DarkStar had flung herself deep into space, beyond the reach of both Maximal and Predacon to a place almost completely forgotten by Cybertron. She and the other Decepticons beheld the brilliant white light of the native Cybertronian sun, the silhouette of Unicron’s head eclipsing it momentarily. DarkStar swung about, passing over the lit portion of the deceased monster’s face, its features battered but clearly recognizable, like the monument of a dark god long forgotten.

Megatron’s eyes widened, taking in the unbelievable sight. "Unicron…" he dared to whisper.

The red light in Galvatron’s eyes seemed to grow brighter upon embracing the image of his former master and creator. "Yessss," he gleefully spoke, his voice become strange and deep, "Unicron…my master. My…father." His head sharply turned to Shockwave, who was standing there in a state of bewilderment. "Bring us in closer." Galvatron directly ordered.

For quite possibly the first time, Shockwave fumbled in his speech. "Y-Y-Yes Galvatron."

Galvatron turned his attention back to the head of Unicron broadly displayed on the main viewer in exquisite detail. The longer he stared, the brighter his eyes glowed…the more…possessed he seemed to become. Megatron, chained firmly to the Decepticon’s side, watched with almost terrified fascination. He noted how Galvatron’s voice had changed drastically, how it closely resembled that of Omegracon’s. Deep in his mind, the Predacon dreaded the fact that his theory might prove true….

"Soon, very soon," Galvatron spoke weirdly, "My plans will finally come to fruition."

Still sore from his brief confrontation with the Decepticons, Megatron slowly rose to his feet, groaning a bit. The chains bound to his wrists and legs clattered, drawing the attention of Galvatron, who turned to look down upon his prisoner with his brilliant red eyes.

Gleefully, Galvatron said, "Ah…my would-be-progeny has awakened at last." Galvatron glanced at Shockwave and Vultor. With a stern voice, he commanded, "Leave us. I wish to speak with our Predacon captive alone." The pair nodded, and walked off along with Nova, Trideradon, Afterburn, and Chibi-Batt, who obediently exited through the nearest hatch. Next, the Decepticon leader looked up to the ceiling and spoke directly to the transformer that transported them. "DarkStar, deactivate your internal sensors and com-systems for the time being."

"Yes lord Galvatron," DarkStar complied, and within moments the lighting within the command chamber dimmed. Now it was just the sole Decepticon and Predacon.

For a brief moment, Galvatron gazed at the forward screen, admiring the face of a being that once devoured thousands…quite possibly millions of worlds in times past. "Remarkable, isn’t it Megatron? The sight of Unicron drifting through the cosmos as he did millennia ago…before coming upon your wretched little planet…Cybertron."

"Omegracon," Megatron muttered, glaring at Galvatron with narrow eyes.

Galvatron chuckled loudly, his voice changing even more evidently. "So, you’ve ascertained my presence within this puny shell of a transformer? Heh heh…I knew you of all your insignificant race would, but it will do you no good."

Megatron grunted, struggling against his chains. Exhausted, he collapsed to his knees, but returned his gaze upon the possessed Galvatron one last time. Breathing heavily, Megatron asked, staring up at Galvatron’s tall and massive body, "Why is it that you let me live then? Why do you have me in chains instead…."

"Instead of being in the scrap pile?" Omegracon chuckled, sighing with a grin. Galvatron leaned on one knee, looking down at the lone Predacon as Omegracon’s voice spoke through him. "You amuse me, just as you did when you first served me, fallen one. You are alive because I desire it…because your mind, your…spark," Omegracon said, pointing Galvatron’s weapon at Megatron’s chest, "has something of great importance to me; the…key to my ultimate victory."

Megatron looked back at Galvatron, smiling back at him. "Indeed," he said with an intrigued voice. Meanwhile, behind his back, Megatron powered up his own arm cannon, a thin blaze of plasma venting from it. Slowly, very slowly, the purple plasma flare began to melt the chains down, weakening them greatly….

Less than an hour later, DarkStar made one final pass over the face of Unicron. Moving silently through space, she slipped into one of Unicron’s shattered eyes, vanishing into the dark void beyond them. Deep inside, she and her Decepticon passengers flew through a strange and twisted landscape of metal. The mind of Unicron, though long since dead, was still a living nightmare to behold.

Near the deepest, darkest corner of Unicron’s brain was a group of giant, spherical nodes connected by ribbon-like bridges. DarkStar switched on several lights to guide her through the labyrinth, her breaking thrusters firing as she descended towards one of the ‘bridges’. With a gentle rocking of her suspension, she landed.

The Decepticons quickly disembarked, Shockwave personally leading both the enchained Megatron and Starscream as Vultor and his group pushed numerous cargo crates up the bridge toward the largest node. Galvatron, his eyes still glowing with Omegracon’s influence, barked the order, "Bring the Vector computers into the primary plexus node along with Megatron. I shall join you all in but a moment…"

As the group marched on, DarkStar transformed, standing behind Galvatron vigilantly. Kneeling down, she humbly asked, "And…how may I serve you, master Galvatron?"

Galvatron save a heavy sigh, and then turned toward DarkStar. "Your…services…are not currently required. However…the project I am about to undertake will require all my attention, and no interference." Glancing briefly at her before flying off, Galvatron added, "Guard this place, DarkStar. Destroy any who dare approach…now go."

For a minute DarkStar watched Galvatron, her curiosity briefly stirred by the mentioning of a ‘project’. Knowing her duties lay elsewhere; she flew off, powering the thrusters in her feet to maximum. Flying back out through the other eye of Unicron, DarkStar transformed and cloaked herself. Concealed against the perfect blackness of space, she keenly remembered Galvatron’s orders: "Destroy any who dare approach…."

An explosion rocked the bunker loudly. A heavy beam of Cybertronian alloy broke free, crashing down atop the table Rattrap and RedStreak were taking cover under. "Oh man!" Rattrap moaned wearily, "This is why I’ve always hated Predacons!"

"I think I can relate about now!" RedStreak hollered, his voice barely above the sound of bombshells and weapons fire. Another, even larger, explosion went off. A huge hole was rendered in the back of the bunker, exposing the interior directly. "Slag," RedStreak muttered, "This bunker’s coming apart at the seams! I knew this place was too good to be true!"

"No kidding," Rattrap noted, "But the next base is halfway across the city! We’ll be reduced to hot-boiling slag in that crossfire!"

