Innocence, Past and Present

Part One

Tamme is found and Rampage begins reliving the formative years of his dark life. First in the series ‘Reflections’.

 By: Skyfire

            The wind flowed around the great silver-brown wings of Silverbolt as he cut through the air on his afternoon patrol. It was his weekly tour through grid gamma 5 on the outskirts of Maximal territory. Rattrap had accompanied him due to the fact that the rat had become tired of monitor duty.

            Silverbolt closed his eyes and breathed in a mouthful of air. There was crispness about him. The sky was bright and blue and he felt cheerfulness in the atmosphere. Flying on patrol, when danger was not discovered, was one of the things he most enjoyed. He felt free and alive. There were none of the troubles of war and evil in the sky. It was his hiding place. It was a place for himself only.

            He looked down to the earth below him. It raced by as the wind currents carried him swiftly above it. His comrade sped below him at full speed. Rattrap was an interesting character to the valiant fuzor. There was obviously more to the rat than the occasional wise crack. He obviously couldn’t express his true feelings, made evident with his relationship with Dinobot. Silverbolt shrugged as he floated above his comrade. He always felt it wrong to keep feelings bottled up within oneself. It would only lead to missed opportunities.

            The fuzor closed his eyes and took in the cheerful feeling of the wind and sun. It made him feel great. He just let himself become completely calm and let the wind carry him.

            Suddenly a buzzing sound came from nowhere. His eyes flashed open and he suddenly perked up. The buzzing sound came again, but this time the sounds formed words.

“’ey yo! Bird dog! You dere?”

It was Rattrap calling from below on the comm.-line.

“A… yes yes of course Rattrap. What is it?”

“Ehhh… well for one dere must be a slaggin’ jammin’ station some where ‘round here cuz I can barely ‘ear ya. And two, well you better get your furry butt down ‘ere.”

Silverbolt nodded.

“Right. I will be there momentarily!”

He stretched his talons downwards and begun his descent away from his hideaway in the sky. He made his way through the cloud cover in which he was carried above. As the landscape below became clearer, Silverbolt quickened his rate of descent. There was a stasis pod resting on the edge of a forest! Rattrap stood besides the pod.

Finally he landed and transformed into robot form, the sun causing his silvery armor to glisten brightly.

“You’ve found a stasis pod! Well done Rattrap.”

Rattrap smirked and leaned up against the pod.

“Yeah well, ya know, I got a nose for ‘em.”

Silverbolt blinked and moved closer to the pod. He looked it over. It displayed some damage to its outer hull. Burn marks streaked the hatch. The controls, which allowed interface, were smashed, obviously from impact.

“It appears to be damaged.”

Rattrap hunched down at the pod’s controls. “Ehh no kiddin’.” The rat began fiddling with the damaged console. “Well, I might be able ta hotwire this baby to get it goin’.”

Silverbolt smiled.

“Very good Rattrap. We could always use another in our fight against Megatron.”

Rattrap, while fiddling with wires and such, snickered. “Yeah, we could always use a few more pred shredders ‘round.”

Silverbolt looked up into the sky as the rat continued his work. His mind wandered around to when he was first activated. He was confused and did not know who he was or what he was. He was used and manipulated by the Predacons and knew he was not one of them. In joining the Maximals, he felt that his morals and goals fit in nicely with those of the others. Even though he was accepted in by the group, he knew he was different. His form was unique and he was like no one else. Yet, his comrades never persecuted him for his differences, which he cherished. Fitting in was important to everyone and he felt as if he truly did.

It was only a few moments later that Rattrap stood up and faced Silverbolt.

“Ok, dat should do it.”

Silverbolt turned to his comrade.

“Hopefully the maximal within was not affected by the outer damages.”

Rattrap nodded.

After a brief moment of silence, the pod began its scanning sequence. A small scanner slowly rose from the pod and began rotating around. A yellow-translucent beam extended from it in all directions. After a few moments, the beam dissipated and the scanner stopped rotating. It slowly retracted back within the pod and the computer stated, “Compatible life form found. Replication cycle commencing.”

