In the darkest corner of space, the Maximals faced an old and unexpected enemy. Just moments after the Thetos vanished into transwarp space, Megatron appeared, as twisted and tormented as ever. The sight of the evil Predacon was enough to make them shudder.

Megatron took a step forward, his heavy foot leaving large footprints in the metal flooring. His metal components shifted and swayed as he walked toward them. Quite noticeably, they saw his golden arm cannon glitter menacingly as he came closer. Then, when his shadow fell before the four cowering Maximals, he stopped dead in his tracks, staring at them apathetically.

Coyotek was as frightened as the rest, but wouldn’t stand for this. He transformed, glowing a beautiful yellow-white as his components shifted to robot mode. "All right Megatron!" he said, retrieving a small ray gun attached to his back, "That’s far enough!" Megatron took a step towards Coyotek. Clicking the weapon, Coyotek yelled to him, "I said that’s far enough!"

With a swoop of his left arm, Megatron knocked the weapon from Coyotek’s hand, sending it flying out the hole behind him leading to deep space. Coyotek gasped, then looked into the tyrant’s red eyes. As he stood there, mesmerized, Megatron hit the Maximal bluntly with his right arm, the cannon physically impacting his skull. It sent Coyotek to the ground, barely conscious.

Megatron loomed over the other three, raising up his cannon to them. Gold Blade and RazorLeaf were uncertain what to do, Megatron dominating them completely. RedStreak was not. He stepped before RazorLeaf and Gold Blade, ready to protect them.

RedStreak, standing directly before Megatron, said to his face, "Leave my friends alone."

"RedStreak, are you insane?" blurted out Gold Blade.

The fox-bot, with eyes still on Megatron, answered, "No. He wouldn’t dare to attack me." RedStreak’s hands went to his chest, pulling apart his torso plate. As it opened, a bright white light shined out. RedStreak’s spark pulsed vibrantly, his human heart beating strongly with it.

Megatron groaned, stepping back in the brilliance of the light. "I possess the spark of light," RedStreak said to Gold Blade and RazorLeaf, "It pulses with the power of the Matrix itself. Megatron’s dark spark wouldn’t dare to strike against it...."

Megatron gave a low growl. "No... I would not," he said softly, a certain contempt in his voice, "Darkness can not exist without the light no more than a shadow could...RedStreak."

Holding the light of his spark against Megatron, RedStreak spoke to the Predacon in frank terms. "What do you want from us, Megatron? And what are you doing here?" RedStreak demanded to know.

"Agh!" The light burned at Megatron’s black body, the fires of RedStreak’s heart growing brighter and brighter. "Do you think I am naive? Unaware of the Quintessons invading our world?" he hollered, "Do you think I am so blind and stubborn not to see the danger?"

RedStreak watched Megatron a while longer, seeing him writhe in the light like a vampire standing in the sun. He thought for a moment, contemplating things. It was then that RedStreak sensed something. After a moment of indecision, RedStreak closed his torso plate, sealing in the light of his spark.

As Megatron rose up, RazorLeaf turned to RedStreak, blaring at him, "Are you insane? He’s a Predacon! He’ll destroy us! Turn that light of yours back on before he...."

"No," interrupted RedStreak, "He intends no harm to us. Predacon he may be...but his path is parallel with our own this time...."

A grin slowly appeared on Megatron’s face. "Your spark senses the truth, does it not?" Putting a hand on RedStreak’s shoulder, he said to the Maximal, "Optimus has taught you well. You’re now adept at sensing any spark’s true intentions...their true alliance...."

"Yours I sense particularly well, Megatron," RedStreak said as he glared at the dark Predacon.

"Our sparks are intertwined, without a doubt," quoted Megatron, "Just as I am with Optimus. Poetic irony that the spark of light is linked with the spark of darkness, is it not?"

"Enough of this slag," RazorLeaf butted in, "Why are you here Megatron? Another truce with us Maximals, no doubt?"

"An alliance, Maximal, not a truce," Megatron stated, "And you need my help as much as I need yours...." He then reached up, snapping off a hunk of iron piping. "Unless you intend to fly home in this wreck...."

