Time Is But A Window

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: No worries, Wildfire. I was just a little concerned, but thank you for squeezing in a post today. I'm sure it was a busy week for all us. I hope everyone had a good holiday with their families. ))

"But I wasn't..," "I mean I meant no disrespect, Optimus, but it's pretty obvious what you're doing while most of the rest of us sleep.. or at least try to!,"

Well, his tactic seemed to have backfired on him. But at least it was getting her to talk, which was all he really wanted. He wasn't looking to punish her, but intimidating her, even if it had been in a more subtle and somewhat lighthearted manner, obviously was not a good idea in her fragile state now that he was aware of her suffering. It was clear to him that Aurora worried about him just as much as he worried about her. And since she called him out on it, perhaps if he vaguely touched upon his own demons, it would show her how much he could identify with her about what she was going through when it came to trauma, nightmares and sleepless nights. And how he sought for help. As she gestured to the mess of scribbles and engravings on his quarters' walls and his desk, he glanced at them thoughtfully before looking back at her. "Yes, I am haunted," Optimus admitted with a soft voice to the Fuzor. "When I sleep, I'm still awake," if that made any sense. "I think about the friends we've lost in this war, so they're never forgotten. What Zodiac has done to us and Nexus Prime. And the Vok continue to plague my mind... or my spark," he wasn't quite sure after the agonizing scans and abductions they performed on him. "But... talking to someone helps very much so that I don't have to endure it alone. Whitegrazer comforts my spark, and her meditation works wonders. And Rhinox eases my thoughts. I still find rest so that I'm able to continue leading this team of extraordinary Maximals and Predacons." The last thing he wanted was to be compromised too much to be fit to lead.

"Then why return there?," "I'm not even a citizen of Cybertron, I have absolutely no ties to that place, so if the rest of you go there I won't be coming with. I can't,"

Primal studied her emotion intently and listened to her honesty closely. He hesitated commenting on the subject at that time so he could gather his thoughts on the matter and let her calm down. As it much as it hurt him to hear her say that, he completely understood her perspective. It was obviously touchy subject for her.

After his apology to her, Optimus observed her entire body collapse from within, his optics watching that lonely tear roll down her cheek, and it broke his spark. He often forgot just how young she was because of her intelligence and wisdom. But she was still fragile and inexperienced with coping with these kinds of atrocities in war. He couldn't treat her the way he would treat the older Maximals. He had to be more delicate and empathetic. Aurora wiped her tear away before he could, and now he saw just how much she was going through and trying to handle it all on her own when she didn't have to.

"I'm sorry..," "And I promise you.. It won't happen again. Believe me, I didn't mean to cause so much trouble, I .. I think about it every day, and I can't sleep because of the nightmares.. I just wish I could reset time, to make it so none of it ever happened."

And there it was. He was so relieved that she was opening up to him because she shouldn't bear the burden alone. Kneeling in front of the Chief Biologist while she sat on the chair that was too large for her, Primal's expression completely changed to a sorrowful one, and he watched in fear as her body trembled while the words spilled out of her mouth. So much pain. If he couldn't take it away, he opened he could at least lessen it for her.

"I really didn't want to cause any trouble, Optimus.. You've got to believe that. I only wanted to investigate what that strange signal I detected was all about.."

Optimus reached for her and gently and quite effortlessly scooped her off of the chair and into his arms for an embrace. His hold was firm and against his body which placed her head over his shoulder but not too tight, like a father hugging his little daughter after she had a nightmare or witnessed something terrible. His gesture may have been against military protocol for a commanding officer, but he wasn't exactly a soldier; he was still an exploration captain and a scientist, even if he had to leave the latter behind in order to focus on leading his crew against impossible odds. "I know you didn't mean to, Aurora," he said softly in her ear. "It's alright," he assured her. "It's alright," he repeated while he wished he could simply absorb her troubles to free her from them entirely. It pained him to have such a young Maximal who had already endured a lifetime of losses and trauma instead of experiencing a kinder, more joyful childhood like many bots her age. "You can always talk to me, Whitegrazer, or whomever you feel comfortable with. We may not be able to control the nightmares, but we can help you cope with the pain. Are you taking something to help you sleep?" It was only an assumption judging by her consistent tardiness as of lately and unkempt appearance. "I don't want you to become dependent on anything." What probably felt like ten minutes, Optimus finally released the young Maximal after a couple minutes passed setting her feet on the floor while he continued kneeling there. "You are no longer confined to the base," he annulled her punishment. "Despite everything you went through, you fought courageously with all of us during the Viper incident."

Then he decided to address what she said earlier about their original home, but he tried to be as compassionate as he could for such a delicate topic. "As for Cybertron... it's our duty to return, especially if we have prisoners whose crimes need to be addressed. I know you hate the idea of leaving this planet. It's a beautiful world. It's diverse and peaceful. It's all you've ever known, so I understand your attachment to it, but, Aurora, we're not supposed to be here. If the opportunity arises that we can depart leaving no threats behind, I won't force you to come, but I will highly advise against staying. Once we return to Cybertron, it's unlikely that I'll come back. Not by my choice, but by higher authority." Which meant that they might not ever see each other again, because there was no guarantee that anyone would be allowed to travel back to Earth at this precise time in its history, which he would hate but he had to do what he felt was right. He went on to explain, "You see, I have to go back because I intend on advocating for those who have been wronged, even by my own hands. I intend on taking a stand against the injustices and uncovering the truth, and try to make Cybertron a better place for Maximals and Predacons alike." And it might not go well, he thought but opted to spare her what could happen to him in doing so. She had enough on her mind as it was. Hopefully his little lecture could help her understand why most of them were determined to go back home. There was more to it, but since he was uncertain about the precise time frame they had traveled back in the past to, it wasn't worth getting into that for the time being.

"Now," the Maximal leader started to change the topic once more since she had finally confessed why she had ventured out in the first place, "let's talk about this strange signal you said you had detected at the cave. Were you able to identify it? Was it of Vok origin?"

"So has Optimus or Whitegrazer or anyone talked to him yet?"

"No," Rhinox answered Blackarachnia while he waited for Quickfix's response. "And no one speaks to him without Optimus's permission." He glanced at the monitor she was in charge of to see what Zodiac was doing before the new bot's voice captured his attention again over the Axalon's frequency. At least the shape shifter seemed to have given up trying to escape. The modifications Aurora and Whitegrazer had put in place had proven to be very effective. Clearly, though, the renegade was opting not to eat. Was it some sort of protest? Or did he simply not have an appetite yet?

"Pleasure to speak with you Rhinox, my name is Quickfix and no, I'm uninjured despite the overload my pod took. Seems a decently powerful surge really messed with its systems."

Quickfix. The engineer recalled that name on the ship's roster, but he failed to know anything more about him. Perhaps Optimus did. "A quantum surge to be precise," Rhinox clarified with him but didn't bother explaining the details behind it. That meant it that it was very likely that this young Maximal - he assumed - was a TransMetal. It was a relief that he was fully functional. "We have an aerial and ground unit on their way."

"Ran into trouble along the way, huh?"

"To say the least," he answered in his deep voice and figured it was as a good time as any to let him know who they were dealing with. "We had been ordered to chase Megatron and his Predacons down after he stole the golden disk and a vessel named the Darksyde on Cybertron. Both ships were heavily damaged in the pursuit, so Optimus ordered all stasis pods to be deployed in orbit before we crashed on this planet in case we wouldn't survive." He interrupted himself when he noticed Zodiac fiddling with something in his hands through the video feed. It was a probably a lot for Quickfix to absorb anyway, so the Chief Medic gave him a moment to process it.

Bringing up the live video on his own monitor, Rhinox paused it and took a snap shot. Then he enlarged it so he could see what the small object was in the shape shifter's possession. "Sorry to interrupt, Optimus," he hailed him on his personal comm. link, "but it looks like Zodiac has another identification chip with him in his cell."

When his friend's voice came through, Primal closed his optics with a small sigh and turned his head away from Aurora knowing who the chip belonged to. When he opened his optics, he found himself looking at Nexus Prime's journal on his desk. His mentor's I.D. chip... The last physical piece from his body... No doubt Zodiac had used it countless times to his advantage after he had murdered the Admiral. The idea was sickening to Optimus. The pretender was probably showing it off now as an attempt to bate someone to visit him; most likely wanting the TransMetal gorilla himself. Optimus wasn't going to fall for it. Not right now. Zodiac could wait a little longer before he'd get any interaction with anyone. "Thank you, Rhinox," he replied looking back to the ermine Fuzor. He wasn't going to abandon his conversation with Aurora since it was very important to both of them and he was making progress with her. "Just keep an eye on him. What's the status on the pod?"

"I've established contact with him. His name is Quickfix," the rhinoceros explained. "Airazor, Tigerhawk, Cheetor, Onyx and Rattrap are on their way to retrieve him."

"Alright. Copy that," Optimus affirmed before ending their transmission. Quickfix, he grew thoughtful for a moment. The young, enthusiastic Predacon who had volunteered to join the Axalon crew after his unfortunate dealings within Cryotek's ensemble of criminals, he recalled his file. Quickfix had been seeking redemption after serving time for his illegal hacking and burglary activities, and a new life. He had been reverted into a protoform on Cybertron and placed into a stasis pod prior to the exploration Captain meeting him, so he didn't personally know him. Yet. But he had one of those profiles that Optimus would gladly welcome into his crew; another member perfect for his initiative of having Maximals, Predacons and even Vok working together toward a common goal.

"Sorry about that, Aurora," Primal apologized to her. "Please continue," he encouraged her to share her emotions and thoughts on what she was going through.

-----

“Rattrap, you might be surprised what a few pine cones connected to some vines might do. Maybe might give your room a little sprucing up, Primus knows you could use a few air fresheners in there.”

"Ain't nobody got time for arts 'n crafts, Airazor," the rodent returned lightheartedly with a dismissive wave toward the idea ignoring the joke about his pig-pen quarters.

"Oh? And what spot do you fill in? The stinkiest one?" Onyx, you lucky you down have to go downwind."

"Clever comeback, she-spider," Rattrap had told her sarcastically. "Dose insults never get old," he rolled his optics at her before leaving.

"More relatable company would be greatly appreciated Blackarachnia, but perhaps another time."

"Careful what you wish for, Onyx," the Spy warned him. "I might be a rat, but at least I'm loyal." It was a snide insult toward the black widow and how she couldn't be trusted no matter where she found refuge. Although they had worked fairly well together in the last mission breaking into the Darksyde and bringing down the Viper, Rattrap was too paranoid to just accept her on their team. She had made it clear that her intentions were elsewhere when it came to the ship Zodiac was trying to steal. She wanted it for herself, so her allegiance was still very transparent. Then again, maybe Onyx's was as well. Was it really such a good idea for Optimus to keep extending a helpful hand toward these misfit Predacons who could just as easily start teaming up and bring the Maximals down from the inside? He didn't think so.

“Rattrap we’re going to get ahead of you and Onyx, make sure the pod is secured. See you shortly!”

"Copy," he sent to the falcon over the roar of his engine. "Be careful," he added.

"I don't know rat, they say black is rather slimming. But I suppose the overdose of glamour is rather fitting in your case, I hear its rather trashy."

"A mouthy Predacon, eh?" the dragster rat smirked while baring his sharp teeth. "Let's see you get away with dat attitude when Optimus is around," he said to imply his unquestionable loyalty toward the Maximal Commander that allowed Rattrap to get away with such comments as if that would even bother Onyx. "Yer gonna have a pretty big target on yer back if we bump inta any of your old pals, and you might have ta count on me watchin' it for ya. So, I'd be a little nicer if I were in yer position." Of course, that wasn't entirely true. Even though the Predacons saw Onyx as a traitor now and probably wanted him dead, and the the black equine hadn't exactly proven his loyalty to the Maximals yet, at least not in the rodent's eyes, Rattrap was still likely to watch his back, albeit as discreetly as he possibly could. Although knowing his luck, it would probably end up with Onyx saving the rat's skidplate instead. He continued driving along with him while the fliers accelerated ahead of them in hopes of reaching their fallen comrade before the Preds would.

-----

Inferno flew toward Predacon HQ and landed by Nemesis when she emerged. He saluted the Royalty who exited the ship as well but who was accompanied with Rampage. There was some disappointment evident in his optics as to why he wasn't going along with his Queen but he submerged his strong desire and instinct to protect him and refrained himself from questioning either of their orders. "Reporting for duty," he told Nemesis with his large gun laying against his shoulder as he held it vertical. He certainly wasn't going to act insubordinate in front of Megatron despite how much displeasure he felt being under Nemesis's command when he saw himself far more capable and loyal than her, but that was mostly because of his beast mode's delusions and malfunctioning programming ever since he had been brought on-line by Tarantulas's tampering. It was probably unimaginable for anyone to think that Inferno was ever a Maximal protoform. He wouldn't dare accept that himself, and he would always deny it. Whoever he was prior to coming to Earth had long since been erased.

"I'll see you soon,"

The tyrant in robot mode nodded to Nemesis as they exited the Darksyde. Megatron took a different route, however, with Rampage, and the both of them walked off across the rocky and volcanic terrain.

"Fresh air is hardly my concern, saurian."

"Nonsense," Megatron rebutted. "It will do you good," he smiled at the crab. He didn't care for the way he kept addressing him as "saurian" in that distasteful tone, but it wasn't worth forcing the invincible crustacean to speak to him in a more respectful manner considering he was already forcing him to be his "slave". He didn't want to push him further than he had to so he could maintain a somewhat calmer control over him without having to use his spark to keep him in line.

"It is my understanding that Optimus Primal had a monumental hand in creating you, Rampage," he began a conversation with him. "One of his darkest secrets that had not been revealed until your recent resurrection. You must hold some acrimony and displeasure toward the experiments and suffering that you endured under his supervision," he implied as he fished for his thoughts and feelings on the matter. He hoped to find some common ground with the crab when it came to sharing the same hatred and desire of ending the Maximal leader's life for what he had personally put Rampage through and for continuously standing in Megatron's way. If he did hold a grudge toward Primal, then Megatron could utilize that in future confrontations and schemes.

[Wintersong]

((Crap, huge apology about that Phoenix! I really did nothing over Thanksgiving break when I should have and I was pushing myself to get two weeks worth of assignments done in five days so I really was delayed, and that was a fault on my part. But my semester should be ending by Tuesday and from there I should be able to post regularly when my turn rolls around.))

"They have put us through a lot in the past, so it is only fair." Wintersong agreed with a soft nod, recalling all the troubles they had endured starting with that stone structure early on in the Beast Wars. If they had never tampered with it would they have avoided all these troubles with the Vok? It was a nice thought, to think of a present Beast Wars without the interference of Whitegrazer's people and maybe the white mare herself wouldn't be going through her own hardships. "Makes me almost miss the maze they got half of us caught in." She gave a halfhearted attempt at humor once more, but it wasn't exactly her strong suit.

It was times like this she didn't quite mind Rattrap's wise cracks. Sometimes they just cut through the tension and helped ease the situation, even if the rodent had a rather grim outlook himself.

"Something about using Earth's natural evolution to their advantage I think." Wintersong frowned in thought, trying to recall everything they had said but once more she was met with blurry mental images, only hearing small bits of their words, often of which she didn't understand. "Regardless of what it is, we'll figure it out, we always do." Wintersong spoke with a little more enthusiasm, her usual fighting spirit briefly shining through her defeated state. Though it disappeared as quickly as it came when Whitegrazer gently pressed for any other possible abnormalities Wintersong may have been encountering. "Seeing a friend of mine turning out half skele-horse, a link with Optimus, and something growing from my spark...think that about covers the abnormalities going on." She listed it off on her fingers, but yet again holding back about the brief blackout she had. No, she wasn't ready to say something about it, not until she was certain it would happen more than once.

Now, there was something else Wintersong herself was far too curious about to ask Whitegrazer, and hopefully take some attention off her obvious holding things back. "What about you Whitegrazer? How did this happen?" She inquired, gesturing to the half side of her form that was skeletal in appearance.

++++++++++++++++++++++

"Aren't we always careful?" Airazor responded as more of a statement than a question towards Rattrap, merely smiling to herself, "Don't worry Rattrap, we'll let you know if we run into any trouble." She assured him. Despite the rodent's rather dismal look on most situations, Airazor understood he always had his spark in the right place, having had her fair share of working with the spy. Especially during the crisis with the Planet Buster for what felt like almost an eternity ago.

With the distance they covered without waiting on their ground support, Airazor could already spy the area Rhinox had indicated the pod had been discovered, activating her telescopic sight to focus in on the area, surprised to find the pod was indeed active and without an occupant. "Keep an eye out for movement you two, our new resident is active." She warned towards Tigerhawk and Cheetor, deciding to soar over the area to keep a look out from above, "You two take the ground, I'll keep an optic out from up here." She directed but decided to send an update to Rattrap once more, "Looks like we got a live one Rattrap, you and Onyx be on the lookout on your way here, they appear to be already up and about."

Tigerhawk couldn't help the deep barotone of a laugh leave his chest, "I don't think I have much dignity left to care young one, but I will take one for the team." He joked as well, glad that despite everything that had occurred since his short return there was still a spark of humor and lightness among the Maximals. Even if it was somewhat childish. But, perhaps that was what was keeping the team together, those moments they could find to joke and have fun among the bleakness of the war.

Though as Airazor noted that the pod was open and active, Tigerhawk turned his attention forward to take care of his task. "Activating thermal scanning." The fuzor's sight went from normal to seeking out heat signatures, diving lower to get a better range of readings as he flew lower than the falcon.

Though faint, he did spot faint traces of footprints left behind, invisible to the naked optic and lifted his head to follow their source until a larger heat signature captured his attention, "I think I spotted them." He called to his fellow fliers, wondering if the newly awakened protoform was just taking their own precautions. With a handful of strange bots arriving on scene he couldn't blame them for being a little cautious.

