Here we are again, with the next chapter of A Simple mission. A lot of you enjoyed the last chapter, and the new OC I introduce. Here's to hoping that I continue to impress.
As for this chapter, well you'll see what I've got for you.
On with the show!
Disclaimer: I do not own Beast Wars: Transformers, which is property of Hasbro and Mainframe Entertainment.
Chapter 7
A Spy in Our Midst
A cold wind was blowing in the north as a small snow hare hopped along, before stopping and sitting up, sniffing the air as its long ears shot up, listening for sounds. At first all seemed calm, the only noise being the wind blowing over the frozen wasteland. The hare was about to move on when it stopped, a noise reaching its sensitive ears: the irregular crunch of snow. The rabbit remained frozen for a few moments as the noise drew closer, before dropping down, crouching low to the snow, it's white fur blending in with its surroundings.
Soon enough, the cause of the noise became apparent as a large gorilla and a raptor crested a small rise, and moved right past the hare, not noticing it. The hare remained frozen for several more seconds, before scampering off, kicking up small bits of snow with its long hind legs.
Optimus's scanners were on full as he and Sauria continued to trudge through the snow. A decacycle earlier, they had been alerted to another of their orbiting stasis pods entering the atmosphere, it's orbit decaying due to faulty maneuvering thrusters. Having already lost one protoform to the Predacons, Optimus was determined to retrieve this one.
Unfortunately, the Predacons probably wouldn't make it easy for them. The last four missions over the past few megacycles had all been ambushed by Predacons. Cheetor, while on an Energon survey mission, had barely escaped an ambush consisting of Terrorsaur and Ripfang not even two megacycles ago. And Optimus himself had been the target of Megatron, Tarantulas, Scorponok, and Waspinator, who had ambushed him when he was conducting a scouting mission for possible long range sensor and communication posts to the west. Somehow, it almost seemed like they knew where and when the Maximals were going to be.
Optimus's thoughts were pushed out of his processor as they entered a box canyon, and he heard Sauria let out a shuddering hiss of annoyance. "T-This i-infernal cold…h-how can any life e-exist out here?" She snarled, her voice shuddering due to her form shivering. "My mech fluid i-is nearing the point of c-crystallization."
Optimus let out a sigh. "I'm not exactly a fan of the cold myself," he said, feeling it seeping into the fur and epidermis of his beast form. But he imagined it was worse for Sauria, since reptiles were cold blooded by nature. He would have asked Lycanok or Tigertron to help him retrieve the pod, as both of them could have handled the cold far better, but at the time when he received the news of the pod crash, neither was available. Lycanok had left earlier that morning with Cheetor to scout out Sector Veltron to the south-east, and Tigertron was currently out of radio contact while he continued his recon of the northern wilds, though his last report had placed him somewhere near their current location. Either way, that had left him with Rhinox, Rattrap, and Sauria, and of the three of them, he wanted to have firepower on his side.
Finally coming to the end of the box canyon they had entered, he blinked, as according to the co-ordinates Rattrap had given them over the comm, the stasis pod should be right in front of them. Not seeing it, he opened up his comm line to the Axalon. "Axalon, this is Optimus. I need confirmation on those coordinates for the stasis pod."
Back at the Axalon, Rattrap sat forward and began working the console, causing a radar image of area to appear. Two blips representing Optimus and Sauria blinked repeatedly on the screen, almost on top of a third blip that represented the stasis pod. "Well…let me put it dis way. If it were a scraplet, it would have eaten youse by now," he said, before blinking as there seemed to be a bit of a distortion in the radar image where they were. Tapping the screen, he blinked his optics as he swore he saw three new blips pop up before vanishing.
Out in the field, Sauria growled at hearing Rattrap's words. "Insolent vermin," she muttered, glancing up as if to ask some higher power for help. She froze, before pointing. "There!"
Optimus looked up, his eyes landing on the pod partially jutting over the edge of the canyon. It seemed it had smashed into the top of the cliff, burying itself deep enough to prevent it from slipping over the edge.
Optimus immediately opened his comm back up. "We found it Rattrap. Preparing retrieval," he said, only to pause as Rattrap's voice answered back over the comm, slightly distorted by Energon interference.
"Yo big boss…I'm gettin' some freaky readings here. You sure dere ain't anyone or anyding else out dere?" At that moment, a sinister laugh echoed down into the canyon as Terrorsaur and Waspinator appeared over the top of the canyon in beast form.
"Well well well. Looks like some Maximals stumbled into a nice little box canyon. Perhaps we should close the lid on them?" Terrorsaur asked gleefully, as Waspinator giggled in agreement.
Sauria's eyes went wide, before growling angrily. "They knew we were coming! We've been betrayed!" she yelled angrily, only for her and Optimus to turn at the sound of an approaching missile from behind. The two threw themselves to the sides as a missile exploded where they had been standing. Scorponok clacked his right pincer, loading another missile and preparing to fire.
Optimus's processor went into overdrive as he analyzed the situation. "Get into a defensive position!" He shouted to Sauria, moving behind a jutting ice formation and transforming to his bot form. Sauria transformed as well, hefting her shield as she rolled into a shallow alcove in the canyon wall. Above them, Terrorsaur and Waspinator transformed as well, readying their weapons.
Optimus dropped down, his back to the ice formation as he began firing up at the two fliers, while Sauria kept her shield up in front of her, using the roof of her small alcove to shield her form the fliers while firing at Scorponok. The three Predacons gleefully began firing at the two trapped Maximals, utilizing their numbers and superior position to keep them down.
Sauria grunted as one of Waspiantor's missiles hit the ground near her, showering her with ice and snow as it impacted the ground. "We need a better plan Optimus! We cannot hold this position!"
"Do what you can!" Optimus shouted, only to let out a pained grunt as one of Scorponok's missiles hit his cover, shattering part of it and driving a shard of ice into his right arm. He pulled it loose and tossed it aside, standing and whirling quickly to fire at Scorponok with his arm cannon.
Scorponok merely ducked under Optimus's shots and then aimed at the canyon wall, smirking as he fired a missile. The projectile slammed into the wall, exploding and causing a massive sheet of ice, snow, and rock to break loose, sliding down on top of the two Maximals. Sauria and Optimus both yelled in pain and surprise as they were buried.
Terrorsaur grinned gleefully. "And now with them out of the way, I can properly claim my trophy!" he shouted, turning to the stasis pod, only to find it gone. "What?!" He squawked angrily, until he saw Waspinator in beast form flying away with the stasis pod gripping in his six legs. "Come back here! That's mine!"
Below, Optimus managed to break himself free with cannon fire, shaking his helm before locking his optics on the pod. "They're getting away!" He shouted, firing his jets and blasting into the sky.
Scorponok slowly raised one pincer, tracking him, a grin on his face. "Uh-uh-uh. Not today Primal," he said, about to fire, when Sauria suddenly blasted free of her own prison, and with a roar threw her shield at Scorponok. The improvised projectile slammed into his helm, sending him flying and crashing into an icy bank behind him.
