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Somewhere, in the darkness, an entity watched as Optimus Primal raced towards his destruction. "Yes," it said confidently.
"It begins. My task... and their judgement."
It sat down gently in the ancient place. The place was known by many names... yet this entity had always preferred the Arena
over all of the others. Silently, without a noise, it picked up a small rod. With a thought, it opened a portal, and tossed the rod
through.
If it had a mouth, it would have smiled. "Don't let me down."
"I don't believe it. He did it." Cheetor stood and watched the sky. "Big Bot stopped it."
"Yeah? Doesn't seem like there's much left to be saved, kid," snorted Rattrap. He motioned outside the viewscreen.
"That destroyer vaped the planet, and good. Primal might have kept it from killing us... but I have doubts that that's such a triumph."
Tigatron carefully studied Cheetor's face. It seemed like hours since Optimus had made the decision to try and fly interference
and stop the planet destroyer. Cheetor had watched his mentor
fly into the gaping maw of the destroyer... and although they were
certain that he wasn't coming back, Cheetor still seemed to hope
that somehow Optimus would come flying back out.
A sudden beeping drew the Maximals' attention away from
Optimus. "Looks like we've got incoming," said Airazor. "A pair
of stasis pods got knocked out of orbit by the explosion. They're
coming planetside in ten cycles."
"Alright. Airazor, you fly and grab the pods. We'll take care of
ant-boy and the spiders," said Rattrap.
Normally, someone might have argued with Rattrap taking
command, but since Rhinox was out of comission, and they had
all just witnessed their leader die, none of them seemed to be in
a paticularly argumentative mood. Airazor strode over to the
hatch and hit the button. Springing up once outside, she folded
into hawk mode, then shot towards the location of the pods.
With a hiss, the CR chambers opened, and Rhinox and Dinobot
emerged. "What is happening?" snarled Dinobot.
"Optimus stopped the planet destroyer," replied Tigatron. "It
stopped him too, though."
An odd battle seemed to rage across Dinobot's face, between
deciding whether to smile or frown in sadness. The smile won.
"In that case," said Dinobot, as calmly as possible, "I nominate
myself as new leader of the -"
There were several loud clicks as the remaining Maximals turned
their weapons towards Dinobot. "Please," said Rattrap cynically.
Dinobot growled in disappointment. "All right, then, we'll handle
this democratically!" His shudder as he mentioned the concept
was visible. "I nominate myself as a candidate for the position of
leadership. Does anyone else have a nominee?"
There was a pause for a little while. "I nominate Tigatron," said
Rhinox finally.
For a moment, it seemed that Tigatron was comtemplating this,
letting the idea of leadership roll around in his head for a while. "I
accept," he said at last.
"Very well," said Dinobot. "All those for my leadership?" Dinobot
raised his hand. The rest of the Maximals remained stationary.
Dinobot growled. "For Tigatron?" Everyone else raised their
hand.
Tigatron bowed his head in reverence of the fact that he was now
leader. "Thank you," he said softly. Then, swiftly, he stood,
glancing around the room. "Blackarachnia, Tarantulas, and
Inferno are still in this ship. I want them out, and now. Dinobot,
Rhinox, you go down and take care of them."
Dinobot grinned sadistically. "Of course, Tigatron. I'll take care
of them... permanently..."
"Just get them out of the ship, Dinobot!" snapped Tigatron. "And
ALIVE."
For a moment, Dinobot said nothing. He turned, and began to
walk towards the area where the three Predacons were held.
Then, suddenly, he stopped, and turned back towards the other
Maximals. "Just once," he snarled, "can't we have a leader who
understands the meaning of WAR?!?!?" Spinning around on his
heel, he stormed towards the back, Rhinox following a
respectable distance behind.
"Are you sure that was a good idea, Stripes?" asked Rattrap
quizzically. "Dinobot's not exactly in a following mood..."
"At the moment, Rattrap, he'll either follow orders, or kill the
Predacons," said Tigatron calmly, sitting back down. "And, truth
be told, I'm not terribly biased either way right this instant."
Rattrap shook his head. *Maybe I should've voted for
Chopperface..."
Optimus hurt.
For the first few moments of his regained conciousness, that was
all he could manage. His organic half hurt, is robot half hurt, his
muscles hurt, his servos hurt, his optics hurt, his skin hurt,
everything body part he could name (and some he couldn't) hurt.
It took ten cycles for him to finally manage to draw enough
coherent thoughts together to begin to subdue the pain.
"Where... am... I?"
"Hmm? Well, what do you know? You are just FULL of
suprises, aren't you?"
Slowly, painfully (oh, that was an exaggeration, wasn't it,
EVERYTHING was done painfully right now), Optimus managed
to pull himself closer together, subduing the pain, making it
subside, forcing himself to work again. His optics flickered back
on-line, and he caught the image of something blue and grey.
"Who are you?" he asked, this time more coherent.
"The tooth fairy," came the reply. "Now calm down. You just
nearly got blown to bits. Keep active, and you'll fall apart."
"But - Rhinox! Cheetor! Rattrap! Dinobot! Tigatron! AIrazor! I
- I have to make sure that they're all right!" Struggling to get up,
Optimus discovered that he was currently strapped down to the
bed. "Let - me - go!" With a flash, Optimus's optics activated
again, and he saw a short robot attending him, blue-grey.
"Well, what do you know? Your optics are back on-line." The
small robot moved to check a few makeshift instruments. "Your
internal polymers are resetting themselves quite well, too. I'm
impressed."
Optimus finally collapsed back against the bed. "Who are you?"
he asked. He could see that his struggling was getting him
nowhere, and after all, this robot *did* seem to have saved his
life.
"Cavewing, my dear Optimus," replied the robot with a slight
dramatic flair. "Welcome to the moon."
Airazor landed near the pods. *Well, no sign of Predacons,*
thought Airazor. *And it looks like both pods are already
scanned. Relegates me to just waiting and watching...*
She didn't have long to wait. The first pod opened, and a
slender, red-orange female fox slowly stepped out. "Hmm...
where am I? This doesn't look like where we were supposed to
be..."
"It isn't," said Airazor. The fox was visibly startled.
"Oh," she said. "I didn't see you." With a flip, the fox
transformed into a slender female. "Vixen, medical officer."
Airazor nodded. "My name's Airazor."
