Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is Transformers!

On with the story!

Chapter 4

On the mountains where the energon blast had just occurred a few rocks were blown away and out of that blast arose a menacing figure ready to kill. "RAARRGGHH!" he yelled out feral and headed towards his base all the while thinking "That incompetent human, how dare she humiliate me in such a fashion, I will exact my revenge on her yet she will tremble beneath me...oh Yess…I will make her submit to me"

At the Predacon Base

Things were tensing up amongst the Predacons; Tarantulas was typing something on the computer, Waspinator was buzzing about, Scorponoks was sulking in a corner obvious he was grieved by the lost of Megatron and Terrorsaur was trying to act as commanding leader. "SQACK! Attention all Predacons with the reason demise of our leader, I Terrorsaur shall now lead the Predacons is there anyone who wishes to challenge me?" Just then a shadowy figure came through the front and said "No one will take over command of the Predacons except for me Terrorsaur, Yess" everyone looked at the figure in surprise and they all had different reactions, Terrorsaur cowered in fear, Waspinator stopped buzzing and did not dare make a move, Scorponoks was jumping with glee for the return of his leader and Tarantulas just snickered like a maniac. Megatron however did look too happy about the recent events "Those Maximals shall certainly pay for destroying that energon crystal and those humans will witness my wrath, starting with that incompetent wench, how dare she challenge me, Yess"

The Predacons all had to agree with him none of them liked being bested by mere flesh creatures, Terrorsaur was the first to react "How is it that they were able to beat us anyways, no flesh creature has those capabilities" "Wazpinator does not know, but Wazpinator would like to get femme fleshy bot back for spinning Wazpinator around like that!" Waspinator buzzed. Tarantulas just cackled "Those humans were quiet impressive though, I cannot wait to have their leader on my table for inspection, hehehehe" "What should we do now Lord Megatron, were outnumbered if the Maximals allows those human on the field against us"

Megatron just sheeted and then smirked and chuckled till he suddenly was laughing like a maniac "HAHAHAHA, Thos humans my dear Predacons will all pay dearly however their leader will be mine and mine alone to take is that understood….Tarantulas?" and he glared at the spider just daring him to argue with his decision. The spider pouted but regained his composure when he realized that there were six more if them for the taking and one was merely as old as a sparkling, he just chuckled evilly at the thought.

In the forest

Everything was quiet no sound was made; even breathing would make the prey in front of her scatter away. Soren was prowling on the ground like a feline stalking the deer in front of her, normally she would be against hunting but if it was to survive and feed her family, well she could let the thought slide. Besides she would ask the creature for its forgiveness later; with that thought she lunged forward preparing herself to jump the creature and hold it down with all her might, however that was all in vain when out of nowhere a brown raptor jumped the creature and broke its neck. Annoyed she moved towards the raptor and gave it a knock on the head, making him bite his tongue in the process it turned its head at the intruder "What in the inferno is the matter with you femme!" he tried to yell while tapping his tongue Sonar crossed her arms and said "You caused me my dinner as well as that of my sisters, bonehead next time find your own hunting grounds this here is my area"

"We must cease as much ground as we can femme, for the Predacons will surely make their moves soon" "Funny, is that what you would let them do if you would lead them? Cause from the way I see it their too busy with their wounds to their armor as well as their egos" she replied smirking. "You would do well not to underestimate them femme" "I would if YOU and Your former comrades will, and stop calling me femme I have a name Dinobot and its Soren you'd do well to remember that!" and she walked away not looking back at him. Dinobot just glared at her retreating form, he humped and then proceeded to munch on his prey.

Kima and Cheetor were hiking around the east perimeter from their base; they were talking about their home planet and what kind of pranks they could pull with the others "I'm serious Cheetor, you should see her face sometimes Soren is pretty easy to prank and at the most unexpected times, the only one I wouldn't dare prank is Son" Kima told Cheetor. "Really?! Why not she doesn't look like the type to get mad at a little prank" "Trust me Cheetor, if you've been around Big sis long enough you'd know that's it's impossible to prank her with her skills and her way of getting back will most likely make the biggest prankster on my planet tremble" "Like when I was in my senior years in high school, some punk wanted to prank me and my sisters but got her instead when she came to parents-teachers conference and when he didn't apologies because he had this I-can-get-away-with-anything-cause-I'm-loaded attitude she deliberately pulled him on her lap and spanked his rear end in front of the entire student-body and school-staff and the parents. Boy oh boy no one from that day on dare to set up another prank whenever she would stop by" Kima finished and Cheetor looked horrified at the idea of getting smacked on the rear end like some sparkling in front of everyone he knew; he'd never lived it down. "Man your sister doesn't fool around huh?!" "Nope, she wouldn't have done that if the guy just apologized and didn't give any attitude, that's one of the things all of us sisters hate is when people with this high-and-mighty attitude pick on those they don't deem them worthy" "Sounds like something I can relate to, I got picked too, before I met Optimus he really helped me out back on Cybertron" Cheetor smiled at the memory. Kima laughed "Sounds to me like both got lucky when our leaders found us" they moved on with their patrol.

