Beast Wars and all related characters belong to Hasbro and Mainframe. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author's permission.
Beyond Expectations
By nightdragon0
Boom. Boom.
Rattrap was jarred awake.
"Whoa, what the?"
Jumping up from the chair which he'd fallen asleep in again, the Maximal stepped up to the control panel and pushed several buttons.
"Rattrap, what's going on?" Optimus Primal came barging into the room. "By the way, you were sleeping on monitor duty again, weren't you?"
"Eh," Rattrap staggered, "sorry boss monkey, but we've got trouble in the neighborhood."
Rhinox silently entered the room and sat down at his station. He keyed in several commands which brought numerous monitors online. The whole Predacon fleet could clearly been seen firing off their weapons.
"Jeez," yawned Cheetor as he entered, "Ya think those stinkin' Preds could at least wait till morning to launch a full scale assault?"
Calico came jogging up as well.
"What's the big emergency?" the brown fox asked, although she already knew.
Optimus and Rhinox were discussing the situation.
"Shields at 80." Rhinox muttered, "They're holding, but not forever."
"External auto-guns…"
KA-Boom!
"Off-line." Rhinox sighed.
"We're gonna mount a counterattack people!" Optimus declared, "Now…hey, where's Dinobot?"
Rhinox pushed a button. The view on one of the monitors changed, showing a pair of familiar green eyebeams being fired. Raspy growls and grunts could be heard. Dinobot was forced to dive for cover as he was bombarded by gunfire, missiles and other explosive projectiles.
Calico whipped out her twin Uzis.
"I shall provide some assistance for our…ally." She said and descended the elevator before anyone could stop her. She wasn't very fond of ex-Predacons, but leaving a comrade out there just wasn't her style.
Optimus begun giving out orders.
"Rhinox, contact the rest of out units and have them back here, ASAP. Cheetor, you take manual control of the ship's guns. Rattrap, you're with me."
"But big bot," Cheetor protested, "I wanna…"
"That's an order!" Optimus sharply cut him off before stepping onto the elevator with Rattrap.
Cheetor turned to watch Rhinox pushing buttons to activate the com-links, then reluctantly sat down and switched the guns to manual targeting.
"Well, what do you think, Nightfire?" Syndrea asked.
The two Maximals, both in robot mode, stood in front of the huge stone pillar. They were in a large cave, located at the base of a mountain. The cave didn't look like it had been naturally formed and the odd stone pillar within was only further evidence of this. Not to mention the pillar seemed to be holding up the entire cave and probably the mountain as well.
Silently, Nightfire stepped up and ran a claw across the strangely smooth surface of the stone pillar. Closing his eyes in deep concentration, he focused his psychic powers.
Syndrea waited patiently, knowing the difficulty in her companion's task.
"One thing I can tell you," Nightfire finally spoke, but without looking up, "it's not from the aliens we've come to know and hate."
Syndrea just nodded.
Nightfire unsheathed the Phoenix Blade from its place beneath his left wing and held it up to the pillar. The normally green glow flickered and changed through a multitude of colors, before turning a pale blue.
"I don't sense the same aura I got from that pod that kidnapped Optimus, nor from the control tower of the floating island. It's…something else…"
The dragon had been referring to their previous contacts with the alien beings. More recent was the latter, Syndrea recalled. Nightfire had been up stuck there on the island with Airazor and Tigatron. Probably not the beast of…
Nightfire suddenly stumbled backwards; interrupting her thoughts as she instinctively grabbed onto the black dragon.
"What happened?" she queried.
"Not sure," Nightfire muttered as he stood back up, "but…"
He held the sword up. Its energon blade continued to glow brightly.
"What's with the sword?"
"Oh, this?" Nightfire spun it in his hand. "This isn't any ordinary weapon, you know. Think of it as a medium for which I can channel my energies through to amplify my powers."
"Isn't that good?"
"Yeah, but just tires me out faster." He muttered dreamily, continuing to face away.
Syndrea grabbed his shoulder and pulled him closer.
"Something's troubling you." She commented.
"Come on! Just get it off your scaly chest!"
"Nothing much. Just that I feel like something's up. It's a long shot, but my 'feelings' often have a way of turning themselves into reality."
The sounds of footsteps came within earshot.
"Hey guys, we're back!" Airazor jogged up with a small, box-like device in her hand.
"Ugh!" Tigatron grunted as he followed, carrying the bulk of a rather large portable scanner. He sat it down as gently as he could.
"Sorry, but this is the lightest piece of equipment with all the necessary capabilities for our little subject here." Syndrea jabbed a thumb towards the pillar behind them. She immediately got to work setting it up.
"Then what's the heavy one like?" Tigatron wondered.
The others watched patiently as Airazor held the hand-held device up to the stone pillar. Syndrea pushed a few keys on the computer it was connected to.
"Readings are up and," Syndrea begun, "yikes! Going right off the scale!"
Smoke started spewing out as the computer gave overload beeps.
"RUN!" yelled Tigatron.
The whole group sprinted round the corner.
A deafening explosion followed, leaving nothing of the scanner but a blackened spot on the ground ad scrap metal everywhere. The pillar, however, hadn't sustained the least bit of damage.
"Now," gasped Airazor, "that's something you don't see everyday."
"Quite a blast too." Syndrea added in, smiling at her own joke.
"Everyone!" Tigatron called. The others moved over to him. "Seems we have to go." He tapped a blinking red light on his wrist-mounted com-link.
"That's the 'emergency' beacon." Airazor said. "They're calling for us even through we're this far out?"
"Probably the Predacons." Growled Tigatron, "Let's go!" he transformed and took off running. Airazor followed suit, only in the air instead.
Syndrea was about to leave when she noticed Nightfire staring intently at the strange pillar.
"Nightfire?"
"Huh? Oh, never mind. We'll just get moving! We've got some butts to kick, now haven't we?"
Syndrea was confused by the dragon's abrupt mood change, but held back her thoughts.
For now. She decided.
"Beast mode!"
"Beast mode!"
A black dragon took to the skies, followed by a tan and black velociraptor down below.
"Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" Dinobot fired his eyebeams.
Terrorsaur dodged.
"Hahaha! Missed me!" the aerial Predacon taunted. "Arrrggghhhh!" he was abruptly shot out of the sky.
With a Xean: Warrior Princess- style battle cry, Calico somersaulted off the nearby rocks and landed beside Dinobot.
"I did not request your assistance, female." He growled.
"Perfect. Cause I'm not offering any!" Calico replied.
A nearby explosion interrupted them.
Both made one final stare at each other before drawing their weapons and returning fire.
"Whoa, man!"
Rattrap ducked to avoid having his head blasted off. However, he was still showered by bits of debris. Optimus had also taken cover and was a few feet to his left.
Rattrap chanced a quick peek from his hiding place.
Megatron was standing pretty much out in the open, no big surprise, and firing away. Blackarachnia, Scorponok, Deathwing and Shadowflare had taken cover behind a cluster of boulders and were letting off occasional shots. The remaining three flyers had Dinobot and Calico occupied. Cheetor and Rhinox weren't having much luck with the Axalon's weapons.
Just a click! Aren't we missing som…
"Yikes!" Rattrap had to duck down again. "Yo! Boss monkey," he shouted, "we are seriously screwed ya know!"
