"Tangled Webs & Muddle"

[NaitoKage]

(Darkspark: You could try to recall Sonar. Megatron will not know where Sonar is though, so you can't use the situation to Megatron's advantage.

OOP:My, so violent! )

"Well come on boys and girls let's go get our comrade shall we?"

Aerostriker looked towards Feralnight Sounds fine to me. he responded, veering off and following Feralnight rather easily, then flew to her right slightly back as if flying in formation. Even without the use of his vehicle mode parts, Aerostriker had the fastest flying bird as his beast mode.

Stag began scanning the area, looking for any sign of Predacon activity, particularly fliers. While the Maximal fliers were not bad, the Predacon's main fliers were high speed death machines. If Nemesis,Terrorsaur, and Waspinator showed up again, it'd become a struggle to keep them from attacking Cheetor and Silverstreak while those two attempted to land safely. Even worse, Tantrum's guns would be able to snipe them from a few kilometers away without them knowing..

Once this group finds a tree line, this unit suggests flying low to reduce detection from radar and optical detection. With the overwhelming power of the Predacon Airforce, as well as Unit Tantrum, this group can be taken advantage of quickly. However, this unit's understanding of stealth tactics is probably not as up to par to your own expertise. Stag then tilted his head looking towards Silverstreak.

She called herself a cyber ninja in training, but Stag listed her in his databanks as a stealth operative, mostly because he couldn't exactly compute the definition of a Ninja properly, and the spiritualism, beliefs, and actions of martial arts transformers were baffling to his logic circuits. They seemed almost as if a dangerous element to a command structure, though the Maximal group they were with was far from a prim and proper maximal military. The civilians seemed more..humane in their actions at times. They didn't seek out absolute destruction.. something that also confused his logic of the Maximal faction's ideologies. It was something other targetmasters failed to understand, even Stag at times didn't understand it. If they simply destroyed all the Predacons.. then the battles would end.. was the objective not to win?

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"Terrorsaur, Umbra, Caecelia, Tantrum, & Onyx shall pursue the Sector Zeta 335 pod under my command, while Nemesis, Starshadow, Sonar, Waspinator, and Manterror shall seek the pod in Sector Gamma 81 under the command of Inferno. However, as important as these pod hunts are, it is not the only chore on our to-do list today, no. I have detected a large store of energon cubes in Grid Arachis, Tarantulas shall construct a refueling station there. Blackarachnia, Arachnitron, & Quickstrike shall assist him"

Umbra glanced around. Working with Cecaelia or Oynx wouldn't be a problem, but Terrorsaur and Tantrum were strange elements to say the least. Knowing them, Terrorsaur would probably fly on ahead, and Tantrum.. well, nothing could be predicted of him. But either way, it was all he needed to hear.

Umbra looked towards Cecaelia with Starshadow, raising an optic ridge as she puffed her cheeks, she seemed to be fighting over some sort of disk. He smiled slightly shaking his head, then turned heading towards the hanger starting to head out.

As he exited the hanger, he looked towards Manterror firing his razor disks towards Nemesis in the air. Umbra let out a sigh drawing his Gauss rifle and placing the butt of the gun up against his shoulder activating his comlink Incoming, Pull up slightly. he told Nem in an dry almost bored tone, while aiming on Manterror.

Adjusting the scope for wind and magnifying it, he unleashed a single poisoned spike silently from the rifle aimed towards Manterror's upper back where his wings met his back. The shot wasn't enough to render the sociopathic mantis unconscious, but would probably screw with motor skills and ability to fly for a little while. Umbra lowered his rifle passing it to one of his tentacles, then started to walk in Manterror's direction.

[Wintersong]

Wintersong met Ironclaw's gaze as she backed up slightly while he approached her, glancing back a bit when feeling herself bump against a tree she hadn't exactly noticed before with her attention upon the mech in front of her. Watching him lift her hand and gently place it against the tree above her head the transmetal tigress glanced back at the badger, finding herself lost for words she silently just exchanged a glance with Ironclaw, and his answer to her inquiry about what he had come out here for certainly would have made her blush if she could. But that silent moment was broken from the announcement of a stasis pod being discovered and Rhinox trying to contact the four bots for the mission to which she averted her gaze for a bit knowing they probably couldn't stay there for much longer.

"Guess duty calls,"Wintersong finally spoke, gently slipping her hand from his that had been against the tree but turned her gaze back towards him with a thoughtful glance and thought it might be time she stopped hiding some of her growing feelings towards the transmetal badger. Turning his head so their gazes met once more she gave him a light smile before placing a soft kiss to his lips for a few moments before she took a step back, "Come on Ironclaw, let's head back the others may need a hand sooner or later."She said with a smile before she turned and took a step forward, "Beast mode."With a low growl she transformed back to her tiger form and began heading back towards the Axalon. Althought, before it might have been a surprise when Wintersong tackled Ironclaw, she hadn't meant to take his sneaking seriously she was just being cautious before with not knowing who had been coming towards her so she had only been trying to be sure it was someone she knew and not an enemy.

[Blackrosefencer]

Arachnitron followed Tarantulas up to the bridge and joined him in the line up of other Predacons summoned to hear Megatron's orders. It wasn't long before Blackarachnia joined them.

