The Intergalactic Highway

OW! Why you- Quickstrike released Oynx rubbing his face with his claws, then moved them raising an optic ridge as he saw Megatron pop in.

Megatron wrote:"Ahem. Allow me to explain. I am Megatron, your leader"

Silverbolt wrote:"I knew it!"

Quickstrike's eyes dimmed slightly, glancing towards Silverbolt You trust this tinhorn?

Megatron thought quickly.

"Well, why should he not. We are all Predacons. If your data tracks had not been damaged in the crash, you would know this yourselves."


* * * * *


Tantrum's massive cannons fired, creating a crater where the Maximal last stood, bits of rock and dirt blasting up into Tantrum's face and bouncing off his thick armor. There was no sign of Airrazor, so he assumed he must have vaporized the weakling.

"Tantrum," [Nemesis] called out from above, ready to get out of the way quickly if needs be, "It's a pleasure to see a fellow Predacon with such hatred for those pesky Maximals. Quite the display of power you showed there. However I would conserve some of that rage and energy for the Maximal reinforcements who are on their way as we speak. Join us and we will slay them without showing mercy!

"I am amused by little baby Maximals -- it is like crushing paper cup." Tantrum offered the non-descript answer as he transformed into his alternate mode slowly rolled towards the crater to perhaps inspect it further.

An explosion appeared in the distance and Orcariner's optics widened at the brilliant lights. Airazor alone did not have the firepower to induce such an effect and according to his scanners, Dinobot had not even approached the sector yet. It was evident that a battle was taking place. Megatron must not have wasted any time recovering from the shockwave, and now Airazor was on her own going up against what seemed to be some Predacon heavy-hitters. Orcariner was going too slow, and he knew fully well that he had to use his new vehicular mode to play catch up.

"Might as well."

Submitting the internal command to transform, the killer whale felt the superior part of his vertebra rise from his body and fan out to form a massive propeller. Dust kicked up around Orcariner as his blades accelerated to maximum velocity. His tail opened along the midsagittal plane, revealing an impressive jet engine that roared to life. The Maximal was caught off guard by the sudden burst of speed. He found himself yelling in surprise as he was launched into the sky at speeds he had not experienced since the Axalon crashed on this foreign planet. Orcariner struggled to control his movements but the combined mechanics of the propeller and the jet engine were too much for him. According to his speedometer, the orca was traveling at 220 mph and quickly climbing. His HUD flashed red in various places as his performance monitors were warning him of various hazards. Orcariner wanted to pay attention to them, but he already too deep in a state of panic to do anything rational at this point.

Warning: Reduce thrust.

The Maximal watched with a sense of dread as his speedometer registered his speed at 300 mph and climbing. The sheer torque rendered his rotary blades unable to compensate for the unprepared acceleration.

Warning: Adjust pitch.

Orcariner did not even know what that meant. His body involuntarily flipped backwards in the air and the poor helicopter was somersaulting in quite a spectacular fashion.

"Cut engine power!"

The roar was instantly muted but now all he heard was the round of his propeller spinning and the wind screaming in his audio receptors.

Warning: Adjust yaw.

"But what does that mean?!"

Orcariner tried to forget the pilot jargon that his tactical program was throwing at him. Instead, he attempted to approach this situation in a more natural manner. Whenever he was in the ocean, he would be able to contort his body until he was properly aligned with whichever plane he was striving for. Granted, it took him some time to learn how to swim, but flying should be the same thing. At least, that was what he was hoping for. Unfortunately for the whale, flapping his pectoral fins and tail while airborne made no difference at all while he was tumbling back down towards the earth.

Warning: Fly up. Fly up. Fly up.

Now he just wanted to cry.

"Forget it... Orcariner, maximize!" he screamed in desperation.

