The Intergalactic Highway

(( OOC: Continue here where you left off in Part One. ))

Optimus Primal flew quietly through the morning sky with a lot on his mind. His Maximals, Nemesis, Cheetor and Banshee, that Predacon ship that recently landed on the planet, Megatron and his goons, but the only conversation he wanted to bring up during their journey to the Darksyde was the missing details about the Akira's crash landing that Nexus Prime had conveniently dismissed. Since his altitude was fairly low and there wasn't much forest and tall trees for them to contend with, he matched his flight speed with the Admiral's on the ground and finally broke the silence.

"So, Nexus, how exactly was the Akira's fate doomed on a path for a crash landing here on Earth?" Was Darkwind a part of it? Was he the one who used that pod? And if so, wouldn't Nexus have been aware of that? Why wouldn't he have mentioned any of this before? "I know you were exhausted and severely injured in the battle but you failed to elaborate on any of this," as if Nexus doing so had been done deliberately. There was disappointment in Primal's voice as he glanced down at him from the air.

(( OOC: Phoenix, they probably won't get too far into this before they arrive at the Darksyde, which may be my next post depending on where this goes. ))

"That's the point of being a scientist," Optimus told her casually. Would she actually have offered any help with this? Well, it was too late to find out. "Trial and error. Research. Sometimes you have to experiment on yourself."

Nemesis tilted her head, the warm rays from the dawning sun warming her backside while a gentle morning breeze ruffled her feathers a bit. It could have been the perfect morning had circumstances been slightly different. Optimus had not understood what she was trying to warn him about, about the uncontrollable hunger that could send her into a fit of rage if the damage done to her had been extensive enough. She usually blacked out when the nanites took control over her actions, only to awaken to the carnage left behind afterwards. Well, it hardly mattered now anyway since she doubted she'd ever see him again. A fact that should have been making her happy, yet it held a certain emptiness within its grasp. Likely the reason for that was that without Optimus, there was nobody there to keep the other Maximals at bay. That white female had spoken of helping, but what could she possibly do without Optimus there to reinforce the notion? He was the glue that kept the Maximals together and without him they would crumble. She knew it, the Maximals knew it, and Megatron certainly knew it.

You needn't concern yourself for my well-being, Nemesis. Or Nexus Prime's. You haven't before and it would be unwise to begin now when there won't be anything to worry about soon."

It wasn't exactly Optimus' well being she was concerned about, not really.. And it was clear that the Maximal commander was well aware of that fact. The conflicting emotions she was feeling at the moment was perplexing to her at best. It had taken her most of the night to make the decision to even come here and now she was really second guessing herself. The large beaver or whatever he was, was still lingering close by, eyeing her every move suspiciously with a barely contained rage. And the rat was no doubt trying to calculate how many demolition charges it would take to blow her up.. or bury her. Or both. Nemesis sighed, sending Optimus one final look as he headed out with his mentor.

Aurora wasn't exactly hurrying as she made her way back down towards the base, keeping her pace slow enough for Ironclaw to easily catch up with her when/if he decided to join them. Upon hearing the familiar sound of Optimus transforming, she stopped entirely, debating whether to subject herself to the pain of having to watch him leave. Her inside ached just thinking about it, the memories of that dreadful moment when her hopes had been crushed as she stood there helpless to prevent it, forced to watch the scene unfold on a monitor.

When he came back, she even dared to believe that everything was going to be all right again, that the nightmare was over, only to get those same beliefs shaken when Optimus made it clear that he was willing to sacrifice himself all over. Yes, Aurora wanted Cheetor back too, but not at the cost of him.. And this Banshee was someone she didn't even know, someone she'd never met, so how could she put her well-being over Optimus'?

Whitegrazer was taking this all so infuriatingly calmly, her very presence radiating a soothing and comforting aura that was actually working against its intended purpose as far as Aurora was concerned. She disagreed with her commander's decision, she felt it was foolish and that it would surely lead to disaster, and as if to add salt to the wounds his last command had been to welcome a Predacon into their midst.. No, Aurora wouldn't let their assurance calm her, not this time.

Unable to keep herself from doing so, she glanced up at where Optimus was now hovering, watching as he started his journey towards the Darksyde with his companion. Nexus Prime.. Aurora had barely even taken note of the fact that he was going with until now. At least that offered a small comfort, knowing that her leader wouldn't be alone. Not this time. She still wasn't quite sure what to make of Nexus though, not after watching that display against the Predacons they recently encountered. There was no doubt that he was brave, but that encounter had made it clear that he was the kind of individual to take a threat directly, by barging through the gates if necessary. Hopefully his direct approaches wouldn't make their situation even more dire.

She watched until both Optimus and Nexus had disappeared from view before it finally dawned on her that she may very well have missed her chance to say goodbye. Reaching out her open hand after them, she then lowered her head as her body trembled. Her knees then buckled, sending Aurora into a kneeling position on the ground, her gaze not leaving the direction the two Maximal leaders had disappeared off into.

Nexus didn't waste a moment when Optimus took to the sky on his hover board, immediately transforming to his vehicle mode and following on land. He didn't have the advantage of speed in this mode, but fortunately Optimus slowed down enough for him to keep up. In fact he flew only a short distance above, barely higher up than the tree tops.

"So, Nexus, how exactly was the Akira's fate doomed on a path for a crash landing here on Earth?"

Not unexpectedly, the student-turned-explorer-turned-leader wanted answers. Nexus had been expecting this question for a wile, but had appreciated not having to move into such murky terrain until now.

"I know you were exhausted and severely injured in the battle but you failed to elaborate on any of this,"

"There was a system wide malfunction of unknown origin," the older bot replied after a brief pause, his voice thick with regret over the loss of his beloved ship. "I wish I knew what to tell you, Optimus, but whatever happened caught me off guard. All systems were functioning perfectly as I approached the planet and I was unaware of any issues before the alarms started going off, indicating a number of circuits going offline in the aft section of the ship. In a normal situation I would have stopped the ship immediately and started repairs, but this all occurred after I had started my descent into the planet's atmosphere so I had no opportunity to do anything. Moments later multiple other systems started shorting out throughout the Akira, including the guidance system. I attempted to land her manually, but the preliminary controls were knocked offline too.."

