The audience just simply wait... and wait...
"Finally. Another. Now silence and witness."
The Autobots, Megatron and the Predacons take a seat...
A stasis pod falls from orbit and passes through the atmosphere.
"Incoming stasis pod. Orbit has decayed over the northern sector." Rhinox notifies upon detecting a pod falling from orbit.
"Heads up, bots! Get ready to move." Optimus Primal notifies, putting the Maximals on standby.
"Must I ask what are the purpose of these 'stasis pods' they speak about?" Megatron inquires.
"They orginally came from the Axalon, the Maximal ship you're seeing by the interior. Primal ejected them from orbit while the Axalon was on pursuit of the Darksyde, the Predacon ship, mostly to prevent their potential damage in the crash." Ratchet answered.
"I see..."
"Impact in 5 seconds! 4,3,2,-"
The stasis pod made it's impact in the North where a white tiger witnessed it's fall.
At the Darksyde...
"Impact! Coordinates: 6-1-7 / 8-8-5 120 kilometers north. Shall we go?" Terrorsaur asked
"No, not yet. The Maximals will surely attempt to dispatch their only flyer to reach the pod first, yess. Let us insure that he encounters...turbulence." Megatron replied with ham and cunning.
Megatron scoffs "THIS overgrown lizard is MY descendant? He doesn't appear to be much of a gladiator like I was."
"Wait, only flyer? Them Maximals just got only ONE flyer?" Darksteel asked.
"There may be more, but we have not known any airborne Maximals yet. As of right now, the Predacons have the air superiority." Ultra Magnus assured.
The Maximals prepared to split up to teams, one would find the stasis pod and the other would have to fly to watch out for incoming Predacons. Unfortunately, with Primal as the only flyer, the rest would have to find the pod.
"Got to tell you, BigBot... Doesn't sound like such a swift move, splitting up!" Cheetor said. (Skylynx: No kidding spots.)
"We've got no choice! We're talking a hundred kliks over a rough territory Megatron's sure to launch his own flyers, I have to get there first!" Primal replied impulsively.
"I am not normally an advocate of caution, Optimus Primal... but, in this case, I must register my concern Megatron does not always behave as one might... expect." Dinobot said with concern.
"He'll want to reach the pod first, same as us.Right now it's a race, pure and simple, Optimus Primal, MAXIMIZE!"
Primal transforms to his robot form.
"Nonetheless, you WILL do me the honor of permitting me to exit first. I have... suspicions." Dinobot requested.
"All right... but hurry!" Optimus granted.
"Dinobot- MAXIMIZE!" he transforms to robot mode, goes down the elevator shaft and activates his scanners for Predacon signatures, but no Predacons are around. He lifts back and reports "My scanners detect no hostiles yet something feels...amiss." Dinobot then requested another to Primal "Permit me to lead a scouting patrol."
"There isn't time! One of my comrades is out there somewhere, and every second counts!" Primal refused.
"Oh come on Primal. Doesn't it hurt to look out for Preds lurking around? They could be under Dinobot's radar!" Bumblebee griped.
"Your emotion chips are overriding your caution circuits! I insist upon a scouting patrol!" Dinobot requested again, but Primal refused.
Prime shook his head at seeing Primal's stubborness.
"I am in command here! Now stand aside!" Primal pushes Dinobot in the elevator as it goes down "Primal jets, on!" then activates his flight systems and attempts to take flight but not before he ordered Dinobot...
"Have a ground unit follow me as quickly as possible we have to..." Primal was cut off but a blast hitting him in the chest. The Predacons are attacking!
"Ambush, as I suspected!" Dinobot readied his weapons, but one blast destroyed his spinning blade shield.
"Waspinator got him!" Waspinator cockily cheered. (Predaking: Fool. You just disarmed him.)
Terrorsaur screeches and says "Watch this." and prepares his in-built shoulder cannons, which he fired at Primal, knocking him down.
Dinobot retaliated by blasting off a portion of a rock formation overhead the ambush position, breaking off a boulder off the cliff face that falls on Waspinator, squishing the poor Predacon.
