"This isn't a natural stone formation. Somebody, somehow, built this thing," Rhinox explained to the others as the group of Maximals all gathered at the strange structure they had christened – The Standing Stones.
It had been Optimus' insistence that they still needed to continue their mission of exploration that had led them here in the first place. That alone, however, had not done much to aid in the group's overall comfort level of being so close to something so bizarre.
"Yeah? Well eh, excuse my error message, but uh – I thought this planet was uninhabited," Rattrap pointed out, sounding the most sheepish that Lunarflare had ever heard him. Did this place really make him that nervous?
"Something else is odd. I'm getting an energon reading," Optimus informed them, brandishing the scanner around the area. "It's under this pile of rocks," he gestured towards the intricately stacked boulder pyramid in the center of the stone circle.
They were raised up on a large, flat stone in the shape of a pedestal, like some kind of strange offering.
"Just like bait in a mouse trap!" Rattrap shivered at the idea. "This place alternates my currents," he mumbled. Guess it really did make him that nervous.
Rhinox hummed in response.
"You know, the energon on this planet doesn't fit with it's geology. Hard to believe it could have formed naturally," he mused.
Lunarflare felt herself agreeing with his assessment. Not just that it was unnatural that it was here at all, but also because of the vast amounts of it, not to mention some of the immense concentrations they'd seen. How could a formation of unstable energon grow to that size without ever reacting? Certainly a mystery!
While the others were thinking over the implications, Dinobot made his way over to the stone pile. He pulled one of the rocks off the pedestal, letting it drop to the ground at his feet.
"However it got here, we must remove it, before the Predicons do," he insisted, going back for another stone.
Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance to continue, before they were interrupted by another, more sinister voice.
"Ah, Dinobot! That Predicon chips still ticks inside your treacherous hide!" Megatron announced himself, drawing everyone's attention. "And I think we will take it! Yes! No energon crystal too small, I always say," he threatened, right before his flyers came around the corner and transformed, readying for battle.
They wasted no time in initiating the attack, the Maximal group ducking and weaving to avoid getting hit by their gunfire. The rest of the Predicons soon joined them, forcing the others into a full retreat behind the stone pile or other parts of the structure.
"Man! Your old friends don't miss a beat, do they?" Lunarflare heard Rattrap complain one column over. Their group now able to transform that they'd acquired adequate cover.
"Keep them away from the crystal!" Optimus shouted his order at the squad.
"Oh, yeah, sure! Give us the dirty work!" Rattrap complained, but complied nonetheless, making the cat-girl wonder what the point of the complaint even was.
Either way, she didn't have much time to ponder on it, rolling out of cover to aid in keeping the enemy at bay. She took shots at Scorponok and Tarantulas with her dual pistols. However, it was Cheetor who managed to successfully nail the gray scorpion in the chest, sending him careening off his perch to comically land on the ground, square in the middle of his face!
"Scratch one!" he cheered merrily, only to glance in the other direction nervously at the sound of sudden, creepy cackling.
Not wanting to give him any time to get back at Cheetor, Lunarflare immediately took advantage of the spider's distraction, nailing him with her weapon fire hard enough to knock him off his feet. Cheetor turned to her with a grin and a thumbs up, which she acknowledged with a small nod.
"Hey! That was my kill, you little thief!" Rattrap complained a moment later, to which she turned to find him glaring grumpily at her.
The accusation kind of made her want to pout in response. Well fine then! He'd been the one whining about having to do 'the dirty work'. If he really wanted to take all the credit, then maybe she should just stop helping! Although, she had her doubts that such a course of action would go over well with Optimus.
"Flyer's, incoming!" Rhinox warned, directing their attention to the sky.
"They're mine!" Optimus immediately volunteered, taking to the air.
Arming himself with his pair of shoulder cannons, he was able to dispatch Waspinator with ease. Terrorsaur, however, realizing that he was facing a battle he couldn't win, opted to take a more tactical course of action. That being, launching an energy blast right into the middle of the stone pile.
This, of course, caused the whole thing to explode, throwing everyone on the ground in all directions.
"Terrorsaur, you fool!" Megatron griped at him. "You've released the crystal's energy! It is useless to us now! Back to base! Beast Mode!" he growled, turning tail and running along with the rest of his posse.
