A Simple Mission

by Leaf Ranger

It was supposed to be a simple mission. But now the crew of the Axalon find themselves in a fight not just for their lives, but for the future of Cybertron. Prepare for the Beast Wars! Rated T for violence and action. Will contain OC's and genderswapped Dinobot. You've been warned.

32. Danger in the Jungle

Sorry for this chapter coming out late. I really took way too long to write my Mass Effect chapter. Hopefully you all are reading this in February and not March or April.

Vixtrion: I certainly hope not!

Ripfang: That would make me angry. I don't think you'd like me when I'm angry.

Leaf Ranger: You are ALWAYS angry. That's like your go to mood setting, outside of default bloodthirsty.

Lycanok: Everyone, let us not pressure Leaf too much. It'll keep him from being able to write.

LR: At least one of you is on my side. *grumbles with arms crossed*

Nightwing: You should proceed with the chapter, unless there was something you wished to comment about.

LR: Not here. For my Shinobi's Creed chapter, definitely. I might skip my Ranger Lair antics considering how much I have to comment about there.

RagingStar19: Awwww, that's no fair for your Shinobi's Creed OCs.

LR: I said I might, not that I would. We'll see. Anyways, we should get to the chapter.

Vixtrion: But first…SNOWBALL FIGHT! *starts throwing snowballs around*

LR: *Ducks under one* HOW?! THERE ISN'T ANY SNOW IN HERE!

Vixtrion: Scrap you, that's how!

LR: WATCH THE POTTY MOUTH! *Get's slammed by a snowball from behind*

Ripfang: LET THE BATTLE BE JOINED! *is firing snowballs out of a cannon*

LR: Mercy. *crying face as I'm slowly buried in snowballs*

Disclaimer: I do not own Beast Wars: Transformers. It is the property of Hasbro and Mainframe Entertainment. This is a non-profit work of fan made fiction. Please support the official release.

---

Chapter 32

Danger in the Jungle

Cheetor grimaced as he flew through the air, doing his best to keep track of both his HUD sensors as well as normal visual scans. Currently the young cheetah mech was flying through heavy cloud cover which was lower to the ground than normal. Made all the more dangerous by the fact that the area he was currently flying in was still somewhat unmapped and had a few random mountain peaks that jutted up seemingly out of nowhere. Rather odd considering the area was mostly a thick rainforest.

He turned his head slightly to take in the form of the other flier present with him. Airazor, in her beast form, was currently slightly ahead of him, using her 'jet' form which left her wings rigid and her tail transformed into a large rocket engine. The two of them currently were the test subjects for a project Rhinox believed was finally finished: a prediction model for the location of the remaining stasis pods that had fallen from orbit. Due to the damaged sensor records from 'the great burn', they had been unable to ascertain the exact location of most of the stasis pods. Thesensors had only been able to follow a few of them which had been quickly retrieved by Maximal and Predacon alike following their recovery after the destruction of the alien's doomsday device. Rhinox had been using the data that could be recovered with a predictive algorithm to try and estimate the remaining pod's locations. Recently he had been able to gather enough data to finalize one possible crash location, which led to Cheetor and Airazor being out here now.

Cheetor grimaced as he kept trying to peer through the seemingly solid mass of gray ahead of him. "This soup is thick enough to be a thermal blanket! Shouldn't we fly lower, where we can see where we're going?"

"No good. If we did, the terrain would screw with our sensors. There's a fair amount of Energon radiation permeating this area," Airazor responded over the radio. "We'll have to stay up here for now."

Cheetor just let out a vent before maneuvering to the side to avoid a jutting mountain peak. "Yeah, but it'd be nice not having to worry about smashing into a hidden mountain," he complained.

Slightly ahead, Airazor just focused on flying, her optical sensors doing slightly better than Cheetor's. "Don't worry kid. We're almost to the search area and-," she started to say, only to stop as her sensors lit up with a beep, causing her to immediately transform back to bird mode and flare her wings to slow down. Cheetor quickly slowed as well, moving into a hovering position as his jets realigned.

"That was fast," the cat-bot said, not using comms since they were now right next to each other.

"Seems Rhinox was right on the credit," Airazor said. "Descend slowly, just so we don't accidentally hit something."

The two of them began their descent and after a few cycles, broke through the heavy cloud cover to reveal the rainforest below. Almost immediately their area scanners began to lose cohesion due to Energon interference. Thankfully they still had their visual scanners and had marked the heading for the contact and were still on course.

It was Cheetor who spotted it first, glancing slightly to the right of their current path and spotting a clearing. "There it is," Cheetor said, angling in and moving towards the clearing with Airazor right behind him. The duo soon stopped over the carea, taking in the sight below them.

The stasis pod had come to rest on a bed of Energon crystals in the center of a clearing, with a few rock pillars and trees dotting parts of it. The pod itself, however, was not a normal one. At minimum it was half as big again as a normal stasis pod, and wider as well. Furthermore the stasis pod door was branded with a massive yellow 'X' on it. Airazor frowned as she saw weld marks all along the seal where the hatch met the pod, as if the pod had been sealed shut to ensure it couldn't be opened. Yet the welding had failed, as the hatch was partially open with what appeared to be a set of three long thin robotic legs poking out.

"Cheetor, call it in," she advised while moving down to secure the area, transforming as she did so. Cheetor rose up instead, heading into the cloud cover before breaking through and activating his comm unit.

"Cheetor to base, you guy's reading me?" He asked, turning to look back in the direction of the Axalon.

Back at the Maximal base, Optimus tapped a few keys into the command table, rerouting the communications control to him. "Loud and clear Cheetor."

"Big bot, you can let Rhinox know his model was spot on. We found a stasis pod here," Cheetor reported, causing Optimus to smile as he looked over to Rhinox. The engineer could only smile as well, as he was glad to hear his project had work.

Their smiles vanished when Cheetor continued. "The pod's not in good condition though. Looks like it crashed into an Energon crystal deposit. And I've never seen a pod like this one. It's really huge, and branded with a big nasty X on it."

Optimus quickly turned back to the table. "Cheetor, I want you and Airazor to hold position. If the protoform within activates, you are to get as much altitude as possible, do you hear me? Do not attempt to interact or engage the protoform if it is active! I'm on my way."

"S-Sure Optimus. Understood," Cheetor said before Optimus cut the communication, turning to Rhinox.

"Get Lycanok up here and brief him on the situation. Tell him to standby with Rattrap, Vixtrion, and Sauria. I want each of them equipped for war. Tell Rattrap…he's authorized to use 'those'. I'll take Silverbolt out there and we'll try to assess the situation."

Rhinox nodded, watching Optimus turn away to contact Silverbolt, before lowering his helm. "Primus, let that thing be offline," Rhinox muttered, moving to contact Lycanok.

Meanwhile, on the Darksyde, Megatron could only muse over the communication they had just intercepted. It had been a relatively trivial matter to set up a few relays to intercept Maximal communications. The Maximals tended to keep the transmission frequencies coded, but that allowed them to at least triangulate Maximal positions. This time, however, they were lucky enough to hear a transmission in the open.

Megatron could only smile as he sat back. "A large stasis pod? Yeeessss, how intriguing. This sounds like quite a unique protoform. One that would be an excellent soldier," he said before turning to the intercom. "Blackarachnia, Nightwing, Waspinator, and Specter, report to the command room," he ordered.

The quartet of Predacons soon arrived, with Megatron quickly showing them the map coordinates. "The Maximals have uncovered a rather large stasis pod it seems. I want you to go out and secure this protoform for the Predacons. If retrieval is not possible, I want you to destroy it to ensure the Maximals do not gain another ally."

"Understood Lord Megatron," Nightwing said, bowing her helm.

"Blackarachnia, step forward," Megatron said, causing the femme to somewhat cautiously do so. Megatron placed a hand on her shoulder, a smile on his faceplate. "Do not fret my dear. I merely wished to let you know that you shall be in command on this mission. You have done well these past solar cycles and I wished to reward such…loyalty," he said.

"Of course, Lord Megatron," Blackarachnia said with a smile. "I wish to prove myself loyal after my mistakes in trusting Tarantulas. After all, you used our own treachery to your benefit, proving how foolish we were."

"Indeed. Be careful with your flattery," Megatron said, removing his hand. None of them noticed the slight haze on her shoulder before it vanished. "Now go and complete your mission."

"Yes Lord Megatron," the four Predacons said. Both Waspinator and Nightwing transformed, taking Blackarachnia and Specter respectively and heading out, all while Megatron chuckled softly to himself.

"My dear widow…let us see exactly what you are up to," he said, leaning back in his chair and activating the radio unit he had placed on her, that would allow him to hear what was going on around her. Completely unaware of the tiny multi-legged drone under the arm-rest of his chair that was serving the same purpose.

A few dozen klicks away, Tarantulas smirked as he turned away from his consoles and transformed, quickly rolling out. He had a rendezvous with a treacherous creation.

