In a distant corner of the universe, amid a conglomeration of galaxies and star clusters, there was one quaint little galaxy that was the stage of a great drama. For millions of years, war had raged across one tiny world referred to as Cybertron. From the Quintessonian revolution to the Great War the Autobots and Decepticons had battled, then their descendants the Maximals and Predacons raged the Beast Wars and Techno-Organic War. Many conflicts occurred on this one world, but now, after so many millennia, peace was achieved....

Nearing the Cybertronian star system, a single massive vessel swooped by the second planet of the system. The vessel continued onward, edging further and further outward. As it maintained a stable orbit, much debate was going on within....

"You are certain of what you claim?" a dark being said.

An underling at the controls clicked on the display, bringing an eerie red light to illuminate the dark command bridge. "Yes, my lord Scavix," replied the underling, "Nothing at all. Our target has somehow...disappeared."

A long, snake-like tentacle wiggled its way over the underling’s shoulder. As it came close to the neck, spikes snapped out. Scavix waved the mace-like tip of his arm near the underling, just inches away from the creature’s face.

"Do you realize what this means?" Scavix said, his voice deep and jagged. "Our enemies have done something...most unexpected. Either they have discovered a way to cloak their world or...."

Scavix paused, thinking for a long while. The underling dared to turn about and peek at his overlord. "And...that is, lord Scavix?" he asked.

Scavix’s head turned, shifting to a skull-like face. "No. Impossible," he mumbled, "It is impossible to move an entire world through a warp conduit. Cybertron must still be near..." Scavix withdrew his bladed tentacle, then started to walk away. "Continue your search, underling," he commanded, "The slave home world must be in this system. Use every resource available...our calculations must be accurate if the invasion is to succeed."

Thousands of light years away, the Solar System was serene and peaceful as it ever was. On the planet Earth, the reconstruction of most major cities was nearing completion thanks to the transformers, giving millions of refugees homes and a new chance to live. In fact, the world was better than ever: economies were booming, unemployment and poverty were nonexistent in both civilized and developing countries, technology was becoming so developed it nearly equaled that of their Cybertronian allies, and the environment was becoming greener thanks to the decreasing levels of pollution worldwide.

At the construction site of New Cybertron near the ruins of Autobot City in western North America, RedStreak laid atop a mesa just a mile beyond the city limits, staring up at the sky. Today he skipped his work schedule to do some skygazing, though he was sure Cheetarus Prime and Optimus Primal would lecture him on that once they caught him.

Up in the sky, the familiar Sun shined down, warming the land that thrived under the summer sunlight. But even in the full light of the Sun, a few brilliant stars, or rather planets, managed to shine - barely discernable against the brilliant sky. First was Venus, brighest of the planets and Earth’s twin in the heavens. Then there was a second planet, one that hung like a green emerald in the sky. It was Cybertron, the newest addition to the sun’s family, Earth’s adopted brother.

"So...this is where you’ve been hiding out?" RedStreak jerked with a start, finding the Maximals Cheetarus, Coyotek, and Optimus Primal all behind him. Optimus and Cheetarus transformed, assuming their robotic forms. Coyotek preferred his beast mode when on Earth.

Optimus Primal came forward, surprising calm and peaceful despite RedStreak’s truancy. "A mesa, RedStreak? No offense to your stealth techniques, but you could of done better...." said Optimus.

RedStreak smiled. "Never bother hiding way up when hiding from a fly-bot, right?"

Optimus Primal smiled. He looked up into the sky, noting the emerald planet hanging in it. "I’ve got to admit, on a day like this, it is a beautiful thing to stare at." The sight of Cybertron shining like a star was wonderful, enough to bring a tear to his eye. But of course, Optimus pointed out, "There is still work to be done, RedStreak. I promise you there’ll be time for star gazing soon enough...."

The Maximals turned around and headed toward the mesa’s edge. RedStreak was the last to go, hoping to sneak one last peak. For the longest time possible, he looked to the sky at green Cybertron. It was a truly worthy neighbor for the Earth to have.

Staring more closely, RedStreak noted a faint white smudge not far from the planet, barely distinguishable from a cirrus cloud. "Hmm....comet Forward-DiTillio is getting brighter..." he mumbled before turning his eyes away.

