Beast Wars Anonymous:

The Burning Sky, pt. 1
by Wes Whitten (weswhittentf@juno.com)

The night sky of space glistens with millions of brightly shining stars. Planets and moons of all kinds are vaguely seen. The planet which will one day be known as Earth rests peacefully in its position. Around the planet is a ring of hundreds of Stasis Pods, all perfectly in place.

Suddenly, a pair of comets streak swiftly across space. They run right through the rings of stasis pods, knocking three of them out of orbit. The three pods begin to streak about and burn as they enter the atmosphere of Earth.

Slasher Red, Wolfang, Cheetor, and Rhinox are all seated at the command table inside the Axalon. Rhinox is currently going over various maps of the planet, which show alien artifacts, outposts, and high concentrations of energon. Rhinox is pointing out things on a map with a pointer when the alarms suddenly go off.

"What the...? Rhinox, what's happening?!" Slasher Red screamed.

"The secondary alarms are going off. Something is happening with the planet's nature," Rhinox answered.

Cheetor and Wolfang arose from their seats and rushed to the computer outposts. Cheetor punched up a planetary screen map on the central computer. The image began to spin around as three red blips began to hit appear.

"Uh oh! Rhinox, we have stasis pods falling," Cheetor exclaimed.

"What?" Rhinox asked, "But Slasher Red and Onyx Primal's pods only landed within the last month, how could another pod crash so soon?"

Wolfang turned around to face Rhinox and pointed to the visual computer screen, "Better make that pods Rhinox, three of them are currently entering the atmosphere."

Slasher Red raced out of her seat to face Rhinox.

"Rhinox, let me go retrieve one of the pods, I am confident I can do it," 'Red explained.

"Okay, but take Cheetor with you, you don't know how to program a pod by yourself," Rhinox spoke.

"What about Dinobot? I'll go get him and..." Slasher Red began to speak up.

"'Red, you don't need to have him come along, I'll need him to go get the other pods," Rhinox declared.

Slasher Red turned her head with disappointment.

Rhinox saw her angry face and threw out a sigh of defeat.

"Okay, okay, you win. Dinobot can come along," Rhinox gave in.

Slasher Red gave Rhinox a thumbs up and ran off to get Dinobot from his quarters.

Rhinox turned around to Wolfang and Cheetor who were currently giving him an odd look. "What?"

"Nothing," Cheetor said, "We better warn the others of the pods.

I'll have the computer find out their landing coordinates and send the closest teams."

"So be it," Rhinox spoke, "Wolfang, come with me and we'll follow another of the pods."

Wolfang nodded his head as Cheetor printed out a map.

"Okay, one of the pods is heading for the higher forests, near the Arctic, the other two are landing a bit off of Predacon and Maximal territory," Cheetor announced.

"Contact Tigatron and Polar Claw at the Arctic Outpost. Wolfang and I will track down the other pod," Rhinox ordered.

Cheetor saluted and began to open the communications channels.

A mega cycle later, Cheetor, Slasher Red, and Dinobot were walking around in the bad lands of the planet in beast mode. The first of the three stasis pods was scheduled to land there.

"This is so exciting," Slasher Red exclaimed, "I've never seen a stasis pod land before."

"Trust me sister," Cheetor replied, "It's not exactly a thrill after the first few times."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Slasher Red, standing straightly.

"Nothing, I guess I've just gotten tired of the same old kind of pod landing," Cheetor remarked.

Slasher Red cooled down and walked over to a pacing Dinobot.

"Hey, what's wrong big guy?" asked 'Red.

"This waiting," Dinobot answered throwing his arms down, "We have to wait for the pod to land, and the Predacons could attack us at any time now that we are in this open energon area."

Slasher Red turned and stared into the sky. She saw the stasis pod falling, currently looking like nothing more but a shooting star in the daytime, or nighttime considering where they are in the bad lands.

"Cheetor, do you detect any Predacons around?" asked Dinobot impatiently.

