Above the Quintessons’ planet of Photoneron, the Vok had assembled about a tiny, black sphere that floated through space. This sphere, this strange object, was the center of attention to the Vok. They hovered about it like a flock of vultures over a dying beast, drawn in by countless numbers with thousands still on their way.

On Photoneron, the Quintessons watched this strange phenomenon from their world. Lor-Gavvon and Scavix watched the Vok from the central spire of New Hive City.

"By the spines of our ancestors!" exclaimed Overlord Scavix, "They’ve completely vaporized Chillarus!"

Lor-Gavvon, squinting upwards at the heavens, saw the unmistakable mass of Vok vessels clustered around a tiny, barely visible dot in the sky. "So it appears," muttered Lor-Gavvon, "But I believe they have something else in store for…."

Scavix interrupted Lor-Gavvon rudely, blaring, "They’re going to destroy us! Isn’t that obvious now than ever before? Clearly the destruction of Chillarus demonstrates that!"

Lor-Gavvon turned on Scavix, sharply speaking his mind. "Chillarus’ destruction wasn’t just a display of brute force, Scavix! These Vok have a clearly defined plan, and vaporizing that ice ball is somehow…a part of that plan…"

Scavix snarled to himself. Speaking spitefully, he said, "Then, dear Gavvon, we must deduce their plan before they can fully implement it! And then…." Wrapping his tentacles tightly, he added, "Strike…first!"

Lor-Gavvon slowly walked away from Scavix, passing a brief glance at the Overlord. "Without a functioning fleet? Hardly logical. We must find…another way…."

"Blast your infernal logic and useless analysis Lor-Gavvon!" shouted Scavix, "We need to act!"

"And I intend to," replied Lor-Gavvon, making his way toward a small console comprised of crystals. Using the console, he established a link with the Quintessons at a specialized complex. Maral’s face appeared on the screen, alert and waiting for his orders.

"Is all in readiness, dear Maral?" Lor-Gavvon asked.

Maral nodded. "Yes, father. The biogenetic probe is assembled and ready."

"Excellent. Launch it immediately." Lor-Gavvon ordered.

Just a few kilometers away at the complex, a large glass dome divided in two and unveiled a small spacecraft in waiting. A few Quintessons examined the craft’s pulsating organic components, inserting various wires into the crystalline and metallic segments. At the rear of the craft, a large tube began to glow hot pink and shake. The Quintessons quickly stepped away just as the probe powered itself up.

"Launch probe!" commanded Maral.

Not even a second later, the probe’s engine ignited, sending it flying into the stratosphere on a long trail of white light. It flew away from Photoneron at incredible speed, sweeping past the remnants of the Quintesson fleet and even Megatron’ ship, the DarkStar, in high orbit.

Those aboard the DarkStar caught a brief glimpse of the alien probe passing by them.

Coyotek blurted out with eyes wide-open, "Bouncing breakers! What the heck was that?"

Optimus Primal turned to Gold Blade at the sensor screens. "Gold Blade: track and identify!"

As quick as greased lightning, the plant Maximal was on the controls, activating the main sensor array. On the view screens, the probe came in range and was zeroed in rapidly. "It’s a bio-mechanical drone of some sort – a probe."

"Where’s it heading?" Optimus insisted upon knowing.

"Tracking it as we speak Primal!" she said, her pedals burning at the controls. "Confirmed! The bio-probe is heading on vector twelve, nine, ten at over twenty thousand kilometers a second!"

Optimus’ eyes widened as he watched the view screens. "By the Matrix! It’s heading on a collision course with the Vok machine!"

In the probe’s scope, a giant black orb came into view and expanded to remarkable proportions. Immediately, the Quintessons’ device deployed strange booms laden with instruments and remote-imaging systems that began analyzing the strange object down to the last micron.

On Photoneron, the Quintessons Lor-Gavvon and Scavix began receiving incoming telemetry from their probe. Data was projected onto various monitors in various spectrums and angles.

Lor-Gavvon, quickly assimilating the information, muttered, "It’s unbelievable! That…thing isn’t rock or metal – it’s neutronium!"

"Neutronium? But how can that be? It’s such a rare and unstable compound…." Scavix said.

"But an excellent form of armor shielding," stated Lor-Gavvon, "The entire core of Chillarus appears to be composed of it…."

