-1Beast Wars and all characters and things related are copyright and trademark of Hasbro and Mainframe Entertainment. This work, however, is the original work of the author.

Note: This story takes place one week after "A Different War".

Going Home, Chapter 3

By TVfan

The Nemesis

"All the weapons are in place, royalty," Inferno reported, "The new colony is a death trap for any of the Maximals."

"Good," Megatron sighed as he sat on his throne, "Now we'll at least we'll be ready for when the Maximals attack."

"Why do we not go after them directly?" Nightwing demanded, "Destroy them, instead of hiding here."

"We are not hiding," Megatron growled, "We are waiting. At present the Maximals have us at a tactical disadvantage an a strategic stalemate. Thanks to the Vok invasion I lost most of the crashed stasis pods that were so hard to find. The Maximals, meanwhile, suffered lighter casualties and just recently killed or captured three of my most powerful servants. Attacking them directly would be suicide."

Megatron then pivoted his throne so that he could look out the Nemesis's bridge window into the surrounding countryside.

"Right now, Optimus is planning his return home to Cybertron," Megatron continued, "But he won't leave without me, no. He will try to enforce his idiotic notions of justice and honor on me and return with us as his prisoners. It is therefore a point of strategy that we make him come to us. Then we can only hope that the weapons we have added to the Nemesis's already formidable arsenal will be enough to destroy so many Maximals that our forces will be balanced enough that we stand a real chance of winning."

"What if they haven't found the Nemesis yet, though?" Stingfin asked, "If they haven't we can still ambush their search parties."

"If they were still searching, we would be doing that," Megatron answered, "But with the destruction or capture of Scorpinok and Terrorsaur, we can only assume that the Maximals have at least found the trench that leads to the Nemesis."

There was a pause for a moment or two as Megatron sighed.

"And that means that Optimus is likely to have one of his extremely rare aggressive moods," Megatron finished.

The Ark

Terrorsaur struggled as best he could, but the energized binders he had been put in were more then enough to keep him from even standing up, let alone escaping.

"You can struggle all you like," Rapther spoke from behind him, "But you won't escape."

"I will try," Terrorsaur vowed, "That way you have to remain here and guard me."

"You can't stand up," Rapther pointed out as she threw the Predicon in the Ark's brig for the moment, "and you will remain as you are. You aren't going anywhere."

Terrorsaur let you a scream of rage as Rapther activated the energy cells that would act as extra insurance against an escape attempt. The transmetal female raptor then left the room.

Optimus, meanwhile stood in the main conference room with the rest of the Maximals present. Many were fairly surprised by his announcement.

"Attack the Nemesis?" Airazor asked, "I you sure about this, Optimus?"

"We have to bring Megatron and the other Predicons in before we can leave Earth," Optimus answered, "If we don't, he'll destroy Optimus Prime the instant we leave."

"Still, an attack seems rather aggressive," Airazor commented.

"Sometimes that is the only way to win a war," Dinobot growled from his position, "And it is not like you would be committing an act of evil in attacking Megatron's lair."

"But it could kill a good many good people," Airazor argued.

"That's the part that has me nervous," Cheetor spoke up, "I'll agree that we don't have any other choice in going after Megatron if we want to go home, but the only way we beat Tarantulus's plan with the Nemesis was to sneak Rampage inside and crash the ship. Getting into the Ark was hard enough when we first found it, what makes you think we can fight our way into the Nemesis, especially if it's crashed and half buried?"

"There has to be an entrance somewhere in the ship, and if not, I will be able to draw enough fire to allow Rattrap to make an entrance for us," Optimus answered.

"Hey, whoa down there," Rattrap answered, "The strongest cutting laser that we have is not going to be enough to cut through the Nemesis's armor. In case you've forgotten, the Nemesis, like the Ark, was poured, not constructed."

"You could blast through it," Optimus offered.

"Oh sure, make repeated trips to place explosive charges in starship armor," Rattrap commented, "Are you trying to get me killed?"

"We'll find a way in," Optimus said firmly, "Otherwise Megatron will maintain a guerilla war against us that we can not truly win if Megatron fights correctly according to known tactics."

