- Look at first page for disclaimer.

Chapter 4: Other Visits

"Stop" the screen paused "Map known alien sites in relation to our position"

I watched as the computer carried out Rhinoxs' command. It had been roughly five weeks since we found Trailblazer. Two days since I was last out on patrol. And yes, the boys officially trusted me with such a responsibility. Especially since Trailblazer had been brought into their ranks, the transmetal horse encouraged them that I should get some fresh air, being a human and all. I personally thought the guy wanted to get to know me better, and of course I told him everything except for being from a completely different universe –oh and that the Beast Wars was a show, I was sure none of the beast warriors wanted to know that they were entertainment during the late 20th century. They had even given me a gun…and lessons to use it of course. Him and Dinobot were all too happy to train me, they even fit in time to bicker while they did so. For other skills beside novice marksman, I had also learned tracking, and stasis pod diagnostics. I wanted to try larger weapons, but anything larger than my trusty blaster and I would have hurt myself, as I had found out the hard way early in my training.

Dinobot growled thoughtfully "A definite pattern"

"One we can use to find more of these things…if any still exist"

"'If any still exist'…?"

"They were all malevolent constructs that needed to be destroyed" Dinobot informed, and I was quite certain he rolled his eyes too.

"Ooohhh, aliens that don't come in peace…huh" I knew who the Vok were, but hey, the crew didn't need to be any more suspicious of me. The whole 'I know of the Transformers' thing and my sudden arrival were sure triggers –even if they were very nice to me, I detected their oh-so subtle (no sarcasm) body language and glances.

Dinobot snorted at my clueless remark anyway, so meh "Indeed… it would be better for us if they were all destroyed, we are fortunate to have survived their last visit".

I hummed, intrigued.

"Cassandra? Mind scanning the grid to maximum range?" Rhinox asked.

I nodded and walked over to the strategy hub, and worked my magic :Probable location of alien constructs complete: the monotone voice of the computer informed. I didn't see jack shit on the display, I guess my magic didn't work there "Well that's a disappointment" so I ran another scan.

Dinobot snarled loudly, which made me jump due to his close proximity, "Tracking this is a waste of time! Megatron is the greater threat".

"Giving him back the golden disk didn't help"

Hehehe that burn is still fresh "So that's why-" Dinobot shot me a look "Nevermind".

"I had my reasons, I told Optimus" he down casted those white (or icy blue?) raptor eyes.

"Sometimes Optimus trusts too much"

:Alien signature detected. Location; Grid Zyra:

"Slag! Tigatron and Airazor were headed for that grid!" Wait –is this?!

"Want me to contact them?" I kept a calm voice, but my mind was in turmoil.

The rhino-former nodded urgently "Hurry!".

I hurried (just about flew) over to the console and tried to patch them. I only got static "Well that's an even bigger disappointment".

"If they trigger those defenses…" Dinobot snarled and tried his hand at contacting them, but still got static, which earned a frustrated growl "Comm. channels are blocked!".

"Megatron no doubt built another jamming station" Rhinox patched a frequency "calling all field units-"

"Rattrap and I will destroy the tower"

"Don't forget to bring Trailblazer with you, he's been moping around all day" and we both knew the 'why' behind the said bot's moping.

The raptor nodded "I will consider your request" and so he left.

After sitting around for a minute, I turned to Rhinox "It is awfully nice out-" I want to help Tigatron and Airazor!

"I'll have you and Cheetor head to Grid Zyra" there was a faint smile.

"Thank you"

We surfed through the clouds, keeping a sharp eye out for maybe an hour or more. I had almost forgotten how uncomfortable riding a flying metal cat was; I must have popped my back at least three times. I was tempted to just leap off his back and go free-falling. Well, that was until Optimus patched:

:"Optimus to Cheetor; have you found them yet?":

"I can hardly hear you Bigbot, Megs is jamming the entire grid"

I popped my back once the transmission dropped, "How much longer?"

