23. May. 2007

SING IN SILENCE

By Jagna

Author’s Note: I deliberately put in a few vague references to other TV shows and literary texts, because in all honesty, I was bored, and hopefully it will get people thinking. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Beast Wars (but I will someday. Just wait and see!) but the characters unfamiliar to the original storyline and this plot belong to me! Mine! Mitts off!

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“Did not.”

“Did too…”

Another day, another battle, another argument as to who caused that last rockslide that almost cost them the fight. Dinobot was seething.

“One of these days, you malodorous runt, your insolence will be the death of us all!” to which Rattrap retorted:

“Oh, yeah? Well at least I didn’t cause that unstable energon stash to explode by tripping over it…”

“That was YOU, you insufferable little pipsqueak!”

“ENOUGH!” Optimus had had just about enough of their squabbling. He was tired and frustrated about their very narrow escape. “Need I remind the two of you that it was thanks to your squabbling that put the rest of us out of focus, causing that energon to destabilize and almost cost us our empty victory, so SHUT UP!” the Maximals waited…

“Another mishap like that and I’ll have you both on sub-deck patrol for the next three deca-cycles. Get back to your posts. All of you!” and they scattered.

Air Razor and Rhinox retreated into the CR chambers for extensive damage repairs; Cheetor took the monitor; and Tigatron, Jagna and Nightshaft transformed into beast modes and returned to their posts outside. This left Optimus to watch the tiger, leopard and spider monkey out of the window before storming off to his chambers, leaving Dinobot and Rattrap rooted opposite each other, silent. Then Rattrap said,

“Banana Brain’s got a point,” he began, hesitantly, “we should just accept that we…” but Dinobot interrupted him.

“Perhaps YOU can accept what YOU did. You bungled in the field, and I cannot make such a mistake when it comes to…”

“Swallow your pride, Dinobot!” Cheetor yelled. They turned to look at him. They had almost completely forgotten anyone was there. “Optimus said return to your posts, so return to your posts.” He gave them a stare even Dinobot could not compete with. So they both went to separate elevators and descended. Cheetor turned back to the monitors and listened to them say, “I’ll deal with you later, vermin!” and “Not if I chew your brains out first, lizard-lips!”, and buried his faced in his hands, wondering why he was still dubbed ‘the immature one’.

-------

Meanwhile, over Sector Marin, a fiery mass pelted towards the surface of the water…the stasis pod’s on-board computer system was going haywire as its circuits burned up in the atmosphere. The emergency thrust systems failed to slow the descent, and it shot into the water like a bullet. The sparks inside the pod flared as it sunk to the sandy bottom of the shallow waters.

A pod of dolphins close by curiously bumped the craft on the side, which diverted it from the sharp rocks on the wave-cut platform of the cliff. The mild tropical current gently carried the stasis pod with its vulnerable and unsuspecting protoform closer to shore. The scanners were turned on as it landed and was stationary, and it detected the curious little dolphin that had come in for a closer look. At the bright yellow beams emerging from this big, shiny rock thing it darted back, its pod following.

There were several clicks and beeps, and from the stasis pod the protoform had transformed into a milky grey bottlenose dolphin. Its computer demanded identification, and the dolphin replied, “Signia” in a deep, yet feminine voice, with a distinctly ‘British’ accent.

She buried as best she could her stasis pod in the sand and swam off towards the other dolphins, who were waiting for her. She was a little hesitant at first, almost shy, until the dominant female of the group nudged her in the side to follow them. If a dolphin could smile, she did timidly, and glided off after the others.

-------

Dinobot was fuming. Him? Almost cost them a battle? Never, it was impossible. He wasn’t nearly as incompetent as the rest of them when it came to tactical assault. He was headed towards his post in Grid Masafi: Sector Marin. He didn’t know why, but that place always made him feel…uneasy. He didn’t admit it, of course, in fact he had insisted on taking the position when Optimus had offered it.

