"Aftermath: Part II - Resurrections"

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: Lest we forget, guys, that we have an absentee topic to let everyone when you'll be absent from the game and for how long. Same goes for being ill. OOC posts like those should be put there and not here. ))

"This is Dinobot," "I'll be in shortly."

"Dinobot is on his way, Rhinox," Tigatron announced with hope.

"And fight we shall,"

Nodding to both Tigatron and Orcariner, Rhinox watched the TransMetal orca exit the bridge in hopes that he had his own plans with helping to fortify their base. He couldn't be secluding himself like he did in the past after losing Icebreaker, not with the new, positive attitude he had been showing ever since they had lost Optimus.

"Will do, Rhinox."

The engineer heard Saber's confirmation over his comm. like and then looked to Stag who began analyzing again.

Defense from enemy fliers will be Aerostriker and this unit's role.

They still had Cheetor, but he was able to fly in robot mode? He wasn't sure. And Airazor was stuck in the CR, who would have been a great asset to the air with Aerostriker. How long would her repairs take? They could really use her and her agility. This was a problem for Rhinox's planning because he was unaware of all of their abilities with the upgrades that only some of them had received. Uncertainty was beginning to leave him overwhelmed.

Further defense should be employed by Orcariner.

Orcariner was definitely built better for defense than offense, he agreed with Stag. He wasn't sure what the whale was up to, though, since his departure toward the hangar.

The enemy has two long range weapons of great power from the Axalon's record banks.

"We may want to over compensate for that data, Stag," Rhinox highly recommended. "With these new TransMetal bodies, we don't know yet which Predacons may have acquired new, powerful weapons. If luck is still against us, I have a feeling Megatron has been granted more power. Judging by his indefinite plan to attack us head-on, I'd say he has a brand new mentality and strength."

Attacks from "Steelclaw" and the unknown unit may force the Axalon to use its shields.

"The shields aren't going to last long anyway at their current state, so we might as well use them first and force the Predacons to deplete some of their ammunition to try and draw us out before we have to take a stand," Rhinix explained.

If the predacons attack at full force, even with land units damaged by traps, a close range skirmish is inevitable.

"Yes, it will be inevitable," he said as-a-matter-of-fact. "And everyone here needs to know that. We need to be prepared. But we can still have the element of surprise on our side. If we can damage them, slow them down, distract them, separate them into smaller groups, and make them use more firepower than us ahead of time, we will have a chance fending them off."

"What is happening? Sentinel is on alert."

Relieved to finally see Dinobot arrive, a truly experienced warrior with skill and knowledge for the battlefield which the Maximals needed, Rhinox didn't care where he had been all this time and why he deviated from Rattrap's orders. What mattered was that he was there now and appeared to be unharmed. "We have reason to believe that Megatron is currently regrouping with his Predacons for an all-out frontal assault on the Axalon. And it would seem some of them have also acquired the TransMetal technology, not to mention at least one new recruit." He nudged his head to Stag's image and information of Tantrum that was still up.

"Yeah. I'll be fine."

"Good," Rattrap had said to Cheetor. "I didn't wanna have ta tell ya ta toughen up an' walk it off," he teased. For him, however, his back still throbbed from Steelclaw's shot. De nerve of that bear campin' out like dat, he thought.

Reaching the Axalon with the shiny cat, Rattrap disengaged his vehicle mode and followed him onto the platform on all fours where they lifted up into the command center together. Maximizing with some pain as his entire back rotated in his transformation, he rubbed it for a moment as he stepped off the lift and looked around at all of the damage, Rhinox's injuries, and a new little bot.

"Are we the last ones in? How'd the other missions go?" "Hey," "the name's Cheetor. What's yours?"

"I'm guessin' we don't have a lotta time fer catchin' up, so how about we just get de short version?" Rattrap suggested. "I'm gonna assume dis whole mess was the result of kickin' Inferno out earlier," he said, as he gestured with his hands to the burnt walls, chairs, consoles and flooring, some melted from close-range explosions. "Somebody's team picked up the new guy," he pointed his thumb at Stag. Stepping around Dinobot and over to the machine Rhinox built, Rattrap went on to say, "Whitegrazer is... Well, you got me on dat one. No idea what she's doin'. And, uh, well everybody who ain't here now is probably in the CR. Oh, and our mission was a fail, and the Preds gained two more. Although, the one guy can't seem to make up his mind... Was I close?"

