#46 - We Draw the Line: Part 2
Nobody moved for what seemed like an eternity. The scene that had played out before them had just been too shocking. Megatron was defeated and Terrorsaur now lay dying in the dirt. Moonscope was the first to break from her trance and rushed to Terrorsaur's side, getting to work as quickly as she could to try and save him. Rhinox soon joined her and the two raced against the clock to keep the red mech's spark from extinguishing.
"I'm afraid to attempt to remove the blade at this point," Moonscope muttered while doing her best to stem any bleeding fluids from the areas surrounding Terrorsaur's penetrated spark chamber. "Stasis lock may be our only option."
Rhinox nodded in agreement and they began doing what they could before manually putting him into stasis lock.
Bluesprite and Waspinator eventually found the courage to approach their fallen sibling. They hung back, allowing Moonscope and Rhinox space to work, but watched longingly and anxiously. They desperately hoped that he would pull through. After coming so far and having achieved so much, it would be devastating to lose him now. What would happen if he did succumb to his wounds? They shuddered at the thought. They didn't want to know. They didn't want to picture life without him.
Cheetor stayed where he was, still too stunned by what he had witnessed. Silverbolt was beside him, feeling like a useless sack of hammers. Rattrap ventured over to Megatron's corpse and checked to see if he was really dead. He rapped on the transmetal mech's forehead and checked for a pulse.
"Dead as a doornail," he said. He pulled Terrorsaur's sword from his chest. There wasn't even a shiver.
"Rattrap, cut it out," Optimus said. His voice sounded strange, almost numb. He remembered the last time he had thought Megatron was gone when they had installed a few spy cameras in the Predacon base almost a year ago. He had to admit, while the event had been shocking, he had been slightly relieved that Megatron wasn't going to be a problem anymore. Yet somehow, that situation had been different. It seemed as if it had been a freak accident.
This time, he had witnessed his death in person. As much as he disliked the once Predacon leader, he had never wished death upon him. He had wished for him to be brought to justice, to be tried in a court of law by his peers and sentenced appropriately. He felt disappointed in Terrorsaur. The red mech had claimed to have learned better from being with the Maximals, but it seemed as though he had learned very little. In murdering Megatron, he was no better than him.
Dinobot hung back and surveyed the scene. Megatron was no more. He couldn't say that he would miss him, but he almost felt as if he had lost something. With Megatron gone, should he continue to remain with Maximals or would it suit him better to join the Predacons once more? Where did he truly belong? This question had plagued his mind since the very start of all this. However, he had never felt as lost as he did now.
He had agreed to assist Terrorsaur in his endeavors. Terrorsaur had also seemed to think that Dinobot would come back to them once all was said and done. He had considered this and probably would have returned with the Predacons if he hadn't thought of something. If the Predacons' new goal was to work with the Maximals to find a way home, did it really matter what side he chose? Did he even want to go home? He had said once before that if he and the others were to return home, he and the other original Predacons would be arrested as criminals. Optimus had mentioned to Dinobot afterwards that he would have fought for a pardon in his case, but the raptor believed that it would do little to no good in the end.
Scorponok stood stoically where he was. He stared at Megatron's lifeless body. He had once dared call this mech friend and had supported him in his endeavour to bring the Predacons to equality with the Maximals. He couldn't quite remember where along the way that things had changed. Scorponok was a more submissive mech and was used to following orders from those who held a more authoritative aura than himself. Then he remembered the first time that Megatron had physical struck him when something hadn't gone his way. Perhaps that should have been his first clue. He had been so blinded and he was rather ashamed of himself.
Perhaps if he had come to his senses sooner, he might have been able to turn Megatron back to their original path. Perhaps their first step all along was to make peace with the few Maximals that they were perpetually trapped with here before they could accomplish what they wanted with the entirety of the Maximal population back home on Cybertron. Perhaps they and not just the Maximals needed to make some compromises. Perhaps the Predacons had been wrong all along...
A gentle touch on his claw drew him from his thoughts. He looked to see Deltasurge gazing up at him, her optics filled with concern for him.
"Are you going to be okay, Shelly?" she asked quietly. He held his yellow visor with her gaze. Eventually, he nodded.
"I will be," he answered. "After I've had some time to adjust…"
"Of course." She nodded in return, taking hold of his claw in both her hands and placing it against her cheek. Scorponok had to admit that he loved these moments when this tough little femme was tender and sweet.