Cheetor raised his nose into the air and sniffed around a bit, "A simple smell of the air can tell that none of them are around."

Slasher Red looked around as Dinobot and Cheetor argued. The current status of what she knew as the planet Earth was fascinating to her. She walked over to a dead tree and tapped a dead branch hanging from it. The branch swayed a little and then crashed to the ground.

"Such destruction..." 'Red mumbled.

At that time, Slasher Red noticed a collection of dying trees move from the corner of her eye. She turned towards the group of trees. Nothing was moving. 'Red knew she couldn't of been imagining things.

"Guys...?" asked 'Red softly.

"What?" asked Cheetor.

"We got company!!!"

With that, Blackarachnia, Buzz Saw, and Onyx Primal burst from their hiding spots behind the burnt trees.

Blackarachnia and Buzz Saw terrorized into robot mode and drew out their weapons. Blackarachnia began shooting her gun legs, while Buzz Saw fired his stinger cannon.

Cheetor leapt out of the path of fire as Dinobot maximized into robot mode. He fired a concentrated eye beam at Blackarachnia, but she easily reflected the blast with her crossbow.

At that time, Slasher Red maximized into the battle with her sword. She spotted Onyx swooping behind the battle zone and diving back in. She entered a heroic stance with her sword and waited for Onyx to challenge her. She owed him for the perfect evening he ruined two days ago.

Onyx Primal terrorized and drew his swords at the last second, he zipped pass Slasher Red before she could blink. 'Red grew furious because of her miss, and leapt towards the now hovering bat. Onyx raised his swords in defense as Slasher Red smashed her sword against him.

Onyx retaliated and kicked Slasher Red away with his feet. She fell to the ground, and then dawned her spinning rotor staff. Onyx swooped in to kill her, but 'Red was prepared and threw her rotor staff at Onyx. Onyx tried to pull away from the staff's path, but was unsuccessful and wound up on the ground with a spliced left side.

"Fool, death will not come upon me, for it is my friend. However, death is very interested in meeting you," Onyx mocked, even though he was half-dead.

Slasher Red sneered at him and then rushed off to help Dinobot.

At that time, Cheetor dodged Buzz Saw's blasts with his cat like agility. He sped away fast, and then flipped backwards and converted to robot mode in mid-flight. He fired his quasar cannon at the unsuspecting Predacon, who took the shot and was thrown against the trees.

"Alright, Predacon in the corner pocket," Cheetor cheered.

Suddenly, a blast from behind knocked Cheetor to the ground. He turned to see Blackarachnia standing before him.

"Nighty night, pussy cat!" Blackarachnia screamed, preparing to fire a poison dart.

Just then, Dinobot rushed into the game and transformed to velociraptor mode. He whizzed around and let his luggish tail knock B.A. to the ground. Blackarachnia cursed at him, and fired her loaded poison dart at him. Dinobot got a direct hit in the head and fell to the ground with a poison surge.

At that time, Slasher Red entered the scene. She fired her eye beams at Blackarachnia full force. Blackarachnia was thrown backwards from the assault. She transformed to spider mode as she landed and scampered off into the horizon. Buzz Saw woke, and grabbed the limp Onyx Primal before rushing off.

"Are you okay?" asked Slasher Red, helping Cheetor up.

"I'll be fine," Cheetor spoke, "Help Dinobot up,"

Slasher Red approached Dinobot and noticed his body surging with red energy.

"Cheetor, is Dinobot under some kind of energy surge?!" asked 'Red bewildered.

"No," Cheetor responded, "It's a body poison from Blackarachnia and Tarantulas's arrows. Don't worry, a mega cycle in the CR chamber will do him good."

Slasher Red grew a sigh of relief as she noticed the stasis pod in the sky.

"Cheetor...?"

The pod crashed into the ground next to them. Both Maximals were sent flying backwards from the pod's impact. The two stood up and dusted themselves off. Suddenly, an energon surge crept over the two.

