"More Than Meets The Eye: Part III"

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: This will be the conclusion for this three-part episode. Pick up where you left off in Part II. If Wintersong is available, we MIGHT introduce Tigerhawk later in this episode. ))

"Stand by, Rhinox," "Stay put. I'm sendin' Whitegrazer back ta check things out."

The engineer did so with his chain gun in his hand by his side, his optics scanning the room, its floor and ceiling, eventually passing Nemesis every so often in case she was a part of this some how. He didn't think so but he had to be cautious about everything and everyone since Optimus was so vulnerable. He had to be ready for anything. Fortunately, the Predacon seeking refuge with them had remain just as still he was and just as quiet. His vision may not have been as clear and precise in the darkness as Nemesis's or Rattrap's, but he managed; he could see and make out most objects with their reflective surfaces and detect movement. If it was a Predacon infiltrating their base, why hadn't Sentinel alerted them? Was it Umbra who was capable of disguising himself? Or had the Predacons developed some kind of stealth device to block Sentinel from detecting their signatures? It was more likely to be the shapeshifter. And speaking of which, was it really Nemesis in the room with him? His fingers fidgeted a little on his large, powerful weapon.

"Rhinox, are you and Optimus all right? What happened?"

"We're fine," he answered the white equine softly, assuming it was really her. Well, as "fine" as Optimus could be considering his critical condition. "I don't know what happened. I suddenly lost power, and it's delaying my operating on Optimus. It seems suspicious." Rhinox stayed where he was while Whitegrazer investigated the room. He glanced at Nemesis finding it somewhat interesting that she continued to migrate to him or simply the medical bay where things were quieter and calmer now. He assumed she sought silence or that she didn't want to waste her time being bothered by the other Maximals. Perhaps she even preferred his company over the rest, tolerating his somber and gentle personality.

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

Everyone's audio sensors in the room directed them to the same sound as it scurried away toward the hangar. Rhinox narrowed his crimson optics for a moment wondering who it could be in the vents. A Predacon snooping around on their own? The shapeshifter disguised as Rattrap or Aurora? They were the only two Maximals small enough to scamper so quickly through the ventilation system and make very little noise albeit enough noise to be noticed on purpose or accidentally. Of course, the real Rattrap was on the bridge, and as far he knew, the real Aurora was till in the CR.

Curiously watching Nemesis exit the infirmary without saying anything, Rhinox assumed she had her own agenda and wasn't going to follow the sound of the unknown bot that was navigating through the vents. "Go," he told Whitegrazer. "Treat the situation as if it were an intruder because at the moment, without them identifying themselves and tampering with our power, they're trespassing." "Be careful," he added a moment later.

"Rattrap, someone is in our ventilation system. Whitegrazer is investigating toward the hangar bay," he updated the rat over his comm. link.

"Copy that, Big Green," the acting Commander returned before opening an channel to the TransMetal cheetah. "Cheetor, change o' plans. I don't know how far you are on dat CR chamber, but I need you ta give 'Grazer some back up at the hangar. Possibly an intruder in de vents. Whoever it is knocked out power to the med bay."

Shoved aside by Ironclaw, Rattrap stumbled a little and then glared at him but managed to keep the bonds in his grasp instead of dropping them. He was about to say something when Banshee spoke up.

"Don't think about taking ONE MORE step, soldier! Hands up and turn around, now!"

The rodent would have admired Banshee's courage had he cared to be more brave than he really was. She dived right in and confronted the large badger with her weapon drawn. "Don't you understand the incriminating evidence against you, Ironclaw, with dat surveillance video?" He pointed to the monitor that was displaying a paused image of Ironclaw damaging the repair chamber with its occupant inside. "We don't know if you're you or if you really attacked Nexus in the CR. We aren't just gonna let ya roam around like a free-range chicken. The best way ta handle this is if you stay put and let us deal with it. De less involved you are, the more innocent you look. So put on the bonds an' let Banshee question you!" He moved closer to Ironclaw, holding out the "cuffs" again, but kept enough space between them that he was out of the badger's reach should Banshee fire at him and Ironclaw use Rattrap as his personal shield to absorb her shots. "Why do you always gotta make things more difficult for everybody else?" he asked rhetorically.

[Wintersong]

((As I've said I've been having some problems in real life on top of school keeping me distracted and lacking much motivation to write as of late. I admit I have a terrible track record the last year or so of this but I am trying to stay active as I can. I truly am sorry each time for a hold up but been kinda a rough year between my own family problems on top of college school work. Which might I add, makes me miss high school but I have caught up on things and hopefully can make this a decent post.))

Wintersong didn't know what to say, listening to the accusations but doubting this highly, especially since she found it hard to believe. It was at least a few minutes between the time her and Ironclaw had talked to him being in the bridge did this all occur and it took everything she had not to tell Nemesis to back off in a much more hostile manner then the likes of the others, finding herself having to bite her tongue and hold back. If she did speak she feared she would say something she would regret and was not so keen to be fighting her comrades when Ironclaw was likely going to only make this worse.

Finally though, things began to settle as Nemesis walked off and Nexus was escorted away by Landslide, her optics glaring towards the elder as she gripped her swords she still held in hand but were lowered at her sides. Something about the Prime really rubbed her the wrong way and she couldn't help a gut feeling that he was trying to do this on purpose, agreeing with Whitegrazer that Ironclaw always did something with purpose and much as he might be reckless he owned up to his actions, did them for his own reasons but there was reason behind it. Besides he had not even finished his last sentence before all this had occurred and now he was being defiant, which she realized the alert by Sentinal about the black out which caused the feline to realize she had become lost in thought.

