This next chapter…or possibly chapters, should prove interesting. I'll admit, watching the series the next two episodes that took place were never really my favorite, and yet they're important. So hopefully I can do justice to them here.

The trick…will be adding my own turn to them. Guess we'll see what happens here.

So, nothing else to comment on at the moment, so let's get going.

Disclaimer: I do not own Beast Wars, as it is the property of Hasbro and Mainframe Entertainment. This is a nonprofit fanfic. Please support the official release.

Chapter 14

The Test Part 1

In the frozen northern tundra, all was quiet and peaceful. The only noise was the keening of the wind through the rocky snow covered mountains, and the soft crunching of paws in snow. Tigertron, on his recon patrol, paused to enjoy the scenery of the nature around him. There was an almost tranquil beauty to this land, one that he enjoyed greatly. He felt more in touch with himself here then he did aboard the Axalon, as if this was his home.

He continued on his way, moving along a mountainside path as he started to head towards the communication relay that the Maximals had set up in the north here, so he was capable of sending in his reports from the frozen tundra, rather than having to traverse all the way back to the base. His latest recon had revealed nothing new, which was not surprising given how there did seem to be little in the northern tundra that would interest the Predacons, save for some Energon deposits. Even then, most were too small or too dangerous to try and access.

As he rounded a bend, he frowned as he felt an unusual slight tremble in the ground. Freezing, he looked around to see what caused it, only to let out a surprise yell as the ground began to shake more violently, and a few rocks and some snow were shaken loose from the mountain above, nearly hitting him. He hunkered down low to the ground, gritting his teeth as he waited for the tremors to subside.

As the tremors ended, he slowly glanced around. "How strange. This land is not one that is unstable," he murmured. "Despite my time here, this place has so many secrets, secrets I hope to learn one day. But for now, I have my duties," he murmured as he headed to his communication post, unaware of watching eyes, as well as the massive strange cloud formation that had moved past his position, and was now moving away, against the wind.

Eventually reaching the large relay post, he transformed into his robot form, and activated the communication beam, starting to transmit. "Tigertron to Maximal Base, are you receiving, over?"

The energy beam that was creating the communications connection between Tigertron's position and the Axalon shot through the air, completely unobstructed until it hit a reflection dish set up on a high narrow peak above the Maximal ship, bouncing the beam down towards the receiver dish on the Axalon.

At the comm station on the bridge, Rattrap glanced up at the sound of Tigertron's message, and grinning, activated the comm. "Yello, you've reached Maximal headquarters, servin' yer Predacon butt kickin' needs. How can help youse?"

Tigertron could be heard chuckling softly at the other hand. "It is good to hear from you Rattrap. I trust all is well there?" He asked.

"You know it stripes. How dings up dere in da north? Any Preds sneakin' about?" Rattrap responded, leaning back comfortably in his seat.

In the north, Tigertron smiled softly. "This is a peaceful land Rattrap. There's been no disturbances for-," he said, only to be interrupted by beeping as a screen folded down, bringing up a radar map. On said radar map, two blips could be seen moving rapidly towards Tigertron's location.

Rattrap frowned as he heard the beeping, and leaned forward. "Yo, everything okay dere Tigertron?" He asked in some concern as Optimus and Rhinox, who were nearby, frowned and came over, hearing the worry in Rattrap's voice.

Tigertron's optics narrowed as he turned in the direction of the incoming blips, only for his red optics to widen as he saw what they were. Terrorsaur and Waspinator were barreling in, transforming as they approached, and soon firing at his position.

Tigertron ducked his helm, as weapons fire ripped through the snow around him. "Belay that last! Under heavy fire from-!" He shouted, only to be interrupted by the roar of a rocket. Looking up, he saw a rocket roaring towards him, causing him to jump away.

The rocket smashed into the ground right at the base of the comm relay, causing it to start to fall over, right towards Tigertron, who's optics went wide. He let out a cry as it fell over on top of him, the transmission beam cutting off as it did so.

At the Axalon, the Maximals on the bridge all gaped in horror as they heard Tigertron's cry suddenly cut off, with Rattrap leaning forward. "Stripes?! CAN YOUSE HEAR ME?!" He shouted.