At the Maximals base

Both Rattrap and Aurora were glaring at each other and then looked at the cards in their hands, they were playing Chinese Poker, Aurora taught Rattrap and he taught her Cybertron Poker. Right now they were in a tie "I'd give up if I were you RT, no one's ever beat me at my game, even big sis loses against me" Rattrap just chuckled and replies "Owh, yeah well prepare to eat your words cause I just pulled out a Royal Flush, heheee!" and threw the cards down on the table. Aurora just looked at his hand and couldn't believe it for once she was bested and by a rat no less, but she had learned from her sister to be a good sport when it comes to losing, besides she could always try to best him at his game "Well then, I guess this means I should bow down to the master" and she slightly bowed her head with her hands widened to the sides. Rattrap just smirked and said "Hehehe, it's good to be treated like Royalty" and smiled at her when she started the deck for Cybertron Poker.

Both Liara and Mina were helping Rhinox with the computer system in the medical bay, though they didn't dare say a word since he was still upset of what he'd found out about Son's and Soren's genetic engineering and Kima's experimental injection, that could have gone well they both thought to themselves as they continued.

Flashback

Rhinox was furious to say the least he had just finished the girls scans for any injuries from their previous battle and what he found mad him mad beyond anything that could have. He commed Optimus and asked to bring Son in with her, hoping she could shed some light to the situation. When the both of them were finally there he shut the door and immediately told them what he'd found.

Son smiled and said "I had a feeling this was going to come up sooner or later and like I'd promised Optimus I'll ask whatever question you have for me, since you answered my questions" but before she started the door suddenly opened revealing Kushi, Fausha and Olympus and started hiding in different areas. The others looked at her funny and Son brought her into sight asking her "Care to share what you're doing little one?" "I'm hiding from the others, playing hide and seek, down please" she giggle cutely. Son just laughed and set her down so she could find a hiding spot, but not before she waved sweetly at the others and hid in one of the cupboards beneath. Both Maximals just smiled at that and then looked at Son giving her the hint that they were ready for her story, after Son explained her and her sisters history and how they came to be the Renegades they were quiet surprised.

Optimus thought to himself "Hmm, it looks like I was right about her, maybe there's more to her than meets the eye"

Rhinox however was seething with anger and yelled out "THOSE NO GOOD FOR NOTHING…..WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!" both Liara and Mina heard the commotion and came running in "Uhm, everything alright here guys?"Mina asked a little concern for Rhinox's outburst. Liara then saw the scans and understood why Rhinox was so mad, he clearly disagreed with what's been done to her sisters. Son calmed him down by putting a hand on his shoulders and said "Rhinox we cannot undo what has happened to us, but if all of that did not occur in our lives we would have never been strong enough to face off against the Predacons and we'd probably be dead. I too am sadden for what has happened but it made us all stronger not just individually but as a team and through all of that our bond is the strongest there is" finishing her speech she looked at Primal "Care to join me outside Primal maybe I can help you with some of the wildlife, you are after all and exploration team" motioning him to follow. Primal just smiled and followed her outside leaving Mina and Liara with Rhinox and Kushi and the animals in the medical bay. "Soooo..." Mina started "Need some help big guy?"

After that awkward moment they just started with cleaning up, putting away tools and unnecessary data pads. Kushi in the meantime was found by Brains and Slender and was about to head out of the room when she stopped and hugged Rhinox's leg saying "Don't worry Rhinox, me and big sisters are all fine and we got you and brothers now to protect us" she smiled and went after the animals. Both Mina and Liara held their breaths when she did that and calmed down when he chuckled after her retreating girl, he smiled at the others and went back to work, unknown to the girls he made a promise to himself "You're right little one, I'll protect you and your sisters from anything that wishes to harm you may it be Predacons or my own"

