The Intergalactic Highway

Alrighty, another big one.

Objective: A abnormal transwarp signal has been detected in the heart of Africa, centralized between the Maximal and Predacon bases. Transports will not be required.

Landscape: The terrain is a mixture of rocky dry soil with moderate vegetation and trees. Rocks and boulders are more available for cover purposes. To the north visible is a small rock formation with a cave leading into it, the cave catacombs for possibly miles under ground with different winding tunnels and exits with a entire self contained eco system, as well as a variety of abnormally advanced traps.

The cave may have sections flooded with water or running underground rivers and lakes, with the only natural light sources being glowing mushrooms and random energon crystal deposits which may make dealing with the terrain more difficult under certain situations. Due to mineral densities in the bedrock and energon radiation interference, radio communications are fairly limited.

Due to possibilities of causing a cave in or setting off raw energon crystals, combat will be difficult and would pose too much risk for either side.


UPDATED LIST (WITH TEAMS)

Clear Convoy Team #1

Optimus Primal - Optimal Optimus Primal
Dinobot - Blazemane
Tigatron - Optimal Optimus Primal
Icebreaker - NaitoKage
Feralnight - New Moon
Whitegrazer - Una
Manterror - WorpeX
Valkyrie - Venatrix

Clear Convoy Team #2

Megatron - NaitoKage
Tarantulas - NaitoKage
Inferno - Night-Hunter
Sonar - Night-Hunter
Starshadow - Starshadow
Snowtrix - Wintersong
Cecaelia - Starshadow
Nemesis - Phoenix

Labyrinth Adventure Team #1

Orcariner - Alak
Rhinox - NaitoKage
Rattrap - OOP
Waspinator - Night-Hunter
Steelclaw - Blazemane
Airazor - WorpeX

Labyrinth Adventure Team #2

Glowstick - NaitoKage
Venatrix - Venatrix
Scorponok - Alak
Cheetor - Blazemane
Wintersong - Wintersong
Frilla - New Moon
Blackarachnia - Una

(( OOC: This episode is now open for posting. Please be mindful of players who will need to catch up and would like the same opportunity to begin this episode with everyone else. I won't bother posting for Tigatron until WorpeX returns. I'm going to leave the 4th episode open for a little while for anyone who wishes to keep posting there. ))

Optimus Primal, in his beast mode, sat up straight on the ground in an open area not far from the Axalon's lifts to its bridge. With his legs and feet bent toward each other, the heels and balls of his feet touching one another, he rested his wrists on his knees with his hands open and palms down. With the gorilla's eyes closed, he tried emptying his mind. His ears picked up sounds from the waterfall and birds' songs afar perched in trees or flying overhead. His nose smelled the water, wet rock, and once in a while a sweet smell from flowers' scents that had been carried along the breeze. There were many things about this planet that the leader treasured and admired. And there were other things... dangers and threats that could make him shudder.

This was a very relaxing time for Optimus. The early morning sun was bright in the big blue sky. Everything seemed so peaceful. Sometimes he was grateful they landed here on this world, having the opportunity to embrace such a planet that was so different from Cybertron. After the problem he encountered with his old wound from his clone, everything had calmed down. Nothing had happened again since then. The only thing that concerned him were the inconclusive results on the tests Rhinox had run on him. But that didn't slow him down. It couldn't. Primal still had a job to do.

-----

Rattrap, lazy as usual, and even though it wasn't that early in the morning, was still asleep in his quarters, all curled up in a ball on his floor that had pieces of... well, no one could say for sure, scattered about.

((OOC: You know how the Maximals hacked into Rhinox’ Com in the episode Dark Designs? Can you do that with Saber after she takes off?))

Saber sighed deeply, she knew she had come clean before this whole thing got any worse, but there was one thing she had to do first.

This has to be done. I can't keep doing this. She though before grabbing four data pads and putting them into her subspace.

