"Aftermath: Part I - New Introductions"

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: Welcome to Season Two, guys! Just pick up with your characters right where they left off in the first season finale, which I hope everyone enjoyed. Now, let's get ready to rumbllllllle! Um, also, I don't know how Tigatron lost his grip on Blackarachnia but that's why I had the ships shake so violently when the beam crapped out. Now sure how she escaped unnoticed in the show, but perhaps that's because all the Maximals are in shock over OP's death? I don't know. Just go with the flow.

So what needs to happen in this episode (at the very least) is the Maximals mourning temporarily for their leader, certain characters changing to TransMetals and learning their new bodies, Blackarachnia escaping with Tarantulas and the other Preds getting out, and Megatron causing trouble by coming to the Axalon in hopes of either conquering the Maximals right away since Optimus is gone (sniffle) or just retreiving his imprisoned minions. Of course, he's going to need a lot of back-up to pull it off, hint hint. Don't have to follow the script, I'm just getting my bearings here. ))

IC:

The world, now known as Earth, was quiet once again. The energon erruptions, fires and crumbling mountains ended as soon as the Vok's planet-buster had successfully been destroyed. Temperatures were quickly decreasing outside to their normal averages and the true moon that was left shoned brightly in the night sky without it's fake twin to keep it company in its orbit. But the Maximals and Predacons weren't out of danger yet.

It was much darker in the command center now. The red lights had shut off, along with the image Cheetor had provided for them at the center console to watch their fearless leader's progress, after they shorted out from the sudden burst of energy by the beam that had been cut off so abruptly and that had also shook the Axalon like an earthquake. No one knew for certain what happened to Optimus, or even what it looked like outside after all the explosions and fires, since all of the monitors at every station were knocked out and snowy. Rattrap, who was just pulling himself up to his feet after the whole ship felt like it was about to fall down the waterfall, was determined to find out. He hoped for the best no matter how unrealistic it seemed.

Taking a seat, the chair automatically spun Rattrap around and pulled him up to a console. The Spy frantically started pressing buttons, attempting to get the computer back on-line. "Aw, come on, come on!" With no success at the reboot, Rattrap grew frustrated and stood up, punching his fist at the monitor. Tada! Finally the system started functioning. Yes! "That's better. Computer, report!" he ordered.

Meanwhile, Tigatron had also pulled himself off of the metal floor after having trying to catch himself with the center console when the base trembled. He slowly looked around to see if everyone was all right when he realized that they were still alive thanks to Optimus. ...But had he survived? More worried about this than the Predacon he had in his hands only a few minutes ago, he had forgotten about her and watched Rattrap jump into action while taking Airazor's hand and comforting her.

"Alien construct destroyed," Sentinel announced, unaware of what Rattrap really wanted to find out.

"Coulda waited for that hunk o' junk!" the rodent in robot mode yelled at the computer's incompetence and insensitivity. "Where's Optimus?!"

"Unit Optimus Primal... terminated."

No... That was it? Just like that? Their fearless leader was gone? For good? Rattrap bowed his head as reality began settling in. We're still all gonna die, he thought sadly. He saved all of them but he paid the price. He couldn't understand what went wrong. Why didn't he eject? He wasn't suicidal. He didn't want anymore death. I have to find out what happened 'cause dis ain't right!

Hearing the news, Tigatron gasped quietly and frowned, also lowering his head. It was a very sad night, indeed. May his spark be welcomed in the Matrix, the taller Maximal prayed. Their leader made the ultimate sacrifice just to save them and the world they had been stranded on for years now. He never knew someone like that before. Such bravery, courage and selflessness. This was a big blow to their team. Optimus was so perfect at holding this crew together and commanding them successfully through almost every mission. And he was still young! Now what? Not that Tigatron doubted Rattrap's or Rhinox's leadership skills, but truth be told, this was going to be a lot different now without Optimus in charge. Perhaps it was because all of them had taken for granted what Optimus did for them every day and every night, going on days without any sleep, and never complaining or whining. What was going to happen now...?

[Alak]

Unit Optimus Primal... destroyed.


Scorponok maniacally laughed at the wonderful news. Their glorious leader had done it again. Years of fighting and scheming had finally paid off as Megatron's latest master plan had ended with Primal's death. Pincers clapping in the air, the 1st Lieutenant was grinning from ear to ear. Scorponok controlled his hover pad so that it crept up on his leader's left side. Excitedly pointing his arm towards the holographic image of Optimus Primal, the obsidian Predacon cheered.

"You've done it, Megatron!"

Indeed he had done it. This was a cause for celebration, and the best part of it all was that Scorponok was still alive and well to see through it. He would enjoy the glory that would follow the Maximal's demise. Scorponok imagined the envoy of soldiers marching towards the Maximal base, raining heavy missiles and lasers upon their discouraged foes. It would surely be the perfect end to an infuriating enemy.

We are unstoppable!


---------------------------------------------


Back at the Maximal base, Orcariner could only watch in shock as the computers and lights were shut down. After Rattrap brought it back online through unconventional means, the bad news was delivered and the sentry's worst fears were realized.

Optimus... is dead?

