The Intergalactic Highway

He awoke from a peaceful slumber. Alive? Alive again? Trapped again? He opened the stasis pod door wide, stepping out to look over the gloomy area of trees, branches, and fog.

He was dead. He felt peace. Now, he felt nothing. Nothing but a seething hatred. A blinding red took a hold of his vision.

"Mother.... They took me away from mother!"

Like a shark, he could smell them. Like the sensitive being he was, he could feel them crawling towards him. He smirked. An itch overwhelmed his entire body. A hunger that needed to be quenched along with the fiery inside his blackened, tormented spark. After Colony Omicron, he learned to control his hunger and rage in order to put it into more productive use. Something he learned for his dear friend. Ah! He wondered if he was here.... or the others. But first, he needed to be aware of his surroundings, gather information, and whoever or whatever those two presences were, they could useful. Though, one would have to be food. He was hungry, after all.

He needed to hide.




Whitegrazer felt like she had been thrown onto a slingshot and thrown hundreds and hundreds of miles at top speed, landing hard on the forest's dirty ground. She rolled a couple of times until her back crashed hard against a tree branch. Her vision blurry. Her head hurting not to mention with everything else. Her right arm.... Wait a minute. What happened to her right arm? She used her left arm to slap the fuzziness away, trying to keep her optics open and keep herself from falling into unconscious. She had a cold shiver right down her spine yet again. Instincts telling her to keep conscious like death's door was close by her. As her vision came back to her, she realized her right arm was gone. Wires sparked out from the socket. She groaned. Tarantulas' missile must have hit her harder than she thought. Was she that bad off still from what happened back at the Metal Hunter? She sighed at herself. Using the tree branch to help her stand straight, pain shot from her stomach region thanks to Umbra's knife slash. Leaning against the tree, catching her breath, her spark tightened.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!

That scream. That scream she heard from within her own spark. That wasn't hers. But she remembered screaming. Did it... did it come from the stasis pod?

She stepped forward slowly, staggering a bit. She took another step then another. Looking around, she saw no one, but she felt some presences. Faint, but still able to feel them. Optimus? Optimus, are you there? Are you all right? She waited for a reply as she continued to move towards the presence close to her. No, there was two.




Tarantulas awakened, dangling upside down with one of his spider legs caught on a twig. He jiggled loose falling towards the ground, landing on his head. He growled in frustration as he rubbed his head. Where was everyone? He searched from his sitting position. That was when he noticed the pod.
"Well, well, well,"Tarantulas got up, feeling a bit woozy at first but he just shook it off, "I guess I get a chance to reprogram this creature after all." He rubbed his hands together. With this creature on his side, if he wasn;t as dead as the MAximals thought,he could use it against Megatron! Or even send it after that traitorous Blackarachnia. The thought of watching this creature ripped towards two apart sent sent a thrill down his circuits. Imagining their parts and mechfluid flying everywhere delighted him as he reached the big stasis pod. The lid looked closed. Strange? Wasn't the creature's legs sticking out of it when the Maximals examined it?




He watched the purple and green spider inspect his worthless prison. The other presence... It felt more powerful. More... Ah, there was a warmth to it. Gentleness. Yet, an immense force laid within it. An addicting one. That was the presence he felt when he stirred.

This one would be food. Bait.



Tarantulas popped open the lid to see that the pod was empty. Slag! Examining the pod for anything useful, he noticed the area around him growing darker than usual. There was a wet snarl and growl that whispered above him.

He looked back to see the pod's occupant. Something about the creature shook her to the core. Froze in horror, he watched as the creature made a gab for him. The next thing he remembered was a powerful grip on his arm combined with a horrible laughter.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!




Whitegrazer heard that scream. Was that Tarantulas' scream? She continued her approach, but she remained cautious. That scream. It was a energon curdling scream. Almost similar to the one she felt crying out from her spark. Except Tarantulas' scream was full of terror. The scream she felt felt more like a scream of agony mixed with an uncontrollable rage. She made her way forward.

The closer she got to Tarantulas, the tightening in her spark grew.

One of presences was even faint than before she started. Undeterred, she continued forward... until she reached the pod. Her foot dipped into a small puddle of mechfluid. That wasn't good. She still felt those presences though.

Turned left, right, forward, and backward, she found nothing. Then a mechfluid dropped and dripped on her right cheek. Her left hand smeared it. Two fingers rubbed the mechfluid. Slowly, she looked up. In horror, a bloodied and armless Tarantulas dangled upside down. His legs gripped by an giant Cybertonian.

"I acquired the taste of metal and mechfluid when I was just an innocent little experiment back on Colony Omicron." X looked at the armless spider. "One of the scientists entered my cage on day to beat me up with a metal pipe. I can't remember his name, actually I can't remember any of their names, but I do know how each of them tasted. Heh. I was malnourished. Weakened already from the long hours of being poked and plodded on the medical bed. I can still feel the tightness of the restraints against my wrists to this day. So I was in a fetal position, shivering and whimpering like a weakling. He backed me into a corner. Whack! Whack! He laughed. Whack! Whack! He mocked me. HE called me a worthless piece of metal. He called me the spawn of Unicron. All kinds of slurs. But as the saying goes, corner a cat, and you get scratched. I... I don't know. I remember. He got jumped by one of my cellmates. He... hurt her. Thew her to the wall. I...I was enraged. I wonder if it was because of him hitting her or if I was just tired. The next thing I remembered doing was grabbing the pipe before he whacked me again. At first, I was shocked. He struggled against my grip. He... He couldn't get the pipe out of my hand. My torn-up hand!" X chuckled. "My other hand grabbed his arm, and with one pull, I tore out his entire arm! He screamed as the mechfluid gushed out in squirts! The other scientists they came and looked at me in horror! They rushed the scientist away and locked the cage up. That was the moment I realized how terrified they wee of me. How strong I was. But that's not the point of my story. You see,
when you have been starving, an arm looks like a candy bar to you. I took a bite out of it. One bite that was all it took.

X smiled at Whitegrazer as he threw Tarantulas' limb, armless form down on the ground. His other hand gripped one of Tarantulas' arms. He took a bite out of it. He chewed and gulped with an almost genuine smile, "I apologize for my bad manners. Old habits die hard."

Whitegrazer still was digesting the story X just told her when he waited for her reply. The way he looked at her unnerved her. It looked like a predator examining his prey, checking for weakness. She would give him none. "It must have been a terrifying experience for you."

"Ah, sympathy. I been given that twice in my lifetime, my dear. By my old friend, and by the High Council. I don't wish for your sympathy.
But..." X leaned forward bit, gazing at her freakish appearance. "You have a lovely appearance. You aren't like the others, are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't need an answer. I can feel it. You are very powerful. Maybe you can help me."

Whitegrazer stepped back. X jumped forward, landing in front of her with a thud and smirked as he leaned back. His immensive form looming over hers.

"I can feel your desire to help me, trying to reach out to me." X stepped forward. "Your spark...
It's so soft, so warm. So motherly." X reached out to touch her. All he needed was to touch that spark...

She backed away. Out of his reach.

Her spark felt like a fist was holding it, squeezing it.

X smiled once more, "I remembered her warm caresses. It was beautiful. He closed his optics. "Peaceful. Tranquil.
I sense it inside you. I felt it before back inside the pod. I welcomed it. Then...." X's hand balled into a fist and slammed down at her. "YOU RIPPED ME FROM HER!!!!"