"Better convert to beast mode," 'Red concluded.

She and Cheetor returned to their animal modes. Cheetor hefted a slight sigh.

"Um, 'Red? You'll have to program the pod yourself," Cheetor stated.

"Huh? Why?! I thought you could do it," 'Red protested.

"I can, but I can't do it in beast mode, I don't exactly have any arms to work with," Cheetor stated.

Slasher Red saw his predicament and chuckled.

"Okay, tell me what to do," Slasher Red spoke.

Just then, the stasis pod began to activate itself.

"Whoa, the pod must not have been damaged," Cheetor said promptly.

"Landing sequence completed. Protoform intact. Beginning activation program," the pod's computer beeped.

Slasher Red and Cheetor stepped back as the pod raised an antenna and scanned for a suitable beast mode. However, as soon as the antenna went out, it went back in.

"Hey, what gives...?" Cheetor questioned.

Suddenly, the stasis pod began to glow brightly. The two Maximals tried to hide their eyes from the light. A spark began to shoot from the sky and entered the pod. The Protoform inside began to morph and change without computer guidance.

All at once, the light dimmed away, and the pod hatch blew away.

"That....never happened before," Cheetor spoke.

"The Protoform will be a Maximal, right?" asked Slasher Red.

"Wrong."

Just then, a gigantic red creature burst from the pod.

"Who...?" 'Red asked.

"No! Not him!" Cheetor screamed.

The red creature began to pace back and forth in front of his pod. He then twirled around and used one of his legs to swat Cheetor to the ground. Cheetor was thrown backwards and fell unconscious.

"Ah! The times have changed since I last defended the royalty. I see the factions have grown in number. But now, the enemies of the colony shall decrease with my arrival," the creature declared.

Slasher Red still carried a puzzled look on her face.

"Inferno, Terrrrrrorrrrrize!"

The gigantic red fire ant shifted and changed into a bright red gigantic Predacon.

"My life was taken from me, but it was never meant to be. The times will be proper now with my arrival. Let nothing destroy the colony, not even the Maximal invaders. They can no longer hide in their forms of a beast. For my friend pain has sought my life back, and Inferno will repay it with a victim," Inferno lectured.

"What are you getting at?" Slasher Red asked.

"Ah, the new Maximal warrior thinks she's 'All That'. Now she shall face the true wraith. Burn away Maximal! Burn away!!!" Inferno shouted dawning his flame gun.

Without time to react, Inferno unleashed a wave of flames at Slasher Red. She saw the land around her and herself begin to burn.

Inferno quit firing and laughed. He then began to throw flames again.

"BUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNN!!!!" Inferno cheered.

The Burning Sky, pt. 2
by Wes Whitten (weswhittentf@juno.com)

Slasher Red fell to her feet as she and the earth were consumed in flame. Slasher Red groaned aloud, and then maximized to robot mode. The transformation put out most of the fire on her, and she brushed away the rest.

Inferno gave her a sly look as she grabbed her rotor blade and sword.

"Do you wish to face me?" asked Inferno.

"I'm not afraid of you," Slasher Red stated, "I'm not afraid of anything!"

With that, Slasher Red lunged with her sword at Inferno. It sliced into his chest and stuck there. Inferno stared down at it and ripped it out of his chest. Slasher Red stared amazed, as he seemed unharmed.

"What...but, that should have killed you!" Slasher Red exclaimed.

"To any other Predacon, yes. To Inferno? No!" Inferno bellowed.

Inferno prepared to fire another round of fire.

"Prepare to meet a fate worse then death," Inferno laughed.

"Maybe you should meet it first." Inferno whizzed around to be rammed into the chest by Dinobot's head. Inferno grunted and fell to the ground.

"Dinobot, Maximize!"

"Fool! Do you think you scare me? Buuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrnnnnnnn!" Inferno declared.

Just then, an energon surge came over Inferno, he was unable to get back up and fell to his knees.

