Code of Honor
Part 1: Transtermite
Chapter 2
By: Master Solo
“Priority
alert!” The Predacon computer interrupted Megatron, who was following Rampage
and Inferno’s progress. “Seismic activity uncovered stasis pod in Grid
Deltron! Coordinates 9, 1, 7.”
The purple Predacon
leader wasted no time in delivering the news and implied orders to his loyal
ant, Inferno.
Rampage gave the
flying Inferno a jealous glare as he rumbled along the difficult desert in
vehicle mode. Suddenly, red bot reduced his flying to a hover and hit the comm
button. The conversation was fast and difficult to follow, save the last line
and a set of coordinates.
“Then you will
have the stasis pod, my queen. For the glory of the colony!” Inferno screamed
fanatically before blasting off toward the given coordinates, leaving Rampage
behind. For a moment, the crab regarded the ant. There was no fear or pain for
him to feed on, only fanaticism and stupidity.
“Where is the bug
going?” The puzzled, tank-like crab tumbled after the flyer.
Silverbolt landed on
the damaged peak and clawed at his comm. “Dinobot, Rattrap, are you alright?
Come in.” He was rewarded with jamming static but then heard something that
resembled a faint grunt in the distance and looked up. He scanned the terrain in
search of his teammates, but his eyes met a flyer instead. A close-up view
revealed the flyer to be Inferno, who was flying toward something in a hurry.
“Inferno! And he
is headed for my comrades!” The alarmed Silverbolt dove into the sky after
Inferno and spread his powerful, formidable wings.
The stasis pod
glowed with energy and spewed sparks in random directions. Inferno transformed
into beast mode and cautiously moved to the half-buried, sparking pod. With a
bare nudge from the Predacon ant, the pod broke free of the earth and the hatch
opened to release a deranged, transmetal bug.
“Welcome to the
colony! My queen will be pleased! I will stand again at the royalty’s side!”
Inferno exclaimed as a maniac smile spread over his simple features. The fire
ant began to contact his ‘queen’ when a pair of green laser beams shot into
the sky and interrupted him. The ant, simple-minded as he was, knew the source
of the lasers.
“BURN, traitor of
the colony!” The Predacon transformed into robot mode and unleashed a string
of flames in the direction of the attack. Fortunately for the Maximals, the fire
only met the tip of a blade before one of Silverbolt’s exploding feathers
caught Inferno in the midsections and threw the bug several meters back.
“Back off,
villain!” Silverbolt slowed to a hover and landed. “Megatron will not twist
this innocent to his dark designs. I will not allow it.” The fuzor’s
mirror-like armor reflected almost enough sunlight to blind the human eye,
giving him the appearance of the hero with the golden aura.
“You will be too
busy burning to prevent it!” Inferno shot back and unleashed a second volley
of fire. Silverbolt, in response, leapt into the air and transformed into beast
mode, startling Inferno. He then dug his talons into Inferno’s fragile hide
and soared into the sky with the bug.
“This won’t save
you, fuzor.” Inferno scoffed arrogantly despite his current position.
“And it won’t
hurt you, Predacon… much.” Silverbolt used almost the same words that
Blackarachnia had with Cheetor and released Inferno as he swerved and passed
over a cliff face. The Predacon slammed neatly into the hard, vertical surface
and slid downward.. The satisfied fuzor then headed back for the stasis pod.
A pair of green
lasers broke through the pile of rocks that buried Rattrap and Dinobot and a
spinning blade followed. A growl followed many curses as Dinobot emerged from
the heap in robot mode. Dinobot carefully analyzed the information from his
olfactory receptors before removing more rocks from the pile. Annoying as the
rat was, he had better remove the vermin from the heap of rocks.
The rat, unlike his
counterpart, was in beast mode when he crawled out from his burial ground, but
as soon as he was completely free, he transformed.
“What in the name
of my great aunt Arcee is going on here?”
“Come, vermin.”
Dinobot’s voice was fraught with disgust as he told the rat to follow him up
the wall Small rocks tumbled down the slope as razor-sharp talons dug into the
sides of the ditch. The two Maximals found themselves facing an odd-looking,
transmetal termite when they finally reached the ground level.