But it was something about the water that was eerie, he felt as though something would suddenly jump out at him from the icy glass surface. It wasn’t that he couldn’t defend himself; he just preferred to know what he was up against. The Predacons were not a problem. He probably knew Megatron better than anyone, but he knew nothing about the open ocean.

As he turned, something broke the surface of the water. As Dinobot’s sensors detected this, he shot his head back only to see the glistening ripples, unaware that Signia was watching him. Safe, from a distance.

-------

Inferno surveyed the marshes below him, as the ‘Royalty’ had commanded.  A superior smugness appeared on his face; his queen had chosen him above all the other drones to take this watch. It was not particularly important, but he was content, all the same. He kept a sharp ear out for any signs of Maximal movement to make it important and please his leader.

He continued his airborne patrol, and almost fell out of the air as the sound of his on-board computer alarm system went, “Alert. Maximal signature detected in Sector Marin, 3 klicks north-west. Alert. Stasis pod detected in Sector Marin, 3 klicks north-west.”

“Ah-HAH!” he cried with triumph. “A stasis pod. And the traitor!” He chuckled. “The Royalty shall be thrilled. I can bring him a new servant; and the traitor’s head on a platter! AAAHH!!” He bellowed hoarsely as he zoomed off 3 klicks north-west, to the unsuspecting Maximal and the setting sun.

-------

It was a long patrol. Seven klicks up and down the shoreline with its footprint-covered stretched white beaches and its gull-infested towering black cliffs. Dinobot’s computer suddenly announced a stasis pod descent 20 cycles earlier. He was shocked that his sensors had not detected this before. He gave a low snarl, and said, “Calculate point of impact on planet’s surface using projected coordinates and velocity of pod’s descent.” His computer replied:

“Unable to comply. Stasis pod breached area beyond regular scanning capabilities 300 feet above sea-level.” There was a long pause, as Dinobot knew exactly what that meant. He looked over his shoulder at the glistening reflection of the sun descending on the horizon. He felt something creep down his back like an icy chill…something he had never felt before. The computer continued, “Recommend hydro-scan…” but it was interrupted by a burst of flames that erupted right next to the raptor, throwing him off his feet in a cloud of white dust.

He looked up to see Inferno above him, with his flamethrower in his hand, crying, “DIE TRAITOR!” Dinobot had but a split second to call out, “Dinobot, Maximi-” before he was once again thrown dangerously close to the waves, hungry to consume him into their dark depths. Inferno laughed with his head in his hands. “Ha-ha! You’re a fool even for a Maximal, traitor. Huh?”

Dinobot’s imprint in the sand was all that was left, moulded into the profile of the beach. The fire ant looked frantically from left to right and swung around to face the cliff. A few pebbles landed on his head. He swallowed, and looked up. In a flash, he saw Dinobot, fully transformed, pounce on him from a ledge in the cliff face. There were yells as the two fired upon each other, threw punches at each other, and rolled about, each with the other’s throat in his grasp. In what appeared to be an attempt to flee, Inferno powered up his propeller jets, and headed upwards towards the grassy headland of the cliff-top.

“I don’t think so.” Dinobot snarled. He leapt onto several nooks in the rock until he was level with the pesky insect and bounded outwards. He felt as if he was soaring, until the sound of metal on metal indicated the impact on Inferno’s back. The ant-bot gave a hoarse yell and zoomed forward with Dinobot’s massive forearms around his neck.

“Get what you deserve, insect.” He was just about pull Inferno’s circuitry from his spinal cord. But something was definitely amiss. Inferno’s yell had turned into maniacal laughter, which Dinobot had hardly noticed over the noise of engines and thrusters. He grabbed the top of Inferno’s head and jerkily twisted it as if it were a tap to have Inferno face him. A most sinister grin upon his face, the ant-bot gave a war cry, his mouth and eyes wide open. He somersaulted in mid-air, dropping the flightless Maximal over the rocky reef below.

