Beast Wars Anonymous:

Beast Wars and all related belong to Hasbro. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author's permission. Words or phrases surrounded by asterisks (*) indicate thoughts.

Equality (PG)
by Dilophotra (jlyon@your-net.com)

The control room was silent. Everyone was there, except Airazor. Right now, Optimus Primal was hoping that the mission he had given her would keep her busy. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, and that was why he had sent her! Optimus' train of thought was broken as Silverbolt asked him a question.

"Well, Optimus," he said, "what's going on?"

"I've got a mission outline," Optimus explained. "Let me show you." An image came up on the command table. "We've picked up a lot of Pred activity in this area. I'm not sure what's going on, but we're going to find out."

Cheetor looked at the image. Names -- written in Cybertronian - were listed next to points of entry on the grid. He listed the names mentally.

'Okay, Optimus, Tigatron, Rhinox, Rattrap, Dinobot, Silverbolt, me. . .' he thought. 'HOLD IT!!'

Someone was missing off that list! Why wasn't Airazor's name on the grid?

"But Optimus," Cheetor began, "what about Airazor? Isn't she coming too?"

Optimus shook his head.

"This mission is much too dangerous," he told the transmetal cheetah.

As he thought of an explanation, Airazor appeared in the doorway. She sawthe meeting and didn't move. Had she missed something? She thought she had heard Cheetor mention her name.

"Definitely. . ." Optimus began.

Tigatron noticed Airazor.

"Um, Optimus, I don't think that. . ." he blurted.

". . .for a. . ."

"Optimus. . ."

". . .girl."

The room was silent, aside from a gasp from the doorway. The group turned. Optimus, seeing how shocked Airazor looked, suddenly looked guilty, knowing the serious mistake he had made.

"Airazor, I. . ." he stammered, trying to apologize.

He didn't get the chance to finish. Airazor beat him to the punch.

"Great, now my own team is discriminating me for being the only female warrior on this side!" she cried, her voice resounding the pain inflicted. "Do I have to prove my worth to you? Because if I do, I will! I can do anything any of you can do, and maybe even better!"

She stormed out. Tigatron stood to follow, but Rattrap stopped him.

"Let the bird-lady blow off some steam," he said. "It might do her good."

He had no idea that later, he would regret not letting Tigatron stop her.

Soon, Airazor was standing several yards out of Predacon grounds. She looked nervous. She could always turn back. . .

No! She was going to do this! She approached the border cautiously. Right before she reached it, Inferno burst out of the ground, knocking her backwards! It took her a few minutes to realize what was happening: an ambush!!

"Ah, the she-Maximal has left her colony and come into mine unprotected!" Inferno exclaimed in his usual annoying way. "The queen will be pleased when I return to the nest with the singed feathers from your worthless carcass, female! Terrorize!"

He pointed his flame gun right at Airazor's head, but the falcon was a split-second quicker. She kicked the gun out of Inferno's hand and took to the sky.

"You'll have to be faster than that to escape me, she-Maximal!" Inferno yelled, taking to the sky as well.

So the chase began!

Meanwhile, the other Maximals had organized a search party. They knew that they had to find Airazor before the Preds did. Little did they know that they were too late.

Inferno, in the meantime, had proven more than a match for Airazor. He was currently wearing her down with an aerial chase. Airazor had stopped to hover when she thought she had lost her pursuer, but Inferno tackled her, pummeling her into the ground.

"You are no match for me, female!" Inferno sneered. "The royalty will be pleased to know that you are dead."

"Finish it," Airazor murmured, not looking at the fire ant.

"And not enjoy the pleasure of your suffering?" Inferno asked, looking confused. "Ha! I would never dream of it, she-Maximal!"

He kicked her, hard. Airazor clutched the side he had kicked, trying hard not to show her pain -- with little success. Inferno picked up his gun and fired two shots at her, both at point blank range. One nearly tore off her right wing. The other tore a deep gash in her back, exposing delicate circuitry to the energon charged air. She was weakening. Inferno simply kicked her again. By this time, Airazor had realized that this was it. Though her vision was blurred, she managed to aim a single missile at Inferno's head. Her aim was a little off, but she hit her target. Inferno was blasted backwards as Airazor's arm fell. . .

Airazor opened her eyes to see Tigatron running up to her, already transformed. She held out a shaking hand as Tigatron knelt beside her. Tigatron knew what that meant. He took her hand and sat silently for a moment.

"How do you feel?" he finally asked.

"Like I'm dying," Airazor answered softly.

By now, the whole team had assembled around the dying falcon.

"How is she?" Optimus asked.

"She's beyond our help," Tigatron responded, his voice barely a whisper.

