"OC Episode #2"

[Alak]

The Energy Race




Energon: the key element that not only keeps the Cybertronians alive, but is also a significant reason as to why the Beast Wars took place on this planet. It surges through every Transformer enabling it to function in ways that ordinary machinery could not. Without it, both the Maximals and Predacons would perish. Through its use, they would empower their weapons and bodies to a point that would escalate this war to unfounded levels. The latest meteor shower had left impressions and craters in the earth, one of them revealing a sizable deposit of energon. Optimus Primal and Megatron have alerted their respective factions of this discovery, and neither team could afford to ignore a power source so large and available. The Predacons have repaired and altered the Leviathan to become better equipped for terrain combat and transport. In response, the Maximals have developed their own vehicle that has yet to be named. Both forces are fully aware of the importance of energon as well as the danger that the other team presents. Let the race begin.

Objectives

- Escort the transport to the energon deposit.
- Collect as much energon as the transport can occupy.
- Defend the transport from any interference.
- Attack the opposing team to reduce the amount of energon taken by them.
- Escort the transport back to the base.

Equipment

- One transport per team that may carry up to 3 tons of energon and is armed with one dual-barreled turret. Each vehicle is heavily reinforced with armor that can withstand several missile hits. The vehicles are also lined with dampers, so staying inside will shield individuals from energon radiation.
- Each vehicle carries only one mining machine that may only be used by a single member. While not the only means of collecting energon, it is by far the quickest and safest method of doing so. This piece of machinery is delicate so it must be protect from enemy fire.
- Med-kit that can repair minor wounds or at the very least assist damaged Transformers in frame reparation so that they can return to beast form.
- Each transport contains an internal communications array that allows the teams to contact their respective bases without worrying about energon interference. The only means of destroying these are infiltrating the transports or destroying the vehicles outright.

Special Considerations

- The energon deposit is lain in a field that stretches approximately 1/2 a mile in diameter.
- The deposit is not a continuous heap of energon, but rather a collection of various patches of crystals. This will allow individuals to walk through the field.
- This is raw energon. Therefore, should energy weapons or explosives come into contact with the crystals, the patches will explode and create a chain reaction that would destroy the remainder of the deposit.
- Concentration levels will allow workers to stay in robot form for approximately two minutes before overriding their dampers.

[Blazemane]

Steelclaw didn't like getting up in the morning- as many of the Predacons around the ship already well knew. But Steelclaw especially didn't like not liking to get up in the morning. It was a problem he'd never had on Cybertron, and he suspected a fringe influence of his new beast form was to blame.

So he decided to do something about it. For a few mornings he tried setting his systems to wake him up inordinately early. But the knowledge, upon waking, that he actually had more time to sleep not only failed to allow him any enjoyment of the time he had left (as he had hoped), but actually seemed a bit annoying. What, after all, was he doing awake, when he could be in stasis?

Then he decided to try something else- he'd wake up only when he was supposed to, but he'd do it with a small goal- a sort of... mystery to be solved. Before he offlined for the night, he'd choose a selection of archived Earth music, trying to figure out its sound only by its title. In the mornings, he always found his guesses incredibly inaccurate. But music was a foreign world to him, and maybe with a little time, he'd get the hang of it.

Sometimes the songs would bore him half to death- songs with leisurely tempos (though he couldn't hope to know there was such a component to music, or how its specific influence made the songs unappealing) and soft instruments. And sometimes, the songs would galvanize him- he eventually learned that the collection of tracks he most enjoyed belonged to a genre known as rock. Data trax from the Axalon told him there were many different variations of rock, but he didn't really try to get his processor around them.

But one night, he decided he'd delve into the realm of obscurity (or obscurity as it was known to him). There was a piece of music from Optimus Primal's very own collection with a rather long title- Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, (Sonata Pathétique). And the track itself was actually so long that it had three different parts. Steelclaw could only choose one, so he decided on the second part, figuring that this... Beethoven fellow would likely have placed the most widely-appealing music at the beginning and the end.

Unfortunately, Steelclaw had guessed correctly. When he woke up the next morning to a single- and rather weak- instrument, playing a slow tune over very few moving parts below it (and those parts moving at the same rate over and over), he was disappointed.