The killer whale transformer found himself slinking out of sight into the dark hallways. He did not want to stay and see how the others were reacting to this news. Orcariner knew this was the most probable outcome. He knew that there was a slim chance that Optimus would make it back alive, and considering the amount of dead Maximals as of late, this should not have been so surprising. Yet, it shook him just as hard. Perhaps he had been foolish to place so much emphasis on hope. It just made so much sense to do so at the time. Optimus had come back to them time after time, even when survival was deemed impossible by the rest of his peers. The Maximal leader had accomplished feats that Orcariner could not even dream of.

How could this have happened? He was the best of us!

The orca had viewed his leader as an iconic figure in the Beast Wars, and it was foolhardy to even go as far as thinking that Optimus Primal was invincible. Everyone is susceptible to death. Without Primal to defend them, the Predacons would surely overrun the Axalon and its crew members. Grief struck the killer whale for the second time this day.

"We've lost the Beast Wars."

[Big Convoy]

"Monkey Bot haz been blown to zmithereenz!?" A familiar voice asked as Waspinator entered the room in his Beast-Mode and flew besides Scorponok.

"Hooray! Now Wazpinator won't get zhot all the time!" He shouted in victory before transforming and doing a small dance of joy in mid-air, forgetting that he needed to tell Megatron about something for a brief moment.

To Waspinator, this was great news for the unlucky Predacon. With the Maximal leader dead, the Maximal's themselves may not fight back when the Predacon's make their attack. Which means that Waspinator may have a chance of not getting scrapped and actually winning after being the universe's Chew Toy for so long.

[Phoenix]

(ooc: Superb posts, Blaze and OOP!!)

Unit Optimus Primal... destroyed.

"Monkey Bot haz been blown to zmithereenz!?"

"You've done it, Megatron!"

The smugness that had not left Megatron's face since the moment Optimus Primal's vessel had exploded and had taken the alien construct along with it, remained as wide as ever as his Predacons broke into a cheer once the outcome was confirmed. Not that he had ever doubted the brilliance of his plan, of course.

"Yes, I am good, aren't I?", he responded, his optics still locked on the monitor in front of him which now only showed an image of the newly departed Primal with a solid X across it. Simple as the graphic was, it was indeed one of the most wonderful sights Megatron had ever seen. It marked the end of an era and the beginning of another. His long time foe was gone and the construct that had been threatening them with extinction had been taken out with him. Now it was time to move forward, to keep the promise he had given the Maximal leader moments before his death, by ending the beast wars once and for all!

"But we can discuss my brilliance later," he then huffed as he turned his gaze to his crew. "There is still work to be done. Prepare to leave for the Maximal base immediately so we can defeat the Maximals while they mourn their dear departed leader. This will be the final battle and we Predacons shall claim victory this day!"


The tyrant folded his hand as if crushing some insignificant creature within his mighty grasp and was just about to continue when flashing lights and an alarm caught his attention.

"Warning! Sensors detect quantum surge heading for the planet!"


Gone was the triumphant smirk.

"To your stations, quickly!"

"Alien construct destroyed,"

"Coulda waited for that hunk o' junk!""Where's Optimus?!"

"Unit Optimus Primal... terminated."

The look of hope that had filled Aurora's eyes moments ago, disappeared the instant Sentinel made its report. It was as if time stopped at that dreadful moment, as if she was all alone despite all their familiar faces surrounding her. They all had a look of shock, despair and anguish locked in their facial features, and everything seemed quiet as the grave. Aurora's hand slipped from Whitegrazer's while her other hand released its grip on the swords Primal had presented her with before entering the pod, causing them to make a loud sound as they impacted with the floor.

No..


This was not how this was supposed to go! Optimus couldn't be gone. He promised..

Yet he was. The Optimus that had made that promise no longer existed, his form had been ripped to shreds by the collision with the alien construct. The mere thought left Aurora trembling in anger, confusion and devastation.

Moments later her knees gave out as well and she too fell to the floor, barely supporting herself with her arms to avoid collapsing into a heap. Her mind was in a state of chaos at the moment, so much so that she could barely even register the voices of the others.

[Blackrosefencer]

OOC: Bit of a recap post...

BIC:

Alone and devastated Arachnitron sat in her cell in the brig of the Maximal ship, the Axalon, choking on sobs. She had tried so hard to fight back her tears, but had been unsuccessful. Her first several solar days on this unfamiliar planet had been overwhelmingly complicated and were a series of emotional roller coaster rides that left her exhausted and bewildered.

She had crash landed on this planet as a refuge from Cybertron. As a Predacon protoform, she had been tortured, abused, and experimented on all for the sake of changing her into a Hybrid species....part Predacon, part Maximal. Once she had escaped her captivity on Cybertron, she swore she would never go back inside a cell again. Fearing her Predacon peers, she ran off with the Maximals unsure if she really belonged with them or not. But she felt like she could trust their leader, Optimus Primal. She told him of the experiments and he took her in not without protests from the others. She tried to fit in, she really did, but it was not easy. They watched her every waking moment of the day and as soon as Primal's back was turned, they handed her back to the Predacons...at least that's how it felt to her. She had returned to the base with the other spiders later aiming to escape the planet by stealing one of the Maixmal's stasis pods. Needless to say, it did not go as planned.