Later at the Maximals base

Rhinox and Mina had just completed a communication device, which was meant for long range uses and prevent energon-statics "There that should do it" "Good work Rhinox and Mina" Optimus said but Rhinox was not convinced yet "Well it still needs a field test". How Cheetor got wind of it he couldn't know "Did someone say test?! I'm your bot what you got?" he rhymed without knowing. He ran into the main area and jumped on the table "Rhinox put together a new device to solve our long-range communication problem" Optimus told Cheetor as he handed him the device. Cheetor sniffed at it and it give out a small electrical current "Whoa, ultra-gear" he smiled at them, but both looked serious at him "Cheetor, this is a valuable piece of equipment take care of it!" Cheetor then got serious and said "How does it work?" Mina replied "The device is voice activated just talk into it and we'll be able to communicate with you" while she applied it on his front leg, but Rhinox was a little worried and added "We hope", Mina smiled "Don't worry big guy, if can't hear us from the area he'll come back immediately, right Cheetor?" and gave him a questionable look. Cheetor gulped and said "You got it Mina, no fooling around" "Ah, don't you worry we'll make sure nothing happens to it" Kima said while she walks in and send a thumbs up to Cheetor. Optimus went to a screen and pin-pointed a location for them "Head away to the base in Vector Omega and check in every micro-quad, we'll see how far we can track. If you two encounter any Predacons return immediately" he told them emphasizing the last part to them with a look, Cheetor replied "Hey, I'll be moving too fast for them for them to even see me" Kima looked cocky as well and added "And I'll have some targeting practice if they do" and they both headed out. Rhinox just shook his head at that and looked back at Optimus, who just chuckled and said "They'll do fine" but Mina knew of Kima's attitude and sometimes jeopardizes her gadgets when she has to test it out.

Meanwhile the same direction Kima and Cheetor are heading

Scorponok just found a cannon belonging to their ship and tried to pull it out of the rubble, but was having difficulties "Ugh, ghaah Megatron will be pleased with my finding. If. . . . . !" he tried to pull but only fell on his rear end in the process and accidentally activated the cannon.

Cheetor and Kima we're just running at that direction and saw the blast from the cannons, only to stop and wide eye at the sight "Roarw, what the spotted-heck was that?" "Looks like the Preds found some sort of cannon, quick check if you can communicate with the base and tell them about this" Cheetor then activated the device "Cheetor to base, come in!" Optimus answered the call "Yes, and he's over five micro-quads away looks like it's working" "So far so good" Rhinox told him and they listened to Cheetor's transmit "We just heard some kind of explosion we're going to check it out, talk to you in a minute" that got their attentions on alert "Explosion, wait Cheetor don't…." "He's moving again" Rhinox replied and all three of them sighted at that "I thought at least Kima would stop him, Sis is not gonna like this" Mina said while she shook her head. "I'm going after them, if they call back tell them to head back" he went outside and after them.

Meanwhile Cheetor and Kima were prowling the area when they both spotted Scorponok, they looked and smiled, both had the same idea "Cheetor, MAXIMAIZE" he transformed and Kima activated her battle gear weapons ready. "Hold it right there Mr. Scissors, whatya digging outta there?" she surprised him and both of them held their weapons at the scorpion Predacon. He jumped up in surprise and turned around facing them, he clicked his scissors together in a threatening tone, Cheetor said "Clicking makes us twitch and there's a full charge in this beauty, plus Kima here's got good aim" he then tried to contact the base but wasn't able to, none of them noticing Tarantulas behind them. Scorponok took a change and moved forward, but stopped when Kima pulled her arrow "Don't even think of moving arachnid" until she heard a hissing sound from above her "Tehehehe, Oh but is the two of you who will not be moving very soon" both looked up and noticed Tarantulas, but this gave Scorponok enough time to transform and blast Cheetor away "CHEETOR, NOOO!" She shot her arrow at Scorponk but was webbed by Tarantuals. The tarantula Predacon cackled with glee and said looking at her "Owh, you and your comrades will make nice experiment, oh yesss, tehehehehehe!" and dragged away a struggling Kima. Scorponok heard him and complained "You better bring her in front of Megatron, he'll want to use her to get the leader" but Tarantulas was already gone, he sighted and got the out of there with the cannon.

Optimus was closing in on Cheetor's location, but when he got there Cheetor was in a busted heap and there was no sign of any Predacons or Kima for that matter. "Oh no, Cheetor! Kima! NOOO" suddenly he heard a sound from above and saw Faux flying circles in the sky, but then went east from them. Optimus thought he'll inform the others about the situation and might get a hard time from the girls about this, he was not looking forward to a fight with them.

Meanwhile with Faux

Faux was landing where Aurora was patrolling and clicked the situation to her "THEY DID WHAT?! Sis will definitely add a new meaning to punishment for this, let's go my friend" and they both headed out to the Predacons base.

