Beast Wars Chronicles
Temporal Fluid
By: Eliot Lefebvre (aka Stormcloud)

"I don't even pretend to know why you've been acting the way 
you have recently, 'Stroke," said Firebrand, regarding her partner 
critically from her position atop the nearest building.  "But I think 
now it's time I started getting a few answers."

"I'm fine," replied Swordstroke with a sharply dismissive air.

Firebrand's eyes narrowed to slits.  "Fine?  Over the past three 
days, you've teleported all eight of us halfway across the world, 
then suddenly decided to leave five of our teammates 
somewhere in the middle of Australia and teleport you, me, and 
Raiden into New Altea!  That hardly falls under my definition of 
fine!"

"The others are fine, I assure you," replied Swordstroke in a dull 
monotone.  "Now calm down.  I'm trying to -"

"Think, yes, I know!" snapped Firebrand.  "You've been thinking 
more or less consistently for the last week!  I don't care HOW 
long this team has been together, but unless we start getting 
some answers, you're going to be on your own sooner than you 
think!"

Raiden sighed, shook his head, and sat down, leaning his large 
cannon against the wall.  Firebrand and Swordstroke had always 
been effecient leaders of the team... but lately, they had been 
unable to agree on anything.  Thor and Vulcan were both used to 
taking a neutral stance like Raiden, and they figured that the 
squad's CO's wood work things out, but Helix, Fling, and Echelon 
were far less confident.  Of course, Raiden was seriously in 
doubt as to whether or not the squad's other five memebers were 
still all right...

The burst took all three of them completely by suprise.

Raiden was hit by it first.  The  rolling wave of energy carried him 
up and over the heads of both Firebrand and Swordstroke, 
smashing the massive Autobot hard into the balcony that the 
three were on.  That gave Firebrand the chance to draw her laser 
lance and Swordstroke his beam rifle.  Firebrand got a bead on 
their assailant just as the wave hit, and she smashed into the 
balcony slightly before Raiden.  Swordstroke had his shot, but 
stopped just before he pulled the trigger.

"My God," he breathed.  "It's you."

The wave hit him, and he was carried up and hit the top of the 
building.

Their assailant waited only a moment longer, then vanished into 
thin air.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"That can't be."

Rhinox could not believe the information the Starrunner's 
scanners displayed before him.  He decided to run the scan 
again.  A quick press of buttons, and the Starrunner tracked once 
again the signature proton emissions and energy markings   The 
same results.  A third scan.  The same result again.

Rhinox turned to his left.  "Stormcloud!  Scan for remaining stasis 
pods - I want you to double-check my data."

Stormcloud nodded.  His fingers raced across the keyboard of 
his terminal.  "The scan shows that the current remaining number 
of stasis pods is..."  He gulped.  "Twelve."

"Primus," said Rhinox.  "I was right.  Nearly all of our pods have 
come down."  He quickly did another scan.  "According to this... 
two of them were damaged by the explosion of the space station 
the Predacons found.  Their mode scanners are too damaged to 
scan a complete beast form."

"I'll get the message to Optimus," said Stormcloud, getting up 
with lightning speed.  He strode across the floor swiftly.  The 
doors out of the bridge swished open softly, and closed behind 
Stormcloud with equal grace.

Rhinox sat in place.  Deep down, Rhinox had always thought that 
the Maximals would get off the planet, but now...  He had to face 
it.  His best friend was dead.  The stasis pods that had begun 
their descent nearly three years ago had nearly completed it.  So 
many endings.

And somehow, he could not shake the feeling that this all was a 
portent of darker days to come.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

RATCHET leaned over and checked the display of the CR 
Chamber.  "Silverbolt's repair is coming along nicely," he said.  
"I'd say he'll be ready to emerge in a few days."

Vixen nodded.  "More good news," she said.  "Airazor's just about 
ready to emerge as well."  She glanced next to Airazor's 
chamber, and saw Tigatron, in beast mode, sleeping next to it.  
She smiled.  "I'm sure that Tigatron's beast mode will appreciate 
not having to sleep on the floor anymore."  She thought for a 
moment.  "By the way, where's Skydive?"

"Breaking the news to Ironhide and Prowl," replied RATCHET.  
"He knew Silverbolt - he felt that he would be the best to break it 
to them."

Vixen's response was cut short as she heard the click of a gun 
immediately behind her head.  "Move an inch and I'll reduce your 
pretty little head to trace molecules," came a powerful, yet 
definitely female voice.

Looking up, RATCHET saw the comatose Decepticon that they 
had rescued from the aftermath of their recent battle (you 
remember Power Play, right?) very concious, and apparently 
none too happy.

"Excuse me, miss, but blowing off the heads of the people that 
saved your life isn't exactly a widely accepted way of saying 
thank you," RATCHET said calmly, beginning to walk towards the 
female.

"Not another step, or I'll shoot you too."

"Ah, but then you'll have to let her go -"

The female whipped up a second plasma cannon, identical to the 
first, and pointed it at RATCHET.  "I've got two," she said with a 
smirk.

"Hmmph.  So you do."  RATCHET stood in place.  "Mind me 
asking exactly who you are, and why you're so triggerhappy when 
you wake up in the morning?"

"The name is Nightdagger," snarled the female.  "And 
considering I have no idea who you people are, I'd say that a 
gratuitous amount of caution is warranted."

RATCHET saw that Tigatron had taken notice of the situation, 
and was silently sneaking up on Nightdagger.  "Well," he said, "I 
can assure you that our intentions are purely benevolent.  We're 
medics.  We found you on the battlefield and tended youur 
injuries.  We appropriately equipped you for life on this planet."

Nightdagger looked at him oddly.  "What planet?  What are you 
talking about?  Where am I?"

"Ask him."

Nightdagger turned her head.

Tigatron punched her in the face.

Nightdagger recoiled, but quickly recovered.  With liquid grace, 
she brought the twin plasma cannons around and fired them with 
pinpoint accuracy.  Tigatron sprung away from the blasts, but she 
had fired fast enough so that the blasts still clipped his left leg.  
He tumbled gracelessly to the floor, landing in a tangled heap.  
Nightdagger swiftly brought the cannons to bear on the now-
injured Tigatron and fired again.  Tigatron could not get up in 
time, but simply shoved himself backwards, out of the way of the 
blasts.

Scowling as her shots hit the floor, Nightdagger turned the 
cannons towards Tigatron again, who was only just getting up.  
Seeing her intent, he sprang towards her as she fired.  The shots 
went wild, and Tigatron landed on her hard, sending her to the 
floor.  She lost her grip on the plasma cannons, and they were 
sent spinning across the floor.  Vixen saw the chance, and 
quickly dived for one.  Nightdagger pushed Tigatron off of her, 
then swiftly lunged to her left and grabbed the first cannon.