Optimus turned to Rhinox, his face plate somewhat grim. "Get everyone up here on the double. I'm heading out to help him," he said, as he turned, pressing a button to activate the ceiling door. Transforming into his robot form, he activated his jets and launched up through the doorway, shooting off towards the north and Tigertron's position.

At the north, Terrorsaur and Waspinator cackled as they hovered over the battlefield. Their cackles died away though as they saw the now damaged and inoperable comm station shift ad move, before it was flipped over, and a slightly disoriented Tigertron slowly got up to one knee, holding his helm in one servo as he gripped his rifle in the other. Annoyed at the Maximal's survival, the pair of Predacon fliers moved in to attack again.

Hearing the buzzing of Waspinator's wings and the roar of Terrorsaur's jets, Tigertron looked up, growling in annoyance as he raised his rifle and began firing at the pair. They both took evasive action, firing back at him as they flew past, with his return fire following them as they pulled up into the sky. Tigertron began to frantically look around for some form of cover, but the high bluff the station had been placed on held no cover at all, simply an open white plain.

Terrorsaur swung back around, as a missile launcher rose up on his shoulder, as he began to aim it at Tigertron, who was firing back up at him. The shots whizzed by, one almost grazing Terrorsaur's arm as Terrorsaur's missile started to fire up. Soon it roared towards Tigertron, leaving behind a contrail as it roared down towards its target.

Tigertron threw himself to the side, clasping his servos over his helm as he prepared for the explosion. His audio receptors heard the rocket nearing, heard the 'thump' as it hit the snow and then…nothing. Frowning in confusion, he slowly lifted his helm, looking over his shoulder joint. There was the rocket, buried a few inches in the snow, its engine still running, only to sputter and die. Tigertron could only stare in confusion and relief, slowly starting to rise up, only to dive away again as Waspinator appeared, firing his pistol rapidly. A line of mini craters appeared leading to the rocket before it exploded, sending Tigertron sailing through the air, and rolling along the snow until he stopped dangerously close to the cliff edge. Letting out a groan, he slowly tried to rise up to his feet yet again.

Sadly, it wasn't meant to be as the ground began to shake, and cracks formed, making Tigertron's optics widen in horrified realization. The bluff he was on was fracturing from the explosion. He quickly surged up, trying to rush away from the edge as it began to crack and break, pieces falling down as the whole edge began to separate.

Tigertron pushed as much power as he could into his legs, trying to beat the rapidly cracking ice and packed snow, even as he saw the cracks moving ahead of him, and felt the ice beneath his pedes crack and start to drop as it separated from the rest of the raised mass of ice.

Seeing he wasn't going to make it in time, Tigertron leapt forward, coming up just short and grasping onto the edge of the solid bluff, as the ice he had been standing on fell down to the ground beneath. Gripping the edge tightly, he struggled to pull himself up, only to curse as he couldn't get a purchase. Feeling his grip loosening, and him starting to slip, he struggled to drive his pedes into the wall to secure his purchase.

As all this was going on, a massive bank of very low flying clouds were nearing his position, actually floating at a lower altitude, but nearing his location. As the bank of clouds drew closer, the ground began to softly tremble.

Tigertron had almost secured his grip, when he heard the crunching of ice and snow. Looking up, he felt his spark sink as he saw Terrosaur's grinning face. "Well well well. Hanging on there, kitty?" He asked with a smile, as he pointed his pistol at Tigertron. "Now…I do think I could shoot you here, but…that wouldn't quite as fun, don't you think?"

Tigertron growled, as he put one last effort into trying to pull himself up, only for Terrorsaur to wag his pistol. "I don't think so, Maximal. Say hello to the Inferno for me," he said, as he suddenly delivered a kick to Tigertron's face.

The force of the blow, mixed with the pain, was enough to throw Tigertron off. Letting out a cry, he plummeted downwards, his limbs flailing as he fell through the air.

Terrorsaur's glee was short lived, as the gentle shifting beneath him grew more pronounced, enough for him to feel it. Squawking, he leapt into the air, transforming, while watching Tigertron disappear through a massive cloud that was floating by underneath. Smirking, he turned to Waspinator. "Well, that's one less Maximal, isn't it?" He asked with a grin. "We should collect his remains, to show to Lord Megatron."

