Disclaimer: I do not own GoBots nor its characters. Just this strange plot.

"It ends here, Cy-Kill! No more chances. No more excuses. No more reasons to consider." Leader-1 rattled as he spun out of jet mode and slammed full force into the Renegade Commander with his entire body. The motion of collision sent both GoBots hurtling into the nearest wall with Cy-Kill feeling the full brunt of initial impact. It very nearly knocked him unconscious, but he shook the oncoming blackness away faster than the blink of an eye. He still hadn't come to terms as to who exactly had just attacked him, but he had no time to deal with it. It was act and react. He struggled to gain an angle on the body that kept him pinned down, but the aggressive attacker strengthened his hold and shoved his head back into the wall.

"This Renegade...is your final view." Leader-1 spoke before his fist connected with his adversary's face, causing the Renegade to slump over into unconsciousness. As much as the Guardian wanted to finish him off, he couldn't...yet. The whirling thrum of rotor blades forced him to whip around and flatten to the floor just as the blades spun mere inches from his own head. They impacted into the control console a few feet away. Leader-1 rolled away and flung himself onto his feet. Cop-Tur had already broke into a charging run. But the Renegade helo was no match for the speed of an updated Guardian jet. Leader-1 side-stepped the bulky GoBot, knelt, and tripped him up just as he passed with a smooth grace and speed that even a human martial artist would be proud of. With an extremely loud thud, the Renegade lackey joined his rotor blades in the impact of the control console.

Now that the two occupants of the room were temporarily out of commission, Leader-1 sought the whereabouts of his Guardian comrade. With a weak signal, it was clear indication of her serious injury. She would likely be in some sort of med bay or stasis pod. The base didn't look as if it were fully constructed. Therefore, the only functioning bays or pods would be aboard a ship. The Guardian Commander quickly scanned the room he occupied. He entered through one door. That left only one other. Blasting it, he converted back to jet mode and shot out of the room.

Sure enough the docking bay was indeed the next chamber. Cy-Kill was extremely simplisitc in his base designs. Leader-1 almost snickered to himself. His once friend never had any patience and sure as heck wasn't going to waste any time in intricate constructions or extra energy spent getting to or from point A to point B. It was a flaw Leader-1 exploited time and time again and the Renegade commander never once caught on. Thruster loomed before him. Converting out of jet mode, Leader-1 flew straight into the ship. The Renegades were so cocky and confident, they never secured their ships in their own bases. The door and walkway were still very much open and available. Once within, he slowed up and walked. Being within the Thruster, strange emotions were surging forward in his mind. Memories of the last time he had been in a Thruster came forth like a flood through a broken dam. It sent a chill down his neural interface, but he shook it off and focused on his mission. He'd been in a Thruster med-bay/prison chambers so many times, he knew its whereabouts almost as well as he knew his own Command Center. The two chambers were right across from one another.

Elsewhere...

Heatseeker followed Leader-1's instructions as best as possible. After nearly an hour of flight, he wanted to disobey and simply send the cackling Renegade hurtling into a nearby mountainside. He thunked the Renegade prisoner upon the ground, but she remained in restraining bolts.

"We're here. Swell, now what?" Heatseeker muttered to himself as he scanned his surroundings. "CCI, I have reached intended coordinates. Will await next command."

[Roger Heatseeker. Will let you know as soon as we do! CCI out!] Matt replied.

"Set me free you goon! Leader-1 and I had a deal." Crasher snapped.

"I'm only following the orders I was given and this was it. There was nothing said about releasing your cackling chassis."

"Wimp." Crasher shot in.

"Loser." Heatseeker responded.

"Lackey." Crasher continued.

"Enough, before I shut you up!"

"You don't have the balls to break orders."

"I was only told to bring you here. Orders didn't say conscious or unconscious."

And for once Crasher actually shut up. And both GoBots awaited whatever the next step would be while gazing at the horizon before them...in silence.

Back at the Renegade Base...

Leader-1 found Aurora in a stasis pod. She was badly battered and beaten and unconscious. He gently placed a hand at the window as if to stroke her face, then gazed at the console that was giving the readouts of her condition. His hand slowly rolled into a fist. Her prognosis was grim. She would not survive a move out of stasis. Then a small devilish smirk lit his face. He had a plan and it was so simple a cadet could almost handle it...almost. He'd simply steal the flagship Thruster! But first...he had to deal with its original owners. He uttered a few small words to the unconscious Guardian before taking to the air once again and directing himself from whence he came.

