Transformers
Robots in Disguise

103 - Evening the Odds

by Mike Watson

	The area the Vertigo had crashed in was mountainous.  It was actually a wonder that no 
one on the planet had come to investigate the scene of the crash.  In this day and age of 
Earth it was very odd that no one had come to investigate, in fact.  However, Optimus couldn't 
complain about an advantage.  If indeed the majority of humans were hostile towards Cybertronians, 
then it was probably for the best.
	They had found a new base.  A decent sized cave a few miles from where the Vertigo was.  As 
far as he knew Megatron had not tracked them, and the cave was very well hidden, so they would 
be safe for some time.
	All the equipment was set up.  Computer consoles with tracking devices, radar, and all 
that sort of thing.  Then there was the CR chamber, they had only been able to get one, and 
another computer with a direct data link to the information room, and thus the systems of the 
Vertigo.  That wasn't overly useful, since the large majority of the Vertigo was non-functional.  
They had also gotten a power generator which ran off solar energy.  Actually it was meant to 
run off star light, since Cybertron's sun had long been extinguished, but Sideburn was able to 
alter it to absorb the sunlight of the Earth's sun.  That was the only piece of equipment which 
had to remain outside, but it was very well hidden.
	The cave itself was actually a system of caves.  They had lucked out.  The majority of the 
equipment was located in the main room of the cave, with a variety of offsets leading to weapon 
storage and designated chambers for each Autobot.  Granted it was no Ark, but it served its 
purpose.
	The main thing Optimus had to concentrate on was Megatron.  Although it was a giant 
paperweight at the moment, Megatron still had control of the Vertigo, and thus, as far as 
Optimus was concerned, the advantage on this planet.  Despite him being outnumbered.
	Megatron, the scourge of Cybertron.  The strongest and most powerful Predacon.  The 
Decepticon leader, Soundwave, liked to think that he had as much power as Megatron in the 
alliance, but everyone knew better.  While Soundwave, like his ancient namesake, was quite 
powerful, he was also slave to Megatron, similar to his ancient namesake.  Unlike the Autobots, 
the Decepticons never were able to rid themselves of the reformatted Cybertronians.  They were 
the thorns in their sides, but they were able to utilize them and share power after the fall 
of the Autobots.
	The Autobots.  Had they made a mistake?  They probably should have accepted the Maximals 
for what they were.  But that's never the way things go.  Their hatred for what was different 
and for change was what defeated them.  The civil war between Maximal and Autobot, which was 
a war between two races who weren't even really two races, but two groups with two different 
ideals, cost many lives.  All Maximals were lost, and a large amount of Autobots.
	They should have seen it coming, but they didn't.  They didn't.  Optimus bowed his head 
in remembrance.  Rail Spike walked into his chamber.
	"Optimus, we're tracking a stasis pod," he said quietly.  "You may want to see this."
	
										* * * * * *
										
	"It has a lower orbit than the others, Megatron, so it's going to enter the atmosphere 
before the others will," Dark Scream continued.  "It also knocked into another one near it, 
and that one is going down as well.  The computer estimates they'll both land within five 
cycles of each other, but in opposite directions."
	"Give me the coordinates," Megatron commanded.
	"The first one will end up in grid 47 of the delta quadrant, and the second one," Dark 
Scream typed a few things into the computer.  "Gird 14 of the alpha quadrant."
	Megatron smiled a little.  "Excellent.  What are their statistics?"
	Dark Scream entered a few more things into the computer.  "Both are Decepticon pods."
	"Blast!  Where are the Predacon pods?!" Megatron yelled.
	"Well, if you want I can override one of them to be a Predacon," Dark Scream said slowly.
	Megatron looked at Dark Scream.  He was a clever one.  You need to watch the clever ones 
the closest.  "How?"
	"Well, the Decepticon security check is run by the pod, since it's the pod you have to 
program the shell into.  Then the pod transfers all the information to the protoform when it's 
being formed," Dark Scream said, still looking at the screen.  "From here I can access the 
computer systems of the pod.  When it enters the atmosphere the pod needs to shut down because 
of the immense heat caused by reentry," he looked up at Megatron.  "At that point I can send a 
signal which will erase the security program, which will allow someone to add a Predacon shell 
to it."
	"You can only access one pod?" Megatron said.  Two was always better than one.
	"Well, I can access both, but the thing is; they will both enter the atmosphere at the 
same time," Dark Scream said.
	Megatron looked suspiciously at Dark Scream.  "Then why are they landing five cycles 
apart?"
	"Their reentry angles are different," Dark Scream said.  Predictable Megatron, always 
thinking everyone else was plotting against him.  "The one that was hit has a steeper angle, 
so it'll land first."
	"Ah," was all Megatron said.  He stood up and turned around to face Sky Byte.  "Sky Byte, 
you will take Dark Scream to the location of the first pod to be reprogrammed into a Predacon.  
I will go with Gas Skunk to the second pod to make sure what emerges is not an Autobot."
	Sky Byte saluted and said "Yes sir!"  He then walked out of the room with Dark Scream.
	Megatron clicked his communicator.  "Gas Skunk, report."
	"Sir?" Gas Skunk said over the commlink.
	"Meet me outside the west side of the Vertigo, and tell Slapper he's in charge of the 
ship for the moment.  We have allies to make."