"Oohhh, Wazpinator want hiz head!" Waspinator said gleefully, shooting downwards towards where Tigertron had fallen, as Terrorsaur let out an enraged screech.

"It's my trophy, I'm the one who killed him!" he shouted, following Waspinator.

The two Predacon fliers shot downwards towards the ground, to find Tigertron's remains. Yet as they scoured the ground, they were surprised to find nothing but mostly unbroken snow and ice. Waspinator quickly voiced their confusion. "What? Where tiger bot go?" He asked.

Terrorsaur looked up at the cloud. "He fell into that cloud…maybe…there's something in there," he murmured, as he quickly flapped his wings, moving towards the cloud. Waspinator quickly followed.

The two disappeared into the cloud, only for there to be several loud reports of laser and rocket fire, followed by a blinding flash and pained screams from within, as the cloud bank continued to soar away.

It took Optimus almost twenty cycles to reach the outpost, pushing his jets and Energon shielding to their maximum, and even then he was running the risk of his shielding failing by the time he arrived. Landing, he transformed into beast form, while looking around, frowning.

Reaching the downed communication's post, he slowly heaved it up, pushing it back up into an upright position. Accessing the controls, he made sure the array was properly aligned, before contacting the Axalon. "This is Optimus Primal to base, do you hear me?"

After a few nanocycles, he received his answer. "Read you loud and clear Optimus. What's the situation?" Rhinox asked.

"It doesn't look good," Optimus said, looking around. "There are craters and rocket debris everywhere, not to mention it looks like part of the bluff was broken off. From the angle of attack, I'd say it was an aerial attack."

At the Axalon, Sauria snarled softly. "Most likely Waspinator and Terrorsaur," she stated.

"Oohhh, danks fer da big news, scale tail. We'll just put dat under 'slag dat's freakin' obvious'! Youse want yer consultin' fee now?" Rattrap asked sarcastically, as Sauria glared at him.

"I think skinning your hide and using it as a trophy will suffice," she snarled back, reaching for her sword, only to be stopped by Rhinox's glare.

"Enough, both of you!" He shouted, causing the two of them to grudgingly stand down. Though as Rhinox turned back to the comm, he didn't notice Rattrap making an insulting gesture at Sauria, who just menacingly drew a digit across her throat in a 'kill' gesture. Rhinox meanwhile focused again on the communications console. "What about Tigertron?"

Optimus glanced around again. "There is no sign of him up here, but his tracks lead towards where the cliff is broken. It's very possible he was destroyed," Optimus said a bit grimly.

Cheetor, at base, look at the comm in horror. "No! It can't be so Big Bot!"

"Are there any fragments, or sign of his body?" Rhinox asked.

Optimus moved over to the edge, scanning the ground below with the zoom on his optics, before returning to the comm tower. "There's no sign of him anywhere, though I am going to take a closer look down below. If he isn't dead yet, we'll need to start looking for him. He might simply be in hiding at the moment. Either way though, he's definitely not here."

"Alright Optimus. I'll see if I can contact Lycanok and Airazor, and let them know about Tigertron," Rhinox reported over the comm.

"Alright then. I'll keep searching here, then head back to base. Optimus out," Optimus said, before powering down the comm relay, and activating the self destruct safety feature, to ensure any unauthorized use of the tower would cause it to self destruct. Moving away to look back down at where Tigertron might have fallen. Optimus let out a sigh before slowly starting to climb down.

Outside the Darksyde

Lycanok slowly raised himself up from behind the rock cover he was using to hide behind, his beast form's ears twitching as he used his nose and his ears to try and detect any nearby Predacons. Currently, he was out on a scouting mission with Airazor, to keep an eye on her as she began to learn the location of both Predacon positions as well as natural landmarks and other such necessary features. Due to her beast form's superior eyesight, she was currently scouting the Predacon base from the branch of a mostly dead and burnt tree, while Lycanok crouched underneath, watching for enemies that might try to sneak up on her.

Now he glanced up at the falcon femme, as she perched on the branch. "See anything?" He asked.

