The command carrier of Strika and Obsidian hovered over the Temple of Primus with all weapons deployed. The two minions of Omegracon laughed as the temple crumbled piece by piece as they let loose the fury of their war vessel.

Fusion cannons penetrated the ceiling of the Autobot tomb, leaving huge holes ringed with plasma burns. Missiles flung themselves against its walls, causing the whole temple to quake in fear. Whole columns and chunks of stone toppled over, shattering even in the asteroid’s weak gravity.

"WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!" screamed Rattrap.

A big black fist was flung into the rodent’s face. "Will you knock it off already?" ThunderClaw snarled at him. The situation was already bad enough - they were already stuck together under a marble ledge for shelter, and the last thing any of the Maximals wanted was for vermin to start running around screaming dooms day.

Cheetarus Prime stood up, trying to raise hope. "Look guys, this is bad, but we’ve just got to stick together through this!" he stated, "The Matrix wouldn’t lead us here just to perish mercilessly!"

A huge block of marble weighing a few tons came loose, smashing into the floor just a few feet away. ThunderClaw looked at Cheetarus, then said, "Speak for yourself!"

Botanica, hovering over Adam’s paralyzed body, trying to keep him safe. "For once ThunderClaw’s right! Even the Matrix couldn’t save us now!"

"No! Have faith! The Matrix will always come to our aid!" the Prime yelled. Cheetarus then froze, his eyes beginning to glow white. Everyone was stunned as the light spread over Cheetarus’ entire body, engulfing him whole.

Cheetarus Prime was on the other side of the Matrix, another vision overwhelming him. He saw the Oracle and flew directly into it, entering the domain of sparks. He was taken into an ancient portion of the Matrix, the realm of sparks long since past.

"Cheetarus Prime...." a strong voice boomed. An Autobot emblem flew past him, then materialized into a legendary figue. Optimus Prime, with spark pulsating visibly in his chest, stood before him.

"Prime...." Cheetarus muttered in awe.

From behind him, another spark flew out. It came before Optimus Prime, floating above his faceplate. "Another spark rejoins the Matrix...." the great Prime declared. In moments, Cheetarus watched the new spark turn bright blue-white, joining with Optimus Prime. When he reopened his eyes, Sprigner was standing next to his old leader, proud to be the last Autobot.

"The last Autobot," said Prime in his electronic voice, "Is one with the Matrix. We are all one with the Matrix."

Springer bent down and looked upon Cheetarus Prime. "Take care, Prime. Ensure the survival of our people. Keep the honor of Cybertron alive, now that you hold its destiny....let not our lineage die in memory...." Springer’s voice echoed.

"But how are we to survive?" asked Cheetarus, "Unicron is powerful....we’re all about to be crushed as we speak!"

The two Autobots began to fade out of existence, their sparks the last to disappear. "Do not grieve. The Matrix will reveal all in due time...." Prime said, vanishing in a burst of light.

Cheetarus Prime reawakened, eyes still glowing brilliant white. "Prime! Thank goodness you’re back! We need to get out of here!" Rattrap hollered. Cheetarus ignored the rodent, instead marching across the room as if under remote control. Rattrap and the others yelled for him to get back under the ledge, sure that he’d be crushed.

He looked up at an oblong slab in the wall. Raising a hand, Cheetarus spoke prophetically, "The Matrix...will reveal all in due time..." The edge of the stone began to glow. It opened, exposing a large switch hidden out of sight. Cheetarus approached and reached out to it. His hand grasped the handle, pulling down on it.

Outside, the craggy, missile-blasted face of Optimus Prime on the temple began to glow. The eyes lit up in a deep aquamarine, revealing the energy stored within the Temple of Primus. The ground around the temple rumbled, rocks being pushed away as something emerged from the ground. A triad of weapons platforms came forth from the gray sand, powering up and taking aim.

The temple weapons fired upon the carrier and the accompanying drones. The drones reciprocated, but their pitiful blasts bounced off the glimmering cannons. A thousand more were taken down until the command carrier fired with its fusion cannons, slagging all three of them.

