True Colours
Part Three
By: Sapphire
You
don't know what your power has done to me
I want to know if I'll heal inside
I can't go on with a holocaust about to happen
Seeing you laughing, another time
- Stricken, Disturbed
Depth Charge had been lost in thought when his internal computer sounded an alert. "Warning: Protoform X located in grid Zelo Five."
He nearly stopped short at that announcement. He continued swimming at a slower pace, mind reeling at this new development. His comm. was the next thing to sound. "Inferno to Depth Charge. You have slowed down. Have you seen something?"
Depth Charge took a moment to respond. "No... No I haven't seen anything yet. But we're getting close now. Be on your guard."
"Understood."
He tried to steady his racing spark as they neared their destination. If Rampage was with Tarantulas then there could be a number of problems. If they were working together then his chances of success in this mission were depleted to virtually nil. It could, however, work out that Rampage was currently trying to break into the Nemesis to get to the spider. While the latter situation was preferable, either way his task had just become considerably more difficult.
He realized then that he could use some help, only there was no bot capable of offering any. Being the only aquabot apart from Rampage had its disadvantages. His thoughts were interrupted when a huge shadow appeared ahead of him. As he approached it he was filled with awe at the sheer size of the ship. He felt completely dwarfed by it and the task ahead of him seemed to grow as more and more of the Nemesis came into view.
How am I supposed to penetrate that!
He swept left and swam in a wide arch around it, being careful not to get too close in case the spider had activated some external autoguns. He scanned an area that looked as if it had been excavated, at the base of the ship; it was then that he spied a separate line of tracks leading back around to the rear.
'So he's entering through the hold. It's the first point of entry to investigate, I guess,' he thought gravely.
He lowered himself until his manta belly was almost skimming the ocean floor in an effort to avoid any sensors that might trigger weapons. There were collections of raw energon stalagmites dotting the landscape that he weaved around, ignoring them at first… but then the idea that he could use them as a very effective weapon against his archenemy came to him. He'd take some with him if and when he broke into the ship.
The tracks ended with a pile of wreckage. Outside the hold entrance were the mangled remains of what looked to have been a submersible. He frowned in confusion. Why had Tarantulas destroyed his means of underwater transport? It was then his gaze rested on the hold entrance itself and he saw that it had been damaged. Pieces of the submersible's metal were messily beaten together and patched over what must have been a considerably large hole. Depth Charge felt as if the water around him had dropped several degrees in temperature. This was not Tarantulas's doing. Rampage had broken in and sealed his entry. This meant that Tarantulas had not willingly allowed him in.
"And it also means you're not willing to let me in, either," Depth Charge growled. He regarded the patched up hole thoughtfully. Rampage had destroyed the submersible easily enough, meaning its metal could not have been that strong. It should then be easy to break through the make-shift door. Knowing that he had no time to waste, Depth Charge set about doing exactly that.
The Darkside was quite far away from the ocean, so it was taking Myst a while to reach the coast. She flew as fast as she could, beating her bataleur wings against the still fairly strong winds. Her wing mechanisms were straining and the air was static with energon residue, which caused her body to twitch with small shocks once in a while, but she was largely unaware of these things. Her mind was preoccupied with what she feared was happening, or perhaps already had happened, in grid Zelo Five.
Depth Charge was extremely determined to destroy Rampage and by the way he'd been interrogating her last night, he obviously thought she had been passing on important information to Rampage that jeopardized his plans for him. This meant that he had something serious in the works that would no doubt lead to Rampage's capture, or termination, or both. Not knowing of any other thing that could cause such an underwater disturbance, with a signature no less, she immediately assumed something had occurred between the two - something big. It could have been a colossal coming together of the two foes which had caused the energy anomaly. Only, that still didn't make much sense because they'd have needed to involve something highly explosive to create such a reading. The only thing she could think of that was capable of emitting such a force would be an energon explosion.