Everyone who was left gathered around the spot where Optimus touched down.
"Beast Mode, Maximals! And prepare for energon waves!" he ordered.
The crystal that had been buried under the pile of rocks was glowing and pulsing at a continually increasing frequency, as Lunarflare and the Maximals began to make a beeline in the opposite direction the Predicons had gone. They took cover behind a discarded boulder pile just outside of the stone structure, right before the whole thing lit up like a heavy metal concert! The energon then released a focused beam of energy, blasting straight up into the sky before dissipating into the atmosphere. A moment later, and it was all over, the crystal disintegrating into dust.
"Hm, like I said, those stones aren't natural," Rhinox commented, as the group all peeked out from behind their impromptu shelter to get a better look.
"What in the galaxy was that?!" Cheetor exclaimed in shock.
"Looked kinda like a, a signal – but to who?" Rhinox answered with another question.
"Well, perhaps we'll learn the answer, someday," was all Optimus could offer with a shrug.
With the altar in shambles and the structure having apparently served its purpose, there was nothing left for them here. So, in light of this, Optimus ordered everyone back to base to get a chance to rest and recover from the battle.
. . .
Later than night, as everyone else was getting ready to call it a day, Optimus grabbed a tablet chart with the intention of doing some astronomical mapping. Originally, he'd planned to do this by himself, allowing the others to have their necessary downtime. That is, until he spotted a certain cat girl wandering about with that same forlorn and withdrawn expression she always seemed to be sporting.
He hadn't had much of an opportunity to talk with the Spartan girl, being as busy as they'd been with the Predicons and everything. It sent a wave of guilt through his torso plate when he saw her, wondering if perhaps he hadn't been doing a very good job of making her feel welcome, as an explanation behind her apparent discomfort around them all. Despite not being originally assigned to this mission or his command, not to mention the slightly underhanded reasoning behind her presence, it was never his intention to make her feel like she didn't belong with them. Yet that's how she always seemed to act, like an outsider. Even more so than Dinobot, he realized! Perhaps there was something he could do to rectify that?
"Lunar," he called to her, the girl flipping around to give him her full attention. "I was going to head outside to do some star charting. Would you like to join me?" he offered, giving her a friendly smile.
She seemed a bit stymied for a moment, almost as though she didn't know how to respond. Strangely enough, that was how she would always react whenever he asked her something like this. Like she was trying to search for the right answer, when there wasn't one. He was about to tell her that she didn't have to, but she beat him to the punch.
"Of course, sir. I will assist you however I can," she replied compliantly, moving over to follow him.
There she goes again, nothing but accommodating in the most respectfully formal way possible. It made him wonder just what kind of military training she'd received to get to where she was so insistent on this? He sighed with a small head shake.
"Alright, come on then," he encouraged, leading her outside.
They spent several long minutes mapping the glowing dots in awkward silence. Well, Optimus felt like it was awkward, anyway. As usual, it was impossible to tell what Lunarflare was feeling, her face not revealing any kind of emotion. Well, the subtle approach wasn't bearing any fruit. Perhaps if he tried simply being direct?
"Lunar, you know if there's something bothering you, you can talk to me about it, right?" he attempted to offer as casually as he could.
She lifted her gaze to stare at him with one of the most confused expressions he'd ever seen, as though such a notion was absolutely baffling to her. It was so striking that it almost made him feel silly for asking. He wasn't sure if that meant she didn't want to talk to him in particular, or if it meant she just didn't want to talk at all. Either way, it was clear she had no interest in opening up.
"Yes, sir. I understand," she replied stoically, immediately resuming her work.
Something about the way she said it though. It was, as if she didn't actually believe it, and only telling him that to try and placate him. Why she would feel the need to do that, he couldn't begin to imagine. What about trying a more casual topic?
"Okay, I just wanted to make sure," he mumbled, buying time as he tried to come up with something less invasive. "So, tell me a little about yourself," he requested.
"Do you have a specific inquiry?" she wondered.
"Uh, well, how about, what did you do back on Cybertron before the High Counsel assigned you to my unit?" he suggested.
"My main directive was assisting with defensive simulations and unorthodox combat tactics," she began, before delving into a list of duties and protocols that sounded like they were being quoted directly from a manual!