Suddenly, a loud screech came in from above. RedStreak shifted his optics skyward, zeroing in on a single, distant spec. At maximum resolution, the spec revealed itself to be a dumpy-looking missile with a glowing crystal at its tip.

"Energon bomb! Are those Preds insane? We’ve gotta book it, now!" RedStreak exclaimed.

Rattrap quickly added, "No argument from this rat! But we’d better book it…beast mode style!"

RedStreak and Rattrap leapt through the breach in the bunker. They shifted from robot to beast just milliseconds before the energon bomb rocketed down, throwing up a huge blue-white wave of energon. It expanded out by the equivalent of two city blocks, engulfing several surrounding buildings before dissipating its radiation.

From the burning rubble, a fox and a rat jumped through the smoke and flames, sprinting as lasers were sprayed from passing Predacon ships and warriors. One sizeable cruiser spied the pair of Maximals, its scanners locked on. It swooped down from behind them, swiveling two large fusion cannons directly at them. RedStreak glanced back and gasped as he ran.

In the blink of an eye, the enemy cruiser was destroyed with a giant red blast, completely vaporized. At the opposite end of New Cybertron City, Coyotek sat at the controls of a massive laser battery, its rectangular barrel still smoking. "Nobody tries to slag my pals! Hoooooooowl!" Coyotek howled, powering up the platform’s systems again.

The eager coyote-Maximal unleashed a tremendous amount of firepower against the Predacon fleet, taking down a solid twenty ships of all sizes in the span of a few cycles. In the midst of battle, one ship unloaded a second energon bomb, this one aimed at Coyotek’s position. Concentrated on blasting ships, Coyotek didn’t notice it coming until the last millicycle.

Just as Coyotek raised his arms in front of his face, a large spire of rock erupted from out of the ground, blocking the bomb’s blast from Coyotek. A moment later, much to Coyotek’s surprise, the top half of the rock spire crumbled to bits, revealing Dinobot within.

Coyotek smiled at the warrior bot. "Thanks! I owe you one chopper face!"

Dinobot growled irritably. "Don’t insult me…canine. I was…merely protecting the laser battery, least we lose another advantage to our foe." Dinobot spoke in his snarling voice.

Coyotek shrugged. "Whatever tickles your joystick then. Let’s just…."

The roar of a sonic boom interrupted the coyote from a minute. Above them, a fleet of human shuttles and advanced fighter planes swept across the sky, led by Optimus Primal and Tigatron. The human fleet deployed tactical missiles and primitive, but nonetheless effective, lasers. Several more Predacon ships were struck down, their fleet forced to withdraw further and further back.

Tigatron, flying by the power of the winds, pushed further ahead. From behind him, a storm front followed behind the human fleet, commanded by the tiger bot’s will. Lightning bolts soon erupted, at first a few but then hundreds. They directed themselves toward Tigatron, their energy building up inside of him as he growled with sheer concentration.

"Try a taste of this!" Tigatron yelled. A single, giant lightning bolt blasted out from Tigatron’s chest, spreading out and hitting one Predacon ship after another. Then, his energy expended, Tigatron blacked out, falling toward the ground.

Primal swooped down, catching Tigatron halfway to the ground. "Whoa there!" he almost laughed, "Can’t have it raining cats and dogs now, can we?"

Tigatron weakly smiled. "You mean…tigers, of course," he joked as Optimus Primal landed them beside the small group of Maximals below.

Optimus Primal set Tigatron back on his feet as Dinobot, Coyotek, RedStreak, and Rattrap all gathered around them. "We took quite a beating," Coyotek told Primal, "But everyone’s still online as you can see…."

"Hey!" Rattrap pointed a finger towards the sky. "The Preds are retreating! Finally something good for a change today!"

Sure enough, the remaining Predacon vessels exited the atmosphere, fallowed from far behind by a detachment of human shuttles. Despite the favorable change, Dinobot growled. "Rrrrr…this…is but a temporary setback for them. Once they’ve established a stronghold on Cybertron, the Predacons and the Tripredicus Council will return for us…en masse!"

Optimus Primal shook his head, disagreeing with Dinobot. "Negative. Even with Cybertron under their control, the Predacons are too weak and spread out to invade Earth. Besides, the humans can hold them off; right now, we need to find out what the Decepticons are up to."

Dinobot roared angrily, shifting to beast mode. Growling with Velociraptor teeth bared, Dinobot said to Primal’s face. "Forget the Decepticons! The Predacons ARE the threat we should be concerned about!"

Primal narrowed his eyes as he stared at Dinobot. "Not by a long shot, Dinobot. This war is bigger than either Maximal or Predacon. Something is clearly amiss, and it is my belief that…. AGGGGH!" In a sudden outburst, Optimus Primal went to all fours; his limbs jerking as sparks flew from his joints.

"Optimus, what is it?" Coyotek asked out of concern. Before he could say another word, he too was overtaken by a sudden, blinding surge of pain, as were the others. For what seemed like an eternity, every Maximal on the planet was in terrifying agony. Then, as quickly as it started, it stopped….

Groaning as they all got up, Rattrap asked, "What…what was that?"

For a few brief moments, Optimus had visions, but only briefly. They quickly disappeared as the last vestiges of pain left him. His mind tried to sort them out…but what he saw were scrambled images. Most easily recognizable were the faces of Galvatron and Megatron. There was a third, still enigmatic face, but he couldn’t put it in words yet. Then, more distant in his mind, was, or at least what Primal thought was, the image of an Autobot wielding the Matrix of Leadership, its energies leaking out like a star gone nova.

Trying to block these weird images for the moment, Optimus Primal answered Rattrap’s question. "I honestly…don’t know, Rattrap. But…what I do know…is that Galvatron…is up to something." Primal activated his com-link, calling for Depth Charge and Ironwood. "Meet me and Coyotek at hanger Alpha-Nine in the OpMaximus launching bay."

Parsecs away, inside the head of Unicron, the central node of the vanquished giant’s brain was aglow with strange lights. Within the central node, the Decepticons had gathered all nine of the Vector computers around a large, hovering green crystal. Each of the spheroid computers gave off an eerie gray-white glow, nine beams of energy connecting them with the jagged crystal, which pulsated more and more brilliantly with the same light.

Galvatron smiled as the other Decepticons stood behind him. "Excellent. Even now the Heart of Cybertron is drawing power from nine of the ten ancient Vector computers. Oh if only the Quintessons knew what power they could harness…they would never have let Cybertron slip from their grasp, and they would be the rulers of not just the galaxy…but the Universe itself."

