The Intergalactic Highway

(Phoenix is super sick, so she asked me to post for her.)

Nemesis formed a scowl as she watched the Maximals, ignoring her demands. She then let out a small cry of pain wincing as the raw energon built up on her system Ug.. Don't think I would be so foolish to listen to your bargaining!

She tried to remain composed, but the situation was starting to become dire, her fight or flight instincts starting to kick in. She then let out a scream lurching over as the energon build up became worse. She threw her body upward and activated the thrusters in her legs causing her to suddenly accelerate into the sky at high speed, then transformed in a rather loud classic transformation sound to her hawk mode. She flapped her wings taking off quickly into the sky.

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Rhinox let out a sigh of relief as Nemesis ran off, he then leaned down picking up his scanner. He then turned walking towards Nightmist's body leaning over lifting the remains with his back turned towards the group .. Alright, lets go.. I'll take care of the funeral arrangements..Just keep the others out of the hanger.. I don't believe they could handle seeing something this graphic.. he then let out a heavy sigh. The irony of the lease enthused about a war, a medic to die first among their crew did not fall on the conscious of the rhino, simply the sorrow of a lost ally. He then muttered as he walked away When a spark is extinguished.. the universe weeps..


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Icebreaker nodded as he heard Orcariner, then stopped noticing something in the air Wait, I think I see Nightmist in the air... no.. That's not a maximal signature..or Predacon..?

The Decepticon signature was slowly moving away from Rhinox, but it was fading at the same time. Looking back up to where Icebreaker was indicating Orcariner realized that the hawk that was gaining altitude in the sky. The situation clicked in the Maximal's processor as he understood that they were not looking at Nightmist; it was the Decepticon. That was why her signal was fading despite not making much of a horizontal shift from Primal's crew. Something still puzzled him, however. Orcariner could not gather how their otherworldly visitor had acquired a beast mode so soon without the help of the Predacons. Her uncanny resemblance to Nightmist was enough to initially fool Icebreaker, and the orca was hesitant to think of how this coincidence could have occurred.

"Let's meet up with the others," he said in a hurry, proceeding to run in their direction.

(( OOC: Awe, poor Phoenix. I hope she feels better soon. Thank you, NK.

And welcome back, Alak! I hope you had a nice vacation. ))

"Optimus, she killed Nightmist, you just can't let her leave! Let me out flank the Decepticon then ambush her fron behind leaving Rhionx umharmed."

Optimus didn't answer Saber-Fang. At least not right away. He had to stay focused on the 'Con. Fortunately, the hostage situation didn't last long.

Ug.. Don't think I would be so foolish to listen to your bargaining!

Watching the female struggle with the energon, Primal knew it was only a matter of time before she would have to retreat, or at least transform in to her beast mode. He was relieved that when she did back off, she didn't open fire. Watching her fly off, Optimus made sure no one chased her or fired upon her.

.. Alright, lets go.. I'll take care of the funeral arrangements..Just keep the others out of the hanger.. I don't believe they could handle seeing something this graphic..

Primal nodded at Rhinox while he observed him retrieving Nightmist's body. "I'll inform them," he said quietly. His optics lingered on Nightmist's empty shell as it was carried off with the engineer, sorrow beginning to creep back on the leader as he could see it on Rhinox as well.

Then he turned his attention to the former general. "Saber-Fang, you were in no condition to fend her off," said Optimus aloud, looking down at her in her beast mode, answering her previously private communication. "You were supposed to be resting in the Axalon. Must I confine you to your quarters in order for you to obey?" It was a rhetorical question since he proceeded on without allowing her to answer. "We don't know for certain what happened here, but it may be possible that it was not her intention to kill Nightmist. She may not have had control over her own actions. Her body obviously has some sort of technology that enabled her to upgrade to ours without additional equipment." His red optics slowly lingered away from the saber tooth and wandered to the ground. "...It's possible she didn't know what was going to happen with Nightmist in her grasp." After a moment of seeming lost in thought, his gaze immediately returned to Saber's. "You of all of us should understand what it's like to lose control of yourself." With that, the Maximal leader started walking back toward the base, passing Dinobot and following Rhinox.

