KNOW YOUR ENEMY – Part Four of Four
Written and posted in 2007 © by SolitaryHawk
The brief storm squall passed through the devastated clearing almost as soon as it had arrived, leaving behind a surreal, ghostlike quality to the sparse surroundings that were now covered in a fine layer of undisturbed snow. The wind had finally dropped and dark clouds were moving away with a hint of sun trying to penetrate the overcast sky. In the center, untouched by any moisture, the probe hovered in his charred crater and suddenly released a low hum.
"SCAN COMPLETE. ANALYSIS COMPLETE. MISSION COMPLETE."
In a flash of light, Rattrap and Dinobot rematerialized in the clearing beside the probe's crater. At first they stared down at themselves in shock, as if thinking this was just another trick. Then they glanced over at one another and visibly flinched in reaction.
The strained silence between them continued until the probe's hum intensified and they bolted without even giving the pretense of heroics. The hum changed to a high buzz and then the yellowish orb disappeared in a blaze of light that stretched upward towards the sky and parted the clouds like a laser. The two Maximals watched the show from a safe distance and then went back to staring uncomfortably at one another.
"I..." Dinobot started and then fell back into troubled silence.
"uhm..." Rattrap cleared his throat. He began tracing errant designs in the snow with his toes.
"Look-" They said in unison and blinked at one another.
Rattrap tried again; "As far as I'm concerned what happened in the probe, stays with the probe, awright?" He tried to sound indifferent but it was difficult staring at his old nemesis and pretending that everything between them was the same. It wasn't. No way in Prime it was ever gonna be. He was having a hard time just meeting the huge soldier's gaze and that wasn't like him at all.
Dinobot noted his ally's uneasiness but conceded with what he had to say, "All right." His experience hadn't dulled his opinion of the distasteful rodent by much but at least he now had some respect for him, which was actually saying something. "But I don't-"
//Error! He flinched when his on board computer suddenly projected an alert message across his mainframe. //Internal security comprised!
//Origin of fault? he asked the computer.
His smaller companion stared at him with concern. "You okay?"
Dinobot flashed him a look: Since when have you ever cared? and finally said aloud, "There's a problem with my security protocols." He went back to trying to resolve the issue, deliberately ignoring the Maximal.
Having a pretty good idea what the problem was, his small companion wandered a short distance away looking around. He briefly consulted his own onboard system but saw no reported conflicts. No surprise there. He didn't exactly keep a tidy house. What did surprise him was that his chronometer revealed that only fifteen minutes had passed since the moment they'd been abducted. He couldn't understand how that was possible; it had been the better part of a day inside of Dinobot's datatracks. If that wasn't an indication of the aliens' mastery of time and space, he didn't know what was. He was still puzzling over the experience when he heard the muffled sound of Megatron's voice directly behind him.
"-prepare to attack-"
"Agh!" Rattrap whirled around, pulling out his pistol with a blur and had it pointed to the direction of the sound. He was immeasurably relieved to see that his weapon was back and gave his surroundings a thorough scan. The only thing around him was snow-covered rocks.
One rock was shivering.
There was a blaze of static and then "-zpinator ready to slag Maximal-"
"What the-?" the Maximal puzzled as he walked over to the quaking pile of snow.
"-orpinok terrorize-"
Kneeling down, Rattrap brushed away a patch of snow and exposed red chrome. Recognizing the color scheme immediately, he grabbed hold of a seam and wrenched the prone body of Terrorsaur out of the snow. "Hey chopperface, lookit this!"
Dinobot had problems of his own. The computer was telling him that certain encrypted files had been accessed and he didn't know what the damned thing was talking about. Voluntarily encrypting files was like trying to permanently banish a memory and he couldn't recall what would motivate him to initiate that action. It was like attempting self-imposed amnesia. He read the text file that accompanied the selection and found that description to be unusually vague. That wasn't like him at all. //Commence rapid playback of F4L-2 to N9S-98, he told the computer, frowning.
//Acknowledged.
And the banished memories flashed through his mainframe with the speed of a shutter click...
Rattrap stared down at the prostrate form of Terrorsaur with disbelief. The Flyer was definitely offline, but he must have tried to access his communication system just as the probe attacked. By some miracle, the channel was still open and he was patched into the Darkside's transmissions.
"No advance Flyers-!" Megatron's voice thundered amid the crackle of interference caused by the probe's unique energy release, "We are attacking-" -Crackle! "-only way to catch the Maximals -" the rest was lost to a savage blaze of static before the signal terminated.
"Aw no," Rattrap moaned and slapped his chestplate, "Optimus come in! You hear me, Boss Monkey?"
The feedback almost deafened him. He could hear a voice in the background that sounded vaguely like his commander but he couldn't be sure. He turned over to Dinobot. "Yo! Can you get anything on your comlink?"
The soldier was standing in place, looking down at the ground with a peculiar expression on his blue face. He turned his head marginally towards the Maximal. "...what?"
"Your comlink-!" the Maximal frantically pantomimed slapping his chestplate. "Can you get a signal from the Axalon?"
Dinobot only continued to stare at him blankly.
"Slag it! I ain't got time to play twenty questions with you, Dinoboob! Megatron's gonna attack the base-"
The soldier's face slowly became animated. "Megatron," he growled the name out slowly, as if sampling each syllable. His eyes transformed into twin green slits as he clenched both massive hands into fists. "I... remember..."
Rattrap watched him warily. "Easy there, big fella. Don't-"
Releasing one of his piercing screams, Dinobot abruptly transformed into his raptor form and took off in a blur, leaving the astonished Maximal all alone in the deserted clearing. "HEY!" he bawled in anger. "Don't forget about me!"
"Need a lift?" asked a voice from above.
Rattrap had never been so happy to see Airazor in his entire life. "The Flyin Featherduster! Thank Prime!"
The female falcon delicately tucked in her wings and transformed as she landed. "An earlier transmission I received from Optimus said that you and Dinobot were attacked by a probe," she craned her head around the barren surroundings. "I was ordered to return to base but I thought I should do a flyby just in case I could help. What's going on?"
"No time for that! Megatron's attacking the base! We gotta get back!"
At the mere mention of Megatron's name, the female's green optics widened dramatically. She had not been part of the original crew to crash land on this alien planet, she had been created later; made serviceable thanks to Rhinox's quick thinking. Because of this, her loyalty to the large engineer's crew was overwhelming.
Without a second's hesitation, she transformed again and Rattrap followed suit. She picked up his beast form with her talons and beat her wings furiously to gain altitude. The pair were about the same size, and unfortunately the same weight, and Rattrap knew from experience that this severely taxed the Flyer's strength just to get them both airborne, let alone make a swift course back to the Axalon. For a change, he was unusually mute about the whole ordeal even though her claws were digging into his armpits with almost painful force. He just kept his eyes trained on the ground, searching for clues where his other companion had gone.
As expected, it wasn't that hard to figure out.
"What's that?" Airazor squawked, resorting to her zoom lens. There was an explosion far ahead of them and a pile of debris hurled into the air. Further on there were several more.
"That would be Dinobot," the little spy muttered.
"I didn't know he could move that fast!"
"When he gets it into his thick head, he can haul tail almost as fast as Cheetor." He didn't bother to add that the soldier was probably at that speed right now. There was no way in the Inferno that they were going to make it back to the Axalon before he did and Prime help any bot that was in his way when he showed up. Rattrap didn't care a lick about the Preds but he was worried for his friends. If they got in Dinobot's way, the end could be disastrous.
He urgently slapped his chestplate and tried to get out a warning. "Rattrap to Optimus- to anybody! Come in!"
Equally motivated, Megatron lead the way to the Maximal base, running at a sustained pace in his Tyrannosaurus beast form and his heavy footfalls sounding like concussive blasts with each determined tread. Any creature hearing that passage immediately ran for cover, and for good reason. Flanking him on either side were Inferno, who was carrying Blackarachnia; and Waspinator, who was struggling with Tarantulas. Bringing up the rear, and panting with the effort to keep up with them, was Scorponok. All six Predacons knew the stakes involved with this particular attack. There would be no retreat, no compromise, and certainly no failure. They were a unified assault force that had only one objective:
Conquest.