He had read information on the work's writer the night before. Apparently, he wrote things very slowly, tweaking them to match the most precise of his intentions, and he was an important part of a shift between a technical music period and a more emotional one. And for this, he was world-renowned on Earth. In the time of Earth matching current Cybertronian time, he probably still was.

How?

Steelclaw let the whole track play as he readied his weapons, and he finished just a little before the song did. In all of that time, nothing had been played on that boring piano that managed to change his mind. With a shrug, he opened his quarter's door and walked into the hallway, heading for the Darksyde's bridge with no concrete goal. The door, as always, closed behind him and locked itself.

[Alak]

Orcariner sighed as he locked in the final gear in the Nomad's turbine engines. He had spent all night finishing the final touches on this vehicle such as reinforcing dampers and cleaning up overlooked parts. Rhinox had dug up old, unused materials in the dock which were implemented into this transport. The speed at which they all had constructed the Nomad was phenomenal, mainly in part due to the sudden introduction of the Leviathan sea craft. Because of the swift construction, several parts were still rusty or simply dirty which left the Maximals to take turns cleaning it up. The previous night was Orcariner's scheduled interval, but it was unfortunate that the scanners had picked up a new stockpile of energon. Having just recovered from a previous engagement, Primal had ordered the group to rest and re-acclimate themselves before going out into the world again. The news meant that Orcariner not only had to finish his cleaning duties, but prepare the Nomad for mission ready status.

The Maximal activated a holographic display of the energon deposit and it was located near the middle plane of the Maximal and Predacon bases. It was quite some distance away which would give him time to rest inside the transport, but he would also have to prepare his body and processor for combat. Being of equal distance to both bases would most likely mean that the Predacons were also aware of the energon's presence. Orcariner sighed again and turned off the hologram briefing. He moved to the rear of the transport and pulled out the power cable which had been on stand-by since the Nomad had been at full charge for some time. The blast doors were secure and the dampers appeared to be properly installed. Punching his finger onto a console that hung on the hanger bay's wall, Orcariner winced a bit as sunlight struck him while the doors opened. Dawn was upon them, and it was time for the crew to get to work.

[Night-Hunter]

Saber finally rolled out of her berth, its been a while since Sonar had come to this planet and he had finally come up with a temperary solution for her problem. Now she would just have to travel to his lair to recieve the injection that he had made for her. The door locked behind her as she left her quarters and headed toward the control room, and told who ever was on Monitor Duty that she was going on a pre-dawn patrol and that she would be back later before she headed for the lift.

Once she was outside she transformed into her beast mode and took off north east, the moment she was a mile from the base she activated the singal dampener, that Sonar had gave her. It's fuction was to scramble her COM and energy signature and make it look like she had entered a large field of untable energon.

After running for at least an hour and half she slowed to a trot as she neared Sonar's lair. She looked around to make sure she was alone before entering the the large hole that lead underground and inside lay Sonar's Lair.

"It took you long enough." Sonar said, from some where above her.

Saber forced herself not to flinch when she heard his voice. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Sonar." She replied calmly.

All she heard was his chuckle before he landed on his ten feet infront of her, his large wings wrapped around him like a cloak. "Shall we get down to business?"

She nodded once, her chin held high, she then followed him deeper into the cave.

[Wintersong]

Wintersong let out a deep yawn, her ivory fangs showing before snapping her jaws closed as she trotted from the den she had made. Like usual after the previous mission in getting the new Maximal Tigatron who had also turned out to be a white tiger she had gone off on her own again, which she had gotten use to wandering around alone. It was actually peaceful. However the tigeress had decided to pay a brief visit to the Axalon, thinking it wouldn't hurt to interact once in a while with her fellow Maximals which she guessed some might be wondering why anyone would be on their own. Shrugging it off she slowed as she drew near the crashed Maximal ship and a leapt up to a boulder for a moment, crouching for a bit. Unfortunately her white fur and black stripes were visible against the rock.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Snow Trix made sure her weapons were functioning and her energon lasso wasn't knotted or nearly breaking. Not doing an occasional check up would be bad if the Predacons went into battle. After making sure all was functional she left her quarters, flicking her tail a bit as she wondered what would be on the agenda, knowing very well she had missed the last missions and that Megatron wouldn't be too happy about it. All well, missing one mission wasn't going to be the end of the world. Least Snow Trix didn't think so.

