Return to the Main Page
Episode 9: Prelude
Darkness covered the land, with one exception. Light poured out of an opening at the base of a mountain. A rhythmic clatter floated out into the night as Scavenger typed away at the console next to the main control chair. As he typed, Noctorro was perched on his shoulder.
"Enough with your incessant movements, commander," Noctorro demanded. "Reconstructing wiring is work enough without you complicating matters."
His large fingers nimbly worked in the tear through Scavenger's torso. Bit by bit he was physically reconnecting and repairing the connections within. Scavenger wearily paused his typing as a map-grid popped up in the center of the display area.
"I'll stop moving when I've finished my task here, Noctorro. Now, look at this layout...None of the Maximals are out on patrol, yet we're still reading THIS signal."
He stabbed at the center of the grid with is drill-hand as he spoke, indicating an unidentified signal marking. Noctorro glanced up for a moment, puzzled at the sight.
"Is that not in the swamp wherein we dueled with the Maximals? The weather did little to assist us on that day..."
Scavenger grinned, typing up further information.
"Now compare that with these historical readouts..."
Noctorro's eyes grew large as a set of names slid into the same position as the unidentified signal.
Icefire was sleeping quietly upon the floor in her beast mode, doing her best to expedite what internal repairs she could outside of a CR pod. Across the base, Waspinator handed a tool to Injector.
"Thanks," Injector responded.
Sparks shot out as Injector put the final work into reattaching his arm.
"You're pretty familiar with these tools, Waspinator."
Waspinator nodded. "Waspinator needed reattach arms often."
"What were you, a medic?"
"Ahh... No. Waspinator needed reattach Waspinator's arms often."
"...Oh. Uh, hey Waspinator... I was wondering what we're supposed to be doing here. I mean, are we supposed to just keep fighting the Autobots every day until we all die? Are we ever getting off this planet?"
"Waspinator has plans! First, Waspinator knows that we need to stop rhino-bot. Rhino-bot will do more bad things if Waspinator not stop him."
Injector flinched as more sparks flew from the tool and his arm.
"Well, there's no arguing with that. I guess we can work on getting out of here once we're through with him..."
He pressed the tool against his arm yet again, and once more...
...a shower of sparks flew...
...as Scavenger worked on welding the gouge on his chest shut. He was using the tips of his drill hands to melt the metal together. Having gone half the length of his chest, he was leaving the equivalent of a metallic scar spanning his torso.
"Aquasting, since your jets have been so thoroughly mangled, you'll have to limit yourself to flying only in beast mode. Noctorro, I need you to lead the way. I'm too wounded to travel any real distance, so I'll remain here, waiting for your return."
The two saluted, transformed to beast mode, and lifted into the dark sky. Behind them, the massive doors sealed shut. As they took to the air, Noctorro sadly considered that it was normally Buzzclaw who flew by his side, not this new stranger.
An owl in the nearby trees swivelled its head and watched them fly by. As the two zipped by, it quickly flapped his wings in pursuit.
Razor Claw paced back and forth in dino mode.
"Finally some action! Hope they get here soon though."
Poison Bite clacked his claws and walked over, in surprisingly perfect health, despite the wounding he had so recently received.
"We'll have time enough tear them apart once they get here. And then, we'll be free to storm their base."
An owl swooped in, landing between them.
"They have not yet arrived, my liege."
Poison Bite blinked. "I thought I told you to tail them, Icebird."
Icebird answered proudly, "I did so, and I also bested them in speed!"
Poison Bite shook his head in disbelief.
"If you're here, then how are you tailing them?"
Icebird sat quietly, thinking that one over.
"And even more importantly," Poison Bite continued, "where are they now?"
Frustrated, Razor Claw rested his face in his claws.
"I've got an idea," Poison Bite snapped. "You sit here and think on that, while Razor Claw and I go try to find them. When you come up with an answer, come find us, ok?"
Icebird nodded happily. "I shall do as you command, my liege!"
Fuming, Poison Bite stormed off with Razor Claw in tow, happy to leave the clueless Icebird behind.