"If we can not get in then it will not matter what Megatron does as we will all be sitting targets to the Nemesis's weaponry," Silverbolt commented.

"You all do know there are doors on the Nemesis, right?" Blackarachnia commented, earning several glares.

"The Ark has several entrances and exits built into it, other then those we've used so far," Blackarachnia answered, "The Nemesis is much the same. There are entrances and exits that we can use to get in, and Optimus is right, if we don't do something directly to capturing Megatron, the Beast Wars could very well go on forever with no clear winner. Which would mean you'd never see your beloved Cybertron again."

"Hey, it's not like we're afraid of fightin', it's just that we'd prefer to try something that isn't so dangerous," Rattrap shot back.

"Trust me Rattrap," Optimus sighed, "I feel the same way, but I don't think we have a choice. Either we risk a lot and attack the Nemesis directly, or we risk more by letting Megatron to continue ambushing patrols, and even if there weren't a large number of entrances and exits to the Nemesis, we can beat its security and get inside. We were able to do that with the Ark, after all."

"There is a big difference between the Ark and the Nemesis though," Depthcharge pointed out, "Even if we are successful, this will be a much tougher mission then anything we've ever faced before."

"Maybe, but I hope it is the last battle of the Beast Wars," Optimus sighed, "That way we can all go home."

"Very well," Tigerhawk sighed, "I hope you're right about this."

"Me too," Optimus answered and activated a holographic map of the surrounding area, "Now, Dinobot, where was this trench that you and Rapther found, and are you sure it leads to the Nemesis?"

"I am positive it leads to the Nemesis," Dinobot answered, "The trench is deep and is not a natural formation, and man has not evolved enough for it to be made by humans."

Dinobot then pointed to one point on the map with a talon, "The trench's grove in the Earth itself begins here, although this in the middle of a forest and you can see the damage that Nemesis did to the trees for several hundred yards in this direction."

Optimus followed the direction of Dinobot's talon and sighed, "They've certainly left us with a rather wide open alley with which to follow. Do you think Megatron might have laid any traps?"

"I wouldn't think so, as they would be just as likely to catch Waspinator or Quickstrike as they would one of us," Dinobot answered seriously.

He was about to continue when he heard a series of snickers, mostly from Rattrap and Cheetor, but there were others. Dinobot did his best to ignore it.

"However, if Megatron has made a strong effort to try and lure us into attacking the base I would not rule out he possibility of a trap being laid somewhere along the route," Dinobot finished.

"You and Rattrap can deal with these traps if there are any?" Optimus asked.

"All that can be found, yes," Dinobot answered.

"What about the shuttle?" Rhinox spoke up, turning attention away.

"It's not finished?" Silverbolt asked curiously.

"I've only just begun working on it, let alone being close to being finished," Rhinox answered.

"We're going to need everyone just to make sure," Optimus sighed, "Besides, we still have most of the rocks on top of the Ark to move anyway. There should be plenty of time to get the shuttle ready when this is over."

"We'd best get going," Depthcharge commented, "Megatron could decide to abandon the Nemesis and flee farther away."

There was a deep sigh and the Maximals moved out to prepare for what they hoped was the final battle of the Beast Wars. Those that needed extra weapons gathered them while Rhinox moved to set the Ark's automated defenses online to prevent Megatron from attacking the Ark while they attacked the Nemesis.

The Nemesis

"What?" Megatron demanded, "You dare offer advice to me on strategy?"

"Not strategy, tactics," Spine answered, "You've already decided to lure them here and destroy them when they arrive, and have booby-trapped the Nemesis for the expected attack. They would have to attack through narrow hallways to get to the bridge, which is their likely goal. If we keep a 'warrior' or two behind each booby trap, they can deal with the Maximals as they come."

"And be destroyed," Megatron growled, "Needlessly, remember the there are more Maximals then there are of us."

"Not needlessly," Spine replied, "The traps will likely destroy or damage one or two Maximals and the lone warrior behind it will finish those that weren't destroyed off and possibly more, for the very reason that you just put. If the Maximals attack with all of their numbers against us, they can not maneuver inside the Nemesis's narrow hallways, meaning many will not be able to get to cover."

