Inferno's face was not capable of most anything besides a sick grin, but at the moment his grin seemed to be even greater than usual. Raising his cannon, he blasted in the general direction of the Maximals, not even bothering to aim. *So many targets,* he thought gleefully as he let loose with a hail of firepower. *Why spoil the fun by aiming?* On the other side of the battlefield, Cavewing saw Inferno's blast coming straight at him. Instead of diving to the ground, he simply phased - made his body immaterial on this plane of existence. The blast went straight through him, without any injury. He felt the odd sort of tingle that he always did when something passed through his phased state, but otherwise, he felt nothing. Razorbeast boldly stood up from the rock he was hiding behind. "Predacons!" he shouted. "I suggest that you immediately -" He dove to the ground as all the weapons on the battlefield began to use him as a target. He stood again. "I propose that that last statement be stricken from -" Again, he had to duck back down to avoid his express relocation over the area in a multitude of small pieces. "Never mind," he said at last, popping up and down before any of the Predacons could train their weapons at him, then aimed in what he thought was the general direction of the Predacons and fired relentlessly. "This is just the best idea Primal has EVER had," snapped Rattrap. "Go out on a scouting mission with no heavy weapons. Never mind that the energon there is well known, and that the Predacons are already going for it. Never mind all of that. We really are all going to die." "SHUT UP!" bellowed Onslaught. "We do not need this sort of pessimism at this point in time! We are pinned down, and need to take out the Predacons." "We need a new strategy," replied Rattrap. "You need a new rock," noted Swampsnap as his blaster finally destroyed the rock that Rattrap had been hiding behind. All of the Maximals dropped to the ground to avoid being impaled on any shrapnel. "Surreneder or face anhiliation," said Swampsnap coldly, Iguanus standing behind him. "You have no chance of winning in your current state." Energon is, by nature, laser energy that can be bottled up in a crystal or a cube. When that energy is released, it behaves as a bomb would. If one explodes in a cluster, it acts as a catalyst for the next to explode, and the one after that, and the one after that, etc. In short, an energon embankment is someplace you would like to hole up behind as much as you would with pyrochemicals or radioactive wastes. Apparently, the forward planning of the Predacons was in need of a little revision. The missile from Cloudspin hit the large crystal behind Swampsnap dead-on, and true to form, the entire embankment exploded. "YES!" shouted Cloudspin, smirking to herself. "That was a VERY good shot, if I do say so myself." Whiplash snapped out with his whip, catching Gilator as he fell. "Be more careful next time around!" snapped Whiplash, his throat making the little clicking noises it always did. "I can't be around to catch you buffoons all the time." "Fadeout could have caught me," replied Gilator, and instantly regretted it. Whiplash was notorious for his ego and impatience, and while Gilator might be a fair match for his fellow Reptilicon in a fair fight, dangling from Whiplash's whip was not the best place to bargin. Fortunately, Whiplash decided to simply yank Gilator up and shove him to the ground. "Fadeout CANNOT match my abilities! He is unable -" Gilator sighed and heated up Whiplash, causing Whiplash to cringe in pain. "This is neither the time nor the place to discuss the feud between you and Fadeout," he snarled. The team's spy and the team's interrogator had never gotten along, and it was difficult to keep them from killing each other at times. "If Cloudspin is here, then the other Aeriomals must be here as well." "Aren't you brilliant," remarked Skyfall as he landed, transforming in the process. "How long did it take you to figure that out?" Not waiting for a reply, he extended two small antenna from his shoulders. A sudden piercing pain shot through the two Reptilicons, and they collapsed to their knees. "What do you think of my new weapon?" asked Skyfall. In their current state, he seemed to be fifty feet tall, with a voice like thunder. "You see, I figured out that a neural net gives off a massive amount of electrical energy as it functions. So, if I could find the right frequency, I figured out that I could make the leftover energy redirect itself into the net and cause a sharp pain. It works better the more intelligent you are, but even with absolute idiots, it's painful. Of course, the antennas tend to use a lot of power, it can scramble the thought patterns of the user a little, and they're hard to aim, but still, its -" The boastful eagerness of Skyfall disappated as it was replaced with the grin of someone comatose. Skyfall toppled forward, and behind him stood Thickskull, his armor clanking as he shifted position. He grinned rather sadistically at his fallen opponent. "How long were you standing there?" asked Whiplash angrily. Thickskull shrugged. "Maybe fifteen seconds. I was enjoying that little spectacle. Reminded me of Frenzy's little sonic tantrums." "Feels similar, too," said Gilator, who had served with the Decepticons in the same regiment as Thickskull. "Only much worse. Think of a large-sized Frenzy, and you'll have a general idea." Whiplash was unimpressed. "NEVER allow me to suffer!" shouted Whiplash. In one smooth movement, he knocked Thickskull over with his whip, then brought his blaster out of subspace and aimed it at Thickskull. "I can punish you in ways you could NEVER imagine." Any reply Thickskull might have had was silenced as the piercing pain shot through the Predacons again. Hacking up lubricant, Skyfall raised to his feet, the nodes on his shoulders emittting the signal. "I don't go down quite that easily," said Skyfall. "But you'll go down soon." Skyfall suddenly stopped as he was gripped tightly around the neck, an energon dagger pressing against it. The form of Fadeout suddenly filled in and became visible. "You ought to be a little more careful," said Fadeout to the Aeriomal. He looked at the other three members of his team. "And you as well. This Maximal has become a problem, and occupied almost all of the Reptilicons, keeping Reptilitor out of the battle." "That's not a problem now," said Stormcloud, landing in front of the Reptilicons. A slight whine