Noctorro and Aquasting flew up to the massive stone in the center of the swamp, transforming into bot mode. Moonlight flooded the small island they stood upon.
"Now what?" Aquasting asked.
Noctorro shrugged.
"I'm uncertain of the proper path of action."
He stepped forward, sweeping away mud, sticks, and other such mess covering the face of the rock. Aquasting took a step forward also, doing the same as his teammate. Again and again they wiped off the encrusted dirt and mud, until finally they entire side of the rock was cleared, revealing a cold metallic wall. Noctorro grappled with its side for a moment. Aquasting reached out and hit a button, and Noctorro tumbled backwards as the steel wall raised upwards, opening to show its contents to them. And as moonlight poured into the small chamber, Noctorro's and Aquasting's jaws fell in shock.
"YEEAAAAAGH!"
Waspinator fell to his knees, holding his head tightly. Injector rushed to his side, dropping the tool to the floor.
"Waspinator, what's wrong!?"
"Waspinator...Waspinator sees! Waspinator knows! Must stop them!"
"Who!?"
"Flying bull and bug bot!"
Waspinator reached out, slamming a button on the console, and the defensive matrix shut down. He tore out the entryway at breakneck pace, speeding through the night sky. Injector tried to flap his wings in pursuit, but sparks flew from where Aquasting had pierced him.
"SLAG!!"
He spun tapping a series of buttons on the console.
"Set... defense matrix... restore in 30 nanoclicks. Fragging wing!"
At that he sprinted through the night, following in the same direction as Waspinator.
"Creepy," commented Aquasting. "Look at the optics on that one... They're glowing."
Noctorro took a step forward, reaching for the contents behind the raised door. Suddenly he was bowled over by a brown blur. The door slammed shut as Aquasting quickly hit the control button, quickly smearing a handful of mud to hide it.
"Gotcha now, Noctorro!" Razor Claw bit out, grinning.
Finding himself pinned under the wolverine, Noctorro frowned.
"I find a certain unpleasant sense of familiarity to this predicament. However, that can easily be remedied."
So quickly that they were little more than a blur, Noctorro's winged arms beat back and forth across Razor Claw's head, sending him stumbling backwards.
Shaking his head, he grinned again. "Just as well, I fight better in this mode. Razor Claw, beast mode!"
Where a wolverine had stood, a dinosaur now dug into the ground readying for a fight. Aquasting, standing nearby, doubled over with laughter at the sight.
"That's your beast mode!? Your bot mode certainly doesn't do wonders for you!"
Razor Claw snarled at the wasp, but he didn't have to do a thing. A massive energy discharge slammed into Aquasting, immediately sending him tumbling. Poison Bite laughed darkly at his unsuspecting opponent.
"Skill matters more than a loud mouth, bug."
"And there's nothing more satisfying than having both," Aquasting snapped.
As Poison Bite continued firing on Aquasting, the wasp kept darting back and forth, closing the distance between the two bit by bit, firing back when he could.
In the meantime, Razor Claw dove forward headbutting Noctorro in his midsection, causing him to hunch over in pain. The dino followed up by swinging his tail directly into Noctorro's head, sending him tumbling face-down to the earth. Roaring loudly, he leapt into the air and landed on his opponent's back, where he proceeded to dig in with his claws. Noctorro's screams of pain echoed throughout the darkened marshland.
"A shame you left clawful over here to watch your back," Aquasting growled. "You'd have been better off just fighting the two of us alone."
Having managed to subtly work his way over to the dueling bots, he rammed his gun-sword straight into Razor Claw's side. As the dinosaur roared with pain, Aquasting pulled the trigger sending Razor Claw tumbling off to the side.
"No!" Poison Bite roared. "Where's my medic!?"
Noctorro forced himself to his feet as his chest heaved painfully. Aquasting turned back to Poison Bite and continued to return fire, keeping the scorpion at bay. Aquasting grabbed Noctorro's arm, dragging him along as he maneuvered himself behind a large fallen tree.
"Um...Aquasting...." Noctorro stammered out nervously.
Aquasting popped his head over the log, firing again on Poison Bite's position.