Stasis Pod Crash Site

Optimus and Silverbolt both broke through the cloud cover, finding themselves hovering over the jungle as they homed in on the signals of their two Maximal comrades. The duo soon came in low over the clearing, both transforming and landing as they joined Airazor and Cheetor near the crashed pod. Optimus' yellow optics narrowed as he took in the sight of the crashed stasis pod, and the spindly robotic legs sticking out of it. Drawing one of his pistols he slowly advanced forward.

"Optimus, what's going on here?" Airazor asked, confused about their leader's reaction. Optimus said nothing as he moved up to the pod, slowly prodding one of the legs with his pistol. He continued for a few moments, and when he received no response he shook his helm.

"Maybe it did expire," he muttered, looking over the pod. There was scoring from energy surges, probably caused by the pods collision into the bed of Energon crystals, a clear indication that both the pod and the protoform within had been exposed to Energon surges.

"Big Bot?" Cheetor asked cautiously, causing Optimus to look back at them before venting.

"Sorry everyone. This was something that was on a need to know basis. Highly classified. But given the situation…Cheetor, you remember how we were delayed in leaving? And then Lycanok joined us suddenly?" He asked.

"Yeah. What was that about Optimus?" The younger mech asked, only for Optimus to indicate the pod.

"This. The dark secret of our mission. We weren't just heading out on an exploration mission. We were being sent out to handle this problem," Optimus told him.

"What problem? Optimus, what is this exactly?" Airazor asked him, servos on her hips.

Optimus turned back to the pod, pointing to the large X on the door. "Protoform X. In the aftermath of the Great War, some Autobot scientists began studying what data they had on the mutation that created Starscream's seemingly invincible Spark. An experiment that was continued by Maximal scientists some time later. The intent was to try and find a way to enhance Sparks in general, to ensure that there were fewer glitches and malfunctions, perhaps even find a way to prevent them from going offline altogether."

"Whoa. Ultra-gear," Cheetor whispered, his optics wide at the thought.

"Those sound like noble intentions. But what happened, that led to…whatever this is?" Silverbolt asked as he waved a servo at the pod.

"The Maximal scientists received permission to try and create a single Spark, which led them to create a custom frame to house it due to the power of the Spark. The result was…horrific. The entity that came online was brilliant, but sadistic, cruel, and criminally insane. The lab he was being held in was located in the middle of a colony and…he escaped and consumed every Cybertronian in the colony, save for one..." Optimus said, his voice low as the others gaped in horror.

"He…ate them?" Airazor asked, her voice horrified.

Optimus nodded, his face plate grim. "Yes. Four stellar cycles later he was finally captured and brought before the Maximal Elders. It was deemed impossible to recycle or destroy his Spark, and so they sealed him in a stasis pod with the intent to dump him somewhere barren and remote, where he would never be able to escape. The stasis pod was given to us to dump but…well we were redirected to chase Megatron. And you all know how that turned out," he said, his voice quiet.

"…m-maybe we should blow this thing up here and now then. To make sure it's really dead," Cheetor said nervously.

Optimus moved closer to the pod, optics narrowing as he looked it over. "That might be a good idea…it looks like the pod was hit by a major Energon surge. Any other Spark would be destroyed but in this case…we shouldn't take any chances. I'll-," he started to say, only for a missile to hit the ground nearby, startling all the Maximals as it exploded and sent them scattering.

Blackarachnia dropped down from the web she was using to hang from Waspinator, her pistol pointed at Optimus. "That protoform is ours, Maximal!" She shouted. "Nightwing, Waspinator, attack from above! Specter, get around their flank!" She shouted to the others.

Optimus tried to take cover behind a pillar of rock as a cannon blast from Nightwing shot past his helm. "It's already offline! That protoform isn't of any use to anyone!" He shouted out.

"You really expect us to believe that?!" Blackarachnia shouted back, firing at Cheetor who dove behind the stasis pod for cover.

"No, that'd be assuming you Predacons were actually smart!" Airazor yelled, her optical beams lancing through the air at Waspinator, knocking him out of the sky. She quickly used one of her metallic wings to shield herself from a cannon blast from Nightwing, turning and firing at her now as well.

Silverbolt fired a pair of rockets towards the chameleon Predacon, who scurried behind a rock. Silverbolt was forced to dodge though, as Nightwing fired at him while dodging fire from Airazor. Meanwhile, Blackarachnia peppered both Cheetor and Optimus with fire from her leg guns, forcing them both to try and take cover. Blackarachnia smirked as she quickly aimed an explosive dart at a rock formation behind Optimus, blowing it up and burying the Maximal leader in rubble.

"OPTIMUS!" Cheetor shouted as he began pouring fire at Blackarachnia in anger as the widow femme scurried quickly into cover. Silverbolt had just turned to go help Optimus when a flurry of bullets pelted his left wing, causing him to howl in pain as Specter cackled madly, pulling out his second SMG and firing that one at the Maximal fuzor who ducked quickly into cover.

Airazor shot up into the air, quickly slamming into Nightwing as the Predacon flier swooped down towards the injured Silverbolt, while Cheetor rushed over to try and help Optimus, only to duck as Blackarachnia fired at him. Silverbolt spotted Specter preparing to shoot at Cheetor, and with a grunt of pain managed to hop over the pod and quickly fire his rockets. The Predacon chameleon was blasted into a rock wall and slumped to the ground, temporarily offline.

However, Silverbolt didn't notice the figure creeping up behind him, her blaster aimed right at the back of his helm. Cheetor, however, did. "Silverbolt, DUCK!" The young mech shouted.

Silverbolt, reacting on instinct, quickly did so as Blackarachnia fired. The explosive barb missed Silverbolt but exploded near Cheetor, slamming him into the pile of Energon crystals that the pod rested on. Several of them cracked, releasing energy that began to surge through the rest of the crystals, causing them to thrum with energy.

Silverbolt managed to push himself up onto one knee joint and look up in time for a clenched servo to slam into his faceplate. He rolled with the punch, barely managing to come up in time to block another quick jab from Blackarachnia as the widow advanced on him. She continued to rain several blows on him, with him continually blocking each one. She narrowed her optics, seeing him seemingly refusing to fight back. "Are you kidding me?! What the slag is wrong with you?! Fight back already!" She shouted.

He grimaced as he managed to grab her extended servo, throwing her away. Yet she simply rebounded off a rock and kicked him in the torso plate, knocking him back. "I'm not some helpless damsel this time, so slaggin' fight back already!" She shouted angrily, hating to be underestimated.

Up above, Airazor glanced down to see Silverbolt in trouble. Before she could react though, Nightwing came at her with her blade drawn, forcing the Maximal flier to extended her claw blades to block it. As it turned out though, she didn't need to bother aiding Silverbolt.

There was a roar of an engine as Tarantulas shot off a rocky ledge and transformed in midair, tackling Blackarachnia and rolling with her. He came up with one arm wrapped tightly around her neck joint as another drew his blaster and pointed it at her head. "Mmmm, it's so good to see you again widow," he sneered out.

"Tarantulas?! What the slag do you want?!" She grunted, struggling to break free of his grip while eying his blaster.

The arachnid scientist merely cackled softly. "Do you really need to ask, my treacherous creation? You have something I want. Something locked way in that memory core of yours. Now tell me what it is!"

Blackarachnia merely glared at him from the corner of her eye. "You think I'm going to tell you a thing?! You're almost as deluded as that slag spouting saurian I'm forced to suck up to," she snapped.

"You defiance will do you little good when I get you back to my lair and start to peel apart your processor piece by piece," Tarantulas said, gripping her tightly as he prepared to slam the pistol against her helm to knock her out. However he felt something grab his wrist joint, yanking him away and causing him to let go of Blackarachnia in surprise.

"I'm afraid you won't be harming anyone today, spider," Silverbolt growled, slamming his other clenched servo into Tarantulas' helm, knocking the arachnid spider back before delivering a second and then a third punch. "I remember attacking your comrades being normal when I was a Predacon, but I find it to be truly disgusting!" He shouted as he let go of Tarantulas, only to deliver a powerful haymaker right into the traitor's helm, knocking him to his knee joints. "And worst of all, planning to torture a femme is the epitome of cowardice in my book!" With that final shout he delivered a kick that sent Tarantulas sliding back several feet. Silverbolt vented a bit as he turned to the somewhat shocked Blackarachnia, offering her his servo. "Do you need help?"

At the same time Airazor delivered a powerful blow to Nightwing's helm, causing the Predacon flier to crash into the ground. She turned just in time to see Silverbolt helping Blackarachnia up, only for her optics to widen as she also saw an injured Tarantulas aiming his blaster at them. "Silverbolt!" She shouted.

The wolf mech looked up at her and then at Tarantulas before pulling Blackarachnia aside as Nightwing dove down to them and Tarantulas fired. His blast missed them but hit the Energon crystals, now thrumming with energy from the broken ones surging. Almost instantly the crystals exploded in a maelstrom of energy that radiated outwards over all of them, causing them to cry out in pain. However, it also began to interact with the ambient Energon radiation that had permeated the area.