"There are a good many Maximals who will be able to whether the storm of our traps," Megatron answered, "Our forces will remain here to strike them with a single powerful blow, and I will not tolerate any further attempts to replace me, understood."

"Of course," Spine answered weakly and moved toward a different area of the Nemesis's bridge.

"Waspinator no like this plan," Waspinator buzzed from a chair nearby, "Waspinator feel it well get Waspinator blown to pieces."

"There is always the risk of that happening," Spine answered, "That happens in war, but I privately think that sitting here and waiting for the Maximals to arrive will destroy us. We won't be able to charge into the hallway an destroy the Maximals in one fell swoop the way Megatron thinks. We'll get caught in the doorway and destroyed."

Quickstrike's voice cut them all off from their train of thought.

"Hey, boss, I think they've come within sensor range," Quickstrike spoke.

Megatron left his throne and looked at the screen that Quickstrike was monitoring. Sure enough there were several blips at the very edge of the Nemesis's sensor range.

"And the battle begins," Megatron mused and then turned to the others that were present, "Arm all exterior weapons and prepare for attack."

Outside

The Maximals moved slowly down the trench that the Nemesis had carved in Earth when it crashed. So far, they had not encountered any planted traps as they advanced toward where the Nemesis had stopped.

"If ol' Megs is wanting to draw us in to attack the Nemesis, I think his plan is rather hap-hazard," Rattrap commented as they kept going, "Or he is confident that the Nemesis's weaponry will be more then enough to destroy us."

"We might not even come under much in the way of fire if the Nemesis is pointed in the right direction," Blackarachnia commented, "According to history tracts, the ship had fewer weapons emplacements near its engines."

"That's the case with every interstellar race though," Optimus commented, "A hit against a ship's armory would be dangerous enough, but if there's a magazine right next to the engine and it is hit, a space battle could be over in a matter of minutes."

"That doesn't mean the Nemesis can be easily entered that way," Tigerhawk warned, "Most likely its entrances are on the sides where its weapons are ready to guard those entrances."

"If we can't get in that way, I'll draw Megatron's fire while the rest of you find a way to cut into the Nemesis," Optimus spoke, "And I want no argument."

After a few moments more they finally came within site of the Nemesis. Much to everyone's surprise, despite the fact that the ship was still in one piece, there was some serious damage that resulted from its sliding along the ground. There were several large metal fragments lying on the ground just behind the ship's engines and there were a few fairly large holes in sides of the ship's armor.

"Finding a way in shouldn't be much of a problem anymore," Depthcharge commented readying his shark blaster.

"What about the wreckage?" Snowstalker asked, "Shouldn't we have seen more of it laying along the trench as we approached? What if this is a trap?"

"Not likely to be a trap," Rattrap answered confidently, "At least the wreckage isn't an indicator of it. Because the Nemesis, like the Ark, was built by pouring hot metal into a set frame, in general, its armor is nearly a foot thicker then most Cybertronian ships today. That makes them a lot tougher then what we have now."

"Not to mention the fact that since it was poured, the Nemesis's hull is essentially all one big piece, not fragments riveted or welded together," Rhinox added, "That means that any collision would have to be of considerable force to even bend the ship's outer hull, let alone break off pieces."

"Despite the damage," Tigerhawk warned, "The ship is probably still very well armed. We must be careful."

"No argument from me," Rattrap answered, "Now which one of those tears in the hull do we go for."

"There's a fairly close one that looks that it will take us directly into the ship," Cheetor commented, "It's about three feet away from where the main engine exhaust vents are."

"It's a good spot," Airazor added, "I don't seem many visible guns, and the structural damage in the area may limit hidden weapons in that area. We might be able to get in while facing only a minimum of enemy fire."

"I'll be drawing most of it, so you shouldn't need to worry about that," Optimus answered and transformed to his 'jet-mode' and ordered, "Now go!"

Inside

"They're awfully close, Royalty," Inferno commented as he looked at the sensor screens.

