by Birgit Staebler
Dinobot - Carnage
Rhinox - Counterstrike
Rattrap - Maverick
Cheetor - Saber
AirRazor - SkyDancer
"Target in sight."
"Shields on maximum! Ready forward assault guns!"
"Forward guns ready!"
The commander of the ship looked at the target area and
nodded. Only a few more minutes and it would be over. "Any signs of discovery?"
"Nope. They are completely oblivious to our presence."
Optimus nodded. "The camouflage is working."
"The moment we fire the guns, we'll be revealed," a dark
voice rumbled and Counterstrike glanced at his commander.
Optimus smiled. "Then it will be too late."
"Target in range in one minute," Saber announced.
"Guns up on full," Maverick added. "We're ready, Fearless
Leader."
Optimus nodded. "Drop camouflage on my command!" He watched
the target come closer. "Now!"
The ship dropped the cloaking shields and struck down
on the unsuspecting base. Hot laser fire tore into the ground, ripping
it open and blasting into the buildings.
"We are on their radar," Counterstrike announced.
"And on their targeting mechanisms!" Maverick added with
a yelp. "Incoming!"
"Saber, take us out!" Optimus ordered sharply.
The young Maximal acknowledged and hit the thrusters
on full, throwing the ship around and trying to get them out of the immediate
line of fire.
"They are quick," Maverick growled in disgust and unwilling
admiration.
"And strong!" Saber yelled. "Shield punctured!"
Optimus looked at the damage report scrolling up on his
station's screen. "Full power to aft shields and thrusters! Get us out
of here, now!"
"I'm trying!" Saber called back. "She isn't responding!"
The ship was hit by more blasts and rocked heavily. Optimus
held on to his chair.
"Shields failing!" SkyDancer announced from her station.
"Engines losing power!" Saber added, frantically trying
to get the ship out of the planet's atmosphere.
Optimus stared at the planet just below them and felt
the ship rock again. Then it sagged abruptly, starting to fall.
"We are going down!" Counterstrike growled.
Optimus' lips became a thin, determined line. "Maverick,
target them with everything we have left!" he ordered coldly.
Maverick shot him a surprised look, then acknowledged
and activated the front cannons again. Bright balls of fire rushed for
the Predacon base and hit it full force while the Maximal ship spiraled
down toward the planet's surface, getting more and more out of control.
Optimus saw the base go up in flames and felt satisfaction course through
him. They had completed their assignment.
"Brace for impact!" Saber yelled and tried to get the
ship to at least crash in a way that would not tear it apart.
Optimus saw the planet rush up to meet them, then there
was a loud, crunching noise. The lights went out and he was flung out of
the command chair, coming hard up against whatever it was. Metal creaked
and groaned under stress, somewhere something exploded and from the sound
of it, one engine was among it. Then his circuits failed him and he lost
consciousness.
* * *
"Incoming Maximal ship!"
Charis whirled around, mouth agape. "What?"
Enigma shook her head. "It just appeared on our radar!
They have their shields on full and the gun ports open!"
The Predacon commander hissed softly, his yellow eyes
glowing. He had heard about the experimental cloaking devices, but he had
not thought they had been perfected..... "Defenses!" he called.
The base was hit by several blasts from the attacker
and the lights flickered. Midgard strode into the room, her optics immediately
drawn to the battle display.
"They hit the lab section!" Rune announced, voice cold
and emotionless. "Right on top."
"Return fire!" Charis ordered. They knew what to hit
first, he thought grimly. They came here because of it! Who told them?
Their intelligence can't be all that good, or can it? He turned to his
second-in-command and saw the same question in Midgard's eyes.
This base was top secret, the personnel few and selected,
the position of this small rock unknown and not on any maps. Charis hadn't
known about the existence of this small backwater planet until the day
he had been briefed and sent here as the military commander of this base.
How could the Maximals have found out if not even he, a high ranking Predacon
commander, had ever heard about this lab; not even rumors!!
"Janus, open a line to Echo One! We need back-up!" he
told his com officer.
Echo One was the next military base and the one assigned
to protect this lab in case it ever got attacked, which, following Pred
High Command, was highly unlikely since it was the best guarded secret
of the Predacons. Well, not any more. They had been discovered by Maximals
and their latest project had just been turned into dust. The damage report
told Charis that the lab was nothing but a ruin. All they had left now
was the important data, which they would have to get out of here -- fast.
