Beast Wars Anonymous:

Saving Grace
by Talon (talonsfanfics@hotmail.com)

It was daybreak, the sun broke over the horizon casting a dim golden glow over a thick forest. Everything seemed so peaceful, birds were singing, there was also the sound of a nearby creek winding its way through the rocky terrain. But the peace was shattered by the sound of gunfire and shouting. There was a clearing in the forest where the battle was. The Maximals were in the forest on the edge of the clearing shooting at an enemy they couldn't see. There were four Maximals there, using large trees for cover. But there was more, a fifth Maximal behind a rock in the middle of the clearing, laser blasts, missiles and bullets whizzed over his head.

"Hey guys, help me, I'm hurt pretty bad." He called out to the other Maximals. His name was Whiplash, in beast mode he was a wolf. But he was in robot mode now. His usually smooth, shiny, steel gray chest had three blast marks on it from the Predacon drones. His leg was in pain, he looked down to see that knee was twisted and he couldn't get up, even if he tried. His chest was covered in mech fluid, a red/orange liquid similar to human blood. He was the most recent addition to the Maximal group, his stasis pod having landed only two weeks before. He was laying on his back sheltered from the drones fire by the rock he was behind. The drones were a creation of Megatron that had suddenly appeared recently. Megatron seemed to have an unlimited supply of them. Whiplash struggled to get up, but he fell back again, and then slipped into unconsciousness.

"Hold on Whiplash!" Replies Rattrap, his gun firing frantically into the trees on the other side of the clearing. He turns to face Dinobot who is standing to his left, his eye lasers trying to cut down some of the trees to reveal the enemy. "Man! What are we out here for anyway?"

"Simple, search and rescue." He says in his usually raspy voice.

Then one of the other Maximals speaks, it's Airazor who is on the left side of Dinobot. "Yeah, now all we gotta do is get Whiplash out of here in one piece." Laser blasts from the drones are crashing all around them.

"Not to mention us!" Exclaims Rattrap.

"This is pointless!" Yells Dinobot. "How can we shoot what we can not see?"

"You tell me." Says Tigatron. He is on Airazor's left. Airazor looks over at him. He doesn't notice that she is watching him, he was concentrating on the battle at hand, but she had been distracted. She got to thinking, the two of them had been friends for a while, but what she felt for him wasn't friendship, it was something more, it almost felt like love. 'But does he feel the same way?' She thought to herself. She didn't know. She wanted to tell him, oh god how she wanted to tell him how she felt, but now was not the time.

"Airazor! AIRAZOR! Get your head out of the clouds!" Yells Dinobot.

"Oh, uh, sorry." She breaks her concentration on Tigatron and realigns the sights of her gun on the other side of the clearing. But there wasn't anything to shoot at. "What are we shooting at again?" She asked. No one answered.
"How did he get himself into this mess?" Asked Tigatron referring to Whiplash.

"I don't know, but he seems to be doing this a lot lately." Answered Rattrap.

"I have an idea." Says Dinobot, he turns to face Rattrap. "Give me one of your demolition charges."

"What! Why?" Dinobot grabs Rattrap by the throat and lifts him up to his eye level. The other Maximals stop and take notice.

"JUST DO IT!" Commands Dinobot.

"Okay fine! Just let me go!" Dinobot puts Rattrap back down on the ground. A panel in Rattrap's arm opens and he pulls out a demolition charge. He presses a few buttons on it and hands it to Dinobot. "There you go Chopperface, ya got ten seconds." Dinobot takes the charge and throws it is hard as he can in the direction of the Drones. It lands well inside the forest and explodes. The blast throws dirt up into the air and uproots trees. The Maximals cease fire and listen. There is no sound.

"Hey, I think we got 'em! Good thinkin Chopperface!" The four Maximals leave the cover of the trees and head out into the clearing.

"Keep an eye out, there may be more of them." Warns Dinobot. Him and Rattrap go to help Whiplash while Tigatron and Airazor go inspect the damage created by the blast.

"He looks pretty hurt." Says Rattrap, who is standing over Whiplash. "He's unconscious. Looks like three shots to the chest and a twisted knee."

"Hmm, looks like I'll have to carry him." Dinobot slowly lifts Whiplash's limp body onto his shoulders. With Dinobot's help, Whiplash makes it out of the clearing, Rattrap follows them. Tigatron stands there, his hands on his hips surveying the destruction. Airazor is about ten feet to his right, she squats to have a look at the drones they had just destroyed.

"All this, for just a couple drones." He says in a half angry, half sad tone.

