The Intergalactic Highway

Saber turned when she heard foot steps receding and her optics widened when she saw Ironclaw heading down the hall way toward the brig.

Oh, no, no, no! She thought before going after him.

Her spark raced whem she saw him at the door, she grabbed his shoulder forcing him to look at him.

"What are you doing? You don't have the authorisation to go in there." She tried to speak with authority but he voice cracked a little half way through.

(( OOC: Okay, Alak. Sorry. Just wanted to make sure you hadn't forgotten or overlooked that part. Thanks! ))

Aye, don't worry about that lad, as for navigating.. well.. yer base has two straight main halls.. it's not difficult.

Rattrap almost scratched his head until he realized how he mostly saw the ship; through vents and air ducts and secret passages. He was a rat, after all. He could map out every nook and cranny in his head. He knew every inch of the Axalon inside and out. But Landslide was right as someone his size it's quite easy to get around through the main corridors. Maybe Rattrap was just tired.

Aye, so I've seen, pleasure to meet you lad.

"Likewise," Optimus said. For a moment, his gaze was drawn to the noise that Saber-Fang's claws were making on the console. She appeared to be very uncomfortable again and worried. Great... If she could just wait and let him talk to her...

From the fly overhead, I can only assume yer ship's main structural supports have buckled under some extreme stress..

To say the least, the leader thought.

though I'm no shipwright..I can't get this bucket back into the sky.

"That's all right, Landslide. I'm afraid our last attempt getting her back in the air has grounded her permanently," Primal explained with reluctance. Behind him, he heard some movement and glanced over his shoulder to see Ironclaw walking away down the hall. Narrowing his optics, the Commander wondered if the badger couldn't mind his own business or if he was simply retreating to his quarters. There were some things that Optimus didn't tell the others because it was not his place to do so, or he didn't think it was the time to reveal such information, or it was things that just didn't matter at all at the time. Certain information either kept others safe or had the potential to wreak havoc.

Then Saber suddenly hurried after the TransMetal badger. What was going on?! Optimus casually looked at Rattrap and then tilted his head, nudging it toward the two who had just up and left, implying that he wanted him to follow them. To have his own Maximals spied on was rather daunting and ridiculous but it felt as though this crew was in worse shape now than they had been the first day they had crashed here. This needed to change or they weren't going to survive.

Taking notice of the ape's subtle order, Rattrap sighed quietly and stepped past him and Landslide to stealthily go after the cat and weasel. He really didn't care to spend another moment with Ironclaw at this point after the day he had with his so-called "team". He needed some time alone. And still needed some repairs. Reluctantly, he walked off and followed Saber-Fang until she stopped when she had caught up with Ironclaw. Rattrap remained hidden around a corner and listened.

"What are you doing? You don't have the authorisation to go in there."

What was she so worried about? And why were they near the brig? Was this where Optimus was earlier? Did they have a prisoner? Rattrap clearly didn't know anything and he didn't have a desire to, unlike these two. At least not right now. He trusted their leader, and that was saying a lot from him. So what was these guys' problem? If Optimus had something to share with the rest of them, he'd do so. Rattrap just wanted to save it for later and take a nap.

Yer..er Rattrap here has explained some of the situation. If you need anything built, blown up, transported, or mined I'm probably yer bot. I can also do some repairs, but I'm no surgeon.

"That's an impressive resume," Optimus complimented Landslide, relieved that he had several functions even if some were just improvised in a moment's notice. The Maximals had all been there, though, resourceful and opportunistic when they had to be. "I have no doubt that those skills will come in handy. Do you have any experience in combat?" He hated to ask but this was the reality of their situation.

Though, I probably owe yer group for finding me, as I would of been a "cavedweller" for awhile.

"That's not necessary, Landslide. You see, it's my fault you had been 'abandoned' there in the first place," Primal explained but didn't think he had enough time to get into everything that had happened leading up to Landslide's discovery and rescue. "I'm just glad you survived without injury and being captured, long enough for us to find you again." His tone faintly suggested some sorrow and that they had lost some friends, even recently.

-----

"Hey," "Thanks for showing up. We've picked up Blackarachnia, Tarantulas, Quickstrike, and Arachnitron in the caverns in the quadrant you guys sent us to. Whitegrazer and Aurora are currently setting up so that when we inevitably confront the Preds, we'll be prepared to even the odds."