"An alliance with a Predacon?" said Gold Blade, "You’ve gotta be kidding me...."

RedStreak quickly replied, "Agreed...Megatron. There is no other alternative."

"WHAT?" blurted out both Gold Blade and RazorLeaf.

RedStreak immediately took charge, explaining to the two plant-bots that they needed Megatron badly. Coyotek needed to be repaired, and they all needed to find a way to Optimus and the others. "Optimus would agree with me were he here...I know it." firmly stated RedStreak.

"As do I.," said Megatron. He transformed, assuming his flight mode. Hovering outside the blasted hole, he offered the Maximals a trip away from this cursed place. Cautiously, RazorLeaf stepped on, hoping he wouldn’t regret this.

With all four Maximals riding atop him, Megatron fired up his rockets, soaring away from the floating debris near the transwarp conduit. He steered towards a green, brilliant star not far from the Earth, towards the reformatted planet of Cybertron.

"Well...at least we’re heading home," said Gold Blade.

RazorLeaf, looking over Megatron’s left wing, noticed something odd. The stars and asteroids passing below them seemed to curve in their path instead of going in a straight line. "We’re not heading for Cybertron. He’s changing course!" he yelled. RazorLeaf quickly pulled out one of his saw-like leaf blades and put it to Megatron’s hull. "All right, Megs! What kind of fools do you think we are?"

In response, Megatron replied, "And do you think I’d be foolish enough to travel directly to Cybertron? Especially with a pack of rebel Maximals with me? Ha! They’d arrest me just as surely they would you...."

"He’s right." RedStreak supported the Predacon, "Right now, Cybertron isn’t exactly the friendliest spot in the galaxy for us, not with the council’s current state of mind towards our ‘rebellion’ as they put it."

"There where the heck are we heading?" asked RazorLeaf.

"The only true safe haven from you Maximals," said Megatron, "My hidden staging grounds on Cy-Mos...."

"The Predacon moon?" exclaimed Gold Blade, "You’ve got to be kidding me!"

With or without the unified consent of the Maximals, Megatron shifted course for the small metallic sphere hovering over Cybertron’s skies. From afar, Cy-Mos was a very forbidding place - a dead, charred world as twisted as any sentient being’s worst nightmare. As Megatron brought them all closer, the nightmare only seemed to worsen....

They flew past several jagged canyons and mesas before they came upon the great marking in the shape of the Decepticon symbol. Megatron swung low over it, then stopped to hover over one of the two eyes. Slowly, he took them all into the darkness within it, into a secret place.

Inside, Megatron transformed back to robot mode and guided them through his new lair. All around them were ancient computers and giant tools once used by the Decepticons centuries ago. Most of them were deactivated, long since rendered antique. However, a few were still active, some retrofitted with Predacon systems even. It was more than obvious that Megatron had been making use of this ancient chamber for quite some time.

Coyotek, limping along, was somewhat awe-struck by this place. "Whoa...this is one seriously huge place you have for rent Megs," he half-joked.

Megatron, eyes facing forward, said to Maximals in a drone voice, "These chambers were once the testing facilities of the Decepticons eons ago. I aquired this place many stellar cycles ago...long before any of you were forged, let alone alive."

RazorLeaf huffed, "Yeah...and I bet your Decepticon ancestors would be pround of what you’ve done to the place."

The Predacon stopped cold and immediately faced the Maximal. Growling, he sternly asked the Maximal, "And what, pray tell, do you mean by that?"

RazorLeaf didn’t back down. "Oh don’t try misleading me, Megatron. I’ve read all your files and know your schemes. I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised at what you’re really putting this place to use for!" he daringly said to the Predacon.

Megatron continued to snarl, his upper lip curling to expose his elongated fangs. He raised up his left arm, two rockets popping out of his wrist, aimed at RazorLeaf’s face. Just as quickly, RazorLeaf held out three green ninja stars, razor sharp and ready to be flung at a moment’s notice.

RedStreak stepped in between the two, yelling, "That’s enough!" He grabbed RazorLeaf’s hand, forcing him to drop the stars. When he turned to Megatron, his chest plate reopened, exposing his bright spark before him. Megatron’s eyes flinched in the light as he stepped back. Both transformers stepped down, putting away their weapons.