"Hmmmm…besides the wreck of a Predacon warship, no, not really…I'll admit though, that ship seems familiar," she said quietly, as Lycanok nodded. They had quickly discovered that like Tigertron, Airazor was originally from the Chromia 10, the small ship that had come to their aid, but had been destroyed during the battle with the Darksyde and the unidentified Predacon ship. Like Tigertron, she too also had lost her memories in the Spark transfer, but unlike Tigertron, some fragment still seemed to be present. She had felt a familiarity with the Axalon as well, though mostly with regards to its exterior. It made sense she'd perhaps have a sense of familiarity with the Predacon's wrecked ship as well.

She suddenly shifted though, her head turning. "Wait…whoa. Well this is interesting," she said, her eyes focusing on something.

"What, what is it?" Lycanok asked, looking up at her, as she kept looking.

"Well…either the grunge look is coming back…or Terrorsaur and Waspinator ran into something hot. Very hot," she said, as she kept focusing on the pair of Predacon fliers.

Lycanok frowned and peeked up, zooming in his own optics. He managed to make out the pair of fliers, and his frowned deepened as he saw their thoroughly trashed state. "What could have caused that? Unless those two ran into Sauria, I don't think any of us could cause that kind of damage."

Airazor shrugged her wings. "Don't know. Maybe we should report this to Optimus?"

Lycanok gave her a nod, his eyes returning to normal. "Yeah, that's a good idea. You go ahead and report back in. I'll stay here and keep an eye on things."

Airazor gave a nod, and flapped her wings, pushing off the branch and started flying, circling to gain altitude before wheeling towards the direction of the Maximal base. Lycanok meanwhile slowly started to sneak forward, to gain a better vantage point looking over the Darksyde.

Meanwhile, Megatron could only stare at the two badly damaged, nearly off-lined mechs before him. "You mean to tell me one single Maximal did THIS to you?" He demanded.

"N-No mighty Megatron, n-not catbot!" Waspinator said pitifully.

"I-It was something else!" Terrorsaur, groaning in pain as he wobbled a bit where he stood.

Megatron frowned, optics narrowing. "Tell me everything, now," he ordered them.

Terrorsaur fitfully nodded. "We ambushed Tigertron, and he fell off a cliff, but he fell into a…a cloud! We thought he fell to the ground, but when we couldn't find him, we entered the cloud. O-Only…there was something else inside," he said, his eyes glazing over in remembrance.

Waspinator and Terrorsaur pierced through the cloud, finding themselves suddenly flying in clear skies surrounding a massive floating island. It looked to be a green paradise, with a small river and lake, as well as trees. The edge of the island was ringed with tall mountains, acting almost like a shield. And in the center was a massive obelisk, with four large rectangular windows located beneath the triangular top of the obelisk.

As they began to near the island, blaster fire ripped through the air towards them, one of the blasts smashing into Waspinator and sending him flying. Terrorsaur, tracking the weapons fire, saw Tigertron crouching near a small pass in middle of some of the mountains ringing the mountain. Transforming, he pulled out his own blaster, firing down at Tigertron, who quickly changed positions, firing on the move.

What none of them noticed was that as soon as they began firing their weapons, the top of the obelisk, made of some strange purple crystal with single eyes etched into each side, began to glow a bright orange, as if storing up some immense energy, before it suddenly fired, the beam striking first Terrorsaur and then a second beam hitting Waspinator. Both screamed in pain as they were sent flying. A third beam struck the ground where Tigertron had been located as well.

Terrorsaur shuddered as he finished his recollection. "W-We barely were able to transform, and get back here in one piece…," he said, before fainting from the pain and damage, falling on top of Waspinator and pinning him down.

Megatron however did not take notice of them, instead turning in his chair as he contemplated this news. "Hmmmm, a floating island, a fortress almost, hidden from view by a natural phenomenon, and with exceptionally powerful weapons. Yes…such an advantage would greatly benefit my plans. It must be secured at once, before the Maximals do."

He whirled his command chair back to the two fliers, as well as Scorponok and Blackarachnia, who were present. "You two, take these two to the restoration chamber, then contact Nightwing. I have a special mission for the three of you."

Blackarachnia let out a sigh, rolling her optics. "Let me guess. You want us to rush off and secure this island even though we don't know a single thing about it, like who built it, and why, and what it can actually do," she said, servos crossed.

"Is that a problem?" Megatron growled out quietly.

"No, of course not. I live to serve, mighty Megatron," she said, before grabbing Terrorsaur and starting to lug his unconscious frame off. However, she still was able to hear Megatron, as he ordered Scorponok to remain for a few moments, making her frown. She had a feeling that Megatron might be aware of her less than loyal thoughts of late.

