"OC Episode #5.5 Side Saga"

[Blazemane]

Great, the Leviathan.. More Preds on the way.We'd better scram.

Cheetor transformed to beast mode.

"Then let's scram, he said beginning to jog. But he decided he would be careful. He didn't want to separate himself from the rest of the group.

* * *

Ah.. no, a Starhopper can't hold many. Basically I plan to take the components from the Starhopper, and Cecelia's ship to make a new ship.

Steelclaw realized his mistake- he had meant Cecaelia's ship all along. Of course, if Glowstick was going to combine it with the starhopper, then it would be better to ask how many he estimated the new combined ship would eventually hold.

But the question would have to wait. Glowstick seemed very busy talking other 'bots for the moment.

Sonar, What's going on? It seems Starshadow is chasing you as usual.

Ah, Glowstick. So glad to see that your well. As for what's going on, another Maximal has landed and has no doubt joined the Maximal forces. Starshadow was chasing me, but I told her off. She even tried to trick the Maximal into thinking that she was on the Maximals side. She even used the name Nightstar to fool him.

Steelclaw smiled lightly.

"Heh. Who just tries to trick Maximals into thinking we're- oh."

I don't suppose you really plan to salvage much do you Predacons? Your teammates Starshadow and Sonar seemed to trash the ship more then the crash did.

Steelclaw looked around for the radio controls and then flipped a switch to allow himself to reply back.

"Hey, Feralnight. On no, we weren't going to try and salvage any starhopper- we were just getting bored and figured we'd see a little more of the world. But, hey, now that you mention it, maybe we should stop by. You wouldn't be thinking of trying to get in the way would you? I just... don't like your odds, you know?"

* * *

He's kinda cute, isn't he?

Dinobot groaned internally.

Hey another pod fell! A stasis pod this time. Seems its close to the sector Whitegrazer came online.

He hoped Aurora wasn't too excited by the news. The Maximal needed the soldiers, but she would at least need some battle trai-

Ooh, can I come with?! We're going to intercept, right?

No.

But how to say so...

Who else is comin' with?

"I will leave immediately," Dinobot answered, stepping onto the platform. He was slightly curious to find out what beast modes Aurora had picked, but perhaps if he was gone by the time she was out of the CR chamber, someone else- like Rhinox or Rattrap- could explain why she needed to stay. Dinobot wasn't much for tact, but he had enough to know he didn't have enough to deal with the situation.

[New Moon]

Frilla stood and shrugged,"I'll go along." She said and transformed coming to the lift though moved around Aurora as she followed."I don't think coming along would be avoid idea yet Aurora, you just got up and your not sure what to expect. The Predacons won't be afraid to attack you if the must, most of them aren't the most sane mechs out there." She told the young femme hoping she's understand but doubted it. Aurora just seemed to optimistic and eager to join them, a little like Cheetor in a way.

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

"Very funny Steelclaw but I don't mind taking on the odds, taking hits seems to have become a specialty." Feralnight said before transforming to robot mode and crossing her arms as she hovered close by. Though she wasn't going to be leaving any time soon."Though hope you don't mind if I drop by." She added before diving a bit and landing on top of the Levianthan knowing it was a rather risky move.

[Wintersong]

She looked at Optimus when he caught her and Whitegrazer's eyes and followed the three at the rear. Luckily though all the Predacons seemed more interested in something else then a wrecked pod. Looking around as they walked Wintersong gazed at the landscape and flicked her tail, the sights and scents of the planet seemed to help calm her nerves and she sighed a bit. There really wasn't much they could do to have Arachnitron tell them what was bothering her or what she had been up to but pushing her wasn't something they did either. Hopefully the arachnid could trust them at some point to consider them friends

Glancing up a bit the tigeress watched a few birds chasing each other around some trees and smiled watching them. Several others chirped nearby and for a moment Wintersong stopped to watch and listen though noticed she fell behind and quickly lengthened her stride to catch up. Shaking her head Wintersong inwardly scolded herself for being distracted when something else had to be done first.