Past the veil of the Earth’s atmosphere and even several million kilometers from Cybertron, comet Forward-DiTillio was making its millenial pass of the sun before flying out into space again. It was huge and brilliant, its tail streaming into space. However, on its most recent visit, Forward-DiTillio would be greeted by....unexpected guests.

Not far from the comet’s tail, the transwarp conduit - a faint indent in the fabric of space - began to quiver. An undulating light radiated from it, growing more and more brilliant. Then, in a sudden flash, it exploded. A singularity formed...and out of it emerged the strangest thing.

A metallic object, too small to be an asteroid or even a meteor, spun slowly in space, its cork-screw shaped body shimmering like silver. Small antenna poked through its surface, pulsating microwave beams out into space.

"Encholon-One, calling the master vessel," a transmission directed to the transwarp conduit, "Arrival at Sol System complete. Initializing scanning systems to begin second phase of...."

The mysterious object crossed paths with the comet almost instantly after exiting the conduit, a rain of icy hail and dust swelling over it. In a manner of minutes, debris pelted it like hail, hitting the silver frame harder and harder as the ice grew into larger and larger clumps. One huge fragment the size of an old bus hit it off-side, snapping several antennas and denting the visitor’s metal shell. Soon after, a second, even larger fragment smashed into the alien object, sending it into a hundred pieces.

Several pieces fell towards the heart of comet Forward-DiTillio, tumbling uncontrollably. As they drew into the comet’s foggy coma, they disapeared like phantoms in the icy mist....

Aboard the science station, Perceptor 2, Botanica was overseeing the joint Maximal-human effort. Most of the ninety-odd crew were humans manning shuttles, communications, and maintaining systems. As for the purely scientific team, there was a complement of twenty Maximals and nine humans, all graduates of the Cybertronian Academy of Advanced Studies. These star pupils were using the most advanced telescopes and sensors to scan the galaxy under Botanica’s guidance.

Gold Blade, a plant-based maximal, was working the macro-scope sensors of the Perceptor 2. She was busily analyzing the near-by comet for traces of radiation when her brother, RazorLeaf, came marching in loudly. As his heavy feet thudded against the reinforced plating, Gold Blade’s screen was scrambled.

"Oh!" she groaned bitterly. She turned about in her chair with a bitter face towards RazorLeaf. "You just ruined ten megacycles of meticulous scanning on comet Forward-DiTillio, brother! I swear if your beast mode wasn’t a fern, I’d mistake you for an overweight elephant!"

"Can it, sis," bluntly said RazorLeaf, "Botanica sent me here with more important things than comet scans...." He went over to Gold Leaf’s console, brushing her yellow-colored leaves out of the way as he slid in a data disk.

As the computer rebooted itself to download the data disk’s contents, Gold Blade sighed again. "Great! Now you just ruined the back-up files!" she said, throwing up her arms, "What else do you plan to destroy while I’m here?"

The monitor reactivated, an image of comet Forward-DiTillio appearing. The computer beeped, "Electromagnetic disturbance recorded near comet nucleus. Downloading further data from classified file: Botanic-227."

Gold Leaf saw the data coming in, unable to believe it. "This is Botanica’s work! You actually hacked into her personal database...."

"No. She gave it to me personally. Botanica discovered an emission coming from the comet core several megacycles ago." RazorLeaf interrupted. As he spoke, the monitor switched over to a second image, one displaying a bar graph. The computer was quick to analyze. RazorLeaf attended to it, further explaining, "The emission was highly unstable and unknown to cometary bodies...and highly unnatural."

The computer paused, beeping frantically. "Electromagnetic disturbance of unknown origin. Strongest in primary microwave frequencies - data unknown." it stated, further anlyzing the information to its best abilities. The bar graph paused, a single wavelength isolated. "Microwave wavelength identified. Unable to translate. Repeat: unable to translate."

Gold Blade glanced at the controls, then at her Maximal brother. "Well, what did Botanica want me to do with this?"

RazorLeaf stared at the screen, watching Cybertext icons scanning by. "Botanica’s last orders were to identify and...translate the transmission...."

Several decks down, Botanica walked into the shuttle bay with a large metal case. Four security guards, three Maximals and a human, approached her, insisting upon seeing proper authorization.

