Rhinox was working a few final calculations, inwardly praying that he had made the right decision. If his plan worked, their comrades would be saved and the threat of these machines nullified; if not...
"I don't even want to think about it." He murmured to himself. Optimus and Airazor would be returning from their mission soon, and the next phase of their plan could proceed. All that remained now was to lure Cheetor, Rattrap, and Dinobot out to the Tenacious. His calculations done, Rhinox surveyed the helm of the Tenacious one last time, and was overcome with a rush of unexpected emotion. No matter how it was put, the Tenacious was a tomb, a final resting place and monument to her crew. Rhinox silently apologized to the spirits of those Maximals who had died long before he and his friends had set foot on this planet. It was as he was turning to leave that an alarm sounded, startling him out of his somber musings.
"What the-" His voice trailed off as the screen came up, showing him three red blips that indicated Maximal presences. Their path was incredibly erratic, but there was no doubt that they were heading for the Tenacious. The realization of what that meant hit him with the force of a freight train, and he leapt out of his seat as though he had been burned. He dashed over to the Comm station and began frantically fiddling with the controls.
"C'mon baby, one last time. You can do it." With a loud hiss of static the channel opened. "Optimus, Airazor, do you read me? This is Rhinox! Come in!"
"-inox...barely hear you....wrong?" Airazor's voice sounded tinny and distant, and Rhinox could hardly make out her words.
"Airazor listen to me, you have to get back now! They're coming, we don't have much time. Repeat, they are on their way here now! Return to the Tenacious immediately." He shouted, hoping the increased volume would carry his words to them.
"-nderstood....turing..base..." The console sputtered once and died, leaving Rhinox with only the soft hum of static. Still it sounded as though they had understood, they *had* to have understood.
"Rhinox, Rhinox come in! Slag! It's dead."
"What did you understand out of it." Optimus asked, hefting the container he was carrying up onto one shoulder.
"Not much, but we have to get back to the Tenacious right now. I think the boys are on their way." Optimus nodded grimly.
"You fly on ahead, in case Rhinox needs backup."
"Gotcha, and be careful."
"You too." With that Airazor leapt into the air and streaked towards the Tenacious.
Ahead of the other two, Cheetor stumbled over a large root, and
crashed to the ground. He lay there panting before lurching to his feet
again. The overmind of the machines now resided in him, and the strain of
supporting the tiny invaders, as well as the energy it was taking to direct
the actions of the others, was taking its toll on him. His energy reserves
were nearly exhausted and it was only a matter of time before the machines
began to attack the only other available source- his very Spark. Rattrap
and Dinobot were not much better off, both fading fast.
"The ship is just ahead. Be quiet, we mustn't alert them to our presence." Cheetor, or at least his voice, barked out the order. The creatures diverted some of his precious power supply to the body's scanning system and surveyed the terrain all around their little group.
"Two of them are outside, you wait here, and drive them in, follow and seal the exits." He hissed to Dinobot, who nodded shortly. "Remember, separate them and take them quickly." With these final orders, the three tapped into the very last of their reserves letting all of it flow into them. The staggering, swaying gate they had been moving in vanished and they broke through the underbrush silently. Cheetor and Rattrap slipped into the Tenacious without a backward glance, leaving Dinobot to herd the last of their prey in. As it turned out, they needen't have bothered. Airazor hurtled out of the clouds a moment later, swooping low over the gorund before landing in front of the door. She resumed her robotic form and stepped through the portal just as Dinobot prepared to attack. Deprived of one target, he settled down to wait for the other one. The sun finally dipped below the horizon, letting the welcom cover of night steal over the land. Dinobot, grew increasingly impatient as the minutes slipped past. He was just about to abandon his post and return to the Tenacious, when Optimus appeared. Dinobot readied himself to charge, but hesitated a moment as he spotted Optimus' cargo. What was the Maximal up to, this had not been anticipated. Once again, his target did not stop, but plunged directly into the open portal, leaving Dinobot alone in the deepening night. He shrugged a bit, and stalked in after him, wrenching the door shut behind him and sealing it with a quick burst of laser fire from his eyes. Now to rendezvous with the others.
