Transformers
Robots in Disguise

111 - Final Run, part 1

by Mike Watson

	"Wow.  That is some slag," Sideburn said.
	"I know, but it makes a lot of sense," Optimus said.
	"Yeah, it does explain a good amount," Prowl added.  "But, that doesn't make it 
any easier to deal with."
	"So how come they never found us?" Rail Spike asked.
	"Who?" Optimus asked.
	"Other Transformers.  The first Autobots.  The Maximals," Rail Spike answered.
	"They weren't in the right spot I guess," Optimus said.  "Plus they had no way of 
knowing about us."
	"Yeah, it took the Maximals and Predacons of the Beast Wars over two years before they 
found the Ark, and they more or less knew of its exact location," Sideburn said.  "Since they 
didn't even know about us the chances of the Vertigo being found were pretty slight."
	"This is crazy," Prowl said.  "I need some air."
	"Yes, everyone will get some leave time to deal with this in their own way," Optimus 
said.  "Just don't wander too far from the base, we'll be going back to that lake soon.  
Megatron will no doubt try and get more energon."
	"I feel like we're fighting an uphill battle here," Prowl said.  "We're outnumbered, 
and Megatron has the capabilities to grab stasis pods from orbit, so he can just add more 
to his forces."
	"Wait, what about the stasis pods?" Rail Spike asked.
	"What about them?" Prowl said, confused.
	"How come they weren't detected?"  Rail Spike asked.  "If the Vertigo dumped them 
when it entered the atmosphere, and they've been in orbit for a million years, why weren't they 
picked up by NASA or something?  And how come their power didn't run out?"
	"I can answer that," Sideburn said.  "The pods are Decepticon pods, so they have a 
cloaking program in them.  See, protoforms can be picked up by scanners, so when the 'Cons 
transport them they liked to cloak them, just to keep the Preds out of their buisness."
	"And the power?" Optimus asked.
	"Solar cells," Sideburn said.  "The pod you found was burried, no light could get to 
it, so the internal power cells ran out and the protoform died.  If a pod is exposed to light 
then it will be fine.  As long as the light shines, the pod will run and it charges up the 
cells, no problem."
	"You think there are any on Earth?" Prowl asked.  "Ones that fell out of orbit while 
we were in emergency stasis?"
	"It's possible," Sideburn said.  "But the probability of them surviving for that long 
on this planet is slim."
	"But if any did make it," Prowl said.
	"They'd be valuable assets," Optimus chimed in.  "Sideburn, is there some way to 
scan for downed pods?"
	"We've got bigger problems, right now," Midnight Express yelled from across the 
cavern.  "Scanners show that the Vertigo has its main weapon charged up to fifty percent."
	Optimus ran over to Midnight Express.  "That's impossible!  How?"
	"He got some energon," Prowl said.
	"Oh wait, it gets better," Midnight Express said.  "It's aimed at us."
	"How high is it charging?" Optimus asked.
	"It's holding at fifty," Midnight Express said.  "I think they're testing it out."
	"Get Sentinel up!" Optimus instructed.  Sideburn nodded and ran over to the 
Sentinel console.
	"Sentinel, shields up," Sideburn said.
	Sentinel chirped back, "Adknowledged."  Outside the base an energy shield surrounded 
the caverns.
	"Will it hold?" Optimus asked.
	"It should," Sideburn said.
	"Powering up main firing sequence!" Midnight Express yelled.
	"Brace yourself everyone!" Optimus yelled.
	Then a loud exposion was heard outside the base.  The entire cavern shook, rock falling 
everywhere.  A vent leading to another section of the cavern collapsed.
	"Shields at thirty percent and holding," Sentinel said.  "Full shield power will be 
achieved in two point five cycles."
	"That's too long!" Optimus said, a hint of panic in his voice.  "They can charge to 
full power in two cycles!"
	"They're not charging," Midnight Express said.
	"What was that about then?" Prowl asked.
	"Megatron's trying to make us insane, that's what it's about," Optimus said.
	
