Code of Honor Alternate Prologue/A Twist of Fate

By: Master Solo

Note:  I thought about some of the first reviews I got way back, and I figured that I might put up an alternate beginning.

Disclaimer:  I don’t own any of this!

“When reality alters, the future alters with it.”  The aghast Dinobot realized as he watched Rampage blow up the mountain peaks.  How could he have been foolish enough to join Megatron, let alone twice?  As he shook his head, he brought up his right hand to his forehead and sighed.  Had he let his taste for conquest lead him to do a thing as unthinkable as following a leader who was insane enough to tamper with sacred time?  If only he allowed himself to be satisfied with the rate at which he conquered world after world in his time.  “With the golden disk, Megatron’s powers are limitless!  Dinobot to Optimus…”

The raptor was cut off in mid-sentence when a glob of plasma streaked past him, barely missing his shoulders.  As his cursed himself for his inattention, he swished around to see Tarantulas, who was shocked and fearful that the shot missed.  Not wasting any time, he fired a pair of eye beams at a rock behind the Predacon.  The twin laser blasts hit just beneath a boulder that loomed over Tarantulas, obliterating its support, which caused the massive rock to descend upon and squash the scientist.

“Optimus here.  What is it, Dinobot?”  Asked the Maximal leader over the comlink.

“Code Red… situation extreme.”  The warrior snarled.

Meanwhile, Megatron stood on the other side of the valley with his Predacons, gazing exultantly at the race that he planned to obliterate.

“Destroy this valley and everything in it!”  He ordered as he raised his hand like a symphony conductor.  Seeing no reason to disobey, each Predacon began firing in his or her own way.  Rampage started forward, his treads chewing up clods of earth as he fired blast upon destructive blast from his cannon.  Next to Megatron, Inferno literally opened fire and started to roast the forest like a barbeque. 

Left with no choice, a terrified Neanderthal leader began to flee after shielding a younger member of his tribe from a potentially fatal hit.

“We’ll be there as soon as we can.  In the meantime, fall back and wait for us!”  Optimus ordered over the comlink.

“Negative.  The question that has long haunted my existence has been answered.  The future is not fixed; my choices are my own, yet how ironic, for I now find that I have no choice at all.”  Dinobot refused.  From that distant, almost pathetic little place, Optimus had no way of seeing the circumstances that were about to force the former Predacon’s hands into action.  If anything, Dinobot was about to disobey those orders for Primal’s good as well as for the warrior’s own lost honor. 

That was his opportunity, yet it was hardly an opportunity, Dinobot thought as he watched panicked pre-humans flee their homes.  He was obliged to partially regain his lost, violated honor or else he would have literally gone down in history as the worst of cowards and the biggest disgrace that’d ever joined the Elites’ ranks.  Destiny had one great test for each transformer, and his must have been that valley, for in this instant, it seemed as if every moment in his life, every bit of training, every victory, every defeat, and every move had led towards what now surely lie ahead.

Many blurred images from the harsh days of his training phase flashed through his mind, but not for the purpose of helping him with war tactics, as they usually were.  He knew his past all too well, but wondered what the future held.  When it all became clear, Dinobot withdrew his electron sword from its sheath.  One of the first things he had learned was honor, and for that, he was about to battle again.

The future was unclear, or rather, in swift motion, and it did not matter what the future would bring for him because he knew that if he were to pursue the most honorable course of action, he would last only long enough to ensure human survival.  Normally, he would have scoffed at wasting time on an inferior race of flesh creatures, but he had his honor to regain and Predacon and Maximal alike depended upon that day for survival.  He knew that he would finally die in battle, like had always wanted to.  Perhaps, the Cybertronian legends were true and the greatest tests lay near death.

“I am a warrior.  Let the battle be joined.”  Dinobot muttered, as if he was talking half to himself and half to Primus.  The warrior stood on the edge of the valley, blocking the twilight sun as if he was the barrier between day and night.  Perhaps he was, for, on one side, he was nothing but a golden reflection and on the other side, he was just a dark, outline with no discernible features.  The image suited him well, as one who had been both Predacon and Maximal.

