Hello and welcome to New Beast Wars, chapter 26, and not only is it a new chapter, but it is also the conclusion to the Strange Alliance trilogy arc. This chapter will see which side prevails, the Maximals and Predacons, the Vehicon Separatists, or the Vehicon Loyalists, as well as what will happen to Dinobot, Megatron and a number of others. Now that we have that out of the way, I am forced to concede that I do not own Beast Wars, Beast Machines, IDW Comics or any characters that are associated with the 'The Transformers' franchise, which is quite a shame really, as you probably would have seen something like this on your televisions instead of Beast Machines...Anyway, I'm getting off topic, so on one final note before we delve into this latest instalment, I would like to ask you to please review, and to please enjoy the story. Thanks for reading!

Rattrap ran over to Dinobot's motionless form and kneeled down. Following Thrust's attack, Dinobot had simply collapsed onto the ground and Rampage had mysteriously vanished. Rattrap took a look at Dinobot and groaned. A gaping hole was in Dinobot's spark compartment, and from within, Rattrap could only see a tiny flicker to indicate that there even was a spark at all.

"Chopper Face? Wake up! Come on, speak to me!"Rattrap pleaded to his fallen friend.

Rhinox, seeing Rattrap kneeling over Dinobot, rushed over to see what was happening.

"Rattrap, what's-? Oh, dear Primus..." Rhinox gasped when he saw what had happened to Dinobot.

Rattrap whirled around to face Rhinox.

"Rhinox! You have to fix him! Please, I know that you can!" Rattrap said, the panic evident in both his face and his voice.

"I...I'm not sure that I can Rattrap..." Rhinox said softly as he stared down at Dinobot's still form.

"Please Rhinox! You at least have to try!" Rattrap said, grabbing Rhinox's arms.

Rhinox sighed "Fine...I'll try Rattrap, I'll try."

Rhinox knelt down in front of Dinobot and opened up Dinobot's spark compartment. Inside, a tiny spark that could do barely more than flicker rested inside.

"We'll have to act fast if we're to save Dinobot's spark" Rhinox cantoned Rattrap "He's suffered a great deal of damage to his spark..." Rhinox paused and looked inside of Dinobot's spark compartment "Where's Rampage?"

Rattrap shook his head "That creep Thrust shot Dinobot with some kinda claw that ripped out Rampage's spark, and then he ran off!" Rattrap explained.

Rhinox cursed "Then that must be why Dinobot's in such a state! The shock of having Rampage's spark ripped out of his spark compartment must have done quite a bit of damage on Dinobot's spark."

Two cables suddenly shot out of Rhinox's chest. Rhinox opened his spark compartment and plunged one cable into his own spark. Rhinox grimaced in pain as he did so, but kept it there, before handing the other to Rattrap.

"Here, take it, we'll need it to jumpstart Dinobot's spark." Rhinox explained when he saw Rattrap's apprehensive look.

"Uh, say, is this gonna hurt much?" Rattrap asked as he hesitantly took the cable and opened his spark compartment.

"Not for long, about a minute maybe, but we don't have much time, if e don't hurry up, then we'll lose Dinobot's spark for good." Rhinox replied.

Rattrap sighed "The things I do for pals..."

And with Rattrap plunged the cable into his own spark. Rattrap winced, he had expected pain, but not quite this much. When Rattrap plugged the cable into his spark, it had felt like he had jammed a red hot needle into his chest.

"Alright...now what do we do?" Rattrap asked between long and laboured breaths.

"Now...we do...THIS!" Rhinox said, as he suddenly plunged the other end of the chord into Dinobot's weak spark.

Instantly, Dinobot's body jumped a little, as if it had been surged with electricity. Rhinox began to shudder, the pain was incredible for him, but he kept giving his energy to Dinobot.

"Isn't there some other way to do this?" Rattrap asked in a quiet voice as he watched.

"Not...without...the right...tools..." Rhinox said through gritted teeth "Now...hurry! If we don't...do this now, then it may be...too late!" Rhinox gasped through the pain to speak.

Rattrap looked down at the comatose Dinobot "You owe me for this Chopper face..." Rattrap muttered, before he inserted the other end of his cable into Dinobot's spark.

Dinobot's body leapt again and Rattrap began shuddering. It felt as if he were being electrocuted and the pain was intense for him. It might even have been worse in his case, as Rhinox was both bigger and stronger than Rattrap, so he could naturally endure more.

