Again Leader-1 found himself waking up. His eyes focused (rather quickly, at that…) and registered his surroundings. A dull, gray, sterile room surrounded him, cluttered with a plethora of ticking machines displaying screens in constant movement. Green blips counted off the action of his main fuel pump, a slew of wires were connected to his arm and torso, feeding into one of the computers that stood by his bedside like a sentinel. His head lulled to the side, treating him to a view of SmallFoot. She lay on a bed similar to his, beneath a large window. He could make out the tips of buildings stretching upward against the sky. SmallFoot’s body looked fine, as if the damage she suffered had been a bad dream. A hint of a smile came to Leader-1 as he raised his arm slightly- and saw it was no longer a mangled strip of useless metal. They had repaired him, and from the feel of it, made some improvements. He could see a little further and clearer than before, his joints slid effortlessly against each other when he moved. He hadn’t realized how many smaller, nagging injuries he never took the time to repair on Gobotron. With all the fighting, who had the time? He turned his head, finding Turbo and Scooter linked to their own monitoring computers. They too looked restored, bringing another smile to Leader-1. A voice startled him.
“Ah, I see our guest has regained consciousness.”
Leader-1 looked up and caught sight of another robot- not Optimus Prime, standing in the entranceway. Blue eyes, a pleasant expression on his face, a tube-like extension of what looked to be a microscope lens holstered on his back.
“Greetings,” he smiled, “my name is Perceptor, you must be Leader-1.”
Leader-1’s eyes returned to his arm, “Were you the one who…” he looked back at Perceptor.
“Yes, after a brief electroanalysis I was able to ascertain the nature of your injuries.” He paused as if in mid-thought, “They were quite extreme, I pondered for the last few cycles how you survived an entry in your transport confined with that chaotic and catastrophic life-form- come to think of it of it, how did you wind up in such a predicament?”
Perceptor stared at the leader of the GoBots, but his attention switched almost immediately to the doorway through which he had entered moments ago. It now framed the form of Optimus Prime. He had been there since Perceptor entered, but chose now to let his presence be known.
“That’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask as well.” He entered the room, “But first, how do you feel?”
“Much better, thanks.” Leader-1 gestured to his miniscule crew. “Thank you for saving them, I know it couldn’t have looked good when our Command Center crashes to your world and Zod is the first thing to greet you…”
“Zod?” Perceptor puzzled over the name, “Is that what it was called? It was surprisingly efficient for such a simple beast.”
Prime held up a hand to quiet the scientist. “This Zod has been dealt with. My name is Optimus Prime, this is Perceptor.”
Leader-1 stood, “Now that my audio is fully functional again, my name is Leader-1.” He noticed his friends regaining consciousness and pointed to each. “This is Turbo, SmallFoot, and Scooter.” They exchanged hellos, Turbo got to his feet and stretched.
“I feel better’n I have in years, you guys really did some job!”
“I try my best,” Perceptor beamed, “I noticed that each of you contain elements of an alternate mode. That’s incredible, I’ve never known of another species capable of transformations.”
“Well congratulations,” Scooter stood and stretched as well, “You’ve just met one!”
Leader-1 almost smiled, but it faded. “I hate to put an end to the pleasantries, but,” He looked to Prime and nodded towards the door, “We need to talk.”
“Agreed.”
Turbo looked out of the window, marveling at the vast city stretching towards the horizon. “Aw, I don’t wanna stay cooped up in here. C’mon guys, what say we mingle with the natives?”
SmallFoot couldn’t repress a smile, she had joined Turbo at the window and was unable to decide where to look next. “That does sound exciting. Do you mind Optimus?”
“Feel free to explore.” Prime gestured towards the city with a sweep of his hand, “You’re our guests.”
Turbo beamed and made for the door. “Can’t wait to touch my wheels to some blacktop again… Hey, you comin’ Scoot?”
“Uh, no thanks,” Scooter’s eyes swept over the vast array of technology the room contained, “I think I’ll be much happier right here.”
“Suit yourself.”
Turbo and SmallFoot exited, Prime and Leader-1 followed.

*******************
Leader-1 and Prime walked the corridors of the Medical facility in silence. For a while, the only sound was that of their footfalls.
“You mentioned Unicron. What’s happened, has he threatened it?”
A deep sigh escaped Leader-1, “It’s worse than that.” He paused. There was so much to tell…
“We come from a planet called Gobotron, my people are called GoBots. For centuries our planet has been divided by a war between the Guardians, the ones I lead, and the Renegades, lead by a psychopath named Cy-Kill. The war didn’t look to end anytime soon, but then Unicron showed up.” He barked a quick laugh despite himself, “Kind of put things into perspective for us. We had a common enemy, but even with our combined forces, we weren’t a match for him. He took over our planet’s core and modified our world from the inside out. He won.” Leader-1 spat the last sentence, face contorted as if he’d put something bitter in his mouth. “But instead of killing us, he said he would give us new bodies in exchange for our loyalties. Cy-Kill jumped at the chance…”
Prime’s eyes grew hard. “And you?”
A moment of silence lingered between Leader-1 and Optimus, eyes never leaving one another.
“I made a choice,” Leader-1’s attention dropped to his blocky hands, he curled his replaced fingers “You saw the results.”
The memories of Unicron had been threaded through Optimus’ mind by the matrix, Rodimus’ experiences woven so thoroughly into his own, Optimus remembered events as if he had been right there in the thick of it. He recalled Unicron devouring their moons, then threatening to destroy Cybertron in in a fit of rage. He would not do so again. Though Unicron had not physically consumed Gobotron, his presence within the planet was no better than a festering cancer, growing ripe within the universe. Nothing would be safe unless he was driven back into his original head vessel or destroyed. Right now both options had appeal.

*********

“Thanks for repairing us, uh, Perceptor, right?”