"We should be close" poor kid sounded bummed. And in all truth, I was upset too. I'm –we're not going to make it… I weighed the pro's and the cons of the two scouts being abducted. Personally, I didn't want them to go, but I considered another thing: That they would had made powerful allies –or ally since they were fused as TigerHawk. And even if I had wanted to save them, going with Cheetor would have been a poor choice; in fact, I would have had to leave significantly earlier and with someone very quick. And then there was the inevitable 'I knew what was going to happen to them because I'm from a different reality' speech. With all those things in mind, I grimaced and kept quiet as me and Cheetor made our way to grid Zyra. Ten minutes later and I saw a massive laser shoot down from the sky and envelop two figures I could barely see. With an extra burst of speed, Cheetor swerved around the laser "NO!" he cried out. The sight of the two Maximals in so much pain was enough to make me look away.

"I'm sorry Cheetor" I really am, I could have prevented this…honest…

He wanted to fly toward it, but stopped because I was on board. He descended swiftly and landed so I could hop off, which allowed room for him to transform. Then he made a beeline for the column of energy, "Cheetor wait!" but that proved useless as he instantly recoiled after contact. He got on his knees in defeat as his body stabilized after the energon build-up.

"Cheetor-?"

He threw his arms up: "NOOOOO!"

I backed off, and kept an eye out for any movement and another on him. Cheetors' head drooped, "I could have warned them"

"Don't beat yourself up…remember that the jamming tower covered the whole grid. There's no way any of us could have warned them" I gave him my full attention, yeah, except me…

"Yeah but if Megatron hadn't jammed us-"

Evil, familiar, laughter sounded to the right of me. Uh oh! My eyes shot up to spot a figure with extra spidery limbs protruding from his back aim and fire a round at Cheetor. The round revealed to have had contained a paralytic venom as Cheetor convulsed and then stilled. A yellow visor quickly set on me.

Blink.

"Who do we have here?! Long time, no see my dear"

Blink. Cringe. Ohhhhh no not Chuckles.

"Oh right! We've never been properly acquainted…" he chuckled sinisterly and stalked toward me. I took a few steps back, and readied my pistol as I did so, "I am Tarantulas…and you are?" I smiled and flipped him off. That earned a frown, "Still rather impolite I see. I'll change that" and so he advanced some more. I fired. The suppressing fire enough to have him back off enough for me to run and hide. I forgot to bring extra clips with me and so I ran out of ammo rather quickly. I made a beeline for the cluster of boulders. There were more chuckles.

"So be it…I have work to do anyway" I peeked around the edge and saw him walk over to one of the large vines and start sawing through it. Not much time passed before I heard him yell "Oh no! Optimus Primal!" he backed away from the vine "Beast Mode!" and scuttled off. Once he was out of sight, I ran out to greet Optimus and Silverbolt.

"Down here!" As soon as he landed, Optimus pulled out a defibrillator and revived Cheetor. I kneeled beside the cat as he came around, first groaning, then: "Tigatron! Airazor!"

"Where are they Cheetor?"

"They were inside that crazy plant…" his optics dimmed "it sent them into space"

Optimus looked to me for confirmation, I nodded slowly. There was a moment of silence, but that was interrupted by Rattrap once he reported.

:"Yo Rattrap to fearless leader. Mission accomplished. Hey you read me Trans-Monkey?":

"Loud and clear"

:"Eh, sorry we took so long, we ran into a little opposition…": a crash sounded in the background and I could hear Trailblazers' maniacal sniggering :"…whom we nailed":, Rattrap chuckled :"So uh, get on the horn and warn the lady and the tiger":

Our faces, especially Optimus', went grim, "Too late".

:"Wha-?":

"Make sure that station is down for good and return to base"

:"…uh, gee, will do fearless leader":

The line dropped. I sighed. "I was really looking forward to talking to those two in person…" a hand patted my shoulder. It was Optimus.

