The Intergalactic Highway

((OOC: Good! Oh my! That's going to be very tiresome, going from airport to airport. XD Oh I just remembered I made a post back then with Blackarachnia but I guess I will just delete that one since like I said on my last post, I was quite confused. XD I'm not now xD))

Blackarachnia webbed on the ceiling but the water was so powerful it broke her away from the webbing. She coughed, drenched soaking wet.

She was in complete thought on the entire matter. If there was a transwarp signature, she will do whatever it takes to get before everyone else but she was comtemplating if it was just fake, a trap like she first thought. But why were there so many traps to keep them away from it though?

"The aliens are either trying to test us again or they are really keeping something from us." She mused with curiosity. After that island, she was very intrigued but cautious of the aliens' power. The fact that she got a taste of it made her want more.

Glowstick watched as the water poured into the hole, then heard a noise, he pointed one of his arms down casting a beam of light, noticing that the cracks that formed had bursted under the weight and flow of the water Hm.. looks like we wont have to worry about the tunnel flooding.. but from the look of the amount of water, they must have tapped into a underground river. There must be something worth interest ahead of this passage if they went to this much trouble.. he reached into the container on his back pulling out a lug wrench and a screw driver, then tossed them over to Cheetor and Wintersong. He then swung out his feeder tentacles wrapping them around Terrorsaur and Blackarachnia lifting them and floating ahead of the group above the water. Well Blackarachnia, you wanted to scout ahead..So you can do that! I'll deal with getting everyone past the water.

As he floated along, the group left behind noticed that strangely, they still had sources of light. Scorponok's makeshift wrench arm, the lug wrench, and Screwdriver all glowed, a cosmetic effect likely added to the items by Glowstick due to his obsession with light. Though they did not glow nearly as brightly as the Squid, or Terrorsaur's new arm which were practically like being around a miniature sun of blue light.

Making it to the end of the Hall, Glowstick turned a corner going into another hallway, he looked at the floor and walls, then carefully set the two down. He then shouted down the hall towards the others as he floated back towards them Alright, who's next?

_____________________

Icebreaker nodded, pulling out a can of spray paint and marking the wall, they then started to walk on the left path. Hm.. While we're searching.. I guess we can talk about something..

Smiling as her missiles hit their mark Snow Trix failed to see Dinobot at first until she heard him snarl and turned optics widening as she saw the eye lasers a little too late and was set flying into a tree. Her vision went blurry for a moment from the collision and Snow Trix shook her head,"Beast mode."She said transforming but was soon unconscious shortly after.

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

Wintersong watched the water then looked towards Glowstick catching the wrench that he tossed and twisted it with her fingers,"You sure have a big fascination with lights there squid." She said before watching him float off with Terrorsaur and Blackarachnia and looked at the water. Fear crept into her spark as she thought back but quickly Wintersong pushed it back,"I'll go ahead to where they are."She said looking at Cheetor and Frilla mostly then gave the remaining Predacons a brief nod before turning and carefully sliding past the small space and close to the water."Beast mode!" She command and transformed holding the wrench in her jaws.

Watching the water once more Wintersong jumped into the water head first. Using her large paws the tigeress began to swim towards where she had seen the three heading, keeping her head above water.The force of it surprised her yet Wintersong wasn't going to let it stop her.

Steelclaw took in everything that Ocariner said. He was surprised that the Maximal wanted to go to the source of the transwarp signature, but his explanation made a lot of sense. He wasn't sure how to respond, and he wanted to hear the opinions of the rest of the group, so he acknowledged the Maximal's comment with a simple, "Hmm."

What came next surprised him.

Ocariner wrote:You said something before about Predacons accepting stereotypes. What are these stereotypes?

But he wasn't without an answer.

"If you don't mind my asking, what did you imagine your mission was today when you found out about the transwarp signature?"

Is he answering my question with another question?

Orcariner went ahead anyway and replied without breaking stride.

