The Intergalactic Highway

OOC: Sorry everyone....I was in the hospital all day Thursday and haven't really been feeling all that great ever since. I've also been working 12 straight days with my only day off being that one day I was in the hospital all day. So I'm beat. I'll probably post tomorrow when I get home from work. But I'm just too tired tonight to pull off a post....

((OOC: Oh dang, Blackrosefencer. I hope you feel better and find some time to take a breather from all of that soon. ))

DarkSpark wrote: Blackarachnia realized how it was too late for Tarantulas, watching him as his burnt body convulsed. Slag, without him...we can't finish the pod! Then an idea, an idea that made her shiver to her very core, popped into her mind. Taking the green visor Tarantulas had used to work on the pod, she put it on and attached it to Tarantulas' mind.

I better not regret this.

Everything turned black and the feeling of her falling down a huge hole overcame her. Colors zipped past her as she continued her descent before a light blinded her eyes and Tarantulas dark lair appeared. Walking towards Tarantulas' computer consoles, she begin her searches for the information that would help her finish the pod.

Everything seemed to go too well and that a cold, shiver ran down her circuits.

((OOC: I don't know if you want to post as Tarantulas during this part, Darkspark. Would you like to?))

He had succumbed to the darkness, his body ruined beyond repair, his spark ready to join the Matrix...Or more likely, burn forever in the fires of the Pit...But...He felt life within him, not his own, but similar, so very similar, driven by ambition, pride, and a determination to survive at any cost, no matter who had to pay for it.

"Her..." Tarantulas's whispered to himself, speaking of course of his treacherous creation, Blackarachnia, an object of both lust and hate for him, someone who should have been his ally but became his rival...Someone who would now finally serve him, as she'd always been meant to do.

"Heh heh heh heh" Tarantulas began to cackle aloud, his mind coming alive again, forcing itself out of oblivion, becoming one with the shadows rather than succumbing to them, his many glittering green eyes peering at his inadvertent savior with malevolent glee.

OOC: how's that Una for starters Una? I figured I should wait before i do Big T's entire Freddy Kruger routine and BA react to what's beginning to happen lol

Sorry you haven't been feeling well Blackrose, I hope you're feeling better and that it wasn't anything too serious

((OOC: That's good, Darkspark. =) So eerie. ))

Blackarachnia looked with a smirk as she found the information that Tarantulas had when she began to feel paranoid, circuits shivering like someone was watching her.

It was then she heard the sick cackle of the mind she was in. With a shout of surprise, she noticed a green glowing light in a shape of a visor. The visor as her so-called spider rival had.

The feeling of someone entering her own mind made her suddenly hold her head in attempt to silence the cackle that echoed around her and became louder and louder like a bell.

OOC: It's all good everyone. Thanks. I was having trouble breathing. I haven't followed up with my doctor yet, but the popular theory right now is anxiety. It seemed to have really irritated the stomach problems I have too which had me in the hospital last year around this time. Some people have nerves of steel....my nerves seem to be the equivalent of a wet noodle. They gave me some anti-anxiety meds to take which make me really tired so posting hasn't really been possible. lol. I'll have to follow up with my doctor to know for sure what's been going on, but I'm feeling a lot better than I was earlier this week.

So as not to hold anyone up any longer, I'll throw in a quick post and get things back on track.

BIC:

Arachnitron watched in horror as Tarantulas, her partner in crime, was suddenly lit on fire. She gasped.

"TARANTULAS!!" she shouted again. This was not going according to plan at all. She narrowed her optics in frustration and clenched her fists. How was she going to get off of this planet now? She had to get the situation back under her control. She almost wished now that the inhibitor chip had never been implanted. Her Predacon programming could have taken over and done away with the whale and Inferno! Her rage would have driven her and guided her through this so she could come out on top. With the Hybrid programming in control, her feelings were harder to hold onto and use to help her overcome obstacles like this one.

With the ring leader out of the way, Inferno could now tend to the others in the room. The whale had continued his charge against Inferno, but Inferno was well out of his way. He slipped past the charging whale and approached the smallest of the three spiders who he had noticed was moving again. He smiled wickedly and sauntered over to her kicking her cybervenom launcher out of the way.