She was about to turn to retrieve the second when a plasma 
blast hit her square in the back.  "The next one lands in your 
head, if you give me a reason," said Vixen, gripping the cannon 
with both hands.  She was lying, in truth - Vixen was lucky that 
she hit Nightdagger, and couln't boast sharpshooting skills even 
with her small crossbow, let alone the plasma cannon.  She 
hoped Nightdagger didn't call her bluff.  "Does it hurt?"

"Yes," replied Nightdagger, dropping the first cannon.

"Good," said Vixen with a satisfied air.  She walked over 
confidentally, and she and RATCHET helped Nightdagger back 
onto the bed.  "Now just rest."  She reached above Nightdagger's 
bed, and drew forth a small wire.  "This is a memory implanter.  
It's used to input nessecary information into the brains of patients 
who have suffered temporary or permanent amnesia.  It's not 
painful."  She opened a panel in the side of Nightdagger's head, 
and connected the wire.  "Just go to sleep."

Nightdagger reluctantly complied, shutting herself down.

Vixen flopped on a nearby bed.  "The thanks I get."

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Hours later...

The panel responded to the sudden and unexpected stimulus 
with a shower of sparks flying forth from the circuit board 
underneath, shooting straight up into Skyfall.  "Yeeagh!"  He 
stepped back.  "Rhinox, I think we've got a problem with the 
primary phase alignment shifters!  Turn down the voltage a little, 
and reroute the plasma flow through the bio-filter systems!"

"Got it!" shouted Rhinox.  With practiced speed, he set to 
realigning the systems that Skyfall believed had been giving him 
problems.  "There.  Okay, try it now."

With his fingers crossed, Skyfall once again tried to bring the 
ship's transporter system on-line.  It was a simple, standard test 
he was administering - bring the power up, then drop it back 
down.  The Maximals had been trying to get this system on-line 
for quite a while.  Razorbeast and Hamstor's unexpected 
disappearence slowed the effort, but now it seemed to be 
working fine...

Skyfall let out a whoop as the power sank back down.  "It works!  
We did it!"

The assembled engineers let out various hollers.  "Great!" 
shouted Stormcloud.  "So who's the first one to try it out?"

"Me," said Nightpounce, getting up onto the platform.  "Because 
of my Lasermaster abilities, my composition is sort of self-
cohesive, so if rematerialization begins to screw up, I've got a 
very high chance of staying alive."

Skyfall nodded.  "Okay.  I've set the coordinates for slightly away 
from the position of the Axalon - well, what used to be the 
Axalon.  If you get there okay, radio us and we'll beam you back."  
Nightpounce nodded.  "Okay... coordinates mapped... 
initializing..."

With a light blue sparkle, Nightpounce disappeared from sight.

"Good.  The teleporter's dematerialized her - it's sending her 
through the phase mapping sequencers... now she's being sent 
out..."  He frowned.

"What?" asked Rhinox.

"Something's wrong," replied Skyfall.  "Her powers are interfering 
with the transporter!  Some sort of interaction is causing the 
transporter to move dimensionally as well as spatially!"

"Get her out of there!" shouted Stormcloud.

"I can't!" replied Skyfall.  "I've gotten a lock on the coordinates, 
but I can only beam to the dimension, not back out!  I'm trying to 
pull her back..."  He suddenly drooped.  "I lost her.  She's 
rematerialized.  I can't get a lock on her again."

Silence settled over the room.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Nightpounce felt like she was being torn in two.

Something had gone wrong, she knew that much.  The 
transporter had malfunctioned.  She felt herself being yanked 
away from - from what?  She didn't know.  All she knew for sure 
was that she wanted it to end... now...

She rematerialized.

"I'm all right," she breathed, relieved.  Yet as she looked around, 
she knew something was amiss.  The landscape around her was 
not green and lush as it should have been.  It was black, 
scorched, and blasted.  As she turned, she saw something else 
that was wrong.  "The Axalon!"

Nightpounce was stunned with disbelief.  Hoping for an 
explanation, she hit her comm.  "Nightpounce to Starrunner, 
come in."  No response.  "Nightpounce to Stormcloud, come in."  
Still no response.  "Nightpounce to Dinobot, come in."

There, a response.  Dinobot's face came up, obviously confused.  
~Dinobot here,~  he said.  ~What's going on?  Who are you?~

"Dinobot?" gasped Nightpounce.  "You - you're not a Transmetal 
anymore!"

~I was never a Transmetal!~ shouted Dinobot.  ~Optimus!  I've 
received an extrememly odd comm message!  Presumably hos-~

Nightpounce terminated the transmission.  "What in Primus's 
name is going on here?" she wondered aloud.

A shot smashed into the ground next to her.  Turning, she saw 
three robots hurtling at her.  The first she recognized - it was 
Cheetor, looking the same as before.  The second looked like 
one of those mercenaries... what was his name?  Treadbolt?  
The third, she didn't recognize, but he reminded her of someone, 
she just couldn't remember who...

Cheetor swiftly landed, aiming his blasters at Nightpounce.  
"Freeze!" he shouted.

"Alright, alright, Cheetor, don't get all hostile!" shouted 
Nightpounce in return.  "Yeesh, you know who I am."

"I do?"  He looked confused.  "Should I?"

Nightpounce was confused now too.  "Treadbolt, is that you?"

"You are mistaken, my dear lady," said the Treadbolt lookalike 
with a condescending air.  "My name is Silverbolt.  Pure, fast, 
strong, and -"

"And IRRITATING, that's what!" barked the third one.  
Nighpounce suddenly realized who he was.

"Rattrap!" she shouted, astonished.  "B-b-but you're dead!"

"I am?"  He shrugged.  "News to me.  Now get moving towards 
the ship, Pred!"

Nighpounce slowly moved towards the ship.  More than likely, 
she could have taken on the three of them - she'd faced worse 
odds - but she was more interested in finding out what in 
Primus's name was going on...

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Juliet entered her quarters with a sigh.  She had just left 
Blackarachnia's staff meeting.  Juliet was having a great deal of 
difficulty deciding whether Blackarachnia's current leadership of 
the Predacons would amount to huge leaps forward, without 
being hindered by Megatron's solely personal ambitions, or if it 
would dissolve into a campaign of propaganda and self-
promotion.  "The Predacons are well on their way to domination," 
she had said, "and with me, we'll soon be masters of all we 
survey."

