Code of Honor
Part II: The Agendas
Chapter 2
By: Master Solo
“This is not the time!” Shouted Optimus as he pushed the bickering Dinobot and Rattrap apart, forcing each back to his post. “I want you all to stay alert. Report any motion, any unusual readings. The attack will come -- but it may be subtle.”
A ridge hung over the Axalon, merely adding to the peaceful scenery surround the Maximal ship until Rampage and Trantermite both appeared at the top in vehicle mode, with Rampage’s three cannons ready to fire at any instant. A missile with an atomic symbol emerged from the top cannon and streaked down, splattering the base’s shields.
Taking advantage of the situation, Transtermite mimicked the noise of the missile as she hit her top speed and generated a dust storm around the Maximal base for the sake of obstructing Sentinel’s shields.
Inside the base, everything shook and large, sweltering sparks that indicated serious damage flew from the equipment.
“Or it may not.” Optimus sighed.
“Subtle attack detected, Bigbot.” Cheetor spun in his shaking chair and saluted.
“Shields at thirty percent and falling!” Reported Silverbolt.
“External autoguns online!” Order Optimus.
Outside the base, autoguns rose from the hull of the ship and began to spit hyphens of fire at the Predacons, but as soon as they ascended from beneath the metal covers, Megatron, Inferno, and Waspinator swooped in from behind a distant hiding place with their weapons.
As the Predacons zigzagged through a maze of Maximal fire, they attacked the autoguns, taking the weapons out one by one until every last gun was out of commission.
“Huh. Short and stinky! Whatdya do?” Asked the rat.
“We confront them in battle, vermin.” Replied Dinobot.
“Like we’re not doin’ dat already, Chopperface!” Snickered Rattrap in return.
“It’s too early, Dinobot!” Yelled Optimus. Before Dinobot could carry on the bickering war, the base shook again, sending the former Predacon’s head slamming into the console before him.
Just above the Earth’s atmosphere, space rippled and a stealth-cloaked ship, which somewhat resembled a bird, emerged. The ship dove downward toward the explosive battle that raged around the Axalon, determined to find Megatron.
In the semiarid area that surrounded the Maximal base, Megatron, Inferno, and Waspinator, who had all landed on the sandy ground, opened fire on the grounded ship, multiplying the damage that it had already accumulated. As volleys of bullets, missiles, and laser blasts hit the ship, the shields flickered and finally gave out, leaving the Axalon open for assault.
Inside the base, Silverbolt gave an alarmed cry.
“Shields are down!”
“We’re losing weapons systems power!” Added Cheetor.
“Backup grid online, but it won’t last.” Reported Rhinox. Outside the base, the shields flickered back on after much hesitation.
“Any sign of Cybertron ships?” Asked Optimus.
“Nada. Not a blip on the boards.” Rattrap shook his head and the Maximal leader once again assumed a grim expression.
Another one of Rampage’s missiles hit the Maximal base, obliterating the shields and sending every Maximal out of his seat. The Maximals watched helplessly as the crab recharged and prepared for a deathblow. Just as Rampage perfected his aim, a pair of green laser beams caught the crab’s attention.
The Maximals turned to find Dinobot gone and followed suit as each grabbed a shield.
Just outside the Axalon, every Maximal except for Rhinox dropped onto the dry, silt floor and aimed a weapon at one of the attacking Predacons.
“Victory is mine, yes!” Megatron grinned ferally as he fired a tail laser at Optimus, who returned the gesture and the comment.
“Not on my watch.” Replied the Maximal leader between shots of plasma.
“I shall enjoy destroying you, yes. Ah, the momentous demise of my old enemy. I shall be pleased.” Megatron continued to fire blasts from his tail laser as he led his Predacons in a charging attack. He then leapt into the air and aimed to annihilate one of the autoguns, but Optimus grabbed the tail, pushing it aside so that the shot would go wide. Megatron growled as his attack soared harmlessly into the sky and made it ripple, as if it hit an invisible barrier of some sort.
In retaliation, Megatron twisted his tail-laser around and in a motion too quick for the naked eye to track, he dumped Optimus on the turbolift behind the Maximal and put a smoking hole in the Transmetal gorilla’s shoulder with the purple tail laser. The Predacon leader then approached his enemy, one gloating step at a time.
“So the mighty Optimus Primal has fallen. What a shame. I shall enjoy this new chapter in history, yes.” Megatron grinned as his laser charged. The Maximal leader soon found himself pinned. He stole a glance over his shoulders, but was unable to do anything as he watched Rampage and Inferno destroy the autoguns one by one.
“Howdy, partner.” Quickstrike greeted Dinobot with a dose of cybervenom, which the raptor deflected with his spinning tail-shield. “How ‘bout a dose o’ cybervenom? Ya ain’t gunna get so lucky this time, pal.”