Arachnitron glared at the other she-spider as she wedged herself in between Arachnitron and Tarantulas splitting up the pair temporarily. Since their return to the Darksyde, Arachnitron had been careful not to stray too far from Tarantulas. She recalled those brief moments during the battle when she was completely cut off from him as though they were a horrible nightmare. She hadn't been able to see or hear anything, but after some internal repairs, she had been able to push the Maximal back far enough that she regained some of her sight and hearing though not all of it. Now that she was able to see, hear and think clearly again, she knew that she had to be near Tarantulas at all times. First, if the chip failed again, then she'd have him near her so that he could fix it quicker. She also felt that when she was away from him, she lacked direction and guidance. But mostly, Tarantulas had a special mission and he needed her help. She longed to be a good assistant for him.

As the others paraded in she noticed Onyx. He had walked down the path to get her and help her back to base when she couldn't see well enough to get there on her own. His actions still baffled her. A Predacon taking the time to help another Predacon was previously unheard of. Once they made it to the base, Onyx, at Arachnitron's insistence, had left her at the entrance so that she could wait for Tarantulas to return for her. She thought about Onyx the whole time that she waited for Tarantulas to come get her. What did all of this mean? Could it be that Predacons all this time had been wrong about what it meant to be a Predacon?

“Why have you called me here Megatron? I am engaged in important research on our new transmetal forms.”

Tarantulas interrupted Megatron as he addressed the Predacons standing in front of him. Blackarachnia was still standing between Arachnitron and Tarantulas, much to Arachnitron's chagrin.

“Yes, I have no doubt you are, but I have more important duties for you.”

Megatron proceeded to divvy up the duties between his troops. Arachnitron listened patiently until he got to her name:

“However, as important as these pod hunts are, it is not the only chore on our to-do list today, no. I have detected a large store of energon cubes in Grid Arachis, Tarantulas shall construct a refueling station there. Blackarachnia, Arachnitron, & Quickstrike shall assist him.”

Arachnitron peered around Blackarachnia to try and get a glimpse of Tarantulas and see what his reaction was to this command.

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Inferno stood with the other Predacon troops and awaited the Queen's commands. He was anxious to serve the Royalty.

“Two stasis pods have made planet fall, one in Sector Zeta 335, the swamp lands, and the other in Sector Gamma 81, the rainforests. I trust it goes without saying that I want them recovered with all due haste. Assuming you fail to reach the pods before the protoforms come online you are to capture the maximals and return them to base for reprogramming, and of course destroy them should that prove too difficult for you.

“Terrorsaur, Umbra, Caecelia, Tantrum, & Onyx shall pursue the Sector Zeta 335 pod under my command, while Nemesis, Starshadow, Sonar, Waspinator, and Manterror shall seek the pod in Sector Gamma 81 under the command of Inferno.”

Inferno saluted his leader. “Yes, my Queen! I will serve you well!” he announced proudly.

Then, he looked over the Predacons that had been placed under his command. He had a good feeling about this group of Predacons! They were all strong soliders and good fighters. With the only exceptions being Waspinator and Manterror, both of whom had a habit of doing more damage to themselves than to anyone else. Manterror would also be difficult to keep in line. He'd have to resort to strict leadership.

"Lord Megatron, I request that I would retrieve the pod under your command. Sonar and I do not really work well together and our grudges may jeopardize our mission...I'm sure Glowstick had given you reports of it. Even our furry mad scientist would agree with me."

Inferno overheard Starshadow pleading with Megatron to put her in a different group so that she didn't have to be paired up with Sonar. Inferno approached the pair. Frankly, he thought it incredibly rude of her to question the Royalty's command in such a way. The Royalty commanded it and it must now be done. Wanting to please Megatron, Inferno interrupted.

“Royalty,” he said. “I will keep a close eye on Sonar and Starshadow. Should they appear to be jeopardizing our mission, I will send them to your coordinates to be properly disciplined.” Inferno hoped the threat of discipline at the hands of their leader would entice the pair of them to stay civil throughout the mission.

Before anyone could reply, Nemesis took to the skies leaving the rest of her squadron behind.

“No!” Inferno shouted after her. “You must wait for the rest of the group.”

Suddenly, Manterror followed Nemesis towards the hangar exit, probably intending to reach the stasis pod first and obtain the creature inside for his own (it was no secret that the mantis had some crazy plans in the works). Manterror pulled out his razor blades and threw them at Nemesis. Then, Umbra, one of the new troops, raised his weapon and aimed at Manterror to stop him in his tracks from causing anymore damage. Inferno gasped in horror as he watched everything play out. He knew the Royalty would be disappointed in his inability to maintain control of his troops.

Inferno was stunned into silence, but as soon as he was able to muster up some syllables, all he could think of to say was: “FOR THE ROYALTY!!!” and threw his own fire power into the mix. His rocket launcher sailed towards Umbra hoping to stop him in his tracks. Umbra was attacking one of the Predacons who the Royalty had specifically put in Inferno's command! Was he trying to undermine his authority?!

Inferno started up his propellers and flew in front of Manterror.

"Enough!" Inferno demanded looking more at Umbra than Manterror. "We have an important mission and we are disappointing our Queen!" he reminded them both. He saluted the Queen in mid air and zoomed after Nemesis.