Pulling up a chair to her computer terminal, Juliet entered onto 
the Soundwave's computer network.  She entered her password, 
and smirked as she entered the main database.  Level 2 
clearence wasn't high enough to do everything, but pretty close.  
She waas thankful for that.  It made her job that much easier.

With practiced ease, she logged onto the Maximal Energy 
Signatures database.  Moving the open window to one side, she 
opened up the Predacon Energy Signatures database.  Using the 
signature transfer function, she quickly switched Retrax's 
signature from the Predacon database to the Maximal database.

[WARNING!!!  MAXIMAL ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED 
ON LEVEL 7, CORRIDOR 38!!!]

Juliet opened a view from the video camera inside Retrax's 
quarters.  The laser cannons present in the room had already 
opened fire on Retrax.  Unprepared for the assault, he was torn 
apart.  The lasers continued to fire, oblitherating him.  Shards of 
metal littered the room, and continued to be fired upon until 
Retrax was little more than a very dead pile of metallic dust.

Closing the viewer, Juliet transfered Retrax's signature back to 
the Predacon database. Then, shutting off the viewer, she 
entered the security log, and deleted the entry that had recorded 
her assassination of Retrax.

She calmly logged off.  Security would be down to his quarters in 
a few minutes, but they wouldn't find anything.  Juliet smiled.  
*Lucky me,* she thought.  *My secrets are safe once again...*

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"Someone here," snarled Dinobot, "is going to die."

"Calm down, Dinobot," said Rhinox, walking slowly towards the 
irate Maximal.  "We still have  a lock on Nightpounce's location.  
We can't beam her back, but we can still keep an eye on her.  
She's definitely alive."

"In fact, if you ask me," said Skydive with a slight grin, "you 
should be expressing your gratitude to us for making sure 
Nightpounce is still alive."

"Gratitude?"  An odd look came across Dinobot's face.  "Yes.  
Gratitude.  Let me express my gratitude."  He lunged forward 
with blinding speed, seized Skydive firmly by the neck, and 
hurled him against the floor.  "Do any of the rest of you wish to try 
and convince me that I should thank you?"

"Beating us up won't help, Dinobot," said Stormcloud with 
measured calmness.  "The only thing we can do now is try to 
devise a way of transporting Nightpounce back to our reality.  
We're fairly certain that the dimensional tear was caused by an 
unforseen interaction of her Lasermaster powers with the 
Starrunner's transporters."

"But you are no closer to finding a way to reverse the process."

"Well... sort of.  We just sent for Mercutio.  If anyone around here 
will have some idea of why this happened, it'll be him."

Dinobot looked quizzically around the room. "You trust 
Mercutio?"

"It'll be a cold day in Inferno first, Dinobot," said Skyfall.  "No, we 
don't trust him.  But like Stormcloud said, he's our best shot at 
figuring out what exactly happened."

"That is not an entirely sound plan."

"You got a better idea?"

Dinobot fumed.  The day - in fact, the entire week - was swiftly 
heading downhill.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Nightpounce sighed.  "Look, I already went over this once.  I'm a 
Maximal from a parallel dimension.  On our dimension, the 
Axalon was destroyed in battle and we now operate out of the 
Maximal flagship, the Starrunner.  We tried to get our 
transporters back on-line.  Something went wrong, and I was 
teleported across dimensions over here.  Understand?"

She was met with largely blank stares from the assembled 
Maximals.

Optimus finally spoke up.  "You'll have to understand if your story 
is a little hard to swallow."

"You're telling me.  My head hurts just trying to figure it out."

"Well, it seems like your dimension fared better than ours in the 
aftermath of the attack of the aliens," continued Optimus.  "Here, 
I died, and the quantum surge from the explosion of the planet 
destroyer completely vaped plant life in the area permanently, 
stabilized the energon crystals, and distorted some of our bodies, 
resulting in the Transmetals."

"I guess that's the big difference," replied Nightpounce.  "In our 
dimension, as far as I know, there was no quantum surge.  
Apparently, our aliens and your aliens have slightly different 
designers working for them."

Optimus's response was cut short as klaxxons blared to life 
across the ship.  "Predacons detected within perimeter," came 
the calm monotone of the computer.

"I knew it!  She was merely a decoy for a Predacon assault!"  
Dinobot drew his sword and advanced towards Nightpounce 
before Rhinox gripped him firmly by the shoulder.

"Knock it off, Dinobot," said Rhinox.  "If she was involved in the 
assault she would have attacked us by now.  She may not be 
telling us the whole truth, but she's definitely no Predacon."

Dinobot still glowered hard at Nightpounce.  She returned the 
glare.  They might have been lovers, but they were still 
immensely competitive.  It was almost a game to them: see 
which of them was better, stronger, faster, more honorable.  She 
had lost no practice.  This universe's Dinobot seemed not to 
need any.

"You two going to lock gazes all day, or are you going to do 
something about our immediate problem?" asked Rattrap 
cynically.  He grabbed a gun and pumped it threateningly.

Optimus hit the button at the console, and the hatch of the 
Axalon descended, bringing the seven Maximals to ground level.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"My Queen!" shouted Inferno towards Megatron.  "My long-range 
scanners detect seven Maximals instead of six!"

"Hmm... could Tigatron or Airazor returned without my 
knowledge?"  Megatron let the thought roll around in his head for 
a while.  Since he had lost the golden disks, he had not had 
nearly as much knowledge of the future, and things were 
beginning to escape his notice...

"The seventh Maximal is not one we are aware of, Royalty!" 
shouted Inferno in response as he let loose a strafing wave of 
fire.

"How is that possible?!?" shouted Megatron.  "Tarantulas!  You 
said you had detected no recent stasis pod activity!  How could 
the Maximals have obtained a new warrior without a stasis pod?"

"I don't know!" replied Tarantulas.  *But I'd love to find out,* he 
thought silently to himself.

*Incompotent fool.*  "Inferno, move in and take the new Maximal 
out!"

"At once, my Queen!"  Inferno gave a snappy salute, then leaped 
towards the Maximals, firing away.

Nightpounce looked up and saw Inferno coming.  "Not in this 
lifetime," she muttered, and swiftly erected a forcefield to block 
Inferno's firepower.  Inferno looked suprised.  Undaunted, he 
flipped a switch on his massive weapon, and let forth a stream of 
flame, intending to scorch Nightpounce.  Nightpounce sighed as 
the flames scorched her forcefield harmlessly, then released a 
powerful torrent of energy in Inferno's direction.  THe massive 
warrior dropped from the sky and fell hard to the ground.

