10.Dec.05

BEAST WARS- TRANSFORMERS

NEW FRIENDS

BOOK 1- THE BEGINNING

A STORY BY JEFF WILLIAMS (Dinobot)

EDITED BY LETA WILLIAMS

CHAPTER 1

This story takes place sometime after the episode ‘The Probe’.

Rhinox was heading to his favorite spot on the southern hill to smell some flowers. He had just finished five straight solar-cycles trying to build a device to bring down some of the Maximal stasis pods orbiting the planet. It turned out to be hopeless because they lacked the technology to bring them down safely.

“Ahhh. There‘s nothing better than relaxing with some flowers. I only wish Optimus were here to tell me some of his stories.”

He was resting nicely, enjoying a slight breeze from the west when he suddenly heard a familiar sound. He had enough time to stand before Scorpinok shot something at his head. It resembled one of his cyber-bees, and it latched onto Rhinox’s face. All of his servos locked up and he fell over on his side, unable to move. It all happened so fast that he didn’t have time to call for help. Scorpinok reached down and grabbed Rhinox by his horn and dragged him away.

Optimus slammed his fist on the control panel, angry at the fact that they hadn’t been unable to find any trace of Rhinox for the past three days. He had just got back from installing a large number of laser pulse antennas for their comm system when Rattrap informed him that their big green friend hadn’t returned.

“I don’t understand how he could just vanish. He has to be in trouble . This isn’t like Rhinox. I know Megatron has something to do with it.” Optimus said.

“Ssss. Perhaps we should.....pay a visit to the Predacons and see if they have...Rhinox. Hisss.” said Dinobot.

“Good idea Dino-butt.” Rattrap said sarcastically. “Maybe pull a sneak in-sneak out mission and.... oh no you don’t! Don’t look at me, fearless leader! The last time I snuck into Pred-central, I nearly got zorched! So count me out!”

“Hissss. Perhaps that’s because....they could smell you coming a mile away.......vermin!” Dinobot said with a grin.

“Hey! Shut up chopperface! I don’t see you volunteerin’ to visit your ol’ friends!” Rattrap said angrily.

“Who takes the mission is not the point, Rattrap. What matters is that we find Rhinox before something happens to him.” Optimus said. Suddenly, Cheetor came running into the bridge nearly tripping over Dinobot’s foot.

“Optimus....Grid Vega...clear.... but... I got a..... present for you.” he said, barely catching his breath.

“What is it Cheetor?” he questioned.

“Cheetor-Maximize!” Once he was standing, he walked to the lift controls and brought it up. All of the Maximals were shocked to see Waspinator’s wrecked body lying on the lift.

“Cheetor! How did you......?”

“It was simple, Bigbot. I was scoping out Grid Delta when I spotted ol’ buzzhead here flying almost perfect for once. He was buzzing through the valley at top speed, so I knew something was up. I took aim and brought him down! And each time he wouldn’t answer my questions, I shot him again. Finally he went into stasis, so I had to quit hurting him.” he said with smile.

“Dinobot, put him in the holding cell till he comes around. Then maybe we can get some answers.” Optimus said.

When Waspinator awoke, he was very uncooperative. Optimus threatened that if he didn’t start talking, he would hand him over to Dinobot for a while. When he was finished, Dinobot sat Waspinator’s battered head on the imaging table.

“Now TALK!” Optimus demanded.

“Mmmm. Waspinator not know where Megatron take hippo. Mmm. Megatron send Waspinator to get supplies, but cat-bot hurt Waspinator! Megatron hurt Waspinator too, when not return with parts! Wasp....”

“Shut-up!” everyone said in unison.

“We just want to know where our big green buddy is, ya stinkin’ Pred!” Rattrap said.

“Calm down Rattrap. Waspinator, where is Megatron?” Optimus asked.

“Mmmmm. Megatron with new friends. Mmm. Megatron fly away in new.......” at that point, he went into stasis lock again.

“Well, it’s amazing he lasted this long.” Cheetor said.

When Rhinox awoke, he was bound in stasis binders, sitting on the floor of a space ship that appeared to be as big as the Axalon. Megatron and a few Predacons entered the room and approached him.

“I see our new partner is finally awake. Yes. How did you sleep Maximal? Unpleasant I hope.” Megatron said with a grin.

“Blow it out your exhaust port, Megatron. Tell me what you want with me or shut-up. I don’t have the patience to listen to you.”

“Oh, believe me, you’ll listen.” he said with a laugh and lifted his T-Rex head. Rhinox noticed there was a small control panel in its mouth. Megatron flipped a switch and Rhinox was racked by horrible pain.