She dodged the attack. His fist slammed against the tree trunk. The fist cracked the tree so hard that the tree fell to the ground.

Whitegrazer got into a defensive position, "What are you talking about? Ripped you from who?"

X just stared at her, a burning fire lit up his optics.

Then she realized what he meant. "Mother? Matrix.... So you were dead?"

"Yesss, yes, I was." X took a breath. "But it doesn't matter anymore. All I want is to feel it again. I feel it from you.
Can you give me peace?" X seemed almost pleading to her. His hand reached out for her again.

"I do want to help you, X. Please tell me about what happened back on Colony Omicron and the experiments. I can try and give you so-" Whitegrazer felt fingers crawling inside her spark. A flash of X ripping through her chest, ripping out her spark interrupted a calm, soothing speech she was going to give him. The same speech she given Nemesis and Zodiac and others who were tortured and cruelly treated. X almost looked like a child in her eyes, wanting her guidance. She wanted to help him. But that image burned into her mind. The image continued. X took her ripped out spark and ate it.

That was what he wanted. He didn't want her help.

He wanted her spark!

He wanted to eat her spark!

X lodged at her. She strafed to the left, avoiding his huge stature from consuming hers.

She ran. Ran as fast as she could. She needed to gain some distance.

X just laughed. Let the chase begin!

(( OOC: The "Mother" dialogue with X almost reminds me of Norman Bates. I loved "Bates Motel"! ))

Optimus? Optimus, are you there? Are you all right?

As a familiar voice beckoned him, Primal slowly began to stir, completely unaware of his little predicament. His weight having already weakened the branch he was laying over on when he landed upon it, it suddenly gave away, snapping off of the tree's trunk and dropping Optimus. Plummeting to the ground, he crashed on his right side and smashed his shoulder that had been damaged earlier by the boulders Terrorsaur caused to fall on him. He cried out a loud but brief scream of agony before inhaling deeply and closing his optics. Long, deep breaths. Opening his orange eyes, his shoulder sparked a little and felt numb but at least his arm was still attached. Primus... What happened? he wondered while he rolled himself onto his stomach and slowly sat up on his knees, holding his arm to keep it still and minimize the pain from his movements. Where is everyone? he suddenly started to grow concerned about his Maximals. "Rattrap? Banshee? Whitegrazer?" he called over his comm. link, but all he got in return was static. He groaned with a painful growl as an energon surge went through his body and shocked him. He was taken aback by it since it had been so long before he had one, and he had forgotten how awful they were. He wondered how Whitegrazer was fairing over it. The energon storm must have damaged his dampers a little bit, so he reverted to his beast mode and quietly took in his surroundings. What else had been impaired on him? Optimus attempted to activate his hover board but his internal computer cautioned him against doing so.

"Warning: Critical damage to flight mode. Thruster is missing. Beast mode is recommended until internal repairs are complete."

Sighing, he thought better than risk making his situation worse, so he remained in his TransMetal beast mode. He glanced around for his gun which was also his board's thrust, but it was no where to be seen. Whitegrazer? he reached out to her. Where are you? Are you with the others? The scuffed, scratched and dented ape started to walk upright in a direction he thought was toward the pod's last location, continuing to hold his arm as still as he could for minimal movement. His shoulder still sparked once in a while, which made him wince but he coped well enough.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

The surrounding silence was suddenly broken by what sounded like Tarantulas hollering in excruciating pain. His terrified voice was distant but it made Primal remain in his spot for several minutes, listening and warily glancing around with his bright, pink eyes. He heard screams like that before... They were haunting... They reminded him of Protoform X's onslaught of death and destruction on Omicron. Could it be...him? If he was alive after all, then they were all in grave danger. ...Wherever all of them were... Whitegrazer, where are you? His voice was more urgent now, and he felt something was wrong with her.

"Ugh....Rattrap?"

"Ban-ban?" the rodent said as soon as his ears picked up her voice. He scurried over to her quickly and visually examined her once she shook off the mud that had been caked onto her. She was fairly well beat up, not just from the wind up the twister had given them, but from the battle that was beginning to ensue around the pod. Well, at least they didn't have to worry about that right then.

"glad to know I'm not alone."

"Yeah, me too," he agreed with relief. "Can you fly?" Rattrap inquired while he watched her test her wings and thrusters but the answer looked grim.

"My wing mechanisms are offline and my thrusters seem damaged.

The Maximal rat frowned with a sigh. Slag, he thought.

We must climb up to the mountain peak above the storm where we can contact the base."

"Sounds like our best bet," he agreed with her again until he looked up through a small opening in the canopy of leaves to see just how far the mountain peak was that protruded above the fog. It would be a bit of a trek through the wilderness, and he gave a little groan of a complaint. "Any idea how far we were thrown from de pod?" he asked Banshee as he started to walk in his beast mode toward the mountain. Using his wheels would be pointless across the forest floor that was full of tree roots, rocks and rough terrain that required some climbing.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Rattrap stopped dead in his tracks when his sensitive hearing picked up that loud, shrilling scream from Tarantulas that echoed across the foggy forest. "Uh... What de heck was that?" he asked Banshee, not that she'd know because she wasn't there to witness what happened, but for some reason he found comfort in others' opinions on such cries as if they could predict was wrong and save themselves from the same fate by avoiding the mystery. He knew that there wasn't much that horrified that sick, scheming spider, so whatever had happened to him must have been pretty bad. Unless it was a trap. "Should we investigate or ignore it?" A part of the rodent wanted to run toward the mountain, but another part of him - the curious and concerned part - wanted to make sure neither of their friends were involved.

Terrorsaur was gradually making his way across the forest floor, carelessly snapping fallen twigs under his feet and stepping on wet, leaf compost. He stopped once he heard someone that sounded like they had fallen not too far away from him and who released a holler of sustained pain. The voice sounded a lot like Primal's, and he grinned deviously with his evil thoughts of harming him. Soon after, however, there was another, much louder scream that was carried across the fog. Like everyone else, he immediately stopped walking again and listened when he heard his comrade cry out. Tarantulas? he thought to himself, pondering what happened to him. It was a bit unnerving, even for the cocky Predacon bird of prey. After a couple minutes, he started walking again, more cautiously this time but in the direction he heard the Maximal leader, avoiding any loud and unnecessary sounds caused by his feet so he wasn't given away. Whatever happened to Tarantulas, that's what he deserves for disobeying my orders! he jeered in his thoughts, refusing to help him. He had no idea where Umbra and Starshadow were, so he remained focused on tracking down the ape who he was closing in on.

Umbra woke up after awhile Ug.. what happened? he muttered to himself, then looked around, noticing his tentacles pinned down like the corners of a tent. his chest seeming to be bleeding. What the..? Umbra grit his teeth and pulled one of his tentacles up, having the knife slide through to free itself, then had it move to another side pulling the knife out, then started to pull the knives out of the rest of his limbs. He took some breaths as to deal with the pain, then looked at the tentacles. Seemed he'd still be able to fly. Holding up one of his tentacles, the octopus limb flattened and stretched out, then took a silver color and mirror like shine as he looked at his reflection with the damage to his chest.

The damage was superficial at best, but the message was clear..Starshadow was the one who did this. Mangy cat.. I'm going to end this.. he muttered to himself. Going through his supplies, he still had some throwing blades, and his swords and demo charges, he then activated his comlink Terrorsaur, come in. but only heard static from the radio. Coms are down, so I can't just remotely blow her up..hm? Umbra glanced as he noticed a shine, the collar he'd put on Starshadow had come off. Now.. that's a problem.. he then said to himself, then transformed to his octopus mode, taking on a camo pattern of the ground he started to slither his way through the swamp, his internal repairs starting. While in his beast mode, he'd be able to sneak up and observe any maximals running around, as well as possibly ambush Starshadow when he finds her..