Janus hit several keys on his board, but nothing happened.
Well, something did happen, but not what he had wanted to. The communicator
dish on top of the main building exploded and fiery fragments rained down
everywhere.
"Maximal ship still on course!" Enigma yelled. "Communication
down! Charis, the lab is not responding. Complete obliteration!"
Charis' face was a mask. "Full fire! Get that ship down!
Rune, secure the computer files!"
The next blast hit the command center and part of the
wall was blown clear off. Rune gave a last yell, then his body slumped
down over the smoking debris. Charis stared at the broken body shells of
three more Predacons, then his optics fixed on the attacker. The Maximal
ship was still under heavy fire, but its shields were warding most of the
blasts off.
Modified, the commander thought grimly. Designed for
hit-and-run. This is worthy of a Predacon. My compliments.
"I said full power on the cannons!" he hissed. "Get her
down!"
Midgard shot him a strange look, then complied and walked
over to the station, shoving the dead Predacon aside and taking over. The
next hit tore through the ship's shield and into the hull. Charis smiled
grimly, then his face lost the smile again as the forward cannons of the
Maximal attacker spewed more deadly fire. His world turned bright orange,
then dark as his body shell was obliterated, circuits melting and tearing.
The dead husk slumped to the ground. Midgard was a bit more lucky. She
was thrown clear out of the room and though her damage report told her
she was barely functional, she managed to get further away. She crawled
down the corridor, her audio sensors assaulted by explosions, tearing metal
and the sound of stressed jet engines. Then there was a resounding boom.
The Maximal ship, she thought with a humorless smile.
Someone suddenly grabbed her and she came optics to optics
with another battered looking Predacon. "Parafire?" she asked, recognizing
the scientific head of the base.
"Yes. Let's get out of here," the scientist said hoarsely,
lifting her effortlessly and carrying her away. She got a look of more
dead shells and shuddered, then her systems surrendered to the stress and
she fell unconscious.
Carnage smiled dimly, his systems failing one after another.
He had survived, but he knew that if Predacon High Command ever found out
about what he had done, they would dismantle him -- if they would be so
gentle. But he had done what honor had told him to do. There was a line
between senseless mass slaughter and a war. The weapon developed here would
have crossed that line. Maybe they would call him a Maximal friend, a traitor,
but there was no sense, no honor, in slaughtering the population of a whole
planet just to erase a Maximal base.
The Predacon soldier chuckled. Maybe it is true, he thought
humorlessly. My memory core is tainted. I have come to adapt Maximal ways.
Curse you, Optimus Primal!
Then again, he hadn't been the only one to voice doubt
and protest against this new weapon of destruction. It might give the Predacons
the edge in this war, but what would they have gained if all worlds were
dead? Those who had protested had been imprisoned for spreading Maximal
beliefs, so he had kept his vocal unit shut, but when he had been transferred
here, he had not believed his luck. And he had used this opportunity.
Smiling grimly he staggered against the wall, his equilibrium
failing. Maybe this would only slow everything down, not hold it completely,
but at least he had done what his honor had told him.
*
Outside smoke drifted into the sky, originating from the burning Predacon base and the crashed Maximal ship. Inside the ship, Optimus and his crew were moving faintly. Lights flickered on and off and the main computer whirred softly, trying to reestablish some connections for emergency operation. Inside the base, nothing moved -- nothing at all.
* * *
It was a mess, Maverick thought as he stepped into the
Predacon base, gun ready in case something unforeseen would happen. He
didn't think anyone could have survived the pounding blasts, but you could
never be too cautious. He had only lived so long in this war because he
was very, very cautious where he went and what he did.
"Yeow, major bang," Saber commented and stepped over
some debris to the computer banks. Everything was dark and quiet.
"I think we hit the main power core," Optimus said, his
optics scanning the room.
"Not only that," SkyDancer muttered.
That was true. The main lab section was nothing but a
smoking ruin, the command center was half scrapped and the remaining buildings
looked like they would break down like cardboard boxes any second. Maverick
guessed that if anything was still in one piece it had to be somewhere
in the sub-levels.