"Optimus to Maximal Base," he opened his communication link. "The Decepticon-turned-Predacon has retreated. We're on our way back." Although he tried to hide it, there was some pain and sorrow in his voice. "I want everyone gathered in the control center immediately for a debriefing." That should divert anyone from lingering in the hangar for whatever reason. Unfortunately, unlike the rest of the crew, his time for mourning would have to wait. Right now he knew he had to be strong for his comrades in guidance and reassurance. It was difficult, however, for his mind to find the right words about their very unexpected loss. He had never lost someone under his command before. Then again, he never lead in war, just exploration. And though he couldn't honestly believe everything the Decepticon said, there was still reasonable doubt that she was aware of what was happening. Maybe some day they would find out the truth and put it to rest.

-----

"Yeah," "They're right here."

Rattrap nodded, taking in the situation. Wait. Was he in charge? Both Big Green and the boss monkey were currently out of the base, so it seemed that way. D'oh!

"You sure it's the best move, sitting here and letting Big Bot and the others handle things?" "The more we have out there, the faster we can wreck the Decepticon. Besides, Nightmist might need repairs, and then we'd have her in a CR chamber faster too."

"Yeah, I'm sure, Spots," he answered. "We just gotta wait, 'cause if we go out there, not knowin' what's goin' on, it might make matters worse. Besides, Orcariner and them are out there. We sit tight an' wait ta hear from someone." It wasn't that he didn't want to risk his tail to go and see if they needed help, there were enough of them outside as it was. Rattrap figured some of them should remain inside where it was safe from the energon radiation and they'd save power on their own internal systems in case if a fight were to break out, and they could defend the base if needed.

"I say wait ten more minutes before going outside. If anyone goes now with no knowledge of what's happening, we may inadvertantly could make the situation worse. If we don't hear anything by then though, I say a few of us should go." "That is my suggestion, of course."

The short Maximal nodded in agreement. "What she said," he half smiled in Whitegrazer's direction.

"Guess the mission was successful for you guys seeing as we got two new allies."

Looking at Wintersong when she entered, and briefly glancing at Feralnight, Rattrap asked the white tigress, "Guess yours wasn't? Is this Decepticreep what fell from space?"

-----

"The 'Con is here," "It looks like Optimus and the crew have her surrounded."

Tigatron safely dropped off of Orcariner but remained in robot mode with the threat of the Decepticon in the area. He drew his weapon just in case but remained silent.

"Looks like we're going to need you two,"

The lean Maximal nodded at the largest one.

"We probably should flank her, too. Give her no way of escape except up,"

"It is quiet," Tigatron observed. "Optimus might have the situation under control." Was it odd that it was so quiet? It was a Decepticon after all. Aren't they pretty destructive? No, he shouldn't be so quick to judge.

Wait, I think I see Nightmist in the air... no.. That's not a maximal signature..or Predacon..?

Tigatron looked up and watched the unfamiliar 'bot retreat in the other direction. Something felt... amiss.

"Let's meet up with the others,"

Without hesitating, the teal Maximal hurried after Orcariner's giant strides that trembled the ground.

Saber had ignore the urge to growl when Optimus didn't respond to her right away, but she understood why soon enough.

Ug.. Don't think I would be so foolish to listen to your bargaining!

She watched her fly off, she didn't have the energy to chase her, she was already on OPtimus bad side as it is.

.. Alright, lets go.. I'll take care of the funeral arrangements..Just keep the others out of the hanger.. I don't believe they could handle seeing something this graphic..

I've seen worse and by my own hand no less. Saber thought, feeling her spark sink.

She soon felt Optimus' gaze on her and she forced herself to meet his gaze.

"Saber-Fang, you were in no condition to fend her off," "You were supposed to be resting in the Axalon. Must I confine you to your quarters in order for you to obey?"

Saber thought about that and didn't like the sound of that, she would go nuts and probably end up having mulitiple transformations in the process. If that happend not only would the Maximals be killed but at the end of the how ever many transformations took place she would probably die as well from the strain and stress on her body.

