Disclaimer: I do not own Beast Wars. It belongs to Hasbro.
Chapter 9: Father and Son
Optimus and Megatron's group were almost to the hangar. They just had to get past the security checkpoint room and they'd be there but first they had to get into the security checkpoint room.
"Well this is unexpected." Primal said. Of all the things they expected to stop them from getting to the Axalon a wall of ice was not one of them.
"Inferno to me." Megatron said and the two began to work at melting the ice. Between the two of them it didn't take long for them to get through and enter the security checkpoint room, which was a huge chamber. However, the moment the two of them step into the room the ice covers up the opening they had made cutting them off from the rest of their group. Megatron could hear Optimus pounding on the ice shouting for him, but Megatron's focus was on the large cold blue figure in front of him a figure he new all too well.
"Cryotek." Megatron said addressing the figure his voice dripping with disdain.
His father.
"Hello son it has been quite a while since we've seen each other hasn't?" Crytotek said smiling pleasantly, but the smile didn't reach his optics. The hatred burning in them contrasting nicely with the chill the body was giving off.
"Not long enough father." Megatron said.
"Father? This is your father my Queen?" Inferno said looking back and fourth between the two confusion clearly written on his face. Megatron resists the urge to face palm or strangle Inferno. Of all the times to call him that…
"He calls you Queen? How cute, a pity he will soon be looking for a new Queen to serve." Cryotek said. Inferno quickly caught the threat in the other's voice and steps forward.
"I will protect you royalty." Inferno said his drills spinning and his flamethrowers spitting embers ready to ignite into a glorious inferno and start burning the threat before him.
"No Inferno. Not this time. He is mine." Megatron said and motions for his loyal soldier to stand down and Inferno reluctantly complies.
"Fighting on your own? Didn't I teach you better? Why take lumps when you can have others take the lumps for you?" Cryotek said and ice covered transformers rise out of the snowy tundra around them wielding swords and other melee weapons made of ice. That was a lot of ice.
"Inferno." Megatron said and Inferno charges eagerly into battle happy to have something to take his fiery rage out on.
"Let us leave the minions out of this Cryotek. This is between us and if I don't fight my own battles I'd hardly be worthy of the name Megatron."
On the other side of the ice wall Optimus had given trying to punch his way through when he started hurting his hands. There was something unnatural about this ice. Maybe if he transforms to vehicle mode and try ramming his way through? Further musings were interrupted by the arrival of Depth Charge and his group.
"Primal." Depth Charge said with a slight nod.
"Optimus what's going on?" Rhinox said.
"We need to get through this ice and get to Megatron." Optimus said before being interrupted by a large bang followed by an explosion. "He needs our help."
"I say leave him to die." Rampage said crossing his arms.
"As much as I don't want to agree with X here Primal Megatron has been nothing, but trouble for us." Depth Charge said, but Optimus shakes his head.
"I don't like it either, but when facing the threat of Unicron Maximals and Predacons must put their differences aside and work together to stop him just as our ancestors did before us." Optimus said. More than a few roll their optics at the usual 'destiny and honor speech', but nonetheless nod in agreement.
Rhinox, who had placed Cybershark on the ground, steps up reverts to vehicle mode and proceeds to start ramming the ice going full rhino rampage on it. The others follow suit chipping at the ice in their own ways be it blasting it with their guns or smacking it with their melee weapons.
"Aren't you going to help?" Snapper said to Rampage who stares at him with an unreadable expression on his face.
"No, I hate Megatron. If he dies all the better for me." Rampage said.
"Okay, I totally get that, but that way is the only way out so we're going to have to get through that ice anyways." Snapper said pointing out the other reason they needed to get through the ice wall. Now that on the other hand was a good enough reason for Rampage to help. So with a short sigh of indignation switches to beast mode, scuttles over, and starts hammering away at the ice with his claws.
Back on the other side of the ice the two tyrants trade shots of fire and ice at one another as they move around the chamber. There wasn't really anywhere for people of their size to use as shelter so they had to keep moving instead. Megatron did his best, well best for him, not to hit Inferno since he was his only back up at the moment. However, Cryotek did not share this sentiment and didn't even blink when he blasted some of his minions.
Inferno for his part did his best to avoid getting hit by one of those attacks while fighting. Since the other two were more focused on trying to kill each other it wasn't hard. However after nearly getting hit again (which also took out the last of the minor enemies) and having no one left to fight Inferno decides the most prudent course of action was to duck behind a counter and wait till the Royalty had need of him.
"You will pay for betraying me Megatron. I rescued you from the slums of the Dead End, taught you everything I knew, made you the mechanoid you are today, you should owe me everything." Cryotek said as he forgoes range attacks and just goes straight for wailing on Megatron directly knocking the other back with several blows to the chest.
"Not enough to go to prison for you. I merely decided to betray you first. Something I'm sure you saw coming." Megatron said as he uses his dragon arm to catch Cryotek's next strike and bite down on his "father's" arm with a crunch.
"Eventually, but not then. Not so soon. I suppose I allowed my fondness for you blind me to the coming betrayal." Cryotek said as he pulls away clutching his arm only to smirk as it heals right up. Being a Herald of Unicron had its perks it would seem indeed.
"Yes I suppose you did, if it helps it wasn't anything personal. I do appreciate everything you did for me, but well we are Predacons after all." Megatron said actually sounding genuinely apologetic.
"Yes, that sentimentality was my weakness, but you made one mistake my pupil." Cryotek said he stretches out his newly healed limb.
"What's that?" Megatron said as he braces himself for another round.
"You shouldn't have left me alive."
"Well I suppose your not the only one who is sentimental. However I shall now correct that mistake."
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing." Cryotek said only to be blasted from behind by Inferno who then jumps on him and stabs his drills into Cryotek's back.
