Beast Wars and all characters and things related are copyright and trademark of Hasbro and Mainframe Entertainment. This work, however, is the original work of the author.
Note: This story takes place shortly after "Divided".
Deep Trouble, Chapter 2
By TVfan
The Ark
"I'll kill that treacherous ray!" Dinobot roared as he emerged fully repaired from the CR chamber.
"He's taking it well," Rattrap quipped.
Rhinox only shook his head at the transmetal rat.
"Where is he?" Dinobot demanded, "He came here and attacked me personally without issuing a challenge! I demand to know his location."
"Easy, Dinobot," Rhinox encouraged as he lifted his arms up, "Depthcharge isn't here. He left shortly after he shot you."
"Where is he?" Dinobot growled again.
"We don't know," Rhinox answered, "Optimus, Cheetor, and Silverbolt are out looking for him now. Our orders are to guard the base against a possible Predicon attack."
"His attack on me was dishonorable and I deserve retribution," Dinobot argued.
"Optimus will deal with Depthcharge," Rhinox said firmly, "We are to guard the Ark."
Rhinox then turned to go work on some computer switches, leaving Dinobot to glare at Rattrap.
"Whatchya lookin' at me for?" Rattrap asked, "I don't know where he is."
Dinobot growled out a sigh, and stalked out of the room.
Predicon Base
Meanwhile, Megatron smiled as a transparent shield raised itself to surround the crashed Predicon ship.
"Yes!" Megatron laughed, "Yes!"
"Sentinel Shield is operating within expected parameters," Ravage reported from a nearby panel.
"Of course it is," Megatron smiled, "And now the shield is ours and our base is now unassailable."
"They can still attack and possibly overpower the shield," Ravage pointed out.
"Yes," Megatron nodded, "But the only one of them that would be willing to do so is Dinobot, and he can't do it by himself."
The discussion was about to continue when Sentinel's computerized voice interrupted everything.
"Approaching Predicon units," the Sentinel program announced, "Units Waspinator and Inferno. Lowering Sentinel shield."
Tarantulus sighed wiped his forearm across his brow, "Glad all the right alterations worked. I had the hardest time trying to break the codes that would make it a Maximal program."
Megatron ignored the transmetal spider's comment and focused on the two returning Predicons, "Now we'll see what that ship was about."
With that, Megatron turned and headed toward the base's main entrance to see what Inferno and Waspinator had to report. Both Waspinator and Inferno were damaged as they approached their leader.
"What was in that ship?" Megatron demanded.
"Powerful fish-bot!" Waspinator answered weakly, "We had cat-bot defeated and fish-bot did harm to Waspinator."
"The transformer is a Maximal and identified itself as Depthcharge," Inferno reported, "And it got the better of us, my Queen."
"Depthcharge?" asked Rampage as he came forward with Quickstrike and Ravage close behind.
"I believe that what he said," Megatron said with a hint of suspicion, "Do you know this transformer?"
Rampage answered with a partial laugh, "The name sounds vaguely familiar of some transformer I had the pleasure of mentally torturing before I was captured."
"We must identify this transformer," Megatron then announced, "See if Rampage's assumption is right. We don't want the Maximals to arrive here in force now, am I right."
The other Predicons nodded.
"If it is that same transformer," Rampage interrupted, "I doubt he was sent here by Cybertron. More likely he's looking for me."
"Then you shall be the perfect bait," Megatron smiled.
Elsewhere
"Hey Optimus," Cheetor spoke into his radio, "Cheetor to Optimus, come in."
"Optimus here, any sign of him?" the Maximal commander's voice answered back over the radio.
"Nothing," Cheetor answered, "It's like he just disappeared."
"Keep searching," Optimus commanded, "We've got to get Depthcharge under control before he either finds Rampage or before Megatron learns of his existence."
"Why?" Cheetor asked, "With all due respect, Optimus, he didn't exactly show any when he was at the base."