"We all were" he then patched a comm. link "Optimus to Rhinox"

:"Optimus did you see it? The signal?": Rhinoxs' voice was easily heard.

"No. But Cheetor said it took Tigatron and Airazor"

:"What?": his tone was potent with disbelief

"See what you can find out soon. Optimus out"

I helped Cheetor to his feet as he gave a light whimper, his optics dimmed with sadness. Optimus sighed "Silverbolt" said fuzor perked his head up "give Cassandra a lift"

"Will do" the wolf-eagle kneeled down, granting permission for me to get on. As I got comfortable I heard Optimus' link buzz to life, indicating a patch.

:"Rhinox to Optimus. Rhinox to Optimus we have a code X":

Optimus stiffened, "Optimus here, come in Rhinox" his face contorted with worry "come in Rhinox!"

Shit has officially hit the fan, "Let's head back to base now Silverbolt" I looked back over to Optimus whom had a snarl etch itself onto his monkey features. He looked pissed.

"I agree with her, everyone back to base!"

We all hurried as fast as we could have managed. But of course, it proved to be a futile effort. The place was a mess. The disk was stolen. And poor Rhinox was missing his damn arm, which made me cringe even if I saw it coming. Optimus and Silverbolt rushed him into the assembly room to reattach his arm. I winced through the whole process even though there were no cries of pain.

"…I can't believe I let Megatron sucker me like that"

"That's the tyrant asshole right?"

"Trailblazer!" we exasperated. No one really approved of his language at that moment…even me. Rhinox rolled his optics "To put it bluntly, yes".

"Let it go Big Fella. We have important matters to discuss"

"Yeah, like how we get our friends back!" Cheetor added his two cents.

"They are casualties of war…" I rolled my eyes at Dinobot, who thankfully didn't see it "better to concentrate on saving ourselves when our alien enemy returns"

"Just what I'd expect from a Predacon-"

"Quiet!" I made sure I projected my voice loud enough to make everyone jump. And yes, I was very much capable of raising my soft voice. Optimus nodded appreciatively.

"I've already faced the Void once for fighting these aliens. And if that's the price we have to pay, we'll pay it"

"It's like I say: we're all gonna die" Everyone turned and shot death glares at the pessimistic rat, and as if he's caught on, he waved his hands in surrender "yeah, yeah, I know…shut up Rattrap".

As soon as Rhinox was done with his arm, we all headed to the command center, me piggy-back on Trailblazer as a means of not getting 'underfoot' of anyone as Dinobot had complained once or twice. Once there, Rhinox activated the strategy hub, an outline of the Darksyde appeared on the display.

"We should take the Beast Wars to Megatron now!" Dinobot was the first to speak; it was more of a demand rather than a suggestion.

"Eh, we may need him and his bozos to take out whatever those planet busters are sending" Rattrap countered.

"I agree with Dinobot" Optimus agreed "Our last truce was a joke. Megatron must be stopped now; we cannot fight him and the aliens-"

:Warning; space anomaly detected: a few different video feeds were then displayed.

"Looks like we don't have a choice" Rhinox said grimly. Everyone exchanged looks amongst themselves…and with the need to break the silent tension I sighed and poked Rattrap

"Come on…ya know you wanna say it-"

"Not twice on da same day sista"

With a couple of snickers from the group, Optimus then made a sound identical to clearing ones' throat after he softly chuckled "When you are all ready, we shall leave?".

Hell yeah we all nodded. Trailblazer whooped and threw a fist into the air: "Let's kick Megatrons' sorry ass back to Cybertron!" and proceeded to fist bump Dinobot whom very much agreed. And in small groups, we all left the Axalon.

When we got to the site of Tigatron and Airazors' abduction, Megatron was already there (as expected). The strange contraptions that protruded from the ground were a sure sign that whatever he or Tarantulas were planning, they were close to achieving. I rode with Trailblazer since he was better suited for carrying passengers, and both of us stayed close to Rhinox and Dinobot who were very careful to not be seen.