With a leap, he allowed for his aggressive Predacon programming to kick in and joined Blackarachnia and Inferno in the crackling firestorm beneath him on the valley floor.  As he landed beside the red ant, he tapped the Predacon on the shoulder.  Just as Inferno swirled around, Dinobot upper-cut the other bot as he drove the sword deep into the red bot’s chest area before following with a left hook to ensure that Inferno would go into stasis lock.  Blackarachnia attempted to neutralize him by advancing and firing her eight, spider leg machine guns at the same time, but after the bullet that shattered the hilt of Dinobot’s sword, no shot did any considerable amount of damage to Dinobot, who stood unfazed and firm as he grabbed Inferno’s unconscious shell.  He then swung the body before him like a shield, forcing Inferno to take the brunt of Blackarachnia’s barrage of bullets.

Vainly, Blackarachnia attempted to continue, but was blasted backwards and into stasis lock when Dinobot took Inferno’s flamethrower and unleashed its powers upon her.  He knew that he was adding to the ecological problems that the Predacons had introduced, but that was the least of Dinobot’s concerns at the moment.  The warrior could feel a systems analysis rising up his circuits, but rejected them, for he knew the amount of damage that he took from those bullets that soared past his shield, Inferno.

Knocked off of the body from impact, Inferno’s head sailed into Megatron’s view to the other side of the valley.

As the Maximals raced across arid terrain to reinforce Dinobot, Rattrap complained.  “No matter how soon we get there, it’s gonna be way too late.”

“Do you always have to see the bright side?”  Sighed Rhinox as he dashed by Rattrap’s side just beneath Cheetor, who, along with Silverbolt, flanked Optimus in the air.

“Dinobutt against six Preds?  There won’t be enough left of him to make a toaster!”  Retorted the racecar rat.

Dinobot knew that his sword was useless, so he salvaged Inferno’s weapon and broke through the forest like an injured but very much hardened soldier.  Had he been human, there would have been sweat to mingle with the mech-fluid, but he was not, and as a result, his systems had only his ever-diminishing supply of mech-fluid to use as a coolant.  He then took out his rotary blade and spun it like a helicopter in order to mitigate the effects of gravity as he burst out of the jungle and leaped off the bluff without breaking stride.  That was two targets down and three more to battle.  He soon descended upon Rampage and a very surprised Waspinator.

The Predacon warrior then sprayed Rampage with a volley of fire from Inferno’s weapon, but to no avail.  Taking advantage of Rampage’s durability, Waspinator concerned himself with only eliminating Dinobot.  With two shots, the green bot destroyed both the flamethrower and the shield just as Dinobot approached from the air.  Though the fall was not too great, Dinobot suffered some damage upon landing on and squashing Waspinator.

Quick to react and judge, Rampage transformed into tank mode and the treads churned as he pivoted, his huge gun-barrel gleaming in the firelight.  He took his aim, but before he could fire the cannon, Dinobot stuffed Waspinator headfirst up the barrel with surprising ease for a warrior.  The crab did all that he could think of to reverse the chemistry of the approaching explosion, but he was no scientist.  The pressure and heat built up as it was intended to, causing Rampage to explode and spew out a burnt Waspinator from the chute of the cannon.

Even though Waspinator took the brunt of Rampage’s would-be blast, Dinobot was still damaged and the impact sent him flying backwards into the trunk of a sturdy tree.  As the wasp’s charred pieces rained upon the ground, Rampage’s top half blew off and the bottom half jerked slightly before the treads came off.

Damaged, smoking, sparking, and now empty-handed, Dinobot refused to let the fires of anger and determination leave his eyes as he clenched his reptilian fists.  He glared upward to see the gloating Megatron, his ultimate target.  As long as Megatron held the golden disk, Dinobot had a job to do, for his honor and for Cybertron.