"Keep fighting!" Optimus yelled back between shots, "and wait for our reinforcements."
"I hate it when he talks like that." Rattrap sighed.
As the battle progressed, Rattrap continued firing until he heard the click of his emptied gun. He was reaching for his reloads when a scraping sound startled him. Rattrap spun round.
Shadowflare had managed to sneak past them!
He had his back to the ravine, which the Axalon lay across, and had his bowgun pointed straight at Rattrap. The Maximal's mind raced. The panther wasn't a very good shot and Rattrap figured he'd manage to reload and fire before the Predacon could hit him.
Fortunately, something else stopped him first.
A black dragon rose from the ravine behind Shadowflare. He spun around in shock as the dragon's shadow covered him. The Predacon took aim, but Nightfire clasped his jaws on his gun arm before he could fire. Nightfire jerked his head back, ripping off Shadowflare's right arm in the process. He barely had time to feel the pain before Nightfire swung his tail and sent him flying.
Rattrap watched as the Predacon's green and black form went flying into the ravine, screaming all the way. Nightfire looked straight towards him, winked and gave Rattrap a thumbs-up before taking to the air.
"Well," Rattrap sighed, "guess I owe the kid."
While the others advanced with Megatron, Blackarachnia stayed where she was and continued to fire.
"Humph, I'm not getting slagged on this stupid mission," she cursed, "who does Megatron think he is dragging me out…"
She suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Huh?"
Jumping up, she found Airazor standing behind her. Blackarachnia whipped up her weapon, but Airazor kicked it out of her hand and sent a punch straight into her face.
The female spider fell unconscious to the ground.
"Ouch," Airazor muttered, crouching down and rubbing her hand, "that's a lot more painful than it looks."
Optimus was busy firing when Nightfire ran up beside him. The dragon had transformed and readied his rifle.
Together, they were able to put several holes in Scorponok, who hit the floor with a dull thud.
"Nice timing." Optimus commented.
"The others are coming up behind the Predacons," Nightfire informed him, "they'll strike from the rear and shake Megatron up a little."
The Maximal commander nodded his approval. It was a simple, but appropriate plan.
Man, I could shoot better than this! Cheetor thought as he fired another burst from the ship's weapons. Waspinator and Inferno dodged and continued their assault, joined but Deathwing.
The base rocked from another round of their firepower.
"We can't take much more of this." Rhinox muttered. He leaned across the computer and pulled a lever. "Darn! The backup power isn't coming on!"
He pulled open the computer panel and begun pulling and connecting wires. Cheetor quickly turned back to the monitor. One of the screens showed Optimus and Nightfire firing at Megatron.
Cheetor suddenly spotted Tarantulas. The sneaky spider had appeared to the left of his comrades and was slowly creeping up, unseen to both. Cheetor hit the com-link.
"Big bot! Look out!"
He got only static in return. The system must've been damaged as well! Rhinox was too preoccupied with repairing the computer to notice Cheetor sprinting onto the elevator.
The young Maximal didn't bother waiting for the elevator to fully descend before he jumped off. Pulling out his 'gut-gun', he ran. Optimus and Nightfire weren't far away.
Cheetor shouted as soon as he could see them.
"Guys! Watch out!"
At that same instant, Optimus happened to glance in the appropriate direction and saw Tarantulas loading a dart into his gun.
"Get down!" Optimus yelled, dragging Nightfire to the ground.
As a result, the dart flew right over their heads and hit Cheetor right in the center of his chest. He fell with a yell of surprise.
"Cheetor!" two voices simultaneously exclaimed.
"Argh!" Tarantulas groaned, clenching his fists. He obviously hadn't hit his intended target. However, the spider quickly scurried off when Nightfire took to shooting at him.
Syndrea appeared from another direction, completely out of breath.
"Airazor…and Tigatron…are…giving…Megs his…money's worth…" she gasped.
"Both of you get him to safety," Optimus said, indicating Cheetor's unconscious form, "I'll give the others a hand." He activated his jets, but turned back, "and tell Rhinox to get the shields back to full power!"
Syndrea was still panting as a missile came towards them. Nightfire unsheathed his sword and deflected it harmlessly into the ravine.
"Come on! Let's go!" he shouted, pulling her by the hand and swinging Cheetor over his shoulder. The pair sprinted and made it up the elevator. Rhinox was still busy with the computer.
"How much longer till the shields are back up?" Syndrea inquired.
"Just a little…" Rhinox began.
An abrupt explosion threw everyone off their feet. Rhinox was sent flying into a wall. After which, he flopped face first on the floor. Dropping Cheetor's body, Nightfire ran to Rhinox's side while Syndrea got up and moved to the computer.
"Hey big guy! Wake up! You're supposed to get the computer running!" Nightfire desperately shook the unconscious bot. It was no use; Rhinox was out cold. "Syndrea?"
"I don't know how to get it working either!" the velociraptor admitted.
"Never mind, just go over to the open computer panel and do everything I tell you to."
Syndrea moved without hesitation. Nightfire knelt over and placed his claws at the sides of Rhinox's head.
"Come on big guy," Nightfire muttered, closing his eyes and concentrating, "open your mind to me and think! What's the quickest way to get the shields up?"
"Nightfire?" Syndrea asked.
"At the control panel, you should see a large gray wire." Nightfire began.
"I see it. What'd I…"
"Don't touch it! Look to its sides. See the colored wires."
"Yeah, I do!" There were six smaller wires, three on each side. "Colored white, red, green on the right; black, blue and yellow on the left."
"Good. Connect the red and blue wires."
Syndrea twisted the wires.
"Done." She turned her head and looked at he monitor. A shield power of 20 was displayed, and it was rapidly dropping.
"There should now be a raised red button. Push it."
"Gottcha!" Syndrea found it and slammed her fist onto it.
"Now, green to…"
Syndrea took the green wire in her hand.
"…green to…" Nightfire paused. He sounded uncertain.
"Green to what? Hurry up!" Syndrea cried desperately. The shield level seemed to be dropping faster than ever now.
"Grrrrr! Yellow!"
Syndrea twisted the wires. Immediately, a blue button rose. She didn't need Nightfire to tell her to push it. Triumphantly, she watched the shield shoot up.
It so happened that Waspinator and Inferno were charging towards the ship. The shields came back up just in time to send the duo flying off.
"Aaarrrggggghhhhhh!"
"Wwwwaaahhhhhh!"
The remaining Predacons began to withdraw, per Megatron's command.
Syndrea mopped her brow as she watched them go. Nightfire was leaning against the table, looking equally relieved.
"You read his mind?" Syndrea asked.
"Guess you could say that," Nightfire replied. A cheesy grin crept across the dragon's face. "But the last part about the yellow wire was a lucky guess!"
Syndrea's jaw dropped.
"You must have all the luck in the world!"
"Uh-huh."
Nightfire carefully dragged Rhinox over to the restoration chamber. The larger warrior awoke, smiled and gave him a weak thumbs-ups. Nightfire returned it with a nod and closed the chamber's door. Beside him, Syndrea was doing the same with Cheetor.
"Place sure is a mess." Calico commented as she came up the elevator with Dinobot. She looked around at the blown open control panel and the wires hanging out of it. "I should be able to do some clearing up. Rhinox can do the rest, once he's up and running of course."
