It was nearing dusk, and Megatron was beginning to worry slightly. As thorough as Waspinator was at examining situations and devising strategies, he was beginning to doubt it would take him all afternoon. He stood watching Tarantulas install new coils in the power generator when his patience dissolved.
"Terrorsaur," he bellowed down towards the bridge. In a few moments, the red Predacon came flying down the way.
"Yes, Megatron?"
"I do believe it has been long enough." This was all Terrorsaur needed to hear. He started flapping his wings with glee.
"I shall find out what has happened to our precious Waspinator," he said and headed back down the hallway.
"Please do," Megatron said turning back to Tarantulas.
"Sir," the spider said. "I do believe I am nearly finished."
"Excellent, Tarantulas. I hope you are not the only competent person on our side." Megatron smiled. "Things will be tipping in our favour very shortly, Tarantulas. Our triumph is nigh."
Waspinator was cursing whoever had designed the interior wiring of the Axalon. He had followed the coolant pipe to a large bundle of valves and tubes, and had abruptly lost the trail to the engines as quickly as he'd found it. He was now completely lost in the mesh of mechanics of the Axalon's intestines.
He crawled onward for a moment, and came upon a lucky surprise. A wide air duct was open in the dark distance. Down through the mesh, Waspinator could see a small Maximal insignia, sitting proudly on the shoulder of the one called Razorbeast.
The transformer stood with his blaster in one hand and a flashlight in the other. He had obviously searched every which part of the Axalon's bottom floor, and decided to stand watch when he came up empty handed.
Waspinator quietly assessed the situation. Razorbeast was probably not expecting an attack from above, so the element of surprise was still his. Waspinator guessed that he was somewhere near the gravity generators, and only meters away from the engine room. All five Maximals would rush to the scene if Waspinator took out the gravity generator, and he would have quick access to the second floor again via the engine room. It was the diversion he needed.
The only thing standing in his way was about a ton of red and brown Maximal. Waspinator unscrewed a large transistor block from the mechanisms surrounding him. Dropping one on the Maximal's head would not be enough, but knocking the blaster out of his hand would do nicely.
Quietly, Waspinator lifted the duct mesh out of the way, and calculated a trajectory. He lifted the metal block in his hand and aimed. He released. The large block slammed down on Razorbeast's weapon and wrist, knocking the blaster away.
Razorbeast jumped in sudden shock, giving Waspinator the opportunity to pounce. He landed directly on top of the Maximal and pinned him to the cold, metal floor. He held the laser scalpel to his head and flicked it on. Immediately, Razorbeast's outer skull plating started melting. He screamed in pain.
Waspinator started laughing, but was interrupted by three photon blasts floating by. He spun around to see Cheetor and Optimus Primal, who had just come through the main entrance from outside.
"What's going on here?" Optimus yelled as Cheetor fired a few more times. Waspinator panicked. This was unexpected. He stood and started running down the hallway towards the gravity generators, leaving Razorbeast in pain.
A photon blast slammed into Waspinator's shoulder, overloading one of his internal capacitors. His right arm went numb, but he continued forward. A door stood only steps away.
Cheetor stopped to help his ally as Optimus continued the pursuit. Waspinator rushed into the gravity generator room and immediately started welding the door shut behind him with the scalpel. Suddenly, Optimus was heard slamming on the door. It would hold only for a few moments. Waspinator walked up to the machinery and started punching commands in at the console. He had a terrific idea, and had just enough time to do it.
"Axalon," he said. "Simulate gravity in the following sections." He pushed buttons on a large map at the most likely places the Maximals were standing. This would certainly catch them off guard. An added pull along with the planet's gravity was enough to leave any transformer glued to the ground helplessly.
He decided to leave the path to the computer core unaffected, but the rest of the ship was about to get a whole lot heavier. "Security code required," the computer suddenly said. Waspinator smiled. He had a whole bunch of computer viruses programmed in his data banks. He could have uploaded any one of them to ruin the generator's security system and grant him access. But, he chose the easier, more amusing way.
"Security code Dinobot alpha beta alpha," he said in the most reptilian voice he could. A few moments of thinking, and the computer decided to comply.
There was a tremendous bass thud as the rest of the ship lurched in stress. Optimus Primal had ceased knocking on the door, and could be heard scrambling on the ground. Waspinator snickered.
It suddenly dawned on him that his fellow Predacons were probably wondering where he was. Perhaps Megatron had even sent someone already. Waspinator laughed at how little faith the others had in him. In his eyes, this mission was turning out quite successful, despite it's initial troubles. If anyone was coming to the rescue, though, shields would sure be a nuisance for them.