"All of those arachnids in one place can't mean anything good," Rhinox commented thoughtfully. Especially with Tarantulas involved. That was a lot of cyber venom.

"Fortunately, you're with us now. As you can tell, no one really expect this to be a live-fire mission so none of us are really equipped with any firepower whatsoever. Having your chainguns of doom will definitely help us out big time. Come on, I'll grab onto you so that we can get back to the sector as quickly as possible."

"Understandable," the rhinoceros said before he maximized into his robot mode figuring it would be easier for Orcariner to carry him this way and for him to hold on. ...Because he was not a fan of flying. Situating himself in Orcariner's arms, Rhinox had a very tight grasp with hands and took a deep breath, readying himself for that awful in-the-air feeling and the heights that his red optics would blur and waver over if he looked down. He gave no indication if he was ready or not, he just waited for Orcariner to go.

Whitegrazer wrote:"Leave it to me."

Quickstrike wrote:"What in Tar-AH!"

True to her word, the white mare wasted no time in disabling the Predacon fuzor. Now buried underneath some rubble, Aurora sent Whitegrazer a grateful smile before she hurried down to the consoles at ground level. Tapping into it proved to be quite simple as her fingers danced quickly over the buttons on her wrist-mounted computer. The first task she set off to do was locate any security cameras in the vicinity. Knowing Tarantulas' fondness for security, she had no doubt he would have implemented such a measure.

Within moments the console screen flickered on, showing a rather blurry image of the two spiders arguing. A few quick adjustments cleared the image right up.

Aurora tilted her head as she watched the exchange with interest. "Trouble in paradise? Well.. it's about to get worse, Preds..," she whispered with a rather playful grin on her face. Turning to look at Whitegrazer again she said, "They have fuel cells and explosives stashed around this place. We could possibly plant them at weak points and bury this place and trapping the spiders within."

Again turning back to the action on the monitor, the situation between the male and female spiders getting quite intense by now, Aurora noticed something. She realized that she was unable to account for the remaining female spider, who must be standing somewhere out of view of the cameras. For all she knew, she could be right behind them.

"We better hurry," she gestured to Whitegrazer, casting a nervous glance around for movement as she typed in a few commands for the tiny spider bot she had hacked into to follow.

OOC:

Thanks, Worpex. I felt that, in the show, we didn't get to see much leading up to Dinobot's decision to give the golden disk back to Megatron so I wanted to explore that transition. I was hoping I wasn't making Dinobot too much of a Maximal. While I don't think Dinobot had any particular like or dislike for Aerostriker, I do think he'd take Aerostriker's death a little personally. Not because of losing a comrade or anything like that...he's a warrior and probably has experience with that. But I feel that he takes pride in his work and would have taken his death to mean that he did not perform his function to the best of his ability. Which would cause him to start thinking about one thing after another and eventually lead him to wonder about fate and the roll fate played in Aerostriker's death.

At first, to be honest, I was a little annoyed that Aerostriker was dying so soon. He hardly was in play and Naitokage just killed Glowstick. But it ended up happening right around the time that Dinobot would be feeling a bit vulnerable so I took that event as an opportunity for plot development. I'm hoping there will be more opportunities for Dinobot to feel confused and frustrated before he gives the disk back to further develop this transition from Maximal back to Predacon. If anyone wants anything in particular to happen with their character and would like Dinobot involved to give Dinobot another opportunity to question his place among the Maximals, feel free to PM me and we can work something out!

Also, I have posted for Inferno, but I need more time for Arachnitron's post. I'll hopefully get it up tomorrow.

BIC:

Inferno watched Buster make an effort to stand up straighter for the Royalty. He gave him a nod of approval.

Inferno was just about to lead Buster in to Megatron's quarters when he heard him calling from inside.

"Enter!"

Inferno obeyed. He let Buster go in first and followed behind. When they were standing in front of Megatron, Inferno threw him a regal salute.

"Its about time..." Megatron snarled, casting a withering glare at Inferno.

Inferno lowered his salute and his optics in shame.

"Apologies, Royalty. The other recruit that I was to escort here never showed. Perhaps he....or she....is being repaired...or is lost....." Inferno raised his gaze to look at Megatron again. The Royalty turned his attention to the llama.

Megatron wrote:" Greetings recruit, I am Megatron, commander of his base and your new leader. And you are?"

