Chapter Eleven: Alone
Rattrap's wheels viciously chewed the ground, putting mile after mile between himself and the Maximals' starship. Cheetor flew beside him half a dozen feet above the ground. His jet engines were a constant drone over the roar of Rattrap's engines. They'd been traveling for several hours now and had already covered several dozen miles. The landscape was flat and made traveling easy. There was no real vegetation to speak of because of the transwarp wave that had scorched the terrain flat several months before. Here and there shoots of green had begun to appear between cracked fissions in the ground, but in general the land was still a charred wasteland of gray. It would probably be several more years before the area completely recovered from the alien explosion.
"Hey, Rattrap," Cheetor's voice crackled over their comm-links. "You see that stormfront brewing on the horizon? Looks like we're heading straight for it."
Just as the younger Maximal said, the entire southeastern corner of the sky was painted an ominous shade of purple. Even as Rattrap watched, a thin streak of lightning raced across the underbelly of the approaching stormfront and momentarily illuminated the thunderhead white.
"What should we do?" Cheetor asked. "Should we turn around and head back to base?"
Rattrap thought for a moment. "Neh," he comm-ed back. "Let's keep goin' fer now. It's still a long ways off, an' it'll probably change directions before we get anywhere near Gamma-3. From wha' I can tell it looks like it's actually headin' more to da east away from us. At most we'll get hit by a light shower from da edge ov' it."
"You sure, RT? I mean, I don't think Optimus would be mad at us if we went back."
Rattrap hesitated. If truth be told, he didn't think going back was that bad of an idea either. Traveling in inclement weather was never a good idea. But at the same time he had no desire to be anywhere near Dinobot just yet. Their fight still weighed heavily on his processor and he feared what other things might be said if he didn't give them enough time to cool off. He'd actually surprised himself by some of the things he'd said in the heat of the moment. Once again, he wondered if he wasn't the favorite pet-project of Lady Luck to have made it out of that room alive without Dinobot tearing him apart. If he'd been her, he would have ripped himself a new one for some of the things he'd said.
"Naw. Da boss monkey said it was important we found out wha' Meg's goons're up to out here. If da weather gets really bad we'll turn back. But until we're sure dat storm's really headin' da same direction we are, let's keep goin.'"
"Alright," Cheetor comm-ed back. He sounded hesitant though.
Rattrap ignored his unspoken concerns. His mind was occupied by more pressing matters; like what he was going to say to Dinobot whenever they did return to the Axalon. He had a feeling it was not going to be a happy reunion. Looking back, he realized just how hurtful some of the things he'd said really were. Only Dinobot could work him into such a frothing anger that he'd spout things off like that. It was probably the biggest pitfall of their relationship. They both knew exactly which buttons to push to get the most violent reaction out of the other. It probably hadn't helped that he'd felt so run down lately because of all the extra patrols, early morning diagnostic scans and whatnot he'd had to do in Dinobot's stead because of her lightened work rotation. Then to have her confront him like that - like he actually wanted to go on Optimus' slaggin' mission to some back-region of this dust ball planet - had just brought all his tiredness and frustration bubbling to the top.
Having had enough time to cool his circuits off a bit and mull their fight over in his head, he wished he could take back some of the things he'd said. Although his frustration had been true enough at the time - especially about him trying to take on the role of responsible father-to-be while Dinobot remained disturbingly indifferent towards everything despite his best attempts - he'd meant almost nothing else. Everything had been said in mindless, misguided anger. He had no desire to lose their sparkling, or for them to end their relationship. They'd come too far and shared too many hardships to just turn their backs on each other now. Just the thought of no longer having the warrioress beside him at night as they recharged or feeling their sparkling's spark-pulse flutter underneath his hand sent an agonized jolt of loss through his system.
He shouldn't have said those things. He should've just held his glossa and left. Why did he always have to get the last word in? Why couldn't he just for once keep his big mouth shut?
In some ways he still felt slightly justified in standing up to Dinobot. He'd been doing everything in his power to help her through this and all he'd gotten in return were snarls and sullen apathy. He knew the idea of motherhood still didn't sit well with the ex-Predacon warrioress, but that didn't mean she had the right to blame everything on him. She'd been just as much an eager participant that night as he'd been and had to accept the consequences of it the same as him.
Looking back, Rattrap supposed this fight had been a while in coming. They'd been treading too carefully around each other ever since Dinobot told him about her pregnancy. He because she was the carrier of his progeny and he hadn't wanted to aggravate her in her steadily weakening state; and Dinobot because…
Honestly, Rattrap didn't know why the warrioress had been so quiet lately. Before her pregnancy the two of them could barely go two days without some kind of argument flaring up between them. Dinobot wasn't one to keep any problems she had with him to herself. Yet the vehemence which she'd countered him with hadn't sounded like words spoken in mindless anger, but rather spark-felt sentiments she'd been keeping internalized and secret for longer than Rattrap felt comfortable estimating. This had been a fight unlike any they'd had before. It hadn't been one meant simply annoy or frustrate the other. This fight had been serious. The hatred with which she'd talked about the sparkling had been too vehement for Rattrap to simply dismiss as the product of overwrought emotions. It'd rung too much with the razor-sharp note of honesty…
A cold chill ran down the length of his spinal column with a sudden, frightening thought. Had Dinobot been serious when she said she didn't want this sparkling? Sure, he'd had his suspicions that she was less than eager to become a maternal unit, but had she been serious when she'd said she wanted to terminate? The thought left Rattrap feeling distinctly uneasy. What if she really had been serious? What if he'd just given her the permission she'd been waiting for to end this? What if he returned to base and found out that she'd done something to the sparkling while he was gone? What if-?