Yet, this wasn't over as Banshee seemed to be turning left and right with her weapon making a little tense to think the psychiatrist was a little too trigger happy all of a sudden. But out of reflex, Wintersong immediately acted at last and pushed herself between the bat and Ironclaw with a slight glare, "Put your weapon away bat, do what you do best and QUESTION him not threaten to fire on your own comrade. I know Ironclaw is innocent." Wintersong growled stubbornly before looking back, meeting Ironclaw's gaze with a flash of concern and likely the only one who wasn't accusing him. "Rattrap to answer your question before, he was with me before the shooting occurred talking. But I have doubts he could have made it to the CR chambers and done all that then came to the bridge in a matter of a few minutes." She explained to him, hoping a bit more of an explanation might shed more doubt on everything before she looked to Ironclaw again, "Please Ironclaw listen to Rattrap, we both know your innocent, prove it to the others." She added, almost pleading.

The conversation earlier did still sting a bit knowing he wanted her to avoid being caught in his problems, but this was one of those moments Wintersong was on Ironclaw's side. She cared about him, it was one thing that influenced her getting between him and Banshee but at the same time she knew for a fact the shapeshifter couldn't have known this. "Besides, the shapeshifter has never seen Ironclaw's interactions with me so I am further finding it difficult to see Ironclaw would do such a thing." Wintersong added. Though deep down, Wintersong truly hoped she was right about the transmetal badger standing before her and that somehow this Zodiac hadn't known about her and Ironclaw's own relationship as of late.

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

A low growl of annoyance left her as Spineback glared coldly towards the spider, "Restraint is unnecessary." Spineback muttered as she retracted her weapon, realizing that her arm had been raised out of reflex and carefully rubbed the area. Just how long could she hold this virus back? If it was showing her flashes of the past then what was to follow after her times once as an offworlder in the Great War? She dreaded to know honestly and it took a lot of will to hold it back and no reveal it to Inferno and Tarantulas, and now Quickstrike as he arrived. Terrosaur and Waspinator though looked in bad shape, seeing Starshadow had done a good number on them. "That panther is becoming a real pain in the skid plate."

Of course, the saurian knew she was as much to blame for that situation, having been paying attention to other things then the monitor that had been trained upon Starshadow before the others had left ad the result had been her being knocked out until their return. Primus help her if she even remained on Megatron's good side. Which in speaking of Megatron, she turned to check on the tyrant, stepping closer but gasping audibly as she found herself optic to optic with who she remembered as her drill instructor back in the Decepticon Army, but the name of him escaped her as he stared down at her with cruel red optics, which had once made her cringe in fear at one point due to the brutality, but she had eventually learned to face up to that instructor and it was his training that helped mold her into who she was today. But again, she shook her head vigorously, forcing the image back as she would not allow herself to succumb to the affects so easily.

And the look on Megatron's face had her concerned they were losing their leader to it already. "Megatron sir," Spineback spoke up a bit loudly, hoping to draw his attention from whatever he was looking at. "Sir if you can hear me, we are working on the antidote as best we can. Try and steel your will as best you can my Liege," She told him before looking back at Tarantulas as he worked but she would be better suited at analyzing Megatron's progress then helping with the virus, knowing now she likely would have done well to have learned the more viral parts of viruses and such aside from having skill in repairing just near-fatal wounds. "We'd fair better in having nanomachines from that Zodiac mech or Nemesis." She sighed, beginning to kick herself mentally for being so slow to study Starshadow's version as well. "Slag, even Starshadow's would maybe help in a cure."

((Been a while since I've done this long a post. But I hope I've covered everything and if what I have planned to help lessen my work the next two weeks goes smoothly, I can peek in more during the day then rather then waiting at night or longer then needed. And hopefully Tigerhawk can be introduced as I am excited to still give him a shot.))

[Night-Hunter]

((OOC: Ok, what's going on? I've been busy.))

[una]

((OOC: You do the best you can, Wintersong. ))

"We're fine," he answered the white equine softly, assuming it was really her. Well, as "fine" as Optimus could be considering his critical condition. "I don't know what happened. I suddenly lost power, and it's delaying my operating on Optimus. It seems suspicious."

"Good," she was glad they were okay. Though, someone was going to have to fix the power or at least, the backup power should kick in. She didn't know why the emergency power systems didn't come on in the medical bay. Maybe Landslide could fix it. If he was done with Nexus. She contacted Landslide with her com-link, "Landslide, if you are finished with your repairs on Nexus, would you come to the medical bay to fix the power? Rhinox can't really finish on his repairs with Optimus in this pitch blackness."

She noticed Nemesis exiting the medical bay. She left Nemesis be. She chuckled to herself. After all, she had been watching over Nemesis, and she was starting to see that Nemesis wanted some space, which she was willing to give. She was just protective. Maybe a bit over-protective she would admit. She just didn't want anything to happen to Nemesis. She wanted Nemesis to be a part of this team. She wished. But at the end of the day, it was Nemesis' choice. No one else's.

"Go," he told Whitegrazer. "Treat the situation as if it were an intruder because at the moment, without them identifying themselves and tampering with our power, they're trespassing." "Be careful," he added a moment later.