[starshadow]

Starshadow was hunting in the forest to get her breakfast. Wolves, bunnies, deers, fishes, they were her favourites.
She had been hiding in the same spot for 30 minutes and still no prey was coming out to be her first meal.
Her ears perked up as she saw a deer. The panther slowly crept towards it from her hiding spot and accidently snapped a twig. The deer saw its predator and ran.

"SLAG!!" Starshadow chased it as she unsheaths her claws.

[NaitoKage]

A Low yawn came from the transparent glowing squid as he floated through the ship decks coming from the hanger, one of his tentacles clutched on a paint gun, having spent a portion of the night applying a two tone paint job to the Leviathan. In the days of late he'd felt more like a shipwright then his usual radio work, though almost welcomed it compared to the mind numbing static scanning.

Entering the bridge he glanced noticing Steelclaw, then Megatron and Terrorsaur at the console. Hm?.. Something going on? he then stated with a bloodshot glance.


Megatron turned in his chair with a smile moving his hand from his chin Ah, Steelclaw, Glowstick.. my loyal troops. Just who I wanted to see.

At the sound of 'Just who I wanted to see.' Glowstick felt almost sick, while he wasn't treated as badly as some of the other Predacons compared to the relative successes of the last few missions, he didn't forget Megatron's almost bi-polar like actions if he was somehow crossed.

Terrorsaur then spoke up from the console with a squawk Because of last night's meteor shower, a massive deposit of energon has been discovered at Sector Gama 39!

Megatron responded Precisely..But a discovery like this is bound to also draw the attention of the Maximals. Gather the men,you launch immediately

Glowstick would of frowned if his body was capable, but simply raised a tentacle in salute Roger that.. he stated. While on the one hand Megatron wasn't mad, on the other they'd probably be expecting heavy combat in an area where they couldn't transform for long and would be surrounded by a explosive energy source. Something which even with the Leviathan's rudimentary shielding would destroy along with the rest of the crew in seconds in a worse case scenario. But the payoff would probably be way more then the few crystals he found here and there for the transport while underwater.

Glowstick then turned towards the hall starting to float away, he waved to Snowtrix as he passed by Hey cottonball, you've just been drafted. Follow me to the hanger. he then stated, his tentacle moving to the side of his mantle as he activated his radio. StarShadow, Sonar,and Frilla. Report to the hanger.

Megatron watched as the Squid exited, then pressed a button on his chair Scorponok,Tarantulus.. Report to the hanger at once to receive further orders.


______________________________________________________

Icebreaker stepped outside of the Axalon waddling as he looked up at the Nomad. The machine was fairly impressive for something scrapped together, nearly twice the size of Orcariner. He looked towards the whale robot opening the hanger doors "Taking her out for a test spin?" he then stated with a smirk on his beak.

[starshadow]

The black panther caught the deer and killed it.

Starshadow, Sonar, and Frilla. Report to the hanger.

Starshadow was not the type of soldier who likes to be ordered around like a dog. Then again, she had to give up her freedom and serve Megatron as she had to use the Darksyde for a "shelter" in order to survive on this unknown planet. Great...Just great! she thought with a growl.
"I'll be there in 20 cycles..." she replied and quickly ate the fleshy parts of the dead animal.

[Blazemane]

Cheetor, as luck would have it, was on monitor duty that morning and he acknowledged Saber's explanation with a simple wave.

He might have said or done something a bit more meaningful, but he was getting jittery- his shift was almost over, and he was going to join the energon-gathering party. The excitement of the mission was already upon him- his first chance with the Nomad, the possibility of enemies to ward off and embarrass, the grounds some ways off to run around on. He could hardly wait.

He watched the monitor's time keeping system until it ticked off his last cycle. Then he nearly jumped out of his chair, sending it cruising back a small ways. He was off to the hangar.

"Ocariner," he said in his com-link, "I'm on my way."

* * *

Steelclaw saluted Megatron and then followed down the hall with Glowstick.

"Hey," he said out of curiosity, "when you radio Sonar, do you normally get through? It seems like whenever I try, I just get static. But, you're a communications expert, so maybe you get different results?"

[Night-Hunter]

Sonar's ears twitched, then he smiled and shook his head.

