-Personal Log: Entry #010-
I have spent the past forty cycles telling Rhinox how to get past my ship's firewalls. If I die in the coming battle, he has agreed to send the body back to Cybertron, using Alpha Seven as the coffin. If she's sufficiently recharged, her recall sequence will ensure she arrives at the proper time and place.
The Maximals were just getting into position, preparing to rush forward when the last rays of the sun vanished beyond the western horizon. Everyone was in beast mode, but ready to transform as soon as the word was given. Only Rattrap and Rhinox were absent, having been instructed to stay behind in case Megatron sent in a sneak attack.
Nightshade caught Dinobot's voice asking him something as the raptor took his place below Optimus, ready to be picked up and carried off.
"Say again?"
"Are you sure this will work?" Dinobot repeated.
"No idea," Nightshade replied. "But it's too late for second guessing myself. We'll just have to hope it does."
"Which doesn't mean we have to win this one," Optimus added. "Remember, the idea is to draw out Megatron's secret weapon, so we can learn about it. Once we know what we need to know, we can fall back and figure out how to fight said weapon."
"Understood." Dinobot made ready for the signal.
"Runners ready?" Optimus asked over the com-link.
"We're ready down here," Cheetor answered. He and Tigatron were hidden in caves at the base of the cliff, so that they wouldn't lose ground as they ran below the fliers.
"Fliers ready?"
"Ready," Nightshade and Airazor said at the same time.
"Fighter ready?"
"I am prepared," Dinobot said.
Optimus began a countdown. "Three, two, one, MAXIMIZE!"
What happened next happened very quickly. Cheetor and Tigatron burst out of the caves below, running as fast as their robot feet would take them. Airazor and Nightshade launched themselves off the cliff, taking flight as soon as they hit a favorable starting speed. And Optimus, having watched Dinobot jump as well, fired his jets to maximum burn, catching the warrior before he hit the ground and taking him into the sky.
The six of them stayed together, even when the Predacons saw them coming, and stuck to Nightshade's battle-plan. Between them, Cheetor and Tigatron managed to knock the spiders out of the fight early, before they could do any damage. Airazor spotted Terrorsaur shooting up to meet them in the sky, but a few well-aimed arrows took him out, just like they did the day she had risen from her stasis pod. Optimus made short work of Waspinator with his shoulder cannons, and then let go of Dinobot.
Dinobot, using his spinning shield as a helicopter rotor to slow his descent, fired his eye-beams directly on Megatron. When he judged himself at a low enough altitude, he released his grip on the air, plunging down with his sword right in front of his fellow saurian, and wasting no time in wailing on Megatron with everything he had. As Nightshade had predicted, Megatron was alone in dealing with the threat, because the remaining Predacons were reluctant to fire on their leader.
The Maximals had scattered with the release of Dinobot, and were now fighting their own battles. Nightshade saw that he and Inferno were alone in this corner of the sky.
"This one's for Rattrap, bug!" Nightshade brought forward his panther forelegs and gave Inferno both barrels. The fire ant dodged one shot, took the other, and fell back laughing.
"Fool! Pain is my friend. Allow me to introduce you to it!" Inferno pulled out both of his flamethrower pistols, spun them a few times, and shot several flame pellets, which exploded in Nightshade's face. The force of the blasts knocked the black robot out of the air.
Stunned but relatively undamaged, Nightshade shook his head to clear it, and shot back into the sky, straight at the insect. Hitting Inferno with as close to a shoulder-slam as his wings would allow, Nightshade watched him fly away, laughing like the battle-mad lunatic he was.
When he was certain the fire ant would not come back for more, Nightshade turned his optics back to the main battle. The spiders had revived, and were shooting off their handguns at any Maximal they could see, but they were still slightly disoriented from before, and not a serious threat at the moment. Dinobot was still giving Megatron a good run for his fuel. Airazor was providing cover fire from above, trusting her own judgement as to who needed it. Optimus was on the ground, heading toward the spiders with Cheetor close at his heels.
