Airazor heard the music resounding before she even entered the
cave.
It was an Earthern tune, she guessed. It played a haunting
melody, resounding among the ice mountains all around her.
The emotions it carried ruled out the possibility of it being
Cybertronian. No music written by any Cybertronian sounded
like this.
She ignored the music and walked forward into the icy cave. The
soft darkness surrounded her. She could see only a few feet in
front of herself, but the cave was familiar to her by now.
"Tigatron?" she asked, feeling her way throught the darkness.
As she expected, she got no response. "It's me, Airazor."
Almost on cue, lights went on. She was standing in a large
domed room, with Tigatron sitting in a chair in front of a small
playback machine. "Ah, Airazor. Have a seat."
She tenatively sat down, then looked around catiously before
relaxing her muscles. "What's that piece you're listening to?"
"The Moonlight Sonata," replied Tigatron, "by Ludwig Von
Beethoven."
Airazor gave him a quizzical look. "Ludwig Von Whosit?"
Tigatron waved his hand at her. "It's nothing. Why did you
come?"
"Well...another stasis pod landed about forty klicks from here.
The Preds don't seem to have noticed it yet, and I figured as long
as I was nearby, you and me could...well..." She lowered her
head in shame. *Could this be a more obvious attempt to spend
time with him?* she thought to herself.
"Good forethought," noted Tigatron, transforming to tiger mode.
"I will go and retreive the stasis pod. You may come with me, if
you wish."
Airazor nodded eagerly. *TOO eagerly,* she reminded herself.
She transformed to hawk mode and flew after Tigatron.
* * * * * * * * * *
Tigatron felt the air rush past his sleek tiger form. He leaped
over a chasm, sending a spray of snow into the air. He sprang
upwards and continued to bound towards the stasis pod.
Airazor flew furiously after him. "Slow down, slag it!" she shouted
at her. He didn't listen to her. Typical. She climbed a bit higher
to catch a thermal, then glided along while she watched Tigatron
move faster and faster.
Then he stopped. She could barely see the pod from this
altitude, but it was there. She glided down slowly to the pod.
"Any idea who it is?"
The look on his face was one of genuine suprise. "I...beleive so.
It seems like the stasis pod has already scanned a form."
Airazor looked at him oddly. "Well then, let 'er rip!!!"
Tigatron nodded and opened the stasis pod. A slender female
form rose out of the pod, and Tigatron gasped in suprise.
The female's body was illuminated, revealing a beatiful, slender
body. "T-T-T-Tigatron???" she asked in suprise, staring at the
elder Maximal.
Tigatron looked like he had the wind taken out of him. "Juliet?"
he asked, his voice barely audible.
The two exchanged a sigh of relief, then fell into each other's
arms, whispering indecipherable words to one another. The love
between them would have been inspiring to anyone standing
nearby.
Except for Airazor, who felt like she had just been cast into
Inferno.
* * * * * * * * * *
"The last time I saw Juliet was on Cybertron before we go into
the stasis pods. I was worried that it was her pod that Tarantulas
created Blackarachnia from. Apparently, I was wrong."
Tigatron's arm was around her waist, and they were both smiling.
"grumble grumble Juliet grumble Axalon grumble grumble
grumble slutty bitch grumble grumble," mumbled Airazor.
"What form did you get scanned, anyhow?" asked Vixen.
"A serpent," she replied.
Stormcloud suddenly took intrest in the conversation. "I was
under the impression that reptiles were Predacon domain -"
"Does it really matter?" asked Juliet, staring intently at
Stormcloud.
"Ah...no, it doesn't," replied Stormcloud, looking at her rather
oddly.
"grumble grumble Stormcloud too grumble grumble fragging
Predacon-transform slag grumble grumble kick her ass across
the slagging planet grumble grumble why does everyone think
she's so damn sexy grumble grumble," muttered Airazor, folding
her arms across her chest, which at the moment felt utterly
insignifigant.
"Airazor? Were you saying anything?" asked Tigatron.
Airazor was about to say that Juliet was a self-righteous pain-in-
the-ass slagging Go-Bot, but was cut short as she saw the look
of happiness on Tigatron's face.
"Nothing," she said, lowering her head again.
She got up and left the room. Vixen got up and followed.
"Airazor, what's wrong?" asked Vixen.
"Nothing I should be worried about, let alone you," replied
Airazor.
"Something is wrong," said Vixen, folding her arms, "and I'm not
going to quit bugging you until you tell me what it is."
Airazor looked at Vixen. No doubt about it, she most certainly
was not going to leave Airazor alone. Airazor sighed.
"I..." she began
"Yes?" asked Vixen.
"I..."
"*Yes*?" asked Vixen.
"I..."
"*YES*???" asked Vixen, losing her patience.
"I care about Tigatron!" Airazor finally exclaimed. "There, I've
said it. Now I feel even worse."
Vixen looked at her oddly. "So why don't you tell him anything?"
"Because I'm...me. And he's...him."
"No. Really?"
Airazor glared at Vixen. "I thought you were trying to help."
"I am. Lighten up a little."
"I just...can't say anything to him. I'm not that kind of female."
"Then don't feel resentment towards Juliet." Vixen walked back
into the room, where Juliet and Tigatron continued to talk.
*Great,* thought Airazor. *Now I want to kill Vixen too. This isn't
good.*
* * * * * * * * * *
"There. We're finished," said Drill Bit, standing proudly in front of
the massive steel construct. "Mind you, I don't know *what*
we've finished, but whatever it is, we've finished."
"Wazzzzzpinator want to know what spider-bottess build," said
Waspinator, hovering above the ground in beast mode.
Blackarachnia grabbed Waspinator by the throat (or at least,
where his throat would be if wasps had one) and slammed the
gigantic wasp against the wall. "Spider-bottess will tell
Waspinator when she is damn well ready. And if Waspinator
doesn't stop asking dumb slag questions like that, spider-bottess
will personally splatter Waspinator across her walls as
decoration."
Manterror nudged Bloodclot. "Say what you will about females,
but I think Blackarachnia has all the qualities of a true Predacon
leader."
Blackarachnia let Waspinator go. He hovered slightly for a
moment, then tried to shoot up. He shot up, all right - up right
into the ceiling. It was okay, though - being insane, he had
gotten used to that.
Megatron's face came on over the communicator. "Waspinator,
Blackarachnia. I want you and Terrorsaur to go check out the
empty stasis pod the Maximals left behind. Find out what you
can about the robot that has arrived."