He paused for a long moment before he continued.

"Why are you asking this now?"

He tried his best not to make his tone sound accusing, since he imagined the real Nexus would never do so, yet there was a trace of disappointment in his voice. Perfect. He really did have playing Nexus Prime down to an art.

As if remembering or realizing something of importance, his wheels screeched as he slowed down, only to pick up his speed again moments later.

"There was a sound," he then said, "Around the same time all the malfunctions happened. At the time I dismissed it as a mechanical error, but it could very well have been a hatch opening in mid flight."

A hatch to allow for a stasis pod to escape. This was indeed a game he was getting very good at. The Maximals had already witnessed him speaking to the unknown Predacon ship, might as well let them take the blame for the holes in his story..

"Kill who? The only one in trouble here is you."

"The slagger who put me up to this. Slaggin' Primal look alike." He replied, his vision sharpening.

"Do you know where you are?"

Sonar blinked then sent out a wave of sound again to make sure he wasm't seeing things.

"Your med-bay, there's only you and me here," He paused when he realized that he was strapped down to the medical berth, when he spoke his voice was calm and even. "Any reason why I'm strapped down to a medical berth?"

He looked down at the straps and studied them for a moment, noting thier postions on his body. He narrowed his optics and wondered if he could one of his hidden retractable arm blades to cut through them without being noticed.

Don't be so hasty, He told himself. Perhaps you could help one another some how. Then escape when the opportunity presents itself.

Starshadow's optics slowly flickered to life, finding herself at the bridge infront of Megatron, only to realize her lower jaw was split into smaller parts, her exposed dark bluish purple mech fluid that lost its glow slowly leaking out from her wound and her body chained up. Megatron might want some answers from her but she would not talk about it even if he tortures her.

"How quaint...chaining me up is uhh.."excellent" method..." she looked towards the unconcious bat then to Megatron, "after getting her knocked out and this is what I get? I'm not surprised if you scared yourself earlier," she smiled, knowing that the next thing he would do is to backhand her to the wall, but it was worth it in a sense.

((OOC: Nothing much to post but...DS, go crazy with Megs. ))

"There was a system wide malfunction of unknown origin," "I wish I knew what to tell you, Optimus, but whatever happened caught me off guard. All systems were functioning perfectly as I approached the planet and I was unaware of any issues before the alarms started going off, indicating a number of circuits going offline in the aft section of the ship. In a normal situation I would have stopped the ship immediately and started repairs, but this all occurred after I had started my descent into the planet's atmosphere so I had no opportunity to do anything. Moments later multiple other systems started shorting out throughout the Akira, including the guidance system. I attempted to land her manually, but the preliminary controls were knocked offline too.."

While Optimus listened to his mentor's explanation, he tried visualizing in his head the way it might have played out by his descriptions along with the aftermath that they already knew and experienced. It seemed to make sense to him and the events appeared to add up.

"Why are you asking this now?"

The blue ape's bright pink optics darted to Nexus, and he was about to answer him when he continued again instead as if suddenly recollecting something.

"There was a sound," "Around the same time all the malfunctions happened. At the time I dismissed it as a mechanical error, but it could very well have been a hatch opening in mid flight."

"A hatch allowing a pod to escape perhaps. One that may or may not have been carrying Darkwind," Primal thought out loud to share it with the Admiral. For the Maximal leader, there was still the possibility of the pod being a distraction and that no one had been in it in the first place since Rattrap's team had found it abandoned with its occupant no where to be found. If Darkwind had the ability of flight, which would be likely judging by how quickly he got around, then he wouldn't have even needed a pod. But then where was the matter of this Darkwind character framing Nemesis, if in fact that's what had transpired to her being exiled from the Predacons. Why target her? Was she the biggest threat to him aside from Megatron? Did he intend on taking Megatron down? Or all of them? The problem for Optimus was that were too many "if's" and not enough facts and evidence with this whole situation. It was very frustrating because there was no certainty with any of it so far.

"I'm inquiring about it now because I need to focus my mind on something," he admitted. "And I'm realizing how little we know about this entire occurrence with you showing up, and Darkwind wreaking havoc between both factions, and now this Predacon ship that just threw a huge curve ball into my crew's survival. Not to mention the hallucinogen that Sonar conveniently obtained and miraculously escaped the brig. Event after event in one day is too coincidental," Primal said as he continued to look forward to the impending horizon of his enemy. "I'm noticing two things in common here." He hesitated but continued with a non-accusing tone because it certainly was not his teacher that he was suspicious of, unlike Rattrap and Whitegrazer, it was the real intruder and threat. "You and Darkwind." If Darkwind had indeed infiltrated the Axalon and somehow went unnoticed, then he could have been the one to have released Sonar and maybe even offered him the vile. But how would even have been possible without anyone being notified? No one could access the brig unless they were Optimus since he had upgraded the security dramatically because he didn't want anymore mishaps, nor did he want Sonar and Saber-Fang to be spending any time together. At least not without his supervision. It would make sense that Darkwind was behind it if anything else could add up to it. ...But it didn't.

And now Optimus grew quiet. They were rapidly approaching Predacon territory and their signatures would be alarming them of their presence. It seemed calm for the most part, but darker and gloomy despite the rising sun. The heat from the nearby lava pits started to increase the temperature in the air; he could feel it blanket his armor. For the time being, he also noticed how he wasn't experiencing any more hallucinations or extreme mood fluctuations. Odd. Was the nanogel helping? If so, how long would it last? What other warnings could Nemesis have given him about the nanotech? He'd find out soon enough, but right now he was too focused on his surroundings, searching for hostiles as he lowered his altitude and then maximized and landed on the dry, rough ground next to Nexus. This was it. He had no idea what to expect except for the reassurance of Cheetor's and Banshee's release.

The Commander and Admiral were still a bit away from the Darksyde, but at least this way they could approach the enemy ship slowly. Grabbing his gun from his hip, Optimus examined it in his hand for a moment, as if deciding about something, but in the end he tossed it aside and it bounced and skidded across the dirt far from each other's reach. He was now completely unarmed. He took a deep breath and looked at Nexus before stepping forward and walking confidently toward the ominous ship. His spark was calm but he was a little nervous for the unknown, reaching out to Whitegrazer for comfort and strength. "Let's get my Maximals back," he said firmly to the Admiral without looking at him as he walked beside him.