"Search the base!" Optimus ordered. "Counterstrike,
try and get some power back to the computer. I want to know if the data
for the super weapon is still stored here. If it is, erase it."
Counterstrike nodded, sheathed his gun and walked over
to the computer banks. He opened a panel and gave a grunt. Several burned
out circuits greeted him.
"This will take a while, Optimus," he rumbled.
Optimus nodded, still scanning the room, which was more
or less cast in shadows. "Do it. We'll search the base in the meantime.
The Maximals spread out and began a detailed search.
It was vital that they found out whether or not this base contained anything
to help them either repair their ship so it could at least lift off and
get them into space, or find something like an escape shuttle. Maverick
grimaced as he nearly treaded onto something looking like an arm. The mangled
piece of metal lay in the corridor and not far away he found the owner
of the arm. It wasn't a Predacon he knew, but it was definitely a Predacon.
As he scouted through the base, listening to the soft radio conversation
between Saber and Optimus, who were moving toward the hangar bay and the
basement facilities, he thought again of their situation. If they didn't
find a way off this dirtball, they'd be stranded here until someone would
finally get enough sense together to launch a search ship. Maverick also
knew that would be very unlikely. Even if they missed them, and they would
if they didn't return, no one would go after them. This mission had been
to go into Predacon territory, destroy the base and erase the data for
the super weapon. Maximal High Command had made it clear that if they didn't
return, High Command would not send out valuable manpower to find them.
They were on their own.
Maverick entered what seemed like a lab. Well, it had
been a lab before the Axalon's forward guns had turned the base into a
scrap heap. Turned over tables, destroyed test racks and assorted other
stuff littered the floor. Something must have exploded here, he saw, because
there were scorch marks everywhere. He sighed silently and was about to
leave when he heard something out of the depths of the wrecked room. He
tensed. All Predacons were dead, right? No one could have survived this
blast. It was impossible. More than half the base had gone up in bright
flames and the lab and most of the command center had been obliterated.
Maverick knew there had been about two dozen Preds here, most of them scientist,
but the body shells they had found had told the story of what happened
to them. Obliteration. He smiled grimly. The Axalon II had done her job
in her last few, functional minutes.
He moved carefully into the room again and scanned it.
No movements, no nothing. He didn't find energon readings or Pred energy
signatures, but something had made this noise. Maverick was paranoid enough
to believe it was a survivor until he found out different. Paranoia insured
survival, just like caution did.
Something moved.
Maverick whirled around and his gun aimed at a shadow
launching itself his way. Fast! His internal systems only now read faint
energy signatures, Pred signatures, and he was too surprised by the fact
that he hadn't received prior warnings, that he was toppled over by the
larger shape. The shape, about twice as tall as he was, tried to make a
run for the door. Maverick, lying on the floor, briefly wondering why the
Pred had not finished him, grabbed his gun and aimed for the fleeing shape.
The blast didn't hit the other one, but it came close. Maverick cursed,
then cursed again as the Predacon whirled back toward him. Red eyes flared
up in the darkness of the lab and he saw the shape shift.
Transformation! he thought. Darn!
He heard a growl, then something strong slammed into
him. He fell back again and his gun went flying out of his hand. Maverick
rolled out of the way as the Predacon attacked again and in the twilight
he thought he saw something reptilian. It was bipedal, it was fast for
reading so low on energon, and it was strong!
The Predacon tried to leave again and this time he made
it through the door into the better lit corridor. Maverick followed and
was shocked for a second. The Predacon was a raptor. He knew the shape,
he knew it well. Well, at least he had known a shape like this. This one
was bipedal with four-fingered arms, equipped with sharp talons, a flexible
tail, and towering over him. Red optics glowed out of the dragon-like face,
lips drawn back over metal teeth. The skin was colored in dark blue and
near-black, criss-crossed by burn marks and cuts. Right now the Predacon
looked like on the verge of a collapse, but his optics showed desperation
and the will to survive, whatever the odds.
Maverick raised his blaster. "Okay, Chopperface, ya got
two options," he told the Predacon, deciding that a prisoner might be better
than another body. They might need him -- maybe. "I can blast ya right
here and now, or ya'll give up."