Whatever the case, the mere possibility that Rampage might have been badly damaged or killed disturbed her greatly and spurred her into action. She hadn't put much thought into why it disturbed her so much, because she didn't want to admit what she already knew. She cared about Rampage, yes, but it went deeper than that, and that was what terrified her. Whether it had been wise to admit the surface of her feelings towards him was yet to be seen...or not, depending on what had happened to him.
The uncertainty propelled her forward and the sight of the coastline inspired her to pick up speed.
"Okay, okay..." Rattrap murmured after a long, tense pause. Optimus's scrutinizing stare was beginning to get to him. "I tell ya what, I'm gonna try and contact Fish Face an' see if he's, y'know...receptive." He turned to the computer and tried to radio the mantabot. His first attempt proved unfruitful, the second he actually got a reception, only Depth Charge had either blocked or ignored the message. It wouldn't be the first time the ray had chosen not to respond to an urgent comm. call.
"Fins, I swear, if you're gettin' this message an' you're ignorin' it, there are gonna be some serious repercussions! We're losin' our minds back here, you have GOT to radio in and let us know what's going on and where you are... Depth Charge, there was a big energy reading out in da big blue...Depth Charge, just answer!"
Exasperated, he cut the connection. "He either has a damaged comm., is too busy ta respond or is choosing not to," Rattrap stated irritably, without facing Optimus's burning eyes.
Not receiving any advice on what to do next, Rattrap thought of something else to try. "It's a long shot, but I'm gonna try da Pred base. It's possible Waspy's hidin' in there. He might know somethin'."
Rattrap opened a channel to the Darkside. "Rattrap ta Pred Central. Is anyone there?" There was no reply. Determined, Rattrap continued: "Look, if someone's there, he'd bettah respond because, ya know, we're in da same boat here. We've got a mutual enemy that we gotta be keepin' wary of. So if anyone's alive in that cess pit, lemme know!"
Silence was his reply, but Rattrap had a strong suspicion someone was listening to him. "Look, at least tell us if you picked up da same funny readings coming from grid Ze---"
"Lo five? Yezz."
Rattrap blinked in surprise, then grinned. "Waspinator, good to, uh, hear ya..." he replied, trying not to sound too enthusiastic.
"What ratbot want to discuss?" the Predacon asked flatly.
Rattrap considered the situation. Waspinator's interest had obviously perked when he'd mentioned the grid readings, meaning he too was curious as to what was going on there. The waspbot might therefore be convinced into flying over there to check it out...although he'd have to do some serious persuading.
"Those readings. They were in da water. Now, ya probably also noticed a signature in them, one that is unrecognised by our scanners. In fact, da only reason we probably registered it at all is because it was amplified by da wave front. But it's still a sig and dat means dat someone was there when the explosion or, whatever it was, happened."
"Yeeezz," Waspinator drawled impatiently.
"Well Depth Charge has gone missin' and Rampage has a blocked signature. Both of them are water bots out for each other's mech fluid, so I'm thinkin' dat..."
"Ohhh..."
"Yeah? Ya think the same? That the two of them had one enormous fight out there? Cuz if they did, well, one o' them obviously exploded and da only guy I know who could make such a bang is Rampage. But we can't be sure, so we need to investigate it."
"Wazzpinator now knows why fuzor-femme left in such hurry."
"Myst? She's flying over there?"
"Waspinator thinkz so. Fuzor-femme crazy."
"Ya don't gotta tell me that... Hey, are ya able to radio her?"
"Waspinator not sure. She has signature blocker but doez that block comm. signals too?"
"Nah, I'd know, I made da one she's wearin'. Listen, one of us has ta check if the coast is clear, or we're gonna sit in our bases shivering in fear fer the rest of our days. Seeing as Myst's already volunteered herself ta do that, if ya could check up with her and find out what she knows..."
"Why Waspinator? Why not ratbot and Optimus? Optimus can fly!"
"Um, no...no he can't at the moment."
"Wha--?"
