Beast Machines: Rewritten

how'd he get the transmetaldriver, the maximals had that last i knew.

Back in episode one, the shuttle crashed splitting in two. The Maximals were in a state of panic and sought to reunite and ultimately ran into the Vehicons that were simply waiting to pick them off. Due to the short time frame they had, the entire shuttle was ditched on the surface while they went to the citadel and subsequently descended to find the Oracle. Megatron had plenty of time to send a crew there to salvage the bits and pieces from the shuttle where the driver would have been amongst the wreckage pieces.

Episode 25#: Other Vestige

“Megatron!” howled Airazor standing up from the remains of her cage. Energy swirled from her feet and reached towards her wings like aura. She stepped forward from the wreckage and sent shock waves towards the Predacon commander. “You will pay for the crimes you have committed!”

The enraged Maximal gracefully lifted off from the ground and then soared towards Megatron. Airazor tackled the large transformed and smashed him into the side of citadel wall.

Megatron struggled to gain some freedom but the clench she had him in was rather tight. “Who… are the aliens in control? Or is your core conscious…” He couldn’t continue, Airazor had gripper her fingers tightly around his vocal processor. The tyrant shivered in his frame looking into the icy cold optics of the Maximal.

“Where are the sparks Megatron? What have you done with them? And what have you done to Tigatron?”

Feeling the fingers release tension, Megatron decided it was probably in his best interest to answer her. “I don’t have his... spark… no… I was unable to find his spark on the last temporal scout I sent to prehistoric Earth.” He quickly then remembered that all control of Cybertron was now linked to his body and no longer required a harness. He mentally commanded the wall behind him to collapse and then acted.

Megatron used the free space behind him to activate his thrusters and burst free of the stranglehold he was in. He massaged the area he had been clamped and examined his damage. “I’ll get you back for that… yesss…”

Airazor resumed her attack, if Tigatron’s spark wasn’t here then there was only one thing she could do, take out the one who destroyed him. Seemingly possessed by another power, Airazor screeched and lifted a large chunk of debris and chucked it towards Megatron. The recovering opponent anticipated and moved away preventing further damage to his frame.

“You won’t escape judgment this time Megatron!” declared Airazor. Energy wrapped around her fists and she flew upward sending bolts of lightning from her hands that struck Megatron.

Cringing in pain Megatron detected his systems overloading and began to plummet to the ground below. “I won’t be beaten by a mongrel like you… If you will not submit to me then I will destroy you!” Megatron wasn’t a fool; even with his new form he probably couldn’t face an avatar of the Vok. He had to get close enough and then nullify the threat.

The two opponents waltzed through the vast chamber exchanging attacks. Airazor was unable to utilize her more deadly attacks since Megatron consistently kept his distance. Airazor had begun utilizing her blade and just attempted to land a vicious blow to Megatron but missed and the cunning Predacon used this opportunity to move in.

Activating his foot thrusters, Megatron gained speed and swept from side to side dodging lightning bolts. “Almost…” stated Megatron as he swung around Airazor, with a flick he pulled out a familiar alien orb and channeled energy into it. Moving quickly, he forced the orb into her back and energy cackled forth and engulfed Airazor. Watching her fall Megatron sighed and smiled, “Yesss…”

Energy evaporated from the scene as Megatron landed on the charred ground of the citadel. He passed by the cages holding Komodos and Nightscream, their sparks resonated with light in their respective extractors. Megatron continued forth picking up the Transmetal driver from the ground and chuckled as he saw Airazor’s spent form on the ground. To his surprise the cage had been shattered but luckily the alien device in his hand had nullified the threat.

Megatron knelt down and pushed the unconscious Maximal slightly with his left hand. There was no response. “That proved most interesting…” He looked over his shoulder to see most of the citadel in ruins. “It looks like I’ll have to renovate the place again…”

“Megatron!” heralded the diagnostic drone coming through the night sky of Cybertron. It hovered down and took record of what laid before him. “You live… and…”

“Yes… I’ve freed myself from the confines of my wretched beast form, what is it now?” asked Megatron standing up. He allowed the metallic wings on his back to extend outward as he revealed his full robot mode to the punitive diagnostic drone.

The diagnostic drone hesitated but retained its composure. “Tankor reports the operations at the Oracle site have been compromised due to interference from Optimus Primal. We are looking at severe delays and a currently unstable situation…”

“That isn’t my main concern at the moment, have Tankor secure the location until I have time to deal with that,” commanded Megatron. He put the Transmetal II driver away and carried Airazor in his arms. “Computer, ready a reinforced confinement for this Maximal. Commence repairs and…”

The computer logged the request but then detected a high level alert. “Attention, units Jetstorm and Thrust are offline. Also tracking Maximal unit Optimus Primal detected within citadel perimeter and approaching fast.”

Megatron set Airazor down on the ground and smiled. He transformed to a Cybertronian assault jet and ignited his thrusters. “Clean up matters here… I will personally bring in Primal’s spark today…” Pushing his afterburners to the max, Megatron accelerated and blasted out of the citadel at full speed.

===============

“Will you hurry up?” chided Blackarachnia as she increased her speed. Cheetor was leading the way with Rattrap and her following in.