            Silverbolt looked on in anticipation. In moments another like him, a bot from a stasis pod, would arise from the pod and join the family that was the Maximals. The pod shuddered as it did its work. A few sparks sprinkled from the hotwired console as a growing smoke screen began to pour from its circuitry. A growing hiss rose from the pod. The pod was in danger. No, the protoform within was! Silverbolt and Rattrap exchanged a worried look. They both stood there watching the pod struggle through the replication process, paralyzed with anticipation. Rattrap crossed his fingers and closed his eyes as the pod continued to spew sparks. Suddenly, the pod’s hiss faded into silence and the hatch cracked open. Fog escaped the confined space of the stasis pod and filled the air around it. Silverbolt and Rattrap stepped back. A figure stood behind the smoke screen. It was slender and small, not at all threatening. The smoke began to clear and Silverbolt moved towards the figure.

            It was a female. Her build was small and slender. Her look was extremely simple in design and she bore no obvious places for a weapon. Her face possessed a pure and innocent appearance. She looked around curiously. Her optics glowed a soft white in the center. Silverbolt moved closer and extended his hand.

“Greetings Maximal. I am Silverbolt and this is my friend Rattrap. We are excited to meet you.”

Her eyes met Silverbolt’s and she smiled at his friendly greeting. Silverbolt blushed, noticing how attractive the newcomer was.

Rattrap snickered and rubbed his hands together.

“I’m excited alright!”

Silverbolt looked back at the rat and glared at him.

“Ignore him.”

“Welcome.”

“May I ask what your name would be?”

The femme paused and looked to the ground blankly. She had to think. It was only a moment though, and then she looked up at Silverbolt.

“My name is Tamme.”

Silverbolt smiled.

“What a beautiful name, Tamme.”

Rattrap rolled his optics and walked towards the two.

“Yeah, so… a welcome Tamme.”

He looked to Silverbolt.

“We betta get ‘er back to da base and intraduce ‘er to da boss monkey.”

Silverbolt, keeping his gaze fixed on Tamme’s innocent face, nodded.

“Indeed we should. They will like to meet you.”

Tamme looked to Rattrap confused.

“Boss monkey?”

Rattrap shrugged, “Ehh ya know, da big ape, Optimus.”

Her face still displayed the look of confusion as she faced Silverbolt once more.

“Rattrap is referring to our commander, Optimus Primal. He is back at our base. We crashed here on this primitive world along with a Predacon vessel, but there will be time enough for explanations later. Let us go.”

Just as those words slipped from the fuzor’s lips, an explosion sounded behind them. The threesome quickly turned towards the sound and were met with the gun-barrels of Rampage and Quickstrike. Silverbolt’s face crunched up as he growled at the Predacons. His wings flipped forward and his wing missiles loaded. Rattrap whipped out his gun and leveled it at the incoming Predacons. There stood a draw. Both sides aimed their weapons at each other, intent on inflicting damage.

“What do you want Predacon?”

Rampage snickered. “We’re here for the pod fuzor.”

Rattrap smirked, “You’re too late crab butt. The protoform is a maximal already.”

Rampage fired a few barrages towards Rattrap, missing each time.

“It’s not the protoform we want rodent!”

Rattrap and Silverbolt shared a look of confusion. Rattrap shrugged and laughed. “Ehh, who cares.”

Immediately after he spoke, he sent a volley of fire at Quickstrike. The Predacon fuzor leapt to the right and fell on his belly from the shock wave of Rattrap’s fire. Meanwhile Rampage rolled to his left while sending off two missiles with his mega cannon. Silverbolt watched as the missiles sped toward Tamme and himself. In a fraction of a second he noticed the missiles’ true trajectory:- Tamme. Without a thought he leapt into the course of the missiles, taking the full impact of both missiles into his gut. The brave fuzor was sent flying a few meters away into a tree. Tamme look at the one who saved her life. He lay on the ground, smoke sizzling from his torso. The once shiny silver armor now was tainted by ash.

Rampage smirked as he looked at his victim. The pain that consumed his prey, the maximal fuzor, was more than enough to satisfy his insatiable needs. The giant crab-bot stood to his feet and slowly walked towards Silverbolt’s smoldering body. Meanwhile Rattrap hopped behind the stasis pod for cover from Quickstrike’s trigger-finger happy fire. The Predacon fuzor was firing unceasingly. He was insane with the lust for a fight and his uncontrolled aggression was dangerous to the rat. Rattrap knew he wasn’t going to win this one with a simple exchange of fire. He had to use his mind. He had to out think his enemy. By staying calm and planning his next move out, he was sure of a victory.