“One lonely turncoat, battling on against impossible odds.  I’m almost touched.”  Megatron snickered as he wiped a tear from his optics.  Then, in a less sarcastic tone, he added.  “Fortunately, such moments pass quickly.  Quickstrike, scrap him!”

Dinobot then remembered why Megatron was unfit to remain with the Predacon Elites.  Not only did he break their code of honor, but he also was too unwilling to battle.  Only the worst of the worst commanders watched as their minions fought for them.  “Coward.”  The raptor muttered under his breath.

As Quickstrike transformed and set off, Megatron mused darkly.  “And just to tilt the odds even further…”

The purple bot’s gaze settled on a group of terrified Neanderthals huddled against some rocks down below as the jungle went up in blazes.  As if totally oblivious to the humans’ feelings, Megatron sneered.  Dinobot picked his way through the rocky gorge in an attempt to rescue the humans, but he then took a laser hit in the side and slammed into the dirt below.

“Well, howdy!  Don’t bother gittin’ up.  Ah’ll jist kick ya while yer down.”  Quickstrike said in a sardonically cheerful tone as he approached Dinobot and readied another blast.

For a moment, Dinobot wondered why he ever considered taking Quickstrike as a student, but he returned his attention to the battle within a fraction of a second.  He did not respond with words, for a vile, dishonorable weakling like the fuzor was not worth his breath at such a crucial moment.  Quickstrike raised his blaster-arm to fire, but Dinobot was much faster.  With some difficulty, the raptor had coaxed his eye beams out and struck the fuzor in the leg, knocking the other bot off balance.

When he saw that Quickstrike was far from finished, Dinobot forced from himself another blast, this time with twice as much difficulty as before.  Insurmountable heat had built up within his systems and some circuits were on the brink of liquefaction, but he pushed himself on.  Destiny was testing him, perhaps even taunting him, and he was determined to prove himself worthy despite his dishonorable acts, first against the Tripredacus Council and then against Primal and the Maximals.  A voice deep inside his head asked him ‘worthy of what?’, but he ignored the voice and painfully pushed up.

Something in Dinobot’s chest region beeped, and then the internal computer’s voice came on.  “Warning:  power reserves 85% depleted.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Further expenditures at this rate will result in the loss of spark in ten cycles.”  Admonished the computerized voice.

“It does not matter, as long as Megatron is stopped.”  Snarled Dinobot quietly.  As he forced himself through the ravaged but still flaming valley, he narrowed his gaze at the only remaining Predacon.  “Megatron.”

His energy was depleted and he was overheating, but he still had yet to stop Megatron in order to preserve history.  Predacon conquest should have been limited to his time, not a time that would affect everyone’s existence.  To destroy time in such a manner in order to conquer the galaxy was most dishonorable and unfair.  Such unfair battles were not only not the ways of the Predacon Elites, but also banned under Primus’ lasting laws.

Megatron stepped out from behind a large boulder and almost gloated arrogantly as he transformed into robot mode.  “Hmm, my ears are burning, yes.  Why, Dinobot!  What a delightful surprise.  Let’s see, where are we now?  I have the golden disk, I have the power to change the future, and the only remaining obstacle in my path to unimaginable glory… is yourself.”  The tyrant laughed mockingly.  “Exhausted.  Damaged almost beyond recovery.  Defeated.”

“Not just yet.”  Dinobot hissed weakly bur forcefully as he began to lunge. 

“Uhn ah aah.”  Megatron warned as he aimed his tail blaster at the captured human, whom he had tied with energy bonds, forcing Dinobot to grudgingly stop.  Back in his own time, he had made many such sacrifices and that this was no different, Dinobot tried to convince himself, but it was different.  What he did in the future did not alter the past.  This human, however, could be the ancestor of an influential figure, for all he knew.  The tyrant continued to taunt.  “One more step, and it’s raining bits of early anthropoid.”

“Oh, dear, how positively Maximal of you.  You were weakened before you started, Dinobot.  Weakened by compassion.”  Megatron sighed.