(Hm.. Never really thought of the Matrix as a "Mother" before, since it's just a vessel that contains a portion of Primus's energies and knowledge of the past Autobots that owned it. The Allspark though seems to strangely be not that different in concept from the mother brain the mindflayers have in D&D. 0_o )

"Sounds like our best bet,""Any idea how far we were thrown from de pod?"

Banshee followed Rattrap, looking around and back to him, "not a clue..sorry.." Then there was this terrified scream that loudly echoed.

"Uh... What de heck was that?"

"It must be from Tarantulas. We best get moving," she started walking towards the mountain, letting out waves of echo location every 5 cycles to look out for trouble.

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During her moments alone by herself while journeying through the swamp, she thought about her time inside her prison the Maximals put her in.

((STORY TIME!))
LASH! LASH! The electric whip burned two more lines on Nightstar's snow white back.
"TALK!" Vanguard yelled at her face, "Where are the others?!" Nightstar glared at him, panting from the electrocution and lashes she took while her arms and legs binded onto milder version of a Traitor's wheel. Vanguard looked at the other interrorgators and nodded, the torturers leaving the room and comes back with a heated rod. The next thing Nightstar knew that something was burning back, making her scream.
"I know you can heal slowly and yet still feel the pain...Tell me what I want to know and you might receive a slightly lighter punishment.." the warden looked at her dead in the optics. Nightstar growled and snarled in reply, "GO STRAIGHT TO THE PIT!"
Frustrated, Vanguard picked up a drill from the table and slammed half of the drillbit on the burnt part of her back and pulled the trigger, dragging it around with her mechfluid splattering around the walls and himself. The other two interrorgators pulled Vanguard back as Nightstar cried in howled in pain.

Starshadow shook her head and stopped at her tracks when she heard the loud screaming of Tarantulas. Either he got himself into trouble or trouble finds him. It is a possibility that X could still be alive causing whatever chaos he could do. Though the echoing makes it harder to pinpoint the spider's exact location since he seems pretty far away from her area, she flew up higher and headed to the general direction, landing on the ground. Looking around only to find the wild birds screaming in the air and a stench of mech fluid was faint. Hearing running footsteps, she drew her gun and her optics widened a little when the maximal horse ran past her. She looked terrified, but terrified from what? Tarantulas? Unlikely. The catbot followed Whitegrazer and started firing at her legs.

Whitegrazer? he reached out to her. Where are you? Are you with the others? Whitegrazer, where are you?

Whitegrazer continued to run away from X. Sounds of his laughter still echoed around the forest. To hear Optimus' voice finally respond was a welcome relief, but she could also sense his desperation and urgency. She spoke with a soothing tone, to reassure him she was all right, "It's good to hear that you are all right. I don't know where I am. I can feel the others. Though, specifically, I don't know where they are either. But Optimus.... we have a problem." She decided to take a little break, leaning against a tree bark. X was too far away from her now. But despite how far he was, she knew he approached. "X is alive. The energon storm must have awakened his spark. He... disabled Tarantulas." Whitegrazer closed her optics for a moment, remembering what she felt from him. "I saw into his soul, Optimus. It is a soul full of torment and rage mixed in with a hunger that drives him. He... he can't help himself." X looked so genuine when he asked for her help, and yet, the image of him ripping her spark out and feasting on it told her of his treacherous nature. If they were going to try and help X, they needed a plan that helps to protect them as they did.

"I will try and head towards your location. No one can afford to be alone here. No one."

There was a silence in the air.

Until she hear a sound of metal clashing against metal. Like metal claws snapping.

She then continued on her way, using her link to Optimus to guide her towards him. As she paced herself, she sensed an presence approaching. It wasn't X or Optimus. She looked up to see the flying bat known as Starshadow. The bat aimed at her and fired. Whitegrazer felt the heat of the weapon and strafed to take cover behind a tree.


Tarantulas slithered around the ground. His systems screamed at him to go to stasis lock, but fear made him override the computer. He couldn't go to stasis lock. Not with that monster roaming around! He didn't want to be eaten! How ironic, for how many times he stalked lesser prey of Cybertonian or organic origin, he was now feeling the same fear his former victims felt. He slithered towards a twig like a worm. Both arm sockets were leaking drops of mechfluid as he moved inch by inch. He grabbed the twig with his mouth, turned around to have his face facing the sky, and he attempted to hit his com-link, trying to contact his little arachnoids.


"Yes, yes, continue to run, my dear. Lead me to your friends." X had transformed into his crab form, and he continued to stalk Whitegrazer from behind fallen trees. He clicked his choppers in a way to let the freakish Maximal know he was still behind her. It was a shame that after she did her task, he was going to have to kill her. She seemed... nice. Full of pain. He read it in her face, appearance, and spark. Ah! He relished in it. Too bad, she didn't allow him to end her suffering a few minutes ago. He wanted to know how her spark tasted like, especially with that much power and compassion. That serenity. It reminded him of the Matrix. He wanted to feel that again. She needed to pay for that like her friends. "I might be able to understand you more... if you allowed me to feast on your spark."

He stopped in his tracks. A scent. He felt a familiar presence, causing him to remember a few things. After several months of being alone in his cell, the guards had thrown in two females, who were sisters and must have ticked someone in the High Council. At the time, he was suspicious of their purpose, but to him, if they could be used for food, entertainment or give him a welcome relief from the Maximal scientists' newfound ways to test his immortality, it didn't matter anyway. One of them, NightStar, was a fighter. She fought against him. He poked fun every time her sister was next in line. Anything for a reaction, testing her buttons as well as beating her up for his own stress relief. Until.... something grew inbetween them after he saw the pain and torment in her eyes. Death meant nothing to her. He was fascinated by it. Was it friendship? Oh ho ho! It must have been as she joined him in his efforts to burn that colony and the colonists to the ground. His optics glowing red in rage and blinded in agony to see the innocence and purity of such a beautiful landscape. She understood that. That itch. Nails to a chalkboard. It needed to be quenched.

Following the gunfire, he jumped out from his hiding place and looked up at the flying bat. It was her. He transformed, opening his arms wide towards Starshadow, "NightStar! My friend! It has been too long since we murdered together!" He looked at the tree Whitegrazer was hiding behind. "We can't kill her. We can't. Not until we try a little." X smirked.


Whitegrazer heard what X had said as well picking up how X addressed Starshadow. So they knew each other?

"You don't have to do this, X. My offer is genuine. We want to help you."

X laughed, "I know. I feel it from you. I admire your sincere conviction to save my spark, but I only want one thing, and if you can't give it to me, I will gladly take it from you.... and your friends."

She peeked out to see X pull out a massive missile launcher that had a peace sign on it. He cackled a bit before he fired it at her, forcing her to jump to another tree.

"not a clue..sorry.."

Rattrap frowned a little at his comrade's answer and added a shrug.

"It must be from Tarantulas. We best get moving,"

The rodent continued on foot, glancing around their foggy surroundings as much as Banshee was. His internal scanners sensed her echo location that she was using, so hopefully she might pick up some of their friends along the way, or sense trouble before trouble might find them. "You know, I gotta say, you guys really know how ta keep secrets locked up in yer vaults," he finally spoke, a hint of annoyance in his voice toward her and Optimus never telling any of them about X. "Any other significant details you wanna disclose about it?" he encouraged her as they walked along.

