Okay, so I know I've made it a habit to compress episodes from the Beast Wars series into a single chapter if they had multiple parts. However, I won't be doing that for the 'Nemesis' episodes. This is because I'd usually view the episode or episodes to refresh my memory and make changes accordingly in regards to any details of the story that need to change or stay the same -BUT since I've had trouble viewing these, I decided to go balls to the wall. That, and although this story does follow canon to a degree, there have been 'decisions' that have altered it such as more characters are alive at this point than they had been in the series and in being so they are going to have some influence in the Endgame of things. There's also the need to delve some more into the development of the OC's, so the following chapters will follow them closely as the end of the Beast Wars draws near. So, with all of this in mind, I was unsure just how long I wanted to make this chapter in particular. Because while I wanted to get to the Nemesis warship fight scene, I didn't want to rush there without answering some questions and mixing in some significant conflict.

SOOOOO without further ado, here's Chapter 21 of 'Surviving the Beast Wars'. Enjoy! :D

I do NOT own the Transformers Beast Wars series, the Transformers franchise, etc etc. I only own my OC's

Chapter 21: Endgame, Part 1 (Nemesis, Part 1)

I stayed silent as I watched the Vok converse in 'their' language, which was unsettling to say the least. My discomfort rising with each time one of them would glance at me, only to turn their attention back on their discussion. I sighed, hugging my knees against my chest. It was clear that I had no intention of escaping with how comfortable I seemed to be, propped up against a tiny floating hunk of space rock. I was aware that this 'memory' was the outcome of being spotted in the last one. Of course I couldn't do much about it, my subconscious was the driver on this crazy ride while I had to watch it all from the backseat. However, despite being a 'hostage' -if I was even that- I found the situation intriguing. The Vok spoke in calm, professional tones. But what lay underneath were sparks of interest and excitement.

What did the Vok want with me and why?

From my recollection of past memories which were brief little glimpses playing along the corners of my mind -like strips of film flashing across my field of vision- it was unequivocally evident the Vok had something to do with my involvement in the Beast Wars. Question is, just how did I get to the Vok? A strip of memory flashed briefly, the one where the Vok mentioned that I 'materialized' in front of them. I knew it was significant, but it still made as much sense to me as the first time I had that dream. I wanted to delve deeper into that memory, but was interrupted by the current one I was having as I heard my past-self gasp.

One of the Vok was floating over. The youngest one with the red eyes. "How are you faring sister?"

"I...I'm fine, I just…" I looked around. "I shouldn't be here. How did I get here?" I whispered that last bit, disbelief making my voice quiver.

"You came back sister"

At that point I thought the dream was going to end, leaving me to ponder more unanswered questions upon transitioning into the waking world. Fortunately, it went on. "After all those years of venturing other dimensions -other universes- you have finally come back from your expedition!"

I stared dumbly at the entity. Just where the hell was he going with this?

"I still don't have the slightest inkling of what the hell you're talking about" my more frightened tone became a bemused and irritated one. I just suddenly showed up not even moments ago into their plane of existence and they were telling me that I was a part of it? That 'I' originated from it? It was bad enough trying to stay focused on surviving the Beast Wars, now I had other worries to ponder once I woke back up. Apparently I was an integral part of this particular Transformers universe without even knowing it. What else was this memory going to reveal?

"However…" the red-eyed Vok paused, reluctant to go on with what he wanted to reveal. "You may have returned with more than you intended to, such as a physical form"

"What the actual f-"

"Please listen! You're confused, I understand. The individual you temporarily examined has somehow bound to you, but that's no reason to panic"

My breathing quickened. A strong hint that I was panicking.

"Elder claims this is good news and something you should embrace. It means we are capable of not only occupying organic physical forms in general but doing so in other planes of reality"

Yeah, all this shit was getting out of hand. Both my anxiety and the anxiety of my past-self seemed to mesh together and damn well probably made my heart rate shoot up in the waking world. Along with my blood pressure.

"Why?" I murmured, almost sounding like a scared kitten.

"Please do not be frightened my daughter" the Vok with the purple orbs, the 'Elder', said soothingly. If 'he' was trying to assuage my rising panic, he was failing miserably. "You need to reign in your turmoil-"

"No! Screw this! I want to go home, this is a nightmare!" I tried to run away, but was restrained by rings of strange energy as they encircled and then tightened around me. The Elder sighed in grievous sadness and disappointment.

