The Intergalactic Highway

She was glad to see that Rhinox was now back online, giving a chuckle at his surprise of Rattrap's look but became more solemn when Rattrap told what happened to Optimus.

Whitegrazer had looked at Cheetor, who did seem alittle embarrassed by his flying frenzy. She patted him on his back as she walked away from the computer, smiling to cheer him up, "You learn by doing. You will get the hang of it."

"Hey, guys,""Whoa," he said, "I guess I'm not the only one who got a new shell."

Orcariner was in high spirits it seems. It must have been the exploration of his new form. She was glad that his attitude was changing.

"Den Blackarachnia starts wiggin' out, telling us Optimus has no hopes of surviving like she knew why he wasn't escaping the pod, 'Grazer mumbled something about Megatron and I still have no idea what she was talkin' about, and... And he never got out in time. He took out the weapon but it caused some kinda transwarp wave, a quantum surge," "and it gave some of us dese new bodies.""We locked the Preds up in the brig before the explosion but since our systems an' power have been down and fluctuating, we're tryin' ta find out if they've escaped or not."

She had been listening to what Rattrap was saying to Rhinox, explaining what happened.

"Megatron must had done something to the pod. Maybe he knew what the spiders were up to and decided to rig the cell so they couldn't escape alive, changing their trajectory to crash into the weapon instead of abandoning us to the wrath of the aliens."

It was her total understanding of what she saw in the visions and the feelings she experienced from Optimus that made her come to that conclusion even though some was still speculation. Of course, no one knew of her visions still as she never told anyone except Optimus. Optimus. Made her wonder what the Predacon leader was thinking now that their leader was dead. Because of his arrogance, she held no doubt on the fact that he will cheer and probably attack them as they were vulnerable. That line of thought went back to the spiders and she prayed that Wintersong and Aurora would be careful. Still holding on to the fact that the spiders would be on the defense then offense. Noticing Rhinox was next to her, he looked contemplative. She wondered what was going through his mind when she noticed one of the communication consoles was blinking. Huh.

She pressed in the blinking button to see a transmission made by...Aurora. Reading it, despite the fact Aurora went off on her own, she was impressed. It reminded of teh time she saved Rattrap from Starshadow with that shock. Reckless but effective.

"I think our little one will make a good infiltrator along with her medical skills. With a little maturity and training, she would make an efficient warrior. Oh no, I sound like my master."

________________________________________________________________

You're the one Whitegrazer seeks so often..."

"And you're the one my student has grown attached to besides the little one."

The way he resembled Optimus Prime was very distinct except for the mouth. Gave him abit more humanity. From what he explored inside Whitegrazer's thoughts and sight, this descendent wasn't as stoic or tightskid as his ancestor was nor was he automatically revered like a God. It gave him two points of favor for him. But he wasn't going to show that.

"Surprised? Surprised that a gentle, warm spirit like her could have a master who looks like evil incarnate? Makes her seem more than meets the eye," his laughter shot like a hand hitting against someone's back in a jovial manner.

"Well, it's better to be feared than loved. If people fear you, people don't mess with you," he snorted and mumbled, "except when you are dead. Then all of a sudden, people aren't afraid because if you are dead, you have nothing to worry about. Drives me crazy sometimes."

He shook his head. This was no time for long, drawn-out meaningless conversations like his student loves to do.

"My name is TyCross, my Cybertronian name anyway. I'm Whitegrazer's master, the one who has taught her everything, but I didn't shape her. She shaped herself." Though he seemed nonchalant about it, there was a hint of satisfaction and respect.

"I came here for two reasons: one is business and the other...well...you can say... personal."

((OOC: Finally, her master has a name. Gosh! You guys don't know how long it took me to be able to keep a name that fits him! And to try to at least make it sound Cybertronian alittle. And I'm happy with it. YAY!!!))

"Terrorsaur," he ordered, "Take your team to secure the pod at these coordinates. The rest of us will head to the other drop zone

"Consider it done" Terrorsaur replied with a snap of his talons, eager to get this mission underway and form the foundation of his new power base with a new, unbiased predacon recruit.

Phoenix wrote: Nemesis turned her gaze upon Terrorsaur as she spun her chair around and got up, a strained smile plastered on her face.

"As you wish," she told her fellow flyer as she approached him. Once close enough she slid her fingers across Terrorsaur's arm, the smile on her face turning almost playful in nature as she circled around him so that her large wing nearly smacked him in the face. "But do try to keep up," she said teasingly, "If you think you can manage."

Terrorsaur grinned as the tall female seemed to flirt with him, even after she "accidentally" almost smacked him with her wings...And such lovely wings they were...Still, he'd better be careful, Blackarachnia was proof enough that a pretty face on a predacon can be misleading, and when all was said and done, he was a competitive pred at spark, and no one was going to ruin his rise to glory.

"You'd be surprised" Terrorsaur replied smoothly as he admired her impressive wingspan before returning his attention to the task at hand, his first command unit!

BigConvoy wrote: "Ooohhh! Doez that mean Wazpinator can use new weaponz now?" The metallic wasp responded with a child-like curiosity before pulling out a metallic red rifle out of his back.

"Wait til we're outside, then you can fire away at whatever ya like Wasp, especially if its a maximal" Terrorsaur replied, pleased to see his flight partner actually geared up for battle instead of dreading it for once.

Naitokage wrote: The crazed bug laughed and turned on the blades located on the underside of his "hands". "I'll gladly carry you!! hahahhahah!!!" No sane bot would fly in the arms of another who has blades for hands.

Terrorsaur tried not to laugh as his bluff seemed to have worked, his confidence in Manterror's lunacy being enough to scare Umbra away, even if he had made a rather snide remark on his way out of the room...He'd have to watch out for that smooth talking snob.

"Thanks for being you Manterror" Terrorsaur told the bug with a pat on the shoulder and a smug chuckle.

Phoenix wrote: "Predacons," boomed the powerful voice of Megatron as he viewed them in turn, "You have your assignments. Now go. Victory shall be ours!"

"For me more like it" Terrorsaur gloated inwardly as he opened the roof with a press of a button, turned to his recently formed aerial strike team and ordered "To the skies my squadron! RAWK!"

He swiftly transformed into beast mode for the first time since being reconfigured and was pleased to discover he was equally handsome & regal in both forms, his pterosaur form was meched out in sharp contrast to his organic looking robot mode. His wings were equipped with what appeared to be turbines and his tail had boosters, reminding him all too well of the harrier jet mode he once had back on Cybertron....

