Lessons Learned
Part IV
By: Matt Black
As consciousness shattered, the world became meaningless. A myriad of rainbow colors melted and exploded in a violent tornado of death and life. Self became meaningless, but at the same time became all there was. Essence spread from galaxy to galaxy, universe to universe, reality to reality. Time spread into the past, present, future, and all were the same.
The creation of the universe, it's near destruction, it's rebuilding, all happened at once. The birth of the new defenders, Primus. The creation of a new world, Cybertron. War, peace, and war again. All happened at once.
In the sea of confusion, an image was seen of Grimlock picking up the matrix of all life. A thousand warriors rose and were rebuilt, and war began again.
A world, insignificant in appearance, a pale blue and green sphere spinning in a small corner of realities, is incinerated in a blood red catastrophe of flame and heat.
A world, larger and made of a silver metal, rusted and fell to pieces.
But war still continued.
And yet again, from the bright chaos, and warmth suffused all. The beast warriors could feel themselves floating in an endless sea of light.
WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND?
The warriors looked around in confusion.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED?
The spirit of the one called Wolfang was the first to answer.
the matrix caused war, we caused war.
Polar Claw spoke.
we did nothing to stop destruction.
Cheetor.
we can not change our paths.
Rattrap.
we are a problem.
Dinobot.
we are destruction.
Razorbeast.
we are ....
LISTEN, FIND, DISCOVER, AND BE WARNED...
"Systems on line." a patient voice announced.
Polar Claw shook his massive bear's head. He squinted to adjust his eyes to the new lighting.
His jaw dropped open.
His fellow Maximals stood around him. They all stared at the glittering skyline around them. A steel street stretched beneath them, and huge metal buildings rose to either side. The velvety night sky shone a sparkling canvas of brilliant stars, but even that seemed unmatched by the glittering energy that seemed to run through every street, every building, everywhere they looked. Only one planet could be this beautiful.
Cybertron.
The incongruous animals all stood with mouths gaping as they took in their surroundings. Suddenly a bluish streak shot past them. A shape that was about the same size as Rattrap. Promptly, the squealing of tires could be heard, and a dust mote seemed to swirl up by an alleyway behind them, as if something had just skidded out and around the corner. Suddenly something slammed into Dinobot and Razorbeast.
"Aw slag!" A voice yelled as a slate blue and white vehicle appeared and transformed into a tall, gray-blue robot with white running down his chest plate, which had been the front of the vehicle, with a large number seven painted in the center.
Two more vehicles pulled up, skidding to a halt before they smashed into the beast warriors. One was red and one was yellow. Both transformed into robots.
"Well, that's just great," spoke the yellow one, "at least you hit them and not me, Mirage."
"I'm more worried that were lettin' that turbofox scram on us, he's almost out of range." interjected the red one.
Another car pulled up in a flash. This one red with yellow flames and a large yellow spoiler on the back. It launched up and over the gathered Cybertronians, transformed and pulled a gun out.
"Hey, no problem me compadre's. You got Hot Rod here to save the day!" as he spoke a single shot issued from his rifle, and a shower of sparks could be seen in the far distance as the turbofox shattered to the ground.
The large blue robot called Mirage stood over the Maximals and pointed down with a disapproving finger. "I could have had it if it weren't for these lead footed beast bots."
The red Sideswipe interjected, "You cheated, it was supposed to be a race."
The yellow robot spoke up, "I almost scratched this new finish... Shouldn't you beasties be off fighting or watching that big holo vid announcement from 'the great lord' right now?" the last he seemed to say a bit sarcastically.
Hot Rod stepped back to the group, "Lighten up guys. Look, we don't want any trouble, you unders..."
"What the..." interrupted Mirage, "what the hell kind of symbol is that?" he pointed to the symbol on Rattrap's arm, "Don't look like any regiment sigil to me?"
"It's a Maximal symbol, what did ya grow up in a hole?"
"What is a... Maximal?" questioned Sunstreaker.
"You'ze know. Maximal, descendants of the mighty Autobots."
"The Auto-who?" asked Hot Rod.
Polar Claw stepped in front of Rattrap, "Uh, look... What is the date?"
Rattrap spun around and muttered, "Oh, way to go mister tact."
Hot Rod spit out a date. "Why do you wanna know that?"
"Whoa," Cheetor interrupted, "if that's right, we're back on Cybertron less than a year after we left!!"
Hot Rod looked confused at the smaller grouping of animals. "Okay... we answered your question, now how's 'bout tellin' us who in Primus are the Autobots."
Dinobot stepped forward, "What do you mean, who are the Autobots? They were the ancient defenders of Primus, the enemies of the Decepticons!"
