Author's note: Okay, a few things to mention here. First and foremost, I'm very pleased to be able to announce a new piece of fanart has been done for my first TFA fanfic, Cybertronian Genesis. Cycloprax-Tinj has created an awesome rendition of Jazz VS Strika, which is one of my favourite moments from Cybertronian Genesis. I strongly urge everyone to go on over and check it out. Sadly I can't post a link but just type 'Jazz Strika' into Deviantart's search engine and it'll show up straight away.

On another note I wrote one scene in this chapter and once I was done I realized it had striking similarities to a scene from a Disney movie (I won't say which to avoid spoilers). I could have deleted the scene but I rather liked it and it's also kinda needed plot-wise. So…yeah, just call it…an affectionate homage, I guess?

Also: woo-hoo, I have Wingblade Optimus Prime! Sadly it's the Takara version but it's better than nothing.

Something evil's watching over you,

Coming from the sky above,

And there's nothing you can do

Prepare to strike, there'll be no place to run,

When you're caught within the grip of the evil Megatron

"Man, I thought boss-bot was gonna blow a fuse", Bumblebee said, "How'd you get outta that one?"

Bumblebee was driving through the canyons surrounding the Polyhex fortress on the daily scouting mission. Backtrack was accompanying him in his Cybertronian dirtbike mode. Sari was sitting in Bumblebee's driving seat, leaning out of the rolled-down window, her hair billowing in the wind.

"Well, he calmed down pretty quickly after he stopped shouting", Sari told Bumblebee.

"Oh, and how long did that take?"

"Three hours".

"Ooh".

"Yeah. But there's not a lot anyone can do about it. I mean, the space bridge has been disconnected from the network and no-one's allowed on or off-world until the emergency is over, so he can't send me home".

"Didn't he try to?"

"Oh yeah, but you know, this planet's a strictly no-fly zone at the moment. I'm pretty much stuck here", Sari sniggered, "How cool is that?"

"You might change your mind when the Decepticons arrive", Backtrack said pointedly, keeping a wary distance from Sari.

"I can handle the Decepticons", Sari replied, looking back at the bike, "I was held prisoner on Megatron's personal ship, y'know".

"Backtrack's right, Sari", objected Bumblebee, "This isn't gonna be like just tangling with Starscream and the gang. Prime reckons there might be hundreds of Decepticons turning up".

"Relax, Bumblebee. Aren't you pleased to see me?"

"Oh sure I am kiddo, it's just that…you know, it's not safe here. Does your Dad know you're here?"

"No. Optimus was gonna call him and tell him but then Bulkhead said it might be better for his health if he really did think I was in Europe".

Optimus strode along the interior perimeter of the fortress, inspecting the walls and their defensive turrets. He was followed by a retinue consisting of Jazz, Sentinel Prime, Kup, the ever-present Rodimus Minor and the jet twins, Jetfire and Jetstorm.

The latter two were Elite Guard soldiers who served directly under Sentinel: they were also the first standard-sized Autobots to be updated with Decepticon flight protocols and technology. The result had been a staggering success, creating two incredibly powerful Autobot soldiers that had surpassed all expectations.

They were however not quite model soldiers. They lacked a certain maturity and professionalism that was usually displayed by Elite Guard bots.

"Brother, this place is big, but may be not so big to hide your ugly face from scaring Decepticons", Jetfire said.

"Not so big enough to hide your rear axle either!" Jetstorm retorted.

"You are to being fatter than me".

"Am not!"

"Very much am!"

"Will you two mute it?" Sentinel snapped, "I've got a splitting processor ache as it is".

A little further ahead Optimus was pointing at a turret above the gate, "Can we reposition that to over there?" he gestured to an open space a little further down the wall, "The turret will have better covering range from there".

"Sure thing, Optimus! We'll have it done in one mega cycle, Optimus Prime sir!" Rodimus almost shouted with sheer enthusiasm before opening up his commlink and issuing orders to his followers.

Chewing on his cy-gar, Kup squinted at Optimus, "Well, who'd have thought it eh? Little Captain Optimism himself, the hero of Cybertron and champion of the Commonwealth?"