"Four of them by the looks of it." Replies Airazor

"It doesn't matter. We don't belong on this world, this is a beautiful, primitive planet and piece by piece we ruin it."

"We had no choice! We had to save Whiplash. And besides, we have to fight, if we don't the Preds will kill us all. If we defeat them, then we can all go home and we can leave this world I'm peace." Tigatron seemed struck by what she had said, and she could see that he was thinking about it. Airazor found herself staring at him again, there was something about him that struck a chord with her but she couldn't put her finger on it. Was it his intelligence, his wisdom, maybe his love for nature, she didn't know, but something definitely made her feel this way about him. She just couldn't seem to find the right time or place to tell him, and even is such a situation arose, would she have the courage to actually go through with it?

"You know?" Tigatron started. "I never really thought about it that way. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk, there isn't anything I can do about it now." Airazor was deep in thought and missed what he had said. Tigatron looked over at her and saw her staring at him. He cracked a smile, barley noticeable, but Airazor noticed it. She seemed puzzled. 'Why is he smiling?' She thought. 'A second ago he was all upset about we had done.'

"See you back at base." He said in a pleasant voice. he then transformed into beast mode and walked off in the direction of the base. Airazor stood up and watched him go, trying to figure what that smile was about. Tigatron disappeared into the forest, then Airazor head a voice from behind her.

"What was that all about?" It asked. It startled her, she whirled around to see who was there. And there he was, a giant Osprey perched on the branch of one of the trees that hadn't fallen.

"Talon! You scared the hell out of me!" She said

"Sorry." Talon chuckled to himself a little.

"When did you get here?"

"Just now, I was flying a patrol when I saw the battle. I was on my way to help out but it seems that Dinobot finished the job before I got here." Talon was a product of an other of the recent stasis pod landings, his pod landed about a month ago.

"Yeah looks like it." She said. She took her eyes off Talon and looked back to where Tigatron had left to make sure he was really gone. 'Of course he is.' She thought.

"You have feelings for him, don't you." This caught Airazor completely off guard.

"What! Who?" She asked defensively.

"Tigatron."

"Uh... how did you know?" She knew she was trapped, but that was okay. Talon was a close friend and could be trusted with such information.

"I was watching you stare at him, you were being pretty obvious about it."

"Really?"

"Yep." He paused for a second. "Have you told him how you feel?"

"No."

"Well, you should."

Airazor looked down at the ground. "I don't know, I mean, what if he doesn't feel this way about me?"

"He does."

"Really!? Uh, I mean, how do you know?"

"I've talked to him about it. On the outside, it looks like you two are just close friends, but in reality, he is attracted to you, not just physically either."

"Really!?" Airazor was starting to blush at the thought.

"Yep."

"So, what's my next move?"

"Hmm, well..." Talon flapped his wings and took off into the air about three feet above the branch. Then he transformed into a black and gray, and very tall robot. Then he landed at the base of the tree and walked over to Airazor. "well it looks like what you should do it talk to him. Pure and simple, as soon as you get back to base. After all, the only way to get rid of a problem, is to face it head on."

"Well, I guess I'm a little nervous."

"That's to be expected. But you could come talk to me about it when you're done. That might relieve some of the stress."

"All right! I'll do it!"

"I knew you would." Talon's voice picked up with excitement. "Hey! I'll race ya back to base!" Talon immediately took off and flew at top in the direction of the base.

"Yeah right!" She yelled. "You know I'm faster than you!" Then she took off and followed him.

"So, how are our troops doing" Said Optimus. He had just entered the command room and Rhinox was sitting at one of the computer terminals. The screen displayed a map of the area immediately surrounding the base. It has six small green dots on it, four of them in a group just outside the base and two further away, but traveling at a much higher speed.

"Tigatron, Dinobot, Rattrap and Whiplash are just about to come up the elevators."

"So they found Whiplash did they."

"Looks like it."

"Wait a cycle, what about Airazor."

"She's about half a kilometer behind the others with Talon, there coming in fast"

"Hmmm... that seems odd, she is the fastest of them all, why is she so far behind?" Before Rhinox could suggest a possible explanation, both elevators came up. The right one had Whiplash, who had regained consciousness and was finally walking on his own, Dinobot and Rattrap. In the left elevator was Tigatron. Optimus saw that Whiplash was damaged. "Whiplash! Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, I just need some time in the CR chamber." Rhinox presses a button on the command table and the CR chamber door opens.

"In you go." He says. Whiplash limps into the CR chamber and the door begins to close. He looks at Dinobot, Rattrap and Tigatron.