"Look lady," the human guard said, "I’d like to let you cruise about in one of these shuttles, but you know the rules and procedures; no passcodes, no access, no spacecraft."

The three security Maximals kept their stun rifles up and against their chests. Botanica eyed them, and more importantly the class-5 shuttle just a few meters behind. She still had the case with her, which she just might be needing if nessicary.

"I’m sorry to be so rude, but it’s urgent that I gain access to one of those vessels. Within a matter of cycles it will be too late otherwise! So please let me through!" she said as politely as possible. The security guards stood their ground before her, unmoving. Botanica sighed, realizing she had no choice if she wanted a shuttlecraft. "Here. My passcodes are in this...." Botanica reached down and opened the case.

Four cycles later, alarms were blazing all over deck six. RazorLeaf and Gold Blade were both startled, uncertain as to what the heck was going on. The Perceptor 2’s central computer, Orpheus-1, blared out throughout the halls, "Alert! Security breech on deck 6, primary hanger. Single class-5 shuttle missing. Alert! Alert!"

"What the slag?" mumbled RazorLeaf to himself.

"Who’d wanna steal a lousy shuttle?" asked Gold Blade. She clicked on her console’s built-in com-link. "Gold Blade to Botanica, a shuttle’s been stolen!" she exclaimed. Strangely, there was no response. "Gold Blade to Botanica...come in! Gold Blade to Botanica...." There still wasn’t any response.

RazorLeaf took only a moment to think. "She must be off the station...which means she’s the one that stole the shuttlecraft!" The fern-bot clicked on his personal com-link. "RazorLeaf to Orpheus-1, contact Cheetarus Prime on Earth and inform him of the shuttle breech and Botanica’s disappearance."

Within ten cycles, Botanica was well out of communications range with either Earth or the Perceptor 2. She was personally piloting the shuttle to the comet, certain of the data she obtained early this morning.

"There’s something down on that comet, something alien." she told herself, "And there’s only one way to find out what it precisely is...."

The class-5 shuttle’s engines went to sub-light, setting Botanica on an intercept course with the heart of comet Foward-DiTillio. The onboard computer beeped, "Thrusters at maximum acceleration. Interception of comet nucleus in four point six cycles." Sure enough, the comet came closer and closer, the massive ice ball growing bigger and bigger in the shuttle’s sensors.

It was at that moment Botanica reactivated the scanning sensors. She set them to analyze radio-microwave frequencies. "Scanning....scanning..." the computer mumbled over and over again. Finally, much to Botanica’s high hopes, the computer beeped a discovery. "Target comfired. Radio-microwave transmission identified and located. Analyzing source of transmission...."

The view screen changed, showing an x-ray magnification of the comet’s core. A tiny blip was zoomed in, revealing something unexpected. Botanica’s eyes widened when she came to realize what it was. "By...the...Matrix! I can’t believe it!" she said.

A single tink echoed inside of the shuttle. It was soon followed by another, and then another. "Alert! Entering outer layers of comet coma. Icy debris clouds approaching at rapid velocity! Extreme danger of hull penetration!"

In a matter of nano-clicks, swarms of ice pellets hammered the shuttle’s outer hull. Port and starboard thrusters came online, swirving the shuttle around to avoid it. Soon larger and larger chunks followed, but soon began to overwhelm the single spacecraft. One icy boulder flew by the shuttle, missing it very narrowly, but at the last second it knocked into one of the engines, breaking it apart. The shuttle lost stability, and was hit by more ice chunks and pellets.

The propulsion systems exploded, setting the rear of the shuttle on fire. Inside, Botanica screamed as she and the shuttlecraft plummeted downwards, unable to regain control. A wide and dark shadow emerged from the dust and ice: comet Forward-DiTillio’s core. The shuttle zeroed in on it and collided, skidding across its frosted surface. Minutes later, it stopped. A single hatch blew out, a pair of green-brown hands extending out....

Within the span of an additional half-megacycle, another craft was bound for comet Forward-DiTillio. However, this one was not a pitiful shuttle - it was the battlecruiser Thetos. It was the flag ship of the United Cybertron-Earth Fleet, and one of the most powerful ships ever constructed for Cybertronian defense.

