The DarkStar blasted off through transwarp space at phenomenal speeds, destination: unknown. Aboard were four young Maximals and a single Predacon at the controls, bound on a quest to save their lost allies.

At the heart of the DarkStar, Megatron sat quite comfortably in his suspended command chair, overseeing their flight. He felt quite at home aboard this ship; at home, in command, and in total control.

Clicking on a particular switch, Megatron activated the com system. "Megatron to Gold Blade and RedStreak...I require your presence in the command chamber." he said to them.

On a screen, an image of the two Maximals appeared. Gold Blade put her hands on her hips and groaned. "We’re not your slaves, Megatron," she reminded him, "And not your ‘happy little band of Predacons’ either."

"What exactly do you want, to put it another way?" RedStreak asked politely.

"It concerns the nature of our destination," Megatron explained, "As you both know, we have yet to select our destination...and the precious data in your head, Gold Blade...may prove to be very important." On the monitor, he tapped on the female Maximal’s face, making plans for it....

A manner of cycles later, the Maximals, RedStreak and Gold Blade included, gathered together before Megatron, ridding on hovering platforms. Megatron turned in his command chair, his hands clamped together over his lap.

Coming over to Megatron’s left side, RedStreak said to him, "All right Megatron, what do you want with the information in Gold Blade’s cerebral chamber?"

"I asked only for you two’s presence, not the other two," said Megatron.

"If it concerns my sister," RazorLeaf told the Predacon, "It concerns me, even more so with you involved...."

Megatron groaned for a minute in disgust. "Fine then. What matters is this..." Megatron pushed another set of controls, activating a holographic sphere that moved over to his side. "For the past five megacycles, we’ve been trying to calculate where the Thetos disappeared to when the transwarp conduit closed. None of my calculations have proven very successful in resolving this.... however...."

He looked to Gold Blade, hovering with her platform just a few feet away. His command chair moving near her, he said, "The information in you mind contains stored data from the Quintessons’ master ship, no?"

"In addition to Rattrap’s translation program, yes." said Gold Blade, trying to keep her distance.

Coyotek, also becoming curious, asked Megatron, "What’s your plan?"

Turning back to the holographic sphere, he told them, "The information in her data banks may contain navigational information that could project where the Quintessons came from...and therefore the most likely place they’d return to."

"Fine, if it helps to find Optimus," said Gold Blade, "But I won’t let you loose in my circuits."

"A simple data transfer will do. Once you’ve downloaded the information into my ship’s mainframe, it should automatically process it." Megatron assured her.

Gold Blade opened the outlet in her right arm. She shot a link from it to the holographic sphere, connecting with it and the DarkStar’s central computer. Speaking to her internal computer, Gold Blade said, "Computer, download data-tracks Dark Origins. Voice code: Gold Blade."

The data flowed into the holographic projector, appearing as visible Cybertronian text on its surface. In a matter of minutes, the download was completed, giving the DarkStar’s computer all the information about the Quintessons Gold Blade could offer.

"Download complete. Cross-referencing files...analyzing...." the computer spoke.

"Excellent...." gloated Megatron, "Soon we’ll have the information we require...."

Two streams of cybertext were imaged on the projector, one representing Rattrap’s translation program and the other data extracted from the Quintesson ship by Gold Blade. As the computer’s analysis came to completion, the two streams merged. A burst of light emerged from the holographic projector, a whole new slew of information unveiled.

"Cross-referencing data. Accessing alien data from files. Analyzing...." said the computer.

As the computer translated the data, a new image was put on the projector. A swirling mass was shown, loaded with countless spheres and murky clouds. Many lines crisscrossed it, linking one part to another like blood vessels in a body.

"What on Cybertron is that?" asked Coyotek.

"By Primus," muttered Gold Blade, her eyes fixated upon the image, "It is a map of the galaxy!"

Looking into his crystal ball, Megatron said, "Oh...not just any map, my dear Gold Blade. A map of the galaxy compiled by the Quintessons!" The Predacon was mystified by it, thrilled even. "Those files you obtained from that devastated wreck contain more information than any complied in the past thousand space expeditions...."

"You mean...the Quints know more about the galaxy...than us?" asked RazorLeaf.

