The Intergalactic Highway

Optimus Primal wrote:It's fine. I believe you made the right deicision.

Dinobot was astounded, and he stood silent for a few moments.

"I am... glad to have your support, Optimus Primal."

As he spoke, he noticed Optimus nearly fainting.

Optimus Primal wrote:What are everyone's injuries that have been sustained?

Dinobot wondered how extensive Optimus' injuries were. Perhaps it would be good for some Maximals to escort him to base while the rest waited for Icebreaker, Feralnight, Rattrap and Orcariner's return.

But then, with Saber Fang knocked out (and hopefully knocked out for a while), and the threat of Predacons still present, splitting up was not strategically sound. Dinobot decided not to suggest it. He merely hoped Optimus would be able to wait long enough to get back to the Axalon.

* * *

Steelclaw limped in to the room and spared a moment to watch Orcariner and the alien clash. It was both incredibly spectacular and slightly frightening.

Not wasting another moment, he set the bomb on the ground, so as to walk a little less carefully, and then hobbled over to the control panel.

After clambering onto his hind legs and wincing as a result, he found himself able to reach the controls on the panel which controlled the energon field. he clumsily turned a few dials until they were completely to the left.

"Vok signature not present. Command ignored."

The dials suddenly turned themselves back to their original positions.

"Well, that's surprisingly logical," Steelclaw remarked as he got back down on all fours. He turned around to head for the bomb, but had to pause as Orcariner and the alien came screeching by him. A flailing tentacle came crashing down near his paw and he jumped back in surprise.

"Watch it!" Steelclaw shouted. Once they were clear, he made his back to the bomb.

He stared at the monitor and then back to the bomb. He was a marksmen, but throwing a bomb by a loose wire with his mouth with reliable accuracy was still a daunting task.

But it was either that or hit the bomb while standing right next to it...

"Here goes nothing."

Steelclaw bit around one of the loose wires, and, hoping he wouldn't accidentally touch another wire and complete some circuit, or just pull the wire the wrong way, he tossed his head sideways and let the device fly across the room.

The bomb hit monitor like he'd hoped and the force of the impact detonated it. After shielding his face from debris, he looked and saw that the monitor was a smoking ruin.

His systems suddenly informed him the energon radiation in the room had vanished.

"Steelclaw, terrorize!"

"Warning-"

"Shut up."

Steelclaw grabbed his mini-gun, and after finding a stable standing position to handle its kick in his weakened condition, he opened fire on the alien.

If his attack with the PPC was any indication, the lasers wouldn't do any damage. But if they forced the alien back, then hopefully Orcariner could handle the rest.

A fluid river of lasers struck the side of the Vok skull. Orcariner wiggled free from the laxed grip and noticed that Steelclaw was standing in his robot form. It could only mean one thing.

"Orcariner," he yelled, "Maximize!"

The grinding of sand in his joints were muffled by the roar of Steelclaw's gun. The Vok attempted to retaliate with its tentacles, but the rate of fire and spread of the mini-gun was enough to suppress the skull. It was enough to give Orcariner the opportunity to lunge in for a free attack. Brandishing both energo-swords, the giant slashed through the sea of metallic arms and found his foe. As soon as he grabbed hold of the Vok, the Maximal realized just how fatigued his body was. It would be difficult to move this opponent as with as much ease as the last two encounters. Regardless, Orcariner knew that their lives and a potentially game-changing artifact was at stake.

The pillars...

The last energon pillar managed to obliterate the attacking tentacles when it was struck down. Perhaps the two beast warriors could find a way to use these pillars destroy this being for good. Plunging one sword into the Vok's temple, he dragged the creature using its body as a shield between Steelclaw's relentless assault and himself. Using his legs to assist him, Orcariner heaved the skull in the direction of one of the three remaining energon pillars.

"Shoot the generator!" he said to Steelclaw.

Whitegrazer had her eyes closed, meditating near Saber's body with her hand still on her. She heard the conversation between Optimus and Dinobot. Despite her misgivings with killing a downed opponent, she believed Dinobot did the right thing. It was sad they had to kill the clone. If only the aliens could just talk to them instead of trying to kill them, they weren't ignorant to the fact that they could have been reasoned with. The aliens were ruthless and alittle illogical. It was almost like they were trying to protect something. Of course, they will be protecting their expertiments but maybe there is more to it than that. Something about this planet was strange yet familiar. Must be the animal life forms.


