Part Seven: - Operation Victory Part 3: Sinker
Pre-History Earth - The Beast WarsThe Underbase"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.. Time out here!" Rattrap motioned as he spoke. Near the centre of his squad in mid-flight.
"Let me see if I got dis straight." Tarantulas cocked his head. The clones mimicry ever present. Even unconsciously, he away from their line of sight.
"Ole Kimba up top, rigs a booby trap we all fall into. We all crash down here. Trapped, badly damaged and completely at'cha mercy." Counting these points off with this fingers.
"So wadda you do? Fix us all up in your CR tanks. Only to then feed us to your freaky play doh factory? Dat about right??""Why yes. Your bodies had to be repaired to make sure all were viable spare parts. You being conscious for the process was just for my own amusement wahahaha." The mad spider rubbed his hands together with glee. Even permitting the clones their repetition.
"Just like we thought ya would." Rattrap smirked, as Tarantulas raised his brow.
"What are you talking about, Vermin?""We Maximals came here, for da last time. To end dis war, one way or de udda." A nod to Bump and the scientist withdrew a small silver orb from his forearm. Which was cast on the floor with a flash. A near instant localised polarity reversal. The Maximals softly descended to their feet. Rattrap clicked his fingers for attention and walked towards his Predacon rival.
"We went into dis knowin' tings were serious dis time. We was playin fa keeps... Knievel Mode" He shrank down and Tarantulas was too dumbstruck to act.
"But some a you Preds clearly didn't get da memo. This is just another one o ya wacky schemes. Which we already accounted for. We took a risk on who'd be down here. As soon as I see it was you, we initiated plan C." An alert then signalled across every monitor and a klaxon began to sound.
"Wait?! What have you done???" Tarantulas instantly began to panic.
"No. The priest!" he deduced.
"EHHH! Wrong answer...Maximum Torque!" With that, the Maximal's vehicle mode began to rev and build up a tremendous amount of speed. Still pointed squarely at the Predacon. Yet held in place as the field remained.
"You did this. See we all came here with our own missions. Da Boss Monkey an' Cobalt Kitty were da bait to lure out the Space Pirates and whateva forces you had hidden behind de Black Gate." Systems began shutting down throughout the base. An.. inopportune time for Brother Rhi, who was just in the process of pulling himself up a ventilation shaft to a nearby corridor. When the sudden blare of the alarm on that level, distracted him just enough to briefly lose his footing and once again, he fell down further into the facility. Punching a hole straight through whatever floor he had climbed up from.
"De were da Hook. De bait to lure in de Preds. Our job was to clear a path straight to da Darksyde. We've known for quite a long time dis Mountain ain't legit." The Predacon and his clones were frantically working on the controls, trying to gain some hold on the situation, as Rattrap calmly continued.
"We're de Line. But don' worry, Eight Eyes.. You won't be around to see da Sinker!"With, as if on cue, the field faded. Tarantulas span on his heels as Rattrap released his brakes...
"RATTRAP, MAXIMISE!" An incredible level of inertia did the rest. As Rattrap launched a rocketing punch straight into the scientists head. Which span uncontrollably for moments before he fell to the ground unconscious.
"We knew you'd put us into your CR tanks. So we all got dosed with one a' Bumps nanosite formulas. On contact with a larger power source den us, they deployed and shut your little fortress down from da inside.""The work of a scientist of lesser stock, I believe?" Bump smugly added, standing next to their downed foe. Armodillo tackled both to the floor just in time to avoid a barrage of laser fire from the now very aggressive clones.
"Gloating after we've won, maybe?" Armodillo added. The same smug tone now evidently shared by both siblings.
"Phase two, commander?"The three of them deploying demolition charges from their forearms.
"Oh Yeahhh!" Rattrap yelled with glee. Rolling onto his back, he drew his weapon and blasted the active screen beside the clones. The small explosion, distraction enough for the Maximals to advance on their foes on even terms. Not knowing if these clones had been exposed to Aerogon, a frontal assault was their only option.