“Oh, that looks like it hurts. Perhaps I should stop now.” Megatron said dryly, and flipped another switch.

“I have installed an ion-inhibitor on your spark, Rhinox. If you don’t do what I say, I’ll shut you down one atom at a time.” This time all of the Predacons laughed.

“Bring him.” Megatron said. He turned and walked down a long corridor.

Scorpinok and Terrorsaur pushed Rhinox along behind him. They passed through a large sliding door into what looked like a laboratory.

“Here is what I want you to do, Rhinox. I wish to possess the Maximal stasis pods orbiting this pitiful planet and you are going to build a device to bring them down.”

‘Oh no,’ Rhinox thought, ‘didn’t I do this already?’

“Why can’t you just go get them with your new ship here?” he asked.

“Because your pods produce an electrical field which interferes with our….uh….my ship’s systems, Maximal. Now get to work or I’ll give you another lesson in spark maintenance. Yes.”

He and Terrorsaur left the room as Scorpinok stayed to guard him.

Optimus and the Maximals were in the cargo hold preparing for battle. It had been five solar-cycles since Rhinox had disappeared and Optimus looked like he was ready to blow a gasket.

He was on edge with everyone and he tried to make up for it by staying confident they would find him. They were loading up with all of the armament they could carry when Tigertron walked in.

“My friends, there may be another way to do this.” he said.

“How!? It’s been nearly a week and there’s been no sign of Rhinox or the Predacons. So I say we go find them!” Optimus said, drawing his sword.

“I was scouting Grid Beta in the northern sector when I was knocked off my feet by a strong gust of wind. Then I smelled proton particles.”

“Proton particles! Those can only come from a trans-warp capable ship!” Optimus said.

“But I didn’t see a ship.”

“A cloakin’ device. Of course! That’s why we can’t find ‘em.” Rattrap said.

“It still doesn’t make sense though. Megatron doesn’t have the resources to build a ship, especially one with a cloaking device.” Optimus said.

“Unload your weapons team. Tigertron is on to something.”

Rhinox had finally finished the device and added a lot of his own adjustments to it. He told Scorpinok to notify Megatron of it’s completion and soon he was thundering down the corridor to the laboratory..

“Good. At last we can finally end the Beast Wars and begin conquering Cybertron. Yes. How soon before we can begin, maximal?”

“In about one deca-cycle. But there is a small problem. I can only bring down three pods at a time. I didn’t have enough equipment to fully compensate for the energon radiation, so it’s effectiveness is limited.” Rhinox said.

“It will suffice, just as long as it works. Otherwise, your spark will be joining them in space on its way to your precious Matrix!” Megatron said sarcastically. “I’ll return in one deca-cycle. Make sure you contact.......” He was stopped in mid-sentence by a strange voice over his comm system. He was told to report to somewhere immediately and he exited without another word.

‘Who would order ol’ Megs around?’ Rhinox thought. Then he noticed he was alone and this was his chance. He quickly went to the far wall and carved a small hole in the hull with a laser cutter. When Scorpinok had fallen asleep on the job, Rhinox cobbled together a laser pulse communicator. He aimed it out of the hole and hoped that maybe one of his friends would receive it.

CHAPTER 2

“This is Rhinox. I’m being held onboard a strange Predacon ship. Megatron is forcing me to build a device to bring down stasis pods for him. But I’ve tricked him and have predetermined where they will land. I have programmed them to touch down in Grid Earon of the eastern sector. Get there quickly Maximals. I’ll be sending them the landing codes in less than a deca-cycle! Good luck.”

Cheetor quickly played back the message for Optimus. It had been only chance that he was scanning the comm frequencies when he discovered Rhinox’s message. Within a few clicks they were racing out to the area he spoke of. Once they arrived, everyone took up defensive positions to prevent an ambush. Megatron was known for dirty plans and this could be one of them.

Megatron stood before Rhinox and demanded that he stop stalling and bring down the pods. Rhinox activated the device and a tracking grid appeared on the screen showing the stasis pods orbiting the planet. Instantly, three of them left orbit and began to descend single file to the planet. Megatron didn’t notice however that the name of the place where they would land was not on the screen.

“What are the coordinates of their landing site, Rhinox?” Megatron asked.

“3,4,8, in Grid Mirna. They should be down in about 30 clicks.” he told him. By the time Megatron figured out what was happening, Rhinox hoped to be out of the ship, and the new protoforms should already be Maximals. Megatron left once again they left him alone in the lab.

