by such an action they must take, but if she was accused, she would have allowed her comrades to put her in the brig, "I'm sorry, Ironclaw, but it is the only way. But the truth won't escape us for very long. Please, trust us to figure this out." She knew how hard this must be for Ironclaw, but she hoped he would put his trust in them.

She went to the medical bay, following Rattrap's orders. She noticed the darkness inside and walked in cautiously, "Rhinox, are you and Optimus all right? What happened?" She looked at Nemesis as well, who seemed all right. That was good. She probably just came in as well. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. Her optics adjusted accordingly to the darkness, seeing Rhinox did seem to be well as well as Optimus. She looked around, checking every corner and speck to make sure there wasn't something or someone inside who wasn't supposed to be. Everything seemed to be in order. She looked at all the vitals, including Aurora's cure and nanotech she used to help Aurora with. It was all there.

Blackarachnia growled to herself as she watched the Maximal female horse scanning the area.

Whitegrazer stared through the vents, The power had to be cut somehow and made her way to check it, taking off the cover.

Blackarachnia cursed herself and went towards the hangar bay.

Whitegrazer's audiotory sensors twitched, speaking towards Rhinox and Nemesis, "I heard something, heading towards the hangar bay."

(It's a shame that we already know. It's making the Maximals a lot more deceptive than they normal would be ha. I'll just have to make it that much harder)

Ironlcaw was still in some disbelief over the fact that the evidence against him was almost irrefutable, although he did not let it show much. He knew now that the shapeshifter was among them and who it most likely was. The problem was convincing the rest of them. However he would not stand for this mockery of Maximal law and how his distaste for it. There were enough Maximals around him now to create quite a spectacle. All of them suspicious of him which the badger agitated to some degree and would lash out if falsely accused or detained. Ironclaw's optics shot over when Whitegrazer started to defend him. She what? he thought to himself slightly bemused. What was her angle? He wasn't sure if she was a traitor now or just simply and utterly misguided. A thought for another time.

The threats from Nemesis came at him with no surprise. The frustrating part was that she some how believed that he was the shapeshifter. Ironclad almost smirked when she tenaciously refused to do what Rattrap requested of her. It would be my pleasure he imagined as she left wanting someone to make her.

Surrounded, Rattrap finally approached the badger with some energy binds and offered them up. The giant was about to just knock them aside when he received a distress message from Rhinox. Instead, Ironclaw effortlessly pushed past the rat trying to see, trying to listen. Something was going on in the base and if he was with them already maybe this was the shapeshifter. Eager to begin the hunt he looked over his shoulder and caught Rattrap in the corner of his eye. Giving him that 'this can wait look'.

OOC: good ideas Naitokage, god knows what I'd be able to do with all of them though XD...And hopefully the cure will be found before I have to resort to AMV video level insanity XD. Taking over Inferno for the time being until Blackrose returns to active roleplay, or until I find myself overwhelmed by playing four characters at once lol.

DarkSpark wrote: "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.

Megatron watched on in rapt attention as Galvatron's battle against Scorponok continued to rage outside his base, seeing everything playout through the gigantic gaping hole Scorponok had made in his ship, plus the stray shots that kept striking it from time to time...Whether he still knew the damage was not real or that he was too caught up in the battle, Megatron did not know or care, nothing would distract him from the legendary spectacle he was observing, something the likes of which would have gone down in history books as one of the most epic duels in Decepticon history.

Galvatron continued to dodge as much of Scorponok's shots as he could, whittling away at the giant's armor with his fusion cannon, the titan shielding his head unit with one of his massive claws even as his other weaponry filled the sky with explosions. However, Galvatron would not let up, striking weak points such as Scorponoks joints and hinges instead, since even a colossus such as him still had the same structural vulnerabilities as a normal bot. He even targeted Scorponok's weapon ports whenever possible, however, even a warlord as skilled and powerful as Galvatron could not avoid every shot Scorponok sent his way, and bit by bit his purple hued armor cracked and peeled away under the Headmaster's onslaught!

Scorponok sneered evilly as he bragged "So much for the mighty Galvatron! All the reckless bravado in the universe cannot compensate for a lack of true power such as mine, rust in pieces, lunatic! You shall not be missed, ahahahahahahahahahah!"

With that said, Scorponok fired both his shoulder & tail cannons. the resulting explosion engulfing Galvatron in a blazing fireball of blinding intensity.

"So much for that nuisance, now where was I? Oh yes, punishing the pretender..." Scorponok mused as he turned his attention back to Megatron and the Darksyde...Only to be blindsided a familiar fusion cannon blast that did even more damage to his head unit!