++++++++++++++

Nemesis' words spoke truth, but Terrorsaur felt to some extent she could also be wrong. If they came in with the element of surprise from high above, perhaps they could force the Maximals into a brief scatter and swoop in to claim the pod for themselves, long enough for their chief medic to act. Though, he doubted saying such a thing would change the avian's mind, the mech only able to cross his arms and fume at this day just not going his way. First the fuzor and now his commanding officers.

And this time, Terrorsaur used every ounce of his will to ignore the little fuzor who seemed intent on getting the last word in.

No, this time, he focused on Nemesis and Megatron, seeming to be speaking of something far more private and for their ears alone. Yet, he still caught a snippet of something about plans for a traitor, causing the pterodactyl to narrow his optics slightly. Now what sort of plan could they be concocting? And which traitor would they be taking this plan out on? Because when one thought about it there was quite a few traitors who no longer resided in their midst, namely the widow, Onyx, and Dinobot, then there was also Zodiac. 'We should just annihilate them all.' The Transmetal flier thought to himself as he followed Nemesis out from the ship, grumbling when seeing Inferno was to accompany them as well.

With a defeat sigh, Terrorsaur converted to his vehicle mode and shot off after Nemesis.

"The transport it is." Spineback said with a nod, noting who all was to come along on the mission hoping to Primus the two insects and troublesome flier would cooperate enough just to retrieve a single pod. But that may have been asking for too much, maybe more so to maintain her patience with someone such as Quickstrike. "We will join you as soon as we can Nemesis, good luck." The veteran spoke as she watched the three fliers take off ahead of them before turning to the fuzor, "Lets go cowboy, don't want to miss this do you?"

Moving over to the transport, the former Decepticon shifted back to robot mode and stepped on, getting it started up while awaiting for the mismatched mech to join her before making tracks to follow their aerial forces. "Hm, times like these I miss my truck mode." She sighed in disappointment, part of her wishing she could have kept it. Maybe being transmetal didn't sound like such a bad gig after all.

+++++++++++++++

Rolling his optics, Rampage made no move to further argue the matter. Megatron seemed like he would be vague on just what they were really up to, not the least bit convinced this little stroll was for conversational matters. It rarely ever was when someone intended to involve Rampage in their schemes.

Though Megatron maintained a pleasant and calming atmosphere about him, going into an entirely new direction of conversation altogether, one that struck a little too much of a chord with the crab. For once, Rampage didn't have immediate words or even an insult, finding himself focusing his green optics upon the horizon ahead of the two transmetals as they walked across the volcanic rock. Where did he even begin to express the true hatred he held for those involved in his experiment, especially the one in charge of the whole ordeal.

He recalled Primal quite well, had even sensed his emotions. Optimus had been reluctant, maybe even disgusted by the experimentation being carried out when Rampage actually had a moment of peace to concentrate on anyone around him. Despite the reservations the present Maximal Commander had he had still been involved, had put him through those intensely painful and agonizing experiences, the memories of which caused him to involuntarily curl his hands into fists, the trips denting into the palms of his hands. "That would be putting my feelings rather mildly." He spoke in seething rage but devoid of the mockery, such emotions aimed towards Optimus. "No amount of words could describe what I am feeling, much less how much I want to make the monkey pay for allowing it to happen." He spoke venomously. Though a faint look of satisfaction showed in his expression, his mandibles in the shape of what appeared to be a twisted smirk. "But, I suppose I can take pleasure in knowing Primal couldn't bring himself to trust his crew with the deepest, darkest secret of his little exploration voyage."

Yes, just maybe the Predacons offered one possible avenue to combat the demons that haunted the immortal mech, as difficult as that was to believe. Perhaps he could make the primary source of his misery feel the weight of his decisions, make him suffer.

[una]

Like Wintersong, Whitegrazer reminisced about the the different sites that both they found, before and after she was activated, and the sites activated by the aliens themselves to draw their attention like the, as Rattrap called it, the alien bungalow, which Optimus, unfortunately, again, had been examined painfully and the Vok gave him the extreme warning about their plans to terminate "the project", as they designated this planet and their experiments. "I remember reading the reports about the sites before I came online. The Standing Stones... The island... Sites they used to study and determine who they were up against. Then... that Optimus clone they used against us, Clear Convoy, and while we dealt with them, our comrades and Predacons alike struggling to escape a never-ending labyrinth. I surprised they had the compassion to actually warn Optimus about what they were about to do." And of course, the ones Zodiac had found and the Metal Hunter. As she spoke, her mind wandered, thinking about everything, everything that the Vok have put them through, it seemed more and more how desperate, destructive, and angered the Vok had became. "They are frustrated." That was an understatement, but it was the only word that fit the pattern of their machinations. "They didn't expect us to be here. At first, it was curiosity. Then they felt threatened and angered by our presence . They wanted us gone no matter the cost." The Planet Buster, their plan to destroy the entire planet to eliminate them, then to recreate the planet and begin their experiment anew. "Because of my presence, I was able, I believe, to convince them to not destroy the planet it seems, but they seemed to not be finished in our ensured destruction, even if it meant violating one of their own's beliefs and free will."

"Earth's natural evolution?" Whitegrazer contemplated what that meant, but it was a vague statement to take anything out of. Whitegrazer lowered her gaze with regret. "I had hoped that maybe because of Tarantulas infecting us with a virus that they will cease our destruction." A virus still laid dormant and showing no symptoms as of yet. She sighed. "I guess I was just being too optimistic and hopeful again." Whitegrazer smiled at Wintersong, who showed optimism about them defeating the Vok's new plans, which she couldn't help but share in it and was delighted to see the defeated expression that Wintersong held during their conversation dim out replaced by a more hopeful and energetic fighting spirit, "Yes, we will, Wintersong. We will do it together. All of us." She just hoped she could save her people in the process. As Wintersong listed some of the weirdness she has seen and experienced, wait a minute, she has a link with Optimus? "You have a link with Optimus?" Whitegrazer asked curiously. "When did you discover it?"

When Wintersong pointed out her skeletal appearance, Whitegrazer rubbed her right cheek, the skeletal one, with a slight chuckle, "The repercussions of their possession of me. I actually had four arms as well." She let that image sat in. "I would have kept them, but it messed with my beast form too much, so I had Rhinox surgically remove them. Hopefully, they could be good replacements, if anyone needed one, or if not, we could always use some spare parts." She remembered another side effect of her possession. Her link to everyone else. "I don't know if you are aware of this or not, but another repercussion was the strengthening of my abilities, mainly, in particular, my ability to link. I now have a bond with everyone at this moment, even the Predacons. Though, I have not tried to establish an open link with anyone besides Optimus and Aurora." The link between her nd Rampage was froced on her by the tortured, tormenting soul, and the link between her and Zodiac, thogh welcome, only opened when she hd no choice or some intense feeling opened their link unconsciously. An idea entered her mind, but it wasn't something probably Wintersong would feel comfortable with. "I don't know if I have a link with you because of the cocoon. I had tried to communicate with you, hoping that I could help you, but I was blocked. But if I can establish a link, an open bond with you, Wintersong, maybe I could see, show you what the Vok were saying or doing to you during your time at the cocoon. Now, if I do this, it can be uncomfortable. After all, your spark would be open to me, which I know, not everyone would be comfortable with, so if you don't wish to do this, I will not force you to do so. We will figure it out another way like you have said earlier."




Blackarachnia just rolled her optics at Rattrap's loyal comment,"Onyx, beside you, the only other Predacon is Dinobot and he just as bad as bad as the stinky rat in the non-trusting spiders' part and and short-tempered, and doesn't know how to talk or treat a lady, so please don't get yourself killed and leave me with them. If you do, I will haunt you from the Pit."

She just shrugged at Rhinox. "Don't worry, I'm not planning on talking with the slippery shapeshifter in the cell any time soon or ever." She was still bitter over that ship being destroyed. Part of her wanted that ship for her own escape, her own plans, but nothing went that direction nor in her favor. Since she was struck with watching Zodiac, she hoped someone would talk to him because it would interesting to watch. Not that his shapeshifting into multiple people and making fun of them wasn't entertaining. She listened to the communication between Rhinox and their new recruit, Quickfix, wasn't it? Then as she watched Zodiac, she saw the id chip just as Rhinox pointed it out to Optimus, warning him. "Well, he doesn't give up, does he?" She smirked at Rhinox. So... are we just going to do the whole wait-and-see-approach with that or are we going to take it? she guessed the wait and see approach because they will be too afraid to give Zodiac any chance of escaping their hands. She didn't blame them. "I wonder whose id chip that is, though. Do you think it's...?" She was going to say Nexus Prime, but she could be wrong. She knew how sensitive taht name is around here, especially around Optimus.

[Phoenix]

"And here I thought you were the calmer commanding officer, Nemesis. Getting impatient for progress with the little side project already?"

There was something about Tarantulas' voice that could creep out just about anyone. And in normal circumstances, the avian female wouldn't trust the spider at all. But alas things had gone too far with Zodiac and Nemesis felt like she had little choice but to include the creepy crawler in the scheme of finally bringing the arrogant shapeshifter in.

While it was true he was currently locked up by the Maximals, Nemesis held little faith they would be able to hold him for long. Besides.. Megatron had made his intentions quite clear, and she would hate to disappoint.

"Just making sure you haven't forgotten," the second in command replied, a statement that was at least partially true. After all, Tarantulas was renowned for having his own schemes in play at any given time.

"These sort of schematics take time to work on Nemesis, and if you wanted them done in a timely manner I will hide for as long as I so please. But, I have a few choice weapons you and your ragtag bumbling fools can make use of."

Nemesis had let out a sigh when the spider continued his report, although it was hard to tell if it had been a sigh of relief or impatience. Perhaps a bit of both all things considering?

"You may just prove your usefulness yet," she then said, sounding a bit more cheerful. "You have until we've completed the current mission to finish those weapons. "

A part of her, a very small part, almost felt a little bad for Zodiac. It would surely have been easier for him had he simply died when the Viper crashed, but now they had to resort to more.. brutal.. measures. She knew better than to ask for any details from the spider, since she was certain he had his own.. and very dark.. motives for cooperating with her request.

"Of course, I took a little extra time with...additional modifications you might find handy. That is if you don't mind Zodiac suffering some internal troubles in the process."

As if on cue Tarantulas then went on to confirm her suspicions. Well, something told her she should try to find out whatever she could about Tarantulas' modifications. Especially since Zodiac's abilities were so similar to her own. But blissfully the spider had not tried any of his deceptive ways on her yet, perhaps in part due to the fact she had provided the Predacons with a sample of the antidote to the virus that had infected a majority of them a few months prior. Not that she was expecting any gratefulness from any of them, least of all the creepy scientist.

"Sounds like an excellent idea. Looking forward to finding out the details when I return to base," she told him while speeding away from the Darksyde towards the coordinates of the fallen pod. She didn't wait for the others, as it was very likely the Maximals were also well on their way. Hopefully they would catch up soon enough.

Speaking of which, Spineback acknowledged her earlier suggestion about taking the transport.

"We will join you as soon as we can Nemesis, good luck."

"Luck isn't quite what I had in mind.. Although I suppose it won't hurt," she replied back via com link. She had faith in the other female's ability to catch up in time. Well.. at least she wasn't alone.

"Reporting for duty,"

Her fellow flyers had joined in. Nemesis had given them a nod of recognition before taking to the sky, presuming even the more dimwitted of them had the common sense to follow suit like she had ordered earlier.

For the sake of expedience and hoping to avoid too much attention should the Maximals be close by, Nemesis kept her cruising altitude about as high as she could possibly go without losing flight capabilities in the thinner air at the edge of the atmosphere. She had excellent vision, after all, so even this high up she was able to spot the seemingly empty pod appearing in the distance. She also took note of some other flyers up ahead, Maximals no doubt since they were too large to be of the local wildlife, which prompted her to change her angle a bit and start her descent. For the time being she tried to keep out of the Maximal's range, her main concern being to reach the protoform in time. Wherever this new protoform was, he.. or she.. couldn't have wandered off too far.

And there, up ahead, she noticed a lone figure on the ground. It had to be the new protoform. After signaling to her fellow Predacon flyers, she started making her final descent towards their newest recruit.

"Yes, I am haunted,"

Aurora's ears twitched a bit as Primal finally admitted he, too, was suffering his own struggles. She looked at him, resisting the urge to hug him.. at least for now.. since she didn't want to distract him. It wasn't often that Optimus actually opened up about what he was really going through, at least to her, so part of her felt a bit honored by him showing his vulnerability like this. Yet it also proved that their leader had a breaking point as well, and that he, at times, had come dangerously close to crossing it.

"When I sleep, I'm still awake,"

Those words extracted a slight shudder from the fuzor when, for a brief moment, the images of Icebreaker's empty optics as she rushed up to his newly deceased form in the machine that should have saved his life, flashed through her mind. Yes, she knew that feeling all too well.. She still suffered nightmares from time to time about it, even though lately her dreams, if she had any, often involved her own near death experience.

"I think about the friends we've lost in this war, so they're never forgotten. What Zodiac has done to us and Nexus Prime. And the Vok continue to plague my mind... or my spark,"

It was a strange realization to her that in so many ways, they both suffered from the same tormenting dreams. Well, with a few minor differences. Aurora hadn't been nearly as affected by the Vok as Optimus had. Yes, she found them frightening.. terrifying even.. But aside from that brief episode when Whitegrazer had been used as a weapon against them, she hadn't really gotten to experience the Vok invading her mind.

"But... talking to someone helps very much so that I don't have to endure it alone. Whitegrazer comforts my spark, and her meditation works wonders. And Rhinox eases my thoughts. I still find rest so that I'm able to continue leading this team of extraordinary Maximals and Predacons."

Heh.. Aurora still found it odd there were a few Predacons on the Maximal team. And that each of them insisted on keeping their Predacon identity instead of fully committing themselves to the Maximal cause. She didn't exactly trust any of them yet, although Onyx seemed to have some promise. He had a sense of honor about him that was rare among Predacons, something BlackArachnia didn't really have. She still seemed creepy as ever, perhaps due to Tarantulas' influence over her creation..? Aurora couldn't really tell.

Having listened patiently to Primal's full explanation, the fuzor sat still aside from a slight twirling motion with her thumbs, merely taking in the words he had just explained to her. It wasn't that anything he had to say came as a huge shock to her, but more so the fact he had actually opened up when truthfully Optimus had something of a reputation as someone who kept his thoughts and emotions bottled up aside from to a select few. Aurora hadn't really been someone Primal had confided in, so the fact that he was sharing these thoughts with her did mean a lot.

"If you require it, I'm sure I can give you a mild sedative to help you rest up a bit. You've been through a lot.. And I think we all know how seriously you take your duties as our commander," she finally responded after some thought. She meant every word, truly, and finished the sentence with a slight smile before Optimus snagged her up for an embrace.. Thus prompting the fuzor into finally giving in to the urge of wrapping her arms around Optimus for that hug they both needed.

She held onto him for a while.. Longer than she probably should.. More tightly than she had to. But she did it because she wanted to, because it felt right. Somehow Primal always had that effect on her, even when he'd seemingly been angry with her. So she held on for a few nanoclicks before she eventually loosened her grip and let him go. And when she did, her smile had widened ever so slightly.

"I needed that..," she said gratefully, indicating the hug.

"I know you didn't mean to, Aurora," he said softly in her ear. "It's alright," he assured her. "It's alright,"

His words seemed to soothe frazzled feelings quite a bit, and the fuzor soon relaxed in his grip. "I'm sorry..," she repeated again, placing her head to rest against his chest. "If I could take back the decision .. no.. the mistakes I made, I truly would. Maybe then.. maybe Banshee would still be alive, maybe we wouldn't have lost Rampage, maybe.."

She stopped as she felt a knot forming in the back of her throat and it was only getting bigger the more she talked.. and thought.. about this.

"You can always talk to me, Whitegrazer, or whomever you feel comfortable with. We may not be able to control the nightmares, but we can help you cope with the pain. Are you taking something to help you sleep?" "I don't want you to become dependent on anything."

Initially having shaken her head, she then slowly nodded her admission to having had to rely on drugs to help her sleep. "I couldn't do it anymore.. Couldn't handle another sleepless night. But I'm being very careful, I promise," she whispered against his chest plate since she hadn't budged her head since then.

"You are no longer confined to the base,"

Only then did she lift her head to look at him, both surprised yet not really at the same time. Optimus was nothing if not fair, so she had never doubted that her punishment wouldn't last forever. Still, she was a bit taken aback by how he was willing to trust her again so soon. She wasn't even sure she fully trusted herself yet, not after what had taken place. Not yet.

"Despite everything you went through, you fought courageously with all of us during the Viper incident."

"Thank you," she whispered. It felt good to know Primal was still willing to place his faith in her, even though she had no intention of rushing off anywhere anytime soon. "I promise you won't regret it."

"As for Cybertron... it's our duty to return, especially if we have prisoners whose crimes need to be addressed. I know you hate the idea of leaving this planet. It's a beautiful world. It's diverse and peaceful. It's all you've ever known, so I understand your attachment to it, but, Aurora, we're not supposed to be here. If the opportunity arises that we can depart leaving no threats behind, I won't force you to come, but I will highly advise against staying. Once we return to Cybertron, it's unlikely that I'll come back. Not by my choice, but by higher authority."

"I think we need a slightly bigger brig if we're supposed to bring all the Predacons back," she responded with a bit of humor in her voice. "As for going there, I just don't know.. I can't imagine leaving this world, but I also can't stand the thought of losing any of you. We're family," she told him, her voice choking up for a moment. Well.. Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't come to that. As things were, they had no functioning ship to return to Cybertron with. "But I must disagree about one thing you said.. We already are here," she corrected him, "So wherever you think we were meant to be is, sorry to say, not all that important. A higher authority refusing our claim to return to this place? I assume you're talking about the Elders.. and honestly they sound like pretty horrible individuals who should never be allowed to rule again."

"You see, I have to go back because I intend on advocating for those who have been wronged, even by my own hands. I intend on taking a stand against the injustices and uncovering the truth, and try to make Cybertron a better place for Maximals and Predacons alike."

