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Episode 11: In The Backwater Swirling
Last time on the Waspinator Chronicles
Icefire soared in through the mouth of the cave, dropping the rock to the floor. As it hit, the rock shattered sending bits flying. The badly scorched figure underneath quivered as its optics flickered lightly. It hoarsely coughed out its next words.
"At long last... finally free! Now I can finally... take care of Megatron... and RULE the Pre- *cough* Waspinator? Is it really you?"
Waspinator cringed at the first words the strange bot spoke, immediately recognizing the high pitched, scratchy voice. And as Terrorsaur addressed him, Waspinator was suddenly very unsure of his future status among his Maximal teammates.
And now, the continuation...
With a familiar hiss, the former-stasis pod/now-CR tank slowly opened, and a blackened body was slowly settled into the makeshift CR tank. Beneath the charred layer, brilliantly shining red metal showed through in various spots, as well as a Predacon insignia. Terrorsaur coughed as he was being lowered into the fluid, and Torca and Buzzclaw paused a moment. The Predacon quickly fell limp again, and the two set him down gently, sealing the pod shut.
"Now remind me... Why is helping this guy such a good idea?" Buzzclaw asked.
"Because it is our way," Torca answered. "As Maximals, we will do no harm except in defense of ourselves or of others."
"Besides," Icefire cut in, "Waspinator was a Predacon once too, and was even friends with this guy. Right Waspinator?"
Waspinator paused uneasily. "...Sure. Waspinator flew with Terrorsaur lots before... When Waspinator worked for Megatron."
"And you trust him, right?" Icefire continued.
Waspinator sat quietly even longer this time, remembering his interactions with his wingman, before finally looking back up to meet Icefire's trusting gaze. He swallowed and forced out his answer.
"...Yes. Waspinator trusts him."
It was true, in a way. They had gone out, just the two of them, to fight the Maximals, relying only on each other for backup many times. Waspinator remembered how much more often he got slagged after Terrorsaur had... well, apparently he hadn't died. Not that it made much of a difference at the time.
A small, holographic image of Noctorro hovered over Atlas's console in the center of the Autobot base. Scavenger and Aquasting stood quietly as Atlas hung his head. Slowly, he turned to face the other two.
"Let us never forget the price we paid for trusting the traitorous bug, Buzzclaw. He led an assault on our base, and cost us a dear ally. Now there are only three of us... A difficult situation indeed. But fear not, though we are outnumbered, we have Primus on our side! We are fighting for the sake of goodness and right, and he will help us to slaughter the traitor, the Predacon, and all their allies!"
Aquasting's stone face didn't change, but his optics burned brightly in anger as he thought of the betrayal. Scavenger on the other hand outright smirked at the thought of his revenge. Atlas began again.
"Now, I grow weary of beginning my days by crawling out of those accursed CR Tanks. Let's establish some solid defenses on this place. No one breaks in again, and no one survives an assault, clear? And once we're finished with that, I have a battle plan laid out-"
"Atlas, sir," Scavenger interrupted. "I had some thoughts for a battle plan too-"
"When you command, you can implement your own plans, Scavenger," Atlas snapped darkly. "In the meantime, allow me to use my greater military experience to handle this."
"I handled the team just fine when you spent the day in a CR Tank," Scavenger countered, frustration creeping into his voice. "I led a very successful assault where we took out the Maximals' shielding and caused heavy damage,"
"Hm. Yet their base's shields still operate, and unlike you, none of them wear a scar."
Scavenger's hand instinctively went to the scar that ran the length of his chest, feeling a twinge as Atlas mentioned it. "I wear this in pride. We breached their defenses, and they had to devote enormous amounts of their resources to get it running again. You underestimate me, sir."
Atlas shook his head condescendingly. "This war will not be won with baby steps. As I have stated already, leave this in the hands of those of us that can lead with full strides."
Their optics burned fiercely at each other, but after a moment, Scavenger lowered his.
Your day is coming, Scavenger thought to himself, and when it does, you'll see just how wrong you are.
"Fine," Scavenger growled. "Explain your plan to us, oh mighty leader, but please be sure to use small terms so those of us with limited logic capacitors can handle it."