Hiiii....I'm Buster. The new guy.

He pointed to Inferno.

"Your other guy found me on another continent. I'm really grateful for the pick-me-up. It really sucks being alone out there starving to death.

"Er, I mean it's rigorous lifestyle out in the wilderness. I'm a trained soldier and all, at least back on Cybertron I was. Wait, I mean, I'm still trained, it's just that it's a little different here where there's... um... green stuff everywhere.........Vegetation everywhere."

Inferno listened to the llama rambling on awkwardly. Then, the creature transformed to his robot mode. Inferno didn't say a word. He knew better than to speak if he wasn't prompted to speak by his Queen. He waited patiently until he was asked a question or dismissed. But inwardly, he felt a bit embarrassed by Buster's presence and babbling. Especially since he admitted to being a trained soldier. A trained soldier who felt it was acceptable to retreat before being ordered to do so!!!??? Inferno prepared himself for the lashing he was sure that he and the new "soldier" were about to receive.

Optimus Primal wrote:"That's all right, Landslide. I'm afraid our last attempt getting her back in the air has grounded her permanently,"

Optimus Primal wrote:"That's an impressive resume," "I have no doubt that those skills will come in handy. Do you have any experience in combat?"

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote:"That's not necessary, Landslide. You see, it's my fault you had been 'abandoned' there in the first place," "I'm just glad you survived without injury and being captured, long enough for us to find you again."

Landslide nodded I see. Don't let such things bother you though lad,yer doing the best ya can. Under a situation like this, a commander can become crushed from the pressure.. As for Combat, well.. If ya do anything with energon mining, yer more then likely to run into some issues with Predacon Space pirates.. So I've seen a few battles..They usually back down when they see me charging at them with a chainsword though..

Landslide watched as Rattrap slipped away, then looked around I guess I'll try to get situated.. er.. I brought some Energon. I don't know how yer supplies are, but if you need any you can help yerselves. It's in my stasis pod, I left it in the Cargobay. The pod itself is a little burnt on the outside, when I came in, there was too much friction I assume.. I imagine the pod being engulfed in plasma hid me from yer scanners, it sometimes happens. Components are still good though. He rubbed the back of his head, as rubbing the back of his neck was impossible, it was between too much armor.

He could detect some tension in the air, though he would have no idea as to why, he just had to deal with it.

(Oh, and yes being engulfed in plasma, can hide you from radar detection. Some are trying to use it as a way of a cheaper stealth system, but.. considering you'd probably end up melting the airplane, just seems like a terrible idea. )

Ironclaw was examining the door when a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him round. This sent alarm bells off In his head and he reacted immediately by clutching the wrist of the hand that was layed upon him without permission. He gripped the wrist and pulled it to one side, at this point he saw that it was Saber-fang. He should have realized this based on how dainty her arm was in comparison to his.


She tried to speak to him with authority but it was short lives and hollow. She questioned him, the question gave Ironclaw the suspicioun that she knew who or what was in the brig.
"Who's in there Saber?" Ironclaw asks her calmly but with certainty, still holding her wrist.

With his engines roaring, Orcariner held onto Rhinox as the two of them sped towards the mountain range. The combined weight of both heavyset Maximals put quite the strain on the orca's propulsion systems, but they were at least airborne. While the flight itself was much quicker than traveling on foot, they still had several minutes to reach their destination. It was during this period of time that Orcariner thought about his relationship with Rhinox. The senior Maximal had been a good teacher to him, especially when it came to in-door work. Having wanting to be more involved in crew work aside from fighting all the time, Orcariner had previously requested to be given a workstation. Optimus and Rhinox were kind enough to oblige him with his personal work area in the hanger bay. It was, after all, the one place he could comfortably operate due to his overwhelming size.

Orcariner was tempted to ask Rhinox for his opinion on going after Steelclaw. Having more experience and being intuitive by nature, Rhinox had always been a good confidant for the younger Maximal. The giant wondered if Rhinox had ever lost someone close to him. Being more seasoned than the rest of the crew, Orcariner knew that he had existed before the Great Upgrade. Perhaps he had even fought in some of the previous civil wars that had wrecked Cybertron's societies. Then again, this was all pure speculation. Rhinox was not well-known enough to be listed in any of Orcariner's databases that were given to him by the military academy. Therefore, his past was a mystery to all except maybe Optimus Primal.