Up above, Optimus growled as he pushed his jets to maximum, pursuing the fleeing Waspinator. "I will not let you take another one of my crew!" He shouted, only to let out a yell of pain as a projectile slammed into his back, knocking out his jets and sending him crashing into the canyon wall, before hitting the ground below.
Terrorsaur smirked, aiming his blaster at Optimus. "You act like you have a choice, Maximal," he said, about to pull the trigger when a plasma charge went past his helm. He whirled, seeing Tigertron crouching behind a rock at the top of the canyon and firing his plasma rifle at him. Terrorsaur growled before turning and following his insect companion. Down below, Scorponok scrambled to his pedes and quickly ran, green laser fire following him as Sauria repeatedly discharged her eye lasers at him.
Optimus groaned softly as he pushed himself up to his knee joints and servos, before looking up at the dots that were the Predacon fliers and the captured stasis pod. "SLAG IT!" He roared, slamming one servo into the snow.
Tigertron quickly made his way down, as Sauria retrieved her shield. "Optimus, are you alright?" He asked worriedly.
"…no Tigertron…I'm not," Optimus said grimly, transforming to beast mode. "We need to return to base, now. Return to your scout patrol," he said.
Tigertron nodded his helm in understanding, before transforming and heading off, while Sauria transformed and accompanied Optimus back to their home base.
A few decacycles later, the rest of the Maximal team was present on the bridge of the Axalon. Optimus and Sauria had spent time in the CR chambers as they waited for the return of Lycanok and Tigertron, and now both were as good as new. Sadly, that did not seem to help Optimus's mood as he slammed one servo onto the table.
"This is the third operation that the Predacons have ambushed in the past gigacycle alone!" He shouted angrily. "At this rate, we won't be able to leave our base without being attacked by them."
"It's almost like some rat is selling us out," Cheetor said, only to get an indignant yell from Rattrap, who was still at the console, watching the radar. Rattrap whirled, optics narrowed at the young Maximal.
"I take offense ta dat!" Rattrap said, as Cheetor raised his hands in surrender.
Sauria's eyes narrowed though as she looked at Rattrap. "Cheetor may have a point. You were the one who led us into the box canyon. The one we nearly were terminated in," she snarled softly.
Rattrap rose to his pedes, clenching a servo. "Ya got something ta say, bronto brawd? Last I checked, I ain't da one who turned traitor here," he shot back, making Sauria growl, her eyes glowing angrily, only for Lycanok to stand up.
"Hey, easy there! We don't need to be pointing digits at anyone," he said, trying to calm the two down.
"Besides, that's crazy! Rattrap would never turn Pred," Rhinox said, as Sauria sat down, still glaring at the rodent spy, who just glared back. What happened next surprised every bot present though.
Optimus glanced at Rattrap, before speaking up. "At this point, I don't think we can count anything out," he said, making Lycanok, Rhinox, and Cheetor's optics widen in surprise.
"Big Bot, what are you saying? Rattrap can't be a traitor!" Cheetor said, as Optimus turned back to them.
"I want to speak to Rattrap and Lycanok in private," he said simply, making the bots look at each other, while Rattrap's optics narrowed at his leader. Lycanok slowly moved to join the pair, as Sauria crossed her arms, snarling softly as she glared at Rattrap's back.
The Darksyde
At the Darksyde, the scanning probe shot up into the air, as the purple scanning beams emanated from the transceivers, and began to scan for life forms. In the command area, Tarantulas had just finished installing a Predacon shell program to the Protoforms main CPU. Sealing up the protoform's chassis, he turned to check the scanners, cackling as he saw one of the possible life forms it had scanned for their new member's beast form. As he did, Megatron began studying the protoform.
"Hmmm, this protoform is rather small. I hope they'll be up to the task of helping us eliminate the Maximals," Megatron said, as Ripfang growled.
"If they ain't, I'll be happy to dispose of them fer yah," he said, his voice practically dripping with bloodlust.
"I doubt that will be necessary, Ripfang. Tarantulas, I assume you've found a suitable form for our new compatriot?" He asked.
"Mmm, yes Lord Megatron! A suitable life form indeed," he said, studying the eight legged form on the screen. "Scanning and replication beginning!"
The stasis pod sealed back up, as the onboard computer began downloading data sent to it from the Darksyde's computer, and the small window became obscured by a bright light inside the pod. Tarantuals cackled as the protoform's new programming came online, and the chassis began to alter to fit its beast form. "Oh yes Megatron, I do believe you'll approve of this beast form. This new Predacon will be fast, deadly, and absolutely vicious. Everything we desire," he said, as the process finished, and the pod opened, smoke erupting out and concealing the form within. "May I present Blackarachnia!"
As he said this, one long slender spider leg emerged from the pod, followed by another. Slowly a large black widow spider stepped out of the smoke, settling onto the deck on its eight legs. The spider's eight eyes seemed to look over the figures before it, before the arachnid spoke in a female voice. "Blackarachnia, TERRORIZE!"
The spider's form shifted, transforming into a female robot form. Megatron studied the new Predacon carefully, glancing between her and Tarantulas. Their chassis both appeared to be similar design, other than her obvious female features and her gold and black color scheme. However, whereas Tarantulas had a single visor optic and a rather spider like mouth, the femme before him had a very normal looking face plate, though her optics were a flat black that almost made them look empty, and her mouth contained a couple of slightly fanged dentures. Her helm was primarily black in color, with an almost hair like design, and a gold ring that ran around her helm like a headband.
The new femme slowly began to stretch, feeling her body's movements, before going through a series of kata. As she did, Tarantulas couldn't help but click his mandibles. "Be still my beating spark," he said, only to jerk as Megatron called out to him.
"Quite an interesting form you've chosen for our new comrade, Tarantulas. I almost suspect that you have ulterior motives for your choice," he said, as Ripfang snorted derisively.
"That little femme is supposed to intimidating? Tch, she's about as scary as a two megacycle old Sparkling," he said, drawing Blackarachnia's attention.
The femme merely gave him a smile as she quietly approached, swaying her hips back and forth before lightly tracing the tip of one of her servo's over Ripfang's face plate. "My my, aren't you a big strong mech," she purred out in a seductive voice.
"Well I'll be happy to show you how big and strong I am-," Ripfang started to say, only to let out a pained yell as Blackarachnia drove a knee into his chest, doubling him over before she spun around, bringing a pede down on the back of his helm and knocking him to the ground. Blackarachnia kicked him in the chest plate, sending him skidding to the edge of the deck and left partially dangling over the lava below, before moving, placing one pede on his neck join while holding a blaster with a serrated chevron shaped blade loaded into it.
"Don't ever underestimate me, scale for brains," she growled in a dangerous voice, only to look up as she her an approving chuckle.
