The Intergalactic Highway

Arriving at the Maximals' location, Orcariner transformed and punched his way through the ice. He chose not to bother trying to climb up onto the surface since the ground was highly unstable in this particular region. Instead, the Maximal just rested his arms on the ice and leaned forward. It appeared that they somehow created a makeshift tent but everyone appeared to be in good condition. Orcariner wondered how the Predacons managed to leave his group behind relatively undamaged. That was a story for them to share on the way back. Now was the time to retreat.

"How's it going?" he greeted them, "Long story short: the debris turned out to be whatever was left of a Decepticon. I ditched it in the ocean, so while the Predacons are stuck trying to figure out how to fish it out, we probably should use the distraction to head back home for a debriefing."

(Ooc: Aww, taking all my fun away, Orci? )

Nemesis was blissfully unaware of what had occured as a result of her crashing on this planet. Not that she would have minded a fight breaking out between the opposing teams , but rather the fact that she had been in such close vicinity to the one thing she had attempted to avoid to the point of leaving her home planet for it.

Her body sank peacefully into the water, halting partway as she snagged on the bottom of gigantic icebergs floating about the area.

"You all right? Anyone else too injured to make it back to base?"

"I'll be fine," Optimus answered Nightmist. His beast mode was already helping with repairs although it wouldn't be able to heal everything. She had certainly done a great job with Whitegrazer. They really could have used her skills in the last battle with the large energon deposit they successfully mined but that didn't matter now. He was glad she showed up this morning and participated with this mission.

"Affirmative,"

Primal watched Dinobot make haste for Saber-Fang. He didn't think he'd run into any Predacons since they had taken off in a different direction than their "loose" comrade, but if he did, he trusted Dinobot would know what to do and how to protect her. Although... it didn't seem that Saber-Fang was the one who needed protection the way she pounded Starshadow. Which was why he wanted Dinobot to keep his distance from her.

"It's nice to meet you all at least a bit more properly then on a battle field."

The leader smiled lightly to the lizard, and added, "Likewise, Frilla. I think we'll have plenty of things for you to do that will be more to your liking and your skills than the battlefield." There was always data to be analyzed and science to be studied and experimented with. If she was so terribly uncomfortable with fighting in battle, then he was certain she could be just as useful elsewhere.

"Whitegrazer, this is Cheetor," he introduced her to the young cheetah. "And that was Dinobot who took off in search of our missing comrade Saber-Fang. The rest of our team is back at the base, and some others are hundreds of miles away on another mission. You'll meet them soon enough," the battered gorilla explained, hoping they would return safely.

"All right. Whitegrazer maximize."

Seeing the mare transform, Optimus warned her, "You might want to revert back to your beast mode because it will protect you from the raw energon fields on this planet. If you're in robot mode too long, the radiation of the energon will start to short circuit your systems. And too much of that will put you in stasis lock."

"That is what I was here for."

Primal gave her a small frown to that comment. "Unfortunately, the exploration mission you originally signed up for has been deferred," he said, which reminded him of who he really was, as well as his team. He was not some war hero. He didn't sign up for the position he and his Maximals were in. And he had no idea what they had gotten themselves into. His pause gave her an opportunity to interrupt him and save him the time of explaining their whole situation with being stranded on the planet with Megatron since Steelclaw had told her all of that (unbeknown to Optimus). However, he asked her, "What of your stasis pod? Was it damaged?" It could be useful later on for them for whatever reason, or used for spare parts if they could bring it back with them to the Axalon.

-----

... Lets get her out of here.. I'll set up a tent.

Now go.. Don't try anything funny.

Tigatron nodded to Icebreaker and simply glanced at Glowstick and his tentacle before he transformed to his beast mode. He followed the penguin and Wintersong off of the ice and to where Icebreaker would "make camp" with the tent.

This is bad, I'll have to set up the tent as soon as possible. Lets go..Tigatron, I want you and Feralnight to keep watch outside.. trust me.. just stay off the ice.

"Understood," the tiger said, planting himself outside and near the tent. He sat down in the snow and squinted his eyes from the blowing snow, continuously looking around on alert while Icebreaker helped Wintersong. He hoped she hadn't sustained any serious injuries.

"How's it going?"

As a common courtesy, Tigatron stood up on all fours when Orcariner showed up, popping up through the ice nearby. "I believe Wintersong will be all right. Icebreaker is tending to her," he answered the whale.

