In the depths of space, not far from the yellow, radiant Sun the planet Earth orbited, a massive, green explosion went off. A surge of temporal energy blasted through space-time, blowing out with it a single being. The explosion itself lasted for just a few minutes, then collapsed, the reality of space-time sealing itself. Still, that one being was left behind, misplaced in time and space….

Not long after, an odd alien spacecraft, shaped like a flying saucer, sped by. Then, when its sensors caught sight of the strange being, the ship stopped completely. It rotated into view, a port opening in its side. A pair of thin robotic arms extended, grasping the reddish creature drifting near it and drawing it back inside. As the port closed behind it, the face-like symbol of an Autobot was revealed.

The flying saucer turned and took off for the planet Earth. It directed a com-link signal to the planet. "Cosmos calling Optimus Prime! Come in!"

A returning signal replied, "We read you loud and clear Cosmos! What’s your status?"

"I’ve just rendezvoused with the coordinates you gave me of the cronoton emissions near the Sun, but just before I got there an…explosion of some kind went off, and I discovered a living being floating near it. It appears to be injured. It’s fortunate that you sent me out when you did." Cosmos told his leader.

"Then we’ll be the first to extend the Autobot hand of friendship. Return to headquarters immediately so we can see and help this poor creature." Prime said.

Traveling at speeds faster than any human-made rocket, the space-faring Autobot returned to the blue planet the Autobots had made home. Barely two hours after finding the creature, Cosmos had brought before Optimus Prime the strangest thing anyone had ever seen.

Looking down at the alien, Optimus Prime was puzzled at the tangle of metal, fur, and circuitry laying before him on the examination table. He wasn’t the only Autobot to behold such a sight; Wheeljack, Ironhide, and Ratchet were also there, in addition to Cosmos, all standing in their tall robotic forms.

"Incredible. You’re sure you don’t have record of any species resembling this one in your databanks Cosmos?" Prime asked the green-armored Autobot.

"Negative Prime." Cosmos replied, the monitor built into his chest displaying images of various creatures and aliens from thousands of worlds, "Not one of the eight hundred thousand species I’ve encountered match this creature’s physical and internal parameters."

"Incredible!" Wheeljack said, the lights on the sides of his head lighting up, "A whole new alien species discovered right at our backdoor!"

"But the question is," Ironhide reminded, "Where in the cosmos did this critter come from?"

Ratchet posed one suggestion. "Maybe that explosion Cosmos detected was his spaceship self-destructing…or something."

"That doesn’t seem likely, Ratchet," stated Optimus Prime, "Neither Cosmos’s nor Teletran-1’s sensors detect the remains of a vessel anywhere near the place we found this creature. He literally appeared out of nowhere it seems…."

"But that just doesn’t add up!" Wheeljack exclaimed, "He must of come from somewhere!" Turning to a giant computer console, Wheeljack accessed Teletran-1’s vast databanks. "Teletran, scan the alien being and try to explain what he is and where he came from."

Teletran-1 beeped and began processing Wheeljack’s request. "Analyzing." it beeped. A large scanner descended from the ceiling and projected a beam through the small creature’s body, waving the beam up and down to scan it fully. Data was fed onto the screen along with computerized schematics of the alien’s anatomy. "Analysis complete…." Teletran-1 stated.

"Wow!" Ironhide gasped, staring at the screen.

Ratchet and Wheeljack were even more deeply astounded; viewing something they’d never seen before. "Incredible!" Ratchet simply said, "Unless my optics are faulty, this creature is full of electronics!" Speaking directly to the screen Ratchet asked, "Teletran-1, state the nature of this alien’s physiology."

Again complying readily, Teletran-1 explained its scans. "The nature of the unnamed alien is entirely foreign to any of my records. Unnamed alien appears to be cybernetic in nature, consisting of a highly complex mechanical system fused with an equally complex organic entity. Mechanical components consist of positronic neural network and titanium endoskeleton, both identical in composition to most Cybertronian alloys used in all transformers. Organic components unidentifiable, but DNA analysis indicates similarity to native Earth fauna."

