In a darkened room in an unknown place, five powerful beings banded together in a secret council. At the center of the room glowed a large, pentagon-shaped table, one composed of glowing energon crystals. At each side of the five sides, each of the alien beings took his appointed place. When all had taken their seats, five red lights shined from above, illuminating each member in a spooky aura.

Scavix sat at the head of the table, his large and prominent face standing out in the red light. He was the first to speak before his fellow Quintessons. "Fellow Councils of Quinton..." he began, "We are gathered here to discuss the future of our species, our people."

"Our species will continue to thrive, but what we are really gathered here for is to speak of your arrogant and foolish actions, Overlord Scavix!" one of the Quintessons raised his voice to Scavix.

Scavix narrowed his large, red eyes at his only rival at this table. "Lor-Gavvon," Scavix addressed him, "You know warring between the five councils is forbidden, and that my actions were approved by this council unanimously...."

"And because of your failure," another member spoke up, "You may have doomed out entire race!"

The five council members quarreled with one another, hissing and sneering at one another bitterly. Lor-Gavvon raised up his tentacles and struck down at the table, a burst of lightning shooting out.

"Enough of this!" he shouted, "The Council of Quinton was created eons ago to prevent fighting amongst all our factions! No Quintesson may rage war against Quintesson...." Turning to Scavix, Lor-Gavvon added distastefully, "Even against those that would defy the Council."

Lor-Gavvon directed their attention back to the heart of the matter. "Scavix’s attempt to conquer the human home world of Earth proves that our species is at a turning point. This is the second rebellion in our history that a slave race completely overturned us...the first with Cybertron eleven million years ago...."

"Do not be so sure, Lor-Gavvon of the Council of Scientists," still another member said, "The Earth rebellion only succeeded because of the interference of the transformers, as Scavix said."

The other council members looked at one another and agreed with the first, all defending Scavix. Lor-Gavvon looked at Scavix, seeing his smug grin glowing with confidence. He was not one to allow a meniacal Overlord overturn his decission at the council.

"Remember though, due to Scavix’s failed invasion," Lor-Gavvon told the other Quintessons, "Our enemies are now aware our race yet exists, and a counter-attack is probable."

Scavix laughed. As the council’s eyes turned to him, he boastfully said, "Lor-Gavvon! It sounds as if you fear these inferior beings! We are superior to them, the only beings in the entire galaxy worthy of being master of all others!"

Lor-Gavvon’s metal eyebrows turned inward. "Your failed attack suggests otherwise, Overlord Scavix..." said Lor-Gavvon.

Scavix remained confident in himself. "I am not a fool, as you try to make me seem," he said to Lor-Gavvon, "I analyzed the flaws in my invasion...and identified one major factor."

The table hummed, turning a greenish hue. A hologram materialized, hovering above the heads of the Quintessons. It was a single Maximal, one with minimal armaments and modest skills. However, when Scavix told them what this single being was capable of, the entire council shuttered in fear.

"This...creature...can control energon?" asked Lor-Gavvon.

One of the council members shrieked. "Eeeeh! If that creature were to discover Photoneron, it could destory us all! All our efforts, our planning...."

Another member slammed his cybernetic fist into the table. "Ha! Even if this one being can destory our very source of power, he will surely fall before the power of my caste of warriors!"

Scavix turned to the council of warriors and said, "No! This creature...this transformer...could be turned against his bretheren." Waving one of his spiked tentacles, Scavix elaborated. "We could use this being of power to annahilate our enemies where they stand...returning to us both Cybertron and Earth...returning to us the power and glory our great imperium deserves!"

Lor-Gavvon raised an eyebrow, still fascinated by the odd being. "An interresting proposition, Scavix. But to cull such a creature from the transformers...that would mean revealing our hiding place. Such an action would pose great risk in addition to great power...."

Scavix raised up before the council. "For countless centuries, we Quintessons have remained hidden in the depths of dark space, hiding from the threats of inferior races and our very fate. I say before the Council of Quinton, that the time of hiding is over!" Scavix spoke prophetically, promising his fellow Quintessons everything their race surely deserved. "The time to take back what is ours is at hand! And the key to obtaining that victory lies with this creature!"