She opened her eyes and looked at Optimus then at Dinobot before speaking, "Optimus, maybe one of us could escort you back to base to get repaired. You really took a beating on both sides because of the link." She thought she would try but she knew what the answer might be.

Maybe I should knock him out or drag him forcefully? Oh that would be a scene. ((OOC: )) But she would understand if he declined. Can't hurt to ask but that fluid leaking out of him should be stopped.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Blackarachnia had smacked against a wall, knocking her out.

She didn't know how long she was out but when she came to, she was met with more of those cybernetics husks.

I have to get out of here now! She was still dazed from the hit on her head but she ignored it as she went as fast as she could down the tunnel with those husks in pursuit.

((OOC: Nasty husks. I got this idea from playing my Mass Effect 2 game. XD Those husks are annoying. XDD))

((OOC: Time for confessions.))

"You're safe now, Saber."

Saber heard that some where in the darkness and she actually felt safe, moments later she felt the darkness ease and she felt creature's hold on her wain and then vanish all together, but the creature was still there waiting for another time to surface.

The former General groaned quietly as she regained consciousness and she found herself laying in her side with some ones hand on her. Her head was pounding and she didn't know why, normally when the creature left she was just worn out, this time it was different. Not only was she worn out but her head also pounding, it felt like she had a hang over and she didn't remember drinking any thing.

My head, what the heck happened? She thought before lifting her head to see Whitegrazer sitting next to her.

If Orcariner insisted...

Steelclaw grunted as he quickly turned his weapon in the direction of the energon pillar. A few laser buried themselves in the energon before it ignited in a massive fireball. The shockwave from the blast knocked Steelclaw off of his feet, and he dropped the mini-gun to the ground. Without him to keep the weapon firing, it spun to a stop.

Steelclaw clambered over to the weapon and readied it once more before looking to see if the alien had been finished. He was also curious to see if Orcariner had been able to use the alien's body as a shield, or if he'd gotten wrecked, too.

The explosion easily knocked Orcariner off his feet with him not having enough strength left to hold his body upright. The room quickly filled with smoke, clouding everything in sight except for the lifeless behemoth that continued to stand in the center with support structures holding it still. His vision turned fuzzy as he attempted to lift himself back up.

Tell me it worked.

A rattling noise was heard where the column used to stand. The rattle soon transitioned into the familiar sound of grinding metal. The Vok still lived. As the smoke began to clear, Orcariner saw that the skull was struggling to support itself and its tentacles seemed to act without any significant coordination. What drew his attention the most was a gaping hole on the temple of the machine's armored skull, the same one that Orcariner had struck with his sword before. The opening was now considerably widened, and the Maximal estimated that he could finish the fight in less than a minute.

No time to waste!

Picking himself back up, Orcariner charged towards the alien with both his swords brightly lit through the smoke. The sound of thundering footsteps was easily picked up by the creature, who lashed many of its arms outward. The tentacles flew past the attacking giant as he quickly approached his weakened opponent. Orcariner quickly noticed that the tentacle strike was not directed at himself.

Is he trying to hit Steelclaw? Not if I can help it.

With a hoarse roar, Orcariner thrust his blade into the open wound and the Vok's eyes flickered. Similar to how he destroyed his previous foe, the Maximal began ripping out the innards. If he could remove the bomb, they would not have to worry about a postmortem attack from the alien machine. There it was, a box was firmly gripped in his hand as Orcariner tore it from its owner. Inspecting the device, he knew he had succeeded in removing this Vok's final threat. Before he could react, a metal tentacle knocked the bomb out of his hand.

"You have not won, yet," said the metallic skull as it lay dying on the floor.

Orcariner replied, "Says you. I just eviscerated you just like I did to your pal."

The machine chuckled, "Your... your.... y-y-your overconfidence will be y-y-your undoing."

