The Intergalactic Highway

((OOC: Yes, definitely, Darkspark. XD

Oh! I will post for Whitegrazer when Worpex posts Manterror's response. =) I hope he is enjoying the ride Whitegrazer is giving him. I still love the fact that he jumped on Whitegrazer. I didn't expect that. I love it.

Blackrosefencer, Arachnitron's idea is great too! I guess we can use both. XD))

Blackarachnia just shrugged her shoulders at Tarantulas' little insult with a smile, "No, I believe that is your department. After all, Sentinel seems to love you."

"Perhaps I can radio the Maximals to let them know I have been damaged and give them false coordinates. A small rescue crew would leave the base leaving a smaller amount of Maximals inside. Since I have no energy signature and many of them are aware of that, they would not be suspicious if they didn't see me show up on their scanners at the location that I give them. I had been a part of their crew whenever the Maximal programming was in control of the body, so I am confident they would offer assistance."

Blackarachnia contemplated Arachnitron's little plan and smirked at Tarantulas, "That can work as well. After all, they would probably think you escaped Predacon hands and will gladly try to rescue you."

Maximals can't help but be saviors to anyone in need, Predacon or their own kind. What idiots especially that talkactive, old white horse. She never seemed to get the hint that Predacons don't want to talk especially what she wants to. Playing all so nice and compassionate, always apologizing...such weakness. Predacons used weakness for advantage. Though, never again would she allow that horse to throw her down again. Well, she had to respect that Maximals skill, but mayeb she will just have to silence that femme's voice processor. Her talks were pathetic. Mayeb she will soon find out that Predacons are evil.

"I don't see any problem with it. The more Maximals we can get out of there, the less we will have to deal with. Unless you have a problem with that, Tarantulas? If you do, maybe you should blow a kiss towards Sentinel instead me. Maybe even kiss the skidplates of the Maximals when they come to get you. It would actually be a perfect distraction for us ladies, won't you agree?" She laughed.

((OOC:

The rock was flat and rounded like a shield. The fuzor then tossed it at the water, watching it skip the surface three times before sailing over the edge of the waterfall on the fourth skip.

Symbolism!))

When Cheetor landed on Megatron's shoulders, he found himself dissapointed by the fact that Megatron didn't seem to move an inch. But he probably should have expected that much. In the nearly the same moment that he'd come down, he jumped back off and landed on the ground behind Megatron.

He quickly pulled out his quasar rifle. In the heat of the battle, he didn't stop to think whether or not Megatron could actually win; Cheetor wasn't going to miss his chance to take a shot on the leader of the entire Predacon team from so close by.

"Hey, scale-belly; now that you've called the truce off..." He raised the barrel of his gun to the area just below the shoulder blades and fired.

"...mind if I shoot you in the back?"

Blackrose wrote: "Perhaps I can radio the Maximals to let them know I have been damaged and give them false coordinates. A small rescue crew would leave the base leaving a smaller amount of Maximals inside. Since I have no energy signature and many of them are aware of that, they would not be suspicious if they didn't see me show up on their scanners at the location that I give them. I had been a part of their crew whenever the Maximal programming was in control of the body, so I am confident they would offer assistance."

Tarantulas was pleased with Arachnitron, her plan to lure away the Maximals from their base with false coordinates was quite inspired, about time she exhibited some spider ingenuity. This plan also meant he wouldn't have to risk his only ally on a suicide mission, she'd be useful in keeping Blackarachnia in line when the time came to remove the explosives from the transwarp cell.

"An inspirational idea my dear, always a pleasure to take advantage of maximal sentimentality, heh heh" Tarantulas complimented Arachnitron.

Una wrote: Blackarachnia just shrugged her shoulders at Tarantulas' little insult with a smile, "No, I believe that is your department. After all, Sentinel seems to love you."

Tarantulas ignored Blackarachnia's jabs and glowered in memory of the time Dinobot had turned Sentinel's autoguns on him and that idiot Scorponok point blank when they'd been standing mere inches away from said weapons, far from being a pleasant experience.