Inside her mind, her alters had guided her and lead her astray at the same time. The Predacon programming was adamantly instructing her to return to her kin. The Maximal programming strongly believed that she needed help, the kind of help only Maximals could provide. The Hybrid programming was stuck in the middle forever doomed to see both sides of the argument as logical, but never knowing which side was the right path to choose. Constantly being torn in two directions finally took its toll on the small spider so she sought help from Tarantulas who created a chip designed to block the other two programmings. It left the Hybrid personality alone as the voices inside her head were finally silenced. The silence was still deafening to her audio sensors, but it was so much less painful. This chip, she was sure, had saved her life.....but she was not 100 per cent confident that it was still working.

She had been rubbing her arms comforting herself when she first noticed it. Normally she had no energy signature at all and no insignia appeared on her body, but thanks to the inhibitor chip there was an artificial insignia on her left arm. It was a raised image of a spider....a mark that branded her as Tarantulas' ally. But the new insignia was fading. It was still on her arm, but she could tell that it was no longer quite as prevalent as it was before. The voices of her alters were also returning....they were distant whispers at the moment. She, thankfully, couldn't quite make out what they were saying to her. She knew it would only be a matter of time before they returned. The chip had always been a temporary fix until Tarantulas could really focus on her programming problem. Now that they were separated by these energy bars, though, that no longer seemed like a reality. If she was to be kept locked up until Optimus' return from his mission, her alters would surely return. There is no way they would let her out then, especially if the Predacon programming took control of her body.

It all seemed so hopeless and all she could do was cry. She knew it solved nothing, but for the first time since her escape, she had a moment to herself....completely alone. The others in the brig were offline for now. She could let her guard down for a few moments as she anxiously awaited what was sure to be the end of the world. She had little faith that the monkey would succeed in his mission.

She waited for what seemed like millennia for something to happen. Then, all of a sudden, her sobbing was interrupted by the Maximal's base violently shaking and red alert alarms ringing loudly around her. Arachnitron gasped and steadied herself with her hands as she looked around in alarm. And then, as soon as it started, it stopped and it took the electricity around the base with it including the bars of her cell. A few seconds ago she had been sitting alone with no hope of escape. Then, all of a sudden, she was free. She looked around the room for a few moments in shock not sure what had just happened. Did Optimus succeed? Were they safe from the alien weapon?

Arachnitron stood up slowly. Was this some kind of a trap? She walked slowly away from the cell she had been contained in. She sighed in relief. She felt so much more at ease outside of it, but she still worried that something wasn't quite right. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what she should do. She looked over at Tarantulas secretly hoping he was suddenly functional. She had been separated by Blackarachnia...she knew that Tarantulas had been inside of Blackarachnia's head commanding Blackarachnia and guiding Arachnitron. If she could just find Blackarachnia, she would find Tarantulas' core consciousness so he could tell her what to do. She headed for the door to begin searching for the other black widow.

OOC: Inferno will return after the shockwave does its thing.

[Wintersong]

Like her fellow Maximals Wintersong could only have watched the screen as Optimus flew the pod to take out the Planet Buster but the sudden explosion was enough to knock her and her teammates off their feet. A low growl escaped the tigress as she shook her head, gripping the table as she pulled herself upright again, wondering what the slag had just happened despite being knocked down from the explosion by the alien's weapon being destroyed. It seemed the systems of the ship had gone offline next the Maximals being knocked over. Luckily though Rattrap's solution to get the monitors working did just the trick.

Watching from her spot as they awaited the news to hear what had happened to Primal Wintersong could only stay silent for once, anxious of the result since it seemed things had gone astray with the plan for Optimus to have ejected. The question is why hadn't he? Surely he wouldn't have changed his mind...would he? That was a tough question to answer but the computer's response to what happened to the gorilla made her amber optics widen slightly in utter shock. So Optimus was truly terminated? Just gone like that? The truth already was hitting the Maximals immediately and Wintersong's ears went back slightly as she looked at the ground,"Of all bots to die like this, I don't think anyone ever thought it would be Optimus." She said, her voice grief-striken. There was really nothing they could do to change what happened to their leader and they were already close to have nearly losing a few of the teammates as it was.

[una]

Don't let go

Feeling him close to her gave her comfort and for a split second, she could see that smile on his handsome face.

"I won't."

Till all are one.

"Till all are one."

Then everything went white around her; a ripping , burning fire gripped her spark, surging through her entire body. A pained, horrific expression was written all over her face. She attempted to grab the table to support her, but it slipped like her fingers were transparent. Like her body was gone. She couldn't see or feel her body. No, no, no, she was dead, in pieces floating around in the darkness of space. Dead. She could hear ghostly laughter. He was laughing at her. No! How dare he? How dare he be so cruel, so callous towards people's lives. Pounding on the glass, why can't she escape? The burning fire increased. So intense. It suffocated her.

"Let me out! Let me out!"

She gripped the table, gripped it so hard that the piece she held onto crushed into her palms.

Pain.

Wait...how could she feel pain if... no.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Her spark was hitting against her chest hard. Calm down. Calm down.

"I am alive?" Glancing herself, everything was okay on her. Whole. No. She was alive but lonely. She couldn't feel him anymore. "I feel so cold. Empty."

Her spark began to slow down to a silent pulse. Like it was mourning the one connection it had for centuries. Yet somehow, she felt different. What was it? She didn't know. There was no description for it. She just felt something change within her.