"No! Not now! You must burn!" Inferno screamed.

Inferno converted to beast mode and buried into the ground.

Before Dinobot or Slasher Red could grab him he had tunneled away.

"Drat! Inferno must not be able to rejoin with the Predacons," Dinobot cursed.

Slasher Red grabbed Dinobot's left arm and hugged it.

"Let him go, this protoform is lost to us," Slasher Red spoke sadly.

Dinobot and Slasher Red converted to beast mode. Dinobot grabbed Cheetor's body and placed it on his back. The two velociraptors stared into each other's eyes and then walked back to the base.

Megatron relaxed as he sat in his R-Bath watching the computer monitors. The screen showed pod recovery to be a smooth mission so far. Megatron stared over at Iguanus and Scorponok, who had remained behind from the pod recovery missions.

"Scorponok?" asked Megatron.

Scorponok rushed over to Megatron and saluted, "Yes Megatron?"

"Check on Blackarachnia and her group. They seem to be moving away from their pod's coordinates," Megatron ordered.

"At once...."

Suddenly, the floor began to rumble. Megatron leapt out of his bath and stared around watching everything bob up and down.

"What is happening?!" Iguanus screamed.

Megatron stared in horror as a tunnel of dirt arose from the ground. A red creature leapt from the tunnel and onto the Darkside's floor.

"What the....?" Megatron stared bewildered.

Inferno terrorized to robot mode and bowed before Megatron.

"Greetings my royalty. I have survived my downfall and have come back to serve you," Inferno saluted.

"This is good, yes, but where have you been Inferno?" Megatron asked.

"The spider tricked me into his lab and stole my life chip and support systems. He failed to eliminate my spark though, and I waited until my time to return came!" Inferno declared.

"Ah, so that's where Tarantulas got the life systems for that copy form he made a month ago," Megatron spoke to himself.

"Do you have any orders for me to carry out my queen?" asked Inferno.

"Yes, check in with the other Predacon teams. I must ensure that all three of the new stasis pods are mine!" Megatron gave the order.

Inferno rushed off as Blackarachnia, Onyx Primal, and Buzz Saw entered the room in beast mode.

"Sir," Blackarachnia spoke to Megatron, "the Maximals have gotten control of the pod and..."

"They have done nothing of the sort," smiled Megatron, pointing to the working Inferno.

"Inferno?!" spat out Blackarachnia.

"Who? Buzz Saw confused, Buzz Saw not know Inferno," Buzz Saw butted in.

"Neither do I," Onyx Primal spoke, "Please explain Megatron."

"Well gentlemen," Megatron began to speak, as he sat down at his throne, "Inferno was killed by Tarantulas without our knowledge months ago. His death came about before even Iguanus and Snapper were created. In fact, Buzz Saw, your living off of some of his parts right now,"

Buzz Saw's optics grew with surprise.

"Buzz Saw not made of Inferno. Color and look not match. Buzz Saw made from Wazzzpinator. Wazzzpinator is Buzz Saw's friend," Buzz Saw protested.

"Say what you will," grumbled Megatron.

Rhinox and Wolfang herded themselves into the Bad Lands, where one of the three pods was stated to land. The two Maximals passed a pillar of stone, and stopped as they saw three figures a bit away.

"Looks like we're not the only ones after this pod," Wolfang mumbled.

"Predacon energy signatures. We have to divert their attention and get them away from the area before the pod lands," Rhinox concluded.

"Wolfang, Maximize!" Wolfang shouted.

"Wolfang, what are you...?" Rhinox began to ask, but Wolfang only rushed away from the pillar and into the Predacon's scanning range.

A bit away, Tarantulas turned to see Wolfang rush forward with his shield and rifle drawn.

"So, the little Maximal wants to play, Tarantulas Terrorize!"

Tarantulas laughed. He stood up straight and fired a web at Wolfang.