Soon a violent twister began to form, the entire funnel of wind cackling with super charged Energon energy as it began to suck up everything within the clearing. The violent winds soon began to pull the scattered and injured Maximals and Predacons up, those still online crying out as they were pulled up into the air by the ever increasing gale force winds. The pod as well was pulled into the air, joining the Cybertronians as they were spun around rapidly before eventually being ejected outwards in different directions and angles, all while the storm continued to slowly grow in force.

Darksyde

Megatron growled in annoyance as the listening device he had placed on Blackarachnia was now only giving him bursts of static and some incoherent noises that sounded like a mixture of screaming and rushing wind. He had been listening to his troop's inane chatter on their way to the objective, followed by their engagement with the Maximals. Things had taken an interesting turn though when Tarantulas had emerged from his lair. Megatron had been intrigued to learn that Blackarachnia apparently had information locked away, information that Tarantulas desperately wanted. While he had been rather annoyed at Blackarachnia's insult, he would let it slide for now as overall the encounter had proven quite…informative.

Unfortunately it seemed that the mission to retrieve the protoform had been a failure, given the rather loud explosion that had been heard over the listening device. A fact further cemented when Inferno quickly joined him. "Royalty, sensors have detected a massive Energon storm located where the team went to retrieve the pod. We have lost all readings with the team."

"Keep monitoring the scanners, Inferno. For now, I know at least one of them is still online," he said as the signal from the listening device was starting to clear up, with the sound of screaming still audible over it. Thankfully the receiver was considerably more powerful than normal communications, and seemed capable of cutting through the interference to transmit to him.

Axalon

"Whoa, wat da heck just happened?" Rattrap asked, seeing the sensors reading a massive spike in Energon readings.

Sauria, at the communications console, frowned as she leaned over to take a look. "It seems an Energon storm appeared out of nowhere near our comrades' location," she said, turning back to the console and activating it. "This is base to Optimus, are you reading us? Optimus, please respond."

There was nothing but static, causing her to frown more. "Base to Cheetor, do you copy? Silverbolt? Airazor? Please respond," she said, her voice growing more worried.

Rhinox quickly moved to look over her shoulder before shaking his helm. "No use. That storm is scattering the communication signal. No way to contact them till they get far enough away from it," he said worriedly.

Lycanok, at the command table, frowned heavily at that. "They could be damaged. And if they ran into problems with X…Rattrap, with me. We're going to head up that way and see if we can't reestablish communications and lend support. Everyone else, stay on alert status."

"Lycanok, what's going on? You've got us armed for war and now we're support to just sit here twiddling our digits?" Vixtrion asked, causing Lycanok to pause before looking at her.

"For now, yes. Until we know more we need to handle things carefully. Keep an eye out for Predacons and let us know if you get a signal from any of them," he said, before leading Rattrap to the elevator. The two descended and soon were roaring away in their vehicle forms, heading to find their comrades.

Jungle

Blackarachnia let out a cry of pain as she smashed through several branches before hitting the ground. She lay there, groaning as her systems slowly recalibrated, having been thrown for a loop when she was sent flying by the massive twister and then slammed into several tree limbs before hitting the ground. She had barely managed to start pushing herself up when there was howl of pain as another figure slammed into the ground not far from her. She quickly did her best to struggle upright, reaching for her weapon when she saw who the figure was.

Silverbolt had smashed into a bush when he hit the ground, and the Maximal fuzor was struggling to disentangle himself from said bush. He finally managed to stumble out, only to find himself face to face with the black widow femme, her rocket blaster drawn and aimed at him. He grimaced as he slowly held up his servos.

However, instead of firing she merely continued to watch him. "…can you fly?" She demanded.

Silverbolt slowly flexed his wings only to let out a groan of pain as his left wing trembled. "No…your comrade managed to damage my left wing and that fall did not help it," he said.

Blackarachnia let out a vent of disappointment. "Figures," she said, reaching up with her free servo to activate her comm. "Blackarachnia to any Predacons, please respond," she said, only to receive static. "…anyone? Hello?"

Silverbolt frowned as he did the same. "This is Silverbolt to any Maximals, can you read me? Please respond," he said, only to receive a patchy, static filled message.

"Silverbo-…razor! Near…-sition, so just…tight! Be…-oon!"

Silverbolt let out a vent of relief while Blackarachnia blanched at that. "It seems Airazor is near us. Though even then this Energon storm seems to be severely limiting our communications," he said.

"Yeah, figured as much," Blackarachnia said, weighing her options as she lowered her blaster. On the one servo she could make a run for it before Airazor arrived. But considering Tarantulas was out there, as well as whatever dangers were in this jungle, she didn't like her odds of survival. She knew she had a better chance if she stuck around with Silverbolt…but not if Airazor decided to kill her, or if they decided to take her prisoner. Still her chances were still probably better with them. "Alright, I'll make this simple," she said, drawing Silverbolt's attention. "Under normal circumstances, I'd shoot you and head off on my way. But considering what we went through just now, and whatever dangers are out there, I don't like my chances on my own. So is there any chance I can convince you to give me a hand? And stop Airazor from...well blowing me up as soon as she arrives?"

Silverbolt looked at her, before nodding. "Of course. You are in need of assistance and even if you are an enemy…well it would be wrong to deny you aid simply because of that…unless you intend to shoot me in the back or something," he said with a bit of a chuckle.

"…you're serious…that…wow…you really are into this whole 'knightly chivalry' thing, aren't you?" She asked, a bit bewildered as she tilted her helm, eyeing him curiously.

"It is who I am, milady," he said with a bow. And that's when they heard the roar of a jet engine before Airazor was seen heading towards them. Blackarachnia quickly holstered her weapon, trying to look nonthreatening as the transmetal flier transformed and Airazor landed, her optics already slightly glowing as she glared in Blackarachnia's direction.

"Silverbolt, what is she doing here?" She demanded, only for Silverbolt to move slightly in front of Blackarachnia.

"She is in need of assistance. I have offered her what aid I can give," Silverbolt said, causing Airazor to shake her helm slightly.

"Silverbolt, I'm going to assume you've suffered some processor damage and pretend that you didn't offer to help out our enemy," she said. "We're leaving her here and going to find the others. Now let's move."

Silverbolt grimaced a bit, but stood firm. "I'm afraid I cannot do that, Airazor. She is in need of assistance and enemy or no, I will not turn my back on someone in need. Besides…my wing is damaged, so I cannot fly. And I doubt you could carry my weight for an extended period of time," he said, sounding a bit sheepish when he mentioned being damaged.

Blackarachnia spoke up at this point. "If it helps, under normal circumstances you would be right not to trust me. But right now, my chances of survival are a lot better working with you two. So…can you at least trust me when I say for my own sake, I won't turn on either of you?" She asked.

Airazor glared at her, then at Silverbolt who was still looking rather resolute, before letting out a vent as she pointed over her shoulder. "…there's a mountain not too far from here where we can hopefully get high enough above the storm to communicate with our bases at the very least. However…I want t make sure we don't walk ourselves into being Predacon prisoners, so here's how it'll work when we get there. We'll contact our base first, give our team a chance to come and pick us up. Then you can contact your team. And you stay ahead of me the entire time. Got it?" She asked, her optics narrowed.

Blackarachnia slowly nodded. She wanted to protest being forced to wait for them to leave before being able to call for pickup, but she knew it was her only chance of having some protection against Tarantulas. "Well…shall we?" Blackarachnia asked as she moved past Airazor in the direction of the mountain. Silverbolt moved to join her as the femme flier let out a soft vent of frustration before following them.

Elsewhere in the jungle, Tarantulas grunted as he dangled from a tree, a strand of cyber-webbing suspending him from it. He had luckily managed to hit the tree with his webbing to prevent himself from impacting the ground, but still hadn't stopped him from smashing through a few branches. Thankfully his transmetal form was durable enough to withstand the impacts.

Now on the ground he took a moment to try and get his bearings. His scanners, aside from visual, were next to useless, scrambled by the Energon storm. Even his internal compass was being disrupted by the Energon energy saturating the air. Meaning that, for the moment, the rogue Predacon arachnid was lost.

Growling in annoyance he looked around, trying to see if there was perhaps a high enough rock formation or mountain he could use to get above the storm when his optics landed on something hurtling through the air. He focused in on it, able to just make out the shape of a stasis pod before it disappeared behind the tree line and he heard a distant crash. Cackling to himself he started heading that way, figuring at least he could salvage components from the pod and the protoform within.