With the Maximals

Rhinox, Rattrap, Son and Optimus were with Cheetor who just woke up from a nightmare. Optimus and Son weren't too happy about the situation "Cheetor care to explain why, BOTH you and Kima went after the Predacons alone?" Son asked Cheetor who coward a little bit "Well we thought we could ambush Scorponok and retrieve the cannon he was digging out" Optimus replied "Well you thought wrong Cheetor, not only did you cause us an advantage by getting Rhinox's and Mina's device busted, but we also lost a comrade to the Predacons, who knows what they'll do to Kima" Cheetor perked up at that "They took Kima?! Tarantulas, that no good sneaking…let me go after them Optimus I'll get her outta there"

Son was unimpressed by his attitude "Cheetor, tell me what do you see this situation as?" everyone looked up at here with questionable looks "W-what do you mean Boss Lady? We got no time for questions Kima could be hurt or worse" "You and Kima see this as a game, but let me tell you this it's a war for survival Cheetor we might outnumber the Preds for now, but who knows what will happen in the future, you both need a good reminder of that"

She then looked at Optimus "It would be best if we came up with a plan to get Kima out of there, and if what Dinobot told us about each one of them Tarantulas will bring her to his lab instead of to Megatron" Optimus agreed with her "Yes, that is most likely but only for a little while, if Scorponok doesn't forget to mention this to Megatron we might have a change of getting her back without the other Predacons interfering" They both went to the main room, while Cheetor, Rattrap and Rhinox stayed behind "Yeah and they'll want me to infiltrate, no way am I putting my tail on the line let pussycat here get a whack at it"

Cheetor growled at that and got in his face "At least I'm not afraid of going in Rat-face" Rattrap glared at him and countered "That's your problem, you don't know how to get scared kid you just waltz in without caution for anything that was your mistake" "GROWL, I'll show you what I can do" and ran out of the room. Rhinox just looked at Rattrap "You know what's he's going to do" "Eh, even the kid knows better than to disobey the Great Optimus" Rhinox didn't look convince and kept looking at him "Ehh, alright I'll get him back if I can catch him" mumbling something while he went after Cheetor.

A Few Hours Later at Tarantulas Lab

Cheetor had just arrived at Tarantula's lab and was stalking the area, when he saw Kima's condition without thinking went to her side and tried to wake her up "Kima, Kima, wake up oh man this isn't good" "Uhhh, C-C-Cheetor, H-H-Hey w-w-what's u-u-up *cough* *cough*" "What did that two timing creepy crawling did to you?!" not liking the sound she was making.

What happened Previously

Kima was still struggling to get out of Tarantula's web but he made it too strong for her, she suddenly heard his snickering "Try all you might my dear, I've made it extra strong so it wouldn't penetrate with that armor of your, teehehehe, oh I will enjoy experimenting on each and every one of you" he cackled with glee and went got a an needle from subspace. He took a sample from her blood and went to his computer for analysis. Kima struggle again and said "And what your master Megatron haven't you informed him of me? I'm sure you can't wait for the reward he'll give you" she sneered his direction trying to get information from him, he just shrugged "Megatron has no reward which could possible satisfy me, besides he'll just use you to get to your leader, who's he so fascinated about, oohhh everywhere I go I hear him mumbling about her. No matter besides they will follow soon when the others are done with them and then you'll all be mine, gahhahaha"

Kima stared in horror at him and spouted Cybertronian curses at him, Tarantulas stared wide eyed at her and glared "Where did you learn those words?" he demanded "From Cheetor and Rattrap, what's it so ya bug?" she sneered again showing her deviance "Just for that I'll beginwith this" and started and electrical current through the web, making her scream in pain from the jolts.

Cheetor stared wide eyed at her; he was planning on getting back for hurting his girl like that. He suddenly realize what he was thinking "Where did that come from?", he went back at trying to get her out of that web not realizing Tarantulas was right behind him. "Tehehe, when will you learn pussycat?" he exclaimed and captured Cheetor in his web as well "Gahaha, you'll make a fine meal later on pussycat after I'm done with your little friend here" he said heading back to Kima, while Cheetor struggled helplessly on the web witnessing Tarantula's treatment.