Arachnitron looked up as the red ant approached her. Instinctively she reached out for the cybervenom launcher to try to grab it, but it was kicked out of her reach before she could get a good hold on it.

"You I haven't seen before, Spider. Are you a member of the Colony or are you working with your brethren?" Inferno interrogated.

"I'm not a part of anyone's Colony." Arachnitron spat through clenched teeth.

"Then you ARE working with the other spiders." Inferno raised his weapon and focused it on Arachnitron's chest.

"I work for Tarantulas only." she corrected.

"Then you must burn, Little She-Spider! Burn like your treacherous master!"

Before Inferno could fire up his flame thrower, Arachnitron slid between his legs and reached over for the cybervenom launcher. Tarantulas' spider leg bullets did nothing against the ant's armor, but his cybervenom dart never reached its target. There was still a possibility that it could take Inferno down. She had the advantage being behind him so she spun around and shot him without even bothering to aim for any vital circuitry.

Inferno turned around just in time to knock the dart out of the air. Arachnitron hurried to stand and stumbled away from the ant firing another two shots into his chest. Again he swatted the first dart out of the way, but the second dart landed in his arm. He laughed wildly, but continued to walk towards her.

Arachnitron jumped behind one of the other pods for cover. Suddenly, an explosion broke open the door that she hadn't even realized had been closed. Orcariner was joined by two more Maximals. A bit more her size, but much more functional. The odds were back in the Maximals' favor. "Slag," she cursed. Now that Tarantulas was off line and the transwarp drive not completely installed, it suddenly appeared that she wasn't going to be getting off of this planet.

EDIT: The post was edited on Sept. 22 to include Inferno ducking Orcariner's approach. The post was edited again on Sept. 24th so that it ended with Inferno functional and active.

(( OOC: Personally, I was looking forward to Orcariner smashing and pounding Inferno since we haven't seen much of the orca lately and he should probably take out some of his bottled up agression on SOMEone. In all fairness, Alak is correct that Orcariner was about to make a move on Inferno and that part seems to have accidentally been neglected. On the other hand, we need to keep moving forward with this because I'm sure I'm not the only one getting really bored seeing OOC post after OOC post and very little progress with the game over the past month or so. We're almost done with this season!

So, Blackrosefencer, I propose that you edit your post and continue having Inferno play with Orcariner. We all know it won't last long anyway because Orcariner is huge and probably pissed but Alak seems interested in persuing the fun, and Airazor and Rattrap are about to put a halt to everything anyway. In the mean time, I'm moving on. Anyone falling behind and are about to post should re-read what you might have read a couple weeks ago so you don't miss anything and we stop running into all these confusions.

@ Blazemane: I love how you turned Cheetor's response in the show into what Dinobot would very likely have said in his place for our game. Nicely done! ))

BIC:

"I estimate no less than a megacycle. He was hit with a substantial amount of cybervenom."

That long?! Primus. Not what Optimus was hoping for. He doubted they had even half of that much time. Time to find out. "Computer, projection! Based on present data!" he ordered.

"Planetary destruction in 28.5 cycles," Sentinel announced as the 3-D image on the center console changed from the Axalon's external damage to a live projection of the Earth and the Vok's weapon with an addition of the planet exploding in speculation and animation.

Growling in frustration, the gorilla lifted his right fist and slammed it on the console while saying, "Not enough time!" Now since he knew Rhinox could be of no help to them this time thanks to the spiders, Optimus was certain many, if not all of his Maximals, were worried and/or frightened about what they just saw and heard at the console. Watching Aurora, Whitegrazer and Wintersong enter the bridge, Cheetor was the first one to face the reality of the situation and present their leader with a question he wasn't entirely ready to answer. However he'd answer it, he had to take into consideration that everyone else was also listening.

"Hey, Big 'Bot," "if, uh..." "If the aliens actually end up killing us and the Predacons, is Cybertron going to be o.k.? I mean... we stopped exploring to stop Megatron, so..." "...even this counts, right?"