While the Quintesson probe studied the Vok’s device, something spectacular began to occur. The black orb began to develop giant slits running up and down from pole to pole, slits that opened wider than the largest canyons. Light began to pour out, a blinding, unbelievable light hidden beneath a shell of pure black. As the massive orb folded into a solid half-circle, a ball of white-hot plasma was revealed: a star.

Lor-Gavvon was left awe-struck. "By the lords of Quintessa! I don’t believe it! An entire star, hidden deep in the core of Chillarus all this time!"

Alarms began to sound all over the central command chamber. Scavix hovered over to a near-by console and checked. "The probe is overheating! Radiation levels rising to exponential levels…."

Near the blazing star, the probe was bathed in heat measuring thousands of degrees hot. In a matter of seconds, its semi-organic components boiled and blistered off, leaving a metallic husk that became char-black. Its extended antennas, sensors, and wires all melted away, and the burnt hull finally exploded in an orange blast.

The link was instantly severed with the probe then and there. All the view screens between Scavix and Lor-Gavvon became blank, flickering only with interstellar static. The two were left dumb-founded and unable to believe what just happened.

"The Vok have destroyed the probe!" exclaimed Scavix.

"Never mind that now!" Lor-Gavvon said, pushing Scavix aside, "It gathered enough data for us to put together an attack plan against them…."

As Lor-Gavvon went over to another console and began work to counter-attack the Vok, Scavix turned and noticed a weird light beaming down through the semi-transparent crystals forming the walls of the command spire. He floated over to one wall, and with the tug of a control crystal, he opened a built-in window. Through it, he looked out over his people’s city and saw an unbelievable sight: a brilliant white sun over Photoneron, its light changing the sky from a dull orange to a brilliant yellow.

Scavix put up a tentacle before his eyes to blot out the luminous sun. As he closed the window, he turned to one of several underlings. "Seal all doors and raise radiation shields." he commanded. Then, just before he went off to Lor-Gavvon, he added, "And adjust the temperature in here! It’s becoming…unpleasantly warm…."

Elsewhere on Photoneron, two transformers waged a battle that neither seemed to be winning. A black-colored transformer launched herself into the air, arcing over the landscape. Gathering the energy within the energon fields surrounding her, she unleashed a powerful beam against her opponent. The red transformer she was fighting was hit and blasted against the edge of a mountain.

Mere moments after the avalanche subsided, RedStreak blew apart the pile of rocks on top of him. Panting steadily, he said to Scaleblade, "Not bad…but you haven’t beaten me yet!"

He raised up his hands and pointed his fingers at Scaleblade. Blue-white lightning shot out, hitting Scaleblade. For a minute she sizzled with a few thousand volts of electricity, the seams and cracks in her armor hissing out steam. Exhausted, RedStreak gasped and fell down, unable to hold his nemesis for long.

The moment Scaleblade was free, she withdrew her sickle from her back. Gasping for breath, she shouted to RedStreak, "You’re weak, brother! It was foolish of you to even think of engaging me in battle!" The blade of her sickle glowed bright purple with the energy surging into it. Before releasing its power, Scaleblade raised her voice and simply hollered, "DIE!"

With a sling of her sickle, Scaleblade unleashed a broad wave of energy directed straight at the mountain. Still tired, RedStreak tilted his head upwards to watch the wave slice through the mountain like a gigantic carving knife. For a few seconds, it was as if nothing happened; but all too soon the silence was broken. The whole mountain began to quake from its beak down to its roots. Above, the cleanly cut mountaintop began to crumble apart, sending a huge avalanche down.

RedStreak got up and began to run as fast as possible. He grunted, trying to transform, but he couldn’t concentrate his mind clearly enough. "Slag! I can’t convert to flight mode!" he muttered. Suddenly, a small boulder caught one of his feet, sending him falling down. He groaned in pain, his leg effectively immobilized. Behind him, thunder crackled as the avalanche rapidly approached. RedStreak had only a moment to look back before becoming enveloped by a cloud of dust and pebbles.

With only a second remaining, he screamed, "Noooooooooooo!"

The massive onslaught of rubble overwhelmed RedStreak in a nano-click, burying him under countless tons of rock and dust. Above, Scaleblade just smirked.

"The battle is over, dear brother," she gloated, "And I win…."

Scaleblade’s victory speech was cut short when her com-link was remotely activated. Immediately, she clicked her com-link and raised up her right arm. A miniature projector deployed from her wrist, and a holographic image of Scavix appeared directly in front of her.

"My lord…" she said, "I-I wasn’t expecting you. However, I’m happy to report weapon R’s demise…."

