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Episode 12: Cybertronian Roulette - Part 1
Aquasting stewed quietly within the makeshift cell. As he sat on the cold stone floor, his gaze wandered over the glowing pink bubble that encased him. Quietly he sat there, frustrated at his unplanned capture. He was trapped, a prisoner, and the Maximals were all out on patrol except for the bird-lady. He looked over the energy field surrounding him hoping to spot some sort of structural weakness. But his mind snapped out of its quiet wanderings as Icefire made her way over.
"How're you doing in there?" she asked hesitantly.
"Have to admit, I've dealt with nicer accommodations before," he answered with an edge to his voice.
"Sorry about that," she responded. "It's the best we could do on short notice. We've never really had a prisoner before."
"Yeah, I think I would've remembered that."
"Oh... Right."
Feeling sheepish, she turned to walk back to a console, but was surprised when he spoke up again.
"So... Whoever your interior decorator is, I hope you didn't pay them too much."
She turned back to him and raised a brow. "What, don't like our cave?"
He grinned. "I live in a hole under a mountain. If I say it's not so hot, you know there's problems."
"It smells funny too, but that seems to be the benefit of bringing in an Autobot," she responded with a wink. "Not that I had you pegged for the interior decorator type, but any suggestions for how to brighten it up a bit?"
"Yeah..." he answered, "Some duplicates of you would really improve view."
"I... I... uh..." she stuttered in surprise.
"Interrogating the prisoner, I see!" screeched a voice from the doorway. Terrorsaur lazily strolled in coolly with Waspinator hovering by his side. "Find out anything useful?"
"Ah, nothing yet, no," she answered quickly, throwing an uneasy glance at Aquasting.
"Well maybe I'll have better luck. I'm an excellent interrogator," he responded. "But soon the others will be back from their patrols. If the Mutants aren't doing much, we can launch an attack on the Autobots, and defeat them! That is, right after we take that vote, right Waspinator?" he finished forcefully.
Waspinator gulped. "Maximal team will vote on new leader when other Maximals return."
Atlas sat in the control room resting his head in his hands. The lights were dimmed, and all he could do was curse himself for letting down the team, and failing his Autobot heritage. He didn't run over new battle plans in his head. He didn't look back, trying to see where he failed. He only looked down at the ground, wondering what in the pit he could possibly do to pull through this.
"What indeed..." he murmured to himself.
A blinking in the corner of his optics caused him to sit up, and he reached over and tapped the flashing button on his control console. Scavenger's face filled the screen, and Atlas scowled unhappily.
"What now?" He demanded. "Didn't I request to be left alone!?"
"I know, sir," Scavenger answered in annoyance, "but I've been reviewing specs on previous battles to look for potential weaknesses, and... Well, I think you'll see when I show you my findings."
The flickering glow of the console danced across Atlas's face, and as he continued watching, a smile grew on his face.
"Indeed... I do believe we have chance after all..."
"...Another vote against Terrorsaur..." Icefire read off, tapping away at the portable console, "One vote for Terrorsaur... And one more against. That's a vote count of 5 against, 1 in favor. Sorry Terrorsaur, Waspinator stays in command."
"What!?" He screeched. "I demand a recount! This is absurd! Don't you all realize what an idiot you have for a leader!?"
"Terrorsaur is wrong!" Waspinator shouted. "Waspinator is no idiot, Waspinator ruuuuulllles!! Terrorsaur is the idiot!"
Terrorsaur spun, swinging his gun around and aiming right at Waspinator's head. "Enough! I will be your new leader whether you like it or not!"
"Terrorsaur," Torca growled, "SHUT UP."
Terrorsaur turned to look just in time to see the fuzor's fist ram into his face.
Flashing lights dwindled into darkness, and finally the darkness receded as Terrorsaur groggily found himself gazing into Aquasting's face. Aquasting was sitting back, quietly watching his new cellmate.