“Yes, and don’t mention it, your bodies were exceedingly simple to replicate. I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of correcting some injuries I noticed. You were perhaps the most damaged; most of your chest cavity was destroyed as well as both your hands. I fixed what was left as best I could. I replicated your right arm using the left as reference, but I had to use your friend Turbo’s chest and hands as a schematic for your new ones.”
“I thought they felt a little funny, but whatever you did, thanks!” Scooter stretched his arms up and out and noticed a blue spark jump across his fingers. He looked at his hand curiously a moment, flexing his new fingers and running a quick self-diagnostic.
“I am extremely curious about you and your friends, would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”
Scooter smiled, “Certainly, I’d love to learn more about you guys too!”
“Well,” Perceptor pinched his chin with his thumb and pointer finger, “For starters, how is it that you and your friends contain organic elements? It’s as if you’ve meshed! I’ve logged as much information from my studies of your biological integration as I could, but I’m afraid I don’t fully understand the anomaly.”
“Anomaly? What do you mean-”
“Of course. It makes no logical sense for there to be such an imbalance in your material make-up. We’ve only encountered it with one Spike Witwicky, but the results were disastrous. How are you capable of enduring the stress of these forms with such fragile cores, it simply should not work.”
Scooter pointed to his head, “What are you talking about, of course it works!”
“But how?”
“Well gee,” Scooter scratched his head, “I never really thought about it. We’ve been so busy fighting the Renegades we don’t have much time to think about how we function, we just… do.”
“Perhaps that’s why your conversions are so simple, I suppose it would have to be. I guess I mean to say, with such a limiting biological element integrated into your bodies, you must have a limited ability to grow. A central core, or brain, is incapable of growing beyond its predetermined capacity for data storage. How was your civilization able to advance beyond what we’ve seen on Earth with such rudimentary and inferior-”
“Wait, what do you mean inferior?”
“Of low or lower degree, of lower quality, merit and-”
“I know what it means!” Scooter crossed his arms, surprised by his own sudden flash of anger.
‘I’ve got part of Turbo in me.’ he thought, it would explain the shortened temper, and his hands were-
Perceptor blinked. “Oh, don’t get me wrong, we’ve noticed a definite advantage to the pairing of our human allies with our own abilities, however the combination of the two were never meant to be a direct integration into our mainframes. One, you would think, would limit the other. So how do your people do it without regressing back to a savage era?”
Scooter stared at the Autobot, processing what he had just said, weighing the implications.
“I think maybe I’ll go.”
“So soon? Where are you heading?”
“Somewhere else!” Scooter snapped, startled again by the edge in his voice, and left with a worried frown on his face. Perceptor watched him go, head tilted slightly to the side.
“What a curious fellow.”

***************

The road welcomed Turbo’s increasing speed, he felt like he was gliding. That medic really worked wonders on some of his old battle wounds, he felt good as new. Though SmallFoot hadn’t mentioned it, her speed indicated she was enjoying the rebuild as much as he was.
A Cybertronian vehicle pulled up along side them, honked its horn, then transformed in the blink of an eye. SmallFoot found herself surprised by the speedy change of the blue and white robot. She halted, shifted modes, and waved. Turbo did the same as he approached.
“Name’s Topspin, you must be the Gobots everyone’s buzzing about.”
“Are they?” SmallFoot tilted her head, “News traveled that fast?”
“Oh yeah, it’s all over. Perceptor told Lightspeed, Lightspeed told Blaster and he broadcast it to everyone. Hey, is it true you guys have, uh,” He made a fist and tapped it lightly against his helmet, “y’know…up there?”
“What, brains?” Turbo's brow furrowed slightly, “Yeah, we got those. Doesn’t everyone?”
“You mean organics, right?” SmallFoot said quickly, noticing anger creeping into Turbo’s voice. “Yes, you could say our people sort of evolved into what we are now.”
“Oh… Huh…” Topspin was silent a moment as if expecting an explanation.
“What?” Turbo asked, growing more agitated by the moment.
“Nothing.” He shrugged, “Well I gotta go, great meeting you guys.”
“Uh, yeah,” Turbo began as Topspin folded in half, revved his engine and disappeared from sight faster than he needed to. “Nice meetin’ you too.”
He looked towards the horizon and caught a glimpse of their wrecked Command Center jutting from the approaching city like an upended pachyderm. They changed modes and rolled towards it, coming across a group of Autobots repairing a cavernous hole torn in the side of a building.
They shifted back to robot form and hailed the Autobots, looking about the site as vehicles both Earth-based and Cybertronian sped to and fro carrying supplies.
Jazz turned off his blowtorch and raised a hand. Blaster did the same. Gears let out a short ‘Humph” and continued threading strands of wire into a new fuse box. Ironhide pushed a steel girder into place and paused, tilting his head towards the pair with a sour expression.
“Nice’ve you to join us,” he grumbled, “grab a plank and help us fix the mess your pet made.” He stomped past Jazz and grabbed another girder from the pile.
“Don’t pay Ironhide any mind, he’s just in a mood on account of havin’ a roof fall on him. He’s seen worse. I’m Jazz. That’s Blaster, that’s Gears.”
“Uh, hey there.” Turbo shook hands with Jazz and Blaster, then offered his hand to Ironhide. He brushed past and busied himself pushing the girder alongside the other.
The body of Zod still lay in the distance, SmallFoot noticed thin trails of smoke still rising from the creature. “We’re really sorry you had to deal with Zod, if there’s anything we can do to help-”
“It’s a little late for sorry pal.” Gears’ eyes narrowed as he stabbed at the wiring with a screwdriver.
“Put it in neutral Gears.” Blaster dreaded this becoming another tirade, they’d been listening to him complain all afternoon.
Gears threw his screwdriver to the ground and stormed over. “No, they crash on our planet, nearly killing us in the process, make us fight an overgrown lizardbot, and think ‘sorry’ makes it all better?” He pointed a finger at SmallFoot “I don’t think so mister!”
“Mister?” SmallFoot’s voice wavered, indignant, “Hey, I’m a girl!”