"What is it?" Saber asked.

"It seems that my dear comrades are trying to contact me, sadly they will have to wait." Sonar replied.

Saber watched as Sonar did some thing with his COM link. IT was to probably keep any one else from contacting him. Once he finished with that, he grabbed a syringe filled with a clear liquid, Saber forced herself to remain calm at the sight of it, she may have been the fearless general of Cybertron but that didn't mean that she wasn't a afraid of every thing. And needles were on that list of things that scared and creeped her out.

Sonar inwardly smirked, he had seen Saber stiffen slightly at the sight of the syringe, he knew that most bots had an acute fear of needles, he just thought it was funny to see the all mighty General Saber-Fang stiffen in fear at the sight of the needle.

"Now, that I inject you with this, this will keep the thing inside you sadated, but as a side effect, you will feel groggy and tired. So I advise that you don't get into fights with anything or any one." He said as he injected the liguid into her arm.

"Got it." Saber replied.

[Alak]

"Taking her out for a test spin?" he then stated with a smirk on his beak.

Orcariner turned around, "Afraid this isn't a test run."

He looked at the transport with a hint of uncertainty.

"This is the real thing," he continued, "We're bringing it to mine the energon before the Predacons get to the site. It's certainly a big target, but I made sure it can absorb a lot of damage. Makes me look pretty fragile in comparison."

Cheetor's voice popped into his radar and he nodded.

"Copy, " he said.

They now had a scout on the team. Orcariner figured that he would be the one who would mine energon by hand while a small soldier would utilize the machinery. The faster ones like Cheetor and Icebreaker would go on the offense and engage the enemy should they make an appearance.

[NaitoKage]

Icebreaker rubbed his chin with a flipper, he then turned looking as Cheetor ran into the hanger. Coming along Pussycat? Guess we'll both have to be careful not to set off any energon if there is an attack.


_______________________

Glowstick looked towards Steelclaw, then noticed the silent response from Sonar. No, I often get the same effect.. he can be a pain in the fin. Sometimes he has his com on but mostly he leaves it off. He just holds himself up in his lair.. But whatever. Maybe it'll keep StarShadow from goofing off not having her favorite toy around. Glowstick folded his tentacles and continued floating through the air, looking much how a squid would look underwater. He then glanced towards Steelclaw again By the way, I finished up the gun controls.. you can do some test fires for calibration if you want. Not sure how well you'll operate the manipulators, but I guess in combat they could be used in a pinch.. Now if only I could figure out some sort of external ballast system to attach to the crew if they fall off into water.. I ran some tests.. but with what I currently have, it'd be like attaching a explosive to your chest.. one stray hit and boom!

[Wintersong]

After a moment Wintersong jumped down from the boulder, trotting towards the Axalon with little caution. Pausing a few feet away she tried her com-link to see if anyone was even awake, "Any Maximals alive in there?" She asked over the link knowing at least someone might hear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Snwo Trix shot a look at the squid mech but otherwise followed to the hanger, "Better then doing nothing at all." She muttered, caring little if they heard. She only gave Steelclaw a glance when he came before looking forward again wondering what Megatron had them going to do.

[New Moon]

Frilla was studying a piece of the turret the others had found, trying to decipher the alien tech, wondering vaguely if it was in connection with the incident involving Primal's brief disappearance. So far there was no progress. There just wasn't a lot of anything to use to compare the piece to anything else, so Frilla was at a loss for the strange artifact and with a sigh she set it aside only to perk up hearing her com-link. Another mission? She was a bit surprised but none the less stood, "On my way Glowstick." She replied and stretched walking to her door and coming out.

Glancing down the halls she then sprinted off one way, making her way towards the hanger.

[Alak]

After a moment Wintersong jumped down from the boulder, trotting towards the Axalon with little caution. Pausing a few feet away she tried her com-link to see if anyone was even awake, "Any Maximals alive in there?" She asked over the link knowing at least someone might hear.

"Orcariner here," replied the killer whale, "We're just waiting for the team to get together for the mining mission. How far off are you?"

He eagerly waited for a reply as he dispatched the message. Thus far, they had only three Maximals heading out and their fastest scout was the only one small enough to operate the mining equipment. If Wintersong could join, then she would be able to drill with Orcariner while the other two could provide escort duties.