"Where do you want me to hook up this generator?" Airazor asked,
dragging a large metal component behind her. Rhinox considered the set-up
for a moment.
"Over on the other side of that passageway, make sure their both in line." She dragged it over to the proper place and carefully lined it up with the identical unit on the other side.
"Hard to believe any of this stuff still works." Quicksilver's lab had provided a wealth of equipment and devices that could be of use in their upcoming fight, all of it carefully preserved and in need of only a few minor repairs. The most useful find, however, had been the portable force-field generators.
"Do you really think this scheme will work?"
"It *has* to, Airazor, it has to." They were interrupted by Optimus' brisk footsteps further down the corridor.
"Is everything ready?" Rhinox called as their leader came into view.
"As ready as it'll ever be, now, who wants who?" This was the most crucial part of their plan, they had to run their comrades down enough to force the machines to evacuate, which called for a precise matching of abilities.
"Airazor, I want you to handle Cheetor, you'll be able to stay ahead of him better than either of us. Rhinox, will it be Dinobot or Rattrap?"
"Rattrap." He said without hesitation. Rattrap was an annoying overly cocky, every-bot-for-himself Maximal, and perversely, Rhinox counted him his best friend.
"Guess that leaves me with Dinobot, what a surprise."
"Well whadaya know? This works out *perfectly*." A cold voice hissed behind them. All three whirled to see the subjects of their discussion standing in the corridor. Cheetor lounged indolently against the wall, his expression dripping with menace, which was mirrored by Dinobot and Rattrap.
"Well you guys seem to be ready for us, let's get on with it shall we?" So saying, their three comrades attacked them with a ferocity none of them had ever seen before.
"Here goes nothin'" Rhinox muttered under his breath, and with that the he, Optimus, and Airazor turned and dashed down three different corridors. The remaining Maximals stared after them in confusion for a moment.
"Don't just stand there, after them!" Cheetor growled. The other two nodded and raced after their targets.
Rhinox pelted down the hall as fast as he could, for the first time
in his life cursing the heavy armor that surrounded him. His beast form was
mildly faster, but even if he dared take the time to transform, the
corridors weren't big enough. Behind him he could just make out the sound
of Rattrap following him, at a *much* faster pace. Well, where speed
failed, cunning often succeeded. Rhinox had spent most of the day studying
the schematics of the ship, until he knew every hallway, every branch
corridor, every room by heart. Without slackening his speed, as it were, he
darted through an arch and into a new hallway, then immediately abandoned it
for another branch. With any luck, Rattrap would be far enough behind him
that he would be forced to examine the hallway first, before checking the
branches. Still, he didn't want to get *too* far ahead of his friend.
"This is *not* gonna be easy." He said quietly to the air in front of his face.
"Peek-a-boo, you're it!" Rattrap stepped around the corner, inbeast form, his eyes alive with strange blue light. Rhinox sighed heavily and continued running down the corridor. Rattrap followed, but Rhinox quickly perceived that he was not moving as fast as before.
"This might just work after all."
Airazor had abandoned the floor within the first few moments of
the chase, when it became apparent she could not hope to outrun the thing
behind her for long. She refused to think of him as Cheetor any more, for
if she did, she might start having second thoughts about what they were
planning to do, which in turn could cost her her life. She hurtled down the
corridors at near top speed in her flight mode, thanking the matrix that her
slim form allowed her freedom of movement. As fast as she was going, her
pursuer was right behind her and, she was afraid, gaining.
"Oh come on Airazor, it won't hurt a bit! I promise." The thing called after her, panting from exertion. He had reverted to beast mode a few minutes ago.
"Forgive me, if I find your word less than trustworthy." She shouted back. According to the maps Rhinox had shown her, this corridor would run out in about 50 meters, which meant she had to take another branch right about....now. Demonstrating impressive control, she whipped through a passage way, executing a near 180 degree turn. She laughed triumphantly as she heard the thing behind her skid past the doorway, his claws scrabbling for purchase on the metal floor. A few moments later he was behind her again, but Airazor noticed he seemed hard-pressed to keep up the pace.
