FIVE: CHAOS THEORY
Savage Land
“This a joke?”
T-Wrecks and the other present Maximals tensed as Grimlock regarded his namesake with a callous glare. The other Grimlock, for his part, met his gaze evenly and seemed to have the same amount of furor in his green-tinted visor.
The other Dinobots exchanged uneasy glances while Wheelie watched the whole scene unfold with a curious expression as he sat atop Sludge’s back.
“Two share a name, but appearances are not the same,” the small orange Autobot soliloquized. “One must have a long-winded story, so let us be patient and hear all about his glory.”
Rhinox looked over at him with an amused look. “I can already tell you’re going to drive Rattrap insane…”
“The little one is correct,” said the other Grimlock. “My story is one that is long and difficult to explain. If it reassures you any, I was not always known as Grimlock, although I have not gone my true name for a very long time.”
“What is it then?” asked Snarl. “’Cos this is gonna get annoying and confusing real quick.”
“Long ago, I was known as Vicarius, second-in-command to Domitius Major aboard the starship Axalon—the original Axalon, as apparently its name has been reused in the Autobot fleet.” The other Grimlock nodded in acknowledgment to Rhinox. “We crashed here on Earth after a freak incident sent us thousands of years into the past. We were then found by a Decepticon named Shockwave, who reawakened us and reprogrammed our minds to make us believe we were figures from the Cybertronian War.”
“I see,” Grimlock muttered. “Like other Bumblebee.”
“I take it you mean Centurion,” Vicarius said. “Yes, needless to say many of suffered something of an identity crisis when the truth became known to us. For my part, I simply retreated here when many of my comrades fell offline, planning to live the last of my days here. That was when the rest of these guys showed up.”
Grimlock grunted. “So what’s the deal, here? Why are the Predacons interested in this place and why can’t anyone leave?”
“That’s what we’re still trying to figure out.”
Everyone turned to the entry to the temple, from where a great black ape was lumbering out onto the front steps. Grimlock inclined his head in acknowledgment to Primal Major and the Maximal leader returned the nod.
“At the center of the island is a tower, where the Predacons have gathered,” Primal went on as he descended the steps. “We have reason to believe that the tower holds the power to this island, hiding it from most modern scanners and creating the irregular temporal field around it.”
“Right,” Grimlock said. “So only way to get off the island is to storm the tower and take out Predacons.”
“Theoretically,” Primal said. “Were this Eukaris, we would have already made an attempt by now. But this ‘Savage Land’ has too many unknown factors—unspecified fauna, countless creatures… and who knows what the Predacons have found for themselves and brought to their cause. We’ve already lost a scouting party to them, as well as Lio Convoy’s rescue team. I’m not sure if we have the numbers to take them on.”
“But you do have Dinobots now. Real Dinobots,” Grimlock added with a glance towards T-Wrecks and his group.
Primal smirked. “I suppose we do. Perhaps it is time we reassess our situation with that factor in mind.”
T-Wrecks cleared his vocal processor. “As it happens, I do have a plan that I have been hesitant to bring to Primal’s attention. But now that we have additional strength, now might be the time to present it.”
“Well then,” Primal said. “Let’s hear it.”
* * *
As the Maximals and Dinobots discussed their plans well into the night, an unseen figure moved between the trees, navigating through the jungle without notice or interruption. He felt subconscious about being in robot mode, but this part of the island was virtually impossible to navigate in his vehicle form. While he was used to having to adapt to new and strange environments, the particular circumstances of his present predicament made it difficult for him to utilize his normal protocols.
As soon as he made it into a clearing where it would have been possible for him to get a signal, the mechanoid collapsed into his alternate mode and accessed the private channel he shared with his partner.
“JP93 to JP12. Do you read me?”
Static crackled through as his partner responded. “Barely. What’s up?”
“I have been monitoring the Maximal camp and they have received a number of new arrivals. I recognize some of them to be Grimlock and his Dynobot unit—”
“What the—? Grimlock? Have you made contact with him?”
“Negative. I don’t recognize his current appearance, so I’m not sure if it’s actually them or some sort of ruse. What do you think I should do?”
“I mean, if it were me, I’d just go ahead and make contact. What’s the worse they can do?”
“This isn’t funny, Twelve. This a dangerous island and we have no idea what any of these beings—recognizable or not—are capable of.”
“Right, and we’ve been waiting around for how long? Look, Nine-Three, sooner or later we’re gonna have to get more proactive here since High Command clearly isn’t sending any help.”
“Don’t say that. I managed to finally get out a signal to Prowl. I’m sure he’ll receive it.”
“Yeah, I’m sure he will. You can wait around if you want, but I think I’ve just found our ticket off this blasted island.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Sorry, Nine-Three, can’t talk a whole lot right now. I’ll get back to you once I’ve made a breakthrough.”
“Twelve, don’t you dare—”
JP93 revved his engine in frustration as the line went dead. JP12 had always been the more reckless (and least scrupulous) of the two of them, so he shouldn’t have been surprised by this behavior… but it was still frustrating nonetheless.
