It was the final confrontation. The Quintesson cube, flying free from the explosion, continued on for the planet Earth. The cube was a truly alien device, so clearly artificial with its sharp angles and reddish lights. Deep inside of it, the cruel and twisted Overlord Scavix of the Quintessons was plotting to complete his plans for total domination….

The DarkStar was busy chasing after the cube ship, its engines running at full power with all systems holding steady. With its crew of transformers, and especially thanks to the efforts of two transformers, the DarkStar had managed to destroy the huge command ship before it got within striking distance of the human homeworld…but all too soon, other problems arose.

Checking the scanners, Rattrap said to his commander, "Uh-oh! We’ve still got trouble Optimus!"

"The Quintessons have somehow jettisoned…an escape pod of some sort!" Gold Blade summarized, "And they’ve resumed their previous course to Earth!"

"Then there’s no time to lose." said Optimus Primal, "Prepare the DarkStar for battle mode!"

All along the hull of the DarkStar, gun turrets and missile launchers all deployed, aiming for the enemy ship ahead. Large plates of armor folded back, revealing even more weapons stowed away. The reactors at the heart of the DarkStar hummed to life, powering up the various plasma and mega cannons.

Clicking on the weapons console, Ursacon reported, "Weapons…at full power Optimus. Ready to boot alien butts!"

In the command chair, Optimus Primal next turned to Gold Blade and Coyotek. "Scanners - any vulnerable points or weaknesses detected?"

"Negative," Gold Blade replied.

"But that doesn’t mean we can’t blow a hole in ourselves!" Coyotek cheerfully shouted.

Clicking on the com-link built into his chair, Optimus contacted the reactor room. "Rattrap, RedStreak, Botanica…how’s that power coming?" inquired Optimus.

"Systems are running hot, boss bat!" said Rattrap.

"We’ve got the main reactor running at one hundred and ten percent capacity, Primal. We can’t stress them any more than that." Botanica spoke over the com-link.

"Get ‘em to one-fifteen and divert as much as possible to the forward weapons array." Optimus ordered. Focusing on the others on the bridge, Optimus prepared for action. "We’ve gotta work fast people. There’s no way we can allow those Quintessons to penetrate their atmosphere."

"Then…might I make a suggestion, Optimus?" asked Gold Blade. Optimus nodded, allowing her to speak. "Analyzing the data I have on their shields and various systems, the best place to strike would be their advanced transwarp drive. Its emissions mitigate the shields and…."

Cutting off Gold Blade’s lengthy explanation, Optimus bluntly ordered, "Then do it!"

Immediately Gold Blade and her fellow Maximals calibrated and targeted the weapons for a specific section of the Quintesson ship, locking onto a powerful transwarp signature. "We’re set Optimus!" RazorLeaf told him, "Targeted for their transwarp drive!"

Staring at the image of the Quintesson ship heading for Earth, Optimus said with stern eyes, "Fire!"

In that instant, over a dozen sets of energy cannons fired at the cube-shaped spacecraft, hitting its shields hard. Within minutes, the defensive shields surrounding a large, circular port began to flux and wobble like jell-o, its strength rapidly diminishing. Finally, the shields broke, a hole finally made.

Coyotek grabbed a near-by handle and twisted it. "Fire in the hole!" he shouted loudly. On the DarkStar, a massive volley of missiles came flying at the Quintesson ship. Most flew in and crashed against the impenetrable shields, causing them to pulsate for a moment but nothing more. Amid the chaos though, one missile managed to fly through the gaping hole, straight into the infrastructure of the ship.

Deep inside of the Quintesson ship, a rumbling echoed. The whole of the ship shook, an explosion going off deep within it. In another portion of the ship, Maral and Scavix held onto their stations as the floor beneath them trembled.

As sparks began to jump from their crystalline computer consoles, Maral did her best to assess the severity of the situation. "Scavix! The transformers have found us!" Another explosion going off, Maral held onto her station while she kept to her monitor. "They’re targeting our transwarp drive! I’m detecting surges throughout the entire propulsion assembly!"

One massive explosion was set off directly beneath them. The floor burst open, shrapnel flying everywhere. Scavix himself was tossed into the air and then fell back to the hard floor. Then, as if to spite him, a small chunk of the ceiling landed hard on his head.

"Agh!" he snarled in pain. Quickly Scavix got up and flew straight to Maral’s side. "Those blasted automatons are trying to destroy us! Quickly! Shut down the main power core! If they destroy our transwarp drive, it will cause the entire ship to explode!"

"But without the core, we won’t be able to maintain the shields!" Maral protested.

Scavix snarled as he stared at the flickering image of the DarkStar approaching them. "We won’t be needing shields any longer once we deploy our own weapons." he muttered.