Scavix was short-tempered. "Save your mumblings for later my minion!" he rudely interrupted, "We have more important tasks for you now! The Vok menace must be obliterated before they implement their own attack!"

Scaleblade, her mind still on her previous battle, said to the Quintesson, "But…what of RedStreak? I was going to investigate to me sure he was…." A jolt of electricity ran through Scaleblade, causing her to shriek in pain. Scavix scowled at her.

"You shall do as I command, Scaleblade, and only what I command!" he told her.

Groaning, Scaleblade replied, "Yes…Overlord."

Scavix’s high brow relaxed slightly. "Ah, good." he said with a pleased tone, "Now that we’ve clarified things…I’m downloading the council of Quinton’s instructions to you through this holographic interface. Follow them to the last detail, for your mission is most vital."

Scavix’s holographic face changed into a two-dimensional map before Scaleblade. In roughly a cycle, the download was completed, and Scaleblade knew what her masters wished for her to do. "Yes, I shall do thy bidding." she muttered to herself.

Below, the rock pile shuffled around a little. Scaleblade did not take notice, and took off – headed in the direction of the Vok-created star. Little more than a moment later, a giant red ball of energy blasted out of the rock pile, vaporizing entire boulders to atoms. RedStreak hollered as he leapt out of the hole, bearing his teeth and snarling like a mad dog.

Looking up, her saw Scaleblade’s body silhouetted against the strange star up above. Pointing a finger up at her, he muttered, "Oh no! You’re not leaving this fight so fast!" Climbing on top of the largest boulder, RedStreak fired up the thrusters in his legs and flew after Scaleblade.

Orbiting between Photoneron and the Vok-star, the DarkStar and its crew watched the strange device the Vok had created with wide wonder.

Megatron, sitting in his command chair with Optimus Primal at his side, muttered, "By the Pit, what have these aliens created this time?"

"I dunno," said Optimus, "But if our encounters in the Beast Wars were any indication, it’s something we’ll regret laying our eyes on."

"Then no doubt we will have to destroy it somehow…despite the lovely chaos it’s brought to the Quintessons." Megatron chuckled with a smirk.

On the various scanners and consoles surrounding the two leaders, Coyotek, Gold Blade, and RazorLeaf were busy analyzing the glowing fireball. With eyes still focused on the sensors, Gold Blade said exuberantly, "It’s incredible!"

Both leaders turned to Gold Blade. Megatron moved his command chair next to the female Maximal, eager to view what she found. "Find something interesting?" he inquired.

A moment later, Optimus flew over and landed behind Gold Blade, also interested. "Yes," he said, "If you have something of value to report…."

"I do, Optimus," Gold Blade stated, "I believe I just found out what the Vok are planning."

For the longest time, the heart of the DarkStar was in silence. Megatron and Optimus turned to each other, uttering not a single word, but knowing what the other was thinking. Coyotek at the conn and even Ursacon, busy repairing the inner hull, gave pause and turned to look upon Gold Blade.

Breaking the unsettling silence, RazorLeaf said with a weary voice, "Well…what are they planning to do?"

Gold Blade turned her face to RazorLeaf, her once green-toned skin as pale as frost. Speaking simply, she replied to her brother, "They’re going to destroy us all…and the entire galaxy with us…."

Every Maximal aboard the DarkStar turned to one another in total shock.

In space, Scaleblade was being pursued by her "brother" unknowingly. Before her was the enigmatic Vok star, glowing a brilliant white. Around it she saw the swarm of Vok vessels orbiting the light in the same manner as moths fluttering about a porch light.

Scaleblade activated a miniature computer screen built into her left arm. It rose up and unfolded, displaying a series of images and codes to her. She began typing in a few commands, decoding her encrypted instructions.

"Now," she muttered to herself, "To perform my master’s task and then…."

Before she could access Scavix’s instructions, Scaleblade was rammed directly from behind with tremendous force. She screeched as she spun about in space from the blow. Stabilizing herself with wings and thrusters, Scaleblade stopped and turned about to view her attacker.

A large, red Maximal grinned confidently as he hovered near-by. "Miss me?" he laughed.

"YOU!" Scaleblade hollered. From her hand, she threw a ball of purple plasma energy at RedStreak. The Maximal easily dodged it, the blast flying out into space.

"Are you always this much of a blast, Scaleblade?" RedStreak mocked his opponent, "Why don’t we try something a bit more physical this time?"

