The Intergalactic Highway

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

"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."

Whitegrazer glanced at Aurora with a smile and nodded in agreement.

Maybe Airazor and Rattrap when ever they get the chance to update them on their progress, they could see if that bit of reasoning was correct.

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

Staring at the computer's little visual of the weapon firing down at the planet then back at Optimus, who seemed to thought of what the spiders were planning on, she knew that time was drawing near...

"Everyone come with me,"

As Optimus, who seemed to be gaining some optimitism, was taking the lead towards the stasis hold, her right hand was placed over her chest plate, feeling her spark pulsing softly from within. Feelings of being watched by some outside force made her question who they were, but somehow she knew. Also, her master's presence lingered around her like a shadow looming over her. Just silent and watching her. Though, she didn't feel uneased nor paranoid by such. It didn't bother her any.

Giving a passing glance where Ironclaw was still recovering, she didn't forget that she needed to have alittle talk to him about seeing her and Steelclaw's conversation, and tell him to not reveal Steelclaw's identity. Aurora gave her a glance and she smiled at the little one who seemed intrigued. She also hasn't forgot to research more about that Predacon female, and to figure out what she wished to speak about in their next conversation. Something told her she better make a great excuse for him.

When they made it to the stasis hold, her first sight was on the burnt corpse-like of Tarantulas. True, the spider was a dangerous, sadistic lunatic. She had met many in her lifetime...many that she herself had killed. It looked like a very slow, painful way to go. If he was dead...he looked dead though. Aurora was poking at him to make sure. She shook her head at Aurora softly, realizing there was no threat then gazed at Orcariner with a concerned look, but gave a nod of admiration for taking out these spiders.

Blackarachnia was being held and unresponsive towards the Maximals around her. The look on her face was sour and bitterness.

"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?

She hissed at the rat, "I haven't had the chance to do anything with it yet, garbage breath and why should I help you Maximals anyway? I'm holding the information to use it. Why should I save all your hides?"

Whitegrazer stared at Blackarachnia, "You don't really want to die here now, do you?"

Blackarachnia gave the Maximal horse a smirk, "Why not? If I die here, so will all of you. Give me one good reason to finish fixing that pod."

Blackarachnia crossed her arms defiantly. No way was she going to help them. Why? She had no love for any of them and it would be hilarious to see how any of them could convince her to finish that pod. There wasn't one good reason for her to do it.

"You don't want to die here."

The black widow just scoffed at the Maximal horse.

True, she really didn't. She wanted to survive this. Time spent on all of this work, investigation, snooping around Tarantulas and Megatron in order to stay alive in this war shouldn't have ended like this: certain death.

But...she wasn't going to allow these Maximals to take advantage of her own instincts. If she had to die here, so be it. At least, she won't die alone. Everyone, all her enemies will be joining her.

((OOC: I hope this post was okay. XD I couldn't think of anything but this. Anything wrong with it? Let me know and I'll edit. ))

(ooc: In Optimus' shoes, Nem would start off by taking BA's legs off. One by one.

In all sincerity though, I can take on Megs for the duration of this episode since he does have a rather vital part towards the end. I'll give a post a try and if sucks, I'll just delete it and someone more suited for the task can take up the mantle? I have never played a canon character so..)

The very ground on which the Darksyde rested shook violently, causing the ship to shift to a point where it was dangerously close to slide into the lava pits below. Throughout it all Megatron maintained a calm demeanor, believing his faith in Tarantulas was well-placed. His Predacons did not seem to share this belief and most seemed worried regardless of the leader's assurance that they should leave the rest to him.

Of course he had not informed them of the extent of his plan, as was his way. The commander merely expected their blind loyalty, yet he offered little in the form of explanations or hope.

He heard some of his crew address him to which he responded with a scoffing tone.

Venatrix wrote:"Have anything planned that wouldn't involve us being blown to scrap?"