Ratchet stared more closely at the alien being, pondering thousands of thoughts in his mind. "Such a curious being…completely unbelievable!"

"Well ya know what I believe?" Ironhide spoke up, "I believe this thing musta come from those sleazy Decepti-bums! An experiment of some sort!"

"Ironhide, don’t jump to conclusions so quickly." Prime warned.

"But you all heard Teletran-1! He’s got Cybertronian hardware! He has to be some new breed of Decepticon!" Ironhide stated.

"I dunno Ironhide," said Wheeljack as he poked and prodded at the unconscious creature, "It might be Cybertronian, but its positronics are incredibly advanced…even moreso than anything either we or the Decepticons could cobble together! And its energy matrix is another story…."

Hanging high above Teletran-1’s console, hidden in the confines of a dark corner, a single, small Decepticon watched. Laserbeak was watching with much interest, his spy camera deployed from his head to take in the Autobots’ great discovery. His eyes glowed yellow in the shadows like that of a cat’s.

Not wishing to risk detection any longer, Laserbeak carefully wobbled his way across the top of Teletran-1’s screen toward a ventilation duct. After prying it open with his beak, the Decepticon bird flew through it, finally exiting the Autobot’s headquarters through an outside port. He flew away from the Autobots’ mountain base toward a rocky cliff where Soundwave waited.

Laserbeak transformed and flew into Soundwave’s open chest. Clicking on his com-link, he radioed his own base. "Soundwave to Megatron…Laserbeak’s spy mission…complete. Autobots have made a strange discovery. Returning to headquarters with Laserbeak." the Decepticon said, his voice undulating with electronic buzzing. After that, Soundwave jumped into the air and flew, heading towards the ocean.

Back at the Autobot base, several of the other Autobots joined in to see the new creature. Cliff Jumper, Bumblebee, and Jazz came in from one of their patrols to view the new find that was drawing so much attention at Autobot headquarters. Perceptor with his scientific curiosity was unable to resist the chance of observing the "alien entity" as he called it. Even Sunstreaker joined the hubbub after receiving a brand-new paintjob on his chasse.

"This had better be important," vain Sunstreaker said, transforming from Lamborghini to robot, "The paint’s still wet, and I had to turn down a buffing to get here in time!"

Perceptor marched up to the table supporting the alien with his face beaming with curiosity. "Incredible!" he practically shouted.

"That’s just what I said, Perceptor." Ratchet commented, "This thing’s…incredible."

Turning to tall Prime, Bumblebee asked, "Well now that we rescued this guy, what should we do with him?"

"Hmmm…good question. And the only one that knows that question…is asleep on our examination table," Prime implied in reference to the furry alien. "Wheeljack, Ratchet, can we…reactivate him?"

"I think so," said Wheeljack, "His systems, as far as I can tell anyway, are operating at peak efficiency, so we should be able to wake him." Wheeljack walked over to a supply cabinet and retrieved what looked like a giant jumper cable with a portable generator at one end. Hooking one end to the cybernetic alien’s chest, Wheeljack muttered, "All he needs is a little juice to reboot his systems."

The generator powered up, electricity flowing through the cables and into the creature’s body. As the Autobots watched, the creature’s eyes flickered on and off, its chest beginning to rise up and down. Finally, a gasp was made. A long groan escaped from its mouth as it slowly rose up.

"W-Where am I?" he muttered. Looking down, the small creature found a cable clamped onto his chest like a giant snake. Immediately he pulled it off and threw it away. Shortly afterwards, he noticed something odd. He was sitting on a large, orange table, the walls and ceiling completely out of proportion. Everything looked…big. It was about then that he slowly looked upwards….

A whole mess of Autobots looked down with an array of different faces and different expressions, all looming over the relatively small being. Among them, Optimus Prime stood out the most notably with his blue helmet and solid faceplate. To the small alien, he was the lord of the titans….

Only a few garbled words came out of the alien’s mouth. "I…what the…how can…oh….."