"Hey, Rattrap, I just picked up a several foreign energy signatures about three miles east of here," Cheetor's voice crackled in his audio. The transmission was laced with a faint undercurrent of static - most likely because of the approaching storm.
Rattrap realized that at some point while he'd been lost in thought he and Cheetor had left the barren plains and entered the more hilly outskirts of Gamma-3. It was amazing how quickly time seemed to pass when one's processor was preoccupied. He'd have to push thoughts of Dinobot from his mind for now though. The faster he and Cheetor finished their business out here the quicker he could return to base and try to salvage whatever remained of his and Dinobot's relationship. Assuming she didn't try to deactivate him the moment he stepped onboard, that was. It was a possibility he hadn't completely ruled out just yet.
"Let's go check it out," Rattrap called into the link. Together, the two veered to the right. For several minutes they wove their way through the hilly landscape. The farther they went the more rugged and steep the land became. Rattrap soon picked up the enemy energy signals Cheetor had talked about on his own scanners. They were coming from the other side of the rise directly in front of them. Skidding to a halt he transformed into his bi-pedal form - a blaster already in hand. Cheetor immediately followed suit.
A light drizzle had begun to fall.
"Great place for an ambush," Cheetor whispered as the two of them quietly advanced on the energy signals' source. Several of the surrounding hills were higher and provided perfect vantage points from which to launch an attack if they were spotted.
"Keep quiet, kid, or you'll jinx us," Rattrap hissed. "We don't wanna let any Preds know we're in da area before we start openin' fire on 'em."
Somewhere in the near-distance, a low roll of thunder sounded. The edge of the stormfront had begun to creep in overhead. It moved steadily forward, like a broiling black shroud being draw across the sky by some primordial deity of malcontent. The light had taken on a strange, grainy, purple-gray quality.
Within minutes, the two reached the top of the hill and looked down over the side. An open space of land lay between the slopes of theirs and two adjacent hills. In the middle of the dirt-crusted field was what appeared to be some kind of small jamming tower or homing beacon. It was difficult to say for sure which from a distance. It stood a dozen feet tall and was only in its preliminary stage of construction. A flash of lightning lit the sky and momentarily illuminated its skeletal framework. Beneath the tower sat a pile of steel beams, wires and other construction material, along with two assemblers: Waspinator and Quickstrike. The two were currently engaged in adding an additional support beam to the lower tier of the device. The rain had begun to fall faster, yet the two continued to work undeterred. Rattrap didn't miss, though, the worried glance each Predacon gave over his shoulder as a deafening crack of thunder sounded somewhere nearby.
"What is that?" Cheetor whispered over the hiss of rain.
"Dun' know," Rattrap murmured. "Almost looks like a jammin' tower ov' some sort, but wha' would da Preds wanna build it for? Der's no radio signals out here fer 'em ta jam."
"Maybe it's a signal transmitter?" Cheetor suggested.
Rattrap shook his head. "Who would dey be tryin' ta signal? Der's no other intelligent life on dis planet dat could pick it up except fer us, an' ya know if Megatron went to da trouble of buildin' one all da way out here it's 'cause he didn't want us findin' out about it. Plus, it's too low to da ground. If dey were gonna transmit anything they'd ov' built it higher up on one ov' da hills, not in da middle ov' a valley."
Cheetor stared at the metal contraption with a troubled expression. "What do we do with it? We can't let them finish it - whatever it is…"
"Wha'dya think we do?" Rattrap said with a decidedly evil smirk. He slowly drew his blaster up level with his shoulder. "We blast it."
There was no protest from the younger Maximal about this, and together the two took aim. With sniper-like precision they opened fire on the unsuspecting Predacons. Their blaster shots streaked brightly through the misty veils of rain.
Waspinator gave a startled cry as one shot pinged against the steel strut immediately to the left of his head. Dropping the beam in his hand, the flier ducked behind the nearest of the tower's support beams and returned fire.
"Wha' in darn-ation?" Quickstrike shouted as he too took cover and wildly shot in Cheetor and Rattrap's direction. Unfortunately, because of the two's higher vantage point the fuzor couldn't seem to pin-point exactly where the enemy fire was coming from and ended up missing their location by several paces. Laserfire pattered the side of the hill in wet, hissing slaps.
Rattrap grinned. It probably wasn't the most Maximal-like thing to say, but this was kind of fun. Watching them scramble to retaliate was almost comical in its absurdity. Waspinator and Quickstrike, in Rattrap's opinion, had never been Megatron's smartest lackeys, which was probably why the warlord had chosen to send them in particular to this desolate corner of the planet. No doubt Megatron hadn't been expecting them to come up against any problems. Well, the joke was on old Grapeface, because Rattrap was going to make sure he sent the two insects scurrying back to base with their proverbial tails tucked between their legs and carrying the smoldering remains of Megatron's tower in their hands. If blasting Preds and ruining Megatron's plans wasn't a stress-reliever then Rattrap didn't know what was.
"Watch yer optics, kid," Rattrap said as he drew an explosive blast cap from his forearm's subspace compartment. With a flick of his thumb, he activated it. "Fire in da hole!" he yelled and lobbed the grenade over the side of the hill. He and Cheetor flattened themselves against the ground and covered their heads.
"No!" Waspinator's plaintive voice warbled before it was swallowed by the roar of the bomb's explosion. There was a blinding flash of light followed immediately by a searing wave of heat that rolled up the side of the hill and over the two Maximals. Rattrap and Cheetor hunkered down lower.