"We don't know for certain what happened here, but it may be possible that it was not her intention to kill Nightmist. She may not have had control over her own actions. Her body obviously has some sort of technology that enabled her to upgrade to ours without additional equipment."

What Optimus said made sence she the Decepticon still was responsible for what happend to Nightmist.

"...It's possible she didn't know what was going to happen with Nightmist in her grasp." "You of all of us should understand what it's like to lose control of yourself."

Saber looked away at Optimus last comment for it had hit home, who was she to judge another actions when she was a freaking time bomb just waiting to go off? Sighing deeply she followed Optimus without looking at Dinobot as she past him.

(Yep. Not sure when she'll get better but I assume it shouldn't be too long..She's a tough bird.)

Icebreaker transformed to his penguin mode, then leaned starting running following Orcariner and Tigatron and soon passing them. The area was far too quiet for his taste, and seeing the abnormality of a similar Nightmist with his scanner left him puzzled.

As he moved he suddenly spotted Rhinox in the distance and slowed down as he noticed he was carrying something. As Icebreaker walked closer, his large yellow crest/eyebrows of his penguin form seemed to fold down from the view behind him. How is..?

Rhinox looked towards Icebreaker shaking his head It's over.. Optimus want you all to report to the command center.. I'm going to be busy in the hanger. If you feel up to it, you can help me prep her..

Icebreaker shaked his head stepping back slowly .. No..I think you'll handle it better then me Big guy.. Icebreaker then turned walking back towards Orcariner and Tigatron as Rhinox continued on his way to the hanger.


Icebreaker spoke up as the three met There's no need to rush.. Optimus wants us to go to the command center on the bridge.. he then let out a sigh walking on ahead of the two. He was once again too slow. He tried as hard as he could until his systems broke, but it still wasn't enough. A thousand what ifs could go through his mind, but the reality was already set. He'd lost another friend and there was nothing he could do. Icebreaker called down the lift as he walked towards the Axalon, then hopped up onto it entering the bridge.

As he entered the bridge, his red eyes glanced around the group, his crest raising in surprise at seeing two new robots in the group, one being a predacon that had shot him at one point not that he held a grudge. Icebreaker.. maximize.. he then said transforming to his robot mode. Standing almost as tall as Whitegrazer, his body seeming rather fit but also heavily armed like a soldier, probably the one of the heaviest armed Maximals of the group other then Optimus Primal himself.

He walked towards one of the seats sitting down quietly taking the shield off his shoulder and setting it on his lap, he then took a red bag off his back which appeared to have a medic's cross on it and opened it pulling out some tools. Better to distract myself with repairs then think about this.. he thought to himself.
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In the hanger, Rhinox set Nightmist's body down on a table inside the Nomad. He would have to examine her body to understand what happened, as well as patch her up enough to prevent any maximals from vomiting or having the body rip apart during the disintegration ceremony. He then walked towards a lever on the wall pulling it as the Cargo hatch on the Nomad closed.

((I'm itching to RP and it seems like this thread is starting to come to its close, so i'll make my introduction now as sort of a teaser for the next episode. Enjoy! ))



A pillar of light gray smoke arose from a crash site in a grassy clearing. The area was full of all kinds of different types of animal and plant life. Deer roamed together with their fawn, rabbits scurried around in search dandelion to eat and the plants swayed back and forth from a gentle breeze. Insects sucked on the warm nectar flowers offered and butterfly flapped their wings majestically. The wildlife was so far unaffected by crashed stasis pod.

"Scanning for suitable lifeforms..."

Amidst the chirping of the birds, a sharp robotic voice could be heard followed by a hissing sound. Two small panels slid apart from the console of the pod and from the open hole came a metal arm. It extended its reach until it was completely unfolded and standing upright. From its tip, emerged an array of light which spun in a circle around the well populated field. Still, the animals were not disturbed, but instead curious. Deer walked over the pod in wonder as it had never seen anything of its kind before. As quickly as the light came however, it vanished just as quickly. The arm collapsed back into itself again and the two panels closed behind it. For a time, the pod was silent.