"I swear...when will you people cooperate?" RedStreak muttered.

Megatron, still growling, warned RedSteak, "Don’t think you hold a trump card over me, Maximal!" His rockets clicked, sliding back into his arm. "You can’t shield your arrogant little friends forever...." He turned around and headed further down the hall, slowly disappearing in the dark.

As RedStreak watched over Megatron, RazorLeaf loudly said, "What’s with you protecting the Pred all of a sudden? The guy’s pure evil! You should know that...mister ‘light of the Matrix!’"

Turning to RazorLeaf and his friends, RedStreak commented, "I’m just trying to keep things cool here. Megatron would of ripped you in two if it weren’t for me! What’s with you provoking him like that?"

RazorLeaf rolled his eyes. "Oh for crying out loud! Megatron’s history says it all! He stole the golden disks, broke the Pax Cybertronia treaty, tried to assassinate Optimus Prime while in stasis lock, decimated Cybertron in the Techno-Organic War, and even tried to kill you! What more must I say?"

"He’s not quite the same Predacon he was." RedStreak tried to explain, "I’m not supporting what he did, but I fully believe he has no intention of starting another war! My..." Looking at his chest, feeling the drumming of his unique spark, he added, "My heart tells me so...."

Raising up a fist to his own chest, RazorLeaf said, "Well my gut instincts tell me not to give the guy more than a nano-click! Maybe you should pay more attention to your Maximal logic circuits instead of your human heart!"

RedStreak paused, his eyes shutting for a moment. The beginnings of a sour face began to form, but then he turned away, following Megatron down the dark halls.

Coyotek, supported by Gold Blade, in turn followed RedStreak. As they passed RazorLeaf, they both gave him scornful grimaces. "Do you have any idea how much you just hurt him?" said Gold Blade.

"No sane Maximal would trust a Pred," stated RazorLeaf, "It’s a proven fact!"

"You seem almost as cold as Megatron, RazorLeaf," Coyotek told him.

RazorLeaf sighed, not believing this. Eventually, he caught up with the group at the end of the tunnel. A giant set of doors, at least a hundred feet tall, marked with the Decepticon symbol, loomed over them. Megatron stood before them, looking up at a panel high on the wall. He stretched out his arms, reaching out to a handprint-scanner. Just barely tall enough to reach it, Megatron put his hand against it. A light passed behind his palm, analyzing it.

A loud beep came from the panel, a computer voice saying, "Identification confirmed. Access to hanger granted." The doors cracked open, the mechanical groans of their motors echoing in the vast halls.

Behind the doors, a vast, gray space was unveiled before their eyes. Blue lights switched on in a great circle on the ceiling, illuminating the entire space in a surreal glow. Scattered all about were several ships, some small, a few large, all bearing the Decepticon symbol on their wings and tails.

Hastily marching in, Megatron said, "Be quick, Maximals. If there is any hope of saving precious Optimus Primal, we must work fast...."

Quickly, the Maximals followed. The hanger doors quickly sealed behind them, trapping them inside. As RedStreak and Gold Blade helped Coyotek along, RazorLeaf stopped to check out all the various derelict spacecraft dominating the hanger.

"Scout ships...fighters...interceptors...star jumpers. Heh!" he laughed, "If you have any intention of creating your own fleet Megatron, the garbage here isn’t much of a start...."

"Those ancient ships are merely rusty shells rotting in this place. I salvaged their functional components to construct my laboratory and... other useful things." Megatron said.

"What do you mean by...other...useful things?" questioned Gold Blade.

Megatron hit a button on a small console. Klaxons began going off, the lights turning red. At the center of the room, a circular portal opened in the floor. Cold gas began hissing, fog forming. Something dark floated up from below, something dark and very large as well. When the fog dissipated, there laid before them a large battle cruiser, prepped and ready.

"What the slaggn’...." was all RazorLeaf could say.

Megatron proudly presented his latest project. "This, my Maximal allies, is the culmination of six years of solid work...all with my bare hands. The DarkStar...an almost perfect replica of my own battleship from my glory days...."