Mirage put his hand on Hot Rod's shoulder, "Look, we aren't sure who you beasties are, or what you want with us, but I do know I know no Autobots, or Decepticons, or Maximals, so if you would excuse us, we'll just be heading on our way."
Razorbeast stomped his foot on the ground in frustration, "Who the slaggin' hell is the leader around this inferno!!!"
"Slaggin' what? Inferno? Hot Rod looked at the others in confusion, "Uhm, the leader is the great lord Megatron, of course."
The Maximals jaws dropped in unison.
"What of Optimus Prime, what of Rodimus Prime!!!" yelled Dinobot.
"Who are they, and why are you wasting our time." replied Sunstreaker.
"Yeah, come on Hot Rod, let's beat it." echoed Sideswipe.
"Wait, look are you guys feeling all right? You want a ride to the coliseum or anything?"
"Oh great, here goes bleedin' heat Hot Rod." muttered Sideswipe.
"What is at this coliseum?" hissed Dinobot.
"Uh... the newsreel? Your lord Megatron's great proclamations and reports? Come on, tell me I'm ringin' some bells here."
"I... uh we are a little confused at the moment. Some uhm... bad energon." stalled Polar Claw, "If you could give us a lift to this stadium, maybe it would jog our memories a bit."
"Well, lets go!" Hot Rod transformed and opened his cab. Wolfang and Rattrap jumped in. Mirage transformed and Razorbeast hoped into the single seat of the vehicle form. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker also transformed, their vehicular forms were somewhat similar, and they both refused to let Dinobot or Polar Claw inside of them.
"You two get to stay in your beasty modes and ride on top, and you had at best not scratch our finish." scolded Sunstreaker.
Before Dinobot and Polar Claw jumped on to the two robots, Dinobot pulled the polar bear to the side, "This... Hot Rod. I have a feeling I should know something about him...something important, but I do not seem to be able to access those memories."
"Keep trying. I'm not sure what happened this time, but anything we might know from our universe may be useful here. Now, let's go." The huge bear stepped on top of Sideswipe, and the velociraptor jumped onto Sunstreaker.
"Hey, watch it Beast lizard, or else I'll find a new way to make you extinct."
Dinobot carefully held back any response, other than a hiss and a shake of his tongue.
As the Cybertronian's started down the street, Cheetor raced along beside. They made one stop to pick up the remains of the turbo fox. Then they moved at break neck speeds through the shining streets of Cybertron. As they traveled Wolfang decided to ask one more question, "What about Starscream?"
The Cybertronians skidded to a halt.
"Whoa, look I don't know what you want with us and I don't wanna know. If you got connections with him and those nutso robots... Look, we don't need that kind of trouble, we just get along in peace and harmony, and I don't wan any policers comin' around sayin' that we were talkin' to some wonko beasties that worked for him."
Rattrap smacked his forehead and thought fast, "Whoa, look, we don't know anything about Starscream, or nothin' else 'round here. We just wan ' to find out what's goin' on and then we'ze out of your diodes for good, 'kay? Besides, you, uhm said we were loyal beast bots... Surely no uhm beast warrior would be disloyal against the great lord Megatron."
"I think we should dump them now." Sunstreaker voiced his opinion.
"No, I'm curious as to what is going on here." Muttered Hot Rod," I don't think we have to fear them, I'm not sure why... it's just a feeling."
"Oh, great and if they end up being criminals, could you just explain your feeling to the police forces?" snapped Mirage.
"Come on, what could it really hurt if we just gave them a ride to the stadium?"
"Okay, but if you're wrong Hot Rod..." Sideswipe left off with a
list of condemnations as the group drove off.
The coliseum was immense, thousands of robots already crowded inside, and long lines outside were filing in through huge doorways. The gathered Cybertronians ranged from vehicles to pretender-like suits, to beast warriors... their were gestalt groups and guardians, of course the guardians were to big to fit into the stadium, large transformers and micro-sized ones.
The stadium itself was open aired. A huge column of light stood in the center, where a three dimensional broadcast would be shown. Already, minor reports were flashing for the audience none of it too important.
The group found themselves plodding along quickly in a line, on their way into the coliseum. Razorbeast gave a strangled gasp as they near the entranceway. "Uh... guys. tell me that ain't who I think it might be, over their playin' guard to those big doors." He pointed at a beast warrior that stood about as tall as Dinobot. The robot's exoskeletal shell was fiery red and chitinous. It bore marked differences, but the head confirmed the identity... Inferno.
This Inferno looked a little strange though, their were more savage spikes on his exoskeleton, he had four eyes on his chest, and the legs looked more numerous and longer.