In the Renegade Control Room, Cy-Kill was regaining consciousness. His head throbbed from its double concussion, but now was not the time to worry about the pain. The face he saw was haunting him even without its presence in the room. He groaned in pain as he tried to stand, faltered, staggerd, then kept his footing with the support of a nearby wall. Most of his internal sensors were offline, but he knew his blasters were still operable. He'd have to buy time though...his strength and energy level were only slowly recovering. "Uuuuggghhh...how do I defeat a ghost?" he muttered quietly as he looked about for other options...laser guns, sharp shards of metal that could become spears, and any other weapons of surprise. He didn't have much time to ponder however, the sounds of foot rockets indicated that said 'ghost' was on his way back.

Leader-1 landed just before entering the room. He had heard the noise of a GoBot moving about within the room and knew to proceed with caution. He slowly walked in and caught view of Cy-Kill at the opposite end...struggling to regain a fighting form. "Why bother." Leader-1 called to him.

It was only now that Cy-Kill got a good, full view of who his attacker was. He tilted his head slightly as if it would help him get a better view. The jet he saw didn't quite match the profile, but this Guardian now in GoBot form was unmistakable. It was indeed Leader-1. "Why don't you ever die?"

"Doesn't want me yet I suppose. But, I think I heard your calling." Leader-1 spoke calmly as he slowly progressed ever closer to the faltering Renegade. "I'll give you a choice though. Something you never gave me in all your attempts. Quick or slow?"

Cy-Kill never removed his gaze from the approaching Guardian. There was indeed something different about him. He'd changed not only in physical form, but in a mental one. There was only a raw, hardened warrior before him. All that compassion, angelic justice, and other stuff Leader-1 usually exhibited was strikingly absent from his expression. Pleading for mercy was not going to be an option this time. This Guardian was going to kill...and do it willingly. Somehow the unlikely combination of Leader-1 and murder was becoming blatantly obvious. And for once, Cy-Kill actually feared his once friend. Always before...he had the security in knowing Leader-1 would simply take him as a live prisoner and let 'the authorities and laws' do justice upon him. But that was obviously not an intention this time. Or was it one hell of a good bluff? He had to find out.

"You won't do it. It's not in you to murder, especially a foe who is already down."

Leader-1 gave no audible reply. He grabbed that same sharp, silvery shard of metal that Cy-Kill had noticed before and gave it a hefty toss. It slammed into Cy-Kill's chest...right where his heart would be if he were human. The Renegade Commander lost his footing and fell backward, slumping onto the console. Leader-1 halted. "Killing happens among soldiers in wartime." he stated matter-of-factly, but made no effort to move closer. Instead, he turned his gaze over to the still unconscious Cop-Tur. His scans indicated that the Renegade was still alive. This posed a problem. Even Leader-1 could not steel himself to kill a being that was entirely defenseless. At least there'd be no interference from him.

Cy-Kill was fast running out of options, but he knew one of Leader-1's greatest weaknesses. First, however, he'd have to draw his adversary ever closer. "Then go ahead and try Guardian." Cy-Kill taunted and with a sharp yowl of pain, he ripped the shard of metal from his own chest. "You don't have me yet, Leader-1!" he spat as he flung the shard back at his foe.

Leader-1 wasn't quite ready for such a quick and fast throw from the seemingly quite injured Renegade. He flung himself sidewards, but the shard impacted his lower right leg. It went right through one of his engine housings, rendering it useless should he try to fly...in either form. But he'd not let Cy-Kill know this. With only a slight grimace of pain, Leader-1 yanked the shard out and flung it behind him... well away from both of them. With fight still within his adversary, Leader-1 now felt much more comfortable with what he intended to do...give a worthy adversary at least the death of a warrior. "Got anything more my size, Renegade?" he taunted back. But he did one thing he wasn't even aware he was doing. He had stopped his forward motion and was taking several steps back.

Cy-Kill realized this and needed the GoBot to continue his progress forward toward him. Leader-1 was most dangerous when he had some distance to work with. That didn't bode well for the injured Renegade Commander either. "Plenty Guardian. Is one measly injured Renegade too much for you that you have to retreat, hmm?"

This snapped Leader-1 into realization that he actually had put more distance between them and immediately halted. "Heh, hardly. Just wanted to step back and get a really good view of the pathetic sight that you are."

