Disclaimer: Still the same as the first chapter.
Warnings: Much Cursing Ahead.
. . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 8 : Hang On!
"So finally, Sludge collapses from exhaustion... right on top of one of the transports. Thank Primus the thing wasn't sentient or we'd all have had so many reports to fill out we could have choked Unicron with them."
Leaning against the biggest tree trunk he could find, Bulkhead smiled at the mental image of the largest Dynobot, in beast form, draped over the crushed remains of the transport and clicking like a sparkling in recharge.
"With Grimlock sedated and Snarl getting bored and going back to his room, we thought we were getting a handle on things. Then we hear this line freezing scream and the floor starts shaking. Down the corridor comes Slug, in a full on charge, with Wheeljack sitting on the front of his head."
His comm line filled with feminine giggles. He might have been stuck on stake-out duty, but that didn't mean Bulkhead couldn't regale Miko with some of Wheeljack's most embarrassing moments.
"So there's Jackie, screaming his head off, hanging onto Slug's horns for dear life as they go by, heading straight for the hanger door. Only problem was the door was down. Not that Slug cared, he charged right threw the thing."
"Oh my God." Miko gasped out. Bulkhead could picture her back at base, bent over double from laughing.
"Slug winds up charging around the outside of our base for another two hours, smashing all sorts of stuff with Jackie still hanging on. At one point I hollered at him to jump clear but he said and I quote... I'm safer between the horns then in front of them." Wheeljack was going to have his plating for sharing this story, but it was worth it. "And during this whole thing, Swoop was sitting in the rafters of the hanger, laughing his aft off at us. Finally, Slug's energon reserve ran low and he dropped into recharge in mid-gallop, slid across the ground and was snoring before he came to a stop." Just the memory of Wheeljack staggering away from the sleeping Dynobot, legs wobbling like a sparkling learning to walk made Bulkhead smile warmly.
"It wasn't long before Ultra Magnus was transferred in as Base Commander. One of the first things he did was transfer Grimlock and his team to a different base with the recommendation that us Wreckers and the Dynobots should only be brought together in the middle of a Decepticon base from now on."
The sounds of Miko's giggles made knowing he'd get his aft handed to him later by Ultra Magnus for not "maintaining vigilance" so worth it. "If you liked that one, you'll love this story. I call it, How Wheeljack lost an arm and gained a reputation. It started during a skirmish near the Hydrax Plateau..."
An angry bellow silenced Bulkhead just before a boulder the size of a Smart car sailed threw the trees in front of him, aimed right for his head.
Only his reflexes saved his processor from being smashed into the tree behind him. The boulder crashed into his hastily raised arm, breaking in two and leaving a nasty dent behind. "What the Pit?"
Lurching to his feet, Bulkhead could just make out something in the shadowed forest. It was big, bipedal and pissed.
"Uh Miko, I'll have to finish that story later."
. . . . . . . . . .
"Scrap!"
One second the griffin was starring at her, surprise plainly written on it's features, then it was on her, sharp beak aiming for her face. Only vorns of intensive training and battle sharpened skills had Arcee pulling back in time to save her head. The golden beak snapped shut just inches from her.
Scrambling away, she somehow managed to get one arm transformed into her blaster and got a shot off. It struck the beast just below it's head, on the front of it's thick neck. Shaking it's feathered head, the griffin snorted, pausing a moment before screeching and launching itself forward again.
"Fragging thick armor." Arcee snarled as she clamored to her feet, taking off down the slope away from the mine. Sliding and skidding down the rocky ground, she made it to more even footing and ran for cover. Behind her she heard the sweep of large wings as the Pred took to the air. She needed to get to the thicker trees below, removing the beast's aerial threat.
The griffin dropped out of the sky almost on top of her. As several tons of angry Predacon struck the ground, Arcee screamed. One of the beast's talons had caught her in the shoulder, slicing cleanly threw her armor. Somehow keeping her footing, she ran as pain sensors screamed and her HUD lite up with warnings. Ignoring them, she fought to keep moving. She had to put some distance between her and the Pred before mounting a counterattack... or getting the Pit out of there.
:Ratchet, come in. I've got a Predacon on my aft.:
The answering ping wasn't what she wanted to hear.
"What do you mean the line is busy!"
. . . . . . . . . .
A few minutes before...
"Ratchet!" gasping, Miko ran threw the side doors of the hanger, cellphone in hand.
"Miko, if you forgot to charge your battery again..."