Tarantulas took a safe position behind a rock and continued to 
fire upon the Maximals.  *No sense in risking my life when 
everyone else is so eager to,* he thought.  As he continued to lay 
down a wide spread of fire, he was suddenly interrupted by a 
gentle tapping on his shoulder.  He turned.

"Let's have no more of that, now," said Rattrap with a smug grin 
as he smacked Tarantulas hard across the face.  The spider fell 
into unconciousness.

Megatron surveyed the battlefield.  Th e battle was going poorly 
for his side.  Rhinox was busy preforrating Quickstrike.  Dinobot 
and Cheetor were already making short work of Waspinator.  He 
was about to call the order to retreat when Optimus slammed into 
him with a flying tackle.

Optimus drove a vicous punch towards Megatron's head.  With 
lightning reflexes, Megatron shoved Optimus off of him, then took 
careful aim with his arm cannon.  Before he could fire, Optimus 
had already moved and drawn his pistol.  The two leaders faced 
each other like this for a few moments - each waiting for the 
other to make a move - before Megatron fired as he sprang to 
one side, transformed, and took off towards the sky.  
"Predacons, RETREAT!"

The Predacons hastily pulled back.  "Come on, don't go without a 
little something to remember us with!" shouted Rattrap, taking a 
few parting shots at Waspinator.  The Predacon, still in robot 
mode, smashed hard against a nearby rockface as the shots 
clipped his wings.  He exploded into a mess of flame and metal, 
and the faint sound of "Wazzpinator hate Maximalzzz!" could be 
heard echoing back.

Nightpounce smiled as she watched.  "Apparently, some things 
are constant in every universe."

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"I should have known," moaned Mercutio as he strode into the 
room, head in his hands.  "I leave you people alone with the 
greatest gift anyone has ever given you, and within ten minutes, 
you've managed to screw things up."

"Can the sarcasm, Mercutio," snapped Stormcloud.  "We've got 
more pressing matters than your over-enlarged ego."  He 
gestured towards the control panel.  "We need to at least 
reestablish contact with Nightpounce - at the very least to find out 
what in Primus's name is going on wherever she is."

"Well, somebody's in a bad mood today," snorted Mercutio.  
"What's wrong, Dives?  The bug up your butt has a bug up its 
butt?"

Rhinox swiftly rose to his feet, grasped Mercutio by the neck, and 
smashed him against the wall.  "Let's get something straight, 
Mercutio.  You're not on anyone's favorite person list.  You not 
eveen on most people's acceptable person list.  You might have 
been some hot slag back when you were an Emissary, but now 
that's gone.  Keep pissing people off and acting like you're still 
master of the universe, and sooner or later you're going to get 
yourself killed.  Work with us, and maybe you might just make 
some friends."

Mercutio looked around the room, and saw the glaring, untrusting 
stares directed at him by the other Maximals.  An odd sensation 
began to emerge in him.  It took him a few minutes to realize that 
he was actually feeling bad about something.  "I apologize," he 
half-mumbled to Rhinox.  Rhinox released the former Emissary, 
and Mercutio sheepishly approached Stormcloud.

"All right," said Mercutio, trying to act calm as if nothing had 
happened.  "Let's see about getting that communicator working."

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Silverbolt walked towards Nightpounce.  "Are you unharmed?  I 
understand that you must be somewhat shaken up at this point.  
A beautiful woman such as yourself should not be forced to face 
off against such vile creatures.  If you wish to talk, I will do my 
best to -"

"Oh, for the love of God, shut up," sighed Nightpounce.  
"Compared to all the battlefield  experience I have going for me, 
you aren't even an amateur.  So can the 'noble protector' crap, 
I'm not interested."

Taken aback, Silverbolt remained silent for a moment.  "I take it 
this sort of thing happens a lot on your world."

"With about twelve more combatants on either side, yeah."

~...pounce?~

Nightpounce jerked her wrist up with lightning speed when she 
heard the spattering half-word come out of her communicator.  
"This is Nightpounce.  Who is this?"  The comm's imaging 
portion still displayed nothing but static.

~Thank Primus.  We reached you.  It's me, Stormcloud.~

The smile that spread across Nightpounce's face attracted 
immediate attention from the other Maximals.  "What's the deal, 
Night?" asked Cheetor.  "You win the lottery or something?"

"Better," she replied.  "I just got back in  touch with my own 
dimension."

~Nightpounce?  You still there?~

"You bet, Dives," she said, turning her attention back to the 
communicator.  "Do you guys have any idea what the hell 
happened?"

~Sort of.  Near as we can tell, your Lasermaster powers severely 
interfered with the transporter's systems.  We're still working on a 
way to be able to lock on to your coordinates in that dimension.  
What's going on over there, anyhow?~

"Same old war," replied Nightpounce, "just fewer targets."  She 
sighed.  "Look, we're heading back to the Axalon.  Maybe we can 
establish a more stable communications link in there, and we can 
all try to figure out how to get me back."

~Gotcha.  I'll close this line and contact you again in fifteen 
cycles.~  With that, the communication line snapped off, and 
Nightpounce shut off her communicator.

"Okay, guys, let's get going," she said as she strode towards the 
Axalon.  "Between all of us, we should be able to figure out a way 
of getting me back to my dimension... and I, for one, am looking 
forward to that."

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Rhinox finished placing the last probe on the transporter pad.  He 
glanced at Mercutio.  "Are you sure these will go to the same 
dimension as Nightpounce is in?"

Mercutio nodded.  "As long as they're encased in the energy 
sheath, and as long as you beam them to the same location you 
were teleporting Nightpounce to.  I think I know what they 
interfered with, so if I'm right, the dimensional sliding was very 
specific."

"Alright, I'm setting in the coordinates now," said Skyfall.  With 
the press of a button, he powered up the transporter.  The five 
probes vanished with a gentle light and a soft humm.

"I'm getting the same results as before," he said.  "Probes are 
sliding out of this dimension... going... going... gone."  He 
smirked.  "Data is being transmitted.  The probes are away."

"Good," said Stormcloud, sitting at a computer.  "If we can get 
some information on this planet and this dimension, it could be 
much easier to get Nightpounce out of this other dimension."

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

ONE WEEK LATER

Nightpounce had been living in the dimension for a week, and 
had begun to become accustomed to it.  The crew had converted 
an unused area of the ship into temporary quarters for her.  
Every day, her, Rattrap, and Rhinox set to work, trying to build a 
device that could meet the Starrunner's transporter halfway, 
catching her mid-teleport and pulling her back to her true 
dimension.  With the help of Stormcloud, Mercutio, and Skyfall, 
they were making amazing progress.