Meanwhile outside of Tarantulas' Lab

Aurora was just coming out of the Darksyde, after she managed to get in through the air-vents "Looks like Tarantula's lab isn't located within the ship, but just in case Megatron needs him he'll need to be nearby. Sooo the entrance needs to be somewhere here" while she was looking she saw a small figure crawling around on the ground. When she got closer she realized it was Rattrap, she decided he could search for the entrance first when she noticed he didn't see her yet. She decided to contact her sister first "Sis are you there?" "Yes, I'm here where are you?" "I'm at the Predacons base looking for Tarantula's lab, Faux told me what happened with Kima and Cheetor, Rattrap just found the entrance, does Optimus know he's here?" "Rhinox, did look worried when Optimus asked about Rattrap's whereabouts, he told him he was with Cheetor, check if he is there as well and be careful" "You got it sis, tell Optimus I'm getting Kima out, but let's leave Rattrap and Cheetor out for now" "Agreed"

She cut the connection and followed Rattrap underground, when she got to the lab she saw how Tarantulas was about to shoot Rattrap behind his back. Thinking fast she activated her battle armor and threw one of her stars at Tarantulas and hit him right on the shoulder "GAAHHH, what in the inferno" he turned around and saw Aurora standing there "YOU!" "Hello bug-face missed me?" she threw another star at his eye which caused him to blast randomly at anywhere, but gave Rattrap enough time to get Cheetor and Kima out of their webs. All four of them got out while they can before the entire joint blew up, Tarantulas however was still blind and was hit in the impact. When he burst through the debris and shook his head and said looking up "I hate those two" before a rock hit him on the head.

When the group returned at the base everyone was present in the main room contemplating their next move concerning the canon the Preds found earlier. All of them looked at them when they came in and immediately Kima was dragged by Liara to the medical bay by the ear all the while scolding her for acting the way she did and getting herself captured. Optimus looked at Cheetor and Rattrap thinking they went and get her, but Aurora said "Faux came to me after he saw what had happened, I went to the Preds base to search for and got her out we then caught up with Rattrap and Cheetor in the forest while heading back" she then looked at Cheetor and Rattrap and winked at them. Both understood she did that to cover for them, Rattrap then added "Yeah, I took the kid out for a while you were pretty rough on him back there" Optimus just looked at them and them sighted "I guess you're right I'm sorry Cheetor, I shouldn't have been so hard on you"

Cheetor looked at Optimus and said "No, you were right Big Bot, I messed up big time and got Kima in danger…but I learned my lesson and am glad Kima's back and ok, from now on this cat is a team player" and smiled at Optimus and looked at Son and said "And I'm really sorry for getting Kima in danger back there, I promise she'll be safe with me from now on if you'll let me that is" both leaders looked at each other and then at Cheetor. Optimus was the first to speak "I'm glad to hear that Cheetor" not knowing what else to say, he'd wondered what they've really been up to, Son then added "Because you admitted you're mistake AND made up for it I'll let you another chance with my sisters, but be warned don't ever get them in danger again understood?"Giving him a look that meant business Cheetor just gulped and said "Yes, m'am" and walked back with Rattrap. Cheetor then said to Rattrap "Hey, thanks for not telling on me…" he began but Rattrap cut him off with "Save it pussycat, if Optimus found out about you're little play date with Tarantulas he'd have my rear end too and another thing if you ever, ever do a stunt like that again I'll rearrange your spots you understand" showing his fist at the end and then shoved him away "Now get outta my way, I got garbage to munch" and walked away. Cheetor just smiled and said "Thanks…pal" knowing he can count on Rattrap when worse comes to worse.

Rattrap meanwhile went to Aurora's room and knocked he heard a "come in" from inside and went in, he transformed and saw her polishing her stars she turned to face him while putting down the star and polishing cloth. He asked "Why did you cover for us back there and what were you doing there alone?" worried, though he didn't know why he was worried. Aurora thought for a moment "I'm the teams spy, it's only logical I went in and looked for her and before you tell me I shouldn't have gone in there without back up I'm been through enough and am capable to get myself out of tight situations" she told him, Rattrap wasn't convinced "Listen Aurora, these Preds aren't human alright, there much stronger than that and Tarantulas is the worst of them besides Megatron, I just don't want you to get in trouble" "Well you don't have to I did inform my sister through our telekinesis so don't worry"

"Even sooo, tell me when you decide to go on a spy mission, I don't wanna have to get youtta troubled ai'ght?" he told her trying to hide his nervousness "Why the heck am I nervous around her so suddenly?" Aurora smiled at him and said "Like I saved you from Tarantulas today?" winking at him. This caused Rattrap to blush "Yeah, I was distracted and helping out Cheetor and Kima" not wanting to admit she was right. Aurora and Rattrap exchanged looks and before he could go she asked "Wanna play some more poker games? Or are you too tired with your little rescue mission" she teased him. Rattrap just smirked "Get ready to lose girl" "How about we make things interesting, if you win you can command me one thing to do, no exceptions, the same goes for me if I win, agreed?" "Sounds interesting, let's play"

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