Una wrote: Blackarachnia contemplated Arachnitron's little plan and smirked at Tarantulas, "That can work as well. After all, they would probably think you escaped Predacon hands and will gladly try to rescue you."

Maximals can't help but be saviors to anyone in need, Predacon or their own kind. What idiots especially that talkactive, old white horse. She never seemed to get the hint that Predacons don't want to talk especially what she wants to. Playing all so nice and compassionate, always apologizing...such weakness. Predacons used weakness for advantage. Though, never again would she allow that horse to throw her down again. Well, she had to respect that Maximals skill, but mayeb she will just have to silence that femme's voice processor. Her talks were pathetic. Mayeb she will soon find out that Predacons are evil.

"I don't see any problem with it. The more Maximals we can get out of there, the less we will have to deal with. Unless you have a problem with that, Tarantulas? If you do, maybe you should blow a kiss towards Sentinel instead me. Maybe even kiss the skidplates of the Maximals when they come to get you. It would actually be a perfect distraction for us ladies, won't you agree?" She laughed.

"It would seem Arachnitron has provided us with a plan of action that won't require any of us to risk our sparks for the good of the, team, for lack of a better word, though you of course are still welcome to do so if you so desire Blackarachnia, I'm sure at least one of the Maximals will find your insinuations enticing. In all seriousness though, if we utilize my drone here as a...Parting gift, to the unwitting maximal rescue party, we can make certain that they won't return in time to help whoever they leave behind to guard the Axalon " Tarantulas lectured, speaking to BA as though she were a slow student.

"But of course, Arachnitron's and my own contributions to this distraction will all be for naught if your bold boast concerning your ability to get past Sentinel's shields turns out to be simply that, a boast. So I suggest you put your energon credits where your mouth is soon if we are to succeed."

"Sure I'm sending them to you now,"Frilla responded as she pressed a few buttons and forwarded the coordinates to Dinobot, though she still wondered what was going on there with their teammates since no one had yet to report in. Perhaps the sudden energy increase from the location had something to do with it? At this point it was hard to tell and the frilled lizard could only wait patiently,"Afraid not Dinobot, I thought he was still with you and Feralnight. As of right now haven't heard or seen him."She added, glancing back at the fuzor who seemed to show concern.

((Yay can finally post!! And hope you get over your possible cold OOP. ))

The white tigress could only sit there for now, leaning back slightly while watching the monitors and listening to what Frilla and Dinobot were saying through the com-link systems though there wasn't much she could say. But she briefly glanced back as Feralnight flew in before her attention was turned towards the hall way when she heard Ironclaw yell suddenly, wondering if the badger was still really worried or just frustrated he couldn't go and do something else while they were waiting for the others to get back and unfortunately it was a little frustrating just sitting around doing nothing. Sighing she pushed back the thoughts and Wintersong looked back towards the others as they were discussing something else but she hadn't paid attention to what it was, finding her thoughts focused on something else at the time.

OOC: @ Darkspark....I think I didn't make myself clear.

I wrote "false coordinates"....what would make them false is the fact that Arachnitron wouldn't be there. So what Arachnitron is suggesting is to radio the Maximals from her spot with the other spiders, give them, as I said, "false coordinates"; thus sending them on a wild goose chase. By the time the search party would have figured it out, the three spiders would be inside the base, have subdued the remaining Maximals, and would be already working on the pod. I don't imagine Arachnitron would be one to risk her own spark to save the likes of Tarantulas and BA.

As for Inferno....IS there an inferno?? Could that role be taken up by a Maximal who happens to stumble on the spiders working? OR.....Starshadow??? Just some suggestions in case the Inferno thing falls through....

(( OOC: Inferno (along with Waspinator) was being played by Night-Hunter. So, either I or someone else can take the reigns of Inferno, or, as you suggested, Blackrosefencer, another character can interfer with the spiders instead.

And thank you, Wintersong, for your thoughtful words. ))

((OOC: I hate colds! I hope you feel better soon, OOP! Lots of rest and fluids!))