"Thanks guys." The door closes and the repair cycle begins. Rattrap and Tigatron head back to their rooms while Dinobot walks over beside Optimus at the command table.

"So what happened?" Asks Optimus.

"Well we found him. He was pinned down behind a rock. Then we came under attack from a couple groups of drones. We took cover behind some trees, and after about fifteen minutes, we eliminated enemy opposition, and then came back here with Whiplash. A successful mission."

"Yes, but one that could have been avoided all together. You said there was two groups of drones?"

"Yes"

"Hmm, drone activity is up, and we've seen less and less of the Predacons." Optimus had his hand on his chin and was deep in thought. "Megatron's up to something. I want to know what."

"What makes you think he's not just up to his regular plan. Maybe he found a large concentration of energon and needs his troops to mine it."

"Maybe. Dinobot, you were there when the Golden Disk was stolen. Did Megatron say anything about it after you guys stole it?"

"Hmm." Dinobot took a moment, deep in thought. "Well, he told us his plan to gather up energon. He said the disk told of a planet rich with energon. But he noticed a symbol on it that didn't fit."

"Well, the disk does have symbols on it, it was created by the humans shortly before the Great War."

"No no, this was something else. I didn't know what. But I do know that we didn't just take the Disk, Megatron ordered Tarantulas to download the entire archive of past Maximal exploration missions. He used some of this information to find out about the strange symbol."

"Hmm, what does he want with the computer archive? Maybe he's just using the energon as a cover story, to hide his true motive."

"Interesting theory Optimus. But we have little to prove it with."

"No we don't. Well maybe we should find out."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"I don't know." Optimus started to think again. Then he seemed to snap back to reality. "Oh yeah. One more thing. I figure its time that the Maximals went on the offensive. So I'm coming up with a strategy we can use perhaps to attack Megatron's defense lines."

"Those lines are very well defended."

"Yeah, that's why we need a strategy, to find a weakness and exploit it. I haven't finished yet, but I will later today, and when I do, I'd like to have you take a look at it. I figure you could add something to it, after all, you know the Predacons better than any of us."

"No problem, you just tell me when you need me."

"All right then, your dismissed." And with that, Dinobot retired to his quarters. Then the right-hand elevator started to come up again.

"Airazor and Talon are here." Remarked Rhinox. Rhinox was busy, he had pulled a small panel off of one the computer terminals and was making some repairs. He looks at the mess of wires and shakes his head in frustration, and then activates his com-link. "Rattrap, you think you could gimmie a hand out here?"

"Ah just gimmie a sec." Came Rattrap's crackled voice from the com-link.

The elevator comes up with Airazor and Talon inside it. The glass slides up and they both step out. The both of them seem out of breath.
"I told ya I was faster than you!" Says Airazor to Talon in an exhausted voice. Talon caught his breath and walked over to the command table.

"Uh, what's going on?"

"You tell me, why were you behind the others on the way back."

"Why do you want to know, I mean, its no big deal."

"No, but I'd still like to know."

Talon turned back to Airazor, who had just joined them. "Oh, we were talking, and then we decided to race back here. That's all."

"All right." Talon then looked over at Rhinox.

"What's going on Rhinox? Trying to fix the air-conditioning?"

"Yeah" Said Rhinox without looking.

"Anything I can help you with?"

"No not really. You're to big. I'm sending Rattrap into the vents to see if he can find anything."

"I'm doing what!?" Exclaims Rattrap who has just entered the room.

"Don't worry Rattrap, it'll only be for a few minutes."

"Yeah but do you have any idea how hot it get up in there?"

"As hot as it'll get in here if we don't fix it. Summer's coming soon and we could really use the air-conditioning."

"Especially since the base is painted black." Added Talon.

"Well now that you put it that way... I guess I'll do it. I'll just go get the ladder." Rattrap leaves the room muttering something to himself. Talon turns to Optimus again.

"So we finished here?"

"Yeah, you can go now." Optimus motions towards the corridor. Talon walks out of the command room Airazor is right behind him. Talon notices her walking beside him, he can see that she's thinking again.

"You were thinking about Tigatron, weren't you?" Airazor turns to face him.

"Why do you care about this so much?"

"I don't know, I'm just trying to be nice, I've all ways prided myself on being the nice guy. And besides, you two seem perfect for each other."

"Really? Well, okay, yeah I was thinking about Tigatron, I was thinking about how I'm going to tell him about... you know."

"Yeah, I know." Talon smiles. "Look, he's in his quarters right now, go talk to him."

