Seeds of Deception

By Festus3 festus3@netins.net

Scene opens inside the Maximal base where Dinobot, Parrator and Boomerang, in beast mode, are entering the new elevator.

DINOBOT: Impressive, Whiplash did well. (The door closes and the elevator goes down through the mountain.)

BOOMERANG: A lot better than standin' on a flat slab one hundred feet off the ground, royt?

PARRATOR: Why are we going out in the middle of the night anyway?

DINOBOT: There are a lot of unanswered questions.

PARRATOR: Your point please.

DINOBOT: I know how to find some of them. (The elevator stops and the side of the mountain slides open to let them out, they walk of into the dusk of midnight. Up in the control room Whiplash and Pestalance are sitting at the computer terminals along with Rattrap.)

WHIPLASH: Rattrap, do you know where the-

RATTRAP: Yes. I know all'n see all that happens in dis ship.

PESTALANCE: For not having a body your head sure is big!

WHIPLASH: Hey, all I need to know is if you can find anything on those three super protoforms in there.

RATTRAP: The Titans? Uh, gimme a few minutes, there's still a big chunk of the computer dat's blocked off.

WHIPLASH: Good luck! (His tone is slightly cynical.) Starscream may not have been that intelligent, but that orb, man! That thing was advanced.

PESTALANCE: Ya got that right frill-fang, if it weren't far the computers that thing built we would all be off-line from extensive energon exposure.

WHIPLASH: That is another issue I have been pondering, (He brings up an image of the energon's composition.) it seems very familiar, but I can't quite place it.

PESTALANCE: Yeah, weird ain't it?

WHIPLASH: There is also still the question of where we are. (He brings up a three dimensional image of the solar system they are in, a massive sun surrounded by thirty-two planets. he zooms in on the ninth planet, with five moons, one of them is almost as big as the planet itself.) Hmmm, hard to believe a solar system like this could form naturally huh?

PESTALANCE: About as natural as silicone if that's what you're asking.

WHIPLASH: (He takes a closer look at the structure of the huge moon.) I have never seen anything like this before, I think it may have life on it.

PESTALANCE: Who knows what could live on any of those thirty-some planets and Primus knows how many moons. That reminds me, notice how we haven't seen any kinds of animals except reptilian and insectoid?

WHIPLASH: What bothers me the most is not the system, there is still much to be explained about the Allied Wars, and of the second sealed floor in the Phantom's head. (Rattrap's voice suddenly comes in over the computer.)

RATTRAP: Hey guys there's some kind of malfunction with one of the power generators, Pestalance you wanna go patch it up? (Pestalance sighs and walks out. Rattrap is silent for a few minutes.) Okay good now we're alone.

WHIPLASH: What do you mean? (A long strip of paper comes out of the computer.)

RATTRAP: Notice how Pestalance is exactly like me? (Whiplash is reading the slip, which is no more than two identical rows of symbols.)

WHIPLASH: Who hasn't?

RATTRAP: Those two rows are the structure of my spark and Pestalance's, I took a sample while he was working on the puter.

WHIPLASH: You mean he's a clone?

RATTRAP: Bingo, not an exact duplicate, he was slightly altered after the quantum surge.

WHIPLASH: This doesn't make sense, why would anyone clone you? I mean why would the Maximals elders allow it? (The camera zooms out and shows Pestalance standing behind the door listening.)

RATTRAP: I don't know, they outlawed it a long time ago.

WHIPLASH: He could be a Predacon spy, planted on the Axalon before it left Cybertron. (Pestalance has a hurt look on his face and whispers to himself.)

PESTALANCE: After what I've gone trough, they doubt my loyalty?

WHIPLASH: Well Rat, you better get back to code breaking, we'll discuss this with Dinobot later. (Just then Pestalance walks in pretending nothing is wrong.)

PESTALANCE: I checked the generator, there was nothing wrong with it.

(Whiplash gives him a quick suspicious glance.)

Scene goes into the Predacon base where all of them except Batteram and Transquito are standing at the entrance of the second encrypted floor, it is a large panel in the middle of the floor.

TARANTULUS: Clever, hide the entrance to the second inside the first. (Laying on the floor, he reenters the code Waspinator accidentally entered when he fell on the console, but to no avail.) Slag! Why won't it work?!