The Predacon rumbled softly, not at least relaxing out
of his battle stance, but there was a strange expression in the dark face.
He had his head tilted to the right an inch.
"Ya deaf, or what?" Maverick asked, trigger finger hovering
over the trigger.
"No," was the hiss. "But you have gone blind ..... vermin."
Maverick stared at him, mouth agape. This couldn't possibly
be.... This was too big a coincidence to happen, right? But then... The
voice was right.....
"Dinobot?" he asked cautiously.
The Predacon chuckled and it sounded like he had at least
one damaged oxygen filter, judging from the rattling noise and cough. "I
haven't heard that name in a long time.... Rattrap."
Maverick blinked. It was true. "Maverick," he corrected
automatically. "How... how did you survive this?"
Dinobot -- or whatever he was called now -- grinned nastily.
"I'm harder to get rid off than you think."
Maverick grinned. "Yeah, I can believe that."
"Now, are you going to shoot me or what?"
Maverick gave him a calculating look. "Only if ya plan
ta do something stupid -- like attack me again."
Dinobot smiled again. "I couldn't even if I wanted to."
That was the moment the communicator crackled into life.
"Maverick, this is Saber, are you reading me?"
Maverick acknowledged, keeping an eye on Dinobot. "Yeah,
gotcha, kid."
"Optimus wants us to meet back at the command center.
Did you find something?"
Maverick noted Dinobot's expression as he heard Optimus'
name. "Yeah, I found somethin'. An' you wouldn't believe what it is even
if I told ya. Meetcha back at the command center. Maverick out."
"Optimus is here as well?" Dinobot asked, tilting his
head again.
Maverick nodded. "The whole gang, except for old Stripes."
He gestured with his gun. "C'mon, move it, Chopperface. We got a date with
Fearless Leader."
Dinobot grinned again and turned, staggering slightly.
Maverick thought he was really in no condition to be a threat at all. As
they passed under a functioning emergency light he discovered all the assorted
wounds and bruises and shook his head. It was a miracle Dinobot was still
on his own two feet. Energon leaked out of several cuts and he wondered
if the Predacon could transform back at all. Well, he'd have to see that
when he got him to Optimus.
* * *
Midgard came back to full consciousness and immediately
accessed her damage report. It was depressingly long and detailed. She
managed to sit up and looked around. She was in a cave, she discovered.
Not far away from her lay another Predacon body shell and she immediately
saw that it was too late for him. Azrael, she identified him, feeling sorry.
"Conserve your energon," Parafire rumbled and stepped
into view. "We have very little to spare."
"How many survived?" she asked.
"Including us, five others."
"Not much," Midgard muttered.
"No, but at least it is more than initially thought.
Tsunami is outside scouting. He is in the best shape of us all. And he
is the most agile."
"What about the Maximals?" Midgard tried to get into
a more comfortable position.
"Their ship went down and it looks like they survived.
Tsunami reported that they were scouting the base."
Midgard's face was a mask of determination. "They'll
pay for this!"
Parafire smiled cruelly. "Of course they will, but we
first have to get back into shape. I sent Spectre out to find a secure
way to the secondary base. We'll move the moment he reports back."
Midgard nodded. The secondary base was a small, unarmed
lab, but at least it had CR chambers and the necessary equipment for emergency
repairs for more grievous wounds a CR chamber could not heal. And it would
serve as their stronghold.
"Good," she whispered.
* * *
"Dinobot?" Optimus stared at his former comrade in shock
and surprise.
Dinobot, who was still in raptor mode and still under
guard from Maverick, looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and caution.
"Yes. You have changed."
Optimus smiled grimly. "Well, you look almost the same."
Dinobot mirrored the smile. "Not really. And my name
is Carnage now." He was leaning heavily against an overturned table and
Optimus wondered what kept him going. He should have shut down from stress
long ago. He didn't look like the explosion had been gentle with him at
all.
Optimus' optics narrowed a bit. "What were you doing
here?"
"Guess." At the deep scowl he chuckled. "This is a secret
Predacon base. I was assigned here, simple." He looked around. "And you
destroyed the base. Good intelligence. Good work."
"Not good enough," Maverick muttered. "Ya still alive,
Scalebelly. If I had known ya were here, I'd have added a few blasts."