"Yes," Megatron nodded, "It is now time to give them a taste of what they will get in attacking us. Ready all weapons."

The bridge then suddenly shook under the impact of several laser blasts against the Nemesis's armor and sound of powerful engines flying by the bridge area at high speed. This turned all Predicon heads to looking out the main bridge window.

"So Optimus is leading the charge," Megatron smiled, "Target all weapons and fire on him."

Outside, Optimus circled around and made another strafing run against the Nemesis. He took out three more placed laser cannons as he flew by, but saw several compartments open, revealing several rockets and missiles. He quickly glanced down to see that most of the Maximals had made their way in, but there were still a few that had not made it inside yet.

"Now comes the hard work," Optimus sighed to himself as the various rockets and missiles fired into the air.

Optimus dodged several of the rockets easily, but saw that the missiles were directly locked on to him and wouldn't release their sensor lock on him. He quickly dove for the surrounding trees and tried to use their branches to try and distract the missiles. He was successful with one or two missiles, but the rest quickly closed on him as he attempted to fly back to the entrance that the others were using and the resulting explosion threw him into side of the Nemesis. Cheetor and Rattrap quickly came out and pulled him in.

"You okay, Bigbot?" Cheetor asked.

Optimus pulled himself up and looked at the shoulder that the missiles had hit. The armor there was cracked, but not broken.

"About as well as can be expected," Optimus sighed, "At least we're in."

"Now, all we need to do is find the bridge," Silverbolt commented.

"Do you know where to go?" Rhinox asked turning to Blackarachnia.

"Most of what I know comes from either the history tracts or what I managed to steal from Tarantulus," Blackarachnia answered, "schematics of the Nemesis wasn't among them."

"Judging by the missiles fired on Optimus, I'd think that Megatron wants us to march to him," Rapther commented, "We might need to look for booby traps and defuse them as we go. If we find a trap, we'll know we're marching in the right direction."

"That's a great idea, walk right INTO a trap," Rattrap answered, "You raptors got no sense of self preservation don't ya?"

"The only other option is to split up and take different paths and possibly get ambushed or if we walk into a trap by accident, we walk into it alone have no chance of being able to get out," Dinobot growled back.

"I don't think we have a choice," Rhinox commented in a depressed voice, "Without the schematics we have no idea where we are going."

"And we can't afford to get ambushed here if we split up," Optimus added, "But we have to be careful. No one is to get close to any trap, and we're to try and disarm them before they can activate."

"You can't do that with booby traps," Rattrap answered, "You can either avoid them or activate them, but you can't spot and disarm a booby trap."

"They can be destroyed, perhaps," Stagstripe spoke up, "Especially if it's only a concealed laser cannon."

"Hopefully that's all that it is," Rattrap grumbled.

The Bridge

"They've made their way inside, sir," Stingfin reported from her position, "I can see them on the security camera images near the main engine housing."

"They can advance down the central hallway to the stairs that lead to the bridge," Jawbreaker spoke.

On his throne, Megatron pressed a series of buttons that would allow him to watch the security cameras. He wanted to watch the Maximal's progress as they advanced. The fact that they had made a bolt to get into the Nemesis concerned him. He had half banked on the Maximals trying to come directly through the bridge windows, which would have exposed all of them to the Nemesis's exterior guns and weaponry. Now, he had to hope that the traps that he had had Inferno place would be enough to seriously reduce the number of Maximals in the attacking party.

He smiled as they reached the first set of traps that had been laid, a series of powerful cluster bombs that practically blinded the screen that Megatron was watching.

Hallway

The smoke cleared from the series of bombs that had been planted as a booby trap in the hallway they were in to find that Maximals were still in fairly decent conditions. None of them had been killed by the blast. Optimus pulled himself to his feet and found that while no one was killed, there were some wounded. Stagstripe, Squeak, and Airazor had all suffered some physical damage as a result of the explosion.

"Are you alright?" Optimus asked as he approached them.

"I think I can continue," Airazor commented, "It's not to bad."