"YES!!!" Dinobot said like a little boy who just got his first win in a fair game.
"Admirable. But there is still one Predacon left." Megatron reminded.
Waspinator survived seemingly unharmed, but the Energon surge is beginning to overcome him.
"Oh no! Waspinator in trouble!" he whined.
"We did our job, now lets go! Back to base!" Terrorsaur ordered, taking Waspinator with him and jetting out of the compromised ambush site.
Dinobot snarled at the sight of cowardice and shouted...
"Cowards! Face me!" he fired his laser eyes at the fleeing Predacons, but was unable to get a good shot off as Terrorsaur was too far away at weapon range.
"Maximize!" Cheetor rushed to a wounded Optimus Primal. "Optimus!"
"Oh, man!" Primal groaned.
"Can you hear me, BigBot?" Cheetor asked.
"Fear not, Optimus. I shall ensure that your funeral is a glorious one, as befits a warrior who died in battle!"
"That's quite honorable of you, except you miss out that your leader isn't dead yet." Predaking pointed out.
"Fraid I'll have to miss it, Dinobot. I'm not scrap yet!" Optimus replied.
"Are you certain? It would be a triumphant passage!" Dinobot asked.
"Will you knock it off?!" Optimus retorted in irritation.
"We gotta get you into CR-Chamber, BigBot." Cheetor suggested.
"No! The stasis pod!" Optimus reminded.
"Oh man, the stasis pod! How could we forget about that sucker? Someone's gotta get it before the Preds do!" Smokescreen said putting a hand in his foreheadplate.
"Calm down. Right now, Primal's first in need of healing." Arcee griped.
"We'll get it! But right now, lets worry about you. Give me a hand here!" Cheetor beckoned to Dinobot to carry, who replied with "all right" and carried Optimus with hand; because it helped that he was bigger and stronger than Primal.
Back at the Darksyde, Megatron was unpleased at the results.
"So, Optimus Primal was not destroyed? You disappoint me, Terrorsaur. Yess." this earned him an eye roll from his 'ancestor'.
"But... we knocked him half to scrap! No way he'll be flying anywhere." Terrorsaur defended.
"Yes. We'll beat them to the stasis pod easily." Waspinator added.
"Yess, but they will still make an attempt." Megatron groused at the possibility. "Ahhh, a land party... Yess. Leaving only Optimus, and perhaps one other to guard the base." He then turns to his subordinates.
"Waspinator, Terrorsaur!" Both stood to attention.
"You will proceed immediately to the location of the stasis pod. Ensure that the protoform robot inside is reprogrammed as a Predacon. GO!" Both Predacons transform to Beast Modes and fly out of the Darksyde.
"As for the rest of you, you shall not be idle, noo. For with the maximals' base almost unguarded, this is the perfect time to strike. Yess. Follow me." Megatron transformed to Beast Mode and ran out of the Darksyde with the rest of the Predacons mobilized.
The Maximal ground team, composed of Cheetor, Rattrap and Rhinox, move out to secure the pod at their best speed.
"Man, I just don't think it's a slick plan, leaving Optimus back at base." Cheetor complained.
"Cheer up kitty, your 'fearless leader' is going to make a rapid recovery." Knockout assured.
"I wonder what that might be?" Megatron wondered, but Knockout was not keen in bowing before his former leader.
"Yeah. Especially with ol' Chopperface as babysitter." Rattrap added.
"Had to do it. Dinobots weapons were damaged in the battle. He's gotta regenerate, and we gotta run!" Rhinox continued "If that pod was cracked in the crash,the protoform robot inside will be exposed to the planet's energon fields."
Back at the stasis pod, a hand eventually rises from the ground until it falls back in the pod.
"That's..... creepy." Bulkhead said, being much as creeped out as the audience.
"Eerily.." Darksteel added
The Maximals were continuing on north as the snow fell down on them. Elsewhere, the Predacons are stalking their Maximal rivals...
"Well, look at that... We have competitors for the stasis pod, Waspinator" Terrorsaur said, looking down on the Maximals.
"Waspinator not think so."