RedStreak was busy on Earth carrying a load of equipment onboard the Thetos. He left the primary hanger at New Cybertron to meet with Coyotek on the runway. The fledgling city was strangely silent. With over half of the transformers returning to Cybertron, at the command of the Council of Maximal Elders no less, it was a technological ghost town.

Coyotek reached down from the open airlock of the Thetos, taking the load RedStreak handed up. "Man," said Coyotek, "Things have sure gotten lonely around here. I’m running out of friends!"

"Tell me about it," RedStreak replied, "At least we have each other for company."

The brown-yellow Maximal looked at RedStreak, taking the small crate over his shoulder. "You haven’t had to share shifts with Rattrap! I swear, that guy reaks! And worse yet, his voice drives me insane! If I hear the sound of his whiny, annoying vocal cords one more time, I’ll...."

A pair of wheel came rolling out from behind Coyotek, revealing little Rattrap with a smile on his face. Casually, he said to his fellow Maximals, "Hi guys!"

"AGGGGGGH!" Coyotek finally snapped. He turned around and growled at Rattrap. In a flash, he pounced on the motorized rodent in a frenzy, catching Rattrap completely off-guard.

"AGH! WHAT THE HEAPN’ SLAG?" shouted Rattrap, "GET OFF OF ME YOU SHAGGY ROBO-MUTT!"

The two grappled one another, slamming into the walls of the Thetos’ open airlock. They rolled out of view from RedStreak, but could still be heard cursing, fighting, and bashing each other’s neuro-processors. The fox-bot sighed, shaking his head. "What a day..." RedStreak muttered.

Several hundred miles away in Arizona, Optimus Primal, Botanica, as well as RazorLeaf and Gold Blade were examining the remains of the Quintessons’ gigantic master ship, the vessel still sitting in a crater covering a third of New Phoenix.

Optimus Primal bent down and picked up a fragment of the hull. Examining it closely, he said aloud, "Hmmm. Interresting. We’ve searched the entire crash site and still no trace of any circuitry in the debris...this will make our salvage operation all the more difficult."

"Well...maybe their computer system was completly destroyed in the crash." suggested RazorLeaf as he kicked a hole into a standing hull plate.

Botanica, standing next to Primal, said to her proteche, "Not possible. Even with extensive damage, a ship this size would have some of its systems intact." Picking up another charred piece of metal, Botanica mumbled to herself, "It just doesn’t add up...."

Over a hill of twisted metal, Gold Blade’s voice sounded out. "Hey! Guys!" she called to them, "I think I just found something! You won’t believe this!" Optimus Primal switched to his beast mode and flew over to her. Botanica and RazorLeaf dashed over hastily on their legs, finding Gold Blade standing next to an open panel.

"I found out just why we haven’t been finding any computer circuits," Gold Blade said to them, pointing a green finger inside the wrekage. Optimus Primal looked closely between burnt sections of piping and servos, peering deeply. A dim, barely visible blue glow could be seen, hidden beneath the various burnt components.

Optimus reached in with one of his clawed wings, peeling away the bits and pieces of wrekages. What he discovered was shocking enough to make him say, "By the Matrix!" Deep inside, a seemingly ordinary piece of metal glowed bright blue, wires and conductors flashing with electrical power still coursing through them.

"A circuit system...made entirely of energon!" he exclaimed.

"That explains why we haven’t found any circuitry," Gold Blade elaborated, "Obviously during the overload they were vaporized. The energon surges destoyed the ship-wide system instantaniously...."

"Except," Optimus pointed out, "This part. At least now we have something to work with." Turning to Gold Blade, he asked, "Did your scans indicate any stored memory in this circuit board?"

"Only one way to find out for certain," Gold Blade said to him. She placed her right arm next to the energon circuitry. A part of her skin detached like a lid, revealing a pair of outlets imbedded in her technorganic tissue. With her left arm, she attached a single cable to one of the outlets, clicking it in place. The other end Gold Blade directed to a matching outlet on the energon circuit panel.