"Bulkhead's being attacked!" Miko shouted, cutting off the angry medic.
"What?" Ratchet jolted before hurrying to the communication console, patching in to Bulkhead's signal, "Bulkhead, come in. What's your status?"
:Aaarg!:
"Bulkhead! Status!"
For several seconds the comm line was full of grunts and a harsh animalistic bellow before Bulkhead answered, :My status is that I'm getting tossed around by a pissed-off Pred!:
"Understood, can you fall back and wait for backup?"
More grunts filled the line followed by what sounded like a tree spilting in half, :Fragging Motherboard, did you just hit me with a tree?: A rather pained bellow sounded threw the speakers, :Yeah, that's what you get for using me as a baseball! Sorry Ratch, don't think I can get away but I'd love some back-up right about now.:
"I'm on it, just hang on." said Ratchet.
:Uuugh!: grunted Bulkhead, :Hanging on is about all I can do, Doc!"
. . . . . . . . . .
Bulkhead cried out in pain as he flew threw the air, crashing into several trees before landing hard on the unforgiving ground. Rolling to his feet, Bulkhead groaned, "Damn, and I thought wrestling Grimlock was rough."
Several yards away, the Predacon roared. It was a dark, muddy brown in color, with splashes of orange on some of it's plating. The beast was designed for maximum strength, with massive shoulders and thick arms. It's hands sported reinforced fingers, meant for crushing, as Bulkhead's left arm could attest to. He had some nasty dents in his plating that would take a lot of banging to get out. Not to mention the holes in his torso from the Pred's horns.
Yeah, as if titanic strength wasn't enough, the Pit fragging thing had a pair of long horns perfect for piercing Autobot armor.
Rolling his shoulders, Bulkhead growled, "Is that all you got, you big, ugly beast?"
The Predacon shook it's great head, snorting and pawing the ground with one of it's hoof-like peds.
Then, lowering it's head, the Minotaur charged.
. . . . . . . . . .
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
"What do you mean the line is busy!"
Gasping, Arcee nearly stumbled. Behind her, the griffin screeched. The denser trees might keep it out of the air, but that wasn't going to stop it. With long, lopping strides, the griffin came after Arcee. What little ground she had gained was being quickly eaten up. She ducked and weaved between trees, forcing the larger Pred to go around. Up ahead she spotted a drop-off. Too late to change directions, she ran towards it and jumped...
"FRAG!"
Spinning in mid-air, Arcee managed to snag the rock with her fingertips. What she had thought was a short drop was in fact a hundred foot cliff face. Hanging on for dear life, her injured shoulder screaming in agony, she could only watch as the griffin leap over the edge... and right past her.
With a shocked scream, the griffin plummeted to the ground. It to had misjudged the height and couldn't get it's wings open fast enough to stop it's fall. With a strut cracking crunch, the griffin hit the ground below. Hanging above, Arcee watched it get to it's feet, favoring it's left front leg.
Later, she would claim temporary insanity, but in that moment, an idea popped into her processor and she went with it. "Well, if it works with Seekers." Arcee kicked off from the cliff, letting go and falling onto the griffin's back. Wrapping her arms around it's thick neck, she grabbed handfuls of metallic feathers.
The griffin stood still, clearly shocked for a moment. Then with an indignant squawk, it reared up, thrashing it's head back and forth. It kicked out with it's hind legs, bucking high into the air, trying to toss it's impromptu rider. Arcee tried not to scream as she realized this was the stupidest thing she'd done in her life. What had possessed her to jump on the back of a Predacon?
The griffin suddenly stopped it's thrashing to turn it's large head towards her. Something in that bright red optic made Arcee's spark jump and her tank plummet, "Oh scrap."
The beast crouched down, back arching and wings spread. Turning it's head away and pointing it's beak towards the sky, the griffin kicked off from the ground and took to the air.
. . . . . . . . . .
Notes: WOW, that was a lot. Hope you like it cause I think that's the most writing I've done in a very long time. *flexes cramped fingers*
So, there you go. The second Predacon is revealed as a Minotaur. Why, you might ask. Because I wanted a bi-pedal Pred and something that would match up strength-wise to Bulkhead.
Dynobot Note: I went with the Prime name for Slag, which was changed to Slug.
Antex: at some point , yes, they will transform, but just as it took time for Predaking to discover he could transform, so to will it take time for my Preds to learn this as well. I see them as being like younglings, they know some of the things they can do, but have to learn others.