filled the air, and a breeze whipped about. Whiplash laughed, tossing Skyfall to Stormcloud's feet. "What are you going to do to us?" The answer did not come in the form of words, but it did come. The slight breeze grew into a strong wind as Stormcloud's internal turbines strained. Hurricane-force winds slammed into the four Reptilicons, and then went upward still, Stormcloud starting to keel over from the immense strain. The four Preds finally blew over into the valley, and Stormcloud dropped down as his turbines slowed and then stopped. Skyfall helped him up. "Nice. I didn't know you could create such powerful winds." "I can, but once I get to 100 MPH it really starts to take a lot of power. It isn't easy to do, no matter what, but it's useful." He looked at Cloudspin. "Would you be so kind...?" The sharpshooter nodded. "You got it, Dives!" she said. "I like shooting when I can't miss!" She then veered to one side and targeted the largest crystal as the Maximals shoved the Predacons back into the valley. The first shot had only destroyed the outermost embankment. The second utterly destroyed what was left in a far more impressive explosion. "What's left of the Predacons?" asked Onslaught. "Counting fractions?" asked Rattrap. "Yes." "Zip, zero, nada, nothing, zilch," replied Rattrap. "There's nothing like an earth-shattering KABOOM! to turn the tide." "I thought you said we were going to die," said Armordillo. Rattrap shrugged. "So I was wrong. Sue me." Noticing the stares of his companions, he added, "Figuratively, not litterally." Stormcloud sighed. "Time to head home," he said, transforming and flying off. The others ran (or flew) after him. * * * * * * * * * * With a sigh, Stormcloud looked in the brochure again. "Okay," he said, "we'll go over our options again. One. We could use the holosuite to have the ceremony on Earth. Romantic. Classical." "Boring," said Vixen. "Be that as it may," replied Stormcloud, throwing the brochure. "Or, we could have the ceremony on the holosuite in Gyrgaxus VII. Also known as Neon Land." "I spent seventy years on that planet!" exclaimed Vixen angrily. "It's perfectly enjoyable!" "If your definition of 'enjoyable' includes rampant street crime, a 24 - no, wait, I forgot, 26 on Gyrgaxus - hour Mardi Gras, and more neon then New Las Vegas, yes, I suppose it would be enjoyable." Vixen simply snarled. "I want the ceremony to be held there." Stormcloud sighed. "Well, at least we both agree we don't want it on Cybertron," he said. "Now we just need to agree on Earth." "Gyrgaxus." "Earth." "Gyrgaxus." "Earth." "Gyrgaxus." "Earth." "Charr," said Bandit, leaning in the doorway. The two other Maximals looked at her. "DO YOU MIND?!?" they said at once. Bandit held up her hands in mock fear. "Hey, I'm just eavesdropping. Don't mind me. Continue bickering." Vixen sighed. "Tell me, Bandit... what's it like to live without shame of any kind?" "Interesting," replied Bandit. She turned to leave. "Wait!" called Stormcloud. "Maybe you could be helpful, for the first time in your life. Do you think we should get married on Earth or Gyrgaxus?" "You're getting married?" said Bandit, suprised. Whenever something happened, she wanted all of the information about it that existed - FIRST. And she did not like having that arrangement disturbed. "Yes," replied Vixen, now smiling. "You couldn't tell by the ring?" Bandit glanced down. It was true, there was a small glowing ring on Vixen's finger. *I should have noticed that,* she thought. Aloud, she said, "When's it taking place?" "As soon as we finish all of the arrangements," replied Stormcloud. "Which brings me back to my original question: should we hold the ceremony on Earth or Gyrgraxus?" Bandit thought for a moment. "That's a tough decision," she drawled slowly. "I would have to say, though, that I would have to favor -" A small light flashed on Stormcloud's computer console. "Well, guess I'd better be going," said Bandit a little too eagerly, at which point she dashed away. "Awfully convenient for her," grumbled Vixen. "Not for us, though," said Stormcloud, turning to his computer console. He flipped a switch, and the machine began to humm as it came to full operational status. "This is Stormcloud. This had better be good." "Depends on your defenition of 'good'," said Neogene. "Primal needs the staff handy. Another stasis pod just landed, and we need to make sure we get there before the Predacons do." "I wouldn't worry too much about that," said Stormcloud with a slight smirk. "Me and the Aeriomals blew away a bunch of them ourselves. It'll be a little while longer before the Reptilicons are back up and running, not to mention most of their security staff." "I read the report on that," said Neogene, also smirking. "Not bad for a computer hacker and technician." His expression turned serious again. "But there's still the possibility that the Predacons will get there first. We need to be prepared for any occurence." Sighing, Stormcloud nodded. "I'll be up in a minute," he said, the turned off the computer. "Ahh, the joys of being the entire Computer Ops department." "I'm coming too," said Vixen. "I'm head of the Medical Wing. It's high time I sat in on a couple of strategic sessions." She smirked. "That way, I know how many morons are going to get their tails slagged." Stormcloud thought for a moment. Optimus Primal might not like the idea at first, but most of the customs of the Maximals sprang from doing things that the immediate leaders of the faction were less than pleased about. He nodded to Vixen, and the two of them headed down the corridors to the main area of the Axalon. * * * * * * * * * * "This should be simple for all of you," said Onslaught coolly as he brought up a holographic projection of the terrain. "Our scout cameras marked this pod as having landed right here, in a valley. It's a fairly large valley, so it's unlikely that you'll have to worry about an ambush. Basically, we'll sound out a lightly armed scout party to pick it up, and with any luck we'll have our Maximal here before nightfall." "You called us all up here for THAT?" asked Bandit in disbelief. "Not exactly," replied Nightpounce, seated opposite Onslaught. "We've done a preliminary scan of the protoform bot inside. He's a triple, and a natural flyer, so I'm willing to bet energon to dollars that the Predacons are going to try their best to get him before us." "I doubt that that'll be forthcoming," said Stormcloud. "I hacked into the mainframe a little