The Intergalactic Highway

((OOC: Sorry for the very late reply...my mom took out the modem cable because it was my bros exam..Sonar also needs a Joker Junior. ))

"I need your help with something that will beneficial to both of us.

Beneficial huh? Starshadow picked up her helmet and followed the spider.

"Taranulas is planning on something and he doesn't...seemed affected by my charms anymore just like Sonar is towards you."

Thanks...She thought with her ears going back a little.

"Tough luck for us, huh?"

"It's probably no luck at all..they're probably almost immune to feminine charms.."

"But we, girls, shouldn't fret. That lunatic is trying to build an escape ship, but it seems he needs two more components to making this escape ship. Something is going to happen to this dirtball and that lunatic isn't telling anyone. Probably, to leave us all to face what the aliens are going to bring. I believe it is within our best interests to work together and take advantage of this and get off of this planet before those aliens destroy us along with Maximals."

Blackarachnia has a point. Considering how the aliens tried to kill the Maximals and Predacons, what other choices does she have? Afterall, escaping the dirtball and the Predacons is her main goal. Tarantulas...he always keeps secrets and never shares any good or bad news. "You got yourself a partner." Starshadow smirked.

((OOC:

Although this just brings up a question no one seems tog et, how the heck did Megatron get to a high up place Optimus has to fly to when Megs can't even fly yet?

Because it's a cool, secluded set piece. You just look at that and you think "yeah, let's have Optimus and Megatron negotiate stuff!" Or because he's Megatron? Pretty much does whatever he wants. Like Batman.

Seriously though, the audience is only told that Optimus is near where Tigatron saw the anomaly when Megatron contacts him. While Megatron demands they meet on neutral ground, it's still possible that Megatron has a much shorter distance to go to get there if the anomaly was way far away.

Of course... Inferno gets there before Optimus does, suggesting the anomaly is close enough to the Predacon base for him to get there faster, suggesting the distance between Megatron and Optimus when they first talk about meeting can't be too far, suggesting I'm totally off.

I can always have Manterror unleash another brilliant assault again if we need something to do. Perhaps this time he could actually be at least somewhat successful to elevate the sense of danger in the Maximals instead of just 'oh, its manterror, sho him away like the bug he is'.

Yeah, it would be awesome if Manterror proved to be capable of making the Maximals actually take him seriously. I enjoy the comedy Worpex has played him with, but I'm betting he doesn't always want to have his character get rocked.

Phoenix basically doesn't want me to do the rescue mission so either I or Blaze need to think of something for the OC preds to do for this episode,

Well, we could still do the rescue mission and just fail, couldn't we? Of course, that wouldn't be as fun as succeeding.

There are, of course, other things our o.c.s could do. What about Glowstick taking Cecaelia to the beach? Or whatever happened to Saber-Fang roaming around? Suppose she came and terrorized the Predacon base (I'm not saying there aren't ways to shut such an attack down in one post, but we could avoid that and just play around with it)? Suppose Terrorsaur decides to try usurping Megatron one last time before he dies? He is after, all, very distracted right now. And ff course, those are just a few suggestions.

Of course, we might have to explain why our o.c.s decided not to do the rescue mission if we decide not to play that- a sudden turn of events at the Darksyde could do that well. Or we could just ignore the few posts we wrote. Not the smoothest playing, but... who's judging us aside from us?))

* * *

Cheetor was beginning to like the sound of this.

"Wait, so we're just gonna stay away from the base? Ultra gear!"

Even as he started lightly trotting around- for he enjoyed just being able to do so, and he was feeling excited- the thought crept into the back of his mind that he still wanted to talk to Optimus and try to change things as soon as possible. But if Optimus was gone chasing an anomaly, there was nothing Cheetor could do right now anyways. So he put the idea to rest.

"So what'd you want to show us?" Cheetor asked Whitegrazer. He was looking forward to seeing her demonstrate some of her moves. He liked to imagine using them on Predacons and totally wrecking them.

"Physically she might be, but..."

She noticed Rattrap's expression and knew there was something she was not seeing.

"Really? We can stay out here for a bit and do other things? I'd love that!"

As long as the peace keeps, she was hopeful no Preds or alien thingys spoiled a nice time. Better not jink it, Whitegrazer. Shut your trap. She kept thinking positive things despite the fact that Optimus was still on her mind. She could sense his spark still even though he was far away from them by now. Also, she could feel his ponderings about what she had told him not long ago. It was a lot to take in, but she knew he would take it all in stride as she did as well. It was the only thing they could do for now. Her spark steadily beatened against her chest, still feeling Optimus' spark along with many others around and away as well. It was nice to feel someone that she care for's spark, knowing that she could touch and feel if anything good or bad happened.