There was a hiss, and both Airazor and Vixen whirled around to
see the second pod open. A large, copper dragonfly hovered out
of the pod. "Hmm... and who might you be?" it asked the two
females.
"I'm Airazor, and this is Vixen," replied Airazor. "You?"
The dragonfly transformed, and a thin robot stood before them.
"Jetstorm," he replied. "Of Megaplex's Amber Gaurd, head of the
Air Force."
Vixen gaped. "If you're a member of the Amber Gaurd, you're no
Maximal -"
"Gee, you catch on quick," said Jetstorm, raising his launcher.
Vixen and Airazor dashed apart as he fired a missile, which
slammed into the ground. Leaping skyward, he turned towards
Arazor, and began firing missiles swiftly, blasting inches behind
her. Airazor and Vixen both dove for cover, then Airazor fired her
wrist missiles in response and Vixen fired her crossbow.
Jetstorm nimbly avoided the attacks, then continued his assault.
Airazor slammed on her comm. "Airazor to Axalon! We're in
serious trouble! One of the pods was a Predacon!"
~A Predacon pod? That's ridiculous!~ exclaimed Rattrap
incredulously.
Airazor ducked down again as another volley of fire exploded
near her. Glancing behind her, she saw Waspinator and
Terrorsaur flying towards the site. "Yeah?" she shouted back at
Rattrap. "Tell that to HIM!!!" A burst of static came over the
radio as Terrorsaur's twin shoulder cannons roared to life. "It
looks like he's called in reinforcements. We need a plan,
Rattrap, and we need it now!"
~That I got, bird lady, that I got. Run away!~
Despite the gunfire exploding around her, Airazor still managed
to find astonishment. "That's it? That's your big plan? 'Run
away'? Optimus wouldn't have said 'run away'!"
~Yeah? Optimus isn't the one still alive, is he? This ain't the
time or place for a discussion. Get you and the new kid out of
there, or you'll be five faces of DEAD!!~
Airazor snapped off her comm. "Hate to admit it, but the guy's
got a point." SHe looked at Vixen. "We're pulling out, Vix! Need
me to carry you?"
"No need," said Vixen with a smirk. "I'll give us a little
distraction." A burst of psionic energy surrounded her head, and
the three Predacons faltered in their flight. "Good." She sprang
out from behind her cover, then transformed into fox mode and
began dashing away. "We'd better hurry up!"
"How - how did you -"
Vixen screeched to a halt, and looked at Airazor with a degree of
frankness that only a fox can muster. "Do you really want to
discuss the ramifications of this right now? Or would you rather
discuss them at the nice, big, protected base?"
Sighing, Airazor lept skyward and transformed. Her and Vixen
shot towards the base. Jetstorm recovered, then began to fly
after the two Maximals. "Quickly!" he snapped at Terrorsaur and
Waspinator. "We've got to go after them, before they get away!"
Terrorsaur swiftly grabbed Jetstorm by the arm. "Are you crazy?
Even down by one member, the Maximals can still out-gun us.
Besides, Megatron wants to see you immediately."
An odd look crossed Jetstorm's face. "But - how did he know?"
"He just does, pal," said Terrorsaur, smirking evilly. He knew full
well what was in store for Jetstorm. "He just does."
Tigatron turned to Rattrap. "Rattrap, I didn't give the order for
Airazor to pull out -"
Rattrap threw his hands down on the console. "Jeez, Stripes,
lighten up and turn a whiter shade of pale, will ya? 'Razor and
the new kid were pinned down, outnumbered and flat out of luck.
I think that you would've told Airazor to pull out anyways." He
paused. "After all," he added with a smirk, "you do have what are
known as the raging hots for her, anyhow."
The self-righteous smile on Rattrap's face slowly melted away
under a withering glare from Tigatron. "Never," he said, "EVER
presume to give an order for me. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir, mister heap-big leader man, sir," grumbled Rattrap. He
knew that Tigatron was shooting him another withering glare, but
he really didn't care. *Shoulda nominated myself,* he thought to
himself.
"Oooh..." Blackarachnia slowly rose to her feet. *Feel like I just
pulled an all-nighter in an engine core... and had plenty of drinks
to top that off.* Staggering forward, she leaned against a
bulkhead for support. *Still queasy... hit me pretty hard...
whatever Tarantulas did to me.* She glanced back at his inert
form. *Least the little pervert's gone now... shame to lose him,
but -*
<Oh, you miss me already? I'm flattered.>
Blackarachnia screamed as she felt Tarantulas assault her
telepathically, probing her brain, trying to find the chinks in her
mental armor. "You - Primus-damned - hateful - worthless -
PERVERTED - excuse - for a - spider! What - are - you -
doing?"
<You tried to kill me, Blackarachnia. I'm returning the favor.>
She felt him chuckle as she writhed in pain. <I'm unused to the
interface of the Spark Transferral System... but it seems more
than capable of getting me around in your head.>
Blackarachnia pushed him back, forced herself to regain control
of her mind and body. She stood, now fully aware. *Alright, you
little pervert, then how do I throw you back into your own
disgusting little body? Because, BELIEVE me, I'm not going to
tolerate having you in my head much longer, even if it means
putting a missile through my OWN brai - YEEARGGH!!!*
Tarantulas forcefully revewed his assault. <Every other sentence
addressed to me starts with "pervert", I see,> sighed Tarantulas.
<Come now, Blackarachnia - why don't you love me?>
In intense pain, Blackarachnia collapsed to the floor again,
writhing. "Lot of reasons," she croaked out. "For one thing,
telepathically assaulting me and trying to take over my body is
NOT something I do on the first date."
<No? You do practically everything else on the first date ->
Blackarachnia's eyes flashed, and it wasn't from the psionic
attack. "That's it, Tarantulas," growled Blackarachnia, lucid with
anger. The anger gave her strength as she pushed against
Tarantulas. "You just crossed a BAD line there, pal. I can
handle attacking my head - but my memories are OFF LIMITS!!!"
She lunged over to Tarantulas's inert form, trying to push him out
of her brain. "There! Go jump home to YOUR body!"
<No...> Tarantulas struggled to stop Blackarachnia. <Megatron
will kill me... I can't return... I - NOOOOOO!!!>
A flash lanced out from Blackarachnia's forehead and struck
Tarantulas's evenly. Blackarachnia and Tarantulas both
screamed as the two minds were torn seperate, Tarantulas's
being shoved back where it belonged. With a last scream, both
of them collapsed to the floor.