										* * * * * *
										
	X-Brawn and Sideburn sped towards the location of the first pod.  They were not sure what to 
expect when they got there.  According to their equipment at base the pod had crashed about one 
cycle ago.
	"Are we there yet?" X-Brawn asked.
	"Almost," Sideburn said.  Over the horizon he saw smoke, then a large path of disturbed earth
where the pod had landed slid.  "I see it!" he exclaimed.  He then sped up to full speed, 
faster than X-Brawn.
	"Hey, wait for me!" X-Brawn said when he noticed Sideburn's considerable speed gain over 
his own.
	"Catch up to me, I need to reprogram that pod!" Sideburn yelled back.  When he was about a 
hundred yards from the pod he yelled "Maximize!" and ran the rest of the way.  He stopped at 
the pod and flipped open the computer panel.  A few sparks flew and he moved back in surprise.
"Man, damaged!"  X-Brawn pulled up beside him.
	"Maximize.  What's the problem?" X-Brawn asked.
	"The reentry angle was way too steep, a lot of the circuitry is fried," Sideburn said, 
looking over the pod's computers.
	"Anything you can do?" X-Brawn asked.
	Sideburn looked over the computer chips and boards, then back at X-Brawn.  Grimly he 
finally said "Pray."
	"Gre-ahhh!" X-Brawn fell backwards, hit by gunfire.  Sideburn quickly drew his weapon and 
looked for the source of the gunfire.  Sky Byte hovered to the right of him.
	He quickly aimed at Sky Byte and yelled "Back off, ugly!  This protoform's mine!"
	Sky Byte landed and shook his head.  "Sorry, but I believe that's Predacon property."
	Sideburn glared at Sky Byte.  "Better to give it a chance at having a real life.  Besides, 
what are you gonna do to stop me?"  He cocked his weapon.  It was odd that Sky Byte had holstered 
his weapon, come to think of it.
	Sky Byte looked at the pod, then grinned, all his sharp teeth showing.  "I'm not gonna 
do a slagging thing."
	Sideburn did not lower his weapon, but the comment took him by surprise.  Then all at once 
there was a searing pain in the back of his head and everything went black.

										* * * * * *
										
	"Excellent work, Dark Scream," Sky Byte said, looking at Sideburns' limp body.  "Megatron 
will be pleased."
	Dark Scream put his gun away and stepped over Sideburn towards the pod.  "Save it."  He 
wasn't overly enjoying Sky Byte's mindless worship of Megatron.  The absolutely hilarious thing 
with that was that Megatron still didn't trust Sky Byte.  Sky Byte was probably the lone 
Predacon who would never double-cross him, and Megatron was wary of him.
	Dark Scream walked over the the pod and flipped open the panel which had fallen down 
in the blast.  He quickly went to work.  Programming a Decepticon protoform pod was not as 
hard as one might think.  Despite the organic nature of the Predacons, they and the Decepticons 
were from the same original race, so very few things had to be altered with the shell program.  
Actually, the truth was, they weren't even really separate races.  The Predacons simply had 
chosen to keep their organic parts, whereas the Decepticons had abandoned them.  He finished 
entering in the shell and closed the computer panel.
	"Now what?" Sky Byte asked.
	"The scanners go on-line and we get a new Predacon," Dark Scream said without looking at 
Sky Byte.
	Just then the computer console let out a rather large spark, and the pod's warning systems 
went on-line.  The pod's computer said "Warning, severe impact damage!  Scanners damaged."  
However, the scanner still retracted from the pod and scanned for life.
	"What the heck was that?" Sky Byte said, alarmed.
	Dark Scream wasn't sure what to make of it.  "Nothing, it's fine.  It's scanning."
	X-Brawn looked up from where he was laying.  He had heard the whole thing.  He mumbled 
to himself, "I hope you're having better luck, Prime," and went unconscious again.

