(NOTE: Any scenes in this chapter of the alien saga, as well as any others, that have JUST the aliens talking in them, are translated into English. The aliens are actually speaking in their own language to each other.)

  Once again, it looked like it was downtime for the Beast Warriors. After their battle in the maze, they had all been teleported back to the empty, barren chamber that had been in before. All transformers that had been injured or put into stasis lock were healed by the “magical” air, and soon, everything was boring again.

 It had been about a week between the time that the transformers were subjected to the alien experiments and the time that they were teleported to the maze. Thus, the Beast Warriors had expected it to be about that same amount of time before they were going to be subjected to another test. After nearly three weeks went by without anything going on, however, they started to lose hope. After four weeks had gone by, even the most optimistic of them had become convinced that they were never going to see Earth, much less Cybertron, again.

 Finally, nearly a month and a half after the “maze” test had ended, it looked like their luck might finally change…

 Cheetor, can you hear me?

 Cheetor immediately snapped open his eyes at the familiar sound, coming from both everywhere and nowhere at the same time. During the month and a half, Cheetor’s body had changed quite a bit, but it was still clear that it had some more “mutating” to go through yet. His head had become less cat-like, and more human-like. He now had five fingers, organic in appearance, on each hand, and he had purple claws at the end of each of his human-like fingers. Large spotted crests had started to grow out of the back of his upper arms, and his legs had started to change their structure- it wasn’t clear yet exactly what they were changing into. Because of this gradual change in his leg structure, Cheetor had trouble walking.

 “Tara-“

 Shh! Quiet you fool! The voice said, silencing Cheetor. You want the aliens to figure out what I’m doing? They have hidden cameras everywhere on this ship! I’m talking with you telepathically, since any other attempt at communication would be blatantly obvious. Only you can hear me; any other bystanders in this room can’t. If you want to communicate with me, just think whatever you want to say!

 Okay… Cheetor thought, a million questions forming in his mind. Where are you, Tarantulas? How can you communicate with me telepathically? Can you get us out of here?

 One question at a time! Tarantulas answered. For one, the name is Taran…

 Later, after Taran had explained everything that had happened between him and the aliens….

 So, you’re one of the aliens? And you’ve had telepathic abilities for a long time !? Cheetor thought, bewildered.

 Of course, stupid! Haven’t you been listening for the past ten minutes!?

 Well, then, why are you contacting me?

 Hehehehe…you see, I have a plan to get us off of this accursed ship, and it involves you and your friends--

 -Wait a nano, Tarantul- er, Taran. I know you- you’d never do anything nice for anyone else unless there was something else in it for you. What do you want from us?

 You KNOW me? Then I guess you also KNEW that I was a Vexoran, hmmm?

 Well..

 Precisely. I am a different guy on the inside than I am on the outside. Besides, I’d get out of here myself- that’s enough for me, hehe..

 Fine, what’s the plan?

 I know the way out of this ship from where you are, since this is a standard C-DSC ship. All I need to do is bust you all out of there, and then, we’ll home free!

 Oh, is THAT all? What about the hundreds of other Vexorans on this ship? And you mentioned that you’re in a cell, too. How are you going to get out of there?

 I’m getting to that! Now, I’m going to contact the other transformers, and tell them the same things I told you. This will probably take a while, considering I’ll have to talk to that idiot Waspinator too. After this, I’ll contact everyone here at the same time, and tell you all the plan. Got it?

 Yeah.

 Good.

 Taran closed his telepathic connection with the Beast Warriors. All the plans were set. The transformers were all ready. Now, it was up to him.

 Here goes nothing…

 “Guard! Guard!” Taran suddenly yelled.

 A questioning grunt was the only muffled reply Taran heard. He heard the cell door slowly being opened, and a large Vexoran guard with a utility belt on stepped in, gun in hand. The guard closed the door behind him, and turned the only light in the cell on- a small, dim light pad.

 “What?!”

 “There’s a gatrib in my cell!” Taran screamed, acting like he was scared to death. The former Predacon ran over to the side of the cell closest to the doorway and the guard, cowering behind the large Vexoran.

 “One of those little pests? Big deal, they’re everywhere!” The guard said, surprised that such a legendary traitor would be scared of the Vexoran equivalent of a rat.