"There's the cave," he said, breaking out of his train of thought.

Now that they had arrived at their destination, Orcariner chose to refrain from sharing his darker ideas. That conversation could wait for later, or perhaps it was a conversation best left for Optimus himself. Touching down on the ground at the entrance, Orcariner let go of Rhinox and powered down his engines.

"According to my scanners, Aurora and Whitegrazer aren't detectable so they must have entered the mountain. We should probably give them back up. I'll go ahead and take point to distract anything or anyone that might ambush us."

Powering up his energy shield, Orcariner cautiously entered the caverns. The last time he had a fight inside of a dark tunnel, he received one of the worst beatings in his life. Hopefully, the orca would be more fortunate this time around.

OOC: Sorry for the wait on Arachnitron's part. I know the Maximals are getting antsy, but I decided to wait to have Arachnitron interfere until the next post. I'm not sure if Una's ready for that yet..... but I can always edit if the other spiders would prefer it that way....

BIC:

Arachnitron cringed as she watched Blackarachnia struggle against the neural link. She hated to see her in pain....it was a grim reminder of Arachnitron's past. But she knew Tarantulas needed to put Blackarachnia in her place so that they could accomplish their goals. She couldn't help but think how much of a waste of time it was to try to convince Blackarachnia to help them. She would just be a liability, but Tarantulas desired it so she would help him get his way.

"I...warned...you," she gritted through her words as she fought to keep her grip. Her pincher clenched, stretching forward towards Tarantulas before she let out a scream of determination mixed with agony, squeezing the cube.

Waves of energon surged through her body, burning her circuits and overloading many of her own body's movements. It was too much... too painful to keep on herself. But this was better than the alternative. An energon charge shot at her forehead towards Tarantulas as she continued to squeeze the cube further and further.

Arachnitron's optics widened in horror! What was Blackarachnia doing?! She was going to get them all killed if she kept this up! Squeezing the energon cube in her hand caused waves of energon to surge through, not only her body, but Tarantulas' body too! He was connected to her via the neural link!

"TARANTULAS!!!" Arachnitron shouted in shock. She took a few steps towards him, but stopped. She couldn't grab Tarantulas and pull him away or she'd be affected by the energon waves shooting through his body. Then, she'd be no help to him at all. Likewise, she couldn't grab Blackarachnia for the same reason....especially since she wasn't sure it would stop the energon waves at all. She couldn't take the risk. She had to stay away from them so that she could put a stop to Blackarachnia's neural assualt on Tarantulas.

"DEMON! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Tarantulas bellowed in a mix of rage, shock, and agony, feeling Blackarachnia's pain as though it was his own transmetal form experiencing an energon surge.

"Stop this insanity She Spider, throw the cube away!"

"Do as he says, Blackarachnia," Arachnitron shouted to the other widow. "Drop the cube or I'll....." she trailed off. Or what? She'd shoot??

Arachnitron looked down at her energon pistol that she had been aiming at Blackarachnia. If she shot Blackarachnia with her energon pistol or her cybervenom, she would knock the other female spider out temporarily. Long enough for the witch to drop the energon cube and the knife she was using....but what of Tarantulas. He'd still be connected to her with the neural link and with the energon cube sending waves of energon through both of them at the same time.....shooting Blackarachnia may hurt Tarantulas too.

"Slag," she cursed out loud. What was she supposed to do? She was armed and ready to shoot...she had Blackarachnia in her sights, all she needed to do was pull the trigger. She wished she had some sort of psychic connection to Tarantulas too so she could ask him what to do without alerting Blackarachnia to their plan, but she didn't have that with him. She looked over at Tarantulas unsure if she should shoot. "If I shoot her, it might hurt you too...." she stuttered, but she still hesitated....

(OOC: Guess it's up to Tarantulas if Arachnitron should shoot or just lob something over at Blackaracnia.....)

Saber was quite surprised by his reaction, his grip on her wrist was strong and unyielding.

"Who's in there, Saber?"

"Obviously a Maximal prisoner and last time I checked you didn't have the proper clearance to see," She said with an annoyed tone. "Now would let go of my wrist before I rip your optics out of your head?"