RazorLeaf, eager to provoke Megatron again, bluntly said, "You mean an almost perfect replica of the battleship you stole and used in the Beast Wars, eh Megs?"

"Yes...it is." Clicking on another set of controls on the console, he remote accessed the DarkStar. On one of the wings, a row of blaster popped out, loading and taking aim at RazorLeaf. "Of course with a few new improvements...."

RedStreak eyed Megatron, clearing his throat and tapping on his check plate. Megatron narrowed his eyes at him before deactivating the weapons. RedStreak then looked to RazorLeaf and said, "That’s another you owe me...."

Gold Blade, more concerned about the important issues, inquired why the ship was needed. "How’s this going to help us save Primal, Botanica, and Rattrap?"

The Predacon smiled and waved his index finger. "Oh...it can’t do that just yet." Megatron said, "My ship may have weapons, sensors, and shields, but against the Quintessons, that’s nothing. One final component is needed to make the DarkStar battle ready."

A hatch opened on the side of the ship, banging the floor hard. Megatron went up the steps, heading inside. "Follow me, I shall show precisely what I need...." he said.

RedStreak started to march in, but RazorLeaf grabbed him by the shoulder. "I don’t like this at all, Red," he said, "Megatron with a whole new battleship, new weapons, new plans...I don’t like at all."

"We can only trust him..." RedStreak said.

"Exactly my point."

RedStreak entered inside, followed by Gold Blade and Coyotek. As they entered a modest-sized chamber, pneumatic pumps switched on. Behind them, a large cannon descended from the ceiling. A targeting ray aimed at RedStreak’s back. As the Maximal turned about, it targeted his head.

Megatron just smiled.

A green light fired, passing through RedStreak and Gold Blade. They looked at their hands, finding them unharmed along with the rest of their bodies. Stepping out of the light, the rays focused, becoming a simple hologram, much to everyone’s surprise. A boxy device was projected, the component Megatron required.

"This device is a prototype cloaking device...developed by Maximal scientists." Megatron began to explain, "Its quantum and multiphasic energy fields can render a vessel and its occupants completely undetectable. If we are to carry out a successful search for Optimus and his companions without the Quintessons locating us, this device is required."

"A cloaking device? You’ve got to be kidding me." said Coyotek.

"No joke, my good canine. A secret project...hidden in a restricted complex known only as Area Two-Sixteen." Megatron told them.

"So let me get this straight," RedStreak summarized, "You want us to help you sneak into a highly-guarded, Maximal research complex, and steal a cloaking device that will make your ship undetectable by any form of sensor?"

Smiling quaintly, Megatron answered, "Yes. That is all I ask."

RedStreak thought for a moment. With the eyes of his fellow Maximals upon him, as well as those of Megatron, he had to think of something good to please both. "Very well, Megatron," finally said RedStreak, "We will obtain the cloaking device - but under three conditions...."

"Name them, and I shall comply," Megatron promised charismatically.

RedStreak made his demands straightforward and simple. "First off, we need Coyotek to be repaired, now. Even with his beast mode’s regenerative abilities, he won’t be functional for a long while."

Megatron stood there, patiently listening. "And the...other two, if you will?"

The Maximal-human-hybrid continued. "Secondly, we’re not risking our necks alone. You’re coming with us to steal that...thing you need. Lastly, once we get the device and use it, we’re disconnecting it permanently. Nothing personal, but none of us trust you with it."

"Hmmm..." Megatron put his hand to his ridged chin and thought for a minute. His eyes swiveled this way and that, humming slightly as he made up his mind. "Very well," Megatron agreed, "I shall aid your damaged friend, assist you myself in the robbery, and return the device to you after we rescue your lost friends. A sound, honest deal through and through."

The Predacon outstretched his hand to RedStreak to seal the deal officially. RedStreak looked to his friends first, all of who had a disgusted look on their faces. Nobody was buying into this, not at all. Still, RedStreak grabbed and shook Megatron’s hand, having no choice but to accept a partnership with a Predacon if it meant saving Optimus Primal, Botanica, and Rattrap from certain doom.