 “He’s over there, in that corner on the far side of the room!” Taran replied frantically, ignoring the guard’s comment.

 “I can’t see nothing!”

 “He’s there! Remember, they hate light?”

 The guard sighed, shaking his head. “Fine, let me get out my- ohhhh….”

 While the guard had been searching his utility belt for a weapon to exterminate the make-believe pest, Taran quickly snatched the guard’s gun, pointing it at the guard and pulling the trigger before the guard’s mind could even register what had happened.

 The gun fired a small blue electricity ball at the guard, shocking the Vexoran to death. The form slumped to the ground, never finishing its sentence.

 “Hehehe…still got it,” Taran snickered.

 Taran immediately started to search through the guard’s utility belt, until he found the item he was looking for…

 “Heheheh….a passcode card,” Taran said to himself. He grabbed the guard’s lifeless body, tore the hand off (They’re made of black goo, remember? It’s not that hard), and walked up to the cell door.

 Taran quickly put the passcode card in its required slot in the door, and when the computer asked for identification, Taran placed the hand onto the hand imprint in the door. The computer confirmed that the identification was acceptable, and the door slided open.

 Taran wordlessly stepped out into the hallway, quickly shooting a few more guards before they could react. Taran then hurried to the nearest air duct, crawling inside and closing the grate behind him before any more guards discovered him.

 The Vexoran in transmetal armor tried his best to crawl successfully through the air ducts, but to no avail. He was too big with his "transmetal transformer suit” on. Sighing, he morphed into a liquid puddle and slithered down the air duct, leaving his transformer body behind.

 “How much information has been decrypted from Unit Rhinox’s spark so far, Prometheus?”

 “About 89.6% so far, Captain Tarad. We should have it all uncovered within the next week or so- this spark is very determined to keep its information secret, it has required a great amount of power to break its will. After we are done extracting all the information from this spark, we can store it in the long-term cryogenic chamber, while we divert our power to the engines. We will be back home within a month.”

 “Excellent. What ab-“

 Tarad was interrupted from his conversation as a Vexoran soldier burst into the chambers, gasping for air.

 “Captain- Tarad! Taran- has escaped! We found- three guards bodies- next to his cell! We have- a vague idea where he is going, though. His transformer shell was found in air duct C-3, and considering that that duct leads to the transformers’ cell, we think he is going to try to break the transformers out of their cell as well. We are sending all available forces to the hallway outside of the room, but we fear not many will make it there before Taran arrives at the transformers’ cell. We do not want to harm the transformers in the process of apprehending Taran, so we will get the traitor as he exits the room.”

 “Frag Taran for all the trouble he has caused!” Tarad angrily replied. “My brother will pay dearly for this, mark my words. He has been with the transformers so long that they have twisted his brain to their liking. However, you have done an excellent job formulating your plan, Vexoran. But I have one question. Hidden camera footage from the transformers’ cell shows that they are getting ready for something, supposedly Taran’s arrival. How can they know that Taran is coming for them?”

 “The only possible explanation we can think of, sir, is telepathic communication.”

 “But that is impossible! Taran had no psychic capabilities when he abandoned our kind fifteen years earlier!”

 “Perhaps, but he might have honed his skills, and gained the experience Vexorans need to reach their telepathic potential.”

 “Well, whatever the reason is, I will personally eliminate it from his core one atom at a time. Scarem, Scourge!”

 “Yes, Captain?” The two replied simultaneously.

 “I want you to make your way to the hallway in front of the transformers’ cell, stopping by the armory to pick up a C-465 electrifier on the way, of course. You are to arrest Taran on sight, and if he resists, shoot him. Got it?”

 “As you command,” Scourge said. The two Vexorans ran out of the chambers quickly.

 Taran had better not mess up my plans for the transformers, Scourge thought as he exited.

 “Prometheus,” Tarad continued, “I want you to stay here with me, and make sure the decryption of the info in Unit Rhinox’s spark goes according to plan. Vexoran, thank you for the information. You may return to your post.”