As he fell, Dinobot thought he yelled, and thought he saw Inferno laugh his displaced head off, but all he heard was the mighty wind rushing past his head…

-------

Something was stirring in the water. A flurry of bubbles and a scurry of fins. Barely 10 feet from hitting the rocks, Dinobot felt something hit him in the side. Not a shot, but something soft…and wet. Next thing he knew he had landed once more on the beach. When he looked up, he was metres away from where the jagged rocks emerged from the sea. Enraged, Inferno dived straight for Dinobot, who was still so dazed and whose joints were so clogged up with sand he hardly noticed the jet of water that blindsided Inferno and threw him against a large boulder. When Dinobot did notice, what he saw made him chuckle.

The jet of water had pinned Inferno to the boulder, and he was (quite comically) making gargling noises and flailing his limbs about helplessly; like a bug pinned down by a needle. When it finally ceased, he fell several feet, face down, into the sand.

Cautiously, Dinobot picked himself up and moved towards the fallen Predacon. He was still a bit dizzy, which is why he was startled when Inferno grabbed his ankle and yanked him off his feet. But he quickly regained his bearings, and jumped up ready to fight again. But Inferno was no longer over him, but had flown over to the open water, thinking he had left Dinobot down.

Annoyed, he yelled, “Come back here and fight me, coward!” but Inferno ignored him. Or didn’t hear him. The bug had his weapon in his hand, scanning the water below.

Suddenly, some sort of aqua-organic creature leapt out and knocked Inferno’s flamethrower from his claws with its tail fin. Dazed and confused, he watched as the dolphin swam at an accelerated rate towards him from the deep. As it jumped out again, this time above him, in mid-air he heard, “Signia, MAXIMIZE!” As the clinking sounds of grinding gears implied that she had transformed, she flipped and dove back into the waves. Now quite alarmed, Inferno looked frantically around for her, until he heard:

“Looking for me?” He jolted around to see the new Maximal sitting on a flat rock further out to sea, an amused and mocking look on her face.

Her face…was a sapphire blue. Her beast mode, a dapple-grey bottle-nosed dolphin, covered most of her body, the head covering her chest. She was not as feminine-looking as Blackarachnia (then again, who was?) but it was easily noticeable that she was a femme-bot. Her fins came out at the elbow and stretched out on her forearms to reveal small but powerful hands. Her dorsal fin was placed firmly on her back, and her blowhole at the back of her smooth, silver head. The most striking thing about her was her eyes. Her eyes…the pupils a deep, magnificent blue, as blue as the sea itself.  Her pupils were like gems, exactly that colour, and the rest of her eyes, extraordinarily enough faded into emerald green. They had a mysterious sparkle to them, deep and unknown.

Her smirk suddenly dropped, a dead seriousness now upon her face. She rose, and as Inferno prepared to fire, she took a deep breath (if robots do) and gave an ear-piercing, high-pitched – not a scream – but an ultra-sonic note. It was deafening. Dinobot, still on the shore, covered his aural sensors with both hands. He could see Inferno wriggling in the air because of the noise. Then Signia’s arms opened up, it looked as if she were about to embrace Inferno. She was still ‘screaming’, and 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 threw Dinobot against the wall of the cliff, and sent Inferno skimming southwards on the water’s surface like a pebble.

-------

He must have been knocked out for a few seconds, because when Dinobot stirred Inferno was nowhere to be seen. He thought he must have gone deaf, because he couldn’t hear the high note anymore. Then again, he couldn’t even see where its owner had gone. But then he heard the gentle swash of the waves, and saw Signia emerge from them: no longer singing. Water was still trickling off her shoulders and down her torso and legs when she reached him. He felt awkward and uncomfortable still being on the ground, but he couldn’t get up. Something about those eyes…he was almost mesmerised.

Almost. She then said the thing that made him snap out of it: “Need some help?”