"I wouldn't have gotten there without your training, sir", Optimus replied.

"You can stop calling me 'sir', y'know", Kup grunted, "I'm retired now. Plus you're a Prime. Only bot you gotta call sir now is the Magnus. But anyway, isn't this fun?"

He reached out with one surprisingly strong arm and pulled Optimus closer to him, then did the same to Sentinel and dragged him away from bickering with Jetstorm and Jetfire.

"Look at you two!" cackled Kup, "My little wide-eyed unprocessed protoforms, running the joint! Haha! One's the most famous warrior-hero of the millennium, the other's the Magnus' right-servo bot!"

Forced into uncomfortably close quarters with Sentinel by Kup's friendly embrace, Optimus reflected that Kup was quite right. His boot camp class had been nicknamed 'the class that stripes fell upon' because so many of them had signed up to join the Autobot Academy and had gone on to graduate to the Elite Guard.

He of course had been the exception. Him and Elita 1.

Just as that unwelcome thought was creeping into his mind Kup said aloud, "Hey, remember that time you got yourself all cleaned up, Optimus, and you were gonna ask Elita 1 out to that new theatre in Crystal City, and she'd already gone off with Sentinel 'ere? Hahahah! Good times".

That was too much for Optimus. He pulled himself free from Kup, mumbled something about having work to do and walked away, pretending to inspect the defensive grid of missile launchers.

Kup watched him go before looking at Sentinel, who had also managed to pull himself free, "Sore subject?"

"You could say that", Sentinel replied.

Kup studied him carefully for a moment, "Am I right in guessing you and Optimus aren't best buddies anymore?"

Sentinel wasn't a bot known for his patience or politeness, but he was willing to make an effort for Kup. He was in fact quite fond of the old drill sergeant in his own way, and he would have rather spared Kup the unpleasant truth if he could.

"We get on just fine", Sentinel said, forcing a smile, "But…y'know how it is. Ever since Blacka – I mean, Elita went missing and Optimus got kicked out of the Academy we just kinda drifted apart".

"What happened to Elita anyway?" Kup asked, "I fell outta the Cybertron Command loop a fair old while ago. I never heard the full story".

Now it was Sentinel's turn to mumble an excuse and leave. Kup looked at the two Primes, each walking away from the other, making every effort to avoid contact.

It hadn't always been that way.

Optimus rushed into the boot camp drill square. He was late, and he knew it. He'd been held up by an Elite Guardsbot who apparently had a chip on his shoulder and had made it his business to make Optimus' attempt to enter the premises as difficult as possible.

Casting brief glances at the run-down barracks and storage deports around him, Optimus gloomily reflected on the fact that this was his new home. He'd arrived yesterday to receive his first briefing and his official Autobot designation, but he had had to return home to fetch a few personal belongings overnight. Something the drill sergeant, a surly rugged old bot named Kup Minor, had torn into him for.

As he entered the drill square he saw to his relief that the sergeant hadn't yet arrived. That was lucky. His seven new classmates were hanging around in the square, chatting amongst themselves. Luckily for most of them they all seemed to be getting along just fine. Optimus wasn't having such luck so far.

Optimus was still a name that was taking some getting used to. During initiation Kup had repeatedly told him to 'wipe that smile off your faceplate' and had soon decided his new name would be 'Optimus' due to his unflappable optimism. Since day one his buoyancy had waned a little.

Already somewhat in fear of being the class runt, Optimus approached the other Autobots quietly. None of them paid him any attention. He resigned himself to stand in silence on the edge of the group until the sergeant arrived. At least when the commanding officer was bawling at him there was little room for social awkwardness.

"Hi there, buddy".

Optimus turned. One of his classmates stood in front of him, smiling. It was a strange smile and Optimus couldn't immediately decide whether or not it was mocking or well-intentioned. He wasn't sure what to say.

He eventually settled for, "Hi".

The other bot reached out with his hand, "Name's Sentinel. Well, it is now anyway. Apparently I'm always on edge. Least that's what the drill sergeant said. And you're…um…err…"

"Optimus".

"Ah yeah, that was it. So Optimus, looks like we're classmates".