In a sense she understood what Optimus was trying to tell her.. But she also felt he was contradicting himself a bit. So he both planned to face the crooked Elders about their crimes, but still respected their jurisdiction enough to listen when they refused to let him return..? Surely there had to be a way to make the citizens of Cybertron stand up against these felons.

"Then why not arrange to leave Cybertron for a home elsewhere..?," she inquired. "I looked into a bit of Cybertron's ancient history and it seems some larger groups left at different points in the past, to create their own homes elsewhere. Away from the rotten politics of Cybertron."

"let's talk about this strange signal you said you had detected at the cave. Were you able to identify it? Was it of Vok origin?"

The fuzor paused again, her features taking on a more serious appearance once more. She then nodded.

"It was a Vok signal. But I got attacked too quickly to be able to locate the source. I didn't detect the signal after I got my equipment up and running again, so it could just have been a fake signal meant to lure me there.. Or maybe someone found the source."

She really didn't know.. Nor was she sure which option she preferred.

"Sorry about that, Aurora," Primal apologized to her. "Please continue,"

"It's possible Megatron located it.. I vaguely recall him banging on the rock walls of the cave."

Meanwhile, inside the brig, Zodiac had eventually grown tired of staring at the tiny chip and tucked it away. No doubt the Maximals had caught his little display, so hopefully one of them would pay him a visit soon..

Of course what seemed more likely was that Primal intended to break whatever spirit the renegade had left by keeping him in solitary confinement for the unforeseen future. After all the Maximal commander had barely been able to constrain his fury at the time he locked the renegade up, a decision the imprisoned shapeshifter understood. He may not have shown remorse for his actions the way Primal had wanted to see, nor did he really feel remorseful either, but he certainly understood the Maximal's anger.

Built up anger, hatred, rage, despair.. All too familiar emotions for the renegade. His trainers had always told him to keep those feelings hidden well, and to only let them show when the situation called for it. And for the most part he was able to heed their advice. His temper was certainly better than certain Predacons, such as the purple tyrant who'd taken the name of the original Decepticon conqueror. Whether he did so to instill fear into the sparks of his enemies, or to inspire his lackeys to follow him, or as homage to the original was uncertain. And frankly not important, as far as the renegade was concerned. His own creator's respect for the purple tyrant also puzzled him, especially since Megatron had betrayed Cryotek's trust when he stole the golden disk for his own agenda.

But Cryotek was a bit of an enigma in many ways. As far as warlords go, he had been one of the more ruthless ones. Infamous for his battle skills, yet it was his shrewdness with allying himself with the right individuals to develop new technology behind the scenes that really left his enemies quivering in fear. Cryotek himself was no scientist, but he had an entire science department at his disposal. Zodiac had been a product of the experiments they created, a living embodiment of Cryotek's dream of developing a new breed of Cybertronians. Yet with all this technology at his disposal, Cryotek had kept these achievements well hidden. Perhaps it was due to their inability to replicate the process successfully, or from some inert sense of hesitancy on the warlord's part.

Zodiac couldn't really tell.. He'd always been good at reading others, but Cryotek was different. Perhaps it was due to some deeply rooted fear within the shapeshifter, a fear brought on by the countless of hours of torture Cryotek had put him through. Despite his training protocol teaching to never let himself grow attached, he had tried so hard.. so very extremely hard.. to impress the warlord. But each and every time his hopes of some recognition, some semblance of compassion from the other male who had ordered his creation, got cut short. Often brutally so.

The renegade sighed and shook his head as he finally edged himself up to a standing position. This loneliness.. this.. boredom.. left him with too much time to think about past mistakes. He had to get out of here.. Somehow..

But how?

After glancing up at the cameras, he took note of how the main one was fixed in a location that could see a majority of the room aside from the corner directly underneath the camera and a short section of the wall surrounding it. The other two cameras were moving, allowing them to cover the remainder of the room at certain intervals. The renegade watched the cameras move back and forth a couple of times before he started making his way to the area underneath the main, fixed, camera. He timed himself so that the other two cameras didn't have a view of him before he slipped underneath the remaining camera and pressed himself up against the wall. There he focused as best he could on the exact color and texture of the wall behind him, allowing the nanomachines to change his own colors to match. So by the time the two other cameras returned to that location, it appeared as if only the wall was there. At least for as long as he could remain still, that is, since the moment he moved his little deception would be all too obvious.

[Wildfire94]

((I'm still here, mostly lurking since I've just been waiting for you guys is all. I saw a couple of you were trying to work out your own posts so I was just waiting to see how everything was working out before I made an attempt to ask to post or not.))

Loyalty, such a fickle thing in Onyx's view.

He made no further remark on the matter dealing with the widow, very well aware that his own standing of loyalty was questionable. But, he was certainly more a trusting fellow than the widow if there was to be any comparison, and he made it no secret he was exactly loyal to the Maximal cause to begin with. Rattrap and his friends just so happened to be the less of two evils in this conflict, something he felt Rattrap would never understand when he seemed to lack any wavering of his own loyalties as he indicated or questioned them at all. What would you know of conflicting views rodent', Onyx thought to himself as he merely kept his gaze forward as they moved.

He briefly flicked his ear his ear at Rattrap's following remarks, finally turning his head slightly to peer down at the dragster rat, "I was mouthy with Megatron before I came among this crew, being mouthy around Primal will be no different if necessary." Onyx said with indifference, being no stranger to arguing or earning the ire of his commanding officers. "As for the rest of the Predacons, for once we do agree." The black stallion sighed, having thought about this for sometime, what the possible implications for his decision would be. "I have spent many days coming to terms with my decision rodent, but I am more than willing to embrace death should it be my fate this day, or the coming conflicts." Onyx appeared to not be afraid of such a thing as death, having more than faced it during the earlier battles between Maximals and Predacons, he just happened to be lucky to have made it this far.

Still, he considered Rattrap's words thoughtfully, "But, I appreciate the sentiment regardless. Perhaps we can get this pod without worrying about protecting anyone's back." Not that Onyx would ever openly admit he would do the same for the Transmetal rat who, as much as he loathed to think it, was his ally at the present.

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

A quantum surge...Now that would explain why his pod had been acting so oddly, more so why it appeared so scrambled and unresponsive. That answered a couple of his questions, such as his strange appearance, but left him with other questions. Something Quickfix did not wish to bombard Rhinox with at the present moment until he returned to the Axalon.

Though there was more to the story. Quickfix listened intently, cocking his head slightly as Rhinox confirmed that they had faced trouble, but not the sort of trouble the young Predacon was expecting. In fact, the moment he said Megatron and others of his faction had been pursued, Quickfix was shocked and at full attention, indeed needing a few minutes to process what the rhinoceros had just told him. Megatron was here? On this very planet? He had been Cryotek's star pupil, almost like a son to the warlord and gang leader, but to know he had come here at his own accord...Had there been trouble among Cryotek's organization for Megatron of all mechs to go solo with his own crew? This changes things, The raptor thought to himself, feeling his decision to return may very well have a change of plans.

"If Megatron is indeed here Rhinox, I may have to apologize for wasting your retrieval team's time." Quickfix finally answered, seeming to be deep in thought as he spoke. But he didn't have long to contemplate before he heard some of said team arrive.

"Least you're the bravest of us all!" Cheetor said incredulously, amazed the older mech would take such a risk at all. Cheetor could never see himself in such a situation and the fact anyone would was a hero in his book.

With them closing in on the area where the pod had been discovered however, the Transmetal cheetah gave a nod towards Airazor, diving down towards the ground and transforming once he was a few feet from the ground, dropping down close to the pod. Moving closer to it, the young mech examined it carefully, seeing the sparks coming off the panel, "Man, this thing is fried, nearly like the other pods we've come across. Though, intact enough the protoform made it." Cheetor observed, wondering if this happened to be a very rare lucky one who was fortunate enough not to have been fried extra crispy by the Quantum Surge.

Though he quickly turned when Tigerhawk called to them that he might have found the individual, causing the Transmetal feline to step around the pod in anticipation, especially when someone seemed to confirm the fuzor's findings.

Seeing he was unable to avoid detection in some way, Quickfix stepped from his place of hiding, "That you have Maximal." He said politely, tilting his head slightly as he took note of movement from Nemesis' descending form, but didn't think much of it at the moment. "But you may have wasted your energy coming all the way out here considering what your comrade, Rhinox, has informed me of." Quickfix told them, "Quickfix, terrorize!" Snarling, the Transmetal raptor converted to his robot mode for the first time in a few years, feeling some joints whine in protest but otherwise comply with his commands. "If you three could be so kind, direct me to where Megatron and his crew is, please." He inquired, his loyalties more than clear.

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

"No ma'am! No way am I missin' kickin' some Maximal keister!" The fuzor spoke with greater enthusiasm now that Terrorsaur was otherwise preoccupied and gone from his presence at last. At this point, most others were better company than the Transmetal flier, even perhaps Rampage despite what the cannibalistic crab had nearly done to him back at the Viper. So without a moments hesitation, he followed the old veteran from the bridge to the transport, hopping right on after she had.

And in no time they were off, the fuzor giddy at the thought of combat. "I don't know 'bout that, ye seem in decent shape for an ol' gal such as yourself and this here transport seems to be doin' the trick." Quickstrike said with a shrug, having no recollection of his own past, if he even had one. Unfortunately, by no means could her understand her slight anguish of the loss of a vehicle mode she no longer possessed.

"You really should have a little more faith in my capabilities sub-commander, regardless of what you or anyone else of that foolish band called a crew have seen. When it comes to the necessity of survival you will find no one better." At least among those lacking your capabilities, Tarantulas kept the last part to himself, merely making it clear Nemesis should trust he could get the job done just fine.

End of the mission, that would be no problem. "I merely need a mega-cycle for the finishing touches my dear, and I assure you you will not be disappointed with the results." Tarantulas assured her, a hint of sick glee at the coming events. Clearly, Nemesis' urgency meant Megatron might be making his move quite soon, perhaps even in the next few mega-cycles himself. Tarantulas just had to get his timing right and be patient with the matters dealing with Zodiac. But sooner or later, the tarantula had a feeling his own goals would see fruition one way or another, the spider having to stop himself from cackling evilly. "Happy hunting, Nemesis." He ended with for the time being.

Rubbing his hands together, Tarantulas turned to the weapon pieces, now requiring only a few minor touches and simply assembled together, which he went to work doing.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"If you require it, I'm sure I can give you a mild sedative to help you rest up a bit. You've been through a lot.. And I think we all know how seriously you take your duties as our commander,"

Optimus gazed upon Aurora, but it was difficult to read his expression. Did he accept the offer or the idea of using a sedative? Did he disagree with it? One couldn't tell. Perhaps he merely grew thoughtful of it and took it into consideration. He felt that he received more peace with Whitegrazer beside him than any kind of medication could possibly offer. Although, her comfort didn't extend into his nightmares and the whispers. A sedative would...

He felt Aurora's arms tighten around him, and he returned with a gentle squeeze. Against military protocol or not, hugs were an amazing stress reliever, and sometimes Optimus needed them just as much as anyone else might. In that moment of embrace, everything seemed to wash away; all his troubles, his worries, his emotional pain, the Vok... He hoped the same happened for Aurora.

"I needed that..,"

Her honesty warmed his spark and helped reaffirm to him that he did the right thing. The Maximal leader smiled lightly at the young Fuzor and admitted, "Me too."

"I'm sorry..," "If I could take back the decision .. no.. the mistakes I made, I truly would. Maybe then.. maybe Banshee would still be alive, maybe we wouldn't have lost Rampage, maybe.."

"'Maybe's' and 'what if's' aren't worth dwelling on, Aurora," he told her as though he had already moved on from their recent losses. "Nothing can change what happened. And you mustn't blame yourself." After all, if he had been a stricter leader, if he ruled with an iron fist and kept his Maximals in line and fearful of him like Megatron does with his crew, then no one would go wandering off and disobeying him, and none of this would have happened. He was more to blame than anyone, which was the price that came with his job description. Of course there were times, especially in battle, when things that happened were entirely out of his control and the Predacons' actions were the ones at fault. In any case, the less his Maximals blamed themselves for such trauma, the more focused they would be and the less suffering they would endure and beat themselves up over. What was important for him to hear from her now was that she had learned her lesson and learned from her mistakes. She was still quite young and inexperienced with some judgments, neither of which she could be blamed for.

"I couldn't do it anymore.. Couldn't handle another sleepless night. But I'm being very careful, I promise,"

Primal squinted an optic at her suspiciously in a somewhat playful manner, but addiction was nothing to joke about. He was sure she was being careful, but sometimes these dependencies could get out of control real easily. "I want you to keep a log or a journal on your progress, and report it to me weekly. Alright?"

"Thank you," "I promise you won't regret it."

"You're welcome, Aurora. I know I won't. You're intelligent, inquisitive, resourceful and wise beyond your years, but let's try to keep that curiosity from getting the better of you," he suggested lightly.

"I think we need a slightly bigger brig if we're supposed to bring all the Predacons back,"

"Considering the Axalon can never fly again, we'll have to find that bigger brig elsewhere," Optimus faintly smirked with her comedic side, trying to make light of a complicated and significant issue should they ever reach it.

"As for going there, I just don't know.. I can't imagine leaving this world, but I also can't stand the thought of losing any of you. We're family,"

Aurora's last statement made him smile more. They certainly felt more like a family than an exploration crew, didn't they? Was it wrong for Optimus to conduct his team in such a way? Having been through military training, he was capable of commanding them as such, but it felt like it went against his programming and personality. It wasn't why they had set out with the Axalon. Then again, the whole reason for having been given a ship and a crew seemed to have been under false pretenses after considering their predicament and the hardships they were enduring almost every day. "Well, we'll have a lot of time to discuss it before any decisions have to be made," he tried consoling her indecisiveness. As far as he knew, no one was going anywhere anytime soon. Of course, all of them thought that before Zodiac had unveiled the Viper, so it seemed this war was still just as unpredictable as ever since the day they crashed there. He certainly didn't want to leave any of his crew members behind, but he couldn't force any of them to come either, unless they were someone bent on causing destruction and domination to the planet.

"But I must disagree about one thing you said..

Primal raised a brow at her objection as if to say, "Oh?" and challenging him on his judgement.

We already are here," "So wherever you think we were meant to be is, sorry to say, not all that important.

He could hear the disagreement and dismay in her voice. Aurora was right. "Perhaps not," he agreed with her. "But the fact that we are here, and if I do return to Cybertron, it may bring upon a storm of significant damage," he meant figuratively. Both onto himself and onto the Elders.

A higher authority refusing our claim to return to this place? I assume you're talking about the Elders.. and honestly they sound like pretty horrible individuals who should never be allowed to rule again."

Optimus couldn't expect her to understand the politics and dark secrets on Cybertron since she hadn't been directly exposed to them. Her outlook on the Transformers' home world was already stained and bleak, and he'd hate to make it worse if he was ever to try and convince her to come back with them. "Not all hope is lost with them," he tried mentioning. "It may be possible to reason with them." They couldn't be worse than the Vok, right? He didn't think so, but some were influenced by those like Cryotek. You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours. Maybe Optimus was being too optimistic about it. Even if they did return to Cybertron, how much would have changed since the day they left?

"Then why not arrange to leave Cybertron for a home elsewhere..?," "I looked into a bit of Cybertron's ancient history and it seems some larger groups left at different points in the past, to create their own homes elsewhere. Away from the rotten politics of Cybertron."

Primal smiled lightly as he brushed the disheveled lock of fur away from her face revealing her scar again before the fur slowly slid back over it but remained out of her eyes. "Now there's an idea to take into consideration," he said to keep her hopes lifted. It would still exclude him at least until he resolved what he could on Cybertron, but if it would mean keeping his Maximals safe from any repercussions by the High Council, then he might seriously consider hiding them on another planet in another galaxy. But perhaps now wasn't the time to crush the Chief Biologist's dream with him declining her inquisition. Besides, they didn't even have a way of getting off of this planet let alone finding another one with the resourced they would require to survive.

"It was a Vok signal. But I got attacked too quickly to be able to locate the source. I didn't detect the signal after I got my equipment up and running again, so it could just have been a fake signal meant to lure me there.. Or maybe someone found the source." "It's possible Megatron located it.. I vaguely recall him banging on the rock walls of the cave."

Optimus's expression seemed to change entirely in front of Aurora when she explained the signal and mentioned Megatron. His optics stared straight through her as if her words had suddenly unlocked some hidden information within his mind. Images raced in his head, flashes of the alien sites and symbols, voices he had heard many times before, until one particular object stood out. Rising to his feet, he turned around and looked at the engraving of the strange orb he had added to his wall. He tapped his index finger on it as he looked at Aurora with some surprise. "I only recently started seeing this object when I was in close proximity to Megatron. It must be in his possession." But what was it? And more importantly, did he know how to use it? Primal grew thoughtful for a moment as he started to piece some of the past happenings together with, "Zodiac may have detected the signal as well, and he lured you there to acquire your chip in order to sneak into the base and grab the journal. Either Megatron found the orb before Zodiac did or he fought him for it. But if Zodiac knew anything about the device, he would have boasted about it now, or used it in some way to bribe us for his freedom." He presumed anyway given his past behavior. He might not have guessed the details correctly, but most of it was making sense now. "Who knows what it's capable of," which was one more weight added on to is shoulders, and his concern for it was evident in his voice. He looked at his engraving again and tried to recall the symbols that he had seen etched on the orb but nothing was clear enough to recreate.

"Don't worry, I'm not planning on talking with the slippery shapeshifter in the cell any time soon or ever."

Rhinox had given Blackarachnia a side glance of subtle suspicion when she wasn't looking in his direction. If given the opportunity to work with Zodiac in order to escape this place - this planet, she would no doubt take advantage of it. On the other hand, like Optimus, the rhinoceros wanted to trust her because if she was being truthful and continued to be helpful, then she might find security and companionship among their ranks. ...Eventually.

"Well, he doesn't give up, does he?"

He simply shook his head at her.