"How fared the battle?" Dinobot asked. He groaned and covered a large blackened area on his left shoulder.
"This guy here was playing hero when I didn't need him to." Calico jerked a thumb at Dinobot's wound.
"You surely would not have survived that blow, female." Dinobot growled.
"Would to!" Calico shot back, jabbing a finger at Dinobot's chest. It was interesting, as she had to tiptoe to do that. "Besides, I didn't asked for your opinion pal!"
"Then, I was informing our comrades here, not refreshing your memory."
"Grrr! That's it! You got a problem with me?"
"Maybe it's you who has the problem."
"Does not!"
"Does to!"
"Does not!"
"Does to!"
"Hey, hey!" Rattrap came up the elevator. "Looks like ol' Dino-butt found someone else to argue with. Oh, I'm so hurt!" he continued in a mocking voice.
"Shut up, Rattrap!" both soldiers shouted.
Syndrea burst out giggling. Nightfire covered his face and turned away, but his body was still shaking, unable to contain his laughter.
"Looks like everyone came out OK." Optimus said as he came up. The others were right behind him.
"Yeah," Syndrea began, "Nightfire just…"
Unseen to everyone else, Nightfire used his tail to whack Syndrea's leg. She wasn't supposed to reveal how'd he done it, after all.
"…twisted a few wires here and there." She finished. Nightfire gave her an affirmative nod.
"Stupid Megatron." Blackarachnia cursed for the eleventh time that night. The night's attack had been a total mess up; not to mention she'd received a nasty punch in the face too. "Grrr…one of these days…"
She continued babbling to herself about all the things she planned to do to Megatron as she walked down the dark, dingy corridors of the Predacon base. She did make it a point to stop when she neared the central corridor that led to the control room.
Huh? What was that?
It sounded like two people arguing. Blackarachnia pressed her body against the wall and listened.
"That wasn't our agreement." Sounded like Deathwing, the vulture.
"So maybe it wasn't, but that little error has most certainly led to a much more, interesting set of circumstances. Wouldn't you agree?" that was definitely Megatron.
"Interesting? Disastrous is more like it! We were supposed to kill him with the virus. Instead, we hit the wrong guy and now we don't have to resources to make any more."
"No matter. But we are in a much better position to, how shall I say, 'negotiate' with Optimus Primal. Yes."
"The point is, that wasn't the plan!"
"Hmmm. You seem to bear a certain hatred for that particular Maximal."
"You would too if you only knew the truth…" Deathwing burst out, then he fell silent, realizing he'd said too much.
"Truth? Is there something you're not telling me?"
"It doesn't matter! I want to finish him off my way, my style and…ggarrrgghhh…"
Megatron had apparently grabbed him by the neck.
"All right!"
There was a loud thud as Deathwing was roughly dropped onto the floor.
"This one isn't just any Predacon traitor."
"Hmmm. Go on." Megatron would be leaning forward and rubbing his chin now.
"He's one we should all know very well…"
The pair lowered their volume and Blackarachnia strained to head their voices.
This is getting very interesting indeed…
Later that night, the repairs on Rhinox had been completed. As he stepped out, he noticed the room was empty.
Everyone else had retired to their quarters. After all, Megatron wouldn't attack twice in once night, especially since his troops had been significantly damaged.
Looking towards the second restoration chamber, Rhinox noticed the lights were on inside. Curiously, he brought up its status screen. It indicated that repairs on Cheetor had been completed. No serious damage or viruses detected.
Yet, the young Maximal hadn't come out.
"Cheetor?" Rhinox tapped the door.
He was greeted by a soft moan. Rhinox pulled the door open to find Cheetor, in robot mode, slumped in a corner. He seemed to be fine, but Rhinox had a strange feeling.
"Cheetor? Can you hear me?"
No reply.
Closing the door, Rhinox activated the scanning device. All he got, over and over again, was the same negative message about no residual damage.
After getting the same message ten times in a row, Rhinox begun to feel that something was very wrong. He ran down the corridor and dragged Optimus out of his quarters to the control room, waking up everyone else in the process.
Nightfire was the first one to arrive at the control room.
"I think something's wrong with Cheetor, but I just can't figure out what." Rhinox was saying.
"Keep trying." Optimus urged.
"Mind if I have a look?" came Nightfire's voice.
He was in his huge dragon beast mode now. Due to the long neck, Optimus and Rhinox had to look up. Rhinox nodded.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Optimus asked as he stepped aside.
From the way that the dragon's claws flew across the keyboard, Optimus decided that he did.
"I went to med. School," Nightfire answered without looking up, "that was one place where I really did study."
At first, he kept on getting the same results Rhinox had. Then, he pushed a button and brought a screen up.
"I'm going on visual." He said.
By this time, everyone else had gathered in the room. Nightfire rapidly flicked through the screens until he came to one particular image.
"Enlarge." He instructed the computer. A grim look crept across his face. "There's the problem."
"It just shows his spark." Optimus said.
"No, look closer." Nightfire enlarged the screen again. Strange yellow patches were visible on the normally blue colored spark.
"It's a…virus?" Rhinox muttered, leaning closer.
"Yeah, this one was arguably the most deadly virus ever created by Predacon scientists." Nightfire continued.
Everyone stared at him.
"You know about it?" Optimus asked.
"I can tell you people all about it, but it's not a very promising story." Nightfire calmly stepped back and folded his arms.
"Hey, just spit it out man!" Rattrap burst out. Optimus held up a hand to silence him and all other quires.
"Tell me."
"In simple terms, it's called a Transcendent Virus. It goes straight for the victim's spark and drains the energy from it till its extinguished, but not before causing a great amount of pain to the victim, leaving them pretty much weak and helpless. This was one of the things even the Predacon ruling councils had banned. The last traces were supposed to have been wiped out, but you never can tell, now can you?"
"But we've never heard of it." Rattrap commented.
"Obviously," Dinobot spoke up, "It would've been disastrous in terms of diplomatic issues if the Maximal Elders ever came to know of this."
"So you knew too?"
"Methods I would never resort to," Dinobot growled, "such dishonorable fighting techniques."
"Is there a way to cure it?" Optimus asked, tapping Nightfire on the shoulder.
"Let him go." Nightfire muttered and begun to walk to the elevator.
Rattrap blocked his path.
"You didn't answer the question pal!"
"I did."
"And you're saying we should just leave him be?" Rattrap asked angrily, pointing to Cheetor's motionless form on the table.
"In a battle, you'll lose soldiers. In a war, people die. It's simple. Want to know why I was med. trained? Out on missions, it was my job to assess any injuries. Those that can be saved, we save. Those who can't…well I need not mention that."
"Now you're starting to sound like ol' chopper-face here."
"And why not? We have a lot in common," Nightfire sneered, "except for his stupid sense of honor."
"Grrrrrr!" Dinobot snarled, but Tigatron held him back.
"Now, you listen…" Rattrap begun.
Well done! Start a three-way argument among bots that aren't too happy with you. Nightfire silently cursed.
"Look! There isn't any anti-virus in existence, although Megatron may try to bluff and the only other way is too risky and too insane that I don't think it's practical to be even tried out! And it's a fact that you'll lose troops in a war! So…" Nightfire shoved Rattrap out of the way and continued walking. This time, it was Optimus who stopped him.