Dinobot glowered, but he knew that Megatron’s words had the ring of ugly truth in them.  He was a Predacon warrior, and yet he was going out of his way to preserve the life of a flesh creature whose descendants the Council planned to one day conquer.  But the conquering should be saved for the descendants, not delivered to the ancestor.  Half frustrated with himself for being weak enough to give in to such a threat, Dinobot looked for an alternative means to eliminate Megatron, or at least the golden disk.  He decided.  Let this past remain our past.

Finally, Dinobot spotted a possible weapon.  Though the potential club was made of wood and thus imperfect, it was better than nothing.  He then charged at Megatron and whacked the Predacon leader twice, knocking the weapon from the T-Rex’s hand.  Trying desperately to seize a rare advantage, Dinobot continued to thwack Megatron ferociously with the club until the Predacon leader backhanded him away as if he was nothing but a bug.  Dinobot crashed with a thud onto the ground near a pile of broken flint stones.  Dinobot knew that he was very likely to have the warrior’s death that he always wanted right on the spot, but at the moment, he wanted to do nothing more than to delay it long enough to preserve time.  How ironic was it that when he finally neared his wish, he wanted to do nothing more than to push it away, even if it was only for a minute or two.

Against all odds, Dinobot forced himself to his knees and grabbed the club again.  He had to keep Megatron from killing any humans at least until Optimus arrived with the remainder of the Maximals.  He could feel the burns seeping into his limbs and impeding the signals in his large, muscular arms, but years of training and discipline forced control into the limbs.  Just a few moments more, and it will be nothing but an unaltered future and either the silence of the Matrix or the burning sulfur of the Pit.  Sparks sputtered and smoke rose from one of the many holes that he had accumulated in his exostructure, but Dinobot paid them no heed as he tried to move.

The Pit.  Fire.  Dinobot thought as the flames cackled around him almost musically, urging him to get back up and dance a warrior’s dance.  In many ways, battle was but a cruel dance, but this was not the time for aesthetics.  Still, he felt his systems operating to the beat and the crackle of the heat, as if he was becoming one with the forest.  However, Dinobot soon shook the thoughts away, for they were nothing but a waste of his time.

“Really, Dinobot.  A stick?  Against a Transmetal?  I think not.  Oh, please.”  Megatron sneered as he dusted his marginally altered chest plate in a most debasing manner, drawing pleasure from Dinobot’s pain.  He glowered arrogantly.  “You’re old technology, obsolete.  What can you possibly do?”

He could hardly believe that a lone warrior could still stand against his plan.

“Improvise.”  Dinobot replied simply.  The warrior rarely gave lengthy explanations, especially not to the foolish lunatic who led his former comrades.  He roughly put the circular end of his club around a large piece of stone and pounded Megatron’s chest plate with his new hammer.  The impact knocked the Predacon leader off his feet and sent the golden disk flying a hundred feet into the air.

“Power reserves 92% depleted.  Stasis lock commencing.”  The warrior’s systems announced.  Before he could override, Dinobot collapsed onto the soft, brown forest floor beneath him, totally oblivious to the next sequences of events.

Cheetor was the first Maximal to arrive on the scene.  He carefully flew over the flames so that his multi-colored exhaust fumes would extinguish them and preserve the local life that remained.

Cheetor transformed as he spotted Megatron engaging Dinobot in combat.  He then aligned the two halves of his cathead and spat fire at the enemy leader.  As the plasma bolt came mid-way, the golden disk jumped into the path and shattered into a million pieces as it took the hit for Megatron.

“Curse it!  My plans have been ruined again!  Retreat!”  The Predacon leader growled as he spotted the approaching Maximals and transformed into vehicle mode to fly out of the scene before they could scrap him the way he had done to Dinobot.

The Maximals collectively gasped as they saw Dinobot lying against a boulder in stasis lock.  The battered but still functional body told half of what had happened while most of the Maximals were en route.