Tigatron and Overbite were the first to leap into the fray. Tigatron, the most at risk due to sacrificing his Transmetal body in effort to save the last Fuzors, showed no signs of fear or concern. In his organic Beast Mode he lunged with his jaws wide. They made contact with the right arm of the nearest clone and with a twist of his head, it was sent flying into the far wall. The arm firmly retained in the fangs of the white tiger. While the second clone initiated suppressive fire from his shoulder cannons, pinning Overbite behind a nearby console, the third made a break for the doorway behind him. Cowardice or a bid for reinforcements, the brothers couldn't afford either possibility, so the charged into the fray. Huckster Modes initiated. The twin uni-wheels crisscross the corridor, from floor to ceiling and back again. Coming to a halt directly in front of the doorway. Both transform and hold their blasters to the bewildered clones face. Who throws his arms up in surrender. The overtaken clone, temporarily distracted by the maneuver, swiftly falls prey to the concealed Overbite. Who leaves very little to be taken prisoner. Dismembering his foe with such ease even Tigatron looks uncomfortable. With Tarantulas and the three clones in restraints, Rattrap finishes locking the charges to key points of his tail whip.
"Okay, let's wrap dis up and get the heck outta dodge." With a mighty thud Inferno plummets from the shadows above to the ground, head first. Mach Kick on top of him.
"That was disappointing. I expected more of a challenge from one so large.""EHHH War Horse! Where's ya hand?" Rattrap pointing out the unrealised missing appendage.
"Son of a Glitch!" The Maximal swore, before delivering a swift kick to the unconscious Ant's head. It barely moved.
Laughter broke out at the centre of the room. During the entire escape, Long Rack had been quietly studying the egg sack.
"If we are finished with unsolicited bravado, I believe I have completed the task I was issued." His Cyber Horse compatriot scoffed and transformed for prisoner transport. The Spider Bots slung over his back. Tigatron looked at Inferno, uneasy.
"Relax Stripes, he's out cold." Rattrap trying to be reassuring, with his ever present patronising air.
" 'Sides, we got bigga fish ta fry!" He pointed up to the Ant Queen.
"Thanks to the machinations of the Spider, detonations within the carapace should cause a chain reaction through the Energon tubes. Hopefully bringing this entire house of horrors tumbling down." Long Rack mused.
"We still have two problems though, commander. Egress, and Brother Rhino's location.""Hold da phone! We got three problems." Rattrap interjected.
"What's the third, Rattrap?" The twins asked in unison. Advancing toward the group, away from the door.
"I saw four Spiders with Tarantulas." Taking a quick head count of those on Mach Kick's back
"An only three on Thirty/Thirty, here." Their backs to the door, the forth clone quietly advanced. A very large missile launcher held by both arms. Tigatron briefly sniffed the air and started at something behind the squad.
With that, two massive hands clasped around the waist of the clone and he was rocketed off his feet, into the air. His head embedded in the doorway. A large form poked around the now inert hanging form.
"So sorry I'm late, brothers." Brother Rhi added. Edging around the limp Predacon, to enter the room. In contrast to his relatively unscathed compatriots, Rhino's form was dented, dirtied and torn in just about every possible area.
"I've had a terrible day.""Okay.. So just da one problem now. How we getting outta here?" Rattrap added rhetorically. A sly pat on Rhi's good shoulder at his entrance, while he walked past to inspect beyond the door.
Noting the room opposite to house the CR tanks. Those adjacent, living quarters for six. Rattrap saw a single elevator to his right and a grate missing from the floor. Noting Rhi's access point. Poking his head through the doors, he observed a large enough translucent elevator that looked like natural sunlight shone at the peak of the shaft.
"Maybe, we ain't all gonna die?" He muttered, surprised at the good fortune of his mission, so far. His internal timer showed he was 15 cycles ahead of schedule too.