*clang*

More alerted into her surroundings, she looked upon Aurora. The twin swords Optimus gave her lying against the hard floor. Her face looked vacant, distant.

"Aurora...Aurora...," she spoke softly towards the young one, trying to get the young one's attention.

Everyone's expression was distraught, in shock, despair...except for Dinobot's. He seemed to accept what happened. Her spark was sad, but she had peace with what happened too. She had already mourned him and she made a promise to fight. She couldn't break it now.

She hugged Aurora close to her to comfort the child.

"Things are going to get worse before they get better, but I promise to help you survive this, Aurora."

She hadn't forgotten what she promised herself to do. But something told her to wait a bit as she felt like something was closing in on them.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Blackarachnia realized that the kitty cat was so focused on what was the status of their leader than keeping her down. Slowly, trying to not draw attention to herself, she slipped closer and closer to the hallway. I have to get Arachnition out of here. She's probably crying her eyes out for being in that cell. Though why she would be worried about her had crossed her mind. It's probably Tarantulas overlapping with my own. Grrrr! Why would I care? Maybe there was a part that did...she was disgusted. Probably from my Maximal protoform shell residue or something.
When the computer acknowledged the fact that their poor precious leader was blown to pieces, she quickly got out of there.

This place is a maze. I need to remember where to go first...right brig.

She needed to get out of there. Not waste time drabbling.

But maybe there was a way for her to swing Arachnitron to her side. No, not with Tarantulas in her mind. He must be listening to her since he was so quiet all of a sudden.

It was then she saw Arachnitron right outside her cell and whispered towards her, "Psh! Little widow! Let's get out of here before our window of opportunity expires."

Well, that took care of itself. They needed to get out of there. Now, where was that exit? She was about to ask Arachnitron, but decided against it as she didn't want to think she didn't know where to go... which she did!

((OOC: I hope my post was okay. XD And yes, Whitegrazer just dented the round table in the bridge.

Edit: Fixed YAY!!! ))

[DarkSpark]

OOC: Hi all, I managed to get Terrorsaur's speaking parts done, but its late and I don't have the energy to do Tarantulas until tomorrow, sorry >_<

Alak wrote: Unit Optimus Primal... destroyed.

"Well its about slagging time!" Terrorsaur cheered, almost reaching for his pistol to fire off a few rounds into the air in celebration, but decided against it given they were indoors and Megatron would have likely forced him to repair any holes he made in the ceiling.

Still, after all the times that damn dirty ape had ruined his plans to overthrow Megatron, from destroying the Floating Mountain to dispatching Rattrap to sabotage his leadership, and basically getting in the way of any and all predacon ambitions in general, it was nice to know they'd finally seen the last of him...Though Primus knows if he'd been incharge from the start that flying monkey would have been scrapped deca-cycles ago.

Alak wrote: "You've done it, Megatron!"

"Oh please, don't kill the mood already ya clueless suck up" Terrorsaur scowled under his breath, thinking to himself that he'd sell his spark if it meant he'd never have to listen to Scorponok kiss Megatron's skidplate ever again.

Seriously, Dinobot may have been an honorable twit turned maxi lover, but at least he could see WHY Megatron made him second in command, whereas Shell Head was literally only Sub-Commander because he was the only pred besides Inferno dumb enough to be one hundred percent loyal to Megatron. How pathetic could ya get?

Big Convoy wrote: "Monkey Bot haz been blown to zmithereenz!?" A familiar voice asked as Waspinator entered the room in his Beast-Mode and flew besides Scorponok.

"Hooray! Now Wazpinator won't get zhot all the time!" He shouted in victory before transforming and doing a small dance of joy in mid-air, forgetting that he needed to tell Megatron about something for a brief moment.

"Hahaha, maybe so Wasp my friend, maybe so..." Terrorsaur smirked, amused by his dimwitted sidekick's mirth, knowing that he'd been shot out of the sky more times than any other predacon...Granted, Waspinator could be an effective fighter as long as he had Terrorsaur himself to show him how to get the job done right, and he'd survived injuries that quite frankly no con should have been able to endure, and he was at least not quite as dim as Scorponok...Which wasn't saying much but hey, no one's perfect...Except himself of course.

Phoenix wrote: "Yes, I am good, aren't I?", he responded, his optics still locked on the monitor in front of him which now only showed an image of the newly departed Primal with a solid X across it. Simple as the graphic was, it was indeed one of the most wonderful sights Megatron had ever seen. It marked the end of an era and the beginning of another. His long time foe was gone and the construct that had been threatening them with extinction had been taken out with him. Now it was time to move forward, to keep the promise he had given the Maximal leader moments before his death, by ending the beast wars once and for all!

"But we can discuss my brilliance later," he then huffed as he turned his gaze to his crew. "There is still work to be done. Prepare to leave for the Maximal base immediately so we can defeat the Maximals while they mourn their dear departed leader. This will be the final battle and we Predacons shall claim victory this day!"

Oh great, as if Scorponok's skidplate kissing wasn't bad enough, now Megajerk himself was bragging about how great he was, there'd literally be no living with him from this point onward. As glad as he was that Primal had become one with that great scrapheap in the sky, Terrorsaur also knew it would be that much harder to prove his superiority over Megatron now that he'd FINALLY killed off the Maximal leader, a hard act to follow to say the least.