"Wait!" Optimus put his hand on hers, preventing Gold Blade from completeing the connection. "Are you sure you know what you’re doing? You’re about to interface with raw energon...and the last thing I want is for you to be...."

"I know what I’m doing, Primal," Gold Blade reassured him, "I’ll play it safe."

Optimus removed his hand from hers, confident in Gold Blade’s skill. The female Maximal took the cable and snapped it into place. The energon circuit began to sizzle, a trickle of energon flowing into the cable and through Gold Blade’s arm.

The moment the circuitry reached her core consciousness, Gold Blade entered the virtual reality within the circuitry. All around her was a black space crisscrossed with blue lightning shooting across it. She flew weightlessly, entering a mysterious field of Cybertronian text descending all around her, with golden spheres floating about randomly. Just then, one large sphere appeared before Gold Blade, one that was completely motionless.

"Gold Blade...Blade...Blade..." Optimus’ voice echoed all around her, "Have you found...found...found...anything...anything...anything?" He was calling her from the outside world, trying to keep in touch. She could hear him, but otherwise all her senses were entrapped in this strange universe.

"Yes," she replied, "I believe I’ve found a central data bank here..." As Gold Blade approached the large gold ball, a surge of lightning swept across it, briefly changing it from gold to dull silver.

Gold Blade added, "However...I think it’s been damaged." Huffing for a moment, then sighing, she further added, "I’m going to try and download it nonetheless...before it deteriorates completely."

"Be careful...careful...Gold...Gold...Blade!" Optimus warned, "You might...might become damaged...damaged...damaged!"

She ignored his warning, and put her hands upon the gold sphere. The sphere brightened, turning a magnificent green at her touch. Gold cybertext flowed into her hands and up to her shoulders, the information becoming one with her. The sensation was almost exhilarating, pleasing even. But then, roughly halfway through the download, there was a turn for the worse. The sphere turned silver, malfunctioning again. Energon surges ran into Gold Blade’s hands, causing her great pain, enough to make her scream.

Gold Blade tried to pull away, but she just couldn’t. Her hands were almost magnetically frozen to the sphere, unable to move. The sphere suddenly turned liquid, a pair of quicksilver tentacles wrapping themselves around her. Gold Blade grunted and pulled, but to no avail. The sphere rippled, its surface changing form. It slowly rotated, the skull-like face of a Quintesson laughing at her. Gold Blade screamed again as the monstrous alien opened its mouth, ready to swallow her whole.

The cable snapped, seperating Gold Blade from the malfunctioning circuitry, pulling her back into the real world. Botanica grabbed Gold Blade’s limp body before it fell to the ground, energon rippling across her face and hands. Optimus saw sparks jolting out of the energon circuits, the crystals humming loudly.

"Look out! They’re gonna blow!" Optimus Primal shouted.

Botanica, with Gold Blade in her arms, twirled about and went underground for cover. Optimus took off a second later, just as the energon circuits detonated. A wave of energon blasted through half the city, causing buildings to shutter from the power. It struck Optimus Primal broadside, sending him tumbling to the ground. He trasnformed and barely regained control, landing on his hands and knees. Optimus panted, his servos weak and strained.

It was then that a black shadow fell upon his back. Primal looked up, seeing what he mistook for a giant jumbo jet flying above him. But then, as the craft slowly descended towards him, he realized it was no Earthly vessel - it was Cybertronian.

A battleship, one nearly identical to the Thetos, hovered a couple of meters above the ground, the wind from its downward thrusters blowing Optimus in the face. Above him, a large panel opened, two search lights emerging and beaming down on Optimus. Cheetarus Prime’s voice then called down from the Cybertron ship, rumbling like thunder.

"Optimus Primal," his voice echoed, "It is by the will of the Council of Maximal Elders that you and all your rebels be taken into custody. All transformers are hereby ordered to vacate this planet for the common good of Cybertron...by force if nessicary."

