The Intergalactic Highway

(Since we are covering radio calls, also.. Nexus Prime doing something strange and evil? What a twist! Also just to note to other players, Nexus Prime's disguise ability is not the same as Umbra's.. Nexus's is better then Umbra's as he can copy perfectly. )

Tarantulas wrote:"Arachnitron, Umbra, Spineback, report! I'm already back at base, where are the rest of you? Have you secured the prisoner?"

Umbra activated his radio speaking up in normal tone. Confirmed on route, there was a delay.. from the noises made from her, I can only assume Arachnitron's vocalizer was crushed by the maximal Badger "Ironclaw" but escaped his grasp. The prisoner is secured with me.. enemy reinforcements are on the way but those shouldn't pose an issue. Going into radio silence to prevent enemy detection.

Umbra lowered his sonar visor as he continued moving through the treetops of the rainforest, now able to see further into the darkness. He turned off his comlink system, not having to speak on the radio reduced the likely hood of anyone overhearing him speak, as well as removed his radio presence from anyone that might possibly be able to detect radio frequencies, as Umbra didn't fully understand the Maximal's capabilities and would attempt to be as cautious as possible. He also didn't know the strength of Tarantulas's cyber venom, he would probably have to listen if Cheetor was waking to poison him a few more times to keep him unconscious, but the webbing around his body would probably keep him from doing anything..

Umbra continued to hold his side, the jarring movement of swinging didn't help with the pain of being shot, but he dealt with it. At least he wasn't leaking energon, the last thing he would want is a trail for them to follow easily.

( Cheetor probably doesn't wake up, or else the Predacons are going to wonder why he has 40 stab wounds all over his body. *LOL*)

(OOC: Alright! My first in game post! I am still new to this, so if there is anything I am doing wrong or I need to improve, just let me know.)

High above the planet, a ship orbits the planet. Hiding behind the moon, a sleek black ship floats. The Ambition.

Sitting at bridge, hidden in darkness, only slightly illuminated by the vid-screens, sits a bot. He already had used the ships sensors to scan the planet's life forms. He sat admiring his new form. He thought it appropriate and had a slight smirk on his face. He turns his attention to what little the scans are telling him. He knew if got any closer to the planet he would risk being discovered by each factions sensors.
I did not like this, the key to a good strategy is information on the enemy.

He looked towards the time. I think he has had long enough.

Night Terror, as he now called himself, began to set coordinates to land on the planet. The Ambition began its decent towards the planet.

"Computer, begin activation sequence."

Orcariner flew without saying anything as he took in Optimus' words. It essentially was everything he expected, and needed, to hear from the noble Maximal leader. However, the transmetal gorilla did bring up an interesting question that the orca had never even considered. How would Steelclaw feel about Icebreaker's death, assuming that he was even aware of it. Being so caught up in the dark whirlwind of vengeance, Orcariner had never bothered to put himself in the Predacon's position. He immediately assumed the worst just because it was his best friend who wound up being exterminated in that encounter.

"You're right, Optimus," he replied after the commander was finished speaking, "I didn't look at it that way."

Now, more than ever, he longed to meet Steelclaw. It did not matter if this meeting took place on the battlefield or if it were a random crossing of paths. He needed to meet with the black bear and tell him what had happened. He needed to hear things from the latter's perspective.

"Thanks for talking to me about this, and I'm sorry for letting you down in any way. I won't be able to completely reverse my attitude immediately, but I'll sure promise you that I'll try to improve it over time. Thank you."

Optimus Primal wrote:"Orcariner, stretch your sonar as far as you can. We need to find Tarantulas."

Diverting the majority of his processing power to his Beacon 2.0, Orcariner relayed all of the information to Optimus' interface. Even after the discussion with his leader, the flying giant felt too emotionally compromised to act as the sole navigator.