"Fire in the hole!" Long Rack announced, as his squad then took cover. The lower opening to the egg sack had sealed itself magnetically since the power cut. As he was unable to access it manually, the normally technically minded engineer transformed into Cannon Mode and blew the hatch to pieces instead. When the dust cleared and the ringing in audio receptors abated, a strange beige ichor slowly dripped from the opening. Bump approached it first and with his Beast Head, extended the tongue out and obtained a sample.
"For Science!" He shrugged to the disturbed faces around him.
Rattrap appeared back in the doorway.
"Okay, we all set?" Overbite nodded and approached the opening with the bomb laden whip.
"You sure about this, bub?" He didn't seem overly confident in Rattrap's unorthodox delivery system. A familiar hand came to rest on his back, he looked up to see the one bot he trusted, smiling down on him.
"Believe in Rattrap, my friend." Tigatron reassured.
"Though gone from this war for some time, I have nothing but faith in our commander. So should you." With that, Overbite nodded assent and wedged the blade of the tail into position. He walked to the other end and held it at chest hit. The entire whip held firm in mid air.
"Still, who does this?" He concluded. Before pushing a concealed button and yanking off the last chunk of the hilt. A micro ignition erupted and the now elongated missile, shot straight up into its target.
"I do. Let's move out! I pull de trigger when we're topside." A sudden smug tone returning to the commander's voice.
With restraints around his legs, Overbite and Tigatron carried Inferno into the elevator. Rattrap hurried the rest onboard and was the last to enter. Pushing the button for the top floor. The elevator was an express one, another stroke of luck. Rattrap began to count down in his head. By this point, as Inferno lay entirely against the rear wall, space was becoming an issue. Only Rattrap, Overbite and Mack Kick in Beast Mode, stood with any level of comfort.
The display on the control panel made Rhi grope at his aching shoulder. They were 500 kliks from the surface. He had been in near constant free fall the entire way down. Even lower than where the others had first landed. At the 200 mark, Rattrap flipped the trigger. Only noted initially as a small rumble.
A tiny ball of energy was spied by Mach Kick in natural repose, looking through the floor. It appeared to be rising slowly. The rumbling began to increase.
At the 100 mark, the chain reaction was in full effect and from the freestanding shaft, the squad saw the entire base violently tearing itself apart.
'Come on, come on, we're almost dere' Rattrap thought to himself. Luck was a new experience and he wondered how long it would last. At 50 kliks, Inferno's antennae sudden flickered and the luck ran out.
"MY QUEEN!!!" Inferno suddenly screamed into consciousness and burst from his restraints, as though they were nothing. Chaos ensued. As the hysterical Predacon took up too much of the elevator car for anyone to effectively restrain him.
"WHAT HAVE YOU WORMS DONE!?! THE COLONY NEEDS ME!! ..TERRORIZE!" With some sickening noises of long damaged parts contorting together, Inferno transformed into a Bot Mode that clearly hadn't been used in some time. In the confusion, he simply began to pound on the floor of the car. Given his prodigious strength, it didn't take long for the floor to crumble.
He launched himself into the explosions below. Mach Kick was the closest to him and buckled with the collapsing floor. The four Stasis locked clones slid from his back and fell into the rising maelstrom. Tarantulas body remained as Mach Kick jerked his hind legs and created a makeshift bridge across the hole. Tigatron and Rhino had quickly prised themselves into the corners. Knowing their greater weight would doom the others, while also in a bid to support the remaining structure of the car. As the rest of the party now balanced precariously above certain death. The Elevator had stopped at 25 kliks below the surface.
"I knew dere was a reason I picked 'chu on my team, Buckeroo!" Rattrap joked from on top of the pile.
"I could laugh - If it were funny - but then I'm pretty sure four more bots would plummet to their doom through my splitting sides" The Cyber Horse' morbid reply.