while ago. Most of the gestalts are still down, and two of their fliers are still in traction from that little ordeal that Nightpounce yanked them through." He thought for a moment. "Oh, and by the way, the fourth obsidian spire is starting to crumble a little, and if you attack it any time soon... try to get away from the upper lefthand array of plasma cannons. They'll backfire the next time they fire." "Whatever," replied Nightpounce, waving a hand dismissively. "My point is that as per usual, I'd say that the Preds are going to try and strike the recon team early on, so we'll need to be prepared." "Not a problem," said Tigatron, in charge of Recon. "I was just going to bring Airazor and K-9 along, but since you bring up the issue of attack... Dinobot, would you mind tagging along?" As per usual, the initial response was a low growl. "It would not be within my intrests to accompony you on this mission, Tigatron." "I have to agree," said Cheetor, outraged. "You would rather take along Dinobot than me? The fastest thing on four legs - and the best looking, to boot?" Dinobot sighed. "Who in Inferno let you onto a staff meeting? The only possible use you could serve is as a slow-moving target." Cheetor clenched his fist. "Who let YOU onto the staff meeting? You'll be back with the Predacons in a couple weeks - AGAIN." Dinobot stood, drawing his sword. Cheetor extended the small claws housed in his fingers and snarled. "Cut it out!" shouted Grimlock. "Neither of you is going. I am." He glared at the pair of them, cutting their replies short. "If either of you has a problem with that... TOUGH." "Fine by me," said Nightpounce with a sigh. She glared at Dinobot. "Of course, Mr. Congeniality over here could be a little more accomadating." "Do not try to irritate me, female!" snarled Dinobot, whirling around and leveling his sword at Nightpounce. For him, it didn't really matter who the target was, so long as he had a target. Nighpounce sighed again. "Get a grip, Dinobot." She turned back to the scout team. "I expect you're ready to move out?" "As always," said Tigatron, turning to Primal and saluting. "Until our trails cross again, Optimus Primal," he said, then turned and slinked out of the room. Grimlock stood and followed. Primal glanced around and slammed his fist into the table. "Slag it! Where in the world is Cavewing?" Onslaught shrugged. "He was with us at the battle, and then he just..." "Disappeared," growled Primal. He knew the story. Dealing with Cavewing, he had gotten used to it. He would show up when he wanted, leave when he wanted, and do whatever he wanted in between. Primal was not a stickler for rules, but the line had to be drawn somewhere. It wouldn't even be so bad if Cavewing was an ordinary trooper. But his spectrum of abilities... He could phase. He could cloak. He could fly. He could scramble electronics. He had scanners that rivaled that of Iacon on Cybertron. These abilities, on their own, in a robot, would have made Cavewing a worthwhile trooper. But all of those together... "I want him found," Primal snapped. "I've been willing to put up with his comings and goings for quite a while, but this is where I draw the line. Call Polar Claw, Orcanoch - any Maximals not immediately in the Axalon. This is the final straw." His troops nodded and walked off to their respective stations. * * * * * * * * * * Cybershark was having the time of his life. It was wonderful, being oceanic. He didn't have to sit in the Axalon all the time and wait for orders, didn't even have to take up arms against the Predacons half the time. He did when he could, of course. When he got zapped back to the past with Nightpounce and Stormcloud, he was waiting with Orcanoch for assignments, but that was a rare occasion. This arrangement was just what Cybershark wanted. He hated the Predacons, but he was much happier at peace. Like the water. Rippling perhaps, and occasionally violent, but more often than not, at rest. If he had to, he would not hesitate to tear Predacons to shreds, however. Whatever he might prefer, the Predacons were the one thing that he would never tolerate. As he flipped into the air, the skin of his shark form glisteing from the water, Orcanoch swam up next to him in robot mode. "We've got trouble," he said, looking up at Cybershark. Cybershark made no noise as he transformed into robot mode, simply dived gracefully into the water and bobbed back up to the surface. "What's the problem?" he asked, bringing his razor- sharp blade weapon to his hand. "Well, for one thing, Cavewing's missing," he said. Cybershark gave a shrug. "In other suprising news, the sun rose this morning, and water is wet. Nothing else is new." "I know," replied Orcanoch. "Primals really pissed about it this time around, though. Anyhow, we just got a scan on radar." The comm crackled on, with Rattrap's voice on the other end. ~You can BET that there's a scan, alright. There's a whole crapload of seaborne Preds coming at you... north of your immediate position.~ Orcanoch nodded. "Gotcha, Rattrap. I'll trigger the depth charges in that -" ~Hold it! We've got another bunch of them, southwest! Closing fast!~ This was unusual. Cybershark was beginning to get worried. Nothing daunted, Orcanoch nodded again. "Alright, not a problem. We'll cut of that group by -" ~What the slag... There's a third coming in on the eastern front! The northern group is almost on top of you!~ Glancing over his shoulder, Cybershark saw nothing. "I don't see the northern group! Where are they?" That was followed by a slience. ~...According to this, they're right on top of you. What the hell... There's another two of them, one from the west and one from the northwest!~ Claw Jaw had shown up, and was looking around as well. "Where? I can't see them!" ~By Primus! There are Predacons all over the place! According to this, you're surrounded and then some!~ "But are any of those scans real...?" pondered Claw Jaw. ~I can't tell. These scans are making it look like you should be covered in Preds.