Still, if this island was as powerful as Terrorsaur made it out to be, it wouldn't matter that much, would it? All she'd have to do is deal with Scorponok and Nightwing, the latter of which would be a problem. Scorponok was an idiot, a simpering toady whose only thoughts revolved around how best to please Megatron. He didn't have one single bit of RAM capable of his own intelligent thought. But Nightwing, she was intelligent, and loyal to Megatron. Though her loyalty wasn't some slavish devotion like Scorponok's. It was instead the simple devotion to the one who was the leader and the strongest. She was a Predacon, he was their leader, that was all she needed.

And she was deadly. Blackarachnia had seen her train, and fight. She knew that if Nightwing was on this mission, she'd destroy her before she could even open her mouth port to protest.

All these thoughts worked through her processor as she pulled Terrorsaur's limp frame towards the Restoration Chambers.

Unknown Island

Tigertron could only stare in amazement at the wonders before him. The land before him was serene, peaceful, and beautiful, filled with plant and animal life, existing in peace and tranquility. It was a sight indeed, one that made his spark tremble in awe and joy.

He quietly made his way from the ring of mountains circling the island, and proceeded to make his way to a nearby river running through the island. Reaching it, he sat down, to ponder what was going on.

He wasn't sure what exactly this island was. All he had known was that he had been falling, and then as he fell through the clouds surrounding the island, he had landed on the mountains surrounding this island. He had nearly fallen off, barely grabbing the a ledge, and holding on tightly from there. He had managed to pull himself up, finding himself in a narrow hollow connected to a path that led through the surrounding mountain ring, and into the island itself.

Before he had time though to truly take in the fact he was on a floating island, he heard the distant buzz of Waspinator's wings. Turning and seeing the incoming Predacons, he had ducked into cover, drawing his blaster rifle which he had barely managed to store in its quantum space compartment before he had been forced to make the jump for the broken cliff edge. Aiming at the Predacon fliers, and seeing them approach, he had opened fire, nailing Waspinator, but immediately drawing Terrorsaur's fire onto him.

He wasn't sure what happened next, beyond there was a sudden beam of orange energy, like a laser, that had shot out and nailed Terrorsaur, then Waspinator, and then a third beam that had fired at his location. He had barely dodged away from it, and nearly fallen off the ledge when it was partially destroyed by the unknown laser. Gripping the broken edge, he had pulled himself up, and thus now found himself alone on this floating paradise.

He slowly reached up with one paw, touching his chest to activate his comm unit. "This is Tigertron to any Maximal forces. Do you read me?" He called out over the comm.

His only answer was static, before he tried again. "This is unit Tigertron to any Maximal within comm range. Do you read me?"

Again, nothing but static filled his comm unit, making him sigh and shut down the comm unit. There apparently was either no one within range, or there was something interfering with his radio. Shaking his head, he looked up, glancing around.

Seeing the massive obelisk in the distance, he decided to head in that direction. If it was perhaps an artificial structure, it might have some sort of radio inside it. Or it might simply be a decorative structure. Either way though, it was the only visible structure. It would make a good place to try and start investigating this island.

Slowly, he started to head off, as a small butterfly took off from a nearby flower, and started to follow him.

Axalon

Optimus blinked in surprise as he heard Airazor's report. "You're certain of what you saw?" he asked the femme.

Airazor, in her bot form, nodded. "Yeah. Terrorsaur and Waspinator returned to their base in a really damaged state. They were practically slagged," she said.

"That's definitely not Tigertron's work," Rhinox said. "He'll fight in self defense, or defense of a comrade, but he'll never aggressively fight an enemy, or destroy them like that."

"He is a fool then," Sauria stated, arms crossed.

"Eeh, normally I'd agree with youse. Especially wit some Preds," Rattrap said, making a subtle nod in her direction, and getting a glare in return. "But dis is actually good news, ain't it? It means Stripes is alive and kickin'."

"Yes, but we don't know where he is. Only Terrorsaur and Waspinator do," Optimus said, frowning. "We'll need to keep an eye out for Predacon patrols, as Megatron might send additional forces to try and take out Tigertron. Airazor, return to Lycanok and-," Optimus said, only for the comms to interrupt them.

