AN: And we are back for more in the epic of Gundam SEED Prime: Chaos Hunters! This chapter's going to have all sorts of first encounters for the characters and surprises that you may or may not be expecting, and the answer to a mystery that some of you have been wondering about for some time, while also leading into the next adventure that will unfold in the events to come.

Yzak: Can we just get on with it? No one is really going to care about all your babbling or even be able to make real sense of it until it gets to that point in the story, like how this chapter reveals that in the next chapter, the others will be...

AN: DAH! SPOILER! [hits control]

Yzak: AGAIN?! [a strange mobile suit appears and tries to blast him into kingdom come with a blast of purple energy]

AN: Well I guess that's a bit of a spoiler, because you'll be seeing that particular mobile suit again later on in this chapter, so please enjoy what happens next.

I do not own anything from any of either the Gundam or Transformers franchises or any other franchise mentioned in this story.


Chapter 7: At The Starting Line

Location: Velocitron

The greatest competitors in any competition will often train for hours on end, if not days, sometimes even without rest, but they must also acknowledge that spending so much time training can be just as much of a hindrance as it can be a benefit. Sometimes though, their coach, or even a very concerned teammate will need to give them a wake-up call of a reminder of this fact, and that is exactly what Clocker had to do for the Autobots who were going to be competing in the upcoming Ultimate Grand Race, so now, Hot Shot was leading Bumblebee and all the other Autobots and their human companions to one of Velocitron's hottest hangouts that was not a racetrack. "'Bots and humans, welcome to Pit Stop," Hot Shot announced as they reached their destination and assumed their respective bipedal modes. "The number one joint for hanging out with friends, checking out competition, and just having a good time as you cool your engines."

"From where I'm sitting, it looks an awful lot like a bar," Dearka commented from the cockpit of his mobile suit. "Also, remind me why we're here again? Specifically me, Yzak, and Nicol."

"Well if what Hot Shot's told us about this place is any indication, it's actually a bit of a custom for anyone competing in the Ultimate Grand Race, either as a racer or even as support crew to come here at least once before the big day," Bumblebee replied. "And that means we have a chance to check out this Ransack guy that we've been hearing so much about for ourselves."

"And by doing that, we'll be able to tell whether or not he would be a likely candidate for a Decepticon contact on Velocitron or not, and even if he isn't, we'll still know who to watch for when it comes to anything underhanded in the race," Yzak finished. He then smirked as he added, "Somehow I don't think that this is what Clocker had in mind when he told us all to take a break from working."

"Well, what he doesn't know, won't hurt him," Arcee replied with a smile.

"Hey, go easy on Clocker," Hot Shot immediately said in defense of their local friend. "He is just a kid, and he's not really used to how the Autobots do things in comparison to how things are normally done on Velocitron, so you can't really blame him for his concern."

"Yeah, we get that," Smokescreen assured Hot Shot as they all stepped up to the entrance. "But he didn't have to go all berserk on us like that. I swear, any angrier and it was like a younger, mech version of Chromia…uh, no offense Arcee."

"None taken," Arcee replied with a scowl at the memory of her traitorous sister. Bumblebee immediately saw the scowl forming, and quickly ushered everyone inside so that Arcee could get her processor off that matter before something or someone ended up getting broken.

When they stepped in, they immediately saw that Dearka was wrong to say that it was like a bar, because in all honesty, it seemed more like a club than anything else. They could see people laughing over a few drinks with friends, dancers grabbing the attention of the guests, the female ones doing so in ways that made Arcee feel disgusted while the three humans of their group were sure that they would feel their hormones flaring if the dancers were human, music not necessarily blaring, but definitely loud enough for one to raise their voice a bit to have a decent conversation, and everything else that any Earthling would likely expect from a Transformer style club. The minute the group stepped into the club, they noticed some people pausing in their partying before lighting up with excitement and cheers that were soon going around the club, among which Bumblebee and Yzak's group could hear the names of Hot Shot's team being shouted in what could only be described as a greeting for heroes.

