26.Aug.06
Reconciliation
By: Spectre
the Hechidnat
Chapter 1: Rebirth
Far away from the planets of
Earth and Cybertron, in the depths of space and time, there rested the Nexus.
Undiscovered by any other race of the universe, it was home to those enigmatic
beings known as the Vok. For untold generations, the Vok had lived here,
watching over the galaxy that was their home, bound by oath to defend space and
time and those who inhabited it. However, in a secret corner of the massive
cloud, two aberrations floated.
They resembled Vok, and indeed
had once been members of the powerful species. But during an assignment to the
closed Nexus of Earth, they had brushed up against a being of pure evil, a
Transformer who was the spawn of Unicron himself. Now the influence of the Chaos
Bringer was within them, changing their coloring from the purest silver to
tainted blue and red. Corrupted almost beyond recognition, they had set
themselves a task, which was near completion.
Both Dark Vok circled the four
motionless bodies. Above each hovered a Spark corresponding to the form beneath
it. Had any member of the Axalon crew been present, they would have shivered at
the sight of the familiar beings. Tarantulas, Rampage, Quickstrike, and Inferno:
the last Predacon casualties of the Beast Wars. It was the will of Tarantulas,
whose Spark the two Dark Vok had recovered from his exploding body, that the
objects be gathered. Now they had reassembled these Transformers, needing only
to rejoin Spark and body.
Slowly, the pulsating orbs
descended into their respective hosts. Once they had disappeared inside, all
four began to stir. Coming upright, Tarantulas looked around as he floated.
"Yes! My theory was correct! In possessing me, the Vok have fallen under my
influence!"
Rampage was next to awaken.
The psychotic Predacon marveled at the wholeness of his Spark before turning to
Tarantulas. "And just what does that mean for us?"
"Yeah partner, if them
creeps are working for you, then why are we still kicking?" Quickstrike
asked.
"I demand to know the
location of the Royalty! As soldier, my duty is to defend the Queen!"
Inferno shrieked.
"Megatron is dead! And
unless the three of you want to be scattered across space, you will pledge your
allegiance to me!" Tarantulas hissed.
"Why should we do that? I
could kick your keister anyday!"
"Because, my plans
involve going to Cybertron."
At this, Rampage smiled,
causing the others to shiver. "Ah, Cybertron, the jewel of the cosmos. How
I long to stir the fear of that world! Count me in, arachnid."
"Sounds like a hoedown I
don't want to miss!"
"Inferno has no more
colony; I shall join you as well."
"Very good, but
first," Tarantulas signalled to the Dark Vok, "a makeover."
Quantum energy shot forth from
the eyes of the two aliens, flowing into Inferno. The former sub commander
screamed, yelling as the power shot through him. Finally, it dissipated, leaving
him changed. His head was now black, and his body was bulkier and had the
sleekness of Transmetal technology. Gone was the abdomen that opened to form
propellors; this Inferno no longer possessed a flight mode. Looking upon his new
body, the fire ant Predacon yelled in exhilaration. "I am Inferno no more!
From now on, you shall address me as Scavenger."
"Excellent,"
Tarantulas cackled. Turning to the Dark Vok, he spoke. "Send us to
Cybertron."
"Before you go, my liege,
we have a gift for you." From out of nowhere came flying a Spark housed in
a cylindrical container. "The immortal Spark of Decepticon Air Commander
Starscream."
Cackling could still be heard
as the four Predacons rocketed through space towards the unwary Cybertron.
Back in the Nexus, three more
Transformer bodies floated. However, one of the bodies had two Sparks above it.
The forms were those of Depth Charge, Tigerhawk, and Transmetal 2 Dinobot, all
of whom had been saved by a Vok search party that had come looking for their
lost Emissary. Even more unusual, the Spark above Dinobot was that of the
original, as the Spark of Rampage had reunited and been on its way to the Pit,
allowing Dinobot's Spark to return from the Matrix. It had been that Spark that
had helped to defeat Megatron in the final battle.
"It would seem that our
fears have come to pass," one Vok said.
"Yes, the Predacons
salvaged from the Beast Wars are being sent to Cybertron," added another.
"We must therefore send
these four to challenge them." All the Vok nodded, then concentrated.