She succeeded in explaining it all without giving away even the slightest bit of something personal. Well, that was disappointing.
"What did you do for fun?" he wondered.
However, instead of answering, she only stared down at the chart in her lap, now looking equal parts embarrassed and depressed. It made Optimus feel bad that he was making her uncomfortable if she really was this shy. But at the same time, he was frustrated that she was refusing to give him anything. Why? He desperately wondered.
"This isn't an interrogation, you know?" he attempted to assure her, but it didn't seem to help at all. Maybe he needed to push a little harder?
"Lunar, I can't help if you won't tell me what's wrong," he stated, more forcefully this time.
"I – I don't – There is nothing–" she stuttered, a touch of stress edging her tone, as though feeling the need to answer, but not knowing what to say.
She glanced up in his direction, but instead of continuing, she suddenly narrowed her optics up towards the sky, like she was trying to get a better look at something far off in the distance. This prompted Optimus to turn around to try and find what had caught her attention. That's when he spotted it himself, a bright streak blazing across the sky as the object began to enter the planet's atmosphere.
"A stasis pod!" he exclaimed.
He leapt up before making a mad dash back towards the base entrance, the cat girl immediately forgotten in lieu of this new, more pressing matter. To which she couldn't have been happier!
. . .
Lunarflare placed a palm over her currently racing spark, taking several deep breaths to try and calm herself down once the commander's retreating form had disappeared up the base hatch. What in the name of Primus had all that been about?!
Had it been some kind of test? What kind of answers was he expecting her to give him? All those comments about something being 'wrong' or something 'bothering' her? What did it all mean? Wasn't it perfectly clear to him that there was nothing wrong? She was functioning at peak capacity, and completing her assigned tasks as quickly and efficiently as possible. At least, she had thought she was!
Perhaps Optimus was actually more strict than he seemed, at least when it came to her? It worried her that he had seemed to be so disappointed in her performance. Well, if that was the case, then maybe she needed to see what she could do to step up her game even further. Could it be that he'd been expecting for her to take more initiative when it came to volunteering for assignments and finishing projects?
Rising from the ground, she decided that the best course of action would be to talk to Rhinox to figure out what more she could do to be of use. Anything to prevent another nerve wracking interview! Either way, all she could do for now was thank the stars that stasis pod decided to arrive when it did. She didn't even want to think about what could have happened otherwise. . .
"Wrong profile for a stasis pod," Rhinox was telling Optimus as Lunarflare made her way back into the command center. "But, it isn't a meteor either," he explained.
"Prime! Where's it headed?" the commander practically demanded.
"Right for – The Standing Stones," the green Maximal revealed ominously.
"Wake Dinobot and have him meet me outside. We'll head that way and let you know what we find," Optimus ordered, vacating the room once again.
Dinobot was less than thrilled about this sudden midnight mission, but he complied nonetheless, joining Optimus before they both headed out. Now that she was alone with Rhinox, Lunarflare felt that this was as good a time as any to ask about improving her work performance.
"Rhinox, s-sir. I-if I may. . .?" she haltingly mumbled, her words coming out as little more than a whisper.
Even so, it had the desired effect, getting his attention as he turned and cocked his head questioningly at her. Although he didn't speak, she felt that he was giving her permission to continue.
"Is there, perhaps – anything more I could be doing to aid in our mission? I'd like to be able to contribute as much as possible to increase our chances of success," she offered, trying her best to sound as sincere as she could.
However, the larger transformer simply chuckled at her, giving her what she could only assume was a few humoring pats on the head.
"Don't worry about it, Lunar. You're doing just fine. If there was anything else, I'm sure Optimus would have already asked about it," he told her. "Now, you must be tired. Why don't you head to bed. We'll wake you up in the morning unless something else happens before then, alright?" he let her know, ushering her off down the hall.
Lunarflare let out a shaky sigh as she made her way to her room. So, was that it? They were disappointed because they didn't think she could be capable of anything more? If that was what was going on, then the girl felt herself get even more determined to prove that she was a vital asset! And hopefully before they'd decided that it was no longer worth the trouble of keeping her around.
. . .