 This is more exhilarating than I thought it would be, Taran thought as he continued to move quickly down the duct towards the Beast Warriors’ cell. It reminds me of the days back when I was a secret agent with the Tripredacus council…

 After Taran had taken over Astroulas’ body, he had quit Astroulas’ old job, and had signed on serving the Tripredacus council, in order to get acquainted with a higher society of transformers. He was so good at his job, in fact, that the Tripredacus council had upgraded him to a secret agent within a matter of months. After the Tripredacus council found out that a renegade Predacon, Megatron, was hiring henchmen, they ordered Taran to sign on. He would be secretly keeping in touch with the council, and would tell them if Megatron committed any acts that could compromise the peace treaty. Taran had agreed, not knowing that he would be dragged into the Beast Wars.

 And now, he had ended up back where he started… with the Vexorans.

 Ahh, here we are…

 Taran morphed part of himself into a leg, and kicked the door open. He then slithered out into the transformers’ cell.

 Hearing a small grate crash behind them (too small for any transformer to fit through, they had tried to get out this way earlier), all the Beast Warriors immediately turned around, expecting to see exactly who they did see…Taran.

 Taran morphed back into his original Vexoran form, leaving all the transformers staring, open-mouthed, at him.

 “You… weren’t kidding about being an alien, were you?” Buzzclaw asked.

 “Of course not! But we have bigger concerns now. My brother, Tarad, the captain of this ship, has no doubt found out that I have escaped by now. He’s probably sending troops here right now, so we’ve got to hurry and get out of here!”

 “Eh, and how do we do ‘dat?” Rattrap questioned.

 “See that door?” Taran asked Rattrap, pointing to the locked door.

 “Yeah…”

 “See this card?” Taran again asked, whipping out the card he had stolen from the guard earlier.

 “Ooohhhh….”

 “Now, everyone get ready,” Taran commanded, stepping up to the door, card ready. “Remember, only energy, fire, and ice weapons will work against us Vexorans.”
 Waspinator sheepishly put his weapon away, having forgotten that little important piece of information.

 “Also, we’re going to Captain Tarad’s chambers first, to get the passcode for the reactor chamber and the teleportation chamber.”

 “Um, Wazzpinator forget… why alien-spider-bot want code for reactor chamber?”

 “I already explained this, you idiot!!” Taran exclaimed, impatient. “Because if we just teleport out of here, the Vexorans will just catch us again! We have to destroy this ship on the way out, too!”

 “Oh….Wazzpinator remembers now.”

 Tarantulas sighed, putting the card into the required slot in the door.

 “Here we go!” The Vexoran yelled as the door opened.

 Scourge and Scarem entered the hallway next to the transformers’ cell just in time to see five more Vexorans get obliterated by the transformer’s various guns.

 “Bah, they outnumber us!” Scourge exclaimed, backing behind a corner as a laser zoomed past. “I knew Tarad couldn’t keep these transformers locked up forever! I shouldn’t have been so cautious, I should have enacted my plan upon them sooner!”

 “Um… by the way, Scourge, what WAS your plan?” Scarem asked. “You never did tell me.”

 “It doesn’t matter now, it’s too late!” Scourge said, beginning to run in the opposite direction of the transformers.

 “Wait, where are you going?!” Scarem yelled, running to catch up with his brother.

 “This battle is lost before it even started! Tarad was too intent on the tests on experiments, he never once thought of the possibility of the transformers escaping! Now, there’s no way that we can stop them all, there’s too many of them! There are only four times as many Vexorans on this ship as there are transformers, and we know they aren’t all going to arrive here at the same time! This gives the transformers the definite advantage! I’m going to the pod bay!”

 “You mean…?”

 “Yes,” Scourge replied solemnly. “We’re leaving this ship.”

 “This is easier than I thought it would be, yes,” Megatron stated, freezing another Vexoran with his dragon head-hand and kicking the alien over.

 “The thought never occurred to my idiot brother Tarad that anybody could escape from his “flawless” security systems,” Taran yelled back, picking up an electrifier from one of the fallen Vexoran guards and using it on another enemy. “He was so full of himself, he never noticed the few vital flaws in his security system that I did, hehehe.”

 “This is borin’,” complained Sandstorm, who couldn’t fight because he had no fire, ice, or energy weapons. “I wanna kick some of these alien’s keisters!”

