The Energon Pub

Ok, this is my first attempt at a fic, so go easy on me. I was hoping V2 would be here or at least we'd have a definite date for its release before I did this, but as it is...you know.

So, a quick synopsis: this story is about my team, the Autobot Spartans, and their return to Cybertron (since V2 is supposed to take place there). It also tells about how three of my characters get reformatted into movie altmodes. Basically, it's an expansion of the team bio add-on, which can be seen here.

All four chapters are completed and online! I also want to thank those who let me use their characters for this project.

(NOTE: I know Chapters 3 and 4 are longer than the Great Wall of China, but just bear with me please )
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Chapter 1
It was a quiet, sunny day in the somewhat-small town of College Station, Texas. Students went to and fro, minding their own business. The usual traffic went about, with Texas Avenue still being congested with the almost never-ending road construction. Among all the small sports cars and 4x4 pickups, a large blue semi made its way toward the northwest side of the town, where a large metal building sat vigilant. The semi drove up to the building and stopped at a large door. It bore a big red symbol in the center, the symbol of the Autobots.
“Well, is someone gonna open up or not?!” the semi yelled at the door. A camera on the top of the entrance looked at him and a voice answered on the semi’s comm relay. “Sorry, boss. Didn’t realize it was you…” “That’s alright, Boltbrain,” the blue truck said reassuringly, “just try to do better next time.” As the large split down the middle grew and began to open, the semi truck began to transform into his robot mode. Finally, as the doors completely opened, Maximus Prime, the young commander of the Autobot Spartans, stepped through and began walking to the command room of his team’s fortress, situated near the main campus of Texas A&M University.
Maximus entered the command room, and a red mech with wings and two large cannons attached to his back turned around and snapped to attention when he saw his leader. “Commander on deck!” Blazer Prime bellowed, causing the other Spartans in the room to stand up at attention. Maximus shook his head and looked at his XO. “How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t do that!” “Sorry, Prime. Old habits die hard.” “Ain’t that the slagging truth,” Maximus said with a chuckle. He then gestured everyone else to sit back down.
“Any word from Central Command?” Maximus asked. A silver Autobot at one of the monitors turned around. “Negative, sir,” Revver replied. The guidance counselor pushed a few buttons on his console and looked at his monitor. “No messages since the last one came in two months ago.” Maximus turned and looked over at his best friend and Aerial Warfare Expert, Sonicblast. “Any word from the War Council?” he asked the jet. Sonicblast shook his head and looked over at Maximus. “Nothing. Evolution has been on hiatus for some time now. No one’s really quite sure why.” Maximus nodded at that remark. For the past few weeks, any news from the Autobot War Council has come from either Ninjaburn or Crazyfists. Maximus never asked where Evolution Prime has been since he figured he probably wouldn’t get an answer. He then turned his attention to a large green mech with a cannon mounted on his shoulder sitting at the front of the room. “Steelwraith, have you seen anything today?” The Tactical Officer turned around. “Nope. Nothing on the scope other than the humans going about their business.” The seasoned warhorse let out a groan followed by a sigh. “Frankly, it’s gotten a little boring around here for me, especially since I can’t go out like the rest of you.” Maximus chuckled a little bit at the tank’s wry humor.
“Face it, ‘Bots,” a black and white Autobot who sat next to Revver said aloud. “The ‘Cons haven’t been here, and they ain’t gonna be here, so we might as well kick back some.” He leaned back in his chair and propped his feet on his console. “Speed Demon!” Revver glared at his younger brother. “What have I always told you? ‘Always remain vigilant, for the unexpected may happen at the unlikeliest of times.” Speed Demon sat up and looked at his brother. “Aww, c’mon bro! We haven’t seen or heard anything that remotely has anything to do with the Decepticons for two months! Can’t we just relax for a few cycles?” Revver stared at him with no emotion in his face. Speed Demon looked a little nervous and retreated slightly. “Fine, fine. I’ll get back to monitoring,” he said and turned back to his console.
The door to the command room opened again and a white mech with a visor and EMT markings stepped in. Maximus turned around and looked at his Chief Medical Officer and all the scorch marks on his superstructure. “Morning, Meds. Whatcha been up to today?” Meds walked up to his commander and brushed off some ash from his shoulder. “Helped the humans put out a fire over by Northgate. Hard to believe someone could start a fire this early in the day.” Someone gave a chuckle over by the wall; Meds looked over and stared at a young red mech, Rapidfire, the hot-headed explosives expert. “Think that’s funny, do you?” Meds said with disdain. Rapidfire shrugged. “Hey, I haven’t seen any action in a long time, so my circuits are a little screwy. I’m just itchin’ for a scrap!” “That can be arranged,” Bigrig, the Spartan’s bosun, said. The big black Autobot warrior walked over to Rapidfire and pointed at him. “You, me, Holo-chamber. Two mega-cycles,” he said with a sly grin. Rapidfire stood up with clenched fists and eagerness in his optics. “Bring it on!” he yelled at the top of his vocal processors. Maximus put his head in his hand and shook it. He then turned his attention back to Meds. “Hey, how did you get in here anyway? I didn’t hear the main entrance open.” Meds forced back a laugh before he answered. “That’s because Boltbrain left the door open again.”
Maximus sighed. “Bolt,” he said as he turned to a green mech that resembled ol’ Ironhide in many ways. “What?” he said with a confused look on his face. Maximus put his hands on his hips. “What have I told you about leaving the door open?” Boltbrain looked down at the floor for a few moments, apparently deep in thought. Maximus could not help the fact that Boltbrain’s central processor was slower than and not as sophisticated as most Transformers’, but he sometimes felt like bashing his head on the wall when trying to get Boltbrain to comprehend something. “Oh yeah!” Boltbrain exclaimed. “‘After you open the door, close it so we don’t let the bad guys in!’ Right?” “Riiiiiight. Good work,” Maximus said with sarcasm in his voice. Boltbrain grinned widely and then turned back to his console. A light silver mech with a visor turned and looked at his commanders. “See, if he can think of that all by himself, why can’t he apply that knowledge to what he does?!” Burnout yelled. “It’s not Protonic Mechanics, for Primus’ sake!” Meds looked at the Special Ops expert and shrugged. “That, my friend, is one of the great mysteries of the universe…and I doubt I’ll ever find an answer.” Yep, typical day, Maximus thought to himself.
A buzzer went off in the command chamber, and everyone looked around to see what it could be. It was a green mech with rotor blades on his back who satisfied everyone’s curiosity. “Incoming transmission from Central Command! Priority Alpha!” Searcher, the Spartans’ sniper and tracker, exclaimed. Maximus whipped around and looked at the helicopter. “Who’s it for?” he asked. Searcher looked back at his console and then back at Maximus. “Says it’s for all Autobots stationed on Earth.” Must be pretty important then, Maximus thought. “Alright, put on the main viewer.” Searcher punched a few buttons and a large cylinder rose up from the middle of the room and began projecting the message. Everyone stiffened when they looked at the holographic image of Optimus Prime, Supreme Commander of all Autobots.
“To all Autobots,” he began. “I bring you grave news. Recently most of you have noticed the decreased Decepticon activity here on Earth. For the longest time, we were unsure why this was, but now we have ascertained the reason.
“I have received several reports from Iacon City about increasing Decepticon activity near our borders as well as in the city of Kaon. Coupled with the decline of Decepticon activity on Earth, we have a strong reason to believe that the Decepticon have either pulled out of Earth or are in the process of pulling out.” Maximus’ optics widened at that statement. “‘Pulled out’?!” he exclaimed. “And we never caught wind of that?! Slag it all!” Everyone else shared his anger that the Autobots did not see any of this coming.
“To make matters worse,” Optimus continued, “we have also received reports that the Predacons have begun to make their presence known and are beginning to mount military operations. The Maximals have tried to mount a defense, but at the moment they cannot mobilize a fighting force to match both the Decepticons and Predacons.” Maximus clenched his fists and grinded his jaw behind his battle mask. The so-called “Maximal Upgrade,” he thought to himself bitterly. To think they were once Autobots. We lost some of our finest soldiers to that experiment! Maximus knew that it wasn’t exactly betrayal, but it was still a low blow to the cause.
“In response to these series of events,” Optimus said, “I have decided that the time has come for us to return to Cybertron. I shall remain here on Earth with a small contingency of Autobots to hold down the fort here. I am also hereby appointing Evolution Prime as Supreme Commander of Autobot forces on Cybertron until I should return.” A smaller picture of a black and red Autobot that resembles Optimus appeared on the viewer. That’s gonna receive mixed emotions from both sides, Maximus thought. Everyone knew about the situation about what Evolution Prime did to the Decepticon known as Gore, the infamous leader of the Freak Show. It had blemished both Evolution’s reputation as well as that of the entire Autobot army. “Well that explains where EP’s been all this time,” Sonicblast said. Maximus nodded.
“Unless you have been contacted by me with orders to remain on Earth, all Autobots are to make their way to Cybertron and report to Iacon City ASAP. May Primus watch over us.” The viewer shut of and retracted back into the floor. For several minutes the room was silent. Blazer Prime then turned to Maximus Prime, who narrowed his optics and frowned. Even though he wore a battle mask, Maximus looked grim, as if a great tragedy had befallen them. “So, what’s the plan?” Blazer asked. Maximus turned around and walked toward the door. He stopped just before the entryway and looked over his shoulder back at his unit. “Start packing. We’re going home.”

Chapter 2
For the rest of the day, everyone was busy loading supplies and equipment into the shuttle they kept in the hangar. Meds, however, was in the command room downloading all their files and data from the central computer and wiping the hard drive clean on the unlikely occasion their base should be raided while they were gone. “You do know there’s nothing of great importance on there, don’t you?” Bigrig asked. Meds never looked up at him, but answered, “Perhaps. But information is something valuable. To just leave it behind is a luxury we cannot afford.” Everyone seemed to be excited about going back to Cybertron. Everyone, that is, except Maximus. He moved slower than the rest, as if he was distracted by something. Everyone noticed this, but nobody had the bearings to ask lest they touch upon a sensitive circuit. After a few mega-cycles of loading containers, Maximus went outside and looked out on the town and the school. I should be happy to go back home, he thought, and yet, I can’t help but feel that home is here, on Earth. Besides, when I left, it wasn’t exactly on good terms…
Speed Demon saw Maximus deep in thought and set down his container and looked at him for a while. Revver was loading a container into the cargo bay and looked at his brother. “Ya know, Rev,” Speed Demon said. “Something’s up with Big Blue over there. Have any idea what it could be?” Revver walked over to Speed Demon. “It’s not our place to question. If he wants us to know what’s wrong, he’ll tell us. For now, drop it.” Speed Demon whipped around. “C’mon bro! Aren’t you even a little bit curious? I mean, you’re the counselor! You’re supposed to be good at all this psychological hooplah. Surely you have some idea?” Revver sighed and looked past Speed Demon. “He’s obviously not looking forward to returning to our homeworld. It would be logical to assume that he’s become fond of Earth and its inhabitants. I don’t really blame him if that’s the case. Not only has this been the place he’s spent the most time on, but the people in this particular town have befriended him, an uncommon trait among humans. And yet, I sense there’s something more…Alright, that should be enough insight for you. Get back to work.” Speed Demon groaned. “Yeah, yeah…” Speed Demon began going back into the base and passed Sonicblast as he was carrying the extra weapons from the armory. “Hey, SB!” Speed Demon whispered, so Revver wouldn’t hear. “You’ve seen how Maximus has been lately, right?” “Yeah,” Sonicblast said. “He won’t even tell me what’s wrong! It must be something deep.” “No slag,” Speed Demon replied. “See if you can’t coax him into saying something.” “What, don’t you think I haven’t thought of that already?” Sonicblast said with a smirk. He then resumed his job loading the cargo bay.
Maximus Prime walked back into the hangar and looked at the shuttle. He saw Blazer Prime on the bridge, directing Burnout and Searcher at the helm and navigation station. “Blazer Prime,” Maximus called on the comm relay. Blazer looked down at Maximus through the viewport. “Yeah, boss?” “How much longer until we’re ready to blast off?” “Not long. Maybe twenty cycles.” “Alright. Inform me when everything’s ready. I’m going out.” Maximus turned around and transformed into his truck mode and drove away. “Aye, sir,” Blazer Prime said to himself.


