#32 - New Faces

Part 2: Conspiracy

Terrorsaur took the opportunity while Starfeather was distracted talking with Waspinator and Cheetor in the energon storage room. He located Airazor walking down a corridor away from the main control room. He jogged to catch up to her.

"Hey, Airazor!"

"Yes?" She stopped and turned to him. Her tone was neutral.

"Can I, uh... ask you for a big favor?" he asked, feeling more awkward than he ever did in his life. Airazor gave him a strange look.

"That depends on what it is," she replied carefully.

"Do you know how to..." He couldn't bring himself to say the next word. He took a deep breath and tried again. "Do you know how to dance?" She was taken aback by this question, but regained herself enough to answer.

"Yes, a little bit. Why-"

"Don't ask, please." He cut her off. "Could you teach me?"

The falcon had absolutely no clue what to say. She knew Terrorsaur was still touchy about when they had first met and wouldn't let her forget that she had blown him nearly to pieces. Now, here he was, asking her to teach him how to dance. Whatever for, she had a theory or two, and she didn't have the spark to say no if those theories were true.

"Alright, I'll teach you," she agreed.

-x-

A few more days passed and another stasis pod was coming down. Optimus wanted to be sure that this one would be rescued from Megatron's clutches. He called a meeting to discuss strategies. Optimus Primal stood before his comrades. He looked at the ex-Pred fliers and Dinobot in particular.

"Alright, men," he began, authority evident in his tone. "Two stasis pods have fallen within a month. We lost both of them. Does anyone have any suggestions as to why?"

"I have a theory, if anyone cares about my opinion," Terrorsaur spoke up. When Primal nodded in his direction, he continued. "I was at both failed recovery missions and I noticed something. Megatron himself came and he brought every single one of his men with him both times. And how many of us came? Four."

Everyone either nodded or murmured in agreement. Feeling encouraged that everyone was listening to him and taking him seriously, the pterodactyl went on.

"I think ol' Megs has gotten desperate since me, Waspinator, and Starfeather bailed. So, he wants to make sure that he gets every single protoform that falls."

Optimus realized Terrorsaur was right. Who was to say that Megatron wouldn't behave the same way this time? He needed to act accordingly to this information. He decided to give Megatron a taste of his own medicine.

When the time came for the race to obtain the fallen pod, all ground units were running below and the fliers flanking either side of the Maximal leader. They were heading in the same general direction as when Tigatron had landed. The air grew chill and soon, they were racing through the snow. Fortunately, the sky was clear so there was no billowing snow to travel through. Waspinator and Airazor flew ahead to watch for the Predacons. Sure enough, every single one of them was coming down a snowdrift about a mile ahead. They could also see the pod to their left a few hundred yards ahead. The pod's initial fall had been cushioned by snow, but it had crashed into the base of a rock face.

The two factions confronted each other. Inferno took on all three of the ex-Predacon fliers, Airazor and Cheetor pinned Tarantulas and Scorponok, Rattrap was holding his own just fine against Blackarachnia, Tigatron was taking on G-Force, Optimus and Megatron were having at it, and Dinobot and Deltasurge were crossing blades.

After several minutes, Blackarachnia got tired of the rat's jabbering and just locked him in a coil of webs. It would take him a while to get out of that and, while the other Maximals were distracted, she could easily get to the pod and reprogram the protoform inside. It went down without a hitch and after the pod found a suitable life form, the new Predacon emerged. Large white wings speckled with black burst from the hatch to reveal a large snowy owl, its yellow eyes wide and ebony hooked beak open in a screech of surprise.

All fighting stopped to see what the commotion was about. The owl scanned the faces before it and fluffed up its feathers defensively. Megatron took this chance.

"Predacons: retreat!" he bellowed, transforming to his beast form. The other Predacons took advantage of their stunned opponents before also shifting to their alternate modes and following their leader. The owl looked confused for a moment before spreading its wings and following after the Predacons.

Optimus was crestfallen. He had been so sure that they could save one of their slumbering crew members in full force like they were now. He took a deep breath, reminding himself that they still had a chance to gain them back. He just hoped that Megatron wouldn't uncover the most dangerous protoform they carried.

-x-

The snowy owl caught up to its new Predacon companions and flew alongside Inferno. They went in silence for a while before the owl spoke up in a clear soft female voice.

"Who hoo are you?" she asked of the fire ant.

"I am Inferno, servant of the royalty," he answered proudly. "What is your designation, drone?"

"I am..." She paused, realizing that her current name didn't suit her form. She quickly analyzed the statistics of her beast form, coming up with something she liked. "I am Moonscope."