"I can still walk, but I think it's knocked my weapon's systems offline," Stagstripe answered, "I don't think I'd be much help in a fight."

Squeak managed to stand, but Optimus could see mech-fluid leaking out of holes on her shoulders and probably also on her back.

"You two need to get back to the Ark and be repaired," Optimus spoke, "Even if you wish to continue, you need to go back. I'm not going to risk anyone who is injured getting destroyed."

"Of course," Squeak choked out.

"Airazor, can you escort them back, make sure they don't get attacked?" Optimus asked.

"Of course, Optimus," Airazor nodded.

They kept plodding along following the main hallway. Megatron's traps were still present, but thankfully, none were powerful enough to destroy any of their victims. It did make Optimus nervous as it was forcing him to send several of his transformers back to the Ark, but he had no other option. By the time they got to the stairs that lead to the Nemesis's bridge, only Dinobot, Depthcharge, Cheetor, Blackarachnia, Tigerhawk, Rattrap, and Rapther were left in addition to Optimus himself. All the others were either damaged or escorting those who were damaged back to the Ark.

"This is it, bots," Optimus spoke as they prepared to ascend the stairs, "The final battle of the Beast Wars."

"May victory be swift and total," Dinobot answered.

"I hope it truly ends the Beast Wars," Cheetor added, "There have been too many instances where we think it's over, and something new and unexpected pops up."

"Let's just go," Depthcharge grumbled, "I don't want to listen to collective memories of the past."

Depthcharge then began to ascend the stairs with his shark blaster ready. The rest quickly followed. As they got to the top of the stairway, they were met by the door opening and a sudden Predicon counterattack. A small lionfish transformer lead the charge and attacked Depthcharge, driving the spines into his armor, knocking him down the stairs before any of the Maximals could be ready. Nightwing fired a series of shots at Tigerhawk and leaped at him. Inferno extended his drills in an attempt to gore Dinobot with them, but the male raptor ducked under them and drove the transmetal two ant back into the bridge area. Waspinator flew into the stairway and fired a series of darts at Rattrap, forcing him to back down the stairs. Spine barreled into Rapther and rolled with her down the stairs. Jawbreaker lunged at Optimus and landed a punch that knocked the Predicon tyrant back.

Cheetor found that none of the others had attacked him and he rushed into the Nemesis's bridge. He couldn't let Megatron escape, and the Predicon tyrant was still seated in the command change. Just as he entered the area, however, Quickstrike jumped down from a ledge above the door and took Cheetor to the floor.

"Gotcha now, ya Maximal wimp," Quickstrike spoke triumphantly hitting Cheetor in the face with a venom blast.

Cringing with pain as the result of being hit at point blank range, Cheetor managed to through the Predicon fuzor off of him. Quickstrike bounced off the armored wall and then struggled to get up. As he raised his snake hand to fire another venom blast, Cheetor hit him in the chest with a power laser blast from his own blaster. That shot sent Quickstrike into stasis lock. Cheetor then turned to Megatron who was still seated on his throne.

Megatron enjoyed watching the fighting that had gone on so far as the Maximals had finally reached the bridge. Quickstrike had attacked Cheetor while Dinobot and Inferno were locked in a fairly ferocious battle. The scene made him smile. His smile soon left when his head was wrapped in webbing. As he tore it off, he looked up to see Blackarachnia sitting in her beast mode on the ceiling.

"Thought this was some sort of free entertainment for you, Megatron?" Blackarachnia asked as she dropped from the ceiling, transformed, and kicked Megatron off of his throne.

"It is," Megatron answered and then blasted Blackarachnia in the face with fire from his dragon's head hand "But one I'm not above entering."

Blackarachnia was still reeling from the burst of flame, Megatron then clubbed her over the head with his other hand taking her to the ground. He then grabbed her in his dragon's head hand and lifted Blackarachnia into the air, bringing her defiant looking optics to a plane level with his.

"I always knew that you spiders would betray me," Megatron growled, "First you joining the Maximals and then Tarantulus, and that is not counting the various times you both betrayed me before the 'discovery' of the Ark."