“Villain colony.
Royalty: Queen. Innocent. Queen. Dark designs.” The bug stupidly repeated the
words and simple phrases in random order.
“Man, the things
coming outta these pods are gettin' weirder and weirder.” Rattrap swore.
“We should welcome
what is different, not despise it.” Silverbolt pointed out as he landed on
Rattrap’s left and switched to robot mode.
“I, unfortunately,
do not share your optimism, fuzor. This is a pest!” The quick-witted,
sarcastic rat opened his mouth to speak, but the lizard beat him to it with an
outraged snarl. Dinobot’s crimson optics narrowed and he balled his
‘hands’ into fists, giving him a particularly menacing look.
“This is a
pest!” The termite faced and mimicked the large Maximal.
“Beast mode.”
Dinobot, more insulted than he could ever be at Rattrap’s mouth, transformed
into raptor mode and charged at the new transformer. Angry as he might be, he
was not without honor and could only accept a fight with an equal.
“Beast mode.”
The bug said, despite the fact that it was already in beast mode.
“Dinobot, no!”
Silverbolt shouted and attempted to restrain the furious dinosaur. However, when
the termite mimicked the fuzor’s words, the raptor’s rage only increased and
he broke free of Silverbolt’s grasp.
Just as Dinobot was
midway toward his target, cannon fire caught him squarely in the abdomen and
sent the dinosaur skidding backwards. Dinobot shook his head to clear both his
vision and his head. That bug was nothing but a simple idiot and a pest, not
worthy of any battle.
As the bug’s beast
mode began to ripple with energy, Rampage rolled onto the scene in vehicle mode.
The crab asked. “What are you, another like me, perhaps?”
While the bug
responded with a puzzled look and an echo, Silverbolt quickly answered with a
defense. “Stay away, monster!”
“Fire, and
you’ll destroy what you seek to save!” Rampage roared with laughter before
the termite could mimic anything.
Suddenly, the empty
stasis pod began to shake and glow with abnormal amount of energy. The termite
turned in the direction of the energon surge and terror spread over its face.
Something was happening to its colony, its roots, and it could not go back; all
it could do was watch helplessly as whatever fate befell its source.
“Yes, yes! I feel
your pain, your confusion, and your desperation! Use it! Come to me.” Rampage
gestured at the bug and urged with his seductive voice. iAt last, real food and
not that icky energon/i Rampage thought with his hungry mind. Unlike most
transformers, the crab fed on emotions such as anger and pain. The bug followed
Rampage’s advice and pushed the pod in a random direction before crawling to
the red and silver Predacon. As the crawl accelerated to a run, the termite
began to glow. The legs lifted and arranged themselves to form two straight bars
that ran the length of the body and wheels crept out beneath the body in sets of
four. The creature in train mode gained speed despite the rugged terrain until
it met Rampage and pushed him against a rock.
Suddenly, the stasis
pod exploded and sent all three Maximals flying into the distance. Rampage, who
was just out of range thanks to the termite, picked himself up and switched to
beast mode.
“Magnificent, born
of chaos.” Rampage remarked as he casually strolled around the termite. If
crabs could grin despite their exoskeletons, Rampage would have smiled. Things
were better than he thought.
“Born of
chaos…” The termite repeated thoughtfully. She was not a good speaker, but
at last, she heard something that felt right to her impaired processor.
“Yes. We are born
of chaos, fear, pain, and anger.” Rampage explained. He then told the termite.
“Come with me.”
When the three,
half-scrapped Maximals came into sight, the Predacon pointed to the three
sprawled on the ground and said. “These are our enemies. Join me and destroy
them. I am your friend, your only friend.”
“I am your friend,
your only friend.” The puzzled termite imitated Rampage. Rampage bonked a
pincer against his forehead. Now he must not only watch his mouth in
Megatron’s presence, but in this bug’s vicinity, too. Ironically, the
bug’s repeated words had the ring of truth, for there was not a single
transformer, Predacon or Maximal, who could be his friend, save the deranged
bug.
“He lies… The
Predacons will only use you. We extend the hand of friendship.” Silverbolt,
the first Maximal to recover, countered Rampage and offered a hand as he pushed
himself up.