"As long as I get to pluck Airazor's feathers myself, sounds like a plan to me, ya in Waspinator?" Terrorsaur crowed, knowing his flight partner held as much animosity towards the maximal's resident flying ace as he did, the falcon femme having slagged them both pretty badly in the past.

This was their chance to settle the score! Not just with Airazor, but with everyone who'd ever crossed him! Dinobot, Rhinox, Rattrap, each and every one of those rotten maximals had belittled or interfered with him at one point or another, but never again! It was their turn to taste the humiliation of defeat, even if he had to shove it down their throats!

Phoenix wrote: The tyrant folded his hand as if crushing some insignificant creature within his mighty grasp and was just about to continue when flashing lights and an alarm caught his attention.

"Warning! Sensors detect quantum surge heading for the planet!"


Gone was the triumphant smirk.

"To your stations, quickly!"

"What now?! I thought your "brilliant plan" took care of the Planet Buster!" Terrorsaur squawked in irritation and apprehension, going to his post as instructed despite himself, disappointed that the fun was seemingly over just as it had begun, for once not at all pleased at the prospect of Megatron failing if it meant he wouldn't live long enough to use it as evidence of the dinosaur's inadequacy as leader of the predacons.

Blackarachnia realized that the kitty cat was so focused on what was the status of their leader than keeping her down. Slowly, trying to not draw attention to herself, she slipped closer and closer to the hallway. I have to get Arachnition out of here. She's probably crying her eyes out for being in that cell. Though why she would be worried about her had crossed her mind. It's probably Tarantulas overlapping with my own. Grrrr! Why would I care? Maybe there was a part that did...she was disgusted. Probably from my Maximal protoform shell residue or something.
When the computer acknowledged the fact that their poor precious leader was blown to pieces, she quickly got out of there.

This place is a maze. I need to remember where to go first...right brig.

She needed to get out of there. Not waste time drabbling.

But maybe there was a way for her to swing Arachnitron to her side. No, not with Tarantulas in her mind. He must be listening to her since he was so quiet all of a sudden.

It was then she saw Arachnitron right outside her cell and whispered towards her, "Psh! Little widow! Let's get out of here before our window of opportunity expires."

Well, that took care of itself. They needed to get out of there. Now, where was that exit? She was about to ask Arachnitron, but decided against it as she didn't want to think she didn't know where to go... which she did!

Tarantulas took this moment to seize control of Blackarachnia and say aloud so she and Arachnitron could hear "Mustn't leave yet, partner."

The time for hiding himself from both his host and the maximals was over, now it was time for him to reassert control over the situation and reclaim what were rightfully his...His minion and his body.

[New Moon]

Just like her teammates Frilla couldn’t help being shocked at the news of hearing Primal was truly gone, terminated by failing to eject. Even after the violent shake of the Avalon from the explosion and destruction of the alien weapon there seemed no room to celebrate over it, not when the Maximals had just lost their leader. Now the question that lingered in their minds was why hadn’t he been able to escape just as planned? Even the frilled lizard had to admit there seemed something have gone astray with the pod from the beginning. But for the time being Frilla couldn’t help feeling mournful for the loss, especially since she could recall at one point she could very well have taken Optimus’ life long before this had happen, when Whitegrazer had first arrived to the planet. He had been there helpless, her chance had been there to truly finish the Maximal leader when she had drawn her Pellet Gun but she had hesitated, just shortly before hand having run away from the battle. But she owed him for understanding her position of not wanting to truly harm anyone, but was in fact against what the Predacons stood for.

Now today she had found her place among the Maximals and stood true to her word to do whatever she could to help them. Sure there had been some misunderstandings, much with her bickering with Rattrap on occasion but they had put those times aside and she had to admit, the rat was kind of growing on her a little. Sighing the femme looked back towards the screen but took notice of something, shortly before the alarm had warned them. “Rattrap our troubles aren’t over.” She told him moving quickly to the screen next to his, pressing a few keys to zoom in and gulped as the computer spoke up it’s warning, “Warning, incoming quantum surge heading to the planet.”

Feralnight too was mourning for the loss, speechless for the first time only by the fact of the loss of their leader then her own thoughts like the last few days. At the moment she wondered if the spiders were to blame for this loss and the plan backfiring, but there was no telling unless they interrogated them face to face. However, the fuzor was more focused on her team’s grief along with her own, not to mention her own guilt from before. For now though she pushed the guilt to the back of her mind and perked up when Frilla suddenly spoke up about their troubles weren’t over.

How couldn’t they be over? The Planet Buster was gone along with their leader, the Predacons who had invaded their ship were locked up, and they still could fight back. But then the computer gave them their warning about the quantum surge, making her gulp slightly in fear of what could possibly happen next.

[Mystrea]

The shock wave caused the alien weapon's explosion and shook the Axalon and temporarily shut some of the systems down. This then caused some minor damage to the CR chamber that Ironclaw was currently residing in for repairs from the spider venom. The controls had malfunctured and the door opened, exposing him. The only reason he didn't fall out was because his head hit the top of the CR chamber. He remained there in stasis lock, his repairs still incomplete.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

While sitting in sadness for the moment, the others' movements making sounds started to distract Rattrap's hopeless thoughts. Turning in his chair and looking at the center console, he watched Whitegrazer pull her hand away from it after she dented it by what seemed to be extreme grief or anguish or something. The rat managed to joke lightly, "Easy on the furniture, 'Grazer. We still got a loan on dat." He tried to smile at her, but he didn't force it.