"Beast Mode." She said quietly.

After converting into her beast mode, she quietly left her quarters and headed for the roof hatch. She then went over to the north side of the ship and saw that it was clear, she easily jumped off the top of the ship and landed on the other side of the river. The moment her paws touched soild ground she took off at full speed, once she was a mile from the base, she turned on her signal dampener and turned off her COM link.

* * *

After transforming into his beast mode, Sonar left his own quarters and flew out of the Darksyde, they had to meet in Neutral ground because his lair was in pred turf and he didn't want to risk getting caught, not after coming this far.

Now we shall see if Saber is worthy of the cure. He thought with a small smile.

The week had treated the Maximals well thus far with little activity. Orcariner appreciated the boredom because good rest was rare these days. The primary Predacon force was exhausting enough, but they had to worry for strays and renegades who continuously broke from the group and still posed as risks in confrontations. The sound of conversation from comrades was all that the killer whale wanted to hear. Orcariner was stationed in the hanger bay at his own personal office space where he had room to stand and walk around if needed. Unlike before, he did not feel alone being set apart from the bridge. The rising population of the Maximal crew ensured that he would no longer be lonely in the Axalon. Friends walked in and out of the bay to run their errands. Some practiced combat in the large space provided while scientists conducted their own unique projects. Orcariner really felt at home here, and sentinel guaranteed that he would never have to be stationed under the waterfall again.

Even inside, however, the orca was still given sentry duties. His monitors were littered with external security cameras with one even installed at his old post. The radar technology of the Axalon was also exponentially more advanced than that of his own. Orcariner was able to now access a broader range of detection as well as receive barometric readings on anomalies. For the past few days, there was nothing to be alarmed of. Precedence and common sense dictated that this pattern would be broken before long. The longest the Maximals had ever gone without receiving trouble from the Predacons was a month. The longest they had ever gone without receiving trouble from the planet was far less. Thus, when the alarm on his computer rang, Orcariner was not surprised at all; only disappointed. Sitting back down onto his chair, the tall Maximal punched in a few commands to bring up the presentation to the main screen. A topographic map of the continent that they were currently stranded on was pulled up to full view. The orca inputted a few more commands to move aside much of the irrelevant data to the auxiliary monitors. With the map cleared up for him to read, Orcariner's optics darted across the screen to find the blinking dots that usually indicated trouble. Amazement ensued, as the killer whale realized that the word trouble was quite the understatement.

"Rhinox!" he radioed from his station, "This is Orcariner, are you there? The ship's radar just picked up something weird on our continent. It's about 18 degrees longitudinal near the planet's equator. Tell me what you see."

Orcariner suspected this may have been residue from a transwarp engine ignition. He had seen similar detections on his own personal radar prior to his rendezvous with the primary Maximal crew. It had been months, maybe even over a year, but he had lost track of time since he had been alone during that period. It was a strong feeling, however. Orcariner knew that if he was correct, then these coordinates would mark the location for the next major battle in their campaign against the Predacons. Whatever was hidden at this place was their ticket home.

((OOC: I hope this post is good, OOP. =) ))

The breeze blew the soft white hair that was her mane. It was very cool and nice. She enjoyed the feel of it as well as the feel of the grass in her laid down position beside the Maximal Leader.

She was happy that Optimus joined her in her daily meditation. Strengthing mental processes, serenity, and focus were the main things she probably thought Optimus needed right now, especially since he was exploration captain stuck in a war that he and the crew were forced to fight in. She wondered what was going on in his mind right now. She hoped that the meditation was working well and from what she could tell from many times she did teach or mediated with a group, he seemed to have gotten the hang of it. Usually, people will be squirming around and complaining that they hated the silence until they got used to it and hit themselves for complaining too much.

Optimus seemed to be a natural at this. Was this really his first time? She chuckled as she asked herself that.

