What is this thing all about?

Welcome to Beast Wars International's third newsletter.  The BWINT newsletter is a bi-monthly thing, full of fun content submitted by YOU, the fans.  It's never too late to get onboard this project!  All you need is enthusiasm and something Beast Wars-related to submit, be it a comic, a poem, a review or even an exciting piece of news.  There will be regulars such as the reviews and group debates.  There's also a cool "Bother a Beast Warrior" section, where you can ask the character of the month a question!  The best questions will get selected, answered and displayed here.  Be sure to give this newsletter a proper read through and please feel free to email suggestions to Sapphire as to how she could spice it up and improve it, if you have any.  The background and images you see here will get refreshed with news designs as the issues progress. Enjoy!

- Sapphire (sapphire@bwint.net)

Teeheee, hello my minions.  I have been informed by the organizer of this fine publication that you have questions for me.  This doesn't surprise me, considering how vastly superior my intellect is to yours nyahahah!  I will answer as I see fit.

First question:

Dear Tarantulas,

 Hey, Tarantulas! Listen, I got this really threatening letter in my mail today from the Tripredicus Council and I think they mailman made a mistake since whoever wrote it keeps addressing you as the reader. The letter says something about the Council yelling at you about not blowing up the Ark yet... I'm not sure what that's about--seeing as someone as cute and adorable as you would never blow up something a sacred as the Ark--but can I ask about what your comment is on this?

 Much luv,

Well, that's all I could get out of Tarantulas.  He's not able to sit still very long and I think he was getting miffed with the questions.  Oh well.  Next issue we'll be hearing replies from Optimus Primal!  Be sure to start a thread at the Forums or send an email in to sapphire@bwint.net and I'll be sure to forward it on to Mr. Primal.

NEXT BEAST WARRIOR to bother: TARANTULAS: Submit all your questions to botherabeastwarrior@bwint.net or check THE FORUMS for the question thread.

Review by Beastbot-- for more reviews, visit Beastbot's Fortress at http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/bbfortress.

AURORA SERIAL

By: Razor One

The Rise of Aurora

Chapter 3

The chamber was all but darkened with only a pool of silvery light illuminating its center.

Within that pool of light stood Aurora, shoulders squared, ready for whatever it was her inquisitors would choose to dish out at her.

“Aurora,” spoke a voice from the darkness, “A strange name, where did you get it?”

“I borrowed it from the human records brought to us from our Autobot ancestors; it means ‘The Dawn’” replied Aurora with an even voice.

“Yes, I’ve looked into it,” said the same voice, “It also refers to an archaic goddess of the same phenomenon, do you see yourself as a god?”

“No!” she yelped, “No, I chose it because…”

“Because…” prompted the voice

“Because it felt… right.”

“It felt ‘right’?”

“Yes. When the time came to choose a name for myself, Aurora felt right. I can’t really explain it in any other terms,”

“So you admit to being stupid then?” said a female voice from a different direction.

“What? No!” cried Aurora

“You said it yourself,” continued the female voice, “You cannot explain the reasons for your decision beyond a vague feeling of correctness. If you can’t justify your decision with rational explainable reasons, then what use are you?”

The feminine voice had finished her sentence venomously and spitefully. Had Aurora not been prepared for such comments, they would likely have stung far more then they did.

“Not all things are quantifiable,” she countered, “Not all things can be known. I chose the name for what it is and the feeling it evoked, a sense of correctness and acceptability, a feeling of being right.”

“So we’re simply to take your word for it?” asked a gravelly voice to her right, “I hardly consider your word to be of worth”

A quiet murmur of agreement thrummed through the darkened room.

“You consider my word worthless when it is you that come here to belittle degrade me?”

“Then let us see what your word is worth,” said the feminine voice again, “Would you die to save the lives of a thousand others?”

“Absolutely” said Aurora without hesitation.

“And would you die to save just one of us here in this room?”

