Strangers in a Strange Land

28.April.06

Beast Wars Symmetries:

Strangers in a Strange Land

Despite her large territory, Snowstalker had never been very particular on exactly where she went. The time and careful planning she put into hunting red deer and wild boars were what really mattered. Her location was not important, so long as she had enough prey to sustain her.

Having gorged herself already of a red deer she had brought down, Snowstalker sniffed the air carefully. What she sensed was something unnatural. It was something that was completely alien to her.

With a low growl, Snowstalker bounded towards the direction of the scent that was bothering her. It didn’t take long before she felt its presence once more.

What she saw was unlike anything she had ever seen before. She had seen humans before from a distance as well as some of the things they created, but this was something new to her that did not seem to be man-made.

Unbeknownst to her, it was a stasis pod containing one of the crew of the Axalon that had been ejected. To Snowstalker, it was simply an unnatural piece of metal that piqued her curiosity.

She did not feel threatened at all by it, but at the same time, she kept a certain distance between herself and the pod. As Snowstalker watched inquisitively, the stasis pod hummed to life. Before she knew it, a large wave of light spanned the area by several kilometers, engulfing her.

When the light disappeared, however, Snowstalker realized that it did not affect her as she had feared.

With a defiant roar, Snowstalker, having had enough of the strange events of her day, turned and ran off into distance. In mere minutes, snow had covered her tracks completely.

“Want Waspinator and Terrorsaur to go retrieve stasis pod?” asked a rather oversized wasp that hovered over the Predacon leader.

“Silence fool!” Megatron declared. “That is the exact issue I wish to address right now!”

“Yeah, so keep your beak shut!” Scorponok ordered, elbowing Terrorsaur in the process.

The red Predacon glared at the smaller ‘bot but dared not to make a move in Megatron’s presence. By far, it was an open secret that Megatron detested him the most out of all his minions.

“The stasis pod is located within the coordinates of 24.7987,” explained Megatron. “It is stationed in an area better known to the humans as Siberia.”

“The area of Siberia you will convene at will be near the borders of Northern China,” Megatron continued. “It has a cold and mountainous terrain that is thankfully inhabited by very few humans.”

“Not just yet,” Megatron smirked. “As Terrorsaur had earlier predicted, the Maximals have most likely noticed the pod’s appearance as well.”

“What are we gunna do then?” asked Terrorsaur with a hint of impatience to his voice.

Megatron quickly activated the super computer before him, logging into the systems that only he had private access to.

“Hey, Optimus!” Rhinox exclaimed. “I have the readings on a new stasis pod that’s been activated!”

“Well done, old friend,” Optimus said with a smile. “It looks like we’ll be having another addition to our team.”

“Wanna make a bet on what beast mode the new Maximal’s going to get?” asked Cheetor.

“If the new guy’s programmed just right, I’d say he’ll be a rodent of some sort,” Rattrap replied.

“I’ll bet you twenty bucks that the new Maximal’s going to be a big cat!” Cheetor retorted.

“So far the signal’s faint,” Rhinox explained. “Right now it’s located somewhere in the continent of Asia. The closest reading I got was that it was in this place called Siberia and if I can just--“

To the shock of all the Maximals, the red dot on the holographic map disappeared completely as if it had never existed. What caused this was not known but this did not deter Rhinox.

“There must be some sort of raw energon around that area causing this,” he surmised. “Guess we’ll have to go over there and look for it the old fashioned way.”

“We’ll have to get there in an inconspicuous way,” Optimus mulled. “Any suggestions, team?”

“Wow, Megatron,” Scorponok beamed. “Your satellite really did the trick!”

Indeed, the Rasputin satellite that orbited in space had cast a disruptive wave over the location of the stasis pod, making it so that the pod would show up on no Maximal or Predacon sensors. The fact that the red dot had faded from their screen was testament to the effectiveness of such a jamming system. To Scorponok and the others, it was no concern as they had already gathered the exact coordinates of the pod beforehand.

“Well, that’s that!” Terrorsaur chimed. “Want us to go over there now?”