Optimus quickly led Dinobot away from the others, through the maze
of hallways and rooms that made up the Tenacious, hoping that Rhinox and Airazor would be all right.
"Come now Optimus, surely a warrior like yourself can see that you are at a distinct tactical disadvantage. Why not give up and make it easy on yourself?"
"Why don't you shut up and make me?"
"Brave words Maximal, we heard such as those many times in this ship. Bravery made no difference then, and it will make no difference now."
"We'll just have to see about that." Suddenly Optimus stopped dead, turned and released a volley of laser fire on Dinobot, silently asking for forgiveness. The bigger Maximal was forced to take cover in a branch off, whereas Optimus shouldered his weapon and raced back the way they had come. He heard Dinobot following a moment later, in beast mode, though he wavered slightly with each step.
Rhinox lumbered down the last corridor, Rattrap behind him, though
visibly shaking with the effort of keeping up with even Rhinox's pace.
Rhinox felt yet another twinge of worry for his friends, they couldn't last
much longer. At last he entered the home stretch, the conjunction of every
hallway in the ship. In the very center of it was the container he had sent
out with Optimus and Airazor, its contents glowing violet blue. He
caught sight of Optimus and Airazor as well. As one they slipped into the
same passageway, then immediately turned to face the conjunction. Their
three comrades appeared scant seconds later, exhaustion written on all their
features. Cheetor and Rattrap were obviously having trouble staying upright,
while Dinobot leaned against a wall for support. Crossing his fingers, Rhinox depressed a switch on the device in front of him, and Quicksilver's
force-field generators crackled to life, forming a faint green shield over
every entrance and exit to the conjunction, effectively trapping the three in.
The overmind of the machines was cursing itself for it's stupidity.
Their prey had become the hunters, tricking them into using up the little
energy stores that had left. Hundreds of units had already shut down, just
as had happened before. They needed a new source, *now*. These bodies
would not last the hour out. Just then, something intruded on their
sensors. Energy. Raw energy. Frantically the invaders began scanning for
the source of it, then fell on it like so many starving organisms.
Rhinox, Airazor, and Optimus watched in fascination as a fine blue mist seeped out of all three of their friends, growing larger and denser by the minute. It surrounded the container of energon and began eating at it. Dinobot, Rattrap, and Cheetor collapsed in an uncerimonious heap on the floor as the last of the machines abandoned them.
"Get ready, we'll only have one chance at this." Rhinox whispered, and deactivated the force field in front of them. Optimus and Airazor darted forward, snagging their comrades and dragging them back to safety. The instant they were clear, Rhinox reactivated the field and heaved a sigh of relief. He then scanned the three on the floor for a moment, concern welling up inside of him. The readings were barely there.
"We have to get them out of here, they need the CR chambers yesterday." He carefully hefted Dinobot up, while Optimus shouldered Cheetor, leaving Rattrap to Airazor.
"Hurry, before they completely absorb that energon." Staggering slightly under their burden, the three Maximals beat a hasty retreat from the Tenacious, stopping only to allow Optimus to blow the door open again.Once outside, and well away from the clearing, Rhinox removed one final device, and flipped a switch. Deep within the Tenacious, a detonator flared to life, and a moment later a thunderous roar split the air, and a wall of white-hot flame shot up from the clearing, casting an orange glow over the night.
"Well, that wasn't so hard, now was it?"
A few days later, life aboard the Axalon had returned to normal, or
whatever passed for normal. Repairs were being completed on the systems the
trio had destroyed or canabalized, and the Maximals were counting their
blessings.
"Tigatron to base, do you read me?" The comm station cackled to life.
"We read ya Stripes, what's up?" Rattrap answered, fiddling with a nearby console.
"I've been trying to raise you for days, that was some storm wasn't it? So, have I missed anything interesting?"