Wolfang was caught in the web and was forced a few feet backward before landing on the ground. Wolfang struggled to get the web off, but it wouldn't budge.

Tarantulas converted back to spider mode and crept up to the fallen Wolfang.

"You are so gullible. Now, where are your other Maximal friends hiding? They wouldn't send you out alone," Tarantulas concluded.

Wolfang only turned his head away from Tarantulas's hideous face.

Tarantulas back away as Waspinator and Snapper approached.

"Wolf-Bot does not want to talk, but Wazzzpinator make him talk, make Maximal talk whole lot!" Waspinator buzzed.

"You will get nothing out of me," Wolfang growled.

"Tarantulas!" Snapper cried, "The stasis pod is making its decent!"

Tarantulas turned towards the sky as the pod became visible and crashed a good mile off course.

"Ah, excuse me Wolfang, I have work to do," Tarantulas spoke, as he and Waspinator and Snapper rushed to the pod.

Rhinox rushed through the charred area as he approached the stasis pod. He only hoped that Wolfang hadn't gotten himself killed by distracting the Predacons. Just then, Rhinox came to the pod.

"Ah, here it is!" Rhinox spoke while maximizing, "Now to fire this baby up."

Rhinox activated the pod's computer and began to punch in the programming sequence. The pod beeped as it scanned for a local life form. The scan seemed to last longer than usual, but it soon found a suitable life form in the near by desert lands. The pod beeped as it scanned its Maximal programming chip.

"There! Now to greet the new Maximal," Rhinox said, completed with the programming.

Suddenly, Rhinox was shot in the back without warning and fell to the ground. He looked up to see Waspinator and Snapper with their weapons pointed at his back. Rhinox sighed as Tarantulas approached. He transformed to robot mode and gave Rhinox a look.

"So sorry, but I'm afraid I must take this pod from you," Tarantulas chuckled.

"Too late to do that spider,"

"What the...?" Tarantulas screamed as he whizzed around.

Before he could see his attacker, Tarantulas was shot down to the ground. Waspinator and Snapper rearmed their weapons to Tarantulas's attacker. The new Maximal only retaliated by blasting both of them down to scrap.

At that time, Rhinox looked up to be the first to see the new Maximal. He had an orange and grey color to him. Rhinox got up and extended his hand.

"Greetings, I am Rhinox, Maximal engineer," Rhinox spoke.

The new Maximal placed away his gun and morning star weapon and shook Rhinox's hand.

"My name is Armordillo, Maximal desert combatant. No Predacon stands a chance against my laser and morning star," Armordillo spoke.

"Welcome aboard, Armordillo," Rhinox welcomed, "I need help retrieving a comrade a distance away, will you help?"

Armordillo nodded his head, "I will help you rescue him, and will return to your base with you. By the way, who is your commander?"

"Optimus Primal," Rhinox replied.

"Optimus Primal? He's still alive?! Boy, I can remember when he and I used to serve together in the early Predacon/Maximal war," Armordillo recalled.

"So, you must be one of the Maximals that were originally a robot before they became a protoform," Rhinox declared.

"Correct, now let's go help your friend," Armordillo spoke up.

The two converted to beast mode and left a pile of scrapped Predacons on the ground.

Optimus Primal monitored the various Maximal missions on the Axalon's main computer screen. Optimus paid more attention to Rattrap's party, who were currently the only group still without a landed stasis pod. Optimus Primal noticed Dinobot and his group disappeared from the monitor, and was surprised to see the man lift moving upward.

On the lift, stood a maximized Dinobot, trying to support a stasis pod on his head.

"Primal," Dinobot grunted, "Where do I put this thing?!"

"Pod storage chamber, at the back of the base," Optimus remarked.

"Back?!" Dinobot spoke bewildered, while wobbling around from the pod's weight.

"Can I, um, give you a hand?" asked Primal.

"No, no, I can do it myself!" Dinobot barked back, as he began to wobble his way down the hall.