((OOC: Truth be told, that last part is a cop-out since I'm not sure who's all in the area that Optimus and Orcariner are flying into. I'm typing this while taking a short break from Physics homework so I didn't feel like reading the last couple of pages to figure out what happened to which character lol.))

(Yep, I'll cover Terrorsaur and Tarantulas while Darkspark is gone. Phoenix is better suited for dealing with Megatron.)

Umbra wrote:Confirmed on route, there was a delay.. from the noises made from her, I can only assume Arachnitron's vocalizer was crushed by the maximal Badger "Ironclaw" but escaped his grasp. The prisoner is secured with me.. enemy reinforcements are on the way but those shouldn't pose an issue. Going into radio silence to prevent enemy detection.

Wa-wait! Blasted Cephalopod.. Tarantulas muttered annoyed as Umbra suddenly shut the radio off, however his report was detailed enough to understand the situation. Tarantulas turned back towards Megatron Only the feline Lord Megatron, it would seem the others were held up by the Maximals, but escaped and will be here shortly.

Rhinox wrote:"This is the Axalon. You rang, Darksyde?"

Terrorsaur responded back Indeed we did.. Tell Optimus if he wants...

Terrorsaur stopped putting his hand over the microphone as he looking towards Tarantulas for a moment Er.. Which feline is it? They have like three of them.. and now we have two.

Tarantulas face palmed with annoyance, then sharply spoke back throwing his arms down Cheetor, you imbecile! Gah!

Terrorsaur shrugged Whatever. Ahem.. If Optimus ever wants to see Cheetor and the new Maximal Banshee alive again, then he needs to come here with Nexus Prime.. Alone!

The power surged as commanded. A charging sound began to whine and got louder and louder until it fell silent. The ship was almost completely dark when suddenly two lights shot on at the back end of the ship. The lights revealed the presence of something. The body was lifeless, held to the bulk head by powerful restraints. Energy converged to one single eye and it illuminated deep red. Power reached the rest of the body and hundreds of thick plates shifted very quickly forming the armour for his entire body. The restraints disengaged, he was now free. The giant robot stepped down from his station, his large feet clanged against the shiny dark floor. He underwent his basic protocols. His body shifted slightly and jerked in certain ways. It sounded like gears grinding and metal buckling. Then it suddenly stopped. A voice then emitted from the machine from an unknown source because he has no mouth.
"Enforcer deployed and fully operational. Designation... Dirge" he said in a deep mono tone voice.

Whitegrazer had stiffened, staring through the bulkheads of the Axalon with optics wide. A chilling wind grasped her and like a blade, she felt like someone cut through her back and stabbed her spark. Her spark was rapidly beating and her head felt like static. An image flashed, but too fuzzy in white and black bars. She couldn't place the person she saw nor could she understand what was she feeling. Confused. Disoriented. But it wasn't just that. She was seeing other people and it was all just hurting her. What was she seeing? What was happening?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Blackarachnia was almost finished with her little project. Still, she was left oblivious with the current situation going on in the Darksyde, but she didn't care. Not until she got Tarantulas' out of her head. The more time he spent there, even if it wasn't as strong as it was, she could see things, hear things. Whispers. Maybe she was seeing Tarantulas' past operations or something. But she had to smirk at one piece of information. It was baout the aliens. Only his thoughts, feelings towards them: contempt. Ohh, so that's why he got his legs in a bind over them? She took off the protective gear and smiled. she pushed a button as the scanner went around. So far so good.

(( OOC: I'm going to let Umbra get away with Cheetor for the sake of future negotiations between the Preds and OP, which will need to be delayed until after or during the virus outbreak because I'll need OP back at the Axalon shortly for something else first. ))

"You're right, Optimus," "I didn't look at it that way."

Orcariner had no idea what an enormous relief that was to Optimus. ...Assuming he was being genuine. He certainly hoped so. He knew there had to be another angle for him to make the orca see so he wouldn't just be focusing on himself and his anguish.

