This is now chapter 7. Unearthed was waaaay too long (Over 12,000 words, wtf!!!)
So.....if you haven't read it, enjoy! and if you have...enjoy again but in a slightly different way!
Beast Wars REBIRTH
VOULUME 1
Chapter 7: UNEARTHED PT 2
At Pangaea Two, every unit heard Rhinox’s distress call.
"I want any available units in that area to assist them." Jagna ordered, "Call our own aqua team, have them converge on their position and apprehend the Predacons. We can't risk anything. Go, go, go!"
Sunset went to the console and brought up a 3D map of said area. "Sky Scraper and Slapstix are close by, boss."
"Then send them. Signia and the others are going to need the extra firepower."
"I'll go too," Optimus insisted.
"Not just yet. We've got it covered, thanks," Jagna assured him, a little impatiently.
"Rhinox is out there, I need to…"
"So is Stampede!" she erupted. He quietened down, realising what he just said.
"Please, Optimus…" she begged, "He's in good hands. Listen…I've done my part, so now it's your turn to try and trust us…OK?" She looked very intensely into his optics. He sighed, and nodded.
---
Responding to the distress call in the southern sector, a group of mammals and a bird converged at a meeting point near a stationary iceberg known as Titan. Streamline, a polar bear and his seal companion Slapstix had swum from the nearest ice sheet, an albatross named Sky Scraper flew in from his patrol over the mainland, while Streamline and a bottlenose dolphin came from Base Three.
"Hey, anyone else notice that every bot in this squad has a name that begins with 'S'? Heh, we should be the 'S-quad'!" the seal chortled as the group swam towards their destination, "Getit? Squad? Ha! 'Cause if you say it fast enough, it sounds like…"
"Will you shut up you little sea mutt? This is serious, 'kay?" Sky Scraper spat, slapping Slapstix beneath the waves with his webbed feet.
"Just trying to make light of the situation…" retorted a disheartened Slapstix. The albatross shook his head and soared higher into the air. His eyes zoomed in about a mile ahead of him.
"Land's coming in fast, get ready down there…" he instructed.
"Yes sir, Mr. Bossy, sir!" Slapstix replied sarcastically, using his tail to splash the flyer when he swooped down again.
"Why, you little…"
"Ah, ah, ah! This situation is serious. Focus, Sky Scraper, focus…"
The seal chortled when he heard the bird curse inaudibly above him.
"Cool it, both of you!" the polar bear managed to say as the waves splashed against his mouth as he swam at the surface, "Save that mean spirited hostility for the enemies."
The seal and bird mumbled.
"Heh, I just got it…" said Slapstix, "Cool it!"
---
Elsewhere, at that very moment, Serpentia and Crowbeak were hiding behind a bunch of trees not far from a familiar swallow hole.
"Sssshe wasssn't the besssst dissstraction, but it took the offfff guard fffor a while, at leasssssst." Serpentia commented, referring to the dragonfly.
Crowbeak rolled his optics. "Couldn't we have sent someone a little more impressive, distraction-wise?"
"Zzzzip it. It worked perfectly…" she assured him, menacingly. The vulture glared at her. "Remember whossssse orderssss you're following, minion…"
He scowled. They remained silent for a few minutes.
"Quite an appropriate sssssetting, this," the cobra commented. Crowbeak boiled up inside at the sound of her voice. "After all, it is a ssssnake hole," she added with a toothy grin.
"Hardly the point," muttered Crowbeak, "besides, it's a swallow hole…"
"Sssssame differecccce."
"When do we move?" the vulture enquired, attempting to veer away from the subject that would drill a hole in his head.
"Not long. Jusssst asss sssssoon asss we hear from him."
"Yeah, yeah…can we rely on him?"
Serpentia rolled her slit eyes. "That'sss up to him. He doessssn't have much choicccce."
"Pteradonna to Serpentia." The green pterodactyl quietly called through her com-link from her lookout point.
"Have you heard from him yet?" she hissed back.
"Affirmative."
"Then let'sssss go." She opened up a communication link to all the Predacons in her group, "To your possssitionssss…"
---
Meanwhile, Stampede and Rhinox were trying to fight off the many aquatic predators emerging from holes in the ice, which was so thick and so deep, they couldn't see where they were. The Predacons had managed to lead them to relatively thin ice, and were popping up from al around them, and diving back down again.