"I will do my best," she smiled at Rhinox and then added, "Keep com-links open. Just in case." She headed towards the exit, but before she left, she looked at both Rhinox and Optimus. They will be okay, she told herself. After all, the Predacon seemed to have wanted something, but didn't want to be seen. She wondered what they would be after. Wait, they were infected with the virus. They could be trying to see if they had a cure. Which they did.

She headed towards the hangar bay and looked around. She watched and listened. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just the usual ticks, cracks, and humming sounds of the hull. He or she had to be here as she heard them heading towards this direction. She searched to see if,maybe, they were hiding.

"Where are they?"

Blackarachnia did head towards the hangar bay, but she wasn't stupid. She knew the Maximals would try to flank her there, so she tricked them and headed towards a different area. Somewhere small. She went through the ventilation shaft. She had to be quick, though, before the Maximals catch wind of where she really was. It was then she noticed Nemesis, going inside a small storage room. So who was talking to Nemesis? Did Megatron send someone? Grrr... if he did, if Nemesis gave him the cure, leaving her empty handed, Tarantulas would bring her torment. She needed to--

Something caught her eye. There was a shaft, heading towards some Maximal's quarters. She crawled through, peeking at the room. Must be a room for someone tall. Landslide, Orcariner, or... that horse lady. The vibe she got off the room seemed to match the horse's demeanor. The whole meditating, peaceful vibe. It was disgusting, but since that horse lady was preoccupied at the moment, maybe she could use this room to lure Nemesis here and have a small chat. She would use her comlink, but since Nemesis was chatting, she didn't want the other person on the other line to realize she is there.

So she decided to play coy, going back to the direction Nemesis went. Noticing the Decepticon turned Predacon female, Blackarachnia remained hidden. She whispered towards her own computer, "Computer, establishing a link towards the Predacon Nemesis. Text only. "

"Acknowledged."

Blackarachnia crawled back to the Maximal's room and transformed, typing the message: Meet me at that quarters five doors to your left.

((OOC: I hope my post is all right, especially the Blackarachnia part. Also, is there anyone else besides Landslide that could fix the power? I know Landslide is busy repairing Nexus, but I didn't know who else. ))

[starshadow]

((OOC: Let's see...Ironclaw is being framed by Zodiac who is disguised as Nexus. Banshee's incharge of his interorgation, Optimus is in the med bay I think. For the Preds...Megs is having a medical treatment from Spineback, Ranty and Arachnitron, Umbra is off to find Zodiac, Star is trapped in her personal madness in one of the rooms, Terry, waspy are down, QS is hallucinating stuff. It's a lot..))

[DarkSpark]

OOC: Here's my post at last....And I apologize in advance for Terrorsaur, pray he never becomes leader

Megatron was at a loss for words, something that never happened to him what with his silver tongue and cunning intellect, but it was not everyday that he came face to face with the undisputed greatest hero in Predacon history, the original Megatron himself, first and greatest leader of the decepticons! Oh sure, there had been others who had followed in his footsteps, and technically Galvatron and Megatron had been one and the same, but Galvatron had never truly recovered after his tragic exposure to the plasma pits, and every would be successor to Megatron's throne, from Scorponok to Deathsaurus, had ultimately failed to surpass their beloved predecessor's shining legacy...It was for this reason that he himself had chosen to name himself after his ancestor, knowing it to be a name everyone, maximal and predacon alike, feared and respected even now, and which he believed was the one name most worthy of himself. This was not arrogance on his part despite what some fools may have believed, it was ordained, it was his destiny to carry out his namesake's will and carry on his legacy of conquest and glory for the betterment of all their kind, to avenge the injustices dealt them by the descendants of the hated Autobots! To lead the predacons to freedom and ultimate power, with him and him alone as their one true leader!

"Then why have you not done this yet, Little Tyrant?" his namesake asked of him, his ruby gaze never wavering, speaking to him almost like a parent would to a wayward child who was struggling in school, sounding more curious than accusing, but still going straight to the point.

"...A number of unexpected and unwanted variables have gotten in my way to this point" Megatron admitted, scowling in anger, this all feeling rather uncomfortably similar to back during his apprenticeship with Cryotek, only worse since Megatron had never truly respected the condescending gangster whereas his elder had been his hero and inspiration since as long as he could remember, so the thought of failing to live up to his expectations of him made the transmetal feel...genuine shame?

"Always expect the unexpected Little Tyrant, and plan ahead to counter any and all possible threats that may stand in your way, one who deems himself my successor should already know this, given all I had to put up with in my lifetime" Megatron the Elder explained, not citing any examples of his own defeats or victories, but making it clear he would have expected his young counterpart to have studied and learned from all his greatest victories as well as his defeats.

"I know Elder, I know this all too well, and I have made serious strides at great cost and personal expense to get this far, sacrificing my proper standing in Predacon society and becoming an outlaw to oppose both the cowards who dare consider themselves our leadership caste as well as Prime's descendant's, the tyrannical maximal elders" Megatron explained further, unable to hide the hate and contempt he had for both corrupt political parties.

Megatron the Elder scowled himself this time before saying "Decepticon descendants who collaborate with and tolerate Autobot spawn...Truly, my kin have fallen on hard times, but this is still not enough to account for all of your shortcomings."

"My crew have also failed to live up to my expectations of them, alas" Megatron the Younger confessed, both annoyed and embarrassed by the limited number of truly competent and faithful followers he had to work with, their latest performances having especially fallen short of what he desired from their work.