"Same as the mission a while back. We find the craft responsible for emitting the transwarp signature and hail an S.O.S. Also like the last time, we expected you guys to come and attempt to break that up. I was hoping we'd actually be successful this time, that is, until this became an apparent trap."

Memories of the past attempt to signal the Cybertronian reconnaissance ship still haunted the Maximals to this day. While cautiously optimistic, it was still a blow to morale knowing that this mission turned out to be just as much as a failure.

(( OOC: For now, I am back at home safe and sound. Back to work tomorrow. But this weekend I will be down in Maryland for a convention, so I may get tied up again. I will try my best to keep up with the game.

@ Worpex: Really? Same difference... Sorry about that. I had a fifty-fifty chance, though. ))

Watching Manterror sneak off, distracted away from him, "Clear Convoy" was taken unaware by Tarantulas' next shot. The web immediately draped over him and pulled him to the ground. Growling, laying on his stomach, the fake Primal struggled to get free. How was it that more and more of these bots could see him when he was cloaked? They learned quickly, did they?

Fools! What do you think you're doing?! That creature is out to exterminate us all! We have no time for your maximal sentiment and stupid squabbles, it'll just take the opportunity to escape! So you survived one dose..your immune system is impressive, but not unheard of...And I have no problem with administering an overdose.

The alien tried to think quickly for an escape while the spider targeted him. To his other side, Feralnight was also aiming at him. Everything was going wrong! Using his good left arm, he reached over his head and unsheathed one of his swords, then sliced through the webbing. Bringing himself up to a kneel and dropping his sword to use his wrist cannons on that same arm, he fired at Tarantulas but took some hits from Feralnight. One hammered his side, and another hit his already badly damaged shoulder. Hollering out in pain, "Gaargh!" he fell on to his side on the ground next to his sword and automatically decloaked, laying visible to everyone. He was then quiet and motionless.

-----

"Where did the sword stab you?"

"Here," Optimus touched his side with his index finger where the alien had thrusted his sword right though his body.

"I don't really agree with this." "If there is a link-"

"What have we... got to lose?" the leader asked, looking up at Whitegrazer and Valkyrie. He knew someone would disagree with this plan, but it was his decision. They had to know if the link worked both ways; it may have devasting affects.

"We have to find a way to severe the link somehow."

"And quickly. If... if Megatron learns of this information..." Primal shook his head, then glanced over his shoulder when Dinobot took off to the battle, peering past the tree line and into the open area where the others were fighting.

"Close your optics, Optimus...deep breaths..."

Just feeling Whitegrazer's gentle grasp on his shoulder relieved some of his tension. Studying her calm face, listening to her soft voice, he trusted her and his red optics went dark. Inhaling deeply, he let out a long exhale and tried clearing his mind. It was difficult to do so in the middle of battle, half his crew missing underground, and their fate of whether or not they recovered the transwarp device. Although his optics were "closed," they narrowed, struggling to focus. Suddenly, Optimus grabbed his right shoulder with his left hand, lifted his head and cried out, "Hhhaaaaarrrgh!" falling on to his side and was then still - when his clone was shot by Feralnight. He tried fighting it, tried following Whitegrazer's earlier instructions, but this time it was too much. He had little control over the matter. Neither him or his clone were in stasis lock, just unconscious. The Maximal leader laid there in silence, his optics dark.

-----

"I know, but I can't help but worry about him."

"Hm," Tigatron nodded to Saber-Fang. "Multiply that by ten and you will understand the concern he holds for each of us every day," the teal Maximal pointed out.

"Well, I can feel my arm again, thank you Tigatron."

"You are welcome, my feline friend," he smiled lightly. "I would avoid putting too much pressure on it before your beast mode can properly repair the damaged joint," Tigatron recommended.

Suddenly hearing Optimus Primal's cry, the maximized white tiger stood up and turned to face in his direction. Waiting for a brief moment, he finally called back to them. "Whitegrazer! What has happened?"