~ "And you are," said Seaskimmer, her manta ray form erupting from the water and transforming. Bringing her electro-ray cannon to her hand, she blasted at Claw Jaw intensely. The Maximal withered under the sudden assault. Cybershark was not affected by the next blast, because he knew it was coming. Instead, he launched a hammer missile at her, then flipped open his blade weapon and tackled her into the ocean. His turf. Claw Jaw burst back to the surface. When his pod crashed, he had inserted a bit of starfish DNA into the squid DNA to allow him to regenerate quickly. Apparently, it had paid off. He drew his small chi'l'os, a two-pronged weapon from Cybertron, and surveyed the ocean. All was quiet. "You should have known better," said Razorclaw calmly, erupting from behind. Claw Jaw had forgotten about Razorclaw's legendary sneak-attack skills. The Predacon smashed into him, knocking the two of them into the water. "Rattrap! There were Predacons!" shouted Orcanoch. He was about to say more, but he instinctively dove underwater. He chose the right time. Sea Clamp sprang overhead, his claws snapping closed on thin air. Orcanoch growled, then pulled Sea Clamp into the water. "Welcome home, love," snarled Seaskimmer bitterly. The water carried the sound of her voice perfectly. "So nice that you've returned." She lashed out at him, her electro-ray seemingly amplified by the water. "That was a lifetime ago," said Cybershark, gliding through the water away from the blast gracefully. "I was Landshark then. I am not he. I am Cybershark of the Maximals." "Names are merely a symbol of the people behind them," snarled Seaskimmer, lashing out again, sending Cybershark swimming furiously. "The person who deserted me is the same one fighting me right here." Her blaster dug small furrows into the ground, sending particles of sand spinning through the water. Cybershark had had enough of this. He slashed his blade at her, narrowly avoiding her chest. "I deserted you to save another life! Life of another is above the happiness of oneself!" He fired a pair of missiles at her. She spun low, the missiles avoiding her entirely. She lanced out with another blast, but Cybershark bobbed higher and transformed to shark mode, then dove towards Seaskimmer, intending to take a sizable chunk out of her arm. She whipped away her arm. "Loyalty, Cybershark! We shared a debt of loyalty to one another. You broke that." She raised her cannon before Cybershark could move away. "And I will not forgive you for that." A torrent of energy slammed into the shark-mode Cybershark. A black patch of burnt skin appeared where the beam hit him, and he shot unnaturally through the water, jerking like a fish out of water. Evetually, he drifted to the ocean floor. Seaskimmer lowered the cannon. She still felt no satisfaction, no closure. Only the anger, still burning deep within her. Claw Jaw's powerful beak on his chest snapped shut, tearing off the breastplate with an audible snap. Bringing up one knee, he jammed Razorclaw hard in the crotch. Transformers stored most of their interface equipment for Joining in that area, like humans, so it had a similar effect. Razorclaw drifted away, gripping the damaged area and wincing at the intense pain. "You can stuff all of your fancy War College shit," said Claw Jaw, smiling. "I spent half as much time on the streets as a Neut, and I can still kick your ass. Hell, I could blast you to InfernoooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAGH!" Razorclaw grinned at his accuracy. The pain in his interface area was subsiding, but he presumed that a blaster hit to the same area was far more of a lingering pain. "Ahh, my friend, your arrogance, as with so many others, has brought upon your demise. What you hoped to intimidate with, you have instead turned that dagger inward against yourself. Pride certainly does come before the fall, as I say to my -" "Glad you avoided the same pitfall," said Claw Jaw, lubricant and strips of metal trailing off of his chi'l'os. Razorclaw glanced down at the gouges traced across his chest, then suddenly seemed to snap into action. He tucked into a ball and rolled down and away from Claw Jaw, then unrolled and blast him in the shoulder. Claw Jaw barely even noticed the minor damage to his shoulder. "You could have done better than that," he said patronizingly. Razorclaw anticipated the chi'l'os slashing downward at him, and brought up his larger claw to block the blow, then kicked Claw Jaw away in the midsetcion. Lancing out twice, he precisely shattered two critical servos in his right shoulder, leaving it hanging limp. Claw Jaw began to shift his weapon to his other hand, but was cut short as a blast shattered his left optic. Razorclaw then brought his claw quickly to bear, grasping Claw Jaw's elbow firmly. He tightened the grip and snapped off the forearm, and Claw Jaw screamed. Urgently, Claw Jaw kicked Razorclaw in the crotch again - although harder then before - then drifted away and tried to swim to the surface. Seaskimmer had been watching the battle after she had dispatched Cybershark, and had realized how Razorclaw figured her into the battle. Seeing Claw Jaw drift off, she sprang towards him, lancing out with her cannon. Claw Jaw only jerked once, then drifted to the bottom. "Well met, Seaskimmer," said Razorclaw, drifting up to her. "Your plan was blatantly obvious," she said emotionlessly. "I knew where it was that I figured in." He grinned. "Perhaps I am getting sloppy in my old age. Ah, well, no matter." He glanced over at Orcanoch. "Perhaps our mutual companion Sea Clamp could use a hand?" Actually, any casual observer wouldn't have realized that the battered form being smashed through the water was Sea Clamp. Orcanoch unleashed torrents of torpedoes on him, then brought his large warhammer down at an alarming rate, bashing him up as if Sea Clamp were in a trash compactor. For a moment, Orcanoch hesitated, then picked up Sea Clamp and slammed his body into a large spire of coral jutting out from a nearby reef. Sea Clamp convulsed once, but luckily for him most of the feeling in his body had been smashed out of him earlier, so he felt only a minimum of pain. Orcanoch brought his hammer around for another blow, but he stopped as a blast from Seaskimmer's cannon hit his head. He fell backwards as both Razorclaw and Seaskimmer pummeled him with blows from their weapons. Satisfied that their quarry was extinguished, Razorclaw glanced at the broken body of Sea Clamp. "I guess we can rule out the possibility of your team forming Tripredacus for a while," he said, somewhat bemused. "Enough, Razorclaw. Pick him up and let's get us back to the Soundwave." No sooner had Seaskimmer said this then she had launched herself skyward. Razorclaw shtugged as he slid Sea Clamp off the spire. "Ah, well," he said, slinging him over his shoulder. "She never was very sociable." With that, he flew off as well, leaving only the trio of wounded Maximals behind him. * * * * * * * * * * "This is Airazor, your Channel 8 Eye in the Sky, reporting to you live from the air! And I've got to tell you, it's a beautiful day out here. At least, as beautiful as it gets in a frozen wasteland. Yep, there isn't a Predacon in sight, and the stasis pod is about 100 more klicks away! That's all for now. Traffic in ten minutes, weather in five, and the full report at six o'clock." Switching off her communicator, Airazor grinned slightly. The past few days, she had been spending time with Tigatron, watching old "news broadcasts" from Earth. She didn't quite understand his fascination with Earthern cultures, but she was more than willing to have an excuse for spending time with him. Her other companions probably wouldn't get the reference, but hey, what's life if you don't - ~Cheetor to Airazor. Cheetor to Airazor.