Slaughter in the Swamp
Honey Island Swamp, Louisiana, 45 minutes from New Orleans
"Me, Grimlock think we wasting time." The commander of the Dinobots was less than thrilled about having to make his way through the thick muck they found themselves in. If he had his choice of locale, the Dinobots and their Beast War comrade, Dinobot, would be... well, anywhere but where they were. "Decepticons not here."
Dinobot led the charge forward, his senses alert and optics scanning for any clues as to where the enemy may be hiding. "Optimus Primal dispatched us in this area," he stated. "He would not have done so without a reason." A loud crash was heard from behind, a result of Sludge's massive body not clearing one of the countless trees that were in their path. "Must you remain as that abysmal creature? Why don't you transform to robot mode?" Sludge looked at him for a moment then resumed walking. "When we return to headquarters, you need to access the data-tracks and research the word 'stealth'."
Swoop returned from the air and transformed upon landing. "Me, Swoop, no see nothing." Grimlock stopped and turned towards the rest of his team. Slag and Snarl paused and awaited whatever order Grimlock was about to make.
"Maybe monkey-Prime wrong, maybe he make mistake by sending us here," he said. Grimlock was about to call out to Dinobot and suggest they resume the search in a different area, when he noticed their companion had stopped dead in his tracks and was perfectly still. Grimlock stared in the same direction, trying in vain to see what he saw. His optics picked up nothing but swamp. "Why you stop? What is it?"
Dinobot let out a controlled growl as the grip on his sword tightened. "There's something over there," he said, pointing with his other hand. "Those trees aren't real," he explained. "There's an odor coming from them, one that is not natural." He took a step forward, then another, and another; and again stopped. "Predacons!" he exclaimed. Dinobot lit up the area with his powerful eye-lasers, and learned that his instincts had been correct. The blast of random firepower had claimed the life of Antagony, a female Predacon who could project holograms for a limited duration. She had also, over the course of the Beast Wars, claimed countless Maximal lives with her knowledge and use of chemical weapons. If there was a regret on behalf of Dinobot for her unexpected death, it was that it happened too quickly. With her no longer functioning, her holograms crackled and faded away, revealing the Decepticon/Predacon force that had been detected in the area.
Grimlock and the other Dinobots now stood shoulder to shoulder with their Beast Wars namesake, and locked optics with their opponents. Before them stood not only the team known as the Terrorcons, but also Vice Grip, one of BW Megatron's most dependable troops. And just for good measure, the original Predacons, with group commander Razorclaw in the lead, rounded out the gathering. Needless to say, the good guys were out numbered. "Me, Swoop, see them now."
Inside the Ark...
Sporadic bleeps of sound filled Wheeljack's laboratory. Odd patterns of light danced across various computer screens. Their seemingly random sequences disguised an actual proper order of their self-diagnosis program. It was easy for those unfamiliar with the laboratory computers to get lost in their contained explosions of color. But for the trained eyes of Autobot allies Chip Chase and Spike Witwicky, the inviting urge to sit and stare lost its appeal years ago. They knew exactly what they were looking at, and it troubled them both. "Seems the Ark's initial warning alarm is off-line," Chip announced to those in the room. He turned to Spike and continued, "Good thing Red Alert isn't here. He'd be a nervous wreck if he knew the security system wasn't activated."
Red Alert served as the Autobot's security adviser on a routine day. This day, however, was far from routine and the always attentive and often edgy Autobot was miles away from The Ark. He was no doubt engaged in some intense combat alongside his fellow protectors; trying in vain to understand exactly how things had arrived to the point they were at and to prevent them from getting even worse.
"I know," Spike agreed. "But with everything that's happened today, I'd be willing to bet he's a nervous wreck anyway." He began to enter a string of command codes, in the hopes of redirecting the power flow of all secondary radar locations. "And who could blame him? Everyone is on edge, and with good reason."
Behind the humans, the only other beings currently in The Ark continued running tests and analyzing data. It was their mission to come up with a device to repair the damage done to the space and time continuum. To come up with a way to set things right and reintroduce the natural order of things. It was a mission Wheeljack, Perceptor, Huffer, and Rhinox took very seriously. They knew, without it ever having been said, that if they failed there would not be a second chance.
Perhaps the most striking difference between this and any other day was the behavior of construction engineer Huffer. Much like his comrade Gears, Huffer was anti-social, quick to condemn any and all projects, and was very vocal about his unhappiness being on Earth and longing to return to Cybertron. The Huffer that now worked side by side with the other scientific minds in the room was far removed from his former self. In this dire situation, it was his strengths that were being emphasized. His superior mathematical and geometrical abilities were just as impressive if not more so than Rhinox, Wheeljack, and even Perceptor. He was known to openly complain that something couldn't be built and then find a way to build it anyway. He silently offered a prayer to Primus, hoping to be able to pull it off one last time.
end of chapter 15