The Maximals aboard the DarkStar continued to fire upon the Quintessons with every weapon in their arsenal. The cube ship’s shields began to weaken, allowing more and more blasts to penetrate it. On one large side of the cube were multiple scars and blast craters, exposing sensitive wires and components beneath the armor.

Checking her readings again, Gold Blade eagerly reported, "Their propulsion systems are failing! The Quintessons are losing speed rapidly but…my sensors are reading something else."

"RazorLeaf, confirm her readings," Optimus Primal ordered Gold Blade’s brother.

RazorLeaf complied, double-checking what Gold Blade reported in. "Confirmed! Their engines have failed, but there’s something terribly wrong! Their transwarp drive is starting to overload!"

"WHAT?!" Optimus blared, "Are you certain?"

"I’m reading it too Optimus!" said Coyotek, "Their core was tied in with the transwarp drive! Both are about to short-circuit and explode!"

With wide eyes and tense muscles, Optimus decided to change plans. "Coyotek! Back us away before that cube blows! Get us at least a few clicks away before…."

"No good Optimus! Their core is overloading as we speak!" Coyotek shouted.

On the monitors, they watched as the cube ship began to glow a dull red. In the exposed part of its infrastructure, a bright, almost pinkish light began to shine. It became increasingly brighter and brighter, the transwarp drive burning with blazing plasma. The heart of the Quintesson ship seemed to beat faster and faster, the eerie red light becoming luminous until….

In a sudden flash, the cube ship went from blazing red to dark black. For a whole minute, the bridge was in darkness. Every Maximal stared at the seemingly lifeless cube as if floated there against the backdrop of the blue Earth, completely motionless and dark as they wondered what happened.

"RazorLeaf, scanners." Optimus said to the fern-Maximal.

RazorLeaf typed in a few commands, but got nothing. "I’m getting nada! A nano ago their core was about to blow…the next it…shut off!"

Raising his shoulders, Ursacon offered a simple explanation. "Maybe it overheated."

Optimus shook his head. "This doesn’t make any sense. Their transwarp drive should have detonated…and we should be…" He addressed Coyotek, "Take us in closer to that ship. Maybe we can analyze what exactly went wrong, then board it."

"Roger big bot!" replied Coyotek. He eased the controls back, setting the DarkStar on a slow intercept course for the strange cube. The DarkStar drew closer, the cube ship becoming much larger than it appeared before. Compared with the DarkStar, the cube was indeed much larger, at least by a factor of five if not more. It was very unsettling for them all as they made a close pass by the mighty craft.

Maintaining her vigil, Gold Blade kept a close eye on the sensors. "Extremely strange. No power, no transwarp signatures. It appears as if the ship did indeed overload…or shut down." Suddenly, a little alarm went off, beeping erratically. "I’m detecting life signs; at least two in a specific section of the ship. Give me a minute and I’ll try to…."

Suddenly, all the red lights on the cube ship switched back on, illuminating both it and the DarkStar. Onboard the DarkStar, the Maximals were stunned, frozen in their seats. Before they could even react, large cannons mounted to the cube ship swiveled into position and fired.

Explosion after explosion went off aboard the DarkStar. Gold Blade and RazorLeaf were thrown out of their seats as both of their consoles blew up. Ursacon’s seat was overturned, knocking him to the floor as well.

Amid the cannons blasts and circuit explosions, Optimus Primal shouted, "AMBUSH!"

The poor DarkStar was forced back by the sheer intensity of the Quintessons’ firepower, the ship sent into a backward spin. Just as those in the bridge were affected, so were Rattrap, Botanica, and RedStreak in the reactor room. Everyone was sent into a tumble as the DarkStar lost control. RedStreak collided with an active generator, electricity shocking his energon circuitry. Rattrap was flung into a ventilation duct while Botanica was flung over the railing. Whipping out a vine, she saved herself from falling into the open reactor core.

Back on the bridge, Scaleblade and Megatron, still limping from his previous wounds, rushed in to see what was happening. "What in the inferno is going on here?" Megatron demanded to know.

Just then, the DarkStar was sent into another tumble, sending both Scaleblade and Megatron flying. Scaleblade shrieked in terror as she found herself flying out of control.

Coyotek looked up and saw the poor Predacon tossed overhead. "Hang on Scaley! I gottcha!" He transformed, becoming a yellow-brown canine as he jumped into the air. With his jaws, he snagged Scaleblade by her right arm. Coyotek then transformed yet again, holding Scaleblade in his arms as he landed on a floating platform. Gasping for air, he asked, "You ok?"

Scaleblade looked up in amazement. "You…saved me!"

Coyotek smiled and shrugged. "Just part of my Maximal nature!" he said.

The Predacon-human hybrid smiled at him, and then planted a great big kiss on his cheek. Coyotek, caught completely off-guard, fell to the floor with Scaleblade. "Umm…thanks!" he weakly chuckled.