Gears put his hands on his hips and laughed “Yeah right, and Moonracer’s a fire hydrant!”
Jazz slapped the back of Gears’ head, “C’mon man!”
SmallFoot’s mouth turned downward and quivered, she let out a small sounding cry and shifted back to her truck mode, speeding back towards the direction they came from.
“SmallFoot wait-” Turbo held out a hand to stop her and realized he was too late, she was out of sight in seconds. His eyes narrowed to glowing slits as he wheeled around, fists clenched, Gears in his sights.
“You want a fist in the mouth, tough guy?”
Turbo took a step towards Gears and suddenly Ironhide was in front of him, cutting him off from the Minibot.
“You want to back off, Gobot?”
They stared in silence long enough to make the others uncomfortable. Turbo finally broke the standoff. “I think we’ve done enough sight-seein’ for today.” He changed modes and sped off.
“And your transformation’s lame!” Gears shouted after the red car as it sped away.

***********

SmallFoot rolled up to the Medical facility and changed modes, stumbling inside as she sniffed back the tears stinging her eyes.
“Are you alright?
She spun around and froze. Elita-1 looked back at her, concern knitting her brows together.
SmallFoot’s eyes went wide a moment with recognition. She’d seen this ‘Elita-1’ on her data tapes, but seeing her in person felt surreal.
“I-” she snuffled, “No-no I’m fine, I just…” she leaned against the wall and sighed, forcing herself to get a grip. The pink fembot’s worried eyes searched her face. “I just…”
“I heard about what happened. With Unicron, I’m so sorry about your planet.”
“Th-thanks.”
“I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but things are going to be fine. We’ll figure something out.”
“I’m sure we will, but it’s going to be a rough ride, it’s not going to be easy.”
Elita smiled, placing a hand on SmallFoot’s shoulder, “It never is.”

************

Optimus Prime and Leader-1 walked side-by-side. Leader-1 cast an occasional glance at the larger bot. Prime stood a good head taller than himself, and looked every inch of it. His walk was confident, and he noticed every Autobot they passed looked up to him with the eyes of a son idolizing his father. Leader-1 cleared his throat, then spoke, “Prime, you’ve encountered Unicron before. How did you handle it? How did you beat him?”
Prime contemplated the question, allowing the matrix to provide him with memories of the battles past. “The matrix.” Prime stated. “Even Unicron’s evil can be defeated by it.”
“Matrix?” Leader-1 mumbled thoughtfully. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“The matrix is our symbol of leadership, passed from one generation to another. As it resides within each leader, it gathers power from their inner strength, the aspects of their personality, their experiences…” he emphasized his next thought, “… and their knowledge. Knowledge from our ancestors, knowledge of our lives from day to day… all these things, and more, power the matrix. It’s the embodiment of what were are, the essence of who we are. As we grow as a people, it too becomes stronger.”
The words hung thick in the air, weighing on Leader-1 like a stifling cloud. GoBots had nothing like the matrix. For that matter, he had been the only leader since the conversion of Gobotron. If he were to die, what would he pass on, if anything? He always presumed the Council would simply promote the next in line.
“When Gobotron was taken, he made us-all of us, an offer to become his servants. When he came for your world, did he do the same?”
“No. Unicron’s original intention was to destroy Cybertron when he had it in his sights. It wasn’t until after his body was destroyed that he became obsessed with inhabiting our world. However, he did proposition Megatron before he grew concerned with Cybertron, he changed him into Galvatron and drove him insane. But when his purpose had been served…” he paused, collecting his thoughts. “Unicron possesses the weak and makes them think they’re strong, then leaves them to rot when they don’t suit his needs anymore. That’s why Megatron allowed himself to be taken. It did nothing but drive him mad. That is the path Unicron offers, that is his way.”
Leader-1 allowed the words to sink in. “He made us that offer Prime…” Optimus looked at him, eyes unreadable. “But I… I had to do what was best for my world…” his eyes dropped to the floor, shoulders hunching slightly, “…I can’t help but wonder if I did the right thing.” Prime’s look had advanced to complete understanding of the GoBot’s dilemma. Leader to Commander, they both knew the severity of situations that came to threaten you and the ones who have put their trust in your judgment. Sometimes you made the right choice, but sometimes… You could only hope your choice didn’t come back to haunt you.
“Leader-1,” Prime turned, his eyes took hold of the GoBot, “I want you to know that we will do whatever we can to help you.”
The sincerity in his voice threw Leader-1, he didn’t think Prime was capable of making such a steadfast vow. In the short time he’d been in Prime’s company he’d felt like such a commanding, determined presence. The worm of insecurity inched its way up Leader-1’s spine again.
“You,” he began, forcing himself to retain a steady voice, “You don’t know how much that means to me Prime.”
Leader-1 extended his hand and watched as Prime clasped it firmly in his own. No words needed to be spoken; the vow had been made…
“I think this crusade will be something neither one of us will ever forget.”
Prime only nodded.

************

Cosmos continued to monitor Cybertronian space. Everything seemed clear, he let out a sigh as he thought about the object that passed him a few hours ago. How had that whole affair ended anyway? And had it been hours already? Space, in its infinite… infinity he guessed, had a way of throwing one’s sense of time off. But hours had passed. He wanted to ask Skylynx, but he sounded serious about them maintaining radio silence. What had happened, or was currently happening on Cybertron? Frustration welled up within Cosmos as he floated in the darkness. Why didn’t anyone ever want to talk to him, how hard would it be to keep him updated? As far as he knew, Cybertron’s population had been wiped out.
“Hello, Cybertron? Cosmos here, what’s the current data?” He waited for a moment, but received nothing in reply. “Uh, hello? Blaster? Skylynx? Prime?”
Nothing. No static, no interference, nothing. It was dead silence.
“Ironhide, Scattershot… anybody?” He felt a stub of fear, his thoughts raced as he tried frequency after frequency. Nothing… Suddenly his radar went wild. A voice came through his speakers.
“…zzzzttt… know your name….tttzzz….”