"Some things are irreplaceable." He said softly. There was a slight hint of plea in his voice.
Nightfire glanced around at the somber faces of the others. Furious, in Rattrap's case. Dinobot simply snorted, folded his arms and turned away. He then caught Syndrea's eye. Her face seemed to imply, please, just this once, even through she hadn't spoken it out loud.
"OK, fine then!" Nightfire gave in, "But I reserve the right to say 'I told you so!' "
He moved to the computer and begun typing. After which, he gestured for Rhinox to have a look.
"These are specifications for a laser." Rhinox said.
"Yes. We'll have to burn the virus off, inch by inch."
"However," Rhinox continued, "to get a laser this intensified, we'll have to channel nearly all the base's power into it. And that means we're sitting ducks while we're at it."
"In addition, Cheetor's spark will have to be temporarily removed from his body." Nightfire finished off. "But of course, Megatron will probably anticipate this move and attack while our shields are down. At least I'm not in charge here."
Optimus thought for a while.
"Let's do it." He said grimly.
"Great, you'll have about two days or so." Nightfire said, "Give me some time to rest, then I'll join you."
As the walked down the corridor, he could still hear Optimus giving out orders. Rhinox to start working on their device. The others, even Tigatron and Airazor who'd stayed to help, to take shifts on patrol. He would personally relate the information to Cheetor.
"Nightfire! Wait!" It was Syndrea. Deciding he didn't want to hear anything from the female raptor, he slammed and locked the door to his quarters. Ignoring the repeated knocking, Nightfire curled up on the bunk and closed his eyes.
How the hell did I get myself into this mess?
So, night wore on into morning, then day.
Nightfire spent his time with Rhinox, testing and preparing their equipment, checking their calculations. The other members were mostly outside on patrol, returning occasionally to rest and recharge.
Finally, Nightfire managed to get his claws away from all the numbers on the screen and made his way to the firing range, which was basically a long hallway that had been set up for practice.
He was busy driving holes in the targets with his rifle when the door opened.
Perfect the last person I want to talk to right now.
"Nightfire, we have to talk." Syndrea said firmly.
"About what? We've been through this already."
"Last night. You really didn't have to act that way."
"It's a Predacon way. My way."
"You're a Maximal now."
"No, I am not. And I never wanted to be. I'm Predacon though and through!"
"It doesn't have to be that way."
"Why not? You think the Maximal society is gonna welcome me with open arms?" Nightfire holstered his rifle and turned to face her. "What you see in me is quite different from what Cybertron sees me as. The killer that needs to be brought to justice…"
"Or one who can change."
"You've never really gotten the point. Change is out of the question for me. Even if you can accept it, others won't."
"You have to prove it to them."
"What's the point? Fact is, they'll only see me for one thing. The outside. Things I've done. They'll never understand the true meaning, my true meaning. My feelings."
"They…I would if you'd just explain it to me. I've been trying to convey that message to you."
"And I've been trying to tell you, 'you won't understand!' " Nightfire shouted. In fact, both of them were shouting now.
"I thought you promised me to try your best. You certainly aren't!"
"So what if I did, it's just words." Nightfire almost regretted saying that.
"So that's it? That's your version of a promise?"
"I had to get you off my back!"
"I absolutely hate you when you act this way!" Syndrea yelled with a sudden burst of anger.
For a long moment, both stared into each other's eyes. Mixed feelings of compassion, pity, hate. Abruptly, Syndrea slapped him and ran out, bumping into Rhinox outside the room.
"Oh! Sorry." She said softly, then left.
"I require some assistance." Rhinox said, looking into the room.
Nightfire rubbed the sore side of his face and stuffed his rifle on a shelf. Rhinox begun to walk back to the control room but turned back.
"By the way, I'll just give you a little piece of advice." He said, "Never pass up an opportunity."
He's actually right… Nightfire thought as the big, green Maximal left.
Nightfire made a detour to the room he used on the ship and searched through the files for a certain CD he wanted.
After which, he pulled out an electronic notepad and strapped it to his 'belt', together with the CD.
Where am I?
Cheetor dreamily regained consciousness. Then he remembered. Everyone Optimus had explained to him. About the virus. He'd been hit. What they were going to do to save him.
"Oohhhhh…"
Through his blurred vision, he could make out someone standing over him.
"Relax," It was Nightfire's voice, "try not to think about it."
Everyone was pretending that it would be OK. It was expected, but Cheetor knew better. And he felt like a complete idiot. For a lot of things: being so foolish, disobeying orders, causing trouble for the others. He wanted more than anything else a way out of this.
But what's done is done, and it was my own fault.
"Help me…" he half-consciously muttered. "Don't let me go…"
"I won't," Nightfire took his hand, "I promise. Not get some rest. Here, these analgesics should help."
Cheetor felt a jab.
"Not…more…drugs…"
Nightfire stood staring at Cheetor's unconscious form, lost in his own mind.
What did I just do? He shook his head, I just promised to save someone I condemned to death a few mega-cycles ago.
He put down the medical syringe in his hand and walked over to look out the window.
What kind? My version? Or a truthful one?
"Maybe I'm just trying to make up to Syndrea." He said to no one. His fists automatically clenched. Her words still rung in his head, no matter how many times he tried to forget.
The notepad still hung on his belt. Nightfire pulled it off and begun typing.
Later on, he gave an excuse for leaving and returned to his quarters.
Nightfire was awakened by the orange streaks of light shinning into his eyes. Blinking, he sat up drowsily and shook his head. He'd fallen asleep on his workstation. The sun was setting and just a glimmer of the bright orange sphere could be seen.
"Finally, you're up." Rhinox said from the other computer.
"Why didn't you wake me?"
"You've been up working from the whole of the last 24 mega-cycles. You needed a little time off."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Anyway, we've almost done." Rhinox pushed a few keys. This instructed a pair of mechanical arms to add the final pieces onto a small laser pistol suspended above the workstation.
"Has Megatron started gloating yet?"
"Of course, claiming to have an anti-virus and such. Then Optimus said to him: 'Dream on! I'm not falling for your act!' and put down the com-link."
"No kidding." Nightfire leaned on the table and stared over his companion's shoulder at the screen. "So, when do we start?"
"Now." Rhinox got up and used a cable to connect the laser to the computer.
"Now?" Nightfire asked, surprised.
"I already worked out the plan with Optimus. Carry out the operation as soon as possible and get it done. The others will be watching the base on all sides to make sure no Predacon gets to the base while its defenses are down.
And I gave Cheetor a little prep talk too. And he went: 'Ultra gear guys, I'll be rooting for ya!' "
The dragon nodded. Rhinox picked up a VR visor and placed it in Nightfire's caws.
"It's your call." The older Maximal said.
"It should be you doing this job!" Nightfire protested.
"I'm not a doctor, but you're a medic." Rhinox placed a hand on his shoulder, "Besides, your aim is much better than mine."
Nightfire gave in, put on the visor and took his place at the computer. Through the VR visor, it was as if Nightfire were holding the laser himself. He zoomed in on the image until the yellow blotches on the bright blue spark could clearly be seen.
"I'm ready." He said, biting down on his lower lip.
