Chapter 92: Analyzing the Beast Core
"Red Spider, what are you doing?! How can you have such a bizarre hobby?!"
Just as Red Spider was performing what could only be described as neurosurgery on the fallen mechanical saber-toothed tiger, Darts who had finally reverted to his robot form stared at him in confusion. These Dinobots were no strangers to killing, but the strange Decepticon's actions were beyond comprehension.
"Mr. Darts, I'm barely on my second move and if I recall correctly, I saved your life just a few seconds ago. Surely you haven't forgotten that already?"
At the Dinobot's puzzled tone, Red Spider almost stopped drilling, thinking Darts might want to take back his turn.
"No, no, Mr. Starscream, don't get me wrong! That's not what I meant. I'm just… a little puzzled by your Decepticon behavior! This saber-toothed tiger is your prey; my brother and I won't interfere. You can shred it to pieces if you want we don't care. But whatever you do, please don't waste too much time. We still have a long way to go. Don't forget our ultimate goal!"
It was clear the two Dinobots weren't interested in Starscream's thoughts or plans. After the earlier battle, they'd both cooled down considerably.
"No problem, it's already done. We can move out!"
As he spoke, Starscream's miniature drill hit something spherical and uneven something that looked like a central processing unit. Without hesitation, Starscream sliced through the surrounding cables and carefully stored the sphere inside his compartment. The mechanical saber-toothed tiger, already near death, went completely still. Its once-bright blue eyes dimmed to gray as the power faded. Starscream had successfully extracted its core, rendering the rest of the body useless.
"Why do you have such a strange collecting habit? What's so special about hoarding these beast cores? They're nothing compared to the AllSpark."
It seemed the Dinobots were somewhat familiar with what Starscream was collecting, but they clearly didn't understand his intentions.
"Heh, it's my first time seeing one of these, so I thought I'd keep it as a souvenir. Judging by your tone, does this thing have some kind of connection to the AllSpark?"
Compared to the two Dinobots, Starscream's knowledge about Primordial Beast Cores was clearly lacking. Since Darts had brought it up, he might as well ask.
"Heh, looks like you Decepticons really are uneducated fools with no thirst for learning. Listen carefully: all Predacons on Cybertron evolved from these mechanical beasts. Only when their cores evolved into something similar to an AllSpark did they gain the ability to transform into robots. Of course, we no longer need such a slow, natural evolution. With a proper AllSpark source, we can now create even stronger mechanical warriors with ease. It's said that the Fallen once had plenty of them!"
Ah, so that's how it was. Without that explanation, Starscream might never have known this piece of Cybertronian history.
However, despite pretending to be curious, Starscream didn't actually care about Cybertron's ancient evolution. His real priority was to feed this mechanical beast core into the Transformers System for analysis to see how he could integrate it into his body for maximum benefit.
"Host, since this belongs to a completely different ecosystem, we'll need at least one hour to reorganize and adapt!"
Indeed, the Transformers System had successfully begun analyzing the beast core. The real issue, however, was that Starscream's body was currently in a fully mechanical form. To shift toward a beast-type transformation, he would need a complete overhaul both in structure and in his Spark Core. The system would have to install an optimal transformation protocol, a process that required time.
"Fine! I admit we Decepticons might not be as cultured as you Autobots but we'll discuss that later. My monitoring systems are picking up intense new energy signatures. Judging by their levels, I think we're getting close to the truth. If these readings belong to more mechanical beasts, then they must be a powerful pack possibly as strong as you two!"
Perhaps now that the earlier beasts' interference had been neutralized, the energy signals that followed were clearer and much stronger than before. That could only mean one thing: Starscream and his team were about to face even mightier opponents. Whether they were Autobots or Decepticons remained to be seen.
At that moment, even Starscream had to admit the Fallen truly possessed extraordinary skill. To recreate Cybertron so perfectly within such a small environment was astonishing. The terrain, the atmosphere, and even the mechanical lifeforms were incredibly lifelike. Could this have been what Cybertron looked like in its earliest era?
"Haha! Looks like we're closing in on the truth. Hopefully, we'll run into our leader soon Grimlock himself! I'd wager the strongest being in this entire facility, if it isn't the Fallen, has to be our Dinobot leader, Grimlock!"
He clearly idolized his leader. But was Grimlock truly that powerful? Could he really rival the legendary Fallen? Starscream's curiosity grew stronger with every step.
So far, the mightiest Autobot he'd ever seen was Optimus Prime but even that super-soldier paled in comparison to the Fallen. Could this Dinobot leader, Grimlock, possibly be stronger than Optimus Prime? That seemed… a bit hard to believe.
(End of Chapter)