#34 - Dark Voyage: Bonds
"I'm so sorry, daddy. I shouldn't have gone exploring by myself." Snowbelle poured her little spark out to her father as she clung desperately around his neck. "It was so cold. I missed you and mommy so much. I'm so, so sorry."
"Shh, it's alright," Optimus said gently. He was still shocked that his daughter was here on this planet. He and Enigma had been so worried when she disappeared, but he still had a schedule to keep. Not that he hadn't search for his missing girl before he left, but they had found nothing, not even a trace. "I'm here now."
Tigatron had given him the story that Snowbelle had tried to tell, but she had been too excited. Optimus had nodded and now he looked back down on Snowbelle. She looked back up at him with big green, tear-filled optics.
"I'm hungry," she declared softly. The tiger smirked.
"I did give her some of my rations before bringing her here," he said in amusement. "But she insists that she is still hungry." The Maximal leader chuckled and lifted the fox in his arms.
"Thank you Tigatron," he said before leaving the bridge. The short walk to the captain's quarters was silent until just before they entered.
"Tigatron's nice," Snowbelle said. Optimus smiled.
"Yes, he is," he replied before entering his room. Once inside, he sat her on his desk, knelt to her level, and simply looked her over. Her armor was mostly white and silver, though she had hits of mint green. (Her transformation would be similar to Silverbolt's if he was around yet.) She looked back at him, a little worried and confused.
"Am I in trouble?" she asked, the ornaments resembling the ears of her beast mode on either side of her head drooping. He shook his head.
"No, honey. Not anymore."
"Am I going to get punished?" she asked a little more quietly.
"No..." He shook his head again then held her close. "I think what you've been through is punishment enough," he murmured. Snowbelle quivered slightly as she hugged back, suddenly filled with happiness at being with her father again.
"I love you, daddy."
-x-
"I'm glad Megatron assigned us both on this mission," Deltasurge was saying as she waddled along beside Scorponok. "We hardly ever get any time alone."
"There is a lot that needs to be done around the base before we get any personal time," Scorponok replied. "After all, Megatron needs us to do the things he can't."
"Or won't." The scorpion was surprised by her sudden gruffness. "Scorponok, do you ever really watch him? Not to worship the ground he walks on, I mean really inspect him and his actions. All our "glorious leader" ever does is sit around barking orders and look pretty."
Scorponok wasn't sure how to react. He didn't have a doubt that Megatron was a strong leader, the true leader of the Predacons and not the Maximal Elders.
"Megatron doesn't just sit around," he tried to argue without getting a physical retort. "He does a lot of things."
"Name five," the crocodile challenged flatly.
"Well, he..." Scorponok was shocked at himself. He found he didn't really have a clue to what Megatron did all day when he wasn't out with them on the battlefield. "He, uh... Megatron does most of it on his computer so I can't tell you what he does."
"Mhm," Deltasurge nodded. "So what you're saying is, you don't know." He tried to protest, but thought of something.
"He comes up with all the plans and strategies," he declared.
"Yep, and guess what?" She paused. "We lose almost every time. Let me put it this way for you, Shelly."
Scorponok wasn't too fond of the nickname the crocodile had bestowed upon him, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. Besides, he was grateful that she never called him that in front of the others. At least it was better than Shell-head.
"All I'm really trying to say is don't follow his orders blindly." She gave him a rare soft look. "That's how idiots die. Think about what you're doing."
He glanced back at her. Of course, he was offended that she questioned Megatron's leadership, but... Scorponok decided to think about what she had just said at a more appropriate time.
-x-
Terrorsaur watched his comrades as they gathered energon below. He was in beast mode, circling above them as they went about their work. He knew how easy it would be to destroy all of them in this energon rich area. Just one little shot would blow this place to pieces and… No. He still needed them. Besides, Rhinox was in the group. As much as he hated to admit it, he owed the rhino his life.
He sighed. Life with the Maximals was pretty boring. Not much happened to keep him on his feet unless Rattrap and Dinobot got physical over a dispute. That was always fun to watch or even get in on until Optimus or someone broke it up. Maybe he had made a mistake in agreeing to stay with the Maximals. They were so... peaceful and polite. It almost made him sick. Even Starfeather wasn't such a goody-two-shoes twenty-four seven.
That wasn't the only thing that puzzled him. He noticed that there seemed to be no resentment at all from the other Maximals toward Optimus Primal. Slag, even Waspinator looked up to him as a... as a role-model. Starfeather even admitted that Primal was like a second father to her. Dinobot also seemed to look up to him in his own way, even respect his position. Why did everyone seem to like Optimus? What was different about him and Megatron?