The two stood where they were, charging Dinobot's spark with their energy. Despite their efforts, it did not seem like they were getting very far, aside from the odd little twitch or leap, Dinobot's body remained still.

"This...isn't...working!" Rhinox choked out "We...need...more...power!"

"But...where...can we-?" Rattrap began.

He was suddenly cut off by a loud thump. Both Rattrap and Rhinox turned to see an allied Tank drone had fallen right in front of them, not quite dead, but not far from it. They glanced at each other briefly, before they ran over to the downed Vehicon. They could see that the light in the drone's optics had dimmed and would soon extinguish.

"Sorry big guy, but it's you or him." Rattrap said as he glanced at Dinobot.

Without a word, Rhinox grabbed a third cable and plunged it into the power grid of the Tank drone. It barely even noticed, the pain seemed nonexistent for it.

"Urk!" A voice cried out.

Rattrap and Rhinox whirled around. Dinobot was now twitching frantically and tapping his claws on the ground.

"It's working!" Rattrap exclaimed as Dinobot's body jumped around.

Dinobot suddenly sat bolt upright and roared.

"Chopper face!" Rattrap cried, running over to his friend.

Dinobot reached down and ripped the cables out of his spark, before standing up.

"I...live? But, how can this be?" Dinobot questioned.

"We brought ya back to live buddy! We did it!" Rattrap said joyfully, turning to Rhinox, who weakly smiled at Dinobot.

"Welcome back Dinobot." Rhinox said, a wan smile on his face.

"Thank you Rhinox" Dinobot suddenly looked around "But, where is Rampage?"

Rattrap lowered his head "Gone. That freak Thrust took him! He ran off!" Rattrap answered, looking around for any trace of Thrust.

Dinobot growled "Then he shall pay for this!" Dinobot said as he clenched his fist.

Quake suddenly rumbled up next to the three.

"I would hate to interrupt this touching moment, but we have a battle to win! Get back to fighting!" Quake commanded as he shot down an Aero drone.

"Well, you heard him Maximals! Dinobot, can you still fight?" Rattrap asked as he turned to his friend.

"Yes, I think so." Dinobot replied as he flexed his claws to be sure.

"Good, then let's give em' hell Maximals! Attack!" Rattrap ordered, before he, Rhinox and Dinobot charged at the enemy, a seemingly endless number of Cycle and Aero drones.

Inside of the Decepticon Spire, the Maximals and Predacons who had been assigned to capture Megatron were making their way forward, hoping to avoid the same traps that had hindered the original group that had tried to capture Megatron. So far, they had encountered none, but Optimus wasn't fooled, he would not be lulled into a false sense of security.

"It shouldn't be much further now" Tankor's diagnostic drone advisor (and only real friend), Hank said to the group as he floated along down a corridor.

"This is staring to seem way too easy Big bot." Cheetor whispered to Optimus Primal, who was leading the group.

"I know Cheetor, just keep your weapons ready and your guard raised in case we run into any traps." Optimus cautioned.

As the group prepared to round a corner, a shot rang out, almost hitting Iguanus

"Wha-?" Iguanus cried out in shock as the heat from the blast sent him reeling and activated his beast mode frill, which sprang up behind his head.

"Surrender Maximal scum! There's no way that you can defeat me!"

"Wha-? But it can't be...Scorponok?" Tigatron gasped in shock.

"That's right Maximal! I'm here to stop you from reaching Megatron! You'll never get by me!" Scorponok gloated as he raised his shoulder mounted laser menacingly.

"But Optimus...I thought you said that Scorponok was dead?" Blackarachnia asked, sending her leader a questioning glance.

Optimus sighed "No, I'm afraid it's much worse than that...Scorponok betrayed us and joined Megatron...he was the one who revealed the location of the base." Optimus said sadly, bowing his head.

Everyone turned and looked at Scorponok in horror. Finally, Landsaur broke the silence and spoke up.

"You miserable little traitor! I promise you, I will make you pay for what you did to my men!" Landsaur exclaimed as he pointed a finger at Scorponok.

"And we promise to do the same for what you did to our crewmates!" Tigatron said menacingly as he brandished his claws and positioned himself in a battle stance.

In response, Scorponok laughed "Well go ahead and try if you think you can take me, Maximal filth! And you Predacons should know better! How could you team up with a bunch of Maximal lowlifes? They stand to oppose everything that we believe in! Join Megatron, and we can destroy them! We can all rule Cybertron, together!"

