Human Bot

Chapter 1

-Wire Puller Pod-

The sunset. Beautiful as ever, Optimus thought. He was in robot mode, flying from the Maximal base at top speed, heading to a new destiny, The perfect time for a new robot to come on line.

The timing was perfect. Though the new robot would not be…

Only a couple of cycles ago, a stasis pod had been detected by the Axalon's computers. The sky had taken its beautiful late evening color, the clouds turning orange with the sun taking cover for the night.

Rhinox had been deep in his thoughts, admiring the view from the large window of the command center. He could only hear his spark glowing inside him; it's soothing noise keeping him there as time passed. It had become a habit to do such for a long while now.

Then, something had blocked his view. Still in his dreams, its shape mattered not. It was moving in alarming ways, panicked even. As he concentrated his gaze, the shape turned to silver; gold spots here and there. His consciousness had him see two bright red spots. He could not get out of his trance. In fact, it seemed after a while he did not want to. The thing finally hit Rhinox in the nose. The shock and surprise were strong enough to have him fall off his chair and to the ground.

"Wh… " Rhinox moaned in a sleepy voice, "Rattrap?"

By this time, Rattrap was his knees and holding his right hand in pain, "Oh man!! Whataya made of? Rocks or somethin'?"

"... Why did you… --?"

[WARNING], the computer sounded, [WARNING! STASIS POD IN RANGE.]

(Could be her could…)

"Does 'dat answer ya question, Green Brain?"

Rhinox was up in a flash and he began pushing the needed buttons in some kind of weird order that Rattrap couldn't understand at all; not that he wasn't trying, of course, but the big guy who was usually so slow, was suddenly too fast for the rat.

"Man, thanks for nothin'," Rattrap murmured, getting up with his hurt hand hanging like some kind of snake.

But Rhinox wasn't listening. His mind was all on where the pod was going to land. The computer itself could barely follow the order in which the buttons were pressed one after the other!

Eventually, it gave the coordinates of landing. Rhinox let out a long sigh, as if a large rock had been taken from his shoulders. In one unexpected bound he…

(be her if it is oh Primus if it is)

…Grabbed Rattrap by the neck and slammed him against the wall as high up as he could reach.

Rattrap choked, trying to touch the ground with his feet, which were just too far from his reach: the hand that held him squeezed, cutting off circulation.

That's when Rattrap started to get scared, looking at the huge robot with shock. He was going to crush him like a mere fruit!

"When did the alarm start?" Rhinox brutally asked in his rage.

"Arrrggghhh… 5 aarrghh... cycles ago", the rat desperately chocked.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I...t-tried, but… arrgghh... y'... was day-daydreamin'..."

Rhinox's eyes narrowed into thin lines, realizing he was hurting his friend, and he released Rattrap. Still choking, the smaller robot looked up at him from the floor as he proceeded to contact Optimus and Dinobot, alarmed and almost afraid of what was to come.

If it hadn't been Rhinox, Rattrap would have probably replied as brutally and as violent as he could possibly be. Yet somehow he couldn't blame Rhinox. Even though he did not always understand his actions the big guy would get so nervous it seemed he didn’t know what he was doing every time a pod would be approaching.

There definitely was something out there, something bugging him, scaring him to the point where his circuits would tangle.

Yes, there was something.

Something he was the only one to know about.

Rattrap came out of his thoughts when Cheetor appeared in the room, jumping all over in his beast mode. The small robot slowly got to his feet, bringing his hand to his neck; apparently the pain was gone and he was finally breathing normally.

"Jumpin' gyros,” Cheetor yelled out with enthusiasm, "Whatarewewaitinfor?

Let'sgolet'sgolet'sgogogo!!!!"

"Eh... the kid's right, Rhinox... the Preds must be headin' 'dere already."

"You're right," Rhinox told him, calming down a notch.

Then Optimus appeared, shortly followed by Dinobot. "I contacted AirRazor. She's already on her way, and we should be heading there as well."

The Maximal team marched to the lifts without hesitation, ready to find one more faithful comrade. While the lift brought them down, Rattrap felt a hand on his shoulder... a big hand. His eyes looked up at Rhinox, who looked very embarrassed.

"I... I'm sorry… for what happened," the large robot said with a sad voice.