"Must really irk you that when we have, it's hurt you," Blackarachnia shot back and slashed at Megatron with the claws on her hands.

The attack only scratched Megatron's armor, but didn't do anything more.

"Yes, it did," Megatron answered and began to squeeze on Blackarachnia's head with his dragon's head hand, "and now you will finally feel the full force of my anger!"

Blackarachnia screamed as the teeth in Megatron's dragon head cut through her own armor and blacked out into stasis lock before Megatron could do anymore. Fortunately for the transmetal two female, a powerful blaster shot hit Megatron in the shoulder, making him drop her.

"You're under arrest, Megatron," Cheetor spoke from where he was standing.

"We shall see," Megatron smiled.

Depthcharge kicked the lionfish transformer off of him as he hit the bottom the stairs, send it halfway down the hallway. Stingfin, meanwhile transformed and landed on her feet as Depthcharge struggled to get up.

"Feeling sluggish?" Stingfin asked bravely, "Lionfish are poisonous fish."

Depthcharge got up and blasted Stingfin in the chest with his shark blaster, knocking the Predicon back.

"You've slowed me down," Depthcharge answered, "Don't assume it's made me weak."

Stingfin fired a series shots from her own weapon at Depthcharge, but the transmetal manta ray ducked behind the large wing fins that he had, which deflected the shots to the walls or the floor. Depthcharge then looked to see Stingfin running in search of cover and fired another blast at the lionfish transformer, hitting her in the back and sending her skidding along he floor of hallway they had landed in. Depthcharge then advanced silently. He quickly crushed Stingfin's blaster as he arrived and made sure the Predicon couldn't fire on him again.

"We're under orders to prevent any and all unnecessary deaths," Depthcharge spoke, as he produced a set of the new cuffs that had been made to restrain the Predicons, "You are under arrest."

"Like you arrested Rampage?" Stingfin asked as Depthcharge placed the first part of the cuffs on.

"X had long since gone beyond the point where he could be left alive," Depthcharge answered, "He slaughtered thousands of innocents for no other reason then that t was fun. He was too dangerous to be left alive and the Maximal elders have made routine mistakes in keeping alive. I have fixed those mistakes."

Stingfin struggled, but found she could not break he cuffs and was now a prisoner. Tigerhawk, meanwhile, was engaged in a much more ferocious battle with Nightwing. The raven transformer was furious and he made no effort to hide it.

"You will pay for betraying us!" Nightwing screamed and fired a series of darts into Tigerhawk's chest.

Tigerhawk backhanded the former Vok acolyte, knocking Nightwing back. Nightwing's attacks did him little harm, and Tigerhawk was determined to use as little brute force as possible.

"I am not the alien," Tigerhawk answered, "and the Vok were evil besides."

"Then you will die!" Nightwing screamed and fired another series of shots directly into Tigerhawk's face.

Tigerhawk screamed with pain and slammed the hand that had an electric-charged gauntlet into Nightwing's face. The blow stunned the raven transformer and threw him against the wall above he doorway that he had earlier charged out of. Tigerhawk quickly followed up with a quick burst from his gatling guns, sending Nightwing into stasis lock.

"Ya know," Rattrap commented as he returned Waspinator's fire, nicking the Predicon wasp several times, "I do have to hand it to ya. Ya gotta be either the most loyal or the dumbest Predicon in the bunch."

"Waspinator think that insult," Waspinator commented firing his own stingers back.

Rattrap dodged and rolled and answered, "No, it's honest respect. I mean, you get blown to scrap in every battle, yet you keep coming back. One would think that you'd desert after awhile. Megatron must give you great benefits for you to keep following him."

Rattrap then watched as Waspinator then landed in front of him with all his weapons seemingly deactivated.

"No, Waspinator treated very badly," Waspinator answered, "Dragon-bot curse Waspinator an threaten to scrap him. Waspinator sick being blown to scrap all the time."

Snickering, Rattrap sensed an opportunity to win the fight without really fighting.

"All ya gotta do is give up," Rattrap offered, "Shoot, by giving up, Optimus might be able to see that you get a reduced sentence."