Tarantulas sat up. "I... I don't believe it! The witch actually did it!
She got me back into my own body!"
He was interrupted as Blackarachnia grabbed him by the neck,
then hurled him back to the floor. "Goody for you," snarled
Blackarachnia, fury evident in her eyes as she increased the
pressure around Tarantulas's neck. "Too bad you won't live long
enoguh to appreciate it -"
Their conversation was cut short as Infernot rose to his feet, only
slightly wobbily. He shook his head to regain his orientation, then
glared at Blackarachnia and Tarantulas. "Traitors... in the name
of the Royalty - YOU WILL BUUUUURN!!!" He reached behind
his back for his gun, then looked surprised as he couldn't find it.
The three Predacons looked up to see his gun left in a shut-down
stasis field.
Like lightning, both Blackarachnia and Tarantulas lept for the
gun, grabbing it at once. The two grappled, trying to get ahold of
the gun and get it awayu from the other. "GIve - me - the - gun -
Blackarachnia!" screamed Tarantulas. "You - witch!"
Inferno shot towards the spiders. Smiling nastily, Blackarachnia
released the gun and stepped away. "Of course, Tarantulas.
Have the gun."
Somewhat surprised, it took Tarantulas a moment to get a good
hold on the gun. He opened his mouth to say something, but
was cut short as Inferno tackled him from behind. The gun went
flying out of his hands, and Blackarachnia lept up and caught it.
Inferno dragged Tarantulas to the floor, then began to punch him
repeatedly. "Burn, traitor, BUUUURN!!!"
Blackarachnia aimed the gun square at Inferno. "Hey, Ant-boy,"
said Blackarachnia, the same grin on her face from before.
Inferno looked up. "Give my regards to Primus," she finished as
she fired off a salvo of firepower at Inferno. The larger warrior
was struck off-balance and flew backwards, smashing into the
wall.
Grinning, Blackarachnia aimed for another shot. "Make another
move, Inferno, and the next shot hits your head." She glanced
over at Tarantulas, who was regaining his footing. "Granted, we
have the desire to destroy Legs here in common... but if anyone's
going to send him into the great beyond, it'll be ME."
"I'm... honored..." croaked Tarantulas as he struggled to his feet.
Inferno looked at Blackarachnia, then looked at the gun, then
looked at Blackarachnia again. Shrugging, he burst at her, rotor
churning full-force. Blackarachnia gave an impatient sigh, then
unleashed the weapon's firepower directly into Inferno's rotor as
she sidestepped. Inferno tumbled forward in the air like a fallen
leaf, arms and legs akimbo, then smashed into the wall, his rotor
badly damaged.
Slowly, with the anger evident in his eyes, Inferno rose to his feet.
He was going to tell Tarantulas and Blackarachnia how they were
going to burn. He was going to tell them how he would smash
them into tiny pieces and save them just until they got back to
Cybertron so that he could personally toss them into the smelting
vats.
He was going to tell them all of that... before Dinobot rammed
through Inferno's gut with his sword. "Obviously, Predacon, you
aren't aware of when to lie down and die," he snarled,
withdrawing his sword. Inferno, maddened with pain and leaking
vital fluids, turned to Dinobot, eyes blazing with anger.
Tarantulas was on his feet and beside Blackarachnia. "We have
to take out the Maximals immediately," he said. "But we can't
use our autocannons... we'll hit Inferno..."
Blackarachnia shrugged. "What makes you think I give a damn if
I hit Inferno?" Flipping her spider legs around, she opened fire
with the powerful autocannons housed within, spraying an
impossible number of bullets towards the door. Dinobot and
Rhinox saw the assault coming, and ducked behind the frame as
Tarantulas shrugged and joined in. Inferno dived to one side,
barely avoiding getting caught full force in the assault of the
spiders.
"Those spiders are even greater fools than I imagined," snarled
Dinobot. "Don't they realize that they're going to hit Inferno?"
"Somehow, I don't think that either of them care," said Rhinox.
"We weren't exactly facing off against a mint-condition Inferno
when we started off. I think that Megatron's resident anarchists
came into conflict with his flame-throwing bootlick."
Dinobot looked at Rhinox cynically. "You figured that out all by
yourself?" he asked, his voice dripping with bitter sarcasm.
"Come on. The three of them aren't going to kill each other, and
we're going to need to get them out of here -"
"Covered," said Rhinox.
"Oh, is that so, miracle man? While you're at it, why don't you
wish for Megatron to disappear?"
"Shut up, Dinobot," sighed Rhinox, stepping around into the line
of fire for the spiders. Bullets ricocheted off of his heavily-
armored frame as he reached into his subspace pocket.
Grabbing his chain gun, he removed it and took careful aim,
focusing through the hail of bullets. Then, with surprising speed,
he adopted a firing stance and unleached the full force of his
chaingun, and the spiders scattered as the bullets tore towards
them.
As Dinobot began to come into the room, Tarantulas looked
frenetically at Blackarachnia. "We have to get out of here!"
"Brilliant deduction, Tarantulas. No wonder you're supposed to
be the genius." Blackarachnia looked at Inferno. "I've got an
idea." Sprining forward, she flipped towards Inferno's gun,
grabbing it and hefting it. Arcing her arm back, she hurled the
gun across the room, landing atop Inferno. The inert Predacon
began to stir again, his hands closing around the handle of the
powerful weapon.
Tarnatulas nearly flipped out. "Have you gone completely
insane?!?!" he exploded. "Inferno is going to try and kill us!" He
looked at the now-moving form of the massive warrior.
"Although, he will take care of the Maximals..."
"Exactly," shouted Blackarachnia, diving to the ground as Inferno
unleashed his firepower, knocking Rhinox back. "We don't need
him to last long. Just as long as he gives us time to get out."
Drawing forth her missile launcher, she pointed the barrel firmly
at the floor, then fired. A hole was torn open. Blackarachnia
flipped over, converting to spider mode. "Well, come on, Legs,
get moving!" she screamed at Tarantulas as she zipped out of
the ship.
Tarantulas followed suit, then scuttled towards the exit hole full-
bore. Dinobot noticed the escape attempt, and began firing, but
was cut short as a stray shot from Inferno knocked him off-
balance, sending his eyebeams into the ceiling. Sighing in relief,
Tarantulas ducked out of the ship.
Inferno staggered towards Dinobot, his optics only giving a
flickering, on-and-off visual. "You... will... b... b... burn, M-M-
Maximal," he graoned, clearly weakened by the damage he had
sustained.