WASPINATOR: Let Waspinator try. (We begins to walk toward the flat console on the floor, but he is stopped by Tarantulus's wheel-gun, the cold steel pressing against his face.)

TARANTULUS: I wouldn't let you touch this computer if you actually knew the code, now go lick some sugar or something! (Waspinater backs off, converts to beast mode and then flies away.)

WASPINATOR: Why even own friends hate Waspinator? (He flies off into the caves sullenly. Tarantulus slams a fist on the panel.)

TARANTULUS: Aaaaaah!

CHAMELEOTRON: You know, this may be a bad idea, I mean what if we find something worse than the Titans? (Tarantulus shutters, remembering the horror of their brutal attack.)

TARANTULUS: We know why that happened, (He points to the still severed cable a couple yards away.) it will not happen again.

DRONE: This panel is made of the same metal as the door, no way of blasting through, that's for sure.

ANACRONDA: One thing we can be sure of, their attacks will be short, they don't have the anti-electrons.

TARANTULUS: And they must never get them, the energon puts us in stasis lock but only stifled them.

CHAMELEOTRON: We should find where they are hiding, their lair.

ANACRONDA: And what happens when we find them? (Chameleotron starts to say something but thinks other-wise, fearing he would be volunteered.)

TARANTULUS: Very well then, Chameleotron and Anacronda-

CHAMELEOTRON: Slag!

TARANTULUS: Find their lair and report back. (Anacronda slams Chameleotron over the back of the head, the camera zooms out.)

Scene goes to a dense jungle, a small six legged lizard skitters across the dirt, then the ground explodes underneath it and a snake-like tendril latches onto it and sucks it underground, the ground begins to shake and an immense creature comes out of the trees, Brutallion in beast mode, followed by Darkrazor, also in beast mode.

DARKRAZOR: Your table manners are exquisite Quake. (Quake's huge worm-like body comes out of the ground to rest on the soft topsoil.)

QUAKE: There's not enough food in this jungle.

BRUTALLION: Food isn't what we have to worry about right now, we need a base.

QUAKE: Wait a second, (He transforms into robot mode, the energon is already beginning to take effect, he goes down into the hole left by his beast mode, the camera goes to his vision, he switches to underground sonar and sees a large bubble indicating an empty space. He transforms back to beast mode and comes out of the hole.) I think there's a cave about one hundred and fifty yards ahead.

DARKRAZOR: Let's go. (Quake goes back underground while the other two run to the indicated spot, they stop to see what resembles a toothless mouth, the opening of the cave containing the insect-like bipeds.) This cave, I know what's in here. (She goes into the opening followed by Brutallion and Quake, Quake struggles to move on top of the ground.)

BRUTALLION: Look at that, (He notices one of the roughly ten-feet long drones crawling along the wall.) It must be your species. (After some walking they pass by several more drones and then enter the main chamber, the black creature in the center of the stomach-like cavern swivels its head to look at the exact duplicate of herself, Darkrazor leaps from the opening of the corridor and lands directly in front of the queen.)

QUAKE: What exactly are you doing?

DARKRAZOR: I have a plan. (She lifts up her huge, spidery, black hand, one of the fingers folds back and turns into a small probe, she then thrusts the probe into the queen's neck, the creature screams in surprise and pain, then is silent.)

QUAKE: What'd you do?

DARKRAZOR: I implanted a small data unit into her spinal column, she and her entire hive, are now under our control heh heh, ah hahahahahaha!

(The camera fades out, then fades in on Dinobot, Boomerang and Parrator. They are hiding in beast mode in some ferns watching Batteram and Transquito doing maintenance on some surveillance equipment.)

PARRATOR: This is what you drug us out here in the middle of the night for? (He is whispering.)

DINOBOT: I want to know what made Anacronda, Chameleotron and Batteram change sides.

BOOMERANG: So we only need Batteram? (Dinobot nods.) All royt, I get to slag me a mosquito.

DINOBOT: I need Batteram conscious for questioning. (Batteram and Transquito finish their job and convert to their vehicle modes.) Now! Maximize! (He transforms, as do the other two, and starts firing at Batteram.)

BATTERAM: Whoa! Maxies at six-o-clock! (His machine guns come out of his shoulders and he returns fire, Transquito, still in helicopter mode, begins firing his laser cannon nose.)