Having taken this moment to be somber, Scorponok regained his composure and set to work rallying the others. As far as he was concerned, until it was confirmed that Terrorsaur would survive, he was acting Predacon leader. None of the other Predacons had any argument against this. With that sorted, he approached Rhinox and Mooscope and asked for an update on his condition.
"How's he looking?" Scorponok asked.
"We've got him somewhat stable for now, but we need to get him to a CR chamber," Rhinox said. "He won't make it otherwise."
"Your base is too hoo far." Moonscape shook her head. "We'll have to get him to the Predacon base into a CR tank."
"But what of your base defenses? They'll fire on us when we get close," Rhinox pointed out.
"I'll take care of them," Scorponok offered, then looked to Tundra. "You, run ahead and shut down the base defenses, external and internal."
"On it," Tundra replied with a quick nod. She transformed into beast mode and ran as fast as she could to the Darkside.
"Quick, help me get him on my back," Rhinox instructed and transformed into beast mode. Scorponok and Deltasurge assisted Moonscope in carefully hoisting Terrorsaur up and onto the rhino's back. Since Deltasurge was the smallest, she also got onto Rhinox' back to make sure Terrorsaur remained in place. Moonscope followed overhead in case she needed. Bluesprite and Waspinator tagged along behind.
Starfeather was barely holding herself together. She was in so much pain that was not her own. She clutched her chest, feeling as if her spark was tearing itself in two. G-Force continued to support her as she fought to keep hold of herself. She was still in overwhelming pain, but she had slightly more control. She glanced appreciatively at G-Force.
"Could you… take me to the Predacon base?" she asked, her voice heavy with straining to keep her composure. "I… don't think I can walk… or fly."
"Of course," he replied and, after gently setting her down, transformed into his pachycephalosaurus beast form. He lowered down to allow her to pull herself up. She did so with great effort until she was perched side-saddle style on his back. When he was certain that she wouldn't lose her balance and fall, G-Force trotted off after the group headed to the base. He wasn't exactly sure what else he could do in this situation. He was no medic and not much with situations that required some amount of empathy, but if he could assist by playing the part of pack animal, he would do so.
With Terrorsaur being taken care of, Scorponok turned his attention to Inferno.
"Give me the golden disc," he ordered and held out his claw. Inferno's grip on the disc tightened.
"I do not take orders from drones," he spat. "I only answer to the Queen and the Queen has been slain. Until a new Queen is declared, I will hold to last instructions given to me by the previous one."
Scorponok did his best not to roll his optics. He supposed that the disc was safe enough in the fire ant's hands for the moment. He was about to make orders to retrieve Megatron's body when he noticed that someone else besides Rattrap had already gone to inspect the body. His spark nearly froze. It was Rampage and he knew what he was after. Remembering his introduction, he didn't want to know what would happen if the crab were to take back the other half of his spark.
"Rattrap!" the gray mech shouted. "Get the box from Megatron's subspace!"
"Eh?" Rattrap swung his head around at his name being called by one of the Preds. Before anything else could be said, the rat was swatted aside by one of the crab's huge claws. Rampage then began tearing into the corpse, doing whatever he deemed necessary to get his spark back.
Dinobot was the first to spring into action. He transformed from beast mode and charged at Rampage with a loud snarl, sword and spinning tail shield in hand. Rampage attempted to beat him away like he had done to the rat, but Dinobot was prepared. The raptor blocked the other's claw and used his momentum to push him back. With Rampage distracted, Rattrap regained himself and went back to examine the body. He quickly found the small box containing the spark.
"Got it!" he declared.
"Squeeze it to get him to stop!" Scorponok called. Rattrap looked from the scorpion, to the two dueling mech's, and then down at the box. The spark was suspended within a barrier of small energon crystals. He applied pressure to the box and as he did so, Rampage ceased his attack on Dinobot, crumpling up into a heap on the ground and biting back a groan of pain. In response, Dinobot stayed his blade, but remained in a defensive position.
Before he could do anything else with the box, Optimus came up behind him and took it from his hands.
"That's enough," he said, his tone causing Rattrap to recoil slightly and raise his hands defensively.
"Okay, okay, sorry there boss monkey," he grumbled and backed away. "Sheesh."
Ignoring the smaller mech, Optimus came near Dinobot and looked down on Rampage. Since landing on this planet, he had feared the day that Protoform X's pod would be discovered. He had been greatly concerned for their safety if the powerful mech were to survive his pod crashing seeing as they had no real way to control him.
He glanced at the box in his hands. This method was certainly barbaric and not one that he could agree with, but if it was the only way to keep Rampage in line, he figured that he had no choice but to wield it.