What could he say? Be honest and tell Cheetor that he honestly didn't know the answer to that, and since the Vok already knew so much about them that they likely knew about Cybertron as well and they might attack their home world once they're done dealing with them on this blue planet? Or give them a much more positive answer, staying on track with his endless optimism to keep everyone calm and not let them give up? Because he wasn't ready to quit yet and neither should they be. Once Whitegrazer's peaceful presence filled him and helped him concentrate, even when that image and voice still haunted him as well as her warning, Optimus returned a light smile to her before shifting his brown eyes back to Cheetor's yellow optics. "Cybertron will be fine, Cheetor," he told him confidently, gently placing his scarred hand on the younger Maximal's shoulder for a moment. "We still have time to find a way to stop the Vok." And he would do anything it would take to ensure Cheetor's, Aurora's, and everyone's survival. Everyone who had seen and experienced too much death in this war already - those far too young to witness such tragedies - would live on to better lives on Cybertron and do what they truly wished to instead of being stuck in this "game" and forced to fight for their survival every day. He would make sure they would have that opportunity. His life wouldn't matter as long as he could save them; he had already acquired his Captain status, his own vessel, his own exploration crew. It was all he ever wanted, but many of them had yet to reach that point in their lives. Of course, that didn't necessarily mean it would come to that. To find a way to save everyone, including himself so he could continue leading this incredible group of Maximals, would be ideal. Not to mention, there was a new chapter of his life to explore more; Whitegrazer. What would develop in the future between them he did not know, but he wasn't expecting to find someone like her in this war. Optimus never had much time for a personal life back on Cybertron with his work, research and secret assignments, but here he had all the time in the world to get to know someone who seemed to be able to steal his breath every time she walked into a room, or use her Empath energy to reach out to him through his spark and share so much affection and compassion on so many levels that he wasn't even aware of until he had met her. No, he would find a way to stop the Vok from destroying everything.

Turning his gaze thoughfully back to the console's image, it was obvious that the weapons on their ship couldn't reach the weapon hovering out in space, but was there anything they could send up to it somehow...? "Maybe there's some way we can use an explosive projectile to take down their weapon," Optimus said to those in the room while he studied the 3-D image before him, searching for ideas and suggestions. But how could they even get something like that close to the large object in space? Letting the others think about it, his thoughts were diverted to Ironclaw's well-being.

Looking at Aurora, he asked her, "I take it Ironclaw was injected with a large dose of cybervenom as well?" like Rhinox had been. But he wanted to make sure his assumption was right, wanting to know why the badger needed the CR chamber. He always kept tabs on his Maximals.

"And how are you fairing, Wintersong?" Primal inquired with care knowing she had been injured as well. He also wondered what was taking Airazor and Rattrap so long. Not hearing an update from them was beginning to worry him on top of everything else.

-----

Tigatron had remained quiet most of time there in the bridge, studying everyone's reactions and losing himself in his own thoughts while he stood beside Silverstreak. He wondered about losing Airazor, losing this magnificent planet, losing his friends. Hopefully it would not come to that but their situation was looking quite bleak. Fortunately, Optimus seemed to have enough optimism for everyone in the ship to get through this and keep pushing forward. How long would that last...? He thought about their leader's idea of a projectile but didn't think he could offer more help with it since he wasn't all too familiar with what was available on the ship. Perhaps that required more of Rattrap's expertise. He was pleased to see the others join them but was sorry to know that Rhinox and Ironclaw were down for some serious repairs. Be safe, Airazor, he thought. And be quick and accurate. Shine some light on this dark hour.

Una wrote: ((OOC: That's good, Darkspark. =) So eerie. ))

Blackarachnia looked with a smirk as she found the information that Tarantulas had when she began to feel paranoid, circuits shivering like someone was watching her.

It was then she heard the sick cackle of the mind she was in. With a shout of surprise, she noticed a green glowing light in a shape of a visor. The visor as her so-called spider rival had.