Another explosion went off, the Quintessons continuing their barrage against the Maximals. Both Optimus and Megatron were rendered unconscious, lying on the floor on top of each other. It was virtually the same with every other transformer aboard the DarkStar. Only Coyotek and Scaleblade were still fully functional.

"That does it!" Coyotek growled, "Time to take charge and show them a taste of their own medicine!" Coyotek struggled to his feet, running over to the navigational station. As he reactivated it and began patching various systems together, Scaleblade rushed over to his side, eager to help.

"What are you going to do?" she asked politely.

Coyotek momentarily ignored her, focusing on the task at hand. "Shields down, weapons down, stabilizers down…" he muttered to himself. "Ah-ha!" he laughed, "Propulsion is still online! Now we’re in business!" With his hands on the steering controls, Coyotek brought the DarkStar about.

"Coyotek, what are you doing?" Scaleblade asked.

With eyes on the monitor, Coyotek replied, "We’re gonna stop that oversized crouton and plow it into crumbs! I’m taking this baby in at ramming speed!"

"You’re insane!" exclaimed Scaleblade. Then, pausing for a moment, she smiled, adding, "And I think I like that!"

The mighty DarkStar, though badly damaged, flew in towards the Quintessons’ cube ship at maximum speed. Disruptor blasts ricocheted off its burnt hull, leaving little more than a ding in its surface. More and more blasts were fired, but they didn’t stop the Cybertronian battleship. It just kept coming.

As the cube came in fast, Coyotek hollered, "HANNNNG ONNNNNNN!"

The DarkStar plowed straight into the gaping hole of the cube ship, cutting through the dense infrastructure like an ax through lumber. Metal screeched painfully and fuel lines ruptured all at once. Plasma lashed out against the DarkStar’s hull, ripping whole sections off it until the DarkStar broke through to the other side, it’s bow rupturing through the cube ship.

Several minutes passed before anyone awakened from the crash. Broken consoles littering the bridge sparked occasionally, their screens flickering on and off. Small bits of the inner hull broke off, landing on top of the unconscious transformers. The dull red glow of the emergency lights hung over the entire bridge of the DarkStar, casting muddled shadows from everything.

Scaleblade gave a weak groan as she got up. Looking about, she found the bridge to be a total disaster. Every computer system was wrecked, and even the giant view screen handing at the front end was damaged, a huge crack running across it. Lying about in various positions were her fellow transformers, all of them still unconscious.

The first thing she did was run to Coyotek. He was lying face-up on a broken-off piece of armor. There didn’t seem to be anything apparently wrong with him, so Scaleblade went up and gave him a good shove. "Wake up!" she said.

Moaning in discomfort, Coyotek managed to get up, his eyes flickering back on to their usual yellow-orange glow. "Mmmmm…what happened?" he asked.

"I, uh…think we crashed." Scaleblade said.

Coyotek looked around, seeing both the damaged interior and his unconscious comrades. "I think the first thing we need to do is wake the others." he suggested to Scaleblade.

Over the course of twenty-some minutes, Coyotek and Scaleblade woke up the whole lot of transformers. First they had found Ursacon, still seated in a chair that had been torn off its base, and the Gold Blade and RazorLeaf, both buried beneath roughly a hundred pounds of metal debris. Then there was Megatron, Optimus, Rattrap, Botanica, and last was RedStreak.

Megatron was extremely upset when he awoke, and found out what Coyotek had done. Raising up his golden arm cannon, he shouted, "You idiot! You’re telling me that you took my starship and rammed it into an enemy ship? Argh!" He slammed Coyotek in the face with his weapon as hard as possible, knocking him down. As he grew angrier, Megatron accidentally transformed back to beast mode, no longer able to control his emotions and rage, but it didn’t deter him for lashing out against Coyotek.

A large wolf bore its fangs out at Coyotek, its paws firmly entrenched in Coyotek’s chest. Before Megatron had a chance to attack Coyotek, Optimus grabbed him by the neck and threw him off. "That’s enough Megatron!" Optimus shouted.

Megatron growled bitterly, his fur rising up. "Don’t think you can order me around, Primal!" he snarled, "I’ve terminated Maximals for far less!"

"We don’t have time for pitiful affairs; we’ve got to make use of the situation and stop the Quintessons, hand-to-hand if we have to!" stated Optimus. Turning his attention elsewhere, he focused on Botanica at the sensor console. "Any progress on the scanners Botanica?"

"Not much. I’ve only managed to partially repair them," she told Primal, "From what I can tell, the Quintessons ship is badly damaged, but undergoing automatic repairs as we speak."

"How long until they’re fully functional?" Optimus asked.

"Hard to say, but my personal estimate is two megacycles at most, depending on which systems are repaired first." Botanica sighed.

"Then lets move out!" Optimus commanded.