"Wazzpinator no longer take orders from Megatron," said
Waspinator, much to Blackarachnia's horror. "Wazzzzpinator
take orders from -"
Blackarachnia elbowed Waspinator hard in the back, smashing
him into the floor. "Don't pay attention to him, sir," said
Blackarachnia. "He's nuts. We'll be more than happy to go on
your mission."
"Good," said Megatron. He glanced at the crumpled form of
Waspinator. "He...isn't going to be too badly damaged, is he?"
"No."
"Then...why are fluids leaking out of him?"
"Don't ask, sir."
Megatron shrugged and flipped off the communicator. He turned
to Terrorsaur. "Meet with them outside."
Terrorsaur grumbled something inaudible, then walked out of the
ship.
"I don't think that sending two of your most treacherous officers
on a mission together is one of your more brilliant ideas, sir,"
commented Scorponok, standing nearby.
"I know," said Megatron, settling back in his throne. "That's why I
want you to send Hi-Tech after them."
Scorponok nodded, and launched the small Cyberbee off his
claw. "Hi-Tech!" he barked at it.
"Yes, Scorponok?" she asked.
"We want you to go monitor the mission that Terrorsaur and
Blackarachnia are going on," said the larger Predacon. Hi-Tech
nodded and flew out of a small window.
"This should be interesting," muttered Megatron.
* * * * * * * * * *
If there was one thing Hi-Tech knew how to do, it was fly. The
small Predacon was able to keep up with the three other Preds at
least twice her size, gracefully weaving in and out of icy crags to
avoid being noticed. When the trio finally settled down near the
stasis pod, Hi-Tech looked for a good spot to land.
Unfortunately, if there was one thing that Hi-Tech hadn't the
slightest clue how to do (and there was), it was land. She found
a perfect cliff, and skimmed past it, hit the mountain, and tumbled
down in a snowball. She finally stopped rolling, but that was
because she had just rolled right off a cliff, and she plummeted
downward before finally gripping the side and beginning to crawl
back up.
Blackarachnia faintly heard the noise, but paid it no heed, since
Minimus Primal couldn't have gotten out this far. Her claws
traced over the keyboard, and a small smile came onto her face.
"Well, well," she said. "Look who fell from the sky."
"Wazzzzpinator want to know who," said Waspinator, hovering
anxiously near the pod.
Blackarachnia looked at Terrorsaur. "Get rid of him first," she
ordered Waspinator.
"Since when has Waspinator taken orders from you?" asked
Terrorsaur. "I smell something evil happening. I smell blackmail
and betrayal. And I want in."
Blackarachnia raised an eyebrow - well, she didn't exactly *have*
eyebrows, but you get the idea. "Will you take orders from me?"
she asked him.
"What do you mean???" he asked incredulously. "What's the
point of overthrowing one evil dictator if I just have to backstab
another one? I'm trying to become leader, not bring another one
into play."
Blackarachnia ran a claw up the side of his head. "Trust me,"
she said seductively, "it would be worth your while."
Terrorsaur had never really thought of the female as a potential
mate before. The thought suddenly occured to him, and he
shuddered slightly with anticipation. And backstabbing her might
be even easier. Any way he sliced it, it was well worth the effort.
"I accept," he rasped.
Hi-Tech had finally pulled herself out of the enormous ravine.
She switched her cameras on-line, hoping that she wasn't too
late to catch anything relevant.
"So what's so suprising?" asked Terrorsaur.
"The bot who landed," replied Blackarachnia. "I didn't think Juliet
would be here any time soon."
"Who's Juliet?" asked Waspinator.
"Oh, a close friend from Cybertron," replied Blackarachnia. She
licked her lips. "*Very* close." She looked back at Terrorsaur.
"And there's more to her than would appear to meet the eye."
"How so?" asked Terrorsaur.
"One word: Counterpunch," replied Blackarachnia.
"She's Counterpunch?" asked Waspinator incredulously.
"It was a metaphor, Waspi," replied Blackarachnia. "We can
discuss it further back at base."
The three Predacons took off from the stasis pod, and Hi-Tech
prepared to follow them. Unfortunately, there was another thing
Hi-Tech hadn't the slightest idea how to do - take off. She began
to spring off the side of the cliff, then plummeted straight down
before her wings finally kicked in. She shot off after the three
Preds.
At the same moment, a rather amused wolf turned and sprang
away.
* * * * * * * * * *
~It was a metaphor, Waspi. We can discuss it further back at
base.~
Wolfang leaned over and pressed the stop button. "And then
they flew off," he said.
"Hmm." Polar Claw wa confused, to say the least. "I wonder
what Blackarachnia meant by that 'Counterpunch' bit."
"Counterpunch. Alias of Autobot spy Punch. Rose to rank of
Decepticon Chief of Intelligence." Icebreaker turned away from
the computer console. "Over five hundred crucial missions were
countered by Punch from his espianoge position."
"And what does that have to do with Juliet?" asked Seachill.
Wolfang thought for a moment. "Icebreaker, scan the files on
Juliet."
"Is that a beast name or true name?"
"I'm not entirely sure," replied Wolfang. "Probably true; otherwise
Tigatron wouldn't use the name so easily."
"Gotcha."
The computer beeped and processed for a few minutes. "Umm,
guys we have a readout," said Icebreaker, suprised, "and it isn't
what you'd expect."
"What?" asked Polar Claw.
"It's the name of a Predacon spy," replied Icebreaker.
"That's impossible," said Seachill. "Tigatron is a true-blue
Maximal. No way he would be in bed with a Predacon."
"Probably, he didn't know she was a Predacon," said Icebreaker.
"She probably saw the Axalon as an excellet way to advance the
Predacon cause."
"Tigatron is *not* going to like this," noted Wolfang.
"By Primus, there's more," gasped Icebreaker. "Apparently, she
was one of the most notorius spies in the Predacon ranks. She
was the Predacon equivalent of Counterpunch - she sabatoged
more missions then spies twice her age."
"We'd better get to Primal right away," said Polar Claw, rising out
of his seat. "Open the gateway."
Icebreaker nodded, and the huge panel at the top of the hollow
iceberg began to swing down. Halfway down, however, it
inexplicably jammed.
"Froze up again," muttered Seachill. "Just a sec, let me go and
get the frost out of the -"
Seachill was standing directly in the path of the explosion. His
body was flung across the room, and practically shattered.