"Compatible life-form found. Beginning replication."

And again, it was silent. Inside, the computers and lifeform performed careful calculations and testing, but from the outside, there was nothing. The object simply sat, almost as if it was apart of nature itself. Creatures slowly began to walk again, now uninterested, but as the last of them turned away, it sprung back to life. The top door swung open rapidly, almost shredding the hinge which held it place. Cold water vapor escaped from the new opening, making it difficult for anything to see what was going on inside. One last ray of light erupted from the pod, a brilliant white flash as if someone had just taken a picture. Many creatures of began to flee from the scene, no longer interested in the contents of the pod. Others stood watching, perplexed and stunned by what had taken place.

Inside the light and through the mist, a protoform had finished its metamorphosis. One large claw escaped, followed by a second. Both were of a deep green color with a red stripes on the top. Soon, it's whole body emerged. It was a praying mantis, although quite larger than the insect it tried to replicate. The only sound the creature made was a laugh, an almost evil sounding laugh. Moving one of its great claws up towards his head, a spinning blade was revealed from underneath. Laughing even louder, it turned on, spinning at a deadly speed. The Mantis' head made eye contact with one of the poor deer and sprung to life, leaping off its hind legs and propelling itself forward with its wings.

Manterror was born.

Orcariner only managed a few strides before Optimus' message reached his radio. Feeling a sense of frustration as he was unable to contribute anything thus far, the Maximal slowly turned and walked back to the Axalon. He waited in the command center, the ceiling nearly grazing the top of his head as he anxiously checked the hallways for the others' arrival. Orcariner was curious to hear of how the situation played out. He was also afraid to tell Optimus the events of the northern crew's mission. Something did not sit right with the atmosphere. Optimus did not sound too pleased with the Decepticon's retreat. The others were strangely solemn, as well. The giant Maximal reminded himself to breathe and calm his spark before unsure thoughts overwhelmed him.

"yes it was and with the Decepticon's arrival here that should be explanation enough." Wintersong sighed glancing over as Icebreaker came in then lowered her gaze again. She flicked her tail ready to leave yet they still had a debriefing to do and trying to leave would be pointless.

Dinobot's optics turned green as he charged his lasers in preparation of an attack on the retreating Nemesis.

He stared after her for a few moments as he wrestled with his own indecision. She had left Rhinox unharmed, even though she had done so in a coward's way. And as he'd already considered, Optimus had promised her a safe retreat.

The more he considered, the farther away she flew, until he realized that even if he wished to fire upon her, it would be a futile exercise. Growling loudly in frustration, he allowed his optics to fade back to red.

He watched Rhinox pick up Nightmist's body as he listened to Optimus and Saber.

Optimus Primal wrote:We don't know for certain what happened here, but it may be possible that it was not her intention to kill Nightmist. She may not have had control over her own actions. Her body obviously has some sort of technology that enabled her to upgrade to ours without additional equipment. ...It's possible she didn't know what was going to happen with Nightmist in her grasp.

Dinobot, already frustrated with how the encounter had gone, and fighting bitterly the idea that Nightmist's death had stirred some form of un-allowable grief within him, was only made angrier by Optimus' defense.

He finally snapped.

"Intentional or accidental- what difference does it make! The Decepticon is an enemy, and she has just killed one of your own subordinates. We should have destroyed her when we had the chance!"

* * *

Cheetor waited where he was in the control while a lot of the other 'bots came in. He wanted to hear about the other mission, and now that Optimus had radioed in to say he'd debrief them about what happened outside, he wanted to know about that too.

((OOC: Nice use of descriptive detail, WorpeX.))

Whitegrazer was glad that Rattrap and her had the same idea when Optimus' announcement made it clear they were fine. She hoped everyone was all right back there. She wondered if Nightmist was among them?

All she could do was wait for Optimus and the others to get there and hear what happened there with the Decepticon.