Tigerhawk's body broke into two Transmetal forms, one Tigatron and the other
Airazor. Data flowed into the Sparks of the four, explaining the situation since
they had gone into recovery. Lastly, the Vok placed the recovered Transmetal 2
Driver in their possession, informing them of its purpose. The four then
rocketed off towards home, specifically Cybertron 300 years after the end of the
Great War.
Walking through the
techno-organic streets of Cybertropolis, Cheetor felt a sense of accomplishment.
Only an Earth month ago, Optimus Primal had sacrificed himself to destroy
Megatron and bring this glory to pass. As Nightscream strode beside him, Cheetor
thought about all that had been accomplished in that time.
Silverbolt and Blackarachnia's
relationship had been fully rekindled. Despite this, the former Fuzor remained
aloof, blaming himself for the horrible mutation he had undergone into Jetstorm.
Blackarachnia was the only one who could give him any sort of comfort.
Similarly, Rattrap and
Botanica had grown closer. The two were currently dating, both at peace on
reborn Cybertron. However, Rattrap still had issues with the lack of any weapons
in his body, feeling the need to contribute something in the way of combat
should he ever be needed again.
Cheetor's thoughts were
interrupted as Nightscream pointed skyward. "Would you look at that?"
Down through the atmosphere
came a red energy field. It was heading straight for the outskirts of
Cybertropolis, where there were few Transformers to be harmed. Still, Cheetor
felt the need to check it out, transforming to Beast Mode for top speed. With
Nightscream behind him, he ran towards the crash sight. Upon reaching it, they
found the other four members of their group already their, weapons drawn.
Before anyone could react, a
trio of missiles shot out of the smoke cloud rising from the crater made by the
object's crash. One of them struck Nightscream, while the other two hit Botanica.
Immediately, the two exploded, their lifeless bodies scattering across the area.
"BOTANICA!" Rattrap
screamed.
Silverbolt, who had become
good friends with the other casualty, also cried. "Nightscream!"
Hands shaking in fury, Cheetor
drew his curved swords and faced the crater. However, nothing could have
prepared him for the sight that met his eyes. Out of the smoke came walking
Tarantulas, Quickstrike, Scavenger, and finally Rampage, the latter's missile
launcher clicking as each of the three tubes reloaded. Tarantulas cackled at the
dumbstruck looks on the faces of his enemies, who he recognized despite their
change in appearance.
"So, Primal and the rhino
got themselves blown up, did they?"
"Be quiet!"
Blackarachnia snarled.
"Well, ain't she gorgeous
when she's ticked?" Quickstrike inquired.
"My beloved has no
interest in you, snake!" Silverbolt retorted.
"The Royalty shall be
avenged!" Scavenger said.
"I'm going to turn you
into roadkill, you here me?" Rattrap shouted, his voice filled with anger
at the loss of his love.
"Your pain is delicious;
try to ignore it, though, since it's only going to get worse!" Rampage
taunted.
"Enough talk; Maximals,
attack!" Cheetor cried.
With a crash the two sides
met, breaking off into pairs. Cheetor found himself pitted against Tarantulas.
As he entered the battle, the Maximal leader realized that he was at a serious
disadvantage. Tarantulas had both long range and melee weapons, while Cheetor
possessed only his swords. In addition, whenever Cheetor managed to land a hit,
it was ineffective against the spider's Transmetal armor. Driving Cheetor back
with a hail of missiles, Tarantulas cackled again. "Those new bodies appear
to be substandard quality! You may want to consider a more powerful option in
your next life!"
Rattrap and Blackarachnia were
also fairing poorly. The Maximal hacker had remembered too late that he had no
weapons, and thus was unable to retaliate as Scavenger bombarded him.
Blackarachnia, despite the use of her charged webbing and energy attacks, could
not put a scratch on Rampage.
Silverbolt was another matter
entirely. Though, like his comrades, he possessed a body inferior in quality to
that of his opponent, he was beating Quickstrike to a pulp. Every time the
Predacon got to his feet, Silverbolt knocked him back down again. Out of the
corner of his eye, Tarantulas observed this, making notes for the future.