Almost as quickly as the flash had come, it faded away again. Rattrap's audios buzzed as he cautiously lifted his head from the ground. A thick pillar of smoke curled up into the drizzly gray sky. Scooting himself closer to the edge of the hill, the spy glanced over the side. The center of field was little more than a smoking crater. All that remained of the Predacon tower was a pile of heat-twisted lengths of blackened steel. Waspinator lay in a crumpled heap off to the far side, as if he'd been tossed there by the force of the explosion. Quickstrike was nowhere to be seen. More than likely he'd managed to slip away before the explosion and was already scurrying back to base.
"Nice aim," Cheetor whistled appreciatively at the devastation.
"Dat was a lot easier den I was expectin,'" Rattrap said with a cocky grin. "Maybe I should try bringin' out da explosives earlier from now on fights. It'd sure save us a lot'v unnecessary fire power dat way."
"You think we should go down and see what they were trying to built?"
Rattrap shrugged. "Might as well. Da big ape'd probably pitch a fit if we didn't try ta figure out wha' Megs is up to."
The smoke had already begun to dissipate by the time Rattrap and Cheetor made their way to the bottom. The storm's light drizzle had since progressed into fat, heavy drops that pinged against their exo-armor like globs of wet tar. A strong wind had begun to stir the air, and the ground was already becoming a soupy mess that seeped up into their joints between the seams of their pedes. Thunder rumbled almost directly overhead, but otherwise the area had taken on an ominous calm. Keeping one optic on Waspinator's motionless body in case the flier suddenly came back online, Rattrap made his way to the tower's charred remains. Carefully, he knelt down on one knee and began shifting through the debris for any clue as to what it was he'd just destroyed. The metal was still slightly hot to the touch despite the chilly rain.
"So what is it?" Cheetor asked, stepping up behind him.
"I have no idea," Rattrap admitted, shaking his head. He held a line of half-melted cables in his hand. "I'd almost say it was some kind ov' signal-relay, but da design is completely wrong fer something like dat. I've got no clue wha' dey were tryin' ta do with dis stuff." Heaving a disgruntled sigh, Rattrap stood again and reached up to the side of his helm to activate his long-range comm-link.
"Rattrap ta base. Come in. Over."
There was a long hiss of static before the spy heard the other side of the line pick up. "Axalon here," a deep female voice answered. It was Dinobot.
Aw, great, Rattrap inwardly cursed. Just who I wanted ta be talkin' to right now. He should have known though. One of Dinobot's few remaining duties was communications detail. There would have been very little chance of him getting any other crewmember to pick up the line first. Rattrap decided to push personal feelings aside for the moment and be as civil as possible if only to do his duty and be done with it. He'd deal with the aftermath of their fight later once he returned to base and could talk properly with her face to face.
"Choppa'face, tell Optimus dat Cheetor an' I came across Waspinator an' Quickstrike just over da border of Gamma-3. Dey were building some kind ov' tower out here - we don't know fer what exactly. We hadta destroy it."
"Any injuries?" Dinobot's voice came back, clipped and formal. Rattrap could tell by the tightness of her voice that a vat a simmering rage still brewed inside her.
Rattrap kept his tone civil. For as bad as he felt about some of the things he'd said before leaving base, he hadn't forgotten Dinobot's own words just yet. "Naw," he replied. "We took out Waspinator, but he still looks functional. We're not sure where dat scorpion fuzor went though."
"Do you require any reinforcements?"
"No."
There was a pause from the other side of the line as if Dinobot was consulting with someone. "Report immediately back to base for debriefing. Optimus' orders." Rattrap didn't miss the ironic undertone of the last part of Dinobot's message.
The spy took a calming intake. He knew he shouldn't try to do this over a comm-link line, but he felt like something had to be said even if it did no other good than ease some of his own guilt and irrational fears. "Listen, Choppa'face, about before… I know yer probably still pretty slagged off 'bout wha' I said but-"
A staticky snarl cut him off. "You would do well to remember that it is not proper for personal matters to be discussed over long-range communication lines that anyone with a Maximal frequency can pick up."
Rattrap winced. Oh yeah. She was still slagged off at him…
"Listen, Lizard Lips, I didn't mean wha' I said before, okay? Just let me get back ta base an' we'll talk 'bout it - calmly this time. I promise." It burned him inside to swallow his pride and take the higher moral road like this, but given his lover's vindictive nature he was willing to admit his fault in this this one time, if only to assure his safe arrival back to base.
"I have absolutely nothing I wish to discuss with you," Dinobot's voice snapped. "You've already made it perfectly clear that I am no longer worth any of your concern, and I do not appreciate being lied to about it now. You are freed of any obligations to me."
Rattrap's coolant tank churned with mounting frustration. "I'm not lyin' ta ya! Listen, I'm headin' back now. We'll talk more den. Just don't do anything stupid before I get back, okay?"
"Why would I want to speak to you?" Dinobot snarled. It looked like whatever sense of decorum she'd had about personal matters not being discussed over open communication lines had been promptly thrown out the airlock. "You made it perfectly clear you no longer want any kind of dealings with someone of Predacon descent."
The spy wearily massaged the pinch of metal between his optics. Why did everything have to be so slaggin' difficult with her? He was trying to, in his own way, apologize and she just kept shooting him down before he could even get off the ground.
"I told'ja I didn't mean any ov' dat! Why won'cha listen ta me?"
Unfortunately, Dinobot's response went unheard. For just at that moment, out of the corner of Rattrap's optic he saw a yellow and teal figure appear through the driving sheets of rain half a dozen paces to his right and stretch one arm out towards him. The metallic red eyes of the outstretched cobra head glinted evilly in a sudden flash of lightning overhead. "Take this yar darn Maximals!"
"Rattrap, watch out!" Cheetor yelled behind him.