The Vok's eyes darkened and its arms stopped moving. Orcariner was confused by the alien's threat and he turned to see how Steelclaw was doing. His optics widened as he realized his mistake. The Vok had no intention of striking down his Predacon companion. Rather, its arms went straight for the doppelganger that Orcariner was running past. The support machines hissed, releasing a large amount of steam as they came to life. The structures released their hold over the clone and rescinded to their default positions. More hissing resonated in the air and steam shot out of the joints and vents of the newly built "Orcariner". The alien titan leaned its head forward, and soon its arms sprang to life. Orcariner could only watch in horror as the machine turned to face him.

"As I have said," it bellowed, unsheathing two bright red energo-swords, "Your overconfidence will be your undoing."

Steelclaw stood aghast as the alien activated itself within the clone, even as his mind was racing for a proper response to the situation.

"Well, Orcariner, I think we can give up on getting the tranwarp device." Steelclaw observed drily.

As I have said, your overconfidence will be your undoing.

Steelclaw exchanged his mini-gun for his gauss rifle with surprising speed and took a quick shot at the third of four energon pillars. The incendiary round pierced through to the energon inside, but only set the material whining, threatening to blow up later.

The alien charged forward, but then the column blew and knocked it off balance for a moment.

Steelclaw looked at Orcariner and motioned for the doorway.

"Time to fly!"

As soon as he turned around, he saw the door sliding shut.

"Your interference will no longer be tolerated," declared the alien.

"My interference? I helped you build... you."

Steelclaw took aim for a large opening between the clone's foot and his leg which revealed itself as the clone took the weight off of it to lunge closer. But right as he pulled the trigger, one of the clone's swords swept in the way and deflected the round with ease.

Moving backwards towards Orcariner, Steelclaw quickly aimed upwards for the clone's face. The shot hit dead on, but seemed to ricochet off with no real effect.

Steelclaw continued moving back, but his legs suddenly seemed to lock up.

"Warning: Overuse of shorted circuitry resulting in further internal damage. Transformation to beast mode suggested, or stasis lock will commence."

Orcariner ran after the clone as it pursued Steelclaw. The Predacon was noble enough to distract the clone, so he might as well repay the favor.

"Over here!" he yelled at his doppelganger.

Orcariner raised his sword, but the clone was much faster than he could even prepare for. A swift kick to the abdomen crippled the Maximal's attack. As he fell to his knees, the orca was unable to parry a vicious swipe that cut into his breast plate. Falling backwards with a grunt, Orcariner saw that pieces of his own armor were falling off now. The plates were cracked before from three intense battles with foes his caliber. They were unable to withstand a direct attack from someone his size, strength, and speed. Should he have walked into this fight with full health and a battle-ready mindset, Orcariner may have fought blow to blow with his clone. Unfortunately, this was far from the optimal scenario for he was about to pass out from all of the damage he had sustained in one day.

"Is that it?" he feebly taunted, "I thought you were my clone? I can't be that weak can I?"

A punch to the face immediately greeted him and Orcariner reeled back in pain. Was he truly willing to sacrifice his own life just to save a Predacon? The giant figured that he had done so all this time so he might as well stick to his convictions to the very end. He only wished that his impending death would not have been so painful. The clone grinned as it grabbed Orcariner and lifted his body over its head. The orca was unable to retaliate as he was thrown across the room. His broken body slid along the metallic floor panels until he felt something stop his momentum. It was the pillar that Steelclaw had shot not even a minute ago. The generator was now pulsating from the unstable electron excitations. He realized that he could use this to his advantage thanks to the black bear's quick thinking.

Heavy footsteps grabbed his attention as the clone casually walked over to him. The calm demeanor shook Orcariner's confidence. Normally, soldiers in the Beast Wars tended to act with passion or just simply talk a lot while fighting. Apart from the Vok's initial threat, it had remained quiet in dialogue. The smug attitude made Orcariner wonder if this plan would even work, or if the clone had a hidden trick up its sleeve. Regardless, he had to try everything he could. If the clone could lift him up with such ease, then Orcariner could do the same to his foe.

Assuming he doesn't skewer me first.