Megatron's command chair whirred as it moved closer to the pair. "Yes, I can see that you will make quite a fine addition to our little family. Yyyeeess," he growled out. "Welcome to the Predacons, Blackarachnia," he said.
Blackarachnia got off Ripfang and stepped away, as Megatron chuckled more, glancing in the direction of the Maximal base. "And thank you Optimus, for the gift," he said. "Now, Tarantulas? Why don't you show our new femme around the ship, help her get acquainted. And make sure she's ready for the next ambush we plan for the Maximals.
"Yes Lord Megatron!" Tarantulas said happily, leading Blackarachnia away. Ripfang slowly got up, growling angrily and rubbing his chest plate while stomping off, as Megatron chuckled. Things were looking up for the Predacons.
The Axalon
Cheetor glanced worriedly over at the private discussion between Lycanok, Rattrap, and Optimus Primal; with said discussion looking like it was becoming heated. "Y-you don't really think…R-Ratrap couldn't be a spy, could he?" He asked worriedly, while Rhinox shook his helm.
"Not a chance. Rattrap hates Predacons. He'd never work alongside them," he said, only for Sauria to interrupt.
"You allow your friendship with the rodent to blind you to his true nature," she growled out. "He is a selfish, pestilent little sneak who will sell anyone out to ensure his own survival."
Before Rhinox or Cheetor could respond, Rattrap's voice became raised. "Get scrapped Optimus! You really dink I'd hack it with da Preds?! Youse got a fried muthaboard!" He shouted, shoving Optimus.
The Maximal leader just growled, shoving past Rattrap and returning to the table. "Maximals, Rattrap's loyalty has been brought into serious question. The repeated ambush of Maximal operations points to us having a traitor in our midst, and the majority of them have occurred while Rattrap was on communications duty," Optimus said, as Cheetor and Rhinox glanced at each other, then at Lycanok. The security mech's face plate was impassive as he retook his position.
"That doesn't prove he's a spy! Rattrap was attacked by the Predacons too, when he was on that scout patrol with me a few megacycles ago!" Cheetor said, trying to defend his friend.
"That could be a clever cover up, couldn't it?" Sauria growled, as Optimus nodded.
"We'll see soon enough. Rattrap, I'm ordering you on a solo scouting mission for Energon in Sector Gamma," he said.
"Sector Gamma? That's practically a death sentence Big Bot!" Cheetor said.
"Sector Gamma is not only filled with lava, but is within weapons range of the Predacon base! Not to mention the Energon fields create nasty storms there," Rhinox said. "Surely there must be another way!"
"Consider it a test of loyalty," Lycanok said quietly. "I don't believe Rattrap is a traitor, but there is enough evidence present to give us concerns."
"Exactly. And if turns out that Rattrap isn't the traitor, I will be the first to apologize," Optimus said, only for Rattrap to snort in derision.
"Yeah sure. Like I'll live long enough ta see and hear dat," he snapped, glaring at Optimus, Sauria, and then Lycanok. "Danks for nuthin'," he muttered, transforming into beast form and skulking off to the elevator. As he disappeared down the hatch, Rhinox shook his helm.
"Optimus, I know you're upset about losing the pod, but you don't think-," Rhinox said, only to be interrupted.
"As much as it pains me, we need to know. This mission will answer that question once and for all," he said, turning and heading off. "Contact me as soon as Rattrap reaches Sector Gamma. Lycanok, follow me. We have things to discuss," he said.
Lycanok nodded and followed the Maximal leader, as Sauria crossed her arms, watching them. Something in the back of her processor was telling her that things weren't entirely what they seemed. She didn't believe for a second that Optimus would be so quick to mistrust one of his comrades, considering the trust he had shown her. Still, she also could feel her respect for the Maximal leader rise a bit, considering he was not acting in what she considered his usual naïve fashion. If the rodent was a spy, then he needed to be dealt with. And Sauria would happily do it herself, if need be.
A few decacycles later, Rattrap grunted as he hopped over a small stream of lava, grumbling to himself as he padded through the barren wasteland of Sector Gamma. The entire area was essentially a series of islands filled with rocky formations, and separated by rivers and pools of lava. The air was choked with smoke, decreasing visibility by a considerable amount, and was almost always covered in dark clouds, dark clouds that thanks to the Energon radiation levels would often emit bolts of lightning laced with said radiation. Despite there being a high level of Energon radiation though, neither Maximal nor Predacon surveys had uncovered any large veins of Energon crystals in the area.
Having completed yet another sweep of the area with both his visual scanners and his area scanners, Rattrap propped himself onto his hind legs and activated his comlink. He could hear the static of Energon interference, but thanks to Rhinox's efforts, they had been able to increase the effective range of the comlinks.
"Rattrap ta base. Ya copying me here?" He demanded.
"We hear you Rattrap. Report," Optimus's voice responded, as Rattrap snorted.
"Like I said thirty cycles ago, dere ain't nuthin' here but molten rock. We done here?" He asked.
Unbeknownst to the Maximals, a third party was listening in to the conversation. On the Darksyde, Megatron, Scorponok, and Terrorsaur were standing around a console, listening to the conversation, as Optimus ordered Rattrap on one more sweep.
"Aah, the simple pleasures of Maximal code breaking," Megatron said with a smirk, as his minions chuckled menacingly.
"Indeed. Who knew the Maximals would be dumb enough to blame one of their own!" Terrorsaur said, as Megatron smiled at him.
"Terrorsaur, why don't you go and greet our guest? Perhaps even help make his visit a permanent one," Megatron said, as Terrorsaur transformed and quickly flew out of the base, heading towards Sector Gamma.
With Rattrap, he finished his new sweep, before sighing as he activated his comlink. "Optimus, dere ain't nuthin' here. Dis place is just one big stinkin pile of-GAAHHHH!" He yelled out, being knocked over as something hit him. Shaking his head, he looked up in time to see Terrorsaur whirl and hover in front of him, wings flapping. "Whoa, scrap dat last message! Terrorsaur just popped up!" He shouted, even as the Predacon transformed.
"Welcome to your grave Maximal!" Terrorsaur shouted, firing his blaster at Rattrap. Rattrap quickly transformed, and began firing back at the Predacon flier.
At the Maximal base, the group could hear the weapons fire over the comlink, which Rattrap hadn't shut off yet. Cheetor looked up at Sauria. "See! If he were a spy, why are they trying to kill him?" He said.
"Perhaps to draw our suspicion off him," Sauria said back in a relatively even voice.
Rattrap grunted as he dove behind a rock formation, rising up and firing rapidly at Terrorsaur, who smirked and simply strafed form side to side, dodging his shots. "I'm disappointed Maximal! I thought you were a better shot then that!" He said, before firing purple lasers form his eyes. The lasers hit Rattrap's cover, causing it to explode and send him flying. As he crashed into the ground, another laser blast destroyed a rock formation hanging over him, causing a massive pillar of rock to fall towards him. Rattrap barely rolled out of the way as the rock smashed into the spot he had been.