One final defense still remained for the temple. The three-pronged tower, standing like a trident for three centuries, began to quiver like a tuning fork. Power conduits deep within the temple diverted all their stored energy into it, causing the tower to crackle with energy. At its climax, a thunderstorm was released, bolts of lightning jumping to every drone in a blaze of electricity.

Inside the command carrier, Obsidian and Strika were thrown about their control room like food in a blender. "Agh!" scowled Obsidian, grasping onto a sensor screen, "Omegracon never said anything about defense systems!"

Strika transformed to jeep mode and wheeled to Obsidian’s side. Raising her neck to see the panel’s readout, Strika saw what he pointed out. "That tower is creating a bi-polar energon storm! All systems are being attacked! We have no choice but to withdraw!"

Obsidian shouted, "No! We must destroy our enemies first...."

The entire room began to fill with ruby-red energy. Obsidian cried out in agony, falling to the floor. The voice of Omegracon sounded, commanding the Vehicon. "Obsidian, do not test my patience. You dare to put your own objectives before my own? Bring me....the matrix....now!" he bellowed.

"Yes....my master!" Obsidian submitted. With that, the mysterious red energy vanished, leaving Strika and Obsidian alive. They stared at each other, then at the controls. Immediately they began withdrawing drones and powering up propulsion....

The light faded from Cheetarus’ eyes. He collapsed to his knees, feeling weak as a kitten. All the Maximals stood up and listened. The sounds of plasma fire were gone at long last....the hum of countless drones silent.

"Wo-hoo!" cheered Rattrap, "Whatever you did spots, it just saved our circuits!"

Cheetarus wasn’t satisfied just yet. He ran out of the central room, to the entrance left courtesy of a falling drone. Beyond the crater-laiden steps of the Temple of Primus he oversaw the remains of a dozen destroyed ships and the burning remains of giant defense systems. In the sky, Cheetarus Prime also took notice of the enemy ship, retreating from them in a damaged state.

"Oh no you don’t." said Cheetarus, "Nobody escapes a battle with me around!"

He made a dash for the Sky Lynx. It was still intact and just functional. He reached over and powered up communications. "Computer, open com-link to the Axalon 2, voice code Cheetor." he beckoned.

"Voice code accepted," it replied, "Com-link opening to Axalon 2."

A screen activated, showing a readout of the Axalon 2 and its systems. "Axalon 2 in power-down mode." the computer reported, "Weapons offline, shields offline, propulsion offline. Fuel core at sixty-percent power."

"Computer, divert all power to propulsion and reinitialize transwarp engines." Cheetarus ordered.

"Warning. Transwarp engines are in a state of overload. Reinitializing transwarp drive will result in a transwarp explosion." the computer warned.

"I know....and that’s what I want." Cheetarus said, "Set the autopilot to steer towards sector data-five-nine-twelve. Upload instructions to Axalon 2."

The Sky Lynx’s central computer acknowledged his instructions, contacting the Axalon 2 as it sat adrift in space. In minutes it came back online, powering up all primary systems. Inside the Axalon’s bridge, alarms activated. "Warning," a speaker stated, "Transwarp engines malfuctioning. Overload anticipated in eight point seven millicycles. T-minus eight millicycles and counting...."

At the Temple of Primus, the Maximals took shelter inside, patching up any places they could. "The area’s secured and air-tight. We can start repressurizing the place any nano-click, shrubs." Rattrap said to Botanica.

With a flip of a switch, Botanica activated some life-support equiptment salvaged from a few wrecked fighters. In moments air began to flow in, a gust blowing past Botanica’s leaves. Dust started to rise from the walls and drift around.

Black Arachnia took a breath, then gagged. "Ugh. It’s good to breathe again, but the dust’s clogging my throat!"

Cheetarus came rushing back in through a jurry-rigged airlock. "Maximals, we’ve gotta book this place." he addresed his crew.

"WHAT?" Rattrap blurted out, "But we just GOT this place up and running, even with a nice, comfortable atmosphere!"

"We have to. I just set the Axalon 2 to initialize a transwarp explosion in a few millicycles!" Cheetarus told them. Everyone around him froze. ThunderClaw’s mouth dropped, as did the lead pipe he was carrying. Silverbolt was about to lay an egg.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Black Arachnia shouted at the top of her lungs, "WHAT IN THE GALAXY WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Cheetarus grunted out, "I couldn’t let those....drones just take the Autobot matrix with them, so I set the Axalon 2 to ram their ship just as its transwarp engines overload! Now we have to get out of here!"