The transformers exited the DarkStar through a side airlock. Once they broke through the debris blocking their way, they found themselves in the midst of a long hallway lined with pipes and conductors running in all directions. As a group they entered it, walking down slowly and with extreme caution. At one point, RazorLeaf tripped over a large, offset tile on the floor. Before he fell though, Optimus grabbed him by the neck just as a large mechanical ax swung across the hallway.

"Whoa! One more step and fern-boy would’ve been chopped salad!" said Rattrap.

"Then we’ve got to keep our wits about. Apparently these Quintessons know traps to a T." Optimus commented.

Along the way, the hallway split into two paths. Optimus looked to Botanica, who was armed with a portable scanner, and directed her to check both ways out. The plant-bot waved her arm around, allowing the scanner to take in a wide range. A nano-click later and it beeped, indicating something.

"My scanner’s detected the presence of two Quintessons, Optimus," Botanica said.

"But which way to them?" RazorLeaf asked.

Waving her arm one more time, Botanica came to only one conclusion. "I can’t tell. The materials this ship is constructed from scatter my scans…but both paths appear to lead to a large corridor where the life signs are concentrated."

"Then that means we have to split up into two groups. Botanica, Gold Blade, Ursacon, Scaleblade, you four follow me down the left path, while Megatron takes RazorLeaf, Rattrap, Coyotek, and RedStreak down the other." suggested Optimus, "To be on the safe side, we’ll keep our com-links open so we can keep in contact. Is that clear?"

"Crystal." Rattrap said, saluting his commander.

As ordered, the two groups split, taking their assigned paths. RedStreak kept checking back, watching as Optimus and Scaleblade gradually disappeared from sight. Somehow, the further they went, the darker it seemed to become. About halfway down the tunnel, Megatron adjusted his arm cannon, making it into a large flashlight. His beam illuminated the whole hall, making it clearly visible.

Rolling alongside Megatron, Rattrap mumbled, "Oh man…this would be a great place for an ambush."

As if on cue, a large, rolling sound started from behind them. RedStreak and RazorLeaf both glanced behind them, watching as a huge section of the floor lifted up, forming a giant ramp. At the tall end of the ramp, a large, spiky ball appeared, rapidly rolling down the ramp.

"HOLY SLAG!" RazorLeaf shouted.

"MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!" RedStreak exclaimed.

The two started running on their legs as fast as they could. They past Coyotek, who they left standing there, scratching his head in wonder. But then, when he looked back, a large yellow stripe formed on his back and he went running after. The three of them past Megatron, all screaming in terror.

"RUN! RUN!" hollered RedStreak, "RUUUUUN!"

Within a single cycle, Rattrap saw the giant, mace-like ball coming after them and screamed as well. "EEEEEH!" He revved up his wheels and practically flew after RedStreak, Coyotek, and RazorLeaf.

"Oh for the love of Prime!" muttered Megatron as Rattrap sped by. The large Predacon took a look behind him, seeing the giant ball rolling towards him. He looked to the Maximals and shook his head. Megatron then rose up his cannon and charged it up. "Oh please…" he muttered, firing on the speeding ball. With a single blast, the spiked ball came flying apart in a billion pieces, reduced to smoking scrap in a matter of nano-clicks.

The four Maximals stopped, standing there in awe. Megatron turned to them with a stern face. "Now if there are any real problems…." he said as he casually walked toward them.

Continuing down the hall, RedStreak made a discovery while Megatron led them. Using a holographic projector he was carrying, he had accessed Lor-Gavvon’s old file. While flipping through sub-processors, he noticed a strange set of patterns that kept showing up. "Hey, Rattrap! Could you lend me your tail for a cycle?" RedStreak called the rodent.

Rattrap stopped and turned around. "What do you want?" he said in a whiny tone of voice.

"Well see for yourself!" RedStreak said, tossing Rattrap the holo-projector.

The rodent handled the device with exquisite care, activating the program and running a diagnostic scan of it. "That’s funny…there’s a program within a program here!" he said, "But for some reason its encrypted…."

"Can you do me a favor an de-crypt it?" RedStreak asked.

Rattrap sighed and stuck his tail into a small socket built into the projector. After whirling it for a while, Rattrap detached from it and tossed the projector back at RedStreak. "There. I dunno what’s so important about it, but in a couple of cycles the program will de-crypt itself…now for more important things."

RedStreak switched the projector back on, noting a strange, fuzzy image that kept coming back on. He thought for a moment, saying to himself, "I wonder what it could be for…."

"RedStreak!" hollered Megatron. Immediately RedStreak put the projector away and caught up with the rest of the group. They had finally reached the end of the tunnel, finding a chamber filled with bright red lights. Upon entering it, the tunnel sealed behind them, closing off any exit.

"So much for an escape route." said RazorLeaf.