"What the -" began Icebreaker before he was smashed into the
wall from another blast.
A blast destroyed the wall near Wolfang. He saw it coming, and
sprang out of the way as the blast destroyed the wall, leaving a
gaping hole.
"This is very bad," said Wolfang.
"What's so bad about it?" asked Polar Claw. "We have the CR
chambers, and the computer wasn't damaged."
Wolfang gestured at the hole where he had been sitting before,
already filling with water. "The first two blasts were designed to
wound us. The further blasts were blowing holes in the iceberg.
We're sinking."
* * * * * * * * *
Iguanus watched with glee as the iceberg was consumed with
blasts. "Nothing like a job well done," he said to himself. He
turned on his comm to the Predacon ship. "The iceberg has
been destroyed," he said.
"Good," said Megatron. "Stay around there for a little while."
"Why? The iceberg's been destroyed, and this group of
Maximals with it."
Megatron sighed. "In case you had not noticed, Iguanus,
Maximals have a nasty tendency to try and stay alive. I want you
to stay down there and make sure that they are destroyed."
"Megatron -"
"I GAVE YOU AN ORDER, SOLDIER!!!"
Igaunus sighed - no point in arguing with Megatron when he got
that angry. He sat on the mountainside, thinking about the gold
old days, as he thought of them.
*Yep, those were good days,* he thought to himself. *Raid a little
here, terrorize a little here. Sure, Galvatron was nuts, but as long
as you kept out of his sight, he really couldn't care less if you
went to blow your own head off.*
That was before he really got interested in demolitions and got rid
of his Pretender shell. Before the AutoCons. Before he decided
that the Predacons were about the only worthwhile group around.
*Not that there were many other choices,* he thought to himself.
*The AutoCons were so...good. Nothing like the old
Decepticons. The real Decepticons were rapidly being turned
into a towering pillar of politics. The Maximals were like a bunch
of Autobots with Hot Rod in charge. Let's face it, Megaplex was
the only sane guy around.*
He missed Cybertron. He was sick and tired of the Beast Wars.
He was sick of the Predacons, and the Maximals, and the
AutoCons, and the so-called Decepticons, usually called
Renecons. He just wanted everything to go back to normal -
Autobots on one side, Decepticons on the other. God, that would
be -
His thoughts were cut short as an arm wrapped around his neck.
"You the Pred who bombed that iceberg?" asked his unknown
assailant in a deep growl. Iguanus nodded - a difficult task when
one is in a headlock.
The grip tightened. "Were you given information by Juliet?"
*Time to play dumb grunt,* he thought. "I - hack - don't -"
Tighter still. "Let's get one thing straight here. I don't care about
keeping you alive for information. I can get it elsewhere if need
be. It would simply be convenient to get it here and now. If you
continue to be an idiot, I will kill you. Were you given information
by Juliet?"
Iguanus nodded as his vision began to dim.
The grip released. Iguanus took a long gulp of air. He turned to
face his assailant.
It was Wolfang. His crossbow was leveled at Iguanus's head.
"Do you have any spare parts handy?" asked Wolfang with a
slight smirk. *And they say Maximals don't have torture
chambers.*
* * * * * * * * * *
"Seachill? Can you hear me?" asked Polar Claw. No response
other than a slight whine of escaping air.
"Do you think you can get him working again soon?" asked Polar
Claw. This time, the question was directed at a concious
Maximal.
"I don't know," replied Icebreaker. "He was badly damaged by
that blast. The spare parts from Wolfang really helped." He
looked suspicously at Wolfang. "Where did you get those parts
from, anyway?"
Wolfang smiled slightly. "Let's say the Predacon who attacked
us won't be doing much any time soon."
Icebreaker shrugged. Getting any coherent information from
Wolfang was an exercise in futility, at best. "In any case, I'm not
sure if he'll make it through. The damage to the beast mode was
REALLY bad, and we can't get to a CR Chamber."
Polar Claw scanned the horizon. "I'd say maybe we've got over
two miles to cover before we could reach the Axalon. I sincerely
doubt we can make it in under a day."
"And I doubt Seachill can make it more than a day."
Wolfang sighed. "You have to give Juliet a little credit for this."
"What do you mean?" asked Polar Claw.
"She managed to figure out where we were hiding, when we
would see Blackarachnia, Waspinator, and Terrorsaur, when we
would figure out that she was a Pred, AND how she could get the
information to Megatron without anybody noticing." He sat down.
"Counterpunch would be proud."
"We aren't going to acheive anything this way," said Polar Claw.
"Let's get moving."
The other two nodded and began heading towards the Axalon.
* * * * * * * * * *
Airazor perched outside of the Axalon on a tree limb. Granted, it
was not something that many hawks did, but then again, many
hawks didn't come from Cybertron.
*He loves her,* she thought to herself. *They're going to be
together for the rest of their lives. And probably mine. I should
feel happy for Tigatron. I should be glad that someone I care
about as much as him is happy.*
But she wasn't. All she could feel was resentment towards Juliet.
She saw a cardinal fly by, and flew off after it. *Might as well take
out some anger,* she thought as she flew
closer...closer...closer...
"Could you please get off my tail, Airazor?" asked the cardinal.
Airazor was taken aback before she remembered Skyking's
female member, Cloudspin.
"Sorry, Cloudspin," said Airazor, transforming. "I didn't recognize
you at first."
"Just like I want it," said Cloudspin. "What brings you to the
wonderful world of civilization?"
"Oh, just came in with Tigatron and ...fragginsluttywhore Juliet."
"I can tell you aren't exactly fond of her," said Cloudspin. "Why
don't you, though? She's certainly friendly."
"Yeah. Just go ask Tigatron."
Cloudspin nodded. "Ah, so this is you-stole-my-boyfriend-you-
dumb-slag syndrome."
Airazor sat down. "I just...don't know how to say anything to him.
Every time I do, I just freeze."
"It's called love, Airazor," said Cloudspin. "It sucks. It has all the
subtlety of a nuke. And you still deal with it. Because you have
to. Not that you would really want it any other way."
Airazor sighed. "No wonder Primal suggested I make tracks."
"Feel free to start slamming your head against a hard surface
when I leave," said Cloudspin.
"What do I do?" asked Airazor.
"Well, you could give up," suggested Cloudspin. "Or you could
try to live with it."