“Please do so,” said Megatron, “but in this case, you will have transportation.”

“Ooh, Waspinator like transportation!” buzzed the Predacon flyer. “Wings not have to get tired after long journey!”

Megatron ignored him and continued. “My men have created a state-of-the-art spy jet that can enter into any country’s boundaries without detection. The three of you will cross the Pacific Ocean with that very plane.”

“I’m afraid not,” Megatron responded. “I have several business meetings this week and I simply will not have the time to spare. Besides… a wise tyrant will always delegate lesser tasks to his subordinates.”

“Don’t you worry then, Megatron!” Scorponok declared with a salute. “When we come back, you’ll have a new Predacon recruit literally dying to serve you!”

“Very well then,” Megatron agreed. “I expect the new Predacon here within one week.”

Terrorsaur smiled. Giving them one week to get a simple task done was almost a luxury for him. There was no way he was going to get things done on a short leash.

After receiving specific directions from Megatron, Scorponok turned to the door and gestured for Terrorsaur and Waspinator to follow.

Though he knew what he was, exactly who he was did not register in his databanks.

It had been several hours since he had awoken and yet, he still felt disoriented to a slight degree. Though he walked on all fours, he had a feeling that this was not his natural posture. What surprised him even more was that despite the weather, the amount of coldness he felt was at a bare minimum.

Right now, Tigatron was who he was. Little thought was given to how good the name sounded but for now… it seemed appropriate for he remembered very little of who he was and his life prior to a mission of some sort.

Tigatron inspected his surroundings slowly. It was a sparse terrain full of snow and large trees that towered over the lands. There was a certain beauty in the austere wilderness that he beheld.

He didn’t know what it was but something about the place appealed him on more than a visual level.

Without warning, a Russian wild boar crashed through the undergrowth and rammed into him, taking Tigatron down.

Tigatron leaped back to his feet in surprise. What was it that was making this strange creature attack him? Was he the natural enemy of this swine?

Apparently, the attack had disoriented the razorback as well as the pig grunted in pain as if he had rammed into solid steel. Soon, however, he recovered from his small bout of dizziness and attacked Tigatron again.

Tigatron leaped out of the way but not fast enough. The tusks of the wild boar slashed through his leg, tearing off the fur and synthetic skin to reveal the layer of his metallic joints.

Tigatron stared at the “wound” in awe. Soon, it became more and more apparent what was going on. Unfortunately, the razorback interrupted his train of thought and attacked once more, this time slamming Tigatron to the ground and attempting to gore him.

A strange primordial instinct within Tigatron rose as his anger mounted further at being attacked despite having posed no ill intentions. Using the claws that extended from his paw, he slashed the boar viciously across the face, knocking him off.

As the razorback squealed in pain, a drop of blood from his wound flew through the air and landed on the tip of Tigatron’s tongue.

The taste of blood had quite an effect on Tigatron’s then-calm disposition. As his eyes widened, Tigatron bared his teeth and roared furiously. The razorback squealed with fear as Tigatron pounced upon him like a demon. He tried desperately to run but the Siberian tiger’s claws ripped into his back and pinned him to the ground. Soon, his flailing came to an end as Tigatron’s jaws found their way around the back of his neck.

The Maximals did not have a pleasant trip. Flying the Axalon overnight was not something they had preferred but given that their ship would have been easily identified during the daytime as an alien vessel, they had to opt for another alternative.

After several megacycles, they had arrived in Siberia. Here, they were no longer as concerned about being hidden, for few humans inhabited the wasteland. As soon, as they stepped outside, Rhinox switched on the remote to camouflage the Axalon from any unneeded interference from both the locals and any Russian officials.

“Geez, what kind of place is this?” Cheetor asked with his teeth chattering.

“This is Siberia,” explained Optimus. “We’re in the tundra right now but we’ll need to journey on foot to the forests where the stasis pod last gave off its signals.”

“Sorry, Rattrap,” Optimus apologized. “It’s either that, or we can wait until nightfall so we can fly the Axalon. By then, there’s a chance the Predacons will have reached that pod.”