"Well, you weren't too far off," Rhinox replied. "Yes, all of this arsenic destruction was the result of Inferno's wrath. Whitegrazer, Aurora and Tigatron managed to retrieve a blank protoform. As a result, Aurora was badly injured with an ambush by Nemesis. How she defeated her and survived, I have yet to uncover but it could be valuable information. Aurora is currently in the CR. Ironclaw is still in the CR, and Airazor and Wintersong are also down for major repairs. Orcariner's team brought back a new addition; his name is Aerostriker. And this is his Targetmaster unit called Stag. Unfortunately, as far as we know, the Predacons have gained three new members including the two you and Cheetor tried to rescue. The other one Orcariner's team faced. He's rather substantial in size and weapons, but he's slow and not totally competent. At the moment, I can not reveal Whitegrazer's current situation, but we must make sure that she isn't disturbed in that machine... or we could lose her. Saber-Fang and Aerostriker are currently in the armory room gathering instruments we can plant against the Predacons before they arrive to help reduce their power and aggression."

Rattrap stared blank at his large friend for a moment. "Dat's it in a nut shell?" he asked sarcastically and rhetorically. "So half our team is alread on the sidelines." He sounded grim. "Preds picked up two Fuzors, both kinda small with not much firepower to 'em. One is some kinda snake/scorpion mix dat shoots alotta venom and acts like a cowboy, and the other is a wolf/eagle with some small missiles; calls himself Silverbolt. He's the one we might be able ta persuade joinin' us. He doesn't seem ta fit with the Preds at all, 'specially since he dropped me off pretending ta kill me instead of actually doing so when he could've." Pausing, he reverted back to some of what Rhinox said and looked at Stag. "And now we got a Targetmaster? Didn't think you guys existed anymore. You an' Aero come outta one of our pods?"

"Warning: Unit Whitegrazer's core consciousness grows dangerously distant. Chances of return deceasing."

Rhinox hurried to Whitegrazer's side and checked on her vitals and core data. She still had some time, but if she didn't find Optimus soon and return on her own, he would be forced to bring her back before it was too late, with or without their late leader. "Hurry, Whitegrazer," he whispered close to her head, whether she could hear him or not, and noticing her hands trembling on the controls. "Time is running out."

Watching Big Green, confused but curious at the same time, Rattrap looked back at Stag giving him a chance to speak before prying anything out of Rhinox's and Whitegrazer's little secret.

"Anything new happening?"

"Wintersong!" Tigatron announced as he, Rattrap and Rhinox all looked in her direction when she entered the bridge.

(( OOC: I'm not going to keep having my characters repeat themselves with everything. Wintersong posted right as I was done writing my post, and it's getting too late me for add more to this. It should be more than enough for most of the functioning Maximals to work with.

By the way, welcome back, Wintersong! You have been greatly missed. ))

-----

"Optimus!"

Upon instinct as he heard Whitegrazer's voice again, Optimus closed his eyes and simply allowed his spark to take him away, to lead him to her, to trust himself. Almost instantly something told him to stop and he did. Peace, silence, and a warm, familiar energy surrounded him. He did not know how long he had traveled, but he found her. She found him. They found one another. Opening his translucent, crimson optics, Primal saw her there right before him. Perhaps not her, persay, but the way his mind interpreted her energy and how he recognized her different colored spark.

"Whitegrazer," he said softly, almost inaudibly. "How can this be? Is it really you?" He floated there in the body he once had, now semi see-through which TyCross had helped him manifest to help cope in this endless abyss of voices, sparks, souls, and emotions.

[NaitoKage]

Aerostriker started to go through some boxes, loading up on the mentioned supplies Rhinox requested. Putting aside two boxes, he lifted one up full of explosives, motion detectors, and assortment of rather dangerous things that normally probably wouldn't be carried in such a manner. He then started to make his way towards the bridge.


Stag watched as Orcariner left, then looked towards Rhinox.

"We may want to over compensate for that data, Stag," Rhinox highly recommended. "With these new TransMetal bodies, we don't know yet which Predacons may have acquired new, powerful weapons. If luck is still against us, I have a feeling Megatron has been granted more power. Judging by his indefinite plan to attack us head-on, I'd say he has a brand new mentality and strength."

"The shields aren't going to last long anyway at their current state, so we might as well use them first and force the Predacons to deplete some of their ammunition to try and draw us out before we have to take a stand,"

"Yes, it will be inevitable," he said as-a-matter-of-fact. "And everyone here needs to know that. We need to be prepared. But we can still have the element of surprise on our side. If we can damage them, slow them down, distract them, separate them into smaller groups, and make them use more firepower than us ahead of time, we will have a chance fending them off."

Stag nodded Understood, adding compensation estimates as recommended and abiding by updated strategy.

Stag then turned on his wheels while staying in the same spot, almost like a Roomba as he glanced at Cheetor and Rattrap entering the bridge. His internal systems had already downloaded the profile data on the two, though it was of their original forms. Analyzing their facial structures and vocal data, he ascertained they would be Cheetor and Rattrap. He then started to update his internal information as Cheetor came towards him reaching his hand out. His head tilted slightly at the gesture. He was more used to a salute rather then a handshake.

"Hey," "the name's Cheetor. What's yours?"

