In every civilization, from the smallest mountain hamlet to the sprawling planetwide city, there is conflict. No matter how peaceful the inhabitants, there will always be those who feel that they are treated unjustly, who think that they should have more power, who believe that the way things are run just isn't right. Sometimes these people merely grumble all their lives and then quietly die, giving rise to a new generation of complaints. Sometimes, these people take things further, and decide to actually *do* something about perceived injustices. Sometimes these conflicts are resolved peacefully.
Sometimes they are resolved through bloodshed.
The planet known to some in the Universe as "Cybertron" was no different. It had seen its share of rebellions and fights. It had seen a war that had threatened the existence of *two* planets, and countless lives. The time of active conflict had long since passed, but the old feelings, the old hostilities were still very much alive in the hearts of Cybertron's inhabitants. Old hatreds festered like so many open wounds, growing as the years and centuries passed, until the pressure threatened to erupt again, and shatter the fragile peace that had been so dearly bought. Some felt the coming storm and feared what it brought. Some sensed it and welcomed it as a chance to right past wrongs. Some felt it and realized the danger that loomed on the horizon...and decided to do something about it.
At other times, the bridge of the small fighter was a dull silver in color, covered with the usual assorted lights and buttons. Now, however, everything was bathed in the red glow of emergency lights. Red as blood, though the current occupants of the bridge were firmly pushing *those* kinds of thoughts aside. On the main viewing screen, three *much* larger battlecruisers could be seen, each and every of their large and intimidating weapons doing its level best to blow the smaller fighter to bits. The battered fighter had the advantages of speed and maneuverability, but the weapons managers on the opposing ships were rather good shots. And the odds *were* three to one.
“Tactical analysis!" The captain barked, even as the shockwave of another solid blast threatened to throw him off his feet. A smallish bot scurried over to one of the few working consoles and frantically punched in various commands.
"Well, offhand sir- I'd say we're going to die." At the front of the bridge, the ship's pilot snickered softly, despite the dire situation. The captain, however, was not so amused.
"I asked for a tactical analysis, not one of your smart remarks!"
"Well gee let's see here… shields are at 57 percent and dropping, weapons went offline about ten cycles ago, navigation's going to follow any second now and we've got three "Warhammer" class battlecruisers on our tails. In short, sir, we are going to die!"
"Don't be so pessimistic pal, we've gotten out of worse situations," the co-pilot said easily. The bot who had just finished off the rather pessimistic evaluation of their situation glared at him.
"Oh really now, Pulsar. Name one!" The pilot snickered again and shot her partner an amused glance.
"She's got ya' there Pulse."
"Shut up and fly, pilot," the captain said gruffly, breaking up the banter. In truth he was having a hard time containing his *own* laughter. As insane as it was, he knew his crew lived for this sort of stuff. "Buckle down kids, this is going to be a rough ride. Engineering, can we reach escape velocity before the Maximal military blows us to atoms?" Still another bot looked up from his own console and laughed, without much humor.
"You're kidding right? Impulse engines are stalled worse than Eclipse's love life!"
"Hey! I heard that!" the pilot shouted indignantly, her violet optics flashing in irritation.
"He's got ya' there 'Clipse," Pulsar smirked. The two pilots yelped in unison as a stonger blast rippled through their small ship, starting an angry buzzing at the engineering console.
"What was that?" Eclipse demanded as her controls suddenly became as sluggish as though someone had poured molasses on them.
"*That* was was the death of navigation. Shields are holding at 35 percent, but that isn't going to last much longer."
"Anyone have any bright ideas?" the captain asked. He glanced around quickly and was met with blank stares from all of his crew but one. Eclipse's midnight black body blended in almost perfectly with the deep shadows cast by the emergency lights, until only her optics showed in any distinction. Those optics had the cool, calculating look in them that usually heralded a brilliant plan. Unfortunately, Eclipse’s definition of "brilliant" was usually synonymous with "utterly insane."
"Transwarp cells are still online, aren't they?" she asked even as she and Pulsar skillfully jerked the ship out of the way of a trio of blasts that likely would have ended the fight there and then.
"Yes, they're… oh no. No! Pulsar tell me your partner isn't thinking what I think she's thinking."