Cheetarus Prime was in the large command chair, overseeing the whole operation. Standing alonside him was Optimus Primal, his long-lost mentor and friend. Several other Maximals accompanied them, including Rattrap and Ursacon.

Rattrap was sitting at the navigational controls, steering the Thetos toward the comet. "Hey Prime! We’ve got a snow storm of major proportions coming our way!" he alerted his leader, "Shields would be a good idea about now!"

The central monitor spanning the front section of the bridge showed the blue-white comet approaching, with a million fragments of all sizes coming for the Thetos. Cheetarus nodded, saying, "Do it. Set for lowest frequency to conserve power though." he commanded.

A bubble of translucent energy surrounded the wedge-shaped vessel, diverting the swarm of ice, snow, and pebbles blasting out of comet Forward-DiTillio. The engines switched to impulse, taking the Thetos in slowly through the maelstrom. For several minutes, the Thetos remained in darkness, the brilliance of the sun dwindling to less than twilight inside the comet’s atmosphere. Then the darkened nucleus came into view, looking like a black, balled-up fist with ridges and craters abounding.

"Botanica’s down there somewhere...." said Primal, looking at the dark mass of ice.

"Yeah...and we’re sparing no expense to save her." Cheetarus told him, "After the loss of Silverbolt and Black Arachnia, I’m not in the mood to lose any more friends." Cheetarus raised up his arm and bellowed to Rattrap, "Take us down there the nano-click you find a safe landing zone! For Botanica...."

Suddenly, a rumbling shook the Thetos like a pair of iron claws. "Look!" exclaimed Rattrap, pointing to the central monitor. Dozens of huge fragments, many the size of whole buildings, pelted the shields, causing them to overload from the sheer force of their blows.

"Modulate the shields to compensate!" Cheetarus told the Maximal. Quickly Rattrap accommodated his leader’s suggestion, recallibrating the shields. The Thetos stopped shaking, resuming its stable course. On the monitor, the fragments dissipated, but something else was revealed. The nucleus had cracked - a large chunk, approximately a quarter of the whole comet, had broken away.

Ursacon’s eyes widened. Grunting in basic phrases, he said, "Oh! Comet go crunch!"

"More like boom!" corrected Rattrap, "Oh man, this is one volatile snowball!"

Optimus Primal marched up to Rattrap’s console. Looking over his shoulders, he gazed at the sensors. "You’re right. This comet’s ancient, and unstable would be an understatement towards its condition. But at least Botanica’s safe."

Cheetarus, with a concerned look on his face, looked toward Optimus. "What makes you so sure of that?" he asked.

"Because Cheetarus," Primal told his former apprentice, "We’ve just found her...."

Botanica awoke, her limbs and leaves frozen and covered with frost. She groaned, a great cold immobilizing her body. She remembered something...about falling towards a big, black mass of ice, half-expecting to perish...but now that she was awake, Botanica wasn’t sure where she was now.

She moved, her limbs moaning - the technorganic material composing them almost completely solidified. When she tried to flex a hand, one of her fingers snapped off, too brittle to move. "C-Cold..." she muttered, "T-Too cold. Must...find...another p-place to hide...."

The landscape around her was bleak and extremely alien. Ice crystals jutted out of the ground at sharp angles like knives or curved menacingly to resemble sickles, all colored black and gray under an opaque sky of dark blue. No air to breathe, no water to drink, and no life to nurture her. Just ice, ice everywhere.

No...there was something else in the distance. Beyond the sharp icy ridges, there was a hill of some sort. It was very weird; curved, almost as if it were many mounds, but clearly one solid mass. Botanica was determined to find out what it was precisely....

Aboard the Thetos, Rattrap made an incredible discovery. "Prime! Primal! You won’t believe this! I found something!" he said.

Optimus asked Rattrap,"Botanica’s shuttlecraft?"

"Negative. We got her spark signature, but not her position," stated Rattrap, "But what I’ve got is this...."

The rodent punched up an anomalous sensor reading. Projected onto the central monitor, it turned out to be a series of blips arranged into a wave-like pattern.

"By Primus...what on Cybertron is that?" Cheetarus muttered. He shook his head, realizing he needed to focus on the objective: saving Botanica. "We’ll investigate this signal further. Rattrap, Ursacon, you two just concentrate on landing the Thetos somewhere stable. Botanica is our first priority, nothing else!"