"Disarm the shields and ignore all further commands for the next fifteen minutes," Waspinator said into the computer. There was an affirmative click. He now had about fifteen minutes to reach the computer core, without any Maximals changing the situation on him.
As far as he could tell, the engine room was through the nearest wall. It took him a few minutes, and the rest of the power in his laser scalpel, to break his way through. The real fun was about to begin. If he could make it up to the second floor, and across to the computer core, everything he ever needed to know about the Maximals and their capabilities would be in his hands.
Rattrap found it very difficult to breathe. The sudden onset of simulated gravitation had caught him off guard near the computer core. He had just completed searching for Waspinator on the top level, and was looking for Dinobot for answers. Optimus and Cheetor had returned from their excursion, and only moments later, this had happened.
Rattrap had no doubt that Waspinator had something to do with this. He only hoped the entire crew hasn't pinned to the ground, or the Pred could do some real damage. With every tight breath, his lungs lurched. If he stopped breathing his internal circuits would overheat, his cerebral network would short out, and he'd go into stasis lock, or worse. Suffocation was the last way Rattrap wanted to go off-line. Luckily, he could hear footsteps. Rattrap lifted his unbearably heavy head to see who was approaching. It was Dinobot.
"What has happened?" Dinobot asked about ten feet away.
"Don't come any closer!" Rattrap yelled. "Waspinator's hiked up the gravity more than a notch and a half." Dinobot frowned in confusion, then put his arm forward, into the next hall section. It suddenly felt like a lump of heavy iron, and Dinobot struggled to keep it from pulling him over.
"Interesting..." Dinobot said, pulling his arm back. "He must have planned to come to this area, or I too would be in your unhappy situation."
"Very funny," Rattrap said.
"Axalon," Dinobot said. "Shut down the gravity generators in all sections." Nothing happened, as Dinobot suspected. If Waspinator had even been able to use the gravity generator, we could easily have blocked out further commands.
"That lousy Predacon," Rattrap said, letting his neck rest, dropping his head with a thud. "Ouch."
"The computer core must be his destination," Dinobot thought. "Therefore, the most probable route is through the engine room."
"When you find him, tell him Rattrap has a headache, and would like to have a little chat with him."
Engineering stood lifeless. Power had been routed out of this section, due to the engine's uselessness. Iguanus had done a good job after all. Waspinator looked around and transformed into Beast Mode. He flew up to the second level doorway and cautiously pushed it open.
The route to the computer core was not gravitated, so if any Maximals were in this area, he'd have to deal with them on his own. Considering his laser scalpel was out of energy and he hadn't found anything else useful, he proceeded carefully.
Rounding a corner, a grey Maximal could be seen down the hallway. Waspinator smiled and crept along the wall towards the nearest door. Rattrap lay motionless, and seemed as threatening as a feather in an ice cube. This accounted for four of the Maximals, leaving only one possibly out of the extra gravity's reach.
Waspinator knew exactly who was left, and wouldn't be surprised if he was the only one unaffected. It was just his luck.
Now, though, the coast seemed clear. He walked through a doorway marked 'High Energon Levels', and switched to heat vision momentarily. The large blob of warm energy ebbed and flowed just as he'd seen it from high above the Axalon. It was the centre of all Maximal intelligence on this planet, and Waspinator had found it.
Switching back to regular sight, he pulled out a small cord from his wrist. It was his link up cable. Fifteen minutes were up. Plugging himself into the computer, Waspinator immediately started getting warnings. The Axalon's security system immediately picked up his Predacon interface signature, but it was too late.
It only took a nanosecond for Waspinator to download his favourite virus before the computer could react. Pretty soon, the core was Predacon friendly, and Waspinator got down to work.
Passing through the initial cheery Maximal welcomes, he mentally searched for the crew rosters. Soon he was downloading files on all five Maximal enemies, including their skills, past experiences, physical and mental capabilities and, of course, their flaws.
Next, he checked out and downloaded anything having to do with the Axalon's security systems, weapons capabilities and shield parameters. He was so enthused by his work, that he hardly noticed the sudden stabbing pain in his side.
When he did notice, however, he unplugged himself and tried to swing around. Dinobot's sword, which was now deep into his side, restricted a lot of movement, though. "Dinobot." Waspinator cringed as the Maximal swung into view. "I thought you may have missed my little..."
"I did," Dinobot said maliciously. "Axalon, security code Dinobot Alpha Beta Alpha. Shut down all gravity generators in all sections." The computer complied and a low thud could be heard outside. Dinobot looked at his foe, and shoved his sword deeper into Waspinator's gut.