										* * * * * *
										
	"This isn't working, Optimus, Megatron's almost got that thing on-line!" Prowl yelled.  Both 
he and Optimus had taken cover behind a rock.  Megatron and Gas Skunk had reached the pod first 
and Gas Skunk was bringing the pod on-line while Megatron fired shots at Optimus and Prowl which 
didn't hit them, but kept them from getting to the pod.
	Optimus looked at the end of his vehicle mode which he had left twenty or so yards away.  
He still hadn't figured out what it was for.  "We need that pod," he said to Prowl.
	"I know that, but how do we get it.  Big Purple over there has us beat with all that 
firepower he's got."
	From the other side of the battle, Megatron looked quickly over at Gas Skunk between 
shots.  "On-line yet?"
	Gas Skunk, without looking at Megatron, said "Almost."
	Just then Optimus leapt out from behind his cover rock.  The move took Megatron by surprise 
a little since it was not like this Optimus to perform such a rash move.  While in the air 
Optimus fired a few shots at Megatron, but none connected.  Megatron, in self defense, when 
Optimus was about to land on him, pushed him away with his arms causing him to land on the stasis 
pod which came on-line at the same time.
	The scanner popped out of the pod and spun around and knocked into Optimus in the process, 
causing it to stop moving.  At this point Optimus was shocked and knocked off the pod onto 
Gas Skunk.
	The pod then opened up with a bright flash of light.  Megatron grinned with triumph as the 
protoform would at least be on his side, even though it would be a Decepticon.  When the smoke 
and light finally cleared, standing in the stasis pod was a Transformer who looked eerily like 
Optimus Prime.  He had almost the exact same head and a very similar body, though his shoulders 
were larger.
    Megatron looked over at Gas Skunk, unconscious under Optimus Prime.  Was this newcomer a 
Decepticon?  He looked a lot like Optimus.  He would have to take his chances.
	Megatron stood up and addressed the newcomer.  "Welcome, Decepticon.  I am Megatron, 
leader of the Predacon faction of the alliance.  What shall I call you?"
	The newcomer looked at Megatron without any sort of emotion.  He quietly stepped out of the 
stasis pod and walked over to Megatron.  Meanwhile, Prowl quietly crawled over to where 
Optimus was.
	"I am Scourge, Decepticon warrior," the newcomer said, looking over Megatron.  "What is 
it to you, Pred?"
	Megatron became enraged, though he was relieved at the same time to hear Scourge was a 
Decepticon.  "Fool!  You shall address me with respect!  I am your superior!"
	Scourge looked at Megatron with slight confusion.  "Says who?"
	Megatron was really annoyed now.  "I say so, insolent fool!  You will serve me!  I command 
you!"
	Scourge wasn't totally sure what to make of this raving lunatic who called himself Megatron.  
He wasn't sure what to make of anything, really.  It was apparent they were not on Cybertron, 
so how could this be the Predacon general Megatron?
	"First, you tell me what in the Pit is going on here," Scourge finally said.  "Then I'll 
see if I let you command me."
	Megatron was angered even more by this comment, but being outnumbered by the Autobots 
did not sit well either, and Scourge would be a powerful addition to their ranks.  Plus he 
was the only Decepticon, so it was unlikely he would be able to revolt with any sort of 
power.
	"Very well, um, Scourge," Megatron said.  "I will explain what is going on here."
	
										* * * * * *

	X-Brawn came out of his temporary stasis in time to see the new Predacon emerge from the 
stasis pod.  It was rather odd looking, even for a Predacon.  The majority of its body 
looked like a dog or wolf, but it had three heads, not one.  It reminded him of the ancient 
Earth Greek myth of the hound that guarded Hades, Cerebrus.  The Predacon snarled at him.  But 
why?  He hadn't moved?  There was no way to know he was conscious.
	"Bruticus, terrorize!" the creature snarled.  He slowly walked over to X-Brawn.  "He's 
awake," Bruticus said to Sky Byte and Dark Scream.
	"How did you know?" Dark Scream asked.
	"I can tell," Bruticus snarled.  He drew his dagger and knelt next to X-Brawn and raised the 
dagger, about to stab when it was suddenly shot out of his hand.  Bruticus stood quickly to 
see Rapid Run standing a few yards away, holding his recently fired weapon.
	At this point X-Brawn quickly stood up, drew his sword and stabbed Bruticus, still shocked 
at the unexpected visit from Rapid Run, in the stomach area.  Bruticus fell.
	"Yeehaw, now that was fun!" Rapid Run yelled, running towards X-Brawn.
	"Bah!  Fools!  We will destroy you!" Sky Byte yelled.  Sky Byte drew his weapon and fired 
a shot at Rapid Run and a second quickly at X-Brawn.  Neither shot connected, but they hit 
near the feet of both Autobots, causing them to fall.
	"How'd you know?" X-Brawn asked.
	"We lost Sideburn's energy signature, so we figured there were troubles," Rapid Run 
replied, firing a shot in the direction of Sky Byte.
	"We need to get Sideburn out of here, he needs serious time in the CR chamber," X-Brawn 
said, firing at Sky Byte and Dark Scream.
	"Okay, you grab 'im, I'll keep these two varmints at bay!" Rapid Run said.  With that he 
ran towards Sky Byte and Dark Scream with his shield in front of him.  X-Brawn quickly ran towards 
Side Burn.
	"Transform!" he yelled, scooping up Sideburn at the same time he managed to be in vehicle 
mode with Sideburn on his roof.  "Rapid Run, let's bolt!"
	Rapid Run looked over at X-Brawn, then at the Preds.  "Sorry, kids, but I gotta get back 
to the coral!"  He quickly loaded a rocket into his gun and fired it at Sky Byte and Dark 
Scream, both of who fell down.  "Transform!" he yelled and took off behind X-Brawn back to 
the base.