They had received an approximate location from Optimus and then a huge energy flux at the citadel, Cheetor feared the worst. “Can it Blackarachnia, Rattrap is doing the best he can, we had to pull him out of CR chamber earlier cause I wanted a senior crew member for this mission alright?”

Rattrap limped forward at the best speed he could manage and did his best not to complain. Though they were moving through the sewers, with his injuries everything got slightly more difficult.

“We’re here, c’mon I’ll help you up,” said Cheetor transforming to robot mode. He picked Rattrap up into his arms and climbed up the sewer main after Blackarachnia. “We’ll inspect the citadel first, long range sensors picked up the signatures for Komodos and Nightscream vanishing there.”

Rattrap shuddered and then shook his head. “Essh, you guys shoulda left me
to make a full recovery in the CR chamber… We’re walking straight into enemy arms and as I like to say…”

“We’re all gonna die right?” interrupted Blackarachnia rolling her eight spider eyes. She pushed the sewer cover up and then jumped out transforming in the process. “Look, I was against pulling you out early but Cheetor insisted we have a senior member with us, especially after we caught that huge energy flux from the citadel.”

Rattrap decided to go along with the so called reason and transformed. He checked his arm scanner and put on a distressed face. “Guys… we better get to the citadel and quick, I’m reading positron residual charges.”

“What does that mean?” asked Blackarachnia.

Cheetor returned a stern look to the two soldiers and transformed to beast mode. “It means Megatron might have extracted and possibly moved sparks recently, let’s get going.”

=======================

Optimus’ audio sensors tracked a frequency and then turned only to be smashed right in the chest by Megatron’s vehicle mode. Shocked by the sudden assault, Optimus retaliated and pounded on the steel back of Megatron with his fists. Megatron continued with his velocity and smashed Optimus through several buildings, but Optimus too repeated his bashings into Megatron and the damage began to cause Megatron to ease up.

“You’ve… removed your beast mode…” exclaimed Optimus recovering from the fall. He tucked both his arms behind his back and pulled out twin plasma rifles.

“Terrorize!” shouted Megatron transforming to his robot mode. His left arm swung out bringing a large cannon into action. “Yes, thanks to your precious Oracle I now am free of the organics that once plagued me. And now it is time I cut the head that is the snake of Predacon enslavement. As the last Optimus ranked Maximal, once I’ve taken your spark, the surviving Maximals will be in chaos and everything shall finally fall into place.”

Optimus activated his face plate and pointed his twin rifles at Megatron. Though he knew a showdown between him and his arch enemy was inevitable, he didn’t think it would have been this early. He fired the first shot and watched Megatron dodge then continued with consecutive blasts from the rifles.

“Too easy Primal,” replied Megatron taking off with his jets. He flew above Optimus and fired a torrent of energy. Without sparing a moment Megatron charged downward firing ballistic missiles towards Optimus.

Bombarded by the destructive power of Megatron’s new form, Optimus sought cover and found it as he rushed into the alleyway of a nearby building. He regained his ground and switched his weapons to a hand blaster and his wrist cannons. “This is going to be tougher than I thought…” said Optimus to himself.

Before Optimus could act, Megatron struck and connected a punch into Optimus’ lower stomach. The power sent Optimus flying back into the open streets and crashed into the railing along side a building. Megatron took his time walking towards Optimus and then sent a kick into Optimus’ stomach once more which sent Optimus cringing in pain.

“You’re outdated,” said Megatron looking down at the once mighty Optimus Primal. He prepared to fire his cannon, “No more mercy for you Primal…”
Optimus looked up from his fallen position. “I didn’t ask for any!” The Maximal commander locked his fists and sent a powerful smash right into Megatron’s lower legs knocking the tyrant over.

Optimus regained his footing quickly and suppressed any indication of pain. He marched towards Megatron and lifted Megatron above his head; with a grunt he tossed the hefty robot several meters ahead of him into a lamp fixture.
Megatron was sprawled on the ground and stared up at the night sky. He placed his hand on the lamp fixture and pulled it out of the ground. As Optimus neared him Megatron swung the metal pole in Optimus’ direction. There wasn’t much time to dodge the attack so Optimus simply caught the pole and stomped his feet down to counter the momentum of the strike.

“This is my victory Primal!” roared Megatron dropping the pole. He strafed to the right and took off. “Vehicons!” With the simple command, dozens of aero-drones and tank drones crawled from the perimeter and aimed their weapons at Optimus. “Finish him!”

Overwhelmed by the attack, Optimus felt his barrier begin to falter. Megatron smiled knowing that in only a few moments he would rip out Optimus’ spark and add another Maximal to his count. The shield began to fade as the internal energy reserves of Optimus Primal ran out and he was bombarded by laser fire.

“Your spark is mine!” said Megatron with hunger in his voice.

A single laser blast came from behind Megatron knocking the spark extractor in his hand away. Megatron sharply turned to find it was Cheetor who had wronged him along with his former soldier Blackarachnia.

“You…” exclaimed Megatron.

Cheetor said nothing and then leapt into battle cutting up the aero drones around him. The drone attempted to shoot him but Blackarachnia covered for him. The female spider prepared multiple web disks and threw them at the drones. Web structures spread from the disks and paralyzed the function of the drones leaving them defenceless against Cheetor’s attack.