Optimus Primal shook his head as Slasher Red and Cheetor were lifted up into the base in beast mode.

"So, there you two are," Optimus spoke.

"Cheetor took some heavy damage, I think he needs a full dose of the CR Chamber," Slasher Red spoke for the cat.

Optimus examined Cheetor and then nodded his head. He walked to the chamber and lifted the door for him. Cheetor transformed to robot mode and sat himself down in the chamber. Optimus sealed him in and started the healing process.

"He took a good hit, he'll be in there for four mega cycles," Optimus Primal spoke.

"Where's Dinobot?" asked Slasher Red.

"In the pod storage room, in the back of the base," Optimus pointed down the hall.

"I think I remember where it is," Slasher Red stated, trying to remember her first tour of the Axalon.

She walked down the hallway after him.

Primal stared blankly as the man lift came up again, this time, Rhinox appeared, carrying Wolfang.

"We're back Primal, but Wolfang could use a dose of CR, chamber that is," Rhinox spoke, stepping away from the lift.

"He'll have to be manually repaired or just wait, Cheetor has it reserved for the next four cycles," Primal responded.

"Okay, c'mon to my lab Wolfang," sighed Rhinox, trudging down the hall.

"Did you guys get a pod or not?" called Primal down the hall.

"They got one all right."

Primal turned to find an orange and grey Maximal standing on the man lift. He was easily supporting a stasis pod over his head.

"Greetings, you must be the new Maximal. My name is Optimus Primal," Optimus extended his arm.

Armordillo hefted a bit, and then shook Primal's arm.

"I don't need a tour of the base," Armordillo spoke, "I have to haul this thing to the Pod storage room."

"Huh?! How do you know of that?" asked Primal.

"The Axalon use to be a ship used back in the early Predacon/Maximal war. I was one of its crewmembers for a few weeks. If my circuits serve correctly, you were too," Armordillo answered.

"So, you're an original Maximal and not a protoform that was created?" Primal asked again.

"Indeed I am. I look forward to serving your crew," Armordillo spoke, and then turned away down the hall.

"Well," Primal spoke to himself, "This day keeps on getting weirder and weirder, but in a good way I guess. Except for that Inferno incident. How did he manage to get his spark into that protoform?"

That's a question for another time.

The Burning Sky, pt. 3
by Wes Whitten (weswhittentf@juno.com)

Complaining as usual, Rattrap walked through the northern deserts, very close to the rim of the Arctic. Following Rattrap on his journey were Tigatron and Polar Claw, who were at the Arctic Outpost when Rattrap called up that he needed help retrieving a stasis pod.

Polar Claw and Tigatron stared at each other as they trudged along in beast mode while Rattrap continued to complain to himself aloud.

"Rattrap," Tigatron spoke up, "Are you sure this is where a stasis pod is supposed to land?"

Rattrap turned around and faced Tigatron.

"Unless Axalon's computers can't be trusted, I'd say it is," Rattrap responded.

In the shadows, a pair of figures lurked. They were known as Terrorsaur and Scorponok, who Megatron had sent to retrieve the last stasis pod to be programmed. Terrorsaur, in beast mode, turned around to face Scorponok, also in beast mode.

"Now listen Scorponok, a stasis pod landed, or will land near by here. You will go out and distract the Maximals while I search for it," Terrorsaur ordered, pointing at Scorponok.

"Hey! Wait a minute! Why do I have to be the distraction, why can't you be?" Scorponok protested.

Terrorsaur sighed.

"Because your a better fighter and have more weapons," Terrorsaur responded, trying to trick Scorponok with flattery.

"Really?!" Scorponok said amazed, "Your right! I'm the strongest and I can beat those Maximals!"

Scorponok stepped out of the shadows and crept behind the passing by Maximals.

"Scorponok, Terrorize!"

"What the...?!" Rattrap exclaimed, as he and the others turned to see Scorponok transform to robot mode.

Scorponok extended his claw and fired his mega missiles. They landed by Tigatron and exploded on contact. Tigatron was pushed back into the ground.