"Long story short: the debris turned out to be whatever was left of a Decepticon. I ditched it in the ocean, so while the Predacons are stuck trying to figure out how to fish it out, we probably should use the distraction to head back home for a debriefing."

"A Deception?" the tiger repeated him, taken aback by the information. How? Why was there a Decpeticon drifting through space? ...And did it have to land on this planet, the one they were all stranded on? He supposed there was a reason for everything. While he'd like to get back to base for a comfortable rest, he asked Orcariner, "Are you sure? Can it still be activated?" Not that he doubted the killer whale's observations, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know how the orca was so positive that it was off-line for good.

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote: "Whitegrazer, this is Cheetor," he introduced her to the young cheetah. "And that was Dinobot who took off in search of our missing comrade Saber-Fang. The rest of our team is back at the base, and some others are hundreds of miles away on another mission. You'll meet them soon enough," the battered gorilla explained, hoping they would return safely.

"Hello Cheetor!" Whitegrazer gave a small bow, "It's nice to meet you and I can't wait to meet the rest of the crew."

Seeing the mare transform, Optimus warned her, "You might want to revert back to your beast mode because it will protect you from the raw energon fields on this planet. If you're in robot mode too long, the radiation of the energon will start to short circuit your systems. And too much of that will put you in stasis lock."

"Yeah, Steelclaw told me about that." she transformed back to her beast mode since she was tall and she was still a little tired, "He also told me about the situation about Megatron and the Darksyde. I wasn't expecting something like this to be happening to a simple exploration mission..."

She didn't like being in another war; she thought that chapter of her life was over with but it seems she has no choice.

What is that saying? Once in a battlefield, always in a battlefield?

"But can't change any of that now. All we can do is pull together and survive and it looks like you guys are doing a good job of that. I say...that's pretty impressive for an exploration crew." Whitegrazer gave an encouraging smile towards the Maximal leader, he looked like he needed one.

However, he asked her, "What of your stasis pod? Was it damaged?" It could be useful later on for them for whatever reason, or used for spare parts if they could bring it back with them to the Axalon.

"The pod had a very graceful landing." she looked at her pod which still laid outside, sticking like a sore thumb among all the grass, "So the parts should be still useful."

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote:"A Deception?"
"Are you sure? Can it still be activated?"

Orcariner nodded, "The design was unmistakeably Cybertronian; archaic, but still our technology. It had signs of wounds from an attacker. However, I'm not entirely sure if it was the battle damage or the cold that put it in stasis lock. Our ancestors have been known to have a glaring weakness for arctic environments. Even if it were completely dead, we probably wouldn't be able to acquire signature detection to verify this because it's frozen solid. I cannot say for sure whether or not revival is possible, but if the Decepticon is knocked out due to the weather, we may be seeing it in the future."

He pondered to himself whether or not this weakness to sub-zero temperatures would carry on into this warrior's new life. Transformers such as himself were brand new products after the Great Upgrade. Orcariner was actually one hundred percent Maximal hardware and software, therefore, bearing no resemblance to his predecessors. This Decepticon, on the other hand, would need an entirely new body in order to accommodate to this world. Megatron was resourceful, but even he had his limitations. Unless if he was willing to recycle parts from his own comrades, the Predacon leader would have to use whatever hardware he can salvage from the frozen body and upgrade it however he could. The highest priority for this newcomer would be to secure energon dampers and life support technology. The Predacons were offensive-minded, so Megatron may even give her new weapons. Perhaps with a stroke of luck, there would not be enough memory space or hardware supplies to develop a counter for the weakness to cold. With the Maximals already having two ice-oriented personnel, they may be able to rebuke whatever danger this Decepticon posed later on.

Tarantulas wrote:I was never close to that lizard girl, but I believe your Cephalopod friend may have the answers you seek. I just overheard his mubblings one night on a bit of information, "It made sense because we found her again" he said, whatever that means..

Judging by that, Tarantulas was un-phased by her defection. He was probably thinking about something else, as always.

Steelclaw thought for a moment about the cryptic fragment of a statement Tarantulas had overheard, but he couldn't figure out what Glowstick had meant.

"Well, I'll definitely consult with him too," he responded- not that Tarantulas would care what Steelclaw did with what he was told, but Steelclaw did want to acknowledge what he'd said.

* * *

As Dinobot continued running, he came on a gruesome sight. A grizzly bear had been mauled- apparently not long before he came across it- and its carcass had been left on the ground in plain sight.

