Iguanus blinked in wonder. "Where..." he began.
"I am Megatron, your leader. Welcome to the Predacon ship Dark Side. You are the first of a new breed of warriors, ready to follow orders."
"I am Iguanus 3457WF2, named after the great Decepticon Pretender." Megatron nodded curiously.
"Do you know what a Maximal is, Iguanus?" Megatron asked staring into his new soldier's eyes.
"Maximals are the sworn enemy of the Predacon alliance. We will crush their very existence, until Cybertron is once again ours," the new Predacon said in a rage.
"Good, good," Megatron said laughing. "Tarantulas, it seems that your Predacon integration programme worked. He knows his history."
"Yes, Megatron," Tarantulas said with an almost worried look. He was working on the second protoform. "My programme may not work on all of the protoforms, though. This one is having serious difficulty initiallizing my parameters."
"Scanning for suitable vehicle mode..." the pod said. Waspinator had put their ship, the Dark Side, in orbit around the small blue planet, for easier scanning. Immediately the stasis pod started building the mould for another Predacon warrior. This one would be a ferocious Cheetah.
"Iguanus. You're first job for me is to go to the bridge and run an energon scan on this planet," Megatron said.
"Yes, sir. Anything to further the power of our race. Beast mode." Suddenly, Iguanus transformed into a long, dark grey reptile and shuffled his way towards the bridge.
"I'm beginning to like these protoforms," Megatron said with a hearty chuckle. "Terrorsaur, would you be so kind as to figure out how these stasis pods work?"
"Of course. What do you have in mind, Megatron?" Terrorsaur asked.
"I wonder if we too could be reprogrammed with beast modes. Something preferably more powerful than a lizard. My vehicle mode is beginning to bore me."
Suddenly the second pod opened and out walked a tall spotted robot.
"Predacons!!!" he yelled and pulled out his weapon. Tarantulas and Terrorsaur did the same.
"Stop. Do not fire!" Megatron demanded. They all stood their ground. "And what do we have here?" Megatron asked the new robot.
"I am Cheetor, who are you?" snapped the feisty transformer.
"We are Predacon allies. There is no need for weapons. We are all friends here, Cheetor. Do you know what a Maximal is?"
"Of course, I am a Maximal, and you are not my allies," he said and started blasting away at Tarantulas and Terrorsaur. In an instant, the cargo bay was ablaze with firepower. Tarantulas and Megatron headed for cover, but Terrorsaur was lost in the commotion.
"Waspinator, Iguanus, you are needed in the cargo bay, now!" Megatron yelled. Cheetor kept firing in their direction, over the inert body of Terrorsaur. "It seems your programme is not as stable as we thought, Tarantulas."
The universe materialised. The Axalon and all of its members had survived, but were now dismayed. With the collapse of the vortex, came the impossibility of return. No one spoke for a few minutes, as bitter reality overwhelmed their sensors.
"How did we make it?" Rattrap said in disbelief.
"I burped the engines," Razorbeast said.
"What?" Rattrap asked with a blank face. Obviously, there was a reason why they had asked Razorbeast along. No one here could possibly have done a manoeuvre like what he just pulled. Suddenly, a tiny blue planet loomed into view.
"Where and when are we?" Dinobot asked slowly.
"By the looks of the star configurations..." Rattrap said clicking some buttons. "I have no idea..."
"Theoretically, we could be anywhere in the cosmos, correct?" Dinobot asked. Optimus Primal merely nodded. "But thanks to Razorbeast, Megatron must be somewhere in the area."
"I don't know how desperate somebody has to be to just shoot themselves into a random point in the universe. What was Megatron thinking?" Razorbeast said.
"I suppose that when you're being chased by Maximal warships, anything helps," Optimus said.
"So now what?" Dinobot asked bitterly.
"The plan is to find Megatron, erase him and all evidence of his existence in this era, and then..." Optimus said. "Do the same for us..." Everybody knew that in order to keep the timeline clean, all proof of them ever being there would have to be destroyed. Those were the rules, and Razorbeast knew that they'd be followed.