“Don’t worry about it, Rattrap,” Rhinox reassured. “You can ride on my back if you get tired.”

“We go in that directon, right?” Optimus asked, pointing towards the distance.

“Yup,” Rhinox replied. “As soon as we get to that general area, we’re gonna be doing a whole lot of excavation to find that pod.”

Optimus tried not to pay attention as the sound of another moan escaped Rattrap’s lips.

Snowstalker looked curiously at the newcomer before her. He was a large tiger, about the same size as her. There was something unnatural in his eyes but to Snowstalker, she was more curious than anything else.

What came out of Tigatron’s mouth was completely alien to her. Instantly, Snowstalker realized that he was not producing the correct sub-harmonics that only a Siberian tiger’s vocal chords could portray. Despite that, she was not deterred. Though the male did not produce sounds familiar to her, his actions came through as that of a tiger when she stared down at Tigatron’s kill, a bloated carcass of a large razorback boar.

Finally, Snowstalker moved slowly towards the boar. When she came close enough, she began feasting. Tigatron stared at her in interest. As he tried to move closer, Snowstalker growled at him, warning him to keep his distance.

Tigatron did not know everything that he needed to know about being what he was but even he could tell when he needed to back off.

“Very well,” he said as he inched away. “I will not worry you any further.”

He chose to sit at a distance to observe Snowstalker. As he stared at her, his optic lens narrowed in until he saw a small tag on the back of her neck that read Snowstalker. She had been tagged several months ago by researchers.

“Snowstalker, hmm?” he mused. “Perhaps you can show me the path of these lands.”

Every once in a while, Snowstalker raised her head to look back at him… both in defense of her meal and in questioning of his presence.

Finally, Snowstalker had finished her meal. As she sat drowsily, she purred slightly as her tolerance of Tigatron grew.

“I think so,” Scorponok replied as he stared through the binoculars. “Remember, Megatron said that our scanners will always scan in beast modes of the Earth’s fittest animals.”

“Hmm, Waspinator think big cat-bot look fit enough to rend Waspinator apart!” Waspinator buzzed. “Not want to get close to cat-bot!”

“Quit being such a baby!” Scorponok groaned. “Now that the new protoform’s awakened, we know he’s a Maximal. What we have to do is capture him, reprogram him, and bring him back to Megatron!”

“Well, might as well get on with it,” Terrorsaur yawned as his shoulder cannons appeared.

“Megatron’s given me very specific directions over what to do with this Protoform,” Scorponok told his two companions. “Unless you want to risk going back to base and having Megatron beat you to death, I suggest you do things my way!”

“Oh no… Waspinator not want to suffer Megatron being angry,” the Predacon wasp whimpered.

Scorponok ignored the two and in that moment, a large insect-like creature appeared from his claw.

“It’s a Cyber Bee,” Scorponok explained. “We send it out first to find the Maximal and on my order, we go retrieve him!”

Snowstalker purred softly as she bobbed her head up and down. By now, her interest in Tigatron was evident.

Not realizing what her intentions meant, Tigatron only looked at her without any visible change in expression.

However, Snowstalker’s eyes widened in fear as she stared up in the sky. Tigatron glanced up but by then, it was too late.

A large insect-like creature landed on the back of Tigatron’s neck, prying its way into Tigatron’s neck. Tigatron roared and struggled to throw it off but to no avail. The Cyber Bee latched on tightly.

After what seemed like several agonizing hours, the Cyber Lee let loose and flew away.

Tigatron panted exhaustively and as he raised his head, he realized that Snowstalker had disappeared. Carefully, he looked around to make sure that he was no longer under attack. Whatever that creature was, it had left him more than slightly distressed.

“That Cyber Bee should be able to do the trick,” Scorponok chuckled. “It has cyber venom that’ll leave him drowsy for several mega-cycles.”

“We wait until the chemicals do their thing,” Scorponok replied, “and then, we swing into action.”

“Why do we have to wait so long?” Terrorsaur asked suggestively. “I say we go get him now…”

“I’m second in command and as long as I’m in charge, you listen to me!” Scorponok growled.