-----

"Hey, Ocariner," "You're the resident detect-energy-and-signature 'bot, right? Can you still detect the transwarp signature down here, or is something blocking you? Because I was thinking, for the optimal effectiveness of this whole trap, the aliens would want to put the false signature close to wherever the most horribly lost place in this cavern is. You know- that way you get as many 'bots in as much trouble as possible. And well, if you can detect where the signature is, than we can make sure we're navigating away from it."

"The transwarp signature is still there, but it's not strong at all. Considering that we're underground, I'd say the beacon was intended to be projected upwards towards the surface to catch our attentions prior to springing the trap. Since we're on a lateral plane and these walls which are made of unknown properties are hindering wave travels, the signal is much weaker. We're fortunate however, that these aliens needed to make this transwarp signature powerful enough to travel across the continent. Such a potent radiation allows it to penetrate the labyrinth and provides us an even greater precise look at where this beacon is coming from. On the other hand, logic dictates that the closer we travel to the beacon, the more populated the area will become with traps. It's not a good idea to go in that direction, but I don't know where else we could wander off to."

Listening to Orcariner and Steelclaw, Rattrap stopped for a moment and stood up on his hind legs, scratching at the rock wall and feeling around for any loose or soft dirt. Something like that could either lead to another tunnel or a cave in. Either way, he knew he should be checking for such weak spots so no one would accidentally puncture it or apply pressure and create a collapse. Getting back down to all fours, the rat continued forward.

"You said something before about Predacons accepting stereotypes." "What are these stereotypes?"

"If you don't mind my asking, what did you imagine your mission was today when you found out about the transwarp signature?"

"Same as the mission a while back. We find the craft responsible for emitting the transwarp signature and hail an S.O.S. Also like the last time, we expected you guys to come and attempt to break that up. I was hoping we'd actually be successful this time, that is, until this became an apparent trap."

It was incredibly difficult for Rattrap to keep his mouth shut during their conversation. "Teh!" he finally let out. "We knew you and your Predhead friends wanted yer greedy little hands all over it, so we had ta come an' stop ya's, just like every other time. What're we supposed ta think when Megatron gets a hold of that alien technology? That he's gonna share it? No way, Yogi. So before he steals it and tries killin' us and conquering the universe, we gotta save ourselves and stop him, you, and de rest of the Predascum that just wants ta rule everything with an iron fist." Anger and frustration could be sensed in his voice. "And this right here is exactly what I imagined our mission bein' like taday. Nothin' but aliens, Predacons, and traps."

Noticing something ahead of them, Rattrap suddenly took off at a light gallop, scurrying out of reach of their illumination, seemingly vanishing in the darkness ahead before stopping and looking down another tunnel. They had come to a fork. Now what? Looking back at the group with their shallow light scource still walking toward him, he said, "Welp, we got another problem, guys."

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote: "Here," Optimus touched his side with his index finger where the alien had thrusted his sword right though his body

.

She looked at what he pointed out. Rhinox's scans showed nothing. Maybe one of his new wounds perhaps?

"What have we... got to lose?" the leader asked, looking up at Whitegrazer and Valkyrie. He knew someone would disagree with this plan, but it was his decision. They had to know if the link worked both ways; it may have devasting affects.

"And quickly. If... if Megatron learns of this information..." Primal shook his head, then glanced over his shoulder when Dinobot took off to the battle, peering past the tree line and into the open area where the others were fighting.

They had nothing to lose...but from her point of view, nothing to gain either. If the link works both ways, what could they do? They certainly weren't going to exploit it. Maximals won't do that to any one especially not their own leader even if it means keeping a foe alive.

And the Predacons? They need to think how to deal with such a situation.