Nemesis wrote:"Megatron, I'm sure you are aware of what's happening. Any specific orders aside from shields?"

"I will handle it, I said. I have everything under control, yessss.."

Megatron then turned back to the monitors just as the monotone voice of the computer chimed in.

"Transwarp signature no longer active. Data flow aborted. Scans show unit Tarantulas non-functional."

The reaction that followed was as furious as it was imminent. Megatron scowled at the flickering monitor which now only showed the signals of his remaining Predacons, none of which he deemed capable of completing Tarantulas' work. Feeling the anger build rapidly within him, the Predacon commander leaned forward to yell at the monitor as if it was somehow responsible for what had occurred, slamming his large dinosaur head against the console while at it.

"No!! What has that fool done?!"

That mindless drone had likely sealed their fate with his stupidity and shortsightedness. Megatron had given explicit orders that Tarantulas was not to be harmed. The ant was only supposed to follow the spiders, to be a watchful eye when Megatron was unable to perform this task himself, and this is what had come of it.

Megatron briefly entertained thoughts of how he could make the ant suffer for what he had done; one idea more painful than the next. The plan that entertained the Predacon leader the most involved Inferno's severed, gaping head mounted on the wall in his private bath chambers to serve as a shelf for his beloved rubber ducky.

Just then the computer's voice interrupted him with a message that lightened his mood considerably.

"Data flow resuming."

Once again the leader turned his attention to the monitor.

"So.. Tarantulas' plan proceeds. Excellent."


His joy was short-lived, however, as the signal was lost mere seconds later. With an annoyed snort, Megatron told the computer to reestablish the signal. Its answer did not offer any appeasement.

"Unable to comply. Maximal shields at full capacity."

Megatron's face rapidly soured once more as he brought his arm down on the console with massive force again. "Blast!"

OOC: Sorry for the wait. Here you go.... it goes back quite a ways, but I think I'm all caught up now. The coworker I've been filling in for should be back soon...so my schedule should go back to normal in a few days so I can post more regularly.

BIC:

Arachnitron hid behind a stasis pod as Inferno approached her. But it appeared that she didn't have to worry about what to do about him. In a few seconds, the Orca fired his carbine weapon in their direction. Protected by the stasis pod she was hiding behind, Arachnitron had nothing to worry about. It took a few seconds for her to get up the courage to peek around it at what was happening.

Inferno, the crazed insect he was, was laughing and walking towards the colossal Maximal firing his flame thrower in his direction oblivious to the bullets hitting him. But she could see a lot of the shots were embedding themselves in his exoskeleton instead of ricocheting off as Tarantulas' bullets had done. The ant's steps were getting shakier and shakier. It was only a matter of time before he fell. She decided to help the process along a bit. She pulled out her cybervenom and fired another shot into the ant's back. After a few seconds, Inferno succumbed to the poison in the cybervenom and the carbine's bullets and fell with a soft thud at Orcariner's feet.

She turned her attention to Blackarachnia. Her last hope. Oddly enough. She could see that she was in some pain. Arachnitron knew that pain well. The pain of another's voice interrupting her thoughts and actions. She would have laughed at the irony if she wasn't desperate to get that pod up and working. Just a few hours prior, Blackarachnia had remarked at how foolish Arachnitron had been for letting Tarantulas into her head...here she was letting Tarantulas into her own head.

Arachnitron was standing now as Rattrap had reported that Optimus wanted the Predacons functional and told him to stop firing. She saw Airrazor and Rattrap approaching Blackarachnia to stop her.

"NOO!" she cried out and raced towards them to intervene. She stopped in her tracks as more Maximals entered the room including Optimus himself. She saw the look of disappointment on his face when he looked at her. She looked away angrily. He just didn't understand!

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

She heard him say. She turned her attention back to the Maximals and Blackarachnia. She lowered her weapon, but didn't put it away.

"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?