					* * * * * *
					
	"Damage report!" Megatron commanded.
	Slapper checked the screen.  "Minimal," he said, looking back at Megatron.  "They have 
shields up."
	Megatron stood up, angered.  "Shields?  But how?"
	Slapper shook his head.  "They must've stolen parts from here."
	"I know that you imbecil!" Megatron shouted.  "Blast."  He sat down again.  This was 
not a good development.  "What level is the shield at, Slapper?"
	"The weapon took it down to roughly twenty-five percent," Slapper responded.
	"Roughly?" Megatron said quietly.  He did not like estimates.
	"Well, the sheilds are running on an unknown frequency," Slapper said.  "Our scanners 
can only guess.  It's within at least ten percent though."
	Megatron stood up again and walked over to slapper.  "So the shields could also be 
at thirty-five percent!  That is unacceptable!"  He raised his hand, about to strike Slapper 
when Dark Scream walked in.
	"Megatron, there's a problem," Dark Scream said.
	Megatron turned his head to look at Dark Scream.  "What is it?" he asked.
	"The main weapon core burned out," Dark Scream said.  He looked at Slapper, still 
bracing himself for Megatron's fury.  "We'll need Slapper in one piece," he added.  "He knows 
the weapons systems better than anyone."  Slapper let out a sigh of relief.
	"Very well," Megatron said.  He turned to Slapper.  "Next time, perhaps?" he said, 
though it was hard to tell if he was being serious or not.
	"M-maybe," Slapper stuttered.  He quickly slipped past Megatron before another word 
could be spoken and left the control room with Dark Scream.
	On the way to the weapon core Slapper and Dark Scream said nothing to each other for 
a while.  Finally Slapper spoke.
	"Um, getting me out of there," Slapper said, struggling with his words.  "That was 
good."  Predacons had never been good at expressing gratitude.
	"Save it," Dark Scream said.  "We have bigger problems right now."
	Slapper nodded and kept walking.  Dark Scream adressing him had been enough of a 
'you're welcome' for Slapper.  The whole idea of honor and teamwork was a very skewed concept 
from that of what the Autobots believed.  Predacons and Decepticons worked together because 
they had to.  It was necessary for survival and to accomplish their goals.  Most Predacons 
did not always want to serve under a leader, but when faced with the option of either serving 
or being destroyed, they took servitude.
	There were certain things understood among the two factions as well.  In battle you 
always left with the wounded as long as they could be repaired.  Respect was shared as well, 
though the respect one had for another was either not shown at all, or through loyalty.  
Nothing more.  It was somewhat of a shaky system, allowing for a lot of loopholes which lead 
to treachery, but it worked more than it failed.
	They had reached the core.  Slapper stopped.  The core appeared to be functioning.
	"What's the problem?" he said, a puzzled look on his face.
	Dark Scream walked over to the main fuse panel on the bottom of the core.  He opened 
it, revealing a lot of burnt out and singed fuses.  "They overheated," he said.
	Slapper took a closer look.  A lot of the fuses had not only overheated and burst, 
but some of them were melted into the circuit board itself.
	"How is this possible?" Slapper said, taking a step back.  "The fuses were new, and 
the weapon was only powered to half.  This shouldn't have happened."
	Dark Scream looked at Slapper.  "I know that.  But it happened," he said.
	"The only way they could have failed this bad was if they had been used," Slapper said.  
"And I replaced them not long before we left Cybertron."
	"What else would cause it," Dark Scream said.  He had asked a question, but the way 
he said it made it seem like he already knew the answer and  wanted Slapper to figure it out.  
	"Fuses have a life to them," Slapper said, impatient.  "But they can remain dormant 
for hundreds of stellar cycles.  I mean, how long-" he stopped.
	"We were in stasis lock a lot longer than originally thought," Dark Scream said.
	"How long?" Slapper asked.
	"I'm about to find out," Dark Scream said.  He clicked his communicator.  "Megatron, 
can you come to the weapon core, we need to show you something."
	"Very well," Megatron said.
	Slapper had a look of fear on his face.  "Are you crazy?!" he yelled.  "Megatron won't 
tell us, and that's assuming he knows," he stopped to think.  "And when he sees we found out, 
he'll scrap us!"
	Dark Scream looked at Slapper.  Poor fellow.  He still feared Megatron, even after 
the Predacon forces were so limited that Megatron could not spare a single troop.  "Just 
relax, okay?" he said, somewhat annoyed.