"Lycanok to Axalon, do you read me, over? This is Lycanok. Blackarachnia, Scopronok, and Nightwing currently are on the move. Destination is unknown at this point. I've fallen back into comm range with the Axalon, but I'm going to track them to see if they lead me to Tigertron. Suggest sending someone to watch the Darksyde, over." Lycanok reported in, as Optimus nodded.

"Right, Airazor, I want you to join Lycanok. Can you catch up to him and those Predacons he's following?" He asked, as Airazor smirked.

"Easily," she said, before turning and looking up at the roof hatch while pressing the control key on the command table. As the hatch opened she leapt into the air, transforming and flapping her wings as she took off into the sky.

Optimus turned to Cheetor next. "Head out to the Darksyde and keep a watch. Likely they'll send Terrorsaur and Waspinator out as soon as those two are repaired. We'll need to know about it ahead of time," Optimus said.

"You got it Boss Bot," Cheetor said, transforming and heading out as well.

Optimus turned to the comm station and activated it. "We got your report Lycanok. Airazor is in route to reinforce you. Be careful out there."

"Yes sir. Lycanok out," the wolf mech reported, before cutting his comms.

Optimus frowned as he moved over to the command table, activating it. "This is quite a strange situation. Tigertron is missing, but I do not think Megatron would commit this many resources to finding and destroying a single Maximal. There's something else going on," he said quietly, looking at a map of the area Tigertron had disappeared into.

"I agree. While Megatron would love nothing more than to destroy a Maximal, he would not commit this many to that job. Especially considering what we heard regarding Terrorsaur and Waspinator. No, there is something else going on," Sauria said, studying the map as well. "It is not Energon, that much is for certain. Do you think…?"

"That maybe he's discovered a new alien relic or site? That is a possibility…one which I'm hoping isn't so," Optimus said, studying the map. "I guess we'll have to wait for Airazor and Lycanok's report. Sauria, I want you and Rattrap to patrol the perimeter, just in case Megatron tries something here."

Sauria gave a nod of understanding and turned, while Rattrap whined. "Awww man, yer puttin' me wit Choppa Face again Optimus? Why can't Rhinox do it?"

"I do not like this anymore then you, rodent, but orders are orders. Move it," Sauria snapped, moving to the elevator, as a grumbling Rattrap followed her.

As the two descended, Optimus quietly shook his helm, and went back to studying the map. "What are you up to, Megatron?" He asked himself quietly.

Floating Island

Tigertron paused briefly, looking at the meadow like terrain in front of him, taking a deep breath. Letting out a contented sigh, he slowly continued to pad forward. "The more I see of this place, the more I feel at peace. It is a paradise, a place where I feel contented," he said to himself quietly, not seeing a strange symbol on a nearby tree glow as he passed it.

He smiled as he saw a butterfly fly past, serenely flapping its wings, not a care in the world. Despite his own predicament, Tigertron too felt almost as if he could be the same here, without a care in the world.

That is until the ground started to shake, and he could see some of it nearby bulging upwards, breaking apart to reveal what looked like a small tree bent backward. His eyes widened as he saw it spring forward, tossing a massive boulder down towards him. He barely leapt away in time as it smashed into the ground.

"Perhaps I became too contented," he said, feeling his systems running into overdrive. Especially as more of the trap trees slowly appeared from the ground. Transforming into his robot form, he started running as the trees snapped forward, bringing their deadly cargo down to attempt to smash him.

Tigertron's vents were running hard as he ran, barely dodging boulders that smashed down behind him, forcing himself to leap over another one that smashed down right in front of him. His optics were rapidly tracking the appearance of more traps, and the general location they were aimed at, as he kept fleeing this 'minefield' he had inadvertently entered.

However, he was forced to stop as three of the traps appeared in front of him, all of them preparing to spring forward and smash him. Drawing his blaster rifle, he fired three rapid shots, destroying the boulders and rendering the traps useless.

This though proved to be a bad choice, as he saw a glow appear on top of the obelisk, an orange aura appearing around the pointed top. Optics widening as he detected a massive energy spike, he threw himself to the side as an orange beam shot out, blasting apart the ground he had previously been standing on, scorching the grass around that spot as well.