Both Predacons stared at each other by a whisker. In the blink of an optic, they were aiming at each other with their respective weapons. Seeing this, Waspinator quickly rushed in to placate them.

“Nooo, not here! Terrorsaur and Scorponok still have job to do! Must capture kitty-bot for Megatron!”

After a long moment of tension had passed, Terrorsaur put his gun away and Scorponok lowered his missile launcher.

“I’m picking up a faint signal,” the large Maximal replied. “Its energy signature appears to be that of a Maximals’.”

“Just a few more cycles should do. His signal is very weak so we’ll have to hurry up!”

The Maximals then increased their speed. What they wanted was to retrieve their comrade as quickly as they could. Every cycle counted and they had to make the best of their dealt cards.

“His senses have been impaired,” Scorponok whispered as he, Terrorsaur, and Waspinator trailed behind Tigatron closely.

“Yeah, and how’s that gonna help us?” Terrorsaur whispered back, albeit more harshly.

“That means he can’t smell us and he can barely hear us,” Scorponok sighed. “Waspinator, I want you to fire on my signal.”

Waspinator simply nodded, not wishing to get involved in the altercations between his two comrades.

Meanwhile, Tigatron’s breathing was irregular. Whatever that flying creature had done to him was not good. He could feel himself getting weaker and weaker. It would not be long, he realized, before he fainted. Tigatron quickly leaned against a tree to steady himself.

In the distance, a dim buzzing sound was heard. Before Tigatron realized it, a small missile blasted into the ground that he stood and knocked him unconscious, given the state that he was in.

“Nice job, Waspinator,” Scorponok complimented. “Now let’s get this Maximal back to Megatron!”

The unconscious body of Tigatron lay before them. All that remained for the Predacon trio was the little matter of reprogramming the Maximal and presenting him before their commander.

A plasma blast had struck Scorponok from behind and knocked him flat on his face. In little time, several more shots were fired towards them. To Terrorsaur and Waspinator’s horror, the Maximals had showed up.

Waspinator quickly dodged several shots and fired back from the air. Terrorsaur, however, grabbed Waspinator by the shoulder.

“But Megatron scrap us even worse if Waspinator and Terrorsaur not bring back cat-bot!”

“That’s your concern!” Terrorsaur shrieked as he dodged a shot from Rattrap by a hair. “I’d rather live to fight another day!”

To Waspinator’s shock, Terrorsaur quickly flew away. Waspinator, unfortunately, did not get the chance to do the same as a shot from Cheetor slammed into him and sent him crashing down to the forest floor.

Knowing that the melee was over, the Maximals quickly rushed to the fallen Tigatron’s side.

“He’s in stasis lock right now,” Rhinox exclaimed as he breathed a sigh of relief. “We have to get him back to base.”

Optimus took Tigatron and carefully hefted the fallen Maximal’s body over Rhinox’s back. Their mission to retrieve their fallen comrade was at an end.

It took several hours before the Maximals arrived back to their central base and submerged the Axalon quietly under the lake. By then, each of them were eagerly awaiting Tigatron’s awakening. So far, they knew little about Tigatron other than the fact that he had volunteered as a crew member of the Axalon.

Tigatron purred softly as the door latch opened to expose him to Optimus, Rhinox, Rattrap, and Cheetor in beast mode.

“What is all this?” Tigatron asked. “My memories do contain recollections of this place… but only vaguely.”

“My name is Optimus Primal and these are Rattrap, Cheetor, and Rhinox,” Optimus explained. “You’re on board the Axalon, signed up for this mission.”

“Yes, my memories are coming back to me,” Tigatron nodded. “I believe that I’ll be called Tigatron for now.”

Rhinox immediately elbowed Rattrap to be quiet. Tigatron glanced casually at him but did not speak.

“So, Tigatron,” Optimus began. “Do you still remember the Maximal transformation code?”

Optimus and his crew transformed to their robot modes immediately as Tigatron’s optics widened in surprise. It was becoming clearer to him now what he was and his place in this world.

Immediately, Tigatron transformed into a white and green robot whose resemblance to Cheetor was both eerie and uncanny.