"Hello Pit Stop," Hot Shot shouted in loud excitement as he spread his arms wide. "Autobots in the house!"

The cheers then increased in their magnitude, almost to the point where Smokescreen and Springer were covering their audio receptors due to how loudly the cheers now were. Eventually, the cheers did die down, and the Autobots and Gundams were allowed into the club, with the crowd even parting like the Red Sea for them as they walked in, aside from the few club visitors who came up to ask for an autograph from either Hot Shot or one of the other 'Bots that had been on Cybertron for so long. When they finally reached the bar, the bar tender immediately smiled at Hot Shot, and after hearing that Bumblebee and the rest of his group were very close friends of his, the bar tender was more than happy to grab some drinks for them all and put them on the house, except for the Gundams, who Hot Shot said had a low tolerance as a cover.

As the bar tender went to get their drinks, Bumblebee rested his elbow on the counter as he threw a smug look at his old friend as he observed aloud, "You guys certainly seem to be quite the celebrities. Care to share your secrets?"

"Anyone who's ever competed to the point of Override's level in the Ultimate Grand Race gets treated like this, except for 'Bots like Ransack of course, but there's also the added fact that we've constantly insisted we're from Cybertron, and unlike their leader, a lot of the Velocitronians are actually small believers in our world, so naturally, being among guys like us would be cause for such treatment," Hot Shot explained with a wide smile.

Bumblebee had to let out a small chuckle as he softly commented that some things never changed, a fact that he was specifically applying to Hot Shot, because he remembered that even when they were just sparklings, Hot Shot had a bit of a thing for being shown appreciation when others treated him in the way that the Velocitronians seemed to have been treating them as. The bar tender was just handing them their drinks when the doors suddenly burst opened and all manner of music, partying, and talk suddenly came to an immediate stop, drawing everyone's attention to who had just walked in.

The sight that greeted everyone's eyes and optics was of a small sized mech who's armor was mostly red, with silver shoulders, and a gold chest. On the outside of both his legs were what seemed to be two halves of a wheel, while a black visor was directly over his green optics. The way he and the almost faceless, yet imposing Bots that entered the club after him walked, implied that he thought he owned not only the establishment, but like he owned anything and everything that he set his sights on, if not everything on the planet, period. "I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that's Ransack," Nicol asked.

"Unfortunately," Sideswipe growled in confirmation.

"Yep, the ol' scumbag of the planet himself," Skids added. "Party always goes south the minute that fool shows his ugly mug."

Ransack's gaze soon fell on Hot Shot's group, and the Bot smirked cockily before striding over. "Whoa snap, he's coming over," Mudflap exclaimed. "Don't look directly into his eyes. Folks say you'll turn to rust if ya do."

"That's just some stupid rumor he started to make him seem intimidating, Mudflap," Hot Shot immediately shot down. "The only thing about his gaze that would be considered harmful would be how it changes when he starts looking at femme."

"Well he'd better watch that little tendency with me, or I'll be sure to tear his optics out," Arcee muttered, only getting a placating gesture from Bumblebee as he told her to stay calm.

Soon enough, Ransack was right in front of the group, his smirk never faltering once as his large stooges stayed around him like the mindless goons they were. "Well lookie here, boys," Ransack openly mocked. "The mighty Cybertronians, and Override's little bitches. What's the matter Lame Shot, Override kick you out of the house for the night?"

If that comment had so much as bristled Hot Shot, he did a very impressive job of hiding it, even as Ransack's goons laughed at their leader's comment. "Clever Ransack, if you were a sparkling. I wonder how disappointed your carrier is with your intelligence level, given how lacking it seems to be when it comes to something as simple as insults."

The Bots and Gundam pilots all smirked at Hot Shot's comeback, but it did not seem to get Ransack to falter in the slightest as he turned his gaze to Bumblebee and the others who had just arrived on the planet. "And who're these losers? More of your 'Cybertronian' friends, or just some suckers you convinced to believe that they were from that fairy tale world?"

That immediately got under Smokescreen's plating, and he was quick to stride right up before anyone could stop him. "First off, we are Cybertronians, and secondly, you might want to watch your mouth, punk. You're dealing with a team of war heroes."

