"First Season Finale: Part I"

[NaitoKage]

Glowstick looked towards Steelclaw as he heard him speak

"Say, Glowstick, do you have any specific information on where Nemesis and the other Predacon are being held inside the ship? I have a suspicion that the Maximals are going to be a little more wary of Predacon intruders since we've snuck into their base before. So the less time me and Snow Trix spend in there, the better."

Well going based off the old map data, I would assume Nemesis is contained in the Brig. However, to find out, I'm not going to send you guys in completely blind. We'll access the security cameras to figure out where Arachnitron is. I wont be able to assist you like I did last time, which is why Snowtrix will be going with you.. But hang on a moment.

Glowstick then floated out towards the hanger noticing Sonar walking away rather happy with his samples. He let out a sigh as one of his arms extended grabbing Sonar by the back to stop him Hey, that's only a down payment of samples, you still have to do the mission. Get on the transport Sonar. he then released the bat floating back into the craft.

Like I always say.. it's like herding cats sometimes.. Alright. Snowtrix is going to be acting as your tech support for the operation, observing cameras, turning off defenses, and unlocking hard to access doors. With luck, the majority of the Maximals are going to be outside, but knowing the situation we will be putting them in, I imagine Frilla will still be on the bridge due to her low combat ability.. if she's there.

Glowstick then floated up to the bridge of the craft, moving towards Snowtrix he held up a device that looked like a keypad of sort, then placed it on her left arm as it magnetically attached. This is a new portable computer. I'll be uploading the access codes after we hack the Axalon from the Leviathan to this, with it, you should be able to wirelessly effect the ship, though the computer also has wire connections that retract. That computer also has a map of the Axalon, but the map hasn't been updated yet, so we don't know any of the new defenses, either way, you'll be guiding Steelclaw around as his partner.

Glowstick then climbed into the pilot seat of the Leviathan, flipping a few switches as he powered the ship's engines up. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them now. When we get Manterror, we'll have a briefing over the operation. Luckily.. it seems Manterror is near our enemy, if we fly below their radar, we'll be able to get in close undetected.
______________

Icebreaker left the bridge, moving towards his room. He sat down on his bed and leaned back with his arms behind his head, it'd been a long time since he had a moment to relax like this. His optics glanced around the room, a little messy from some unfinished projects, but not as bad as Rattrap's room filled with garbage.

[Mystrea]

Ironclaw slowed to a halt and looked at Dinobot while he listened to the transmision from Optimus. He didn't say anything but thought it was a shame that neither him or Dinobot would see no action this time. Ironclaw hoped he could learn something.

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

"Well Primal I can assure you this truce is not meant for treachery, no. Some things have come to my attention, something far more important then dealing with you and your Maximals." "The beast wars are becoming little meaning to me right now and I need time to think."

This coming from one of the most ruthless and deceptive Predacons Optimus has ever met. How did Megatron expect him to react to this? What if he didn't accept the truce? ...No, he knew Megatron was certain that Primal had to. As a Maximal, he searched for peace in this war. However, if he refused the offer, then Megatron wouldn't have the time to see to whatever the important matter was that he was dealing with and couldn't afford interruptions from the Maximals. Hm. The gorilla remained standing in his place, folding his arms over his chest, and merely turning his head slightly to follow the t-rex while he moved around a little as he spoke. Optimus was incredibly vexed at this point. What could possibly be more important than gathering as much energon as the Predacons could in order to gain more power and overthrow the Maximals? What had Megatron found? Well, even with a truce the Maximals could still find out. They were resourceful, and clearly no matter what the Predacons tried, they always had the motivation and teamwork to stop them. And perhaps whatever knowledge Megatron recently gained had nothing to do with the Maximals at all. ...That Vok anomaly... They'd have to find some answers before it was too late.

"Time to think? Or just time to replenish and reload your weapons?" Primal questioned the opposing leader, since that was usually what a truce meant, just as Icebreaker had told Onyx earlier that day. Although, it might be better for the Maximals if Optimus just went along with this and avoided any obvious suspicions. To "play dumb," so to speak.The more Megatron would be preoccupied, the better chance they'd have snooping around. "Do you take me for a fool, Megatron?" the Maximal Commander accused him.