From both of RedStreak’s shoulders popped out identical missiles. Raising up his arms, fusion cannons deployed. With full force, RedStreak targeted Scaleblade and fired. A storm of fusion blasts and missiles flew at the Predacon, throwing up a cloud of debris around her.

Much to the Maximal’s dismay, Scaleblade emerged from the cloud unscathed, cackling evilly. Immediately she deployed her own weapons, which were identical to RedStreak’s.

"Damn! We really are twin siblings after all!" RedStreak exclaimed.

Scaleblade fired on RedStreak, and RedStreak quickly reciprocated. In a manner of minutes, both transformers were loaded with scars, scorch marks, and crackling circuits. If their battle continued, they were certain to destroy each other….

On his sensor screen, Coyotek saw the drama between Scaleblade and RedStreak in full detail. "Hey guys!" he hollered to Optimus and the others, "Check it out! Our buddy and that freaky Predacon are duking it out just a few blips away!"

"What?" Optimus blurted out.

Megatron swiveled his chair next to Coyotek and saw what he mentioned. Checking his own readings, Megatron said, "There’s a tremendous amount of firepower radiating between the two of them! They pose a significant threat to ourselves and the DarkStar!"

"Hey!" said Coyotek, "That’s my buddy out there! None of us are just going to vap him for no reason!"

"Megatron’s right," Optimus suddenly spoke up, "We must stop them before they kill each other!"

With wide eyes, RazorLeaf muttered, "You’re kidding us, right?"

Looking back towards the plant Maximal, Optimus Primal stated, "We won’t destroy them. We’re taking them both into custody for their own good! Set forward weapons to stun and all plasma cannons to…."

Without warning, something big hit the portside of the DarkStar. A lightning bolt struck the unwary vessel, shorting out all systems entirely. Without control, the ship heaved from side to side, tossing about all the Maximals and Megatron inside it.

Scarcely a moment later, one of the Vok vessels swooped by, dwarfing the DarkStar by several sizes. It headed straight for the two warring transformers, drawn to them for reasons unapparent. As it came within range of both transformers, it slowed to a near halt, pausing for a moment.

Just as RedStreak and Scaleblade had their arms locked around one another, they too paused to turn and see the Vok vessel approaching. In confusion, they both muttered, "What the slaggin’?"

One of the giant pedal-struts sticking out of the alien craft changed direction, pointing straight at RedStreak and Scaleblade. It turned a dull green, humming loudly before discharging a potent blast at them. In a split-second, the Vok hit RedStreak and Scaleblade, paralyzing and rendering them unconscious at the same time. Then, like a shark moving in for the kill, it drew near the two transformers, a portal opening like a great mouth to swallow them whole.

Onboard the DarkStar, sparks were jumping from console to console as the crew desperately tried to ‘batten down the hatches’ and mend their damaged vessel. Coyotek at his station made excellent progress. The screen was snowy, but clear images began to bleep on and off.

"Hey, hey, hey!" he cheered, "I think…I think I’ve got the sensors working again! Activating scanners to get a reading on our position…."

The display, though foggy, showed precisely what they needed to see; but something was distinctly wrong with what they saw. To the right, they saw the planet Photoneron, and to the far left was the strange gathering of Vok vessels; but where RedStreak should have been was nothing but empty space.

"RedStreak!" Coyotek hollered, "He’s gone!"

Had the Maximal examined the sensor display more closely, he would have noticed a dark shadow near the horizon. A single Vok vessel was fleeing from them, heading back to the Vok collective. Silently and stealthily, it escaped from view and joined with its sister vessels orbiting the strange Vok star. On the far side of the star, the remnants of Chillarus’ core shielded one half of the star. The Vok vessel sped closer and closer to its surface. A large portal on the shell opened, letting the vessel dart inside where it was enveloped by darkness.

For what seemed like hours, he was unconscious. RedStreak groaned weakly as he awakened. "Oh...where….where am I?" he mumbled. At first his vision was blurry, unable to see anything but a black void surrounding him. Then, as his eyes adjusted, RedStreak realized he was in a place beyond comprehension.

Everything around him was enveloped in darkness. Though he couldn’t tell, RedStreak was pretty sure that he was in a cave or catacomb of some kind. He took a breath…and felt nothing. He wasn’t breathing air at all! He gasped, panicked. Was he in space? Did he get blasted apart and sent out of orbit?