"Channeling all power to laser." Rhinox said, reaching over and pulling a lever. "5…4…3…2…"
"…1…Done. They should be at it now." Optimus muttered, checking the clock on his wrist.
Syndrea leaned her head against a rock, clutching her handgun even more tightly now. She was trying hard to concentrate, but her mind kept on flashing back to the argument with Nightfire earlier on.
Sure, there were problems between them. They argued quite a bit, but this was definitely one of the bad ones. She'd tried to make him feel accepted here, tried to have him correct the worst of his traits.
Tried to tell him that he could change.
She'd partially succeeded. At least he was more receptive to others around him now.
But he's mostly the same. Syndrea thought, Even if he doesn't realize it yet, I do care a whole lot for him. I do wish to understand the pain that he's been hiding and what he's going through. But even through he knows better, he keeps on pushing me away. And I hate him for that. Why?
A scraping sound caused Syndrea to look left, only to find a small mouse scurrying past.
Maybe I'm asking too much, going too fast, but I just want to help. It's not in my nature to let people suffer…
"Heads up!" Optimus' yell interrupted her thoughts.
Bits of rock flew everywhere as pieces of the landscape blew up. Other parts were immediately engulfed by explosions. The Predacons had mounted their attack.
"They're coming?" Nightfire asked, without looking up from his work.
Rhinox stared out the window.
"Yep, explosions everywhere."
"Typical."
Rhinox took a moment to admire the spectacle in front of him. Cheetor's spark, hovering above his body at the restoration chamber, was being held in a temporary container, which looked something like a transparent, open-ended cylinder. Above that, Nightfire skillfully directed the laser. Rhinox checked the view screen showing a close up on the scene. The yellowish color of the virus was slowly being burned off. It was working! Now it was only a matter of time.
Rhinox sighed in relief.
"Looks like they've engaged our main force." Airazor commented, shutting off her falcon's binocular vision.
"I would like to assist," Tigatron said, "but we have to hold our positions. I'm sure the others are doing the same."
A small rock rolled off a nearby hill. Two sets of weapons jerked up at the noise. There were some scraping sounds, followed by some light tapping. Several more pebbles were jarred loose. Then, it was silent.
"The spiders?" Airazor asked.
Tigatron nodded.
"Follow me."
The pair cautiously crept up towards the sound of the noise.
Ready? Tigatron mouthed. Airazor nodded.
"Gotcha!" both jumped up and aimed their weapons…only to find one of Tarantulas' mini spider robots.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Hey Tigatron, look! There's some sort of timer on it."
The numbers were going down. …3…2…1…
"Run!"
It was too late. The force of the mini bomb was more than enough to knock them out cold.
Tarantulas appeared out of the shadows with his eerie laugh.
"Hehehehehe! Worked like a charm. I'm such a genius, at times I even surprise myself. Hehehehehe!"
"What was that?" Rhinox had noticed a bright flash. It was gone the next instant.
"Coms are down," Nightfire reminded him, "we can't call anyone. But it was probably nothing, the others have got the area covered, after all."
Rhinox wasn't as confident. He reached down and picked up his chain guns.
"I'll go check it out."
"I'm almost done anyway. I'll join you ASAP."
Rhinox descended the elevator and jumped off, carefully checking the surrounding area. Nothing moved, bar the explosions in the distance.
"Hmmm."
He still felt like something was wrong. He continued on to the rear of the ship.
Then…something moved! Behind!
Rhinox spun round. As he did so, he received a shot straight in his back.
Meanwhile, Optimus Primal's group was still trading fire with the Predacons atop a hill. Someone had thrown a smoke grenade, stirring up clouds of dust and making it incredibly difficult to target.
"Damm, I can barely see a thing." Calico muttered. The vixen crouched down to reload her twin Uzis.
"You'd think it would make it harder for them to target us too." Syndrea muttered.
"They're higher up," Optimus said, "that gives them a slight advantage. But we have to keep fighting."
Even as he said those words, Optimus Primal still felt like something was wrong. But he trusted the rest of his team. They'd handle it. At least, he hoped.
"Hey, I did it!" Nightfire cried happily, throwing off the visor.
He'd actually done it, achieved what was almost impossible.
"You are really lucky Cheetor." He said, even through he knew Cheetor couldn't currently hear him.
Now all that was left to do was redirect the power, bring the other systems online and return his spark to his body. No problem.
BAM! Nightfire heard the gunshot.
"Rhinox?" It hadn't sounded like the familiar rapid firing of his chain guns.
Nightfire hit the panel.
"Restore original power settings and bring Sentinel online." He ordered the computer.
"Acknowledged." The computer replied, "System will take ten cycles to restore power settings."
"What? Ten cycles? What kind of crappy systems do you guys have?"
Nightfire stopped and listened. Footsteps. Three, maybe four bots. One of them was definitely very big. The dragon didn't need his psychic senses to tell him that it was the Preds.
"Work faster." He muttered.
"Unable to comply." The computer nonchalantly replied.
The Preds were approaching the control room fast. Nightfire reached for his rifle, only to find his holster empty.
Slapping himself, he realized he'd left it in the training room after the argument with Syndrea. He had his sword, but it wouldn't deal with four heavily armed Predacons firing at him. Not all four at once, at least. Additionally, there was too much delicate equipment and not enough room to maneuver.
Which left him no choice but to revert to beast mode and try his fiery breath. As an afterthought, he reached a claw into a compartment and pulled out a pistol that was stored there for emergency use.
Being in his dragon form made him feel a little more confident, but it still didn't change the fact that he was in trouble.
Here they come…
He waited only for the footsteps to come round the corner, then let loose a fire blast followed by several pistol shots. Predictably, Waspinator was the one who screamed and blew up. Nightfire flipped the table up, just in time to deflect a purple laser. Megatron obviously hadn't wanted this to fail so much that he'd come to get it done in person.
He recognized the deeper, shotgun-like blasts as Deathwing's gunblade weapon. The third was one of the spiders, judging from the sound, probably Blackarachnia.
Nightfire emptied the weapon while using the table as a shield.
It's not gonna hold!
BOOM!
Sure enough, it was blown to pieces. Nightfire stopped firing and climbed to the ceiling, digging his claws in for better grip, and waited. Blackarachnia came in first, pointing her weapon everywhere except up.
Perfect!
The dragon pounced, pinning her down with his massive reptilian talons. Megatron fired, driving a hole in one of his wings. Nightfire roared in pain and attempted to use Blackarachnia as a shield.
Unfortunately, her body was too small and Deathwing's aim too precise. Nightfire was shot right in the face. He stumbled back, crashing into the glass door of the elevator. Deathwing followed up with a sword attack and
Nightfire used his tail as a whip to knock it away. But it didn't stop the silent Predacon's attack. Deathwing punched, Nightfire retaliated, and the two were engaged in a furious fist-to-claw fight.
Nightfire was part way trying to clear the stars out of his vision and trying to ignore the fact that Megatron and Blackarachnia were driving bullets into his hide.
Grrrr….can't take much more of this…
Deathwing suddenly felt some unseen force grasping around his neck. Nightfire was clenching a fist.
"What?" Megatron and Blackarachnia both gasped and stepped back.