-----

"The slagger who put me up to this. Slaggin' Primal look alike."

Primal look alike? This intrigued Rhinox but he needed to keep a level head. ...Or at least try to considering the virus that was loitering inside of him. "Was this before or after you were having hallucinations?" he asked Sonar in a mocking tone. How could there be anyone who even looked remotely like Optimus? There was no one. ...Not that clones of Optimus were uncommon, thanks to the Vok. Could it be them again...? Or was Sonar either speaking nonsense or was he mistaken? Or just trying to sneak his way out of what he had done.

"Your med-bay, there's only you and me here,"

Okay, that was comforting to know that he recognized where he was and he wasn't freaking out like he had been not too long ago. Good, we're getting somewhere, he thought.

"Any reason why I'm strapped down to a medical berth?"

"There are a few," Rhinox explained bluntly as he began to list them. "First off, you're a Predacon in a Maximal base of operations. Secondly, you escaped our brig and infected us with this nasty hallucinogen. Thirdly, you attacked me and harmed Saber-Fang and tried abducting her. And last but not least, you foolishly infected yourself causing you to scream and act in terror of which I have never seen you act before. So these restraints are to protect yourself and me. Understand? I thought it better to place you in here than in another cell where you might escape again. You can at least make yourself useful here and help us, and in return, we could help you." Big Green turned around and moved to a nearby table, almost tripping over his feet again as he wobbled from his fear of heights, and began working as well as he could on the matter under the circumstance. He was deliberately still putting the blame on this entirely on Sonar to see if he was going to stick to his story about an Optimus clone, and if he was, that he might elaborate on it more to try and clear his name.

starshadow wrote:Starshadow's optics slowly flickered to life, finding herself at the bridge infront of Megatron, only to realize her lower jaw was split into smaller parts, her exposed dark bluish purple mech fluid that lost its glow slowly leaking out from her wound and her body chained up. Megatron might want some answers from her but she would not talk about it even if he tortures her.

"How quaint...chaining me up is uhh.."excellent" method..." she looked towards the unconcious bat then to Megatron, "after getting her knocked out and this is what I get? I'm not surprised if you scared yourself earlier," she smiled, knowing that the next thing he would do is to backhand her to the wall, but it was worth it in a sense.

((OOC: Nothing much to post but...DS, go crazy with Megs. ))

Megatron rolled his optics at Starshadow's pitiful bluff, having no more time to waste or patience to spare with her as he activated his tail cannon, generating a thin stream of energy like a blow torch, which he then applied to the side of Starshadow's face, and watched as it began to burn! Not enough heat to slag her face entirely, just enough to make it hurt, to make her feel a sense of urgency, to make her understand he was not fooling around and that this was not another one of his disciplinary beatings...He WOULD kill her if she continued to treat this situation like a joke.

"Listen to me very carefully, I know you're very slow and big words confuse you, but this is important, so I know you'll pay attention and take my words seriously, DEATHLY seriously, yyyyeeeesssss. No more quips, no more games, all I want from you is truth, pure and simple, explain what you are right now or I'll melt your head into slag and toss whats left into the lava below. BELIEVE ME, with the prospect of victory for me and my LOYAL Predacons near at hand, the back story of a disobedient freak is something I can live without if need be, whereas you on the other hand, cannot, nnnnoooo" Megatron menaced, his voice deadly serious without a hint of his usual charm or or sarcasm, emphasizing his point by turning up the heat on his makeshift blowtorch further, the area of her face he targeted beginning to glow red hot.


"Hehehehehahahahaha! What did I miss?" Tarantulas chuckled as he made his presence known, emerging from the shadows with several power bonds in tow, enough for the new maximal prisoners when they arrived and for Starshadow, and more should anyone else decide to test Megatron's patience today.

"Nothing yet, nnnnooo, though Miss Shadow here was about to share with us the story of her life, weren't you? Yyyyesssss" Megatron whispered, his red optics gazing into her own as though he could see through her straight to her spark, making her feel small and insignificant, like a cockroach about to be stepped on by a giant annoyed by its mere presence.

"Don't mind me then, hehehahahaha! I just like to watch" Tarantulas cackled crazily as he outfitted Starshadow with her own set of power bonds, restraining her nice and tightly, adding to the unpleasant sensations she was already feeling from her battle wounds and Megatron's torture.

Elsewhere, while Starshadow's fate remained to be seen, Terrorsaur and his group hammered away at the enemy vessel, the engines already damaged from their earlier attacks, it was only a matter of time before the ship plummeted to the ground below, or exploded spectacularly in the sky.

"RAWK! This is what you get for visiting our home uninvited newbies! Heheheheheh!" Terrorsaur mocked the enemy ship as he set it ablaze with his eye lasers, the beams dancing across its hull and weapons like bolts of lightning, picking away at its defenses bit by bit.

"I'll need your assistance, Landslide. I want you and Whitegrazer to wait outside of the Predacons' territory near the Darksyde's boundaries to pick up Cheetor and another Maximal named Banshee. Make sure they are not harmed or followed. Then immediately take them back to the Axalon."

"We will make sure of their safety." She said it like a promise.

As Optimus was getting ready to fly off, her spark jumped abit. She didn't want him to go, but he needed to go, for Cheetor and Banshee. She understood that. She respected his choice. She knew some people were angry and couldn't perceive why Optimus would do such a thing. If Optimus had told her to take his place, she would have took it. But he didn't because as he always said to them, he wouldn't order anyone to do anything unless he was willingly to do it himself. He told her this wasn't the end. She agreed. Now, it was the crew of the Axalon's job to make sure they do what they needed to do. Optimus was relying on them to work together. To find a cure. To help Nemesis and discover their Predacon insider. Then do their best to get Optimus and Nexus out of there. No matter what the Predacons through at them. Even now, she knew Predacons were going to do whatever it took to agonizing them over the fact they didn't have Optimus. Maybe so, but she would make sure no one loses hope and help her friends deal with this.