The rat peered over his shoulder. The wooded forest had become layered with a dusky shadow since the sun had been setting. It would provide the perfect cover. He turned to face the crazed fuzor and let off a few volleys of fire, hitting Quickstrike once in the shoulder.

“You ain’t tough ‘nough ta beat me ya varmit! Why don’t ch’ya just come on out a’ere and surrender!”

Rattrap shook his head as he brought out his rat tail and placed it upright making it appear he was there. “Ok, let’s see how ya like dis trick,” whispered Rattrap as he brought out two charges. He set them on the pod and turned to fire a few more shots. Then as the fuzor continued his next round of fire, Rattrap quickly rolled right into the forest and out of sight. He leaned up against a tree and viewed the scene before him. Tamme stood far enough away from the pod that she wouldn’t get damaged. The rat searched for Silverbolt, but couldn’t find him. He just had to wait until Quickstrike moved close enough to feel the explosion.

“Just a few more steps.”

He gripped a remote detonator as the seconds slowly crawled by.  His hand shook as he waited in anxiety. Quickstrike continued to gloat to thin air regarding his superior abilities and such. Rattrap rolled his eyes in frustration.

“Come on. Come on. Move it ya motor ‘ead.”

            Meanwhile Rampage stood towering above Silverbolt’s damaged body. Silverbolt weakly lifted his head part way to look at his wounds. His face bore a sort of weariness that came with his injuries. Rampage crouched over the fuzor and laughed maniacally. It was something that he thrived on. The fear and pain of others. It kept him going and gave him power.

“Ahhh, isn’t this a familiar picture?”

Silverbolt let his head drop back to the ground. He closed his optics as his breath increased.

“I do… not… fear you.”

Rampage smirked and reached out to Silverbolt’s tattered chest, feeling the texture of destruction.

“Ahhh, but you do. Your courage does not cancel out the fear I feed on. It only gives you the stupidity enough to challenge me!”

The crab chuckled darkly as he pressed hard on his victim’s wound. Silverbolt yelped in pain, trying to resist giving his dark torturer the satisfaction of a scream of pain. Rampage shook his head.

“You can try to resist, but ultimately it will consume you.”

The Predacon continued pressing on Silverbolt’s wound as the battle behind them continued on.

            Tamme stood in fear as the battle around her ensued on. She didn’t know what to do. She never knew what war was until this very moment. She was innocent and free of such evils. Now, she knew of them. She was afraid and confused. She had no experience so she stood frozen in fear.

            Rattrap, still crouched behind his shroud of shadows, held the detonator firmly. The time was almost right. His intended target was almost in range. A moment slipped by and the time had come. It was now or never and Rattrap knew it. He looked at the detonator, flipped a switch up and squeezed the trigger. Silence hit the landscape just before the pod went up in a magnificent blaze. Quickstrike was engulfed in the flaming inferno and was no longer seen.

            Rampage, startled by the strident sound, spun around and fired his weapon in the direction of the sound. Before his missile impacted, he realized it was only the stasis pod. He watched the missile race away from him, leaving a smoky trail in its wake. He looked before it, trying to determine where it would impact and what destruction would ensue. As he looked on, in the missile’s path lay the fragile maximal female. Suddenly his face flashed a look of horror. An image flashed before his mind’s eye.

Protoform X crouched over a mutilated body. Mech fluid dripped from his victim’s neck. Fragments of the bot’s body laid scattered about the floor. The victim’s face held its frozen stare of horror. The dead horror-stricken face gazed up at X. He looked into its eyes and wept. Confusion and anger grew within him. What just happened to him? It was so fast. They got in the way. They were going to shut him down. He had to do something. Pain. His pain grew. He didn’t want to think about it. He tried to force it from his mind, but it persisted. Suddenly, a screech echoed behind him. Startled, the large bot swung around and fired at the direction of the scream. The missile impacted a female bot, sending her to the ground- dead.