His ears somehow detected something. He wasn’t sure if it was sound or merely a form of energy his antennas sensed, but what he knew for sure was that a low, pulsing sound radiated from all around him. It became louder and louder, sounding like the beat of a heart. Between pulses, green, grid-like lines appeared in the distance. Somehow…they seemed to resemble power lines in pattern and function. In direct proportion to the pulses, the lines became brighter and brighter as the pulses become louder and louder.

Then, when the noise became like the roaring waves of an ocean, green erupted all around him. A flash of green light swept past him, illuminating what was revealed to be a monstrous chamber miles wide. The walls, ceiling, and floor were a myriad of cubical and linear objects, perhaps acting as conductors and conduits…or, even more likely, something more exotic.

A nano-click later, the light vanished, and the chamber was only faintly illuminated. RedStreak was in darkness once again.

"Final power-up sequence complete. Preparations for final phase completed," a booming voice echoed.

‘What?" RedStreak blurted out.

For a minute, there was silence, as if the being that produced the voice had heard him. In that long period of silence, RedStreak realized he was in the presence of tens, hundreds, possibly thousands of eyes watching him. The Maximal realized how foolish he was to speak out when he did. Soon, the watchful eyes about him made their presence known….

In the distance, RedStreak managed to see several pinpoints of light, all coming towards him. As they came closer, RedStreak could distinguish their horrific features: skull-like faces with giant, straight teeth, brilliant spheres for eyes that burned like meteors, and long, trailing tentacles eerily similar to jellyfish.

There were four of these aliens facing RedStreak, all hovering effortlessly in the midst of this fathomless catacomb of their design.

"One of the specimens has regained consciousness." said the first alien.

"It would be wise to contain it before it has a chance to respond…." the second suggested.

RedStreak raised up his hands and tried to speak. "Wait a moment! I…."

The eyes of the first Vok glowed a bright yellow-green as it snarled. From somewhere within the expansive chamber, a giant green beam shot out at RedStreak in a heartbeat. The Maximal hollered as he was thrown back from the massive blast. His body flew across the entire distance to the wall, slamming against its hard surface.

Surprisingly, the blow wasn’t half as bad as RedStreak feared. When he awoke, there was an aura of green wrapped around him – a remnant of the green beam. The aura of energy expanded, becoming a big bubble trapping him. RedStreak put his hands against it to try and break free, but the bubble was impenetrable. He could see out, but not escape.

The Vok quickly caught up with RedStreak and swarmed about him, watching with unblinking eyes. Their tentacles quivered slightly as they floated, but otherwise they didn’t move. Looking out, RedStreak mumbled, "Great! Now I know what a goldfish must feel like…."

The Vok turned to one another, speaking about the Maximal in the third person.

"This is a new specimen. We have no record of any creature remotely similar to this…not even those from Cybertron." said the third Vok.

Giving a short snarl, the first Vok looked upon RedStreak. "Commence scanning." said the alien.

Two green squares suddenly appeared next to the Maximal, materializing out of nowhere. They moved, crossing through his body. RedStreak howled in pain. For several agonizing minutes, a wicked burning sensation went through his whole body from tail to head. When his torture was complete, RedStreak collapsed, just barely conscious.

"Scan complete," the first Vok said, "Analysis commencing."

RazorLeaf and Ursacon were finalizing repairs aboard the disabled DarkStar. Ursacon grunted, raising up a large ducting tube. Razorleaf put a small synchro-laser to the duct and welded it.

"That did it!" Razorleaf sighed, "Repairs are finally completed!"

As power started to come back on, Gold Blade was working steadily at the sensor console. She was punching in various theorems and computations, attempting to verify a theory she’d put together in her head. Optimus and Megatron both stood behind her, early awaiting her results.

"Well, what is it Gold Blade? You claim you know what the Vok have been planning, and we’re all eager to hear what it is." Optimus said to her.

"It’s extremely difficult to explain, Optimus. It’s more of a…hunch than a theory." Gold Blade tentatively spoke.

Groaning angrily, Megatron shouted as he banged his fist against a console, "Enough of this already! Just spit it out! We’re not all drones here!"

Gold Blade narrowed her eyes on Megatron, but turned back to her computer and typed in a final set of codes. The computer beeped, saying, "Computations complete. Displaying data." A moment later, the screen came online, projecting a three-dimensional diagram of the Vok device.