"Everybody inside de base. We got a lotta work ahead of us," he finally said to those who were lingering. "Whitegrazer, grab Landslide and get on your way ta pick up Spots and dat Banshee femme. Try ta determine a location where the Preds might drop 'em off; I'm assumin' they'll at least be directed toward us. And remember, don't try anything dat'll risk their lives."

"I won't," she was about to make her way but then she turned around back to Rattrap, "And, Rattrap, don't worry, I know Optimus and Nexus won't allow those Predacons to defeat them. They will survive and we will bring them back home when the time comes."

She smiled and kept walking towards the Axalon, but her smile changed to a sad, solemn expression when she saw Aurora. She understood what Aurora was feeling, and it saddened her that the young one took this so badly. She opened her mouth to say something, but she slammed it shut. Aurora didn't want to hear anymore from her. No platitudes or speeches are going to change what she was feeling. The best course of action was for her to leave Aurora alone for now.

She entered the Axalon and wondered where Landslide was. Dinobot was on the bridge. She greeted him with a smile despite the grave situation they were in before she went to find Landslide, who was in the bay with Rhinox, "Landslide, we have to go. Optimus and Nexus are already on their way." She glanced at Rhinox who was talking to Sonar. He looked a bit uneasy, not just because of him in an enemy base. She wondered how Rhinox was taking the situation. Optimus and Rhinox were old friends, knowing each other longer than she had known Optimus.

She felt Optimus reaching out to her. He was nervous. That is an emotion she knew all too well. He must be close to Predacon territory. Landslide and her would have to make quickly. She closed her optics a bit as she waited for Landslide to join her.

I'm here. Don't worry, it will be all right. This connection has many advantages and it is an advantage that the Predacons can never take away. Remember that.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Blackarachnia was back at the lab and putting the finishing touches on her project, smirking at Tarantulas when he wasn't looking at her of course. He wouldn't want to distract himself from his power bonding. She was still working on the shields when she realized. Even with the shields and power bonds, she had no doubt in her mind that the Maximals would make any effort to try and get their leader and that old geazer back. They better put in some booby-traps that can only be turned off by a Predacon signature.

"Hurry up with the power bonds! I'm going to hook up a motion sensor just in case."

She opened up a floor plating when Megatron called them to keep working, "I'm done with the shields. I'm installing a sensor just in case some Maximals try and sneak in. Will be finished in a cycle."

She didn't realize that Tarantulas was gone until she looked over her shoulder. When did he leave?

(OOC: Sorry for the wait...wanted to double check on some stuff with Starshadow before I posted and said stuff that wasn't true about her condition.

I noticed that in the last post Whitegrazer entered the Axalon. I'm going to assume that the others are going to be with her, but if anyone has plans not to enter the base just let me know and I'll edit the post.

Also, I was under the impression that Dinobot was in the bridge by himself. I thought Landslide was in the cargo bay, but if I'm wrong then I'll edit so that Dinobot notices Landslide. )

BIC:

Dinobot sat by himself on the bridge of the Axalon monitoring the sensors and computers. He was aware of several Maximal signatures returning to the base. He also noticed one Predacon signature. Dinobot, of course, was curious, but very interested to hear how they had captured the lone Predacon. They would need to be sure they had a cell in which to put the Predacon hostage.

Dinobot decided, as he waited for his comrades to get the ship, that he ought to be sure the hallucinogen gas that had been released into the hallways by the brig had dissipated. He ran a few scans of the ship to see if there was any structural damage, gases or toxins, or any Predacons aside from Sonar hiding somewhere in the ship who may have aided Sonar in escaping. All scans and searches came up negative which led Dinobot to believe that whomever had aided Sonar had already escaped.

Suddenly, the lift to the bridge activated and Whitegrazer entered the Axalon followed by the others who had been assigned to Rattrap's group. Dinobot took note that Optimus had not been among the returning Maximals, but their expressions told him they all knew the story already. Dinobot snarled in disapproval that no one not even Whitegrazer was able to dissuade the Maximal leader to reconsider. He knew arguing about it was pointless....blaming them for not being able to talk Optimus out of his decision was also pointless. Optimus did what he needed to do and he was counting on his Maximals to trust his judgement. Dinobot did not have to agree with him nor did he have to like it...he could only secretly hope the Predacons become infected with the same hallucinogen that affected Optimus, Rhinox, Orcariner, Saber-Fang and Sonar.

Dinobot noticed it was Nemesis who was the Predacon being escorted back to the Axalon. "Shall I prepare a cell for the prisoner," Dinobot asked the others.

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

"Duly noted Subcommander, good to know some of my underlings still know their place. Well done, spider."

"Thank you, sir," Arachnitron mumbled almost inaudibly still not looking at Megatron, but taking a moment to send Inferno a glare when he wasn't looking in her direction.

Megatron continued:

"Arachnitron, take a sample of that mess she had oozing out of her earlier and put it under the ship's scanners, we need to identify whatever the hell she is or what ails her before it becomes an issue rather than an annoyance. DO NOT let the fluids make contact with your shell, not until we know what the slag it is. Arachnitron, once you've taken the sample, pile more webbing on to this freak for good measure, no more escapes this evening.

"Yes, Megatron," Arachnitron responded remembering Tarantulas' instructions on doing as Megatron ordered quickly and without argument to avoid any suspicions of ulterior motives behind the tyrant's back.

Arachnitron went right to work as quickly as possible. Using some tools from the lab that she had stored in her subspace, Arachnitron retrieved a generous sample of Star's mech fluid and then proceeded to wrap her up more securely with her webbing as directed. She placed the sample under the ship's scanners, but hesitated before starting up the machine. Something was wrong. The mech fluid was different than before. It was still the strange purple color that it had been before, but Arachnitron was sure that Starshadow's mech fluid had been glowing when it first oozed out of her. It was no longer glowing. Maybe she had been mistaken about what she saw earlier. Arachnitron turned on the machine and waited for the results.

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

"Duly noted Subcommander, good to know some of my underlings still know their place. Well done, spider."