Rhinox checked his readings to make sure the pods were on course. Satisfied of the results he activated the self-destruct sequence on the machine and set it to execute as soon as the pods were on the ground. He exited the laboratory and when he saw the hallway was empty, he headed towards the bridge. Behind him, a malfunction in the device caused an additional two pods to begin their landing sequence and they headed for a very distant sector of the planet. But that is a story for another day.

Optimus heard a sound and looked up to see three little white dots coming out of the sky. Maybe it wasn’t a trap after all. After several minutes they finally came in and softly touched down in front on them. The Maximals left their positions and approached the pods when they suddenly heard an explosion in the distance. They saw smoke and fire billowing from an invisible source in the air.

Rhinox entered the bridge and snuck up behind Scorpinok and punched him in the side of the head. Then he grabbed his right claw and shot Waspinator with one of the missiles. Then he shot Tarantulas who was sitting at the ship’s weapons.

Waspinator had been piloting the ship so now it began to fall, out of control. Rhinox headed for an exit on the right wall. He hit the panel and it slid open. He had enough time to see his friends in the distance before his device exploded! The shock rocked the entire ship and Rhinox nearly fell. As he was preparing to jump Megatron appeared at the entrance to the bridge.

“No one deceives me and gets away with it, Maximal. No!” and he raised the ion-inhibitor. Pain shot through Rhinox’s body as he fell out of the ship.

Optimus watched as the ship’s cloaking device deactivated and they got their chance to see the entire ship. It was definitely a Predacon ship resembling a huge bat, with Rhinox standing in a doorway of it! He watched in horror as Rhinox fell out of the ship, and crashed to the ground.

“Rhinox!” he yelled, as he and the Maximals ran to where he landed. Overhead, Megatron’s roaring could faintly be heard over the rumble of the ship’s failing engines and the fire.

They got to his side and Optimus knelt down beside him to check his condition. The ship crashed over a hill as he tried to talk to him.

“Rhinox! Wake up big guy! Its me Optimus.” he said pleadingly.

“He’s all right, bigbot. He’s just in stasis lock. He’ll be fine.” Cheetor assured him. Behind them, the stasis pod’s began their replication process. Three scanning fields emerged from the pods and encircled the area looking for suitable life forms to imprint on the protoforms inside. As the Maximals were picking up Rhinox the new Maximals were emerging. Optimus and the others got to the pods, and saw three animals standing beside them. Optimus stepped up to them and offered his greetings.

“I am Optimus Primal. Leader of the Maximals. Welcome.” he said. A large blue, baboon walked up to him. He stood nearly as tall as Optimus.

“I’m B’Boom.” he said. The second one spoke and this one was a buffalo about Tigertron’s height.

“The name’s Bonecrusher.”

The last one was a small white rabbit about the size of Rattrap.

“I’m Stampy, surveillance expert. My senses are top of the line. I can hear a maintenance bot squeak from fifteen miles away, during a fire fight with six Preds with large weapons! I can smell hydraulic oil that was buried seven years ago, under ten meters of soil. I can see anything within a fifteen click area, without even trying to focus. My senses are so.....” B’Boom snatched him up off the ground by his ears.

“And....you talk to much!” he said.

“Yeah, I do that too.” Stampy said with a sigh. “Oh, and look out behind you Optimus.” he said calmly. Optimus, caught off guard, quickly turned around as did the others, weapons raised. Terrorsaur and Scorpinok were just topping the hill and were aiming at them.

“Maximals, blast ‘em!” Optimus said, and they all opened fire. Terrosaur and Scorpinok disappeared screaming beneath the onslaught.

“That’s it, guys. There’s no sign of activity over there. Maybe they are all off line.” Stampy said.

“I don’t think we could get that lucky, kid.” Rattrap told him.

“Well team, since we’ve met our new friends now, let’s head back to the base and take care of Rhinox.” Optimus said.

Megatron attempted to dig his self free of the wreckage, but was having no luck. The rubble to his left began to move, and a giant figure rose from within it and blocked out the sun. A huge claw reached down and removed Megatron from his imprisonment and set him down a few meters away. Then it began to dig through and recover the other Predacons.

“Those blasted Maximals will pay for this. Yes. They will most certainly pay for this, dearly.”

Megatron stated vengefully.

CHAPTER 3

Several weeks later, Stampy and Rattrap were scouting in Grid Theta, searching for signs of Predacon activity. The thought of a Predacon with a ship aiding Megatron bothered all of them. It had been really hard for Rattrap to get a word in during their trip, but he was glad to have a new friend. It was a change of pace from fighting with Dinobot all the time.

“So anyway, tell me what Cybertron is like Rattrap. I was only a protoform when we left, so I didn’t get to see it.” Stampy said, his long ears twitching nervously.