"This day just keeps getting better and better" Terrorsaur said with a smirk as he activated his turbines and ascended into the sky to meet his destiny as the future ruler of all Predacons!

"Follow my lead team, and do try to keep up, RAWK!" he screeched as he activated his jets and took off like a bat out of hell, expecting his minions to follow after him if they were truly worthy of serving under him, and of course to make Nemesis eat her words from earlier.

Blackrose wrote: Arachnitron turned back to look at Tarantulas' body.

"I wish I knew where to start," Arachnitron said honestly. "You look.....different and I think you have wheels." she continued. "Maybe Blackarachnia should just let you see for yourself....I'm not sure I can explain it."

She turned back to Blackarachnia and spoke to Tarantulas shrugging. "If it's any consolation, you don't actually look damaged."

Tarantulas looked over his new body with barely contained scientific curiosity as he commented "Hhhhhmmm, interesting...We simply must take it back to my lair!"

Una wrote: Blackarachnia would had made a snarky remark of hoping his body was damaged, but that would be foolish on her part. Not that she was afraid of any backlash, but the fact that if his body was damaged, he would spend more time in her own mind.

Looking at that body, she sniffed, "Well, looks like you have a new outfit waiting for you to try on."

She walked over and lifted it up, which made her grimace because of how heavy he was. Despite his new body, he weighed like he had eaten too many mice or some other prey he enjoyed killing for his pleasure.

Though, if it wasn't for them being inside an enemy base, she would love to kick his body like a ball across the corridors just to tick him off. He couldn't do much more to her than temporary pain or his disturbing little fetishes. She gave a passing glance towards Inferno who didn't change and Starshadow who did. She seemed to be online now. Well, she better scattled like they were doing.

"Indeed, quite fortunate for us both, hhhmm? I'd recommend being careful with it," Tarantulas replied to his unwilling host as she and Arachnitron carried his new and improved body down the halls of the axalon.

It was incredible, the damage done to his body, damage that could have been crippling or even fatal, had been completely undone. The transwarp wave had regenerated it entirely, and to top it all off, had someone reconfigured it into a design he'd never seen before...He'd need to run some tests first, but as far as he could tell from visual observation alone, his new form could be the most advanced Cybertronian form in existence! Granted, if Starshadow was any indication, other predacons and maximals may have been modified as well by the wave...All the more reason to return home and download himself back into his own shell before he ran into an unfriendly faces, whether it be the mourning maximals or Megatron's cronies.

((B-bbut NK, jailbreaks are fun! Star loves jailbreaks! ))

Starshadow walked out of her brig and got her weapons. What caught her attention was her gun. It was a blaster before, now it was a carbine.

"Not bad...hmmm...honey," she spoke to the gun, "I'm going to name you Mortem."

Back to business, since she lost the chance of escaping the planet, it was time to escape this ship. Starshadow quickly ran to the halls of the Axalon, not caring about the spiders' pressence. Right now, she just wanted to get out before using Maximals as target practice.

((Sorry for being slow guys just started my semester and been working to get some things done. Hopefully though I should still have time for here, unlike last semester.))

Wintersong had to admit Rattrap's joke about not being able to tell her and Tigatron apart was actually amusing, a slight chuckle coming from her chest before the craziness of the moment finally turned back to being serious. Unfortunately the rat was right when they had other things to worry about and though the fun was short lived there would be more worry for it later.

Turning her attention to what was going on again the transmetal tigress wondered what their next plan of action was when hearing a handful of pods were being located all at once, which meant a good number or all of them had been knocked out of orbit. Did that mean they could possibly gain some new teammates already? She hoped so and hopefully they could get to the pods long before the Predacons. Though in speaking of the Predacons...Hearing Rattrap's order to follow Aurora, having noticed before that the little ermine fuzor had disappeared somewhere, Wintersong nodded and quickly went to seek out the young femme despite knowing she had probably wanted to do this on her own. But with four of the Predacons returning online she would be greatly outnumbered and an extra hand couldn't hurt for Aurora. Besides they were likely more worried in getting out then sticking around to be imprisoned again in the brig.

After a few kilks Wintersong slowed her pace when coming towards the brig, having to move as quietly as her form would allow. A set back to it was that she no longer had the advantage to hide her presence by stepping lightly, for even when she did this her paws gave a small clacking sound that made her inwardly wince since it could still give her a way. Whether or not she actually had anything to conceal her signature now though was a mystery since she hadn't quite gotten around to a system scan that would give her some updates to the changes her structure had gone through, inside and out. All well, it can wait, she thought as she came around the corner, following Aurora's scent trail until she noticed her just ahead. Well she was at least alright for now but even Wintersong could hear the voices of the spiders and someone running about the halls, making her a little edgy that they could run into one of them unexpectedly.

Moving up towards the ermine Wintersong finally spoke softly so make her presence known,"Aurora."She said before transforming to her robot form, trying to be as quiet as possible. "Anything else happen?"She asked quietly, shifting her amber colored optics to the halls, keeping an eye out for signs of the Predacons before turning her gaze back to the fuzor.

((OOC: WAZZAP!
It's been a little while in coming. Wasn't sure if we'd ever get to this point, but here we are. Hello, all! Oh, and this is a joint post between Nightshadow and myself.))

High above the planet surface, a trio of pods streaked across the early morning twilight, casting a luminous glow over the landscape below. The two smaller pods lost momentum and their trajectory pitched down, crashing into a dry, rocky vista. The larger pod continued obstinately on it's flat trajectory for a few more klicks before plowing a long furrow through the flat plains.

The large pod sat in it's trench, smoking and steaming. A scanner emerged from the pod and surveyed the surrounding area for suitable DNA to select for the pod inhabitant's beast form. "DNA acquisition complete. Please stand by," chirped the onboard computer cheerily.

The pod then began to open, but the latch mechanism jammed only partway open. The onboard servos tried repeatedly to open the lid, without success, before giving up. From inside the pod came a series of loud bangs. And, finally, a loud, irritated snort that sent a cloud of steam cascading down and around the pod.

The pod began a series of violent banging and contortions before the inhabitant finally broke free.

"STUPID DOOR! When I say open, you make open!" he yelled angrily as he thrashed the mutilated pod with his horns.