The disgust in Atlas's voice was evident as he began to explain the plan, all the while completely oblivious to the fact that through the previous discussion, though Aquasting said nothing, he hadn't budged a micron from Scavenger's side.
Darkness fell across the sky, leaving only the twinkling stars and the glow of the moon... and also the pink glow from the mouth from a certain cave. Inside, there was a bustle of activity as the cycle on the CR Tank was drawing to an end. Everyone wanted to be there to greet the old friend of their leader. With an ever familiar hiss, the pod slowly opened, and Terrorsaur unsteadily forced himself to his feet.
"Ah... there's a feeling I've missed!" He said, rotating his arm uneasily. "Waspinator! So good to see you!"
"Hello, Terrorsaur," Waspinator said, greeting him uneasily.
"What happened to the team? To Megatron? Did you take the rest of the Preds out yourself and recruit a bunch of replacements?" he asked with a wink and a nudge.
"Hate to break it to you," Torca cut in as he stepped forward, "but we're all Maximals."
Terrorsaur's jaw dropped and his optics grew large as he turned back to Waspinator.
"You sold out! I never thought you had it in you..."
His shocked expression transformed to fury as he took a step toward Waspinator. Quickly, he drew to a halt as Injector forced himself between them, gun-hand pressing firmly against Terrorsaur's lower jaw.
"I wouldn't come any closer, pal. We got enough problems trying to keep the Autobots at bay without having to worry about you."
"Autobots?" Terrorsaur asked, puzzled. He shoved Injector to the side. Injector snarled and moved to tackle him back, but Torca placed a hand on his shoulder. Injector looked at turned to him and saw him shaking his head. The enraged fuzor held his ground, but that didn't stop him from baring his teeth at the newcomer.
"Waspinator, I demand to know what's going on!" Terrorsaur snapped, jabbing his finger into Waspinator's chest. As he did so, he paused, not recognizing the bright red finger that ended his hand.
"What... what happened to me!?" he gasped in shock, as he suddenly realized how drastically his body had changed
"It's called Transmetal technology," Icefire explained. "Listen, you better sit down, we have a lot of explaining to do."
LATER...
"So let me get this straight," Terrorsaur began, "We really are on Earth, but it's 4 million years in the past. Primal and his team took off for Cybertron, and took Megatron out of the picture for us. There's a team of Autobots out to kill us, but we outnumber them nearly two to one. This is excellent! We're set to rule this place together!"
The Maximals collectively paused at this, but before anyone could say anything, Terrorsaur continued.
"Now, I have a great battle plan to take them out! Listen up-"
"Wait, who put YOU in charge?" Injector snapped.
Terrorsaur's eyes blazed, but he turned back to Waspinator. "Waspinator, who did Megatron put in charge of our missions?"
"Terrorsaur was always in charge."
He turned back to the Maximals. "You see, I am a brilliant military strategist. Now, here's how we'll do it..."
With a blinding crackle, Scavenger finished his welding job. He was sitting amidst the rocks above the entrance to his base, attaching a third auto-gun to the top of the entryway. Finally finished with his night-long chore, he stood and stretched his legs, tapping his comlink as he did so.
"Atlas, I've finished work here."
"Excellent work. Come on in and finish activating them."
"Will do. Over and out."
He turned toward the rising sun gazing at colors that splashed across the sky. As his gaze continued upwards, he saw two massive energy blasts and launched himself out of the way. He tumbled to the ground in front of the entrance as the rocky area he was just standing on erupted. Terrorsaur's shoulder blasters folded back into place as he laughed and zipped by, with Waspinator darting along by his side. Distracted by the soaring robots, Scavenger failed to see the huge rock that slammed into him. The rock bowled him over and slammed to a halt as it came to rest on his leg. In fury, Scavenger slammed his drill hands through the rock, obliterating it instantly.
"Autobots, we've got trouble! A new bot's attacking the base with the Predacon!" Scavenger roared into his comlink.
Waspinator and Terrorsaur had circled around, coming by for another pass at the base as Aquasting exploded from the entrance in vehicle mode, his cockpit aimed dangerously at the two aggressors. Terrorsaur quickly spun out of the bug's way.
"You two back there, you handle that one!"