Optimus Prime saw how tense the tiny creature was and felt it his duty to ease this newcomer’s tensions. Slowly, Prime extended his arm with an open hand towards the cybernetic alien. "Welcome." He began to say, "I am Optimus Prime, and…."

The strange, tiny alien opened its mouth and screamed, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"What the?" Prime mumbled for a moment. Before any of the Autobots could react, the small alien creature jumped up and started running as fast as possible. Bumblebee and Sunstreaker stepped back in surprise as they watched it leap off the table. In addition, the both of them saw the alien transform, becoming a four-legged mammal that bolted across the room.

"Hey! That alien…just transformed!" Bumblebee exclaimed.

Ironhide immediately rose to the occasion. "Then he IS a Decepticon! Let’s get ‘em!"

Upon hearing the word Decepticon, all the Autobots went into an uproar. Prime tried to calm them all down, saying, "We don’t know that, Ironhide! Please! Everybody calm down before…." In less than a cycle, every Autobot except for himself filed out of the room to catch the "Decepticon" fleeing in terror. Optimus Prime just put his hand over his face and went, "Ugh…."

Outside the examination room, roughly twenty Autobots were gunning down the poor alien. In its fox form, the alien dodged multiple blasts from giant ray guns. Just as it rounded a corner, a giant white and blue Autobot charged him, grabbing him with a large fist.

"Hey!" shouted Jazz, "I got him! I got him!"

The alien, still frightened, tried to free itself from Jazz’s strong grip. With a grunt, the creature shouted, "I am transformed!" As an aura of red-violet light enveloped him, the cybernetic alien transformed yet again, this time into a small helicopter.

"Hey! What gives?" Jazz asked, staring at the vehicle in his hand. In that instant, the helicopter started its engines and took off, leaving a pile of dust behind in Jazz’s palm. Watching the alien vehicle fly off, Jazz shouted, "Hey! He just flew off! Maybe he really is a Decepticon!"

Amid the chaos of frenzied transformers, the alien flew into a large air duct, escaping from the crazy Autobots at long last. It flew through the various vents until it finally entered a large, darkened chamber. Once confident that it was safe, the alien transformed to its robotic form and gently fell to the floor, landing on its feet.

"Phew!" he muttered to himself, "I thought I’d never be safe! Where the heck did I go? Autobots everywhere and accusations of being a Decepticon? This must be a nightmare!" The cybernetic alien slapped himself in the face, trying to wake up. Unknown to him, five pairs of large, blue eyes appeared behind him.

A loud, growling noise came from behind the small alien. Immediately he froze, realizing at that moment he wasn’t alone here. Muttering nervously to himself, he said, "Oh no. I have a feeling I’m going to regret doing this…." Slowly, the alien turned around. Directly behind him, just barely visible in the dark, were the silhouettes of five nightmarish creatures.

One of the five beasts, its mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth, roared loudly. "Me Grimlock angry!" it growled.

"AHH!" The alien ran to the massive door guarding the room and started pounding it. "OPEN! OPEN! OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND PRIMUS OPEN THIS DOOR! AHH!"

Miraculously, the huge door was drawn up. Behind it the alien saw the feet of many Autobots waiting outside. He didn’t care however, given the choice between metal giants and the even bigger ferocious beasts inside the room. Once it was fully open, the small alien burst out of the room, screaming for his dear life.

The five Dinobots casually walked out of their storage room and looked at the Autobots. The large Dinobot resembling a Tyrannosaurus-Rex walked up to Ironhide with a confused look on his face. "Me Grimlock wonder what that tiny thing is?" Grimlock said.

"Never mind that for now Grimlock!" Ironhide told him, "The important thing right now is catching that tiny critter before it runs to the Decepticons!"

Meanwhile, the small alien kept running in a straight line, the image of the ferocious Dinobots still on his mind. "Run! Run! Run!" he kept saying to himself. His thoughts were so clouded and his mind so terrorized that he didn’t even notice the wall directly in front of him. With a loud clang, the cybernetic alien slammed into solid metal, falling over backwards in a coma.

Sludge, one of the other Dinobots saw the alien, now rendered unconscious. "Me Sludge think we have no trouble catching tiny critter now."