"It's good to hear that you are all right. I don't know where I am. I can feel the others. Though, specifically, I don't know where they are either. But Optimus.... we have a problem."

Optimus was relieved to hear her as well, but he was discouraged about her being on her own. If Rattrap and Banshee weren't with her, then where were they? And the way she hesitated to add more to their situation made him fear what she was about to relay....

"X is alive.

No... The very thought made him stop dead in his tracks. When he did, it made Terrorsaur stop as well, thinking the ape might have heard him. He remained hidden behind some thick brush, waiting quietly to see what Optimus might do. But in fact the Maximal didn't do anything, he just stood there. What's he doing...? Terrorsaur thought, puzzled by the behavior with Primal's back to him. He readied the lasers in his optics.

The energon storm must have awakened his spark. He... disabled Tarantulas."

Primus... he thought, lowering his head. Now what were they going to do? Was it going to be like Omicron all over again?

"I saw into his soul, Optimus. It is a soul full of torment and rage mixed in with a hunger that drives him. He... he can't help himself."

Primal nodded slightly. I know, he replied to the equine. Get away from him, Whitegrazer. We may have to approach this in a different way.

Is he talking to someone? Psychically? wondered Terrorsaur as he watched Optimus nod but remain silent.

"I will try and head towards your location. No one can afford to be alone here. No one."

Is he tracking you? Optimus asked her. It would have been worth leading X to an ambush or a trap, but he wasn't ready yet. A very faint buzzing then caught his audio sensors from behind him but he didn't move to look in its direction to give it away. It grew louder, and the feeling of someone watching him grew stronger. Someone was stalking him, and he assumed it was X until he heard a missile explode in Whitegrazer's direction.

That was when Terrorsaur took the opportunity to fire his lasers at the Maximal leader, unbeknownst to him that Primal already knew he was there.

In a quick motion, Optimus grabbed a club from his back with his left arm, the good arm, and spun around on his short legs as he swung his weapon to deflect Terrorsaur's shot. "I should have known it was you."

Terrorsaur laughed and stepped out of his hiding spot to face the TransMetal ape. "I'm only slightly impressed," he lied since he was intrigued with Primal's accuracy of ricocheting such firepower with a mere stick. "Wounded and alone, and incapable of flying, I'm assuming, since I'm sure you'd be up there searching for your precious Maximals instead of on the ground," the Predacon observed as he pointed up at the sky. "This must be my lucky day," he grinned.

"I'd think it would be luckier if you were capable of flight as well seeing as that would be your more usual and cowardly approach of attacking your vulnerable victims," Primal shot back.

Terrorsaur sent him a glare for figuring out he was also grounded. "Cowardly or not, it gets the job done! But I still have the advantage in robot mode."

"That's hardly a challenge, Terrorsaur," Optimus mocked him. Although he was handicapped, and it would be an unfair fight, there was nothing the Maximal could do. He couldn't out run him, he couldn't fly, he couldn't even fire with a weapon, but Optimus was an opportunist, he knew how to defend himself, and he was strong.

Squawking with irritation, he grabbed his twin blades from his vehicle mode's wings and lunged at the ape, bringing them down upon him.

Primal stopped his attack raising his one club, clanging it hard against his opponent's weapons, and then turned his entire body as Terrorsaur's blades got caught on the end of his weapon, using his own momentum against him to throw the purple TransMetal off of his feet, essentially swinging him to the ground. Optimus waited for him to recover.

Surprised by this maneuver, Terrorsaur rolled into the throw across the ground and immediately got to his feet, gripping his blades harder now from his own embarrassment and frustration.

"Don't tell me I dominate you both in the skies and with combat on the ground," Primal toyed with him, purposely trying to infuriate the Pred.

Louder he squawked this time with anger and shot a laser beam at the dirty Maximal to distract him while he leaped up and fell toward him before the leader could recover, swinging his blades at him repeatedly one after the the other.

Ricocheting his optic laser with his club, Optimus didn't have enough time to swing his his weapon back and knock away one of the blades. Instead, he stumbled backwards to avoid it and fell, rolling to the side to avoid the next one. The sideways roll sent waves of pain as he crushed his injured arm, growling and sparking in response, but it didn't slow him down. Getting to his feet, he swung his club upward and blocked the next blade that came barreling toward him, pushing it away. Then he swung again and knocked the next one away, continuing to do so as he was forced to walk backwards with his taller perpetrator's ongoing attack.

Terrorsaur laughed as he watched the almighty Optimus Primal cower backwards with nothing that could stop him, taking notice of the arm he wasn't using. "This is almost too easy!" he jeered and suddenly shot a higher powered laser directly at Primal's blue chest while he kept swinging his blades, making it impossible for the Maximal to deflect all three attacks.

The laser blast hit Optimus dead center just above his abs and knocked him right on to his back leaving a large, black spot on his shiny armor that still had a stream of smoldering smoke wafting upward from it. He laid there for a moment dazed from the impact.

The Predacon approached him and stepped on his wounded shoulder to pin him with the agony, pressing his sharp toes into the damaged joint.

Feeling the intense pressure from Terrorsaur's weight on his shoulder forced Primal to holler out in pain, squirming a little to cope with it before he frantically tried thinking of a way to escape his predicament.

"Now, what were you saying?" the TransMetal 'dactyl grinned down at the helpless Maximal, twisting his foot on his wound. "I think you owe me an apology. Never mind. I'll just take your head!" He swung one of his blades downward, aiming for Primal's beast mode head but missed when the ape moved it aside at the last second, sending the blade into the soft ground right next to his face.

Optimus quickly swung his club as hard as he could at the side of Terrorsaur's knee, causing it to buckle and making the Predacon stumble backwards, lifting his foot off of his shoulder, releasing his grip on the blade he nearly beheaded him with and instead instinctively reached for his wounded knee which throbbed now. Primal wasted no time getting back to his feet, returning his club to his back and grabbing Terrorsaur's blade. "I would apologize for your countless mistakes, Terrorsaur, but you never seem to learn from them!" The gorilla lunged at his legs with his own wide blade, forcing Terrorsaur to leap back until he found his footing and balance and then swung his other large blade at Primal, growling at him with fury, banging the blades together repeatedly as they fought with them like swords, a weapon Optimus had much more experience with over the flier even if he couldn't use his other arm. When Terrorsaur would try to fire his optic lasers at him again, Primal used the broader part of the blade to deflect it back at his opponent, nailing him in his upper leg.

The reptilian bird squawked in pain and stumbled back again. "You never cease to irritate me, Primal!"

"You and Megatron seem to be attracted to that affect I have on you," he replied while he stood there catching his breath, waiting to see if Terrorsaur, who shot him a sneer, was going to attack again. "We have bigger things to worry about here, Terrorsaur. X is alive and he's hungry. It's only a matter of time before he finds us, and we won't be enough to stop him."

The Predacon glowered as he tended to his burnt leg that sizzled. For the moment, he seemed to be making up his mind on how to approach his next move. Did he really want to pass up this opportunity to finally terminate this pesky monkey and risk being dinner for someone else? Or should he just high-tail it out of there and save himself, leaving Optimus to fend for himself against the indestructible protoform? Surely, he would not survive, and Terrorsaur would revel in such pleasure, he just wouldn't be there to witness it.