With reflexes quicker than Rattrap thought he actually possessed, he threw himself to the side just as a bolt of laser fire exploded from the end of Quickstrike's arm. His reflexes, however, weren't quite fast enough it seemed as the shot slammed against the back of his right shoulder. Pain exploded across his back and flared white in his optics. He felt himself pitch forward and watched as the ground rushed up to meet him as if in slow motion. He hit the ground hard, mud splashing up around him. Several warning boxes popped up across his visual readout, flashing urgently. Even though he couldn't see it, he knew his back was a mutilated mess. He could feel the icy rain seeping through the edges of his torn superstructure and onto the exposed circuit boards and neural lines below. Pain like acidic fire coursed through his entire back. Rattrap felt something deep inside him make a disturbing pop as a small shower of sparks leapt up over the edges of the wound. The warning boxes flashed faster. He could feel himself steadily slipping closer towards stasis lock.
"Aw, slag…" he swore in a choked off rasp. This just wasn't turning out to be his day.
Just before his optics dimmed and darkness rushed up to swallow him in its inky embrace, the last thing Rattrap was aware of was an ominous roll of thunder somewhere high above him and the icy splash of raindrops on his back.
His visual readout flickered. And then, there was nothing…
Twenty Minutes Earlier
Dinobot silently watched as the image on the computer screen cycled back to the beginning of the security cameras' feed-loop. Image after grainy, black-and-white image trolled across the monitor in slow, monotonous order. First an outside shot of the Axalon's rear loading ramp, then one of the lifts, which was followed by one from the top of one of the ship's upper gun turrets, then four sequential shots looking out from beneath the ship in all four cardinal directions, and finally a long run of images from more than two dozen video cameras mounted at different points around the Axalon's outer perimeter. All of them were stationary and usually shot from a high vantage point. In the several hours she'd been watching them Dinobot hadn't seen anyone - Maximal or Predacon - register on screen. Not even a single organic life form had wandered past! Even though Dinobot did her duty with the same determination and focus she would carry out any other order, there was no denying she was as bored to recharge as one could physically be without actually slipping offline.
The control room was quite despite the other three bots on-bridge. Behind her, Optimus, Airazor and Tigatron were huddled together around the holo-table looking over a 3D topographical map. The hushed murmur of their voices was a calming white noise to the agitated storm of thoughts in her head.
Even now, several hours after Rattrap and Cheetor left base, she still hadn't been able to push her fight with the spy completely from her mind. Just the thought of the rat made her internal gears grind and her fuel lines run hot. He was probably actually lucky he'd left when he did, because if he'd stayed any longer she might have done something worse than just throw a chair against the wall.
The security feed shuffled back to the beginning of the loop, rewarding Dinobot yet again with a grainy image of the ship's rear doors. The warrioress grit her teeth together in silent bitterness. Her talents were being wasted here. She shouldn't be sitting in front of a computer screen, but rather out in the field hunting down enemy combatants like the rest of her comrades. Without realizing it, Dinobot's hand strayed to the distended swell of her chest.
It was because of this thing she couldn't be out there now. It was because of this sparkling that she'd been relegated to permanent monitor duty since that was all she seemed able to do anymore. If she hadn't been cursed with such unlucky circumstances she might still have a lover and a future that promised a glorious death on the battlefield. But both those things were gone now - stolen away by this unwanted thing growing in her chest and siphoning away her strength like a leech. It disgusted her. She wanted it gone! Now that the vermin no longer wanted it, there was no reason for her to continue suffering anymore. She was free!
Yet… she hesitated.
She wanted this sparkling even less now than she did before if that were physically possible. In fact, she knew she could be done with it this very evening if she so desired. A quick jolt of several thousand volts of electricity would be enough to free her of this unwanted burden.
A part of her knew it was her sense of honor that was making her balk. She'd sworn to see this pregnancy through to the end despite her feelings about it. She hadn't lied when she'd told Optimus it would disgrace her honor if she extinguished an innocent life when it had been her mistakes that had led to its conception. Another part of her also worried how the rest of the crew would look on her if they learned she'd terminated her pregnancy herself now so late in gestation. She doubted it was something that would go over well with the soft-sparked group of Maximals despite Rattrap relinquishing his claim on the sparkling.
Yet all of that, she knew, wasn't the real reason she hesitated. She didn't want this sparkling. She wanted her former life back. She wanted to feel the rush of mech-fluid she experienced every time she ran into battle; she wanted to taste the thrill of bloodshed once more.
But she also knew the feel of a lover's touch now; and the calming sense of peace she got whenever she lay beside the rat at night with his smaller body molded against her side and his head nestled in the hollow of her shoulder. She wanted those things back as well. She missed her and Rattrap's meaningless quarrels. She missed the way they constantly tried to outwit each other with words and verbal barbs. It was their private game that made life aboard the Axalon interesting. Nor was Dinobot too proud to admit in the farthest corners of her processor that she'd come to enjoy the spy's sneaky gropes and touches, no matter how much she made a show of proclaiming otherwise. Despite the warrioress's disinclinations towards forming a permanent bond with another bot which would prevent her from ever earning a glorious death in battle, she wanted to keep Rattrap by her side for as long as possible. In many ways she'd begun to see him as hers, and she had no interest in losing him if there was something in her power to prevent it. That was the only reason she'd ever agreed to carry this sparkling to term.
Perhaps that was it. Maybe that was why she couldn't bring herself to start making a mental checklist of what she needed to do to end this: she still held out hope of the rat returning and reclaiming her as his lover. Some small part deep inside her still wanted to use this sparkling as a way to tie the spy to her.