"Hey, keep your missiles to yourself, Rattrap, Maximize!" Rattrap spat out.

Rattrap and Polar Claw locked into battle with Scorponok.

Scorponok fired another pair of mega missiles, but both were avoided. Polar Claw launched Cyberbat into the air. The bat distracted Scorponok, giving Rattrap enough time to shoot him down to the ground.

"Well, not too smart thinking he can beat us alone!" Rattrap exclaimed.

"Maybe not..." Polar Claw spoke, pointing to Terrorsaur flying away in the sky.

With their backs turned, Scorponok arose and prepared to destroy both the Maximals with yet another set of mega missiles. Polar Claw turned and saw him fire. Polar Claw grabbed Rattrap and made him duck with himself from the missiles. They passed by, and the two arose.

"Rattrap, you follow Terrorsaur, I'll clean up here!" Polar Claw ordered.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Rattrap explained, transforming to beast mode and scurrying off.

Terrorsaur's wings glided freely as he spotted the crashed stasis pod a few clicks north. He terrorized to robot mode and landed on the ground.

"Well, well, looks like the Maximals will be saying good-bye to another of their comrades," Terrorsaur smirked, stepping towards the stasis pod.

As Terrorsaur was within arm's length of the pod, it'd DNA scanner arose.

"Planet fall successful. Activation program begun, scanning for compatible life form," the pod's computer beeped.

"Oh no!" Terrorsaur exclaimed, "I have to work fast or the pod is lost."

Suddenly, the DNA scanners dropped into the pod before it could scan anything.

"What the...?" Terrorsaur stammered.

"Preliminary spark override. Programming sequence in tact. Beast form already active," the computer explained.

Terrorsaur gave the pod a weird look as it's door burst open.

"What?! NO! Not yet! I haven't programmed it yet!!!" Terrorsaur screamed.

"Oh shut up," the creature from the pod exclaimed, hiding in the shadows.

"Come out and face me!" Terrorsaur ordered, dawning his gun.

"The creature growled fiercely, and then exclaimed, "Snowstalker, Maximize!"

Terrorsaur gasped as the Maximal he thought long to be dead arose from the pod in robot mode.

"No, this can't be! You're dead!" Terrorsaur blurted.

"How perceptive of you," Snowstalker said slyly, firing her quasar cannon.

"Terrorsaur was hit dead on and was thrown out of sight by the blast.

"Maybe you didn't realize that my spark decided to take residence in a stasis pod instead of the Matrix," Snowstalker called after him.

Snowstalker smiled as Rattrap scurried forward.

"Whoa! Look what I found!" Rattrap spoke.

"Rattrap, it's good to see you," Snowstalker greeted, placing her weapon away.

"Um, how'd you get here? Aren't you, you know, dead?" asked Rattrap curiously.

"When I died, I guided my spark into a stasis pod. I've been waiting for the chance that I could rejoin the Maximals," Snowstalker explained.

"Okay, well, Tigatron and...someone you don't know are fighting off the Predacons, care to help?" asked Rattrap.

"With pleasure," Snowstalker grinned.

Three mega cycles later, Rattrap and Polar Claw stood victorious as they watched Scorponok and Terrorsaur run off heavily damaged.

"Eh, and I went soft on them too," Rattrap remarked, poking his elbow into Polar Claw's chest.

"I'm sure Rattrap, but Snowstalker was the one that gave the most bruises, where is...." Polar Claw began, when he turned to see Snowstalker and Tigatron kissing.

Rattrap was about to turn his head to see what was going on when Polar Claw grabbed his head and twisted it back around.

"That's enough Rattrap, let's leave these two to their privacy," Polar Claw ordered.

"Man, why does everyone have to treat me like I'm nothing more but a little mouse?!" Rattrap burst out.

"Because you are a little mouse," Polar Claw chuckled.