"He's...damaged," he said lowly, flitting a glance over his shoulder at his fellow Maximal. "It's beside the issue. If Myst is out there already, we should find out from her what's goin' on. You know her best, she'll listen ta you."
"Hmph. Then why should Waspinator pass on information to nasty Maximals? Done Waspinator no favours in past!"
"I REALLY think that's water unda the bridge now! There's just three, maybe even two of us left and last time I counted, very few Preds left, too! The fact is that Rampage is a threat to all of us an' if we can help each other out in any way, we're doing ourselves a favour. You included. So you're either with us or against us, you choose how many enemies ya wanna have at this stage in the game!"
Rattrap could almost hear Waspinator bristling on the other end. Eventually, the wasp responded: "Wazzpinator get back to you if there anything to report." He cut the connection promptly, leaving Rattrap to listen to static. With a heavy sigh, he sank back into his chair and tapped a finger rapidly on the armrest.
"Well handled."
Rattrap ceased his nervous finger-tapping and spun the chair around to face Optimus. "We'll see. Are you...are you with me, Optimus?" he asked uncertainly.
Optimus nodded slowly and quietly got to his feet. "Yes. Yes, I am."
Rattrap nodded as well, slowly and while maintaining his studious stare on him. "Dat's very good ta hear."
The two continued to look at each other, an unspoken understanding between them. They waited in silence.
It was quiet, save the occasional rasp from the Transformer hovering over him. Rampage watched as Tarantulas prepped some unpleasant-looking instruments. He was sitting on the edge of a table in the far right corner of the control room, one which the spider had set up to construct and repair things, as everything else around here was seemingly larger than life. Rampage considered himself a large Transformer, but he felt dwarfed in the cavernous rooms of this Decepticon warship. Currently, he was scrutinizing Tarantulas's every move as he prepared to operate.
"You do realize...that without my power converter, I am inclined to SHAKE and FLINCH, which could have some very bad effects on you during such a delicate procedure," the Transmetal arachnid sneered.
"Then you'd better not shake or flinch," Rampage replied evenly.
The Predacon scientist picked up a small thin metal cylinder. He opened a panel on its side and took a battery from a little box on the table and placed it within. He tapped it, and a tiny electric charge flamed out from it. "You know you can't fly this ship alone. You'll need me for at least a few decacycles to operate it when we leave this planet. I'll need my power converter to be fully conscious of what I'm doing during that important time."
"Don't preach to me what needs to be done. You might be holding my spark now, but I'm still the one pulling the strings. You'll do as I instruct, when I instruct it."
Tarantulas turned his head slowly to give the crabbot a baleful look. "Get on with it," Rampage snorted.
"I'm ready," Tarantulas said darkly. He picked up the spark box from a little side table. Rampage regarded him with a steely expression. Something in his eyes said to Tarantulas that if he so much as tried to do anything funny, he'd suffer a fate worse than death. It was the only thing restraining him from clamping down on the spark box right then and there. His anger towards the crab was immense, and he knew Rampage knew that.
"Lie down."
Rampage slowly eased himself onto his back and turned his head to see the spider moving in, holding up half his life force in his claw.
Tarantulas waited as the crabbot opened up his chest, listening detachedly to the sound the gears made as the plates folded back. He had seen them do this once before already, when Rampage had healed him. Tarantulas had initially been surprised by this ability, because he'd never considered it before, but he quickly got over the small shock when he realized how simple it was. Rampage was attuned with pain, so to redirect the healing energy of his spark shouldn't be difficult. The sensation of being repaired this way, however, was quite something unique. He'd felt an almost cold prickling in his areas of damage which changed to a kind of numb burning and then the pain began to fade. The whole process was remarkably quick, reminding him of just how powerful the Protoform was. It was why he felt ill doing this now, granting him back his full power and signing the death warrants of who knew how many Transformers if they ever got back to Cybertron. He was probably signing his own, but then, he didn't really have a choice. Currently, he could feel the deterioration taking place deep inside him as his own energon supplies began to shock and damage his internals. He also felt an unnerving hollowness, as a rather large piece of him was missing. They were all grim reminders of how he had to get this operation done quickly.