Although she missed her own crewmates, Nightpounce had 
become part of the crew of this dimension.  In fact, she had 
actually become much closer to the crew.  She never had 
realized the things she had had in common with Optimus, or 
Cheetor, or even Rhinox.  And Rattrap... seeing Rattrap again 
was like seeing an old friend again after a long absence.

The only thing that worried her was Dinobot.  Deep down, both 
dimensions had the same Dinobot, and the attraction that had 
existed between Nightpounce and Dinobot was present here as 
well.  Nightpounce actively tried to push Dinobot away in this 
dimension.  She didn't want to wind up hurting him.  But it was 
difficult.  So difficult, in fact, that Nightpounce sometimes had 
trouble succeeding.

One night, both Nightpounce and Dinobot were posted as 
sentries for the night together.  Nightpounce was certain that 
Cheetor and Rattrap would find it hillarious.  Maybe they'd find it 
less amusing if she found her own ways to torture them.

"How serious are you?" asked Dinobot suddenly.

Nightpounce looked up as if she had just been stabbed.  "What?"

"Don't think me a fool, Nightpounce," said Dinobot very calmly.  
"You're attracted to me, and I know it.  You know that I'm 
attracted to you.  And I know that you keep pushing me away.  
So... how serious are you and..."  He stumbled over the words.  
"My counterpart."

Nightpounce paused before answering.  "Very," she finally 
answered.  "We've considered marriage a few times."

Dinobot nodded.  "It must be hard for you... not being with him."

"Yes."  Nightpounce swallowed painfully.  "It is."

Neither of them said another word until after the night was over.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"How do you do that?" asked Mercutio, sounding slightly peeved.

"Do what?" asked Stormcloud, genuinely confused.  He pushed 
his chair away from the computer terminal he sat at and stared 
intently at Mercutio, waiting for an answer.

"Not sleep," replied Mercutio.  He dropped down from the ceiling 
and transformed, staring at Stormcloud.  "I've been trying to 
avoid that irritating habit since I became a Transformer.  It's so... 
wasteful.  Spending eight megacycles not doing anything."

"Oh.  I don't know how I do it.  Sort of reminds me of my job back 
on Cybertron."

"How so?"

"Kept the same hours.  Buy some energon, sit down at the 
computer, and don't leave until you've hacked through the 
system or you're dead."

Mercutio nodded.  "Well then, O Stormy Boy, tell me - has your 
obsession with sleep deprivation gotten us any closer to getting 
Nightpounce out of the alternate dimension?"

"Yes, it has."  Stormcloud gave Mercutio a long, level stare.  
"You're starting to sound like my wife."

"Don't flatter yourself.  You aren't THAT attractive."

Shrugging, Stormcloud turned on the probe broadcast receiver, 
checking through the data.  He saw a pattern suddenly begin to 
emerge, and Mercutio saw his countenance visibly darken.  
"Mercutio, go set up a projection of events with the current probe 
geographical data."

With a swift nod, Mercutio headed to a free computer terminal 
and set up the program.  He watched as the projection played on, 
fairly normally -

And then the planet began to explode.

Mercutio watched in horror as the planet slowly and steadly tore 
open, spewing vents of puure energon into the sky.  He checked 
the timescale of the simulation.  The whole process, from the 
beginning to when the planet exploded in a mass of lava and 
energon, seemed likely to take around two megacycles.

Stormcloud looked over at Mercutio and saw the stark terror on 
his face.

"Yeah," he said, the fear evident in his voice, "that's the result I 
got, too."

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Optimus could not believe his ears.  "You're saying our planet's 
going to explode?"

~Yes,~ replied Stormcloud over the interdimensional 
communicator.  ~According to our probes, your planet will be 
completely oblitherated in two and a half megacyycles, maybe a 
little more.~

Nobody in the command room spoke for a moment.  "This is 
madness!" bellowed Dinobot, enraged.  "It simply cannot be!  
Nowhere on the disks does it predict this!"

Rattrap gave Dinobot a sidelong glance.  "Disks?"

Nightpounce ignored both Rattrap and Dinobot.  "Stormcloud, is 
there any way you can get this crew out of here?"

~Nope.  The transporters are failing - it's going to really strain 
them just to get you back here.  I doubt it can handle two people 
or more.~

Before Optimus could respond, the control console beeped an 
incoming communication.  "Primal here," he said out of instinct 
as he opened the line.

~Primal, thank Primus,~ came the voice of Tigatron.  ~Some sort 
of energon geysers seem to be erupting around here - they could 
kill us.  They've already cut off our escape routes.  I don't know 
what's happening... it's as if the planet were dying.~

"I can teleport there and back in maybe five cycles," said 
Nightpounce, preparing to access her powers.

~No... it would be suicide.  Airazor and I have each other... that's 
enough for this planet's children to have in the instants before 
they die.  Farewell, my comrades... may the paths lead you to 
fortune.~

"Tigatron, no!" shouted Primal.  "Tigatron!  Answer me!  
TIGATRON!"

There was a sudden noise in the background of the 
communication.  A roar pierced the background, and the 
communication suddenly snapped off in a sharp hiss.

"My God," breathed Silverbolt.

"Looks like you'll get a chance to talk to him about that in person, 
pal," said Rattrap.

Optimus said nothing for a moment.  "How can we get 
Nightpounce home?" he asked finally.

~We're still working on that - but we have a feeling that the 
device we have assembled thus far can filter the signal through 
and beam Nightpounce home.  It's sort of risky, though, but it 
doesn't look like we have much choice.~

"Primus," breathed Rattrap.  "We're all gonna die."

Rattrap waited for his comrades to tell him to shut up.  It did not 
happen.  *Damn,* he thought.  *I was right.*

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"This is a really dumb plan, Nightpounce," said Cheetor as he, 
Nightpounce, and Silverbolt streaked towards the Soundwave.  
"REALLY dumb."

"In the words of the immortal, Cheetor, SHUT UP!" snapped 
Nightpounce.  "I'm not going to have the deaths of six 
Transformers on my conscience - even if they ARE better off 
dead."

"In all honesty, Nightpounce, I'm not sure what you want to 
accomplish by this," said Silverbolt, banking closer to 
Nightpounce.  "The Predacons can't get off the planet, either -"

"Truth be told, Silverbolt, I just want to give them a chance for 
some final pennance of their own," replied Nightpounce.  
"Everyone who lives here is soon going to die - I'd like the 
Predacons to at least have the advance notice."