Rattrap looked at the monitor for a moment, then to Cheetarus. "All right, Botanica first. No denying that." He clicked off the sensor reading, returning the screen to normal. "Switching to manual controls. All thrusters on stand-by and ready to rock this bird!"

Landing skids unfolded from the underside of the Thetos, along with rows and rows of engine outlets on the wings and undercarriage. Once Rattrap grabbed the steering column, the Thetos was entirely at his command, the battlecruiser tilting and bobbing with every move. As the ship came within the last couple of meters, the thruster exhaust blasted the icy surface, vaporizing it. Then, just millimeters above the ground, Rattrap cut power to the thrusters. The Thetos dropped like a feather in the weak gravity, the landing completed without a hitch.

Optimus smiled upon Rattrap. "Nice job. Now for Botanica. Have you found her approximate location?"

Rattrap sighed, "No. The ice and gas blow’n off this frost ball obscures the sensors as bad as an energon storm! I...was only able to estimate her position within a few hundred meters. It’s as good as flying three blocks away!"

Cheetarus got up from his seat. "We have to fnd her nonetheless! Her plant-based physiology won’t last long in this extreme cold! Time is off the essence people! Now let’s move!"

On another part of comet Forward-DiTillio, Botanica was nearing the mysterious hill near her damaged shuttlecraft. Her roots were as frozen as lead pipes, stiff and limiting her movement. "Oh...this is...bad. Must find...shelter...." she moaned.

As she ascended the last ridge, Botanica got a good view of the hill she saw before. It was a solid structure, one that was dark and gray, with frost covering over it. It was not made of ice like the rest of this comet...but metal.

"A...spacecraft..." she said to herself. I knew it, thought Botanica, There was something on this comet...something completely alien. But...why is it here?

It was then that she spotted something - a curved arch built into one side. It was a portal, a door, an airlock of some sort. I don’t care if this is an alien space ship, I need to get inside of it! Botanica made a run for it, her servos and limbs whincing in pain as she crossed mound after mound of solid ice. It was too much for her damaged body, too much. She fell just a few feet away from the portal, exhausted beyond the extent of her frozen systems.

As Botanica began to go unconscious, the portal opened with a groan as metal motors drew in the three panels. Shadowed beings crawled out, many tentacles slithering beneath their oval bodies. Botanica looked up, seeing five blurry images hovering above her. Then she went offline, going into stasis lock.

The shadowy beings looked at one another, and then at the Maximal.

"TrAnZ...Form...R...." one hissed.

"Yessss...one of AuDo...Bot...descent." said another.

"What...shall we do...with it?" asked a third.

The first being wrapped a tentacle about Botanica’s waist, lifting her limp body into the cold air. "We...shall bring it in." it told the others, "Our mizzion....may not be...a fail-are...with thisssss...." All five creatures withdrew, returning inside their craft with Botanica in their grasp.

Some time later, Botanica awoke, groggy as ever. She groaned, "Ohhhh...." Her limbs were very limp...most likely a result of frost-bite on her vegetative physiology, but otherwise perfectly functional.

However, when she tried to move, her arms refused to responds. Looking up, she gasped. Her arms were chained to a platform! There were more chains attached to her wrists and waist, as well as a strange collar around her neck. As much as she pulled and hollered, not one of the shackles that bounded her down refused to give.

A voice echoed from somewhere near Botanica. It was a sharp voice, one that constantly hissed and dragged on words. "You....R...tranz-form-R...." it said, "You...R from....Zyber...Tron...."

Botanica grunted, pulling on the chains. "Ugh! What do you want with me?"

Suddenly, a painful jolt struck Botanica, sparks jutting out from all over her body. She screamed in the worst agony as yellow-green sparks flew out from the collar around her neck. The pain only stopped when a single shadowy being emerged from the black void surrounding her. Even as it stepped into the orange lights aimed at Botanica, its apperance was hidden from her eyes.

"You R tranz-form-R. You will answer us." it said.