"What of Coyotek?" RedStreak asked Megatron, referring back to his promise.

"Very well then." Megatron went to a sealed airlock and pulled a lever to open it. After a hiss of gas, it swung open, leading deeper inside the mysterious DarkStar. "This way...and bring the damaged one. I have something that may speed his recovery...."

The four Maximals followed Megatron into a strange laboratory that was dimly lit, but alive with a mysterious aura. There was a large, central tank dominating the middle of the chamber. In it was a strange, greenish liquid that glowed like reflected moonbeams from a lake. Tubes linked it with four stasis chambers, ones that resembled plastic coffins standing vertically.

A single stasis chamber opened. "Put him in here." flatly said Megatron.

"Wait a moment!" interrupted RazorLeaf, "What the heck is that first of all?"

"It is, what you might call, a ‘technorganic regeneration chamber’. I designed and used it on myself periodically, so there is no danger." Megatron assured them.

Coyotek looked at RedStreak, then at Megatron. He didn’t look to thrilled. "All right. The boob’s going into the boob tube...." he muttered, stepping into the cell.

The stasis chamber sealed, locking Coyotek inside. Megatron manned the controls, flipping a master switch. Through the tubes, the glowing green liquid flowed into Coyotek’s chamber, flooding it up to his shoulders. In seconds, Coyotek’s skin and fur started to glow white, the fluid apparently working its magic.

"This shall take just a few cycles...." said Megatron.

As they waited, RedStreak began to take notice of something odd about Megatron. When he briefly glanced at the Predacon, he noticed a bluish part of his upper arm. There was fur there, animal fur from his beast mode. Near there, he also saw dried blood arranged in crisscrossing Xs and Zs, as if cut badly.

"Your organic side," RedStreak said to Megatron. Megatron looked at RedStreak, then realized the Maximal was staring at his arm. He tried to hide it beneath an armor plate, but it did little good. "You’re still trying to purge yourself of the organic, are you not?" asked RedStreak.

Megatron hesitated before answering. "You pry too much, Maximal. Your human side betrays you, just as my beast mode degrades me." he replied. Returning his attention to Coyotek, he said, "The regeneration is complete. The first part of the bargain I’ve fulfilled for you...."

After the chamber emptied and opened, Coyotek stepped out, slightly damp but as good as new. Flexing an arm and admiring the technorganic muscle, Coyotek smugly said, "Feel like a million kilowatts!"

"Good," said Megatron, "Now for the plan to obtain the cloaking device."

"Plan?" said Coyotek, already confused, "What do you mean plan?"

"Well," began Megatron, "We’re certainly not going to rush into Area Two-Sixteen without a decent plan, are we?" Turning to Gold Blade and RazorLeaf, Megatron bluntly ordered, "You two shall remain here and ready the DarkStar while your friends, RedStreak and Coyotek, take the cloaking device."

"Hey!" blurted out RazorLeaf, "Deals I can deal with, but not orders from a Predacon! Why do we have to stay anyway?"

Megatron simply explained, "When it come to mobility, ferns..." he said, pointing to RazorLeaf’s scraggly feet, "Plants aren’t the best. This is strictly an animalian endeavor. You and your sister’s skills are more...shall we say...practical, here. But there’s no time for further discussion. To your duties!"

A megacycle later, RedStreak, Coyotek, and Megatron were all flying into the Cybertronian atmosphere, passing through thick clouds against tremendous wind sheer. The two Maximals struggled to hold as Megatron steered them in as a stealth shuttlecraft.

"Man! I don’t like this at all!" Coyotek hollered, "They’re probably detecting us on their scanners right now!"

"Correct, Maximal," said Megatron, "Which is why we must convert to beast mode upon arrival."

From the air, they saw Area Two-Sixteen as a large, octangular fortress situated near the convergence of many great technorganic forests. At the center were two large towers, once of which contained the cloaking device. Around the perimeter was a large metallic barrier, spanning eighty feet in height and close to a hundred in width, with stationed scouts at eight points.

Megatron swooped down near the edge of one of the several forests. He tipped sideways, dropping RedStreak and Coyotek to the ground with a rough landing. Megatron then paused in the air, transforming to his powerfully-built robot mode.

