18.Mar.06
Beast Wars Symmetries:
Birds of Prey
By:
Michael
Authors
Note: The
Kwaknoota tribe are a fictional Native American tribe that I came up with while
I was researching the myths and urban legends of the Thunderbird. I got the name
from the Kwakiutl Indians and the Nootka Indians from Canada and simply mixed
them into Kwaknoota. There are also different accounts of the Thunderbird myth
within every tribe so I simply decided to combine several different versions of
the Thunderbird mythos into one for my story.
Dark days
loomed ahead for the Native American Kwaknoota tribe near the Catalan Canyons of
Arizona. Though many within the reservation denied it, the elders believed that
they had enraged the Great Spirit somehow. At night, the shape shifters came,
dragging men, women, and children into the darkness as their echoes filled the
air.
With glowing
red eyes, their piercing howls penetrated the cold, nightly air. Though federal
and state troopers were called in to stop the killings, none of them could find
exactly where the killers were. As a result, more and more lives were lost each
day after the other. The shape shifters were swift in avoiding the law and quick
in mounting attacks in the dead of night, taking as many as two or three people.
Dream Weaver
feared the worst for his tribe.
He was an
elderly medicine man who dressed simply. The only things that stood out were the
beads hung around his neck. It was a necklace given to him long ago by his grand
father.
Though
supernatural afflictions troubled the lands, he was now faced with a much
different problem.
“I am
quite an agreeable fellow as you will soon find out,” spoke an enormous man
who towered before him. “You may name any price you wish.”
To Dream
Weaver, Michael Troy was a millionaire industrialist who came from a place
called Crimson City in the West Coast. He had come several times in the past,
offering to buy the lands that Dream Weaver and his tribe had held for so long.
The clean forests, sprawling canyons, and clean rivers had been a staple to his
people for quite a long time.
He could not
sell them no matter how bad the paranormal ailments got.
“I
apologize, Mr. Troy,” he said with as much firmness as he could muster while
still being diplomatic, “but I’m afraid I cannot, in good conscience, sell
you the lands of our people.”
“I
understand completely,” smiled Troy. “I will be back in a few weeks for
business again. Perhaps then, we can get together for dinner and another tour of
the caverns.”
Dream Weaver
smiled weakly. Whenever this large Caucasian man was around, he always felt his
strength leaving him. Now that Michael Troy got up to leave, he felt more
relieved.
“Yes,
perhaps we will, Mr. Troy. I hope to see you then.”
Michael Troy
bowed. “Yeesss, farewell.”
------------------------------------------------------------
What Dream
Weaver did not know was that Michael Troy was actually a Predacon criminal from
another universe known as Megatron. Though he was not native to Earth, he had
learned everything he needed to know so that he and his minions could hide
themselves effectively in a world dominated by the human race.
“That
senile old fool!” growled Megatron as he entered into his underground base
deep in the deserts of Arizona. “The land and its energon will yet be mine!”
He had lied
to Dream Weaver about wanting the land for preservation. The true prize lay
within the caverns of the Catalan Caves. There was energon in there… raw,
succulent energon for Megatron and the Predacons. The deposit was large enough
to power their entire ship, the Dark Side. With that power, they would be strong
enough to conquer the major cities of the world and enslave the human race. Once
that was completed, noted Megatron, they would use Earth’s natural resources
to create a better, more reliable transwarp drive to return to Cybertron, with
an invincible army of energon-powered drones, powerful enough and strong enough
to defeat even Cybertron’s best alloys.
While it was
a lofty goal, Megatron still remembered that he had yet to attain even the
energon he craved. He did not want to draw too much unnecessary attention to
himself and his company by ordering his cyber coyotes to massacre the entire
Kwaknoota tribe instantly, no. What he needed was a more people-friendly way of
getting the Native American tribe to sell the lands to him willingly. For now,
killing on a large scale was strictly out of the question.
“Master,
shall we begin another raid tonight?”
Megatron
looked down to see one of Megatron Industries’ secretly manufactured Cyber
Coyotes. The fur on the outside only hid the mechanical interior beneath the
powerful robots. Though Megatron would never admit it, he sometimes preferred
the company of his drones over Terrorsaur and Scorponok.
“No, not
tonight, Number 3,” sighed Megatron who referred to them by their production
numbers. “I must carry out more studies tonight on the folktales and
superstitions of the Kwaknoota tribe. Apparently, shape shifting beasts are not
enough to galvanize them into submission.”
------------------------------------------------------------
Dream Weaver
looked on as the sun set across the horizon. The lands were too precious to
allow them to fall into hands that regarded them as mere property. His
grandchildren were growing up already and some were even leaving the reservation
to get a college education in other parts of the United States. The ones who
stayed were the ones whom he would teach to protect and watch over the lands.