* * * *

Meanwhile, at the site of the first two pods, both onboard computers had begun scanning the area for suitable forms, casting a broken, jittery yellow glow on the landscape.

"Critical Scanner Damage -- Replication Error -- Data tracks not recoverable," chimed the abused pods. Finally, the pods began to open. Also, penis.

One of the pod squirmed as the creature inside forced open the hatch, a set of clawed arthopod legs reaching through the ajar opening, a graveled hiss like groan coming from the creature inside, as if he woke up on the wrong side of the bed. The creature crawled free, scurrying across the ground taking cover behind a tree, a Cobra like head raising up with a rattling hiss while blinking "Well.. Lookie what we got here.." he spoke quietly to himself.

The canine form blinked hard, trying to clear his optics as if waking from a long slumber. He let out a groan as he tried to focus on the bot who had addressed him.

"Uh, who -are- you?" he asked the other bot, unable to recognize him. "For that matter... who am I?" He looked down at his own arm, flexing the talons that were unfamiliar to him.

The reptile arthropod crawled closer towards the avian Canine as he spoke up with squinted eyes,speaking in a low tone "Well I don't know pal.. But I'll tell you one thing I do know.. and that is.." He spoke up more aggressively "I bet I can thrash your tail!"

The canine was taken aback by the arthropods direct, hostile statement.

"What?" he asked incredulously. Surely he didn't mean he wanted to fight.

The arthropod's eyes narrowed "You heard me! Come on fuzz and feathers! You and me! We's gonna tangle! Right here! Right now!" he shouted, his tail and body then lunged forward at the canine with his Cobra head attempting to strike.

The arthropod managed to get the first strike. While the canine had no intention of starting a fight, this fight was thrust upon him. He was determined to hold his ground against his new foe. He shook of the first blow and growled back at his opponent.

After a bit of back and forth sparing, the canine decided to use his avian side to his advantage and took to the air, hovering a few feet above the arthropod.

Wintersong wrote:"Aurora."
"Anything else happen?"

Aurora had looked up as Wintersong had approached, albeit not as stealthily as she used to be. That odd transformation that had affected a number of the crew had indeed caused some radical changes both for the better and for the worse, the little fuzor presumed. She was busy typing in some more codes on her computer gauntlet and did not have time to respond before Starshadow darted past them, apparently oblivious to their presence in her haste to leave this place.

A disappointed expression showed on the ermine's face as it was already too late to prevent the crazed black panther from escaping, however the others were still inside the brig. Hopefully they wouldn't have time to get out..

"That remains to be seen," she responded, keeping her voice low as not to alert the others of their presence. She entered a few more commands into the gauntlet, but unfortunately it was unable to comply since the terminal inside the brig had been damaged and would require repairs to operate.

Aurora snuffed at this and decided to go about it a different way. Instead of attempting to access the locking mechanism of the doors through the brig terminal, she accessed the automatic fire security system aboard the Axalon.

And let there be light..


Moments later the red alarm lights started flashing throughout the ship and within seconds the heavy fire doors began to shut in order to seal the fake fire within the compound of the brig. Disabling the safety feature that caused the doors to give everyone a reasonable time to escape before the heavy doors closed was surprisingly easy all things considering. Even so, the doors shut more slowly than the fuzor wanted.

(ooc: Thus.. get a move on it, Preds!!)

Terrorsaur wrote:"You'd be surprised"

Nemesis could not help but smirk at the cocky male presumed he'd stand a chance in this challenge. A quick survey of her systems had revealed that her new form more closely resembled her old one that she had back when she had her Decepticon body, which meant that she would have both speed, agility, and the advantage of being familiar with interstellar flight at rapid speeds. But.. for the sake of a good laugh, she could always string him along for a little while.

She followed the others outside, giving them the chance to transform and to explore their new bodies for a bit before she transformed to her jet mode and took to the skies. The air rushing past her as she picked up speed was an incredibly freeing experience, bringing back fond memories of a time that seemed too long ago when she reigned the celestial sphere. She was taller than she had been as a mere hawk yet only half of the size she once was, but her speed and grace in the air was formidable nevertheless and she quickly caught up and even surpassed the others.

However their little game of flight tag was rather short lived as their radars picked up the rather massive form of Tantrum in the distance.

Meanwhile Megatron, too, ventured towards his destination with the rest of his team in tow.

(ooc: Going to need a volunteer to break Silverbolt and Quickstrike up, guys.)

Silverstreak couldn't help chuckling a bit at Dinobot , only able to imagine how many times that could have happened and how much more it would happen in the near future. But her attention soon went to Rattrap as he suddenly called her, tilting her head as he began trying to remember her name which with being new didn't quite surprise her no one really knew it quite yet. But before she corrected him she gave the rat a bit to see if he could remember on his own before he finally exclaimed it,looking quite proud of himself for the effort too. Though now that he mentioned certain skills or qualifications that could help it dawned on her that she wasn't exactly sure what area of help she could give them.

"Er, well not sure being a cyber-nina in training will do much good but I am pretty good when it comes to sabotage."She replied while rubbing the back of her neck, not quite sure if any of this would be of use. Though she could be wrong since she wasn't yet sure what the others here were capable of doing themselves, and so far her new teammates seemed like a tight knit group who worked well together which was one thing she liked. "So when do we go get those pods?"

======================

Having wandered a bit further from the Darksyde Onyx continued his survey of the land, finding that some of the landscape had indeed been changed by the Planet Buster, but it didn't seem anything they couldn't adapt to. Not to mention there was the slightest chance that not everything had been damaged during the whole incident which was a comforting thought and definitely good news for natives of this planet, both plant and animal. Though Onyx wouldn't admit it out loud he was growing fond of the planet despite a short time there.

With a slight sigh the black stallion turned his thoughts away from thinking about the planet to his decision of possibly joining the Maximals, but with that opening now he could very well do so. Yet, he had changed his mind to just sticking to being part of Megatron's crew, even though he didn't agree with some of the maniac agendas many of his fellow teammates had and of course many didn't seem quite right in the processor either. But Onyx just had to deal with them until they figured out a way to return to Cybertron and he could go his own path then facing one of having to stay with a leader who wanted to rule with an iron fist. Shaking his head he decided it was about time getting back to the others anyway and pushing these thoughts aside for the time being.