Transforming back into robot mode, the Maximal sentry flipped his body so that his head was finally superior to his legs. A familiar roar resonated through the sky as the propulsion systems in his legs and back fired up. Orcariner was already moving too fast for his flight mechanisms to save him from a brutal crash. The massive Maximal found himself slamming into the ground, releasing a wide wave of dust and smoke from the impact. If he had to thank Primus for anything, it would be for his thick armor. Despite his body being racked with pain, Orcariner's HUD was showing that all his vital systems were in good health. He drowsily got up and palmed his temple in an attempt to stop the world from spinning around him. That crash probably ranked up there as one his more embarrassing moments in the Beast Wars, and he really hoped that nobody had seen it. Unfortunately for him, as soon as the dust cleared, Orcariner found himself staring up at a gargantuan figure with very prominent cannons. His attention quickly darted to his radar, and it looked like he was surrounded by what seemed to be half of the Predacon forces on this world. Not taking his eyes off the large Predacon, Orcariner slowly stood straight up and took one step back.

"So... strange things falling out of the sky. How about that?"


((OOC: I guess the odds are now a little more even... ish.))

Megatron wrote:"Well, why should he not. We are all Predacons. If your data tracks had not been damaged in the crash, you would know this yourselves."

Quickstrike clicked his claws together as he listened to Megatron, then pointed one of them at him as he spoke You whistle a mighty fine tune stranger.. but it's all hot air to me! Lessen you can back yer claim.. he spoke up rather suspicious still of this so proclaimed leader.

_______________

Airazor wrote:"Thank you. I owe you my life."

Aerostriker smiled Don't worry yourself about it ma'am.

He then watched as she attempted to contact her allies, but it seemed the damage she sustained before he arrived had damaged her communication system.

Airazor wrote: "We have to go back and help my friends! They will be scrap if we don't!"

He raised his hand as he was about to speak, then noticed something strange on his radar. Turning his head he saw Orcariner's attempted first flight in the distance. It had to be the worst attempted flight he'd ever seen in his life. Huh.. never seen a helicopter do that before.. Looks like I'll be giving out flying lessons later... Er.. you may be right. Alright, I'll fly on ahead and help your friends out. If you see anymore of them coming give them a fair warning Airazor. Vehicle mode!

He flew back slightly as he made a quick flip transforming into his Swift mode and then activated two v-tol fans on his wings as a cockpit slid up over his bird head, a small turret raised from his back, and a strange looking transmetal beetle ejected from his body, transforming into a fairly large gun and attaching under his cockpit. He climbed in altitude as he turned in mid air, revealing two small thrusters and a center larger thruster, though only the two smaller ones powered up, suddenly taking off at high speed back towards the battlefield.

As he flew , he tilted banking in a hard arc behind the two Predacons in the air, who likely noticed him pop up on their radar. Alright partner, you know the drill.. I'll take the flying, you handle the guns.

A computerized voice then spoke up Affirmative, commencing attack subroutine. Notice, unknown radio signal detected on Maximal frequency, SSID "Beacon 2.0". Encryption is high, shall I further investigate? After speaking, the gun turret on the back of Aerostriker started firing two rapid laser beams in short bursts at Nemesis and Terrorsaur as he passed by.

No idea! Lets worry about that later! he then shouted.

____________________

Umbra looked back towards Cecaelia as he spoke We will soon, you just need patience.. he then came to the surprise of seeing Tantrum fire his guns, and the sudden appearance of Orcariner on the battlefield. Well.. I'm guessing that is new. he muttered to himself still in hiding. He then released a puff of air, gliding across the ground towards another boulder, then adjusted his camouflage again. He started to compress air quietly, observing the battle.

Tantrum wrote:"I am amused by little baby Maximals -- it is like crushing paper cup."

Nemesis fought to hold back the disgruntled sigh as she realized their new comrade was amazingly even dumber than he looked. It would appear that Manterror and Waspinator, who both lay in pieces on the ground, now had some serious competition in the idiot on the team challenge.

Just as she was about to respond, the Decepticon-turned-Predacon became acutely aware that they were not alone anymore as she caught sight of the rather humorous display put forth by Orcariner as he attempted to master his new transmetalized form.