As Umbra moved along in the swamp, he could hear laughing echoing in the distance. He stopped and looked around, listening closely. "The heck is that?..The protoform?" he thought to himself, then heard snapping of branches and rustling. Looking in the direction of the sound, he could see Whitegrazer running away from something.

X wrote: "NightStar! My friend! It has been too long since we murdered together!" "We can't kill her. We can't. Not until we try a little."

"Nightstar? That thing knew Starshadow?.. Not another monster.." Umbra thought to himself.

Whitegrazer wrote:"You don't have to do this, X. My offer is genuine. We want to help you."

X wrote:"I know. I feel it from you. I admire your sincere conviction to save my spark, but I only want one thing, and if you can't give it to me, I will gladly take it from you.... and your friends."

"Yep, another monster.." the octopus thought to himself. He didn't even think of Whitegrazer's strangeness, as even facing certain doom she'd offer a helping hand to Unicron himself. This X could be a problem however, but it wasn't like Umbra could back down now. Looking over the fight, Umbra noticed Starshadow with her gun ready. "She's distracted.. Just need to time this.."

As X drew his missile launcher, Umbra slithered swiftly through the foliage behind the giant crab, then transformed to his robot mode in a crouched position, drawing his throwing blades. with the tree coming down, Umbra sprung up with his thrusters tossing his throwing blades set to explode on impact at Starshadow, to knock the gun out of her hand. As he came down he shifted with his thrusters into a flying dropkick to her chest. You've been a bad kitty.. and I've been far too nice. he then said, the octopus eye on his leg shifted observing X, just to make sure he didn't decide to try firing on Umbra while he was so close to Starshadow, though he could use the friendly fire to his advantage..

"You know, I gotta say, you guys really know how ta keep secrets locked up in yer vaults,""Any other significant details you wanna disclose about it?"

Banshee sighed and looked forward while speaking, "Nightstar now we know as Starshadow was the commander and acting leader of a terrorist organization known as HellFang. She's involved in many crime like mass bombings, broadcasted public executions, assassinations. She even tried assassinating the high council leader Magnaboss. I got involved in her case when they sucessfully assassinated a few of the Predacon's military commanders and political figures, raided our weapon factories, and...many more. The Tripredacus had enough of their attacks and decided to send a squad of spies to join the group, find out who they are and what are their weaknesses. With the High Council and the Tripredacus Council working together, we managed to take down two of their most important commanders. After they died in an explosion, Hellfang's numbers dwindled, not before they managed to murder my friends...all these years I thought they were busy with their missions," she looked down in sadness then back up to focus forward, "With lots of effort tracking HellFang's movements, we found out Starshadow was after Protoform X, trying to set him free and recruit him to their ranks to replace their dead comrades. I reported to the Chief of Security on Colony Omicron about it and assisted him in his plans. We were successful until Protoform X killed everyone except him, Starshadow and her crew.. That's all I can tell you."

Banshee stopped when she heard the sound of blades clashing and Optimus' voice, pointing towards the direction, "There!" she ran and let out an echolocation, detecting both the monkey and pterodactyl, firing out a sonic blast at the Predacon.

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

"NightStar! My friend! It has been too long since we murdered together!""We can't kill her. We can't. Not until we try a little."

Starshadow looked at him, lowering her weapon while smiling, walking towards him, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss you, your dark sense of humor and..." she traced a line down on his chest, "how you made everything rain with mechfluid and fire. I look forward to our next date~" the panther winked at him. The feelings of old were starting to come back to her, how they pulled through their sufferings, how they stained the walls with mechfluid while the others ran in terror. It was all estatic. But first things first, she had to warn him.

"X...You have to stop whatever you're doing for now. Long story short, I..I made a mistake. I joined the Predacons for few years now to survive out here and..I was sent along with a few others by their leader to retrieve you, to make you his soldier. You have to- GAH!" the next thing she knew, her gun was knocked off from her grasp by an explosion. She held her hand and turned around, growling, only to be greeted by a kick to the chest from Umbra.

You've been a bad kitty.. and I've been far too nice.

"Ughh..." holding her chest, Starshadow glared at him before standing up, "nice..? You're anything but that you rude balloon... You slapped a hybrid bomb torture device on my neck, you melted my guts with acid and you call that nice?! I'm done playing around," the white paint on her arms starts turning gray as she got onto her four like a panther, reeking out animosity from her spark when her optics and the blue glows on her body turned red. Her jaws divides into segments and splits open, not even X nor the Maximals has seen her like this, a mutant beast! Starshadow let out a deafening netherzarian shriek before dashing towards Umbra, pouncing on him.

((OOC: I hope this post is all right. Kinda wrote it with a headache trying to form. Yuck! ))

Get away from him, Whitegrazer. We may have to approach this in a different way.

I will try, Optimus," Whitegrazer could feel X's eagerness towards her. At first, she thought maybe it was because he was hungry and wanted her spark, but as she remained where she was, he had made no attempt to do anything like he did with Tarantulas. If you can find the others, maybe, maybe just maybe with our combined abilities, we can disable him. Though, she wondered, after disabling him, how were they going to contain him.

Is he tracking you?

He is. He seems drawn to me like a moth to a flame.

Whitegrazer felt something tickling her spine. She thought maybe it was X or Starshadow, but then Optimus was becoming more alert. Maybe someone was nearby? Going by the emotion she felt through Optimus, annoyance and fueled instinct, it must be a Predacon. A phantom pain ran down her right arm. A throbbing pain. Must have been Optimus. Maybe his arm got injured.

Her body shuddered in an unexpected surge of energon. She grimaced. It was't painful. Just a numb and prickling sensation like needles poking her metal skin. But that didn't do her stomach wound a world of good. She held the wound until the pain subsided. Her computer gave her a warning of an immense amount of energon in her body.


Tarantulas was able to give a signal to his arachnoids. A bunch of them scurried from behind and within trees. Their lightbulb heads surveying their surroundings as they made their way towards their master. "Get me to my lab! Quickly! That's all he could muster before the loss of mechfluid forced him into stasis lock. They formed a perimeter, and by using the tip of their bulb, they each got underneath him. They pushed his body upward, and they carried him off to lab he made for himself several month ago.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss you, your dark sense of humor and..." she traced a line down on his chest, "how you made everything rain with mechfluid and fire. I look forward to our next date~"

"Oh ho ho," X shivered with delight with his old friend's touch. He missed having her around. Murdering and tormenting victims just wasn't the same with out her. Nor was it the same without that former Imperial Peace Marshal trailing him with the same rage and pain he shared along with him. Ahhhh, he hoped that Depth Charge didn't forget him or listen to his counselors. That would be just disappointing. "Why not have one now? Our dinner is just waiting to be cooked and served!" X waved a hand towards Whitegrazer. He didn't normally share, but with Nightstar, she was the exception.

X...You have to stop whatever you're doing for now. Long story short, I..I made a mistake. I joined the Predacons for few years now to survive out here and..I was sent along with a few others by their leader to retrieve you, to make you his soldier. You have to- GAH!"

You've been a bad kitty.. and I've been far too nice.

Ughh..." holding her chest, Starshadow glared at him before standing up, "nice..? You're anything but that you rude balloon... You slapped a hybrid bomb torture device on my neck, you melted my guts with acid and you call that nice?! I'm done playing around,"

X looked disappointed , but listened intently to what she was telling him when she got shot. He let out a garbled shout of surprised mixed with fury at the eight-legged squid who just shot someone he found a kindred spirit with. X glared at the bot, imagining the taste of his spark and mechfluids, the feel of his fingers inside the bot's innards, but it seemed his friend didn't need his retribution. He watched as Nightstar's white color change to gray, going on all fours, and saw her mouth split open with jaws snapping like an feral animal. X looked on in surpise yet enjoyed his friend's new appearance.