“Well kid, think of it as a giant metal ball in space wit’ everyone crawlin’ all over th’ outside of it. Yeah, it sounds ugly, but its actually one of the most beautiful planets in the universe! The buildings and monuments are so gorgeous, ya could look at ‘em for deca-cycles on end and never get tired of ‘em!”

“It does sound wondrous! Maybe after we kick Megatron’s metal you could show me around?” Stampy asked.

“You got it kid!” Rattrap said cheerfully. He was about to say something more, when Stampy started stomping his foot frantically, signaling that something had alerted his senses. Then he turned towards a distant hill.

“What it is?” Rattrap whispered.

“Predacons. Two of them. Smells like.....Scorponok and Tarantulas. And they’re carrying something. It’s a .........trans-warp cell.” Stampy said, sniffing the air.

“How can you tell that?”

“I can smell its electrical field. They should be topping the hill in fifteen clicks. What do we do?”

“It’s simple. You’re a rabbit aren’t ‘cha? Get ta digging us a hole!” Rattrap said.

“You got it!” he said and started digging. Within a few seconds it was almost ten feet deep. Rattrap jumped in and Stampy followed.

“Megatron will be pleased that we recovered this transwarp cell from the crashed ship.” Scorponok said confidently.

“I don’t care what that idiotic saurian thinks. General Sea Clamp of the Tripredacus council is the real power here! Megatron is nothing to him! And now that he is here, I can leave this dustball of a planet and aid the Generals in taking over Cybertron! With the energon on this planet, conquering the Maximals will be no problem for us!” Tarantulas said, laughing maniacally.

“Megatron will smelt you down into scrap for saying that!” Scorponok said.

Tarantulas turned to hit Scorponok when the ground gave way beneath their feet and they fell into a deep hole. Moments later Rattrap and Stampy popped up out of the ground.

“Stampy- Maximize!”

“Rattrap- Maximize!” they said almost in unison, and peered down at the two unconscious Predacons. Stampy was a skinny Maximal with a body that resembled a knight’s armor with a mix of fur and metal covering it, a large face with big, innocent eyes. And his ears became swords for him.

“Good job kiddo. But what do we do about that cell?” Rattrap said.

“I got it.” Stampy said, and lept down into the hole. Rattrap was suddenly blasted in the back and flew over the hole!

“RATTRAP!” Stampy yelled. Before he could jump out to see who shot him, a giant bug resembling a lobster walked to the edge of the hole.

“Sea Clamp- Terrorize!” it spoke, and transformed into a large, gruesome looking Predacon.

“Greetings small one.” he said to Stampy. “Do I scare you? No? Well it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to be afraid of anything anymore. Because your life is OVER!” He blasted the wall of the hole and it collapsed in on Stampy. After the dirt had settled Stampy realized he was not injured. He began digging, and listened to see where that beast was above him. Leaving the transwarp cell buried, he managed to quietly come up behind his foe and saw that he was walking towards Rattrap. Stampy climbed out, and quietly transformed. He didn’t have any weapons except for his swords and Stampy managed to get close enough to strike. With one swift blow to the back of his knee, Sea Clamp collapsed to the ground roaring in anger and pain. As he spun around to strike at Stampy, the little rabbit lept up over him and landed just in front of Rattrap.

“Here kid........ use .....these.” Rattrap managed to say, and threw two sticky bombs at Stampy, before going into stasis lock. He caught them and turned around just in time to see Sea Clamp struggling to his feet.

“You’ll burn in the fires of the Inferno for this, RODENT!!” he roared. Before he could fire, the little Maximal threw the bombs at him. Sea Clamp managed to catch one of them, but the other stuck to his right shoulder joint. As he tried to shake them lose Stampy dove to cover Rattrap. The explosives detonated, disintegrating his hand and almost blowing off his arm. Stampy jumped onto his chest and began to hack away with incredible speed at the damaged joint until the arm fell off. Then he stabbed Sea Clamp in the chest but before he could do more, the big Predacon knocked him aside like a fly. Then he turned and hobbled off into the distance mumbling something about revenge.

“Well that was fun.” he said with a smile. He turned to pick up Rattrap but the energon radiation got to him and he had to change back to beast mode. He grabbed Rattrap by the tail and dragged him back to the Axalon.

Optimus was checking on Rhinox’s recovery when the ship suddenly shook. He ran to the scanners and saw that Megatron, Terrorsaur, and Waspinator had all taken up positions to the rear of the Axalon and were blasting away at the shields. Optimus hit the alarm and called B’Boom over the intercom.