Turning, Rhinox locked his sights on the weakened Inferno. "Not
likely, Inferno," he snarled. Inferno stopped for a moment,
whirling around to react, but his reflexes were too dull and his
systems too weakened for him to stop Rhinox. The chaingun
erupted in a hail of bullets, slicing through Inferno's armor and
servos. Stumbling backwards, he fell into the hole, and tumbled
towards the water of the waterfall below.
Stabbing his sword into the wall, Dinobot pulled himself up.
Walking over, he glanced down the hole. Inferno had
disappeared into the foam. "Do you think we finished him off for
good this time?" asked Dinobot, frowning at the frothing water.
"Anything's possible, Dinobot," sighed Rhinox. "But if memory
serves... the Predacons have a nasty way of pulling through no
matter what. Logic would state that he shouldn't even be able to
transform, to allow his autorepair system kick in. But, I had
written him off for down for the count after he got hit by the
spiders. So who knows?"
Dinobot looked at Rhinox quizzically. "And they say that I'M
depressing to be around," sighed Dinobot, turning and heading
back towards the bridge. Rhinox smirked to himself, then turned
and headed towards the bridge as well.
Optimus paced. He was nervous, and with good reason. He
had... well, all reason would dictate that he had run a kamikaze
mission. But somehow - through circumstances that even
Cavewing didn't seem to be entirely clear on - Optimus had
survived, and had landed on the moon. Of course, he was near
death at the time, and it was only pure luck that he had survived
long enough for Cavewing to find him. But, that didn't solve
Optimus's biggest problem - namely, getting home.
"You're a downer as roomates go, you know that?" noted
Cavewing, watching Optimus pace. "I can't read minds, but I can
guess what you're thinking. So allow me to enlighten you -
pacing is NOT an accepted transportation method."
"Then why don't you come up with something that IS?" asked
Optimus, near the breaking point. "My crew is down there,
without a leader, with a scorched planet, and with more
Predacons around then I'd care to mention!" He sighed. "I'm
willing to bet that Prime *never* would have reacted like this, or
even gotten into this situation."
"Well, Prime was a cardboard cutout, and pretty boring to hang
with besides." Cavewing got up and walked over to Optimus.
"Unfortunately... I don't really HAVE a way off this moon, or I
would have used it by now. My pod landed here -"
Optimus's head snapped up. "Your pod! If we could rig up a
temporary propulsion system with my shoulder rockets, and if we
both convert to beast mode, then -"
"I don't have the pod, Rube Goldberg," sighed Cavewing. "Onyx
destroyed it pretty swiftly after we landed here."
"Onyx?" Optimus cocked an eyebrow. "I don't remember
anyone named Onyx on the crew roster -"
"He doesn't seem quite like one of your drinking buddies," replied
Cavewing. "Nor would I have signed onto a crew if I had known
he was there. Aside from being a Predacon, he and I... have
something of a past. Being trapped on a planet with him is not
exactly my idea of a pleasant excursion -"
"Succinctly stated," came a voice. Optimus and Cavewing both
whirled around to see a robot built much like Cavewing standing
there, but gold and black instead of blue and grey. "I'll save you
the trouble of trying to figure it out, Optimus," said the robot. "I
am most certainly Onyx Primal... and in case you hadn't
guessed, I am here to kill you."
"On the upside, he can make an entrance," noted Cavewing.
"It CAN'T have been a Predacon stasis pod. It's that simple."
Rattrap put his hand to his forehead. "They simply don't exist."
"He nearly blew us up, Rattrap. For something that doesn't exist,
he certainly seems pretty well armed." Airazor folded her arms
across her chest.
"Look, there's a perfectly rational explanation for all of this, I'm
sure," offered Rhinox. "Maybe the Predacons had already been
and gone. Given Jetstorm a set of memories they had stored,
reprogrammed him, and left."
"Then why wouldn't they have reprogrammed Vixen?" rebuked
Airazor. "Look, Predacons coming planestside all on their own
isn't an idea I'm exactly thrilled with either. But it seems to be the
reality."
"It's also the less immediate problem," remarked Tigatron,
entering the bridge with swift authority. "Vixen managed to get
the medlab half-running. If Primal had gotten blown up, there
should be traces of him in the area around us, but a bioscan
reveals no evidence of him having come down on the planet."
Cheetor, who had been observing the whole affair from a corner
as he comfortably curled up in cheetah mode, suddenly sprang
up and transformed, wild excitement evident on his face. "You're
saying that Big Bot is still alive?" he asked.
"That's what it appears to be," replied Tigatron. He began to turn
as he heard the doors behind him swish open, then calmed as he
saw that it was only Vixen. "He obviously isn't on the planet, so
our best bet is to assume that he's on one of the moons."
"How are we going to get there, though?" asked Airazor. "The
only option Primal had was the spider's rigged up pod shuttle,
and even that was a one-way ticket."
"Actually, we do have another option," said Vixen. Moving over
to the central table, she projected a quick structural layout of the
Axalon, then zoomed in on a single area and enlarged it. Several
small spaceships could be seen resting there, all in a row. "I
remembered from my initial briefing about the Axalon's features,
and the shuttlebay jumped to my memory when I heard about our
captain's dillema."
Rattrap jumped up. "Wait, I remember! The shuttlebay was
damaged in our firefight with the Soundwave. We'd been too
busy trying to get the Axalon back off the ground to try and repair
the shuttles... and I guess we just forgot."
Slowly, Rhinox moved over to the diagram. "The bay sustained a
few direct hits from the Soundwave's main plasma cannons.
There was additional armor plating in that reigon, precisely for
that reason, but even so, the shuttles are going to be damaged."
"No big deal. It's a fixer-upper." Rattrap smirked, then glanced
at Rhinox and Vixen. "Well? You coming or not?"
Rhinox and Vixen looked at each other, shrugged, and followed
after Rattrap.
Blackarachnia collapsed against the wall, breathing heavily.
"Sweet Primus," she whispered, wiping her brow. She turned to
Tarantulas. "Do you think he saw us?"
Tarantulas shook his head. "I was very careful when I snuck
past the cameras. He might think he has everything on video,
but he's wrong." He sighed, letting himself relax. "And Inferno's
gone, too. The only one who could verify what we did. Good
plan you had back there, letting him try to take on the Maximals."