Nightfire thrust a claw out as if he were throwing something. Deathwing was flung across the room into his companions. It didn't end there. He was dragged and slammed into the opposite wall. Blackarachnia took the opportunity to aim and fire her crossbow-like gun. Nightfire flew back into the wall…and lay still.
"What was that?" she asked, still slightly shocked at the sudden burst of power.
"Another of his little secrets." Deathwing muttered, wiping mech-fluid off his injured mouth.
"Ah, yes." Megatron was hunched over another computer console. He soon brought up the container containing Cheetor's spark. "Such an excellent bargaining tool, yes. The life of Optimus Primal's little friend."
"System charge 90 complete." The Maximal computer announced.
"Quickly, we must leave at once." Megatron indicated the elevator.
"Hey BA, help me out here." Deathwing reached over and lifted Nightfire's head.
"Urgh! He's heavy." Blackarachnia grunted.
"Quiet you two!" Megatron ordered. "And hurry up!"
Silently, the three Predacons disappeared into the night.
"Man! I knew this was a setup!" Rattrap pounded the broken table.
"We certainly don't need you to point that out." Calico said.
"Sorry Optimus," Rhinox said, "I can't believe that I was so careless."
"Forget about it," Optimus said, "we have to focus on the present here." He looked over to the restoration chamber. "How's Tigatron?"
"He'll be OK." Airazor answered, "He took the worst of that bomb blast. But he won't be able to help us anytime soon."
"Judging from the looks of this place," Optimus continue, "Nightfire put up some fight, but…"
"His system is built for speed and stealth, not endurance." Syndrea spoke up, "He hasn't got much armor."
"HELLO!" Rattrap stood up and waved his hands, "What are we all sittin' round here moaning for? Let's just go storm their base or something and get our pals back!"
"Storm their base huh," Calico said, "not a bad idea. Considering they do it to us all the time."
"No. Megatron's got two of our comrades. We can't risk a full scale assault while he's holding hostages." Optimus said grimly.
"So what? We just sit here and wait? Sheesh!" Rattrap sighed.
"We play his game…for now."
The computer hummed.
"A transmission." Rhinox flipped a few switches. "It's the Preds."
"I'll handle it." Optimus stepped up and set the screen on visual.
"Greetings Optimus," came Megatron's boastful voice, "rather nice day isn't it?"
"Get to the point, Megatron."
"Ah yes, well I'm sure you're aware of what I have."
He stepped away from the screen so Optimus could see past him. Nightfire was secured to a metal frame, limbs bound tight. He was surrounded by Terrorsaur, Waspinator and Inferno, who were trying to hold his dragon head down. He didn't look in good shape. Optimus could only clearly make out that his wings looked like they'd been run through a shredder. Something like a blindfold had been pulled over his face, covering his eyes.
He'd apparently been listening to the conversation, because he suddenly jerked up his head, throwing all three Predacons off him.
"Don't listen to him, Optimus!" Nightfire yelled, turning his head towards the screen, "my life isn't worth…"
Inferno clubbed his head with the butt of his gun, knocking him out.
Megatron stepped back in front of the screen.
"But I'm sure that won't be your only concern." Megatron held up the container with the glowing spark inside.
"All right. What do you want?" Optimus grimaced.
"Not much, really. Just for you to come down to our base alone and surrender yourself to me."
"When?" Optimus growled.
Nightfire's face didn't even move as Shadowflare ran the dagger down his side.
"I see you're no stranger to pain." The panther muttered.
Nightfire didn't answer, but turned his head and spat.
"Fearless as ever," came Megatron's voice, "isn't that right, Phantom?"
With the blindfold on, Nightfire couldn't see anything. But he reached out with his senses and felt Deathwing's presence.
"So you've finally had the guts to tell them the truth Deathwing." He growled.
"It became a necessity." Deathwing said.
"More like a display of how truly pathetic you are."
"WHY YOU…"
"He's trying to aggravate you." Shadowflare said, holding him back, "In my humble opinion."
"Hmmm. But we have here now the one who double crossed us, not once, but twice, and led the Maximal ship straight to us." Megatron kept his calm tone.
"Glad to be of such wonderful service to you Megatron," Nightfire mocked, "and I didn't even charge you for that."
Furious, Megatron drove a fist into Nightfire's face.
"You'll regret that."
"Oh sure, I already have. Come on, what's the worst thing you can do? Kill me? I know what failure of treachery means in our 'ethics'. You might as well get on with it."
"Oh no. Not just yet. Because you'll suffer first."
Nightfire was grabbed, untied, and thrown into a cage. He felt the hard 'clang' as well as the shock as he hit the electrified bars. Now that he had his claws free, Nightfire took the opportunity to reach up and attempt to rip the blindfold off. Immediately, he received a severe electric shock that forced him to let go.
"Don't try," Scorponok informed him, "I linked that directly to your power source. Pull it off and you go offline too."
Nightfire staggered to his feet. There was sufficient room for him to stand on all fours.
"It's still just a cage and a blindfold. You should know from experience that nothing like that's gonna hold me for long."
"Maybe not," Megatron replied, "but this should certainly help. Catch."
Nightfire caught the object.
No way! It couldn't…
But it was. The spark container. With Cheetor's spark still in it.
"Be careful with that. Because I certainly wouldn't like to see the look on Optimus' face if you were to lose, his young friend. HAHAHAHAHAHA…"
The other Predacons joined in. Nightfire clenched his claws in rage and waited till all of them had left the prison room. The dragon placed a claw on the spark container.
I'd better be able to do this.
( Cheetor, ) he called telepathically.
( Huh? What? ) Cheetor voice sounded, blur and confused, ( W…where am I? What's going on? )
( It's a long story, but to make it short, we are seriously screwed. )
"WHAT? Boss monkey! You can't be serious!"
"Yes Rattrap, I am."
"Oh boy."
"How about that underground passage Nightfire and I used to escape the base previously?" Calico suggested, "They'll probably have it guarded, but I figure I'd be able to sneak past."
"Worth a shot Optimus," Rhinox said, "Since the rest of us are going to have to keep out of range of their scanners. Besides, you'll probably have to deal with a ship full of nine Predacons by yourself."
Optimus nodded.
"I know the place too. I'll go with you." Airazor offered.
"If you know Nightfire like me, he's gonna try some heroic escape of his own. I better come along too." Syndrea added in.
"All right then. The ladies sneak in through the underground passage." Optimus declared. "The rest of you will follow me, but stay out of range of their sensors."
Dinobot snorted.
"Whoa, whoa, wait a cycle here! If the girls are gonna be on some dangerous infiltrate-and-rescue mission, then don't ya' think we should be lettin' the expert accompany them. For safety reasons."
"Shut up Rattrap!" yelled everyone else.
"OH boy…"
( Whoa, total bummer. ) Cheetor muttered.
( I know. ) Nightfire had to lower his scaly body and lie down. His injuries were making it exhausting just to keep on his feet.
( So then, you've always had these powers? ) Cheetor asked, trying to strike up a conversation.
( Yes. )
( And you think I may have them too. )
( Partially at least. Your strange dreams, plus the fact that you can speak back to me rather easily. Remember previously I told you that you could see in more than just one perception? )
( Uh-huh. )
( Calm your mind, feels the air around you. )
( Okay… )
Into his world of darkness flashed the image to the prison room, the cage, and Nightfire lying down in it. Grasping his spark container in his claws.