Maximus Prime drove south down the road toward an empty field with a small hill in the center. It was his thinking place, where he needed to go unwind and clear his mind. The townspeople knew to stay away whenever he was there, since he does not like to be disturbed. They were even nice enough to put up a sign that said, “NO TRESSPASSING. AUTOBOTS THINKING.”
Just as Maximus was going over the bridge that went over the highway, he heard the roar of a jet engine. He trained his sensors up and saw a white F-16 flying above him. “Hey, big guy,” Sonicblast said. “Penny for your thoughts, as the humans say.” “Not this time, Sonicblast,” Maximus replied. “This is something you can’t help me with.” “Prime, I’m your best friend. I’m sure there’s someway we can work this out.” Maximus sighed. “Okay, okay,” he conceded.
They arrived at the field and transformed into their robot modes and sat down on the grassy hill and looked at the trees swaying in the wind. “So what’s up?” Sonicblast asked. “What’s got your servos all mixed up?” Maximus looked at his friend with a look that said, “I’m lost.” “I dunno, SB. Just the thought of returning to Cybertron…it just doesn’t feel like going home to me.” “Well, I can understand that. It’s been how long since you’ve been back? About four million stellar-cycles?” Maximus nodded. He first arrived on Earth aboard the Ark with Optimus Prime on a mission to find a new source of energy. Back then, he was known as Overdrive and did not have to worry about leadership or anything else other than slagging Decepticons and following Optimus’ orders. That was before the Matrix came into his life, before he became Maximus Prime. “I’m not going to lie, Sonicblast, but I almost can’t remember what Cybertron’s like anymore. It’s like my memory circuits have made it to where…it’s a dream.”
Sonicblast studied Maximus’ face carefully. His eyes darted around everywhere, not focusing on one particular place. Sonicblast also noticed that he was fidgeting with his hands. “You’re not telling me something,” he said. Maximus stared wide-eyed at Sonicblast. “What do you mean?” “I mean, you’re obviously uncomfortable about this. And my intuition tells me that you’re holding something back.” Maximus stood up and looked down at the jet. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m not holding anything back!” Sonicblast stood up and stared into Maximus’ optics. “Suit yourself, Overdrive.” Maximus winced at the mention of his former name. “No need to get angry with me, I’m just trying to help you,” Sonicblast continued. “But if you wanna keep your problems bottled up like you’re doing, go ahead. ‘Cause sooner or later it’s gonna come back to bite you in the aft!”
“Blazer Prime to Maximus Prime,” the communicator crackled. Sonicblast and Maximus stared at each other for a few moments longer before he answered. “What is it Blazer?” “Ship’s ready for takeoff, all systems are go.” “Acknowledged. We’ll be there in a few cycles.” Maximus cut the transmission. He never once took his optics off Sonicblast. “Well,” Sonicblast said, “time to own up.”


Maximus and Sonicblast stepped onto the bridge of the shuttle. Blazer Prime stood up from the command chair to allow Maximus to sit in it. Sonicblast took his station, not saying one word. Rapidfire leaned over to him and whispered, “So, what’s the deal?” “I don’t know, but I expect we’ll find out soon enough.”
Maximus looked out the viewport and stared out the hangar to the town outside. He sighed lightly, then looked up at Blazer Prime, who simply stared back at him with concern. Maximus held his gaze for a little longer, then turned back to the front. “All set?” he called out to the team. “Yes, sir!” everyone said in unison. “Very well then. Burnout, take us out.” “Aye aye,” Burnout answered. He activated the engines, which roared to life behind them. The shuttle shook slightly from the immense power from the engines. He then throttled up and the shuttle lifted off and zoomed out of the hangar. They rose through the clouds like a knife through butter. Passing through the atmosphere, ever climbing higher and higher, until they came to the empty blackness of space.
“We’re clear of Earth’s gravity and are free to navigate,” Meds reported. Maximus nodded in reply. “Searcher, set a course for Cybertron. Burnout, bring us about and prepare to go to hyperspace. Meds, start warming up the hyperdrive. I’ll be in my quarters. You have the bridge, Blazer.” He stood up and was almost out the door when Boltbrain said, “Is everything alright, boss?” Maximus looked over his shoulder and into the face of Boltbrain. He looked like a child showing concern for his parent. Steelwraith then stood up and looked at Maximus. “With all due respect sir, we’ve all noticed that you’ve been distracted by something ever since we got the order to return to Cybertron. Would you care to share something with us?” Maximus hung his head for a few seconds, then whipped around to face the team. “There’s nothing wrong with me. If there was something wrong that concerned you, rest assured you would know. For now, back off. Understand?” Sonicblast turned to face Maximus. “Absolutely, sir,” he said sarcastically. Maximus stared at the jet with narrowed optics, then looked back at everyone else. “Very well. As you were. Blazer Prime, you have the bridge.” “Aye, aye sir,” Blazer said as Maximus turned around and walked out the door.

Chapter 3, Part 1
It was dark. Quiet. Empty. Maximus looked around, trying to find someone or something, but there was nothing. Only a single light from an unknown source shone on him. He was alone. Alone in the nothingness.
Maximus reached out with his hand just to see if there was anything in the darkness, but when he did, he saw that it wasn’t his hand. Or at least, not the hand he remembered. Then he noticed his whole body was totally different. It was smaller, younger even. And his armor did not look like the parts of a semi truck but those of a F-150 pickup truck. This…this is my old body! he thought to himself. I’m…I’m Overdrive again…but…but how?
“Overdrive!” a voice called. He turned around and saw who had called him. It was a light blue femme, standing alone in a light, just like him. “Overdrive!” she called again. He began to run towards her, but as soon as he took that first step, pain seared throughout his entire body. It was as if every servo in his body was being twisted and strained. But he still managed to keep moving. As he moved closer to the femme, the pain increased. He could feel his body shift and change with the pain, like it was growing out of a shell. Finally when he reached the femme, the pain stopped. She looked up at him in wonder and fear. He looked down and saw that his body had changed back to that of Maximus Prime. She didn’t yell or protest; she simply put her hand to her chest and turned around and ran into the darkness. Maximus tried to yell her name, but no words came. He looked around him again, but there was nothing. He was, again, alone.
Then a sinister laugh reached Maximus’ audio sensors. It was cold, deadly, and yet it was also powerful and frightening. Maximus looked around, but there was only the blackness. Then the mysterious voice spoke, “It’s time, Maximus Prime.” Suddenly, a great fissure opened up in the ground, causing Maximus to fall straight down into the Inferno. It seemed like he fell forever, always tortured by the immense heat all around him. All the while he fell, a voice called out, “Maximus? Maximus?! MAXIMUS PRIME?!”
Maximus awoke with a start, letting out a short yell. He did not realize that Blazer Prime was trying to reach him on the communicator. He got up from the recharge berth and walked over to the desk. “What is it?” he said quickly. “Are you alright, Prime?” Blazer asked. “I’m fine…just had a bad dream. What do you need?” “I just wanted to let you know that we’re about to translate back into normal space.” Maximus sighed. “Okay, I’ll be there in a little bit.”


Maximus walked on to the bridge looking worn out and grim. Blazer Prime stood up from the command chair and looked at his commander. His optics widened at the sight of him. “Jeez, we’re you wrestling a cyberpuma in that dream?!” Maximus walked over to the command chair and sat down. “I tell you, it wasn’t a normal dream. It was…it was like one of the visions from the Matrix.” Blazer looked at Maximus with curiosity. “The Matrix? But…Optimus has the Matrix now! How could you still be getting visions?” “I don’t know. Perhaps an essence of the Matrix still resides in my spark.” “You think? I dunno, Maximus…just doesn’t feel right to me.” Blazer Prime shook his head and looked at his commander. “Should I be worried?” Maximus looked up. “No, I don’t think so…”
A beeping noise broke Maximus’ train of thought. Meds looked up from his console. “Thirty nano-cycles until translation,” he reported. “Burnout,” Maximus said. “Standby to go to regular propulsion.” “I’m always ready,” he said with a smile. Maximus tried to smile, but his thought kept going back to his dream. He watched the timer above the main viewport as it counted down. 3—2—1—the ship lurched slightly, and the blue-white walls of hyperspace gave way to the blackness of space. And directly in front of them was their destination. “Cybertron,” Blazer Prime said. Everyone stared at the giant metal planet with awe. Maximus stood up and walked over to the viewport. Well, we’re home, he thought.
“Aww yeah! Can’t wait to see my girlfriend!” Speed Demon yelled. “Just hoping she didn’t find anyone else…” Then the entire bridge erupted in conversation about seeing family, friends, and loved ones, once they landed at Iacon. Everyone, that is, except Maximus.
“What about, you boss?” Speed Demon asked. “You got anyone down there waitin’ on you?” Maximus put his hand on the transparency and hung his head. Then he looked up and turned to face Speed Demon. “No, SD. Not for a long time now…” Sonicblast raised an optic at the last statement, then turned to look at Blazer Prime, who returned his gaze and nodded.
Maximus walked back to his command chair and sat. “Alright, time to get back to work. We’re at war, remember?”


Down on the surface, on the outskirts of Iacon City, a group of Decepticons were watching the Autobot shuttle carefully. A red mech kept a keen eye on the shuttle’s movements. Another red mech, this one a jet, walked up behind him. “What is it, Redimus?” “An Autobot shuttle just entered the system, Dreadspawn.” Dreadspawn smiled. “Excellent,” he said. “Tell the others to prepare themselves and inform our Pred allies to do the same, please.” Redimus chuckled. “With pleasure.”
Suddenly, a tan MiG flew overhead and transformed into robot mode. “So what’s this I hear about Autobots, huh?!” Wingshadow said eagerly. Dreadspawn stared coldly at him. “An Autobot shuttle is making its way to Iacon. We’re going to…intervene.” “‘Intervene,’ huh? Why don’t I just go up there and take ‘em down myself?” Dreadspawn moved closer to the Dragoon. “Because we don’t know if they have backup or not, or how strong that shuttle actually is. So, for once, don’t do anything stupid.” Dreadspawn walked away, leaving Wingshadow a little shaken.
Redimus looked back at Dreadspawn. “Shall I begin, commander?” he asked. Dreadspawn looked over his shoulder at his tactical commander. “Yes, open fire.”


Several miles away, a group of Predacons stood waiting for a potential target. A large insect flew overhead and then transformed and dropped down in front of a large Predacon with a monstrous-looking beast mode. “Report, Thundersky,” the Predacon commander ordered. “Incoming message from Dreadspawn: ‘Autobot shuttle has entered orbit and is making its way to Iacon. Tell Transistors to engage before too late.’” Transistors grinned, then looked over his shoulder as he heard a low growl behind him.
A purple Predacon walked up, apparently interested in the incoming Autobots. “Destroy them. Destroy them NOW!!” he demanded. “Relax, Carnosaur,” Transistors said. “You’ll get your chance. But first we must bring them to us.” Thundersky smiled at the last statement. “Shall I begin?” he asked. Transistors looked at him. “Yes. Lock guns and fire at will.”


“Burnout, bring us about and prepare for surface landing,” Maximus said. “Aye, preparing for surface landing,” Burnout replied. He turned the ship and pointed it toward a large city, brimming with light, surrounded by a large wall. “Well, there it is,” Rapidfire said. “Home.”
Maximus looked at the place that used to be his home. It seemed larger than he remembered. Hope I don’t get lost down there, Maximus thought to himself, trying to remain optimistic. He sighed, then looked around at his crew. “Alright, that’s enough sightseeing. Time to get back to work. Searcher, open a channel to Iac—“
An explosion cut Maximus off in mid sentence. Alarms went off like crazy, and the shuttle bucked wildly as everyone was thrown from their seats. “Report!” Maximus yelled. “AA guns!” Steelwraith replied. “Approximately two hundred and fifty miles from the outer perimeter!” Everyone looked out the viewport to see missiles and laser blasts whiz by the shuttle. “How’d they get so far into our territory?!” Blazer Prime exclaimed. Maximus hauled himself up as Burnout managed to stabilize the shuttle. “I don’t know, but right now we have to worry about ourselves!” He barely got that sentence off before the ship was hit again, nearly causing it to flip upside down. Burnout again straightened the ship and resumed his course. “Evasive maneuvers!” Maximus ordered. “Steelwraith, activate weapons systems!” “Negative, sir,” the tank reported. “That last explosion took out weapons offline.” “Slag!” Maximus exclaimed. “Fine. Burnout, do your best!” Burnout didn’t reply, as he was concentrated on avoiding the barrage aimed at them. But then he looked up with horror and muttered, “Aww crap,” just before another explosion rocked the ship. Bigrig looked up from his station. “Hull integrity’s compromised! She’s ripping apart!” “That’s the least of our worries now!” Maximus looked over at Meds, who had a shocked look on his face. “That last hit damaged our power core! The containment field has been compromised and it’s going to rupture in approximately five cycles!”
“Alright, everyone to the escape pods, double time!” Maximus ordered. Everyone bolted from their stations and made their way down the hall to the escape pods. As soon as they arrived, Maximus yelled, “Make for the surface! We’ll regroup and head to Iacon from there!” He then jumped into his pod and punched the button. The hatch sealed and the pod was hurled from the shuttle toward the planet’s surface. Maximus could not see if everyone else had made it, but his thoughts were cut off as the shuttle exploded behind him, and the shockwave hurled him toward the surface even faster than before. All of a sudden, he hit the ground and was rattled around inside the pod until he came to a complete stop. Static was all he saw for about a minute before his processor re-focused itself from the crash. He sat there for a few moments before a familiar voice spoke over the comm link. “Well, how ‘bout that for an entrance?!” Speed Demon exclaimed.


Dreadspawn looked on as the Autobot shuttle exploded and rocketed to the planet’s surface in a ball of fire and shrapnel. He allowed a small smirk to cross his face. “Target destroyed,” Redimus reported. “Looks like no survivors.” Dreadspawn’s smirk grew wider. “Don’t be so sure, Red,” a purple mech standing next to Redimus said. Dreadspawn immediately frowned and looked at his communications officer. “Talk to me, Floyd.” Purple Floyd turned around and looked at Dreadspawn. “I’m picking up comm signals not too far away. Definitely none of ours, and from the sound of them, I highly doubt they’re the Preds.”
Dreadspawn growled, then looked at Redimus. “Then we must remedy this. Rally the others. We’re going after them.” “What about the Predacons?” Redimus asked. “Should we tell them?” Dreadspawn looked to his left, away in the distance at the remains of building long since demolished by war. “No,” he said. “I want the Autobots all to myself.”


