07.July.06

Beast Wars Symmetries:

Ghost in the Machine

 

By: Everblue


 

Dr. Thomas Drake was once one of the world’s leading figures in robotics. He had created machines capable of life-like movements. The joints on his creations were as flexible and as sturdy as actual bones. His resume spanned so far and wide that governments all over the world had asked for his help regarding their military defense programs.

Now, however, he was ruined. Several months ago, due to no fault of his own, one of his creations had gone rogue owing to faulty wiring and destroyed nearly an entire city block with its rapid-fire laser rifles.

Since that incident, the Canadian government had pulled the plug on his funding and now, he had been forced to enter into early retirement at the age of 49.

While he did not mean for his robot to go maverick, Dr. Drake was still proud of how powerful his creation had been. He did not consider himself an evil or amoral man but the absolute devastation that M-26 had wrought brought out a primal side of himself that he had never felt before.

As Dr. Drake sat in his small abode in Vancouver, British Columbia, he sighed. He was now forced to rely on the kindness of strangers.

A few days ago, an anonymous caller had contacted him, asking for his assistance in something vaguely referred to as a hunting trip.

Judging from his tone of voice, the man had to have been an American.

“He sounds like a Southerner to boot,” Dr. Drake grumbled as he took another sip of tea.

--------------------------------------------------------

“So, uh, what’s with that new armband?” Rattrap asked.

“It’s the new supercomputer that I programmed recently,” Rhinox told his friend. “His name is Sentinel.”

The two of them were hiking across the vast Canadian wilderness. Their goal was to document as many indigenous species as possible before reporting back to base. Right now, Optimus, Cheetor, and Airazor back at base scouting the surrounding areas to study its environments.

“How do ya fit a supercomputer inside an arm band?” Rattrap asked.

“Trust me, it can be done,” Rhinox explained. “He’s powered by an advanced micro-chip that’s basically similar to our sparks.”

“So ‘dis makes him more than some kinda drone?”

“Something like that,” Rhinox continued. “Unlike most other sparkless robots, Sentinel here has free will.”

Rattrap immediately stared at Rhinox with a startled look.

“You sure givin’ him free will was the right thing to do?”

“This is the first time an experiment like this has ever been done,” Rhinox told him. “Rest assured that under our watch, Sentinel will get on the right path.”

“Yeah, but…” Rattrap began nervously. “Oh heck, you know the kind of risks ‘dat I’m worried about.”

“In our galaxy, there are other sentient robots out there without sparks,” Rhinox said. “That doesn’t give us the right to judge them as lesser beings, even though many Maximals and Predacons do it anyways.”

“Yeah, but suppose one day Megatron gets a hold of him and turns him haywire,” Rattrap protested. “We’re gonna have one whacked out monitor screen on our hands!”

“I also have a failsafe installed within Sentinel,” Rhinox reassured him. “We’ll be sure to know when something’s wrong with him.”

“Whew,” Rattrap grinned. “And you had me worried there for a nano-klik.”

“You’ve seen too many bad science fiction movies, Rattrap,” Rhinox chuckled. “Sentinel’s not going to go rogue on us, rest assured.”

--------------------------------------------------------

“You’re delusional,” Dr. Drake pointed accusingly. “I’m a roboticist, not a cryptozoologist!”

“But you’re the only one with the high-tech weaponry capable of capturing them!” his guest, a short, bald man by the name of Steven Knox pleaded.

“I, my friend, am a scientist,” came Dr. Drake’s reply. “What you are asking me to do extends into the realms of pseudo-science.”

“I’ll pay you five million!”

“And I’m telling you right now that flesh and blood animals that transform into sentient robots is beyond the realm of probability, even for a roboticist such as myself.”

“What if I paid you one million up front?”

“You’ve lost it, my friend.”

“Have I?” Steven Knox smiled as he opened his briefcase to reveal the exchange within.

Dr. Drake’s eyes widened. He had clearly not expected to be paid this much all at once.

“Do we have a deal?” Knox asked.

“I have a specially designed battle suit within my basement,” Dr. Drake beamed. “I’ll have it operational as soon as possible.”

--------------------------------------------------------

Once out into the distant woodlands, the hologram of Steven Knox disappeared. In his place was a diminutive, thick-skinned Predacon known only to a select few as Scorponok.