For starters, Optimus didn't raise his voice too often. He allowed longer rest periods, more energon rations, he talked on a personal level to his men. Megatron, on the other hand, would yell if you didn't do what you were told right or right away. He gave barely any rest time except at night, he was strict about how much energon everyone could have per day, and he never talked to anyone on such a personal level.
Terrorsaur was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a strange quaking noise. Looking down, he saw the energon was pulsating and he saw Scorponok and Deltasurge on a ridge overlooking the valley the energon was in. He mentally slapped himself for not paying attention. Transforming to robot form, he dove at the scorpion and crocodile. He bowled into them both, but was kicked off before he could do any more damage. He slammed into the ground near the other Maximals. The last thing he remembered was an audio splitting explosion before it all went dark.
-x-
Some things never change. This is what Starfeather thought as she sat in front of one of the monitors in the main control room, staring blankly at the view presented. It was her day for monitor duty. She was glad that she didn't have it every day like she used to have it at the Predacon base. However, she was still happy to get distractions. Like the one that was chasing a ball right now.
The raven looked on with amusement at Snowbelle. The little fox had suddenly padded into the room, nosing a ball across the floor. Ever since she showed up, things seemed to get brighter around the base. Cheetor certainly had fun playing with her. Starfeather reached down and snatched up the ball.
"Ha, I got it!" she exclaimed, holding the ball just out of reach. Snowbelle giggled as she jumped, trying to reclaim the ball. She accidentally knocked it from the raven's hand and giggled some more as she watched it harmlessly bounce around the room before it came to a stop. She looked back at Starfeather, panting.
"That was fun," she declared before hopping into Starfeather's lap and looking up at the monitor. "Whatchya doing?"
"I'm on monitor duty," the raven explained, trying to make it sound interesting. "I'm making sure the Predacons aren't in our territory."
"What are those two red dots?" Snowbelle asked, pointing a forepaw at the screen.
"Red dots?" Starfeather whirled around, making sure not to throw off the fox, and typed in some commands. The computer brought up a visual and her mouth dropped open. "Oh no..."
"What? What's wrong?" The youngling's question went unanswered as Starfeather tried to call Rhinox since he had been the head of the party that was sent out on a mission that morning.
"Rhinox? Rhinox: come in. This is home base, do you copy?" she spoke nervously into the microphone. Static. She tried Terrorsaur. "Terrorsaur? Terrorsaur, please, talk to me." More static. Panic was rising in her chest. "Rattrap? Cheetor? Dinobot? Anyone! Respond!"
"What's going on?" Snowbelle asked more insistently. "Are they okay?"
"I don't know." Starfeather opened another channel. "Optimus, we have a problem. Rhinox and the others sent to gather energon aren't responding to my calls. And there are two Predacon signatures in their area."
-x-
Cheetor groaned as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. The pain was like nothing he had felt before. He tried to run a self-diagnostic, but his onboard computer had been disabled.
"Great," he muttered and opened his optics... but nothing happened. He tried again and again and again, blinking repeatedly, but he couldn't see a thing.
"My eyes! My eyes!" He heard Dinobot cry out in anguish.
"Dinobot?" He heard Rhinox' voice.
"Rhinox?" He heard Rattrap call. "Where are ya, buddy? It's darker than the Pits out here."
They were still online. They could help him.
"Rhinox, Rattrap, help me!" he cried. "I can't see!"
"Rawk! What did they do to me?!" Terrorsaur screeched. "I can't see anything!"
"What have they done to my eyes?!" Dinobot roared. The panic was swelling inside all of them.
"Rhinox! Help me!" Rattrap exclaimed.
"What happened? Where are we?!" Cheetor cried, swinging his head around as if still trying to see.
"I'm too young to go offline!" Terrorsaur shouted, grabbing at his head.
"Listen to me, all of you!" Rhinox ordered loudly, taking charge of the situation. "You all have to calm down."
"Calm down?" Dinobot and Terrorsaur repeated in unison.
"We can't SEE!" the raptor shrieked.
"How do you expect us to calm down," Terrorsaur was saying, stumbling forward, trying to find the rhinoceros and shake him heartily by the shoulders, but having no luck. "When we can't even see what's right in front of us!? Where in the Pit are you?!"
"The energon explosion has contaminated our systems," Rhinox explained, trying to lessen the tension as best he could. "Our optical sensors, and just about everything else, are offline."
