Buried Secrets, Pt. 4


By: Nicki Ellsesser


Optimus regarded the grim faces around him silently. Even Dinobot looked worried, and Optimus knew his own face bore a similar expression. The aliens had returned, this time in the flesh, and their dispositions apparently hadn't improved much since their last encounter. They had survived last time, could they do it again? Already, Rattrap had been seriously injured in battle and there was little doubt he would have died had Optimus not arrived when he did.

"And Cheetor's weapons had no effect at all?" the quiet voice of Rhinox brought Optimus out of his reverie and he shook his head.

"None. He had to have hit it at least three times and the blasts only seemed to make it angry."

"Perhaps some kind of shielding?" Silverbolt suggested, appearing rather unhappy at the thought.

Rhinox sighed heavily. "It could've been anything. We know a little about their artifacts, but when it comes to the aliens themselves..." he trailed off and shrugged helplessly. "It's this gate you described that really worries me. If it works on the same principles as a space bridge, there's no telling what kind of reinforcements they can bring."

"Agreed. Our first priority should be to try and cut off the creatures' way onto this planet. Only then can we concentrate on... dealing... with those already here," Dinobot hissed.

"Frankly, I think they'll be the ones doing the dealing," Silverbolt mused, remembering with awful clarity the way Rattrap had been taken down so quickly. No one really wanted to admit that as pessimistic as the words were, they rang painfully true.



Monsters. It was a rather imprecise word, but the six creatures before her easily fit every standard that leaped to mind whenever one heard it. Blackarachnia stared down the slope of shale and gravel at what was obviously a war encampment, her cool and calculating mind racing even faster than usual. Were these the faceless owners of the planet she now resided on?

Even more interesting, though, was the dirt encrusted contraption that loomed against the sky-- the contraption the small group now clustered around. If their wild gesturing was anything to go by, the aliens were rather excited about something.

"Now what d'ya suppose has 'em all riled up?"

"I haven't a clue. And we'll never find out if you don't be quiet!" Blackarachnia hissed softly, her voice dripping with venom.

Quickstrike shot the female Predacon a sidelong glance and wisely decided to keep his mouth shut until futher notice. Blackarachnia leaned forward intently as the aliens suddenly became quite still, and a loud crackling sound filled the air.

"What the sam-hill is that?" Quickstrike couldn't help shouting as the scarlet light began to race along the contraption, pooling in the center of the arches to form a glowing portal. Blackarachnia's eyes widened in sudden understanding. An icy thrill of apprehension raced through her body as the first figures appeared in the haze of crimson light, indistinct, but unmistakeable. With a final burst of sound, the light faded, and where there had been six alien creatures, there were now ten. Scant seconds later, the red light flared to life again.

"That, numbskull, is trouble."



Rattrap stetched slightly, relishing the simple absence of pain. He had to give their hosts credit for one thing-- their weaponry was quite effective. Rhinox gave him a final once-over and pronounced him fit for duty, much to the relief of all present. Even Dinobot had relaxed slightly at the news, and Rattrap couldn't help smirking at the large ex-Predacon. He took a moment to simply revel in the momentary peace, wishing fervently that he didn't have to shatter it.

"So, guess it's safe to say the landlords are comin' after the rent again," he sighed, and Rhinox nodded an affimative. "Thought so. Ya know? Some time we're gonna have just a nice normal day-- no Pred attacks, no one trying to scrap us...and we're all gonna die of shock before we can enjoy it." The remark drew a few half-hearted smiles, but no one was really in a joking mood.

"Have you managed to get in contact with Tigatron and Airazor?" Optimus asked hopefully. They would need all the help they could get.