"This better be good, bats. What is it?"
Noctorro grabbed Aquasting and spun him around.
"That."
The two dove out of the way as a massive polar bear trampled their previous position.
"My liege! You called for me? Do you require assistance? Shall I rescue you?"
"Destroy them!" Poison Bite screamed, waving his claws at the two Autobots.
"For great justice!" Icebird roared as he charged at the two smaller bots.
"Oh, well smelt this," Aquasting snapped. "We got the data we need; I'm taking off!"
Noctorro nodded vigorously. "With that I can easily concur."
The two turned and sprinted away at top speed, with Icebird nipping at their heels. Poison Bite shook his head, unable to figure how his programming job on his newly formed soldier went so awry. However, he had little time to consider that thought before being pelted with weapon fire from above.
"Go away, claw-bot!" Waspinator demanded. "Waspinator now commands this area!"
Poison Bite scoffed. "Why should I listen to YOU, oh inferior one?"
"Waspinator not inferior; Waspinator RULES!"
"Icebird! Take to the air and deal with this nuisance!" Poison Bite shouted.
"Waspinator not understand. Who is Ice-bird?"
But before he could get an answer, Waspinator caught sight of white feathers under moonlight in the corner of his optics. With a startled yelp, Waspinator fled as quickly as he could. Poison Bite simply laughed.
"And try to bring him back in one piece!! He's worth a lot to me alive!" Poison Bite shouted after his soldier. "Heh heh, I just can't seem to stop winning. Now, what in the pit were those two meddlers doing here..."
"Probably getting into business that isn't yours either," Injector growled.
Poison Bite clacked his claws together happily.
"Ah, a worthwhile adversary. What a pleasant surprise!"
"Shut it, clawful."
"That's really quite an annoying name."
"And you're really quite an annoying bot. Guess that evens things out."
Poison Bite frowned. "Well you're not much fun."
He unleashed a massive charge from his claw-gun, but Injector leapt to the side just in time. As he rose to his feet, he was forced to dive behind the massive "boulder" while Poison Bite continued his assault.
"Tut, tut," chided Poison Bite. "Why hide behind something I can simply go through?"
He unleashed the full force of his weapon upon the "boulder" between them.
Waspinator dropped like a rock. Icebird landed gently beside him and gazed curiously at the strangely flickering bot, unsure of what to make of this strange action. Deciding he didn't really care if the bot wasn't fully physically there, he grabbed Waspinator in his massive talons, lifted him into the air, and headed back for Poison Bite.
Poison Bite continued his assault on the "boulder," still intending to tear through it at his opponent. Suddenly, Waspinator's flickering body fell with a resounding thump right next to Injector. The unexpected impact caused Injector to jump back in immediate surprise, his surprise only increasing at the fact that Waspinator seemed to be phasing in and out of existence. However, it was hard for the fuzor to make out anything further in the darkness; massive, churning clouds had begun to gather, blocking off any light from the moon.
"I have thusly retrieved the wasp for you, my liege!" Icebird reported happily.
Poison Bite halted his assault.
"Where?"
Icebird motioned towards Injector's side of the "boulder."
"I set him just yonder. He was blinking as I grabbed him!"
"What!? Incompetent waste! I challenge you to provide me with useful information next time!"
Poison Bite hurried around the massive rock to find his prize, reading himself to fire upon Injector again, but found neither of the Maximal squad members there. He sighed quietly, as if not surprised by the unfortunate turn of events.
"You tire me, Icebird...I've had enough for tonight. Get Razor Claw and follow me. You'll need to use your healing components on him when we find a good place to settle for the time being."
Icebird wrapped his talons around Razor Claw, and flew alongside his leader.
Trees flew by at a breakneck pace as Injector sprinted away from the scene of the battle. As he did so, he kept his eyes on Waspinator while he could, not entirely sure of why the wasp stopped flickering at the same time that Poison Bite stopped his assault on the boulder. Meanwhile, the moon again bathed the land in its light, with the storm clouds having disappeared as quickly as they had formed...
Return to the Main Page
Questions?...Comments?....Send mail to BottHead