"Thanks for talking to me about this, and I'm sorry for letting you down in any way. I won't be able to completely reverse my attitude immediately, but I'll sure promise you that I'll try to improve it over time. Thank you."

"No, Orcariner, thank you," Primal emphasized as the flying whale's words seemed to lift a very heavy weight off of his shoulders. Nexus would have been proud of him. "We'll get through it." Now his mind could focus on everything else had been going on and things that were about to get worse.

When Orcariner forwarded his Beacon data to his commanding officer, the blue gorilla frowned and continued scanning below them with his vision. "I'm not finding him," he said concerned and disappointed as he kept his hover board straight and steady in their speedy flight, his arms angled out to his sides a little bit.

Meanwhile, back at the Axalon, Rhinox had a response, and it was not what he had expected...

Indeed we did.. Tell Optimus if he wants...

Terrorsaur? Great... The engineer waited impatiently for the bird to continue. He wasn't even prepared? What could they possibly want?

Whatever. Ahem.. If Optimus ever wants to see Cheetor and the new Maximal Banshee alive again, then he needs to come here with Nexus Prime.. Alone!

They... They had Cheetor and... Banshee? She must have been the protoform that Dinobot's team had gone after. So that's where she had been this whole time. And he knew why she was there. No... Immediately Rhinox already knew where this was leading to and that Optimus and Orcariner had failed in rescuing them. His temporarily stunned silence obviously proved that Terrorsaur's request had hit a nerve with the rhinoceros. "Hold, please," was all he could return to the Darksyde. Muting that channel, his crimson optics seemed to stare into space. No one else was around him in the bridge and he didn't quite know how to tell Optimus about this. Finally, he opened communication to his old friend out in the field.

"Optimus, halt your search," Rhinox told him. "The Predacons... They have Banshee and Cheetor... They're demanding you and Nexus alone for an exchange of their lives."

Primal suddenly pulled his board upward for an abrupt stop and cut the power to his thrust until he leveled out and was hovering in one spot in the air. "Orcariner, stop!" he called to him. "We're too late..." His mind scrambled for a solution as anxiety was building up inside. The majority of his Maximals were still injured, so there was no hope in pulling off a full frontal assault on the Darksyde to get them out. He'd have to buy them time. Holding his hands to his head he thought, Primus, not Cheetor and Banshee... This was not good. This was not good. Slag it all! He wanted to turn himself into them right then and there to stop anything they might to do to harm them, but he couldn't. He had to think this through, but he couldn't bare the thought of how they'd be treated. Cheetor certainly didn't deserve it; he was so young. And Banshee... well, she was innocent in all of this. This wasn't her mission at all. Lowering his arms he said to Rhinox, "Tell them... Tell them you weren't able to reach me. We need to stall negotiations. We're on our way back to Base." Optimus motioned Orcariner to turn around with him and as he did so himself, he blasted off back to their HQ. Then he suddenly felt something from Whitegrazer. Something was wrong. There was a great deal of confusion within her. Whitegrazer, he thought with great concern. Despite their advantage of having Nexus Prime in their ranks now, everything was still falling apart. Increasing his board's propulsion, he blasted off quicker to his broken vessel.

"Dinobot, we must return to the base immediately. Does anyone on your team need a lift?" he asked through his comm. link as he and Orcariner hastily returned to their location on their way back.

"Copy," the robust rhino replied, quickly thinking of something to say to Terrorsaur as he turned off the muted transmitted.

"Darksyde, Optimus is out of range and I'm unable to reach him. You'll have to wait until he returns, but in order for him to comply, you have to guarantee us their safety." Hopefully they would accept this and wait without harming their prisoners. Rhinox paused when he thought he heard something unusual in the corridor followed by foot steps coming toward the bridge. Standing up, he walked over to the entrance way and looked down the hall only to see Sonar carrying Saber-Fang who seemed to be unconscious.

"What the...!?" How did he get out of the brig?! His optics widened in surprise before they narrowed in anger. Reaching behind him, he went to pull out one of his chain guns...