"No luck, Big Bot. Haven't heard a peep out of 'em and I've been trying for the past three megacycles." Rattrap cocked his head to one side and narrowed his eyes at Cheetor. There was nothing about his manner or speech that would suggest he was anything other than fine, or as fine as one could be given the circumstances, but Rattrap wasn't buying it. The kid had been too quiet, too subdued even before the whole fiasco had occured and Rattrap was still trying to puzzle out just how his teammate had managed to figure out the invaders' mode of attack so smoothly. While Cheetor certainly wasn't stupid, at least not most of the time, he was certainly no military strategist. Something was up.

Cheetor, meanwhile, felt Rattrap's optics on him, but couldn't bring himself to meet his friend's gaze. Not after what he had done, and failed to do. If he could just find some grain of sense in the pictures... could the Guardian be sending them to him? But why not just come out and say what It wanted to? Why drive him half-crazy with such images? All the questions were making his head hurt.

The sudden blaring of an alarm didn't help matters any, and Rhinox settled in front of his screens once again. "More energy spikes from the area, they're coming one after another," he explained needlessly. Rattrap swallowed nervously as the realization of what that meant sank in.

"What a power down-- they're trying to swarm us!"

Optimus nodded grimly at Cheetor's statement. "It would seem so. We don't have a choice, team; that gateway has to be taken out now. Dinobot, I want you to stay here and guard the base." Dinobot opened his mouth to protest, but thought the better of it. As much as it irked him, it was better to follow Optimus' orders. There would be plenty of opportunity for him to engage in combat with their visitors. Still, he growled softly to himself as he took his station, glowering at the others as they passed him.

Cheetor was the last to leave, but before he exited the ship he turned back and stared at his teammate a moment. Dinobot was sure he had never seen such a look of intensity etched on the Maximal's young face, and though he would never admit it, it unnerved him somewhat. "Hey Dinobot, be careful okay?"

Dinobot snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. "I was taking care of myself long before you were programmed," he rasped, annoyance written on his sharp features.

"Still, there's something... we shouldn't..." Cheetor finally gave up and turned towards the lift. "Just watch your back," he called as he hurried to catch up with the others, leaving a very confused Dinobot behind. Cheetor took to the air as soon as the lift touched down, joining Optimus and Silverbolt. Below them, Rattrap and Rhinox raced over the ground, back to the place he, Silverbolt, and Rattrap had nearly lost their lives. Had it only been a few megacycles ago? It felt like years. Cheetor cast one more glance back at the Axalon, and tried to shake the strange feeling that something horrible was going to happen to it. Tried to ignore the sudden image in his mind of an abandoned, rusted hulk rotting away in the place the Axalon sat.



It forced Itself to remain calm. It would need all Its strength and precision to speak to the Seer without the invaders detecting It. It called out to the Seer and to Its shock sensed him almost immediately. He was very close, too close to the aliens for Its comfort.

What are you doing?

We're trying to blow that backdoor of theirs to smithereens. Shock coursed through It at the Seer's words. They were going to try to destroy the Gate? With no foreknowledge of what was waiting for them?

I didn't say it was a good plan. But we have to try and stop them. The Guardian lightly scanned the Seer's thoughts and almost panicked at what It saw there. They had no idea what the creatures were, no idea where they came from, what kind of power they possessed!

I have you now, little one. The memory of the cold words washed over the Guardian and now It did panic. The soldiers knew. They knew of the Seer, knew how very little control he had of his talents. Dear gods, they would have him before he could even think of fighting back.

Cheetor, listen to me. You must go back, all of you. This.. this is too dangerous. Oh it was all spiraling out of control and there was nothing It could do! It had been a fool, such a selfish fool.

Too late, we're here. Suddenly the Guardian saw the Gate as though through the Seer's eyes, saw the dozens of guards that surrounded it. The gradually brightening sky seemed afire with the crimson light of the Gate as still more of the aliens came though.

And It knew. It knew with cold certainty that It was going to lose the Seer to these creatures unless It let go of Its terrible pride and told them all It knew.

To the Guardian's credit, It almost made it; almost broke through the centuries of guilt and pride. Almost being the operative word.