"We have the Predicons outnumbered, Cheetor," Optimus sighed, "Megatron knows that. That's why he took out the Axalon. That's why he took Sentinel. He's trying to deny us any possible advantage we could use. If learns of Depthcharge he may think he's part of a Maximal rescue force and do everything in his power to see that he fails."
The radio line was silent for a moment before Optimus continued, "And considering Depthcharge's obsession with Rampage, guess where he's probably headed."
Cheetor's optics widened, "The Pred base! Then shouldn't we go there?"
"No," Optimus countered, "We need to stop him before he gets there."
Below them, hidden in the jungle, Depthcharge watched Cheetor fly overhead in an obvious search pattern. The red optics of the transmetal manta ray narrowed angrily as he watched the transmetal cheetah fly overhead.
"You're blindly following an idiot," Depthcharge sighed to himself, "He's going to let that Predicon that Megatron sent destroy the Ark while he picks up the pieces."
Depthcharge looked down at the shark blaster in his hand and the said, "But not to worry. Once X is gone, I will make sure the Optimus Primal and Megatron won't be able to put anyone in danger again."
Depthcharge then opened a small compartment that was in one of his for arms, which revealed a special sensor device that was programmed to search out the spark of the transformer he was hunting. It displayed a small map with two dots. A small blue dot indicated Depthcharge's position, while a red dot indicated Rampage's position.
"Heading southwest," Depthcharge commented, "Almost heading toward me. I can cut him off here."
Depthcharge the closed the compartment and the headed off in a path that would lead him to his prey. More than an hour later, Depthcharge came into an area that was extremely desert like. There were no plants, only large boulders, and Rampage's signal was coming from inside a deep canyon. As the transmetal manta ray approached the edge of the canyon, he found Rampage sitting alone on a large rock.
"I've finally caught you, X," Depthcharge said triumphantly.
"Oh woe is me, I'm caught!" Rampage answered back in a voice that indicated that the crab didn't really care, "Pathetic!"
Rampage then pulled out his missile launcher and fired a barrage of missiles at Depthcharge. Depthcharge leaped into the air to avoid the missiles. Two missiles went low and flew off into the air, but the other two slammed into Depthcharge's chest and exploded. The transmetal manta ray screamed in pain and fell to the ground.
Quickly recovering and growling in anger, Depthcharge then aimed his shark blaster at Rampage and fired. The blast missed the crab and hit the rock he was sitting on. The explosion threw Rampage into the air, but the transmetal crab easily recovered while he was in the air and landed on his feet. Depthcharge fired again at Rampage. This time the blast hit home, sending Rampage flying backward down the canyon.
"You won't get away this time, X," Depthcharge snarled.
Depthcharge fired again while Rampage was still on the ground. The blast knocked the crab backward several feet until he landed in somewhat of a box canyon with huge rocks surrounding him. Rampage looked himself over to check for damage and found that his missile launcher had been knocked out of his hand.
"You're trapped, X," Depthcharge said coldly from the other end of the canyon, "You can't escape."
And that is when a third voice called out from above him.
"And neither can you!" roared Megatron's voice.
Depthcharge looked up to see a large red dragon fly out over the top of the canyon.
"Megatron, TERRORIZE!" Megatron announced as he transformed to his robot mode, and using his wings to keep himself in the air, aimed his dragon's head arm at Depthcharge.
Megatron then fired a powerful blast of fire at Depthcharge which knocked him to the ground. As Depthcharge staggered to his feet, he found his armor scorched and in a few places burned away, revealing his inner circuitry. He then turned to see a black version of the transmetal Maximal, Cheetor, land behind him.
"Ravage, TERRORIZE!" the Predicon announced.
Ravage transformed into his robot mode and fired his own laser weapons at the transmetal manta ray. The blast hit Depthcharge's shark blaster as he prepared to fire it and the weapon exploded. The explosion sent him tumbling into a large rock. Depthcharge checked the arm that had the blaster. The armor on his hand and forearm was practically gone. If he got hit in that spot again, he was sure to lose that limb.
"Well, ain't this a perdy picture," came a western twang-like accent from above him.