"Rebels?" Optimus said to himself, "Has the council gone mad?"

The battleship turned about, its forward weapons array targeting Optimus. Optimus put up his hands, hoping to reason with them one last time. "Why are you doing this Cheetor? You know the only reason I’m here is to save both humans and Maximals!"

"The name is Cheetarus Prime," Cheetarus reminded, "And I am doing this for the good of Cybertron! As much as I hate to say this, but the sake of our world comes before Earth!"

Optimus Primal’s eyes narrowed. "How dare you call yourselves Maximals!" With that, Optimus jumped into the air, flying as swiftly as possible. The battleship latched onto him with a tractor beam, holding him in mid-air. Optimus snarled and turned around. He launched an energy ball right into the beam emmiter, blasting it apart. Flying free again, Optimus Primal took off before the ship could persue.

"We’ve got to end this insurrection once and for all!" Argo stated before Cheetarus.

Cheetarus, sitting in the command chair, thought otherwise. "No! Optimus is one of us, not an enemy!"

"But he’s disregarded the judgement of the council!" blared Argos, "No sane Maximal would do that! It would mean to disregard our world!"

Cheetarus snarled a little. "Optimus is no mad man. He’s my friend...and I know he’d never abandon Cybertron." He turned to the piloting Maximal, commanding, "Follow him. But use on tractor beams and stun weapons. There will be no more killing while I’m around...."

Optimus Primal arrived at New Cybertron, Cheetarus’ battleship following not far behind him. RedStreak looked up and saw the large ship persuing Optimus from afar. Even Rattrap and Coyotek, with their fangs at one another’s throats, gave pause to see it.

As he landed, Optimus ordered them to ready the Thetos. "We’ve gotta launch, stat! The Council of Elders thinks we’ve betrayed them! And I don’t think they’re gonna let us stand for much longer...."

"Launch? NOW?!" said Rattrap.

"But the Thetos isn’t prepped yet!" exclaimed Coyotek.

"Make it so!" Optimus said, "Perhaps RedStreak and I can stall them for a while longer...." He turned to RedStreak, the only other flying Maximal present. "Think we can handle a five hundred-ton war vessel?" he asked.

RedStreak shrugged "Heck! Six years ago we handled a whole planet! Surely this is easy as cake...."

"You target their shields and propulsion. I’ll take out their weapons," Optimus told him. He took off, heading straight for the apporaching battleship. RedStreak transformed and followed.

Argos saw Optimus on the main view screen, coming in at full thrust. "Hmm. Back for more punishment, is he?" he muttered.

Another set of tractor beams prepared to fire on Optimus Primal. As they hummed with power, a blast of green energy shot out from below. Optimus looked down, seeing Botanica, Gold Blade, and RazorLeaf supporting him.

"Thought you could use a little ground support!" Botancia shouted to him. In her robot mode, she fired her blasters at the battleship, the beams refracted around the giant shields.

Gold Blade joined in, bending down to reveal her quiver of pointed leaves. She fired a whole slew of golden missiles, blasting a sizable hole in the shields. RazorLeaf transformed to his beast mode, becoming a giant fern rooted in the ground. He flung out half a dozen large, serrated metal leaves. They tore into the portside of the ship, leaving giant scratches in the tritanium hull.

The battleship’s weapons targeted the plant Maximals, returning fire. Botanica and Gold Blade ducked as potent blasts hit the ground around them. "Quick! Get behind me!" said RazorLeaf, "I’ll provide cover!" His two comrades jumped behind him, RazorLeaf raising his leaves up to shield all of them.

RedStreak saw this as his opportunity. "All right! Time for a little demolition action!" He transformed and dove at the battleship. Large bolts of energon leapt from his palms, hitting the shields with tremendous force. The shields started to pulsate, losing their stability and strength. RedStreak changed back to flight mode to fly back up for another run.

Before the fox-bot could though, the battleship managed to hit him with a quantum blast. RedStreak howled as his circuits overloaded, sending him back to the ground. Optimus gasped, and quickly flew to RedStreak’s rescue, catching him in his arms just in time.