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.

Then It fled.



Sometimes a leader has to do something he bloody well knows is probably sheer stupidity simply because he has been backed into a corner and there is no other choice. It was this situation that Optimus Primal now found himself in, and he didn't like it at all.

He let his gaze wander over his teammates and prayed they could pull this off. With a sudden rustle of feathers, Silverbolt, who had been trailing behind with Cheetor, maneuvered into a position just to Optimus' left, a concerned look on his canine features. "Do you truly think it wise to engage the hostiles in this manner? We have hardly any information... and you saw what their weaponry was capable of."

Optimus sighed heavily and nodded. "To be honest, Silverbolt, no, I don't think it's a good idea. But what choice do we have? If that first wave was anything to judge by, we can't afford to let them get their numbers firmly entrenched in the territory. And I'm not asking any of you to take them on any longer than is absolutely necessary; this is a surgical strike. Once we cut them off from... wherever they're coming from, we can worry about how to defeat the ones already here."

And it would have to be a defeat. As a rule, Optimus chose violence only as a last resort, but these aliens had made it clear time and time again that they were not interested in 'talking out their differences'. It was a depressing thought. The newest addition to his team nodded in resignation and resumed his position beside Cheetor, who seemed lost in thought. Optimus made a mental note to ask him had been troubling him so, as soon as the crisis had been dealt with.

If they managed to deal with it.



Nothing to worry about, nothing at all. In and out, no sweat; we do stuff like this all the time. Nothing to worry about. Cheetor silently repeated the words over and over, a mantra to calm the sudden nervousness that had arisen at the Guardian's hasty departure. If the Guardian was afraid of their new neighbors, what in blazes did they they could do?

Whoa, that's enough of that kind of talk. We'll get through this, like we always do. The Axalon will be fine, we'll be fine, everything will be fine.

"Are you all right?" Silverbolt's quietly concerned voice interrupted Cheetor's internal pessimism and pep-talks. No, I'm not all right, nothing is all right! Can't you feel it? Cheetor desperately wanted to scream the words aloud, but found himself once again tossing back only the replies he thought his teammates wanted to hear.

"You kidding? I can't wait for a re-match! Those uglies won't know what hit 'em."

Silverbolt chuckled softly and shook his head. "Don't get overconfident, now," he admonished, secretly glad for the banter-- it helped drive the image of the enemies they were rushing to meet from his mind.

Cheetor laughed brightly, and Silverbolt never noticed how forced it was. "Who's overconfident? I'm just stating a fact."

Cheetor and Silverbolt continued in that manner, even managed to draw Rattrap into the conversation, and all the while Cheetor tried to ignore the fact that their destination was drawing closer. Tried to ignore the way every fiber of his being was screaming that if they tried to carry out this mission, not all of them would be coming back. He was afraid, and with the fear came an even more bitter anger towards himself for his cowardice. Primus, what was happening to him? He felt as though he would come apart at the seams at any moment.

Cheetor was almost thankful when Optimus signaled them to begin their descent as the craggy cliffs of grid Nine came into view. "All right everyone, cut the chit-chat," Optimus ordered briskly as the five Maximals reverted to their robotic forms. "Silverbolt, I want you and Cheetor to take point-- keep a lookout for guards. Remember, we are not here to fight. Keep their troops distracted long enough for Rattrap to take out that gate. Rhinox and I will cover him. You're sure you can handle that thing, Rattrap?"

"Sure thing, boss. Only, eh, I don't know what kinda kaboom 'dat baby's gonna make, so you might wanna be ready to cut outta there, ya know what'm sayin'?"

"Indeed. As soon as I give the signal, everyone stop what you're doing and get out of there as fast as you can. Got it?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, though one could have cut the tension in the air with a knife. "All right team, let's do this. Be careful, and good luck!"