Shockwave tentatively spoke up. "And this power…Galvatron…will we use it to…destroy the Maximals?"

Galvatron’s eyes grew brighter, Omegracon’s voice laughing in his vocal cords. "Oh…yes. THAT…and MUCH, MUCH more." Galvatron, under Omegracon’s sway, lifted his hand up, a red aura emanating from it. "But first, the powers and energies must be properly channeled…"

The Vector computers became enveloped by the same red light emanating from Galvatron’s hand. All at once they lifted into the air by a few feet…but then something else happened. Each computer rotated around, a single round port coming into view. From it, a key slid out, slowly moving toward the Heart of Cybertron, where all they keys gathered together. They all moved closer together, then started transforming.

Each key altered its shape, interlocking with the shape of another key like two jigsaw puzzle pieces, then another and another. Finally, all nine of the Vector computer keys had merged together into one large key that hovered in place above the Heart of Cybertron. However…a single fragment was missing from the giant key…a space that still needed to be filled. A tenth key had to be installed, the key to…Vector Sigma.

Galvatron turned to Triceradon and Afterburn, who held Megatron in their clutches firmly. "Bring the Predacon forward." Galvatron ordered.

Trideradon let go off Megatron, as did Afterburn, both pushing the slightly smaller transformer forward. "Do as he commands," Afterburn grunted to Megatron.

Shoved to the ground, Megatron slowly started to laugh. It was a mere chuckle at first, but soon it grew into a maniacal riot. Getting to his feet, Megatron broke the chains binding his arms with ease. "HA! HA! HA! HA! FOOLS!" he shouted boldly, "DID YOU THINK YOU COULD HOLD ME FOREVER? NOW YOU SHALL FEEL MY POWER!"

The Predacon bolted into the air, hovering via blaring thrusters. His arm cannon powered up, and with a single, massive blast, Megatron knocked down both Triceradon and Afterburn. Shockwave pointed his arm blaster at him, but before he had the chance to fire, Megatron dove at him foot first. With a clawed foot, Megatron shattered the Decepticon’s yellow eye while leaving a dent in his featureless face.

"AGH!" Shockwave yelled in pain, "GET HIM! GET HIM YOU FOOLS!"

Chibi-Bat transformed along with Vultor, the two assaulting Megatron in their beast forms. Afterburn got back to his feet and transformed, flying straight at the Predacon. With Vultor and Chibi-Bat gripping him by the arms, it seemed that Megatron would be run through. Grunting with effort, Megatron swung about, using centrifugal force to fling the beast-bots at the speeding jet, knocking all three offline.

From the ground, a tank-like vehicle hit Megatron from the back with a strong blast. Megatron immediately turned around and snarled at his attacker. Nova fired another blast, but Megatron easily fly past it. Aiming his own weapon at Nova, he said to him, "You’ll have to do better than that!" The following blast hit Nova hard enough to roll him upside down.

Before Megatron could smile however, an aura of red enveloped him, causing him tremendous pain. As the Predacon bellowed and wailed, Galvatron held his gaze at him. "Pathetic transformer, did you think my hold over you was gone?" Megatron’s body floated closer to Galvatron, letting the Predacon see into his red eyes. "You are as bound to me as you were before. Now…surrender…the key, Megatron."

A pair of beams shot from the Decepticons eyes, burning into Megatron’s chest. Like magic, they dissolved away the metal armor and circuits, causing Megatron to yell in excruciating pain. Once exposed, the beams focused upon his glowing spark. From the lurid red light of Megatron’s spark emerged an intangible key. Once drawn out, the key to Vector Sigma solidified, becoming as real as it ever was.

Back on Earth at New Cybertron City, all the Maximals in Primal’s group gathered inside a large hanger, Ironwood bent over slightly so as not to hit the ceiling. An argument between RedStreak and Primal himself continued to brew even after Optimus Primal deemed who was to go.

"But you’ve just gotta let me go! This mission is too important not to include me!" RedStreak continued to protest.

"Sorry RedStreak, but the answer is no." Primal bluntly stated, "Speed is important, and we can’t support every Maximal. We need Ironwood to get there as soon as possible with as little weight to burden him. Ironwood has sufficient defensive firepower along with Depth Charge and Tigatron. Coyotek is also needed since he’s the best pilot."

"But I have piloting abilities, and-and navigational skills too!" RedStreak tried to say, "Besides! What if the Decepticons show? Without me…."

Depth Charge shoved Coyotek and Primal aside, looking RedStreak straight in the face. "What do me and stripes here look like? EYE CANDY?!? We can handle any slag thrown at us!"

"ENOUGH!" Primal yelled loudly, "REDSTREAK, DEPTH CHARGE! BOTH OF YOU STAND-DOWN!" Glaring directly at RedStreak, Primal firmly stated, "You may have the spark of light, RedStreak, but that doesn’t make you the most important member of the team!" Pointing to Coyotek, Depth Charge, and Tigatron, Primal said last, "Those three go! You stay here! END OF DISCUSSION!"

RedStreak gave a soft, canine growl in bitterness, and then mumbled, "Fine," as he turned around and walked straight out.

Primal sighed, then turned to the others. "Prepare for launch," he ordered.

Less than ten minutes later, the hanger doors parted as Ironwood fired his massive rockets, throwing up great clouds of gray and orange smoke as he rose into the air. Still stomping off, RedStreak saw the guardian soar into space without him. For the moment, he was bitter, but then….

A flash washed over his eyes. Something than seemed…felt, like an old memory came to him. In his mind, he saw the great Optimus Prime standing tall with the matrix in hand. Gripping the legendary device, Prime split it in two, the matrix’s core exploding in a blue flash. However, the energy did not just vanish, it dispersed. Panning out, he watched as ribbons of bright energy swept over the planet Earth, the light of the matrix somehow…seeping into it.

RedStreak shook his head, the vision fading for the moment. Then, in the sky, he saw something flash in a bright line, then vanished again. "No…it couldn’t be…could it?" he asked himself. RedStreak glanced around before taking notice of a small star hopper ship waiting in an unguarded airfield. Putting his hand to his chin, RedStreak went, "Hmmm…."