The feeling of someone entering her own mind made her suddenly hold her head in attempt to silence the cackle that echoed around her and became louder and louder like a bell.

Tarantulas continued to stare down at his prey from the shadows of his own mind, his consciousness, his will growing stronger with every passing moment, his spark filled with malevolent glee as his twisted imagination allowed himself to manifest in the form of not one, not two, but THREE colossal visages of his own robot mode's head.

"Silly witch, only now does she realize how small she truly is!" Tarantulas thought to himself as his three selves surrounded his quarry, her fear from the sheer insanity of the situation delighting him in ways words could never hope to properly convey.

"Its not wise to peek inside a dead con's head, Partner, you never know what you might find! MAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he cackled maniacally, the combined laughter of all three of his avatars surrounding Blackarachnia in a chorus of madness.

While his avatars were busy terrorizing the she spider, Tarantulas set to work guaranteeing his survival...

"Oh Blackarachnia, how much more delicious your screams would be if you only knew what I had planned for you..." the cyber phantom that was Tarantulas mused to himself as he made himself at home within Blackarachnia's greatest asset, her mind!


OOC: Thanks Una, let me know if I got carried away with this latest "Tarantulas on Elm Street" moment here

((Am I the only one thinking that these Cybervenom shots are a little over powered? They weren't nearly this powerful in the show. They temporarily stunned the target for like 3 or 4 minutes and that was the extent of it. No one was ever knocked unconscious from them - in fact, it was just the opposite. The target was fully aware the entire time that the venom was flowing through them, they were just unable to move. Also if I remember correctly, the cybervenom shots had to be loaded manually and weren't automatic. Just my two cents...))

Airazor took a quick glance at the battlefield and noticed that Oracreiner must have done quite a fine job with taking these predicons down. Inferno and Tarantulas were both down for the count. Starshadow and Arachnitron were both still operational but the falcon hesitated to shoot at either of them. While their loyalty was still in question, It had only been just recently that they were maximals. The only real threat remaining was Blackarachnia.

With her weapon trained on the predicon, Airazor moved towards the pod slowly. Surprisingly, it seemed as if she hadn't noticed the two maximals enter the room. She seemed to be lost in her own little world while she tinkered away. A strange visor was affixed to her face and it appeared to glow as she worked. It was all a little eerie and Airazor could only imagine what she was trying to do. The only thing that was obvious was that she was up to no good.

Now next to her opponent, Airazor pointed her talon blaster directly at her temple and spoke. "Play time's over spider."

((OOC: Sorry, Ven, but it seems like the whole cargo bay scene is just full of complications. We'll finish it shortly As for more clarifications...

1) Cyber venom is perfectly capable of knocking out opponents if the shot lands in the right spot. Blackarachnia knocked out Tigatron with one shot to the chest. Cheetor knocked out Blackarachnia with her own dart to the face. Quickstrike managed to one-shot the particularly large Depth Charge by hitting his chest, although this type of venom seems to ignore most armors entirely. Yeah it seems incredibly powerful, but it's also fair since those who use venom aren't exactly viable physical combatants... at least against the ones specifically built for such combat.

2) Orcariner is supposed to be a by-the-book character, so there's no need to have a drawn out one-on-one fight just so he can vent his emotions. That's for later after he breaks away from this role and eventually discovers who killed Icebreaker. Right now he just wants to do his job as a sentry and protect the base from enemy soldiers.

3) I personally don't want a drawn out fight because, like everybody else, I'm more than ready to finish Season 1. If it were up to me, I'd have Orcariner, Rattrap, and Airazor gun down Inferno in a matter of seconds and then move on to the really important stuff. Speaking of which...))


Orcariner, whose optics were still closed shut, felt his head slam into the far wall. A dizzy sensation was quick to flood his processor as the giant fell to one knee from the sheer force of the impact. Voices were heard but the Maximal was unable to register who was speaking. Shaking his head, Orcariner looked up and stared at the dent he made in the cargo bay's wall.

No surprise there.

He turned his gaze and found Airazor with her gun pointed at Blackarachnia, and Rattrap was with her!