She hissed at the rat, "I haven't had the chance to do anything with it yet, garbage breath and why should I help you Maximals anyway? I'm holding the information to use it. Why should I save all your hides?"

Whitegrazer stared at Blackarachnia, "You don't really want to die here now, do you?"

Blackarachnia gave the Maximal horse a smirk, "Why not? If I die here, so will all of you. Give me one good reason to finish fixing that pod."

Arachnitron crossed her arms. Though she was desperate to get off of this planet, she certainly didn't want to let the Maximals have that pod or the transwarp drive. She looked around panic beginning to rise. She wasn't necessarily afraid of the Maximals...she was more afraid of the fact that she was alone. Completely. The Predacon and Maximal programmings were gone. She rid herself of them, but had gotten Tarantulas in their place. Now Tarantulas was gone and she had no one directing her as to what to do. She looked down at the spider insignia on her arm courtesy of the inhibitor chip Tarantulas had implanted. She would have to do what Tarantulas would do: Keep the Maximals from getting the pod and using it for themselves.

She looked at Blackarachnia desperately. "Don't let them have that pod," she begged.

(ooc: I forgot to mention how much I laughed when I read this part of Una's post;

If he was dead...he looked dead though. Aurora was poking at him. She shook her head at Aurora then gazed at Orcariner with a concerned look,

The image running through my mind was just too funny. )

Aurora stepped into the room behind Whitegrazer, initially concealing herself behind the larger female. However it would appear that the battle that had been taking place in the large room had already come to a conclusion, so the small fuzor peeked out from her hiding spot.

What initially drew her attention was the large form of Orcariner lingering in the background. The Maximal killer whale looked like he had seen better days and remained silent, yet his mere size gave him a considerable presence. Deciding the whale was likely not in any imminent danger of collapsing, Aurora then glanced over at the others in the room.

Her optics fixed on Starshadow. The panther had apparently decided to change her allegiance to that of the Predacon spiders. Somehow Aurora was not at all surprised by this fact, however the gaze she sent Starshadow held no resentment. Aurora had seen how difficult it had been for the Predacon-turned-Maximal-turned-Predacon-again to adjust to a new life on their side. Many of the Maximals had greeted her with little but hostility and suspicions, a fact that certainly would make most new recruits rethink their actions.

Aurora tugged at her bottom lip, biting into it as she contemplated the situation. With a sigh she then tilted her head, Arachnitron's warning grabbing her attention.

Arachnitron wrote:"Don't let them have that pod,"

Narrowing her eyes again, Aurora could not help but blurt out a response;

"What are you doing, Arachnitron? The Maximals took you in before when you were lost. Same as Starshadow. We offered you a shelter, somewhere to call home, and you respond by betraying us at our darkest hour? Are you so desperate you would seek the kinship of someone who will leave you to die without as much as a moment’s hesitation?"

She took a step closer.

"We have so little time left before the situation outside goes critical. What were you all planning to do? Snuggle up in the single stasis pod you might have a chance to get working before this planet goes under? No.. Do not fool yourself into thinking these Predacons had any intention of taking you with them."

Of all of them, Arachnitron was the one Aurora was the most disappointed with.

After blowing off some steam, her attention was drawn to the interaction between the other Maximals and Blackarachnia. The other female spider seemed to have plans of her own.

Blackarachnia wrote:"I haven't had the chance to do anything with it yet, garbage breath and why should I help you Maximals anyway? I'm holding the information to use it. Why should I save all your hides?"

Whitegrazer wrote: "You don't really want to die here now, do you?"

Blackarachnia wrote:"Why not? If I die here, so will all of you. Give me one good reason to finish fixing that pod."

These spiders were a pain in the neck.. The world was about to end and they squabbled over nonsense.

"Because you have no intention of perishing with the rest of this planet, that's why. If you weren't desperate to avoid such a fate, you would not be here. And we all know you will never be allowed to board that vessel and leave, so why not help us all survive by completing your task and letting one of us go? You may be a Predacon but you know better than to think a Maximal would leave his comrades behind."