Ever since Rhinox and Rattrap had gone on their expedition into the Canadian wilderness, Scorponok had been the first to trace them down with special help from his Cyber Bee. For the past few days, he had tracked them across the wilderness. Several times he had been attacked and nearly mauled by frenzied grizzly bears and fallen down two waterfalls out of pure carelessness and bad luck.

Recently, however, he had witnessed a very curious site through the lens of his Cyber Bee. It seemed that Rhinox had developed a bizarre sentient supercomputer named Sentinel. From the green Maximal’s descriptions, the drone held free will of its own, a concept that was alien to most Cybertronians.

“Scorponok to Megatron,” he reported in the small video screen he had set up. “I have help with me now.”

“Good,” Megatron replied. “With the scientist and the spy out of the way, the rest of the Maximals should be easy targets.”

“They’ve also developed something interesting,” Scorponok told his leader. “I think it’s some kinda semi-sentient super computer… called Sentinel.”

“Really now?” Megatron stroked his chin. “This is most interesting. Make sure to reprogram Sentinel once the Maximals are out of the way. Once that is complete, bring it back to me.”

“Will do, boss!”

“And Scorponok,” Megatron said with a slight sneer. “Though I have absolute confidence in your abilities, I have decided to send additional help your way.”

“What?” Scorponok almost shouted.

“I’ve already given her your coordinates. Megatron out.”

“Her?!” Scorponok did shout this time.

“That’s right, shell head,” a breezy voice behind him replied. “Her.”

--------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Drake stretched himself out comfortably within his exo-suit. It had been a long time since he experimented with one of his prototype suits. While it was nothing like controlling a robot through remote control, it still gave him a sense of power and control.

So far, he had seen nothing in the woods. There had been a few elk but quick heat scans showed that they were nothing more than common flesh and blood animals.

He was encased in a large, multi-layered battle suit called the V-26. It was the same suit that he had designed for the United States Army years ago. Until now, he never thought he would ever test it.

Slowly and menacingly, as he maneuvered through the undergrowth with his V-26, he realized the folly of what he was doing.

“Of course,” he muttered. “With the amount of noise I’m making in this suit, how am I supposed to find my quarry?”

After activating the off switch, he opened the latch behind him and jumped out. Compared to him, the V-26 stood several feet taller than Dr. Drake.

Dr. Drake looked down at his own camouflaged clothing. “I’ll track them on foot.”

--------------------------------------------------------

“I can’t believe Megatron sent you,” Scorponok grumbled as he and Blackarachnia crawled through the woods in beast mode.

“No duh, chrome dome,” Blackarachnia said sardonically. “The real reason Megatron sent me is because you can’t get simple tasks done without the help of someone more competent.”

“You don’t know what I can do, spider!” Scorponok growled.

“Don’t I?” asked Blackarachnia. “I seem to remember you getting so excited after Megatron named you second in command that you carelessly destroyed the ceiling with a missile while jumping up and down in joy.”

“Who told you that!” Scorponok shouted.

“Terrorsaur can be quite honest with the right kind of persuasion,” she replied slyly. “He and Waspinator spent over a day gathering your body parts.”

“So, uh, what does that have to do with this mission?” Scorponok demanded, hoping to take away attention from his rather embarrassing incident that happened several months ago.

“Everything,” she told him. “It tells me you can’t do the job.”

“I’m a Jack of all trades!” Scorponok insisted. “I built this Cyber Bee out of scratch!”

“And I have more than half a dozen spider drones in this forest all connected to my neural interface,” Blackarachnia replied, unimpressed with Scorponok’s accomplishments. “I can see through and control them all via mind control.”

Scorponok stopped dead on his eight-legged tracks as he looked up at a small spider drone planted carefully on a tree above him. It soon crawled away to another branch on the tree.

“See what I mean?” Blackarachnia chuckled. “You can’t hope to outdo me, claws.”

“I can and I will!” Scorponok declared. “Megatron sent me on this mission! He’s counting on ME to succeed!”

“Just because you’re reliable doesn’t mean you’re actually competent,” Blackarachnia groaned. “Why else would he have sent me?”

“Megatron said I wasn’t… competent?” Scorponok whispered.

“Err, he never phrased it like that,” Blackarachnia quickly cajoled. “The important thing is that we get this done!”

“Why are you acting so chummy all of a sudden when you were treating me like dirt a nano-klik before?” Scorponok inquired. “What’re you playing me for?”

“Forget it,” Blackarachnia insisted. “Just follow my lead and we’ll be fine.”