After only a couple of megacycles, the sound of the perimeter alarm going off pulled Lunarflare out of a fitful sleep. Hopping off her berth, she dashed out to the command center to try and figure out what was going on. What she found was Rhinox, hauling an unconscious and badly damaged Dinobot towards the restoration chamber room. Cheetor and Rattrap had gathered as well, probably equally curious about the situation. She couldn't help but notice the clear lack of Optimus' presence.
"Before any of you ask, I found him like this, and no – there's no sign of Optimus," Rhinox explained with a worried frown.
"B-but what – what does that mean? What are we supposed to do?" Cheetor wondered frantically, giving the large transformer a rather forlorn expression.
"Not much we can do until Dinobot's healed. Then we can ask him," Rhinox reasoned.
"Oh, this outta be good," Rattrap commented, flashing the limp raptor a very suspicious frown.
After Rhinox placed Dinobot on a healing cycle, no one felt like going back to bed. So instead, they all waited in anxious silence for the raptor to finish repairs and regain consciousness. Once the chamber indicated the cycle was complete, the remaining three guys gathered around, impatiently waiting for Dinobot to open his eyes, Lunarflare opting to wait off to the side.
The ex-Predicon was a bit disoriented at first, groggily pulling his eyes open. However, as soon as he spotted the proximity of his 'audience', instinct immediately brought him to full alertness!
"Maximal torture chamber!" he exclaimed with alarm.
Dinobot then proceeded to dive out of the compartment, flattening Rattrap as he went. He flipped around and growled at them all, apparently in some kind of warning display.
"Hey!" Cheetor protested his overreaction.
Although, Lunarflare supposed she could understand his confusion. Rhinox had only recently finished repairing the CR chambers since they'd been damaged in the crash, after all. Even so, that assessment being his first guess was telling, probably even more so than the others understood, she realized.
"Whoa! Hey! Power down! You're on our side now, remember?" Cheetor argued while Rattrap managed to pick himself back up, rubbing at his now sore arm.
"Affirmative," the jumpy raptor acknowledged, succeeding in calming himself.
"And Maximals don't have torture chambers!" Rattrap assured him.
This statement piqued the cat girl's interest. A strong part of her seriously wanted to inform him that he was, in fact, incorrect about this. However, she felt that the attempt would ultimately be futile.
"Although ya know, I could get behind that idea," he added a moment later.
Yeah. . . definitely futile, Lunarflare thought, fighting against an eye roll.
"How – how did I get here?" he wondered groggily.
"We found you dumped in front of the command base hatch. Scrapped down and – alone," Rhinox stressed.
"Aw! Just like an innocent orphan in a B movie," Rattrap cooed with mock sympathy.
"Optimus. . ." Dinobot trailed.
"Yeah, we were hopin' that maybe the innocent, orphan baby could tell us what happened to Optimus!" Rattrap snapped in his face, all pretend sympathy now gone.
"Optimus Primal – was terminated!" he declared remorsefully. At least, he sounded remorseful, for the moment anyway.
Cheetor gasped in shock at the news! However, Rattrap simply fixed the dino with a very skeptical scowl. His gaze then drifted over in her direction, giving her a questioning side eye. Lunarflare returned the glance with one of her own, despite not understanding what it was he was trying to convey.
"An alien probe has landed at The Standing Stones. It emitted an energy burst during Optimus' transformation. He vanished," Dinobot explained.
Sounded pretty suspicious. Maybe that's what Rattrap had been getting at? In fact, none of the other Maximals appeared to be particularly upset by the news. Did that mean they didn't believe Dinobot either?
"Wait a minute. Why was he transforming?" Rhinox asked incredulously.
"Predicon attack! We have no time for further analysis now! We must make another attempt to secure the probe from the Predicons!" Dinobot barked. "Rattrap, come with me," he suddenly ordered.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa wait! Stand by, here! Who died and made you Prime, scale face?" the smaller Maximal argued testily.
Apparently Optimus did. Oh, how Lunarflare wished she could have said that out loud!
"Optimus is certainly scrap! And I, as the most powerful and capable of the group, shall replace him," he reasoned, casting a hard glare at Lunarflare, as if daring her to try and argue. "Anyone who disagrees, may challenge me, now," he continued a moment later, transforming to emphasize his point.