"No I will not let you harm the royalty!" Inferno said.
"Geh, get off me." Cryotek said trying to get back up but to no avail. He manages to roll over throwing Inferno over and looks up too see Megatron's dragonhead looking down at him.
"So focused on me. You forgot about my minion." Megatraon said scolding his teacher. "Prison or Unicron has made you let your guard down Cryotek."
"I suppose this is the end my pupil?" Cryotek said with unusual calmness.
"Yes." Megatron said as he prepares to fire weapons charging to pull power. Right before he fires a hidden pocket opens up on Cryotak's wrist revealing a dagger made of dark energon which he uses to slice right into Megatron's calf. Despite the sudden stab of pain Megatron's aim holds true as he fires down point blank into Cryotek's laughing face.
"I may die my pupil, but the true horror is just beginning I hope you're ready." Cryotek thinks as he feels what was left of his 'life' fade and be consumed by the void.
Megatron pulls the dagger from his calf and looks at the now swelling area as the dark energon begins to spread through his system. Acting quickly Megatron tears his leg off before it can spread any farther. An unfortunate inconvenience this was.
"Inferno to me." Megatron.
"My Queen your leg…"
"Later, weld my wound shut before I leak out." Megatron said and Inferno complies and begins to use his flamethrowers to seal the area around Megatron's knee shut. Ignoring the pain really after falling into a lava pit Inferno's fires were nothing in comparison. He glances at the smoldering wreck that had been Cryotek.
"Goodbye father." Megatron said his tone unreadable.
That was when the Calvary arrives smashing through the ice wall everyone striking battle poses dramatically, weapon ready, and Optimus opening his mouth to make a heroic speech only for Megatron to stop him short.
"You're late and I've lost half a leg because of it. Anyone have one to spare?"
Silverbolt's group was in trouble. They had underestimated the tenacity of the dead and now not only were they being overwhelmed they had been cut off from one another. For the group of K-9, Skyshadow, Bantor, Scourge, Noctorro, and Transquito things were looking grim.
"Slag it, if we're going to die then I'd rather go with a bang." Bantor said as he found himself back to back with Scourge. The mad chemist nods in agreement.
"Yes I have some fireworks of my own I've been just itching to try out."
"Well whatever you kids are going to do. Do it fast." Noctorro said with a grunt as he punches another zombie away.
"Wait don't the rest of us get a say in this?" Skyshadow said.
"What is there this say? Either we die or turn into one of these things neither option is good, but I sure as Primus prefer the first over the second." Transquito said. His wings had been torn off leaving him grounded and unable to do much but hide behind the others.
"I'm ready." K-9 said loyally.
Bantor and Scourge pull out their explosives and give each other manic grins.
"Time to get loud."
On the other side of the gun turret room the remaining Maximals and Predacons were holding their own. This was mostly thanks to Dinobot, Blackarachnia, and Torca, but they were still outnumbered as undead pour into the room.
"Do some of these guys look familiar?" Injector said to Buzzlcaw.
"You mean some of these are guys we already put down?" Buzzclaw said his paranoia suddenly gripping him and leaving him open to a zombie strike only to be saved by Air Hammer who shoots the zombie one, twice, and then a third time.
"Be sure to triple tap to make sure they stay down." Air Hammer said before going back into the fight. Buzzclaw shakes his head to clear his mind and uses his ion disks to tear an undead to pieces.
"We need to break through and regroup with the others." Silverbolt said cutting through another zombie.
"Easier said than done we've got our own problem to deal with." Terragator said.
"Even so we must try." Silverbolt said.
"There is only do or don't Maximal. There is no try." Dinobot said as tears through the enemy like a shredding machine.
"The slob has a point though. There is a lot more here than I was expecting and I was expecting a lot already. Blackarachnia said as she shoots away with her blaster.
The room was then shaken by an explosion catching everyone's attention even the undead they were fighting turn to see the source: a smoking crater with the remains of the undead scattered everywhere and lying amongst them were the remains of three Predacons and three Maximals.
"NOOO!" Silverbolt said shouting and with renew vigor starts to cut down his enemies. The others angered by the deaths of their friends start fighting harder as well and eventually the last undead falls to the ground. With the battle won Dinobot walks over to where Bantor's head lay still his optics dark not even a glimmer of life left in them. He recalls a phrase from a book he read that he felt properly sums up this moment.
"There can be no victory without sacrifice."
"Then I wouldn't call this a victory." Torca said looking down at the remains of K-9 and Noctorro mournfully. "This is going to kill Jawbreaker once he hears about Noctorro."
"They will be missed." Air Hammer said softly.
The Predacons on the other hand weren't sad in fact they seem oddly happy.
"Good riddance." Injector said kicking Scourge's head across the room. "That guys always gave me the creeps."
"Transquito was always a pain in the skidplate. Never imagine he'd go out like this though." Terragator said picking up the mosquito's head before tossing it over to Buzzlcaw who kicks it away.
"How could you do that to your own dead?" Silverbolt said.
"Easily." Buzzclaw said with a shrug.
"You shouldn't disrespect the dead!" Silverbolt said starting to get angry.
"You wouldn't say that if you knew them personally. Skyshadow could give Starscream a run for his money in the backstabbing department." Injector said with disdain.
"They were jerks." Terragator said adding his two cents.
Before Silverbolt could reply Dinobot interrupts hoping to both stop things before a fight broke out and to get an answer to a question he had.
"Was that door there before?" Dinobot said pointing to the wall where a door though it'd be accurate to call it a hole now had been revealed thanks to the explosion.
"A secret passage? Perhaps this can lead us to somewhere safe?" Blackarachnia said as she starts walking down it. With out any other options the rest of the group follow after her leaving the remains of their fallen comrades behind.