Icefire and Buzzclaw came into Aquasting's sight, and he had to veer off as he faced the full force of their weaponry.
As Waspinator and Terrorsaur watched the fight taking place behind them, they failed to see the assault from below. Waspinator was sent hurtling off as Atlas's full weight slammed into him. With his jet pack roaring fearfully, he then turned towards Terrorsaur.
"I don't know who you are, but it was a mistake to align with the Predacon!"
Sensing an easy out, he responded. "You're making a mistake! I'm just a hired mercenary!"
Atlas scowled. "I'm not some protoform that will listen your lies. Get ready for a journey to the pit, Predacon!"
"I must warn you, I know this terrain like the blueprints of my hand."
Atlas cocked his head slightly. "We'll see about that."
He pulled his sword out, following through with the swing at Terrorsaur in one fluid motion, but the Predacon had already started toward the rocky area nearby. Atlas roared off after him.
Meanwhile, Scavenger was on the ground firing away at Buzzclaw and Icefire, trying to help Aquasting deal with his opponents. Distracted by his efforts, he failed to see Torca charging him from behind. The fuzor lifted him into the air with his tusks, and rammed into a tree, tearing it into splinters. Scavenger tumbled free as Torca regained his footing.
"Torca, maximize!"
He reached behind himself for his gun, but was a second too slow. Scavenger shot first, sending Torca sprawling onto his back. He reached for his gun again, but found it had fallen out of his grasp when he got shot. Scavenger slowly walked forwards.
"Computer, divert all auxiliary power to guns."
Terrorsaur converted to his vehicle mode and shot along the rocky hills with Atlas in close pursuit. Atlas pulled out his gun and fired, but Terrorsaur spun along as he darted back and forth. After a few sharp turns the firing stopped, and he turned back to look for Atlas.
"Ha! So much for my mighty enemy!"
Atlas, soaring directly above Terrorsaur smiled to himself, pulling out his sword again.
"So much indeed. We shall see who really has the skill here."
He angled himself down, pouring on the speed, but at the last second, Terrorsaur turned to dodge a large spire. Atlas roared to the side, spinning precariously to avoid colliding with the same spire. As he spun, Terrorsaur saw him and laughed.
"Having problems? Try following me here!"
He turned down into a canyon and zipped along within. With a snarl, Atlas took off after him.
"With pleasure, Predacon..."
Icefire and Buzzclaw darted along at their maximum speed, doing their best to keep up with Aquasting. Having lost Scavenger's backup, he had shot into a nearby winding canyon, hoping to cause the other two to crash.
"Icefire... *pant*... I'm having trouble *pant* keeping up!"
Icefire, in her vehicle mode, shook her head. "We've almost got him. Keep it up just a little longer, Buzzclaw!"
The canyon grew more winding, and it became hard to keep visual contact with their prey. Suddenly Injector's voice cut in through their comlinks.
"Why are you guys running away from him?"
"Huh?" was their intelligent, surprised reply.
They immediately turned, just to find Aquasting behind them. He swung his gun-blade, firing as he did so, bathing the wound he cut into Buzzclaw with energy discharge. Buzzclaw flipped repeatedly as he was hurled toward the ground.
"What happened!?" Injector shouted.
"Don't worry, you're not missing much, fish head," Aquasting snapped at Icefire's com.
"I'LL TEAR YOUR OPTICS OUT MYSELF!!" Injector roared. "I can't believe I'm stuck here at base while you're out th-"
His words turned to static as Icefire shut off her comlink.
"I've got better things to do than listen to that," she said in disgust.
"Good call, lady. The poor guy's got quite an attitude problem."
She swung her claws with her full strength, and he got blocked with his blade just in time. She leaned forward so he could look directly into her optics.
"The name's Icefire. Don't call me 'lady'."
"Ok, lady," he responded with a wink. "I'll remember that."
He shoved her backwards and dusted himself off a bit.
"Most fembots call me ‘dashing' or ‘handsome', but you can call me Aquasting," he finished with a smile.
She rolled her optics in exasperation. "If you're quite through, maybe we could finish this fight?"
Aquasting responded, but she missed what he said, focusing her audio receptors on a different, rumbling sound instead.