As he walked
away, he did not notice a large, metallic object materialize before a cropping
of rocks behind his back. Its scanners hummed to life instantly as it could no
longer camouflage itself effectively due to decreasing power levels.
In the
distant horizon, the cry of a falcon was heard.
------------------------------------------------------------
“Sheesh,
this is some low-tech stuff,” muttered Rattrap as he and Cheetor walked
through the maze of Zombie Vacation.
“Don’t
be such a spoil-sport, Rattrap,” insisted Cheetor. “Right now, we’re
submerged in a completely different culture so we should appreciate what the
humans are able to create, given their limits right now.”
“I ain’t
sayin’ they’re doing badly right now,” retorted Rattrap. “I just think
they could move a lot faster in terms of their tech.”
“But
that’ll mean they’re gonna drain their whole planet dry in just a couple of
stellar cycles,” Cheetor protested. “The ecosystems will be sucked dry if
you want them to move at your pace.”
“Yeah,
like I care what happens on this dump,” said Rattrap dismissively. “All I
wanna do is go back to Cybertron and re-affirm my position as top dog with the
ladies!”
Cheetor
rolled his eyes. “Sheesh, guess there’s no pleasing you.”
“It
ain’t that I’m hard to please, kid. It’s just that I got standards with a
touch of class.”
“You’re
impossible,” groaned Cheetor.
After
a while, Cheetor entered into the temple with his character and retrieved the
hidden gauntlet for an additional level up. He saved his spot and took out the
game cartridge. Rattrap held open the machine and inserted his own video game, Battleground
Jupiter.
“I will
say one good thing,” smiled Rattrap. “These first person shooter games are
‘da finer things in human life that I can get into!”
“What’s
your shooting range now?” asked Cheetor.
“Ehh, my
marksman skills are kinda rusty, seeing as I haven’t had any Preds to shoot at
for a while,” Rattrap replied, “but they’re still up there.”
“Wanna
make a bet my accuracy’s gonna beat yours one day?”
“You’re
on, Cheetor!”
“Optimus
to Cheetor and Rattrap.”
“What’s
up, boss monkey?” Rattrap greeted Optimus.
“Report
to the main halls immediately! We’ve got a situation on our hands”
------------------------------------------------------------
“So
what’s ‘dis about?” asked Rattrap as he and Cheetor appeared before Rhinox
and Optimus in the main room of the submerged Axalon.
“One of
the pods on this planet has been activated,” explained Rhinox. “Our sensors
detected it in the Southwestern regions of the United States… in a place
called Arizona.”
“So
how’d the pod get activated?” asked Cheetor. “Don’t they have enough
power to cloak themselves for over a year or so?”
“Some of
them do, some of them don’t,” replied Optimus. “We were never exactly
briefed on our mission about which crew members’ stasis pods had longer spans
of energy than others.”
“From the
looks of it, this pod has already activated itself,” said Rhinox. “The new
Transformer inside has most likely gotten the beast mode of an indigenous
species native to the surrounding areas.”
“Which
means we’ll have to get to the new Maximal before Megatron does,” declared
Optimus. “Pack your bags, Maximals! It’s time for a road trip!”
------------------------------------------------------------
“This
sucks,” grumbled Terrorsaur. “Why’d Megatron have to ask me to fly all the
way over to this stupid desert?”
The large
Pteranodon flew over the clouds effortlessly, though his wings were beginning to
tire a bit from the trip. He had been careful to dive back into the clouds
whenever he spied a plane in the distance. Megatron warned him not to attract
any unwanted attention to himself and he had to go out of his way to obey. The
Predacon leader would ring his neck if another tabloid on flying dinosaurs were
published.
Truth be
told, Terrorsaur would’ve rather stayed back at the mansion, playing croquet
with Waspinator and Scorponok. It was a new game they had discovered recently,
giving them hours of entertainment… whenever Megatron didn’t order them
around.
“Just you
wait, Megatron,” he grumbled. “You won’t always stay on top.”
------------------------------------------------------------
It was a
bumpy trip that day for the Maximals. Rhinox had fixed the van with his own
modifications so that it could support the weight of four robots sitting in
there. They did not have to stop for gas as Rhinox had also created a special
kind of energon fuel, made specifically to keep the van running as efficiently
as possible without polluting the air in any way. To most humans, such an
achievement was quite an achievement but on Cybertron, it was just as
commonplace as getting an activation code.
“The
scenery sure is nice,” commented Rhinox as he sat in the driver’s seat.