Depthcharge looked up to see a strange transformer that looked like it was part scorpion part cobra. Both sets of red eyes were focused directly on him.
"Quickstrike, TERRORIZE!" Quickstrike announced as he transformed and fired several shots down on Depthcharge from above him.
Two shots hit Depthcharge in his already damaged arm, one blast him squarely in the chest, and two more shots hit his other arm. The resulting explosion sent him tumbling against another large rock, and as Depthcharge anticipated, the arm that had already been damaged came off. He tried to recover and transform to his beast mode and fly out when he heard a series of insane chuckling coming from the rock he was leaning against.
"What the…?" Depthcharge began as the rock moved to a side and a spring loaded trap launched Depthcharge against the wall of the canyon.
A web of cyber-webbing soon pinned him where he was trapped and a large transmetal tarantula emerged from where the rock had been. It was the spider that was laughing.
"Tarantulus, TERRORIZE!" Tarantulus announced as he transformed and began firing at Depthcharge with his shoulder mounted machine guns, and didn't stop firing until Depthcharge dropped into stasis lock.
"Yeee-haw!" Quickstrike yelled in triumph, "We got ourselves a Maximal!"
"Yes we do," Megatron said while landing and pushing the fuzor out of the way, "Now we must get him back to base. Optimus will surely be looking for him and we don't want an all out battle yet."
The Ark
"Any sign of them?" Rhinox asked as Optimus, Cheetor, and Silverbolt returned.
Optimus sighed with a defeated look on his face, "No. Right now I'd hope that Megatron has Rampage out on some mission far away from the Predicon base. If he attacks it while Sentinel is active, he won't last long."
"We should launch a frontal assault on the base now, while their sill trying to fully install it," Dinobot snarled coming forward from inside the Ark, Rapther at his side, "The Predicons have managed to disable Sentinel by using the same tactics."
"They took the outer shield down, yes," Optimus sighed, "But Sentinel was never disabled, and with the importance of the Ark, we can not risk sending out a force that could overpower the Sentinel shield and the Predicons inside their base."
Dinobot only growled, "You are letting Megatron dictate his terms in the war."
"I know, Dinobot," Optimus sighed in a frustrated tone, "But Megatron and I are the only Transmetal 2's at the moment. I would be needed to insure that once the Sentinel shield is defeated that the Predicons are defeated. But with the Sentinel program, Megatron will see us coming a mile away and could sneak away and destroy the Ark while we defeat the Predicons. And then it won't matter. We're stuck in a position where Megatron is the only one holding the cards."
Dinobot only growled again.
Predicon Base
Inferno was the first to emerge from the Predicon CR tanks. As the insane ant gathered his senses he activated his thrusters and flew to the main computer panel.
"I must figure out where the Royalty has gone," Inferno commented out loud, "So I can…"
"Unit: Megatron is currently ten miles southwest," the Sentinel computer announced.
"Who said that?" Inferno demanded, pulling out his blaster and whirling around.
"Sentinel computerized defense program," the computer answered.
The ant was quiet for a moment before a series of sudden beeps surprised him.
"Attention, alien energy signature detected," the Sentinel computer announced.
"Where?" Inferno demanded.
"Exact source is unknown," the Sentinel program answered, "It is somewhere in the ocean basin to the south of this continent.
"Underwater?" Inferno asked.
"Correct," the Sentinel program answered and then turned to a new report, "Units: Megatron, Tarantulus, Ravage, Rampage, and Quickstrike returning. Lowering shield."
Inferno watched as Megatron and the others returned with a Maximal prisoner in his dragon's head hand.
"Royalty!" Inferno called out, "Sentinel has detected an alien energy signature in the ocean to the south of us."
Megatron scowled at the ant and then turned his head to the computer.
"Confirm," Megatron commanded.
"Affirmative," Sentinel answered, "alien energy signature in the sea south of us, but exact location is impossible to determine."
Megatron looked over at Rampage and then at the offline Maximal he had been dragging behind him.
"And I'll have just the bots to retrieve the device for me," Megatron smiled.