"I got something!" Rattrap yelled suddenly. "Long range sensors have picked up a mechanical object on the surface of this planet. It's the only mechanical thing there, so I'm guessing it's Megatron's ship."
"Good. Plot a course, Razorbeast. We have work to do," Optimus commanded. Razorbeast did so, and soon they were near enough to the planet to see land-forms.
"I'm getting a few more mechanical objects... in orbit..." Rattrap said looking up at the viewscreen.
"What do you mean?" Dinobot asked. Rattrap said nothing and examined his console.
"What?" he suddenly said in disbelief. "Most of it is debris and junk, but I'm also picking up protoforms, stasis pods and all."
"You mean the protoforms have been jettisoned?" Razorbeast asked speculatively. Optimus stood and looked at the viewscreen. A large piece of debris floated by.
"By the looks of it, Razorbeast, the protoforms weren't jettisoned. The debris looks mostly like hull fragments." No one spoke as they began their descent to the planet's surface. Rattrap immediately began flicking switches and pushing buttons, trying to find a landing spot.
"Whatever happened, I'm sure we're about to find out," Optimus said as the Axalon dove further into the atmosphere. Soon, they were hovering above a chain of mountains. Razorbeast was thrilled by the amazing manoeuvrability the Axalon had.
Megatron's ship momentarily came into view. The ship was severely tattered. Gaping holes in the hull were visible, but what was more interesting was where it had landed. The Predacon ship had clearly crashed directly into the side of a mountain.
"What could have happened that would cause such destruction?" Dinobot asked amazed. "Dissension among Predacon ranks is not uncommon, but I doubt it could have led to this."
"You're right, Dinobot. Something strange is going on..." Razorbeast said. "Unfortunately, the safest landing point is nearly two-hundred kilometres from here. The density of the vegetation, and unevenness of the terrain are too much for me to make a landing."
"I guess that'll have to do, then," Optimus said. No one spoke until Razorbeast had made the safe landing in a grassy plain. Far on the horizon stood the mountains, were Megatron's ship had landed in ruins.
Cheetor raced through the forest towards the landing ship. He had single- handedly ruined Megatron's plans for good. After rupturing the Dark Side's hull, the cargo bay was sucked dry into space. The imbalance sent the ship down into the atmosphere and crashing into the mountainside.
Damage to his internal systems had forced Cheetor to run in beast mode. Heading towards the now landed ship somewhere in front of him was his only choice. Even if the other ship contained more Predacons, he would at least find some answers.
"Before we head towards the crash sight, I have a surprise for you..." Optimus Primal said showing the others to the Axalon's hold. Razorbeast was now shaking his sense of loss of his home, and was more than willing to go kill some Predacons. "Before we left, I had one of the maintenance crewmen fetch me these."
In their leader's hand sat four small chips. Razorbeast smiled and nearly laughed out loud. They were transformation chips.
"In the event that we caught up to Megatron, I thought it would be best to have some kind of edge. These are the latest transformation chips, straight from labs in Sector 15."
"So what are we gonna transform into?" Rattrap asked grabbing one of the small cubes.
"By the looks of the amount of energon on this planet we are probably susceptible to overloads," Razorbeast said.
"All we do is enter the CR chambers, and hope for the best," Optimus said. "The chips will find something compatible to our personalities and abilities." Razorbeast knew this was bad news. Although he was an avid pilot, he was far too rash and stubborn. He calculated his chances as transforming into a flying animal to be 1 to 50 against him.
"Agreed?" Optimus asked. The others took their chips and nodded.
"Why not?" Rattrap said happily. They walked over to the CR room and strapped themselves in. Opening up their main access ports, they each inserted the small devices. Razorbeast felt good to have a chip in his chest once again.
The CR chambers closed up and everything went dark. The ship's sensors started scanning the general vicinity for life. Within minutes everything was finished.
Razorbeast stepped out of the chamber feeling slightly heavier than before. He had new armour, some covered in fur, and his colours had changed slightly. He looked around and saw that only Rattrap had come out before him.