Transistors watched as the shuttle crashed a few miles away from their position. “Well, that’s one less group of Autobots we have to worry about, he said aloud. “Maybe not,” Thundersky said. “The Decepticons are moving out, heading in the direction of the crash. Most likely there were survivors.” “And he didn’t tell us!” Transistors balled up his fists, rage filling his circuits. A blue and grey mech walked up behind Transistors and crossed his arms. “Then there’s only one thing to do, isn’t there?” Transistors looked over his shoulder at the Predacon. “You’re absolutely right, Deathscream. All units, prepare to move out. Time to hunt.”


Maximus crawled out of his escape pod and looked around at his surroundings. All around him broken buildings and shards of metal was all to be seen for a long time. The ground was scorched my numerous fires and explosions that had occurred here.
“Spartans, sound off,” he said as the rest of his team gathered around him. All were present and accounted for. Maximus then turned to Steelwraith. “Any idea where we are?” “If I remember from the radar, we’re not too far from the enemy AA batteries, so that means we’re about two hundred and fifty miles from Iacon City.” “Okay, then we better roll out before—“
“Shhh!” Everyone turned to look at Burnout, who was motionless, standing as if something were creeping up behind him. “What is it?” Blazer Prime whispered. “We’re not alone,” Burnout said. Maximus turned to Searcher. He looked at him with confusion. “I’ve got nothing,” he said. Maximus turned to look at Burnout, who had his back turned to him. “Are you sure?” “Absolutely,” Burnout replied. “I can hear them.” A wave of anxiety came over Maximus. He had no reason to doubt Burnout. As a master of stealth, not only could he avoid detection, but also he could detect other stealth units. Maximus slowly began reaching for his laser rifle. Revver quietly extended his battle blades. Burnout remained motionless.
All of a sudden, something leaped out of the shadows and onto Maximus’ back. He tried desperately to get it off, but it managed to hang on. Nobody fired their weapons, for fear they might hit Maximus. Then Maximus felt a set of claws sink into his right shoulder. He groaned in pain as they moved deeper, damaging his internal servos.
Blazer Prime looked over his shoulder. “Searcher!” he yelled. Searcher nodded, pulled out his sniper rifle, and leapt into the air and hovered. Maximus was still desperately thrashing around trying to get the thing off his back. Searcher lined up his sights, waited for the opportune moment…and waited…and waited…. The rifle barely let out a sound when it went off.
The thing immediately leapt off of Maximus’ back and stood in the middle of the group. It was some kind of cat-like creature, but it bore the Decepticon symbol on its head. There was a scorch mark where Searcher had hit him. Burnout activated his energy katana and leapt out at the Decepticon. It managed to duck and avoid the brunt of Burnout’s attack, but still received a thin slice across his back. Burnout recovered and turned to face the Decepticon, who transformed into robot mode and stood in a ready position. “This isn’t like you, Gram. Usually you’re smarter than this,” Maximus said to the Archaicon. Gram Negative smirked and stared at the Spartan commander. “Appearances can be misleading,” he said slyly. He then took out his weapon and fired it into the air.
Flares then shot up out of the ground some distance away from the group, and they all caught a glimpse of the combined Decepticon-Predacon force moving toward them. Maximus’ optics widened at the sight. He quickly shot Gram Negative with his rifle, sending him flying several yards and into a broken wall. “Spartans! Take cover!” he yelled as he got behind a large boulder. The rest of team followed suit.
“Blazer, Sonicblast! Get up top!” Maximus ordered. Sonicblast transformed into his F-16 mode, and began dogfighting with Wingshadow. Blazer Prime activated his thrusters and rose into the air. He was just about to move forward when he heard something come up behind him. He looked back to see a large pterodactyl right behind him. “Going somewhere, Autobot?” Deathscream asked. He transformed into robot mode and began firing at Blazer. Blazer banked left, trying to avoid the blasts, but Deathscream managed to hit Blazer’s right wing, putting a large hole in it. Blazer Prime went into a nose dive and crashed to the ground. He managed to pull himself up, only to duck down again as more lasers came at him. He stood up and activated his shoulder cannons and began firing back while moving back toward the rest of the team.
Searcher was still up in the air, sniping any Decepticons or Predacons that he could. It wasn’t long before a spider-bot saw him and leapt into the air. Punisher shot an energon web at Searcher, but he managed to transform into helicopter mode before he was snared. The web was ripped apart by his rotor blades. Punisher transformed and began firing madly at the sniper. “Hold still, you little whelp! I said hold still!” Searcher yelped slightly as he began avoiding Punisher’s laser blasts. He fired some missiles at Punisher in a panic. Not one of them hit the Pred, but he did fall back into cover, causing Searcher to let out a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Redimus and the Archaicon Konzentrationslager sped towards the Spartans. Steelwraith and Rapidfire came out of cover to face the Decepticons. Steelwraith transformed into tank mode and began firing his cannon at the racecar and the velociraptor, while Rapidfire activated his high-speed blaster cannons and fired wildly at the ‘Cons. Konzentrationslager stopped immediately and took cover behind a piece of metal. Redimus, however, came very close to being hit by one of Steelwraith’s cannon shots, and spun out before crashing into a wall. He transformed and fired at the two Autobots, but missed every time. “Oh, you’re mine now, Reddy!” Rapidfire said with eagerness. He began running toward the downed Decepticon. “Rapidfire, STOP!” Steelwraith called out, but Rapidfire didn’t listen. He was almost to Redimus when something blind-sided him hard and pinned him to the ground. Rapidfire’s optics widened when he saw Konzentrationslager looking down at him, teeth bared. “Say goodnight, Auto-fool!” He raised his head and was about to come down on the Spartan—
BAM! Bigrig had sped over to Rapidfire and kicked Konzentrationslager square in the gut, sending him flying into the air. “FORE!” Bigrig yelled when the raptor landed. Rapidfire got up and looked at the black Autobot. “Dude, I so had him. I didn’t need your help.” “Right,” Bigrig said. “Let’s just get back to cover before you lose your head.” They began heading back to the rest of the team when something came down from the sky and began firing on them. Bigrig and Rapidfire both hit the dirt and looked up at what was shooting at them. Dreadspawn and a stealth fighter pulled up and prepared to come about, straight at the two Spartans. “Go!” Bigrig yelled at Rapidfire. “I’ll take care of them! GO!” Rapidfire got up and ran toward the rest of the team. Bigrig stood up and faced the oncoming Vader D’Etoile and Dreadspawn. Bigrig activated an energy shield on his left forearm and pulled out his sub-machine blaster and fired it at the jets. Dreadspawn broke off before the first blasts reached them. Vader, however, weaved in and out of the blasts with east, then transformed and rocketed toward the bosun. Bigrig holstered his blaster and pulled out his vibro-sword and ran to meet Vader. Before Vader collided with him, Bigrig jumped up and onto Vader’s back. Vader tried desperately to shake him off, but Bigrig held on. He took his sword and thrust it into Vader’s back, who let out a cry of pain. He turned into a nosedive and plummeted into the ground. Bigrig was thrown off by the impact of the crash, but managed to recover and face the enemy. Vader slowly stood up and stared at the Spartan with rage. “You are going to pay,” he said coldly. The two ran toward each other and went at each other like animals.

Chapter 3, Part 2
The battle raged on for what seemed like hours. The Decepticons and Predacons were slowly gaining ground, pushing the Autobots further toward the remains of a large building. Deathscream and Thundersky began firing away at the Spartans, dodging their weapons at the same time. Burnout saw the Predacons coming toward them, so he pulled out his revolver blaster and waited for the opportune time. Deathscream was just starting to pull up from his dive, exposing his chest to Burnout’s blaster. Burnout fired one shot and hit Deathscream dead center in his torso. The pterodactyl let out a roar and tried to pull up quickly, but still managed to scrape a broken wall with his chest. He looked down at the Autobots, growled to himself, and flew back to regroup. Thundersky, however, had hung back and stayed in the air. He dropped altitude and made a beeline straight at the Spartans. Burnout tried to hit the Predacon, but he was too fast, dodging every blaster bolt fired at him. Steelwraith saw the insect flying toward them and aimed his shoulder cannon at him and fired. He didn’t hit the Predacon, but he hit the ground directly below Thundersky, forcing him up and back and into the ground. Burnout saw the opportunity and fired his revolver at Thundersky, who struggled to his feet and fell back to cover.
“Maximus!” Searcher called out. “You’ve got two Preds moving up the middle, coming fast!” Maximus looked out and saw the two Searcher was talking about. One of them was Depthstalker, a blue monster truck with a look in his optics that resembled insanity. The other was Warmax, an orange and green dragon with a reputation for deadly proficiency. They were charging straight at them, weapons blazing. Maximus tried to look out to shoot them with his laser rifle, but as soon as he stood up he had to get back down before his head was shot off. “Somebody needs to take care of those two before they trample us over!” Maximus yelled. Revver looked over at Maximus. “I’m on it,” he said with absolutely no emotion in his voice. Revver somersaulted out from behind the rock he was taking cover behind and fired away with his energon crossbow. Even as the two Preds returned fire, Revver stood his ground. He managed to land a few shots, but he still couldn’t slow them down. He quickly transformed into his Aston Martin Vanquish mode and sped toward the oncoming enemy. Weaving in and out of the explosions, he continued racing at them until, when they were a few meters away from him, he transformed back into robot mode and leapt into the air. As he flew directly over them, Revver fired his crossbow at them, knocking the Preds’ weapons out of their hands. He landed right behind them and extended his battle blades. Depthstalker whipped around and tried to grab Revver, but Revver was too fast; he ducked down and slashed at Depthstalker’s knees, forcing him to the ground. Warmax transformed to dragon mode and lunged at Revver. Revver jumped up and onto Warmax’s back. Warmax turned his head and tried to bite Revver, but the Spartan dug his left blade into the bottom of Warmax’s jaw and cut all the way up to his lip. Revver jumped off, leaving the two Preds writhing on the ground in pain. Sparks flew from Depthstalker’s knee joints, and mech fluid slowly oozed from Warmax’s mouth. Revver got back behind his rock and looked at Maximus. “Situation averted,” he said with a sly grin.
High above, Sonicblast was being pursued by Wingshadow. The Dragoon was able to keep up with Sonicblast, but Sonicblast was a much smarter dogfighter than the ‘Con, yet he was still having trouble getting Wingshadow off his tail. “Hey, uh, somebody want to do me a favor and GET THIS GUY OFF OF ME!!” Searcher saw the situation that was happening above him and pulled out his rifle. “Hold on. I’ll get him, just bring him clos—WHOA!” Searcher barely dodged a blast from Punisher when he said that. Searcher panicked and began moving around erratically, trying to avoid Punisher. “No escape this time, coward!” Punisher yelled as he aimed his gun at Searcher, who was trying to take aim at Wingshadow. “Search, where the frag are you?” Sonicblast yelled. “Wait for it!” Searcher yelled back. He fired his rifle just in time; Punisher fired his weapon at the same time Searcher pulled his trigger, giving him just enough time to lean back and have Punisher’s blast scrape his nose. Searcher’s shot, however, didn’t miss and hit Wingshadow in his engine. The jet transformed and fell to the ground and landed on his back. He immediately got up and turned to face Searcher, who had gone back to avoiding Punisher’s attacks. “You little whelp! That ain’t fair! Come on down here and I’ll tear ya apart! I’ll-“ “Hey showboat!” a voice behind Wingshadow yelled. Wingshadow whipped around only to stare straight down both barrels of Blazer Prime’s cannons. Wingshadow’s optics widened immediately. “Shut up,” Blazer Prime said. He fired his cannons and sent Wingshadow flying back toward the main Decepticon group. A huge gaping hole was now in the center of his torso. “Damn, I really wish I could do that!” Sonicblast said to Blazer.
“Celebrate while you can, Autobots. It’s going to be short-lived!” Dreadspawn dove straight at the group and razed the ground with lasers and missiles. Explosions went off like crazy around the Spartans’ position, forcing them even further back. Dreadspawn pulled up and sighted Sonicblast banking right in front of him. “You’re next,” he said. He fired madly at the F-16, who dodged most of the attacks but still managed to get grazed every now and then.
“Looks like things are starting to lighten up!” Rapidfire yelled. “The hell they are!” Burnout yelled back. “Look what’s coming!” All eyes were trained on the next obstacle heading their way. A white Spinosaurus was running at top speed toward them, teeth bared and claws razor sharp. It was the Unsquishables’ deadly assassin Silent Strike.
Burnout looked over at Speed Demon, who had taken cover alongside his brother. “Speed! You and me!” Speed Demon looked out at the oncoming Pred, then back at Burnout and nodded. They both leapt out and transformed and sped to meet the threat. “Cover us!” Burnout yelled to his teammates. Maximus, Steelwraith, and Revver stood up and began firing away at the enemy, trying to keep their attention on them rather than Burnout and Speed Demon. Speed Demon reached Silent Strike first and transformed at his feet and leapt up, grabbed hold of his neck, and flipped onto his back. “C’mon, you punk-aft Predacon! Let’s dance!” Silent lurched forward and threw Speed Demon off his back and into a rock. “Is that the best you can do, Autobot?!” Silent laughed coldly and walked toward Speed Demon. “Pathetic. Hardly worth my time. Still, one less Autobot in the universe is always a good thing.” Silent made it about halfway before something else caught his attention; his sensors picked a small blip approaching behind him. Silent whipped around just in time to see Burnout leap at him, sword in hand. Silent quickly whipped his tail around and sideswiped Burnout in midair and knocking him to the ground. Burnout somersaulted onto his feet and faced the Pred assassin.
Silent transformed to robot mode and pulled out his cyber tail claw, while Burnout readied his katana. Speed Demon slowly pulled out his pistol, but Silent caught a glimpse of his movement out of the corner of his optic; he quickly moved toward Speed and grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. Then he turned and looked at Burnout. “What’s it going to be, Autobot?! You quick enough to save your friend here?” Burnout grinned slyly. “Not sure. But I know one thing: I’m cleverer than you think.” Burnout reached behind him with his free hand and pulled out a grenade and armed it. Before Silent Strike could react, Burnout threw the grenade at him, creating a large cloud of smoke that shrouded everything around Silent. “You fool,” Silent growled. “You really think that a puff of smoke can stop me? All I have to do is use my sensors to track y--” He cut himself off when he realized that his sensors had been jammed. “What was that you were saying?” Burnout’s voice seemed to come from all directions. Silent whipped around and around to try and find him. “Coward!! Come out and face me!” Silent began slashing away madly at everything, but all he hit was the occasional rock. “As you wish,” Burnout said. That time, the voice came from directly behind Silent Strike. He whipped around just as Burnout slashed at Silent’s face with his sword. Unfortunately, Silent was fast enough this time; Silent fell to the ground, a large gash running from the bottom of his left cheek to the top of his forehead. He moaned in pain and held his hand to his faceplate, then quickly retreated to rejoin his comrades. The smoke cleared away, leaving Burnout still standing and Speed Demon still on the ground, pistol in hand. “Let’s go,” Burnout said as he helped Speed to his feet. They both ran back to rejoin the team, dodging laser blasts and missiles on the way.