After several cycles of travel through dense jungle foliage, he managed to catch sight of the pod again, finding it propped up against a rock wall. Approaching it he drew his blaster, prepared to fire at a moment's notice if anything moved. Yet beyond the tree's moving in the wind and some debris settling from the crash, there was nothing. He soon reached the pod, examining the massive construct and the sickly looking yellow X painted on the lid. Reaching towards it he prepared to pull the lid open, only for it to burst open as a massive figure within surged out, grabbing him around the neck with one massive servo. Letting out a gurgling shriek of fear, Tarantulas tried to raise his blaster only for the Cybertronian to grab his arm within its other servo and rip it free, letting out a raspy, dark chuckle as it did so. The rogue Predacon let out another shriek, this time of pain, before the Cybertronian threw his arm away and grabbed him by a leg. He swung, releasing his hold on Tarantulas' neck as he smashed him into the rock wall, then into the ground where he pinned him down with one massive ped. With cackling glee the massive monstrosity slowly began to pull on the leg it gripped, before ripping it off and throwing it aside.

Tarantulas let out another scream of pain as the Cybertronian, a massive broad figure, leered down at him with green optics that promised nothing but suffering and pain. "Hello, little bug. Let us have some fun," the Cybertronian said in a deep, raspy voice, reaching down for the barely online Tarantulas.

Meanwhile, Optimus was grimacing as he held one of his arms, having sustained a fair amount of damage when he had been buried in rock and then flung through the air by a tornado caused by a surge in Energon radiation. The exposure to high amounts of the radiation had also severely depleted his Energon shielding, something that none of the Maximals or Predacons had experienced for some time due to the Energon in most of the region being stable crystals now. Next to him, Cheetor was doing his best to try and reach Airazor and Silverbolt on comms, but so far was receiving nothing but static.

"It's no good Big Bot. Until we all get above this mess we won't be able to talk to them unless we get a lot closer to them," Cheetor said, before spasming a bit as energy arced across his frame.

"I don't want to leave them behind but…we're not in any shape to go searching for them," Optimus admitted, more to himself. "Let's head back to base. As soon as we can contact the others we'll get them up here searching for Silverbolt and Airazor."

Cheetor nodded before they both transformed, activating their flight modes and taking off, quickly moving away from the Energon storm. Though Optimus paused briefly to look back and send out a silent plea for his missing crewmates to be careful.

Four decacycles later

The trio of unlikely allies continued to trek through the jungle, two of them warily watching their surroundings while the third was switching between that and the Predacon femme ahead of her. The sky had darkened considerably, an indication that night was falling. For the trio it made things seem spookier, as the fog seemed to hang low to the ground, masking what could be a new potential danger amongst the trees and bushes. They had managed to find a somewhat clear path, but even then it was tough going.

Silverbolt finally broke the silence that had descended on the group. "I know this might seem foolish but…I feel as if the jungle itself almost wishes us harm. As if there is danger around every tree, hidden behind the fog," he said quietly.

"Tell me about it. I'd feel at home here if it wasn't for the fact I'm worried I'm going to be attacked at any second," Blackarachnia said, glancing over her shoulder at Airazor. "You know…I remember you being…looser…more relaxed," she commented back at her.

Airazor just glared at her but said nothing, going back to scan the tree line again as Silverbolt shook his helm. "Please do not try to antagonize her. I do not want to have to stop her from attacking you."

Blackarachnia turned to him 'blinking' in surprise. "You'd seriously stick up for me? Against your own teammate?" She asked him.

Silverbolt looked uncomfortable. "I would…attempt to calm down any situation that might arise. And I would try to prevent you from coming to any harm, as I have promised. But…if you were the one at fault…I do not know if I could willing do more than that," he said.

"…you know, if you're not careful, someone's going to exploit the hell out of that noble streak," Blackarachnia warned him. "Someone like me, we love find a nice little gullible minion to manipulate."

Silverbolt frowned at that. "Please remember that it is my 'gullibility' and 'noble streak' which is keeping you safe from Airazor. For the moment," he told her.

"I think that just proves her point, Silverbolt," Airazor snapped at them from behind. "Now both of you please stop talking and keep focused. There are plenty of predators out here that would happily attack us, given the chance," she said.

Blackarachnia simply shook her helm. "You know this would probably be a lot easier if you simply flew on ahead, made contact with your team, and then either came back or waited for us to-," Blackarachnia said, only for Airazor to snort.

"If you think for one moment I'm leaving you here to do Primus knows what to Silverbolt, think again Predacon," Airazor said, sneering that title out. "I'm not about to abandon one of my teammates…not again," she said, whispering the last part softly to herself.

"I'm just saying-," Blackarachnia said, only to let out a shriek as something landed on her shoulder and fell off. She quickly rolled to the side, her legs moving into firing position while Silverbolt drew one of his bladed clubs and Airazor's optics glowed as she focused on the object. Yet all of them stopped when they saw what it was.

Lying on the ground was Tarantulas' arm, minus the rest of his form. The trio all stared at it, and then quickly began scanning the area for any sign of the rest of him.

"Well…guess Tarantulas won't be much of a problem," Airazor said dryly, optics still glowing with her lasers. Blackarachnia gave a humorless chuckle.

"Tell me about it. Glad to know he's been…disarmed," she said, earning a snort of suppressed laughter from Silverbolt and a deadpan stare from Airazor, causing the femme Predacon to shrug.

Silverbolt turned back to the arm, frowning as he studied it. "Still…while I do think Tarantulas is no longer an issue…there's something else to worry about," he said, slowly lifting the limb up. "Look at the damage to the end of the limb."

Blackarachnia and Airazor both studied it, with the former whistling softly. "It looks like it was twisted…and then torn off…that doesn't seem like damage he'd have sustained from that storm."

"Not unless his arm became trapped on something and was torn off. But he'd have taken it with him…if he could," Airazor said, her tone growing somewhat worried.

Silverbolt slowly nodded at that. "Indeed…I have a feeling something attacked him."

"…I really don't want to meet whatever is strong enough to do that to a transmetal, even one as weak as Tarantulas," Blackarachnia said as Silverbolt dropped the arm. "It might be a good idea if we hurry."

The two Maximals nodded and the trio headed off, completely unaware of the large flat shape that lifted up off the ground within the tree-line. "Hmmmm…that was a delightful appetizer…but I want more, my little meals. More…fear…," a raspy, gurgling voice said as the figure began to skitter rapidly on six legs, following after them.

In the Darksyde, Megatron was frowning as he listened to the conversations between Blackarachnia and the two Maximals. He had to admire her audacity at actually getting one of the Maximals to agree to help her out and keep the other Maximal in check. Quite cunning and manipulative of her, which made her even more of a suspect in the data breaches not that long ago, and all the more a danger in his optics. Still, she could be a very useful pawn in things to come.

What interested him more though was the discovery of Tarantulas' arm and the possibilities that came with it. Was it possible the Maximals had been bluffing about the protoform? Or was there a natural predator on this planet powerful enough to rip apart a Cybertronian, even an upgraded transmetal one? The implications were intriguing and Megatron intended to find out more.

His thoughts were interrupted by Inferno. "Royalty, Specter has reported back with Waspinator in tow. Both have suffered damage and are now in the Restoration Vat. No word from Nightwing as of yet."

"Thank you Inferno. Dispatch Quickstrike and Ripfang to watch for any signs of Nightwing's return," Megatron ordered, focused on the display orb connected to his command chair.

"Has the spider finally dispatched the two Maximals?" Inferno asked eagerly, only for Megatron to shake his helm.

"No and I'd be disappointed if she had. She's using them for her own ends. Were she to so carelessly discard them now, before her safety is guaranteed…I'd be disappointed. Though if she knows what is good for her, she'll ensure their destruction before she returns to base," Megatron stated quietly. He continued to focus on the orb, waiting to hear more.

Elsewhere a dark shadow winged its way through the air, their flight erratic as they seemed to suddenly spasm. The shadow kept pushing through the darkening sky, focused on one objective. "Gotta…send a message…before it's…too late," they gritted out, letting out a soft cry as another spasm racked them, causing them to drop several feet before flapping their wings to remain aloft as they drew closer to their objective.

Jungle

The trio of unlikely allies found themselves standing at the edge of a chasm. Airazor looked from one side to the other, seeing no points where they could cross over it. Yet they had to get past it as it was their only way onwards towards the mountain. The problem was it was too wide for them to jump across, and they could not see the bottom through a haze of fog and cloud within its depths.

Silverbolt frowned in thought. "…Airazor, you could perhaps fly us across one at a time. Even my weight should not be enough to drag us down before we got across," he said.

Airazor shook her helm. "No. Even if we were sure of that, we'd be a wide open target," she said, looking at Blackarachnia.

The femme Predacon just 'rolled' her optics. "Okay, I know I'm a treacherous black widow Predacon, but give me a little credit. Do you honestly think I'd do that?" She asked the Maximal femme.

Airazor crossed her arms, giving her a deadpan stare. "If I took you across first, you'd wait till I had Silverbolt then shoot us as we tried to cross. If I take Silverbolt first, you'll shoot us while our backs are to you. And then you'll use your cyber-webbing to get across on your own."

"You know, I think the Maximals should be concerned at just how much you think like a Predacon," Blackarachnia shot back.