Rhinox quickly did a scan.

"Tigatron's right," he sighed. "There's nothing we can do. She's going to die, whether we like it or not."

Airazor looked around at the team, surprised at the effort she put into moving her head. She looked at Dinobot, who was standing solemnly - on his own -- with his head hanging. Rattrap was knelt beside her. He looked so sad. Airazor smiled at him.

"Hey, RT," she whispered.

Rattrap forced a smile.

"Hey, bird-lady," he said, forcing a short laugh as well.

"I'm sorry, Airazor," Optimus suddenly said. "I shouldn't have discriminated you like that."

Airazor didn't answer. Her hand had gone limp, her head rolled to one side. Her optic sensors had gone off-line. Rhinox ran one final scan, then spoke sadly.

"She's gone."

"No!" Tigatron cried, hurt deeply by the words.

Rattrap put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.

"We'll leave you alone for a while, 'kay Stripes?" he asked.

Tigatron nodded. At the moment, he was cradling the limp body of his most beloved friend against his chest.

After everyone left, only three Maximals remained there. Silverbolt - in beast mode -- stood silently.

"You were close to her, weren't you?" he inquired.

"Yes," Tigatron answered, looking up. "Sometimes, I wondered. I'd always get a strange feeling when around her. I'm now guessing that I'll never know what it was."

"Actually, I think you'll figure it out," Silverbolt told his friend.

Tigatron suddenly cried out. "By the matrix!" he cried.

"What?!" Silverbolt asked, confused.

"I -- I saw her spark! It's not gone, it's just barely there!" Tigatron exclaimed.

"But, she's dead!" Silverbolt said.

"No! Her spark is still in there, I can feel it. She's still in there!" Tigatron retorted.

He stood up, Airazor still in his arms. For a second, Silverbolt thought that Tigatron had lost it. Then, it happened. Airazor turned her head and groaned softly! Silverbolt maximized.

"I can get her back to the Axalon the fastest. Give her to me," Silverbolt told Tigatron.

Tigatron nodded. Silverbolt took Airazor out of his friend's arms and took off. Tigatron returned to beast mode and sighed. "By the matrix," he whispered, "let her live."

As he said that, a tear rolled down his striped face and fell off one of his whiskers, landing on a solitary flower.

Back at the Axalon, Rhinox was working diligently to repair Airazor. He shook his head.

"Of all the slagging. . ." he muttered to himself. "I'm a scientist, not a miracle worker!"

Tigatron sighed. "I was wrong, wasn't I?"

"No, no! You were right! Her spark's still in there, but it's fading fast!"

Tigatron looked away. It couldn't be. She wasn't going to die, she wasn't!

"Finally!" Rhinox exclaimed suddenly.

"Huh?!"

"I did it. She'll be fine. I just recommend no scuffles with Inferno for a while. A few megacycles in the CR Chamber and she'll be as good as new!" Rhinox looked down at Airazor. "That's the second time I've saved your spark, kid!"

He and Tigatron laughed as the CR Chamber was prepared.

Rhinox returned soon after that to check on Airazor. As he did, the Axalon shook violently. Red sirens blared.

"Axalon breached! Axalon breached! Predacon attack!"

Rhinox looked at the CR Chamber, then at the exit, then back again. Which way? Check on Airazor or help defend the Axalon?

Rhinox didn't have the chance to decide. An orifice was blasted through what was the heavy door protecting the room. What good that did now, huh? Rhinox turned. He saw a blur of red then a bright light. A loud crash erupted through the Axalon, and then there was darkness.

Airazor lay trying to figure out what hit her. She tried opening her eyes, but every time she did, she felt a searing pain. More pain was shooting up and down her back, causing her to cringe. From what she felt, she knew she was on her back, but oddly enough, she wasn't on a flat surface. Something uneven and jagged was causing her back to arch. It hurt! Her right wing was throbbing with every movement in her body. Airazor's spark was there all right, but her core consciousness was off chasing comets on the other side of the matrix. Then, sub-consciously, she heard it. . .

"Rise and shine, valentine."

Optimus? Rhinox? Tigatron? Airazor's core consciousness was returning to her body. She tried to open her eyes again, but the pain. . . No! They were waiting for her to wake up. They were worried. Try again!

She tried again, succeeding a little this time. She blinked the tiniest bit, then opened her eyes the rest of the way. Everything was a blur, but she saw someone there.

'My back still hurts,' she thought. 'Why wake me up until I'm fully repaired? What happened? Is everyone all right? How bad is it?'

She had millions of jumbled questions for whoever was standing there, but when her vision had cleared, there was only one question in her head.

'What's he doing here?'

