Rhinox came down the elevator. "Everybody inside! There is a major Energy storm coming!"

"How major?" Depth Charge wondered out loud.

Rhinox replied "It's gonna cover from our base to the Preds."

Everyone's eyes bulged out.

Rattrap muttered "Oh slag, now we are really gonna die!"

Silverbolt and Dinobot helped Rhinox lug Depth Charge back to base.

Rattrap followed them inside. Out of the corner of his optic he spotted a bright flash in the sky. He spun around, plasma pistol at the ready.
Watching the surrounding landscape to make sure that there was nothing there.

He shrugged, put his pistol back into subspace rubbing his optics as he muttered about seeing things, and then walked back to the Axalon.

___________________________Deep Space____________________________

The bright flash had not been a part of his imagination. A small escape ship, big enough to hold one bot comfortably, came through the
atmosphere.

"Computer, put weapons, cloaking, stabilizers, and main thrusters power to shields."

"Processing..."

The bot sighed and looked out the windows, he knew he probably wouldn't make it out of this with his spark intact.

He was a fairly large transformer, about the size of Rampage in robot mode. He was a mercenary, a killer for hire. He was programmed in
stealth, tracking, demolition, and guerilla warfare.  

He had been hired to go after the Axalon after the crew never responded to the transmissions.

"Request done. All weapons power put to shields."

He spoke to his internal computer now, "Computer, put me in stasis lock."

"Request denied, input verbal code."

"Maximal Liar digitcode 7890456"

"Request approved. Shutting down."

The bot settled down in his chair, his optics fading out...

The ship, having lost main thrusters and stabilizers, rolled and pitched through the cloudy atmosphere and started to heat up like a bucking
bronco ablaze.

The ship crashed.
_________________________________Pred Base_____________________________________

FISSHZZZ! BUSHZ!

The storm had finally decided to lash out at the bases. It lived up to its name.

The Predacons were currently welding all spare scrap they could find to reinforce the walls.

Whompf!

Suddenly, the power blew.

"My Queen! Are you all right?!"

"DO stop calling me that Inferno, or I will turn you into scrap metal to reinforce the walls with." Megatron sat up. "Maybe that isn't such a bad
idea, YESSSSS..." He mused.

"Well then what in tarnation was that? All them freaky noises! A Maxy attack! I'll rip them yella-bellied son of prairie dogs gizzards out!
And then I'll.!"

Quickstrike rambled on and on about what he'd do to the imaginary attackers.

Megatron sighed and blasted him, sending scrap everywhere.

He turned around and yelled at Tarantulas "Spider! Take that pile of slag over there and use it to reinforce the walls. Understood?"

Tarantulas picked up the charred fuzor's snake head and grumbled. He would be in his secret lair, but he didn't have shields powerful enough
to protect himself from such a large energy storm. Even as he had raced over there in vehicle mode, Blackarachnia had bee hit by several
lightning strikes putting her in stasis lock.

"Wazzzzzpinator not like thizz." Waspinator stated. "Wazzzzzzpinator
reaaalllly not like thizz."

Waspinator transformed to beast mode and flew off in the direction of the galley.

"Oh no." The Predacons simultaneously said.

All the Predacons rushed down the hall only to see Waspinator sitting on the floor. In a sugar overload stupor. surrounded by hundreds of dead
mutilated giant pixie sticks.

"I thought you were off those things?!" Megatron glared at Tarantulas.

"Umm...." Tarantulas stalled. "Bet you can't eat just one?"

Megatron looked at him questioningly and then shook his head dismissing the thought.

"Quick, before the sugar fully gets into his system, use him to reinforce the walls!"

Inferno saluted. "Yes My Queen!" fired up his flamethrower and promptly dragged Waspinator off down the hall.

_____________________________________________Maximal Base_______________________________________

The Maximals were in a much worse situation.

All of them agreed that it would be wrong to scrap a fellow bot and weld him to the walls for reinforcement. Even if Dinobot volunteered Rattrap
and then started to weld him to the walls himself using optic lasers.

Rhinox glared at Dinobot telling him to cut it out or go out in the storm.
Dinobot growled and walked away, leaving Rattrap welded to the wall by one arm.

"CHHOOPPUUUHHH FAAAACCE! YOU PIECE OF SLAG! GET ME OFF OF HERE!"

Silverbolt decided to be the valiant hero or whatever again and tugged with all of his might, but to no avail.

Rhinox looked at the hoarse rodent. He sighed and pulled a laser cutter out of subspace and started working on Rattraps arm. While doing this he
talked to the other Maximals.

"We have another problem though. With a energy storm this size the atmosphere will be charged with energy, which in turn will most likely
send most of the stasis pods down."

Depth Charge pondered out loud "So even if we do survive this storm, afterwards it will be a race to get to the stasis pods?"

Rhinox nodded with a grave look in his eyes.

________________________________________Optimus and Cheetor_____________________________________

"Cheetor!" Optimus shouted over the storm. "We should head back to base!"

Cheetor nodded, fired up his jets, and promptly got struck by a bolt of lightning.
His body went offline and thwacked into Optimus.

Hoisting the cat over his shoulder he glanced at Cheetor and trudged off mumbling "That's just Prime!"

___________________________________________Somewhere____________________ ______________

The camera angle tilted to show you an angled view of the sky. Three stasis pod balls on fire hurtled down right behind the small escape
ship. The escape ship crashed in the mountains. One of the pods crashed in a field, another in the ocean. The last one crashed not far off of
the escape ship.

The sound of thunder and lightning was joined by the sound of hydraulics and DNA scanners whirring.

---

Part 3 Coming Soon!

Please send questions/comments/criticism/whether you like it or not to Landon@therobbins.net.