This unit is designated Strategic Tactical Artificial-intelligent Gun, however the acronym Stag is preferred by other's convenience. A strange cable like appendage extended from his backside with three tiny manipulators at the end taking grasp of Cheetor's hand in Stag's best attempt to shake it.

Stag's manipulator then released Cheetor's hand retracting into his back, he glanced towards Rattrap as he spoke to Rhinox, then spoke to himself.

"And now we got a Targetmaster? Didn't think you guys existed anymore. You an' Aero come outta one of our pods?"

Affirmative, this unit and Aerostriker are of Maximal construction under leave from Maximal military to collect further data for this prototype. Our strength is at your full disposal commander. He then raised one of his tiny wheels to his head with a small clang as to salute.

"Anything new happening?"

A voice was then heard behind Wintersong speaking up Only a battle against the Predacons with the odds against us Ma'am.

Aerostriker then looked towards Stag saluting to Rattrap, he carefully set down the box of dangerous things, then walked over saluting Rattrap [color=ffff00] Aerostriker reporting, though I guess "Striker" might just be easier to call out on the comms.[/color] He smiled, then lowered his arm looking to Rhinox We brought the supplies you requested, I also hope you don't mind but I got into some of your munitions, I'll make sure these smaller missiles are only used against the other fliers.

Stag suddenly hopped down from his seat, rolling towards Aerostriker looking upward Requesting reload due to spent cartridges, updating your current combat system for friend or foe analyst,and comlink registry.

Aerostriker shrugged Alright, best to do it now rather then the middle of a firefight. he held out his hand as the small robot sprigged up from the floor transforming with it's head seeming to split in half while a large gun barrel unfolded from between the outer wing shell on it's back, sliding between the split in half head, then sliding back locking in place with the targeting scope ontop of the beam rifle becoming visible, the wheels on either side folded under Stag while the outer wings remained open.

Aerostriker grasped the weapon by the barrel, then resting the butt of the gun on the floor with the barrel pointed up, he leaned down loading a few cartridges into the weapon. Leaning up he lifted the gun resting it on his shoulder with the barrel still pointed up. The appearance of the weapon was likely strange to say the least.

_______________________________________________

Umbra observed as Tantrum had made an attempt to take power from Megatron. The Cephalopod crossed his arms with his optics rolled, he knew Megatron could outwit Tantrum easily enough, however.. he had remembered seeing some Cybertronians stupid enough that outwitting was impossible.. they merely followed their own will and desire, deaf to the world. He always found it strange such creatures could be made, but would have to reason that perhaps the lower intelligence was merely an aid to making it easier to control walking artillery batteries, considering alternatives would likely end up commanders like Megatron and Shockwave of the past.

Umbra looked towards the others as the events happened, when he noticed something unpleasant in the air. He stopped as he noticed the injuries Starshadow seemed to have, the smell of burnt hair,ionized ozone, and internal fluids. It'd seem she was fighting someone, though he didn't meet her back at the Predacon base, so he could only guess what was going on.

He then spoke up as he looked her over Will you be able to sustain fighting in that condition?

_________________

Quickstrike quickly became distracted by the new upstart seeming to harass Megatron. While normally he would of felt a desire to kick this guy's keister, something else was coming over him.. some strange.. desire to lasso and tie up Tantrum, or herd him towards a open grassy plain with other cattle. He raised one his claws towards his face, though looking more like a facepalm if anything.

[starshadow]

Starshadow caught the unpleasant scent of ozone and covered her nose with a few fingers, "is it me or is someone smelling that bad?" she sniffed herself and realized it was her but kept quiet about it. Her attention was then turned to Megatron

"Starshadow; you will be among the team that circles around to cut off the Maximals' escape route. We wouldn't want any of them trying to sneak away, now would we?"

"It will be my pleasure. Like cats cornering mice.." She grinned evily. Cutting off escape routes? It should not be much of a problem to her.

Will you be able to sustain fighting in that condition?

Who was talking to her? Her head turned and saw the new guy. "I should be able to. My damages aren't that serious." she licked the top of her hand like a cat and noticed Cecaelia who was driving towards them and transformed. Cecaelia did some observations before saying, "Where have you been? and you look like slag."

If Starshadow's "ears" were movable, they would have went back. What's wrong with her new paintjob? "Where I've been is none of your business...might want to hold that tongue of yours before I lose it.."

[Phoenix]

Megatron stood unrelenting as his troops backed him up. Fortunately none of them had acted on Tantrum's words, which could quickly have escalated the situation out of even Megatron's control.

Tantrum looked from Megatron to Terrorsaur, thoroughly confused. This was not the response he expected.

Burden? How could this be?

He cocked his head with a quizzical expression.

"Burden?," he asked, "What you mean this burden?"

Megatron sighed inwardly at the stupidity unfolding before him. It was indeed not the easiest task to persuade someone too stupid to realize what he was attempting to explain. He would have to put this into simpler terms if he was to get anywhere.