As soon as the clone was within range, Orcariner ran up and wrapped his arms around its body. A sharp pain surged through his side, and he realized that an energo-blade had just ran through his body. The Maximal continued his maneuver and threw the clone towards the pillar. The throw itself was pitiful and all Orcariner did was switch their positions, but it was all that he needed at the moment. The column exploded with fury, unleashing a blue fireball that engulfed the Vok. The orca was fortunate that the alien's body provided some protection but that did not stop him from being thrown back to the other side of the room. Once again, a bit of smoke filled the room and Orcariner hoped that it would mask his limp body from his enemy.

"Well that's not too bad," he muttered.

Looking at his wound, it turned out that the Vok's sword penetrated his oblique region. Orcariner would still be severely hindered in mobility, but at least no vital hardwares were damaged. He looked at his hand which had been putting pressure on the wound. Soaked in mech fluid, it was now involuntarily shaking but the orca could not tell why. Was it from his fatique? Was it the shock of losing so much energon? Now was not the time to dwell on something so trivial. Movement was heard on the other end of the room as the clone got back up to its feet.

"Hey, Steelclaw," he said, "How's your body holding up?"

He saw that the clone's armor was cracked now but it was still fully functional. It was ready to reengage both of its opponents in battle.

"That pillar did quite a bit of damage," Orcariner continued.

His gaze moved from the clone up to the ceiling. The roof above them was now brittle with minor fissures running along it. Light was barely seen through some of the wider cracks. Orcariner had completely forgotten what he had said earlier about this room. The Vok needed a emit the transwarp signal across the continent, but since it was hidden underground, the ceiling covering it had to be thin enough for the signal to reach both parties. With three pillars being destroyed, the vibrations channeling upwards were enough to damage it. If they managed to erupt the fourth column, the entire ceiling might break away allowing the other Maximals and Predacons to find them easily without having to travel back down in the underground network.

"Quite a bit of damage," he repeated a bit softer this time around.

The last pillar was essential for this plan to work. Looking back down near the alien skull's deceased body, the bomb still laid there in prime condition. If they could destroy it, not only would they open a window of opportunity of being rescued, but they could also break off a significant amount of armor on the clone. That Vok bomb was powerful enough to rupture one of those metal skulls. Orcariner wondered what would happen if it were inside of his clone's body. He looked over to Steelclaw once more.

"Think you can also take out that last generator?"

((OOC: I hope no ones waiting for me to post, cause I haven't the slightest clue what to write.))

Orcariner wrote:Hey, Ste- ...r body holding up?

"Perfectly," he shouted. He wasn't about to admit to being nearly inoperable in front of the alien. Of course, the clone could probably already tell that his condition was deteriorating. But if that was the case, then he would realize that Steelclaw had spoken with cathartic sarcasm, which would be fun. Of course, that would do nothing for the battle.

Steelclaw took aim with his rifle, and he managed a few negligible shots on the clone's colossal frame, hoping to provide a diversion to assist Orcariner.

Orcariner wrote:Think you... take... -enerator?

Steelclaw hoped he'd understood correctly. He made two shots on the energon pillar, hoping to hasten the explosion. He attempted a third, but was met with an empty click.

He quickly adjusted the weapon to fire standard rounds rather than incendiary and resumed his attack. Four bullets later, the pillar ignited. In his condition, Steelclaw couldn't even react, and some of the shrapnel buried itself into his front.

"Conversion to beast mode required or stasis lock will commence," his computer informed him.

"Beast mode," he resigned. After transforming, he fell flat on the ground.

Right next to him was the bomb. Shifting his weight, he placed a clawed paw against it, and although it was a desperate move, he slid it across the floor to Orcariner. He hoped the Maximal would accept it carefully, or else Steelclaw would be lacking the bomb and an ally.

Orcariner looked at his companion as the bomb slid over to his side. Taking it into his right hand, the Maximal slowly got back on his feet. A flash of light temporarily blinded him as the final pillar quickly detonated from the Predacon's gunfire. The entire room began to rumble now and the ceiling wasted no time in deteriorating above them. Slabs of earth crumbled all around adding more dust to the room. On the other side, Orcariner noticed a glint of red light from his opponent's swords. He proceeded to walk in the direction that the Vok was until a metal panel struck him from above. The orca collapsed to his knees but he held himself up with his left arm, taking much caution with the invaluable weapon in his other hand.