About time!

His optics still feeling shaky, Orcariner checked his scanners and saw Inferno and Arachnitron behind him a few meters away. To try and charge them again would be extremely strenuous on his already fatigued body. With reinforcements now readily available in the same room, Orcariner opted for the easy way to finish this fight.

"If you thought I was a bad shot before," he muttered under his breath, blinking a few more times, "Just wait til you see me now."

Drawing his carbine from behind, the orca mashed the trigger repeatedly in the general direction of the two Predacons.

((OOC: I will post for BA for now. Aww, Optimus is such a sweetie.

@Phoenix: YAY!! The Maximals have won! YAY! ))

"Its not wise to peek inside a dead con's head, Partner, you never know what you might find! MAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Blackarachnia kept holding her head, shouting for that lunatic to stop his annoying cackling. She could feel him crawling into her mind...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Her scream echoed across the halls of the Axalon.

Knocking off her visor, she noticed the Maximal falcon aiming at her as well as Orcariner coming towards her.

"Didn't you guys know we have a truce?" She asked with edge to it. Looking at the pod, her face matching her sour mood along with a pounding headache. She could feel eyes lurking from inside her own mind.

"Hmph, would you kindly allow me to finish this pod before we all blow to smithereens?"

Actually, what was the point of continuing? With the Maximals here, they had no way of escaping without getting slaughtered. Murmurs of cackling booms could be heard outside. The aliens' weapon was doing it's job. There only way that the pod could be of some use is if it was going to collide with the weapon. And she wasn't THAT suicidal. She crossed her arms at the Maximals, dangling the green visor between her pinchers.

((OOC: I hope this post is okay. I did it without coffee. ))

(ooc: Ok had to reread a couple of old posts for this. Hope I didn't miss anything important.)

Whitegrazer wrote:"Everything deserves a second chance. People or in animate machines."

Whitegrazer wrote: "He will survive this, Aurora. Everyone. If we think we are dead, then we will die. Keep fighting until the very last minute. For everyone,"

Aurora lifted her head just long enough to see Whitegrazer's eyes wandering between her and the occupied CR chamber before settling on the fuzor once more. The green eyed youth met the mare's gaze for a mere second before she too glanced back at Ironclaw's tank. She truly wished she could have Whitegrazer's confidence about this, but after seeing so much death and destruction during her short time with the Maximals it really was difficult to put those lingering doubts aside.

Whitegrazer wrote: "Always remember that."

Everything deserves a second chance?

Aurora wasn't so sure about that. She had not been there to witness the battle that had taken Icebreaker's life, nor had she been there to assist Ironclaw as he went up against the foes that did this to him. Yet she found it hard to forgive someone so willing to take the lives of those she cared about and for what? Honor? Glory?

For the first time she pondered what reason the spiders could possibly have for coming here to the Axalon at a time like this. The world was at risk of ending and they felt that now would be a good time to seek refuge here, in Maximal territory, taking out anyone who could oppose them? Why? What did the Maximals have to offer that the Predacons did not?

She decided to leave the question be for a moment as her mind drifted to something else Whitegrazer had just said.

Always remember..

Although the Maximal officer's words held some comfort, to a point, her choice of words could easily be applied to other events that had occurred recently. Events Aurora truly wished she could forget. Yet the empty stare of Icebreaker moments after his spark had given way to the suffering was still haunting her - burned into her memory.

Aurora's face curled up into a frown as she forced herself to think about the present rather than the past. She sighed and shook her head then briefly took in her surroundings. Most of the Maximals were gathered on the bridge aside from those who were injured. The killer whale was also missing, as were Air Razor and Rattrap. In their place was a new Maximal that Aurora had never seen before. The new recruit had joined them during their darkest hour, so Aurora made a mental note of introducing herself when all of this was over.

Optimus Primal wrote: "Maybe there's some way we can use an explosive projectile to take down their weapon,"

"Follow the spiders..," Aurora remarked in a silent voice that barely even carried to where Optimus was standing. That's why they were here. It had to be. But.. why would the Predacon insects care about what happened to this planet or even their fellow Predacons? If this was a mission to stop the weapon, why would they not execute it from the Predacon base? Why come here to the Axalon?