Tigatron surveyed his surroundings. Although he knew that he was truly Cybertronian, he still felt that something was missing. It was as if the current environment around him was not his natural surroundings.

“Now, Tigatron,” Optimus said as he put his hand on Tigatron’s shoulder. “How about a tour of the base?”

“We did fail, Megatron,” Scorponok admitted hesitantly. “The Maximals ambushed us and the next thing I knew, I was in stasis lock.”

Waspinator didn’t dare to say a word. Megatron’s expression was already angry and earlier on, Terrorsaur had sworn him to secrecy about his retreat. All he could hope for now was to brave the storm and hopefully come out in one piece.

“Nevertheless,” Megatron went on slowly. “Did you inject the Maximal with the compounds I ordered you to?”

“Excellent!” Megatron exclaimed. “Perhaps the three of you are not as incompetent as you look.”

Terrorsaur and Waspinator immediately stopped cowering before the Predacon commander.

“Not for tonight,” Megatron smiled. “I had a feeling that the three of you would not be able to retrieve the stasis pod. Based on that accurate assumption, I assigned an easier task to go along with your main duty of retrieving the pod. For this reason, I was correct to assume that you would fulfill at least the bare minimum even if you were truly incapable of doing a competent job.”

“So what did Scorponok shoot the new Maximal full of anyways?” Terrorsaur inquired.

“A spark altering compound designed to combine the programming of both the subject’s beast mode and personality,” Megatron explained. “Based on his beast mode, the chemical may be even stronger than I had hoped. With this, the Maximals are sure to encounter… difficulties with their new recruit.”

Tigatron tossed and turned in his quarters in his sleep. The iron walls around him seemed to be closing in. Everywhere he turned were filled with sounds, images, and smells alien to him. The images of Snowstalker, the forests, and the slaughtered razorback were sharp in his mind. Those were the images that reached out and beckoned his name.

Soon, those images disappeared as large buildings erupted from the ground to grow beyond his reach and into the sky. The sound of machinery was heard from far away as Tigatron saw several robotic drones marching towards his direction. When he spun around wildly, the city’s industries only seemed to grow even larger as smoke from their mills only fanned the flames that surrounded Tigatron.

As a cold chill trickled down his back, Tigatron woke up. Had he been human, he would have been drenched in a cold sweat.

“He couldn’t have…” Optimus muttered as he saw the entrance to their base breached.

Breached was only a slight exaggeration. Somehow, Tigatron had taken the sub at night and escaped the Axalon without notice.

“This isn’t funny, Rattrap,” Optimus reprimanded. “We didn’t even tell him about the humans yet. Now that he’s out there, things could be disastrous!”

“Let’s go find him!” Cheetor cried. “We can’t leave the big cat to Megatron or the humans!”

“I agree,” Optimus declared firmly. “We split up when we get up there. Rattrap, you’re with Rhinox! Cheetor, you’re with me!”

Without hesitation, they transformed to robot mode and turned on the holographic disguises that camouflaged them as humans.

It had taken hours and so far, there was no sign of Tigatron. Optimus had radioed Rhinox and Rattrap but they had just about as much success finding the wayward Maximal. Soon, nightfall was nearing and they had yet to find Tigatron. Had he been captured and taken to a zoo… or even worse, been caught in robot form by the government?

“We’re getting nowhere,” Optimus breathed heavily. “There has to be some way of locating him!”

As predicted, a human couple ran by, screaming at the top of their lungs. Optimus quickly noticed what they were saying.

“Think he’s in there?” asked Cheetor who gestured towards the meat factory.

“I’m not sure,” replied Optimus. “But if his beast mode is really overpowering his circuitry…”

“Tigatron, what do you think you’re doing?” Optimus demanded as he and Cheetor ripped open the closed door to the meat factory.

As expected, they received no answer. Wherever Tigatron was, he certainly didn’t feel like showing himself. Fortunately for all of them, the factory was closed for the evening and all of its workers had gone home. Here, they did not have to worry about any humans showing up.