That did it. A cord snapped in his head when he heard those words.  He shoved her outstretched hand aside in one movement, and he sneered,

“I need no assistance from anyone. A warrior falls not but bides his time to distract his foe…as I did.” He was on his feet by that point. He looked down on her, for she was fairly short, his feeling of power back as he ignored the glint in those eyes. “If I ever need help I will not holler for it, but let it be and let fate do its best.” Expecting her to back off, he was surprised to see her expression remained unchanged.

“Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful…” there was a pause, “…and let’s not get into that, ‘kay?” She smirked and held back a snort at the look on his face. He figured this femme was going to be a tough nut to crack, but he would get there.

“Who do you think you are?” he thought aloud. Usually he would have had no regret in saying that, but he knew it was a mistake as soon as it was said. Her face turned cold.

“I think I am a scholar, one of the finest Cybertron has ever seen. I think I am an expert on thousands of literary texts throughout several galaxies. I know that mine is a spirit of no common rate, and that fate does not control space, time or you. And if we must speak of destiny, think: a warrior’s duty is not to those around them, but to their self, and that a warrior’s fate matters not to those around them but more to their self. Are we in agreement?” Dinobot thought. It seemed true enough. She continued, “Well, let’s not get technical, shall we? Can I safely assume you’re a Maximal?” he growled. “Okay, not so safely. Hmm…” She circled him like a vulture. “…torn allegiance? Maximal to Predacon, or is it the other way around?”

“My name is Dinobot. My allegiance lies with the pitiful Maximals, but to the core I am a Predacon.”

“Oh, joy, a battling conscience. You must love life.”

He was getting fairly annoyed.

“Might I suggest we escort each other back to base? Optimus Primal will be anxious to welcome a new comrade to our ranks.”

“Optimus…yes. Yes, he’s my commander, isn’t he?” he started at her. She continued slowly, in deep thought. “He had us ejected into orbit, to keep us safe when the Axalon descended into this planet’s atmosphere. All for some Golden Disk the bloody High Council had nicked off them. We have all heard it said, ‘slag the High Council’.” Dinobot was taken aback. He had never met an earth-born ‘bot with such a vivid memory. Their memory circuits nearly always got damaged when they landed on the planet. This girl could be an asset.

“Then let us return to our commander. This way.” He started to make his way towards an accessible part of the cliff.

“What?! We have to walk there?” she said exasperatedly, her face painted vividly with worry. “I’m a bit useless on land. Only in beast mode!” she added quickly. It was true. In fact, she was quite the skilled fighter. Distractedly, she said, “Is there any way we could follow the river?” He eyed her mockingly.

“Indeed the Axalon is perched on a river-cliff. Beast mode.” He waited for her to do the same, and when she didn’t, he said, “I would suggest you transform into beast mode as well. The energon field on this planet will quickly scramble your circuits.”

“The energon field doesn’t affect me in the water.” Amused by his stunned expression she walked, still in robot mode, back into the waves. Shaking his head Dinobot made his way to the river mouth, heading west. Keeping a close eye on Signia, he remained cautious. He had only known her for a few cycles, but he felt as if splashing him with a jet of water was something she would do ‘Just for fun’. So he kept a safe distance from the bank.

As she swam into the delta, Signia glanced back at the pod, who was watching her from the shallows. Sending them an echo that she would be back, they turned and headed for open waters. They hardly recognise me like this, she thought, looking at her chrome-steel features. She turned back and headed upstream, aided by her shoulder propellers, coming up for breath every now and then, keeping an eye on the raptor. Wonder what he’d do if I splashed him a bit?

-------

Back at the Axalon, Sentinel was on full alert. Rhinox hurriedly tried to activate the secondary auto-gun system, as the primaries had been blasted to slag.

“What a time to attack, when everyone else is out!” said Rhinox. Cheetor was on the roof, handling the manual quasar cannon, firing at Megatron and Tarantulas. Optimus and Air Razor had flown out of the roof hatch to give aerial cover fire.

“No way is it just these two!” came Cheetor’s voice from the com in the command centre.