She hesitated at that. Would she be willing to sacrifice herself for these people whom had done nothing but degrade and deride her from the very start?

“…I don’t know” she finally answered.

“Aha!” shouted several voices, as if they’d been maneuvering her into just such a corner by design.

“What if those thousand others were the darkest and most evil of all Predacons? Would you sacrifice yourself then? Would you give up your life so cavalierly?”

“I… That’s not fair!” cried Aurora

“You just said that you would sacrifice yourself because you assumed those thousand others would be lives you would deem worthy of saving. By choosing not to save those that you dislike should the opportunity arise you admit that you value some lives over others!”

“Proving that you are prejudiced,” said one,

“Bigoted,” said another

“Petty,” said the gravelly voice

“Naïve,” said the feminine voice

“Stupid!” shouted one

“Incompetent!” shouted another

“An Embarrassment to Maximals everywhere!”

The epithets whirled in, one after another, each one more cutting and wounding then the last, a veritable storm of insults.

Finally it was too much for her. She clutched the sides of her head and doubled over to drown out the sound of her failure, though she dared not admit it openly by setting a single foot outside the pool of light.

Just as the storm of insults reached a crescendo, a deafening shout pierced the veil.

“ENOUGH!” boomed a voice of authority and power, “Let us end this farce once and for all!”

The deafening silence that flooded the chamber after this one outburst was enough to knock Aurora out of her stupor.

“What in Unicrons name is the meaning of this? Maximus! You forget yourself!” shouted the gravelly voice

“And you forget yourself Enforcer,” replied the voice of Maximus, “Deactivate the device! Let there be light!”

Light flooded the darkened chamber, allowing Aurora to finally see her tormentors for the first time.

Twelve Bots of every size shape and description surrounded her, most prominent to the young Maximal was a red bot seemingly painted with flames in the shape of a bird and a gold bot that bore an astonishing resemblance to Moxim.

“I forget myself?” cried a squat gray bot that looked several decades beyond its retirement date in the gravelly voice of Enforcer, “You called for this test! And now you stand there demanding we cease! You know the importance of what we do here today as much as anyone!”

“Yes, I called for this,” said the bot that looked like Moxim that spoke in the voice of Maximus, “and do you not see yourselves?”

In the poignant silence of consideration, Aurora finally clicked as to just with whom she was dealing.

This was the Council Of Elders, Maximals older and wiser then any living in mainstream society, so much so that their views and recommendations were taken with such weight as to make them the effective leaders of the Maximal republic. Maximals that were, for the most part, the oldest living transformers for the Maximal era, some if which, if rumor was to be believed, were even reprogrammed Autobots.

“Have I taught you no better then this?” asked Maximus of the other elders, a look of pleading and near desperation on his face, “Have I taught you no better then this!?” he cried with greater anger, frustration, and sorrow as he pointed directly at Aurora.

“You stand there and hurl insults and derision upon an innocent to see how well they can withstand the pressure! You knowingly harm another, a fellow Maximal, to arbitrarily ensure the survival of our kind?”

“The Ends justify the means!” shouted Enforcer.

Aurora could see several bots nod their heads in assent; several others shook their heads as though in disbelief, whilst the rest held a deeply pensive look as the two obvious rivals squared off against one another.

“Perhaps at one time it did Enforcer, but we are more now than what we once were. We have outgrown this primitive and barbaric test of character. We are Maximals, and it is high time we began to truly explore what that is!

Does a Maximal harm a fellow Maximal? Does a Maximal allow harm to come to a fellow Maximal without doing everything in his or her power to stop it? I know in my spark that no Maximal does these things! If we are ever to lead our people then let us lead in the same fashion as Optimus Prime himself did! By Example!

It is we that must become living examples of who and what it is to be Maximal! We must Endeavour to move forward and shed relics of a bygone era to truly move into a new age! We are Maximals! It is high time we acted like it!”