"Hey there Razorbeast! How do you feel?" the small Maximal asked.
"I don't know yet. We'll see..." he said looking himself over.
"Rattrap, beast mode." Suddenly, the small grey Maximal had converted into a small grey rodent. "Hey! This ain't so bad. Kinda fit's my name too!" he said. "Let's see what you do, Raze."
"Raze?" asked Razorbeast. He wasn't very fond of nicknames. "Fine. Let's find out. Beast mode." His internal servos and mechanisms started pushing and moving. His arms and legs folded up and his back enveloped his body. His optical sensors switched over, as did taste, smell and touch. He was now a pudgy warthog, and didn't know what to think of himself.
"Hey! You're a pig!" Rattrap said laughing. Razorbeast didn't think it was too funny and growled at the small rodent. Suddenly, the other two CR chambers opened and out walked Optimus and Dinobot.
"Optimus! There are small animals in the ship..." Dinobot said before he realised it was his comrades. "Interesting. I stand corrected."
"Rattrap maximise!"
"Razorbeast maximise!"
They both reverted to their original forms.
"Good. It seems that you are both agile creatures," Optimus Primal said looking at his back in the mirror. Two wings were folded up behind him. "Interesting. It seems I am capable of flight."
Razorbeast was immediately jealous. Dinobot, on the other hand was busy inspecting himself. His fingers had become long, slender and tipped with long claws. Before any further ado, they transformed. Optimus had become a small rodent-like creature as well, except for the wings.
Dinobot was something of a terror. He was a tall, long and slender reptilian, with enormous teeth and long claws. "I am pleased..." Dinobot said scratching his claws on the floor.
"I think we all are," Optimus said flying up to the ceiling and finding a perch. Razorbeast saw something out of the corner of his eye. A light was flashing on the wall. He went to the nearest console and pushed some buttons.
"Axalon's sensors are picking up a robot form heading this way at an alarming speed," Razorbeast said.
"Predacon?" Optimus asked from above.
Razorbeast tapped another couple buttons. "Unknown. It must be in beast mode," he replied.
"Okay," Optimus said converting back into robot mode and landing next to Razorbeast. "You and Dinobot had better go outside and wait. Get into beast mode, and surprise whoever it is."
"Yes, sir," Razorbeast said. He and Dinobot headed down the hallway to the main entrance and headed outside. Razorbeast's sensors immediately started working. The atmosphere was mostly oxygen, and temperature and pressure were fluctuating, but within acceptable parameters. The levels of energon were off the scales, and life was abundant around them. The air was filled with insects and the ground covered in vegetation. This world was completely alien to anything Razorbeast could have expected. He quickly transformed and hid among the grasses in his animal form.
Astoundingly, his new biological ears were just as powerful as his sensors, and a distant rustling was heard. The unknown robot approached, and Dinobot and Razorbeast waited in hiding. From what he could hear, the robot moved at an alarmingly fast rate, and would be there in five seconds.
Precisely five seconds later, the robot was there, inspecting the Axalon, as the ship sat patiently. Razorbeast lunged out, transforming to robot mode, and pinning down the large stranger. Dinobot came and held a sword to the stranger's face. Optimus and Rattrap then came out of the ship, weapons in hand.
"Who are you?" Dinobot asked fiercely.
"I am Cheetor, a Maximal, like you. I recognised the insignia on your ship just now."
"A Maximal? How is that possible? How did you get on Megatron's ship?" Optimus asked. "Which sector of Cybertron are you from?"
"Sector?" Cheetor said as Razorbeast let him go. "I just came on-line half an hour ago." Primal gave a puzzled look to his comrades.
"I speculate that Megatron has already begun reviving the protoforms he stole. How unfortunate for him, that some must be pre-formatted Maximals," Dinobot said.
"And fortunate for us!" Rattrap added.
"Welcome to the Axalon, Cheetor," Optimus said and the slender feline was released. Cheetor quickly transformed into his robot form.