"Play it cool bud bots," whisper Cheetor, "If there's no Autos or Decepticons, Maximals or Pred's, maybe that Inferno's not the bug we all know and hate."
"I hope you're right, cat. I don't want to end up in a fight out here, especially when were outnumber three hundred to one."
The group of six Maximals and four Cybertronians walked up to the door, Inferno looked up at the larger Cybertronians with a glint of disdain, and then down at the Maximals. The group held their breath as he looked searchingly at them.
A fang filled smile broke his face, and he gave a salute with his huge gun, "All praise the royalty!" and promptly moved on to the next grouping of robots.
The stadium was packed. Thousands of Transformers gathered, standing in thick groups, and packed in tightly. The Maximals lost sight of the Cybertronians they had come there with. As they found a spot to stand in, the transmission turned to more important information.
Megatron's voice spoke over the transmission. "Last week, another planet was brought to peace under the protective enforcement of the Cybertronian empire." pictures of a large blue-gray jet-robot, with Megatron's head, shaking the hand of a much smaller flesh-like alien played across the screen. A great celebration seemed to be going on around them. The alien people cheered for Megatron as he turned and waved to them. Megatron kept speaking of relevant information of the planet, size, population, law structure, climate... Then the report moved on, "On darker note, Starscream and his rebels instigated an attack upon my diplomatic party, two days ago." Pictures of a large robot, identical to Megatron , but in a slightly darker colors, being carried by several other transformers. The robot was smoking and charred badly. "It was an assassination attempt which failed, being foiled by the mistaken attack on Megaplex. My warriors and I caught them by surprise in time to save Megaplex's life." The topic changed yet again, "Another inhabited planet was discovered on the border space." Pictures flashed of an alien world, "Protoformer specs on the new alien life forms will be ready in four days for DNA replication..."
As the transmission droned on, Rattrap looked around at the various faces around him. One of them caught his eye, a large hairy beast of a robot, on his chest was the head of an animal called a bison. Bonecrusher? Can't be, not here, but he's splittin' image, Maybe if he is he could help us...
Rattrap walked up to the large bison-robot. "Bonecrusher!" The massive head swung down toward the smaller Rattrap. About then, Rattrap remembered that Bonecrusher wasn't exactly mister friendly toward strangers.
"What do you want, shrimp." A dangerous red glare shimmered in Bonecrusher's eyes. Rattrap started looking for a dark corner to duck off in, but he had managed to put himself in a fairly open spot.
"I... uhm... I thought you'ze was uhm, someone else. Look I a... uhh.."
"Well I'm not somebody else, punk. I'm Bonecrusher, and I think you were just pokin' around in the wrong place. I don't much like the look, or smell of you."
"I... uh... slag."
"Look, why don't you back of buffalo-head."
Rattrap looked over his shoulder to see Hot Rod standing behind him.
"I don't think this is you're fight metal-head." Bonecrusher was definitely about to go berserk.
"The rat's with me, and I don't think you want to fight, no do you? Big hairy and ugly." Hot Rod pulled a rifle out, and palmed it menacingly.
Then about ten of Bonecrusher's friend stepped out and pulled their weapons.
"Time to roll rat-bot!" Hot Rod roared as he transformed, snagging Rattrap off the ground and tossing him into his cab. The read-orange car spun it's wheels and slammed through Bonecrusher, and about ten other spectators, as he raced forward and spun around toward the doorway. "Mirage, gather those others and get to Wheeljack's place, I think I kinda stirred up some trouble, and if that red beast-bot remembers you guy's were hangin' with me..."
"Great job, Hot head. We see those other's, we're on our way, to beat you a..." Hot Rod terminated the transmission.
"Hey, uhm," spoke up Rattrap, "thanks for the assist. I guess I was wrong about that guy, I was hopin' he would know me."
"You always go about pawning yourself off on strangers?"
"No! I just slaggin' thought he was the same as the Bonecrusher in our..." Rattrap snapped his jaw shut. Me and my big slaggin' mouth.
"Your what?"
"Yeah, eh, nothin' I was just meanin'"
"Look, I pulled your bacon out of the fire repeatedly here, I think that should at least score me a little bit of the truth. What say you?"
"Of all the inferno... okay, big bear was all big on tellin' the truth last time, here goes..."
The other robots joined Rattrap and Hot Rod just outside of a tall, shining building. Hot Rod gave Polar Claw and the others an odd, dubious glance, and then turned toward the door.
Rattrap shuffled his feet and stalked in right behind him.
The building was a large, hangar-like workshop, filled with parts and scrap metal. The room was fairly dark with a scattered sparking light somewhere off behind a pile of parts.
"Well, did you boys better have brought back that turbofox in better condition than the last one!" a voice yelled from somewhere near the welding sparks.
