"We need a base, and we need it now," said Optimus, looking
over the campsite the Maximals had managed to rig up. "Any
suggestions?"
"Always," said Nightpounce, once again trying to rise from the
masses of medical machinery that she had been strapped to. As
a couple tore loose, she winced in pain, and Skydive rushed to
assist her.
"Will you stop doing that?" snapped Skydive as he reattached
Nightpounce. "Much more and I'll be forced to strap you to the
table."
"I'll *live*," snarled Nightpounce. She turned back to Optimus.
"It's a very simple procedure: go back a few weeks and do
everything the same, but don't destroy the Starrunner. See?"
"I didn't destroy it, though," replied Optimus. "They did." He
made a vague gesture towards Ground Zero, Trailblazer, and the
pencil box-sized memory container that was Bandit.
Trailblazer and Ground Zero looked at each other. "We didn't
destroy it either," replied Trailblazer. "Y'see, it takes a lot of
energy to blow up a space ship, but virtually none to bury it..."
The look of suprise on Optimus's face was something completely
indescribible. "You... buried... the Maximal flagship?"
"Yeah. Why?"
Optimus couldn't figure out whether to celebrate or to bellow.
"Where?" he finally announced.
"Right under us," replied Ground Zero. "Why?"
Optimus was completely dumbfounded. "Start digging," he
managed to croak out at last.
"Why?" asked Ground Zero.
"So that we can start a jazz club," sighed Optimus.
"Oh," replied Ground Zero. "Wouldn't it be smarter to use it as a
new base?"
"Just dig, GZ," said Vixen as calmly as she possibly could.
* * * * * * * * * *
The explosion tore into Drill Bit. Flying backwards, the fairly
compact Predacon bounced off the rocks and out of the tunnel,
followed by the somewhat belated cry of "Fire in the hole!"
Diving off the ledge, Transquito transformed into mosquito mode,
followed by Bloodclot. Transquito transformed to pincher mode,
and Bloodclot held him as Transquito closed his pinchers around
Drill Bit, catching the Pred in mid-fall, and more importantly,
preventing him from smashing through one of the precarious
working platforms scattered around the canyon.
Setting Drill Bit down, Transquito and Blooclot flew back up to the
hole while Drill Bit began to wander around in one of his typical
"let-me-die" walks. (You know the kind - he was in one of those
for most of the latter quarter of "Fire in the Sky", and most of
"Power Play", too.) "Good blast," Transquito affirmed. "I think
the column is ready for the elevator installation."
Blooclot nodded and drew out a large stash of equipment. Fitting
a large circular anchor around the hole just blasted, he attached
three high-magnetivity cables to the anchor, then tossed them
down to the level below. Flatline took them, then attached them
to another anchor on what would be the ceiling down there. The
main car was slid into the column, and the cables shot it up to
Blooclot and Transquito. Transquito fit an anchor on the ceiling,
then pressed a few buttons. The elevator moved smoothly up
and down between the levels.
Sitting on the ground, Blackarachnia watched the operation
continue. The energon safety field had already been modified to
protect most of this canyon, and ever since, the Predacons had
been working feverently to set up the new base, centered in
these cliffs. The progress had been steady, but it was difficult to
make a space-going vehicle become an entire city.
Then... there had been her. She lost all of her troops - Megatron
was keeping a VERY close eye on all of them, and she doubted
that she would ever get a delicious opportunity like that again.
She had been stripped of her high rank. All in all, everything had
gone about as wrong as it could go.
She was just satisfied that things would STAY this way for a little
while.
* * * * * * * * * *
Fractyl was thoroughly miserable.
As a pair of the mercs he was forced to ride with crashed into
each other yet again, he sighed and tossed his book into the
small pile of equipment that was clearly marked as HIS.
*Megaplex must be out to get me,* he thought. *These morons
couldn't make WORSE escorts.* (Not THAT kind of escort, you
pervert!)
Sighing, he stood and walked over to the captain, Treadbolt.
"Are we nearly there yet?" he asked as Instigator and Aquasting
collided again. "As a bit of a footnote," he said, "could you get
your crew to act CIVILIZED?"
"Yes, and no," replied Treadbolt. "We're about fifteen cycles
from the planet... but trust me, making these folks act civilized is
like trying to convince a fish to walk upright. Just doesn't
happen."
Fractyl sighed. "I just decided not to pay you full price," he said
at last.
Treadbolt's response was cut short as a flashing light went on.
"Someone's in the engineering room," he said. "Skyshadow,
Airhammer, Wingsmash, go see what the hell got in there."
The trio of officers rose from their respective seats, Skyshadow
breaking off a card game with Packrat. As they walked doown
the main hall, Fractyl sighed as Aquasting smashed into
Instigator. Finally, he whipped out his rifle and blasted both of
them repeatedly, sending them flying back. Grabbing his book,
he sat down angrily. "Leave them like that for a while," he
snarled, "or I won't even pay you half."
* * * * * * * * * *
"Starrunner, activate."
The Starrunner had been resting for a long time, and it was
obviously none too happy to be reawakened. With a creak and a
grind, the generator started back up, and the lights to the
massive ship came on, row by row. The consoles around
Optimus lit up as the buttons and screens illuminated and
beeped to life.
"Still running," gasped a suprised Neogene. "Amazing. I would
have thought this old heap wouldn't be able to run a toaster."
"You maintained it well," noted Optimus. "Computer, scan for
matchs of crew roster Primal-7."
[ONE CREW MEMBER NOT PRESENT.]
"Who?"
[SENIOR STAFF MEMBER RATTRAP -]
Optimus felt something vaguely like a lump rise into his throat.
"Computer, delete Rattrap from crew roster."
There was a beep. [CREW MEMBER DELETED.]
Regaining his composure, Optimus switched on the shipwide
comm. "This is Optimus Primal, addressing all crew members.
Our first priority is to find the entire crew quarters. If you find a
place you like, beep the computer about your wherabouts, and
then report to the bridge." He thought for a moment, then added,
"It's the big room with the wide entryway."
"Nice speech," said Neogene as Optimus switched off the comm.
"I was riveted."
"Shut up," sighed Optimus as he headed towards the main
bridge. *I swear to Primus, it's the arrival all over again.*
* * * * * * * * * *
Skyshadow creeped through the engine room, stealth cloak
active. Tuning his scanners to the most fine distinction possible,
he moved with barely a sound, almost seeming to seep through
the room rather than walk.
A sudden snap in his scan told him his quarry was near.
Whipping his head around, he saw a barely-distinguishable dark
form, nestled in the engine. Activating his pincher, Skyshadow
lunged out and snapped it shut around the stowaway, smashing
him against the wall.