Keeping herself still, she took a deep breath to smell the fresh air around her. It was so much better than the air she breathed in Cybertron. Also, the grass was so comfortable against her white skin.

As still as she was though, she hoped no one will think something was wrong with her. She put the humorous images aside and focused on the area around her, feeling and sensing some untamed, unseen force surround this planet. It was strange yet it felt so innocent and young. She hoped that this war they were fighting wasn't going to awake some unforeseen giant in the future or were the aliens that giant?

Whitegrazer took a peek at Optimus to check on him. He seemed to be very thoughtful.

She didn't want to say anything to interrupt his peace but in a few more moments, she will start teaching him more and maybe if they had time, she could show him some moves.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Blackarachnia was crawling down the cavern. She was smiling evilly as she was making her way to the lair where Tarantulas was. She wondered if he knew she knew where his lair is. Doesn't matter. She already knew about it.

Checking up on her so called partner seemed like a priority as she knew he was withholding some information. She planned to spill iy out of him, one way or another.

Starshadow and Cecaelia were training at the hangar early in the morning. "Using your tentacles only won't help you to defeat me!" Starshadow exclaimed while avoiding the tentacles. When she was about to do her favourite attack, she jumped in mid air and did a few flips before saying, "Here's a lesson specially for YOU!!" the back of her right leg landed on Cecaelia's shoulder, bringing her down to the ground.

"Owwie!! It hurts!!" Cecaelia cried out.

"It will hurt more if you don't train yourself. NOW STAND UP!!" Starshadow crossed her arms and gave the short femme a cold stare. Cecaelia stood up as soon as Starshadow removed her leg off her shoulder.

"HIYA!!" the blue femme tried to grab the catbot's legs using four tentacles but the cat quickly caught them after taking a step to her right and started swinging the light-weight femme around in a circle.

"Are you even listening to me?! You can't depend on your extra arms! This is the result of useful tips falling upon deaf AUDIOS!!" the black femme finally released her grip, sending Cecaelia to a wall. "We'll end today's training here. Beast mode!" Starshadow transformed into her beast mode and walked away.

Cecaelia was on the floor, sitting down after Starshadow left. It was the first time she was quiet and alone after training. "Beast...mode.." she reverted to her octopusform, not caring about the disgusting taste of the floor.

Sniffing at some plants Wintersong stepped forward, pressing her nose a bit too close to a flower still full of pollen, not thinking much of it. But when some got up her nose the tigeress stepped back and tried to brush it off with her large paw but to no avail as she finally let out a loud sneeze, sniffling a bit. "Should have known better, pollen still hasn't been dispersed." She sighed but could see some on her nose, "Yet it sticks to the nose." It wasn't often the white tiger stuck around base, only a couple feet from it to get a look at the landscape and look at the vegetation.

Though she had stuck around the last few days so she could get a better feel for how things were around the place and so far it was quite peaceful. The sound of the waterfall, birds singing near by, and the different scents of plants just seemed to add to the beauty of nature, just nothing like Cybertron had and couldn't compare to the organic planet. Rubbing at her nose Wintersong struggled with trying to get the pollen off but it was proving to be a challenge.

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

Inside the Darkside Snow Trix was deep in thought for once at base other then running around looking at the areas but she was also incredibly bored. She wasn't a social femme and didn't care much for 'make overs'. Though for once her armor was polished enough to shine and catch the light, her fur showing snow white again as the day she had reactivated. Whether anyone commented on it didn't matter Snow Trix just thought it was well time to get the grit off her armor and out of her fur. Eventually it just became very uncomfortably and itchy.

Sighing she stood and left her room a last coming from the halls and stepping onto a hover board holding on to the control and leaned forward to come to the bridge. There had to be something going on by now and she came to one of the monitors to check.

Feralnight lied in her quarters despite the time of day. It was not always that they got so long without much to no activity at all so it seemed alright to lazy around for a while. The fuzor didn't have anything else to do anyway at the time either,least not yet.