"Airazor, I believe Blackarachnia will not do anything to harm us. Even if Tarantulas is…less then capable of troubling her, there are most likely other dangers in these jungles. And besides…I trust that she means us no harm, at least at the moment," Silverbolt said, trying to reason with his comrade. "If we work together, I believe we can get across this chasm. What about that tree there?" He asked, pointing to a sizeable, dead looking tree that was partially fallen over on the other side of the chasm. "If we could knock that tree over, it could serve as a bridge across."

Airazor frowned, studying it. "…it could work," she said.

"I could attach some of my webbing to it from this side. We pull it over…but…we might need someone on the other side to try and stabilize it so it doesn't go falling off into the abyss," Blackarachnia said, looking to Airazor.

"Indeed. See, we can work together," Silverbolt said, even as Airazor glared at Blackarachnia, who merely gave her an innocent look back. The Maximal femme finally just gave a resigned shake of her helm before flying across.

As she set herself into position to push the tree over, Blackarachnia quickly transformed, shooting a narrow web of cyber-webbing at the top of the tree before transforming back so she and Silverbolt could grab it and start pulling. The trio set to work, pulling and pushing on the tree as the few roots clinging into the ground stubbornly held on, trying to keep the tree in place. However, a few slashes of Airazor's talon blades ended that problem and the tree trunk soon began to fall over, with her moving to a position where she could guide it down. With a loud crash the tree trunk slammed across the chasm, creating a bridge.

Blackarachnia quickly began shooting more strands over their end to try and secure it to their side, before nodding. "Alright on this end."

Airazor found herself forced to steady the tree on her side. "Okay…let's do this one at a time," she said, her optics locked on Blackarachnia. "Silverbolt, you first."

The fuzor frowned at that. "Perhaps we should let-," he started to say, only for Blackarachnia to smile sweetly at him.

"I appreciate the…'gentlemanly' offer, but you go ahead," she said, stepping back. Silverbolt hesitantly nodded, soon clambering up onto the tree and started to slowly make his way across.

It was slow going even with Blackarachnia and Airazor doing their best to keep it steady. It shifted a bit due to his weight, causing him to become slightly unbalanced. Airazor grimaced and struggled to hold her end of the trunk steady, glancing down to make sure she had a good grip. When she looked back up, her optics widened in horror as she saw Blackarachnia drawing her blaster. "Silverbolt!" She cried out, looking up to the fuzor mech who was looking down to focus on keeping his balance.

Silverbolt looked up to her before looking behind him just in time to see Blackarachnia firing her blaster. But the probe wasn't aimed at Silverbolt, or even at Airazor. Rather, it slammed into a large feline that had been emerging from the bushes in a sprint, snaring said creature in a net even as it leapt at Airazor's back.

Airazor turned, optics wide as she saw the struggling, saber-toothed cat trapped within the cyber-webbing, before turning as Silverbolt let out his own cry of warning. Blackarachnia whirled in time to see another large cat slam into her, howling and hissing angrily as it tried to bite at her neck. She jerked her helm back just in time to avoid the teeth.

Silverbolt let out a growl as he transformed and leapt forward, slamming into the jungle predator and knocking it onto its side, giving Blackarachnia enough time to scramble to her gun. She raised it in time to see the two combatants roll by, a whirling mess of fangs, claws, and talons as Silverbolt struggled to pin the large cat down and it struggled to get to a position where it could bite his neck or gut him with its hind-claws. The two soon rolled near the edge of the cliff, with Airazor quickly letting go of the tree trunk and preparing to leap over the edge to catch Silverbolt, seeing them head right for the edge.

Yet as she saw them both fall off the edge she also saw Blackarachnia, in her beast form, quickly shoot a strand of cyber-webbing at Silverbolt, catching him on the back with it. The Predacon femme quickly transformed, grabbing the other end of the webbing and bracing against the tree trunk while Airazor dove down to catch the damaged Maximal flier. The large cat let out a yowl of despair as it disappeared into the mists, while Airazor grunted, struggling to keep her momentum up while carrying Silverbolt. Above, Blackarachnia was struggling to pull him up. A cycle or two later and the two Maximals were on solid ground, with all three Cybertronians venting heavily.

After a few moments Silverbolt stood, approaching Blackarachnia who was sitting on the ground. "You saved me," he said, causing her to look up.

"Ugghhh, don't get sentimental on me. You saved me first, so I returned the favor. We're square," she said, trying to wave him off.

"Yes but…you still saved me…you could have fled. And before that…you saved Airazor," he said, with said Maximal femme joining them.

Blackarachnia just groaned, shaking her helm. "Oh no, don't you go into some noble speech about my good intentions or something," she said as she stood up. "Let me tell you right now, I did it to save my own frame. Like I said, my chances of surviving are better with you two. And I think those wild cats just proved it. I did it purely for selfish reasons. Understand?" She asked, staring Silverbolt in the optics.

"If it's any conciliation…I thought that was the reason," Airazor quipped, causing Blackarachnia to nod.

"See? She understands," the Predacon femme said. "Now can we please get going?"

Airazor just nodded and moved to steady the tree trunk again, as Silverbolt and then Blackarachnia crossed. The trio proceeded on their way, but not before weakening the webbing trapping the other cat so it might escape in time, much to Blackarachnia's annoance.

A few cycles later a massive form finished crossing the bridge before transforming and scuttling after them. "So close now, my tasty morsels. So close," the figure cackled.

Axalon

On the bridge of the Axalon Optimus stepped out of the CR chamber, rolling his shoulder joints as he looked to Rhinox at the command table. "Report," he said.

"We lost contact with Rattrap and Lycanok right as they hit the edge of the storm. That's to be expected. However it's starting to die down finally, so it shouldn't be a problem for too much longer."

"Good. Keep everyone on alert. Cheetor and I are going back out there," he said, seeing the young mech nod and quickly move to the elevators. Optimus was about to join him, only to frown as he saw Sauria at another console, currently examining a map of the Predacon base. "Sauria, what are you doing?"

The femme looked up before returning to the screen. "I am attempting to study the Predacon's defenses for potential weaknesses. With Megatron in possession of the Golden Disc, we should-," she started to say, only to be cut off.

"Megatron is not our focus right now. Rescuing our comrades is," Optimus stated, his voice hard and indicating he was in no mood for argument. Sauria turned towards him now, frowning.

"There is little I can do on that front unless you wish to take me into the field with you. If not, I wish to try and find a solution to a far greater problem," she said.

"Next time, consider not handing over a dangerous artifact to our enemy," Optimus snapped, turning away and heading to the elevator, ignoring the stricken look on Sauria's face. The femme slumped as Rhinox shook his helm, moving over to her.

"He's just concerned about Silverbolt and Airazor," Rhinox told her, trying to lessen the sting of their leader's words. Since the incident with Specter and the bomb the crew had started to trust Sauria again, with Rattrap surprisingly being the one who started calling out others on any comments they made towards her. Even still it was tough for them to completely let go of what she'd done.

Sauria turned back to her screen, shaking her helm quietly. "What he said is true though…the threat exists because of me," she said quietly. "No matter what I do…I will always carry that sin and failing with me."

Rhinox was about to comfort her when the communications console beeped. Frowning he went over to it and accessed it, seeing an alert about an incoming data message. "…that's odd…someone sent us an encrypted data packet."

"It might contain a Predacon virus," Sauria warned.

Rhinox nodded at that. "Either that or Tarantulas is giving up some info on the Predacons," he said, guessing the rogue arachnid would enjoy messing with both sides to weaken them both while he sat back and watched. "I'll run it through several security programs while I'm decrypting it, make sure it's safe."

Sauria just nodded in an absent-minded manner as she turned back to her screen, focusing on her work again.

Jungle

Blackarachnia could only let out a groan as she rubbed one servo across her forehead. "Will you please drop it already?" She all but demanded, looking over her shoulder at Silverbolt who had been bothering her almost non-stop since they had left the chasm. And what exactly had he been bothering her about?

"Forgive me my lady, but I cannot ignore that instead of utilizing those felines to your advantage, you still chose to not only save Airazor but myself as well. And despite your claims of it being motivated purely by self-interest, I do think some of your actions have a hint of more nobly-inclined motives behind them," he said, causing Blackarachnia to 'close' her optics.

"I REALLY can assure you there isn't a 'noble' circuit in my frame," she said, trying to look back at Airazor. "Can't you please shut him up? Please?"

Airazor just smirked back at her. "Oh no, I'm far too interested to hear how he worked this all out," she said. "Go on Silverbolt." It was obvious she didn't believe Silverbolt was right, but she was enjoying the affect it had on Blackarachnia.

Silverbolt pressed on. "You could have easily let me fall, leaving Airazor to retrieve me while you hurried on your own. While you might claim there are more dangers out there and you want us to be around to help keep you safe, why would you waste time saving me when you could have simply waited for Airazor to rescue me?" He asked.

"Because there was no guarantee she would and, like I said, I've got a better chance of surviving with you two around?" Blackarachnia said, as if explaining to a child.

Silverbolt smiled. "Even though it left you vulnerable to attacks from anything else that might have been present?" He asked, causing both Blackarachnia and Airazor to pause for a moment.