"Yes! Channel the pain he has caused you and deepen it!" X roared, cheering her on.

But Whitegrazer would have none of that. "Umbra!" She jumped out from behind the tree towards Umbra, tackling him to the ground so to avoid Starshadow's pounce. They rolled, tumbling down a small hill to an embankment drenched in water. She shook some water off her mane. "Sorry about that, Umbra, but you and I need to get out of here quickly." She felt X's affinity towards Starshadow, the rage he felt towards Umbra from his attack, and saw Starshadow' s transformation, which shocked her as well. For a split second, she could see X's imagination of ripping through Umbra's metal skin, taking him a part bit by bit and snacking on him. She shuddered at such a sight. She didn't think anyone deserved such a gruesome fate.


X just laughed at Whitegrazer's interference, watching as Whitegrazer and Umbra rolled "Nightstar, come here!" He walked over to her and kneeled down to her level. "He is for you to do as you please, but the horsey we need her as bait for the others. I sense the others through her spark. Her spark is so...powerful. I promise to share her spark with you, after I'm done with her." He rubbed her head, softly and gently admiring this new form of hers.

He had sense a familiar presence within the horsey. A presence he remembered feeling a few times. He didn't know who or what it was, enraged to teh fact that someone from that place survived his wrath, but he was eager to see for himself. If it was a person involved with his pain back in the horrible lab, he was eager to show thi person what he been though.

starshadow wrote:"nice..? You're anything but that you rude balloon... You slapped a hybrid bomb torture device on my neck, you melted my guts with acid and you call that nice?! I'm done playing around,"

X wrote:"Yes! Channel the pain he has caused you and deepen it!"

Umbra observed as Starshadow went into her more primitive state. Having faced this creature before, he had a general knowledge of what to expect. As she came to pounce he was about to react with suddenly he noticed something large and white come from his peripheral view.

Whitegrazer wrote:"Umbra!"

Umbra's optics widen as he's tackled down by Whitegrazer, then rolled down the hill. Laying in the water, Umbra leaned up looking at Whitegrazer with a frown as she spoke

Whitegrazer wrote:"Sorry about that, Umbra, but you and I need to get out of here quickly."

Umbra raised an optic ridge looking at her. From what he'd seen and known of her, she wouldn't normally backdown from a fight, even facing a giant twice her size without fear. Yet this crab had her spooked? Something didn't add up, but with the current situation there'd be no way for him to deal with Starshadow and X while she stood in his way. Umbra stood up with a sigh Ug, fine you win. Last thing I need to deal with is you and them. Umbra then scooped up Whitegrazer with four of his tentacles, the thrusters on his back and legs kicked in as he launched up into the air at an angle towards the trees, his upper four tentacles split into two groups, grabbing the trees and swinging along through the tree line like a monkey would. You use that psychic stuff to talk to your friends right? Can you use that to find them? If not, I can probably find the bat at least.. Umbra then said, as he knew Banshee's echolocation pings would sometimes be picked up on his visor, as well as his own could be picked up by her if he used it. His octopus eyes observed behind him as he moved, to make sure they weren't being followed or fired upon.

"Nightstar now we know as Starshadow was the commander and acting leader of a terrorist organization known as HellFang."

"Yeah, I know about HellFang," Rattrap slipped in with a comment with a comment during their stroll through the woods. They were a trouble-making, hellish group. However, he didn't realize that Starshadow, or "Nightstar", had been leading them. Great.

She's involved in many crime like mass bombings, broadcasted public executions, assassinations. She even tried assassinating the high council leader Magnaboss.

"Ya don't say," he shook his head with disbelief about her background. The way she acted ever since she showed up on Earth was more crazy and erratic than anything else, especially a leader, so this took the rodent by surprise. He was about to ask how Banshee knew all of this until she continued.

I got involved in her case when they sucessfully assassinated a few of the Predacon's military commanders and political figures, raided our weapon factories, and...many more. The Tripredacus had enough of their attacks and decided to send a squad of spies to join the group, find out who they are and what are their weaknesses. With the High Council and the Tripredacus Council working together, we managed to take down two of their most important commanders. After they died in an explosion, Hellfang's numbers dwindled, not before they managed to murder my friends...all these years I thought they were busy with their missions," "With lots of effort tracking HellFang's movements, we found out Starshadow was after Protoform X, trying to set him free and recruit him to their ranks to replace their dead comrades. I reported to the Chief of Security on Colony Omicron about it and assisted him in his plans. We were successful until Protoform X killed everyone except him, Starshadow and her crew.. That's all I can tell you."

Rattrap eventually stopped walking and stared at Banshee with a bewildered look. "You know, our extended vacation on dis dirt ball just keeps getting better an' better!" he said, his words oozing with sarcasm. He didn't even know what to say at this point. Between the ape's confession and all of this, it was a lot to take in. A lot. As they continued on with their trek, the rat's silver ears started picking up some noises, like a scuffle or a fight not too far from them. He sniffed the moist air, but their scents weren't wafting in their direction. They moved in closer very quietly, and now he could smell them, but their voices also gave them away.

"There!"

The Maximal Spy stayed back in his beast mode, allowing Banshee to take point and interfere with her powerful weapon.

"If you're asking for my help in order to stop him, you can just stick it up-!" was all Terrorsaur could respond to Primal's words with before he was suddenly blown backwards, slamming into a tree trunk with his back and sliding down to the ground slouched over in his limp, unconscious body.

Optimus only watched as if he was expecting the reinforcements that had arrived. "Thank you, Banshee," he said as he tossed Terrorsaur's blade to his body without hitting him, his weapon landing a few inches from him. The leader turned around to see her and Rattrap, relieved to see them both. "Protoform X has survived after all," he said with a serious and concerned voice, his gaze lingering on Banshee, who could relate to his emotions on the matter, before looking down at Rattrap's disapproving face.

"Where is he...?" the TransMetal vermin asked, looking around and seeing no one else present besides them and Terry.

"Stalking Whitegrazer somewhere in that direction." Primal pointed off to the southwest to show them.

"You don't know how far? Can't you guys tele-communicate yer locations or somethin'?"

"It doesn't work like that, Rattrap. Especially when neither of us knows our geographical coordinates," he explained. But then he had a thought. "Although..." His voice trailed off as he glanced around their surroundings for a moment.

"Okay. So, search from the air," he suggested.

"I can't. I've been grounded ever since the storm swept me away," Optimus told him as his shoulder spit out a couple sparks. "Radio communications have been compromised as well."

"Oh. Terrific. So, basically, when we encounter dis menace you created, we're all gonna die. Talk about irony..."

Primal gave a glare at Rattrap's comment, but didn't address it. Instead, he moved on with the situation while he started to devise a plan in his head. "Have either of you sustained serious injuries?" the TransMetal gorilla inquired.

"No," answered Rattrap.

"Are you carrying any demolition charges?"

"Eh, I never leave home without 'em," the rat said with a toothy grin and quickly flicking his silver brows a few times, expressing the joy for his weapons.

"Good. We're going to need a lot of firepower. What about you, Banshee?" Optimus asked her, referring to her wounds. Unfortunately, her wings didn't look like they were in any shape to fly, but her sonic blasts should be able to disorient X.