"So, Predacon. This escape was not as easy as your last, was it?" Waspinator didn't answer.
It was just like Dinobot to be so blatant and so very cold. Waspinator's rage grew inside him. He knew that if the sword delved any deeper, his spark would be in danger. He didn't want to die at the hands of a Maximal, this one in particular. "This time, you won't escape without getting damaged, will you, Waspinator?"
Waspinator smiled and grabbed the sword with both hands. "At least I'll escape!" It was sharp, and sliced at his fingers as he started pulling it out, pushing against Dinobot's might. With a twist, he stuck one leg behind Dinobot and pushed him over, tripping him to the floor. The sword was out.
Dinobot quickly scrambled to his feet, but was immediately tackled by Waspinator. With a push, Dinobot was sent uncontrollably towards some open circuitry, buzzing with energon.
Static shot through the room as the Maximal was overloaded by the power of the Axalon computer core. Dinobot pushed himself away, and was forced into beast mode, collapsing on the ground in stasis lock. Waspinator felt a bit better seeing his foe helpless on the ground.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Rattrap stumbled in. Waspinator ducked as Rattrap shot at him from behind. He quickly transformed and started flying up to the top half of the computer room. Rattrap headed for the nearest elevator, but was too slow to follow.
Waspinator sped down the top floor hallway, searching left and right for a weapon. He needed to make a way out. There were windows on the bridge, but they often proved as hard as steel. The only exit he knew of was at the bottom of the ship, which was crawling with Maximals.
Passing by the elevator, he noticed it was on its way up. The other Maximals were in hot pursuit. Time was running out.
He switched to heat vision, looking for stress fractures in the ceiling. If he had too, he'd smash his way out of the Axalon. As he looked up he caught a glimpse of something he needed dearly.
A small robot's heat signature could be seen through the ceiling. It was Terrorsaur. Suddenly, the Axalon was shuddering under laser fire. It was concentrated directly above him, so Waspinator took cover. Since the shields were down, the blasts were powerful.
As the elevator made its way closer and closer to the top floor, the ceiling caved in, and the night sky could be seen. Waspinator flew up and started tearing away at the thick hull. Soon enough, a hole was big enough to fit through, and he greeted Terrorsaur with a slap on the back.
"Megatron finally gave up on you, Waspinator," Terrorsaur said. "Lucky for you, I came along."
"Yes," Waspinator admitted. "I had just run out of options. You'll be glad to hear I have some very valuable information, though."
"Do tell," Terrorsaur said.
"In time, Terrorsaur, in time." Suddenly, photon fire came blasting through the hole they'd made in the Axalon's roof.
"Are you damaged?" Terrorsaur asked, dodging fire. Waspinator ignored the pains in his shoulder, his hands and his side.
"If I am damaged, then the Axalon is crippled. For now, we'd better get going." Waspinator and Terrorsaur started heading for the west, and the mountains in the distance.
Cheetor cursed as Optimus shook his head.
"Forget it Cheetor. It's no use. He must have taken the shields down to get out. Razorbeast is hurt pretty badly. Waspinator must have made it past Dinobot and Rattrap too. I think it's time to regroup and reconstruct."
Cheetor looked up through the hole until the Predacons were out of sight. It was the second loss they'd had so far. He sincerely hoped things wouldn't get any worse.
Luckily, Tarantulas had finally stabilised the power generators for enough output for at least the CR chambers. As Waspinator stepped out, Megatron and the others greeted him with a smile.
"I take it the mission was a difficult one," Megatron said.
"There were certain complications..." Waspinator said. "I have brought back valuable files depicting analysis of all five Maximals and their ship. It was the most I could do." Megatron looked surprised and proud.
"The most you could do? Waspinator! You have done more than I expected. It seems that the Maximal presence on this planet is under serious jeopardy. As soon as the computers are up and running again, we shall inspect your files. Excellent mission, Waspinator, one worthy of promotion to Lieutenant-Commander."
Waspinator smiled and nodded once. He had been wondering who would take Megatron's side in command. "I accept."
"Good." Megatron turned to the others. "It is late. Iguanus, take watch. We shall rest for our oncoming triumph over the Maximals." There was a slight cheer, and they all went their ways.
Waspinator flipped into beast mode and hovered towards his chamber. It had been a decent day after all, and he had finally received some sort of revenge over Dinobot. The promotion was something he hadn't expected, and it meant new responsibilities, as well as new opportunities.
All in all, he respected this new planet. It was rich and full of possibility. As he fell asleep, though, he longed for the ultimate escape, a victorious return to Cybertron.