"Well they have been around a few million years longer than us," said Gold Blade, "They probably mapped out the entire galaxy at least twice in that amount of time!"

"There is only one region of the galaxy any of us should be concerned with for the time being," said Megatron. Peering at the sphere, Megatron identified one peculiar junction between the myriad lines crossing the galaxy. "Computer, examine data on core node seven, nine, three. Magnify and identify...."

The globe zoomed in on the central bulge of the galaxy, noting a great conjunction between interstellar pathways. The computer gave a read-out of the node’s nature. "Core node seven, nine, three identified as star burst cluster with unusually high energy and molecular levels. Dangerously close to galactic core and convergence of transwarp conduits."

"Yessss," muttered Megatron, "It is the one possible link. Computer! Set a course for those quordinates, maximum velocity!"

"What?" exclaimed Coyotek, "I may not know astrophysics, but a star burst cluster isn’t a pleasant spot to visit!"

"It is the hiding place of the Quintessons!" shouted Megatron, "Such a cluster set at the convergence of a hundred transwarp gates would be their choice! Now prepare for transwarp flight!"

The DarkStar rumbled from within, the engines powering up again. Transwarp space foamed and bubbled around them, diverging around the battleship. Ahead, a hole formed, a window into the black of void of normal space. At the speed of light, the DarkStar punched through, arriving at a whole new place.

Through the view screens and sensors, the group found themselves in the midst of a great nebula at the heart of their home galaxy. All around them were stars, huge, bloated orbs of red plasma fire floating in a sea of toxic gas. It was a dismal, forbidding place, cast in a dominant orange-yellow light emanating from the core of the galaxy itself.

"It looks like we arrive in the Pit itself..." RazorLeaf commented.

"Not a terribly unreal analogy, Maximal." said Megatron. Turning to another control panel, he attempted to activate the long-range sensors. They didn’t respond, flickering on and off before powering down. "As I suspected..." the Predacon murmured, "This region of space refracts and dampens sensor systems. Only short-range sweeps shall function. The Quintessons choose their hiding places well...."

"But that means...." Gold Blade muttered.

Coyotek, looking at the flickering sensor readings, said, "We won’t be able to search for Optimus...."

For three megacycles, the DarkStar passed through the huge and extensive nebula, searching for any sign of the Maximal flagship, Thetos, and its Maximal occupants. In all that time, next to nothing was found. And all the while...they became increasing worried about Quintessons....

One of the operating sensor monitors went off. RazorLeaf got on it. "The short-range sensors detect an alien signature! Possibly Quintessons...."

"Definitely," said Megatron, double-checking RazorLeaf’s readings, "They are en route to our position. Time to engage the cloak...." Megatron reached down and pushed down a single control pad, the lights dimming.

The shields hummed to life around the DarkStar, switching to a modified frequency. The cloak engaged, swallowing up the ship’s image in its wake. Scarcely a cycle later, a large Quintesson cruiser swept by, its disruptor cannons swiveling, searching for a target.

The Maximals and Megatron watched aboard the invisible DarkStar as the alien vessel made a sweep, then passed by. It disappeared behind an asteroid, continuing on its previous course.

"Excellent...no reaction." cheerfully spoke Megatron, "It was indeed worth the effort to obtain that technological gem after all. Now...to continue with the search...."

The cloaked DarkStar shifted its own course, taking a different path. For another megacycle, nothing more was revealed than a few rocky asteroids and a storm of meteoroids.

RedStreak and Coyotek worked at another station, taping into any kind of sensor reading they could find. Coyotek sighed. "This isn’t working exactly well Red. Nearly five megacycles and still nothing worth reporting...."

"Maybe we’re going about this wrong." said RedStreak, "In this environment, our sensors don’t work. We need a different logic, a new plan...."

The sensors beeped wildly, interrupting RedStreak’s speech. "Hey!" cheered Coyotek, "We found something! Maybe we don’t need a new plan after all..." Examining the readings, he and RedStreak backed away, unable to believe it.

"Whoa. If...we’re reading this right...." Coyotek said to RedStreak.

"There’s a giant source of energon...bearing six, seven, four...roughly a hundred million kilometers from our position," finished RedStreak, "Possibly a whole planet of it...."

Looking to RedStreak, and then at Megatron, sitting some distance away in his chair, Coyotek whispered, "Should we tell him?"