Maximus’ speech didn’t seem to have a refined edge to Aurora’s audio receptors; it carried instead a fiery passion that bespoke a mind long troubled by its contents.

“Fine words coming from a Maximal who put another in harms way to achieve his ends,” spat Enforcer bitterly.

Though Enforcer had certainly lost some of his supporters, he had raised a valid point.

“Yes,” replied Maximus, “it is true, I have used another Maximal, put them in harms way, made them suffer to further my agenda,”

For a brief moment, a look of incalculable pain and chagrin contorted the Elder Maximals face, and in just a brief a moment it was buried beneath an emotional mask.

“That is my burden, my pain. It is something for which I shall suffer and never forgive myself. Can you, Enforcer, claim to have felt such sorrow, such regret at causing such harm to another?”

The churning silence was all that Maximus needed to know that he had won the argument, though Aurora suspected from a few lingering glances that Maximus had made his fair share of enemies today.

“Maximus is right,” said the red fembot with the firebird emblazoned on her chest, back and shoulders, “When he left us ten stellar cycles ago for his hiatus, he asked that we end the practice. What did we do in all that time? We bickered and did nothing, too concerned with what thought was more important in our lives.

It is not simply enough that bring our wisdom to our people but also seek to enlighten each other. We must also be worthy of doing so. Look at us. We all underwent the test and passed it, deeming us worthy. Look at us now! Do we still consider ourselves worthy of passing on our knowledge and wisdom? Do we show the compassion needed to lead our people into a new age?”

Maximus nodded as the red bot spoke, approval written on his face. From the way the red bot and Maximus met each others gaze, Aurora could see they were political allies at the very least, and quite likely a good deal more then that.

“My brethren, I ask that we now disperse and consider what we have discussed here today in solitude. When next we convene, we shall discuss at length what it truly is to be Maximal.”

As the others moved to leave, Aurora took that as her cue to leave the antechamber herself. She had been lucky, or unfortunate, depending on ones definition, to bear witness to what seemed to be a history making moment amongst the very elders of Maximal Republic, she also felt emotionally drained from her experiences during the testing.

“Not you; stay” said the voice of Maximus.

Aurora was nervous. What exactly had she done to Maximus in her remarkably short life thus far to warrant this treatment? It was now obvious to her that he had lied to her from the very moment she had met him as her tutor, Moxim. The resemblance had been uncanny because the two were one and the same, and only one question burned in Aurora’s mind; Why?

Finally, the two were alone in the antechamber, staring one another down in the churning silence. Aurora was prepared for anything, anything at all.

She Hoped.

  MORE NEXT ISSUE!

BWINT - The Site

After a long delay, the site has finally been updated. Clearly, Sapphire survived both her trip to South Africa and her exams, although now she is absolutely exhausted!  Enjoy the update and this regrettably late newsletter.

Youtubes?

Many BWINTERs have started making their own Beast Wars music videos and tributes and have put them on youtube. I have been skeptical about embedding any of these on BWINT due to copyright reasons.  However, it was recently suggested that the newsletter contain an embedded youtube a month, or at least a link to a fan-made video or two, which I don't see any legal problems with since they're not technically part of the site.  If anyone would like their video to get promoted in the coming month's issues, please send me an email: sapphire@bwint.net

From Shockbox: I heard about the embedded YouTube video that you wanted to run once a month for the BWINT newsletter, and I had one that could contribute if you wanted to use it. Its a Terrorsaur and Waspinator tribute with "Evil Angel" by Breaking Banjamin.

                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZs44wFT92g

BOTCON 2008

Botcon has been and gone but you can read all about it on BWINT.net as Beastbot - long-time Bwinter and ardent Botcon fan - attended this year and wrote a full report of the event which includes pictures!  Head over to the site now and check the updates.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Are you getting involved in the Beast Wars/Transformers community?  Have you got some work running on some competitions, or are you launching a website of your own?  Have you any exciting news for the visitors of BWINT to read?  Email any news YOU'D like to see in this column to sapphire@bwint.net !

