29.June.09
BEAST WARS REKINDLED
Chapter
18: Living Legends
"We're receiving a
transmission!" Rotor exclaimed. Around him, the other Freedom Fighters,
Chaotix, and Maximals huddled in closely, trying to catch a glimpse of the
screen. About a half hour ago, a ship broadcasting identification in the same
frequency as their transmitter had entered the system. Now it had made contact,
requesting permission to land.
"Tell them to
put down just outside the village; we don't want to cause any damage to their
ship or our dwellings," Sally said.
Several minutes
later, the group stood outside of Knothole's outer wall, searching the sky for
signs of the incoming ship. While the other three Maximals stood at the
forefront of the group, Dinobot had taken up position in the concealing shade of
the nearby trees, wanting to judge the rescuers before revealing himself.
"There it
is!" Tails said excitedly.
"Where?"
Vector asked.
Ray, with eyes keener
than those of the Crocodile, pointed. "Right there!"
Sure enough, a large
vessel swooped in over the canopies of Great Forest. Dinobot's breath caught in
his throat as he recognized it as an Axalon class, the same type of ship that
had brought the Maximals to Earth/Mobius so long ago. He remained concealed as
he watched the vessel land.
When its landing gear
had touched down and its engines were offline, a small elevator descended from
the bottom of the ship. However, nothing was on it. For a moment, the greeters
were confused. Then voices began to echo out of the ship.
"Waspinator not
want to go out first; Waspinator always get shot when Waspinator goes out
first!"
"Quit your
whining, Bug Eyes! It's only because of us defending you in court all those
centuries ago that you're not rotting in prison! The least you can do is show
some consideration by going out first!"
"Rattrap, get
off his case! Of the five of us, Waspinator is the least vulnerable, and he has
been shot the most times."
"Cheetor, that
doesn't mean it's going to happen now. These are other Maximals we're talking
about!"
"Do not argue,
my friends. If it will ease our comrade's nerves, then I will go out
first."
With that, a large
figure dropped to land on the elevator. As he straightened, the greeting party
got a good look at him. He was tall and noble in appearance, similar in bearing
to a knight. His body was mostly silver or gray, except for bronze legs that
ended in large eagle talons, a black mask-like facial feature that surrounded
his golden hued eyes, and a handful of other spots on his person. His snout was
vaguely canine in appearance, and he had a large pair of wings folded across his
shoulders.
Looking at the
assembled onlookers, the Maximal instantly locked eyes with Knucklehead. The two
stared at each other, evaluating what they saw. Each saw their own values and
morals reflected in the other. Finally, the Maximal turned back to the ship.
"It is all right, my friends. They will not harm us."
"Sweet!"
With that, another figure landed on the elevator. From his voice, the Mobians
identified him as Cheetor, one of the Maximals Dinobot had told them about. His
body was a mixture of gold and brown, and he had a feline snout. His body was
powerful and muscular, and a long tail extended from his backside. Red eyes
stared around at the other beings, and his eyes fixed on Speedbat. Walking up to
her, he grinned. "Hey there, beautiful."
Speedbat blushed at
his compliment. However, before Cheetor could continue, a female voice spoke
out. "For the love of the Matrix, will you stop acting like Primus' gift to
females?" The figure matching the voice had blue armor, with golden
coverings on her head and groin and a red section resembling a tank top on her
torso. Like Cheetor, her eyes were red, but hers radiated more maturity, and
also a certain hint of danger.
"Let the kid get
the hormones out of his system; some Maximals take forever to get through
puberty," said Rattrap, who emerged after Blackarachnia. Like the first
Transformer, much of his armor was silvery. However, there was also a certain
amount of blue, along with a large brown module mounted on his back. He had an
orange, dome-like cranium, with a matching patch on his chest.
Finally, a head with
compound eyes and striped antennae poked out upside down. "Are Maximals
sure Waspinator not going to get shot?"
Twinbrush, seeing the
apprehension of the Predacon, spoke gently. "We're not going to hurt
you."
Satisfied, Waspinator
flew out of the ship, landing next to his four companions. The first one stepped
forward, putting a hand on his chest. "I am Silverbolt, captain of this
crew of Maximals."
Mirroring the
gesture, Knucklehead replied. "The name's Knucklehead; I lead the surviving
protoform Maximals of the first Beast Wars."
"I'm
Blackarachnia; keep your hands off the big dog, he's mine," said the female
Maximal.
"Call me
Cheetor. I'm the fastest cat this side of the galaxy."
"My name is
Twinbrush; I'm Knucklehead's mate."
"You don't say?
I go by Rattrap, and I must say, that guy is pretty lucky to have scored a chick
like you."