When the Axalon came into view, they found the Maximals ready and waiting. All three of them; Rhinox, Cheetor, and Optimus Primal. At the sight of the six approaching Predacons they transformed and armed, the protective shields of the Axalon enfolding the craft in a luminescent aura.
"Steady everyone," Optimus told them, arming his shoulder missiles.
Nervously checking and rechecking the loads in his gutgun, Cheetor calculated the odds of survival in his mainframe and came out with a result that would have made Rattrap blink in surprise.
We're all gonna die, the youth thought bleakly.
Rhinox hefted his massive chainguns and aimed them at the enemy, waiting for the cue that would bring both parties into a fateful exchange where there could only be one victor.
Megatron intended to be that victor. With a thunderous bellow, he transformed and the others followed suit. Weapons came out of subspace, armed and locked on their targets.
"Predacons!" he shouted. "Attack!"
During their patrol, Rattrap and Dinobot had taken over six hours to travel only twenty kilometers over harsh terrain and miserable conditions. They had kept the pace slow in difference to the smaller Transformer's steps, and the fact that more than once they'd had to deviate from a straight path to go around obstacles.
Dinobot made it back to base in less than fifteen minutes.
He didn't concern himself with obstructions; he simply plowed through deadfalls and fallen trees with the force of a brown-striped cruise missile intent on its target. It didn't matter that splinters and shards of wood now penetrated his beast form in dozens of places like shrapnel. The only thing he was intent on was his target: Megatron, and he was working out the various strategies he would need to take the tyrant down once and for all. The rest him from the eyes-down was on autopilot.
When he heard the telltale sounds of combat, he immediately deviated in his course, opting for a path that would take him up into the cliffs that surrounded the Axalon rather than straight through the narrow pass they all regularly used. From up here, he had a broader vantage point of the battle zone and easily picked out Inferno who was firing at a Maximal pinned down behind some rocks far below. It looked like Cheetor and that only fueled the soldier's rage further. Still running at maximum speed, he launched himself from the rock face without a second's hesitation and transformed in the few seconds it took to reach his target. Inferno never even knew what happened when over 245 kilos of armored fury slammed into him broadside.
The two wrestled desperately as they pin-wheeled to the ground, all slashing claws and biting fangs as they engaged in a savage close quarter battle where weapons were impossible to use. When they smashed into the ground, Inferno acted as the buffer for the landing but that wasn't a good thing. His heavy armor perforated Dinobot's techno-organic hide and slashed his stomach, scoring the flex metal of his chassis and ripping away protective plating.
Gripping his wound, Dinobot pulled into a contorted ball and Inferno managed to drag himself over to where his flame-gun had landed and brought it around in a deadly arc, grinning despite his own damage. Just before depressing the trigger, it flew out of his hands. Two more shots right between the eyes and the Predacon was face down in the dirt.
"Holy slag, are you all right?" Cheetor fretted, kneeling down beside his stricken comrade. "You just came right out of nowhere!"
Dinobot was struggling to get his breath back from his extended sprint. "...get back under cover, Raze. It's not safe here..." he muttered absently, shaking his head to clear it. He was still dazed from the landing and it took some effort to get successfully to his feet.
Cheetor helped to steady him. "Wha-? Dinobot, did that fall scramble your circuits or something?" the youngster asked uneasily.
The soldier blinked in confusion as if it were the first time he had seen him and then fixated on an object over the youth's left shoulder. His optic lasers came online and he fired a salvo at Waspinator, who was closing in quickly. He gave a push to the younger Maximal to send him towards cover and ran in the opposite direction, firing at the insect Flyer over his shoulder as he ran.
Off to the side and exchanging fire with Tarantulas, Rhinox's optics widened in recognition. And clear relief. He turned his head over to the left and called out; "Optimus! Dinobot's back!"
The Maximal commander clubbed Megatron across the face, driving him back a few feet, and spared a desperate glance over to where Rhinox had indicated. Yes, thank Prime, their Predacon ally had arrived just in the proverbial nick of time. From the looks of things he had already taken out Inferno, who was always a deadly threat, and now he and Cheetor were coordinating their fire against Waspinator. He received an additional treat when over his comlink came the frantic words of Rattrap; "-hold on there, guys! Me'n Airazor are on our way! Just watch out for-" the rest was lost to static but the message had been loud and clear.
Optimus spared the Predacon commander a grin of triumph. "You lose again, Megatron. You certainly get an 'A' for effort!"
His face pulled into a grimace of defiance, the huge leader saw movement behind Optimus and suddenly broke out into a broad grin. "The battle isn't over yet, Primal," he said just as Blackarachnia opened fire.
The rapid blasts slammed into the younger leader's back and Megatron raised his weapon with the intention of firing at him at point-blank range. Several of the female arachnid's shots went wild and nailed the towering Predacon, throwing him off balance. Blackarachnia ceased firing in her horror. It was all the diversion that Optimus needed. He whirled and caught the female with a missile that hit her in the stomach and sent her sailing out of the battlefield. Another one down... Now they were evenly numbered!
Rhinox was keeping Tarantulas pinned down and spent shells covered his feet as he fought to keep the male arachnid in place and out of the fight. He spared a glance to his left and saw that Cheetor and Dinobot had managed to get Waspinator between them and their coordinated blasts were making the insect Flyer dance in the air, trying to avoid getting hit. Buzzing furiously, he headed straight up until he became lost in the clouds. The engineer spared himself a gratified grin and suddenly charged Tarantulas' hiding spot, bellowing at the top of his lungs. At the mere sight of that hulking green Maximal with his huge rotating chainguns coming at him, the spider transformed and quickly scaled the nearest rock face to get out of the line of fire.
Sensing the change in the tide of battle as if it were a detectable scent, Megatron still remained fixated on Optimus, determined to bring down the Maximal commander once and for all. He began closing in again when twin green lasers slammed into his side and caught his attention. Dinobot was approaching, his eyes twin emerald slits, and were fixated solely on his former leader.
"Stand down, Dinobot. He's mine," Optimus said, almost smiling. He was a pacifist in nature but when the prospect of battle activated his combat protocols, he enjoyed a good fight as much as any of them.
Dinobot ignored him, continuing to rapid-fire his lasers. He wasn't going to give Megatron the chance to power up and return fire. Each blast was pushing the larger bot steadily backwards towards the waterfall even though the talons of his feet were gripping the earth for dear life. The chestplate of the Predacon commander became pitted and seared and Dinobot steadily closed the distance, close to reaching overload on his lasers. Smoke was starting to trail out of the vents on either side of his helmet; first as delicate wisps that become blacker as the heat inside of his helmet became extreme. Warnings began to flash across his onboard computer.
There was a hand on his shoulder, big and black. He whipped his head around and sank his needle sharp teeth into the fingers with a livid snarl and Optimus recoiled with a shout of pain. Dinobot would tolerate no more of this Maximal sentiment of playing fair and by the rules; of letting the enemy go free so they could regroup and strike another day. Not this time. He was sick and tired of having to obey orders that were in direct conflict with his core programming: Attack and Destroy. This time, he was going to see things through to the end.
When he unsheathed his sword, the expression on his Maximal commander's face was one of complete disbelief and he actually backed up one step. Dinobot passed him a look that contained absolutely no recognition before turning back towards his old nemesis. Megatron had shaken off assault and was whipping around the Tyrannosaurus head to start firing. Dinobot managed three more strikes with his lasers before they went offline. It didn't matter. He cleared the distance between them with great ground-eating strides and tackled the larger Predacon squarely in the mid-section, throwing them both over the waterfall.
"Dinobot!" Optimus rushed to the edge just in time to see the pair disappear in the low hanging mist more than two hundred feet below where the waterfall emptied into the rapids. Before he could fly down to search for any trace of his damaged ally, he was brutally reminded that there was still a battle going on as two concussive shells exploded on either side of him. Scorponok was reloading as he sighted up and the Maximal commander had no choice but to go find cover.
Diving behind some boulders, he winced and shook his aching hand, seeing the marks that Dinobot's teeth had left. Deep down, he knew that it was more than mere coincidence that the soldier's unpredictable behavior seemed to come after his association with the probe. For an instant there, it had looked like he was going to be attacked and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of that hateful, calculating glare ever again. Not from a member of his crew he regarded as his friend.