That didn't mean she'd forgotten about her fight with Rattrap yet though. Some of the things he'd said were unforgivable, and she was going to see to it that the vermin paid for his insults whenever he finally returned to base. No one called her a whore and went unpunished, or accused her of being selfish after she'd just given up basically everything she had so he could have a progeny of his own. If that fight was like any of their other ones and the vermin wished to make up afterwards, then she was going to make him work for her forgiveness. It was going to be a long and painful road before she let him anywhere near her again. Of that she was going to make very sure…
The sound of others arriving on bridge brought Dinobot out of her thoughts. On the far side of the room Rhinox entered, followed closely by Silverbolt and Blackarachnia. Each of their superstructures sported streaks of grease and grime like war paint.
"How'd the overhaul of the defenses go?" Optimus called.
"Fine," Rhinox replied. "Took a little longer than expected, but we finally got all the bugs worked out. We're going to give it a test run within the hour."
Optimus nodded. "Sounds good. I was just debriefing Airazor and Tigatron about that strange energy signal they've been picking up recently. Want to come give us your opinion on it?"
As Rhinox went over to look at the map with Optimus, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia wandered away to the nearest computer stations. Dinobot was slightly annoyed when Blackarachnia chose to drop down in front of the one directly beside her own. The warrioress pointedly refused to acknowledge the other's femme's presence as the black widow turned on the computer and waited for it to warm up. She could see her scrutinizing her out of the corner of her optic.
Finally, Blackarachnia spoke. "What's got your wires in a twist today? You look even more like slag than you usually do."
Dinobot grit her teeth as she slowly turned her head to glare at the smirking spider. "That would be none of your business," she growled.
Blackarachnia smirked. "Fight with your boyfriend?" Dinobot hated the knowing, teasing tone she used. Ever since Airazor and Blackarachnia chased after her that one day she stormed off ship, the spider had begun to instigate little conversations like these. Most often they were meaningless and full of sarcasm and back-handed comments which Dinobot found slightly reminiscent of her verbal spars with Rattrap, but different in the way that they were more openly playful and meant to poke fun at her more than anything else in a subtle, much more feminine sort of way.
Dinobot refused to answer the question which the other femme seemed to take as unspoken admission. "I saw him before he left with the kitten," Blackarachnia went on unperturbed. "He looked as if he was ready to blow up anything in his path."
Dinobot growled low underneath her intakes. "That pestilent rodent can go blow himself up for all I care."
"So you two did have a fight," Blackarachnia said. Again, Dinobot refused to answer and intently stared at the slideshow of images on her monitor as if she truly expected to see Megatron come strolling across one at any moment. Blackarachnia swiveled her chair around and studied Dinobot for a long moment of silence, her head cocked slightly to one side. "It's a shame, I guess. It's been so quiet around here I was starting to get used to the lack of you two yelling at each other."
"My humblest apologies for disturbing your peace and quiet," Dinobot said, her voice flat and heavy with sarcasm. "But you might be glad to know that that might very well have been the last one you'll ever have to see the aftermath of."
Blackarachnia blinked in surprise. All traces of playfulness slipped away from her face. "You mean you two broke up? Even with…" she trailed off with a meaningful glance at Dinobot's chest.
Dinobot kept her optics firmly trained on the security feed in front of her. "Yes."
"What happened?" The question was honest and tinged with confusion.
"Apparently, the vermin no longer wishes to carry on a relationship with someone of Predacon descent. Nor does it seem he want a progeny that shares such a heritage." Although Dinobot didn't turn to look at Blackarachnia, she sensed the other femme tense in her seat.
"Really?"
Dinobot just nodded stiffly in response.
With a snort, Blackarachnia leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms darkly across her chest. Her optics were narrowed and burned with open disgust. "I always thought you were too good for that stinky rat. This just proves it. You're better off without him."
Dinobot was surprised how strongly Blackarachnia's words affected her. After mulling over hers and Rattrap's fight for several hours now, the black widow's declaration was like a soothing balm to the lingering sting of the spy's words.
Pinning Dinobot with a serious stare, Blackarachnia leaned forward in her chair. Her optics strayed to the swollen curve of Dinobot's chest. "What are you going to do about… your condition? Since the rat doesn't want it anymore, are you still going to keep the sparkling?"
A sickening feeling similar to nausea settled in the pit of Dinobot's coolant tank. Suddenly feeling tired and world-weary, she leaned back in her seat and let her shoulders sag under the weight of everything that'd happened in last few hours. "I don't know…" she admitted in a hushed voice. "I haven't decided yet." She couldn't bring herself to look up and meet Blackarachnia's optics. She didn't want to let the spider see just how weak she'd become.
The black widow sat silently in her seat, staring at her with an unreadable look. With a heavy sigh she turned her attention back to the computer which had finally finished powering up. "I still say you're better off without him," she murmured under her breath, vehement and inexplicably angered.
Dinobot glanced at Blackarachnia out of the corner of her optic. If she didn't know better she would have almost said the black widow was speaking from the spark - as though she actually cared enough to sympathize with Dinobot's side of the issue. It was a novel concept considering the fact Blackarachnia never cared about anyone else's personal affairs. The idea left Dinobot feeling decidedly uneasy. She'd never had another bot come to her defense like that before, and she wasn't sure what she should do in response.
Luckily, she was saved from partaking of any foreign social interactions by a sharp ping from her computer consol signaling an incoming radio transmission. As she fine-tuned the frequency, a garbled voice full of static came over the line. "Rattrap ta base. Come in. Over."