"That's what everyone keeps telling me," said Airazor.
"Maybe they're right," said Cloudspin. She transformed to
cardinal mode and flew off.
Airazor sat there. She had more then enough to think about.
* * * * * * * * * *
"You called?" said Onyx as he phased into the room.
Juliet looked up. "Of course I did. Would the best spy in the
Predacon army call for any assassin but the best?"
Onyx nodded. "Quite so. 'And there appeared before them / a
multitude of the heavenly host praising God.'"
"Will you PLEASE stop quoting the Bible? It used to be
interesting, but now it's just becoming tired fast." Juliet called up
a profile on the computer screen.
"I do not respect your attempt to ruffle my feathers," snapped
Onyx.
"You don't have feathers. You're a bat."
Onyx stood silent for a moment. "Never bothered to pick up any
of the human's catch phrases, did you?"
"No." Juliet finished calling up the profile. "This is the one that I
want eliminated."
Onyx Primal leaned a little closer. "Tigatron, eh? Isn't he the
one that you're with at the moment?"
Juliet nodded, a tear running down her face. "Yes. I suppose
sacrifices must be made in war. Nonetheless..."
Onyx nodded. "He will fall. 'And I will strike down with great
vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison
and destroy my brothers, and you will know my name is Oynx
when I lay my vengeance apon thee...'"
"DO shut up," said Juliet.
Onyx finally simply nodded, and began laughing quietly. Juliet
simply sat there, lost in deep thought.
* * * * * * * * * *
"This was one of your brighter ideas," yelled Icebreaker as they
skidded down the the side of the cliff on Wolfang's shield.
"I know," said Wolfang. "I just wish we could fit all four of us on
here easily."
"Watch out for that tree!" yelled Polar Claw. Wolfang desperately
leaned to the left, avoiding the tree but hitting the briars head-on.
"OW!"
"YEECH!"
"SLAG!"
"WHOA!"
"OWOWOWOWOW!!!"
The makeshift sled finally burst out of the briar patch and skidded
onto a frozen lake. It spun around and around as it zoomed
across the ice.
"On the other hand, letting you steer was not one of your best
ideas!" yelled Icebreaker as the sled bounded over one edge of
the lake and continued on down the side of the cliff.
"We're alive, aren't we?" replied Wolfang.
"Seachill won't be unless we get to the Axalon -" began Polar
Claw. He was cut short, however, as the sled propelled down a
natural ramp. The sled burst off the edge of the ramp, flying high
into the air.
With Icebreaker, Seachill, and Wolfang still on it, the sled landed
hard and continued sliding down. Polar Claw landed slightly
behind them and began rolling downhill.
"Where's Polar Claw?" asked Icebreaker.
"Hopefully, we'll find out soon enough!" shouted Wolfang as he
steered hard to the right, avoiding a rock.
A right, a left, a left, a left, a right, a left, a right. The rocks were
coming up faster now, and Wolfang had to do his best just to
keep from hitting one of the -
The shield hit a rock. Wolfang was catapaulted off the sled, and
was caught in the path of the snowball forming around Polar
Claw.
Icebreaker grabbed the rim of the shield. They were almost at
the bottom now - just had to slow down the shield enough to
keep from running into that -
>THUD<
- snowdrift.
Icebreaker dug himself out of the snowdrift, dragging the inert
form of Seachill after him. Not too bad, all things considered.
*Now, where are Polar Claw and Wolfang?* he thought to
himself.
That was before he saw the snowball. It was tumbling down the
cliffside, bigger than both Wolfang and Polar Claw combined.
Icebreaker groaned, and he crouched low, preparing to get hit by
the huge snowball.
>THUD<
* * * * * * * * * *
Onyx crept quietly through the passageways of the Axalon. Juliet
had given him a map, but he had gotten rid of it quickly. If he ran
into a dead end, he could just phase through.
There. The target was showing up on his radar now. Onyx
phased and flew straight towards the spot on his radar.
Tigatron looked up to see the black-and-gold Predacon coming
through the wall. "Who in the world are -" he began.
Onyx said nothing, only drew forth his energon blades and
slashed once at Tigatron. Tigatron flipped back away from the
slash and began to draw his acid blaster out of his subspace
pocket. Onyx flung one of his swords like a boomerang and
knocked the blaster out of Tigatron's hand. The blade whistled
quietly as it flew back to Onyx.
Tigatron dove to the ground, away from a ferocious stab. He
grabbed a nearby pole and brought it up to parry a downward
slash. He rolled away to the left and swung the pole at Onyx.
Onyx phased, and the bar swung harmlessly through him. He
replied with a spinning stab at Tigatron, who sprang into the air
and transformed.
The tiger landed lightly on the ground, his eyes glowing green in
the dark room. Onyx was barely visible - only the glow on the
edge of his blades made him visible. He sprang forward with a
crossing slash, and Tigatron dashed under his leap, then whirled
around as the swords whistled through empty air.
"My turn," said Tigatron. He sprang at Onyx's back. The Pred
was suprised and did not react in time. He was knocked over
from the force of the attack, and he felt the tiger's claws digging
into his back, rending flesh and metal. He swung both of his
swords at Tigatron, cutting into the tiger's flank. Tigatron growled
and leaped off, transforming in mid-air.
"...and I will strike down with great vengeance and furious
anger..." began Onyx as he tumbled forward and stabbed at
Tigatron. Tigatron sprang back, and Onyx hurled a sword at him.
The sword hit home, and Tigatron stumbled back with shock
from the sword buried in his chest. Onyx transformed and flew
up to the ceiling.
"...and you will know my name is Oynx when I lay my vengeance
apon thee..." he continued as he dived on Tigatron. Tigatron fell
into the wall as Onyx prepared to sink his fangs into Tigatron,
ending his life -
Onyx was distracted by a series of explosions behind him.
Airazor burst in through the door into Tigatron's chamber. "GET
AWAY FROM HIM NOW!!!" she bellowed as she pummeled
Onyx with her missiles.
Onyx transformed and grabbed his sword out of Tigatron's chest.
He decided that he would rather explain failing to Juliet than
explain himself to Airazor. He phased and dropped through the
floor.
"Tigatron!" exclaimed Airazor, rushing over to Tigatron. "Are you
all right?"
"No," he replied, looking at the gaping hole in his chest.
Airazor picked him up and carried him out of the room, heading
towards the medroom.