-----

"Hey, Whitegrazer, you okay?" Rattrap asked her when he had turned away from the pod that he and Aurora were studying and looked at her because she had been so quiet. She looked like she was lost in space, standing there with a blank expression.

"What the...?!

Sonar smirked at his reaction, then sent out a wave of sound, moments later he received images and narrowed his clouded optics at what he saw.

"That would be unwise, Maximal. I maybe blind, but I can still see." He coolly spoke then walked closer.

"Let me pass and leave this ship and no harm will befall Saber-Fang. Deny me this simple request and I promise it will not end well for anyone."

(( OOC: So about the virus... Its main priority is to make everyone fearful? Fearful of... everyone else? Like some sort of paranoia, schizophrenia outbreak? Or face their worst fears with hallucinogens? And are there symptoms?

N-H, I'm not sure what you want Rhinox to do. I don't think he'd let Sonar go, in which case, I imagine he would then infect him with the virus or something. ))

( I believe it's supposed to make people hallucinate there worst fears like the Scarecrow's fear toxin from Batman. Also.. I have no idea how it's spread. Like a gas or spread from contact.. If it works like Cyber venom or what.

So Sonar's total blindness has kicked in? That's going to probably hurt his science skills alot not being able to read computer monitors or instruments anymore. )

Megatron impatiently tapped his fingers together as he awaited a response about his demands from the Maximals. Knowing his foe as he did, he knew Optimus would give himself up for any member of his crew, even someone as useless as the juvenile kitten and this.. Banshee. The fact that she was a Predacon by build and Maximal by choice was enough to make his mech fluid boil, since there was nothing Megatron detested more than a traitor, but he would still gladly give the hostages up if it meant putting an end to Optimus and his mentor.

His thoughts lingered a bit on Nexus Prime. The aging admiral was more of a wild card than Optimus, but hopefully he too would follow that silly moral code most Maximals stuck to and thus would surrender himself as well. And if they didn't.. well.. somehow Megatron doubted that Tarantulas would turn down a feast like that. Either way he was getting something out of it, even if that something was just the knowledge of having caused even more agonizing grief on his mortal enemy. Yesssss...

Rhinox wrote:"Darksyde, Optimus is out of range and I'm unable to reach him. You'll have to wait until he returns, but in order for him to comply, you have to guarantee us their safety."

A slight frown was the only reaction Megatron gave to that response. He had very much so looked forward to hearing Optimus agree to his terms, foolish as the Maximal leader was, but he supposed that could wait.. for a short while.

"Very well. Terrorsaur, inform them not to test my patience for too long. In the meanwhile no further harm shall come to our guests."

Rattrap wrote:"Somethin' tells me you ain't tellin' me somethin'," he confronted her in a playful manner. "Did you already know about dis?"

Aurora's green optics widened ever so slightly as she looked over at the rat, but then she noticed he didn't look mad or anything so she merely shrugged and offered a quick..

"Maaaybe, maybe not," followed by a wink before she looked back at the symbols again. She didn't really wish to go against Optimus' orders so she preferred to keep quiet about her experiments for now. Explaining only some of it without revealing the entire thing would just be too complicated to deal with at the moment, they had more pressing issues at hand after all.

Rattrap wrote: "I think they're Cybertronian... but I can't read 'em. Must be some kinda ancient dialect or somethin'. But that doesn't make sense. It ain't ours, and nobody was inside of it, so whose is it? Where did it come from? ...And where and who's the protoform...?"

Again Aurora could do little but shrug, this time because she honestly had no idea what the answers were. There was no spillage of mech fluid inside the empty pod, which indicated that if there had been a protoform inside, somehow it had managed to walk away unscathed. Which almost seemed a bit unlikely given the damage done to the pod itself.

"Your guess is as good as mine.. But between you and me, I think this pod was empty upon crashing. But that raises the question of why an empty pod of unknown origin would simply crash here.. now. "

She paused for a moment before looking back at Rattrap.