"Remember, I want to stay fully conscious throughout," Rampage growled, snapping Tarantulas from his daze. The chest and spark within was now exposed.
"I remember," he grumbled lowly and placed the spark box on Rampage's abdomen. He turned and picked up the nastiest of his tools. Rampage's optics burned as he watched the small, sharp little energon blade being lowered into his chest...
Depth Charge walked backwards and away from the patched up hole he was planning on reopening. He had to stay a safe distance away from the explosion that was about to happen.
His comm. buzzed loudly and Inferno's voice greeted his audios.
"Inferno to Depth Charge. I am directly above your position now."
"Yeah... Good. I'm about to break into the Nemesis. Be on your highest guard. I don't know what's going to happen next."
"Understood. Keep me informed when you can."
"Sure," Depth Charge said, cutting the connection. He was unaware that another comm. call was trying to get through when he did so.
"I don't need you blathering nonsense when I'm trying to sneak up on someone," Depth Charge murmured as he switched the comm. off entirely. He aimed his weapon and narrowed his optics. "Knock knock."
* * *
"Stop arching! I'm going to sever something irreparable if you keep jerking like that," Tarantulas scolded as Rampage settled back down again, fists clenched. He was breathing rapidly, twitching occasionally from the spectacular pain he was experiencing. "How...long?" he managed gruffly.
"Well, I've cut the important areas open to allow the entrance of your core, but because of your spark's tendency to repair itself, I keep having to make amendments. Timing is crucial, so I need you to keep still and quiet!"
Rampage did not retort with anything, much to Tarantulas's relief. The Predacon scientist was in considerable pain himself and wanted to get this over and done with as soon as possible. He squinted and pushed the tiny energon blade in deeper, mentally grumbling at how roughly Megatron had cut out the core. It was truly amazing the crabbot had survived the experience. Tarantulas assumed he must have passed out from the pain, because to be conscious during such an ordeal would be truly horrific. Putting the core spark back in was a hugely painful operation in itself, as some cutting was required. The worst part for Rampage was still to come, however.
Rampage did not want to think about what was happening to him right now, only what would happen next. He tried not to focus on the pain, but on the imminent liberation. However, the pain kept yanking him out from such daydreams, bringing him sharply back to reality. It was too much to ignore. He strained to lift his head to see exactly what Tarantulas was doing, but the effort fell short. He was too weak.
"Stop fidgeting! I'm about to---"
The spider stopped short when there was a muffled boom. Both bots went utterly still, listening intently. Sure enough, another, distant boom came from below. Then, the shrill cry of sirens sounded and the voice of the computer warned them of a hull breach.
"Confound it!! Not again!" Tarantulas screeched. Rampage struggled upwards, despite the agony, and managed to prop his upper half up on his elbows.
"Fins," he muttered, a dark expression coming onto his face.
"Someone's broken into the ship! And thanks to you, that platform isn't able to close properly. He could come right into here and---"
"Close it!"
"What? The platform? I can't, I've tried. You've damaged the ge---"
"No! My spark. Close it! You can't finish this operation at the moment, so close my spark!"
"What?! But I---"
"CLOSE IT!" Rampage snarled viciously, grabbing the spider's neck with one hand and drawing his face just inches from his sparkling eyes. Tarantulas stared in horror at him and Rampage pushed him back and let go. "Do it," he said firmly, and his voice was so cold and hard that Tarantulas dared not make even a peep thereafter. He quickly inserted the blade, sending Rampage sprawling back onto the table with a yell of pain. He rapidly started rearranging the spark so that it was able to function properly as a whole again. He was almost done when there was a shout from behind.
"X!"