OOC: @ OOP, I actually had been considering auditioning for Inferno....I think it'd feel weird to me to play two characters that are interacting with each other at the same time, but I suppose Inferno and Arachnitron wouldn't be interacting ALL the time...just in that one particular scene....I wonder if I could pull it off....

(( OOC: Thanks, una! Rest is the only thing I lack which is probably delaying my recovery but I feel much better now; just a little congestion in the nose, but a lot less snot. FINALLY. Last week and the weekend was awful. Eeeew. XD

@ Blackrosefencer: If you want to give Inferno a shot, by all means, please do so! I write to myself with my characters all the time. Why is everyone so funny about doing that?

*cheers on Cheetor*

And sssneaky spiders are they, my Precioussss... ))

Optimus had closed his mouth plate when he had released his missile from above, and it was still closed after he had landed as all of the debris bounced off of him and the smoky cloud settled around the three.

As Nemesis was pushed away by the explosion, and the dirt and stones stopped falling, Rattrap quickly looked around to see if the coast was clear. However, seeing Primal standing there as the dust calmed, he couldn't help but wonder if this was his clone again. What if it was? They would be big in trouble, especially him with his tail still pinned. Even though he spotted the leader's scars, those details could have been mimicked. Because Optimus didn't speak, it started to freak him out inside.

"Well, Optimus, fancy seeing you here. It would seem you have a knack for escaping perilous situations,"

The Maximal leader remained silent, taking in the situation and watching Nemesis's movements closely. She was up to some-... As soon as she moved to slice her own hand, Primal took the opportunity to bend down and grab the sai that was holding Rattrap's tail, swiftly pulling it out of the ground. And as he did so, with his other hand he drew one of his swords, flipping the long weapon around in his hand so that the end with the sharp blade was facing away from his thumb, and almost as quickly as Nemesis had moved, Optimus had spun around toward her and stopped his attack just before his sword touched her neck under her chin. Just as she was about grab the rodent's leg, he held his blade unwavering to her and gripped her sai in his opposite hand, his optics narrowed as he realized what she wanted to do with her self-inflicted injury.

"I wouldn't try anything foolish," "Or we might end up with another incident.."

Opening the plate that protected his mouth, Primal said coldly in a deep tone, "The only incident we should be concerned about is the Vok's intentions of descimating this place!"

Rattrap wiggled his tail once it was freed, relieved that this was in fact Optimus and not some imposter. Whatever the aliens had put him through, he seemed to be well enough for battle. Or he was just hiding the pain. Just as he was about to maximize, he saw Nemesis and Optimus move seemingly insync, only to find himself held hostage again. Taking a breath, uncertain as to what it would feel like if the former Decepticreep laid her nano-infested hand on him, Primal's words seemed to take priority when it came to fear. "Optimus...?" he wondered without moving.

"They called it a termination sequence," the Maximal Commander explained with a growl in his voice. "We don't have time for this!" he directed at Nemesis, dropping her sai within Rattrap's reach and immediately going to grab her wrist of the hand that was intending on grabbing Rattrap's leg as he lowered his sword from her neck but still gripped it tightly in his hand. He didn't have it in him to slice her throat open anyway, or decapitate her, and she would have called his bluff. All he wanted to do now was get Rattrap out of harm's way even if that meant taking his place, but hopefully the alien's threat would be enough for the Predacons to back down and make their own preparations for the planet's destruction. This was no joke. The alien structure continued to flash brightly, and it sounded like it was slowly beginning to charge up to do something. Time was running out, whatever was about to happen.

-----

The white tiger smiled warmly at Aurora, despite the pain he saw in her eyes, as she shifted aside and offered him a seat beside her. To make things a little more comfortable, he, too, maximized to his robot mode and sat down letting his feet dangle with hers over the edge.

"I can't sleep," "Too many memories occupying my mind. Too many.. mistakes having been made, some of which could not have had a worse outcome."