"Come on, soldier," he told himself, "We have a fight to finish."

He shakily stood back up. Everything around him began to move again, and it was a similar sensation to how he felt while fighting the second Vok skull. Orcariner's processor was struggling to channel power to his damaged body as well as his senses. The sunlight that was beginning to flood the room forced him to squint, adding more confusion to his motor reflexes. The Maximal continued to press on, stumbling many times, but he was focused enough to approach the injured clone. The Vok machine was standing upright, but its body was just as injured as Orcariner's. The breast plate was now missing along with several other chunks of armor. Orcariner wondered if he himself would be still be able to stand if he had sustained explosions from two of these reactors. Then again, this was an incomplete replica that was built for the sole purpose of destruction. It was quite possible that it was incapable of feeling pain at all.

"Here I am," said Orcariner to the clone, "Let's finish this."

He unsheathed both energo-swords, but kept his right arm held back a bit to obscure the sight of the bomb. The clone, whose weapons were already drawn, lunged forward with extreme speed. Orcariner had forgotten that this doppelganger had all his abilities, including the usage of his vents and gravity lifts to commit to ranged strikes. He only lifted his left sword in time and deflected the clone's right blade, but the enemy's second weapon plunged into his shoulder. The sheer force of impact forced Orcariner to stumble back a few steps, but he was unable to separate himself due to the depth of penetration. Pain seared through his body from the new wound, but now the clone was exactly where Orcariner wanted it to be: within reaching distance. Struggling to move his right arm, the Maximal titan utilized all of his strength to lift the injured limb and plunge his sword straight into the Vok's chest. Due to the enemy's sword, Orcariner felt his right shoulder break as he committed to the maneuver.

"Your attack is useless for I possess no spark," said the Vok, "You cannot terminate me through conventional means."

Through the pain, Orcariner managed to crack a smile.

"Who said I was being conventional?"

With the bomb still in his hand, Orcariner pushed even harder to force his arm into the machine's body cavity. His fingers compressed themselves onto the device, crippling the shell and activating the explosive.

"Gotcha."

The clone had no time to react as the ensuing explosion erupted from within him. The behemoth's body split in half from the orange fireball and soon was shattered by the resulting shockwaves. Orcariner cried out as his entire right arm was literally shredded from the detonation. The Maximal's body flew back to the wall he had once rested on next to Steelclaw. With a deafening thud, he slumped over and hit the floor with a notable crunch. Smoke rose from his entire frontal region, and sparks wildly danced on the stub that was his shoulder. His head was spinning even more than before as the shell shock disrupted his processor's sense of balance. It was like he was falling down that endless hole again. With his optics too damaged to function, Orcariner whispered to Steelclaw.

"I guess no one gets the prize after all... I'm glad... that means we don't have to fight anymore."

With the ceiling completely caved in, the sun bore down on the two beast warriors. With so many pieces of his armor missing, Orcariner could actually feel the warmth from its rays. Energon radiation swarmed his body, burning through his sensors but Orcariner was too numb to feel any additional pain. He sighed with relief knowing that the mission was over. The giant's body relaxed and powered down, submitting to the much needed rest that stasis lock could provide.

(( OOC: Actually, I'm wondering if NK is pretty much done with this topic? He hasn't posted in a while. Just in case, I'm going to delay posting for Rattrap if NK chooses to catch up.

And, N-H, I'm going to assume that Manterror's blade is still in Saber's shoulder. If not, please correct me and I'll edit my post accordingly. ))

"I am... glad to have your support, Optimus Primal."

The gorilla simply nodded to Dinobot. What else would he have expected? Actually, Optimus knew the answer to that question, but there was no point on dwelling on what could have been.

"Optimus, maybe one of us could escort you back to base to get repaired. You really took a beating on both sides because of the link."

Shifting his gaze to Whitegrazer, Primal said as confidently as he could, "No. I'll be fine." Like Dinobot, Optimus thought it unwise at the moment to split up and put that much distance between the groups when they had no idea on the Predacons' whereabouts. His eyes dropped down to Saber-Fang as he noticed her beginning to stir. Grimacing a little, he walked upright only over to the two and kneeled down on the other side of the saber-toothed cat.