Scorponok was prepping one massive claw to fire another missile when a small projectile slammed into the cliff above him, showering him with debris. He cast an outraged, accusatory glance skywards and saw Airazor coming in fast. "Oh slag," he murmured, bringing his arm around. His speed was no match for the swift female Flyer and she did a strafing run above his head that created an avalanche of rocks to rain down upon his armored form. When he tried to run for cover, Optimus nailed him with both wrist cannons.
Airazor hovered overhead, staring at him with concern. The Maximal commander looked a little singed around the edges but otherwise appeared intact. "Is everyone alright?"
Rattrap was sliding down the hill from where she had dropped him. He took up fire with Cheetor and began helping him put the run to Scorponok. Rhinox was still firing at the mountain and trying to get at Tarantulas who was pinned beneath an outcrop. The situation appeared to be under control although there was no sign of Waspinator.
"Dinobot and Megatron went over the cliff. Help me find them," he told Airazor and ran for the edge of the drop-off, firing his retro jets. Together the pair disappeared into the heavy mist.
Floundering under the water and swept up in the rapids, Megatron transformed swiftly just before his T-Rex form slammed up against some underwater boulders, almost stunning him. Despite the near-perfect appearance of the beast form, it was still based on a technological superstructure of metal and circuits and he sank like a rock. As clumsy hind claws raked the sandy bottom for desperate purchase, he had no choice but to transform again and swim towards the nearby bank. When his feet finally felt substance, he staggered towards the rocky shoreline and collapsed upon it, trying to process the injury reports that were coming in; he had received structural damage from the fall, water had penetrated his internals and needed to be purged, there was also laser damage near the processing core in his chest.
He choked up great gouts of water and broke off coughing. Everything was a blur; one second it had looked like he'd finally gained the upper hand in destroying the Maximals once and for all and in the next, half of his forces were down and he was left facing his crazed former second-in-command. It was always the same cursed scenario! He would have thought that Optimus Primal would have been his personal rival on this accursed planet and time and again the one person to thwart his plans always turned out to be none other than-
A shadow loomed over him and when he turned his head to the left he saw the outline of a large bot standing there. "Dino-"
Dinobot kicked him across the face so hard the huge Predacon was flipped over onto his back. Megatron barely had time to react to the punishment before the soldier unsheathed his sword and held the point of the rotating blades to his throat. Dinobot had not escaped unscathed from their fall off of the cliff either. The right side of his body was bashed, dented or scraped from his helmet right down to his hip and it looked like the use of his left arm was limited. None of that mattered to Megatron, who knew full well of his rival's abilities and he stayed right where he was, trying not to betray any sign of weakness that might incite the soldier to further action. "So... you have me at your mercy," he blustered. "What happens now?"
"Who shot her?" Dinobot demanded. The right side of his helmet was smashed and the mouth guard was torn away exposing a long line of teeth clenched in a grimace that could either be in pain or rage. Probably a combination of both.
Megatron had been expecting anything but that and his face betrayed his confusion. "Who?"
"Shade, Gamma6B3."
"WHO?"
"My second officer on Charr, idiot!" the soldier shouted down at him.
His face screwing into a desultory frown, Megatron regarded the former Predacon in brooding silence, absolutely abhorring any insult directed his way. He was becoming convinced that the soldier had obtained more serious damage than what appeared evident and decided to try some stalling techniques in the hopes that some reinforcements might arrive in time. "That name simply does not ring a bell, old friend. Perhaps if you-"
"I don't have time for your slag," Dinobot snarled and suddenly drove the sword blade down through the tyrant's shoulder.
Megatron's reaction was spectacular as he released an agonized roar and his back actually lifted off the ground in a pained bow. Dinobot's face was devoid of any emotion as he deliberately leaned down on the sword hilt, ensuring that the weapon remained embedded in the larger Predacon's body. "I'm waiting for your answer," he said in a level growl.
"Yes- Yes! I remember her. Shade. Your conjugal ally," Megatron gasped in pain, glaring up at the other bot in fury. "Your leash-"
Dinobot deliberately moved the sword back and forth, expanding the hole and the tyrant writhed in agony. "Be very careful of your responses, Megatron. I will ask you One. Last. Time. Who shot her? The damage was specific in its location, premeditated. Only you could think of such an action."
Despite his injuries, Megatron's gloating smirk was back. "Not just me."
"Tarantulas, then. That would be right up his-"
"Not him, either. You know Gamma6B3's attacker far better than I do," his former commander added with a sneer, "Indigo."
Dinobot frowned at him, not understanding, and then his optics flashed in clear surprise. He almost lost his grip in his sword handle. "You mean-" He shook his head with one brisk shake, "...No. Not possible. Not-"
"Onslaught was a fair Alpha to run Battalion I, but he was also heavily involved in the Interstellar black market. He could not risk a visit by any member of the Military Council. You were starting to attract too much attention. He knew that the only way to get you off his base would be to sever your ties." Megatron paused for a few seconds before he delivered the bombshell:
"Attacking Gamma6B3 in that manner was his idea. And it worked."
Optics widening in horror, Dinobot was starting to utter a denial when he was seized by a blaze of static and he recoiled in pain from the energon overload. It was the opportunity that Megatron had been waiting for. He grabbed the soldier's sword and ripped it out of his shoulder and pierced Dinobot's damaged stomach in one smooth move, driving him backwards until he was flush against the cliff wall.
"How does it feel?" Megatron growled into his face, grinding the weapon back and forth. It punched out of the soldier's back and began gouging into the stone behind him. "What does it feel like being impaled on your own cursed sword?"
"Eat... slag," Dinobot cursed at him, defiant to the end.
"Eat this," Megatron snarled, raising his T-Rex head and leveling it at his former second's head. He was through with speeches and bluster where this particular Predacon was concerned. It was time to end things once and for all. He powered up the weapon and fired.
Or tried to.
The Tyrannosaurus head had sustained serious damage in the fall, bending the internal cannon barrel and knocking the charges offline. The toothed weapon exploded, bathing them both in purple shrapnel. Screaming, Megatron staggered backwards as he gripped his stump of a right arm. Dinobot managed to pull his sword free and transformed, collapsing as he sought support on his injured left leg. It didn't stop him. He stretched out and grabbed his former leader by the ankle with his teeth, biting down on the bearing as hard as he could, snapping it. The huge Predacon fell sprawling with a shocked bellow.
Dinobot climbed onto his chest and began tearing wildly at the purple armor, caught in a paroxysm of fury that not even Megatron had ever seen before. He tried desperately to beat the raptor away. "Get OFF me!" he shouted.
Ripping away a piece of shoulder plating with his teeth, Dinobot spit it out and began raving madly, "I was content on Charr! I was happy! And then you came along and ruined EVERYTHING! You and Onslaught both!" He bared his teeth in a fearsome snarl and hissed, "I will kill you for what you've done, Megatron. And somehow, in some way, I will get off this miserable planet and exact my revenge on my sire. But you will be FIRST-"
He darted his head down and began burrowing into the Predacon's damaged chest, attacking the spark case and Megatron threw his head back and screamed in agony. The raptor was just about to get through the dense metal when a concussive shell exploded against his side and knocked him off. He rolled several meters down the beach and when he came to a rest he was finally offline, his entire right side smoldering.
"Wazpinator saves the day!" the Flyer announced happily, hovering over the water and gesturing with his stinger gun.
"Kill him, you fool!" Megatron ordered, cradling his mangled chestplate. He couldn't transform, not without a beastmode head, and an energon overload was imminent. He couldn't remember the last time he had ever been this badly injured in combat. "Kill him right now!"
Without hesitation, the Flyer began lining up for a shot when his wings were clipped by several blasts and he fell into the water like a rock. "Help! Wazpinator can't- glup!" his head immediately disappeared beneath the swift current. The only indication of his voyage downstream was the passage of bubbles.
Megatron took one look at Optimus Primal's approach and dove for the water without hesitation. He would sooner take his chances with the rapids than the Maximal's temper. He knew he would never survive a second assault, not with the shape he was in. Casting Dinobot's unconscious form a hateful glare, he propelled himself after the drowning Flyer and disappeared from sight.