Optimus sat next to him in the passenger’s seat.
Behind them,
Cheetor and Rattrap sat in the back seats. Though the age difference between
them was wide, both of them were clearly bored.
“Sheesh,
Optimus, are we there yet?” complained Rattrap.
“You asked
that two kliks ago, Rattrap,” Optimus sighed.
“Can’t
we just take the Axalon and mosey on over there?” asked Rattrap, “or maybe
you can just fly over there yourself to fetch the new guy.”
“We
can’t attract unwanted attention to ourselves,” explained Rhinox.
“Yeah,
yeah…” Rattrap grumbled. “I hear ya.”
Silently, he
cursed to himself.
Stupid
hairless monkeys always gotta ruin my day…
------------------------------------------------------------
“What
kinda place is this?” asked the newcomer. “Last I recall, I volunteered
for… some kinda mission?”
She surveyed
her surroundings with great interest. A large peregrine falcon with an enormous
wingspan flew from out of the rocks. The area around her was stark in its
appeal, although there was still a certain allure to it. Desert landscapes
broadened all around her eyesight as she flew higher into the air.
“Nice
place,” she said. “I wonder which planet I’m on…”
One thing
she remembered was her name, Airazor. Considering her appearances, it was
a name that suited her fine.
Seeing
nothing within her perimeters, Airazor flew off to investigate the area.
------------------------------------------------------------
“You’ve
got to be kidding me!” Terrorsaur scowled.
“This is
no joke, Terrorsaur,” Megatron replied calmly. “You are required to complete
this task!”
The two of
them lounged around in Megatron’s secret underground base in the desert where
the Cyber Coyotes accompanied them.
“This is a
lame plan,” protested Terrorsaur. “I say you just blow ‘em up and get the
job done!”
“If I were
to do that, the government would declare the lands off limits and it would
further complicate my plans if they get involved.”
“I still
can’t believe you’re afraid of these stupid bipeds,” Terrorsaur groaned.
Megatron
leveled his face towards Terrorsaur. “I wish to do this without drawing attention, Maximal or human!”
“So
you wanna play it safe, eh?” asked Terrorsaur.
“Better
safe than sorry,” replied Megatron with a smirk. “Although… after we douse
ourselves in the purifying baths of energon, we shall have the power we need to
grind humanity beneath our heels!”
“Sounds
like a good plan, I guess… but I still don’t like what you’re asking me
to do!”
“Fool, you
really have no say in the matter.”
Terrorsaur’s
shoulders slumped. He had two choices right now. He could obey Megatron and make
a fool out of himself… or he could just refuse and get squashed flat on the
spot.
“Alright,
already!” he said in defeat. “Just don’t expect me to like it!”
“You
won’t have to,” smiled Megatron. “Just say your lines exactly as I have
specified.”
Terrorsaur
looked down at one of the Cyber Coyotes that lay down beside him.
“Mind if I
shoot one of these things?” asked Terrorsaur with a sneaky grin
“As a
matter of fact, I do!”
------------------------------------------------------------
“Long
range sensors are picking up something in the distance!” announced Rhinox as
he held the scanner in his hands.
At this
point, Optimus was the one driving and Rhinox used the scanner to concentrate
fully on the target in the distance.
“It’s a
Maximal unit alright!” Rhinox exclaimed. “We’d better go greet him!”
“Which
way?” asked Optimus.
“Just turn
left on Highway 56 and we’ll be within a few miles of the new Transformer.”
------------------------------------------------------------
Airazor was
pleased. It had taken her some time but she finally found a sign of civilization
beneath her. From her bird’s eye view, it was a small village with possibly
200 people or so. She had not flown down to introduce herself yet as she was not
sure how they’d react at seeing her. She decided to find a resting place for
the night. After all, the sun was almost to the point of setting in the horizon.
Suddenly,
her senses went wild. There was something moving towards her direction!
Airazor flew
downwards to see what it was. A large metal van below her stopped after parking
on the side of the road.
Four strange
looking robots like her stepped out of the van. Airazor wondered if they were of
her own species.
Immediately,
they waved towards her. After she sensed there was no danger, Airazor flew down
for a closer inspection.
“Greetings,
Maximal!” said the second largest of the four. “I am Optimus Primal and this
is my crew!”
“Optimus,
huh?” she asked. “Who are you?”
“We’re
like you,” said the larger ‘bot as he immediately turned into a strange
being of some sort with sharp teeth lining his chest.
The other
three Maximals followed suit and greeted her.
After seeing
that Airazor was visibly startled, Rhinox transformed to beast mode as did
Optimus, Rattrap, and Cheetor.