Everyone started to get up....except for Botanica. Cheetarus Prime walked over and grabbed her arm, demanding she leave too, but she hissed at him. "I won’t leave!" she firmly stated.

"Whatever for?" ThunderClaw inquired.

Botanica showed them the human, Adam, lying on the floor unconscious. "I can’t leave him, and he can’t be moved." she said, "His condition’s gotten worse than paralysis. If he moves so much as a centimeter, his nervous system will die." Looking into Cheetarus’ eyes, she further added, "I won’t leave him. Too many have already sacrificed their lives already...I will not let this human go as well...."

Rattrap wheeled himself alongside. "If sprouts stays....then so do I." He went to Botanica and took her hand. "I’ll admit to being a coward at times....but I’ll never leave you...."

The others joined in as well, leaving Cheetarus Prime no choice. "Fine. We have no other choice. We’ll have to weather it out here." he stated.

The command carrier with Strika and Obsidian was within striking distance of the transwarp conduit. Strika gave the command to initiate transwarp drive. Deep within the carrier, generators hummed with life, providing the gigawatts of energy required for transwarp space. At the rear of the ship, a violet glow was produced by the main engines as they prepared for transwarp.

The Axalon 2 cruised closer and closer to the enormous carrier, running its propulsion systems at full capacity. Within the empty bridge, the computer continued its final program sequence as system warnings went off. A flashing console displayed the transwarp engines, white-hot and ready to blow.

"Warning..." the computer’s voice echoed, "T-minus twenty nano-clicks and counting until transwarp engine overload. T-minus fifteen nano-clicks and counting...."

It was not until the last few nano-clicks did the Vehicons’ sensors go off, detecting the enormous energy surge coming from their port side. Obsidian ordered the weapons online, but they were too sluggish to respond to a target at close range. Fusion cannons overshot the Axalon 2 by parcecs, the doomed ship still diving in.

"Warning...T-minus ten nano-clicks until tranwarp engine overload. T-minus nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two...."

In the next instant, the Axalon 2 became a white ball of plasma flying out. A polar ring of transwarp energy surged outwards, enveloping the near-by command carrier in an instant.

"Transwarp explosion!" shouted Strika as the carrier began to overload, "It’s coming for us!"

Obsidian kept an eye on the carrier’s transwarp engines, hoping they could make the jump soon enough. "The transwarp radiation is interfering with out propulsion! It’s creating a singularity!"

The carrier began to glow white with electricity leaping from it. A black sphere grew around its core, swallowing the entire ship. The circular transwarp wave around them began to slow, then completely stop. Gradually, the wave reversed course, heading inwards, toward the black hole.

The Temple of Primus felt the blast, but it was weirder than expected. The transwarp wave didn’t annihilate them....but didn’t come altogether. Then something else began to happen. The asteroid began to move in the direction of the carrier, slowly at first but gaining speed as it neared.

Rattrap and Cheetarus went outside and saw what they feared: a gigantic ball of black ink growing larger and larger until it filled the sky - a black hole dragging them in.

"Oh man....when it rains meteors, it pours!" Rattrap quoted, moaning wearily.

Like a magnet the singularity pulled the asteroid in until it reached its event horizon - the final barrier between reality and the bottomless pit of the singularity. Like magic, the asteroid was stretched and disorted until at long last....it vanished.

At the opposite end of the transwarp conduit, roughly a few million kilometers from the Earth, a blazing fireball emerged from nowhere, spewing forth raw energy in all its forms. Then, just before collapsing, two dark shadows emerged, cast out from the glowing mass.

Nano-clicks later, the command carrier of the Vehicons started to spiral. Just before entering the wormhole, the transwarp explosion cut into the hull, leaving a gaping wound that was unmendable. Sparks and shards of scrap metal were spit out of it irregularly, like blood from a gash.

"Reroute all power to thrusters." Obsidian ordered, "We must return to Omegracon with our prize...."