"Who are you?" growled Skyshadow as his comrades gathered
closer.
The odd-looking Transformer attempted to pry the pincher loose.
"My name... urk... is... Thoughtstealer," he replied, giving up on
prying Skyshadow's claw loose.
"Why the Inferno are you on the ship?" snapped Quickstrike.
With a sudden twist, Thoughtstealer twisted and bent, snapping
his head from his body. As the two fell apart, the body landed,
balanced, and grabbed the head, then firlmly reattached it.
"Because it's a decent ride, and I couldn't make cab fare."
Wingsmash growled. "Nobody gets a free ride on this ship, pal."
"What are you going to do? Turn around and go home?" asked
Thoughtreaper mockingly. "Face it, short of killing me, there's
not much you can do to get rid of me."
There was the distinctive sound of guns being cocked. "Then we
kill you."
"Ah, no, sorry," replied Thoughtstealer. "I've tried, but for
whatever reason, it just doesn't take." He made a gesture
towards himself. "Go ahead, shoot me. Trust me, it's a waste of
energon."
The mercenarys stopped, looked at each other, and at length
shrugged. "Fine," said Skyshadow, putting his weapon back in
subspace. The others followed suit. "Just don't blow the ship
up."
"Blow up my ride? Now that wouldn't be very intelligent,"
remarked Thoughtstealer.
The others sighed and walked out of the room, as
Thoughtstealer tried to calm his fuel pump. *It's a good thing that
they decided not to call my bluff. Otherwise, I would have to
quickly explain everything with several holes in my person.*
* * * * * * * * * *
Optimus strode into the medlab at long last. It had taken him
over two megacycles to find the lab, the first megacycle because
he didn't know the layout of the ship, then another megacycle to
get the computer to understand the command "show map", which
Trion had apparently failed to program into it. "How are our
patients recovering?" he asked.
"Very poorly," replied Vixen, sighing and leaning against a table.
"Where is Skydive, anyways?"
"Training session for the Aeriomals," replied Optimus. "Can't you
activate RATCHET?"
"Not yet," replied Vixen. "Razorbeast and Hamstor are busy
installing all of the imaging equipment. Besides, it's not so much
that I need a hand as it is that I want a second opinion."
"Why?" asked Optimus.
Vixen sighed and brought up a display on the main screen. "The
damage that Cheetor, Rhinox, and Airazor sustained was so
severe that the DNA bonding was severely disrupted in some of
their parts. I've tried to repair the damage using the CR
Chambers, but the body simply isn't suited to recombining."
"Just prime," muttered Optimus. "Any ideas?"
"Yes," replied Vixen.
Optimus said nothing for a moment, then suddenly looked up.
"Oh, you do have ideas. Sorry - I've gotten kind of used to
having Skydive around."
Chuckling, Vixen changed the display. "When Dinobot was back
with the Predacons, he did manage to pick up a bit of information
- including a VERY interesting project that Tarantulas and
Igaunus were undertaking. Apparently, they managed to acquire
enough information about the workings of the stasis pods to
devise an armor system to allow mechanical systems to operate
normally despite this planet's energon fields. It was only halfway
developed, but with Stormcloud, Rhinox, and Skydive working on
it - with my input, of course - they managed to refine it enough for
usage on ourselves. I think that if I play with it a little, I can
engineer the armor to re-bond the beast form with the robot, and
even make some improvements to the basic design. It'll alter the
beast mode somewhat, but -"
Without warning, Optimus suddenly doubled over, sparking.
"What - the - how -"
"This can't be energon exposure," said Vixen, beginning to
panick as she helped Optimus to the CR Chamber. As the
chamber closed, Vixen activated the shipwide comm. "This is
CMO Vixen to all active personel: our leader has been rendered
inactive. We will need to find a temporary commander..."
* * * * * * * * * *
The entire staff sat at the table.
"What are we going to do?" asked Stormcloud to the general
assembly.
"Well, protocol dictates that the second in command will take
over when the CO is rendered inactive," piped up Nightpounce.
"Rhinox is second in command," sighed Dinobot.
"I'm aware of that!" snapped Nightpounce. "That is precisely
WHY we have a problem."
Everyone looked towards Neogene.
"If I wanted the position of commander, I would have taken it
upon arrival," said Neogene flatly. "I'm not in charge, and I don't
want to be."
"Hey! He's just inactive for a little while!" insisted Vixen. "I think
that I can repair all of the damage done to him within a little while.
It'll just take a bit of time."
"I think everyone is forgetting the obvious," sighed Polar Claw.
"According to protocol, leadership falls to the third in command if
both the CO and second in command are redered inactive."
"But - Polar, you're needed with the rest of the arctic squadron,"
countered Seachill.
"I and Tigatron intended to stay anyways," said Polar Claw flatly.
"Wolfang has been given temporary command of the arctic
squadron. Besides, Optimus will probably back on-line before
the day is out."
Everyone mumbled their general consensus. The Maximals
slowly filed out to go about their duties.
* * * * * * * * * *
Wolfang looked over to Icebreaker and Seachill - the only two
other remaining members of the Arctic Squadron. "Is everything
prepared?" he asked grimly, checking the supply list.
"Yeah," replied Seachill, activating an anti-grav sled. "Let's go
make a new home."
Seachill and Icebreaker began to head northward, sleds
following. Wolfang transformed and prepared to follow them.
"Wait," said a voice behind him. Wolfang turned to see
Razorbeast and Hamstor approaching him.
"What do you want?" asked Wolfang gruffly. He wasn't exactly
on buddy-buddy terms with most of the crew, but these two were
among the worst.
"Er... look, you mind if we tag along?" asked Hamstor. "We've
got some... er... business to attend to."
*Yeah, right,* thought Wolfang. "Fine," he said aloud. "Just don't
get in the way."
The two nodded, then dashed off after Seachill and Icebreaker.
Wolfang sighed inwardly, then started off after the others.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Can you repair them or can't you?"
Flatline nodded. "Yes, I can, thank to the information Igaunus
stole while he was in the Axalon. This... armor that the Maximals
has devised should hold them together all right. Of course, it's
somewhat risky, but since they'd die otherwise, it's sort of a win-
win scenario!"
"The procedure will work," snapped Megatron as he transformed
to robot mode. He glanced idilly around the small cavern room
that they were now using as the medical area. It was somewhat
odd, seeing the Soundwave's equipment blended almost
seamlessly into the rockface.
"Or it might not," added Flatline.
"It will work," insisted Megatron, "because yoou are going to
perform it on me as well."
A stale silence hung in the air. "Er, yes, right."