Meanwhile outside Frilla was enjoying the weather and doing her usual investigations on the world they had come to crash on. It just intrigued her to no end and she always had a notebook at hand just in case she had something to write down. Today she was settled in a tree a little ways from base though the Axalon still was within sight and the others knew she had left earlier that morning. Today she simply watched the wildlife, watching how they lived and survived, from team work to those of solitary nature. The planet just held so much mystery that it was like a playground for explorers, or at least she thought so.

(I kinda the maximal's first idea to pop into their head would be to hack Saber's comlink, plus Rhinox's comlink was broken in that episode. But it wont be a problem tracking her.. )
Rhinox lifted his head from a desk in the lab, having spent the past few nights trying to figure out the mess of Optimus Primal's condition and the unconscious life form on his lab table. He heard Orcariner on his comlink.

Orcariner wrote:"Rhinox!" he radioed from his station, "This is Orcariner, are you there? The ship's radar just picked up something weird on our continent. It's about 18 degrees longitudinal near the planet's equator. Tell me what you see."

Rhinox made a groan rubbing his face as he was still waking up On it.. he got up from his seat and walked out of the lab, his optics readjusting to the light as he walked through the halls to the bridge. He soon made it towards his favorite chair, sitting with a light Oof.. as he sat down, his body felt stiff from sleeping in such a strange way. His optics narrowed as he noticed a blinking light at the corner of the computer console. He'd rigged a few spare switches into the console which in reality were just a simple security system, upon use of a more unusual door, the switch would just blink unnoticed as most the crew didn't know all the controls for the Axalon. He flicked the switch resetting it, then started typing into the computer Computer, bring up the scan from 18 degrees longitude.

The Computer then displayed a window screen of a transwarp signature, his optics narrowed as he activated his comlink That is rather unusual Orcariner..Looks like a transwarp signature, but for it to be on the planet..I don't know what to think of that, but it can't be good..

He then spoke to the computer again Sentinel, replay video footage of the last four hours near the roof hatch.

He leaned his head on his hand as he watched the video playing in high speed, then as it came towards the end noticed a blip, he stopped and rewinded the video playing it at normal speed, noticing Saber appearing to be opening the roof hatch and jumping out. Rhinox let out a sigh shaking his head That idiot.. he said to himself frustrated. He activated his comlink to Icebreaker Icebreaker, this is Rhinox. We have an escapy..She left through the roof hatch, you know what to do.

_________________________

Icebreaker laid in bed awake, staring at the ceiling with his red penguin eyes. He was recovered, but the past few days he'd just been having flashbacks of some of the events. He assumed it was probably a side effect, just a effect on his psyche from exposing his spark to extreme trauma, but wondered if perhaps the memories of his past losses were starting to haunt him. As he wondered, he heard Rhinox's voice on his radio, suddenly springing up on his bed, a few empty drinking containers falling off the bed onto the floor. He slapped his face twice with his flippers This is no time for thinking garbage! he said to himself, then activated his radio I'm on it! he responded heading towards the door to his room and leaving it open as he ran out into the hall.

Even though he clearly knew what Rhinox was talking about, he'd rather deal with work then be left to thinking. At least if he kept himself busy, it'd allow him to forget again.
_______________________

Tarantulus boredly flipped through the channels displaying video signals from his drone spiders, having taken a recreational hobby of spying on everyone at the Predacon base. He was a bit frustrated however that there were some areas which even he couldn't spy on properly, the Leviathan transport, Megatron's quarters, and Sonar's quarters. While he thought little all the crew, seeing more value in the dirt on his feet then any of their lives, it simply irritated him that a few were able to keep secrets from him. The past few days however, he'd been watching Manterror. The mention of a stasis pod interested him as it was vital for his plans and the time was quickly becoming short. But even while the lowly mantis was probably one of the more foolhardy of the crew, he did keep tight lips.
Tarantulus could simply take his offer, find and destroy Frilla and receive the reward, but he was above that. If he was going to do manual labor, it would be in the case of simply stealing the prize from the mantis to put him in his place.