A white robot stepped out from behind the pile, put down a welding torch and continued grumbling, "It took hours to put that last one together after you..." he looked up for the first time, "Who on Primus core are they?"
Hot Rod stepped forward, "These beast bots, claim to be called the Maximals. They also say they're from a different reality."
All the Maximals turned in surprise to glare at Rattrap, "Well I, that is, you see, it was like this..."
"Stow it Rattrap." grumbled Polar Claw as he Maximized into his robot form.
"What are you babbling about Hot Rod?" asked Mirage.
"Don't tell me you're gonna fall for some cockamamie story like that?" scolded Sunstreaker.
"Look, why don't you hear them out!" yelled Hot Rod.
The gathered robots stopped and looked down at Polar Claw. Wheeljack spoke up, "Well Maximal? All audio receptors are fired and ready."
Polar claw heaved a heavy sigh, "Okay, well, it's like this..."
Dinobot stared up at the ceiling. Why do we keep risking ourselves on these damn SCANS! He was strapped down to a table, and preparing to be dissected by the Cybertronian's friend, Wheeljack.
"If you so much as misplace a diode..."
"Relax friend," assured Wheeljack, "all you got to do is put yourself on recharge mode, and let my fingers do the walking. I'll have you together and working in no time."
Dinobot snarled, but shut himself off.
As Wheeljack leaned over the exposed inner workings of the smaller beast warrior, he connected wires and diodes, taking readings and samples. "Everything looks just like a normal beast warrior, I can't find an solid proof that you are who you say you are."
Polar Claw scratched his chin, he was sitting on a pile of junks, as were all the others gathered here. "Try looking for the matrix pulse, it may give off a different reading than yours."
"Okay." Wheeljack pulled another armature over to assist him. A shower of sparks issued from Dinobot's carcass. "There I... holy mother of Primus!"
"What's up, doc?" asked Hot Rod.
"Their matrix pulse, the link to the creation matrix, it's definitely different."
"How so?"
"It doesn't exist."
Polar Claw and the other Maximals looked at each other, "When we used it to create a new matrix, it must have been terminated."
Wolfang sniffed, "Of course, it makes sense. Those that were to make the new matrix were to be terminated. We were not."
Cheetor jumped to his feet, "See, there's the clincher. How else could we flatline on that?"
Wheeljack began to put Dinobot back together.
Dinobot's systems began to shut on, and the first thing he heard was, "I know I put him together right, but I just can't figure out where this spare part goes..."
"WHAT!! I KNEW I..."
"Calm down Dinochopper," interrupted Rattrap, "Old Dr. Frankenwheel here's just pullin' yo' talons."
Sunstreaker looked over at Sideswipe, "Dr. Frankenwheel?"
Sideswipe just shrugged in confusion.
Hot Rod stepped up, "Look, we've all had a hard day, and I think we should probably relax and give all this time to sink in."
"I'm still not convinced on this supposed 'alternate universe' thing. "muttered Mirage.
"Any way, why don't we all go and relax, I know a place in city where we could chill for a few cycles and party 'till we drop!"
"Hey," spoke up Rattrap, "that sounds like the best idea I've heard since we started this wacky trip."
"Let's scat cats!" yelled Cheetor as he transformed and pounced toward the door.
"Yes, I think we could use a rest. Thanks for your help in proving our case Wheeljack." rumbled Polar Claw.
"No problem, I just hope you boys get this sorted out as soon as possible. If you need a place to stay, I got nothing but garage space."
With that the Maximals and the four Cybertronians headed toward the inner city.
Wolfang glared around the colorfully lit bar. Loud music grinded away on the sound systems, nearly burning his audio-receptors out. The others were scattered about the bar, most down on the dance floor below. Rattrap was even dancing with a whole group of female Cybertronians.
Wolfang, however, was bored and annoyed. how could they deal with a place like this. They should all be out finding a way back to their planet. Their nice, quiet planet. A battle round with the Pred's wasn't even a match for this noise.
He paced across the floor by the back wall, near set of booths that were swathed in shadows. A few Cybertronians gathered here. Do they talk? He could barely know how, but it was decidedly quieter here than in that dance pit.
"What's wrong beast bot?" inquired a voice from behind him.
"You look like your brain's been mixed and stirred a little to much." The voice belonged to a largish blue robot. He had gray arms and legs and a reddish face and visor.
"Why don't you sit down and take a load off, have a drink and relax. It'll calm your nerves."
Wolfang started to object, but then thought better of it. Maybe a little energon would help boost his audio inputs. He plopped down on the opposite side of the booth from the larger robot.
"Here, try this. It's got a bite, but I find it helps to relax the soul." He shoved a glass that sparkled with energon across the table.