Venting heavily, Tigertron slowly peered out from behind a nearby tree, taking in the devastation, and then the obelisk that caused it. Optics narrowed, he looked back at his blaster rifle.

It seemed that energy weapons triggered a security system located inside the obelisk, one that unleashed a powerful energy beam. Frowning, he looked back at the boulder traps as he holstered his rifle. "It seems this island is more dangerous than I expected. I will need to be careful," he murmured, transforming. "I do not wish to be a rude guest," he added, before his eyes landed on the butterfly, still alive and well. Smiling, he started to follow it, glad to see it had escaped destruction as well.

Unbeknownst to him, down below and outside the cloud, three figures had arrived on a snowy cliff, watching the massive close drift by. Blackarachnia glanced up at it, studying it carefully. "Hmmmm…so that's what Terrorsaur and Waspinator found. This island of theirs is likely inside. But we don't want to trigger this defense they mentioned."

"I'll scout it out with a cyberbee," Scorponok said, transforming into his robot form. Opening one of his claws, the 'roof' of said claw fell open, revealing one of his large mechanical bees. It soon launched into the air, heading directly towards the cloud.

Scorponok activated the camera on the cyberbee, connected his visor to it so he could see what the drone was seeing. His optical visor flared red, as he soon was seeing the bee's point of view, though at the moment it was nothing but cloud.

However, it soon broke through, and there was the floating island, as Terrorsaur described. The bee quickly moved over the mountains surrounding it, diving down and flying over lush grasslands, and a small lake being fed by a stream. The bee kept flying, heading towards the obelisk, when it slowed and hovered around, taking it in completely, before turning and heading off to further scout the island.

As the bee flew low to the ground, it was about to pass a rock formation when it was suddenly struck from the sky, smashing into the ground. Scorponok got one single look at a ferocious white tiger growling, before the camera went blank.

He let out a gasp, shuddering a bit as Nightwing looked at him. "What did you see?" She asked in her monotone voice.

"I saw the island…and Tigertron. They're both up there," he said.

"Then I guess we'll just need to get up there and handle him," Blackarachnia said, fitting a grapnel barb to her blaster, and firing it. "Grab on, pincer head," she said.

In the distance, Lycanok frowned as he watched them. "Did Blackarachnia seriously just shoot something into the cloud?" He asked Airazor, who had a much better view.

"Didn't just shoot at it. She succeeded," she said. "There's something in that cloud, and all three are headed up into it."

"Slag. There's no way for me to get up there," Lycanok said, looking around, only for his eyes to narrow a bit. "Well…there's one way," he said, seeing a nearby ice cliff that was a little higher than the cloud. "Airazor, you go ahead and follow them in. I'll try to join you shortly," he said, as he began running towards it.

Airazor nodded and began to flap her wings, taking off and heading off after the trio of Predacons. Lycanok meanwhile kept running, searching for the fastest way up the ice cliff.

Nightwing frowned as she spotted the Maximal flier following them, activated her comm to communicate with her compatriots who were climbing up onto a ledge Blackarachnia's grapple had hooked onto. "We have company," she stated.

Scorponok turned, and seeing the Maximal, smirked. "Not for long," he said, preparing to fire a rocket. Blackarachnia turned, optics widening.

"Wait, stop!" she shouted, only for the rocket to be fired, and homed in on the falcon femme.

Airazor barely was able to see the rocket before it exploded, ripping into her left wing. She let out a scream of pain, spiraling downwards in a shower of feathers, her left wing flapping uselessly as she spiraled.

Down below, Tigertron's optics went wide. "Airazor!" he shouted, rushing towards where she was likely to crash.

At the same time, the obelisk again powered up, and a beam of energy shot towards the Predacon's position. Nightwing, in the air, managed to easily dodge it, but Scorponok and Blackarachnia were forced to jump away as the beam hit where they had been standing, practically evaporating the ledge.

Scorponok slowly looked up at the carnage. "Whoa…that's some blaster!" He shouted, amazed at the destruction.

Blackarachnia slowly raised herself up as well. "Noticed that, did you?" She said sarcastically. "Did you also notice that it fired after YOU did?"

