Plays of Shadow

By: Amber Dawn

Chapter 4: Departure

PG-13

Language

Disclaimer: Beast Wars belongs to Hasbro

“…and then, whoosh, and I was out.”

Cheetor flopped down in a chair after finishing his story. As soon as he had exited the CR chamber, Optimus had demanded to hear his rendition of what had happened with the strange female. Gazing around the Maximal base’s command center, Cheetor gauged his friends’ reactions to his tale. Rattrap leaned on one arm against a computer console, recently having exited the CR chamber himself. Silverbolt, also recently recovered, sat somberly at a monitor, saying nothing. Rhinox was typing away at yet another console, muttering to himself and trying to find any explanation for the odd energon attack that the femme had used. Dinobot had stayed behind in the clearing, guarding the fallen ship. Optimus, who had listened patiently to Cheetor’s tale, was now pacing the command center, obviously doing some quick strategizing.

“So you have no idea where she could be?” he asked for the third time.

“No, Big Bot. I tell ya, she disappeared. There are plenty of places to hide in that jungle, and who knows, she might not be anywhere near there anymore!”

“I am definitely not picking anything up on the scanners,” Silverbolt put in, gazing at his monitor screen.

Optimus grunted and continued pacing. “And you say she made a comment about other ‘bots, males in particular?”

“Yeah,” Rattrap confirmed, trying to remember. “Yeah, she said somethin’ like… ‘All males ever want is control.’”

Optimus quit his pacing, which was good because Cheetor’s head was starting to spin.

“Well, we can’t just leave her out there,” the transmetal ape rationalized, “she may be damaged, and so far we have no proof that she’s an enemy.”

“No, of course not,” Rattrap commented, his voice dripping sarcasm, “Y’know, except for the part when she tried ta scrap us!”

“Rattrap, I’m telling you,” Cheetor argued, “she was scared!”

“She looked pretty mellow when we got there!”

“’Cause I was talking to her!”

“Oh, yeah, your calm and sensitive words just calmed ‘er right down, eh?”

“Shut up! You’re just jealous!”

“Jealous? You gotta be kiddin’ m-“

“ENOUGH!” Optimus bellowed, putting a stop to the smaller ‘bots’ bickering. They fell silent but stared at each other, fuming. Cheetor’s cheeks were aflame, and Rattrap’s optics were so narrow they were slits.

“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Optimus sighed. “I’m out of ideas. We can’t leave her out there; she’s an easy target for Megatron. But if she’s as scared as you say, Cheetor, or as crazy as you think, Rattrap, then she’s a potential danger to us as well.”

Silverbolt cleared his throat.

“Might I make a suggestion?” the fuzor piped up. He was still uneasy after his embarrassing defeat at the battle earlier.

“Go ahead,” Optimus granted, turning his attention to Silverbolt.

“Well, as Rattrap mentioned, this new female seems to have an –erm- discomfort around those of the opposite gender. However, she may not have the same prejudice regarding fellow females. I propose that we test this theory by sending a female to find her and speak to her.”

Optimus blinked. “You may be onto something there, Silverbolt. Rattrap, see if you can patch through a communication to Airazor. She and Tigatron last checked in from coordinates 8-4-2. Search the grid surrounding that point.”

Without a word, Rattrap swung himself into a chair and started typing instructions into the computer console. All was silent in the command center as Rattrap searched for their comrades. Finally, a beep was heard and the scanner screen zoomed in on a grid somewhere in the central sector of the continent. Two blips represented by Maximal icons blinked on and off, moving slowly.

Everyone gathered around the monitor as Rattrap punched more buttons, trying to establish a communication link.

After a few seconds, Rattrap let out a triumphant whoop.

“Gotcha,” he hissed, holding down the comm. button and putting his mouth close to the speaker.

“Yo, Bird Lady, this is the Maximal Base. You readin’ me?”

Everyone held their breath as silence prevailed. Finally, a static crackle erupted from the speaker. When it passed, Airazor’s smooth feminine voice could be heard clearly.

“Mornin’, Base. This is Airazor. Long time no hear. What’s the occasion?”

Blackarachnia hissed in pain and pulled her leg back. The instrument panel she had just brushed against sparked dangerously, mocking her.

She had taken care of Silverbolt quickly, and had been ready to rejoin the battle when Optimus Primal and Dinobot showed up. Knowing a losing fight when she saw one, Blackarachnia had prudently left the Maximals to dispose of Tarantulas and the others, and had used the cover of gun blasts to sneak off and investigate the remains of Fleetshade’s ship.