"Don't forget
Waspinator; Waspinator is last Predacon from the Beast Wars."
"Speedbat is my
name."
With that out of the
way, the younger Maximals introduced their Mobian allies. Looking around,
Cheetor's eyes narrowed. "Hey Bolt, something doesn't add up. Our scanners
picked up four Maximals, but I only count three."
"He's right;
where's new fried number four?" Blackarachnia inquired.
"I think you
will find," came Dinobot's voice, "that I am not a 'new' friend."
Rattrap's eyes
widened in shock; though he had not heard that voice in centuries, he recognized
it as well as his own. Turning slowly, he faced the trees. After a long moment,
Dinobot stepped forward from the shadows. He looked over his long lost comrades,
his eyes coming to rest on Rattrap. The Maximal was still dumbfounded, his brain
not accepting what his eyes were telling him.
"Chopperface? Is
that you?"
To the surprise of
all the Mobians and newer Maximals, the former Predacon grinned hugely. "Am
I still a slag spouting saurian, Vermin?"
Recognizing his own
line, Rattrap chuckled. "Yeah, but it's nice to know where you stand."
"Upwind of you,
for preference."
"It is
you!" Stunning all present, the Maximal spy raced over to his old friend
and jumped on him, grabbing him in a bear hug. Dinobot, caught off guard,
staggered. Once he recovered, he immediately began writhing. "Get off me
you moronic mouse!"
"You don't know
how much I've missed hearing that!" Rattrap replied, finally letting
Dinobot free.
"How can Lizardbot be
alive? He flew on Nemesis when it crashed cellar cycles ago! Waspinator is
confused," moaned the insectoid.
"It's a long
story I'm sure, but I for one am glad to be able to here it," Silverbolt
said. Walking over to Dinobot, he extended a hand. "Welcome back, old
friend."
Dinobot took his hand
firmly, and the warriors shook.
After Dinobot had told his
old comrades about the memorial chamber, they had convinced him to take them to
it. Much to his surprise, the other Maximals had decided that the sculptures
should be taken to Cybertron, to be placed in honor of the fallen warriors.
Blackarachnia
whistled as she examined the sculptures. "I didn't think you had any
artistic talent, Fang-face."
"Even the
toughest warrior needs some kind of outlet," said Espio.
"Amen to
that," Mighty said, looking around the cavern.
"So Cheetor, I
heard you say that you were fast. Feel like taking on the speediest thing on
Mobius?" Sonic questioned.
Cheetor grinned.
"Anytime, anyplace."
The Maximals and
their Mobian friends watched with some amusement as Sonic and Cheetor began
their race. Transforming into his Beast Mode, Cheetor had proven to be an equal
competitor to Sonic. Neither of the two was giving up, even after several dozen
laps around the course they were using.
Watching the two
speedsters in competition, Knuckles shuddered. "Makes me queasy just
watching them go that fast."
"You've gone
that fast before," Julie commented.
"Yeah, but it
was hardly noticeable since all my senses were enhanced. From this perspective,
it doesn't look fun," he replied.
"Well, it's a
good thing that you don't find it fun, Knuckles. One Sonic is enough to put up
with," Sally said dryly.
Sitting together,
Bunnie and Antoine also watched the competition. "I cannot believe that
they are still at it," Antoine said.
"Neither can I,
sugah, but I wasn't really paying attention to the race anyway. I'm more
interested in spending time with you."
Watching from another
spot of the hill, Vector shook his head. "Hyper fast freaks."
"I think that
you're just jealous, Vector," Charmy put in.
Lying together on the
hill, Knucklehead and Twinbrush watched the sunset. "It's a beautiful day.
Hard to believe that this is going to be the last sunset we see on Mobius,"
Twinbrush said.
"We may come
back someday. I'm sure planning on trying," Knucklehead replied.
Elsewhere, Silverbolt
and Blackarachnia stood looking upon their friends. They watched with amusement
as Rattrap and Waspinator spun tales of the first Beast Wars to Speedbat, who
tried to keep a straight face as she listened. "Let's hope we get her back
to Cybertron before she's corrupted from hanging out with those two,"
Blackarachnia said.
"Indeed,"
replied the lupine Maximal.
The next day, as the
Maximals were preparing their ship for launch, a Dark Legion hovercraft soared
into the village. Unmanned, it flew to land in the clearing next to the ship.
Inside was a large metal container with a holoprojector on top. Seeing that a
message was saved, the group activated it. Instantly, images of Xenin and
Gala-Na sprang into the air.
"Greetings,
Freedom Fighters, Chaotix, and Maximals. I call to apologize for Albion's
transgressions against you; we were misinformed," said the High Councilor.