A few hundred kilometers away, just out of range of the Vehicon command carrier, the asteroid with the Temple of Primus drifted powerlessly. Surprisingly, despite all it went through in the last millicycle, not so much as a scratch was received to its surface.

Rattrap lifted up his head, seeing that he...and everyone else, was still alive. "Heh. I ain’t dead...." the rodent chuckled.

Beneath him, ThunderClaw groaned with the weight of a tire on his chest. "This day’s just so very dissapointing...."

All the Maximals got up to investigate what had happened, and where they were presently heading. Leaving the safety of the temple, all the male transformers left via the airlock. Black Arachnia remained to watch over Botanica and Adam...just in case any more drones decided to show up.

Outside, the view was magnificent, aside from the blast zone on the surface. Amid the billions of stars surrounding them, one shined the brightest tint of yellow imagineable. Were Botanica outside, she’d be overwhelmed by its radiant light. There were many bright planets visible, like Venus, Mars, and even Saturn.

In the center of it all was the most beautiful planet in all the universe, foresay Cybertron: the planet Earth. The home world of humanity was a thick cresent beside its solitary gray moon, with vast blue oceans underlying thick, swirling clouds of white.

"Magnificent...." spoke Cheetarus, marveled at this sight.

"Yeah, real nice and all," ThunderClaw sharply said, "But where’s this Unicron everyone’s been taking about recently? I don’t any giant, planet-munching transformer around...."

Then, as the Earth rotated, a mass of blue-silver metal was unveiled, hovering above the seemingly serene Earth. It was hidden from view by the Earth’s natural moon, orbiting further out. Long cables stretched down from it to the world beneath, and a emerald ring circled the planetary behemoth.

"By the Matrix..." Silverbolt said, "You were right Cheetarus, as was Botanica and Springer. It’s...Unicron...."

Even ThunderClaw was overwhelmed. "It’s...he’s...huge! I can hardly believe such a thing exists!"

"Unicron all right...in the tritanium armor...." said Cheetarus.

Rattrap had his doubts still. "Eh...I don’t know Prime," he said to Cheetarus, "He doesn’t look quite the same. I’m not really sure it is Unicron..."

"Really?" jeered ThunderClaw, "And how would you know it’s him? THE BOT’S BEEN DEAD FOR NEARLY FOUR HUNDRED YEARS! AND WHO ELSE DO YOU KNOW THAT’S AS BIG AS A PLANET?!"

"That’s just it," Rattrap said to him, "He looks smaller...." Activating his visor, Rattrap scanned the planetoid at maximum range. Schematics popped up, as well as diagrams of various planets. "This guy doesn’t measure up. The original Unicron was nearly twice the size of Cybertron and Earth. This particular incarnation of him is less than a third the diameter of the Earth."

"What are you getting at Rattrap?" Silverbolt asked.

"What I’ll getting at," the rodent said, visor still scanning, "Is that this isn’t Unicron. The size, configuration, plus the transmetal armor coating his surface aren’t the same characteristics of the real Unicron! We’re dealing with something new here...."

Cheetarus looked at the dark moon over Earth’s surface. He began to recall something he heard earlier, something that....strange drone said. "Omegracon...."

Everyone looked at him. Cheetarus didn’t realize he spoke it aloud. "Omegracon?" they asked unanimously. "Yes...that’s it." Cheetarus finally realized, "He’s not Unicron, but the progeny of Unicron!"

"Progeny? You mean....children?" ThunderClaw said.

Rattrap moaned, "Oh man! I hope there aren’t anymore like him! One’s bad enough as it is!"

While the Temple of Primus drew closer to Earth with each passing millicycle, Omegracon occupied his attentions elsewhere. Obsidian and Strika returned in terrible shape, but not empty-handed.

Inside the dark chambers of Omegracon, Obsidian raised the wide Autobot device into the air. Omegracon was very pleased. Focusing a tractor beam upon the matrix, he took it from Obsidian and hoisted it high above.

"Excellent, my minions." Omegracon said, his voice echoing from all around, "I now have the matrix in my possession, the very weapon that destroyed Unicron. Even this will be useless against me..."

Obsidian looked upwards at the source of the tractor beam. "But...master, if the matrix was emptied centuries ago," Obsidian informed his omnipresent lord, "Why did you bother to have us take it? Surely it is of no use...."