“B’Boom! Get to the rear loading bay immediately! It’s time we tested out your new transformation mode.”

“You got it!” he answered, and ran to the bay. Just then, Dinobot came running into the bridge and transformed into robot mode.

“This is unlike Megatron. He does’nt usually attack so soon....after a defeat. Hssss. Has he gone mad?! Hgggh.” Dinobot questioned.

“With an ego like Megatron’s it’s no telling what he’s thinking. B’Boom should be in position now.” Optimus said with a smile.

They both turned to look at the view screen just in time to see the loading elevator raise B’Boom into position.

“B’Boom- Artillery mode!” He lept into the air and transformed into what looked like a large laser blaster on a tripod. The only things that resembled his previous form were his legs and his blue fur. He even had a different head. He was loaded down with missiles as well and he opened fire. Megatron and the Predacons never knew what hit them. After it was over, the only sound was the low hiss of B’Boom’s guns cooling off. He transformed to robot mode as Optimus was ascending on the lift behind him.

“Looks like a successful test! Wouldn’t you agree?” Optimus said.

“Yes.” B’Boom said with a smile trying his best to mimic Megatron. As they were about to reenter the ship, Dinobot came over the comm system and told them that Cheetor was returning to the ship with Stampy and a very badly damaged Rattrap.

“Primal jets- on! Maximum Burn!” Optimus said and took off to meet up with his friends.

“B’Boom, tell Dinobot to get the R chambers ready!” he said before he got out of range. Optimus was only a few clicks away when he spotted them. He landed questioned Stampy while he picked up Rattrap. After hearing what had happened he rocketed back to the ship and got Rattrap to the R chamber. According to the computer, another few cycles and Rattrap would have been lost. Stampy and Cheetor got back just as Rhinox was exiting his chamber. They gave him the latest news and the introductions were made all around. And Rhinox was very anxious to meet Megatron again and his new ally, the Tripredacus General.

CHAPTER 4

Sea Clamp was being raised out of the CR chamber and overheard a conversation between Waspinator and Terrorsaur.

“Mmmm...Waspinator spot ship first. Mmmm... I get to tell Megatron!”

“No! I found it, and I’ll tell him personally, you flying scrap pile!” Terrorsaur yelled. “Mmmm...NO you won’t!”

“YES I WILL!”

“BOTH OF YOU SHUTUP!!! Megatron bellowed. He entered the bridge, thundering with every step.

“Megatron-TERRORIZE! Now, what have you two idiots found, Terrorsaur.”

“We...uh that is, I am currently tracking a spacecraft entering the atmosphere.” he said, after sticking his tongue out at Waspinator.

“Well, it seems we are going to have another visitor. Yes. Do you know anything about this, Sea Clamp?”

“No. But if you will move aside.... I will tune your highly inadequate scanners so that we can identify this ship.” Sea Clamp said, shoving Megatron out of his way. Megatron growled under his breath at him.

“Ah ha. There we go. It’s Ramhorn’s ship. One of the other Tripredacus Generals. At last we can destroy the Maximals and head back to Cybertron. And now that I have possession of the Maximal Golden Disk, their defeat will be simplicity itself!”

“What do you mean ‘you have the disk? The disk is MINE! And I will destroy the Maximals with your HELP! Yes!” Megatron announced, visibly angry now.

“Oh, really?! Have you forgotten who rules the Predacon empire? I order, you obey! If not, I can arrange a lightspeed trip to the Inferno!! You are a mere pawn in my scheme for domination! You are not worthy of even kissing my skid plates!!! If it wasn’t for your troops, I wouldn’t have even come to help you!!” he stopped his speech suddenly when he heard a familiar voice over the comm system.

As he turned to the screen, Megatron looked as if he was ready to explode! He grabbed Terrorsaur by the throat and dragged him away with him down the hall. Once he was far enough away from the bridge, he let go of Terrorsaur.

“That Tripredacus scum will suffer most dearly for this outrage!! Terrosaur, assemble all Predacons in the storage bay immediately! I’m going to show him who is really in charge here. I want to feel his spark extinguish in my hands!!”

“Yes Megatron.” Terrosaur said, cowering with fear. He had never seen Megatron so angry. Back in the bridge, Waspinator had flown away, and Tarantulas came floating in on one of the ship’s hover-platform. He got beside Sea Clamp just as he began to speak to the pilot of the ship.

“General Ramhorn. This is General Sea Clamp. I am pleased to see you homed in on the distress signal of my ship. Are you alone, or did you bring reinforcements?”

“Yes I am alone, General. But Cicadacon is on his way. He should arrive in less than a solar cycle. He is attending to the design of our newest transwarp cruiser. What is your situation?” a rough, low voice said.