“Flashing red lights flashed inside him as over a dozen objects registered at once. His diagnostics tried to capture any information but found only emptiness. He called up visual and saw nothing.
“…zzzzkk….danger…zzzkkkt….”
Angry, frustrated, and now growing scared; Cosmos ran one more attempted scan of the area when his monitors went blank. Nothing registered, his radar was clear. Confusion set in as his inner sirens halted. What was going on? He maneuvered himself into a new position and tried to scan anything within a 20-mile radius, still finding nothing. Space stared back at him; no different from the way it was a few moments ago. Speaking of moments, how much time had passed? Cosmos checked his online clock and saw only 5 seconds had gone by. 5 seconds? 5 seconds... how? He drifted, the thoughts of what happened lasting much longer than the actual occurrence.
“….kkzzzt…be ready-”
Without warning, his circuits sparked, a zigzagging net of electricity raced along his surface, prompting Cosmos to transform and bring his chubby hands to his head. A flicker of lights came from his eyes as smoke built up inside, slowly wafting from the connection points of the lens glass. His body went into spasms. “A-al-a-” he stuttered, “Alll-er-rrttt!” Then nothing. His systems halted and entered stasis, leaving Cosmos’ prone body to drift in silence.

*****************

A crowd of silent Autobots gathered before a podium located on the outskirts of Iacon city. Their eyes were fixed on Optimus Prime, who stood with Jazz, Blaster and Ironhide to his left, Leader-1, Smallfoot, Turbo, and Scooter to his right. SmallFoot’s eyes scanned the growing cluster of Transformers, growing more self-conscious by the moment. She felt like she was on display. She took a half step behind Leader-1 as Prime began to speak. Every Transformer in the vicinity was riveted.
“Autobots,” he raised an open hand towards them, eyes sweeping the crowd “Unicron has returned.”
A chatter rose amongst the crowd accompanied by gasps and angry shouts of confusion. It halted a moment later as Prime spoke again. “Beside me is Leader-1. As most of you already know, he and his friends hail from Gobotron, a planet that Unicron has decided not to devour, but to possess. In doing this he has increased his threat to both Cybertron and every other planet in the galaxy tenfold. He must be stopped.”
The crowd was silent, the severity of Prime’s words sinking in like an anchor. It was dreaded news- worse than the hate plague, cosmic rust or the over surging of the spark… Unicron destroyed worlds… period. And now he had returned. The tale of his hatred for Cybertron was fact- a fact that made every Autobot understand the implications of what Prime was saying. If Gobotron fell, Cybertron would be next. Prime turned to Leader-1.
“We’ll do whatever it takes, use whatever we’ve got to stop Unicron once and for all.”
Leader-1 looked out over the mass of Transformers, “Thank you, one and all. Prime, I expected nothing less from you and all Transformers.”
Prime almost smiled to himself, turning back to the Autobots, when Leader-1 added,
“Too bad it won’t be enough.”
Prime went numb. He heard the words, turned in time to see Leader-1 raise a tight fist and fire a bolt of energy that punched through his shoulder. The force spun Prime, sending him crashing face-first to the ground.
Gape-mouthed disbelief jolted the faces of the Autobots as one. Time froze, the silence stark and cold. Ironhide’s southern drawl shattered any misconceptions, he drew his weapon and took aim at Leader-1.
“What the HELL do y’think you’re-”
Turbo lunged forward and buried his fist in Ironhide’s face with a snarl, driving a deep crater of metal inward. When his hand came free, Turbo noted with some pleasure chipped remains of Ironhide’s right optic. They tinkled off the ground and cracked into smaller blue fragments as Ironhide was lifted off his feet and hit the ground with a weak gutteral noise. The GoBot turned, coming nose to nose with the muzzle of both Blaster and Jazz’s plasma rifles. They fired.
The shots rang out as loud cracks, racing towards Turbo-then exploded inches before his face. He glanced back and saw Leader-1's open palms producing a familiar, webbed force field. Leader-1 concentrated, thrusting his hands outward and increasing the strength of the sheild as every Autobot in the area drew their guns and fired. It sounded like a hailstorm throwing itself against a hot sheet of metal as the plasma and energy bursts richocetted off a solid membrane of concentrated power. The ferocity of their attack was not unexpected.
Leader-1’s eyes went to the sky as Prime struggled to one knee. He looked up as well and caught sight of dozens upon dozens of new, twinkling stars appearing in the blackened sky. A cold chill inched across his chest. Those weren’t stars. Command Centers littered the sky, de-activating their cloaking devices and maneuvering themselves into a halo above the GoBot he was looking up at, Leader-1. They looked different, more advanced and streamlined models compared to the blocky cobble pot that crashed to Cybertron. Thick beams of raw energy poured from the sky, hammering anything and anyone incapable of dodging laser blasts close to twenty feet in diameter. The Command Centers hovered, raining destruction upon the city below. Massive dinosaurian legs ending in massive claws swung out beneath a select few crafts as hidden rockets ignited, slowing their descent. One touched down beside the ship Leader-1 had arrived in, standing by the wreckage like a soldier in mourning.
A burst of flame erupted from within Iacon as the massive transport charged its cone-like head, opened its jaws and fired directly through the lower section of a nearby tower. It shuddered, and then faded away into the city. The sound of landing rockets blared as another Command Center lowered directly into the crowd. Autobots who didn’t transform and flee were sent hurtling through the air, unwilling companions of flying debris. Leader-1 looked back at SmallFoot, Turbo and Scooter, his expression grim.
"This it it Guardians, let's do some damage."
Leader-1 lowered his force field and waited for Prime’s attention to return to him. Their eyes met again, this time the harmonic feel of authority was gone, replaced by the cold glares of opposing generals. Leader-1 took to the air and tossed a glance back, daring Prime to follow. He changed into his jet mode and launched himself into the smoke-filled night. Prime transformed and pursued Leader-1 with a loud screech of rubber.
