The Intergalactic Highway

Nightmist had started enjoying herself as she followed Primal and Cheetor, keeping a safe distance behind them just in case. There was nothing quite like the freedom of soaring through the air, feeling the breeze beneath her wings, without having to exert herself to keep up or having to deal with unnecessary violence.

As was often the case, her mind wandered as she pressed on. The Maximal medic was a bit of a dreamer, frequently switching to a sort of auto-pilot mode while performing her duties. In some cases it would help her maintain a certain distance to situations she found difficult to relate to, such as when she was repairing a wounded comrade after a battle. But there were cases when she would just let her mind wander otherwise as well, perhaps to the frustration of someone who would attempt to strike up a conversation with her.

Someone who did not know Nightmist well might interpret this behavior as a disinterest of sorts, when in reality if was a way for the medic to protect herself from letting her feelings get in the way of the task at hand. As a medic she had seen many friends die from their injuries, and she would always remain fearful of who the next one would be. She did not wish to lose any more friends to this pointless war, nor did she want to cause any suffering to the wonderful creatures of this world. She considered herself and the others to be privileged guests on this planet, and as such she did not feel they had the right to rage war here.

Many of her comrades did not seem to view the situation the same way. RatTrap, for instance, did not appear overly concerned a lot of times. Yet oddly enough his friend Dinobot had shown a surprisingly caring attitude towards the inhabitants of this world and showed exceptional honor for a former Predacon. Cheetor was young and restless, eager to show everyone exactly how valuable of an asset he was..

Then there was Primal himself. Nightmist had nothing but respect for big ol' monkey. She didn't believe Primal had ever wanted the task of being the commander of an often mismatched crew like the Maximals, yet he carried out his responsibilities diligently. It was a trait she found most admirable, yet even more she felt that the Maximal commander's obvious care for his team as well as this planet was his most endearing trait. She could not even fathom how the rest of the group would co-exist without Primal's guidance, and..

Just then Primal's voice snapped her back to reality.

"This is Optimus. I've spotted the protoform. She appears to be on-line and fully funtional. There are four Predacons surrounding her but no one looks hostile. ...We may have been too late.

"

Optimus' voice held a distinct pitch of concern, which caused Nightmist to suspect he was worried they may have to destroy their newfound comrade before even getting a chance to get to know her. She was just about to offer some words of encouragement in response, when the next transmission came in.

"The entire area is quite clear up ahead, so finding cover will be difficult. Stand by."

Quite clear? Even if the Predacons had just reprogrammed the new maximal, Nightmist doubted they would not be expecting the Maximals to come to the rescue. The Maximal medic was only a few minutes behind Primal and his feline companion, so hopefully she would get there in time in case they needed medical assistance soon.

"First strike belongs to me!" exclaimed Terrorsaur to the others, "You slow pokes can finish off whoever isn't not offline after I'm done!"

Firing his afterburners, he surged ahead of the group with his shoulder mounted cannons drawn. Acquiring a missile lock, he fired two warheads at Optimus Primal with a sneer on his face. He and the Maximal leader had a history of aerial duels in the Beast Wars. It was time that he tipped the record in his favor.

"First strike belongs to me!" "You slow pokes can finish off whoever isn't not offline after I'm done!"

Sonar raised an eye brow then looked at Waspinator who just shrugged before following his flying partner.

What did my father always say? Oh, yeah, let the idiots strike frist, no matter what. He thought shaking his head, getting his two automatics ready.

There was no point in hiding anymore after Megatron and Frilla arrived. The black cat jumped out of her hiding place and stretched.

Ahem.. I am er, Optimus Primal.. Leader of the maximals, I see you have met my Munitions expert, and these two behind me are my associates,

Starshadow almost burst out into laughter. Megatron posing as Optimus? It was a big joke. She could imagine the original Megatron saying that to a young stupid bot.

Cheetor and Rattrap.

Starshadow almost protested for taking the role of the cub and kept an innocent face of an angel.