"Sure does. So…um…why did you join up?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Sentinel puffed out his chest, "I'm going to make it into the Elite Guard! In fact, I'm gonna make Elite Guard Commander, some day! How about you?"

Optimus cocked his head to one side and smiled wryly, "Funny, I'm also gonna be Elite Guard Commander".

"Is that right? Well, I think you'll find I'm gonna beat you to the job, pal!" Sentinel jokingly prodded Optimus in the chestplate, "But you know what they say, nothing wrong with a bit of friendly competition".

"I think I can agree with you on that. As long as we both give it our best shot".

Sentinel laughed, "Come on Optimus, don't be such a stiff! Here, let me introduce you to the rest of the gang".

He placed one hand on Optimus' shoulder and practically marched him into the middle of the group, "Everyone, this is Optimus. Optimus, this is…slag, I forgot your name already. Wait…don't tell me, I got this…Elita 1!"

The femmebot he was talking to stepped forward and shook Optimus' hand. She was so strikingly pretty and appealing to the eye that Optimus was temporarily lost for words.

"Strong silent type, huh?" Elita grinned and quirked an eyebrow, "Or are you just a bit slow in the processor?"

Optimus blushed, deeply embarrassed.

"I'll have you know Optimus here is gonna be commanding the Elite Guard one day", said Sentinel, "Well, unless I get there first. Let me tell ya, this class is going straight to the top!"

Sentinel trudged through the first courtyard of Polyhex. He was followed by Jetfire and Jetstorm, who has resumed arguing amongst themselves. There was plenty of work for him to be getting on with. He had to ensure everyone else was doing their job, especially the force-field generator technicians.

There was always some grease stain who needed to be told how to do their own job. Thankfully Optimus thus far had just left him alone. If Optimus gave him an order he was duty-bound to carry it out, however bitter a taste it might leave in his mouth.

But seeing Kup again and witnessing the old bot's enthusiasm over the success of his two finest students had put him in a somewhat strange mood. He felt an odd longing for the old days when he and Optimus and Elita had been on top of the world and it felt as though nothing could stand in their way.

What had gone wrong?

On the other side of the fortress Optimus was pretending to inspect the walls while he was actually lost in his own thoughts, thoughts not so very different from Sentinel's. Rodimus was hot on his heels as he had been for the last twenty four hours.

"Optimus Prime, sir?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure", Optimus was glad of a distraction, and he liked Rodimus well enough, although his sheer levels of enthusiasm were a little startling.

"Do you recall your Autobot Incident Report, Timecode 47254.1?"

"…Um…"

"That was the time Megatron attacked the city of Detroit when he had control of Omega Supreme".

"Oh right, yeah. What about it?"

"Well you mentioned in your report that your team medic Ratchet upgraded Bumblebee's stingers to battle-grade level".

"That's right".

"Well, as I'm sure you were aware this is strictly against the Offensive Upgrades Act passed by Cybertron Command".

"Yes, I was aware", Optimus answered, looking out to the cliff walls as if he could see an invading Decepticon army hovering over the horizon, "I wasn't too pleased about it myself at the time. But I decided to let it go".

"That's what I want to ask you, sir. When do you think it becomes acceptable to cross the line between acting by the book and martial disobedience?"

Optimus realized Rodimus was asking him for advice as a student would ask a mentor. He recalled how impressionable he had been in the days before joining his current team – he had taken Ultra Magnus' insistence that he 'wasn't programmed to be a hero' to spark. So he figured it would be best to give out advice very carefully.

"There is no line", he told the younger captain, "You just have to follow your initiative. No-one else can tell you how to act in those sort of situations, when you're responsible for so many lives. When you find yourself in those circumstances you start to recognize which rules are there for a good purpose and which are just obstructions. If you honestly believe something's in the best interests of the many, act on it".

Rodimus fell silent and Optimus was satisfied that he was mulling it over carefully. Hopefully it was good advice. Was it? Optimus certainly thought so. It would have fragged Sentinel off in a major way. Maybe that was why Optimus liked it.

"When do you think the Decepticons will attack, sir?" Rodimus asked, "Soon?"