Megatron the Elder looked around the bridge at those few present who his young heir had to work with, shook his head in disapproval, and replied "Good help has always been hard to find, even back in my day, but even then, I always managed to make the best of what I had to put up with, and was never short of truly faithful officers to carry out my will. You have potential Little Tyrant, but you surround yourself with fools and scavengers, and no matter how easily manipulated they might be, they can only take you so far on the path to greatness...Which of course begs the question, why haven't you followed my instructions to the letter if these peons are the best you can manage to scrounge up?"

Megatron's the Younger's optics widened in shock, dreading that this question had been coming and knowing immediately what his elder meant, replying "I have the Golden Disks and the knowledge and power they possess in my care once again Elder, once I am well again, I shall put them to good use."

"That doesn't answer my question, Little Tyrant, why have you not USED them yet?" Megatron the Elder demanded, speaking more forcefully this time as he continued to lock eyes with his progeny.

Wintersong wrote: And the look on Megatron's face had her concerned they were losing their leader to it already. "Megatron sir," Spineback spoke up a bit loudly, hoping to draw his attention from whatever he was looking at. "Sir if you can hear me, we are working on the antidote as best we can. Try and steel your will as best you can my Liege," She told him before looking back at Tarantulas as he worked but she would be better suited at analyzing Megatron's progress then helping with the virus, knowing now she likely would have done well to have learned the more viral parts of viruses and such aside from having skill in repairing just near-fatal wounds. "We'd fair better in having nanomachines from that Zodiac mech or Nemesis." She sighed, beginning to kick herself mentally for being so slow to study Starshadow's version as well. "Slag, even Starshadow's would maybe help in a cure."

"Don't bother, he's clearly lost to his delusions at this point" Tarantulas replied callously, half hoping the tyrant would succumb completely and spare the spider the trouble of having to deal with himself anymore, a quick drop into the lava below and his infected corpse would no longer be a threat to him.

"You make valid points, but Zodiac and Nemesis are, for obvious reasons, beyond our reach, and as for Starshadow..." the spider mused in thought, before adding "Feel free to go after her for a sample of her tech yourself if you wish, but after all the trouble Umbra went through to capture her, it would be a shame if she got loose...AGAIN."

Meanwhile, Inferno was growing restless, fearful for his "queen's" safety, worried for the colony's future if he did not recover soon.

He turned to those gathered, the spinosaur and the spider, and exclaimed "You two were ordered to devise a cure for the Royalty, why have you not done this yet?!"

For Inferno, Megatron's word was absolute, excuses meant little to him, if the Royalty told him to do something, he would do it, no matter who he had to burn or whatever trauma he had to endure to make it come to pass, Megatron's word was law and his will MUST be carried out at all times...A saner bot might have understood the limits scientists like Spineback and Tarantulas had to deal with in the process of devising something as complicated as a cure to a mysterious virus, but not Inferno, to him these "drones" were either dragging their feet, were too stupid to do their jobs, or were faltering in their loyalty to Megatron, any explanation of which was intolerable to him.

"If YOU have a degree in advanced science and medicine then by all means insect, go right ahead and cure our great and glorious leader yourself, if not, then shut your snaggle-toothed mouth and be quiet, my analysis and breakdown of this disease will not be aided or hurried along by your petty tantrums" Tarantulas retorted, the bug's presence here getting on his nerves more and more, his blind fanaticism to his master both irritating and pathetic to the spider's eyes.

"THEN STOP STALLING AND DO YOUR JOB DRONE!!!" Inferno yelled, grabbing Tarantulas by the front of his hazmat suit and lifting him up into the air as the spider's equipment continued its study of the virus, the ant oblivious to the strides it had been making.

"GGGGGGAAAHHH! Unhand me you brainless bug!" Tarantulas spat in indignation, resisting the urge to shoot him with his shoulder weapons for fear of damaging his containment suit before a cure could be synthesized.

Meanwhile, Terrorsaur dreamed in stasis of himself wearing a crown and cape while sitting on a throne made from the remains of both Megatron and Optimus Primal, all the while being served energon cubes by beautiful, curvaceous femmes.

"Ahhhh, its good to be King" Terrorsaur mused, as a particularly lovely servant fed him another cube, giggling with glee at the thought of serving her master personally, the transmetal flyer grinning roguishly at her as she did.

[Phoenix]

Nemesis listened quietly as Umbra went on to explain himself. Fortunately the ninja didn't waste any time, keeping his message relatively short and concise.

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

A slight smile appeared on the female's face as she took in each word of the report, not that Umbra was actually present to see it. This virus the ninja spoke of had to be the same as the one Zodiac had unleashed upon the Maximals, the one the little fuzor had so diligently worked on a cure for. So already Umbra had given her a means to return and perhaps a way to defeat Zodiac at his own game.

"I am indeed interested," she then responded after a brief pause to weigh her options against each other. For a brief moment all that anger and frustration that had been building up within her faded away. This was almost too perfect. Obtaining the cure from the lab shouldn't be a big problem, since she'd been present during its creation and knew exactly which vial contained it.

She was about to tell Umbra as much when she suddenly received a text, one that seemed to prove who had been climbing around inside the Axalon vents.

Meet me at that quarters five doors to your left.