Carnage growled softly, revealing his sharp teeth again.
Then he turned his attention back to Optimus. "What do you want with me
now?" he asked. "Destroy me?"
Optimus shook his head. "No, Carnage. You know this is
not my way. Normally I'd say we'd take you back as a prisoner, but," his
optics took on a strange expression, "we can't."
"You crashed," Carnage stated.
"Yes."
He chuckled. "Ironic, isn't it?"
Optimus smiled as well. "In a way. Is there a shuttle
here? An escape pod?"
"No. Everything went up the moment the hangar blew."
Saber, formerly known as Cheetor, nodded. "Yeah, quite
a mess. Saw it."
"So there is no way off this dirtball?" Maverick sighed.
"Exactly."
Carnage eyed them all. "How many of you are there?"
"Six," Optimus answered. "Any other survivors?"
"Not that I know."
Saber sighed. "Oh, geez. We are stuck."
Counterstrike entered the command center, glanced at
Carnage with a surprised expression, and then shook his head as Optimus
looked at him. "Power is too low to get anything out of the computer core.
I'll have to take it apart and get it back to the Axalon. Might have enough
power there to look it through."
Optimus nodded. "Do it." He looked at Carnage. "You need
repairs."
"Why bother?" Maverick asked, the old gleam in his eyes.
"Waste of energon and repair facilities."
Carnage's optics glowed brightly. "I'll waste you if
you don't watch your tongue, vermin."
"Oh, yeah? Try me! Ya in no shape to go up against a
mouse!"
"But I can squash rat!"
Maverick waved the blaster under the raptor's nose. "Ya
wanna try right now?"
Carnage snarled. "Don't tempt me!"
Optimus rolled his optics. "Saber, get Carnage to the
Axalon and into the CR chamber. Maverick, you're with me. I want this base
checked one last time. No nasty surprises."
"Yeah," Maverick muttered. "I had my share of nasty surprises."
He gave Carnage a pointed look.
Carnage looked like he was about to jump the smaller
Maximal, but he was in no shape at all. Saber nodded at him to follow and
so he did. Optimus watched them go.
"Doesn't this remind you of something?" Counterstrike
rumbled.
Optimus smiled ruefully. "Yes. Prime, ain't it?"
Counterstrike chuckled. "Yes."
* * *
Tsunami watched Skydancer and her Predacon prisoner leave
the destroyed base. It was Carnage. The Predacon looked in bad shape and
Tsunami wondered if he should attack and try to spring him. Then again,
even if he could fight off Skydancer, Carnage would not be fast enough
to flee with him. The airborne Predacon decided to watch them a while longer
and then report back to Midgard and Parafire. They would be interested
in the news of another survivor. And Carnage would be a valuable addition
to their forces -- if he survived his wounds. But he was a pure-bread soldier
and Tsunami knew it would take more than what had been thrown against him
to make Carnage topple.
He spread his wings and cautiously flew toward the crashed
Maximal ship.
* * *
Carnage stepped out of the CR chamber and flexed his taloned
hands. Optimus was already awaiting him, standing behind the round display
table. Carnage had to confess that the Axalon II didn't look all too different
inside than the original Axalon, though the outside had changed a lot.
This was no longer an exploration vessel, this was a battle ship. Small,
strong, fast. And crashed. Just like the ship, the commander of it had
changed as well. Optimus was still more than a head smaller than him and
his general design was the same, but Carnage suspected that his transformation
had been changed. A gorilla wasn't exactly a shape he would see as useful
in a battle. Judging from what he saw, it was something with wings and
teeth, but he could only guess.
Optimus eyed his former ally with the same caution he
was watched by Carnage. He tried to compare the robot with the memory of
Dinobot and had to confess that except for a few changes, much had stayed
the same. The facial features were the same, but the shape of the head
had changed and he appeared to have down-sized on the bulkiness a bit,
though he was still armored. The darker colors gave him a menacing look,
even more than before, and the red optics had a reptilian shape, though
not reptilian pupils. Carnage's hands were five-fingered and he had the
same talons as before, though the hand now had a more human design. He
appeared swifter, more slender, but still deadly.
"What a coincidence," Carnage now said calmly.