There was a loud yelling coming from near-by. Suddenly, a small port built into the wall opened, and out of it came sliding Optimus and his group. Each and every one of them flew out, landing on the floor with a loud thump. As with Megatron’s route, the port sealed itself, preventing any form of escape.

Rattrap sighed, slightly at ease. "Well…at least we’re all back together now."

Suddenly, the entire room was lit up by even more red lights. A loud humming started, and the lights surrounding them began to pulsate in synch.

"What kind of light show is this?" asked Coyotek.

As the lights began to pulsate, electricity shot out of them, linking together into a giant net surrounding the transformers. Megatron fired his cannon, hoping to take it out, but his energy blast merely bounced off. The walls began to close in, forcing the group closer together.

"Slag! Not another trap!" shouted RazorLeaf.

The walls came in closer and closer, further confining them. Botanica and Gold Blade fired their weapons, but their blasts were simply absorbed into the electrical grid. RedStreak and RazorLeaf tried the same thing with the same results.

"It absorbs energy!" stated Botanica.

"And it’ll fry us if it touches us!" said Rattrap, "That’s a thollian web!"

"Maybe this will help!" offered Coyotek. He held out his ray gun and projected a force field around them. The energy web was held at bay, but Coyotek’s ray gun wouldn’t hold forever. "Power’s…draining! The power pack will only last a few cycles!"

"Hang on! Maybe I can help!" RedStreak said, rushing to Coyotek’s side. He opened up a latch in the ray gun and stuck his finger in. "Just a few giga-amps of energon and it will…."

The force wall protecting them started to destabilize. The energy web reacted with it, pushing straight through Coyotek’s shield and closing in on them.

"What gives?" Coyotek shouted.

"The energy web," Botanica yelled, "It’s polarized! Energon will only make it stronger!"

RedStreak turned to Scaleblade, standing there with a worried face. "Then maybe some anti-energon will weaken it!" He grabbed Scaleblade by her arm and pulled her near the encroaching web. "All right sis, just blast it with what ya got!" RedStreak told her.

"But…how? I can’t remember how to do it!" Scaleblade exclaimed.

"Just concentrate or something!" RedStreak hurriedly replied.

Scaleblade stared at the thollian energy web for a moment, watching it flicker and spark in amazing patterns. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her hands began to glow with violet energy, growing brighter and brighter. Finally, Scaleblade took her hands and stuck them directly into the energy web.

The anti-energon energy within her radiated out through the whole web, causing it to flicker more sporadically. Giant sparks began to fly out of it, the red lights lining the walls exploding. Just as the group were at their backs, the web surrounding them flickered out of existence.

Scaleblade exhaled, her body drained of energy. She collapsed onto the floor, just barely functional.

"Scaleblade!" Coyotek yelled, and immediately he rushed to her side.

Rattrap gave a long sigh, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Phew! Well…that’s one less problem to worry about!"

"But not the last for you!" a female voice shouted.

Before they realized what was going on, the back wall lifted up, revealing a larger chamber behind it. The transformers gaped at the sight of a large disruptor cannon mounted to a strange platform. The disruptor was aimed dead center for them, and at the controls was a red-faced Quintesson with a demonic smile on his face.

"Scavix!" growled RedStreak.

The fiendish Quintesson spun his head around, showing off all four of his ugly faces. "Correct, Cybertronian!" he said with a grin, "But it is not just me you need to worry about!"

A shot was fired from a completely different direction. Ursacon fell to the floor with a loud groan, his arms and legs wrapped together by energon chains. The transformers shifted their gaze upward, finding yet another Quintesson, armed with a strange form of grenade launcher, hovering above them with a rocket thruster at her back.

Not even a nano-click later, Maral unleashed a barrage of discs at the transformers. Each one shot out four energon chains, wrapping themselves around their victims. Megatron, Optimus, RazorLeaf, Gold Blade, Coyotek, Rattrap, Botanica, RedStreak, and even Scaleblade all were hit and immobilized.

"WHAT?!" Megatron shouted, finding himself in chains.

"Your time has come at long last, metallic ingrates!" Maral decreed. Turning to Scavix, she said, "Now Scavix, finish them off!"

Scavix chuckled. "I thought you’d never ask, my dear." The disruptor cannon began to power up, the mess of wires and cables linking it to the platform pulsating in blues and greens. Scavix’s machine began to hum as a large ball of energy collected at its firing point. "Any last words, transformers?" he asked.

"Yes! Spare us! Spare us now!" shouted Rattrap.

Optimus Primal spoke up, making yet another of his legendary speeches. "You can’t do this to us! We came here to end this war and make peace, we would spare your lives in this situation rather than resort to petty vengeance!"

"Speak for yourself, Primal." Grumbled Megatron.

"PEACE? JUSTICE? I DON’T SUPPOSE YOU USED THOSE WORDS BEFORE KILLING MY FATHER?!" Maral shouted.

"Your father?" Optimus Primal muttered.