Megatron prepared to enter the CR Chamber, but then a though
occurred to him. "Flatline, bring up Insecticon on the main
viewscreen."
Nodding compliantly, Flatline activated the viewscreen. The
hideously twisted face of Insecticon appeared in front of the
screen. "Insecticon... prepared... to report," he croaked.
"What is the status of the Maximals?" asked Megatron, hoping to
hear that they were all stuck in beast mode.
"Maximals... appear... to have found... new base," replied
Insecticon.
"WHAT?!?!?" shouted Megatron, dumbfounded. Then he
remembered. "Ah, yes. The Starrunner. I should have known
that thrifty little Optimus would have found a use for that.
Continue."
"Group... left base... two cycles... ago. Appeared... to be... Arcitc
Squadron... but... Tigatron... and Polar Claw... not present."
"Ah, good," said Megatron with a smile. "Apparently, Optimus
must be incapacitated. I didn't think he would have noticed that
virus..."
"Virus, sir?" asked Flatline.
"A good tyrant always has a backup plan," said Megatron with a
sinister smirk. "During the battle, I managed to hit Optimus with
a dart filled with a sample of a rather nasty virus found only on
this planet. More likely than not, his beast mode will be utterly
destroyed any moment now."
Flatline and Insecticon nodded in unison. "Should... Insecticon...
engage Maximals?"
"Of course slagging not," snapped Megatron. "Observe them,
keep tabs on them - but do not attack them."
"Understood. Insecticon... out."
Megatron nodded and stepped into the CR Chamber.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Firing approach thrusters," said Wavequake as he pressed the
button. "We'll touch down in ten cycles."
Treadbolt stood, grabbed a few energon credits from his
subspace pocket, and handed them to Packrat. "Alright, here
you go. Really, though, you'd make a lot more money if you
joined us."
"You're just saying that because I'm the only one who traced the
flight path of the Soundwave and the Axalon, and you don't want
to pay for that information," replied Packrat as he snatched the
credits.
"Yeah, that too," admitted Treadbolt with a sheepish grin. He
shrugged and turned towards Skyshadow. "Any unusual
enviroment conditions we should know about?"
"Unfortunately, yes," replied Skyshadow. "This place is
overloaded with energon. We'll need to bond with organics to
block out the harmful effects." (AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, I realize
how the last three paragraphs simply REEK of Plot Convenience.
Go along with it, 'kay?)
"Great," sighed Treadbolt. "Okay, aside from Packrat and Mister
'The-Normal-Conventions-Of-Society-Don't-Apply-To-Me' -"
Fractyl nodded in acknowledgement "- we're all triple changers,
so I suppose we'll have to give up a mode -"
"Hold on," said Quickstrike. "What if I re-engineer the modes to
bond TWO animals? That way, we could have ground AND air
superiority without giving up a mode."
"Was that but possible," snapped Treadbolt. "In case you'd
forgotten, genetic engineering is ILLEGAL -"
"The HUMANS deem it illegal," corrected Quickstrike. "Since
when have we done what the moronic humans tell us to?"
Treadbolt thought for a moment. *It would be nice to not have to
give up a mode...* he thought. "All right," he said at last.
"Everybody pick out TWO beasts and give them to Quickstrike,
then head down to the CR Chamber - except for you two," he
said as he gestured towards Packrat and Fractyl. "You only get
one."
Quickstrike grinned evily and turned back to the console. *He's
so easily manipulated,* he thought, shaking his head. *Now, let's
see... what do I want to be..."
* * * * * * * * * *
Fractyl stretched out, twisting in the thermals. He had always
enjoyed his aerial mode, but this - this was something else
entirely. It was such a different experience, to fly like this as
opposed to flying as a jet.
*Back to work,* he thought. Turning, he locked his scanners on
the energy signature of the Soundwave's generator. With a
mighty twist, he turned towards it, gliding along the air currents.
"Hey! Nobody comes in this airspace without Megatron's
permission!" shouted Buzz Saw, transforming to robot mode and
firing on Fractyl. Fractyl sighed and transformed in flight, firing
his rifle in a wide strafe. Rocketing upward, Fractyl let loose a
barrage of shots in Buzz Saw's general direction. Although Buzz
Saw was larger and more powerful, this time it only served to
make him an easier target, and he was knocked backwards as
the laser pulses exploded aganst his body.
"Moron," sighed Fractyl.
"Give him some credit," said Jetstorm from behind Fractyl, letting
the ominous sound of his launcher loading echo through the sky.
"How was he supposed to know he was facing off against one of
Megaplex's elite warriors?"
Fractyl froze. "I am one of his elite SCIENTISTS," snapped
Fractyl. "The foremost geologist in the Predacon ranks -"
"Same difference," sighed Jetstorm. "Let's see... geologist... so
you would be... Fractyl, wouldn't you?"
NOW Fractyl was suprised. "Yes," he replied. "How did you
know?"
"Jetstorm," replied Jetstorm flatly. "Former head of Megaplex's
Amber Gaurd, and elite air commander."
Fractyl slowly turned to face his assailant. Yes, it was Jetstorm.
Although he looked slightly different, Fractyl could still recognize
the frail-yet-powerful body, the intentionally grotesque head, the
sharp optics, the perfect tapering for aerial fighting. "Why are
YOU on the planet?" asked Fractyl, still suspicious, although
reassured to see another member of the Elite present.
"Working for Megatron," replied Jetstorm. "Truth be told, I think
that he might have made the right choice by taking the Golden
Disk. There's a lot of stuff to be gained here, even if it might be
at a great cost."
"That's what Megaplex thinks," said Fractyl. "He's assigned me
here to... keep tabs, so to speak, on this situation."
"How did you get here?" asked Jetstorm as he turned to head
towards the Predacon Base. Fractyl flew alongside him.
"With a group of mercs," replied Fractyl. "Not an experience I'd
like to repeat, I might add."
"I can't blame you," said Jetstorm. "Come on. Megatron's going
to want to meet you."
"Wait," said Fractyl suddenly. "What about that other warrior?"
"Buzz Saw? He'll crawl back to base in a couple megacycles,"
replied Jetstorm. "He really is a moron, anyways."
The two Predacons chuckled, then flew at full speed towards the
Predacon Base.
* * * * * * * * * *
"I've got our quarrys on scanners," said Aquasting, lumbering out
of the ship. "Lesse now... we oughta split up to speed this
process up."
"I agree," said Treadbolt, experimenting with his beast mode.
"Alright... Wingsmash, Wavequake, Airhammer... you're with me.
Quickstrike, you take Aquasting, Skyshadow, and Instiagtor."
"So who does each group go for?" asked Skyshadow. Behind
him, Instigator and Aquasting renewed their game of smashing
into each other.