"I wish I could. No choice, we gotta get outta here. We *have* to get this information to the Predacon council."
"Do it," the captain ordered tersely. His words were followed almost immediately by the high pitched whine of the Transwarp cells. A moment later he was thrown back in his seat as the damaged fighter made the jump to hyperspace.
"Okay everyone, cross your fingers!" Pulsar shouted. The jump was taking its toll on the little fighter. The ship shook with frightening violence, and the screeching of tearing metal could be heard. He glanced around to see everyone cowering in their seats, clutching everything within reach in a deathgrip.
"Oh I think I'm going to be sick," someone groaned, and Pulsar was inclined to agree with them.
"Hang on everyone, I'm taking us out...now!" Eclipse warned, then cried out in what Pulsar fervently hoped was *not* pain as they were thrown back into normal space.
"Oh brother," Eclipse breathed as she saw what was outside the main viewscreen.
"Oh yes, *this* was a marvelous idea!" Pulsar and Eclipse ignored the sarcastic voice and concentrated solely on the sluggish controls before them.
"Pulse, take the stick, I'll see if I can find us a relatively soft spot to land!" Pulsar complied without argument; Eclipse was one of the best there was when it came to flying in zero atmosphere, and they were pretty much equal when it came to flying *in* atmosphere, but Eclipse couldn't smoothly land a ship to save her life under the *best* of circumstances.
As the planet loomed closer, its gravity field drawing them in with increasing speed, it looked as though they were going to be landing under the very *worst* of circumstances.
"Brace for impact!"
********************
The ship's crew sat for a few minutes in breathless silence. The crash had been hard, and the emergency lights had gone out on impact. After a while, the captain spoke.
"Damage report." A medium sized, tan-colored bot move carefully to a console that, by sheer luck, had remained online.
"Weapons are gone, shields are gone, engines are gone, communications are gone. You name it, it’s gone." The captain sighed.
"Fine. Let's see where we are. Arm yourselves."
********************
On the other side of the galaxy, the three Warhammer class battleship were waiting for orders from the Maximal council. In the captain's ready room of the first ship, a lone figure was standing, awaiting the decision of the council.
"I don't like this. I don't like this at all..." he thought.
It had been three Megacycles since the rebel ship escaped. The captain could still remember that very moment...The rebel ship was out gunned and out numbered. But it gave the three battleships a good fight. The Warhammer's bridge was on fire, alarms were sounding here and there, and bulkheads were piling up. The captain of the rebel ship was clever, but his luck was running out. The rebel ship's weapons were the first to go, and then navigation. But before the Maximal could moved in, the rebel ship activated its Transwarp engines and just simply vanished. The rebel ship's ion trail was still hot, they could easily plot a course and finish the job. But before they could do that, the Maximal council stopped them...
The captain of the Warhammer did not know why they were ordered to stand down.
"It's funny," he said to himself, "a few cycles ago, we were analyzing an anomaly in sector 3-78, and then all of a sudden we were fighting a lone rebel ship. You have to give the rebel captain credit, standing up against three Warhammers. Most captains would have surrendered at the sight of one of these ships, let alone three! Her captain is either the stupidest captain in the galaxy or the bravest. The Maximal council had wanted the crew of the rebel ship scrapped or alive. And then...Then they were ordered to stand down, without any reason.. Politics, “ he thought with a sigh, "It's always about politics. He could not recall the last time he had a good fight like that. No, not after the Great War, where his side where the ones that...” His thought were interrupted as his comm badge buzzed.
"Yes?" he said.
"Sir, we are receiving the reply from the council," his first officer said.
"So? Get on with it already!"
"It's not that simple, sir. It needs a level one clearance from you."
"Very well. Relay the message in here."
"Yes sir."
"Computer, level one clearance: Nightstrike-1-0 Alpha 11-30, Omega 11-10-Prime."
"Clearance acknowledged. One moment please, files are encrypted," the computer replied.
“Now why would the council have this message encrypted? It's only one rough rebel ship. Then again this whole mission has been one surprise after another,” the captain thought.