((Oi, I hate computer issues. Sorry guys been having problems with my computer and couldn't get on the site for a while but hopefully this will be an alright post.))

While the others spoke Frilla was only faintly listening while looking at the holographic image Optimus had pulled up, contemplating on how they really could do anything against the planet buster that resided above the planet and was now attempting to destroy it. None of their weapons were that strong nor had the power to reach that far, not unless they were in space again to which they already didn't know if they would ever get the ship fixed to do so again. Surely there had to be something to stop the Vok from winning this.

Though the frilled lizard snapped from her train of thought when she heard Optimus give the order to follow him and she quickly did, though to keep up she went on her hind legs in her beast form and ran with her fellow Maximals even though it was kind of a ridiculous sight to see when she ran this way, not that she cared at this point in time. The smell of burning metal though suddenly caught her attention as they arrived towards the cargo bay, the sight of Tarantulas' burnt husk of a shell greeting them within the halls of the Axalon. It was certainly a bad injury and enough to sent the spider offline which was a relief, it was one less sadistic maniac to worry about. But the scene in the cargo bay was just as surprising as seeing Tarantulas down but none the less it was good to see Orcanier again who had been absent for some time.

Feralnight had likewise been watching the others in the bridge, having nothing to really say on the matter since there was really nothing of her opinion to offer. It was obvious no one really had a clue of how they would stop the weapon that was setting out to destroy not only all life on this planet but the cybertronians as well, so what was there to really do at all on the matter?

Perking up at the order however the fuzor quickly followed the others down the hall, covering her nose at the smell of Tarantulas' burning corpse in the hall. It certainly looked like Inferno did a number on the spider and if he had survived...well they'd likely be expecting a zombie returning from the dead for that to happen, but of course that only happened in movies and stories. Least she hoped that was the case, just thinking about it made her armor crawl since in a way Tarantulas was creepy enough alive as it was. Shaking her head Feralnight put that to the back of her mind as she entered the cargo bay and quickly joined Frilla in keeping an eye on the supposed traitors Starshadow and Arachnitron, both femmes having their weapons drawn.

"You know it's best if you listen to them Blackarachnia, you spiders value your lives too much to be taken out by aliens such as the Vok. Besides I'm sure you spiders and the cat didn't go through all this trouble just to end here."Feralnight put in, though she still had one optic trained on the two maximal-turned predacons femmes.

"What are you doing, Arachnitron? The Maximals took you in before when you were lost. Same as Starshadow. We offered you a shelter, somewhere to call home, and you respond by betraying us at our darkest hour? Are you so desperate you would seek the kinship of someone who will leave you to die without as much as a moment’s hesitation?"

Starshadow could not help but hissed at that and responded, "For their case, it's obviously survival. For me, survival to return to my original crew and to accomplish a mission."

With a sigh and after listening to Feralnight, she knew she was watching her. Since she cannot do anything, she stared back at her.

Staring competition time.... maybe.

Arachnitron listened as the Maximals tried to talk Blackarachnia into cooperating. Aurora, the little fuzor, ignored Blackarachnia for a brief moment and looked over at Arachnitron.

"What are you doing, Arachnitron? The Maximals took you in before when you were lost. Same as Starshadow. We offered you a shelter, somewhere to call home, and you respond by betraying us at our darkest hour? Are you so desperate you would seek the kinship of someone who will leave you to die without as much as a moment’s hesitation?"

Arachnitron narrowed her optics in return. It was such a mistake to have trusted the Maximals. As far as she was concerned the Maximals were no different than the Predacons.