"Yes," nodded Blackarachnia. "Inferno is taken care of."
"Mmm-hmm."
"That just leaves you." With lightning speed, Blackarachnia
grabbed Tarantulas's neck and pinned him against the wall, her
face dark with anger and hatred. "You and I hadn't finished our
little dance back on the Axalon. Shall we?"
Before Tarantulas could answer, both of the spiders heard a
creak. They turned to look at the door, knowing that they
wouldn't like what they were about to see.
Dripping wet, his armor hanging loosely and sparks lacing out
from damaged parts of his body, his rotor looking like a large
hunk of scrap metal, stood Inferno, apparently missing half his
face. It was obvious it took him every last bit of energy in his
body to continue standing. "I... still... function..." he hissed.
Then, like a runner after a marathon, he collapsed forward, too
weak to talk anymore.
Blackarachnia stared at the battered Inferno, then released
Tarantulas. Walking over, she grabbed one of Inferno's
shoulders and began pulling. Tarantulas shook his head to
recover his bearings. "Blackarachnia... what are you doing?"
"We can't just leave him here, Tarantulas. It would look
suspicious. Dragging him in would look slightly better." She
glowered at him. "Give me a hand, will you?"
"Asks the woman who just threatened to kill me..."
"NOW, Tarantulas!" snapped Blackarachnia, more urgently this
time. Tarantulas sighed, and dragged Inferno along, grabbing
the massive ant's other shoulder. "We'll dump him in the CR
chamber, then report to Megatron."
Tarantulas nodded. "And get our heads blown off."
"Not if I have anything to do about it, Legs," she replied.
"Hopefully, he has bigger fish to fry at the moment. Failing that...
well, I'll think of something."
Tarantulas began to respond, but stopped himself. The two
spiders continued to drag Inferno along silently.
"Did you honestly think that I wouldn't find out, Jetstorm?" asked
Megatron, the smile obvious on his face. "A member of the
Amber Gaurd, eh?"
"Head of the Air Force, Megatron," replied Jetstorm, not flinching
in the slightest. That surprised Megatron. Either his military
training had taught him to be calm in the face of death, or he was
an idiot. One way or the other, Megatron would not be
manipulated by Jetstorm. He refuesed.
Megatron moved over to the golden disks, admiring them. "So
then, why, pray tell, has Megaplex sent someone to keep tabs on
me? Am I honestly that irresistable to him? Speak quickly, or I
may lose my patience."
"Megaplex sent me only after he learned you were going to steal
the golden disk," Jetstorm replied. "Think, Megatron. Wasn't
security a little thin for such an important installation? That was
Megaplex's doing, along with the rest of the Predacons."
Now Megatron was intruiged. He moved closer to Jetstorm,
dwarfing the smaller Predacon with his height. "And why is that?
Why would he choose to support someone who is pushing the
four factions towards war?"
Jetstorm laughed. "Megatron, please! The Predacons have
been pushing Cybertron back towards war since the day of their
formation. We are the shadows, Megatron, waiting until we can
push far enough to plunge the others into war. We are patient.
We will wait until the war is over, and sieze the profits from the
victors. That is as we have always been. Why make the effort
when someone else can be manipulated into making the effort
for you?"
"You've done your homework, Jetstorm. That does not impress
me. My original question still remains unanswered. Why did
Megaplex support me?" He moved back to his throne, keeping a
careful eye on Jetstorm all the while.
"At first, he thought you would stay on Cybertron. He though
there were resources to be gained at some price. He lost his
nerve." Jetstorm gave Megatron a level, cool gaaze. "I did not. I
followed. There is knowledge on this planet, Megatron, and I am
willing to fight for it - at any price."
Megatron's smile shifted from one of malice to one of sinister
pleasure. "Excellent, yes. I am pleased to add such a capable
warrior to my ranks, Jetstorm. Welcome to the dark side."
"I'm already enjoying it," replied Jetstorm.
"They're working?"
"As much as could be expected," replied Rattrap, slapping one of
the shuttles confidently. "Enough to get these babies scouring
the space for Optimus Primal. Near as I can tell, that's all we
need."
Tigatron noddded. "All right. Rhinox, Vixen, you're on the first
shuttle. Cheetor, Rattrap, you're on the second. Get out there,
and start finding our commander."
The Maximals nodded, and boarded their shuttles. With a
humm, the bay doors opened, revealing the midday sky. The two
shuttles raised up, then shot skyward, leaving a shimmering blue
contrail behind them.
"You realize, of course, this leaves us with only three Maximals
here on the Axalon," noted Dinobot as he closed the bay doors, a
slightly accusatory tone in his voice.
"Sentinel will hold up against anything the Predacons can throw
at us. We'll be fine." Tigatron gave Dinobot a look. "Besides,
you said yourself that Inferno was out of the picture. How much
force do you think the Predacons would muster?"
"Enough!" snarled Dinobot. "Tigatron, you are not seeing the
simple point of this! We are at war! During war, one must be
ruthless to survive!"
"I don't know about that, Dinobot," replied Tigatron calmly. "I've
survived this war just fine so far, and I don't have a ruthless wire
in my body. Tell me - doesn't it strike you that we've remained at
a stalemate only because we haven't been too ruthless?"
"Exactly! If we had been more ruthless, then we would have
already defeated the Predacons by this point!"
Tigatron shook his head. "Sometimes, Dinobot, it worries me
what you'd be doing if you didn't have the Predacons to fight."
Without allowing Dinobot another word, he turned and walked
towards the bridge. Thunderstruck, Dinobot snarled to himself,
then tromped down the hallway towards his quarters.
Cavewing drew forth twin swords, and Onyx did likewise. "You
might as well stand back, Optimus. If I win, you have nothing to
worry about, and if I lose, then both of our deaths are assured."
"You're just inspiring heaps of confidence here," muttered Primal.
Arming his arm cannon, he aimed, then fired a volley at Onyx's
head. Onyx simply stood there as the shot hit his head and
passed through, coming out the other side and smashing to the
wall of Cavewing's dwelling.
Onyx stared at Optimus for a moment, then looked back at
Cavewing. "He's awfully ineffectual, Cavewing. I would have
expected better from you."
"He's not familiar with our phasing abilities," replied Cavewing.
"Give him a break."
Optimus slowly circled around. "I'm not that stupid, Onyx. I'm
familiar with the principles of phasing, and I know you'll have to
materialize to hurt either one of us." He drew both his swords.