“Get them!” shouted Megatron trying to regain control of the situation.

A tap on the shoulder startled Megatron, he knew who it was but turned to see Optimus Primal’s fist connect into his face. Optimus spat on the ground and pointed his blaster at Megatron. “Forget about me?”

Megatron decided it was best he retreated and regrouped his forces. There was much to do and right now the Maximals had the upper hand. Without a word Megatron transformed to his jet mode and blasted off into the night sky.

“Cheetor… thank the Matrix you made it… the others… we have to get them…” said Optimus dropping his blaster from exhaustion.

Optimus fell forward from the damage and energon depletion, Blackarachnia rushed forward to catch her commander. She rested his head on her shoulder and slowly brought him back onto his feet. “Take it easy Optimus… everything is ok now. Take it one step at a time now…”

Cheetor walked up to his commander and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it big bot, we got it covered. Rattrap returned Nightscream and Komodo’s sparks and we’ve got Airazor. They’re waiting for us in the sewer network, let’s get going alright?”

Finally relieved, Optimus smiled and nodded in approval towards Cheetor and Blackarachnia. Somehow, through all the chaos that had nearly brought them to the edge of a catastrophic battle was all but dispersed now. The Oracle would have to wait, for now Optimus was simply grateful for the safety of his troops and eager to return to their subterranean lair.

========================

Far in subspace across light-years a small condensed nebula shone with blue light. Voices echoed through the gaseous area screaming with anger and pain.
White light emanated from the core of the nebula each time a voice screamed.

“Taurus!” roared an angry voice.

“Quiet! I already know…” responded another. “Scorpio and the others have failed, they have proved more formidable than we ever expected…”

“What do you intend to do about this, we have liabilities… responsibilities… we much succeed…” hissed a third voice.

Three bright orbs of light blazed across the blue nebula, diving deeper and deeper into the centre. It wasn’t long before they reached the inner sanctum, red gases shrouded their forms but as they materialized they took upon familiar skull shaped forms and long wisp like tail structures.

“I have devised a plan…” replied Taurus calmly.

“Really now? Like how all your other plans worked out for us in the past?” taunted the second angrier voice.

“Give him another chance Aries, we were too proud to acknowledge the threat then. We all were at fault, not only Taurus,” responded the third.

“Thank you Leo,” said Taurus. The three joined in a triangular form and brought forth a metal frame hulked over in a fetal position. “With Megatron’s past transgressions, I was able to save one of the two.”

“You mean to send another emissary to do our work?” asked Aries still carrying much contempt for the unfolding of events.

“With regard to the loss of Cancer and the others, I don’t see much of a difference,” answered Taurus. “We still have an agent on the planet, though unaware currently, her powers will develop and in time our control over her shall strengthen. With this secondary agent we shall catalyze that process…”

“Very well…” agreed Leo.

As Taurus complied his eyes shimmered with green energy and a spark was brought forth from the nebula. It entered the body bringing it to life. The silver frame unraveled itself and stood before its masters, then proceeded to kneel.

“What is it you ask of me?”

“You are an emissary of the Vok, we shall guide you and you shall serve as our hammer of justice. Bring to justice the one named Megatron!”

=========================

Megatron smashed dead centre into the citadel and instantly realized his prisoners had been freed but no matter had taken the Oracle and purged himself all in a day. However, he sensed something very wrong. “What is it?” he asked as the main computer brought a view-screen to his attention. The image spoke for itself, the cell block that his body had been dumped into was torn. Megatron’s visage showed deep disappointment, “He’s escaped!”

Episode 26#: Unmasked Part 1#

“Hold it… So you’re saying Cybertron is slagging organic?” asked Rattrap unable to believe the information he had been trying to digest for the last couple cycles.

“Well I’d say so…” replied Nightscream staring straight ahead. He looked down on the ground and picked up the skull of some strange deceased animal. “Who knew it had life too… Perhaps… perhaps this is how I survived. How many others… could have survived?” Nightscream contracted his wingspan and unveiled a field of scattered fossils.

The Maximals had gathered in the vast cave that exhibited what generations of Cybertronians had never thought possible. Organic life flourishing on Cybertron, it was a long established fact that the native species of Cybertron were not organic. Also it had never been documented that plants could grow on Cybertron without an environment dome or rather in a subterranean environment like this, especially with such close proximity to the core.

Optimus nodded and faced his group of crusaders. “This could be the key! This could be what the Oracle meant by the seed!” This perilous journey had not yielded much insight into the task assigned to them, if they were to succeed, Optimus would have to take any discovery as a sign.

Blackarachnia stepped forward. “Hold on, I’m with Rattrap here. I’ve been looking through leftover history data-tracks filling in my memory banks, but no record exists that Cybertron is organic!”

“Perhaps it is because of the nature of our race,” proposed Optimus answering the question. He pointed upward. “From the early days of the Autobots and Decepticons, to facilitate their needs for space and grounds, Cybertron was built outwards. I don’t think anyone ever thought or bothered to look within…”

“Too bad we won’t understand any readings we take from this place,” stated Nightscream puzzled by the fact that plants could grow in an area devoid of light. “We could use a specialist on this kinda thing…”

“That would’ve been Rhinox’s job…” Cheetor turned to Optimus. “Speaking of which, since we can’t locate Vector Sigma currently, our priorities should change. We’ve got to get back Rhinox and find out who the other two are.”