										* * * * * *
										
	This was all just a little hard to swallow.  How could they be on Earth?  And Earth in the 
past at that.  This Predacon, this Megatron, could not be telling the truth.  None of it made 
sense.
	"I know it sounds a bit out there," Megatron said, as if reading Scourge's mind.  "But it's 
true, I have no reason to lie about this."
	Indeed he didn't.  A bigger pile of slag was never spouted.  The bottom line was he needed 
troops to defeat the Autobots and get off this planet with the proper resources to return to 
Cybertron and eradicate the Autobots once and for all.  No doubt the Decepticons would follow 
after that.  That can't be allowed.
	But the more Scourge thought about it, the more he thought he should go along with it.  Let 
this fool collect the energon the planet had to offer.  Let him do all the work, and then destroy 
him and carry out his own plan against the Predacons.  It just might work, and the Decepticons 
would be released from the wretched alliance with the equally wretched Predacons.
	"Very well, I will serve under you," Scourge said.  Then he added, with some hidden disgust, 
"Sir."
	Megatron smiled.  "Then, I welcome you to our ranks, Scourge."
	"Great, what's my first mission?" Scourge asked.
	Megatron looked at Optimus and Prowl.  "Destroy them," he said, pointing at the two.
	Optimus, who had just regained consciousness, looked at Scourge with some confusion, then 
up at Prowl, knelt above him.  Then he watched.  It seemed to go in slow motion.  He watched 
Scourge walk over to Prowl and grab him by the chest plate.  Prowl tried to draw his weapon, 
but was not fast enough.  Scourge lifted Prowl up like he weighed nothing and punched him in 
the head, causing him to fly backwards with tremendous force.  Optimus watched, helpless.
	Then he became angered.  This new Decepticon was going to destroy Prowl.  Prowl, his 
trusted comrade and fellow Autobot.  And he was helpless to do anything.  A surge of energy 
overcame him.  Twenty yards away the end of his vehicle mode moved slightly.
	Scourge walked over to Prowl, crumpled up like paper.  This was an easy assignment.  But 
what was that sound?  Electricity?  He looked over at Optimus Prime, who suddenly stood up, 
seemingly revived.  Then, out of nowhere, parts joined onto him and he nearly doubled in 
height.  He was now taller than Scourge.
	Optimus wasn't sure what had happened, but he had just found out what the use of the 
spare vehicle mode part was for.  Without thinking he walked over to Scourge, and pointed his 
arm mounted guns at his chest.  Scourge looked down at it, then helplessly up at Optimus before 
Optimus fired a shot which knocked Scourge back and into stasis lock.
	Megatron looked on with amazement.  However, once Optimus blasted Scourge all the armor 
he had gained fell off him, as if he was no longer able to control it.  He quickly ducked 
behind the rock Optimus and Prowl had hid behind before.
	Optimus stood up and looked around.  No sign of Megatron.  He was glad about that, he felt 
pretty dizzy.  He shook Prowl.
	"Wha, huh?" Prowl slowly came to.
	"Come on, we're getting out of here," Optimus said.
	Prowl looked at the armor on the floor.  "What happened to your trailer?" he said.
	"Long story," Optimus said.  "Transform."  His trailer pieces reassembled themselves and 
he reattached his transformed body to them to reform his fire truck vehicle mode.
	"Transform," Prowl said, and they both rolled off, headed back to base.
	Megatron, meanwhile, watched them go.  After they were out of sight he transformed to 
vehicle mode, loaded Scourge and Gas Skunk on and drove back towards the Vertigo.

THE END