“We can’t see anyone else!” replied Air Razor. Just then, Scorponok came out from under a pile of rocks and blasted Optimus out of the sky. In return, Cheetor growled and aimed the cannon straight at the sting-tailed arachnid; hitting him right in the chest…it had no effect. Smirking, Scorponok all his firepower at the cannon and Cheetor.

“What the slag’s going on?!” the cat yelled as he flinched at the rockets hitting the shield dangerously close to him. “And where the heck is Rattrap?!”

Rattrap was lurking behind a rock close to Megatron, who was still firing at Air Razor as she tried to recover Optimus. As soon as he was in range, he transformed into battle mode and fired. His bullets merely ricocheted off some sort of purple force field around the Predacon leader. He up and ran as soon as he saw Megatron turn his head.

“Little Cheese to Big Banana.” There was static. “Come on, Optimus!” he pleaded into his comm-link. Then came a reply from the just-recovering leader.

“Optimus to Rattrap. What’s your status?”

“Oh man, we gotta Mega-problem here, Fingers-For-Feet. All of the Preds’ve got some kinda personal force shield. Now matter how close we get, our weapons can’t seem to penetrate it.”

“Well, that’s just Prime!”

-------

Dinobot was at a full sprint now, running as fast as his raptor legs would carry him. This was pretty fast. Signia had to constantly dive in and out of the water as fast as she could to keep up with him.

“Why…are you…running?” she called between dives.

“Our base is under attack. Optimus has just informed me of personal shield technology the Predacons are using. Tarantulas, no doubt.”

“Who?”

“Never mind. Just follow me!” And they sped on.

-------

It seemed as if the Predacons were winning. Reinforcements had arrived on their side: Waspinator and Terrorsaur. Firing upon the ever-weakening shield, the Maximals were outnumbered. All of them were outside now firing upon their attackers in desperation. Amidst the mayhem, Rhinox yelled,

“We could sure use some reinforcements of our own right about now!”

As if on cue, four figures appeared, three from the west, one from the east.

“Jagna…”

“Tigatron…”

“Dinobot…”

“Nightshaft…”

“MAXIMISE!”

Right on time. The other Maximals were badly damaged, and their fire was taken over by the newcomers. The three that came from the west provided cover for their exhausted comrades while Dinobot advanced as close as he could.

Tigatron and Jagna rushed over to the Cheetor to help their fellow cat ward off both Scorponok and Terrorsaur, who were barraging him with firepower. Their shield seemed to allow things out, which was immensely unfair. The tiger and leopard’s voices and beast growls merged to make a tinny roar that echoed in the cavern they were running to. Lasers and bullets seemed….ineffective at this point, so Jagna transformed into beast mode and leapt off a ledge aimed for Terrorsaur. Claws extended, she gritted her feline fangs. She winced and fell to the ground in pain as small energon surges pulsed through her circuits like sneezes.

Tigatron managed to blast Scorponok back a few paces, even though he was not hitting him. The force was enough to daze the arachnid every few nano-clicks, and he backed straight into the rack wall. Cheetor signalled to a recovering Jagna to follow him onto another ledge.

Tigatron was still yelling as his ammo continued to batter Scorponok, holding him against the wall. Just then Terrorsaur flew above his comrade and smiled menacingly at the snowy white tiger-bot, who was still distractedly firing. Terrorsaur was in the middle of his trademark “Prepare to be scrapped Maximal etc” speech and a cackle when a few pebbles fell on his head. He gulped and looked up just in time to be flattened by a large boulder. Tigatron finally ceased his shooting and looked up. The kittens gave him the thumbs-up from above, Cheetor holding a large stick which they had used to dislodge that enormous rock.

The felines ran off in different directions to help their other comrades in arms.

Things were not going well for the others.

Despite having acute aim and precision flying, Optimus could not hit anything today. All Predacons on the ground were holding their position, firing and firing on his team. It was a mistake to even try hurt his friends, but he just wasn’t having a good day.