[Wildfire94]

Stopping Onyx looked at Starshadow curiously for a moment before shrugging a bit,"Little better defense for being a front-liner." A slight smile came to his face then and he reached up taking her hand from his face and holding it in his."Though it's a pleasure to meet you Starshadow and your friend there, my name is Onyx." He said and kissed the back of her hand before letting it go. "Though don't suppose you could input me on what's all gone on before you head to my pod. Unfortunately I only know we're on some organic planet and that both sides are here." Onyx said as he crossed his arms, still wondering what the full story was of being there.

Though he also was watchful of the two femmes since something did strike a slight uneasiness in him. What it was Onyx didn't know but he took note to keep an optic out just in case. But there was also the fact of the other Predacons and without knowing how they were he'd have to keep his guard up until he knew them more.

[Phoenix]

"I don't think coming along would be avoid idea yet Aurora, you just got up and your not sure what to expect. The Predacons won't be afraid to attack you if the must, most of them aren't the most sane mechs out there."

Aurora's happy spirit took a nose dive upon hearing Frilla's words.

"But I..," she started, wanting to argue the point, but stopped herself as she realized it would be a futile task. Instead she turned to look for someone else who could defend her case. Dinobot was already out of sight, and she wasn't quite sure where Rattrap was either.

"I understand..," she finished, drawing a big sigh. She took a step back and looked down at her foot twiddling on the ground.

"Good luck," she told Frilla, putting on as brave a smile as she could.

-----

Nemesis, still in her bird mode, landed almost gracefully on the starhopper. She watched the maximals scatter to move out with a bewildered amusement, yet she did not bother to give chase.

She was well aware the Leviathan was getting close, so she would obviously not have time to salvage much. But some parts here and some parts there could still make a working ship in the end, she reasoned, and converted to robot form.

Wasting no time she entered the ship, immediately searching out the propulsion system. Being a small ship, it was rather crude in design, but with some work it might just get a ship into space.

The female quickly grabbed what she could beyond the propulsion system, before radioing the Leviathan circling above.

"This vessel is already Predacon property, so your assistance would be more needed elsewhere," she told them, well knowing they would no doubt ignore her and sack the rest of the ship. It was an annoying fact, but that did not make it any less true.

Part of her felt the urge to attempt to fly this ship and bring it to a safe place far from the Leviathan and its occupants. But from the looks of things, this ship had seen better days.. far better. It was not in working condition at the moment, and there certainly was not enough time to fix it right now. Perhaps, if she was lucky, she'd be able to access the rest of the ship back at base. If not, oh well, at least she'd gotten something out of it..

She hauled the heavy container of salvaged equipment to the door before transforming to hawk mode again. This was going to be a long, and heavy, ride back to base..

[NaitoKage]

Glowstick shaked his head watching as Feralnight landed on top of the ship, which from the 360 holographic cockpit displayed the image of what looked like Feralnight was standing on top of them. Cute.. Listen miss, I have no interest in harming you, but if you start invading my space I have no choice.

His tentacles then moved to the controls of the Leviathan's manipulators. Two large mechanical arms unfolded from the back of the Leviathan, seeming to move almost expertly as they opened their three part claws and grasped onto her body, then seemed to move in front of the Leviathan's main cannons.

Glowstick's optics then dimmed slightly as he realized a problem in grabbing the aggressive maximal, as he had no intention of killing her especially since she hadn't done anything, he really had very little idea what to do with her. Er.. Now that you see you are powerless before our might, give up Maximal!

He then turned off the outside speaker for a moment, speaking up to the others in the bridge Er.. What do we do with her?..We can't exactly use her as a hostage and there is no way I'm putting her inside this ship..She'd just eventually break loose and raise havoc.

_________________

Icebreaker nodded to Cheetor, then suddenly watched the commotion with Feralnight. He face palmed with his flipper and sighed What is she doing..? Ug. You two go on ahead Cheetor.. I'll.. take care of this. Somehow.. He then said charging towards the Leviathan in his penguin mode still, he atleast knew some ways of how the Leviathan crew acted, as seen time and time before. Glowstick appeared to hate pointless bloodshed, and always used a maximal as a bargaining chip to achieve victory. But perhaps if he tried more diplomatically, things would change..