Back at the Thetos, Rattrap and Coyotek had caught sight of the battle and wanted to help out. With the supplies loaded, the two set to work reactivating the Thetos. Coyotek loomed over the control console, trying to figure out how to precisely power up the ship.

"Dang! Who knew there were so many controls?" the canine said, "Which one’s the slaggin’ on-switch?"

Rattrap groaned, "Oh for booting-up cold!" He shoved Coyotek out of the way of the console and tried patching in himself. "I swear...you dog-bots are worse than the cat-bots when it comes to intelligence! Never send a dog to do a rat’s job!"

Coyotek snarled as he stood beside Rattrap. "Watch it garbage breath!" he pointed a claw at Rattrap, "You obviously forget coyotes eat rats! But I’m sure your fowl stench would make me barf you back out anyway...."

Rattrap slapped Coyotek in the face with his tail. "I ain’t anyone’s side-order, Coyo-punk! Now stay out of my way while I hot-wire this thing!" Using the drill attachment for his tail, Rattrap unscrewed a pannel on the side of the console. He bent down and started switching around wires. Taking a blue cable and a green cable, he mumbled to himself, "Now if I crosswire these two...the navigational computer should power up and take...."

The second he snapped the two cables together, a large jolt of electricity was sent into the rodent. Rattrap screamed as he shook violently. The console then exploded, sending him flying into Coyotek’s stomach. The canine went, "Oomph!" as he and Rattrap hit the wall at the opposite end of the room.

All around them, electrical shorts began to happen as every system powered up. The main computer came online, screeching "Warning! Warning! Complete system overload! Navigation off-line...main engines preparing to fire at full thrust in six nano-clicks, five, four, three, two...."

Coyotek muttered, "Oh crud...."

The Thetos blasted off, launching into the atmosphere without any form of guidance. Inside, Coyotek and Rattrap were thrown around like pinballs, colliding with one another several times. Then, as the Thetos was approaching two hundred kilometers above the Earth’s surface, its engines died suddenly.

"Warning," the computer said, "Propulsion system failure. Unable to achieve stable orbit."

In less than a minute, the Thetos pointed straight down at the Earth and began a nose-dive. Rattrap and Coyotek were forced to the rear of the chamber, the acceleration growing stronger as they fell. Rattrap, floating inside the chamber, hollered, "We’re all gonna die!"

Coyotek latched onto the rodent’s right arm, pulling both him and himself to a near-by control console. He grabbed Rattrap by the throat and brought him to his face. "This is all your fault!"

"Well excuse me!" Rattrap jeered.

"Look Maximal! Either we can die in an incredible act of stupidity, or you can fix this thing and get us flying like we’re supposed to!" Coyotek explained to Rattrap.

"All right! All right!" Rattrap said, trying to get Coyotek’s claws off him. The rodent set to work with the navigation console, attempting to repair what was left of it. "All right! All I have to do is uncross the wires and the computer should be able to steer this thing back down safely...."

The wires were set back into place, and the console’s instruments glowed once again, but all too briefly. A spark jumped out from them, killing them completely. "Navigation failure." the computer reported, "Unable to comply."

"That really helped!" muttered Coyotek.

"Then we’ll have to switch to manual!" said Rattrap. Switching to beast mode, Rattrap used his tail to latch onto another console. He pulled himself in, then latched onto the pilot’s seat. The rat sat in the chair, his paws grabbling the steering controls before him.

On the giant view screen, an image of the Earth grew rapidly larger and larger. Mountains once the apparent size of pinheads grew to their true proportions. Coyotek’s eyes began to pop out of their sockets. "PULL UP! PULL UP!" he howled to Rattrap, "FOR THE LOVE OF PRIMUS, PULL UP!"

Rattrap put his whole weight against the steering column, trying to force it up. It groaned, finally giving. The Thetos responded with its ailerons and thrusters kicking in, slowly leveling off the large ship. It grazed a mountain top, sending some stray boulders and rocks loose. Coyotek sighed, safe in the knowledge that he was alive again.