I hope whatever he is going to find in those cooridnates doesn't end up with him in a fight. It made her wonder what was that anormaly of. Hopefully, it was not a weapon.

"I could always use a little bit of practice time.. and perhaps show the rat off in a shooting contest,"

Whitegrazer whistled at the ermine little challenge at the rat, "Looks like someone is eager to outshoot ya, Rattrap." She laughed.

"So what'd you want to show us?"

"We need a more peaceful location first." Whitegrazer smiled brightly, "Oh! I know the place. The area where you guys find me in the pod. Nice wide open space for running, practicing, shooting since I left the practice targets there." It was also the place where her and others meditate. "Just watch out for my horse pals when we get there. They scare easily." She playfully stared at Rattrap when she made that statement, knowing how her pals were frightened by a talking rat. That was hilarious, "At least, it wasn't as bad as the elephants. You gave them a heart attack."

Whitegrazer tried to keep her snickering low.

"Anyone else has a better location?"

She moved her hooves a bit like she was ready to gallop, "Well, better make haste! Time is a wasting!" She started galloping, eager to teach and show Aurora some sights.

Of course, self-defense as well. Already, she was thinking about what she wanted to show.

((OOC: I'm looking for a voice to place on my character. ))

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Blackarachnia smirked along with Starshadow.

"Now, all we have to do is wait for tall, dark, and creepy to make the first move, which shouldn't be too long from now."

Her thoughts went to Megatron. Barney's evil twin hasn't bellowed or called anyone for awhile. What was he doing? Did she miss something? She will probably figure it out when the time comes. Right now, she will just focus on that ghoul.

((Think I will just go with a place where at least Megatron can reach, and it'd be a bit more obvious how and Optimus can still fly there. So a new location seems more logical.))

After a little bit of examining the golden disk Megatron decided this wouldn't be enough time, not with the Maximals likely to come snooping around and interrupting or knowing of the anomaly being the golden disk itself. There had to be some way to gain extra time, the time he needed to examine the relic. Of course the Maximals would likely be checking out the mountain by now so the t-rex decided to turn his attentions back to that area, switching the monitor once more back to viewing the location, his eyes never leaving the screen until a familiar shape passed in front of one of the hidden cameras he had in the area; Optimus Primal was investigating just as he expected. Perhaps not Primal himself but none the less this made it all the easier and he had to get the Maximal commander to talk with alone.

When Optimus had passed a few more feet Megatron finally pressed a button on one of the arms of his throne, sending out a probe from it's housing just next to the camera and sending it to follow Primal. It wasn't long however it wold flash on Optimus' scanner then shoot past him, flying through the winding canyon a little ways before he halted all of a sudden and a holo-gram of Megatron's head showed, waiting for Primal to stop.

(ooc: Why would they attack the Axalon to get Arachnitron if she's elsewhere? I do like the divide strategy, but I just want to make sure it would be to get Arachnitron and not Nemesis since I will not let the plans I made a couple of months ago go to waste. So if they do try to go for the Axalon, I hope the mission is a failure cus I'm not playing along with a rescue attempt. Ps: Dead tired.. this will be a short post..)

"And, Aurora, you'd have ta be some kinda prodigy to outskill my marksmanship,"

"Oh yeah?," the fuzor responded, "You are on, mister! If you win, you get the honor of teaching me a trick or two. If I win, I get to go with you on your next mission into enemy territory."

She wasn't serious, exactly, but it was indeed a tempting thought to get to go with one of the senior officers on an adventure. And of course she realized Rattrap had far more experience than her with firing a weapon, but she wasn't about to admit this without at least trying to prove her worth and see if maybe she had a hidden talent for it. In fact the weapons Aurora carried were all tranquilizers and stun weapons, which she hadn't even gotten to fire once. So any chance to practice was quite welcome.

The fuzor didn't get a chance to continue before Whitegrazer made a joke at Rattrap's expense, something she'd not come to expect from the white mare. Giggling at the joke, she nearly fell off as the horse suddenly sped up into a gallop heading for what she assumed was the graze lands where she had initially exited her pod.

"Whoa!," Aurora exclaimed, barely able to hold on, "If I fall off, will you pick me up on the way back..?"

Orcariner raised a brow as Feralnight returned and quipped at Frilla with an unusual tone of hostile sarcasm. The lizard raised her hands in order to diffuse the situation, but Orcariner decided not to let it all slide that easily. Besides, it was easy to intimidate a small data analyst. The same could not be said for a gargantuan Academy graduate.