Surprisingly Saber-fang did not struggle she simply stared at him and told him he didn't have authorization. Ironclaw didn't care for it, he knew her authorization wasn't any higher than his, couple that with her desperation to keep him out meant that she knew who or what was in there. He let go of her wrist and just chuckled.
"I'd like to see you try" the badger sneered and walked away from her, Ironclaw was aware of the beast but didn't think much of it. As many were aware, he was stupidly stubborn but he just wanted to get the job done. His approach was different to Optimus' which was why people were finding it difficult to even work with him. As he walked away he slammed his hand on the brig door and pulled his claw like finger tips down. This caused great scratch marks down and across the door.

Sonar had to admit, he hadn't been exspecting a loud bang and because of that he jumped a little at the sound. He smirked a little when he heard Saber's voice, it was muffled due to the door but he reconized it anywhere.

* * *

"I'd like to see you try."

Saber jumped at the loud bang as Ironclaw slammed his fist into the door.

"What are you doing? Have you lost whatever sense Primus gave you?!" Saber asked, optics wide with shock.

I see. Don't let such things bother you though lad,yer doing the best ya can. Under a situation like this, a commander can become crushed from the pressure..

Indeed. Optimus felt like he had been placed into a metal compactor since day one, slowly being crushed into a cube day by day. Although the times when things were going better or when he was around Whitegrazer, it seemed to give him a break.

As for Combat, well.. If ya do anything with energon mining, yer more then likely to run into some issues with Predacon Space pirates.. So I've seen a few battles..They usually back down when they see me charging at them with a chainsword though..

Primal almost chuckled until reality rushed back to him. "Don't expect any of these Predacons to be imitated by you, Landslide. We've been stranded here for a long time now in a war of survival against Megatron and his troops, as well as an alien species known as the Vok. It has been very difficult for us considering we were originally an exploration crew. I've lost a few lives under my command already... Most recently one today. You must understand the seriousness of our situation and what I might ask of you when it comes to battle. We were work as a team."

I guess I'll try to get situated.. er.. I brought some Energon. I don't know how yer supplies are, but if you need any you can help yerselves. It's in my stasis pod, I left it in the Cargobay. The pod itself is a little burnt on the outside, when I came in, there was too much friction I assume.. I imagine the pod being engulfed in plasma hid me from yer scanners, it sometimes happens. Components are still good though.

"Thank you," the leader said with great appreciation. They could probably use his pod for parts and whatnot, and it never hurt to have more than enough energon on hand. "That was probably the case," Optimus agreed with Landslide's explanation. "I had dispersed all of the stasis pods on-board into the planet's orbit before we crashed here in case we wouldn't have survived the landing. It wasn't until much later when a planet-wide attack by the Vok had knocked all of them down, forcing them to be scattered all over the earth. That's why you awoke alone. It's usually a race to get to our pods before the Predacons do because they will reprogram the protoforms." He lightly shook his head from a little frustration thinking about all the protoforms he had already lost to the Preds and sighed quietly to calm himself. "At any rate, make yourself at home, Landslide. I still have a team out investigating some Predacon activity. A couple are in the CR chambers for repairs, and the rest you've already met with the exception of one or two who are lingering around the ship. Questions?"

-----

"Who's in there Saber?"

"Obviously a Maximal prisoner and last time I checked you didn't have the proper clearance to see," "Now would let go of my wrist before I rip your optics out of your head?"

"I'd like to see you try"

Rattrap had remained hidden and silent around the corner, just listening. He never bothered to peek around the wall because he could hear every footstep, every breath, and every tone in their voices to visualize what was going on. He still didn't understand why Ironclaw had to be so forward in knowing what was going on, practically undermining Optimus at every turn, and always trying to pick a fight or act like a tough guy. Why couldn't he just relax?

"What are you doing? Have you lost whatever sense Primus gave you?!"

The Spy cringed at the sound that the badger's clawed fingers made against the metal door, but he didn't make a peep. It sounded as though Ironclaw was walking away.

-----

The science engineer tightened his grip even more on Orcariner as they flew off toward the mountain. Hearing the TransMetal whale's engines work harder to make up for the added weight, Rhinox's mind could envision the workings and fuel that were put into them. If one of them should blow, it would be a painful landing. So he hoped for the best and tried very hard not to look down. They weightless feeling and the fear of heights, he was not a fan of this at all. As quiet as Orcariner had been during their quick journey, he hadn't minded because he wasn't sure he could carry a conversation while flying. Now he knew how Rattrap felt about this kind of transportation.