“Agreed,” stated Blackarachnia. “If Rhinox is functional then perhaps…”

“Do you all have a circuit loose?” Rattrap decided to look at the situation more realistically. “Megs got him a fully armed body, not to mention… those sentinels and the Vehicons! Seriously, you guys were almost scrapped the last time by the Maximal sentinels and from the sound of it they were carrying the Council Elder’s security package E3, that’s pretty darn up there in Maximal alert terms!”

“We’ll you’re right Rattrap, but those are our comrades and if we’re going to do this, we’re going to have to do it right. We’ll need a plan,” stated Airazor perched on a tree behind the rodent.

===================================

Thrust rolled up next to his commander, “Megatron, we are wasting time here… We should be hunting the Maximals down, if they’re allowed to…”

Megatron laid his hand on Thrust’s shoulder and smiled. “Of course, my dear Thrust. I want you three to split up, each take a part of Cybertron and search it from dusk till dawn until you find those Maximals. Find them and nullify them. Is that understood?”

“Loud and clear my magnificence!” declared Jetstorm casually hovering down to meet with his master. He bowed and sent off a salute. “As long as we get something to slag, we’re more than happy to serve oh great Megatron.”

“Yes… Umm Jetstorm, I have a special assignment for you. I want you to look into something, or rather someone. A prisoner escaped my clutches during the last fiasco with the Maximals. I want this criminal captured and returned to me, he should be weakened but nevertheless, be on your guard.” Megatron stepped away from the Oracle and found Tankor waiting patiently behind him with a group of tank drones and the diagnostic drone. “Ah Tankor, I hope I can rely on your destructive capabilities to turn those Maximal mongrels to cold slag today…”

Tankor remained silent for a bit, his optic bar stared straight ahead. But his sights weren’t set on Megatron, rather they were on the Oracle, the key to his triumph and freedom from this insignificant existence. Tankor received a nudge from the drone and quickly came to grips with the situation. “TANKOR SMASH!”

=============================

“Finally, the surface!” said Blackarachnia stretching out her limbs. The nimble femme quickly scanned the area to insure no danger, then reached up and pulled herself up onto a pipe.

Rattrap sighed and then hoisted himself up. He quickly converted to robot mode and climbed up. “Hey Legs! You sure you got your signal device on? If not, Megs will be able to track us all the more easily!”

Laughing, Blackarachnia leaned towards the smaller transformer and pointed to the circular device on her shoulder. “Look, as you instructed Rattrap. I’ve gotta say, I sure hope these signal scramblers work just as well as you say they do.”

“Hey, when have I ever been unreliable?”

Ignoring the comment Blackarachnia took out another scrambler and examined it with her optics. “So… all we’ve got to do is trap a general and then make him disappear…”

“Easier said than done, they always have an entourage of drones with them,” said Nightscream closing up the sewer main. He fluttered up in beast mode and then transformed to robot mode. “Even with two upgraded bots, those drones still pose a threat. Plus, they quickly adapt to situations and get more versatile each time we engage them…”

“More of Megatron’s handy work no doubt. But let’s focus on the task at hand. Which general do we go after first?” asked Rattrap stepping up his commander role.

A rush of air blew by and the Maximals looked up. A blue streak in the sky graced through the Cybertronian skies. Blackarachnia felt a cold shudder and then instinctively jumped up in pursuit.

Nightscream gave Rattrap a confused look. Rattrap shook his head and gave chase. “Guess we got our answer, let’s get going before we loose both of them! We won’t be able to track Legs if she gets too far with her scrambler
on…”

==========================

“These tunnels are in pretty good condition…” said Komodos leading the way. The Predacon miner had in-depth experience in subterranean environments and had volunteered to help lead the group to search for Vector Sigma.

“These are the rough coordinates estimated by the computer, we should be directly or closely above the prize…” stated Cheetor maintaining a careful balance on the rocky ground.

Komodos scaled the wall further and finally looked back. “Looks like this is a good place to knock the wall down…”

“Stand aside,” said Airazor. She channeled Vok energy through her body and then forced her hands into the wall. Summoning more physical strength, she dragged and then started to tear the wall down.

A bright beacon struck the three and stopped midway, Airazor turned her head to see a familiar enemy. “Alright Maximals, and Pred… Stop what you’re doing and make this easy on yourself…” stated Thrust. The Vehicon general kept his arm laser pointed at Airazor and made sure his crew had blasters pointed at the other two.

“You’re kidding right?” asked Cheetor. He prepared to pull out his sabres when a drone fired at him. Cheetor looked up in reflex and snarled. He prepared to lunge forward when another warning shot came, this time it struck Airazor who still had her hands embedded in the walls.

“Lord Megatron was right, he knew you’d come after the treasure again. Vector Sigma will not be yours! It, along with all of Cybertron is the rightful property of Megatron. It has already been secured and moved, prepare to be deactivated!” stated Thrust as he moved forward with a wave of drones.