Checking the screen, RedStreak replied, "Not much choice. There’s a trans-ion trail leading straight towards that position. If we’re to intercept those coordinates...we need Megatron to change course for us...."

"RedStreak!" bellowed Megatron. As the Maximal momentarily shuddered, Megatron’s chair moved over to their console. Glancing at the screen, he softly asked, "Have you found something?"

"Uh...just a...trans-ion trail...." RedStreak replied, scooting over to cover up the screen with his shoulder.

Megatron pushed him aside and peered at the sensor screen himself. "Far more than that, Maximal." he said, eyes glued to the image, "A massive source of energon exists in the same direction." Moving away, Megatron said, "Time for another course correction. Computer, plot vector to bearing six, seven, four. Adjust all scanners to compensate for energon radiation...."

While Megatron prepared to move out, RedStreak and Coyotek looked at one another. "A cloaked battleship, a massive store of energon, and the same old megalomaniac." said Coyotek, "Sounds like a recipe for disaster."

"RazorLeaf and Gold Blade wouldn’t like this either...and neither do I." admitted RedStreak, "We’ve got to get together and meet on this...assuming we have the time to prevent the inevitable...."

Twenty cycles into the flight, the DarkStar watched as a strange new planet appeared from behind a rocky planetesimal. It was a huge planet, massive but still a primordial world bursting with the heat of a million volcanoes. Half of its surface was a molten wasteland, meteors periodically striking as magma was blasted back up. A young, fiery world barren of life.

But what really caught their interest was the other hemisphere as it rotated into view. Amid volcanic sinkholes and deep canyons, great mountains rose up tens of kilometers, glowing a bright bluish color, contrasting with the seemingly dull reds and orange colors elsewhere.

"Yessss...." Megatron hissed, "A planet...composed of energon...."

"Astounding...." said Gold Blade, "I never thought it possible."

"Apparently, this planet is the impossible, Gold Blade." RedStreak stated.

"Not impossible at all," Megatron said to them, still fixated upon the world, "Merely difficult. For a world to produce energon like this, it must be young and the conditions just right. But never could anyone imagine such as glorious sight...."

Across the scanners, other objects appeared. Vessels, Quintesson starships, came into view. They circled this planet by the hundreds, guarding their borders thoroughly and without slack. As the planet rotated further, a giant scar, shaped as intricately as a spider’s webbing, appeared - a giant city spanning a quarter of the planet’s circumference.

"Apparently, the Quintessons have capitalized on such a find." said RazorLeaf.

"To put it mildly," added RedStreak.

As the DarkStar drew closer to the energon-rich planet, something began to happen. The cloaking shields started to quiver, energy waves circling over them. The cloak flickered on and off, rapidly losing power.

"Warning. Cloak destabilizing. Planetary magnetic field disrupting quantum fields in cloaking device." alerted the computer.

"Compensate!" Megatron ordered.

"Unable to comply. Cascade failure in cloaking device. Cloak destabilizing." beeped the computer.

Megatron slammed his fist into the arm of his command chair. "BLAST!" he shouted.

Something else came up on the scanners. Gold Blade spotted it first, and quickly alerted Megatron. "Megatron! I just discovered something in grid ninety! It’s the Thetos!" she exclaimed.

The wrecked Thetos drifted in ruin above the Quintesson planet. On occasion, light jumped from its reactor room, power still fluctuating. Its once brilliant hull was littered all over with deep, slashing scars and burn holes from enemy fire. What elegance it once had was now gone, vanished.

The DarkStar floated alongside the scrapped warship, hiding in its shadow. Cautiously, it nudged against the Thetos, docking with it. Afterwards, the DarkStar powered down, its lights darkening.

"There. Power down complete." said Coyotek, "Now we can hide from those five-faced freaks for a while longer while we search this ship."

A light switched on from Megatron’s cannon. He shined it in the Maximals’ faces, illuminating the air lock. "I’d advise to make this quick," suggested Megatron, "This scrap heap of a ship is heavily damaged...and the Quintessons may yet detect our presence...."

"Very well, we’ll split up," RedStreak made another suggestion, "RazorLeaf and Gold Blade can check the power core, Coyotek can search the central corridors, and Megatron and I will examine the bridge...."