BOOMERANG: You wanna play tough ay? (He pulls out one of his boomerangs, just when he is about to throw it Batteram shoots him, the bullets making a trail from his right shoulder to his left thigh. He falls to the ground. Parrator take several shots at Transquito who then shoots the gun out of his hand, Parrator is stunned for a second and Transquito flies at top speed toward him.)

PARRATOR: I'll bet you didn't know I could do this! (He pulls one of the feathers off of his wing and throws it like a knife, it wedges itself in Transquito's shoulder, throwing the bug off-balance. Transquito veers away from Parrator right by Dinobot who catches him by the abdomen, they freeze for a second as the two forces stop each other.)

DINOBOT: Grrraw! (He snarls and then slams the mosquito against a tree, knocking him out.)

BOOMERANG: Eee's gettin' away! (Batteram is retreating, Boomerang takes aim with his razor-sharp boomerang and heaves it. Batteram looks back just in time to see the shining orange triangle coming at him.)

BATTERAM: Slag! (He transforms to robot mode but it is too late, the boomerang slices off his left jet and he crashes to the ground, the boomerang heads back to it's owner and he catches it.)

PARRATOR: Now what? (Dinobot sprints up to the transmetal robot that is now unconscious and picks him up in one hand.)

DINOBOT: We get answers. (the camera fades out, then fades back in during the early morning, the camera is zoomed in on Batteram's face.)

BOOMERANG: Wakey, wakey. (Batteram opens his eyes, first he sees Boomerang holding him in the air by one leg, then he looks down, Parrator drops a rock onto the sand below and one of the giant worms' little snake-mouths comes out of the ground and snatches it up.)

BATTERAM: Ah! (The three Maximals are standing on top of a rock at the edge of the desert, Boomerang is suspending Batteram over the sand.)

DINOBOT: Let's make a deal, you answer our questions, we don't feed you to the sand-worm.

BATTERAM: You gotta do better than-(Boomerang lowers him a little more.)

Aaaah! All right! What do you want to know?

DINOBOT: First of all, why did you and the other two change sides so abruptly?

BATTERAM: Wouldn't you like to know? Heh! (Boomerang lowers him to where he's almost touching the sand.) Okay! Okay! Not that it changes anything. It's simple really. Tarantulus devised a way to send a reprogramming signal straight into the pods in orbit. (Dinobot closes his eyes, he sees Optimus in the corridor of the Phantom, turning his back to trusted Maximals that in turn destroy him.)

DINOBOT: Then why wasn't he able to reprogram all of them?

BATTERAM: I don't know. (Boomerang loosens his grip a little bit.) I swear! I don't know!

DINOBOT: All right then, what are the Titans?

BATTERAM: Some kind of super soldiers built by Starscream.

PARRATOR: Yeah and what about the second encrypted floor?

BATTERAM: We can't get in. (He notices something over the jungle canopy.) One more thing. Bye-bye, maxies! (Dinobot turns in time to see Anacronda carrying Chameleotron and Drone carrying Tarantulus. Drone fires a burst from his turbine gun that scatters the four robots. Parrator and Dinobot land in a fern, Boomerang and Batteram land on the sand, neither move.)

TARANTULUS: Your time has come Maximals! (Drone drops him and he lands on a boulder, he draws his wheel-gun and aims at Boomerang. Drone swoops down and picks up Batteram.)

BOOMERANG: Beast mode! (Tarantulus fires, Boomerang leaps into the air, the energy shot travels underneath Boomerang and hits the sand, the worm shoots out of the ground and its girth comes to rest on the desert sand.) Whoa! (He leaps again and clears Tarantulus. The other four Predacons land on the jungle floor and draw their weapons, Dinobot looks up realizing he and the other two are between five Predacons and a very dangerous, thirty-foot worm.)

PARRATOR: This is bad!

CHAMELEOTRON: Brutallion! (His body seems to explode and he grows multiple times his size.)

BOOMERANG: We're dead! (Dinobot begins analyzing the situation.)

DINOBOT: (His thought are out loud.) Hmmm, the worm can't get to us because of the layer of rocks at the edge of the sand, Chameleotron can't be able to hold that form for long. I've got it, (Chameleotron brings up his fusion cannon and begins charging it.) Duck! (The raw energy passes over them and travel straight toward Tarantulus.)