“You’re
one of us,” explained Optimus. “You’re a crew member aboard the Axalon in
fact.”
“The
Axalon…” she said, “I remember that name somehow…”
“Don’t
worry,” encouraged Rhinox. “Just take it slow and easy. For now, state your
activation code and your memory will be refreshed.”
“Activation
code?”
“Say your
name and the word ‘Maximize’ to really discover yourself,” Rhinox
recommended.
“Alright,
might as well give it a try… Airazor… Maximize!”
Instantly,
Airazor transformed into a sleek streamlined robot. The falcon’s head was now
located across her chest plates as sleek, dart-like missiles lined her wrists.
“Yes… I
remember everything now,” Airazor acknowledged. “I remember signing up for
this expedition and everyone aboard it! But other than that, my past life is a
blur…”
“Except
this expedition has turned into a war, unfortunately,” Optimus nodded sadly.
“A Predacon criminal called Megatron sabotaged what was supposed to be an
exploration mission with his theft of the golden disks. As we were the only ship
available within the quadrants, we were ordered by the Maximal Elders to chase
him down.”
Rattrap
looked around to make sure there was nobody around. They did not want any humans
walking in on their conversation.
“Tell me
everything that’s happened,” Airazor inquired.
“Well, I
suppose we have time for just that,” smiled Optimus as he, Airazor, and the
rest of the Axalon’s crew sat down.
Their
conversation was interrupted, however, as screaming was heard from the distance.
“That’s
from the village I saw earlier!” Airazor exclaimed.
“Oh, come
on!” complained Rattrap. “Do we gotta get involved with the humans again?”
Rattrap did
not get a reply. The rest of the Maximals were headed towards the village as
fast as they could.
“Hey! Wait
for me!” he cried.
------------------------------------------------------------
Terrorsaur’s
cackles filled the air as the Cyber Coyotes raided the village. It was a nice
touch on Megatron’s part to have created them. They were relatively easy to
produce but the terror they instilled into the humans was well worth seeing.
And then he
remembered his role.
“Oh,
slag,” he grumbled. “I might as well get it over with.”
He pressed
down on a remote control Megatron had given him to call back the coyote drones.
Immediately afterwards, Terrorsaur transformed back to beast mode and flew
directly over the village for all to see.
Now the
people seemed frozen where they stood.
As soon as
Terrorsaur was sure he had their undivided attention, he flew down and landed in
the center of his terrified audience.
What they
saw was a winged monstrosity not unlike the legends of a mythological creature
they had heard about growing up in all their respective generations.
This
is easier than I thought…
“Hear me, people of this tribe!” Terrorsaur shouted, spreading his wings for emphasis. “You have incurred the wrath of the thunderbird!”
Sheesh,
how does Megatron come up with these lines?
“For your crimes, you will suffer drought, disease, famine, and death,” he continued.
Dream Weaver
lowered his head. Were the legends of the thunderbird true all along? He had
never really given much thought to its existence before but now, his mind was
reeling back in surprise. Finally, he found the courage to speak up.
“Mythical
bird of the sky,” he said. “What is it that we have done to deserve such a
fate?”
Terrorsaur
grinned deviously. “It is not what you have done… it is what you have not
done!”
The
villagers now seemed more surprised than fearful.
“The Great
Spirit has walked amongst you several times in the past. He has returned to
reclaim his lands! Each and every time, however, you have denounced him with
your pettiness and your greed! You may either return the lands that he has
bestowed upon you in the past or you may face oblivion! The choice is yours,
people of the Kwaknoota tribe!”
Oh, for
crying out loud… these lines are ridiculous!
Now the
people were talking amongst themselves. Some truly believed that the mythical
thunderbird had returned while others were far more skeptical now. Dream Weaver
sensed that whatever this creature was, he was a false prophet.
“He must
be the thunderbird…”
“Don’t
be stupid! That creature’s connected somehow to that crooked industrialist who
wants to rob us!”
“What are
we going to do?”
“Silence!”
Terrorsaur screeched as he flew into the air. “Have your majority consensus
this instant or be destroyed!”
Several
painful howls were heard. As Terrorsaur looked down, he saw the Maximals in
their beast modes smashing into the Cyber Coyotes, beating them back.
“What’s
this!” exclaimed Terrorsaur. “How’d the Maximals get over here!”
In an
instant, a blur struck him from behind, knocking him down a few feet before he
caught himself with a powerful flap of his wings. As Terrorsaur looked up, he
saw a magnificent falcon diving into him and knocking him out of harmony again.
“What in
the Inferno are you?” he demanded as he faced her.