"What I’ve found out is this," Gold Blade began to explain, "The Vok complex itself is a shell of dense material called neutronium, an exotic element naturally found in the cores of massive stars. It is literally invulnerable to any form of attack, both physical and energetic."

"And how are the Vok using this neutronium?" asked Optimus.

Magnifying the image, the Maximal scientist elaborated. "The shell itself isn’t the weapon. It’s the star contained within that is…."

Using the model, Gold Blade magnified the simulated Vok star as she punched in a final set of commands. The neutronium shell folded behind the star, focusing its rays. Quite suddenly, the star began to pulsate, sending out directed blasts of intense solar energy.

"Using the shell as a reflector, the star’s own radiation is turned against it, intensifying its own power a hundred-fold." she said.

Megatron snapped his fingers. "A portable and powerful heat-ray!"

"That’s only one half of it!" stated Gold Blade, "It gets worse. When properly aligned, the shell’s reflected beams begin to destabilize the star. In a matter of cycles, the star will…."

On the screen, the star began growing brighter and brighter. It’s energy pulses grew stronger, but then the star itself turned from white to orange. A moment later, it exploded, destroying both itself and the neutronium shell.

"By Primus!" exclaimed Razorleaf.

Gold Blade said, "The resulting nova will destroy Photoneron…."

Gasping, Megatron added, "And with it, all the energon! By the Pit! Such an explosion wouldn’t destroy just the planet…."

"But every stellar system within a thousand parsecs." Optimus summed it up in a grim voice, "Which is why we must stop the Vok here…and now."

Razorleaf laughed. "What? With this busted-up tin can? We just got done putting it back together! No way this could take on a few million alien ships!"

Suddenly, one of the suspended consoles starting going off. Optimus jerked his shoulders in surprise, but then immediately went to it. Activating the computer, his eyes widened. "By the Matrix! It’s a tight-beam transmission from the fleet itself!"

Just a few kilometers off the DarkStar’s port bow, a giant portal began to open in space. Lightning sizzled and plasma roared about a swirling vortex. In mere seconds, dozens of golden ships of all shapes and sizes emerged, all ready for battle.

The communications console came alive with the image of Argos, the Council of Elders’ leader. "We came as quickly as possible, Optimus Primal. Our forces are gathered and we are fully prepared to engage the Quintessons…." he began to say.

"Wait Argos! Something else has come up, and there isn’t time to explain!" Optimus rushed to say, "Direct the fleet away from Photoneron and head for coordinates six-one eight by twelve-three-five!"

Confused, Argos said, "But Primal, those coordinates lead to a dead moon…or…at least what was a dead moon."

Gold Blade got up and spoke to the Maximal Elder. "Just trust us, Argos! We’ve got an even bigger problem to deal with, or else the galaxy itself is at risk…."

Elsewhere, RedStreak groaned, unable to believe he was still alive. The Vok had finished scrambling with his circuits, but he was still feeling aftershocks. Why they spared him, he didn’t know.

One of the four Vok surrounding him spoke directly to him. "What are you?" it simply asked.

RedStreak looked up, seeing eight glowing eyes staring at him. "Huh?"

"What are you?" the alien repeated itself.

"What exactly do you mean?" RedStreak asked them.

The Vok approached RedStreak in his glowing bubble. "What are you?" it asked again, "We want to know what you are…and where you came from."

A second Vok quickly said, "You are a unique being…one we have not discovered before."

A third Vok in turn said, "You appear to be both a being from Cybertron and a being from Earth. You are two species made into one…."

RedStreak gulped, not sure what to say. "Well…well," he fumbled for a while, "Well…wait a minute. Why do you want to know?"

The forth Vok spoke. "We are the Vok. We are beings of power you could not comprehend. It is our duty to assimilate knowledge throughout the cosmos…and change it…for the better."

Cryptically, the first Vok said, "That which does not become part of the one, shall become void."

There was silence for a minute, as RedStreak stared at the Vok, which in turn were watching him. "Ok. You got me. You’ve already said it…I’m part human and part…Cybertronian. I come from Earth, as well as Cybertron."

All the Vok narrowed their eyes…giving a low growl. "You lie." the third Vok muttered. Without warning, a hundred lightning bolts shot RedStreak from all directions. He hollered in agony before the Vok…until they decided to stop.

"You lie." the Vok repeated itself, "You are an agent of the Quintessons. You were a creature of their creation…and technology."