As he went through the video feeds, he gave a dirty snicker watching Cecaelia and Starshadow fight, then a screen opened up displaying a transwarp signature, detected on the ground. He looked at it a bit puzzled Well well.. What do we have here? he muttered to himself.

________________________

Megatron lounged back in his CR tank looking rather relaxed, his rubber ducky floating along the metallic fluid. Megatron smirked watching the toy float in the liquid. You know..I think you might be the only one I can have meaningful conversations with.. Yesss.. he then said, raising a hand and squeaking the duck.

A moment later, a monitor came down displaying the detection of an abnormal signal, a transwarp signature. He gave a frustrated growl as he squished the rubber ducky in his hand roughly with a loud squeak from it A transwarp signature?! That means a ship..Nearby too.. Noo.. This will not do!

___________________

Glowstick watched as Starshadow and Cecealia sparred between working on some mods to improve structural support on the hanger ceiling for installation of some powerful winches to make it easier to perform repairs on the transport. After the fight ended, he floated down from the ceiling,hovering inches above the ground in front of Cecaelia Huh.. Never thought I'd see a Octopus frown.. Tell ya what, how about I give you some pointers? We do have similar beast modes, so maybe that might help next time? he asked in a rather friendly tone.

Cecaelia llooked at Glowstick and sighed. "Thanks but as a soldier, I can't always depend on others giving me tips all the time. My pals trained on their own after their training sessions and I was the one being the big slacker." she climbed on the Leviathan and lay there with tired optics.

"But...training early in the morning is...kinda ridiculous. I mean I hadn't had breakfast and the training starts before dawn. I need....some..beauty sleeeeep...." the octopus femme fell asleep before Starshadow came back in her robot mode with a few energon cubes.

"Morning Glowsti- hmmm? Asleep already? Expected from a slacker..." Starshadow sighed and shook her head.

NaitoKage wrote: That is rather unusual Orcariner..Looks like a transwarp signature, but for it to be on the planet..I don't know what to think of that, but it can't be good..

Orcariner's suspicions were confirmed.

"Not good at all," the orca replied.

The last time he had seen a transwarp portal open on this planet, death had followed. This time, not only did they have to be weary of danger, but the Maximals also had to keep the machinery intact for themselves. Transwarp technology was still relatively new, and the average engine size was large enough that Orcariner would need Rhinox or Optimus to help him carry it back to the Axalon. That was a problem they would handle later. For now, the crew's first priority was to reach the destination and lock it down before the Predacons arrived.

"I'll alert Optimus and the other ones," Orcariner radioed to Rhinox, "We'll meet you at the bridge."

He activated a warning beacon to all Maximals outside of the ship, alerting them to return to the base as soon as possible. Clicking the intercom button, Orcariner's voice echoed throughout the entire ship.

"Attention Axalon crew. This is Orcariner. Please report to the main bridge for an emergency meeting ASAP."

(( OOC: at Megatron and the ducky!

@ una: Yes, that was a fine post. I wasn't sure where you wanted Whitegrazer, so I left that up to you. Thank you!

(I kinda the maximal's first idea to pop into their head would be to hack Saber's comlink, plus Rhinox's comlink was broken in that episode. But it wont be a problem tracking her..