The other Maximals looked to where they thought his voice was emanating from and listened anxiously.
"So, what do we do?" Rattrap asked.
"We've got to transform. It will slow down the contamination and possibly regenerate our systems." The next thing they heard was the sound of the rhino groaning as the transformation took place. Metal plates ground and sparked against each other until a charred rhinoceros stood in the center of the semi-circle. The others transformed into beast mode as well. They experienced the same unpleasant sensations.
"Aw slag," Rattrap muttered. "That was weird."
"But I still can't see!" Terrorsaur shook his head in frustration.
"Me neither," Cheetor whimpered. Dinobot snarled and clenched his claws.
"I'll tear Scorponok's processor out for this! And Deltasurge's too."
"Count me in," Terrorsaur growled.
"It's worse than I thought..." Rhinox bowed his head with the heaviness of the situation. After a brief moment, he raised his head again and did his best to face everyone. "Our only chance is to make it back to the base."
Everyone did their best to stare at the rhino.
"Are you insane?" the raptor shouted. "How can we get to the base when we can't see?"
"There are more ways to see than one, Dinobot," Rhinox argued calmly. "Besides, we don't have a choice. If we don't reach a CR chamber within sixty cycles, the contamination will put our sparks out for good."
-x-
"You didn't salvage the remains?" Megatron sounded curious until a loud crash was heard, causing the scorpion and crocodile to flinch. "Then how can you be sure you destroyed them?! Go back there now and make certain!"
"Y-yes, yes, of course, Megatron. Right away, sir." He terminated the link and looked to his companion who shook her head.
"Don't feel too bad, Shelly," she said. "I didn't think we'd need to go shopping for body parts... I call Dinobot's head!" With that, Deltasurge shifted to beast mode and began running back to the crater.
"Hey!" Scorponok called and transformed to his own beast form. "Wait for me!"
Upon reaching the blacked area, the pair searched through the broken rocks and ash, but found nothing of the Maximals. Sniffing around was just making Deltasurge sneeze and most of the rocks Scorponok picked up crumbled in his claw. One stone in particular dissipated into a cloud of dust, getting in the scorpion's face, and making him cough.
"Maybe they were vaporized," Deltasurge suggested, coming closer to him. "I can't find hide or hair of them."
"There should be some kind of wreckage..." He clicked his claws thoughtfully. "Go back up to that ridge and scan for energon traces."
The crocodile nodded and hiked up to the ridge she and Scorponok had stood on before. Transforming to robot form and looking down, she narrowed her optics and scanned the area. She hummed to herself.
"Hmm, I do see a trail of energon... Maybe they did survive."
"Well, let's follow it. We have to find them and finish them or Megatron will finish us."
-x-
Rhinox had come up with an effective, but slow means of getting back to the base. He led them all in a line. Dinobot was behind him, then Cheetor, then Rattrap. Terrorsaur had a hard time walking in his beast form so he had grudgingly agreed to ride on Rhinox. The trip for the first several minutes had been fairly quiet except for Rhinox calling out directions and warnings of obstacles. Now, it was Dinobot's turn to speak. He sniffed the air with disgust.
"Mm, what a lovely smell," he grumbled. "I assume that means we can only be in a swamp."
"You're catching on, Dinobot," Rhinox replied. "We just follow our noses and-" He stopped suddenly. With a squawk of surprise, Terrorsaur landed face first in the mud in front of Rhinox while the others crashed into one another and all landed in a heap behind the rhino.
"Why are we stopping?" Dinobot demanded before he leaped to his feet. Rattrap let out a screech of pain as the raptor had stepped on his forelimb.
"That's my foot, moron!" the rat hissed.
"Quiet!" Rhinox ordered. "Something's near us."
Everyone immediately went silent. Terrorsaur got to his feet and crept back until he felt the rhino's nose against his back. The others glanced fruitlessly around them, all audios on full alert. All that could be heard were the calls of distant birds and insects. Cheetor unwittingly backed away from the group. This would soon prove to be a fatal mistake. Something dropped on top of him and wrapped its self around him, squeezing him and hissing in his ear. He gasped for air.
"Help me," he choked out.
"Cheetor?" Rattrap said, feeling around for the spotted cat. "Cheetor, where are you, kid?"
"What's happening?" Terrorsaur asked, his voice higher with panic.
"Are we under attack?" Dinobot demanded.
"Don't panic-" Rhinox tried to warn him off, but Dinobot was already in a fight or flight posture. He snarled at the invisible attacker.