Just feeling Whitegrazer's gentle grasp on his shoulder relieved some of his tension. Studying her calm face, listening to her soft voice, he trusted her and his red optics went dark. Inhaling deeply, he let out a long exhale and tried clearing his mind. It was difficult to do so in the middle of battle, half his crew missing underground, and their fate of whether or not they recovered the transwarp device. Although his optics were "closed," they narrowed, struggling to focus. Suddenly, Optimus grabbed his right shoulder with his left hand, lifted his head and cried out, "Hhhaaaaarrrgh!" falling on to his side and was then still - when his clone was shot by Feralnight. He tried fighting it, tried following Whitegrazer's earlier instructions, but this time it was too much. He had little control over the matter. Neither him or his clone were in stasis lock, just unconscious. The Maximal leader laid there in silence, his optics dark.

She was about to speak but Optimus cried out again to the point of unconsciousness, "Optimus?" She shook him after she got down on her knees, "Come on, you have to stay awake." She shook again and lightheartedly tried to get his attention, "You can't be bored of my teaching already? They fall asleep at the second step. Come on, wake up."

Suddenly hearing Optimus Primal's cry, the maximized white tiger stood up and turned to face in his direction. Waiting for a brief moment, he finally called back to them. "Whitegrazer! What has happened?"

"He went to unconsciousness." She looked back towards the battleground with the clone at the same position, "Optimus can't take much more punishment. We have to find a way to severe the link."

Whitegrazer was trying to look into Optimus' other injuries. There has to be something. If they can't find it soon, they will have to take desperate measures. Meaning they would have to ask the clone directly--problem is, he might not know either-- and with the Predacons around, privately. Those smokes grenades Icebreaker gave them were really tempting to her...

((OOC: Severe sore throats and headaches are so uncool! I hope this post is all right.))

"Hmm? Talk about what?" Starshadow asked. There was no interesting topic to talk on. Besides, they needed to find their teammates instead of a nice chit-chat session.

"How about the time when you first joined your first team ?" Cecaelia said.

"On Cybertron or this planet?"

"Cybertron!"

"....I don't want to talk about it..." Starshadow's ears went back.

Icebreaker looked around as he walked, he glanced towards Cecaelia as she mentioned first team. First team huh..? That wasn't too long ago.. Was about 8 of us in the emergency team..but we'd usually be sent off in pairs, I was usually sent off with Firestorm.. She was a spunky little thing and about as good as Rhinox as a Medic.. had a twisted hobby of custom weapons. Sadly, some things happened..the majority of them died..and after some vigilantism and heavy over energizing.. I got sick of being on Cybertron and joined the Axalon.. figured it'd be a nice change of pace exploring..And now.. here I am, repairing maximals and dealing with aliens,evil clones, and mad science on a daily basis..So much for normal.

He put his arms behind his head as he walked, then spoke up So Cecaelia, how about you?

___________________

Megatron walked towards the group of transformers, glancing towards the clone still in the web. He gave a laugh Well well.. you appear once again. he then transformed and brought his foot down on the body, then pointed his T-rex head toward's the creature's face. When will they learn..We already knew and had the tactics to take care of you, appearing again simply means we were more prepared this time.. though I see.. not prepared enough.

Tarantulus slowly got up from the ground, his chest sparking with noticed missing tissue from the shot fired by the clone. Megatron..how nice of you to show up..

Megatron nodded I'm certain it is, for you. Now then Tarantulus.. I believe you should make yourself.. useful. I want this creature's data tracks hacked, now. Any information we can find out about these aliens might be valuable.. Yesss..

Tarantulus nodded moving toward the creature pulling out a small device, he then pulled a wire out of it and plugged it into the neck of the clone, then pulled a wire out of the side of his head and plugged it into the device. A noise started to come from the device as it started to download from the creature.

Starshadow didn't know what to say then. Losing teammates or friends could be heartaching. She sighed and decided to share her days on Cybertron, "Well...as for me,, the first team I joined was uh... in the Hell-Fang Society. I was a shy little girl back then, too scared to say anything, suggest an idea or at least make a conversation until my master taught me things and blah...Though I get bullied and demoralized often, my master was always the one to motivate me, to encourage me. I miss the old days in my own team...where I get to kick their big hollow heads."