"What? I trusted you all by telling you my secret and where did that get me? No one trusted me because of the Predacon inside of me. And no one welcomed me. As soon as the big monkey was out of the room, one of your crew practically HANDED me over to the Predacons who invaded the base. It was you all who told me I didn't belong here. You Maximals think you're so high and mighty. You know what the Predacons will do when they find out about the Maximal and me? Help the Predacon. You know what you Maximals did? Help the Maximal. You know what Tarantulas did? He helped me. So as far as I'm concerned you're all the same when it comes to your prejudiceness. All the same. No one. No one accepted the fact that there are THREE of us in here. Do you know what that is like?"

The fuzor took a step closer. In response, Arachnitron backed away.

"We have so little time left before the situation outside goes critical. What were you all planning to do? Snuggle up in the single stasis pod you might have a chance to get working before this planet goes under? No.. Do not fool yourself into thinking these Predacons had any intention of taking you with them."

Arachnitron laughed. "Do not fool yourself into think that I didn't have my own plans."

Arachnitron could see the disappointment in Aurora's face. She looked away from her. "You couldn't possibly understand the pain the other personalities were causing me. This was my only choice. My only chance at being normal! Everyone was so quick to help the Maximal and give her what she wanted. No one asked the rest of us in here."

Aurora looked away and addressed Blackarachnia. As the others piped up and tried talking to the other she-spider, Arachnitron holstered her gun and looked away folding her arms over her chest. She just wanted to get off of this planet. The experimentation changed her forever. She didn't belong with either Maximals or Predacons. There was no one else like her in all of the world. No one understood. She gave up trying to explain what it felt like to be her.

(( OOC: Much better, una, thank you!

Nicely done with Megatron, Phoenix! I think it was a good idea to stick to a more scripted post until you get the feel for him. Then you can start venturing out more as you feel more comfortable. Again, many, many thanks for playing him until Wildfire returns. Also, at Aurora poking Tarantulas.

Great post, Blackrosefencer! Tell it like it is! XD

...Also not sure where Blazemane is, but he has some catching up to do. ))

BIC:

"I'm fairing just fine."

Optimus had nodded at Wintersong acknowledging her response. He wasn't entirely convinced but she seemed to be doing well enough. Certainly much better than Ironclaw and Rhinox. The Maximal leader grew quiet while he examined the stasis pod before him and listened to everyone else in the room as more of Maximals entered and confronted the Predacons.

"I haven't had the chance to do anything with it yet, garbage breath and why should I help you Maximals anyway? I'm holding the information to use it. Why should I save all your hides?"

"You don't really want to die here now, do you?"

"Why not? If I die here, so will all of you. Give me one good reason to finish fixing that pod."

"You don't want to die here."

Was Blackarachnia really that selfish? As Optimus began to grow impatient with their words, the fluids inside him started to bubble, so to speak.

"NOO!" "Don't let them have that pod,"

The gorilla's brown eyes shifted to Arachnitron for a moment, narrowing slightly before turning them to Aurora.

"What are you doing, Arachnitron? The Maximals took you in before when you were lost. Same as Starshadow. We offered you a shelter, somewhere to call home, and you respond by betraying us at our darkest hour? Are you so desperate you would seek the kinship of someone who will leave you to die without as much as a moment’s hesitation?" "We have so little time left before the situation outside goes critical. What were you all planning to do? Snuggle up in the single stasis pod you might have a chance to get working before this planet goes under? No.. Do not fool yourself into thinking these Predacons had any intention of taking you with them."

The young Fuzor was right about one thing, Blackarachnia and definitely Tarantulas would not have shared this plan. They were merely using Arachnitron and Starshadow as pawns. A shame to think they'd have actually thought otherwise. And then what would they do after their betrayal and left alone to fend for themselves? Beg Megatron for forgiveness and ask him to save everyone some how? Unlikely. They would be outcasted or severely punished. ...Or even likely killed as had been Glowstick's fate. These Predacons were hanging on by a thread, foolishly desperate. It may very well cost them their lives anyway by Megatron's hands.

"Because you have no intention of perishing with the rest of this planet, that's why. If you weren't desperate to avoid such a fate, you would not be here. And we all know you will never be allowed to board that vessel and leave, so why not help us all survive by completing your task and letting one of us go? You may be a Predacon but you know better than to think a Maximal would leave his comrades behind."