Before he could get up though, Terrorsaur's pede slammed into his chest, pinning him as Terrorsaur readied his blaster. "Prepare to die Maximal! I hope your friends don't mind getting a small pile of molten slag for your burial!" He said, about to fire.
Rattrap's optics widened and he raised a servo. 'Wait! I surrender! Mercy!" He shouted.
At the Maximal base, Sauria's face plate took on a look of grim satisfaction, while Rhinox's optics went wide. "W-What?!"
Terrorsaur's voice could be heard on the comlink, sounding intrigued. "Mercy? And why should I give you mercy?"
Rattrap slowly got up after Terrorsaur removed his pede. "I ain't a Maximal no more. Dey tossed me out, so I figure its best ta become a free agent. You name it, and I'll do it," he said.
Terrorsaur's optics blinked, before he grinned. "Well well, finally a Maximal with a sound set of logic circuits. I do believe we can come to a deal. I'll spare you, in exchange for your loyalty."
Rattrap nodded in agreement. "Yeah, sure. I ain't got nuthin' to lose. I'll…become a Predacon," he said, as he slowly reached towards his right forearm, where a Maximal emblem was etched into the protomatter. He hesitated for a second, before touching it, accessing his programming. Within a few nanocycles, the emblem changed, glowing yellow as it became the insect marking of the Predacons. Terrorsaur, seeing this, began to laugh maniacally, as Rattrap transformed. He soon followed suit, still laughing as he grabbed Rattrap and began flying back to base.
At the Maximal base, Rhinox's optics widened. "NO!" He yelled, as Cheetor shook his helm.
"I-it can't be…h-he couldn't," he said quietly.
Sauria merely snorted, her arms crossed. "Did I not say that he only cared about survival? The proof is here. At his spark, he always was a traitor to everything but his own survival," she said.
"Like you're one to talk!" Cheetor said angrily. "You're a traitor too!"
Sauria growled angrily, turning to the young cat bot. "Do not turn this on me, because your friend betrayed you! I only betrayed the Predacons after they betrayed me! That vermin betrayed us all, and for his own survival!"
"Enough," Optimus said, turning off the comlink. "I want everyone to take ten cycles, and then we're going to decide what to do about this. Lycanok, take the necessary precautions for our systems. Rhinox, contact Tigertron and have him report to base. Now," he snapped.
The Maximals separated, but not before Lycanok and Optimus glanced at each other. Lycanok gave a subtle nod, as Optimus let out a tired vent, heading towards his cabin.
The Darksyde
Terrorsaur couldn't help but smirk as he piloted his hover platform into position in the command area, situating himself in a position where all could see him, and be below him. 'A fitting spot for them all to be,' he mused, as behind him, a cage slowly rose up with Rattrap inside, still in his beast form.
As the others gathered around, he began to speak. "Hear me, my fellow Predacons! I present to you the newest of trophies glorifying my victories! Behold, the power that will tip the balance of the Beast Wars in my favor, and my personal lieutenant, Rattrap!" he said, pointing to the former Maximal, who waved almost cheekily at the gathered Predacons.
There were several murmurs from the gathered Predacons, while Megatron, in his beast form, glared suspiciously at the red Predacon flier. Terrorsaur continued his grandstanding, not wishing to lose momentum. "With his knowledge of the Maximals, added with our new Predacon Blackarachnia, who I personally retrieved, we shall finally be able to bring down the Maximals once and for all, and win the Beast Wars! But I do not give these gifts freely. No. It is only fair that I be compensated for my victories by becoming the new leader of the Predacons!" He shouted, raising both arms in victory.
Scorponok's optical visor widened. "W-what?! Megatron is leader!" He shouted.
Before Terrorsaur could respond, Megatron stomped forward. "So, it seems you are an even bigger fool then I expected, Terrorsaur. Not only has this Maximal fooled you into think he is loyal to you, but you dare challenge me, again, for leadership of the Predacons! I did not expect such stupidity from you yet again. It seems you did not learn your lesson last time. No," he growled.
"Oh, I learned my lesson alright Megatron. I learned it well," Terrorsaur said, as pain shot through Megatron's circuits. He roared out as he felt all of his joint servo's freeze up, causing him to collapse. Behind him, Rattrap smirked as he stood on his hind legs, having snuck out of the cage while Megatron was speaking. In one hand he held a device with a pair of prongs that were emitting sparks.
"Yeh shouldn't have turned yer back ta me, Megs. Danks to this little beauty here, yer servo's are completely seized up," he said, prodding Megatron again and causing him to roar out in pain. "Not ta mention yer transformation circuits too."
"Excellent! Excellent! Good work my lieutenant," Terrorsaur said, turning to the Predacons. "Megatron is obsolete! And I, being the one to defeat him, now claim leadership of the Predacons! All of you will swear fealty to me!"
"Never! Scorponok is loyal to Megatron, our true leader!" Scorponok said, taking a step forward.
Blackarachnia, who was leaning against a console, simply shook her helm as she watched everything that was happening. She had barely been online for a decacycle, and already her processor hurt from dealing with her so called crewmates. Almost all of them were idiots in one form or another. Scorponok was a brainless lackey, Waspinator was a coward who was only good for cannon fodder, Ripfang was a brute who only seemed to care about violence, while Terrorsaur was a cowardly opportunistic toady. None of them seemed to truly understand things like subtlety and guile. The only ones who hadn't annoyed her so far were Megatron and Tarantulas, though the latter was starting to get there with his fawning over her.
Now she rolled her optics, muttering quietly to herself. "Fool."
Tarantulas however decided to move the meeting forward. "I believe we should discuss this matter more in depth," he said. "However, we should not do so in front of the Maximal," he sneered, glaring at Rattrap. He still held a grudge from when Rattrap blew up his lair and freed Cheetor.
Terrorsaur sputtered, not liking where things were going. "V-Very well then! Waspinator! Remove Rattrap and Megatron to the lower decks!" He ordered, as Rattrap quietly dropped the circuit disruptor he was holding, and obediently settled into his cage. As Waspinator grunted and tugged on Megatron's paralyzed form, he cheekily waved to the other Predacons.
"See youse later!" He said, as the cage was moved along a conveyer system, eventually followed by a second cage containing Megatron.
Terrorsaur turned to his fellow Predacons, already envisioning his grand return to Cybertron, where he would rule over all. Unaware that several plans were in motion that would not be to his liking.
The Axalon
Optimus glanced up as Tigertron entered the bridge, transforming into his robot form. "Good, thank you for coming Tigertron. Did Rhinox brief you on the situation?" He asked.
"Yes he did, though I must say I was shocked when I heard it," Tigertron said, taking a seat. Optimus nodded his helm tiredly, sitting back.
"And that is why we're here now. To discuss what to do about the situation," he said.
"A situation that wouldn't have happened if you had trusted Rattrap," Rhinox said coldly, only for Sauria to scoff.