No sooner had he started back did he see the fliers beginning to take off, more then likely going to retrieve one of the pods that had crashed upon the planet not too long ago. Shortly after that he caught sight of Megatron and the remaining Predacons beginning to leave as well, guess it was finally time they took some action instead of sitting around. "Beast mode,"Onyx commanded as he took a running start and transformed in mid-run before galloping to join Megatron's pod retrieval team since there wasn't much else going on around there.

((I could offer Onyx for that if you want Phoenix.))

OOC: My plan was to wait to bring Inferno back until after the spiders leave the brig like in the show.....guess plans change....

And I think the spiders were already out in the hall according to the other two posts in front of me. I can edit if I mis-interpreted....

BIC:

Arachnitron noticed the expression on Blackarachnia's face. A glare at first, cold and defiant, but her expression withered quickly as Tarantulas took over the other widow's body to speak to them.

Arachnitron looked away from the taller she-spider. She knew what that pain was like....all too well. While she was snickering on the outside, she was secretly sympathetic on the inside. She was familiar with everything Blackarachnia was going through right now....the helplessness, the excruciating pain of sharing her mind with another, the inability to control her own thoughts and emotions...but more importantly the ache inside of her that yearned for the one thing that she had been denied all of her life....free will.

She was actually a bit jealous of Blackarachnia. When all was said and done, Blackarachnia got to go back to living her own life. Arachnitron on the other hand was growing more and more aware of the presences of her alters. They were still much too distant to do any harm to her or anyone else, but it was only a matter of time. She rubbed her hand over the spider insignia...it was fading much too quickly.

She gazed hopefully at Tarantulas' new body. She wanted to get him back in his body quickly so they could address her more pressing concern. She actually was quite jealous of him as well. Somehow or another, he got a new body. He was obviously bigger and most likely stronger than before. Perhaps a bigger, stronger body was what she needed to be able to contain the three minds she contained.

"Hhhhhmmm, interesting...We simply must take it back to my lair!"

"Looks like you have a new outfit waiting for you to try on."

"Indeed, quite fortunate for us both, hhhmm? I'd recommend being careful with it,"

Arachnitron noticed Blackarachnia struggling to lift the spider's body by herself. Quietly she grabbed a hold of the other side groaning softly as she helped her carry the body of their "ringleader" out of the brig.

Meanwhile, the panther had gotten up to leave admiring her new weaponry.

"Not bad...hmmm...honey," she spoke to the gun, "I'm going to name you Mortem."

Starshadow quickly raced out of the room to exit the Axalon without looking back towards the others. Arachnitron rolled her optics.

"Fickle feline," she muttered under her breath watching her leave. "Let's get out of here," she said to the others nervously. She looked at Blackarachnia and motioned for her to lead the way.

Suddenly, the alarms began sounding and red lights began flashing. The doors began closing ahead of them. Arachnitron scanned the halls for the culprit or culprits and noticed Wintersong and Aurora fiddling with the controls.

Wintersong, her so called friend, who had handed her over to the Predacons during the Predacon raid of the base a few solar days before the aliens threatened to blow up the planet. Perhaps she had given up on Arachnitron and her ability to withstand the torture that her Predacon personality was putting her through. Whatever her reasoning, she was the one who told Arachnitron that she didn't belong amongst the Maximals.

And Aurora.....the child fuzor.....and her little tazor toy that had short circuited Starshadow earlier in the cargo bay. Aurora stood there telling Arachnitron what she was supposed to think and feel....calling her selfish....calling her a liar. She hadn't been there....yet she talked as though she knew what it was like to watch someone sacrifice themselves for someone who they didn't really know...or even like! Aurora had been the one to lock Arachnitron up in the brig.

All they needed to complete the trifecta was Frilla....who had stood, silent, listening to everything that was said without a single word to confirm Arachnitron's story.

But now, Arachnitron was working with the Predacons. Or at least, she was working with Blackarachnia and Tarantulas. She didn't really consider them or herself Predacons. Neither one seemed particularly dedicated to the Predacon cause or to Megatron himself. Not that it mattered, she didn't belong with the Maximals in the condition that she was in. It was scientists who made her....only a scientist could fix her. A scientist like Tarantulas.

Arachnitron pulled her energon pistol from its holster. "Well, go ahead. Try and stop us," she dared the Maximals emotionlessly. (OOC: I had considered writing "Go ahead. Make my day," but thought against it. )

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Inferno heard the voices of the spiders faintly at first. He kept still intending to follow them discreetly and put an end to their betrayal once and for all. He listened to them admiring the Tarantula's "new body." Secretly, he was anxious to see to what they were referring, but he stayed still playing possum until the three spiders left the brig.

He listened to their footsteps growing more distant. He stirred quietly and stood up to follow them.

Suddenly, the alarms!! Flashing red lights! He watched the door in front of him closing right before his optics!

Inferno had only a few seconds before the door would close for good. He hadn't wanted the spiders to know he was following, but now he had no choice. He raised his rocket launcher and raced through the closing doors firing his weapon as he did.

"FOR THE ROYALTY!!!!" he shouted wildly. He marched towards the Maximals and saluted regally before shooting at the Maximals again.

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"FOR THE ROYALTY!!!!"

Arachnitron watched the red ant race through the large metal doors just before they slammed shut firing his weapon. She looked at Blackarachnia pointedly. It seems they had a distraction. While Inferno dealt with the Maximals, the spiders could make their escape. She waited to see what Blackarachnia would do...would she fight the Maximals or run while they were occupied?

With everything becoming serious again Frilla became more attentive with things going on around her, transforming back to robot mode just in case she would need to use her hands rather then sharper claws she now had in her transmetalized beast form. Between having to worry about the previously imprisoned Predacons and the now falling pods though she had to wonder if they would really get to test their new forms, especially their vehicle modes they had now obtained which was rather fascinating to Frilla. Perhaps she could observe the new abilities from a distance at least which was something she normally did when it had come to researching the environment or researching the alien information they had collected.

Though it seemed next to the solemn, sad and serious moment that was falling back among the crew the small femme was quite glad to see Rhinox was on his feet again after they had been surprised by the spiders and Orcarnier seemed in higher spirits then they had seen him in a few days. So this wasn't a complete worrisome situation, for the moment. There was still the concern of Ironclaw awakening despite his upgraded form and who would be retrieving the pods now. "Well if we're testing our new forms we better get a move on Rattrap, who knows when the Predacons could come looking for us next."She told him, more the ready to get going to save the pods before her former teammates could get their greedy hands on them instead.