"You won't get me!" He then attempted to charge said attacker, only to succeed in slamming into a tree. Cheetor, still in the snake's coils, moaned hoarsely.
"Rhinox... Rattrap... Can't breathe..." he wheezed.
"I hear you, pussy cat. Hang on." Rattrap ran to where he thought he had heard Cheetor, but was met with a hearty slap to the face. It stung like a whiplash, but that didn't deter him.
"Oh yeah? Right back at you, buddy!" He jumped and landed on something with scales. The rat bit down as hard as he could. The snake turned away from its current victim and eyed the rodent hungrily. It raised its tail, which was what Rattrap was biting into, and flung him off and away. Rattrap landed a few meters away in a clump of ferns. The snake left its current prey for the more appetizing rodent. Rhinox could hear it moving.
"Terrorsaur, stay here. I'll be right back."
The pterodactyl nodded even though the other couldn't see it. He listened to the sound of retreating footsteps until all he could hear was the sounds of wildlife. Cheetor was being very quiet. He wondered if he was dead. At any rate, it served the little furball right. Terrorsaur heard Dinobot get up and Rhinox and Rattrap came back. Then, he heard Cheetor's weak voice. He was slightly disappointed, but shook it off. His time would come soon enough.
-x-
Optimus had everyone out searching for their missing comrades. Tigatron and Waspinator were searching in a team, Airazor and Bluesprite were a team, and Starfeather and himself were searching together. The two had started at the location where the energon had been, emphasizing 'had been'.
They were shocked at the sight before them. Everything had been destroyed and left nothing but a blackened crater. Starfeather looked hopelessly to Optimus.
"They're gone," she breathed. He put a hand to her shoulder.
"Don't lose hope yet," he comforted. "You know they're stronger than that."
"But how could they survive this?" she asked, waving her hand indicatively around the crater. The Maximal leader frowned.
"I'm surprised at you, Starfeather," he said. "How could you just give up on them so quickly? I always thought you would be one of the last ones to give up on your teammates."
"I'm sorry sir, I just don't know how they could have survived this." She bowed her head. Please let them be alive, she thought. Please let Terrorsaur be alive...
As Optimus turned to leap back into the sky, she suddenly put on a determined expression and clenched her fists. She knew they were alive and she would help find them. As she jumped and transformed in midair to follow after the Maximal leader, she determined that she would discuss an important matter that had been at the back of her mind for quite some time now.
-x-
Going was even slower now. Rhinox had to walk more cautiously with an injured Cheetor on his back. Terrorsaur hobbled along behind Rattrap, the rodent's tail in his beak. The trek was silent. Rhinox kept sniffing the air. At last, he detected something.
"I smell water, fresh water," he announced. "And I can hear it falling." Cheetor tiredly raised his head.
"Is it... the base, Rhinox?" he asked weakly.
"No," the rhino answered gently. "But it should be one of the falls that feeds the river below the base. If we get to it, we can follow it. Hang on, Cheetor, we're going to make it."
"Yeah, sure... g-gonna make it," the cheetah replied breathlessly and lowered his head. "Just so tired..."
No one else said anything. Terrorsaur was thinking to himself. He had thought how worried Starfeather and Waspinator must be by now. They were scheduled to return to the base at least an hour ago. Then, what Bluesprite had said to him the other day stabbed at him. He shook his head. Why couldn't they just go on as they were? He had already committed himself to her, and so had Starfeather. They were happy, right? The true answer was no, he found. No matter how he tried to deny it, he wanted something more, something permanent. Not only that, he had never proved just how much he cared for her. At first, he never brought up the subject because of what Megatron had tried to do in the past but now... Would she want to interface? Or would she turn from him? But what did it matter? They were at war, for Primus' sake. They shouldn't really even be engaged in a romantic relationship. He sighed. He just didn't know what to do.
It didn't take long for them to reach the waterfall, but time was running out. They just needed to find a way to follow the river. However, on this side, they were on a cliff. They had to find a way across. The situation was looking brighter, and that made Rhinox happier.
"We made it," he said.
"What did you say?" Dinobot called over the roar of falling water.
"I said we made it to the waterfall," the rhino repeated a little louder.
"Oh," Dinobot replied with dry sarcasm. "What a startling revelation."
"What? I can't hear you," Terrorsaur said. Rhinox did his best to glare at the two before Rattrap got their attention. The rat had gone to the water's edge to feel around the bank.