Finally, though, the efforts
of the Maximals proved to be in vain. Cheetor was brought down by a dose of
cyber-venom; Rattrap, by a missile hit to the torso; and Blackarachnia by a crab
claw backhand as Rampage went to Beast Mode. Thus freed, the Predacons went to
the aid of their final member. Bullets, missiles, lasers, and cyber-venom shot
out to strike the Maximal flyer, bringing him to his knees next to his bested
comrades.
"This will hardly be any
fun at all," Rampage said as he lifted his launcher. Before he could shoot,
a yellow energy disk came flying out of nowhere to strike his gun hand. Gripping
his hand in pain, Rampage quickly forgot his rage in the face of the voice that
spoke from out of nowhere.
"You want to play, creep?
Try me!"
All four Predacons whirled
around as the four salvaged Maximals lunged out of the smoke. Tigatron
immediately engaged Tarantulas, attacking him with a pair of laser pistols.
Airazor went after Scavenger, bombarding him with rockets. Quickstrike was set
upon by Dinobot, who met his cyber-venom blast with a laser beam from his left
eye. Finally, Depth Charge and Rampage met in a grapple, not bothering to draw
weapons as they wrestled.
Several minutes passed before
Tarantulas realized that the battle was pointless. Fighting these Maximals would
only give their stunned comrades time to recover, and if both teams attacked,
his force would be in trouble. Entangling Tigatron in a web, he called to his
troops. "Retreat!"
Transforming into motorcycle
mode, the Predacon Secret Police Lieutenant sped away, followed by Scavenger in
his tunneler mode. Behind them came tank mode Rampage, with Quckstrike in Beast
Mode perched on his back. Soon enough, the group had disappeared from sight.
Moving to look at the
techno-organic Maximals, Airazor gasped. "Tigatron, these guys are half
dead!"
Nodding, Tigatron pulled out
the Transmetal 2 Driver. "Let us see if they enjoy a little makeover."
All four Maximals slipped into
unconsciousness as the alien device did its work.
Rattrap awoke to find himself
staring into the familiar face of Dinobot. For a moment, he blinked repeatedly,
convinced that his optic sensors were malfunctioning. When it became clear that
they were working fine, he gasped. "Chopperface?"
"Indeed, Rodent,"
growled the Transmetal 2. Despite the gruff tone, Rattrap could detect a hint of
pleasure in that voice, the same that flooded him upon being reunited with his
old friend. Sitting up, he was shocked to see that he was back in his Transmetal
form. Examining his body, he found that it was no illusion. "How in the
name of my great-aunt Arcee did this happen?"
"We used the Transmetal 2
Driver to restore you and the others to your most recent Transmetal
states." Looking around at the other stirring members of his group, Rattrap
noted that Dinobot was correct. Cheetor and Blackarachnia were once again
Transmetal 2s, while Silverbolt was a Fuzor.
Once the four had recovered,
each group spent time relating stories of their adventures since last seeing
each other. After that, they sat in silence for a moment. Finally, Depth Charge
spoke up. "So, we're going to be a team again?"
"You bet!" Cheetor
said.
"It's good to be back,
Little Cat," Tigatron replied.
"I must say, I never
expected to see any of you again in this life," Silverbolt mused.
"We're just full of
surprises," Airazor retorted.
"Hate to break up the
reunion, but what are we going to do about living arrangements?"
"The spider makes a valid
point; how are all of us supposed to live together?" Dinobot inquired.
"Glad you asked, Dinobutt!"
Except for Rattrap, all the
Maximals gaped as they looked around the inside of the tower-like structure
Rattrap had led them to. The inside was an exact duplicate of the interior of
the Axalon, but had been modified to fit the shape of the tower. It also had
larger dimensions than the original Axalon.
"Ladies and gents,
welcome to Axalon Tower!"
"How did you pull this
off?" Depth Charge asked.
"Dug up blueprints for
the Axalon and used them to make this."
"Why is it so
large?" Silverbolt asked.
"I modified the designs
so a Transformer the size of Optimal Optimus would be able to get around
easy," Rattrap said with a mournful tone.
"Well, my friend, it will
certainly make a fine base. It seems that the Beast Wars have spilled over onto
this, our homeland. Thus, it is up to us to defend Cybertron!"
To be continued...