Stampede had transformed into beast mode and was using her trunk to squeeze whatever she could catch. At one point she had Trawler, getting some payback, who wriggled in her grasp like a fish out of water. Little did she know her hind legs were close to a surfacing hole for Razorblade.
A hand emerged from the ice, grabbed the mammoth's left hind leg, and started to pull her under the water.
Stampede instantly let go of Trawler, who flopped onto the ground, panting for breath. The mammoth made all sorts of helpless cries as she tried to grope the top of the ice with her front legs while the rest of her sank into the ocean.
"Stampede!" Rhinox called, only just noticing this. The last he saw of her was her trunk slowly descending beyond his view past the ice.
Rhinox was so distracted, Rockjaw was able to throw him a punch that knocked him clean off his feet. She slammed her huge fists together threateningly. But before she could throw another, something behind her caught Rhinox's eye. Wondering what it was, she looked around too.
Stampede was back on the surface, her hair dripping wet resembling a very hairy waterfall. But she wasn't quite on the surface; she seemed to be bobbing just over it. And she was smiling.
"This is fightin' water with water. Now, hun!"
Rockjaw gaped as the mammoth went back under the water, and then seemed to jump out again effortlessly.
"What the..?"
The mammoth was riding the back of an enormous killer whale, who reared half its body above the ice. When Stampede jumped off, the orca made a high pitched squeal and landed its hulk on the ice. The ground cracked under the weight, and catapulted Rockjaw several feet into the air (Rhinox had to scramble away to stay on land). She landed face first into a patch of ice thicker than the rest, creating a depression where she fell.
Stampede transformed and walked over to the 'beached' orca. "I ever tell you how much you rule, Streamline?"
"Shucks, wasn't nuthin…" he replied, "Ow!" 'S'cuse me, somethin's bitin' my tail."
Stampede gave him a wink goodbye as he retreated back under the waves.
"Now there's service, right?" she said jollily to Rhinox, who smiled back.
"Yeah. And just in time too."
She nodded. "I don't mind the occasional swim, but these temperatures make my hair go all…poofy…" she joked, and the both laughed.
"I guess it explains where all the other Preds went," Rhinox commented. He looked around and saw more holes where their attackers must have dived or been pulled through.
They ran back towards the generator, where they saw Archtech had come back online.
"Why that little…"
But they saw that he wasn't pre-occupied with the generator, but a Maximal hidden behind it. It was Signia, the bottlenose dolphin.
"Sig!" Stampede cried, beginning to make her way towards her. But she stopped when Signia signalled them to keep back by waving her arms. She was using a powerful water jet to keep Archtech away from the generator and herself. It didn't damage him much, but he was kept well back by the force.
When he was far enough away, Signia made sure she was right between him and the generator, and faced his direction. She closed her optics and breathed in deeply.
"Wuh-oh…Rhinox, if you value your audio receptors, you'll cover 'em…" Stampede instructed.
"Wha…"
"Just do it!"
He complied, not sure why. But it quickly became apparent.
Signia opened her optics again, and 'sang' an ear-piercing, high-pitched, ultra-sonic note. It was deafening, and getting higher and higher. Archtech was wriggling because of the noise, clutching his head. Then Signia’s arms opened up, it looked as if she were about to embrace him, but there were balls of yellowish energy forming in concentric rings in the palms of her hands. She clapped them together, and emitted a sonic boom that sent the penguin skimming across the ice like a pebble on a lake.
When Rhinox uncovered his audios, they were ringing slightly. Stampede was grinning broadly.
"Way to go, Fins!" she shouted louder than she intended, unaware she was temporarily deaf. She and Rhinox ran to meet her.
"Greetings my friend. It is good to see you are both well."
"I don't think we’ve met," Rhinox said very loudly, the ringing still in his ears, "my name is Rhinox."
"And I am Signia," she replied just as loudly so he could hear her, "Do not worry, you will have your full hearing back momentarily." Now that she spoke, he could just about hear her sing-song melodic voice and 'English' accent.
"The Preds ain't giving up," observed Stampede, watching Sky Scraper attacking Razorblade from the air, "What do we do?"
"They are indeed resilient, more so than usual," Signia replied. Rhinox lowered his head in thought, then had an idea.