************
“Get in.” Turbo growled to Scooter, changing into vehicle mode. A blast of his headlights blinded Jazz as Scooter ran past and jumped, shifting his legs into his vehicle form and barely managing to lodge himself in the open door.
“I’m not secure!” he cried.
“It’ll have to do, ‘cause it’s-” He revved his engine; a loud, roaring sound came from beneath his hood. “Time ta’ go!” A scream of tires against metal sounded as he lurched forward and plowed into Blaster. The Autobot yelped in surprise, then pain as Turbo thumped over him and headed straight for the crowd. Scooter’s eyes were wide as he clung for dear life to Turbo’s roof with one hand, leaving the other free. He looked at it a moment, remembering what Perceptor had told him.
“He used Turbo’s chest and hands as a schematic for mine…” he murmured, and then concentrated, eyes wide as his fingers began to thrum with a vibrant blue. There was no way Perceptor could have known their weapon systems were usually located in their chest cavities. He took aim at the Autobots and couldn’t repress a smile as energy shot forth, exploding into a Transformer he didn’t recognize.
“Was that you Scoot?!”
“Yeah,” Scooter’s voice shook with excitement, he fired again, “I guess it was!”
SmallFoot moved to change into truck mode and follow Turbo when a hand grasped her by the shoulder. She spun around and caught eyes with Elita-1, who had already cocked back a clenched fist. She let fly and caught SmallFoot directly between the eyes. A thick crack webbed across her visor, she recoiled with a scream and checked her optics. She still had her vision, but wouldn’t if the visor hadn’t sacrificed itself. She lashed back with a kick and Elita blocked the bulky leg, countering with a left jab to the midsection that doubled SmallFoot over.
“Why?!” Elita bellowed, striking the GoBot again, “WHY?! How could you-?”
SmallFoot backhanded her with a satisfying KLANG, sending the Autobot tumbling backwards. Elita dropped to one knee and gasped when she heard an engine rev, finding herself in the path of SmallFoot’s truck mode. Slamming into Elita at full-speed, she shuddered as the body thumped across her hood and cracked against the windshield. Elita crashed to the ground in a heap.
************
“It appears I’ve arrived in the nick of time!” Skylynx soared above the head of a lumbering Command Center stalking through Iacon. Originally he had reservations about leaving his post in space,ready to justify his need to return to Cybertron to Prime, but now it looked like that wouldn't be necessary. He circled around the titanic beast as it curled its neck upward, a large curved swath of red material stretched across the elongated head like a visor. It seemed to stare at him.
Skylynx opened his cargo bay doors and let the Aerialbots out.
“Find Prime and lend a hand Aerialbots!”
They didn’t argue. Silverbolt took to the air the second Skylynx opened his doors, the rest of his team in tow. They had seen Optimus take wheel after a silver jet and knew that was their target.
“I’ll give you something to observe.” Skylynx’s legs extended and he allowed himself to collide with the stretch of glass. His talons dug deep and carved jagged grooves, spraying chips of the crimson material into the air. The thing reacted as if poked in the eye, swinging its massive head away from Skylynx and shook the ground with a growl. With speed that belied its size, the mobile fortress opened its maw and exposed a dual row of glistening metal teeth. “Primus!” Skylynx activated a jolt of boost though his engines, shooting into the sky as the Center lunged at him. The sound of those teeth interlocking was like an oversized bear trap. Sylynx doubled back as the creature lunged again, it’s mouth agape displaying a cavernous stretch of teeth. Skylnx opened his own jaws and let fly a stream of white-hot flames that spiraled down its throat. He pulled up and looked back at the stretch of melted fangs, a note of delight as the fire continued to illuminate the back of the Center’s throat.
“Wait a moment...” he muttered, noticing the light wasn’t white, it was blue. His rockets blared to life and he sped away as a wall of shuddering energy burst from the Command Center’s mouth. Skylynx’s world was consumed in a stark blue flash, followed by pain that threw him into spasms. His internal systems began to glow with heat, the empty areas inside him filled with steam from ruptured coolant lines. He roared, a primal sound in the night as he collided with a building and crashed through its upper floors. Metal and glass blew inward, melting as the structure shuddered from his sudden impact. He heard the crackling all around him, heard the squeal of metal, then nothing when the building finally caved in and collapsed upon itself, taking Skylynx with it.

********
“Split up!” Silverbolt soared over Iacon, the chaos fueling his anger, “Canvas the sky, if you find him, get his attention while everyone else homes in. Got it?!”
“Got it!” the Aerialbots shouted in unison, then separated like a well-rehearsed act, spreading out in search of the flying Gobot.
Leader-1 noticed the arrival of the Autobot’s air force and broke from his original path. Prime would have to wait. His early warning systems blared and he pulled sharply to the left, feeling the heat of a zigzagging stream of electricity shoot past him. Silverbolt came into view behind the Gobot leader and fired another burst of electrical discharge, hoping to catch him off-guard and bring him down fast. He cursed as the gray jet slipped the second shot and bore left, decreasing his altitude. He dropped down and saw the tail end of the F-15 disappear behind the bend of a tower, curving his flight path to match. He came around and almost collided with a nearby building, for a moment forgetting how much larger he was than the other Aerialbots in jet mode. Wind whisked across his frame as he scanned for Leader-1. He couldn’t have just disappeared…
Blue flashes of energy leapt from Leader-1 and exploded against the jet’s upper cone. He jet streaked past Silverbolt heading in the other direction, then pulled back around and zoomed past him again. Plumes of smoke burst forth as Silverbolt tried to correct his flight path and recover, firing through the haze at the gray blur before him. His shots went wild, tearing into the tower they circled.
“One.” Leader-1 breathed to himself, increasing his speed.