"Hey! Why must I go it alone?" Coyotek insisted to know.

"Well unless you want to be teamed with the Predacon...." RedStreak began to say.

"All right, all right. Let’s do this then...." Coyotek mumbled.

The three teams split up, going separate routes. Coyotek followed the plant-bots for a while, then stomped down the empty halls alone. The ravaged Thetos was a scary place, no lights and twisted plates resembling tentacles and claws outstretched. Holding his gun tight, Coyotek’s legs shook as he pressed onward.

Gold Blade and RazorLeaf found the power core room fairly quickly. "Looks busted," RazorLeaf described the place in two words. Panels had come loose, frayed wires flung all over the place. The core reactor itself was tilted to its side slightly, power conduits cracked and instruments scarred.

"Nothing much functional here," RazorLeaf further said.

Gold Blade looked around. "There must something we can repair the cloaking device with..." she mumbled, lifting up fallen panels. When she eyed an open panel in the reactor, Gold Blade smiled. "Bingo. Just what I was looking for." She went over and kneeled down by the reactor’s side. Next she set to work, unjamming something....

"What are you doing?" asked RazorLeaf.

Gold Blade pulled at a cylindrical device. Between grunts, she said to her brother, "Ugh! A...ugh...sidereal system load! Install this to the cloak, and it will...ugh...repair it and allow it to operate...ugh...in this magnetic storm!"

The metal bolts gave, the canister ripping out of the reactor. As Gold Blade held the sideral load in her hand, something began to happen. Lights began flickering, the reactor humming to life again.

"What the slag?" said RazorLeaf, "I thought the reactor was dead...."

"It’s malfunctioning!" corrected Gold Blade, "We’ve gotta book before it overloads!"

The two Maximals dashed out, the power core pulsating with life. Damaged circuits flashed with electricity, only to blow out nano-clicks later. The reactor hummed loudly, beginning to shake like an unbalanced washing machine. A burst of fire shot out from the side, causing a chain-reaction of plasma leaks....

On Photoneron, the Quintessons’ home base, plans were in the process of being made when one underling barged in on Scientist Lor-Gavvon’s work. "Master Lor-Gavvon!" the small Quintesson called to his leader, "Master Lor-Gavvon!"

Lor-Gavvon turned his large head about, seeing what the underling wanted. He parted from his laboratory work, his dedicated research, to see what was so important. "Your intrusion here better have a good reason. You are disrupting my work...." he harshly said.

"The Maximal vessel, in high orbit..." wheezed the underling.

"What of it?" inquired Lor-Gavvon.

The underling cowered, but spoke as his master ordained. "Something strange is happening. Power emanations...possible reactivations...."

"Impossible," gaffed Lor-Gavvon, "We disabled that vessel completely. How can it still function in its condition?" The underling, not knowing what to say, just shook his head. Lor-Gavvon gave a short growl. "Alert the Warriors. Let them investigate...."

After the underling left, Lor-Gavvon thought for a minute. He hovered over to a giant crystalline stall. When he entered, it activated immediately. A hologram of Scavix appeared before Lor-Gavvon, staring at him. "Overlord Scavix," said Lor-Gavvon, "I have a feeling we shall need to move our prisoners soon. Events have arisen that may prove...interesting..."

Back onboard the Thetos, Megatron and RedStreak were shaken as the reactor core breached. Even at the front of the bridge, they could feel the explosion. All around them the structure began to collapse, beams snapping and the hull crunching.

"The ship’s breaking up!" said RedStreak, ducking from falling parts.

A large metallic fragment bounced off Megatron’s hard head. "Ugh! We must return to the DarkStar at once, least we be crushed like ants!" he groaned.

All five transformers met again in the airlock linking the dead Thetos to the DarkStar. Gold Blade presented the sidereal load to Megatron, telling him, "I had to tear this out of the reactor, but this could reestablish the cloak permanently!"

"Anything less, and I’d recycle you for risking all our lives!" Megatron snapped.

RazorLeaf hit Megatron, knocking him away from his sister. The two snarled at one another, but another explosion interrupted them. Without a single word, everyone evacuated to the DarkStar without hesitation. Gold Blade went to the cloaking device to install the sidereal system load while the others reactivated the ship. Within minutes, their ship came online and parted from the Thetos just as it exploded in a yellow ball of fire.