Feralnight meanwhile looked back at the monitors, still more worried for the Predacons on board and what they may try to do but decided to listen to Rattrap for the time being and turned to listen to what was being said. To her surprise however Rhinox and Orcanier were joining them now which was a big relief, but it had still made the fuzor wonder if it would have made a difference if she had been there instead of being tricked by the SOS call Arachnitron had made before the Planet Buster had attacked then destroyed to have prevented Rhinox and Ironclaw ending up in the CR chamber and the others unconscious in the bridge. Unfortunately she would never know and it might not have done much, especially since the arachnids had dropped in without being noticed so it was unlikely things would have been so different. But she did realize she hadn't exactly taken care of her previous injuries from the self-destructing arachnibots Tarantulas normally had crawling around but they no longer bothered her so Feralnight didn't give this a second thought.

Instead she was just ready to start doing something, whether it be taking care of the Predacons currently on the ship or going to get the pods. That was until she heard the alarms going off once again about the ship, turning to see what was going on and noticed on the monitors that there was feedback coming from the brig, more then likely Aurora's doing,"Seems they're more worried about getting out of here then sticking around."Feralnight commented.

(( OOC: Okay, guys, I get the hint after two or three Maximals have told Rattrap what to do. Move on to the pods. I was going to do that in this post. One big reason I didn't do so in my last one was because I was lost on the pods (where they were landing, whose pods they were, and which Preds were going after which ones), and the only confirmation I got pertaining to that which everyone seemed to ignore was from Phoenix. Also, I need Aurora to tag along, so I wanted to give more time for her and Wintersong to chase down the spiders. Also also, I wanted to know what Silverstreak was capable of before sending her into the inevitable battle over the pods, and everything just felt rushed in one post. Blah, blah, blah. Everyone just relax.

Welcome to the game, Warwulf! Sorry it took so long. ))

"Ah, but a crashing cat is something we see very many days, thanks to the furball."

Rattrap might have snickered at Dinobot's comment if Dinobot hadn't been the one who said it... and if he wasn't so distracted already... and was willing to neglect his leader showmanship for a moment. The raptor was right, though. For a cat, Cheetor fell on his head a lot. And that was before he could fly.

"Megatron must had done something to the pod. Maybe he knew what the spiders were up to and decided to rig the cell so they couldn't escape alive, changing their trajectory to crash into the weapon instead of abandoning us to the wrath of the aliens."

Rhinox lifted a gold brow as he turned his head to face Whitegrazer, intrigued by what she said might have happened. As sad as the situation was, he didn't let it keep him down because much like their fallen leader, he was holding on to the last drop of hope. Transwarp cells, like the one they used in the pod, could leave signatures... possibly even temporary openings or paths in the complicated fabric of space, especially when involved with an explosion of that magnitude. ((OOC: Yeah, I'm just winging it here. I know next to nothing about this stuff. But I hope it sounds good! ))

"Er, well not sure being a cyber-nina in training will do much good but I am pretty good when it comes to sabotage."

While Rattrap considered himself the best in that department, of course, he wisely chose not to boast about it because in truth, he welcomed more saboteurs and ninja-trained bots among their ranks. It also meant they'd likely make a good team in the field. But a lot of his own teachings and experience would still be focused on Aurora. He adored that little Fuzor. "Oh, trust me, 'Streak, it'll come in handy," he commented.

"So when do we go get those pods?"

"Well if we're testing our new forms we better get a move on Rattrap, who knows when the Predacons could come looking for us next."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, one thing atta time," the new Commander waved dismissively to them while at the same trying to quickly pull his thoughts together. Walking over to the center console, Rattrap brought up a three-dimensional holographic map showing the nearest pod locations that Airazor had identified moments earlier. The small, blinking red dots indicated their current positions across the vast terrain. Fliers will be the quickest. And this was the perfect opportunity for new fliers to learn some of their new abilities. But there would have be ground forces as well. Okay. Teams. How did the boss monkey do this so fast all de time? he briefly wondered. Okay, focus. "All right. Whitegrazer, Aurora, and Tigatron, you three head for this loner pod here," he ordered, pointing out the secluded stasis pod that would end up being a blank protoform; it was the closest to the Axalon. "I want Orcariner, Dinobot, Wintersong and Airazor on this pod," he pointed at another one on the map ((OOC: that one is Tantrum's, the same one Terrorsaur's team is after, I believe)). "And Cheetor, Silverstreak, and Feralnight with me on these two pods," the two dots closest to each other in the same sector ((who are Silverbolt and Quickstrike, and I'm assuming Megatron's team is going after them?)). "Frilla an' Rhinox, you stay here at the base and guard it. And get as much power back to the shields as you can. If I know Megajerk, he's gonna try an' steal these protoforms ta gain more troops before he turns his crazy eye on us. So everybody be prepared for any Predacon attacks at all of dese locations," he warned his comrades. "Including here," Rattrap added, looking at Rhinox and Frilla. He wished Ironclaw had been repaired by now; they sure could use an extra hand in all of this. Although the rat was uncertain what kind of grief and back-talk the badge would give him after all the headbutting Ironclaw did with Optimus.

"I'd also like to add that if anyone comes across a blank protoform, bring it back to Base immediately," Rhinox stepped up to say in his deep voice. "It can still serve a purpose." He wasn't concerned whether or not anyone thought he was crazy for suggesting such a task, especially to bring a pod all the way back to base without injury to it if it was possible. He simply couldn't explain to them what he had in mind because it would sound even crazier than what he had just said. Not to mention he couldn't risk the Predacons finding out what he was going to be up to. No, for now, it was a secret only to himself. A secret that would take a miracle.

Studying Rhinox with curiosity for his somewhat odd request, Rattrap had also noticed Aurora's message on a monitor that Whitegrazer had already received. "'Grazer, contact Aurora and tell 'er ta meet you outside. And tell 'er ta bring Winter so she can meet up with Dinobot's team. We can't waste time trying ta wrangle dose Preds. Have them kick 'em out. I doubt they're gonna rejoin with Megs anytime soon." However, simply kicking them out would give them the opportunity to regroup with the other Predacons, and then there would be even more forces against the Maximals should Megatron plan to attack them at the Axalon. On the other hand, perhaps letting them go would work in the Maximals' favor, releasing all of them to their freedom, and avoiding any other confrontations for the time being. Surely those pests still had plans of their own. Rattrap was willing to bet that they weren't going to go crawling back to their tyrant leader first thing in the morning. Primus, I have no idea what I'm doin', he thought.