Snow Trix opened her optics then glancing towards Glowstick, "Not tired just resting my optics." She replied and looked to the display seeing the desert like landscape and the bits of white now and again. "But seems we are getting closer." She said straightening a bit and keeping a look at the display.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wintersong looked at the broken ice, something big had definitely hit here and was more then likely that odd cybertronian. Stepping forward she heard the creaking of the ice and raised her paw, Tigatron was right when he said it was thin ice, the cracks a warning any wrong move could send the two tigers plummeting in. With a nod she began to carefully moving northward as he had indicated but stopped when she heard a cracking sound. "Tigatron what's..."A startled growl came from the tigress as the ice gave way beneath her back paws, barely giving her much time to try and keep from falling beneath. Digging her claws in the ice and trying to scramble back on she kept struggling with getting her back paws onto the wet slippery ice.

Feralnight landed near the shore of the ocean, folding her wings to her back to give a slight break for having flown for this long. She loved to fly yet that didn't mean she still got tired which she used this time to wait for her comrades to catch up and also hoping the two white tigers were holding up so far.

---------------------------

Frilla looked up at Megatron as he introduced himself as Optimus then her and Starshadow as Cheetor and Rattrap to this new Maximal. Turning her gaze curiously to the horse the Frilled lizard didn't need to be a scientist to see this Maximal wouldn't entirely by this surely.

'For crying out loud I don't even look like a rat! And Starshadow's no cheetah!' She thought.

(( OOC: I'm assuming those "warheads" from Terrorsaur are tracking missiles? I don't know all of the ammunition terminology, but judging by the name, it sounds kind of heat-sinking. If I'm wrong, Alak, just let me know and I'll edit this. Thank you! ))

Quick beeping on his internal scanners suddenly alerted Optimus of an imminent threat. Two shots from Terrorsaur seemed to have come out of no where. With a gasp of surprise, Primal immediately steered himself away from the missiles, barrel rolling before straightening out again, increasing his speed to outrun the explosives. Flying around in a large radius, he suddenly stopped in mid air and faced the tracking shots, activating his shoulder-mounted missiles. As soon as he locked on, he fired two missiles in order to stop them before they hit him. BOOM! There was a big ball of fire and smoke in the air that quickly lifted up into the sky and dispersed in the light breeze. The explosion happened right before the Maximal leader, sending him somersaulting backwards in the air before coming to a hover and shaking his head. Disoriented for a moment, his red optics quickly searched the sky for Terrorsaur and any other flyers. He spotted Waspinator and Sonar not far off behind the long-beaked Predacon that eagerly engaged battle with the leader. If they were smart, all three of them would attack him at once. It would be extremely difficult for Optimus to fend them off at the same time but it appeared that the bat was hesitant.

Optimus was an experienced flyer. He was extremely fast and knew how to maneuver his body in quick bursts, sharp turns and accurate navigation. He was also equipped with heavy firepower. It made him a force to be reckoned with in aerial combat. He wasn't perfect, though. He has had his falls and hard hits.

The fiery, loud explosion from the missiles colliding startled the herd of horses, and he glanced at them below as they whinnied and cantered away from the noise. They almost moved like a flock of birds. It was quite majestic. Unfortunately, such moments of admiration didn't last long. Primal threw out his right arm, activated his duel wrist cannon, targeted Terrorsaur and returned fire at him with a few shots. The leader was aware that he had been in robot mode for some time now. It wouldn't be long when those energon fields would build up on him, much sooner than it would these Predacons who had been in beast mode during their flight over here. Certainly a disadvantage for Optimus.

"Make that seven Predacons, Maximals!" he corrected himself over their communication links. "Be on alert for Terrorsaur, Waspinator and Sonar."

-----

"Tigatron what's..."