"Quickly!" Megatron said, "To beast mode, now!"

The three transformers changed to their bestial alternate forms in a flash of light and moving parts. Now instead of three robots, there was a wolf, a coyote, and a red fox huddled beneath the shelter of the trees.

A flying Maximal on rockets flew overhead, passing directly over them. All three of them scattered, hiding behind the tree trunks. The scouting Maximals hovered above the branches for a few moments, then flew away, the blips on his scanners gone.

Looking to Megatron, RedStreak said with a smrik, "These beast modes are useful, no?"

Megatron just gave a brief snort, saying "This way." He slowly trotted off, nearing the edge of the forest.

As they followed the Predacon wolf, Coyotek began asking RedStreak some questions, ones he had to whisper so Megatron couldn’t hear. "How come you’re letting this guy tell us what to do? He’s a Predacon for Matrix sake!"

"Yeah...but he knows what he’s doing." RedStreak tried to say.

"Yeah, and that’s order us around like we’re his troop of drones!" Coyotek said, "We can’t just let him tell us what to do! He needs us, not the other way around...."

A growl came from ahead of them. Both RedStreak and Coyotek jumped at the sight of the big blue wolf snarling with silver fangs beared. For a minute, RedStreak feared Megatron overheard, but the Predacon said to them, "Quiet! Do either of you understand the concept of a STEALTH mission? A patrol of guards is just three clicks away!"

Coyotek and RedStreak crept up behind some bushes, peering out to see what Megatron had spotted. Sure enough there was a bunch of Maximal guards near their position, mostly talking to one another. In the distance, they saw more patrols, and lookouts atop the perimeter walls exchanging positions.

"Tight security...." Coyotek commented, "NightScream must of doubled up on security. No doubt the Council of Elders forced him to do it...."

"How shall we get in?" asked RedStreak, "Clearly not by air, and impossible by land. No sea to swim across...."

"Not necessarily..." Megatron said. Coyotek and RedStreak turned their heads to check on the Predacon. They found Megatron digging a hole into the ground with his sharp claws. He dug through the semi-soft dirt thick with roots and brittle metal.

"What on Earth?" RedStreak muttered.

Megatron dug up a sizeable pipe in the ground, one with a hatch. Megatron grabbed a handle in his teeth a ripped the lock from it. Nuzzling it open with his nose, Megatron revealed a surge of flowing water inside.

"Through here," he said, "We can flow into their cooling systems right into the reactor room next to the cloaking device."

"Water?" gulped Coyotek, "But I’m not rust-proof!"

Megatron growled, then took a paw to Coyotek’s head. He shoved his face into the flowing water for two solid minutes, then let him back up. "Are you now?" Megatron asked. Gasping for air, Coyotek nodded. "Good then, Maximal. Now let’s go...."

One after another they dove in. The water moved so swiftly that not one of them had to kick or paddle, but simply let the water move their bodies. The only problem was the complete darkness - neither RedStreak nor Coyotek were comfortable spinning around blindly, ramming this way and that.

All around the Maximal complex, there were suspicious bangings in the primary pipes, with grunts and ouches being muttered periodically. In the reactor room, one of the steam vents hissed loudly, whistling like a teakettle. Then, for a few seconds, it went silent. A rattling went through the narrow pipes until they shook like bottled-up earthquakes.

The vent exploded, blasting out super-heated water along with three moist balls of fur that splattered against the floor. Megatron got up first, groaning with effort as his joints shook uneasily. Then, like a real dog, his body shook, splattering water onto Coyotek and RedStreak. Once dry, he barked, "Now...the stealth device."

With limbs spread out on the floor, the two Maximals looked at one another. "Bossy...and rude..." said Coyotek.

Creeping along, it didn’t take them too long to discover the cloaking device. After smashing down a door, they found it perched upon a table, wired up to a dozen other related contraptions. There were no guards, no force fields, and no security systems to stop them...so far.

"Just grab the thing and let’s get out of here!" RedStreak said to Coyotek.