"All right, guys, move it out! Practice your new vehicle modes on the way, but don't distract yerselves. Pay attention to any energon deposits dat might still be out there 'cause we don't know what our upgrades can handle yet. Let's go get our stasis pods!" the TransMetal rat finished.

(( OOC: I hope the pods were accurate enough. Still confused on them. Kind of rushing this post since it's getting late and I'm taking waaay too long to write it. I didn't really take into consideration what the terrain is like for each pod or what it's like on the way to each one because that's just too time consuming. Just work with it. ))

-----

((OOC: I think his name rocks, una! I'm enjoying this interaction. ))

Er.. well, guess my bad luck and recklessness finally caught up to me.

"I suppose I can say the same," Optimus said in a light tone, referring to himself. Although, it wasn't as if Icebreaker had deliberately gotten himself killed. Primal still thought it was an accident, that Steelclaw didn't intend on actually killing him no matter what the security footage showed, though it seemed highly inarguable. It didn't really matter by this point. They were both dead which left Steelclaw on his own.

"And you're the one my student has grown attached to besides the little one."

Well, everyone knew that by now. Except for the Predacons. But again, it didn't matter any longer. Optimus thought about Whitegrazer, wondering how she was coping with their severed link. He knew she was strong, but even he was feeling a great deal of pain. How could he without a body? Anguish, loneliness and sorrow. He missed her voice, her face, her comforting hugs. Oddly enough, concentrating so much on her made him forget about everything else at that moment and unintentionally manifest his body around his vulnerable spark. Granted, he was still a little translucent but most of his features were visable enough to recognize.

"Surprised? Surprised that a gentle, warm spirit like her could have a master who looks like evil incarnate? Makes her seem more than meets the eye,"

"Looks can be deceiving," Primal commented calmly from the laughter. "I try not to pass any judgment on first appearances," he tried to smile a little. Everything felt so... limited here, physically anyway. Despite how "evil" this spirit thought his appearance was, the former Maximal Captain didn't feel threatened or intimidated. Of course that may been partly because he was dead and nothing could harm him here. Or so he thought. At any rate, what exactly was he implying in his last sentence about Whitegrazer? Perhaps he should slow down and take everything this being was saying with a grain of salt. After all, he had spent enough time around Whitegrazer to know her fairly well.

"Well, it's better to be feared than loved. If people fear you, people don't mess with you," "except when you are dead. Then all of a sudden, people aren't afraid because if you are dead, you have nothing to worry about. Drives me crazy sometimes."

"I respectfully disagree," said Optimus, his almost transparent red optics studying him. "Because it would seem that even in death, love surpasses fear and is carried onto the other side." His smile formed easier and more apparent this time when Whitegrazer's face crossed his mind again... or consciousness... or whatever. "Fear never lasts forver. And when it's defeated by courage, that's when the feared becomes the fearful."

"My name is TyCross, my Cybertronian name anyway. I'm Whitegrazer's master, the one who has taught her everything, but I didn't shape her. She shaped herself."

Ah, finally a name. After all this time, Optimus finally had a name. Now this was beginning to get interesting. He was actually speaking to her master, the one who taught her so much, a lot of which she had been teaching him. "Well, TyCross, despite the circumstances, it is truly an honor."

"I came here for two reasons: one is business and the other...well...you can say... personal."

There was not only one reason for TyCross seeking him, there was actually two? What exactly was going on here? "All right," Primal said, offering him his undivided attention as his body continued to slowly fade a little in and out, not that he was devoting much concentration toward it. Whatever TyCross had to say was tugging at the Maximal's curiosity now.

((OOC: Thanks for the post, OOP. I was kinda confused as to what everyone was planning on doing before, but at least now I have a sense of direction for Orcariner ))

IC:


Orcariner looked at Rattrap and nodded his head, acknowledging his fellow Maximal's plan in pursuing the stasis pods. It had felt like a long while since he had ventured out on a mission to recover a stasis pod. Perhaps now would be a good opportunity to employ some of his new abilities. The giant Maximal's optics flickered as he scrolled through the internal assessment of his new form. According to the system schematics, Orcariner was now capable of transforming into a third mode that resembled some sort of propeller-based vehicle. A slight groan escape him as he imagined the difficulties of trying to go from being a swimmer to a flyer. Once of the biggest reasons why Orcariner disliked going against enemy flyers to begin with was that they were annoyingly graceful. Flight-based combatants consistently exhibit unparalleled agility and evasiveness that no other transformer could hope to achieve. This very description hardly seemed applicable to the large killer whale.

How hard can it be? Just float into the sky and head from point A to point B, right?

The sentry turned towards his partners.

"Airazor," he said, "You should take point since you're the fastest one here. We could use an informative scout who can get in and out of danger in a blink of an eye."

None of the others had any idea that Orcariner had obtained a new vehicle mode, and he felt it was best to leave them ignorant of the fact. The large Maximal feared that if he revealed his newfound flight mechanisms, they would expect him to easily take flight and carry them all towards the designated zone. For now, Orcariner preferred to stay as much as he could within his comfort zone.

"Dinobot and Wintersong can pursue on land and I'll bring up the rear."

Just like the good ol' days.

((OOC: I LOVE the conversation between TyCross and Optimus!! Keep it up! Such great posts everyone!))

"Thanks for being you Manterror" Terrorsaur told the bug with a pat on the shoulder and a smug chuckle.

Manterror was absolutely clueless as it whether or not his "comrade" was trying to be nice to him or be rude. But, considering no one was ever nice to the Mantis, logical reason dictated that it was him trying to be rude in some way. So, obviously an equally rude response was called for. "I wish you had burned in the fires of hell with Scorpinok, Terrosaur. BAHAHAHA"

"For me more like it" Terrorsaur gloated inwardly as he opened the roof with a press of a button, turned to his recently formed aerial strike team and ordered "To the skies my squadron! RAWK!"

With a lurch forward, Manterror took to the skies and followed the team towards whereever they happened to be going. Shockingly enough, the new bodies of Terrorsaur, Waspinator and Nemesis made them all substantially faster. He actually had difficulty keeping up with them. It was an unusual sensation for him as he usually was the one who out-flew almost everyone else - now, he was being left in the dust!