Stopping immediately when he heard her growl, Tigatron turned around and watched her nearly disappear before his eyes. "Wintersong!" he cried out after her. "Tigatron, maximize!" Carefully and quickly, he hurried over to her in robot mode and grabbed one of her front paws while he crouched on the unpredictable ice. "Hold on!" Gripping her leg just above her paw, he felt the ice beneath him crunch. If they weren't careful, they'd be falling through together. No! He wasn't going to lose a friend this way! Maybe there was some way to reinforce the ice in order to hold both of their weight while he tried pulling her up. Pulling out his gun while still holding on to her, he changed it to its frosting extinguisher setting and began blowing a light mist on the ice around him that froze on contact and made it more stable. He was cautious not to get it in her face or on his legs. Putting the gun away when he was satisified with the restructuring of their footing, Tigatron began pulling her up slowly, mindful of not cutting her against the broken ice of the edge. "Come on, Wintersong," he said encouragingly.

((OOC: All right! I was waiting for Steelclaw's reply before I answered all the others with Megatron introducing himself as Optimus and the others....yeah it has been confirmed...Whitegrazer knows it. XDDDDD But I guess I can post. Didn't want to leave him in the dust. XDDD))

Megatron soon came upon Starshadow with Frilla at his side, he looked towards Starshadow. His red and green eyes glanced into the distance seeing Steelclaw next to the horse, assumed to be the new maximal. A rather large and graceful animal, such a pity he thought to himself as he then walked towards Steelclaw. Ah Steelclaw, excellent.. It appears you two are not harmed. he then says as he walks closer to them, his tiny dinosaur arms making gestures as he speaks.

He then cleared his throat Ahem.. I am er, Optimus Primal.. Leader of the maximals, I see you have met my Munitions expert, and these two behind me are my associates, Cheetor and Rattrap. Megatron then made gestures to StarShadow, and then Frilla.

It's a pleasure meeting you, miss..?

((Oh Whitegrazer transformed in the last post. ))

As Whitegrazer waited for a reply from Steelclaw, she felt the ground tremble below her feet to see a purple T-Rex coming towards them. Such a royal color drenched into an enormous, dangerous creature.

"I'm happy to see you, commander." she gave him a little bow of greetings, "I'm Whitegrazer."

She gazed towards the supposed Rattrap who looked nothing like a rat and Cheetor...well...something was very dark about the cat, "Hello, it's nice to meet you two as well."

She seemed so gullible to all of them. Good but she knew they will have to suspect something as no one can be that gullible or these Predacons were not as smart as she believed. Though, she will not underestimate them especially the T-Rex in front of her.

All she knows now is that they are liars.

Now, all I have to do is wait for them to make the first move and they will.

She looked at Steelclaw then back at her "commander" and gave a salute, "What are your orders, sir?"

But she will keep herself ready for anything and play along for as long as they kept up this little charade. The Maximals can't be that far towards their location she hoped but she will be fine as she already saw mulitple outlets in this situation she was stuck in.

It's been years since she has been a soldier but she knows she will adapt to it again.

It was then that she heard missile fire behind her, looking back to the sound of it, "Looks like we have company!"

Wintersong grunted a bit as she dug her claws into the ice, feeling it being a bit more stable now and with Tigatron's help got enough to use her back paws. With a last heave she pulled herself out of the icy waters, panting from the struggle and shivering a bit, the cold having reached down to the 'skin'. "T-t-thanks T-tigat-tr-on." She said through chattering teeth and moved with a bit roe care towards a bit ore stable ice. When feeling the ice wasn't about to fall again the tigeress took the chance and shook herself to get most of her drenched fur somewhat dry, fluffing up a bit but it didn't help with the wind still blowing.

(Oh sure, she just happens to know what a rat and cheetah are. j/k And yeah, technically even though he's a blackbear he could easily be 7 or 8 ft tall with the way he transforms, but I assume Steelclaw wanted to use the small size and stealthy nature of the black bear. And yeah, Terrorsaur probably uses heat seeking missiles.)

Icebreaker blinked as he picked up a radio signal though it was staticy.

Tigatron wrote: "Icebreaker, this is -tron. Can --- read me?"