Roughly a thousand kilometers away in space, Ironwood continued to rocket away from the Earth. Inside Coyotek flipped a few switches and tightened his seat belt. "All right guys, we’re locked in. Ironwood, engage transwarp drive in five, four, three…."

Ironwood deployed his warp nacelles and really took off. A brief transwarp jump lasting little more than thirty seconds was all it took to send them over nine thousand light years, far, far beyond the sphere of influence of humanity…or even the Quintesson Imperium.

Depth Charge activated a screen built into his left armrest. "Yup, Cybertronian home system. Or least what used to be home. I could cruise this part of space with my optics closed…."

Tigatron switched on a similar screen next to him. Staring at it closely, he mumbled, "Hmmm. Strange. Nothing much so far. All my scanners detect are…derelict satellites and some thousand-year-old space junk." Looking to Coyotek up front, he commented, "Do you think it was wise of Optimus to send us here?"

Before Coyotek could answer, all three of the Maximals’ sensor screens started beeping. Coyotek briefly laughed, replying to Tigatron’s query, "Heh…believe me. You’d be surprised how often Primal’s visions come true." Focusing on his own readings, he said aloud, "Short-range sensors detect a massive surge of energy building up a few clicks away. Unidentifiable source…unknown type."

"There might be more to this than meets the eye." Tigatron quoted.

"No kidding," Coyotek grinned, "Ironwood, get us there within visual range."

"Complying," Ironwood’s voice bellowed from around them. From far back, his rockets fumed with flames, thrusting the transformer forward.

In just a few minutes, something came into range. From a distance it appeared to be nothing more than a fairly large asteroid, but the closer they got the more and more surprises came up. Once within striking range, they found the asteroid to be nothing less than the head of Unicron.

"Ugh!" Coyotek moaned sickly, "This must be the ugly part of space…."

Ironwood slowly drifted closer and closer to the devastated remains, unaware of what lurked close-by. Slowly, directly behind the green and silver rocket, a pocket of space wobbled and warped unstably. Then, as it drew closer still, it solidified into DarkStar, her turrets and energy cannons aimed, locked, and loaded.

The following blast sent Ironwood tumbling….

"WHOA!" Coyotek yelled, suddenly jerked hard. He, Tigatron, and Depth Charge practically bounced around inside Ironwood’s cabin.

"Ironwood sensors…detect DarkStar! Damaged severely!" Ironwood blared, "Initiating…evacuation! Not safe…for Maximals…here!"

A hatch in the ceiling suddenly opened, and the seats beneath the three Maximals ejected from the floor, sending the three spiraling towards the head of Unicron itself. In mid-fall, each from away from their seats and crash-landed into the silvery surface forming the left cheek of Unicron’s face. Getting to their feet and looking up, they saw Ironwood, in his immense robotic form, fall straight at them.

"LOOK OUT!" Depth Charge hollered. Leaping like frogs in the low gravity, the Maximals jumped away as Ironwood’s body formed an impact crater.

Deep inside, a faint tremor betrayed the battle outside to the Decepticons nestled within. Holding Megatron in place with his eye beams still, Galvatron ordered, "Decepticons! Destroy the invaders outside! NOTHING must interfere…."

Starscream watched as he stood with power bonds around his arms, waist, and ankles as the others exited. "Wait! Are you REALLY going to let me stand here? You NEED me to form Oblivion!"

Vultor stopped for a moment, then glanced back at the pathetic Starscream with cold eyes. "Oblivion…is irrelevant. When our true master awakens…you and your allies will be crushed."

Outside, DarkStar transformed and landed atop Ironwood, her foot directly implanted on Ironwood’s chest. "So…guardian, it is you and I once more. How befitting…."

Coyotek, in beast mode, suddenly leapt on DarkStar’s head from behind. Wrapping his arms around her eyes, he said aloud, "Sorry! He’s not alone this time! How about a little game of blind man’s bluff?" At her feet, Tigatron and Depth Charge finished tying a long cable together. Ironwood rose to his feet as DarkStar tried to pry Coyotek off her face. A moment later, Coyotek bounded away like a happy grasshopper, allowing DarkStar to watch as Ironwood gave her a hard shove.

"AGGGH!" DarkStar screamed, tripping backwards and stumbling into the vacant eye of Unicron.

Coyotek, now on Ironwood’s shoulder, joking said, "No offense Ironwood, but…TIMBER! Heh heh!"

Barely a minute later, DarkStar reappeared again, this time with five allies. All of Oblivion’s component transformers, save Starscream, emerged alongside the Decepticon giant, their weapons deployed.

"Quick Tigatron, fry ‘em with a lightning bolt or something!" Depth Charge suggested.

Tigatron growled and concentrated. Energy surged through his chest and up his arms until it reached his fingertips. For a fleeting moment, gigawatts of power gathered as he raised his hands over his head. Then, in the next moment, the lightning bolt popped out with the force of static cling.

As tiny sparks sputtered from his fingers, Tigatron muttered, "My…my powers. They’ve…left me…."

"Slag! They must have shorted out!" Depth Charge exclaimed. A second later, the Maximals were fighting twice their number in Decepticons. While Ironwood again dealt with DarkStar, Depth Charge was swinging his trident at both Triceradon and Chibi-Bat while Afterburn and Nova gripped Tigatron tightly. They left Coyotek to deal with Vultor personally….

"All right, birdie-boy," Coyotek said, transforming to robot mode, "Time to show ya what flyn’s all about!"

As Coyotek pulled back his fist for a haymaker, Vultor reacted even quicker, spinning in full circle to smack the gold bot first with both wings and then his foot. Coyotek was flung backwards, his head left spinning as delusional birds shaped like a robotic vulture circled his head. "Gee," he weakly muttered, spitting out a silver tooth, "You’re good."

Vultor moved upon Coyotek with the reflexes of a panther, the serrated edge of his feather-sword in front of the Maximal’s face. "Maximal scum," he coldly muttered, "You dare to fight with me? Dare to oppose the warriors of Unicron? You’re even more pathetic than I imagined…."

Narrowing his eyes, Coyotek replied, "That remains…to be seen!" With a kick of his foot, Coyotek slid right between Vultor’s legs, arriving directly behind the Decepticon where he kneed him in the rear.

The key to Vector Sigma now floated before Galvatron, the tyrant of Decepticons smiling wickedly. "Yes. The final component." Casually, Galvatron let go of the exhausted Megatron, letting him fall to the floor. Under its own power, the key, the last remaining fragment of Vector Sigma, made its way to the Heart of Cybertron where it fit into the remaining slot of the conglomeration of Vector computer keys. As it became one with the others, a white glow enveloped the key, growing brighter and brighter as it drew power from both the Heart of Cybertron and the Vector computers themselves.