"Oh yess, it is indeed burdensome. One must ever be the vigilant bureaucrat and statesman. There is so much administrative work to be done which does not leave much time for killing, I'm afraid. When you are in a position of leadership you should know it comes with great responsibility towards your troops as well as the cause we fight for," came the response from Megatron, a grin forming on his face once more. "So, Tantrum, what are your orders?"

Tantrum was getting bored of all this talk. He had just become leader of the Predacons and already he was growing tired of it.

"Orders?," Tantrum said aloud while thinking as much as his thought processors would allow him.

"Tantrum say you lead! Tantrum go kill Maximals!" This proclamation ended with a victorious roar as Tantrum stomped off while firing wildly with his massive chest cannons, not caring what hapless creature got in the way.

Megatron swiftly ducked to avoid the barrage of shots that went right above his head, then straightened out and brushed off his armor as the behemoth moved away.


"Ahem, yes well.. Now that we've got that cleared up, I believe it is time we proceed with our plans, yessss."

He turned to Terrorsaur. "You'll lead the aerial assault. Take out their defenses." He paused to look around, realizing that half of his flyers were not present yet. "Status report of missing squad members?"

[NaitoKage]

"I should be able to. My damages aren't that serious."

Umbra nodded Understood. he didn't think it'd be wise to press the issue further, though was surprised someone could consider a gaping chest wound as not serious. On the other hand.. Most Cybertronian anatomy has the spark chamber located in the lower torso, so perhaps nothing important other then internal structural support was damaged.

He turned his head as he noticed Cecaelia arrive, then turned bowing politely towards her Welcome back Lady Cecaelia.

"Where have you been? and you look like slag."

"Where I've been is none of your business...might want to hold that tongue of yours before I lose it.."

Observing the two, it would seem they didn't get along, and in the case of Starshadow, she seemed more prone to violent actions from her appearance and manner of speech. Umbra let out a sigh, then stepped between the two as he spoke Now now ladies.. lets put aside personal differences and co-operate, at least for this mission.

"Orders?," "Tantrum say you lead! Tantrum go kill Maximals!"

"Ahem, yes well.. Now that we've got that cleared up, I believe it is time we proceed with our plans, yessss."
"You'll lead the aerial assault. Take out their defenses." "Status report of missing squad members?"

Umbra listened as Tantrum and Megatron spoke, followed by the loud gunfire from Tantrum's chest practically making everyone deaf for a moment, only to hear Megatron setting up plans for the fliers. He turned towards Megatron, with one of the eyes on his leg watching Starshadow while the other watched Cecaelia If you're referring to Waspinator and Manterror, they should in the CR tanks at the moment. However with the arrival of Lady Cecaelia... I would assume it wont be too much longer that they'll be back on the battlefield Lord Megatron. Any other fliers beyond current personnel however I would not know about... (IE:Sonar being the only unaccounted flier.)

(Also while in one of my insomniac states, I sketched up a rough estimate of the terrain of the Maximal base based off photos and some old episodes.

Click here Based from different angles, the Maximal base seems almost like it's set up in the grand canyon, or a canyon environment out of the lion king..With some very high mountains and rock structures around it, while having sparse cover in certain areas. The distance to reach the river and waterfall seems like a nasty fall, and other then the main ledge that leads to the bridge of the Maximal base, I'd say there is no way other then fliers could reach the back of the Maximal base, which due to rock structures around the ship blocking some of the areas possible to attack for the Maximal's autoguns, would be a good place to launch an attack for said fliers by using the structures as cover.

Probably also be a good idea to set up landmines/traps around the ledge that leads to the bridge, as it's the only real choke point and probably does not have energon under it. Well, least that's my 2 cents on it, good luck with your Chess match ladies. Now I guess it's time for Manterror and Waspinator to pop out of the CR tanks and rejoin the other Predacons..)

[DarkSpark]

OOC: I think Megatron was talking to Terrorsaur, Naitokage. At any rate, I haven't heard from Una so I guess I'll go ahead and post today.

Phoenix wrote: "Tantrum say you lead! Tantrum go kill Maximals!" This proclamation ended with a victorious roar as Tantrum stomped off while firing wildly with his massive chest cannons, not caring what hapless creature got in the way.

Megatron swiftly ducked to avoid the barrage of shots that went right above his head, then straightened out and brushed off his armor as the behemoth moved away.


"Ahem, yes well.. Now that we've got that cleared up, I believe it is time we proceed with our plans, yessss."

He turned to Terrorsaur. "You'll lead the aerial assault. Take out their defenses." He paused to look around, realizing that half of his flyers were not present yet. "Status report of missing squad members?"