_________

Rhinox raised an optic ridge as he looked towards Aurora, he then got up and started to examine her. Hrm.. Butterfly and ermine.. I see.. The results of the accident must have effected your scanners similarly to Feralnight, but rather beneficially. You appear to have the ability to fly. Ah.. Sorry. I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Rhinox.

[Blazemane]

Steelclaw shrugged.

"Chuck her. Hitting the ground never killed a Maximal."

He sat silent for a few moments while he stared at the monitors. Then he spoke up again. "Oh- you should probably do it fast. We've got Icebreaker coming in, and whether you just want to negotiate with him or blast him- please- having Feralnight stuck on top of the ship is gonna be a problem.

"I'm really feeling the second of those two options, by the way. I don't think he'll be in much of a mood to let us see the Starhopper, and who knows what he'd do to stop- Hey! Nemesis is flying away from the crash site, now. She's probably already a fine mess of things inside the 'hopper, too."

* * *

"Hey, wait!" Cheetor shouted, but Icebreaker was well on his way.

"Um... guess you're with me," Cheetor said to Ironclaw. He wanted to help Feralnight and Icebreaker, but it wouldn't be good to leave Ironclaw alone or to drag him to another fight.

[New Moon]

"I see you recovered quickly Glowstick, welcome back I guess and don't guys understand the term distraction." Feralnight replied and looked at the claw with a sigh. Not exactly what she thought how this would go it seemed even that wasn't going to happen. With Icebreaker coming this way she growled a bit shaking her head,"Icebreaker go with Cheetor and Ironclaw I'm fine. It was suppose to be a distraction just in case." She said over the com-link though knew it was pointless to point it out now.

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

Frilla nodded hating to stop the younger femme but knew it would be dangerous. Going down the lift once it was up she stepped off again when it was down the stood on her hind legs and took off at running speed in bipedal to move faster. Crawling with her beast form it'd take far longer.

[Blackrosefencer]

OOC:

Terminal PMS. Greeeaaaat. As if Saber-Fang's condition isn't bad enough. Now OP's got another one in his ranks.

Well, look on the bright side. She could've left with Nemesis....

BIC:

After biting the Maximal leader's head off, the Maximals responded kindly which surprised the former Pred. The white tiger looked at her sympathetically and said:

"Look we're friends and want to help, we aren't going to pry for what your reason is being here."

"Good." Arachnitron thought to herself. "It's not for you and your Maximal friends to know."

Optimus had a similar response:

"That can be arranged, if you wish. We can discuss it back at our base."

He had said in response to her request for privacy. She would have to tell him something.

Optimus transformed to beast mode and motioned for the others to follow. Arachnitron caught the glance he gave to the other two femmes. It was in that instant that she decided she'd tell him the truth. Okay, so not the whole truth, but she would tell him some of it. She would have to embellish it a bit, but that could be done. She hated to admit it, but she needed the Maximals...at least for the moment.

She also transformed to beast mode and followed the pack of Maximals back to their base realizing she never formally introduced herself yet. Well, no worries, there would be time later for that and she figured there were about a dozen or so more Maximals she'd have to meet. May as well just do it once instead of twelve times. She rolled her eyes (all eight of them) at the thought of the many more Maximal pleasantries she'd have to endure. This day already seemed like the longest day in history and it looked like there was still a lot more to it....

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

(( OOC:

Well, look on the bright side. She could've left with Nemesis....

This is true. ))

"Axalon, this is Optimus," the gorilla called through his comm. link while he walked on all fours. "Whitegrazer and Wintersong have recovered the passenger from the escape pod. Nemesis made an appearance but quickly retreated. We're bringing the survivor back to Base. What is everyone else's status?"