:"Alright everyone, find a spot and stay hidden. On my signal, everyone fights": Optimus affirmed, clearly eager to be the one to 'kick Megatrons' sorry ass back to Cybertron'. I watched as the board-surfing transmetal monkey passed over us. Maybe not today…but months later…or was it two years –ah nevermind, focus!

"Megatron!"

Said T-rex looked menacingly upward. I was a little intimidated, considering it was my first time actually seeing him, as well as the rest of the Predacon team.

"Leave here Primal!" he scoffed "…I will deal with this".

"Like you did the last time-?" everyone hopped up onto individual rocks, me still on Trailblazer's back "Dream on. All units! Maximize!" and so I hopped off of my pal's back, allowing him to revert to bipedal mode as everyone else followed Optimus' command. A ring comprised of Optimus (in front), Rhinox (to my left), and Trailblazer and Dinobot (to my right) surrounded me, an evident display of them having each others' backs as they all readied their weapons. I was pumped to say the least, even if it wasn't the end of the Beast Wars.

"Predacons! Terrorize!"

I was very sure the tin tyrant glared at me while he issued that command. I couldn't help but think: whelp, I'm a target now.

All the Predacons either got their weapons out or 'Terrorized', "Inferno!" said bot stood to attention.

"The Invaders come Royalty-" he shrieked as a few vines tried to snare him. And as if right on cue, the large alien plant construct had vines (or were they roots?) shoot upward, twirling and twisting together to form a solid center foundation as more roots entwined together at the top to form a dome. That dome welcomed a beam of energy, which then disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived. I gaped. Everyone gaped. It was a definite gaping moment as the newly formed structure pulsed with residual energy. The top then popped up like a lid and emitted a sound that was a high-pitched droning. Optimus whirled around to face me, deathly concern present on his face.

"Cassandra, run!" no argument here I had no qualms with retreating, in fact, I ran like hell for the nearest and biggest boulder. I just barely made it in time as the high-pitched whine/hum reached it's climax and everything went white. I shut my eyes the best I could and covered my ears. When it was over, everyone who wasn't a transmetal was unconscious. I wanted to get a closer look, but stayed put once I remembered Megatron was in control. So I waited patiently as his tractor beams picked up everybody, and then dropped he didn't want. And being as distracted as I was I didn't notice someone walk up behind and then-

Poke me. "EEP!" I tried to squeak, but Cheetors' hand prevented me from doing so.

"Easy Cass, it's just me"

I calmed down. "What do we do now?"

"We bring who we can to the Axalon" Silverbolt limped over, whilst he acted like Dinobot's crutch "Cheetor?"

Cheetor gestured over to a green and brown lump. Poor Rhinox. "I'll carry the big man"

"I'll stay here and-"

"Oh no you don't Girlie" Trailblazer walked toward me in beast mode "Hop on"

We flew/galloped as fast as we could to reach the Axalon. Time was of the essence as Silverbolt and Cheetor ushered Dinobot and Rhinoxs' damaged forms into the CR chambers. From there, all four of us searched meticulously on our computers for Optimus and Rattrap, minutes stretching into what seemed like hours.

"Damn it to the Pit –you guys find them?" Trailblazer growled as his cobalt optics stayed trained on the monitor and his digits typed away.

"Sorry 'Blaze, I got zippo –and for the love of the Matrix watch your language! Cheetor's right there!"

"It's okay Cass, I've heard him say worse"

I shot a death-glare at Trailblazer, whom pretended to still be deep in work. "Okay…did you find anything kiddo?"

"Nope…it's like they've just dropped from existence!"

"Sure seems that way…Silverbolt? You find them?"

"Unfortunately not, of course I would have more luck finding that alien horror with my nose-"

Both of the CR hatches opened, revealing a recovered Dinobot and Rhinox. The rhino sounded the grouchiest "I'm getting sick of waking up in the slagging R chamber".

I grinned "Have a pleasant nap?" which earned a snarl/snort from Dinobot.