This reaffirmed for him that he was on the right track, but he realized it would be wise to take extra caution now. He was a Cybertronian, able to take far more punishment than this animal had. But he could conclude from the situation that Saber was out of control- killing for no reason.

He pressed on into the woods ahead, keeping a wary eye out for potential danger.

* * *

"Hey!" Cheetor said back. Whitegrazer was obviously a good fighter, taking Megs on herself, so it was cool to have her on their side. To the Maximals, she'd even seemed laid back and friendly.

But Cheetor did wonder about her being a fighting teacher. Teachers were on the look out for things to fix, and he didn't want her looking down on him like some dentless-armored cadet.

Of course he'd be friendly back to her, and he wasn't going to avoid her either. But he knew things could get interesting.

The creature's hold on Saber was starting to wain, it shook it's head as if trying to clear it. The beast's large paws started to shrink and its body became less powerful then it had been. The massive canines started to grow, the rusty colored fur changed back to light brown and when the transformation was over Saber laid next to a stream exhausted. But she managed to drag herself toward the stream to wash the grizzles blood off her paws and muzzle, once the blood was removed she weakly wondered back to shore then looked for a place to lie down so she could regain her strength before she made the journey back to the Maximal Base.

Oh, that should be interesting. She thought with a small sigh.

Glowstick sighed, then responded back to Snowtrix watching the maximals Alright, but I'd rather you not be out in the open like this. Head back towards the transport, you should be able to find it from the smell of my slime in the snow..

Glowstick then stepped backwards into a hole in the ice Beast mode! he shouted transforming under the water to his squid mode, his body then started to glow as he descended into the water, already he could detect the smell of killer whale in the water, which made sense as he saw Orcariner break out of the ice with half of his body still in the water. The notion of being in the water with the whale made him uncomfortable, but he at least was strangely faster then the killer whale, or assumed he was.


As he came down towards the bottom, he held up one of his tentacles as his body glowed brighter, his eyes examining some debris disturbed from something having been moved, and a different scent in the water, but one he had smelt before, a chemical used to cool ship engines for older model ships. It was strange to find it deep underwater like this, but he shrugged his tentacles I guess this thing must of operated in space.. makes sense. If I remember right, that stuff glowed under UV Light.. he then said to himself, transforming to his robot mode. His right feeder tentacle's photophores changed to a purple color, he then projected light from the center one in a very low level, much like a flashlight, swinging his arm slowly to examine the water, he then started to notice a shining trail of green particles.

He then started moving through the water, following the trail of the chemical.
_________________

Icebreaker finished closing up Wintersong's leg, then went to her other leg overhearing the others outside of the tent. He then carefully moved and opened her leg letting water out onto the ground, then closed that leg setting it back on the stretcher. His visor activated as he then started looking over her body Looks like your body is starting to warm up, once your energized enough you shouldn't have any problems with the cold effecting your circuits.

Icebreaker then moved towards the tent entrance and leaned his head out keeping the door closed with his hand to prevent any heat loss. She should be fine, I got most the water out and heated up with my Break shield, and a little time in the CR chamber should repair any frostbite to her beast mode... So a Decepticon huh? Pretty rare these days.. whenever these days are.

Snow Trix gave a nod, "Just try not to become a squidcicle." She said then looked towards the Maximals a moment. "Beast mode!" Reverting back to her fox form Snow Trix fluffed up her fur against the wind started to follow the stench trying not cringe at the smell. But she wondered why the killer whale had left the object beneath the water when he could have brought with them. Perhaps malfunction? The ice likely damaged it from the impact but then again it could be in a hard stasis. Shaking her head Snow Trix only continued, still pondering on the cybertronian object.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Wintersong nodded a bit, "Thanks again Icebreaker." She said but was still a bit down for having made a stupid decision as she had. Attacking head on was something she normally did and most times it might have worked but it seemed it wouldn't be the case with the squid which made her shudder in disgust. Touching her cheek she couldn't help almost gagging again at the slimy feel of the tentacle, "Who in the right mind would want that kind of beast form." She grumbled and tried to push the thought away. Listening now she overheard some of what was said and what Orcanier found seemed odd.

A Decepticon? Here on this planet? That couldn't be a good sign considering how Decepticons could be dangerous. "We can only hope that 'con stays non-functioning otherwise we got more trouble ahead." She said from inside the tent, testing her movements a bit it she wasn't feeling as bad as earlier and her systems were finally functioning enough she could move around, save for some frostbite. Pushing herself up Wintersong got down from the stretcher the shield was being used for, setting down the canteen and reverting to beast mode.