Then Nightshade saw something that almost inverted his spectrum. Tigatron had somehow gotten his leg trapped under a rock, and Scorponok was taking careful aim.
Transforming to his beast mode, which was faster in a dive, Nightshade swooped down and fired a sonic beam at the boulder, which shattered just as Scorponok fired. Then, using his bat's claws, Nightshade grabbed Tigatron's shoulders and pulled him away from the ground just before the scorpion's missile hit. The explosion, combined with the extra weight of Nightshade's passenger, gave him a bit of turbulence, but he pulled through it.
"Are you okay?" Nightshade asked, once they were at a safe distance.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Tigatron said. "But what are we going to do about the Predacon?"
"Well, I don't know about you, Big Cat, but that's two of my comrades he's threatened, and I'm going to get even." Then he turned and fired another sonic beam, punching a good-sized hole into Scorponok's chest plate, and knocking the arachnid offline.
It's weird, Nightshade thought to himself. With Megatron's forces so beaten, we outnumber them two to one. We have twice their firepower. We all but have them on the run. Why doesn't Megatron bring out his weapon, when it may very well be his only chance at survival?
Then something clicked within him.
"Hey," he said cheerfully, rising higher. "How do you like flying?"
"Flying?" Tigatron repeated. "Some day I'd like to try it myself, Black Cat."
"Then permit me to quote a popular phrase from my time," Nightshade said, his voice turning dark. "'No time like the present!'"
And with a malicious laugh, he dove at top speed, throwing Tigatron straight at Cheetor. He missed, but the impact knocked Tigatron offline.
Rising back into the air, Nightshade fired off three sonic pulses. Optimus stopped his charge at the spiders when the ground in front of him exploded. Dinobot was knocked into the air, and Megatron swatted him away. Airazor's wing was broken almost in two, and she fell from the sky.
"Hear me, Maximals! For now you shall learn!" Nightshade yelled. "I am proud to serve he who shares the name of my commander!"
"Black Cat, why?" Cheetor asked.
"Because it's who I am!" Nightshade laughed. "And what else would you expect from a Decepticon, built and bred?"
"I thought we could get past that," Optimus said.
"You know, so did I," Nightshade said, his voice dripping with mock regret. "But I guess I just gotta be me!" He fired another sonic pulse at the gorilla-bot's feet, and landed next to Megatron, who chuckled in satisfaction.
"When engaged in psychological battles, it sometimes pays to play more than one card at once," Megatron said. "A spy is a very powerful weapon, Optimus."
Then Optimus Primal heard what would be the final confirmation.
"Activation Code change: Complete."
"Thus I return to my former life, my greater legacy, and my true name!" the new Predacon vowed to the darkness. "RAVAGE! TERRORIZE!"
"You two," he said to the spiders, having taken robot form. "Gather the pieces of the insect and the flying saurian. I will collect the third arachnid. We can still salvage them. The ant will return to base when he is ready."
"By what right do you command us?" Tarantulas protested.
"By right of might," Ravage said viciously. "And whenever you're interested in dying, feel free to challenge me for it. I could still go for some shish kebug!"
Tarantulas grumbled to himself, but he and Blackarachnia set about the task. Ravage picked up Scorponok's body, and took flight.
"Shouldn't we go after them?" Airazor asked, her wing still smoking.
"We can't," Optimus said sadly.
"And why not?" Dinobot asked. "They are weak. It would be the perfect time to attack."
"We've got too many injuries," Optimus replied. "We need to recuperate too. Besides, we got what we came for. We know what Megatron's secret weapon is."
"There's no guarantee this is what it looks like," Cheetor said hopefully, refusing to believe that Nightshade would turn on them. "It might just be a set-up, like it was with Rattrap. Right, Big-bot?"
"I'm sorry, Cheetor," Optimus sighed. "We can keep that possibility open, but I don't know. I don't think I had a part in planning this. If it is a set-up, then it's entirely Nightshade's doing. If not, we now have a very powerful enemy in Ravage."
The four of them watched Ravage fly away, his wings silhouetted against the white moon.
-End Chapter Ten-