The others on the bridge stopped what they were doing and quieted to listen in. Dinobot, however, stiffened in her seat, scowling with dismay. Although she'd known Rattrap and Cheetor would at some point have to check in, she'd been secretly hoping it would be Cheetor that handled the call. Memories of their fight were still much too fresh in her memory banks for her to want to speak to her estranged lover just yet.
Nevertheless, she had a job to do and she was obligated to do it, no matter how distasteful the assignment.
"Axalon here," Dinobot replied into the link. She struggled to keep her voice emotionless and cool. As much as she might have wished otherwise, now was not the time to confront the rat about their fight.
There was a long pause of silence from the other end of the line before the spy's voice crackled through the speaker. "Choppa'face, tell Optimus dat Cheetor an' I came across Waspinator an' Quickstrike just over da border of Gamma-3. Dey were building some kind ov' tower out here - we don't know fer what exactly. We hadta destroy it."
"Any injuries?" Dinobot asked. She thought she'd detected the sound of rain and distant thunder in the background of the transmission.
"Naw. We took out Waspinator, but he still looks functional. We're not sure where dat scorpion fuzor went though." The comm-link line crackled with interference. Dinobot was now certain it was rain she heard on his side of the line. They must have encountered an unexpected end-of-season storm.
"Do you require any reinforcements?"
"No."
From the other side of the bridge, Optimus spoke up. "Tell Rattrap and Cheetor to head back. It sounds like they ran into some unfriendly weather out there. If they destroyed the tower and Quickstrike already got away, then there's no reason for them to stay there any longer."
Dinobot nodded stiffly and turned back to the consol. She still hadn't forgotten that it had been Optimus who'd ordered Rattrap on this long-range mission which had sparked their entire fight. She didn't feel it was too off-base to blame him - at least in part - for their current estrangement. "Report immediately back to base for debriefing. Optimus' orders," she said into the microphone.
There was a short pause followed by a heavy sigh from the other end. "Listen, Choppa'face, about before… I know yer probably still pretty slagged off 'bout wha' I said but-"
At the mention of their fight, a fresh surge of rage rose up inside Dinobot. Not only did she not want to discuss it right now, she also had no desire for the others present to overhear. She was unable to stop the vicious snarl that exploded from her mouth. "You would do well to remember that it is not proper for personal matters to be discussed over long-range communication lines that anyone with a Maximal frequency can pick up." Beside her, Blackarachnia re-crossed her arms and scowled at the computer consol as if the comm-link line could somehow transmit her glare to the mech on the other side of it.
"Listen, Lizard Lips, I didn't mean wha' I said before, okay? Just let me get back ta base an' we'll talk 'bout it - calmly this time. I promise."
"I have absolutely nothing I wish to discuss with you," Dinobot's voice snapped. She no longer cared if the others could hear their conversation. "You've already made it perfectly clear that I am no longer worth any of your concern, and I do not appreciate being lied to about it now. You are freed of any obligations to me."
"I'm not lyin' ta ya!" There was an audio-splitting squeal of backfeed from the speaker. "Listen, I'm headin' back now. We'll talk more den. Just don't do anything stupid before I get back, okay?" Despite Dinobot's anger, she did not miss the spy's desperate, almost pleading tone. Did he truly regret the things he'd said? Even if he did, though, Dinobot wasn't about to back down anytime soon. She was still bitterly resolved to see to it that Rattrap paid for the disrespect he'd shown her. Her honor demanded it.
"Why would I want to speak to you?" she snarled into the link. "You made it perfectly clear you no longer want any kind of dealings with someone of Predacon descent."
An explosive sigh of exasperation. "I told'ja I didn't mean any ov' dat! Why won'cha listen ta me?"
Dinobot drew in a deep intake, ready to unleash her wrath on the spy. But before she could find the words to begin her tirade, there was an unintelligible cry of alarm from Cheetor in the background followed by the garbled, but recognizable drawl of a particular quick-shooting Predacon. A blast of laser fire sounded. There was a sizzling crunch - like electrical lines overloading and exploding inside their housing box - that seemed to come directly beside the receiver before the comm-link line abruptly cut out. Harsh, deafening static roared out of the speaker.
For a moment Dinobot just stared at the computer consol, too stunned to even know how to react. Behind her she heard someone gasp. In her daze she realized it was probably Airazor. For several minutes, no one spoke or moved.
Optimus was the first one to finally rattle himself out of their shocked trance. "Rhinox, get on the long-range scanners and see if you can't find Rattrap and Cheetor's energy signatures for their exact location." Despite his outward calm, his voice was tinged with unmistakable dread. "We may need to send out an immediate rescue team."
The engineer leapt to do so. For several minutes Rhinox fiddled with the controls of the scanners, his movements stiff and harried. "I can't pick up their energy signatures!" he finally shouted in defeat and leaned back in his chair. "There's a huge storm front moving in from the southeast that's blocking all transmissions in that area. The scanners can't pick up their signatures anymore because of electrical interference from the storm. It's that or…" Rhinox trained off into ominous silence, his facial plates grave. He didn't have to say what they were all already thinking.
Silence filled the bridge. No one seemed able to speak. An oppressive weight seemed to fill the air. Still seated at the computer consol, Dinobot continued to stare at the static-filled comm-line as though expecting Rattrap's voice to crackle back to life at any moment.
As the seconds ticked by and the other side of the line remained dead, Dinobot became aware of the growing knot of panic in the pit of her coolant tank. She felt her spark seize with mounting dread. Beneath her sparkchamber the sparkling squirmed with agitation.
Everything suddenly came crashing down on her at once.