ASK SILVER!

 Having not received any direct letters regarding advice for this latest instalment, I thought I would share some of my more recent revelations and musings.

 For those of you who have been out of the loop for anywhere near as long as I have, you may not know that I have spent the last quarter year living and working in Singapore. This opportunity has given me some valuable experience, useful resources and a wonderful opportunity to redefine and reassert myself as an individual.

 A very brief history of the tall, blonde madman from Oz to give some perspective to the soon to be discussed thoughts: I have lived at home under the warm and secure roof my parents raised me in over the last 25 years. I have an excellent relationship with my only sibling (a energetic and intelligent younger sister) and all of them have supported me and show me all the love anyone could ask from their family. After having gone through a rough patch with some older friends who have chosen to slip out of contact, I managed to build a group of close friends around me. One friend in particular has been a constant pillar of strength for me during various times and I am glad to know that I have been there for her as well. Interestingly over the last year or so, our lives have become exceedingly hectic and thus we were only able to catch up every one in a while but the beauty of our very interesting and colourful history is that in those brief moments, we still get on like a house on fire, as Terry Pratchett said “there are usually no survivors.”

 When we live for a long period of time with the same people, we tend to lose focus on what those people truly mean and what a great impact they have on our lives. Early last year I was sitting in a job where I felt claustrophobic, my life was somewhat stagnating and I was uncertain of the future. I knew things had to change so I took the money I had saved and completely uprooted myself. Since then, I have not really known a constant home. Having travelled to the US, England, Japan, Croatia, Serbia and now Singapore, I have come quite far from the quiet reserved schoolboy from Cabramatta.

 Now hopefully getting closer to the point after that bit of preamble. Last week, I was gifted with a return flight for my birthday and a week’s grace to catch up with family and friends. It was one hell of whirlwind trip from seeing the entire Italian clan in the first night, to entering a fencing comp (and claiming 2^nd place ‘thankyouthankyou’ ;), to seeing a minimum of three different groups of friends every night after that. Needless to say time raced by. Saturday came around quicker than I anticipated and I was hit by the fact I only had two or three days left and I became somewhat melancholic. I had no real reason to feel bad, I had seen everyone, things were going well and so on. So why the sudden turn? One simple reason. Coming back showed me everything I was missing on my gallivanting trips. Don’t get me wrong, the opportunities I have been blessed with are a dream given form and I can’t be more thankful. Actually that is the point I am trying to make. I have now become more thankful of my life and much more importantly the people in it and I hope that I’ll be able to express this to them one day.

 So the big lesson that I’m putting forward is to always remember those around you, those who care for you and those who will stand by you no matter how many mistakes you make or how you may hurt them by your actions. If you can recognise who you love and who truly loves you, cherish that and most importantly make sure you let them know.

Until next time,

NOTE TO FANS:

 I would like to offer my services out to whomever might need some comforting words or perhaps some of that aforementioned accumulated wisdom. However, I’d like to make it abundantly clear that my words are not law, I am not a psychologist and you are welcome to take what I say to heart of with a grain of salt. I merely offer what I know and hope to learn more about the world, the wonderful people at BWint and myself through this.  As far as the “hows” of this thing, I’ll leave it up to you. I think a pm or an email directly to me would work best and in that email please state if you would like to remain anonymous. ---SilverfromOZ

Taken from this thread at the BWINT Forums.

• Cheetor seems to be considered the fastest of the Beast Warriors, if only because he has the beast mode of a cheetah. But what about Airazor? What with being a Peregrine, considered to be the fastest animal alive due to its hunting dive.
  
  So the question: Since Cheetor can easily top the speed of the average cheetah, what more Airazor? To add to that, Cheetor's Transmetal forms gave him additional speed, so what if Airazor had been granted Transmetal forms in the show as well--Who would really have been faster then, Cheetor or Airazor?
  