"He has proven himself a traitor and yet still you defend him?! Do you not understand that he is now the enemy?" She said, looking to Optimus. "He must be neutralized, before he poses a danger to us all."
"I agree," Lycanok said. "Even by changing the command access codes to ensure Rattrap can't access our systems, he knows the Axalon inside and out, as well as our defenses and strategies. He'll be able to practically lead the Predacons right through our front door."
"Then we need to go and get him," Optimus said, making everyone blink at him.
"W-What…you mean attack the Predacon base?" Cheetor asked, as Optimus nodded.
"If we move quickly enough, we can catch them off guard. Strike hard and fast, and get to Rattrap," Optimus said.
Sauria nodded approvingly. "A bold plan and one that is necessary. I can offer a few key positions that we can utilize to sneak close, and perhaps even strike at the Darksyde," she said.
"Won't we be outnumbered?" Tigertron asked. "Surely by now they have also converted the protoform into a Predacon. And with Rattrap at their side, they'll have us outgunned."
"Maybe, but knowing Terrorsaur, there's a chance Megatron is out of the picture. That might make things even for us. I don't see any other option," Optimus said. "However, if at all possible, I want Rattrap captured and brought back online. I want him to answer for what he's done," Optimus said.
Sauria growled softly. Part of it thought the idea was foolish, that they should simply end the traitor's life on the battlefield. Yet another part of her enjoyed the thought of seeing the vermin be brought to justice. She shuddered a bit though, as she again felt the conflict in her processor. Her struggle to deal with the fact no matter how she denied it, she was a traitor as well. Either a traitor to the Predacons for serving the Maximals, or a traitor to her own honor in not exacting revenge on those who had betrayed her. She quieted those thoughts, knowing she had to focus as Lycanok brought up a map of the Darksyde.
"So what are these positions you mentioned Sauria?" He asked, as Sauria began studying the map. As she pointed out the positions, she quietly wondered if she would ever be able to live with the choices she had made.
The Darksyde
Rattrap shifted uncomfortably as he felt an increase in heat from the lava his cage currently dangled over. He glanced to his left, where Megatron's cage was slowly lowering as well, wondering how the Predacons dealt with the constant exposure to heat, as he felt his cooling fans working harder than usual to keep his circuits cool.
Megatron meanwhile glanced over at Rattrap. "Do not think you have won anything yet, Maximal traitor. You have backed the losing side. Though if you are perhaps willing to swear loyalty to me, I might forgive your transgression after my restoration to power," he snarled, before looking up. "Computer, process voice recognition command: Megatron Alpha-One-Seven-Blue-Foxtrot. Confirm."
The female computer immediately responded. "Megatron voice recognition command confirmed."
"Excellent. Open cage three and summon a hover platform to this location," he said.
Almost immediately the door of Megatron's cage unlocked, and within a cycle, a hover platform moved in front of the cage, waiting patiently for Megatron to board it.
The T-Rex Predacon smirked as he boarded the platform, his joint servo's operating again. "A wise lesson to remember, traitor. A tyrant always ensures his prisons are designed to aid his personal escape. Yyeeesss," he said, as the hover platform headed off into the darkness.
Rattrap waited till he was sure Megatron wasn't coming back, before smirking. "And da wise Maximal traitor always makes sure he's carrying his lockpicks," he said, transforming into his robot mode. He glanced down at his forearm, staring at the Predacon emblem, before changing it back to the Maximal emblem and tapping his forearm. The metal lifted up, revealing a small storage space with a number of infiltration devices in it. Picking an electronic lock pick, he slipped his hand through the bars and began to slide it into the locking mechanism of his cage door. Barely three nanocycles later, the door opened, and Rattrap smirked.
"Dey don't make em like dey used ta," he said, before glancing around. His cage was a fair distance from any solid surface, and he didn't have the convenience of summoning a hover platform like Megatron did. Glancing up, he dismissed the idea of climbing up the chain, as it would simply lead him back up to the command deck, and he didn't want to run the risk of running into any of the Predacons that way. Glancing to his right, he blinked as he saw a robot sized maintenance tunnel entrance. Slowly looking up, he gauged the distance from the top of his cage to the tunnel, and after running a couple calculations, figured he could reach it. Carefully climbing up onto the roof of the cage, he perched himself on the edge, psyching himself up.
"It's cool Rattrap. It's just a fall ta yeh horribly fiery death if youse miss. Nuthin' ta worry about," he muttered. Taking a deep intake of air, he pushed himself off, leaping across the chasm and barely grabbing one of the bars in front of the tunnel entrance in time, his other servo clamping onto the lip of the tunnel floor. With effort, he was able to pull himself up into the tunnel, and slip between the bars.
Now on solid deck plating, Rattrap took a deep intake of relief, before pulling out his blaster and checking to make sure it was loaded. It flipped a switch to engage a silencer mode, and then crouched down as he slowly began to step forward into the tunnel.
He quietly moved close to one of the walls, moving somewhat slowly and steadily. He knew from experience that fast, jerky movements would be far more noticeable to an optical sensor then slower, steadier movements. He eventually came to an intersection, and was about to call up a map in his databanks that Sauria had given them following her joining the Maximals, when he heard yelling above him. Startled, he dropped down almost to his haunches, weapon raised and ready to fire.
As it turned out, the yelling was coming from the continuing debate between the Predacons in the control deck above. He could make out the faint shadows of Scorponok and Terrorsaur, as Terrorsaur ranted at Scorponok for not swearing loyalty to him, and Scorponok ranted about being loyal only to Megatron. Seeing he was still clear, Rattrap turned his attention to his HUD display, focusing on the map of the Darksyde. "Now where ta go. Where ta go," he murmured.
He soon highlighted the nearest terminal to his location, and nodded, standing up and slowly moving down the right hand corridor, but not before cheekily waving up at the grate where the voices of the Predacons could be heard. Turning his attention back to the job at hand, he kept moving forward, intent on reaching that terminal.
Outside the Darksyde, the Maximals were crouched in Beast form, utilizing a series of rock formations to hide from the Darksyde's scanners. Lycanok was quietly pinpointing a few of the Predacon bases's defensive turrets. "When we attack, we should take those ones out first. They provide covering fire against our current location," he murmured to the rest.
"Alright, then let's do it already," Cheetor said, impatient to get this done.
"No. We attack on my command," Optimus said, making Sauria glance at him, before speaking up.
"Why do we delay? The longer we are here, the greater the chance of our discovery. We should strike now while we still have the element of surprise," she said.
"Trust me. I have a plan," Optimus said, making Sauria even more suspicious now. Optimus had seemed so ready to attack and get Rattrap when they were devising the plan, but now he was waiting for something, jeopardizing their safety and the mission success. What was going on?