Well then. So the Maximal titan had decided to join them.. Along with some other, unknown, Maximal. Scanning her surroundings, Nemesis caught sight of the damaged AirRazor along with her new friend in the distance.

"Tantrum," the female Predacon finally responded to the giant's earlier comment, "We have more Maximals incoming. How about extending a barrel or two to greet them?"

Realizing the giant might not have the mental capacity to understand her hint, she quickly added; "Their champion's severed head will serve as sufficient proof of your immense power to convince anyone foolish enough to question it."

She followed up by pointing out Orcariner's whereabouts while silently hoping she would not be required to dumb down her speech even more. As she finished, she cast a quick glance over at Terrorsaur before settling a pair of piercing red optics on the Maximal newcomer and his wounded companion. While the giants battled it out, there was another foe who needed to be taught a lesson in running interference.

Quickstrike wrote:You whistle a mighty fine tune stranger.. but it's all hot air to me! Lessen you can back yer claim.. he spoke up rather suspicious still of this so proclaimed leader.

Megatron looked between the two new recruits for a brief moment before responding in his usual soothing voice.

"Ah yes, of course. My proof is a simple one. You merely have to speak aloud the Predacon activation code: Terrorize!"

As he said the word, his dinosaur form immediately began undergoing changes. His dinosaur head roared loudly before his limbs began rearranging before he once again stood facing them, only now in his robot form.

"There. You see?"

((OOC: I know Airazor is already well beyond the point in time of Cheetor's response; I'm just giving a reply...))

Cheetor was moving so quickly that the wind was ruffling his ears, even though they were made of some kind of metal. His systems automatically relayed Airazor's message into his audio receptors instead of trying to make a sound through the comlink on his arm.

Airazor wrote:I enjoy the peace and serenity of the air! I can't let everyone know how great flying is or that peace will turn into traffic jams!

Cheetor laughed. "You pilot-types," he taunted playfully. "Even when you won't share the road with the rest of us, you won't share the road with the rest of us."

The new flier focused his optics on the land ahead of him. He was supposed to be coming in soon, so he decided to magnify his keen vision on his HUD (and he was glad to find out in that moment that the transmetal upgrade hadn't taken that feature of his vision away from him).

Just when his zooming was about to reach its own limits, he spotted colored shapes out on the horizon, interspersed with the rock pillars dotting that part of the landscape. He took a few more nano-kliks to pay attention to what he was looking at, and then he was sure that he was looking at Predacons. Probably at the landing site for the stasis pods. But how many were there? Who were they all? And was that Megatron?

Cheetor's vision switched in an instant to its normal focus, and he dipped really close to the ground--closer than he even really felt comfortable with, just learning how to fly and all. "Rattrap, Feralnight, Silverstreak; I think I'm out of scanner range, but I'm comin' up pretty close to Crashville, it looks like Megatron and a couple o' the other space pirates are already there, and I hate to point out a glitch, but the protoforms might already be awake and makin' introductions. Should I start distracting, or wait out of sight so we can go in together?"

In spite of his question, Cheetor's natural instincts were raging inside of his processor, tempting him with the thought of what was necessary above what was smart. These were supposed to be his pals. If they were already awake, that wouldn't make the mission over with. They could actually be in more danger being awake if they hadn't been reprogrammed. For all he knew, Megatron could be testing their ability to obey his command right now, and if they gave the wrong answer, he'd be waiting to vaporize them.

Cheetor slowed awkwardly, the electric blue of his thrusters' fuel stuttering on and off, and he came to a stop finally behind a rock formation. He was still far enough away that he could hope to have not been spotted, but then... he was also too far away to do anything good. He hated these kinds of situations.

* * *

Steelclaw watched on wordlessly while Onyx and Megatron took on the situation in front of them in incredibly peaceful terms. He was actually surprised to see Megatron behave this way with someone who was not yet under his command, but it also unnerved him slightly.

On a whim, the Predacon brought his attention to the energon dampener levels on his HUD. He was in his beast mode, of course, and energon radiation had never been a threat to him on this planet while he stayed in beast mode, but his systems could still tell him a relative approximation of the amount of energy his beast mode was letting through. At first, he paid no attention to the fact that the radiation level was at zero, because he'd seen that often enough inside the Darksyde. It looked natural to him.