"We had hoped tremendously that you would have snapped out of your daze. Unfortunately, you have seemed to have fully fused with this young woman from another universe very unlike our own. Your minds and souls in complete and total sync, both of you sharing the same body…" Elder turned to face the green-orbed Vok. "Prepare the memory wipe, perhaps there's a chance she can still help us with our current mission"

"Ow!" I yelped, rubbing my sore forehead. Eyes narrowed, I scanned the area to find the culprit or culprits gazing over at me with guilty looks.

"What the Pit you two?! Are you grown bots having an argument or children having a tantrum?!" I hissed, picking up the wrench. I was glad both for my sake and the sake of the two idiots in front of me that my skull was reinforced with alien metal. Placing the wrench onto a crate, I placed my hands on my hips and glared down Rattrap and Dinobot. Sure, their little spats were common and I'd usually just laugh them off. But for some reason, I was easily agitated. Not just at them, I found myself getting upset over each and every inconvenience I had experienced that day. "Just...stop" I gave a tired sigh, picking up another tool they had tossed in their little disagreement and placed it beside the wrench. Normally I would tell them to pick up after themselves -good mood or no. But instead I found I didn't mind doing it for them. Any agitated episodes I did have were followed up by emotional exhaustion.

Perhaps I should go see Rhinox, it was either him. Or maybe Trailblazer or Transmutate.

As I left the room leaving Rattrap and Dinobot to go back to maintenance work, I didn't hear them resume their dispute. Instead Rattrap's apology echoed over and Dinobot's footsteps were headed in my direction. Not wanting to talk things out, because I was still sorting them out myself, I sprinted down random corridor after corridor with great effort to lose the raptor. And for good measure, I morphed my hands and feet into claws and used them (along with my 'tail') to scale up the wall and into a nook above the archway. Listening, I had to hold back my sniffles as I heard the familiar clicking of raptor claws on the cavern floor. Man, I've always known he and the others care...but to see it so openly, I watched Dinobot look around, the scaly head of his raptor form suddenly going rigid. With a loud snarl (one of guilt I assumed) he jerked his head around to look right at me.

"Your stealth tactics are improving" he complimented, but his underlying tone implied 'now get your ass down here so we can talk this out'. Subtlety was always his strong suit. With a sigh, I clambered back down gracefully, seeing no reason to carry this silly behavior any further.

"You noticed huh?"

Dinobot snorted. "Everyone has noticed. Depth Charge included" he corrected, lifting a raptor claw. "You've been irritable since this morning and you have not been wholly discreet about it"

"I…" I frowned as the possible cause for my sour mood came up as if holding a sign that said: 'I'm right here stupid'. It couldn't possibly be that simple. I blinked. Oh who am I kidding, it's always that friggin' simple! "I had another memory surface" I confessed, though it felt weird sharing it with Dinobot before doing so with Rhinox.

"Ah, I see. And it has you so perturbed because…?"

"Because it ended with the Vok wiping my memory. It's why I've been so clueless for the majority of my time spent here. And they did it because…" I trailed off and walked past Dinobot, gesturing for him to follow me. "You know what, let's go to Rhinox. I was headed to his office anyway"

"My...that is troubling" Rhinox tapped his chin. His face contorted into one of deep thought, testing all the best possible ways to handle this. "Have you felt any impulse to hurt the others?"

I shook my head, pouting at the thought of hurting my friends. My family. I couldn't fathom it, no siree. "Never" I growled with resolve. This made all the bots in Rhinox's office smile.

"That is good to hear, dear sister" Silverbolt walked over and patted my head. While he did so, Rhinox read over some other files. Dinobot, being the curious (nosy) one, peeked over the rhino-former's shoulder in interest. As expected, Rhinox shooed him away. That elicited a chuckle from myself and Silverbolt.

"Perhaps we should also find Trailblazer, I am positive he'd also want to hear of this little development"

"I was getting there" Rhinox sighed in exasperation as he gave Dinobot a glare. "From what I gathered from the previous info you and Trailblazer have shared, I have deduced you two have a bond that runs even deeper than I had initially guessed" raising a large green digit to his temple, Rhinox opened his comm link. "Trailblazer, Rhinox here. May you please report to my office? Oh, and if you can find him, bring Optimus too"

That little meeting went better than I had anticipated. Trailblazer kept a level head no matter what Optimus and Rhinox had asked him. Silverbolt and Dinobot would also add their input, and I was often brought into the discussion to confirm whatever Pony-Boy said. The overall conversation seemed slow like molasses, but was smooth like butter. Hehe, anyway, after all that we were dismissed and I had found my mood had lightened some. And on our way to the sparring room, Trailblazer noticed. "Glad to see you're not gloomy anymore. I almost didn't recognize you this morning"

"Did you see it too?" I knew it was a dumb question, but I had to ask.