“Lizard lips?”  Rattrap was the first to speak.  As much as he could not stand the former Predacon, he found the very thought of not having Dinobot to argue with unbearable.  The former Predicon was a slag-spouting saurian, but he secretly enjoyed that company, even though he had not met Dinobot until they all landed on Earth.  He began to shake, but controlled himself.  The ‘bot before him was nothing but a rogue Predacon whom Optimus had let into the base for the moment.

Rattrap shook his head.  No.  They could not possibly be losing old Chopperface.

“He is in stasis lock, but this won’t hold.  We must work fast.”  Reported Rhinox as he kneeled down to examine Dinobot’s unconscious form.

“Let’s get him back to base.”  Optimus ordered and the other Maximals obeyed.

After an indefinite amount of time, Dinobot awakened in the CR Chamber.  All of the depleted energy had returned and there was no visible sign of damage on the armor that he had expected to see battered.  It was as if there never was a battle in the valley, for his helmet was on right and he had both an Electron sword and a tail-shield with him.  The somewhat cylindrical door lifted with a hiss and almost all of the other Maximals were there to greet him.

“Welcome back, Dinobot.  You saved the people of the valley and those who are yet to come.”  Optimus was the first to speak.

“The golden disk?”  Dinobot clenched his raptor talons in suspicion and narrowed his optics.  Why was he still alive?  What cruel twist of fate was it that he was denied his warrior’s death?  Was that valley not destiny’s great test?  He could not ask those questions in front of the Maximals, especially when he was uncertain as to the fate of the disk that held the power to alter the future.

“I vaped it.”  Cheetor replied.  The transmetal’s face reeked of nothing but sincerity and Dinobot was relieved.  Megatron no longer had access to the information that could terminate every human, Maximal, and Predacon alike.

“Then there is nothing to regret.”  Dinobot almost sighed as he lowered his gaze slightly.

“Like I said, yer just a slag-spoutin’ saurian, but it’s good to know where ya stand.”  Rattrap commented as he choked back emotions that he could never admit to having.

“This, coming from you, vermin.”  The dinosaur replied with a ghost of a grin on his face.  Even though he had yet to see his only wish granted, it was still a relief to know that the golden disk could no longer plague anybody’s existence.  However, survival meant complications involving the destruction of the last golden disk and his future as a Predacon.  Using scouting as an excuse, Dinobot walked off in the direction of the dawning sun to weigh his options, casting only a small, dark spec of a shadow in the brilliantly glowing desert.

“He lives by the rules of a warrior, but he has a hero’s spark.”  Optimus commented as he, too, left the base to scout, only in a different sector.

In the valley, Dinobot’s war-hammer lay where it fell several nights before, in the horrific battle with Megatron.  The vegetation, though charred, had already begun to grow back and several bushes rustled as the Neanderthal leader peered out cautiously.  There was still a certain amount of fear attached to the place where Megatron tied him up, but curiosity got the better of him and he crept out.

“Ooh.”  He cooed curiously as he examined the crude weapon and then decided to hit a coconut with it.  So that’s what these things look like on the inside.  I wonder if I can eat that.  He observed silently.  Just as he was about to bend down and dip his finger into the white substance, however, he heard the familiar hissing of the giant snake.  He remembered the fear, the screams, and the death that came with the snake’s last appearance and wanted to run, but once again, curiosity got the better of him and he hit the python with the hammer.

Even though there was still death, this encounter was different.  There were no screams, no fear, no agony, just a dead, longtime demon and a gift from the giant who protected the people of the valley.  The man was both incredulous and awed.  Perhaps that giant was a god and the war-hammer was a divine reward.  For an indefinite amount of time, the Neanderthal merely gazed at the hammer in awe, but he then remembered his rank within the tribe and broke out of the trance.

It was his job to hold up the gift, so he raised it triumphantly, framed against the stars, as he let out a proud, strong battle cry.  As if they were looking watching the affairs of the Earth, the sparks of some of Dinobot’s lost comrades glittered in approval of both Dinobot and the human.