“This creature is
the property of the royalty!” A battered and mad Inferno boiled over the earth
and fired continually at the Maximals, who, unfortunately for the ant, were
agile enough to avoid being damaged. Rampage did not particularly like the ant,
to say the least, but the drone gave him a golden opportunity.
Seizing this chance,
the crab and the raptor returned to tank mode and robot mode, respectively, and
joined the fray. Silverbolt knew his duty as a flyer and took to the air after
Inferno while Dinobot and Rattrap pelted Rampage with laser fire and bullets.
“The Pit with you,
traitors!” Inferno screamed madly as two of Silverbolt’s exploding feathers
caught him in the joints and tore the Predacon to pieces. As the flamethrower
flew out of Inferno’s grasp, it spat fire in random directions. Rampage barely
dodged a hit, only to have the fiery projectile land on the bug’s exoskeleton.
Suddenly, for the
termite, there was nothing but pain and pure, animal fear. It did not like the
fire, though, ironically, the very substance coursed through its damaged
circuits. It wanted to make some sound, but the sound that it wished to make was
one that it had not already heard. Instead, the termite, in its train mode,
rolled around in circles until it generated a powerful dust storm that
transformed Dinobot, Silverbolt, and Rampage into crumbling, brown statues.
“I knew that slag
heap was trouble.” Rattrap remarked as he shook the last of the dust off his
armor. Luckily for the small Maximal, Dinobot and a rock took the brunt of the
earth wave.
“Secure the
creature! Megatron commands it!” Inferno, who was marginally functional,
commanded Rampage.
Rampage rarely
agreed with the drone, but rarely did not mean never. He obeyed and slowly
approached the termite. Even though he used a great amount of energy to break
free of the earthen shell, Rampage was still overcharged from the blast of sheer
pain and fear. Never in his life had he been fed anything so pure and addictive.
He almost whispered to the poor, frightened creature. “None shall hurt you
now. I will protect you.”
“That shell-backed
freak seeks the Royalty’s favor!” Inferno snarled. He was disgraced once and
it appeared as if he would be humiliated in front of the colony again. All he
ever wanted to be was a good citizen and top defender of the colony and its
queen. Inferno then groaned slightly before going into stasis lock.
Silverbolt fire a
wing missile in a random direction to shatter the encasing of dirt and turned to
the other Maximals as Rampaged and the termite drove out of sight. “We must
save it.”
“Save it? Are you
nuts? We’re lucky we weren’t buried alive!” Rattrap protested.
The raptor followed
suit and fired a pair of laser beams, only that unlike Silverbolt, he aimed for
the direction of Rampage’s noise. Dinobot hesitated before adding. “The
vermin is right. It is an abomination and a pest. We should terminate it.” He
did not want the thing to become another of Megatron’s weapons, but something
like that pest would be a liability to the Maximals just because of its sheer
stupidity. He had not risen to the rank of Commander in General Cicadacon’s
army by allowing idiotic liabilities into his ranks.
A new trail of jet
exhaust fumes and slight noise foretold Optimus’ presence.
“Optimus. Thank
the Matrix.” Silverbolt exclaimed breathlessly.
Rampage and the
termite had both fled into a carved, narrow valley. The tank-like crab
transformed into robot mode and began to observe the termite again. This time,
he was not only alone with the creature, but also certain that he would not be
interrupted. He noted. “Interesting. A transmetal termite.”
The termite matched
Rampage’s intense look. It was on the verge of exploding as its desire to
speak reached a climax. It wanted to explain what was coursing through its
circuits, but its voice was stifled until Rampage finally spoke. So it was a
trans-something and a termite. It tried to mimic the crab. “Trans…
termite?”
Elation threatened
to overflow as the termite heard its own voice. Transtermite. That was what, or
rather, who it was.
“So that is your
name, my twisted friend.” Rampage observed.
“Name, my twisted
friend.” The termite inadvertently repeated after Rampage. A name! So that was
the ‘who it was’ part! The termite suddenly had a mental grasp on the
concept. Transtermite wanted to jump and dance in celebration of her epiphany,
but there were mental bars in her lack of programming.
End of Chapter 2