* * * * * * * * * *
"If I had gotten there sooner...if I had worked faster...if I had done
better..." Airazor let her head sink into her hands. "But I didn't.
And it's my fault that Tigatron is hurt."
Stormcloud looked at Airazor. "Why do you think that it's your
fault?"
"Why WOULDN'T it be my fault?" asked Airazor. "I've done
nothing to him but cause problems since I met him."
"Ah," he said. "You seem to have me in a rather odd position.
I'm really not a psychologist. All I know is that I still feel the same
way about what happened to me on Cybertron."
"What happened?" asked Airazor.
"It's a long story. Ask Vixen about it some time."
"Oh, what does it matter!" she exclaimed. "I care about him, and
he loves Juliet! Juliet, Juliet, Juliet!"
"Because she knows how to show that she cares," said
Stormcloud. "Who said he doesn't feel any emotion towards
you?"
"Who's to say that he didn't think of me as a replacement for
Juliet?" replied Airazor.
"Airazor, he knows Juliet. They had a relationship that had a
chance to develop into something beautiful. He knows what
makes her tick, to use a human saying. Any logical being would
go with a relationship that they know how to work, instead of a
new one that could backfire at any moment."
"But what do I do?" she asked.
"Do what you think is right," he replied, and he left the room.
"Why does everbody keep telling me that?" asked Airazor of
herself.
* * * * * * * * * *
"He won't last the night," announced Icebreaker grimly.
"Are you sure?" asked Polar Claw.
"As sure as I can be. I don't see any way he'll survive without
more parts."
Polar Claw looked at Minimus Primal. Then he looked at
Seachill. *Primus, forgive me...* he thought to himself.
"Use Minimus," said Polar Claw at length.
"What?"
"Use Minimus. He has enough parts to keep Seachill alive,
doesn't he?"
Icebreaker was taken aback. Polar Claw and Minimus were
connected deeply. The offer was not something Polar Claw
would have made lightly. "I-I-I think so. Let me look."
Polar Claw gingerly removed Minimus Primal from his shoulder.
Icebreaker reluctantly began taken Minimus apart, replacing the
missing parts of Seachill with the small bat's parts. Polar Claw
got up and walked away from the operation.
"Will you be all right?" asked Wolfang. He had converted to
beast mode and was sitting on his haunches, panting like a dog.
"I'll be fine," said Polar Claw. "I'm just worried that Seachill won't
be."
The two Maximals watched as Icebreaker desperately tried to
keep Seachill's Spark alive.
* * * * * * * * *
"Very nice, Blackarachnia," said Megatron. "You have managed
to keep the only Maximals who know what is happening with
Juliet out of our hair. Although the fact that Iguanus has still not
returned concerns me."
"Most likely he failed," said Blackarachnia. "As I suspected. If
you has sent a force as backup, then they would have been able
to stop the doubtlessly wounded Maximals."
Megatron growled. "Do not risk my anger, Blackarachnia. I am
not afraid of getting rid of you."
"You should be," replied Blackarachnia, and she stalked out of
the room.
*His time will come,* she reassured herself. *Although sooner
would be preferable.*
"Spider-bottess angry???" asked Waspinator. Blackarachnia
replied by picking him up and bashing him into the wall.
"What was your first clue?" she asked him.
Terrorsaur stepped forward. "Umm, empress, I really don't think
that was nessecary," he said tenatively.
"It wasn't," she replied. "He was just in the way."
Waspinator picked himself up and crouched over in a far corner
of the room.
"What's the matter?" asked Drill Bit.
"Juliet's plan failed. Iguanus has not reurned."
"You don't actually think that she's working for the Maximals, do
you?" asked Bloodclot.
"No," said Blackarachnia. "But this does make her questionable
as a source of information."
"I resent that," said Juliet from across the room.
Blackarachnia turned to face her. "It's not my fault that you
failed."
"The plan was Onyx's, not mine. I only supplied the information."
"Megatron actually gave you access to Onyx?" asked
Blackarachnia incredulously. "As far as he knows, you don't
even exist. I'm the only one who knows you exist."
Juliet licked her lips. "Just like I like it. But, no, I hired Onyx
myself."
Blackarachnia nodded. "Good idea. But you shouldn't have
asked him about how to eliminate the Maximals. He's an
assassin, not a tactician."
"Exactly," replied Juliet. "As an assassin, I figured he would
know how to cut off their escape routes both personally and as a
battle plan."
"Never assume that anybody knows anything," said
Blackarachnia. "That way, it's less of a disappointment when
they don't." She walked over to the computer screen. "But that
isn't the point. We need to figure out a way to cut them off."
"Well..." Juliet studied the screen for a few minutes.
"The most logical assumtion would be that they would head
towards the Axalon in this direction," she began, pointing towards
the direction of the Axalon. "The safest course would be along
this route -" she traced finger along a path "- because there are
the fewest good spots for an ambush. However, there is a cliff
right here -" she pointed to a long groove on the map "- that an
aerial assault could easily cut off."
Blackarachnia whistled in admiration. "Not bad. I'll send
Bloodclot, Terrorsaur, and Waspinator to cut them off. Manterror
can go find and pick up Iguanus."
"Why do I have to go on the boring part of the mission?" whined
Manterror. Blackarachnia shot him a withering glare.
"Not...that...that's...a BAD idea...heh heh heh..."
Blackarachnia sighed. "Go," she ordered them.
The four Predacons transformed to beast mode and flew off.
* * * * * * * * * *
Manterror hated the cold.
He had always known that he was not very fond of sub-zero
temperatures. But this mission only reinforced his hatred of it.
The wind, the ice, the sky - it all made him feel nauseaous. Or
like he wanted to die. At the moment, it didn't really matter.
He spied a small patch of black and yellow sticking out of the
side of a mountain. He flew over towards the mountain, cursing
Unicron, Primus, and any other gods that came to mind, and
landed as he transformed. "That you, Iguanus?" he asked,
kneeling near the prostate form.
"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-yes," he said, chattering. "M-m-m-m-m-maximals
take p-p-p-p-p-parts from m-m-m-m-me, s-s-s-s-s-strand me h-
h-h-h-h-h-here."
Manterror pulled Iguanus out from the side of the mountain.
"Come on, we're taking you back to ship," he said, holding
Iguanus in his large claws. He launched off the side of the
mountain and headed back towards the ship.