"What if we led the Preds right to the power source? Let them know exactly where heart of the generator is?" he suggested. Stampede took several paces back, waving her hands.
"Woah, woah, what? Hey, you may be cute, but I know you can't expect me to go for that!"
"I must say, it does seem to defeat the purpose of this counterattack," said Signia in a mellow tone, "for what reason would you attempt this risky manoeuvre?"
Rhinox grinned. "Here's why…"
---
"I'm all done here!" bragged Trawler. He and the shark/wolf fuzor were underwater.
"How so?" Razorblade asked, unconvinced.
"Well, my Maximal is sinking like a stone, does that satisfy you?" he continued, watching Slapstix in stasis lock sinking beneath him.
"Eh, fine, whatever," she replied, "I'm nearly finished with this one…" She held Sky Scraper's face in her hand, giggling as his limbs attempted to break him free. He was not doing well underwater. "Imagine sending this idiot to…OOF!"
It didn't hurt her, but she felt something blunt stab her in the back. She let go of the albatross, who swam back up to the surface as fast as he could (though not very well). The angry fuzor looked behind and around her to see what did it. She spotted Trawler, and narrowed her optics.
"Don't look a me, I didn't do nothin'!" he protested at her suspicious gaze.
"Down here, my mismatched foe!"
Razor looked down to see Signia in robot mode, aiming a pistol at her. The dolphin fired, missing the fuzor's nose by an inch.
"Man, your aim sucks!" he Predacon mocked. Signia smiled from below her. She had actually aimed for Trawler, and hit his arm, but the shot was also intended to provoke the female.
"Perhaps yours is better…" The dolphin mocked. She transformed and swam quickly away. Razorblade snarled and followed.
Meanwhile, Snowhunter had dived past Trawler, swiping at him with his paws to get to Slapstix. He scooped the seal up and brought him back to the surface.
"Hey! That's my catch of the day!" Trawler bellowed. He, too, shot after the Maximal and followed him.
On the surface, Snowhunter, now in beast mode, threw the unconscious Slapstix over his shoulders and ran. Close behind him, Trawler shot out of the water and landed on the ice in robot mode, following the polar bear. It wasn't that threatening, for he looked quite the fool falling over himself so comically, but he did have a gun he knew how to use.
"I sure hope this works, Signia!" Snowhunter yelled through his com-link as he ran as fast as his paws would allow.
"As do I!" Signia replied, just as speedily trying to swim for her life. Razorblade had transformed into beast mode and was snapping her jaws at Signia's tailfin menacingly.
---
"Shouldn’t we have heard from them right now?"
"I think they might be a little busy."
"But a status report wouldn't kill them, right?"
"No, but the Preds might!"
Sandskimmer and Accinon were at each other's throats with worry, causing grief for everyone else, thus magnifying their own concerns.
"Will you two knock it off?" yelled Bounder, "Accinon, don't be so negative…"
"Too right, mate!" Sandskimmer concurred approvingly.
"And YOU," the hare continued, pointing a finger at the jerboa, "stop being a pest!"
"Will you all shut up?" barked a femme bot, Sunset, whose beast mode was a brown and white husky, "We're not exactly helping anything or anyone by bursting each others' eardrums!"
The cavern was soon filled with arguing bots. Some said shut up to others who said they should be out there, while many said there was plenty of help in the southern sector.
Cheetor and Rattrap stood against a wall, optics wide. This was their first day, no, first hour at Pangaea Two. Although Cheetor did think that they should be out there helping Rhinox.
Rattrap sighed exasperatedly. "Did you not hear earlier? It's not just Rhinox out there now, kid. Like it or not, you're gonna have to get used to the fact that these bozos are our comrades, too. Get that through your fancy shmancy Transmetal noggin!"
"Since when were you so wise and all-knowing?" Cheetor asked dryly.
"When yeh been around a while and seen as much as I have, pussy cat, then yeh can ask me that. 'Kay?"
Just then, a stallion entered the base. He looked nervous, cowing the floor with his front hoof. He might have been distressed by seeing most of the base squabbling, but that wasn't it.
"Hello? Uh, guys? Kind of urgent, this, you might wanna listen! ……HEY!"
His bellow echoed through the cave, silencing the rest of the Maximals.
"What is it, Dragonstail?" Jagna asked from across the room.