"What happened?" he asked.

The question may have been a bit lacking in joviality. Orcariner tried to remember how Optimus was able to inquire touchy subjects with such grace. It was something the orca was not experienced in as he was typically not the... sensitive type; at least in regards to others' feelings. Orcariner knew that this particular moment was not just typical jabbing of joking insults between friends. Feralnight apparently had a bad day. While he was tempted to simply demand where she was and why the fuzor was out of Maximal territory, the titan had to remind himself that he needed to respect her boundaries. After all, he was not the boss of her according to rank. They were peers. No, they were friends. As such, Orcariner was obligated to treat Feralnight as such.

"You can tell us, you know."

Orcariner opted not to take the demanding route and left the whole part about her AWOL status. He had figured Optimus would have wanted to allow her to vent her emotions first. At least that's what the orca assumed his leader would have wanted. That was the hard part about looking up to someone. He would strive to think and act as his commanding officer, but at the same time Orcariner would never really succeed in reproducing the same results. Perhaps one day he will discover the reasoning behind this, but now all he wanted to find out what happened to Feralnight. Perhaps he'll lower her guard enough so that Optimus would have an easier time confronting her upon his return.

((OOC:

ooc: Why would they attack the Axalon to get Arachnitron if she's elsewhere? I do like the divide strategy, but I just want to make sure it would be to get Arachnitron and not Nemesis since I will not let the plans I made a couple of months ago go to waste. So if they do try to go for the Axalon, I hope the mission is a failure cus I'm not playing along with a rescue attempt.

I believe Arachitron is at the Axalon.

And whether or not our characters try the rescue mission, yes, we would have to fail getting Nemesis.))

* * *

Dinobot and Ironclaw had been running for a while, neither having said anything to the other. And while Dinobot had been content to focus on the danger they were rushing into, he decided it would be in his best interest to know more about the person he was going to rush into that danger with.

"Tell me, Ironclaw, how much combat experience have you had?"

Realizing her anger got the best of her Feralnight sighed and took a moment to calm herself, knowing it had been out of line to snap as she did."Sorry just had something on my mind lately and I went a patrol was all but I must have gotten distracted and wandered into Predacon territory. Last thing I remember is Glowstick appearing out of no where and then everything went blank. Musthave been his cyber venom, next thing I know I'm waking up and met up with Airazor." she explained in a calmer tone not aware of having gone there and failing in attempt to enter the Darkside, not to mention becoming an unknown spy for the Predacons without realizing it.

Frilla watched the fuzor, wondering what could be bothering her enough to be this snappy. It was very unlike her thoughher story did make sense of Glowstick. He never was one for always getting into fights, his cyber venom could do the trick for him. Though the frilled lizard thought it had been a little over board for Feralnight to snap at her.

And what could be on the fuzor's mind to make her act like this?

(( OOC: That's actually not too bad, Blackrosefencer and Starshadow. Have at it, guys, if you want SOMEthing to do.

By the way, Alak, love what you're doing with Orcariner. I'm eager to see what Feralnight will do or say.

Because it's a cool, secluded set piece. You just look at that and you think "yeah, let's have Optimus and Megatron negotiate stuff!" Or because he's Megatron? Pretty much does whatever he wants. Like Batman.

Too funny, Blazemane.

I enjoy the comedy Worpex has played him with, but I'm betting he doesn't always want to have his character get rocked.

Agreed. I LOVE the comedy with Manterror. By the way, Blazemane, we can set up that talk for Cheetor and OP once the monkey returns after speaking with Megatron, or while Tigatron, Airazor and Rattrap are gone (or whoever you guys want to go to the Darksyde for a distraction and infiltration to investigate the alien disk) and no one has anything else to do but wait until they come back.

Sounds good, Wildfire! ))

IC:

Progressively getting closer to the mountain that was once marked by an alien anomaly, and not too far from Predacon territory, Optimus Primal continued on his flight path, his optics and scanners constantly looking for any intruders or surprises, either Vok or Predacon. Again his thoughts helplessly wandered to Whitegrazer. There was still a warmth, a presence of some sort, emitting in his spark from her. Was it possible to have a connection so strong with someone that you felt them no matter how far apart they were? An interesting thought. If so, perhaps there was something much closer to him and Whitegrazer than what was previously pulling them toward each other.