"Very much so, better than waking up in the scrapheap. What's the situation?" he asked Cheetor, though it could have been directed toward either of us as well.

"…would you believe, we're not sure…?"

Oh snap, I don't like that look, Dinobot narrowed his red optics and growled angrily. Fortunately, before his anger could escalate, Silverbolt reported just what he wanted to hear. Well, sort of, "I'm scanning two units incoming. One of them being Rattrap, the other one being…Tarantulas-?!". I straightened up dramatically. My eyes squinted at the yellow Predacon symbol following a red Maximal one "That's a rather unpleasant surprise" I looked over to Dinobot and Rhinox, whom of which looked just as flabbergasted.

As soon as the lifts' glass hatch opened, and it's occupants stepped out, one of them immediately aimed their weapon at the other. Shortly after, we all surrounded and aimed our weapons at the transmetal spider. Tarantulas clicked his mandibles nervously. And yes, that was something I paid attention to.

"We're wasting time! Give me access to your scanners and I'll find that alien ship!"

Of course Dinobot was the first to show his displeasure with such a demand. By pressing his swords' edge against Tarantulas' throat, "You'll make us vulnerable to attack by it-" he snarled "I say we eliminate him now"

"If Megatron meant to attack he would have done so! He wants you to remain here, I want to know why!" the spider protested.

"Says you! I'm with Dinobot, slag 'em!"

Putting my weapon down, I walked over to Rhinox and Rattrap, my inquiry directed to the shorter of the two "What's your say in this? You brought him in" which earned a shrug as Rhinox shot him an expectant look.

"Eeehh, more like he brought me. All I know is that Optimus is inside that alien locker and right now that spider's 'is best chance to get 'em back"

I nodded, "I won't argue with that" I said with surprisingly no sarcasm, and that earned an appreciative nod from Rattrap "See? She undastands…"

Rhinox hummed and turned around, granting access to the scanner. "Do it…" he didn't sound happy, but then again, in our predicament we couldn't afford our options to be hindered by personal feelings, "…Carefully". Meanwhile, Tarantulas was more than happy to help himself. He even had the gall to laugh.

"Nehehe, your scanning system is pitiful. Did you learn nothing from the alien disc-?"

"The only pitiful thing in here is you, now shut up and get to work" I aimed my pistol, which made him cringe and twitch his mandibles.

"Now the witch speaks-" he muttered. Trailblazer pushed him.

"Now!"

And so shortly after that ordeal, the alien ship showed up on the display, as well as two Predacon fliers.

"Scan those fliers"

The spider did just that. No delay. It was amazing what some persuasion could do.

:Transwarp signature detected:

"Slag! They're carrying transwarp cells, we must attack at once!"

Oh look who decided to put on their big boy pants and issue orders-

"You heard him; Silverbolt, Cheetor, Dinobot, Trailblazer, you're with me…" all four team-members nodded at Rhinox's decision "Rattrap, Cassandra; you're with Tarantulas"

"Aww, such a pretty-"

"Can it"

With room wide chuckles, and a barely audible one from Rhinox, we all walked swiftly to individual lifts.

"Your comrades fight well" Tarantulas noted. We were currently perched on one of the struts of the ship, eagerly waiting to go on with the plan.

"Yeah well you Preds give us plenty of practice. Now quit your yapping and get inside" there was emphasis on 'inside' with an urgent tone. I agreed with a silent nod.

"She doesn't like to talk does she-?"

"Inside. Now" I pointed my custom blaster. With no words of protest, or hesitation, the spider rappelled on down. As he did so, Rattrap readied his grapple and gestured for me to hold on. In case you're wondering, I did allow him to wrap an arm around my waist like he was Indiana Jones…yes; I forgot to bring my own grapple. Once we were inside, we caught up with and stayed close to an eager Tarantulas.

"Megatron must be holding Optimus in the control room…that way!" he pointed in a random direction.