Inferno beamed with pride. He was happy to have pleased the Royalty. He watched Arachnitron tend to her work quickly and beamed with pride again. He was glad to see that there was at least one spider loyal to the Predacon cause. He hadn't forgotten their attempts to leave the planet when the aliens had been attacking earlier. Arachnitron had even shot the fire ant, but it seems the little "talk" he had given about pleasing the Queen had changed the small spider's attitude.

".......Then, Subcommander, you may have the honor of waking her up, we have MUCH to discuss her and I, Yyyyessss" Megatron instructed, cracking his mechanical knuckles to emphasize his intent."

"Yes, my Queen!" Inferno said. He waited for the widow to finish her work, then when she left the traitor's side, Inferno prepared to wake the panther, but discovered her already stirring awake before he got the chance.

"Royalty!" he announced. "She has awakened!"

"How quaint...chaining me up is uhh.."excellent" method..." she looked towards the unconcious bat then to Megatron, "after getting her knocked out and this is what I get? I'm not surprised if you scared yourself earlier," she smiled, knowing that the next thing he would do is to backhand her to the wall, but it was worth it in a sense.

"Listen to me very carefully, I know you're very slow and big words confuse you, but this is important, so I know you'll pay attention and take my words seriously, DEATHLY seriously, yyyyeeeesssss. No more quips, no more games, all I want from you is truth, pure and simple, explain what you are right now or I'll melt your head into slag and toss whats left into the lava below. BELIEVE ME, with the prospect of victory for me and my LOYAL Predacons near at hand, the back story of a disobedient freak is something I can live without if need be, whereas you on the other hand, cannot, nnnnoooo"

Inferno listened and watched in admiration of the way the Royalty was asserting his dominance over the treacherous freak. He couldn't believe the disrespect some of his comrades had for the leader of their colony. The red ant stood at attention near Megatron and Starshadow waiting to be of assistance again.

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

Arachnitron watched the confrontation between Starshadow and Megatron in silence. She was still awaiting the results of the scan of Starshadow's mech fluid, but didn't anticipate it would tell her anything. She decided to watch the interrogation instead. Perhaps they would learn something from Starshadow herself instead of the scan.

Arachnitron was pleased to see Tarantulas return to the bridge with more power bonds that he had not only prepared for the next Maximal prisoners, but also a set that he gave to Starshadow to keep her restrained even more.

"Was this before or after you were having hallucinations?"

Sonar glared at the mocking tone in Rhinox's tone. "Before. Some one claiming to Primal came into the brig. His disguise was convincing but his scent gave him away."

"There are a few,"

Obviously. Sonar thought.

"First off, you're a Predacon in a Maximal base of operations. Secondly, you escaped our brig and infected us with this nasty hallucinogen. Thirdly, you attacked me and harmed Saber-Fang and tried abducting her. And last but not least, you foolishly infected yourself causing you to scream and act in terror of which I have never seen you act before."

"The imposture gave the vial and told me to cause chaos. He didn't bother to tell me what would should I also be infected once I released it." Sonar growled, teeth bared. "Had I known, I would have waited until I was in the lift and avoided getting infected."

"So these restraints are to protect yourself and me. Understand? I thought it better to place you in here than in another cell where you might escape again. You can at least make yourself useful here and help us, and in return, we could help you."

Sonar was silent for a moment even though he had already made up his mind.

"Very well," He said coolly. "I'll help you."

( Technically, Landslide was in the Cargobay while Rhinox was in the Medical bay since Rhinox wanted to be alone with Sonar, but close enough. )

Optimus Primal wrote:"I'll need your assistance, Landslide. I want you and Whitegrazer to wait outside of the Predacons' territory near the Darksyde's boundaries to pick up Cheetor and another Maximal named Banshee. Make sure they are not harmed or followed. Then immediately take them back to the Axalon."

Landslide listened to the radio with a brief Understood. as he responded. Standing up from the work table, he'd have to finish building shells later. With the parts on hand, he could probably build some buckshot rounds out of bearings laying around. Seems like since he was found by the Maximals they had managed to keep him busy, which was good in a sense as he'd probably just spend his time digging and eating otherwise..

Whitegrazer wrote:"Landslide, we have to go. Optimus and Nexus are already on their way."

Landslide looked down towards Whitegrazer as he nodded, the large black and gunmetal beetle seeming in stark contrast to her white and silver frame, though he matched the Predacon's environment better then she did with the dark scheme and dusty body from mining and combat. Aye, lets go pick up the kids.

Remotely opening the Cargobay door, he strangely walked behind Whitegrazer as he suddenly scooped her up with a light toss as he transformed to his vehicle mode, the mare landing on his back just past his two large upper horns and prothorax, his elytra wing shell having a few areas for holding as well as attaching cargo,but strangely not used to fly in his vehicle mode at all which seemed to look like some sort of air transport or space mining craft. Sorry if I'm a bit rough lass, We'll get there faster if we skip most the land route,but we'll have to switch to ground to avoid detection from their radar. He rolled out of the Hanger on his landing gear and hovered into the air sending up a cloud of dust from his engines, rotating as he gained in altitude he started heading in direction of the Predacon base, flying over the mountains and canyons of the Maximal Territory fairly quickly for someone his size and weight.

As they flew, he then asked tilting his beetle head slightly confused By the way.. Who's this Nexus fella everyone keeps speakin' of?

______________________________________

Megatron wrote:"Good work Umbra, at least something has gone right today" "Keep them restrained and unarmed but heal whatever damage they've suffered, I don't want to give Primal any leeway to weasel out of our agreement. A repeat of the "ceasefire" incident is to be avoided at all costs, too many unwanted variables have tried to impede my impending victory already, I shall not risk another!"

Umbra shrugged and put his rifle away, moving towards the prisoners as he kneeled down, his tentacles moving over Cheetor and Banshee keeping them firmly to the floor incase they started to wake up. His hip compartment opening as he pulled out some basic tools attempting repairs on Banshee. It was not something Umbra normally did, other then minor repairs on himself he was usually using his understanding of cybertronian anatomy for destroying life, not repairing it. But at the end of the day, he was getting paid either way..

starshadow wrote:"How quaint...chaining me up is uhh.."excellent" method..." "after getting her knocked out and this is what I get? I'm not surprised if you scared yourself earlier,"

One of the Octopus eyes on Umbra's leg glanced towards Starshadow as she spoke, observing the scene while he worked to learn any details, as well as incase he needed to dodge if something unusual happened.