Orcariner was a formidable Maximal. He was well liked among his comrades as he was trustworthy and selfless, always putting his life on the line as the Maximals' personal shield and guardian. He had the potential to be a great leader if he really wanted to, but Rhinox was aware of his doubts and lack of confidence in his decision making. The rhinoceros could relate to him in a way on the aspect of leadership. He was capable of it as well as Optimus had once pointed out but it really wasn't his place in this crew. He knew the responsibilities that came with it, the hardships, the decisions, the endless optimism to keep hope and tranquility among all the different personalities. No, it wasn't for him. He didn't want to be in the center of it, just on the sidelines as a consultant where he could study and observe, and in a pinch help out with firepower. Rhinox had seen his fair share of bloodshed and lives torn apart in the past, which was why he sought for peace and found reward in engineering, science and horticulture. Hobbies that kept him away from battle or behind the scenes.

"There's the cave,"

Rhinox took in their surroundings, scaling and calculating. Would a cave-in be imminent with his kind of fire power? Possibly. But if it was a hideout, then it might be structurally sound inside. His chain guns of doom, as everyone referred to them, weren't the best weapon for close combat or even in tight spaces, so he would have to be careful should he have to use them. Once Orcariner released him, he touched the ground with his feet and exhaled a deep sigh of relief to be on the earth again. Whitegrazer and Aurora were no where in sight.

"According to my scanners, Aurora and Whitegrazer aren't detectable so they must have entered the mountain. We should probably give them back up. I'll go ahead and take point to distract anything or anyone that might ambush us."

See? He was a born leader. Rhinox simply sat back and watched him give the orders, assessing the situation as he and Optimus would. Even after previous events of Orcariner being trapped in tunnels with Steelclaw and the Vok's traps, he was still willing to go in head first and protect his comrades with little fear. He was proud of him. Orcariner had definitely learned a lot in this war by now, working his way up through the ranks, he just wished losing close friends hadn't been one of those lessons for him and all of them, and he wasn't so sure that Orcariner had moved on over Icebreaker's death yet. He couldn't really blame him, after all, this wasn't where any of them were supposed to be. Or were they...? But it was something everyone had to deal with at some point in their life. Rhinox had been through it and thought he had left it behind but here he was in another war and losing friends all over again. By this time in age and experience, however, he had learned how to cope and forgive. Optimus was way ahead of his time. He was already able to deal with the loss of life being forced into this position and all the challenges he had faced along the way much better than Rhinox could have at that age. Granted, it still weighed heavily on Primal's shoulders as any experienced veteran could tell, but he was always there to help him and guide him, just like the both of them were for Orcariner.

Pulling out of one his chain guns to have it ready in his hand, Rhinox carefully followed Orcariner into the cave as their surroundings narrowed and grew dark. His red optics scanned back and forth as they adjusted to the dim lighting while the orca wielded his energy shield...

Quickstrike wrote:"What in Tar-AH!"

Whitegrazer watched and cringed as the half-scorpion half-snake Predacon was squashed and knocked unconscious by her own little meddling. She actually didn't plan on having that stuff squash him, but distracted so he could fix it as Aurora did her job. But she guessed this was for the best as they wouldn't have to worry about if he would turn around or hear them.

As Aurora gave her a grateful smile, she decided to return it and walked over towards Aurora.

Phoenix wrote:"Trouble in paradise? Well.. it's about to get worse, Preds..," she whispered with a rather playful grin on her face. Turning to look at Whitegrazer again she said, "They have fuel cells and explosives stashed around this place. We could possibly plant them at weak points and bury this place and trapping the spiders within."

She pursued her mouthplate a bit as she joined in the little one's peep at the spiders, whispering, "Lots of tensions between those three. No one should ever have their free will stripped away." The emotions that she felt from those three were much easier to read now than before. All the negative energies of anger, desperaion, and fear made the cavern itself seem more dark and cold than it felt previously. She shook her head. Focus on the task at hand. She nodded at Aurora, "Sounds like a good plan. But we must be cautious with all this energon around."

"We better hurry," she gestured to Whitegrazer, casting a nervous glance around for movement as she typed in a few commands for the tiny spider bot she had hacked into to follow.

"I will protect you." She stood tall, keeping herself close to Aurora and prepared to defend her or grab her for a quick retreat if necessary.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"DEMON! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Tarantulas bellowed in a mix of rage, shock, and agony, feeling Blackarachnia's pain as though it was his own transmetal form experiencing an energon surge. "Stop this insanity She Spider, throw the cube away!"