High above, Dreadspawn watched the battle unfold as he engaged Sonicblast. Well, I must say I am impressed, he thought to himself. This bunch is not as unintelligent as their brethren are. He opened a private channel to his communications officer on the ground. “Floyd, what can you tell me about them?” “I’ve managed to tap into their comm relays. They’re called the Autobot Spartans. Still pretty green, but have built up a reputation already. Maximus Prime is their commander.” Dreadspawn was slightly taken aback at the last sentence. “Maximus is their leader? One of their most renowned commanders is leading a group of ragtag ruffians?!” Dreadspawn laughed to himself as he dodged a missile fired by Sonicblast. “No, it’s not the Maximus Prime,” Floyd responded. “This is a different one. Younger, not as intelligent, but still capable.” “Interesting,” Dreadspawn said. “I would very much like to meet this young ‘Bot.”
Dreadspawn opened another channel, this one to all the Decepticons in the fight. “Bitchkrieg, move up. Take them down.” A large pink tank-bot looked up and cackled manically. “With pleasure!” She transformed into tank mode and began to move forward. Bullets and lasers hit her from all over, but they hardly affected her.


Maximus Prime looked out at the battlefield. The ‘Cons and Preds were not advancing as quickly as they were before, but they were still slowly forcing the Spartans into a chokehold. Something had to be done to turn the tide. Like a miracle from above, he thought.
Something caught his eye. Something pink. Maximus looked out and saw a pink tank moving toward them. “INCOMING!” he shouted as Bitchkrieg fired her cannon. The shot fell short of them, but they still felt the shockwave from it. They tried to get up and return fire, but they quickly ducked down again as Bitchkrieg fired another round, this one landing close behind the group. She kept firing away, keeping the group pinned down as she came closer and closer. Boltbrain growled under his breath as he ducked behind a rock next to Maximus. “Alright, that’s it!” he yelled. He leaped out from behind the rock and ran toward Bitchkrieg, screaming at the top of his vocal processors.
“Bolt! STOP!!” Maximus screamed, but Boltbrain didn’t listen. He continued to run toward the tank, barely missing her cannon shots. “Dammit! I’m going after him!” Maximus yelled. “Give me some cover fire!” Maximus jumped out, transformed into truck mode, and sped toward Boltbrain. He weaved in between the rocks and the oncoming lasers and missiles. Blazer Prime, Steelwraith, Rapidfire, and Searcher did their best to cover Maximus, but he still kept getting hit by enemy fire. Despite this, Maximus did not slow down. Boltbrain didn’t stop either; he was in a frenzy, determined to take Bitchkrieg down. Bitchkrieg saw the big green Autobot running toward her and trained her cannon directly at him. She chuckled to herself as her sights locked on Boltbrain’s chest. “Time to go boom, scrap heap!” She fired her cannon…
“AHHHHH!!!!” Maximus yelled. He managed to get between Boltbrain and Bitchkrieg before the blast got to him. Sparks flew from the hole in his chest, but he was still standing. He might have survived that attack, if Dreadspawn hadn’t flown over at the same time. As soon as Bitchkrieg fired her cannon, Dreadspawn let loose a barrage of missiles and lasers, all of them aimed directly at Maximus. Seconds after Bitchkrieg’s blast hit him, Maximus was devastated by Dreadspawn’s volley, which had hit him directly where Bitchkrieg had hit him. Maximus was sent flying backwards and into a small wall. Where his torso once was, there was now a gaping hole, energon fluid and sparks flowing freely. Maximus dropped to his knees and fell onto his face, not moving at all.
Boltbrain watched in horror as his leader was sent flying by the Decepticon double team. Rage filled his circuits like never before. He ran toward Bitchkrieg and uppercutted her, flipping her upside down. She barely made into robot mode when Boltbrain grabbed her by the leg and swung her around, knocking her into the broken walls and rocks. He finally let go of her, sending her flying back toward the main enemy force. Boltbrain growled in satisfaction, but his victory would be short-lived…
Boltbrain was knocked to the ground by something hitting him in the back. He fell down face first, sparks flying from a gash in his back. He looked up and saw a giant mechanical grasshopper facing him, Error Threshold of the Archaicons. Boltbrain growled and ran toward Error, but was again knocked to the ground, this time getting hit from the side. Boltbrain turned over and stared into the eyes of a large, monstrous beast with large tusks. The beast edged closer to Boltbrain, then stopped just feet away. “Shall I, Error?” he asked the grasshopper. “Be my guest, Transistors,” Error replied. Transistors laughed softly, then turned to look at Boltbrain, who managed to get to his feet. Boltbrain lunged forward, but Transistors rammed him, knocking him down to the ground again. Error Threshold jumped into the air and landed on Boltbrain’s chest and began slashing away at him. Error ripped through his armor, tearing up his servos and internal components. Boltbrain punched Error square in the face, forcing him to the ground. He punched at him again, but Error jumped backwards and avoided the attack. Boltbrain struggled to his feet; energon bled from all over his body. He just managed to get up when he was lifted into the air by his arms. Transistors had some up behind and dug his claws into Boltbrain’s forearms. Boltbrain kicked his feet wildly to try and knock himself loose, but Transistors was holding him at arm’s length, too far away for Boltbrain to reach. Transistors chuckled to himself and stretched his arms wide, forcing Boltbrain to do the same. Boltbrain roared as his servos were strained far beyond their limits. It wasn’t long before they finally snapped; Boltbrain fell to the ground in a heap, both of his arms missing. He slowly turned over and looked up at Transistors, who was still holding his lifeless arms. Transistors smiled at the injured Autobot, who was desperately trying to crawl away. Error came up behind Boltbrain and transformed into robot mode, placing his foot on Boltbrain’s chest. Boltbrain looked up at the Decepticon, who bore the same smile Transistors did. “Farewell, Autobot,” he said. Error took his other foot and raised it above Boltbrain’s head. Boltbrain’s optics widened in fear as Error brought his foot down and curb stomped Bolt’s head into the ground, taking him offline.
Off in the distance, the rest of the team looked on in horror as they saw two of their comrades go down. Blazer Prime looked at Meds, who clinched his fists in rage. “Meds!” Blazer shouted. The CMO looked at the fire truck. “Get out there and bring them back over here! We’ll give you as much cover as we can!” Meds nodded and jumped out and took cover behind another broken wall several meters away. He peeked around to make sure it was okay to come out, then began to run toward the wounded. He made it halfway before he was knocked over by something big hitting him in the side. Meds turned over and looked up, only to face the teeth of a large purple Tyrannosaurus Rex. Carnosaur brought his foot up and stomped down on Meds, crushing him into the ground. Meds groaned as his superstructure started to give way to the pressure. He managed to pull out his laser and fired at Carnosaur’s neck. Carnosaur roared and let his foot off and stepped backwards some. Meds turned over and tried to run away, but Carnosaur caught up to him and grabbed him with his mouth. Carnosaur clamped down with his powerful jaw, his teeth piercing Meds’ armor. Meds screamed aloud, desperately trying to open Carnosaur’s mouth but to no avail. Carnosaur nearly split Meds in two if it weren’t for Searcher, who fired his sniper rifle into the side of Carnosaur’s head. Blazer Prime did the same with his blast cannons, causing Carnosaur to let go and drop Meds. The medic fell to the ground hard, offline just like Maximus and Boltbrain. Carnosaur turned to face the remaining Spartans and growled violently. All nine Autobots fires their weapons simultaneously at the Predacon; they didn’t do much damage, but it was enough to force Carnosaur back toward the other side of the battlefield.

Chapter 3, Part 3
Dreadspawn looked on as the combined Decepticon-Predacon force slowly advanced toward the Autobots’ position. He chuckled mildly to himself and began to circle around for another run. Then something on the ground caught his eye. He trained his sensors downward and saw the motionless body of Maximus Prime lying on the ground. Dreadspawn transformed into robot mode and descended to ground level. He landed near Maximus and walked slowly toward him. He was still facedown, still motionless. Dreadspawn nudged Maximus with his foot, flipping him over onto his back. The entire front side of his chest was missing, revealing his mangled internal composition. A dim glow came from the center of his chest, his spark still radiating from its chamber. His optics had no light in them, or at least none that could be seen by the naked eye.
Dreadspawn looked the Spartan over and laughed softly. “So, you’re the young upstart Maximus Prime, are you?” He kneeled down and edged his face closer to Maximus’ face. “You know, I knew the original Maximus Prime. One of the few Autobots who I might consider a ‘worthy challenge.’ But let me tell you something.” Dreadspawn grabbed Maximus’ throat and lifted him up slightly. “You may have the same name, but you’re nothing like him. As far as I’m concerned, you’re just another faceless victim, another tally on my kill count. What do you think of that?” Maximus didn’t respond; he couldn’t. He just lay there, helpless. Dreadspawn scoffed and released his grip on Maximus’ neck and stood up. “Pity. I had my doubts, but oh well…” He walked several feet away and turned around to face Maximus again. He aimed his weapons at the defenseless Autobot. “Say hello to oblivion, Autobot!” he yelled.
“Hey!” a voice in front of Dreadspawn yelled. Dreadspawn looked up and saw Sonicblast running toward him, shoulder lowered. The Autobot jet tackled Dreadspawn hard, sending him flying a few feet. Sonicblast now stood between Maximus and Dreadspawn. “If you want him,” Sonicblast said, “then you have to go through me!” He pulled out his energon shotgun and aimed it at the Decepticon jet. Dreadspawn leaped to his feet and glowered at Sonicblast. “Fool, you have no idea who you are messing with.” Sonicblast took a step forward. “Oh yeah, I do! And as long as I’m around, you’re not going to hurt Maximus anymore!” Sonicblast leapt into the air and began strafing Dreadspawn with his shotgun. Dreadspawn bolted up and hurled himself at Sonicblast. Sonicblast dodged the attack and proceeded to dogfight with Dreadspawn.