"Well, that was the shortest reign in predacon history" Terrorsaur quipped as he watched Tantrum run off into the distance, shooting blindly and wildly...It must be nice to be so damn big and powerful that you can actually get away with being that stupid.

He then turned to face Megatron and said "Thank you Megatron, your will shall be done. In regards to Waspinator's and Manterror's absence, I can make do with whoever we have available to us...And I do see a mix of new and old faces with wings here."

This was his chance, he would first earn his place as commander of the predacon air force, make Megatron think he'd mellowed out, and then he'd seize power for himself as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Yes, leadership of the predacons would still be his someday, he just needed to be smarter about it than he had been in the past, they would see, they would all see the return of the glorious reign of Terrorsaur!

Blackrose wrote: "Woah," Arachnitron thought to herself. "He can do that!" If Tarantulas was able to leave a psychic link inside Blackarachnia's mind, then he had to be able to fix Arachnitron's problem too.

Arachnitron felt renewed hope that there might just be a solution to her problem. She didn't dare speak out of turn though. She waited patiently until Tarantulas instructed her of what to do next.

Tarantulas once again noticed Arachnitron admiring him, musing to himself how much easier it would be to control her using her new found infatuation or hero worship of hers to his advantage...Oddly yet fitting ironic considering how his first widow once used her own charms to beguile him. And now he would beguile Arachnitron while at the same time forcing his treacherous creation to server her purpose through willpower alone. This was turning out to be a good day for him considering how it had started.

"Arachnitron, contact Megatron and inform him that we shall be joining him shortly. As much as I hate putting up with that deluded saurian and his cronies, it is to our advantage if the maximals are destroyed, and it may give us the opportunity to recover the golden disks Dinobot pilfered before anyone else does. Blackarachnia meanwhile shall remain here and search Megatron's private archives for the backup files Megatron no doubt devised in the event that they were stolen or destroyed. Unless of course she has any objections to following my command?" Tarantulas mused, looming over Blackarachnia like the grim reaper as he sent more psychic waves of pure, agonizing pain through Blackarachnia's neural processor to encourage her to obey, and drive home the fact that she now served a new master, the one she should have served since the beginning.

[Alak]

Upon entering the hangar bay, Orcariner powered up the lights and took a hard look around. There was not much for him to work with. He supposed that he could venture into the armory, but his hands were much too large to wield any of the guns. The giant's attention then moved towards the Nomad. It had been quite some time since they sent this vehicle into the field. It was large enough to house half the team, including Orcariner, and the armor plating was still as tough as ever. Perhaps she would be able to play a role in the upcoming conflict. Orcariner walked towards the side of the vehicle and saw that the door was still torn off its hinges. Picking it back up, he saw to his disdain that the metal was twisted to the point where he would have to spend quite some time to repair it.

Remind me why I tore it off in the first place?

Tossing the mangled door aside, Orcariner stepped inside the transport and found the CR Chamber to be empty. Wintersong must have been fully repaired and left on her own accord. The thought of it brought a smile to his face as the Maximals had one more healthy teammate return. With that in mind, he pondered about Airazor's status in his own CR Chamber. Scrambling throughout the transport, Orcariner eventually make his way to the controls. The seating up front was much too tight for his size, but at least his head could fit through the small interior. Scanning the Nomad's systems with his tactical headset, the readings reported that the vehicle was low on power. The Maximals would not be driving her anytime soon, but it at least there was enough juice left to support the single turret.

"Orcariner to Rhinox. I think we might be able to use the turret from our ground transport as additional firepower. We would need someone small to operate it, however. Is Rattrap back yet?"

Stepping back outside of the Nomad, Orcariner positioned himself into a quarter-squat stance, then jumped up towards the roof of the vehicle. He managed to get his upper body on top and proceeded to pull his legs over, allowing him to stand and observe the turret. Hoping that he knew what he was doing, Orcariner grabbed the gun by its foundation and pulled it from the Nomad. Jumping back down and setting the gun near his workbench, the giant walked back to the transport and tore off the panels protecting the power cells. He realized that there was little finesse in his actions, but the team only had a matter of hours, if not less, to mobilize in response to Megatron's impending attack. It took Orcariner several minutes to tinker with the disembodied power cells and gun turret. He eventually managed to successfully connect the two directly so that the weapon may be operated independently from its vehicle. He took a step back and admired his work, then returned his gaze to the Nomad.

"What else can I do with you?"

[una]

(OOC: Ummm...Darkspark, I did have one more day. But oh well, I will just add what Tarantulas said to my post. No biggie. I need to get my head in gear and try to write at least Blackarachnia's now. In process of writing Whitegrazer's. ))

It was like she was wearing a leash around her and Tarantulas was pulling her to the point of suffocation. She held her head as he kept yanking her chain, pulling her closer to her original position.

"I think not.Witless widow! I left a psychic link between us, even in this body, I can still control you!"