Hours Later
Depthcharge awoke to find himself feeling rather strange. His personal hatred for Rampage remained the same, but he now found himself hating the Maximals in general and small desire to rule was now present in his mind. The transmetal manta ray couldn't explain this and slowly sat up.
"Good evening, Depthcharge," came a deep commanding type voice from in front of him.
Depthcharge slowly opened his optics to see that he was sitting on a large table and looking at the large red dragon transformer in his robot mode.
"Megatron," Depthcharge growled.
"Ah, you recognize your new lord and master," Megatron smiled, "Very good, yes."
"I will never serve you," Depthcharge growled.
"But you are a Predicon," Megatron pointed out, "It is your very duty to serve me."
"I am not a Predicon," Depthcharge tried to assert, but his voice didn't sound entirely sure.
"Check your programming," Megatron shrugged, "I won't stop you."
Depthcharge then ran a quick systems check on all his functions. Everything came up that his current systems and codes were Predicon in nature, but they did register that they were originally Maximal.
"You…" Depthcharge challenged pointing an accusing finger at Megatron.
"Yes, I altered your personality traits and command codes," Megatron laughed turning his back on Depthcharge, "You are for all intents and purposes a Predicon."
Depthcharge growled and leaped from the table onto Megatron's back. Using his weight, Depthcharge managed to drag Megatron backward until his feet were back on the ground. The transmetal manta then noticed that Megatron didn't look at all concerned with the situation he was in. Megatron merely opened a compartment in his shoulder and produced an energon cage and placed it inside his dragon's head hand. He then squeezed with that hand. The sharp teeth of the dragon's head biting into the energon cage.
Suddenly Depthcharge felt overwhelming pain surge through his body. He released his grip on Megatron and fell to the floor. Megatron only laughed.
"I also took the liberty of surgically removing a portion of your spark to insure your loyalty," Megatron gloated, "It's a small piece, mind you, but it allows me to insure that you do not cause me trouble. Serve me faithfully, and you will receive no pain. Dare oppose or betray me…"
Megatron squeezed on the energon cage again. Depthcharge let out a pained scream as the Predicon tyrant did so.
"… and I will put you in the most horrible pain imaginable," Megatron finished, "Is that understood?"
Depthcharge looked up at Megatron and saw the triumph in the dragon's eyes.
He looked down at the metal floor below him and whimpered, "Yes."
"Very well," Megatron replied, "Sentinel has detected an alien signal in the ocean to the south of this continent. I want you and Rampage to go there and retireve it for me."
"X!" Depthcharge roared, "I hate him! I will not work with him! It doesn't matter what you've done!"
Megatron opened his shoulder compartment to reveal the energon cage again.
"Never mind," Depthcharge sighed, "I'll go."
"Good," Megatron nodded, "No go. Rampage already has a five minute head start."
Depthcharge transformed to his beast mode and slowly and in a defeated manor flew out of the Predicon base.
Two hours later, Depthcharge and Rampage arrived at the sea coast. The transmetal manta ray transformed and stood where the surf was just barely able to reach his feet. Rampage remained in his beast mode.
"Amazing after all those years of wanting revenge, here we are," Rampage laughed, "Side by side. The perfect duo."
"Shut up," Depthcharge growled, "The sooner I can free myself of Megatron and rid the universe of you, the better I'll feel."
"You can't do that," Rampage laughed as he walked into the surf on his crab legs, "Megatron did the same to me, removing part of my spark, to insure control. It involves some crazy surgery that I don't know how to perform. You'll be stuck serving him forever!"
Rampage laughed as he walked beneath the waves and disappeared from Depthcharge's line of vision. Depthcharge sighed and followed the transmetal crab into the ocean. The Predicon programming that Megatron had installed in him was beginning to take greater and greater control over him. He still hated Rampage, but the prospect of finding this alien device and possibly gaining power from it seemed quite attractive to him.
Once underwater, Depthcharge switched back to his beast mode and began swimming along the bottom of the ocean
Meanwhile in the forest near the beach a pair of eyes watched the two transformers disappear beneath the waves. A short but growling sigh was heard shortly after.