She knew she had to move quickly, before the Maximals won the battle and decided to investigate for themselves. All she needed was a few cycles to take a look around and see if the ship could be repaired, and if not, if she could at least salvage some spare parts.

Stealthily, she had made her way in beast mode to the ship. The downed craft had stopped smoking, and on closer inspection had proved cool enough to enter without inflicting immediate damage to her beast mode. The exterior was badly warped and damaged by the heat of the crash, and was probably beyond repair. The ship had rolled so that the hatch was raised a few meters off the ground, and the opening had been melted partly shut. Blackarachnia had had to hoist herself up with her webbing and wriggle though the small opening. It was a miracle that the ship had landed in just the right position that Fleetshade had been thrown clear; otherwise the girl would have been trapped inside the scalding hot cockpit.

The interior was a mess, as Blackarachnia had predicted. It was obvious that this ship would be going nowhere in the foreseeable future. Despite being somewhat cooled off, it was still baking hot in there, and the heat was quickly sapping the she-spider’s energy.

She had been disappointed to discover the transwarp drive was completely scrapped, but there were some other parts that might prove useful to her. Only problem was, her organic beast form couldn’t touch the instruments without getting badly burned.

She transformed to robot mode and set to work disassembling the ship’s control console, searching for any useful parts. Anything she found she threw into the center of the small cockpit, forming a good sized pile of scrap metal, navigation instruments, ignition parts, switches, plugs and other assorted knick-knacks.

After a few cycles, Blackarachnia started to find it harder and harder to move. Her circuits were overheating! Straightening, she gazed around for anything vital she might have missed. Satisfied that she had cleaned the place out pretty well, she reverted to beast mode and quickly spun a cyber web around her pile, creating a sort of sack in which to transport the goods.

Just as she was finishing off, she froze at the sound of quite a few pairs of footsteps outside.

The footsteps stopped abruptly and a deep, gravelly voice rang out from near the ship’s entrance.

“You wish me to remain here and guard the ship?”

“If you would. The Predacons should be out of order for a while, but you can never be too careful. And I’d prefer that Megatron didn’t get his hands on this ship. We’re going to head back to base and get Cheetor and Silverbolt repaired, and then see what we can do about finding that pilot.”

Slag. The first voice had belonged to Dinobot. The second had been Optimus Primal. Blackarachnia searched frantically for another way out, but it appeared that there was only one hatch, and the Maximals were right outside of it! Slag, slag, slag! She tried to be as silent as possible as she continued to listen to the conversation outside.

“As you wish,” Dinobot was saying, “Should I perhaps investigate the interior for anything that may be of use to us?”

‘No,’ Blackarachnia thought frantically, her optics widening, ‘No, no no!’

“That would be helpful. Depending on how long we take, someone will be sent out to relieve you in a megacycle or so. Call the base if something comes up.”

There was a grunt from Dinobot. He muttered something about not needing help to guard a mere ship. There was the sound of transformations, then the rush of departing jets. Silence followed.

It was getting really hot in the cockpit. Blackarachnia panted, finding it hard to draw breath. Her vision started to waver; she hadn’t counted on being in the ship this long. She had to get out of here before her circuits completely overheated and she passed out!

The sound of scraping metal met her audio receptors. She swung around to see Dinobot’s robot head squeezing through the warped hatch. His optics widened when he saw her, and he growled.

“You!” he snarled.

Blackarachnia was finding it really hard to concentrate. She stumbled slightly, feeling kind of woozy. She groaned and muttered her activation code. Transforming to robot mode, she hauled out her missile launcher, aiming it at Dinobot’s protruding head. But the gun was a lot heavier than usual, and she couldn’t seem to aim it right. Dinobot continued to wriggle through the hatch, shouting something about not letting her get away with the parts. She didn’t care what he was saying. Why the Pit was her gun so heavy?

She focused on Dinobot just in time to see him powering up his optic lasers. She dodged to the side as they shot past her, hitting the panel behind her. The sudden movement set her off balance and she fell to her knees with a groan. The damaged panel let out a hiss of steam, scalding her back. She screamed in pain and turned to face Dinobot.

He was multiplying. There were three of him now, and all three had finished wriggling through the hatch and were pulling out their swords.