"Decryption completed," the computer said. The Maximal captain looked at the message. His optics opened wide. He could not believe what he was looking at. He could not believe what he had to do. He went to the bridge. Every optic was on him. The Maximal captain went to his chair.
"Communication?" he called.
"Sir?" an officer answered.
"Tell the other ship to match our course and speed."
"Yes sir."
"Helm, prepare to activate Transwarp engines. Course: Sector 0-0-0. Gunner, put all weapons and shields on standby."
He then flicked a switch at his right console. "All hands, this is the bridge...BATTLESTATION!" And with that alarm went off, officers went to work, and the ship became alive and ready for anything.
His first officer moved toward him and whispered "Sir? What exactly are we doing?"
The captain, eyes still fixed on the viewing screen, face without any expression, body sitting not moving a micrometer, as if his very spark had left him, said "We are going to save the galaxy...And betray an old friend."
“Course laid in, sir. Transwarp engines are hot, “ called the helmsman.
“All weapons are on standby, gun cells are charged. We’re ready for anything, sir, “said the gunner.
“Let’s hope so, “ thought the captain. Out loud, he called, “Engage Transwarp engines!”
The sides of the three battleship suddenly lit up as if a small super nova was inside. Suddenly, space was not itself anymore. And with that all three battleship vanished.
Moment’s after they were gone, another ship emerged from Transwarp just behind the spot where the Warhammers had just been.
“Were we able to track their course?”
“Yessss, sssssir, “ replied a soft, hissing voice.
“Good. Lay in a course and pursue.” The ship vanished.
********************
Starlight was wedged next to Rattrap and Rhinox. It was not a very comfortable position, being stuck between a Transmetal rat and a rhino that weighed at least five thousand tons, in her opinion. But, she still was stuck there, and there was no way she could move. She looked expectantly down the aisle, made by a parting in the thick line of Maximals, where two bots could easily walk in pairs.
Starlight noticed Dinobot looked agitated, but everyone else had smiles on their faces. The serval/hornet fuzor tried to smile too, but it was hard. Ever since she had switched to the Maximals, though they said they cared about her, they just didn't seem to like her. And Starlight knew why.
Tigatron came down the aisle, Cheetor at his side. The cheetah's face sparkled with enthusiasm, as did Tigatron's, though the tiger had a grace and calmness about him, unlike Cheetor. The Transmetal carried a pillow, and on it sat a ring, made out of silver that Tigatron had mined just for that occasion.
The two cats stood at the altar, waiting expectantly for the bride to come.
And come she did, with a grace and coolness Starlight had always admired about the falcon. She buzzed her hornet wings in anticipation, her antenna twitching as well. Tigatron and Air Razor were just perfect for each other! The two had asked Optimus to have the wedding outdoors, but Optimus had said it would be safer in the base.
Air Razor and Tigatron stood facing each other, their eyes glowing with the love and the promise of future happiness.
Silverbolt, who was the priest, took out an Earthling book, called the Bible, and began to read.
"There is no such love like the love between to people. When hearts join together, and the two act as a one. When-"
Red alarms interrupted Silverbolt's speech. Starlight felt panic flow through her circuitry, engulfing it and sending her into a state of pure terror. The fuzor tried to get herself to remain calm, like the other Maximals, but it was no use. Whenever she was faced with danger her instincts, although Predatory, were to panic. Courage had always hidden from her, and it was hiding now.
"AHHHH!!!! PREDACON ATTACK!!! MEOWWWRRR!! BUZZZZBUZZZZBUZZZOOOOOWWRRRR. MEOWWWRRRZZZZZZ. YAAAAAAHHHHZZZZ!! MEOOWWWWUZZZ..."
Her fur fluffed out, and her antenna stood straight up, her wings and tail were also as stiff as a board. Her frantic screams echoed through the base mournfully. After a full five minutes, her throat aching, she realized that the sirens had stopped.
"Must have been a glitch...." Rhinox mumbled. Everyone took their hands off their auditory sensors. They all glared at Starlight, most with annoyance, but a few with sympathy. Rattrap whispered something about "de ex-Predacon's gone crazy again! Why did we ever accept dis one!"
Starlight felt worse than a bug. She had ruined the wedding! If she had only stayed calm, then things would be all right!