Coyotek went to the device and first tried to handle it with his mouth. He barely managed to grasp it, and tugged hard against the interconnecting cables. Sputtering and snarling, Coyotek snapped a few off, but the device slipped out and fell on the floor.

"Don’t drop it!" warned Megatron, who was also watching from afar.

Desperately, Coyotek tried grabbing it with his rough paws, but for him it was like collecting water with a sieve. His paws didn’t have thumbs to hold it with, so the device constantly continued to slip from him. Then he finally lost it completely, the device falling to the floor.

Coyotek made one final dive to the floor. At the last possible second, his hands caught it. "Look! I save it!" he shouted joyfully. However, Coyotek noticed Megatron and RedStreak staring at him with gaping jaws. He had made one big mistake: Coyotek transformed to robot mode, right in the middle of a place filled with security sweeps and all manner of tracking systems.

In two nano-clicks, alarms were blaring all over the place as every guard was alerted to the prescence of intruders within the cloaking technology research laboratory. Doors opened, dozens of Maximal soldiers pouring in as Coyotek stood there, holding the cloaking device with a dozen look on his face that said, "Oh crap...."

"So much for stealth!" RedStreak said, transforming as well. He stuck out his fingertips, telling Megatron and Coyotek, "Don’t worry! I can handle these clowns easily! Just one good blast of energon and...."

His hands crackled with electricity, but nothing more. Water coated his fingers still, rendering them totally powerless. "Ah man! The water’s shorting me out!" he exclaimed.

Coyotek pulled out his gun and pointed it towards the guards. "Don’t worry Red! I can handle myself!" When he pulled the trigger, nothing happened. He pulled three more times and still nothing. Examining the barrel, Coyotek looked into it. Water squirted out, splashing him in the face.

In a heartbeat, Coyotek and RedStreak ran for the reactor screaming loudly. Megatron held his ground, determined not to suffer a humiliating defeat. "Mechanized morons...I’ll show them how a true Predacon handles these situations!" Megatron transformed to robot mode and pointed his arm cannon at the soldiers gathering around him. "Try this, Maximal!" he shouted. When a triggered the blast, is cannon fried. A trickle of water left the end of it. Like Coyotek and RedStreak, Megatron was left with one alternative....

All three transformers now ran for the reactor room, screaming in terror. They ducked behind the reactor core, using it as a shield. Looking at one another, they realized that they left behind the cloaking device after all that.

"Great! Just great!" Coyotek shouted, avoiding a laser blast, "We got this close and now we’re as good as dead! Great idea, going through a water line Megatron!"

Megatron, also avoiding ricocheting blasts, hollered to Coyotek angrily, "Well knowing you, Maximal, we would of been going through a SEWAGE LINE if you chose our path!"

"All right! All right!" exclaimed RedStreak, "We’re in a really bad situation, our weapons don’t work, and we’re soon to be surrounded by a million angry guards! What can we do?"

"There...ugh...isn’t much to work with," Megatron grunted, "Maximals! All our systems are damp, useless! Only the organic...."

"Organic?" interrupted RedStreak, "Of course! Our beast modes!"

The three transformers looked at one another, then shrugged shoulders. Unanimously, they transformed, leaping out from behind the core as a united front of canines. Clawing, biting, and flat-out ramming anything in front of them, they plowed through the oncoming forces and ran back to the cloaking device.

An oncoming guard fired his weapon at them repeatedly, trying to force them away. Coyotek leapt onto him, knocking the weapon from him. RedStreak, feeling renewed instincts flowing through his canine form, circled around the guard, latching onto his aluminum hinnie. It was enough to drive the guard away, to say the least....

Megatron latched onto a thick cable clinging to the device with his teeth. "Quickly! We must leave!" he mumbled, holding up the cloaking device with clenched jaws. Without any argument from either Maximal, they booked, Megatron transforming to flight mode with RedStreak, Coyotek, and the cloaking device with him.

On the Cy-Mos base, RazorLeaf and Gold Blade were double-checking the computer system when a warning from navigation came up. "What is it?" Gold Blade asked. Checking the scanners, the two of them discovered what appeared to be a whole swarm of incoming objects. However, the one at the head of the group bore a Predacon signature.