~ "Airazor here. What's wrong?" She kept the conversation on closed-band. There was no reason to worry the others without reason. ~Do you see any Predacons in your immediate vicinity?~ *Not that I remember,* she thought, but decided to do a quick double-check. She couldn't see any Preds for a ways off. "Nope. Not a one. Why?" ~Try your radar.~ Not quite understanding why he wanted her to do that, she shrugged as best a hawk can and did a quick sweep. Her jaw (beak?) dropped. "According to these readings... we're surrounded by Preds!" There was cursing in the background. ~We thought as much. Our radar has been picking up nonexistent and existent Preds for a while now. We can't tell the difference between the two.~ "Do you want us to return to the Axalon?" asked Airazor. ~No. Retrieve the stasis pod. Just keep your eyes open.~ The communication crackled off. For a moment, Airazor thought about wether or not she should give Tigatron the message. Finally, she decided. Diving down, she landed shortly behind the other three, transforming as she landed. Tigatron transformed and looked at her. "What's wrong, Airazor?" he asked, somewhat confused. "You aren't going to like this..." she began. * * * * * * * * * * Cheetor terminated the comm link. Dinobot fidgeted in his seat. "Something wrong, Dino?" he asked his teammate. "It is nothing," he replied. "Why does everyone around here say that all the time?" he asked. "Just tell me, please. I won't tell anybody else. Promise." "Well..." Dinobot shifted in his seat once more. "I'm worried about the scout party." A sudden beeping on the radar caused Cheetor to stop leaning back casualy and lurch forward. "At the moment, I'm a little more worried about us," he said to Dinobot. He gestured at the radar. "Look at this radar. It's going crazy!" Dinobot nodded. "This is most certainly negative." "I'll say. What is it that Rattrap is always saying?" "You mean, 'We're all going to die'?" "Yeah, that one." "Why do you ask?" "For the first time, it seems fairly appropriate." Dinobot growled. "But these are not all attacks! We have already proven that the radar is malfunctioning for some reason!" "And we also know that all of the fake readings are accompanied by a real attack," replied Cheetor. "So it's still bad news." "But we know that some of them are fake, so we simply have to find the false ones!" Cheetor sighed. "Brilliant, Dinobot. Why don't you tell me which ones are the false ones? Come on, give it a try. You're the genius, you tell me." Dinobot snarled. "This is not the time, cat." Cheetor was about to reply, but dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "We've got other things to bother with at the moment. Like actually figuring out which are the real ones and which are crap." "Good point," replied Dinobot. "Now, how do we do that?" They both stayed silent for a moment. "Okay, maybe we should just concentrate on finding Cavewing," suggested Cheetor. "Another good point," said Dinobot. "But again, how do we do that?" More silence. "You aren't very fun as a shift partner," noted Cheetor. Dinobot sighed and opened a comm to Optimus Primal. "Primal... it appears that we are under attack by Predacons... according to the radar, anyways." ~Wonderful. Just Prime. And is the radar the only thing you have to go by?~ "Yes," replied Dinobot. ~Then the only choice we have is to stand our ground and prepare for battle.~ Dinobot nodded. "I understand. I'm sending the message now." ~NO! Don't do that. I want to assign teams for this.~ "I understand," said Dinobot. "What do you want me to do?" ~I want you, Bandit, Rattrap, and Cheetor -~ Cheetor couldn't decide whether to be amused or insulted by the expression Dinobot made. ~- to go out and find Cavewing. We are going to need him.~ "Wonderful," muttered Dinobot. "The one REAL battle that's going to happen around here, and I am stuck on a scouting mission." "Wonderful," muttered Cheetor. "The one GOOD mission that I'm going to get, and I'm on it with Mr. Social Skills over here." "Wonderful," muttered Optimus. "We're under attack when our radar is going nuts. Perfectly slagging lousy." * * * * * * * * * * Ground Zero looked up to see Trailblazer stride into the room. He stood, dropping the cannon he was polishing. "Long time no see, cap'n," he said, with a brief, informal salute. Trailblazer smirked. "This isn't Cybertron anymore, Ground Zero. I'm just a higher-ranked crew member, not the commander of... what did Lightfoot used to call us?" Ground Zero grinned also. "I think it was 'The Fourth Flying Cybertronian Death Leigon'. Even forgiving the fact that most of us couldn't fly, it was awfully exaggerated. Seven Maximals and Autobots does not a 'leigon' make." "More like nine, really," replied Trailblazer. "Same idea, though." The two companions smiled. "By the by, that reminds me. You still owe me fifty energon credits, don't you?" said Ground Zero "What do you mean?" asked Trailblazer. "Before we were sent off, I paid you that debt." "I don't think you did," replied Ground Zer. "Now is not the time," said Trailblazer, pulling his rail gun out of subspace. "Apparently, you, me, and Magnaboss are assigned to take up an attack position at a choice spot." Ground Zero grinned. His ridiculous number of missile launchers flipped out from their various hiding position, all primed and ready to destroy. Trailblazer had seen Ground Zero in action, and he knew what those launchers could do. Ground Zero was built firstly, lastly, and completely for combat. His flight abilities were simply an extension of that. After watching his teammate tear apart complete fleets of Seekers