TARANTULUS: No! (the fusion beam slices through him. Chameleotron doubles over in pain.)

CHAMELEOTRON: Ah! I can't hold this form any longer! (He hits the button on his arm and goes back to his original, small self.) We can still- hey!

(Dinobot has converted to vehicle mode and is now powering toward them, Boomerang and Parrator convert to vehicle and follow his lead. The Predacons begin firing like crazy.)

BOOMERANG: Try to slag us will ya? (Dinobot mows over Chameleotron, Boomerang slams into Anacronda and the already weak Batteram, and Parrator runs down Drone, the three keep moving full speed toward their base.)

PARRATOR: That was insane!

DINOBOT: It worked didn't it? (They continue through the jungle.)

Scene goes to inside the Maximal base where Whiplash and Pestalance are now joined by Panthor and Bambard in the control room. Rattrap is announcing his findings, while Bambard is looking over the dozens of planets and moons in their system.

WHIPLASH: All that time and you couldn't get in?

RATTRAP: Yeah, there's no way to get into those data-tracks.

BAMBARD: Hey! Hey guys! (He waves his arms wildly and points to a strange blip on the computer.) Look!

PANTHOR: Is it a ship? (The blip disappears, some more information comes up on the computer.)

BAMBARD: It, it, it was, it was a ship! (He reads some more.) It jumped just past the sixteenth planet.

WHIPLASH: We aren't alone is this system.

RATTRAP: We got'n'other problem! Dinobot, Parrator and Boomerang are coming in hot, with four Preds right on their tail and two more further back!

(Whiplash brings up a schematic of the jungle around their base, it shows three Maximal insignias and seven Predacon insignias.)

PESTALANCE: They won't get into the elevator in time!

PANTHOR: Then we'll lay the welcome mat. (He pulls out his gun. They head for the elevator and pile in.)

Scene goes to the jungle where Dinobot and the other two Maximals are retreating from Anacronda, Drone, Batteram and Chameleotron who is transformed into Cheetor for air speed.

DINOBOT: We have to make it to the base. (He ramps a shell creature and lands in a shallow stream that is mostly mud, he revs his wheels but he can't get loose.) We fight then! (Boomerang and Parrator transform and land next to him.)

DRONE: This will be too easy. (He lands on the ground and pulls out his turbine gun, the other three land next to him and pull out their weapons.)

ANACRONDA: You should have kept on running! (He begins firing his blaster rifle at the Maximals and the other three join in. Dinobot flattens himself onto the ground, Parrator and Boomerang dive to the sides. Whiplash flies up behind them on his hover board, followed by the other three.)

WHIPLASH: We thought you could use some help. (The two sides continue trading fire.)

Scene goes to inside the Predacon base where Waspinater has just finished bringing in Tarantulus and Transquito.

WASPINATOR: Waspinator always do salvage, but no-one salvages Waspinator, universe makes no sense. (He lugs each one into separate CR pods. The camera shows a huge dark figure watching from inside a cavern entrance, it steps out energon pulsing over his body.)

QUAKE: (His robot mode body is being convulsed by energon build-up.) Give me the CR technology!

WASPINATOR: Ahh! Worm-bot! How Worm-bot get in here?

QUAKE: It doesn't matter. Now give me the CR technology! (Quake aims his seismic cannon and Waspinator obediently takes a chip out of one of the computers.)

WASPINATOR: Now Worm-bot will spare Waspinator's life?

QUAKE: Um, no! (He blasts Waspinator with the seismic gun, scattering pieces of him across the floor of the cave. Quake goes back into the tunnel that he came out of, his head almost touching the twenty-foot ceiling.)

Scene goes back to the jungle where the four Predacons are battling the seven Maximals. Both sides are hiding behind trees and rocks trading fire.

WHIPLASH: Dinobot, the computer said there were two more Preds coming so be ready.

DINOBOT: That's impossible, Tarantulus and Transq-(His jaw drops.) Oh, no.

BAMBARD: What do you mean Oh no? (He is hiding behind a tree close to Dinobot and Whiplash's rock.)

WHIPLASH: Let's hope you're wrong. (Suddenly there is a slight shiver and small pebbles on the ground bounce, then another, and another, getting louder and more defined.)

DRONE: What's that?

CHAMELEOTRON: (Now in his normal body.) Sounds like an earthquake.