"The cloak’s ready," Gold Blade said, "Reactivate it before the Quintessons lock onto us!" A moment later, the DarkStar became invisible again, escaping just before a patrol of five Quintesson vessels arrived at the remaining debris field.

Monitoring the Quintessons’ movement, Megatron said to Gold Blade, "Well done, Maximal. Again we have become ghosts to their scans."

The DarkStar moved as silently as a submarine through the water, passing dozens of Quintesson vessels without any trouble. The search resumed, the sensors examining each and every passing vessel for Maximal signatures.

"Nothing...as of yet." said RedStreak, "It’s as if our friends aren’t here. Perhaps they were taken away...to a slave colony...."

"Not likely..." Megatron replied, punching into the sensor array, "I have a distinct feeling these aliens have other designs on your comrades. They may be...."

The computer’s scanners beeped. "Maximal energy signatures detected! Location confirmed aboard alien vessel, vector three, twelve, one."

"It’s them!" exclaimed RazorLeaf, "We found them!"

"Not so fast, Maximals!" Megatron halted their jubilation, "Any true strategist would have something else planned...."

RazorLeaf hollered, "Oh for booting up cold! It’s them! Of course they’d be aboard a Quintesson vessel if they were captured!"

Scanning more closely, Megatron quickly deduced something. "Not this vessel! It’s a war ship...most likely a trap set by the Quintessons, false readings. They hope to trick us into entering their targeting range and blow us to...."

RazorLeaf blared "Whatever! A ship’s a ship! Why wouldn’t they hold Optimus..."

"No, Megatron’s right!" Gold Blade jumped in, "I scanned that vessel. There’s a transmitter giving off false readings. It was a trap...however...." Adjusting the scanners again, Gold Blade discovered something else. "There’s an energy field on a near-by transport ship that dampens Maximal signatures! It has to be them...."

Megatron smiled proudly. Lowering himself to RazorLeaf’s platform, he said, "There, you see? It pays to be devious sometimes...."

Under Megatron’s guidance, the DarkStar went for the rectangular transport vessel. As the transport prepared to rendezvous with an orbiting batttlestation, the DarkStar made a hard dock with it, still cloaked.

Inside the transport ship, just a few meters from a holding cell, one of the walls began to glow red. A violet beam penetrated, arcing down as it cut a sizeable hole through the reinforced hull. The sliced piece of hull fell down with an echoing thud, rumbling on and on down the long corridors and passageways.

Megatron was the first to stick his head out. He shined the light shining out his cannon down the halls, checking in the dim, creepy light for any signs of life. Stepping into the open hall, he said to his Maximal allies, "This section is clear. No indication of a Quintesson presence or security either."

Sneaking out of the open portal, the Maximals RazorLeaf, Gold Blade, Coyotek, and RedStreak crept up behind Megatron, keeping their eyes alert and their movements silent. "I’m starting to get worried." whispered Coyotek, "This seems too easy…."

"Then it would be wise to keep your wits about, the Quintessons are notorious for traps," Megatron said.

Gold Blade stepped out. She held out one her arms, attached to her wrist was a signature scanner. Waving it in front of her, Gold Blade scanned for a minute. It beeped, locking onto a trio of spark signatures. "I think I’ve found them! This scanner’s penetrated the energy field and discovered three sparks near by."

"Which way?" asked RedStreak.

Waving the scanner one more time to check the readings, Gold Blade pointed to their right and said, "This way! Roughly ten meters away…."

The group quickly ran down the corridor, coming to a barred doorway. Through the slits between the steel bars, Rattrap, Botanica, and Optimus Primal could be seen chained to the wall by their arms, hanging their moaning and groaning. A few bruises could be seen on their semi-organic bodies, clearly a sign that they’d been tortured.

Immediately RazorLeaf and Coyotek went to the door and tried to pull it off. They groaned and tugged, but the door didn’t budge a centimeter. "Ugh! Locked! And we can’t break it down!" RazorLeaf said.

"Then out of my way!" Megatron told them. The Predacon raised up his right arm, pointing it at RazorLeaf and Coyotek. A deep violet glow radiated out from inside it, the weapon humming with life. The two Maximals shrieked and leapt out of the way as the powerful weapon unleashed a massive blast, blowing apart the security door with a single blow.