"You know it's best if you listen to them Blackarachnia, you spiders value your lives too much to be taken out by aliens such as the Vok. Besides I'm sure you spiders and the cat didn't go through all this trouble just to end here."

"For their case, it's obviously survival. For me, survival to return to my original crew and to accomplish a mission."

Primal's gaze bounced around the room like a pinball in a pinball machine, taking eveything in with their tones, words, concerns, fears, before it settled on Arachnitron. Aurora seemed to have the best words, however. She understood exactly what Optimus had in mind. Whitegrazer did as well but she used her involuntary visions to help. Her warning was still there, lurking in the back of his mind, but he didn't entirely believe that the future was set, or that her visions were completely accurate. He truly thought what he had in store was the best way to save everyone so no one would have to lose their lives. He secretly promised himself that to Aurora. He didn't want to see anymore death.

"What? I trusted you all by telling you my secret and where did that get me? No one trusted me because of the Predacon inside of me. And no one welcomed me. As soon as the big monkey was out of the room, one of your crew practically HANDED me over to the Predacons who invaded the base. It was you all who told me I didn't belong here. You Maximals think you're so high and mighty. You know what the Predacons will do when they find out about the Maximal and me? Help the Predacon. You know what you Maximals did? Help the Maximal. You know what Tarantulas did? He helped me. So as far as I'm concerned you're all the same when it comes to your prejudiceness. All the same. No one. No one accepted the fact that there are THREE of us in here. Do you know what that is like?" "Do not fool yourself into think that I didn't have my own plans." "You couldn't possibly understand the pain the other personalities were causing me. This was my only choice. My only chance at being normal! Everyone was so quick to help the Maximal and give her what she wanted. No one asked the rest of us in here."

The Commander didn't believe Arachnitron was being completely honest, but it didn't really matter. "ENOUGH!" Optimus bellowed, looking at everyone before focusing on Arachnitron and Starshadow and addressing them with, "If there's one thing I've learned so far, it's not to trust those with their own agendas so easily," glaring at them and speaking in a deep voice. He felt taken advantage of, used, and unappreciated. He tried his best to help them, putting a lot of his own time and effort aside for them, only ever having the best intentions in mind, and now this? Unfortunately, this entire situation may very well harden him and take a toll on his faith in those he would try to help or welcome into his ranks and his ship. His Maximals were right about him trusting too much. It was a weakness he intended on turning around in the future. "But we don't have time for this. In fact, it would seem I've wasted enough of my time as it is," he added with a growl, implying at Arachnitron and Starshadow how dissatisfied, disappointed, and outraged he was to realize now how much of possibly everything he had selflessly given had been wasted on them out of the goodness of his spark. Deep down, however, whatever Tarantulas had done to supposedly "help" Arachnitron, he hoped it was for her best interest and not his own. If she truly thought he had helped her, then clearly he had the intelligence, understanding and equipment that the Maximals did not.

"You want a reason to finish programming this stasis pod?" Primal rhetorically asked Blackarachnia in a cold tone once he turned around to face her and stepped closer to her, grabbing her by her collar and effortlessly lifting her up off the floor. Yes, he had been pushed far enough now. "Because this is no longer your way off of this planet! Now it's in my possession! You've lost your chance to escape, but if you want to live longer in order to find some other means out of this war tomorrow, then your best bet is to co-operate. If it works, you'll still be saving your own life." Releasing his grip, he dropped her, letting her land on her feet. Hopefully by making it about her survival, since there was no other choice for her, it would make her help them, in a way. But just in case that wasn't enough motivation... "Computer, projection," ordered Optimus.

"Planetary destruction in 22.5 cycles," answered Sentinel. Time was running out.