Blazer Prime ducked down behind a broken wall, taking cover from the barrage of lasers and missiles from the Decepticons and Predacons. He quickly peeked out and fired his pulse blasters, not really aiming at anything. His mind was more focused on his three comrades lying out there on the verge of death. He clenched his fists and struck the rock he had taken covered behind. Revver made his way next to Blazer, grabbed his shoulder and turned him around to face him. “What are we gonna do?!” Revver said. Blazer looked toward the oncoming enemy, then faced Revver. “First things first, we need to get the wounded back over here!” “How?!” Revver asked. “We’re pinned down!” Blazer Prime turned around. “Steelwraith!” he yelled. The tank looked at Blazer. “Wall!” Blazer shouted, pointing toward the enemy. Steelwraith nodded. “On it!” he replied and transformed into tank mode. The tactical officer sped toward the wounded Spartans, wildly firing his cannon. He wasn’t aiming at anything or anyone particular; he was just trying to force the ‘Cons and Preds back.
Blazer turned back to face the rest of the team. “Burnout! Rapidfire! You two get Boltbrain! Revver and Speed Demon, get Meds! I’ll get Prime!” The five Autobots leapt out and made their way toward the wounded, making sure to follow close behind Steelwraith.
Steelwraith made it to the farthest the three wounded Spartans, Maximus Prime, made it and turned to present his side to the enemy. They fired a multitude of lasers, missiles, and bullets, but they were all but useless against Steelwraith’s armor. The tank continued to fire his cannon, keeping the ‘Cons and Preds at bay while the others moved the wounded.
Revver and Speed Demon were the first to reach them. They both put their heads under Meds’ arms and lifted him up and drug him back over to the others. Burnout and Rapidfire did the same with Boltbrain, or as much as they could since he had no arms. Blazer Prime reached Maximus, grabbed both of his arms and lifted him onto his shoulders. He started to run back to cover, carrying Maximus on his back. Steelwraith kept the rescuers covered, but his armor was starting to crack slightly. “Hurry up!” he yelled. “I can’t hold them much longer!” Blazer Prime threw Maximus off his back as he reached the rest of the group. “We’ve got ‘em!” Blazer yelled back. “Fall back to cover!” Steelwraith turned around and made his way back toward the others, keeping his cannon fixed on the enemy.
As soon as Steelwraith reached the others, he transformed back into robot mode and leapt behind a wall next to Blazer Prime. “Okay, now what?!” he said. “We’re still trapped!” “I know!” Blazer said. “I’m sending out a distress beacon. Hopefully someone will pick it up soon…”


High above Cybertron, an inactive warp gate orbited around the planet. It had remained inactive for a long time, until now. It glowed a bright blue, the seemingly infinite vortex swirling around in it. From it, a small mobile battle fortress came forth, with eleven smaller robots sitting on top of it, all of them bearing the Autobot symbol.
One of them, a red helicopter, kept hitting his head with his palm. “You know, I think that EMP scrambled my circuits worse than we thought.” Another Autobot, this one bigger and yellow, shook his head and looked at the helicopter. “Seekorsky, you’ve been saying that ever since we came back online. For the last time, your circuits are just fine!” Seekorsky whipped around and faced the yellow ‘Bot. “Says you, Rebuild! You’re not even a real medic! I knew I should’ve had Cauterise look at me…” A small black Autobot with a cigar in his mouth placed himself between the two arguing ‘Bots. “Both of ya, shut up! Yer hurtin’ my head with all ‘dis bickerin’!” Rebuild smiled and looked down at the black ‘Bot. “Sorry, Vincent. But some of us just can’t seem to get it through their thick heads that--” “Hold it!” said a light blue ‘Bot who stood at the front edge of the fortress. “What is it, Higgs?” the fortress asked. “I’m picking up a distress beacon, Fort Worth.” “From where?” the sergeant asked. “It’s coming from…the surface!” “Of Cybertron?” Autofire asked. “Yeah,” Higgs Boson replied. “It’s from…Blazer Prime! He’s saying: ‘Spartans pinned—‘Cons and Preds closing—Max, Bolt, and Meds down—need help.’” “Can you see them?” Fort Worth asked. Higgs transformed into microscope mode and scanned the surface. “Yes! Yes I can see them. Things don’t look good. The Decepticons and Predacons will be on top of them soon.” Higgs transformed back into robot mode and faced the rest of Teraelectronvolt. “We have to help them!” A white mech with emergency vehicle markings came forward. “I think we should report to Iacon first, let them deal with it. We’re in no position to--” “There’s no time, Cauterise!” Fort Worth yelled. “We have to help them.” “So what’s the plan?” Cloudstrafer, a light blue jet, asked. “Higgs, you take Cauterise and Rebuild and help with the wounded. The rest of us will draw the enemy’s fire. Let’s move!”


Blazer Prime looked out at the closing Decepticon-Predacon force. He quickly ducked down as a laser blast skimmed by his head. Rapidfire wildly fired his cannons at the enemy, but it had little effect on them. Searcher was unable to get to an effective sniping position since he was pinned down by volley after volley of weapons fire. The only ones who didn’t have fear in their eyes were the three Spartans who were severely injured.
Blazer Prime turned to look at his comrades. “Well, boys,” he said. “Looks like this is our last stand. Let’s go out with a bang!” All nine of them stood up and prepared to fire their weapons and fight for however long they could. Deathscream laughed out loud as he saw the Autobots rise up, as if ready to die. “Finally wised up, eh? Don’t worry, this will all be over soon!”
“Not if we can help it!” a voice from above said. Large laser blasts rained down from the sky, forcing the Decepticons and Predacons to scatter. Blazer Prime looked up and saw Fort Worth hovering over them, with the other members of Teraelectronvolt on top, firing away at the ‘Cons and Preds. Blazer let out a sigh of relief as he saw Bootlegger and Freelander blast Punisher and Redimus. “What’s going on here?!” Rapidfire yelled, seemingly surprised at the arrival of more Autobots. “We’re here to help!” Higgs said as he, Cauterise, and Rebuild landed and made their way toward the Spartans. “Thank Primus for you,” Blazer said to Higgs. “We’re in a bad way here.” “So I heard,” Higgs replied. “Where are they?” Blazer led them over to where Maximus, Boltbrain, and Meds were lying. The three new arrivals looked them over, trying to make sense of the situation. “What do you think, Cauterise?” Higgs asked. Cauterise shook his head. “Looks bad. Not much we can do right now.” “Rebuild?” Higgs turned to look at the engineer. “I agree,” he said. “The best we can do is stabilize them for a little while longer, but we need to get them to Iacon if we want to save them.” Sonicblast flew overhead, keeping a bird’s eye view of the situation. “How’re we gonna get out of here? The ‘Cons and Preds aren’t going to let us go forward, and there’s too much rubble and debris to go through the back way!” “Not quite,” Blazer Prime said. “Fort Worth!” “Yes sir?!” the fortress responded. “Can you make a path out of here for us?” Blazer asked. “Yes sir! Can do, sir!” The mobile fortress aimed his guns behind the Spartans and began blasting away at the jagged rocks and metal in their way.
Dreadspawn saw Fort Worth do this and realized that his victory was slipping away. “No!” he yelled. He flew upward and sped toward Fort Worth, weapons blazing. “Incoming!” Cannon Feeder yelled. “I got this,” Wreckwind said coolly. He walked to the edge of the fortress and transformed into dragon mode. As soon as Dreadspawn was in range, Wreckwind let loose a stream of fire from his mouth. Dreadspawn was hit dead on in his chest and sent plummeting toward the ground. “Nice!” Vincent yelled to the green dragon.
Fort Worth ceased his bombardment. “Path cleared!” “Thanks!” Blazer responded. He then turned to the others. “Quickly, load ‘em up. It’s time to leave!” Blazer Prime transformed into fire truck mode while Cauterise and Higgs loaded Maximus onto him. Steelwraith also transformed to let Revver and Speed Demon strap Boltbrain onto him. Rebuild transformed into his scoop loader mode while Searcher and Bigrig lifted Meds onto him.
“Ready!” Higgs said to Blazer Prime. “Alright! Spartans! Roll out!” The remaining Spartans transformed into vehicle mode, along with Cauterise. Higgs jumped on top of Steelwraith and made sure Boltbrain didn’t fall off. “Let’s go!” Blazer Prime yelled as he drove down the path Fort Worth made, sirens blaring. The others followed suit and sped away, with Fort Worth and the rest of Teraelectronvolt close behind.


Dreadspawn got up from the ground, scorch marks all over his armor. He growled loudly and clenched his fists. “Dreadspawn?” a voice behind him said. He turned around to see Redimus, holding his left arm with his right hand. “What’s our status?” Dreadspawn demanded. “Wingshadow’s down. A few others are hurt but still battle ready.” “Good. Round them up. We’re going after them.” Redimus looked at his commander with disbelief. “But…they’re headed toward Iacon. If they reach the city, there’s no way we can get them.” Dreadspawn turned around and walked away from Redimus and toward the path the Autobots took. Redimus followed him. “Have Purple Floyd call up the recruits we brought along. We may need the additional firepower,” Dreadspawn ordered. “But Dreadspawn! Even with the additional forces, it won’t be enough to storm Iacon!” “I DON’T CARE!!” Dreadspawn whipped around and got right into Redimus’ face. “Nobody defies me like that and gets away with it! I want those Autobots’ heads at my feet before the mega-cycle is over!” “And what about the Predacons?” Dreadspawn retreated slightly. “If they follow, let them.” “Damn right we’re going to follow!” Transistors walked up and stood only inches from Dreadspawn. “You fooled us once. Not again. We’re going in with you. We want a share of the action too.” “Fine,” Dreadspawn said with disdain. “But you better not get in my way, or I will turn you into slag.” Transistors scoffed. “We’ll see about that,” he said.


The two groups of Autobots made their way toward Iacon City at maximum speed, taking great care not to let the three wounded Spartans fall off. The members of Teraelectronvolt, minus Higgs Boson, Rebuild, and Cauterise, kept watch above the group, along with Sonicblast and Searcher. Every one of them was focused on one thing: getting back to Iacon as quickly as possible. They weren’t all necessarily focused on saving the three wounded Autobots; some just wanted to get away from the Decepticons and Predacons as soon as possible.
“Uh, Blazer Prime?” Blazer Prime trained his sensors upward. “What’s wrong, Searcher?” “We’re being followed…and they’re closing in on us!” “What?!” Sonicblast said as he transformed into robot mode and turned around so he was flying backwards. Sure enough, the same Decepticon-Predacon force that had ambushed them was following them. Sonicblast could even point out a few new ‘Cons that weren’t there before.
Sonicblast transformed back into F-16 mode and resumed his original position with the group. “There’s no way we’re in a position to fight them now!” Sonicblast yelled. “Cool it!” Blazer Prime yelled back. “We’re almost there. If we don’t slow down, then we should be alright. Searcher, send a message to Iacon Command and tell them what’s happened and ask for assistance.”


Inside Autobot Central Command, the main command chamber was alive with activity: Autobots going to and fro, multiple messages going in and out, every now and again an alarm buzzer would go off. In the middle of all this, a silver femme with wings stood with her arms crossed, apparently in deep thought. She did not bear the red symbol of the Autobots; instead, she bore the green symbol of the Maximals. What am I doing here? she thought to herself. I’m no diplomat. I should be out in the field helping others.
“Silver? You okay?” Silver Wind turned around sharply to face a tall white femme who also bore the Maximal symbol. “Yes, Priestess,” Silver said. “Sorry, I’m just a little distracted…” Priestess looked at her commander with a face of uncertainty. “If you say so,” she said as she went back to observing the many Autobots at work in the chamber.
Silver’s thoughts were interrupted again by an alarm that went off near one of the communication stations. She immediately whipped her head around to see the Autobot stationed at that particular station. “This is Autobot Command,” the Autobot communication officer said. “Please identify yourself.” “This is Searcher of Sentinel unit Alpha-001,” the voice on the other end said. Searcher?! Silver thought to herself. That’s Maximus’ unit! She began to listen more closely. “We are en route to Iacon and are being pursued by both Decepticons and Predacons. We were ambushed when we entered the system, and we’ve got critically wounded with us! We need assistance on our arrival!” “Roger that, Searcher,” the communications officer said. “Unfortunately, all of our medical personnel are unavailable at the moment, so we will be unable to--” Silver shoved the Autobot communicator out of the way so she could talk into the console. “Searcher! This is Silver Wind! Are you there?” “Silver?! Thank the Allspark! We’ve got big problems! Dreadspawn and Transistors attacked us when we entered orbit, and now Maximus, Boltbrain, and Meds are all seriously hurt!” “Okay, keep moving. We’ll be ready.” Silver cut the transmission and turned around to look at a crimson Maximal who was standing next to Priestess. “Serene!” Silver yelled. “Go get Extricate and get down to the Med Lab! We’ve got wounded coming in, and we’re going to do everything we can to save them.”

Pretty sweet.

Nice work

He he, nice one Dragonslayer!

Good to see my guys behaving themselves!

Whoa!

Wow, I really let this get away, didn't I? Sorry for the long delay (for those of you who care), but school has been intensifying recently, and I've had zip time to write.

Anyway, here's the fourth and final chapter, all completed. It's still kinda long, but I don't think it's as long as Chp. 3 was...

Chapter 4, Part 1
The combined Decepticon-Predacon force sped after the Autobots that had narrowly escaped their grasp, with Dreadspawn leading the way. His afterburners were at full thrust, making it hard for the rest of the team to keep up. At the back of the group, a band of Decepticon recruits followed behind the others. One of them, an oil tanker, was the first to break the silence among them.
“So, any idea where we’re going?” Malicron asked. The Decepticon that was riding on top of him shook his head. “Nope, haven’t heard a word,” General Megashock replied. “Yeah, well I’ve heard something,” a jet said from above. “You know where we’re going, Herald?” Malicron asked. “Well,” Entity Herald began, “I heard from up the line that we’re going straight to Iacon.” “WHAT?!” General Megashock turned his head around to look at his teammate Giga Addatron, who had a look of total shock on his face. “Iacon?!” he yelled. “But that’s like Autobot central!” “I know, isn’t it awesome?!” Giga looked to his left at Warmaker. The tank edged closer to Malicron’s flank so he could get in on the conversation. “What do you mean, ‘Awesome?!’” Giga asked. “I mean, there’ll be Autobots everywhere! Plenty of kills to go around!” “He has a point,” Entity Hunter said from behind Malicron. The racecar revved his engine to signify his excitement. Giga Addatron shook his head again. “But were storming the Autobots’ main city with this force?! We’re not going to make past the gates! Dreadspawn’s freakin’ insane for taking us straight to--”
“Let me give you a piece of advice,” a voice behind the recruits said. Giga whipped around to see Redimus right behind them. No one had even seen him back off from the main group and join them. “There is only one being in this entire universe that can question Dreadspawn and live,” Redimus said. “And that’s me. But even then he won’t listen. Dreadspawn doesn’t take kindly to criticism, especially from his subordinates. So, if you value your lives, keep your mouths shut and just do what Dreadspawn says. Odds are you may get out of this in one piece if you do.”
Giga Addatron immediately closed his jaw and turned back around and stared straight ahead. Redimus sped up and rejoined the main group, taking the lead of the ground forces. Dreadspawn saw him move back up and lowered his altitude. “What was that about?” he asked. “Oh,” Redimus said, “just clearing something up with the recruits.”