Wolfang bolted it down... and his head seemed to explode. The room shattered into a trillion different colors and then fuzzed down into a soft, warm glow. The noise seemed to be distant now, and he seemed to be deliriously happy.
"Hey, that was great... waz in 't?" bumbled Wolfang.
"Oh, just a concoction I make. You like it?"
The fuzz was clearing a little to rapidly, and the noise seemed to pound verbantly in Wolfang's ears. Another would be great.
"Yeah, don't suppose you got more?"
"Well, I can't go givin' them for free? How about a trade?"
"Well, I..." Wolfang trailed off realizing that he had no goods anywhere on this planet.
"Perhaps another drink will help you decide."
Wolfang bolted down the second glass as fast as the first. Peace and tranquillity seemed to float in his soul. If he could just find a way to get this stuff on a regular basis...
Mirage clamped onto Polar Claw's shoulder, dragging him away from the group of Cybertronians he had been talking to.
"What's up, Mirage?" Polar Claw cleared his throat of a chuckle.
Dinobot stood next to Mirage, looking decidedly unhappy about his surroundings. "The Cybertronian has spotted a problem with the wolf."
"Thank-you, I would prefer to answer questions directed at me, myself." snapped Mirage, "but he is correct, the robot that Wolfang has decided to take up with over there..." He pointed to the booths on the far side of the bar.
"Yea, so what?" Polar Claw grimaced.
"He is a renowned black-market dealer in elicit substances. His name is Bomburst. He sucks the energy life force out of almost any source he can, and taints even that."
"Let's go have a word with Wolfang then, before it's too late." Polar Claw began to make his way toward the booths.
"So you sucked thlifffe outta fleshies fordis stuff?" Wolfang thought that this should bother him a little more, but he really didn't seem to care.
"And I am the only possible source for this liquid. So what do you say, do we have a deal?"
And then two robots stepped up from the dance floor and drew their guns.
"Whoa, slag! Looks like da fuzzy dog's got himself bit in a place he can't scratch!" Rattrap looked over the head of a very attractive purple she-bot. "Man, figures. gotta go ladies. Duty calls." He hopped up and stalked through the crowd to see what the problem was.
"Hold real still, my friends. You are both under arrest." The speaking robot looked a lot like mirage, except white, and the spoiler behind his head had a set of blue and red lights attached to it. The other robot was a red and blue color. Both looked like they transformed into vehicles like Hot Rod and the others.
"You ain't got nothin on me Prowl, and you now it." blathered Bomburst.
The white one nodded toward the red robot. "Point Blank?"
"Soundwave?" the red robot spoke into a comlink on his arm. "Tell us how he sounds on tape."
"Message transmitted. Proof recorded." came a dispassionate voice across the radio.
Rattrap looked up at the two tall robots. Eh, time for a little evenin' of the odds.
Pulling his gun he crouched to jump on the red one's back.
Then about five other transformers stood up and pulled weapons.
A huge lumbering purple and gray robot walked into the center of the club, the music stopped and everyone cleared him a nice path. Most of the Cybertronians were crawling out the door behind him, leaving only the Maximals, Hot Rod and his friends, and the new-comers.
"Lower your weapons." came a dispassionate command from the huge robot. A huge missile hung over his shoulder on one side, and on the other shoulder, a radar dish worked fitfully, seeming to take in every detail.
"Thanks, Soundwave." Point Blank muttered over his shoulder. "Got any details on these guys?"
"The small one with his gun out, involved with that one, " a massive arm swivelled toward Hot Rod, "in a brawl at the arena earlier today. The two entered the club with those three other Transformers, and five other beast warriors, including the blue-gray one in the booth."
"Slag, busted." muttered Hot Rod.
"I told you stayin' with those beast warriors was a bad ideal." complained Sideswipe.
Polar Claw shook his head and looked up at Hot Rod, "So, let me try this again. Megatron's been leader of Cybertron since whoknowswhen, and there has never been any records or memories of full scale wars between Cybertronians?"
"That's 'bout the whole of it. Megatron turned Cybertron's resources toward space exploration and contacting new worlds. There's hundreds of systems under Cybertronian peace."
"What's that mean... 'Cybertronian peace'?"
"Well, if we find a war-like world, Megatron opens peace talks between world leaders. A lot of times, just the realization that an incredibly powerful force from beyond one's own system of life does exist is enough to shock any group into peace."
"What about those planets that keep fighting?"
"That's where you beast warriors come in. A couple drop ships with you boys on board hit a planet, you mold in and hide in the natural creatures of the planet, if war continues upon further warnings, Megatron drops in with a fleet from the skies, and a couple hundred surprise attacks from beast warriors helps to soften things up."