"Oh wow, war heroes," Ransack exclaimed in false excitement. "Well I'd better watch my step, I'd hate to deal with guys like that! Quick question, was that a pillow war or a playground war?"

Now Dearka was beginning to make an aggressive move on Ransack, but before he could, Yzak immediately managed to hold him back with a few words and a small look through their communication monitors. Hot Shot was also quick to pull Smokescreen back before something happened, quietly stating that they did not need to start causing any trouble like that before the Ultimate Grand Race as he did, before turning a glare to Ransack once again as he asked, "What're you doing here right now Ransack? We all know that you'd only come here to cause trouble before the race because you get some perverse pleasure out tormenting others."

Ransack smirked in Hot Shot's direction before he replied, "Well, I thought you'd like to know that there's been a small change in the race this year. Every racer is expected to compete in a team of three racers, and anyone who can't is going to be out of the running before the race even starts. Thought you should know about that so you can start looking for backup, especially since you'll need any help you can get."

Hot Shot immediately smirked before he jabbed back, "I'd take that advice for myself if I were you, Ransack. After all, no one on this planet is going to want to be on a team with you."

"Oh I wouldn't be too sure of that. I've got a few aces up my servos this year that'll guarantee that I'll be the one standing in the winner's circle this year," Ransack chuckled in smug response. "Of course, if these guys are your teammates, then I'd say you're in trouble, especially if they race as badly as they look. Are those guys with the matching helmets supposed to look intimidating with all those big, fancy weapons that they're trying to show off, or are they actually supposed to be that cute."

"Okay, that's it," Dearka shouted as he immediately gunned his controls towards Ransack before anyone could stop him. The next thing anyone knew, the Verde Buster had socked Ransack right in his face, leading the obvious two-wheeler Bot's goons to start advancing to return the attack back at the long range specialized Gundam. Smokescreen was quick to respond when it seemed that a few were about to get the drop on his friend, with the Nero Blitz and Springer soon following after them, and in no time at all after that, the entirety of the club was in the midst of an all-out bar fight.

No one was quite sure when it happened, but at some point during the fight, Ransack had ended up outside with Smokescreen and Dearka, and the three had somehow managed to end up in a full on race in what could only be described as a way to prove who was the better racer. When Hot Shot noticed, he quickly informed Bumblebee of what had happened and that he was going after them before assuming his alt mode and racing off after them. All that really mattered after that point was that things had quickly escalated to being completely out of hand until Bumblebee and Yzak had managed to calm everyone down enough for the brawl to come to an end before deciding to give their people a lecture on their conduct as soon as they had met up with them.


If Dearka was being honest with himself, he was not entirely sure what possessed him to try and take on Ransack in a race, even with Smokescreen's help, and yet here he was, racing against the red and yellow two-wheeler alongside Smokescreen, in the Verde Buster's vehicle mode. In all honesty, if he were thinking straight in the first place, he would not have done this for many reasons at all, the most prominent being that the Verde Buster's vehicle mode was not really much of a racing vehicle, as evidenced by the fact that he was lucky enough to keep pace with either of the two Bots ahead of him, but Dearka was not thinking straight, and all he really cared about was showing up that smug bastard who had dared to insult his friends and his machine.

They had just come out of an extremely tight, hairpin turn when the sound of a fourth engine reached their ears, and upon checking his rear view camera, Dearka immediately spotted Hot Shot racing towards them at his full throttle. As soon as the blue and yellow car that was Hot Shot's vehicle mode had pulled up between Smokescreen and Dearka, the Bot immediately shouted, "Are you two crazy?! You've gotta stop this race right now! With it being so close to the Ultimate Grand Race, all other official racing outside of practices are forbidden, and if anyone catches you doing this, then you'll be out of the running, and make no mistake, Ransack will think of a way to extend the courtesy to all of us!"

"Ah lighten up, Lame Shot," Ransack shouted. "Haven't you heard that rules were made to be broken? If they wanna get creamed so bad, I'll be more than happy to oblige."