Cecaelia just pouted and took a deep breath. "WELL! That's good for you while my first day in the Hell-Fang SUCKED.....a lot.." she said and crossed her arms. "First day in the gathering venue, boring "orientation". Secondly, study some technology slag and stuff. Next, physical training for four megacycles with 15 cycles of break...IT WAS A NIGHTMARE!!"

"Heh...just four hours? I had eight hours with 30 cycles for a break. It was horrible. I wasn't good at running back then so I did screwed up the training. After the last hour of enjoyment and relaxation, I had to do 4 more megacycles of training in another planet of doom while the others could party in the bar... That was the scariest moment in my whole entire life! All alone with no one to be my own buddy for once in the dark." Starshadow supressed a shiver when she remember she was almost killed by one of the local beasts in that planet.

Airazor moved through the tunnels, listening to the Orca and Bear's conversation. As they walked throughout the passages, she became more and more frustrated with this labyrinth. The whole thing just didn't seem to make any sense to her at all. Why would the Aliens do this? What is the whole point behind it? Were they trying to test them or kill them? Seeing as how they could create an entire tunnel marked with traps and catch them into it, you would think they could just as easily collapse it. That would kill all of those underground... yet, they didn't. Instead, they marked traps to see if the bots were capable of outsmarting them. The falcon simply couldn't understand it. Keeping to herself for now, she moved forward, hoping that the mystery would resolve itself in time.

"Welp, we got another problem, guys."

Now this was certainly a problem. Two passageways, and they couldn't be sure where either of them went. "What do we do now?" She spoke out-loud, hoping one of the others would have a good idea. "Splitting up might be the best option. One of these passages could lead to the exit!" Airazor decided not to mention the possibility that the other passage may lead to certain doom. She would leave that kind of talk to one of the pessimists on the team, namely, Rattrap.

(( OOC: I'm just moving forward a little bit with OP and CC. I just had a startling revelation (as Dinobot once put it) today at work that I thought I might have some fun with these two while I can, and complicate things since CC's demise seems a bit too easy this time. And also show a glimpse into the future alien technology that we'll see more of in season 3 with Cheetor. Yesss.

Awe. Whitegrazer is so cute. ^_^ Don't worry, una, Whitegrazer will still be able to help OP. Hope you feel better real soon! ))

"Optimus?" "Come on, you have to stay awake." "You can't be bored of my teaching already? They fall asleep at the second step. Come on, wake up."

There was no response from the Maximal leader.

Well well.. you appear once again. When will they learn..We already knew and had the tactics to take care of you, appearing again simply means we were more prepared this time.. though I see.. not prepared enough.

Patience. If Megatron was truly that blind, then he was in for a surprise.

Megatron..how nice of you to show up..

I'm certain it is, for you. Now then Tarantulus.. I believe you should make yourself.. useful. I want this creature's data tracks hacked, now. Any information we can find out about these aliens might be valuable.. Yesss..

As soon as Tarantulas attempted to download data from the alien clone, a burst of electricity was sent through the connection and began electricuting the scientist at a very high voltage. It was meant to stop the unauthorized download and short circuit the Predacon enough to knock him backwards and away from the unconscious body. That could have been predicted, but not what happened next. Bright white, illuminated tentacles began oozing out of the alien's chest, then started coiling around his injured shoulder, arm, and then his side and extended to his back. When they touched Megatron's foot that was holding the clone down, the Predacon may have felt an odd sensation of the strongest and quickest power of healing. Something that he would want to get his hands on.