Blackarachnia shook her head to clear her vision. Now only one Dinobot remained, and he was closing the distance between them quickly.

It was so hot. If she had been human, Blackarachnia would have been soaked in sweat; as it was, she felt as if her armor was melting, sticking to the floor of the cockpit. It wasn’t really melting, but she was stuck just as effectively by the sluggishness caused by her overheated processors.

She finally managed to get off a shot with her missile launcher, but she missed Dinobot by a foot or so, striking the view screen beside him. The screen exploded outward and steam shot out from behind it, hitting Dinobot square in the face.

The swordsbot roared in pain, his hands flying up to shield his eyes. His sword clattered away and he sunk to his knees, blinded for a moment.

Now was her chance, while he was weaponless! Blackarachnia summoned all of her remaining strength to haul herself to her feet. She grabbed her bag of goodies and dragged it across the floor, past Dinobot’s writhing form.

The bag wouldn’t fit through the entrance, so she let fly with another missile. It blasted through the metal around the hatch, creating an opening just large enough for her to squeeze the sack through.

With an almighty heave, Blackarachnia shoved the web sack through the opening. She was just about to crawl through herself when she felt a hand close around her leg.

Tipped off balance, she went sprawling half in-half out of the hatch. Her torso hung over the edge, her head toward the ground below. She couldn’t summon the energy to raise herself back up, so she kicked backwards with all of her strength.

She felt her foot connect with metal. Dinobot released his death hold on her leg and she fell to the ground, landing with a jarring thud in the forest undergrowth.

Out of the oppressive heat of the ship's interior, Blackarachnia gulped deep breaths of clear, cool air. Struggling to her feet, she turned to see Dinobot crawling from the hatch. His face had been severely scalded by the steam, and his eyes were leaking mech fluid. He reverted to beast mode, but the damage to his face persisted. He obviously couldn’t see, but was using his raptor’s sense of smell and hearing to search her out.

She froze, holding her breath. Slowly, silently, she raised her missile launcher. But she was desperately in need of air from being in the heat for so long. Unable to hold her breath any longer, she let it out in a shuddering whoosh.

With a roar of rage, Dinobot charged at her. She dodged and sent him stumbling backwards with a blast from her arms guns, then while he was stunned she transformed to beast mode. Shooting a strand of webbing from her backside, she attached herself to her sack of spare parts and scuttled away as fast as her eight overheated limbs would carry her.

It was the beginning of another beautiful summer day. The sunlight that filtered through the dense forest was rich with the sights and smells of thriving life, but the deeper shadows still held the hint of death that kept all forests in balance.

That was what Airazor loved about this planet: everywhere you looked, everything was balanced. Life and death, shadows and light, predator and prey, new and old. It was flawed perfection, simple intricacy. It was free, and it was mysterious.

A snarl was heard from below, followed by the rustling of leaves. Airazor trained her sharp falcon gaze downward from her perch in the canopy of an old cypress.

A white snow tiger, looking very out of place in this temperate forest, raced out of the cover of ferns to tackle a grazing doe. The lithe animal didn’t even see the predator until it was too late. The tiger killed the deer quickly and mercifully, then raised his head and searched the canopy above.

“Airazor!” Tigatron’s voice was deep and fiery, with a hint of a growl that he may or may not have acquired from his beast mode.

Airazor smiled, or would have if a bird could smile.

Spreading her wings, she glided gracefully to the forest floor, landing beside Tigatron in the ferns. He started when he first caught sight of her, then relaxed.

“I was wondering where you’d got to. No luck hunting?”

“Didn’t have the heart for it this morning,” Airazor answered. She had seen plenty of prey over the last few megacycles that would have been easy to catch, but she had held back. Somehow, she didn’t like the idea of killing anything this morning. Maybe it was whimsy, or maybe it was some sort of strange sixth sense telling her it wasn’t time. She could never be sure.

Tigatron grunted acknowledgement and nodded toward the deer carcass.

“Well, there’s enough here for both of us.”

“Thanks.”

“My pleasure.”

Airazor laughed as Tigatron ruffled her tail feathers coming up behind her. She was suddenly, inexplicably appreciative of his company and the easy warmth the pair of them shared.

In the few weeks since the two Maximals had departed on their mission to search for stasis pods, they had seen far too much death and suffering. Each time they encountered a fallen stasis pod, the protoform inside it had either expired or was so badly damaged that the kindest thing to do had been to put an end to its suffering. Sorrow and regret had been constant companions for much of their journey.