His primary target was Megatron.

He flew high into the air, avoiding as many shots as possible by weaving in and out of the sound waves he detected from each approaching missile, bullet or plasma beam. As soon as he was in the air, he mimicked Air Razor’s manoeuvres by nose-diving straight for the Predacon leader. He got closer, and closer, and closer…

…and suffered the same fate as Jagna. He simply bounced off Megatron like a rubber ball. He fell on his back and clenched his face in pain. Energon surges were more painful than he remembered.

Megatron emerged from behind the rock (as there really was no point hiding) and advanced on his fallen nemesis. Optimus tried to stand up, but he was still pulsing. Megatron powered up his head-cannon, and aimed at his defenceless opponent.

A blur of black fur zoomed past Megatron’s line of sight as the spider monkey beast form of Nightshaft swung down from a nearby tree. Using her long tail to keep a hold of a sturdy branch, she swooped down and scooped Optimus up in her paws and carried him up the tree and back towards the base.

“Blast!” exclaimed a fairly disappointed Megatron. “But no matter. Advance, Predacons! We have them right where we want them! Yesss…”

-------

While Dinobot was firing on Waspinator (which was very frustrating, as all his perfect shots seemed to miss), Blackarachnia, who had been lurking in the shadow of the cliff, blindsided him with a round from her leg guns. He was thrown to the edge of the waterfall as she moved towards him. He shot her with his laser-eyes, but again to no effect. She chuckled menacingly.

“Like ‘em? Personal defence shields. Give no credit to Tarantulas. All mine.” Her eyes narrowed. “Impenetrable…say goodbye, Bronto-breath.” Aiming her weapon at him, she shrieked with surprise as Signia jumped out from behind Dinobot and landed on the spider. Well, on the shield anyway, knocking them both to the ground. They stumbled up and faced each other.

Signia’s face turned from a warrior’s rage to absolute shock. “I remember you!” she said, almost breathlessly.

“And I’m sure I know you…” replied the widow, “…I know I’m going to slag you with the saurian, gill-face!”

As if in slow motion, Blackarachnia drew her gun once more. But before she could fire, Signia had flipped forward and kicked the she-spider in the face (where it would have been, if not for the shield), knocking her backwards into the river. She gave a howl of pain as electric surges pulsed their way into her body from the shield. Her body then went limp and got pulled by the current over the waterfall. Signia went to the edge and stared after her with a blank expression. It couldn’t be…she thought.

A realisation then struck Dinobot. Of course! Something a techno-head like Blackarachnia or even Tarantulas would’ve predicted.

“That’s it! Signia!” She turned her head slowly at the sound of his voice. “Follow me. I have a plan. I require you assistance…”

-------

The Maximals were all on their last rounds of ammo, damaged and exhausted. Megatron, on the other hand, was ecstatic. “Prepare to advance, Predacons. We shall seize the Axalon in the name of glory! Victory is ours! Yesss…”

“Not quite.” came a hoarse voice from behind the line of Predacons. They all turned to see Dinobot, standing their alone: no weapons; no backup; no sense. A sitting duck.

Fool, thought Megatron.

Fools, thought Dinobot. Quick, while they’re distracted.

“Now, Signia!”

Everyone turned to find Signia had landed between the Maximals and Predacons from a ledge. The same hydraulic jet she stuck Inferno with she used to shower all the Predacons from some sort of water-cannon. The same static energy that affected Blackarachnia took hold of them as they were pushed back by the force of the water. She walked very calmly into the midst of the surging Preds. She gave Dinobot a signal and he ran to the other Maximals, most of whom were attending to those on the ground.

“I suggest you all cover your aural sensors.” he said advisedly, and the complied.

The same as before, Signia let out her high-pitched note as her sonic emitters charged up. The Predacons, their heads spinning from the noise, looked up to see a mocking triumph on her face, as she clapped her hands together. They were all sent flying over 400 metres by the sonic boom in different directions. Megatron pointlessly called a retreat as he soared backwards and landed in the jungle.