Two others approached, surrounding Botanica from all sides. As she laid there, defenseless and vulnerable, strange, snake-like appendages slithered towards her. Two of these...tentacles hung over her for a whole minute, long enough for Botanica to get a look at them. They were thin limbs, alternating between slimy, green-colored skin, and barbed metal plates. One came down and touched Botanica’s forehead.

"You shall tell us of Zyber-tron," said one of the three fiendish aliens, "Tell us what happened in centuries past...and where Zyber-tron is now. Yessssssss...tell us much."

Botanica hissed back at then. "Don’t...expect...much from me!" she flat-out told him.

The other tentacle latched onto one of her wrists, the barbs jabbing into her bark-skin. It cut her enough to let technorganic sap to flow out. After the tentacles withdrew, the collar reactivated, electrifying Botanica’s body again.

"You shall tell ussss...or die...tranz-form-R." it said.

Suddenly, the collar shut off. One of the beings came closer. Its body was finally visible to Botanica - this strange metal shell with antennas and plates jutting out from an ovular body. The same tentacles slithered just beneath it, from the lower half of the metal body.

"This...not necessary." it spoke over Botanica, addressing one of the other aliens, "We can take the information from her. She is machine...computer. All computers can have their hard drives...removed...."

The other alien hissed irritably. "Information...could be damaged. Not wise...."

"We are scientists...technicians. It can be done." said the first, "And besides...she is nothing but a machine. We can always repair machines..."

"Or destroy..." chuckled the third being.

In darkness, the aliens prepared for a special operation. Botanica heard the clicking of metal - clearly medical instruments, most likely crude ones too, being gathered together in some isolated corner. Then the moment arrived, the three aliens returning with their tools. As the chuckled menacingly, each raised up a dozen tentacles, each one armed with razor-edged instruments, all closing in on Botanica’s head.

A shimmering yellow light flashed before them. One of the Quintessons shrieked with a horrible whine. Its tentacle-arm snapped in two, writhing uncontrollably on the floor as a blackish ooze dripped from the stump. A metal twang was heard from the wall. A large yellow sai cut into the wall, twanging with a metallic ping.

A young Maximal jumped out from the dark into the dimly-lit operating room of the Quintessons. "I think it would be wise to leave your hands off our friend, snakeoids!" the brash voice of Cheetarus Prime shouted to the Quintessons.

The revving of engines sounded, and like a flash Rattrap drove out of the dark. "Yeah!" he sneered to the Quintessons, "And we mean all eight of ‘em you freaks!" Glancing over at the table, he noted Botanica strapped down. "Oh! Hi honey pots!" he briefly said with a smile.

"Rattrap! Cheetarus!" Botanica exclaimed elatedly.

"Agh!" hissed the Quintessons disgustfully, "Tranz-formers!"

As one of the Quintessons ran for the exit, a blast of plasma struch it down square in its primary face. It fell to the floor, dead instantly. Coyotek stepped out of the open corridor, armed with a large energy rifle. He blew the smoking end of it proudly.

"Try the next exit please..." he chuckled.

Immediately afterwards, Optimus Primal emerged. He first saw Botanica on the operating table pinned like a leaf under a dissecting scope. "Botanica!" he cried out. But then, his eyes shifted to the left, seeing the five-faced entities dominating the center of the chamber. "Quintessons..." he muttered in disbelief.

Cheetarus Prime turned for a moment to Optimus, confused by the alien word. "Say what?" he bluntly asked.

Like a whip, one of the Quintessons snagged the cat-bot by his neck. "Despicable metal miscreant," it hissed irritably, strangling Cheetarus tightly, "You forget the name of your race’s true masters? Such disrespect!" It lifted the Maximal high into the air, hanging him in its clutches.

Optimus Primal snarled. "Put him down now!" he demanded. Optimus shot an energy sphere from his chest, blasting a hole into a near-by wall.

The Quintesson stared at Optimus, switching faces. "You dare to strike down at your lords and masters?" It lashed out at Optimus, grappling him with a stringy tentacle like Cheetarus before him. The alien held Optimus’ arms tight to his body, wrendering him immobile.

The remaining Quintessons weren’t idle. Each fled to a different corner of the room, reaching for hidden pannels. The chamber suddenly lit up, giant crystalline devices rising out of the floor. Electrical impulses jolted from each device, pulsating like generators.