Blazer Prime raced through the wastelands of Cybertron, carrying the injured Maximus Prime on his back. The rest of the Autobot Spartans followed close behind, with Steelwraith carrying Boltbrain. Teraelectronvolt kept watch above, except for Higgs Boson, who was riding on top of Steelwraith, Cauterise, who was on the ground next to Revver, and Rebuild, who was carrying Meds on his back.
“Searcher!” Blazer Prime yelled. “Where are the ‘Cons and Preds?!” The helicopter ran a quick scan behind them. “Still behind us, and steadily closing!” “Alright, how much longer till we get to Iacon?!” Blazer asked. “About 5 cycles!” Searcher replied. “We’d better let them no we’re coming!” “Already on it,” Blazer said as he opened a comm channel to the oncoming gate of Iacon.
“This is Iacon Gatekeeper 003. Please identify yourself,” the voice on the other end said. “This is Blazer Prime of Autobot Sentinel Unit Alpha-1! We are en route to Iacon along with Teraelectronvolt, and we’ve got Decepticons and Predacons behind us! We’re carrying wounded and we need to get them to Central ASAP! Be ready to open the gates when we arrive!” “Uh, that’s a negative, commander,” the gatekeeper said. “I can’t open the gates when enemy units are in such close proximity.” “Listen,” Blazer Prime said with malice in his voice. “If you don’t open those gates for us, three of our friends are going to die. I know you don’t want that on your conscience, so you open those fragging gates or so help me Primus I will see you burn for this!!!!”
There was silence on the other end for a few moments, and then a very shaky voice spoke. “Uh, y-y-yes sir. The gates will be ready when you arrive. Out.” Burnout edged up beside Blazer. “Well, that could have been handled better,” he said. “No time,” Blazer replied. “And don’t try to be funny with me right now.”
The team came up over a low hill and Iacon was directly in front of them, gleaming like a star in a sea of night. “Autobots, roll for it!” Blazer yelled as he kicked his engine into high gear and sped toward the city. The other Autobots followed suit, making a mad dash to the city. Fort Worth tried to keep up with the Spartans, but his big size would not allow him to go that fast, but he was still able to stay ahead of the Decepticons.
Blazer Prime reached the walls of Iacon just as the gates fully opened; he sped through the giant archway and never stopped to look back. As he passed through the gates, he heard one of the guards on the wall yell, “Auto-cannons online!” As the rest of the Spartans came through the gates, numerous hatches opened all over the wall, revealing a multitude of laser cannons and missile launchers. Fort Worth flew over the walls as the gates began to close and the auto-defenses came online. None of the Autobots stopped to see the oncoming battle, they just kept moving toward the center of the city, where Autobot Central Command was.


Dreadspawn watched as the fleeing Autobots entered the city and the guards on the walls activated the auto-defenses. He increased his speed and fired his weapons at the walls, but to no avail. The auto-cannons acquired him and fired. Dreadspawn avoided the majority of the lasers and missiles, but he was again thwarted as he was hit by a missile just as he was pulling up. Dreadspawn crashed to the ground and transformed into robot mode. He immediately began backpedaling as the auto-turrets continued to fire at him.
The remaining Decepticons rejoined Dreadspawn and transformed, followed by the Predacons, some of whom were quietly laughing at Dreadspawn’s misfortune. “Spread out and take cover!” Dreadspawn yelled. Everyone ran in different directions, dodging the laser blasts that came their way, and took cover behind the numerous jagged rocks that covered the wastelands.
Dreadspawn leaped behind a large boulder about fifty meters from the gate just as a missile exploded near him. Transistors transformed into robot mode and took cover next to the jet. “Ingenious plan, Dreadspawn,” Transistors said sarcastically. “What’s next, you gonna storm the gates by yourself?!” Dreadspawn stared at Transistors coldly. “Don’t test me, or I’ll start launching you Preds to see if that will break the walls!”
Redimus got behind another rock near Dreadspawn and turned to look at him. “What now?!” he said. Dreadspawn peeked out to look at the tall walls bristling with guards and turrets, then turned back to Redimus. “We lower their defenses, one turret at a time.” He quickly stood up and fired his weapon at a laser cannon, destroying it completely. He then ducked back down just as quickly as he stood up. He looked at Transistors, who returned his gaze. “What are you waiting for?! Those turrets aren’t going to destroy themselves!”


Blazer Prime sped through the city, sirens blaring, engine revving. The average citizens stared in wonder and confusion as they saw the parade of strange vehicles go down the streets. Fort Worth followed above, slowly descending to ground level.
The Autobots finally reached Autobot Central Command, and Blazer was relieved when he saw Serene and Extricate waiting for them at the emergency entrance, three hover-stretchers waiting. He slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop just inches from Serene’s face. Serene wasted no time in getting Maximus Prime off of Blazer and onto the stretcher. Revver quickly transformed and helped Serene move his commander. Steelwraith stopped next to Blazer and let Higgs Boson jump off. Both Higgs and Extricate began helping Boltbrain off of the tank. Rebuild and Cauterise followed suit, getting Meds off of Rebuild and onto the stretcher. The rest of the Spartans transformed and moved to help the others, while Fort Worth finally landed and let the rest of his team off. He then transformed into robot mode and shrunk back down to regular size.
Once the three wounded Spartans were on the stretchers, Serene motioned to Extricate to get moving. Serene pushed both Maximus’ and Meds’ stretchers while Extricate struggled slightly to move Boltbrain’s big body. The others followed close behind, slightly jogging to keep up with the medics. They weaved all throughout the hallways, past other Autobots who quickly hugged the wall to let the parade go by.
They finally reached the med lab where Serene had set up shop, and the doors opened to admit them. Serene pushed her two patients into the lab, then helped Extricate move the third one. Blazer Prime and the others were just about to go in with them, but stopped abruptly when Serene held up her hand in a gesture to stop. “Thanks, we’ll take it from here,” she said. She walked into the lab and the doors closed behind her, leaving the others just standing there. “So,” Bigrig said to break the silence. “What do we do now?” Blazer Prime hung his head slightly. “We wait,” he said.
And wait they did, for megacycles, thought it felt like stellar-cycles to everyone waiting outside. Fort Worth had sat down on the floor after the first few cycles, his big hulk blocking about two-thirds of the hallway. Rebuild was going around, making sure everyone was still operational and treating any injuries he could. Cauterise had gone to repairing the hole in Blazer Prime’s wing; he could not patch it up, but he was able to get his thruster back online. Sonicblast, however, was the most anxious; he had gone to pacing to and fro, his eyes glued to the med lab doors. Burnout and Rapidfire were so bored that they began follow Sonicblast with their eyes, moving their heads from one side to the other in perfect rhythm.
Approaching footsteps broke Sonicblast’s concentration. He turned around to see Silver Wind walking briskly down the hall to meet them. She walked past Sonicblast, who never took his optics off her, and went straight to Blazer. “How’re things?” she asked as she looked up to the Spartan sub-commander. He shook his head. “No idea,” he said. “They haven’t come out for hours.” “Something’s wrong,” Sonicblast said. Silver Wind turned around and looked at the worried jet. “Everything’s fine, just relax,” she said. Sonicblast went back to pacing, now more erratically. “No, everything’s not fine!” he half-yelled. “They’ve been in there too long…”
“Sonicblast--”
“We should have heard something by now…”
“Sonicblast--”
“Oh Primus, what is going on in there?”
“SONICBLAST!” Silver Wind yelled. The jet stopped in his tracks as the Maximal put a hand on his shoulder and forced him to sit down on a nearby bench. She sat down beside him and put a hand on his knee. “Look,” she said in a motherly tone. “I know this is hard, but right now all you can do and need to do is relax. Serene’s one of the best medics out there. Trust me, she’ll find a way.” Sonicblast looked at Silver Wind with a look of sorrow on his face. His attention was turned elsewhere as Serene walked out of the med lab, here face grim.
Everybody stood up at her presence, Sonicblast pushed his way to the front of the group. “How are they?” he asked quickly. “They’re stable,” she said. Everyone let out a sigh of relief, but quickly drew it back in as she held up her index finger. “They’re stable for now,” she said, this time more sternly. “But I don’t know how long that’ll last.” “Just how bad is it?” Blazer Prime asked. Serene looked into the optics of the fire truck. “Do you want to hear the bad news or the worse news first?”
Everybody began looking at each other with looks of confusion and horror. Blazer Prime sighed. “Alright,” he said. “What’s the bad news?” “The bad news is that all three of them have suffered critical damage to many of their vital components. So much damage, in fact, that they’ll have to removed and replaced soon.” Sonicblast stared at Serene intently. “Well, what could be the worse news?” he asked. Serene turned her gaze to the jet, then back to the group. “The worse news is that the energon that’s still present in their systems has been contaminated.” “‘Contaminated’?” Blazer repeated. “What does that mean?” Serene shook her head. “It’s a side effect of Predacon weaponry. Some Preds have taken to adding some kind of biological agent to their regular weapons. We still haven’t discovered what it is or where it comes from, so at the time there’s no cure for it.” “Well, what’s it doing to them?!” Sonicblast stepped forward toward Serene, his optics wide open. “It’s deteriorating their internal structures. We’ve managed to prevent it from moving to their spark chambers or any of their intact components, but it’s only a matter of time before the energon totally eats away their insides.”
Sonicblast suddenly felt dizzy and nearly fell over, but Bigrig and Steelwraith were there to catch him. “Well, isn’t there anything we can do?!” Blazer said. Serene sighed before talking again. “The way I see it, there’s only one way to save them: extract their sparks and cerebral components and build completely new bodies for them.” Everyone in the room did a double take at that last statement. Blazer Prime had a look of surprise on his face. “Build new bodies? You mean kind of like what CATalyst did for Dead Reckoning?” he asked, recalling the whole incident with Gore and Evolution Prime. Serene nodded. “Essentially, yes. There is some risk involved, though. Sometimes the spark rejects the new body when it is introduced all at once, but there is a theory that if you slowly insert the spark, it will adapt to the new housing much better. But it has never been tried before, but it’s worth a shot.” Blazer Prime looked down at the floor and crossed his arms. He looked back at Sonicblast, who was sitting back down on the bench with Steelwraith and Silver Wind. He looked back at Serene and nodded. “Do it,” he said. “Do whatever you have to.” “Yes sir,” she said. “We’ll start right away.” “Uh, Serene?” The crimson medic turned around to look at Higgs Boson. “If it’s all the same to you, Rebuild, Cauterise, and I would like to help out.” Rebuild stepped forward and stood next to Higgs. “Yeah, I’ve got a feeling you may need it,” Rebuild said. Cauterise, however, took a step backward. “Actually,” he began. “I think our resources would be better suited for finding an antidote for the Predacon bio-agent, and I would be more than happy to--”
Nobody even saw Sonicblast move, but in the blink of an eye, he had Cauterise pinned to the wall, rage in his circuits. Searcher tried to pull him off, but Sonicblast shoved him away, then looked at Teraelectronvolt’s medic. “Now you listen, and you listen good,” he said in a low voice. “My best friend is in there, and he’s going to die unless we do this for him. So you get your aft in there and you do everything in your power to help, or so help me I will personally put you into permanent stasis lock. Got it?” Cauterise nodded timidly, then was let down back to the ground as Sonicblast slowly walked back to the bench. Cauterise took his place next to Higgs, and the three of them followed Serene into the lab. The doors closed behind them, leaving the others to wait even longer.
Fort Worth walked over to Blazer Prime, towering over the older Autobot. “Sir, if you don’t mind, we’re going to go report in to Evolution,” he said. “Sure, go ahead,” Blazer said. Fort Worth turned to walk away, but Blazer yelled, “Hey Fort Worth!” The fortress stopped and turned back around. Blazer walked up to him and extended his hand. “Thank you for your assistance back there. We really do appreciate it,” Blazer said reassuringly. Fort Worth looked down at Blazer’s outstretched hand, then back at his face and smiled as the shook his hand. “Yes sir, you’re welcome! Any time, sir!” He released his grip, turned around and walked away, with the rest of Teraelectronvolt behind him.
Vincent, however, hung back for a little bit. He walked over to Sonicblast, who was now sitting by himself on the bench, his head hung. “Hey kid,” the motorcycle said. Sonicblast looked up at the black Autobot. Vincent took his cigar out of his mouth and looked at Sonicblast with concern. “Look, uh,” he started, “if ya ever need help wit’ anythin’…just give us a call. We’ll be there.” Sonicblast smiled slightly. “Thanks, Vincent,” he said. Vincent smiled and patted Sonicblast on the shoulder. “See ya ‘round,” he said and walked off, a trail of smoke rings following him.