"Saber-Fang? It's Optimus," he said softly, almost in a whisper, to let her know he was beside her. "Manterror's blade is still lodged into your shoulder. I'm going to pull it out as painlessly as I can, all right? Whitegrazer is right here with you," Optimus tried comforting her as he gently brushed the palm of his hand and his fingers along her fur on her side. His brown eyes shifted briefly to the white mare before studying the position of the disk. He was not a medic by any means, but he had learned a few things here and there from some of the others; enough to assist someone and at least give a start to their mending. Grabbing hold of the edge of the blade that was protruding the feline's shoulder with both of his hands, which caused him a great deal of pain from his own damaged shoulder, and closing his eyes to cope with it, he then focused on his spark's pulse, clearing his mind, and concentrated on helping the former general, ignoring his own problems that he could deal with later. Gripping the blade tighter in his hands and opening his eyes, Primal pulled it out of Saber's body in one quick and smooth motion, tossing the weapon aside. Very gently, he pressed his hand to Saber's wound to keep the fluids from leaking and looked over at the equine.

"Whitegrazer, do you have any first aid equipment on you? Any bandages?" the gorilla asked her. Every Maximal should carry some kind of first aid on them, whether it be used for their own survival or on another's, and Optimus did but to retrieve it, he'd have to maximize again.

(Well, not much to really post, since I imagine by the time Icebreaker goes back to the hole Orcariner and Steelclaw would be done.. but okay!)

Icebreaker walked towards his shield lifting it up, he transformed to his beast mode as he looked towards Optimus Orcariner.. is still down in the cave. He said he had unfinished business down there and wanted to get to the bottom of it..Looks like I'll be dragging him out. his head crest seemed to wilt slightly, as he was wondering how his partner was doing down in the alien dungeon.

Rhinox examined the disk in Saberfang's back, his hands working to pull the disk out of her, he then looked over the wound Not much I can do out here with all this energon.. I'll take her back to base. He then lifted her up onto his shoulders, transforming to his beast mode, she seemed to be laying across his back on her stomach.

"No. I'll be fine."

She could tell that was he was sucking it up. She would probably be doing the same thing in his position so she just nodded softly.

"Manterror's blade is still lodged into your shoulder. I'm going to pull it out as painlessly as I can, all right? Whitegrazer is right here with you,

Whitegrazer smiled down at Saber and nodded, helping to keep Saber steady.

"Whitegrazer, do you have any first aid equipment on you? Any bandages?"

"Yes, I should have some."

She opened the compartment that was shaped like her beast mode head on her chest and pulled a kit out. Before Rhinox carried her out, she put some bandages around her shoulder where the wound laid. It would at least keep any liquid from dripping outta her like Optimus' wound did.

She looked at Optimus with another set of bandages, "Your turn. We need to stop that fluid from leaking." Her dampeners gave her a fit and energon surged through her, making her grimace slightly.

Well, at least her friends were all here and Manterror was gone. She never liked to show weakness towards the enemy.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Blackarachnia hit a dead end. Wrong turn. She looked back to see the husks running towards her. I'm getting to loathe these things...whatever they are.

She transformed and used her spider legs to shoot at all of them. As she fired, it looked like they were bleeding green blood. So they weren't all cybernetic. What were they?

Some breached through her bullets, making her have to stop and kicked them away. One of the husks slapped her across the face with its face, a powerful punch that forced her back going through the wall. She fell down a hole before landing with a thud.

All the husks fell on her.

(( OOC: @ NK: Ah. Well, I wasn't expecting you to post for Rhinox since I had OP help Saber instead (I tried giving something for everyone to do, but I think the side story has taken priority over this episode before it was even finished, which is what I feared would happen since some players are still developing their characters in this one and now no one is really paying any mind to it anymore). Maybe give Saber a chance to talk or react to anything before carrying her off so quickly? I thought Icebreaker could do more, but since Alak and Blazemane were posting so quickly... Eh. I guess I shouldn't have said anything; it kind of made things worse. Sorry for any confusion, guys. ))