ANACRONDA: Oh slag. (From the trees behind them erupts a Brutallion in beast mode, followed by Darkrazor, also in beast mode.)

DARKRAZOR: Deal with these nuisances, I'll get what we need. (Darkrazor crouches down and then leaps over the Maximals, her spidery body landing gracefully behind them, even though the sun is in the center of the sky she seems to melt into the shadows. Brutallion picks up Chameleotron in his immense clawed hand.)

BRUTALLION: I can beat all of you, even in beast mode. (He throws Chameleotron behind him, the Predacon flies several hundred meters and thuds in the background.)

DINOBOT: Whiplash! Boomerang! Don't let Darkrazor get into the base, if they get a hold of the anti-electron they'll be invincible! (The two take to the sky in fast pursuit of the giant, black, demon-creature. Dinobot converts to vehicle and drives between Brutallion's legs, the giant beast slams a fist down, narrowly missing Dinobot.)

DRONE: Hey! Rocky! (Drone takes aim as the behemoth brings up his head, then he fires his turbine gun, the shot hits Brutallion but barely affects him.)

BRUTALLION: You're next! (He lumbers after Drone. The camera goes to the outside of the Maximal base where Darkrazor has just burned a hole through the armor plating, she slinks through the opening, inside she begins to crawl through the hall-way, her crested head catching wires on either side of the corridor. A siren goes off.)

RATTRAP: I'm sorry, you don't got clearance for this section or any other of our ship, so hit the road.

DARKRAZOR: Try and stop me. (She thrusts her hand into a terminal and begins to absorb data,) This will be sufficient. (Whiplash and Boomerang come up behind her in the corridor.)

WHIPLASH: Freeze Titan! (Darkrazor, struggles to turn around in the corridor, but it's too small. Boomerang walks closer to her.)

BOOMERANG: Well, well, well. Got caught with your hand in the cookie jar.

DARKRAZOR: Insolent fool! (Her long almost chain-like tail cracks through the air, slicing Boomerang's right arm off.) I've got what I need. (She spits acid on the outside wall of the ship, it melt an opening, Whiplash pulls out his light-saber and converts his hover pad into a saw, he runs up to the back of Darkrazor and slices off a section of her tail. Darkrazor screams in pain and acid blood splatters to the metal floor.) You'll pay for that! (She slinks out of the hole, Whiplash waits a second then walks up to the hole, a long black arm wraps a hand around his head and throws him out into empty air.)

WHIPLASH: Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! (Darkrazor releases her grip on and plummets down after him, Whiplash gets on his hover pad and flies back up to the base, keeping his distance as Darkrazor falls past, the dark creature lands roughly on her feet on the dirt.) Wow! A hundred foot fall and she lands on her feet!

DARKRAZOR: You are so dead! (She begins climbing the mountain wall, Whiplash flies up into the hole in their base and lands inside.)

WHIPLASH: Rattrap! Where's that energon sample?

RATTRAP: In the control room. (Whiplash helps up Boomerang and they run to the control room, when they get inside Whiplash takes the small sample of energon and sticks it in the mouth of the rattle-snake head sticking out of his back.)

BOOMERANG: What are you goin' to do with that?

WHIPLASH: No time to-(Darkrazor's immense head appears in the window.)

DARKRAZOR: You're mine! (She thrusts her giant black fist through the transparisteel.)

WHIPLASH: And you're scrap! (She forces her head, largest right arm and shoulder into the window, Whiplash fires his rattlesnake beam and it takes the energon sample with it, the beam pierces Darkrazor's shoulder, driving the energon into her.)

DARKRAZOR: Aahhhhhhh! (She falls out of the window and plummets to the ground below. Whiplash runs to the window and sees her ghastly form struggling to get up.) Brutallion! We've got what we need, let's get out of here! (Brutallion leaves the exhausted Predacons and Maximals and lumbers into the jungle.)

PARRATOR: I'm beginning to really hate them, (He turns and sees the four Predacons retreating as well.) they're getting away!

PANTHOR: Ah, let'm go, I'm too tired to fight any more right now.

PESTALANCE: Yeah, we've done our job for the day, we ain't exactly in prime shape right now eitha.

DINOBOT: Very well, but there are still unanswered questions, and the ever burning one, (He looks at the mid-day sky.) will we ever return to Cybertron?