The vermin… was gone. Probably dead. Just like that. He'd disappeared as abruptly as a candle blown out by the wind, leaving nothing but staticky silence in his wake. She was alone. Irrevocably, frighteningly alone except for his tiny progeny growing inside her chest. How was she to go on if he was dead? He was the only reason she'd ever agreed to carry this sparkling, and he'd left her with nothing but several parting words of frustration and anger. She couldn't do this. Not if he wasn't there. She'd been depending on him to be the better creator. There was no way she could raise a sparkling by herself. She wasn't meant to be a mother. She was meant to die on a battlefield. She couldn't do this. He couldn't be gone! He couldn't leave her! Not like this!
Suddenly seized with uncontrolled panic, Dinobot lunged at the comm-link's control panel and opened the line to all Maximal wavelengths. "Vermin! Vermin, answer me! Pick up!" she yelled into the microphone.
Unbroken static answered her.
"Don't you dare ignore me, rodent! Pick up!" she cried, frantically hailing all frequencies for response. "Vermin! Vermin? Rattrap, answer me!"
"Dinobot, calm down," Airazor said, suddenly by her side. The warrioress felt the flier's hands on her shoulders, gently trying to pull her back from the consol. She pointedly ignored her.
"Vermin, respond!"
"Dinobot, it's no good," Airazor said, pulling on her harder. "At best, Rattrap's comm-link's disabled because of the storm. At worst he's injured. There's no way you're going to get him on the line like this."
"Shut up!" Dinobot snarled, rearing away out of Airazor's touch and to her feet. "You know nothing!" As if in a daze, she swung around towards Rhinox. "Try using the scanners again. You have to find him!"
Rhinox shook his head. "I already tried. The scanners can't find his or Cheetor's energy signatures because of that storm they ran into."
Dinobot frantically swept her optics around the bridge as if looking for any other ideas to help her. The panic inside her steadily mounted with each passing second. "Try again! You have to at least try!"
"It's no good," Optimus said, stepping in. "I know this is troubling, Dinobot. Probably more for you than anyone else, but right now we have to wait until the storm passes for us to try using the scanners again. Until then we're just going to have to hold tight and hope for the best. I wouldn't be too worried, though. Rattrap's resourceful." Despite his attempt at levity, the Maximal leader's body language told a completely different story for how he expected this to ultimately play out. The agonized sadness in his optics said it all.
"Don't tell me what I have to do when it was you that sent the rodent on this mission in the first place even after you expressly said you wouldn't!" the warrioress snapped. All the rage and hurt that'd been boiling inside her since being confined to base seemed to come spewing out of her all at once. "For all we know he and Cheetor are dead, and it'll be all because of you I have to raise this sparkling by myself! I can't do this without the vermin! I can't!"
Dinobot was aware of how shrill her voice had become and how hysterical she must seem to her fellow crewmates. But she didn't care. Her lover, the sire of her sparkling, was gone - most likely dead! - leaving her to an uncertain and lonely future. Anger, grief and fear warred with each other for dominance inside her spark and she let all of them come spilling out of her as they may. Usually she would frown upon anyone who made such a disgraceful show of emotional weakness. But in this once instance she understood the necessity for it - the overwhelming need to get these noxious feelings out of her before they consumed her alive from the inside out. Warrior decorum had no place in situations like this.
"Dinobot, you have to calm down," Optimus said, urgent and low. He held his hands up to her in front of his chest like one trying to soothe a spooked animal. "Getting upset isn't going to help anyone. Nor is it healthy for your sparkling. We don't even know if Rattrap and Cheetor are actually injured yet."
"Don't tell me what I should do!" she shrieked, no longer caring what anyone thought of her. "It's your fault the vermin went out there, so it's your responsibility to get him back! Send a team to find them! Get someone to bring him back! Just do something before- AH!"
Dinobot's knees buckled under her and almost sent her stumbling to the ground as an unexpected wave of pain blossomed from deep inside her out across her chest. Doubling over against the stab of pain, she clutched her rounded chassis, gritting her teeth to keep from crying out.
Gasps and startled cries went up around the bridge, and the warrioress suddenly found herself surrounded by several others. Several different sets of hands reached out to steady her as a second stab of pain sliced across her sparkchamber and jackknifed her at the waist. Her knees shook underneath her. If it weren't for the numerous hands holding her up she was sure she would have crumpled to the ground by now. Only half-aware of what was happening around her Dinobot only recognized Rhinox when he shoved his way to her side and pressed his hand down against her chest.
"What is it? What's wrong with her?" Optimus demanded. He stood close beside her, holding her up by her one arm. Silverbolt stood across from him, steadying her other side.
Rhinox removed his hand and leaned back. "She's going into labor. The shock must have triggered the process."
"But it's too early," Tigatron said somewhere off to the side.
"Tell that to it!" Dinobot hissed through gritted teeth over the tearing pain in her chest.
Rhinox stepped closer again. "We have to get her to med-bay. Airazor, I want you to assist me."
"No problem," the flier nodded. Motioning Silverbolt away, she sidled up beside Dinobot and took her by the arm. "Come on. Let's get you somewhere a little more comfortable." Slowly, gently, she urged Dinobot towards the door. Too distracted by pain, emotional numbness and shock, the warrioress blindly let herself be guided forward.
"Blackarachnia," Rhinox called over his shoulder, "I want you to come along too."
"What? Why?" the she-spider demanded, leaping to her pedes.
"Because I want another femme nearby in case something happens that requires more intimate assistance that I won't be suited to give."
Blackarachnia vehemently shook her head. "Ugh uh. No way. I don't want anything to do with th-"
"Please," Optimus interrupted. He stared down at her pleadingly, his optics bright with concern and ill-concealed worry. "Rhinox needs your help and it wouldn't be proper for any of us other mechs to help. You're the only other one that can assist."
