The Intergalactic Highway

(Saber fang) "Don't let your looks get the better of you, Cheetor." Saber said with a small smile.

Well, he supposed she was Big Bot's sister. He'd try taking the words as a source of wisdom considering the 'bot from which they came.

(Agui) "Besides. You might look spot-on, but leave the smooth to the ladies, cub."

He was almost certain he would have been fine with playful banter, but that last word...

"I'm no cub." Cheetor muttered under his breath "I left that for the giraffe."

(Rattrap) "Eh, a bit tacky. Yeh never had taste, didja kid? Now THIS, Hu-huh, THIS is what class is all about. Call me...RATTRAP."

Strike 3. Well, if they had to put the carrot in front of his nose...

"Oh yeah? Well how about I cut meeces to pieces!"

(Rhinox) "Ease off, Cheetor. Livin' large is for forms like me. Call me ... Rhinox."

It was like a dog pile. Only instead of dogs, there were two tigers, a rhino and a rat on top. He began to feel the need to exercise.

(( OOC: All of you guys are really rocking with this! Awesome! XD

Razorclaw, you're doing just fine with Megs. Don't worry about it. ^_^

Thank you, Tor! ))

Listening to the chatter of his crew beyond the walls of the chamber he was in, and making a quick comment to the one who now called himself Cheetor, the Axalon's commander made a thoughtful decision on his own beast mode. These large mammals were strong, intelligent, and resourceful. The males held the leadership and protected their families at all costs. It was certainly an admirable beast mode to him in his position.

The chamber's door unlatched and lifted upward, revealing Optimus Primal's choice of an alternate mode, the silverback gorilla. "Moderate your conflict cirquits, Maximals," he said with a tone to grab everyone's attention, diverting those getting on Cheetor's case, as he gave a quick exam of his own new beast mode before looking at the rest of his crew. All of them had chosen interesting forms, and they were probably eager to try them out in a more open range."Remember, these beast forms are to protect us from the long term effects of the energon fields out there." Stepping out of the chamber, he gently fell to his knuckles and began walking on all fours to a window screen. "We may need energon for power, but this is too much of a good thing. Our robot forms will start to short out after a few minutes exposure," he cautiously explained to his crew. Stopping at the window and standing back up straight to observe their outdoor surroundings, Optimus added, "This is one unusual planet. Whatever it is."

"Optimus. the ship's sensors are mostly scrapped by the crash, so i cannot determen the stasis of the entire ship. The logs however notted that the stasis pods in the ships stasis bay, have all been launched succesfully, before we hit the planet's atmosfear. It's unsure however, if the pods are in a safe orbit or not."

Primal turned his head and looked at Valkyrie with a face of somewhat disappointment. Not toward her, of course, but toward the news of their damaged ship. He hoped his decision to release all of those stasis pods was the right one to make, not that it could be changed now anyway. Those were their comrads helplessly floating in space, currently far out of their reach. "Thank you, Valkyrie. We'll need to get those sensors and our shields operational as soon as possible."

(( OOC: I don't know how close we want to stick to the script on the show, but technically it would be Rhinox's turn for dialogue after OP's comment on the unusual planet, so I thought I'd throw in the opportunity for Sinead. ))

(Thank you Venatrix! You, as always, are making wonderful contributions as well )

Just Before Confronting Megatron:

Dinobot prowled down a ripple of hardened lava, his mainframe examining the various options he had. He, presently, had narrowed it down to three basic options that could be built upon: 1) Say nothing, and let Megatron see no ill-will in him 2) A quiet confrontation, which would more likely than not lead to more guilded lies from his Commander or 3) Publically challenge Megatron... however if he failed he may be forced to join with th-

A small noise, a click of a claw on stone, alerted Dinobot of a presence coming from his rear. Immediately, Dinobot's peripheral vision caught sight of two golden eyes watching him intently. Venatrix.

She had chosen the form of a midnight panther (Dinobot didn't know it yet, but he would soon develop a slight distaste for all cats), a fitting choice, after all she was a huntress.