"And a peace is forced upon them."
"Yeah, kinda brutal. That's why we'd just prefer to hang loose and chase turbofoxes."
"Impressive, though I'm still not sure I like the methods." Polar Claw scratched his chin and looked around the holding cell. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker sat at one side, against the wall, alternating sulky glares between the Maximals and Hot Rod. Mirage stood looking out the glowing portal on the wall, and the Maximals just sat around with bored glances at the shimmering wall at the end of the large cell. "Where does Cybertron get it's energy?"
"Huhn? I don't know, what do you mean?"
"Well out Cybertron ran critically low on energy after our generators were damaged centuries before when Primus was split."
"Our generators were damaged too, but we've never really had a problem with keeping up with energy needs."
"Hmmph... What about Starscream? What's his deal. Don't tell me he's upset with the way Megatron runs things?"
"Only because Megatron's not brutal enough. Starscream's a true creep. Wants to suck the Cybertronian planets of all their resources and set up a paradise galaxy for robots only. He seems to have an uncanny knack for surprise attacks and destruction. Three planets have been totally annihilated by his rebels. One of them was destroyed before our forces ever even reached it."
"Great, so what about the planets that agree on peace?"
"They join in under our protection, a form of government is agreed on and they are allowed to grow and learn at their own pace. Some of the planets are damn near incredible. Cities like artwork and technologies to rival some of our own."
"Amazing. I..."
Further conversation was interrupted as Soundwave and a group of police bots opened the cell wall. The Maximals and Cybertronians were moved to a room with a long table. They sat around (or, in the case of the smaller beast bots, stood around) the table and waited. About twenty cycles passed before the door slid open again.
A huge purple robot stepped into the room. A single golden eye was the only facial feature he had and a crystal gun barrel took the place of his left hand. Dinobot's eyes widened and a name escaped his lips, "Shockwave."
"Military Operations Commander Shockwave, beast bot." came an arrogant reply. The door slid shut as Shockwave stepped to the head of the table.
"You have each been charged with riotous actions during the general transmission in the coliseum today, and you," he level a finger at Wolfang, "are also charged with attempt to purchase illicit energon substances."
"Both occasions seem to have some mitigating circumstances. Therefore, we are willing to forget them both on the condition that you go on one run with a police ship for the Cybertronian Empire."
"Any disagreements with this term and you may return to your cell till your cases are thoroughly investigated and you are taken to court for acquittal."
"Any disagreements?"
The five Maximals and the four Cybertronians soon found themselves in a conference room, standing with about eleven others. Prowl and Pointblank were in the group, as well as four others who were obviously vehicles. Two of them looked almost identical, one white and one black. Another was a more compact red robot. All three looked like they changed into vehicles similar to the Cybertronian's car modes. The fourth was almost the splitting image of Starscream without his pretender shell, but this transformer was a dark blue. A small red tank-like vehicle sat in the back of the room and a miniature jet hovered above it. One huge robot stood in the center of the room. He was blue-gray and a purplish color. He appeared to have some form of monster transformation. One smallish gray tyrannosaurus sat among the others, with two nasty looking missile packs on either thigh. Finally, two beast warriors were there. One was some kind of greenish bird with a long ostrich-like neck and purplish wings. The other was a feline form. He had a reddish mane hanging down in dark dreadlocks and hung with bone-like beads.
Shockwave and Soundwave stood at the head of the group. Shockwave stepped forward to speak. "You warriors have volunteered to run a routine police mission on board the ship Darkknight. Your mission objectives will be told to you in flight and using a matrix lock-out command to establish a privacy lock-out on your memory circuitry…"
Hot Rod muttered under his breath, "And our control circuitry."
"for reasons of keeping the locations of our outpost secret. Starscream's raids have made these steps a necessity, and if any of you wish to back out, now is your final chance."
"Like we have a choice." Muttered Polar Claw, "If they look to closely into our backgrounds, they're liable to find out we don't belong here."
"Well, usually these patrol trips are pretty routine, at least they were before Starscream started blowing stuff up." Hot Rod shrugged as he realized he wasn't being very reassuring.
Polar Claw leaned down to Rattrap, "Establish a comm link with the other Maximals. We need a private line so use…" Polar Claw scratched his chin, "Use an old Autobot frequency and encryption code. That oughtta keep them from listening in on us."
Rattrap gave Polar Claw a wink and got to work on the channel immediately.
About two mega cycles later, the Maximals found themselves armed and walking toward a police ship. As the group neared the ship Razorbeast nearly tripped over the large bird creature as he pushed his way passed the smaller robot. "Move it slagfoot." Muttered the bird as he pushed by Razorbeast.