He then observed as Megatron started to use his fusion cannon like a blowtorch on Starshadow. He wasn't sure that was the wisest idea.. but he didn't object.

Megatron wrote:"Listen to me very carefully, I know you're very slow and big words confuse you, but this is important, so I know you'll pay attention and take my words seriously, DEATHLY seriously, yyyyeeeesssss. No more quips, no more games, all I want from you is truth, pure and simple, explain what you are right now or I'll melt your head into slag and toss whats left into the lava below. BELIEVE ME, with the prospect of victory for me and my LOYAL Predacons near at hand, the back story of a disobedient freak is something I can live without if need be, whereas you on the other hand, cannot, nnnnoooo"

Tarantulas wrote:"Hehehehehahahahaha! What did I miss?"

Megatron wrote:"Nothing yet, nnnnooo, though Miss Shadow here was about to share with us the story of her life, weren't you? Yyyyesssss"

Tarantulas wrote:"Don't mind me then, hehehahahaha! I just like to watch"

Umbra remained quiet as he continued work on repairing Banshee, seeming oddly calm even with the scene of the Sadist arachnid and Warlord torturing Starshadow. He looked towards Arachnitron for a moment to see what she was doing, noticing her looking towards Tarantulas, he then looked down towards Banshee. She seemed more relaxed with Tarantulas back around her.. Something he would take note of for future references.

Starshadow hissed and glared at Megatron when burned her face.

"Listen to me very carefully, I know you're very slow and big words confuse you, but this is important, so I know you'll pay attention and take my words seriously, DEATHLY seriously, yyyyeeeesssss. No more quips, no more games, all I want from you is truth, pure and simple, explain what you are right now or I'll melt your head into slag and toss whats left into the lava below. BELIEVE ME, with the prospect of victory for me and my LOYAL Predacons near at hand, the back story of a disobedient freak is something I can live without if need be, whereas you on the other hand, cannot, nnnnoooo"

She simply laughed at that. His loyal Predacons? DISPOSABLE TOOLS sounded more fitting. As her cheek glowed from the intense heat, her optics went red and she started snarling at him.

"Hehehehehahahahaha! What did I miss?"

"Nothing yet, nnnnooo, though Miss Shadow here was about to share with us the story of her life, weren't you? Yyyyesssss"

"Don't mind me then, hehehahahaha! I just like to watch"

The bonds just made everthing uncomfortable for her. The tightness she felt just reminded her of her old chains in her old prison cell, especially the kneeling position she was in. Before she was about to speak, her lower jaw folded back to its original state.

"We're all freaks in a way Megatron...you just don't see that..." she turned her face away from his blowtorch of a tail cannon before continuing, "Back on Cybertron, I was an insurgent fighting against the High Council... To prepare myself for my last mission which was to assassinate Magnaboss, I had to upgrade myself using illegal methods..that's how I have my "unique" cosmetic features. Our mission failed all because of Banshee's fault!"

Banshee was starting to wake up from the commotion, realizing that someone was repairing her. With her mouth gagged, she could not say anything. Since there was no chance of escaping, she just stared at the mech in the optics.

OOC: Sorry for the wait, hope this checks out with everyone. No Terrorsaur post this time, cuz...Nothing much to add until the other players in that situation post first lol.

Starshadow wrote:
The bonds just made everthing uncomfortable for her. The tightness she felt just reminded her of her old chains in her old prison cell, especially the kneeling position she was in. Before she was about to speak, her lower jaw folded back to its original state.

"We're all freaks in a way Megatron...you just don't see that..." she turned her face away from his blowtorch of a tail cannon before continuing, "Back on Cybertron, I was an insurgent fighting against the High Council... To prepare myself for my last mission which was to assassinate Magnaboss, I had to upgrade myself using illegal methods..that's how I have my "unique" cosmetic features. Our mission failed all because of Banshee's fault!"

Banshee was starting to wake up from the commotion, realizing that someone was repairing her. With her mouth gagged, she could not say anything. Since there was no chance of escaping, she just stared at the mech in the optics.

Ignoring the mutant's pitiful attempt to make herself seem normal saying we're all freaks in one way shape or form, Megatron retorted "If what you claim is true then you should be aware that we predacons have been trying to assassinate that Maximal dictator for centuries, you're nothing special in that regard, though I have a hard time believing your obviously contaminated mech fluid and unusual jaw structure, your "cosmetic changes" as you call them, were somehow essential to the success of your mission, unless it was meant to end in suicide and Magnaboss infected, and let me be frank here, you are NOT the self-sacrificing type, nor is whatever you're infected with immediately lethal if you've managed to survive this long. In short, the only thing I believe about your story thus far is your blind hatred for this maximal, for which I'm almost grateful since its what ultimately exposed your true nature to me...Though it ALSO endangered my plans! So last chance Starshadow, my unfaithful abomination, the truth, explain who & what you are or I close the book on your no doubt enthralling life story once and for all!"

With this, Megatron lifted Starshadow by the webbing that still wrapped her up even now and stomped over to the edge of the bridge platform, dangling her over the side so she could see the lava boiling below.

"Come clean or else say hello to Scorponok for me when you meet him on the other side" Megatron growled, sorely tempted to drop her and be done with it.

"Fascinating cosmetic changes, hehehahahaha" Tarantulas commented as he observed the data on Starshadow's mech fluid as it became available, memorizing as much as he could in case the fluid evaporated again, whispering to Arachnitron "Make a copy of this, quickly!"

However, his scientific curiosity would sadly have to wait, as the spider noticed on the security station that the two maximals they'd been preparing for all this time had finally arrived!

OOP wrote: The Commander and Admiral were still a bit away from the Darksyde, but at least this way they could approach the enemy ship slowly. Grabbing his gun from his hip, Optimus examined it in his hand for a moment, as if deciding about something, but in the end he tossed it aside and it bounced and skidded across the dirt far from each other's reach. He was now completely unarmed. He took a deep breath and looked at Nexus before stepping forward and walking confidently toward the ominous ship. His spark was calm but he was a little nervous for the unknown, reaching out to Whitegrazer for comfort and strength. "Let's get my Maximals back," he said firmly to the Admiral without looking at him as he walked beside him.