Pretending to dramatically bite his fingertips, Rattrap pointed out, "I'd hate put a bug in the program, Boss Monkey, but dis stasis pod ain't equipped ta duke it out with the planet buster."

Stepping away from the black widow and turning around to look at the Maximal Spy, Optimus explained, "Every one of these alien structures have been designed for a specific purpose, Rattrap. This one is busy, and I'm betting I can fly close enough to take it out."

Hah! Was he nuts?! "With what?!" the rodent asked. "One of yer famous 'We Can Do It' speeches?" he mocked. ((OOC: Sorry to jump back into the script for a moment, but I HAD to put that in there. I love that line. ))

Ignoring the humor and mockery, Optimus corrected Rattrap by saying, "With a transwarp explosion." He was certain Blackarachnia had one, or one of the Predacons did. Because they used transwarp to get to this planet, the only way to get back home or in the right time period was by using a transwarp cell. But an explosion like that would definitely do the job. It would be a very risky and dangerous maneuver, but that was why he was only willing to do it himself. It didn't mean certain death either, his plan was not meant to kill him; in fact, it was to do just the opposite if calculated correctly. It simply meant turning the pod into a mobile bomb. He had the flight speed to escape the explosion and return to the planet. His idea was simple and effective. Save the planet, save its inhabitants, and save themselves.

Rattrap glanced at Whitegrazer in disbelief before looking back at the ape. "Uh, Optimus, I think some of yer cheese has slid off your cracker."

(Ooc: Rattrap for President 2012!! Simply awesome!)

((OOC: Thank you for your compliments, OOP and Phoenix!

Say, Wintersong... where is Snow Trix in all of this? Is she still outside of the Darksyde (since the last post involving her had her running away), or do you want to assume she's back inside base?))

Optimus Primal wrote:Cybertron will be fine, Cheetor. We still have time to find a way to stop the Vok.

Cheetor made no obvious reaction to the hand Optimus put on his shoulder. He was already starting to feel just a little embarrassed for letting his fears get the best of him in front of everyone else--for making it obvious that he was relying on Big 'Bot because of his courage. But he was still afraid, all the same, and having that little bit of support from Optimus still seemed good.

He didn't know what to say about Optimus' answer, though. Cybertron was going to be fine and he hoped they'd stop the Vok or Cybertron was going to be fine because he hoped they'd stop the Vok? Because Cheetor didn't feel really hopeful...

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

Dinobot ran through a mental inventory of the weapons they had on board the Axalon. ...Negative.

Maybe something that wasn't specifically a weapon? The laser they'd bounced off the moon to awaken Tigatron from his stasis? Yes, it actually had the range. No, it didn't have the power...

Aurora wrote: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.

Dinobot was glad to see other processors working through the matter, although he quickly left behind Aurora's idea to delve back into the direction he had been going. If, after all, the spiders did mean to escape the planet--and how could it be known that this was their motivation for invading the ship--how would their plan for fleeing hold the key to the effective confrontation of the alien super-weapon?

...The ship's engine's main reactor? Yes, it had the power. No--they lacked any way to get it up there.

Optimus Primal wrote:Everyone come with me.

Cheetor and Dinobot, both glad to be given something to do that actually felt a little bit like progress, immediately followed down the rumbling halls after the rest of the team.

If they could but have primitive Earthen technology... Dinobot considered that a nuclear bomb would work wonders here...

His mind stopped looking through hopeless ideas when he saw the scene in the stasis hold. Tarantulas burned, Inferno bloodied, and Blackarachnia, Arachnitron and Starshadow caught in the middle of their treachery. Ah, yes, Starshadow. It hadn't taken him long to be vindicated on that matter.

Optimus Primal wrote:Cheetor, Tigatron, restrain Blackarachnia.

Just for a second, Cheetor remembered clocking Blackarachnia in the face that one time. Yeah. If she tried any of her.... kung fu stuff... well... he was watching her.