(but if it is her then stay)

"It's... alright..." Rattrap meant it, yet he felt there was too much his best friend was hiding from him, and it somehow hurt him.

(stay away)

Rhinox grinned, yet it seemed faked somehow. Rattrap responded the same way however, while touching the solid ground of the planet under his feet.

And now, they were running and flying as fast as they could to reach the pod and save the life form trapped between good and evil. The only one still complaining was Dinobot, who had to ride on Rattrap. The rat mobile was moving at top speed and he had to suffer from a few rough falls. Silverbolt had joined the group after a short time.

Suddenly, Optimus's com-link let out a feminine voice. AirRazor was already there with Tigatron. But there wasn't any good news to be told.

"(crish) Hurry Optimus! The Preds...(crissshhh).... they're here.... (crissshhhh)... eed.....ack up now... (crissshhhhhh)"

There was the firing of a missile heard, and the communication ran out.

**************

"AIRRAZOR!!!! NOOO!!!"

The sun had almost hid its face completely. AirRazor had taken a bad hit: She was trying to move, but it proved useless. Hearing fire lasers and missiles from the battle that was still going on she tried to open her eyes.

Tigatron was hiding with her behind the pod, holding her in his arms as he slowly caressed her face to wake her up.

"T-Tigatron?" Her voice was shaking and distant. Tigatron was hoping the Maximals would get there soon for the young female was in very bad shape. What alarmed him was the fact that he was having a hard time keeping her awake. She was fading away, and if she would leave for too long, he feared the worst.

"The pod is ours, yesss. Inferno, reprogram it", Megatron let out followed by a hysterical laugh.

"Yes, my queen!"

Megatron grumbled at these words.

But Tarantulas stopped Inferno, pushing him away from the pod at once. Inferno tried to free himself, but the large robot's grip remained. Something was wrong. Even if Tarantulas was known as a traitor of the group, and would have preferred to have this pod for himself, it was easy to see that it was something else. He was scared, and it showed.

It came from the pod.

"How DARE you!” Inferno yelled in fury, “These are the queen's orders!! Disobey them and you will burn!"

"Tarantulas," Megatron screamed, "What has gotten into you? We have no time to waste before the rest of the Maximals get here!"

"You don't understand!" the spider sounded panicked, "We were not the ones who shot the Maximal!"

"What are you talking about? Nonsense!" The Predacon leader shouted.

A buzzing sound took their attention. Waspinator was flying in a panicked fashion, moving most irregularly. "Wazzpinator seez Maximalzs. Wazzpinator saiz we should hurryyyyyy!!!"

Megatron growled loudly, his teeth clenched together. It was too soon. Unless they put up a fight, they would not have the life form for their own. "BlackArachnia! Tell me who is coming!"

BlackArachnia’s eyes turned crimson as she looked at the horizon, "Hmmm… I see Optimus followed by the kitten and the fuzor... the rhinoceros is far behind Dinobot, who is riding on... I think it's the rat, or--"

BlackArachnia did not have time to finish her answer. Tigatron was up again and shooting at the Predacons. Only to their advantage, none had to shoot him to take him down. His jaw dropped open, his face distorted into pain. Backing away from the pod, they saw his hands covering his stomach filled with bloody looking oil. There was a large piece of metal, like a sharp knife, incrusted into his stomach! He managed a wince before he fell by AirRazor's side. Not only had he failed to keep her awake, but he also failed to survive at this point.

(away oh please stay away)

"What the slag..." QuickStrike said, speaking for everyone.

"Tigatron! AirRazor!" Optimus screamed as he shot at the still staring Predacons.

"Well, looks like all the Maximals are at the rendez- vous. Yesss... eliminate them!" was all Megatron needed to say.

"Rhinox, maximize!" He transformed in a roar and ran with heavy steps for the pod.

"Rattrap! Cover me! I've got to get to that pod!"

"Okie-dokie", Rattrap said, making Dinobot fall again. "Rattrap, maximize!"

“Little vermin!", Dinobot growled, taking out his sword, but Silverbolt stopped him.

"Not now my friend, we must fight the Predacons who are trying to take one of our friends away! Let us be worthy of our leader's trust by helping him show our loyalty to this robot, who soon shall be one of us."