Silverbolt fired again, pain now racing through his system. If he could just clip him…
“Two.” Leader-1 spun counter-clockwise, avoiding the bolts and debris as they punished the tower’s corner and not their target. He cut his speed, allowing Silverbolt to zip beneath him and pursued, unloading a series of energy bursts into his tailfin. Flames erupted and spread as the wind fueled their growth, eliciting a shout from Silverbolt. He thought to transform, but knew he wouldn’t be able to maintain his speed. Leader-1 had to be stalled. If the other Aerialbots made it here they could bear down and overwhelm him. He spun, trying to maintain sight of Leader-1 as they circled the tower in a game of cat and mouse. Silverbolt glanced at his reflection streaking across the glass, the fire was out but his tailfin was damaged. A flicker above caught his attention, and he jerked himself away from the tower as Leader-1 darted past again, unleashing a barrage of bright energy bolts that slammed into another of the tower’s corners.
“Better get some target practice buddy!” Sliverbolt swooped into a curl and took after Leader-1 again, returning fire in hopes of taking out a thruster, a tailfin, something.
“Three.” Leader-1 said to himself, clocking Silverbolt’s speed as they neared the sharp turn of the tower. As the jet closed the distance, Leader-1 cut to his left, dipping his wing into the glass of the tower. The speed of his passing blew the windows outward, sending shards of glass sailing towards Silverbolt like razor-sharp hail.
“GAH!!” he screamed, firing at the larger pieces but unable to stop the shower of glass from ripping across his frame. When the last piece shattered and left a large scrape across his nosecone, he realized Leader-1 was nowhere to be seen. He maintained his speed, scanning, when a blip above alerted him too late. Leader-1, now in robot mode, dropped onto Silverbolt’s right wing. He grasped the flare of metal and bent it upward, cutting Silverbolt’s flight path directly into the tower.
“Four.”
The Aerialbot spun out of control, his underside smashed through the fourth corner of the tower, sending both tumbling inside the dark structure. Metal supports screeched, already stressed from the weight above. Silverbolt transformed in time to see Leader-1’s fist fill his vision, pain followed. He tumbled over something and fell, surrounded by the sound of glass exploding around him, more sounds of metal creaking… and a rumble? With a gasp Silverbolt realized what Leader-1 had done. By taking out the main supports of the tower, only the weaker columns were keeping the top portion up. And not for long.
Leader-1 changed into jet mode and flew through a crumbling window a moment before the tower’s top portion collapsed, closing the gap between the floors. Silverbolt wasn’t so lucky. The tower shuttered violently, the upper portion leaned as if it considered taking the plunge, then settled back on a nest of twisted metal supports and glass.
“Silverbolt!” Fireflight was a red blur against the sky, swooping down at Leader-1 with a snarl.
“Keep him busy!” Slingshot glided overhead, his systems feverishly trying to lock onto Leader-1, “I’ll take him out!”
Fireflight cycled through his onboard weapons and settled on his firefog, then launched a pair of missiles. They had barely left their holdings when two thin blue beams tore through them both, igniting his firefog inches from his body. He screamed as the flames blossomed into a cloud and swirled across him, searing the paint away and warping his wings. Leader-1 dove into the cloud, unfolded an arm from his jet mode and grabbed Fireflight’s tailfin as he passed. They exited the swelling mass of flame at top speed, Leader-1 cutting right and hurling Fireflight’s flaming form at a stunned Slingshot. The Aerialbots collided with a thunderous clang and fell from the sky, the flames dying out as they hit the roof of the same tower Silverbolt lay within.
Something whizzed over Leader-1, inches from his cockpit. He corrected his path and came nose to nose with another F-15 jet, black with highlighted wings. Air Raid transformed, fists clenched. “I’ve seen what you can do in that shape, how about you face me bot to bot?”
Leader-1 changed modes as Air Raid lunged at him, dodged the attack and smashed a closed fist into the Transformer’s skull. Air Raid was thrown back, only to be caught by
a sharp blow to the back of his head, throwing him forward. Leader-1 swung his knee up and connected with Air Raid’s face. He pulled back a fist and prepared to strike again, but froze. This didn’t make sense. Why would this attack be so blatant? The answer was simple; they wanted him in one spot, and Air Raid was taking one for the team. Leader-1 let the Aerialbot fall to join the others and moved to change back to jet mode when a duo of missiles whistled overhead and exploded. The force sent him hurtling through the air, arms raised to protect himself from the debris sailing past. Another volley arched overhead as he completed his change, exploding closer than he was comfortable with. The heat threatened to singe him. Skydive flew out of the smoke and took aim at Leader-1 again, unleashing another set of missiles he hoped would put the jet down. Leader-1 caught sight of the craft and dipped down between the buildings, surprised to see his opponent follow. He cut a sharp angle and spun, noticing Skydive do the exact same thing.
“He’s good, he can mimic.” Leader-1 pulled up and leaned to his side, slicing through a narrow gap separating a pair of buildings. Skydive did the same. He cleared the distance and ignited his vertical thrust, heading skyward on a ninety-degree angle. Skydive’s F-16 jet mode launched itself skyward with ease. He increased his boost and could see Leader-1 getting closer, close enough to-
His targeting systems locked on, a perfect shot.
“Got you now…” he thought, mind flickering back to what he’d seen happen to his fellow Aerialbots. He launched four laser-guided missiles without hesitation, and immediately knew something was wrong. Leader-1 had converted to his robot form, his hands open, palms facing down towards Skydive. In a flash, a bright yellow sphere of energy surrounded Skydive-and his weaponry.
Leader-1 felt his circuits strain when Skydive’s missiles struck his force field and exploded. As effective as the shield was for keeping firepower out, it was just as good at keeping it in. When the rumbling settled he lowered the field, and a dissipating cloud of blackened smoke spat an equally blackened Skydive from its underside. Leader-1 watched him fall and crash through a rooftop. When he saw no movement, he reverted to jet mode and took off.
*********
500 miles above Earth’s atmosphere, it was the kind of flight that made every Autobot weary; long, silent, so close to mind-numbing the crew amused themselves by shooting electro-mites between their feelers. Sideswipe sat at the controls, feet up on the panel. The ship was on a set course, freeing his hands to rest behind his head.