"M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-maximals..." began Iguanus.
"Don't give them a second thought," said Manterror, wincing from
the cold. "They're being dealt with right now."
Another blast of snow hit Manterror's face. Manterror decided
that he really should have kept his mouth shut when
Blackarachnia offered them her proposition. Then again, he
would be dead now in that scenario.
*I just can't seem to win,* though Manterror.
* * * * * * * * * *
Minimus Primal's databanks were stored in Polar Claw, so he
would be okay. However, not having the small bat at his side
was still a great loss to Polar Claw. Icebreaker knew this, but he
was glad that he had had Minimus's parts to repair Seachill as
much as he could. He knew Seachill would live a couple more
days, at least.
Gunfire shattered his thoughts. He looked up, and he saw three
Predacons streaking towards them. "Polar Claw!!! Attackers!!!"
he called out.
Polar Claw stopped thinking about Minimus, and looked at his
attackers. "Scatter!" he called. Wolfang and Icebreaker nodded
and sprang into position. Icebreaker shoved Seachill into an ice
cavern for cover, then leaped forward.
Polar Claw was caught off gaurd by Bloodclot. The huge
mosquito rammed headfirst into the large Maximal, and Polar
Claw was knocked off balance. As Bloodclot transformed, Polar
Claw fell to the ground, skidding in the snow. Bloodclot raised
one of his blade arms and prepared to stab Polar Claw.
He forgot about Polar Claw's claw extensor. The claw shot out
from Polar Claw's shoulder and hit Bloodclot squarely in the
shoulder. Bloodclot withdrew from the pain, and Polar Claw
leaped forward, tackling Bloodclot. The Predacon flailed wildly
with his blade arms, trying to place a barrier between the two
combatants.
Bloodclot's whirlwind assault knocked Polar Claw back, cutting
several light slashes into the Maximal. Seeing his opportunity, he
sprang towards Polar Claw and thrust one of his blade arms right
at his head. Polar Claw dodged, and Bloodclot twisted two of his
other blade arms to stab Polar Claw's stomach.
The maneuver was not very fast, and Polar Claw noticed. Polar
Claw grabbed the two arms and bent the blades severely,
rendering the blades useless. Knocking Bloodclot down, he
launched a claw at Bloodclot's chest. Blooclot rolled to one side,
and he rose quickly back to his feet, balancing lightly and
preparing to strike again.
Waspinator's stinger missiles pummeled the ground near
Wolfang. Wolfang rolled backwards, avoiding the crossing swath
of missile fire. Waspinator transformed to get a better shot at
Wolfang, but was cut short as Wolfang launched a crossbow bolt
at the Pred, knocking him off balance.
Wolfang transformed to wolf mode, and sprang forward, tackling
Waspinator. "Get off of Wazzzzpinator!" exclaimed Waspinator,
and he shoved Wolfang off of him. Getting up, he fired a missile
into Wolfang's flank, making the wolf yelp in pain. Smiling to
himself, he hovered up higher and then dived down towards
Wolfang.
The dive did not go unnoticed by Wolfang. He transformed
quickly and whipped up his shield in front of himself, then
shuddered with the impact as Waspinator hit the shield head-
first. Shoving the Predacon back, he brought his crossbow to his
hands and fired at the prostate Waspinator. Waspinator rolled
away from the bolt, and kicked out with both legs, propelling
Wolfang away.
As Wapinator got up and charged forward, Wolfang slid his
shield across the snow, knocking Waspinator back to the ground.
Wolfang ran towards his shield to retreive it, but Waspinator
grabbed him around the ankles, sending him sprawling to the
ground. He whipped out his crossbow and fired at Waspinator,
then tried to reach his shield.
Icebreaker was assaulted almost the instant he was out of the
cave. He looked up and saw Terrorsaur, firing his shoulder-
mounted cannons. Icebreaker desperately stumbled out of the
way, trying to keep from being hit. Then, he took out his charge
blaster and fired at Terrorsaur, crouching behind a large
snowdrift.
Terrorsaur swooped low to avoid the blasts and tried to grab
Icebreaker. Icebreaker let loose with a viscous uppercut,
knocking Terrorsaur into a spin. Terrorsaur barely mananged to
pull up before he plowed right into the snow. Landing barely on
his feet, Terrorsaur whipped out his laser blaster and fired on the
snow drift.
*That's the last time I use ice as cover,* thought Icebreaker as he
dashed out from behind the snowdrift. He tightened his grip on
his charge blaster as Terrorsaur strafed the mountain behind
him. He knew what he would need to do; he just would have to
do it right, because he knew he wouldn't get a second chance.
Icebreaker dove sideways in the direction that Terrorsaur had
fired a moment ago. He barely skimmed under Terrorsaur's
shots, then he brought his charge blaster in front of him and fired
at Terrorsaur's feet. The snow flew up around Terrorsaur, and
Icebreaker tackled him. The two of them slid along on the icy
surface, trading blows.
Bloodclot's blade arms slashed in a scissors maneuver at Polar
Claw's chest. Polar Claw ducked to the ground, and the two
blade arms whistled harmlessly over his head. Grabbing the two
extended blade arms, Polar Claw flipped Bloodclot up and over,
slamming him into the snow. A claw thrust out from Polar Claw's
shoulder, digging into Bloodclot's side.
Crying out in pain, Bloodclot turned his two shoulder missile
launchers at Polar Claw and fired twice. The two missiles hit
dead-on - it's hard to miss at fifteen inches. Polar Claw was
hurled backward, hitting the mountain hard. Energon and blood
flowed from the deep wounds in Polar Claw's chest.
Polar Claw wasn't entirely sure if he could transform, given the
lack of Minimus Primal and the extensive damage to his robot
mode, but he decided to try. Thankfully, he transformed
correctly, aside from a painful grinding in his joints. Now in bear
form, he reared up and growled at Bloodclot, then lumbered
towards him with a massive swipe.
Bloodclot fell to the ground again from the powerful swipe. He
bounded into the air and transformed to mosquito mode, then he
stabbed his probiscus into Polar Claw's back. Polar Claw roared
in pain as Bloodclot absorbed the vital fluids of him, revitalizing
himself. The bear rolled over and over, smashing Bloodclot.
Both robots transformed, and with raw fury in their eyes, they
charged at one another.