“The
name’s Airrazor!” the femme-bot growled. “And you’re giving all your
fine-feathered brethren a bad name!”
“Very
funny, lady! Terrorsaur… TERRORIZE!”
“Airazor,
MAXIMIZE!”
Terrorsaur
reached for his rifle but before he could grasp it, Airazor had zoomed in on him
and knocked him back with a powerful punch. As Terrorsaur caught himself in
mid-air, Airazor was upon him, driving her fist into his stomach. Terrorsaur
coughed violently but struck Airazor across the face with his open hand,
throwing her back.
He took out
his air rifle and aimed it at her, firing off several shots. Airazor barrel
rolled through several of the shots and fired back with a stinger missile that
knocked the gun out of Terrorsaur’s hand. As Terrorsaur aimed his shoulder
blasters at her, she fired into him with two more rounds, one shot in his chest
and one shot into his stomach, incapacitating him.
As
Terrorsaur raised his head, a powerful boot from the female Maximal struck him
in the face and sent him hurtling into the ground.
He wasn’t
sure when he regained consciousness exactly but by the time he did, Airazor and
the other Maximals stood over him with their weapons aimed at him.
“I don’t
know why Megatron is interested in this village but I suggest an early departure
for him now!” warned Optimus.
Airazor
glared at him with her wrist-mounted missile blaster pointed at his head.
Then it hit
him. He had just lost to a girl.
Terrorsaur
got up with considerable effort and dragged himself off as the Maximals and the
villagers watched him to make sure that his departure was permanent.
He had
nothing to say… no wisecracks or sarcastic comments. The humiliation was too
much for him to bear.
------------------------------------------------------------
“So you
think I’m the Thunderbird?” Airazor asked.
“Precisely,”
replied Dream Weaver. “You were sent by the Great Spirit in times long past to
destroy the Unktehila that had threatened our people and our lands. Whenever
severe misfortunes befell our tribe, the Great Spirit would send you forth to
bring salvation to us!”
All of them
sat around the campfire as Airazor and Dream Weaver continued their
conversation. The entire village had thrown a celebration for them in honor of
driving out the Cyber Coyotes and Terrorsaur. Surprisingly enough, these humans
accepted them instead of trying to destroy them out of fear like so many other
humans had tried to do.
“But we
don’t belong to this world,” Optimus said with as much politeness as he
could without offending Dream Weaver. “We come from another planet...”
“From
which the Great Spirit has sent you,” replied Dream Weaver mysteriously.
Cheetor, in
the meantime, was playing with the children of the village.
Rhinox and
Rattrap sat on the other end of the campfire. From the warm reception they
received, it seemed that they wouldn’t be leaving the village tonight.
------------------------------------------------------------
Terrorsaur
fell to his knees. The wounds he had received earlier were healing thanks to the
nanites within his body but he wouldn’t be in full health without a CR bath.
Not only that, but Megatron would have his head for sure once he found out that
he, Terrorsaur, had failed.
As the
seconds passed by, Terrorsaur heard a bizarre humming sound emanating from the
cave that he was presently near. It was an almost familiar sound… like
something Terrorsaur had experienced before but not to the extent that he fully
wanted.
His
curiosity piqued, Terrorsaur got up and walked into the cave.
------------------------------------------------------------
Megatron
stood outside waiting. It had been hours and Terrorsaur had not yet returned
from his duties. Whatever he had done, Terrorsaur would pay for his
incompetence!
Several of
his Cyber Coyotes had returned badly damaged with claw marks and teeth marks on
them. Those were tell-tale signs that the Maximals had engaged them in combat.
“This is a
waste of time,” Megatron moaned. He turned around to head back to base.
“I see
that you’re eagerly anticipating my return!”
Megatron
whirled around. “Terrorsaur!”
“In the
flesh… so to speak!”
Immediately,
Megatron sensed that there was something very wrong here. Terrorsaur’s body
crackled with bizarre red electricity as power surged through his entire body.
“You know,
Megatron,” said Terrorsaur. “You were right for asking me to come to his
place after all!”
Before
Megatron could react, Terrorsaur’s optical lasers flared out and, in an
instant, sliced his arm off
Megatron
raised his other arm in defense but Terrorsaur blasted him square in the chest
with a shot from his rifle. As Megatron lay on the ground, in pain but still
conscious, Terrorsaur slammed his foot down on his chest and laughed.
“I never
did like you, Megatron,” Terrorsaur chuckled. “You’re always pushin’ me
around, thinking you’re somehow better than me…”
Megatron
raised his voice in protest but Terrorsaur slammed his foot down on the Predacon
leader’s chest again to silence him.