(Yeah.. There's been this nasty stomach flu going around my workplace.. So many of the patients and staff alike have been sick, so they have been begging the rest of us to do double shifts to cover. Naturally I eventually got infected as well. Not fun when you are about 7 months along.)


Nemesis soared through the sky in her new hawk mode. She was trying to enjoy herself, finding a certain comfort in the fact she felt free while roaming aimlessly through the evening skies, yet she also felt defeated by the fact that her original form had been taken away from her. It had been an unexpected,tragic event, and the Decepticon absolutely hated having had to give up her superior size, strength, and speed for a much smaller, and in her opinion, weaker and less capable body. She had gone through so much trying to avoid what had now become reality, even facing death in space rather than sacrifice her superiority for.. this.. whatever she was now..

But at the very least those awful energon surges had stopped as soon as she had changed to beast form, allowing her some peace of mind for a little while. Although she was surprised the Maximals had been telling her the truth about that, and really did not know why her field dampers would function in beast form and only to a limited extent in robot form. This was a strange planet indeed..

The further she flew, away from those hypocritical maximals, the more she was able to enjoy herself.. the sunset providing its last few warming rays as the darkness started to set in. Nemesis enjoyed the night, having always found it rather soothing to be sheltered by the dark sky, and finding a certain comfort in the lonesome silence that was only interrupted by a few animal sounds here and there. Where she was heading, she did not know yet. As much as she enjoyed the solitude, she knew basically nothing about this planet. Nor did she have a way to get off this planet, hopefully finding some way to transform herself back into her old self.

Pondering the situation for a while, she decided that she probably would be better off forming an allegiance with someone here for a little while. Obviously it would not be the Maximals, as they would surely try to lock her up or something of that sort. Nemesis had always despised the 'good guy' philosophy. But then her thoughts drifted back to her encounter with those initial other two on the airship. They had a vessel capable of flying long distances, perhaps they would be able to leave the planet eventually as well..

Maybe those Predacons could be worth looking at a bit more closely..

(( OOC: Nicely done, WorpeX.

By the way, did all of the Preds just collapse and fall asleep? Nothing worth RPing on their side right now? No one's tearing each other's throats out or anything. ))

"Intentional or accidental- what difference does it make! The Decepticon is an enemy, and she has just killed one of your own subordinates. We should have destroyed her when we had the chance!"

Optimus stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Dinobot. "We should have destroyed her?!" he repeated the raptor, upset with his words. "Recognizing the line between intentional or accidental actions makes a world of difference, Dinobot! I'm not going to take a life that might have the slightest bit of being innocent even if it is a Decepticon." Turning around, Primal continued walking to the Axalon while he spoke, his tone progressively growing calmer. "We don't have all of the facts. No one was there to witness what happened. ...Nightmist was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's my fault she was out there alone." He assumed it was just the "Predacon" in Dinobot that was speaking. An eye for an eye. A life for a life. That's not how Maximals worked. Optimus never wanted to take a life no matter what faction they belonged to and no matter what crime they committed. It's what separated him from Megatron and the aliens. His mercy and forgiveness was what defined him as a "good guy." In his mind, he should have enforced his rule about his crew members venturing out on their own without telling anyone where they were going. He was to blame for Nightmist's death, not the 'Con. And Nightmist's last words, her voice, haunted his thoughts.

Walking up to the Maximal base, the leader stepped on to the platform and was lifted up into the command center, gently rubbing his damaged side for a moment. Moving aside off of the lift, he glanced at all of the faces that were present. Orcariner, Cheetor, Rattrap, Icebreaker, Feralnight, Wintersong, Tigatron, and their newest members Whitegrazer and Frilla. Rhinox, who was in the hangar, and Saber-Fang and Dinobot outside. His crew was expanding quickly, and there were still more scattered in orbit. All of these lives, young and old, experienced and inexperienced, were in his hands. Although Nightmist's death may have been considered a "freak accident," the thought of losing another friend terrified Optimus. The female medic, of all functions of a Maximal, being the first he lost under his command began to give him doubts of his own leadership. The inexperienced commander would recover in this time of sorrow, but right now the feeling was tramendous.