"What! Now! Uh, what do I say?"

"Well, try an indirect approach, ask him why he smiled at you out there in the clearing today."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Thanks Talon."

"Anything to help." He smiles and then continues down the corridor towards his quarters. Airazor went towards Tigatron's quarters and stood outside the door. She stood there and went over what she was going to say in her mind a couple times. She felt confident that it would work. She knocked on the door. She heard Tigatron's voice from within.

"Who is it?"

"Uh, its me, Airazor."

"Come on in."

She pressed the button on the wall beside his door and the door opened. She steps inside to see Tigatron sitting at his desk which is up against the wall to the left of the door. He stands up and faces her.

"What do you want?" He says in a soft tone, he can see that she is nervous.

"Uhm, I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Back in the clearing earlier, you were talking about how our war is taking its toll on this planet."

"And"

"Well, you seemed kind of distraught, but then you looked at me and kind of smiled."

"So" Airazor seemed disappointed by his response, she thought he might pick up on what she was getting at.

"I was wondering why?"

"It was the way you were looking at me."

"What about it?" Airazor looked down at the floor, she all ready knew what the answer was.

"It looked like you were checking me out, if you know what I mean."

Airazor looked up at him quickly. "What! I mean, how did you know?"

"Well, you didn't do a very good job of hiding it."

"Yeah, Talon all ready told me that."

"What? Talon was there, I never saw him."

"Neither did I until you left. But that's besides the point." She pauses. "So, I guess you know my little secret then."

Tigatron smiles at her again. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

Airazor chuckles a bit. Then she looks straight into his eyes. "But I really came here to know, you know, to find out how you felt about..." She stops as Tigatron takes her hand in his.

"I know what you're getting at, and the answer is yes, I am attracted to you too."

Talon was right!

"Really!?"

"Yeah, not just physically either," He takes his eyes off her face and looks at the rest of her body. "I mean, you have a great body and all, but there's more to you than that."

Yep, he must have talked to Talon about this. She blushes. "Stop, your embarrassing me."

"The point is, I feel strongly about you too. And you did the right thing by talking to me about it."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Same reason as you, I just couldn't find the guts to do it, its not an easy thing to do."

"Tell me about it. But at least one of us did it." She looks down and sees that Tigatron is still holding her hand. "This was nice and all, but..." She looks back up at his face. "...I'm afraid I have to go, I'll be in my quarters most of the day if you want to come visit me or something."

Tigatron lets go of her hand. "Well, I have some work to do right now, but I might just take you up on that offer."

"Well I'll see ya then I guess." She wanted to kiss him, but she decide against it, she smiles at him and then leaves him in his room. She continues down the hall and stops at Talon room. She can hear music playing from within his room. She knocks on the door.

"Talon! It's me, Airazor"

"Come it."

She opens the door to see Talon, sitting on his bed reading a book, he rolls over and turns down the music.

"So, what are ya listening to?"

"Creed. Why?"

"Just wondering. I didn't know you had the Creed CD?"

"Uh..."

"Did you borrow my CD again?" She asked smiling.

"Yeah, sorry."

"Don't worry, just remember to return it when your done."

Talon changed the subject, he knew why Airazor had come. "So, what's the good word Raze?" .

"Well, I talked to him."

"Let me guess, it went well."

"Better then I could have hoped."

"How do you mean?"

"You were right, he know exactly how Felt, and he felt the same way too!"

"Told ya!" Airazor smiles and he smiles back.

"Thanks Talon, I owe you one."

"No problem, anything for a friend." Airazor slips out the door and goes to her quarters. She was more happy now that she could remember ever being before. Normally, when she was happy like this, she wanted to share it with someone, but instead she wanted to be alone with her thoughts, maybe read something. Something to calm her down. She entered her room, picked up a novel that she had been reading, lay down on the bed and opened to the page with the bookmark on it. But the peace and quiet only lasted a few minutes as Cheetor knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Its Cheetor, can I come in for a sec?"

"Sure." Airazor put the bookmark back in the book and set it on the computer desk which sat beside the bed. The door opened and Cheetor stepped in.

"Uh, I was wondering if you wanted to play a little baseball?" Cheetor loved baseball, and Airazor was the only one who enjoyed playing with him. She didn't really care much for the sport itself. But it was good exercise and it kept her busy during low spots in the war when there wasn't much action in the way of Predacons.

"Sure, grab your gear an I'll meet you out there." She stood up. Cheetor, alive with excitement seemed to leap from the room and down the hall.