"Awake yet, Cap'n Sucrets?" he snapped.
"Ungh... What happened?" Terrorsaur groaned.
"You got sucker punched. But I wouldn't worry about it too much... Just command your legion over there to let us out of this cage and we should be fine," he finished tartly, grabbing a handful of dirt and tossing it at pink energy field that surrounded them.
At contact, the field sparked and flickered slightly before dying down. Buzzclaw glanced up from the console he was tapping away on, but quickly got lost in the video game he was playing once again. Since it was the middle of the night, the rest of the Maximals lay nearby, all of them recharging their power cells in sleep mode. Terrorsaur scowled at the Autobot and turned away.
"They take your gun?" Aquasting asked.
Terrorsaur glanced around himself for a second, but then looked up with a dark smile. "The fools didn't take these!" His shoulder blasters flipped into place.
"Good, I had an idea," Aquasting whispered. "Since the night watch doesn't seem to be paying too much attention, I'm going to need all the help I can get. I need you to blast at the containment shield on my mark..."
Bracing himself for the pain, Aquasting grabbed his four smaller insect legs into his hands, and with a quick yank, he tore them free. He grimaced at the pain but readied himself for the next move.
"Ok... Now!" he ordered.
Aquasting slammed the appendages in his hands directly into the containment field, managing to force them partially through. The energy began to converge there, and Terrorsaur let loose with rapid-fire blasts at the cell's ‘walls'. The Maximals woke with a start just as the field was pushed beyond its capabilities and collapsed.
"Main shields, on!" Injector roared.
Both Predacon and Autobot transformed to their jet modes and tore out of the Maximal base at maximum speed, barely shooting free as the defensive shield slid into place behind them.
The Maximals slowly turned to face Buzzclaw, who began to step back carefully. "Ok, I know this may look bad, but I... uh... see, I was just busy checking the end line specs on the rotary converter... ah slag."
Terrorsaur and Aquasting tore through the air, making a beeline for the Autobot base. Suddenly, Terrorsaur pulled off and transformed, flipping his shoulder blasters into position.
"Wait a nanoclick... You're still my prisoner, Autobot!" he snarled.
Aquasting stopped and transformed, shaking his head. "I'm sure we both have better things to do than to feed your ego. Just follow me... Atlas should give you that position of power you want, if for no other reason than your familiarity with that wasp Predacon. And if he doesn't, then I'm sure something else can be arranged."
"What!?" Terrorsaur asked curiously.
"We're fighting a losing battle here. Us Autobots are badly outnumbered. We NEED you right now. You can come along or you can go solo, leaving you to handle Mutants, Maximals, AND Autobots on your own," Aquasting explained.
"I could handle all of you easily! ...But working with you Autobots might be useful to me for the time being."
Aquasting sneered. "Justify it how you want, Predacon. Just try to keep up."
He transformed and turned as Terrorsaur shouted after him, "You need me; I DON'T need you! Remember that!"
At that Terrorsaur transformed to vehicle mode and the two streaked through the sky.
Meanwhile, as the morning sun began to break, Atlas and Scavenger rumbled along the ground below in their vehicle modes as they headed in the opposite direction.
"Buzzclaw, you're responsible for this mess, and you're going to help clean it up," Icefire ordered.
"I'll come too," Injector said.
"No-" Icefire began.
"Not a bad idea," Torca suggested. "You may want to outnumber them on this one."
"I am second in command, I'll give the orders!" Icefire snapped.
Injector scowled. Icefire had been giving him the cold shoulder, and he was starting to get sick of it.
"NO," Waspinator interrupted firmly. "Waspinator is in command! Waspinator and fish-head will come too, because rhino-bot and shiny-antbot might be there! Waspinator not want bird-lady and buzz-bot get slagged."
Torca nodded in agreement. "Indeed. I'll monitor the situation from here."
"Fine," Icefire said, not bothering to hide her frustration. "Let's get going then."