"Ooh, you thought that was funny didn't you?!" Rattrap grew red in the face.

Polar Claw only reverted to beast mode.

"I'm heading back to the Axalon, come on," Polar Claw encouraged.

Rattrap shrugged and transformed to rat mode. The two trudged side by side back to the Axalon.

"Hey P.C., what about those two love birds?" asked Rattrap, pointing back to the two Maximal lovers.

"Leave them be Rattrap, if your girlfriend came back from the dead wouldn't you like to be alone with her?" asked Polar Claw.

"HEY! I'd like to be alone with her even if she never died, you know what I mean? Wink, wink!" Rattrap exclaimed.

Polar Claw sighed and continued to travel.

Inferno, standing on a hover platform, approached Megatron.

"My queen, Scorponok and Terrorsaur have failed to retrieve the last of the stasis pods!" Inferno informed.

Megatron slammed his fist on his throne.

"Blast! Can't those fools do anything right?!" screamed Megatron.

Suddenly, Megatron was interrupted by the security scanner's blinking.

"What is going on now?!" Megatron demanded, staring at Blackarachnia who was monitoring the view screen.

Blackarachnia hovered over to Megatron.

"Two Maximals have been picked up on the scanners. They're sneaking around the base," Blackarachnia explained.

"Spies, yes? Obviously Optimus Primal wants to discover what we are planning, yes," Megatron spoke, "Inferno, take Snapper and Iguanus and destroy those Maximals!"

"At once my queen!" Inferno saluted.

"Queen...?" Blackarachnia smirked as Inferno lifted off his hover platform with his butt propeller and flew away.

Megatron sighed.

Outside the Predacon base, a wolf and a wild boar stalked the grounds.

"All is quiet, the Predacons must have detected us," the wolf known as Wolfang spoke, sniffing a burnt tree on the ground.

"If that's the case, shouldn't we get out of here? They'll probably capture us or kill us," Razorbeast exclaimed in a prompt voice.

Wolfang sighed and maximized to robot mode.

"What are you doing now?!" Razorbeast asked.

Wolfang only sniffed the air.

"Prepare for battle," he whispered.

"What?!" Razorbeast declared, as Snapper, Iguanus, and Inferno appeared from the Darkside.

Inferno screamed ballistically as he shot a row of fire at Razorbeast. Razorbeast maximized, barely avoiding the blast.

Wolfang used his shield to protect himself from enemy fire. He positioned his crossbow and fired it straight in the middle of Iguanus's life support system. Iguanus exploded in a brilliant flash, and his spark zoomed away.

"You...you killed him!" screamed Snapper perplexedly.

Snapper unleashed all of his might at Wolfang. Wolfang's shield gave way and he jumped away from the crossfire.

At that time, Razorbeast unleashed all of his firepower into Inferno's chest. Inferno only stood there, not effected by the blasts.

"Fool, do you think you can harm me? Pain and I shall let you burn!" Inferno declared, firing an endless supply of fire.

Razorbeast threw his weapon down as he was set ablaze. Inferno only kept pouring more fire on and on. Soon, Razorbeast collapsed charred, and lifeless.

"Razorbeast!" Wolfang screamed.

"Burn!" Inferno declared, spraying all his fire in Wolfang's direction. Both he and Snapper were caught in the burning flame, and soon both fell to the ground as Razorbeast did.

Inferno chuckled as he turned and opened a communications channel with Megatron. Megatron's image appeared in front of Inferno.

"Royalty, I believe I will please you! Both Maximal intruders burned!" Inferno saluted.

"Burnt, yes..." Megatron's image spoke, "What of Snapper and Iguanus?"

"They burned too," Inferno smiled.

"Oh well, they do not matter now that my prime warrior has returned, report back to the base at once," Megatron ordered.

Megatron's image disappeared.

"I must return to the colony!" Inferno declared, activating his butt propeller, which flew him back to the Darkside.

After he left, the four fallen warriors remained dead, never to return to their friends again.