OOC: @Wildfire: What were your plans regarding Dinobot? I'll pick him up if you don't want him, but I know you mentioned maybe wanting to play Dinobot too so I thought I'd wait to put up a post in the audition thread until I knew what you wanted to do about playing him.

[Alak]

Finally awake huh? I don't have time to teach you how to fly personally, but I put together a manual. Read it over to get the idea on how to use your vehicle mode. There's also something in the hanger Rhinox built for you.

Orcariner gave a quick salute and grin as Aerostriker flew by. The flight tutorial popped unto his HUD, but the Maximal filed it away for now. There will be plenty of time for reading, but right now he had some catching up to do.

"Thanks, bud! I'll take a look at it as soon as I can."

Continuing down the hallway, Orcariner began to wonder what everyone else had been up to while he was in stasis lock. Aerostriker seemed to be in a hurry flying off like that. Perhaps a new mission was about to begin. The team was always operating on a weekly basis. Even with Optimus' return, they would never stop working as long as there was work to be done. Orcariner felt blessed to be part of such a diligent and competent crew. The bond between them all was just as strong as their individual characters. While it pained him to lose some friends, it also brought him great joy to see new arrivals.

Approaching the outside of the training room, Orcariner could see that Optimus, Saber, and Whitegrazer were gathered there. The leader and the feline looked like they were preparing themselves for a friendly spar with Whitegrazer as a spectator. Dipping his head to avoid hitting the door frame, the giant entered the room and stood next to the equine.

"Hey, guys," he said with a smile, "How's everyone doing?"

The Maximal's optics turned to Optimus Primal. The Maximal leader had also undergone the transmetal process. Like, Orcariner, Optimus had a more metallic appearance now. His face looked almost unrecognizable. The orca would have doubted that this was his friend who stood before him if he had not heard his voice several days ago. It was good to have him back.


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Nothing was in sight other hand gorgeous hills of grass. The green blades vigorously swayed to the side as a burning stasis pod fell across the sky over them. Seconds later, there was a bright flash of light and the earth trembled as the armored pod made its impact. Not long after, a small antenna popped out of its hull and proceeded to scan the surrounding environment. Due to the violent nature of the crash, all of the animals within the region had fled; all except for one.

Less than one hundred meters from the impact crater, a four legged creature stood with its face buried in the grass. The mighty llama continued to eat its breakfast without a care in the world for the fiery hole in the ground that was nearby. It nonchalantly munched on the tuffs of grass as the pod’s scanner ran its waves through the animal’s body multiple times. After acquiring enough data, the antenna retracted into the stasis pod. There was a hiss as the door opened wide with smoke rising all around.

The llama, still chewing its food, finally looked up to see what was happening. Its mouth stopped and eyes widened, because galloping from the crater was an exact clone of itself. It simply stared in confusion as the second llama came closer. Both of them continued to look at one another from head to toe.

“Hey, beautiful,” said the clone with cocked brow and a mischievous grin, “Name’s Buster, how about you?”

Not understanding a single word he had just spoken, the real llama spit its food in Buster’s face, turned around, and trotted away. Confounded, the transformer watched as the animal went out of view.

“So… I guess my luck with the ladies is still the same no matter what galaxy I’m in.”

Using his hoof, he awkward tried to wipe the saliva-coated grass off his face.

“Wonderful.”

[Phoenix]

(ooc: Holy cow! Wasn't expecting that many posts by the time I staggered through the front door after a 12 hour shift at work. Certainly not complaining though!)

“No!” Inferno shouted after her. “You must wait for the rest of the group.”

The fire ant's words did not phase Nemesis in the slightest. His blind devotion to Megatron was certainly not reason enough for her to want to spend another second stuck inside this forsaken base of theirs. The transmetalized avian female still failed to see why the Predacons did not simply relocate their base elsewhere, merely salvaging the parts they could from the original base and rebuild it somewhere far away from this volcanic region. No matter how hard she tried, she could not block out the constant stench of sulfur that was tickling her olfactory receptors like the smell of rotten eggs. The heat from the volcanic activity lingering underneath their feet made her feel very uncomfortable, causing a slight nauseating sensation within her and also leaving her pondering the level of sanity left in their leader for allowing them all to live in an environment that had already claimed the lives of two of their comrades.

"The Maximals have the same detection capabilities that we do. If we do not hurry, we may be too late to capture the new protoform," she responded to Inferno's argument, not slowing down for even a second.

She wanted out, no.. she needed the fresh air and to feel the wind ruffling her feathers. Birds were not meant to be kept in cages.. or in ovens.

Granted she did not exactly resemble an avian Earth creature anymore. The process that changed her into a transmetal had left her with a larger, shinier, frame than before, altering her into something that resembled a mixture between a bird and a jet. Even her feathers had not been spared the transformation, giving them a longer appearance with the ability to turn more rigid for added protection along with a more metallic hue. In her flight mode she truly resembled something of a freak of nature now, a much more menacing look yet certainly not devoid of statuesque elegance.

The sound of Manterror shouting something after her caught her attention, but she had already picked up enough speed for whatever it was the mantis was blabbering on about to sound too blurry to understand.