In no time at all, Optimus and Cheetor were closing in on Tigatron’s location. As they entered into the cooler, they noticed how several slabs of beef were on the floor with most of them half eaten. It was the work of none other.

“Tigatron, please,” Optimus pleaded. “Whatever you’re going through, let’s talk about it!”

“Yeah,” Cheetor added. “We’ll do everything we can to help a fellow Maximal!”

Immediately, an enormouscat-like creature leaped on top of Cheetor and knocked the wind out of him.

Before Optimus could react, a large paw raked him across the face, tearing off several chunks of metal. As he cried in pain, Optimus fell to his knees. Looking up, he saw the face of his attacker.

It was the same Tigatron but something to him changed. The features on his face looked even more savage and feral than before. Not only that, but his eyes glowed with an eerie emerald pigment.

Optimus gripped the side of his face in pain but continued trying to placate his comrade.

Tigatron tore into Optimus with another powerful slash, this time across his chest. The force of that very slash was strong enough to knock Optimus to the side. As Optimus got to his feet again, Tigatron charged into him and slammed him against the wall.

A low growl emitted from Tigatron’s vocal chords as Optimus and Cheetor slowly realized what was happening. Tigatron’s beast mode was overriding his logic circuits.

“Tigatron! Get a grip on your beast mode!” Cheetor called out. “You can’t let it dominate you!”

Tigatron ignored Cheetor and used his claws to rake Optimus across the face again to take him to the ground. When he saw that Optimus was not getting up, he turned and ran out of the cooler.

Slowly and agonizingly, Optimus opened his optics. His face had been damaged and, if not for the protection of his helmet, he would have been in stasis lock. Finally, Optimus grunted painfully and transformed to beast mode, crouching down on all fours.

“I’m going to speak to Tigatron in a language he understands,” replied Optimus.

Tigatron twitched nervously as he walked across the main floor of the factory. Though he had feasted, the urge to kill was still strong in him. His fight with the metallic creatures had only stirred the surface of his bloodlust.

The sound of another beast behind him stirred him from his mental tirade. As Tigatron looked to his side, a large ape stood before him, pounding his chest and bellowing a furious battle cry.

Tigatron’s lips curled up into a savage smile. The gorilla that stood before him was a true challenge… large prey worthy of his hunting prowess alone!

“I didn’t want it to come to this, but you give me little choice, Tigatron!” Optimus declared firmly.

The fierce stare down between the two bestial combatants ended as Optimus and Tigatron roared simultaneously and charged each other. Both opponents leaped into the air and crashed into each other, locking arms and claws in hopes of taking one another down.

As they fell, Tigatron landed on top of Optimus but before he could bite down on Primal’s throat, Optimus clenced his hand into a fist and glanced Tigatron across his chin, knocking the Siberian tiger off.

Tigatron hissed in a low volume, well satisfied with the strength and challenge Optimus Primal had presented. Nevertheless, he did not dwell on Optimus’ abilities and charged once again, slamming the Maximal leader to the ground again. With his jaws agape, Tigatron bit down on Optimus Primal’s shoulder, tearing off the synthetic fur. Optimus howled in pain.

Desperately, Optimus pried Tigatron’s jaws off and kicked the tiger off of him. This only infuriated Tigatron even further who charged again, leaping into the air. This time, however, Optimus used both hands and placed them underneath Tigatron, flipping him over and throwing him to the ground.

Optimus did not give Tigatron the chance to attack again, charging into the crazed Maximal and laying into him with three powerful punches. Tigatron roared back defiantly and leaped towards Optimus again. With one final uppercut, Optimus sent Tigatron soaring backwards.

Panting heavily, Optimus fell to the floor as well. His battle with Tigatron had also left him badly damaged. All that was left to do was to pick up his comrade and get him back to base before anything else happened. Right now, however, Optimus didn’t even feel that he had the strength for that. Cheetor, however, ran up to Optimus to help him stand up again.

“I’ll heal,” Optimus replied. “Right now, we have to get Tigatron back to base.”