Suddenly there was a beeping on the tiny monitor attached to his wrist. Shifting his optics at it for a glance, he saw a small blinking blip that was rapidly approaching him. A second later, an orb-like object zipped past him. It was reading Cybertronian but it seemed to come out of no where, and in a real hurry. Before losing it out of his sight, Optimus decided to chase it and see where it would lead him. Perhaps someone was trying to communicate with him. "Jets, maximum burn!" he ordered, and his thrusters immediately blazed brightly, burning more fuel and energy to catch up to the little flying sphere. Following it almost effortlessly despite the speed he was traveling, piercing the air like a bullet above the canyons below, the metallic ball suddenly stopped. SLAG! thought Primal, adding a outward growl, but didn't panic. Instead, he decelerated his speed as quickly as possible, abruptly "skidding" to a hover in mid air before almost sliding into the hovering ball. To his surprise, the floating sphere was now projecting Megatron's headshot. The holographic and audio transmission fluttered a little bit, probably from energon interferance, but otherwise the Predacon General's voice was crystal clear. What the slag is this all about? Primal pondered. I guess I'm about to find out. The Maximal leader proceeded to acknowledge the tyrant's presence with a little humor. "Well, Megatron. I'd say it was good to see you but my truth circuits would overload," he grinned, avoiding any discussion as to where he was heading and why. But surely Megatron knew those answers already. ((OOC: Sorry, couldn't pass up that joke.))

-----

"Wait, so we're just gonna stay away from the base? Ultra gear!"

"Eh. Don't lose your spots over it, kid," Rattrap teased Cheetor's excitement.

"So what'd you want to show us?"

The little brown rat looked from the cheetah to the white mare, squinting a beaty black eye in curiosity and waiting for her to answer. For a moment, she seemed lost in her own thoughts.

"Looks like someone is eager to outshoot ya, Rattrap."

Standing up on his hind legs and folding his arms over his furry chest, Rattrap let out a smirk and shook his head. "She doesn't stand a chance." He confidently grinned at Aurora.

"Oh yeah?," "You are on, mister! If you win, you get the honor of teaching me a trick or two. If I win, I get to go with you on your next mission into enemy territory."

"Betting already? At such a young age. They grow up so fast," the Maximal spy accepted the ermine's challenge in a sappy voice, as if Aurora really was his niece and he was so proud of her making stakes already, following her "uncle's" footsteps.

"We need a more peaceful location first." "Oh! I know the place. The area where you guys find me in the pod. Nice wide open space for running, practicing, shooting since I left the practice targets there." "Just watch out for my horse pals when we get there. They scare easily." "At least, it wasn't as bad as the elephants. You gave them a heart attack."

Recalling those incidents, Rattrap started laughing, pretending to wipe away a giddy tear from one of his eyes. "Yeah. That was priceless, eh? Good times," he chuckled.

"Anyone else has a better location?" "Well, better make haste! Time is a wasting!"

"Nah. Sounds good ta me," the rodent agreed as he began climbing back up onto Cheetor's back before he'd forget him again.

Wintersong watched the others quietly, leaning a bit on the wall and not saying much. And honestly standing there doing nothing was becoming quite boring to the tigeress. Flicking her tail a bit she finally stood,"I'll be outside if you guys need me, not really much else to do." She said walking to the lift, stepping onto it and went down to the outside. Giving a quick scan of the area Wintersong still saw nothing going on so she transformed and headed off at a trot.

There didn't seem much activity going on, and surprisingly the Predacons seemed to be doing nothing either. That was a rarity that's for sure. For now Wintersong was trying to keep herself occupied and trotted towards the forest close to base, going into the brush though still in range of the Axalon's scanners. She began to pace along the tree line, using the foliage as a type of cover while thinking of something else to do, yet nothing came to mind. For now Wintersong just began to pay attention the the environment around her, hearing a few scurries of animals, leaves rustling, and the occasional sound of the birds in the trees.

In all honesty Wintersong found comfort in the wild beauty of the organic planet, finding herself more at home there then she ever had felt on Cybertron. She really didn't mind if they remained there for a while or if they did end up leaving she had always considered perhaps staying. But then again sometimes one did feel lonely so she always decided against it. Right now though she was calm and at peace, her earlier irritation with Primal having gone a while ago and now she was just enjoying the environment around her.

(Alrighty then, guess with that stuff settled..)

Glowstick floated towards the Darksyde, slowing down as he came towards the ground, his body shifting redirecting itself as he flew along inside of the hanger of the Predacon warship.

He thought over the battle strategy while he was flying, deciding to increase the aerial support. It might of been beyond his capabilities to command a group this large, but he'd done it before.. As he floated towards the Leviathan, he activated his comlink Terrorsaur, this is Glowstick. I imagine I have a operation that might interest you and give you a chance to show your skills in combat as a warrior, and air commander..Report to the hanger.