Hm. I don't know, NK. OP's gonna pretty pissed to find Saber missing again. ))

Optimus heard Wintersong sneeze not far from the base, which inevitably broke his concentration. He remained prefectly still but his once peaceful expression turned perplexed as many distractions filtered through his mind now. When they almost lost Wintersong, Nightmist's death, Megatron's relentless power, Nemesis's destructive behavior, his alien clone, the aliens in general, his leadership in this war, his own destiny, Cybertron, and Whitegrazer. Whitegrazer? Ah, her scent on the breeze had just wafted by his wide nostrils. Inhaling deeply, still keeping his eyes closed, he exhaled slowly and relaxed. "When we return to Cybertron, none of us will be the same bots that we were when we left," Primal finally spoke quietly as if he had had a revelation of some sort. He opened his eyes and looked at Whitegrazer laying beside him. "Both physically and mentally," he added, studying her with a soft smile. The word "when" indicated that he was still hopeful and determined to bring his crew home back to Cybertron. Rattrap would've interrupted with an "if we return to Cybertron" but Optimus refused to accept that they were stranded here on this beautiful planet forever. However, the longer they stayed here, the greater the risk they had of losing another friend.

Realizing his gaze on Whitegrazer was lingering, Optimus shifted his eye contact and gently cleared his throat. It was then that a small "blip" sounded on him and he looked back at the Axalon only for a second. Something was up, but how important was it? He'd rather stay where he was and continue learning what he could with Whitegrazer that day. "Report, Orcariner," Primal said after opening a comm. link to the orca to find out why he was alerted.

Looking back at the white equine while he waited to hear from Orcariner, the gorilla asked her, "Well, how did I do?" hoping for positive feedback. It felt like he had done it correctly but he couldn't be sure if he hadn't experienced it before. For a time, he was at peace in his meditation, both with himself and with the planet. Her company seemed to make it easier. He could tell that she had done this for a long time, long before she was enlisted to his crew.

-----

"Attention Axalon crew. This is Orcariner. Please report to the main bridge for an emergency meeting ASAP."

"Get yer scaly claws off of my cheese, Dinodip!" Rattrap hollered in his sleep just before Orcariner's announcement awoke him. When his beaty eyes shot open, he scanned his quarters and sighed. "Just a dream. ...Or rather a nightmare. Heh, dream er not, Dinobutt's a walkin' nightmare every day," he snickered to himself. "Now, what's goin' on?" he asked, yawning and standing up on his hind legs to stretch. Taking his time, he scratched his side and cracked his neck, twisting his back and scratching an ear. "Okay. I'm ready," he tried telling himself. Rattrap casually wandered out of his room and headed down the corridor in beast mode to meet everyone else.

"Yo, watch it, Flippers!" Rattrap bellowed, nearly getting stepped on by Icebreaker dashing out of his quarters the way he did. The rodent lifted his little pink fist and shook it at the penguin. "I'm walkin' 'ere, fer bootin' up cold!"

Sighing the fuzor stood at hearing Orcanier, the silence was never bound to last sadly. Stretching a little Feralnight came from her quarters and to the main bridge glancing at Rattrap,"He's in a hurry today." She commented before transforming spreading her wings a bit then folding them in behind her back. Though she wondered what was going on this time and if it was serious.

Frilla looked up when hearing the transmission and crawled down carefully to a low branch. Looking down she made a final leap and landed on her feet without issue. Standing on her hind legs she took off towards the Axalon faster then she woould on all fours. Though to some it would seem somewhat ridiculous to see from a distance. But she wondered if the Predacons were up to something again or if another pod had crashed or even the aliens might be up to something.

Airazor lay on her bed in the Axalon, fully awake. It had been almost a week since she had joined the team and was adjusting quite nicely. The crew had all been friendly to her so far and she enjoyed their company. She had seen little action since joining the beast wars and has only done light scouting and recon duties. So far, she never had anything to report. Her free time had been spent setting up her room to her liking.

Luckily, she had been granted a room with a roof hatch. While Optimus frowned upon keeping it open for too long, she often did anyway. When it was closed, she felt trapped and disconnected from the outside world. When it was open however, she felt amazing. She could hear the birds outside singing songs to each other, she saw the clouds rolling in through the morning sky and felt a cool wind stir through her chamber. It brought nature to her, although that wasn't the only thing. During her time away from the base, she found plants of all different shapes and colors and brought them back. Scattering them around her room in places the sun could hit, she began to build up quite a collection. After some proper maintenance and care, her room became a small greenhouse.