Several hundred miles away, deep beneath the ocean’s placid waves, much activity was being drawn upon the strange new alien’s presence as with the Autobots. However, inside the wreckage of a huge space cruiser, it wasn’t Autobots making plans for the alien….

Just minutes after arriving, the Decepticon spy Soundwave ejected Lazorbeak, who then inserted himself into the mainframe of the Decepticon base. Immediately, images and recordings were downloaded from Lazorbeak and projected onto the main viewing screen. Schematics and internal scans of the alien being were revealed before the eyes of many Decepticons.

Megatron, the high commander and leader of all the Decepticons, observed the viewing screen with diabolical fascination. "I assume Lazorbeak imaged the alien being, and copied the data Teletran-1 obtained?" he asked Soundwave.

"Correct, Megatron." the spy replied.

"Excellent. Then, judging from this information, the Autobots have indeed made a fascinating discovery." Megatron said. The silver-plated tyrant approached the view screen, staring more and more closely at the cybernetic designs flashing before him. Touching the screen with his hand, he said with rhetorical words, "Such a small creature, but one with technology that could have a big impact in this great war of ours."

Quite suddenly, Megatron raised up his fist and slammed it into the view screen. The other Decepticons shuttered for a moment, stepping back. Megatron then turned around and yelled, "The Autobots mustn’t have this technology! Decepticons: we are going to storm their base and steal that creature before they can use it against us!"

Out of all the Decepticons, one laughed heartily, mocking Megatron. "Ha ha ha ha! Oh Megatron, you really know how to tickle one’s humor circuits!" The mangled mob of transformers parted, revealing the devious Starscream that dared to speak out against his own leader. Folding his arms in front of his cockpit, Starscream said, "A direct, frontal assault against an Autobot fortress? Ha! Even I wouldn’t conjure up such an impetuous plot!"

"Shut up Starscream!" a large, black-colored Decepticon yelled from behind. Skywarp marched up and shoved his red counterpart away. "None of your half-slagged plans worked! Besides, we’re all in a fightn’ mood when it comes to Autobots!"

Starscream hollered, "What? Have you blown your logic circuits as well?"

A large blast from Megatron’s fusion cannon struck Starscream in the back, knocking the Decepticon down. "Enough of this bickering!" Megatron shouted, "With or without your whining Starscream, we’re going to attack!" Moving his cannon toward the other Decepticons, Megatron asked, "Does anyone else have a problem with that?"

Suffice to say, no other Decepticon was foolish enough to follow Starscream’s example.

Roughly an hour later, the Autbot’s "guest" awoke from his coma. "Ugh…I feel like I was hit by a…" He noticed a dozen or so Autobots standing around him, many with unhappy looks on their faces. "Oh…so in a sense I was hit by a car." he said to himself.

Ironhide immediately pointed a large finger at the transforming alien, saying, "All right you little troublemaker, you’d better give us some answers right now or…."

"Ironhide!" Prime yelled, "Ease off!"

"But…Prime!" Ironhide started to protest.

Optimus Prime stared at Ironhide for a moment, forcing the red Autobot to stand down. Immediately afterwards, the Autobot commander turned his attention to the alien himself. "I must apologize for all our behavior, we’re not normally like this." He said to the alien.

The alien slowly stood up, giving a sigh of relief. "That’s good to know," he replied.

"However," Optimus Prime added, "Ironhide has something of a point. There are enough mysteries surrounding you to fill a storage bay. If you want our protection, we need some answers now."

"Yeah!" Ironhide chimed in, raising up his fist.

The cybernetic alien raised up his arms and said, "All right! All right! Gez, no reason to blow a diode on me!" Gazing around the room at all the various Autobots, the alien paused for a moment. "Incredible…I never thought I’d actually see…." Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to Optimus Prime. "Um…what kind of questions did you have in mind, exactly?"

Bumblebee walked up to the table’s edge, his head barely peaking above it. "Well, for starters," he politely said, "Who are you?"

"And what I wanna know is if you’re affiliated with the Decepticons in any way!" Ironhide yelled, "And don’t you dare lie ‘cause Teletran-1’s got a built-in falsifier detector!"