"Yes," Optimus answered slowly.
"I am surprised they let you keep this crew and gave
you a new ship," Carnage snarled, the old challenge in his voice.
Optimus smiled dimly. "Yes, but why tear apart a well-functioning
team?"
It was true. After the a new probe had found them on
the unknown and unnamed planet, taking the Predacon criminals and the crashed
explorers home to Cybertron, Maximal Command had let them stay together
as a crew. With the new war at hand, they had needed every team they could
get. The Axalon's crew had been remodeled and they had given themselves
new names, except for Optimus himself, who had stuck with his old one.
Tigatron had not been reassigned to the battle ship Optimus had been given
to command and which had been named Axalon II. Optimus had found out later
that Tigatron, now called Camouflage, had requested to be transferred to
another exploration crew. There had been no need for explorers, but he
had been assigned to an outpost faraway from the immediate battle ground.
"Why help me?" Carnage asked. "I'm Predacon."
"And the only survivor," Optimus added with a slight
smile.
"And an enemy."
The Maximal commander sighed. "I'm not a killer, Carnage."
"I know, Optimus, but what if it hadn't been me?" Carnage
asked.
Optimus sighed again. It was a valid question. "I would
have done the same. We are in on this together. None of us can leave here
and we have to work together."
Carnage grinned nastily. "Just like in old times."
"In a way." Optimus gave him a narrow-eyed look. "And
I hope I can put as much trust in you as in old times, Carnage."
Their optics met. "Nothing has changed," he then said.
Optimus nodded. So he could still trust Carnage to be
himself -- honorable.
"Ey, Chopperface. Got yaself a new look, eh?" Maverick
looked him up and down. "Latest Pred fashion?"
Carnage glowered down at the smaller Maximal. Only now
did Optimus discover that there wasn't any Predacon symbol on the dark
body -- just like before. He wondered how Carnage had circumvented getting
branded. Then again, how had he ever managed to run without a symbol?
"I'll remodel you into the latest scrap fashion, Rat
Face, if you don't keep your mouth shut!" Carnage now hissed.
"Ehhh, I'm soooo scared," Maverick taunted him.
Carnage made a step towards him and Optimus tensed, ready
to intervene. They had returned from the alien planet several years ago
and gone their separate ways, since the war had broken out again between
Predacons and Maximals. Since then they hadn't seen a trace of Dinobot/Carnage
and Optimus had been kind of relieved. He had thought long and hard about
what he would do should he ever face his old ally in a battle field. He
had never come up with a solution. Now they were together again and it
seemed at least Maverick had no trouble recalling old times. None at all!
But was Carnage still controlled enough to stop before something nasty
happened? As he watched the tall Predacon, Optimus saw that this was the
case. There was a barely perceptible gleam in the red optics. Carnage enjoyed
it as well.....
"You should be," Carnage now said.
"Why? Because ya got yerself a new set o' talons? Ohhhhh....I'm
all a-quiver." Maverick grinned.
Counterstrike entered and there was an amused smile on
his lips as he watched the two old 'enemies' slip back into their roles.
"Optimus, it doesn't look good," he addressed the commander.
"The engines are down and though I might be able to repair one of them,
I can't guarantee it would take us off the planet. It's rather we'd have
a brief period of weightlessness and then plunge down again."
Optimus grimaced. "And no parts to repair the drive,
right? Well, that's just prime."
"Your Maximal friends will surely miss you soon," Carnage
said sarcastically.
"Not likely," Optimus shook his head. "This mission was
kind of a top secret no-return operation. Well, we planned to return, but
in case we got lost, there would be no one helping us out." He shrugged.
"I see." There was a strange expression on Carnage's
face.
"Weeeell," Maverick said and shrugged, "at least we destroyed
the base and the weapon with it. That'll teach the Preds to mess with us!"
"Yeah," Saber added. "So much for military secrets, hehe."
Carnage glowered at him. "Without inside information
you'd never have discovered the planet!"
Maverick stared at him. "How do you wanna know that,
eh, Chopperface? Maximal Intelligence got a whiff of ya friends' plans
and ruined ya party. Ya just don't wanna admit that ya bunged up!"
Carange hissed softly and glowered at the smaller robot.