"I will try, Optimus," If you can find the others, maybe, maybe just maybe with our combined abilities, we can disable him.

Banshee and Rattrap found me, he told Whitegrazer. We're on our way.

He is. He seems drawn to me like a moth to a flame.

As terrifying as that sounded, it also intrigued Optimus. Why? Why was he drawn to her spark? Was it because of her abilities? Or because it was of Vok origin? Whitegrazer, look around. Is there anything that stands out that you can give me as a landmark? A tree that's taller than the rest? Your current position from the mountain in the distance? Your general direction is southwest from us, but there's a lot of ground to cover. I want you to lead him to us, but only if you can do it safely. Who else is with you? He could feel the presence of others nearby her through their bond, and the energon fields that her body was absorbing. The Maximal Commander started walking in the last known direction he heard the missile fire and motioned Banshee and Rattrap to follow him leaving Terrorsaur where he laid.

((OOC: Una...I could throw sparkles at you and Rampage now. *throws pink and blue glitter at the monitor* ))

"Nightstar, come here!"

Starshadow looked at X as he walked over and knelt down before her, listening to what he was about to say.

"He is for you to do as you please, but the horsey we need her as bait for the others. I sense the others through her spark. Her spark is so...powerful. I promise to share her spark with you, after I'm done with her."

It took her by surprise when X showed affection towards her. The reds turned back to blue and her jaw reverted back to its normal state. She purred softly at his touch and puts and puts her hand on his, looking into his optics. A feeling she thought was long lost rushed through her mind, acceptance and warmth. Though she would rather not entertain herself today by killing everyone with her old friend but it has been a long time for him inside the pod he was trapped in. Which psychotic maniac would not want to stretch his legs a little and tear some limbs? Starshadow sighed and smiled, nodding, "alright. I guess I could use a little afternoon snack."

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

"Thank you, Banshee,""Protoform X has survived after all,"

Banshee looked towards Optimus and nodded, her optics narrowed at the dark sky as he mentioned that X survived. So that was probably why Tarantulas was screaming.

"Good. We're going to need a lot of firepower. What about you, Banshee?"

Banshee looked at herself and attempt to flap her wings, a few sparks emitting out. "Although I am grounded but my weapons should have enough firepower," the bat femme folded her wings and climbed up a tree, "I'll scout ahead first. Stay safe."
With her martial arts and acrobatic skills, she leaped off and grabbed on to vines and branches, swinging from tree to tree, sometimes stopping to use her echolocation.

((OOC: I think the painkiller I took is too strong for me...))

((OOC: Aw! *dances in the sparkles* ))

Ug, fine you win. Last thing I need to deal with is you and them.

Whitegrazer just smiled at Umbra, "You have nothing to fear from me as I'm sort of one arm less than I usually am."

"X, however, is a different story. It would be wise to not engage him in a frontal assualt. Also, we, Optimus and others, are hoping to catch him alive if possible."

You use that psychic stuff to talk to your friends right? Can you use that to find them? If not, I can probably find the bat at least..

"Yes," Whitegrazer nodded. She pointed towards the direction where she sensed Optimus, feeling the presences of others with him. Was that Banshee and Rattrap? She hoped so. As she told Optimus earlier, no one should be left alone out here. And now, it wasn't just X they had to be worried about.

Banshee and Rattrap found me, he told Whitegrazer. We're on our way.

Whitegrazer, look around. Is there anything that stands out that you can give me as a landmark? A tree that's taller than the rest? Your current position from the mountain in the distance? Your general direction is southwest from us, but there's a lot of ground to cover. I want you to lead him to us, but only if you can do it safely. Who else is with you?

Optimus seemed to be thinking about why X would follow her. His mind dwelled on the Vok or her abilities, but X didn't or shouldn't be aware of the Vok. Maybe.... maybe he is an Empath like me? Did X ever showed any signs of feeling others' pain? Or ability to sense someone is near despite the person not being in the same room? She might be a Vok, but any sentient beings can be an Empath. She always thougt Tigratron was to an extent becuse of his strong feeling stowards the planet's surroundings. Her abilities made X desire her for a purpose. Though, what purpose does he want for her isn't clear to her, yet. It was just a theroy.Don't worry, Umbra is with me, and we are heading towards your direction now. We should be there shortly. She then warned Optimus, Starshadow is with X. They seemed to have known each other, and are quite close. We need to watch out for her as well. When Starshadow, or as X called her Nightstar, appeared, she sensed a deep familiarity coming from X. She wondered if she could consider it happy or love? X's feelings seemed to be jagged, but there was no mistaken X enjoying the touch Starshadow gave him when they met. There was a history between those two. She wondered if Umbra knew about it.

"Umbra, what do you know about Starshadow," she asked, "I never saw her mutant like that before."

"alright. I guess I could use a little afternoon snack."

"Good,"X said with a smile... or a smile a bot could muster with the vertical jagged mouth he had. "You seemed tense and down. A hunt like this should bring up some wonderful memories." It might not be like Colony Omicron. HE didn't know how many people were on this planet. Whatever this planet is.

"Come, let's chase our prey. " X could feel them. There were others, and he too wanted to greet them. Also, the faint presence he felt from the female horse. That familar presence he felt back at Omicron. He was eager to see who it was. It couldn't be Depth Charge. Oh, he would have felt him by now, and also, that vengeful former Imperial Peace Marshal would have tracked him by now, fighting him to the very last breath. To kill him. To seek justice for those he failed to protect. Heh. But he knew... Depth Charge would be trying desperately to find him.If it would make it easy, he would leave a trail of bodies for him to find. Just like old times.

X transformed into his beast mode. "I will distract them, and once they are distracted, you pounce them at the side. When we knock them down, you take the squid, and I will take the horse." His legs changed into treads, going into a mini tank mode. A cannon pointed in front of him. He moved forward. And he fired a missile at the two. He laughed loud and hard, wanting his prey to hear the echoes of pain and relentlessness.


Whitegrazer heard the whiz of a missile, looking back to see the red dot heading closer and closer, "Watch out!" She pulled a bit to the left, going Umbra to signal to dodge.

Another missile came at them. It hit a tree, coming down hard towards the forest ground. Then another missile, which like the last one hit another tree.

((OOC: I hope this post is all right. If it is too lean, I will add more. I'm just sort of exhausted because I spent the last two days dealing with plumbing problems. Bailing out water, and disinfecting floors. Three times! Yuck! ))

Whitegrazer wrote:"You have nothing to fear from me as I'm sort of one arm less than I usually am."

Umbra rolled his optics at the statement. She didn't physically have to fight him to be trouble, but it wasn't something he was going to bring up. He continued swinging through the trees rather swiftly in the direction she pointed.

Whitegrazer wrote:"X, however, is a different story. It would be wise to not engage him in a frontal assault. Also, we, Optimus and others, are hoping to catch him alive if possible."

Easier said then done.. As for a frontal assault, what do you take me for? Rogues do it from the back. Umbra smirked.

Whitegrazer wrote:"Umbra, what do you know about Starshadow," "I never saw her mutant like that before."

Umbra frowned when asked, then spoke up I don't know all the details, but what I do know is she's called a "Netherzarian" and carries a microbot infection of her own,she's almost like a vampire out of myth. If you want to know more, you'll have to find Ghost.. But finding him isn't easy, he finds you if he wants you. And from best I can tell.. he may not really be alive either..