"Course I did. I was as unnerved by the whole thing as you were"

"It certainly didn't show"

The shine of Trailblazer's usually intense red optics dimmed in what appeared to be a softened expression. "To be honest Cass, I'm scared shitless. You want to know why?"

I eyed him warily. Why would he be scared? My curiosity peaked as Trailblazer leaned down and whispered.

"Because like you, I also got thrown into this war with expectations from you-know-who"

That did it. My mind just about exploded from the epiphany as I made a break for Optimus's last known location. It was a predictable move, and laughably so as I struggled against Trailblazer's hold. I tried to cry out, but was muffled by Trailblazer's hand as he backed up into the nearest room and proceeded to lock the door.

"Damn it Cass, stop fussing and listen to me!"

"No!" I shouted, still muffled.

"I am going to betray somebody, but it's not going to be the Maximals" he said calmly and sincerely. This made me calm down, but only slightly. At the very least, I stopped gnawing on his hand. "The others needed something other than me -the volunteer- to control this body. They needed something special. They needed you Cass, not just my sister, but a part of you so we could be fully synced as 'siblings'"

"You've must have had too much high-grade" I babbled through his hand in a half-joking manner. Was it denial?

"The link wasn't very strong at first, for the sole reason to avoid detection -but yet it was enough to sense whenever you were in danger. This all ensured that we played our parts with utmost ignorance until the right time. And damn it did it work, because I honestly thought I was one of the transformers, what with all the fabricated memories the Elder implanted me with. But after your change, and eventually mine, everything rushed back like a fierce tsunami…" Trailblazer paused, tightening his hold as if to hug me. "The Elder's intention was that if somehow our link got strong enough due to all the influence of the relics we encountered, my sister would 'reawaken'. Afterward, if she -if you- were to show changes in behavior I was to try to reach out. If that happened, he thought we would both tip this war in the favor of the Vok"

I looked up to see sad red optics waiting for my reaction. Trailblazer's large metal hand slowly moved off of my mouth so I could speak properly. "So, what? You're trying to say that you were going to go with your original plan and changed your mind?"

"Yes, that's exactly it. Ironically, the best memories I've ever had have been in this war -this time of chaos compared to the peaceful atmosphere of Nexus Zero. And even if I were to go through with it, it would be a pain in the ass because there's no getting you to turn on the Maximals. What the Elder refused to believe, even after saying it himself, was that you and my sis were one and the same. It's why you 'hitchhiked' with her" he put me down gently as if he was handling porcelain. "The thing is Cass -I want to see Cybertron and I want to do so with you and the Maximals" Trailblazer clenched his fists excitedly. "I want to help you end this war with the best possible outcome!"

No sooner did he say that then when our comm links buzzed. Transmutate offering an apology before requesting tactfully:

:"Please meet me at these coordinates. You guys are gonna need to see this":

"What's up?" I asked, looking over the information on my tactical pad.

:"It's not a matter of 'what' but 'who'. He says he wants to talk to you and Trailblazer":

"Just us…?" Trailblazer added skeptically.

We listened intently to Transmutate talking to the mystery bot on the other end. She sighed.

:"He wants you guys to come alone":

"But-"

:"Hey, don't worry about it okay? Everything will be alright":

Me and Trailblazer exchanged knowing glances and smirks upon hearing Transmutate's confidence.

She had our backs.

"Whelp, this is a surprise" I said wryly, dismounting Trailblazer. Transmutate waved and smiled although her discomfort about the whole situation showed greatly. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you liked having me around Tarantulas" I walked toward him, stopping once I got at what I considered a reasonable distance. Trailblazer joined me, standing closely to my right. His tense aura seemed more palpable than mine, his stance stiff and guarded. Was I an idiot for not being as tense? Maybe, this was Tarantulas after all.

"Tarantulas is not here at the moment" two ghostly and familiar voices echoed out.

So it wasn't Tarantulas, as my luck would have it. To be honest, I actually would have preferred to deal with the treacherous spider than who was currently in my company. Any mischief I planned on pulling immediately evaporated as I grew solemn. All the more reason I was happy that Transmutate had something up her metal sleeve. "Ah so that's how it's gonna be"

"Indeed. You finally have acknowledged your place in all this?" 'Elder' and the other Vok in Tarantulas's body shifted their attention over to Trailblazer. "You as well, Ignis?"