The fire ant grunted in approval. The rest of the journey was silent on their part. Some of the others traveling on the ground talked amongst themselves. When they reached home base, Moonscope was shocked at the condition of the crashed ship. Something was not right. However, the explanation she received by Megatron seemed to put her mind to ease. She soon made herself useful around the base, becoming the go-to maintenance 'bot for injuries rather than the CR tank.

However, as the weeks passed, she couldn't shake the initial feeling that something still wasn't right.

-x-

So far, the new Predacons had adjusted well to their surroundings and comrades. They also discovered what specialties they possessed. Deltasurge understood weather patterns better than anyone, G-Force was an expert tactician, and Moonscope became the chief medical officer, taking the pressure off of Tarantulas.

Being a medic, and also by nature, she could tell if something was troubling someone. During her first week, she had identified that something was troubling G-Force. He never talked to anyone, he preferred to be alone, and he spent most of his free time trying to decipher some writing on a piece of wrinkled paper. One day, she approached him. He was at one of the computers, skimming through all known language files. So far, none of them matched the physique of the one on the paper.

"You hoo are very withdrawn," the snowy owl said when she came up behind him. Much like some of the other beast warriors, Moonscope was plagued with a speech impediment. To words with the "oo" sound, a soft hoot usually followed. She had no control over it, like Waspinator had no control over his buzzing speech.

The hard-headed saurian only grunted in response, not even glancing at the medic. Silence continued for several minutes, filled only with the soft hum of the computer systems until Moonscope spoke again.

"I can't help but wonder what you hoo are trying to decode. I might be of some help," she offered. This time he looked her way. He eyed her suspiciously but handed her the paper. Nodding her thanks, Moonscope looked over the alien words. She found it was a human language by the physique of the letters and she could understand most of it. She gathered that this was a discarded entry to a journal of some kind.

"The name of this language escapes me, but... I do hoo know what this says."

"What does it say?" he asked simply. G-Force looked up from the screen as she skimmed over it to make sure she understood the contents before reading allowed. This is what it read:

Date N/A

Dear Diary,

My mind is made up. Whether Terrorsaur or Waspinator come with me or not, I'm leaving. I can't take another day of lies and harming the Maximals' cause. I'd be more of a help to them if I were actually among them.

I doubt Terrorsaur will come with me after what I pulled. I was so stupid to think that he could take a little embarrassment like a scribble on his face. I forgot he prided his face. Men...

My only question is why a Sharpie marker doesn't stick to our armor plating... Yeah, not relevant but I would like to know

It baffled Moonscope as to why the writing stopped there. Perhaps the author decided that this had not been a suitable entry to their diary. She wondered who had written it in the first place. She didn't know of anyone else who could possibly read or write in this primitive language.

"Does it say who wrote it?" G-Force asked. The medic shook her head.

"No, there is no signature." She handed the paper back to him. "Where did you hoo find this?"

"In my quarters... Computer," he called quietly. "Who occupied room B-5 in the quartering bay before I did?"

"Unit: Starfeather. Recently defected to Maximal allegiance," the ship's computer answered. The two looked at each other, realizing what they had just discovered. This Starfeather, and possibly Terrorsaur and Waspinator, had been a spy. They wondered if they should inform Megatron about this, but decided not to. Why bother now? Starfeather was with the Maximals now so it didn't matter anymore. G-Force stowed the paper in his subspace. He made a mental note return it to its rightful owner.

-x-

Late that night, Airazor and Terrorsaur met in the storage bay. Terrorsaur wanted to be sure that no one would interrupt them and Airazor assured him that no one came to this storeroom. She brought with her a device to play music from and set it on a crate before turning it on. A slow-paced Cybertronian tune began to play. She walked up to him and pulled him by the arm to the center of the open area on the floor.

"Alright. First, I'll show you how to position yourself before you start," she said and showed him where to place his hands and where his feet should be. "Now, watch my feet and just follow my lead."

He did so as she moved slowly. They both felt awkward about how close they were to each other, but they both knew what they had been getting into when they made this agreement. They went over the same simple steps over and over again as Terrorsaur became more comfortable with his feet.

"You're doing great," Airazor praised. "Now, let's try something a little more complicated." She made Terrorsaur let go of her and showed him a few more moves. He did his best to mimic her. She corrected him when needed and they practiced long into the night. It was nearly dawn when they finally stopped. Terrorsaur was now confident that he knew enough to accomplish his mission.

"Hey, Airazor," he said as the falcon stretched and suppressed a yawn. He was too embarrassed to meet her gaze as he uttered, "...thanks."

He then quickly left the room. Airazor watched him leave before collecting her music player. Terrorsaur wasn't at all too terrible a person once he dropped a few of his defenses.

AN: Oops. I didn't describe Moonscope. Well... she looks like the other bird ladies only her head looks like she has on an old-timey style nurses hat, like Red Alert from Animated.