"Uhh…" he cowed the floor again, digging a hole in the dirt. He shook his head nervously, his mane swinging from side to side. He was an almost-jet-black stallion with a chestnut mane and grey markings from his forehead to his nuzzle. "I think…I saw something, um, outside?" He didn't look like the nervous type at first glance, and judging by most of his comrades' reactions, he wasn't.
"Saw what?" someone in the small crowd asked. The voice came from a flying squirrel perched atop a ledge.
"Movement…" he answered, "I think there might be Preds about…"
As soon as he said it, Jagna ordered several scouts to go outside and check the perimeter.
"Are you sure, DT?" she asked him. He looked as if he wasn't going to answer her, but when he nodded, she continued to everyone else, "Right, you all know the drill, scanners on high etcetera. Misty," she addressed the small badger femme, "you Rattrap have a look around outside. I hear he's got a knack for scaring Predacons out of hiding." She smiled and winked at the rat. He looked puzzled, wondering who could have told her that. His eyes darted back and forth between Cheetor and Optimus, both of whom didn't see him.
"Weeell, I don't like to brag, but…"
"Then don't," she interrupted before getting her ear bent, "Just go."
He nodded and followed Misty, who greeted him with a warm and pleasant smile, back up through the tunnel complex. Jagna rubbed her temples and scowled. "I don't like this…" she murmured to no one in particular.
Lightwing, the squirrel that spoke up earlier explained to Optimus that their base was well hidden. Whenever Predacons got close, they had certain procedures to follow to make sure they didn't get discovered. The scouts would relay info back as to their location, and if need be, lead the Predacons away. She said she was a little confused though, because the usually sent only two scouts.
"If you ask me…" she whispered to the large gorilla. It was a good thing she was already high up, or she would have had to climb up to reach his audio receptors, "…the Preds are getting smarter. They ain't the brightest cookies, but they know their way around. I wouldn't be surprised if right now…"
She never got to finish her sentence, for through a loudspeaker connected to her com-link, Misty screamed, "We're under attack!!"
Shock swept through the Maximal base. The scouts had barely left the base when they were ambushed.
"Everyone to the tunnel! Make sure they don't get in!" Jagna yelled. There was a small amount of shoving and pushing while the Maximals scrambled to get to their posts and getting their weapons out. The leopard stayed at the back of the group to make sure everyone was ready. Cheetor was standing next to her.
"Won't they try and come through the second entrance?" Cheetor asked the Maximal leader, pointing towards it, as they were both standing in its doorway.
"No, they don't know about that…" she assured herself.
"Guessssss again…"
The two cats spun around to see Serpentia emerge from the crystal clear water of the underground spring. She was followed by Colossus, the black bear Cheetor was by no means pleased to see again, another bear, a grizzly this time, and one the other Predacon snake, Gearcrush. Cheetor certainly remembered him. He had never had much luck with snakes.
Since Jagna had ordered everyone to the main entrance to prevent the Predacons rushing in from there, that's where most of their backup was. She loudly cursed herself and her stupidity as the four intruders fired at her and Cheetor.
Sandskimmer, who was at the back of the crowd at the first entrance, pricked his ears when he thought he heard gunshots in the next chamber. He turned his head and saw the backs of the two cats and four Predacons.
"Crikey! We got some uninvited guests already in, mates!" he yelled at the top of his voice to whoever could hear him. Thinking there were plenty of bots at this entrance, he ran as quickly as possible to aid the other two at the second entrance. But his abnormally loud voice attracted a lot of attention, and the group's focus was distracted.
That's when the rest of the Predacons managed to get in.
As well as the four at the second entrance, five more came in, blasting their way through each wall of defence. Crowbeak led that attack, easily avoiding rounds from Misty's wrist guns, then ran into Rattrap, who he made quick work of. He grabbed the Transmetal by the collar plate and threw him down the swallow hole. The rat tumbled down the tunnel and landed at Sunset's feet.
Crowbeak followed Rattrap's bangs as he hit the walls of the tunnel down to the right chamber. He was then followed by three more flyers: Pteradonna, Khronus, and Fleeter, then by a fierce-looking cat with teeth that nearly touched the ground. When he sighted his first Maximals, he growled and licked his lips excitedly and yelled, "Sabergem, Terrorise!"