Walking back to the base at a steady pace with his small group, replenishing his senses with the peaceful region and beautiful landscape, Optimus glanced over his shoulder at the new female. "May I at least know your name?" he inquired calmly. After all, how would it look if he, the commanding officer, brought back someone he knew nothing of into their base of operations, and couldn't even introduce her to the others because she never offered her name. Well, it wouldn't look good. It would look careless and unprofessional, and his crew would probably think twice about her presence. As leader, he had to show that he trusted her in front of his team so that they would have the confidence and respect to trust her as well. For now, her identity would be all he would ask from her during their walk. He was a little surprised that she wasn't asking her own questions; he would certainly answer them, but maybe she was too exhausted or not the conversational type. Perhaps she didn't want to speak or socialize with anyone until she'd have her private discussion with Primal.

(( OOC: Despite how far away they might be, we don't have to make the walk back TOO long, for the sake of anyone who might get bored since Arachnitron has taken a temporary vow of silence. ))

-----

"I will leave immediately,"

The Maximal spy watched Dinobot exit the command center. Joy. It's be a long day runnin' around with him, thought the rat.

"This is soooo cool!,"

Rattrap was standing by checking his weapon and making sure everything was working properly and had plenty of ammunition. He smirked upon hearing Aurora's exclamation and put his gun away, waiting for her to show everyone what she had chosen. When she came bouncing back to the group, Rattrap was taken aback. She made herself a Fuzor like Feralnight? Huh. That was kind of cool. But what the heck was she? A white weasel? A mongoose? She'd stand out in dark places, but she also had wings. As flashy as they were, they looked very fragile. Then again, so did Waspinator's, and he actually faired pretty well in the air with his wings unless they were shot off. Could be a problem Aurora would face later on but nothing to worry about now. It was a pretty unique beast mode! Overall, Rattrap liked it. "So, uh, what were you sayin' earlier about my beast mode?" he playfully winked at her.

"I'll go along." "I don't think coming along would be avoid idea yet Aurora, you just got up and your not sure what to expect. The Predacons won't be afraid to attack you if the must, most of them aren't the most sane mechs out there."

"But I..," "I understand..," "I understand..,"

Rattrap started to follow Frilla and frowned at Aurora as he passed her. "Eh, sorry, Aurora. They're probably right. You gotta get used to yer beast mode and find out your abilities before you jump into battle. All these Preds are pretty bent on killing us, you know, an' we wouldn't want ya ta get hurt. Next time, okay?" he finished with a light but assuring smile to her.

Hrm.. Butterfly and ermine.. I see.. The results of the accident must have effected your scanners similarly to Feralnight, but rather beneficially. You appear to have the ability to fly. Ah.. Sorry. I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Rhinox.

Glancing at Rhinox for a moment when he spoke, Rattrap turned back to Aurora and said, "Rhinox'll keep ya good company 'til we come back." With that, he took off after the Frilla and Dinobot, exiting the base, converting to his beast mode and catching up with them.

[NaitoKage]

Glowstick raised an optic ridge, then looked towards Feralnight, seeming to chuckle to himself as he turned on the radio. Now why would you need a decoy when we had no intention of a pointless battle anyway?

His optics then shifted to Icebreaker, one of the mechanical arms releasing Feralnight as the other raised, then tossed her lightly towards Icebreaker, knocking the penguin onto his back. He seemed stunned, his tongue hanging out of his beak from the sudden impact.

Glowstick then looked towards Nemesis with a sigh, activating his radio You know.. if you think your going to get off this planet with that pile of scrap.. you must be more glitched then I thought. he then started to move the Leviathan's arms towards the Starhopper, turning off his com channel and talking to Steelclaw Okay, bring us down. I'll grab the ship and we'll head out.

[New Moon]

Feralnight growled a bit as she was suddenly thrown and smacked right into the penguin though got off Icebreaker quickly. "Didn't hurt to make sure." She mumbled and looked at her teammate,"Er sorry Icebreaker think it's raining fuzors." She said and helped him back to his feet though glared towards the Levianthan and shook her head. She sometimes didn't get Predacons though she wasn't going to stick around to end up with more trouble. Which unfortunately was her doing in the first place but Feralnight would about a lecture later,"Beast mode." She sighed and took flight.

[starshadow]

((OOC: Still waiting for Wildfire to post. *sighs* guess I'll speed this section up.))

