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Children of Cybertron III

by Tom Drake (tddrake@uswest.net)

"Megatron!" Optimus Primal shouted. He soared through an arch of rock on his hover board and broke into the quiet serenity of an oasis. Megatron and Quickstrike were headed towards a crashed stasis pod, which rested against the trunk of a small palm tree.

The Transmetal Predacon commander spun around, and after the initial shock washed off of his face, a wide grin spread across his features. "Ah, Optimus! You've come just in time to witness another one of your precious Maximal sparks fall into my hands. I'm disappointed in you. I would've thought you would try harder to save your comrades."

"Shut up, prune face!"

Megatron's eyes turned from Optimus to a cluster of rocks behind the Maximal commander. Cheetor stood atop the rocks on one side; Silverbolt was on the other. Megatron's grin widened. "Ah, this will make my inevitable victory today even more sweet. Two of Optimus's trusted subordinates." Even Quickstrike began to chuckle. "How unfortunate for you, Optimus."

"What are you talking about?" Optimus asked.

Megatron merely shook his head. "What do you think I'm speaking of, Optimus?" He gestured to Quickstrike. "My dear Fuzor, please proceed with the plan. Welcome our newest Predacon to the Beast Wars."

"Over my sparkless body!" Cheetor yelled, and he sprung from the rocks and leapt on the Fuzor, who had begun walking towards the awaiting stasis pod. The two tumbled off into some nearby brush to the tune of wild shouts and frantic shooting.

Megatron turned towards Optimus, only to have Silverbolt's foot connect with his own face. The Predacon tyrannosaur lost his footing and crashed into the sand. Silverbolt pounced, but Megatron swung his foot up and knocked the traitor back. Both got to their feet at the same time. They stared each other down. Finally, Megatron declared: "I've no time for this, traitor. Stand aside, or be destroyed."

"Fine!" Silverbolt yelled patriotically. "Do your worst--" A purple orb of energy hit him square in the chest. He stumbled for a moment before crashing to the sand, unconscious.

"Silverbolt!" Optimus transformed to robot mode and rushed to his comrade's side. He was okay; just knocked out. His glare turned towards the tyrant standing over them. "We finish this now," he said without emotion.

Megatron grunted. "Ah, the old vindicating hero creed." The amusement vanished from his voice. "I'm no longer impressed by your sympathy, Optimus. I would care less if Silverbolt were still one of my own--"

Unexpectedly, Optimus lunged at Megatron. The two tumbled and rolled into a tiny pool of water. Megatron's head was completely submerged, with Optimus's hands pressed against his neck. For a moment, his optical sensors began to blink out periodically. Then he summoned the energy to bring his laser tail to bare, and he aimed it directly at Optimus' chest plate. He fired.

Optimus shot out of the water amidst a purple cloud of dispersed plasma. He hurtled through the air and crashed into the trunk of a larger palm tree. Megatron brought himself to his feet, water dripping from his Transmetal body. He took a few steps out of the water and back onto the sand. He aimed his laser tail at Optimus again, and fired off two quick shots. Both hit Optimus. The first struck him in the arm, causing him to fall over in pain, then a split second later, the second smashed into his head. The blow knocked him through the trunk of the palm, which promptly fell over on top of him with a loud crash. When it was all over, Optimus lay unmoving.

Megatron smiled. "Once again, the hero fails to stop the villian and all of his insidious plans. What a pity." He approached the stasis pod, and brought its computers on-line. He tinkered with the ID codes for a moment, then successfully managed to switch the Maximal chip with a Predacon one. The computer accepted the new programming, and then began to sweep the landscape for a suitable life form to serve as a beast form for the newest Predacon.

Airazor could see the stasis pod from the air. It sat atop a small sand dune. Gusts of wind blew thin sheets of sand across the landscape. There was no one in sight. Airazor landed a few feet away from the pod, and looked at it for a moment. There didn't appear to be anything damaged from its crash, but the computers might have been jumbled. She kneeled down next to its edge and brought it on-line. She studied the small flip-up monitor for a moment, then decided that she wished Rhinox were here. After all, he knew this stuff a lot better than she did.

But Airazor didn't have time to tinker with it some more. She heard a cruel laugh, the sound of a spinning turbine engine. She whirled around and got to her feet. I knew it, she thought. Inferno floated in the air, wielding a flamethrower in his right hand.

"Scram, bug brains!" she shouted.

"Ahahahahaha!" Inferno laughed. "I have orders from the Royalty. You are not to touch the new colony! That job is for Inferno, Guardian of the mighty Royalty--" A white-hot ball of fire slammed into Inferno's chest, knocking him from the sky. He landed in the sand with a loud thump! and his gun landed five meters away from him.

"Don't go flashing your stupid Royalty jargon at me!" Airazor spat.

Inferno reached for his gun, but Airazor sent another projectile his way. It struct the ground near where his gun rested. His weapon shot into the air and landed twenty meters behind him. Infeno turned and glared at Airazor. "Bah! I don't need a gun to dispose of you!" He pointed a finger at the sky. "For the Royalty!" he yelled, and charged her.

She merely stepped out of the way, causing him to crash face-first into the dunes. She got behind him and pointed her wrist missiles square at his back. "Don't move," she threatened.

Inferno grinned devilishly. "As you wish," he said, then quickly thrust his legs up together and slammed them into Airazor's belly. She slumped to the ground, clutching her stomach. Inferno acrobatically leapt to his feet and pulled out his second flamethrower and aimed it straight at Airazor's bent over form. "Good bye," he said, and his fingers began to squeeze around the trigger...

