Not too far away, the falcon and the leopard were fast approaching the location of the obelisk. Airazor couldn't help but smile when she caught sight of her friend trying to keep up with her in her peripheral vision, jumping from tree to tree.

"Will you slow down please, I'm not a monkey!" Jaggid called as she struggled to find adequate branches to carry her weight. She was unaccustomed to using trees as launching platforms; only as lounge spots.

Suddenly, Airazor froze, and Jaggid nearly crashed into her as she leapt from another tree, only avoiding a collision by doing some strange-looking midair pirouettes. She landed somewhat gracelessly on a nearby branch, her front claws digging deep into the bark. Her tail swished angrily as she regained her footing.

"What gives?" she demanded, her spark pounding.

The falcon did not answer straight away, but held a finger against the side of her head. "I...I'm getting something."

"You're what?"

"Listen..."

She did and to her great surprise, Jag heard crackling on her com. "It's about time!" She signaled Airazor to follow her down. Once they were on solid ground, they waited.

Meanwhile, Cheetor and Softpaw were still following the river when they too heard the static.

"You hear that?" Softpaw asked.

"Yeah...please tell me it's not another illusion," Cheetor groaned.

"No, because I can hear it too!"

This perked him up, and they waited. Soon, they started to hear more than static.

"........uni.......ptimu.......an yo......."

The two separate parties waited with bated breath.

"........epeate.......ximal field units, this......Optimus Primal, can you hear me?"

"Big Bot!" Cheetor exclaimed with happiness and relief. A few kilometers away, Airazor and Jaggid recoiled at the sudden loud shout.

"Cheetor?"

"Airazor? Is that you?" Softpaw asked, confused.

"I'm glad to hear your voices, you two," Jaggid said with a sigh of relief.

"I share your sentiment Jaggid," Optimus added. There was still some crackling in the background as he spoke. "I'm also glad this new com link is working."

"How in the Matrix are you doing this? We've tried all channels and gotten zip!" said Airazor, perplexed, since the usual methods were still on the fritz, as far as she could tell.

Optimus' static voice replied, "That's because we're not using our usual means of communication. Apart from the strange readings in Grid Epsilon, there's been something interfering with our sensors. Rhinox was able to isolate a subspace band in the readings from earlier. With Coldstrike's help, he recalibrated the sensors to polarise the output of our radar dish, and now we're getting through to you on a subspace frequency."

"Wow, that's amazingly clever. Good job, Rhinox!" Softpaw exclaimed. "You too, Coldstrike," she added quickly, with a smile. She heard a grunt in the background, which she took as a thank you.

Back at base, Rhinox modestly waved a dismissive hand and replied, "It's hardly orthadox. And I don't know how long I can keep this line open."

"Then I'd better explain quickly," Jaggid said seriously. She rapidly relayed the events of the last few hours, with Airazor, Cheetor and Softpaw interjecting to fill in any holes, such as their own experiences in the underground world. None of them felt inclined to share the specifics of their visions.

At the conclusion of her account, Optimus nodded solemnly, with a troubled expression. "This is all sounding a little familiar." Behind him, the others murmured in agreement. He continued, "If this device is capable of creating illusions to distract and incapacitate people in the battlefield, it would give the Predacons a major tactical advantage."

"And given that it's Tarantulas who's snooping around here, I'd say it's a safe bet that;s what he's hoping for," Airazor concurred.

"I'm afraid we've got some bad news on that front," Rhinox said grimly.

"Oh great," moaned Softpaw. "What is it, pray tell?"

"We detected Serpentia and Lionus approaching your last known coordinates." Greyback answered. Softpaw froze in fear, her spark racing when she heard Lionus' name.

There was an awkward cough from the other end of the line. "And uh, that's not all..." Coldstrike said uncomfortably.

"You don't say," Airazor replied dryly.

Rhinox took over the mic and explained, "The fissures, like the one Airazor told us she entered the underground jungle through, are spreading. Think of a chip in a sheet of glass. The slightest bit of pressure will cause cracks to form and grow, until the glass loses stability. The first earthquake that sent Cheetor and Softpaw into that world was the chip, and the unprecedented and persistent tectonic activity is causing the fissures to expand beyond Grid Epsilon."

There was silence over the com. A great sense of foreboding swept over all of them. "Does that mean..." Softpaw began, apprehensively, though she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

"I'm afraid so," Optimus replied grimly. "Unless we can find a way to neutralise the tectonic activity, which seems to be coming from the underground world...the entire continent will be destroyed,."

"Along with the base," Coldstrike added, only adding to the sense of dread.

More silence, broken only by the heavy breathing of Softpaw, who was still reeling at the news that Lionus was on his way.

Jaggid then said firmly, "Then the thing to do now is determine whether that obelisk Airazor spotted is in fact the source of this place's strange energy. And maybe even the sudden quakes. We need to reach it first."

"We may have to find a way to destroy it," observed Coldstrike.

With a huffy laugh, Greyback commented, "Stripes isn't going to like that."

"None of us are all too keen on the idea," Optimus stated, "but we need to cover every base. If we beat Tarantulas there, we may be able to study it instead of destroying it."

Just then the crackling intensified. Rhinox hurriedly explained, "The connection is losing stability. We don't have long until we're cut off again."

"Maximals, find out what you can about the lighthouse," Optimus said in a rushed tone. "And make sure to..." His voice disappeared and the crackling vanished, leaving the stranded Maximals in radio silence.

"Optimus? Optimus?!" Cheetor shouted frantically into his com.

Softpaw also attempted to reopen communications, "Airazor, are you there? Jag? Hello?!"

"Slag," the cat muttered. "Now what?"

Softpaw shrugged, "We try to make our way to the monument, I guess." She sounded apprehensive, her mind still on Lionus.

"Gee, thanks," he replied sarcastically. "Let me rephrase that: how the spotted heck are we supposed to find it?"

She thought for a second. "Follow our noses!" She explained her theory that because there were seemingly no other creatures in this jungle, they should be able to pick up the familiar scents of Airazor and Jaggid.

To this, Cheetor nodded. "Alright, let's try it."

They sniffed for a few minutes, and while it was a good theory they couldn't pick out their friends' individual scents.

"They must be too far away," lamented Softpaw.

"Okay, how about this: we can at least tell what's plant life and what's not, right?"

"Right...?" she replied, uncertainly.

"Then we follow what's not plants. It'll either lead us to our friends or to that obelisk. It's worth a shot."

She agreed, and they set off, following their noses.