-----

Rattrap had to admit that Cheetor was pretty dog-gone fast, but it often got him into trouble. Lucky for him, there didn't seem to be much trouble today. When the cheetah came to a stop, the rat hopped off and glanced around.

"They won't hurt you. They're my friends." "Oh, the horses are friendly, guys. They just need to get used to you. You can pet them if you want. They won't bite you. Just don't do any sudden movements."

"I got this covered," the rodent waved dismissively at Whitegrazer when a couple of the wild horses wandered over toward them. Surprisingly, Rattrap was calm and respectful toward the equines, standing up on his hind legs. Slowly, he produced a ripe green apple from his subspace and held it in his pink paw up to one of the curious horses, allowing it to take a bite from the fruit. He grinned in his rodent beast mode when one of the horse's large teeth latched onto the apple, its lips curling around it, and yanking the whole thing right out of his grasp. "Yeesh. Greedy, aren't ya? Don't eat it all whole!" he warned, but then suddenly the powerful animal turned around and started to gallop with the others that Whitegrazer had politely shooed away. "Man. That was my snack," Rattrap pouted for a moment.

"Cheetor, can you help me demonstrate the moves to Aurora? I need to show her first and Rattrap, can you be Aurora's buddy for her to demonstrate on?"

"You mean, let 'er kick my butt?" the brown rat teased as he fell to all fours and waddled over to them. "I hate bein' the punchin' bag," he muttered.

"It's better to have hands on experience."

While Whitegrazer went on, Rattrap parked himself next to Aurora and maximized into his robot mode. "I ain't gonna go easy on ya just 'cause you're a girl," he joked with a playful wink.

"Trust me. I have been your positions before as I told you guys, but it will be fun. After all, you guys can help her when she needs it because I did teach you guys a few moves." "First, I will show you the wrist lock. Now, pay close attention, Aurora and also, remember this: no matter how heavy an enemy is, the whole point of Diffusion is to use the enemy's own force against them. All right, Cheetor, I want you to come at me with a punch. Attack me."

"Dis oughta be good," smirked Rattrap, pointing his thumb at them, waiting for Cheetor's punch. Not too far off, there was a horse that caught his eye. It looked awfully similar to a certain Predacon but he doubted Onyx would be out there "spying" on them. Why would he? The horse was too far away for him to smell, especially with all of the other horses' scents around, mixing in with the breeze, but he kept a mental note to himself to keep an eye on it, just in case.

-----

Approaching the raptor and honey badger, Tigatron dramatically slowed down from his run as soon as he picked up their scents. The breeze also faintly carried Optimus's but he did not see him anywhere in sight. "Dinobot. Ironclaw," the white tiger greeted his fellow Maximals with a rumble in his throat as he walked up to them, catching his breath. "I did not expect to find you out here," since it was not the normal terrain they traveled through with their beast modes. "Are you heading toward the alien anomaly within the mountain? Where is Optimus?" he asked.

[Alak]

As strange as it may be, we'll be running a rescue operation. Nemesis and another predacon have been captured by the enemy held inside the Axalon. I've.. gained some means to weaken the Axalon so the mission will be a little easier. Terrorsaur, you will be working with Sonar and Manterror acting as air support. I'll use my radio and hacking skills to disable the Axalon's shield and break their autoguns with the Leviathan's main guns. A ground force will assist you while we take on the enemy. Meanwhile, we'll be deploying a small group to infiltrate the back of the Axalon, your group acting as a distraction.. though that does not mean you shouldn't attempt to destroy the enemy. That just happens to be a added bonus. As for our stealth team.. I believe I'll leave that to Steelclaw and Snowtrix.

Terrorsaur squawked, "Rescue mission? If they were stupid enough to get caught in the first place, then maybe we should do ourselves a favor and leave them with those Maximal scum!"

Scratching his head, the Predacon flyer did realize that it had been a while since the crew did anything... exciting. Monitor duty and scout patrol seemed to be the only thing Megatron insisted upon lately. Perimeter defenses stepped up a notch recently after Inferno returned with an unknown package. Perhaps it would be in Terrorsaur's best interests to go after all.

"On the other hand," he added, "It sounds a lot more fun than sitting at my desk all day. I'm in."