"Rampage is rightfully Maximal property and he will be returning with us. I will hold on to his spark fragment until further notice," Optimus said, turning slightly in Scorponok's direction. "I suggest we return to our respective bases. Have Rhinox notify me of Terrorsaur's condition and when he will be returning. Would I be correct in assuming that we'll be calling a temporary truce in the meantime?"
The idea of Optimus taking control of Rampage like this didn't settle well with Scorponok. He knew that Terrorsaur attempted to strike a deal with the crab sometime before all this. He could only assume that he promised to return his severed spark in exchange for his assistance with their coup. He hoped that Rampage wouldn't see this as a betrayal. The acting Predacons leader merely felt as though his hands were tied in this situation.
"We agree to a temporary truce," he finally replied. "But once things become more stable, I want to be able to sit down and discuss some solid terms and compromises between us."
"Understood," Optimus agreed and gave the box in his hand tiny squeeze, causing Rampage to flinch. "Come on, you. Don't make this worse for yourself."
Rampage growled, his canons itching to blast the Maximal leader to pieces, but knew that he had no say in the matter. Grudgingly, he followed after the small group of Maximals and went with them to their base. Upon arrival, he was promptly imprisoned in their brig.
As the Maximals left, Scorponok ordered everyone that was left to carry Megatron's corpse back to their base for proper disposal at a more appropriate time.
-x-
The hike back to the Predacon base was agonizingly time consuming. With every step, it felt to Starfeather as if they were actually walking backwards. She knew that they had to travel slowly for the sake of Terrorsaur's injuries. One wrong movement and the knife still protruding from his chest could rerupture a fuel line or cut deeper into his spark. She was still wracked with pain, but with her mate now being in stasis lock, she was able to concentrate easier on filtering what she received from their link.
After what seemed like hours, the ragtag group finally made it to the Predacon base. Tundra had arrived long before they did and made sure that the base defenses were down. They went I side without a problem. Moonscope took the lead and showed Rhinox to their best functioning CR tank. Deltasurge, Bluesprite, and Waspinator assisted Moonscope in moving Terrorsaur from Rhinox' back and into the tank.
"Easy does it," Moonscope murmured. "Careful not to hoo jostle the torso. Keep his head level."
Once he was laid out onto the CR platform, the snowy owl began to carefully remove the energon blade. Rhinox stood by, ready to step in if needed. She gripped the handle firmly and slowly, slowly pulled it out as gently as possible.
Soon enough, they watched as his body submerged into the fluid. They breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Now, all there's left to do it wait," Rhinox said and looked to Moonscope. "I'll stay here until the tank's healing cycle is complete." Moonscope nodded in reply and looked to Starfeather.
"Will you hoo be alright? Do you hoo wish me or Rhinox to hoo examine you hoo?" she asked. Starfeather shook her head.
"No, thank you," she answered. G-Force had let her down from his back once they were inside the base and assisted her in following the group to the room with the chosen tank. "I was never damaged. Everything I was experiencing was from Terrorsaur."
"I would suggest you go and rest," Rhinox said. "Matter of fact, we should all probably take a break. It's been a long day and it's not over yet."
"Wazzpinator wantzz to zztay here and watch over Terrorsaur," Waspinator razzed, still worried for his brother. Bluesprite put her hand on the pink wasp's shoulder.
"He's in good hands. We'll just get in the way," she reassured him. She wanted to stay as well, but figured that it would do them some good to step away for a little while. "Come on, you can show me your old room."
"Okay…" Waspinator razzed in disappointment. He reluctantly led his sister away towards the quartering bay.
By this time, the rest of the Predacons had returned. Megatron's body was placed in a storage bay for safekeeping. Inferno still refused to give up the disc. Rhinox and Starfeather remained near the CR tank. With the promise that Rhinox would call her if anything were to happen, Moonscope took her leave to rest. At Scorponok's orders, the rest of the Predacons went to their rooms to relax. At least, relax as best they could. Megatron had been running them all ragged for the past few weeks and now, with him gone and with the Maximals no longer a threat for the moment, there seemed no better time to take a break than now.
-x-
The cycles dragged by. The whole base was silent. Almost everyone anxiously awaited to know if Terrorsaur would pull through. It wasn't until late that night when the CR tank beeped to alert it had done all it could and that the occupant was ready to exit. Starfeather stood up as fast as she could and sprang to the tank, gripping the edge tightly and peering into the fluid. Moonscope got up as well and checked the diagnostic readout as the platform lifted up.