( I did it! )
( That's good…urgh… )
( Hey! You're hurt pretty badly. ) Cheetor didn't need his vision to tell him that.
( Pain, ) Nightfire replied, (is also something that's in your mind. Like a river, don't go against it, but flow with it, and it will lead you to your destination. )
( You sure know some deep stuff. What's it mean? )
( That, you'll have to figure out on your own. Oh and don't talk anymore, I think someone's coming. But I'll let you watch. )
Cheetor decided not to ask. He already had a whole bunch of unanswered questions. There was a sudden flash.
Cheetor would've blinked if he could. Next thing, he was looking at some black and white image. Only when it moved did he realize that he was looking down at Nightfire's body. The dragon was scraping something in his claws, being extra careful to keep it hidden.
What in the name of…?
The view moved again, showing the door. It opened and Scorponok and Inferno noisily chattering stepped in. Then it hit him. It was almost as if he were looking through Nightfire's eyes. He was seeing and hearing everything Nightfire would've if he didn't have the blindfold on. Right now, the dragon was pretending to be asleep.
"Looks like he's out." Scorponok said, "Good. That'll make it easier to move him."
Nightfire waited till they turned the power off and opened the cage door. Then…
"RRRRRrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaagggggggg!"
With a roar, he brought up the metal shard in his hand, with its end carefully sharpened into a blade, and drove it into his opponent's chest. Inferno tried to fire, but Nightfire used Scorponok's limp body as a shield.
"Argh! You will burn traitor…ugh!" Inferno was abruptly shot in the back.
Behind him, Deathwing chambered his gunblade, the empty casing falling to the floor. For a moment, the two enemies stared at each other.
"It was you," Nightfire accused, "you were the one who want to kill me with that virus."
"It started out that way," Deathwing replied, "but…"
With his foot, he kicked open a section of the floor.
"This passage leads to the network of tunnels beneath the base. Megatron's got all the others guarded, but he doesn't know about this one. So…get going."
"You're actually helping me? I thought you'd jump at the chance to kill me in a weakened state."
"Once maybe. But now, my sense of honor will not allow it. Next time we meet, I will finish you with honor."
"Then I'm glad I don't share your stupid sense of honor!" Nightfire raced forward and punched his nemesis in the face, knocking him to the ground. "Anyway, you'll need to look like you put up some sort of fight." He lifted the dazed Predacon up and knocked him out with a second punch. "Otherwise, old Megs just might get suspicious."
Nightfire stopped only to retrieve his sword, conveniently left on a shelf in the same room, before crawling down the narrow passageway.
If I live Deathwing, you can guarantee that we'll meet again…
"This way." Calico gestured for the others to follow her. "It should be right over…"
The fox didn't notice an auto gun emerging from behind some rocks. That was until Airazor blew it up. All three sighed with relief.
"Whew!"
Immediately, a dozen more guns emerged.
"Uh-oh!"
The trio had to dive for cover as they were bombarded by laser fire.
"What? What do you mean disappeared?" Megatron yelled angrily into the com-link.
"In my humble opinion, I mean the scanners aren't picking him up at all. Like he just vanished or something." Shadowflare replied over the com-link.
"Argh!" Megatron slammed his fists down on his chair.
"Megatron," Tarantulas' voice came voice a different channel. "intruders down here. And the defenses aren't…yikes!"
The spider jumped away as his screen blew up.
"Not quite how your plan was supposed to work out, wasn't it Megatron?"
Megatron flicked on another screen. It showed Optimus Primal calmly standing outside the base with his arms folded.
"What's the matter Megatron?" Optimus taunted, "I'm right here. Not coming out to greet me?"
"Grrrr…you'll regret that Primal." He pushed some buttons and activated the ship's weapons. Optimus dove for cover as the weapons begun firing.
"Predacons, prepare for attack!" Megatron ordered.
"Looks like Optimus started the party without us." Rhinox panted.
"Ah, the battle awaits." Said Dinobot.
"Yeah, well I hope da boss doesn't get blown to scrap first!" Rattrap added in.
The three continued running, intent on joining their leader in battle.
"Man, how many of these things are there?" Syndrea wondered. She fired off two more shots, then ducked for cover.
"Airazor, any luck with the coms?" Calico asked as she fired.
"Nothing yet," Airazor begun "…oh wait!"
"…hiss…zor…hiss…is that…you?"
"Nightfire! Are you alright? Over."
"…have…hiss…Cheetor with…hiss…getting out anoth…hiss…way…Over."
"Where are you? We meet up. Over."
"Negative…hiss…tell…hiss…else to get out! Over."
"I copy. Over and out." Airazor nodded to the others and they begun to back off, running the way they'd come from.
"Optimus," Airazor said, activating her com-link again.
"…copy…hiss…and…out."
Nightfire shut off his com-link and frowned. Was it 'I copy' or 'Do you copy'?
There was no way to tell.
( I'm sure they're OK. ) Cheetor said.
( Yeah, I hope. ) Nightfire was not as optimistic as he kept running. ( This is another path I know of. It leads somewhere to the lava pits, I think. )
( As long as it's away from here. ) Looking through Nightfire's vision, Cheetor noticed a pair out auto guns emerging from the roof. ( Heads up! Twelve o' clock! )
In a flash, Nightfire whipped out his sword and deflected the blasts back at the guns, blowing them up.
( Thanks. ) He gasped.
( No prob. Hey, we make a great team. )
( Ironic of you to say that, ) Nightfire replied, (considering I've never really been on a team. )
( You can be on mine, anytime! )
BOOM!
An explosion threw Nightfire into a wall. He hit his head with a painfully loud thud.
( This is bad Cheetor. There must be quite a bit of unstable energon down here. That's what was interfering with our communications just now. )
( Ran man! It'll blow up! We've got to get out of here! )
( Agreed. )
The dragon took off running. As he did, he activated his internal computer.
"Diagnostics." He ordered.
"Power levels critical. 30 and falling."
"Divert anything available to shielding."
"Acknowledged."
( Don't worry, ) he urged, (you'll make it. )
( Dragon man! Opening just up ahead! ) Cheetor yelled excitedly, ( All right! You're the reptile! )
The opening drew ever so close now. Nightfire could practically feel the fresh air. The tunnel grew narrower and narrower as he neared the opening.
Then…
Another explosion sent a huge cluster of boulders down upon him. The only thing he could do was spread his wings and shoulders. His limbs strained against the immense weight; he was partially holding up the entire cavern and protecting the spark case held on his belt.
( Don't give up! ) Cheetor urged, (Just a little more. )
Nightfire wasn't listening. A thousand things were racing through his mind.
"Power levels 15. Falling." His computer announced.
Argh…can't take this…
( Come on! Don't quit now! )
"Power levels 10 and falling…9…"
I have to do what's right…it's the only way I'll ever be able to make it up…to everyone...
( Cheetor, can you promise me something? )
( What? )
( Just do it, please. )
( OK. I promise. )
( Tell the rest that I'm sorry I could never be the Maximal they wanted me to be. And Syndrea, she's got to look in my desk. )
( Nightfire, what are you going to do? ) Cheetor asked, panicked. His view suddenly went black. Nightfire had separated their temporary telepathic link.
( Good bye. ) He whispered.