"Lets Terrorize!" Terrorsaur elicits a death screech as he and Waspinator transform to Robot Mode.
"Incoming!" Rattrap warned, prompting Rhinox to stop, ejecting the rat Maximal off him. They manage to survive a strafing run caused by the airborne Predacons.
"Shred those lousy flyers!" The Maximal ground team transformed to Robot Mode, pulled out their guns, and fired at the Predacon aerial team. But they circled back and struck again, this time, banking for the land bridge.
"Oh no, the bridge!" Rattrap cried. Before they could cross, Waspinator and Terrorsaur blasted lead powerful enough to collapse the bridge. The Maximals are now stalled.
"That was some cold slag." Rhinox commented, earning chuckles from Bulkhead and Ratchet.
"Maximal base, this is Rattrap..." Static, so Rattrap hailed again. "Hello, you readin' me, Chopperface? We got problems!"
"Speak, vermin!" Dinobot replied.
"The Preds scrapped the bridge no way across. Now we're gonna have to take the scenic route Not a snowball's chance of beatin' them now." Rattrap notified.
"No excuses, you pathetic rodent! Keep moving! Dinobot out!" replied the ex-Predacon warrior.
"What's the big deal? He's just letting you know about the situation!" Skylynx commented.
"Some warriors just don't take excuses for results." Megatron said blankly.
"HEY! You can just kiss my pink hairless..." Dinobot cut off Rattrap's comms by a click of a button. For a moment he looked back and replied...
"Computer! Access and activate Optimus Primal's core consciousness."
[Acknowledged.]
[Core consciousness activated.]
Optimus Primal appears as a consciousness far from his body, his head presented on-screen.
"On screen."
"Don't tell me... Let me guess... Problems already?" Primal asked.
"Indeed. The others have been forcibly delayed.The Predacons will reach the pod first. Have you any thoughts?"
"Is there any way we can contact the pod?" Primal asked
"The energon fields are to strong. Our com-links will not reach."
"How about... laser pulse?" Primal suggested.
"Impossible. We would need line-of-sight transmission." Dinobot answered.
"Isn't there ANYTHING they can do to reach that stasis pod that's not impossible?" Ultra Magnus asked.
"Isn't there... anything we could bounce it off of? A mountain? Clouds? Anything?" Optimus said, having run of viable options to reach the stasis pod.
"Perhaps there is..." Dinobot looks into some datatrax for information.
Meanwhile, Megatron and his cronies are stationed outside and are scanning for security, and they found only one. Dinobot was outside on the top of the Axalon, preparing the laser pulse transmitter.
"As I surmised, yess. The remaining maximal on guard is none other that our own treacherous turncoat. I shall not waste this opportunity, noo." Megatron walked out of the open to introduce himself to Dinobot.
"Ah, Dinobot, yess."
Alerted...
"Dinobot, maximize!" he transformed to face Megatron, but the Predacon leader would not do the same...
"Oh, no no no, calmness, calmness, please. I came only to talk, yess. After all, you are alone and in command of the Maximal base An excellent opportunity, is it not? You were a predacon once, become one again. Turn the base over to me, and the Beast Wars will be over." Megatron continued with more ham that speaks of villainy "We Predacons will rule galaxy and you shall be my second in command. What do you say?"
"A poor offer you give to Dinobot, descendant."
"Sounds like-" Optimus cuts off Magnus with "No, as it seems, Unicron would come more worse than Megatron."
"Quite a compliment you gave me, Optimus."
"EAT SLAG!" Dinobot refused and blasted Megatron with his optic lasers.
"Vaporize him! Finish him!" Megatron ordered.
Scorponok and Tarantulas come out of cover behind and blast Dinobot from behind.
"oooooh." said Skylynx and Darksteel.
Dinobot managed to get up to see his former comrades preparing their weapons at him and rolls of the way when they fired again, but the knockback sends him reeling to his back against the elevator.
"Outer weapos, on..."
[Acknowledged.]
The Axalon's outer defense turrets emerge and fire, blasting Tarantulas and Scorponok away and then turn at Megatron. They unhestiatingly fired.
"Fall back! Fall back!" Megatron ordered, fleeing from under heavy fire.