Suddenly, a loud clang from Aurora almost made him jump. What the heck was dat? Then he realized she had dropped the long, sharp blades that Optimus had given her on to the floor. A frown crossed his face feeling sorry for the younger Fuzor. Their fearless leader was supposed to come back for those. He said he would. Poor Aurora... All the disappointments and let-downs and friends dying... How was she was supposed to hold on? She was like a niece to him, and as much as he wanted to hurry to her side and comfort her, she already had Whitegrazer. And, unfortunately, he still had a very big job to do. Gotta stay optimistic, right? he thought to himself. I can't be all mopey and hopeless 'cause these guys still need a leader. I gotta convince 'em there's still a reason to fight on here. We can't let 'im have died in vain. Optimus wouldn't want us ta give up. Not now. Then an even worse fear crossed his mind. Optimus may have been fearless when it came to facing death time and time again, but Rattrap was not so sure he could do the same. If Megatron was so intent on killing the monkey because he kept foiling his stupid plans, then that meant that Rattrap was his next target. Unless Rhinox came back on-line soon... Either way, he had no doubt that old Grape Face was going to come knocking on their door soon to try and overtake them. Well, he wasn't going to let that happen! He had to protect these Maximals now, and think about things in the best interest for them, not himself. Taking in a deep breath, he realized something was amiss here. Someone was missing... Someone who might have answers as to why Optimus wasn't able to make his escape.

"Slag!" he called out after drawing his weapon and discovering that Blackarachnia had vanished. "Where'd she go?! I bet she knows what happened up there," the Spy glared at no one in particular, still angry and upset about the outcome and their current circumstances. "She could be anywhere. We gotta find her," he told everyone in the bridge. And speaking of MIA's, where did Orcariner go already? Fer bootin' up cold, only a leader for a couple minutes and already I'm losin' bots left and right! he thought with frustration. Even though he knew how hard the orca must have been taking Primal's death because he was such a role model for him, he did NOT want him sulking and secluding himself anymore. They were going to need Big O now more than ever.

"Of all bots to die like this, I don't think anyone ever thought it would be Optimus."

"Yeah, well, we never thought we'd be facin' a moon-sized planet buster either," Rattrap commented toward the white tigress. "Wintersong, check on the CR chambers. Make sure Ironclaw and Rhinox are still gettin' repairs. That last blow knocked off a lotta systems."

"Dinobot, find that good-fer-nothing, eight-legged fre-" he began ordering before Frilla suddenly broke in.

“Rattrap our troubles aren’t over.”

"What are ya talkin' about?" he asked her, looking over at the frilled lizard as she sat down at the console beside him and started tallying up the data.

“Warning, incoming quantum surge heading to the planet.”

"Ooooooh," the rat slowly exhaled, listening to Sentinel's announcement and looking at her monitor. "Not a good thing, eh? Everybody to your stations!" he barked while putting his gun away. "Except you, Wintersong. Check on the CR's! Hurry!"

"Tigatron, shields! We still got shields?! Make 'em full power!" Rattrap ordered in a bit of a panic. He had no idea what they were in store for with this fast approaching wave of "quantum," was it?

Making haste to Rattrap's demands, the white tiger hurried to a console and sat down, checking on the ship's functions. "The shields are functional, Rattrap, but the power has nearly diminished. They're not going to hold."

"Make 'em hold! Optimus didn't get vaped just so we could be killed by some kinda radioactive space junk!" he hollered back at him across the room.

Glancing at Airazor, Tigatron returned to his duty and frantically did his best to work with the power they had left in order to keep their ship's protection active. After all, those walls and that deflective energy shield were the only things standing between them and this "surge."

Rattrap watched in horror on the monitor as the wave collided with the planet and began showering them with its highly unsual effects. "Brace yerselves!" he hollered to the other Maximals as he held on to the console in front of him when the surge made its impact. Fusing into the Maximal Spy's body and forcibly changing everything about it, he cried out in agony until he fell over out of his chair, landing on the floor with his mind quickly slipping into darkness.

Meanwhile, Tigatron was holding on for his life until he lifted his hands up and curiously watched the foreign and radical chemicals of this so-called quantum surge astonishingly not affect him at all. They weren't going to die after all...? Was this affecting anyone else? Everything was too chaotic at the moment to bother turning around and watching anyone else, termporarily deafened and blinded by anything beyond his hands. Peculiar.

(( OOC: Too fast for anyone? Sorry, I don't plan on waiting around for too long anymore for others to catch up when it has already been a week or so since their last post. I'm sure they'll make-do when they can. Rattrap will wake up as a TransMetal in my next post. The surge should also be hitting the Darksyde at this point.

Wintersong: Rhinox should be fine in the CR, but I believe Mystrea has his own plans for Ironclaw, so either have Wintersong not reach the CR's before the surge, or have her get there just in time to see Ironclaw's has opened before the surge knocks her out or whatever. Just as clarification on that. You know, FYI and whatnot. XD ))

[starshadow]

Starshadow was in her deep thoughts while sitting in the brig.