---

"I want Orcariner, Dinobot, Wintersong and Airazor on this pod,"

Airazor noted that she was the only flier on this squad. She strongly hoped that the predicons didn't sent any fliers of their own to this destination. It would be a nice change of pace to actually have the advantage in the air against ground targets instead of constantly having to watch her back. Besides, she feared the enemy fliers the most and if any of them had gotten transmetal upgrades like rattrap and the others... she wouldn't stand a chance

"Airazor," he said, "You should take point since you're the fastest one here. We could use an informative scout who can get in and out of danger in a blink of an eye."

"Easily." She responded in a confident tone. Scouting was her job and it was what she was good at. "Beast Mode!" She yelled, transforming back to her organic mode and leaping towards the roof hatch. She was excited to meet the new maximal they would be saving and didn't want to waste any time getting there! Her form may be older technology now, but she was still just as fast as the others!

"Hhhhhmmm, interesting...We simply must take it back to my lair!

"

"Indeed, quite fortunate for us both, hhhmm? I'd recommend being careful with it,"

Arachnitron noticed Blackarachnia struggling to lift the spider's body by herself. Quietly she grabbed a hold of the other side groaning softly as she helped her carry the body of their "ringleader" out of the brig.

Blackarachnia noticed that Tarantulas' fat--she was calling him fat, she didn't care--body grew abit and looked back to see Arachinitron helping her carry it.

She must be carrying because she doesn't want her master to be scratched.

As they exited, Wintersong and the Maximal brat were there. She had her weapon ready with a high dosage of cybervenom because she never got to change it during the battle

"Well, go ahead. Try and stop us,"

She aimed it at Wintersong when Inferno popped out of nowhere. She was surprised he was up and about now. But she didn't care. She put away her weapon, grabbing her end of the body. Staring back at Arachnitron, she whispered, "We will let Megatron's loyal drone take care of the Maximals for us, wouldn't you agree?"

Besides, the alarms and the heavy doors were their clue to get out of there before they were trapped. She ran as fast as she could, ducking over the slowly moving doors, heading towards the cargo bay where they could exit. Hopefully, their sheilds weren't up once they got outside. She dropped her handle of Tarantulas' body on the platform and activated the mechanism to lower them down.

Revealing the outside, which she noticed showed the aftermath of the alien's death ray, everything was the color of sand and dust. What little left of the foilage she passed to get to the Axalon was now black ash or erased. Not to mention, there was only one moon now. Since the second moon was the alien's weapon, there was no serious consequences, but the sight of the lone moon made her realize that the Beast Wars were about to get very interesting.

"Things have changed around here."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"All right. Whitegrazer, Aurora, and Tigatron, you three head for this loner pod here,"

"I'd also like to add that if anyone comes across a blank protoform, bring it back to Base immediately," Rhinox stepped up to say in his deep voice. "It can still serve a purpose."

Whitegrazer nodded at Rattrap then glanced at Rhinox, curious about his statement. Something was going on inside his head. But what? She guessed an extra body could come in handy for emergencies.

She stared back at Aurora's transmission when she winced at the dull pain that came upon her, masking the sadness and loneliness she began to feel. Loneliness. A feeling she knew all too well.

They left, systemically, one by one without looking back at her; everything she had taught them will be burned within their minds to either be erased to the recycle bin or used when needed for them to survive the life they choose for themselves. She wished them well. Hopefully, they don't get into too much trouble. At least, they stayed to the end. Not like the others who couldn't take her so-called spiritual nonsense, which were for years tainted by nightmarish stories, spurned, ridculed by both sides as tricks and myths. It wasn't like she was forcing it, but the spray paint of deratory statements across the walls from Cybertronians forced into societal pressures and prejudices told her their feelings.

She sighed in the empty room: cold, worn, and abused. There was no one. No one but her.

Her spark was still healing, and those emotions would come up time to time. Especially, since he was now... gone. She kept telling herself that she wasn't alone, and yet, her spark still seemed to crave that presence he had: that warm, commanding yet understanding presence. Despite the fact she told him only pieces, he was the only one who knew those pieces. No one else did. She trusted him with them because she knew she could.

'Grazer, contact Aurora and tell 'er ta meet you outside. And tell 'er ta bring Winter so she can meet up with Dinobot's team. We can't waste time trying ta wrangle dose Preds. Have them kick 'em out. I doubt they're gonna rejoin with Megs anytime soon."

She shook her head, gaining back her solemn yet strong face. She needed to do her duties. No time for weakness.

"Understood."

Whitegrazer sent the message through the same way towards Aurora just to be safe: she didn't want any of the Predacons hearing about the pods. A part of her relieved that Aurora will be out of harm's way, but another part inside condemned her.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, everyone knew that by now. Except for the Predacons. But again, it didn't matter any longer. Optimus thought about Whitegrazer, wondering how she was coping with their severed link. He knew she was strong, but even he was feeling a great deal of pain. How could he without a body? Anguish, loneliness and sorrow. He missed her voice, her face, her comforting hugs. Oddly enough, concentrating so much on her made him forget about everything else at that moment and unintentionally manifest his body around his vulnerable spark. Granted, he was still a little translucent but most of his features were visable enough to recognize.

"I respectfully disagree," said Optimus, his almost transparent red optics studying him. "Because it would seem that even in death, love surpasses fear and is carried onto the other side." His smile formed easier and more apparent this time when Whitegrazer's face crossed his mind again... or consciousness... or whatever. "Fear never lasts forver. And when it's defeated by courage, that's when the feared becomes the fearful."

"Well, well, well, you are a fasicinating Maximal, aren't you?"

He felt it. He felt Optimus' emotions. It was the aftereffects of the connection. Though the connection was severed, Optimus' own spark was feeling a hole. It was the same thing he had gone through when he came to the Matrix. Such weaknesses. Weaknesses she gave him. Yup. He blamed her. Again. Because he could. Maybe he should stop that. After all, only weaknesses spurn when one opens themselves to such.

Showing empathy, he smiled--a real, geniune smile, "Don't be sad. You will see her again shortly."

He left it open-ended, but he shouldn't jerk Optimus around. He didn't seem the type to take any flak from anybody. Jerking him around would come later. There was no choice yet he could give him little hints. They might not like it, but soon, they will reach census on it, agreeing with him anyway.