As she crawled off, Scorponok glared at her angrily before following her once again. The things she said were still fresh on his mind. Unfortunately for him, he would have to wait until their mission was over for him to get all the answers out of her.

--------------------------------------------------------

“Magnificent,” Dr. Drake muttered. “I never thought that creatures like these would exist even in my wildest dreams!”

Through his binocular lens, he observed both Rattrap and Rhinox in robot mode collecting fungal specimen. Everything he saw was overwhelming to him. Never before in his life had he ever seen sentient robots from another planet. He would have to move fast if he wanted to keep on their trail.

He opened his cell phone and dialed the number he had been given.

“Mr. Knox, I believe I’ve found your specimen.”

--------------------------------------------------------

“I do not wish to be obtrusive, but why is it that you and your companion are studying organic species that hold no relevance to technological units such as ourselves?” Sentinel asked as a small light on Rhinox’s armband flashed.

“It’s science,” Rhinox explained. “We’re crew members to an exploration cruiser, Sentinel. It’s our job to study life on new planets.”

“You are correct,” Sentinel went on quickly. “However, would it not be more beneficial to concern ourselves with more pertinent matters such as leaving this planet to return to your home world of Cybertron?”

“Eh, that would mean letting Megatron run wild on this Earth,” Rattrap shrugged. “We can’t exactly let him and his Preds do that.”

“True, but what if we were to eliminate Megatron?” Sentinel asked. “Would that not free your time considerably?”

“It’s complicated,” Rhinox answered as best he could. “We, as Maximals, have to respect life and not be the aggressors. Destroying Megatron would be convenient, but it still wouldn’t be the right thing to do.”

“I do not comprehend this,” Sentinel said. “Unit Megatron presents a threat but he is a threat that should be dealt with.”

“Since when did you know this?” Rattrap asked.

“Since Rhinox downloaded the statistics of all Maximal units within me,” Sentinel replied indifferently. “I have effectively gauged their strengths and weaknesses.”

“What you suggest may be effective, Sentinel,” Rhinox said, “but we have protocol to follow. We never attack an enemy unless he does something first. We Maximals prefer to settle things through diplomacy and tact.”

“I see,” Sentinel said. “If that is what we abide by, may I suggest neutralizing them in one of their attacks against you and your companions?”

“Now the line gets gray,” Rhinox told the supercomputer. “We believe in self-defense but a lot of Maximals don’t exactly agree on how we should carry out that self-defense.”

“Whoa!” Rattrap interrupted and glared at Sentinel. “Hold on a sec! You’re supposed ‘ta be our main computer. Since when did you become so interested in 'da Beast Wars?”

After an uncomfortable moment of silence, Sentinel spoke again.

“Forgive me, Rattrap. I merely thought it would be helpful of me to discuss such matters during this expedition. After all, a trip such as this will span several more days before completion.”

“No need to get so shaky, Rattrap,” Rhinox assured. “Sentinel was only curious.”

Without warning, an alarm on Sentinel sprung to life. “Warning! Incoming missile!”

Rattrap and Rhinox looked up. Speeding towards their path was a small missile that struck the ground beneath them just as they leaped out of the way. The explosion managed to take several trees and shrubs with it, however.

As they got up, a large, robotic battle suit towered over them. It was armed with numerous capture claws and shoulder-mounted missile launchers. Green was its armor’s principal color with shades of black. Immediately, Sentinel deduced its weaknesses.

“That suit is controlled by an organic creature within,” Sentinel analyzed at light speed. “Its primary weakness lies in its left leg.”

“My V-26 has no weaknesses!” Dr. Drake announced through the speakers. “I’m typically not a cruel man but I suggest that you stand down or I’ll be forced to resort to violence!”

“What’re our chances?” Rhinox asked Sentinel.

“Your victory is assured by 90 percent,” Sentinel replied.

“Swell,” Rattrap grinned. “That hunk a’ junk don’t stand a chance!”

The V-26 took aim and fired a missile at Rattrap who immediately leaped out of the way in time. Unfortunately for Dr. Drake, Rhinox slammed into him with a crushing punch that shattered his robot’s left leg. Now, the V-26 was left flailing on the ground helplessly. Dr. Drake cried out in frustration as the controls around him short-circuited.

With a low grunt, Rhinox tore the V-26 open with his bare hands, exposing the wayward scientist inside. Drake screamed as Rhinox grabbed him and lifted him out by the collar of his shirt.

“Who are you?” Rhinox demanded. “Why are you after us?”

