- Look at first chapter for disclaimer =P
Chapter 3: A New Friend (Maximal No More)
Three weeks. And I had long since convinced myself that I was not in a dream. And because of that, I sorely missed my family. So, to assuage my emotional pain I did whatever I could to help around the Axalon. Menial tasks that is. Or at least that's what Dinobot called them, but I was happy I helped anyway…and kept my distance from Dinobot, or at least had someone else with me who wasn't Rattrap. I grew rather fond of the Maximals rather quickly as I got to personally know them. Rhinox would ask me to come in for a check-up at times he was most available; no doubt wanting to be a physician for an alien member. The check-ups also doubled as therapy sessions as my psychology also seemed…fragile, as Rhinox had put it. I hadn't met the two Maximals Tigatron or Airazor yet, but the crew would happily discuss their scouts anytime I asked about them. As for skills, I learned how monitor duty worked as well as computer repair. Rhinox was undoubtedly my teacher. I wished I had learned more at that time, however, the Maximals kept me inside 100% of the time since I was recovered from the forest. That was my only complaint; not going outside.
I sighed as I kept my eyes on the monitor, only to jump upon hearing a sudden, obnoxious beeping. I looked over to Optimus who nodded quickly and patched a frequency, Dinobots' face showed up on the monitor: "Dinobot, report to the command center immediately. I need you to lead a mission into Predacon ground"
Dinobot grunted thoughtfully.
:"On my way":
After he closed the link, Optimus spun his chair to face me, "You want to patch Silverbolt and Rattrap?"
"Sure thing" I patched Silverbolt first "Yo 'Bolt you up for some recon?" I knew what his answer would be. That guy was always ready.
:"Of course, on my way now":
I nodded and closed the link, then opened another one. I smiled mischievously as I saw that Rattraps' back was to me as he worked on something that required more attention than the monitor behind him. With Optimus' nod of permission, he handed me a small air horn and with a smirk, covered his audios. Why you ask? Because as it turns out the captain of the Axalon had a knack for being mischievous as well…depending on whom he had for an influence. And besides, Rattrap was absolutely engrossed with his project. Seeing as he saw the shenanigans that were about to transpire, I waited for Rhinox to cover his audios too. And without further delay I gave the air horn trigger a quick squeeze.
The sound that left Rattrap was beyond satisfactory. As he got his bearings I helpfully added "You. Command Center. Now" and ended the transmission.
"Cassandra"
I smirked at Rhinox, who also had an identical smirk.
"You're a bad influence on Optimus"
I mouthed 'the worst' as Dinobot strolled in. We all returned to our work. Optimus and Rhinox had done a better job hiding their humored expressions and worked studiously away. I however, still had a smile plastered on my face. I did my best to contain my laughter:
"Reporting for duty…and if you don't mind me asking, what was that Primus-forsaken sound I heard earlier?"
…Oh who was I kidding, I burst into laughter. And it also didn't help that I still held the air horn secured in my grip. Dinobot snorted, "As I should expect…who was your victim today?"
"Rattrap"
No one was safe on the Axalon, all of whom were subject to my 'jump-scares'. Whether it be I trailed them quietly until I was noticed, wandering the hallways at night, or sneaking up behind them and using the air horn. And so because of this, I earned the title: 'The Crazy Ghost Lady', as respectively given by Rattrap. However, it was all in good humor, as they all also knew that I was easily startled. And that was something Dinobot used to his advantage once or twice.
"How so?"
"When I patched him he had his back to me, and was quite busy. I used this…" I held up the air horn "to get his attention"
"I approve" he nodded; the faintest trace of a smirk present on his face.
"And I would too if I wasn't working on a proto-type" Rattrap walked up toward the strategy table, Silverbolt followed close by. And boy, did he look ticked "By da way…you owe megacycles worth of work"
"You know I won't be able to make up those hours if you refuse to teach me demolition tech, unless you changed your mind…?"
"Ehhh forget it-"
Optimus raised his voice. He did that when we bickered too much "That's enough you two. Dinobot?"
Said raptor stood straighter.