Nemesis raised her optic ridge as she looked up at the ventilation shaft running above her head. The fact that BlackArachnia was aware of her location revealed that she was indeed inside the Axalon, attempting to stay out of sight. But more importantly.. the fact that the female spider had sent her a message via text proved that she was attempting to keep a low profile. Was she trying to avoid Umbra? Perhaps she wasn't here on Megatron's orders..

Now things were really starting to get interesting, the avian female thought, as she opened the link to Umbra again.

"Proceed with caution. The Axalon is on high alert," she warned him, decided to hear what the female spider had to say before meeting up with Umbra.

She then cut the link and left the small room, a space much too confined for her liking but she needed the privacy. After scanning the entrance of the quarters BlackArachnia had suggested, she quietly slipped inside.

The decor in the room left little doubt of whose quarters this was, the design was fairly simple and neat, with an area carpet in a central location. This was the white mare's quarters, Nemesis was sure. The avian female crossed her arms and waited.

Nexus stretched as he stepped away from the machine that was now in the process of powering down. Landslide certainly seemed content with the results.

Aye, everything in working order. You must keep on on yer maintenance very well. Fairly efficient too, almost puts an old gas guzzler like me to shame. The beetle let out a laugh, then walked over to Nexus Prime Alright, now lets get you repaired.Luckily yer internals seem to be fine. That optic is somethin' Rhinox is gonna have to assist me on though.

His words brought a chuckle from the aging admiral, and he graciously accepted the offer when Landslide moved to assist him with walking.

"I'm fine, I assure you," Nexus told him, his tone friendly and calm, but for the sake of keeping up appearances he allowed the large insect to help. "But let us hurry so that we can help the others with whatever caused the blackout and make sure everyone's all right."

He already knew what had caused it. It had to be related to that signal Sentinel had picked up not long ago. Hopefully the intruder would get themselves caught or better yet eliminated so that he didn't have to be bothered with it. For as potent as his powers were, they did not give him the opportunity to be multiple places at once. And if the Maximals blamed this shapeshifter for the blackout, that would take suspicion away from Ironclaw. No. Better they rid themselves of the intruder sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile life was starting to stir in the still occupied CR chamber. Aurora's life signs were stabilizing, her repairs now complete, and so she was starting to wake up.

Still groggy, she stepped out of the now open chamber, her legs a little shaky at first. She had expected at least some of the others to be there when she woke up, but instead she was greeted with.. silence.

"Where'd everybody go?," she muttered to herself, just before noticing the damage done to the other CR chamber.. and pieces from what appeared to be a camera were still laying on the floor by the door. Now she was starting to get concerned, her optics darting across the room searching for any more damage.. or signs of life for that sake. It was then that she noticed voices coming from near the bridge, so she started making her way there.

[NaitoKage]

"Cheetor, change o' plans. I don't know how far you are on dat CR chamber, but I need you ta give 'Grazer some back up at the hangar. Possibly an intruder in de vents. Whoever it is knocked out power to the med bay."

Cheetor nodded as he stood up Got it! Cheetor then rushed down the hall, moving past Landslide and Nexus Prime as he made his way to the hanger. As Cheetor came to the hanger, he went up near the wall as cover, putting his hands together, then brought them up as he sweeped the hanger with his weapons. With nothing visible to him, he jumped forward and rolled behind a crate into a crouched position, then stood up sweeping the rest of the hanger to look a disturbance. He raised an optic ridge All clear.. I'll check the maintenance shaft, keep a lookout Whitegrazer.

Cheetor walked over towards the direction of the Maintenance shaft, carefully taking the cover off and holding it up like a shield if anything in the shaft decided to attack him, after a moment he set down the cover. He then crawled into the shaft, a much easier job for him to do compared to someone like Whitegrazer or Rhinox, as Cheetor was only a little bit taller then Rattrap.

As he walked in the shaft, he sniffed the air carefully with a cringe, it was a very familiar scent, one that made his chrome plated hide shutter in disgust.. Spiders. Just the thought alone made him want to go back, his memories of being tormented by Tarantulas's attempt at cyber cannibalism coming back to mind.

______________________________________

"But let us hurry so that we can help the others with whatever caused the blackout and make sure everyone's all right."

"Landslide, if you are finished with your repairs on Nexus, would you come to the medical bay to fix the power? Rhinox can't really finish on his repairs with Optimus in this pitch blackness."

Landslide watched as Cheetor rushed by, hearing Whitegrazer, he gave a nod. Aye, I'll see what I can do,could be simply a problem with the breaker, but if it's a wire that's been cut.. the Maintance shaft is likely where a problem would be.. Hang on..

Landslide pulled out the datapad he used for the schematics of Optimus, then brought up the schematics of the Axalon and zoomed in on the maintenance shafts, which did also double as a ventilation shaft, though the air didn't lead to the outside as the Axalon was a spaceship, not a building. He pointed along a route of the shaft This should be where the conduit fer the bay runs along, it could be cut at the junction box or along the route. Only problem is.. I'm a bit stout fer crawlin' in those holes. If the line was cut though, I can provide the wire and tools to patch it. Just make sure the breaker is off before ya try patching it, or else whoever is working on it will be fried.

He then made his way to the Hanger, watching Cheetor go into the maintenance shaft for a moment,then walked over to a crate near his work bench helping Nexus sit down. Pulling out his grinder, he cut off the old welds and broken plate from Nexus's back, then started to take measurements for the damaged areas and prepping new patch plates.

_______________________

"I am indeed interested,""Proceed with caution. The Axalon is on high alert,"

Umbra gave a slight smile, even in his state of madness. Understood.