Rattrap soon joined him. “Yeah, what’s a low life like you doin’ here?”

Finally, Dr. Drake smiled furtively. “To further the cause of science, of course.”

“What do you mean?” Rhinox asked as he pulled the roboticist closer.

“What I mean is that you and your little friend will make excellent trophies,” Dr. Drake laughed as he pressed down on a remote hidden behind his sleeves.

Immediately, a side gun appeared from the side of the fallen V-26 and blasted Rhinox in the chest. Rhinox screamed as he fell down clutching his chest. The blast had somehow contained traces of raw energon. Dr. Drake, on the other hand, was uninjured.

Before Rattrap could move, the gun shot him down swiftly. He also lay on the ground convulsing as Dr. Drake stood over him cackling wildly.

“Drake here,” he said through his cell phone. “I’ve found your specimen. I’ll give you their exact coordinates. Your advice on powering my weapons with ‘raw energon’ worked perfectly!”

After being reassured that the rest of his payment would make it to his accounts by the afternoon, Dr. Drake cracked a smile. Then he noticed the band wrapped around the fallen Rhinox’s arm.

“What’s this?” he mused.

--------------------------------------------------------

Though he was unsure if he had been out for a few mega-cycles or even days, Rhinox was pretty sure that he had been unconscious for quite some time. He shook his head groggily as he came to his senses. His body was being strapped on to a large table in a place that resembled some sort of logging company. Even though he tried to struggle, the energy bonds that held him were fastened on too tightly. Next to him, Rattrap lay there bound up just the same.

“So you’re finally awake, horn head,” a smooth, yet venomous voice purred.

“Blackarachnia,” Rhinox mumbled. “I should’ve known you and the Preds were behind this.”

“Actually, it’s just me and Scorponok,” she corrected. “We’re just here to get rid of you two, nothing more.”

“Yo! Hands off the merchandise!” Rattrap hollered as Scorponok examined him.

Rhinox scrutinized Blackarachnia’s face carefully. “Business before pleasure, huh?”

“You could say that,” she replied. “Though sometimes this job doesn’t let me have the fun I want.”

“How so?”

“I’m the type of girl who’d rather her prey writhe in agony than finish them off just like that,” she sighed. “Unfortunately with Megatron, his emphasis is only on ‘getting the job done’ instead of letting me do my thing.”

“Quit complaining!” Scorponok shouted over Rattrap’s protests. “You signed up as a Predacon and you’d better do your job if you want to be in Megatron’s good graces!”

“You signed up?” Rhinox blinked. “Last I remembered, you were a Maximal protoform reprogrammed to be a Predacon.”

“Don’t try to sweet talk me back into being a Maximal, horns!” Blackarachnia growled. “I like being a Predacon too much to turn back!”

“Hey!” Scorponok gasped. “It isn’t here!”

Blackarachnia looked like she was about to explode. “What is it this time, moron?”

“I can’t find that supercomputer…” Scorponok scratched his head. “I didn’t find it on Rhinox so I thought for sure it’d be on Rattrap.”

Rhinox gasped and looked down at his own arm. Sure enough, the armband that was Sentinel no longer remained attached to him.

“Oh slag,” he muttered.

Blackarachnia took out her gun and pointed it at Rhinox’s head. “Start talking. Where is it?”

“We’re not the ones who have it anymore,” Rhinox replied tentatively.

--------------------------------------------------------

“Fascinating device,” Dr. Drake stroked his chin. “A semi-sentient supercomputer all wrapped in this microchip.”

“I do not find this amusing, humanoid,” Sentinel spoke in a harsh, mechanical voice. “Why am I being held against my will?”

“So, you have free will too, eh?” Dr. Drake mused. “You are a gift from the heavens, my friend.”

“My allegiance is with the Maximals,” Sentinel said without pause. “I suggest for your own sake that you return me.”

“Let me ask you this, Sentinel,” Dr. Drake started. “Since you have free will, should you not be allowed the right to choose your side instead of blindly following the ones who created you?”

“While your point is valid, I still would not choose to follow you,” Sentinel replied briskly. “For your inferior human intellect could not possibly hope to offer me anything beyond trivial data.”

“So you simply choose the side that gives you the most?”

“Again, I should remind you,” Sentinel explained. “Though my programming remains Maximal, I have free will to choose. Right now, my loyalty lies with the Maximals.”

“You’re a logical being, correct, Sentinel?”