Inside the ship, Rattrap smirked as he finished working with the terminal he found. "A couple of nice presents fer yeh, oh great Terrorsaur," he said with a chuckle, before checking the data he downloaded. "And now what I want is right…dere!" He said, the newly revised map of the ship now having a new waypoint on it. He quickly headed out, making sure his commlink was tuned to the Predacon frequencies so he could keep track of their locations.
He soon came out of the maintenance tunnel onto a small catwalk over the area he wanted to reach, and quickly but quietly crouched down as he heard the computer speaking, as well as someone working a console. "Scanning for Maximal communication frequencies."
Glancing over the edge, he saw Waspinator typing on a computer console, while on the screen was data listing Maximal communication frequencies, as well as a radar image scanning the area for such frequencies. After a few moments, the computer reported again. "No frequencies detected."
Waspinator seemed to shrug and turn, flying off and leaving the room silent. Rattrap quietly glanced around for any security cameras or systems, before stealthily hopping down, landing in a crouch. He glanced around again, blaster at the ready, before slowly standing and moving to the computer console.
"Now, what's yeh secret?" He whispered, holstering his blaster and studying the computer. If they were tapping into Maximal communication frequencies, they had to have been breaking the communication code scrambler. Which as far as he knew was impossible to do without the codes.
His optics widened as a thought came to him, and pulling out another tool from his storage compartment, he quietly worked the console open, revealing the circuitry within. And in the middle of it was a Maximal chip.
"Bingo. A Maximal Decoder. Lousy Preds," he growled as he checked the chip for any security features, and then removed it, placing the console cover back into place and storing the tool and chip back into his compartment. His job done, he drew his blaster, and glanced up to where he had entered. "Ain't no way I'm getting back up dere," he whispered, turning to his left where another maintenance entrance was at. "Guess dat's my only option."
He entered, blaster at the ready as he began following the map back towards the prisoner area. Turning left at an intersection, he grinned as he felt like he was home free. Unfortunantly, that's when his left pede hit a sensor beam.
Before he knew what was happening, he found himself trapped in a techno-web that had appeared almost out of nowhere across his path. "Wat da slaggin' heck?!" He grunted, struggling to get free.
Elsewhere, Tarantulas was giggling as he dangled a rat he had caught above his mouth, preparing to lower it down, when an alert went off on his HUD. "Warning. Unauthorized access to restricted zone seven. Repeat, unauthorized access to restricted zone seven."
Tarantulas carelessly dropped the rat and quickly climbed up onto the ceiling of the tunnel he was in, heading towads zone seven.
Rattrap grunted, unable to pull himself free of the webbing. "Uugghh, I hate dem spiders fer makin' dis crap," he muttered, as he managed to twist his right hand, causing a blade to shoot forward into his hand. With a quick slash he was able to cut through the webbing, freeing himself and clearing a path. Not wasting anytime he moved forward, praying that was the only trap along the way.
Tarantulas soon arrived in zone seven, and frowned as he saw the slashed webbing. "Hmmmm…it seems Terrorsaur's little lieutenant isn't quite as loyal as he'd like to think," he murmured, quickly heading towards the prisoner area.
Rattrap had just reached the tunnel exit to the prisoner area, and now glanced at his cell. 'Oh man, dis ain't going to be fun," he muttered, as he pulled out a grapple from his storage compartment and attached it to his blaster. One well aimed shot later, and he was hooked to the top of the cage. Gripping the steel rope attached to the grapple hook, he took a deep intake before swinging out towards the cage, grabbing onto the edge of the floor where the door was.
He was just pulling himself up into the cage when he heard a familiar cackling sound. "Well well. The rat has been running his maze I see. Too bad there's no cheese at the end for you," Tarantulas said as he started to transform. "Tarantulas, TERRO-GAAAHHH!" He shouted as Rattrap blasted him in the chest with his blaster, sending the tarantula mech flying and crashing further down the hallway, a smoking crater in his chest.
"Tch, dat dumb eight legged freak never knows when ta shaddup," Rattrap murmured, locking his cage and tapping his comlink. "Showtime," he murmured.
At that same moment, outside the Predacon ship, Optimus raised his head as he heard his commlink beep twice. Cheetor, who was next to him, blinked as he heard it. "What was that Optimus?"
Optimus just pointed at the ship. "We move now! MAXIMIZE!" He shouted.
On the Darksyde, Terrorsaur was brooding in the command chair. Things were not going exactly as he envisioned. For the moment he was in command, but Scorponok had refused to acknowledge his leadership, as had Ripfang. Though the latter refused to follow anyone's leadership unless they either proved they were stronger than him, or they provided him with plenty of enemies to fight. As he told Terrorsaur, so far the flier hadn't done either of these things.
Waspinator however was willing to follow anyone, while Blackarachnia and Tarantulas seemed to recognize him as leader for the moment. Yet he could tell that could change easily enough should there be a shift in power. So what he needed to do was get Ripfang and Scorponok onto his side. If he could ensure their loyalty for their strength, and with Rattrap watching his back from the shadows, he was sure he could lead the Predacons.
Unfortunately for Terrorsaur, his day was about to get a lot worse. Because suddenly out of nowhere, the entire base shook violently from several explosions, as alarms immediately began blaring. "Warning. Defensive turrets 1, 3, 4, 7, and 10 have been destroyed. Hull integrity at ninety six percent and falling."
"What is going on!?" Terrorsaur demanded, as Blackarachnia, who was currently the only other Predacon on the bridge, accessed her console.
"It's a Maximal attack! They've already destroyed most of the gun emplacements guarding the rear of the base, and are attacking the base directly!" She reported, as another explosion shook the ship.
"Why weren't we warned by the scanners?! Or the code breaker program?!" The Predacon flier demanded, fear entering his voice as he gripped the arm rests of the command chair.
"The Maximal code breaker program has gone offline! Defensive cannons are offline! Shielding is offline! Somethings disabled all our defensive systems!" Blackarachnia shouted, as the other Predacons stormed onto the bridge, followed surprisingly by Megatron.
Terrorsaur cowered in fear of the T-Rex leader, only to be stunned as Megatron simply bowed. "Well Commander, what are your orders?" He asked in a mocking tone.
Terrorsaur stared at the former Predacon leader in fear and confusion. "Y-You're letting me lead?!"
Megatron merely smirked. "Oh, you were clever enough to defeat me. I think it's time to see how well you do against the Maximals," he said simply.
The Predacon flier immediately responded, fear pushing him to action. "R-Release my lieutenant, and find Tarantulas! W-We're going to counter attack and drive the Maximals back!" He shouted, hopping out of the chair and rushing off to 'bravely' lead his troops into battle.
Outside, Cheetor grinned a bit as he kept peppering the Darksyde with gunfire. "Oh yeah, I think they'll need a new paintjob after this!" He shouted.
"I think it'll need more then that!" Lycanok shot back, seeing another turret explode, causing a portion of the hull to be ripped open.
Sauria growled as she ceased firing for a second. "We have not drawn them out yet! We might need to take the fight to them," she said to Optimus, who shook his helm.