However, more problems were encountered. Passing through the jet streams, Rattrap found the Thetos hard to steer in those great gusts. The steering wheel became sporadic, turning this way and that way. "Whoa! Easy girl! Easy!" Rattrap said to it, trying to hold on. Suddenly, he was flung off it, careening into a storage bin with his tail-end sticking out.

As the Thetos began to spin uncontrolably, Coyotek rushed to the controls. He grabbed the controls, using his stronger limbs to manage it. "Man! This is one tough wind we’re passing through!" he said. It turned out it was thougher than they thought. The controls were against him always, the Thetos buckling in the jet stream. "Hang on, Rattrap! This is going to be tougher than we thought!" Coyotek yelled to him.

The Thetos started to fall again, spinning like an air-borne top. It closed in on the ground, losing attitude rapidly, even with Coyotek trying to keep control. As the clouds lifted, they saw New Cybertron once again...with Cheetarus’ battleship just at its outskirts.

Aboard the other battleship, Cheetarus and the council were subdoing Optimus Primal’s rebel group. Once they had readjusted their shields, none of their attacks were a match for their own. One by one, they’d taken out RazorLeaf, Gold Blade, and then RedStreak as well. Only Optimus and Botanica remained, and their power reserves were giving out.

"We’re winning. Most of the rebels are down Prime, and even Optimus can’t last much longer," Argos said to Cheetarus, the councilman almost joyful for the end of this insurrection.

Cheetarus turned to one of the pilots running the ship. "Prepare the energy-bond nets. We’ll be taking them in soon...."

Suddenly, an alarm started to go off in the bridge. Cheetarus and the council were both startled, unable to believe it. On another monitor, a scanner indicated a large craft was moving in on their position rapidly. "What the pit?" Cheetarus said, looking to the image.

The Thetos, still spinning wildly, was aiming for the battleship. Coyotek was still at the controls, still trying to fly straight. "Rattrap! Get the shields online now!" he yelled to his Maximal fellow, "We’re gonna need them in a minute!"

Rattrap was at another console, trying to activate the shield generators. "I can’t!" he exclaimed, "I’m totally locked out!" Looking up, the rodent gasped, seeing Cheetarus’ battleship directly ahead of them. "Oh slag!"

In the span of a few seconds, the Thetos collided hard with the hovering battleship. Coming in sideways, the right wing of the Thetos sliced through the middle of the other vessel, tearing it apart. Metal wretched metal apart, huge chunks of armor and hull ripped from both vessels. A spectacular explosion errupted from the battleship with red, orange, and white sparks flying out.

Thetos sped away with a heavily damaged starboard side, Cheetarus’ battleship gutted like a fish in the middle portion. Optimus Primal watched in amazement as the battleship’s lights went out, losing all power. With its engines and anti-grav units dead, the battleship fell straight down, crashing.

As the others around him began to revive, Optimus Primal’s com-link reactivated. "Bos monkey! This is Rattrap aboard the Thetos! Sorry about the mess, but we’re still online along with the ship!"

"Some interresting moves, Rattrap. Forget your piloting lessons?" Optimus asked.

"Ask Coyotek. He was the one flying!" answered Rattrap, "If you’re planning on leaving this planet, I suggest you do it now while this bird’s still hot!"

Optimus acknowledged, and turned to the others. As soon as they were all online, Optimus ordered them to transform and climb on. With Botanica and RazorLeaf on his back, he fired up his jets, flying all three of them to the Thetos. RedStreak went to flight mode, carring Gold Blade on his back.

As they flew off, RedStreak looked back at the ruined battleship. "Dang. They’ve been seriously slagged. Think anyone survived?"

"Hopefully," Optimus replied, "Cheetarus and the council may be against us, but they’d be too great a loss to accept...."

An airlock aboard the Thetos opened, granting access to the flying Maximals and their passengers. The Thetos then took off, leaving planet Earth for the depths of interplanetary space. Onboard, they all celebrated, simply because they were all back together again. Botanica hugged Rattrap, thanking him for saving their lives.