Rampage lifted his head to see and raised his left arm that had been dangling over the edge of the table. In his hand was his blaster. He fired off a shot at the raybot, who'd just surfaced through the gap between the partially lowered platform and the floor. Depth Charge was thrown back and hit the side of the platform-entrance. He nearly slid back down and off the platform, but managed to spread his fins in time to stop himself from falling through the gap.
"Is it done?!" Rampage asked frantically. Tarantulas nodded and he hefted himself up, still throbbing and aching. As he did so, the core spark that had been resting on his stomach, still in its cage, slid off him and landed on the table between his legs. No sooner had he gripped it when a shot ploughed into his still-open chest. Rampage was blown off the table and into the wall a few meters back. He landed on his rear with a thud, the inside of his chest burning like nothing he'd ever felt before. Depth Charge's shot had been a bit off center and had only clipped the top of his exposed spark, but even so, the raw energy hitting his most sensitive part was enough to send powerful shockwaves through his entire body.
Depth Charge leapt off the platform and landed on the floor with a menacing thud. He stood upright and aimed his gun at the crippled bot across the room. He was distracted by movement to his left and he turned quickly to see Tarantulas running across the room. The raybot pelted him with a blast that threw him off his feet. The spider skidded across the floor, coming to rest by the control panel, seemingly in stasis lock. The hit shouldn't have knocked him out, but Depth Charge didn't stop to wonder about it as he had more important things to deal with. He turned to face the crabbot and found that he was still doubled over in pain in the corner, although his chest was now closed and his core spark nowhere to be seen.
"You disgust me. You sadistic, repulsive lump of slag. Stand up!"
Rampage's head was bowed as he cringed from the pain, but at Depth Charge's order he lifted his face and glared venomously at the mantabot. "Why not kick me while I'm down? It wouldn't be the first time."
"Because I want to look you in the eyes when I finish you. I want to be in your face, in your head. I want to see you suffer like you made THEM SUFFER!"
Rampage continued to stare at him maliciously, but slowly a smile appeared in his eyes and a deep, throaty laugh came from him. Soon, he was bellowing it. Depth Charge took a threatening step forward, pointing his gun at his head with a wild look. "Shut up! Shut up and stand and FACE ME!"
Rampage stopped laughing, but a knowing smirk remained on his face. "You've come a long way, my old friend. Wanting to torture me, when before you were content with merely destroying me if given the chance. Now you'd delay my death in order to get some personal pleasure from the acts you'd commit on me beforehand. I understand this desire. There's nothing so unsatisfying as a quick kill, now is there?"
Depth Charge's optics widened in something between disbelief and revulsion and he opened fire. The energy missile struck Rampage directly in the chest and the backlash caused his head hit the wall. He grunted loudly and then shook his head, eyes burning brightly with an insane delight. His body visibly tensed and then he leapt forward, throwing all his weight into his feet as he landed, making the ground tremble. Depth Charge needed no further cue to know that this fight had begun, and so he let loose a volley of shots.
As the two engaged in a brutal duel, Tarantulas began to slowly pick himself off the ground. He hadn't been completely knocked out, although he'd come close due to his current state. He was weak and feeble without his power converter and, had Depth Charge fired another few shots into him, he probably wouldn't have survived. It was still highly likely that he wasn't going to survive. The ship was filling up with water and that spelt more than one doom for him. He'd drown, or Rampage would destroy him after he'd merged his spark as he'd be of no further use to him, or Depth Charge would finish him off, or Rampage and Depth Charge would destroy each other and take him out along with them. The odds were certainly not in his favour, which was why he decided it was time for desperate measures.
He finally made it to his feet and leaned against the console, resting his shocked systems for a few moments. Gun shots and the sound of metal clashing filled his audios, but he paid no attention to them. His eyes were fixed on the energy bars that had been building all this time. They were at full power and the ship was ready as it'd ever be for take-off. It was now or never.