Frilla glanced to Optimus Primal and couldn't help smiling about that, "Sounds good to me." She replied but then remembered she still had the artifacts of the turrets back at the Predacon base. Could she try and sneak in to get them? Probably not. They'd take them out before she could even get there and she hadn't gotten much from them but here were also the strange rock formations. Quite a change this had turned out, but she was sure even Optimus wouldn't mind knowing a bit about these alien beings.

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

Feralnight listened but frowned, a Decepticon was always bad news and if it were to be functional this was going to be one long war. "Maybe by luck the Preds will take too long to even get it up and roaming, even surely they don't have everything to bring lief support for such an older warrior or technology." She commented before some movement caught her attention. Glowstick had disappeared beneath the water but now Snow Trix was gone. Hopefully the fox was going away and not trying to sneak up on them.

Orcariner nodded to the group's reactions. The term Decepticon had a highly negative connotation associated with it, especially to those who fought and/or studied the Great Wars. It was not something they should take lightly, and since he chose not to bring the body back, Orcariner's top priority was to inform his captain of his findings.

"Let's head back now," he said to the others, "I'm going under again and will meet you back at the beach on dry land."

He dove back into the cold waters and retraced his path. His radar showed that Snowtrix was breaking off from Glowstick's position. It was possible that they had realized the need for a transport.

Tarantulus was indeed thinking over the situation. The Predacons were becoming more outnumbered, worse even when numbers were in their favor they still lost. This combine with his research on the aliens had started making him ponder pulling the metaphorical ejector seat on this plane crash waiting to happen. He would of attempted to steal the squid's transport and modify it for space travel, but Glowstick already seemed extremely distrusting of him and he doubted he could sneak up on someone as paranoid as himself with superior firepower. Worse, the squid appeared to have dibs on Stasis pod technology, he would have to acquire one on his own...

(Prologue for Inferno's arrival)
_________________

Glowstick continued following the trail of coolant in the water, the cold was starting to get to him a bit but he at least had means of warming up if necessary. He raised an optic ridge as he saw an octopus crawling along the sea floor, apparently immune to the brutal cold, then continued on, his optics shifting to notice the white pattern on Orcariner in the distance, seeming to suddenly glow alot less as he soon came towards an abyss. He started to move his tentacle around shining light into the abyss, then spotted a body hanging on a ledge. Beast mode.. he then said to himself, being so close to the sea floor was starting to build up energon resistance, something he didn't need. He transformed to his squid mode, then started making a descent into the abyss, shining a bit brighter as he surveyed the body. It seemed heavily damaged and of ancient cybertronian descent, something he would have to clean out of decommissioned ships sometimes long long ago in his past..the parts usually ending up in the Deadend.

Glowstick's eyes then looked towards the female's chest noticing the damaged purple insignia Well well.. not only a looker, but I'm sure you were fun in your prime.

_________________

Icebreaker leaned back into the tent looking at Wintersong as she got up, he then picked up the Canteen and his shield putting them away, then started taking care of the tent, neatly folding it into a thin square, taking care of the bindings, and pulling the grappling hooks out of the ground having them return to their original size and pack away in his shield. Beast mode! he then shouted transforming to his penguin mode Guess that was a bit.. anti-climatic.. If Rhinox wasn't fixing up the Nomad we could of gotten here a lot faster.. but we can't dwell on that sorta thing.

Dinobot was by no means an expert tracker, but even he could see the branches that Saber had snapped while running in her enraged state. This was in addition to the scent his beast mode was able to pick up from Saber, the occasional paw-print left from a heavy step in a patch of muddy ground, and even a few smears of blood on the foliage from her earlier kill.

It was frightening to see evidence of any Cybertronian losing control that badly, let alone a Maximal who had once held a position of responsibility like Saber had, but it did make his job of following her easier.

He soon detected a mix of smells that indicated he was approaching a stream, but before he reached it, he saw a body in the distance laying next to it. A second inspection quickly confirmed that it was Saber.

"Optimus," Dinobot spoke on his com-link. "I have located Saber- coordinates, 8, 5, 1."

But she didn't appear dangerous. In fact she looked exhausted. And she was certainly her normal size.

Saber heard some thing coming but she figured that it was just a small animal come to stream to drink, even if it was some thing else, she wouldn't have the energy to fight much less win said fight. Instead, she rolled into her side and let the sun warm her body, seeing how that's the only she could do.