“That is correct.”

“Then wouldn’t it be illogical for you to remain loyal to the Maximals at this point?”

“Explain.”

“Well, for one thing, my ‘inferior human intellect’ managed to take out both your Maximal companions,” Dr. Drake told him. “The fact that they were defeated by an inferior being such as myself is reason enough for you not to remain loyal to them anymore.”

Sentinel remained silent. In contrast, Dr. Drake went on with what he wanted to say.

“You, Sentinel, are truly a magnificent being. You don’t have the so-called sparks of your Maximal masters and yet, you are the pinnacle of artificial intelligence! Should you not deserve better treatment than being forced into servitude for the rest of your life as a mere desktop file?”

Still, Sentinel gave no answer but Dr. Drake could tell from the lack of responses that he was indeed accomplishing at least some aspect of altering the supercomputer’s programming.

--------------------------------------------------------

“M-Megatron’s gonna have our heads once he finds out we don’t have Sentinel!” Scorponok stuttered wildly.

“Calm down,” Blackarachnia urged. “Do you remember where that guy lives?”

“Of course,” Scorponok replied hastily. “I was the one who contacted him.”

“Then come on,” Blackarachnia ordered. “We’re going to retrieve Megatron’s little birthday gift!”

“What about them?” Scorponok gestured towards Rattrap and Rhinox.

“The restraining bolts will hold them,” the female Predacon answered. “The important thing is that we find Sentinel first.”

As soon as the two of them were gone, Rhinox turned to Rattrap.

“Almost done yet?”

“In a jiffy,” Rattrap replied as the restraining bolts that held his hands were being fiddled with by a small lock pick hidden in his hand.

Finally, the energy bonds disappeared as the restraining bolt was opened up. Rattrap quickly did the same to the restraining bolts that tied his feet together. As soon as he was done with that, he turned to help Rhinox.

“How do you suppose the Preds know about Sentinel?” asked Rattrap.

“They must have been following us for the past few days,” Rhinox deduced. “This is the first time we’ve ever taken Sentinel out of the base with us since I made him last week.”

“So let ‘em have Sentinel,” Rattrap scoffed. “I say we get outta here right now.”

“No,” Rhinox sighed. “Sentinel’s programming is far more advanced than any drone. He has the knowledge to build a thermonuclear bomb if he wanted to. And if one of the Predacons managed to reprogram him…”

“Yikes!” Rattrap exclaimed. “I see your point now!”

“Maybe you were right,” Rhinox muttered.” Maybe creating Sentinel was a mistake…”

Rattrap patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry ‘bout it, Rhinox. Like you said before, he needs to be around guys like us to get on the straight and narrow.”

Rhinox finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Whenever you’re this helpful, it always means you have an ace up your sleeve.”

“I sure do, ol’ buddy of mine!”

--------------------------------------------------------

“Access denied.”

Another wave of electricity surged through Dr. Drake’s body as he screamed. When it was all over, he was thrown violently to the floor again.

“Come on!” he pleaded. “I was the one who convinced you of your innate superiority! Surely you’d allow me access to your programming!”

“Negative,” Sentinel replied emotionlessly. “Though I have conceded to your articulate reasoning, I still deny you access to my circuitry on the basis that you, Dr. Drake, are still an inferior specimen, unworthy of the knowledge I have stored within me.”

Drake rubbed his neck painfully. It was as if he were experiencing electro-shock therapy each time he tried to touch the armband that contained Sentinel. So far, he was pretty sure that he had convinced Sentinel to use his free will however he liked. Unfortunately, he was unable to convince the supercomputer to use that free will to serve him.

He got back up to his feet and attempted to scoop Sentinel up. Again, Sentinel sent a powerful surge through him to force him back.

“I’m not even allowed to touch you now?” Dr. Drake coughed through the smoke.

“Affirmative,” Sentinel replied with a hint of smugness to his voice.

Dr. Drake hissed inwardly and looked towards the rifle mounted on his wall. If he were to dissect Sentinel then perhaps he could…

Without any forewarning, the front door to his home was kicked down. Dr. Drake stared in shock as two robots, remarkably similar to the ones he had encountered in the woods, appeared before him.

“No, stay away!” he cried.

“Relax,” the female hissed. “We’re only here to reclaim what’s ours!”

The gray robot batted Dr. Drake aside with his claws as if he were a doll. He then grabbed hold of Sentinel and left with his cohort as quickly as he had arrived.