"Fair enough. Bump, any ideas? I could shoot the doors, but I don't think dat will end well." He heard a muffled response and a shiny silver ball suddenly flew up from below him and popped with a flash. A brief respite of anti-gravity. With that, Rhino pushed off the far well and drifted towards the doors. Slowly prising them apart as the field repairs on his shoulder began to come undone from the strain.
Nothing but solid metal greeted them on the other side. Bump estimated they were so far down as the higher element of the mountain was likely unoccupied so as to not attract attention. The rumbling intensified further and Rhino looked to the heavens for a miracle. At the same time, both he and Rattrap noticed the power cord for the car itself.
"Okay, Everybody up!" Rattrap ordered as a simple punch shattered the service hatch.
Deep below, Inferno stalked through a room worthy of his name. His legs had melted, but that was of little concern, as he climbed through the flames and explosions by his drill claws alone. His Bot Mode optics were still fully operational, though not for long. He soon spied Her. An elevated Head and adjoining spark casing were all that remained of her original body. All that had survived the explosions around them.
"MY QUEEN! I AM HERE!" He cradled her remains as his own continued melting. His sensors were not as acute as in his Beast Form, but through the destruction all around him, he thought he heard something.
"...Live...""HUH?" With that, the room erupted in a final explosion and the black eyed body of Inferno was vaporised.
This was the death knell of The Underbase. As the weight of the mountain was brought down to fill the void of the collapsing facility.
Rattrap alone was barely through the hatch was the final explosions hit the shaft and it shattered all around them.
"GRAB ONTO ME!!!" He screamed as he shot the mooring of the power cable he held with the other hand. The car plummeted into the depths and Rattrap, feeling a single hand grip his ankle, was yanked skyward into the growing light.
Above DiTillo Mountain seemed to instantly implode. The dust cloud from it carried much of the Scavenger Army away. Now all inoperative by unknown means. At the far end of the valley, a single Scavenger seemed to quietly jut into life. Its previous yellow eyes, glared red. Unfortunately, it couldn't move at all. As it had been crushed under a boulder by Grimlock.
Utter silence followed the mountains destruction. There was now a clear line of sight from the ruins of the Black Gate to the Darksyde itself.
From the sea of rubble, a small tapping started. A few moments more and the shining Transmetal hand of Rattrap reached out from the rocks. Desperately clutching at the air above. A massive hand came to rest on his, encompassing upto his forearm. The rat thought Rhinox had made it here just in the nick of time. He felt himself effortless pulled through the debris. Face to face with his saviour... Rampage.
"Welcome to my home, little mouse." Now, Rattrap knew his luck had run out.
"You seem to be caught on something, let me help you" With a mighty heave of his body, Rampage pulled a veritable chain of Maximals, from the earth. That all surged up high into the clear skies. Only to crack down again like a whip on his far side. All had survived, even Tarantulas.
"We're all gonna die..." Rattrap confirmed, trying to scramble to his feet. He realised his team were on the opposite, dangerous side of the mountain now.
"Most Definitely." Rampage concurred.
"What did you hope to gain from this? Squashing an ant hill?" Rampage mocked, even as he carelessly already trampled a Scavenger drone at his feet.
"An Opening!" Rattrap spat, barely on his knees at the feet of the warlord.
"Your ineffectual forces are already here. An opening for what?" Rampage smugly replied, withdrawing his laser rifle.
"FOR ME!!!" Rhinox announced over an intercom. A brief humming noise, caused Rampage to turn his head in confusion, as a huge hail of laser fire sent him flying. With that the Axalon decloaked and the final part of Operation Victory - The Sinker - had entered the battle. Rattraps squad all cheered and scrambled to their feet. Rattrap grabbed the King Crab's Laser Rifle and held it aloft..
"LET'S DO DIS!!" He screamed as his squad ran to engage the enemy. The now land based Axalon battle tank at their side, auto guns firing in all directions.
![Maximal :MAXIMAL:](./images/smilies/maximals.png)
To Be Concluded
![Maximal :MAXIMAL:](./images/smilies/maximals.png)