"And the second that happens, my friend..."
"Don't, Optimus!" shouted Cavewing. "This doesn't involve you!"
Cavewing twirled his scimitars, then launched himself forward,
swords crackling with energy.
Onyx tumbled to one side, and thrust upward. Cavewing winced
as the scimitar was driven into his side, but then slashed
downward with both of his blades, energy trailing behind them.
Onyx winced as the swords bit him, but phased, letting Cavewing
fall to the floor. Standing again, Onyx brough down his scimitars,
but Cavewing rolled across the floor and through Onyx's legs, still
phased. With a shimmer of energy, Cavewing vanished from
sight. Onyx glanced about for a moment, then drove a scimitar
behind him.
"Missed!" shouted Cavewing's voice. Onyx was thrown forward
as an invisible leg kicked him in the back, but phased as
Cavewing reappeared and stabbed his sword straight down.
Hoping to hit Onyx's head, he drove the scimitar into the floor.
Onyx sprung up, then rematerialized and slashed downward.
Before he hit Cavewing, the small robot lunged forward,
crouching on the wall, then launched himself at Onyx. The two of
them collided, tumbling backwards. Onyx phased, and Cavewing
tumbled on without him.
Rematerializing, Onyx drove a scimitar towards Cavewing, but
Cavewing had already sprung out of the way. Gripping his
scimitars tightly, he hurled them like boomerangs at Onyx. Onyx
phased through the swords, then seemed to grin as he saw
Cavewing was disarmed. "Nowhere left to run, traitor," he said,
leaping forward with swords held in front. Cavewing lept into the
sky, transformed into a bat, and dove towards the spot where his
swords had landed. Transforming back to robot mode, he
grabbed the swords, then skidded to a halt and turned back to
face Onyx again.
~Optimus Primal! Come in, Optimus Primal!~
Optimus whipped up his arm, surprised. "This is Optimus.
What's going on?"
There came a whoop of joy. ~We found you! Optimus, it's
Rhinox and... and a new crew member, Vixen. We repaired the
Axalon's shuttles and came looking for you after we determined
you weren't on the planet. Where are you?~
"I got rescued by another Maximal... I think. A pod that landed on
the moon. Seems like he's one of two. What's the enviroment
out there?"
~Similar to the planet. Listen, leave your communicator on, and
we'll track you.~
Optimus looked at Onyx and Cavewing going at it. "Wait. I'm not
leaving a crew member up here to fight a losing battle..."
~What do you mean?~
"I'll explain later. Track me. I'll take care of business here."
Without waiting for Rhinox to respond, Optimus dashed towards
the site of the battle. Cavewing had been hit again, and Onyx
was keeping him from taking any action. His sword slashes were
coming too fast for Cavewing to risk the time to phase, and he
couldn't do anything except block. Onyx knew the wounds he
had inflicted on Cavewing would claim his opponent's strength
eventually, and then he would make that last slash...
Onyx actually cried out as he felt Optimus's massive sword
scraped across his back, metal and fur coming with it. "Sorry.
Did I hurt you?" snarled Optimus cynically as the black-gold robot
kneeled forward in pain. He looked at Cavewing. "Come on,
Cavewing. We've got my ride here. Let's get out before Onyx
gets rid of both of us."
"Dammit, Optimus! This was supposed to be our last dance -"
"Cavewing, I don't know what bad blood is between Onyx and
you. And I certainly have no idea why you want a final
confrontation so badly. But you're not helping anyone here. My
crew - my Maximals - we need you down on the planet, to keep
us from destruction. And I'm sick of you attempting to
manipulate me and deceive me. You're a Maximal, and show
your commander the reverence he deserves. We are both
getting out of here, and NOW!"
For a moment, Cavewing made no motion, but quickly looked at
Onyx. "We've been delayed again, Onyx, but we will have our
day." Standing, Cavewing dashed over to the door, pressing the
button to open it. He and Optimus exited the complex, stepping
into the lush jungle that covered this moon.
Glancing to one side, Optimus saw Rhinox and another Maximal
who he assumed to be Vixen. "Rhinox! I'm over here!"
Rhinox nodded. Optimus and Cavewing strode over to the two of
them. "Thank Primus you're alive, Optimus," said Rhinox,
bowing his head in reverence. "It's good to have you back."
"I owe it all to Cavewing," replied Optimus, smirking. "Now,
come on. There's another Transformer on this planet, and if he
isn't a Predacon by listing, he's one by action. We'd better get off
this planet, and fast."
The four Maximals made their way to the shuttle, cutting through
the underbrush. Unknown to them, a shadow watched as they
progressed, and followed shortly behind, preparing for the
moment when it would strike...
Inferno burned. He felt himself being torn apart, recombined, felt
every wire in his body saturate with pain. He loved it. The more
pain he felt, the more pleasureful the experience became. He
felt his eyes regain their spark, their luster, and felt himself
growing stronger by the minute. Yes... in a minute, now...
Inferno glanced around as he emerged from the CR chamber.
He saw his Royalty standing before him, and he bowed. "My
Queen! I have returned!" His memory sparked in his mind, and
he stepped forward. "And I have something which is of urgent
consideration to you -"
"Yes, Inferno. Tarantulas and Blackarachnia told me all about it."
The look on Inferno's face was the best he could approximate
shock. "They... they did? All of it?"
"Yes. You were possessed by the Maximals somehow, and the
two of them were forced to face off against you before the
Maximals arrived and attacked them. They gave you your gun
again in hopes that you would come to your senses and fight the
Maximals, but took the opportunity to escape for their own safety.
When you arrived, they assumed a rest in the CR Chamber
would easily wipe you free of any possession."
"But... but, no! They... they were... but I could have sworn..."
Inferno let himself trail off. Was he sure? His mind was so
confused with rage so often... might he really have been under
the Maximal's control?
Of course. He must have been. The spiders were Predacons,
and part of the Colony. They would not lie. Inferno must have
been mistaken. He regained his demented smile and shook his
head. "My apologies, my Queen. The Maximals must have
somehow affected my memory chips as well."
Megatron nodded. "So be it. Now, come. It is time. Sensors
have detected most of the Maximals leaving the Axalon on
shuttles. I am leaving Tarantulas to analyze the state of our own
shuttlebay. That still means seven Predacons against three
Maximals and Sentinel."
"Seven? We have acquired a new warrior, Royalty?"