Turning off his mic, he gave a deep breath and focused on recentering himself once again, hearing the voice of his old master once again.. " That's your plan? She may be strong, but you two are helpless. Just give in."

Perhaps, but why give up when I already have my foot in the door? I fear no battle.. nor do I fear you Master. It matters not how many lives I must step over..

Umbra glanced behind him noticing the faint image of a small female transformer with an asymmetrical design and contrasting red and blue color scheme, at her sides the same short swords he always used. She stared him down with narrow black optics "Then show me.."

Umbra transformed to his octopus mode, slithering along the ground towards the waterway, then sat for a moment as the cold water started to pump through his system cooling his body down, he then started to swim up stream towards the Maximal base. Being in the water prevented his detection from radar, while circulating water through his mantle and jetting it out to bring his thermal signature closer to the temperature of the ambient water making his detection from infrared scanners reduced greatly.

Making his way to the waterfall, Umbra began to climb up it slowly, flattening his body along the cliff side in an attempt to act more aerodynamic to the rushing water.

[Mystrea]

(I know I have left Dirge behind a bit but I will pick him back up now. I will carry on with him under the assumption that Night-terror is locked up indefinitely since we have no idea when Admirlalgrim will return.)

Ironclaw turned around only to have Banshee training her pistol on him. His optics narrowed going from the weapon to the bat's optics. It was a small firearm and wouldn't likely cause that much damage, depending on where she shot of course. He was about to approach the newcomer in an attempt t disarm her but Wintersong came out of no where and stood inbetween them. The tension had just shot back up again after the badger thought they were going to progress away from this slightly in order to find out what was going on. She did exactly of what he told her to do, not that he thought she would listen, she was stubborn like himself. Maybe not as much as he was but it was something they shared. Ironclaw did not want her to get involved or to show attachment to him. He was aware that Maximals probably had a rough idea already but not necessarily the full extent of it. She could be used against him, by both Maximal and Predacon. He was afraid that she may get in the way of his future move, despite his relationship with her.

Wintersong put the bat in her place and turned towards him a few times. She gave him that look would melt most sparks but he stood firm and showed no reaction. His optics flicking from hers, to Banshee's and then to Rattrap. She was pleading with him though, Rattrap was asking him and Banshee was trying to tell him what to do. She knew nothing. Ironclaw found himself in a difficult situation, he knew he wasn't responsible but he agreed with the next course of action, it was the Maximal way. There were laws in place which actually covered these sorts of situations. Sadly all of that was lost here, the leadership has seen to that. The badger placed his hand gently on the Wintersong and gently moved her aside, symbolising that she could also stand down. Stepping forwards he brought his wrists together waiting for Rattrap to "cuff" him and seal his detainment. He wasn't happy about this but it was the only option at this point. His discontent showed on his face when he gave Wintersong a look of finality. To make things worse Aurora was up and exploring and she came across them at probably the worst moment.

******

Dirge had began to slow down as the Predacons pretty much left him behind while they were taking his master away. Whether they were taking him away to lock him up or to his destruction he did not know. There was not enough data. The giant stood in the harsh environment like a statue. The wind blew hard against him, causing sand and dirt to ricochet off him. The wind made s howling sound as it worked it's way trough his skeletal like armor structure. He came to the conclusion that he would not go back those poor excuses for Predacons and venture out on his own. He could survive by himself for extensively long periods of time. He located the nearest source and headed towards it.

[starshadow]

((OOC: OOP, Banshee already took the cuffs from RT. And correction for Mystrea, it's not a small firearm/pistol, it's a battle rifle. *sighs* I'll just...go along with it... ))

Banshee raised an optic ridge when the striped femme pushed herself in between the suspect and herself.

"Put your weapon away bat, do what you do best and QUESTION him not threaten to fire on your own comrade. I know Ironclaw is innocent. Rattrap to answer your question before, he was with me before the shooting occurred talking. But I have doubts he could have made it to the CR chambers and done all that then came to the bridge in a matter of a few minutes. Please Ironclaw listen to Rattrap, we both know your innocent, prove it to the others."

At least finally this femme is talking some sense into him but the bat femme shot her a questioning look when she spoke again

"Besides, the shapeshifter has never seen Ironclaw's interactions with me so I am further finding it difficult to see Ironclaw would do such a thing."

"You speak as if you knew what the shapeshifter knows and where he is...First of all, I have never seen you on the battlefield. Second, any of us could be the shapeshifter, taking forms of the ones we knew..So I am having a hard being convinced that he is innocent unless there's more proof. You could be a witness in my investigation. It's not an option to refuse," she smiled putting her rifle away when Ironclaw finally decides to cooperate and walked towards the computer, making copies of the Axalon's camera footages for reviewing purposes and walked back to the group, putting the cuffs on Ironclaw, fixing her gaze on him and the striped femme, "the both of you, follow me."

[Mystrea]

(Refer to it as that then and not just "gun". Plus it would probably seem small to him anyway.)

[DarkSpark]

OOC: waiting for Wintersong's next post so nothing for Rants, Terry, or Inferno this time, but enjoy the continued exchange between two of Cybertron's greatest monsters!

Darkspark wrote: Megatron's the Younger's optics widened in shock, dreading that this question had been coming and knowing immediately what his elder meant, replying "I have the Golden Disks and the knowledge and power they possess in my care once again Elder, once I am well again, I shall put them to good use."