"Megatron, I fear we may need to continue Starshadow's interrogation later, we have guests at the front door" Tarantulas pointed out, Megatron whirling around to see for himself that indeed, Primal and Nexus had finally arrived, and as everything else today, the worst possible time.

"Does everyone on this planet possess the same bad timing?" Megatron groans as he tosses Starshadow aside rather than dropping her in the lava, and ordered in record time "Umbra, Inferno, bring the maximal prisoners, Tarantulas, the bonds. You three are coming with me. Quickstrike, knock Starshadow out with your venom and lock her up, SECURELY, somewhere out of sight and out of mind until this ordeal is finally over. Arachnitron save the blasted analysis on her mech fluid for later, we'll decide her fate then, & scan for traces of maximal activity in case Primal decided our captives aren't worth his life after all. AND SOMEONE AIM THOSE AUTOGUNS ON THEM! MOVE!"

With that, the predacons began put their master's plan into motion, despite all the earlier set backs, victory over the maximals and the end of the Beast Wars was finally at hand!

"Blackarachnia, our guests have arrived, those cells have BETTER be ready for them!" Megatron bellowed over the coms, not waiting for an answer as he stormed outside with his henchmen and prisoners in tow, his foul mood vanishing in an instant as soon as he set his optics on Primal, extending his hands as though he was greeting an old friend, grinning broadly as he said "Optimus! You accepted my invitation! Excellent, yyyesssss. Oh, and Nexus too I see, splendid! I was beginning to worry you would be unable to make it, but I should have known you would never disappoint me Primal, nnnnoooo, never you. Welcome my honored guests, to the Darksyde!"

"A hatch allowing a pod to escape perhaps. One that may or may not have been carrying Darkwind,"

"It is a possibility," Nexus agreed, no particular emotion noticeable in his voice. On the inside, however, he felt like laughing since Optimus so readily believed anything his mentor told him. Oh Maximal sentiment.. So predictable, so.. amusing. It was hardly a challenge to play this role anymore, but Nexus still planned to see it through to the end. Those fools had not even come close to figuring out what was going on and even if they did, even if they called him out on his bluff, the backup plan was already in motion. Hopefully his cohorts would finish their task as flawlessly as he had executed his.

"And I'm realizing how little we know about this entire occurrence with you showing up, and Darkwind wreaking havoc between both factions, and now this Predacon ship that just threw a huge curve ball into my crew's survival. Not to mention the hallucinogen that Sonar conveniently obtained and miraculously escaped the brig. Event after event in one day is too coincidental,"

"I have not seen any records of this Darkwind, but it's very likely that he is connected to the arrival of those other Predacons. If he did infact sabotage my ship in an attempt to prevent me from reaching the surface, we probably haven't seen the last of him or his pals."


Optimus seemed troubled by recent events, not that this came as a big surprise. The Maximal leader came across as a bit naive, but also someone who reflected on things and never took anything for granted. Nexus knew where Optimus was going with this conversation, yet the words, non-judgmental as they were, stung him a little bit.

"I'm noticing two things in common here."

And there it was..

"You and Darkwind."

Nexus took a moment to reflect on these words, his vehicular mode having to make frequent turns to avoid this planet's taller vegetation. Up ahead he noticed that the landscape looked far more barren, however, and as they approached he could feel the heat escaping from the ground. Avoiding any obvious lava pits, Nexus had no choice but to slow down and eventually transform into robot form to simply walk the rest of the way.

Even though he had already explained that he had no past history with Darkwind, Optimus hit a bit uncomfortably close to the truth with those three little words.

You and Darkwind..

Indeed, the only thing separating the two entities was a layer of armor. Nexus had not intended for the Maximals to even realize that Darkwind existed, the arrival of Nemesis had not been part of the plan, but now that they knew Darkwind could very well be blamed for everything that had happened. The perfect scapegoat that could merely vanish for as long as he needed him to tie up those loose ends. Nemesis and Sonar, currently under Maximal protection, would obviously have to be eliminated. Fortunately Primal had gone silent as well and did not seem to be anticipating a response, allowing them both to dwell on their thoughts for a moment as the heat in the air increased by the second.

"Let's get my Maximals back,"

Nexus could not help smiling a bit at his companion's optimism. By the end of all this there wouldn't be any Maximals left so the sacrifice he was willing to make would all be for nothing. Optimus would end his life at the hands of the Predacons and if he somehow did manage to escape, Nexus would just have to take care of him along with the rest. Of course he had no intention of committing himself to this exchange nonsense for any longer than he had to in order to keep up appearance, and already now he was envisioning his escape and his return to inform the sorrowful Maximals that their poor misguided leader had died.

"Don't worry, everything will work out in the end. Let Megatron gloat, for his self-proclaimed victory will be short-lived. We Primes are not easily gotten rid of and our purple faced friend is about to learn that lesson the hard way."

He gave Optimus an encouraging clap on the shoulder as they continued, now well within reach of the Darksyde scanners. It became evident that their approach had been noticed when a number of autoguns suddenly popped out of the terrain, targeting them. Nexus paid them no heed, knowing Megatron was looking forward to gloating and rubbing his socalled victory in their faces, too much so to gain any satisfaction from having his weapons blast them upon arrival.

His assumption proved correct when Megatron showed himself mere moments later, walking towards them with open arms and a grin on his face so wide that Nexus wanted nothing more than to plant his fist straight in it.

"Optimus! You accepted my invitation! Excellent, yyyesssss. Oh, and Nexus too I see, splendid! I was beginning to worry you would be unable to make it, but I should have known you would never disappoint me Primal, nnnnoooo, never you. Welcome my honored guests, to the Darksyde!"

The urge growing stronger by the second, Nexus merely narrowed his optics at the boasting buffoon, his own pace picking up ever so slightly as he got closer to the Predacon, his fists curling into balls. Yet he said nothing, not yet, giving Optimus the chance to speak first.

((OOC: I am very sorry for the wait guys. As I said in my last few post thing, things have been hectic.