Another one of her 'training' exercises, no doubt, he thought, severely irritated. He naturally on his guard at any given moment, but he had never accepted Venatrix as his student, so she had no concious permission to 'practice' her skills on him. Doubly frustrating that she chose this moment, when he was about to face Megatron.

He tensed his muscles, as the femme coiled up for a powerful leap. She sprang, in one fluid motion.

Time seemed to slow through Dinobot's eyes. He saw the femme slowly excell toward him, her curved claws unsheathing, a truimphant smile gracing her face. With a growl, the raptor bent his scaly knees, absorbing the impact, and with perfect timing, jerked his back forward, so Venatrix was sent flying forward before her claws could gain a grip into his tough hide.

Now it was his turn, he vaulted forward, landing ontop of the feline, one foot landing on her stomach, making the air whoosh out of her mouth, and the other on her throat, his sickle claw poised to pierce vital circuitry. For a second, it looked as if Venatrix might meet an early termination, but then...

"Excellent," he hissed, then his head lowered to look at her sideways with one disapproving eye, "if you were trying to disappoint me."

He eased off her, being non to gentle, and snatched the Golden Disk (he had set it down when Venatrix leapt at him).

"Now get back to moniter duty," Dinobot said evenly, his attentioned focused again on the Disk.

~
DT
(OCC: I'm in a rush, so apologizes for the abrupt cut off and OOP: You're most welcome )

Scorponok awoke to find his work station in shambles. A given, since they had crashlanded none to gently on an alien world.

He prised open the thick bulkhead door that was the entrance to his personal lab only to leap back in consternation. Below him the deck plating had fallen away, revealing a rather bleak and angry looking lava pit.

Thinking quickly, he retreated into the lab and located some scrap deck plating and a small hover engine. The contraption was crude but it would allow him access to areas of the ship that had been gutted by Lava.

Setting his hoverboard down on the engineering deck, he rapidly ambled through the corridors of the Darksyde. His first and foremost task was to report to his glorious leader, Megatron!

The business of fixing the ship, if it even WAS fixable, could happen later once they had determined the fate of the Maximals that had been on their tail.

"Then we will create alternate forms based on the most powerful local creatures!" Bellowed Megatron as Scorponok entered.

***

Scorponok emerged clattering his new pincers. This new form offered some mildly improved armor and fit well with his forte for desert survival. Technical work would be a bit more difficult without delicate digits to manipulate things but he would get by that problem without too much difficulty.

As he clattered through the base accustomising himself to his new Beast Mode, he caught sight of Megatron in his new form. Scorponok couldnt help but appreciate his magnificent leaders choice of Beast Mode. It radiated power strength and... suspicion?

Megatron was often subtle in his ways. Though Scorponok couldnt read him very well very often, there were times he had some brief insight into the brilliant inner workings of his mind. There was no questioning it, Megatron suspected something was about to happen... something that didnt involve the Maximals. That something could be anything... and that something quite likely required a loyal Predacon be present to serve their glorious leader.

He stuck close to Megatron, trailing him unobtrusively ready to obey any and all commands, spoken and unspoken, without the slightest hesitation.

He Was Megatron's to Command.

((OOC

Yow! Sorry I'm late guys. Uni kept me busy and power outages due to some high winds kept me off the interwebs for a bit. An excellent start to the RP if I may say so, keep it up!))

((OOC: I'm trying my best ^^ All i know is that is pretty much very exiting ))

Venatrix knew she was in trouble, before her rear legs where off the ground, but it was to late to correct it.
So the black panther was on her back, and practicly pinned by Dinobot within less then a second after she attacked.
This exorcize had proven usefull however. She knew now her beastmode had for more to offer then protection from energon build-ups.
Clearly she had underestimated her beastmode greatly, and payed with it in this brief test.

Next time, she would've been fully adapted to her beastmode, and wouldn't go down as easily as she did just now.
Surely Dinobot should figured this out as well, since she was getting tougher to take down before the crash after each of her attempts, and this one made her look like a noob.
As Dinobot stepped of her, she noticed him staring at the golden disk.
She was always interested in the little gismo, but just not enough to bother either Dinobot or Megatron about it.