"That doesn't answer my question, Little Tyrant, why have you not USED them yet?" Megatron the Elder demanded, speaking more forcefully this time as he continued to lock eyes with his progeny.

Megatron was not at all pleased by this inquiry, he had nothing but respect and admiration for his ancestor, something he did not give out lightly to anyone really, but he had his own VERY good reasons for not wanting to carry out his will precisely to the letter.

"Apologies ancestor, but I'm not quite certain what you..." Predacon Megatron began to say, only for his Decepticon counterpart to growl like a beast himself before ripping one of the computer counsels right out of the floor and throwing it so hard it reached all the way over to the far side of the lava pit.

"DO NOT TAKE ME FOR A FOOL, CHILD!" Decepticon Megatron yelled viciously, his anger feeling very much real to the transmetal saurian despite his tenuous grip on reality hanging on.

"THEN DO NOT TAKE ME FOR A FOOL EITHER!" Predacon Megatron yelled back, standing up to confront his namesake, looking him dead in the eye despite their height difference, NO ONE talked to him this way, not even his hero!

Decepticon Megatron seemed taken aback at this display, before breaking out into hearty, evil laughter as he replied "Excellent! Good to see my successor has the gumption to stand his ground rather than cower in fear like an underling, no one who bares my name should bow to another."

Predacon Megatron smiled at this, warmly even, pleased that he and his ancestor were on the same page in this regard at least, but then the decepticon giant added "But that still does not answer my question, why have you not made use of the knowledge I left for you?"

Megatron remained silent for a moment or so before answering "Because it is not that simple...."

"Locate the Ark, use the access codes to enter it, and kill Optimus Prime while he sleeps so he cannot lead his autobots against me when I in turn awake in what WILL be this planet's future. Seems fairly simple enough to me, Little Tyrant" Decepticon Megatron retorted dryly, optic brow raised as though his protege didn't know the difference between up and down or right and left.

"Simple for you perhaps, you needn't worry about the possibility of yourself and your faction being erased from the timestream altogether if I went through with your plan" Megatron explained, making it clear that he more than understood the risks involved in carrying out his ancestor's trump card.

Things would no doubt play out perfectly for the decepticons in a history without Optimus Prime, but since the predacon subfaction did not come to be until much later in the war, the original five predacons who would go on to create the predacon faction that would ultimately replace the decepticons, there was no guarantee that he and the predacons as he knew them would continue to exist in the altered history the original Megatron wished for him to create. He himself may never come online in this altered history, or he could be reborn as someone completely different from what he was now, a mere cog in the machine rather the grand architect behind it all. He would rather die than serve someone else, or worse, not exist at all in the first place.

"Not necessarily, Little Tyrant, there were those amongst our ranks who adopted animal forms before the first official Predacons came to be, Laserbeak, Ravage, the Insecticons...Your ilk would continue to exist in one way shape or form" Decepticon Megatron replied nonchalantly.

"Not good enough, I didn't come this far in pursuit of ultimate power and vengeance for all our brethren just so that I could lose it all for the sake of your own success alone. I have no desire to be wiped out of existence altogether, or even to exist in a different state of being from what I am now, especially if all memories of my own ambitions would be erased as well. I must achieve total and absolute victory for the predacons, I want to rule Cybertron in the here and now rather than handover the reigns to someone else..." Predacon Megatron explained, becoming more and more confident in what he was arguing despite who it was he was speaking to, his greatest icon and someone who given his size alone could crush him if he so desired.

"Not even me?" Decepticon Megatron replied with an amused look on his face, arms folded across his chest as he awaited the young Megatron's answer.

Predacon Megatron didn't even pause for nanoklik before answering "Nnnnnnoooo, Not even you."

Decepticon Megatron grinned deviously as he replied "Interesting, very interesting...I am uncertain whether to be proud of you, my descendant, for standing up to me, or absolutely LIVID with you for not carrying out my last will and testament."

"You could always do both, Elder" Predacon Megatron replied jovially, and with that, both warlords engaged in genuine, joyous laughter, two warmongers united in purpose and spirit despite their differences, and one more or less a figment of the other's imagination, Predacon Megatron unable to stop himself from laughing out loud, no longer caring what his underlings thought of his outburst....No doubt that if anyone could see them together or hear their combined laughter, it would send chills down the superstructure of any bot alive.

[Wintersong]

((Sorry Darkspark, was letting other catch up just in case but I'll go ahead and respond with Spineback for now.))

"If only it was that easy." Spineback sighed, knowing Tarantulas was right on both, but it wasn't for lack of trying knowing something could probably help yet was far out of their reach to use it or brought too great of risk of letting out Starshadow. By now, the feline was probably equally suffering from the virus by now if she came into contact with the likes of anyone who had been around Megatron recently. Surely there had to be something in this virus they could find that could be of some use.

Though it seemed that would be slowed down as Inferno had come to the edge of his patience, causing the spinosaurus to turn from the commotion but inwardly was a bit amused of how easily Inferno handled the spider. Maybe any other time she'd entertain the thought of letting the ant burn the spider to a crisp if he was allowed but at the moment they couldn't afford to lose the sneaky spider, his expertise being necessary in the creation of a cure despite how much he probably would just let the rest of them suffer into becoming nothing. "Sub Commander Inferno, I understand your restlessness for our Royalty, but the cure is not that simple. Put Tarantulas down so us drones can do what is necessary to get Lord Megatron back on his feet which unfortunately requires the spider and his knowledge in this area." Spineback said calmly, hoping the small bit of what she knew of Inferno and his mannerisms would help help.