"Dinobot?" Optimus landed beside the raptor and investigated his injuries. Most of the raptor's pseudo skin was torn off by shrapnel, and his body was dented and badly damaged. Without hesitation, the commander picked him up and carried him quickly back to the Axalon for repairs.
Rattrap was trying desperately to defend himself against the accusing stares of four other members of his crew. He had to admit that it looked pretty darned incriminating that he was standing here all safe and sound without a mark on him while his patrol partner was currently offline and enduring a prolonged repair cycle. "Look, I toldja all I know! He went nuts after the probe let us go. I never got no time to talk to him before he left me in the dust. I swear!"
"I'm not detecting any trace of a virus," came Rhinox's bass rumble, calling up Dinobot's schematics on the holo-screen above the oval control table. "And his programming and activation codes are still encoded as Maximal. He hasn't reverted."
"Thank Prime for that," Optimus murmured, staring down at his bandaged hand.
"But there is something..."
When the silence stretched on, the Maximal commander prompted impatiently, "Yes? What is it?"
"There's a hot spot in his mainframe that I can't pin down," the large engineer said. He zoomed in on the soldier's datatracks and pointed to a conflict icon that was present over the storage banks. "It might just be some embedded code from the probe's scan but since Rattrap seems to be functioning fine, I doubt it. It could be lingering damage from overloading his optic cannons. If you want to know whole the truth of it, I've never been able to quite figure out how Predacons can even use those weapons without frying their mainframes from the inside-out. Whatever caused the problem, the repair cycle isn't able to fix it."
"What does that mean?" Airazor asked curiously.
"I honestly don't know for sure unless I interface with his core. And I'm pretty darned sure he won't let me do that." He spared a glance at Optimus as if asking for permission and, deep in thought himself, the gorilla bot passed him a tacit shake of the head. In the background, Rattrap passed the holo image a fretful stare and started to open his mouth. He closed it again before anyone could notice.
"He was out of it after he took down Inferno," Cheetor piped up. "He called me by some other bot's name. One I never heard before."
"Do you remember what it was?" Optimus asked.
"Erase? Wraith? Something like that," the youngest Maximal pondered. "I don't remember-"
"He's coming back online," Rhinox interrupted.
Maximal torture chamber... It had been Dinobot's instant impression the first time he had woken up inside one of these Maximal regeneration chambers. It didn't have anything to do with pain or noise; it was the sensory deprivation of the confined space that bothered him the most. It reminded him of another similar black, cold place that - before- he hadn't been able to precisely put his finger on. Right now, however, the memory came back with brutal recollection: It reminded of his stay in the Pit back on Charr.
"Flak! Too many to count. Can you hear me?" whispered a voice behind him.
Dinobot recoiled violently and tried to turn around. His size wouldn't permit the action and he knew, deep down, that it was only a memory remnant from the probe's interference. The alien device had dredged up datatracks that he had intended to keep buried until he finally went offline for good. He proceeded to rectify that meddling immediately. //Computer.
//Online, came the swift response.
//Encrypt datatracks F4L- 2 through to N9S-98.
There was a pause of a few seconds and then; //Unable to comply.
The look on Dinobot's face was one of complete shock, and dawning horror. //Explain!
//Encryption protocols have received irreparable damage. Unable to comply with request.
//It isn't a request! It's an ORDER! he raved.
//Unable to comply.
//Encrypt datatracks F4L- 2 through to N9S-98 NOW!
//Unable to comply.
Heads turned towards the regen chamber at the sound of Dinobot's frustrated scream and the door slammed upwards with a loud crash, making all of them jump. Everyone stood on their guard as he staggered out of the regeneration chamber, gripping his helmet in one huge hand and still arguing with his onboard computer. When it registered that the rest of the Maximals were all gathered in the control room and staring at him, he pointed a rigid finger at Rhinox and shouted: "You! The repair sequence did not take! Run it again!"
The large engineer spread his hands in a gesture of futility. "It won't do any good. The CR chamber can't repair the damage. I'm sorry-"
"...You're sorry?" Dinobot couldn't believe his audio receptors. "You're SORRY! I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses! I want you to fix the flakking problem!"
Several of the Maximals exchanged uneasy glances. Of all of them, it was Optimus who braved himself to step forward and try to calm him down. "Rhinox did everything he could. It seems to be isolated to something that the probe did. There's no way to correct what's wrong so you're just going to have to live with it. We'll help you-"
"I don't want your help!" Dinobot raged backing away from him. "I don't want-" to remember, he almost said out loud and clenched his teeth instead. The damned datatracks were stuck in a loop in the back of his mainframe, replaying his disgrace at the hands of Megatron over and over and over-
Megatron...
"He's gonna bolt-" Cheetor cautioned a split second before the former Predacon made a lunge for the lift. Optimus had actually been ready for it but at moments like these he was always caught off guard by the speed the older soldier could move to action. He managed to grab onto his legs and haul him to the floor and the soldier turned on him savagely, ramming his forehead into his face and managing to stun him. The others shook off their paralysis and moved in to intervene just as he was scrambling to his feet again.
Rhinox jumped on his back and slammed him back down to the floor. The engineer kept his hands on the soldier's helmet, not permitting him the chance to arm his lasers and fire at any targets. Optimus was now holding onto one powerful arm and Airazor was struggling with the other. Cheetor tried to secure his flailing legs. One foot connected with the youngster's lower stomach, connecting with vital systems, and he rolled over into a contorted ball, groaning.
Standing off to the side, Rattrap eyed the scene with dismay, not moving in to help. Right now, he wasn't sure which side that would be...
Despite the great weight on his back, Dinobot was actually managing to haul himself back up. "For slagging sake! Help me keep him down!" the engineer shouted in fear as he started slipping.
Optimus made the only decision possible under the circumstances. "I'm sorry, my friend," he said gravely and punched the soldier across the face as hard as he could. Dinobot went face down into the floor with a crash and went still.
"Great," Rhinox panted, still resting a restraining hand on the soldier's back, as if his being offline might be some sort of ruse. "Now what?"
Optimus spared him a bewildered glance. "I honestly don't know."
Their first decision had been to place him down in the hold in one of the security cages that were meant to be used for studying hostile creatures. Optimus had spent a time in one of them himself, back when Scorpinox had infected him with a virus and it had transformed him into a raving war machine. He didn't relish placing the former Predacon in a cage; it just might make the situation worse. In the end, they opted for putting Dinobot in his quarters and locking the door, effectively placing him under house arrest. To say that he was upset about his imprisonment when he woke up is an understatement. Rhinox had to quickly weld armor plating to the door when the soldier began perforating it with his lasers.
Later in the evening, when Optimus went to check up on the situation, he found Cheetor pressed up against the opposite side of the corridor with an expression of terror on his young face. Right now there were four shield layers reinforcing the damaged door but Dinobot had still managed to thrust his sword through all of them. One foot of simulated metal bone was poking out of the heavy gauge steel like a fang.
"He-he just missed me by this much!" Cheetor stammered, holding his trembling fingers an inch apart. "He demanded I let him out. When I refused he went all silent and I thought; 'Okay, he's settled down', and then- WHAM! He actually clipped off a whisker!"
Optimus brought down his fist on the side of the door. "Dinobot!"
"Let me out, Optimus!" came the predictable response.
"You're going to stay in there until you calm down. You almost impaled Cheetor with your sword! Now, I want you to apologize-"
He backpedaled just in time to avoid another sword piercing the wall. It split one of the power lines and there was a bright flash of light followed by a crash. When Optimus spared a glance through the hole, he saw that Dinobot had been thrown the length of the room, smashing through his desk. He was struggling to rise amid the clutter. When he realized he was being watched, his eyes switched over to that piercing green and the commander barely pulled his head back in time to avoid the twin lasers that punched through the hole and hit the far wall. Cheetor squawked and dove for the floor.
"Slaggit, Dinobot. Stand down!" Optimus shouted, pressing himself flat against the side wall.
The only response was something massive being thrown against the door hard enough to make the corridor shake. From the sounds of it, Dinobot had pulled his downtime ledge free from its floor brackets and was using it as a battering ram. "Optimus to Rhinox, come in!" the commander shouted into his internal comlink.