[Wintersong]

Snow Trix looked as Glowstick approached her, looking to the portable computer that was magnetized to her arm and she nodded."I'll do what I can, not the best hacker but it should be enough. Though don't be surprised if we miss a few silent alarms." She said but knew this was going to be a tough one. They may had some codes to stop the defenses and get into places but that didn't mean they would be successful. Hopefully with some luck they would get something out of this mission. If not both Predacons at least one of them.

[Night-Hunter]

Sonar ignored most of the coversation between Steelclaw and Glowstick, he was far to excited. He jumped when he felt some thing wrap around him only to find out that it was one of Glowsticks arms.

Hey, that's only a down payment of samples, you still have to do the mission. Get on the transport Sonar.

Sonar growled softly, but he didn't argue and simply headed toward the Transport. Once inside he sat down with a huff, crossing his arms.

I better get to kill or torture some thing. Sonar thought with a growl.

[NaitoKage]

With everyone on board, the Leviathan closed it's cargo bay hatch. The Leviathan then floated from the floor and eased itself forward out of the Predacon hanger and into the air. The Main monitor of the ship displaying the outdoor scenery as the ship made it's way towards the Maximal base.

Glowstick leaned back in his seat putting two tentacles behind his head, almost seeming relaxed as he flew the transport. As the transport came near Maximal territory , it started to reduce it's altitude floating rather low to the ground coming to the edge of the forest Manterror was inside of.

Glowstick then activated the radio and opened the Cargobay hatch Alright Manterror, we're at the edge of the woods and will prepare for the attack, you can go into position near the front of the Axalon but try not to be detected. Don't attack until we take out the axalon's main guns, okay?

Glowstick then climbed out of the pilot seat walking towards the front of the ship and typed into the maintenance computer, bringing up a map of the area, a smaller screen then appeared as he attempted to infiltrate Sentinel's systems wirelessly. Hmm.. slower due to the interference of the trees, but we can do this.. he said to himself.

Using the data from Feralnight, he soon brought up multiple camera displays from inside the Axalon onto the large screen of the transport. Well now.. looks like we can plan ahead from here. I assume once we figure out where to go, I'll send you two out to come up behind the Axalon. Once you're in position, radio to us and we'll begin the attack.

Glowstick looked over the screens, seeing one of Arachnitron on the bridge. Huh.. They have her on the bridge..I guess because of her illness. Alright.. but where is Nemesis.. he started searching through the cameras, then displayed Nemesis in the brig. He raised an optic ridge The security is alot higher on the brig then it was before..I have a feeling you might not be able to hack your way through, but that is why Steelclaw along.

Snowtrix's arm computer flashed for a moment, then stopped. Alright, download complete. You should be able to observe the cameras while in there.

[Alak]

Transforming to robot mode, Terrorsaur cracked his knuckles.

"Let's be quick about it," he snickered, "I haven't shot anything in a long time. I actually feel a bit antsy right now."

His shoulder cannons popped out and the Predacon drew his rifle. His weapons remained clean due to their lack of use, but the flyer had no care for the burn marks that would soon stain them. Action was action, and Terrorsaur would get it where he could find it. Walking towards the exit, the Predacon stopped and anxiously waited for Manterror's confirmation. As Glowstick kept saying, taking out the Axalon's guns were their first priority. Although, it had been ages since the Predacon soldiers directly assaulted the Maximal ship. Who knew how many guns the ship was armed with. After all, Megatron had more than tripled the perimeter defenses in the past few months alone. Who was to say that the Maximals could not have done the same?

"I supposed we'll find out the hard way," he muttered to himself.

It was not as if the guns would be able to hit him at full speed anyway.

[Wintersong]

Snow Trix looked towards the pilot seat and watched though as he computer flashed she looked at it and nodded,"Well if we're going to launch this attack we better get going then, that's if we don't have to wait for Manterror first." She said standing and glanced towards the ladder before walking to it and looked down seeing Terrorsaur waiting though he seemed rather anxious. He must have not been kidding when he remarked he was getting antsy, in fact he seemed ready to spring out at any moment. Though another thought occur to her,"We should watch the outside too Glowstick, no telling if any of the Maximals are lounging around or not."She added.

[Wildfire94]

"I take you for a Maximal." Megatron replied turning to look at the gorilla before fully facing him,"And the truce is a cease fire Primal, no gun fire on either side I assure you." He said with a genuine tone, even though deep down Megatron would only be biding his time. He had to known more about this disk, know what it would foretell if it was truly meant to be the same one he had taken back on Cybertron. An object of such value and power was certain to give them knowledge event he Maximals wouldn't have which would also give them the advantage they needed. This truce had to work and knowing Primal was always looking for some option of peace Megatron decided to use that to gain the time he would need.