"It is working…as I surmised," Omegracon said with Galvatron’s lips.

Now merged into one great key, the Vector keys at last focused the unbridled power of the Vector computers into the inner structure of Unicron’s head. Watching from his fixed vantage point, Starscream gasped as the very metal walls around him started to glow, spreading out and around the amazed Decepticon. Fist the primary, central node began to glow, and then the other nodes, their connecting filaments reenergized for the first time in three centuries. Outside, the Maximals and Decepticons gave brief pause as the very surfaces they fought on began to shift, blast marks disappearing as broken fragments regenerated themselves.

Omegracon’s voice laughed loudly as he watched through Galvatron’s eyes as the Heart of Cybertron, the key, and the Vector computers revived his predecessor’s structure. "Now, for the final component," Omegracon muttered. Galvatron’s torso opened up, exposing his spark and a tube-shaped structure radiating Omegracon’s red light.

Painfully, Galvatron moaned and yelled, gasping as Omegracon ripped himself free of both the Decepticon’s mind and body. Tugging at the vital circuits and wires linked to it, the cylinder pulled without any concern to Galvatron’s well being. With a final jerk, it ripped free, flying toward the focus of power.

The cylinder flew directly into the beam of light emanating from the key. "Now, at long last," Omegracon declared, his cylinder cracking and breaking up, "Unicron shall become whole once more through me!" The cylinder blew apart completely, the dark red energy seeping into the key and crystal. Omegracon’s laughter echoed from all around as his red energy spread upwards, seeping into Unicron himself.

Minutes later, the red waves of energy changed, becoming an intense green. Omegracon’s laughter faded out, a deeper voice filling its place as a new force came into being.

Weakened, his body ravaged, Galvatron used his arm cannon as a crutch, his arm covering over his exposed torso plate. "O-Omegracon!" he managed to yell, "You…you used me!"

The laughter around the Decepticon deepened. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Fool! I used you because I knew you could be used. Your own power and greed proved useful tools in my rebirth. Now…Omegracon is part of me once again, the vital spark of my existence restored to me."

Galvatron yelled loudly and fired upon the Vector computer, hoping to destroy the source of the entity’s power. A red aura of energy intensified around the assembled conglomeration, Galvatron’s blast harmlessly deflected away.

The laughter filled the chamber once again. "You always were a fool, Galvatron…and yet this is befitting of you. So long ago you betrayed me…and now, I betrayed you. Now…nothing can stand in the way. Let it be known that no one can stand before the might…of Unicron."

While Galvatron stood in disbelief, the others outside of Unicron felt a sudden surge of movement. At the back of Unicron’s head, four relatively small thrusters gave off little bursts of power, adjusting the pitch and tilt of Unicron’s orientation. Then, with a surge of speed, Unicron flew out towards a very specific star.

Inside, Shockwave came to, his head still sore from the beating Megatron’s foot gave him. Looking about in bewilderment, he muttered, "What has happened? What is going on here?"

A tremor went through Unicron’s structure as his voice rumbled. "My minions, come to me once more. Hold these Decepticons with your strength that flows from me." In a heartbeat, Vultor and the other Decepticons, except DarkStar, ceased their battle and fled back inside.

"Hey!" Depth Charge yelled, "No one turns tail on this fighting fish!" Eager to fight, the Maximal flew after them. Amazingly, the eye of Unicron restored itself, the jagged glass shards at the edges growing and filling out until the whole eye was covered over by a green lens. Depth Charge landed with an "Oomph!", bouncing off the thick, slippery surface until he came to the edge of Unicron’s eyelid.

The deep green pupil of Unicron’s eye arched down, staring at Depth Charge and his two companions. "Away…germs." Unicron blared, a huge green blast knocking the three Maximals away.

They landed a good distance away, near Unicron’s chin to be exact. Groaning weakly, Tigatron muttered, "This is bad…very bad."

"Very bad indeed! We’ve gotta warn the Maximals before Unicron makes lunch of both Cybertron and Earth!" Depth Charge exclaimed.

"Let’s hope my hyper-com-link can make the connection," Coyotek muttered, clicking on a button in his arm. A small antenna popped out of his elbow, pointing in the direction of Earth. "Mayday! Mayday! This is Coyotek calln’ from the slaggn’ goatee of Unicron! Repeat…mayday!"

Light years away, on a quaint little blue planet, Optimus and Botanica walked through one of the other hangers, Primal muttering aloud, "Where did RedStreak get to?"

Gold Blade rushed before the two, panting after a long sprint. "Opt-Optimus…I…found that one of the…star hoppers…has been taken…."

"RedStreak," Primal said, realizing where the fox-bot had gotten to.

"But there’s…something else," Gold Blade managed to say as well, "Something…on the…long-range…hyper-com-link channel. It’s urgent!"

"What is it?" Botanica asked, following Gold Blade with Optimus Primal to a large console. Gold Blade pressed a few buttons, reactivating the com-link.

Coyotek’s voice blared over the airwaves, cutting through the static with screams of warning. "Mayday! Mayday! Hello, hello Earth!" Coyotek yelled, still unaware if he made contact.

Primal stepped up and activated the intercom. "Coyotek, this is Primal, just barely reading you. What’s the situation?" Optimus Primal asked.

"The worst imaginable!" Coyotek’s garbled voice replied, "Unicron’s been reactivated!"

Primal, Gold Blade, and Botanica all let out a gasp, unable to believe it. "Please tell me this is a joke, Coyotek!" Optimus said into the console.

Standing on the surface of Unicron’s face, Coyotek spoke into his com-link. "I wish! We’re all standing on the guy’s chin right now, and right now Unicron’s headed in your direction at about a billion times the speed of light; you can confirm all this with your sensors!"

Primal accessed the deep space satellite network in Earth orbit to check. Sure enough, a huge blip was moving rapidly toward Earth and Cybertron with nothing to stand in its way. His blue eyes widening, Optimus said, "By the Matrix…you’re right! If Unicron maintains his current speed, he’ll be here in less than fifteen cycles!"

"Yeah," Coyotek added, "And there’s a pale blue dot with Unicron’s blue plate special on it…."