It hardly seemed possible that only megacycles had passed since they first set out to investigate the strange energy surges-- it seemed more like years. Silverbolt and Cheetor crept quietly through the deep shadows cast by the numerous boulders that littered the steep cliffs, not even daring to whisper, lest they alert some perimeter guard to their presence. About ten yards behind them, the rest of the team followed suit. As they reached the halfway point, Silverbolt began to grow apprehensive. Two thirds of the way up he was downright nervous. As they reached the crest of the cliff and crouched down behind a jutting portrusion of stone, he knew something as terribly wrong. "This is too easy," he stated simply, his voice barely audible even in the near absolute stillness of the night.

Cheetor didn't answer, but inclined his head in an affirmative. Silverbolt frowned and scooted bit closer to the edge of the ridge, peering down into the shadowed ravine. He was barely able to stifle the gasp of shock which rose in his throat as he took in the sight before him. Beside him, Cheetor openly gaped. The metallic cheetah swallowed convulsively a few times and then opened his com channel. "Uh, Big Bot? I think we have a problem."



There were precious few things in life that could surprise Megatron.

Quickstrike's report was quickly added to that short list.

"You're saying you actually encountered the alien beings?" he demanded brusquely, cutting the Fuzor off in the middle of a description of the strange creatures he and Blackarachnia had found.

"Well, no, boss, but we seen 'em! Big, ugly critters, and they got them some kinda big glowing--"

"Yes, yes, yes. Blackarachnia, would you care to elucidate?"

"Gladly." Megatron listened closely to Blackarachnia's far more articulate report of the apparent invasion of their faceless nemesis. Perhaps not so faceless anymore. Still, Megatron was suspicious-- this was more of a contradiction of the information contained in the alien disks than he was comfortable with. Blackarachnia's next bit of information, however, caught his full attention, and held it firmly.

"A space bridge?" he asked, incredulous.

"At least something resembling one. It seems to function on much the same principle, though I'd have to examine it more closely to be sure."

"This could be most useful, yes," he murmured thoughtfully.

"Most dangerous, if you ask me. Didn't you hear what I said? More are coming through! How long do you think it will be before they attack us?"

"Of course I heard you," Megatron snapped, "But as for them attacking us... I think not, no."



Problem, Silverbolt decided, was the biggest understatement he had ever heard. The area he and the others had fled earlier was almost unrecognizeable. The gate that was there target loomed in the center of the bare, rocky ground, but now it was surrounded by a row of domed structures and squat, barrel-mouthed cannons had been errected every fifty yards or so on the cliffs that ringed the ravine. That was not the worst, however. The worst was the fact that where there had been six aliens, there now were at least thirty.

"They're gonna bring a whole army through, just like before," Cheetor whispered softly.

"What?" Silverbolt turned a confused gaze on Cheetor, not sure if he had heard his teammate correctly. "What do you mean, 'just like before'?"

"Oh... er... nothing. It's nothing, never mind." Cheetor averted his eyes.

"Cheetor..."

"I said it's nothing!"

"Hey! Ya know, a surprise attack ain't much good without 'da element of surprise," Rattrap's voice interrupted them.

"Right, sorry. Looks like our new neighbors are inviting some friends over. We're talking serious hostlie takeover here, Big Bot."

"How many 'friends'?"

"It's hard to say. I estimate thirty to thirty five," Silverbolt answered, returning his attention to the ravine.

"Prime. How well guarded is the gate?" Cheetor was already sure of what he would find, but scanned the area around the gate anyway, praying he was wrong. He wasn't.

"Not guarded at all, I don't think they're expecting us to try and take something that big out," he reported.

"Optimus, surely we aren't going to go through with this?" Silverbolt asked in shock. To try and take on such a large force of those creatures was madness! Even as the words left his mouth, however, Silverbolt knew that they had no choice but to try while they had the chance.

"We have to, Silverbolt, we may not get another opportunity. Be careful." Cheetor sighed and closed the channel. "Well, let's get this show on the road."

to be continued


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