Time crawled slowly for the nine Spartans waiting outside the med lab. No one spoke, no one moved, no one did anything. Every cycle passed by like the last one, and the one before that, and the one before that….
Every now and again one of the five medics would come out, but they never stopped to talk to the Autobots sitting around. Usually they just went to get some more energon to keep the team going for another mega-cycle or so. Every time one of them would come out, the Spartans became anxious, hoping to hear that their friends were alright, but every time they were disappointed. Silver Wind came by a couple of times, but every time her presence was greeted by hung heads and looks of despair. Her eyes would continually dart to Sonicblast, who kept his face buried in his hands and looked the grimmest of all. She thought about saying something, but decided against it, knowing that it would not really help the situation.


Outside the walls of Iacon City, Dreadspawn crouched behind a rock, every now and again taking a pop shot at one of the auto-turrets shooting at him. His fellow Decepticons and the Predacons did the same thing, slowly hacking away at the Autobots’ defenses. Dreadspawn turned and looked at Redimus, who had just destroyed a laser turret.
“How many are left?” Dreadspawn asked. Redimus peeked out and took a quick count. “About 20%,” he answered. “Good enough for me,” Dreadspawn said. He transformed into jet mode and took off high into the air. As soon as he reached an altitude where the turrets could not get him, he turned his nose downward and went into a straight nosedive. Rapidly descending, he unleashed his whole arsenal at the remainder of the wall’s defenses. The gates exploded in a shower of metal and smoke, and the guards on top of the wall were blown away and crushed under the rubble.
Dreadspawn pulled up and streaked over the broken wall. “All units!” he yelled. “Advance! Make for their central command center! Find the Autobots that evaded us before and bring them to me! Alive or dead, it doesn’t matter! But the young Maximus Prime, bring him to me alive or in whatever state he’s in! I’ll finish him personally…”


Alarms went off like crazy inside Central Command, and the noise startled the Spartans as all of them jumped to their feet when they heard it. Then the sounds went off and a voice spoke over the intercom. “Emergency! A combined Decepticon-Predacon attack force has penetrated the outer walls and is making their way toward the inner city. All personnel are ordered to take up defensive positions around Central Command.”
Blazer Prime looked at Sonicblast, both of them thinking the same thing. “They followed us,” Blazer Prime said. Steelwraith looked at the second-in-command. “So what are we gonna do?” he asked. Blazer looked at the tank and raised an optic. “What do you mean? We’re going to do our job. Saddle up.”

Chapter 4, Part 2
The Spartans rushed out the doors of Central Command and into a barrage of oncoming enemy fire. Blazer Prime ducked down and ran toward one of the barricades, where Fort Worth was crouched down behind, returning fire. “What’s the situation?!” Blazer asked. Fort Worth shook his head. “Not good, sir,” he said. “They may not outnumber us, but they’re being smart. They’re slowly whittling away at our defenses, putting any one of our guys that pops his head out into stasis lock!” “Just like before,” Blazer said to himself. He peeked out slightly to catch a glimpse of the enemy. The Decepticons and Predacons had spread themselves out, not too thinly, but enough where they could suppress the entire Autobot defensive line. Blazer ducked back down and looked at Fort Worth. “How many of us are left?” “Ummm…Well, there’s your group, plus mine, aaaaaaand…that’s it.” “Brilliant,” Blazer said sarcastically.
He looked up and saw the auto-turrets mounted on the outside of Central Command firing away but hitting nothing. Guess they never did upgrade the targeting systems on those things, he thought. He looked behind him and pointed at Searcher, who was crouched low on the ground, his hands over his head. “You think you can get up top and give us sniper support?!” he asked. Searcher looked at the fire truck with a worried look. “Ohhh, I don’t know! Maybe…,” Searcher replied. “Do it!” Blazer yelled back. Searcher recoiled slightly before taking off into the air, pulling out his sniper rifle. He was about to pull of a shot when Malicron fired a missile at Searcher. The poor Autobot did not see it until too late, and he was hit squarely in the chest. Searcher came down hard, already in stasis lock. Steelwraith rushed over to the down sniper and turned him over. He still bore the face of fear even in his offline condition.
“He’ll be fine, if we can get him out of here soon!” Steelwraith called to Blazer Prime. “But we can’t move without exposing ourselves to enemy fire!” Blazer yelled back. “We’d all be in stasis lock by the time we got him to the door!” Steelwraith nodded and tried to shove Searcher away from the battle as far as he could in one push. Then he re-assumed his position behind the barricades.
Bigrig duck down to avoid the oncoming fire. He was finding it increasingly difficult to just stay down while the enemy advanced. Slowly, his logic circuits were being overridden by his pride. Finally, he leapt up, his shield active and his blaster ready. “Stand and fight like true warriors, cowards!” he yelled at the top of his vocal processors. He jumped over the barricade and rushed toward the Predacon line. “STOP!!” Blazer yelled at him, but Bigrig was too far away to hear him. He fired his blaster at the Predacons, but they were too fast and too many. He made it about halfway before Silent Strike leapt out at him and pinned the Autobot to the ground. Bigrig flipped the Predacon off of him, but Silent quickly recovered and jumped at Bigrig again, this time pinning him by his arms. Silent transformed to robot mode and pulled out his cyber tail claw and bashed Bigrig’s head with it. The Autobot immediately went into stasis lock. Silent stepped off of Bigrig and kicked him back toward the Autobot defense. Silent stood there for a minute, staring at the Autobots on the other side. He smirked and then rejoined his comrades.
Blazer Prime watched as Silent Strike put Bigrig into stasis lock and left him in the middle of the battlefield. He hung his head and shook it. Steelwraith looked at Blazer, then at Bigrig, then back at Blazer. He ground his jaw harshly. “Slag it!” the tank roared. “I’m going to get him!” Blazer immediately looked up at him. “No you’re not!” he said. “Don’t be stupid! You’ll end up just like him if you go out there!” “Well, what else can we do?” Steelwraith said. “It won’t be long before they’re on top of us, and you want to just sit here and wait?” “Wait for an opportunity, yes.” “No time for that. I’m going out to get Bigrig.” Rapidfire moved over next to Steelwraith. “I’ll cover you,” he said. “Alright,” Steelwraith said. “Let’s go!” The two Autobots jumped over the barricade and ran toward Bigrig. Steelwraith fired his laser rifle and his cannon at the enemy line, while Rapidfire fired his high-speed cannons.
On the other side, Giga Addatron saw the two Autobots rushing to help their comrade. He nudged General Megashock with his elbow and pointed to Rapidfire, who ran behind Steelwraith. Megashock smiled and nodded, and the two Decepticons leapt out and ran toward them. Rapidfire saw them coming and aimed his cannons at the two Decepticons. Both Giga and Megashock transformed into their weapon altmodes and fired simultaneously at Rapidfire. The Autobot flew backwards a few feet and landed hard. He tried to get up, but the two Decepticons were directly above him. They unleashed a barrage of laser fire, which Rapidfire was unable to withstand. It wasn’t long before he went into stasis lock as well.
Steelwraith looked behind him and saw Rapidfire lying on the ground, smoldering. “Can’t stop now,” he said to himself, and kept running. Bullets and lasers whizzed by, some managed to connect, but his armor held. He reached Bigrig and knelt down to pick him up. He was just about to stand up when Warmaker rammed Steelwraith right in his gut. The Autobot tank recovered, and looked on as Warmaker transformed and was joined by Malicron, Entity’s Herald, and Entity Hunter. Steelwraith pulled out his rifle again and fired away. The three Decepticons all avoided the blasts and began firing their weapons at the tank. They spread themselves out so that Steelwraith was surrounded on all sides. He tried to turn quickly and land a blow on each of the Decepticons, but they were too fast for him. They kept dancing around, never staying in the same place for longer than a few seconds. Steelwraith madly spun around, trying to hit one of them, but he was unsuccessful. After a few cycles of this, Steelwraith’s armor began to falter under the continuing Decepticon fire. He dropped to his knees, but did not fall. The three Decepticons stopped moving and fired their weapons simultaneously. Steelwraith let out a small shout when the laser blast hit him, then fell face-first to the ground.
Blazer Prime watched all of this happen from behind the barricades. He clenched his fist in rage. He looked up to the sky, then back down at the advancing Decepticon-Predacon force. “We’re gonna need a miracle…”


Inside the med lab, the three Autobots and two Maximals worked diligently on their patients. Rebuild looked up when he felt the room shake from an explosion outside. “They’re getting closer,” he said to the others. Extricate looked at him, then looked up as well. “They need help,” he said. Cauterise looked up from his work. “How close are we to finishing?” “The bodies are complete,” Serene said. “We just need to get their sparks in.” “What about altmodes?” Higgs asked.
“I took care of that,” Serene told the scientist. “I’ve got holo-emitters ready for when they come back online. Their processors will automatically scan the images and reformat them.” “If they come back online at all,” Cauterise said doubtfully. “How do we even know if this technique of yours is going to work?” Serene shook her head. “We don’t, but we don’t have a choice either. We need these guys back on their feet, or the others are going to get overrun. Once we start the insertion process, it should only take a few cycles.” “Then let’s get to it,” Rebuild said.
“Extricate, start the machine,” Serene said. The assistant medic walked over to a computer terminal and punched in a few commands. Three mechanical arms came down from the ceiling, each of them holding a glowing blue orb in their claws. The arms held the sparks over each of the bodies’ chests, which opened up to allow the sparks to be inserted. The arms slowly moved downward, letting the sparks integrate slowly.
“C’mon!” Rebuild said. “We’ve got to get out there and help the others!” “Right,” Serene said. “I’ll go get Silver and meet you outside. I just hope we’re not too late.”