“12 o’clock and all’s well,” he murmured to himself, trying not to slip into sleep mode. The inactivity was murder. His eyes followed the contour of the metal floor paneling and found Powerglide passed out, an empty cup of energon beside his head.
“That has to last is until we get to Earth Powerglide!”
Startled awake, the red plane snorted and rolled to his feet, overly alert.
“Who, what? When-?!”
“You forgot where and why. Stop drinking all the energon you glutton!”
“Oh, there’s plenty to go around. Besides, what else is there to do?” He jaunted a thumb over his shoulder towards the storage compartment, “we’re on a cargo run!”
“Still…” Sideswipe frowned, “Save some for us!”
Powerglide shrugged, “Guess I could play Earth poker with Hoist and Grapple…” he caught sight of the two in vehicle mode, completing an overly complex and ornate mansion with the playing cards. He sighed, “Maybe not…”
“On alert people.” Prowl walked into the room, eyes scanning the monitors. Sideswipe and Powerglide looked at each other, then Prowl. “Why?”
An angry glare halted any further questioning.
“We need to watch ourselves, we don’t know when an attack could be launched.”
Powerglide and Sideswipe exchanged glances from the corners of their optics. Prowl had been like this ever since the war with Unicron; a war he hadn’t seen any action in because the Decepticons shot 18 holes in him before hijacking the ship. No one, not even Perceptor could understand how he survived the eventual crash, but then, Ironhide had been a similar enigma. Nonetheless, his spark clung to life long enough for the repairs to hold. But unlike Ironhide, whose memory of the slaughter was somehow gone, Prowl remembered every microsecond, every searing line of fire that ripped through his body. He had become more withdrawn and eventually paranoid about what he called an ‘inevitable attack’ by the Decepticons. After the truce the Decepticons were replaced by ‘outside threats.’ Different words, same meaning, he would never trust a Decepticon, no matter what Prime or any of the other Autobots said. His paranoia, however, was a beacon for safety. Prowl enforced every security measure, kept every door sealed, took every precaution to the point of obsession. It shone through now. To him lax security meant death. He had watched Ratchet and Brawn get shot to death before his eyes, and he’d be smelted in the Pit if he allowed it to happen again. A noble cause, but in his determined venture, he lost what few friends he had. He couldn’t even remember the last time he hung out with Jazz or Bluestreak. He remember their cross-country drives… But safety was its own reward; life was its own reward, even if it was a lonely one. Besides, paranoia kept you safe, made you suspect, and most importantly, kept the electrons running through your circuits one more day-
“What are you so worried about Prowl?” Powerglide tried to keep his voice low. He had gotten into this with Prowl time and time again since the end of the war. It was pointless, but he argued every chance he got in hopes of one day snapping Prowl out of his paranoid stupor. Maybe today would be that day.
“I’m worried about us dying because Sideswipe would rather be in sleep mode than pay attention to our course!” Prowl’s eyes were growing large, almost unseeing in his oncoming fit. Powerglide sighed. So much for today being the day…
“The ship’s on autopilot!” Sideswipe shot back, “If there’s a problem it’ll let us know!”
“A lot of good that’ll do us when we’re ground zero with an asteroid or-“
“Look, don’t make our lives miserable just because you got shot full of plasma!”
“Whoa guys, Whoa!” Powerglide suddenly found himself wedged between Prowl and Sideswipe, who was out of his chair and ready to do a lot more than talk at this point. “We shouldn’t be fighting amongst ourselves, that’s what the ‘cons do!” He hoped the joke would get a smile- it didn’t. Powerglide gave a desperate look towards Hoist and Grapple, who returned the stare with the look of scared children.
Feeling like a grape in a vice, Powerglide tried to push the two apart with no success. Though they hadn’t come to blows just yet, neither one seemed interested in getting out of the others’ face. “Can’t we all just get along? He groaned as Sunstreaker burst into the room, eyes wide.
“Prowl! Section 3, Level 2 has a short in the main power grid, we need to-“
The ship stuttered, and then shook violently. Poker cards peppered Hoist and Grapple as their house fell in on itself. The ship felt like it was about to do the same. Powerglide lost his footing and toppled into Sideswipe, sending them both into the control panel. Prowl ran to the monitors, almost fell, then clutched the main panel for support.
“We’re under attack!” he yelled, more to himself than anyone else. He was back in the hijacked ship, Ratchet and Brawn lying in a pile of shattered glass and burning mech fluid… He would be next; the Constructicons would take aim and-
“We’re not under attack!” Sideswipe yelled back as his fingers flew over the keys. “We’re just hitting turbulence, that’s all!”
“What's that…?” Sunstreaker stared open-mouthed at the visual radar. The system had been upgraded to display a replica of the ship and its immediate surroundings. Now the simulated ship rocked and jaunted- it was in the grip of a tremendous robot.
“Primus!” Sideswipe caught sight of the… thing detected by the radar. Feminine in form, black, purple and green highlights coursed over its-her main body. A head composed solely of green metal stared down at the ship in her clutches.
“What is that thing?!” Grapple barely managed to stumble over and ask the obvious question.
“I’m more concerned with how it evaded radar.”
“Was it cloaked?” Hoist had run over to inquire while Sideswipe and Powerglide attended the controls, for whatever good they would do.
“This is kinetic radar,” Grapple almost fell when another mad thunder shook the ship, “If it was moving past us or in front we would have known!”
“But that would mean it was waiting for us.” Hoist’s eyes flickered with mounting horror at the truth of his own words. Grapple too was taken aback by the implication.