So... are we just going to do the whole wait-and-see-approach with that or are we going to take it?

"We'll let him be for now," Rhinox answered the Predacon. "There's nothing he can do with it."

"I wonder whose id chip that is, though. Do you think it's...?"

"Nexus Prime's?" he presumably finished her question. "Yes." It was an odd feeling knowing that someone who had perished some time ago, there was still a physical piece of them in existence. Rhinox had only met the Admiral a few times, so his attachment wasn't nearly as emotional Primal's was.

"If Megatron is indeed here Rhinox, I may have to apologize for wasting your retrieval team's time."

Quickfix's statement puzzled the engineer. What exactly did he mean by that? Rhinox didn't realize that there may have been something he said that inadvertently caused the new guy to "change" his allegiance. "I'm not sure I follow," he returned honestly. "Megatron has proven to be very dangerous," which was putting it lightly. This might be a good time to update Airazor, he thought as he opened his comm. link to her. With her speed and experience in this war, he only assumed that she would have taken point on this recovery mission.

"Airazor, this is Rhinox. The protoform is already on-line and fully functional," he informed her. "His name is Quickfix, but I'm beginning to question his allegiance, so remain diligent," he warned her as well as he could. What about Megatron would make someone want to switch factions? Wasn't he a Maximal? With the engineer's attention elsewhere, he hadn't been monitoring Zodiac's shenanigans as closely as Blackarachnia should have been.

-----

"Aren't we always careful?"

"Some of us more dan others, Birdlady," Rattrap reminded Airazor whose group in the air was almost out of his and Onyx's sight.

"Don't worry Rattrap, we'll let you know if we run into any trouble."

"Copy," the dragster rat responded as he continued driving along with the black equine.

"I was mouthy with Megatron before I came among this crew, being mouthy around Primal will be no different if necessary."

Rattrap gave a whistle of astonishment toward Onyx. "Good luck with dat," he scoffed at the stallion as he doubted that he could get away with it.

"I have spent many days coming to terms with my decision rodent, but I am more than willing to embrace death should it be my fate this day, or the coming conflicts."

"I'll keep dat in mind," Rattrap smirked jokingly. Sort of. One couldn't tell sometimes with the rodent and the charade's he played.

"But, I appreciate the sentiment regardless. Perhaps we can get this pod without worrying about protecting anyone's back."

"Wishful thinkin', Pred. One thing you oughta learn now rather dan later is dat nothin' ever comes easy for us Maximals. So, yer in for a fun ride," he warned him. It should be interesting to see how well Onyx fairs on the other side of this war they were in and seeing it from a different perspective. It was trickier for him because of his faction flipping, so he was going to be risking his life probably more so than the rest of the Maximals, except for maybe Optimus who was always Megatron's number one target for obvious reasons.

"Looks like we got a live one Rattrap, you and Onyx be on the lookout on your way here, they appear to be already up and about."

"That's good though right? He's gotta be a Maximal if de Preds ain't dere yet," he assumed incorrectly while glancing up at Onyx. So far it sounded like the protoform had survived his long duration of stasis and the DNA scanning program had done its thing.

"We better pick up de pace," Rattrap suggested to his "partner" as he accelerated enough for the horse to keep up.

-----

Inferno watched Nemesis and Terrorsaur blast off, which prompted the ant to do the same igniting his engine as his propellers rotated lifted him off of the ground in pursuit. He wasn't as fast as them, but he managed to keep up as well as he could so as not to fall too far behind. He hated not being with the Royalty, leaving him with the unpredictable and always seemingly hungry, cannibalistic crab, but since he almost respected Nemesis as much as he did Megatron, he found himself not wanting to disappoint her only because she would report to their Queen about his behavior and cooperation during their mission.

After some time, they arrived at their destination. Nemesis signaled to them to begin their descent, and Inferno did so while wielding his large weapon ready to defend them, burn some Maximals, and blow something or someone up.

-----

"That would be putting my feelings rather mildly." "No amount of words could describe what I am feeling, much less how much I want to make the monkey pay for allowing it to happen."

"Excellent, yesss," Megatron reveled with this information. "It would seem those are emotions we share all too well toward a common enemy." Oh yes, he could certainly use this to his advantage.

"But, I suppose I can take pleasure in knowing Primal couldn't bring himself to trust his crew with the deepest, darkest secret of his little exploration voyage."

"To an extent, perhaps. After all, they are all aware of it now and yet none of them appear to be torn. It is as though his wrong doing has been forgiven entirely and simply swept away under the rug," Megatron said as he attempted to fuel Rampage's hatred toward Optimus even further. They walked further and further away from the Darksyde, out of its range and territory and toward a peaceful and quiet location that was far from everyone and everything else going on. "Aside from absorbing the pain and suffering from others, Rampage, which is a commodity I also take pleasure in," he tried relating with him, "what is it you desire in life, hm? What are your goals? Your ambitions?" Freedom was an obvious need for the crab, but only if he mentioned it would he touch upon that in vague detail along with a glimmer of hope.

[Wintersong]

((Sorry Phoenix, December is usually an extremely busy month for me, so I end up slow. But I have a couple other things added to my plate right now in addition to the running around preparing.

Primus help me! I need more freaking time in the day during this period! But I will be working on this today and getting as much done in the time I have!))

Wintersong recalled many of these sites as well, especially the maze. It made her cringe recalling having to navigate the deep, winding tunnels and eventually swept away by one of the things she hated the most, water. But that felt like almost an eternity ago, “Hard to believe how far we’ve come since then huh? Throw the Predators into the mix it feels like a lifetime since we left Cybertron.” Wintersong murmured, wondering what her old friends were doing and her fellow boot camp cadets. Were they in a better spot now? Had they even gotten through the boot camp? She was pretty sure regardless, none of them, or anyone else really, would recognize them. “Maybe they have too much power for their own good.” The tigress remarked in regards to the rest of the Vok.

At least one among their numbers had seen where they had gone wrong, by the others seemed adamant in never admitting they were.

Unfortunately, the transmetal feline could only shrug at Whitegrazer’s confusion. Even she was not entirely sure what they meant, but some symbols that had flashed in her mind during their digging into her form seemed the key. But she said nothing on the matter for now, not thinking much of it since she couldn’t make sense of the symbols to begin with. “Four arms? Shame they don’t have six legged horses here, then maybe that would be a different story.” Wintersong joked with a soft chuckle, now more imagining Whitegrazer running around on six legs. Though she quickly paid more attention when Whitegrazer seemed curious about the link, wondering if the white mare has not sensed it herself, “Yea, Optimus was the one that found out during his scuffle on the Viper. I wasn’t aware of it until he mentioned it.” And perhaps would be something she would have to look into.

But Whitegrazer went further on the matter about the links made possible, feeling herself balking at the thought of opening her spark to anyone again. More so for anyone with the Vok’s presence linked to them so deeply, “I’m sorry Whitegrazer, I have to decline.” She responded politely, trying not to lash out at the thought. It wasn’t her fault. “At least not right now. Everything they did, what they’ve done, it’s too fresh. And besides, the one blocking you out may have been me.” Wintersong frowned then, “When you reached out at the Viper, I felt a deep sense of pain and rage from their presence inside me, and the only thing I could think to do was block you out to stop it.”

+++++++++++++

Having cruised in his jet mode most of the way, Terrorsaur has remained surprisingly silent, knowing well enough his usual antics would not work with the two he presently held company with. Nemesis generally ignored him and the ant was always far too quick to react. Even if his mockery could be a joke or aimed at someone else. He rather not valued getting burned to a crisp.

Upon getting closer however, the pteradactyl shifted to his robot mode to glide, only occasionally flapping his wings. But when his optics spotted movement below, he zoomed them in just enough to spot their foes, especially noting his long time rival, Airazor, had returned! “Finally some entertainment.” He crowed, giddy to cause some damage to the falcon as he followed after Nemesis. But his eagerness soon got the best of him, “I’ll take point!” He announced without waiting for protest, diving down towards the unsuspecting Maximals.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the poster child for protecting nature and all its wonders.” He announced his arrival in his typical over-enthusiastic squwaking.

Tigerhawk turned his gaze to peer at the transmetal cheetah, “Guess this individual was as lucky as I was then. That quantum surge really did a number on both our pods.” The large fuzor observed, wondering if the new bot and himself had just been fortunate in their fates. Somehow their pods has endured the surge and the crash, making him relieved that perhaps there was hope for others.

Though he turned back when he heard Quickfix speak, switching back to normal sight as he looked upon the new protoform. They too were transmetal and visibly young, but their insignia spoke quite a bit of volumes before he had made a polite request to point them in the right direction. “You want to join Megatron? Young one, do you have any idea what you are asking?” Tigerhawk asked with surprise as Airazor flew down to join them. She hadn’t spotted anything of note from her vantage point and came to hover above the three mechs, expressing surprise herself.

“A little late on the update Big Green, we already know. He just asked where Megatron and his Predacons were.” Airazor responded, shock clear in her voice over the com-link. But no sooner had Rhinox commed her did Rattrap follow, “That would be a negative Rattrap. We’re looking right at him, and he’s a confirmed Predacon.” ‘Not like he would be the first to come out a Predacon either.’ She thought to herself. “My comrade here is right, the crew you’re asking about, they’re a tough and dangerous sort, they would sooner pick you alive than express loyalty.” Airazor chimed in.

Unfortunately, she barely had said it before a familiar voice made her cringe, wishing she sometimes was deaf at hearing such a screechy voice.

“And I see becoming transmetal has done little to help that voice of yours.” The falcon retorted, turning to find not only Terrorsaur but Nemesis and Inferno as well. The voice had likewise caused Tigerhawk to whip around, growling softly in his chest. Usually the Predacons arriving only meant trouble was never too far behind.

Spineback raised an optic ridge towards Quickstrike’s words, shaking her head slightly, “Probably the least insulting thing anyone has ever said to me. Suppose I will take that as a positive thing.” She spoke with uncertainty. It was not quite an insult but she wouldn’t exactly call it much of a praise either. “And I suppose I would not expect you to know the feeling of losing part of yourself to downgrading, I doubt you even recall your previous life. If you had one that is.” She remarked with a shrug, moving the transport as fast as it would allow towards the location of the pod.

++++++++++

“There is a difference between purely hating your enemy and deep loathing Megatron, you are still far from sharing the level of hatred I hold for Primal.” Rampage scoffed softly, “But you’re right, for the moment we share a common enemy that needs to be taken care of.” The transmetal crab agreed.

Rampage could hardly draw much comparison to himself and Megatron in many respects. Unlike Megatron, Rampage had found something of a kindred spirit in Zodiac who seemed far more understanding of the deep, negative emotions that bubbles up inside him and his desire for revenge and thirst to fill a void he could not seem to be rid of. No matter what he did or the asking of destruction he caused, his tortured spark never felt satisfied, never fulfilled. All he felt was a desire, a sort of hunger to satiate the need of pain, misery, and terror.

When Megatron drove the point home that Optimus had, yet again, been forgiven and his treachorous acts swept away as if they did not happen clear rage flashed in his optics. “Of course they would forgive him. Poor, tortured monkey, unable to cope with the weight of his mistakes.” The crab said with mock sadness, wiping away a non-existent tear, “Pah! Such sentimental fools, when I am done with them they will be second guessing their sense of forgiveness soon enough.” Yes, he would see to it that no matter what Optimus did, where he went, or who he commanded, his greatest mistakes would come back to haunt him one way or another. Even if his former “partner” was terminated, Rampage would be waiting, lurking at the back of his mind like a thought that would never go away.

“What I desire most is simple: total freedom from my suffering.” He muttered, tone neutral and flat, making it hard to decipher if he meant freedom from the bonds Megatron and others continued to physically hold him hostage or another matter entirely.

[Phoenix]

(ooc: Sorry, Una.. It's been 12 days since my last post and I'm going to be busier than sin this next week. So I can't wait any longer. I'll just leave things open for BA to notice the camera when you are available to post. And I hope you feel better!)

"You really should have a little more faith in my capabilities sub-commander, regardless of what you or anyone else of that foolish band called a crew have seen. When it comes to the necessity of survival you will find no one better."

It isn't your capabilities I'm doubting, the avian female thought to herself as she soared through the sky, but she wisely didn't verbalize it. After all, the last thing she needed was to make herself a target of the psychotic spider.

"I wasn't aware your survival was in question.. The traitorous shapeshifter's, on the other hand, is certainly negotiable,"
she replied, hoping to keep the spider's focus on the prize he stood to gain. For a scientist, the prospect of such a reward would be tempting. Or at least it had been for every scientist she'd met thus far.

"I merely need a mega-cycle for the finishing touches my dear, and I assure you you will not be disappointed with the results."

"Looking forward to testing the fruits of your labor," she messaged back, "Although you should be prepared to depart as well. We may just need your help to infiltrate the Axalon." Not to mention disable the renegade's abilities so he could get what was coming to him..

"Happy hunting, Nemesis."

Indeed.. Well, this first mission wasn't likely to get too difficult. After all they were out in the open and only had to deal with a few Maximals attempting to intervene. The mission that was to come later would include finding a way to penetrate the Maximal shields or otherwise convince them to hand their prisoner over. And knowing Optimus, that might not be too easy.. No matter how much the Maximal commander despised Zodiac, Nemesis knew his integrity and compassion would prevent him from sending the renegade to his death. It just wasn't in the Maximal's nature to do so.

Oh well.. She'd figure something out. And if not, perhaps Megatron had some ideas of his own.

“Finally some entertainment.”

Terrorsaur had remained blissfully silent for the duration of their trip, but as soon as he spoke his voice naturally grabbed her attention. The transmetal male was impatient as few, and before she could warn him to follow her lead he was already singling out his target.

“I’ll take point!”

The avian female let out a sigh, but she let him go. Hopefully he wouldn't cause too much trouble..


As Nemesis made her descent, she took note of the Maximals who had already gathered by the abandoned pod and were busy trying to figure out where its lone occupant had gone off to. The avian female didn't spend too much time contemplating the inevitable confrontation between the two factions, however, since she had every intention of returning to the Darksyde with the protoform in haul.. Of course it would be a little easier if their new comrade came along willingly, but she had no quarrels with forcing the decision upon him or her should it be required.

It still felt a little strange to her to show such devotion to someone such as Megatron, as she didn't necessarily always agree with his more tyrannical approach to things. While she certainly respected her leader, a part of her still held onto something that resembled a bit of fear towards him. It wasn't just that she'd been on the receiving end of the tyrant's rage, but perhaps more so the unpredictable nature of his anger. He had accused her of treason when she had been framed by Zodiac, and thus forced her into seeking shelter with the Maximals. And even now some of those memories lingered, leaving her questioning what extremes the Predacon commander was capable of. Especially if he ever learned the full extent of her emotional turmoil as far as his arch enemy, Optimus Primal, was concerned.

Unlike most of the Predacons, Nemesis' loyalty was both without question but also a bit complicated. She was loyal to the Decepticon cause, something she felt she had in common with her new leader. But that didn't necessarily mean she always agreed with everything Megatron set in motion. Especially not his unwavering desire to kill off Primal, another individual Nemesis held a great deal of respect towards. A respect she hoped Megatron never found out about, or he would no doubt turn against her as well. So at times she felt as if she was walking on egg shells around the tyrant, not wanting to say or do anything to set him off.

Then there was the case of Zodiac.. Which was a lot more complicated than it seemed to be at first glance. The renegade had been close to her once. An ally, a friend. His youthful idealism had helped during her time in captivity, his words of encouragement a most welcome distraction while she was recovering from the scientists' experiments and beatings from the guards. She had cared for him once, even trusted him, only to have that trust slapped right across her face when the younger shapeshifter attempted to kill her off alongside the Maximals.

It had hurt more than she wanted to admit. He was the closest to a family she had, yet he had no intention of sparing her in his scheme to extract revenge. And now Megatron wanted him dead as well for his indiscretions against the tyrant. And Nemesis had no choice but to obey. Sure, she was angry too. She wanted little more than to beat the traitor to near death, and to make him suffer. As was the Decepticon way. Her way. But Megatron would no doubt take it further than that.

A short distance up ahead she suddenly noticed a new face emerging from the nearby bushes. It was a young male, reptilian in nature from his appearance, and not someone who would be too difficult to persuade. The biggest obstacle was actually the larger transmetal fuzor in the sky, the one Nemesis had attempted to convince to join the Predacons the first time they had met. As well as the other, smaller Maximals on the ground. Since she had lost the element of surprise, Nemesis grabbed the opportunity to transform to her robot form mere moments before touching down on the ground. She placed her hand on her weapon, ready to use it if needed.

"Quickfix, terrorize!"

The young male's shout caused her to raise an optic ridge as she eyed him with some suspicion. Was this some sort of trick?

But, much to her surprise, the newcomer's allegiance became abundantly clear with his next statement.

"If you three could be so kind, direct me to where Megatron and his crew is, please."

How very.. intriguing. A Predacon in Maximal disguise. Perhaps this would be easier than she initially thought. Still not entirely convinced, however, Nemesis left her weapon holstered but with her hand still resting on top of it should the situation call for it.

"And who may I tell him is requesting his presence?," the avian female then said, breaking her silence. While she was all too keenly aware of the Maximals being present and thus far outnumbering her, until her own troops joined in as well, she did little more than watch them through the corner of her optic. There weren't many Maximals who would shoot their weapons first.

“You want to join Megatron? Young one, do you have any idea what you are asking?”

“My comrade here is right, the crew you’re asking about, they’re a tough and dangerous sort, they would sooner pick you alive than express loyalty.”

Nemesis shook her head dismissively at the Maximals. Why did the Maximals always presume to understand how the Predacons worked?

"Maximals.. always so quick to judge. Clearly our new friend here has more sense than the lot of you," Nemesis added, making her own allegiance quite clear to the young raptor.

Aurora's green optics remained fixed on Optimus for a few moments while he seemed to contemplate her offer to give him a mild sedative. Her intentions for doing so were purely out of concern for Primal's well being. She cared about him.. a lot. Although she cared for all the Maximals as they were her family, a few of them held a special place in her spark. And Optimus was one of them. That much had become apparent that dreadful day Optimus sacrificed himself to save them all, and Aurora had felt her spark shatter when she witnessed the traumatizing event unfold on the monitors.