"Lead the way, and don't try anything fun-" we both turned around to see if the spider was still present. He wasn't.

"-ny" a moment of silence, then "Slag".

We eventually found our way to the control room without spider boy's help. As we did so we heard a voice:

"So much for your precious Maximals, and now to play my final card…Yesss-"

I stifled a giggle, Rattrap shushed me.

"Lock in coordinates. Begin teleport sequence" there was a series of beeping and other computerized noise "In a few nano-kliks, we will be on our way…"

Then we decided to come out of the shadows. Rattrap was the first to speak up, he stretched his arms out in mock disappointment "What, without saying goodbye…?" we both placed our hands on our hips "Gee, we're hurt" I finished. Megatron scowled at the sight of both of us.

"Ugggh, I have no time for you vermin, and whoever that small-fry is"

We both readied our blasters. Rattrap sneered, "Eh, make time" and he dove to the left. I dove to the right, aiding his shots with my own. Megatron sneered.

"You both should have made your shots count-"

"Ohhh they did"

I smirked and gave a thumbs up to a freed Optimus as he gave a thumbs up back. The transmetal monkey hopped onto his hoverboard as an evasive maneuver to avoid shots, and all too quickly went on the offensive as he flew around the circumference of the room and knocked Megatron right out of the alien throne. The tyrant landed with a thud, which I was sure shook the whole room. Optimus flew over to Rattrap.

"Your timing's perfect. Can you stop the teleport sequence?"

"Teleport sequence?!"

I face-palmed, "We forgot about that". I really did forget about that part of the show, sad right?

We all heard a roar, and spun around to see as Megatron transformed and jetted into the air. Optimus joined him mid-tango as they both grappled and proceeded to strangle the slag out of each other, which was not progressing in any way. Rattrap tried getting a few shots in, but ultimately stopped once I rested a hand on his shoulder and pointed to the control chair. And just to confirm my guess, Optimus choked out: "The control chair! Destroy it!".

And so, with a volley of shots, Rattrap did just that, after which we both high-fived. However, that victory was short-lived as soon as we heard a high-pitched whine, "Guess we're goin' for a ride!"

"Hey, where's-?" I paused mid-speech to see Tarantulas as he rappelled upside-down near the alien control panel. Wires attached themselves to the panel as he yelled something -I wasn't too sure what considering Megatron and Optimus were yelling and grunting loudly as they were still in their death-dance- and the whole place started to shake. As I tried to maintain balance, Tarantulas sped by, nearly flattening me. Yes, I flipped him off.

"It's gonna blow!"

I looked up to see Megatron finally detach himself and fly around. Clearly eager to do a death swoop on Optimus as he made that final battle roar…and right into an alien power feed. The electrocuted tyrant then not-so-gracefully fell to the ground.

"This time, you lose Megatron" Optimus was sure to (comically) point a triumphant finger at his beaten and battered foe. And all at once the shaking became violent, and the last 'chirp' confirmed that the sequence was complete. Megatron roared in frustration and fear and flew away, that's right, go home and cry I smirked as Optimus hovered on over in front of us, "let's hit it" and so Rattrap hopped on, and I followed by clinging onto Rattrap for dear life as Optimus sped out of the alien ship as fast as his hover-board could manage.

"Fire in the hole!" he yelled once we got a safe distance away. I looked behind to see the ship teleport in a beam of energy, only to promptly explode well above the Earths' outermost atmosphere, the fiery red explosion spanned across the sky, steadily holding my attention with its magnificent display.

We shortly rendezvoused with Rhinox and his team, everyone crowding into a large group.

"Man when these alien gizmos blow, they really blow"

I snickered at Rattraps' comment.

"What about Airazor and Tigatron…?"

And then I felt guilty.

"If their sparks are still online, we'll get them back" Optimus promised, which slightly eased the melancholy in the air as we all looked to the stars…

I couldn't help but have noticed two of them twinkling brightly in the cosmos.

Forgive me you two…