=============================

Blackarachnia leapt from platform to platform across the lower city and made frequent looks upwards to ensure she was catching up to the aero-drone commander. Amazingly, she was moving at a velocity that was almost matching that of the prey and she couldn’t help but feel something was drawing them closer.

“She’s moving up,” stated Nightscream catching sight of the black widow from a distance. He and Rattrap were still catching up and were lying low due to the amount of aero-drones that were patrolling the sector they were in.

Rattrap nodded, “She’ll be in range soon. We should get into position.” He ducked and crawled beneath a large beam and continued forward. The minuscule Maximal breathed heavily and increased his pace. “C’mon… just a little further…”

Nightscream flew over the beam and looked up ahead. He locked onto the target site and then looked down. “Are the charges in place?”

“They better be,” thought Rattrap. The action plan was to lure the generals and disable them through a way of separating them from their respective platoons. Scramble their signals and take them far below the surface. Then any sort of interrogation and jailing can be done in relative safety. It worked well in theory, if they could get the innocent sparks Megatron was using out of the way; perhaps taking him down would be simpler. “They’ll be directly above the first site in less than a cycle, let’s move kiddo!”

Blackarachnia dodged a lamp post and skid across the ground. Her nimble spider legs shrieked as friction brought her to a stop. She targeted and locked onto her prey, Jetstorm was directly above her and oblivious to what was about to happen.

“Like a fly to a trap…” muttered Blackarachnia. She deactivated her scrambler and instantly Jetstorm moved into position. Without a second to spare, the acrobatic Maximal back flipped out of sight and reactivated her scrambler.

The confused Vehicon general transformed to robot mode and scanned the perimeter. He carefully treaded in a circular path making sure to optimize his scanning functions. “… I coulda sworn…”

“Over here big boy!” declared Blackarachnia. She sprung from the shadows and tossed forward a signal scrambler. It stuck to the backside of Jetstorm without his knowledge and activated. Blackarachnia acted quickly and deployed a stream of paralyzing agent and it made contact with the startled Vehicon general. The venom spread through his system and froze his circuitry. Bringing her arm up, she spoke into her communicator. “Reel him in Rattrap.”

Almost instantly the ground began to crumble and Jetstorm’s immobilized frame fell into the darkness below. Blackarachnia quickly glanced around to insure nobody witnessed the operation and then leapt into the chasm covering it with rubble and webbing.

“Is he awake?”

“Duh no,” replied Rattrap rolling his optics.

“Just making sure,” said Nightscream getting closer to the fallen body of Jetstorm. The young data-archivist watched as his senior pulled out gear and adapted an interface mechanism. He pointed to a sharp metallic tool that was meant to be inserted into the cranium of the Vehicon. “That’s…”

Rattrap snapped the sharp tool onto a bridging circuit and tuned the device. “Legs, you ready over there?” He could not figure out why Blackarachnia would volunteer to interface with the Vehicon. Rattrap hated work but this was something he had already done and had experience, he didn’t mind but if his comrade wished it, who was he to stop her?

Blackarachnia nodded, if Silverbolt survived and were one of the generals, she would be the one personally to save him.

“All systems green,” noted Rattrap.

“Be right back boys,” said Blackarachnia as she entered the interface and went into a pseudo-stasis. Her optics faded and her shell slumped against the wall. The interface device that rested on the crown of her head beeped and flashed yellow.

=========================

Optimus Primal scaled the collapsed wall and made his way across the chasm. He had taken an alternative route to find the Oracle. It was long but necessary. Hopefully he would be able to find a way to free it from Megatron’s grasp.

The Maximal commander felt confident he would be able to do so. He got up and continued the scaling until a light from far below struck him. Blinded, Optimus readjusted his optics to compensate for the increased wavelength and then leapt down.

“Optimus…”

“You…” replied Optimus Primal transforming to robot mode. He pulled out his plasma cannon and maintained a vigilant stance. “You have the bearings to confront me now? Where’s your usual army of goons?”

Tankor emerged from the shadows and raised his arms into the air. “I come with no ill intentions my friend.”

“Friend? I thought no part of Rhinox remained in you…”

“Aye, that’d be true. But his memories are my own and I cannot ignore them.”

Optimus was wary of this but decided to hear him out, he owed Rhinox that much. “What is your business? State it now.”

“Affirmative. I wish to end the rule of Megatron. His ideas are tainted, his mind corrupted by the spark of the original Megatron.” Tankor articulated his words carefully. “Cybertron has no future with him, his mind is chaotic and with the Oracle in his grasp his mind may only become clouded further. The power at his fingertips will bring the downfall of Cybertron itself.”

“Prophesizing are we now?” asked Optimus as he considered all the information presented to him. He cocked the cannon and scanned the area around them to check for an ambush. Nothing. “What is your objective here? Why are you telling me this?”

Tankor turned to show Optimus he had no weapons on him. “Because I believe we’re on the same side. We share the same goals; bring Megatron down before it’s too late. A free Cybertron is a Cybertron with a future.” He completed his turn and looked Optimus in the optic. “He plans to eradicate organics from Cybertron, it will only be a matter of time before he realizes Cybertron’s core is organic.”

Silence filled the cavern. Optimus was in shock from the fact that Tankor had known this, after all they had only recently by accident discovered the regenerative abilities of Cybertron.