“Well, I
think I know now why you despise me so much.”
“And why
is that?” demanded Megatron.
“Silence!”
Terrorsaur shouted as he kicked Megatron across the face.
“You’re
jealous of me,” Terrorsaur elucidated. “You see the ambition I have and it
frightens you! You chose the Predacons mainly because you thought they’d all
be mindless toadies for you. Well guess what, you picked the wrong Predacon in
me!”
“You
fool!” Megatron growled. “If you destroy me, how do you expect to conquer
this world?”
“Oh, I
have enough energon to last me a lifetime,” Terrorsaur boasted. “Using it, I
will rule the Predacons in your place, Megatron!”
With that,
Terrorsaur flew into the air and fired several missiles from his shoulder
cannons that slammed into Megatron’s fallen body, blasting him to pieces.
“And now
for the Maximals!”
------------------------------------------------------------
“Why do
you suppose Megatron’s hanging around here anyways?” asked Cheetor.
Rhinox,
Cheetor, and Rattrap walked through the open desert in their beast modes. They
were miles away from civilization and so, didn’t require the use of their
holographic projectors to disguise themselves as men.
“Megatron’s
an entrepreneur,” Rhinox theorized. “There must be something on these lands
that he finds profitable or useful.”
“Well, he
ain’t gonna get it,” chuckled Rattrap. “Especially considering we botched
his little mutts up yesterday!”
Without
warning, a missile crashed down on them and sent the three Maximals flying in
all three different directions. Rhinox smashed against a large rock, knocking
him nearly unconscious.
Before
Cheetor could get up, a missile struck the ground beneath him yet again,
throwing him violently into the air.
Rattrap and
Rhinox watched in horror as the charred body of their young friend fell to the
desert floor.
“Terrorsaur!”
they both exclaimed as their attacker appeared before them.
“I’m
back and better than ever!” the red Predacon cackled.
Rhinox
whipped out his chain guns of doom and fired into Terrorsaur. The bullets,
however, bounced off harmlessly. Terrorsaur’s body glowed with strange red
electricity, supercharging him beyond his normal limits. He only smiled and shot
Rattrap with a missile that knocked the small Maximal away from the battlefield
and into stasis lock.
Cursing in
frustration, Rhinox threw his guns to the ground and charged Terrorsaur. As he
threw a punch aimed towards Terrorsaur’s head, he suddenly became aware of how
Terrorsaur became so powerful and why Megatron wanted the lands of the Kwaknoota
tribe.
With a
simple block, Terrorsaur deflected the blow and drove his blaster into
Rhinox’s torso, discharging a powerful burst of plasma energy that ripped
through the Maximal’s body, leaving nothing but a huge gaping hole where his
chest used to be. Lucky for him, it was not where his spark chamber was located.
Rhinox sank
to his knees and fell to the floor. He was down and out along with his friends.
“Hahaha!”
Terrorsaur laughed. “Just two more to go!”
“Rhinox!
Rattrap! Cheetor!”
As
Terrorsaur turned around, he saw Optimus and Airazor blasting towards him at
full speed. He simply let his arms hang loosely near the sides of his body as
Optimus smashed into him with a punch that sent him flying into a canyon wall.
“Dear
Primus, they’re all in stasis lock!” Optimus exclaimed as he surveyed the
bodies of his friends. “How did Terrorsaur do this?”
“Let’s
not worry about that now, Optimus!” cried Airazor as she pointed towards the
canyon.
In an
instant, Terrorsaur burst out from the canyon, sending several missiles towards
their direction. Optimus avoided all the missiles and used his shoulder cannons
to blast Terrorsaur with his own missiles.
When the
smoke cleared, Terrorsaur was still there with a smile on his face. Optimus
aimed his wrist-mounted pulse rifle at the Predacon flyer but was knocked to the
ground with a simple backhand from Terrorsaur.
Airazor
helped Optimus up as she stared at Terrorsaur in amazement.
“Now I
think I know why Megatron wants this place,” said Optimus as he stood up.
“It’s
‘cause of the energon around here,” Airazor finished. “That’s how
Terrorsaur charged up in the first place.”
“There’s
no way his body can hold that charge forever,” Optimus declared. “All we
have to do is distract him long enough before he runs out of steam!”
“That’s
easier said than done,” Airazor replied. “Right now, I think he can probably
eat through any kind of Cybertronian steel.”
“Hey!”
Terrorsaur shouted. “Last I recall, this wasn’t some social gathering!
Can’t you face death with more dignity?”
“What
happened to Megatron?” Optimus demanded.
“If you
must know, I destroyed him with my bare hands!” Terrorsaur bragged.