I raised a brow. These guys have actual names? I thought Elder and Enforcer and…-oh, I felt stupid upon realizing that perhaps those were merely titles.

"A place you say? And just where would that be, please, indulge us"

Yellow visor narrowed, the Vok possessing Tarantulas's body glared at us as they replied. "We do not like your tone, young one. After all we had given you, we will not tolerate such ingratitude-"

"What have you given him?" I interjected, not tolerating their bullshit. Whatever their intentions were behind this meeting, pure or malicious, I got tired of all the formalities and suspense. Shit was going to get personal. "Life sure, he's obviously going to be grateful towards his creators -if that's who you even are. But with all the planning and expectations you force on him, is it all really in his best interest? Should he really be grateful when you don't even allow him to be his own person? Is it really living?"

"Where have you gotten such a bizarre notion…" the Vok duo scowled, offended by my outburst. The yellow visor of their vessel pointed accusingly at Trailblazer. "We are only assuming Aqua is saying all this because you imposed it on her"

"First off, Aqua may be in there, but she goes by Cassandra. Secondly, I didn't impose a damn thing. She was willing to listen to me" Trailblazer corrected bitterly. "I have firm belief that wiping out the Transformers race by disrupting the time-space continuum all for the correction of our failed project is a ludicrous and heinous method of 'justice'. In fact, I can't even remember in detail what our project was even for. All I know is that we nearly destroyed the planet in our attempt to be rid of the Maximals and Predacons once already because they 'contaminated' it…" a deep sigh escaped his vents, red optics pointed down shamefully. "I will admit, at first I was eager to help. To prove myself in this new mission you assigned to me, but over time I realized that the Transformers were a unique race. One that was destined to be intertwined with the humans and leave a favorable impact on the universe. And from a more personal point of view, I will happily share that I have bonded with the 'comrades' I was instructed to betray"

The air was thick with silence. Seconds felt like minutes as 'Ignis's' creators glared at him. The anger and disappointment practically radiated off of them. "You seem set on this conviction, Ignis. Does this mean you don't wish to join us in the Final Phase?"

"'Final Phase'?" I repeated with a mutter. Dread formed in my gut upon mentally repeating those words over and over. What could they possibly mean by that? I looked up to Trailblazer -or Ignis I should say- only to still see the bot remained stoic.

With the most steely resolve I have ever heard, Trailblazer answered:

"Indeed. I am done with you Tempestas, and you as well Terra"

"So be it, you had your chance" the Vok duo sighed, a clawed digit reaching up to activate Tarantulas's comm unit. Catching us all off guard, the ominous combination of the two voices disappeared and was instead replaced with Tarantulas's obnoxiously raspy screech. "Lord Megatron, they're here!"

Transmutate, who had been sitting and watching the exchange silently and with immense interest suddenly shot up to her feet as a menacing roar was heard above us. "Okay...so I knew something wasn't right, I just wasn't expecting this"

"Tarantulas, you teamed up with the Vok? Didn't you hate them?" I made an attempt of shaking their alliance, if only by a smidgen.

The spider-former (and perhaps the Vok too) scoffed. "I have put aside my pettiness in favor of accomplishing my goal. You will be surprised how much our goals align, my dear" he cooed, but doubled-over and held his head. "You will not speak to our daughter that way!" the twin voices of Ignis's parents growled.

While those three argued, Megatron landed not far behind us. His hideous dragon face (and this is coming from someone who likes dragons) twisted in a smug sneer. "Ah this is a treat, yes. A troublesome trio all in one place" he arched down on all fours, Transmutate and I on our guard as Trailblazer nudged me.

"I hate to do this, but you can handle him right?"

"I don't know, last time didn't go so great. Are you sure you don't want to fight him? You know, fight fire with fire"

Trailblazer chuckled. "Smartass"

Pouncing as soon as me and Trailblazer were done with our brother-sister banter, Megatron aimed for Transmutate. With a swift transformation into her beast mode, the flying-fox bat transformer rocketed into the sky to avoid being plowed into. Whirling around, Megatron aimed his tail at me, grazing my shield as I jerked backward to avoid the brunt of it. And since I was too busy to turn around to check on Trailblazer, I relied on my hearing to gather how his fight was going.

And judging by the grunts and shouts accompanied by jets of fire and strong winds blasting past us, I'd say it was going just dandy. "Do you really believe you can take on the leader of the Predacons?!" Megatron taunted as he breathed fire in my direction while simultaneously swiping at Transmutate with his tail.