"Hey, I outta trash those wings and shove them…"
"Stand down Razorbeast. " Polar Claw walked up behind him and put his hand on Razorbeast's shoulder. "We don't need to draw any more attention to ourselves than we have to."
"Of all the… OK but if I get half a chance I'm slaggin' that bird."
Polar Claw sighed.
The ship itself appeared to be no more than a small troop carrier. As the transformers entered, they each paused to place their hand on an identification pad by the door. The names of the others listed off; Prowl, Pointblank, Runabout, Runamuck, Chase, Thundercracker, Grandslam, Raindance, Snaptrap, Overkill, Cutthroat, Razorclaw, Sunstreaker, Hot Rod, Sideswipe, and Mirage.
Finally, it was the Maximals turn. Rattrap was the first up. He gave a worried glance at Polar Claw. "Well, here goes nothing." He placed a silver hand over the computer interface.
"Unit Retrograde* updating files . . . unit Rattrap." Rattrap gave a sigh of relief, no warning sirens, no alerts to a foreign robot. "So far so good."
The rest of the Maximals took turns with the access pad, and boarded the ship.
As he stepped into their separate drop pods, Rattrap nearly ran into a large blue and purple transformer. The massive Cybertronian looked down at him, "Retrograde, or I mean Rattrap now, right? How ya doin'"
Rattrap stammered as he realized that the robot knew him. He remembered the name give by the ID pad on the ship was . . . Snaptrap, "Oh, eh, hiya Snaptrap, why I guess I haven't seen you since . . ."
"Since that mission on Folinaius 3. We worked pretty well as a team. You sneak in and set em up: I come in and rip em down. It's good to see that we'll be workin' together again."
"Yeah, same here. Well better strap in and get ready to fly this birdie."
"Talk to ya after hyperspace."
The ship was little more than a troop transport and drop ship. It was crude and rectangular, with only one cannon port on top and one on bottom. Inside was little more. The inside of the ship was one room, with the control consoles at the front. The rest of the room was lined with twenty drop pods, ten on each side. The pods looked similar to the stasis pods from the Axalon, but appeared to have heavier armor. Most of the transformers stepped into the pods and strapped down. The jet named Raindance and the tank named Grandslam transformed and merged into one robot and stepped into a pod as well. Soundwave sat down at the control panels and Shockwave stood beside him.
The engines roared into life and the small ship took off.
Rattrap craned his neck to look out the small transparent window of the stasis pod. At the front of the ship, a blue grey visage of Megatron appeared on the forward view screen. Soundwave an Shockwave both saluted the leader as he began to speak.
"I thank you all for volunteering for this mission, and due to the extreme importance of secrecy in this time of need, I must ask you all to undergo a memory lock-out."
Rattrap activated the commlink he had rigged, "Ah slag, here we go..."
"Megatron voice code activation 12 seven chi centari. "
The hushed mechanical voices of the Cybertronians Processors could be heard, " memory lock-out engaged, synapsis reflex activated. Main processor in sleep mode."
But six Cybertronians were unaffected.
"Hey, we're immune!" muttered Rattrap into the commlink.
Polar Claw answered, "Yeah, it must run through the matrix link somehow. Since we don't have one..."
"We keep our free will."
"Yeah, but best play the little zombies, or they may try and take a better look."
Megatron's voice overrode their whispering, "Now, you will take on your first mission briefing from Shockwave."
Rattrap positioned himself so he could get a clear look of the front of the ship, without 'looking' like he was watching. That's when he noticed something strange. Their appeared to be a duo image of Shockwave, and a reflection of the entire bay of the ship. As if a mirror had been placed between Shockwave and Soundwave, where he sat at the front of the ship. It seemed disorienting for a moment, but then it dawned on the Maximal spy just what was occurring. There was an illusion between the leaders,
and an illusion that made the bay appear normal. A quick sub-scan showed that a sound proof barrier had also been raised. What were the two Decepticon slaggers up to?
"You will listen to my command and obey these orders without question, " came the cold, logical voice of the Military Operations Commander, "We will be arriving at the planet Bartarin in 4 megacycles. Our mission there is to check upon the resource output levels that have been falling due to rebellion. We will deal with the matter in any way I see fit. Upon completion of this mission, you will erase all knowledge of the planet from your data banks. The data MUST be irretrievable by any, including Lord Megatron. Upon completion of this mission, you will return to normal mode of operation, with location banks ONLY locked out."
Rattrap watches as the mirror images disappear suddenly, and the sound barrier dissipates.