Blackarachnia still looked ready to argue, but before she could Silverbolt took the opportunity to interject. "Please, Blackarachnia. Dinobot needs you and you're the only other one that can help see her through this." Leaning closer and dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper so that the warrioress couldn't overhear him, he solemnly added, "Rattrap might be dead. Dinobot has no one to welcome her sparkling online with. She will need someone beside her not only through the birth, but also through her grief of losing a lover. Please, will you do it? For me if for no one else?"
Blackarachnia grit her teeth, as though still prepared to argue. But then staring at Silverbolt for a long moment of silence, she finally threw her pinchers up in the air and groaned with defeat. "Alright! Fine! I'll do it. But don't ask me for any more favors for a long, long time. Got it?"
Silverbolt beamed at her lovingly. "Thank you. I will remember this noble sacrifice you have made for your fellow femme."
"I neither want nor need an audience for this," Dinobot snarled from the other side of the room. "I don't want any other people in the room with me. Let her stay."
"Unfortunately, you're being outvoted in this," Rhinox said, coming up beside her. "Come on. Let's go." Together he and Airazor began to usher her off the bridge. If it wasn't for the pain splitting her in two Dinobot might have argued more vociferously and planted her feet against the ground in protest. But it was amazing how easily this newly discovered spark-deep pain could make her forget about appearances and allow them to lead her from the room the same way they would a feeble old model near the end of her function. Somewhere behind them Blackarachnia sullenly followed.
Within minutes they reached med-bay. Dinobot gratefully lowered herself onto the edge of one of the many empty berths and kneaded her knuckles against her swollen chest. At some point during their trek there the pain across her sparkchamber had begun to lessen and fade away. A residual ache was all that remained now. She felt too numb with grief and shock to focus on anything other than the dull ache in her chest. Nor did she feel she had the emotional strength right now to try and figure out if the lingering pain was from the rat's progeny moving inside her or from the grief of her lover's passing.
"How are you feeling?" a gentle voice said beside her.
Dinobot shook herself out of her wandering thoughts, and looked up to find Airazor standing close beside her, her hand resting on the warrioress's shoulder guard. Blackarachnia stood several paces away near the wall with both arms crossed in front of her chest. The black widow seemed uncertain as to what she was suppose to be doing, and uncomfortably waited to be instructed to do something.
It took Dinobot a moment to find her voice. "I'm fine," she forced herself to say, her voice rough with unchecked emotions. Her hand continued to rub the distended swell of her sparkchamber. "The pain has receded and is almost completely gone now."
Airazor looked up towards Rhinox who'd begun rummaging through a small supply cabinet on the far side of the room. "Could it have been a false alarm?" she asked. "Maybe the pain was just brought on from shock. The sparkling might not be ready to come after all."
Dinobot followed Airazor's gaze towards the pseudo-medic. Through her numbed daze she felt a tiny flicker of hope sputter to life inside her. Yes, a false labor, she thought. Please let it have been that. I can't do this now. Especially not now. I'd give almost anything not to have to suffer this. If I could just have a little more time I could prepare myself more. If I could just delay this a few more days I'd have more time to figure out what to do…
Unfortunately, her silent prayers seemed to go unheard.
"I doubt it," Rhinox said, turning from the cabinet and moving back towards the group of femmes with an armload of different supplies. Dumping the equipment on the berth beside Dinobot's, he leaned downed over her and pressed a strange metallic device several inches long against the raptor's chest. Dinobot felt a gentle pulse of energy flow through her from the device. On its tiny LCD screen, several different symbols and lights blinked. Rhinox frowned.
A small tendril of dread rose up inside Dinobot to encircle her sparkchamber and squeeze. "What is it? What's wrong?" she demanded. She hated the note of fear she'd been unable to mask in her voice, but the look on the engineer's face did nothing to calm her steadily mounting panic. What more bad things could possibly happen to her this day?
"Is something wrong with the sparkling?" Airazor worriedly asked.
Rhinox set the device aside and turned to meet their gaze. "No. Nothing's wrong, per se. Unfortunately, I was just proved right that what you felt before wasn't a false labor but the real thing. That was just a precursor for what's to come. Your delivery process's been activated. The sparkling is coming. The pain's going to come back again, stronger next time. And it'll keep getting stronger and more frequent the closer you get to delivery."
Dinobot's internal components clenched. Her fuel tank churned with nausea. No. She couldn't do this. Not here. Not now. Not without the vermin. "Isn't there anything you can do to stop it?" she asked, desperate and pleading.
But Rhinox just shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. There's no way to stop the process once it's started. This is going to happen, whether you're ready for it or not." Holding Dinobot's gaze steadily with his own he added in a hushed tone, "I really am sorry, Dinobot. I know you don't want to go through this, especially alone, but you're going to have to be strong and do this. If we're lucky it'll all be over by this time tomorrow."
Before this moment, Dinobot had been sure she could experience no more loss or spark-ache that day after everything that had already happened. Yet, against all odds and expectations, she felt her spark spasm with a renewed wave of grief and the already shattered remains of her world splinter into a handful of pieces as fine as ground diamond dust.
To be continued
Author's Note:
Alright, guys. This is the last time I'm going to beg for feedback. I've kept my mouth shut for the last several chapters, but I've reached my proverbial limit. What is so hard about leaving a freaking feedback message? If you're still reading this then please tell me what you think! It's the only way I know people are still reading! Questions, comments, personal thoughts, even constructive criticism are all welcome, but you need to actually tell me! I don't read minds! I have no other way of knowing what you think of this story or how you feel it could be improved if you don't tell me. Feedback is my number one motivator, and recently I've begun to doubt if this is worth continuing.