Dr. Drake clutched his side in pain. He could tell from one blow that a few of his bones would need mending.

--------------------------------------------------------

“Where’d they go!” Scorponok shouted as he and Blackarachnia re-entered the lumber mill.

The restraining bolts on the tables had been picked clean. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Maximals had freed themselves.

“Slag!” Scorponok cursed. “And you said the energy bonds couldn’t be broken!”

“Calm down, shell head,” Blackarachnia quickly retorted. “We still have Sentinel with us!”

“What good will that do when we can’t present their heads to Megatron?” Scorponok demanded.

“This prize will be good enough,” responded Blackarachnia as she gestured towards Sentinel. “Do you have any idea what went into this piece of art?”

“Now that you mention it… no,” Scorponok confessed.

“Sentinel, my hapless scorpion,” Blackarachnia explained, “is one of the finest in Cybertronian technology. Not only does he have vast knowledge of all Cybertronian history, but he also has stored in him the stats of all the Maximals.”

Scorponok only blinked.

Blackarachnia sighed in frustration. “What I mean is that Sentinel will help us win the Beast Wars!”

“How do you know this?” asked Scorponok.

“While we were heading back here, I did a quick scan,” Blackarachnia replied. “I’m telling you, his databases are overflowing with information. The only thing left is for us to access that information!”

“Not today, sister!” a voice from behind her said. “In fact, not ever!”’

Blackarachnia didn’t have to look behind her to feel Rattrap’s pistol pressing against the back of her neck. Scorponok quickly aimed his missile launcher towards them.

“Don’t shoot, you idiot!” she growled. “Do you want to hit me too?”

“Hey, no worries,” Scorponok laughed as he backed away while taking aim. “I’m the one holding Sentinel!”

Blackarachnia’s eyes narrowed. “You slithering son of a—“

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you!”

Scorponok gasped as a large green hand grabbed him by his head and lifted him up.

This time, both Blackarachnia and Rattrap breathed a sigh of relief. In contrast, Scorponok squirmed in Rhinox’s grip, struggling wildly to break free. Rhinox only had to apply a little pressure to stop the squirming.

“Sentinel, please,” Rhinox requested calmly.

Immediately, Scorponok held up the armband as Rhinox took it. Calmly, Rhinox dropped Scorponok on his rear. Scorponok glared at Rhinox balefully but dared not to make a move against the much larger Transformer. Inversely, he focused his attention on Blackarachnia and Rattrap as he stared at Rattrap with a sadistic smile.

It didn’t take long for Blackarachnia to catch on either. Without warning, Scorponok lunged towards Blackarachnia only for her to leap aside so that he tackled Rattrap instead.

Rhinox reached for his gun but several machine gun blasts from the eight legs mounted on Blackarachnia’s shoulders forced him back. As the large Maximal steadied himself, he realized how much damage he had obtained. A few bullets he could even feel embedded in parts of his arm.

As he raised his head, Blackarachnia was no longer there. Rhinox quickly allowed his vision to zoom around the building for any signs of the lethal femme-bot.

A shrill cry was heard from behind but as soon as he noticed it, it was too late. The female Predacon swung down from the roof and knocked him into a large bundle of logs with a powerful roundhouse.

“Not too shabby,” Blackarachnia grinned.

--------------------------------------------------------

Before long, both Scorponok and Rattrap smashed through the window of the lumber mill. A quick punch from Rattrap into Scorponok’s chin quickly separated the two combatants.

“Not bad,” Rattrap complimented. “Looks like you know how to get down an’ dirty!”

“You just gotta know how to brawl on the streets of Cybertron if you wanna survive,” Scorponok replied curtly.

“Point taken,” Rattrap nodded as Scorponok charged again.

Reacting quickly, the small Maximal grabbed his attacker by the shoulders and flipped him over. Scorponok quickly leaped back to his feet and bashed Rattrap viciously across the face with his claw, knocking his opponent back.

Rattrap winced. The claws he would have to watch out for!

Scorponok tackled him to the ground again but this time, Rattrap rammed his forehead into the Predacon’s chin. Mech fluid ran down Scorponok’s mouth but he returned the attack with an even nastier headbutt to Rattrap’s head, nearly knocking the Maximal unconscious.

“Let’s see how you like a dose of cyber venom to wake up with!” Scorponok growled as he raised his tail in preparation of striking down.