Flashback...
Dark and cold, Nightstar could smell the scent of her mech fluid in the torture chamber. She was beaten and chained. Her "interrorgator", a maximal named Vanguard was standing infront of her with the torture device what Nightstar call the Sparkle Stick.

"I'll ask one more time Nightstar, where is Hell Fang's main base?", Vanguard spoke darkly with his blue optics narrowed.

Nightstar glared and spat her mech fluid on his face. No matter how hard he tries, she would not betray Hell Fang. Vanguard took the shock whip from one of his soldiers and looked at her eyes to eyes, "I like your spirit my dear, but I'll have to break it." and with that, he gave her a punch in the face and coiled the whip around her torso then activated the shock system. Nightstar screamed from the pain which alerted Vanguard's superior.

"Vanguard, stop this now!" he yelled as soon as he broke the door open.

"I'm-"

"NOW!"

Vanguard threw the whip aside and glared at the femme, "next time you won't be lucky.."

He left the room.

Nightstar was barely concious due to the loss of mech fluid and her injuries. The next thing she knew was being brought back to her brig. The one thing that has been on her mind since the first day of her imprisonment was revenge.

End of flashback.

These memories angered Starshadow that she punched the bars of the brig a few times until the alert caught her attention, what is happening now?Then this strange wave hit her. What was it doing to her body? The femme cried out in pain as her body structure was making its changes. Slowly she slipped into unconciousness.

(Hoo! Had to write something to show I'm not dead.)

[Phoenix]

Nemesis had braced herself as Primal's pod rammed into its target with such force the vessel, and its occupant, had vaporized upon impact. Yet she did not avert her optics but rather watched the scene unfold with an unreadable expression on her face. Her secret was safe now that Primal was dead. Part of her felt a certain relief knowing this fact, yet another side of her wondered if this truly was an as desirable outcome as some of the other Predacons seemed to believe.

Well.. It was over, at least. The threat was no more, not from the alien construct nor the ape. Now the rest of the Maximals would fall and Megatron would rule the way he saw fit. Not that Nemesis cared much for the Predacon commander's desire to rule, but it did offer her a chance at revenge against those who had wronged her so long ago.

Yes. Optimus Primal's death had been a necessity. And it was what she wanted. If she kept telling herself this fact enough times, perhaps she could actually bring herself to believe it too.

Her attention was snapped back to the present as the almost soothing voice of the computer warned them all of an approaching threat.

It was not over.

"What now?! I thought your "brilliant plan" took care of the Planet Buster!"

Megatron sent Terrorsaur a scowl but left it at that as the pterodactyl took his station as ordered. "This quantum surge is the result of the destruction of the alien machine, fool, now brace for impact!" the tyrant retorted as he maneuvered the flying platform he had stepped onto to a safer location away from the lava pit. Or at least this had been his intention before the violent shockwave hit them with such force that Megatron was unable to keep his footing and went crashing onto the floor below. An exasperated grunt was heard as the Predacon Commander staggered back to his feet, only to feel the radiation from the surge engulf his entire body as the rays penetrated their shields.

The grunt turned into a dragged out groan as Megatron took a shaky step forward while looking down at his glowing hand, a most irritating feeling of helplessness building up within him. He felt dizzy, almost sickly in a sense, a rising level of exhaustion threatening to bring him down. Megatron fought the sensation down for as long as he could until finally he, too, succumbed to the forces exerted on his form.

Nemesis scrambled to find cover as the rays perforated their shield but it was too late. She also found herself covered by the radiation , the intense rays invading every corner of her circuitry and wrecking havoc with her systems. Her body had a certain glow to it, different from the all too familiar one that surrounded her when her nanobots were busy repairing severe injuries, resulting in the sensation of her frame feeling foreign to her. It wasn't painful, exactly, yet she could feel the process of change starting within. And she felt so tired.. so very, extremely, tired.. all energy within her having been diverted to whatever processes the radiation had started implementing. The entire ship was shaking violently, threatening to come down on their heads, yet she could do nothing other than to moan as the sensation of oncoming unconsciousness grew.

Only her strong will to survive gave her the strength to move away from the lava pits, her legs barely willing to carry her weight as she dragged her feet to get further away. A few nano-clicks later the decepticon-turned-predacon blacked out.

Aurora sat solemnly on the floor, Optimus' blades scattered next to her, her mind a whirlwind of shattered hopes right now. She barely even registered Rattrap trying to take control of a situation that had rapidly made a turn for the worse (and was about to do so again), for that her attention was too far gone.

Optimus, who never lied, had broken the promise of returning to them.. There were so many things she wanted to tell him still, so much she wanted to learn from him, yet now she wouldn't have the chance to do either. How could this have happened?

Her thoughts drifted to the name Whitegrazer had uttered just before Optimus had.. She couldn't even bring herself to think about what had happened to him. But that name.. Megatron.. He must have done something that caused all of this, quite possibly helped by the arachnid trio and Starshadow. Yes. The Predacons were responsible for taking yet another friend she cared about from her. Icebreaker had died after a Predacon attack on their base.. Valkyrie died at the hands of one of them too. They did this. They killed them. And Aurora had no intention of letting it go.

Never again.


They would never get to take another loved one from her. She would stop them.. somehow.

Just then, as her thoughts started to dwell on the deepest, darkest aspects of her mind, a sweet and kind voice broke through the shell she had put up around herself to try to avoid a complete meltdown.