Suddenly, Coyotek’s signal became heavily distorted, his com-link fading out completely. "Coyotek! Coyotek!" Primal yelled into the communications console, "Slag! This is hardly the time!"

"Looks like the slag has hit the fan," Gold Blade surmised.

"Maybe, but we’ve got to survive this, for the sake of Cybertron and the safety of the Earth," Primal told the young plant-bot, "You and Botanica alert the Council of Elders and the United Nations; we’re going to have to come up with some kind of defense against Unicron himself."

"What about you, Optimus?" Botanica politely asked.

Optimus turned and replied, "I’m getting Scaleblade and Dinobot. A foxhunt is about to begin…."

Cruising just above the Earth’s upper atmosphere in low orbit, RedStreak piloted his ‘borrowed’ star hopper along…searching for something he suspected to exist. A beep went off on his console, the face of Primal appearing on it.

"RedStreak!" his commander shouted, "Cut your engines and return to New Cybertron now!"

"No can do, Primal." RedStreak told him, deactivating the com-system. Returning his gaze ahead, the Maximal-human hybrid mumbled to himself, "I’ve got a matrix to find…assuming that vision was true."

A beep went off from his scanning array. A tiny blip appeared dead ahead in his path, and upon magnification it revealed itself to be the matrix of leadership…left floating in space since the last encounter with Omegracon. "Yes!" RedStreak cheered, "I knew it!" Less than a nano-click later however, his scanners registers two additional blips, this time coming from behind him. "Oh slag! Primal! Not now…."

Flying with his wings, Optimus Primal flew after RedStreak with Scaleblade beside him in beast mode. In turn, the she-dragon carried Dinobot in her claws. Via his com-link, Dinobot snarled, "Uggggh! This form of transport is degrading! We should have taken a transport pod!"

"Oh?" Scaleblade said, eyeing the raptor, "And would you prefer to fly yourself?"

"No time," Optimus said to them, "Every Maximal ship is needed to strengthen the fleet! We’ll need all our firepower to defeat Unicron…once, and for all." Clicking on his com-link, Primal spoke to his internal computer, "Computer, remote access propulsion system of star hopper Prime, access code: blue, tango, five, critter-x. Optimus Primal override…."

As the Autobot matrix came closer and closer, RedStreak’s ship suddenly started to power down. As the lights dimmed, RedStreak tried to regain control, but nothing worked, much to his distress. "Star hopper Prime propulsion systems deactivating. All primary systems offline," the computer beeped.

RedStreak slammed a fist into the controls, denting them. "Slag!"

A hand rested upon the fox-bot’s shoulder. RedStreak jerked away, turning around in his seat to discover three Maximals standing directly behind him with frowns on their faces. Optimus Primal looked down upon RedStreak and asked, "Why did you do this? I want to know that before I’m forced to turn you in for insubordination, RedStreak. Why?"

RedStreak moaned regrettably. "Oh! I did this because I had a vision, like you always do!"

Scaleblade laughed. "You? A vision? Ha! What are you, the Oracle now?"

"Look Primal," RedStreak tried to tell him, "I saw the matrix…the matrix of leadership! I followed my instinct up here…and I nearly recovered it before…."

High above Earth, something massive shook space itself as it approached. Half a billion kilometers away, near the planet Jupiter, Unicron’s head flew by, directing himself towards the Earth and its silvery moon, hanging like a pair of prized jewel just waiting to be claimed. All too soon, he came into view over the home world of humanity like a horned demon, the tentacle-like wires streaming from the base of his neck undulating.

Without warning, the star hopper and the four Maximals aboard were jerked hard. As they tumbled around inside, one of Unicron’s stringy cables wrapped itself around the floating craft, pulling it in toward Unicron’s waiting mouth.

As Primal and the others watched in horror as Unicron’s jaws widened, a com-link came through to Optimus Primal. "Optimus, this is Botanica! The Earth-Maximal fleet is ready! We need but your command to launch!" A second later, the cable tightened like the coils of a python, the console crushing as the star hopper’s cabin was squeezed inwards. Rushing to the back end, Dinobot lead the way, busting open the airlock with his ax. All four jumped out just as the ship was taken into Unicron’s mouth.

Optimus and Scaleblade powered up their built-in rocket engines and took off, Scaleblade swooping around to pick up Dinobot and RedStreak in her hands. Primal paused for a moment, yelling to his companions, "Go! Get word to the fleet we need to launch! I…." Lashing out like a giant whip, another of Unicron’s frayed wires wrapped around Optimus Primal himself. He howled in pain as the giant took him. "GO!" he yelled.

Scaleblade quickly took off with two Maximals in tow, leaving Optimus Primal to Unicron himself. Held tight by the giant’s coils, Primal found himself before the face of Unicron, his eerie green eyes focusing upon him menacingly.

"So…at long last I behold the great warrior, Optimus Primal, the self-proclaimed leader of the Maximals and heir to the Oracle," Unicron uttered in his deep voice, "You are an insignificant being, created by an insignificant being. Truly…you are weak."

Grunting as the coils tightened more and more, Primal looked Unicron in the face. "We…will fight you…just like the Autobots before us!"

Unicron gazed back at Primal with a bland look. "Brave words," he said, "But I’ve heard them before…from thousands of races across thousands of worlds. You are no different from them."

Narrowing his eyes at the titanic monster, Optimus said aloud, "Don’t count on it! We destroyed you before…."

"But never again," Unicron muttered, "Before it was the matrix that destroyed me…but now, your precious matrix is lost…empty…powerless. There is nothing that can stop me now."

A flash of silver and violet raced between Unicron and Primal. Like a giant arrow, it severed the wire binding Optimus Primal, its coils dropping away from the Maximal. Optimus Primal looked again, and saw a corkscrew-shaped vessel flying towards him. "Maral!" he cried out joyfully.

Inside, Maral and her minions were at the controls, steering the ship towards the floating transformer. "Target that Maximal and bring him aboard!" the Quintesson mistress commanded. A hatch on the ship opened, swallowing Optimus Primal inside before sealing itself.

Unicron roared angrily, green flares escaping from his mouth. "INTERLOPPERS! DEFILERS! ORGANIC GERMS!" Unicron belched out a column of green fire, blowing it at the escaping Quintesson vessel.

The flame broadly visible across all her monitors, Maral yelled, "All shields to maximum! Get us out of here!" The ship’s shields went up, Unicron’s flames diverted into two rivers of plasma. Speedily, the same ship sped off, Unicron’s cables slipping by, vainly trying to trap it.