"The Autobot matrix," Omegracon droned, "Is more than a weapon, it is a link to the transformer Matrix....a link to ever transformer that ever existed for all eternity. In addition to preventing it from falling into my enemies’ hands again, this device shall allow me to access the Matrix, to plunder untold powers beyond any mortal comprehension."

As the Autobot matrix of Leadership spun in the tractor beam, Omegracon yelled exuberantly, "I shall possess the same powers that destroyed my father centuries ago! With this, I shall truly become the most powerful being in the whole universe!"

At the Temple of Primus, another problem soon arose. Rattrap, upon analyzing the asteroid’s trajectory, realized they’d be passing within Omegracon’s firing range in twelve millicycles. They’d have to abandon the temple, which in turn meant that Adam had to be forcefuly removed, risking further damage to his crippled body.

"Then we have no choice." Cheetarus said, "We’ve got to attack Omegracon with what we’ve got! If nothing else, it will distract him from the temple, letting the asteroid and the temple to slip by."

"Oh boy...this day just seems to keep getting more and more suicidal." Rattrap moaned.

The Sky Lynx was readied for flight once more, as were seven other fighters. Cheetarus, not wishing to waste another spark, suggested they fly them by remote, leaving the fighters aboard the Sky Lynx. It was a viable plan, and using salvageable parts from the ruined fighters, Rattrap, Silverbolt, and Black Arachnia cobbled together a VR control system.

"Just slip the helmet on and you’re interfaced with the ship!" Rattrap explained the basics.

With scarcely two millicycles to go, all eight fighters lifted off from the Temple of Primus. Only Botanica remained behind to attend to Adam. With an array of scanners from eight spacecraft linked together, Rattrap scanned the target’s surface with incredible precision. Guns, laser turrets, and plasma cannons in the hundreds were being trained upon them as they came within range.

"It looks like the big guy knows we’re coming, and it looks like he means business." Rattrap told his comrades.

Within the deepest recesses of Omegracon’s mantle, Strika and Obsidian observed the oncoming fleet of fighters coming in at top speed. "Shouldn’t we be the ones to halt their progress?" Strika asked her master.

"No, Strika." answered Omegracon, "My enemies know of your capabilities, and know that even your supreme military mind has a weakness. It is time they know of my capabilities, and know that I am invulnerable...."

Ten thousand energy weapons fired upon the Maximals all at once. The eight ships raised shields, deflecting the first volley. More and more shots were taken, draining the Maximal defenses in mere seconds. Finally one ship gave in, its shields failing and at once was blasted into a hundred million pieces. Now seven ships zoomed in.

"Oh man! I just lost mine!" Rattrap exclaimed, "And not even a single punch to the planet!"

"Just be ready to shove some hot plasma right into Omegracon’s exhaust port!" cheered ThunderClaw.

They enter a metallic canyon where they met some potent firepower. Another ship, just to the starboard of the Sky Lynx, went down, colliding with a minor generator. The Maximals immediately opened fire, targeting multiple fusion reactors near key defenses. Hardly a dent was made, but once their weapons penetrated the transmetal armor a huge explosion went up, taking a full dozen reactors with it.

"Oh yeah!" everyone cheered.

Cheetarus was joyful, but then he noticed the defenses hadn’t been affected at all. The laser turrets turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees and started firing all over again. It were as if their power source hadn’t been severed at all!

"Great firey buckets of slag!" Silverbolt cursed, "They must have a dozen back up sources!"

In mere nano-clicks, the turrets fired, penetrating the shields and blasting the fighters from behind. Two more were sent to firey deaths, violently crashing into the canyon walls. The hits were so insignifigant that Omegracon didn’t feel anything at all.

"Slag it! They’re hitting us from behind! Our shields won’t hold there!" Black Arachnia yelled. Four ships soon became three, and then two.

"We’ve got no options left, floor it!" Cheetarus ordered Silverbolt. At the Prime’s command, Silverbolt took the Sky Lynx into the air and away from Omegracon’s surface. The surviving remote-operated ship was blasted a hundred kilometers up, leaving only the Sky Lynx for target practice.