"All vitals were repaired and he's no longer in stasis lock," the snowy owl read aloud. "But the CR tank cannot repair damages to hoo the spark itself. His spark was slightly punctured by the tip of the blade. Only time will tell if his spark can heal itself or if he will suffer any lasting effects." Starfeather looked to the medic, unsure of what she was trying to say.
"What does that mean? Is he going to be okay or not?" she asked.
"See for yourself," the white femme replied. The raven turned to see Terrorsaur onlining his optics. He grimaced, still being very tender from his healed injuries. He caught sight of his mate and lifted his hand.
"Star…"
Starfeather took his hand in both of hers and held on tightly, a shaky smile of relief brightening her face.
"Screechy…" Her voice caught in her throat as she was filled with so many emotions. She bit back a sob, but was unable to hold back. She cried tears of fear that he wouldn't make it, of happiness and relief that was still here, of anger for him even putting himself in this position in the first place.
He pulled her down towards himself and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face at the base of his neck as sobs wracked her body. He patted the back of her helm comfortingly.
"You cry too much," he rasped, offering a little smirk.
"Sh-shut up," she hiccuped through a mix of a laugh and a sob.
Before long, more faces peeked in the doorway. Waspinator and Bluesprite's faces burst into huge grins.
"Terrorsaur!" they exclaimed in unison and scrambled into the room. Bluesprite hugged him from his other side and Waspinator crawled on top of him and hugged him around the waist, both of them gushing about how worried they had been. For once, the two typically high-strung 'bots took it easy in their display of affection to their sibling.
-x-
Being assured that Terrorsaur would make it through the night, Rhinox, Bluesprite, and Waspinator returned to the Maximal base. They agreed on waiting a few more days for Terrorsaur to heal before he and Optimus could meet to talk about where things were going to go from here. Most were optimistic that both sides could come to an agreement and reap the benefits.
However, Blackarachnia had some of her own schemes up her proverbial sleeve. A few weeks back, she had downloaded Megatron's backup copies of the golden discs. As well as scrapped Megatron's personal computer. She had discovered some rather interesting information and intended to make some good use of it. Well, useful for herself, that is. As much as Tarantulas liked to think so, she was in this thing for herself. Come to think of it, no one really remembered the last time they had seen Tarantulas. She wondered what her old on-again-off-again fling was up to these days. She knew that he too must have some sort of plan for himself.
She supposed that as long as his plans didn't interfere with her own, she could probably care less what he did. Besides, she had somehow managed to capture the fancy of chivalrous bird-dog fuzor. Perhaps she could take advantage of that and use him for a bit of grunt work. All she had to do was play hard to get and he would be putty in her claws. She did prefer her mechs brawny and a bit dim in the helm.
-x-
As Blackarachnia had suspected, Tarantulas did have a plan. A multitude of plans, actually. He figured with the way that things had been going, it didn't hurt to be prepared and have a multitude of options at his disposal. Within that past few weeks, while everyone else had been distracted with their little coup d'etat, he had been busy relocating his lair to a new cavern. He had ample amounts of fresh energon to work with and he was in a good position in neutral territory. He knew full well what had just transpired between Megatron and Terrorsaur thanks to a psychic link that he had installed in Blackarachnia back when the whole transwarp crisis had started. Megatron's demise certainly made things easier for him. Terrorsaur was nowhere near as cunning or dangerous to him.
According to his calculations, the transwarp explosion that was created by the destruction of the second moon turned alien superweapon was going to be entering Cybertronian space boundaries within a few more weeks. If the Tripredacus Council acted as he suspected, he knew to expect a visitor not long afterwards. If everything went as expected, this visitor would mean rescue for himself and destruction for everyone else. Then, he could return to his lab on Cybertron and make more efficient use of his studies of the aliens responsible for all of the anomalies on this planet. If he could replicate and harness their power, he could achieve his ultimate goals.
"Yes, if all goes according to plan, Cybertron and all who inhabit it, will be mine to do with as I please, teheehee" the transmetal tarantula cackled to himself, tapping his claws together eagerly. "But first, I'll have to take back what's rightfully mine. I'll have the little baby bird and the she-spider doing my bidding when all is said and done."
AN: Well, this is it. The final chapters are coming. I think it might round up nicely at 50 chapters. It's been a long and bumpy ride, but I've enjoyed almost every minute of it. Readers, old and new, if you've made it this far, I hope you'll continue to stick around.