“Ignite thrusters, full throttle!” Prowl barked and without question Sideswipe did so. Everything that wasn’t sealed to the floor or walls came alive with sudden motion, jumping about the ship in tune with the mad vibrations. Sideswipe and Powerglide held the controls tightly, leaving shallow grooves in the handles. Sunstreaker tried to near the controls amidst the crowd of jittering boxes, unable to find steady footing. He went down with a yelp. Through vibrating eyes he saw their captor in plain view on the main display screen. Now completely de-cloaked, the titanic robot drew back a single clenched fist and smashed it through the hull, caving in almost a third of the ship itself. Sideswipe and Powerglide were thrown from their chairs as the roof erupted, only the light green metal of their attacker’s fist visible. It smashed through the control room and went straight through the floor. Details they couldn’t see from afar were now visible. Huge grooves ran across the robot’s forearm, which looked more like a ship than anything else. Hoist instinctively sent out his line and made sure it snagged a support beam in anticipation of the inevitable vacuum to come once the bot removed her fist for another strike. When the last chunks of metal and glass hit the floor, everything was silent. The Autobots had dove for cover, hands over heads to protect themselves from the raining lumps of scrap. Sunstreaker peered up at the massive column. Yellow and orange circuit grooves raced across the surface, outlining a large rectangle. Their audio sensors buzzed horribly with the hiss of something depressing. Steam blasted across the room, pushing debris across the floor and into the crouching Autobots. When the air thinned of smoke the grim sound of metal scraping against metal sounded. A door in the forearm itself slid upward, spilling another tongue of black-gray mist into the room.
A figure emerged like a ghost, a robot they’d never seen before. He was a hulking mass, dual silver rimmed biker tires wrapped around his shoulders. A broad red chest tipped with eye-shaped headlights sat atop a gray midsection. The killer’s forearms, waist and lower legs reflected his chest’s crimson color. The rest remained varied shades of gray metal. A gold mohawk glinted in the failing lights. He stared at them with a demonic grin, his teeth a white smile as bright as his eyes. When he spoke, it came in a deep metallic echo.
“Somebody told me I could find some Autobots in here!” He eyed the crew. “Looks like I was told right.”
Prowl’s eyes went wide, and he snapped a shakily held gun at the robot as flashbacks ravaged his thoughts. “Freeze!” he screamed, teeth clenched, his thoughts conflicting, confused.
Blane became a blur of motion. Prowl had enough time to gasp before Blane reached him and clasped his head in his hands. A blinding flash of yellow energy erupted and filled his skull as he screamed. His head exploded between Blane’s palms. Blane grasped the sizzling strands of remaining circuitry and hurled Prowl’s body into Sunstreaker. He toppled to the floor and grasped Prowl’s corpse, trying to pull free when Blade appeared above him. He reared back and plunged a glowing fist through Prowl’s midsection. It went through and kept going when it reached Sunstreaker, searing into the floor. The Autobot screamed in pain as his insides overheated and erupted in flames. Sideswipe made for the massive bot.
“Get your hands off my brother you psycho-”
Blane lashed back with his free hand and felt a satisfying crunch when it connected with Sideswipe’s face. The sound of denting metal was music to him. He was on his feet in a flash, yanked his right hand free of Sunstreaker and Prowl and rammed it through Sideswipe’s torso. Red tinted smoke burst from the Autobot’s back. Blane noticed his victim’s head was no longer connected to his body.
The remaining Autobots open fired. Their energy blasts struck Blane’s hulking form, bouncing off the slick alloy. There was movement in the darkness behind him, another robot leapt out in a flash of blue and gray, armed with a single long blade. He lunged forward and ran the shimmering length of metal through Powerglide, who couldn’t manage a sound before his main pump exploded within. Fuel gushed from behind his mask and spilled over, dripping down in thick rivulets. The sword was wrenched free and came down again, separating Powerglide’s head from his shoulders. The body’s arms pinwheeled as it fell in hard spasms.
Cop-Tor stood, sword poised, staring with disdain at his victim.
Grapple charged forward, Hoist coming up from behind when yet a third robot emerged. Female, stark black metal covered her form, thick red lips smiled upon a purple face. She leapt from the darkness with a wild cackle and slammed down in front of the remaining Autobots. White bolts of lightening zigzagged towards them with malicious intent. Hoist was struck first, caught in mid-stride and given a jolt of over 500 ultra-watts of Gobotronian energy. The glass in his chest shattered, his eyes blew out, the wires racing through his circuitry liquefied and cracked like a drying puddle. The stench of melting rubber filled the room. Grapple saw the ground spark coming his way and leapt forward with his weapon drawn, hoping to clear the oncoming line of energy. The spot of mobile lightening cracked into the air like a whip. Grapple’s body flailed as gyros fused and his receptors erupted. No sound came, except the clatter of his body hitting the floor at Crasher’s feet.
“Everyone’s breaking their toys around here, we’re going to have to find some new ones.” She laughed, stepping over Grapple’s carcass and knelt by the melting remains of his head. “Where are my manners, I didn’t even introduce myself, call me Crasher baby!” She grabbed his mouth and moved the skeletal jaw with her finger, providing her own voice in response, “Yes Crasher baby!” She stood with a loud chuckle, amused by her own morbid humor. Cop-Tor surveyed the carnage with a scowl.
“Where to, Blane?”
Blane dusted his hands and turned towards the controls. “Easier than killin’ a baby.” He grinned and checked the ship’s destination. “Earth.” He laughed, “Good, that’s right where we wanna be. Cop-Tor, Crasher, get back to Thruster and have it revert back to transport mode. Activate the stealth device. I’ll be with you in a tick.” He ran his fingers across the control panel and stared at the monitor, streams of data reflecting in his eyes. “I’m synching this junk pile to Thruster’s controls. We’re gonna have some real fun when we-”
Blane felt something grip his leg and looked down to see Sunstreaker clutching the limb, trying to pull himself up. A large puddle of oils and fluids were smeared behind him. The Autobot glared up at him, teeth gritted together in defiant. A blaster was clutched in his right hand, he was trying desperately to raise it. Blane’s eyes narrowed in a cruel glare, a snarl came to his lips.
“Crasher.”
“My pleasure.”
She stood over Sunstreaker, her laughter filling his ears as she raised a foot. It came down hard, crushing his skull and spraying a patter of circuitry across the floor.