An incoming transmission through her comlink came in loud and clear, however.

Incoming, Pull up slightly.

At the same moment her own warning systems notified her of the incoming attack, causing her to abruptly tilt sideways as one of the razor blades slammed into the wall of the hangar bay only a very short distance from where she'd been flying moments before.

"Problem solved," she transmitted back to Umbra, her voice holding a high level of amusement over what had just transpired. For a water based life form, the squid wasn't too shabby to have around.

Unable to hold back a laugh as she realized what crazy antics the mantis had gotten up to, she went into a series of spirals as she passed through the hangar bay doors. Behind her she heard the other razor blade as it impaled itself into a console, shredding through the metal with surprising ease. Once outside the base, she simply activated her thrusters which increased her speed tremendously. The others would only be able to watch as she faded into the distance.

[Mystrea]

Ironclaw's gaze was still not set upon Wintersong and knew now that their moment had been short lived. This grieved him. So much so he balled his hand into a fist as he felt her hand slip away. At that moment he didn't care for command or the pod, he was too involved in with the attractive female in front of him. He was about to turn away when she pulled his gaze back to her and kissed him. Ironclaw stayed completely with her for those few moments until she moved away from him. From the point on he had such a desire for her, he said nothing and followed her. He went into his beast mode and kept quite close to her.

[Wildfire94]

"Sounds good to me too."Cheetor agreed before he flew around to follow after his fellow fliers, deciding for now to keep to Feralnight's left side with Aerostriker taking up the right to create a formation between the three with their single ground passenger on his back. If Silverstreak wasn't there he'd likely have tried to go on ahead to secure the area, figuring it might be the best plan of action to get a head start on the Preds but he didn't think the young fox would exactly be all for that. So for now the young cheetah had to settle for going as fast as the other two were flying despite it seemingly slower than he wanted to go. Though he glanced back just a bit as SIlverstreak began to speak up.

"I wouldn't say my stealth tactics are top notch but they've been good enough to keep me out of most binds during my time in learning sabotage and cyber ninja training." Silverstreak though smiled a bit, really wondering if she could put her stealth and sabotage to good use in the field where it was suppose to be a tropical landscape, which meant lots of trees, foliage, mud, there was a good many possibilities she could use the environment to her advantage even against stronger foes if she could. It might have served her well again Steelclaw most likely if they had been in a different area during the battle some days before but that was in the past and the young vixen femme was just glad to be functioning. This war definitely was chaotic and already she had been enduring quite a bit in such a short time it had been nice for a long break. For now she was already deciding of how to approach the situation for when the time came, "Nonetheless Stag, stealth just might help us in this situation. I can give you guys eye's on the ground and perhaps drop a few surprises on the Predacons."

As he listened and flew at the same time Cheetor wondered if this would be such a good idea, beginning to figure out Silverstreak would want to be dropped off somewhere close by. "Silver, you sure that's such a great idea?"He inquired causing the smaller bot to smile. "I'm certain of it Cheetor, unless the Predacons are really observant in this mission the chances of finding me will be slim. A tropical place tends to offer quite a few places I can make use of so I'm confident things will be just fine."She assured him, unaware that the pod they were after already had been activated and contained a Predacon inside from the beginning.

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

With hearing that he was being assigned to aid Megatron in this pod retrieval mission Onyx couldn't help feeling his spark sink, knowing for a fact he was likely going to be watched closely like Terrorsaur due to his past insubordinations. Holding back a sigh the black stallion nodded before he turned his hoverboard away from the console and moving it over towards the hallway, not taking much notice to Arachnitron's look to him. As odd as it may have been for a Predacon to help another he still felt not all Predacons should be like those of Megatron, Terrorsaur, or even Tarantulas, twisting the minds of others or manipulating them like pawns, he truly was beginning to change that ideal that all Predacons were the same. They weren't, just as not all Maximals were the same. In fact, they could be just as insane, violent, and manipulative as the Predacons could be while it was also in vice versa. Onyx just happened to be staying because he was loyal to the Predacon cause for being recognized by the Maximal society that they weren't second hand citizens but this was not exactly how he wanted to be noticed.

Shaking his head Onyx walked down the halls as he contemplated his current predicament and his previous choice of almost siding with the Maximals not long ago. Still, he wondered if in this war that'd be the right path to follow until they returned to Cybertron and he could join those who actually shared his view. But who knew when that would be or ever, so he'd for now bide his time to figure out the correct choice to make when the time came. His thoughts were once again broken by the commotion in the hanger, wondering what could possibly be going on but it wasn't long before he entered the hanger bay that he saw Umbra and Inferno around Manterror, wondering if both were teaching him a lesson for his previous outburst but it was in fact Inferno teaching Umbra a lesson for supposedly undermining him, which he doubted it was really such an act but more so of giving Nemesis a little hand with the nuisance bug. But still that was a low blow on the fire ant's part, making Onyx frown slightly but being unable to say a word with the any already on his way. "Now that was a little uncalled for," Onyx commented as he watched the fliers leave before looking towards the octopus with some wonder if he was seriously hurt.

Once again, his conscience got the best of him as he came over to Umbra, "You alright Umbra?" Giving a brief glance towards Manterror, wondering what Umbra had done to him though at the moment he didn't seem in bad shape likely compared to their water dwelling teammate.