Icebreaker placed a flipper on the side of his head Yes, I can kinda make you out Tigatron. We'll be there soon! he then said, then raised an optic ridge as he noticed Orcariner starting to loose some momentum, he rushed forward infront of Orcariner starting to run pulling the cord as he made his way down the beach, then hopped up again as Orcariner slid into the water, much like a boat going off it's trailer. Icebreaker then slid into the water, undoing the cables hitched to Orcariner Alright, lets get swimming!

______________________________

The Leviathan closed in on the tundra, the winds sweeping across the aerodynamic haul causing the transport to shake slightly from turbulence. Glowstick's optic twitched as his cameras showed a flurry of snow, his radar was having difficulties with the snow and his sonar on the ship probably wouldn't work. Well, it's just as I thought.. I can't fly this thing like this, we could hit a mountain or who knows what.. I'm taking us down. he then stated, the vehicle lowering in altitude until tree tops could be seen bellow them, soon finding a clearing.

As the Leviathan slowly started to land, Glowstick raised an optic ridge as he noticed the snow level getting higher and higher, the leviathan seeming to be sinking into the snow. He then flipped a few switches powering down the engines, holographic display,and anti gravity generators. Great, well from what I can tell the ship is partially covered in snow up to the gun turret. We'll have to take the roof hatch. he stated getting up, then stepped out of the pilot seat heading out of the bridge into the quarters, then exited a few moments later carrying a large laser Minigun with one of his shoulder squid arms as if it was a mounted turret, his arm then moved the gun to the magnetic mount on his back having it hidden under the six squid arms. Ready to go?

"Make that seven Predacons, Maximals!" "Be on alert for Terrorsaur, Waspinator and Sonar."

Saber nearly tripped over her own feet at the mention of Sonar, oh this day was just getting better and better.

Remember, stay calm and you'll be fine. She reminded herself.

* * *

"Waspinator wait, why don't we attack Optimus at the same time." Sonar suggested.

Waspinator thought about what Sonar was talking about.

'Wazzpinator likezzz thizz plan." The wasp replied.

"Alright, then follow my lead."

Sonar flew next to Waspinator, then they both soared toward Optimus guns powered up and at the ready.

"NOW!!"

They both fired at the Maximal leader before breaking off in different directions.

The water was relieving and power was retracting from the gravity lifts as they were no longer needed. Orcariner kicked his tail as they swam away from the shallow beach and headed towards the land of ice. The orca was glad that they were swimming now since they would probably reach their destination faster this way.

"No detection of terra formations," he radioed to Icebreaker, "Looks like the regions this far north are composed of nothing but ice. I don't know about you, but I'd rather swim underneath the sheets. It'll let me stay in beast mode and not face the risk of breaking through the ground."

Singing a playful melody, the killer whale playfully rolled around. Despite residing below the waterfall back at base, Orcariner had not experienced deep water in such a long time. In the seemingly endless void of water, he was no longer a massive impediment but rather quite the opposite. The ocean's temperature rapidly dropped as they closed in on the arctic region, but it did not bother the marine one bit. His body was designed to persevere through the cold.


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Terrorsaur was unrelenting even in the face of a large explosion. He had seen the Maximal leader survive direct hits before and still live to fight another day. This time, he would make sure that Optimus would never fly again. Gun fire zipped past him but the Predacon flyer knew that it was from his own team. Still, this would be his victory. He needed this not only for ego-stroking purposes but to remind his foe as to who really controlled the skies on this new world.

"Afterburn!" he screeched.

His jetpack roared as his body shot through the fiery ball that separated him and Optimus Primal. Terrorsaur went in for a wrap around tackle with his arms extended. He knew the Maximal was by far the stronger fighter, but hopefully the element of surprise would let him have the advantage for a few precious nanoclicks.

Plus, he thought, I'll have Optimus all to myself at such a close range. I can also see if the tiny bat is really willing to engage in friendly fire. If so, I'll have his spark before this mission is over.

((OOC: Steelclaw is short. And he was trying to take Whitegrazer to the Pred base, yes. Somehow in my mind the Darksyde is somewhat north of Whitegrazer's location, but I'm betting I've got the wrong idea.))