"Curses! How in blazes are you still ALIVE?!" Scorponok snarled, again shielding his damaged face from further attack, peeking past his pincer to get a glimpse of Galvatron in the smoke...Only to be greeted by quite different figure instead, one that mind his spark stop from an emotion that could only be described as fear.

"I survived the might of Optimus Prime, the deceptions of Starscream, and the will of Unicron, did you really think an over-sized underling like you could best me? DID YOU?!" coldly replied, his white armor and ruby red optics making him appear all the more ghostly.

"Megatron..." whispered the decepticon warlord's younger namesake, the usually articulate transmetal predacon unable to find the words to describe the awe he felt in seeing his great ancestor himself, the remnants of Galvatron's shell falling off of him in pieces like an eggshell.

"No no no no! Its not possible!!!" Scorponok yelled, unable to hide the panic in his voice as attempted to shoot him up again...Only to lose his tail & shoulder cannons to Megatron the First's devastating firepower and unreal marksmanship.

"Funny, that was Starscream's favorite catchphrase every time his little insurrections fell short of his expectations, good times! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Megatron laughed cruelly as he flew forward, pressing his assault on the injured titan, who tried vainly to swat Megatron out of the sky with his free pincer, only for the seasoned warlord to shoot the limb off at the joints, his earlier attacks as Galvatron having weakened them enough for him to sever it.

"CURSE YOU!!" Scorponok cried out in rage and pain as he attacked with his remaining pincer, a fatal mistake as Megatron then fired upon the remaining half of his optic visor, before flying through his empty optic sockets and inside his headmaster unit, locating his spark chamber's true location in short order.

"I would say you were a worthy foe Scorponok, but honestly, you were anything but, farewell! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Megatron said as he transformed into his gun mode and shot Scorponok's spark chamber point blank, killing him instantly.

"RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAARRGGGGHHHH!" Scorpnok groaned as he fell backwards, Megatron flying forth in robot mode away from the falling giant, a massive explosion being left behind in his wake as Scorponok's remains went up in flames.

Megatron the Younger watched as Megatron the Elder entered his base and pushed past is pitiful minions, the decepticon general looking down in assessment of his predacon counterpart.

"Were you impressed by what you saw, Little Tyrant? That is how a true leader deals with treasonous scum such as him, perhaps now you will pay closer attention to what I have to impart to you? Hhhmmm?" decepticon Megatron inquired, arms folded across his chest in amusement over the predacon's stunned countenance.

"....Yessssss, Elder" predacon Megatron replied, the lines between reality and his delusions becoming harder and harder to distinguish, knowing his namesake could not be here, but still in awe of his presence.

Meanwhile, the rest of the preds were busy dealing with their own issues, the insect Inferno watching diligently over his leader, his "Royalty," wanting to help him but unable to do anything against the virus that plagued him.

"Haven't you devised an antidote yet, spider? The royalty's condition worsens!" Inferno demanded of Tarantulas, unafraid of the sneaky spider despite his transmetal upgrade, he still towered over him and was bound by his fealty to Megatron to enforce his will.

"If I had I would not still be wearing this protective suit, now would I ant? The cure is in the works but like all things it requires time and patience, your precious "Queen" would understand that" Tarantulas spat back at the insane insect, not hiding his complete and utter contempt for the bug that nearly incinerated him not too long ago.

"Do not presume to know the Royalty's thoughts DRONE!!!" Inferno raged, raising his gun as if to shoot Tarantulas for his insolence, only to stop as Quickstrike's return drew his attention as he dropped off the unconscious Terrorsaur into the CR Tank.

"Report Fuzor, how goes the hunt for the traitor?" Inferno demanded, his authority as sub-commander and status as one of the strongest of all the predacons giving him the right to order the lowly drone that stood beneath his gaze in the name of his one true master, Megatron, ruler of his colony.

NaitoKage wrote: Umbra observed, about to react as he saw Starshadow had succumbed to the virus. He shook his head taking a deep breath, then exhaled, refocusing his mind. Seems you didn't heed my warning.. Enjoy your madness.

Umbra made his way to the maintence vent, crawling through and closing the hatch behind himself. He made his way to the vent's entrance he came through before, noticing Terrorsaur missing, he shrugged, then walked to the bridge. Starshadow's been consumed by her own madness in the lava pools, keep that area sealed. I'm opening the blast door and heading out. Lock it after I'm gone..

"May the Royalty's will be done, do not fail him Umbra!" Inferno called after him, the mad ant giving him his interpretation of a "good luck" message, before following his instructions and sealing all the areas he had been told to do so, trapping Starshadow alone with her insanity and preventing anyone else from leaving the base in the meantime.