"Aurora...Aurora...,"

The young fuzor did not look up, but neither could she hold back a shudder as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her close. She recognized her assailant as Whitegrazer, causing her to let down her guard a bit.

"Things are going to get worse before they get better, but I promise to help you survive this, Aurora."

Survive.. For what? To celebrate that she had lived through an ordeal that her closest friends had not? Survival had not even been a consideration for the little ermine just yet. She just had not had time to digest everything that had happened so she could look forward to the future.

Wait.. Had the mare just said that things were about to get even worse..? How could that possibly be?

Hesitantly, Aurora opened her arms up to return the hug. It did feel good to have someone hold her right then, albeit her thoughts immediately drifted to another hug she had gotten only a short time ago.. by Optimus. His had also felt good, and it had been the last hug he'd ever give her.

Aurora finally shifted her gaze to meet Whitegrazer's. But her vision was blurry. It took her a short moment to realize she was sobbing.

So she just stood there, on trembling legs, supporting herself to the larger female in a comforting hug. She remained like that, barely able to hold herself up as a series of powerful tremors began rocking their base again, only this one was followed by a bright light that overwhelmed them all. Aurora simply buried her face against the other female, hoping that once she opened her eyes again everything would be back to normal once more.

[Wintersong]

(Alrighty OOP )

Alright the rat had a point, there were a lot of things they never expected to face on this exploration just as the tigress femme had never expected to end up on this voyage in the first place from the very beginning. But in some ways Wintersong couldn't help thinking that it had been the best thing that had ever happened to her, especially since she was no longer the goofing off, partly slacker trainee she had once been but had began to change her attitude quite a great deal since being in the Beast Wars and being among a real crew of Maximals. Perhaps not a military one like she always had hoped, but a crew none the less. But then again she was really beginning to second guess her career choice if they ever were to get back to Cybertron, may she could consider something of a low rank in the military.

Shrugging the thoughts off for now Wintersong quickly followed Rattrap's orders, pausing only briefly when she heard Frilla's warning and only hustled even more to get to the CR chambers before this surge would hit. Yet, she only had time to check on Rhinox, finding the rhinoceros was doing just fine in his CR chamber but she didn't have time to check for Ironclaw's, finding that his was open and that he was still unconscious before the quantum surge hit their ship, causing it to shake once more. But that wasn't the thing that made Wintersong completely stop in her tracks. No, it was the fact of the bright light that followed the violent shaking, passing through some of the others and feeling the change that was taking over her body, unable to stop it, the radiation causing her to feel strangely tired along with a slight pain. Only a faint growl escaped her, the only sign she was feeling anything at all as she tried to step forward closer to the CR chamber that held the stasis locked badger before the white tigress collapsed to the floor, everything plunging into complete darkness.

[Wildfire94]

Unlike her new teammates Silverstreak really couldn't be as mournful or full of grief as they were, having only talked to and known Optimus for a very short time of only a few cycles, if even that. None the less the silver fox femme couldn't help feeling saddened at the loss of their leader, the mech who had really seemed to have deep compassion and care for his team and truly was someone she was looking forward to meeting as much as she was the rest of the crew. But just even a quick look over about the members was enough to let her know they were still in anguish at the loss, especially the ermine fuzor. Silverstreak hadn't yet learned the fuzor's name but of all the other Maximals she seemed the most upset compared to the others and it was a spark-breaking sight to see anyone this upset. In some ways the young femme wished she could do more to help give her new crew mates a moral boost. But she had none.

Not that they really had long to dwell on the sadness as the frilled lizard, Frilla as she heard for a name, spoke up about their troubles weren't yet quite over. What more could be of great worry? The computer answered that question real quick, but the fox femme wondered what it meant by a 'quantum surge'. Some of these things were a foreign topic to Silverstreak, only rarely hearing them unless it was on two different topics but from the sounds of things this wasn't going to be a good ending or something very strange was about to happen. And strange it was, as the base shook violently again that the femme had to grab onto the table to prevent from completely falling over again, a bright light soon passing through the Axalon and forcing her to cover her optics, and for that moment to focus on not ending up vaporized or something of that effect.

==========================

Onyx himself couldn't believe it, the Predacons had seemed to truly rid of Optimus Primal. Though he should have been celebrating like his teammates the black stallion couldn't bring himself to do so, really thinking there could have been a much different alternative to ending this war then having to destroy the Maximal leader. Yet, Onyx didn't dare speak this aloud with knowing full well he was already in deep water with Megatron from his actions at the odd alien mushroom like structure, still feeling a bit sore from the poundings he got before. So this time the black mech held his tongue, having come to know better then to speak out unless he absolutely felt the need to, even if that meant getting an even worse beating then what Megatron gave him earlier that evening.

But it seemed no sooner were they celebrating and preparing to go seek and finish the last of the Maximals did the warning of a quantum surge force them to their stations, making the stallion slightly curious to what this was. Moving his hover board closer to a console to watch this surge he wasn't expecting the sudden violent tremor to the Darksyde, which had already faced one just moment ago from the explosion of the planet buster the had ultimately killed Primal. Following it was an unusual sight of bright light, one that force Onyx to cover his optics and become aware of nothing but praying that he wasn't going to end up dead from this, unaware of the transformation taking place among his new teammates and those of the Maximals on the Axalon.