"Another flyer, to boot. Prepare yourself, Inferno. We will take
the Axalon... and when the Maximals return, their own defenses
will annhilate them!"
Airazor looked at Tigatron. "Has there been any communication
from the shuttles yet?"
Tigatron shook his head. "There won't be. Rattrap didn't have
time to get anything but the essentials working on the shuttles.
No communicators, no weapons, nothing except propulsion and
navigation." He sighed. "We just have to hope that they'll get
back all right."
Sighing, Airazor wiped her brow. She was about to respond, but
was cut short as the Axalon's computer began beeping. Startled,
she glanced at the display. "Sentinel, report."
[Force of seven Predacons detected. One of the Predacons is
not among those on file.]
Tigatron looked at Airazor. "Think this is the same Predacon you
fought earlier today?"
"Who else would it be?" snarled Dinobot, striding into the room.
"I certainly hope your confidence in Sentinel proves to be
merited. I, on the other hand, prefer the nostalgic touch of
meeting your opponents face to face before you destroy them."
Extending the ship's armory, he carefully rifled about for a
moment, then began loading himself up with weapons and
ammunition.
"You're not honestly planning on going out there?!?" asked
Airazor, rising. "If you go, you'll be killed!"
Dinobot paused for a moment. "Perhaps. But you may place all
the confidence you wish in Sentinel. I feel much more confident
with a gun in my hands facing the Predacon force than sitting
inside hoping that our defenses will hold." He lifted a rifle out and
looked at Airazor. "Will you join me?"
Airazor opened her hands to catch the rifle. He tossed it to her.
Walking over, she began picking out weapons as well. Tigatron
looked aghast. "You... the two of you can't actually expect to
win."
"Between Sentinel and ourselves, we have a chance, Tigatron,"
replied Airazor. "We'll keep them held off - you operate
Sentinel." She looked at him, a deep feeling of love and fear
welling up within her. Averting her gaze, she looked towards the
ceiling of the Axalon. "Open the hatch."
The flight hatch swung open, and Airazor lept skyward, weapons
at the ready. Dinobot stood on the platform, descending, as
Tigatron closed the hatch and armed Sentinel's weapons. He
closed his optics for a moment, trying to calm himself. He failed.
Sighing, he activated the weapons fire and hoped for the best.
Megatron stood back, surveying the field. "Jetstorm, Terrorsaur!
Take down Airazor. Inferno, Scorponok, you are to deal with
Dinobot. The rest of us will try to evade their line of fire and
move in closer!" Motioning, he, Blackarachnia, and Waspinator
started off around to the other side of the Axalon, while his troops
moved into their positions.
Airazor watched as Jetstorm and Terrorsaur flew towards her.
She had grabbed two photon blasters, but still wasn't entirely
confident in her ability to stand off against the two of them.
Swallowing her doubt, she banked to one side and began firing,
strafing the course the two Predacons were flying, breaking them
apart. *First things first,* she said, then flew straight at
Terrorsaur. As she had hoped, he banked up, arming his
shoulder cannons and preparing to fire upon her back. Twisting
back around, she aimed her blasters and prepared to fire right in
his face.
She heard the whistle of the wind as the missiles flew towards
her, and instinctively pulled up to avoid getting hit. She glanced
to one side, and saw Jetstorm coming at her, then looked up and
saw Terrorsaur. Out of options, she cut out her flight systems
completely and let herself plummet, then reactivated her flight
system and shot straight up, past both of the Predacons.
Regaining her bearings, she saw the two of them flying at her
again, and she decided that a different strategy was in order.
Locking on to Terrorsaur, she fired off a volley of photon bolts.
Terrorsaur tried to dodge, but they sliced into his shoulder with a
sparking noise.
As Terrorsaur withdrew, wincing in pain, Sentinel got a lock on
Terrorsaur. The ship's autocannons lashed out, driving him away
from the ship. Jestorm glanced at Airazor, then dived at the
autocannon, missiles firing. Airazor aimed for Jetstorm, but was
cut short as Terrorsaur lashed out with his shoulder cannons,
cutting deep into her side. As the autocannons exploded in a hail
of shrapnel and smoke, Jetstorm and Terrorsaur converged oce
again to move in on the injured Airazor.
Dinobot snarled as Inferno and Scorponok moved towards him,
pumping his rifle ominously. "Come another step closer, and I'll
turn you into scrap," he taunted.
Inferno and Scorponok looked at each other, then charged at
Dinobot, weapons armed. Dinobot stood his ground as the two
Predacons charged him, then dove to the ground and let
Sentinel's underbelly autocannon strafe the two of them.
Unprepared for the assault, the two Predacons fell backwards,
wincing with pain as the bullets cut into them. Quickly glancing at
the pinned Predacons, Dinobot stood and took off under the ship,
running towards the other side where Megatron, Blackarachnia,
and Waspinator had converged.
Waspinator glanced under the ship. "Um... Megatron..."
"Not now, Waspinator."
"Wazzpinator really, REALLY thinks you'll want to hear about
this..."
"I said not now!"
"Should have listened to him while you had the chance!" shouted
Dinobot, unleashing a stream of firepower at Waspinator. The
Predacon was torn into and flew backwards, his face contorted in
something between a grimace and a sigh. Pumping his rifle,
Dinobot rolled towards Megatron and aimed his rifle at the
Predacon leader's head. "Now, Megatron, it ends! Move an
inch, and I will destroy you."
For a moment, Megatron seemed tense. Then, he stopped. "All
right, Dinobot. Fire."
Dinobot tightened his grip on the trigger. "I will."
"I think not," said Megatron as he grought his large scissor hand
around and smashed into Dinobot. Dinobot squeezed the trigger,
but a moment too late. The shot went over Megatron's head.
The Predacon leader smiled, but quickly dived to avoid a series
of pop shots from Sentinel's cannons. He glanced at Dinobot.
"Your security system seems somewhat low on power at the
moment. And you seem rather low on manpower."
"You'll rot in Inferno before you take this ship!" snarled Dinobot,
firing with the rifle. The shots slammed into Megatron's chest,
sending the massive Predacon stumbling backwards. As
Dinobot stood, he glanced to one side, and dove back to the
ground as Scorponok's missiles flew over his head. Twisting, he
fired at Scorponok, but as he fired a thought occurred to him.