“You’ve learnt this too haven’t you?” Tankor continued, “Megatron plans to use Maximal technology against you.”

“What are you suggesting?” asked Optimus unsure of what he would do.

“Fight fire with fire, Optimus Primal. Think about it for a nano-click. Megatron has all the Maximal technology at his disposal. He has only scratched Cybertron’s surface, find your sword before its too late.” Tankor looked up and sensed chaos. “Your comrades are in need, you should join them.”

Optimus looked up and sensed it too. He activated his thrusters and took off, but looked back. “Join us Tankor, you house the spark of Rhinox and share our goal. Together we can bring Megatron down!”

Tankor shook his head. “I’m honoured Optimus Primal but my place is here beside Megatron. I shall take my leave.” The enormous blue general transformed to tank mode and rumbled away. As he left, his optic cocked upward.

==============================

Blackarachnia navigated the data-tracks. Many were strange and unknown to her; the fragments pieced together a life on Cybertron. Denizens she had never known, a life that did not belong to her. Suddenly the images that flooded her began to become more familiar.

A voice called out her name. Familiar and warm, Blackarachnia searched vigourously to find the source. The voice called again and then again. The enticed black widow gave her to the data and dug in farther. It wasn’t long before the memories she encountered matched her own.

“Silverbolt.”

so, Silverbolt did have a life before the beast wars in this fic.

Yep, I took bits and pieces of protoform background while re-watching BW. Tigatron did say he had data-tracks but were damaged. Then I looked at stasis pods overall, other than Rampage, no other protoform Maximal or Predacon ever had recollections of their previous activation due to damage. There was one point where Tigatron said that the data-tracks were scrambled and would eventually recover themselves. I implemented that here. Not sure if we'll ever revisit Silverbolt's old life or anything.

when's the next ep up?

Episode 27#: Unmasked Part 2#

“He’s getting away!” shouted Cheetor falling backward as a cycle drone tackled him and a laser blade seared into his left arm. The in training Maximal commander howled in pain.

Komodos snarled with bestial hatred and tore through a cycle drone in beast mode. He clamped down with tremendous force and tossed the drone into the side of the cavern. “Terrorize!” Komodos converted to robot mode and chased Thrust through the tunnels.

The ground shook violently for a second and then Optimus Primal burst out from below. He looked around and noticed that most of the Vehicons had been disposed of. “Good work Maximals and umm Cheetor, progress report?”

Cheetor shoved the drone off him and stood up. “Negative big bot, Megs has already moved Vector Sigma. As for progress, Komodos is in progress of chasing down Thrust. We should engage.”

“Very well,” said Optimus. He scanned the group. “Cheetor, you back Komodos up. I’m going to need Airazor with me for a slight trip. I may require her abilities.”

Cheetor nodded and then turned to Airazor who stood battle worn from taking out so many of the drones on her own. “Good luck with it big bot. Once we’ve got Thrust tied up, we’ll regroup with Rattrap’s squad.”

===========================

Blackarachnia fell into a trance as the data around her formed her lover, Silverbolt. The large Maximal’s strong arms embraced her as she looked upwards.

“I’ve missed you my love… Dark venom of my heart,” said Silverbolt as Blackarachnia gazed deeply into his optics.

“Only a bowzer-head like you could say something as corny as that,” giggled Blackarachnia sliding her fingers across Silverbolt’s face. She sighed and pressed her head into his chest, forgetting that this was simply a memory. The data broke up and she fell through.

“You ok there Blackarachnia?” asked Nightscream holding the black widow’s shoulders. He gave her a shake before seeing her optics realign. “You gave us a bit of a scare; your conscious was erratic for several cycles.”

Rattrap walked over to Jetstorm whom had awakened from his sedated phase. He gave him a kick in the side to roll him over. “So, who is the bum who’s been shooting at us since like day one of hitting this rock?”

Blackarachnia took a few clicks to boot up her programming and remember what had happened. Seeing Rattrap kick the side of Jetstorm instantly triggered a subroutine in her and she sprang up. “What are you doing?” She screamed and pushed Rattrap aside. She pointed at the drowsy Jetstorm, “He’s Silverbolt!”

“Say what?” exclaimed Jetstorm and Rattrap at the same moment.

Rattrap looked down at the Vehicon and pointed at him. “You’ve got to be friggin kidding me! First Rhinox and now him? What kind of joke is this?”

“It’s true, I saw his memories myself! Just as you saw Rhinox’s!” stated Blackarachnia defending her discovery. She turned and knelt beside the Vehicon general. She trailed her finger along the side of Jetstorm’s face. “He’s Silverbolt… all along… this whole time, he was right there.”

“Silver-who?” asked Nightscream lost in the whole mess of everything.

Rattrap shook his head and leaned over to whisper. “Long story kiddo, I’ll tell you some other time alright?”

“Well what now? What are you planning to do with him?” asked Nightscream agreeing to take the topic off of who Silverbolt was. He looked uneasy since they had been beating down on a fellow Maximal all this time, especially since it was someone the old gang had known. “Reformat him or something?”