The urge to run away was replaced with a seething hatred at that she was still a prisoner to his every whelm just like Arachinitron was. But she had no choice in that matter unlike Arachnitron did. There was no chip, but a lingering shadow on top of her, pulling the strings attached to her limbs. Her instinct to pull out her weapon came back at full force. She pulled out her weapon, but the trigger couldn't be pressed. The pain increased to overwhelming proportions. She couldn't think, only obey.

"Arachnitron, contact Megatron and inform him that we shall be joining him shortly. As much as I hate putting up with that deluded saurian and his cronies, it is to our advantage if the maximals are destroyed, and it may give us the opportunity to recover the golden disks Dinobot pilfered before anyone else does. Blackarachnia meanwhile shall remain here and search Megatron's private archives for the backup files Megatron no doubt devised in the event that they were stolen or destroyed. Unless of course she has any objections to following my command?"

She growled at him, "Enjoy it while it lasts."

She let out a grunt and collapsed onto the floor on her knees unconscious.

[DarkSpark]

OOC: Sorry Una, I can alter my post if you rather, I honestly don't mind, and I apologize if I skipped ahead of you (I hate it when that happens ).

[una]

((OOC: No, no, keep the post like it was! It's okay! It at least lit a fire on my fingers to type and post!

Edit: Here is Whitegrazer's post. ))

She was close to him. She had to be. His commanding presence just overwhelmed her. She stared at a spark that was floating in front of her. Was this...?

"Whitegrazer," he said softly, almost inaudibly. "How can this be? Is it really you?"

It was him! "Yes... it is me." She wondered how she appeared to him. Was she just a voice, a spark, or maybe she was just a presence, a feeling? As she saw his appearance become more apparent to her, she reached out towards him to touch him. She got closer to him with her arms opened wide to embrace him, smiling, "We found each other."

"I was worried about you." She pulled him towards her, "It came as a surprise to feel you again. I wondered how you did it." A lingering question had been hanging over her head about who or what may had in a hand in that and his feelings of... frustration, but she knew who. Might as well ask, "He... visited you, didn't he?"

There was an embarrassed chuckle coming from her.

[Phoenix]

Nemesis groaned inwardly at the notion of being teamed up with Terrorsaur to perform a task she was perfectly capable of handling on her own.. Or at least she had been in the past when she had taken out the Maximal defensive weapons at ground level. Granted she had the advantage of her nanites at the time. How long would it be before they came back online? Would things ever get back to normal?

The thought was rather intimidating to her, honestly. She really was unaccustomed to this vulnerable sensation brought about by this normalcy. She was not accustomed to questioning the outcome of her actions, so to speak, still.. her new transmetalized body would make her a force to be reckoned with even without her rapid regeneration. She would just have to go about the task using conventional weapons in an airstrike.

Nodding as way of response to Megatron's command after having witnessed the rather intriguing power struggle that had just taken place between Megatron and Tantrum, she gave Terrorsaur's shoulder a firm squeeze before trotting off. "Let's be off then. We have Maximals to slay."

Megatron watched the first of the flyers take off before turning his attention to his two cephalopod crew members. "You two will use the river as a means to infiltrate the Maximal ship. Make sure their shields remain disabled and take out as many Maximals as you can. You've served me well so far, Umbra," he started before shifting a quick glance over at Terrorsaur, "Don't fail me now." The last part of the comment was directed at both of them, sounding more like a warning than a request or a piece of advice.

After eyeing them both or another moment, the tyrant opened a channel to Sonar and Tarantulas. "Report in."

His troops were getting into formation. They were ready to begin the assault.

[Wintersong]

"Come on you guys, you really think I'm going to let a bird take down this cat? Not a chance!"Wintersong said with a confident grin, showing she was obviously far from being down and out of this fight. "Besides you know if that happened I'd never live that one down, especially think cheese breathe there would make sure of that."She joked, nodding towards Rattrap since he seemed like the one to never live something down. Besides she'd been through worse and had survived, she still had some of her nine lives left to spare which was probably down to seven now, metaphorically speaking of course since a bot only got lucky so many times before they would finally meet their true end. Which Nemesis' words somewhat echoed in her head about the remark she had made about their friends being cocky and meeting an unfortunate fate. But it was the smirk and seeming glee of the thought in the avian femme's expression of these deaths that made Wintersong actually angry for the insult towards their deceased Maximal friends that made her want to fight all the more.

Her expression of joking seemed to quickly change to the rage she was now feeling inside as she thought about it, her fists immediately clenching slightly. "I also want to wipe that slagging smirk off Nemesis' face for insulting our fallen comrades, if I ever get that chance I'll make sure she pays for it too."She said quietly, though still quite audible for those in the room to hear before she turned to look at Aerostriker when he answered her question about the situation. Something that seemed to happen quite commonly during this war between the Maximals and Predacons. But she was glad at least their new ally had joined them and looking in fighting condition. "The odds always seem against us but that's never stopped us before."She told him, her tone still edged with her determination for the fight and somewhat edged with her anger. Though compared to earlier in the war she was going to make sure she channeled that anger better than rushing head long into a situation like she had a handful of times.