"Umm... Quickstrike, you'd better take Onyx."
Quickstrike nodded. "Understood." He folded into his hideous
scorpion-cobra mode. "Move out." Skyshadow, Instigator, and
Aquasting all transformed as well. Skyshadow and Aquasting
took to the sky, and the four lumbered off in the general direction
of the Predacon base.
"I really think putting those four together was a BAD idea," said
Airhammer. He said it to no-one, but it was obviously directed to
Treadbolt.
"I know, but they're the most likely people to make it through,"
replied Treadbolt. He glanced in the general direction of the
Starrunner. "We'd better get going."
The four mercenaries transformed and headed for the
Starrunner.
* * * * * * * * * *
Thoughtstealer lumbered out of the CR Chamber in his new
spider mode. "Hmm," he said. "Demented... twisted... evil-
looking... ominous... yes, I like it a lot."
He thought for a moment. "A new name is in order. Let me
see... I no longer steal thoughts, but reap them from this planet's
bountiful harvest... Thoughtreaper," he announced at last. "And it
even has a nice ring to it."
Scuttering out, Thoughtreaper went about his business.
* * * * * * * * * *
Polar Claw stepped into the medroom. "I don't think I've ever
been here," he sighed, glancing around semi-wistfully. *Could've
had all of the jobs, all of the time... but no, you had to pass up the
promotion for moral reasons. Never do something that stupid
again.*
"Of course you've never been here," replied Vixen. "Most of the
crew hasn't. The Starrunner was ridiculously underhanded, and
that means most of us have no idea where everything is."
"I meant to the medroom in general," replied Polar Claw, shaking
his head. *Is she always like this?* "Um... er... well..."
*I suppose I'll have to fill in the blanks here,* thought Vixen. She
turned to the main screen, brought up a display, and began to
manipulate it. "Well, we think we've figured out what happened
to Optimus - me and RATCHET, that is."
The holographic medic waved nonchalantly from a biobed.
"Great to be back, folks. Love what you've done to the place."
Vixen shrugged, then turned back to the display. "Apparently,
Megatron had some sort of bio-weapon developed that actually
managed to damage the beast mode so severely that the robot
half actively tries to destroy the mode to protect itself."
"Any ways to counter it?" asked Polar Claw somewhat hesitantly.
"Sort of," replied Vixen. "You see, I managed to cure the virus,
but the dosage was so intense that a lot of Optimus's systems
are permanently set to try and kill the beast mode. I have to
bond him with the armor that I was discussing with Optimus
earlier - RATCHET has sort of nicknamed these new forms
'Transmetals'."
Polar Claw nodded. "Anything else?"
"Yes," replied Vixen. "I looked over the design specs for the
Transmetal armor, and figured out that if I altered it somewhat, I
could contain a third vehicular mode without risking energon
overexposure. I've already set the CR Chambers to start
constructing Bandit a new body in this style, and Stratosfire has
already reported to be refitted. Ground Zero and Trailblazer
volunteered to be converted as well."
Again, Polar Claw nodded. *I'm starting to even like this,* he
thought. "Keep me updated on this - it sounds like there are
other applications for this technology -"
The alarm klaxxons wailed to life throughout the massive
Starrunner. "What is it?" asked Polar Claw of no-one in paticular.
"Alarm signalled due to intruders in Security Grid Omega,"
replied the computer.
"Oh." *Forgot it could do that.* Polar Claw rose and began
heading towards the exit, hitting his communicator. "Ironhide, get
a security team together. We're under attack."
* * * * * * * * * *
"Once, just _once_, could we NOT go into a situation where we
get shot at?"
"Shut up, Wingsmash," snapped Treadbolt as more weapons fire
exploded around the mercs. Bringing his own laser lance to full
power, Treadbolt raked the ground with the beam, and the
Maximals rolled aside to avoid the deadly ray.
"We can't sit here forever," sighed Wavequake. Turning on one
of his seismic disruptors, Wavequake attached it to the ground,
then braced himself. The disruptor went off, sending a massive
quake through the ground at the Maximals. Ironhide stood his
ground, but Grimlock and Skyvine were knocked off their feet.
"Got 'em!" exclaimed Wingsmash eagerly. He began to advance
towards the fallen Maximals, with Wavequake storming towards
Ironhide.
"Wait a minute..." began Airhammer. "I counted five Maximals
before..."
Without warning, Panthor and Blacpanther dropped onto
Wingsmash and Wavequake. Wavequake tried to shove the
much smaller Blacpanther off of him, but she clung fast, dropping
to the ground and taking Wavequake with her. Panthor punched
Wingsmash in the head, then sprang off of the mercenary and
drew his quasar cannon. Before he could do anything, Treadbolt
fired his wing missiles at Panthor, knocking the solid black
Maximal away. Airhammer swept a quick spray of quasar bolts
towards Ironhide as Airhammer transformed, and Wavequake
broke free of Blacpanther's grip.
Flying backwards, Panthor activated his rockets and righted
himself, then flew towards Treadbolt with his quasar cannon
firing relentlessly. Wavequake stood, and was assaulted by both
Grimlock and Blacpanther. Airhammer swooped in on Ironhide,
but the large Maximal blasted a gamma ray at Airhammer,
knocking the merc out of the sky. Wingsmash regained his
footing as well, then charged at Skyvine. Treadbolt flipped
backwards, then brough his laser lance to bear and knocked
Panthor out of the sky. Wavequake made a massive two-fisted
swing, knocking Blacpanther and Grimlock backwards.
As Airhammer landed, the former head of Autobot Security saw
his advantage and took it. Charging forward, he extended his
tusks to full length, and caught Airhammer between them. As
the merc struggled to transform, Ironhide screeched to a halt and
drew his gamma club back out of subspace, then hit Airhammer
soundly on the head. The merc struggled, then passed out.
Skyvine did not have the experience advantage that Ironhide
had, but he did have the definite size advantage. Towering a
good meter over Wingmash, Skyvine picked up the smaller merc
and simply slammed him into the ground. WIngsmash went
limp.
Treadbolt and Wavequake turned to face Ironhide and Skyvine.
Charging their weapons, they unleashed a massive stream of
weaponry towards the pair. As the Maximals took cover, a patch
of ground behind Treadbolt and Wavequake slid open to reveal
Neogene and Bonecrusher riding a lift. The two mercs turned,
but it was too late to react. Bonecrusher hit Treadbolt with a
mouth missile, then slammed into the merc commander with his
shoulder. Neogene armed himself, and slowly circled with
Wavequake. Wavequake finally made a lunge, and Neogene
dodged, then fired on the massive robot. Wavequake fell to the
ground, unconcious.