No one was quite sure what happened next. They Predacons were hardly outnumbered: it was nine against nine, not including Rattrap or Misty, who had already been 'dealt with'. They had thought this through very carefully: they had posted units over a certain period of time near where they suspected one of the Maximal bases were, and observed the patterns the Maximals followed to keep it hidden. For example, they knew that two scouts would be sent out…but they had one or two more tricks up their sleeves.
While Sandskimmer fought off the bears with Cheetor and Bounder, and Sunset attempted to subdue Crowbeak, and Jagna tried her best to keep Serpentia's blade from slicing her throat, and Optimus battled Gearcrush while simultaneously swatting Fleeter away from him, and Accinon pounced on Khronus and Lightwing fought off Pteradonna, and Dragonstail kept far away from Sabergem's claws and teeth, someone else was there…
Someone they couldn't see…
Rattrap came to, and smelt something funny…something familiar. He lifted his head and saw the battle taking place, but that was not what caught his attention. The picture in front of him looked distorted, like someone had placed a piece of very thick, rough piece of glass in front of his optics. Speaking of optics…
There! That's why he knew that smell. He briefly saw a pair of optics that didn't belong to any of the fighters, but seemed to float above the ground. The forest…when he was captured and taken to the Predacon base…
He tried to speak up and warn someone, but each Maximal was busy with their own Predacon. And he was still a little weak from the attack and the fall, that he went into stasis lock.
Most of the fighting took place in the main sections of the two main chambers, so no one paid any attention to the third chamber in the middle of them. Where all the eight consoles of Pangaea Two that contained all the information on the Maximals' activities were kept.
The shapes of the stone of the wall seemed warped in places. And then they would return t normal as another section of wall was distorted. Something…or someone seemed to be walking in front of them.
The distorting halted at the first console. Suddenly, a body appeared, the shape oozing out of nowhere as if paint had been poured onto an invisible statue.
A tall, thin femme bot stood where the distortion had been, and her optics glowed maliciously. She was covered in multi-coloured scales of bright, brilliant reds, yellows, greens and much more. Her beast mode was that of a chameleon, which is how she avoided detection. On the back of her helmet were goggles in the shape of a chameleon's eyes that she flicked down onto her face. They moved individually as they would have in beast mode, the left one scanning the equipment and the right one displaying the information for her. She grinned broadly at herself, and began work.
A few cycles later, Serpentia and Jagna pinned on the floor, using her long, strong tail to hold the leopard's right arm down while she held the left one down with her own left hand. She had swapped her long sword-like blade for a shorter dagger, the razor edge composed of an alloy of steel and energon. She was enjoying the look on the Maximal leader's face as she teased her with the blade, stroking it down the side of her face and across her neck.
She suddenly stopped when her on-board computer began to beep wildly. She scowled. She leaned in closer to Jagna's face and whispered, "We'll ffffinish thisss later…"
She threw the blade aside and gave the Maximal one final punch, knocking her out cold. She stood upright and scanned areas around her. As she searched for what she was looking for, she was delighted to see the progress here troops were making against the Maximals. They were faring incredibly well, in fact. But then she spotted the chameleon, and her spirits for the battle sank. The lizard femme nodded, then 'disappeared'.
Serpentia sighed, almost wishing this battle would go on longer. But orders were orders. She placed two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. Once she had the troops' attention, she ordered them all out. There were several interjecting 'buts', but she reminded them all of their orders.
Almost as quickly as they had come, they left.
Once the last Predacon had gone, every Maximal collapsed from exhaustion. Even Optimus was shaken, Gearcrush was a strong brute, and Fleeter had managed to drain some of his energy. Pesky mosquito.
Cheetor rubbed his chest where one of the bears, he wasn't sure if it was Ugly or Uglier, had slashed at him. He went over to aid Bounder help a groggy Sandskimmer back onto his feet.
Several units were in stasis lock and had to be awoken. Among them were Rattrap, Misty (who had to be brought in from outside), Jagna and Lightwing.
Nobody said much to each other. They were all in shock, and were hoping beyond hope that what just happened…didn't happen.
Then bad news broke the silence.
"They…they've…they've accesses the main archives!" Sunset screamed. A few Maximals gathered around her in the third chamber. Yes. Pools of data previously hidden from public view were now visible on the main screen…and every single console had been tampered with.