His gaze went from the energy bars to the ignition switch, a few meters away. It was where he'd been heading when Depth Charge had shot him. As inconspicuously as was possible, he hobbled towards it, using the console panel along the wall for support. So far, no one had tried to stop him, although he dared not look behind. He wasn't sure how this fight was playing out, or how long it would last, but he knew neither fighter would be keen on him meddling with things behind their backs. Finally, he reached the switch. Dizzy from energon corruption and experiencing increasingly severe shockwaves, Tarantulas slowly and clumsily tapped a few buttons and hit the ignition switch. The buttons were a code to prevent anyone from stopping the take-off sequence. With the last of his energy, he typed in a few co-ordinates and put the ship on auto-pilot. The Nemesis jolted violently, sending him crashing to the floor. He passed out on impact.
"Fuzor-femme had better answer Waspinator or there be Pit to pay!"
Waspinator fiddled with a few settings in an attempt to open a comm. channel to the rogue femme. The Darkside computer had never made contact with her before and so her frequency was not programmed in, but it did have a recorded message between her and Rampage from some time ago that he could use to figure it out.
He played the message and prepared to lock onto the correct frequency.
"Myst to Rampage."
"Myst? What's wrong?"
"Meet me at the energon mine. I need you for repairs."
"I'm on my way."
The message ended and Waspinator sighed in relief. It had been brief, but it was still long enough for him to get what he needed. His faith in Megatron's sharp awareness of what was going on with his crew had been well-founded. The tyrant had always kept tabs on them; Waspinator had caught him a few times monitoring his Predacon troops using live audio or visual feed.
He tried the frequency: "Waspinator to Fuzor-femme. Do you read?"
There was a pause of a few seconds, and then: "Waspinator? How...what are you---?"
"What izz situation? Where fuzor-femme headed?" he asked curtly.
"I'm... Listen, now's not a good time---"
"Tell Waspinator! Waspinator sick of being kept in the dark! Want to know what's happening, NEEDS to know what's happening!" he shouted angrily.
Another pause. "All right. I'm heading towards that area of disturbance. I think Rampage might have caused it. I want to investigate."
"Why fuzor-femme suspect thizz?"
He heard a gasp and the sound of air rapidly rushing past. "What's wrong?!" he cried.
"Waspinator, I have to go." The connection was cut immediately after.
Waspinator sat in his chair, staring blankly ahead, jaw hanging open. He shook his head after a few moments and opened a connection to the Ark.
Myst beat her wings in a forward motion, rearing her body up in an effort to brake in midair. She had to stop abruptly as barely fifty meters ahead was a bot she'd never seen before. He was hovering exactly over the spot she'd been heading for. Tall, red and menacing-looking, he'd turned to see her coming towards him and had pointed a very large gun.
"Halt, traitorous fuzor! If you move any closer I will burn you to cinders!" he shouted.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she called above the sound of her rapidly flapping wings.
"I'll be the one asking questions!" he shot back quickly. "What are you doing here?"
Myst glared at the large, red insect-bot. She was in beast mode and therefore unarmed, except for the guns in her wings. She didn't like to remain a hovering target and wanted to get into robot mode as soon as possible, especially now that she had an enemy to contend with. However, she knew if she transformed suddenly, he'd probably react by opening fire.
"The Predacon base's sensors detected an energy disturbance out here. I came to investigate."
"The colony? What were you doing in there?" he questioned with a dangerous edge to his voice.
"What WEREN'T you doing in there, Predacon?" Myst retorted, now confident she was talking to a soldier of Megatron's.
"You are trying my patience and I won't tolerate it! Leave this area now or I will shoot!"
Myst hesitated a few moments, then risked transforming. She fell several feet while doing so, so the Predacon's first shot went over her head. She immediately drew Depth Charge's gun, which she'd been keeping with her since last night.
"I don't want to fight you," she said honestly. She wasn't used to fighting in the air and this Predacon looked like he was built for combat.
"By ignoring my demands and conspiring with that murdering scum, you have made yourself an enemy of mine. You will pay for your treachery and your insolence!"