"What now?!" came the exasperated response from the harried engineer. "Never mind, let me guess- You need more shields, am I right?"
"As many as you can carry!" Optimus told him and settled his armored form against the reinforced door as the shields started to shudder from the assault.
The situation didn't quiet down until early morning and by then the outside of Dinobot's quarters looked like a war zone. There were now heavy I-beams lying crossways across the corridor bracing the additional shields against the devastated door. Rattrap proceeded cautiously towards Rhinox who was standing guard nearby with both of his chainguns at his feet.
"How's it going?" he asked in a stage whisper.
"It's been quiet for almost two hours," his friend told him. "I'd risk looking in through the hole but I'm kind of fond of my face."
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Let sleepin Preds lie and all that," the little Maximal said, nodding. "I'm here to relieve you."
"Thanks," the gratitude in the larger Maximal's voice was unmistakable. "He's kept me hopping all night and I'm exhausted. You armed?"
Rattrap pulled his pistol out of his thigh holster and showed it to him.
"Only as a last ditch effort if he actually manages to get out, all right? I don't want you taking pot shots at him," Rhinox cautioned him as he returned his weapons to their subspace pocket.
Making a grimace of distaste, the smaller bot scowled up at him. "I ain't gonna harass him!"
Rhinox looked unconvinced. "Why should now be any different? Just call either me or Optimus if he gets out of control, all right?"
"Yeah, sure," Rattrap mumbled, not appreciating the low blow, even if it was accurate. Before this day, he would have reveled in the fact that his rival was locked up and would have had a blast rubbing the soldier's face in it. The thought of an imprisoned Dinobot completely at his mercy would have been at the top of his personal wish list.
But that was yesterday, and now things have changed. He wasn't sure yet if it was for the best but he had to find out. Once the sound of Rhinox's receding footfalls had faded, he knocked gingerly on the only piece of intact wall that still existed beside the door. "Yo, chopperface? You hear me in there?"
There was no reaction. The Maximal made several more attempts but it was probably as he told Rhinox; Dinobot had exhausted himself and was probably in a much-needed downtime cycle to gather his strength for another escape attempt later. Discouraged, Rattrap sat down on the floor with his back to the wall and became lost in thought.
Suddenly, coming from the laser hole to his left: "Vermin."
"Agh!" He jumped in shock. "Holy slag, you're awake!"
"Get me out of here."
"No can do, big boy. Not til you calm down."
"I have calmed down, rodent."
Damned if he didn't sound it, but Rattrap had been fooled by the shrewd soldier before. For a model built exclusively for combat, Dinobot had an unnerving ability to be able to intuitively perceive weaknesses and manipulate the emotions of another bot in order for them to do his own bidding. Cheetor had fallen for the soldier's covert maneuvering more than once.
Rattrap wasn't going to add himself to the list. Not again, anyway. Desperately switching tactics, he said instead; "Optimus is convinced that you'll go ape-slag again and make a beeline for the Pred base. If they get their hands on you, they'll scrap you for sure!"
"I should think that's something you would want," came the guarded reply.
"What'cha talking about? I don't want'cha dead!"
"Indeed..." There was the sensation of heavy footfalls crossing the room and then something settled against the wall and slid roughly to the ground. Dinobot was now sitting directly opposite Rattrap, the pair separated by less than one foot of metal. "Until our encounter with the probe, you would have happily killed me yourself. What's changed?"
Rattrap tried to come up with an answer and was desperately drawing a blank.
"Perhaps it's finally dawned on you that I'm not Bludfist. Is that it, vermin?"
He might as well as hit him with his lasers. Rattrap whirled around and hissed, "How the slag do you know that name? I've never told anyone about him!"
"Or Diamondback either, I suspect," it sounded like the former Predacon was actually smiling. "Interesting how easily she manipulated you. Quite amusing."
"Yeah, she was almost as smooth as Megatron was on Charr," Rattrap angrily shot back before he could stop himself. "Speakin of Charr, have you received any postcards from Shade and Raze lately?"
It was definitely the wrong thing to say.
Dinobot released a livid roar and Rattrap scrambled to his feet and drew his weapon as he pressed himself against the far wall. There was the sound of demolition going on, as if the soldier were slamming himself against something over and over. The sound was all wrong and the small Maximal couldn't understand what was happening in the room until there was a squeal of tortured metal-
-And then silence.
"Uh oh," Rattrap muttered, slowly lowering his pistol. As the silence lingered on, he figured that this could be some sort of trap but he eventually gathered enough courage to hoist himself up and look through the only hole that allowed a full view of the room.
There was a rip in the far wall where the metal had been peeled back and the armor paneling thrashed, creating a hole barely wide enough for the little Maximal to squeeze through. Dinobot had managed the feat but the edges of the jagged metal were peppered with remnants of where his own armor had been scraped off in the escape, as well long strips of hide from his beast form.
"Aw flak!" Rattrap cried in dismay. Without wasting time, he quickly slapped his chestplate to open a comm line. "Rattrap to Optimus-"
Dinobot made record time running over to the Predacon territory but when he reached the first jamming tower he finally started coming to his senses. He began pacing restlessly back and forth along the invisible line that marked the transition from Maximal territory and the enemy and he was at a rare loss as to what to do next. The datatracks were still playing in his subconscious; dredging up feelings of rage and indignation that were now over four years out of date. The emotional feedback was interfering with his logic circuits. It had been the primary reason he had encrypted the blasted memories in the first place!
Shade, Raze, Armorgator, Boomslang... he snapped his jaws at the empty air in frustration and his striped hide shook in restrained fury, reminding him of his injuries from his earlier escape attempt. They weren't serious, just bothersome, and only added to his present frustration. Unless he was in peak form, he didn't dare attack the Darkside. Even though he knew this, it didn't lessen the hatred he felt. Megatron had ruined everything! Him and Onslaught both! Dinobot now realized that if he hadn't taken the coward's way out and encrypted the memories in the first place, he might have eventually figured out their scheme and ultimately prevented this final scenario that both factions were now stuck in. Instead, he had lived the last four years in an ignorant dream.
Oh the cursed irony... He had faithfully served out his miserable four-year mission on board the Darkside with the dim hope of being able to return to Charr; to return to the planet he regarded home and be reunited among those he had left behind. He had been completely oblivious to the reality that there was actually nothing to return to.
Everything was lost. It had been since the moment the Darkside left Charr.
Over four long years ago...
"What have I done?" he whispered in despair, squeezing his eyes shut.
The minute that Dinobot's signal was picked up and plainly showing a straight course towards the Predacon base, Optimus was prepared to fly but it was Rattrap who talked him out of it. He had noticed that the closer their ally got to the demarcation zone between the two territories, the slower he became. Right now, everyone stood in the control room holding their breaths as they watched the signal as it paced impatiently along the line. Back and forth, back and forth; the route displaying indecision and confusion, attributes that Dinobot had never displayed before. It was almost painful to watch.
"What's going on, Rattrap?" the commander asked sternly. "You know something we don't and I want to hear it. Now."
"The probe messed around with our datatracks, dredgin up a lot of old slag. I think it was meant as some sort of torture," the little bot chose to say as his answer. It was partly true and mostly not, but Rattrap figured that it would at least be believable.
"You appear to have shaken it off," Rhinox observed.
"Well yeah, because this is me we're talkin about. But him," he gestured to the Maximal insignia that was still doing its aimless pacing. "I, uh, don't think it went so well..."
"He's fixated on Megatron, even more than before, and that's saying something," Optimus brooded. He gave his head a distracted shake and turned to Rattrap again, "He never said anything to you about what happened in the probe?"
"We ain't exactly confidants, just in case you ain't noticed," the smaller bot shot back. He had always been a convincing liar and now was no different. He provided an answer that was believable because it was absolutely true. The pair weren't friends by any stretch of the imagination.
And right now that bothered him, too. Even more than lying to his boss, who was obviously satisfied with what he'd been told.
Eventually, Dinobot's signal went out of its uncertain holding pattern and went on the move again. It gave the Predacon territories a wide berth and then headed for the hills. Everyone finally started to relax a little.
"He's come to his senses," Optimus said, relieved.