Though her attention soon went back to Megatron and his outburst of a laugh, making her raise an optic ridge in wondering what he could possibly be hallucinating about at a time like this. Probably whatever he had had her looking out for earlier probably played such a part in that role, but she could quickly see his condition was just getting worse at this rate, anyone could see that. "Inferno last time I'll say it, put the spider down so we can get some progress." 'If that's possible.' Spineback added to herself, knowing her own state of mind was barely holding on and she would end up in a similar state as Megatron soon enough.

[starshadow]

((OOC: Dude, you could always check her bio what kind of gun she's carrying..Wintersong, I hope you acknowledge that Banshee has responded to your tigress. I'll assume you're waiting on OOP.))

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: No worries, Winter. I was just letting everyone know in case they weren't following the character bio thread.

My bad, star. I had my mindset stuck on RT having them.

NK, so can Sentinel detect Umbra or not? I read your post as though it was possible but I don't want to just assume and bypass all that thermal or infrared scanning technical mumbo jumbo. ))

Got it!

Rattrap hoped Cheetor would be careful. They didn't know who or what they were dealing with.

"Put your weapon away bat, do what you do best and QUESTION him not threaten to fire on your own comrade. I know Ironclaw is innocent."

Then Wintersong was probably the one so sure. Rattrap couldn't help but wonder if it was a biased certainty, influenced by her feelings toward him. At least the rodent could agree with the tigress telling the female bat to lower her weapon and to question the badger, observing his behavior and whatever else "doctors" like her were supposed to do.

"Rattrap to answer your question before, he was with me before the shooting occurred talking. But I have doubts he could have made it to the CR chambers and done all that then came to the bridge in a matter of a few minutes."

"Exactly," the acting Commander dismissed.

"Please Ironclaw listen to Rattrap, we both know your innocent, prove it to the others." "Besides, the shapeshifter has never seen Ironclaw's interactions with me so I am further finding it difficult to see Ironclaw would do such a thing."

"The guy's been doin' a pretty good job imitating Optimus and Aurora, so he's probably got enough knowledge about all of us ta know how to act around everybody else," the Spy explained. If anyone present knew a lot about espionage, it was Rattrap. He wasn't going to be so easily fooled or presumptuous. Of course, if this wasn't Ironclaw, then where was the real one? Unless Ironclaw has been the shapeshifter ever since he joined their crew. Okay, this was getting to be too much for the rat to handle. Wasn't the monkey awake yet? Oh right, the power outage which was slowing down Rhinox's progress.

"Please Ironclaw listen to Rattrap, we both know your innocent, prove it to the others."

Rattrap watched Ironclaw closely, waiting for a forceful and aggressive retaliation. But to his surprise, it never came. The badger calmly approached and allowed the energy bonds to be placed on his wrists after he gently maneuvered Wintersong to the side. The rat quietly sighed in relief to himself, happy to have avoided a possible shoot-out in the base. With Ironclaw's cooperation, that was one more good mark toward his innocence.

"You speak as if you knew what the shapeshifter knows and where he is...First of all, I have never seen you on the battlefield. Second, any of us could be the shapeshifter, taking forms of the ones we knew..So I am having a hard being convinced that he is innocent unless there's more proof. You could be a witness in my investigation. It's not an option to refuse," "the both of you, follow me."

While Banshee seemed to be taking the same route as Rattrap, he didn't like that she was going to walk off with them. "Where arem?" he inquired with authority. "We still don't know what's goin' on, if dere's an intruder takin' out our power or tryin' ta sabotage our ship," Rattrap reminded her. Then, all of his attention was suddenly pulled to a familiar face that he hadn't seen for a good while. Just like that, the little ermine Fuzor who was like a niece to him appeared and seemed to stop everyone in their tracks.

"Aurora! Am I glad to see you," the TransMetal rat said with joy considering what she had been through, being shot and all and almost dying. But he became very serious just as quickly. "You are Aurora, aren't you?" He took in deep breaths in search of her scent. Then again, Ironclaw smelled like Ironclaw, but like he questioned himself earlier, what if he had always been the shapeshifter? And he still couldn't exclude Nexus from the same possibility considering all of this started happening when he, Night Terror and Dirge showed up. "How're you feelin'?" he asked the young Fuzor despite his eagerness to get back on to the console and try locating the source of the isolated power failure, why Sentinel was slacking, and who was crawling around in their ducts.

-----

"Landslide, if you are finished with your repairs on Nexus, would you come to the medical bay to fix the power? Rhinox can't really finish on his repairs with Optimus in this pitch blackness."

Although there was a great deal of no action and little threat at the moment now that the crawler in the vents had moved away, the engineer still gripped his chain gun in his hand, his index finger gently and slowly rubbing the trigger while Whitegrazer called to Landslide, his optics still scanning the room.

"I will do my best," "Keep com-links open. Just in case."

Rhinox nodded to the white equine and watched her leave, leaving him alone with Primal once more.

"Hang in there, Optimus," the chief medical officer said softly to him, surrounded in their darkness and silence. Of course, the Maximal leader made no motion of acknowledgement and remained dead to the world, so to speak. But it made the rhinoceros feel better if he continued talking to him, reminding him that he was still alive and he was grateful for that. Fortunately, the TransMetal gorilla remained stable despite the blackout. For now, anyway.