Landsaur scowled "Rule below that treacherous fool Megatron? No thanks, I think I'll stick to my original orders and kill him for betraying the Tripredacus Council!"

"Oh yeah?" Scorponok asked, his offer of peace quickly forgotten "Well to do that, you'll have to get through me first!"

"You and what army" Claw Jaw asked incredulous that Scorponok would try to face them all by himself.

"Oh, know that you mention it..." Scorponok said with a smirk as a number of Mole and Tank drones lumbered up behind Scorponok "...This army!"

Terragator turned to Claw Jaw, frowning and glaring at the octopus Maximal "You just had to say it didn't you? You had to go about tempting fate! When this is all over, I'm going to kill you." Terragator said, glaring at a trembling Claw Jaw all the way through his little tirade.

"Hey, knock it off Terragator!" Spittor turned to admonish his friend.

"Hey, he started this when he went about tempting fate!" Terragator exclaimed, pointing at Claw Jaw, who whimpered in response.

"I don't care, just knock it off and prepare for combat!" Spittor said, glaring at Terragator.

Terragator turned back to Claw Jaw "We'll finish this later tentacle boy!"

"Maximals! Predacons! Attack!" Optimus commanded as he rapidly switched into beast mode and charged the Vehicon Loyalist forces.

Tigatron snarled as he leapt at a Mole drone in beast mode and began scratching and clawing the thing, quickly reducing it to shreds. Terragator was using his shield to absorb the enemy fire and run forward at the same time, when he reached a Tank drone, he quickly fired a few rounds into its chest. Retrax meanwhile, had curled up into a ball and was rolling into the Vehicon drones like a giant spiked bowling ball. Inside of his protective casing, Retrax smirked as he heard a Vehicon drone's head crunch as he rolled over it. Cheetor flicked his wrist, launching his flail into the face of an unfortunate Tank drone, leaving a dent where it used to be. When a Mole drone fired at him, Cheetor leapt back and found himself standing beside Tigatron.

"Having fun kid?" Tigatron asked as he gunned down another mole drone.

"You know it! How about you?" Cheetor responded.

"Well, you know me, I never was one for fighting!" Tigatron replied as he fired at a Tank drone.

Elsewhere, Claw Jaw had managed to hit a Tank drone, but his fire had done little more than slightly wound it, leaving a small hole in its chest.

"Beast Mode!" Claw Jaw cried out as he transformed into an organic octopus and launched himself at the Tank drone.

Claw Jaw used his body block the drone's vision, before using two tentacles to restrain its arms. With that accomplished, Claw Jaw then used his remaining tentacles to reach into the wound in the drone's chest. He then began pulling from the inside, quickly ripping the Vehicon apart.

"Claw Jaw, Maximise!" Claw Jaw cried out, leaping off of the drone and returning to robot mode, as he did so, the drone collapsed into multiple pieces "Now, what was that about a threat?" Claw Jaw asked, turning to a stunned Terragator.

Scorponok meanwhile, was now in a fist fight with Landsaur.

"Treacherous scum! I shall demolish you!" Landsaur spat as he fought Scorponok.

"Not if I kill you first, you so called Predacon!" Scorponok responded as he clamped one of his claws down on Landsaur's arm.

"Argh!" Landsaur cried out, before he used his free hand to punch Scorponok in the face.

"Urk! Predacon fool! No matter, I can still finish you off!" Scorponok said menacingly as he brought up his laser mounted cannon and aimed it at Landsaur's head.

"Freeze!" A voice cried out, causing both Scorponok and Landsaur to turn.

As Scorponok looked on in horror, a large grin appeared on Landsaur's face.

All of the Vehicon drones were dead.

"Ha ha! You've lost traitor!" Landsaur gloated "Why don't you give it up? Maybe, just maybe, we'll go easy on you!"

"Argh! Never!" Scorponok cried out as he released Landsaur, before firing at him in anger.

A single shot hit Landsaur in the chest, the others veered wildly off course. Suddenly, Scorponok found himself knocked off of his feet, Razorbeast had slammed into him. As Scorponok struggled to return to a standing position, he heard the sound of a gun cocking.

"Not so fast Scorponok!" Razorbeast said as he pointed his weapon at his foe's head "You're going to lay there ad stay quiet, or so help me Primus, I will slag you where you are!"

On the ground, Landsaur lay groaning, Seasaur and Optimus were by his side.