Perhaps it was the mutual need for comfort and reassurance that had brought the two closer together than they ever would have been had they continued to be actively involved in the Beast Wars. Perhaps it was their shared love for the natural wonders this planet had to offer that had formed the love they shared for each other. Whatever it was, Airazor thanked the Matrix or whatever power that may be that Tigatron had chosen to undergo this mission with her. There was nobot else with whom she would have preferred to share both the sorrow and the joy she had experienced.

Airazor fluffed her feathers and was about to tuck into the deer when a loud crackling sound was heard. She screamed and jumped back before she realized it was her comlink. She and Tigatron had been away from the Beast Wars for a few weeks already. During that time, they had been required only to check in with the Maximal base every few days. Their comrades had never once contacted them.

Airazor transformed to robot mode and traded significant looks with Tigatron. It must be an emergency if the Maximals were trying to contact them so soon.

The crackling finally dissolved into a voice.

“Yo, Bird Lady.”

It was Rattrap. Airazor smiled at the nickname the rat had given her. Of all the Maximals they had left behind, Airazor missed Rattrap the most next only to Cheetor. She missed the rodent's dry wit and his cynical view of things. Tigatron made her smile, but Rattrap made her laugh.

“This is the Maximal Base,” Rattrap’s voice continued. “You readin’ me?”

Airazor pressed her comm. button, feeling a bit uncomfortable in her humanoid form. She had spent less than a few megacycles in her robot mode since the beginning of the journey, preferring to stay in beast mode when she didn’t have to deal with technical matters.

“Mornin’, Base,” she greeted jokingly. “This is Airazor. Long time no hear. What’s the occasion?”

She released the comm. button and waited for Rattrap’s response. But it wasn’t Rattrap’s nasally tones that answered her question. It was Optimus, confirming her fears.

“Sorry to bother you two, but this is an emergency.”

Airazor traded another look with Tigatron, who transformed to robot mode as well and came to stand within speaking range of her comlink.

“What’s the emergency?” he asked.

“It’s a bit of a long story to relate over long range. Suffice to say we have a problem that needs, um, a female touch.”

“Oh?” Airazor was shocked. What could possibly have come up that her comrades needed a femme to fix it? She knew she shouldn’t be flattered, but strangely enough she was.

“Like I said,” Optimus continued, “I can’t explain it now. But we need you back here pronto. What’s the quickest you can get here?”

Airazor took a moment to consider. Since they had left the Maximal base, she and Tigatron had been moving in a steep zigzag pattern, traveling first far north of the base and then far south, moving in an easterly direction. In their current position at about mid-continent, a linear route to the base should only be about 250 miles. Optimus was lucky he had caught them in the middle of their zigzag.

“Flying top speed the whole way, maybe eight megacycles,” she guessed, “But I doubt I can fly top speed the whole way. My beast mode is fast, but only in short stints. Realistically, I’d say maybe twelve megacycles.”

There was a short pause. Airazor avoided Tigatron’s optics, not wanting to see what his reaction would be to this turn of events. She knew he wouldn’t want her to go alone. He would worry about her safety and would want to accompany her, but fast as he was he couldn’t keep us with her when she flew at her full peregrine falcon speed. And if Optimus said he needed her ASAP, then she couldn’t wait for Tigatron.

Optimus came back on the line after a few nanoklicks.

“That should be fine. I don’t think it’s so urgent that we can’t wait twelve megacycles. But please hurry.”

Airazor nodded before she realized he couldn’t see her nod.

“Alright,” she responded, “I’ll be there as quickly as possible. Airazor, over and out.”

She switched off he comlink and finally looked up at Tigatron.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she put a finger to his lips.

“No,” she said. “I have to go. You know that. It sounded important, and no matter what I’m still a Maximal. I’m obligated to help in whatever way I can, as are you. And right now that means I have to go alone.”

Tigatron nodded, but his optics were pained. Airazor removed her finger from his lips and used her hand to caress his cheek.

“You’d best be going then,” he said. His voice sounded strained, as if he was fighting back emotion. Why was he making such a big deal about this? It wasn’t like he was never going to see her again. Was that what he was afraid of? That she would leave him out here?

“I will come back,” she assured him. “No matter what happens there, nothing can keep me from you. Know that.”

With those words, she rose up on her toes and planted a gentle kiss on his lips. He embraced her tightly, and she returned the affection. After a few moments they broke apart.