"Hey, over here," he called back to the group. "I think we can cross here, just give me a cycle." He bumped the side of his face against the log he had discovered upon turning around but no mater.
-x-
"Hey," Deltasurge indicated toward a waterfall. "Look up there." Scorponok did look and cackled in triumph.
"Good work," he congratulated then activated his comm. "Moonscope, Inferno: the Maximals are north-east of your position, over a waterfall."
"Copy that, Scorponok."
"For the glory of the royalty!"
"Is kissing Megatron's aft all that bug ever thinks about?" The crocodile rolled her eyes. Scorponok grumbled a reply but Deltasurge missed what he said. Not really caring to hear an answer, she continued on toward where the Maximals were. The Second in Command soon followed.
-x-
Rattrap crawled slowly and carefully across the log, checking it to see if there were any weak spots. He found none and made it all the way to the other side of the river.
"It's good," he called to the others over the roar of water. "Come on!"
"We have to hurry," Rhinox said as he eased Cheetor off his back and onto the ground. "We have less than twenty cycles to make it back to the base."
"Yeah, okay," the cheetah grunted as he attempted to stand. After a couple of tries, he was able to limp on his own. Rhinox led the group over the log. The cross would have gone smoothly if not for a little interference from-
"The royalty demands your wreckage, Maximals!" Inferno cried and fired repeatedly at the log. It didn't take long for him to dislodge it and it and the Maximals tumbled down the waterfall. The fire ant cackled in victory as Moonscope flew up beside him, shaking her head.
"Must you hoo be so brash?" she asked. "One could simply have pushed the log over."
Inferno glanced at her, but said nothing more of the mater. He simply looked down to where the log had resurfaced.
"Let us uncover their bodies and bring them before the royalty," he said. With that, he soared downward and along the river. Moonscope glided after him, mentally frowning. She had been informed of Inferno's condition, that his beast mode instinct programming had been scrambled with his regular programming. She wondered if there was anything she could do to fix it or at least make him somewhat normal. He was clever, but that cleverness was hampered by his ant instincts.
Flying through the fog and over the water's surface, they found nothing at first, but soon they spotted them.
-x-
Pterosaurs were definitely not designed for swimming. Terrorsaur was currently discovering this the hard way. He couldn't flap his wings very quickly through the liquid. He didn't know which way was up and his systems were running out of air. Since flailing around wasn't helping, he folded his wings against his body, pointed his beak straight ahead, and kicked out with his feet. Doing that was getting him somewhere. Fortunately, he found the surface and gulped in oxygen. He could hear the others talking to his right so, like a waterfowl, he swam toward the voices. His chest hit pebbles and he scrambled onto dry land. In his rushed efforts, Terrorsaur had accidentally thrown some small stones in Rattrap's face.
"Pfffack!" the rat spluttered, swiping the pebbles from his nose. "Watch where you throw stuff!"
"I'm sorry, I can't," the pterodactyl retorted sarcastically. "Or did you forget?" Rattrap was too exhausted to make a comeback. Dinobot's snarl broke the silence.
"To think a warrior like me will go out blind, wet, and helpless," he muttered darkly.
"We're..." Rhinox took a breath. "We're not finished yet."
"Spare me your eternal optimism!" the raptor snapped. "Inferno will be back."
Just then, they heard the sound of the fire ant's jets zoom by overhead. They all scrambled onto shore in search of an escape. They soon discovered that they were stuck literally between a rock and a wet place. Terrorsaur suggested trying to fly them up the ridge but Rhinox turned him down. The pterodactyl couldn't lug him and Dinobot up the ridge by himself.
"Well then, what do you expect us to do?" Terrorsaur retorted. "Just lay down and die?"
"We have nowhere to run, so we fight," Rhinox reasoned then ordered, "Transform, now!"
"Are you insane?" Dinobot rounded on the rhino. "We can't possibly-"
"Let's just do what Rhinox says, chopper face!" Rattrap cut off the raptor's protests and transformed to his robotic form. The sensations were just as painful as going to beast mode. The others, with the exception of Rhinox, followed the rat's example.
"I just know I'm going to regret this," Terrorsaur ground out after transforming. They readied their weapons and awaited the Predacons' return. They didn't have to wait long. Inferno and Moonscope made their first attack. The Maximals fired wildly.
"Oh man, we're scrap! We're scrap!" Rattrap moaned.
"Where are they?" Cheetor demanded in a panic.
"How can we hit what we cannot see?!" Dinobot growled.