"…I just figured there wasn't anything else close by," Blackarachnia snapped, her mood darkening somewhat. "Besides, like I said, I was in your debt for saving me, and I don't like being in anyone's debts."

"Aah, but why would you care at all about being in my debt? As a Predacon, you could ignore that easily enough, couldn't you?" Silverbolt pressed on. "However, someone of a more noble bearing would be worried about honoring a debt, much like Sauria does."

Blackarachnia quickly jumped on that. "She's a Predacon though, so that negates your argument," she replied quickly.

Airazor smirked as she decided to counter her. "Aah, but she's also proven she's very…unique and unorthodox, compared to every other Predacon we've run into so far. I wouldn't say she necessarily is a good mitigation of his point."

Blackarachnia was now glaring at both of them as Silverbolt continued. "I merely think that perhaps, deep down in your Spark, a small portion of your Maximal personality might still-," he started to say only for her to whirl, legs firing a rapid burst that ripped apart the ground around Silverbolt's pedes, causing him to quickly jump away.

"I think that ends this conversation, don't you?" Blackarachnia asked in a sickly sweet voice, turning away and walking off again. Silverbolt watched her go while Airazor shook her helm.

"Silverbolt…I really hope you don't actually believe any of that. That femme is as Predacon as they come," Airazor said quietly to him.

Silverbolt frowned at her words. "Airazor…I would think Sauria is evidence enough that being a Predacon does not automatically make you evil. And besides…she was a Maximal Protoform. If she could be reminded of that, and tap into her Maximal programming…"

"Why does this matter to you so much?" Airazor asked him, causing him to shrug as he watched Blackarachnia start to go around a bend

"…I was given a second chance. I know I had barely done anything and what was done to me wasn't the same as what was done to her. But if I could be given a second chance…if Sauria can be given a second chance…then shouldn't others as well? She chose not to shoot me or do anything to force me to follow her orders when we both crashed into the jungle here. She rescued both of us, even when it put her into danger. She might say it was for her own self interest, but…I am not sure if that is all there is to it," he said quietly.

Airazor looked at him, cocking one 'eyebrow' at him. "And you wouldn't happen o also find her attractive, would you? That doesn't play ANY part in this?" She asked him.

He gained a slightly sheepish expression. "I'll admit, I do find her quite striking…when she's not striking me. But my interest is not protomatter deep. Pherpas I am naïve, but I think perhaps there might be a chance to save her," he said.

They were interrupted by Blackarachnia screaming, causing them both to rush forward and around the bend, only to stop and stare at what they found.

Before them was the mutilated frame of Tarantulas. He was missing over half of his spider legs, as well as both of his robot form's legs and one arm. These pieces were scattered around them, as if something had simply ripped them off and tossed them about. His chest-plate was compressed with gouges in it. There were scorch marks as well as rips and gouges all over parts of his frame. His faceplate was locked in a look of sheer terror and pain while his optics were dimmed, a clear indication he was offline.

"By the Matrix," Airazor whispered, horrified at what she was seeing before instantly turning away and activating her comms. "This is Airazor broadcasting an emergency message to any and all Maximals, please respond," she said quickly, scanning the area while praying that someone might be close enough or that they were far enough from the center of the storm now. There was nothing but static in response to her call.

Silverbolt crouched next to Tarantulas, checking him over. "…he's in stasis lock," he said, standing up and looking to Blackarachnia who was trembling.

"…w-what could do this? N-Not even Megatron is this brutal," she asked, optics locking onto Silverbolt.

The wolf fuzor looked around the area as well as he moved closer to her. "This wasn't an animal. Unless they were defending themselves they would have stopped when they realized they couldn't eat him. And it wasn't a Maximal. None of us would do something like this," he said, thinking.

"None of the Predacons who were out here would do this either," Blackarachnia whispered.

Silverbolt dimmed his optics for the moment. "…the only thing I can think of that is out here that might do this…is what Optimus described to us when we reached that stasis pod. Protoform X," he said.

Blackarachnia's optics widened at that. "I thought Primal said its Spark was extinguished? I mean, I thought he might be lying to protect it, but-," she started, only for Silverbolt to shake his helm.

"I did not think I ever would say this but after what he described, it would be a blessing to the galaxy if it had perished. But it seems…that is not the case," he said quietly.

Blackarachnia just stared at him in surprise and growing horror at his words. "…what the slag is this thing?" She asked him. "What are we dealing with?"

"A possibly un-killable monster that enjoys killing and consuming other Cybertronians, one of great power and sadism if Tarantulas is any indication," the Maximal mech stated while pointing back at the still form behind him.

On the Darkksyde, Megatron listened in rapt attention, ideas already forming in his processor. He turned to the computer, inputting commands. "Computer, begin replication process. Energy projection hilt with magnetic confinement configuration to that of a six inch blade, very sharp, composed of Energon," he ordered.

"Royalty?" Inferno asked him as Megatron turned to his ant lieutenant, a smile on his faceplate.

"My dear Inferno…we have a golden opportunity on our servos here. Yyyyeeessss," Megatron said as the computer set to work replicating the blade Megatron described. "I want all fliers prepared to venture out at a moment's notice."

In the jungle, Blackarachnia turned away. "We need to get going, now," she said, only to be stopped by Airazor.

"Just hold on a nano-cycle," she said, focusing on her comms. "This is Airazor to ANY Maximals, do you copy?!"

After a few moments, she received a static filled response. "Airazor? This-…nok and Rattrap, en-….Primal and-…position, over?"

Airazor grimaced. "Lycanok, lock onto my signal! Protoform X is potentially still active. I repeat, Protoform X-," she said, only for them to hear a gurgling, rasping chortle.

"Is very much active, my dear," spoke a figure scuttling from the bushes. A massive crab, its carapace a red and gold hue color with purple pincers and a white colored head leered at them with green eyes and a fang riddled mouth. The two massive pincers that were clacking gleefully had short serrated points lining the insides of them.

The massive crustacean suddenly transformed, becoming a massive behemoth of a Cybertronian. Its frame was primarily red with the same gold tinted hue on its chest-plate and legs, with the head of the crab forming the lower half of its chest. The legs and pincers had folded onto its back, while its helm and faceplate had an almost demonic appearance to it, with green optics that leered down at them and a mouth port that was vertically split instead of horizontal, while six horns on either side of its head seemed to flicker and twitch. It cackled as it advanced on them, causing the trio of Cybertronians to back up.

"FIRE!" Airazor shouted as all three of them opened up on it. Blackarachnia's machine gun fire seemed to not even phase it at all, but Silverbolt's rocket from his right wing and Airazor's optical lasers did cause it to stagger slightly as it weathered the barrage of weapons fire from them. With a roar it surged forward, grabbing Silverbolt and throwing him to one side while backhanding Airazor in the opposite direction.

Some distance away, Lycanok winced as he heard Airazor's frightened command over the radio, before switching frequencies. "Optimus, I've got a fix on Airazor's location! I think they're in trouble with X!"

"Copy that. Transmitting coordinates back to base," Optimus reported as he and Cheetor sped towards the area with Rattrap and Lycanok following behind on the ground.

Blackarachnia, finding herself suddenly alone, attempted to scramble away while loading a cyber-venom dart into her blaster. Yet before she could fire, the massive creature grabbed her, lifting her up as it chuckled. "Another little arachnid for me to pick apart. How wonderful. And the fear…oh yes…I can taste so much of it hidden beneath that arrogant exterior," it whispered in a masculine tone, bringing her closer to his faceplate. "Look into my optics, little bug."

Blackarachnia squirmed in his gasp, whimpering as she tried to look away from that faceplate, seeing the horrors that awaited her. That is until a missile slammed into X's back, making him stagger and release Blackarachnia. He turned and glared as he saw Silverbolt there, back on his pedes and preparing to fire another rocket at him from his one good wing. Blackarachnia looked up; only to gape in horror as she saw the damage on X's back that had been caused by the missile rapidly disappear as the massive monster Cybertronian repaired itself.

Before Silverbolt could fire again, X pulled out a massive tri-barreled cannon. Silverbolt was blasted onto his back by three rapid blasts before X began to advance upon him, letting out that gurgling chuckle as he did so. "Such courage, attacking me to save another. And an enemy no less. Oh yes…you have courage, little Maximal. But I wonder just how strong that courage is," he pondered, firing again to knock Silverbolt back onto his back again.

Silverbolt could only let out a shuddering groan as he held his badly dented and warped chest-plate. He looked up in time to see X transform back into his crab form, before one of those massive pincers grabbed him. He let out a cry as he felt the points on the inside dig into his frame, before the pincer began to ever so slowly squeeze, digging them in more.

"Oh yes, show me the fear and despair now," X whispered gleefully. "I want to see that courage break. I want to see your fear, your despair. Know that it is pointless to resist! Know that you can do nothing! GIVE IN! FEEL THE FEAR!" He said, taunting Silverbolt the whole time as he kept squeezing.