Meanwhile back in the control room. Rattrap had rigged up the ladder and was on the top rung. He was struggling to pull off the ceiling panel that led into the vents. Finally is came free. Rattrap handed it to Rhinox, who carefully set it down on the command table.

"You sure you can fit in there?" Asked Optimus. Airazor and Cheetor had entered the room. Cheetor was carrying all of his baseball equipment, which merely consisted of a bat, a ball and a glove.

"Sure thing." Replied Rattrap. Then he was struck on the head by large piece of copper pipe that fell from the vent. "OWWW!" He yelled and held his head in pain. Looking down at the pipe which now lay on the ground underneath the ladder. "God dammit!" He exclaimed. Cheetor laughed a little, Airazor smiled. Even Optimus had to look away so Rattrap wouldn't see that he was smiling. Then he noticed Airazor and Cheetor, who were just entering the elevator on their way outside.

"Where are you to going?" He asked.

"Were just going to play a little baseball." Answered Cheetor.

Optimus smiled and says. "Have fun!"

"We will." Said Airazor just as the glass slid shut. Then the elevator slowly lowered the two of them outside. Optimus turned back around. Rattrap had shaken off the earlier pipe incident, but he could still feel it.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Asked Optimus.

"Yeah yeah yeah!" Muttered Rattrap as he hauled himself into the vents. "Why do I have to do this?"

"Because your the only one who can fit up there." Answered Rhinox.

Meanwhile, Airazor and Cheetor have found their baseball spot. Its an open field with a forest on both sides. A small creek at the back with more forest on the other side. Airazor had the bat and ball, while Cheetor had his glove on and was standing in the middle of the field. Behind Airazor was a rocky hill they used as a backstop in case Cheetor overthrew on the way back.

"Here it comes." Yelled Airazor. She threw the ball straight up into the air and smashed it with the bat on the way down. The ball sailed up into the air towards Cheetor. He had to run off to the right as the balls path curved. He slid down on one knee and made the catch. He held up his glove in a feeling of triumph.

"Nice catch!" Commented Airazor as Cheetor threw the ball back to her. They continued like this for about twenty more minutes, when while Airazor was preparing to hit the ball again, she heard something in the bushes beside the hill Sounded like a crackling sound, like someone was walking through the bush..

"Who's there?" She asked in the direction on the noise.

"What's going on?" Came Cheetor's voice from afar. He was too far away to hear the noise but he knew Airazor was looking at something. Then a figure emerged from the bush.

"Tigatron!" Exclaimed Airazor. She hadn't seen him since their little talk in the base. Cheetor was him too.

"You call that a hit?" He asked

"How long have you been watching?"

"Just a few minutes." He replied, Airazor noticed that he had his hands behind his back. 'He must be carrying something' She thought. 'I wonder what it is?'

"Whatcha got there?" She asked in a pleasant voice.

"Nothing." Said Tigatron innocently. Then, whatever he had, he set it down behind a rock, being careful so that Airazor didn't see what it was. The he proceeded to walk over to Airazor. He Extended his arm and said. "Here. Gimmie the bat and watch a pro." Airazor laughed as she handed him the bat.

"Okie dokie." She took a few behind and to the left of Tigaton and watched him as he prepared to take a swing. Just as he was about to go, he paused, turned around, and asked Airazor. "How far do you think I can hit it?"

"Hmm, maybe a little further than I did?"

"Yeah right! I'll smoke ya!"

"Ok lets see ya there Tig." She laughed a little as she spoke. "If you make it to the creek... hmm, what should I have to do?" She thought about this for a second until Tigatron interrupted.

"Well determine that later, but you'll owe me a favor. And if I don't make it, then I owe you."

"Ooo, feeling confident are you?" Tigatron chuckled as he threw the ball up into the air and struck it with a mighty swing of the bat. The ball rocketed up into the air straight out towards Cheetor. But the ball wasn't going to land near Cheetor, no, it sailed right over his head. He took off running, trying to keep up with it, or at least be closer to it when it lands so he wont lose it.

"Holy sh*t!" Said Airazor in disbelief. "You gotta be kidding me!"

Cheetor stood by the edge of the creek and watched the ball sail over the creek and into the woods on the other side. "Damn!" He shouted. Then he turned back to face Airazor and Tigatron and yelled at them. "One of you to has to help me find it!" Then he walked through the creek which was only about two feet deep.

"Looks like you owe me one Raze." Airazor was still in shock, her face still frozen on the point where that ball had landed, some four or five hundred feet away. Then she turned towards him. "Yeah looks like it. How the hell did you do that."