"No, if we head inside they'll have the advantage! Hold position here!" he said, firing his cannons again.
It was at that moment that a hail of weapons fire shot out of the main door of the Predacon ship, forcing the Maximals to take cover behind a rock formation. From the Darksyde streamed out the Predacons, all wildly firing at the Maximals to keep their heads down as they sought their own defensive positions. Amongst them was Rattrap, who dove behind a large boulder as soon as he reached it, where he was quickly joined by Terrorsaur.
Rhinox, who had popped up to fire a burst from his machinegun, quickly had to crouch as Ripfang and Waspinator both concentrated their fire on him. "Optimus, what's the plan?!" He called out.
"Hang in there! We've got a secret weapon! Just hold your position till I give the signal!" He shouted, before activating his jets and shooting up into the air, where he began to give his Maximals covering fire.
Using the distraction, Rhinox popped up and opened up on Waspinator, who had chosen that exact moment to pop out of cover. The insect Predacon yelled out in pain as bullets ripped into his superstructure. "O-Oh no! Not again!" He buzzed out, as the bullets ripped him to pieces, before he dropped on the ground.
Ripfang growled, bringing his heavy cannon around to fire on Rhinox, only to yell as a blade sheared right through it. Lycanok stood behind him, sword at the ready. "I think you and I have some unfinished business," he growled, as Ripfang gave him a gleeful grin with his eyes.
"Maybe. But this time you won't be escaping, Maximal!" He shouted, drawing his axe and swinging it down at Lycanok. Lycanok spun to one side, slashing at the arm of the Predacon, cutting a bit into the bot's arm but being mostly stopped by the armor like scales. Ripfang growled as he spun, bringing his axe around to try and cut Lycanok's head off, while the Maximal rolled past him, slashing at his exposed back. Ripfang roared in pain and swung around to meet Lycanok, their weapons clashing. "YOU'LL BLEED FOR THAT, MAXIMAL!"
Meanwhile, Terrorsaur glanced up at Optimus, before turning to Rattrap. "It's time for you to prove your loyalty once and for all! Shoot down Optimus Primal!" He shouted, gesturing to the flying Maximal.
Rattrap glanced up at Optimus, then at Terrorsaur, before nodding. Keeping low behind the rock, he carefully began aiming, firing at Optimus. His first few shots missed, before one managed to hit one of Optimus's jets, destroying it. Optimus let out a pained yell as he began to fall from the sky.
On the ground, Cheetor's eyes widened. "NO! BIG BOT!" He shouted, before looking at Rattrap. "YOU TRAITOR!" He roared, as he lunged out of cover. Tigertron, who had been fighting alongside the young cat bot, tried to stop him, but was too late as Cheetor charged forward, hissing and firing wildly.
Optimus grunted as he slammed into the ground, laying on his back and trying to reboot. He heard someone approach him, before glancing up, his optics picking up a fuzzy gold and black image. As his optics cleared, he saw the new femme Predacon smirking as she aimed her weapon at him, only for a plasma charge to slam into her arm, causing her to scream in pain.
Blackarachnia glared at the charging Maximal who had dared to shoot her, dared to injure her. Stepping over Optimus, she just strode towards him, ignoring the weapons fire that whizzed around her, ignoring the green lasers that blasted Scorponok behind her, ignored the charges that ripped the spider limbs off her arms. All she was focused on was the welp of a mech who dared to injure her.
Cheetor growled angrily, ready to tear into the femme between him and Optimus. He raised a fist, ready to punch her as he ran, only to be blindsided when she spun and her pede slammed into his face, flipping him backwards. He slammed onto his back, groaning and completely stunned, as Blackarachnia stepped on his chest, pinning him there.
"No one injures me and gets away with it!" She growled, raising one servo to drive it into the pinned Maximal's chest plate, only for a second plasma charge to blast into her chest plate, sending her flying into a rock, before slumping to the ground, offline. Tigertron moved quickly to Cheetor's side, helping him up.
"Be more careful next time, little cat," he said, as Cheetor nodded, shaking his helm.
"Y-Yeah…scrap that spider could kick," he groaned out, as the two moved to Optimus's side.
The Predacon line by this time was broken. Half the Predacons were out of commission, while Lycanok and Ripfang were still engaged in a duel while Megatron was keeping Rhinox pinned. Seeing the momentum on their side, Sauria decided to make a play for Rattrap. Leaping over her cover, she charged towards Rattrap and Terrorsaur's position, shield raised. The two of them began to fire at her, but most of their shots missed or impacted against her shield. With a roar, she sailed over their cover, slamming the shield into Terrorsaur's chest and driving him to the ground, before slamming her helm into his face plate. Getting up she turned on Rattrap, who was backing up a bit. "So traitor, it seems your time has come," she said, blade held at the ready. "I would be lying if I said I wouldn't enjoy this."
"Whoa whoa whoa dino-brain, dis ain't what youse dink!" Rattrap shouted, only for Sauria to growl.
"Do not try to worm you way out of this rodent! You betrayed us already, now at least die with dignity!" She shouted, ready to stab him, only to be grabbed from behind. Megatron's right servo grasped Sauria's helm in the jaws of the T-Rex head, ready to crush her at a moment's notice.
"It's time for the final test, rat," he hissed out. "Prove once and for all who you really are! A Predacon, or a Maximal!" He said.
Sauria glared at Rattrap, even as she prepared herself for termination. She did not fear what was to come, but she despised the idea that it would be the treacherous rat of all bots who would end her existence. She saw him raise his blaster, though it trembled as his optics flickered between Sauria and Megatron. Terrorsaur, at that moment, decided to butt in.
"He's my lieutenant! Shoot her Rattrap! FINISH HER!" He screeched loudly, only for Rattrap to groan.
"Oh would youse shaddup already?!" He yelled, turning and blasting Terrorsaur's helm clean off his body, shocking both Sauria and Megatron. The shock doubled when Rattrap whirled, bringing his blaster back onto Megatron and shooting him in the chest, causing him to loosen his grip on Sauria. Sauria broke free, whirling and delivering a powerful kick to Megatron's chest plate, knocking him back onto the ground.
Optimus, who had recovered thanks to Cheetor and Tigertron, nodded as he saw Rattrap was in the clear. "RHINOX! Get Rattrap! All Maximals fall back!" He shouted out.
Rhinox quickly transformed into his beast form, and charged towards Rattrap's position, bowling over Scorponok and Waspinator, both who had barely gotten back onto their pedes. As he neared Rattrap, the rat spy easily swung up onto Rhinox's back as Sauria growled but quickly followed. Cheetor, Tigertron, and Optimus also began pulling out.
Lycanok meanwhile vented a bit, lightly clutching one arm which had a slash on it, leaking some mech fluid. Ripfang though had come off the worse so far, sustaining several injuries. As he saw his comrades retreated, Lycanok grinned. "Another time, I guess," he said, as he spun, driving a pede into Ripfang's chest plate and forcing him to double over. He quickly leapt onto Ripfang's back and spring boarded off of him, transforming in mid air. The moment all four paws hit the ground, he was racing to catch up to his comrades, leaving behind a very pissed off Ripfang.
