Survivors: Chapter 2

14.Jul.06

Survivors

Chapter 2

Thoroughly exasperated, Tigerhawk rubbed at his optics. He was tired, too. He hadn't been sleeping well because he was afraid of letting his guard down.

The current circumstances weren't making things better, either.

"I should have expected this from the destroyer of the colony!"

"Yeah, I see how it is. You blow our home t'pieces, but you won't let us even look 'round yours."

"We cannot take anything out of the Ark," Tigerhawk repeated for the third time. "We could potentially affect what happens when our ancestors wake up."

"What do we care 'bout a bunch of Autobots?" Quickstrike grumbled.

"Both of you were originally Maximal protoforms," Tigerhawk explained. "If the Autobots lose, you will cease to exist."

"What about the Nemesis, then?" the fuzor suggested.

"And hinder the Royalty's predecessor? Never!" Inferno glared at Quickstrike.

"Well, we need to think of somethin'!" Quickstrike countered.

"You are right," Tigerhawk sighed. "We do need to think of something."

The three stood silent, each mentally running through the places where they might find something to help them get home.

With the Ark and Nemesis off limits, the Darkside destroyed, and the Axalon under water, there wasn't much to pick from.

Tigerhawk thought of someplace. He didn't like the idea in the slightest. He looked over at Inferno. The ant-bot had one hand on his chin and was supporting his elbow with the other. Quickstrike was scratching his head.

It appeared that neither had thought of anyplace, so Tigerhawk felt obligated to volunteer his less than ideal suggestion.

"Tarantulas' lab," he said. The other two came out of their reverie.

"The traitor to the colony?" Inferno shook his head. "I refuse to be aided by any of his devices!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Tigerhawk asked.

Inferno hung his head. "I do not."

"And you?" Tigerhawk turned to Quickstrike.

"I got nothin'."

"Then we have no other choice."

Disappointed, Inferno nodded in agreement.

"Come then," Tigerhawk said. "I would rather get this task done sooner rather than later."

No one had really bothered with Tarantulas' lab after it had exploded. The few final days of the Beast Wars had been so chaotic that neither side had the time to deal with it.

That hadn't stopped various and sundry Earth creatures from moving in. As Tigerhawk took a few cautious steps into the main part of the lab, he could hear faint scurrying noises as the creatures fled his presence.

All three Transformers were on guard. Even though Tarantulas was dead, his lab still harbored as many secrets as it did when he was alive, if not more. Furthermore, there was still the possibility of traps and the like, and not only could an untimely explosion harm one of them, it could also destroy any chance they had of getting home.

Initially, none of them ventured very far in. They looked around, taking in the scene from one spot so as to move as little as possible.

Tigerhawk, for one, couldn't see anything useful from where he was standing. Unsure of what to do next, he looked to the others to see how they were faring. Both were looking to him.

"What now?" Quickstrike asked, voicing what everyone was thinking.

Tigerhawk grumbled. "We are not going to find much without actually looking around," he decided.

"Yeah, that's what I was 'fraid of." Quickstrike went to an overturned workbench nearby and flipped it over. "Ain't gonna get nowhere without messin' a few things up."

"The drone is correct," Inferno said, more to himself than anyone. He carefully wandered around the lab, actively searching for anything potentially useful.

Tigerhawk went to a computer console, replacing a fallen screen on the cave wall. It hung off-kilter, but Tigerhawk wasn't concerned with aesthetics at the moment. Maybe, if he could get power to the computer they could find something? Ah, but Tarantulas' files were likely password-protected and encrypted. The Maximal doubted he or his allies had the skill to thwart whatever obstacles Tarantulas had placed to keep unwanted guests out of his files.

"I ain't finding nothin'," Quickstrike announced.

"I have failed! Forgive me, Royalty!"

Tigerhawk tried to ignore the Predacons while he thought. There had to be another place, something else he hadn't thought of. Maybe Tarantulas had another lab somewhere?

Of course!

"The transport to the Nemesis!"

"We shall not use the Nemesis!" Inferno adamantly proclaimed.

"Yeah, remember? We ain't helpin' you gut our ancestors' ship if it's gonna screw us over."

"No, not the Nemesis! The transport Megatron took to get to it!"

"Is that how he got there?" Quickstrike scratched his head.

Of course, they hadn't been around for that. They'd been attacking the proto-human colony.

"Tarantulas built a transport so he could get back and forth from land to the Nemesis on the sea floor," Tigerhawk explained. "Megatron used it to gain access to the Nemesis."

"Great, so where is it now?" Quickstrike was showing hints of enthusiasm.

"...on the sea floor, most likely." Everyone's hope faded.

The cave fell silent with disappointment.

"Back to square one, then." Quickstrike shrugged.