(( OOC: DarkSpark, you're doing great. You don't have to keep topping yourself with every post. LoL I think you've far exceeded mine when Optimus was hallucinating.

Once upon a time there was a couple things to note:

Mystrea, only the medical bay is out of power, not the entire Axalon. It's an isolated outage.

starshadow, I never posted that Rattrap actually succeeded with getting the "cuffs" on Ironclaw. I left that open-ended at the end of my post in case Mystrea wanted to do something else with Ironclaw, so Banshee shouldn't have walked off with him. I also wanted him and Banshee to stay on the bridge because of the power outage and everyone not knowing what's going on and that it could be an intruder. Side bar; I hope you cheer up.

The end. ))

Nemesis had entered the darkened medical bay, immediately activating her night time vision to see the room clearly despite the rather suspicious blackout. Her choice in vehicular mode did have its perks. The Maximal engineer, Rhinox, remained in the room, ever guarding his still unconscious commander. They both seemed to be unharmed, well, beyond the damages Optimus had when he was returned from the Darksyde. Truthfully Nemesis was a little surprised that the Maximal commander had not succumbed to his injuries, but upon recalling seeing the faint blue glow coming from part of his chest the feat didn't seem quite as amazing anymore. It wasn't that she could feel her own nanites working within Primal's body, exactly, but she definitely knew and appreciated how resilient they were. Without this technology that had been implanted into her, turning her into a mutant of sorts, she was certain that she would have been in pieces long ago.

Being careful and playing it safe had never been her forte.

As she stood there, scanning her surroundings, the white female arrived as well. Nemesis paid her no heed, merely crossing her arms as she walked almost casually through the room. The power outage was limited only to this area, making her more than a little suspicious that there were other forces at play here.

Was this the shapeshifter's doing? It almost seemed a little convenient that this had occurred just as the Maximals were about to take Ironclaw into custody. But if he was responsible, how was he able to cause this power outage from his location? Something about this just wasn't adding up.

"I heard something, heading towards the hangar bay."

It was the white equine that first spoke up, causing Nemesis to dim her optics and let her other senses take over. After years on the run, whether trying to escape the scientists that had experimented on her or the Maximal and Predacon squads that were dispatched to bring her to justice, the now avian female had come to rely heavily on her senses.

And she heard it too. The sounds of foot steps scattering away in the vents. Her initial instinct was to follow suit, to chase the intruder, but she quickly realized that after the transmetal upgrade her increased size would make it difficult for her to move as quickly through the vents.

It then occurred to her that if this was the shapeshifter, he would have no reason to be sneaking around within the ducts, as he could easily pretend to be any of them. No.. This was someone else, likely a Predacon.

Why were they here? Were they after her?

Her answer seemed to arrive on a private channel a mere moment later.

Lady Nemesis.. I wish to discuss a matter with you of mutual interests..

Umbra..

Somehow she doubted that he was the one crawling around in the ducts. The ninja generally selected a more direct approach and only rarely turned to subterfuge. Granted he possessed the ability to change his form as well, but he did so through mimicking shapes and color variances. So even though his changes came close to the original, it was not a perfect replica. Unlike Darkwind.. or whatever name he went by nowadays. She had a feeling that even the name he had told her so long ago, back when they were close, was another alias. Zodiac.. A name likely given to him by the scientists much like her own name was given to her there.

She didn't excuse herself as she stepped out of the medical bay, needing a bit of privacy so that she could answer Umbra's hail. Appearing to be tracking the movements of the intruder, she only partially did so before disappearing down one of the hallways before she slipped into a small storage room. There, after assuring that she was truly alone, she opened a secure link back to Umbra.

"And what is this interesting matter?," she inquired, not sounding terribly surprised by the fact he had contacted her.

Nexus calmly followed Landslide to the body scanner, using the large insect to gain stability as he walked, or perhaps staggered would be a more accurate term, on his way there. He had to keep up the pretense of being an injured soldier for the Maximals after all.

You can lean against the machine to support yerself, this shouldn't take too long.

The admiral didn't protest, merely doing as suggested, even as the scanner powered on. "Proceed with the scan," he told the other Maximal, leaning up against the machine just like the beetle had suggested. A faint humming could be heard as the individual components came to life, followed by the soft spoken voice of the computer. "Identify subject by name and position."

"Nexus Prime," the subject responded, pausing ever so briefly before continuing, "Rank of admiral in the allied forces of the Maximals."

His voice was calm, revealing no hint of doubt or hesitation.