Scavix glared at Maral for a moment. "Maral…this is hardly the time."

"Maral! We didn’t kill your father," RedStreak shouted, "But I know who did!" He turned and looked to the Quintesson overlord. "Scavix did it!"

"Pathetic!" said Maral, "Trying to shift the blame to another are you?"

"NO! I…WAS…THERE! I…SAW…LOR-GAVVON!" RedStreak tried to say.

Maral adjusted her jetpack and lowered herself to the Maximal’s level. She extended one of her tentacles, deploying the spikes at the end of it. With it, she smacked RedStreak square in the face, leaving one long, bloody streak across his face. "How DARE you speak my father’s name!"

RedStreak gagged and coughed as a little of his blood dribbled down the back of his throat. "It is the truth! Your father was killed by Scavix, and he’s playing you for a puppet!" he tried to explain.

Scavix was growing weary at his controls, knowing this situation was growing delicate. "Enough of this! Maral…move out of the way!" he ordered.

Just as Scavix finished barking his words, the little holo-projector attached to RedStreak’s arm started wobbling and wiggling through the energon bonds. Maral backed away, muttering, "What is this?" Just as she reached to grab it, the projector came to life on its own, flying into the air and hovering effortlessly. It then created a giant hologram that filled the whole room with the image of a single Quintesson.

Lor-Gavvon’s voice spoke through the projector, echoing around the chamber. "Maral, if you are hearing this, it means I have perished. I…know you must grieve for me, and that is because you are a kind soul with an even kinder heart…."

"What is this?" shouted Scavix, "Turn it off!"

The hologram continued, addressing Maral as she watched in all. "The circumstances of my demise…I’m sure you are unaware of. What have been told…is a lie." Lor-Gavvon said.

Maral stood there and gasped, unable to believe it.

"No doubt Scavix has told you precisely what happened. Know this, Maral…it was not the transformers that did this…it was Scavix himself." the hologram of Lor-Gavvon said.

"NO! IT’S A TRICK!" shouted Scavix. He tilted the disruptor cannon up, firing on the hologram. The image of his former nemesis was electrified, the hologram dissolving away as the projector fell to the floor. Scavix then moved the cannon back into place, pointed towards Maral. "It is a trick, Maral! A lie! They created this device themselves! It was those accursed transformers!"

Maral looked at Scavix, and then at the transformers. RedStreak stared back at her, saying, "Maral, your father told me to save you! He told me that he loved you!"

"Maral!" Scavix yelled, focusing her attention back on him, "Don’t listen to them! They’re trying to confuse you!"

Maral looked at Scavix, noting his shifty eyes. That was enough to make her change her mind. "This, Scavix," she said, holding up a control device, "Is for my father!" She pressed the button, releasing the transformers from their bondage.

"YOU TRAITOR!" howled Scavix. With that, he fired the disruptor cannon at the Cybertronians. Each and every one scattered, the blast melting the floor beneath them. They in turn fired back, damaging the platform Scavix sat on. Scavix fired back again and again, but didn’t hit a single transformer.

Coyotek jumped, barely dodging the last blast. "Hey!" he shouted, "That’s hardly nice! But if you wanna play that way…" He pulled out his ray gun, aiming for the barrel of the disruptor cannon. "Then that’s my game!" A single beam shot out, flying straight into the heart of the cannon. With giant bolts of green energy, it exploded.

The entire structure collapsed on top of Scavix, crushing him to a pulp.

Coyotek approached the wreckage, poking his gun through the debris. Without warning, a large pile of scrap metal blasted into the air, knocking the Maximal backwards. Scavix flew out, still alive and well. "Fools! I shall destroy you all myself, and then make sure you never existed in the first place!" he vowed, and then blasted off, punching through the ceiling.

Rattrap blinked twice. "What does he mean by that?" he asked.

"It means he’s going to launch our secret weapon!" replied Maral, "The temporal implosion missile!"

"What’s it do?" asked RedStreak.

"Once it’s launched," Maral explained, "It will travel back in time to a precise date and then detonate near this system’s star, destroying everything and everyone around it!"

Raising his eyebrows, RazorLeaf added, "And if the Earth is destroyed in the past, our ancestors will be destroyed along with the humans!"

"And that means we’ll all cease to exist, both Predacon and Maximal!" said Megatron.

"Which means we must stop him before he can do that!" Maral suggested, "I’ll lead you to the hanger where the missile’s kept."

Within minutes, Maral flew with RedStreak, Scaleblade, Optimus, and Megatron, who in turn carried the non-flying Maximals. Megatron fired his cannon in spacecraft mode, blowing away the airlock doors. Everyone flew in, finding the hanger empty of everyone except themselves.

Maral looked around. "Everything seems to be in place, and Scavix doesn’t appear to be here yet." Suddenly, her eyes fell upon a narrow rocket with broad, emerald-green wings. "There’s the missile!" she yelled.