Unless they were trying to escape using something the Maximals had access to. Something that could be modified to fly, to function as an escape pod of sorts. Something like.. a stasis pod?

Optimus Primal wrote: "I take it Ironclaw was injected with a large dose of cybervenom as well?"

"Yes. He was."

Her answer was as short as it was precise, the distraction apparent in her voice. This didn't really seem like the time and place for a lengthy conversation. But some things could not wait.

"Optimus?" Aurora raised her voice a bit so the commander would hear her over the talking. "Surely the spiders have a good reason for coming here at a time like this. This attack was the act of a few desperate enough to go to such a measure. They need something from us; a way to escape that apparently only we can provide them. Find them and we may also find a solution to this problem."

(ooc: Too sleepy.. )

"Play time's over spider."

Immediately joining Airazor and Orcariner in the room, Rattrap smiled at the bird lady's words and how easy it was for her to sneak up on Blackarachnia. In fact, it was a little TOO easy. What was she doing with that visor on her head? And a better question, what was she doing with that empty stasis pod?

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Holy swiss cheese, the pipes on that spider! What was her problem? No body was even near her! Crazy, eight-legged freak, thought Rattrap.

Some smoke still wafted in the air, rising ever so slowly without a breeze in the room. There were scorches, burns and damage all over the place; from the floor to the ceiling. What the heck happened in there? Rattrap was relieved that Orcariner was still standing but now it was his turn to take action while the Maximal Spy kept aim on Starshadow and Arachnitron.

"If you thought I was a bad shot before," "Just wait til you see me now."

"No, wait, Orcariner!" Rattrap shouted up to the larger Maximal but it was too late. He had already pulled his trigger repeatedly at the two females. However, his shots seemed to be sparse. Was he injured? Hoping his yelling would stop his parade of gunfire, the curious rodent was suddenly drawn to the unoccupied pod in the center of the room. "Optimus wants the spiders functional. Just... keep an eye on those two, Big O," he told him as he motioned to the two injured female Predacons and lowered his weapon, stepping around Inferno's body, and walked over to Blackarachnia who was currently guarded by Airazor next to the pod.

"Didn't you guys know we have a truce?"

"Didn't you know you parked in a 'No Pred' zone?" the rodent mocked Blackarachnia. "Truce was over a long time ago," he added.

"Hmph, would you kindly allow me to finish this pod before we all blow to smithereens?"

After looking over it for a second as the wheels and cogs turned in Rattrap's head, he started to realize what was going on here. A glimpse past Airazor and Blackarachnia and he could see Tarantulas laying lifeless in the corridor, seemingly to have been burned alive or something insane to that effect. Every Pred for himself, huh? "You know, I'm no expert, and dis is just a guess, but, uh, I don't think all of you woulda fit in dis pod," he smirked at Blackarachnia as the base continued to shake from the events outside. "Looks like yer outta an escape plan, eh? You an' yer freaky friends ain't goin' no where."

"Rattrap to Optimus," he called over his comm. link. Time to break the news to their fearless leader.

-----

"Follow the spiders..,"

Hearing a quiet murmur from Aurora, Optimus looked over at her and was about to ask her to repeat herself until she answered his question instead. She seemed awfully upset; a quietness and sadness that bothered him greatly. He wanted to know what was going through her mind. She looked emotionally unstable. He had no doubt that she was concerned about the badger and if the same thing that happened to Icebreaker would happen to him. He prayed it wouldn't, for her sake. Moral still appeared to be a bit low within in his ranks, and now they had this planet buster to deal with. Were any of them ready to give up? He hoped not. He needed all of them now more than ever. And he was there for them.

"Yes. He was."

Frustrated and concerned about that news, the gorilla shook his and took in a silent sigh. Fortunately, Ironclaw, as well as Rhinox, should be fine in the CR chambers. He doubted the spiders would have given them lethal doses. ...Then again, he has been wrong about some Predacons before...

