Transformers: On Our Own

Episode 1

Optimus Prime shouted out as Megatron shot another hole in the metal that made up Cybertron. If he kept this up, the entire planet would be torn asunder.

Bumblebee and Ironhide rushed forward as Gears, Ratchet, and Jazz opened fire. This wasn't working, and all of them knew it.

U-Turn blasted away, trying desperately to slow Megatron, a feat that he already knew was an impossibility. Only Optimus might've done it, but he was preoccupied; Starscream and Blackout were too strong, and the fact that another group of Decepticons were on their way was something none of them wanted to hear.

Bumblebee called U-Turn out of his thought by shouting, "U-Turn! Help Gears!"

U-Turn looked around. Gears had been cornered by Barricade and Flatline, and was in serious trouble. But out of the corner of his eye, he also saw that Megatron was on a cliff's edge. One well placed shot would push him over the edge.

He almost yelled out for Ironhide, but Blackout had already downed him. Ratchet and Bumblebee were caught up in a deadlock with Jacknife, who had just arrived on the scene, Jazz was trying to get to Gears, but Sideways wouldn't allow it, and Optimus was attempting to provide everyone with even a little bit of help.

"U-Turn, get Gears!" Bumblebee called out again. Just as he got the words out of his mouth, one of Jacknife's shots caught him in the throat, completely destroying his voice processor.

U-Turn looked from Gears to Megatron and back again. Which would be more beneficial, the death of their greatest enemy, or the life of their friend? Ironhide kicked Jacknife out of the way, called out as loud as he could for Ratchet, and took a shot at Barricade; the blast connected, but the Decepticon only staggered, and kept fighting.

Optimus caught U-Turn out of the corner of his eye, and spun around. "U-Turn!" he shouted. "Help Gears! That's an order!"

U-Turn spun around to look at Megatron and aimed his heavy weapon. The Decepticon leader was distracted, so U-Turn fired.

Megatron heard the blast, but didn't know it had been aimed at him. He turned his head just in time to see the shell strike him in the chest and explode, send him rocketing off the cliff. At the same time, however, Flatline grabbed Gears' arm, broke it backwards, and jammed his claw into the back of the Autobot's head. Gears fell, yet another casualty in a war that had no purpose.

Optimus Prime screamed in rage, drawing both swords and jumping across the battlefield to land on Flatline's back. He cut both the Decepticon's arms off and then cut him in half, kicking the scrap metal away.

All the Decepticons ran, knowing that they had no chance without Megatron to preoccupy Optimus Prime. Once all the Decepticons were gone, the Autobots converged around U-Turn, looks of scorn and sorrow in their eyes. Optimus avoided looking at him for a few moments, his eyes locked on the expired body of Gears.

"Did we not tell you to help Gears?" Ironhide growled. "See what happens when you don't follow orders?"

"Even Optimus told you to help him," Jazz scolded. "Did you suddenly decide you were gonna help by letting your comrade die?"

"I just threw Megatron off a cliff!" U-Turn snapped. "Doesn't that count for something?"

Optimus surprised them all; he spun around quicker than any of them and took U-Turn off the ground by his throat.

"For glory?" he shouted. "You let your fellow soldier die for GLORY!?" Prime threw U-Turn across the battlefield. As he skidded across the ground, Ironhide primed his weapon to fire, but Optimus put a hand on his shoulder, then said to U-Turn, "You are exiled from the Autobots. My soldiers listen when I give them an order."

U-Turn wandered Cybertron for days after that, wondering what he had to do to get back in good standing with Optimus Prime. They had been best friends not so long ago, so why had it been so easy for Prime to kick him out of the Autobots? And could you really be removed from one faction or the other? He kicked a rock as he pondered this.

Suddenly, he heard moaning, and some metal rubbing together, then, "Blasted useless parts!"

"Fifth Wheel?" U-Turn wondered aloud. They hadn't seen their old weapons specialist for almost a year, after he had gone insane. How had the old miser gotten out here?

He was about to investigate, but he heard another noise, about 30 meters behind him. He readied his primary canon and spun around. As he thought, it was Decepticons; three scout drones were speeding toward him, but that wasn't the problem.

The problem was what was behind them.

Starscream looked like he was searching for something, but what he was to find on this All-Spark-forsaken rock was unfathomable, and frankly, U-Turn could care less. But he had to get Fifth Wheel out of here or Starscream would rip him apart.

The Autobot turned and ran in the direction of where he thought he had heard the veteran cry out. There was a large rock wall between here and there, but he didn't mind; he jumped, grabbed into the cliff, and pushed himself over it, landing directly beside an old, rusted Autobot that was struggling with some of his armor.

"Yuey?" Fifth Wheel asked as U-Turn got both guns ready to fire. "Glad to see you again, boy. Listen, help me out here, I'm having armor prob-" He broke off as he went into a horrible, metallic-sounding coughing fit.

"Oh, no," U-Turn whispered as he registered the noise as a sure symptom of Torust, a disease that had no cure on Cybertron and had to be treated by an Autobot medic to keep in remission. "And I can't get Ratchet's help..." he muttered as the events of the last few days flashed vividly in his mind.

A revelation occured to him just as Starscream landed at the top of the rock wall behind him. He grabbed Fifth Wheel from behind and launched them both into the atmosphere and beyond.

"Where are we going?" Fifth Wheel demanded.

"Cybertron isn't the only planet inhabited with Autobots," U-Turn explained. "There's one other planet."

"Which is?"

U-Turn looked toward the Milky Way galaxy as he accelerated in its direction.

"Earth."