in a matter of moments, Trailblazer was glad that he was on their side. Trailblazer hit a button, and the access ramp lowered to the ground. He looked over his shoulder. "Where the hell is Magnaboss?" he asked. "Right here," replied Prowl, his other two team members striding in behind him. "Gotcha," said Trailblazer. He transformed into mustang mode and galloped down the plank. Prowl, Silverbolt, and Ironhide followed suit. Ground Zero stood for a moment, letting his powerful rockets roar to life, then streaked after them. * * * * * * * * * * Quietly, a small racoon scampered up a tree. Glancing around, it scampered along the branch, then sprang to another on a different tree. It grabbed the branch, and pulled itself up to a more stable position. A nearby squirrel chattered angrily at the racoon. The racoon looked uup at the squirrel angrily. "Will you shut up?" snapped the racoon. Taken somewhat aback, the squirrel complied, mostly from suprise. "Thanks." The racoon leaned back and stood on its back legs. "You wouldn't have happened to see a grey bat around here, would you? About ye tall? Has a real attitude problem?" The squirrel chattered angrily. Sighing, the racoon flipped out of the tree, transforming into a robot as she landed. "I suppose that's what I get for trying to interrogate a squirrel," she muttered to herself, drawing her energon knife. Nearby, a rat unfolded as well. "You were interrogating squirrels? My, my, my, Bandit. You've sunk to a new low." "Just trying to reach your level, Rattrap," she replied, enjoying the indignant squawk that Rattrap replied with. "And what have you been doing, pray tell?" "Searching the ground for any evidence of Cavewing's passing," he replied with a sigh. "From now on, I'm tying him to a tree when nobody else is around." "It wouldn't do much good," commented Bandit. "He can phase, remember?" "For all I care, he can paint his face in pastels, climb out of a tiny car, and squirt water out of a little flower," replied Rattrap. "Just as long as he's around to get killed like all the rest of us unfortunates." "I agree," said Dinobot, his eyes scanning the area. "If he wishes to prolong his existence, then he shouldn'y have volunteered to be on the Axalon." Cheetor thought for a moment. "Actually, he didn't exactly volunteer. He phased onto the Axalon as we were taking off, and once we were in the air he couldn't phase out." "Whatever," snarled Dinobot. "I simply want him to show himself so that he can have a dignified death like the rest of us." "How utterly entertaining," said Cavewing, floating out of a tree. "You'll understand if I don't take you up on that." Dinobot gave a low growl. "I was standing right in front of your eyes," he slowly growled. "Why didn't you see me?" Cavewing rapped on Dinobot's head a couple of times. "Hello? I'm blind!" "You're blind?" said all the Maximals (besides Dinobot) at once. "Yep," he replied. "As a... never mind." "Then how do you move around so well?" asked Bandit. "That's why I have my array of scanners," he explained. "My internal co-processors combine all of the readings from my scans into a semi-image. Sans color, of course, but you can't have everything." "Wonderful," said Rattrap sarcastically. "And can your scanners get through this radar interference?" "Like a knife through butter," replied Cavewing. "Now, Rattrap, to save us the weeks it would take you to put all of this together, I'll do it myself. I can act as a scanning relay to keep the radar accurate." "Hey..." began Rattrap. "Wonderful," said Dinobot. "Come with us." "mmmmmmNo." "WHAT?!?!?" "I don't feel like it right now. Come back later." Cheetor picked up Cavewing. "Listen, punk. I have my finger against the critical structure point that would shatter you into half a thousand pieces. Try to phase, and you will die." "Yeah, right." "You don't believe me? Try it." Cavewing phased. "Damn," said Cheetor. "Most of them don't call my bluff." "Then most of them are morons," said Cavewing as he sank into the ground. "Great," said Bandit. "What are we going to do now?" * * * * * * * * * * Ground Zero burst through the stone wall. "ALRIGHT, PREDACONS!" he bellowed. "LINE UP.... TO.... get.... slagged.... wherever you are." Trailblazer's expression drooped. "Damn! Where the slag are the Preds?" he called into his comm. ~Not sure,~ replied Razorbeast. ~The radar's reading Preds all around you.~ Magnaboss glanced around. "There isn't a single Predacon -" Reptilitor was slamming into Magnaboss within seconds. The massive Maximal barely had time to react to the sudden assault. Even with time, it didn't really help him much - it just meant he was concious to be snapped in two. Ground Zero saw Inferno out of the corner of his eye, and began to turn and fire, but was cut short as Transquito fired on him as well. Ground Zero had enough firepower to take down most Transformers in minutes, but that was assuming he was not already being taken down himself. Traiblazer saw his teammates go down, and Retrax and Manterror did little to bolster his courage. Instead of firing back at them, however, he let himself be carried along by Retrax's blast to his shoulder, flying back and into the wall. His body split in half, but he could still see clearly. He dimmed his eyes, but kept track of what was happening. The Predacons laughed and walked out of the small cul de sac. * * * * * * * * * * "Stasis pod in sight," said Airazor over her comm. "It looks like it's scanning for forms. I'm going in for a closer look." Pressing her wings against her body, Airazor dived in a spiral towards the pod, wind rushing past her feathers. As she neared the ground, she transformed and slid along the snow until she finally stopped in front of the pod. She leaned over and checked the CPU. [SCANNED FORMS: CAMEL, VULTURE, EAGLE] *It scanned a camel and a vulture?* she thought with a grin. She sat down and activated manual control. [SELECTED FORM: EAGLE. CHOOSE DESIGNATE.] [DESIGNATE PRE-CHOSEN. PREPARING BODY.] *This will take a while,* she thought, transforming and picking up the pod. Flipping on her comm, she said, "I've got the pod. Let's get back to the Axalon." She lifted into the sky and flew towards the ship. * * * * * * * * * * Speaking of the Axalon... "This is too easy," said Megatron, blasting his T-Rex cannon at the ship. "Something about this is not right." "Quit complaining!" said Terrorsaur, blasting his shoulder cannons. "As far as I see, we have an easy victory, and a lot of Maximals to crush! This was too easy!" *He's right,* thought Megatron. *Without their radar working, the Maximals sent out their forces in large numbers, leaving them at our mercy, yessss. It was like taking candy from several babies.