"I need you to look for any suspicious Predacon activity in this sector, here-" he pointed a transmetal finger to a point "at these coordinates. Rattrap and Silverbolt will be aiding you"
"Man, dis just ain't my d-"
"Quiet vermin" the raptor gestured for both maximals to follow him. And wordlessly, all three left down the lift. At that moment I voiced an observation, concerning a certain Fuzor.
"Silverbolt's awfully quiet, any ideas as to why?"
I only got shrugs.
After my shift ended I was ready to head to my room. And by ready, I meant that was until I saw the lift come up…along with a damaged Silverbolt, "The Predacons…th-they…"
"Take it easy, what did they do?" I wedged myself under the fuzors' arm, therefore acting like a crutch as I led him toward a CR chamber.
"What happened Silverbolt?" Optimus inquired.
"They took Dinobot"
Oh…at least I know which episode I'm in, I knew very well the raptor would be just fine, but that didn't stop me from being worried. And after a few seconds of awkwardly standing, I urged Silverbolt to start moving again so I could get him into a CR chamber "Just so ya know, being your crutch takes a lot of effort".
"…sorry…" he downcast his optics as the CR hatch closed over him, the machine sending him into induced stasis. Satisfied, I walked back over to Rhinox and sat comfortably back into my chair.
"You know your shift ended…"
"Yeah, but I have this nagging feeling something else is gonna happen when I try to leave this room-"
And even if I knew there was supposed to be nothing else happening, I still couldn't help that odd feeling as Cheetor strolled through the command centers' automated door and at that same time, the radar started beeping loudly. "Called it" I sighed as loud as the radar beeped.
"It appears to be…" Rhinox gasped "a stasis pod!"
"Where's it headed?!" Cheetor rushed over to stand next to me. Sure to get a better look at the pods' potential crash site, but primarily to get in closer proximity to me. I was also very aware of his evident crush.
"Rhinox?" Optimus walked over.
"I'm not quite sure –wait" the rhino-former leaned in closer to the monitor "it appears to be headed for Vector 7-9-2".
"Can I check it out?" Cheetor was jumping up and down. I, being slightly more subtle with my excitement, coughed loudly to get attention. I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to go outside, that was after all, the only one after three weeks.
"Can we check it out?" I stood up. And after a couple tense moments of silent discussion, Optimus nodded: "It's been too long since you've gotten some fresh air…the signal's coming from within neutral territory, stay safe" and with those final words, he turned back around to face the computer. Me and Cheetor eagerly walked into the lift, which for some funny reason was a really exciting thing, the most exciting thing.
"See anything?"
"Not yet…darn it" I kept my eyes on the ground as well as on the sky. I was both excited and nervous about the new Maximal. A long train of thoughts seemed to keep chugging along, thus rendering me oblivious to Cheetor's yelling.
"What?" I hated spacing out but it was second nature.
"I saw it!" and with that, I had to hang on for dear life as Cheetor descended at an uncomfortable angle. As he leveled out, I had to catch my breath. And mutter a few obscenities. Fortunately, the landing was nice and smooth, but even after dismounting I was still so dizzy I fell clumsily onto my butt. Cheetor was going to snicker, but held it as I shot him a death glare. As I brushed myself off, I strolled over to the intact stasis pod. It appeared to be in very good condition as compared to all the other stasis pods that had crash landed over the period of the series. I whistled as I touched it, the metal cool and smooth after hours of waiting for us. Cheetor joined me in examining it, only he did it out of concern. "That's weird, its' scanner should have –GAH!"
A rod extended into the sky, and a computerized voice stated in monotone:
:"Scanning for compatible lifeforms":
Yellow scanning beams swept the area once, twice, and then thrice before giving a shrill beep in confirmation. A new maximal…a new non-canon maximal…have I somehow altered this show enough for another character to show up?!
:"Lifeform acquired, please stand by":
Lifeform…? Me and Cheetor looked around to find what else was in the field. It took a few moments, but we eventually spotted a horse standing off near the edge. And with a whinny, it disappeared into the dark woods behind it. Thanks…? With an abrupt hiss the pod opened and a transmetal horse groggily kicked it's legs. We waited patiently for our new friend to pull himself (his groan indicated he was a guy) out of the cramped space. Once he was out, he stomped his front hooves and gazed at us thoughtfully, cobalt optics studying us with intense skepticism. I couldn't help but have felt jittery, please be friendly, he's a mammal so he's gotta be-
"Maximal or Predacon" he demanded tersely. I gulped.