"Optimus?" "Surely the spiders have a good reason for coming here at a time like this. This attack was the act of a few desperate enough to go to such a measure. They need something from us; a way to escape that apparently only we can provide them. Find them and we may also find a solution to this problem."

Sweet and intelligent Aurora. Primal envied her innocence. There were things he had done back on Cybertron that he could not take back, but this young Fuzor before him had been "born" on this organic world free of the corrupted scientists and politicans, and power-hungry mungrols that somehow climbed their way up the ladder of the heiarchy, all of which that plagued their home planet and destroyed innocent minds and souls like Aurora's. It may not have seemed like it to most who were stranded here on this Earth-like planet, but Aurora was one of the lucky ones, despite how she came to be. There were times Optimus missed Nightmist but he was grateful to have Aurora take her place. She had grown on him like a daughter.

The ermine/butterfly Fuzor brought up a good point. What did the Maximals have that the Predacons didn't if they were looking for a means of escape off this doomed planet? As a list of comparisons ran through his head, he said, "Orcariner has been tied up dealing with the Predacons in the stasis hold, and I sent Airazor and Rattrap to-" Optimus stopped himself and looked dazed for a second when he realized the location he had just said. The stasis hold. Stasis pods. Primus, they were going to escape using their stasis pods? But how? They can't travel forever through space, or through time, unless they were somehow modified. Of course, if the spiders were good at anything, it was tricky scientific revisions. Now Primal had found it. A way to stop the aliens. A weapon.

"Rattrap to Optimus,"

"Optimus here," Primal responded to Rattrap's call. Suddenly there was a greater confidence in his voice and presence.

"Get down to the stasis hold quick, Fearless Leader!" Rattrap exclaimed. "There's somethin' here you gotta see."

"On my way!" the Maximal Commander replied. Finally some light was beginning to peek through the omnious, dark clouds of certain death. Assuming Rattrap, Airazor and Orcariner finally had the situation under control, he looked at the others that were surrounding him in the command center.

"Everyone come with me," Optimus ordered as he fell to his knuckles and made haste out of the bridge, leaving everything automated, and glancing at Whitegrazer and Aurora as he passed them with hopeful eyes; and almost a smile. Almost.

Quickly, the gorilla galloped through the corridors and down to the stasis hold until he stopped as soon as he spotted Tarantulas laying in the hall just ouside of the entrance to the stasis hold area. After close examination and finding the Predacon out cold or possibly even in stasis lock judging by the burns and damage he had suffered from, Optimus deemed him as not a threat and showed no concern for him at the moment. Hurrying by him, he lead the rest of his Maximals into the stasis hold room, taking in all the damage, the scents, and Orcariner's presence which had been absent for some time. He was glad to see him. The orca looked injured, though, so he felt obligated to take Starshadow and Arachnitron off his hands.

"Frilla, Feralnight, watch Arachnitron and Starshadow. Fire at them if they move so much as a finger," Optimus said in a firm voice, wanting to keep them thinking twice about whether or not he would show them mercy for their actions and betrayal, disappointed with both females. After all, desperate times called for desperate measures. "Cheetor, Tigatron, restrain Blackarachnia," he ordered. How the tables have turned. Stepping over to the pod that Blackarachnia had been working on, he stood upright and looked it over with his back toward Blackarachnia and the rest who were standing behind her. This could work, he thought. It's perfect.

"You wanna give us a show an' tell, She-spider?" Rattrap said to Blackarachnia, jabbing her a little in the side of her stomach with the barrel of his gun. "What'd you do to this pod?" He wanted to know details because he had a feeling Optimus might have an idea to use it.

Meanwhile, Tigatron had perked up about this sudden turn of events. So, the spiders were going to use a stasis pod to escape the planet's destruction? And then what? Well, it wasn't going to help them now. Arriving at the stasis hold with the others, he smiled seeing Airazor keeping Blackarachnia at bay. All of the Preds except her seemed to be down or injured. Orcariner, on the other hand, was still standing. It was very brave and courageous of him to have fought so hard by himself against these five Predacons. Five of them! There was no way he could have done that himself. He was both impressed and in admiration. Well done, Orcariner.