All the Maximals leapt over the pile of scrap, bolting for Optimus, Botanica, and Rattrap. "Hang on Optimus! The cavalry’s arrived!" yelled Coyotek.

"No! You fools!" Megatron tried to stop them, but it was too late.

The cell floor collapsed, taking with it all four Maximals. They were falling into a deep pit, one with a pool of water at the bottom. RedStreak transformed, becoming an air-borne fox with helicopter rotors. He swooped down and grabbed Coyotek by the shoulder, trying desperately to keep himself aloft. Sadly, his paws weren’t able to grip well, and Coyotek slipped from him.

Just when the Maximals were a few feet from the pool, out of the smooth walls emerged a large set of tentacles. With lightning speed, they reached out and grabbed each of the falling Maximals, wrapping around their chests, binding them tightly.

RazlorLeaf looked down, eyeing the strange pool beneath them. Something dark was coming to its surface, swirling around. A black fin emerged, with two yellow eyes glowing in the water. Without warning, this large beast leaped from the murky water with jaws like a piranha and a tail like a mace. It snapped at the Maximal’s feet, missing them by mere inches.

"We hope the sharkticons’ ferocity doesn’t frighten you.", a voice from above said. RedStreak and the other Maximals were directed upwards toward a platform emerging from the side of the pit some distance above them. Hovering above it were two Quintessons, their tentacles wavering constantly.

"Quintessons!" they all exclaimed.

RedStreak flew directly in front of the two aliens and snarled. "You may have my friends," he told them, "But not me! Release all my friends or I’ll slag your skulls in!"

Scavix and Lor-Gavvon looked at one another, then snickered. "As you wish…" Lor-Gavvon said to RedStreak. Scavix lightly touched a button on a controller with a knob at the end of his tentacle. The robotic tentacles holding the Maximals loosened, dropping the Maximals. They all screamed as a horde of hungry sharkticons waited below them with open mouths.

"NO!" hollered RedStreak.

Scavix pushed the controller a second time, allowing the tentacles to snag the Maximals before they fell into the pool. Looking at the flying Maximal, Scavix said to him, "You may be free, but the lives of your friends…including the ones up above…are at our mercy."

Looking up, RedStreak noted Botanica, Rattrap, and Optimus still hanging there with limp arms, still unconscious. In the pool below were Coyotek, Gold Blade, and RazorLeaf, trying to fend off the sharkticons leaping at them. Looking at the Quintessons, RedStreak said, "All right…what do you want?"

"Only you, my dear Maximal…or should I say human?" said Lor-Gavvon, "The files we extracted from Optimus Primal were rather contradicting on the subject…."

Above, Megatron remained hidden, watching the Quintessons from afar. He was not dumb enough to reveal his presence just yet. The Maximals themselves were no concern of his at the moment…

"Say what?" RedStreak asked the Quintessons.

"We want you, RedStreak." Lor-Gavvon told him again, "You are a very, very interesting prize for us." Waving a tentacle exuberantly, the Quintesson said, "Why your infrastructure alone would produce staggering research! There is so much we have planned…."

Scavix bluntly stated, "The point is, RedStreak, we require your voluntary submission to us…."

A snarl forming on his face, RedStreak said, "You mean my freedom? No!"

Scavix held up the controller, his tentacle waving over the button that controlled the restraints holding his friends. "Either your cooperation, or your friends…the choice is yours, Maximal."

RedStreak snarled, but then looked at Optimus Primal’s face. His mentor and leader looked sad, defenseless, so vulnerable. Would it be worth the cost of his life to defy the Quintessons? Was it not his life that they all came here for to rescue? Turning back to the Quintessons, RedStreak lowered his head. "Fine. Free them…and I will give myself to you." promised RedStreak.

The Quintessons smiled. "Excellent," Lor-Gavvon said with a broad smile, "You chose wisely. Transform and come before us…."

RedStreak approached the platform slowly. As requested, he transformed to robot mode and stood before the two Quintessons. He stood perfectly still, making no aggressive movements. "You have what you want now. Free my friends in exchange for me, like you promised…." RedStreak insisted.