"Waspinator surrender to enemy," Waspinator replied.

"Let me help you get away from the fighting here," Rattrap offered, "Make sure you stay in one piece."

Rapther landed hard on her back as Spine forced her all the way to the bottom of the stairs. The spinosaurus Predicon smiled triumphantly as he looked down on her ad placed a large foot on her chest.

"Do you yield?" Spine asked as he aimed his laser cannon at Rapther's head.

"Never!" Rapther snarled and fired a long barrage of rockets into Spine's blaster, destroying it completely and nearly throwing Spine through the stairs that he had thrown Rapther down.

Rapther then stood up and produced her energon tipped whip. As Spine got to his feet, she used her whip to take his feet out from under him. Spine roared in anger and got up quickly and charged toward Rapther. Intent on tearing her apart with his bare hands, since Rapther's rockets had disarmed him. Spine didn't get far before he was hit in the face by another barrage of rockets and a powerful energy blast hit him in the side. Rapther watched as he fell to the floor in stasis lock. She then looked up to see Depthcharge approaching with Stingfin being dragged behind him.

"You okay?" Rapther asked.

"The Pred's cybervenom is slowing me down a bit, but nothing I can't overcome," Depthcharge answered, "In time."

Optimus flinched with some pain as Jawbreaker, who had swithed back to his beast mode, clamped down on his had as he attempted to grab the Predicon. Jawbreaker had actually proved to be a rather decent fighter and actually relied more on melee attacks then anything else in the close quarters fighting against the Maximal commander.

Optimus, however, wasn't about to give up, and landed a strong kick on Jawbreaker's lower jaw, forcing the Predicon crocodile off of him. Jawbreaker was about to launch an attack, when a pair of feather missiles came down from above him and caused such damage that Jawbreaker fell into stasis lock. Optimus looked up to see Tigerhawk land next him.

"That appears to be all of Megatron's grunts," Tigerhawk commented.

"Come on," Optimus sighed, "There is still have Megatron himself to deal with."

Dinobot had quickly become involved in a shoving match with Inferno. While Dinobot had managed to avoid being impaled on the transmetal two fire ant's drills, Inferno had managed to destroy Dinobot's optics laser with the flame throwers that made up his other hand. Dinobot now struggled to make sure that Inferno couldn't use his weapons on him again.

"You will be food for the colony, traitor!" Inferno spoke triumphantly.

Dinobot tripped Inferno with a quick sweep of his leg and then kicked the insane ant in the ribcage, knocking him against the back of one of the Nemesis's crew chairs.

"You have made such insane boasts before," Dinobot growled, "Spare me the idiocy and fight."

Dinobot then slashed at Inferno with his talons and successfully sliced off part of the arm that housed Inferno's drills. Inferno screamed with pain but fired a fire blast from his other hand and knocked Dinobot into another computer terminal.

"Burn, traitor, burn!" Inferno screamed.

Inferno never got a chance to fire as Dinobot kicked him away and then sliced one of the crew chairs off of it's support bar. Lifting the chair above his head, Dinobot then used it as a massive war hammer and hit Inferno over the head with it. This knocked the insane ant out.

Cheetor fired a second blast at Megatron who avoided it by leaping into the air. While in the air, he switched to his beast mode and fired an ice blast at the transmetal two cheetah. The blast knocked Cheetor to the ground and for the moment froze him there.

"This won't hold me forever!" Cheetor growled back.

"Oh I have no intention of holding you forever," Megatron replied as the he retook his robot mode, "I intend to kill you."

Megatron then began roasting Cheetor with his dragon's head hand. After a minute or two, he heard Cheetor's functions drop into stasis lock, as he had caused to much damage. Megatron kept firing in the hopes of doing enough damage so that not even stasis lock would protect the fallen Maximal. He was prevented from doing so by a large chair being thrown at him, knocking him over. Megatron looked up to see Dinobot approaching him.

"If you're looking for a fight to the death," Dinobot growled, "You will fight me. It is finally time for you to be punished for your dishonor."

Megatron only smiled, forgetting all about the wounded Cheetor, "Very well."

To be Continued…