A loud footstep rumbled throughout the hanger. Scavix’s voice echoed, "Which is in my possession!" More heavy, quaking footsteps fell, and a large, bluish mass approached them. In the dim light permeating through the thin windows, a large Quintesson battle suit was unveiled, bigger than anything they had seen before. To make matters worse, Scavix was piloting the machine, his tentacles firmly linked to every system.

Two large disruptor cannons deployed on either side of the battle suit, accompanied by a total of eight lasers and four giant robotic arms armed with lobster-like claws. Without wasting a moment, Scavix put the weaponry to good use.

In mere moments, Scavix fired hundreds of laser blasts that sliced through the floor as the disruptors blasted apart standing equipment. His missiles created huge craters all over the walls and floor, destroying everything in sight; everything, except the temporal missile that is….

"We’ve gotta stop him!" shouted Optimus, holding up a metal plate to shield himself.

"That won’t be so easily accomplished, Cybertronian!" said Scavix. A powerful disruptor blast erupted from his cannon, knocking the Maximal commander down. Megatron roared and charged the Quintesson. Scavix turned just in time to see Megatron leap into the air with a foot coming towards him. The Predacon kicked the battle suit hard enough to crack its translucent armor, but nothing else. One of the robotic arms quickly grabbed Megatron by the legs, holding him high in the air. Staring at the Predacon, Scavix asked, "Did you really expect that to work?" He then whirled Megatron away, attending to the other transformers.

A shock overcame Scavix just has he cornered Coyotek. His systems were hit again and again by energon discharges. Behind him Scaleblade and RedStreak were hitting him with their combined blasts, attempting to short out his weapons.

"More treacherous scrap!" snarled Scavix. His robotic arms lashed out with their claws, reaching for them. RedStreak jumped out of the just in time, but Scaleblade was snagged in mid-air while she attempted to fly off.

"Hang on Scales, I’ll save you!" shouted Coyotek. The heroic Maximal leapt at Scavix, hoping to rescue Scaleblade from his clutches. Another robotic arm swung out, grabbing Coyotek as well, squeezing his chest with its thick and powerful claws.

"I can’t believe it was you all along!" Maral hissed at Scavix. She also ran at Scavix, firing another set of her energon chains at him. They wrapped around the suit’s legs, restraining its movements.

"You were always gullible and foolish, Maral!" Scavix said. One of the robotic arms arched forward, snapping the chains apart like scissors cutting string. Before she had a chance to run off, Scavix used the same arm to snatch Maral, holding her before him. "Because of your treachery, Maral, "You shall die along with the rest of these miserable creatures!"

Scavix ceased firing and raised up the robotic arms. "Here me transformers! Surrender now or I shall terminate these three, starting with the canine!"

"No way!" shouted RazorLeaf.

"Agh! Uh…guys!" Coyotek managed to squeak, Scavix’s claws squeezing him tight.

"SURRENDER, OR ELSE!" warned Scavix.

With Optimus Primal and Megatron down, RedStreak took command. "All right Scavix! Let our friends go and we’ll surrender!" he promised.

"No!" Scavix hissed, "You must do more than that, if you expect your sister to live!" The robotic arm holding Scaleblade moved forward, directly facing the disruptor cannon. Looking directly at RedStreak, Scavix stated, "Surrender yourself to me, weapon R! Give me…the source of your power, in exchange for you sister’s life!"

"Don’t do it!" Coyotek hollered to his friend.

"He’ll just betray you!" Maral warned.

Scavix squeezed his grip more tightly on Maral and Coyotek, making them groan in pain. "Give me your power, or watch as I crush your friends!" Scavix told RedStreak.

RedStreak first looked at Coyotek, Maral, and Scaleblade hanging before him. He then turned to Gold Blade, RazorLeaf, Botanica, and Ursacon standing behind him, their faces blank and unsure. RedStreak thought, unable to come to a conclusion. He then looked down, seeing his spark pulsating in tune with his human heart.

"All right…I’ll give it to you." RedStreak promised. As Coyotek and Scaleblade stared at him in shock, RedStreak began to open his chest, removing his spark from his body. "Here it is, Scavix! The source of my power; it’s yours if you free my friends!"

"As you wish," Scavix replied. The robotic arms released their grip of Scaleblade, Coyotek, and Maral all at once, letting them each drop to the floor. Scavix then opened the front of his battle suit, stretching out his tentacles to grasp the floating spark. He latched onto it and pulled RedStreak’s spark back in, embracing the spark with an evil look on his face.

Laughing, Scavix exclaimed, "HA! YOU INCREDIBLE FOOL! YOU’VE JUST GIVEN ME THE ULTIMATE POWER IN THE GALAXY!" Sucking the spark into his own body, Scavix laughed more loudly as blue energy radiated through his entire being. "NOW I SHALL DESTROY YOU ALL MYSELF!"