*Where did Blackarachnia -*
Dinobot felt the missile explode next to his head, and he was
flung into the side of the Axalon. Blackarachnia stood, grinning,
her launcher loaded and aimed at Dinobot. Looking up, Dinobot
saw Inferno descending, weaving calmly through the firepower of
Sentinel. He let a breath escape - a last tribute to his organic
mode. Closing his eyes, he prepared for his journey to Inferno...
Hearing Blackarachnia scrrech, his eyes flew open. One of the
shuttles was coming in, and flying out of it was...
"Optimus!"
"None other," replied the Maximal commander, strafing both
Inferno and Jetstorm. As the shuttle landed, Rhinox, Vixen, and
Cavewing exited, weapons at the ready. Scorponok emerged
from underneath the Axalon, but Dinobot quickly whirled around
and fired a shot at him dead in the chest. The Predacon second-
in-command tumbled backwards, leaking lubricant.
Cavewing started towards the battle, but heard the sound of
someone materializing behind him. "Onyx," he said, no doubt in
his mind as to the identity of his assailant. "You stowed away
while invisible. Waiting until now to kill me. Finish me off."
"Primal gypped us both out of a fair conclusion," replied Onyx. "I
trust that now there will be no interference?"
"Count on it," snarled Cavewing, spinning around with swords
outstretched. Onyx fell back, the cuts deep enough into his chest
to begin to leak energon and blood. Fuming, he brought out his
swords, then lept at Cavewing. The smaller Maximal blocked
with his swords, then kicked Onyx away from him. Onyx flew up
and recovered, then dove at Cavewing. Cavewing phased as
Onyx flew through him, but rematerialized and took to the air to
pursue his opponent.
Airazor looked up to see Jetstorm barreling at her. She dove to
one side, then aimed at him and fired her pistols. The shots went
wild, and Jetstorm dodged seemingly effortlessly. Banking back
around, he armed his weapons, then barreled at her again.
Airazor braced herself for the impact, but heard a small noise of
released air and saw Jetstorm's flight falter as a pair of crossbow
bolts buried themselves in his side. Airazor took the opportunity
and fired directly at Jetstorm, tearing into him. The Predacon
faltered, then fell.
"That's payback," smirked Vixen as Jetstorm fell to the ground.
Airazor looked at her, and flashed her the thumbs-up sign.
Megatron fired at Primal, taking stock of the situation. His side
was losing, and it was in his best intrests to order a retreat.
Glancing behind himself, he saw Blackarachnia and Waspinator
in combat with Rhinox, and - what? Another Predacon?
Megatron did not recognize the black and gold robot, but he had
seen the gray and blue robot emerge from the Maximals' shuttle.
"The enemy of my enemy..." muttered Megatron. Breaking loose
from Primal, he ran towards the site of combat between the two
robots.
Glancing at the sky, Megatron fired twice at the Maximal.
Cavewing winced as the shots clipped his wing, forcing him to
bank away. Onyx looked down at the source of the sudden
distraction. "Who are you?"
"If my assumption is correct... your commander." Megatron
stared at the robot. "You are, I assume, a Predacon?"
Onyx laughed, and looked at Cavewing, who had set down atop
the shuttle. "It's obvious that finishing this isn't going to be easy,
traitor. We will finish it, though! Be assured of that!"
"I can wait, Onyx, every bit as long as you can," replied
Cavewing.
Onyx looked back at Megatron. "Yes, I am a Predacon. And I'm
assuming this is now a retreat."
Megatron considered being irritated at the cynicism of Onyx's
remark, but sighed and decided against it. "Predacons,
RETREAT!" he called, ducking out of the way of a volley of shots
from Sentinel.
The Predacons gathered their wounded, pulling away from the
battle. Dinobot sprang into action, running after them. "Come!
Their forces are routed! If we strike their base now -"
"Forget it, Dinobot," Optimus calmly intoned.
Dinobot stopped dead in his tracks. He turned, and looked at
Optimus. "I was going to say that it was nice to have you back,"
he said with a sigh. "However... it currently seems that your time
away from us has done nothing to change your attitude towards
the Predacons."
"Some things, Dinobot, don't change very quickly," replied
Optimus, walking towards the Axalon's entry ramp.
Optimus reclined in the command chair, watching as Tigatron ran
across the field in beast mode, dashing towards the wilderness
he so loved. "Take your time off, friend," he said to himself.
"You've earned it after putting up with this crew."
"That doesn't exactly inspire confidence, sir."
Surprised, Optimus spun the chair around. "Vixen. It's you.
Thank Primus. Don't sneak up on people like that. Were I
human, I could have had a heart attack." Standing, Optimus
looked at the smaller medic. "Why did you come down?"
Vixen swallowed deeply. "I... I came down to tell you the truth.
I'm not a soldier, Optimus. I was brought along on the ship as
the medic for the colony on Tetranis XI, not a soldier. My
medical skills are nearly unparalleled... but I'm afraid I can't help
you much as a warrior."
Optimus nodded. "What makes you think that wasn't
understood?"
"Nothing... but... well, we are in the middle of a war. I don't see
how a medic could be of much use to you against the
Predacons."
"Every army neads a healer, Vixen," replied Optimus. "We make
the best of what we have. There's no ill feelings against you just
because you aren't designed to fight the Predacons."
Vixen sighed. "I understand that... but I just can't help feeling...
well... useless."
Optimus laughed good-naturedly. "Don't worry about it. On the
moon, I felt useless. But sometimes the people who feel the
most useless become the most useful. Nobody can tell what
tomorrow may bring, now that the aliens have gotten involved
with the Beast Wars. We've gone through a transition in the war,
and the only thing we can be sure of is that tomorrow will bring a
new challenge."
There was silence for a moment. "Thank you, sir. I feel better
about this now. I appreciate it." She turned and headed down
the hall.
"Vixen? There is one thing."
Stopping, Vixen turned to face Optimus again. "Yes, sir?"
"Please, don't call me sir. Call me Optimus." He smirked.
"Everybody else does."
Vixen smiled. "Yes, Optimus. Thank you." She turned, and
walked down to the medlab.
Rhinox passed Vixen as he walked into the command center. He
glanced back at her. "Optimus? Is there something that I should
know about?"
"Not at the moment, Rhinox," replied Optimus, staring at the now
star-flecked sky and the remaining two moons. The night sky
seemed to stretch on forever, reaching into the outermost and
innermost reaches of space.
And Optimus almost thought he could see the alien visage of
Unicron again. Smiling benevolently.