"You're the only one getting creamed, ya creep," Smokescreen shouted, and before anyone could stop him, Smokescreen had immediately put metal to the pedal before he blasted up to the point of running right alongside Ransack. Dearka and Hot Shot immediately began to try and catch up with him, but when Dearka saw that the road led to a ramp that was a fair distance between the end of it and the adjacent road, he immediately pulled back on his controls and brought the Verde Buster to a hard, screeching stop, just barely coming to a full halt as his machine reached the edge of the road. Ransack and Smokescreen on the other hand did no such thing, and instead blasted off the ramp and into the air, much to Hot Shot and Dearka's horror.

Everything seemed to slow down for a minute as the two sailed through the air, while the two observers could only look on with baited breath, hoping against hope that their friend would be okay, and for a minute it seemed that Smokescreen would make it, but just as he was coming down, something suddenly hit him in the side, throwing him off course, and he was thus unable to do anything to avoid crashing into the wall, getting flipped into the air upon impact, and then crashing across the ground multiple times before he finally transformed into robot mode and skidded to a stop on the desert ground bellow. Smokescreen could only pound his fist into the dirt in frustration as he was forced to listen to Ransack laugh at him from the road above.

Dearka was quick to transform the Verde Buster to Gundam mode before jumping down to his friend to make sure that Smokescreen was okay, but he still had a sour look on his face when he heard Ransack shout, "Is this really supposed to be your newest help, Lame Shot? They won't even make it through the first leg!"

Hot Shot only glared up at Ransack as he drove away before he glanced over his shoulder to see Bumblebee and the Blu Duel approaching quickly with Springer already transforming into his helicopter mode to give Dearka and Smokescreen a lift back up to the road. While he may not have been able to see Yzak's face, if it was anything like Bumblebee's face was at the moment, Hot Shot could tell that Dearka and Smokescreen were most definitely about to get a serious lecture, but at the same time, he knew that they would have to do so as they went, because there was something that they needed to deal with now.


"What the hell were you thinking," Yzak demanded of his blonde best friend as the Autobots and Gundam pilots raced along the highway of Velocitron behind Hot Shot as he lead them to their next destination after both the brawl and the race had effectively ended. "Not only did you start an unnecessary fight with an alien life form, and an entire bar fight, but you also risked exposing us pilots as being humans inside of mobile suits instead of Transformers! Do you have any idea what I'll have to do now when I am forced to report this to Earth?!"

"Alright, Yzak, I get it," Dearka moaned as he accelerated the Verde Buster's Security Vehicle form forward in an attempt to put some distance between himself and his nagging best friend, who had constantly repeated his same arguments multiple times over and over since they had met up after the race with Ransack. "But you can't honestly tell me that you weren't two seconds away from putting a beam blast through his smug face."

"That's not the point, Dearka," Yzak snapped. "We're guests on an alien world, and that means that we can't take any risks doing things without knowing exactly what the consequences would be. We should be lucky that they won't kick us out of the race before it even starts."

"Alright Yzak, I'm sure that they get your point," Bumblebee finally intervened in an attempt to placate the arguing pilots. "You're both right in some way, but there was definitely a better way to deal with that than what you did, Dearka. Next time, just let his insults and harsh words flow over you like a river over a stone."

"Did you get that from a movie or something," Smokescreen asked.

"I might've, but that doesn't make it any less true," Bumblebee admitted without a trace of sheepishness or shame. "So, where are we going anyways, Hot Shot?"

"Override's place," Hot Shot immediately replied. "This is the first time that I've ever known for the Ultimate Grand Race to be a team race that is assuming Ransack is to believed in his claims that it is, and that will be a problem for Override."

"Why's that," Nicol asked from the Nero Blitz's SUV mode as he pulled up alongside Springer.

"In all the races she's ever been in, Override has never once competed in a team race," Hot Shot explained. "She believes that a true victory in a race should be won by your own efforts, not those of others, and being on a team in a race any further than necessary is something that she does not enjoy, to the point that it's a matter of pride for her."