The alien stood there and rolled his eyes a little. "O…k...well, for starters, my name is RedStreak, and I am a Maxi…."

"RedStreak?" One Autobot with car doors sticking out of his shoulders like wings appeared with a surprised look on his face. "My name is Bluestreak!"

Red Streak blinked and stared for a minute. "Trust me, it’s just a coincidence. I’m not into ripping off trademarks."

"Anyhow," Prime said, capturing RedStreak’s attention, "We still have many more questions. What interests me is what you are and how you got here."

RedStreak casually walked up to Prime despite the presence of eyes watching him almost constantly. "To be honest, Optimus Prime, you’d know more about how I got here than I would. As to what I am…it’s a bit more complicated than that."

Folding his arms over his chest, Ironhide grumbled, "Oh don’t worry. We’ve got plenty of time, if you know what I mean…."

Another Autobot, one with what looked like a telescope over his shoulder, calmly walked up to little RedStreak. Kneeling to his level, Perceptor asked in a very polite manner, "We’re sorry if we frightened you before, but please, tell us about yourself. Being a scientist, I myself have an even greater curiosity than my friends, and with your unique design I’m…."

"Perceptor!" RedStreak suddenly blurted out. Pointing a finger at the baffled Autbot, RedStreak further said, "They named a science station after you!"

Perceptor was stunned. He briefly looked to Prime, who was equally bewildered, then said to RedStreak, "Why…yes, my name is indeed Perceptor, but how did you know? I haven’t formally introduced myself yet."

It was at that moment RedStreak realized he made a major blunder. Oh crap, he thought, I’ve said too much! Somehow…I’ve traveled back in time to the era of the Autobot, but…they think I’m Decepticon! But, if I tell them what I really am, I might mess up the timeline! Dang, I’m scrapped! What do I do?

"How do you know us, RedStreak?" Prime asked. RedStreak tried to remain silent, but as a strategy it wouldn’t work. Speaking more bluntly, Prime told him, "Look, you already know that we’re Autobots and even enough knowledge to know our names. This behavior and your silence lead me to agree with Ironhide’s suspicions that you could be a Decepticon agent. Unless you explain yourself fully, I’m afraid I have no choice but to hold you in our base’s detention center."

"Believe me, Prime," RedStreak tried to explain, "It is far, far more complicated than you know. I was from Cybertron, but I am neither Autobot or Decepticon."

Perceptor immediately stated, "But what about your organic components? They are almost certainly native to this planet, given the fact there are no animals on Cybertron."

"Not yet," muttered RedStreak.

"Whatdaya mean not yet?" asked Bumblebee.

RedStreak again fumbled. "I…uh…."

"Just spill it!" demanded Ironhide, "Just like I’ll spill your oil is you don’t take with some sense!"

It seemed there was no choice but to unveil the grand truth. "Fine, I will." RedStreak finally submitted, "I am from Cybertron, but not the one you know of. I know a lot about the Autobots’ history because I studied it there. As to my organic body, I obtained it during an event my kind call ‘The Reformatting’. Part of me isn’t even Cybertronian or animal, it’s…."

"Hi guys!" a strange, but friendly voice suddenly said. RedStreak froze, and gasped. Looking down at the floor below, he saw none other than the young human, Spike. RedStreak’s human heart quivered deep inside, unable to believe it. Before him was his famous great-great-great grandfather, the ancestor he never knew.

"Good to see you Spike!" Ironhide cheerfully said, "We’re in the middle of an interrogation if you don’t mind, so could you…."

"Spike?" RedStreak muttered. Without paying any heed to the Autobots, RedStreak jumped off the table. His thrusters fired, allowing him to land directly in front of Spike like a bird. Spike jumped in surprise, backing off from the creature before him. RedStreak stared at him with deep blue eyes, unable to believe the experience.

"Ack! What are you?" Spike yelled.

RedStreak just froze there, unable to divert his eyes from the human. He blindly muttered, "My ancestor…my…human ancestor…."