Her bed was right in the middle of it all where she looked up upon the blue sky. It was a beautiful morning.

"Attention Axalon crew. This is Orcariner. Please report to the main bridge for an emergency meeting ASAP."

'ugh..' she thought. Getting out of bed was difficult for her some days, especially on a day like this. She would much prefer to simply relax alone and enjoy nature. Still, her duties came before herself. 'I wonder what we did now.' Rolling out of bed, Airazor found a touch of polish and applied it to her face before closing the roof hatch and walking out of her room towards the bridge.

((Haven't thought of anything good for Manterror yet, so i'll post for him later. Luckily, it isn't too pressing at the moment.))

((OOC: Megatron loves that ducky! XDD

@OOP: Cool! And I love your posts! Though, I have to tell you, I had many funny images of Whitegrazer's position as I was writing that post. XDD))

She saw Optimus' expression change, knowing that the sneeze must have broken the peace. Why was it always the sneeze? Her master always did it when she was mediating on purpose just to get her attention.

From his face, she could see he was overwhelmed with many distractions and quietly said, "One thing at a time."

Optimal Optimus Primal wrote: "When we return to Cybertron, none of us will be the same bots that we were when we left," Primal finally spoke quietly as if he had had a revelation of some sort. He opened his eyes and looked at Whitegrazer laying beside him. "Both physically and mentally," he added, studying her with a soft smile.

Nodding, she agreed with his statement, "Very true."

"This war seems to be more than meets the eye. I feel that it won't just be us that will change but Cybertron as well." The next words coming out of her mouth give her alittle chill for some reason, "I fear we may have taken the forbidden fruit."

Realizing his gaze on Whitegrazer was lingering, Optimus shifted his eye contact and gently cleared his throat. It was then that a small "blip" sounded on him and he looked back at the Axalon only for a second. Something was up, but how important was it? He'd rather stay where he was and continue learning what he could with Whitegrazer that day. "Report, Orcariner," Primal said after opening a comm. link to the orca to find out why he was alerted.

The horse just smiled with an amused expression on her face as he looked away and answered his comm. She heard Orcariner's message too and that chill that went down her seconds ago returned.

Looking back at the white equine while he waited to hear from Orcariner, the gorilla asked her, "Well, how did I do?" hoping for positive feedback. It felt like he had done it correctly but he couldn't be sure if he hadn't experienced it before. For a time, he was at peace in his meditation, both with himself and with the planet. Her company seemed to make it easier. He could tell that she had done this for a long time, long before she was enlisted to his crew.

"You did well." Whitegrazer congratulated him, "Better than me when I first did it."

She chuckled, remembering back when she was younger with the fire of recklessness and impatience. Her master would poke her with a stick, flash blinding lights at her closed eyes, use traffic noise, and anything loud to try and break her concentration. And every time he did, he would force her to try again and again and again until she got it right to where a huge explosion wouldn't even faze her.

"Meditation is also useful in the battlefield either to help calm yourself or to block pain." She then added, "It is more difficult but it can be learned."

________________________________________________________________________________________

Blackarachnia heard Tarantulas chuckling but it took her a few more seconds before she stepped into his little lair, lights showing her presence. In a very seductive yet stealthy walk, she inwardly laughed as she grew close enough to see what he was looking at. Oh, he was a very dirty spider.

"I didn't know your interests spread to cats and an octopus." She laughed, "I wonder how long you will last with those two?"

Her pincer ran down his back slowly. A funny image of Tarantulas in the middle of that fight would drive him crazy...well, more crazier than he already was anyway.

"I have to say it is pretty cozy in here...but it is so very lonely."

Blackarachnia knew what she was doing; all she wanted right now was a reaction. No matter what, she would win.