Tigatron studied Aurora with great concern and some confusion. Observing her facial expressions, and hearing her wavering voice, he concluded that she was in a lot of emotional pain and doubt and he pitied her. No one her age should feel that way. No one her age should be stuck in a war and losing such close friends. He knew what it was like but this was not about him. This was about her, and he could tell that she was suffering a great deal.

"Every life I've touched, every individual that gets close to me, get destroyed."

Watching her pick up the rock and toss it to the water, skipping across before it vanished, Tigatron shook his head lightly, disagreeing with her statement even though she sounded convinced.

"The others have had enough mishaps happen to them lately. Maybe if I just stay away, they'll fair better."

"Some do not believe in coincedences or mistakes," Tigatron said softly, looking at the young Maximal. "What has happened was always meant to happen, therefore, no one is to blame for such tragedies; you least of all. Aurora, you are far too young to claim our friends' lost lives as your fault. These situations were out of your hands, just as much as they were out of mine and everyone else's. You can't burden yourself with this guilt that you don't deserve which is obviously effecting your functioning. The burden is Optimus's and his alone. Every one of us under his command is his responsilibity, and so he's capable of carrying the guilt for each of us on his shoulders so that we may move forward and continue functioning as a team to ensure our survival. All of us are suffering in our own ways, but Optimus needs us to stay strong and stay together because without us, he is lost. I see how much he cares for you, as if you were his daughter. I see how much everyone cares for you, Aurora. Not because they may or may not think you are fragile or too young, but because this team functions as a family and everyone needs to support one another. Everyone has a purpose." Pausing, Tigatron wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gently pulled the Fuzor toward him, squeezing her lightly for a brief time before letting her go. "Unfortunately, war does have its casualities, and I'm truly sorry that you were brought into one at an age when your curious mind should be studying and exploring instead of battling and risking your life and watching friends fall. But we must persevere. After all, this war will end. Only then can we let our guard down. Aurora, your spirit is far too beautiful and wonderous to fall into the deep depths of grief and guilt. Let your mind focus on the greater memories, and let them fuel your ambitions and perseverance."

(ooc: @OOP; Colds do suck.. While pregnant I had colds for 5 months straight due to your immune system being at an all-time low. Glad you're feeling better though!

On another note Tigatron's speech brought a tear to my eyes. It was very sweet. Going to have to give a response to that a little thought. As for Optimus, I'm relieved you read my post thoroughly enough to see I had left it open-ended and not really established whether Nemesis touched Rattrap or not. Wanted to leave that part up for interpretation. I wasn't sure if I had to change my post but it's nice to see I didn't have to. )

Nemesis watched Optimus make his surprisingly direct move with a look of bewildering amusement apparent on her face. It may have been a leap of faith to do so, perhaps even a bit foolish, but when the Maximal commander brought his own sword close to her neck while she kept her hand hovering near Rattrap's leg, Nemesis tilted her head a bit and thus exposing more of her neck to him. She was counting on a belief that Primal didn't have it in him to resort to such savage behavior, even if he was putting on quite the performance to make her and everyone else believe otherwise. If she was wrong, the results could be.. interesting.. to say the least. Her nanites would no doubt attack the sword upon impact, but the damage could be quite severe before they had a chance to make repairs. The thought of such pain getting inflicted on her caused the avian predacon to tense up.

Albeit the Maximal commander looked fairly annoyed, even menacing in a sense, at the moment, the feathered Predacon was counting on this being the real Primal. His clone that they had been fighting before may share Optimus' appearance, but somehow she doubted the clone would go through the trouble of attempting to avoid hitting her and Rattrap alike with the missile he shot. In addition this Optimus had freed Rattrap from his confinement with the sai pinning his tail to the ground. Nevertheless there was perhaps a small twinge of doubt, yet she was mostly convinced the Maximal in front of her was truly the real deal.

"Go ahead," she told Primal as confidently as she could muster at the moment, "But I think we both know you are not a killer. Nevertheless I'd be careful with where you point that thing. You've seen the results of similar actions before, and know that it would be no different this time."