"Our intelligence reports no sign of the Decepticon fleet", Optimus answered, "They might be able to make their way across the planet undetected but we can still spot their ships. Except for the Seeker, but that's too small to transport an army. I think we'll have at least another two solar cycles before they get here".

Hot Shot and Hubcap had been driving through the canyons surrounding Polyhex for several hours. Once again their scouting mission had turned up nothing but they were determined to complete the full sweep of the canyons.

Hubcap was talking about his femmefriend and had been for quite some time. The two compact Cybertronian cars were driving at a leisurely pace but Hot Shot was beginning to think it would be worth speeding up, if only to get away from Hubcap's seemingly endless tide of useless information. He wasn't taking any of Hot Shot's not-so-subtle hints to drop the subject.

"So there we were, right? Just me and her, on the Hydrax Plateau. And she says to me…"

"Do you think we can talk about something else?" Hot Shot groaned, "Seriously? Anything else?"

"She says, 'Hubcap, I know you're thinking of joining the army, but listen to me…'"

"Urgh", Hot Shot accelerated away, hoping Hubcap would get the idea. Unfortunately Hubcap also picked up speed and carried on talking.

Hot Shot's visual sensors spotted something in the air above. He transformed to robot mode and peered at it. It looked like a bird, circling in search of prey. Hubcap transformed next to him and looked at it as well.

"That's a funny looking bird", Hot Shot thought aloud.

Before Hubcap could reply the bird switched about and darted away, vanishing over the cliff walls. At that moment Hot Shot heard a noise. It was hard to say exactly what it was because it was obviously distant, but at present all he could hear was a dull buzz.

"You hear that?" Hot Shot asked.

"Yeah", replied Hubcap, "Let's check it out".

He led the way up a slope. At the cragged peak the two Autobots looked down upon a gorge running laterally before them, some one hundred feet below. The sound was louder now, rising to a muffled roar, and it appeared to be coming from the right.

"You know that bird we saw?" Hubcap said with sudden alarm, as if he had just realized something.

"Yeah?"

"There are no birds on Talos IV. There's no organic life at all".

"Then what - ?"

Dust rose from down the gorge. What sounded like an earthquake shook the ground. Hot Shot was just about to suggest they fall back when the first Decepticons blasted down the canyon.

They were in airborne vehicle modes and moving fast, so it was hard to get a good look at them through the screen of dust their engines kicked up. But they were obviously Decepticons because nothing else moved quite so quickly or so purposefully, even if they were flying low to avoid detection. There appeared to be at least one hundred of them passing below and yet more were coming. Hot Shot and Hubcap pressed themselves flat against the sharp rocks and drew themselves away from the edge.

"What do we do?" Hot Shot whispered, stricken with panic. He had encountered Decepticons before, during the battle for Space Bridge 687-030. That had been terrifying enough, but to be so isolated in the company of so many Decepticons…

The throbbing of jet engines below had ceased. The Decepticons had halted. Hot Shot began to crawl forward to peer over the edge again to see what was going on when a powerful hand darted over the side and seized him. Another grabbed Hubcap and before the two Autobots knew what was happening they were being carried to the canyon floor.

They were thrown cruelly to the ground. They did not dare get up or make a move. All they could see were Decepticon feet crowding around, kicking up dust as they stomped forward.

Behind Hot Shot a shrill voice said, "Found them".

The two Autobots were yanked violently to their knees. They were utterly surrounded by Decepticons, gloating at them with mocking red eyes and low, growling laughter. Hot Shot risked a glance behind him and saw the two bots who had grabbed them. Starscream and Blitzwing.

The crowd of Decepticons parted before them. Someone was walking towards them. As he advanced he lifted his head and looked directly at the Autobots.

There was no question as to the identity of the approaching Decepticon. Powerfully built but of regal countenance and stance, clad in gunmetal and black armour trimmed with red; every inch of him proclaimed 'I am the Lord of the Decepticons'. Mounted on his right arm was his infamous fusion cannon, the weapon of Autobot nightmares.

But it was his face that drew Hot Shot's terrified fascination. Within a strong angular helmet a fearsome countenance glared out. His expression was reserved and neutral, bizarrely detached compared to the leers and scowls of his followers. His optics however were intense; windows into deep pools of scarlet pride, hatred and passion; all caged by a professional dignity.

Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, loomed over the two Autobots, darkening them with his shadow. Hot Shot and Hubcap automatically recoiled.

The corners of Megatron's lips curled in a sardonic smile and he purred in a sophisticated and cruel yet somehow charming voice, "My congratulations, Autobots. I assume you were assigned to locate the Decepticon army?"

He gestured with his left arm to the Decepticons, "Well, here we are".

That provoked some laughter from his soldiers. A hideous robotic bird suddenly swooped in and alighted on the shoulder of one of them. Hot Shot realized it had been the bird they had seen earlier, and that it had in fact been scouting for the Decepticons.

"Tell me, Autobots", Megatron said slowly, "Are the defences at Polyhex complete? Are you quite ready for our assault?"

Neither Hot Shot nor Hubcap found their voices in time to reply.

"I hope so. I've certainly given you ample time to prepare. But that said, I am glad we found you", Megatron declared, "I have a message for your commander".

He reached behind him and drew a wicked-looking sword; a silver, long-bladed, red-hilted weapon with a hollow fuller. He held it up before him.

Hot Shot was motivated to action. The flamethrowing torches on his forearms swiveled around as he leapt to his feet. Hubcap also jumped up and assumed a fighting stance. They wouldn't go down without a fight, not even against Megatron.

Both were immediately struck from behind by their captors with enough force to knock them back onto their knees. Hot Shot was still reeling from the blow when he felt something under his chin. It was the tip of Megatron's sword. Megatron used it to lift his head back until they were looking directly at one another.

"Tell your commander we are here, and we relish the challenge of Polyhex. Tell him this planet will be ours before its sun sets. Understood?"

Hot Shot managed to nod.

Megatron smiled down the length of the sword, "Good. Now go".

Starscream and Blitzwing seized the Autobots yet again and forced them to their feet. They were shoved away and they broke into a stumbling run down the gorge, not daring to look back at the wickedly glinting eyes of the Decepticons following them. Megatron was watching the two fleeing Autobots thoughtfully. Soon he looked up.

"Shockwave, a word?"

The sinister Shockwave stepped forward, lone red eye blazing out from beneath his cowl-like helmet, "My Lord?"

"I require your advice. How many Autobots would you say are required to deliver a message?"

Shockwave answered immediately, "Logically just one would suffice, my liege".

Megatron nodded, "My thoughts precisely".

He raised his fusion cannon.

Arcee shuddered.

Ratchet, who had been tinkering with his EMP generator, noticed the movement and looked at her, "Eh? What's wrong?"

The femmebot stood on a balcony within the first level of Polyhex, looking out over the fortress. She was hugging herself, as if cold, but actually all she had felt was a sense of deep disquiet. She couldn't imagine why.

She realized Ratchet was looking at her and said, "Nothing's wrong, I'm fine".

Ratchet obviously didn't believe her but he returned to working on his EMP. Arcee, being a trained spy, was difficult to read despite her unassuming nature. Ratchet had learned that beneath her gentle countenance pulsed the spark of a shrewd agent.

"It's just like before, isn't it?" Arcee said quietly, watching the Autobot preparations for war in the courtyard.

"Eh? What do you mean?" grunted Ratchet, "You mean like the Great War?"

Arcee nodded.

Ratchet plugged the EMP generator back into its socket on his left forearm and walked over to join Arcee at the balcony, "No, it's not quite the same", he said, "For one thing, it's on a smaller scale this time. For another, the Cons don't have a foothold on Cybertron".

"But the results are the same", Arcee shook her head, "You know, we Cybertronians are supposed to be the most advanced species in the galaxy, but we're still engaged in civil war even though we've had billions of solar cycles to learn from it. Only the veterans like you and me have any idea of how brutal it's going to get".

"True. But listen, at least this time around", Ratchet hesitated, then continued, "At least this time around, we have each other. And that's enough to keep me going through a hundred more wars".

Arcee turned to look at him with her incredibly keen blue optics. Ratchet immediately looked away, profoundly embarrassed.