"What is it, Dinobot?" Rapther asked coming up beside the male raptor.
"I believe Optimus's hope of finding Depthcharge before Megatron is about to be crushed," Dinobot gave a sighing answer.
"What?" Rapther asked.
"Megatron's done something to him," Dinobot answered, "Come, we'd best return to the Ark. Optimus… should know of this."
The Ark, Later
"Well, our copy system should be ready to start up," Rhinox sighed, "Hope it works."
The Maximal's main scientist then pulled himself out from a laying down position under a computer panel to turn to Optimus and a few other present Maximals. Optimus only nodded.
"Okay Rattrap, give it a go," Optimus commanded.
"Okay, here goes nutthin'," Rattrap said as he closed his eyes and pressed the button that he was told to push.
The computer consoles sparked for a few moments, but a transparent shield soon raised itself around Ark and the rocks that covered it.
"Way to go Rhinox, you've done it!" Optimus exclaimed.
Rhinox gave a slight smile, and then said, "We'd better lower the shield. Dinobot and Rapther will be returning from their patrol soon."
Rattrap nodded and pressed the button again, and the shield lowered. Five minutes later, a very troubled looking Dinobot and Rapther returned.
"Was there anything worth noting about your patrol?" Optimus asked as Dinobot took a seat in one of the command chairs.
"I'm afraid I must be the bearer of bad news," Dinobot answered.
Optimus sighed and looked down, "What it is it?"
"I'm afraid Megatron was able to get to Depthcharge first," Dinobot said quietly.
"He's dead?" Optimus asked.
"Negative," Dinobot sighed, "He was captured and turned into a Predicon."
"Like what he did with me?" Rhinox asked.
"Affirmative," Dinobot nodded, "But he's also done the same thing that he did to Rampage to him."
"Things just got harder," Optimus sighed, looking down.
Ocean
Depthcharge had spent hours swimming along the bottom of the ocean. He had his onboard sensors scanning on all frequencies for the alien signal that Sentinel had detected at the Predicon base. Suddenly he bumped into a large green object that looked like a large egg lying perfectly upright at the bottom of the ocean. Depthcharge transformed and felt the object with his hands. Strangely, the exterior of the "egg" looked like it was some organic pattern, but it felt like metal, not stone and certainly not anything organic.
"Depthcharge to X," Depthcharge spoke into his radio, "I believe I've found it."
"Well, don't just stand there," Rampage's voice answered back, "Take it!"
Depthcharge nodded in obeying the over the radio command and produced his shark blaster and took a step back. He then fired, and the resulting explosion ripped the "egg" perfectly in half. It revealed a small sphere covered in red dots and hovering above a small platform. The sphere pulsed with a strange energy.
"Definitely the alien energy signature," Depthcharge commented as he grabbed it and begin swimming in robot mode back toward shore.
Depthcharge found Rampage waiting for him on the coast.
"So did you do anything important while I found this?" Depthcharge challenged while holding up the alien device.
"Oh I found something, but I think I'll keep it to myself for now," Rampage chuckled, "Come on let's get back to base."
Rampage then switched to his tank mode and sped off, kicking sand in Depthcharge's face. The transmetal manta ray's optics narrowed on the crab.
"I will have my revenge on you," Depthcharge threatened, "You have my word, X."
Predicon Base, Later
Megatron smiled as Depthcharge handed him the device.
"Yes," Megatron smiled, "Now things are moving along nicely. Soon I will have the numbers needed to destroy Optimus Primal and his pitiful band. The Aubobots in the Ark will be destroyed and Predicon rule will be established!"
"Now the two blank pods will be activated?" Ravage asked.
"No," Megatron shook his head, "We need to make sure this is the transmetal driver. Right now all we know is that it is alien."
Ravage nodded, assuming that the device was to be tested.
"And while Tarantulus assembles the tools needed for the tests that this device will need to be put through," Megatron continued, "I think it's time we show Optimus what a good Predicon Depthcharge has turned out to be."
To be Continued…