Silverbolt could only cry out in pain and fear as he could feel his damaged chest begin to collapse more. That is until green lasers slammed into the pincer and forced it to release him. X turned, glaring in the direction of Airazor whose optics were burning with fury and rage as she fired another blast at him.

"I won't let you take him!" She shouted, advancing and firing again, her third blast taking X in the faceplate and causing him to hiss at that while shielding himself with his pincers. "I won't lose another comrade! Not again!" She shouted as she kept firing and advancing.

X snarled, preparing to bolt forward to grab this impudent attacker when the roar of engines stopped him. At that moment, Optimus Primal and Cheetor both arrived, transforming in mid-air as they landed and proceeded to open fire as well. Lycanok and Rattrap soon arrived, quickly joining the fray as the massive crustacean soon found himself under a hail of weapons fire that was driving him back. Unlike before, the sheer amount of fire was wearing away at his carapace, weakening the defenses as Blackarachnia joined in, firing her leg guns. X quickly turned, scuttling over a drop to escape their fire.

The Maximals and one Predacon rushed to the edge of the drop, only to see that X's form had shifted. His pincers and legs had folded up against his body to create the chassis for a pair of treads, which began to propel him towards them like some type of monstrous tank. His tri-barreled cannon now poked out from under his beast form's head, the weapon rotating as each barrel fired off one at a time. They were forced to dodge the shots before firing back at him with everything they had. Yet unlike before, the shots seemed to be doing little damage, as if his form had become even more armored than before. His own return fire barely missed Airazor, but one shot clipped Cheetor in the shoulder, spinning him, while a second shot hit Optimus full in the chest, sending him flying.

Blackarachnia rose up from where she had dropped to avoid the incoming fire. "We can't stop him! His frame just keeps absorbing our fire and repairing!" She shouted, feeling a growing fear from the hopeless situation. That is until a figure staggered up next to her. She turned to see Silverbolt standing there, grimacing in pain while holding his chest-plate.

"We're not done yet, my lady," he said, before glaring at X. His right wing came up and he fired, the rocket flying straight and true into the left treads of X's vehicle form. The explosion tore the tread apart as well as blowing off some of the wheels, causing X to roar in pain as he began to spin to his left due to his one good tread still going. The sudden lost of forward momentum caused him to slide and roll back down the incline, transforming back into beast form as he tried to catch himself. Yet a couple of his legs on the left side, damaged by the explosion, gave out, causing him to roll faster and harder down to the bottom. He quickly transformed, preparing to draw out his cannon to fire at them when a pair of beeping, flashing boxes sailed down towards him. One landed directly on his chest-plate as another landed at his pedes.

"Cover!" Rattrap yelled as he hit the deck, pressing the button on his detonator. Everyone else did the same just as a pair of massive explosions went off, shaking the ground and their frames and sending rock, dirt, and plants flying everywhere. The shockwave alone was enough to scramble their systems for several nano-cycles, while their frames were washed over by waves of super-heated air.

When things finally calmed down, the Maximals and Predacon slowly stood, looking down at the aftermath of Rattrap's explosives. The bottom of the incline was now a massive crater, stained black from the force of the explosions and ringed with flaming debris. There was no sign of X save for some components scattered around, the largest piece being one of his arms.

"What in the spotted heck were those?!" Cheetor yelled, looking to Rattrap in shock and awe.

"Dose, kid…were bunker busters. Meant ta blow open defensive bunkers made of meter thick reinforced metal. Call them Big Bomb Bertha's. Seems dey worked pretty good on crabby dere," Rattrap said. "Guess now I know why Pop Op said I could use dem here."

Optimus grimaced as he held his chest-plate. "We'll need to confirm he's actually gone…I don't want to take any chances with this," he said. "Lycanok, Rattrap…can you two try to find any more remains? To confirm whether or not we got him?"

They both nodded and started to make their way down, leaving Optimus with the others. He turned to see Blackarachnia sitting on the ground, arms wrapped around herself as she trembled a bit with Silverbolt kneeling next to her. He frowned a bit before deciding against intervening.

Silverbolt gently touched Blackarachnia's shoulder. "Are you alright?" He asked her.

She merely shoved his servo off in response. "Of course I'm not alright! We were nearly slagged by some monster experiment that the rat there had to use heavy ordinance against to defeat it! I'm stuck here in the middle of this Primus forsaken jungle with Maximals who likely want to scrap me or take me prisoner to reprogram me! And even if I managed to make it back to the Predacon base, Megatron is likely to have my helm for failing this mission! So no, I'm not alright," she snapped angrily at him.

Silverbolt frowned at all of that before venting deeply. "….while there is nothing I can do about the first and last things you mentioned there…I can assure you that you will leave this jungle without being scrapped, imprisoned, or reprogrammed," he said, causing her to look at him.

"What?" She asked, confused as she saw him stand and offer her his servo.

"If you wish, I will continue to escort you to the border of Predacon territory to ensure you get to safety," he told her. "Even if we are enemies…you saved my life on more than one occasion and helped us reunite with our comrades. The least I can do in gratitude is ensuring that you return safely to your own territory," he stated.

She narrowed her optics at him incredulously. "You really…you really are a moron, aren't you? You've got a chance to get rid of one of your enemies and instead you're going to help them get home, even putting yourself in danger of being destroyed to do so?" She asked.

Silverbolt just nodded before she took his servo. Yet when she started to pull herself up, she also forcibly pulled him towards her, so that he was pressed against her. "You really are a noble, gullible idiot," she whispered before kissing him, causing him to freeze. And then just as suddenly she shoved him away, whirling and using her blaster to launch a grapnel dart into the trees. Within moments she was gone, before any of the Maximals could react.

Airazor just shook her helm, moving to a still frozen Silverbolt's side. "So…that happened," she said casually, looking to Silverbolt. When she got no response, she snorted. "Cybertron to Silverbolt, you in there?" She asked, waving a servo in front of his face-plate.

Silverbolt slowly turned to look at her, his optics still wide. "…Airazor…are all femmes…so confusing?" He asked her, causing her to snort again as she turned and walked off.

Optimus, who watched it all from afar, shook his helm. "Silverbolt, Airazor, let's go. We're going to escort you two back to base before getting back out here to help Lycanok and Rattrap. Move out," he said, transforming into flight mode. Airazor and Cheetor did the same as Silverbolt awkwardly stumbled over to Optimus, climbing onto his hoverboard due to his left wing still being damaged. The quartet flew away, leaving behind their two comrades to search for anything left of Protoform X.

Sometime later

Lycanok, in beast form, grimaced as he moved to the edge of a chasm not that far from the crater. Peering over the edge he could only see a few feet down before a fog started to obscure any vision. He looked up as Rattrap rolled over, shaking his head.

"Dere ain't nuthin' left out here. Dose bombs did da trick, I'm tellin' yeh," he said a bit impatiently.

Lycanok shook his head, sniffing the air. "We need to be sure Rattrap. This thing is not something we can simply assume is dead. And if it survived and Megatron gets his servos on it, we could be in a lot of danger," he said, looking around. "There's nothing up here, but if it fell down there…"

"How we supposed ta get down dere? Could be hundreds or thousands of feet deep!" Rattrap complained. "We'd need one of da fliers, and dey're gettin' repaired."

"I don't know…we'll keep searching and report to Optimus when he gets back," Lycanok said as he turned away and began to pad away from the chasm with Rattrap following.

Deep down in the depths of the chasm, a massive form stirred. X slowly groaned, his optics blinking back on before he shuddered in agony. His internal computer began reciting off the damage he had sustained, including missing one arm, Energon shielding being severely depleted, his chest-plate being breached, and numerous other damages to his frame and systems. Yet all of it was slowly repairing itself, thanks to the power and curse of his Spark. Sadly it did nothing to negate the pain.

He shuddered again as he looked down, seeing the breach in his chest-plate, the circuits exposed as the metal slowly began to knit itself back together. He slowly reached down to touch the bare circuitry with his good servo, fascinated by it all, before slumping back. His optics dimmed for a moment before flaring to life as he heard movement nearby. He turned his helm to see several shadows in the mist soon forming into several forms.

One of them, a large cybertronian almost as big as himself, was in the lead. He watched as the figure drew a small device from his storage compartment, before a blade of energy appeared out of it. "I'm afraid you'll need to go offline now. This is a…delicate procedure. Yyeeessss," the figure said as another of the figures quickly moved forward and slammed their weapon across X's face-plate, knocking him out.

Megatron quickly turned to the fliers. "Spread out and guard the perimeter. I must not be disturbed," he ordered, drawing out a metal container as well before kneeling next to X's form and bringing the blade into position. With quick but delicate movements, he set to work.

Axalon

Optimus Primal let out a frustrated vent as he stared at the command table in front of him, clenching the edge of it. He and Cheetor had quickly returned to the jungle after getting the minor damage they had sustained repaired, and Lycanok had directed them to the chasm that he and Rattrap had been unable to explore. At the bottom they had found traces of X's presence, but it was clear that he was long gone. Optimus could only curse the entire situation. If X was on his own, he'd be a danger to both sides. But if the Predacons had gotten to him and managed to somehow persuade him to join their side, he would be a very dangerous asset to them in the future.