Myst narrowly dodged a stream of fire. She squeezed off a shot but wasn't even able to see if it hit its mark, as another volley of laser blasts soared towards her. She dove away from them, but one clipped her shoulder and sent her tumbling backwards. She'd just managed to regain flight when she had to dodge another volley.
"You stand no chance against me, fuzor!" he cried.
Myst spread her wings and fired several shots from her in-built guns. They hit their target.
Inferno was knocked back several feet, but unlike Myst, his flying mechanism was behind him and so he was able to regain his balance in the air fairly quickly. When he had righted himself, Myst noted with a degree of dread that he looked more than a little peeved. She swooped to avoid getting a face full of fire.
Depth Charge's shot went awry when the ground shook and he nearly lost his footing. Rampage too had nearly fallen and was leaning against the overturned table, looking perplexed and agitated.
"What the slagging?!" Depth Charge cried at the sound of engines powering up.
Rampage figured out what had happened before Depth Charge and decided he'd probably be unable to undo whatever Tarantulas had set in motion. Instead, he took advantage of the ray's confusion and shot his weapon from his hand. Depth Charge snarled in pain and looked at him, shocked.
"A little trick I learned from you, old friend!" Rampage growled, then threw himself at him.
The next thing Depth Charge felt was Rampage's huge body ploughing into him and tackling him to the ground. He barely caught a glance at the red, metal fist that smashed into his face. Charged with pain, he jerked his knees upwards, knowing that the spikes attached would gouge into the attacking crabbot. He heard a loud grunt and the pressure on him eased off. Shaking his head rapidly to dispel his dizziness, his vision retuned and he saw Rampage staggering back, both hands clutching over two large holes in his abdomen. Depth Charge started getting to his feet, but was thrown onto his side as the ship jolted. Rampage stumbled forward and looked to the monitors across the room.
"Blasted spider," Depth Charge heard him mutter. Rampage turned to him with a ferocious look in his eyes. He started towards him, removing his hands from his now partially healed wounds.
"You've ruined a lot for me today, Fins," Rampage murmured, the vicious gleam in his eyes sending cold chills through him. It was not fear, but the realization of what the victims of Omicron must have witnessed in Rampage as he came for them. Depth Charge had faced him numerous times, but there'd always been a hint of amusement in his eyes, a gleam of familiarity and sometimes irritation. But there'd never been a burning, mad bloodlust in them. He'd seen Rampage kill, but only from a distance and for the most part of their relationship, he'd witnessed the aftermath of his kills. He'd never 'been on the receiving end and survived', because Rampage had never really tried hard to kill him. Depth Charge felt both frustrated and confused by this, although deep down inside he felt it was because Rampage enjoyed keeping him alive, watching him writhe in his grief and fury. As long as Rampage held onto this sick form of entertainment, Depth Charge figured he had a chance of defeating him, for good. Rampage had slipped up once before, after all.
But now...now there was hatred in his eyes on a much deeper level than he'd ever seen before. Rampage looked well and truly pissed. Everything from the way he looked at him to his body language told him that playtime was over, that this was serious now.
Scrambling quickly to his feet, Depth Charge prepared a power charge in his chest. It wouldn't stop the crabbot, but it would slow his advance.
"This ship is about to take off and go who knows where," Depth Charge said, voice tense.
"I don't care," Rampage growled and grabbed his blaster from his side. Depth Charge reacted by firing, but Rampage had obviously anticipated this move as he dropped and rolled to the left, ending up kneeling on one knee with his gun pointed at him. He didn't hesitate to let loose a missile.
Depth Charge folded his fin over himself for protection, and cringed as the missile exploded on him, stripping away all his outer-shielding and rattling his superstructure painfully. Another missile pummelled him and he nearly toppled over. Then he heard a roar and suddenly he was knocked to the floor again. Rampage didn't stay on top of him this time, instead he sprang back and shattered his knee-spikes with two well-aimed shots. Depth Charge screamed in pain and rolled his head back, optics shut. He forced them open and looked forward again. He did his best to ignore the injuries and dragged himself hastily backwards with his arms, staring morbidly at the sparking holes in his legs. He glanced up to see Rampage holstering his weapon, apparently readying himself for another frontal assault. His large form was suddenly silhouetted as the ship broke the surface of the water and bright sunlight poured in from the band of windows. Emerald optics glowed brightly against a shadowed face and Rampage drew to his full height, staring with wide, rabid eyes at his enemy.