"Very well." said Scavix. He pushed another button on the controller, aimed at Rattrap, Optimus, and Botanica. The chains suspending them began to lower, bringing them down to the platform. Botanica, Rattrap, and Optimus Primal awoke just as the chains unshackled themselves. "If you wish," Scavix told RedStreak, "You may give them one last farewell before becoming our slave."

Immediately, RedStreak ran out to them with arms wide open. "Botanica! Optimus! Rattrap!" he cried, "Oh by the Matrix it’s so great to see you." All three maximals suddenly grabbed RedStreak by the arms and held him. "What?" RedStreak gasped. The eyes of his friends turned a bright red, glowing menacingly at him. "Optimus! What is this?" he tried to say, but they forced him onto his knees before the two Quintessons.

Scavix hovered toward him on a beam of purple energy. "A precaution, my dear RedStreak. Your friends are free…but serve us now." Scavix turned around and handed the controller to Lor-Gavvon. "My fellow Quintesson, would you care to…ahem…dispose of the others?"

"NOOO!" hollered RedStreak. Just as Lor-Gavvon pressed the controller, RedStreak broke free of Optimus’ grip. Immediately he decked Botanica and Rattrap, knocking them to the ground. As the rodent hit the ground, something broke off. When Rattrap got up, half of his faceplate was missing. Beneath it was a mess of tangled wires and twitching servos. It wasn’t Rattrap at all, but a cheap copy!

Turning to the Quintessons, RedStreak shouted, "You tricked me! Liars!"

The tentacles suspending RazorLeaf, Gold Blade, and Coyotek all gave away, sending them plummeting into the sharkticon-filled pool. They hollered, splashing in the water franticly. First one, then two, then four sharkticons surfaces, swimming toward the terrified transformers, their teeth shimmering like diamonds.

Something flew out from above. An aerial fighter dove toward the pool, firing blasts into the water. The sharkticons fled, diving back into the depths they came from. It came to a stop just a few feet above their heads, its engines blasting the water into rippling waves.

"Megatron! I never thought I’d be glad to see him!" said RazorLeaf.

"Save your breath Maximal!" Megatron scorned him, "We are not out of this yet." A minute later, after the three damp Maximals climbed on, Megatron blasted off again, flying to the top of the pit. Below them, a whole swarm of angry sharkticons swam, bitter at losing a potential meal.

Coyotek saw RedStreak battling the clone-bots of Botanica and Optimus, unable to fend them off even with his energon blasts. "We have to go back there and help him out! Turn around Megs!" Coyotek told the Predacon.

"Not this time!" Megatron told them, "He made his choice…."

"But we have to save him!" Gold Blade pleaded.

Megatron flew out of the chamber, heading back down the hall and to the DarkStar. Once aboard, he threw the Maximals off and transformed. "Computer! Seal all airlocks and initiate emergency separation sequence, voice code: Megatron!" he ordered. His ship complied, breaking away from the Quintesson transport vessel, leaving behind a giant whole and a friend.

Still aboard the Quintessons ship, RedStreak sizzled the robotic clone of Botanica until its synthetic leaves were dried to a crisp. As it fell, the other two clones came at RedStreak simultainiously. They grappled him, forcing him onto his back. RedStreak growled, and flipped over. The two clones were thrown off, falling into the pit. After they splashed, a hundred sharkticons frenzied, ripping both to shreds in the turbulent thrashing of their tails.

"You won’t take me that easily!" warned RedStreak, attending to the Quintessons themselves. He fired a shot of pure energon at Scavix, but the Quintesson laughed. The blast sizzled some of his circuits, but it dissipated, absorbed into his exoskeleton.

"Fool. You are powerless, and so naïve…." Scavix said to him. Out of his chest emerged a mineraturized disruptor cannon. RedStreak jumped, transforming in the air. Scavix’s weapon charged, then fired its own blast of energon at the fleeing Maximal. RedStreak hollered, and then fell, landing between the two Quintessons.

As the fallen Maximal’s eyes closed, RedStreak mumbled, "No…can’t…surrender…."

The two Quintessons looked down at him and chuckled to themselves. Lor-Gavvon raised up a hand-held saw in his hand, the blade whirling loudly. "Let the experiment begin…." he said.