“And I say
you’re full of hot air!” Airazor announced.
“What’s
this?” asked Terrorsaur angrily.
“From what
I remember, you hit just like a femme-bot,” said Airazor, barely able to
conceal the contempt she felt for the Predacon. “Just face it, all the energon
in the galaxy supercharging you won’t hide the fact that you’re just a
loser.”
“Grrr…
now you’ve really pissed me off!” screamed Terrorsaur.
“Bring
it!” shouted Airazor as she flew into Terrorsaur and threw a powerful punch
aiming to dislocate his jaw.
Terrorsaur
caught the punch however and squeezed. Soon, Airazor cried out in pain as the
Predacon put more pressure on her hand.
Optimus
Primal quickly flew up to attack Terrorsaur but the supercharged Predacon
grabbed Airrazor by the arm and threw her into him. Both Airazor and Optimus
were sent tumbling to the ground yet again.
“I’ll
give credit where credit is due,” said Terrorsaur cockily. “You two have
certainly put up a much better fight than Megatron!”
“Easy to
say for someone pumped up on energon,” replied Airazor sarcastically.
Terrorsaur’s
optics narrowed at the comment. He was beginning to like this Airazor less and
less.
“You
know,” he said. “I was in a merciful mood today but now you’ve ruined it,
lady! I think I’m going to kill you and Optimus slowly and painfully!”
Optimus
stepped in front of Airazor.
“Looks
like Terrorsaur wants to prolong this,” he whispered to her. “I’ll do my
best to hold him off and once he runs out of his power supply, take him out with
all you got!”
“Don’t
worry, Optimus,” Airazor whispered back. “I’ll take him alongside you!
That way, he’ll burn off twice as much of his power!”
“Shut
up!” cried Terrorsaur. “Both of you are gonna—URK!”
The red
electricity around his body had disappeared and was replaced with the
traditional electrical surges of a Transformer ready to enter into stasis lock
from prolonged exposure to raw energon.
“Slag!”
cried Terrorsaur as he transformed to beast mode and flew off. “I need another
dose to finish them off!”
“Follow
him!” Optimus shouted as his prime jets hummed to life. “We can’t let him
get to that energon source!”
“I’m on
it!” cried Airazor.
The two of
them followed Terrorsaur through the sky, trailing him from behind. In normal
circumstances, they would’ve shot him out of the sky. This time, however, they
needed to find out where his energon source was so they could prevent any of the
other Predacons from using it again. They watched as Terrorsaur entered into a
nearby cave.
“In
there,” Optimus pointed.
Silently,
they entered into the cave. Stalactites and stalagmites littered the entire
monolithic cavern. Small veins of energon could be seen all across the rocks and
the walls.
Then they
saw Terrorsaur… charging himself up as he held a large piece of raw energon
that hung out from the walls. As soon as Terrorsaur had had enough, he turned
around to greet his unhappy guests.
“Set
energon dampeners to full power,” Optimus told Airazor. “This is gonna get
ugly.”
“I see you
discovered my little secret,” chuckled Terrorsaur. “Too bad you won’t live
to tell about it!”
“That’s
where you’re wrong!” Optimus shouted. “You may be stronger but that
doesn’t mean much!”
“Huh?”
“I don’t
think you can take Airazor and I all at once,” Optimus explained. “With
full, head-on contact, you’re much too soft-headed to handle that sort of
thing!”
“WHAT!”
demanded Terrorsaur as he bashed his fists together, causing heated sparks from
the friction to fly out.
“Let’s
see how much of a ‘bot you really are!” mocked Optimus as he and Airazor set
both their energon resistance dampeners to full power.
“Fine!”
Terrorsaur screamed as he slammed both feet to the ground and stood there with
his chest open. “Let’s go! Give me everything you got!”
Airazor and
Optimus didn’t need to be told twice as they blasted forward and slammed into
the red Predacon. Terrorsaur braced himself and absorbed the impact with all the
strength he could muster in his state. However, the combined forces of both
Optimus and Airazor forced him back. Two trenches had been created from where
his feet dug into the ground. A trail of fire followed that trench as Terrorsaur
exerted more and more power to keep Optimus and Airazor from overpowering him
completely. Still, despite all this, Optimus and Airazor’s jets grew stronger
as Terrorsaur was pushed back more and more.
Finally, he
turned his head back and saw which direction Airazor and Optimus were pushing
him towards. It was towards the massive piece of energon from which he attained
his strength.
“So… I
see your trick now!” laughed Terrorsaur as he grabbed both Optimus and Airazor
by their faces and shoved them away, far from the energon.
“You want
a piece of this energon, don’t you?” he asked.