What I'm I going to tell the others? She wondered with dread.

"Yeah, Steelclaw told me about that." "He also told me about the situation about Megatron and the Darksyde. I wasn't expecting something like this to be happening to a simple exploration mission..."

Nor I, thought Optimus. And yet, here they were. So, Steelclaw had found her first? He wondered what the bear was doing all the way out here by himself. A simple scouting mission? Recon?

"But can't change any of that now. All we can do is pull together and survive and it looks like you guys are doing a good job of that. I say...that's pretty impressive for an exploration crew."

A smile pulled at the corner of the gorilla's mouth to Whitegrazer's encouraging statement, like an unspoken thank you. While they had been through some tough times already with the Predacons and aliens, he supposed the bright side of it was exatly what she observed. Of course, it won't feel that way the day when he might lose someone under his command.

"The pod had a very graceful landing." "So the parts should be still useful."

Excellent. However, seeing that there wasn't anything nearby to use to make something to drag the pod with them, and Optimus was the only one who could use his hands in beast mode, they would have to pick it up another time. "Good. We'll return for it later," he said, meaning "we" as a Maximal or two in general. ((OOC: No need in actually RPing that out either. ))

"Sounds good to me."

Primal was glad to hear that from Frilla. Some accomodation couldn't hurt.

"Optimus," "I have located Saber- coordinates, 8, 5, 1."

"Acknowledged, Dinobot," the leader responded on the link. "I'll be there shortly. Is she all right? Have you spotted any Predacons in the vicinity?"

"Nightmist, Cheetor, please escort Frilla and Whitegrazer back to Base. Dinobot, Saber-Fang and I will catch up," Primal instructed them. Turning away from the group, the Maximal commander tested his leg which had begun to feel better thanks to his beast mode, and took off on his knuckles at a gallop, heading to the Dinobot's location. His side was still badly shredded from Steelclaw's fiery ammunition, and the head ache lingered, but it was certainly nothing life-threatening. Hopefully Saber-Fang was all right.

-----

"The design was unmistakeably Cybertronian; archaic, but still our technology. It had signs of wounds from an attacker. However, I'm not entirely sure if it was the battle damage or the cold that put it in stasis lock. Our ancestors have been known to have a glaring weakness for arctic environments. Even if it were completely dead, we probably wouldn't be able to acquire signature detection to verify this because it's frozen solid. I cannot say for sure whether or not revival is possible, but if the Decepticon is knocked out due to the weather, we may be seeing it in the future."

Well, that certainly frightened Tigatron, but there was nothing they could do about it now. Hopefully it won't awaken. At least, not while they're still stranded on the planet. If it did, there was no doubt that it would join the Predacons, and the Maximals would be at an extreme disadvantage.

She should be fine, I got most the water out and heated up with my Break shield, and a little time in the CR chamber should repair any frostbite to her beast mode... So a Decepticon huh? Pretty rare these days.. whenever these days are.

Looking over at Icebreaker peeking out of the tent, the tiger was relieved to learn that Wintersong would make a full recovery. He was also curious about the penguin's last remark. It was a rough reminder that they still didn't know exactly when and where they were.

"We can only hope that 'con stays non-functioning otherwise we got more trouble ahead."

Tigatron agreed with his fellow feline. Most certainly more trouble. More than they already had.

"Maybe by luck the Preds will take too long to even get it up and roaming, even surely they don't have everything to bring lief support for such an older warrior or technology."

The white tiger turned his attention to Feralnight and nodded thoughtfully. But they didn't know what the Predacons were capable of. What if they had stumbled upon some alien artifacts on their own recons that the Maximals had missed. They had some fairly intelligent scientists on their side that he was sure could invent, or improve, or upgrade something that might be able to activate that Decepticon. Kind of a troubling thought...

"Let's head back now," "I'm going under again and will meet you back at the beach on dry land."

Watching Orcariner dive back down into the water, something was telling Tigatron not to leave the area but what else could they do?

Guess that was a bit.. anti-climatic.. If Rhinox wasn't fixing up the Nomad we could of gotten here a lot faster.. but we can't dwell on that sorta thing.

The tip of Tigatron's tail swayed lightly as the wind continued to blow. He looked to Icebreaker and the comment he made and agreed that there was nothing they could do about that. Besides, he didn't think anyone was really expecting this to be a Decepticon, and that it would land deep in the depths of icy water.