"You would never have heard of this! This base is the most secret of all
research and development labs. Not even everyone in High Command knows
about it!"
"Yeah, well, ya all losers when it comes to secrets,"
Maverick taunted him. "If this was yer most secret base, I don't wanna
know what we discovered as well and might be destroying right now."
"No, Carnage is right, Maverick," Counterstrike rumbled.
"This base was the best kept secret of the Predacons. Someone gave us inside
information."
Optimus nodded. "But we never found out who."
"Ya kiddin' me!" the small spy exclaimed.
Carnage snorted, grinning nastily. "Admit it, Rat Breath,
your intelligence isn't worth crap."
Maverick's eyes narrowed. "Watch it!"
"How would you know it was inside information?" Optimus
asked all of a sudden.
Carnage looked caught for a second, then a mask of neutrality
slipped over his features. "It's the only way you could have heard of this."
"Not really. Maximal Intelligence isn't incompetent.
We discovered a few of your so-called 'top secrets'. I know from the mission
briefing that someone from this planet contacted us a few days before we
were launched, someone they though was believable. Whoever it was gave
us the coordinates and the plans of what was being constructed here." He
tilted his head. "And you survived as the only Predacon."
Carnage's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'm not a traitor,"
he hissed.
"Oh, yeah, we know that," Maverick said mockingly.
The following transformation was so fast that Maverick
had no chance at all. Carnage's strong tail slammed into him and he sailed
through the room, connecting hard with the opposite wall. Saber pulled
his gun, but he didn't fire. He shot an inquiring look at Optimus, who
had his own gun drawn.
"I am not a traitor!" Carnage hissed, ignoring the others,
aiming solely for Maverick, who was stumbling back to his feet, rubbing
his head.
"But you gave us the coordinates," Optimus stated, playing
out a wild guess.
Carnage's glare was answer enough.
"What?! Why?" Maverick asked, perplexed. "This killed
all yer comrades."
"And saved the lives of millions of innocents," Optimus
completed, stowing his weapon, understanding rising in his eyes. "The weapon
would have destroyed not only military, but also civil targets."
"This is war," Carnage hissed, "not mass destruction
or senseless slaughter."
Maverick stared at him. "I'm hearing things," he muttered.
"Izzat you talkin', Chopperface?"
Carnage growled softly. "There is no honor in destroying
the civil population of a nation. There is no honor in eradicating a whole
planet to destroy a base!"
Optimus nodded slowly. He had thought as much about Carnage's
motivation.
"And I would have gladly accepted my death," the raptor
went on, "but my luck failed me. The explosion only damaged me." He transformed
back, his face a hard mask of mixed emotions. "I was hoping that I might
meet my end in an honorable fight, but it didn't seem to be my lucky day."
A humorless smile creased his lips.
Optimus smiled as well. "Well, anyway, I have to thank
you, even if you don't want to hear it."
Carnage shot him a dark look, not at all pleased to be
thanked for his betrayal. He turned and left the command room. The Maximal
commander sighed and watched him go, then looked at his small team.
"Well, looks like we all got ourselves into a similar
situation as on the energon planet once more. Our survival is on top of
the list. I'm open for suggestions as to what to do....."
Maverick, Saber, AirRazor and Rhinox exchanged looks.
So were they!
*
Midgard looked at Tsunami in disbelief. "What?" she managed.
"I said, Carnage is a traitor. He gave the information
to the Maximals." The aerial spy looked disgusted and angry.
Midgard mirrored the anger. She couldn't get herself
to believe that Carnage was a traitor, but then again, she had never truly
trusted him. Charis had given her the file about the soldier and she had
frowned when she had read that he had been among those who had stolen the
Golden Disk and then crashed on the unknown planet. The Maximals had found
them, secured the planet and turned over the renegade Predacons. Carnage
had been called Dinobot then. Midgard had no idea why, but Predacon High
Command had not sentenced him like the others. He had been welcomed back
in the Predacon army and worked his way quickly up through the ranks again.
He had been transferred to this place two weeks prior to this catastrophe.....
"We'll get him for this," she vowed. "But first we have
to secure our position. Salvage the base and try to stay out of the Maximals'
way. They'll hear about us the moment we are ready -- to strike!"