"I shall look some more." Tigerhawk pushed away a fallen rock, searching for some object that would help them. It was going to take a miracle, he thought.

"No!" Inferno stamped his foot. "We will not give up so easily!"

"Look, Blenderbutt," Quickstrike huffed. "It's nice that you're all motivated and determined and stuff, but none of us can swim-- slaggit, I can't even fly-- and there ain't no one else around to help us. So unless you got somethin' to share with us, just get back to diggin' 'round."

"The bathysphere!" Inferno said vehemently.

Tigerhawk stopped his search. The bathysphere?

"The what now?" Quickstrike paused while picking up a piece of rubble.

"The bathysphere! The Maximals used it to retrieve Sentinel for us!"

"Oh, that!" Quickstrike nodded quickly. "I know what you're talkin' about!"

Tigerhawk didn't want to admit aloud that he didn't follow the conversation.

"Do you Maximals still possess the bathysphere?" Inferno demanded more than asked.

"I... do not know. I was not aware that we had such a thing."

"Slaggit, I told you you shoulda let us look around your base! Woulda spared us havin' to come here!"

"You have my apologies," Tigerhawk sighed.

"There is no time for apologies!" Inferno scrambled over rubble to the exit. "The Royalty is in need! To the Maximal base!"

Although neither Tigerhawk nor Quickstrike enjoyed being ordered in such a manner, neither could argue with the idea.

"Yeah, that thing!" Quickstrike pointed at the bathysphere, sitting in the corner of a room Tigerhawk wasn't familiar with. Not that he was terribly familiar with the Ark and surrounding Maximal base to begin with.

Watching the Transformers scurrying around, peeking into unknown rooms, looking for the bathysphere would have been a comical sight, had anyone been there to see it. It'd taken a few megacycles to find it, and Tigerhawk wasn't disappointed in the slightest once they finally did.

"The rat used this to retrieve Sentinel from the fallen Maximal ship," Inferno explained to Tigerhawk.

"Yeah, and then he gave it to us!" Quickstrike remembered.

"It was a grand Predacon victory!"

Tigerhawk doubted this was the case-- Rattrap wouldn't willingly hand anything over to the Predacons-- but he decided to let it go.

"Hmm," Inferno mused, looking it over carefully. "It is damaged."

"Nothing we cannot repair," Tigerhawk said after inspecting the cracks in the glass. "We just need to seal these and make sure it is watertight. I think even we can do that."

"And after that?" Apparently, Inferno was looking to Tigerhawk to formulate the plan.

"We can use this to get to the transport underwater..." Tigerhawk started, unsure of what to say next. "...since the transport is on a track, it shouldn't be too difficult to bring it back to Tarantulas' alcove.

"Hey, this thing's manually driven," Quickstrike noticed. "The poor sucker who's gonna drive it's going to have a heckuva time draggin' that transport back."

"That 'poor sucker' is most likely you," Tigerhawk said dryly.

"Hey now, wait a nano! Why don'tcha volunteer yourself!" Quickstrike folded his arms across his chestplate defensively.

"Neither Inferno nor I can fit inside," Tigerhawk explained.

Quickstrike snorted. "And what makes you think I'm gonna do it?"

"I will not make you do anything against your will," Tigerhawk said.

"I, however, am not so weak!" Inferno loomed over the smaller Predacon. "Either you will do this, drone, or you will face the scrap heap!"

"Yeah?" Quickstrike shot back. "Just go ahead and try!"

"Insolence will not be tolerated!" Inferno raised his flamethrower as Quickstrike raised his snake-head.

Tigerhawk marched up to the fighting Predacons, pushing them away from each other.

"Fighting will solve nothing! If we are to succeed, we must work together!"

"You can take your Maximal teamwork and shove it!" Quickstrike glared at Tigerhawk for a short moment before turning back to Inferno.

"And you are nothing but a traitor to the colony!" Inferno shouted at the Predacon fuzor.

"ENOUGH!" Tigerhawk roared, his patience pushed past the breaking point. The Predacons, stunned momentarily by the forcefulness of the Maximal's voice, lowered their weapons. They'd seen what he did to their base. He was a Maximal, but he was powerful.

"He started it," Quickstrike grumbled, gesturing towards Inferno.

"And I will end it!" Tigerhawk declared. "If we are to leave this planet--" he looked directly at Inferno "--if you are to save your leader, we must work together! Is that clear?"

"Crystal." Quickstrike looked away sheepishly.

Inferno did not give in so easily. He and Tigerhawk held each other's gaze for several tense moments.

"What I do," Inferno said finally, "I do for the Royalty."

There was silence again as the tension eased.

Quickstrike grumbled for a bit. "Fine," he muttered. "I'll go 'n bring the transport back. But if I die, both of you'll be real sorry."

"Indeed we will," Tigerhawk said without a trace of sarcasm.