"What?" Bumblebee asked, confused by RedStreak words.

Before another word or question could be spoken, the entire Ark quaked. All around Spike and RedStreak Autobots fell down, making the floor beneath them shake even more. Everything was moving around them as alarms started going off throughout the ship.

Optimus Prime got up and saw Teletran-1 sounding a general alert. "The Decepticons!" he shouted.

Just a couple of meters outside the entrance to the Autobot base, two rather puny Decepticons rammed pile drivers into the ground, making the whole landscape rumble. Behind the pair were Megatron and an entire legion of Decepticons.

"Excellent work! Keep at it Rumble and Frenzy! Drive the Autobots from their hive!" shouted Megatron.

Inside the Autobot base, RedStreak and Spike stood by while Optimus Prime organized his own troops. "Autobots! The Decepticons are making a full-scale assault! Autobots transform…and roll out!" Prime gave his legendary command. Prime himself transformed, becoming a large truck complete with a rectangular trailer. His engine revved up and smoke blew out his stacks.

RedStreak watched in wide wonder as every Autobot near-by transformed, assuming the shapes of vans, cars, and trucks of every form and shape. Even the Dinobots transformed, becoming metallic lizards of giant proportions. All of them filed out, following Optimus Prime’s commands.

A tear went down RedStreak’s cheek. Sniffling, he muttered to himself, "I’ve never seen a site so beautiful…."

Upon leaving the base, the Autobots emerged in full force. Optimus Prime emerged first, running down Frenzy and Rumble. The two Decepticons screamed as they were flung into the air, smashing into the ground hard enough to bust off their metal backpacks. "Ugh," Rumble weakly muttered, "I need to find me an easier job."

"Now Decepticons! Attack!" Megatron hollered to his troops. The mighty Decepticon jumped into the air and changed forms, becoming a fairly large machine gun. Skywarp grabbed Megatron and fired upon Optimus Prime. The blast Megatron produced blew Prime off his tracks, causing the Autobot to roll.

Quickly Optimus Prime transformed and got off the ground. Using his own blaster, he fired at SkyWarp, knocking Megatron out of his hands. Skywarp fell backwards, but Megatron transformed as well, assuming his huge robotic form once more.

"This time, victory shall be ours!" Megatron shouted to the Autobot leader.

"Don’t count on it, Megatron!" Optimus Prime yelled back, firing his blaster again. His blast hit Megatron square in the stomach, causing him to keel over momentarily. "You’ll never stop us! Not now, or ever!" Prime swore.

Two Decepticons flew in from above, but strangely enough, avoided the battle. Instead, they headed straight for the Autobot base itself. Astrotrain, the space shuttle, and Blitzwing, the Russian Mig fighter, swept over the heads of the Dinobots, who immediately noticed them.

"Dinobots! No let Decepticons in!" Grimlock shouted. Flames spewed out of his mouth, scorching the undersides of the two Decepticon flyers.

Astrotrain transformed to robot mode, pulling out his own blaster and firing on the Dinobots. Glancing back at Blitzwing, he said, "I’ll hold them off Blitzwing! You get inside and nab that cyborg Megatron wants!" Blitzwing flew in, transforming from jet to tank mode as he headed straight for the entrance.

Spike and RedStreak watched the battle through Teletran-1’s monitor. "This is all my fault." RedStreak said, "The Decepticons wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for me. I’ve gotta do something to help!"

"Are you serious?" Spike asked, "You’re barely bigger than me! How do you expect to take on a couple dozen ‘bots almost five times your size?"

"I have my ways," RedStreak told Spike. He went to the massive doorway guarding the entrance, reaching for a handle to open it.

Suddenly, the door was blown apart, knocking RedStreak away like a toy doll. As he started to look up, a large tank plowed its way straight through the damaged doorway, leaving large tread marks in its wake. As the automatic defenses prepared to engage, the Decepticon aimed his turret at Teletran-1, blowing its main console apart.

"Blitzwing!" Spike shouted.