As Ironhide and Skyvine shackled Airhammer and Wingsmash,
Bonecrusher and Neogene took care of Treadbolt and
Wavequake. "Maximals four, Wackos zero," said Blacpanther as
she and the others got back to their feet.
* * * * * * * * * *
Quickstrike continued to scutter along towards the Soundwave.
"Once we get there, those clods won't know what hit 'em..."
"We're not going there for a full-frontal assault, Quickstrike," said
Skyshadow in a calm, measured tone as he glided through the
air.
Behind him, Aquastrike laughed deleriously as he smashed
through a pair of trees. "Hahahaha... um, sorry, what were
talking about?"
Instigator laughed. "'Ey! Everybody! 'At bloke's so dumb, 'e
can't even remember what we're doing! C'mon, let's laugh at
'im!"
Quickstrike and Skyshadow both sighed. Instigator and
Aquastrike were the basic equivalent of rowdy college frat boys
that had the brains of soda cans and the weaponry of several
small nations. "CUT IT OUT!" Quickstrike and Skyshadow yelled
in unison. The two mercs shrank, but began giggling soon
afterwards.
"Hold it!" bellowed Inferno from the ground, drawing his cannon.
"Land immediately or face the wrath of the agents of the
Royalty!"
Skyshadow transformed, and motioned for Aquasting to do the
same. Aquasting transformed, and his large, awkward body
smashed into Instigator. Before either of the two could start
something, Quickstrike transformed as well, and the others
simply transformed and stood silently.
The four mercenaries stood in a line. Standing in front of them
were Inferno, Lazorbeak, Manterror, and a badly damaged Buzz
Saw. Both sides were twitching towards their weapons.
"Go ahead, punk," said Quickstrike, increasing his accent even
more. "Make my day."
Lazorbeak went for his blaster.
Skyshadow whipped out his pincher.
Inferno drew his cannon.
Quickstrike's snake arm whipped up.
Buzz Saw brought out his launcher.
Intsigator brought his cannons to bear.
Manterror poised to flip out a razor disk.
Aquastring let out his launcher.
They all fired.
Quickstrike carefully opened one optic. The mercs and Preds
were both still standing, guns out and smoke rising to indicate the
discharge.
"Now," said Skyshadow. The Preds slowly tipped, then fell
backwards.
"Impressive, yessss," said a deep voice. The mercs turned to
see it's source.
A gleaming gold Tyrranosaur stood before them. Behind
stretched a brightly reflective silver tail, waving idlly back and
forth. On its sides were huge purple fans, slowly rotating. A
sharply angled, bright purple head sat atop this, cocked to one
side imperiously. Without a sound, the mechanical monstrosity
flipped, split, and folded, and before them stood the shining
Predacon leader. "Feel free to draw," Megatron said
sarcastically.
* * * * * * * * * *
There were arguably a few things bad about the landing site that
the mercenaries had chosen. One thing was that it was more or
less a polar bear in a coal shed to most scanners. Another was
the fact that it landed while venting its plasma ducts, causing it to
produce an extra-noticible evergy signature. The most notable,
however, would be the fact that it was at best a kilometer from
the Decepticon base.
"Are we THERE yet?" moaned Cutout. His sleek sportscar mode
was not suited to this terrain, and he knew he would look simply
TERRIBLE when he got back to base. Of course, he might not
have Nightdagger around to impress anymore, but there were
other females, and he was an attractive male Decepticon. He
could hardly be expected to wait for her to get back!
"For the last time, YES!!!" grumbled Rebound and Roadrunner.
Neither of them much cared for the vain demolitionist. He
claimed he wanted to keep as clean as possible, yet he wanted
to get as close as possible to the ship "for theatrical value".
When this was pointed out to him, he looked confused and
asked, quite honestly suprised, "You mean you aren't going to
carry me?"
"You're just jealous," snipped Cutout, transforming. "All right,
we're close enough. Come over here."
Rebound landed and transformed. Roadrunner screeched to a
halt and transformed. Cutout handed them each an explosive.
"Now, both of you run along and place these under the ship's
engines."
"Hey!" snapped Roadrunner. "You said we were close enough!"
"'We' are," replied Cutout, perfectly calm. "But you two aren't.
Now run along and do your jobs."
Grumbling overabundantly, the two warriors took the explosives
and started towards the ship. A megacycle later, they returned,
charges planted. Cutout, meanwhile, was comtemplating how he
would look with a gold paint job instead of his bronze one.
"Ah, good, you're back," he said, standing. Drawing a small
control unit from subspace, he pressed a button. The charges
went off, and the mercenary ship exploded in a plume of smoke
and flame.
Roadrunner and Rebound watched fascinated. Roadrunner had
a feeling that most of this was just to show off in front of her -
among other things, Cutout was a notorious womanizer. *Still, *
she thought, *if this was meant to impress me, it's working.*
Rebound wasn't thinking about anything like that. Since he was
male, to him, Cutout merely was an irritating gearhead that was
overly vain, and somehow managed to Join with virtually every
female on Cybertron. "Come on," he said, turning. "Shardwing
and Twistout gave us our orders..."
Cutout, meanwhile, was busy talking with Roadrunner. Of
course, they both knew his intent, but she seemed willing in this
case, for whatever reason. Cutout's mind, however, was already
thinking about how broken up Shardwing must be over
Nightdagger's disappearence... and how conveniently he could
become a shoulder to cry on...
* * * * * * * * * *
With a gentle hiss, the CR Chamber opened to reveal the
medroom. Vixen and RATCHET both looked towards the
results, and gasped in suprise.
"Well?" asked Cheetor, admiring his sharp angles and his silver
bracers. "Do I look as cool as I think I do?"
Rhinox stood, bright blue and silver. "This will take some getting
used to..."
Between the two of them stepped Optimus. More slender, more
compact, Optimus's powerful form looked almost legendary.
"This is... incredible," breathed Optimus in shock.
All three looked towards Airazor's chamber, and were suprised to
find that it remained shut. "Is something wrong?" asked
Optimus, stepping forward.
Still shocked at the incredible sight of the Transmetals, Vixen
seemed a little slow in reactivating the main display. "Her body
doesn't appear to be taking to the Transmetal body very well,"
she replied. "She'll be fine, but she'll be in there a little longer."
Polar Claw stepped in. "Vixen, I wanted to discuss -" He noticed
the Transmetals. "Primus," he breathed.
"I take it he got temporary command?" asked Primal. Vixen
nodded.
"Glad to see you back in action," said Polar Claw with a nod and
a hint of cynicism. "If nobody minds, I think I'll be heading back
to my squad about now."