Finaly she rolled off her back and stood on all 4 paws again, and smiled slightly.
Something else changed as well.
Either Dinobot was much slower then usual, or she was getting more and more adapt in tracking his movents. If she had her beastform under full control, she knew she could counter his counter.
"Next time, Dinobot, things wont end this easily. Be prepared for when that time comes. You will accept me as an equal. But till that time, i'll keep honing my skills as a warrior."

With that, she bowed her head towards Dinobot as a sign of respect, turned around and walked back into the hallway, but stopped for a brief moment as she turned her head towards him. "This place has a wierd smell to it. I dont think Megatron didn't mean this planet when he told me about his quest. Not that i much cared for that. I scensed that i would get many oppertunities to get into battle with many strong opponents if i joined him. I till now, i met you who i accept as my superior in every way as a warrior, even your code of honor, have not been disapointed in my choice. And i know many other oppertunities will arise to prove my growth to you."

As the black panther entered the darkness of the hallway, she vannished from Dinobots optic sensors, but her whispering voice was still heared clearly to him. "Whenever you need my skills, for anything, i will lend them to you. I will follow you when ever you need me to. I will be ready when that time comes Dinobot."
Then she simply vannished into the darkness.

On her way through the dark hall, she walked into Megatron and Scorponok.
Instantly she stepped aside, knowing it wouldn't be wise to block their way.
It wasn't fear exactly, since she was confident she could beat Scorponok by her self, but Megatron was someone to worry about. She respected him for his brilliance, for his power and the way he uses it. But it wasn't as intense as she felt for his right hand bot, Dinobot.
"I'll go check if i can get anything useful back online Megatron. If you need me, i'll be by your side in a flash."

((OOC: The stuff she said to Dinobot is more of a thing i'm going to use for in the future. It's not a thing something Megs or Scorpy could hear.

Will also wait for Rinox to make his Sinead posts for Rhinox before i post for Valkyrie.))

(*OOC*: Thank you all for your patience and assistance with helping me find out


"Or whenever." Rhinox didn't move from where he had come to stand, watching the recruits. He knew that they hadn't been able to really get to know one another before the exploration mission the same way that the command crew had, and inwardly he worried in a corner of his mind that it would end up in competition among themselves.

He figured that the cats would have a breakdown of respect first.

"The trans-warp drive can go through space and time. We were locked onto Megatron's warp-signature." Rhinox drew in a breath, his head moving to pin each of the crew around him with a glance. "We could be any place ... any time."

Agui sighed quietly at hearing that, watching her mentor with a frown. That didn't bode well. She held her tongue, however. This was not something she had the knowledge or experience to speak upon. Sitting and curling her tail around her feet, she sat back to observe the next few moments. If it had been one thing that she'd learned, it was to watch and observe if the situation allowed for it.

Then again, being almost a full medic and all ... she knew how to move fast, and being built like a tank in her robot mode didn't hurt any in getting through people to get to a wounded mech.

"The trans-warp drive can go through space and time. We were locked onto Megatron's warp-signature. We could be any place ... any time."

Yes, yes, yes Cheetor thought to himself. All of the technical stuff. Aren't we protected from the energon in here anyways? So what have we got the Beast Modes for if we're just going to sit?

"Say, Big Bot, when do we get to check it all out? This cat needs to breathe some real air."

"I agree with the cub." Saber said coming up the Cheetor and giving him a gentle and friendly nudge with her shoulder.
"We've been stuck in this ship for a while." She added calmly.

(( OOC: I'm skipping OP's next dialogue from the show because as far as I can tell, the Maximals still outnumber the Predacons. Unless someone new hasn't posted yet for the Preds. I hope I'm not moving too fast in this post either. ))

"The trans-warp drive can go through space and time. We were locked onto Megatron's warp-signature." "We could be any place ... any time."

Optimus looked to his friend while he spoke. Rhinox was right, and the truth of the matter made the commander wonder how they were going to get home to Cybertron. Even though that was momentarily on his mind, something else was on the rest of the crew's.