I am going to go ahead and send my ship crashing to help things move along.))

Night Terror looked at the situation around him.

Console were overloading and sparking. The engines were no longer functioning. The Ambition, his ship, was falling out of the sky.

Flashes of light illuminated Night Terror. He resigned to the ships fate. He quickly downloaded what information he could from the data files. He aimed towards one the port windows and blew it out with a blast from his eyepiece. Taking one last look around at the bridge he sighed, and flew out the window.

He looked around the battlefield. Below him, Dirge was engaged with one of the ground forces. Then he saw him. The one that had destroyed his ship. Still following the ship as it went down, still firing away at the engines and cutting them to pieces.

Night Terror drew his sword and flew straight towards the enemy. He did not fire his eye-beam. No, he want to get as close to this bot as possible, and hit before he could react. He approached the bot from behind and thrust his sword towards him. He would drain the bot dry of all the energy he had left.

((OOC: I just realized, is transmetal terrosaur red or purple (Like the toy)?))

(Megatron isn't that purple for a transmetal though.. Tarantulas has more purple on him then Megatron does. )

starshadow wrote:"We're all freaks in a way Megatron...you just don't see that..." "Back on Cybertron, I was an insurgent fighting against the High Council... To prepare myself for my last mission which was to assassinate Magnaboss, I had to upgrade myself using illegal methods..that's how I have my "unique" cosmetic features. Our mission failed all because of Banshee's fault!"

Umbra raised an optic ridge listening to the story, then focused on repairing Banshee, as he noticed she started to activate and stare up at him. He looked towards her with a strangely warm smile as he raised his hand with a finger to his mouth, putting the tools away in his leg compartment.

Megatron wrote: "If what you claim is true then you should be aware that we predacons have been trying to assassinate that Maximal dictator for centuries, you're nothing special in that regard, though I have a hard time believing your obviously contaminated mech fluid and unusual jaw structure, your "cosmetic changes" as you call them, were somehow essential to the success of your mission, unless it was meant to end in suicide and Magnaboss infected, and let me be frank here, you are NOT the self-sacrificing type, nor is whatever you're infected with immediately lethal if you've managed to survive this long. In short, the only thing I believe about your story thus far is your blind hatred for this maximal, for which I'm almost grateful since its what ultimately exposed your true nature to me...Though it ALSO endangered my plans! So last chance Starshadow, my unfaithful abomination, the truth, explain who & what you are or I close the book on your no doubt enthralling life story once and for all!"

Megatron wrote:"Come clean or else say hello to Scorponok for me when you meet him on the other side"

Umbra glanced over as he noticed Star hanging over the lava pit. For most Predacons, the act of killing their own usually wasn't so.. aggressive as it was with Megatron, as few true Predacons existed.. other then ones reprogrammed from Maximal protoforms. It was interesting in a sense, as if Megatron was capable of some day taking over Cybertron.. he'd probably surely kill every last Cybertronian on it.

Tarantulas wrote:"Megatron, I fear we may need to continue Starshadow's interrogation later, we have guests at the front door"

Megatron wrote:"Does everyone on this planet possess the same bad timing?" "Umbra, Inferno, bring the maximal prisoners, Tarantulas, the bonds. You three are coming with me. Quickstrike, knock Starshadow out with your venom and lock her up, SECURELY, somewhere out of sight and out of mind until this ordeal is finally over. Arachnitron save the blasted analysis on her mech fluid for later, we'll decide her fate then, & scan for traces of maximal activity in case Primal decided our captives aren't worth his life after all. AND SOMEONE AIM THOSE AUTOGUNS ON THEM! MOVE!"

Umbra gave a simple nod, then looked down towards Banshee Well, the time has come for us to say good bye ma'am. Your lives may be prolonged longer then you thought.

He stood up lifting Banshee and Cheetor,two each of his tentacles coiled around them supporting them upright as he followed Megatron.

Megatron wrote:"Optimus! You accepted my invitation! Excellent, yyyesssss. Oh, and Nexus too I see, splendid! I was beginning to worry you would be unable to make it, but I should have known you would never disappoint me Primal, nnnnoooo, never you. Welcome my honored guests, to the Darksyde!"

Umbra looked at Optimus Primal, it'd been the first time he'd seen the Maximal's commander. Seemed he'd also been effected by the transmetal process as the others. His optics then scanned towards Nexus Prime, raising an optic ridge Been awhile commander..Unfortunately for you I'm already under contract at the moment, but no hard feelings.

Umbra set Banshee down onto her feet, then held of his hand seemingly empty hand, turning it as a strange pen shaped device appeared in his grasp from a simple slide of hand trick, then placed the device to the unconscious Cheetor's neck depressing the end with his thumb. Cheetor let out a gasp as his optics widened coming online. Easy there.. just boosted you awake.

Cheetor looked around dazed, then his optics widened looking towards Optimus Optimus? Oh no..

Umbra looked towards Optimus Both are healthy and functional, however it was required to keep them sedated due to escape attempts. They should be able to make it to the Axalon of their own accord with little trouble. he then set Cheetor down onto his feet.

__________________________

Quickstrike got up from his control pannel, heading towards Starshadow, a bit confused and disturbed by the situation. He looked down towards her pointing his snake head at her Sorry bout this, but you know how the Boss is... he then fired a continuous beam of cybervenom at Starshadow's chest, pumping her system with cybervenom to the point of stasis lock. Quickstrike didn't exactly like the idea of messing up a lady bot,even a creepy one.. just didn't feel right.

He let out a sigh, then grabbed Starshadow and started to drag her away towards the cells the Maximals had escaped from Prior, tossing her into the cage and closing the door. Then started welding the frame of the door, effectively preventing the door from being opened ever again. If she was to come out of the cell again, it'd be faster to cut the bars off then cut at the weld.

__________________________

In the distance Landslide made his descent above the jungle, landing and transforming to his Atlas beetle mode as he made his way on land, knocking down a few trees with no effort at all as he lumbered along like a walking bulldowzer and came to the edge of the volcanic region surrounding the Predacon base.

___________________________

Waspinator watched as the ship came down, speaking to himself with a surprised buzz Wazzpinator...won?!