 “You can kick ‘em all you want,” Claw Jaw said, some black Vexoran goop on his foot. “I did. It just doesn’t do anything.”

 “Take a right!” Taran commanded, and the group followed their temporary Vexoran leader around another bend, blasting other Vexorans as they did so.

 “We almost there, or are you leadin’ us on a wild goose chase?” Rattrap whined.

 “Here we are!” Taran said, ignoring Rattrap’s comment.

 Unfortunately, there was a large steel door blocking their way into Tarad’s chamber.

 “Rattrap, toss me one of your sticky bombs!” Taran ordered.

 “’Ere ya go, press the two silver halves together to activate it,” Rattrap said, obeying Taran’s command.

 “Why don’t you just open it with that passcard of yours?” Optimus asked.

 “Because, that’s only a Level 2 passcard, access to a captain’s chambers requires a Level 4 passcard- not just any guard can wander in there!”

 Taran placed the sticky bomb on the door, activated it, and told everyone to step back. Needless to say, they all did. The bomb exploded a few seconds later….but it barely had any effect on the door. The only noticeable change was that it was now charred.

 “It not work!” Grimlock said in disbelief, before firing his eye lasers at an incoming Vexoran.

 “Wait, let me try something,” said Tigerhawk, stepping up to the door. The Transmetal 2 fuzor was in beast mode with Cheetor on his back, since the mutating catbot couldn’t keep up with the group by himself.

 Tigerhawk breathed ice all over the door entrance, then backed away again.

 “There Taran, now try to use Rattrap’s bombs on it,” Tigerhawk said.

 “Why didn’t I think of that!” Taran berated himself, taking another of Rattrap’s sticky bombs and sticking it to the doorway. This time, because the ice made the door more fragile, the bomb blew a large hole through the door.

 “Everybody inside!” Taran said, jumping inside the door. The rest of the transformers followed, taking out a few Vexorans in the process.

 BOOM!

 A large explosion sounded behind Tarad, who ducked behind a table upon hearing it, barely escaping the flames from the explosion. Prometheus was far enough away from the door that he didn’t have to.

 “Prometheus,” Tarad commanded, “Take Unit Rhinox’s spark and go to-“

 “You won’t be going anywhere,” threatened Taran, jumping out of the smoke from the explosion and into the room. Megatron, Cybershark, Depth Charge, and Beastbot filed in behind Taran. The rest of transformers with useable weapons were busy holding off the Vexorans in the hallway.

 “Why are you doing this, Taran, hmm?” Tarad asked, standing up and raising his arms up in a “no weapons” gesture. Prometheus tried to sneak away through another exit, but Beastbot’s laser target lit up on the alien’s forehead before the Vexoran could do so. Prometheus reluctantly raised his hands up as well. “For glory? For power? Or maybe it’s because you’re a little-“

 A blast from Taran’s electrifier went straight through Tarad’s head before the Vexoran captain could finish his sentence. Tarad collapsed to the floor, dead.

 “You never did figure out how to shut your trap,” muttered Taran.

 Depth Charge, Cybershark, Megatron, and Taran all aimed their weapons at Prometheus.

 “You can kill me,” Prometheus stated calmly, “But without my knowledge, you’ll never figure out how to get Unit Rhinox’s spark back into his body.”

 Megatron, Beastbot, and Taran could care less what happened to Rhinox, and got ready to pull the triggers on their guns/head-hands, but Depth Charge stopped them before they could shoot.

 “Wait,” Depth Charge interjected, “Prometheus is right. While I might reconsider if Primal was in Rhinox’s place, Rhinox was an okay guy when I was with the Maximals. We can’t just kill him.”

 “Fine,” Taran said, lowering his gun a little, “We’ll take Prometheus with us. But you’d better keep your eye on him, Depth Charge. He has a.. history of being like me.”

 ”My pleasure,” grinned Depth Charge, prodding Prometheus out into the hall. Cybershark took Rhinox’s spark in Prometheus’ flesh sack, and Taran took a passcode card from Tarad’s fallen body, now slowly turning into a puddle of ooze.

 “Let’s head to the reactor chamber!” Taran said, jumping back out into the hallway.

To be continued……
 

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