"I WILL KILL YOU MAXIMAL!" He roared, slamming one clenched servo into a rock and actually shattering it.
Behind him, the various wounded Predacons slowly dragged themselves into a circle around Terrorsaur, whose body was scrambling to find his helm. Tarantulas groaned as he stumbled from the main entranceway, grumbling. "That blasted rodent. I swear I will end him one of these megacycles," he grumbled.
Terrorsaur barely managed to grab his helm, and was placing it back onto his neck joint, when he found himself staring at Megatron. "So, my fellow Predacons. After seeing the glorious, cunning, courageous leadership of Terrorsaur, which of you would still follow his lead?" He growled angrily.
At this, each of the Predacons backed away from Terrorsaur, who wobbled weakly on his pedes, while Megatron growled. "As I anticipated. Now do you understand WHY I let you lead the battle, Terrorsaur? I knew you would fail. What's worse is you actually SURPASSED my expectations. Yes. Do you have anything to say for your utter failure?!" He roared into Terrorsaur's face plate, actually causing his helm to fall off his chassis and land on the ground.
"No Lord Megatron," he said meekly, as Megatron growled.
"All of you, get yourselves repaired immediately, and then begin working on repairing the ship. Make sure this pile of scrap is last to be repaired, and that he gets the most amount of labor," he snapped as he stormed back onto the ship.
"Yes Lord Megatron!" They all shouted, watching him leave. Tarantulas picked up Terrorsaur's helm, glaring at plate to face plate.
"Be glad he ordered you repaired. I would happily dine on your fluids for what your idiocy caused here today," he growled out, tossing the helm to Terrorsaur's body and stalking off. The others soon followed, while Terrorsaur fumbled to hold his helm in place, clumsily following them in.
Axalon, one decacycle later
Rattrap sat in the middle of the bridge, looking a bit fearfully at the cold looks he was getting from Rhinox and Cheetor. Strangely enough though, Sauria's face plate was completely unreadable. Rattrap had thought she would be the first one to try and slag him, yet for some reason she wasn't moving to do so. Tigertron meanwhile had already left to return to his patrols, not feeling comfortable inside the Axalon.
At that moment, Optimus Primal and Lycanok stepped forward. "Rattrap, you have committed treason against us, your fellow crewmates and Maximals. You defected to the Predacons and knowingly attacked your fellow Maximals in battle, aiding the enemy. And all I can say is…congratulations," Optimus said, grinning.
Cheetor's optics went wide open, as Rhinox's mouth dropped open. "W-what?!" Rhinox asked, stunned.
Rattrap sheepishly rubbed the back of his helm. "Yeah ummm, I kinda was on a secret mission old Pop Op and Bowser dere gave me," he said, as he opened the storage compartment on his arm and held out the decoder chip. "Dis is how da Preds were gettin' dere info on us. A Maximal Decoder chip. Must have found it in a crashed pod or sumthin'," he said.
"I knew it," Sauria murmured emotionlessly. "I suspected this was a possibility when you didn't immediately order us to attack the Darksyde. Though I wasn't completely sure until the vermin shot Megatron," she said.
Lycanok saw the still stunned looks on Cheetor and Rhinox's face. "We're sorry for the deception, but we needed all of you to believe he had really betrayed us, especially during the battle. It was to ensure his safety until the last nanocycle, when we could extract him safely."
"I…wow. Sorry Rattrap," Cheetor said, feeling bad. He couldn't believe he had actually believed Rattrap was a traitor. Rhinox looked down as well, feeling a bit ashamed.
"Eeh, furget 'bout it," Rattrap said. "Just shows how good an actor I am," he said with a cocky grin.
"Well maybe next time, you could be a little less good?" Optimus asked ruefully, rubbing his chassis where Rattrap had hit him.
"Hey, I was uhh…trying ta miss," the rat Maximal respond, chuckling a bit. Soon, the others began to laugh as well. All except Sauria, who merely turned and stalked away.
In the privacy of her quarters, the raptor femme slowly sat down, and placed her helm in her hands. Her disgrace was complete. It was bad enough that she had to deal with the constant war within her, the battle between her betrayal of the Predacons and her betrayal of her honor. But now, now she owed her continuing functions to Rattrap. An honor-less spy and saboteur, a Maximal who despised her very being, and she despising his as well. And now she owed him a life debt, for his action in attacking Megatron and saving her. She would not tell him of it, because she could not bear the shame of him knowing. But the shame of knowing that she, a proud warrior, owed one to him was almost too much.
She slowly glanced to her left, where a rack of various weapons was stored. They were copies of the weapons she had brought with her on the Darksyde, and had been forced to leave behind after her expulsion from the Predacon crew. She had been able to replace them easily enough upon joining the Maximals and gaining access to the weapon and ammo fabrication units. But there was one spot open on the rack, one that she now intended to fill, as she reached to her weapon storage compartment, and extracted a sword. It was a simple enough blade, a long sword in design, with a cross guard that swept up a bit toward the blade. The grip was as simple as the blade and gross guard, with the pommel being the only fanciful part of the weapon. The pommel was crafted to a similar shape as the shield she carried into combat, with the Cybertronian emblem for honor emblazoned onto the pommel. She quietly stared at the emblem, as her optics dimmed slightly.
This was her father's sword. A weapon he had carried into battle many battles, fighting against Predacons who preyed upon their brethren in an attempt to gain more power, against Maximal terrorists who broke away from their society in order to attack Predacons, and against some of the hostile alien races the Maximals and Predacons had encountered while traveling through the galaxy. He had taught her everything she knew about fighting, and when he had finally retired from the Predacon military, he had granted her this sword, saying he could think of no greater honor then knowing his daughter and student would carry this blade into battle. Ever since that day, she had kept the sword on her at all times, in order to remember her father and to remember what she always fought for.
Now though, she quietly placed the sword on the rack. "I'm sorry…father," she whispered quietly. "But…I am no longer worthy of carrying this blade."
She turned and walked away, leaving behind the sword as she headed off to begin her duties. In her cabin, the sword glinted softly as a beam of light hid it, before the light faded and the sword became enshrouded in shadow.
Wow. I was not expecting to get done with this chapter this fast. I mean seriously, I thought it was going to be like a month before I finished. But I'm quite happy that I did get it done.
Now, I know this chapter doesn't have a lot of variance to it from the original events, but please bear with me. Why? Because next chapter will be all original content. Something no one has ever seen. So please stick with me, if you want to.
Thanks go out again to my beta reader Kyuubi123 for his work on fixing my mistakes. And to you the readers for taking time to read and review my work as well.
And lastly, Happy Pre-Father's day everyone! Make sure you tell your dad's how much you love and appreciate them!
Till next chapter friends!