He knew Terrorsaur was probably bored by now, and being given even a scrap of power would feed his power hungry desires, at least he'd gain some co-operation from the flier. He then activated another channel on his comlink. Manterror, this is Glowstick. If you receive this, respond. I believe I can provide some entertainment for your battle lust..

With the pieces starting to assemble, it was time to bring them together to battlefield, the chessboard called war. He floated towards the cargo bay door of the Leviathan, opening it as he entered the ship. Stopping at his work table, he pulled out the bottle on his back with Visia inside, then removed the cork. One of his tentacles reached inside as he pulled the snake's body up through the narrow hole. He then pulled out a small vial as he applied pressure to the lifeless snake body's head, causing the fangs to extend. One of his tentacles drew a small device from his back storage, the device was then pressed under the fang, releasing a small electric discharge forcing stimulation to the venom release on the snake, forcing it to drip it's venom into the vial. His tentacle moving the vial to collect the drops from each fang.

Glowstick then spoke up I know you're watching Visia..I finished reviewing the analysis of your body.. it's surprising how similar you are to a cybertronian..I believe I'll be able to install counter measures onto the others..But then I realized, there was one other pesky problem your kind creates. You cause mutations which are rather troublesome.. I guess luckily for me, I happen to know a rather good biologist.. Once the vaccine is complete, I will have no reason to further store you. The only one you'll be able to feed off is Starshadow. he let out a dark chuckle, capping the vial and swirling the liquid as he observed it, his other limbs sliding the snake back into the bottle and sealing it again, then sliding it away in his back storage.

_______________

Rhinox crossed his arms as he observed the others, it seemed they had a handle on the situation. He then crossed his arms as he made his way back towards the lab, his red optics glancing towards the computer. He glanced over the readout, then walked over to Valkyrie,unplugging cables from her body. He reached for a curtain pulling it around. Might be best to let you sleep a little longer.. he then said, walking towards the computer, he sat down starting to observe the readout.

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Meanwhile.. Tarantulus does something!

Tarantulus leaned his head on a claw as he observed his monitors. Hrm.. it appears the fish is up to something..That should leave the base rather empty for awhile..Heheheheh..

He then leaned his head up as he noticed Megatron was up to something as well, his claws starting to type into his computer, accessing Megatron's personal datatracks rather easily, he let out another dark chuckle. Well well..What do we have here..? he said to himself as he read the text, images of the golden disk appeared on his screen, reflecting on his optic band.

( No problem OOP))

Megatron held back a growl of annoyance at Optimus' attempt to be funny, the Maximals would more then find it funny but the Predacon leader was less then amused,"Yes I suppose so." Megatron said unamused,"But this isn't a social visit Primal but of an important matter, a proposal of a truce. Though this is not the time nor the place to talk of it." He said, getting to the point and knowing this would throw Optimus into confusion but it was the only way to get more time,"We shall meet leader to leader on neutral ground but we go alone." Megatron stated, waiting to see what Primal would say. But of course for once Megatron would comply with his own words and go this time alone, the last thing he wanted was his troops inquiring of what was going on and needed no mistakes this time.

Ironclaw was surprised by Dinotbot's sudden question. " Not much" He said, ashmaed of the answer. In this place is was probably essential. "Have you?" Ironclaw asked assuming he did judging by him asking the question and his demeanor.

As Sonar made his way to the hanger his fur had flattened out and made him less fluffy and less huggible which was how he liked it. As he entered the hanger of the Darksyde his wrapped his wings around himself, making it look as if he was wearing a cloak, he knew he wouldn't have to wait long to see what Glowstick had planned and what ever it was, he would be ready and willing. Just as long as he was able to torture and possibily kill some thing along the way.

As long as that crazed female doesn't come as well, I'll be right as rain. He thought as he waited calmly in the hanger waiting for the others to arrive.

As he waited he started to pick his teeth, moments later he picked out a small chunk of meat. Shrugging, he simply flicked it across the room.

His head bobbing at the monitor, Terrorsaur struggled to stay awake while looking at the schematics of the Darksyde. His job to was make sure nothing unusual was happening to the ship. The shift was handed to every crew member every once and a while and today was his day. Suddenly, his optics widened as his radio cracked to life with Glowstick's voice on the other end.

"Be right there," he replied wearily.

Transforming to beast mode, the pterodactyl flew away from his station and towards the hanger bay. It was a dull, nonsense job anyway. Megatron already fortified the perimeter with so many guns that the Maximals would not dare try and sneak through. The ship was not going to spring back to life either since it was declared wrecked on day one. Arriving at Glowstick's position, Terrorsaur transformed and landed near the marine Predacon.

"What's up?"