"You've been messin' with the wrong mouse, chopper face!" Rattrap threatened right back at him, getting up close and personal with his pistol pointed directly under the ex-Predicon's chin.
The rising levels of aggression in the room was making Lunarflare worried that if things continued like this, they're group was going to find themselves down two members instead of just one. However, Rhinox was thankfully quick to step in before the situation got too out of hand, placing a large palm on each of their respective chests before forcing them apart.
"Wait! We're not Predicons here," he lectured at them. Although Rattrap seemed to disagree, shoving the barrel of his pistol into Dinobot's gut for added emphasis. "We'll settle the chain of command in traditional, Maximal fashion," he stressed with a hard look in Dinobot's direction. "By secret ballot," he informed them.
What? Lunarflare stared at him in disbelief. What was he talking about 'traditional Maximal fashion'? Since when was the question of leadership put to a vote? If that was the case, then what was the point of having a second? Didn't that mean that there wasn't a chain of command at all? Despite her confusion, she found herself with little choice but to follow the group into the command center. After all, it wasn't like her opinion held any sway here, anyway.
Pulling out a tablet, Rhinox proceeded to set it up into a simple tallying program, but without showing any kind of totals, or what the previous party had selected. He then passed it around to each member of the group. Until it somehow managed to fall into Lunarflare's hands.
She stared down at the device in confusion, and then back up towards all the expectant gazes. She didn't understand why they'd passed it to her. Were they expecting for her to read the results or–
"Would ya hurry it up, kitten?" Rattrap suddenly snapped, disrupting her train of thought. "This ain't quantum physics. There's only two options!" he growled.
"Rattrap! Don't rush her!" Rhinox scolded a moment later, leaving the cat girl's mouth slightly agape at what was happening in front of her. "This is a big decision, and she deserves to take as much time as she needs," he reasoned.
"I'm jist sayin', it'd be nice to git this figured out before the rust sets in!" he argued back haughtily.
As the realization of what they were implying began to dawn on her, the girl found herself simply staring at them all with a stymied expression. Did they – were they seriously expecting her to place a vote? But that didn't make any sense at all?! She had never gotten a say in this sort of thing, ever, in her entire life! Heck, she normally wouldn't even get to choose what armor to wear, let alone something as serious as placing a commanding officer. She had no idea how to respond!
"I – You want me to vote?" she wondered around at them, feeling so shocked that for a moment, she dropped her usual formal vernacular.
"Oh, for the love of–!" Rattrap cut himself off before finishing the expletive. "Yes! Sometime this week would be preferable!" he added irritably.
"What's wrong, Lunar? You seem confused," Cheetor suddenly chimed in, fixing her with a worried expression.
"Uh, w-well, this is all very, unorthodox," she finally confessed in a stutter.
"What do you mean?" the kid wondered in reply.
"In the event of a loss of commanding officer, the general response is for his second to take his place. Is this not correct?" she questioned, figuring, since he was asking and everything.
"Yeah, but Rhinox doesn't want to command," Cheetor casually informed her.
"Then, it would stand to reason that Rattrap would be next in succession," she found herself pointing out before she could stop it.
"Well, if that's how you feel, then why don't you just vote for Rattrap?" Cheetor reasoned, as though it were the easiest thing in the world!
In his ignorance, he was apparently missing the implications of the suggestion. On the one hand, she noticed the rat fixing her with a sly smirk. But then her gaze shifted to the raptor on the other side of her, staring at her with the most intense, murderous glower that she'd ever seen directed at her. She gripped the tablet in her hands even tighter, forcing down a parched swallow.
"My programming does allow for some sense of self-preservation," she felt the need to express.
It took her intended meaning a moment to sink in, before Rattrap barked out an amused laugh in his understanding.
"Look at that! The Spartan girl can be funny when she tries," he decided.
Not that it had been her intention, but the thought that something she'd said had caused levity sent a small pulse of satisfaction through her servos. It was not a sensation she had the opportunity to experience very often, and she reveled in the feeling.
It looked as though he were about to say something more, but an unexpected incoming transmission suddenly brought the whole scene to a screeching halt!
"Maximals, come in! Are you receiving?" The voice, which clearly belonged to Optimus, came in through the coms. "Maximal command base, this is Optimus!" he announced, as if that was necessary.