 

Blazemane:

Despite the fact that I'd love to consider Cheetor the fastest character, the truth is that Airazor is probably quicker. It's probably very close, since a cheetah is the fastest mammal, but Airazor doesn't have to worry about the obstacles the ground presents. Add that to the fact that Airazor is a giant compared to a real falcon, while Cheetor is just regular sized, and it would seem she just has to be quicker...

...at least in season one, organic mode.

But, once Cheetor gets his jets:

A.) He doesn't have to worry about land-based obstacles either.

and

B.) His speed is mechanically created. His jets can probably generate a lot more velocity than a falcon, giant or not.

Now, if Airazor were to get a transmetal upgrade, I think it might be a tie. Her speed would probably also be mechanically generated, which would help her catch up to Cheetor, although probably not surpassing him since he also has his jets.

So, I'd say that while it might be close, Airazor is probably just a little bit quicker than Cheetor if both are in season one mode, but once Cheetor finds himself a nice couple of jet boosters, he wins.

VelociBerg:

In reality...on the ground--Cheetor every time, since the only bird that can come fractionally close to a cheetah is an ostrich, of which Airrazor is not one.

In flight, Cheetor loses. Airazor knows every little in and out of flight, while Cheetor kinda blasts off, that and having a flight-oriented beast mode would seem to me, at any rate, that Airazor would have the edge in flight. Since as a transmetal she's probably be a jet or somethin.

Scourge:

Fact 1: Cheetor is not the fastest. In beast wars pt.2 Rhinox says that Optimus primal's flying robot form would make it to the energon before any of the other maximals, that includes cheetor.

Fact 2: In the episode equal measures Dinobot specifically states that cheetor has the fastest land speed. He does not say Cheetor is the fastest overall but the fastest on land.

Fact 3: In the episode call of the Airazor flys fast enoguh to destroy some Predacon autoguns just by flying past them. Cheetor never displays that much speed until he goes TM2.

Fact 4: All transformers that already had a flying beast mode that got a transmetal toy had some sort of plane as their vehicle mode. Airazor had a sea plane for her vehicle mode. I would assume that a full plane would fly faster then a cat strapped to two booster rockets.

So, in season 1 the 3 fastest transformers would be Optimus Primal's flight mode, Inferno's flight mode and Airazor then it would be Cheetor.

In season 2 I would say Megatron is the fastest fallowed by cheetor, inferno, silverbolt and Optimus Primal.

I say Megatron is the fastest because he almost caught cheetor in Coming of the Fuzors part 1 but 3 things happened. 1) Chetor had a head start, Megatron first had to give orders , then transform and then take off and pursue Cheetor while letting Silverbolt take point. 2) He was slowed down by flying through those rocks 3) Rattrap shot him out of the air. and he was able to make it from the Axalon to the Darksyde while Carring an injured Inferno and arrived Megacycles before Blackarachnia did and she had a significant head start.

Optimus can fly in season 2 but he is never seen going all that fast and is slowed down more when carrying passengers then Megatron was the one time he carried Inferno.

On land I would say the 3 fastest would now be Rattrap's vehicle mode, Tarantulas' vehicle mode and then Megatron when on his Rollerblades with the jet engines.

In season 3 I would say at first Optimal Optimus' flight modes was the fastest at first but then transmetal 2 Cheetor became the fastest but was then surpassed by Dragon Megatron.

According to the toy bios TM2 Cheetor's speed is only 10 and Dragon Megatron's is 10+ which indicates that he is faster. This makes Dragon Megatront the fastest over all.

Depth charge had a flight mode but he is never shown going all that fast compared to the other fliers in season 3.

Fan Art:

(Jagna has drawn a few OCs in her art style.  If you are interested in having your own OC drawn and uploaded for the next issue, contact Jagna!

Escapades!

Candlelight Romance

Sleek

Jagna Plushie

(Sapphire's Note:  Isn't this the most adorable thing ever?!)