					* * * * * *
					
	"Prowl to Optimus, come in," Prowl said into his communicator.  He and Rail Spike 
were taking their shift at the lake.  For the last two mega-cycles they had been there, and 
nothing.
	"Optimus here," Optimus' voice came in over the link.  "What's the situation?"
	"There isn't one," Prowl said.  "No activity.  I don't think they plan on coming 
back."
	"That's what I was affraid of," Optimus said.  "Sideburn is mapping out other places 
in the area with a high energon concentration, so we'll have to check those out as well."
	"I don't think that will be necesary," Rail Spike said.  He had been in a different 
area from Prowl, and he was just now catching up.  "We'll get back to you Optimus.  I've got 
to show what I found to Prowl."
	"Alright, but I want a full report when you get back," Optimus said.  "Optimus 
out."
	Prowl looked at Rail Spike.  "Show me what?"
	"Follow me," Rail Spike said.  They walked a few dozen yards to a group of trees at 
the edge of the lake.  Rail Spike motioned for Prowl to stop and he pushed aside one of the 
smaller trees.  Prowl walked over and stopped behind him, looking at what he had uncovered.  
There was a huge hole, roughly the same height as Prowl, and leading deep into the ground.
	"What in the Pit..." Prowl said.
	"They went mining," Rail Spike said.
	"What's in it?" Prowl asked.
	"As far as I went in, nothing," Rail Spike said.  "All the energon cubes were mined 
out of it, then transported away.  Look," he pointed at the ground.  Tire tracks could be 
seen in the dirt.
	"Scourge," Prowl said.  "How much?"
	"It's pretty deep, so I'd say a lot," Rail Spike said.  "Enough to allow the Vertigo 
to do some major damage."
	"Back to base then," was all Prowl said.
	
					* * * * * *
					
	"Very well," Megatron finally said.  "I guess I'm faced with no other option."  He 
had been confronted by Dark Scream about the fuses.  He could see no way to get out of this, 
the vile flying rat would figure it out on his own eventually anyway.  Megatron looked over 
at Slapper, who had not said a word the whole time.  At least some of his followers were in 
fear of him.  Dark Scream knew he was necessary, and Megatron did not like that.
	"The Vertigo crashed on this planet around a million Earth years ago.  After the 
Beast Wars occured here, but well before the ancient Autobots and Decepticons awoke from 
emergency stasis lock to start the great war," Megatron put it plain and simple.
	"But..." Dark Scream trailed off, unable to think of a way to end the sentence.
	"I know, it's a tough thing to grasp," Megatron said impatiently.  "But you will have 
to think about it later, we have some work to do."
	Dark Scream nodded.  Finally he spoke agian.  "What?" he asked.
	"Get the weapons up and running again, then tractor in some more stasis pods," Megatron 
commanded, all traces of apathy that were there before were not gone from his voice.  "We are 
going to get in a full shot at the Autobot base, then destroy whatever, or whoever, ramains 
after that."  Megatron smiled.  "The Autobot rebellion is as good as crushed," he laughed a bit.
	"Y-yes, s-sir," Slapper finally said something.  Megatron just looked at him, then turned 
and walked out of the core.

					* * * * * *
					
	Optimus shook his head.  "This day just keeps getting better and better," he said.  
"Sideburn, how is Sentinel doing?"
	Sideburn spun around in his chair.  "Okay I guess," he said.  "Shield power is at full, 
and I set up an energy reserve, so they can power up quicker, but a full power blast from the 
Vertigo will still knock them out.  It's just a matter of if we can power it up again before they 
can recharge their weapons."
	"How many blasts do you think they have?" Prowl asked.
	"With as much energon as you said," Sideburn said, pausing a second to think.  "Too 
many."
	"More than any Pred should ever have," X-Brawn remarked.
	"So, now what, Ops?" Sideburn asked.
	Optimus looked at the Autobots grimly.  "We wait," he said.  "There's nothing else we 
can do.  It's up to Megatron now."
	"I hate it when it's up to Megatron," Midnight Express said.
	"You and me both, kid," X-Brawn said.
	
CONTINUED...