Still, he could understand to a degree why his partner was so impatient. Years ago (it could have even been centuries at this point), the two of them had been captured by the Decepticons and subjected to some sort of project involving transwarp technology. Before they knew it, they had ended up on this island on some alien planet with no means of getting back home or contacting Cybertron. By JP93’s calculations, they had been here for about twenty-four years… but there was no telling how far they had been thrown through time by the Decepticons’ transwarp tech. For all he knew, the war could have been long over at this point and the Autobots had since forgotten about them… assuming they were even still around.
But that was the pessimistic way of thinking and JP93 preferred not to take that route (especially since JP12 already had it covered). And if the bots he had seen really were Grimlock and his Dynobots… then maybe help had come after all.
Deciding to double back and return to the Maximal camp to make his presence known, JP93 adjusted his wheels to turn around… only for a large foot to fall onto his roof.
Oh no, he thought. Not here. Not know.
He spun his wheels in an attempt to drive out of the Tyrannosaurus’ foot but the dinosaur only applied more pressure to keep him pinned there. At that moment, the bushes rustled as more dinosaurs emerged from out of the forest… and JP93 could tell right away that they were not native organics.
“Well, well,” a gray and green-finned Stegosaurus said. “What do we have here? Doesn’t look like any Maximal I recognize.”
“Must be an Autobot,” said a Velociraptor. “But I can smell Maximals nearby. We must be close.”
“Shall we alert the others then?” asked the Stegosaurus.
“No,” growled the Tyrannosaurus, her foot still pinning JP93 down. “The moment is ours to claim. They will be no match for us.”
The Velociraptor gave the Tyrannosaurus a disapproving look. “I can’t say I agree with your appraisal of our odds.”
“I didn’t ask you, Dinobot,” the Tyrannosaurus said, speaking the last word with thinly veiled disdain. “You will do what I say and that is final. And that goes for all of you!”
“You do not lead the Predacons,” the one called Dinobot snarled. “The only command I must adhere to is that of the Tripredacus Council.”
“You and those little creeps can shove it. Once we have wiped out the Maximal camp, they will have no choice but to acknowledge me as the one and true Beast Queen!”
“Okay, fine,” said a green and orange Dimetrodon as he nudged JP93 with his head. “So what do we do with this one?”
JP93 heard gears and plates shift as the Tyrannosaurus transformed. Its beast head formed an arm which the Predacon used to grab him and hoist him up, holding him in the air in a mangled state between vehicle and robot form.
“We keep him,” Tyrannocon said. “Something tells me he has more than a few interesting things to tell us. I look forward to ripping it out of his brain module!”
Metroplex
Prowl held his chin in his hand as he took in the information that Bumblebee was transmitting following his meeting with the Witwicky family. The information itself was relatively sparse, but Prowl had expected that; these humans weren’t exactly the type who would have clandestine information readily on hand.
According to what they knew, the Witwicky ancestor known as Captain Archibald had led an expedition to the Arctic Circle during the late 19th century. While there, Archibald had discovered something that had caused him to go mad and was subsequently taken in by Sector Seven, leading to the start of Project: Ice Man. Most of the information wasn’t anything that the Autobots and Sector Seven didn’t already know at this point… save for one small yet significant detail. According to an obscure article that had been published shortly after Captain Archibald had been committed to a psychiatric hospital, there had been one word—one name—that the old man repeated over and over again among the other alien words he had begun rattling off upon making contact with the Ice Man.
That name being Megatron.
Prowl knew it couldn’t have been the Megatron that he and the Autobots had spent the last millennium fighting against, as the Decepticon leader did not land on Earth until four years after the expedition, the same time as the Ark’s crash. But the Autobots had since learned that Shockwave had “created” a number of doppelgangers for both factions which had been active on Earth long before then. If Bumblebee and Optimus Prime had duplicates among their ranks… then surely the most prominent Decepticons had some as well.
While Agent Fowler had assured them that the Ice Man (or NBE-01) had been destroyed by the Decepticons searching for the real Megatron, Prowl had his doubts. Besides, who had these Decepticons been and what had they done in the thirty years between the Ice Man’s destruction and the real Megatron’s recovery? Had they simply left Earth only to return? As simple as that sounded, it simply did not add up in Prowl’s analytical mind. There had to be more to it than that.
After a moment of consideration, Prowl decided to hail Optimus Prime on his personal communicator. “Prime, I just heard back from Bumblebee.”
“Good,” the Autobot leader replied. “Anything of note?”
“Only that Captain Archibald Witwicky referred to NBE-01 as ‘Megatron.’”
There was a moment of silence as Optimus Prime allowed these words to sink in. “That is… certainly something,” he finally said, his emotions difficult to decipher from tone alone.
“Agreed,” Prowl said. “I am aware that NBE-01 was held at a facility at Hoover Dam. Perhaps we should head there next to see if we can find more clues.”
“Wasn’t NBE-01 destroyed?”
“Supposedly. But I would rather verify that for myself. Once I get authorization from Director Faireborn, I will orbital jump down to meet up with you.”
“Understood. We are already en route.”
Once Prime had ended the call, Prowl returned his attention to Bumblebee’s information. After another moment’s thought, he sent a message to the Autobot scout telling him to stay positioned near the Witwicky’s household. If Prowl’s hunches were correct, then anyone who did not want any of this to be uncovered would surely catch on and start making a move, and the Witwickys would be directly in the line of danger if that were to be the case.
Prowl hoped it wouldn’t come to that. But then again, hope hadn’t been doing him many favors for the past several years….
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