But then he did a double take. He was outside, and the radiation level was at zero (or, anyways, the "relative approximation" of zero). Curiously, he transformed into his battle mode. And then he tentatively forced his dampers off and waited for the discomfort of the beginning of an energon buildup. But nothing happened.

"Huh," he remarked simply before turning his dampeners back on. Just in case they mattered later on. Well. Basically he could sit out there and wait to draw a weapon at any moment. Alright... He liked this.

Starshadow dusted herself and looked at Sonar, "we better find the others." she activated her thrusters to hover in the air for awhile, "see you later flyboy!" she took off to the skies while trying to get used to flying. The Predacons should be preparing for an attack on the Maximal base if they had the upgrades.

* * * * * * * * *

Cecaelia would pout if she could. She crawled behind the boulder and transformed, hugging her legs, waiting for something to happen. Right now she wanted to test her blaster and shoot something but noooo...she had to wait.

Starshadow dusted herself and looked at Sonar, "we better find the others." she activated her thrusters to hover in the air for awhile, "see you later flyboy!"

Sonar shook his head and rolled his eyes.

She'll most likely crash into something before she gets there. Sonar thought before transforming into his beast mode and following after her.

((OOC: I hope this post is all right.))

Whitegrazer put her hand on her chest, which was still throbbing, wondering what was going on with her spark. It felt like someone was swimming inside her soul, searching yet confused of where to go. Whatever it was, there was a sense of familiarity to it. Concentrating on it, she dimmed her optics for second, but as she tried to grab it, there was pain, uncertainty, loneliness, and fear. Everything around her seemed far away.

Go!" Rhinox told the other Maximals, glancing at those peering from the bridge. "Frilla and I can handle this. You must rescue our fallen comrades!"

It was then Aurora had grabbed her hand, forcing her back to reality. She looked down at the little one, smiling but like her made the dash to the platform, allowing Rhinox and Frilla to do away with Inferno and prayed they will be okay.

As Tigratron joined Aurora and her, Whitegrazer started walking towards their destination to the pod. She hoped their pod was okay and the comrade safe and sound. Also, she prayed that her friends who were going for the other pods were as well. Staring down at Aurora, her thoughts ran over what she had thought about telling Aurora. But there was no time now. Her mind was made and now seemed like a good time as they continued to walk.

The pod wasn't too far anyway. She could actually see it in her sights.

"Aurora, there is something I been meaning to talk to you about."

She paused before she began her apology, "I treated you like...what was it that you called it? Porcolain doll?" A little chuckle seeped from her lips before she continued, "Some part of me hoped that this war would end soon, but I should know better. I allowed my overprotectiveness to override my own experiences of such things. I'm sorry, Aurora."

"You have shown alot of potential in skills that would be very valuable, and it would be wrong of us to not allow your expertise to grow. But I sense alot of powerful emotions within you grown from the events that have took place, " Whitegrazer smiled warmly with understanding. Yes, she had noticed Aurora's expressions, feeling the anger and utter disdain she had towards the Predacons, those who would harm her fellow friends. Emotions like that left unchecked or suppressed could do dangerous things to the individual who wields them. She didn't want to see such emotions destroy anyone including Aurora. Because long ago, those emotions held a grip on her too and left scars that made her the individual she was today.

"And that's why I think it is more important now that I-we get you more involved."

The shake of her head was towards herself as she said it, treating it like a game instead of taking in on the fact that they were in the middle of a war. Sheltering Aurora to protect her from this war when they couldn't as the war has made its mark on the young ermine. Her spark weakened from the death of Optimus made her wake up even more to feelings of an even darker storm, predicting the worst yet to come. Loosening of her circuits... the voices inside her own processor...pain all over her... But she kept her own feelings towards herself. Despite it all, she had to be strong.
____________________________________________________________________________

"What good will this do to have such communication between us?"