"Maximal, and you?" Cheetor eagerly held out his cats' maw.
"Same…" the horse then eyed me "…a human girl?"
"Yep" I waved "Nice to meet ya"
The transmetal horse snorted (like a horse, not because he was trying to be rude) and took a cautious step or two "So where are we?"
"Earth" we said in unison. The beast tilted his head, confused.
"Really?"
"Yup! Just four million stellarcycles back!"
"How…"
"We uh, trans-warped here" Cheetor scratched the back of his head. Smooth kid…
"Why?"
I continued to, ever so subtly, study the new maximal. His voice sounded familiar, his voice sounds like Heatwave from Rescue Bots…what was the name of that voice actor? Steve something…
"We were in pursuit of a criminal…"
"I thought the Axalon was a vessel meant for exploration. Not that I have a problem, I just think it's a little odd…"
"What did you sign up as?" I was really curious.
"I'm…a soldier"
"Neat! But, who are you?"
The horse then shifted into bot form to reveal a red/black/grey Maximal with cobalt optics complete with a visor and mouth-guard. He grabbed each our hands with his own large gun-metal grey ones, "Trailblazer, at your service". Afterward, he surveyed the area; his whole chassis tense "Say…there any Predacons around?"
"…no…"
"Shame" he didn't even try for a lower volume "Ah well, guess we should all head to the Axalon then". With a swift transformation, he began to trot off, but after twenty feet or so, he stopped.
"Hey little lady, how did you get here?"
"I flew in with Cheetor"
Trailblazer snorted "That must have been uncomfortable, why don't ride with me? This beast mode is perfect for passengers"
Yes please! As much as I had adored Cheetor, riding with him was painful. I happily jogged over toward the new maximal and clambered on. With that, Trailblazer trotted then cantered off. And left a poor, confused, and probably betrayed Cheetor to stare after us.
"Hey wait!"
Once we got back to the Axalon it was already dark. Rhinox was all by himself at the computers as we stepped through the lifts' hatch. As he spun around to greet us, he paused, then smiled.
"I see you've found the new Maximal"
"That we did…"
Rhinox raised a brow. So I grabbed Trailblazers' large hand with my own two little ones and pulled him forward "Introduce-" grunt "-yourself-" more grunting "-ya big lug" I exhaled loudly. Trailblazer patted my back playfully "Don't hurt yourself-" he held out one hand while gently patted me with the other.
"Trailblazer, reporting for duty Rhinox sir"
"That name sounds familiar…"
"I was…one of the last bots to enlist. And if you don't mind sir, I'd like you to explain everything that's going on now"
He seems to be a little hesitant in telling us about himself…
"Of course-"
I yawned. Fatigue getting the better of me.
"You should get some rest" Rhinox admonished, something he did often because I was such a work-a- holic sometimes and would mess with my own sleep schedule. With a light blush, and a mumble, I left.
So I laid on my bed for an hour or two. And yes, it had soft padding so I was able to reflect on that day's events while being relaxed. I was about to fall asleep too, but a light knocking prevented me from doing so. Eh? What meow? I walked over to the door and opened it. Trailblazer waved.
"Sorry for bothering you small fry"
"Meh, don't apologize. What do you want?"
"Never got your name…"
"Oh. It's Cassandra"
He showed his knuckle. Wait what is he –oh! I bumped my fist against his. "Not trying to sound like a xenophobe or anything…but how did you get on the Axalon?" I blinked, not sure whether to tell him or not. Rhinox was just barely satisfied with the answer I gave him a few weeks ago and from there…the Maximals haven't really pried…
"They found me in a jungle"
"On prehistoric Earth?"
"Crazy right?"
Trailblazer chuckled "Well, I'm not gonna bother you anymore. Just wanted your name"
I shrugged and went to close my door whilst he walked off. "Goodnight girlie" his voice bid me as the next room's door hissed closed. I sighed and shuffled over to my bed, planting my butt firmly on it and proceeded to scoot backwards up against the wall. I then made myself comfortable on my side.