In the back Coyotek gritted his teeth. "Oh sure...he nearly kills me and I save the ship...and he’s given all the credit...."

RedStreak patted Coyotek on the shoulder. "Hey. At least you did one heck of a bang-up job on that battlecruiser! Can’t deny that!" Coyotek smiled at little, glad to be appreciated by at least one Maximal.

Suddenly, the controls started going off. Everyone turned, the monitors all around them beeping with Maximal symbols. The computer boomed over the intercoms, "Attention! Attention! Scanners detect alien energy signatures at vector seven, nine, twelve."

"Quintessons...." muttered Optimus.

In less than a cycle, the Thetos’ crew battened down the hatches and assumed their positions. Optimus, sitting in the command chair, ordered, "Full power to thrusters. We’re going after those Quintessons now!"

"Roger boss monkey!" replied Rattrap. At the controls, Rattrap pulled the lever to power up the engines. The Thetos slipped into high gear, flying after the remnants of the Quintesson fleet.

At the sensor station, Botanica discovered something. "Optimus!" she said, "There’s a massive graviton surge coming from the Quintesson vessels! I think they’re trying to reopen the transwarp conduit!"

Optimus anticipated this action from the Quintessons. "They’re trying to leave this system. We’ve got to engage them quickly, before they can get through. Prepare for battle!"

As the transwarp gate began to open, the Quintesson fleet turned about to face the Thetos, obviously sensing its approach. They opened fire, sending wave after wave of weapons fire at them. The Thetos’ shields held, and it returned fire. Several of the smaller Quintesson vessels were destroyed, but the larger ones remained. One of their ships fired a volley at the Thetos, penetrating the shields. One distruptor blast got through, hitting the Thetos right in an open plasma vent.

A big explosion rocked the Maximals from behind. "Warning! Extensive damage to primary power core! Switching to back-up systems for power." the compter beeped.

"Gold Blade, RazorLeaf," Optimus commanded the two Maximals, "Get down to the primary core and repair it! RedStreak...they may need your help in diverting the energon flow...."

The three Maximals obeyed, leaving their stations and exiting through the rear of the bridge. Another blast hit the Thetos. Optimus checked his display of the ship, learning that the rear shields were down. He turned to Coyotek, sitting at the pilot’s seat.

"Coyotek! There’s been a failure in the shield generators. Go to section nine and see if you can repair it and restore aft shields!" he ordered Coyotek.

Coyotek turned and looked at Optimus. "But the Quintessons! I’m needed here at the pilot’s seat!" he protested.

"There’s no time to argue!" Optimus told him, "Just go and repair the generators! That’s an order! Rattrap will take over here...."

"But Primal!" Coyotek said.

"Just DO it!" Optimus harshly yelled. Coyotek’s ears went down submissively. He transformed to beast mode and dashed down the hall, heading to the stern of the Thetos. Botanica, Rattrap, and Optimus Primal were left to man the bridge.

At the primary power core, energon and plasma were venting all over the place. RazorLeaf and RedStreak forced down a trilithium-coated plate over the leak, Gold Blade nailing the seal shut.

"Phew! That should do it!" Gold Blade sighed.

Near-by, another vent ruptured near the reactor. "On slag!" RazorLeaf said, "Another one! We can’t keep patching this place up forever!"

"Hold on! Maybe I can seal it!" RedStreak spoke up. He walked over and put his hand on the leak. A burst of energon escaped from his fingers, melting part of the piping. The leak stopped once the molten metal cooled. "That’s better at least...." commented RedStreak.

Outside, the Quintessons were attempting to enter the gateway they created, but Optimus wasn’t going to allow them to pass. The Thetos sent plasma bolts against the Quintessons, keeping them from the gateway. However, the Quintessons were not going to be so easily thwarted.

Their alien weapons, at least five-fold more potent than any the Thetos possessed, fired in unity at the Thetos until its shields finally collapsed. The blasts then directly hit its hull, leaving great scorch marks across it. Stray hits ripped into the wounded right wing of the Thetos, ripping it further apart. All the Quintesson ships saw this, and concentrated their fire upon the starboard side.