She stared back at Optimus, locking her optics with his. Seeing him again like this had her mind racing back to their previous encounter. Nemesis was unaccustomed to anyone showing concern for her well-being, so she had not known how to react back then. His pity of her both confused, insulted, and comforted her all at once. Perhaps that is why she had opened up to him in a dreadful moment of weakness. And perhaps that is why she found herself hesitating right now instead of simply doing away with the rat to torment the Maximal commander further given his reluctance to take a life.

Optimus Primal wrote:"The only incident we should be concerned about is the Vok's intentions of descimating this place!"

What..?


Nemesis only barely resisted the urge to look back at the alien construct as if she was expecting its physical appearance to have been altered further to prove Primal's words. Oddly she found herself believing the Maximal, or at least partially. The aliens had made no secret of their hatred of cybertronian life during their previous encounters, however this place also contained quite a few of the original inhabitants of this world. Would they really risk countless organics just to get at a few cybertronians..?

Her initial assumption proved correct when Optimus withdrew his sword from her neck but only after snatching up her sai from the rodent's tail. Finally breaking her gaze from Primal, she cast a quick glance at her weapon now on the ground next to Rattrap.

Optimus Primal wrote:"They called it a termination sequence. We don't have time for this!"

It was then Nemesis noticed the rhythmical humming coming from the alien structure behind them. In one smooth motion she withdrew her hand from Rattrap, briefly exposing the palm that had already healed itself during the time they had spent on the confrontation so far, followed by a twisting motion as she started turning around just as Optimus grabbed for her wrist.

The structure was now glowing, giving it quite a menacing appearance against the dark background of nightfall.

"Something tells me you're not kidding about this..," she responded to Optimus' claims, taking a couple steps away from the fungi.

With her free hand she snatched up her sai from the ground and swiftly holstered it, before looking over to where Megatron and the others were standing. "Get moving!," she shouted while pulling away.

(ooc: Sooo sleepy.. Aurora's response will have to wait until tomorrow..)

OOC: As for the plan....I think this encompassess all options....

Arachnitron sends a distress signal to the Maximals alerting them to her alleged location where one of Tarantulas' drones is actually waiting for them. Once a few Maximals are lured away Blackarachnia could shut down sentinel and get the trio inside. Then, Tarantulas' arachnoids could sneak onto the bridge and determine how many Maximals were left. Once they know how many Maximals there are, they can infiltrate the bridge, incapacitate the Maximals and head off to their pod-quest.

I have no qualms with Inferno following the spiders...it is so funny to see Tarantulas burn up! But maybe replacing Inferno would give someone a chance to get more involved who hasn't seen much action. Maybe Ironclaw? or Wintersong? Or Frilla? Or maybe even one of the new Maxies? Of course, Inferno gets knocked out eventually... not sure what someone's thoughts are about their OC's getting knocked out cold. Of course, everyone must take one for the team at some point....

BIC:

Arachnitron watched the other spiders react to her idea. She could swear she almost saw smoke come out of their audiosensors as they processed what she said....each with their own twists to her plan so they could slag each other eventually. These arachnids were crafty little devils that was for sure. They were always up to something. She supposed she had proven that she could fit right in given her own scheme that both of her co-conspirators appeared to appreciate and given Tarantulas' praise of her idea.

Una wrote: Blackarachnia contemplated Arachnitron's little plan and smirked at Tarantulas, "That can work as well. After all, they would probably think you escaped Predacon hands and will gladly try to rescue you."

"An inspirational idea my dear, always a pleasure to take advantage of maximal sentimentality, heh heh" Tarantulas complimented Arachnitron.

"My thoughts exactly," Arachnitron agreed.

"I don't see any problem with it. The more Maximals we can get out of there, the less we will have to deal with. Unless you have a problem with that, Tarantulas? If you do, maybe you should blow a kiss towards Sentinel instead me. Maybe even kiss the skidplates of the Maximals when they come to get you. It would actually be a perfect distraction for us ladies, won't you agree?" She laughed.