The Decepticon transformed, becoming a thirty-foot titan of steel and titanium. "That’s right, human!" he cackled, knocking Spike out of his way. Turning to his left, he saw RedStreak, still struggling to get up. "Just what I was lookn’ for!" Blitzwing said to himself.

In less than a millicycle, RedStreak found himself trapped inside a giant palm with only his fox tail sticking out. Blitzwing ran out of Autobot headquarters, meeting up with Astrotrain just outside the door. "I got what Megatron wanted! Let’s bail!" Blitzwing shouted.

The Dinobots threw everything they had at the double-faced Decepticons, but the gruesome twosome took to the sky before they had a chance. A molten crater was left in front of the Ark while Astrotrain and Blitzwing landed back on the Decepticon front.

Blitzwing laughed a little. "Heh…the little pipsqueak was easier to catch than I thought!"

Inside of Blitzwing’s hand, a muffed voice yelled out, "That does it! I’m through being trampled by metal giants and all this slag! But now you’ve done it! Now I’m PISSED OFF! AGH!" Without warning, lightning bolts began jumping out of the Decepticon’s hands, growing brighter and brighter until Blitzwing’s fingers began to melt.

"Ahh! My hand!" Blitzwing groaned. He released his grip on RedStreak, allowing the Maximal to fly free at long last.

RedStreak flew into the air, electricity glowing around his body as his eyes turned pure white. "You Decepticons have just opened up a jumbo-sized can of RedStreak’s whoop-ass!" he shouted with bravado. Stretching his arms in opposite directions, he fired two giant bolts of lightning, frying both Blitzwing and Astrotrain simultaneously. Several of the other Decepticons caught sight of this, and ran towards RedStreak to avenge their fallen comrades. RedStreak held out his hand and motioned for them to come forward, saying, "Bring it on! This ‘bot may be small, but there’s plenty to go around for all!"

One of the Constructicons, Bonecrusher, charged at RedStreak like a maniac. Charging up, RedStreak blasted him back with a ball of pure energon. Two jets, Thrust and Dirge, dive-bombed the Maximal, firing lasers at him. RedStreak laughed and flew circles around them. He blasted open Thrust’s cockpit, forcing him about with the controls. Just before the Decepticon collided with Dirge, RedStreak ejected, laughing proudly at the havoc he was wrecking.

Soundwave, standing next to Megatron, said to his commander, "Situation…out of control. Target is more powerful…than calculated."

"I’d admire such firepower," Megatron admitted, "But only when under my control! Scrapper!"

The green-plated Decepticon and his band of Constructicons ran up to Megatron obediently. "We are here, master Megatron!" Scrapper reported in.

Pointing a finger towards the small, flying Cybertronian, Megatron ordered, "Use Devastator to stop that nuisance with whatever force necessary! Just leave his exostructure intact!"

"Yes Megatron!" Scrapper replied. Turning to his forces, Scrapper yelled out, "Constructicons unite! Phase one!" In complete unity, all six Decepticons transformed, becoming various construction vehicles. They then rolled out, rolling straight for RedStreak.

The Maximal saw a whole row of Decepticons coming for him just as he knocked Ramjet out of the sky. "What the heck?" he just muttered.

Scrapper, now a load-lifter, yelled out to his companions, "Constructicons: phase two!" He and Mixmaster, a cement mixer truck, arced up, their front halves becoming crude-looking feet. A large dump truck, Long Haul, launched himself into the air, joining Scrapper and Mixmaster together to form the hips and legs of a much-larger robot. The other three Constructicons forged together and joined with their counterparts, creating a huge robot the size of an entire building.

The Decepticon giant looked down at RedStreak and laughed, his voice echoing from the distant mountains. "Devastator says…time to smash!" With his strong left arm, Devastator threw a punch toward the tiny transformer. RedStreak barely managed to dodge, Devastator’s blow leaving a giant hole in the ground. His red, cyclops eye followed RedStreak. Growling angrily, the giant uttered, "Devastator shall smash you! Devastator shall squash you like the insect you are!"