Their embrace that followed allowed for a nice release of built up tension. And there was a lot of it after everything they'd been through the last few months. The fuzor almost hesitated before finally releasing her grip, but she remained hopeful such hugs wouldn't be such a rare event in the future.

"Me too."

She smiled ever so slightly upon hearing that, finding such relief in two such simple words. At least she wasn't alone in feeling the way she did.

"'Maybe's' and 'what if's' aren't worth dwelling on, Aurora," "Nothing can change what happened. And you mustn't blame yourself."

Her gaze drifted to the floor as she responded in a quiet, solemn tone.

"Not easy advice to follow," she said. It wasn't as if a few words could wash away the sense of guilt she felt. Only time could do that.. But she chose not to pursue the topic further, not wanting this to turn into a blaming game.

"I want you to keep a log or a journal on your progress, and report it to me weekly. Alright?"

Her head lifted up a bit again, and she sounded just a bit joking when she replied.

"Of course. I mean I already keep journals about everything else, so why not about my sleep habits and attempts to control it?"

"You're welcome, Aurora. I know I won't. You're intelligent, inquisitive, resourceful and wise beyond your years, but let's try to keep that curiosity from getting the better of you,"

The fuzor's smile faded a bit and she suddenly looked away for a moment, as a memory from shortly after whom they had all assumed was the real Nexus Prime had arrived entered her mind.

She paused for a moment as the memory played itself out in her head, and she almost shuddered at how vividly she recalled the words made by the aging admiral.. Or the one pretending to be him at least.

You are so much like him when he was younger before he let his responsibilities weigh him down. Stay curious, little fuzor, because curiosity is the fuel that drives progress.

Unbeknownst to the fuzor, the last part of the phrase was something the real Nexus commonly said to those around him.

The words had been followed by a slight squeeze of the shoulder, and for a moment the fuzor could almost feel the slight pressure against her armor in that spot. She still had a hard time accepting that the real Nexus had never set foot on this planet, that it had been this.. fake.. all along. It hurt her, so she couldn't even imagine how Optimus felt about it. How the renegade did it, how he managed to stay so true to the admiral's character that even the one closest to him didn't recognize him as a fraud before it was almost too late.. it was bewildering to think about.

"You know.. Nexus.. I mean .. well you know who I mean.. once told me that I reminded him of you back in the days. That he always enjoyed those aspects of your.. our.. personalities. You started out as a bit of a scientist type yourself, right? ," she questioned before she decided to clarify by repeating the exact words Zodiac had used, if only to see if Optimus would recognize them.

"He told me curiosity is the fuel that drives progress, and warned me against losing it."

"Considering the Axalon can never fly again, we'll have to find that bigger brig elsewhere,"

Well.. at least that much was a bit of a relief to the fuzor. As long as they had no means of returning to Cybertron, she could selfishly hang on to the family she had made for herself on this planet.

"Well, we'll have a lot of time to discuss it before any decisions have to be made,"

She both hoped and did not hope that would be the case. It wasn't a topic she particularly enjoyed, after all, since leaving this planet ultimately would force her to make an impossible choice between her home and her family.

"Perhaps not," he agreed with her. "But the fact that we are here, and if I do return to Cybertron, it may bring upon a storm of significant damage,"

"I still don't understand why you feel the need to put yourself in such a position," the fuzor told him bluntly, almost accusingly. The implications of such an encounter were all too clear. "We need you, too.."

"Not all hope is lost with them," he tried mentioning. "It may be possible to reason with them."

"You can try to reason with a viper too.. but you're not likely to enjoy the results," the fuzor dismissed his attempt at reasoning with her with an annoyed huff. She really didn't think anything good could possibly come from any sort of confrontation with the elders.

The leader's features seemed to soften a tad and he gently started brushing her unruly lock of fur away from her face as she spoke of them finding a new home elsewhere in the universe.

"Now there's an idea to take into consideration,"

So why won't you?, the fuzor thought with a lingering sigh. She would have asked, too, but Primal's gaze then seemed to change as if he was staring straight through her at some point in the room.

"I only recently started seeing this object when I was in close proximity to Megatron. It must be in his possession."

Well.. that couldn't be good news. Then again nothing involving freaky alien technology was. Anything they'd seen thus far that the aliens had a part in creating, had been dangerous.. and each of the items lethal in their own right.

"Zodiac may have detected the signal as well, and he lured you there to acquire your chip in order to sneak into the base and grab the journal. Either Megatron found the orb before Zodiac did or he fought him for it. But if Zodiac knew anything about the device, he would have boasted about it now, or used it in some way to bribe us for his freedom."

"Did you ask him about it yet?," the fuzor inquired. Somehow she didn't think there would have been a chance for Primal to talk to the renegade yet, since he had merely confined him under the strictest of security measures. And ordered everyone to stay away from him and his deceitful words.

"Who knows what it's capable of,"

Indeed. Perhaps the wisest thing would be to just leave it alone.. of course that would mean that Megatron would have every opportunity to use it against his foes. And they all knew that would happen..

"I doubt we can just show up at Megatron's door and ask for it. Given recent events, I'm sure he has upgraded security since then."


Meanwhile Zodiac remained perfectly still as he pressed himself up against the slightly uneven surface of the coated wall, attempting to let his colors blend with it. And he waited, albeit a bit impatiently, for someone to come investigate his supposed disappearance.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: Thank you for letting us know, Wildfire. I hope to see you back then!

I guess we can keep going and just have Wild's characters in the background so they aren't completely dropped from the scene. I think we were looking forward to a little battle here, but I imagine we won't get too far ahead before the new year.

una! There you are. You make me worry every time you vanish like that. Thank you for touching base with us and letting us know. I hope you continue to improve. ))

"Not easy advice to follow,"

"I know," Optimus agreed with his youngest Maximal as he watched her gaze lower to the floor. "Just... try to keep it in mind," he recommended with a very soft smile. As experienced as he was by now with trauma and blaming himself for his comrades who had been killed in action, even he sometimes struggled to follow his own advice. It never got easier, that was for certain. He wished so much that Aurora could have been born during peace and not stranded on a planet which found itself caught in a war against impossible odds, for she had lost a few friends now, and someone her age should not have to endure those kinds of tragedies and that emptiness that is left behind.

"Of course. I mean I already keep journals about everything else, so why not about my sleep habits and attempts to control it?"

Despite sensing the lighter humor in her voice, Primal's smile had faded and looked more somber with the angular scar that traveled across his mouth almost from cheek to chin. "I'm serious about this, Aurora. I want to make sure you'll be okay," he reiterated in a warm but firm voice.

"You know.. Nexus.. I mean .. well you know who I mean.. once told me that I reminded him of you back in the days.

The Maximal Commander suddenly grew colder as he stood there before Aurora listening to her go on about Zodiac when he had been disguised as Nexus Prime.

That he always enjoyed those aspects of your.. our.. personalities.

Primal's spark started to accelerate a little bit, and he balled his hands into fists at his sides. Not tightly, but all of the emotions, anxiety and danger flooded back inside of him like a tidal wave. To even think that the fake Nexus spoke to Aurora, quoting and pretending to be the Admiral that he himself had come to admire and look up to, it was sickening to Optimus.

You started out as a bit of a scientist type yourself, right?"

The Fuzor's question seemed to pull him back to reality, and he looked down at her as he said, "Once upon a time. And I've come to regret some of it." He almost feared for the next words that might have followed from her mouth.

"He told me curiosity is the fuel that drives progress, and warned me against losing it."

And there they were. As soon as she spoke the word "curiosity", he had closed his optics and silently mouthed the rest of the quote -is the fuel that drives progress- while she said it, his mind envisioning the phrase coming directly from the real Nexus Prime. His voice was as clear as day and exactly as he remembered it. At least his body seemed to relax as he unraveled his fists, and he opened his optics to look at Aurora once more after she was done. "While those words were spoken by a fraud to you, they were once spoken to me by their true author. Aurora, I want you to know that I fully support your inquisitive mind. After all, you've created countless weapons and objects that we've been able to implement successfully to help each other and defend ourselves with against the Predacons. I never want you to lose that astounding part of who you are. All I'm asking is that you obey orders so that you remain safe and let us know where you're going and when. It's not meant to punish you or restrict your curiosity." He reached up with his hand to place it on the temple of his head while putting his other hand on his hip as he suddenly saw in his mind her beaten and bloody body outside of the cave in Megatron's possession hanging on for dear life. His brows furrowed and his chin almost quivered while he tried maintaining a more stoic composure. Optimus took a deep breath before he lowered his hand from his head and managed to continue with a steady voice. "We almost lost you that day. I don't think I..." His voice trailed off as he turned away from her for a moment and shook his head deciding against indulging in such personal emotions and what-could-have-beens when he was her commanding officer and needed to remain strong and steady despite their privacy.

"I still don't understand why you feel the need to put yourself in such a position," "We need you, too.."

He thoughtfully lowered his head at her innocence and purity, untouched by darker politics and the ugliness behind closed doors to rooms full of egotistical and malicious individuals who were misguided by ill intentions unknowingly or not for the "greater good" of Cybertron. Even Optimus was guilty of participating in such practices, but Aurora's hands were still clean from that corruption, and Primal intended on keeping it that way as he tried setting a better example for her to follow. Rhinox and Whitegrazer would be great role models as well.

"You can try to reason with a viper too.. but you're not likely to enjoy the results,"

"Well, as you know from your research, reasoning with a completely different species is hardly a fair comparison considering we don't even speak the same language," Optimus attempted at some lighthearted humor before he gave a soft, quiet sigh while thinking of a way to explain it to her so that she could understand. "Long before me, even before Nexus, these experiments were being forced upon individuals against their will. Whether they volunteered or they had been captured, whether they were criminals or just lonely, depressed bots who saw no future in their lives, the true nature of these scientists' intentions were falsely advertised, and the victims were manipulated and lied to. There was no compassion, no empathy, and no remorse from the scientists who oversaw the torture and suffering that they were subjecting them to. Zodiac, Nemesis and Rampage are all prime examples of such victims." He paused for a second when he realized what he had just said. Was that the correct term to use? He nodded to himself before he repeated to Aurora, "Yes. Victims. Nexus Prime was one of those scientists. I am one of those scientists," he took full responsibility because it was the right thing to do. There was no denying it. "These practices are still happening to this day," he pointed out to her as the passion against such cruelty rose in his voice. "Who's going to stop it? If not me, then who?" Optimus asked her rhetorically. "How many more are going to suffer and even die before I can return to fight it? I believe this is what Nexus would have wanted me to accomplish. I believe it's what I must do. If the Elders deliberately tried exiling or terminating me for fear of me becoming a whistle-blower, then I mustn't waste any opportunity to end these awful experiments and find a different way that would benefit everyone," generally speaking. Aurora would have been a great asset in this endeavor because her creativity would likely contribute to discovering far better results with little to no fallback. Unfortunately, she had made her intentions quite clear staying as far away from Cybertron as possible. "I'm almost certain that they won't be expecting my return."

And at the moment, Optimus didn't have the heart to tell her that he wasn't always going to be around as much as the last part of her statement warmed his spark. Of course she probably knew that herself, but her comment gave him doubts. He needed them too, but there would come a time when he wasn't going to be able to rise from the dead again, or he would be split up from his crew, either court-marshaled and imprisoned or just doing his advocating on Cybertron while his Maximals were elsewhere with someone else leading them. This group, this family, it couldn't last forever. This war wasn't going to last forever. Eventually one side was going to fall. Or perhaps both of them would if the Vok decided to decimate the planet again. But these were bleak and gloomy thoughts that he would rather push aside than devote another second thinking about. As an Optimus, it was his character to remain optimistic even in their darkest hour.

"Did you ask him about it yet?,"

"No," he was honest with her. "I haven't spoken to him since the moment I locked him in that cell." Nor had he looked at Nexus's journal. Why was he wasting so much time?

"I doubt we can just show up at Megatron's door and ask for it. Given recent events, I'm sure he has upgraded security since then."

"That goes without saying. Or he always keeps it on him," Primal added to her presumptions. The fact that he could sense these alien artifacts was a little disturbing to him. But maybe he could also use it to his advantage, if he could understand it better and harness that... ability? It might not actually be a good thing. Who knew at this point. And what about that link with Wintersong that he only recently noticed because of her contact with the Vok? He was no where near the Maximal he used to be before he had left Cybertron.

“A little late on the update Big Green, we already know. He just asked where Megatron and his Predacons were.”

"What...?" Rhinox's tone suggested confusion and surprise. Airazor could have heard him but he was mostly talking to himself over the open transmission. Was this his fault because he mentioned Megatron? He couldn't help but feel responsible, but what would have changed the new bot's mind and allegiance so quickly? Was he already a Predacon? Only a select few protoforms in the Axalon's stasis pods weren't Maximals, but Rhinox didn't have the entire roster memorized Primal did. without knowing more about their situation in the field, his optics drifted upward to the monitor with the video feed of Zodiac. "What the..." He frantically searched for the shape shifter but the harder he looked, the more it felt like he kept missing something. He started to panic. No, he couldn't have escaped. Sentinel would've alerted us, he thought as he tried convincing himself. Because of the camera angle and the lighting in the cell, Zodiac blended into the wall almost flawlessly. He has to be in there. He's just trying to get our attention.

"Optimus, you may want to pay Zodiac a visit soon. For someone who seems to crave attention, being abruptly cut off from it might be driving his creativity... or driving him insane," he sent over his comm. link. Then he manually took over one of the cameras' controls with a little joystick at the console and moved it around in as many directions as it could handle in hopes of spotting the pretender if only to put his mind at ease.

Primal gave a thoughtful sigh to Rhinox's update before replying, "Soon." He wasn't exactly looking forward to it, but his friend was right. The longer they left Zodiac to his own devices, the more creative he could get, possibly to the point of finding a way out despite how unlikely it seemed. If he was distracted by a visitor, then he might settle down. And maybe he would eat a little too, but that was the least of the ape's worries. "Any updates with Quickfix?"

"Yes. He's inquiring about Megatron and feels as though he has wasted our time retrieving him."

"I was afraid of that," Optimus said with some subtle disappointment but no anger. "How did he hear about him?"

"From me and my big mouth," the engineer admitted.

"It's not your fault, Rhinox. It probably would have happened sooner or later given his file. Although I wish I could have had an opportunity to persuade him. Is our team retreating then?"

Given his file? Who was this young chap, anyway? "They haven't informed me yet of their current status."

"Alright. I'll be there soon." Optimus limped back behind his desk, leaning on it a little with his finger tips and looked at the journal resting on it before he lifted his optics to the Fuzor on the other side.

"I think we've covered everything here, Aurora," he told her with a soft tone, recalling the long list of what he felt he needed to address with her, and all the issues and emotional trauma they had recently gone through. "Is there anything else you want to discuss?"

-----

“That would be a negative Rattrap. We’re looking right at him, and he’s a confirmed Predacon.”

"Oh, great," Rattrap returned to the falcon sarcastically. "I say we just turn around now and bail before trouble finds us," he suggested. "Trouble with a capital 'P'," he clarified with the implication of Predacons. He wasn't going to leave his comrades though. If they were going to stumble upon some Preds, he couldn't just abandon them to fend for themselves. So, he reluctantly sped up and weaved around some obstacles along the way before finally arriving at his destination.

"Why can't de Preds ever mind their own business?" he said to no one in particular when he arrived and was immediately disappointed upon seeing them. "Maximize!" the rodent cried out as he his wheels shifted and his body transformed to his robot mode. He reached over his shoulder and wielded his gun as he glared at their enemies and the new guy. "Do we have a problem here?" Rattrap asked the Preds who were in ear shot as if he was in charge with the highest authority. He quickly counted the Predacons to see who they were dealing with here. Most of the fliers, and they probably had a ground unit on the way just like the Maximals had planned. No Megajerk though? At least not at the moment. And where was Rampage? Not that the rat was going to complain about both their absences, but the rest that were present were always a pain in the skidplate to battle. Of course, whoever didn't show up made him wonder where they were and what they might have been up to.

Inferno watched Terrorsaur foolishly fly into the fray and chase after Airazor. Sometimes he didn't understand why some of his comrades were so focused on specific Maximals. The ant merely did as he was told, and at the moment, Nemesis hadn't given him any orders, so he followed her to the ground and landed near her with his large weapon in his hands; one gripping the handle and the other with the end of the barrel resting in its palm. His red, pointy optics observed the new stranger before settling on the Maximals and the rodent who had just joined them.

"If you three could be so kind, direct me to where Megatron and his crew is, please."

The tall pyro grew both suspicious and interested in the newcomer's plea which requested his Queen's location. He instinctively became protective.

"And who may I tell him is requesting his presence?,"

Inferno looked from Quickfix to Nemesis and back to Quickfix until two of the Maximals spoke poorly of their Royalty, and he narrowed his optics accusingly at them.

“You want to join Megatron? Young one, do you have any idea what you are asking?”

“My comrade here is right, the crew you’re asking about, they’re a tough and dangerous sort, they would sooner pick you alive than express loyalty.”

"Maximals.. always so quick to judge. Clearly our new friend here has more sense than the lot of you,"

"Ha ha ha ha ha," the ant laughed at their enemy with Nemesis's insult. To Inferno, it looked as though this incident was resolved before it could escalate. But he still wanted to burn the Maximals.

"It really wasn't dat clever, blender butt," Rattrap tried offending Inferno and his poor sense of humor. "But I guess simple minds are easily amused," he smiled to the side.

"Keep running your mouth, rodent, and I'll buuurrrn your body to a crisp and use that loud hole in your face for ventilation!" the red Predacon threatened the smaller, TransMetal Maximal.

Rattrap gave him a disgusted face with his upper lip curling upward to one side, holding his weapon tightly and ready to use it. Something was definitely disconnected in that Predacon's head. "You gotta work on yer comebacks."