"Well yeah sure, with some back-up"

Shifting into bot form, Megatron snorted. "Even that would be pushing it, small fry" he sprinted toward me, barely dodging Transmutate's shriek as she did a strafing run. When he got close he used his 'dragon's head' arm to try to chop on me, but thanks to my smaller size and training, I was able to avoid being 'lunch'.

"I mean, I've been told I'm sweet but -whoa!" I ducked beneath a flurry of punches and ran between his legs, using my tail to swipe at the limbs. Jumping forward, I dodged a vicious stomp as he whirled around.

"You really are a pest"

"And you're really a di-" I yelped as Transmutate flew down in bot form and airlifted me away from the lunging dragon. I looked up to see her frowning. "Let me guess: 'More fighting, less talking?"

With an eye roll and a smile, she transformed and lifted me onto the back of her beast form. "I also figured you'd have a better chance in the air" as we flew around, we saw the intensity of Trailblazer's fight escalate with each passing second. It damn well looked like a fight scene from 'The Last Airbender', only with Vok power-infused transformers. Pillars of fire fought against tornadoes and streaks of lightning, setting the whole area ablaze. The ground lurched and split, forming either chasms or bizarre formations in what I guessed was an attempt to disorient Trailblazer. If I had stayed any longer, I had no doubts that I'd be killed easily even with my altered biology.

"Is it me or does this war keep getting more outrageous?"

"Cassie! Focus!"

"Wha -oh ball bearings!" I clung on for dear life as Megatron streaked past us by mere feet. One really had to admire Transmutate's reflexes. He came at us again, his dragon maw opening wide as he shot a concentrated beam of ice our way. With another feat of grace, Transmutate barrel-rolled out of the way so smoothly and swiftly, I didn't even need to hang on too tight as I readied my blaster. Once steady enough I fired a few shots, two of which had hit the Predacon tyrant's chest and snout. It didn't do very much damage, but it dazed him enough for Transmutate to pivot around and blast him dead-nut in the chest with her laser-beam.

"You little-!"

I fired another round that hit Megatron's shoulder-wing joint, eliciting an angry screech from him as he made another rush at us. Ever the quick one, Transmutate looped over the attack. Unfortunately it was right into a powerful stray gust of wind from the battle below that made us spiral uncontrollably downward. And while Transmutate did right herself, I couldn't hold on tight enough. As I plummeted downward, the flying-fox bat maximal made an attempt to catch me but was promptly intercepted by an enraged Megatron.

"Don't worry about me! Save yourself!" I got this, I just need to concentrate! As Transmutate blasted Megatron to get out of his grip (only to immediately reengage the Predacon dragon as he granted her no chance to rescue me), I focused on my shoulder blades and willed them to morph. Sure they weren't large enough for actual flight, but the wings proved effective enough in not having me free-fall to my death. In being so, I managed to glide down safely next to a curved pillar of earth. Peeking around, I saw that Transmutate was still holding her own against Megatron. Though she wasn't very much on the offensive, it was probably for the better as she favored evasion. As for Trailblazer, I couldn't find him anywhere. But I did see 'Tarantulas' appearing to be just as confused about the equine-former's whereabouts. With a groan I collapsed against the pillar, unsure of what to do next.

"Even with this power of mine, it's still not enough -I'm not enough. Everyone is fighting for their lives and here I am, hiding like a scared little girl"

"Well, we can't have that now can we?"

Shooting up onto my feet, I locked eyes with the bot that had appeared seemingly out of the blue.

What's he doing here?

Yeah, you know things are gonna be a party once the Vok get -or have long since been- involved. The recently revealed names of the Vok are just ones I gave on the fly because of their affinity for the elements as portrayed in the series. I mean for crying out loud, TigerHawk was shooting fireballs and (I think) lightning and Megsy is a freakin' dragon, so meh. :P. Anyway, some shit is going down and I hope I dropped enough hints during the previous chapters before dumping all this madness XD. The names of the Vok and anyone *cough cough* 'related' to the Vok are the Latin translations of Storm, Earth, Fire, and Water. Because I got tired of calling them by something that sounds more like a title than a name (Elder, Enforcer, and well, I couldn't think of one for the other two).

So who do you think came to the 'rescue'. Teehee, I'm sure you all know XD

Hope you enjoyed! If not, you'll probably stop reading. But that's okay, I'll still finish this story.