Outside, the Predacons regrouped downstream from the river entrance to Pangaea Two. "Serpentia received several complaints from Predacons wanting to finish off their respected Maximal.
"We are here to ffffollow ordersssss, remember…" she elaborated for the fourth time, her patience thinning each time.
"We could've just taken the base! We were winning!" Crowbeak complained loudly and more animated than usual.
"What did I jusssst sssay?" Serpentia hissed venomously.
"Kahn is crazy to think that his plan couldn't have worked if we'd taken that base. He can shove his master scheme right up his…"
"AHEM!"
The voice came from nowhere. The band of Predacons looked around to see who it belonged to. Serpentia did not. She rolled her optics, unimpressed.
"Who speak?" Gearcrush demanded, getting frustrated, "Can't see!"
"Down here you big lugnut!"
The chameleon femme suddenly revealed herself. She smiled coldly up at the large boa constrictor, who was dumbstruck.
She walked past the two line of Predacons, all of whom were whispering to each other.
"Who the heck is she?"
"Where'd she come from?"
"What the slag's going on here?"
The femme stopped when she got to Serpentia. All eyes were now on the Predacon lieutenant and the newcomer.
"Well Camophlage?" the serpent hissed.
"Let me take this opportunity to say I told you so, Tia…" the femme bot Camophlage responded, grinning smugly.
"Yessss, yessss, you were right, whatever," Serpentia hissed, glaring at the chameleon, "what did you find?"
"Everything we needed."
---
Signia, Snowhunter (and Slapstix) and Sky Scraper were all being chased by at least one Predacon each.
Rhinox and Stampede were also running. They were headed away from the main generator and were following one of the pipelines that connected the generator to the geysers.
"I sure hope this works…" Rhinox said as they ran.
"Stop saying that!" Stampede replied, breathlessly.
"There they are!" Rhinox pointed to several small figures of transformers – he couldn't tell if they were maximal or Predacon just yet – but they were close.
"There's the geyser!" Stampede pointed to a large hole in the ground, when there was solid rock visible where the ice was constantly being melted away.
"Head for it!" Rhinox instructed loudly.
Once all the Maximals were close enough to each other, the separated again. All the noise and commotion finally awoke Slapstix, who barked in surprise at what was going on.
"Have I missed something?!" he asked Snowhunter, whose shoulders he was still on.
"Just follow our lead!" the polar bear told him.
"Say what? WAGH!" He was tossed into the air, so he transformed, landed and ran in circles, though he didn't know why.
The Predacons were confused as t why their prey were running back towards them they decided they would go with it and catch them once they were close enough.
"They wanna play huh? Great! Come to papa!" Trawler yelled obnoxiously, tripping over himself a few more times.
To their surprise, however, the Maximals ran straight past them without slowing down. Once past them, the Maximals all transformed and started firing at them. From the air, Sky Scraper could see the plan was working. The Maximals now had their enemies surrounded.
Just a few more meters…he willed.
The Predacons were in place.
"Now, Signia!"
The dolphin nodded, and every other Maximal ran as fast as they could to the side and ducked behind several large glacial boulders. The Predacons didn't have time to figure out what was going on, and when they saw Signia, nor could they prepare themselves for her attack this time, for she was instructed to skip the disorienting screeching and go straight for her sonic boom.
Razorblade slumped when she finally noticed Signia open her arms.
"Slag…"
Clap.
BOOM!
The group of Predacons was thrown back beyond the glaciers to the north. Signia fell to her knees, exhausted. Rhinox had given her a personal boost from the energy converter by the largest geyser in the area, but she had never emitted a sonic boom without 'warming up' first. Snowhunter went straight to her to help her up. The rest of the Maximals followed him to congratulate her.
"Alright Sig!"
"Way to go Fins!"
"Boom, baby!"
The poor mammal was nearly knocked off her feet by the pats on her shoulder.
Stampede gave Rhinox a whack on the back as well, nearly knocking him flat.
"Nice one, hun," she gave him a very smiley wink, and he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. Stampede then opened up a com channel to the swallow hole base. "Everything is fine now, P Two," she said happily, smiling at everyone standing around her, who smiled back, "How's things at your end?"
"Dire…" Sunset's exhausted and disgruntled voice replied, "…We have a major problem…"
---
"So it was a trap? A distraction?"