For now, the most they could do was work on a way to neutralize X in future encounters. Rhinox was analyzing the components that had been left behind, to try to find some weakness that they could use. At the very least, they could gain an understanding of his armor and what power they needed to more reliable weaken or damage him in future encounters.

He turned to the Maximal engineer, who was looking over the initial results from scans of the components. "Any luck Rhinox?" He asked.

"I can't find a way to neutralize the regenerative abilities. Since it stems from his Spark itself, I can't get any reading on it from these materials," he said. "However, I have made some progress in analyzing the material that makes up his chassis. With a few modifications I think we can refit most of our weapons to be able to damage it. Though his sheer durability and regenerative abilities will still make him a very dangerous threat."

"I understand. We'll get to work on it and-," he started to say, only to stop as an alert went off from the comms station, causing Rhinox to move over there.

"The decryption is done," Rhinox said, only for his optics to widen. "It…it's from Nightwing," he said softly.

Optimus was at his side in an instant, looking over his shoulder as Rhinox looked over the entire transmission. "It's a data packet with information on the Predacon's positions, their defenses, even a few of their planned operations. There's even a frequency here for their communications," Rhinox reported, optics still wide. "And…an audio message."

"Play it," Optimus said quietly, causing Rhinox to nod and begin the audio message.

"Axalon, this is Nightwing. I don't have much time…this…Predacon side of me has been temporarily knocked offline by that Energon storm. I'm sending you what information I have access to, to try and help you. And I want to apologize…I-I'm sorry I haven't been…s-strong enough to fight this Predacon programming. I'm sorry that I've been fighting and hurting all of you. But please, don't…nnngghhh…don't slack off when fighting me. The Predacon would destroy any of you, so fight me with everything you've got. And please...if you can't save me…d-don't…don't hesitate to destroy me. I can't…live with the idea of…of…gahhhh…I'm sorry; it's getting harder to control. Please, do whatever you need to do to win the Beast War and stop Megatron! …this is Nightwing…signing off."

The duo of Maximals silently stood there as the message ended. "…she's still in there," Rhinox whispered. "She's still in there, and she's fighting it."

Optimus clapped him on the shoulder plate. "Then we have a chance, old friend. If we can capture and subdue her, we can possibly restore her Maximal programming to full."

Rhinox nodded before turning away. "I…I can start brushing up on methods to try and reverse whatever they did, but…I would need to analyze her in order to find out what exactly they've done and how to try and reverse it. And…if we can't capture her…if we're…forced to destroy her…"

"Then I will take full responsibility for that," Optimus told him, causing Rhinox to look at him. "But we'll do everything we can Rhinox. There's a chance she can be saved and I won't abandon any crewmate if I can save them."

Rhinox just nodded before turning back to the screen. "I'll send this data to Lycanok to be analyzed for tactical data. He and Sauria can work together on it to perhaps help us deal with Megatron."

At the mention of Sauria, Optimus winced slightly. "…send a copy of the data to Sauria as well. It'll help her with what she's been doing," Optimus said quietly, causing Rhinox to glance back at him in surprise, before nodding in recognition of the gesture Optimus was making to Sauria. The Maximal leader turned away and headed to his quarters, to mull over these new developments and also begin planning how to handle them.

Darksyde

Megatron stood over the Restoration vat that held the inert form of Protoform X, scowling a bit as he studied the seemingly fully repaired Cybertronian. "…I find your disappearance to be…problematic, Nightwing," he said, looking at the raven femme, who stood at attention nearby. "But what's more…I find the fact that you hid these…problems you've had from me even more disturbing."

"I am sorry my lord, but I hid these problems from you out of a desire to continue serving," she said. "I did not want you to think I was incapable of performing my duties."

"And yet it seems you are having that very issue. Something that does not please me. No. These unexplained blackouts you've been having could prove disastrous in the field if you're assigned to an important mission. Even more so if they are perhaps caused by your repressed Maximal programming."

"I am sorry for my failings, my lord. Please, help me to find what is wrong with me so that I might continue to serve you," she said, bowing. Mentally, she was thankfully that he only suspected her Maximal programming was reasserting itself. She knew if she had told him that was what she feared was happening to her instead of her lie about having 'blackouts', he likely would have destroyed her on the spot. She would have accepted this fate if that was to be the case, but she would prefer if he could instead find a way to rid her of the problem and allowed her to continue fighting alongside the Predacons.

"You will report to Terrok's lab, where he will begin an analysis of your programming. You will then be detained in your quarters until further notice," Megatron ordered, dismissing her. Nightwing quickly rose and headed off, passing Blackarachnia who entered the area. Said femme froze when she saw Protoform X.

"W-what is that thing doing here?!" She all but screamed, trembling in horror, while Megatron smirked at her.

"Why, he's our newest recruit Blackarachnia. After his little display with you and the other Maximals…I simply had to offer him a chance to serve," he said, turning back to X. "I trust you have not suffered greatly from your misadventure in the jungle?"

"No, my lord," she said, trying to calm herself down as she realized that, most likely, Megatron had somehow been spying on her the entire time. It was the only way he could have known of what was going on and retrieved X after Rattrap had blown the monster up. She took a deep vent, deciding to press on. "I apologize for the lateness of my return, but I wished to confirm Tarantulas' destruction. Unfortunately it seems he either came back online or had contingencies in place for his retrieval if he should be rendered offline or put into stasis lock. His frame was not where I initially discovered it."

"A pity. It would have been nice to remove such a thorn from our side. Never the less, I must thank you for helping in the recruitment of such a powerful pawn," Megatron said with a smile, "You are dismissed…unless you wish to have a little reunion with our new comrade?"

Blackarachnia merely beat a hasty retreat, leaving Megatron to smirk down at X as the Restoration vat finished and X was slowly raised up out of the vat. The massive mech slowly stood, looking over his fully repaired form before looking to Megatron.

"How fascinating. After what I did, any other Spark would have been destroyed. And yet you're still online and seemingly fully functioning," Megatron said, only to suddenly find himself staring at the barrels of X's cannon.

"If you thought you could experiment on me like those Maximal fools that created me did, I'll be happy to show you what my response was," X growled out, only to frown slightly when instead of nervousness or bluster, Megatron merely showed amusement.

"Aah, but I have an advantage they did not," Megatron stated, only for X to cry out in agony and drop to his knee joints, clutching his chest-plate. Megatron slowly held up an open metal container in which was seen what looked like a Spark, only smaller than normal. Megatron had been squeezing the container, causing a series of Energon crystals to be pushed into the Spark. When he released the pressure they were withdrawn and X slumped over, venting heavily.

"W-what…did you do to me?!" X demanded, only to cry out as Megatron squeezed again, pushing the crystals into the Spark once more.

"It is quite simple, my dear crustacean. Your 'immortal Spark' is simply the key to controlling you. As I theorized, an Energon blade would successfully cut your Spark in half without destroying it. And now it is my insurance that you remain…loyal. Yyyyeeeesss," Megatron stated.

When the pain ended again, X was lying flat on the ground, heavily venting as Megatron continued. "Always remember this…my dear…Rampage…I hold your very existence in the center of my servo. Follow me loyally and I'll allow you to have your fun on my enemies. But betray me or disobey my orders…and I shall make your twisted life as much of a torturous existence as I possibly can. Are we clear?"

X, now named Rampage, slowly lifted his helm before nodding. "Yes…I understand…" he gritted out.

"Very good…then welcome…to the Beast Wars!" Megatron said, laughing loudly as he strolled away, leaving behind Rampage to glare at his back, before slowly rising and following behind him, as a new turn in the Beast Wars began.

---

And chapter. Damn, I was so close to getting this one done BEFORE the end of February. But I just kept slacking off there towards the end. Sorry everyone.

RS19: at least you still wrote it within a month period or so.

LR: Maybe, but I still feel like I'm failing if I don't get these out quick enough so people can enjoy them. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this chapter, seeing Rampage join the Beast Wars, among other things.

Lycanok: I have to say, that bit with Nightwing was unexpected.

Nightwing: I am so confused as to what I even am anymore.

LR: I honestly…well I'm at a crossroads with Nightwing. I've got two different ideas on where to go with her at this point, and I'm not sure which one I want to follow. I guess we'll see in the next chapter or two, won't we?

Vixtrion: So boring, I was barely in this one!

LR: Well it didn't make a lot of sense to have you really do much in this one. I mean, I could have maybe tried to add in a completely original sub-plot, but honestly, with so much focus from both teams on X, it didn't really make a lot of sense. X was such a danger and also potential asset it just made sense both teams would throw ALL their focus onto him.

Vixtrion: *Pouts*

LR: Anyways, another chapter done, and also another birthday gone by. So, till next time and next chapter everyone!

Thanks for reading, thanks for reviewing, and hope you all enjoyed it.