“I have the Predacon forces under my command, but Megatron is proving to be unruly. His devilish agenda to find energon and use it to conquer Cybertron is still in effect and I believe after the Maximals are beaten he will set his sights on us. We must stop him even if it means his termination.”

In the storage bay of the Predacon ship all of his soldiers were assembled there except for Tarantulas. He was determined to put his plan into motion very soon and with a new Predacon ship all of his enemies would fall within a short amount of time. He gave the signal for everyone to head to their duties, while he went back to the bridge.

Optimus watched as Rattrap exited the R chamber. Now that everyone was back to normal it was time for him to explain the mission to stop the Predacons.

“Thanks to Stampy and Cheetors’ recon mission, we now know that another Predacon has arrived on the planet. We also know who they are.” he said, pausing briefly.

“Don’t keep us in suspense, boss monkey. I owe those creeps one for blastin’ me in th’ back!” Rattrap said angrily.

“Calm down Rattrap. The new Predacons are two of the Tripredacus Generals, Sea Clamp and Ram Horn. We have to move NOW Maximals! If all three of the Generals get together, there will be no stopping Megatron. It’s bad enough just dealing with him. But with these new reinforcements, it doesn’t look good for us. So we have to hit them hard and fast! Arm yourselves Maximals! We’re going to battle!”

In the armory, everyone was grabbing all of the ammo they could carry, except for Bonecrusher. Dinobot noticed that he was aiding the others in loading up, but he wasn’t grabbing anything himself.

“Ssss. Why do you not arm yourself, Bonecrusher? Hss. Are you not going into battle? Are you afraid? Perhaps…..you should sstay in your quarters, until this….is over?” he said sarcastically.

“Yes, I am going into battle! But I don’t use weapons! A bot’s actions determine who he is, not how badly he can destroy something. I use strategy to defeat my enemies and if that doesn’t work, I’ll use my fists! Care to see how I do it?!” Bonecrusher got right up in Dinobot’s face. He wasn’t used to someone questioning his ways and it made him angry to think that Dinobot considered him a coward.

“We’ll see. Perhaps…..you are a warrior after all. Time...Sss...will tell. Hgggh.” Dinobot said with a erie grin. He turned and walked back to the ammo locker, unaware of Bonecrusher’s angry gaze at him.

Sea Clamp and the Predacons were standing just outside the rear hatch of Megatron’s ship, waiting for Ram Horn. Megatron looked to each one of his troops to make sure that they were ready and each of them nodded in acknowledgment. A door in the underside of the ship opened and a large Predacon resembling a beetle walked off.

“I trust all is ready, Sea Clamp?”

“Yes, Ramhorn, all is ready.” he answered and they both turned and took aim at Megatron!

“Isn’t that right.....Tarantulas?” Sea Clamp asked. Megatron turned around to see Tarantulas standing directly behind him, ready to fire as well.

“So, I am betrayed after all. And by one of my own! Well, I do believe this confrontation will be very entertaining. Yes!” Megatron stated. Sea Clamp took a step towards him and spoke.

“Megatron, we know of your little ‘agenda’ to conquer the Maximals and then overthrow us, the true leaders of the Predacon alliance. For this you have been labeled a traitor and must be treated as such. You will be stripped of weapons and bound in stasis until our return to Citadel, where you will be melted down to make maintenance bots. And I will personally keep your spark as a night light in my quarters!”

Megatron was about to reply when he was cut off by a signal on Sea Clamp’s comm system.

“Generals! This is Cicadacon. I will be landing in fifteen clicks. My ship has suffered damage due to an Ion Storm and it will be unable to return home. It’s transwarp drive is critically damaged. Be ready to leave once I arrive. We have important matters to attend to.”

“Excellent! Megatron, your life will soon be over!” Sea Clamp said with a toothy grin. As he was about to fire on Megatron, he was suddenly blasted in the shoulder and knocked off balance for a second. All of the other Predacons were shot as well as the Maximals topped a hill and opened fire. Optimus took to the air and raised his shoulder cannons. Firing on the Generals, he used his arm cannon to fire at the other Predacons. Nobody seemed to notice Megatron run away except for Tarantulas. Megatron shot him point blank and he was blown backwards into the side of the ship. Megatron ran away mumbling something about a worthless traitor. As the Predacons ran for cover they were all taken down one at a time. Even after they had fallen the Maximals continued to shoot. The Generals, however, stood their ground. They returned fire, damaging several of the Maximals. Optimus was preparing to fire his shoulders cannons again when Ram Horn blasted him in the face.