"Cheetor, maximize!" the scout shouted, charging into battle at full speeed as Optimus was attacked. A moment later, he was in battle mode, firing shots off at Sonar, who'd flown away on a different path from Waspinator.

"Eat quasar, bat-breath!"

A few stellar cycles later, he'd remember that quote with embarrassment. But in the heat of battle it felt good to say.

* * *

Whitegrazer wrote:It is a dying fighting art which I plan to reflourish again towards our society which seems to favor brutality instead of care, lies instead of truth, passion instead of serenity.

They agreed on something after all.

Whitegrazer wrote:This area is so wide in every direction. We are exposed. Open. Even if we reach the border, I'm afraid we will still be smack dap in the optics of our foes.

Naturally, Steelclaw thought, to be only on the border of the plains would not provide cover. The whole point was to get out of the plains. It was an idea he would have clarified...

Whitegrazer wrote:You are well-armed but are you well in spirit?

...But she was on a roll. And what was a fascinating question for her to ask in her position, although it made a great deal of sense to ask considering what the situation truly was. Perhaps he'd given her reason to be concerned. Technically he had from the moment he saw her, so it was more like she had, perhaps, picked up on the reason to be concerned.

That having been said, what had she meant by spirit? His level of determination to fight or his moral compass and willingness to follow it? He was guessing by the way she asked, which sounded to him like an accusation, that she had meant the latter, and that she was assuming he had a deficiency.

Well, that was definitely the Maximal way. To have an opposing cause to fight for and to fight for it with diligence was to be a villain. And If he explained himself, would she understand? Probably not.

Still, he didn't know exactly what she wanted by asking about his "spirit", and to assume her thoughts would be hypocrisy. Secondly, he had not yet been called out on his true allegiance, so to answer her as if he had would be counter-productive. And anyways, the question seemed to be rhetorical.

Whitegrazer wrote:I don't mean anything by it but may I train you?

"Certainly," Steelclaw said with whatever a bear's smile could be. Then it disappeared. "When we're safe." With that, he continued walking, but he noticed she seemed content to stay where she was. He turned around and was about to address her again when Megatron showed up.

Megatron wrote:Ahem.. I am er, Optimus Primal.. Leader of the maximals, I see you have met my Munitions expert, and these two behind me are my associates, Cheetor and Rattrap.

Steelclaw watched on in silent anticipation. This wasn't going to last long.

Scorponok heard a loud explosion boom overhead as he continued his fervent sprint. It appeared that the battle had begun and he was already late. Should anything happen to Megatron, the tardy Predacon would be blamed for not providing adequate support. It was not long before he barged into the scene and saw the Predacons surrounding a horse. It was a success! Megatron had recovered the pod reprogrammed the protoform into a Predacon. The explosions above must have been a preliminary to the larger upcoming fight.

"Lord Megatron!" he exclaimed, crawling towards his leader, "I'm sorry for being late but it appears that you have added a new soldier to our arsenal! Please, allow me express my apologies by leading our forces into battle!"

His eyes shifted anxiously between the towering tyrannosaurus rex and the new stallion.

whitegrazer wrote:"What are your orders, sir?"

As Megatron was about to reply, Scorponok came onto the scene.

Scorponok wrote:"Lord Megatron!" he exclaimed, crawling towards his leader, "I'm sorry for being late but it appears that you have added a new soldier to our arsenal! Please, allow me express my apologies by leading our forces into battle!"

With the explosions in the background and Scorponok easily confirming they were lieing, Megatron simply facepalmed with one of his tiny arms. There were many days he wished he just ruled over drones, perfect.. perfect.. drones..

My orders.. Yesss.. well with our poorly constructed facade tossed to the side.. VAPORIZE HER! Megatron, Terrorize! he then stated letting out a roar as his body violently transformed into robot mode, he then swung his t-rex head forward firing a fusion blast from the mouth towards Whitegrazer.