Breaking out of the initial stupor, Rhinox hurried over to the console to reply.
"Optimus? Optimus! This is Rhinox. Where are you?" he demanded, his surprise breaking in favor of the more pressing matter.
Everyone else quickly gathered around as well, curious to hear how the commander would respond. Was he a ghost? Was his spirit somehow contacting them from the great beyond. Unlikely, but Lunarflare had to admit that the transmission kind of sounded that way.
"Hard to say," he confessed. "As near as I can figure, I – I have no body. My consciousness is intact, but my, my physical molecular structure is being store and scanned inside the alien probe," he explained as best he could.
At hearing this, Rattrap managed to shove his way in front of Rhinox, gaining access to the com.
"We'll come and git cha. Just keep static!" he assured the disembodied Maximal leader.
"Just beware of a Predicon attack. They'll be after you now that they think they have the upper hand," Optimus warned. "Rattrap, you're in charge!" he declared, much to the rat's apparent pleasure. He gave a silent cheer as Rhinox offered a congratulatory pat on his shoulder. "I'm sure you worked out the chain of command peacefully," Optimus finished.
However, both the rat and the raptor lobbed hard glares at each other. Too bad they didn't get the chance to continue their staring contest, because in that moment, the sound and sensation of a missile slamming into the side of the base redirected everyone's attention. The alarms blaring out a warning a second later.
"Well, you're right about one thing, anyway. We're under Predicon attack!" Cheetor frantically exclaimed.
Gunfire continued to pelt against the shield, all optics shifting expectantly to the small rodent in the center of the group. Cheetor let out a grunt as he attempted to keep his balance despite the violently shifting room.
"Well, commander?" Dinobot asked, with mock respect of the term. "What are your orders?" he wondered.
"Uh – we're, w-w-we're scrapped if we sit inside. Uh. . ." he paused, pondering. If Lunarflare didn't know better, she could have sworn she could see his vents smoking. "Prepare, for a sortie!" he announced dramatically, throwing a finger up in the air.
"A frontal attack? Pure madness!" Dinobot growled critically.
"No! Rattrap's right. We'll be buried in here," Rhinox reasoned, defending his friend. "Let's go!" he ordered, finally lighting a fire under the others and successfully encouraging everyone out the base hatch.
Finally! Lunarflare lamented internally. She didn't fancy just sitting around waiting for the Predicons to beat down their door! However, before she made it into the lift, Rattrap's sudden argument gave her pause, rotating her ear around to listen.
"No, Rhinox. You get to work. We need a device to extract Optimus from that probe," he ordered the green giant instead, before grabbing ahold of Lunarflare's arm on his way to the nearest hatch, pulling her into it along with him.
Guess he hadn't approved of her hesitation.
"Oh no," they heard Rhinox wearily sigh behind them.
Once outside, the Maximals were quick to discover Megatron, Terrorsaur, and Tarantulas were to be their opponents. They seemed to be quite content busying themselves with trying to blast down their walls! Megatron growled as soon as he saw the group emerge, guns blazing as they dashed towards the enemy.
"Ah! They've come to meet their death, face to face," the large, purple dinosaur declared, now rushing them at an equal pace.
However, not one to back down from a challenge, Dinobot took the initiative. The smaller dino leapt into the air, raising a foot to deliver a swift kick to the Predicon leader's face. Which surprisingly connected, sending Megatron flying backwards onto his back with a loud thud! The rest of the group darted past them, looking to engage the remaining threat.
Taking cover behind one of the many rock formations surrounding the base, the three smaller transformers did their best to return fire without getting hit themselves. Meanwhile, Lunarflare had to admit that the ex-Predicon was doing an impressive job of turning Megatron into his own personal punching bag!
The entertainment was short-lived, however as a more pressing issue suddenly garnered her attention. It appeared as though the shields on the base were failing! Rattrap turned to gasp in a slight panic as he noticed this as well.
"Oh no!" he exclaimed, before turning to continue firing on the Predicons with a renewed vigor.
They managed to force Tarantulas to duck for cover, while unfortunately at the same time, Terrorsaur was able to fly past them. Both Lunarflare and Cheetor redirected fire to try and take him out, but he managed to evade their shots with his rather erratic movements.