Within seconds the missile slammed into Tamme and exploded. The fragile femme spun backwards and hit the ground hard. Her body lay motionless on the ground. Smoke sizzled from her chest and mech fluid seeped through the cracks in her abdomen.

            Partially woken up by the series of events, Silverbolt’s wings whipped forward, thrusting two close-range missiles into the side of Rampage. The crab hit the ground hard. Silverbolt rose to his feet and pelted the crab bot with two more missiles before collapsing to his knees.

            It was over. Silence hung heavily over the landscape. The stasis pod’s remains smoldered in the dying blaze. Dark smoke pumped from its innards and rose up above the battle stricken grounds. Silverbolt, on his knees, remained stationary. He looked towards Tamme’s broken body. He lowered his head, not able to look at the grotesque picture any longer.

            Rattrap came from the shadows of the forest and stood next to his injured comrade.

“How ya doin’ buddy?”

Silverbolt remained intently looking at the ground.

“She was innocent.  Why destroy something so innocent?”

Rattrap put his hand on Silverbolt’s shoulder and shrugged.

“He’s a pred. It’s a… it’s what dey do.”

Silverbolt sighed.

“For once Rattrap you’re right.”

Rattrap knelt down besides the fuzor and smiled.

“Well, ya know, of course I am. But hey, maybe a few cycles in da CR chamber will fix ‘er right up. We don’t know if she’s too far gone, eh?”

Silverbolt nodded, “Perhaps you are right.”

“Of course I am bolt.”

“Now can ya get up?”

The fuzor cringed as he struggled to stand. Finally though he stood tall once again. His torso was twisted and circuitry and mech fluid covered his once shiny exterior.

“You gonna be ok?”

Silverbolt nodded to his comrade. “I will manage. Thank you.”

Darkness. It was his world at the moment. He was in repair mode and his subconscious mind danced from one subject to the next. The cycle was complete. His systems began coming back online. His optics slowly faded on and light filled his world. Blurred figures stood before him as he became conscious. Soon enough though, the figures took form and became recognizable.

Optimus.

“Welcome back.”

“You took quite a hit didn’t ya? You’ve been in there for over four mega cycles.”

Rhinox.

He smiled as he slowly stepped into the command center.

“Yes… yes I did.”

Optimus smiled and put a hand on the fuzor’s shoulder.

“Well we’re glad to have you back.”

Silverbolt smiled at the thought of being missed. It felt good. He looked around the room, searching for Rattrap and the newest Maximal. Rhinox looked, trying to see what his confused comrade was looking for. Optimus smirked.

“Rattrap is taking a nap.”

“And your new friend is safely in the second CR Chamber.”

Silverbolt nodded.

“I see. Thank you.”

The concerned fuzor turned around and walked towards the chamber in which Tamme rested. He peered through the dark glass and saw her fragile form being repaired.

“How is she?”

Rhinox joined him at the chamber and also peered in.

“Well…  Aside from the damage from Rampage’s missile her body structure is a bit odd.”

Silverbolt flashed a look of extreme concern suddenly.

“In what way Rhinox?”

Rhinox stood up straight and folded his arms over his chest plate.

“Well, it’s just that her body is almost totally lacking any sort of protective armor plating. Yeah she has the standard underarmor structural skin which outlines her circuitry, but that’s hardly enough to protect her from pretty much anything.”

Silverbolt sighed.

“What does this mean?”

Optimus stepped into the conversation, “It means she’s very vulnerable Silverbolt. Her circuitry is exposed almost directly to energon…”

“Yeah, but her body has compensated that by introducing a powerful field dampener. I guess the pod detected the error in her armor, couldn’t fix it, so added a more powerful dampener to compensate,” stated the rhino.

Silverbolt nodded.

“I see. Will she be ok?”

Rhinox nodded, “Oh yes of course. She’s healing up nicely.”

Optimus smiled.

“Don’t worry Silverbolt she’ll be fine. Just give it a few cycles.”

“Go get some rest and some energon in you. We’ll call you the moment she’s repaired.”

Silverbolt sighed.

“Alright. Thank you both.”

The two Maximals nodded. Silverbolt slowly made his way down the length of the ship’s corridors into his quarters. He was still weak from the whole ordeal. He lay down on his bed and attached two energon deposit wires to his right arm. He shut down and let the energon pulse through his circuitry.