What little of Cy-Kill's internal repair system that was left had kicked in just moments prior and healing what it could within the battered Renegade. Without any warning, Cy-Kill launched himself up and charged at the now stunned Guardian Commander. The distance closed immediately and Leader-1 was suddenly on the defensive, but there was little he could do other than brace for impact. The Renegade slammed into him and their combined weight with Cy-Kill's forward motion, threw both of them into a backward tumble to the floor. THIS was what Cy-Kill wanted! THIS was one of Leader-1's greatest weaknesses! He was a weak very close hand-to-hand combatant. In every wrestling match the two had while both Guardians, Leader-1 had lost every single time! "The tables are turned ol' friend. Who's pathetic now?" Cy-Kill growled as he wrestled with the struggling Guardian who was trying every possible effort to prevent the Renegade from pinning him down completely. The jet was never used to ground maneuvers. He was a master of the skies in both forms. Most ground events were left to his fellow Guardians who were more specialized with that aspect while he secured the airspace above. Unfortunately for him, this Renegade was a ground-bot in his vehicle form, and also a master of his domain. But, another of Leader-1's skills was that of assessing the situation at hand and quicking coming up with options or solutions...and he quickly found one.

"You don't have me yet, Renegade rat!" Leader-1 yelled as he reached sidewards and found that metal shard he had flung before. With a loud metal on metal twang, the Guardian contacted the shard with the side of Cy-Kill's head in a powerful blow. Cy-Kill's already throbbing head and bruised brain couldn't handle the secondary blow. Cy-Kill fell backwards off his foe and rolled onto the ground, his head now on the floor and hands holding it, trying desperately to cease the throbbing pain and near blackout condition once again.

Leader-1 returned to his feet and this time, kept the metal shard in his grasp. The piece of junk was actually proving rather useful in his battle with the wily Renegade ruler. With Cy-Kill on all fours, almost in an extreme bowing position, Leader-1 seized yet another opportunity. Lunging at the downed Renegade, Leader-1 shoved his adversary along the floor and slammed him hard into the electronic console and Cop-Tur. This knocked out the Renegade commander yet again and probably didn't help the other Renegade stooge either. Sparks scattered and flew from the massively mangled console in a miniture fireworks display.

Backing off once again, Leader-1 assessed the situation and for once was a bit confused as to what to do next. He wanted to finish the Renegades off, yet something was telling him it was taking too much time. He needed to get Aurora out and to safety and right now, there wasn't a single Renegade who could stop him. He looked back towards where the Thruster was resting, then back at the downed Renegades. With a quick scan, he realized they were still alive. But Cy-Kill had been right...the Guardian Commander was no murderer even if he really wanted to see his enemies dead. He couldn't do it by his own hands. It was something he'd end up replaying for the rest of his life in regret. He just wasn't that type of GoBot. But all was not lost. Leader-1 smirked. Where there was a will, there was a way! Converting to jet mode, while still on the ground, Leader-1 opened his missle bay and gently released two of his missles. They dropped to the ground with a small twangy thunk. Converting back to robot mode, Leader-1 opened up the missle heads and shafts and did a little rewiring. Using some of the available components in the computer consoles, he rigged the two missles with a timing device. Grabbing some of the still sputtering loose wire from the console, he tied a missle on each of the two unconscious Renegades in the room, set the timers, and ran for the Thruster containing Aurora within.

It took a second to familiarize with the controls, but Leader-1 fired up the Thruster's engines, turned the massive ship while still in hover, and shot out of the base. Engaging the stealth device once clear of the base, he blasted at high speed in the direction he had originally came.

Outside the base...

Snoop groaned in pain, but her internal repair system was repairing whatever damage it could. The rest would require manaul and physical repair by one of the medbots. Her jet form was useless with its mangled wing and dents all over. She tried her foot rockets. They worked...barely, but they'd get her back to base where she knew the others would need some help. Inwardly, she swore she'd get even with the jet that damanged her beautiful form. Rolling off the pile of branches and leaves and shaking off some of the dirt, she launched into the sky with a grimace of pain and a growl of frustration.

And still elsewhere...

Heatseeker and Crasher were both fast growing impatient as the minutes turned into hours. Heatseeker would give just one more hour before contacting the Command Center and demanding a new plan with or without Leader-1's orders.

to be continued...