There. He had the shield. Twisting around, he held the shield
like a board and smacked Waspinator in the head. The
Predacon let go of Wolfang's legs, and Wolfang sprang up and
away, landing towards Waspinator. He brought his eye beams
on-line, and prepared to blast Waspinator.
Waspinator converted to wasp mode and flew into the sky.
Wolfang had not practiced with his eye beams enough to hit the
nimble wasp mode, and fired at empty air. Smiling to himself in a
twisted, sadistic way, then dove hard at Wolfang, stinger
extended and at the ready. Wolfang's face was frozen in terror.
Waspinator was knocked away from a sudden blast from
Wolfang's eye beams. Wolfang grinned, then switched on his
mutant head. The world lost it's resolution of color as the wolflike
senses took over his thoughts. He growled low, and sprang at
Waspinator with a feral growl, shoving his crossbow into
subspace.
"Don't even try it!!!" called Waspinator, transforming quickly and
lashing out with a roundhouse kick. Wolfang was knocked back
with a slight yip, then landed squarely and let the infravision of his
mutant head kick in. Waspinator showed up like a sore thumb.
Wolfang leaped towards Waspinator and transformed in midair,
tackling the Predacon. As he traveled overhead, he transformed
back to robot mode, landing on his feet. As he turned around,
Waspinator suddenly leaped on his back, trying to choke
Wolfang.
Icebreaker was sent sprawling by a hard jab from Terrorsaur.
Skidding to a halt, he rubbed his jaw and fired his charge blaster
again. This time, Terrorsaur was prepared, and he slid away as
he rose to his feet. Icebreaker reset his charge blaster, shoving
in a round of HIRB rounds and firing twice at Terrorsaur.
One shot went wild, but the other hit Terrorsaur square in the
shoulder. The blast nearly tore Terrorsaur's arm out of the
socket. Icebreaker fired again, this time at Terrorsaur's chest.
Terrorsaur flew straight up, the bullet only barely missing his foot.
Transforming, Terrorsaur dove at Icebreaker, firing wildly.
The ice around Icebreaker's feet shattered around him, and the
whole floe split. Icebreaker fell through the hole into the icy
waters. Icebreaker gasped, then transformed to walrus mode
and swam back up towards the hole, climbing out slowly.
Terrorsaur dived down towards Icebreaker, talons extended.
*Change of plans,* thought Icebreaker, and he let go of the ice,
slipping back into the water. Terrorsaur's talons dug into the ice,
and he flapped wildly to remove himself. Icebreaker sprang out
of the water, transforming. He swung his fists hard at the back of
Terrorsaur's head, sending the Pred sprawling.
Grabbing another blade arm, Polar Claw twisted hard and
snapped the arm off. Bloodclot barely stifled a cry, and instead
brought a blade arm up high, slashing into Polar Claw's back.
The larger Maximal forcefully slammed Bloodclot into the ground,
knocking the wind out of him, but making himself a target.
Bloodclot grabbed on to Polar Claw's left shoulder, and twisted
the claw into uselessness. Polar Claw hefted Bloodclot over his
head, preparing to hurl the Pred away. *It's now or never,*
thought Bloodclot to himself, and he dug one of his still-functional
blade arms into Polar Claw's arm. The large Maximal dropped
Bloodclot in suprise.
"Now FALL!" exclaimed Bloodclot, stabbing quickly at Polar
Claw. He hit Polar Claw's hip hard, jarring the internal frame.
Polar Claw desperately grabbed a fistful of snow and threw it into
Bloodclot's face. Bloodclot stopped to brush the snow out of his
eyes, and Polar Claw began to get up, trying to transform.
Bloodclot laughed. "Nice try," he said, and thrust his blade arms
through Polar Claw's massive chest. He yelped in suprise of the
maneuver, and Bloodclot removed his arms to stab again,
leaving more holes in Polar Claw. Polar Claw gurgled slightly,
then he slid off of Bloodclot's blades, falling into the ground.
Bloodclot raised his blade over Polar Claw's head and prepared
to deal the final blow.
Wolfang struggled desperately to get Waspinator off his back.
He could feel his vision starting to go, and he desperately tried to
ram Waspinator into a wall. Waspinator simply flew up, lifting
both of them out of the range of a wall. Wolfang's thoughts
began to drift, thinking about his imminent journey to Inferno...
*NO!* he thought to himself. *I won't give up!* Mustering all his
strength, Wolfang desperately forced Waspinator into a
backwards tumble. While Waspinator had no trouble holding his
position while holding Wolfang, movement was another story.
The two of them tumbled downwards, hitting the ground in a
derranged sort of dance.
Wolfang slowly rose to his feet, groggy from the fall. He braced
himself against a cliffside, and retreived his crossbow from
subspace. He crawled out of the snow that he and Waspinator
had thrown up when they landed, and he heard the sound of
buzzing behind him. Whirling around, he saw Waspinator in
wasp mode flying stinger-first at him.
The first thing that came into Wolfang's mind was to use his
crossbow, but that would take too long. Instead, he exercised
the only option available: his eye beams. He shut off the internal
safegaurds and channeled a massive torrent of energy at
Waspinator, punching through the Pred's chest and sending him
to the ground. Then, Wolfang collapsed.
Terrorsaur's cannons pummeled the ground behind Icebreaker.
The cannons were rapidly catching up to Icebreaker, and
Icebreaker could not keep running from the cannons forever. He
flipped away from the blasts, and Terrorsaur adjusted his fire
pattern to compensate accordingly.
Icebreaker dived behind a large stone, and checked his
ammunition. Good. He still had a few HIRB rounds left. His
charge blaster was powerful enough as a normal weapon, but the
HIRB rounds were more powerful. Popping out from behind the
rock, he fired twice at Terrorsaur, shattering the ice around his
feet.
Leaping into the sky, Terrorsaur barely avoided falling into the icy
water. He then whipped out his laser pistol and fired a pinpoint
blast at the rock, detonating it. Icebreaker shielded his face from
the flying rock shards with his arm, and felt the fragments ripping
into his flesh. Grinning, Terrorsaur leveled his shoulder cannons
at Icebreaker and prepared to fire.
*Now or never,* thought Icebreaker. He whipped up his charge
blaster up and fired all his remaining rounds straight at
Terrorsaur. The HIRB bullets blasted through Terrorsaur,
riddling holes in his torso. Terrorsaur growled once, then fell to
the ground. Icebreaker smiled, then looked up at Polar Claw.