Rattrap, Dinobot, and Tigatron stood in a semi-circle around the lava flow of debris that had come roaring down the rocks following the self-destruction of the second stasis pod.

"Okay," Tigatron said, thinking. "We've got to split up and assist the others. Since we obviously arrived here too late," he gestured to the debris, which included the twisted remains of the Predacons Deeptooth and Razorshark, "then its up to us to help them."

"Right," Rattrap agreed. "I can go help Optimus n' them. Stripes, why don't you and Chopperface go find Airazor and Rhinox and see what you can do."

Tigatron nodded. "Agreed," he said, then turned to Dinobot. "What do you think?"

Dinobot said nothing for a moment. "It is a good plan," he said. "We have neither the time nor the resources to accurately plot a plan of action, but this will suffice."

Rattrap was lost. "Huh?! Stripes, translate."

"He says its a good idea and he can't think of a better one."

"Oh, okay."

Dinobot glared at Tigatron. "That is not what I meant--"

"I know," he assured. "But we've got to get moving."

Inferno was finished with the stasis pod computer and now waited for it to find a compatible life form. There wasn't much out here in this desolate, barren land, and so it was taking the scanners forever to find something suitable. He glanced at the unconscious form of Airazor. He had decided to just kick her over instead of shooting her. There was something about the female that he admired, and he just couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger...

Replication completed, the computer voice announced.

"Excellent," Inferno said, turning back to the pod. "The Royalty will be pleased. Come, join the Royalty's family!"

The lid of the pod slowly opened with a hiss. A Transmetal coyote hopped out, the size of Cheetor in beast mode. It was a rusty red in color, with legs of reflective silver. It had block spots on its back and tail. Its eyes glowed blood red. It looked around for a moment, then it spotted Inferno and froze.

The fire ant approached the new Predacon. "Welcome. I am Inferno, servant of the Royalty. Who might you be?"

The coyote's eyes narrowed, then it spoke, in a sharp, raspy voice: "Thrasher, terrorize!" The coyote head disappeared and was replaced with a square, Cybertronian head. It had a single, visor-like optical sensor, and its mouth was like a pair of silver doors that close from the sides when they aren't active. There was a light on top of its head. Thrasher's body was built much like Inferno's.

"Impressive," Inferno said, nodding. "The Royalty will be--"

"Very disappointed that the Maximals could interfere with your mission before you returned!" Tigatron interrupted. "Hand over the Maximal!"

"Ah," Inferno said, looking at Thrasher, "your first opportunity to prove yourself to the colony."

"With pleasure," Thrasher replied, and in one quick motion, his legs retracted into his body and a pair of wheel spokes connected to a single rubber tire appeared in its place. He pulled out a long, large plasma cannon and he accelerated towards the awaiting Maximal. Just as surprisingly, Dinobot leapt out from a hiding place behind a rock and tackled Thrasher to the ground and knocking his weapon out from his grasp.

Tigatron used the opportunity to fire off a volley of blasts from his gun at Inferno, who was taken completely by surprise. The fire ant toppled over, and Tigatron ran past the other two and to where Airazor lay on the ground, unmoving. "Airazor!" he shouted. "No...Airazor, my love..."

Inferno recovered. "Ahahahaha!!! The tiger is sad over the death of his mistress! The Royalty will be pleased!"

Tigatron balled his fists and he slugged the fire ant in the jaw with a vicious uppercut. The blow was so strong that Inferno's head spun on its axis, then the Predacon's body gave out and slumped to the ground. This time, he did not get up.

"She's not dead, you cursed Predacon!" he spat. He scooped her up in his arms and started to walk away, then looked back at Dinobot. The other Maximal had dominated the new Predacon, who was lying in the sand in a similar state as Inferno. Tigatron nodded. "You do good work," he admired.

Dinobot grinned. "Yes," he said. "I do indeed."

The replication sequence was complete, and out from the pod's swung open door stepped a Transmetal stegosaurus. It was a dark gray in color, with spots of blue and red. Its eyes glowed yellow. The plates covering its back were very reflective, and they were refined to a point at the top. It was as tall in beast mode as Megatron was in robot mode.

Megatron nodded in appreciation as the new Predacon patrolled the oasis and looked at the still forms of Optimus and Silverbolt. Cheetor and Quickstrike were long since gone, off skirmishing somewhere else. Megatron didn't care; his attention was directed at this stunning new creature.

"So, Shockwave, what do you think?" he asked.

"I think I like this Predacon thing," he said, in a deep, resonating, and surprisingly intelligent voice. "Of course, I've still got to get used to it."

"Certainly," said Megatron.

"What in the name of Plutonian lime rust?!" came a familiar exuberant voice.

Megatron spun on his heels and spotted Rattrap standing on the same rocks that Optimus had just minutes before. He smiled. "Ah, rodent, welcome to party!" He gestured at the new Predacon. "Please meet the newest of my recruits: Shockwave!"

The other gave a deep bellow and transformed into robot mode. The Cybertronian before Rattrap now was a head taller than Megatron, with broad shoulders and thick, heavy limbs. His features were square, as were the components of his appendages and the overall shape of his body. His face was hidden by a grill, which, coupled with the glow of the yellow eyes, offered the apperance of a skull. Shockwave pointed two heavy blaster cannons mounted on either shoulder straight at Rattrap. A red dot, the signature of a laser sight, rested between his eyes.

"Oh, boy," he whispered. "This...is bad."