[NaitoKage]

“FOR THE ROYALTY!!!”

As Inferno attempted to raise his rifle, the eyes on Umbra's legs instinctively picked up the movement as he leaned slightly to the right activating his jumpjet to launch himself with a short quick burst out of the way of the shot.

"Enough!" "We have an important mission and we are disappointing our Queen!"

Watching Inferno fly off, Umbra shaked his head watching the ant.

"You alright Umbra?"

Umbra looked towards Onyx with a smile No problems here.. you just have to remember when a Predacon or Ninja.. you need eyes in the back of your head. Though.. I may need to teach the arthropods the issues with friendly fire..

He then raised his arm pointing his thumb outside Well, lets head out.

Having been asked to make sure Terrorsaur wasn't a traitor to the Predacons, it seemed it was hard to tell who wasn't from some of their actions. Perhaps in time with more recruits some of the more fringe elements could be cleaned out, but for now it was probably best to leave it be, as there might be issues if a few of them went missing under unusual circumstances..

He then started to head out, walking in the direction of the first pod.

_________________

"Nonetheless Stag, stealth just might help us in this situation. I can give you guys eye's on the ground and perhaps drop a few surprises on the Predacons."

Aerostriker looked towards Silverstreak speaking up I'm not sure that's wise, if it is tropical terrain, you might have worse visibility on the ground then we do from the plants. Not to mention the effects of wet soil, it's entirely possible to sink or clog joints prohibiting movement.. Bleh. Only amphibious types could stand terrain like that.

Aerostriker looked forward, seeming to cringe at the thought. Last thing he needed was to trash his body with water or anything else. Though the vegetation and mud would probably be useful if he attempted some sniping, but he wasn't much of a proper sniper. He could hit a target fairly accurately a few miles away with Stag, but he preferred just doing that from the air then laying prone in hiding somewhere. That sort of role fit Rattrap or Silverstreak better.

[DarkSpark]

OOC: OH MY GOD...This might be my longest post yet, so many people to respond to, so many minions to chastise, so little time . Hope this all checks out gang, sorry I couldn't wait longer for Una, but at least we can now trudge along to our missions, lol.

Starshadow wrote: Oh no...not the "Queen" thing...I'm getting sick of hearing that. What a horrible team I'm in... Starshadow thought. She had to come up with something otherwise she would either send a punch either to Inferno or Sonar out of annoyance.

"Lord Megatron, I request that I would retrieve the pod under your command. Sonar and I do not really work well together and our grudges may jeopardize our mission...I'm sure Glowstick had given you reports of it. Even our furry mad scientist would agree with me."

((Star, you come up with the worst excuses. ))

Megatron didn't even hesitate for a second to slip his hand into his tailgun & grasp Starshadow by the throat, clamping down as tightly as he could without decapitating her, lifting her off the ground as though she were as light as a feather, the cannon glowed as if about to fire as he said "Listen to me very carefully feline, for I will not repeat myself, I have neither the time nor the patience for your petty feuds and rivalries, you will do as I command without question and not whine about who you have to work with, is that understood?"

Megatron was truly in no mood for insubordination after the incident with Silverbolt, especially with two stasis pods on the line. It was then that Megatron noticed Sonar's absence from the rest of his minions, something which simply would not do, no.

"A tyrant's job is never simple is it? No" Megatron said to himself as he dropped Starshadow like a rock and opened a comlink, "Megatron to Sonar, while I am sure you have a perfectly good explanation for not answering my summons, or being on base for that matter, I expect you to aid Inferno in the capture of a maximal stasis pod in Sector Gamma 81. Return to your duty at once and stop slacking off, or you'll experience what its like to have your wings clipped and your fangs pulled, do I make myself clear?!"

Phoenix wrote: Deciding not to bother voicing her complaints, she merely spread out her wings, nearly knocking Terrorsaur in the face as she did, and took to the air so she could leave the base sooner rather than later.

Narrowly avoiding a smack to the face, Terrorsaur merely glared daggers at Nemesis as she took off, though he did take amusement in the comedy show that followed involving her, Umbra, and Manterror.

"They'll certainly make a dream team to remember, heh heh heh" Terrorsaur laughed

"Worry about your own performance Terrorsaur, I expect everyone to be on their best behavior, hence why you'll be flying under MY command this time, clear?" Megatron growled.

"Yes Megatron" Terrorsaur begrudgingly agreed, wishing he'd been put in command of his own flying unit instead of that bug brain Inferno, he was faster and smarter than him!

Blackrose wrote: Arachnitron peered around Blackarachnia to try and get a glimpse of Tarantulas and see what his reaction was to this command.

Tarantulas' optics narrowed at the thought of being assigned to such a tedious task, when someone of his skill and intellect should be working on much more important projects than mining for energon. His new vehicular mode gave him great land speed and no one was better skilled at reprogramming protoforms than himself...Megatron clearly just wanted him out of the way on this mission, not trusting him with new recruits and stasis pods just yet after recent events. Still, it was strange of him to not assign everyone to pod retrieval, something else was going on that he wasn't cluing the rest of them in on just yet.

"What precisely are you doing?" Tarantulas inquired of his leader in name only.