She slunk over towards the elevator door, her tail and antenna low.
"Starlight, wait...." Air Razor called, but Starlight chose not to receive it. The serval/hornet fuzor ran out of the base, tears streaming from her eyes. She had never felt so humiliated in her life! Starlight took a few deep breaths, letting the surrounding nature calm her nerves, and damaged feelings.
She buzzed her hornet wings, and flew up into the sky, hoping that in a short glide she could forget what had just happened. It did not work. Starlight was thinking of going back again, when suddenly, she saw something.
Three ships! They were falling to the planet rapidly. Starlight stared harder, hoping to see what kind they were. She could not, but she saw one crash into a jungle close by. She could not pin point exactly where the others had landed, but it did not matter. If one flew fast enough, one would be able to make it to the ship that crashed in the jungle in two days, maximum.
Starlight was about to rush out there and do just that. When she stopped herself. What would the Maximals think?
They would think I was a hero for finding this ship! Was the happy conclusion she reached.
But what if I meet a Predacon? Starlight felt a chill of fear touch her, but with a great effort she shrugged it off.
I WILL get to this ship! To prove to the Maximals that I am not a whiny little baby! They'll have to respect me then.
Starlight grinned and flew off towards the ship, keeping an eye out for danger, out of habit.
********************
Shadowblaze moved slowly into the moonlight. She looked up at the sky, and gave a deep, contented sigh. She liked having a natural sky over her head. It had always given her comfort. That was why she had always hated Cybertron. The sky there didn't seem real. Her drifting thoughts were cut short by her comrade.
"Are you just going to stare at the moon all night or are we scouting?" Blowdart asked irritably. Shadowblaze gave him an annoyed look.
"Can't you be quiet for a few cycles? For the love of Primus, Blowdart."
"Optimus said-"
"Oh, forget the metal monkey for a few megacycles. He's not here, say what you want."
"Okay, I will. You are a very disrespectful bot. And-" he grinned widely," -I love you. Always have, always will."
"Oh, come on. Don't get mushy. It doesn't become you."
"Yeah, you'd know, wouldn't you?"
"Yes, I would. I've known you long enough." Blowdart was about to make a comeback, when Shadowblaze held up her hand.
"Did you hear that?" She looked around intently, her white optics scanning the horizon. Blowdart looked around nervously.
"Hear what? I didn't hear anything..." Shadowblaze looked straight up, then to her left.
"I don't know...It sounded kind of like...THAT!!" Blowdart swung his head upward, following Shadowblaze's gaze. Highlighted against the moon was the familiar shape of Inferno.
"Blaahhh!! You will BUUURRRRNN!!! YAAAHHH!!!" He swept low, his gun laying a scorched trail behind him. Shadowblaze rolled behind a rock and sent a hail of green proton blasts at him.
"See? Isn't this more fun than a wedding?" Shadowblaze shouted. She was doing what she did best.
"I still can't believe you talked me into sneaking out!! We are going to get SO busted when we get back!"
"Relax! Have fun!"
"Blaaahhh!!!"
********************
Nightshadow raced towards the base at his top speed possible. "Oh man, Airazor's gonna kill me! I can't believe I got lost!"
The Maximal reflected his bad luck. First, he had strayed too far off his scout path. Then, he had bumped into Terrorsaur- nothing major, but it had made him late for what may very well be one of the most important events to Airazor and Tigatron.
After Terrorsaur had been dealt with, Nightshadow, realizing he had two cycles before the wedding, took off at top speed- in the WRONG direction! He hadn't even realized it for another thirty cycles. By then, he had no chance of getting back to the base in time for the opening ceremonies. "How could I so airheaded?!" He cursed himself for the millionth time. "I swear, if I-"
He was suddenly cut off by the sound of several large vessels going down- fast, too, by the sound of it.
Nightshadow glanced up quickly and saw a ship crashing a short distance away. Two others were also going down, a further distance from him. He did the best he could to lock in all three crash sites, then headed for the closest.
As he drew nearer, he heard the sound of buzzing. He looked behind him and saw Starlight, flying up above him. The bat flew up next to her.
"Hey!" He called. "Did you just see that?!"