"Quintessons?" blurted RedStreak. Looking down at his hands, he then realized their presumption. His hands, his entire body, were loaded with devices of their making. "Wait!" he tried to plead, "I’m not some Quintesson slave! I’m a transformer for crying out loud! They just mutilated me with…."

"The specimen still lies." the forth Vok said, "Even now he does not realize we have knowledge of the Quintesson-Cybertronian alliance. Knowledge we obtained from his fellow agents…."

From behind RedStreak, three other large bubbles appeared. Two floated to his right, the other his left. They were suspension bubbles, much like his own, containing prisoners of the Vok. In the bubbles to his right, RedStreak saw the sleeping bodies of Rattrap and Botanica, both trapped in robot mode. In the third bubble, to his left, was Scaleblade, also unconscious.

"NO!" he screamed. He forced himself against the bubble, but couldn’t escape to help his fellow transformers. In a fit of rage, RedStreak blasted the bubble with energon beams, but to no avail. Everything he threw at the bubble bounced back and fried him.

"It is too late." said the third Vok, "You and your allies have already attacked us."

"You destroyed our experiment on this satellite, and even now your forces move against us." the second told RedStreak.

"What? What do you mean?" asked RedStreak.

The first Vok turned around, and with a twitch of its tentacles, it summoned a giant hologram. Through it, they all could see a large conglomeration of golden ships blasting the Vok’s vessels. They left great scars on the Vok ships, but all-too-quickly the Vok reciprocated, destroying whole wings of fighters with their own weapons.

Watching many Cybertron ships being torn apart, RedStreak softly muttered, "No…."

The first Vok turned around and said, "Your craft pose no threat, and will not disrupt the termination sequence we’ve already begun. The galaxy must be sterilized in order to purge it of all transformers and Quintessons."

"But why?" RedStreak humbly asked.

"All that was pure and good has become twisted and evil. We must purge the galaxy so that we may start anew…and better the cosmos through our intervention." the Vok said.

"But we haven’t done anything! You’re making a terrible mistake!" RedStreak tried to convince the Vok otherwise. They didn’t seem to listen, instead floating there and watching the ensuing battle.

The first Vok said to the second, "Move onto final phase. Complete…termination sequence…."

Outside, the massive shell still orbiting the pulsing star began to change. It became narrower and sharper, more silver in color. The light from the star grew brighter and more luminous, the star itself beginning to turn a deep yellow as flares belched out of its surface.

A giant beam of yellow light turned on Photoneron like a giant flashlight. The whole planet began to grow hotter, changing from dull red to bright orange. Quakes began to shake the surface, lava spewing up and volcanoes erupting. The mountains of energon began to quiver, and then explode one range after another. At New Hive City, the Quintessons screamed as their buildings began to fall, crashing to pieces like glass. Their world was destroying itself all around them….

Aboard the DarkStar, one explosion after another rocked the ship as one system after another failed. Razorloeaf, Ursacon, and even Optimus Primal rushed to stop spreading fires while Coyotek did his best to steady the ship.

Over the communications console, Argos could be heard. "It’s no use! The Vok are far too powerful to stop! Our fleet is being pummeled! Whole wings are being taken out…."

The Vok continued their activities, regardless of the consequences. RedStreak, desperate to stop them, tried to reason with them.

"WAIT! YOU’RE ALL MAKING A GRAVE MISTAKE!" he yelled to them. Still the Vok didn’t listen. Breaking down to tears, he cried, "Please hear me out! What about humanity…and all the other innocents?"

Suddenly, the Vok turned about after a moment’s hesitation. They came back to RedStreak, waiting to hear what he said.

"Please! You are right…about the Quintessons, maybe even the transformers…but what about humanity? We are not all evil and twisted! We…they…deserve better! Don’t let them be destroyed as well!"

The Vok turned to one another, as if telepathically debating with one another. It appeared they all reached the same conclusion. The first Vok came forward. "The human species…had great potential. They might of become as great as us…but…" Pausing in mid-sentence, it appeared as if the Vok was experiencing…emotion, despite its featureless face. "It is…too late. We have no choice…."

RedStreak stared at the Vok for a long time. He sighed, knowing what was bound to happen. "Then I, too, have no choice." said RedStreak.

Raising up his arms, an aura of energon energy surrounded RedStreak. Closing his eyes, he concentrated his full will into it. The Vok watched unwittingly as the Maximal summoned the full extent of his powers. When RedStreak opened his eyelids, his pupils were a bright blue, energon radiation surging out of them. He roared loudly as he directed his power against the Vok.