"Planning for the future, NOW GO!" Megatron commanded the spider, Tarantulas turning away on his hover platform to carry out his orders...Or so Megatron thought.

After he was out of earshot of Megatron and the rest, though trusting his fellow arachnids would follow in his wake, Tarantulas scratched his chin in thought as he pondered aloud "So Megatron means to persist in his madness."

Not if he had anything to do about it.

Blackrose wrote: Inferno saluted his leader. “Yes, my Queen! I will serve you well!” he announced proudly.

"Oh, I do wish he'd stop calling me that" Megatron sighed in exasperation, covering his face as he shook his head in annoyance of his new second in command's bizarre mannerisms.

Inferno was a gigantic improvement over Scorponok for the most part, but really, but he honestly did hope that at least one of the new predacons would be both loyal AND sane.

Blackrose wrote: “Royalty,” he said. “I will keep a close eye on Sonar and Starshadow. Should they appear to be jeopardizing our mission, I will send them to your coordinates to be properly disciplined.” Inferno hoped the threat of discipline at the hands of their leader would entice the pair of them to stay civil throughout the mission.

"Well spoken Subcommander, though I suspect Starshadow at least has learned her lesson, Yes?" Megatron spoked to both Inferno and Starshadow, showing off his tail gun's clawtip to emphasize his point to the winged feline.

Blackrose wrote: Before anyone could reply, Nemesis took to the skies leaving the rest of her squadron behind.

“No!” Inferno shouted after her. “You must wait for the rest of the group.”

Suddenly, Manterror followed Nemesis towards the hangar exit, probably intending to reach the stasis pod first and obtain the creature inside for his own (it was no secret that the mantis had some crazy plans in the works). Manterror pulled out his razor blades and threw them at Nemesis. Then, Umbra, one of the new troops, raised his weapon and aimed at Manterror to stop him in his tracks from causing anymore damage. Inferno gasped in horror as he watched everything play out. He knew the Royalty would be disappointed in his inability to maintain control of his troops.

Inferno was stunned into silence, but as soon as he was able to muster up some syllables, all he could think of to say was: “FOR THE ROYALTY!!!” and threw his own fire power into the mix. His rocket launcher sailed towards Umbra hoping to stop him in his tracks. Umbra was attacking one of the Predacons who the Royalty had specifically put in Inferno's command! Was he trying to undermine his authority?!

Inferno started up his propellers and flew in front of Manterror.

"Enough!" Inferno demanded looking more at Umbra than Manterror. "We have an important mission and we are disappointing our Queen!" he reminded them both. He saluted the Queen in mid air and zoomed after Nemesis.

After watching that entire fiasco play out, Megatron had serious doubts about Team 2, but knew he wanted Terrorsaur in his sights on this job and while he was tempted to send Umbra to serve as Inferno's adviser, he knew that only meant the octopus would have to hitch a ride on one of the flyers and risk slowing them down further. It was a gamble, a calculated risk, but one he had to take to ensure his forces would reach both pods first.

"Predacons, transform and rise up!" Megatron roared as he changed into beast mode and activated his jets, Terrorsaur doing the same and following his hated leader out of the ship.

"Terrorsaur and I will fly on ahead, the rest of you will follow us on foot, if you have vehicular forms, use them. Any maximals you encounter along the way are to be exterminated on sight, nothing must stand between us and that pod! Umbra, you will command the ground troops until you catch up with us" Megatron ordered, trusting the sensible rogue to do his job and keep the other three in line, Tantrum the moron, Caecelia the airhead, and Onyx the coward.

"As you command oh mighty Megatron" Terrorsaur proclaimed, channeling the spirit of Starscream and his half hearted salutes to his own ancient leader, always plotting insurrection.

"Exactly Terrorsaur, as I command, always, Yesss" Megatron replied, briefly musing over all the horrible things he could do to Terrorsaur should he betray him again this time, though more preoccupied with the promise of new recruits to bolster his ever growing Predacon Liberation Army, as well as the thought of being able to payback the maximal scum along the way.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"Good! Just remember: Don't hold back."

Primal returned Whitegrazer's smile of mischief. Sometimes he held back, sometimes he threw more at her. Since he was still learning his new body, he didn't plan on going full throttle with it.

"I've had better days."

Well, he was certain of that.

"It's nice to see you, Saber-Fang."

"You as well, Whitegrazer."

As the numbness from that stun gun wore off on his arm and shoulder, Optimus studied Saber-Fang's expressions and voice. He could tell a forced smile from a real one, and her concerned tone had been disguised by words of courtesy. Still, it was good to see her out and about despite everything of recent. He thought about inviting her to spar with him and Whitegrazer, and at the same time, figure out what triggers that beast inside of her. But he hesitated just in time to be interrupted by Rhinox again...

-----

Understood Rhinox. I'd rather not get sent back in for repairs so soon anyway, my warranty is already voided.

Rhinox chuckled at Aerostriker's comment. "Warranties may expire but we always have the spare parts to improvise," he returned lightheartedly.

"On it Rhinox,"

Silverstreak's enthusiasm was a good sign. He hoped she'd keep for the duration of their mission. He also hoped they wouldn't run into trouble, but that seemed to be inevitable every time they stepped out the door.