Scorponok blinked at that. "Uuhhhh…"

"Maybe, if you had bothered to listen to Terrorsaur, you'd probably have realized that wildly shooting in the place isn't a good thing. That obelisk seems to detect energy weapons fire, and reacts to it. I…I mean we'll need to be careful if we're going to secure this place," she said, mentally cursing herself for that slip of the tongue.

Scopronok glared a bit at her, only for Nightwing to land nearby. "She is correct. We'll need to proceed carefully if we are to be successful in our mission for Lord Megatron. It would be advisable to not use any of our ranged weaponry until we control this island," she stated.

"Right. Then that's what we'll do!" Scorponok said, re-assuming command of the mission. "Move out!"

Blackarachnia rolled her optics as she and Scorponok transformed, and the trio started to move out.

Meanwhile, Lycanok grumbled as he looked over the edge of the cliff he was on, seeing the cloud starting to pass beneath him. He transformed, taking a deep intake of air while dimming his optics. "It's nothing Lycanok, just a fall to certain doom if you're wrong or you miss whatever's inside. Nothing to be worried about," he said, before activating his optics again. "Man, I really hate myself sometimes," he said, as he leapt off of the cliff, and began to plummet down, praying that he would land on something that wouldn't kill him as he disappeared into the cloud.

Airazor meanwhile slowly groaned, struggling to open her eyes. She felt a slight nudge, and a soft voice speak. "Airazor, don't move. You've taken heavy damage."

Airazor managed to dimly make out Tigertron's face peering down at her. "W-what….happened?" She groaned out.

"Scorponok managed to hit you with one of his rockets. You've taken severe damage to your left wing. It'll take time for your systems to begin repairing the damage," Tigertron cautioned her.

"B-But…t-the Pred…Predacons," she groaned out.

Tigertron shook his head. "There's nothing we can do until you've repaired," he said. "Don't worry though. I captured one of Scorponok's cyberbees, and was reprogramming it when you were attacked. I finished recording a message for the Maximal base, and sent it while you were offline," he said.

Airazor weakly looked around. "H-Have…you seen Lycanok?" she asked softly.

"Lycanok? He came with you?" He asked, looking around. "I haven't seen him."

"He was…trying to find a way onto the island," she said, laying back. "We should…hope we find him."

"We could use all the help we can get," Tigertron added, looking up as if he could see Lycanok, or the Predacons. "For now, let's make sure you're recovered," he said, as he transformed. "I'll get you to a more comfortable position, and then you should rest," he said, as he did his best to gently pick her up, and carry her.

Axalon

Optimus blinked as he looked at the cyberbee sitting in front of him. "You say it was carrying one of Airazor's feathers?" He asked, looking at Rattrap, who nodded as he held up said feather.

"Yeah. If I hadn't seen it, old scale belleh here would have shot it down," he said with a smirk, as Sauria crossed her arms.

"It was possibly an enemy drone spying on us. My reaction was justified," she growled out. If Rattrap didn't value his Spark, he would have said she was pouting.

Optimus just chuckled softly as he began to look it over. "But what is it doing here?" He asked.

Rhinox also began to study it. "Perhaps it contains a message?" he asked, as he fiddled with it. Finding a projector system, he activated it.

Almost immediately, a small camera popped up, and began projecting a screen, which showed a brilliant blue sky. The camera began to tremble, them panned around to show Tigertron, who immediately began to speak. "Attention maximal base! This is Tigertron! I'm located on a mysterious floating island, hidden within a cloud bank. Airazor is currently with me, but she is badly damaged. Predacons have also invaded the island, seeking to take control of it. The island is dotted with hidden traps, and is defended by a massive obelisk with a powerful weapon unlike any I've seen before." As he said this last part, he panned the camera to the obelisk, before bringing it back to himself. "If the Predacons reach the obelisk, they'll likely be able to turn this island against the Maximals, and end the Beast Wars! Requesting reinforcements now!"

With that, the message ended, and all was silent on the bridge, until Rattrap summed up their thoughts in two words. "Well scrap," he muttered.

And done. I don't know why, but this chapter was killing me. I just couldn't get myself to sit down and write whole bunches of it. So, since it was taking me forever, I'm splitting this chapter in two, much like in the series.

Sorry for the long wait, I hope this was worth it.

Thanks again to my beta Kyuubi123, for editing this chapter. Thanks man! Please read his own works.