The battle outside had heated up; it was now more hand-to-hand and open combat than long range. Blazer Prime engaged Dreadspawn in the air, both combatants ramming each other with all their strength and blasting away with their weapons. Blazer could feel his circuits losing power from lack of recharge. He would not be able to go much longer. Sonicblast kept him covered, but Deathscream and Thundersky were interfering. It wasn’t hard for the Autobot jet to dogfight both Preds at the same time, but being low on energy made things worse.
Meanwhile down on the ground, things were just the same. Both Bootlegger and Wreckwind had gone down, and Fort Worth was doing his best at keeping the ones still online together. Redimus led the enemy advance, slowly tearing down the Autobot defense. Soon they would fail, and Iacon would be gone.
Silver Wind ran out of the building with Serene, Extricate, Higgs, Rebuild, and Cauterise in her wake. She ran up to Fort Worth and started firing her weapon at the Decepticons. “Silver!” Fort Worth exclaimed. “Thank Primus! How’re the Spartans?” “Serene tells me the bodies are complete, they just need time to absorb their sparks. How’re we doing here?” “Not good,” Fort Worth said. “They keep advancing, and we can’t do anything to stop them! Blazer’s been fighting with Dreadspawn for a long time now. I don’t think he can keep it up much longer!” “Then I’ll help him!” Silver transformed into a wolf/eagle fuzor and flew upward.
Blazer threw a massive punch at Dreadspawn, hitting him square in the jaw, but he put so much behind it that he spun around completely, showing his back to the Decepticon. Dreadspawn rushed in for the kill, but something blindsided him and sent him flying backwards. He whipped around and saw Silver Wind rushing toward him, talons extended. Dreadspawn ducked to the side, forcing Silver to fly over him. He brought his elbow up and hit the Maximal hard in the back. Silver went down hard, landing not too far from the Autobot line but far enough for it to be dangerous.
Blazer rushed to attack Dreadspawn, but the jet was ready this time. He waited for Blazer to get close enough, then fired his missiles at the fire truck at close range. Blazer tried to pull up, but that caused the missiles to hit him in the chest. He fell down to the ground, landing not too far from Silver, who was struggling to get up. Blazer pushed himself to his hands and knees and crawled over to Silver. He fired his pulse blasters at the oncoming Predacons while pushing Silver toward the Autobot line.
Dreadspawn landed at the head of the advancing enemy force. Redimus walked up behind his commander. “They’re broken, we’ve got them,” he said. Dreadspawn smiled slyly. “All units!” he shouted. “They are helpless! Finish them and raze this city to the ground!”
“Hold it, Dreadspawn!” a booming voice yelled. Dreadspawn’s smile quickly faded as he looked toward the source of the voice. The Autobots did the same thing, looking behind them to see who had joined the fight. Directly behind them were three vehicles: on the right, a white Hummer ambulance, emergency lights flashing; on the left, a large green GMC Topkick pickup, engine rumbling loudly; and in the center, a blue Peterbilt long-nose semi, its chrome gleaming and smoke billowing from the smokestacks. Every Autobot, Decepticon, Maximal, and Predacon stared at the three newcomers, wondering who they were. Suddenly, the three vehicles began to transform, and as they took on their robot modes, everyone was shocked to see who they were.
The ambulance was Meds, now looking stronger and tougher than before; the Topkick was Boltbrain, now bigger than he used to be and armed with a large plasma cannon on his right forearm and a quad-barreled rocket launcher on his left; and the semi was Maximus Prime, standing tall and proud. He stared down Dreadspawn with a fire in his optics. “You still have to deal with us,” he said coldly. Dreadspawn shook his head and took a step backward. “How is this possible?!” he yelled. “You really ought to make sure you finish the job,” Maximus said. “You know, make sure something like this doesn’t come back and bite you in the aft.” Dreadspawn growled and ground his jaw. “Insolent braggart! I’ll teach you to insult me!” The Decepticon jet immediately flew toward Maximus, who reached behind him and pulled out a photon rifle and aimed it at Dreadspawn. Maximus fired the weapon, but Dreadspawn dodged to the side and hit the ground hard. The energy bolt, however, kept going until it hit Malicron square in the chest, sending him flying back a few feet and into immediate stasis lock.
The other Decepticons and Predacons saw the semi go backward then looked at the Autobots for a few seconds, then resumed firing but from behind cover this time. Maximus, Boltbrain, and Meds did the same on the other side, ducking down behind the defensive barriers. Blazer Prime edged toward his commander and put his hand on his shoulder. “Good to see you up and running again, sir,” he said. “Good to be back,” Maximus replied. “So, what’s the situation?” “We’re outnumbered, we’ve got wounded out there and can’t go get ‘em, and we’re low on power.” “Sounds like a typical day.” Blazer chuckled slightly, then focused his attention back on Maximus. “So, do you have a plan?” Maximus looked at Blazer with a surprised look. “Hey, it’s me! Of course I don’t have a plan! Who’s out there?” Blazer peeked out over the barrier and scanned the battlefield. “Steelwraith, Rapidfire, and Bigrig,” he said.
“Right,” Maximus said. He thought to himself for a moment, then nodded in approval of his improv plan. “Meds!” he yelled. The Spartan medic looked over at his commander. “Get out there and try to get the wounded back over here,” Maximus ordered. ‘We’ll cover you!” “On it!” Meds replied. He pulled out a machine gun in one hand and a blaster in the other and leapt over the barrier, firing at the enemy line. Maximus stood up and fired a pair of pulse blasters and a pair of machine guns mounted on his forearms at the Decepticons. Boltbrain and Blazer followed suit, blasting away with their cannons. Meds ran across the battle field, zipping in and out of oncoming fire. He almost made it to Rapidfire when he saw a flash of purple in the corner of his optic. He whipped his head to the side just in time to dodge Carnosaur’s foot as it was coming down on top of him. He somersaulted out of the way and fired his weapons at the T-Rex but they had little effect on him. The Predacon looked down at the medic and scoffed. “Puny Autobot,” he said. “I crushed you before, I can easily do it again.” Meds grinned at the last statement. “I see you haven’t taken into account some hidden variables, but you’re soon going to be familiar with them.”
He holstered his weapons and extended his right arm, and a circular buzzsaw formed on his right forearm. It spun at high speed, filling the air with its high-pitched whine. Carnosaur stepped back slightly, but he did not appear to be intimidated. He brought his head up and lunged down at Meds. The Autobot dove out of the way and sliced the side of the Pred’s head with his saw. Carnosaur straightened up and roared in pain. Meds saw his opportunity and jumped up at the dinosaur and slashed at his throat. The Predacon roared even louder and stepped backwards several feet as sparks and mech fluid flowed from the gash. Carnosaur transformed into robot mode and stared at Meds, who pulled out his machine gun again and fired. A shower of laser-tipped bullets hit Carnosaur, ripping through his outer armor quickly. Carnosaur wasted no time in charging the Autobot; he ran at Meds at full speed, his heavy railgun in hand. Meds holstered his weapon again and revved up his buzzsaw as he ran toward Carnosaur. The two of them crashed into each other and began fighting hand-to-hand.
On the other side of the field, Transistors saw Carnosaur engaged with Meds, and the sight of Meds getting the upper hand put a twang of fear in the Pred commander. Transistors transformed to beast mode and charged toward the Autobot medic. Error Threshold saw Transistors take off and followed. Maximus saw the two enemies running toward Meds, who was completely oblivious to the oncoming threat. “Boltbrain! Burnout! Help Meds!” Maximus ordered. The two Autobots nodded, jumped the barrier, and sprinted toward their comrade. They made it halfway before Transistors noticed they were coming. He saw Boltbrain running and smirked to himself. So the big lummox wants another go, eh? he thought to himself. The Predacon diverted his course and made a beeline for the big, green mech. Error again saw Transistors break off, then saw the two other Autobots coming at them. He continued to follow Transistors.
Boltbrain and Burnout stopped when they saw the two enemies break off from their original course and coming toward them. “Help Meds,” Boltbrain said. Burnout looked at Boltbrain carefully. “You got ‘em, big guy?” he asked. Boltbrain returned his gaze. “Yep,” he said simply. Burnout smiled and continued running toward Meds. Boltbrain started running toward Transistors, shoulder lowered. “Ready for another go?!” the Predacon yelled. Boltbrain did not offer any kind of response; he just kept running toward Transistors. They were almost face-to-face when Boltbrain came to a complete stop and delivered a huge uppercut to Transistors. The Pred commander was sent flipping into the air. Error jumped over Transistors fallen body and leapt at Boltbrain. The big Autobot aimed his plasma cannon at the Archaicon and fired it at extremely close range. The Decepticon fell to the ground in a smoking heap, plasma burns all over is front. Transistors transformed and struggled to his feet while he pulled out his energon-powered coilgun. He fired his weapon at Boltbrain, who was using the pieces of his altmode attached to his shoulders as shields. He aimed his rocket launchers at Transistors and began firing away; the barrels were constantly rotating, coughing out rocket after rocket. Transistors was hit with three rockets in a row and fell to the ground in the same manner Error Threshold did.
Back over on the Autobot side, Maximus and Blazer kept firing at the Decepticons and Predacons, but they had dug themselves in deep. Blazer ducked down quickly as a laser bolt nearly hit him. “We’re not getting anywhere!” he yelled. “They’ve still got the upper hand!” Maximus looked at Blazer. “Then I’ll just have to fix that.” He jumped the barricade and transformed into truck mode. His engine roared to life as he sped directly at the enemy line. Lasers, missiles, and bullets whizzed by, but the Autobot commander never stopped or slowed down. When he was several meters away from the enemy line, he began to transform back into robot mode. As soon as he was fully transformed, he leapt high into the air and soared directly over the Decepticons and Predacons. Maximus reached behind him and pulled out his photon rifle in his right hand and a chain gun in the left. He fired away at the dumbstruck Decepticons and Predacons, putting Warmax, Punisher, and Vader D’Etoile into stasis lock.
Maximus landed in the big middle of the enemy group, but he still fired at everyone around him. Konzentrationslager and Depthstalker fell at the hands of the young Autobot and fell into heaps. Directly in front of him, Deathscream was running toward him, energo scythe in hand. Maximus lowered his smokestacks attached to the back of his shoulders and fired a pair of huge laser blasts at the Pred flyer. Deathscream was sent flying backwards, leaving a trail of rubble as he scraped the ground while going backwards. Maximus holstered his weapons and prepared to head back to the Autobot line, but he fell forward as he got hit in the back by a big laser blast. He rolled over to face Bitchkrieg, cannon barrel smoking. She cackled as she looked down at the Autobot. Maximus jumped to his feet and fired his pulse blasters and machine guns at the femme Decepticon. She backed up a few steps, but she quickly recovered and stared coldly at the Spartan. “Now is that any way to treat a lady?” she said half sarcastically, half angrily. Maximus returned her stare, all fear absent in his optics. “Well, since you wear the Decepticon symbol--” He reached behind him and pulled out a long black shaft and pressed a button near the top, igniting a long energy blade that glowed a deep red; Maximus lunged forward and slashed at Bitchkrieg, putting a deep cut diagonally across her torso. Bitchkrieg shrieked loudly as she fell to the ground in a pool of mech fluid. “—You’re no lady to me,” Maximus said as he disengaged his sword.
“Prime!” Maximus whipped around and saw Dreadspawn standing in the middle of the battlefield. Maximus ran toward the Decepticon, firing his photon rifle as he did; Dreadspawn did the same, firing his laser rifle at the Spartan. When they were a few meters away, Maximus holstered his rifle and sprinted toward Dreadspawn, who followed suit. The gap closed to a few feet, and Maximus leapt into the air again and dropkicked Dreadspawn in his face. Dreadspawn fell to the ground hard as Maximus landed just inches from Dreadspawn’s head. Dreadspawn got up and faced Maximus, who had whipped around and delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of Dreadspawn’s head. Dreadspawn spun around several times, recovered, and faced the Autobot again, but Maximus did not let up; he grabbed the Decepticon by his throat and slammed him to the ground.
Dreadspawn grabbed Maximus’ arm and threw him over his head, landing not too far from where Dreadspawn lay. Both warriors got up and locked hands and pushed against each other with all their strength, staring into each other’s optics. “You may have a new look,” Dreadspawn said, “but you’re still the same pathetic Autobot wanna-be to me! You’re still no Maximus Prime, and you never will be Maximus Prime! Understand?!” Dreadspawn took his right knee and slammed it into Maximus’ abdomen; Maximus keeled over and almost fell on all fours, but Dreadspawn uppercut Maximus in his face and sent Maximus flying backwards a few feet. The Autobot shook his head to and refocused his optic sensors and saw Dreadspawn approaching. The Decepticon jet brought his foot up, ready to strike Maximus with the final blow, and…
In the blink of an eye, Maximus whipped out his energy sword and slashed Dreadspawn straight up the middle of his torso. Dreadspawn yelled and stumbled backwards as sparks flew from a perfect cut that ran from his waist to his chest. Maximus got and faced Dreadspawn, sword still in hand. “You’re right, Dread,” Maximus said. “I’m not the Maximus Prime you knew. But let me tell you something: I am Maximus Prime, and that’s never going to change.”
Meanwhile, Transistors was still recovering from the blow he took from Boltbrain. He managed to get up and looked around him. He saw the bodies of both Decepticons and Predacons in stasis lock lying around, and he saw the Autobots slowly moving in on them. “Predacons!” he yelled. “We’ve lost the advantage! Disengage and retreat!” Transistors transformed to beast mode and took off back the way they had come. His comrades did the same thing, picking up any others Predacon that was in stasis lock. Dreadspawn looked over to see the Preds leaving the battlefield, and rage filled him like never before. “You filthy cowards! You dare retreat from a battle! I should slag every last one of you!”
“You’ll do nothing of the kind.” Dreadspawn whipped around and saw that every Autobot and Maximal that was still online had gathered behind Maximus Prime and was facing him, weapons armed. The remaining Decepticons gathered behind their commander, waiting to see what he was going to do. “Don’t be stupid,” Maximus said. “It’s over. Surrender or we’ll blow you away!” Dreadspawn’s optics darted around, looking at every Autobot and Maximal that faced him. Then he looked up and saw one of the big guard towers that defended Autobot Central Command. “Not this time!” Dreadspawn pulled out his rifle and fired it along with a barrage of missiles at the tower. The tower cracked at the center and came tumbling down directly over the Autobots. Every Autobot and Maximal jumped out of the way, giving Dreadspawn his chance. “Decepticons, pull back! This fight is over…for now.” The Decepticons transformed into their vehicle modes and sped away, gathering their wounded as they went.
Maximus watched as the Decepticons faded away into the distance. “It’s not over,” he said. “Not yet…”


Maximus walked out of the CR room as he finished putting his teammates in the chambers for repairs. The rest of the Autobots who helped defend Central Command were waiting outside. Meds walked up to his commander. “How are you feeling sir?” “I’m fine, Meds,” Maximus said. “But I do need to talk to Silver Wind and Fort Worth.
The two commanders walked forward and stared at Maximus, who, much to everyone’s surprise, retracted his battle mask into the sides of his head, revealing his full face, complete with a mouth. It was the first time anyone had actually seen Maximus without the mask. He smiled at the two commanders warmly. “I think I speak for all of my men when I say thank you. You saved us back there, helped us in our time of need. And if it wasn’t for you five--” he pointed to Serene, Extricate, Rebuild, Higgs Boson, and Cauterise, “—Boltbrain, Meds, and I wouldn’t be here, and the ‘Cons and Preds might’ve overrun the city. We are forever in your debt.” “Not necessary, sir,” Fort Worth said. “We were just doing our job.” “I know that,” Maximus said. “But the fact of the matter is that you beat insurmountable odds to save us, and that is something I can never repay. But I will say this: as long as we all fight the good fight, our teams will forever be allies, no matter what.” Silver nodded in agreement. “Hopefully this will help strengthen the ties between Autobots and Maximals.” “Let us hope it does,” Maximus said. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we need to go report in finally!”
Maximus walked away from the CR room with the rest of the Spartans in tow. Sonicblast walked up beside Maximus and threw his arm around his neck. “So, how do ya feel now, big guy?” Sonicblast asked. Maximus chuckled as he removed his best friend’s arm. “For the first time since I got here, I feel prime!” “Dude,” Sonicblast said. “That is so cliché.” Maximus chuckled again. “Yeah, I guess it is,” he said as the jet started to giggle slightly. Sonicblast recovered himself and looked at his friend. “So, what was it that got you so bummed about coming back to Cybertron?”
Maximus’ smile slightly faded as he looked down at the jet. “You know, sometimes things are best left untold until it’s absolutely necessary…”

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I want to thank all those who allowed use of their characters for this project: Supercollider, Silver Wind, Redimus, Jeep!, Thunderscream, Symbiote Spiderman, Carnosaur, Whiner-Tron, galvason, Ram, and Chaos Bringer. Thanks a bunch guys!

Now to let this sink back into the depths of forgotten threads...

Nice job! Except for that Dallas Stars sig