"Friggin' fembots," Buzzclaw grumbled. "If they're not taking too long to get going, they're bugging you to hurry up."
"Shut up, bug-eyes," Torca responded, swatting him in the head as he passed him by.
The strange foursome transformed and took to the air, heading for the Autobot base. Torca headed over to the console and punched up some readouts. As the data displayed on the viewscreen, he frowned thoughtfully.
"Well that's odd," he murmured.
"We are a unit... A team. We do NOT wander off and abandon each other!" Poison Bite snapped. "Now, I'm only going to ask one more time... Where did you go?"
Razor Claw, in dino mode, glowered at his leader. "I'm not required to answer your every beckon call. I'm not just some brainless lackey!"
Icebird dug his bear claws into the swampy ground and growled. "Forsooth, hold your voice unit, infidel! Forget not to whom our lives are indebted!"
"But we deserve freedoms too, slag it!" Razor Claw continued. "Do I ever ask where you wander off to, Poison Bite?"
"I am in charge here! And I will do as I see fit, for the good of us ALL!" Poison Bite spat back venomously. "Now answer my question!!"
"No! Smelt off, I'm tired of playing the role of your inferior!"
Poison Bite snarled and activated his tail, sending a tight data beam directly to Razor Claw's head. Instantly, it reaffirmed the piece of programming that Poison Bite had implemented so long ago in the former Maximal.
"You're far from done here, Razor Claw. I own you," he growled.
Razor Claw fell to his knees holding his head in his foreclaws. As Poison Bite shut down the beam, the dinosaur collapsed to the ground, shaking. Icebird shuffled over and gave an expectant look to his leader.
Poison Bite nodded. "Proceed."
Icebird's right shoulder popped open, and a handful of wires slithered out, implanting themselves into his teammates body. Bright blue energy coursed through them, and as they finished and retracted, Razor Claw wearily rose to his feet again, holding his head in his hands.
"Ungh... What... What happened to me?"
"We just found you like this," Poison Bite explained. "Do try to take better care of yourself, Razor Claw."
"Yes sir," he responded, sounding ashamed.
"Did you catch that?" Atlas asked into his comlink.
"Every nanoclick," Scavenger's voice answered.
Atlas peeked around the tree his was standing behind to get another look at the interaction of the Mutants.
"If nothing else, let's be sure to keep the bear alive. He may come in handy," Atlas continued thoughtfully. "In any case, I believe the time to strike is now."
"Understood. Over and out."
The ground began to rumble and shake, and the Mutants looked around in confusion.
"An earthquake this is not!" Icebird shouted.
Razor Claw spoke up. "We should get- RAARRRRR!!!"
Atlas had flung his sword with all his might at Razor Claw, and it embedded deeply in the dinosaur's side. Razor Claw fell to the still quaking ground as Atlas lit up his side with his rapidly firing gun. Poison Bite spun and returned fire with his claw-gun as Icebird charged the Autobot. Atlas ducked back behind the tree and transformed to beast mode as he made off for the underbrush. Poison Bite started crawling forward, but suddenly Scavenger tore through the ground beneath him in vehicle mode, sending the tips of his drills all the way through the scorpion's body. Scavenger transformed to robot mode as Poison Bite went flying.
"Nice try traitor, but it's time for some payback!"
Poison Bite struggled to force himself up on his feet, but stray wiring shot sparks from the gaping hole in the center of his body. Mech fluid flowed like a river from the devastating wound.
"I... I will not be... defeated..." Poison Bite coughed.
Scavenger loomed over the weakened war machine with a grin stretched across his faceplate. "You already ARE."
He lifted his drill hands and aimed them at the bot when he suddenly lurched forward in pain. As he hunched over, a familiar wolverine fell off and spun to face Scavenger.
"Must... protect... the leader..." Razor Claw growled, his body racked with pain.
"Slag," Scavenger growled quietly as he raised his optics.