"Dinobot! The shield circuitry's hit! Get it back online!" Rattrap suddenly shouted behind them.
"I am currently engaged!" The raptor growled back irritably.
He wasn't kidding, either! After all, he appeared to have his hands full – literally – attempting to hold Megatron's dino-head, laser blaster at bay, essentially preventing him from blowing off his head!
"That's an order! One more missile hit and our shields are gone for good!" he barked out, apparently hoping for different results, but was completely ignored. "Come on, please?" he begged in a final effort.
Lunarflare turned to stare blankly at their temporary rat commander. Why was he ordering Dinobot to do it in the first place? Especially since she was standing right there? Perhaps it was because he was currently closer to the base compared to the rest of them? Either way, it was clear he was in no position to follow that order.
Lunarflare realized this, also with the understanding the time was of the essence. Well, she had been looking for more opportunities to take the initiative, after all. So, without waiting for an invitation, the cat girl suddenly ducked out of cover, making a mad dash back towards the base.
"Hey! Wait–!" she heard Rattrap call from behind her, but she didn't stop to acknowledge it.
Right now, getting the base's shields operational again was currently the highest priority, even if he did get angry with her for disobeying him. She considered the idea of feigning an inability to hear him due to the battle. That could work as a valid excuse.
She had almost made it to the control panel, when it was suddenly made apparent that Terrorsaur seemed to have other ideas, firing on her several times. Lunarflare didn't have the time or the ability to concentrate enough to be able to form a shield. Therefore, she had to contend with doing everything she could to dance out of the way to keep from getting hit, while still maintaining a forward momentum towards her goal.
Realizing that the cat girl was now their best shot at keeping the base intact, Rattrap stopped attempting to argue and turned to back her up instead. With Terrorsaur occupied trying to take her out at present, it gave the rat the opportunity he needed to blindside the red Predicon. And he succeeded in blasting him out of the sky, allowing Lunarflare to finally reach the base unhindered. A few precise clicks to reroute the power through a different line of circuitry, and the shields were fully operational once again, much to everyone's relief!
Meanwhile, with that minor crisis now behind them, Dinobot was able to gain the upper hand on his old leader once again. This time, blasting him square in the center of the chest-plate with his eye lasers, and sending Megatron flying before he ultimately landed next to his cowering, spider lieutenant. They had a bit of brief dialogue before the Predicons finally decided to retreat, the guys still firing off a few warning shots at their rapidly fleeing forms.
Moments later, and everyone but Lunarflare began to convulse with electrical, blue energy.
"We've been in robot mode too long! Beast mode!" Rattrap announced as though it were a stirring proclamation.
They all transformed, but the cat girl decided not to bother.
"Like we needed you to point that out!" Cheetor scoffed with an eye roll.
"Well, at least they're gone," Rattrap offered with a weary sigh.
"You were selfless and took great risk in putting the shield back online," Dinobot suddenly told Lunarflare, sounding surprisingly sincere, not to mention a slight bit impressed. The praise was unexpected, but she wasn't about to try and argue with him.
"It would not have been necessary had I followed command. I, am dishonored," he declared, casting his gaze towards the ground in shame.
"Don't worry about it. I mean, everything worked out, right?" Rattrap argued, before casting a big grin up in Lunarflare's direction.
The cat girl felt her servos relax and her expression soften in spite of herself. He was indeed correct. Everything was fine now and no one was angry with her. She considered that a 'win' in her book!
. . .
Several cycles later, after Rhinox had a chance to tinker for a bit longer, the group then made their way back to The Standing Stones to see what could be done about rescuing Optimus from the probe. It was clear the Maximal scientist still had his doubts, but that didn't mean they should simply give up. They had to at least try something to help their commander!
They all transformed upon arrival, armed and fully expecting hostilities.
"I don't know if this thing is going to work, but it's as ready as it's ever going to be," Rhinox muttered, messing with the cobbled together device on his arm.
Rattrap sniffed at the air, glancing around the area warily.
"Eh, too quiet here. I thought for sure the Predicons'd be makin' for the probe," he voiced his concerns, which as it turned out, were well founded.