Dinobot felt his patience wearing thin while he listened to all the stubborn "reasons" Blackarachnia threw out for why she wasn't going to help with the pod. This was compounded by the fact that he still didn't understand what value Aurora saw in the contraption.

Things became decidedly interesting, of course, once Optimus lifted her off of the ground and starting putting a few of his words in bold font. And once he had calmed down just a little, and Blackarachnia was on her feet again, the truth finally came out...

Optimus Primal wrote:Every one of these alien structures have been designed for a specific purpose, Rattrap. This one is busy, and I'm betting I can fly close enough to take it out.

Ah.

So that fuzor... child practically had the strategic foresight of a seasoned general. Dinobot felt slightly ashamed of himself.

(( OOC: Great post, Blazemane! Thanks for covering all that, too.

DarkSpark, you have been doing such an incredible job with Tarantulas, I personally wouldn't mind reading more with him, but I think having him distracting BA or perhaps even "controlling" or manipulating her to sabotage the pod's functions is more up to Una than anyone else. ))

((OOC: Actually, Darkspark, I don't mind if Tarantulas makes another appearance...as a voice inside BA's mind. We all know he is watching. XD I will post tomorrow. You don't have to wait for my post, Darkspark if you don't want to. If you do, that's fine too. I can take either way.

You know...I loved that BA has helped the Maximals a couple times in the show. Of course, for her own selfish reasons(for her own survivial, but still awesome!

Edit: Actually, Darkspark, I will wait until you post. ))

(Since I was asked to do something other then watch )

Umbra observed as the base shaked and tilted violently, placing one of his tentacles down onto the floor he then raised his legs up into a sitting position, seemingly unphased by the movements as it wiggled to counter or absorb the shocks. He pulled out his cup and oil bottle, pouring himself another drink and taking a sip as he watched the chaos unfold.

Some in his situation might have regretted joining the Predacons in this situation, but from his take of the situation.. it seemed like neither group was well off.He had no assessment of the long range combat capabilities of the Predacons around him at the moment. They appeared to have a transport, but there was no reason to believe it could escape this planet's gravity, or had a weapon that could hit a target that far into space. He doubted even with Steelclaw's impressive collection of armaments, that he would have something to take out a weapon the size of a moon.

Watching Megatron seeming to talk to himself, wondering weather or not the group's leader suffered from a form of schizophrenia. He let out a sigh, then pounded back the rest of the oil in his cup. In terms of survival they say if you don't need to stand, sit, if you don't need to sit, lay down, if you don't need to be awake, sleep. Until my services are required, I'll do just that. Good night. he then gave a bow, placing his legs and another tentacle on the floor walking towards Nemesis handing her the oil bottle, then walked off towards the hanger.

Once in the hanger, he stopped infront of his Stasis pod It's not exactly a refrigerator.. but I suppose it'll do. he muttered to himself, transforming to his beast mode and sliding into the saltwater filled stasis pod, closing the hatch. The water had unfortunately gotten warm, but even boiling water was cooler then the dry stagnant heat inside the ship. It was a wonder that Cecaelia had been living on this ship in these conditions, or any of them for that matter.

(ooc: Poop. I wanted to make a post tonight but I'm waiting for Una who is waiting for Darkspark..

Btw.. Excellent post again, Blazemane! WELL worth the wait!! )

OOC: I'll try to get a post in tonight or tomorrow then gang, I wouldn't mind having Tarantulas manipulate or urge BA into helping Optimus if only to save his own ghostly behind before the planet goes up in flames (not like he can pilot the pod himself now with so many maximals watching), but having him outright sabotage the pod may be stealing Megatron's thunder from the original script, so I'd like to know what Phoenix, who's playing Megatron, has to say about that before I implement such a change. The scene where Megatron gloats at Optimus Primal over the pod's communication array right before he goes up is one of my fave moments in Beast Wars history, so i don't wanna rob Phoenix of that epicness if he still still wishes to do the honors of blowing up the Boss Monkey lol.