"Say, Big Bot, when do we get to check it all out? This cat needs to breathe some real air."

"I agree with the cub." "We've been stuck in this ship for a while."

"Very well," Primal agreed with Cheetor and Saber. "Everyone can get some fresh air. It'll give us a chance to assess our ship's exterior damage." Leading the group, the gorilla walked over to the elevating command platform and stepped on to it after it opened. Automatically it lowered him down from the ship and outside to the unfamiliar planet. Optimus stepped off for the rest to follow as the platform rised back up into the ship and he glanced around their quiet surroundings. Seems clear, he thought as his beast mode's brown eyes scanned the area. He wasn't expecting the Predacons to show up so soon after both ships had crashed, assuming they had survived as well, but there could very well be other dangers on the planet.

Primal took a few more steps away from the Axalon and turned around to examine the damage. It wasn't a pretty sight but at least they hadn't landed in the water. He sighed quietly to himself before the others exitted the broken ship.

(OOC: That's alright Jag)

"Very well," Primal agreed with Cheetor and Saber. "Everyone can get some fresh air. It'll give us a chance to assess our ship's exterior damage."

"Yeah, I do need to streath my wings" Skyfire said and followed everyone outside. Once outside, she decided to give flying in beast mode a go. She took to the air and flew around the Axlon a little bit to get used to flying as bird. She had to admit that flying this was kind of fun. Also as she flew around the Axalon, she also took look at the damage the ship had taken. It didn't look pretty. 'Looks like we're going to be on this planet for a quite a while she thought.

(Excellent everyone! Since I wont be posting for DB till Razorclaw play Megs... for your viewing pleasure... Waspinator)

Waspinator hummed happily, his coordination was improving, even Terror-bot had acknowleged his wingmate's progress.

A startled mreow! reached Waspinator's audios. He looked down with a curious, "Hmm?"

A giant panther, the femme, went flying, tumbling over and over, before skidding to dejected halt. Waspinator didn't even twitch an anntenae before Dinobot had the panther pinned.

"Wazpinator not underztand," Waspinator buzzed over his commlink. Terrorsaur replied with noncommital noise.

Well, if Waspinator didn't know what was going on, he would find out. He spiraled slowly down, jerking shakily to the left or right at odd intervals.

"Now get back to moniter duty," Dinobot said evenly, his attention focused again on the Disk.

Waspinator hovered down wobbily to eyelevel with Dinobot, who fixed him with a slightly distrustful glare.

But the bug wasn't dettered, plowing on, "Why doez lizard bot have Dizk? What waz femme-bot doing? Is lizard-bot taking over? What can Wazpinator do?"

Dinobot's gaze intensitifed in dislike, "You talk far too much." His lip pulled back to flash his teeth. "If you truly wish to help, you will go stick that newly formatted rear of yours skyward and reconnoiter the terrian." Dinobot's tongue vibrated as he growled.

"Meep!" Waspinator froze with sudden fear. Unfortunately his wing froze too. He landed in front of Dinobot with a wet sounding splat.

The raptor looked completely annoyed now, all his teeth bared in glittering display, "Get out of my sight, you worthless bug!" Dinobot lunged, snapping at the air just above Waspinator's neck.

"Yez, Wazpinator go now!" Waspinator scrambled to his feet, tumbling head over heels, righting himself, then jumping into the sky. "Wazpinator never getz rezpect."

After answering a concerned commcall from Terror-bot, Waspinator settled into a large tree. Waspinator liked that tree. It was in the middle of a grassy field, and he was alone.

"Wazpinator can live here forever," Waspinator sighed happily, hanging upside down from a branch (he wasn't sure how his beastmode rested and figured this was the best way).

-Approaching life forms.- The Predacon flyer perked his antannae, his big blue optics turning toward the new creatures.

They were silly looking. His form had too many legs, but those forms were like sticks. Long, lean, and spotty. Waspinator giggled. Spotty.

He stopped giggling when two of the three stick cats began snarling and growling at him.

"Zzzzzh! Wazpinator trying to recharge!" Waspinator frowned upsidedly at the cats.