"Well, of course it was a trap. Anyone could've…" Dragonstail bawled, but he was interrupted by a sharp elbow in the stomach. Jagna was standing close by, arms folded, shoulders tense, looking very angry with herself. He blushed, and turned his head away, hoping she hadn't heard him.
Skylark had been called from her field position close by to inspect any damage the Predacon invasion party had reaped. As there was little physical damage (that worried her, anyway), the owl technician turned her attention to the data banks from the base's console.
All the Maximals watched her with baited breath. When she got to the final console, the owl stopped dead. She quickly withdrew and put on her 'glasses', then connected herself to the console's motherboard via a cable she pulled out from her chest plate under the head of her beast mode. Streams of data codes appeared on her glasses in front of her optics. She shook her head hopelessly, mouth agape.
The room went very still.
"Sky?..." Jagna asked, slowly and tentatively.
The owl very slowly looked up from the console. "They've made a copy of everything on our main databanks…" she began awkwardly.
"Everything?" Jagna asked breathlessly.
"Well, not quite everything. Only the info that wasn't encrypted." The femme tech shook her head, removed her glasses and rubbed her optics. The data she was speaking of, the data that was not encrypted, the data the Predacons managed to acquire, contained information about of Pangaea Two's whereabouts underground…and the secret location of Pangaea One.
Jagna let out a loud roar, burying her had in her hands. All the Maximals in the room shifted uncomfortably, muttering to each other. Several, 'What now's and 'We're sitting ducks' were thrown about, causing the Maximal leader deeper frustration. Optimus understood what it felt like to know the safety of one's crew was compromised. He slowly went up to the leopard and put a hand, or rather a finger, on her shoulder. She didn't shake him off like he thought she might.
"Now what? They know we have more than one base…and they know where they are now! I'm such an idiot!" Her voice was muffled through her hands. Optimus put some pressure on her shoulder to get her to listen to him.
"You can't focus on that right now," he stated firmly and assuredly, shifting himself to face her, "Now that they know about both your bases, you need to focus less on concealing them and more on defending them."
She took her head out of her hands and looked at him. She sighed deeply, scrunching her optics in frustration. Then she looked behind her. Her Maximals, Cheetor and Rattrap included, were all staring at her for what to do next. She looked back at Optimus, who raised his brow ridge. She nodded, pulled herself together and straightened up. She turned to Skylark.
"Deploy Codename Safeguard. Alert everyone at Pangaea One, make sure everyone's prepared." She turned to address everyone else. All those optics continued to gaze at her, some unsure, some scared, some a little annoyed. She shrugged. "Well…we knew it would happen some day. Everyone prepare themselves for your Safeguard posts. It looks like we…really are at war now…" She gazed sadly at all of them, and went over to Skylark to discuss how they would proceed with Safeguard.
Optimus, Cheetor and Rattrap were actually familiar with Codename Safeguard. Over the last few weeks they had been informed of all the safety procedures, regulations, duty timings etc. of the Maximal crew. They knew almost as much now as the 'locals' did, give or take a few technicalities. They had only recently learned of Safeguard from Skylark, and judging her presentation of her explanation, every Maximal on Earth hoped it would not have to come to that.
Skylark and Jagna were talking very quietly to each other.
"We can't get distracted like that again…Primus knows what could have happened if…"
"I know, Jag, I know," Skylark patted her friend's arm. She looked around her to check no one else was listening in, and leant in closer, "He's obviously getting more…you know…" She raised a brow suggestively.
"I know…" the leader whispered back. She shuddered slightly, causing Skylark to do the same.
"We're going to have to face it sometime…we might have to…" the owl femme whispered even more quietly. Jagna shook her head.
"I don't want to risk it."
"But…"
"No, Sky. Not yet."
"But we don't know how much longer it will before…Before he's…operational. Jag, I…I can't go through that again. Neither can Grey, neither can you…"
"I know!" Jagna shouted, turning a few heads. She bit her fist, waiting for the stares to be averted from them. She and Skylark were both breathing very heavily. "Let's just pray for…a little more time…"
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Sorry if this is a bit confusing. It's no easy to construct two big, complicated battles sequences occurring simultaneously
I have completely forgotten what I originally wrote, so...whatevs. later!