He walked
over towards the energon and held on to it, allowing its powers to freely course
into his body.
Airazor saw
her chance and shot the crystal that Terrorsaur had his hands on with her wrist
missile. Immediately, the energy from the crystal overflowed into Terrorsaur’s
super-structure, causing mass damage to his circuitry and his gears. Terrorsaur
screamed in agony as the power he had so cherished suddenly became too powerful
even for him to handle. He had reached the limits of his body and now, he was
paralyzed from head to toe as his systems were experiencing a massive overload
of energon unlike anything he had ever felt before. While Terrorsaur cried in
agony, the energon in the cave hummed violently and explosively.
“It’s
gonna blow!” cried Optimus as he grabbed Airazor and flew away as fast as his
jets could carry him.
Soon enough,
Optimus and Airazor had escaped from the caverns. As they watched the entire
cave go up in a large explosion, they heard the ghastly, prolonged shriek of
Terrorsaur within that detonation.
------------------------------------------------------------
“Boy, talk
about an overdose!” exclaimed Airazor as she was perched on top of the Maximal
van with Optimus, Rattrap, Cheetor, and Rhinox sitting on the ground besides it.
“I figured
Terrorsaur’s body couldn’t hold that big of a charge,” explained Optimus,
“and so, it would only be a matter of time before his body would be paralyzed
from too much raw energon.”
“You were
really somethin’ out there, Bird Lady,” complimented Rattrap. “If it
hadn’t been for your quick thinkin’, our body parts would be decorating
Terrorsaur’s new throne room!”
“You’ll
love our new base!” exclaimed Cheetor. “Sure it’s under a lake, but
you’ll get used to it after a while.”
“I’m
really flattered guys,” said Airazor, “but I don’t think I’m ready just
yet.”
“What’s
wrong?” asked a concerned Rhinox.
“This
tribe has gone through a lot lately,” explained Airazor. “I want to stay
here and watch over them… to help them out whenever I can. Who knows if
Megatron will try to launch another attack again.”
Optimus
looked at the rest of his crew. Slowly, but surely, their expressions warmed up.
“With your
permission, of course,” Airazor finished.
“Permission
granted,” Optimus smiled.
“Besides,
I don’t think you’ll be requiring any holographic projectors,” Rhinox
said. “Seeing as you’ll be living out here where the local humans trust and
accept you… not to mention your beast mode can fly.”
“I’ll be
sure to visit you guys whenever I can!” Airazor proclaimed. “Just give me a
call whenever you need me!”
“We’ll
be sure to keep in touch,” Optimus nodded.
Airazor
waved goodbye as she watched the Maximals climb into the van. When they were in
the distance, she transformed into falcon mode and flew off towards the
direction of the Kwaknoota village within the distant sunset.
------------------------------------------------------------
It had been
a long and eventful day. Optimus was now the one at the wheel as Rhinox lay in
the backseats. Though he had been conscious, the hole blown through his chest
wouldn’t be repaired completely unless he had a good CR chamber with him. Now
he had chosen to go into stasis lock to sleep it out for the rest of the trip.
Rattrap
looked somewhat glum. Optimus figured it was because Airazor had chosen not to
go with them back to the Axalon. He could tell that Rattrap really wanted a
femme-bot around their base.
Privately,
Optimus also wouldn’t have minded if Airazor had returned with them.
“Think
Terrorsaur’s gone for good?” asked Cheetor, interrupting Optimus Primal’s
train of thought.
“I’m not
entirely sure, Cheetor,” replied Optimus, “but I have a feeling that even if
he does come back, it’ll be on Megatron’s terms.”
------------------------------------------------------------
Megatron
glared at the rubble before him. Scorponok stood by his side with his claws
chattering. He could tell that his leader wasn’t in the best of moods.
It had taken
a while but his Cyber Coyotes had finally gathered his pieces together and had
done a semi-competent job at repairing him, considering the fact that they
couldn’t even use their hands. As soon as he became conscious again, he had
radioed Scorponok to come in and help him. All in all, however, he would need a
good dip in his CR bath to repair himself fully.
But his
health was a secondary concern right now. What infuriated Megatron was that
Terrorsaur had ruined his entire operation. The entire cave of energon, along
with all its surrounding veins, had been destroyed. Now the lands of the
Kwaknoota tribe were completely useless to him. Months of hard work had gone
down the drain all because of that sniveling flyer!
“Hey, umm,
Megatron,” Scorponok asked nervously. “Want me to dig out Terrorsaur?”
“You do
that,” Megatron replied ominously. “I want to have a special discussion with
him right after he’s been repaired…”
The End.