Airazor was surprised to find she was crying. Oily tears ran down her cheeks, but she brushed them away. This was silly. She would see Tigatron again in a few days at most. She didn’t know what she was getting all upset about.

“Goodbye, my love,” Tigatron whispered, his own voice choked with emotion.

“Goodbye, my love,” she echoed.

Transforming to beast mode, Airazor took to the air and soared up through the canopy and out over the forest, using the thermals rising from the ground to help her glide higher.

As she flew away, she looked back once at the lone white tiger standing out starkly against the temperate forest - and wondered why she had the funniest feeling of dread in the pit of her spark.

“Well, that went well.”

Optimus stepped back from the communication console and let out a sigh of relief.

“Yeah. I mean, what can possibly go wrong in less than twelve megacycles?” Cheetor agreed, feeling pretty good himself.

Just then, all the Maximals jumped as static erupted from the speaker again. All optics turned toward the communicator as Dinobot’s garbled words flowed through.

They couldn’t hear much of what he was saying over the continued static, but a few words were clear: “Ship...damaged…she-spider…raided…got away…can’t see....”

Optimus was closest to the communicator, so he leaned forward and pressed the talk button.

“Dinobot, what’s wrong? You’re breaking up. Is your communicator damaged?”

There was a long pause, and then the static came again.

“Among…things.”

Optimus frowned, trying to make sense of the garbled message.

“Hold on,” he replied, “I’ll be right there.”

Stepping away from the console, Optimus let out a heavy sigh.

“I’m going to go see what’s wrong. Rhinox, keep trying to find an explanation for that energon discharge attack. Cheetor and Silverbolt, stay here and watch the grids for signs of Airazor or that pilot. Rattrap, you’re with me.”

With that, Optimus made his way to the elevator with Rattrap in tow. Just before he reached the descending lift, Rattrap turned around and shook his head at Cheetor.

“Ya had ta ask, didn’tcha, kid?”

Cheetor watched them go, then turned to see Silverbolt frowning, deep in thought.

“What’s up?” Cheetor asked.

Silverbolt shook his head and went back to thinking. After a few moments the fuzor's gold optics flew wide.

“Oh, no!”

Cheetor fought the urge to put his face in his hands and die. “What now?” he complained.

“More trouble?” Rhinox inquired, spinning around in his chair to watch the two younger Maximals.

Silverbolt nodded grimly, staring at the floor next to his feet. “There might be. If I heard right…Dinobot mentioned Blackarachnia?”

“Yeah,” Rhinox responded, “Something about her raiding the ship, from what I gathered. Must’ve slipped in without him noticing.”

“Yes, but.…” Silverbolt looked up, his optics wide, “Did he say where she went?”

Cheetor had no idea where this was going, but he went along with it. “He might have, but I didn’t hear it. I heard that she got away; I guess that means into the forest.”

“And the new femme has a partiality for those of her own gender?”

“Yesss.…” Cheetor still wasn’t getting where the fuzor was going with this. “What are you saying?”

“He’s saying that Blackarachnia might be thinking the same thing we are,” Rhinox put in, his expression turning grim as well.

Thinking the same thing they were...Blackarachnia in the forest, new girl might talk to femmes, scheming spider…oh, slag. Cheetor smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand, feeling like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner. If Blackarachnia got to that girl before Airazor did….

Rhinox drew a heavy sigh and turned toward the communicator.

“Things just keep getting better and better around here, don’t they?” the big guy muttered. “Wonder what I did in a past life to deserve this.”

Rhinox jammed his finger onto the comm. button. “This is Rhinox to Optimus. We’ve got another problem.”

There was a short pause, and then Optimus’ voice came on the line.

“Prime. What now?”

As Rhinox explained what Silverbolt had discovered, Cheetor couldn’t help feeling this was somehow his fault. It had been his blunder that had made the girl run off in the first place. Now he had to correct it.

Silverbolt was distracted, listening to Rhinox. While the two were occupied, Cheetor silently transformed to vehicle mode. The lift still hadn’t ascended from Optimus and Rattrap’s departure. Moving stealthily as a cat could, Cheetor leaped down onto the platform and took off running. When he was up to speed, he ignited his jets and flew off in the direction of the forest, keeping his optics glued to the ground, searching for any clue as to the new girl’s whereabouts.

He didn’t know what he would do if he found her, but slagged if he wasn’t going to think of something.