“Optimus!!” Cheetor screamed and opened fire on the Predacon. He collapsed under the onslaught of laser blasts and when Sea Clamp turned to aim at Cheetor, he was shot as well.

“Dinobot! You and Bonecrusher go get Optimus! We’ll cover ya!” Rattrap said.

“Rhinox, you and B’Boom see if you can cobble together a bomb so that we can take out that ship! The rest of you, blast those lousy Preds!”

Megatron had just exited his ship and made his way behind cover towards the other Predacon ship. His soldiers were really getting injured, but his only concern was to destroy the Generals. If he could get control of their ship, it’s armament should be more than enough to take them out. As he was about to ascend the loading ramp, a large shuttle-type spacecraft decloaked to his right.

“What...!” he started to say but he was blasted across the battlefield. His smoking body collapsed on top of Tarantulas. Then the ship rose in the air to turn it’s weapons on the Maximals. They dove for cover as it opened fire. One by one they were shot down.

Dinobot and Bonecrusher had just gotten back from retrieving their fallen leader, when the buffalo saw that Stampy was about to be shot. He ran to protect the small Maximal just as the ship fired. When Bonecrusher opened his eyes, he was holding Stampy in his arms and they were both surrounded by a force field. He saw that the field was being emitted from devices on the sides of his legs. It covered an area of about ten feet wide and was shaped like a huge bubble. Amazed at this new ability, he checked to see if Stampy was all right. Unfortunately, Dinobot took some of the blast and they watched helplessly as he went into stasis lock.

The Predacon shuttle turned and flew over to land in front of the Generals. After a few moments a large transformer walked off of the ship. This one resembled a large fly or grasshopper.

“Generals, get up and act like Predacons! Megatron is defeated and the Maximals are crushed. Let us board your ship, Ram Horn, and destroy them all from the sky.” The other two had stood up and they began to walk to the ship. As they got closer, they saw that Rhinox and B’Boom were just leaving it. Roaring in anger all three opened fire on them but they managed to dodge the blasts and run off into the distance.

Sea Clamp and the others quickly ran onto the ship to inspect the damage when Cicadacon yelled from the armory to say that he had found a bomb and it was getting ready to explode! As he ran to the exit to throw it out he tripped over something and the bomb flew out of his hand. It landed across from him in the engine room. He got to his feet and ran to warn the others, when it exploded.

“Cicadacon, how serious is the damage?” Sea Clamp asked.

“The Transwarp cell has been damaged! If we want to go home we have to leave now before it destabilizes and destroys us all. It has just enough energy to get us back.

Oh, and Ram horn is damaged.” he said.

“I think it’s time for us to depart. Close the ramp and take off. NOW! Megatron is finished, and the Maximals are surely defeated!” Sea Clamp said confidently.

“Don’t count on it, creep!” a little squeaky voice said from behind him. He swivelled in his chair to see Stampy in the doorway.

“I can’t let you leave without a good bye gift, now can I?” he said, and threw one of Rattrap’s sticky bombs at him. Cicadacon shot at him, but Stampy bolted for the rear hatch. The bomb exploded taking off Sea Clamp’s hand again and he roared in pain. Ram Horn appeared from a doorway, badly damaged, but still functioning and raised his gun to shot Stampy. In mid-run Stampy lept into the air kicking the gun from his hand with on foot and hitting him in the face with the other. Landing back on the floor, he was at the door and gone before the Predacon collapsed. Cicadacon turned back to the controls and the ship lifted off.

“I’m going to destroy that rodent, even if it means we all die!” Sea Clamp stated vengefully, and staggered to the weapons controls.

“We have to leave now, General, or we ARE going to die!” Cicadacon said, but Sea Clamp ignored him. Cicadacon turned to steady the ship as the other Predacon prepared to fire.

CHAPTER 5

Stampy was running across the battlefield heading for cover when the ship came up behind him. He stopped and turned around to face his destiny when he realized that he wouldn’t make it to cover in time. He stood his ground heroically as the weapons powered up to fire. He thought how nice it would have been to have gotten to know the other Maximals better. He wouldn’t even get to see Cybertron now. He closed his eyes as the weapons locked in on him and fired.

Rhinox was helping Optimus get to his feet when he heard the ship. He looked over the top of the hill to see the Predacon ship bearing down on little Stampy! Optimus turned around just as the ship opened fire.

Rattrap blasted a boulder off of his leg and saw the Predacon ship fire on Stampy. All he could do was watch in horror as his little friend was about to be scrapped.

Sea Clamp laughed maniacally at the explosion below. He didn’t get to see the results of the attack however as Cicadacon turned the ship around and began to leave the planet.