"Maximals! Listen to me!" Rhinox broke through the panic, then stated more calmly, "Picture a targeting grid in your head, like the one we use in practice simulations."
Okay... this is useless, Terrorsaur thought with a frustrated grimace. "What good will that do us?"
"Do you see it?" the rhinoceros persisted.
"This is absurd!" Dinobot snorted.
"Concentrate," the other encouraged. "You can do it."
Cheetor closed his optics, despite not being able to see in the first place. Simply a habit one develops when thinking hard. Lines crisscrossed and paralleled soon forming a 3D grid in his mind.
"I-I can see it!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, me too! But-" Rattrap was cut off.
"They're coming in!" Rhinox warned. "Stand by and listen for my instructions."
Terrorsaur had the grid picture in his head as well. He could feel his trigger finger itching to shoot at something. He realized that now would be a good time to eliminate one or two of his enemy. They would never know. No one could see. They would assume that Inferno or whoever was with him would have done so. The thought was juicy and very tempting. It wasn't like he hadn't killed anyone before... His thought train was halted when Rhinox began barking orders.
"Cheetor: vector 5, 3, 7. Rattrap: vector 5, 4, 2. Dinobot: vector 5, 5, 4. Terrorsaur: vector 5, 2, 9. On my mark... fire!"
One could imagine the Predacons' surprise when some pretty accurate plasma shots hit them. Moonscope was blasted back, landing head-on into a cliff face. Inferno was left to make a temporary retreat. He gazed down through the fog.
"This is not possible!"
-x-
Tigatron was finally able to block out Waspinator's constant worried comments. He had politely asked the wasp to keep his worries to himself, but he didn't listen and continued razzing on to himself. At any rate, the tiger and the wasp were headed for a nearby river. He came to a sudden stop at hearing the distant sound of weapon fire.
"Waspinator," the tiger spoke quietly. "Keep low and follow my lead."
"What Tiger-bot find?" Waspinator asked eagerly.
"I have a feeling that we shall soon see." Without another word, Tigatron slipped into the brush surrounding the riverbank. Waspinator shrugged to himself and followed the white tiger from the air. In a matter of minutes, the pair spotted Scorponok patrolling a clear stretch of the bank. Tigatron growled in his throat and waited for the right moment to pounce.
"What Zzcorponok doing?" Waspinator asked suddenly and just a little too loudly.
Scorponok turned in the direction the voice came from and hastily transformed. He shot blindly in that direction, but was met with white fur and large paws and found himself on the ground. It didn't take long to dispose of the arachnid. Tigatron quickly relayed a message to Optimus Primal.
-x-
Starfeather and Optimus both were beginning to lose hope when the raven thought she heard something.
"Can you hear that?" she asked, wondering if it wasn't just her imagination. "I think it's... laser fire."
Optimus looked at her, then concentrated on listening. He found he did hear laser fire. Before he could respond, he got a message from Tigatron.
-x-
"Rattrap! Vector 1, 3, 9. Quick!" Rhinox commanded. Rattrap acted accordingly, effectively bringing Inferno down. The fire ant skipped across the river like a flat stone before coming to a stop and sinking like said stone. The group was silent for a moment. Cheetor smiled with relief.
"Alight," he cheered weakly. "We- gyah!" He was overcome by something akin to an energon surge only much, much stronger. He fell to the ground and didn't make another move.
"Cheetor!" Rhinox called.
"What's happen-" Dinobot suffered the same fate and Rattrap followed. Terrorsaur groaned, already feeling the shutdown coming.
"I knew I would regret this..." He collapsed at the rhinoceros's feet. Rhinox mentally surveyed the situation.
"Transforming sped up the contamination," he murmured. "They're all in stasis lock!" Suddenly, he heard a gasp and metal feet land somewhere to his left.
"Terrorsaur! Oh, guys," the voice exclaimed. "Rhinox!" He felt gentle hands touch his face. "You look terrible. What happened to your eyes? They're blank!"
"Never mind me," he said, shaking his head lightly to dislodge Starfeather's hands. "I still have some time left. Help them."
She looked back to her fallen comrades and did so without a word. Optimus, Waspinator, and Tigatron soon joined in gathering up their fallen. Airazor and Bluesprite came quickly afterward.
From the rippling water a few feet away, a pair of reptilian eyes watched the Maximals. She knew better than to attack the group alone and she knew Scorponok was lying in a ditch somewhere near the other bank, but she wanted to spy for a little while. However, not wanting to bother too long, Deltasurge submerged and went in search of Inferno.