RedStreak, still standing there, smiled. His eyes began to glow a bright blue, the human heart within him glowing as well. "You’re wrong, Scavix!" shouted RedStreak.

RedStreak’s open chest shot out a powerful beam of light at Scavix, linking his beating heart with the spark inside of Scavix’s body. In seconds, a powerful surge of energy went through Scavix, power beyond explanation that drove Scavix insane.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Scavix, "W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP!"

"You wanted power, Scavix, well here it is!" said RedStreak, "The full force of the spark of light! The very source of all my strength and power!" As Scavix continued to holler in pain, RedStreak put everything he had into his spark.

"My spark represents everything that is good in both humanity and the transformer Matrix! It will never be controlled by a being as warped and evil as you Scavix!" RedStreak shouted at Scavix.

Scavix’s body began to dissolve away, his organic and metallic components vaporizing against the purity of the spark of light. Scavix clenched his fangs and tried to fight it, but to no avail. His eyes, burning with the rage of RedStreak’s spark, stared at the Maximal before him.

"You may…have destroyed me, and obliterated my race…but I shall take you all with me!" Scavix growled. One of his burning tentacles unplugged itself from the battle suit, reaching for a small control panel. Scavix pressed in a sequence of buttons, activating a remote relay. Scavix stared at RedStreak one last time and laughed, his body became nothing more than plasma smoke.

The temporal implosion missile activated, various lights turning on and off in its wings. Maral gasped, realizing it was preparing to lift-off. "The missile!" she cried. Before anyone could act, a powerful engine fired up on the missile. An airlock door swung open, the air inside the hanger rushing out at once. The missile blasted off, exiting through the opening into space.

"SLAG!" RazorLeaf shouted, "IT’S GONE! AND WE’RE ALL OUT OF FLYERS!"

Megatron, Optimus Primal, and Scaleblade were all lying on the floor unconscious, unable to fly after the missile. Without thinking or speaking, RedStreak ran straight out the airlock, firing his rockets up to chase after the relentless missile.

Scaleblade and Coyotek awoke, watching as RedStreak flew into space. "Red…Streak…." Scaleblade mumbled weakly.

In space, the missile was incredibly swift. As RedStreak pursued it, it swung past the Earth at near-light speeds. In less than a minute, it passed by Earth’s sister planet, Venus, with its yellow cloud-tops. RedStreak realized that it was heading toward the Sun, where it would no doubt make the time jump and detonate in the distant past, destroying both him and his future.

Strange, blue-violet waves of energy started leaking out of the missile. "The missile, it’s already emitting temporal energy! I’ve gotta stop that thing before it slips through time," he told himself. RedStreak deployed his fusion cannons, aiming them towards the missile. "And this is the only way how…."

Watching through her vessel’s sensors, Maral and the functioning Maximals watched RedStreak from afar. "If he blasts that missile, he’ll detonate it and destroy himself in the process!" Maral shouted, "But…if he doesn’t…the missile will penetrate time and we’ll cease to exist."

All of RedStreak’s friends could only watch as he came closer and closer to the missile, blazing through the solar flares flickering around the Sun. Optimus, leaning against the wall in his crippled condition, softly said, "May the Matrix be with your spark, RedStreak."

RedStreak saw the missile, time and space rippling around it as energies built up. Gazing through an eyepiece attached to his weapon, RedStreak muttered, "Only one chance…."

From Earth orbit, the others watched as a gigantic, purple explosion went off just above the Sun’s surface. Its flames seemed to swirl about the writhing vortex as it faded, the Sun’s activity returning to normal once again.

The Maximals mourned the passing of a brave Maximal hero, and even the Quintesson Maral was saddened by this moment. Scaleblade glanced at the yellow star planet Earth orbited, a tear streaming down her cheek. "RedStreak…."

Elsewhere in space, a giant, scorpion-shaped spacecraft floated past the ruined surface of the planet Char. As its hull rotated into the light, the Decepticon symbol shimmered. Blackened and pitted with craters that indicated its age, the ancient ship continued on its unbound journey.

A tiny device resembling a space probe flew by the damaged ship, attracted to it for unknown reasons. With ease it maneuvered to an open airlock, flying inside the wrecked interior, pausing momentarily over dozens of damaged Cybertronian bodies.

Finally, it came before a large, silvery command chair coated with a fine layer of dust. The probe flew up, shining a light on it, revealing a large purple arm supplemented by a shiny gold cannon. Further up, it revealed a three-pronged crown atop a head with a stern face devoid of life, its eyes empty.

The probe opened itself up, shining a fine beam of radiant energy upon the inert body. Soon, its eyes began to glow bright red, and the head shifted up to gaze at the probe.

"Awaken, Galvatron," a voice said from the probe, "Awaken…to destroy Cybertron."