Stampy opened his eyes as he lay on the ground and saw that B’Boom’s smoking and charred body was only a few feet away.

“By the Matrix, NO!” he screamed as he ran to the baboon’s side. Optimus and the others had gotten there as well.

“B’Boom speak to me, please! Why did you do it? Of all the stupid things to .....” Stampy sounded crazy as he rambled on trying to wake him up. Optimus reached out to grab Stampy but he jerked his shoulder away and continued to try and revive his friend. After a few moments he opened his eyes a little.

“Stampy.....you’re okay......I was.....worried.....thought you were.......slag.......” he barely managed to say.

“Why did you do it, you big ape?” Stampy questioned, almost yelling.

“Had...to.....all....life...is..precious....Stampy.....I’d gladly....give my.....life for.....any..of.....you.....looks.....like I ......did.......live...well......” he said as his eyes closed.

“NOOOO!” Stampy collapsed to his knees, holding his head, and Rattrap reached out to comfort him.

“He died a true warrior. What he did wass very honorable. Hsss.” Dinobot said softly.

Stampy stood up and transformed to beast mode and ran away towards the hill where Bonecrusher was standing. He had been trying to revive the others when this horrible event had happened and had only just realized that B’Boom was lost. As Stampy walked up to him and began to speak, B’Boom’s spark rose from his body and into the darkening sky. After it was gone, Optimus and the others turned to go when suddenly the Predacon shuttle lifted off the ground and took off into the sky. Then a message came in over Optimus’ comm system.

“Stampy to Optimus, come in.”

“Stampy! What in the name of Primus are you doing?”

“I’m going after those slaggin’ Predacons! I’m sorry for doing this but we feel we have to. For B’Boom and for all of you! We’ll either take them out or die trying. We three came online together so we are more like family than friends. Our fallen ‘brother’ MUST BE AVENGED!!” Stampy declared.

“Wish us luck, guys!” Bonecrusher said, before the channel closed. The shuttle turned and rocketed off into the sky as Optimus yelled for them to return. It disappeared into the clouds as the Maximals watched and waited.

Stampy piloted the shuttle as if he had been doing it for decades. He pushed the thrusters to maximum and headed straight for the other ship. The distance between them decreased quickly and Bonecrusher just barely had enough time to target the weapons.

“Hit them with everything we have big guy!” Stampy said. “As soon as you get a target lock, let ‘em have it!! We’ll teach those lousy Preds not to mess with the Maximals again!”

“Almost in range, Stampy. Plasma cannons, and pulse torpedoes ready!”

They were almost on top of them when the other ship suddenly began firing. Although only one cannon was shooting at them, the shuttle took several direct hits. Stampy’s piloting skills were really being tested now as the ship began to lose power.

“FIRE!” he yelled to Bonecrusher. The shuttles weapons blasted away at the Generals’ ship.

Holes tore into the hull and it began to spin out of control. As it spun around the Predacons opened fire again and this time it was the Maximals’ ship that began to spin. Warning alarms went off as the control panels blew out and Stampy dove for cover behind a chair. Bonecrusher was still his chair trying to fire on the other ship when Stampy saw that it had apparently regained power and resumed it’s course. He watched as a transwarp portal opened in space and the ship went into it. For just a brief second the shuttle seemed to steady itself and Bonecrusher launched a barrage of laser fire and torpedoes.

As the ship disappeared into the portal the weapon’s fire entered as well. Seconds later there was a tremendous explosion and the portal vanished. Stampy and Bonecrusher cheered with excitement at what had just happened, but their victory was short lived. Their little craft began to shake so violently, that they thought it would fly apart. The entire bridge went dark as the power systems blew out. Stampy struggled to get to a nearby window to see that they were falling towards the planet. His sharp sense of hearing detected the sound of the engine’s power core overloading and the transwarp cells finally destabilizing. From the reddening glow of the ship reentry, Stampy could see Bonecrusher’s face. He was smiling, but sadly.

“Sorry buddy,” he said, “I should have taken them out when I had the chance.”

“No, it’s okay Bonecrusher. Like Dinobot said, giving your life for a friend is an honorable thing to do. And the way I see it, not only did we avenge our friend but we saved the other Maximals as well. I just wish......”

“What, Stampy?”

“I just wish I could have gotten to see Cybertron.”

“Me too, kid.”

Optimus and the others watched as the small light in the sky began to burn and disappear over the horizon. Stampy and Bonecrusher would live on forever as warriors and heroes. They gathered up B’Boom’s body and headed home to lay their friend to rest.

Continued in Book 2.………