"That's easily the sweetest thing I've heard you say", Arcee's smile was enough to melt even his spark.

"Uh-huh", he muttered, "Look, you just take care of yourself in the battle, alright? I'm not losing you again".

Silence fell between them. The clatter of thousands of Autobots performing drills, manning their posts, carrying out maintenance work, packing away supplies, filled the air. The Autobots were prepared for quite a long siege if necessary.

"Ratchet, there's something I need to talk to you about", Arcee said.

"Hmm?"

"Let me pilot Omega Supreme in the battle".

Ratchet looked at her, alarmed, "What? Why?"

"I'm bonded to him as well, you know. I can pilot him just fine. You're needed elsewhere".

The old mech shook his head, "Not gonna happen. It's too dangerous, Arcee. The Decepticons will attack Omega. They'd be mad not to".

Arcee frowned, "You're needed on the ground level. You're the best medic we have here, and there's going to be a lot of causalities. You could save dozens of servos and sparks if you act as a field-medic".

"I could save hundreds if I pilot Omega".

"So could I! If I pilot him we can do both!" the femmebot argued.

Ratchet looked pained. He said nothing for a moment, and Arcee's expression softened. Eventually he nodded.

"I know you're right, Arcee. Really you should pilot Omega. You can control him just as well as I can, and I should be down here helping the wounded. It's just…I don't want you to get hurt".

"I'll be fine", she took him by the hand and stroked it reassuringly, "I promise you".

"So…how've you guys been?" Bulkhead asked.

The three Dinobots, leaning up against one of the inner walls of Polyhex, scowled at him. The foremost, the tall and powerful Grimlock, growled. Next to him the stout Snarl and the sleek Swoop copied his movements.

"Dinobots been good", Grimlock grunted, "Been smashing dumb Decepticons all across…um…black nothingy stuff".

"You mean space?" Bulkhead ventured.

"Mmm", Grimlock nodded, "Me Grimlock bash Decepticon here and bash Decepticon there. Me Grimlock sure am having fun! But…me Grimlock miss Dinobot Island".

The other two Dinobots whined in agreement.

"Missing home huh?" Bulkhead nodded, "Yeah, I can see where you're coming from there".

"There no nature here", the lead Dinobot pointed to the distant cliffs, "Hardly no nature nowhere Dinobots go. Best nature on Dinobot Island. Me Grimlock want go back there soon".

There weren't many words of comfort Bulkhead could offer. As Cybertron Command had officially enlisted them as soldiers there was no telling how long they would be required to serve on the front lines. Probably as long as the war went on, and there would be little home leave for such valuable warriors. Just as he was struggling to find something to say Arcee walked past.

"Oh, hey Arcee", he said.

"Hey Bulky", she replied, "Have you seen Omega? I'm supposed to…"

Suddenly she noticed who Bulkhead had been talking to. They had certainly noticed her.

"Hi…guys", she said slowly.

"Pretty Lady Bot!" Grimlock exclaimed, thundering over towards her, "Me Grimlock not see Pretty Lady Bot for long time! How Pretty Lady Bot been?"

Two wickedly clawed servos took her petite servo as gently as they could and held it. Grimlock was positively beaming at her and the other two Dinobots were jumping up and down behind him excitedly.

"Um…I've been fine, thanks Grimlock", Arcee said, "And you?"

"Me Grimlock bashed Decepticons good!" enthused the Dinobot, "Me Grimlock been far across black spacey stuff! Me Grimlock see lots of Autobots and lots of pretty lady bots, but none as pretty as Pretty Lady Bot".

"Oh…um…well, that's very sweet, Grimlock…"

Snarl abruptly shunted Grimlock out of the way and sent him stumbling. The stout Dinobot also took Arcee's hand and made a peculiar wheezing sound. He was immediately set upon by Swoop, who leapt up and kicked him in the head. But before he could take Arcee by the hand Grimlock returned and the Dinobots were immediately engulfed in a storm of flying fists and thrashing feet.

Arcee wisely stepped away, motioned to Bulkhead that she was going to leave, and strode away quickly. On her way to find Omega she passed Rodimus and Kup, who stood in a corner together, deep in discussion.