The three Maximals landed, Silverbolt and Cheetor transforming 
as they came down.  "Yeah, well, don't expect me not to tell you 'I 
told you so' when they start heaving flak at us," muttered Cheetor 
as the three of them walked towards the base.

"Maximals," said Megatron with a sinister grin.  "What a pleasent 
suprise."  He walked out of the Soundwave in robot mode, 
flanked by Inferno and Blackarachnia.  "Unfortunately, I have a 
feeling I can rule out this being a purely social call."

Nightpounce swallowed hard.  "I'm going to keep this short, 
Megatron.  This planet is dying.  In maybe two hours at most, we 
will all be nothing more than trace atoms.  I wanted to give you 
and the other Predacons a chance to maybe seek final 
redemption..."

Megatron's countenance visibly darkened.  "Indeed.  It is to be 
mourned... but I will rest more easily knowing that even you will 
not survive this."  He motioned to Blackarachnia.

"You can't hurt us, Megatron.  I've got a forcefield erected at the 
moment.  You so much as -"

Blackarachnia drew forth a small device and hit a button on it.  A 
neural inhibitor field projected itself out in a wide swath, 
smashing into Cheetor, Nightpounce, and Silverbolt.  The brains 
of the three Transformers suddenly shut down, leaving them 
unconcious on the ground.

Megatron smiled.  "Come, my Predacons.  Let us revel in our 
sacrifical victory... while we have the chance."

The three Predacons returned to the inside of the Soundwave.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Dinobot slammed his fist down on the command console.  "What 
in the name of the five Pits is going on?" he shouted.  
"Nightpounce should be back by now.  Where is she?"

"I don't know," said Optimus.  "We won't be here much longer - 
she'd better hurry up."

Dinobot looked at Optimus.  "Optimus, I must go and find her."

"No way, Dinobot.  We need you here - that's an order -"

"An honorable warrior knows when to follow orders, and when to 
disobey them," said Dinobot sharply.  Smashing down the button, 
he lowered the Axalon's platform, then leaped out of the Axalon 
towards the ground.  Converting to raptor mode, he dashed 
towards the Soundwave.

"Dinobot, no!" shouted Optimus.  He knew Dinobot was already 
out of range.  For reasons even he could not discern, he 
somehow smiled.

"Dammit, Dinobot, you'll never obey me, will you?" he said to 
himself.

Dinobot continued running resolutely.  *I must find her,* he 
thought.  *Can't let her die... not now, not when she's so close to 
getting home -*

"Hey, Chopperface, slow up!"

Dinobot screeched to a halt.  Leaping into the air, he 
transformed, twisting around and coming down to see Rattrap 
rocketing towards him.

Rattrap screeched to a stop next to Dinobot.  "What in Primus's 
name were you thinkin', Chopperface?  You think I'm gonna let 
you run out there and grab all the glory?  You got another thing 
coming!  Get on my back and we'll both get there faster."

"Thank you, vermin," said Dinobot.  He immediately regretted the 
vermin part.

"WhatEVER, birdbrain.  Just GET on and HOLD on!"

Dinobot jumped on Rattrap's back.  Revving his engine, Rattrap 
streaked towards the Soundwave.  *You had better appreciate 
this, Nightpounce,* he thought to himself.  *Being a dead hero 
isn't exactly my idea of a long-term career gig.*

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The Soundwave was pitched forward.  "What in the Inferno was 
that?" bellowed Megatron.

Inferno lunged over to check a status screen.  "The rear of the 
ship has been destroyed by some sort of energon geyser, my 
queen!"

"So... the Maximal was telling the truth.  Come on!  We have to 
get out of here."  Megatron sprang out of his chair.  Inferno and 
Waspinator flanked him.  The three of them ran full-bore towards 
the door.

Quickstrike heard Megatron's cry, and sprang to his feet.  
Glancing to one side, he saw Blackarachnia standing behind a 
tall column of equipment.  "Sugarbot, come on!" he called.  "The 
boss gave the order to move out."  He quirked an eyebrow.  
"What are you doing, anyways?"

"I'm - unh - pushing this - ergh - down!" came the reply.

Quickstrike's eyes widened.  "But - but if you do that, then it's all 
gonna fall on m-"

The tall column came crashing down.  Quickstrike watched with 
stark horror as the piles engulfed him.  Sharp instruments 
rammed through his body, and he felt himself pinned to the floor.  
More equipment fell, and the pressure on his frame was too 
much.  The metal cracked, shattered, and gave way, his organic 
half tearing apart with a sickening crack.  The weight bore down 
on his central core, and the core exploded, leaving him a dead, 
crushed mess.

"Gee, you catch on quick," said Blackarachnia cynically as she 
lept down.  "Sorry, Quickstrike - but not too sorry."  Reaching into 
the pile of gadgets that covered Quickstrike's corpse, 
Blackarachnia grabbed his snake arm and tore it lose.  Snapping 
it open, she grabbed the quadrolithium inside and smiled.  
Snatching a small device, she shoved the cystal and the device 
into her subspace pocket, then ran outside.

Megatron turned as he heard Blackarachnia approach.  
"Blackarachnia.  Where is Quickstrike?"

Blackarachnia smiled evily.  "Inside.  But I wouldn't wait up for 
him.  He won't be joining us."

Realizing the implication of Blackarachnia's words, Megatron 
gaped.  "Quickstrike... my God, Blackarachnia, what have you 
done?"

"I've done the world a favor," replied Blackarachnia.  "I intend to 
do myself another."  Without warning, she pulled out her 
lauuncher, and fired her grappling line onto one of the rock 
spires.  Leaping up, she swung away from the other Predacons, 
then landed and dashed away.

"TRAITOR!!!" screamed Megatron.

A roaring explosion ripped through the air behind the three 
Predacons.  Whirling around, they saw the Soundwave 
completely gone, replaced by a massive column of energon, 
lashing out towards the sky.  The force of the blast knocked the 
three back forcefully.  Megatron stood, then transformed to rotor 
mode and tried to fly.  "Damn!  My engine must have been 
damaged.  Waspinator, fly me out of here."

Waspinator shook his head as another geyser erupted next to 
them.  "I don't think so.  Wazzpinator is not getting slagged for 
you anymore!"  With a mighty leap, Waspinator turned and 
transformed, then flew away.

"You idiot!" shouted Megatron.  "Get back here!"

"Wazzpinator may be idiot, but he live idiot!" came the reply.  
"Deal with own problems, Megatron!"

"Damn that fool," cursed Megatron.  He turned to Inferno.  
"Inferno, get me out of here."