-----

“There is a difference between purely hating your enemy and deep loathing Megatron, you are still far from sharing the level of hatred I hold for Primal.”

Megatron glanced at the crab while raising a curious brow, and a tiny smile crept on his purple face before he turned his gaze forward again. Although he disagreed with Rampage's assessment, he wasn't going to verbalize it. Instead he rather enjoyed hearing the tortured soul proclaim his sheer distaste for the Maximal leader. He could certainly use this.

“But you’re right, for the moment we share a common enemy that needs to be taken care of.”

If anything existed that could possibly "touch" or "warm" Megatron's cold, dark spark, it was those words spoken from the allegedly indestructible crustacean. Excellent, yesss, he thought joyfully as he mentally schemed and planned out the near future.

“Of course they would forgive him. Poor, tortured monkey, unable to cope with the weight of his mistakes.” “Pah! Such sentimental fools, when I am done with them they will be second guessing their sense of forgiveness soon enough.”

"Sentimental they may be, but do not underestimate their abilities, my dear Rampage," Megatron offered to warn him. "Primal may carry the weight of his mistakes and demons on his shoulders, but with his crew united behind him, he becomes a force to be reckoned with. Of course," he then chuckled with false embarrassment as if he just realized who he was talking to and almost accidentally insulted, "he has yet to face you one on one without restraints or sedatives." And that was a match Megatron would enjoy watching.

“What I desire most is simple: total freedom from my suffering.”

The tyrant's face fell neutral in response to the crab's cryptic voice. It was difficult for him to decipher what exactly Rampage meant by what he said, so he decided to reply in a general sense. "Fair enough. One can not argue with such an aspiration. And I may be able to assist you in achieving that goal, that is, if you can offer me your cooperation just a bit longer. I may very well be the last one you serve," he began to assure him.

After the long distance they had walked, Megatron finally stopped and gazed around their surroundings. They were alone as they stood atop a peaceful cliff. There was a predominant mountain or inactive volcano in the distance that seemed to grab the Predacon leader's attention. "That mountain will serve our purpose," he announced. "Yesss." As his hand lowered to his backside, the golden disk ejected from his subspace revealing the "Sounds of Earth" inscription on it, and he effortlessly caught it without a fumble or a slip of his fingers. He lifted it to the end of his tail gun and carefully inserted it in its clamp. Holding out his tail toward the mountain, Megatron reprogrammed his weapon into a projector as it played the disk and a holographic image appeared in mid-air in front of it. "This disk contains images and audio recordings from the future," he explained to the king crab. "Well, one future, anyway." He paused and looked over at his companion. "Rampage, if you please," he politely gestured for him to fire at the mountain in the distance with his powerful ammunition. Was he risking his life in asking him to do so? Absolutely. But he still had his spark, though like Zodiac, he wanted to refrain from threatening him with that pain too often. Similar experiences of oppression in the past taught anyone with intelligence to avoid provoking those who were constantly treated poorly because they eventually released that bottled-up fury and the outcome tended to be unpleasant for the oppressors. It was just simpler to prevent such happenings for as long as he could. Hopefully Rampage's curiosity, if he had any at this point in his life after everything he had been through, as to where Megatron was going with this endeavor of theirs would maintain his good behavior thus far.

[una]

((OOC: It's been 84 years... Anyway, again, sorry for being so late with my post. I am now feeling better and able to post. ))

When Wintersong mentioned Cybertron, Whitegrazer too pondered the fates of people she left behind like her students. Though, back on Cybertron, she wasn't nearly as attached to anyone as she was here on the Axalon and it's crew. After all, teaching students at the Maximal Academy wasn't actually her choice as it was the Maximal Elders' way of keeping her occupied, and, as she knew, due to the fact that the Elders themselves had allies in the school, spied on, making sure she wasn't causing too much trouble. "Do you have people, loved ones, waiting for you back on Cybertron?" She asked Wintersong, remembering how Aurora, when they discussed the thought of returning back to Cybertron, didn't want to leave Earth, as she was born here, which was understandable. Part of her actually didn't want to return to Cybertron, but could she really stay here on Earth, especially with her people here, especially with the fact that Optimus and the others might want to go back home. Also, she couldn't abandoned her purpose, the reason she came to Cybertron, the reason she donned a physical form in the first place, even if her presence had caused suffering and was a danger. As Wintersong remarked on the Vok's power, she couldn't help but agree in a way, "When the Matrix touched us, we were reborn. These powers were a mere side effect. Just wished we had been given the same wisdom that the Matrix was famous for to help us in using such beautifully yet horrific powers." She gained, hopefully, some wisdom during her time as a Cybertronian, she did, and learned many things. Maybe, if her own people took a physical form, spent time as Cybertronians, maybe they would gain a fresh perspective.

Whitegrazer smiled at Wintersong's little joke. "Six arms might have been too much, but if they had given me wings, I could at least passed myself off as a Pegasus." During the battle with the Viper, she had been more focused on Zodiac's plans and helping out her friends against Rampage. Too occupied to sense that connection between Optimus and Wintersong. It probably took them aback as well. "Optimus did? How about you? What did you feel during that moment?" It probably was a shock to both of them.

She could feel how revolted Wintersong was at such a suggestion. She could hardly blame the female tigeress. She had already been violated and scanned and Primus knows what other things The Vok did to her. But she had to put that option on the table. "It is your choice, Wintersong. I will not force the issue. I mainly wanted you to know about the link between us due to my people's possession and attempt to use my own abilities and my link with Optimus to kill everyone, and to let you know that, if anything happens, if something beyond your control, when you have no other option, just close your eyes and call upon me." Whitegrazer pointed at her spark. "I will be there to help you." She raised her right hand, the skeletal hand, "But only if you ask for it or will it, I will not activate the link without your permission. It would be your choice, not mine." She smiled warmly at her friend. She understood the feelings Wintersong felt, the disgust at such violation, both known and unknown. She just wanted to let Wintersong know that she had that option, if she needed it, or wanted it.



Blackarachnia had been watching Zodiac while she eavesdropped on Quickfix and rhinox communication. When the supposed newest addition to the Maximal crew asked for Megatron and the Predacons, Blackarachnia gave out a small whistle, "Well, well, I wasn't expecting that." Did the Predacons get to him first, or was he a defector? Well, it seems that mission was a bust. She tore her optics away from Zodiac for one moment as she looked at Rhinox as he contacted Optimus about the recent development. "So what are you guys going to do? Tell him where to find Megatron?" Blackarachnia hoped they weren't that stupid. "I say, if the Predacons don;t know where he is, then capture him, or get rid of him. " She knew they probably wouldn't do either, but she had to roll her optics. Part of her actually thought about reprogramming him, but then she shivered revoltingly. After what happened with Tarantulas, that choice being made for her, she kept her mouth shut. Also, she knew the Maximls wold detest the idea anyway.

She went back to continue watching Zodiac when she noticed he was nowhere to be seen. The shock made her jump out of her seat for a moment, "What? Where did he go?", but as she thought about it, for a moment, where could he have gone? Alarms would have went off. Some type of debris or hole in the wall if he escaped. She narrowed her optics. Thought about how Umbra used to pull stunts like this. Despite her spark skipping a beat for a moment, she took a breath and looked at Rhinox, "He's still in there... unless he has the ability to change into a liquid state. or is able to thing himself out and seep through walls?" That's ridculous. He couldn't do that, could he? Could he?

[Wintersong]

((With you there Una. Forgot we had company coming over yesterday and today was busy! But going to be working on this tonight.))

“Honestly, no.” Wintersong admitted, looking at the ground in embarrassment. “Anyone I’ve known have been acquaintances and loosely connected, fellow troublemakers out to just cause mischief. Nothing more beyond that.” This was the first time she recalled fully opening up to anyone about where she came from. Which compared to most, was less than humble. “I am one of the few among this crew that comes from the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak. A Maximal initially without purpose or a function, I just simply drifted from place to place, establishing loose relationships to survive. By the Pit, I wasn’t even suppose to be a part of this crew originally. I came here because of some stupid prank gone wrong.” The tigress signed then, glancing up at the mare with a sheepish smile, “Now here we are a few years later. And to be honest I...fear what will happen if we return to Cybertron.”

Though Wintersong’s worries stemmed from the fact she had done something stupid and reckless. If she didn’t end up in prison for backing Optimus and his views she had no doubts she would be imprisoned for several violations and desertion.

Though the feline merely chuckled softly, “Even I’ve heard wisdom is earned through experience and trial-and-error Whitegrazer. Guess it’s the Vok’s fault for not trying to understand as you have.” She told her, but shook her head in regards to Optimus. “No, I felt nothing from Optimus at the time. The only thing I recall is a sharp pain in my spark and back of my head, the Vok said something of not trusting the traitor, which I assume they meant you.” Wintersong frowned towards the end, wondering if the other Vok were really so selfish and ignorant. “If me and Optimus do have a link, I have yet to figure out how it works myself.”

Though the femme gave the mare an apologetic look, knowing she just wanted to help. “I trust you could help me if I really needed it Whitegrazer. Just not right now, not until I work some things out for myself.” Though as she said this, Wintersong visibly grimaced in slight pain, feeling the strange plant once more sluggishly working its way along her inner workings, the lines visible on her top armor seeming to etch along the same path. But this time a few branches of the energy lines started moving to the right side.

+++++++++++

As the remaining Predacon fliers made themselves known, it was becoming clear a showdown may be eminent.

"My experiences since the day I was revived from my pod have shown otherwise." Airazor countered towards Nemesis, flapping her wings a few times before she transformed to robot mode and landed next to Rattrap once he arrived. Though she attempted not to draw her weapons to escalate the situation any more than it already seemed to be. "Regardless, there hardly seems a need to escalate this situation. The newcomer has made his allegiance clear and you three are here already. Is that not more than enough to convince you to avoid conflict at this moment?" Airazor pointed out.

Unlike most of her fellow Maximals, Airazor wasn't so quick to draw her weapons, much preferring to defuse a simple mission when it seemed obvious Quickfix did not desire to come with the Maximals. For once, she agreed with Rattrap that retreating didn't seem such a bad idea.

"Judgemental and cowardly, what else is new." Terrorsaur snorted in annoyance, landing fully beside his comrades, optics already glowing in preparation to shoot if he could. "Come on Nemesis, Inferno has the right idea. Lets just blast these scrap heaps to oblivion, get the new guy, and skedaddle on back to the base before grape face makes it back from his own mission." The Transmetal 'dactyl pressed, wanting to at least get a few shots in and send the Maximals packing with their tails between their legs.

Though given that he already seemed on both Nemesis' and Megatron's bad sides today, Terrorsaur further showed restraint at the present moment. Ordinarily he would make his move, but right now he was using his common sense to await her orders, but just barely. Though his annoyance soon shifted to Tigerhawk as he too decided to step in.

Transforming to robot mode, Tigerhawk stepped forward, his Electro Cannons out just in case the situation got out of hand. "Though in most cases Predacons are not always dishonest and disloyal, in the case of your crew I think it applies in more ways than one." The large fuzor spoke, having met some Predacons in his past that were far from being what he had seen with Megatron's crew. "But Rattrap and Airazor are right, we don't need problems here today." The large mech spoke with a slight glare, mostly eyeing Inferno and Terrorsaur who already had their weapons ready.

As the group was speaking, Spineback as also making her arrival to the scene. Though, she made sure the transport was a safe distance away from the potential confrontation, wanting to make her presence known at the last moment as she stepped off, keeping it idle for the time being. "Keep on the lookout fuzor, I'll be back shortly." She spoke towards Quickstrike, figuring for now keeping him as a surprise backup could work in their favor as she shifted to her beast mode and made her way on foot towards where the fliers were picked up last.

With the lack of gunfire or aerial skirmishes she could assume, for the moment, things were remaining civil. Whether that was good or not remained to be seen so far.

Listening closely as she moved closer, the veteran tilted her head slightly in wonder, realizing the new protoform was not only active but appeared to already be of Predacon origin. 'Well, least I have the chip for something else in the future if necessary.' She thought. Feeling she had listened long enough, the Spinosaurus femme gave a low growl as she came forward to join the fliers, eyes narrowed towards their enemies. "So what's the situation boss lady? The Maximals being a thorn in our side today?"

+++++++++++++

“Hmph, hard to have a support group if you know how to draw them apart.” Rampage spoke indifferently. He had more than been capable of tearing an entire colony asunder on his own without someone commanding him or restraint. Granted it had taken everything in him to gain the upperhand, stalking his prey from the shadows until he grew bored and emboldened by the success to truly start massacring those within.

Well, except one target in particular who he had not seen in years. He sometimes wondered what Depth Charge was up to these days. Oh how his spark thrummed with excitement at the thought of such a challenge again, one no one else had given him thus far.

Though he turned a cold, hard glare towards Megatron, “I hardly think it will only be the Maximals who will resort to such measures.” Once more his tone was rather ominous and threatening, implying that he more than understood Megatron and his Predacons would be no different if necessary. Though he had to admit to himself that Megatron’s offer of possible freedom in some manner was...intriguing. Even if Rampage met it with being able to be let loose on this backwater planet or having the sweet release of death brought upon his supposedly immortal spark, and freedom from his suffering would be welcomed. Preferably though, a more permanent solution was preferred. Not with lack of trying on his part, but he just healed far too fast and his durability was astounding even by normal standards.

Focusing ahead once more, Rampage followed alongside Megatron until they came to a rather peaceful cliff. Far too peaceful and quiet for his liking. Raising an optic ridge, he was about to make a snide remark on why they were here until Megatron went into detail of what he was here to show him. Unable to hold back his curiosity, the crustacean listened intently, eyeing the projecting then the real thing behind it, finally shifting his gaze back to Megatron. A different sort of future huh? So perhaps Megatron might be the legitimate thing for once, but Rampage was still holding onto his skepticisms for the time being.

“You want me to be your little guinea pig to test a theory? How boring to be dragged halfway across the continent for this.” Rampage spoke boredly, shifting to his tank mode and aiming his cannon for a long moment at Megatron, more than contemplating blasting the transmetal t-rex into oblivion. “But I will indulge your findings, this time.” The transmetal crab growled, hiding his slight sense of curiosity as he turned on the spot, shifting to a second barrel that was already loaded, releasing one of his missiles followed by two additional others in quick succession.

And now, the moment of truth...

[Phoenix]

(ooc: I hope everyone had a great holiday! And my apologies for slowness.. My window of opportunity for posting earlier passed while I was waiting for others to finish up their posts, and I had to work throughout the holiday. Yes, it sucked. This Christmas Day will go down in history as one of the crappier ones in my life..)

"Just... try to keep it in mind,"

Aurora remained silent for a moment as she took his suggestion in, before eventually nodding without lifting her head to look at him again.

"I will.. I promise," she told him, her voice sounding genuine even if she was looking away at that time. And she meant every word, no matter how few of them there were. She'd had enough excitement for a while.. And pain.. tears.. and that dreaded sense of agonizing fear. She wasn't about to forget it any time soon, nor disregard it. The fuzor was well aware of how close she'd come to dying and that wasn't something she cared to repeat. Ever, if possible.

"I'm serious about this, Aurora. I want to make sure you'll be okay,"

Optimus' caring, yet firm, tone prompted the little fuzor to look back at him, her green optics settling on his for a moment as she took in his appearance as well. Her leader looked exhausted, honestly, and yet he always found the energy to keep going.. And he never complained, at least not to the majority of his crew. Yet one would have to be blind not to notice the toll his leadership role was taking on him. It was a role he'd been forced to take on, yet unlike certain others he had no desire to lead. He did it out of a genuine concern for his crew and their mission, a trait that had almost become uncommon among Maximal leaders nowadays.

Aurora respected him all the more for it.

"I know," she reiterated, making it clear she fully understood where he was coming from on this topic.

Primal seemed to tense up as she went on to explain, or at least trying to do so, her interaction with whom they had all presumed was the real Nexus Prime at the time. Aurora didn't really notice until she had finished the sentence, however, only glancing at Optimus' hands as he slowly released the tight fists he'd made. The fuzor, only knowing Optimus' relationship with the real Nexus through what interaction she'd seen between him and the fake one as well as a few stories she'd heard murmured among the crew, quickly stopped talking when she saw the impact her words, innocent as they had seemed, had on her leader.

"Once upon a time. And I've come to regret some of it."

Why regret it?, she wondered without verbalizing herself just yet. She'd of course heard rumors about Primal's role in some shadier experiments, but the way she viewed it he had been working under the orders of others. So she didn't blame him at all for whatever he felt responsible for. But from everything she'd seen, Optimus did a lot of judgement towards himself

"While those words were spoken by a fraud to you, they were once spoken to me by their true author. Aurora, I want you to know that I fully support your inquisitive mind. After all, you've created countless weapons and objects that we've been able to implement successfully to help each other and defend ourselves with against the Predacons. I never want you to lose that astounding part of who you are. All I'm asking is that you obey orders so that you remain safe and let us know where you're going and when. It's not meant to punish you or restrict your curiosity."

A slight smile appeared on her face as he said those words, since they made it obvious just how deeply Primal cared. It did, however, bring to mind another trait of Optimus' that came just as close to costing the Maximals everything. His own propensity of self-sacrifice.

"Not trying to be disrespectful in any way, but maybe you should heed your own advice on occasion too.. We've come close to losing you as well, and one dreadful time we actually did for a while.. ," she reminded him, a bit awkwardly since she respected him too much to want to lecture him, but it was clear Optimus didn't always abide by the rules he placed upon others.

"We almost lost you that day. I don't think I..."

Her smile, however slight it had been, faded as Optimus turned away from her. He may not have finished his sentence, but he really didn't have to in order to make the words clear as day. And this extracted a sigh and a faint frown from the fuzor as she tugged lightly on her lip for a moment before reaching out to place her hand on her leader's arm.