"Probably going to hole up somewhere for the rest of the day and catch some downtime," Rhinox said, yawning himself. "He'll be back by tomorrow evening at the latest. I'll make sure I have his quarters repaired by then."
It was a nice gesture but Rhinox was wrong about one very serious thing; Dinobot didn't return that evening. Or the next. By the third day, Optimus voiced aloud what everyone had been trying not to notice when they saw that his signal was deliberately heading due south. "He's leaving us. I don't know why but that's exactly what he's doing."
Cheetor immediately shook his head. "He wouldn't do that," he said confidently. "He's just, you know, on a patrol or something. He'll come back when he's finished!"
"Sure, Cheetor," Rhinox tried to reassure the youth but he spared a glance to Optimus who offered his friend a barely perceivable nod and headed for the lift. Rattrap caught the exchange and halted the elevator from descending as he faced his commander, saying, "I'm comin with you."
"Rattrap," Optimus sighed, rubbing his forehead in exasperation. "Bringing you along will not help the situation. In fact, it'll probably just make things worse."
"I know I'm not chopperface's favorite person," Rattrap told him. "That's why I gotta go."
It didn't make any sense but Optimus relented, trusting his instincts rather than his logic circuits. He knew that there was something unresolved between the two rivals but if Rattrap actually wanted to help, who was he to argue? They went down the lift together and the Maximal transformed and picked up the rat bot and sped a swift course southwards.
The raptor's travels had not been a particularly speedy one and the pair caught up to him in swift fashion. Dinobot didn't look surprised when Optimus dropped down in front of him. He spared the smaller Maximal a perturbed glance and then faced their leader directly. "Come to fetch your wayward ally, I see," he remarked. "You should have called me first. I could have spared you the trip."
"What's going on Dinobot?" Optimus asked guardedly, not sure what to expect. The soldier's behavior had been irrational ever since his encounter with the probe and it didn't look like the last three days of travels had mellowed him. "Why are you abandoning us?"
"So melodramatic! I'm merely scouting out a southern location to erect a monitoring station that I will man. Much like how Tigertron manages to stay hidden at his post up north. I notice he did not appear in time for the battle. What a surprise."
Caught off guard, Optimus regarded his friend in complete shock, wondering where all of this rage and hatred was coming from. "This isn't about Tigertron-"
"It's about what's fair!" the soldier suddenly exploded. "You indulge the tiger to follow his nature and yet you dared to lock me up because of mine? I won't give you that opportunity again!" With that he transformed and towered over the other bot, sword in hand. In the background, Rattrap's troubled optics went back and forth between the pair, wondering when to intrude before things turned ugly.
Shaking his head in irritation, Optimus pointed a finger at the soldier. "All you would have accomplished by charging the Predacon base is get yourself scrapped. Again! We locked you up in your quarters for your own good-"
"How dare you presume what's good for me, Optimus! Why should I have to be forced to toe the line while the tiger has free rein to enjoy his freedom and mate with the local fauna every chance that he gets? Let him be imprisoned in the Axalon at your beck and call while I man some out of the way relay station and only show up for battle if it pleases me. After all he's the real Maximal, isn't that true? I'm not."
Optimus took one step towards the soldier, whether to try to reason or to fight he'll never know because Rattrap chose that moment to step in between them. "Awright, enough! The both of ya! You-" he pointed to Dinobot, "Stick that thing back up your... whatever. An you-" he looked up at his commander, "Go fly around the block a few hundred times or somethin. Me and Chopperface need some alone time for a long overdue talk."
"Rattrap-"
"Optimus- SCRAM!" the little bot shouted.
Fixing the soldier with a lingering glare (one that Dinobot fervently returned), Optimus turned his back on both of them. "I hope you know what you're doing," he said and fired his retro jets and flew off.
So do I, Big Banana, Rattrap thought and looked up at the other bot. "I mean it, Dinobot. We gotta talk about what happened in the probe."
"How did you know those names?" he asked bluntly, returning the sword to its spine sheathe.
Rattrap knew that he was referring to their exchange outside of his quarters. "The probe played back your encrypted files."
"How many of them did you see?"
Taking a deep breath, his companion told him the simple truth: "All of 'em."
"All-" Words failed him as he absorbed that honest admission. Was it possible? The damage to his encryption protocols was a matter of record. So was his own interaction with the damnable probe. So it had to be true. The loathsome rodent had observed the single, most personal humiliation that he had ever endured since he had first come online. The mouthy Maximal had watched his first meeting with Megatron, through to Onslaught's betrayal, and finally to his own submission onboard the Darkside.
Rattrap, an infiltration model renowned for taking data back to his superiors, had witnessed it all.
Dinobot took a deep breath, deliberately avoiding eye contact with his rival, and let it out as a growl. "It only justifies my decision to leave, then."
"I didn't tell nobody what I saw," Rattrap told him seriously. "It's none of their slaggin business."
The doubt was clear on the soldier's face. "Vermin, talk is all that you ever do."
"Well, yeah. Usually. But not this time."
"And what makes this juicy tidbit of information so different from all of the others you've happily spread?"
"Because you were in my datatracks, too," Rattrap said reluctantly. "You know what happened, you know what they- what I did. And you also know that Optimus would flip a gear if he found out why I really wanted to get on his ship."
Dinobot considered him seriously for a moment. "As ever, you speak the truth," he murmured.
"Yeah, that's right," he admitted, but he was heartened by the fact that his former rival appeared to be calming down a little.
"But it changes nothing. I'm not going back," the soldier finished and transformed into his raptor mode. He boldly turned his back on Rattrap and continued on his direct course due south without offering another word.
"Oh no you don't," the little Maximal grumbled under his breath. He considered his relatively few options for a split second before deciding on the only one that would guarantee a reaction. He ran after the soldier and suddenly kicked him in the butt as hard as he could. "We ain't done here!" he shouted.
Recoiling in shock, Dinobot whirled around and transformed, immediately pulling his sword free. Rattrap instinctively drew his pistol and leveled it at the soldier's chest even as the point of the sword settled just beneath the angle of his jaw. They stared at one another over their weapons, neither side giving an inch.
"Stalemate. Just like old times," Rattrap said with a pleased grin.
The rage left the former-Predacon's face as quickly as it came. "You've wanted to shoot me since the first moment we met," he commented and suddenly pulled his sword away and pointed it at the ground. He just stood in place, staring down at the pistol, and simply waited.
Casting his ally a shocked look, Rattrap shoved him backwards and quickly holstered the gun. "Slag, you've really lost it!"
"So Megatron informed me earlier," the solder said dully.
"Dinobot, you have got to snap outta this! Forget about all that garbage with Shade an' Raze an' Ons-"
Dinobot glared at him, his teeth bared in fury. "Of all of my years in service they were the only things I was ever truly proud of, and both Megatron and Onslaught ruined it for me: Shade lost twenty years of memories and Raze believes that I betrayed him. There's nothing left for me to go back to. What is my victory if the Maximals win the Beast Wars?" He snapped an arm out and gestured to the bleak surroundings in frustration. "This! So why should I bother to care anymore?"
"Because the war ain't over and we need you-"
"You 'need me'?" he repeated with spite. "How perfectly convenient for you to say that while the war rages on, you little hypocrite. When you thought it was finally over, you couldn't leave me behind fast enough!" he finished the last with a rising shout of anger and betrayal.
Rattrap glared back at him, or at least tried to. Less than two months ago it had looked like an accident onboard the Darkside had scrapped Megatron and the rest of his cronies. Unaware it was a trap, the Maximals had stolen the enemy's stardrive to put in their own damaged craft with the intention of returning home to Cybertron. Right from the start, Rattrap had wanted to leave the former Predacon behind, even before he had chosen the action for himself. Dinobot's distrust of Cybertron was a matter of record and Rattrap, one of her supposedly benevolent inhabitants, had wanting nothing more to do with him once the war appeared to be finally over. Even worse, the others had gone right along with him with barely any protests. It was as if the soldier had served his purpose and had then been discarded like a piece of scrap with scarcely a thank-you for saving their ungrateful hides. And when Megs and the gang had come out of hiding, damned if Dinobot hadn't tried to warn them rather than just sit back and enjoy the show.