"Coward." said by his 'ancestor'.
The young Autobots cheered at seeing the Predacons run away again like the yellow-plated scrap heaps they are.
The Predacons were indifferent, but Predaking was unimpressed.
"Now, Optimus! Laser in position!" Dinobot notified as the laser transmitter activated.
"Forget the Maximal base!" Megatron continued rectifying his order "Let us secure the pod!"
"Computer! Uploading instructions, NOW!"
The laser transmitter fired a beam that deflects the moon and reaches far to the north, shocking the delayed Maximal ground team, as they witness the laser uploads directives in the stasis pod. They wasted no time reaching to the other side and race forward.
"Oooooh. What brilliant technology they have to upload data to the stasis pod. I think Doctor Knockout can find a way to replicate that technology." Knockout surmised.
"Are you certain of that?" Megatron asked.
"You've always doubted my abilities, Megatron. I may have more than just mere medical work."
"Uh huh, so it seems."
Once the Stasis Pod received instructions, it began scanning for nearby life forms, one which was the white tiger that witnessed the laser upload nearby. The scanner eventually uploads the tiger's physiological make and uploads it in the data core which it uses to synthesize the protoform.
Meanwhile, the ground team was racing to the stasis pod as quickly as they can, but Terrorsaur and Waspinator were already ahead of them.
"What the shortin' circuits is going on?" Rattrap asked
"Whatever it is, it's to little to late!" Cheetor activates his targeting system, which zooms to witness both Terrorsaur and Waspinator closing in the stasis pod. "The Preds are gonna beat us to the pod!"
"Oh come on! Hurry up!" Bumblebee cheered.
"He's right Bumblebee. The Preds are gonna make it to the pod first." Bulkhead said.
"Not yet they won't! You saw that laser from the Axalon! The Maximals might have a chance!"
"Sure it does. Just hope the Preds slag up this time."
"Waspinator sees the pod! Only a few minutes away! Megatron will reward Waspinator!"
"Not if I get it first!" Terrorsaur snapped.
Megatron was reaching to the north all by himself in Beast Mode to reach the pod.
"Would that I could trust those flyers to secure the pod alone!" Megatron grumbled.
His 'ancestor' laughed. "Oh, Primus. How I witness to see my 'descendant' running like a tank about to be late for his duty."
"You seem to look down on him too much Megatron." Optimus replied.
"I do so for certain reasons, Optimus. And that is to see if he is as capable as I am."
"Hang on, Dinobot" Optimus could see that Dinobot is in a damaged state, so he came out of the CR chamber and places Dinobot inside. "We'll have you restored before you know it." then he turns and says "But in the meantime, I've got to fly. Optimus Primal- Maximize!"
Primal transforms to Robot Mode than turns to the computer...
"Computer!" the computer beeps on standby "Deactivate outer cannons and reactivate in 30 seconds!" Primal ordered.
[Acknowledged.] the computer responds.
"Prime jets, on!" Optimus then flies out of the Axalon.
The Predacons reaches the stasis pod first and check on the dormant machine.
"Hurry!" Terrorsaur said to Waspinator who was working to open the pod with his laser eyes. But they were too late, the Maximals arrived, with guns trained at the Predacons.
"Hold it right there!" Cheetor said (Bumblebee: Yeah, made it!)
"Yeah! You're messing with Maximal property, ya thieving Preds!" Rattrap spoke next.
"We've got a friend in there, and we won't let you turn him into a Predacon." Rhinox threatened.
"You won't stop us, Maximals!" Terrorsaur spoke back, him and Waspinator with their guns raised back at the Maximals.
"They surely shall not Megatron, Terrorize!" Megatron transformed to his Robot Mode and readies his cannon, but instead of aiming at the Maximals, he fired at the two tigers who witnessed nearby, which had the two felines fall before Megatron instead of killing them.
The Autobots gasped.
The Predacons looked down on such a cowardly act, Megatron included.
"The stasis pod is ours, Maximals! For I know your weaknesses, yess." the Predacon crime lord prepared to fire, but Rhinox butted in.