"Ne-ver," she spat through the agony she was experiencing. "I will be free, one way or another!"

She crushed the cube harder, hearing Arachnitron screams for her master. Was she waiting for Tarantulas' orders? Didn't she have a mind of her own? Maybe she wasn't as bad off if she died. Yes, if she died, at least, she was still herself. Never will she succumb to Tarantulas. NEVER!!!

"Release me from your hold, Tarantulas!" She was irritated by Tarantulas' stubbornness. Hopefully, his survival instincts will kick in or not, she will be glad to take him with her!

OOC: nice posts Blackrose & Una, I'm caught up :3. Hope you Maxis aren't planning to blow up the mine, I was hoping for Big T to use it as his lair like in the show still, figured his arachnoids could be set to blow & fake everyone out or something.

Una wrote:
"Ne-ver," she spat through the agony she was experiencing. "I will be free, one way or another!"

She crushed the cube harder, hearing Arachnitron screams for her master. Was she waiting for Tarantulas' orders? Didn't she have a mind of her own? Maybe she wasn't as bad off if she died. Yes, if she died, at least, she was still herself. Never will she succumb to Tarantulas. NEVER!!!

"Release me from your hold, Tarantulas!" She was irritated by Tarantulas' stubbornness. Hopefully, his survival instincts will kick in or not, she will be glad to take him with her!

"Fine then!" Tarantulas retorted, marveling over how incredibly foolish the widow was, choosing death over life, "Delete yourself for all I carrrrrrrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Tarantulas shook and spasmed in agony as the effects of the link and Blackarachnia's energon surge riddled his body with unimaginable pain.

"Cyberlink...Works...Both ways...I share her pain...No...NOOOOOOOOO!" Tarantulas roared in rage, begrudgingly facing the possibility of having to sever the link and whatever control he had over Blackarachnia completely in order to save himself, already halfheartedly starting the process...Unless...

"ARACHNITRON! KNOCK HER OUT! NOW" Tarantulas commanded of his one loyal spider, not caring if she shot BA or simply knocked her out cold with a rock, so long as she stopped the crazed widow from destroying herself and him with her, this being his only hope of stopping her without destroying the link or killing himself.

Blackrose wrote: "Slag," she cursed out loud. What was she supposed to do? She was armed and ready to shoot...she had Blackarachnia in her sights, all she needed to do was pull the trigger. She wished she had some sort of psychic connection to Tarantulas too so she could ask him what to do without alerting Blackarachnia to their plan, but she didn't have that with him. She looked over at Tarantulas unsure if she should shoot. "If I shoot her, it might hurt you too...." she stuttered, but she still hesitated....

"I share her pain but also her death if you don't stop her NOW!" Tarantulas insisted, normally pleased by her devotion to him but now her reluctance to act could cost him his spark.

Even in the midst of all this torture, he was certain that he would survive whatever Arachnitron did to stop BA, she didn't need to slag her, simply put her in stasis lock or separate her from the cube so the energon surge would cease...A task that could be accomplished by hitting her with a rock, shooting the dagger out of her hand, or even blasting the whole arm off if necessary, just so long as it was done SOON.

Alak wrote:

"Hiiii...."

Aw slag.

"I'm Buster. The new guy."

He pointed to Inferno.

"Your other guy found me on another continent. I'm really grateful for the pick-me-up. It really sucks being alone out there starving to death."

You can't say "sucks", it's not professional!

"Er, I mean it's rigorous lifestyle out in the wilderness. I'm a trained soldier and all, at least back on Cybertron I was. Wait, I mean, I'm still trained, it's just that it's a little different here where there's... um... green stuff everywhere."

Vegetation.

"Vegetation everywhere."

Megatron listened with feigned patience and found himself struggling to maintain his friendly facade in the face of what appeared to be not only a blithering idiot, but also a coward, a nervous wreck of a predacon with a poor taste in beast modes that would more than likely end up as yet another in a long line of cannon fodder rather than a valuable commodity. Even Waspinator didn't babble this much, the fool sounded like a frightened youngster applying for his first job rather than a trainer soldier, or a trained anything for that matter...How did such a fool end up as part of the Axalon's exploration crew? Was he brain addled like so many who fell to earth and suffered damage to their logic or identity circuits like Inferno or Tigatron? Or was it possible that this WAS his normal state of mind? Was he a stowaway? So many questions, so little time and patience to waste on such an underwhelming specimen.