Bloodclot was about to stab Polar Claw when Icebreaker blasted
his charge blaster repeatedly. The charge blaster was powerful,
but it was no more than an irritation to Bloodclot. However, that,
coupled with Wolfang's EI crossbow bolts, was enough to deter
Bloodclot. Picking up Waspinator and Terrorsaur, he flew off.
*Blackarachnia is NOT going to like this,* he thought to himself.
"Are you all right, Wolfang?" asked Icebreaker.
"I...can't...see..." replied Wolfang, holding his hands in front of his
shattered eyes. "Must have burnt out my optics when I blasted
Waspinator."
Icebreaker dragged Polar Claw over to where Wolfang was.
"Now what are we going to do?" he asked.
"Probably return to the Axalon," said Wingspan from the air.
Icebreaker looked up. The five members of Skyking were there,
picking up Polar Claw and Seachill. "Optimus Primal got worried
when you hadn't reported in over a day. He sent us out to find
you. Apparently, it was a good idea."
"Juliet," said Icebreaker, speeding up his speech in anticipation.
"She'sa spyfor thePredacons."
"We can figure that out back at the base," said Wingsapn,
picking up Polar Claw.
* * * * * * * * * *
*I can do this,* thought Airazor to herself, steeling her mind. *I go
in there, and I tell Tigatron that I care about him. I can do it.*
Satisfied that she was ready, she walked into Tigatron's rarely-
used quarters.
"Airazor!" exclaimed Juliet from the computer console. There
was a bag over her shoulder, and she was typing something at
the console. "What are you -"
"The question is, what are YOU doing?" asked Airazor. She
looked at the computer screen. "I'm, not a computer expert, but I
do know that's a security disable subroutine! You're transferring
data to the Predacons!"
Juliet growled, and she shoved Airazor into the wall. "I wanted to
keep you out of this," she said, emotion being carried in her
voice. "I could understand your affection for Tigatron. I wanted
to keep him out of it even more. But you just wouldn't let me!"
She tightened her grip on the trigger of her missile launcher. "I'm
not going to enjoy this," she whispered.
A timer went off in her bag. Looking one last time at Airazor, she
fired clumsily at her, before she dashed off towards the
engineering section.
Airazor rolled away from the missile. *SHe's trying to sabotage
the Axalon!* she reasoned. Getting up, she started to follow
Juliet, and radioed the closest robot to the engineering section.
"This is Airazor! Anyone within the area, we have a sabateour!
Repeat, we have a sabateour!"
* * * * * * * * * *
~Repeat, we have a sabateour!~
Tigatron looked up when he heard the message. As he heard a
door softly close, he drew his acid blaster out of subspace, and
softly stepped forward to see who had entered.
"Juliet?" he whispered in disbelief.
She looked up, paniked. "Tigatron. Please. Don't hurt me."
He looked at her, slowly backing away. "No. No. You AREN'T a
Predacon! I refuse to accept that!"
"I am," she said softly. "But I still care about you a great deal."
Tigatron sank to his knees. "I - I - I can't hurt you."
*Just what I was counting on,* she thought to herself. Out loud,
she said, "I don't want to hurt you either."
Tigatron said nothing.
"Join us, Tigatron," she said. "Come to the Predacons. I'll make
sure you are accepted. Come with me, and we can become the
masters of this world...of Cybertron...of everywhere!!!"
Tigatron said nothing, only shook his head.
"Very well," she replied. Lifting her launcher, she blew a hole in
the side of the hull, then lept out and flew off.
"NOW I'm going to get you!!!" shouted a voice from behind.
Vixen looked behind herself, and she saw Airazor flying behind
her.
*Just a little longer,* thought Airazor. "I'm going to make you pay,
Juliet! I'll make you pay for betraying us, for trying to kill me, for
hurting Tigatron! I'll hunt you down, and I'll destroy you just like
you did Tigatron -"
Tigatron. For the first time, Airazor stopped thinking about
herself or Juliet, only about Tigatron. She remebered how much
he had recovered since he found Juliet. He had moved back into
the Axalon, he had made huge leaps towards overcoming his
savage side.
But more than any of that, he had been happy. For the first time
since they met, Airazor had seen him genuinely happy. Juliet's
presence seemed to give Tigatron reasons to live that he never
had before.
Airazor stopped.
"I thought you were going to hunt me," said Juliet.
"I can't," she said. "It would hurt him more than anything. But
belive me, Juliet - I will not hesitate to retaliate for all the pain you
caused Tigatron. I will never forgive you for that, not until the day
I die."
Juliet said nothing for a moment, then continued flying off.
Before she did, however, she threw a small recorder at Airazor.
"Give this to him to remember me by," she called, before she
became a barely-visible speck in the distance.
And then nothing.
* * * * * * * * * *
Juliet landed outside of the Predacon ship. She transformed to
snake mode, and slipped in through a crack into the main area of
Blackarachnia's quarters.
"Three of my troops are badly damaged," said Blackarachnia,
with an emotionless tone hiding a white-hot fury. "Megatron's
suspicion is aroused. All of the Maximals still live. And we have
no information from the Axalon." She scowled. "You had better
have a good explanation for all of this."
Juliet said nothing, only sat down in a far corner.
"I can understand that you lost Tigatron," said Blackarachnia,
"but I don't think -"
Juliet looked at Blackarachnia.
"That's right, you don't think," replied Juliet. "You have absolutely
no idea."
The two females sat there in silence.
* * * * * * * * * *
Airazor landed on the crag where Tigatron was sitting. "Are you
all right?" she asked him.
He sat there for a long time before answering. "Not really," he
replied.
He sighed. "Someone once said that time heals all wounds. I
felt that it had only just begun to heal the wound of losing Juliet in
the first place. Now, I have to deal with this."
"You aren't alone," said Airazor.
"I know," he said. "But I don't feel like all the friends in the world
can help me now. I feel so...empty."
Airazor was silent for a long moment. "Juliet said I should give
this to you," she said at length. "For you to remember her by."
Tigatron nodded and took the recorder from Airazor. He
activated the small device, and a melodious, sad tune drifted out.
"The Moonlight Sonata," said Tigatron, wiping away a tear. He
looked up at the stars. "No matter what else, she had good
taste."
Airazor looked at Tigatron before following his gaze. "Yes, she
did," said Airazor. "She most certainly did."
The haunting melody wafted through the crags of the landscape,
conveying an infinite sadness.