"Thank you. I don't know who any of you are or where I am, but thank you. You're the only nice people I've met today. Those Predacons sure are feisty." They showed the tall blue and yellow robot into the Axalon, where they took seats on the bridge.
"The Predacons have every reason to be angry. Their ship is down in rough terrain, for one," Razorbeast said taking his swivelling seat at the helm.
"That was my fault," Cheetor said shrugging. "They had me pinned in the corner of a cargo hold, so I blew the hull. After that, everything in the cargo bay was sucked out except for me and the Predacons. It was enough to shock them all, though and we started careening uncontrollably towards this planet. I don't know how the ship made it without burning up, but we all survived. I fled as soon as we were crashed, knowing they'd be after me. Two flying Predacons followed me, but I downed them back in the forest. Then I saw your ship land and came to investigate."
"Terrorsaur and Waspinator? Were they the ones who followed you?" Optimus asked.
"I do not know their names," Cheetor said. "Something tells me this isn't home, is it?"
"No. This is not Cybertron..." Optimus replied sadly. "There is a protoform integration programme in the ship's files. That should explain everything you need to know about your past. As for now, Megatron is the leader of the Predacons who found you and brought you on-line. We have been ordered to find and stop him at all costs."
"Things shouldn't be too difficult for us," Cheetor said. "The other ship is pretty damaged. As far as I could tell, the weapons, propulsions, sensors, generators, CR chambers and communicators were all down. Without energon, or fixing the generators, Megatron won't be going anywhere."
Optimus looked at his crew. "Then I suggest as soon as you've been updated, Cheetor, we head out and finish this job before it gets any more complicated."
"What do we have?" Megatron roared at Waspinator. He had been demanding answers for a good hour now, but none were pleasing to hear.
"Everything is down, Megatron. Tarantulas is working on the generators right now. Without them nothing can work."
"What has happened to our feline friend?" Megatron asked calming down. There was no sense in blasting the only troops he had for the moment.
"The Maximal has headed towards that other ship. He... er... outran us easily," Terrorsaur said rubbing the bruises.
"Maximal coward..." Megatron mumbled. "In any case, I highly doubt that ship was one of ours, and if I am correct, we will surely be having visitors sometime soon." Megatron thought to himself for a moment. "Very well. Tell Tarantulas he had better get those generators working. In the meantime, we shall prepare for the worst. Waspinator, go stand watch outside."
"Yes, Megatron," he said heading for the door.
"Iguanus, I have a special job for you," Megatron added with a grin.
Cheetor watched as a history lesson unfolded in front of him. The viewscreen showed footage from the Great War, many Autobots and Decepticons battling fiercely for the greater cause. Cheetor's favourite scenes were those taking place on Cybertron, a home he may never see with his own optics.
"Learning much?" Razorbeast asked sitting down next to his new comrade.
"Yes," Cheetor said sadly.
"What's wrong? You look disillusioned."
"I expected war from what my pre-programmed knowledge tells me, but this is somewhat... overwhelming."
"It certainly is," Razorbeast said. "I remember watching footage of the Great War when I was younger. They say that there has never been a more violent time in Cybertronian history. If it makes you feel any better about our situation, we may be preventing something worse."
Cheetor nodded slightly.
"All I know," Razorbeast continued, "is that we're here for a mission. I'll go down in history, just like those guys on the screen, if we get through this. If we don't..."
"Who knows. Maybe we'll never have existed," Cheetor said. This was something Razorbeast didn't really like acknowledging. Optimus came flying down the hallway and transformed next to them.
"Like your wings?" Razorbeast asked. Optimus smiled and looked himself over for a second.
"I'll have to get used to them," he said. "Anyway, Rattrap's on the bridge. He just picked up a faint energy signal in the distance."
"Where?" Cheetor asked.
"Well, if he's right, Megatron's generators are up and running again. Which means he may have sensors, weapons, anything back to normal. Our time is now, if we want to strike."
"Agreed," Razorbeast said.
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Razorbeast: Mission One (3 of 3)