"How am I supposed to miss it?" She called back. "I’m heading for the position of the nearest ship now."
Nightshadow nodded. "I’ve got a rough estimate on the coordinates of the other two ships, but they’re a lot farther off."
Starlight considered. "Maybe we should split up," she suggested.
"Good idea. I’ll head for one of the ships that’s farther out. I can reach it faster than anybody else," Nightshadow said. Quite suddenly, he reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. "Watch yourself out there!"
Starlight had a surprised look, but she smiled. "You’re one of the few people who actually likes me."
Nightshadow shrugged. "With an Dinobot as my fighting instructor, I’ve learned to gain respect for Predacons willing to fight for the Maximal cause. It takes guts to turn away from what you’ve been programmed to believe.
Starlight smiled uncertainly and headed for the closest ship. Nightshadow flew towards a further ship with a good natured smile and salute. The two separated.
Starlight considered what he had just said. *It takes guts to turn away from what you’ve been programmed to believe.*
Perhaps she wasn’t as much of a coward as she considered herself.
********************
The three Predacons and two Maximals stepped outside slowly. From the outside they noticed their ship looked like a mess.
"You can tell we are not going to be able to move this thing off the planet." Pulsar noted.
"Or out of this swamp." A young Maximal named Blade noted. He lifted his hand out of the swamp water as a crocodile tried to eat it.
"No signs of energon." Said the Predacon captain. "Still, it would be could to blend in with the local scenery - we are Transformers, After all. Especially since those Action Masters stunk..." He added under his breath.
"Good idea." Eclipse said. She looked around and saw a large black bat coming in.
"According to my sensors that thing is Transformer." A large tan Predacon said. "And Maximal."
"Should we blast it?" Eclipse asked.
"Not until it attacks us." The captain said. "Right now I think it would be good if we made a peaceful approach..." His train of thought was interrupted when the two unconscious bodies of Blowdart and Shadowblaze were thrown to his feet. He looked up to see a grinning Inferno, flame-thrower in hand.
"Too bad I had to carry these two with me." Inferno said. "But now is now. For the glory of the Royalty!"
********************
Nightshadow turned his head at the sound of gunfire. He had been headed for the second ship, a Warhammer called the X-Delta 2, when a smaller ship called the Defiant came into his view. He swooped down and could recognize the mad yellings of Inferno.
"Ultra Battle Mode!" He cried as a huge amount of weapons popped out of his body. He felt a very short depressant when this happened. He soon figured out that the swamp water prevented the energon from having much effect. He switched back to regular mode and entered the battle.
********************
"What in the name of Primus are you doing? We're Predacons!" The captain exclaimed as Inferno fired on him.
"You! With Maximals? Traitor!" Inferno shouted as he kept up his barrage.
"Eclipse! Pulsar! You two hold him off! The others and I will try and get some heavier weaponry!" The captain yelled.
"Here we go!" Pulsar said as he tried to shoot Inferno.
********************
"No heavy weaponry! None at all!" The small Maximal exclaimed.
"Beast Forms are supposed to come with built in weapons." The tan Predacon said. "Maybe we should try to get Beast Modes."
"Very well." Said the Captain. "Computer, engage sequence. Subjects: Blade, Interrogator, Captain Claw." He said. "Begin now."
********************
"This guy will not go down!" Pulsar said.
"Wait a click...just let me get a lock on that grinning head." Eclipse said as he shot a blast that blew off Inferno's head.
"Yes!" She exclaimed. All the sudden Nightshadow swooped down and looked at them.
"Hmmm. Since you attacked Inferno, I guess the Enemy of the Enemy is my friend." Nightshadow said. "Even of they are wearing a Predacon symbol."
"Terragator, TERRORIZE!"
"Whipblade, MAXIMIZE!"
"BuzzClaw, TERRORIZE!" The three with the new Beast Forms yelled as they Transformed and walked out of the ship.
"Who are you?" Terragator asked about Nightshadow.
"I'm Nightshadow, A Maximal."
"He hasn't attacked us." Eclipse said.
"But he hasn't helped us, either." Terragator said as he blasted Nightshadow with his large plasma blaster. Nightshadow fell over, drained from his life-giving energon.