There stood Inferno. Airazor couldn't believe her eyes. This was horrible! Wasn't she in the CR Chamber at the Axalon? Was this some sort of horrible nightmare?

"I don't know how they did it, but they did," Inferno stated with a shake of his head. "The royalty will be displeased if I return and the she-Maximal is not dead."

Airazor's mind went into over-drive. Nope, this wasn't a dream. She realized where she was. She was laying on top of the command table, which had been broken in half, the broken, jagged edge pressing up against her back. The CR Chamber was in shambles. She saw something across the room. Part of the CR Chamber? No, the CR Chamber wasn't green. Rhinox? Oh, no! Not Rhinox!

In the distance, she heard a soft buzzing which was growing louder and closer. She saw a shiny green and yellow robot fly in swiftly and land next to Inferno. It looked at her.

"Waspinator does not believe it! Bird-bot still alive?!"

"Yes, and the royalty will be here any minute," Inferno said in a low voice. "I have failed the royalty. I shall be demoted."

"Waspinator suggests we finish bird-bot before Megatron gets here," Waspinator said in his general rising and falling tones.

Airazor laid there while the two Predacons decided her fate. It looked like her destiny was set when Megatron walked up.

"I sent Tarantulas and Quickstrike on a perimeter sweep. Is the female Maximal dead?"

"No, my queen," Inferno said, bowing to Megatron. "They somehow saved her."

Megatron looked at her. "A fighter you are, female. Yessss. But not for long."

Megatron lifted the laser on his hand and fired it up. The transmetal tyrannosaur smiled devilishly as he pointed it at Airazor. The falcon closed her eyes tightly and painfully turned her head away.

"Wait," Waspinator said. "Waspinator has an idea."

Megatron hit the wasp with the back of his free hand and lowered his laser.

"This had better be good," Megatron growled, "or you will find yourself embarking on an involuntary flight! Yesss!"

"Oh, yes. It is," Waspinator said, nodding his head quickly. "Waspinator suggests that we find other Maximals, then hold bird-bot captive for Maximal surrender!"

Megatron thought about it. The devilish smile returned to his face.

"Yesss, that will do nicely." He turned to Inferno. "Inferno! Go join Tarantulas and Quickstrike! Be sure to tell them of the change of plans! Now, go!"

"Yes, my Queen!" Inferno said with a salute.

He took off out of the room.

"What does Megatron want Waspinator to do?" Waspinator asked.

"Stay here and guard the falcon," Megatron said. "My guess is that the Maximals aren't very far away, no."

Megatron left the room. Waspinator looked around aimlessly. There wasn't much for him to do but sit and wait for Megatron to return. It wasn't like Airazor was about to get up and fight him. As he looked around, he started humming to himself, though it sounded more like buzzing to Airazor. She wanted to let her core consciousness return to the other side of the matrix, but she couldn't do it without the help of the CR Chamber. Then again, she could, but that would put her spark in grave danger -- and the others had fought so hard to get her back! On the other hand, anything was better than dying in Predacon hands. The Autobots had taken the risk a long time ago. Maybe now was her turn.

She hadn't noticed the shadow creep into the room, and neither did Waspinator. The shadow opened fire. Waspinator ducked out of the way quickly, just dodging the blasts. The blast hit the wall behind him, making an outlet to outside the Axalon. Waspinator wasted no time in retreating. Airazor's head turned to the shadow. It became clearer as it stepped into the light, and split into five individuals in Battle Mode.

"Cheetor," she heard a familiar voice command, "aerial pursuit!"

"Beast mode!" Cheetor cried.

He transformed into his beast mode and took off after Waspinator. As he did, they spotted Inferno going after him.

"Beast mode!" Optimus exclaimed.

The transmetal gorilla took off on his snowboard-like rocket. Tigatron, Dinobot, and Rattrap walked up to Airazor.

"Are you okay?" Tigatron asked, his voice and face concerned.

Airazor couldn't speak. She could barely shake her head, but Tigatron caught it.

"We have to get her on a flat surface," she heard Rhinox say. He must've woken up, but she couldn't turn her head to see.

"And how we s'posed to do that?" Rattrap asked flatly. "You see any flat surfaces in here?"

"I have no idea," Rhinox said, then added: "yet."

Just then, Megatron, Tarantulas, and Quickstrike appeared at the door. The three functional Maximals turned and fired, hitting Tarantulas and Quickstrike. Megatron got one shot in before Rhinox nailed him with his chain gun. The shot hit Tigatron. With that, he and his damaged minions fled. Just then, Optimus and Cheetor returned.

"Well," Cheetor said, landing and transforming, "we took out our flyin' friends. . ." He noticed Tigatron. ". . .but I see not all of us made it, either."

