Disclaimer: BW not mine, blablabla.
Part two
Ginger had eventually reached the Maximal base before the night was over which was lucky because she might have been noticed in daylight. She had almost gotten caught by Cheetor and Dinobot who were on a night patrol. Dinobot was busy being annoyed by Cheetor's comments but he was still watchful and chances were he would pay attention to a fox that was about six times the size of her species. But she had managed to avoid them and had found a wonderfully convenient place to hide between some rocks by the waterfall. From that position she observed the Maximals for most of the next day as they went on patrols or did various other things outside their base. Well, the "various other things" weren't really that various. She had witnessed two arguments between Optimus and Dinobot about leadership, three arguments between Optimus and Cheetor about Cheetor's maturity, four fights between Dinobot and Rattrap for no reason at all, and Cheetor almost managing to shoot himself while trying to demonstrate his maturity. Personally, Ginger didn't think he was quite as stupid as he showed but he would do a lot better if he actually believed he was grown up instead of trying to convince the others to tell him that. She could sympathize with the kid. She remembered… from somewhere… what it was like to be underestimated because of being young. Not that she was quite that grown herself. She liked to think she was "mature for her age". She was so convincing that people had stopped objecting after a while.
But apart from the occasional fight, the Maximals seemed to get along all right. Especially when the big green 'bot named Rhinox was there to shut them all up either with a wise thought or the sight of his Way Cool Chainguns of Death. (She had no idea why she had decided to call them that. Inspiration from another world maybe.)
"Well, all in all these guys look nice enough and they'll do nicely as teammates." She concluded. Then stuck her tongue out. "Blah. Environment that's good enough means I'll have to fit in instead of trying to change it. Boring. And what would they need me for? Besides their stupid fighting I mean. Time to check up on the others."
She waited for a moment when everyone was inside and trotted off in the direction where she thought the Predacon base was supposed to be.
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"This is boring." Ginger murmured to herself. "Don't they ever come out? Someone ought to tell them fresh air is good for the health."
She waited another cycle, then got up determinedly from her strategic position, lying on the edge of a high rock overlooking the Predacon base.
"All right then! I'm going in." she announced to the world as a whole. "It shouldn't be hard with all the holes this ship has. Hmmm, although it looks like there were even more holes but they were recently repaired. Good for you, guys. But you were obviously too lazy to finish the job."
It took her some time to get down from the rock. Then she approached the base really cautiously, intentionally trying to act like a real fox. Ginger wasn't a stupid 'bot. Although she sometimes sounded silly even to herself she definitely didn't like acting silly. She wasn't quite sure the Predacons' scanners weren't working, although it only seemed logical given the fact that no one had tried to contact her or at least attack her. Still, she was practically on enemy territory and someone might try to shoot her. Better use the advantages of her beast mode.
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"Megatron, there's a bird approaching the base."
"And how is that important, my dear Scorponok?"
"It might be a Maximal in disguise!"
Megatron took a look at the screen.
"Scorponok, none of the Maximals has the beast mode of a vulture. I don't even believe they would like it. They seem to have a thing for those so called 'proud and noble' animals, although I fail to see what's so noble about a gorilla and I will never know where the rat fits into the whole thing. So no, I do not think it's a Maximal."
A few cycles passed peacefully.
"Megatron, there's a pack of deer approaching the base."
"And I suppose you think it might be a pack of Maximals?"
"Eh… I was just informing you."
"While I realize the threat of Maximals attacking us, I do believe you are going over the edge with that paranoia." The T-Rex gritted out.
Scorponok cowered.
"Sorry."
Megatron sighed and turned back to the journal he was keeping. He was barely able to finish his second sentence before…
"Megatron… Um, there's a fox approaching the base."
"Scorponok, for the last time, stop informing me of the movements of the local fauna!"
"But it's a very big fox! Are foxes supposed to be that big?"
"I am NOT a wildlife explorer to know that! If you want a commander who discusses the size of Earth species with you you're in the wrong faction! Do you want to become a Maximal like Dinobot?"
"N-no! Of course not!"
"Then watch the monitors for something more dangerous than my potential dinner and keep quiet unless you see something worth reporting! Understood?"
Scorponok nodded fervently and set his gaze on the monitors where the fox wasn't visible anymore. It must have wandered off to somewhere.
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Where the fox had actually wandered off to were the corridors of the Predacon base. She was soundlessly trotting, careful not to be caught, trough various vaguely familiar chambers as her subconscious mind remembered what the inside of a starship was supposed to look like.
She quickly ducked behind a corner when she heard footsteps followed by the screechy voice of one of the Predacons from the previous day's battle. Terrosaur, was it? The Pterodactyl was carelessly dragging the offline body of a huge metal spider.
"For once the stupid arachnid gets it for being unbearably annoying and I have to drag him to a CR! Still, better not cross Megatron today if he's in such a bad mood to blast Tarantulas for cackling madly for the umpteenth time. As if he's not just as annoying! 'Terrosaur, you'll do well to help our dear Tarantulas into a CR tank, yessss.' By the pit, that brainless saurian does not deserve to lead the faction! No one but me deserves to lead the faction! None of them can even speak properly!" he screeched so highly that Ginger involuntarily covered her ears with a paw.
"Except maybe the widow but she's too treacherous and she's a femme which automatically rules her out as a commander."
Oh, is that so! – Ginger thought half-angry, half-amused as she carefully followed him to the CR chambers.
"Megatron calls everyone 'my dear' and drags words. Tarantulas laughs madly every two minutes, with or without a reason. Scorponok can barely put a sentence together without getting confused. And Waspinator's speech problems could fill the main computer's hard disk. Plus, he's an idiot. I'll never be able to figure out why I still haven't taken over the Predacons!" Terrosaur concluded as he dumped Tarantulas' body into a CR tank. "But it's gonna work one of these days, just you wait, Megatron!"
Holding in a chuckle, Ginger followed him just as quietly back towards the control room.
These guys might turn out more interesting than I originally thought. And they have a girl! I didn't see a girl in the Maximal base…