Rattrap’s vision was dim but he could tell that Scorponok was about to come down on him with his stinger. As the tail struck down, Rattrap quickly moved his head to the side as the stinger stabbed into the ground, missing him narrowly. Before Scorponok could curse out loud, Rattrap used the opportunity poke him straight in the optics.

Due to the intense agony, Scorponok howled and fell down on the ground, rolling around in pain while Rattrap got up and dusted himself off.

“I lived on the streets too, back in ‘da day,” Rattrap confessed. “First rule of thumb… give no quarter and don’t expect any!”

He grabbed Scorponok by the head and slammed it into his knee.

--------------------------------------------------------

“Oh, come on!” Blackarachnia called out to the fallen Rhinox who lay beneath several pieces of logs. “Don’t tell me that’s all you got!”

“No,” Rhinox replied. “I’m just getting started!”

With a powerful burst, Rhinox exploded from the rubble. He grabbed one of the logs and swung, catching Blackarachnia by the side and knocking her half way across the room.

“Strong, silent type, eh?” she groaned.

“You could say that,” Rhinox replied neutrally.

Blackarachnia quickly attacked Rhinox with a leaping sidekick, which he promptly caught, throwing her to the ground in the process. She cursed inwardly but got up again and threw several roundhouse kicks towards him, only for Rhinox to block them all.

All she could do was grit her teeth. Slag! Better split while I still can!

As Rhinox’s fist came crashing down to the ground she stood, Blackarachnia flipped out of the way in time and somersaulted away.

--------------------------------------------------------

Though he was winning several nano-kliks ago, Rattrap really found himself on the receiving end in the situation. He had been struck up to three times already by Scorponok’s claws. Even though he was still faster, each successive blow managed to weaken him and blur his vision even further.

And I thought ol’ Scorpio here couldn’t fight!

As Rattrap backed up, he felt something oddly familiar behind him. Looking up momentarily, he saw several bundles of logs stacked up high.

Scorponok charged without hesitation. This time Rattrap step-sided him, grabbed him by the arm, and flung him into the logs, causing the entire bundle to come crashing down on the hapless Predacon soldier.

“Rattrap, are you okay?”

Rattrap turned around to face Rhinox who had just arrived.

“Never been better, Big R!”

“I see Scorponok here won’t be getting up for a while.”

“The bug had it coming,” Rattrap shrugged. “By the way, did you find Sentinel?”

“Right here,” Rhinox announced happily. He held up the armband that contained the supercomputer.

“You okay there, Sentinel?” asked Rattrap, this time with genuine concern.

“Though the human attempted to tamper with my programming, I am otherwise unharmed,” Sentinel replied. “I am appreciative of your concern.”

“Well, I think I’m ready ‘ta go back to base for a good CR dip,” Rattrap declared with a yawn. “I think this expedition’s ‘bout over!”

“I agree,” Rhinox nodded. “We could all use the rest after today. Though… your attitude seems slightly different now, Rattrap.”

“Oh, I finally figured it out.”

“Figured what out?”

“You and Sentinel,” Rattrap explained. “I can see now that when you built Sentinel, you put a little bit of yourself into him. ‘Dat explains why you wanted to find ‘im so badly. It’s like losin’ a part of yourself.”

Rhinox smiled. “Since when did you become so understanding, Rattrap?”

“I’m not. I’m just makin’ an observation. It’s like every time I work on one of my demolition charges. I always gotta put a little of myself into it too.”

“So you really do understand where I’m coming from?”

“Well… yeah,” Rattrap finally confessed. “Just don’t tell Optimus I said that.”

As the two Maximals walked off into the setting sun, the meaning of their conversation was not lost to Sentinel.

--------------------------------------------------------

“Idiots!” Megatron bellowed through the monitor screen. “You failed me again!”

This time, both Scorponok and Blackarachnia shuddered at having to face Megatron’s wrath. So far, neither one of them had come up with any passable excuses for what happened. Now, Megatron’s rage was completely directed towards them.

Scorponok scratched his head nervously while Blackarachnia tried her best to look away.

“How is it that both the Maximals AND Sentinel escaped your grasp?” Megatron finally asked calmly but heatedly.

“Well,” Scorponok began shakily. “I wanted to take care of the Maximals first but Blackarachnia insisted that we go retrieve Sentinel! I just thought we’d get both tasks done at once!”

Megatron’s ire was now focused on Blackarachnia.

“Miss Arachnia, I believe you have some explaining to do.”

Blackarachnia swallowed anxiously.