* A row of cannons swung towards Megatron. Diving to one side as the blasts shattered the ground, Megatron fired at the turrets, shattering them. *This is way too easy,* he thought again. *I almost wish that the Maximals would counterattack.* * * * * * * * * * * "Come ON!" shouted Bandit as she pulled Rattrap away. The ground where Rattrap had been standing moments before exploded as Razorclaw blasted it. "Wonderful," snarled Dinobot. "We fail to return with Cavewing, and we manage to get a squadron of Predacons following us." "Don't be so sure about that first one," said Cavewing, slashing through Razorclaw's arm. "I thought you didn't want to come," growled Bandit. "Changed my mind." He shrugged. "Great timing," said Rattrap, blasting wildly. "I don't suppose you can phase all of us?" "Not at the moment, no. I'm in need of some energon." "Prime," said Cheetor, blasting as well. "Any idea how far we are from the Axalon?" Cavewing checked his scanners. "Maybe ten klicks. I think Sentinel's down, too. Or at least not having any effect." Bandit screamed as her shoulder was sheared off. "Anybody have a couple of deus ex machinas I'm not familiar with?" "Just one," replied Cavewing. "But I left that at home. Five klicks." "Not close enough," said Dinobot. "The weapons arrays close enough to help us are all limited to a range of three -" As the sky thundered with cannon fire, Cavewing grinned. "I suppose that's how you can tell that Stormcloud's been bored." Nightpounce was at the gate. "Get up here! On! On! Move it!" The others raced inside. Dinobot stopped to glance at Nightpounce. "There is something about you in a battle... that just makes you so..." "What?" she asked quizzically. "Nauseating," he finished. She groaned, then shoved him into the ship, following close behind. * * * * * * * * * * "You hooked up, Cavewing?" asked Stormcloud as he connected one last wire. "Yeah," replied Cavewing. "Of course, I can't see anything, but then again, I couldn't before." "What's it like?" asked Nightpounce quizzically. "Interesting," he replied. "It's like how I normally see, only amplified." He turned his head. "Now, let's see if we can't figure out where our little problem is..." They waited a few moments. "Any luck?" asked Bandit. "I'm having trouble getting through all this interference," replied Cavewing, turing his head back and forth. "Cavewing's kaput. We're all going to die," moaned Rattrap. "Don't you ever think about anything else?" asked Bandit. "Wait!" shouted Cavewing. "I think I've got an anomaly. I wonder where it's from..." "Right here," said Onyx Primal, phasing up through the floor. He reached behind his back and whipped out a pair of glowing energy scimitars. Dinobot snarled, then sprang towards Onyx, sword slashing. Onyx did not dodge, simply phased, then turned to face Dinobot as he crashed into the floor. Unprepared for the sudden nonexistence of his foe, Dinobot was sent sprawling across the floor. Onyx raised a scimitar, slashing downwards at Dinobot. Nightpounce slammed into him. Not expecting her, he was knocked to one side, unable to phase in time. Kicking her off of him, he quickly phased, then suddenly completely vanished from sight. "Where is he?" snarled Dinobot, looking around frantically. "Right here," said Onyx's voice. His sword could be heard, and that was enough for Dinobot to block it. Dinobot raised his own sword and slashed, but bit only thin air. Another slash could be heard whistling through the air, and Dinobot blocked it with his rotor, still trying to locate his assailant. "Cavewing, can you locate him?" asked Nightpounce, eyeing the room. "Yeah," he replied. "Duck." Nightpounce dropped to the ground as a scimitar whistled over her head. Locking her leg around her invisible enemy's arm, she flipped him over, then started pummeling what she thought was him. Suddenly, she droppped to the ground, the Predacon she had tackled no longer material. Cavewing suddenly reached up, grabbing an unknown arm. "Now, now, now," he said, "that's just not sporting." Dinobot rammed a sword were he figured Onyx would be. As Onyx appeared again, Nightpounce internally noted his accuracy with the stab. Yanking his arm away, Onyx phased once again, flipping backwards. "I have not won," he said flatly. "But I haven't lost. The other shadow lives." With that, he dropped through the floor. "What did he mean, 'the other shadow'?" asked Stormcloud. "I'll explain it all to you later," said Cavewing. "But right now, I think it's time I fixed our scanners." Turning his head again, what seemed to be a smile spread across his faceplate. "Hello, what have we here?" he said, somewhat suprised. "What is it?" asked Stormcloud. "Send the scout party on a slight detour..." * * * * * * * * * * "It's LEFT, you mindless arachnid!" Scorponok sighed. "I'm telling you, we would do better if we moved the antenna right!" "And I'm telling you that you're a complete moron," said Blackarachnia, her eyes now little more than narrow slits. "The moons are currently aligned so that the signal would reflect best towards the Maximal ship if moved to the LEFT!" "Oh, yeah?" He was only slightly taller than Blackarachnia, but he used that to his full advantage. "Well, I'M second in command!" "Only because you have nothing better to do than kiss up to Megatron. Doesn't that saurian ever rub you the wrong way? Or are you too stupid to remember it?" "Oh, shut up," snapped Scorponok. "I didn't choose to take this mission to listen to you." "You didn't choose to take this mission, period. Megatron said Jump, and you kissed his feet and asked How High." "Are you saying that I am too submissive?" "Too submissive? You're way past that." Scorponok sighed, throwing his claws in the air. "This stinks. We don't even get to beat up on any Maximals." A missile exploding between them shattered the train of thought. Flying overhead, stasis pod still firmly held in her talons, Airazor screeched as she flew overhead. With a sinking feeling, both Blackarachnia and Scorponok looked forward to see three other Maximals unfolding in front of them. "Surrender unconditional demand we your," said K-9, jumbling his words as he always did. His crossbow was leveled at the Predacons, as was Tigatron's quasar cannon. As for