"I did kind of get that impression from her when we raced against her after we first met," Jazz admitted just as a large complex came into view. From the outside, it seemed like the building was the size of a small Cybertronian mansion, and they could already hear the sounds of a roaring engine that indicated that Override was practicing for the race. After entering the building through an entrance that lead directly to the roadway, Hot Shot quickly led them to what he claimed was Override's favorite practice course in the complex, and when they saw that she was in fact there, Bumblebee was quick to smirk at what this implied about Hot Shot's relationship with Override.

It was that same implication which Arcee was quick to act on as she lightly teased, "You seem to know a pretty decent deal about Override's home, Hot Shot. Have you been invited to spend the night really often or something?"

Hot Shot did not dignify Arcee's question with an answer beyond the light blush he gained, and simply transformed to his bipedal mode, with the others doing the same soon after, and then moved to stand off to the side as they waited for Override to finish her practice run. They did not have to wait long, as Override had quickly noticed their arrival, or more than likely noticed Hot Shot's arrival, and screeched to a stop as she transformed as well. She then strode over to them with a half-smile as she stated, "Well, it's not every day that you come here with guests, Slick, or even so many of them for that matter. What's the story on this?"

"We just had a run-in with Ransack," Hot Shot immediately replied. As soon as she heard the name, Override's face immediately fell into slight irritation, and that irritation seemed to increase as Hot Shot concluded his explanation. "He told us that the Ultimate Grand Race was going to be team race this year. I wanted to know if that was true."

"Unfortunately, yes it is," Override admitted as she turned away, clearly trying to hide her irritation at the fact. "I am glad that this means Ransack will likely be forced to drop from the races, given that no one in their right mind would race with him as a teammate, but it also means that I'll likely have to do the same as well. There's no way I can participate in a team race like this."

"Why's that," Bumblebee asked. "I mean, if you're as good a leader as Hot Shot has indicated you to be, then you should have no trouble finding a few good teammates."

"Shows what you know, newcomer," Override immediately scoffed. "Despite what you may think, people don't ask to be on a team with me because nearly everyone on this planet knows that I prefer to race alone, and would rather not race at all than be on a team of racers."

"Well if you want to stay as leader of Velocitron, then it looks like you're going to have to this time," Springer pointed out, but it seemed that Override was going to be just as stubborn about budging on this as she was on her opinion of the true existence of Cybertron.

Of course, Hot Shot saw something different than the others. While the others saw Override being stubborn on her standpoint, he saw that she was actually afraid that her belief that no one would race with her was actually true. That was all the reason he needed to say what he did next. "You're wrong about one thing Override. There is at least one Bot that would race alongside you on a team, and I would be honored if you let me."

Override and the others all immediately spun to face Hot Shot in surprise at his claim, truly not expecting him to say that. Sure, everyone of the Autobots and Gundam pilots had a hunch that Hot Shot liked Override a lot, but to see him go this far just so the femme could compete in her planet's competition that decided the leader of the planet was something in and of itself, and it was clear that Override herself was not expecting that at all. "Slick, you can't be serious," Override protested. "I mean, you're the one Bot on this whole planet that's been my biggest competition in a race, and you seriously expect me to believe that you'd willingly be on a team with me."

"Hey, Velocitron needs you to be its leader Override, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that you stay as its leader, and Ransack never gets the job," Hot Shot immediately replied.

Override immediately smiled at Hot Shot's response, now knowing for a fact that he was not just messing around, and then just nodded her head as she said, "Okay then, but even if that is the case, two racers to a team isn't enough. The minimum requirement is three racers, so there's still not much chance of us getting in on the race, unless all of you suddenly want to be on a team with me."

"I don't know about all of us, but I know that I want in," Jazz said. "I may want a rematch sometime, but I'd rather it not be in this race where winning would mean that I'd have to take away your job."