"Ah its one of my many talents." Airazor started to laugh at this remark. "Oh yeah!" Tigatron seemed to remember something. "I've got something for you!" He turned around and walked towards the rock where he had set down whatever he was carrying. He bent over and picked it up. Again, being careful so Airazor didn't see it. Airazor just smiled at him. He walled back over to her smiling. Then, out from behind him came a small, red colored, heart shaped box. Airazor's jaw dropped in disbelief as she realized instantly what it was.

"You got me a box of chocolates!?" 'Man, only going out for two hours and he's already getting me chocolates!' She thought. She stared at the box, examining it for a few seconds. Then she looked up to see Tigatron, with a massive smile. "Aww that's so sweet!" She quickly kissed him on the cheek and then went back to examining the box. "Where did you get these?" She asked.

"Oh Talon showed me. In cold storage, you wouldn't believe all the stuff down there!"

"That's so thoughtful of you!" She still couldn't believe what was going on.

"Well I'm glad you like it." He smiled at her. Then he looked over in Cheetor's direction. "Well, I gotta go help Cheetor find that baseball." He looked back at her. "So I'll see you back at base or something?"

"Yeah, sure" She was still in shock.

"All right then." Tigatron started to jog in Cheetor's direction. Airazor stood there watching him for a while. Then she turned and took off into the air back towards the base.

Back at base. The command room was a buzz with activity. Optimus and Dinobot were discussing plans at the command table. A 3-D map of the Predacon base was being displayed. Talon was sitting at one of the computer consoles monitoring the scanners and com-links. While Rhinox was still working on the insides of one of the terminals. The ladder was still up and Rattrap was still inside the vents working away.

"So, what are your ideas?" Asked Dinobot to Optimus.

"Well, I figure it's time we went on the offensive. If were going to win this war and get back to Cybertron, we have to start attacking."

"And how do you suggest we do that? Megatron's line of defense is strong. It will take quite a lot of force to break it."

"Yeah, I figure if we start patrolling along the lines, and we can spot any kind of weakness, we attack."

"An all out attack, all at once is suicide. Megatron's automated forces are too strong."

"Well what do you suggest?"

"I would suggest a series of small scale attacks before we engage in a major battle. Just to wear them down before we strike."

"But if Megatron notices us attacking the same point over and over again, he'll reinforce that spot."

"Correct, but what if we choose multiple spots to attack. Surely Megatron cannot reinforce, say, three of four separate positions."

"Good point, but an operation like that will take a lot of time and resources out of us."

"A small price to pay for victory. As it stands now, this is the best plan we have. We have to take the war to Megatron soon."

"Yeah, speaking of Megatron. What do you think he's up to."

"Personally I don't know. I'm not sure what he wants with the Cybertron Exploration Archive. What is that anyway?"

"Its a list of all exploration missions in Maximal history. A list of crews, and what occurred on each mission."

"It just doesn't make sense." Dinobot thought about this but Optimus was ready to change the subject.

"So tell me about this 'symbol' on the golden disk."

"It wasn't created by the humans. Perhaps if you tell me a little about the history of the disk?"

"You've never heard the history of the disk? Well, the disk was launched by the humans during the late 20th century. It was a probe used to explore their solar system. But it also carried thousands of imaged and sounds from Earth, just in case the probe was ever discovered by an alien civilization. The disk told of an Earth rich with energon. But that wouldn't last. The great war broke out about five years after the probe was launched, and as we all know, the war expended all energon resources on Earth. But what I think is that Megatron knew that the Maximals had recently discovered the disk. And he knew it gave that exact time and location of Earth which had been long since lost. It was Earth before the war, so the energon would still be there."

"When was the disk discovered?"

"An disastrous exploration mission to planet Nulok, its a planet just outside the Orion Nebula. The disk was found there, we never found out how it got there. The mission was a disaster. Only a few Maximals made it back, and they recovered the disk. They were lucky. But all the files on that mission were classified, and no one outside of the few survivors and the Maximal high command know what really happened. All we know is they were attacked by some unknown power, but it wasn't Predacons."

"Interesting"

"And what about that symbol on the disk that you mentioned?"

"I never actually got a good look at it. But Megatron seemed very interested in it. You don't think is might have something to do with that failed mission to Nulok do you?"

"Hmm, maybe, all the files are encrypted. But there all there on the archives. If Megatron finds out how to open them, he'll know everything that happened."

"Sounds important. Perhaps they are linked?"

"Maybe."

"And perhaps this is information that we should try to obtain."