"And we did lose you one time.. And then almost again after you gave yourself up to the Predacons," the little fuzor whispered, a certain bitterness poorly hidden within her words. They were words she'd been wanting to tell her leader for a while now, but the opportunity had never really presented itself. And when it had, she just couldn't bring herself to say them. Yet part of her had still ached to get the words out, to let Optimus know that he was important to his Maximals too. He was the glue that held them all together, and losing him had threatened to tear them apart.

Yes, hearing her speak those words may upset him, she knew that, but she still wanted him to know how she truly felt. She didn't want there to be any more secrets.

"Well, as you know from your research, reasoning with a completely different species is hardly a fair comparison considering we don't even speak the same language,"

"You know.. One of the things that I love to explore on this planet is the interaction between different species," she started to explain, well aware of his attempt of humor but she still wanted to clarify something, "And it's amazing how well different species here are able to co-exist despite all their differences. They may not speak the same language, but they can communicate via body language, sounds.. And somehow they're able to share a space without trying to blow each other up, which is something we, as the supposedly more advanced species, still haven't learned."


Yet another reason she didn't want to leave this world. Go figures.

"Long before me, even before Nexus, these experiments were being forced upon individuals against their will. Whether they volunteered or they had been captured, whether they were criminals or just lonely, depressed bots who saw no future in their lives, the true nature of these scientists' intentions were falsely advertised, and the victims were manipulated and lied to. There was no compassion, no empathy, and no remorse from the scientists who oversaw the torture and suffering that they were subjecting them to. Zodiac, Nemesis and Rampage are all prime examples of such victims."

The fuzor's ears perked up a bit as Primal went on to explain some of the darker experiments done by Cybertronian scientists, certainly much worse than anything Aurora had ever thought about going.

And of the three socalled victims that Optimus brought up, particularly the two males had ended up being rather twisted in the fuzor's optics. Nemesis too, she supposed, but she seemed less likely to want to try to commit genocide than the other two so perhaps not quite as much..?

It sounded pretty horrific, honestly, the lengths these scientists had been willing to go to and for what? A hope to create something new, never seen before? So they tinkered with technology they barely understood in order to create a new breed of Cybertronian?

"Yes. Victims. Nexus Prime was one of those scientists. I am one of those scientists,"

"It wasn't your fault," Aurora then reminded him, "You said it yourself. This was going on for generations, long before you ever put on a lab coat."

"How many more are going to suffer and even die before I can return to fight it? I believe this is what Nexus would have wanted me to accomplish. I believe it's what I must do. If the Elders deliberately tried exiling or terminating me for fear of me becoming a whistle-blower, then I mustn't waste any opportunity to end these awful experiments and find a different way that would benefit everyone,"

The fuzor shook her head while slowly grabbing for a small object on her person, a information disk meant to be inserted into a computer to read. "There's got to be another, less dangerous way to bring these things into the open. You can expose them, sure, but do you have to do it in person? You know what they are likely to do! These morons did everything in their power to split you and Nexus up when they saw the need to control you both. They were willing to sacrifice the Axalon and its entire crew to hide their own mistakes. I don't want you to get hurt.. or worse," she said, her voice pleading, as her optics slowly drifted to the object in her hand.

"I'm almost certain that they won't be expecting my return."

Maybe not. But that would surely not stop them from extracting some horrible plan should they feel the need to.

"I haven't spoken to him since the moment I locked him in that cell."

Optimus wasn't overly enthusiastic about the thought of Megatron harboring his own Vok secrets either. Of course that one was less of a surprise and more of a given.

"I think we've covered everything here, Aurora," "Is there anything else you want to discuss?"

The fuzor looked up, bringing her hand that was holding the disk up to Optimus as she met his gaze yet again. "Before you do talk to him.. or Whitegrazer for that sakes.. You should take a look at the information contained on this disk." She paused for a moment, waiting for Optimus to take the disk from her, before continuing. "I was doing some research into Whitegrazer's physical changes after her encounter with the Vok recently.. when she got possessed by them. I didn't want to inflict any more pain to her, so I used the data accumulated by our computer systems during her repair cycle. As you'll be able to see for yourself, the Vok technology within her that lay dormant for so long left a unique genetic imprint on our scanners. Somehow it looked familiar in a way, so I dug a little deeper.. And ran a comparison with the genetic markers detected during our friend in the brig's trip to the CR chamber.."

She paused for a moment before finishing, her tone a lot more serious when she did.

"The results were a match. "

She tilted her head a bit, watching Optimus intently for a reaction.

"I couldn't believe the results I was getting, so I ran the test again. And then a final time. All the tests showed the same results. And the only way this is possible is if Whitegrazer shares some of the same genetic material as Zodiac.. Meaning the two of them are related."


It was a scary concept. One that the fuzor wasn't sure how Optimus would react to, but still.. she felt he should know.

Meanwhile, some distance away from either base, Nemesis was watching the hostility between the two factions rise as both teams arrived at the scene of the thew new pod. It was clear that the newly awakened occupant of the pod had made up his mind on which side he wanted to join, and that based on the mere mention of Megatron's name it would seem, a fact the avian female had no intention of arguing against. After all she had other concerns than merely recruiting a new ally.

"Do we have a problem here?"

"Only if you make one," she replied calmly given the circumstances, albeit her voice also held a hint of a dare for the rat to do just that.

She appeared calm and confident, like someone worthy of serving under Megatron for the new recruit to look up to. Their newest prospective member seemed keenly interested in meeting the tyrant, although Nemesis wasn't foolish enough to immediately buy into it since there was still a chance, albeit a very slight one, that this Quickfix youngster was just another overzealous Maximal out to obtain glory by being the one to bring Megatron down with a cheap stab to the back. He did, after all, emerge from a Maximal pod, so some suspicion was warranted.. Even though she still was willing to welcome him with open arms should he turn out to be trustworthy.

"My experiences since the day I was revived from my pod have shown otherwise."

The Predacon avian female turned her attention to her Maximal counterpart, smirking a bit as she did.

"And yet here we are.. Another Maximal pod lost to the Predacon cause."

"Regardless, there hardly seems a need to escalate this situation. The newcomer has made his allegiance clear and you three are here already. Is that not more than enough to convince you to avoid conflict at this moment?"

"Aww, but conflicts are so much fun!," Nemesis retorted, yet she swiftly held her hand up to stop any of her Predacon troops from acting out on their barely constrained desire to engage the Maximals in battle. Not that she wasn't planning on giving their foes something to remember this little encounter with.

"Go home, Maximals, you cannot win here today," the then told them in a dismissive manner as she started making her way closer to the would-be Predacon recruit.

"Come on Nemesis, Inferno has the right idea. Lets just blast these scrap heaps to oblivion, get the new guy, and skedaddle on back to the base before grape face makes it back from his own mission.

Nemesis merely sent the pterodactyl a warning glare, although it was more as a means to put the Maximals more at ease than anything else. Once she was out of earshot of the Maximals present, she opened a channel to Terrorsaur to clarify since her fellow flyer had no way of knowing the extent of her plans.

"Patience, Terrorsaur, for you will get your taste for battle fulfilled yet. In fact I need you to pretend to head out. Then, after the Maximals power down their weapons I want you to snag one of them, the rodent perhaps, and bring the vermin with us."

She neglected to tell the pterodactyl exactly why she needed a Maximal captive, wanting to save the element of surprise for when they arrived at the Axalon.

"So what's the situation boss lady? The Maximals being a thorn in our side today?"

"Not for long," the avian female assured her fellow former Decepticon in a low voice. "I need you to prepare for the Maximal retaliation when we take one of them with us for a little.. experiment, I guess you could call it."


She then turned her attention to Inferno and the scorpion fuzor, opening private channels to both of them as well. "Pretend to retreat, but be prepared to defend Terrorsaur when he grabs one of the Maximals as a hostage. Having some extra leverage will help us greatly in accomplishing the next step of Megatron's plan."

Finally she turned her attention to the young male who called himself Quickfix, signaling for him to come along with her. "Time to start earning your keep," she told him briefly as the two of them walked through the partially wooded landscape.

Meanwhile back at the Axalon, Zodiac had been keeping as still as he could for several minutes without any curious Maximal poking their heads inside his cell to check on him. Growing tired of not being able to move, he finally gave up with a sigh and dropped the color scheme for him normal one as he stepped back into view of the cameras.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"I will.. I promise,"

Optimus had confidence that she would follow through on her promise. It would ease his mind, and it would hopefully help Aurora as well.

"I know,"

His skeptical gaze softened and he gave a nod when she reaffirmed that she would obey him by keeping a log of her sleeping habits and anything she might use to help her rest and her troubled, overactive mind. Unfortunately, just about all of them -if not all of the Maximals- were going to suffer from some form of post traumatic stress disorder because of this war. Primal already was, although he did his best to hide it and only really addressed it privately in front of Whitegrazer and Rhinox, two who could relate and offer different techniques of meditation as well as handle listening to his troubles. He hoped the rest of his Maximals were able to confide in someone if they felt it necessary to do so.

"Not trying to be disrespectful in any way, but maybe you should heed your own advice on occasion too.. We've come close to losing you as well, and one dreadful time we actually did for a while.. ,"

Optimus raised a brow at the Fuzor at first, but it lowered as his orange optics studied her face unsure of what to say. He didn't see himself as important as the rest; it just wasn't in his programming. His job was to ensure their survival even if that included sacrificing his own. And he had managed to accomplish that. Would he do it again? Without hesitation. "The risks I take are the ones I won't put on anyone else's shoulders but they still need to be conveyed in order to achieve our survival as a whole," he explained to the young Maximal. "They are the ones with dire consequences." He gave a light sigh when he pushed his words aside and told her, "If it's important to you, Aurora, then I will try to do better to avoid those circumstances." He wasn't sure how he could, but he hoped his reply would satisfy her concerns or fears of losing him again.

"And we did lose you one time.. And then almost again after you gave yourself up to the Predacons,"

He stopped from walking away from her when he felt her small hand lay upon his arm. He looked down at it and then placed his other hand over her's and gently patted it a couple times while locking his optics with her's. "It's almost inevitable when your enemy knows how much you mean to their crew," he said sort of lightheartedly, not that it was a matter to take as such. Aurora's tone had suggested some bitterness behind it, but perhaps putting him on the spot like that made him a little uncomfortable assuming that was even possible for the leader who always appeared so strong and courageous on the battle field no matter who he was up against. Aurora's concern for him was obviously derived from the admiration, respect and love she had for the TransMetal ape. It was greatly appreciated, and it touched his spark. She was so kind and innocent.

Optimus grew more serious when he spoke further on the subject. "I'm far from a 'perfect' leader, Aurora," he admitted, "but... with the lack of military training for war against a warlord whose ambitions are often unpredictable... I'm doing my best. Believe me when I say that it is never my intention to commit suicide, but it is my job to lead all of you to the best of my ability, and if that means putting my life on the line in more instances than I'd prefer, then I will do so, so that no one else has to make that decision or possibly lose their life over it." Being in a leadership position was a very difficult task, especially with his lack of experience, and Primal hoped she would never have to face the same life-changing decisions that he had to while commanding so many different bots and personalities against so many Predacons who were eager to kill them. As well as the Vok.

"You know.. One of the things that I love to explore on this planet is the interaction between different species," "And it's amazing how well different species here are able to co-exist despite all their differences. They may not speak the same language, but they can communicate via body language, sounds.. And somehow they're able to share a space without trying to blow each other up, which is something we, as the supposedly more advanced species, still haven't learned."

"Aurora, you're absolutely right about that," he agreed with the Fuzor's wisdom that was once again shining through despite her age. He wished they did get along better with the Predacons and the Vok, but that was not the case on this planet. At least not yet.

"It wasn't your fault," "You said it yourself. This was going on for generations, long before you ever put on a lab coat."

Primal looked at her for a moment wishing that were true. And he realized that maybe she hadn't been made aware of some of his background with everything that had transpired lately and all of the distractions. Should he let her keep thinking that about him despite how misleading and dishonest it was in order to spare her from his darker past? Or should he come forward and let her judge him for herself? He wasn't the deceitful type, so... "I began taking on bigger responsibilities for these experiments when I was an apprentice under Nexus Prime," he began, "when he was in charge of Zodiac's development. I was mostly an adviser with the paperwork, and I had suggested some theories, but I had also witnessed some of Zodiac's suffering. I knew then that what was going on was wrong, but I was so consumed in pleasing Nexus and the High Council and climbing my ladder for higher achievement that I had decided to overlook it and continue my work. I was so selfish," he said with a lot of self-disappointment in his voice. "I didn't even learn my lesson when Zodiac had escaped and nearly killed me." He could still hear the screams and the crackling of fires nearby that illuminated the night while visualizing the dead bodies scattered about before he saw Nexus come to his rescue and black out.

"For my hard work and recognition, I quickly climbed my ladder with the help of Nexus Prime's recommendations, and I soon found myself fully in charge of the development of Protoform X's spark. ...Rampage, as he's now known as. I oversaw everything. I helped create his indestructible spark." His optics had fallen onto Aurora's with great intensity as he seemed to acknowledge the kind of power and knowledge he had once obtained as a highly respected, secretive scientist, but he hoped she could learn from his mistakes. "I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I did it anyway against my better judgment and instincts." He shook his head a couple times. "I could have said no. I could have dropped everything and walked away. ...When X was deemed uncontrollable, too unstable, and too powerful, with a mind of his own, after he had also escaped and decimated Colony Omicron, he was eventually captured and subdued, placed in stasis lock and loaded onto the Axalon. Seeing as he was my creation, my 'problem', the Council entrusted me with his deployment along with my very first exploration ship and crew. ...Everything I ever wanted... Although I wonder... if Megatron wasn't going to be successful bringing the Axalon down along with its occupants and cargo, did they rely on X's remote chance of reactivation to inevitably terminate all of us in the end, especially me? I've been such a fool."

"There's got to be another, less dangerous way to bring these things into the open. You can expose them, sure, but do you have to do it in person? You know what they are likely to do! These morons did everything in their power to split you and Nexus up when they saw the need to control you both. They were willing to sacrifice the Axalon and its entire crew to hide their own mistakes. I don't want you to get hurt.. or worse,"

"Maybe," he grew thoughtful with Aurora's observations. "Maybe there is." He almost offered her to be involved, but that was exactly what he was trying to avoid in order to keep her hands clean. "With Rhinox and Rattrap's help, we might be able to formulate a way to disperse the information publicly but keep it encrypted so it isn't traceable," not that he would ever identify those who collaborated with him. At least it would initialize the beginning of a rebellion of sorts. But someone would still have to physically be there on Cybertron to ensure the corruption would be exposed and those responsible were punished accordingly.

Curiously, he looked at the disk in Aurora's hand as their optics met again and she offered the object to him from across his desk.

"Before you do talk to him.. or Whitegrazer for that sake.. You should take a look at the information contained on this disk."

His expression shifted to a quizzical one as he took the disk from her while reaching over his desk for it. What had she found now?

"I was doing some research into Whitegrazer's physical changes after her encounter with the Vok recently.. when she got possessed by them.

Optimus raised an inquisitive brow at her before he slipped the disk into his data pad and waited for the information to load while his Chief Biologist went on to explain her findings.

I didn't want to inflict any more pain to her, so I used the data accumulated by our computer systems during her repair cycle. As you'll be able to see for yourself, the Vok technology within her that lay dormant for so long left a unique genetic imprint on our scanners.

The leader glanced passed his slim, handheld device at her just before he began reviewing the data...

Somehow it looked familiar in a way, so I dug a little deeper.. And ran a comparison with the genetic markers detected during our friend in the brig's trip to the CR chamber.."

Primal was beginning to suspect where she was going with this when she mentioned Zodiac, but he didn't want to make any assumptions, especially nothing as accusing as she was about to announce. Other than the information Whitegrazer had shared with them about the Elders using her Vok technology in order to develop Zodiac's special abilities, what she was about to unveil was going to floor him...

"The results were a match."

His brows furrowing, his gaze shifted from Aurora to the information on his portable data pad. As if he was trying to scrutinize her findings for any mistakes, his optics narrowed at the small screen and his spark started to race. There were no mistakes... No miscalculations...

"I couldn't believe the results I was getting, so I ran the test again. And then a final time. All the tests showed the same results. And the only way this is possible is if Whitegrazer shares some of the same genetic material as Zodiac.. Meaning the two of them are related."

Seeing the results for himself, he stared at Aurora as his breathing increased and a lump formed in his throat when he tried to swallow. Why hadn't Whitegrazer told him about this? She had to have known... It would explain her persistence for the shape shifter's well being and survival, not just the fact that she was an Empath and valued all life just as he did, or that her race's technology was infused with him. Primus, he thought, taken aback by this. "Thank you, Aurora," he managed to whisper to her past his shock for this development.

"Whitegrazer," he called for her over his comm. link before he had to clear his throat to speak with a steadier voice. "Whitegrazer, where are you? I need to speak with you immediately." And he still needed to discuss things with Wintersong, but fortunately -although unbeknownst to Optimus- those two were already catching up with each other in the equine's quarters.

-----

"Well, well, I wasn't expecting that."

Rhinox frowned at Blackarachnia sitting beside him. "Neither was I," he admitted to her.

"So what are you guys going to do? Tell him where to find Megatron?" "I say, if the Predacons don;t know where he is, then capture him, or get rid of him."

"Like Optimus said, we could try persuading him. He seems to know more about him than we do," he rebutted her suggestions. "But we don't know their situation. The Predacons could be there already. At which point they should just pull out and retreat if they're able to," the engineer explained to the widow.

"What? Where did he go?"

"I told you to keep an eye on him." Rhinox sounded disappointed with her, but she almost panicked about it as much he did, so at least he could trust her with remaining more diligent now about the pretender's movements.

"He's still in there... unless he has the ability to change into a liquid state. or is able to thing himself out and seep through walls?"

"Here," the robust Maximal handed the joystick off to her. "Just keep moving the camera around until you notice some movement. He could be out of frame, but he won't be able to sit still for long. He's tired and hungry."