If Starshadow could, she would make the horsebot come to her side instead of Megatron's, but with Blackarachnia around, it's impossible. "Megatron, a newcomer is which crash-landed not long ago is right here with me. Should I bring him back to base or lead us to assist Cecaelia and her happy little rescue team?" she radioed her leader. She then turned to Onyx.

"So....where's your pod?"

*************************************************************************************************************************************************

Cecaelia just looked at the screen with a big smile, "Mission accomplished!" she wasn't sure if the other pod was taken by the Maximals. Who cares? More maximals in battle makes the fighting satisfying, except for the bigger ones who will pick on her....maybe.

((OOC: Not sure what to write anymore...))

[Phoenix]

Aurora watched the Maximals pack up to leave with a longing sigh. She really wanted to come with them, explore this world, and see what this entire ordeal with the Predacons was all about. Never having met one, she did not know what to make of them yet. Were they really as terrible as the Maximals made them out to be, or were the others merely exaggerating? And if they weren't, shouldn't she be there to help them out against these guys? And to greet the new individual?

The questions in her mind just kept stacking up, but she snapped out of it when the sound of Rattrap's voice startled her.

"So, uh, what were you sayin' earlier about my beast mode?"

Aurora turned to look at him, swatting her long fur out of her face as she did. On her face was what could resemble a smile still, the kind of smile that would seem more than a little unsettling if Rattrap had been a real rodent since Aurora was in her weasel form at the moment.

"I merely followed your example instead of your advice," she stated.

"Eh, sorry, Aurora. They're probably right. You gotta get used to yer beast mode and find out your abilities before you jump into battle. All these Preds are pretty bent on killing us, you know, an' we wouldn't want ya ta get hurt. Next time, okay? Rhinox'll keep ya good company 'til we come back."

The rodent's reassuring words helped, but only a little. The ermine still really wanted to come with and was already now making plans on how to follow them. For the time being though she had the large brown and green male to keep her company.

Hrm.. Butterfly and ermine.. I see.. The results of the accident must have effected your scanners similarly to Feralnight, but rather beneficially. You appear to have the ability to fly. Ah.. Sorry. I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Rhinox.

Ability to fly..


Aurora had not really contemplated it like that. She'd merely liked the design when making her final selection and had added it merely as an afterthought.

She attempted to flap her wings for a moment, but even though they were moving, she did not make it even an inch off the ground. Perhaps she'd need a flying lesson from someone..

"It's very nice to meet you, Rhinox. I'm Aurora," she responded, surprisingly politely. She glanced around before settling on the rhino. "Looks like we're the only two left.. Are you like.. the guardian of this place?"

..................

Nemesis started picking up her pace, although still had some trouble carrying such a heavy load of loot from the ship. She had been expecting a transmission from the other Predacons, yet it took them a bit longer than anticipated. How good of the Maximals to keep them out of her way..

You know.. if you think your going to get off this planet with that pile of scrap.. you must be more glitched then I thought.

The Predacon flier resisted the urge to laugh, having enough trouble keeping her cargo in the air as was.

Glowstick was a fine one to make comments like that, considering all the ship and pod hoarding he himself had been doing. He too was after the ship for spare parts, making his words rather hypocritical in Nemesis' opinion. Of course Nemesis realized she needed many more parts to have a shot at completing her plans, yet at least she was a couple steps closer to being able to get started now.

So she chose to ignore the squid for the time being, merely disappearing out of sight.

[Wildfire94]

((Actually never mind I'll go ahead and post disregard the last one I did.))

Onyx waited for her to answer but looked at the landscape for a moment letting Starshadow contact whoever she needed. Looking back at the panther as she inquired about his pod he pointed with his thumb back over his shoulder,"Couples miles from here back in the plains sector. Though I don't know what use it'd be to you Starshadow, getting off a planet like this seems impossible with so little equipment from the pod." He said and tilted his head. Perhaps that is what she needs dot for? Or was it for something else? A bit curious as he was Onyx decided not to worry about it.

"So do we meet with your allies nearby or to your base?" Onyx asked. Unsure of what to do he could only wait to see what the plan was or if there was some place specific they needed to go.