Primal nodded. "All right. Try to get the base up as soon as -"
Before Optimus could finish, Polar Claw had already exited the
medroom. Practically knocking over his crewmates as he
approached the exit, Polar Claw transformed as he was brought
up to the surface.
"What's that all about?" asked Rhinox.
"It's a long story," replied Optimus, still admiring his body.
"Vixen, can you give us the briefing on these new forms?"
"Certainly," she replied, bringing up a display. "The bonding of
the quantum metal to your systems altered you in both beast
mode and robot mode. You're no longer subject to energon
overload, and you also gained a semi-third mode. Cheetor, you'll
find your cheetah mode is capable of extending wings and flying.
Rhinox, your rhino form can convert to a sort of rhino-tank. And
Optimus, your gorilla mode can use a hoverboard, giving you a
flight ability in both modes."
Optimus nodded. "I'm looking forward to seeing us in combat.
Any other orders of business?"
"Yeah," replied Vixen. "We've got four unknown intruders in
custody, and we were hoping to try and figure out why they're
here. Care to join in the fun?"
"Certainly," said Optimus with a nod. Almost on cue, the lights
flickered a bit. "Slag it! I thought that engineering was working
on that! Where the Inferno are Razorbeast and Hamstor?"
"I have no idea," replied Vixen. "They seem to have deactivated
their comms." She sighed. "Something tells me that whatever
they're doing, it'll end in me having to fix them, and then I'll get to
spend even LESS time with Dives..."
Optimus chuckled. "Marriage becomes you, Vixen," he said,
heading towards the brig. Vixen and RATCHET both looked at
each other, then waited a moment.
Optimus ducked back in. "Er... do either of you know how to get
to the brig?" he asked sheepishly.
* * * * * * * * * *
Wingsmash rammed into the force field again. Thrown back into
the opposite wall, he brushed himself off, then rammed full-barrel
towards the force field.
"Reminds me of you," chuckled RATCHET to Grimlock. The
Maximal Security Chief whirled around to see the holographic
doctor idilly sitting there, leaning against a wall.
"How the devil did you get here?" growled Grimlock.
"Well, Razorbeast and Hamstor made some modifications while
they were working on the lighting system," replied RATCHET. "I
can now project from any light fixture on the ship. Right now, I'm
projecting from that bank up there."
"That one?" asked Grimlock, pointing at it.
"Yep."
Grimlock blasted the fixture repeatedly with his eye beams.
"Snappish," shouted RATCHET before he winked out.
Optimus and Vixen strode into the room. Optimus glanced up
and noticed the destroyed light fixture. "Was there a power
surge?" he asked.
"Sort of," replied Grimlock. "Here to interrogate the prisoners?"
Optimus and Vixen nodded. "Would you like to have the
honor...?" asked Vixen. "I've never been very comfortable with
the procedure."
Grimlock nodded in response, then stood, fixed his gaze upon
Treadbolt, and shut off the forcefield. Treadbolt was suprised
enough to let Grimlock get in before he began to react, but by the
time he had taken a defensive posture, Grimlock had already
slammed the merc against the wall, charging his eye beams
ominously. "Who sent you?" asked Grimlock.
Any qualms Treadbolt might have formed about telling the truth
were quickly shoved from his mind as he recalled stories about
how vicious the legendary Autobot was. "Xenadon of the
Decepticons," he replied.
Vixen strained her mind and quickly scanned Treadbolt. "He's
telling the truth," she announced, fighting a slight sense of
nausea.
"When did you get that sort of telepathy?" asked Optimus,
suprised.
"I've been practicing," she replied.
Grimlock was not terribly interested. "What is your mission?" he
growled, putting a little more pressure on Treadbolt.
Treadbolt squirmed. "Look, if it's all the same to you -"
"It isn't," replied the three Maximals in unison.
Treadbolt gave the best facsimile of a shrug that he could under
his current conditions. "Fine. I don't know. I'm just commanding
the four of us. We were sent here to scout, but we don't know
why."
Vixen did another mind-scan. "I don't think he's lying," she said,
gripping the nearby bulkhead. "I'm not entirely sure, though - I'm
not a paticularly powerful psion."
Optimus nodded. "I trust your judgement," he said. "Grimlock,
you can let him go now."
Grimlock seemed to pout. "If you ask ME, any interrogation
session where the subject doesn't get harmed is a sorry excuse."
"Well, YOU can get harmed if you want," suggested RATCHET,
projecting from another light fixture. He turned to Optimus and
Vixen. "Are there any rage management seminars on the ship?
I think Grimmers could use a couple of 'em."
"Shut up," snapped Grimlock, dropping Treadbolt and exiting the
cell as he turned the force field back on. He headed towards his
quarters.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Optimus as he and Vixen
headed down the hall. RATCHET followed behind, switching
light fixtures frequently.
"Well," he began, "I was just innocently talking to Grimmers
before you came in when..."
"Any ideas on how to get out of here?" asked Wavequake when
the four mercs were certain the Maximals were out of earshot.
"Yeah," replied Treadbolt, nodding his head towards his right
hand. Treadbolt had managed to place his hand on one of the
projectors on the top of the doorframe before Grimlock activated
the field, giving him a small opening to stick his arm through.
Withdrawing his hand until his claws rested in the projector
groove, he let loose a minor electrical discharge, temporarily
frying the field projectors. He quickly stepped out as the field re-
initialized itself, sealing him off from his cell.
"Nice work," admitted Wavequake.
"I try," replied Treadbolt. Repairing his weapons, he aimed his
wingtip missiles at the control panel and blasted it. The force
fields snapped off, and the mercs took the opportunity to step out
of the cells, repairing their weapons as they came out.
"Don't you think that they'll figure out we escaped?" asked
Wingsmash as he looked at the sparking control panel.
"With any luck, they'll be distracted for a little while, and we'll be
long gone by the time they have a chance to look," said
Treadbolt, tossing laser lances to the rest of his crew. "Now
come on. We'd better get back to the ship."
* * * * * * * * * *
"So we're agreed, then," said Megatron with a slow nod.
"Of course," replied Quickstrike. "The four of us enlist under your
command, provided that we are given approriate payment when
we depart."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," replied Megatron, standing.
He looked over to his fellow Transmetals, Waspinator and
Tarantulas. Flatline had not finished with Terrorsaur, but for all
Megatron cared, he could wait for a while. "Now, I want you to
prepare for an immediate assault. With the combined force of
the Transmetals and Fuzors, the Maximals cannot possibly hope
to triumph!"
"But with so many more troops -" began Tarantulas, slightly
nervous.