Override nodded in thanks to Jazz for his offer, and was about to say that they should start getting ready when Smokescreen suddenly stepped forward, looking like there was something on his mind that he needed to say. "Guys, I know I was wrong to go and race Ransack like that, but there's something you should know," the young Autobot said. "When I made that jump, I know for a fact that I would've been able to make it, but then something hit me and threw me off, and I'd bet every last drop of energon in my body that it was a shot from a sniper rifle."

"That's a pretty bold accusation to make, kid," Override told Smokescreen. "Some people on Velocitron may carry weapons, but they're only supposed to use them as a last resort. Ransack may ignore that rule from time to time, but when it comes to races, a place where weapons are not allowed no matter what kind of race it is, he would never allow something like that to happen."

"I know, but I'm telling you, somebody definitely took a shot at me with a sniper," Smokescreen insisted.

"He's right," Dearka stated as he suddenly climbed out of his Gundam, surprising Override the minute he did. "I saw the blast hit him, and it was just small enough for anyone who didn't specialize in long range combat and weaponry to have missed it."

"If that is the case, then this race may be facing more problems than we thought," Bumblebee stated aloud. "Either that, or the 'Cons are already here and have formed an alliance with Ransack without our knowing. If that is the case, we'll need to be ready for anything. Smokescreen, you'll be on a racing team with me and Sideswipe in the race while the rest of you keep your optics tuned to anything out of the ordinary along with Clocker."

"Understood sir," Yzak replied as he stepped out of his Gundam along with Nicol to give Bumblebee a quick salute along with the other Autobots.

It was at that moment that Override finally stepped back into the conversation as she said, "Okay, don't get me wrong, I'm glad you guys are willing to go so far to keep the race and my planet safe, even if I still don't believe your claims about Decepticons and being from Cybertron, but just one thing real quick." She then pointed at the three humans and exclaimed, "What in the name of the speed way are those things?"

Hot Shot sighed before he placed a hand on Override's shoulder and said, "You might want to sit down, Override. This is going to be a very long story."


In another area of the racing planet, Ransack had just pulled into his own personal hangout and assumed his robot mode before turning his optics to the shadows, and then smirking when he saw what was lurking there. "Well I held my end of the deal; I showed you that some of those Autobots are here on Velocitron, so I hope you'll let me borrow some of your guys for the Ultimate Grand Race," Ransack stated. "And they'd better be the fastest and best racers you've got."

A minute after Ransack said that, Galvatron stepped out of the shadows along with Starscream, Knockout, and Quicksilver, and then grinned as he stated, "You have indeed done well, Ransack, and I shall allow you to have Knockout and Quicksilver here be your teammates for this race of yours. However, I will also require you to provide us with any information you can obtain on the location of the Dark Energon reservoir if you wish to keep them on your team until the end of the competition."

Quicksilver had wanted to protest against this when he first heard that he was to be offered as a bargaining chip for the Velocitronian's services, but when Starscream had informed him that they needed to do so in order to keep any suspicion of conspiring against Galvatron off of them, he had immediately caved and agreed to do as asked. Knockout had been much easier to convince though, since he actually enjoyed racing so much, having done a fair share of it in his time on Earth in the past, usually without anyone ever knowing, but it seemed that Ransack was not all that eager to agree on this latest addition to the agreement. "Hold up there, space man! I never said anything about helping you find some Dark Energon thing, and I'm not letting you add on to this deal anymore than you already have," Ransack shouted in protest.

"You seem to forget that you stand to lose much more than I do if you back out of this deal of ours, Ransack," Galvatron snarled as a Dark Energon infused hand suddenly gripped Ransack's shoulder, causing the two-wheeler to fall to his knees in sudden pain. A minute later, Le Creuset stepped forward with a new mobile suit stepping into the light just behind him. The machine itself held a slight resemblance to the masked madman's Advocate Gundam, but it was much smaller and seemed to be like a mass produce version of the mobile suit, much like how the Strike Daggers were a mass produced version of the original Strike Gundam. The machine had a Zaku style head and a circular backpack like the Advocate's, but the most significant feature was that its color scheme was a deep purple that matched the usual color of the Decepticon emblem, and crimson red, with sickly, green outlines running all throughout the machine, and similarly colored eyes.