"Could it be related to the arrival of the Akira?"

Nexus Prime increased his pace a bit, deliberately taking a different path than Sonar so that he wouldn't be around when the crazy bat decided to let all the pit loose. He still had a lot of work to accomplish here, but while the coast was clear he needed to slip away for a few moments so that he could send a transmission.. without the Maximals noticing.

(ooc: Personally I like the idea of the virus being spread by touch a bit more.. Through the air is just a little bit too much to deal with.)

"Dirge, welcome back online." Night Terror said with a slight smirk, turning towards the large bot.

"We are beginning to make planet fall. I want you to be fully prepared to to deal with whatever threat we encounter. Standing orders will remain the same; defend me, and should I become incapacitated get me to safety. Do you understand?" Night Terror did not wait for Dirge's response. He knew his soldier would do what he was order to.

"By now the majority of our enemy should be too preoccupied to notice our decent. But you never know, some of them may need to be dealt with. If so then we will show them how True Predacons rage war!"

Night Terror turned back to the controls with a toothy grin.

(OOC: If either side is able to, they would probably be picking up the ship now since it is entering the atmosphere. I was going to land nearer to the Axalon rather than the Darksyde, but still a little distance from it.)

(Okay, for convenience sake I'm just going to have Umbra head to the Predbase and assumed Arachnitron just escaped. Also.. while this may not come up, but just incase for asking.. if the Virus is spread via touch, with Landslide's resistance to Cyber venom due to being ridiculously dense from Rheanimum gas exposure, is he also resistant to said virus? )

Megatron wrote:"Very well. Terrorsaur, inform them not to test my patience for too long. In the meanwhile no further harm shall come to our guests."

Terrorsaur nodded, then responded Yes yes, we guarantee their safety.. But do not test our patience maximal. Darksyde out.


Silently walking into the Darksyde, Umbra walked into the bridge carrying Cheetor over his shoulders while holding his right side. Tarantulas glared at the Cephalopod Where have you been?!

Umbra set Cheetor down on the floor, then glanced towards Tarantulas As I reported. There was a delay due to Ironclaw strangling the life out of Arachnitron when you ran off with Banshee. You requested she return too, so I couldn't leave her behind.

Tarantulas shook his head If that's the case then where is she?

Umbra simply shrugged She'll be here, we can't all move as fast as you Lieutenant.

Tarantulas gave a frustrated hrmp She'd better.

Umbra looked towards Terrorsaur Has Cecaelia returned with the Leviathan?

Terrorsaur simply shaked his head No, no sign of her or that rust bucket.

Umbra gave a puzzled look, then looked towards Megatron She said she was going to take that ship for a test run after performing repairs on it, but it's been too long. I'll track her down as you originally ordered my lord. he said, then gave a polite bow. He turned, starting to head out of the bridge.

After which Terrorsaur spoke up Whoa, The scanners have detected something coming in! Something big... Looks like another ship coming for a landing, not too far from the Maximal's base.

((OOC: Sonar knows that Rhinox won't let him go and releasing the virus anyway was part of his plan. His blindness is fading, but his vision will eventually go out the window. As long as he doesn't sonic blast a wall at close range again. Lets just say there's two stages to the virus on how it spreads. Stage one is first contact with the virus. When released the once liquid chemical reacts with the air and becomes a gas infecting those in the room.

After the the gas evaporates, the virus is then spread by physical contact that is stage two. As to the effects of said virus, I like the hallucinating Scarecrow venom thing. Or the virus can effect people differently. For example; Dinobot finds himself in a Maximal torture chamber while Rattrap is hallucinating about thing completely different. Like he's on a beach some where drinking an energon margarita then everything goes to h*ll in a handbasket. Like a good dream becames a really bad and possibly traumatizing nightmare. I honestly have way to much time on my hands. Lol.))

( Okay, so it is Biological based. That makes things simpler then. )