"Very good Shockwave. I stress that the mission to Korus 3 is vital to the peace of that system. The second leg of your journey will be to the planet Lylid, the other half of the war zone. If talks have failed
upon Korus, you will bolster my forces here, as we bring this conflict to a resolution. Shockwave, guard yourself well. Starscream's previous attempts have been coming closer to home. He has proven a dangerous complication in the past, and I do not want to risk the loss of these two systems due to our lack of response."
"Understood, my lord."
"Megatron out."
--Hmmm....--Rattrap thinks to himself --Looks like someone's playin some games with Meg's high command. Guess we get to ride this one out and see where it goes...--
The dropship looked insignificant to the gigantic bulk of the planet Bartarin. Even more impressive was the massive and dense industrialization of the planet. Huge platforms crossed the atmosphere,
connected with thick corridors of steel. The surface was covered with dense, dark smoke, and explosions of light could be seen through the dusty haze. Bartarin was every bit of a planet being eaten alive by mining operations.
The small ship docked on a set of landing platforms that jutted free from one of the five, small city complexes that belonged to the planet. The pods hatches were opened and Shockwave commanded the Transformers out of the ship.
They were greeted by a flesh creature, resembling a lizard with a human's body attached to it and a horse's legs supporting it. They were fairly large, maybe three meters from head to tail.
The dignitary began blathering on to Shockwave about policing costs and slave rebellions. Shockwave merely turned and led the group to a platform. The creature got onto the platform with the group, and the platform dropped at an immense speed. Shock absorbers controlled the vertigo of the plunge, but miles were covered in seconds. Bringing the Transformers and their host to a dark tunnel in the planet's core. Dust and smoke filled the air, and hundreds of the strange horse creatures shuffled about in the dark, oppressing atmosphere.
"And this is the camp in which the last uprising began."
"Yes, my lord Shockwave. "
"Did you do as I commanded?"
"Yes, the cameras are on and playing live to all work camps at this very moment. Almost all the slave should be able to se..."
"SLAVES OF BARTARIN." Boomed the tall purple transformer.
"YOU HAVE HAD PROBLEMS KEEPING YOUR SCHEDULE FOR WORK OUTPUT. YOUR PLANETARY LEADER HAS PROVEN INCAPABLE OF KEEPING YOUR WORK LIMITS AT MAXIMUM OUTPUT. THERE FORE HIS USEFULNESS IS TERMINATED."
With that a blast of cold blue light incinerates the dignitary before he could even react. Smoke drifted casually from Shockwave's arm barrel.
"AS FAR AS THE UPRISING GOES. THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY TWENTY THOUSAND WORKERS IN THE COMBINED CAMPS. FIVE HUNDRED A PIECE. THERE IS NO CONTACT TO THE OTHER CAMPS UNLESS I ALLOW IT, AND YOUR WOMEN AND CHILDREN NUMBER ABOUT 5000 IN HOLDING IN THE CITY FORTRESS.
THIS CAMP HAS PROVEN TO BE UNSUITABLE AND WILL NOW SERVE AS AN EXAMPLE TO YOUR POPULATION."
The work across the camp comes to an immediate halt, and several shouts can be heard from the tunnels. Shockwave turns to the gathered Transformers.
"Terminate this camp."
Immediately the workers could be seen grabbing pick axes and hammers and charging at the Cybertronians. The gathered Transformers merely pull weapons and begin to obliterate the creatures.
The Maximals stood in shocked horror, until, suddenly a creature jumped onto Wolfang's back. A pick-axe came down hard into the Maximal's shoulder, sending sparks flying. He grabbed the creature and threw it against a wall. It got up and joined with others as they advanced on the Maximals.
"Oh man, if we don't stop them, they'll rip us apart!" muttered Cheetor.
"Try to keep from killing them, but defend yourselves Maximals!"
And the Maximals were forced into the fight.
The whole thing took minutes. Wholesale slaughter of the camp. Bodies lay strewn around, crushed, mangled, charred. And none of the Transformers could claim innocence. The Maximals felt cold and sick, but numerous gashes and wounds proved that they had no choice. The fight had been too intense for anyone to notice a lack of enthusiasm on the behalf of the Maximals.
Shockwave turned to the camera's, "THE DEAD HERE SHALL BE REPLACED WITH SLAVES FROM YOUR FAMILIES. ANY MORE REBELLIONS WILL SEE THE SAME TREATMENT."
The cameras cut off, and Shockwave opened a channel and began the orders for replacing the overseer and the work slaves.
The Maximals stood in stunned horror. Which let them blend in perfectly with the other zombified Cybertronians. Soon they were shuffled back on board ship. The stasis pods began repair work on their wounds. And cleaned the gore off of the Transformers.
The ship's engines roared into life again, and they left the cold, horrible planet to the void.
End Part IV...