"Look out!" she shouted, and shot to the side.
Aquasting spun to see what she was so excited about, just in time for Terrorsaur to pierce him straight through the chest with his massive beak. With muffled a shout of frustration Terrorsaur kicked the bot off his mouth and transformed, pulling a gun on him as Atlas screeched to a halt.
Scavenger took another step forward towards Torca.
"You would even kill a wounded enemy sitting helplessly before you?" Torca murmured.
Scavenger smiled broadly.
"This is war, kid. Maybe you'll learn that someday. Well actually... I suppose you won't!"
He brought his fully charged gun hands to bear on Torca.
"Any last words?" he asked, still smiling.
"As a matter of fact, yes."
"Too bad!"
He unleashed the full force of his weaponry towards the wounded Maximal, but stepped back in horror as the shots were deflected off harmlessly. A snarling wolverine stood between the two, staring at Scavenger with haunted eyes. Knowing that the presence of Razor Claw likely meant there were two others nearby, Scavenger took a couple slow steps back.
"...Well then. And where might your two freakish friends be?"
Razor Claw just snarled.
"Yes... I see. Well, just be careful for that!" he shouted nervously, pointing off behind Razor Claw. The wolverine looked, but saw only underbrush. As he turned back, he saw Scavenger tap a button to seal the base's doorway shut. Slowly, Razor Claw shuffled around to face Torca. A soft look passed over his eyes.
"Razor Claw... Are you back?" Torca asked warily, with a touch of hope in his voice.
"I... *cough*... I am not... well... I ...URK... I serve Poison Bite!" He finished, returning to the speech patterns Poison Bite had given him. "My sole duty is to follow his commands, filth!"
Razor Claw transformed to dino mode and took another step towards Torca, but stopped short as a computer's voice announced, "Auto-guns, online."
Torca transformed to beast mode, and the two sprinted off in opposite directions as the Autobot's auto-guns tore up the ground with their rapid fire. Inside, Scavenger sighed in relief, not entirely willing to face the entire team of Mutants on his own.
Terrorsaur hovered in position with his gun trained on the fallen Aquasting. "Looks like we have a prisoner!" He taunted.
In the flicker of an optic, Atlas grabbed his gun and pointed it at the fallen Buzzclaw. "As do I," he responded, a hint of asmile at the corner of his mouth.
Suddenly Icefire pointed both her guns at Atlas. "No, no you don't. Go home, Atlas."
Atlas's smile soured. "We'll come for him, you know. And you won't like it when we do."
He turned and rocketed off toward his base. Icefire lifted Buzzclaw into her arms, and Terrorsaur lifted Aquasting by his arm. She cast an uneasy glance at the way he held their new "prisoner" but said nothing. When they returned to base, they met Torca there, who had carried Waspinator home. A makeshift cell was quickly thrown together, and Terrorsaur threw Aquasting in there. Icefire quietly joined him in there, repairing the Autobot so he could be sure to survive his imprisonment. Throughout, Injector avoided making contact with her optics.
Meanwhile, Terrorsaur paced the base happily.
"A prisoner! And we outnumber them three to one! All because of my tactical skills!" The ever self-congratulatory Terrorsaur cheered. "All Waspinator did was get knocked out of the battle at the beginning. I think it's only fair that I demand that I be made the sole ruler of this team!!"
The Maximals stared at him uneasily.
"It... It can be put to a vote later, Terrorsaur," Icefire suggested quietly.
Terrorsaur scowled, grumbling to himself about Maximals, but returned to pacing the base.
Waspinator sat silently in the corner as memories of his old wingman suddenly flooded his memory circuits... Memories of how Terrorsaur had ruthlessly destroyed Megatron when he had the power. Memories of how Terrorsaur had always taken the credit. Memories of how Terrorsaur always tried to steal power when given the chance.
Injector tapped Waspinator on the shoulder. "You were friends with this guy?" he asked incredulously.
"Terrorsaur was always Waspinator's wingman," Waspinator answered, "but Terrorsaur was never Waspinator's friend. Not friend like Bombshell was."
Much later, as he was trying unsuccessfully to enter sleep mode, Waspinator quietly wondered who the pit "Bombshell" was.
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