Once a Pred always a Pred?
What race had acted the worst on that day? What race really?
Only Cheetor had tried to change Dinobot's mind on that terrible day. Their youngest, supposedly most immature member had been the only one among them to try and call him back. Ever since then, Dinobot was unusually patient in his dealings with the brash youngster. Rattrap realized now that it was the only way the soldier knew how to express his gratitude.
But Dinobot's dealings with him... Rattrap's internals did a lazy roll. The two couldn't stand to be in the same room with one another without some inanimate object suffering collateral damage once the insults started to fly. Out of desperation Optimus paired them up as often as he dared to try and create some sort of working relationship but unless they were in battle against the Predacons, the two couldn't tolerate the sight of one another. Rattrap realized it was time to try and smooth things over. "Look, things've... changed," he said awkwardly. "I-I'm sorry-"
"Flak your apology and flak you," Dinobot snarled, startling him. It wasn't a curse he had ever used before their encounter with the probe but playing back the datatracks had obviously imprinted the word on his active protocols. "I don't want to hear your regrets and I won't tolerate your pity. You viewed my datatracks and there's nothing I can do short of chewing out your mainframe to erase that knowledge. But be advised that I saw your memories too, vermin. I know!"
This time it was Rattrap who crossed his arms as he glared back at the soldier. It was just as he had said a few minutes earlier: Stalemate. Only this one was with words instead of weapons. It might as well have been the same damned thing because neither side was budging. They were a pair, weren't they? Maybe that was why the probe had purposely dredged up the worst experience they had ever endured in their lives and showed it to the other. To level the playing field. To provide a bit of common ground so that they could work together. Who knew what the motivation had been except to cause them more pain and grief than they actually needed?
"You would have become a Predacon that night had they not betrayed you," Dinobot continued, using that snide, calculated tone that always managed to rub Rattrap the wrong way. "You would have done it simply out of spite for your Maximal peers who regarded you as a joke."
"It wasn't just the lack of respect and you know it," the Maximal snapped. "Besides, you're the one who actually switched sides here. Not me."
"Ungrateful pest! I did it out of necessity for battle!"
"This ain't somethin that just suddenly came to mind because we crashed here on this stinkin planet. Don't you slaggin tell me that taking a mate and coddling your kid are Predacon traits because I know better. Of anyone on the Axalon, I know that Preds don't do that!"
Bending down until their faces were mere inches apart, Dinobot growled into the other's face; "What, precisely, are you insinuating?"
Rattrap fearlessly met that challenge and shot back; "I'm tellin you I don't think I was the only one here pining away for the other side. That's what!"
Releasing a strained growl, Dinobot raised his right hand and looked about to take a lethal swipe at the small bot but he relented and stalked off instead. "Ridiculous," he muttered under his breath. He crossed his arms and appeared to become preoccupied by something on the horizon, falling silent.
Rattrap knew where the soldier's thoughts had gone. They were back four years on Charr, back with his mate and friends, and his impulsive progeny. Back to a time when he had been content and free from the meddlesome trappings of power-hungry superiors. When the strained silence stretched on, he made another attempt, "Look-"
"Two hundred stellar cycles," Dinobot suddenly interrupted, looking down at the ground for a long time. When he finally spoke again, it was in a voice very different from his usual strained tone; "That's how long I engaged in constant territory expansion for the Predacon Empire without a break: Two hundred years. Eventually, my superiors recognized that I needed a respite and selected Charr as a posting. By placing me there, they assumed I wouldn't last a year for the boredom and would quickly return to active duty."
"So... how long were you there?"
"Eleven years. To say that the Military was frustrated with my choice to stay is putting it mildly."
Rattrap remembered Megatron's exasperation when he had brought the issue up during their fateful first meeting. "Why so long? Was it because of...?"
"Shade, yes," the soldier added a thoughtful nod. "Long-lasting attachments on the base were difficult because soldiers rarely stand the place for long and post out quickly. But she was placed there permanently because she was defective."
Rattrap was looking at him as if he were crazy. "Hey, I saw her for myself, remember? No way was that babe malfunctioning!"
Dinobot stared back at him without expression. "She was blind, rodent. Didn't you notice?"
Blinking in astonishment, Rattrap's mind spun with this new information. Blind? He quickly retraced his steps, this time focusing in the female's actions and yes, damned if the signs weren't all there as bright as day: Her persistent tactile contact that wasn't intimacy at all; identifying Megatron's ship by its sound even when she had been 'looking' straight at it; feeling for her mate's injuries in the Pit even with a lit torch that showed them. It was just as his large ally said; Shade had been as blind as a bat.
"Holy slag," he said in amazement.
"It took some time for me to notice, as well. Her radar and sensors are-" Dinobot caught himself, grimacing. "-were especially keen. She would have been an asset to any cadre that would have taken her. Instead, she was sent to Charr and forgotten like some piece of unwanted scrap." His eyes were smoldering at the thought and he fixed the Maximal with a furious glare. "I chose to stay on Charr because I'd had my fill of battle and could no longer tolerate being used by over-ambitious superiors. I wanted no more part of any of it!"
Rattrap sighed. "And then along came Megatron..."
"The Predacon Military is full of Megatrons. He is not so unique as he likes to believe," the soldier surprised him by saying. "Before Charr, I would have been able to defy him, but after eleven years of routine I was sorely out of practice. He broke me and that victory became his leash for the next four years-"
"I don't call what happened as being broken."
"You don't?" Dinobot sneered. "And what would Maximal sentiment label the action as being?"
The Maximal just shrugged. "You did what you had to do."
"It was my fault she was attacked!" Dinobot suddenly shouted at him, exposing the thing that had been plaguing him ever since he had first played back his unencrypted datatracks. It was festering in his spark and driving him insane with grief. "I refused a direct order and she paid for it. Her and Raze both!"
"At least they're functioning!" Rattrap shot back. He was relieved to finally see some emotion coming out of his ally that wasn't despair but he sure as hell didn't want to piss him off and send him running back over to the Darkside looking for a rumble. If that happened, Optimus would stick his big black nose into things and the whole situation would just go to slag. "It could have been a helluva lot worse and you slaggin know it! So knock it off with the self-pity awreddy!"
"It is not so easy a task, vermin. The memories were deliberately encrypted so I could function and now that ability is lost to me. I can't tolerate them now any better than I could then. It..." His memory files searched desperately for a word that could accurately sum up what he was feeling and could only come up with; "...hurts."
"Yeah, I know somethin about that, too," Rattrap muttered.
"You cared for Diamondback." It was not a question.
"I loved her," the small Maximal corrected, not meeting his larger companion's gaze. He was clearly embarrassed by the admission but the time for truth telling had come, and the former Predacon had gone first. "I was prepared to throw everything away to be with her; Cybertronia, being a Maximal, even my friendship with Rhinox. It was a lie, though. All of it right from the start and I just didn't see it coming. Boy, that must have been one hell of a pathetic show for you, huh?" He released a bewildered, hurt little sound at the thought of Dinobot watching all of it from start to finish. "You must have been laughin your tail off!"
"My ancestors were called Decepticons for a reason," was all that Dinobot said. "At least they didn't kill you-"
"That's because I wasn't worth the bother," Rattrap grumbled.
"And Wolfbane was? No, vermin, you were spared for a reason. Diamondback was the one clearly in charge of that unit, despite the act she and Bludfist put on for your benefit. It would have been simpler to terminate you than let you live, but she did so."
The Maximal blinked in surprise. "What're you saying?"
Dinobot offered him a vague shrug. "Predacon motivations are complicated things to fathom at the best of times but those of its female sect are even more so. Believe me when I tell you that," there was almost an exasperated note to his voice with that admission and Rattrap had to smile a little at the sound of it. He couldn't help himself. "Whatever the case, she spared your life. Take that as a gift."
"A gift..." It was something for consideration that was for sure. "When the Axalon was in space and we were ordered to divert course to intercept, I thought- hoped... I-" Rattrap fell into troubled silence.
"Sorry to disappoint you," Dinobot said with just a trace of his usual sarcasm.
"Well, the prospect of wranglin a bunch of Predacon criminals would have put some excitement into a really boring tour. But you ain't one, are you? I saw your datatracks... you ain't a criminal at all!"