The computer buzzed in acknowledgement, proceeding with the scan like it typically would. A brief confirmation appeared on the screen next to Landslide, acknowledging the identity of the admiral, just as the machine initiated the body wide scan. It was a rather thorough scan indeed, the machine moving slowly across Nexus' frame as each beams of a soft blue light reflected off his armor. The beams that actually penetrated the armor could not be seen, at least not by the naked optic, instead a chart of the computer's findings started to appear on the monitor.

Fuel pump, spark chamber, gaskets.. The technology shown on the monitor may not have been as modern as some of the newer generations of Maximals, but the admiral was indeed dragging on in age. For his age and condition, however, the scan revealed that he was in decent functional order, and that the damages were mainly superficial in nature. There was nothing in the scan that would indicate that he was anyone other than who he claimed to be.

A trace of a smile, a tired and relieved one, but certainly not mocking in any way, appeared on the admiral's face as he looked over at Landslide.

"I trust everything is in order?"


Of course he did not really have any hesitation about the matter. Upon identifying himself as Nexus, he knew the computer had been programmed to look up the actual schematics of the old admiral and display those rather than the results of what he really looked like on the inside. Of course part of him was a little curious of how he truly looked on the inside, but that was an adventure for another day.

Inferno wrote:"Report Fuzor, how goes the hunt for the traitor?"

Quickstrike raised an optic ridge, then looked as Umbra spoke and pointed towards him as he left Uh.. what he said. Quickstrike then walked away to drag Waspinator to the CR tanks.

________________________________________

Nemesis wrote:"And what is this interesting matter?,"

Well, besides the Predacon base being in a state of chaos.. we both have a mutual enemy, the shapeshifter that calls himself Zodiac.. I need to obtain a cure from him to a virus his subordinate unleashed..If you're interested in working together on the matter, without a doubt you could return to the Predacons if you desired.. Or simply sate your revenge on him. Either way, I'm heading towards the Maximal base now.. Umbra responded, coming to the edge of the Maximal base's sensor range, he leaned against a boulder resting for a moment.

He had drown out the cries of the dead for the most part, but the scene looked less scary and more ridiculous the further he walked as they appeared in the thousands, which was completely impossible for the assassin to have taken that many lives. Perhaps it was his mental training,his unusual anatomy, or just the fact his memories were damaged but the virus seemed not as detrimental compared to his allies. Even he wouldn't know for sure..
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Nexus Prime wrote:"Proceed with the scan," "Identify subject by name and position.""Nexus Prime," "Rank of admiral in the allied forces of the Maximals.""I trust everything is in order?"

Landslide observed Nexus, looking at the screen he then gave a nod. Aye, everything in working order. You must keep on on yer maintenance very well. Fairly efficient too, almost puts an old gas guzzler like me to shame. The beetle let out a laugh, then walked over to Nexus Prime Alright, now lets get you repaired.Luckily yer internals seem to be fine. That optic is somethin' Rhinox is gonna have to assist me on though. Landslide then put an arm around Nexus Prime to help him walk once again.

((OOC: OH! OKAY! LOL! I'll change that and start working on my post! And thanks a lot OOP!))

Banshee's pastel yellow optics narrowed when Ironclaw was about to move on. This was just about enough. Banshee's mindset shifted from a nice energon tea loving lady to her harsh high ranking commado self, and took the cuffs from Rattrap while drawing out her gun once again, "Don't think about taking ONE MORE step, soldier! Hands up and turn around, now!" As much as she disliked it, she had a gut feeling she might have to be in a brawl with this defiant Maximal. If he dares to start a fight in the base, she would finish it. (Hahahaha! A little quote from Disney's Aristocats: "Ladies do not start fights but they can finish them." ))

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Starshadow walked through the land that was shrouded in a thick fog. Gunshots were heard by they were faint. Suddenly, spike projectiles were launched towards her which made her flinched fall backwards. A head of wolf-like Netherzarian beast emerged from the fog, growling as its four eyes looked at her in the optics. Her fears were replaced with determination to survive and her mind rewinded her memories, playing her past feelings of war, her mindset, her goals.

"Slag!" she got back up on her feet and started running, taking out her gun. The ones that were running beside her were the failed mutations, the ones that gone savage after being injected with a dose of the vampiric venom the Netherzarians possess. The mutants snarled at her, attempting to pin her down by pouncing on her back but got shot down. The air units started sending down clusters of missles. Starshadow flew up to the skies and found an abandoned citadel infront of her, taking cover inside it, firing her gun at the dark skies and opened her radio channel to her ship, "Lachesis, this is NightStar, we've accomplished destroying Averna's weapon factory and engineering facilities but there's a huge wave of Averna's forces heading towards my position, we need an evac fast."