A furious Tigatron slammed into both Optimus and Cheetor, first biting down on Cheetor’s wrist and hurling him against the wall. Optimus Primal was next as Tigatron slashed him across the face viciously and rammed him into the side of a grinding machine, accidentally switching it on due to Optimus and Tigatron’s bodies first connecting with the switch that operated the machine. Optimus noticed that they were in between two electrical cables that had hummed to life as well. Right now, however, that was the least of Optimus Primal’s concerns as he held Tigatron at bay.

Optimus struggled desperately against the raging Tigatron, keeping his jaws barely from reaching his neck.

Gripping Tigatron’s jaws firmly with both hands, Optimus stretched out with both feet and grabbed the cables. Without hesitation, he jammed them into Tigatron’s sides, forcing the electrical currents to course into Tigatron’s body. Tigatron howled furiously but in a few nano-kliks, it was over.

Groggily, Tigatron woke up uneasily from the CR chamber. What exactly happened and how he got there was still a mystery to him. All he remembered was blacking out and a powerful sensation washing over his body. He did not know what it was but apparently, it was strong enough to take over his entire mind.

In just a few cycles, Optimus had related the story to Tigatron. The striped Maximal seemed shocked to say the least.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Rhinox assured him. “What we found inside of you was a formulated compound, most likely designed by Megatron, that allowed your beast mode to take control of your spark. We’ve gotten rid of it already through careful sensory scans.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Tigatron,” Optimus continued. “It’s not your fault what happened.”

“Yeah, you were just acting under the influence… of Megatron!” Cheetor added.

“Besides, you’re still welcome to our humble home!” Rattrap declared. “Trust me, you’ll like it here!”

“Even before I was struck with that compound, my beast mode had exhibited a certain degree of control over my spark. The compound only helped to accelerate its control from 50 percent to nearly 90 percent. I’m afraid that even though I am ‘cured,’ my baser instincts will still emerge when least appropriate. Therefore, I am still a potent threat to all of you.”

All five Maximals had trudged in the wintry forests of Siberia. They had accompanied Tigatron back to the place where his stasis pod had originally landed. By now, snow covered the ground, erasing the footprints they had previously made.

“I am certain,” Tigatron replied. “Until my programming can restore itself and I regain control of my instincts, I must remain here until I can come to terms with the twin aspects of my personality, both animal and robot.”

“Oh come on!” Rattrap insisted. “We got a nice femme-bot called Airazor back where we live!”

Tigatron laughed lightly. “My mind is made, little mouse. And Optimus, should you require my assistance, contact me and I will be there to help.”

As Tigatron reached the edge of the forest, a rustling sound was heard from behind him.

“Yeah, umm, Tigatron,” Cheetor said nervously. “Good luck with your journey! Hope to see you again soon!”

“And I look forward to working with you in the future as well, Little Cat, “Tigatron smiled.

After much effort, Snowstalker had downed a small black bear that had previously threatened her two cubs. The exhausting battle had left her injured but victorious on both physical and spiritual levels. Now her cubs were eating their fill with the carcass their mother had provided them after a grueling struggle.

Snowstalker’s ears immediately perked as she heard the rustling sound of leaves in the distance.

She snarled slowly but soon, Tigatron emerged from the trees. Though she was not as alarmed her as she was in her first encounter with him, Snowstalker still glared at Tigatron to gauge whether or not he was a threat to her and her cubs.

With no sudden movements, Tigatron sat down at a distance where he watched Snowstalker and her cubs to show that he presented no threat.

Finally, the two cubs ran towards Tigatron in curiosity. Tigatron only purred gently as he allowed the cubs to crawl on top of him, neither snapping at them nor attacking them as any other male Siberian tiger would have done.

At first, Snowstalker growled in alarm but after seeing Tigatron’s calm aura, settled down next to him within snapping distance, just in case he decided to attack her cubs for any unexplained reason.

Tigatron did no such thing. In only a few minutes, the cubs grew tired and went off to sleep near their mother’s side.

Because her cubs were done eating, Snowstalker walked forward to begin her feast but to Tigatron’s surprise, dragged the bear carcass towards Tigatron beckoning him to join her.