Alak wrote: Buster wanted to kick himself so hard. This interview was going terribly wrong. Not only did he not play things cool, but he was blanking out so bad because he was terrified of the monstrous Predacon who was looking down at him. He thought to himself that staying in his beast mode was probably not going to help his first impression. After all, llamas were not fearsome-looking. Every Predacon he's met thus far looked fairly formidable. He should show Megatron was he was really made of.

Terrorize!

Transforming into his robot mode, Buster chose to hop on his two feet and strike a bold pose. Both legs were spread apart and his curled up fists rested on his waist. His face looked a bit awkward as he tried to smile bravely in a manner that made him look tough, but friendly and approachable. It was then did he realize that he still looked a bit weird.

Hmm... maybe I should have stayed as a llama after all...

Megatron facepalmed as he beheld perhaps the least threatening predacon he had ever seen, his robot mode offering little to inspire confidence in Buster's abilities as of yet...He cast a glance in Inferno's direction in almost sympathy, seeing now why this weakling had been of little assistance in the field.

Straightening up but keeping his cool, for now despite his growing ire, Megatron politely inquired "Ahem, yes, I see...Most impressive. Tell me Buster, you mentioned you were trained, may I inquire as to what you were trained in exactly?"

Megatron could only hope the llama had some hidden skill that would warrant wasting energon rations on him, if not, he was sorely tempted to toss him in the lava pit and be done with it. Regardless of whether he had any merits to him or not, Megatron would have to discipline him for running in the face of the enemy, something he could not tolerate.

As Megatron inquired about his capabilities, Buster recalled what his previous Maximal commander told him.

You're cannon fodder.

He wondered how he would be able to describe that military rank to this new leader in the most flattering way possible. Buster only knew how to do one thing really well, and that was shooting things while attracting attention to himself. He was not the most heroic of soldiers, but he did draw the enemy's attention whether he was firing off his rounds spontaneously or running away screaming his head off. It allowed his other teammates to take advantage of his distractions and flank the opposing teams while their attention was divided. Granted, the other team was usually just a squad of Academy trainees with similar combat experience (or lack thereof).

"I am trained to shoot guns," Buster said, "Different kinds of guns."

He just thought of a way to impress his new commander. Buster was not the most intelligent creature on this planet, and he certainly was not considered intelligent on Cybertron. However, the one factor that did help him get accepted into the Academy as an infantry grunt was that he had a passion for weapons. This was mainly due to his passion for video games, but this encyclopedic knowledge was enough to convince his former superiors to accept him into their ranks. Of course, this was before they realized he was incompetent and dishonorably discharged him as a result. Pulling out his side-arm, Buster placed the pistol on the floor in a demonstrative manner.

"This here is my energon pistol. Packs more punch than your typical AR and it can definitely put down bots in a couple of shots to the chest. You'll rarely see someone last more than one shot to the head with this bad boy!"

He then pulled out his rifle and set it on the floor next to his side-arm.

"This one's my favorite. She isn't as strong as the little one, but she's fully automatic and equipped with heavy armor-piercing rounds. The 7.62x39mm munitions don't have the range of the rifles on your current team but I guarantee you, Mr. Megs, that they'll do much more damage per hit. I've shredded apart hundreds of target dummies with her back home!"

Pulling out his rocket launcher, Buster let the device fall on the floor with a bit more impact to let Megatron and Inferno realize how bulky it was.

"She's my go-to weapon for the big boys. She has the option to switch between thermal lock-on or laser guidance, and I have taken apart aerial drones with a single hit! The bulkier ones like tank-bots and such may require a few more rounds, but I certainly carry enough with me on the field to sweep them off the ground!"

Finally, he pulled out a short, serrated knife.

"If I ever run out of bullets and rockets, I could always resort to this. It's strong enough to pierce standard Cybertronian infantry armor and it can definitely cause of lot of pain to the poor sucker who gets stabbed by it."

He placed it on the ground with the rest of his armaments. Dealing with weapons was one of Buster's few redeeming qualities. He knew that he had to make himself seem intelligent enough with something in order to be accepted by this merry band of Predacons. Hopefully, this did the trick.