"Roger that Rhinox, we'll have that pod or our new pal back before you can say Golden Rocket."

"Just make sure you watch each other's backs," Big Green emphasized to Cheetor, who also seemed excited to head out. For the most part, their team was on the younger side but not necessarily inexperienced. Granted, Aerostriker and Silverstreak were still pretty new to this war of survival but Feralnight and Cheetor had had enough time and accomplishments under their belts to go steady and knew the signs of trouble to look for.

"That's true, guess being smaller I can get into places even Rattrap couldn't wiggle his furry butt into."

Chuckling, Rhinox turned to Frilla again and said, "It's nor so furry anymore, is it." Where was that rat anyway? Still sleeping?

"As for the transmetal body, think everything has been going great so far, especially this gliding feature really makes getting to longer distances easier and a better use of climbing surfaces makes things different. Before it was only trees but rocks have become little effort." "Sadly no more ink to blast at the rat or others either, seems this form gave me acid breathe."

The engineer nodded and smiled at the TM frilled lizard's observations and tests of her own body. Like most of them, she had been putting in a lot of effort to get to know her new tech. "The acid itself sounds like a great upgrade; far more lethal," he winked jokingly with her.

"Rhinox, that's not the only pod, there's one coming down in Gamma 81 as well."

Looking over Frilla's shoulder as she sat down at the console and confirmed another pod, the rhinoceros in robot mode opened his comm. link to Primal once more, alerting him of what was transpiring.

"Optimus, we're detecting another stasis pod activation in Gamma eight-one."

-----

"Thank you, Rhinox. I'm on it," Optimus returned over their transmission. Gamma... Gamma... He was already low on aerial units, and those large enough to carry others.

"Rattrap, Airazor, Silverbolt, Wintersong and Ironclaw, this is Optimus. Converge on sector Gamma 81 for stasis pod retrieval and assisting the life form. Be cautious of a Predacon attack," he warned them over his comm. link.

"Hey, guys," "How's everyone doing?"

There was no denying that the Maximal leader's face lit up when he saw the TM orca was finally back on his feet and out of the CR. "Orcariner!" he joyfully expressed in his beast mode looking up at him since Primal was quite short compared to the whale before him. "It's good to finally see you again. How are you feeling?" He was hoping to give Orcariner a day or two to rest around the Axalon before throwing him back into battle since he only just recovered, so for now the teams he had going after each pod should suffice. If they needed back-up, at least there were enough of them left to provide it; fliers, hand-to-hand combatants and heavy assault alike. For a moment, he wondered if Silverbolt had succeeded in dragging Rattrap along for a routine scouting. If not, they were two more added as back-up.

[Night-Hunter]

The Axalon was just a mile off, Sonar could easily see the Maximal ship. He smirked a little then used an updraft to gain more height when Megatron contacted him with his usual ego. Demanding that he return to his duties and help Inferno with a Maxinal stasis pod.

Please, I have other important matters then you're ego boost. Sonar thought with a roll of his eyes then smirked again as he activated his COMM to reply,

"My apologizes, Lord-" *fake static* "Een busy with-" *more fake static* "Minerals in a mi-" *another bout of fake static before deactivating his COMM link*

Once he reached the Axalon he circled it in a lazy circle, he was just out of range of thier defense systems but he knew that thier scanners would be able to detect him. He smiled, knowing that it was only a matter of time before they came to attack him.

I could use a little work out, He thought with a toothy smirk. Nothing like a battle to start ones day.

* * *

Saber looked away from Primus' gaze, thankfully the gaint TM fish walked in drawing Optimus' attention. From what she had heard, the Orca had taken quite the beating after she went swimming against her will.

You get knocked down... You get back up. Saber thought.

[starshadow]

((I shall ignore the fuzor part.))

Listen to me very carefully feline , for I will not repeat myself, I have neither the time nor the patience for your petty feuds and rivalries, you will do as I command without question and not whine about who you have to work with, is that understood?"

Starshadow nodded in response and took a deep breath when he dropped her.

"Well spoken Subcommander, though I suspect Starshadow at least has learned her lesson, Yes?"

"A lesson worth remembering..." she lied and got up, activating her thrusters and flew out of the base, catching up with Nemesis.

Cecaelia transformed to her vehicle mode and drove up to her octopus partner, "I usually don't offer rides to any mech, but eh..hop on? We'll get there faster with wheels."

[Alak]

"Orcariner!"
"It's good to finally see you again. How are you feeling?"

"Seeing how I can stand on my own two feet again, I guess I'm doing really well!" Orcariner replied with a chuckle.

Words could not properly express how enthusiastic he was to see Optimus in front of him again. However, rather than just stand and marvel at his revived leader, the giant wanted to say at least something to welcome his comrade back from the dead.

"Optimus, it's really good to see you with us again. Things got pretty out of hand with you gone, and I probably wouldn't even be alive right now if you hadn't come back. Thank you."

He meant every word of it. If there was a way for Orcariner to better show his gratitude, he would surely do it. For now, however, saying something that cheesy would have to suffice.