Inside the bridge, it was becoming obvious the tide was turning against the Maximals. The back-up systems were starting to fail, power fading fast. Rattrap tried to maneuver the Thetos as best he could, but with multiple system failures that proved to be a difficult task.

Jolted about in his command chair by more explosions, Optimus desperately tried to keep the situation positive. "Double power to the shields! Get them back online!" he ordered.

"Shields are totally inoperative!" reported Botanica, "They’ve destroyed the primary connections to the generators!"

Another explosion, one much bigger than before, shook them all. Both Botanica and Optimus Primal were tossed from their seats onto the floor as the Thetos buckled under fire. Rattrap held onto his station. When the readouts appeared on the screen, he realized the worst was happening.

"Oh man! Our fuel lines have ruptured! Plasma’s leaking all over the place!" Rattrap shouted, "The fuel tanks are gonna...."

An explosion ripped out from the Thetos in a huge ball of fire. The whole ship shook, fragments of the vessel blow apart. In the stern section, RazorLeaf, RedStreak, and Gold Blade were thrown about as the ship seemed to turn upside down, all three Maximals suddenly thrust down a long hall.

Ahead of them, they saw fires rupturing out of every corner, roaring to life. They slid down the long hall until a great inferno greeted them. All three screamed in horror, attempting to latch onto anything in order to slow down. The floor in front of them ruptured, literally ripping apart in a giant quake.

At that moment, the Thetos boke into two pieces that drifted apart. The smaller of the two pieces took with it the right wing and a third of the Thetos’ stern section. The other piece, comprising the bulk of the Thetos, was pulled in towards the transwarp gateway.

Below the feet of RazorLeaf was the vast void of space spanning millions of kilometers. A hunk of pipe rolled by, then fell into that void, vanishing forever. RazorLeaf would have met the same fate, were it not for Gold Blade and RedStreak holding him up.

Behind them, a yell was heard echoing over and over again. "HEEEEELLLP!" someone hollered. Looking up, they saw Coyotek tumbling straight down from the twisted interior above them. He couldn’t stop, slipping and slidding. The floor was too slick for his beast mode’s paws to take hold, preventing him from getting a hold.

"AHHHHH!"

Coyotek swept past them, falling faster and faster. He was swept out of the Thetos and into the void below. RazorLeaf watched as he continued to tumble uncontrolably. "Hang on Coyotek!" he yelled to him. The Maximal reached out a hand to his friend, but the distance was too great. RazorLeaf stretched his hand out, making it into a long rope. He whipped it out towards Coyotek, trying to grab him. It wrapped around the canine, stopping him in his tracks.

RazorLeaf moaned in pain. "Jeez! A...little help...here!" he groaned to RedStreak and Gold Blade. Quickly everyone helped out, pulling Coyotek back inside.

"Oh...boy..." gasped Coyotek, "That was one heck of a trip!"

Gazing out the large hole before them, RedStreak saw something. "Look!" he said. Outside, they saw the Thetos come into view, sweeping past them as it slowly spun about. They saw the huge wound in its stern, where they should of been. In moments, the four watching Maximals saw the Thetos slowly drift toward the rift in space, following the Quintesson ships seemingly.

Coyotek turned his head and saw the ship enter the gateway. "Optimus!" he yelped. In the next instant, the transwarp conduit collapsed, its luminous brilliance vanished. "No!"

They were seperated now, no longer together. As the hunk of metal they clung to drifted right-side up, RedStreak, Coyotek, RazorLeaf, and Gold Blade all realized they were alone - that Optimus, Botanica, and Rattrap were gone...taken by the Quintessons.

"No...." Coyotek just said, still staring at empty space.

A large thud echoed near them. The four of them were started to see a pair of dents forced into the floor...like footprints...but without feet. The tingling sensation of fear ran up their spines as they watched electricity spark before them, coallesing into a single form. Dark metal appeared out of thin air, and a pair of red eyes stared at them.

"Megatron!" Gold Blade shouted.