The setting sun made the dolphin’s eyes glint some more, those crystal pupils sparkling with self-triumph. She felt as though she had done something useful. But she didn’t know why that felt so good…so right.

-------

Inside the Axalon several hours later, when everyone who needed it (which was pretty much everyone) had been repaired, everyone gathered in the command centre.

“Sorry we took so long,” said Jagna, “we ran into Inferno on the way, and he was no happy bunny, I can tell you…” Nightshaft and Tigatron sniggered.

“He was walking…well…limping along a jungle path, muttering something about shark bait, and continuing with his ‘for the Royalty’ nonsense,” continued Tigatron, “we did not understand what the cause of this was, for he was heavily damaged. But we soon discovered its effects.”

“It was hilarious!” exclaimed Nightshaft, still giggling, “All we did was shout ‘charge’ and he went beserk. His head started spinning and then it exploded!” All three were in fits of laughter, mech tears in their eyes. Dinobot glanced at Signia, who winked.

were in fits of laughter. oded!"

“Well,” began Optimus as the laughter subsided, “it’s always a pleasure to welcome a new Maximal into our ranks. Thanks for your help, Signia.” She looked shocked, but then smiled timidly.

“Yeah. If you and Dinobot hadn’t shown up, I don’t think we could have held up much longer. You too, guys.” he added quickly to Tigatron, Nightshaft and Jagna, who looked a bit miffed.

“One question there, prima donna…how come yeh didn’t get zapped by the shield like Jag? Sorry, kid…” he added aside to Jagna, whose optics narrowed and he was pretty sure he heard something about why everyone was picking on her today. When he turned, the not-so-much taller dolphin bot has facing him. Her response was a short shot of water from her blowhole, which landed on the rat.

“’Tis but the element that guides me, little critter. If I may be so bold, you all must embrace thy tender tidings, sweet scenes and hospitable habitats.” She had been given an index of Predacons from Optimus to scan over. She stopped on Blackarachnia. She said in a whisper, “What fools these mortals be…” Nobody heard her though.

“Truly incredible.” mused Tigatron, “Strategic defence technology, impenetrable to everything except this planet’s natural wonder.” Everyone else looked at each other. What a tree-hugging guru.

“I think we all deserve a rest tonight.” said Optimus, brightly. “To your quarters everybody, and get some sleep. I don’t think we need to worry too much about the Predacons at the moment…” everyone grinned sheepishly. “Oh, and I owe you two an apology.” he looked at Dinobot and Rattrap as everyone else dispersed, and they looked bewildered. “It turns out the battle this morning was a field test. Something went wrong, and that’s what caused the energon build-up. I’m sorry.” They looked at him vaguely. “That doesn’t mean your squabbling is acceptable…in fact, I’d like to see less of it in the future.”

He then left the command centre after everyone else. Rattrap and Dinobot looked at each other.

“G’night, Chopper face.”

“Until tomorrow, vermin.” Rattrap left.

Dinobot turned to see Signia was the only one left. He walked towards her, and she held out her hand. This time he took it.

“Thanks for hollering.”

---------------------------------

Trivia: Masafi is a bottled water company in Kuwait…I couldn’t think of a name for the Grid, and this sounded better than Grid ABC or Grid Rawdatain…

Vague references: I have included some Shakespeare quotations here by Signia, as I wished her to be a counterpart of sorts to Dinobot. “Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful” and “mine is a spirit of no common rate” are both from Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’: a comedy. In order to make Signia a more interesting character, I had her contrast Dinobot by quoting Shakespearean comedies (as Dinobot quotes famous tragedies such as Hamlet). Unfortunately, there aren’t as many well-known comedies to quote, so these references were a bit easy-to-miss…unless you’re a Shakespeare addict! ;)

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This is a fic for the Beast Wars International special Fanfic Challenge 2007.  Category: Action. Genre:…uhh…action?