"Let them go! They're not part of this!"
"Yeah you coward! Leave em outta this!" Smokescreen shouted.
"You wouldn't dare..." Prime beseeches in contained anger.
"That's right... Just innocent creatures. So surrender yourselves and this pod or they should be terminated."
"Don't do it." Arcee said.
"Don't! They'll just kill those poor animals anyway!" Smokescreen said.
After contemplating for a while... the Maximals stand down.
"...You WIN, you depraved wad a' stinkin' slag." Rattrap bitterly said.
The Autobots and Predacons disapprove of such a loss, but the former knew that they had to, if that was the cost of saving lives, even of others.
"Cultivated as always, even in defeat. Now, witness my moment of triumph, as I reprogram the protoform Maximal within the pod into a Predacon. Yess. Open the pod." Megatron ordered, gloating in his victory.
The Predacons opened the pod... and it turned out to have no protoform.
"WHAT?!"
"It's empty!"
The Autobots contemplated for a while... and realized it was the laser all along.
"Brilliant thinking, Optimus Primal."
"Brilliant indeed." Megatron agreed with Ultra Magnus.
"Where is the Maximal?" Megatron asked.
"Right here." a white tiger appeared and it talked.
"Tigatron, MAXIMIZE!" the tiger, named Tigatron eventually transforms to a robot form which appeared similar to Cheetor but with a white and black striped palette swap. He pulled out his gun and fired at Megatron, knocking him down with his minions.
"Oh right!" the Maximals cheered.
"Yeah!" the young Autobots cheered as Bumblebee and Smokescreen passed hands at each other.
"Lets do it!" Cheetor and the Maximals fired at the Predacons. Primal soon arrived to eventually get his payback by firing missiles at the Predacon team. They tried taking cover but upon heavy fire, they were supressed.
"Beast mode! Retreat! Retreat!" the Predacons rout from the battle, now outnumbered, but not before Megatron receives a parting gift that literally blows him up in the butt; compliments from Tigatron.
The Autobots and Megatron laughed at the Predacon's defeat. Megatron, because he was amused at seeing his descendant's overconfidence turn against him. Though Prime was the least amused, he was fortunate to see a pair of life forms safe at last.
"Blast you all!" Megatron cursed.
"Greetings." the white tiger Maximal introduced upon converting back to Beast Mode.
"Tigatron, I'm Optimus Primal, Maximal commander." he said upon landing before the recently awakened Tigatron, meeting him by transforming to Beast Mode.
"You had us worried for a while. We didn't know if you'd made it."
"Almost didn't. The crash... damaged my identity circuits. I didn't know... who I really was, or which side I was on... until... until I saw you, willing to risk your lives to save us." said Tigatron unsurely, even when he looked at the Maximals with sullen eyes.
"Well, we're just glad you came trough We could use another member of Maximal force. Our ship, or what's left of it, is due south about hundred kliks."
"NO!" Tigatron refused, but he managed to clear up why he refused " No, I'm sorry , but... no. I... am still more tiger than Maximal." He clarified even further "Until my identity circuits restore themselves, I feel my place is here, in the wilds with... with my kind. But you may count on my loyalty."
"I see." Prime commented.
"That is freedom for you. The 'right of all sentient beings', as you so often say." Megatron replied sarcastically.
Prime could not argue, but he didn't reply either.
"Sounds good to me." Rhinox agreed well enough.
"Yeah, we could use a scout out here, ya know, in case the preds get up to something.'" Rattrap suggested."
"Then it's settled. For now. But I have the feeling we'll meet again, Tigatron. And soon."
Primal gave a salute of respect then departs the frozen north with the Maximals, leaving Tigatron alone in the north, where he felt he truly belongs.
"Let the trails lead where they may. I will follow." Tigatron mused then stares out in the north sky where the night remains as young.
"That's so beautiful." Arcee said.
"Are you-"
"No, Smokescreen, I'm not."
"Okay, okay." but the blue scout was innately believing that Arcee was lying.
"Are you all ready for... another viewing?"
When Omega Scion was met with agreements, he prepared the Orb once again for another viewing...