With the assault by the Predacons no doubt now looming over them Wintersong decided to start preparing herself as well, and of course making sure she had her weapons ready. So she went onto her task of checking her dual wrist launchers and Laser rifle were still in working condition with her newer melee weapons already being present at the moment and looking rather unscathed from the previous fight.

((I know I didn't get to do this last time but thought it might be a nice twist to actually express Wintersong's anger at her last encounter with Nemesis. Hope that's alright.))

[starshadow]

Now now ladies.. lets put aside personal differences and co-operate, at least for this mission.

"Hmmm...lets..." Cecaelia narrowed her optics at Starshadow while Starshadow growled. Now it was not the time to ask questions but to fight. Cecaelia turned to Megatron to recieve her orders in an attention position while the lightning cat carry out her own orders, walking to a boulder large enough to take cover.

"You two will use the river as a means to infiltrate the Maximal ship. Make sure their shields remain disabled and take out as many Maximals as you can. You've served me well so far, Umbra,""Don't fail me now."

"Yes sir!" and with that, Cecaelia ran towards the river and dived in. Her body was cooled down by the water which felt relaxing to her. She rose up to the surface and signalled Umbra to catch up.

[NaitoKage]

(Just to note, Blazemane, if you want Steelclaw to have his mini gun, radio Waspinator to bring it. )

The CR tank started to drain as the platform inside of it raised, lifting Waspinator's body from the tank. He shaked his head, then flapped his wings floating up from the platform while buzzing to himself. Wazzpinator hatezz waking up in slagging CR tank! he shouted to himself, noticing no one else was really around. He hovered towards the other CR tank which read Manterror was still inside, but soon to awaken.

___________________________

"You two will use the river as a means to infiltrate the Maximal ship. Make sure their shields remain disabled and take out as many Maximals as you can. You've served me well so far, Umbra," "Don't fail me now."

Umbra raised his hand to his chest and bowed politely to Megatron As you command my lord. I'll radio you when the task is completed.

He then turned walking towards the river that Cecaelia had ran to, drawing his Gauss rifle he pulled the bolt loading and readying it, then slipped the weapon away. He looked down at Cecaelia signalling him to follow her, smirking slightly to himself. At least she seemed happy about being in the water, or perhaps just happy not to have to carry anyone around.

He then jumped down into the water sinking bellow the surface, then transformed to his beast mode. The much larger Octopus looked towards her while his camo pattern seemed to change to match the river bottom, making it more difficult to see the 28 ft across Octopus from the surface. (From armtip to armtip.)

I believe we should try to remain as stealthy as possible and focus on taking out their defenses.. probably from attacking the personnel in the bridge and taking over their defense controls. We can get in easily with one of my disguises, if necessary I can conceal you on my back and let you off in the doorway without them detecting you. After that, they'll be onto our presence. But I am open to suggestions if you would rather do it differently. His body then let out a jet of water propelling him forward, his tentacles moving behind him while his body flattened out, seeming to sweep above the river bottom like a flatfish.

___________________________

Waspinator activated his comlink Wazzpinator reporting to Megatron! Wazzpinator iz ready for battle, Mantizz bot will be soon! he said in his usual annoying buzzing voice.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC: Where art thou Blazemane and N-H? Been almost a week since my last post, so I'm moving on. ))

Understood, adding compensation estimates as recommended and abiding by updated strategy.

Stag certainly was co-operative, even without Aerostriker. Surely both of them would prove to be valuable assets, especially now.

This unit is designated Strategic Tactical Artificial-intelligent Gun, however the acronym Stag is preferred by other's convenience.

"Ain't no way I'm gonna say all that mumbo jumbo," Rattrap commented. "Stag it is."

Affirmative, this unit and Aerostriker are of Maximal construction under leave from Maximal military to collect further data for this prototype. Our strength is at your full disposal commander.

"Huh. Sounds good ta me!" the acting Commander said with a small grin. He returned Stag a rather reluctant and lazy salute. Like Optimus, he wasn't too comfortable with the military formalities partially because he didn't think he had earned the respect of the position yet. Also because they were explorers, not soldiers. Well, most of them were.

Only a battle against the Predacons with the odds against us Ma'am.

Upon hearing the unfamiliar voice, Rattrap looked past Wintersong to find their newest member entering the bridge with supplies that Rhinox must have asked for.

Aerostriker reporting, though I guess "Striker" might just be easier to call out on the comms.

"Eh," Rattrap gave him a dismissive wave to his salute. Well, at least these guys were polite, unlike Dinobutt.