THough even so he would still have to be on his guard if the Maximals came creeping around to see what he was up to. Making a mental note to keep on the watch he looked at Primal steadily,"Well Primal what will it be? Do we have a truce or not?" He asked calmly, even if it was out of place for him to be this calm he had to be in order to gain Primal's trust enough he would agree to it.

[Phoenix]

(ooc: Oh wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted.. Mixture of school, family, preparing for the holidays etc eating away my time, I guess. Man, can't wait for school to be over! A little concerned about the rapid progression of the Predacon 'rescue attempt' though, since I'm currently waiting for Venatrix to get back to me about something.)

"All right, Aurora, today is the first day, so we will basically go over basics,"

Aurora listened intently at first, but soon began to wonder if the white mare would make this into a history lesson rather than an actual hands-on practice session. She certainly didn't mind a good story once in a while, but at the moment she was very eager to get started. Especially since with her past luck something had always gotten in the way of her chance to have fun, so part of her was fully expecting they would get called back to base soon.

"All right, the first thing we are going to cover today is simple. I will show you how to perform hand, wrist, and elbow locks and grabs, and also, during this, I will teach more of its idealogy."

The young female finally converted from her beast mode to robot mode, swiping her white fur/hair out of her face as she nodded to acknowledge the older female.

She watched as Whitegrazer then instructed Cheetor and Rattrap on their roles in all of this, smiling a bit teasingly at the rat's reaction.

"You mean, let 'er kick my butt? I hate bein' the punchin' bag,"

Unable to hold back a snippy comment to go with the teasing smile, Aurora immediately batted her eyes at the rodent as she responded;

"Aww, don't worry.. I'm sure a mighty rodent such as yourself can take the beatings of a little girl.."

"I ain't gonna go easy on ya just 'cause you're a girl,"

"I wouldn't have it any other way!," Aurora insisted, trying to appear more confident than she really felt at the moment. Either way she was going to have fun, and hopefully learn something in the process.

"First, I will show you the wrist lock. Now, pay close attention, Aurora and also, remember this: no matter how heavy an enemy is, the whole point of Diffusion is to use the enemy's own force against them. All right, Cheetor, I want you to come at me with a punch. Attack me."

As Whitegrazer prepared to demonstrate on Cheetor, Aurora backed off a few steps and lingered next to Rattrap while watching. She didn't particularly feel like having the larger cheetah nor his opponent accidentally fall on her, so it seemed like a wiser choice to keep a little distance from them.

[NaitoKage]

( You already established that you didn't want the preds saving you, they wont. When they attempt it, they'll fail. So you can either take an opportunity to do it yourself, or wait for Vena to do it. As for the Predacons, if they're informed of that.. they'll just have to change the plan and go Metal gear style.. at which point, most the preds would probably have to be sent back rather angry since large groups are bad for sneaking missions.)

After his moment of peace, Icebreaker leaned up and moved towards his desk. He pulled out his bag getting out a few tools, then started tinkering with some parts in his room. He had thought for awhile of teaching Aurora how to fly, though as he had yet to learn how to do that himself, it seemed the best option would be to tow her, like a kite. Though he found it weird she didn't have the parts necessary to produce thrust, and was far too heavy for her butterfly wings to produce thrust, he did remember his experiences with Paragliding and hang gliding.

Pulling out a Caliper, he made a few messurements to a bar of metal, then started to cut it with a small laser scalpel. Geez.. at the going rate I might end up putting Gunsmithing on my list of trades.. he muttered to himself. He stopped making a few measurements, then attached the bar to a small frame and smiled Well.. at least it's a weapon that runs in the family.. He then placed the parts down, looking around for a tiny winch motor.

____________________

Glowstick nodded as he heard Snowtrix in the lower level. Examining that now.. looks all clear. Alright, you two move out, be careful around the hanger, I think Orcariner is there.

[starshadow]

((Sorry for the super late post. I didn't know what to say..))

Hey, that's only a down payment of samples, you still have to do the mission. Get on the transport Sonar.