As Ransack continued to writhe in pain at the hands of the recently appeared mobile suit, Galvatron walked up and stated, "You work for me now, because without me, you have no chance of competing in your precious race, and therefore, you have no chance of securing leadership of your planet for yourself other than through brute force, an effort that you also cannot carry out without my help as well. Are we clear?"

"Y-yeah, yeah, I get it, just make it stop," Ransack immediately pleaded.

Galvatron nodded to the new mobile suit, and the machine immediately released Ransack, allowing the Bot who was now clearly an honorary Decepticon to breathe easily again and stand up straight. Satisfied with his work, Galvatron decided that it was time he, Starscream, Le Creuset, and the mystery mobile suit took their leave, and soon vanished into a Space Bridge. Upon exiting the Space Bridge, they immediately found themselves in the hangar of the Decepticons' base on Planet Chaar, and that was when Galvatron decided to turn his attention to Le Creuset as he asked, "I take it that the new machine is to your satisfaction?"

Le Creuset nodded as he replied, "This new HorseMan mobile suit, as Shockwave had dubbed it, has now proven beyond a doubt that it will be just what I require for my side of this war that we are now in the midst of. My only concern now is the issue of the pilots."

"I think you'll find that already taken care of, given who was piloting it just now," Galvatron stated as a figure began to climb out of the machine. Said figure simply lowered itself to the ground before approaching Le Creuset and removing its helmet to reveal the face of a young woman with shoulder length, brunette hair that was a complete mess despite the fact that it still seemed neat enough to reach her shoulders as it normally would, what appeared to be scars littered across her face, which glowed with the eerie, evil purple of Dark Energon, and diamond green eyes that were almost completely overshadowed by the same purple glow.

When Le Creuset laid his eyes upon this woman, he immediately recognized her and smirked with eagerness as he stated, "Well, now this is certainly interesting. I can't wait to see what others there will be like her, but I wonder if it will be enough."

"If not, then we have other methods as well, as you so kindly provided," Galvatron stated as he showed Le Creuset a video image of Shockwave's lab, which showed all who could see it an image of many different cloning pods like the ones that were being used to create the new Predacons, only they were much smaller, and each contained a human male that bore a striking resemblance to Le Creuset.

"Now that is most definitely a grand reassurance," Le Creuset stated as he turned to the woman that had just climbed out of the new mobile suit. "Wouldn't you agree, dear Jaylen Westenfluss?"

The figure that Le Creuset had now identified as Jaylen could only look between the image and Le Creuset before she released a loud shriek that did not sound even remotely human or Cybertronian, but rather as something that was more akin to that of a terrible monster, and it was something that only brought dark, sinister smirks to both Galvatron and Le Creuset's faces, while bringing a look of pure revulsion to Starscream's.


Location: Earth

It was now the day of the Ultimate Grand Race on Velocitron, and as he watched the video feed of the race that Nicol was able to send to the New Iacon Base from both his mobile suit and the spy camera from the team's ship, Kira could only feel his apprehension growing as the racers began to line up. When he spotted both Override and Bumblebee's teams pulling up to their positions, Kira had to give a small prayer for both groups in the hopes that everyone would be alright, and that things would work out the way they wanted them to. His prayers immediately ceased when he spotted a familiar looking motorcycle and red sports car pulling up to the starting line with Ransack, and he immediately called everyone's attention to the screen.

"What's wrong Kira," Ironhide asked.

"Just look at who some their competition is," Kira said as he indicated the two vehicles he recognized. "It's Knockout and Quicksilver!"

"What're those lousy 'Cons doing there," Athrun demanded in anger when he and the others saw them. "Did the 'Cons somehow make contact with one of the locals without our guys ever noticing?"

"It would certainly seem that way, Major Zala," Ultra Magnus replied, once again showing that he was still not used to addressing any of the humans who held a rank by their regular names as he did.

"We should send a team to detain them at once," Strongarm suggested as she began to move to a nearby weapons locker.