Inferno gave Megatron a long, level glare.  "I think not."

"What do you mean 'I think not'?  You mindless, blabbering 
bootlick!  Fly me out of here!"

Another geyser erupted to another side.  "My Queen... it is time 
for me to go and find my own fortune.  I can no longer protect the 
Colony.  The Colony has been destroyed.  You are no longer the 
Royalty."  Inferno leaped skyward and began flying away.

"Inferno, NO!!!"

It did no good.  Megatron was alone.

He was surrounded by geysers now.  "No - no!  This cannot be!  I 
cannot die alone!  I am Megatron!  I am the leader of the 
Predacons!  My power is absolute!  No one can stand against 
me!  I cannot die!  I AM INVINCIBLE!"

The ground beneath Megatron erupted beneath him.  White-hot 
energon poured forth, bursting through his armor.  It ate through 
to his center and vaporized his neural net.  The mighty Predacon 
leader dissolved into trace elements.

Dinobot and Rattrap screeched to a halt.  "Nightpounce!" shouted 
Dinobot, leaping off of Rattrap and dashing towards Nightpounce.  
"Can you hear me?"

"Yeah," came a weak reply as Nightpounce came to her senses.  
"When I get my hands on Blackarachnia, I'm gonna -"

"No time for that, Night!" shouted Rattrap.  "We've got the whole 
freaking planet exploding around us, and Inferno looks to be 
coming in for the kill!"

Dinobot, Nightpounce, and the now-awakened Cheetor and 
Silverbolt jerked around.  Inferno flew towards them, 
flamethrower at the ready.  "As a last service to this world, 
Maximals... YOU WILL BUUUUUUUUURN!!!"

"Nightpounce, teleport out of here," said Silverbolt, drawing his 
wing missiles.  "I'll hold Inferno back."

"Not by yourself," added Dinobot.  He drew his sword.

Nightpounce gaped.  "Silverbolt... Dinobot... dammit, I'm not 
going to have you sacrifice your lives for me!"

"In about half an hour, our lives are forfeit anyways!" shouted 
Silverbolt in response.  "Get out of here!  You've got to survive!"

Nightpounce took a long, hard look at Dinobot.  She knew that he 
wasn't her Dinobot... wasn't the Dinobot that she had been in so 
close a relationship with... but it was still just as painful to know 
he was going to die for her.

"Snap out of it, lady!" snapped Rattrap.  "We don't have the time 
for this!  Get that portal opened!"

Nightpounce pulled herself back to the situation at hand.  "Right."  
With a moment of concentration, she tore open a small glowing 
portal.  Cheetor and Rattrap leaped through.  Nightpounce 
lingered a moment longer, then leaped in after them.

Silverbolt looked at Dinobot.  "Do you think they'll make it?"

"I believe so," he replied.  "I'd hate to think we were dying for 
nothing."

Inferno swooped lower.  Dinobot crouched low, then sprang into 
the air, sword high.  Silverbolt pulled his arms back, his missiles 
ready.  "Until all are one!" cried the two Maximals in unison.

The valley that the Soundwave had rested in exploded.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Nightpounce, Rattrap, and Cheetor sprang out of the portal.  "By 
Primus," said Cheetor, looking around.  Energon geysers had 
erupted in various places since the three of them had left.  "We'd 
better get to the Axalon, and quick!"

"Done," said Nightpounce.  With another surge of power, she 
encased the three of them in an energy bubble, lifting them off 
the ground and sending them flying towards the Axalon.

As they got closer, they saw that the place had erupted in 
combat.  Waspinator and Blackarachnia had taken up a secure 
position, and were raining fire down upon Rhinox and Optimus 
with an array of weapons they must have had hidden 
somewhere.  Rhinox looked up as the bubble drew closer.  
"Nightpounce!  Thank Primus.  Get in the ship, quickly.  We don't 
have much time left!"

Cheetor looked at the scene.  "Nightpounce, let me out here."

"But -"  Nightpounce stumbled for the words.

"I'll get killed.  I know.  Look, Big Bot and Rhinox can't hold out 
much longer.  I can give them enough firepower to make sure 
you get inside and get home."

Nightpounce gave a cry.  "Cheetor, I'm just another Maximal!  I'm 
not important enough to die for!"

"Yes, you are!  Nightpounce, this isn't your planet, and this 
shouldn't be your problem.  We've got to get you home.  There's 
nothing else left to live or die for here.  You've got a chance to 
live on.  Don't throw it away."

There was a pause.  "All right," said Nightpounce.  She carefully 
lowered Cheetor in his own bubble towards the ground as she 
and Rattrap came down next to the Axalon's entrance.

Cheetor took up a position next to Optimus and Rhinox.  "Hey, 
Big Bot," he said with a sheepish grin.  "Room for the Golden 
Rocket?"

Optimus grinned back.  "You're a good Maximal, Cheetor."

The geysers ripped through the ground nearby as the three 
Maximals continued firing.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Rattrap and Nightpounce ran through the corridors of the ship as 
they approached the location of the teleportation booster.  
"According to the readout, this area of the planet has ten cycles 
left before it blows up," said Rattrap grimly.

"I see the cargo hold up ahead!" shouted Nightpounce.  The two 
turned and dashed for the hold.

Tarantulas stepped in front of them.

They screeched to a halt.  "Nice try, Maximals, but it's the end of 
the road," said Tarantulas sinisterly.  "I'm getting off this planet, 
not you.  The only way you're getting out of here is over my dead 
-"

Shrugging, Nightpounce and Rattrap both raised their guns and 
unleashed their firepower upon Tarantulas.  The twin assault 
riddled his frame with holes and scorch marks.  Eventually, the 
combined force of the blows destroyed him completely.  He 
exploded into an assortment of body parts.

"Funny," said Rattrap half-jokingly.  "I thought that was 
Waspinator's trick."

Nightpounce opened the doors of the hold.  She and Rattrap 
walked in, and she got on the transport pad.

"Alright, I've sent the message to Stormcloud," said Rattrap.  
"Initializing the booster..."

Nightpounce watched as parts of the ship were ripped away by 
new geysers.  Rattrap stood there, unmoving.  "Good luck," he 
said.  "Remember us..."

Lunging forward, Nightpounce grabbed ahold of Rattrap.  
"Nightpounce, what are you doing?!?!?" he exclaimed as she 
yanked him onto the platform.  "Both of us could screw up the 
transporter - we could be transported to another dimension 
altogether!"

"I'm not letting anyone else die today!" she shouted.