Such a scene may have frightened those surrounding the fake Primal, or kept them in so much suspense that they failed to react save for watching the obscure technology in pure wonder. As the tentacles retracted back into his chest and disappeared, it showed the clone had been repaired; for the most part. While they may have been stunned watching this turn of events, the Vok regained consciousness and looked at Megatron's weapon in front of his face. His optics were no longer glowing red; they were now a bright white...

Meanwhile - when "Clear Convoy's" connection electricuted Tarantulas - the sensation awoke Optimus. Gasping in the sudden pain, the sudden rude awakening, he grabbed his neck with one hand and growled in his throat although there was nothing there to indicate what was causing the agony. Leaning up on his right elbow, which indicated that he felt no more pain to his right arm and shoulder, he looked to Whitegrazer in fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear as if he were drowning in the deep, dark ocean and couldn't reach the surface. "Whitegrazer... I..." Primal tried speaking. "I can't..." He grabbed his chest when he felt something highly unusual inside. "Put... Stasis lock," he struggled incoherently. Briefly bowing his head with his marked up chin, he looked back up with his optics now glowing the purest bright white instead of his normal dark red color with brighter red pupils, and his mouth plate closed, shielding his mouth. Lowering his hand from his chest, he stood up, ignoring the female Maximal before him, and began walking toward the clone, Tarantulas and Megatron, leaving Whitegrazer and Valkyrie without another word, and exiting the forest.

With Megatron still holding him down, he came up with a plan. Looking over as the Vok noticed Optimus coming, doing as he was told through their link, the clone narrowed his white optics, sending him the command.

Approaching the two Predacons from behind using the element of surprise, Primal lifted his right arm and fired twice at Megatron's back with his wrist cannons, continuing on his walk toward them. The command received was to get the Predacon leader off of the Vok clone.

(( OOC: How's that for fun? If it was too much all at once, let me know and I'll edit. ))

On safe ground, Terrorsaur followed Blackarachnia. He had no intentions of returning to the water due to his lacking of arms save for a single tentacle that was still foreign to him.

"Does anyone have any idea where we're going?" he asked, feeling a bit anxious.

Meanwhile, Scorponok had clung to the wall with his tail. The construct was so heavily fortified that even the razor sharp stinger was slipping from its hold due to lack of penetration. The black armor he was wearing was weighing him down, and Scorponok was not design to operate underwater.

"Grab this!"

The lieutenant looked out of curiosity and was startled to see Terrorsaur peering over the edge with his tentacle dangling. The limb was disgusting as it mindlessly weaved through the air. Scorponok quickly overcame his concern with the flyer's control over this new arm with his fear of drowning. Using his remaining pincer, he snatched the appendage and let his tail go, swinging towards the safe, dry ground that Terrorsaur and Blackarachnia were perched on.

"Gah!"

"Stop complaining and pull me up!"

The pain of the pincer piercing his squishy tentacle seared up and down Terrorsaur's right side. He silently cursed Glowstick for not being built to handle physical punishment such as this. The pterodactyl hurriedly pulled as hard as he could to bring his superior to safety but the tentacle stretched to his surprise. He also silently cursed this appendage for being elastic. Scorponok used his makeshift hand to help himself climb. The pain of two varying pincers was certainly not pleasant, but Terrorsaur managed to bring Scorponok to safety.

"Let's not do that again," he said, looking at his sore limb.

Panting from the swim Wintersong reached the perch where the three Predacons were and used a paw to pull herself closer, digging her claws into the stone floor and using her other front paw to pull up. Using her back paws the tigeress got herself onto the perch walking past the three and shook the water off her fur,"Maximize!"She commanded and with a low growl transformed picking up the wrench. Sitting down Wintersong waited for the others to be brought over and took the chance to catch her breathe.

Frilla watched Wintersong swim ahead and looked at the rushing water for a long moment then glanced up as Glowstick was coming back."Think we may need a lift Glowstick." She answered him not liking the thought of trying to swim in a strong current. Or at least attempting it. Though the frilled lizard wondered what more would lie ahead of them or what other traps may be set up.