"By the time the theft of the Golden Disk occurred, that was our official status," Dinobot finally said. "But it wasn't really true."
"Now there ya go again with the slaggin riddles!" Rattrap huffed.
"If it had been just the matter of attacking the Maximal Hall of Records and stealing the disk, Megatron would have had no use of me. I'm Infantry, not Infiltration," Dinobot sighed, he was back to staring out at the bleak countryside again, scarcely giving the Maximal his attention. "He needed someone experienced in wrecking havoc and having the skill not to be caught. For the last four years that was my function. I was responsible for overseeing the training for the rest of the crew. We spent that time purposely creating mayhem so that the Tripredacus Council would have legitimate cause to denounce us and save face once the war began anew. I believe the diplomatic term is: Plausible deniability. I'm no more of a criminal than you are."
He considered the rodent for a second and amended, "Actually, I believe I'll take that back..."
"Hey!"
A ghost of a smile crossed Dinobot's face for a moment and then passed and he looked away again, troubled. "What they did to you was wrong, rodent. Especially Bludfist. He had absolutely no honor. Do not confuse me for him."
"That's exactly what I've been doing, isn't it?" Rattrap said unhappily. "Man, I've been riding your tail the second you came over to our side."
"It was understandable at first," the soldier admitted. "Even expected. But now, it's become a liability. This Beast War is intensifying. Optimus is correct when he says that he no longer can allow infighting among the crew. The time for that diversion has passed, vermin."
"Is that why you're trying to leave? Because of me?"
Dinobot wouldn't commit to a nod but the fact that he still couldn't make eye contact with the Maximal spoke volumes. "Thanks to the probe's meddling, things between us are no longer the same. I won't have you throwing what happened to me on Charr into the mix every time we squabble. I won't tolerate it. I can't-" he bit the words off and looked away, exasperated and deeply upset.
"That ain't gonna happen."
"We have been at each other's throats for the last six months. Now you expect me to simply trust you? That's not how it works!"
"It's not about trust. It's about something else," the Maximal persisted. "The probe said something to me during the playback of your datatracks. It said: 'You must know. So you will understand'." He caught a sharp look from the soldier and added, "You heard the same thing."
"Yes," Dinobot admitted. "The reasoning behind it escapes me."
"It did me at first, but now I think I'm startin to figure it out. The aliens are all about studying and experiments and stuff. Who knows what this whole thing was really about, but it got us talking, didn't it? For the first time since we all got stuck on this rock, you an I are actually talking like rational bots. We now got some common ground. Mebbe that's what the probe meant to do-"
"Vermin, you are reaching. Leave the philosophy to Rhinox-"
"You can't deny it!" the small bot told him. "When've we ever gotten along like this? We both saw each other's most personal low point. It's leveled the playing field. It's made us, like... equals."
"Oh, now the insults return," the soldier muttered under his breath, looking away.
Rattrap stamped his feet in frustration. "I'm tryin to be serious, slaggit! The least you can do is try the same! Before yesterday, I just thought you was just another stinking Pred, but now I know that you got forced into working for Megatron. At the same time, you now know that I betrayed the Maximals and got Wolfbane killed. Nothin's the same between us anymore!"
Dinobot fell into troubled silence. Finally, he asked, "Do you still have it?"
Rattrap eyed him curiously. "Have what?" When the soldier only looked at him, he mumbled and reached for his sub space pocket. He pulled out Wolfbane's tarnished insignia that still had a scrap of fur clinging to the clasp. He stared down at it for a long time, lost in thought-
"Hand it over," the soldier said, reaching out.
"What for?"
"Just do it."
Reluctantly, the little Maximal did so. Dinobot looked at it for a few seconds and then threw it into the air, vaporizing it with his optic lasers.
"Hey!" Rattrap squawked.
"No more ties to the past," the former Predacon told him directly. "No more dwelling on painful memories. If I've read between the lines of your wretched grammar successfully, you are asking for a second chance in our working relationship. I will concede, vermin."
Tearing his optics away from the small bits of ash still drifting in the wind, Rattrap looked up at the tall soldier with evident surprise. "Huh? You will? Does that mean you're comin back to the Axalon?"
"It does."
"Cool," he said and extended his hand to seal the deal. Here's the real test, he thought as he watched Dinobot regard the proffered appendage with his usual suspicion. This is gonna be the real sign if all of our words were just meaningless slag or if they actually struck a chord. He waited for perhaps thirty seconds and was about to drop his arm when the soldier reached out and enclosed his massive hand over the smaller one, pumped it once and then pulled it back quickly, as if scared he might have picked up some communicable disease.
Nonetheless, Rattrap was smiling. "Just for the record, this don't mean we're buddies."
"Agreed," Dinobot said.
"Just allies."
"Correct."
"We ain't ever gonna hug, or do none of that happy-sappy crap together."
"I will kill us both if we do."
"Well, I think this is the start of a wonnerful working relationship," the small bot announced proudly, "... Bronto brain."
"Pestilent mouse," the other shot back easily, but there was the faint trace of a smile on his face. The usual maliciousness was gone from the barb and they could both sense the change. The probe had done its work well. It had finally made them talk - not as rivals but as equals, and perhaps a little bit more.
Perhaps as friends.
Optimus appeared on the scene a few minutes later. Taking Rattrap's advice, he had remained a respectable distance away but had still watched them with his zoom lens just in case they started battling and he would have been needed to intervene (or so he told himself, anyway). Several times their exchange had looked extremely heated, especially when Rattrap had kicked the soldier's beast form, but aside from that brief moment when weapons had been drawn, they just talked. He wanted to know what was going on but there was a fine line between being a leader and being a friend, and in this instance he was being purposely shut out. Apparently, this was something deeply personal between them. He would probably never know the whole story of what had gone on inside the probe, but the final outcome appeared to have yielded its own rewards. He had seen the pair shake hands and it was a sight that filled him with an inexpressible sense of relief.
He landed near the two and passed Dinobot a wary glance. The soldier had changed back into his raptor form and the previous aggression appeared to have finally left him. He only looked back expectantly. "I'm sorry for locking you in your quarters, Dinobot. I... just didn't know what else I could-"
"Your motives were sound, Optimus. In fact, you probably saved my life. Once more, I am in your debt," with that, the raptor turned and walked away without offering another word.
It was just as well, Optimus was struck dumb by the sudden concession and he cast his disbelieving stare on the only other Maximal available.
Rattrap just grinned and shrugged, clearly pleased by the short exchange. "He's comin back to the ship. It was just, y'know, a simple misunderstanding is all," the little spy told him. "No biggie."
It was the first time that the Maximal leader was certain his smaller friend was lying, but he decided to let things rest. Besides, he had other things on his mind right now. Dinobot's objections about Tigertron had caused him some thought and he realized that he had been lax in his handling of their pacifist member, and that was going to have to change. "I'm heading up north to have a... discussion with Tigertron about our latest battle. Do you want me to drop you off at the Axalon?"
Rattrap opened his mouth to respond an affirmative and suddenly hesitated, glancing over to where Dinobot had gone. The raptor was almost out of sight as he headed down the hill. "Naw, I'm good," he said, transforming into his rat form. "Between you and featherhead, I've just about had my fill o' flyin for the week. Stretching my legs might not be such a bad idea. 'Sides, it's been awhile since I've done any camping."
"Suit yourself," Optimus said, but he was smiling. He fired his jets and took to the air while below, he could hear the small Maximal call out; "Yo! Slow down, ya overgrown iguana! I'm comin back with you!"
And the predictable retort: "Oh splendid. In difference to your stumpy legs, it will take us over a week to return to the base!"
"I'm speedy where it counts, scalebelly and- Hey! What're you smilin at!? That ain't funny!"
"Well... that depends on your perspective, vermin."
Far below, Rattrap hustled his steps to catch up with the large raptor and the pair stopped and looked at one another. Optimus sighed, shaking his head in dismay. Perhaps it would be for the best if I just didn't bother to get my hopes up anymore... He hovered in place over their heads, waiting for the inevitable between the pair: shouting, transforming, and the brandishing of weapons.
What he heard instead caught him completely off guard.
It was laughter.
The End.