For a few seconds, the green bubble imprisoning RedStreak held in the tremendous power, glowing white-hot. Soon, it shattered, and giant bolts of lightning left RedStreak and irradiated the entire chamber. The machinery comprising the chamber walls began to malfunction, green energy jolting out of them, whole sections exploding.

Near him, the other bubbles also shattered, releasing the three transformers. In an instant, they all regained consciousness, finding themselves floating weightlessly. Scaleblade looked around herself, finding the chamber ready to explode. Without haste, she fled, blowing a hole in the ceiling and flying straight into space.

"Noooooooooo!" hollered on of the Vok, "Termination sequence…disrupted. All readings chaotic…."

Rattrap, upon waking, shook his head and shrieked, "WHAT THE COLD-BOOT IS GOIN’ ON HERE?!"

RedStreak grabbed both Rattrap and Botanica in his arms and powered up his thrusters. "No time to explain! Let’s just bail!"

Just before he fled, RedStreak caught a glimpse of the Vok, panicked, afraid. One of them looked to him and said, "You’ve destroyed us…"

A feeling of guilt began to befall the Maximal, but he had no time for emotions. RedStreak flew off with Botanica and Rattrap towards the very same opening Scaleblade left behind, escaping just before the entire chamber blew out.

As Coyotek rushed to dodge enemy fire, he saw a small part of the Vok complex start to blow up. "WHOA! CHECK IT OUT!" he yelled to Optimus and the others, "IT’S STARTING TO EXPLODE! ONE OF OUR SHIPS MUST OF DONE IT!"

"No…" Gold Blade said, peering at the monitor, "It’s…blowing up from the inside!"

"Then we’d better get moving before it self-destructs!" suggested Megatron as he punched in some codes, "Activating warp drive systems…."

"Wait!" Coyotek yelled, "There’s Maximal energy signatures coming our way!" Peering with his cybernetic eyes, he gasped. "It’s RedStreak…and Rattrap and Botanica!"

"Hold the thrusters, Megatron!" Optimus ordered, "We’re going to rescue them!"

As the Cybertronian fleet moved away from the exploding superstructure, the DarkStar halted in space, doubling-back. A airlock opened along the side of the structure as the ship withstood flying debris and fireballs. RedStreak, with Rattrap and Botanica in tow, slipped inside just as the Vok device really began to light up.

The DarkStar licked the flames of the Vok star before flying off at Maximum speed, leaving a trail of plasma behind it. The Vok superstructure fell apart, some chunks falling into the star while others violently exploded. With its protective shell gone, the star started to spin wildly out of control. Slowly, it began to move away from Photoneron, flames erupting from its orange surface. As it drew further and further away, it became more and more violent. In minutes, it disappeared behind a gaseous nebula, exploding as a ring of red light.

Some time later, RedStreak scrutinized the stars around the DarkStar, heavy thoughts on his mind. He retreated back to his dark room to sit alone. Coyotek caught him escaping down the hall and followed.

"Hey Red!" he cheered, "You saved us all…ya little glory hound! Heh heh!" Much to Coyotek’s disappointment, RedStreak was dead silent. He put his hand on the shoulder of his fellow Maximal, concerned for him. "Hey? What is it?"

RedStreak sat there for a full minute before answering. "When I was trapped inside that thing, I saw them…the Vok. Much to my surprise, they weren’t savage or evil."

"What?" Coyotek asked, "You’re talking about the same aliens that tried to destroy us all?"

"No! They…." RedStreak moaned, trying to put it all in words. "They were confused…if anything. They thought we were allied with the Quints, trying to annihilate them. I tried to reason with them…and failed. I ended up destroying them myself…."

Trying to comfort his friend, Coyotek said, "You did what you could. You tried doing the right thing, tried the most Maximal approach. You did what you had to…no one will blame you."

With an almost disturbing voice, RedStreak muttered, "I destroyed an entire race, Coyotek." Standing up, he turned to Coyotek and declared, "I…destroyed…an entire race! Don’t you get it?"

"Huh?" Coyotek mumbled.

"Before," RedStreak explained, "I shot Cheetarus Prime, and destroy Cybertron…all while under the control of the Quints. But this time…I destroyed an entire race, by my own free will! Don’t you realize how terrible that is?"

"RedStreak…." Coyotek tried to say, but the Maximal just brushed him away.

"Don’t tell me I had no choice, because it isn’t true! I destroyed an entire race…an entire race." said RedStreak.