TyCross raised his right optic abit at Optimus' question than just smiled in mischevious way, "It's a surprise and I want to see the look on your face when it happens. And yes, you will like it."

The string had broken in half which made TyCross' optics twitch at the sting his spark felt. He wouldn't be the only one. He stared at Optimus to make sure he was okay. Not that he was worried, but he needed him in order to do this.

"Don't be a sparkling about the pain," he said it more to himself than to Optimus, "hers is ten times worse."

But knowing his student, she was probably sucking it up with her strength of will. As she always did when she felt such a horrific death.

The string reappeared, "That's her role, her answer."

He was almost there, but realization clicked that this was the part he needed Optimus, and a small smile formed on his features, "She taught you those meditations, didn't she? Well, I need you to really concentrate. Imagine that you are the string, searching for your own half to be completed."

"Focus."

((OOC: I was tempted to have TyCross say, "Find your still point." Beast Machines reference! ))
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"You probably don't want to damage that. Otherwise you might never be rid of him," she reminded her. As much as Blackarachnia hated to admit it....for the time being anyway, she needed to be nice to Tarantulas.

Well, little widow had a point there, but still, a slide wasn't going to kill him.

"Shift through the wreckage and salvage whatever you can, we may have to resort to "borrowing" equipment from the base itself if what we need here has already been destroyed, and I'd rather not risk a meeting with the others in our current state unless absolutely necessary"

Tarantulas had a point there. Megatron would have their hides if they showed their faces. Inferno had to have been sent by him, so he knew what they were up to. From how thing splayed it, he was going to kill whoever it was on that pod. Good thing Optimus took the fall for it, but still, she bet Megatron would love to take advantage of Tarantulas' little handicap. The thought of Megatron keeping him in her body for amusement at Tarantulas' own misfortune and her in line made quickened her haste to find equipment needed to get him out of her head.

"So, how are you going to do this without frying the both of us, Legs?"

She would love to hear how Tarantulas wanted this problem fixed

Starshadow slowed down as she noticed Sonar following her behind. It was the perfect time to caatch up with him and have a nice or horrible conversation, "You haven't told me about your beautiful relationship with Saber for months. So what's going on?"

(the most horrible post in my life. I feel that Star needs to talk more.)

Starshadow slowed down as she noticed Sonar following her behind. It was the perfect time to caatch up with him and have a nice or horrible conversation, "You haven't told me about your beautiful relationship with Saber for months. So what's going on?"

Sonar let out a growl like sigh, of course she would once again asked that question.

"As I told you before its none of your business, so drop it." Sonar said with an actual growl.

Starshadow stopped infront of him with her optics narrowed, "you know I won't. So talk. We can kill time along the way." What was so bad about it that he doesn't want to mention it at all? She wasn't going to move until Sonar says something.

Starshadow stopped infront of him with her optics narrowed, "you know I won't. So talk. We can kill time along the way." What was so bad about it that he doesn't want to mention it at all? She wasn't going to move until Sonar says something.

Sonar had to flap in reverse to avoid hitting her, he let out a soft and annoyed snort before saying a word.

"I've known Saber for a long time. And that's all I'm going to tell you, you nosy femme."

Nemesis wrote:"Tantrum," the female Predacon finally responded to the giant's earlier comment, "We have more Maximals incoming. How about extending a barrel or two to greet them? Their champion's severed head will serve as sufficient proof of your immense power to convince anyone foolish enough to question it."

The large tank didn't need much persuading to attack Maximals. He adjusted course and accelerated towards Orcariner, firing his cannons wildly in his general direction and intending on running him down under his treads.

"I AM CREDIT TO TEAM!" he yelled as he barreled towards the Maximal.

"I've known Saber for a long time. And that's all I'm going to tell you, you nosy femme."

Starshadow was hovering backwards and landed on a tree branch, still not satisfied with the bat's answer. She wanted to know the whole truth. Was it because something bad happened? "I believe you told me that a long time ago. C'mon spit it out. What's wrong? What is so bad that you can't tell?"