“Refor-what? Nothing is going to happen you mongrels!” shouted Jetstorm trying to defend himself from any absurd Maximal experiments. He tried to kick and flail but the energon bonds around him prevented any means of escape. “Let me out this instant! I’m not who you think I am! And I swear on Primus that when I get out of this, I’m going to tear you down from fur to spark!”

=========================

Komodos skidded across the ground as he made tracks. He increased his pace in hopes of catching up to the speedy cycle and he had no intentions of giving up.

“Wretched Vehicon, I’ll make you pay for the crimes you’ve committed!” thought Komodos making a sharp turn. The Predacon warrior felt the rage surge through his shell and it gave him the incentive to rush forward.

He made a turn and then halted. The friction in the sudden stop kicked up a lot of dirt and clouded his sight. In a few moments the dust settled and Komodos found the frozen form of Thrust ahead of him.

“What in the Pit?” Confused, Komodos forced through the remaining dust and walked closer. As he did, his optics widened as he was met with the gigantic form of a shadow that petrified his very circuits. “What in the…”

“Long times no see Komodos…” spoke the shadow.

========================

Optimus tumbled down the rubble. The last chasm proved weak and both Maximals were caught off guard. Fortunately, he was able to react and roll to safety. He stood up and caught Airazor in his arms. He set her down and looked into the darkness before them.

“Where are we?” asked Airazor following her leader into the ancient tunnels.

Optimus glanced around, the tunnel lead out into a fallen city. He followed the wide pathway and consistently kept a watch.

“This… this is incredible! An entire city, pretty much intact but… By the Matrix, this place is enormous!” stated Airazor making note of the immense buildings. She noted that a lot of the buildings had torn of crests and were built for beings much larger than them.

“This… this is a city that survived the Great War…” Optimus led his companion to a peak above the city. They looked down from the peak at another layer of city below. “Welcome to Kaon. This is where legends spoke of the first Decepticon uprising, of course the Kolkular is missing from eons of war…”

“Amazing… but what do you hope to find here Optimus?”

Optimus ignited his jets and flew down into the city, Airazor followed. He stepped down softly. The grounds had not seen as many Cybertronians in many stellar cycles.

“I received a tip… a heading to come here…” replied Optimus, unsure if the directions were correct. Turning a full 180 degrees, Optimus caught sight of the marker. He sped up and flew to it and then nodded in realizing that it was the correct one. He graced his fingers across it, the dust lifted, revealing a Maximal insignia with particular markings.

“What is it?” questioned Airazor.

“The Seal of the Maximal Imperium…” answered Optimus slowly with a grim look on his face.

======================

Tankor masked his signal and watched on a view screen as one of his drones imitated his. This way Megatron would not suspect his actions. He transformed and rolled into the factory building. He watched dozens of diagnostic drones buzz above him working away on his project.

“Sir, you’ve returned. Do you require any updates?” asked a diagnostic drone hovering down to his side.

Tankor ignored the automated programming and continued up a ramp. He looked out across the vast factory and the sparks from the welding down below reflected in his optics. He slowly moved towards the railing and looked below. Ten test beds laid with monstrous frames on them, each being assembled.

The shells were immense, each one stretched from factory wall to factory wall. A plethora of maintenance bots reinforced metal plates to the frames. Large hazy faceplates were lowered via a crane onto the large head. Tankor would’ve smiled in satisfaction if he had a mouth but the lack of forced him to keep the development of his plans to himself.

=======================

“Komodos, where did you get to…” Cheetor dashed down the tunnel after the Predacon but couldn’t find any trace of him. Continuing to run, Cheetor soon received the answer.

“Who are you?” demanded Cheetor. He quickly noticed that Thrust was down and Komodos was in serious danger. Tensing from the nature of the situation, Cheetor prepared to grab his sabres. “Komodos, get out of there!”

Komodos didn’t look back, the shadow stepped pass him and let out a roar. The base of the sound shook the very ground Cheetor stood on.

“This can’t be… Megatron?” asked Cheetor bracing himself.

“Wrong!” roared the dragon as it flew forward and froze the Maximal in a blast of ice.

=====================

“We’re moving too fast, we should call Optimus and ask for proper instructions!” exclaimed Nightscream towing the captive Jetstorm along.

“We’re going to save him, get him back into a beast mode so we won’t have to rely on a some signal jam to cover him up from Megatron!” shouted Blackarachnia hurrying along the wall of the catacomb. She directed three eyes towards Rattrap, “You still can’t get through to Optimus?”

“Well duh!” Rattrap was annoyed by the turn of events, all this rush for an attempted reformatting, especially without consent from the big banana was eating Rattrap from the inside. “So what’s the plan… judging from your pace of thought, we’re probably not going to wait for the boss monkey’s clearance are we?”

Blackarachnia thought about it for a moment, the answer was clear to her. She wouldn’t risk losing Silverbolt again, if Optimus failed to bring Rhinox back last time, the risk would be too great for Silverbolt. “No…”

“I seriously doubt Optimus would approve…” interjected Nightscream.

“Me neither kiddo, as much as I like to be a pain in the skid plate… This isn’t something I would run by without saying anything,” added Rattrap.