Megatron rapped his cannon against the air, letting it charge
ominously. "Optimus will not attack us with greater numbers.
He's just that foolish. With any luck, his crew will still be largely
disorganized."
"And if that fails?" asked Quickstrike. "I'm not going to go on a
suicide mission, and I doubt my troops will be very keen on the
idea either."
"That's where _I_ come in," said Headlock, standing next to
Megatron. "I've re-wired a magna-pulse generator to temporarily
impair the motor control center via the beast mode. Transmetals
and Fuzors are immune, however, because the Transmetal
armor blocks the signal, and the fused beast modes don't provide
a clear enough passageway to the inner robot. Still, it should
leave us facing a handful of robots."
"What about you?"
"I won't be there, I'll just be operating the controls," replied
Headlock. "The seven of you will be the REAL heroes. You'll be
winning the Predacon's greatest victory ever."
Megatron nodded in confirmation. "For better or worse, this
assault will be a defining factor in the Beast Wars..."
* * * * * * * * * *
Snarl double-checked the scanners. No denying it. "We've got
incoming!" he exclaimed. "Four airborne, three ground-based, all
approaching at high speeds. Three of them appear to have
Transmetal construction, and four are constructed with beast
modes similar to those of our current prisoners. Two of the
airbornes are carrying what looks like a magna-pulse generator!"
"Activate perimiter artillery," said B'boom with practiced calm.
"Bring shields to full power, bring ship to alert status 5, get
structural readouts, and do it QUICKLY!"
As Snarl was about to comply, many miles away, Headlock
pressed a single button. A massive explosion discharged from
the generator. As Snarl reached to begin the series of events
that would carry out B'boom's orders, he froze silent, still
concious, but unable to move.
Optimus noticed the change as Vixen froze in place. "What the
devil?" he asked. RATCHET was inspecting her as best he
could.
<Magna-pulse...>
Optimus looked up. "Vixen?" he asked.
<Yes... telepathy...>
Optimus was suprised. She'd never had this level of power
before...
<Important... normal crew... immobile... Transmetals...
functional... must engage... enemy...>
The Maximal leader nodded. Turning, he dashed down the hall
to find Cheetor and Rhinox.
<RATCHET...>
The holographic medic looked up. "I was unaware that telepaths
could contact holograms."
<Shut... up... not much... time...>
RATCHET nodded. "What do you need me to do?"
<Medroom... Bandit... Trailblazer... others... must let... them
fight... we... need... the Metalformers...>
Once again, RATCHET nodded. "I'm on my way," he said,
winking out to the medroom.
Vixen just had one more thing to do. Letting her full power surge
out, she contacted a most familiar mind. <Stormcloud...>
Another psychic message surged with hers, and the link was
cemented. <Nice to... see you again... love...>
<Such... as it were...> replied Vixen, feeling his mind intertwine
with hers.
* * * * * * * * * *
Treadbolt had planted a camera in the tree they had hid behind
earlier, and activated it now. "Looks bad for the Maximals," he
said. He felt a lump in his throat.
"Treadbolt, you've got that look in your eye," said Airhammer,
waggling a finger.
Treadbolt sighed as he changed course. "We're heading off to
help them," he announced. *Boy, I'm gonna hate myself in the
morning..."
* * * * * * * * * *
Optimus, Rhinox, and Cheetor launched themselves out of the
ship, weapons drawn. "Let's rock," said Optimus with a narrow
glare.
"Kill them, preferably slowly," said Megatron dismissively. "We
outnumber them more than two to one."
"Not quite!" shouted Wavequake. The Predacons turned to see
the four mercs facing them, weapons bared.
"Treadbolt!" exclaimed Quickstrike, walking towards the merc
leader. "I assume that you came to help the winning urk!"
The next word was theoretically "side", but it would never be
spoken, because Treadbolt had already hit Quickstrike with a
fierce assault. Optimus was unsure about trusting these
mercenaries, but he didn't seem to have much choice - or
chance - otherwise. "Maximals, ATTACK!" he shouted.
Waspinator transformed to his jet mode. "Wazzpinator KILL!!!"
he exclaimed.
"Oh, get slagged," snapped Cheetor. Transforming to beast
mode, he extended his wings and took off towards Waspinator.
Waspinator was puzzled. "Cat-bot is... flying. Why must world
make life hard for poor Waspinator?"
Streaking towards Waspinator, Cheetor extended his claws.
Waspinator dove, and pulled up hard, but was somewhat out of
practice flying jets, being used to the high agility of his wasp
mode, and his shots went wild. Cheetor was also a little clumsy
in the air, but the force of his jets allowed him to more or less use
the same tactics in the air as on the ground. Rolling towards
Waspinator, he slammed into the jet-insect, sending both of them
tumbling through the air. Cheetor banked and brough himself to
a stop, but Waspinator simply turned and fired, tearing into
Cheetor.
Tarantulas saw the situation, and took an action that came
naturally to him. He transformed to vehicle mode and tried to
streak away from the battlefield.
With a bound that one would not expect from such a massive
Transformer, Rhinox catapaulted towards Tarantulas. Reaching
into subspace, he yanked loose his chaingun and began firing.
Tarnatulas was knocked off balance, but quickly transformed and
tried to activate his leg-guns. Massive numbers of bullets
streamed forth, blackening the sky as they headed for Rhinox.
Rhinox cringed at first, but found that his armor could shrug off
the bullets like raindrops. He advanced towards Tarnatulas, but
the scientist was fast enough to dodge Rhinox's blasts, leaving
the two of them locked in a stream of bullets.
Airhammer preferred to avoid confrontation whenever posssible,
but he could see that was unlikely. However, he was terrified
when he saw the large, burly Aquasting come barreling towards
him.
"Destroy..." hissed the burly robot as he transformed. With
uncompromising brutality, Aquasting struck Airhammer in the
back, nearly snapping the beast mode's spine. Transforming,
Airhammer let loose a swath of missiles, then dived and banked
away, hoping to find some sort of terrain advantage. As he saw
Aquasting close in, however, he realized that he was not going to
find one in time. Aquasting's hard body collided with his, and
Airhammer felt his metal skin crumple and split. Feeling himself
black out, Airhammer unloaded upon Aquasting with his missiles
as Aquasting hit him again and he fell unconcious.
Instigator transformed and started towards where Aquasting
stood over Airhammer, figuring that he could get in an easy kill.
Before he could reach his destination, however, Wingsmash
slammed into him in beast mode, then transformed and attacked.