Waiting for the saber tooth cat and velociraptor to join them, Primal stood there, awkwardly silent, frantically searching for the right words to say as his optics passed over everyone else's. Were any words the right ones to explain for such a crucial and sad occurance? A life was lost. Her spark had extinguished.

(( OOC: Just giving some time for everyone to be caught up before I type even more. ))

-----

Tigatron had stopped with Orcariner before reaching the others and followed him back to the Axalon as Optimus had requested. Standing there with the rest of the Maximals in the control center, a large group as they were, he observed all of them quietly and was curious about the new additions, especially Frilla since she was the second Predacon to join their ranks. He turned his head to their leader when his presence seemed to absorb everyone's eagerly anticipated attention.

-----

"yes it was and with the Decepticon's arrival here that should be explanation enough."

That was fine with Rattrap; shrugging it off. He wasn't looking for a big explanation about it. That could be left for the boss monkey to hear.

"Optimus to Maximal Base," "The Decepticon-turned-Predacon has retreated. We're on our way back." "I want everyone gathered in the control center immediately for a debriefing."

Glancing between Cheetor and Whitegrazer, Rattrap said, "See? What'd I tell ya?" proudly folding his arms across his chest. Right again! The pride wore off, however, as soon as Optimus showed up with a somewhat grim expression on his face. His presense was unlike any Rattrap had felt or witnessed before. He knew their commander well enough to recognize that something was seriously wrong; for the first time of the duration of their stay on this planet.

"Intentional or accidental- what difference does it make! The Decepticon is an enemy, and she has just killed one of your own subordinates. We should have destroyed her when we had the chance!"

Saber kept her mouth shut at Dinobot's comment.

"We should have destroyed her?!" "Recognizing the line between intentional or accidental actions makes a world of difference, Dinobot! I'm not going to take a life that might have the slightest bit of being innocent even if it is a Decepticon."

Innocent until proven guilty. Saber thought.

"We don't have all of the facts. No one was there to witness what happened. ...Nightmist was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's my fault she was out there alone."

"He does have a point, Dinobot. It was a freak accident. The Decepticon is innocent until proven guilty." Saber said looking at Dinobot then she turned to look at Optimus. "It's not your fault, Optimus. You had no idea what would happen."

The former General the Maximal leader into the Maximal Base, she knew what he was going threw, she had lost men as well and not by her hand either. But either way it never got any easier.

((OOC: Scorponok and Terrorsaur are a little beat up right now so they're not going to appear for the rest of this episode due to time in the recovery chamber ))

(That's fine. I think most the Predacons are probably going to be quiet, sleeping, or busy repairing things.)

After a few hours of effort and aligning the hatch, repairing the broken off machine gun, the Leviathan was starting to look as it was before it left the hanger in the morning. Least on the outside anyway. Internally Glowstick worked with Sonar repairing the broken panels and internal wires damaged by Nemesis. The Situation left him feeling frustrated. He worked hard to redesign the ship to width stand the sort of punishment the maximals would throw on the outside.. but on the inside?! No vehicle was designed to take a beating internally. Such engineering would be considered madness.

Madness.. he thought to himself, it felt like madness was something he'd become closer to since he'd awaken in the ocean. The world and it's lifeforms were strange, going from his routines to something completely different and interacting with those he would consider sociopaths. Of all his teammates the only one that seemed sane was a Maximal, perhaps madness was the inherent nature of the Predacons?Speaking of madness..

Glowstick's head tilted to the side as he thought of what Sonar said of the battle Hm.. You said you darted StarShadow to keep her alive..Wouldn't you have benefited from her being destroyed? Glowstick then stated, his laser seen firing a few times welding a plate to the floor. He then glanced towards Sonar I mean if she wasn't in the picture.. none of us would harass you or stalk you like she does..Unless the other crewmate's insinuation's have merit..Doesn't matter either way, but I like to try to understand my co-workers motives. he then stated leaning up and floating off the floor, his legs unfolding under him. He'd grown less fond of being on the ground the more he was on this planet, probably a part of his squid programming. They were used to living in a 3d environment constantly.