Keeping his voice lowered, Kup said, "You're crazy, you know that? What makes you think this would work?"

"Because we'll have the element of surprise", Rodimus answered, "It's the last thing he'll expect. All we need is a few good fighters and it'll be easier than falling off a turbine".

Kup shook his head, "I don't even get why you want to do this".

"Because I think it's time someone did something for Optimus Prime. Call it a favour. He's earned it".

"There's no doubt about that", grunted Kup, "I taught the best of the best. Not least of all you, Hot Rod".

"Rodimus".

"Whatever. Why did you come to me about this anyway?"

Rodimus grinned, "Because I figured if anyone knew how to pull it off it'd be you. I can't do this on my own".

"Modesty doesn't suit you, kid", Kup plucked the cy-gar from his mouth for a moment and turned away.

Rodimus waited with baited breath as Kup twirled the cy-gar between his fingers and stroked his rugged chin.

"Alright, I'll do it", the old bot said eventually, "For a couple of reasons. First, I got my own score to settle. Second, I figure if I don't help you out you're going to do it anyway, and I'd rather I was on hand to teach you protoforms how it's done".

"Haha! I knew you'd come around, old timer!" Rodimus laughed and slapped him on the back, "But look, we better get planning. First things first; we need someone really strong but preferably really stupid".

At that moment Grimlock ran around the corner, bellowing, "Where Pretty Lady Bot go? Me Grimlock want show her how me Grimlock beat Snarl and Swoop! Pretty Lady Bot like fighting!...At least me think so".

Kup and Rodimus exchanged sidelong looks, "The long search is over", Kup remarked.

Bumblebee and Backtrack had been patrolling the canyons for over three hours. Sitting in Bumblebee's front seat, Sari groaned with frustration.

"How much longer are we gonna have to be out here?"

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to see a whole new planet, aren't you?" Bumblebee reminded her.

"Duh, I figured there might be something interesting out here! But no, it's just rocks, rocks, rocks, oh look, some gravel, more rocks, rocks…"

"That's odd", Backtrack cut in, "I can't reach the other scouting team on my commlink".

"Hm? You mean Hot Shot and Hubcap?" said Bumblebee.

"Yeah. Maybe it's interference from the metal ore in the cliffs".

"Or maybe they just don't want to talk to you", Bumblebee teased.

Sari looked through Bumblebee's windscreen. The track they were following led up a sheer cliff wall, a jagged and craggy mountain that rose up at a nearly ninety degree angle. The top of it was several hundred feet above ground level.

"We're not gonna have to climb that, are we?" Sari groaned.

"No, this is where we turn back", Bumblebee said.

He pulled to a halt some three hundred meters away from the base of the cliff. Backtrack pulled up alongside him. They sat there, their engines idling. Sari opened Bumblebee's passenger door and crawled out.

"Ow ow ow! I got cramp!" she explained, hopping around outside and shaking her legs and arms.

"What's cramp?" Backtrack wondered as he transformed to robot mode.

"Kinda like vapour lock", said Bumblebee as he also transformed, "At least I think so".

"Ouch!" Sari yelped, "My foot's gone to sleep and I got pins and needles!"

Backtrack looked at Bumblebee.

"That I can't explain", Bumblebee leant forward to look down at Sari, "Hey, I told you you'd be bored stiff out here. I've been here for days already. Trust me, it's worse than listening to Bulkhead go on about space bridges or hearing one of Prime's speeches".

"Listen, we better get moving. I want to move outta this area so we can get in touch with Hubcap and Hot Shot", said Backtrack.

"Oh, man! Just give me five minutes", Sari begged as she stretched and flexed.

Bumblebee waited, watching Sari stretch with amusement, while Backtrack paced back and forth, trying his commlink again and again.

After a few minutes he exclaimed, "Hey, I think I got something!"

At that moment a low vibration shuddered through the canyon. The wind stirred and the ground rumbled. Sari watched the small stones skittering on the floor as the thunder grew louder and louder.

She turned to Bumblebee to ask what was going on. As she did the first Decepticons burst over the cliff-edge and howled down the canyon towards them.