Samples? what samples? "What samples are-"

Like I always say.. it's like herding cats sometimes.. Alright. Snowtrix is going to be acting as your tech support for the operation, observing cameras, turning off defenses, and unlocking hard to access doors. With luck, the majority of the Maximals are going to be outside, but knowing the situation we will be putting them in, I imagine Frilla will still be on the bridge due to her low combat ability.. if she's there.

Herding cats? How many kittybots are existing in this dirtball?

Alright, you two move out, be careful around the hanger, I think Orcariner is there.

Cecaelia waved a hand up high and spoke, "Umm..Glowstick-kun, what am I supposed to do?"

[NaitoKage]

(Well, for an attack on a base, they're going kinda light. And do remember, part of the motivation for this is from words Megatron mentioned in one episode. "No Predacons will be captive under my reign" So.. while I'm sure he'll be mad, he'd probably also be happy not to lose any troops.. even though Nemesis is even less likely to follow orders then Snowtrix is, and nothing Megatron could do would make her fear him unless he pulled a Rampage tactic.. which her spark couldn't handle.)



Glowstick looked towards Cecaelia, raising and waving her hand like a schoolgirl in class. He brought down the displays leaving the map of the battlefield up, then turned towards Cecaelia Rather obvious I would think, You'll be our ground attack unit scattering laser fire to keep the maximals pinned down, you'll also be able to keep Icebreaker and Orcariner distracted, which will prove rather useful, as either one has shown combat power nearly equal to field reports of Optimus Primal's strength.. though I have yet to even confirm that considering I have never met the real Optimus Primal in person..

Glowstick's optics dimmed slightly as he thought about that for a moment, he'd been at war with the Maximals for nearly three solar cycles, and yet this entire campaign he had yet to even see the enemy's commander in person, the last one being confirmed as some freakish alien clone. He appeared to have some rather strange luck considering this. In a normal war, this wouldn't be that unusual.. but the Beast wars was FAR from a normal war.

Glowstick shaked his head to stop thinking of it, he couldn't let such trival things bug him in the middle of an operation. As for myself, I'll be operating the Leviathan alone. If firepower becomes too dense out there, I'll push ahead and you guys take cover behind the Leviathan. Cecaelia head towards the cargobay with Sonar and Terrorsaur and prepare to deploy when we land.

[Blazemane]

((OOC: I hoped to post yesterday, but when the time finally came for it, I had a headache. Sorry for being late again...))

Steelclaw listened carefully and wordlessly to Glowstick's response, and everything he had said afterwards. He quickly decided that he wanted try the brig first, as the automated defenses there would, ironically, probably leave the place without an actual Maximal guard. Secondly, if Arachnitron was in the bridge, then there would be almost no chance of he and Snow Trix getting to her without the Maximals realizing they were inside.

Examining that now.. looks all clear. Alright, you two move out, be careful around the hanger, I think Orcariner is there.

"Alright, let's go Snow Trix," he said as he got out of his seat and headed for the cargo bay doors. "First, if you can manage it, we need to get our signatures cloaked from the scanners in the Maximal base. We can approach the base without being seen, but it won't matter if their scanners pick us up anyways."

He opened the cargo bay doors and dropped the short distance that the Leviathan was hovering above the ground.

"Beast mode." Once he was transformed, he waited in place for Snow Trix. Once they were together, they could head off.

* * *

Punch Whitegrazer? Huh... well, Cheetor had seen how these demonstrations normally went. He'd have to be careful or he'd probably end up on his head.

Great.

Cheetor went over to the instructor. "Just punch you anywhere? 'Cause I think if-" without warning, his hand went staight at her middle, moving so suddenly, that he only curled it into a fist in midlfight. He put all the speed he could muster into the attack, hoping that she at least wouldn't get enough control to completely wreck him.

* * *

Dinobot took quick note of Ironclaw's silence, but he wasn't sure how to respond to it himself.

Shortly thereafter, he saw Tigatron coming.

Dinobot. Ironclaw. I did not expect to find you out here.

Are you heading toward the alien anomaly within the mountain? Where is Optimus?

"Optimus was going to the alien site, and we were going to give him support," Dinobot said without greeting. "But we have just received orders to turn back. Apparently there was nothing important in that region, although Optimus feared that may have been because the Predacons got there before he did. Were you ever able to inspect the site further?"