"It’s Megatron! He’s coming in on a direct trajectory!" said Gold Blade.

A com signal came in on a speaker. It was loaded with static, but Coyotek’s voice was heard. "Coyotek to...Razor...and....Blade. Need...back-up...fleet...approaching...."

Looking to Gold Blade, RazorLeaf asked, "Can we fly this thing?"

Gold Blade rushed over to another computer system. After manipulating the controls for a few nano-cycles, her answer was, "No. Megatron’s encrypted all his control programs...very hard to put it one way."

"Is there a way around it at least?" her brother enquired.

Checking the scanners, seeing Megatron and their friends being persued by the Cybertronian fleet, Gold Blade thought. "I’ll try...but no guarentees...."

Near Cy-Mos, Megatron was giving RedStreak and Coyotek the ride of their lives. The Predacon flyer had to make huge, wide turns to avoid enemy fire. There were a dozen ships within firing range, with nearly forty more approaching.

"Ugh!" grunted Megatron, a blast hitting the tip of his wing, "These ships...more maneuverable than imagined!"

"It’s been thirty-four years Megatron!" shouted Coyotek, "There’s been some major improvements since then!"

Firing up his rockets, Megatron said in turn, "Then let’s put those improvements to the test!" Megatron dove into a deep silicon canyon on Cy-Mos, the fleet closely following after. He went to the bottom of the canyon, the shockwave of his flight shattering hundreds of crystalline rocks. The debris hit the following ships, clogging engines and sending several down.

Those that continued to follow, Megatron tested even harder while his two Maximal passenergs clung as tight as barnacles. He went through arcs and underpasses, around mountaintops and cliff faces. Many more ships fell, but the fleet still followed.

"Slag! These pilots are good!" shouted Coyotek.

Ahead of them, near the base, something rumbled like thunder across the landscape. The DarkStar rose above the mesa, hovering motionlessly as its engines roared. It was enough to give the persuing fleet some pause, allowing Megatron to escape.

Once aboard, Megatron snatched the cloaking device from Coyotek and unlocked a secret panel. "Now for the proper connections and we shall be invisible to our enemies...." he muttered.

An explosion hit, rocking the DarkStar. The device sparked, a few circuits damaged. "No! Not now!" roared Megatron.

"Megs!" shouted Gold Blade, "The Maximals are attacking us, and the shields aren’t working!"

"Your command codes blocked us out, Megatron!" RazorLeaf said, trying to access a console.

Megatron laughed. "Why of course they should! One can never be too secure on one’s ship, I always say." With minimal effort, Megatron pushed RazorLeaf out of the way. Speaking to the console, Megatron said, "Activate shield emitters. Voice code: Megatron."

The shields came online, surrounding the DarkStar completely. The fleet’s blast reflected off it, no longer able to penetrate. Automatically, the thrusters adjusted, taking the DarkStar upwards, away from Cy-Mos. Relentlessly, the Maximals pursued them, unable to let them escape with the cloaking device intact.

"Not bad, Megs," said RedStreak, "But we still need the cloak to get away...."

Coyotek examined the device, noting the damaged parts. He said, "I think I can fix it. Just a few spare diodes and some new..."

"DO IT!" everyone shouted.

Nearly blown over, Coyotek replied, "All right! I’ll get to it!" Setting to work, Coyotek removed a circuit board, one crackling with busted microchips. He detached several, then, taking a few spares in his pocket, Coyotek installed them, sliding the board back in. Slapping the device, he said to them, "Ok! Activating cloaking device...now!"

The DarkStar slipped away from the visible universe, first with the wings, then the engines, and finally the hull. It faded into black, disappearing completely from view. The fleet continued to fire...but to no avail. Several fruitless cycles later, they broke off.

As the DarkStar continued onward, Gold Blade frankly asked, "So? Where are we headed?"

"Through the transwarp conduit...to find the Quintessons...." answered Megatron, "Engage transwarp drive! Prepare for the worst...."

The large engines powered up, rippling with energy. Nearing the conduit, space itself warped, swallowing the DarkStar whole, leading it to a whole other part of the galaxy....