"Yes, I agree. That's why we need to start attacking the Preds. To get information on what Megatron is really up to." Optimus looked down at the command table thinking. The he remembered what he was going to say. "Oh yeah. I need all the Maximals in here in half an hour, I'm going to announce my plans." Optimus started to walk out of the room. Dinobot continued to study the 3-D representation of the Pred base for a while. Then he shut it off and followed Optimus out of the room.

Rattrap poked his head out from the vents. "There, I think I got it. Give it a try Rhinox."

"Ok, here goes." Rhinox flipped a switch on the computer console and the air-conditioning unit slowly hummed to life.

"All right! We got it!" Rattrap jumped down from the vent. "Thank Primus that's over with." Rattrap wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Ok I'm gonna go put this away. If anyone wants me I'll be in my room." Rattrap folded up the ladder and carried it out of the room. Talon turns around in his chair.

"So you guys get it fixed?"

"Yep, sure did." Answered Rhinox.

"Good job"

"Thanks." Then the computer's voice spoke.

"Repair cycle complete." Then the doors to the CR Chamber opened and out stepped Whiplash. Rhinox turned to face him while Talon got up and walked over to him.

"How are you feeling?" Asked Talon. Whiplash didn't look like the battered and bruised Maximal that had entered the CR Chamber. He had been completely repaired and was looking like new.

"I'm fine." Said Whiplash in an impatient voice. He wasn't interested in engaging Talon in a conversation. But this couldn't stop him from trying.

"So what happened out there."

"Nothing." He replied quickly. Then he walked out of the room abruptly. Talon couldn't understand why Whiplash acted this way. Talon followed him out of the room and down the corridor.

"What's wrong man? How come you never want to talk to anyone?"

"I have my reasons." He answered without even turning around. Talon just stopped in his tracks and watched him go. Then he looked back down the corridor towards Rhinox who was just leaving the command room.

"What do you think is wrong with him?"

"I have no idea. But I've gotta talk to Optimus about something." Rhinox passed Talon leaving him alone in the hallway.

Airazor landed on the ground just at the base of the elevator. She was still carrying the box of chocolates Tigatron had given her. She stepped on the elevator and pressed the 'up' button. With a hissing sound, the elevator moved upwards into the base. The elevator stopped when is reached the control room. The glass whizzed up and Airazor steeped out into the room. She looked around to make sure no one was there.

'Good, the coast is clear.' She thought to herself. She went to leave the room and go down the corridor. She wanted to get the box into her room without anyone seeing it so no one would ask about it. But as she rounded the corner, she almost walked right into Talon who was returning to the command room. Talon looked at her startled, he didn't expect to see her, and by the looks of it, she didn't expect to see him either. Airazor quickly hid the box behind her back. Talon looked puzzled.

"What you got there Raze?"

"Uh... nothing!"

"No really, I saw something, what is it?" Talon sidestepped to the left try and look around Airazor, but she moved to block his view.

It's nothing, really!" She desperately wanted to get out of the situation, but she knew it was hopeless, she she'd might as well give up.

"Come on." He pleaded.

"Ok sure." She brought the box out in front of her. "Tigatron gave 'em to me." Talon laughed.

"It's only been official for what? Two or three hours now, and already he's giving you chocolates?"

"That's what I thought too."

"Cool, he must really like you if he's doing that."

Airazor thought about that comment for a little while. She never really thought about it that way.

"Well Tig's a nice guy."

"Yeah I can see" She responded looking down at the box. "Well I better get these into my room before anyone else sees them." Airazor stared to move towards the exit. But Talon stopped her.

"Don't I get a piece?" He gave her his best puppy dog face. Airazor just laughed at him.

"Ok all right." She opened the box. Talon looked at the chocolates inside, he thought about which one he was going to take. "Will ya hurry up! I don't have all day!" She said impatiently.

"Ok ok! Don't loose your cool" Talon grabbed one of the chocolates. "Thanks!" He said, and then popped it into his mouth. Then he tried to say 'These are good!' but the words came out all garbled because his mouth was full. Airazor started laughing.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to talk with your mouth full!?"

Talon swallowed and said. "Sorry, I meant so say that there good."

Airazor smiled. "I'll see ya later." And then she left.

"Yeah. Thanks." Responded Talon

"No Problem" Said Airazor from the hallway. Talon turned around to see Tigatron and Cheetor come up the elevator. The glass slid open and the two of them stepped out. Cheetor was carrying all of the baseball equipment.

"So you have fun there kiddo?" He asked Cheetor.