"How is he Optimus?" Seasaur asked nervously.

Optimus breathed a sigh of relief as he examined Landsaur's body "Don't worry Seasaur, he'll be fine, it looks like Scorponok isn't as powerful as he seems to believe!"

Scorponok stopped struggling "Megatron...forgive me..." Scorponok whispered to himself.

Outside, the battle was going extremely well for the Maximals, Predacons and their new allies, the Vehicon Separatists. Tankor, Quake and Prowl II were working alongside each other to destroy as many Vehicon Loyalists as possible.

"Well Tankor, as much as I hate to say it, it looks like working with you is really paying off!" Prowl said as he slashed a Cycle drone's throat wide open, spilling mech fluids in copious amounts.

"Tankor Smash!" Tankor exclaimed as he crushed a Cycle drone with his bare hands.

"Err, I think what Tankor is trying to say is that he agrees with you." Quake said "Look out!" Quake exclaimed suddenly, firing over Prowl's shoulder and destroying a low flying Aero drone.

"Hehn, nice shot Vehicon!" Prowl chuckled.

"Bonzai!" A voice from above cried out.

"Huh?" Quake looked up in time to see Vice Grip, Noctorro and Night Glider land on him, they were some of the few Maximals and Predacons who had not been found yet, and had clearly misinterpreted the situation.

"We'll teach you not to mess with one of us!" Noctorro growled as he gored Quake.

"Yeah! You and I have a little score to settle!" Vice Grip said as he began nipping Quake with his pincers.

"Maximal ambush!" Tankor exclaimed "I knew that you weren't to be trusted!" Tankor said as he glared at Prowl.

"What? Guys no! They're on our side!" Prowl yelled at the formerly lost Maximals and Predacon.

"Oh Primus! Have they brainwashed you Prowl?" Nigh Glider asked in horror as he prepared to impale Quake on his sword.

"No! There's no brainwashing we're allies now! We've teamed up to defeat the Vehicon Loyalists!" Prowl insisted.

"Loyalists?" Vice Grip asked, a confused look on his insect mode fce.

"Oh! You haven't heard of them! Well, the Vehicons split into two groups, we're allied with these guys now!" Prowl explained.

"Not anymore Maximal! You attacked us! The alliance is off! All drones, attack the Maximals and Predacons!"Tankor commanded.

Instantly, the Tank, Jeep and Stealth drones all turned on their former allies.

"Wha-?" Transquito asked as a Stealth drone shot at him in midair.

"What's going on?" Rhinox asked as a Jeep drone opened fire on him, Dinobot and Rattrap.

"We've been had men!" Ramulus exclaimed, suddenly turning on a Jeep drone "Retaliate, quick!"

"No! No!" Prowl exclaimed "It's a misunderstanding! Stop!"

"Tankor stop! It was a mistake! They are still our allies!" Quake pleaded with Tankor, trying to get him to see reason.

"No! It's a Maximal attack on us! They set us up! They cannot be trusted and so must be destroyed!" Tankor said.

"Tankor stop-!" Quake began, before Tankor cut him off.

"If you're not with me, then you're against me and must also be destroyed!" Tankor said, turning to face Quake.

A loud bang filled the air, and Quake was sent flying. At first, no one was quite sure what had happened, until they saw the smoking barrel of Tankor's cannon.

"Kill them! Destroy them!" Tankor commanded as he opened fire on the Maximals, Predacons and enemy Vehicons.

"This has to stop!" Airazor said as she flew down to confront Tankor "Please understand, what happened was a mistake! Can't you understand that?"

"I understand that you Maximals are liars! Die!" Tankor screamed as he opened fire again.

Airazor let out a gasp as the shot hit her, sending her flying.

"Airazor! No!" Prowl cried out as he saw the Airazor was missing a large portion of her face.

Tankor laughed "And now we see just how fragile these foolish Maximals are! We see just how pathetic and weak they are! We see...what?"

Tankor suddenly stopped in mid rant as Airazor stood up. Before their very eyes, Airazor's injuries mended themselves. Airazor's eyes suddenly glowed a deep red, and her spark compartment opened, and a bright red light illuminated the battlefield.

"What is this?"Tankor asked as he gazed at the light.

Suddenly, a beam of energy shot from Airazor's spark and hit Tankor.

"Noooooo!" Tankor cried out as the blast began to disintegrate his body.

"By Primus..." Prowl whispered in shock as Tankor's body came apart before his very eyes.