"I want to find out more. And I think a little interrogation will do the trick just fine." Terragator chuckled.
********************
Darkshadow flew overhead, scanning the night sky. He tapped his comm badge. "Are you detecting anything, Shred?"
{Nothing on this end but swamp, bro. Are you *sure* Nightshadow came this way?} Shred answered.
"Positive. I apologize for having you slog through all that muck, but I need you down there," Darkshadow said.
{Yeah, well, just remember you owe me big for this,} Shred grumbled. {Our deal was I help scrap Nightshadow, and you help me scrap Sprite. You'd better hold to it.}
"Of course, my brother. Do you honestly think I would try to double cross you?"
Darkshadow could almost hear his brother's grin. {Maybe. You *are* a Predacon.}
"And Primus forbid the day I become anything else- what was that?" Darkshadow turned his head to the south.
{It sounded like blaster fire,} Shred replied.
"So I heard," Darkshadow mused. He changed his flight path. "I'm going to investigate. Beast mode!" The Predacon went to vulture form and flew towards the blast sounds. He arrived just in time to see Nightshadow being dragged into a small craft, one which he had not seen before.
"Most concerning," he muttered. "Shred, it seems we have a change of plans. You need to report something to Megatron..."
* * *
"I don't think you're getting the point of this interrogation," Terragator said, circling the force field Nightshadow was in. "It's really very simple: I ask you a question, you answer. How hard is that?"
"Maybe if you had just politely asked me to answer questions, I would have been more willing to cooperate," Nightshadow growled, "but nooo. You had to pull some big, tough, Pred thing. I didn't even attack you!"
"You didn't help us, and that might as well be the same thing," Buzzclaw pointed out.
Nightshadow was about to make a remark when the wall blew up.
Darkshadow came in, his weapons smoking. He launched himself at Terragator. "If anyone's going to torture Nightshadow, it'll be me!" He roared. Terragator fired several shots, but Darkshadow managed to evade.
"Fancy weaponry, renegade. A shame you fired on me with it. That means I have to shoot back!" Darkshadow whipped his energon drainer at Terragator and fired, draining the power right out of the Predacon.
While there was a distraction, Nightshadow decided to take the opportunity to slip out; Darkshadow's dramatic entrance had knocked out the security field.
*I have to find Shadowblaze and Blowdart,* he thought, *then I've gotta alert the others!*
As he raced down a corridor, he only hoped he wasn't too late.
********************
*several minutes earlier...*
"Well, wasn't *that* fun?" Pulsar said tiredly as Terragator and BuzzClaw dragged the bat-like Maximal into the Defiant.
"Totally. Hey guys? I've got a question."
"What is it, Eclipse?"
"What, what, *what* the slag is going on around here? I've never seen alternate modes like *these*!" Eclipse gestured flamboyantly to include the three unconscious forms of Inferno, Blowdart, and Shadowblaze.
"I have no idea. Hopefully, Terragator can get some answers out of our other guest," Pulsar replied.
"He isn't gonna hurt the guy is he?" Whipblade asked nervously. Pulsar grinned and slapped his smaller teammate on the shoulder.
"Nah, the boss ain't too fond of that kind of questioning, and even if he was 'Gator wouldn't dare."
"Oh, what makes you say that?"
"Because it would really tick Eclipse off...and she *is* the one that watches his back when he's breaking into all those high security installations. It isn't wise to have someone who spends a large amount of time standing behind you with a loaded weapon mad at ya'!"
"Heh. Well while we're waiting, why don't we see what we can do to help these three and then we'll get you and Pulsar into some beast modes."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Hey Whipblade, just out of curiosity, you *can* get this crate spaceworthy again, right?" With the immediate crisis over, more immediate concerns captured the attention of the little team.
"I've been holding her together with spit and baling wire for ages, with the right raw materials I think I can slap together enough of a repair job to get us back to Cybertron.... provided we haven't been tossed halfway across the Universe."
"Good. Well, you guys want to help me get these three into the repair bay?" Pulsar asked. He turned to grasp Inferno's arms. A sudden explosion quickly changed his plans. "What the-" He whirled around to see something vanishing into a large, still smoking hole in the side of his ship.