"Let's get these two to your lab, Rhinox," Optimus said, turning to his old friend. "That's the only place we can put them until you have the CR Chamber repaired."

A couple of days later, both Tigatron and Airazor were up and running, fully functional.

"Tigatron," Airazor said, turning to the white tiger and quickly hugging him, "I wanted to thank you. You stayed by my side even when everyone else had given up hope."

"Oh," Tigatron said sheepishly, "they hadn't lost hope, they were just experiencing the obvious."

"Did I really look that bad?" Airazor asked nervously.

"Bad?" Rattrap said in a burst of laughter. "Any worse and you woulda looked like a toaster!"

"Thanks a lot, Rattrap," Airazor said flatly.

"I, uh, didn't mean it that way," Rattrap quickly added.

Optimus walked up to Airazor with his head down.

"Uh, Airazor, I, uh. . ." The words just wouldn't come out. Optimus swallowed hard and tried again. "Airazor, I'm sorry. . .you know. . .for the way I acted. I shouldn't have characterized or symbolized you because of your gender. I was wrong. I'm sorry."

"Well," Airazor said, toying with Optimus, "I was hurt, but I could never stay mad at you for very long!"

She hugged him.

"Eh," Rattrap muttered.

"What was that for?" Cheetor asked him.

"I hate all this mushy stuff," Rattrap said with his arms crossed over his chest. "After all, I just ate!"

Cheetor whispered something to Airazor. The falcon smiled, giggled a little, then walked over to Rattrap and hugged him as well. Rattrap's eyes were wide when she pulled away. He smiled, then slapped himself, but the smile he was trying to smack away wouldn't leave.

"Of all the slaggin'. . ." he began, then went into a grumble.

"Well," Dinobot said with a quick nod of his head, "serves him right."

"Hey, wuz that supposed to mean, lizard lips?" Rattrap retorted angrily.

"Nothing to you, vermin," Dinobot snapped.

"Do you know the meaning of the words 'shut up,' Dino-butt?" Rattrap asked.

Bad choice of words. Dinobot transformed to beast mode, then snarled at Rattrap, his tail swaying as he balanced. Suddenly, he broke off into a sprint -- right in Rattrap's direction!

"Sweet mother of rats!" Rattrap cried when he saw the angry velociraptor coming right at him. "Cheese it! Beast mode!"

Rattrap went into beast mode -- thankful for being a transmetal as well -- and took off on his wheels, right out of the room.

"Hey!" Dinobot snarled angrily, giving chase at his top speed. "No wheels, you poor excuse for a cheese loving rodent!"

Dinobot ran out of the room. The remaining five stood. Rhinox hugged Airazor and stepped back.

"I'm glad you're still with us," he said, as if he was giving an explanation.

"I am too," Airazor said, patting Rhinox on the shoulder.

Cheetor cleared his throat. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"I don't think so," Airazor pretended to count as she looked around the room.

Cheetor had started to walk away when Airazor laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"And where do you think you're goin'?" she asked, then hugged him as well.

Cheetor smiled.

There was a crash elsewhere in the Axalon.

"Um, I think we should separate those two," Optimus said.

"Aw, let 'em fight this time," Rhinox said, waving his hand.

"We need to test the CR Chamber again," Airazor added in. "You know. Just to see how well it works on severe damage!"

Tigatron thought a minute.

"Uh-oh," he said. "Do you think Silverbolt will try to stop them?"

"By the matrix!" Optimus cried. "I had forgotten all about him! I sent him on an aerial patrol!"

There was another crash, followed by a painful growl from Silverbolt.

"Uh-oh," Rhinox said.

"Prepare the CR Chamber for three," Tigatron said.

As the group left to stop the rumble, Tigatron put his hand on Airazor's arm, stopping her in her tracks. As the other three left the room, Airazor turned to look at him.

"One thing," he said. "When you held out your hand, were you reaching for anyone, or just me?"

"Just you," Airazor answered with a smile.

She was obviously flirting. Tigatron almost seemed to be blushing. He was going to say something, but Airazor had already started to leave. As she walked past, she allowed the tip one of her graceful wings to brush across Tigatron's face. Tigatron -- at first -- didn't know what to think. Though still in battle mode, she handled her wings just as well. Then, he realized it. Was Airazor. . .? No, he was simply a good friend to her. Then again, she was charming -- in her own sort of way -- and she always did act different around him. . .

Tigatron shrugged, realizing that his first conclusion had been right. He jogged to catch up to Airazor, walking by her side as they headed to the scene of the scuff with their comrades.

The Maximals had learned a very important lesson that day. Above all else, friendship, honor, and love reign supreme.