Upon seeing the smoldering remains of the spacecraft behind them, Rattrap muttered, "Oh boy....we’re as good as dead against a death planet like that!"

"Keep recalibrating the shields! That might give us a better chance to survive!" suggested Cheetarus. Immediately Rattrap went at it, plugging into the shield harmonics. Silverbolt began swinging in a zig-zag motion, trying to fool the cannons blasting at them.

A single blast managed to penetrate the shields, bouncing off the Sky Lynx. A second hit one of the secondary engines. Black Arachnia assisted Rattrap with the shields, diverting all power from non-essential systems.

Omegracon watched as the diminuitive craft sped away like gnat after being swatted at. Now, in their moment of escape, to obliterate them. Omegracon focused himself on the approaching asteroid where the Maximals were hiding. All his weapons responded, focusing on it. Energy coursed through his systems, power surging to its apex....

Just as the Sky Lynx landed, the Maximals watched as a humungous fire ball was flung at them, soaring towards them at phenomenal speeds. The asteroid was shattered into over a dozen pieces, all breaking apart further.

Gazing out the window at the temple, Rattrap thought Botanica! and rushed out. Cheetarus Prime yelled, "Everyone, stay together! It’s our only chance for...." The rodent ignored him, flying out the airlock as fast as his tires could spin. Upon hitting the first step, Rattrap was flung into the air. He somersaulted, transforming into his rodent beast mode, landing on all fours inside the entrance.

Rattrap ran to Botanica, who was still sitting next to Adam. "Shrubs! This rock’s busting apart! We’ve gotta book it!" he yelled to her.

Botanica tried to say, "But Adam’s still injured! He can’t be...." The rodent transformed yet again, snatching up both his love and her ward. The human was very limp as he hung over his shoulder, virtually lifeless.

"Sorry shrubs, but if we stay here more than a millicycle, this temple’s gonna come crumbling down on us all!" The bold Maximal crashed through the airlock just seconds before the central tomb caved in. Like a house of cards, the temple fell all around them. Rattrap forced his accelertors harder and harder, seeing the entrance coming up.

In the final moment before the fall of the Temple of Primus, Rattrap burst through, carrying both Botanica and Adam with him. As the temple collapsed upon itself, tremors started throughout the asteroid. A giant crack formed between Rattrap’s legs, spreading towards the Sky Lynx.

"Hand on guys!" he said, making a final dash. The ground quaked below, the asteroid itself crumbling to bits as they neared the Earth’s outer atmosphere. Silverbolt leaned out of the Sky Lynx with arm extended.

"Jump Rattrap!", he shouted.

With every last ounce of strength, Rattrap did just that. The ground gave way, exposing the planet Earth beneath. As Silverbolt closed the door behind them, the last portion of the asteroid burnt away, leaving the Sky Lynx to plummet downwards.

Silverbolt returned to the controls, only to find them jammed. "Ugh!" he groaned, pulling on the steering controls, "It....won’t....budge!"

The Sky Lynx’s angle was far too steep. If the ship didn’t fire up its engines and steer, they’d all go up in flames instantaneously. Silverbolt tried hard, but the controls were like fixed iron bars. Black Arachnia came to his aid, pulling on the controls with him. It didn’t work.

"Everyone! We’ve got to do this together!" shouted Cheetarus Prime. Every Maximal aboard the ship from Cheetarus to Rattrap to ThunderClaw joined in, one final group effort to save their lives. The wheel groaned against their collective strength.

Just as the Sky Lynx was in peril, the controls responded at long last. The ship dipped down, letting the heated air pass over its aerodynamic hull. Lift returned to the Sky Lynx, permitting it to fly in. Zooming in at mach four, the Sky Lynx sailed over the face of the Earth, Maximals rejoicing inside.

"We’re alive! Alive!" Rattrap merrily rejoiced.

In the midst of the jumulance of surviving another megacycle, Botanica appeared from the rear of the ship. There was a sullen look to her eyes. It didn’t take more than a nano-click for Rattrap to figure out why.

"Well...most of us...." he softly muttered.

"Adam’s taken a turn for the worse," Botanica said, trying to keep her voice steady, "He’s dying...."