Upon Primal's order, Tigatron walked over to Airazor and relieved her of holding her gun steady, point-blank at the side of Blackarachnia's head, smiling warmly at the falcon. Then the tall and lean Maximal grabbed the widow's arm and yanked her to her feet, dragging her back a few steps away from Optimus and the pod, gripping her tightly so she wouldn't slip through his grasp. He knew how sneaky these spiders could be.

((I apologize guys my classes have had me busy last couple weeks and haven't had much time to really check on things here. And I think New Moon has been having some problems in getting on the forum, I can talk to her and see if she is still having the problem or not.))

"I'm fairing just fine."Wintersong said in response to Optimus' question but the white tigress had turned her attention towards the holographic projection of the planet buster, ears going back slightly at the fact things just seemed to be getting worse. The aliens or the Vok hadn't been kidding after all then of ridding of the cybetronians and there seemed really nothing they could do to the weapon either, not with the arsenal they had currently. None of them would be able to reach even the atmosphere and that was painfully obvious. So what could they possibly use to prevent the destruction of this beautiful planet?

Though one of Wintersong's ears twitched slightly as Aurora began to speak and she glance back over to the other Maximals as the fuzor and Optimus spoke for a moment to which they were soon being called to the cargo bay. Like the others she quickly followed the Maximal commander, wondering what was going on exactly within the cargo bay that would be drawing the spiders. It must have been something important considering they had been desperate enough to take out most of the Maximals that had resided in the base before the others had arrived but that question was soon answered upon seeing the stasis pod though Orcanier seemed to give the Predacond a run for their money, that or Rattrap and Airazor had helped to take them down as well.

After the pain on her face slowly subside, she moved her hands away from her face. Slag, the other maximals are back. Rattrap and some femme.

"Rattrap to Optimus,"

No..not Optimus.. Starshadow could not escape with all the Maximals around. She wasn't even familiar with the ships layout. It was too late as the others arrived. There was nothing she could say to save her aft.

"Frilla, Feralnight, watch Arachnitron and Starshadow. Fire at them if they move so much as a finger,"

Starshadow just growled at that and crossed her arms with her ears going back.

(ooc: Sooo tired.. Finally got to sleep at 5 am and by 8 am my oldest was wide awake. Been up since then. But.. will toss in a quick little response as promised.)

Optimus Primal wrote: "Orcariner has been tied up dealing with the Predacons in the stasis hold, and I sent Airazor and Rattrap to-"

Aurora looked up at their primate commander just in time to notice the expression on his face change as he came to realize the significance of what he had just said. Nodding in silent agreement, the small fuzor did not need Primal's words to know what he was thinking at this moment. That much was too evident by the mere look on his face.

Moments later her suspicions were proven correct as Optimus ordered them all to follow him and promptly started leading the way to the stasis hold area. Aurora glanced at Whitegrazer before proceeding to follow Primal as fast as her legs would carry her. The suspense was overwhelming, yet this change in development did offer a most welcome distraction from her recent thoughts regarding Icebreaker and Ironclaw. Fortunately the stasis hold was only a quick walk down the corridor with a sharp turn at the end before they had reached their destination.

Aurora's ears poked up as she could not help but overhear noises from inside the hold. And what was that odd smell..? It smelled like something had been burnt here recently. Her answer was revealed soon enough as she made her way between some of the other Maximals who had already arrived, only to see the still smoking shape of Tarantulas decorate the hallway just outside the doorway.

Phew..

The young female pinched her nose and waved her arm as she made her way closer to the still form. Tarantulas appeared to have been badly injured with burn marks over a large chunk of his body. Aurora could not help but poke the spider, trying to confirm he was indeed offline. Upon getting no response, she thought it best to leave the Predacon to some of her larger, stronger team mates, before entering the room just in time to see Optimus order Tarantulas' accomplices restrained.

(oh and in case you didn't see.. Great post there, OOP!)