"Maral!" Optimus exclaimed as he walked onto her bridge, "You returned! But…why?"

Sparing a moment to focus her attention on the Maximal, Maral said from her throne, "This is one battle we Quintessons can not afford to stand by and idly watch. My fleet has arrived in full force to aid you in stopping the beast called Unicron."

Smiling at her, Optimus commented, "Your timing couldn’t be more perfect…but can you open a com-link to Earth? We need to launch our own fleet to engage Unicron."

Maral smiled back, stretching out a tentacle to a crystalline control panel. Clicking on a single square button, she replied, "Consider it done."

Mere minutes later, in high orbit above the Earth, over a thousand ships had gathered in force, all set on a trajectory to Unicron. Golden Maximal fighters with plasma cannons flew beside human shuttles with conventional missiles, one in arms together. Communications between the united forces were busy, one set of transmissions blaring, "Tango-one-Charlie-alpha-niner…we are good to go! Prepare to initiate attack maneuver: Indy-heat one!"

All at once, dozens of the relatively tiny fighters bombed Unicron. Blast marks and craters pitted the face of Unicron, but were little more than a mosquito bite to the tremendous entity. In the distance, a third fleet had collected together, one of thousands of Quintesson ships. Opening a link to her fleet, Maral herself ordered, "Imperial Fleet, engage Unicron under attack pattern Lor-Gavvon, psi, prime! In memory of Quinton!" En masse, the entirety of the Quintesson feet joined the fray.

In the heat of the battle, numerous passes were made, some ships destroyed but most flying away by the skin of their teeth. A Maximal fighter with the title Optimus ’75 came out of a pass, but was nabbed by a metallic tentacle. Just as the ship was squeezed, a Quintesson craft literally severed the tentacle with its drill-like hull as the human shuttle Spaceman Bill provided cover fire. All three ships flew off together.

Finding themselves in an explosive battlefield, Coyotek, Depth Charge, and Tigatron quickly realized this wasn’t a safe place. "Perhaps it would be wise to leave this place!" Tigatron promptly suggested.

Suddenly, dropping down from above, RedStreak landed. "I couldn’t agree more," said the fox-bot. Scaleblade and Dinobot also landed in turn, all six of the Maximals clustered close together.

Watching from afar, they saw a bomb carve out a crater nearly a mile wide. However, as quickly as it formed, metal plating emerged from below as singed plates healed themselves, the skin of Unicron healing itself without a trace of damage.

"By the Pit, this battle won’t succeed," Dinobot said, "Unicron can restore himself despite the damage! He-He-He’s…invincible!"

"Maybe, but right now we have a planet to save from total destruction!" Coyotek told him, "And Ultra Maximus is our best chance right now!"

"Right," the others all said at once. Leaping into the black sky at once, the six of them jumped free of Unicron’s gravity. Once a good distance away, they started to transform: Coyotek and RedStreak merging into the torso, Scaleblade and Tigatron into the arms, and Dinobot and Depth Charge into the legs. In their place arose, once more, Ultra Maximus.

Strangely, Ultra Maximus sighed weakly. Normally, upon merging, the great warrior was fully energized and online, more powerful than believable. Instead, he was drained. "Power...low. Don’t understand…" he managed to say exhaustively, "But…I must!" Relentless as the tide, Ultra Maximus flew towards Unicron.

All too quickly, Ultra Maximus was hit by something unexpected. Ramming him from the side, DarkStar flung the giant warrior with all her strength. Ultra Maximus was sent spiraling backwards, DarkStar still on his tail.

"So, the would-be hero has arrived? Ha!" DarkStar laughed. Raising up her right arm, she fired a strong blast at Ultra Maximus, tearing a chunk of his wing away. "You shall not pass without defeating me first! And I…am far more powerful than you, hero!"

Ultra Maximus brought out his sword, but his reflexes were too slow to make much use of it. Using her foot, DarkStar kicked it away, sending it hurtling away uselessly. "You…may be…more powerful, Decepticon," Maximus managed to say, "But I must…stop…Unicron!"

DarkStar, like a cat with her prey, shoved the Maximal away with a laugh. "Ha! Ha! Fool! I am DarkStar! No one survives a confrontation with me…the most powerful of all the Decepticons ever!"

"No one," another voice boomed, "Except…me!" A ravaged, battle-worn Ironwood appeared, hovering before Ultra Maximus and the dreaded DarkStar. Deploying his numerous weapons, the guardian said, "Ironwood…protects! Ironwood…save…friends!" As he readied his weapons, a frayed wire sparked, the weapons humming as they powered down.

DarkStar grinned evilly. "Your weapons are dead, as will you be, guardian! I’ll destroy you both with but a twitch of my…."

Ironwood’s eyes glowing bright blue, the guardian yelled "NEVER!" Putting all his energy into his thrusters, the giant flew at DarkStar, grabbing her with his massive arms and holding her tightly. Ultra Maximus, too weak to even try to peruse, could only watch as Ironwood vanished.

The brilliant, luminous sun came into range, Ironwood dragging DarkStar towards it. Already penetrating the outer layers of its flaming atmosphere, their armor began to burn. "Agh! Fool! You’ll destroy us both!" DarkStar shouted at her nemesis.

Ironwood simply tilted his head and stared at DarkStar for a minute. "Ironwood…guardian. Ironwood…protect…friends! Ironwood…stop...DarkStar!"

Still blazing on, Ironwood and DarkStar vanished into the sea of gas and flame that was the surface of Earth’s sun. A moment later, a giant green and purple solar flare exploded out, the after images of an anguished DarkStar and a smiling, peaceful Ironwood left in the fading vapors.

Staring at the yellow sun so far away, Ultra Maximus saw Ironwood’s ultimate sacrifice. "Ironwood…saved me," he said. Then, turning toward the head of Unicron, where the battle raged, Ultra Maximus next asked himself, "But who will save…us?"

Deep inside Unicron, the Decepticons found themselves captured and betrayed by the devourer of worlds. Their eyes glowing a deep red, Vultor, Triceradon, Nova, Chibi-Bat, and Afterburn held captive Shockwave, Starscream, Megatron, and Galvatron.

Galvatron, forcibly held by Nova, yelled, "I’ve been betrayed!"