Coyotek and Rattrap weren’t idle either. Both pulled out hand grenades and energy weapons, yelling for the Quintessons to stop what they were doing immediately. The tentacled beings just laughed, then lashed out at the two with their long arms. Coyotek’s rifle was knocked from his hands, and Rattrap was sent to the floor.

The first Quintesson, still holding Cheetarus and Optimus, chuckled as he turned to his comrades. "How quaint, our very own slaves! Scavix will be pleased when we finally report back to him...." The Quintesson nodded to one of his friends near the crystals. The second Quintesson pushed a few transparent buttons, then forced down a single rod of quartz. Outside, an antenna deployed from the side of the wrecked ship, wobbling in the cometary gusts blowing about.

The Quintesson spoke into the console, saying, "Encholon-One, contacting master vessel. Encholon-One ready to report findings in the vicinity of planet Earth in Solar System...."

Botanica grunted, unable to believe what was going on. She concentrated hard, finding her still-point. "I...am...transformed!" she shouted. A new strength filled her limbs, letting her break free at last. Before they eyes of the Quintessons, Botanica transformed to robot mode.

"I think you should cancel that report, Quintesson!" she shouted. The blasters mounted to her hips activated, shooting twin beams of ionized energy at the Quintessons’ generators. The crystals cracked, electricity crackling from them. Suddenly, an energon-surge struck them all, stunning even the Quintessons.

Outside, the Quintesson ship began to malfunction. The rear section of the craft exploded, creating a blast that shook the entire comet. Comet Forward-DiTillio shifted its orbit dramatically, now poised before the unimaginable brilliance of the sun itself.

The Quintessons and Maximals awoke just minutes later, both sides groggy and moaning. However, just as it seemed the Quintessons had the upper-hand, they gasped at the site of their machinery. One of the remaining four shrieked as it gazed upon a console that sparked with energy.

"No! No! No! All systems are down! We’re...on course to the central star of this system! We’re all going to die in a stellar furnace!"

Much to the surprise of the Maximals, the Quintessons fled from battle, attempting to mend their warped and cracked ship. "Gee, I thought they’d try to kill us first!" said Cheetarus.

"They’ve got more important concerns, now that this comet’s headed to the sun!" said Optimus Primal, "We need to get back to the Thetos immediately! Let’s move!"

All five Maximals returned to the waiting Thetos. The Quintesson vessel over the icy ridge still errupted with explosions, still affected by the overload in its power grid. While its masters toyed with it in vain, the Thetos fired its engines the moment everyone was aboard.

"All power to thrusters Rattrap!" order Cheetarus.

"What about the shields? We won’t survive a nano-click in that blizzard!" Rattrap pointed out.

"Do it! Speed is our most important asset right now, especially if we want to avert certain collision with a burning ball of plasma!" shouted Cheetuars.

The Thetos rode out the storm in the comet’s coma, now more perilous than ever due to comet vaporizing. All the Maximals gasped as a block of ice the size of the Empire State Building came tumbling at them. An array of lasers suddenly came online, blowing the icy fragment into space debris. Ursacon tapped the controls proudly as his companions look at him in wide wonder.

"Been practicing, haven’t ya?" Coyotek smirked.

As the Thetos escaped certain doom, the comet continued to hurtle towards the sun rapidly. Bit by bit, large pieces fragmented, until nothing was left but the rock-hard core of the comet itself. Frost continued to steam away as it flew into the sun’s fiery atmosphere. Finally, in a spectacular blast of blue and yellow, comet Forward-DiTillio impacted the sun’s surface, vaporizing instantly. Only a few minor fragments escaped, all without a trace of the Quintesson vessel....

Still...a radio echo beeped in space, the Quintessons’ last words repeating over and over again. "Encholon-One...Encholon-One..." The radio waves stretched further and further into space, reaching the quordinates of the transwarp conduit.

A glow began to emanate from the conduit, space begin to fold upon itself. The gateway to the Cybertronian system reopened for the first time in six years. An eerie gray light shot out from it as dark shadows escaped. Strange, corkscrew-shaped vessels appeared, many resembling the Encholon-One. Then there was one large vessel, a giant, saucer-shaped the size of a city. It drifted out from the transwarp conduit, its trajectory set for planet Earth....