Grimlock... well, for him, looking was enough. "We will not surrender!" said Scorponok loudly, bringing himself to his full height. "We are Predacons! No matter the odds, we will fight on until we have been... er... where are you going?" Blackarachnia was sprinting full-tilt away from the area. "Have fun getting slagged, moron! Bye!" Scorponok was not against two-four odds, but one-four was a little much. "Err... ah.... mind if we take a rain check?" "Yes, we do," said Tigatron, grinning in the same way a cat that has eaten the canary does. "Now, tell us that part about fighting on until all are vanquished. I paticularly liked that part." "Ummm... some other time!" shouted Scorponok, transforming and scuttling off. K-9 lanced out a couple of times with his crossbow in vain. "Escaped he!" growled k-9 in anger. Tigatron walked over to the machinery. "Fascinating," he breathed. "I wonder how it all works?" He examined it further. "The design of this device... it is impeccable. I can imagine the potential applications this would have in the future against the Predacons, or otherwise..." There was nothing more he could say, because Grimlock lanced out and destroyed it. "The technology can't be allowed to fall into anyone's hands, ours or theirs." Instead of protesting, as he was tempted to do, Tigatron simply nodded. "The shadows war casts are massive, and sometimes the smaller things must be obscured by them. If only we were still at peace..." He stopped, and stood there for but a moment, looking at the wreckage. Then, he and the others turned back towards the Axalon. * * * * * * * * * * Terrorsaur screamed through the sky. *This is how I like it,* he thought to himself as he raked the Axalon with firepower. *No thought involved, just blast the shit out of a bunch of helpless victims. It's fun and easy in one fell swoop.* He was always arrogant, but the lack of defenses that the Axalon normally possessed made him even more arrogant. Grinning, he flew up right in front of one of the larger massdrivers, giving it a rasberry. "Some defense system you are! You can't even hit me, and I'm right here in front of you!" A look of terror crossed his face as, almost in response, the massdriver aimed itself directly at Terrorsaur. "Slag," muttered Terrorsaur to himself. Megatron glanced up to see Terrorsaur's body flying away from the Maximal ship, smoke pouring from it. *That could only mean one thing,* he thought. The cannons lining the sides of the ship turned in various positions, blasting with pinpoint accuracy at the multitudes of swarming Predacons. The Predacons, just seconds ago laughing about an easy victory, were now being blasted to pieces. *AGAIN,* groaned Megatron inwardly. "PREDACONS, RETREAT!" As per usual, the assembled Predacons had no qualms about following that order. The lot of them tumbled over themselves as they scurried away from the cannons. * * * * * * * * * * *I'm awake.* *Humph. Been a while. I wonder how long I've been in that stasis pod...* *Let's see now. Still in the pod, but my beast form has been scanned. Wait a minute. "Beast form"? Am I gonna lose my other transformation... no. Looks like I'll keep it.* *Okay, now let's see. I'll need a name. Magnus deserved one name, but whoever is in charge now deserves a new one. Now, what are some good names?* *Whoa! Built-in name dictionary? Cool. This must be one of the newer pods.* *Let's see... aha! That's a good one! I'll take it.* *Now, to get out of the damn pod...* * * * * * * * * * * The pod hissed open softly. From out of the pod emerged a large, powerful-looking Maximal. "Welcome," said Primal, extending his hand. "I am Optimus Primal, current leader of this group. And you?" "Stratosfire," replied the Maximal. "What year is it?" "2309," replied Stormcloud. Stratosfire nodded. "Good. I haven't missed anything important. Now, where are my quarters?" Vixen was a little put off. "Um... right this way," she said, gesturing down the hall. Stratosfire nodded, then walked briskly to his room. "It's like Dinobot with feathers," muttered Cheetor. Primal ignored his subordinates and turned to Razorbeast. "What's the full extent of the damage?" "Bad," replied Razorbeast. "The scanners are now really damaged, several embankments of cannons were damaged or destroyed, and the holosuites are kaput." Stormcloud smiled. "I guess that solves our wedding location problem." "I suppose so," she replied. Remembering something, Nightpounce turned to Cavewing. "What did Onyx mean about the other shadow, anyways?" "He meant me," replied Cavewing. "You see, the idea was to create a full leigon of troops like myself, making an espianoge team that would be practically unstoppable. Unfortunately, that didn't quite work out, leaving a few of us - code-named 'shadows' - alive, but most dead. Eventually, we fell to only two shadows left - me and Onyx. In a way, that makes Onyx my brother." "Prime," said Primal. "There might be other supersoldiers out there?" "Not unless our designs got out. We killed the others, remember?" "Does this story have a point?" asked Dinobot sharply. "Yes. The fact of the matter is that shadows are practically impossible to kill, except by another shadow. So, either I'm going to go first or Onyx is. And when one of us does go - the other is going to be nearly invincible." "It just gets better and better around here," mumbled Primal. "Do you have any idea how they jammed our radar like that?" "Nope," replied Nightpounce. "Near as I can tell, the Predacons were just trying to divert our capabilities and make a frontal assault. If there's a hidden motive, it's lost on me." * * * * * * * * * * "You found it?" asked Megatron, smiling. ~Yes,~ replied Buzz Saw over the comm. ~Right where the scans indicated it.~ "Well, you're in space," said Megatron. "What does it look like?" Buzz Saw paused. ~Well, it's big, and black, and sparkly -~ "Not outer space, you moron! The space station!" ~I WAS describing the space station! Apparently the decorater wasn't terribly original.~ "Enough of that. Does it appear sealed?" ~Not in any prohibiting way. It looks good enough.~ "Perfect, yesssss." He nodded to himself. "Return to base and await commencement." Buzz Saw shut off his comm link. Megatron leaned back and grinned broadly, impressed at how well things were going. "Ah, my dear aliens," said Megatron, grinning and leaning towards the golden disk. "You have provided well for me. And it is time for me to reap those rewards." He leaned back again, laughing.