Pleased, Instigator brought up his arms to meet the charge and
grapple. He preferred close combat to that long-range junk. His
block, however, was misplaced as Wingsmash lowered his head
and rammed his former teammate in the gut. The two tumbled
backwards, trading blows ferociously. Instigator rolled onto his
back and snapped his legs straight, kicking Wingsmash off of
him, and then brough his cannons to bear - the long-range junk
was good for SOMETHING. Wingsmash rolled to one side to
avoid the blasts, then leaped towards Instigator and tripped him,
snapped off the cannons and resumed trading blows.
Wavequake charged blindly into battle, looking for something to
smash. Decloaking behind him, Skyshadow slashed into the
large mercenary's back, taunting him to engage Skyshadow.
As Wavequake turned, Skyshadow reactivated his cloak, then
transformed and glided over Wavequake's head. As he
transformed and decloaked, Skyshadow was suprised when
Wacequake backhanded him away, knocking him to the ground.
Undaunted, Skyshadow let loose with a couple of plasma blasts
from his claw, then cloaked and dodged to one side.
Wavequake expected the nimble robot to come up behind him,
and swung behind himself, but Skyshadow decloaked to his side,
stabbed his claw into Wavequake's side, and let loose a massive
plasma burst into Wavequake, sending the massive merc to his
knees.
Treadbolt let go of Quickstirke, and saw Optimus having trouble
with Megatron. Transforming, he glided over to help.
Optimus brough his megacannons over his shoulder and
unloaded upon Megatron, and Treadbolt unleashed his powerful
wing missiles. However, Megatron had always been extremely
powerful, and the Transmetal armor only increased that. He was
taking damage, but suprisingly little, and he rapped his cannon
against the air as he blasted Treadbolt. Optimus took the
opportunity to draw his gun and fire, but Megatron recovered
quickly and blasted Optimus with his shoulder cannons.
Treadbolt took to the sky again, and he and Optimus circled
Megatron cautiously.
The Predacons and Maximals regrouped. Wingsmash broke
away from Instigator, and Rhinox knocked Tarantulas away.
Only Treadbolt, Wingsmash, Rhinox, and Optimus remained for
the Maximals, but all of the Predacons remained, albeit battered.
"Once again, Optimus, the odds are in our favor," hissed
Megatron with an evil grin. "It is time to press that advantage."
Before Megatron could say anything more, four energon darts
whisteled past the Maximals and shredded his shoulder. "What
in Inferno is this?" snapped the Predacon leader, looking towards
the source of the darts.
A very familiar voice answered him. "They're called energon
darts," said a slightly taller, slimmer, more robotic and compact,
and both beautiful and deadly Bandit, her characteristic half-
smirk displayed towards the Predacon leader. Behind her were
Trailblazer and Ground Zero, both reworked as well, and
hovering above them was Stratosfire.
The Maximals armed all of their weapons, Ground Zero's multiple
launchers making an especially loud noise. Suddenly, the
damaged Predacons were faced with many, many gun muzzles,
all trained directly on them.
"Perhaps I was a wee bit hasty in my assumption of superiority,"
said Megatron hastily, his troops backing off.
"Too bad," said Optimus. "Fire at will."
"Don't you mean Megatron?" asked Ground Zero, genuinely
confused.
Ignoring him, Bandit unleashed a stream of energon darts
towards the Predacons. The others quickly followed suit, and the
Predacons turned and dashed off at full speed, battered, bruised,
and thoroughly unhappy.
Cheetor came around, and transformed to robot mode. He
glanced to one side and noticed the magna-pulse generator. "I
think we could do without THAT," he said, blasting the generator.
It shattered into a million shards.
"Let's go inside," said Optimus as he gathered up Airhammer
while Ground Zero grabbed Wavequake. "I think we've got a few
things to talk about."
* * * * * * * * * *
"YOU MISERABLE EXCUSES FOR DIGITAL
CALCULATORS!!!"
Megatron finally calmed down and sank into his throne at the
center of the cliffs. "Aquasting, did you at least get a scan of
those new warriors?"
Aquasting nodded. Unfortunately, due to the fact that his body
was somewhat poorly constructed, this caused him to fall
forward, which made him hit Instigator, who fell forward as well,
at which point Scorponok fell also - as usual, for no apparent
reason.
"Hey!" snapped Quickstrike. "Nobody orders my troops around -"
Megatron finally smiled. "Until the Maximals are destroyed, you
are in my employ, since your ship is - gone."
"Gone?" gasped the mercs.
"Precisely," replied Megatron. "Completely oblitherated.
Meaning that you are now Predacons - and you'll have to learn to
live with it."
Stammered half-protests emerged as Megatron headed towards
the air-exit portal. "Sir?" asked Scorponok. "Where are you
going?"
"To take care of some unfinished business," replied Megatron.
He had already taken a short rest in the CR Chamber, unlike the
rest of his troops. "You're in command until I return." Spreading
his fans, he rocketed off towards the north.
Scorponok thought for a moment. "Inferno, get over here and
carry me so we can follow Megatron!" He realized he would
need to put someone else in charge and glanced for someone,
anyone. "Uhh... Blackarachnia, you're in charge until me or
Megatron gets back!"
Scorponok and Inferno rocketed off, neither of them realizing
what Scorponok had just said. Blackarachnia, however, smirked
evily. "I love that moron."
* * * * * * * * * *
"You don't remember ANYTHING?"
Bandit was obviously getting very upset at this interrogation.
"Look, Trailblazer, I know the basics of this world thanks to some
stuff fed to me via the CR chamber, but other than that, I
remember nothing. Zero, zip, zilch, nada."
Trailblazer could not believe that. "You don't remember our
wedding on Cybertron? Our volunteering for this mission?
When I nearly got killed thanks to Dinobot? When you got blown
up by the Decepticons? NOTHING???"
"NO!!" shouted Bandit, suprised at how loudly she said it. "As far
as I'm concerned, you're just another guy off the street! And if
this is your best impression, you're a jerk!"
Trailblazer's expression drooped. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, and
turned, then exited her quarters. Outside, he nearly ran
headlong into Nightpounce.
"Hey," she said, recognizing Trailblazer, although she didn't
actually know him all that well. "What's wrong?"
"Relationship problems," he replied.
She smiled sympathetically. "I know how you feel. Do you want
to talk about it?"
Trailblazer looked up. "Sure, why not," he mumbled.
Nightpounce and he fell into step together, heading towards the
medlab. "I think if me and Vixen can't help - well, I think we
can..."
* * * * * * * * * *
Far, far away, the keeper of the Arena, the self-appointed keeper
of the energon project, known to the Transformers as Mercutio,
began a long and dangerous transformation at the hands of
Hamlet...
"There is punishment for failure, Mercutio," hissed Hamlet. "And
we will yet see if this is the correct punishment."