( No wait! )
Nightfire grasped the spark container with his tail, aimed, then swung, flinging it out through the hole.
( Nnniighhhttffiirrreeee! ) He heard Cheetor's voice. It was fading as his spark container got further and further away.
"…4…3…"
With the last of his strength, the dragon gave a mental push, throwing the spark canister well out of harm's way.
"…2…1…failure."
His legs literally gave way beneath him. The force of the boulders crushing him body was extreme. Still, he barely felt it. Nightfire was in enough pain already.
As far as he could tell, only his head hadn't already been crushed by the huge boulders. Circuits in his neck blew, joints snapped, leaving him almost completely paralyzed. His dragon head flopped down on top of his sword.
"Funny, that you're still here." He said aloud.
He could feel the ground shaking beneath him and the tons of energon deposits below going critical.
It would be one grand explosion.
It this what death feels like? I'm not afraid or disappointed. In fact, my heart is filled with pride. Pride that I found a cause worth fighting for.
He could feel the seconds ticking away.
Time seemed to slow till it was almost a standstill.
…3…2…1…
So, this is it.
Syndrea…
The explosion was heard by both Predacon and Maximal alike. Being closer to the Predacon base and shaking up the battlefield, it gave Optimus Primal the perfect opportunity to issue a retreat command.
"Let's get out of here people!"
Leaving Megatron and the other Predacons behind screaming angrily, the Maximals withdrew.
"Optimus," came Airazor over the com-link, "you there?"
"I'm here, Airazor."
"You'd better get down to my co-ordinates right now."
"I'll be there." He turned to his group. "Rhinox, I need you to come with me. Rattrap, Dinobot, you two get back to base."
Optimus and Rhinox journeyed till they met up with the girls at the lava pits. Airazor held up something for them to see.
"We detected this and managed to retrieve it."
It was the spark container. With Cheetor's spark well and intact inside.
"Thank Primus." Optimus sighed with relief. Then he stopped. "And Nightfire?"
Calico grimly pointed over a ridge to an area that had clearly been the center of the explosion.
"The last time we picked up his signal, he was somewhere over there."
"You think, he could have gotten out?" Syndrea asked hopefully. She was clutching a wound on her right shoulder from one of the guns.
"Optimus, I'll bring Syndrea and Cheetor's spark back to base." Rhinox offered.
"Yes, that would be good. As for the rest of us, we going to search this area high and low."
Five megacycles later…
All the Maximals, except for Cheetor who was asleep in the medical bay, gathered in the control room. Optimus Primal, Airazor and Calico came up the elevator from the look on their faces, things obviously hadn't gone right.
"Well? Guys?" Rattrap asked, although everyone already knew the answer.
Optimus brought up Nightfire's sword, the Phoenix Blade. It was only slightly blackened, but otherwise intact.
Airazor shook her head sadly.
"No…" Rhinox muttered.
There were similar reactions from the rest of the group.
Optimus walked up to Syndrea and gently patted her on the shoulder.
"I'm sure he did what he knew was right." He offered her Nightfire's sword, "Here, I know he would've wanted you to have this."
Syndrea accepted it. She held it tightly, stared at it for a long moment, then quietly left the room.
This was one part of being a leader that he hated. Optimus nodded to the rest, indicating that they could leave which all of them except Rhinox did.
"And Cheetor?"
"Don't worry Optimus. He's fine. Juts resting in the medical bay."
Rhinox waited until the Maximal commander had left, then leaned heavily on this console.
"Why?" he asked softly.
Cheetor blinked and opened his eyes. He was back! In his own body!
And Optimus Primal was looking down at him.
"Big bot!" Cheetor jumped and hugged him.
"Whoa! Hey!" Optimus cried, almost loosing his balance.
"Nightfire?" Cheetor asked enthusiastically, "Did he make it?"
Optimus sighed, looked down at the floor and shook his head.
"Oh no…" Cheetor sat back down with his head in his hands, "This is all my fault!"
"Cheetor, it isn't…"
"Syndrea! I have to tell her!" Before Optimus could stop him, Cheetor sprang up and ran down the hallway.
He paused outside her quarters. A soft sobbing could be heard.
"Syndrea? It's me. Nightfire wanted me to tell you something before he…." Cheetor couldn't get the rest of the sentence out.
"He wanted you to look in his desk."
The door opened and Syndrea stepped out.
"Thanks Cheetor," She sniffed, "but you should be getting some rest."
"Cheetor?" Optimus' voice called out.
"Yeah, I have to go." He replied and left briskly down the hallway.
Syndrea waited until he was gone, then ran and opened the door of the room Nightfire used whenever he came back to the base. The desk compartments were mostly empty, but in the top drawer, she found an electronic notepad.
It was addressed to her.
She hurried back to her quarters, leaning Nightfire's sword against her bedside. With trembling hands, she opened the notepad:
Syndrea,
I wonder when I'll have the guts to let you read this. Things may have changed by then, but just let me say this.
Hmmm…Where to start?
There is really so much I want to say each time I see you. But, each time, I can never seem to get it off my chest. It is guilt? Or pain? Maybe both.
Fact is, by distancing myself, I thought I would be protecting you. Why? Because I've lost others close to me before. I never wanted to experience that again. But I realized I could never escape that feeling.
Out here, even I can't win every battle alone.
To stray a little from the topic, let me tell you a bit about the theft of the golden disc. Megatron hired me to assist in the act. I readily accepted then, but halfway through, I was thinking about what I was doing with my life. I was getting sick of it, killings, battles, sneaking around in the dark, always having to sleep with one eye open. Some things I've done are simply inexcusable. Considering some brilliant strategist like Megatron had gone through all that trouble to get the golden disc, I figured it couldn't be for a good reason.
I attempted to sabotage their mission. Twice actually. Once by disabling their escape vehicle while I made my own get away. Even then, the Maximal Police failed to capture them.
Second was when I secretly planted a beacon on their ship. It would eventually lead the Maximals, namely you in the Axalon, to them. And in our 'ethics', failure of treachery is a pretty big thing.
After that, I ran. I ran and kept on running. Away from everything, my old life, my past…until ironically, I ended up here, in the middle of a clash I wanted to be furthest away from.
I know I've got to stop running. I have to make a stand. But in truth, I'm afraid. Of what? My own reflection in the mirror?
I thought erasing trace of my past would solve things, but it's only led to even bigger problems. Now that I think about it, if I'm gone, who's gonna fix things? Who's gonna pick up the pieces?
All this time, maybe I've been living a lie. Trying to be something I wanted to be, not who I truly am. Trying to deny the truth. And I've certainly done a good job too.
Well, it stops here and now.
I do realize that by the time you read this, I may already be gone. If so, I can't change that. I may never have your forgiveness, or your trust.
I know words alone are not enough, for actions speak louder than words themselves. I hope that I will be able to say that sometime in the future.
Even if all should fail, just let me say,
I love you, Syndrea.
Nightfire.
"You have proven yourself." Syndrea said to herself, "In ways you never know."
Syndrea sat still for a long while. She simply couldn't stop herself from leaning back and weeping.
Beside her, Nightfire's sword glowed with a soft blue, almost as if it too were crying. For a moment, the large blue crystal embedded on its handle changed and flashed with a fiery, red glow.