Suddenly, the beam cut off, standing where Tankor had been was nothing but a charred pair of boots. Airazor suddenly shut her eyes and collapsed, causing everyone else to run over to her.

"Rhinox, what happened to her?" Prowl asked in astonishment.

Rhinox could only look at Prowl with an expression of shock on his face "I...I don't know." Rhinox responded in awe.

Inside of the Decepticon Spire, the Maximals and Predacons were dragging Scorponok with them as they neared the throne room.

"Ah, here we are!" Hank said as he floated up to the throne rooms doors.

"Open the throne room doors Hank." Optimus commanded.

"Yes sir." Hank replied, and began humming Daisy Bell while he worked on releasing the locks on the door.

"You will never defeat Megatron! Never!" Scorponok spat.

Suddenly, the doors sprung open.

"Aha! I am a genius!" Hank said, more to himself than to the others.

As the doors opened, everyone gasped at the sight inside of the throne room, a sight that none of them ever would have believed they would ever see.

Megatron was lying on the ground in a crumpled heap, a gaping hole in his chest.

"Megatron! No!" Scorponok cried out, and pulled free from the two Maximals who were holding him to run over to his fallen leader.

"What could have happened here?" Landsaur murmured.

"A coup perhaps?" Razorbeast asked.

"Maybe...but the question now is, what do we do Optimus?" Cheetor asked, turning to his leader.

"We...we detain Scorponok and bring Megatron's body with us, we can capture the other Vehicon Loyalists later." Optimus said.

"No! No! Don't touch him!" Scorponok cried out as Cheetor and Tigatron began advancing on him.

"This is the way it has to be Scorponok!" Tigatron said as he continued to advance.

"No! We'll never surrender!" Scorponok yelled, before he scooped up Megatron's body and ran towards the window.

"Stop him!" Landsaur commanded.

It was too late, Scorponok leapt through the window, still carrying Megatron's body. He landed on an Aero drone and flew off to safety.

"He...he got away Optimus. I'm sorry, I should have been faster." Cheetor said in a disappointed voice.

"No Cheetor, you did what you could. Don't worry, we'll catch him later." Optimus reassured.

Later, the Maximals and Predacons who had been assigned to capturing Megatron walked back outside to see a number of dead Vehicons. Tankor was nowhere to be seen, but Quake was standing shakily, talking to Prowl and Airazor.

"Quake! What happened?" Optimus called out.

"It...it was incredible Optimus! Three of your soldiers attacked me, so Tankor called off the alliance but when he attacked Airazor, she regenerated and destroyed him! When it was over, I managed to regain control over the Vehicons." Quake answered.

"I don't know how I did it..." Airazor murmured.

"Airazor! Are you alright?" Tigatron asked.

"Fine, but I'm not completely sure what happened." Airazor replied.

"Well, we've won, the Vehicon Loyalists are retreating. What will you do now Quake?" Optimus asked.

Quake shrugged "I'm tired of war, I will take my fellow Vehicon Separatists and look for a safe place, one devoid of wars or violence. May we someday meet again in better circumstances."

Optimus placed a hand on Quake's shoulders "I hope that we do. Good luck Quake, I hope that you find what you're looking for."

In the Vehicon hidden base, Antagony, Thrust and Jetstorm were talking with each other.

"Well, now that we have that fool Megatron out of the way, what shall be the next stage of our plan?" Antagony asked.

"We wait for the reinforcements from the other parts of Cybertron to arrive" Thrust replied "The Maximals and Predacons may have destroyed the hundreds of Vehicons who resided in this area, but there are still billions all over the planet!"

"Yes, not to mention the fact that our little project is nearing completion!" Jetstorm said as he walked up to a blank protoforms "Now all that's left to do is to add the spark!"

The three laughed as they saw the four sparks lined up in containers, each one would play a significant part in their plans.

Rhinox.

Starscream.

Rampage.

Megatron.

End of chapter 26. Wow, that was pretty long hey? It's also the end of "season 2" We'll be moving on to season 3 next chapter! Exciting stuff eh? Well, what triggered the regeneration and power that Airazor demonstrated, what will become of the surviving Vehicon Separatists, and what is going on with the remaining Vehicon generals plans? These questions may be revealed next chapter, you'll just have to read it and see! Well, I hope that you enjoyed it, I'll try to have another update up soon. Don't forget to leave a review, and thanks for reading!