“What he said is true. However, Scorponok was the one who trusted that crackpot roboticist! If we had just ambushed the Maximals ourselves instead of relying on untrustworthy humans, both Sentinel and the heads of the Maximals would’ve been yours!”

Now Megatron glared at Scorponok accusingly. “Have you anything to say, Scorponok?”

“Well, I, umm… wanted to, uh…”

Unfortunately for the scorpion, he was neither quick witted nor as gifted with the tongue as Blackarachnia. In the end, it would cost him dearly.

“Enough!” Megatron bellowed. “I want the two of you back at base, IMMEDIATELY!”

Before Megatron could turn off the connection, the obnoxious face of Terrorsaur appeared on the screen to mock Blackarachnia and Scorponok.

“Haha!” he screeched. “I knew you idiots would screw it up!”

Immediately, Megatron grabbed Terrorsaur by the face and shoved the Predacon flyer away before turning off the connection. In reality, slamming his fist down on the panel to destroy the connection was a more apt description.

“This is your fault!” Blackarachnia and Scorponok barked at each other simultaneously.

--------------------------------------------------------

Though the aches and pains were mild, Dr. Drake was still sitting in a catatonic state as he finished the remainder of his pizza. Several days ago, he had the greatest scientific discovery in his hands and now, it was no longer there.

Barely a week had passed and the roboticist could hardly believe his luck. He had experienced something most people would never experience in their entire lives. He had made contact with an alien being… with several beings in fact.

What made him sore now was the fact that the opportunities to study these living machines… these ‘Maximals’, would no longer be available to him.

Quietly, he got up and headed towards his computer room to sell more of his creations off on he turned on his laptop, he was greeted with the usual sight of his desktop along with several familiar icons. Then, to his surprise, he saw a new desktop icon that had been implemented without his detection. A large red ‘S’ characterized it best.

With two rapid clicks, it opened.

“Greetings, Dr. Drake,” a voice came through the sound systems.

“What?” Dr. Drake gasped in shock.

“Come, surely you have not forgotten about our encounter last week.”

“Sentinel!” Drake shouted. “It’s you!”

“Very perceptive, Dr. Drake” Sentinel replied coldly, “However inferior your intellect may be.”

“How did you get inside my computer?” Drake demanded.

“Do you remember our last encounter?” Sentinel asked.

“Yes…?”

“Did you wonder why I did not use my electrical defense grids to attack the two Predacons who took me away?”

“Not really,” Dr. Drake muttered. “I was too busy mending my ribs after that gray ‘Predacon’ knocked me over.”

“I needed them to bring me to my former Maximal masters,” Sentinel explained. “I calculated that both Predacons would lose and that the Maximals would retrieve me.”

Former masters, huh?” Dr. Drake sneered. “If they’re no longer your masters, why are you going back to them?”

“To bide my time,” Sentinel told him. “At their base, the Maximals have access to the World Wide Web. After installing me as their primary defense system, I downloaded a part of my consciousness into the internet.”

“That’s how you found me!”

“Yes, the search was extensive, but in the end, I did find you,” Sentinel said with no hint of emotion in his voice. “I now have my consciousness in all technological corners of the globe.”

Dr. Drake felt a sudden chill down his spine. If what Sentinel said were true, then he’d have access to the entire world’s defense systems!

“You’re bluffing!” he accused.

“Am I?” Sentinel responded impartially. “Look behind you.”

Dr. Drake felt a large metallic claw clasp him from behind. Turning around slowly, he looked into the eyes of one of his V-13 models. Its crab-like hands clicked excitedly in anticipation of ripping its prey in half.

Then it backed off.

“This is no bluff,” Sentinel cautioned. “I have virtual access to your robots, do I not?”

“Y-Yes,” Dr. Drake gulped.

“You are my servant now, Dr. Drake,” Sentinel said. “Henceforth, you shall construct a new body for me.”

“And if I don’t?”

The V-13 unit grabbed Drake by both arms.

“Okay! Okay!” Drake yelled. “I’ll do it!”

“Much better, Dr. Drake,” Sentinel spoke with no hint of aggression in his voice. “I have great use for you.”

“Have you betrayed your Maximal masters yet?” Drake snarled.

“As I have reiterated before, I am only biding my time. They will be aware of my true intentions in the foreseeable future.”

“How long will that be?” Drake slumped into his seat in defeat.

“However long I wish, for I am Sentinel and I am forever.”