Blackarachnia halted her progression and transformed to robot mode. She swept Rattrap off his beast legs and held the mouse to her optic level. “Look Rattrap, we’ve had our differences and I don’t care! He’s one of us! A Maximal!” She cringed a bit as she thought about what Silverbolt meant to her. “Think about Rhinox, you know you would’ve done the same for Rhinox!”

Rattrap decided not to retort with an argument. She had him there, as much as he liked to poke fun, this was not the time. “Where are you going to get a beast mode for old Silverbolt?”

Blackarachnia put him down. “The core, there are skeletons there. I’ll need you to rig up a DNA scanner, maybe mod it for a pre-existing body so that it can rearrange the nanites in his body…” She transformed to beast mode and looked back at the squad. “I know I’m asking a lot, but please…”

Rattrap stood up on his hind legs and coughed a bit. “Fine, fine, we’ll help ya out this time. I might be able to rig a scanner up from the pod that we used to get Airazor a new body. You guys head down first, I’ll meet up with you shortly after I grab the necessary supplies.”

======================

“This is what you needed me for?” asked Airazor pointing to the giant obstacle that bore the Maximal seal. She marvelled at the magnitude of such a seal and wondered what it could stand for and what it was impeding them from finding.

Optimus nodded and walked towards it. “I don’t believe I have the clearance to get through to this but with your destructive abilities… I think you can make short work of this.”

Airazor moved into position. Straightening her arms, she forced her palms into the seal and tore it down. The thick armour plating began to melt away and reveal a pathway down into the surface of Kaon.

The two Maximals traveled down through the entrance and noted the uniform design of the surrounding compared to the devastated city of Kaon. Airazor stopped a few times to bring down more obstacles; clearly they were intruders in this area. Luckily for them, there was no security around to create more burdens.

“This facility,” started Optimus as they entered a large circular chamber. He noted the amount of Maximal seals and then finally one that struck his memory core. “Another high-risk project under wraps… I should’ve known…”

“What do you mean?”

Optimus approached the centre of the room and used his palms to wipe the dirt of the immense glass cylinder that stood from roof to ground. The slight touch and presence of his Maximal signature booted up some of the left over systems. The cylinder twisted and then turned. The glass began to recede into the roof and ground unveiling an artifact long thought to be legend.

Airazor booted up her wings and flew to meet the head of the relic. She moved her neck downward and she looked up into the hollow helmet. “This… thing… what is it?”

“Apex,” responded Optimus Primal as lights illuminated the central portion of the room.

=====================

Jetstorm slammed into the dirt hard and shuddered in horror as surveyed the area. The ground around him was moist, warm and something he was unfamiliar with. Towering plants grew over him expelling odours that were alien to his memory core. He tried to twist and pry at his energon bonds again, but alas it did no good.

“Let me go this instant!” shouted Jetstorm trying to use his jets to lift off.

Nightscream ran towards him and went behind him to secure a tether to the ground. Jetstorm used that opportunity to use his lower thrusters and shoot some plasma at the Maximal.

Nightscream screeched in agony as the plasma dissolved his optics and he clawed violently in the air. Jetstorm hobbled and twisted himself, eventually positioning the bonds at a place where Nightscream struck.

“Free at last!” shouted Jetstorm in victory. He activated his arm weapons and started to fire rapidly all around him. The organics that caught on fire spread fast and Jetstorm loved the destruction.

“No! Stop Silverbolt!” shouted Blackarachnia running towards him.

“You! Again with the Silverbolt! It’s time to show you that nobody messes with me and gets away with it!” declared Jetstorm directing his firepower in the direction of Blackarachnia.

The lasers struck her legs and brought her down. Jetstorm moved in for the kill as Blackarachnia continued to try to reason and plead with Silverbolt’s inner spark. The attempt was not having an affect.

“No more last words for you Maximal…” Jetstorm initiated his spark extractor and moved in for the kill.

As the confident blue Vehicon descended upon his prey, a disk struck him in the back. Startled by the unexpected strike, Jetstorm flailed in reaction trying to rip the disk off. In a few seconds he began to feel a paralyzing effect consume his shell.

“Not too shabby,” replied Blackarachnia watching Jetstorm fall to the ground. She had noticed that behind the fallen general stood Rattrap holding a trigger in his hand. “I trust you upgraded that scanner with a few new tricks?”

Rattrap didn’t respond and pressed the trigger. “See for yourself.”

The disk spiraled outward and out popped the DNA scanner. Burrowing into Jetstorm’s system the disk leeched energon from the general and initiated the scanning sequence. Without the ability to fight back, Jetstorm screamed in horror as the artificial reformatting began. Green waves of light circled the origin and picked up bone traces in the soil.

Within seconds the scan completed and light wrapped around Jetstorm’s body as the nanites reconfigured themselves. Blackarachnia, eager to see the results pulled herself towards the body.

“Silverbolt?”

The scanner had detected an ancient Cybertronian bird and the feathered creature lay silent on the ground. Hearing the name, the creature opened its optic and stared right back at Blackarachnia.

“Get… get away from me!” roared the creature as it expanded its wings and took flight.

Nice.

Can't wait to see who's inhabiting Megatron's old body.

Cryotek, mayhap?

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i'm not sure if it is megs old bod or actually cryotek himself.

either way, i'm wondering how Silverbolt's gonna be.