RedStreak was as cocky as ever. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall! And I’ve still got plenty more where…." His hands sparked weakly, smoke sizzling from them. RedStreak looked down at them, his eyes widening. Suddenly, his jets shut down, causing him to fall straight to the ground. Landing with a thud, he hollered, "Oh slag! My power’s out! No!"

Devastator’s huge shadow passed over the Maximal. A wicked grin was on the Decepticon’s face, and RedStreak knew what was about to happen. Devastator raised up his left foot, aiming it over RedStreak’s body. "Devastator says your termination is eminent!"

Out of the sky, a voice shouted "And the Aerialbots say it’s time to shut you down!" Five airplanes came out of the blue and fired at Devastator in full force, knocking the giant off balance. RedStreak looked up and saw the Autobot symbol engraved on their wings.

"Whoo-hoo! The cavalry has arrived!" RedStreak cheered.

One of the Autobot jets, a silver Concorde, shouted out to his companions, "Aerialbots! Unite to form Superion!" Just like the Constructicons, the Aerialbots came together to form one giant transformer. The new giant, Superion, flew straight at Devastator with the combined velocities of the previous five Aerialbots. Superion’s fists rammed Devastator hard, causing him to fly into a near-by hill and break apart into his six constitutive Constructicons. The giant Aerialbot landed alongside Optimus Prime, firing his giant cannon to drive back the other Decepticons.

Megatron, now scoured by blast marks, realized defeat was inevitable. Regretfully, he gave one last order. "Decepticons! Fall back! Retreat!" En masse, the Decepticons retreated, unable to continue their raid upon Autobot headquarters. Before leaving however, Megatron decided to do one last thing.

"I may be defeated, but the Autobots will not leave today unblemished!" Megatron pointed his fusion cannon toward the Ark’s entrance, where Spike was meandering his way over the rubble left by Blitzwing. Megatron chuckled as he pulled the trigger.

Optimus Prime saw Spike leaving the base and Megatron taking aim at him. "Spike! No!" he shouted out.

RedStreak heard the concussion of Megatron’s fusion cannon, and saw the blast fly towards his ancestor, Spike. "SPIKE!" Without flight, RedStreak had to run as fast as possible. With lightning speed, RedStreak transformed and bolted in his fox mode, hoping to save his great-great-great grandfather. The blast rushed at Spike steadily, who was still unaware his life was endangered. "NO! GRANDFATHER!" RedStreak hollered.

Spike looked up, seeing the blast rushing rapidly at him. He screamed, holding his arms up in futile defense. Megatron’s fusion blast lit up the ground around him like a violet sun. A shadow passed before him though, the outline of a red-furred transformer diving in front of him.

The shockwave knocked both Spike and RedStreak away. Spike found himself barely conscious and lying against a wall. He managed to get to his feet, his knees feeling extremely wobbly and weak. But then, just a couple of feet away, laid RedStreak.

"RedStreak!" Spike yelled.

The Autobots arrived to find Spike holding the strange transformer’s hand. The sight of RedStreak’s body was a horror. His right arm had been blown almost completely off, with only a few cables holding it to his torso. The fur on his chest had been burned away, and the glass cockpit shattered and ripped apart. Jolts of electricity jolted out of frayed wires as his fingers twitched sparingly.

"Great Cybertron," Bumblebee solemnly muttered, "He’s…."

"No," said Optimus Prime. From inside of RedStreak’s chest, a small, blue-white spark emerged. It left RedStreak’s dying body, hovering above it effortlessly. Like a butterfly on the breeze, it floated about until it stopped before Prime himself.

Prime opened his chest and disengaged the Matrix of Leadership from his own spark. Using it, he caught RedStreak’s flickering part within it. "There…his spark will remain online within the matrix for long enough."

"Long enough…to do what?" asked Spike.

"Autobots," Prime said, "We’re going to give this transformer a new body, an Autobot body."

"Are you serious Prime?" Ironhide asked.

"Ironhide, this being’s origins are a mystery, but his nature isn’t. He went out of his way to save Spike, far enough to sacrifice his own existence in exchange for Spike’s. No Autobot could do anything more noble than that." Prime said.

Inside the Matrix of Leadership, the spark of light shined.