Whispers inside his mind began to compound. He ignored them.

Then his face twitched. Cold. The area was feeling cold to him. Only meant one thing: her. She was feeling it too. Anger boiled within him. There was a rage inside of him left unrequited for centuries, contained because of her. He made a promise and never broke promises, but this promise for him was so easy to break. Dreams of grabbing those who hurt or caused suffering. Dark dwellings of a bomb to kill them. Kill them all. They wanted it, so did he. She stopped him. And in turn, he stopped them. She would have to stop them this time.

"He was right, you know?" TyCross made a face of disapproval, "You Optimuses love to sacifice yourselves, don't you? Well, I guess you should be glad you got that name and that it isn't your time. Not yet."

He dimmed his optics. An electrical string appeared tying Optimus and him on both ends, he brightened his optics, "Don't pay any attention to that. Part of the process."

((OOC: Man, where did you find this guy, Whitegrazer? LOL Also, I love how he still isn't telling Optimus what he is doing. LOL Horrible TyCross. I wonder who he is talking about when he says "them" and "they"? Hmmmm If there is anything wrong with my post, I will edit it. ))

Phoenix wrote: Nemesis could not help but smirk at the cocky male presumed he'd stand a chance in this challenge. A quick survey of her systems had revealed that her new form more closely resembled her old one that she had back when she had her Decepticon body, which meant that she would have both speed, agility, and the advantage of being familiar with interstellar flight at rapid speeds. But.. for the sake of a good laugh, she could always string him along for a little while.

She followed the others outside, giving them the chance to transform and to explore their new bodies for a bit before she transformed to her jet mode and took to the skies. The air rushing past her as she picked up speed was an incredibly freeing experience, bringing back fond memories of a time that seemed too long ago when she reigned the celestial sphere. She was taller than she had been as a mere hawk yet only half of the size she once was, but her speed and grace in the air was formidable nevertheless and she quickly caught up and even surpassed the others.

However their little game of flight tag was rather short lived as their radars picked up the rather massive form of Tantrum in the distance.

Meanwhile Megatron, too, ventured towards his destination with the rest of his team in tow.

Terrorsaur reveled in the speed, power, and grace provided by his new body, a perfect fusion of organic and mechanical aerial perfection! Equally enjoyable was being in command of his own unit, a decent precursor to when he would one day rule over all predacons as their supreme and exalted leader. The others followed him obediently enough, even if they couldn't quite match his speed, especially Manterror. He suspected Nemesis thought she could do better, but he knew otherwise thanks to his tech specs, he OWNED the skies. The planet's surface had changed much from the devastation brought on by the Planet Buster's death ray, the landscape closely resembling the lifeless wasteland surrounding the DarkSyde's lava pits...Personally he thought it an improvement.

"Keep a look out for both the pod and any incoming fliers. We must reach the pod before the maximals do, or worse, before the protoform activates on its..." Terrorsaur began to say as his radar picked up the energy signature of a rather large cybertronian off in the distance, "Own..."

Wonderful, the slagging thing was already online, it was the Airazor incident all over again! Well, Terrorsaur had no intention of his first command being a failure, Pit or high water, he wouldn't be coming back to base empty handed.

"Manterror! Fly on ahead and ascertain if the target is hostile, if we're lucky perhaps its identity circuits were damaged like Inferno's and we can convince it to join us. If not, we'll kick the slag out of it and carry it home for reprogramming...Or execution" Terrorsaur commanded with click of his metallic beak, dispatching his slowest and most expendable soldier first while keep his transmetal flyers by his side and at the ready.

If things went well he could possibly implement his plan to recruit supporters for his rebellion against Megatron, otherwise, he could at least score points with his "leader" until he saw fit to cash them in for the command chair.

Una wrote: She aimed it at Wintersong when Inferno popped out of nowhere. She was surprised he was up and about now. But she didn't care. She put away her weapon, grabbing her end of the body. Staring back at Arachnitron, she whispered, "We will let Megatron's loyal drone take care of the Maximals for us, wouldn't you agree?"

Besides, the alarms and the heavy doors were their clue to get out of there before they were trapped. She ran as fast as she could, ducking over the slowly moving doors, heading towards the cargo bay where they could exit. Hopefully, their sheilds weren't up once they got outside. She dropped her handle of Tarantulas' body on the platform and activated the mechanism to lower them down.

Revealing the outside, which she noticed showed the aftermath of the alien's death ray, everything was the color of sand and dust. What little left of the foilage she passed to get to the Axalon was now black ash or erased. Not to mention, there was only one moon now. Since the second moon was the alien's weapon, there was no serious consequences, but the sight of the lone moon made her realize that the Beast Wars were about to get very interesting.

"Things have changed around here."

Between the two widow's struggle to carry his body, the maximal vermin setting off their security alarms and to trap them, and Inferno, the mindless brute who nearly slagged him, going on a rampage, it was a miracle they made it out of that insane asylum of a base in one piece! Well, he had no intention of putting his true form in anymore danger than it had already been in, he would live again, no matter how hard he had to push his underlings or who he had to kill to return to normal. Observing how the planet had changed in the aftermath of the Planet Buster's destruction could wait until he could do said observing with his own optics!

"Stop admiring the scenery, Witch, AND GET MY BODY OUT OF HERE!" Tarantulas hissed, forcing Blackarachnia to draw her grappling hook and fire it off into the distance until it reached a nearby rock face they could swing from.

"Hold on to Blackarachnia, Arachnitron, and don't you DARE drop my shell, Widow, or I'll drop you!" Tarantulas warned, making it clear he could force her to release her hold on the gun and send her plummeting if he felt like it.


OOC: here's my post, lemme know if I forgot anyone or if anything else is in error. Hope this is okay Una & Blackrose, just figured if Megatron wasn't arriving for his confrontation with the transmetal maximals like on the show we might as well get the spiders out of dodge now.

((UGH! I'm currently suffering from writer block! ASDFGHJKL! Sorry people. Umm may I know which new OCs are coming in this episode?))

To the skies my squadron! RAWK!

Cecaelia heard Terrorsaur and looked at Umbra, "well..I think it's time to get going partner!" she walked outside to meet the rest.

Follow my lead team, and do try to keep up, RAWK!

"Hey wait for us!" she transformed into her bike mode and drove off with the pod team.