-----

"Only if you make one,"

As far as Rattrap was concerned, the very existence of the Predacons being on Earth was a problem, not just this one encounter. Of course, others would probably say the same about him. But instead of escalating this particular situation, he opted to keep his mouth shut and not provoke the Preds. He didn't want to be the reason for a battle to break out that could have been avoided. So the rodent simply narrowed his optics at the taller female Predacon who was obviously in charge.

"My experiences since the day I was revived from my pod have shown otherwise."

"Got dat right," Rattrap agreed with Airazor. Preach it, sister!

"And yet here we are.. Another Maximal pod lost to the Predacon cause."

"He ain't lost. He's just 'ill informed'," the Spy threw in.

"Regardless, there hardly seems a need to escalate this situation. The newcomer has made his allegiance clear and you three are here already. Is that not more than enough to convince you to avoid conflict at this moment?"

"Aww, but conflicts are so much fun!,"

Rattrap's finger subtly tapped on the trigger of his gun at his side, ready to defend himself and his friends.

"Judgemental and cowardly, what else is new."

The Maximal Spy glared at the Preds awaiting their next move...

"Go home, Maximals, you cannot win here today,"

Nemesis was right as much as the rat hated to admit it. They lost the pod and the protoform within. It was time to go. It's what Optimus would do.

"Come on Nemesis, Inferno has the right idea. Lets just blast these scrap heaps to oblivion, get the new guy, and skedaddle on back to the base before grape face makes it back from his own mission."

Rattrap's index finger rubbed along the trigger of his gun, ready to prove to them how quick he was drawing, aiming accurately and firing at his target. But it took everything for him to refrain himself, narrowing his optics at Terrorsaur and Inferno. He watched Nemesis send an expression of warning toward the TransMetal 'dactyl which indicated that she seemed to want to avoid turning this confrontation into a gun fight as well. Although her turning away from the group of Maximals to share something quietly with her team made him suspicious.

The ant nodded from Terrorsaur to Nemesis, itching to burn some Maximals even if there was no real reason to. It was fun setting things and bots on fire! "I agree with the flying reptile," he announced in his raspy voice baring his sharp teeth without realizing that she was speaking to Terrorsaur over her comm. link with further instructions.

"Though in most cases Predacons are not always dishonest and disloyal, in the case of your crew I think it applies in more ways than one." But Rattrap and Airazor are right, we don't need problems here today."

"Sure don't," Rattrap added. Not that he wanted to be slagged, but something told him they weren't going to leave here unscathed. Most of the Preds present appeared lacking in their fulfillment of destruction lately, and they looked like they were about to burst.

"So what's the situation boss lady? The Maximals being a thorn in our side today?"

Rattrap almost raised his weapon at Spineback when she suddenly showed up, but he managed to keep it at his side, his finger steady now on its trigger. "Make dat four, Airazor," he corrected her with some uneasiness in his voice because now he and his teammates were outnumbered ((excluding Onyx and Cheetor at the moment)). And didn't Spineback owe him a beating after their last encounter?

Inferno just grinned wider when their comrades joined the confrontation albeit Quickstike was hanging back somewhere still hidden it seemed probably with the doctor's junk that she always insisted bringing along to their outings.

"Pretend to retreat, but be prepared to defend Terrorsaur when he grabs one of the Maximals as a hostage. Having some extra leverage will help us greatly in accomplishing the next step of Megatron's plan."

The pyro suddenly wiped the smile off of his face, immediately stood at attention and looked at Nemesis. So, there was more to this plan after all. Excellent. Inferno nodded and turned around blasting off to the sky as though he was retreating back to the Darksyde. He didn't travel too far too fast so he could keep an eye on Terrorsaur and notice when he'd make his move for abducting one of the Maximals.

Watching the Predacons beginning to retreat with Nemesis taking the new guy under her wing, so to speak, and into the forest, Rattrap looked at his team, gave a loud whistle and raised his hand up swinging it in a circular motion as a gesture for them to round up and head out. "Let's head back ta base, guys," he told them as he turned around and started walking back in the Axalon's direction feeling defeated even without a fight. But since the Preds were still in the vicinity, he kept his gun in his grasp just in case. It was a miracle that they were leaving without a scratch. Maybe it was better dealing with Nemesis after all than it was with Megajerk.

-----

“Hmph, hard to have a support group if you know how to draw them apart.”

Megatron had merely grinned at the crab's suggestion in appreciation for his warmongering. "Many a time we Predacons have succeeded in dividing the Maximals. We even came very, very close to terminating all of them when Optimus foolishly sent himself into Earth's orbit as an attempt to defeat an alien weapon. Thanks to my brilliance, I saved everyone by sacrificing that Maximal nuisance. The explosion was glorious. Unfortunately, they managed to miraculously resurrect Primal, thus we continue our war to this day." Although the explanation probably bored Rampage, Megatron felt he should know that the tyrant had had some successful attempts in the past, and that he was indeed an admirable foe; cunning and intelligent, as he was about to find out first-hand.

“I hardly think it will only be the Maximals who will resort to such measures.”

Time will tell, thought Megatron rather confident in himself.

“You want me to be your little guinea pig to test a theory? How boring to be dragged halfway across the continent for this.”

"My intentions always have a purpose behind them no matter how insignificant they may appear to others, my dear Rampage," Megatron said calmly patiently waiting for him to oblige. Once the crab converted to his vehicle mode and targeted the Predacon leader with the barrel of his large and powerful weapon, he didn't seem frightened at all. In fact, he didn't even flinch. There was a smug smile on his face while he used his free hand to tap his finger tips on his scarred chest plate as a reminder and an implication that he could use Rampage's spark against him and inflict all of that pain that he was always threatening others with. Of course, he wasn't going to so long as he felt that he could call his bluff.

“But I will indulge your findings, this time.”

Fortunately, for both of them, the tank averted his target and pivoted on his tread to aim his cannon at the mountain. Three very loud shots were fired off, but since there was no one around, they were only heard by their originator and his companion. As all three hit their mark and blew up the top of the lonely mountain in the distance, Megatron momentarily blocked the blinding, fiery explosions before eagerly watching the holographic image that portrayed the future of said scenery. The digital picture laid out in front of his tail gun flickered with static and was soon swapped with an updated version of the damaged mountaintop. Witnessing this result, the Predacon renegade could barely contain his excitement.

"Yes! YESSS!" Megatron threw up his hands in celebration. This newly developed knowledge was incredible! "Oh, my crazed crustacean!" he said joyfully to Rampage. "Have you any idea what this means?!" he asked him rhetorically. "When our reality alters, the future alters with it!" With this disk, my power will be limitless! he thought with a raised fist. He wouldn't want to advertise the rest as he safely returned the disk to his subspace. If the Ark was there and the Autobots inside were in emergency stasis, he could effectively rewrite history! With this much power in his hands, he almost felt overwhelmed. Oh the things he could do! ...He could even wipe out the human race before they would be able to evolve! Megatron almost gasped as his thoughts raced one after another. The future was literally in his hands. A future of which the Predacons could rule Cybertron!

The tyrant attempted to calm himself and brought up his fist to cover his mouth while he cleared his throat to regain his composure in front of the TransMetal crab. "According to the disk, there is a valley not far from here that presumes the origin of the human race's evolution." He scoffed at the thought before explaining to Rampage, "Due to their involvement assisting the Autobots in their victory over the Decepticons during the Great War on Earth, it is because of them that the Maximals rule us," he said quite bitterly. "We now have the power to slaughter them and successfully erase them from History." He grinned deviously but refrained himself from leading the crustacean to its location. "But why keep the onslaught to ourselves, hm? We shall regroup with Nemesis and the rest of our comrades to tie up a loose end before we begin our endeavor of further influencing the future. I do hope that you are feeling rather ravenous," he smirked mischievously at Rampage while encouraging his hunger for Maximal body parts and sparks. "This new discovery... this is between you and I." In order to achieve his greatest goals, he relied on Rampage keeping their excursion today as a secret. If he wanted his freedom, he would certainly oblige.

[Wildfire94]

((Actually making a slightly early comeback! Not sure this will be the best post I’ve done, but working with what’s happened so far. If I did miss anything important let me know!))

Quickfix didn’t have the chance to answer Nemesis right away.

In fact, before the young Predacon could get a word in the situation seemed to quickly escalate from civil to tense within moments, causing the mech to shift his optics back and forth between the two sides. Yet, he was well aware of the Predacons regarding him with suspicion. He had made a rather bold request perhaps in their optics. And no doubt they wanted an explanation, one he could not give right away.

However, the one known as Nemesis made it clear they were apparently retreating, the young raptor quickening his pace to follow at Nemesis’ side. “Well, that confirmed what Rhinox just told me.” He commented with some surprise, before clearing his throat. “As for why I ask ma’am it’s because I actually somewhat know Megatron; I use to be part of Cryotek’s gang when Megatron was his pupil.” Quickfix explain in the short version, glancing over his shoulder back at the apparently retreating Predacons and Maximals before looking back at the avian female. “Oh, and I’m Quickfix, medic and hacker.” He added quickly before he forgot any introductions.

Cheetor had his weapon ready, his hands together and trained on the Predacons in case any of them pulled something fishy. It wouldn’t be the first time they had appeared to be civil before one of them pulled the trigger first. Not that Cheetor wasn’t guilty of that himself a time or two, especially making the first shot in the war shortly after emerging with his cheetah mode.

This time though, the young Maximal refrained from immediately reacting, growling softly under his breathe when it seemed all too easy. “Can never trust these guys to go away that easy.” He mumbled towards the others, shooting a few glares at their foes as he backed off, relaxing his stance for the time being as he followed the others away from the crash site of the pod. “So what do we tell Rhinox and Big Bot?” He inquired to the others as he shifted to his beast mode, hating they had lost another comrade.

But then again, he had already been a Predacon the moment he had emerged from stasis.

Rather than making a direct confrontation, Onyx himself has lingered back on higher ground, using a small ledge to kneel on where he had a decent vantage point. Though not the greatest. Still, it sufficed to keep an optic on the situation until things had blown over, almost seemingly without serious incident.

Then again, among the Predacons, Nemesis was normally on the calmer, diplomatic side compared to the majority.

Sliding down to rejoin his reluctant teammates, Onyx decided to take up the rear with his Friction Rifle resting against his shoulder. But while they were still in range, the black stallion opened a private com. link channel to the avian Predacon, “Nemesis, it’s not too late to change your mind. You’re not an impulsive moron like the rest of these psychopaths, you know Megatron is going to only lead us all to our doom.” The equine male tried to reason while he had the chance. Granted they didn’t have exactly a close relationship or anything of the sort, but they seemed to share much of the same situation and views from time to time. Would it hurt to reach out one last time?

Quickstrike cleared his throat at Spineback’s response, shrugging his shoulders slightly, “Compliment is a compliment ain’t it?” He remarked before she parked the transport and much to his annoyance asked him to hang back just in case. Of course he was asked to hang back, he always was! It took everything for the fuzor not to protest, only able to watch the Chief Medic head off to see wha trans situation was, leaving Quickstrike to pace in front of the transport during the brief but tense exchange.

It was only when Nemesis spoke across the private frequencies did the fuzor perk up. “You got it!” He said with eagerness, ready to blow up some Maximals after having not had the chance a few days previously. Even if it was to back up the tin-horned coward he had had such a heated argument before he wa snore than rearing to get in on the action.

————————-

In the meantime, Tarantulas made his finally touches on the individual weapons, examine each one and giving them a test shot, or in the case of the electro-whip, a few lashes to ensure they were in proper working order. But the rifle he had created he made sure had a particularly special type of ammo within, a sort of nasty little surprise for the likes of Zodiac specifically.

“Now it will only be a matter of time before what remains of the shapeshifter falls into my hands or a little piece of him. Hahahaha!” Tarantulas cackled before he loaded the weapons carefully into his back subspace, ensuring everything was secure before the traitorous mad scientist left his lair and made his way to the Predacon base.

[Wintersong]

((Sorry guys passed out last night! Then had a family emergency this morning, so couldn’t post today until soon. So post coming tonight, just today was a stressful one due to some problems my grandfather was having, sosososo sorry for the delay.))

Nemesis’ remarks ruffled Airazor’s feathers the wrong way. It was a wonder how the Maximals and Predacons could live in uneasy peace on Cybertron when two small groups could not. They were just an extension of the problems back home coming to fruition, something that deeply saddened the falcon.

And if she felt this way, she could only imagine the others who could recall Cybertrom felt. She herself remembered nothing of the hunk of metal they called home light years away from this planet, despite knowing at one point she did have a life before this one. Something she had yet to ever address or felt a need to. She had lost a part of herself due to the issues with her pod, that much she could tell but if she had somehow been involved with all the trouble the others spoke of...she wanted no part in it.

“Its conflicts such as these are why neither side can get home, or ever will.” Airazor commented back towards her fellow avian, holding nothing back in reminding either side why they may very well be stuck there for years to come. Not that it would be heeded she was sure, not with the Predacons so intent on making them suffer for transgressions of others. Though the ever trigger happy Predacons with the femme made Airazor no less tense until both sides finally decided a retreat was best, causing her to shake her head before she took flight and reverting back to her beast mode. The mode she felt most comfortable in.

Terrorsaur and Inferno expressing their desire to act, even almost at the cost of not listening to their commanding officer made Tigerhawk curl his hands and a light humming coming from his cannons. He wouldn’t put it past the Predacons to act at their own accord after what he saw during the battle with the Viper. And he knew from briefly working with Inferno those flames were nothing to joke about. “Go home Predacons, our conflict is over for the day.” The large fuzor growled softly just before catching Nemesis shooting a warning glare towards the likes of Terrorsaur.

Though his optics switched to watching Nemesis as she moved closer to the new arrival, the fuzor himself moving away as the decision was clear. Quickfix had chosen his side and there seemed no changing his mind. Rattrap’s remark of “ill informed” seemed accurate as well, making Tigerhawk wonder if the young mech did know what he was getting into. But they couldn’t force him to come with them otherwise they risked further complications all their own.

Finally though, they were retreating, and so were the Predacons strangely enough. Cheetor was right, it felt too easy. “Let us hope today we can avoid further problems.” ‘But that will be a given with this crew.’ He kept the last part to himself, following after the rodent, electro cannons still active, but on low power. “If they aren’t already aware of the situation young one, we tell them as it is; the pod is intact but the occupant is lost today.” Tigerhawk responded, recalling his own activation and how it had been Nemesis who personally attempted to recruit him, but to no avail. Almost but he had been lucky to avoid it.

A growl of irritation came from the Transmetal reptile when Nemesis shot a glare of warning towards him. They just needed a few well placed shots, it wouldn’t take much to cause the Maximals to regret making their way here. Especially so close to a mountain.

The additional remarks given by the rodent, his feathered rival, and the goody-goody fuzor didn’t help in that regard either.

Nevertheless, Terrorsaur’s optics returned to their normal color with a soft huff. “Where’s the fun in working with sorry saps falcon? We’d just back stab you anyway.” He snickered, knowing the others would probably agree. Though he perked up when Nemesis sent him a private message, having to hold back the large grin threatening to reveal itself, “Now you’re talking.” He responded as he appeared to likewise turn away to retreat, turning his head slightly to peer back at their retreating foes, optics focusing on the steep slope above them, “And I got just the thing.” He smirked to himself before turning on the spot once he was sure they were a safe distance.

“Insects, doctor, focus your firepower on the slope above the Maximals, send them scattering. They’ll be easy pickings from there.” Terrorsaur directed as he quickly flew back while their enemies’ backs were turned, his optics spotting someone among their numbers. “Maybe we will even bury a traitor today.” He sneered as his rocket launchers shifted out from behind his shoulders and sending off two missiles to hit the mountain side.

Spineback ignored Quickstrike’s complaint, figuring the insect fuzor would have considered why she left him there. If the situation went downhill he could have provided a surprise for the Maximals, but his need to complain won over rational thought.

Shaking her head, she focused on what was going on, optics briefly focusing on Rattrap, “Feeling a little trigger happy yourself rodent?” She mocked with a fanged smirk, “Don’t think Primal or Rhinox would appreciate their little friend causing a scene when none of us have made any attempts to fire, yet.” The veteran didn’t quite mind taunting their enemies, despite Terrorsaur and Inferno more than making it clear they were just as eager to react. But thankfully they were listening and didn’t make the first move. Then again, some of the Maximals seemed just as swift to pull the trigger, if not more so from the tension building.

But just like that, both Nemesis and Rattrap appeared to decide to retreat, the Spinosaurus merely nodding to the avian as she turned away. She was quite thrilled at the prospect of a slight of hand, shifting to her robot mode as her own mini-missile launchers popped up from her shoulders, “Now this is a plan.” She smirked slightly, turning back the moment it appeared safe to do so and retracing her steps so she had the mountain side in her sights, firing a small barrage of her missiles alongside Terrorsaur’s.

+++++++++++

Rampage squinted his optics against the fiery explosion, having to take a moment to recalibrate them once it had passed. By then, Megatron went from silent smugness to enthusiastic eagerness at the drop of a dime.

He regarded the Predacon leader for a silent moment, listening to his monologue with the same lack of enthusiasm as his small history lesson for how Primal had perished. Which the crustacean could only assume it was wise not to underestimate the capabilities of either side, or those in between as far as someone like Zodiac was concerned. “Hmm, I suppose your claims were not all folly after all.” The crab agreed, reverting back to his robot mode as he eyed the now destroyed mountain top. But a closer look would reveal an almost weary look in the mech’s optics.

It was not so much as what he had been easily capable of doing, but Megatron’s own claims. If they were to be believed, he wondered what else Megatron was willing to do to achieve the means to an end. Perhaps his proclamations were not all unfounded as Rampage had originally believed.

Involuntarily rubbing the area above his spark chamber at the thought, Rampage tried not to let this development get entirely under his armor and focused on Megatron’s final words that brought a rather hungered, if even ravenous, look to his face, “[b]I am always ready. I haven’t been fulfilled since Colony Omnicron, so I could use a good appetizer now.[/b]” He spoke with a twisted grin and dark glint in his green optics. “And I have no reason to divulge information to the simpletons of a crew you assembled.”