Arachnitron smirked in response. Then winked at Tarantulas once Blackarachnia looked away from her. She knew that as soon as Blackarachnia's attention was diverted Tarantulas would be anxious to take her down, but there was no harm in letting Blackarachnia think the two widows had each other's backs. Eventually, she'd get all too comfortable with the idea and get a bit over-zealous.

It seemed like they had a solid plan. Once a few Maximals were lured away Blackarachnia could shut down sentinel and get the trio inside. Then, Tarantulas' little toys could sneak onto the bridge and determine how many Maximals were left. If they were lucky, there would be no more than three left. One for each spider to blast with cybervenom, then string up in a web out of the way. If there were one or two more then it would be of no matter. They could probably each handle two at a time.

But Tarantulas wasn't done scheming.

""It would seem Arachnitron has provided us with a plan of action that won't require any of us to risk our sparks for the good of the, team, for lack of a better word, though you of course are still welcome to do so if you so desire Blackarachnia, I'm sure at least one of the Maximals will find your insinuations enticing. In all seriousness though, if we utilize my drone here as a...Parting gift, to the unwitting maximal rescue party, we can make certain that they won't return in time to help whoever they leave behind to guard the Axalon " Tarantulas lectured, speaking to BA as though she were a slow student.

"But of course, Arachnitron's and my own contributions to this distraction will all be for naught if your bold boast concerning your ability to get past Sentinel's shields turns out to be simply that, a boast. So I suggest you put your energon credits where your mouth is soon if we are to succeed."

She liked where he was going with this plan...it got better and better every minute. She could get used to this.

She grinned mischieviously. "It is polite to offer gifts to others, isn't it..." [/color] She had a playful and devious glint in her optics as well as wickedness dripping from her words. She could just imagine the Maximals running off on a rescue mission only to end up needing rescueing themselves. It was too perfect!

"Okay....how does sector 5 5 9 sound? Is it far enough away? I'll send them when the drone is in place and Blackarachnia is ready."

Still wearing a devious smirk, she waited paiently for the others to be ready to infiltrate the base.

OOC: I think sector 5 5 9 is where Onyx landed. I'm not sure how far away that is, but I figure we should get this shindig started soon before the Maxies come back....

Ironclaw had released Starshadow and back to a defensive pose, arms crossed, looking down at her. Although he knew he shouldn't have done that to her, he in no way wanted to admit it. She then asked him about what was partly affecting him.
"Aurora, yes," he said as he turned around to continue. He hoped she wouldnt follow him. When he thought about it, the bot he wanted to be talking to about this was Wintersong.

Starshadow just sighed and followed him. Is it that difficult to start a simple conversation? Of course, she's an ex pred.

"She reminds me of my sister." she smiled as she thought about her one and only kin, "you should let her be on her own outside for awhile. That's how soldiers become more independent. She will come back in peace." she put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a warm smile.

The last sentence left a bitter taste in her mouth. It wasn't like her to say such things with..positive emotions. Could it be that her Maximal sanity was returning to her?

Ironclaw got irritated by the fact that Starshadow persisted in following him. He grunted a little and looked back breifly a couple of times. He found it hard to imagine she even had a sister. A guilty then just entered his mind. If Predacons had "family" would they turn on each offer? The thought quickly evaded his mind when he felt her touch his shoulder. He instantly turned around and grabbed hold of her hand. Her act of kindness confused him. Was she genually being nice? Or just trying to gain his trust in her so she could stab him in the back? Maybe she liked him? He wasn't sure at all. He queezed it tightly then through it back at her.
"Don't touch me! And back off!" he shouted at her loudly, his voice echoed through the hallways. He was now unsure whether he wished Wintersong was here or not. Ironclaw prefered that she would be the one to comfort him. Though he would not know how she would react to Starshadow's acts of kindness. He then got worse thinking that she may not even care. He couldn't take Starshadow's continuous advice giving on how he should treat Aurora.