"No, even if we could get there before this race started, we'd just be imposing our will and beliefs on an alien world," Ultra Magnus protested. "For all the Velocitronians know, the two are simply fellow citizens of their world that Ransack had managed to convince into joining him. We shall simply have to allow Bumblebee and his team to manage on their own."

While everyone did not like the fact, they had to admit that Ultra Magnus was right. Even with the Space Bridge, there would be no possible chance that they would be able to reach the planet in time to capture the two 'Cons, and even if that were not the case, they would likely be seen as hostile invaders trying to capture some of their citizens. They had no other choice than to do as Magnus said, and leave matters to Bumblebee and Yzak's teams.

Thankfully, they soon found that they were about to acquire something else to do in order to help deal with the Decepticon threat in another way, as the alarms in the base began blaring. "Autobots, I've decoded the second set of coordinates for a colony world that we require," Optimus announced, having sounded the alarm to gain everyone's attention. "We must have a ship and a team deploy there at once!"

"Are you sure that it's a good idea to send more of our forces away from Earth like that," Kira asked. "We're already a bit shorthanded with Bumblebee's team off on Velocitron, so wouldn't it be better to wait until they get back before sending anyone else off to another world that we know nothing about?"

"Normally, I would agree with you Kira, but in this instance, time is of the essence," Optimus replied. "We cannot risk letting Galvatron and his forces getting there ahead of us, because if we do allow that to happen, then we run a greater risk of them unleashing the terrible powers of that world's Dark Energon reservoir before we can stop them."

Kira had to pause for a moment before he finally relented and agreed, saying that he would assemble a team based on who now had a Transformer Gundam that was ready for action after Optimus decided who among the Autobots would be going. That left only one question to be answered. "What's this world that the team will be going to," Kira asked the last Prime.

"It is the planet known as…Junkion."


AN: And that's a wrap for now, and next time you'll be seeing the next world our heroes visit in this story, the planet Junkion, and the beginning of a race that you could only expect from Transformers or Hot Wheels. I've had some people comment on how there was not much of a human element in the battles in this story so far, and the reason for that is because...well let's face it, so far there's only been one human on the bad guys' side, and that was Rau Le Creuset. Ya can't really do much with just one guy as the bad guy, otherwise things get really lame and boring, and that is why I decided to up the ante on things and reveal something that you had some foreshadowing to in Destiny Sentinels by showing that Jaylen Westenfluss, who you may or may not remember from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Prime, is now back from the dead as a human version of the Zombie-Cons. Yes, she was brought back as such a creature using Dark Energon, and yes, there will be others like Jaylen, but more importantly, is that Rau will soon have some more expendable soldiers in the form of other clones of him and, by extension, Rey.

The reason behind the HorseMan mobile suit is to give Rau's forces a mass produced mobile suit that was like the Strike Daggers, but if you need a better example, then think of it as this continuity's version of the Mass Production Quebley from Gundam ZZ, and as for the name, its basically from the Horsemen of Apocalypse, so yeah, I'm kinda establishing a theme here with the human side of the bad guys, huh?

Athrun: Is that whole thing with Jaylen only going to apply to human pilots, and will it always be pilots that we know?

AN: In order, no and yes, for the most part. You'll be seeing some Dead 'Cons back from the dead as Zombie-Cons along with those pilots, and if you need an idea of which characters will be making a zombified comeback, you need only look back at who has died over the course of this story series, and even in the course of the Cosmic Era as well. Now if that's all said and done, Onto the preview!...

As the first leg of the Ultimate Grand Race begins on Velocitron, a second team arrives on Junkion, and is soon baffled by the strange ways of the planet's locals. While the Junkions may be strange in a way, they do not have a problem with the Decepticons as of yet, but they do have another problem that could be just as serious. Can the Autobots provide this planet made of garbage with the assistance that it needs, or more importantly, can they truly trust the strange individual that the Autobot Earth Division has had past experience with? Next time on Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Prime: Chaos Hunters…Chapter 8: Trouble on the Junk Planet. Prepare for the unexpected on this second new world Gundam and Autobots!

Please read and review, and I'll see you next time!