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


Meanwhile, in the green mountains of South America, Buster was still exploring the new world. He had yet to have transformed into his bipedal robot mode. Instead, the Cybertronian preferred to embrace this new beast mode. It was certainly different than traveling as a car. Being a llama felt more organic and no other animal paid much heed to his presence. That meant he was safe. Keeping a low profile was everything for Buster. Some may regard that characteristic as cowardice, but he preferred to think of it as preservation of life; his life to be exact.

There was a grumbling sensation in his gut.

"Speaking of preservation..."

He needed food, except there were no restaurants in sight. Unlike Cybertron, there was not a single drive-thru to be found no matter where he looked. Buster's light gallops gradually turned into trudging as his energy levels decreased. His levels of agitation were inversely correlated to his levels of hunger. It was then he recalled what the real llama had been doing when he first made contact with her.

"Ah slag."

Looking down, Buster stared at the ripe grass that swayed against the mountain breeze. If he wanted to live, he would have to eat the same food that his beast mode ate. It was designed to metabolize organic material into functional energy. The problem Buster had with the whole deal was that he would still be eating grass. Turning his head in desperation, the robotic llama looked once more for a fast food place to chow down. Anything that remotely resembled civilized dining would do.

He repeated, "Ah slag."

With great reluctance, Buster eased his face towards the ground and proceeded to pull a tuff of grass from the earth. It tasted awful.

[una]

((OOC: I will try my best to have a post today. I would had yesterday but I had a headache that lasted until time it was for bed.

Edit: Here it is! I apologize if it seems rushed as I realized I had many things to do and I better post before it is too late! XD ))

Whitegrazer's optics had glanced over slightly to her left as she felt the presence of Aurora nearby. Following her eye was the corner of her mouth with tiny yet sad smile, feeling the little one's emotions. Icebreaker.

She, like Optimus, noticed Saber-Fang's brave front of the turmoil that was going inside of her. The beast inside of her laid dormant now, but the fact that Saber-Fang seemed frightened of it seemed to tell her Saber-Fang couldn't take this much longer. She couldn't hide it anymore, "You can always talk to us whenever you need to, Saber-Fang. We will be here for you."

She still kept her warm smile, wishing that Saber-Fang may take up on her offer she always laid for her Maximal friends. She wondered inside herself if the best could be tamed to be a force of good and not so wild. Saber-Fang's beast form has been known not to harm them if her own soul makes herself recognize friend from foe. Strong emotions could lead to fight or flee. Though, no matter how much she offered, it seemed some were hesitant to walk through her door. But there was no pressure and she wasn't going to impose. It didn't mean she would stop offering or giving tips when the opportunity arises.

Her smile grew wider at the appearance of Orcariner.

It was good to see that everyone was up and about. Everything was coming back to normal. Well, normal as it could get in the Axalon.
____________________________________________________________________________________

Blackarachnia was disinterested in such a task, but she decided to just smile and bear with it. Might as well just get it over with. She bowed, "Yes, Megatron." She glanced at Arachnitron as Tarantulas was ahead of them. She was about to say something, but she shook her head. No matter what she said, it wouldn't make a difference. She turned her glance towards Quickstrike and gave him a little flirty looking over before she walked off.

She didn't know what scheme Tarantulas planned on today. Despite the fact that Megatron interrupted his fun in torturing Terrorsaur for his amusement disguise in scientific curiosity of their new forms, Tarantulas seemed edgy. Probably because he hasn't been able to get any sort of time to himself since he literally forced Arachnitron and herself to help build a makeshift lab for him.

[New Moon]

Frilla smiled slightly as she nodded, "No he isn't, so guess the better phrase would be getting into places his metal butt couldn't reach." She jokingly corrected, glad to have some form of light hearted playfulness rather than having to worry about the Predacons all the time. And after their near extermination it never hurt to be able to enjoy a good laugh once in a while but if Rattrap were here, and not sleeping the day away, he likely would have had some snappy comebacks of his own. Though she had to agree about the acid, knowing it would serve her well than just blinding her enemies.

Of course, it would certainly sting their optics to no end she had suspected for a while but she'd have to wait and see if she were to even go back into battle again. "Definitely more lethal," Frilla agreed before she looked back towards the monitor, wondering what these two transformers within the pods would be like and if they truly would have luck on their side in bringing them back to base. Sometimes it was suspenseful to not know what was really happening on those missions and she looked thoughtfully towards the two locations once more. "I really hope the teams are so fortunate today."

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

Feralnight glanced between Silverstreak, Stag, and Aerostriker as they spoke, wondering if Silverstreak really could pull of something with her skills in this terrain. The transmetal flier had a point about the muddy, wet soil that tended to cover such a swampy, tropical place and could easily get a bot stuck if they weren't careful. So what could they do if Cheetor had to transform? "Honestly Silverstreak, you might have better luck in the trees than on the ground. As Aerostriker said the terrain isn't going to be as forgiving for transformers and our systems could get pretty messed up if they were clogged up or you were sucked right into one of the sink holes." Feralnight agreed, at this rate thinking about the possible situations if they met the Predacons to the location which they very well might.

Looking forward again she could see they were eventually coming towards their destination, "Unfortunately, if Cheetor ever has to transform she may have no choice but to resort to the tree tops just to have an advantage or a large rock, a root, something solid to prevent her from becoming a cybertronian fossil."She told them.