“I see that you remain a pestilence.” Dinobot returned, sending a pair of eyebeams from behind his spinning shield. He assumed a predatory stance, carefully studying the battle before charging at Quickstrike. As the lasers met, the two combatants concentrated all their energy on attack until Dinobot overpowered the fuzor like he had in their previous battles, throwing Quickstrike onto Transtermite’s dust-colored back.
The angered bug repeated Dinobot’s words, but her voice was soon lost in the massive duststorm that she began to generate. Frustrated with the particles that continually clouded his vision, Dinobot fired off into the cloud of sand and dust, but the eyebeams soon stopped when the wind picked up enough power to sweep Dinobot off his feet, sending his weapons slamming into Rattrap and Rhinox, who were being flattened at the hands of Inferno and Rampage, respectively.
“Why I knew it all along, Lizard lips. Once a Pred, always a Pred.” Complained Rattrap as Dinobot’s loose sword cut into his shoulders. The rat, by far the lightest of all the Maximals, was soon carried off in the wind and slammed against the battered walls of the Asalon before falling into stasis lock.
“This insect cannot power this wind. She must have had help, but where, and who? Certainly not X.” The disarmed Dinobot tried to interpret the situation as he struggled not to lose any more ground to Transtermite.
Meanwhile, Silverbolt engaged Waspinator in an aerial duel, with the fuzor gaining more and more advantage by the second. As the wasp used the agility of his form to avoid the fuzor’s attacks, he complained. “Not fair. Waspinator always fight. Waspinator shot at. Waspinator hit.”
Silverbolt was on the verge of presenting his enemy with a show of mercy when the thunderous roar of a ship entering the sound barrier interrupted the battle, the collateral vibrations sending both flyers reeling out of the air.
“Waspinator see friend. Waspinator happy.” The wasp grinned as the debris that the thunderous winds picked slammed into his wing mechanisms, sending spiraling downwards toward Transtermite, who repeated his last word.
From the dirt below, Transtermite wondered for a moment about the green bot’s strange talk. Why was she unable to say what this friend said? The bug would have no more time to think when a pair of powerful weapons that originated from an unseen source blasted her over the cliff behind her back.
“Whoa, mate, what in the tarnation…?” Exclaimed Quickstrike, who tied his serpent hand to a branch and then caught Transtermite.
“Not fair. Waspinator always slagged.” The wasp, who, by then, was missing all four wings and one leg, complained as he caught Transtermite’s tail.
“Ya better let go, partner, cuz this rope ain’t gonna hold.” Warned Quickstrike as he began to lose his grip. The inevitable was accomplished in advance when a falling Rampage slammed into Quickstrike’s head with his tank mode, taking all four Predacons down.
“Predacons, retreat! It is time to increase our wager.” Came the barely audible order of Megatron, which Transtermite mimicked.
“Yer not da boss, gal.” Quickstrike replied to Transtermite as the Predacons’ fall accelerated. He then added quietly. “Gonna whoop that bug ass one of these days.”
“Is this fear I sense in us all?” Asked Rampage, who then spotted a purple thing that looked like Megatron and fired at the dot in the sky.
“Waspinator not like this. Waspinator see ant-bot.” Reported the wasp as he pointed to the sky with one of Transtermite’s legs, which he caught. Sure enough, pieces of Inferno’s jeg rained down on the other falling Predacons, followed by a screaming and flailing ant.
“ROYALTY!!!! I must protect the Royalty! What will the Queen do without me?” Inferno screamed like a maniac, his optics widening as he fell further and further. As the termite was forced to repeat Inferno’s every word, she wanted to know why her green friend was so different from the red friend, if different was what ‘like’ meant. They shared their queen, but only she and the red friend called the purple boss that. Both the green and the red were bugs, yet they were almost never in the same place at the same time.
Just outside the Maximal base, a few injured Maximals and puddles of mech fluid littered the barren landscape. Dinobot, despite all his strength, was forced onto his knees from the toll of the battle while Silverbolt studied the offline wing mechanisms.
“What da heck just happened here?” Rattrap asked as the other Maximals helped him remove Dinobot’s now bent and heavily scathed sword from his transmetal shoulder. In a heap not too far from the rat, Dinobot’s tail shield and Rhinox’s chain guns lay in pieces.
“We had help.” Answered Optimus.
“No way!” Swore Rattrap. “No way! I was scannin’ across th’ board! Wasn’t nothin, no way, nada, out there!”
“What would you call this?” Cheetor pointed to a rapidly enlarging outline in the sky.
Dinobot’s optics widened in recognition, but then narrowed as he forced himself to remain silent. He would likely be condemned to life in exile as a Maximal if he survived the war, but his loyalty still lied where the ship came from and he would only betray his already scathed honor in giving away the secret of the ship.
“If ya know somethin’, Chopperface, spill it already!” Shouted Rattrap, who had become adept at reading Dinobot’s expressions.