"And to express
our good faith, we have enclosed a valuable package for you Cybertronians. It is
the source of Dimitri's information regarding the Beast Wars," added the
Grand Master.
With the message
ended, the group looked around at each other. Finally, Dinobot stepped forward,
sticking a claw into the container's seam and prying it open. The metal pod
opened fully to reveal a mechanical panther head with lifeless red eyes. While
it meant nothing to the Mobians, the Maximals recognized it instantly.
"Ravage!"
Dinobot hissed.
"I might have
known that a stinking Decepticon would be part of this!" Rattrap added.
"Wait a minute;
what are you guys talking about?" Sonic asked.
Realizing that their
Mobian friends were out of the loop, Twinbrush explained. "Ravage was
formerly a Decepticon, the Transformer race that preceded the Predacons. After
their Great War against the Autobots, Ravage was rebuilt and reprogrammed as a
Predacon. During the Beast Wars, he showed up to eliminate Megatron. However,
when Megatron revealed his plans to alter history, Ravage sided with him,
turning on the Maximals whom he had aligned himself with."
"Fortunately, he
was defeated and destroyed in a battle against the Maximals," Speedbat
finished.
"It looks as though
his head, at least, survived intact. Since it's made out of the same materials
as the stasis pods, it was able to survive the cataclysms this world has gone
through. Dimitri somehow got his hands on it, and used the information inside to
formulate a new scheme for world domination," Knucklehead added.
"Well, that won't
happen again. I will see to it that this artifact is delivered to the Maximal
Elders; I'm sure that there are a few files on here that would prove most
interesting," Silverbolt said.
Finally, it was time
to say goodbye. Facing their Mobian friends, the four Maximals who had battled
Deathstreak looked at their allies with regret at having to part from them.
After a long moment, they finally got into a group hug. With a few words of
farewell, the Maximals broke away, boarding the Axalon. The Mobians watched
solemnly as the vessel lifted into the sky, finally disappearing from sight.
Once they had left orbit of
Mobius and entered the transwarp portal back to Cybertron, Rattrap announced to
the new crew members that they had to be scanned using the ship’s repair unit.
"Is this really necessary?" Twinbrush asked nervously.
"Just a routine
medical exam; you guys need to be checked out after what you've been
through," Rattrap replied.
As Twinbrush
underwent analysis in the CR Chamber, Silverbolt talked with Dinobot and
Knucklehead. He was fascinated by the fact that both were powered by Chaos
energy, which meant that they did not require refueling. In addition, while
Dinobot's abilities were unenhanced, Knucklehead possessed amazing power.
"Such energy
could revolutionize Cybertron," the lupine breathed.
Before they could
continue, Blackarachnia spoke. "Silverbolt...there's something you need to
see."
Hearing her uncertain
tone, the others immediately clustered around her at the medical readout
station. It depicted Twinbrush, her body rendered in schematic lines. However,
what really caught their eye was the presence of two life signs. One was her own
Spark chamber, while the other was located in her abdomen.
"Is that what I
think it is?" Dinobot asked in awe.
"A second Spark?
But how?" Speedbat asked.
"It looks as
though it's been born through reproduction, but Transformers haven't done that
for millennia!" Cheetor said.
"Waspinator
wonders who father is," said the insectoid Predacon.
Slowly, Silverbolt turned
to face Knucklehead. Seeing his gaze, the Transmetal thought about what they
were discussing. Suddenly, his eyes widened in surprise. "Are you
saying...that Twinbrush is pregnant? And that I'm the father?"
"This is most
likely the result of your Sparks mingling during your brief co-habitation of her
body," Silverbolt mused.
Twinbrush looked to
Knucklehead, tears coming to her eyes. "The two of us...having a
child?"
Knucklehead was quiet
for a long moment. Finally, he turned to her, and a smile of joy lit up his
face. "This is the best news I've ever heard." With that, he pulled
his mate close, sharing with her a passionate kiss.
As the two held each
other, the Spark they had produced in their passionate partnership pulsed
faintly. Though the two had been torn from the world they had come to accept as
home, they would soon have something precious to fill the void. Dinobot smiled,
happy for his young friends, when a thought occurred to him. "My friends,
this is joyous news, but there is something that must be done before this new
Maximal enters our midst: you two must be married as soon as possible."
Dinobot's wisdom made
instant sense, and the two young lovers felt instantly guilty. Silverbolt,
sensing this, spoke up to ease their consciences. "Fear not, my friends.
It's been many thousands of years since the power was exercised, but as captain
of this vessel, I do have authority to perform marriages..."
The End