"I'm not sure it's such a good idea t'have it as one of us", Rattrap whispered high enough for his companions to hear.

"Whatever do you mean?" Silverbolt asked him.

"I dunno... It's the way Rhinox tends ta react to ‘em pods falling off lately. Dere's more to ‘dese pods then we might think ya know."

Dinobot snarled, "We'll never know until we get it", and with this he ran for the pod.

Rattrap felt something too. He did not want to go further, but he had no choice.

Soon, Dinobot was hiding behind the pod just like Airazor and Tigatron. At first, he did not realize they were there, lying almost in death. His first attempt was to shoot at Waspinator, who was flying at an incredible speed.

(stay away… the pod… oh the pod stay away)

That’s when Dinobot felt a sharp pain in his chest. He had no idea what it was, but it was there now, nearly cutting him in half! The feelings in his upper body were no more, but the feelings below the chest were still active somehow, forcing him to feel what felt like wire cutters cut him from the inside of his stomach, compressing every circuit. He tried screaming but there was no more voice to help him. Then the pliers came out of his squashed chest, letting out his interior on the ground. He stood there a couple of seconds, seeing Tigatron and AirRazor lying in a puddle of oil. He heard Cheetor's voice and slowly turned his head, seeing his comrade fire at Tarantulas.

"Dinobot! What are you doing?" Cheetor yelled. "Don't just stand there..." He stopped as the sight of Dinobot's mutilated form.

The control panel of the pod was halfway through his chest, while the interior of his body from the stomach was twitching in front of him.

"De-f-f-fence s-syyyyys-sys...tem", Dinobot choked and fell lifeless alongside the two other Maximals.

Cheetor gagged, feeling sick to his stomach and afraid, Defense systems weren’t made to be this violent, he concluded, horrified.

"Hey! Kid! What's y' problem?" Rattrap asked, still firing at the Predacons, "Keep firin'! Rhinox needs bac..." His eyes spotted the bloodied Maximals. If he had not already been silver, he would have lost all colors. Ignoring the Predacons at this point, he activated his com- link. "R-Rhinox. Come in, Rhinox."

"(Crisshh)...What is it?"

"Ch-Chopper... Chopper-Face, Stripes and Bird-Lady are in big trouble. You… better... see for yourself..."

Rhinox hesitated a moment. But then the Predacons decided to retreat.

"Gah! Retreat! All of you! NOW!" Megatron had witnessed the pod's actions and had no intentions of ending up the same way the others had.

Perfect timing, Rhinox thought. He ran towards his friends' position, and stopped, seeing the three lifeless Maximals. He stared at them without a word, shocked.

"What happened?" he asked them.

"Dinobot spoke about defense systems", Cheetor gulped, "But..."

"This is not just the work of defense systems, I don't believe it."

"What? You think we-"

"Of course not, Cheetor. But I know what it is...."

"Rhinox! Did you program the pod? Rhinox!" Optimus asked in a hurry, but became as still as the other as his eyes fell on his fallen comrades, "By Primus, what IS this?!"

"By the Matrix..." Silverbolt said as he landed near Optimus

"It's a long story... ", Rhinox said gently, "lets get the others and the pod to base. Hurry!"

"You got it, big guy! Eh... Bolt?" Rattrap looked at SilverBolt oddly. "What in the inferno is that?" he asked.

Silverbolt was holding a little kitten in his hands. It was a white cat with black paws and tail. It was a sweet little thing, but highly misplaced in the current situation.

"He insisted to get it back to base," Optimus said. "It was hurt in the battle."

"What? Another cat? Oh man, now I'm..."

Optimus interrupted him, "Rattrap, take AirRazor. I'll take Tigatron; Rhinox, take Dinobot..."

"NO!" Rhinox let out with some panic, "I'll take the pod! Believe me, you don't want to take it with you."

"I cannot risk having you-"

"I won't."

They stared at each other for a few nano-cycles, Optimus trying to read Rhinox's mind. He seemed to know more about this situation then he wanted to let anyone believe. That was fine. He nodded and ordered Rhinox to take the pod back to base, but to be very careful.

Everyone headed to his tasks without a word. Rhinox wasn't sure if it was safe to drag the pod, but he knew it was safer for him then for anyone else. For now, at least...

End of Part 1

Click here for part two