Then the third cat came skittering up....

DT
(Blaze... take it away!)

Cheetor could hardly contain his excitement as he came bounding off the platform. In the distance, he saw two cheetahs running Northwest.

"Hey, check it!"

Optimus at this point gave him a compliment, something which he had been sorely lacking. Maybe that was for the best, because that one little comment sent him into a frenzy to prove his worth.

He didn't mean to be arrogant. But, he had a new form, and he was excited, and well, despite what he would claim, he was rather young.

"You think that's speed? Wait 'till you see the golden rocket!"

And he was off. His com' link was being patched into, but he couldn't hear it past the wind in his ears and the hyperactivity in his processor...

(Tor, I have every intention of becoming a nuisance to your character, but if I were to meet you immediately, the conversations necessary between Optimus, Rattrap and Rhinox for character development (not to mention a few brilliant opportunities for the same from the original character's) would be rushed through to hurry and get to my obstinate character.)

Saber watched Cheetor take off and sighed he was such a cub she didn't know why Optimus brought Cheetor along he was to young and the young tended to be foolish and reckless.

~You should know~ A small voice deep in her mind said. ~You made a deal with a Predicon. Who's more foolish and reckless you or the cub?~ Saber should her head ignoring the voice turning her back on cheetor and going to a rock, if she had been in charge Cheetor wouldn't have been aloud to come.
~I picked a prefect time to retire.~ Saber said to herself.

Skyfire noticed Cheetor running off. "Hey, where's he heading off to?" Skyfire called to Optimus from where she was in the air.

((OOC: BA will move when the current pet arachnid gets his pod ))

"Thank you, Valkyrie. We'll need to get those sensors and our shields operational as soon as possible."

"Will get a damage assessment on those systems as sson as i get outside to scan the the outside of the ship and see if the damage there would effect the repairs on those systems. If not, i'll get somebody on it ASAP."

"The trans-warp drive can go through space and time. We were locked onto Megatron's warp-signature." Rhinox drew in a breath, his head moving to pin each of the crew around him with a glance. "We could be any place ... any time."

Valkyrie nodded in agreement with the large green maximal.
"All we can do is make the best with what we have, and see where it will take us. And perhaps time will reveal where, and when, we are."

"Very well," Primal agreed with Cheetor and Saber. "Everyone can get some fresh air. It'll give us a chance to assess our ship's exterior damage."

Valkyrie agreed with the maximal commander, and felt anxious to give her new wings a try, now that her old ones, the Axalon's, where clipped.
And while trying to get her new form a good feel, she could start those scans right away.

Also, she needs to remind herself to get the ship's energon absorbtion systems online soon, to give the crew a much greater time-window to use their botmode's while being inside the ship's structure.
It would be a great help while repairing her.

After Optimus Primal and some of her other comrades exited the ship, she too made her way to see and feel the strange new world.
Once outside, she checked her energon absorbtion rate of her body and watched it spike upwards and showed the reading to Rhinox before converting back to beastmode. "Beastmode."

She spraid her wings and called on her flightmode's tutorial program and flapped her winges up and down a few times.
Then she gave a few powerful flaps with her wings, and was a few meters of the ground.
A few moments later she was swooping through the air like she had been doing the moment her spark came online. And enjoying it.
She scanned the ship as she flew around it, and processed the incomming data of the damage.
She enjoyed flying in this form even more then when she flew the Axalon.
Her smile was seen by others even when she was still scanning the ship.

The moment she has gathered and processed all the data on the damage on the inside as well as the outside of the ship, she circled aboved Optimus Primal.
"I think i have come up with the most effective way to repair the damage and get the sensor replays and shields online. It'll take some time though."

Valkyrie sent the data she has of the damage and the details she came up with to him and Rhinox as well.

"Hey, where's he heading off to?"

Valkyrie looked up to Skyfire, and then towards Cheetor, who was already far away.
"Not sure, but he is fast."

Valkyrie could've ordered Skyfire to follow Cheetor, but at that moment, it wasn't her place.