Depth Charge narrowed his optics in a challenging glare and fired his chest power-blast. Rampage was forced back a few steps and Depth Charge took the opportunity to get to his feet. The pain was immense and he feared his legs would give way beneath him, but somehow he managed to keep his balance. He stood, arms angled at his side, a steely look of determination on his face. Fuelled by a fear of failure and a raging inferno of hatred, grief and anger inside him, Depth Charge braced himself to fight his enemy one more time.
Myst bit back a cry of pain as flames burnt her shoulder, charring half of her mounted beast mode head. Inferno socked a punch into her jaw and she responded by swiping wildly out, clawing him across the face. Trails of mech fluid appeared from the scratch marks and started trickling down, but Inferno was unperturbed. He backed away and fired another shot at her and she barely managed to raise herself up in time. The laser bullet went under her legs and while her wings were open, Myst fired her guns. The shots caused several dents in the antbot's armour.
Myst was sure her wings were about to fall off. She was beating them furiously and relentlessly to keep herself airborne, but they could only do so much, especially now that they'd taken two bad hits. Her left wing mechanism was groaning ominously and she kept tilting to the side. Inferno looked far less worse for wear. While he'd suffered a few smacks and dents, she'd been burnt in several places and taken some heavy blasts. This fight was almost over, and Myst knew she was losing it.
"Give up now, fuzor, and I will spare you a painful death," the bot Myst had learnt was Inferno spat. She hovered there, regarding him analytically while absently listening to her internal computer's warnings and damage reports. As she remained there, deciding on what to do next, she noticed a huge, growing shadow appearing in the water behind Inferno. A frown creased her face. Inferno also frowned, but in confusion. The frown faded from his face and he slowly turned around. In the next instant, the Nemesis' tower burst upwards from the water. The rest of it emerged at a slower rate, giving Inferno enough time to fly out of the way, although he narrowly escaped being struck from below. Myst twisted in the air and flew away from the massive ship. She turned herself around when she felt she was far enough away, and beheld the enormous monster surfacing from the blue.
Inferno was to her far left and shouting something. She looked at him in confusion as he yelled. "Inferno to Depth Charge! Report what's happening! I repeat, report what's happening!"
"So you're in cahoots with him, huh?" she muttered and drew the ray in question's stolen gun. She changed the setting to rapid fire and aimed the weapon at the frantic antbot.
Inferno's desperate attempt to get in contact with his comrade was cut short when a series of bullets ripped into his propellers. The gunfire damaged them enough to cause them to malfunction and suddenly he was falling. He flailed and screamed in anger and frustration until he met the water and went under, shorting all over from having his live wires exposed to it.
Myst watched him crash into the water and, satisfied that he was no longer a threat for the time being, turned her sight to the massive ship, now completely emerged. It was then that she recognised it. "Oh slagging heck..."
Her mind reeled at the realisation. This was the energy disturbance the sensors had picked up on. The Nemesis would, of course, have a signature--which explained all except one thing. Who was piloting the ship? Rampage? Was that what he was really after? Was he leaving? Is that what he meant by 'the final outcome'?
"Rampage..." she whimpered, staring dolefully at the rising black warship now blocking the sunlight. It continued to ascend and then stopped, turned to the west and glided forward. Myst watched as it headed straight for land at cruise-speed. Cruise-speed was still fast, and so she wasted no time in transforming to her more streamlined beast mode and followed it. She didn't know where it was going, but the fact that it was no longer making its way up inspired a spark of hope, although for what she wasn't sure.