Rattrap and Nightpounce dematerialized.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The core of the planet surged outward.

Energon, unstable and powerful, ripped forth from the core.  
Geysers exploded even more ferociously, consuming the Axalon 
and everything around it.  The columns of energon tore through 
the atmosphere, ripping it away.

The core surged again, more powerfully.  A wave travelled 
outward from the core, vaporizing the planet from the inside out.  
With a final burst, the energon tore loose, oblitherating the 
planet's surface.  A massive explosion tore forth, and the planet 
was consumed by the raging forces.

There was nothing left of that world but a single moon, hovering 
in space, like a dog waiting patiently for its dead master to wake 
up.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"I'm getting two patterns here!" shouted Skyfall.  "Nightpounce 
apparently is going for broke and brough along a passanger!"

"Damn!" shouted Stormcloud.  "Rhinox, reroute the pattern 
scanners through the auxiliary backup!  Skydive, draw as much 
power as you can from the main generators!  Mercutio, try to get 
the auxiliary generators on-line and providing us power!"

The room exploded in a flurry of action.  "Auxiliary generators are 
on-line!  We're drawing their power!" shouted Mercutio.

"I'm getting all I can from the main generator!" shouted Skydive.

"Pattern scans are being rerouted, but I'm not sure if the backup 
will hold!" Rhinox shouted to Stormcloud.

"They'll have to hold!" shouted Stormcloud in reply.

Skyfall's fingers danced across the transporter's control pad.  
"Heat levels are rising dangerously high!  Pattern lock is 
destabilizing!  I'm not sure if I can hold on to them!"

With a push of his chair, Stormcloud slid over to another 
terminal.  "I'm filtering in coolant!  Mercutio, try to deactivate the 
biofilter systems!"

Mercutio worked furiously at the controls.  *Deactivate, you stupid 
hunk of slag, DEACTIVATE!*  The system refused to cooperate.  
With a growl, Mercutio rammed his fist through the control panel.  
The system sputtered and died.  "Deactivated," he said with a 
sigh.

With a sputter and wheeze, the transporter gave a last burst of 
energy.  Nightpounce and Rattrap flickered for a moment, then 
rematerialized and tumbled to the floor.

The room burst into sparks.  Control panels shorted out and 
sparks erupted forth from the equipment.  Smoke flowed into the 
room, and panels burst.  The smoke mixed with coolant to create 
a cold, white smoke throughout the room.

"The bad news," groaned Stormcloud, "is that the transporter is 
toasted for good."

"The good news," moaned Nightpounce, "is that I'm home."  She 
turned to Rattrap.  "Are you okay?"

Rattrap glared at her.  "Okay?  My planet just exploded, my 
friends all just died, and YOU'RE ASKING IF I'M OKAY?!?!?  
YEAH!!!  NEVER BETTER!!!  I'M JUST FREAKING PEACHY!!!"

Rhinox looked up.  "Rattrap?"

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Stormcloud sighed as he walked down the hall.  It had been a 
long week.  They had finally gotten Nightpounce home... but the 
process completely fried the transporter for good.  Two of the 
auxiliary generators were burnt-out, too.  All in all, the repairs 
would take quite a while to effect.  And then there was this 
Nightdagger...  Vixen and RATCHET had managed to more or 
less rehabilitate her, but she was still somewhat dangerous.  
Stormcloud shook his head.  The world was just getting stranger 
every minute...

"Hey, Dives!"

Stormcloud whirled around.  "Rattrap?  How did you -"

"Eh, well, my personality file was destroyed when the Axalon 
exploded, but my last memory recording wasn't.  So, up until 
about two days before the Decepticons attacked, I've got a full 
memory... and the rest I was filled in on."

"So... basically, you're the same old Rattrap."

"Yep.  Back to life."

"Great," sighed Stormcloud.  "Just when I thought I was finally rid 
of you."

"Hey, don't go taking that tone with ME, bird-boy!  Apparently, I've 
got a score to settle with you.  You may have beaten me on 
Robot Wars before, but now you've got another dimension's 
Rattrap!  I bet it's time you received your long-overdue butt-
whipping!"

Stormcloud smiled broadly.  "Yeah?  I doubt it."

Rattrap glared at him.  "You wanna make a bet?"

"The winner gets to make the loser sing the 'Titanic' song over 
the intercom."

"You're on."

Still smiling, Stormcloud walked down the hall, Rattrap next to 
him.  "Hope you saw that movie a lot, Rattrap..."

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"Nightpounce?"

Suprised, Nightpounce whirled around.  "Dinobot," she said, 
relieved.  "Don't sneak up on me.  One of these days I'll shoot 
first."

"I doubt that," said Dinobot.  He sat down next to her.  "Is 
something wrong?"

"Why?"

Dinobot cleared his throat.  "Well... lately, you seem to have been 
avoiding me a lot.  If you want time alone, that's fine, but I would 
like to know why."

Nightpounce looked at her lover.  "No.  It's not that I want time 
alone, really... it's just..."  She started over.  "Look, Dinobot, I saw 
something... something about you... that I'd never really realized 
before.  I still care about you just as much, but... it was a difficult 
revelation for me.  I just wanted some time to think."

"All right," said Dinobot, getting up.  "I'll give you your time.  If you 
want to talk about it... I'm here."

"I know," replied Nightpounce.  "Thank you."

Dinobot turned and left her quarters.  The door closed behind 
him with a gentle swish.

Nightpounce sat for a few moments more, then stood and walked 
over to a shelf.  On that shelf, she kept her military 
commendations.  Multiple awards for her work as tactical adviser 
to the Maximal leader... two awards of distinction from the 
Cybertronian War Academy... and the last, most sentimental 
award.

She picked it up and looked at it.  It was not an official award, 
really, so much as a memoir.  It was a small plaque, which had 
inscribed on it:

TO NIGHTGROUND
TWENTY YEARS OF SERVICE
YOU SHALL BE MISSED

She still thought back to the days before she became a 
Maximal... back when she worked in the bar.  The day she left for 
the War Academy, Jackpot had given it to her.  "To have 
something to look back upon," he said.

She smiled in spite of herself.  *Can't dwell on the past, 
Nightpounce.  You're home now.  Deal with it.*

Slowly, she walked out of the door.  "Dinobot!"

He stopped and turned around.  "What?"

"I think I'm feeling better now," she said, walking up to him.  
"Come on."

"Come on?  What do you mean?"

"Well... as I recalled, we were going to have that picnic that 
Grimlock interrupted the day I slid.  So... care to try this again?"

He smiled.  "Why not?"

The two walked down the hall together.