With a resounding crash, Icebird slammed straight through the trunk of the tree. As he landed, the tree fell to the ground, and he looking around for Atlas. Atlas had snuck to the side however and rammed into polar bear's side at a full sprint. Icebird tumbled and rolled, falling to rest at the trunk of another tree. Atlas charged forward again, but just before impact, Icebird launched himself into the air, transforming to owl mode. Atlas pounded into the tree and stumbled backwards a few steps.
"Move forth!" Icebird shouted.
He darted forward, raking his talons along the length of Atlas's back. Roaring in pain, Atlas transformed to bot mode and whipped out his gun. However, he couldn't find the owl amidst the tree branches. He turned at a flicker of movement and fired, scattering a handful of white butterflies.
"Accursed insects," he snapped.
He turning around just in time to have Icebird run a set of gouges up the front of his chassis too. Atlas fell to the ground holding his chest in agony.
"No... *wheeze* This is our last chance... to win..." he protested weakly.
"Victory is at hand!" bellowed the voice from above, and Icebird dove down again, lifting Atlas into the air, gripping him by the shoulders. "Defeat lies with you, vile being!"
Atlas's onboard computer chimed in. "Extensive damage received. Stasis lock recommended."
The massive door slid open, and Aquasting stepped into the Autobot base. Terrorsaur followed, brushing soot off his arms.
"Er, sorry about that," Aquasting said. "We didn't have those auto-guns set up when I left."
"Just be thankful you DID get them shut off! Otherwise I would have destroyed them myself!" Terrorsaur snapped.
"Right," Aquasting responded absent-mindedly as he looked over the latest information on the console viewscreens. "The swamp? That's strange... Uhoh. Terrorsaur, you better be half as good as you say you are, because we've got four Maximal signatures closing on our location."
"...That's right," Torca repeated. "They're in the swamp."
The four Maximals, still in beast mode, were streaking through the air in pursuit of their prey.
Icefire gave her comlink a puzzled look. "That's odd."
"My thoughts exactly," he responded.
"What are Auto-bots doing in swamp?" Waspinator asked, sounding more puzzled than usual.
"Oddly enough, fighting the Mutants, it seems," came Torca's reply.
"Well, we'll just have to worry about them later," Icefire said. "Hopefully the Mutants will neutralize them for the time being, because we still have our two prisoners to recapture," she finished, throwing a dirty look at Buzzclaw.
"I told you! They used magic powers on me!" he yelped.
"Heh, alright, take care of yourselves. Torca, out."
"Something's VERY wrong here..." Injector mentioned quietly.
Buzzclaw threw a glance his way. "You talking to yourself again, bee-butt? ‘Cuz you might want to do that with an ‘inside the head' voice."
"Listen up. There's no way the could know about the jailbreak yet," Injector explained. "As far as our old friends Atlas and Scavenger know, they know, they're the only two Autobots left. So why would they attack the Mutants? They should be fortifying their defenses, not trying to take on a team that outnumbers them, and especially not in unfamiliar territory. They're up to something."
"Right," Buzzclaw replied. "You do realize that you think too much, right?"
"Somehow I get the feeling that's an accusation you've never faced," Injector retorted.
"Meh, everyone thinks they're a comedian."
"Quiet you two," Icefire ordered. "Their base is dead ahead, and I don't see the escapees anywhere. Get ready for a fight!"
Torca sat quietly, watching the vitals of the Autobots and the Mutants as they rumbled in the swamp. Neither group was doing well, but the Mutants were being hit a lot harder than they were hitting. And as he watched, his thoughts drifted back to the other day when Razor Claw had saved him from Scavenger...
Torca transformed to beast mode and lumbered over to the entryway of the base.
"Computer, lower defensive shield and reactivate in twenty nanoclicks."
He charged out the entryway and softly spoke to himself. "Forgive me my friends... But I owe our old teammate a favor."
TO BE CONTINUED...
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