"Ha! Excellent prediction, Commander Rattrap," Megatron suddenly bellowed arrogantly behind them, seeming to appear out of nowhere with his full fighting force. "Let's see how you fare, in the battlefield," he threatened before all five of them opened fire.
What is that supposed to mean. Didn't we just do this? Lunarflare questioned skeptically to herself.
Oh well, not much to be done now besides attempt to counter attack, which is what they all did, while simultaneously ducking down behind the probe for cover.
"Rhinox! Get Optimus out of that probe!" Rattrap shouted over the gunfire.
"Optimus, can you hear me?" the rhino asked, now that they had gathered on the far side and were out of the Predicons direct line of fire.
Something they could count on was that if the Predicons were that interested in the weird, egg-shaped craft, they shouldn't have to worry about them doing anything that might damage it.
"Loud and clear, big guy!" Optimus replied, sounding strangely nonchalant despite the distressing circumstances.
"I'm going to try to extract you," the green Maximal informed him, powering up his creation.
He aimed it at the probe, but nothing happened.
"Ugh! It's not working!" he lamented, before humming in thought as he glanced around. "This whole area is full of stable energon radiation from the probe. Like this whole place is a single device," he postulated to the cat girl next to him.
She glanced up at him and considered making a comment, but never got the chance. Because in that moment, she sensed movement behind them, flipping around to discover a certain, bug-eyed Predicon attempting to sneak up from the same direction.
Going solely based on reflex, Lunarflare abandoned the usual use of her pistols in favor of her energy, creating a powerful energon blast that sent Waspinator slamming into the nearest stone pillar. The resulting reaction causing the wasp to sporadically spaz from the shock, which then somehow inadvertently also began to affect the entire structure.
Rhinox and Lunarflare watched in surprise as all the stones started to glow, pulsing with a strange power.
"Hey. . ." the Maximal scientist seemed to trail with realization. "This whole place is a single device!" he exclaimed, the pulsing energy moving towards the center and finally into the probe itself.
Said probe was also starting to glow, and slowly began shifting open, as though it were responding to the energy waves. The battle halted for the moment, as all optics could only stare in awe at what was unfolding before them. Until finally, the probe shot a beam of light into the air, and then, who should magically appear from the light?
"Look who's back, and feeling prime!" Optimus boasted with a smug grin, right before unloading his arm cannon into the faces of all the still stunned Predicons!
It – was – amazing!
The rest of the Maximals gathered around his position as he lowered himself to the ground, all brandishing their weapons with renewed confidence.
"Way to go, Optimus!" Cheetor cheered with glee. "Welcome back!"
Meanwhile, Megatron managed to pick himself up off the ground, growling in frustration.
"The day, and the probe, is yours, Optimus! Yes!" he snarled out. "Just beware, not all aliens are beneficent – after all. . ." he trailed, before turning and stalking away, his implication not going unnoticed.
"Rattrap, you commanded well in my absence," Optimus acknowledged towards the smaller transformer.
Are you sure about that? Lunarflare couldn't help but wonder. Although, she supposed that things could have been worse. And to be fair, Rattrap hadn't really been given a chance to do much. Maybe with a longer lasting leadership role –
"Eh, command's a pain in the tail. Especially with this pack of hyenas! You can keep it!" the rat stressed with a head shake.
Well, so much for that idea.
"I'm more concerned with this probe right now," Optimus mused, cocking his head towards the craft.
That's what she said! Lunarflare wanted to slap herself for thinking such a thing, but she couldn't help it! It just, came to her! Not to mention, randomly harming herself probably wouldn't do her any favors where the other's opinions of her was concerned.
However, before anyone had a chance to respond, the entire thing suddenly seemed to somehow vanish into thin air right before their eyes! It caused more than one mouth to open in shock.
"What the spotted heck was that all about?!" Cheetor practically demanded.
"I don't know. I suppose they found out everything they needed to know about us," Optimus guessed.
Hopefully not everything, because to Lunarflare, that kind of sounded like a bad thing.
"Yeah, they know we've got destructive capability, and reasoning power," Rhinox added ominously, mirroring the same concerns Lunarflare was feeling.
"But why would they want to know? And more importantly, who are they? Friends? Enemies? Or something – more?" Dinobot wondered with a rather existential air.
"Good question," Optimus hummed. "I wonder when we'll find out the answer."