Grunting, Megatron in turn shouted to Galvatron, "You fool! Don’t you see this is what I was trying to prevent? How could you betray both Decepticon and Predacon to the one who will destroy us all?!?"

His anger boiling over, Galvatron snarled, "I…will NOT…BE INSULTED…BY THE ONE WHO HAS STOLEN MY RIGHTFUL NAME!" Roaring angrily, Galvatron broke free from Nova, throwing the possessed Decepticon into a wall. He quickly shoved Triceradon from Megatron, grabbing the Predacon by the neck himself.

As a drama began to unfold deep within Unicron himself, outside the same titan grew annoyed and weary of the gnat-like ships buzzing about his head. "Be gone, pestering insects!" Unicron shouted, his eyes blasting out twin beams of light. With one massive blow, the combined Maximal, Quintesson, and human fleets were thrown away, scattered in a million different directions.

Unicron’s evil face rotated about, his eyes setting sight on the blue world before him. "Before I destroy the blast world of Cybertron, this world shall be consumed first…as a preview of Cybertron’s own destruction!"

Ultra Maximus watched as Unicron slowly encroached upon Earth itself, his shadow growing larger and larger over it. All around the fleets were helpless and adrift, Ultra Maximus himself too weak to offer much resistance.

"No…I…I am…to weak to do this. If only I had the energy of the matrix I might, but now…I am too weak to do this!" Unicron’s shadow falling upon him, Ultra Maximus clenched his fists and looked at the face of the monster himself. "But…I must…no matter what!"

Ultra Maximus powered up his thrusters, moving against Unicron; the giant himself ignored Ultra Maximus, unconcerned with small, insignificant things. Holding up a hand, Maximus shouted, hoping to draw the fiend’s attention, "Halt! You shall not pass…monster!"

Unicron’s voice blasted Ultra Maximus back, the Maximal finding himself between Earth and Unicron. "Bah," Unicron blared at the warrior, "Be gone or be destroyed, you have no power over me…."

Ultra Maximus clenched his teeth and growled, but knew Unicron’s words to be true. He’s right…but if I only had the power, Ultra Maximus thought. A familiar vision returned to the warrior, RedStreak’s vision…as he recalled. The vision of Optimus Prime opening the matrix to cure a plague-ridden world. The matrix light seeped out and spread over the world, its light penetrating all that lived….

On Earth itself, in a remote, untouched tropical forest, an odd breeze started up. The trees and plants began to quiver…something driving them to move. Then…a light, a very pale, but nonetheless visible light, came from them. The light spread out, first from the forest and then to the mountains at the forest’s edge. The light seemed to swirl about the tallest peak, an enigmatic energy collecting together, condensing, until….

A single ray of light shot out from a point on the Earth, flying up towards Unicron himself. At first it seemed to be coming for him, but it curved slightly, hitting Ultra Maximus square in the back. The warrior gasped, at first in pain, but then in disbelief. A fresh surge of energy was flowing through him, collecting in him. He reopened his eyes, a white glow exiting from them. As a white aura of light enveloped him, Ultra Maximus felt compelled to use this energy, direct it. He held up his hands and grunted…acting as if he was trying to move something.

Not far from the Earth, its tranquil moon hovered in its place, unaffected by the events that passed. Strangely, a ring of pale light enveloped it, gripping it tightly. Then, without explanation or force, the Earth’s moon shifted its position, moving out in a totally different path.

Unicron laughed, eyeing the Earth with his hungry mouth wide open. "At long last, the time has come for Unicron to feed once again!" Then, at nearly the last instant, something drew the titan’s attention from his soon-to-be-meal…a shimmering of pale moonlight.

"WHAT?!?"

Roughly fifty trillion tons of gray rock came at Unicron, slamming into him with unbelievable force. Unicron was blasted away, one of his horns crumbling to bits as he was sent spiraling away uncontrollably. Following the same path DarkStar and Ironwood had taken; Unicron was flung towards the Earth’s sun.

In vain, Unicron screamed, "NO! YOU CAN NOT DESTROY…MY…DESTINY!"

As the sun’s heat began to melt away Unicron’s external structure, deep within Galvatron and Megatron wrestled against one another, their arms and eyes locked with each other. Starscream looked around, watching as Unicron’s very framework began to collapse.

"Scrap this! I’m out of this place!" the traitorous Decepticon said. Slamming hard into a wall, Starscream broke the power bonds holding him. Before Vultor could snatch him again, Starscream transformed and blasted through the top of Unicron’s head, flying free just as the head of Unicron entered the sun’s corona.

"Starscream you traitor!" Shockwave yelled. Breaking away from Triceradon and Chibi-Bat, Shockwave glanced at his leader, Galvatron, still fighting Megatron. "Galvatron! We must leave, now!" When his leader refused to leave, Shockwave was forced to make a hard decision. After hesitating for a long minute, he jumped into the air and flew away.

Still fighting, even as their surroundings fell apart and melted, Galvatron and Megatron refused to end it. Though both were badly damaged, their will was unmoving. Then, as the final minute came to a close, their sparks, filled with intense rage…came together.

From a vantage point a hundred thousand kilometers above the sun’s surface, Shockwave paused with Starscream to watch Unicron’s head fall. A few seconds later the sun itself heaved from the impact, a surge of million-degree plasma blasting out from it and blowing the two Decepticons deeper into space. There they waited….

Shockwave turned to Starscream, yelling, "You traitor! Our master and leader is now obliterated! Now we have NOTHING left!"

"Don’t cry to me about it, Shockwave!" Starscream told him, holding up his arm blaster to keep Shockwave at bay, "I never needed that deranged maniac to give me orders! Now with Galvatron out of the way, there will be a definite change in power…."

On the surface of the sun, waves of ionized matter moved like waves on an ocean, flares of all sizing erupting as was natural of a body as volatile as a star. Strangely, something moved in the same area Unicron perished. Against the yellow and orange streams of plasma highlighting the landscape, something dark…something solid, came out of the fiery soup. A single figure flew out, highlighted in a gray silver color…with the violet emblem of the Decepticons on his chest.

Shockwave and Starscream turned as they saw a shadow momentarily plot out the bright sun. Starscream cupped his eyes and looked out, as did Shockwave. He gasped, nearly swallowing his cobalt tongue. "No! It…it couldn’t be!"

Shockwave was equally astonished. "You’re right Starscream…but…it is! It’s…it’s…."

The one…the only…the original…Megatron…had emerged.