Whitegrazer wrote: "Watch out!"

Umbra clung onto a branch as his back thruster kicked in, causing him to swing like a pendulum out of the way of the missile, then released the tree allowing momentum to carry them through the air until he moved past another tree falling closer to the ground and grabbed it, swinging with his thrusters to move back up higher into the air but staying in the forest as he moved. Not sure if it's a rocket or missile launcher, but he's packing some firepower.. As long as we stay in the woods we can use it as cover. He isn't the main problem however.. Umbra then said, prepping one of his throwing blades with a robot arm, it was more then likely Starshadow would come for them, and it would hard to defend while retreating with Whitegrazer.

Maybe.... maybe he is an Empath like me? Did X ever showed any signs of feeling others' pain? Or ability to sense someone is near despite the person not being in the same room?

Optimus gave it some thought before answering Whitegrazer. At the time it may not have appeared that X seemed as though he could sense others nearby or feel their pain, so he couldn't say for sure. There were reports about the possibility of him knowing when others were petrified of him, but I never witnessed any of it for myself. Whenever I was around him, I was only 'afraid' of what he was capable of and the power we were tampering with, not so much of who he was. Perhaps if I had been more fearful, I would have excused myself much earlier from the program... he said with regret.

Don't worry, Umbra is with me, and we are heading towards your direction now. We should be there shortly. Starshadow is with X. They seemed to have known each other, and are quite close. We need to watch out for her as well.

Umbra was with her? Cooperating? That was interesting. He had to admit he was surprised that Megatron hadn't made his own appearance yet. And Starshadow... Primal thoughtfully shook his head without understanding it at first. No one was close to Protoform X; no one knew him well enough. Well, no one except for a very select few who had spent time overseeing him and his progress more than Optimus had. But there was one organization he recalled reading in the classified reports, including Banshee's, who had attempted to dangerously recruit X within their ranks. HellFang was their name. And they were lead by Nightstar, if he was remembering correctly. But what did this have anything to do with Starshadow? Optimus grew curious and suspicious, but kept his presumptions to himself until he could be certain. Banshee might know... For now, it sounded like they would be dealing both her and X working together, which might interfere with his plan of attack.

"Although I am grounded but my weapons should have enough firepower,"

Optimus gave a frown as he watched the electrical sparks of damage fly off from the joints of Banshee's wings when she tested them. But at least it wasn't enough to stop her.

"I'll scout ahead first. Stay safe."

"Not too far!" Primal told her. "Whitegrazer is retreating with Umbra, and Starshadow is with X. They're leading them to us," he warned Banshee as she headed off through the trees, swinging through them as he once could. There were some things he missed about his pre-TransMetal beast mode.

"Uh, leadin' 'em to us?" Rattrap repeated to make sure he heard him correctly. "That's yer plan? An ambush?"

"It's all we have, Rattrap. And we have the firepower to do it; just enough to slow him down or disable him." Primal still didn't want to kill him - assuming he could be killed - despite how much danger all of them were in. "He doesn't know our crew or what we're capable of so we have the advantage, but don't underestimate him. When I was studying him, I found him to be highly intelligent and capable of empathy for others. After all, he was once a Maximal..."

"Oh. Thanks for the tips," the rodent commented with some sarcasm.

"Look, I read about the questionable crimes in your file that you committed back on Cybertron, but none of it applies here because I've seen the Maximal you truly are despite how much you're always trying to disguise it. I have trusted you with my life, Rattrap, and I still do. I'm not the same Maximal I was back when I was influenced by others, naive and selfish. We've all changed. And this war for survival that we've been forcibly thrown into has made us show all of our true colors. So what ever your feelings are toward me and what I did in the past, we can discuss it later. Right now, I need you concentrating on being a team player. We need to set up trip wires and motion detectors connected to your explosives."

Listening to Optimus as they walked along the forest floor together in their beast modes, Rattrap's ears laid back a little in thought, considering his words carefully. Curse him and his meaningful speeches, he sighed to himself. He knew he couldn't be mad at the monkey forever, and he was right. Who was Rattrap to judge? He was no saint either in his younger years. Although, he never did anything as unethical as experimenting on others against their will with the potential to use them as weapons, but it sounded like their fearless leader had learned his lesson the hard way. And if he hadn't, well, it was coming back to haunt him now which couldn't be a pleasant feeling. What X did on Colony Omicron is probably what Optimus was fearing the most that could happen with his Axalon crew who were now facing the very same experimental hazard. Except now he had weapons.

"Let's start setting up here and here," the injured Maximal commander directed as he stopped walking and pointed to the perfect foliage that would keep the explosives hidden and the trip wires camouflaged.

Agreeing with his leader, the demolition expert maximized to his robot mode and ejected two explosives, fitting them with wires and the commands when to detonate. Handing one to Optimus, they split up in opposite directions to use two tree trunks in order to secure the wire tightly enough to either trip X's legs and cause the charges to detonate or to explode if he had some kind of vehicle mode that would drive into the wire and snap it. Hopefully he didn't have the ability of flight. Then they started setting up motion detectors that were a little higher off of the ground in the trees nearby, rigged to explode once someone walked or flew by them. Of course it took Optimus a little longer to set his up using mostly one hand to tighten things. Now all they needed was for Whitegrazer and Umbra to lead them straight in their direction. And by the sound of the thunderous firepower that both of them could hear, it seemed they were getting close real fast. Whitegrazer, Rattrap and I have set up four explosives closer to the ground. Lead X straight to me, but stay high in the tree tops with Umbra or just off to the side to avoid triggering them. Do you understand? Banshee is heading your way, but she's too far ahead from us, so I need you to relay the information to her on the traps we have set up so she doesn't accidentally come in contact with them.

"That should do it," Rattrap said as he wiped his palms together before putting his hands on his hips in a proud manner of his work.

"Agreed. Now I need you to do what you do best," Primal hinted to him with his espionage skills.

Nodding, he said, "On it. Hey, but, uh, what about you?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"You sure it's a good idea? I mean, it sounds like he's packin' heavy artillery, and if he ain't in the mood for talkin', well, let's just say we might be pickin' up pieces of you around dis forestry swamp for days."

"Whitegrazer needs a beacon to zero in on and lead him to this exact spot," said Optimus as he pointed his thumb to his burnt, blue chest, basically making himself the bait. "We don't have a lot of room for mistakes. If he veers off too much in either direction, he'll miss the trigger points. Besides, if he remembers my voice, he may stop just to have a few things to say to me," which in itself would be the perfect distraction for the others to attack him and bring him down. He winced again from his shoulder sparking and dreaded going through another transformation, but he forced his body to do so as he maximized. At least his energon dampers were functioning at a much higher capacity now, so all of the raw energon in the area shouldn't paralyze him any time soon.

"If you say so. Better you dan me," he added with as a small tease despite the seriousness of the situation. Drawing his gun, Rattrap jogged off to an area that was a little bit out of the way where he would be out of sight, covered by thick brush so not even fliers could see him, but he'd still be able to see X and Starshadow enough to fire at them if the opportunity arose.

Primal stood there quietly, patiently waiting as the explosions grew louder and louder. He licked the scar across his mouth and faintly wiggled his pudgy, maroon fingers, ready to face Protoform X again after all of this time. Breathing in and out slowly, concentrating almost to the point of meditation that Whitegrazer had taught him, through their bond he sent her a visual the best he could to forewarn her what to expect and see when she, Umbra and Banshee were going to approach the locations of the demo charges.