We brought the supplies you requested, I also hope you don't mind but I got into some of your munitions, I'll make sure these smaller missiles are only used against the other fliers.

"Thank you," Rhinox said and took the box from Aerostriker placing it on the center, round console. "Not at all. Whatever makes you more comfortable for battle," he added as he rummaged through the items carefully, placing them on the large console-like table and organizing them into small, individual piles.

Rattrap curiously watched Stag and Aerostriker do their little jig, wishing he had a Targetmaster to enhance his weapons as well. Ah, all the things he could do with one of those 'bots... 'Striker was an odd looking Maximal, though. Didn't look like he could do much on the ground, so he must have had some kind of an aerial alternate mode. Good. Since they had lost one of their finest fliers who also happened to be their commanding officer, and their other unmatched flier Airazor was in the CR, they could use all the fliers they could get. Reaching around his side and rubbing his back a little bit from the aching, Rattrap looked at Rhinox and asked, "Whatchya got dere, Big Green?"

"Boobytraps that we need to set up around the perimeter of the base before the Preds get here," he answered without stopping. "We need to try to damage them before they can injure us. And we have to try to separate them into smaller groups. We have the advantage to it being our territory, but my real concern is their fliers..."

"Come on you guys, you really think I'm going to let a bird take down this cat? Not a chance!" "Besides you know if that happened I'd never live that one down, especially think cheese breathe there would make sure of that."

Tigatron smiled at Wintersong while Rattrap agreed with her gesture, saying with smirk, "Got that right!"

"Orcariner to Rhinox. I think we might be able to use the turret from our ground transport as additional firepower. We would need someone small to operate it, however. Is Rattrap back yet?"

So that's what Orcariner was doing. Clever and improvisational. "Yes, both he and Cheetor have returned," the rhinoceros answered as he glanced at the TransMetal rat in robot mode.

Nodding, Rattrap immediately left the bridge and headed to the hangar, opening his comm. link, "On my way, Big O."

"I also want to wipe that slagging smirk off Nemesis' face for insulting our fallen comrades, if I ever get that chance I'll make sure she pays for it too." "The odds always seem against us but that's never stopped us before."

"Try not to let her negativity be your drive for survival, Wintersong," Rhinox said. "She will only use it against you. Instead, stand by your friends and hold a higher standard of compassion and will." At least she seemed to be full of optimism, which was exactly what everyone needed.

Handing out explosives with remote control detonators, trip wire, small hologram devices, and shrapnel to Cheetor, Wintersong, Saber-Fang and Aerostriker, Rhinox explained, "The excess shrapnel is for the demolition charges. Pressurize them with it so when they explode, they will hopefully inflict more damage in a range beyond the fiery explosions. Keep them hidden but in range of their remote detonation signals. Each one is programmed with their own frequency so they don't all detonate at once. Take the terrain into consideration and put them where the Predacons might walk upon them. The holograms will be used as distractions, so program them with anything or anyone that will draw the Predacons' attention long enough for a fellow Maximal to shoot them; could be quite useful on Inferno and the new big guy. I think the trip wire is pretty self explanatory. Hurry now and set these up outside," he urged them.

"Tigatron, keep a close eye on our long-range scanners. Those outside doing perparations will need a good heads-up before we're attacked. Most likely the fliers will be our first arrivals."

"Yes, sir," the white tiger said and turned in his chair to face the monitor.

"What's up, Orcariner?" Rattrap asked him as he entered the hangar bay and looked at the gun that the TransMetal whale had yanked off of the Nomad. "Nice job with the turret," he said, impressed as he studied its new independent functioning.

-----

"Yes... it is me."

So many emotions came clashing together all at once for Optimus. Without really thinking about how it worked or felt with her not being there physically, he simply did the same thing she did and finally got to hug her once more. Or at least it felt like a hug. It wasn't quite the same physical feeling when he was alive, so it was difficult to describe.

"We found each other."

Her voice, her presence, her energy and peacefulness seemed to make everything all right, as if all was the way it should be. It forced Primal to darken his optics and slowly absorb this precious moment.

"I was worried about you." "It came as a surprise to feel you again. I wondered how you did it."

"I have yet to understand much of it myself," Optimus said as he moved away from her a little bit, reluctantly releasing from their "embrace," if one could call it that. "I'll admit, I've had a little help."

"He... visited you, didn't he?"

"TyCross?" he inquired rhetorically, smiling lightly at her chuckle. "Yes. He's a rather... difficult spirit to work with. Are you certain he's the one who trained you?" the former Maximal leader managed to joke light-heartedly despite the circumstances. He couldn't get over that this was Whitegrazer speaking to him as if she was right there with him. He was happy once more, ecstatic, thrilled, joyful. "I don't understand how you're here, Whitegrazer. Has something else happened? Is everyone all right?" Even in death he couldn't help but worry greatly for his Maximals, his friends, his family.