"You bet! You should have seen Tig here blast one!" Talon looked at Tigatron who was standing behind Cheetor.

"What happened?" Asked Talon

Cheetor answered. "He hit one across the creek. We were lucky to find the ball."

"Really! That must be close to five hundred feet!"

"Ahh it wasn't much." Said Tigatron. "I'm sure you could do that."

"Well I don't know about that. That's pretty impressive." Talon looked back at Cheetor. "Good thing you guys found the ball."

"Yeah it took us a while." Cheetor started on his way out of the room. "Well I'd better put this stuff away. I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah see ya." Said Talon. As soon as he was sure Cheetor was gone, he turned to face Tigatron. "So I heard about what you gave Airazor."

"Oh you did now?"

"Yeah. I saw her come in here with it. I was kinda surprised. How long have you two actually been going out?"

"What's your point?"

"It's just that your being even nicer to her than I thought you would be. It's good to see."

"Oh, well, thanks. That's cause I really like her."

"Well she was pleasantly surprised by it. But maybe you should actually tell her that instead of giving her gifts."

"What's wrong with gifts?"

"Nothing, there fine, and she really liked it. But sometimes words can be more powerful." Talon leaned over and whispered to him. "And you never know what might happen because of it if ya know what I mean."

Tigatron smiled. "Well I'm not really in it for that."

"What!? Are you nuts? Have you taken a look at Airazor lately? Look at her and tell me you wouldn't like some of that!"

"Yeah I know that she's attractive, but there's more to it than that."

"Yeah I know all about that. But still, talk to her, tell her how you really feel. Only good things will happen."

"True, but I don't know how to really express my feelings in words, know what I mean?"

"Yeah, but there's no pressure, take your time to get it right." Tigatron thought to himself for a second, and then asked. "Why do you care so much."

"You know me! That's what I'm like, and besides, I've always thought you two would be perfect together. After all, I was the one that encouraged Airazor to break the ice."

"Really? That was you?"

"Yep."

"Hmm, I had no idea. Good thing too, I've had my eye on her for a while. But I just couldn't bring myself to tell her how I felt."

"She felt the exact same way."

"So I hear. Damn if only I knew."

Talon put his hand on Tigatron's shoulder. "Don't worry man. You guys got it over with. So go talk to her."

"All right I will. Thanks for your help, your a real pal."

"No problem man, that's what I'm here for." Tigatron smiled, and then walked down the hall to Airazor's door. He knocked on it. Airazor's voice came from within.

"Who's there?"

"It's me, Tig."

"Oh! Tigatron! Come in!" He pressed the 'open' button on the door and it slid open. He stepped inside to see Airazor lying on the bed with a book in her hand. She set the book on the table next to the bet and got up.

"So you had any of the chocolates yet?"

She walked over to him. "Yeah I had one, there good." She wrapped her arms around him and smiled.

"Good to hear you liked them."

"If you're trying to impress me your doing a damn good job of it."

"Well that's not really what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to show you how I really feel."

"Oh you don't need to do that, I know..." Tigatron interrupted her.

"No let me finish."

"Oh, sorry."

Tigatron placed his hand on her cheek, looked deep into her green eyes and smiled. "That's ok." She smiled back.

"You see..." He continued. "I know on the outside I seem like kind of antisocial because I spent all my time outside away from the other Maximals, and maybe I was. I never really appreciated them. But when we started doing patrols together, I realized what I was missing. I knew you were someone special. You were the only one who could appreciate nature and the outdoors as much as me, and I kinda developed a crush on you. I just didn't realize that you felt the same way until today. And I'm kinda disappointed that I never told you earlier, cause I really enjoy your company, and how much time did we miss because I just couldn't tell you."

"Aww don't feel bad Tig, it's as much my fault as it is yours, and besides, at least one of us finally broke the ice."

"Yeah but I just cant help but feel bad thinking what might have been if..." Before he could finish, Airazor slowly kissed him on the lips.

"Feel better?" She smiled.

He smiled back. "Actually, yes I do."

She chuckled a bit. "I knew you would." Then she rested her head on his chest, and they stood there in that embrace for a while. Then Tigatron broke the silence.

"So what do you want to do now?" Airazor lifted her head from Tigatron's chest and gazed up into his eyes. But before she could even respond, there was a knock at the door.

"Who's there?"

"It's me." Came Rattrap's voice. "Optimus says he wants all of us in the command room in five minutes."

"Looks like we've had are mind made up for us." Says Tigatron as he lets go of Airazor.

"Some other time then?" She asked.